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PinnedQuarterbacks, top-10 trades and a bull market for running backs headlined the first round of this year’s N.F.L. The Carolina Panthers chose Alabama quarterback Bryce Young at No. After the Texans picked Stroud, they struck again, leaping from pick No. One unexpected development was the move toward running backs, a position that has been devalued in the N.F.L. But teams picked other quarterbacks or filled other needs, this year’s reminder that pre-draft speculation is just that.

☆ Ways & Means Chair Rep. Smith on House GOP debt limit bill: I'm confident we have the votes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWays & Means Chair Rep. Smith on House GOP debt limit bill: I'm confident we have the votesHouse Ways & Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest in debt limit showdown, and whether there is enough support for the House GOP proposal.

☆ Will Georgia’s Jalen Carter Still Be a Top N.F.L. Draft Pick?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kris Rhim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But that changed on March 1 at the N.F.L. He was sentenced to 12 months’ probation and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, perform 80 hours of community service and complete a state-approved defensive driving course. Since then, Carter, 22, has not done much to allay the concerns that teams now have about him. He drew criticism when he and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, decided not to take pre-draft visits with teams picking outside the top 10. scouts and has gone from a surefire top pick to one of the most inscrutable prospects in this year’s draft, which will begin in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday.

☆ Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Coinbase, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Roku & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Here are Wednesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Needham upgrades TransUnion to buy from hold Needham upgraded the stock after its earnings report Tuesday. Deutsche Bank reiterates Apple as buy Deutsche said it's standing by its buy rating heading into earnings next week. Bank of America downgrades Danaher to neutral from buy Bank of America downgraded the commercial products company after a "disappointing" earnings report. Bank of America reiterates General Motors as buy Bank of America said it's standing by its buy rating after the company's earnings on Tuesday. " Bank of America reiterates Roku as buy Bank of America said it's bullish heading into Roku earnings after the bell on Wednesday.

☆ Opinion | Guns, Not Race, Are at the Root of the Wave of ‘Trespass’ Shootings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( John Mcwhorter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On April 13, Ralph Yarl, 16 years old and Black, rang Andrew Lester’s doorbell in Kansas City, Mo., by mistake, Yarl’s family said. According to prosecutors, Lester, 84 and white, shot Yarl at the door twice. Enlightened American wisdom suggests that race must have had something to do with this. In Hebron, N.Y., a group of young adults driving three vehicles late at night were seeking a friend’s house. But when they mistakenly drove into Kevin Monahan’s driveway, he fired shots into one car, killing a passenger, Kaylin Gillis.

☆ The U.S.’s $42.5 Billion High-Speed Internet Plan Hits a Snag: A Worker Shortage
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Will Feuer | Photographs Annie Flanagan For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The federal government is missing a crucial link in its plan to greatly expand access to high-speed internet service in rural America: enough workers to get the job done. Fiber splicers—the workers who install, maintain and repair wired broadband networks—are in short supply. “We’re running around like chickens with our heads cut off,” says Jason Jolly, chief executive of Fiberscope LLC, a Sullivan, Mo.-based company that does contracted fiber-splicing work. Mr. Jolly says his five-person crew has been “getting nonstop calls for the last two months.”

☆ After Front Door Shooting, Kansas City Grapples With Race
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Mitch Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — From one vantage point, a post-pandemic boom seemed to be taking hold in Kansas City. It was the only Midwestern city selected to host World Cup soccer games. “We need to clean up our house so that we can be proud and not performative when we have company,” said Gwen Grant, the president and chief executive of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City. She said her city needed to “address the root causes of these problems, and address the systems, and not run away from the tough race and racism conversations.”

☆ Opinion | What Should Christians Do About Guns?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Tish Harrison Warren | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

More broadly, gun-related tragedies happen every day across America, including the shooting of an unarmed African American teenager last week in Kansas City, Mo. The problem of guns in America is vast and complex. In a chilling 2022 piece, The Times named our age the “era of the gun,” with gun violence as the leading cause of death among children in the United States. Studies have shown comprehensively that more guns and easier access to guns leads, inevitably, to more gun deaths, which is why America is a global outlier when it comes to rates of gun violence. To reduce gun violence in the United States, we need legal change and we need social change.

☆ Opinion | A Gun in the Home Makes Murder More Likely, Not Less
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Nicholas Kristof | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But in the United States it is, because we’re awash in an estimated 450 million guns and suffer from a mass delusion that a gun in the home makes us safer. — In upstate New York, a 20-year-old woman was killed when she and several friends drove to the wrong address. As their car was turning around to leave, the homeowner allegedly fired his gun and struck her. — In Texas, two cheerleaders were shot after one of them mistakenly got into the wrong car in a parking lot. Foreigners admire our popular culture, our technology, our lifestyle, but are bewildered by our refusal to rein in guns.

Thomas Johnson ’s daughter texted him Tuesday afternoon with difficult news: Netflix Inc. planned to get rid of its DVD-by-mail business later this year. “I went, ‘Noooo,’” said Mr. Johnson, a 66-year-old retiree in St. Charles, Mo., who has received Netflix’s red-and-white DVD envelopes in his mailbox for more than a decade.

The cheerleader in Texas simply wanted to find her car in a dark parking lot after practice. Each of them accidentally went to the wrong address or opened the wrong door — and each was shot. This week, the issue of “wrong address” shootings stirred protests and widespread outrage after a homeowner in Kansas City, Mo., shot a 16-year-old who rang the wrong doorbell. Days later, a 20-year-old woman in upstate New York was fatally shot after she and her friends turned into the wrong driveway. And then two cheerleaders in Texas were shot after one got into the wrong car in a dark parking lot.

☆ Justice Dept. Presses Local Courts to Reduce Fines
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Justice Department’s third-highest-ranking official, Vanita Gupta, informed local judges and juvenile courts on Thursday that imposing fines and fees without accounting for a person’s financial status violated constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. Doing so “may erode trust between local governments and their constituents, increase recidivism, undermine rehabilitation and successful re-entry, and generate little or no net revenue,” Ms. Gupta, the associate attorney general, wrote in a letter. A Justice Department investigation did not result in federal charges against the officer involved. The policy Ms. Gupta outlined was first enacted during the Obama administration, when she led the Justice Department’s civil rights division. It was revoked under Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2017, but a handful of states, including several controlled by Republicans, have taken steps to reduce the practice.

☆ Shooting of Teen Who Rang Doorbell at Wrong House Unsettles Kansas City
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Mitch Smith | Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Tuesday morning, hundreds of Staley High School students filled the street outside their school in a display of anger and support for their fellow student, Ralph Yarl, who was shot by a homeowner after he rang a doorbell at the wrong house in Kansas City last week. But many residents of Kansas City remained deeply troubled by the events that had shaken their city for the last several days. Some asked why Mr. Lester was released from police custody last week rather than being charged immediately. A few wondered if a jury would sympathize with Mr. Lester, who told the police that he was “scared to death” of being physically harmed before shooting Ralph.

Companies Altria Group Inc FollowApril 17 (Reuters) - E-cigarette company Juul Labs Inc and its former largest investor, Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc (MO.N), on Monday settled claims by the state of Minnesota that they fueled teen vaping addiction. The settlement, whose terms are not yet public, was announced by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and by Juul as a trial in the case was nearing its end. Juul has now settled vaping-related claims with 48 U.S. states and territories. Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York Editing by Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Inside the Online Market for Overseas Abortion Pills
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Allison Mccann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

A selection of abortion pill kits available online from overseas sellers. A chart of the estimated number of abortion pills provided outside the U.S. health care system from July through December 2022. For most patients, the cost of the service remains the most important factor in deciding where to get pills online. A chart showing the minimum, average and maximum cost of abortion pills from overseas providers: Aid Access, Las Libres and for-profit online sellers. A chart showing the minimum, average and maximum delivery speeds of abortion pills from overseas providers: Aid Access, Las Libres and for-profit online sellers.

The deal, which also included Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Mexico, means that San Francisco-based Juul has now settled with 45 states for more than $1 billion. The various states had accused Juul of falsely marketing its e-cigarettes as less addictive than cigarettes and targeted minors with glamorous advertising campaigns. It previously reached a $439 million settlement with 34 states and territories, as well as settlements with several individual states. As of December, its share of Juul was valued at $250 million, down from $12.8 billion in 2018. The CDC also has said using nicotine in adolescence may raise the risk for future addiction to other drugs.

NEW YORK, April 12 (Reuters) - E-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc has agreed to pay $462 million to settle claims by six U.S. states including New York and California that it unlawfully marketed its addictive products to minors, the states announced on Wednesday. With the deal, Juul has now settled with 45 states for more than $1 billion. The states had accused Juul of falsely marketing its e-cigarettes as less addictive than cigarettes and targeted minors with glamorous advertising campaigns. As of December, its share of Juul was valued at $250 million, down from $12.8 billion in 2018. The CDC also has said using nicotine in adolescence may raise the risk for future addiction to other drugs.

☆ Would Life Be Better if You Worked Less?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Rachel Feintzeig | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Stephen E. Griffith was working up to 80 hours a week. He was frustrated by the bureaucracy of mounting meetings and craved time with family. So in 2021, he left his thriving practice at a Kansas City, Mo., hospital, and decided to work less. The neurosurgeon now puts in about one-half to two-thirds of the hours he used to, picking up temporary assignments through a medical-staffing agency, sometimes traveling as far as Oregon. He’s taken more vacations in recent months—to Hawaii, Grand Cayman, Mexico—than during entire years of his past life as a hospital-employed physician.

House lawmakers tore into top U.S. bank regulators Wednesday, questioning their competency and saying examiners were asleep at the wheel, at a second day of congressional hearings this week about how Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed practically overnight on March 10 and March 12. "We need competent financial supervisors, but Congress can't legislate competence," House Financial Services chairman Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., told top officials at the Federal Reserve, Treasury and FDIC at the beginning the hearing. "The light touch cautions from the Fed to SVB management are clearly not what Congress intended for bank supervision," said Waters. Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga, Mich., demanded raw, confidential supervisory information about the banks, available to regulators ahead of the collapses. Members of the Republican majority House challenged many of the decisions made by regulators in the hours and days after SVB collapsed and Signature Bank followed 48 hours later.

March 27 (Reuters) - E-cigarette company Juul Labs Inc and its former largest investor, Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc (MO.N), will face their first U.S. trial this week over claims that they created a public nuisance by marketing addictive e-cigarettes to minors. It says Juul sold its e-cigarettes in sweet flavors and promoted them on social media to appeal to underage consumers. Juul and Altria have faced thousands of similar lawsuits around the country. The state also says Altria helped Juul market its products, including by providing it access to its sales force and including Juul advertisements in Marlboro products. Altria this month announced that it had given up its investment in Juul in exchange for some of Juul's intellectual property.

Miami celebrates after their win against Texas in the Elite Eight. At this time last year, a collection of college basketball’s royalty—Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and Villanova—was preparing to gather for one of the highest-pedigreed Final Fours in men’s tournament history. This season, the glamor teams are out, replaced by a trio of lesser-known underdogs from beach communities—Miami, San Diego State and Florida Atlantic—plus the northerners from Connecticut, who are by far the most familiar basketball power in the pack. It is the first time since 2011 that none of the tournament’s No. 2 seeds reached the Final Four.

☆ Twitter Blue's relaunch has been financially 'underwhelming' and embarrassed subscribers may soon be able to hide that they're a part of it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter Blue has been relaunched for three months, offering subscribers premium features for $11/mo. A new feature may soon be rolled out, allowing subscribers to hide their verification checkmark. A Twitter Blue subscription costs $8 per month if purchased through the website and $11 per month if purchased through an app for Android or iOS devices. The social platform has aimed to diversify its revenue streams since advertisers fled the platform in the wake of the billionaire's takeover last year. In an attempt to attract more users to Blue, subscribers may be able to toggle the visibility of their blue check marks, The Verge reported.

☆ N.C.A.A. Bracket Picks: Where Fans and Experts Diverge
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Josh Katz | Alice Fang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

One avenue is examining the differences between the forecasts of mathematical models and the collective choices of fans. For example, fans are much more likely to have Kansas and Alabama in the Final Four than the experts. The table below shows an aggregate view of the difference between the public’s picks and those of forecasting models. But if you pick the same teams as everyone else, your bracket will look the same, too, something you should consider. There is no guarantee that this approach will work, of course, and part of the draw of the N.C.A.A.

☆ Biden reversed a Trump-era decision to change the colors of Air Force One. Here's what it looked like throughout the years
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

President Joe Biden will keep with tradition and feature a blue and white Air Force One fleet. The news comes years after former President Donald Trump proposed that the colors change. Trump's changes would have resulted in additional heat on significant plane parts, the Air Force said. Air Force One, the plane of the president of the United States, is seen during takeoff, June 1968. Every Air Force One plane since has kept with tradition and featured a blue and white design.

☆ House Votes 419 to 0 for Declassification of Intelligence on Covid-19 Origins
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Lindsay Wise | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The House on Friday voted 419 to 0 to pass a bill requiring the Biden administration to declassify intelligence related to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China and the Covid-19 pandemic. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) ), the COVID Origins Act of 2023 passed the Senate by unanimous consent last week. It now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature. The White House hasn’t issued a formal position on the bill.

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