The tree is up. The hall is decorated. The presents are wrapped (sort of). There are eight boxes of crackers. I have just taken delivery of a 4.6kg turkey. We are ready. But for what exactly? Turns out no one is coming this year. And we arent going anywhere either. This is not the end of year we expected when we sent out 2020s first issue in January. Then we were worrying about stockmarket valuations and shifting cash into commodities, which we thought might be at the end of their vicious ten-year bear market.

The future turned out to be as unco-operative as usual. There was no way to know in January that a pandemic would close the world; that democracy would be effectively suspended across the West; that markets would hit new highs amid both a supply and demand crunch; that fiscal and monetary policy would merge into one great stimulus machine, rendering valuations irrelevant; that the main press topic in Christmas week would be the great festive lettuce shortage; and that I would hit 26 December with 3kg of excess turkey to fricassee.

So whats this years shock? Obviously, after the events of 2020, any forecasts must be read more for entertainment value than anything else. But in this week's magazine, Matthew Lynn offers a few of his expectations of the unexpected. Im hoping his last (the FTSE 100 to 10,000) comes true. It has underperformed horribly, but it is cheap and has to be a better bet than some of the capital-destroying businesses Bill Bonner rails against. Max King lists the investment trusts that have disappointed and thrilled him this year;David Stevenson reiterates our view on commodities (definitely a buy);and in our Roundtable weve lined up some of our favourite stockpickers and forced them to give us their best recommendations.

My own thoughts on 2021 will be familiar to regular readers. I think it will be pretty good. Vaccine roll out is faster than I expected (we are heading for one million a week), which should see the economy open faster than expected (when rising cases no longer equate to rising deaths, lockdown has to end). We are likely to see a wave of productivity as firms integrate all the technological lessons of 2020. All this will happen amid an ongoing wave of stimulus. Perhaps most importantly of all, the UK savings rate is still high households have cash to burn. Where will it go?

Here is where I think the miseries of the investment world might be surprised. Think about what you most want to do right now. Ill tell you what I want to do:drive and fly. And as soon as I can, that is what I will do. I will drive all over the UK seeing my family. I will take planes to all the places I want to go Greece, Florida, Iceland and perhaps even to Japan for the Olympics (Japan last hosted the Olympics in 1964, a year that marked its shift from enemy country to global economy see this week's magazine for why 2021 could be another good year in Japan). I wont be alone. We often talk about the pent-up demand for goods created by the pandemic. But dont underestimate the pent-up demand for physical freedom and the oil, airlines, restaurant seats and cars that will be needed to fuel it. Heres looking forward to the renewal of our commitment to that freedom in 2021 and to the investment opportunities that come with it. A very happy Christmas and New Year to all our readers.

Our first issue of 2021 will be with you on 8 January.

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Here's looking forward to freedom in 2021 - MoneyWeek

The U.S. asylum system is often cited as part of a noble legacy tied to the message on the Statue of Liberty, offering freedom to the huddled masses.

But the truth is much more complicated and decidedly less noble.

Over its 40-year history, the U.S. asylum system has never meted out refuge evenly or in the full spirit behind its creation.

As The San Diego Union-Tribune has reported over the last year in an in-depth investigation, disparities, capriciousness and bias plague the system, subjecting asylum seekers to excruciating waits and making it difficult to predict the outcome of even the strongest cases.

Those shortcomings, partnered with policies meant to deter people from coming, have meant that many people fleeing the worlds atrocities are sent back to danger. Some are returned to their deaths.

While the problems are longstanding, theyve intensified under the Trump administration, which defined itself largely by extreme deterrence policies that have ultimately taken away any meaningful chance at asylum.

The incoming Biden administration has indicated it will undo many of the widely criticized programs created under President Donald Trump, including the Remain in Mexico program, which forces asylum seekers to wait in Mexico as their cases are processed in the U.S.

But, it remains unclear whether the 46th U.S. president will be able to use the moment to break with the United States past in a profound way.

To do so will take a re-examination of more existential questions about the countrys global obligations to protect refugees, as well as a reimagining of many of the processes that make up the asylum system today.

Claudia Hernandez (left) along with her 6-year-old daughter, Angelina, and friend Fernanda Zuniga (right) ended up waiting by a port of entry in early 2019 for their chance to request asylum after they lost their temporary shelter in Mexico.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The decision on whether to protect people fleeing harm used to be made from crisis to crisis, and on the whims of elected officials.

The modern conceptualization of refugees and asylum was born in the aftermath of the Holocaust.

Even then, the United States resisted providing shelter.

After the atrocities of the Nazis were widely known, then-President Harry Truman still had a difficult time convincing Congress and the American public that the United States should take in Jewish refugees, according to Edna Friedberg, historian at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

It wasnt until 1968 that the United States signed onto a United Nations agreement regarding its role in identifying and protecting refugees as part of a collective global commitment.

It would be 12 years before the country codified this obligation into law. That legislation created the asylum system a screening process to identify refugees from among the migrants at and inside the United States own borders.

It also outlined how the United States, through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, would resettle refugees who were identified in other countries screening systems, such as those who fled violence in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and were waiting in refugee camps.

In order to balance these obligations with countries desires for control of their borders, the international definition of a refugee is specific and restricted.

States give up a certain amount of sovereignty over their borders in order to place themselves under obligation to protect vulnerable people, but the obligation is kept as narrow as possible, said Larry Gollub, a retired asylum officer.

Refugees are people who have fled their countries because of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a social group such as the LGBTQ+ community.

But there are many people who flee harm or hardship whose life experiences do not match this definition. There is also a lot of room for interpretation and political agenda, creating a haphazard and inconsistent system.

A hand from the Mexico side of the border reaches through the fence that separates Tijuana from San Diego at Border Field State Park, where families who cannot cross visit each other through the barrier.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Making the asylum system live up to its obligations in a more humanitarian and efficient way is feasible through a wide variety of changes.

Some could be accomplished at the discretion of the president; others would require an act of Congress and likely bipartisan support.

While some of the changes would require more funding for a particular agency or process, there are also opportunities to shift funding away from policies that dont help the system function as smoothly or fairly as it could.

Its not necessarily all about needing more money invested its about political will, said Michelle Bran, director of the migrant rights and justice program at the Womens Refugee Commission. You think about the things that weve done as a nation in terms of response to challenges, and this is so minor in comparison.

Changes both big and small have been discussed at length by experts in asylum law and human rights, attorneys, judges, former and current government officials, and people who have journeyed through the system themselves as refugees.

Here are their suggestions.

MOVE IMMIGRATION COURT TO THE JUDICIAL BRANCH

Immigration judges are not traditional judges. Instead, they work under the executive branch of government under the presidents authority. They are employed by the attorney general at the Department of Justice, the same prosecutorial agency that argues against asylum seekers appeals in federal court.

This presents, critics argue, a clear-cut conflict of interest.

It also means that the presidential administration has a lot of power to influence the courts decisions based on its political agenda.

That was especially apparent under the Trump administration when attorneys general used their powers to redecide cases and fundamentally changed accepted asylum precedents.

They made it much more difficult for women fleeing domestic violence in countries that dont shelter them from that abuse to get protection in the United States. They also made cases of people fleeing gang violence already a tough scenario to prove under U.S. asylum law nearly impossible.

The National Association of Immigration Judges, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Federal Bar Association have all advocated for years for immigration courts to become free of the political sway of the executive branch by moving to the judicial branch.

The system needs independence, said Jeremy McKinney of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Its time for the Department of Justice and the immigration court system to get a divorce.

Moving the court would require an act of Congress, but past efforts at legislation have not gained much support. Interest among some Democrats to take up the issue appears to be growing.

DIVERSIFY AND TRAIN IMMIGRATION JUDGES

The majority of immigration judges previously worked for the Department of Homeland Security as opponent attorneys arguing against asylum seekers in immigration court.

The Union-Tribune reported in August that immigration judges with this work history were about 1.4 times more likely to order asylum seekers deported than judges with different backgrounds, based on an analysis of immigration court outcomes from fiscal 2009 through fiscal 2018.

Immigration attorneys have long criticized the executive branchs hiring practices for immigration judges. That concern only grew under the Trump administration as the Department of Justice promoted judges who ordered deported high percentages of asylum seekers. Those judges now decide asylum appeals.

In its proposal to move immigration court to the judicial branch, the Federal Bar Association calls for a reimagining of the hiring process that would limit any one presidential administrations influence and incorporate suggestions from local communities.

Newly hired judges, as well as veterans, could also be given thorough trainings of asylum law to try to equalize some of the disparities in their outcomes and lean more toward a mindset often embraced by asylum officers that decisions should be made with an abundance of caution.

REDUCE THE COURT BACKLOG

At her home in Santee, Carmen Kcomt plays her late fathers favorite song from memory on the piano. Kcomt came to the U.S. in the early 2000s from Peru. She had to flee because she was the judge in a paternity case involving the then-president and was facing threats and attacks.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The number of immigration court cases has swelled in recent years to well over 1.2 million with an average wait of more than two years, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse of Syracuse University, or TRAC.

Many of those cases are asylum seekers.

The backlog contributes to issues within the asylum system, including forcing refugees to wait in a hellish limbo.

Its horrible, said Santee resident Carmen Kcomt, who won asylum in 2008 from Peru after waiting for four years through multiple rejections and appeals. You feel like you are a hybrid, not belonging to anywhere. You cannot go back. You cannot stay.

Fully funding an effort to reduce the backlog could gain bipartisan support, even from those who take a deterrence perspective. Reduced wait times discourage people from using the asylum system as a way to forestall deportation if they are not actually fleeing harm, according to many former government officials.

While the Trump administration hired judges and increased the courts budget to $673 million in 2020 from $422 million in 2016, many support staff roles such as clerks and translators were left out, and many judges retired over objections to the administrations practices.

The Biden administration could further clear the backlog by working with Congress to create programs other than the asylum system to grant permanent residency to people who meet certain criteria essentially resetting the system.

This solution would likely be controversial in todays political climate, but it is not unheard of; it has been done before.

In the 1990s, the asylum system also got bogged down with cases.

In 1997, Congress ended up granting certain Central Americans the ability to stay in the United States without going through the asylum process, a system reset to clear out old cases and make sure newly filed cases could be processed fluidly. It gave green cards to just under 200,000 people, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Charlene DCruz, director of Project Corazon with Lawyers for Good Government, said that Congress should consider doing a similar reset and start with people who were put into the Remain in Mexico program. There are more than 65,000 people with cases pending in the programs border courts, according to TRAC.

The Trees of Life art installation that lines much of Managua, Nicaragua, was implemented by President Daniel Ortegas wife, who is also the vice president. To pro-democracy protesters, these trees represent a lavish excess in spending when many Nicaraguans live in poverty. Many of these Trees of Life were taken down by protesters in 2018.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Congress could also consider creating a way to grant refugee status to groups of people fleeing a particular situation, such as the political oppression in Nicaragua under the regime of President Daniel Ortega or the discrimination and attacks faced by English-speaking Cameroonians.

This strategy is already used in other countries including Kenya, where the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been invited by the government to manage the process of identifying refugees.

PROVIDE LEGAL AID TO ASYLUM SEEKERS

Since immigration is considered a civil matter rather than a criminal one, people in immigration court have a right to be represented by an attorney if they can afford one but not at the U.S. governments expense if they cannot.

In 2018, during the height of the public outcry over families being separated at the border, reports of toddlers standing alone before judges around the country astonished many Americans who were not familiar with U.S. immigration court practices.

Giving asylum seekers more access to legal representation would make the system fairer, many advocates say, and could make it more efficient, too, saving the government money on other immigration court costs.

The attorney general could set up programs that provide lawyers to asylum seekers or even to everyone in immigration court proceedings starting with the most vulnerable among them such as unaccompanied children.

Some states and local governments, including California and New York, have implemented programs to provide attorneys to some of the unrepresented at immigration courts in their area.

If funding attorneys for everyone is not politically feasible at the federal level, the attorney general could increase funding for legal orientation programs that support asylum seekers who have to represent themselves.

These programs, operated by nonprofits in some detention centers, help people understand whether their cases match asylum criteria, how to fill out an asylum application and other basic legal questions that can seem impossible to figure out without an attorneys knowledge.

A 2012 audit of orientation programs that receive funding from the Department of Justice found that they saved the federal government a net of $17.8 million per year because they help people move through the court system more quickly.

Bidens attorney general could also revive a program that provided case management services to asylum-seeking families.

The program, which operated as a pilot from 2016 to 2017, matched families with social workers who helped them find lawyers, housing, schools and more while they waited for their cases. It reported 99 percent compliance with monitoring requirements and immigration court hearing attendance. It was shut down by the Trump administration.

END THE DETENTION OF ASYLUM SEEKERS

Otay Mesa Detention Center holds asylum seekers and other immigration detainees in custody in south San Diego.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Asylum seekers, even those with no criminal history, often spend years in the prison-like conditions of U.S. detention centers after fleeing traumatic persecution in their home countries.

Attorney Elizabeth Lopez of the Southern California Immigration Project said that rethinking practices of detaining asylum seekers would be in her top changes for the system a change that either Congress or the White House could put in place.

But, Lopez said, that would have to be paired with either giving asylum seekers work permits right away so that they can support themselves or creating services to assist asylum seekers with housing, food and medical care if they are not allowed to work. Those adjustments would require congressional action.

Ruth Hargrove, another San Diego attorney, hoped politicians on both sides of the aisle could support this change because holding asylum seekers in custody for years is expensive, in addition to going against humanitarian principles, she said.

It costs roughly $3,500 to hold an asylum seeker in detention for one month, based on fiscal 2019 costs reported by the Department of Homeland Security. The government budgeted more than $3 billion for immigration detention in fiscal 2020.

Plus, detention often is not necessary to ensure compliance. A study from TRAC last year found that more than 80 percent of migrant families likely asylum seekers showed up for their immigration court hearings, and that number rose to more than 99 percent for families who had attorneys to help them.

The federal government has several alternatives to detention programs, such as requiring check-ins with federal officials, to help ensure that people show up for immigration court hearings at much lower costs than detention.

Hargrove recently helped a Cameroonian asylum seeker get released from detention after about 20 months inside.

There are all of these people languishing in prison, and their only crime is that they were trying to avoid death and torture in their home country, Hargrove said. I cant even tell you the sense of betrayal that my client has. He really thought that America was going to save him, and no one was more surprised than he that he was immediately put in chains.

ACT AS AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHER WEALTHY COUNTRIES

A Tigray boy who fled the conflict in Ethiopias Tigray region carries water at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan on Nov. 27, 2020. More than 50,000 people have fled from Ethiopia into Sudan since the beginning of November.

(Nariman El-Mofty / The Associated Press)

Where asylum seekers go to be recognized as refugees is often a matter of geography.

Countries neighboring current conflicts and crises tend to receive the most if those countries allow them in.

About 85 percent of people forcibly displaced from their countries are living in places designated as developing economies by the United Nations.

Only some refugees in these countries end up resettled, chosen to move to a wealthier country.

In the past decade, even with the cuts to refugee resettlement put in place by the Trump administration, the United States resettled roughly 420,000 refugees who were waiting in limbo in other countries, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR. Thats more refugees than any other nation resettled.

But those numbers are small compared with the number of forcibly displaced people around the world, particularly those who need more stable protection than what is being provided in countries that require refugees to remain in camps or relegate them to second-class status.

The United States like other wealthy nations often gives money either to UNHCR ($1.7 billion last year) or directly to these developing countries to help with refugee situations rather than resettling more refugees.

There are currently roughly 33.8 million people who have been forcibly displaced outside of their countries of origin, according to UNHCR. Thats less than 1 percent of the worlds population.

Many refugee advocates emphasize that this is the highest number of displaced people on record. Their goal in that message is to encourage more aid.

But, according to researcher Benjamin Thomas White of the University of Glasgow, the levels of displacement are not an unprecedented crisis, and making the situation seem worse than ever can actually contribute to a push for xenophobic policies.

We live in a period where the world is much wealthier than in the past, White said. Our capacity of supporting is much greater.

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The U.S. asylum system is broken. How could it be reimagined? - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Late on Monday night, Congress approved a $900bn stimulus package which will deliver financial aid to millions of families and businesses facing economic distress from coronavirus pandemic. Though far smaller than a bill lawmakers passed at the outset of the pandemic, earlier this year, the measure is one the largest pieces of legislation in US history.

The product of frenzied negotiations, the package was paired with a $1.4tn spending bill to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year, 30 September 2021. In response to a deepening economic and public health crisis, the rescue bill authorizes direct payments of $600 to those who earn less than $75,000 and extends supplemental unemployment benefits to $300 for 11 weeks.

Tucked into the hulking 5,593-page bill, however, are a range of initiatives and obscure provisions that appear to have little to do with fortifying a fragile economy or keeping the government open.

The legislation authorizes the establishment of two new museums in Washington: the American Womens History Museum and the National Museum of the American Latino. Such approval, however, is only the first step in a years-long process to build the museums on the National Mall.

Despite broad support for the museums, earlier this month Mike Lee, a Republican senator from Utah, blocked legislation that would have approved their establishment, arguing that the US doesnt need segregated, separate-but-equal museums for hyphenated identity groups.

According to the bill, the Latino museum will see visitors learn about Latino contributions to life, art, history and culture in the United States while serving as a gateway for visitors to view other Latino exhibitions, collections, and programming at institutions across the country. The womens museum will recognize diverse perspectives on womens history and contributions.

In a shot across the bow at China, the bill reaffirms the right of the Tibetan people to reincarnate the Dalai Lama. China regards the exiled spiritual leader, who continues to advocate for a degree of Tibetan self-rule, as a threat to its sovereignty.

The text of the legislation warns: Interference by the Government of the Peoples Republic of China or any other government in the process of recognizing a successor or reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama and any future Dalai Lamas would represent a clear abuse of the right to religious freedom of Tibetan Buddhists and the Tibetan people. The legislation also directs the secretary of state to establish a US consulate in Tibets main city, Lhasa.

According to Reuters, the political head of Tibetans in exile welcomed the news as a victory for the Tibetan freedom struggle. China accused the US of meddling.

Lawmakers also included an end to this costly practice, which sees patients unexpectedly receive care from providers not covered by their insurers, thereby facing bills far higher than they would typically pay. As many as one in six emergency room visits or in-hospital stays resulted in at least one out-of-network bill in 2017, according to analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Consumers will be relieved to see the practice effectively banned under legislation which limits what patients can be billed for out-of-network services. Now, doctors and hospitals will have to work with insurers to settle on costs.

Although members of both parties have long denounced the practice, efforts to ban it had been thwarted by lobbying from insurers and healthcare providers.

The bill repeals a provision of federal law criminalizing unauthorized use of Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl, famous mascots of a US Forest Service public safety campaign concerning wildfires and pollution. Previously, illegally reproducing images of Smokey Bear was punishable by up to six months in prison.

The bill corrects a 25-year-old drafting error that denied thousands of islanders access to federal health benefits they were promised after resettling in the US.

Lawmakers agreed to allow Marshall Islanders and other islanders covered by the Compact of Free Association to sign up for Medicaid, after a 1996 welfare reform changed the categories qualifying for federal aid and effectively barred them.

Democrats led by members from Hawaii have fought for nearly two decades to restore Medicaid eligibility for islanders, without Republican support. They argued that the US broke its commitment to provide medical coverage to islanders who moved to the US after the military used their homeland to test nuclear bombs.

This is a shining moment at a time of darkness for our country, the Hawaii senator Mazie Hirono said after the bill passed. Lets savor it.

There were plenty of other surprises, including $2bn for the new US space force and a tax break for corporate meal expenses, panned as the three-martini lunch but a priority for Donald Trump. Senator Bernie Sanders, who pushed for bigger direct payments, called the inclusion of the provisions pathetic.

Racehorse owners also received a tax break, while $35m was allotted for groups which implement education in sexual risk avoidance, which the legislation defines as voluntarily refraining from non-marital sexual activity.

This is why Congress needs time to actually read this package before voting on it, the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter, responding to a report that the bill makes illegal streaming a felony.

Members of Congress have not read this bill. Its over 5,000 pages, arrived at 2pm today, and we are told to expect a vote on it in two hours. This isnt governance. Its hostage-taking.

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New museums and Smokey Bear: what's in the $900bn US stimulus package? - The Guardian

The idea of an incumbent government seeking re-election based on its performance was not a deciding factor in elections in India till the mid-1990s. Till then the Congress partys inherent advantage of being perceived to have spearheaded the freedom movement and the structural weakness of opposition parties to take advantage of anti-incumbency inoculated the Congress party in spite of a poor performance record. It was the liberalisation regime of the 1990s that led to a level playing field.

The democratisation of information access, the disintermediation of news with the advent of multiple platforms and a better awareness amongst citizens while making electoral choices compensated for the competitive advantage that incumbent political parties had by virtue of spending protracted periods of time in government.

It was in this period that Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee emerged as the torch-bearer of good governance. His language of good governance was nothing but measures by which an incumbent governments performance could be measured. It is worth relooking at the three broad aspects of good governance that Prime Minister Vajpayee brought in implementing a strategic vision, enhancing transparency and ensuring government accountability that led to his birthday being celebrated as Good Governance Day.

Implementing a strategic vision: Leaders at the top, especially in a complex federal structure like Indias, need to put together visions that resonate with a large and diverse population. Prime Minister Vajpayees strategic vision led to a boost in infrastructure building. While the golden quadrilateral is a visible contribution, the effect of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana on rural villages by boosting rural road connectivity and generating employment was equally transformative.

The idea of investing in human capital at an early stage led to the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan that ensured universalisation of primary education in a time-bound manner. Indias decision to conduct nuclear tests in Pokhran and then committing to a unilateral moratorium on further explosive testing can be attributed to Prime Minister Vajpayees strategic vision and thinking.

In the long run, the successful nuclear tests catapulted India into the nuclear high table culminating in the civil nuclear cooperation agreements between India and other countries. Transparency: It was not until 2002, under Prime Minister Vajpayee, that India had a law that made transparency a cornerstone of governance by ensuring that governments provided information proactively through voluntary disclosures.

The passing of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act ensured that the government institutionalised fiscal discipline and committed to bringing down the deficit. Vajpayees ideas of good governance have significantly influenced the two terms of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. By passing laws such as Citizenship Amendment Act and effectively abolishing Article 370 which was anti-women, anti-Dalit and anti-tribal the PM has added an additional dimension to the Vajpayee doctrine of good governance by focusing on equity and rule of law.

Ideas such as Jan Dhan Yojana which were lampooned by the elite showcase the strategic vision of the PM. In this fiscal year alone, more than Rs 2.57 lakh crore has been transferred to more than 700 million beneficiaries directly into their bank accounts. The Direct Benefit Transfer programme has allowed the government to take care of the poorest of the poor during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new National Education Policy is another example of the PMs strategic vision. Accountability to the people and transparent administrative and legislative processes continue to be a cornerstone of this government. The Prime Ministers call for Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas (everyones support, everyones development, everyones trust) is nothing but a rallying cry for good governance.

The writer is Union minister of state for home affairs

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3 broad aspects of good governance that PM Vajpayee brought in - Economic Times

2020 has been one for the record books for Apple Valley and its neighbors.

The year began with some of the typical annual activities like Mid-Winter Fest and the Frozen Apple Concert series along with the anticipation of others to come, like Freedom Days over the July 4 holiday.

But with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, Freedom Days, summer concerts and more never happened. Public buildings, schools, some businesses and public city pools closed. Some reopened with restrictions and closed again later. People have been encouraged to social distance, wear face coverings and take other precautions.

In the midst of the pandemic, stories of community members, businesses and others helping each other have emerged. Organizers got creative and changed the format of their events from in-person to virtual or scaled back on in-person activities. The city of Apple Valley grappled with how to use just over $4 million in federal coronavirus relief dollars for COVID-19-related expenses.

The community also experienced the sudden death of a parks and recreation leader, financial uncertainty for the Minnesota Zoo, social unrest related to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and two fatal shooting incidents.

Heres a recap of some of the news from the year.

COVID-19 response in Apple Valley

The pandemic affected all facets of government and peoples everyday lives. The city of Apple Valley, like many other governmental entities, moved from in-person meetings to holding public meetings virtually from March to June. Since the Municipal Center reopened during the summer, the city has held in-person meetings with the option for the public to comment virtually.

Apple Valley High School sophomore Sydney Hooppaw loads food into the back of a car during a May 4 food distribution hosted by The Open Door and Minnesota Valley Transit Authority at the Apple Valley Transit Station.

The City Council took other actions in an attempt to bring some relief to residents and businesses including waiving utility late fees, approving temporary beer and wine takeout sales and approving temporary outdoor service areas. The council also allocated $400,000 of the federal relief funding for a business relief grant program to help certain businesses with COVID-19 expenses.

The City Council and the Freedom Days committee decided to cancel the event because of COVID-19 concerns. The council also voted to close the Apple Valley Aquatic Center and Redwood Pool for the season.

The Apple Valley American Legion canceled its usual Memorial Day ceremony with members of the posts Color Guard/Honor Guard conducting honors for Memorial Day with a small, nonpublic ceremony. The Apple Valley Arts Foundation canceled its annual Music in Kelley Park concerts. One of the singers originally scheduled to perform later offered a virtual concert.

The city made several changes for the primary and general elections in 2020 due to COVID-19, including city officials responding to an influx of absentee ballots being cast. City Clerk Pam Gackstetter said over 50 percent of Apple Valleys registered voters requested an absentee ballot for the general election. Training for election judges was done virtually. The city implemented several safety measures including having judges wear masks and other protective equipment, erecting sneeze guard shields between voters and judges, using disposable secrecy sleeves and regularly sanitizing equipment.

Multiple local restaurants offered free meals to community members after schools were ordered to close in March because of the pandemic. The Free Book Buggie, a local nonprofit, worked with some of those restaurants to offer free books to residents during the free meal times.

Other examples of people helping each other include the property manager at the Legends of Apple Valley apartment complex starting a food pantry for its senior residents; an Apple Valley family putting up a Christmas lights display in their yard in April to offer residents free, distanced entertainment; and the Open Door Pantry partnering with the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority and local schools to offer food distribution events to the broader community. There was also a birthday parade for a 12-year-old boy who collected food and cleaning products to help the community and a surprise car cruise to lift a terminally ill veterans spirits.

Minnesota Zoo affected by pandemic

The finances of the Apple Valley attraction have been affected by the pandemic. The zoo, a state agency, temporarily closed to the public from March 14 to July 19 in response to COVID-19. Even after it reopened the zoo operated at reduced capacity, offering a socially distant experience for visitors. It has been closed for a second time since Nov. 21.

The closures have led to the zoos revenue taking a hit. The zoo took several cost-cutting measures including a hiring freeze, staff reductions and delaying or canceling major projects.

The zoo receives one-third of its operating budget from state appropriations and the rest is generated through earned revenue and contributions.

Zoo officials told the newspaper in November the zoo earned $2.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020-21 (July to September), which is about 57% less than it earned in the same period last year. The zoos budget projected earned revenue of $18.3 million for the fiscal 2020-21 biennium compared to the pre-COVID estimate of $33.4 million. Based on this, the zoos outlook was about the same as it was over the summer: a $15 million revenue loss as anticipated at the start of the pandemic. On average, the zoos yearly general operating budget is approximately $28 million.

The zoo has received financial support through a $6 million appropriation from the state and a new drive-thru fundraiser called Beastly Boulevard. Other annual events that support the zoo including Beastly Bash and the Tiger Tracks 5K Walk, Run, and Roll were held virtually this year. A second new drive-thru fundraiser, Nature Illuminated, started Dec. 3 and runs through Jan. 17.

The zoo is continuing to move forward with some of its planned capital improvements. The bonding bill passed by the Legislature this year includes $13 million for the zoo, of which $11 million is allocated for the new Treetop Trail project and $2 million for asset preservation.

Zoo spokesman Zach Nugent has said the zoo anticipates a long-term recovery period and will continue to evaluate its ability to build back and redevelop staffing and programming opportunities. As a state agency its part of a statewide hiring freeze.

Changes in city leadership

Apple Valley Parks and Recreation Director Barry Bernstein died suddenly March 21. Bernstein had worked for the city since 2012.

Superintendent Mike Endres has been working as acting interim parks and recreation director since late March. Endres indicated his desire in August to return to his previous position by the end of the year.

The council hired Huelife to help with the search for a new parks and recreation director. After interviewing five finalist candidates in November, the City Council formally approved the hiring of Eric Carlson on Dec. 10. Carlson has been Inver Grove Heights parks and recreation director for over 13 years and will start his position in Apple Valley on Jan. 19.

The City Council will see a change in early 2021 as Apple Valley Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland resigns her position to take her new seat on the Dakota County Board of Commissioners. Hamann-Roland defeated incumbent Chris Gerlach for the seat during the general election.

The council is scheduled to discuss the process of filling Hamann-Rolands position during the Jan. 14 meeting.

Seven people filed to run for two City Council seats during the general election. Incumbents Ruth Grendahl and Tom Goodwin were reelected for another term. Grendahl has been on the council since 1997 and Goodwin has served since 1987.

Two apparent murder-suicide incidents occurred in the city.

On Feb. 22, police say Alexander Petrovich fatally shot his younger brother and mother before taking his own life. Alexander reportedly suffered from untreated health symptoms for most of his adult life.

Officers responded to the home owned by Janice Petrovich at 13640 Upper Elkwood Court at 12:18 p.m. Feb. 22, after a 911 caller found three people who had been shot inside the home.

Police found the bodies of two men and one woman, who were later identified by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner as Janice Petrovich, 60, and her sons, Alexander Petrovich, 27, and Jonathan Petrovich, 23. The manner of death was listed as homicide for Janice and Jonathan, and suicide for Alexander. The Police Department said it believes Alexanders mental health challenges likely contributed to the violence in the home.

According to the department, Janice, Alexander and Jonathan all lived at the home. Officers responded to the house for different calls but nothing involving violence. According to court records, Jonathan had a history of mental illness but similar records cannot be found for Alexander. Alexander had previous criminal convictions for dogs at large and fourth-degree criminal damage to property in Dakota County, as well as minor traffic infractions, court records show.

On Nov. 4, Raymond Ronald Rosenbaum, 51, was suspected by police of shooting two people before taking his own life. Rosenbaum died of a gunshot wound to the head on Nov. 4. Police believe Rosenbaum used a .40-caliber handgun to shoot 52-year-old Faye Elizabeth Brown, who died of a gunshot wound to the torso on Nov. 4 and a 56-year-old man who survived and was hospitalized. The three of them all lived at the Morningview condominium complex at 7600 157th Street W.

Apple Valley Police Capt. Nick Francis said while Brown called police multiple times in 2020 reporting that Rosenbaum was harassing her, Rosenbaum never committed any crimes.

Court records indicate Rosenbaum has no criminal history in Minnesota other than convictions for petty misdemeanor seatbelt and texting while driving violations in 2017 in Dakota County. Francis said the departments coordinated response team, which includes an officer and a mental health professional, reached out to Rosenbaum prior to the Nov. 4 incident but he did not accept any services.

Unrest filters into Dakota County

The violence, break-ins and looting from the riots in Minneapolis and St. Paul filtered into some parts of Dakota County following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.

The first three nights of protest in the Twin Cities left burned-out buildings, smashed-out windows and stores robbed.

The evening of May 28, West St. Paul police reported that 18 businesses were damaged and items stolen during quick strikes, and two men allegedly smashed windows to break into the Dakota Countys Western Service Center in Apple Valley in the early morning hours of May 29. Fire and significant water damage was done to the judges chambers and court areas.

Arrests were made in connection to both incidents, including charges in U.S. District Court against the Apple Valley suspects.

Fornandous Cortez Henderson was sentenced on Dec. 9 to six and a half years in prison for aiding and abetting arson in connection to the arson at the Western Service Center. He entered a guilty plea on Aug. 26 in U.S. District Court in St. Paul. Hendersons sentence also includes a three-year supervised release and an order to pay $205,873 in restitution.

According to Hendersons guilty plea and documents filed with the court, Henderson and Garrett Patrick Ziegler, co-defendant, constructed multiple Molotov cocktails, and in the early morning hours of May 29 broke multiple windows at the Western Service Center with baseball bats and threw in multiple, lit Molotov cocktails.

Some of these devices successfully ignited and caused the fire damage.

Henderson and Ziegler also attempted to start other fires at the Western Service Center by pouring ignitable liquids and throwing unlit Molotov cocktails in and around the broken windows, then attempting to start the fluids on fire.

The attack caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, according to a U.S. Attorneys Office. The Western Service Center houses state and local agencies and organizations, including Dakota County court facilities, as well as a U.S. Passport center.

Other incidents linked to the rioting were reported in Burnsville, Eagan, Inver Grove Heights and Mendota Heights, including some burglary and firearms charges.

A peaceful protest also took place on Cahill Road in Inver Grove Heights. Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie said an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew that was implemented May 29 through June 1 in Dakota County was effective in quelling potential lawlessness.

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Year in Review: A year for the record books in Apple Valley - ECM Publishers

The decision the Joint Chiefs reach in the next year will be as seminal for the future development of military space as any except the actual creation of Space Force.

We are approaching a watershed moment in the future of the U.S. Space Force. Will all space systems be consolidated into the new service, or will the other services retain some capabilities and personnel? The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act requires the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the service chiefs to report on the space-related missions and expertise that should remain within each service. The decision that the Joint Chiefs reach in the next year will be as seminal for the future development of military space as any except the actual creation of Space Force.

Space Policy Directive-4, which directed the establishment of the USSF, also directed the consolidation of existing forces and authorities for military space activities, as appropriate, in order to minimize duplication of effort and eliminate bureaucratic inefficiencies. The as appropriate caveat was inserted because the National Space Council recognized that some space functions might have to remain in the other services. While an understanding has largely been reached that the other services should no longer develop or operate satellites, no similar consensus has been reached on other space capabilities or supporting space personnel, particularly the future of the space control mission.

Space control is an umbrella term for a broad set of warfighting capabilities that are not unique to a single service. It is broadly defined in Joint Publication 3-14 as operations to ensure freedom of action for the United States and its allies in space and deny an adversary freedom of action in space. Specifically, space control operations include both offensive and defensive capabilities that create effects in the space domain to support military activities in all domains.

While Space Force should be solely responsible for developing capabilities and systems that operate in space, it should not be the only service responsible for developing systems that create effects in space. As it develops into a mature warfighting domain, the other services will find it necessary to continue to build and integrate space control systems capable of protecting and enabling forces in their respective domains.

The space control missions that should be retained by the other services are most analogous to the air defense mission of the Army. While the Army does not operate aircraft for the purposes of protecting land forces from air attack, it has always retained various air defense systems designed to defend land forces from air threats. Absent its air arm, the Navy also conducts the air defense mission from surface vessels in a manner that another service could not replicate. In the same way that these services have integrated the air defense mission, the space control mission set will still need to be fully integrated into domain-specific platforms and will not be unique to any single service. In sum, while the other services will not operate systems in the space domain, they should not be excluded from creating effects in it.

Unlike the air defense analogy, the space control capabilities that the services need to retain will not be purely defensive. Defensive space control, as currently defined in JP-3-14, is limited to active and passive measures taken to protect friendly space capabilities from attack, interference, or unintentional hazards. It does not account for defensive space control actions that may be necessary to protect forces in other domains from adversary space capabilities. The space control capabilities the services need for protection will also have an inherently dual-use nature that will enable multi-domain operations which Space Command will integrate.

The joint integration of space warfighting within Space Command is another reason to retain some joint space control acquisition authorities. In addition to directing the creation of the Space Force, SPD-4 also directed the establishment of U.S. Space Command, noting that the command would perform its mission with forces provided by the United States Space Force and other United States Armed Forces. The space capabilities and personnel that the services retain will be the space forces that they will provide to Space Command. If the other services lack any organic space capabilities to present, they would only be nominally represented within Space Command. This lack of joint forces and expertise would create a disconnect between domains, generating the very inter-service issues that the Goldwater-Nichols Act was meant to resolve.

A counterargument to service retention of space control capabilities is that the consolidation of all things space within one service will lead to streamlined acquisition timelines and reduced cost. This is most likely true for the development of satellites and other in-space systems. But it is almost certainly not true when it comes to engineering space capabilities for the unique needs of each service at the user level. Today it is unrealistic to expect the Space Force to budget funds to develop satellite communications terminals designed specifically for the maritime environment. It is just as unrealistic to expect the Space Force to meet all of the Navys future sea-based space control needs. There will simply be too many demands on the Space Force budget to expect it to adequately fund all aspects of the space enterprise. Allowing the services to retain space control capabilities will ensure that they can allocate funds proportionate to the threat as they see it from their domain. This spreading of fiscal responsibility will create a healthier Department of Defense wide response to future space threats.

Retaining the space control mission within the other services will necessarily limit the number of space personnel available for transfer to the Space Force. A recent survey of Army Space officers demonstrated that enthusiasm for transfer is high, and if permitted, nearly all of them would transfer. The Army and the Navy will be reluctant to allow their space personnel to transfer en masse to Space Force if they still have a mission within their parent service. Limiting transfers will reduce the positive cultural impact that the mass transfer of non-Air Force space personnel would have on the culture of the new service. Without this infusion of new perspectives, Space Force will find the already difficult task of making a cultural break with the Air Force even more challenging. However, the presence of these skilled and experienced service retained space personnel at Space Command will be a mitigating factor. They will help ensure that a uniquely joint space warfighting culture develops at the combatant command level, where space forces are actually employed. On balance, the loss of the cultural impact that these personnel transfers would have on Space Force is less than the loss that their transfer would have on the integration of joint space warfighting within Space Command in the future.

Space control from within the space domain is a uniquely Space Force mission, but space control from other warfighting domains is not. As the space domain continues to evolve into an active warfighting domain with tactical, operational, and strategic implications across all domains, each service needs to retain the ability to create effects in space from their respective domains to protect their forces and enable multi-domain operations. These future space control capabilities will need to be fully integrated into land, sea, and air platforms and forces in a manner that the USSF will not be able to achieve. The task of fully integrating necessary space control capabilities into their forces is therefore best achieved by the services.

Lt. Col. Brad Townsend, Ph.D., PE, is an Army Space Operations Officer currently assigned to the Joint Staff J-5 Space Policy. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.

This article originally appeared in the Dec. 14, 2020 issue of SpaceNews magazine.

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Op-ed | Not all space capabilities should reside in Space Force - SpaceNews

When the UK entered the coronavirus age in March, state resources and collective commitment were mobilised on a scale not seen since the second world war. Decades ago, Britain had revealed itself, thanks in part to being able to marshal the industrial might of the empire, to be a formidable world power. Its economy was energised with breakthroughs in radar, atomic power and medicine.

Although the story of the pandemic has not yet ended, there appears to be no such transformation in sight under Boris Johnson. Rather depressingly, familiar trends of greed, incompetence and cronyism are reasserting themselves. This is bad news for an economy where there has been a collapse of socially useful innovation. Britains lack of hi-tech manufacturing capabilities, notably in medical diagnostic testing, was cruelly exposed by the pandemic.

This country has become more of a procurer than a producer of technology. But it is a remarkably inefficient one despite an extraordinarily high percentage of lawyers and accountants in the working population. Connections seem to matter more than inventions. How else to explain why, in the desperate scramble to procure personal protective equipment, ventilators and coronavirus tests, billions of pounds of contracts have gone to companies either run by friends or supporters even neighbours of Conservative politicians, or with no prior expertise.

History is not short of examples where political insiders were successful in extracting virtually all the surplus that the economy created. Such influential interests moulded politics to enlarge their share of the pie. Greed was limited only by the need to let the producers survive. The shock of war, revolution, famine or plague provides an opportunity to fix a broken society. But if, post-pandemic, UK politicians care less about reform than the retention of power, they will fail to restrain the grasping enrichment that undermines democracy itself.

Perhaps the most penetrating X-ray of this phenomenon today is by Brett Christophers in his book Rentier Capitalism. The academic makes the case that Britain has become a treasure island for those seeking excess profits from state-sanctioned control of natural resources, property, financial assets and intellectual property. Rent, paid by renters to rentiers, is tied to the ownership or control of such assets, made scarce under conditions of limited or no competition.

Mr Christophers says that the first sign of this new order was when Britain struck black gold in the North Sea. He writes that MPs on the public accounts committee noted with incredulity in 1972 that the first huge areas of the sea were leased to the companies as generously as though Britain were a gullible Sheikhdom. After that, public assets were sold off cheaply. The private sector ended up controlling lightly regulated monopolies in gas, water and electric supply, and public transport and telecoms. Customers lost out, overpaying for poor service. In a rentiers paradise, windfall profits abound. Brazenly occupying the lowest moral ground was essential, as the housebuilder Persimmon proved by earning supersized state-backed help-to-buy profits long enough to hand out a 75m bonus to its boss.

The banks, which took this country to the brink of collapse a decade ago, are at the heart of a rentier state. France, Germany, Japan, the US all have banking sectors smaller than the UK. While banks earning rents have flourished, the households paying them either directly as financial consumers, or indirectly as taxpayers of a debtor state or customers of debtor firms have floundered.

The anger that such spivvery engenders is diffused politically by making voters complicit in the theft. The sell-off of council homes, says Mr Christophers, was a privatisation that gave many of those perhaps most inclined to kick against Thatcherism a personal stake in the project. Culturally, Brexit plays the same sort of role as the right to buy, insulating poorer leave voters from the idea that they will suffer from the resulting policies.

The prime minister understands that Covid can change Britain, but lacks modernising policies. He extols the virtues of free competition both for itself and because such freedom, he reasons, will somehow liberate the spirit fluttering within a pre-Brexit Britain caged by coronavirus. He is no doubt betting that the disruption of leaving the EU will be lost in the roar of an economy taking off as an inoculated population returns to offices and shops.

The gap between rich and poor in the UK is at least as high today, academics calculate, as it was just before the start of the second world war. This is largely because the British state that once mediated the struggle between labour and capital has been taken over by rentiers. Weakening regulations, reducing the importance of fiscal policy and shredding social protections has corroded liberal democracy in which an increasingly influential wealthy few have been enjoying a free run. Ultimately, rentiers want to increase what the economist Micha Kalecki called the degree of monopoly in an economy. This allows them to limit the ability of workers, consumers and regulators to influence the markup of selling prices over costs and to defend the share of wages in output.

The EU says its labour, environment and customer protections are a floor, not a ceiling, and that they cant be traded away for frictionless market access. If we had stayed in the club, our ability to concentrate profits for monopolists would have been stymied in future trade deals negotiated by Brussels and open to MEPs scrutiny. Outside the EU, Mr Johnson can barter away such regulations without parliamentary oversight and scrap safeguards in new technology for higher monopoly profits. Karl Marx wrote in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte in 1852 that the Tories in England long fancied that they were in raptures about royalty, the church and the beauties of the ancient constitution, until a time of trial tore from them the confession that they were only in raptures about rent. His assessment of early 19th-century Tories applies with unerring accuracy to todays Conservatives.

Mr Christophers insight is that the Tories under Mr Johnson are a party of and for rentiers, much more than the interests of productive capital. This explains why, after 2016, the Tory party embraced Brexit and shrugged off productive capitals concerns about leaving the EU. It will be to the great detriment of this country if the pandemic permitted Mr Johnson to combine present-day fears with a yearning for hopeful change to persuade the average person to vote against their interests in the future. But history often repeats itself first as tragedy, then as farce.

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The Guardian view on Britain out of the EU: a treasure island for rentiers - The Guardian

DENVER, Oct. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Freedom Healthcare Staffing (Freedom), a rapid response healthcare staffing agency that provides experienced, high-quality nurses, allied professionals and clinical practitioners to healthcare facilities across the nation, was named to the Denver Business Journal's list of the fastest-growing private companies. Freedom was included on the list in the large business category due to the company's impressive 107 percent growth for fiscal years 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The Fast 50 List features the fastest-growing private companies in Denver based on their three-year average revenue growth. Categories are determined by annual revenue, with companies in the large category reporting between $16 million to $74.9 million annually.

"We spend our days and nights working to provide the same great care to our medical staff as they provide their patients across the country," said Susan Whitman, executive vice president and COO of Freedom Healthcare Staffing. "This award reinforces our commitment to our team and energizes us to keep on growing."

Contributing to Freedom's growth is the increased demand for healthcare staff as communities conquer the pandemic. Freedom recruiters continue to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, rapidly deploying travelers to ensure partner facilities, clinics, and government agencies are optimally staffed.

"We feel fortunate that our nurses are part of this effort to battle the pandemic," Whitman said. "We can't thank them enough, and we're grateful for the opportunity to recognize them through the DBJ's Fast 50."

The award comes on the heels of another accolade for Freedom, appearing on the Inc 5000 list of the "Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America," for the third time last month. To see the full list of Denver Business Journal 2020 Fast 50 nominees and winners, visithttps://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2020/09/24/dbj-fast-50-2020-finalists.html

About Freedom Healthcare Staffing Headquartered in Denver, Freedom Healthcare Staffing (Freedom) supports more than 30,000 experienced high-quality nurses and paraprofessionals to healthcare facilities andgovernment agenciesacross the nation. Founded in 2005 by a leadership team withfirst-hand, healthcare facility expertise, Freedom's 98 percent job fulfillment record confirms the company's commitment to meet staffing demands for short- and long-term assignments.In 2019 and 2020, Freedom was recognized on the prestigiousInc.5000 list of America's fastest-growing companies.For more information about Freedom Healthcare Staffing, visitwww.freedomhcs.com.

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Freedom Healthcare Staffing Wins Denver Business Journal Fast 50 Award - PRNewswire

A surge in outdoor activities because of the coronavirus pandemic fueled new interest in recreational vehicles, helping Winnebago Industries post solid results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year.

The maker of motor homes, towable RVs and travel trailers reported Wednesday that fourth quarter revenue increased 39% to $739 million.

Winnebago based in Forest City, Iowa, but with its management offices in Eden Prairie said some of that increase is tied to the acquisition of luxury motor home maker Newmar Corp. last November.

Absent the acquisition, though, the companys revenue still increased 15% in the quarter, with the strongest performance in the towable RV segment.

In the face of the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, our strong fourth quarter finish to the year was a testament to the incredible resolve of our world-class team, the strength of our portfolio of leading outdoor lifestyle brands, and our efficiency in quickly and safely resuming operations to meet tremendous consumer demand, said Winnebago Chief Executive Michael Happe in a news release.

The pandemic fueled a resurgent interest in outdoor pursuits and products from bicycles to motor homes. The RV Industry Association recently projected that total RV shipments across the industry for 2020 would be 424,400 units, a 4.5% growth in units over 2019, despite an industrywide shutdown of almost two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The industry group sees see the sales trends continuing into next year, projecting a record 507,200 units sold in 2021, a 19.5% increase over the projected 2020 total.

This new forecast confirms what we have been seeing across the country as people turn to RVs as a way to have the freedom to travel and experience an active outdoor lifestyle while also controlling their environment, said RV Industry Association President Craig Kirby in a news release.

Airline travel and hotel stays are down due to the pandemic, as companies curtailed discretionary travel and others curtailed recreation travel. However, some families have turned to RVing as an alternative to maintain social distance and other recommendations to stem the spread of the virus.

Our consumers combined the imperative of the safety of their families with their strong desire to be immersed in the experiences they could control, and consequently flocked to the outdoor recreation lifestyle like never before, Happe told analysts on the company earnings call Wednesday.

Winnebago earned $42.5 million, or $1.25 per share, in the fourth quarter, an increase over the $31.9 million, or $1.01 per share, earned in the same quarter last year.

Adjusted EPS for the fourth quarter was $1.45 per share, a 45% increase over the year-ago quarter, and more than 50% better than the 93 cents per share analysts were expecting.

For the full fiscal year, Winnebago had total revenue of $2.4 billion, including $388.4 million in revenue from the Newmar acquisition. The company earned $61.4 million, or $1.84 per share, compared to $111.8 million, or $3.52 per share in fiscal 2019.

Adjusted EPS for fiscal 2020 was $2.58 per share down from the $3.45 in fiscal 2019. The adjusted EPS excludes financing and acquisition related costs.

Winnebago in November 2019 acquired Newmar for $270 million in cash plus 2 million shares of Winnebago stock, to boost its share of the motor home market. Revenue for the motor home segment was $302 million in the fourth quarter, a 50% increase over the fourth quarter last year fueled by the contribution of $126 million in revenue from Newmar during the quarter.

The towables segment, which represents 56% of overall fourth quarter revenue, saw its revenue increase 35% during the quarter to $414 million. The company said backlog for orders in the towables segment increased to a record $748 million, as dealers saw sizable inventory reductions in order to meet surging consumer demand in the fourth quarter.

Winnebago hasnt provided earnings guidance for 2021, but Happe also expressed confidence that the renewed interest in all things outdoors will continue into 2021.

As we look ahead to fiscal 2021, we are encouraged by the ongoing outdoor recreation demand trends we are experiencing, Happe said in the news release. We have built a strong and growing position in the RV market, and our customers continue to view all our brands as a trusted and safe way to have extraordinary experiences as they travel, live, work and play in the outdoors.

Shares of Winnebago closed at $50.39 per share, down 11.7% Wednesday, as Happe mentioned on the earnings call that there are supply chain concerns in the RV and marine markets but that sourcing teams are addressing them. Shares have traded between $16.94 and $72.65 per share over the last 52 weeks.

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New consumers driven to the RVing lifestyle fuel solid growth for Winnebago - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Governor Greg Abbott has been named Best Governor In The Nation in a new study conducted by Laffer Associates, a consulting firm run by Arduin and conservative economists Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore, and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

The criteria includes tax policy, overall state spending levels, handling of COVID-19 funds, union regulations, health and welfare spending, school choice, and other education policies.

"Texas success is made possible by the men and women across the Lone Star State who work every day to provide for their families and drive the Texas economy forward," said Governor Abbott. "The Texas model emphasizes personal freedom and fiscal responsibility because it is the proven method to spark innovation, encourage economic prosperity, and create a better quality of life. Working together to protect taxpayers and expand opportunity, we will continue to build an even brighter future for all Texans."

Abbott ranks first among governors, according to the Laffer-ALEC study. Obviously, Texas has been an economic powerhouse among the states, said Jonathan Williams, ALECs chief economist.

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Governor Abbott named Best Governor in the Nation by ALEC, conservative economists - KXXV News Channel 25

Times like these call for Mike Capuano.

The former Massachusetts congressman, who lost his seat to Ayanna Pressley, had a knack for squeezing transportation dollars out of Washington. When he was a member of the Transportation Committee, the Federal Transit Administration coughed up nearly $1 billion in a funding commitment to the Green Line Extension. Capuano secured some $3.658 billion for the states highways and bridges, and $1.576 billion for transit projects, among other boosts for the Bay State.

Imagine what Capuano could do for us now that the coronavirus pandemic has gutted MBTA revenue, and the transportation agency is eyeing service cuts and possible fare hikes amid a massive budget plunge. For fiscal year 2022, the T expects to face a budget shortfall of $308 million to $577 million unless it receives additional aid.

We have representatives in Washington Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley whove also proposed transportation bills. But while the ideas behind them are good, they dont focus on the current crisis and how to get out of it.

At the end of May, Markey, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Environment and Public Works Committee, introduced of the Building Rail Across Intercity Networks To Ride Around Interior of the Nation (BRAIN TRAIN) Act. The legislation authorizes $5 billion annually, for a total of $25 billion, to invest in high-performance intercity passenger rail service.

Passenger rail is a great thing it brings jobs, is good for the environment and helps connect places that are difficult to reach other than by car.

Five billion bucks a year over five years will yield a great project. But right now, the transportation system of subways, buses, trains and ferries is gasping for breath.

In June, Markey and Pressley launched the Freedom to Move Act, which would provide fare-free public transit systems.

Our public transit systems are meant to provide communities with the mobility and freedom to access critical services, but far too many in the Massachusetts 7th and across the country lack reliable, safe and affordable transit service, said Congresswoman Pressley, who has also pushed for increased transportation funding during the pandemic. The Freedom to Move Act invests heavily in our public transit systems so that states and localities can offer safe, high-quality and fare-free rides, and would ensure that everyone in community including our essential workers who depend heavily on public transportation can access jobs, food and essential services like education and health care.

The free fares would come from a $5 billion annual fund for Freedom to Move Grants a competitive grant program that would compensate agencies for lost fare revenues.

Another good idea transit fares can take a bite of lower income budgets, and relief would be welcome.

But right now the T is applying a tourniquet to bleeding revenues the agency needs an infusion of cash to be able to maintain the services it already provides.

We need our leaders to focus on federal funding to lift Massachusetts transportation out of the coronavirus-induced crisis. A free ride matters little if the bus runs half as often.

There are many problems that need fixing, among them transportation inequities. But you have to put out the kitchen fire before you can invite hungry folks over for dinner.

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Lawmakers need to get federal funding to ease MBTA woes - Boston Herald

ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia has so far recorded 90,490 COVID-19 cases (as of Wednesday 21 October), the largest number of cases in East Africa. It also has the fourth-highest number of COVID-19 cases across Africa, surpassed only by South Africa, Morocco and Egypt.

Security fears are also high, with Ethiopia having experienced communal violence this summer, especially since the death of a musician from the Oromo ethnic group in June, which is thought to have sparked more than 200 killings.

Speaking to University World News, Dechasa Gurmu, public relations director of the Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE), nonetheless said the ministry expects all state-owned universities to start operations between 2 and 9 November. The largest public universities in Ethiopia include Addis Ababa University, Mekelle University, Dire-Dawa University, Adama Science and Technology University and Bahir Dar University.

Matriculation exams in November

Reopening public universities will initially be allowed to take in graduating class students who had to suspend their final-year studies because of the pandemic, said Dechasa. Then sometime after that, sophomore and other non-graduating class university students will be allowed to attend classes, he added.

Dechasa said students applying for positions as first-year students during the current 2020-21 fiscal year, but who had missed matriculation exams and needed to confirm their places, will be allowed to take these exams in November too.

Those prospective first-year university students who pass matriculation exams will be given a crash course in universities once they enter the university, probably in the second half of the 2020-21 fiscal year, Dechasa explained.

Ethiopias private universities, such as Rift Valley University in Addis Ababa, have been given the same reopening dates as their public counterparts, although Dechasa stressed that private institutions had more freedom to decide which student cohorts would rejoin physical classes at what time. Private universities and colleges have been subject to the same lockdown as state-owned institutions.

Reopening schedules may vary

Ethiopia was quick to lock down after confirming its first case of COVID-19 on March 13, with the Ethiopian government soon afterwards suspending educational activities in all primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions. As for the reboot however, Dechasa stressed that every university has its own unique situation and may vary their reopening schedules.

Nonetheless, there will be national standards regarding health measures designed to protect students and staff from COVID-19, with universities told to follow a health manual prepared by a cross-sectoral committee. It mandates, among other things, that student desks be spaced two metres apart.

Dechasa said the ministry expects just 25% of the student body will attend classes initially, easing the implementation of social distancing rules.

This higher education liberalisation reflects a general government policy to reopen the economy and ease restrictions on public gatherings. In September, the Ethiopian parliament allowed a five-month-old state of emergency associated with the pandemic to expire, while security forces have stopped enforcing the wearing of face masks in public areas.

A lot of preparation needed

Speaking to University World News, Lia Tadesse, Ethiopias health minister, said provided all available precautionary measures are taken, all educational institutions shall be able to resume classes: As you know, considering the fact that this pandemic is going to stay for a long time and considering different situations that were currently in, a lot of things are going to be reopened.

However, we maintain precautions need to be maintained to prevent the COVID-19 spread, she said, stressing that opening educational institutions will need a lot of work and preparation involving all relevant actors.

The health minister said student health is a responsibility not only of parents but also the larger community. As a result, families and community organisations along with local government need to be engaged in preparations so that all schools comply with state COVID-19 health protocols. The government will do its own share to avail collective efforts to make sure our schools are safe for our children, so a really strong engagement of parents in schools is a key thing.

Ultimately, however, the government has concluded that the negative impact of closing schools is much higher than reopening them. There needs to be ownership of the process and collective efforts to manage the process, she stressed.

Task forces oversee preparations

As a result, a federal government committee has been established to coordinate this reopening, led by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen, which includes senior officials from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Ministry of Education, and other relevant agencies. This committee has regular meetings with regional health bureaus and regional education bureaus to follow up on COVID-19-related measures that impact the education sector.

This collaborative approach is also being followed locally, with each educational institution creating a COVID-19 task force, which includes the professors and lecturers, university and college leadership, community health workers, parent representatives and local education officials.

These task forces will make sure educational institutions are prepared both in terms of the processes and resources needed to reopen. Coordination is critical from woreda [district] to federal level, Lia told University World News.

She is also ensuring medical supplies, such as masks and sanitisers, needed for students and staff, are provided beforehand, ensuring that institutions secure the necessary supply chains. The government is also trying to ensure that more expensive equipment such as temperature scanners are also available: Theres extensive work being done on this, said the health minister.

Fears that ethno-political tensions could resurface

Of additional concern is on-campus violence. This was common during 2019 and early 2020, as the Ethiopian government has embarked on structural reform designed to create long-term political stability for this multi-ethnic country. And the 2020 summer violence has raised concern that once the universities are back in operation, there will be more trouble.

Dechasa said officials have made preparations to prevent attacks and fights: We will work to vigorously enforce the law against rule-breaking students and others who are sponsoring unrest on university campuses.

The government hopes that the COVID-19 lockdown will have given time for some ethno-political passions to subside so that they may not recur as intensely as in 2019.

Hanan Duri, a graduating third-year statistics student at Haramaya University in Oromia, Eastern Ethiopia, the heart of this summers ethnic strife, is as worried by the resumption of communal violence as by the possibility of contracting COVID-19.

Hanan, who lives in Dire Dawa to the east of Haramaya, is set to resume classes in early November to finish her studies. She told University World News: Weve been told the university has prepared face masks and sanitisers for each student, in addition to being told our numbers in each dormitory will be cut by at least half to enforce social distancing rules.

However, Im concerned there could be a resumption of ethno-political violence in the university once my campus starts teaching at full capacity, she said.

To contact the writer speak to International News Services.

Continued here:

Classes to resume soon for final-years at state universities - University World News

Why are you seeking election?

Im very concerned about the decline of our culture, of our nation. I think our constitutional freedoms are being stripped away from us. I believe that all life should be preserved, that includes the pre-born, specifically. There is a bill that would end abortion in Indiana, and that is a bill that I would co-author and support.

What qualifications and experience make you a good fit for this position?

I actually worked for the Indiana State Board of Accounts, and its a government watchdog group. We audited every level of government in the state of Indiana, except for the federal government. Working with them, I was a sworn officer of the court, and I led many audits.

I also helped to lead our risk management group. I would say, in a nutshell, that I have a strong expertise in fiscal but also law. Being an auditor, I had to be.

What would be your top three priorities if elected?

No. 1 would be to co-author the Protection at Conception Bill which would end abortion in Indiana. Secondly, it would be also to co-author the constitutional carry bill, and push for both of those bills. Three would probably be the issue of our freedoms and our liberties. I dont think that would be a singular issue, and I think there can be multiple issues addressed as it relates to our freedoms and liberties that are being taken away from us.

What are some of the biggest issues facing Indiana today?

Again, I would say abortion.

The issue of our constitutional liberties being stripped from us.

How do you plan to push legislation that addresses your priorities?

I would probably do it the same way a lot of other legislators do it. No. 1 is to author a bill that would be viable, that would be within the boundaries of the Constitution. No. 2, it would be trying to garner support from other legislators, and a lot of that is done by discussion with other legislators.

How do you plan to help your district specifically, and communicate with constituents about what is going on at the Statehouse?

Specifically via mail and emails to communicate whats going on, as far as the pulse of whats going on at the Statehouse. Also, going door-to-door Thats a big reason why I won the primary, because I communicated clearly what I was running on to the voters of District 93. One of the things voters specifically said to me over and over was, I was very pleased that you were very clear about where you stood with issues, and there was no lack of clarity on where you stood. That was something that was very refreshing to them.

What are your thoughts on Indianas COVID-19 response, and what role do you think the General Assembly should play next year when considering pandemic-related legislation?

Definitely the legislature is the one that should be passing legislation as it relates to COVID. That is something that would be up for discussion as far as what would be best for the citizens of Indiana. I would say specifically that it should be in line with the Constitution. Im not dismissing COVID, I want to be clear. I dont want people to think I think COVID is not a reality, that I dont think there are people who are getting sick from COVID and dying. However, with that, there has to be a way to deal with that but yet not violate peoples constitutional rights. (The) executive branch doesnt make law. The legislative branch is the one that makes law.

What is your position on public school funding? How should Indiana address the way it funds schools?

I would go back to the individual because this is talking about children. With children, parents should have the right to be able to direct the education of their children Addressing the freedom that parents have to address the education of their children is first and foremost. Then from there, we can address the issue of where funding goes.

Do you think it is beneficial or detrimental to decision-making that both chambers in the General Assembly have supermajorities?

I would say this, the voters are the ones who vote people into office We vote people into office that we believe are going to best represent our views. Whether I would agree or disagree, because I mean, the tides could turn because if it was a Democrat supermajority, obviously the Republicans wouldnt like that and vice versa I think it would violate our entire system to say, OK were just going to keep everything even as far as whos in. Wed actually have to start removing people from office to balance out the Democrats and Republicans.

Theres always discussion, and the Democrats are able to discuss their views. And if their views are reasonable and legitimate, those are things the other side would definitely listen to. When it comes to issues, whether I agree or disagree with somebody, I want to be able to at least listen to them.

The Jacob File

Name: John Jacob

Party: Republican

Residence: Perry Township

Family: Wife, Angie; six adult children

Occupation: Small business owner

Education: Roncalli High School; IUPUI

Political experience: None

Memberships: LifePoint Church

Read the original post:

Where They Stand: John Jacob - Daily Journal

What follows is a weekly review of events involving Slovenia, as prepared by the STA.

If youd like to keep up on the daily headlines then follow those here, or get all our stories in your feed on Facebook.

FRIDAY, 16 OctoberROME/TRIESTE, Italy - National Assembly Speaker Igor Zori held talks with the presidents of both chambers of the Italian parliament, the chairs of several parliamentary commissions and a Foreign Ministry state secretary. The focus of the talks was on reform of Italian electoral legislation. This was also the main topic of what was first official visit of Foreign Minister Ane Logar to the Slovenian community in Italy.BRUSSELS, Belgium - PM Janez Jana said that fake news in the sense of denial of the danger of the new coronavirus, spreading in Europe mainly through social media and in Slovenia also through mainstream media, was what was forcing Europe and individual countries to take harsher measures than would otherwise be needed.BRUSSELS, Belgium - Putting 38% of Slovenian territory under Natura 2000 protection was "a shot in the knee", PM Janez Jana told the press after an EU summit that had climate goals as one of the items on the agenda. He said that the European average for the area, where it is forbidden to produce energy from natural and sustainable sources, is 18%.BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) said "appalled by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jana's latest attack against the Slovene public broadcaster STA". This comes after Jana's Twitter post on Thursday calling the STA a "national disgrace". "This demonising of public service media and journalism must stop," said the EFJ.LJUBLJANA - Almost 900 new coronavirus were confirmed, a new daily high. The figures come to a positivity rate of roughly 16%.LJUBLJANA - The Infrastructure Ministry defended the national energy and climate plans in the face of a review from the European Commission, saying that in some areas Slovenia's goals were even more ambitious than the bloc's commitments. The ministry also said the Commission highlighted some positive aspects of the plans adopted last February.LJUBLJANA - The Fiscal Council warned that the budget expenditure planned for the next two years is too high, while also saying that the divergence from the fiscal rule was understandable and could be allowed, considering the coronavirus pandemic.LJUBLJANA - Anti-government protesters returned to bicycle protests yesterday. Police said a few hundred gathered and 33 violations of the ban on gatherings in public were recorded.TORONTO, Canada/GRAZ, Austria - Magna International, the Canadian-Austrian automotive multinational, announced it would start producing Fisker Ocean, an electric SUV, in 2022. According to unofficial reports by the Austrian Kleine Zeitung, the car would be assembled in Magna's plants in Graz, Austria, and in Hoe, near Maribor.LJUBLJANA - The second Slovenia-wide digital radio network, a technology known by its acronym DAB+, was launched. The new multiplex carries the signals of regional and local radio stations, and stations serving the Italian and Hungarian minorities.LJUBLJANA/SLOVENJ GRADEC - The Association of Journalists and Commentators expressed concern over "a renewed abuse of the wheels of the judiciary" after Bojan Poar, author and proprietor of the news portal Poareport, received a suspended three-month prison sentence for defamation and insult due to an article in which he alleged that Maribor Mayor Saa Arsenovi and his former aide Matja tandeker had bribed bankers.

SATURDAY, 17 OctoberLJUBLJANA - Slovenia has condemned a terrorist attack in a Paris suburb in which an assailant beheaded a teacher. "We need to enforce zero tolerance for terrorism and street violence across #EU," Prime Minister Janez Jana said on Twitter.LJUBLJANA - The share of coronavirus tests that came back positive exceeded 19% for the first time on Saturday, as 726 cases were confirmed in 3,765 tests.LJUBLJANA - The Association of Journalists and Commentators (ZNP) condemned an incident that occurred during a 16 October protest in Ljubljana and involved the rapper Zlatko grabbing the camera from a Nova24 cameraman. It said this was an "attack on journalistic freedom and consequently on freedom of expression." The Slovenian Journalists' Association condemned all forms of violence, both verbal and physical.WROCLAW, Poland - Slovenian writer Goran Vojnovi was awarded the Angelus Central European Literary Prize, conferred to works by Central European writers translated into the Polish, for his 2013 novel My Yugoslavia. The annual award is conferred by Wroclaw to writers who take up the most important topics for the present day.

SUNDAY, 18 OctoberLJUBLJANA - The government officially declared a coronavirus epidemic for the entire country starting on 19 October. meaning that the national protection and rescue plan was activated. The epidemic was declared for an initial period of 30 days. Prime Minister Janez Jana called for responsibility and solidarity in the face of the pandemic in a video address to Slovenian citizens. He said a challenging period of cold weather was ahead, which required effective measures.LJUBLJANA - Slovenia confirmed 537 new coronavirus cases in 2,637 tests. The positivity rate exceeded 20% for the first time. The 14-day cumulative rate of infection per 100,000 people reached 339 compared to 317 the day before.

MONDAY, 19 OctoberLJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor delivered a video address to the people underlining that at the time of crisis, community closes its ranks. "We have to be courageous and determined but also tolerant and patient. This is particularly important for politics. It must make an honest effort for mutual respect and cooperation," he said.LJUBLJANA - The number of new coronavirus infections reached 794 in 4,326 tests. Two more people died, brining the death toll to 192. About 1% of Slovenia's population is infected with Sars-CoV-2 based on the test positivity rate, the head of the government task force Bojana Beovi said.LJUBLJANA - Facing criticism from the opposition in parliament about the government's response to the Covid-19 epidemic, Prime Minister Janez Jana assured MPs that Slovenia had prepared well for the second wave. He said the second wave of the epidemic would eventually pass and that only then it would be possible to make comparisons with other countries.LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Jana presented the government's plans regarding the distribution of EU and state recovery funds. He said investments were in the healthcare system and infrastructure, which would include two new infectious disease clinics and nursing hospitals in all regions.LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Ane Logar hosted his counterpart from North Macedonia Bujar Osmani for talks that focused on preparations for an intergovernmental conference at which North Macedonia expects to start EU membership talks. Logar expressed the belief that the talks would start during Germany's presidency of the EU.LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor stressed at a virtual summit of the Three Seas Initiative that this platform offers a unique opportunity to change this part of Europe into a modern, sustainable and innovative society. He added that the initiative must not be understood as a grouping of certain EU members countering other members. Foreign Minister Ane Logar took part in a ministerial panel devoted to smart money.LJUBLJANA - The Nova Gorica Administrative Court was reported to have annulled the dismissal of former director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Darko Mueni. The court's decision is final, so there is no possibility of an appeal.LJUBLJANA - Ljubljana's city councillors adopted a statement condemning any activities or gatherings of paramilitary or nationalist groups in the capital. The opposition Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi) protested, unsuccessfully proposing that the item be removed from the City Council's agenda.LJUBLJANA - Chief supervisor of telco Telekom Slovenije Ale abeder and supervisors Barbara Cerovek Zupani and Bernarda Babi resigned, citing the current situation in the five-strong supervisory board. abeder expects the remaining two supervisory board members to follow suit.LJUBLJANA - Economy Minister Zdravko Poivalek signed a set of amendments to Slovenia's association agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA), which he said constituted an important step towards full-fledged membership. The minister expects cooperation with ESA to deepen further.TUESDAY, 20 OctoberLJUBLJANA - A temporary 9pm-6am curfew entered into force across Slovenia to limit the spread of coronavirus. The ceiling for gatherings was lowered from ten to six people and a blanket ban on movement among statistical regions put in place, albeit with exceptions related to work, emergency situations and services, family assistance and farm work.LJUBLJANA - A record 1,503 Sars-CoV-2 infections were confirmed as the test positivity rate exceeded 25%. Covid-19 hospitalisations rose by 20 to 333.TALLINN, Estonia - FM Ane Logar met his Estonian counterpart Urmas Reinsalu as he started a three-day tour of the Baltics, with the pair expressing the wish for closer cooperation on the bilateral and EU levels in digital services.LJUBLJANA - The centre-left opposition parties called on the government to mend its ways, which they argue are the reason for what they see as a "fatefully low level" of public trust in measures and recommendations aimed to contain the rapid spread of coronavirus in the country.UDINE, Italy/BILBAO/Spain - Slovenian cyclist Jan Tratnik (Team Bahrain McLaren) won the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia between Udine and San Daniele del Friuli to become only the fifth Slovenian ever to win a stage at the prestigious road race around Italy, while his more celebrated compatriot Primo Rogli (Team Jumbo-Visma) won the first stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

WEDNESDAY, 21 OctoberLJUBLJANA - Slovenia's coronavirus tally soared to another daily record as 1,663 infections were confirmed from a record 6,215 tests, a positivity rate of over 25%. Hospitalisations increased to 357, with 62 patients in intensive care.LJUBLJANA - Ane Erbenik ended up two votes short of appointment as Constitutional Court judge in a 44:35 secret ballot at the National Assembly. The result was the same for the nominee for Banka Slovenije vice-governor Arjana Brezigar Masten, who also needed the absolute majority of all votes. The coalition said this was not an indication of disunity in its ranks.LJUBLJANA - MPs passed changes to the integrity and prevention of corruption act which the government argues strengthen the preventive and supervisory role of the anti-graft commission. They also aim at clearly delineating the powers in prosecution of corruption between the commission on the one hand and the police and prosecution on the other.RIGA, Latvia - Foreign Minister Ane Logar continued his three-day tour of the Baltics by meeting his Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkevis for talks that focused on the importance of coordinating measures to battle the Covid-19 pandemic. They called for a joint EU approach in coordinating these measures but noted that this was largely within the purview of national governments.VILNIUS, Lithuania - Foreign Minister Ane Logar met Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya as part of his visit to Lithuania. He said that Slovenia advocated dialogue between all political stakeholders, called for peaceful talks, and expressed support for the efforts made as part of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) and Council of Europe.LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly unanimously passed amendments to the environmental protection act designed to tackle the long-running problem of packaging waste and to transpose EU directives in the field. Under the amendments, packaging waste treatment companies will need to accept all waste from waste collection utility companies based on a fee paid by the companies that produce such waste.LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly endorsed an amendment to the motorway tolling act that creates the legal basis for the e-tolling of cars. The new system is to become operational by the end of next year and drivers will be able to buy "electronic vignettes" via an app, online or at service stations.

THURSDAY, 22 OctoberLJUBLJANA - Slovenia will put in place new restrictions to limit the spread of coronavirus. Non-essential shops will be closed, as will hotels, kindergartens and student dormitories, Prime Minister Janez Jana announced. The measures, entering into force on Saturday, will initially be in place for a week and will then be re-evaluated.LJUBLJANA - The government asked parliament to activate Article 37a the defence act which gives members of the Slovenian Armed forces certain police powers on the border. The proposal, which the government says is primarily needed because of the additional burdened placed on police by the epidemic, needs a two-thirds majority.LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Jana spoke via videoconference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. They discussed the Covid-19 situation in Europe, the EU presidency trio's activities and the situation in the Western Balkans. Jana said that Germany had offered emergency medical equipment should Slovenia require it.VILNIUS, Lithuania - Foreign Minister Ane Logar wrapped up a three-day tour of the Baltics by meeting Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Antanas Linkeviius. Cooperation between the countries at bilateral, European and multi-lateral levels being on the agenda, in addition to the situation in Belarus.LJUBLJANA - Defence Minister Matej Tonin had an informal videoconference with his German and Portuguese counterparts, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Joao Gomes Cravinho. The talks focused on European defence policy.LJUBLJANA - Singer-songwriter, musician and poet Vlado Kreslin is the recipient of this year's Jeek Award, an accolade celebrating creative and witty radio and television oeuvres and achievements. Kreslin is instilling a spirit of freedom, solidarity, tolerance and joie de vivre in Slovenia's cultural sphere, the judging panel has said.

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Last Week in Slovenia: 16-22 October, 2020 - Total Slovenia News

We trust Jason

We are in support of Jason Probst for the 102nd House District. We belong to a motorcycle rights organization, and every year we have a motorcycle lobby day at the Capitol. Jason is more than accommodating to speak with us about motorcycling issues and other local issues. He is very open, honest, and loyal. He votes according to what is best for his local constituents. He will listen to what you have to say. Sometimes he might not agree with you, but at least hes honest. There is no fooling around. He will tell you if he does not think something will work, and suggest what we might do instead. Jason truly is a good representative of the 102nd District. We can approach him by email, on Facebook, or even in the local grocery store or at Third Thursday, and he is very approachable. We trust Jason.

Tony and Tammy Railsback

Rural Sterling

Vote Probst

I am a retired school teacher. I know Jason Probst from some work we did together at Stage 9, one of the local community theatres in Hutchinson. The reason I am supporting Jason in the 102nd House District race is because a vote to re-elect Jason is a vote for yourself. I have never met anybody who cares more about you understanding what the issues are and who will get back with you if you have a question. He is just extraordinary that way. Vote for Jason!

Paula Rothe

Hutchinson

Reliable and honest

I am a moderate Republican who lives out in the Yoder area. I am supporting Jason Probst for re-election to the 102nd House District. I got to know Jason, and I know hes a moderate Democrat. But we have talked and spent some time together. I have found that Jason is very reliable and honest. He is just a good soul. If I was in his district, which I am not, I would vote for him. For those that are in his district, I hope you will vote for him so he can continue to represent our community.

David Ratzlaff

Hutchinson

Vote for small business

I am a small business owner here in Hutchinson, and I am supporting Jason Probst for the 102nd House District. I own a small salon. There have been many times over the last few months that Jason has helped me. With all the uncertainty and chaos involved with COVID from shutting down small businesses and then trying to get them opened back up, Jason pushed out so much information that helped small business owners like me make it through. He has helped me in ways I cannot even begin to describe in a short 150-word letter to the editor. I hope people will make their decision on who to vote for based on the person, and not necessarily based on the political party. Please vote for Jason.

Brandy Sheahan Harris

Hutchinson

Why not Barbara Bollier?

Do Kansans really believe that Barbara Bollier, if elected, will be a Lone Ranger, U. S. Senator and buck the ultra-liberal, Democrat leadership of her party back in D.C.? She claims to be a "moderate," but she did not vote like one when she was a Republican in the Kansas State Senate. She got elected as a Republican, but after voting with the Democrats over 90% of the time, she switched parties, showing her true colors. She is rabidly pro-abortion, and the N.R.A. gives her an "F" rating and if you appreciate POTUS Trump's conservative judicial, court appointments, you will not want to vote for Barbara Bollier. I promise you that she will side with Senator Leader, Chuck Schumer to block those nominees in the effort to make the U.S. judiciary another voting/legislative arm of the Democrat Party, should the Republicans lose the U.S. Senate. Also, no more Amy Coney Barrett-type, U.S. Supreme Court nominees will ever be confirmed if that happens.

As a U. S. House Representative, Roger Marshall has voted with POTUS Trump 98% of the time. If you appreciate the Trump policies, please remember that when you go to cast your ballot.

Carolyn Simms

Republic

Vote pro-life

I am so thankful I live in a country where we have the freedom to make choices when we vote. However, the "unborn" have no choice and no voice. We do know they are fighters and will fight to live. So lets vote for them by voting for pro-life candidates on Nov. 3.

Marilyn Kemple

Lyons

Stroberg for Kansas

When Kansans look around, we see our four surrounding neighbor states have all joined in the 38 states that have now adopted some form of Medicaid Expansion. What does it cost Kansas not to participate? About $800 million to $900 million a year and that equals about 85 percent of the average annual Kansas wheat crop.

Kingman should not be paying an increased local sales tax AND letting our legislators give away the dollars available for keeping our local rural hospital open.

Jeff Stroberg, candidate for the 114th legislative district, is a CPA and former business executive. He understands that Kansas is making a huge financial mistake and an equally huge health care mistake. Nothing could be more obvious during the Covid-19 pandemic.

I'm backing Mr. Stroberg's campaign because he is a logical thinker who will stand up for good government and not be swayed by party politics and he has a lot of experience working with teams to solve business problems.

We need Jeff Stroberg in the Kansas Legislature. Please vote for him Nov. 3.

Pat Maloney

Kingman

Understand and enforce

Reno County's Health Officer Karen Hammersmith was quoted in the Hutchinson News as lamenting that "People don't understand what a huge problem we have".

This is a direct result of Reno County officials failing to provide reasonable details during this crisis. Standing behind privacy concerns, officials do not provide details.

In this case, a lack of details has led to deniers and obstructionists getting the upper hand and the size of the problem getting out of control.

Deniers point out that no one knows anyone positive or can name a person who has died from COVID-19. Without details, it is a hard talking point to overcome.

I understand the need to protect victims and families from zealots who think COVID-19 patients need to be condemned. But reasonable details can be provided, especially now that the numbers are so large. Age range, sex, race/ethnicity, type and location of transmission, identification with a cluster, the presence of risk factors can all be released. This goes for both deaths and infections.

Tell us what the contact tracers and investigators are finding out. Were the victims wearing masks, social distancing, engaging in risky behaviors? Again, generalizations are better than nothing.

A quick note to local media, why are you not pushing and investigating? The dashboard numbers are a good start, but they are not the true story.

And lastly, to the Reno County Commission, it is time to enact smart and reasonable shutdowns and an enforceable mask requirement, and then enforce them.

There 15 dead Reno County residents as of this writing!

Eric Buller

Hutchinson

Vote Paul

My husband and I want to say a few words in support of a long-time friend, and our 104th District Representative, Paul Waggoner.

He is a common-sense conservative and shares our American values and he realizes they are under constant attack. Thats why we 100% support Paul.

He stands up boldly and does not hide his principles. We need someone we can truly trust to be our voice.

He is a fiscal conservative.

He voted to help and improve to keep KPERS solvent.

Wants sensible tax reform.

Voted for the Value Them Both Amendment.

Wants to protect the 1st and 2nd Amendments.

Hes got our vote. We ask you to consider voting for Paul Waggoner. There is so much at stake in this election.

Gary and Linda Witt

Buhler

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Letters to the editor - News - The Hutchinson News

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As if 2020 wasnt scary enough, today Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released its 20th annual compilation of hair-raising, harrowing, and horrifying Taxpayer Tricks and Treats:

Trick: The House Robs Taxpayers of $3 Trillion

In an attempt to shake down taxpayers and steal their money in the dead of night, the House of Representatives approved the $3 trillion HEROES Act on May 15, 2020, with a $915 billion bailout of state and local governments. But according to an August 24, 2020 Department of the Treasury report, of the $150 billion provided to the states under the CARES Act, 37 states have spent less than 25 percent of their allocated funding, and 23 of those states have spent less than 10 percent. After howls of protest from taxpayer groups like CAGW and taxpayers in states that had not wasted money before the pandemic, the Senate rejected both the first version of the HEROES Act and a second version that cut the bailout to $436 billion. But taxpayers can expect the bailout to be resurrected if the Democrats control Congress and the White House after the November 3 elections.

Treat: Cutting Red Tape is Helping the U.S. Recover from Coronavirus

As a breath of fresh air in the rank atmosphere of partisanship that has permeated the nation for much of 2020, more than 850 rules and regulations have been terminated, suspended, or amended at every level of government to help the country recover from COVID-19. It would be a great treat for taxpayers to see the full implementation of President Trumps May 19 Executive Order that directs federal agencies to review regulations that were suspended, modified, or waived to determine if these changes should be made permanent.

Trick: The Socialist Apocalypse Is as Frightening as Ever

Socialist policies keep rising from the dead. Behind almost every terrifying corner, toxic programs are being peddled to vastly expand the scope and power of the federal government while threatening individual freedom and liberty. An estimated 220 million Americans would frightfully lose their private insurance plans under Medicare for All. The Green New Deal, which aims to overhaul nearly every sector of the economy, could cost a petrifying $93 trillion and destroy the economy. Everyone should fear spooky ideas like free public college that would cost $47 billion annually, forgiveness of student loans that would cost $2.2 trillion over 10 years, and free childcare that would cost $70 billion annually. Taxpayers should make sure their elected officials run far, far away from the Socialist Grim Reaper.

Treat: Broadband Resiliency Has Been Divine During the Pandemic

As millions of Americans have made the shift to telework, online education, and telehealth during the scary pandemic crisis, broadband internet service providers in the U.S. have managed network traffic extremely well (unlike many European countries), proving that private sector investments in broadband are working. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) initiated the Keep Americans Connected program, with widespread financial commitments from private sector providers, to ensure that Americans do not lose telephone and broadband. The FCC also provided temporary licenses in the 5.9 GHz spectrum band to several providers to allow them to use this spectrum to connect more homes across the country.

Trick: The National Debt Will Haunt the U.S. Forever

The current national debt of $27 trillion is set to grow at an alarming record pace over the next decade. A January 2020 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report forecast an average annual deficit of $1.3 trillion between fiscal years (FY) 2021 and 2030, rising to $1.7 trillion by the end of the decade, adding a horrifying $13 trillion to the national debt and bringing it to $39.8 trillion.

While the January estimates were eerie enough, the October CBO budget review reported that the FY 2020 deficit was $3.1 trillion, more than three times the FY 2019 deficit, and 15.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). This would be the largest deficit relative to the economy since 1945. In its September 2020 long term outlook report, CBO estimated the FY 2020 deficit would be $3.3 trillion and the national debt would grow to a shocking (and unsustainable) 189 percent of GDP by 2049, which is 45 percentage points higher than the estimate made in 2019. The numbers are mind numbing, and the consequences are frightening, unless something is done to prevent this financial plague.

Treat: Increased Mid-Band Spectrum for 5G Networks Is a Reality

As part of its 5G-FAST plan, the FCC has increased the amount of mid-band spectrum available for 5G deployment, a sweet gift to taxpayers that is as good as any Halloween candy. While the pandemic delayed some deployment of 5G both in the U.S. and around the world, the FCC still completed the millimeter wave spectrum band auction, which is critical to implementing 5G deployment in urban and more densely situated markets, netting $4.47 billion in revenue for taxpayers. The c-band spectrum auction, slated to begin on December 8, 2020, which provides a critical 280 MHz of mid-band spectrum for 5G deployment across the country, will add more revenue to the Treasury, and keep the U.S. ahead of wicked competitors like China in the race to 5G.

Trick: Importation of a Witches Brew of Canadian Drugs

Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn, and cauldron bubble. Just as Macbeths dangerous and wicked weird sisters could predict and influence the future, drug counterfeiters are plotting right now how to take advantage of the Trump administrations regulation to allow states to import drugs from Canada. But Canadian officials have repeatedly said they will not export their drugs to U.S patients, since the country already experiences drug shortages for its own citizens. And the policy prevents certain drugs from being reimported into the U.S. like biologics, which are among the most expensive. Even if drugs are imported, the cost of compliance with strict federal safety requirements will likely negate any savings. Ghastly, greedy counterfeiting creatures will be emboldened to cook up dangerous concoctions that may contain worse ingredients than a fillet of fenny snake, eye of newt, or toe of frog. Theyll do anything to sell their deadly witches brew to unsuspecting American citizens, from designing fake Canadian websites to selling their ghoulish wares on the street.

Treat: States have Sweet Success with Occupational Licensing Reform

Many states have had sweet success with occupational licensing reform during the coronavirus pandemic, including recognition of out-of-state medical licenses for telehealth and reduced educational requirements for various professions. Many states have already made permanent changes and others are considering such action. Florida, which ranked fifth according to the Institute for Justice for the most bloodcurdling and burdensome laws in the nation, permanently changed occupational licensing laws for hairdressers, interior designers, nutritionists, and workers in other fields. Arizona, Iowa, Idaho, Missouri, and Utah have also enacted universal occupational licensing reform, which will make it easier for their citizens to find work as the economy recovers from the pandemic.

Trick: Most Favored Nation Zombie Price Controls

One way to turn Americas vibrant biopharmaceutical research and development into a zombie apocalypse would be the permanent adoption of President Trumps most favored nation (MFN) Executive Order drug pricing policy for Medicare. MFN adopts price controls, which never work, by allowing Medicare to pay the lowest price for a drug found in a select group of mostly European countries. In the late 1980s, the European drug industry spent 24 percent more than the U.S. on pharmaceutical research. But socialist healthcare systems turned the European pharmaceutical industry into the walking dead of research and development by 2004, when it trailed the U.S by 15 percent. In a not too distant future, after the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry has been bitten by MFN, it too will become a zombie, virtually unresponsive to finding cures for complex diseases like Alzheimers, Lou Gehrigs disease (ALS), and muscular dystrophy. In the middle of a pandemic, the U.S. has picked a bad time to give up global leadership in pharmaceutical R&D.

Treat: Candy Corn Is Sweet, but Cocktails Are Sweeter

The pandemic lockdowns have haunted the liquor industry, but several states have proposed novel ideas to alleviate the serious economic impact by either temporarily or permanently allowing restaurants and liquor stores to offer yummy to-go cocktails. These states include Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, and New Jersey. In Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine signed HB 699 into law on June 10, 2020, to permanently allow the sale of alcoholic beverages by carryout or delivery. The Buckeye Institute noted that the hospitality and leisure industry had nearly 142,700 fewer jobs compared to 2019. Allowing carryout and delivery for alcoholic beverages will be a sweet treat for these workers and consumers.

Trick: Maryland is Haunted by Spooky Taxes

Lawmakers in Maryland summoned something wicked when they proposed spiking the states sale tax on alcohol from 9 percent to 10 percent in 2021. House of Delegates Minority Leader Nic Kipke (R-Pasadena), predicted, This type of tax increase could be the final straw that puts many out of business. The measure is expected to raise an estimated $14 million a year from Maryland taxpayers within the first two years after the law would be enacted and will continue to haunt them with an additional $22 million each subsequent year. Like other sin tax increases, those figures will be shockingly short of expectations, as millions of Marylanders can walk, bike, scooter, or drive themselves to D.C., Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, as well as go online to buy alcohol.

Trick: AB 5 Haunts Gig Economy Workers

An attempt by California Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) to reverse provisions of AB 5, a scary law that has haunted California gig economy workers for the past year fell to its grave. But voters still have a chance to undo the laws application to Uber and Lyft drivers if Proposition 22 is approved on the November 3 ballot. The supposed purpose of AB 5 was to protect workers by guaranteeing a minimum wage, sick leave, workers compensation, and unemployment benefits. Instead, the law has led to the loss of work for millions of independent contractors in every imaginable industry. In what could be the death knell for app-based workers and other self-employed and self-sufficient Americans across the country, former Vice President Joe Biden plans to federalize the law if he is elected President on November 3.

Trick: The Fiscal Nightmare Continues at the Department of Defense

The 19-year procurement nightmare known as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is approximately $195 billion over budget and nine years behind schedule. The total costs for the F-35 are estimated to reach $1.727 trillion over the lifetime of the program, which is just an evil expenditure of the taxpayers money. Of this total, $1.266 trillion will be needed for operations and support. Of course, the programs many ghastly problems have not stopped the Department of Defense (DOD) from asking for funding, and members of Congress from supplying it, oftentimes exceeding the budget request. This trend continued in FY 2020, when legislators added $2.1 billion to fund the acquisition of 22 JSFs beyond the amount requested by the Pentagon. Since FY 2001, members of Congress have added 29 gruesome earmarks for the JSF program, costing $8.9 billion.

Treat: DODs Chief Management Officer Makes Progress (May Be a 2021 Trick)

In an effort to get the Pentagons hideous business operations in order, the Chief Management Officer (CMO) position was created in fiscal year 2017. The position has already proved its worth, identifying vast sums spent to stock a commissary system with items that are of limited interest to customers. Of the 1.4 million items carried, nearly 1 million produce less than $1,000 in revenue each year, including 23 brands of apple juice. Overall, the CMO has claimed to have identified $22.3 billion in savings between FYs 2018 and 2021. Taming the bureaucratic beast has always been and will continue to be a challenge because of institutional inertia, contractor resistance, and the Pentagons benefactors in Congress. In fact, just three years after touting its creation and despite its success, legislators have taken steps to unwind the CMO position. Instead of allowing some of the Pentagons most horrible management practices to be resurrected, Congress should support efforts to strengthen and institutionalize the office.

Trick: DOD Still Fails to Complete a Clean Audit

The DOD scarily remains the sole federal agency to have never undergone a clean audit. The books are so unnerving that areas within the DOD have been on the Government Accountability Offices list of programs at high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement since 1995. In November 2018, then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan took a stab at describing the Pentagons attempt at an audit, stating, We failed the audit, but we never expected to pass it. The DOD did not indicate how much money turned up missing in the audit, but with a budget topping $800 billion when factoring in the $70.7 billion provided in the Overseas Contingency Operations account, that amount is likely to be shocking to taxpayers.

CAGW is the nations largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

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Taxpayer Tricks and Treats for Halloween 2020 - Business Wire

The event took place at the Hot Springs County Museum and Cultural Center in Thermopolis.

Lummis is currently running to fill the seat soon to be vacated by Senator Mike Enzi, who announced his retirement in May of 2019.

During Wednesdays event, Lummis discussed a variety of topics that included her fiscal conservative values, food origin labeling, land rights, and energy production. She specifically discussed her all of the above energy philosophy that wouldnt rule out carbon capture technology to enhance coals viability.

Lummis also cautioned voters of a massive budget increase should the Democrats to win the White House and Senate, and maintaincontrol over the House of Representatives.

An audience member asked her about the Affordable Care Act and the Republican plan to replace it. She stated that there are plans but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not ready to introduce them yet.

While discussing the role of the federal government in mineral and energy regulation, land management rights, and freedom of choice, Lummis said the role of the federal government is to protect our rights and that is what I want to do.

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Rep. Cynthia Lummis Speaks to Voters in Thermopolis | - mybighornbasin

Step taken to ensure that freedom fighters can lead a solvent life

The monthly honorarium for a freedom fighter is going to be raised to Tk20,000 from Tk12,000 in the current fiscal year as a proposal in this regard has recently been sent to the Finance Ministry.

This information was disclosed at the 14th meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the Liberation War Affairs Ministry on Sunday.

The honorarium is going to be increased by Tk8,000 so that the freedom fighters can lead a solvent life, said the ministry in the meeting held with parliamentary bodys chairman Shajahan Khan in the chair.

The committee recommended the Bangladesh Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust to provide monthly medical expenses to the freedom fighters as needed instead of the existing system.

The parliamentary watchdog formed a three-member subcommittee to report over the authenticity of different alleged irregularities of the Director General of Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust. The subcommittee was asked to place its report before the main committee within the next two months.

The Committee suggested the placement of an elaborate report about the previous recruitments in its next meeting as well as the formation of a committee to modernize the organogram of the trust.

The meeting also discussed Jatio Muktijoddha Council (Jamuka) and recommended placement of the financial statement of Jamuka in the next meeting of the committee.

Committee members Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque and Kazi Firoz Rashid attended the meeting, said a parliament handout.

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Parliament body: Freedom Fighters' monthly honorarium to be raised to Tk20,000 from Tk12,000 - Dhaka Tribune

The New Schools University Center on Fifth Avenue. (Alexi Rosenfeld / Getty Images)

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Last year, the leadership of The New School (TNS) celebrated its storied progressive history by organizing a centennial festival. The event, featuring artistic events, panels, and exhibitions, was intended to highlight its reputation as a quirky, heterodox university committed to social justice. We ask the questions that lead to new questions, challenging the status quo, said the announcement. The festival was also a hugely expensive event, promoted as a fundraiser, albeit one seemingly quite ineffective at its goal of raising money. Months down the line, the university is struggling with a projected budget shortfall of $130 million. But contrary to the celebratory spirit of its carefully crafted public image, the leadership is attempting to transform the universitywithout the input and against the wishes of faculty, staff, and studentsinto a corporate paragon of anti-labor austerity.Ad Policy

On August 6, employees of The New School received an e-mail from the new president, Dwight A. McBride, a long-time administrator as well as a scholar of race and literary studies. The e-mail announced that the school would undergo extensive reimagining and that it had hired Huron Consulting, a firm with a dedicated practice focused on higher education, to guide them. Many of us in the TNS community were flabbergasted by the decision to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in an external consulting company in the middle of a purported fiscal crisis, rather than mobilizing resources and expertise already present in-house. Union members were concerned about the possibility for union busting given the new presidents stance on unions.

As it turns out, they were right to be worried. On October 2five months after Huron was hired, and with the approval of the Board of Trusteesthe school laid off 122 employees to offset the projected budget shortfall. More than a third of the laid-off employees were union members, and essential positions were eliminated in student advising, health services, and departmental administration. The total number of employees who have lost their jobs and health insurance in the middle of a pandemic is even higher because dozens of employees furloughed in March will not be recalled.

Taken together, the number of employees laid off to combat administrative bloatthe steady increase in spending on administrative positions, including substantial increase in salaries and related benefits for the leadership of the universityapproximates 20 percent of The New Schools staff. The layoffs made minimal difference to the budget shortfall: In fact, they are only meant to result in annual savings of $12 million, starting from the fiscal year 2022. The decision to throw around 200 workers into unemployment in the midst of the worst pandemic in a century looks all the more cynical and shocking.

Huron, the shadowy entity in dialogue with the administration behind closed doors, is a corporate consulting firm that has been mired in corruption from the beginning. It was established in 2002 by 25 former executives of Arthur Andersen, an accounting agency that went under in 200102. The agency had been cooking the books for the energy giant Enron, a company that became a household name signifying corporate corruption, as well as the subject of a bestselling book and a documentary. Using mark-to-market (MTM) accounting, Enron was able to claim prospective future profits and list them on its current balance sheet, wildly and fraudulently inflating the companys value. This was not its only crime. Enron routinely advocated the privatization of essential services and resources and expanded its operation to India, Mozambique, and Argentina. In India, Human Rights Watch accused the firm of paying police to violently attack protesters. By the time the company collapsed,shareholders had lost $74 billion, and its employees lost billions in pension benefitsall under the watchful eye of Arthur Andersen.

It didnt take long for Huron to follow in the footsteps of its corrupt creators. In 2009, Huron became embroiled in its own scandal, accused of overstating pretax income from 2005 to early 2009. The consulting firm ended up having to pay out millions of dollars, between a civil fine and reparations to shareholders. Perhaps unsurprisingly, several of Hurons executive leaders are Republican Party donors. In spite of the occasional donation to a Democratic candidate, Huron executives seem to be particularly keen on supporting Republicans like John McCain, Mike Pence, Mitt Romney, George W. Bush, and Ted Cruz.

Huron turned its eye to the field of higher educationin 2015. Remarkably, Hurons own primers point to postHurricane Katrina dispossession as a model for universities looking to navigate the crises brought about by Covid-19. In a report titled COVID-19 and Hurricane Katrina: Parallels and Lessons Learned, Huron advocates that universities immediately institute aggressive measures such as staff and faculty layoffs, program closures, salary reductions, and hiring freezes. The fact that renewal plans engineered by private and public entities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina exacerbated racialized dispossession seems not to have been a concern.Current Issue

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In 2017, under the watch of the reactionary, right-to-work Governor Scott Walker, Huron was hired by the University of Wisconsinhistorically a exemplar of the state-funded, public institution serving the poor as well as the affluentto manage a state-driven austerity plan. In addition to laying off a hundred employees, reducing employment for non-tenure-track staff, and forcibly reassigning tenured faculty, Hurons plan shuttered thriving programs in humanities and social sciences and drove mass faculty layoffs at the universitys Stevens Point Campus.

The University of New Hampshire (UNH) didnt fare any better. In 2019, UNH paid Huron $600,000 to produce a cost-saving, reimagining assessment that Huron claimed would save the university $12 million over two years. The solutions proposed in the report included cuts to research and libraries, layoffs of facility and maintenance staff, and adjustments to the faculty mix (the combination of tenure track and untenured positions) based on a merely quantitative criterion for cost efficiency, credit hour production (CHP) per faculty member. CHP is the total number of credit hours produced in a semester and is calculated multiplying the number of students enrolled by the credit hour per course.

Hurons business model for restructuring higher education also emphasizes the expansion of the market through online learning and the development of global education platforms. It not only suggests that universities use the strategy of their Fortune 1000 counterparts, it advocates fostering corporate educational partnerships. This is plainly at odds with The New Schools historic commitment to promoting and defending the values of intellectual and academic freedom.

Outside of corporate and institutional boardrooms, fierce resistance to the reimagining is mounting across The New School. Employees, students, and faculty are demanding to have a voice in shaping the future of their university. In an unprecedented display of solidarity among students, faculty, and staff members, the unions present on campus (UAW Local 7902, Teamsters Local 1205, and AFM local 802) and The New Schools American Association of University Professors Chapterhave come together under the umbrella of the New School Labor Coalition, organizing a campaign to force the schools leadership to recognize the communitys needs and to bring its workers to the table.

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In a couple of emotional Zoom meetings, laid-off workers described the effects of the universitys austerity measures, the imposition of what Ruth Wilson Gilmore refers to as organized abandonment. Some employees have been working at the school for up to 20 years or more, only to find themselves with no retirement, no income, and no health insurance. Underfunded graduate students expressed rage about the number of teaching fellowships that have been canceled, one of the few sources of income for international students on a visa. And an exhausted faculty body, whose salaries have been cut, retirement contributions halted, and research funds eliminated, expressed their concerns about being confronted with an institution they no longer recognize as their own.

Despite repeated requests, university leadership has yet to meet with the labor coalition. Demands for financial transparency and meaningful participation in decision-making have been similarly deflected. Crucial information has been withheld even from the task force of faculty, staff, and administrators created by the administration to help reimagine the university, leading all faculty and staff representatives in the task force to send a letter to the president and the provost explaining that they find it impossible to fulfill their mission without access to transparent and reliable data about the schools finances.

The administrations actions add up to what Naomi Klein calls the shock doctrinethe tactic of using a supposed crisis to push through radical pro-corporate measures. Corporate sharks like Huron have been helping university bosses across the country implement different versions of this austerity-driven doctrine, and The New School is clearly no exception. This vision of the future is not only borne on the backs of the most vulnerable in our communities; it threatens to undermine higher education itself. To remain true to its historical commitments, The New School needs to dispense with corporate models that cut to the bone, and begin listening to those who make the institution, against all odds, a place of humane, progressive education.

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Corporate Consultants Set Their Targets on American Universities - The Nation

By CHARLES KERR

Lauren Boebert is, I suspect, the least qualified person in our lifetime to have the backing of a major political party to represent the people of Colorados 3rd Congressional District. For which committees in the House of Representatives is she best prepared to further her constituents interests? Agriculture? Veterans Affairs? Education and Labor? Natural Resources? Energy and Commerce? Transportation and Infrastructure?

Colorados 3rd Congressional District needs a representative with broad experience and good judgment, someone who understands the legislative process and is a knowledgeable negotiator. Is Lauren Boebert this person? What qualifies her to be our voice in Congress? That she said Hell, no to Beto ORourkes proposed government buyback of AR-15 and AK-47 semi-automatic weapons? Or her visit to Mount Rushmore to celebrate the Fourth of July with President Trump? Or her invitation to attend Trumps acceptance speech at the White House? Or that she has friends at Fox News? These events position her for reality TV celebrity status, as does wearing a Glock on her hip. But, clearly, these actions are not qualifications for being our representative in Congress.

She claims to be a voice for freedom: freedom from regulation, freedom from taxation, freedom from gun control, freedom from health department regulations, freedom from COVID-19 state restrictions. She walks her talk. At a rodeo in Rifle, without a food license and lacking food safety practices, her food vending service served pork sliders which poisoned people causing severe diarrhea. Failure to pay her taxes has led to eight tax liens against her restaurant. Disorderly conduct and failure to appear in court has led to her arrest and summonses at least four times. Opposing stay-at-home orders from Gov. Jared Polis, Boebert reopened her restaurant and when Garfield County obtained a restraining order to stop her from serving dine-in customers, she moved tables outside. This led to suspension of her restaurant license. Freedom without responsibility is anarchy, and anarchy, from the political right or left, is the antithesis of good government.

Dishonesty also undermines effective government. Lying Lauren was Tiptons response to her ads that asserted that he teamed up with AOC and the Squad to give Boulder a bailout, and that he joined Nancy Pelosi to give amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. To characterize Tiptons votes for H.R.6467 (the coronavirus relief fund for units of government with a population of 500,000 or less) and for the Farm Workforce Modernization Act as a Boulder bailout and amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants respectively is shameful, according to Republican state Sen. Don Coram. Lies and deception is how Sen. Coram characterizes Boeberts misrepresentation of Tiptons voting record. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act and H.R. 6467 were important, bipartisan legislation that would directly benefit West Slope farmers and communities. Boeberts attack ads, based on Tiptons support for this legislation, are more than shameful; they undermine the legislative process that is the basis of effective government which requires bipartisan cooperation, critical thinking, attention to facts, and compromise. Boeberts ads were essentially dishonest, and her willingness to stoop to slander for political gain disqualifies her from being a trustworthy representative in Congress.

In her July op-ed in the Sentinel, Boebert commits to failed fiscal policy. After stating that we need leaders who will promote the responsible and limited vision for government our founders gave their lives over, Boebert demonstrates her own limited vision by embracing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act [which] has allowed Americans to keep an extra $100 a month in their paycheck. She promises to defend this tax cut against a possible Joe Biden presidency. On this basis she seeks our vote.

Unfortunately, the Tax Cut and Jobs Act is a fiscal Trojan Horse that increased the 2019 deficit to $984 billion and raised the federal national debt to $23 trillion. This 2017 tax cut fulfilled Trumps campaign promises to wealthy donors, but it added a trillion-dollar deficit to our economy during a time of prosperity and economic growth when we should have been saving money and lessening the federal debt. Moreover, 34% of the tax benefits went to the wealthiest 1% of Americans, according to the Tax Policy Center. Working families did benefit, but the tax cut to corporations marked a significant shift in wealth distribution to large corporations and rich Americans. JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley received $18 billion of tax relief. The benefit to the Koch brothers is estimated at more than $1 billion a year, and companies including Pfizer, General Electric and Chevron will save billions in taxes. Little of this economic gain benefited wage-earning Americans as companies spent their extra cash on dividends and stock buybacks. Workers wages saw little change and are still below their 2008 level.

Either Lauren Boebert in 2020 does not understand the harmful fiscal results of the 2017 tax cut, in which case she is politically irresponsible and willfully ignorant, or she knowingly supports billions of dollars of tax relief for a banking industry and other major corporations awash with profits, adding a trillion dollars to the national deficit in 2019. In this case she is a glib political huckster, full of self-promotion, lacking good judgment.

Either way Lauren Boebert is not capable of being an independent voice, a wise judge of legislation, and an informed representative negotiating on our behalf with federal land managers and other government and private sector personnel.

Fortunately CD 3 does have someone with competence, integrity and legislative experience running for Congress. A mainstream, fiscally conservative Democrat, Diane Mitsch-Bush has long served Colorado well and deserves our November vote.

Charles Kerr is a retired Grand Junction High School and Colorado Mesa University teacher. He served on the BLM Northwestern Resource Advisory Council.

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Boebert incapable of being an independent voice negotiating on our behalf - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel