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The NCAA also argued the plaintiffs' division of damages unlawfully favored male athletes over female ones. In a statement, the NCAA said the plaintiffs' claims for "billions of dollars in damages" do not have "legal or factual support." Plaintiffs' lawyers for years have challenged rules that prohibited college athletes from receiving compensation. Class actions provide plaintiffs an avenue in court to pursue claims collectively rather than as individuals, imposing greater pressures on defendants. The plaintiffs' lawyers have asked the court to approve three classes seeking monetary damages: football and men's basketball; women's basketball; and an additional sports class.

☆ This couple spent $48,000 to convert their Portland, Oregon, home to 'net zero': 'The future is efficient and renewable'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Zachary Green Celia Fernandez | Zachary Green | In Zachary-Green-News | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

When Ryan Shanahan, 41, decided to buy a house in Portland, Oregon, he knew from the start that he wanted his future home to be "net zero." To be net zero is to cut greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions reabsorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests, for instance, according to the United Nations. "My mantra is that the future is efficient, electric, and renewable," Shanahan tells CNBC Make It. To buy the house, Shanahan took advantage of a $15,000 forgivable loan from Oregon's Down Payment Assistance program. Shanahan purchased the house because it had design features needed to help reach his goal of making the house net zero.

☆ Worms get the munchies, too, study reveals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

It turned out the worms did respond, and cannabinoids made them hungrier for their favored foods and less hungry for their non-favored food. The research ultimately revealed that the worms, like humans, engage in hedonic feeding — a phenomenon more commonly known as the munchies. Fluorescent wormsBy measuring the swallowing rate of the worms, Lockery and his team determined that the cannabinoids were increasing how much of a particular bacteria blend the worms ate, making them hungrier. At the molecular level, the cannabinoid system in these worms looks a lot like that in people and other animals. Despite having a small number of neurons (302 neurons versus 86 billion neurons in humans), the worms have a nervous system that includes a primitive brain.

☆ Democrats are betting Republicans' defense of Donald Trump's criminal charges will age like milk on the 2024 campaign trail
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Republicans facing tough 2024 races are defending Donald Trump against criminal charges. Democrats are betting their defense of Trump will hurt them in competitive 2024 races. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) April 4, 2023Boebert is on House Democrats' list of 31 vulnerable Republicans and two competitive open seats that they are targeting to take back control of the House in 2024. Biden hasn't commented on Trump's charges, and Democrats in Congress are treading carefully. Democrats shouldn't get ahead of the judicial process, said Rodell Mollineau, a cofounder and partner at Rokk Solutions in Washington, DC.

☆ Inside Nike: Sources share claims of sexism, cheating, abuse at the world's wokest brand
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Joshua Hunt | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +51 min

The conservative blowback came as no surprise to Parker, who told Nike's board of directors to expect some short-term backlash. In late 2014, the BBC sent a film crew to Portland to interview several former Oregon Project employees. "He would be at the side of the track calling out runners' splits but wouldn't call Kara's out," Adam Goucher told me. When people asked why she left the Oregon Project, she said it was a "personal decision." "I don't think it has anything to do with who the CEO is," Goucher told me.

Two former college athletes filed the complaint against the NCAA, which is the governing body for U.S. intercollegiate sports, and a group of its member conferences. The lawsuit alleged an unlawful conspiracy to bar cash awards for academic success. The suit seeks to represent a class of "thousands" of current and former student athletes who competed on a Division I team starting in April 2019, before the academic awards were permitted. The complaint said the NCAA, its league conferences and member schools "generate billions of dollars a year in revenues from Division I sports." The plaintiffs "did not receive the academic achievement awards that they would have received in a competitive market," the complaint alleges.

☆ Portland magic mushroom dispensary Shroom House is now 'permanently closed' following December police raid
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Shroom House is permanently closed after Portland Police Bureau executed a search warrant at the store in December. As previously reported by Insider, customers of Shroom House were required to complete applications for the "Shroom House Society" before purchasing magic mushrooms. Neither the Portland Police Bureau nor the Multnomah County District Attorney's office shared if they plan to investigate customers of Shroom House. Just one week before the raid, Shroom House made headlines for claims it was illegally operating a magic mushroom dispensary, Insider reported. As news spread and generated buzz on social media, locals lined up around the block to shop the psychedelic offerings of Shroom House.

☆ Democrats want to make electric bikes much cheaper by giving you up to $1,500 to buy one
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A new bill would give Americans up to $1,500 off the purchase of an electric bicycle. The Senate cut this legislation out of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, but included subsidies for electric cars and SUVs. Biking advocates argue that electric bikes should be subsidized just as electric cars have been for years. Electric bikes have boomed in popularity in the US over the last several years. E-bike tax credits introduced by cities and states around the country have become hugely popular in recent years.

☆ Your Data Is Diminishing Your Freedom
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

What inequalities are baked into these data systems? Oregon State UniversityBut it’s almost impossible to function in the world without participating in these data systems that we’re told are mandatory. Which is a concern with, How are these data systems proscribing my freedoms? This is the question of equality and the implications of these data systems’ being obligatory. You get these data systems that load people in, but it’s clear there wasn’t sufficient care taken for the unequal effects of this datafication.

☆ Don't bother writing a 'love letter' to home sellers. They're a waste of time and someone could get screwed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Aj Latrace | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Moved by the note, dubbed a "love letter" in real-estate parlance, Byington decided to sell the house to her. Elizabeth Scire's "Barbie House" love letter to the seller. EtsyLove letters risk discriminationDeeply personal and emotionally written love letters, however, open sellers and their agents up to legal risks. In a 2020 blog post, the National Association of Realtors said love letters would be more accurately described as "liability letters." In September 2021, Oregon became the first state to enact a law that banned the practice of writing or sharing real-estate love letters during the homebuying process.

☆ Nike is facing a PR nightmare as Kyrie Irving, Ja Morant, and now Tom Sachs face scandals – but experts say partnerships with celebs and athletes will never go away
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Curbed published a blistering story about Tom Sachs, a Nike collaborator, this week. As long as companies have partnered with celebrities, some endorsement deals have run aground, said Coresight Research CEO and founder Deborah Weinswig. Longtime sportswear industry analyst Matt Powell, who recently founded Spurwink River, said endorsement deals are "fraught with peril." "I thought for a while that brands were moving away from real celebrity endorsements," he told Insider. "We're talking about a very, very small percentage of celebrities who get endorsement deals who have that halo effect," Herzog said.

☆ Putin's war in Ukraine is endangering Russia's centuries of great-power status
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Robert Farley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

And yet Russian power and influence have waned in the past; the first 20 years of the 20th century represented a nadir in Russian power, as the Russian Empire lost most of its western territories after suffering a series of defeats at the hands of Japan, Germany, and Poland. Russian soldiers in World War II uniforms parade at Dvortsovaya Square in St. Petersburg in January 2019. AP Photo/Dmitri LovetskyBy virtue of its size and legacy, Russia is undoubtedly an important military power. Even as Russia has struggled mightily to impose its will upon Ukraine, nuclear weapons have ensured that NATO stays on the sidelines. Thomson ReutersBut is Russia a great power if it can't even crush its neighbor without help from China?

☆ 2 Senate Democrats join GOP in rejecting socially conscious investing rule, rushing it back to Biden for a promised veto
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The US Senate voted down a Biden-backed socially conscious investing rule 50-46. Two Democratic senators up for reelection in 2024 joined Republicans in opposing ESG. Wednesday's defectors, both of whom are facing tough reelection bids this cycle in states Donald Trump won by double digits in 2020, include Democratic Sens. The absence of Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania left Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer three votes down before deliberations even started.

☆ Idaho lawmakers are seriously considering absorbing Oregon's conservative rural counties if they can secede from the blue state
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Greater Idaho movement seeks to redraw state boundaries so rural Oregon can join Idaho. Moving the state boundary would require the approval of Oregon, Idaho, and the US Congress. Matt McCaw, a spokeperson for the group behind the Greater Idaho movement, told Insider they were confident the bill would pass Idaho's Senate in the coming weeks as well. McCaw said the Greater Idaho proposal would be a solution to the "longstanding problem" of the urban-rural divide. Proponents of Greater Idaho have said their plan is a way to avoid conflict, but it's unclear the impact moving the border would actually have.

☆ Baffled Dianne Feinstein walks out of Senate chamber wondering what just happened: 'Did I vote for that?'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dianne Feinstein didn't seem to know what took place on the Senate floor Wednesday morning. The latest flash of apparent confusion comes as Feinstein plans to serve out her term through 2024. Feinstein voted to invoke cloture on judge Ana C. Reyes to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Her looming retirement seemed to catch the decades-long politician off guard, causing Feinstein and her staff to clash over her career plans. "I don't even know what that is," Feinstein told staff last fall on her way through the Senate subway.

☆ House, Senate to renew fight pitting child tax credit vs. corporate cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The fate of that corporate tax policy, supported by many Democrats, had been linked to the Democratic Party's desire for a deal on the child tax credit . But House and Senate members are getting ready to reintroduce legislation on the R&D tax credit. Indexing the child tax credit to inflation would also be a matter of tax policy that both parties might agree on as a way to enshrine future increases in law. But there's still the divide on the corporate tax priorities and child tax credit, and at a basic level, getting a bipartisan tax bill through the House and Senate and to the White House is always challenging. Many companies were surprised that the R&D tax credit did not get extended in the late year legislative package because it had so much bipartisan support.

☆ Americans are quitting plant-based meat due to high prices, worse taste, and questionable health benefits
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In 2020, retail sales of plant-based meat grew 45%, surpassing the $1 billion mark for the first time. Questionable taste and health benefits are scaring off consumersFirst, it's unclear whether the plant-based meat industry has a growing customer base. On the all-important issue of taste, many Americans say plant-based meat disappoints, and some experts think the industry's efforts to compare plant-based meat to the real thing is a losing battle. Additionally, while plant-based meat has environmental benefits, growing research suggests it may not be much — if at all — healthier than traditional meat, something consumers are beginning to suspect. It's also possible that cultivated meat — meat grown from animal cells in a lab — will prove to be the answer, though this innovation could face some obstacles as well.

☆ UPS plants fake packages to catch delivery mistakes — and calls it 'salting'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

UPS plants fake packages to make sure drivers and staff are following the rules. Current workers and former managers told Insider the practice is known as "SALTing" inside UPS. Two UPS drivers said they've seen an uptick since the end of the holiday season. Glenn Gooding, a manager for most of his 20+ years at UPS, told Insider he probably "SALTed" at least 10,000 times. Other drivers said the most common use was planting fake packages in order to make sure packages that don't scan are returned to the delivery station.

☆ Biden's new retirement law means you may not have to choose between paying off student debt and saving for the future
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Jason Lalljee | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

One will allow employers to match workers' student loan payments in the form of retirement plan contributions. It's a boon for those who owe student debt, Tamara Telesko, Director of Wealth Planning at TIAA, told Insider. "Under our reforms, many more workers would access resources for retirement and see meaningful federal retirement contributions year after year." Telesko explained that this provision would be a way for people with student debt to build savings, which many can't. Shanna Bennett, a 37-year-old borrower who had more than $130,000 in student debt last year, currently works as a human resources manager.

A federal judge dismissed on Thursday a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ students who allege the Department of Education doesn't protect them against discrimination from more than two dozen religiously affiliated universities that receive federal funding. Last year, the group of current and former college students filed the suit in an attempt to challenge the religious exemptions granted under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs or activities that receive federal funds. The plaintiffs alleged that, by design, the exemptions permit religiously affiliated institutions to discriminate against students on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. The legal group representing the students, the Religious Exemptions Accountability Project, slammed the judge's ruling and said it was considering whether to appeal. Some of the plaintiffs alleged they were denied admission to or expelled from the religiously affiliated universities because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

☆ Six N.F.L. Players Show Football’s Grind on Their Feet and Hands
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Ken Belson | Joe Drape | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +19 min

Players Show Football’s Grind on Their Feet and HandsOver the course of the long and brutal N.F.L. season, players’ feet and hands take a beating on nearly every snap. But in practice a few days later, he was running drills and landed awkwardly, spraining an ankle and stretching the tendons in his right foot. The next week Jones caught six passes for 109 yards and three touchdowns as the Jaguars shocked the Dallas Cowboys, 40-34. “The therapist spends a lot of time on my hands and feet,” he said.

☆ 5 places World War III could start in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Robert Farley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

In February 2022, Russia attacked Ukraine, starting the largest clash in Europe since World War II. These five simmering disputes pose the greatest risk of erupting into "World War III" in 2023. In 2022, the world came closer to Great Power War than at any point since the end of the Cold War. These five areas pose the greatest risk for the eruption of what we might be tempted to call "World War III." Pray World War III never happensDestroyed apartments in Lyman after the Ukrainian city was recaptured from Russia forces in November 2022.

☆ Here are 22 of the top LGBTQ news stories of 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

Here are 22 of our top LGBTQ news stories of the year. Ron DeSantis signed the controversial Parental Rights in Education law — or what critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — on March 28. 'It’s already having an impact': LGBTQ people fear abortion rights reversalA supporter of gay marriage waves a flag in front of the Supreme Court on June 25, 2015. Nicola Goode / Prime VideoAmazon’s “A League of Their Own” series, which debuted Aug. 12 and was inspired by the 1992 cult classic by director Penny Marshall, brought much-needed representation to the screen for lesbians and other queer women, who celebrated how “gay, gay, gay” it was. Biden signs same-sex marriage bill at White House ceremonyPresident Joe Biden signs the Respect for Marriage Act on the South Lawn of the White House on Dec. 13.

☆ Psychedelic therapies are on the horizon. Who will administer them?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Danica Jefferies | Danica Jefferies Is An Intern With The Data Graphics Team For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Psychedelic therapy is nowhere near as simple as filling a prescription and taking a pill at home. A clinical psychologist, she founded and now leads the first accredited psychedelic therapy training program in the U.S. at the California Institute of Integral Studies. The psychedelic therapy program entails 150 hours of instruction and several in-person training sessions. So why the growing interest in using psychedelic drugs for mental health? Treatment with psychedelic drugs is not as simple as giving the patient a pill to take at home, and it’s not for everybody.

As the storm took shape over the Great Lakes on Thursday, a weather phenomenon known as a bomb cyclone was likely to develop from a "rapidly deepening low-pressure" system, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. The cyclone could spawn snowfalls of a half inch (1.25 cm) per hour and howling winds from the Upper Midwest to the interior Northeast, producing near-zero visibility, the weather service said. "It's dangerous and threatening," President Joe Biden said at the White House, urging Americans with travel plans to not delay and to set off on Thursday. Hundreds of Texans died in February 2021 after the state's power grid failed amid wintry storms, leaving millions without electricity. Greg Carbin, chief of forecast operations at the NWS Weather Prediction Center in Maryland, said freezing or below-freezing cold would bisect central Florida, with temperatures about 25 degrees below normal.

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