If one were not a scientist one might be tempted to say there is no progress.

Prehistoric man, as I just told you, was on a fair way to progress.

From this point the progress will be best narrated by extracts from my Diary.

We talked of progress; but progress, like the philosopher's stone, could not be easily attained.

From this strength we have contributed to the recovery and progress of the world.

Progress may be slowmeasured in inches and feet, not milesbut we will progress.

In no nation are the institutions of progress more advanced.

It was characterized as "a policy of which peace, progress and retrenchment were the watchwords."

We do not dread, rather do we welcome, their progress in education and industry.

Start on this journey of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side.

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Progress Synonyms, Progress Antonyms | Thesaurus.com

Friday is layoff day for 6,000 Boeing employees. They will join 1.3 million Washingtonians who have already filed for unemployment.

KUOWs Carolyn Adolph is here with more.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

These are Covid-19 layoffs, too, but Boeing workers have some assets other unemployed people are not getting. These were won for them by their unions, who made the case that the feds should use an assistance program for workers displaced by trade agreements.

These Boeing workers are getting unemployment benefits for up to two years, which is about twice as long as other people who are unemployed but they need to be in training for new work. They will be guided toward that training. There will also be help to pay for it.

Boeing CEO David Calhoun didn't have a lot of specifics, but he talked on Wednesday about what the next cuts are going to look like. They're going to start to get into the bone of the commercial airplanes business: Reducing production rates for wide-body jets like the 787 and the 777, and possibly stopping production of the 787 at Everett all together while they transfer that to South Carolina. Now, that is not at all clear, but that's among the options.

We don't know how many workers are next. Boeing says in two years, it could be back up to full strength. But right now, after the Max crisis, which began in March 2019, it's got drained cash flow. And then the Covid crisis crashed global aviation, and now airlines are backing away from orders. Only cargo freighters, the Boeing 767, are in high demand right now.

Just to show you how serious it is, I was startled yesterday to hear Greg Smith, Boeing's Chief Financial Officer, thanking the federal government for stabilizing credit markets so Boeing could go out and borrow $25 billion to keep the operation running. Boeing also gave thanks for stable government contracts.

Boeing workers say it's a very scary time to be there. People who survived the first round don't know how long their luck is going to last, or what they would do if they couldn't stay. This said, Boeing workers can be okay because of that federal package. Right now, the bigger worry is for people already in the unemployment system, who are losing some key support right now.

Losing the $600 a week means that the average amount that Washingtonians will now receive per week is $374, according to Employment Security. That works out to be about $1,600 worth of income a month. Of course, there's a federal stimulus package coming with another $1,200 per person, but now we can see that it's going to be several weeks, maybe longer, before the political fight over the fate of the $600 a week is going to be resolved. Seattle's Mayor Jenny Durkan is saying this is going to be devastating.

So, there is more insecurity at a time when reopening has stalled in our state. However, there is some good news. I've been hearing from people who are getting paid after months of receiving no money from Employment Security for a bunch of reasons.

There's been this long backlog of people filing for unemployment and we're going to know more pretty soon. The Employment Security Department has a goal of resolving stale cases by Friday. This said, it does look like up to 11,000 people still haven't been paid as of a few days ago.

People I've spoken to who have solved their problems say contact your state representative. State reps have a back channel they use, a separate staff in every department that handles requests from them. If people get trapped in a situation where they can't verify their identity, because the website already thinks they're fraudsters this is just one example of the kinds of jams people are getting into contact the state representative. That can be a very hard nut to crack on your own.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.

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Boeing layoffs hit amid progress on unemployment backlog - KUOW News and Information

A coronavirus relief agreement in Congress appeared in doubt early Friday after new economic data showed a U.S. economy buckling under the pandemic's weight.

On Thursday, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., tried to unanimously pass an extension of the weekly enhanced federal unemployment insurance that would slash the benefit from $600 to $200 per week.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., rejected it. The current $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit expires today.

Schumer then attempted to unanimously approve the $3 trillion rescue package House Democrats passed in May. That legislation also failed, leaving Congress no closer to breaking an impasse over how best to boost a health-care system and economy ravaged by the pandemic.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. held late-night talks with Schumer, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, NBC News reported.

The talks apparently were unsuccessful. Late Thursday, Meadows tweeted: "Tonight, once again, the White House offered a temporary extension of needed unemployment assistancewhich expires tomorrow. And again, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi said no."

Democratic leaders and Trump administration officials left a meeting Wednesday saying they had not come close to bridging a gulf in their priorities for an aid package.

Congress is struggling to find common ground on coronavirus relief as statistics show an economy still experiencing damage from an outbreak spreading throughout the country. Initial jobless claims climbed to 1.43 million last week, rising for the second straight week. U.S. GDP also fell by a record 32.9% in the second quarter during the peak of pandemic-related shutdowns an expected but still devastating plunge.

Congressional leaders are now tossing blame for the inevitable expiration of the $600 per week enhanced federal unemployment insurance. The policy ends after Friday, though states stopped paying out the extra benefit last week leaving millions of Americans facing a sudden and sharp drop in income.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of refusing to "engage" with the GOP after it released its coronavirus relief proposal on Monday. Republicans unveiled the plan more than two months after the House passed a rescue package, which Democrats considered their opening offer in the next round of aid discussions.

"Either our Democratic colleagues come to the table, or the American people won't get the help they need," McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said on the Senate floor.

The sides will have to resolve differences on a range of issues, most notably the unemployment insurance extension. Democrats want to maintain the $600 per week jobless benefit, on top of what recipients get from states, into next year. Republicans want to cut it to $200 per week through September, then set it at 70% wage replacement.

Democrats have also criticized the lack of several other provisions in the GOP plan, including direct aid for state and local governments and funds for rent, mortgage and food assistance. They also oppose liability protections for businesses, doctors and schools, which McConnell has said will have to be in any bill he brings to the Senate floor.

Schumer said the lack of a Republican consensus on pandemic aid has hindered progress toward a deal. Multiple GOP senators have said a large share of the caucus does not support the legislation Republicans released this week.

"Our friends on the other side now are scrambling," he said on the Senate floor Thursday.

As they moved closer to Friday's deadline without a comprehensive deal, both President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin floated the possibility of passing a short-term deal to extend the unemployment insurance and a federal eviction moratorium on Wednesday.

Schumer and Pelosi have both shot down a temporary fix.

Even as the progress of talks looked bleak Thursday, Schumer said he believes the parties can still reach a deal.

"It's never easy, it's never painless, but it can be done," he said.

CNBC's Terri Cullen contributed to this report.

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Congress fails to agree on the next coronavirus stimulus deal as $600-a-week unemployment benefits expire - CNBC

Compass Group PLC, the U.K. foodservice provider whose holdings include Compass Group USA and Canteen Vending, reported some progress against the COVID-19 losses in the third quarter as customer locations began to reopen. The company's revenues in the quarter ending June 30 fell 44%, with losses in Europe heaviest at 54% while North America was down 45% and the rest of the world was down 20%.

The company noted that compared to an earlier stated recovery scenario of being down 50%, the current scenario indicates some improvement over prior expectations.

"What we've seen typically is faster reopening of the industry sector, and higher volumes," Dominic Blakemore, group chief executive, said in an investors call. "And I think those are for the obvious reasons that typically need people need to be onsite to produce and manufacture, and that has been our sort of consistent experience around the globe."

As for the 60% of the critical B&I sector that is business, he said, "Clients across all sectors are being, I think, very cautious and careful about the pace at which they bring staff back, especially with regard to their obligations around health and safety for those individuals, and especially with the uncertainty that we see around further spikes more generally."

"We're starting to see a small number of sites reopening, and we're also working with our clients to pass through higher operating costs," he said. "However, a greater weighting towards business and industry, stricter containment measures and a less flexible workforce mean that while we are vigorously managing the situation, progress in the region will inevitably be slower."

Accounts in the business and industry sector, which accounts for 38% of the company's business, were mostly closed in April and May, and started to reopen in June.

By the end of June, about 60% of the company's business accounts were open, compared to 55% by the end of May.

Due to the different containment measures at the state level in the U.S., the company's operations in North America were slightly more open than in Europe, the company noted.

As the sites reopen, the company has held conversations with clients to recover the higher costs of operating with enhanced health and safety protocols and lower participation rates. This, combined with more flexible labor laws, has allowed Compass to adjust its cost structure and start to rebuild the operating margin.

Accounts were also mostly closed in the education sector, which accounts for 20% of the company's business.

September will be an important month, said Karen Witts, chief financial officer.

"We will need to see what happens when the schools and the higher education institutions go back and, indeed, what the student behaviors are like once they go back to their schools and universities," Witts said during the call. "And then we also need to see the pace of returning to work in the B&I sector."

The healthcare sector, which accounts for 24% of the company's business, was good.

Sports and leisure, 11% of the business, remained fully shut.

In Europe, the lockdown measures have been deeper and more widespread than in other regions. Stricter containment measures and a less flexible work force mean progress in the region will be slower.

In rest of the world, most of the business was open at the end of June.

The pace at which volumes will recover remains unclear, however, especially given a possible increase in local lockdowns, the company noted.

In the third quarter, the company spent 42 million ($54.76 million) in resizing costs, mainly in North and South America, Blakemore said.

He cited the company's 95% account retention rate as a key win in the quarter, as it is slightly above its long-term retention rate.

In North America, he said he expects the company will have its best year ever for new business.

Blakemore also mentioned the possibility of Compass becoming active in the food delivery space, a rapidly growing segment of the foodservice industry. He noted the company has kitchens that can be used to prepare delivery orders.

"There's no reason they can't be used for batch production of high-quality meal offerings," Blakemore said. "So I think we have the assets, and I think we're also figuring out that, in the new world post COVID, you know, the assets that we share with our clients can be more fully used and utilized when they're not being utilized with our clients."

For an update on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting convenience services, click here.

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Compass Group report slow progress in COVID-19 recovery for Q3 - Vending Times

The acting director of the Oregon Employment Department, said in a press call that the backlog of claims has been reduced. But many require further processing that could take months.

The number of initial unemployment claims have risen sharply and are now declining after the outbreak of COVID-19. (Courtesy/Oregon Employment Department).

The Oregon Employment Department has made progress in processing the record backlog of unemployment claims caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, tens of thousands of unemployed people will still have to wait months for benefits, David Gerstenfeld, the acting director of the Oregon Employment Department, said in a media call on Wednesday.

He said that between March 15 and July 18, the department received 533,000, a record number of claims for unemployment insurance. Of those, fewer than 1,200 have not been processed yet. Those remaining were all filed this month and are being processed quickly he said.

We've gone from the lowest unemployment rate in the state's history to the highest unemployment rate in the state's history, he said. And that happened not over the course of a year, like most traditional recessions, but almost overnight. And that's been incredibly stressful on so many people who rapidly saw their income just disappear.

But Gerstenfeld said that many of those claims that have been processed are stuck in adjudication. The adjudication is a fact-finding process to determine if someone is eligible for benefits after quitting a job, being fired or not accepting work.

Gerstenfeld didnt have a precise number of how many claims are in adjudication but its in the tens of thousands and the timeline for clearing them is 12 to 14 weeks.

He said that the department had 80 adjudicators before the pandemic began and there are now more than 210. There are plans to hire at least 100 more, he said.

The department has made progress on processing the claims filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, he said. The program was created by the federal relief package passed by Congress this spring and extends unemployment to self-employed and gig workers who wouldnt normally qualify for traditional unemployment benefits.

Earlier this month, the department contracted with Google to set up a new form for the program. Gerstenfeld said that the department has had 115,000 weekly claims handled by the new system. Several weeks ago the department had 70,000 applications for the new program with a goal to process them by Aug. 8.

As of last week, the department has processed about 70% or 50,000 of those claims, paying out $65 million in benefits, he said.

As part of the federal pandemic relief package, people receiving unemployment get an additional $600. The additional benefit ended last week, but Gerstenfeld said it will be applied retroactively to claims that havent been paid.

Congress is considering another relief package and is debating extending the benefit or reducing it.

Gerstenfeld has paid out $2.2 billion in the additional pandemic benefit, which he said has had a big impact on the state economy.

Patrick OConnor, a regional economist with the department, said that numbers on how many people in the Salem area have received the additional $600 benefit were not yet available.

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Contact reporter Jake Thomas at 503-575-1251 or[emailprotected]or @jakethomas2009.

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The state has made progress on unemployment claims, but tens of thousands still waiting - Salem Reporter

ByHub staff report

The latest editions of Johns Hopkins University's reports on the composition of its graduate students, faculty, and staff show that the critical commitments to advancing equity and creating a more inclusive Johns Hopkins outlined in the Roadmap on Diversity and Inclusion are showing positive results: There has been growth over several years in the number of female affiliates and those that identify as a member of underrepresented racial minority groups.

The reports are a key part of the Roadmap's promise of transparency so the community can see where the university has achieved greater diversity and where work remains to be done.

"This kind of reporting is a critical part of the effort we established five years ago with the creation of the Roadmap on Diversity and Inclusion," JHU President Ronald J. Daniels says. "Our commitment to rigorous reporting of data, down in many cases to the departmental level, makes us stand apart and allows the entire community to regularly track progress."

Ronald J. Daniels

President, Johns Hopkins University

He added: "This fuels the oversight of leadership, including the board of trustees, around our collective objectives articulated in the Roadmap. We have much to do to ensure that this moment motivates us to do more, but we are able to build on a firm foundation of data generation and collection, reporting, and transparency that is the wellspring of progress."

Efforts to increase the number of affiliates from groups that are underrepresented in higher education (URM)including Black or African American, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanderhave led to steady progress. URM individuals were 16% of the total graduate student population in 2019, up from 13% in 2011. The percentage went from 8% to 10% of full-time professorial faculty between 2015 and 2019 (the same percentages as among all full-time faculty).

An increase in female graduate student representation, from 51% in 2011 to 53% in 2019, was driven by the enrollment of more women in master's programs and doctoral programs other than PhDs; the percentage of women in PhD programs decreased. Female representation among full-time professorial faculty increased from 37% to 41% between 2015 and 2019.

Because recruitment and retention depend upon efforts within schools, departments, and programs, the reports disaggregate the data to assess progress at a number of levels. The university community is encouraged to review all three reports online:

The reports note that the use of male and female as the only gender categories reflect federal reporting guidelines and not the full scope of gender identities represented and supported in the Johns Hopkins community, an issue leaders hope to address in future reports. In addition, they add, the documents are not intended to examine how university students, staff, and faculty view the institutional climatethere are other tools and programs accomplish that goal, including the annual Gallup employee engagement survey, exit interviews, and the COACHE survey of faculty.

The university plans to continue to share composition data as its diversity efforts progress. In early July, Daniels announced several new diversity efforts that will begin this year, including a task force to assess the Roadmap on Diversity and Inclusion and recommend next steps. The JHU community will be invited to listening sessions and a virtual town hall focused on the Roadmap 2020 Task Force launch. The discussions will be guided by the data and lessons learned from the latest composition reports.

The president also announced a scholarly initiative focused on discrimination in Johns Hopkins University's history, and a committee to create the criteria for reexamining the names of buildings and programs. Members of the university community can share their ideas and feedback on all of the diversity projects on the on the university's Diversity and Inclusion website.

The faculty composition report specifically helps the university track gains made through its Faculty Diversity Initiative, which was launched in 2015 with a $25 million funding commitment and a goal of developing a multifaceted approach to faculty recruitment and retention.

The Johns Hopkins University Roadmap on Diversity and Inclusion, released in November 2016, lays out specific actions to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity across the Hopkins community

The report says, "It is clear that, through the life of the initiative, important gains have been made. During a period of faculty growth14% growth in professorial faculty and 11% growth overall since fall 2015female and underrepresented minority faculty representation grew faster, reducing historical imbalances in those two areas of faculty diversity." The proportions of female, Black, Hispanic, minority, and URM faculty at the university have all increased over that time period.

"Reporting on the composition of our faculty, students, and staff offers a regular opportunity to deliver on our promise of transparency and make sure our community can easily find the data that drives our efforts," says Sunil Kumar, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. "The increases we see in the numbers reflect substantial efforts in every division to improve recruitment and hiring practices and support individuals from a variety of backgrounds."

Kumar adds that with the leadership of Katrina Caldwell as JHU's new chief diversity officer, the university will develop the next phase of the faculty diversity initiative. Areas that call for additional focus include increasing opportunities for advancement, improving the climate around diversity and inclusion, and creating more effective work-life balance, he says.

The university uses the data compiled in the Report on Staff Composition to evaluate whether its recruitment, development, and compensation practices are resulting in gender equity and a broad representation of individuals who identify as a minority. The most recent report reflects statistics from 2015, 2017, and 2019; examines each school and several administrative divisions; and divides the data by employee groups.

Minority staff composition grew from 37% in 2015 to 41% in 2019. URM is not a category used in the staff composition report. The term minority encompasses all of the groups in the definition of URM (which aligns with the one used by the National Center for Educational Statistics) plus individuals who self-identify as Asian. Female representation remained steady among staff at 71% across those same years.

The employee groups with the highest minority composition in 2019 were Service (85%), Administrative Support (51%), and Tech/Paraprofessional (51%). The employee groups with the lowest minority composition in 2019 were Executive/Administrative (19%) and Managerial (27%).

"A number of strategic initiatives are underway to attract and retain a diverse workforce and promote a workplace climate where all employees feel included and engaged in our success," says Heidi Conway, vice president for human resources.

Recently, in conversations with the Hopkins Diaspora and Black Faculty and Staff Association, university leaders discussed plans for JHU to offer mandatory unconscious bias and anti-racist training to all managers, and said the university will look to sustain its internal review of salary equity as well as seek outside consultation on that topic.

Also, a universitywide advisory committee, led by the talent acquisition team in Human Resources, has developed recommendations to improve the process for promoting qualified internal candidates. The plan includes ways to increase transparency and address gaps that employees experience as they navigate their career growth.

"I am truly grateful to our colleagues in the BFSA, the Hopkins Diaspora, and the Diversity Leadership Council, our students in the Black Student Union and the Multicultural Leadership Council, and to all across Johns Hopkins who have worked to advance these priorities and embed transparency and accountability into the structures of our university," Daniels says. "At a watershed moment in our country, we are bringing new energy and urgency to this essential work."

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Johns Hopkins makes meaningful progress toward equity and inclusion goals - The Hub at Johns Hopkins

The so called Grumman Navy plume has been a decades long work in progress to clean up what is considered to be Long Islands largest underground mass of water pollution. There have been many different parties involved in the multi-million dollar remediation project, and years of government red tape has frustrated local water districts and residents alike.

In a recent telephone interview, Bethpage Water District Superintendent, Mike Boufis, explained to me the current state and timetable of the ongoing remediation project.

Currently things are moving in the right direction, said Boufis. Three wells have already been drilled in Bethpage, as part of the remediation work on the eastern side of the plume and the design and building phases are underway on the pipes to centralize the water treatment system.

He added that the remediation work was, decades late but Im glad to see everything moving in the right direction.

Boufis said that ongoing negotiations between parties have caused multiple delays on the installation of easements around the plume.

Its taken over four years of negotiations to work on these easements in particular areas around the plume site. I know that Grumman and the Navy and political officials like Congressman, Tom Suozzi andTown of Oyster Bay Superintendent, Joseph Saladino, have been involved in the process to try and speed things along.

The proposed installation site of the easements are located on the former King Kullen property off of the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway and near the old Motor Parkway, off of Stewart and Arthur Avenue in Bethpage.

Im not sure if its the MTA or LIRR property near the site of the old Motor Parkway, but they are looking at that corridor to install a carrier pipe to move the water in a East west direction towards the recharge basins, said Boufis. It is currently a cordoned off area, where a water main needs to be laid down under the covering thats in place.

Some of the ongoing remediation work that should be completed by 2021 includes the installation of water main in an east-west direction off of Central Avenue and Hickey Blvd and road restoration and a newly installed well behind St Martin of Tours Church.

I am glad they prioritized that well because in my opinion that area had some of the worst contamination from the plume, said Boufis.

Boufis said that despite the constant delays in repairs and the political red tape, he believes the remediation project will be completed by 2030.

Four or five years ago, they were talking about having everything completed by 2022, but at this point that is unrealistic. I think it will be a decade by the time all of the pieces of puzzle are in place.

Boufis said that the local water districts have been actively corresponding and working with Grumman and local politicians to push the remediation project forward.

Ive been in constant contact with County Executive, Laura Curran and other officials like Joe Saladino, legislators Laura Schaefer and Rose Walker on this remediation project. Our relationship with Grumman has never been as good as it is now.

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Superintendent says progress is being made on the Grumman Navy plume - The Mid Island Times

In January, Marion was awarded a $155,000 from the Iowa Great Places Program for the citys Uptown Plaza project.

The idea of the project has been in the works for a decade and has been tied with the Uptown Streetscape project. The plan is to use the parking lot near City Square Park that was 11th Street as a plaza area and to improve the park overall.

Many ideas are still up in the air for what will be included in the project, including an ice-skating rink, water features, a community garden, a space for performances, new lighting and pavilions and game areas.

Jill Ackerman, president of the Marion Chamber of Commerce said a steering committee is working on the details, including how to best use the depot pavilion in the park. She said the design team is in the process of digging into the details and the process has not been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its almost been propelled by COVID, Ackerman said. Its really picked up a lot of steam, and there is a lot of interest to get these plans going.

Ackerman said the plans incorporate new landscaping and public art. She said plans for the ice rink, water features and a community garden are still on the table.

The committee is continually bringing back images to the group and trying to hone in on exactly what we want, Ackerman said. We are probably getting pretty close to having some initial renderings.

She added that the Iowa Great Places grant deadline is coming up again in November and said the committee would need renderings by that time to make their application stronger.

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Tom Treharne, Marions community development director, said the Uptown Plaza project is still estimated to cost between $2 million and $3 million, which will also come down to what areas of Uptown Marion will be considered plaza.

Treharne said he thinks there will be specific public information on whats going to be included in the plaza and renderings sometime in September.

Thats where we are at right now is trying to put that design together and then take it to the public for review and consideration, Treharne said. I just think its one of the most exciting projects. Its been talked about for long periods of time and were really excited to get graph representation on a plan thats been in the works for over 10 years in what were trying to create for the community.

Comments: gage.miskimen@thegazette.com

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Marion plaza project making progress during pandemic - The Gazette

Even Lamar Jackson couldnt sidestep the implications of the coronavirus crisis this offseason. The Baltimore Ravens MVP quarterback said he missed training with teammates in organized team activities over the spring, and even when he brought players together for an unofficial gathering in Florida, they were limited by social distancing restrictions and closed facilities.

Still, Jackson said he found a little, regular park where he and his teammates could hold a small makeshift practice outdoors a couple months ago.

And thats where he got his first glimpse at what Baltimores group of offensive skill position players could look like in 2020.

We just wanted to go out there and get chemistry, because we didnt want to go to camp and be embarrassing ourselves, so we just got some work in, Jackson said. It wasnt how I wanted it, because we werent able to do it as much as possible, because Florida was getting shut down and stuff like that. We just got in what we [could]. Guys looked pretty good out there.

A few of those players have drawn extra attention from Ravens fans and media members as the team reports for training camp. So what does Jackson think of the prominent pieces that will surround him this season in Baltimores offense?

He offered answers Wednesday while speaking to reporters during a video conference call

Jackson on wide receiver Marquise Brown

Brown didnt need Jacksons words to balloon expectations for his second NFL season social media photos and videos showing the wide receivers new physique have already done the job but he still earned compliments from the face of the franchise. As a rookie last year, Brown caught 46 passes for 584 yards and seven touchdowns. And that was on a surgically-repaired left foot.

Now more than 18 months removed from that Lisfranc procedure, Brown is expected to be available for more practices in his second NFL season and is hopeful to avoid the pain that nagged him through 2019.

Hes packed on muscle and shown off his athleticism throughout the offseason in videos posted to social media.

I feel like he is going to have a huge jump, more than people may think, Jackson said. He was hurt last year. People didnt know that. But he went out there and battled his tail off each and every game on a messed-up foot. And now his full potential is going to show this year, I feel. Hes still young, but he is going to show off. And my job is to get the ball out quicker, because hes a lot faster with that foot at 100 percent.

Jackson on two rookie wide receivers

The Ravens took Devin Duvernay out of Texas in the third round of Aprils draft and selected SMUs James Proche in the sixth round, adding two of college footballs most prolific pass catchers to their receiving corps. Duvernay helped solidify his status as a top-flight prospect when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.39 seconds at the NFL combine, and Proche racked up 111 receptions as a senior at SMU, tied for the most in the NCAAs football bowl subdivision.

I watched a few highlights when we drafted them, Jackson said. I feel like theyre it. Devin is fast, hes a fast guy. James Proche his route-running and his hands are different. I just cant wait to see them when we got the pads on.

Jackson on the Ravens running backs

Though Jackson led the Ravens with 1,206 rushing yards last season, an NFL record for a quarterback, he doesnt think Baltimores ground game will struggle much if he carries the ball less often in 2020. The Ravens drafted Ohio States J.K. Dobbins in the second round this year, and hell join a running backs rotation already stocked with talent.

I dont really put my mind on, Oh, well I have to run a lot, or this and that, Jackson said. Weve got great running backs. Weve got Mark Ingram, weve got Gus Edwards, weve got Justice Hill, weve got J.K. Dobbins. I feel like were going to be pretty good with the rushing part. But if I have to, if the play breaks down and no one is open, then Ill do my thing. But other than that, were pretty good.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.

Aaron Kasinitz covers the Baltimore Ravens for PennLive and can be reached at akasinitz@pennlive.com or on Twitter @AaronKazreports. Follow PennLives Ravens coverage on Facebook and Youtube.

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What Baltimore Ravens Lamar Jackson thinks of Marquise Browns progress, rookie receivers and more - PennLive

The near $200 million renovation of the south end zone inside Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium has started to take shape over the last several months as the Longhorns prepare to unveil the finished product in time for the 2021 college football season.

The home of Texas football looks nothing like it did two seasons ago before the Longhorns broke ground on the south end zone renovation project asthe construction inside Royal Memorial Stadium has progressed throughout the last several months.

Texas fans who attended any home games during the 2019 season witnessed some of the renovation process, which began by removing all of the seating in the south end zone. But further changes have happened since the Longhorns' wrapped up the 2019 football season, including constructing the multi-level south end zone enclosure and most recently putting up the Longhorns' scoreboard ahead of the upcoming season. First-year defensive coordinator Chris Ash unveiledthe latest progress on Twitter Thursday, which shows an entirely different look, as seen in the below photo.

The University of Texas broke ground on the south end zone renovation project in May 2019 and is one of the many facility upgradesthe Longhorns have plannedever sinceTexas athletic director Chris Del Conte was hired in late 2017.

In a Horns247 exclusive interview on The Flagship Podcast, Del Conte opened up about the on-going construction of the Longhorns' football stadiumand howthe time to upgrade was well past due.

That building was built for Coach Royal, and remodeled by John Mackovic on one floor, so they're having to redo everything, Del Conte said of the Longhorns stadium renovation.Everything is completely getting torn down to the studs, and the whole thing is about a 240,000 square-foot enterprise when you see how big it is when its all said and done.

"So it's going to be a completely brand new football space that were roughly spending $200 million on, which has been raised by significant donors who want to see Texas compete at the highest level.

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Upon unveiling the design specs for the south end zone project, Del Conte said, "The new south end zone will provide our student-athletes, staff and fans with the finest facility in the country and one that we all can be extremely proud of.It will feature the best of the best when it comes to student-athlete amenities and training needs, first-rate coaching staff offices and meeting rooms along with state-of-the-art opportunities and experiences for our many fans and supporters."

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Look: Latest progress of Texas' south end zone renovation - 247Sports

Google today provided an update on its progress bringing Flutter app development to the web, inarguably its biggest potential target market.

Our vision for Flutter is to provide a portable toolkit for building beautiful experiences wherever you might want to paint pixels on the screen, Googles Mariam Hasnany writes. As weve noted previously, we are deliberately app-centric with our framework and API choices, building a layered architecture that can scale across mobile, desktop, and embedded devices without compromising performance or quality. The web is at the core of our work. Flutter was originally born out of explorations from the Chrome team. It draws inspiration from the productivity and iterative development model of the web, and many of our engineers have years of experience building browser engines and web standards. We target the web browser because it is the beating heart of the internet: the most pervasive, flexible, and extensive app model that has existed in computing history.

Flutter started off as a cross-platform app development platform for Android and iOS, but it has since expanded to include Windows, Mac, Linux, and web, and Google has plans to bring it to any device type with a screen over time. But the web is obviously a very important platform, and Googles goal is to make Flutter for web both true to the web and a no-compromise expression of Flutter.

As with other versions of Flutter, developers will use the Dart programming language to create web apps using Flutter for web. The difference is what happens under the covers: The engine component of Flutter web translates Flutter scenes into HTML, CSS or Canvas, and renders frames onto webpages as trees of HTML elements. Google calls this the DomCanvas backend.

It gives us the most compatibility across browsers with a compact code size and is well suited for apps with short lived sessions that require fast startup, Hasnany says. The firm is also working on a CanvasKit-based backend that uses WebAssembly and WebGL and allows direct access to the low-level graphics stack enabling full parity with native Flutter. For now Flutter gives you the option to choose which backend best fits your desired use case, she adds.

As an example of whats possible using Flutter for web, Google offers the Rive 2 Beta, which was completely rewritten in Flutter. You can sign-up now to test the app in beta.

Rive is an animation design application that allows designers and developers to create high-quality assets to be easily integrated to any platform, Hasnany explains. In order to combine user interface with glitch-free animations in real-time, Rive requires heavy rendering of graphics and performant experiences across modern browsers as well as other platforms.

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Google Talks Progress on Flutter for Web - Thurrott.com - Thurrott.com