Notion of "societal advancement" bettering humanity

Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state.[1][2][3] In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension will continue to result, in an improved human condition;[4] the latter may happen as a result of direct human action, as in social enterprise or through activism, or as a natural part of sociocultural evolution.

The concept of progress was introduced in the early 19th-century social theories, especially social evolution as described by Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer. It was present in the Enlightenment's philosophies of history. As a goal, social progress has been advocated by varying realms of political ideologies with different theories on how it is to be achieved.

Specific indicators for measuring progress can range from economic data, technical innovations, change in the political or legal system, and questions bearing on individual life chances, such as life expectancy and risk of disease and disability.

GDP growth has become a key orientation for politics and is often taken as a key figure to evaluate a politician's performance. However, GDP has a number of flaws that make it a bad measure of progress, especially for developed countries. For example, environmental damage is not taken into account nor is the sustainability of economic activity. Wikiprogress has been set up to share information on evaluating societal progress. It aims to facilitate the exchange of ideas, initiatives and knowledge. HumanProgress.org is another online resource that seeks to compile data on different measures of societal progress.

Our World in Data is a scientific online publication, based at the University of Oxford, that studies how to make progress against large global problems such as poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality.[5]The mission of Our World in Data is to present "research and data to make progress against the worlds largest problems".[6]

The Social Progress Index is a tool developed by the International Organization Imperative Social Progress, which measures the extent to which countries cover social and environmental needs of its citizenry. There are fifty-two indicators in three areas or dimensions: Basic Human Needs, and Foundations of Wellbeing and Opportunities which show the relative performance of nations.

Indices that can be used to measure progress include:

Scientific progress is the idea that the scientific community learns more over time, which causes a body of scientific knowledge to accumulate.[7] The chemists in the 19th century knew less about chemistry than the chemists in the 20th century, and they in turn knew less than the chemists in the 21st century. Looking forward, today's chemists reasonably expect that chemists in future centuries will know more than they do.[7]

This process differs from non-science fields, such as human languages or history: the people who spoke a now-extinct language, or who lived through a historical time period, can be said to have known different things from the scholars who studied it later, but they cannot be said to know less about their lives than the modern scholars.[7] Some valid knowledge is lost through the passage of time, and other knowledge is gained, with the result that the non-science fields do not make scientific progress towards understanding their subject areas.[7]

From the 18th century through late 20th century, the history of science, especially of the physical and biological sciences, was often presented as a progressive accumulation of knowledge, in which true theories replaced false beliefs.[8] Some more recent historical interpretations, such as those of Thomas Kuhn, tend to portray the history of science in terms of competing paradigms or conceptual systems in a wider matrix of intellectual, cultural, economic and political trends. These interpretations, however, have met with opposition for they also portray the history of science as an incoherent system of incommensurable paradigms, not leading to any scientific progress, but only to the illusion of progress.[9]

Aspects of social progress, as described by Condorcet, have included the disappearance of slavery , the rise of literacy , the lessening of inequalities between the sexes, reforms of harsh prisons and the decline of poverty .[10] The social progress of a society can be measured based on factors such as its ability to address fundamental human needs , help citizens improve their quality of life , and provide opportunities for citizens to succeed.[11]

Social progress is often improved by increases in GDP, although other factors are also relevant. An imbalance between economic and social progress hinders further economic progress, and can lead to political instability.[11]

How progress improved the status of women in traditional society was a major theme of historians starting in the Enlightenment and continuing to today.[12] British theorists William Robertson (17211793) and Edmund Burke (17291797), along with many of their contemporaries, remained committed to Christian- and republican-based conceptions of virtue, while working within a new Enlightenment paradigm. The political agenda related beauty, taste, and morality to the imperatives and needs of modern societies of a high level of sophistication and differentiation. Two themes in the work of Robertson and Burkethe nature of women in 'savage' and 'civilized' societies and 'beauty in distress'reveals how long-held convictions about the character of women, especially with regard to their capacity and right to appear in the public domain, were modified and adjusted to the idea of progress and became central to modern European civilization.[13]

Classics experts have examined the status of women in the ancient world, concluding that in the Roman Empire, with its superior social organization, internal peace, and rule of law, allowed women to enjoy a somewhat better standing than in ancient Greece, where women were distinctly inferior.[14] The inferior status of women in traditional China has raised the issue of whether the idea of progress requires a thoroughgoing reject of traditionalisma belief held by many Chinese reformers in the early 20th century.[15]

Historians Leo Marx and Bruce Mazlish asking, "Should we in fact abandon the idea of progress as a view of the past," answer that there is no doubt "that the status of women has improved markedly" in cultures that have adopted the Enlightenment idea of progress.[16]

Modernization was promoted by classical liberals in the 19th and 20th centuries, who called for the rapid modernization of the economy and society to remove the traditional hindrances to free markets and free movements of people.[17] During the Enlightenment in Europe social commentators and philosophers began to realize that people themselves could change society and change their way of life. Instead of being made completely by gods, there was increasing room for the idea that people themselves made their own societyand not only that, as Giambattista Vico argued, because people made their own society, they could also fully comprehend it. This gave rise to new sciences, or proto-sciences, which claimed to provide new scientific knowledge about what society was like, and how one may change it for the better.[18]

In turn, this gave rise to progressive opinion, in contrast with conservational opinion. The social conservationists were skeptical about panaceas for social ills. According to conservatives, attempts to radically remake society normally make things worse. Edmund Burke was the leading exponent of this, although later-day liberals like Hayek have espoused similar views. They argue that society changes organically and naturally, and that grand plans for the remaking of society, like the French Revolution, National Socialism and Communism hurt society by removing the traditional constraints on the exercise of power.

The scientific advances of the 16th and 17th centuries provided a basis for Francis Bacon's book the New Atlantis. In the 17th century, Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle described progress with respect to arts and the sciences, saying that each age has the advantage of not having to rediscover what was accomplished in preceding ages. The epistemology of John Locke provided further support and was popularized by the Encyclopedists Diderot, Holbach, and Condorcet. Locke had a powerful influence on the American Founding Fathers.[19] The first complete statement of progress is that of Turgot, in his "A Philosophical Review of the Successive Advances of the Human Mind" (1750). For Turgot, progress covers not only the arts and sciences but, on their base, the whole of culturemanner, mores, institutions, legal codes, economy, and society. Condorcet predicted the disappearance of slavery, the rise of literacy, the lessening of inequalities between the sexes, reforms of harsh prisons and the decline of poverty.[20]

John Stuart Mill's (18061873) ethical and political thought demonstrated faith in the power of ideas and of intellectual education for improving human nature or behavior. For those who do not share this faith the idea of progress becomes questionable.[21]

Alfred Marshall (18421924), a British economist of the early 20th century, was a proponent of classical liberalism. In his highly influential Principles of Economics (1890), he was deeply interested in human progress and in what is now called sustainable development. For Marshall, the importance of wealth lay in its ability to promote the physical, mental, and moral health of the general population.[22] After World War II, the modernization and development programs undertaken in the Third World were typically based on the idea of progress.[23]

In Russia the notion of progress was first imported from the West by Peter the Great (16721725). An absolute ruler, he used the concept to modernize Russia and to legitimize his monarchy (unlike its usage in Western Europe, where it was primarily associated with political opposition). By the early 19th century, the notion of progress was being taken up by Russian intellectuals and was no longer accepted as legitimate by the tsars. Four schools of thought on progress emerged in 19th-century Russia: conservative (reactionary), religious, liberal, and socialistthe latter winning out in the form of Bolshevist materialism.[24]

The intellectual leaders of the American Revolution, such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, were immersed in Enlightenment thought and believed the idea of progress meant that they could reorganize the political system to the benefit of the human condition; both for Americans and also, as Jefferson put it, for an "Empire of Liberty" that would benefit all mankind.[25] In particular, Adams wrote I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.[citation needed]

Juan Bautista Alberdi (18101884) was one of the most influential political theorists in Argentina. Economic liberalism was the key to his idea of progress. He promoted faith in progress, while chiding fellow Latin Americans for blind copying of American and European models. He hoped for progress through promotion of immigration, education, and a moderate type of federalism and republicanism that might serve as a transition in Argentina to true democracy.[26]

In Mexico, Jos Mara Luis Mora (17941850) was a leader of classical liberalism in the first generation after independence, leading the battle against the conservative trinity of the army, the church, and the hacendados. He envisioned progress as both a process of human development by the search for philosophical truth and as the introduction of an era of material prosperity by technological advancement. His plan for Mexican reform demanded a republican government bolstered by widespread popular education free of clerical control, confiscation and sale of ecclesiastical lands as a means of redistributing income and clearing government debts, and effective control of a reduced military force by the government. Mora also demanded the establishment of legal equality between native Mexicans and foreign residents. His program, untried in his lifetime, became the key element in the Mexican Constitution of 1857.[27]

In Italy, the idea that progress in science and technology would lead to solutions for human ills was connected to the nationalism that united the country in 1860. The Piedmontese Prime Minister Camillo Cavour envisaged the railways as a major factor in the modernization and unification of the Italian peninsula. The new Kingdom of Italy, formed in 1861, worked to speed up the processes of modernization and industrialization that had begun in the north, but were slow to arrive in the Papal States and central Italy, and were nowhere in sight in the "Mezzogiorno" (that is, Southern Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia). The government sought to combat the backwardness of the poorer regions in the south and work towards augmenting the size and quality of the newly created Italian army so that it could compete on an equal footing with the powerful nations of Europe. In the same period, the government was legislating in favour of public education to fight the great problem of illiteracy, upgrade the teaching classes, improve existing schools, and procure the funds needed for social hygiene and care of the body as factors in the physical and moral regeneration of the race.[28]

In China, in the 20th century the Kuomintang or Nationalist party, which ruled from the 1920s to the 1940s, advocated progress. The Communists under Mao Zedong adopted western models and their ruinous projects caused mass famines. After Mao's death, however, the new regime led by Deng Xiaoping (19041997) and his successors aggressively promoted modernization of the economy using capitalist models and imported western technology.[29] This was termed the "Opening of China" in the west, and more broadly encompasses Chinese economic reform.

Among environmentalists, there is a continuum between two opposing poles. The one pole is optimistic, progressive, and business-oriented, and endorses the classic idea of progress. For example, bright green environmentalism endorses the idea that new designs, social innovations and green technologies can solve critical environmental challenges. The other is pessimistic in respect of technological solutions,[30] warning of impending global crisis (through climate change or peak oil, for example) and tends to reject the very idea of modernity and the myth of progress that is so central to modernization thinking.[31] Similarly, Kirkpatrick Sale, wrote about progress as a myth benefiting the few, and a pending environmental doomsday for everyone.[32] An example is the philosophy of Deep Ecology.

Sociologist Robert Nisbet said that "No single idea has been more important than ... the Idea of Progress in Western civilization for three thousand years",[33] and defines five "crucial premises" of the idea of progress:

Sociologist P. A. Sorokin said, "The ancient Chinese, Babylonian, Hindu, Greek, Roman, and most of the medieval thinkers supporting theories of rhythmical, cyclical or trendless movements of social processes were much nearer to reality than the present proponents of the linear view".[34] Unlike Confucianism and to a certain extent Taoism, that both search for an ideal past, the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition believes in the fulfillment of history, which was translated into the idea of progress in the modern age. Therefore, Chinese proponents of modernization have looked to western models. According to Thompson, the late Qing dynasty reformer, Kang Youwei, believed he had found a model for reform and "modernisation" in the Ancient Chinese Classics.[35]

Philosopher Karl Popper said that progress was not fully adequate as a scientific explanation of social phenomena.[36]More recently, Kirkpatrick Sale, a self-proclaimed neo-luddite author, wrote exclusively about progress as a myth, in an essay entitled "Five Facets of a Myth".[37]

Iggers (1965) says that proponents of progress underestimated the extent of man's destructiveness and irrationality, while critics misunderstand the role of rationality and morality in human behavior.[38]

In 1946, psychoanalyst Charles Baudouin claimed modernity has retained the "corollary" of the progress myth, the idea that the present is superior to the past, while at the same time insisting that it is free of the myth:

The last two centuries were familiar with the myth of progress. Our own century has adopted the myth of modernity. The one myth has replaced the other. ...

Men ceased to believe in progress; but only to pin their faith to more tangible realities, whose sole original significance had been that they were the instruments of progress. ..

This exaltation of the present ... is a corollary of that very faith in progress which people claim to have discarded. The present is superior to the past, by definition, only in a mythology of progress. Thus one retains the corollary while rejecting the principle. There is only one way of retaining a position of whose instability one is conscious. One must simply refrain from thinking.[39]

A cyclical theory of history was adopted by Oswald Spengler (18801936), a German historian who wrote The Decline of the West in 1920. World War I, World War II, and the rise of totalitarianism demonstrated that progress was not automatic and that technological improvement did not necessarily guarantee democracy and moral advancement. British historian Arnold J. Toynbee (18891975) felt that Christianity would help modern civilization overcome its challenges.[40]

The Jeffersonians said that history is not exhausted but that man may begin again in a new world. Besides rejecting the lessons of the past, they Americanized the idea of progress by democratizing and vulgarizing it to include the welfare of the common man as a form of republicanism. As Romantics deeply concerned with the past, collecting source materials and founding historical societies, the Founding Fathers were animated by clear principles. They saw man in control of his destiny, saw virtue as a distinguishing characteristic of a republic, and were concerned with happiness, progress, and prosperity. Thomas Paine, combining the spirit of rationalism and romanticism, pictured a time when America's innocence would sound like a romance, and concluded that the fall of America could mark the end of 'the noblest work of human wisdom.'[41]

Historian J. B. Bury wrote in 1920:[42]

To the minds of most people the desirable outcome of human development would be a condition of society in which all the inhabitants of the planet would enjoy a perfectly happy existence....It cannot be proved that the unknown destination towards which man is advancing is desirable. The movement may be Progress, or it may be in an undesirable direction and therefore not Progress..... The Progress of humanity belongs to the same order of ideas as Providence or personal immortality. It is true or it is false, and like them it cannot be proved either true or false. Belief in it is an act of faith.

In the postmodernist thought steadily gaining ground from the 1980s, the grandiose claims of the modernizers are steadily eroded, and the very concept of social progress is again questioned and scrutinized. In the new vision, radical modernizers like Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong appear as totalitarian despots, whose vision of social progress is held to be totally deformed. Postmodernists question the validity of 19th-century and 20th-century notions of progressboth on the capitalist and the Marxist side of the spectrum. They argue that both capitalism and Marxism over-emphasize technological achievements and material prosperity while ignoring the value of inner happiness and peace of mind. Postmodernism posits that both dystopia and utopia are one and the same, overarching grand narratives with impossible conclusions.

Some 20th-century authors refer to the "Myth of Progress" to refer to the idea that the human condition will inevitably improve. In 1932, English physician Montague David Eder wrote: "The myth of progress states that civilization has moved, is moving, and will move in a desirable direction. Progress is inevitable... Philosophers, men of science and politicians have accepted the idea of the inevitability of progress."[43] Eder argues that the advancement of civilization is leading to greater unhappiness and loss of control in the environment. The strongest critics of the idea of progress complain that it remains a dominant idea in the 21st century, and shows no sign of diminished influence. As one fierce critic, British historian John Gray (b. 1948), concludes:[44]

Faith in the liberating power of knowledge is encrypted into modern life. Drawing on some of Europe's most ancient traditions, and daily reinforced by the quickening advance of science, it cannot be given up by an act of will. The interaction of quickening scientific advance with unchanging human needs is a fate that we may perhaps temper, but cannot overcome... Those who hold to the possibility of progress need not fear. The illusion that through science humans can remake the world is an integral part of the modern condition. Renewing the eschatological hopes of the past, progress is an illusion with a future.

Recently the idea of progress has been generalized to psychology, being related with the concept of a goal, that is, progress is understood as "what counts as a means of advancing towards the end result of a given defined goal."[citation needed]

Historian J. B. Bury said that thought in ancient Greece was dominated by the theory of world-cycles or the doctrine of eternal return, and was steeped in a belief parallel to the Judaic "fall of man," but rather from a preceding "Golden Age" of innocence and simplicity. Time was generally regarded as the enemy of humanity which depreciates the value of the world. He credits the Epicureans with having had a potential for leading to the foundation of a theory of progress through their materialistic acceptance of the atomism of Democritus as the explanation for a world without an intervening deity.

For them, the earliest condition of men resembled that of the beasts, and from this primitive and miserable condition they laboriously reached the existing state of civilisation, not by external guidance or as a consequence of some initial design, but simply by the exercise of human intelligence throughout a long period.[citation needed]

Robert Nisbet and Gertrude Himmelfarb have attributed a notion of progress to other Greeks. Xenophanes said "The gods did not reveal to men all things in the beginning, but men through their own search find in the course of time that which is better." Plato's Book III of The Laws depicts humanity's progress from a state of nature to the higher levels of culture, economy, and polity. Plato's The Statesman also outlines a historical account of the progress of mankind.

During the Medieval period, science was to a large extent based on Scholastic (a method of thinking and learning from the Middle Ages) interpretations of Aristotle's work. The Renaissance of the 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries changed the mindset in Europe towards an empirical view, based on a pantheistic interpretation of Plato. This induced a revolution in curiosity about nature in general and scientific advance, which opened the gates for technical and economic advance. Furthermore, the individual potential was seen as a never-ending quest for being God-like, paving the way for a view of Man based on unlimited perfection and progress.[45]

In the Enlightenment, French historian and philosopher Voltaire (16941778) was a major proponent of progress.[citation needed] At first Voltaire's thought was informed by the idea of progress coupled with rationalism. His subsequent notion of the historical idea of progress saw science and reason as the driving forces behind societal advancement.

Immanuel Kant (17241804) argued that progress is neither automatic nor continuous and does not measure knowledge or wealth, but is a painful and largely inadvertent passage from barbarism through civilization toward enlightened culture and the abolition of war. Kant called for education, with the education of humankind seen as a slow process whereby world history propels mankind toward peace through war, international commerce, and enlightened self-interest.[46]

Scottish theorist Adam Ferguson (17231816) defined human progress as the working out of a divine plan, though he rejected predestination. The difficulties and dangers of life provided the necessary stimuli for human development, while the uniquely human ability to evaluate led to ambition and the conscious striving for excellence. But he never adequately analyzed the competitive and aggressive consequences stemming from his emphasis on ambition even though he envisioned man's lot as a perpetual striving with no earthly culmination. Man found his happiness only in effort.[47]

Some scholars consider the idea of progress that was affirmed with the Enlightenment, as a secularization of ideas from early Christianity, and a reworking of ideas from ancient Greece.[48][49][50]

In the 19th century, Romantic critics charged that progress did not automatically better the human condition, and in some ways could make it worse.[51] Thomas Malthus (17661834) reacted against the concept of progress as set forth by William Godwin and Condorcet because he believed that inequality of conditions is "the best (state) calculated to develop the energies and faculties of man". He said, "Had population and food increased in the same ratio, it is probable that man might never have emerged from the savage state". He argued that man's capacity for improvement has been demonstrated by the growth of his intellect, a form of progress which offsets the distresses engendered by the law of population.[52]

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (18441900) criticized the idea of progress as the 'weakling's doctrines of optimism,' and advocated undermining concepts such as faith in progress, to allow the strong individual to stand above the plebeian masses. An important part of his thinking consists of the attempt to use the classical model of 'eternal recurrence of the same' to dislodge the idea of progress.[53]

Iggers (1965) argues there was general agreement in the late 19th century that the steady accumulation of knowledge and the progressive replacement of conjectural, that is, theological or metaphysical, notions by scientific ones was what created progress. Most scholars concluded this growth of scientific knowledge and methods led to the growth of industry and the transformation of warlike societies into industrial and pacific ones. They agreed as well that there had been a systematic decline of coercion in government, and an increasing role of liberty and of rule by consent. There was more emphasis on impersonal social and historical forces; progress was increasingly seen as the result of an inner logic of society.[54]

Marx developed a theory of historical materialism. He describes the mid-19th-century condition in The Communist Manifesto as follows:

The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. Conservation of the old modes of production in unaltered form, was, on the contrary, the first condition of existence for all earlier industrial classes. Constant revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty, and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones. All fixed, fast frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all which is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real condition of life and his relations with his kind.[55]

Furthermore, Marx described the process of social progress, which in his opinion is based on the interaction between the productive forces and the relations of production:

No social order is ever destroyed before all the productive forces for which it is sufficient have been developed, and new superior relations of production never replace older ones before the material conditions for their existence have matured within the framework of the old society.[56]

Capitalism is thought by Marx as a process of continual change, in which the growth of markets dissolve all fixities in human life, and Marx admits that capitalism is progressive and non-reactionary. Marxism further states that capitalism, in its quest for higher profits and new markets, will inevitably sow the seeds of its own destruction. Marxists believe that, in the future, capitalism will be replaced by socialism and eventually communism.

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

Many advocates of capitalism such as Schumpeter agreed with Marx's analysis of capitalism as a process of continual change through creative destruction, but, unlike Marx, believed and hoped that capitalism could essentially go on forever.

Thus, by the beginning of the 20th century, two opposing schools of thoughtMarxism and liberalismbelieved in the possibility and the desirability of continual change and improvement. Marxists strongly opposed capitalism and the liberals strongly supported it, but the one concept they could both agree on was progress, which affirms the power of human beings to make, improve and reshape their society, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation. Modernity denotes cultures that embrace that concept of progress. (This is not the same as modernism, which was the artistic and philosophical response to modernity, some of which embraced technology while rejecting individualism, but more of which rejected modernity entirely.)

The history of the idea of Progress has been treated briefly and partially by various French writers; e.g. Comte, Cours de philosophie positive, vi. 321 sqq.; Buchez, Introduction a la science de l'histoire, i. 99 sqq. (ed. 2, 1842); Javary, De l'idee de progres (1850); Rigault, Histoire de la querelle des Anciens et des Modernes (1856); Bouillier, Histoire de la philosophie cartesienne (1854); Caro, Problemes de la morale sociale (1876); Brunetiere, "La Formation de l'idee de progres", in Etudes critiques, 5e serie. More recently M. Jules Delvaille has attempted to trace its history fully, down to the end of the eighteenth century. His Histoire de l'idee de progres (1910) is planned on a large scale; he is erudite and has read extensively. But his treatment is lacking in the power of discrimination. He strikes one as anxious to bring within his net, as theoriciens du progres, as many distinguished thinkers as possible; and so, along with a great deal that is useful and relevant, we also find in his book much that is irrelevant. He has not clearly seen that the distinctive idea of Progress was not conceived in antiquity or in the Middle Ages, or even in the Renaissance period; and when he comes to modern times he fails to bring out clearly the decisive steps of its growth. And he does not seem to realize that a man might be "progressive" without believing in, or even thinking about, the doctrine of Progress. Leonardo da Vinci and Berkeley are examples. In my Ancient Greek Historians (1909) I dwelt on the modern origin of the idea (p. 253 sqq.). Recently Mr. R. H. Murray, in a learned appendix to his Erasmus and Luther, has developed the thesis that Progress was not grasped in antiquity (though he makes an exception of Seneca),a welcome confirmation.

See more here:

Progress - Wikipedia

Updated: May 25, 2018:

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Earth Day 50: Have We Made any Real Progress? - JD Supra

Sometimes tragedies can spur progress. For the Omaha area, Zachary BearHeels legacy must be a sustained effort to address our areas mental health needs.

BearHeels died in June 2017 in a struggle with Omaha police officers in which he was shocked a dozen times with a Taser. Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer fired the four officers involved.

This week came word that arbitrators have reinstated three of the officers and upheld the termination of the fourth. The Omaha Police Department and the Omaha Police Officers Association both agreed to respect the outcome and focus on moving forward.

Neither the arbitrators 125-page opinion nor the evidence and arguments at their hearing were released. Such information is made public in some cases if one of the parties involved gives the go-ahead. The lack of transparency for such a high-profile case ill serves the public, and the City of Omaha should push for the material to be open.

The announcement does provide a moment, however, for the Omaha area to note positive actions taken since 2017:

Officer training and support. BearHeels, an Native American man from Oklahoma, struggled with mental health. The Omaha Police Department has stepped up training significantly for officers on how to deal with mentally ill individuals. The department also began placing a trained mental health therapist at Omaha police precincts to better aid officers and the public.

Cultural awareness. Schmaderer implemented a session on Native American cultural awareness for all officers. One of the officers during the 2017 incident dragged BearHeels by his ponytail, an action of particular insult to Native Americans.

Sarpy initiative. Sarpy County officials deserve credit for energetically pursuing plans for a freestanding mental health crisis center to relieve the pressure on local law enforcement. That effort ran into difficulty, but Sarpy officials and Nebraska Medicine have agreed to explore the creation of a mental health crisis center at the Bellevue Medical Center, an eminently worthy goal. An average of 34% of inmates at the Douglas County Jail have acute-level mental illness, one study found. The figure for Sarpy County Jail: an average of 28%.

Facilities registry. Nebraska is participating in a 23-state project, funded by federal grants, to create a centralized registry that shows the current status of local hospitals and facilities with inpatient psychiatric beds.

A range of nonprofit organizations in Omaha and Nebraska do fine work in helping meet mental health needs, but the needs still exceed current resources. In the wake of this tragedy, lets rededicate our community to provide the supports necessary to help these vulnerable individuals.

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Editorial: BearHeels matter shows need for further progress on behavioral health - Omaha World-Herald

BRIDGEPORT Antero Resources, headquartered out of Bridgeport, is among the leaders of West Virginias energy industry.

The company continues to provide a vital service to the state while maintaining its commitment to progress and environmental stewardship, according to Antero officials.

Al Schopp, regional senior vice president and chief administrative officer for Antero Resources, said his company is proud to operate in the Mountain State.

West Virginia sits atop a world-class natural gas resource thats driving the positive shift in Americas energy, economic, environmental and national security outlook, Schopp said. As the nations second-largest natural gas liquids and fifth-largest natural gas producer, Antero and our local employees are proud to safely develop the clean energy that powers modern life. Thanks to advancements in horizontal drilling, Antero is producing energy more efficiently, resulting in cost savings as well as community and environmental benefits.

Antero invested more than $1 billion to produce energy in West Virginia and eastern Ohio last year, delivering a nine-percent increase in production, Schopp said.

Given global market challenges, however, Antero remains focused on capital discipline, rather than production growth, and is putting in place enhanced operational efficiencies and well cost savings in our 2020 and beyond strategy, he said.

Antero Midstreams integrated planning efforts with Antero Resources creates flexibility in delivering the infrastructure to meet a unique set of needs, Schopp said.

Were proud of the companys fresh water pipeline network and a sustainable closed loop system that recycles more than 90% of Anteros water, dramatically reducing fresh water withdraws and eliminating hundreds of thousands of truck trips, he said. This is good for the environment, good for our communities and good for business.

Following the year in which Antero Midstreams jointly operated Sherwood facility became North Americas largest natural gas processing plant, the companys 2020 budget will focus primarily on West Virginia, developing the infrastructure to support Anteros liquids-rich focused program, Schopp said.

We continue to see strong, long-term demand fundamentals, largely driven by U.S. energy exports and increasing domestic and in-basin use. Natural gas consumption topped records last year, with demand expected to grow 13% through 2023, according to federal data, he said. Manufacturing, natural gas power generation and overall pipeline infrastructure expansion in West Virginia and across the region will help support local demand.

Antero directly employs 276 West Virginians and its operations support careers for more than 3,500 workers and contract personnel across the region, Schopp said.

Over the past five years, we have invested over $8 billion in upstream activities, which resulted in $121 million in severance, ad valorem and sales tax revenue for West Virginia last year alone, which greatly benefit families and critical services across our state, he said.

The company is always looking ahead and keeping an eye on the most recent developments relevant to the industry, Schopp said.

Cutting-edge technological advancements continue to drive natural gas development efficiencies, cost savings, as well as heightened environmental and worker safety, he said. Energy producers like Antero, along with the locally based supply chain service providers that we work with, are focused on further raising the operational bar.

The latest advancements in drilling technology recently allowed Antero to reach an important milestone, Schopp said.

Were drilling longer laterals faster than ever. In fact, just recently Antero drilled 10,453 feet of lateral length in a 24-hour period, which may be a new world record, he said. Steerable drilling tools continue to get better and more precise by the day. Its a technology that keeps evolving and responding as laterals get longer.

While drilling longer laterals obviously increases production volume, it also produces numerous other benefits as well, Schopp said.

This is good for business, given the commodity dynamics, and creates important community and environmental benefits, he said. The longer the lateral and shorter the period to drill reduces aboveground land disturbances, along with temporary truck traffic.

The company relies on the latest breakthroughs throughout its operations, not just out at its well sites, Schopp said.

Among other critical technology-enabled advancements, were leveraging well performance data analytics to make decisions more nimbly than ever before, he said. And drone technology keeps improving to optimize facility designs.

Antero sees being an industry leader as part of its overall mission, Schopp said.

As an industry made up of forward-looking engineers and problem-solvers, were continuously focused on solutions that make our work even safer, more protective of our environment and even more cost-effective, he said.

Annually, Antero donates more than $400,000 to local causes and organizations, and its employees regularly volunteer their time in communities across the region, Schopp said.

We actively participate in STEM programs in local schools, volunteer hundreds of hours on park restorations and community clean-up initiatives and are committed to supporting arts and culture in this region for existing families and future generations, he said. Weve invested $234 million since 2010, including $40 million last year, to update and improve West Virginias roads, because safe and dependable infrastructure benefits all of us.

As an active member of industry leading greenhouse gas reduction partnerships, Antero promotes a science-based approach to reducing carbon emissions and improving its environmental performance, Schopp said.

Anteros leak detection and repair program exceeds Ohio and West Virginia standards and we are an industry leader in effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he said. Guided by our safety-first culture, Antero employees completed more than 7,000 hours of training in 2018 and continue to outperform industry benchmark averages for safety metrics. Getting everyone home safe each day, and keeping the communities safe where we operate, is our top priority.

In February Antero donated new textbooks and workbooks to Pierpont Community & Technical Colleges Petroleum Technology program.

The donation will help alleviate the cost to students of the needed text material for the classroom in the Petroleum Technology program, officials said.

We are grateful to receive this donation, as it will help to reduce the overall course expenses, said Dr. Johnny Moore, president of Pierpont Community & Technical College. We appreciate the opportunities that Antero provides to our students and community.

The company also donated $20,000 to the United Way of Harrison County, helping the organization get closer to its 2020 campaign goal of $800,000.

Stephanie Iaquinta, Antero Resources executive assistant, government relations, said the company has become very passionate in our support of the United Way over the years. They are able to vet these organizations and determine the most critical needs in Harrison County. They make it easy for us to give back and make sure those needs are being met.

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Antero Resources: pushing progress and leading innovation for WV oil and gas industry - WV News

Slotted as the seventh seed when the season was postponed, and with a six-game lead over the 9th-ranked Washington Wizards, the Brooklyn Netswere bound for playoff basketball. But as all Nets fans know, it was never about this season. The team was never going to compete at a high level without Kevin Durant on the floor.

There were already plenty of questions surrounding the franchise heading into next season, and the head coaching search adds one more. But as the organization hopes to become a championship contender, one question tends to repeatedly arise: can Caris LeVert become the third star the team needs? In signing him to a three-year, $52.5 million deal prior to the season, the front office bet on this to some degree. 2019-20 was expected to provide a lot of insight into LeVerts progress. What did we learn?

While steady improvement across the board was obviously the best case scenario, there were three areas where LeVerts improvement was arguably the most important: staying healthy, improving as a shooter, and providing more playmaking.

Injuries have plagued LeVert over the course of his career, and this past season was no different. A thumb injury he suffered in November held him out of 25 of the teams 64 games. The fact it wasnt another foot injury was surely encouraging for the organization, but missed games are missed games. Theres some reason to think he could be largely healthy next season, but its still a significant question mark.

LeVert saw career highs in minutes per game (29.0) and usage rate (28.8 percent), and he translated this into other career highs in points (17.7), rebounds (4.1), assists (4.1) and 3-point percentage (38.1 percent).

With an effective field percentage of only 47.3 percent this past season, LeVert still isnt super efficient as a scorer, but perhaps this should have been expected with his increased usage rate. And although his 2-point percentage (42.9 percent) hindered his efficiency, his improvement in long-range shooting (38.1 percent) is very encouraging.

LeVerts 3-point percentage wasnt simply a product of wide-open jumpers either. Interestingly, he only shot 31.9 percent on the 1.8 catch-and-shoot threes he attempted per game. His solid percentage was actually driven by elite 41.5 percent shooting on pull-up attempts (3.0 per contest).

In fact, LeVert was the ONLYplayer this past season to make at least 41.5 percent of their pull-up threes on at least 3.0 attempts per game (per NBA.com). Only four other players hit at least 40.0 percent on at least 2.0 attempts: Damian Lillard, Eric Gordon, J.J. Redick and Marcus Smart.

If LeVert can hit catch-and-shoot threes at a rate closer to his typically more difficult off-the-dribble shots, the Brooklyn Nets might have a great shooter on their hands.

LeVert still has room to grow as a playmaker for others, but with Durant and Kyrie Irving expected to do a lot of the ball-handling, this is perhaps less of a necessity for him right now. If he can simply get buckets at a third banana on a championship team rate, then that should be good enough. On occasional nights, however, the Nets will need him to perform at an even higher level (for example, the occasional 25-plus point game, something he did in 8/39 games).

LeVert demonstrated his upside in phenomenal fashion in a March 2rd road win at the Boston Celtics. He put up a career-high 51 points on 17-of-26 shooting (5-of-10 from three), carrying Brooklyn down the stretch. Its a shame LeVert wasnt able to play out the remainder of the season; in some ways, he was really hitting his stride down the stretch.

Overall, Brooklyn Nets fans should be cautiously optimistic about LeVert moving forward. The injuries continue to be a significant cause of concern, but he showed signs of being a very capable third scorer (and even more on certain nights). This is what the organization needs him to be, and ifhe can stay healthy, theres plenty of reason to believe he can fit this role.

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Brooklyn Nets: Examining the progress of Caris LeVert - Hoops Habit

Video from Louisiana Tech University, a college in Ruston, shows damage to an athletic field. Debris, including metal poles, are visible strewn about and the stands are partially destroyed and buried under felled trees. The News Star

Recovering exudes contradictory sentiments dependent on how one reflects on the word.

It can be a label sunken with negative connotation from a hurtful experience while also swelling with uplifting positivity as it signals a brighter future through the disturbance.

When Louisiana Tech Athletic Director Tommy McClelland rests his thoughts on one year ago today, on the dark and quiet morning when an EF-3 tornado ripped through the heart of campus to wreak devastating havoc on multiple athletic facilities, despair and uncertainty rushes through first. But in the same thought, what comes to his mind on April 25 assures him of how the Tech baseball, softball, soccer and tennis programs and their new homes will feel and look in the near future.

Construction continues on the new Louisiana Tech softball stadium and complex in Ruston, La. on April 23. The new stadium will be by Joe Aillet Stadium after the previous was destroyed by a tornado last year.(Photo: Nicolas Galindo/The News-Star)

If I had to put one word (on this past year from the tornado), its recovering, McClelland told The News-Star. Were not recovered. Were also not at ground zero of not starting the process of recovering. I think that would be defined much deeper in that the word symbolizes that action was required. We got hit by a tornado.

The word recovering, in the past sense it has a negative feel to it but when you think about it for the future, its a positive. As we transition from one end of the pendulum to the other on the anniversary of devastation and despair, the concerns and uncertainty, what does it all mean, to the idea and vision of knowing not only hope but inspiration. Where our destination is greater than where we left.

Last year, the storm caused more than $20 million in damages to Louisiana Techs athletic facilities, completely decimated the baseball teams J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park, the Lady Techsters Softball and soccer complexes as well as hitting the tennis courts and the outdoor track, but not rendering them totaled.

Lane Burroughs and his baseball team were on the road in Houston getting set for a three-game conference series at Rice when the tornado smashed the Love Shack. He and his players woke up at 2 a.m. to calls, texts, photos and videos of the scene and were immediately swept up in disbelief, shock and uncertainty of what they were going to do once they returned the Ruston.

What we kept in-house, but I dont think people understand the effect it had on all of our players, Burroughs recalled. I think I can speak for softball as well, but from a mental and emotional standpoint after the storm hit, we carried on for a month on just pure adrenaline. I think we petered out at the end of the year. There were so many moving parts.

From the athletic department, those moving parts like the application processes for insurance claims on the venues as well as scrounging up as much financial assistance as possible through FEMA and state appropriations, to countless conference calls with university administration, representatives from the state government, were arduous and mentally taxing.

In earnest, McClelland said, doubts and fears set in on if and when the Tech baseball, softball and soccer teams would get their new stadiums and fields.

What most people dont know is the deep level of uncertainty that existed on these facilities even becoming a reality, even up to six months ago. When youre dealing with federal and state agencies, insurance, all those things combined, its a cumbersome process. Its not the norm, McClelland said. I cannot express on the backend, particularly our governor (John Bel Edwards) and the state organized and coordinated this massive effort.

Although there were moments of frustration and plenty of negative conference calls where I thought, awe man, is this going to take two years to pull off? Those conversations occurred. But I cant express how committed the state of Louisiana and particularly our governor was steadfast in making sure things were done right for Louisiana Tech.

Before McClelland was able to provide his coaches reassurance that their respective programs would not have to wait that long for their new facilities, internal strife stoked much of his and the coaches anxiety at the prospect.

I think theres so much history and tradition with the old Love Shack. For months, we couldnt show our players or recruits a drawing, Burroughs said. We couldnt show them something, we wanted to so bad, but we couldnt even do that. It was tough trying to keep our players spirits up.

But once the plans received approval, the light shined through the dense haze.

McClelland stood in front a standing room only mixed crowd of current Louisiana Tech athletes, coaches, donors and fans in the football team meeting room inside the Davison Athletic Complex on that fateful Nov. 21 afternoon, as he shared the approved renderings of the new stadiums to them, beaming the entirety of the press conference. It was nearly seven full months after the tornado wrecked the old facilities and that day served as a beacon of the future of Tech athletics.

We moved forward, we advocated and justified why it was important to do this for our student-athletes. Through the muck and the mire in the aftermath of the tornado, I cast my eyes on where were going with this, McClelland said.

What ultimately emerged was new top-of-the-line, more modern facilities. The softball and soccer complex will move from its old location up the hill on Tech Drive, adjacent to Joe Aillet Stadium where the programs will share a two-level facility. Both teams will boast new clubhouses, coaches offices, meeting room locker and equipment rooms.

The new Love Shack will feature a seating expansion from 800 to 2,500, along with a separate building thatll house the coaches offices, locker room, meeting room and players lounge. The baseball program will now have an indoor facility where players can get work in despite the weather.

Construction officially began on all three new facilities in March, 11 months after the storm hit. Mounds of dirt and asphalt where the new softball field will be has moved. As of last week, workers have begun laying the beginning stages of concrete at the site of the new baseball stadium.

I drive by there every day. I sent a picture to the guys of them pouring concrete and they all were going crazy, Burroughs said. Just riding by and seeing whats going on, its a good feeling and it makes it all worth it. To get to something great, you have to suffer through something bad. You have to hold hope and dont give in. You get up every morning, moving forward because you never know what the next day holds.

Were looking forward to walking through the gates of the new stadium. When this thing gets built, I dont think anybody in our league can match us. What theyre seeing and the fan experience is going to be outstanding. I dont think well have any excuse, we should be moving to the top of the league. Well have the best facility in our league, so we need to be on top and running it. I feel like were moving in that direction right now.

Attempting to sell recruits on a vision that immediately couldnt be physically seen, not knowing where all of its equipment is exactly stored, to the logistics of playing a shortened 2020 season where basically all of it was played on the road, through all the challenges over the past year, Burroughs said he wouldnt change a thing.

You cant control this. Were all here for a reason at this time. We make decisions that affect things. If its out of our control, I never question it, Burroughs said. Deep down, theres a reason for it. Our young men are going to be better going through this as they navigate life. I told them their kids will ask you about this one day. Youre living through history right now. Take advantage of it and soak it up.

Even through all the tough times, itll all be worthwhile when we walk out there and see it. Even softball and soccer, all these facilities will change the landscape for our entire university.

April 25, 2019 exudes devastation and dismay for McClelland and Louisiana Tech coaches. One year later, that same date conjures a feeling of positivity and enjoyment. The tangible progress serves as a visual map of all the twists and turns the athletic department and itsteams trudged through along the way.

And the school and its athletics department hopes that come January 2021, the target date for completion of new Love Shack and the new softball and soccer can be a vessel for the Ruston community that continues to heal from the storm, one year later and beyond.

It is a positive thing. In a time right now where theres not a lot of things to look forward to or put your finger on it, its not hard to say weve got something thats going to happen at the beginning of 2021, McClelland said.

Lets think about it, as these projects are being built, its a reflection of our communitys recovery. By the beginning of 2021, we wont be completely recovered, but theres a parallel of us constructing these complexes and building back our community.

Read more:

'Recovering': Progress on LA Tech's athletic facilities builds hope 1 year after tornado - The News Star

By Joanne S. Marchetta. TRPA Executive Director

Celebrations have taken on many new forms since the start of social distancing. Birthday parties have become processions of cars parading past a celebrants homepeople honking and waving, tossing candy and small gifts (for later disinfecting, then enjoying). And huge international celebrations like the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this week have moved online, giving room for individuals to celebrate and explore the conservation movement in new ways.

The pandemic is hurting so many right now that chances for celebration are muchneeded bright spots. And the lengths to which we must go to celebrate accentuate how deeply we care. On this 50th anniversary of Earth Week, might having millions of individuals pick up trash, plant trees, write poems, or just watch an earth science documentary have a greater impact than a typical Earth Week? We find ourselves in a transformative time, so anything is possible. Around the nation and the globe, transformation and resilience are words coming to the forefront about what the aftermath of this pandemic could bring. So it makes sense to be celebrating the environmental movement that changed a nation a halfcentury ago.The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) commemorates its own 50th anniversary this year as well, and its no surprise we share a birthday with Earth Day. The 1960s were a transformative and tumultuous time. Population, disposable income, and car ownership were growing like never before. Freeway construction abounded and in some places, industrial waste, air pollution, and water degradation were out of control.

Lake Tahoes pristine ecosystem was no better off. The region was facing intense development pressure. Marshes and meadows were being bulldozed and filled. Plans were afoot for a metropolitan city that would ring the lake with a massive bridge over Emerald Bay. The rising cries for environmental protection were victorious in the Tahoe Basin and in December 1969, the bistate compact creating TRPA was signed into federal law.

As Earth Day helped launch the environmental movement and the enactment of critical laws like the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act, TRPAs bistate compact forged a lasting partnership among local governing bodies, federal, state and tribal land managers, and the public. The creation began a decadeslong transformation of Lake Tahoe into a place where development could continue, balanced with protections for the incredible natural resources thatLake Tahoe has to offer. A place where recreation could flourish while the associated impacts were minimized. Looking back over five decades, there were milestones that marked significant progress for Tahoe.

TRPAs first Regional Plan capped growth in the Basin, halted major pollution, and prohibited building on sensitive lands. The bridge over Emerald Bay never materialized. TRPA adopted environmental standards to measure and maintain the health of the region. We set in place a growth control system still working today that ensures development only continues apace of environmental improvements. To address urban runoff, we promote stormwater management practices on properties to reverse the decline of Lake Tahoes famed water clarity.

The 1990s saw the creation of the Environmental Improvement Program, a comprehensive ecosystem restoration initiative involving more than 75 public and private organizations.

Partners have implemented more than 700 projects bringing more than $2 billion into the regions economy. In 1999, TRPA instituted a ban on carbureted twostroke marine engines that instantly decimated hydrocarbon levels in the lake. In 2008, we collaborated with multiple agencies and private marinas to require watercraft inspections to prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species like zebra and quagga mussels into waters of the Region. And we have begun addressing wildfire risk on a landscape scale, again in lockstep with fire protection andland management agencies.

Collaboration lies at the core of TRPAs work. The bistate framework that created us also creates partnerships that have served our communities well and that will continue to protect Lake Tahoe into the future. As TRPA commemorates the progress of 50 years of collaboration, we hold fast knowing emerging challenges loom large. The underpinnings of the updated 2012 Regional Plan are sustainability, transforming town centers into walkable and bikeable destinations, and building resilience against new and existing threats. The Regional Plan provides the framework for TRPA to continue to improve air and water quality, manage thecomplex effects of climate change, reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, protect against new aquatic invasive species, and help address a shortage of affordable housing.

To commemorate our 50th anniversary, TRPA is making adjustments too. We have postponed public celebratory events and are using social media to tell our story. A special anniversary issue of Tahoe In Depth is planned for May. And were continuing to serve the community with regular business operations online. Like so many birthday occasions today, we will celebrate from afar.

Were grateful for the health care workers, public safety officers, grocery store employees, utilities and refuse staffers, and others who are making it possible for us to survive the COVID crisis. Were stronger when we work together. The actions we take today will ensure Lake Tahoe is vibrant and healthy for TRPAs and Earth Days 100th anniversary.

Joanne S. Marchetta is the executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

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Column: 50 years of progress for Lake Tahoe and the nation - South Tahoe Now

Wednesday, April 22, marked the 50th anniversary ofEarthDay. The American Waterways Operators (AWO) partnered withRiverWorks Discovery, an outreach program of theNational Mississippi River Museum & Aquariumand theNational Rivers Hall of Fame, to highlight 50 years of creative, ambitious and innovative efforts to improve our shared environment, AWO said.

This years Earth Day is a good time to reflect on the progress our rivers and waterways have made in the 50 years since Earth Day was established in 1970.

The year before, in 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire when sparks from a passing railroad ignited oily waste floating on the surface. It was the 13th time that had happened and wasnt even the worst incident, but it caught the nations imagination. It did prove to be the last such incident, as images of the burning river helped spark a nationwide awakening to the plight of our rivers and environment. The Environmental Protection Agency was founded in the same year as the first Earth Day. The Clean Water Act of 1972 quickly followed.

In the years since, our rivers and waterways have become dramatically cleaner, although more remains to be done. In 2012, a State of the River report noted of the Mississippi River, While the challenges we face are complex and daunting, the river today is healthier thanks to the actions of previous generations. The return of abundant wildlife to a once-troubled river is evidence that restoring the Mississippi is possible through shared commitment and decisive public action. We remain hopeful that with strong leadership and vocal support from river lovers across our state and nation, we too can pass a cleaner, healthier and more vibrant Mississippi River on to future generations.

The barge industry has been in the forefront of those efforts, providing major sponsorships and support, for instance, to Chad Pregrackes Living Lands & Waters and its success in recruiting volunteers to collect and remove more than 10 million pounds of solid waste and debris from our rivers.

AWO noted, Our members have a long and deep commitment to environmental protection and take their role as stewards of Americas waterways seriously.

Continued here:

Earth Day A Time To Reflect On Rivers' Progress - The Waterways Journal - The Waterways Journal

The Falcons report that safety Keanu Neal (Achilles), safety Ricardo Allen (shoulder) and defensive end Takk McKinley (shoulder) are all progressing from in-season and postseason surgeries.

All of the guys are making progress, coach Dan Quinn said Monday. They are hitting the markers that they want to. In that space, you have to make sure from a rehab standpoint that they can hit all of those things. Fortunately, for all of those guys, there are guidelines in place for all of them to continue on the same path that they would have been on.

McKinley has been closely monitored.

Im fully expecting Takk to come back and play at the level that we want, and he does, too, Quinn said.

The Falcons are hoping McKinley and free-agent signee Dante Fowler can lead the pass rush.

We anticipate him fully recovered and playing a significant role for this year for this defense, Quinn said.We are pleased with where hes at and his progress. All things are making a good trajectory for him to throw a hell of a year.

Quarterbacks:Joe Burrow leads class |Top 10Running backs:Cam Akers life lesson |Top 10Tight ends:Harrison Bryant top prospect|Top 10Guards/Centers:Solomon Kindley a late-rounder |Top 10Offensive tackles:Austin Jacksons life lesson|Top 10Wide receivers:Jeudy or Lamb |Top 10Defensive tackles:Brown, Kinlaw stand out |Top 10Defensive ends:Agenerational talent |Top 10Linebackers:Simmons a position-less LB |Top 10Safeties:Loaded with Georgia talent|Top 10Special teams:Georgias kicker-centered| Returner with flash | Top 10Cornerbacks:Jeff Okudah a lockdown CB|Top 10

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Here is the original post:

Neal, Allen and McKinley making progress in injury rehab - Atlanta Journal Constitution

Gov. Doug Ducey announced at a news conference April 22 that the state will reopen in phases, beginning with restoring elective surgeries beginning May 1.

"Our approach going forward will be phased," Ducey said. "It will be based on up-to-date data. It will mitigate the risk of resurgence. We have come a long way in a short period of time as a state."

The governor's "Stay Home, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected" order is still in place, but Ducey has added "Return Stronger" to the end. The order is set to expire April 30.

"Looking back there were a lot of unknowns, there are still unknowns in front of us," Ducey said during the news conference. "Our priority is on public health. These closings happened in an effort to slow the spread of this virus. None of these decisions were easy. This pandemic has done so much around these decisions that dim our economy in the state of Arizona. I hear the calls from people to turn it back on, as if it is a light switch. How I'd like to present it is a dimmer switch."

Ducey said the state's decision making process will be "guided by public health. It will be gradual, responsible restoration and efforts to reduce cases and increase energy in our economy in an ongoing manner."

"We do not want to lose the ground we have gained," Ducey said. "I want to get back to where we were as much as anybody in the state, but I want to do it in a safe and healthy way."

As of April 22, statewide there were 5,459 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Resuming elective surgeries

The executive order removing restrictions on conducting elective surgeries comes with some criteria for hospitals to meet.

Under the new order, hospitals, dental offices and other health facilities can resume conducting elective surgeries on May 1 if they can show they have implemented measures intended to keep health care workers and patients safe, according to the governor's website. These include:

Testing and hospital capacity

Ducey said the state is also focused on expanding testing and antibody testing. To date, there have been 56,601 COVID-19 tests administered statewide. Ducey said moving forward, there are plans to expand testing to broader population, beyond first responders and the state's most vulnerable populations.

Ducey also talked about Arizona's hospital capacity. He said restrictions were initially put in place in an effort to stem a surge in patients at the state's hospitals before the hospitals.

"We have hospital capacity in Arizona," Ducey said. "COVID-19 cases occupy a small portion of our hospital beds available."

Ducey said the latest projections show that "Arizona is prepared."

Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ released in a blog post a recent projection model from ADHS and experts from Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.

"This model was extensive, taking into account our current data, mitigation strategies, and potential summer effects on viral transmission. It produced various scenarios that gave us a baseline estimate, with high and low ranges of potential hospitalization and ICU needs of Arizonans," Christ wrote.

Data from two weeks ago estimated a need for hospitalization of 15,000 people and a need for 7,000 ICU beds. The updated version on April 22, which includes recent data, estimates a peak need for 600 hospital beds and 300 ICU beds around May 22.

As of April 21, the state reports 195 ventilators in use for COVID-19 patients, 300 ICU beds in use for COVID-19 patients and 664 positive or suspected inpatient COVID-19 patients.

See the rest here:

'We are making some progress': Governor says state will reopen in phases; elective surgeries to resume May 1 - Community Impact Newspaper