Families across South Dakota have started taking down Christmas trees and kids are getting ready to start a new semester at school. With another holiday season nearly behind us, I want to take a moment to reflect on the many things weve accomplished this year.

In 2019, we expanded internet connection to 4,800 households and more than 100 businesses. Progress in this area means producers can access cutting-edge technology that requires high-speed broadband capabilities, students can quickly upload and download assignments for advanced online courses, and folks in remote areas can pursue online business opportunities, allowing them to hire locally while selling globally.

We also launched a new meth campaign that has sparked thousands of conversations about meth around our state and nation. Ive heard story after story of families who say that because of our ads, theyve been able to talk with their kids about the dangers of meth for the first time. Since we started the campaign, nearly 100 people have called or texted our hotline and more than a dozen have been referred to treatment through the hotline.

This year, we saw more families getting outside together to learn about our outdoor traditions. One area of growth that we were pleased to see was an increase in trapping numbers. People are recognizing the need to protect our strong outdoor heritage, participating in our efforts to create wildlife habitat, providing public access, and introducing kids to the adventure of the outdoors.

In 2019, we also focused more attention on mental health. I allocated roughly $500,000 to mental health initiatives, some of which will be used to increase care coordination services available to local school districts. Were also moving forward to fund a mental health court in southeastern South Dakota, which will focus on clients with mental health needs, providing them both treatment and care coordination services. My hope is to get to the root of mental health issues early on so youth and adults can transition out of the justice system.

On these issues and many others, I relied on your input and am so grateful for those who have called, written, or emailed me with their thoughts. In an effort to be the most connected and transparent governor South Dakota has ever had, my office has made thousands of phone calls and written countless emails and letters to South Dakotans this year.

It truly has been an honor to serve you in 2019, and I look forward to tackling new challenges in the year to come.

On behalf of my entire family, I wish you all the best in 2020!

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A year of progress - Brookings Register

KILLINGLY Rich Bowen has been at this for a long time.

This season marks the 35th for the veteran Killingly wrestling coach.

He smiles when he says that it has got a little easier as the years progress and the athletes are suddenly the sons and daughters of previous athletes that he has coached and the support system is not completely reliant upon him.

But, its still not a piece of cake.

Kids are kids.

Its challenging, Bowen said. Each year is a whole different personality. I didnt know what I was getting when we didnt start out well last year.

That team produced a Class M state championship.

This year?

Who knows.

This team has pretty good personalities, good kids for the most part, and its just molding them into what are we going to be this year, he added.

Its a work in progress.

Killingly (1-0, 1-0 Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II) easily picked up its first dual win of the season on Friday, 63-9, over Bacon Academy but there are still plenty of questions for the defending state champs.

The wrestling room was pretty barren until after the football season ended which for Killingly was not until Dec. 14.

I only had two or three days of practice and that was the same for everyone who was on the football team. We probably had only six or seven guys in the wrestling room before the football team came down, said senior captain Jon Creswell.

And just as the football team was coming in, two wrestlers were on their way out.

One wrestler decided not to remain with the team and another suffered what is likely a season-ending injury.

It means Creswell has been busy in the hallways of Killingly High.

Im trying to recruit some of the football players and we have some new faces out here. Theyre going to come and win some matches for us and its going to be huge for the end-of-year tournaments, Creswell said.

He has managed to convince junior linebacker Evan DeRonsie to try the sport as well as sophomore Alex White and freshman Terrance Allen who could blossom as a heavyweight.

Still, Killingly has only about 20 wrestlers out and on Friday, had to forfeit bouts at 106 and 195 pounds.

But Killingly does have some experience back beginning with David Charron.

The senior is the last of the Charron brothers in a Killingly singlet as his brothers Danny and Mike, who, like him, were Class M state champs last year, have both graduated.

Its definitely different, definitely a little tougher without Danny and Mike here but I just have to worry about improving myself and improving the team, Charron said.

Charron had his work cut out for him Friday.

He had to battle Bacon Academys Braeden OBrien at 132 pounds. OBrien, a two-time state champ and only a junior, was last years 120-pound Class M champ, while Charron took the 126-pound title.

I knew it was going to be a close match, OBrien said. He rode tough on top. We both worked hard and did our best.

It was Charron who pulled out the narrowest of wins, getting to neutral with 1:16 left in the match, for a 1-0 victory.

I lost to him as a sophomore. I havent faced him since. I got a little revenge but he is a really good wrestler, Charron said.

The fastest pin came from Connor LeDuc. The Killingly senior won his heavyweight match in 15 seconds.

Asim Samuel (113), Jack Richardson (120), Cooper Morissette (126), Isaac Bean (138), Ben Richardson (145) and Creswell (182) also recorded pins for Killingly.

We will certainly be good in the lower (weights). Its how our heavies progress and if they get a little better as they go. That will be the tell-tale of how good this team will be, Bowen said.

The one-sided loss didnt faze Bobcats coach Rob Czaplicki who only has 15 wrestlers out for the team.

I think we can do well. If we dont get hit with injuries, like we seemingly do every year, I think I can get six guys into the (State) Open, Czaplicki said. We gave up four weight classes today so were starting 18-to-24 points down. The duals are going to be tough, but we took sixth place last week (at the Wethersfield Invitational) with just seven guys in my lineup. Every single kid took a top four except for one. The potential is there.

Both teams have another change this season.

Killingly and Bacon Academy(0-1, 0-1) have dropped down from Class M to Class S.

Im not so sure if it will be easier, Bowen said. Ledyard is down there, Windham and Montville. Its going to be an ECC battle royal again. I dont think its ever easy. You never know with injuries how things will come out. Were not a big team. Everything has to go right.

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Wrestling: Defending Class M champion Killingly is a work in progress - Norwich Bulletin

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp pitcher Trevor Rogers throws against the Mississippi Braves on Aug. 11, 2019. Rogers started the season with the A-Advanced Hammerheads and was promoted to Double-A Jacksonville after being named to the FSL All-Star team midway through the season.(Photo: Danielle Bleau/TwigPics Photography)

Current Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp pitcher Trevor Rogers appears to be on the fast track to The Show after his sophomore season in professional baseball saw him named to an All-Star team before being promoted up a league mid-season.

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Rogers was the opening day pitcher for the Hammerheads and was the starter for 18 games. Rogers went 5-8 with a 2.53 ERA, pitching in 110.1 innings, allowing 97 hits, 45 runs (31 earned). He gave up seven home runs and hit six batters. Rogers walked 24 batters and struck out 122.

Jupiter Hammerheads starting pitcher Trevor Rogers throws against the during a game against the Palm Beach Cardinals on Opening Day, April 4, 2019. Through 11 games for the Jupiter Hammerheads, Rogers is 2-6 with an ERA of 3.03. He's pitched in 62.2 innings and has 65 strikeouts.(Photo: Tom DiPace)

Rogers pitched the second-most innings of any Hammerhead, had the fourth-most starts and had the lowest ERA of any pitcher with more than 12 starts.

The previous year Rogers pitched with Single-A Greensboro for 17 games and he showed improvement across the board. His ERA dropped from 5.82 to 2.53 even though he pitched in 40 additional innings in Jupiter. Rogers also allowed three fewer runs, 16 fewer earned runs and struck out 37 additional batters.

Hammerheads pitching coach Reid Cornelius attributed the improved stats to Rogers making a lot of tiny changes.

"His breaking ball got better," Cornelius said. "He started using a cutter so he can add and subtract from his breaking ball. His slider got a little lower so he could add depth. His change-up made steps, too.

"I just think him being on the mound and healthy for a full year helped. You could see his steady progress. He kept getting better and better. By the time June and July rolled around he was probably as good as a pitcher could be in the league."

Trevor Rogers pitches as a member of the South Division in the Florida State League All-Star Game on Saturday, June 15, 2019. Rogers came in for one inning of work, struck out two batters and didn't allow a hit or run scored. The South won, 2-0.(Photo: Chet Peterman/Palm Beach Post)

That hard work earned Rogers a selection to the Florida South League All-Star Game. Rogers threw one inning of work, allowed no runs and struck out two of the four batters he faced.

Rogers himself didn't know if he was going to get called up after the FSL All-Star outing and was okay with the possibility that he'd be in Jupiter the rest of the season.

"Everything was going great," Rogers said. "Everything was clicking and I was having good outing after good outing. I was thinking that I'm two years removed from high school and thought (the organization) was going to take it slow so I was planning on enjoying the rest of the season (in Jupiter)."

Cornelius wasn't surprised by the promotion mid-season.

"It was a situation where he came up pretty quick," he said. "We weren't sure exactly what day he was moving so I didn't get to say goodbye in person. As these guys progress I tell them their (pitching) is good and to trust themselves and continue to do what they're doing.

"The hitters above will let you know if something needs to be adjusted. I don't think you need to change your game when you move up the ladder. I say keep doing what you're doing. A big step for Trevor will be more power to his slider. He's been trying to increase that and get more depth."

Trevor Rogers pitches against the Mississippi Braves on Aug. 11, 2019. Rogers started the season with the A-Advanced Hammerheads and was promoted to Double-A Jacksonville after being named to the FSL All-Star team midway through the season.(Photo: Danielle Bleau/TwigPics Photography)

The Marlins organization was happy with all the progress and decided a mid-season promotion was in order.

The official announcement of Rogers' promotion took place Aug. 3, 2019, just when Rogers was going to play in front of some old friends and family before having to drop everything and get ready to move.

"My high school coach (Cody May), his wife, my girlfriend and her parents all flew out to Florida to see me pitch," Rogers said. "They haven't seen me pitch since high school. The game ended up getting rained out so we went out to eat.

"We were getting ready to buy tickets to a movie when my trainer (Gregory Bourne) calls me and asks if the manager (Todd Pratt) has called me yet. When I said no he said I should probably call him. I call him and he doesn't answer. So for about 30 minutes I'm wondering what is going on."

The hitters above will let you know if something needs to be adjusted. I don't think you need to change your game when you move up the ladder. I say keep doing what you're doing.

Still waiting for the callback from Pratt, Rogers gets another call from Bourne. When Rogers said he hadn't heard back, he was told to act surprised when Pratt did call him back and Bourne sent Rogers his itinerary.

"I get the itinerary at 7 p.m. and my flight leaves at 5 a.m. the next day," Rogers said. "I had to go back and pack everything up. Jacksonville's four hours away from Jupiter but the team was in Mississippi so I had to fly out there."

Rogers packed up everything in his condo and had his girlfriend and girlfriend's parents drive his vehicle to Jacksonville so his stuff would be waiting for him when he came back from the road trip.

"This was definitely a goal of mine," Rogers said. "Early in spring training I wanted to play the majority of the year at FSL High-A. I wanted to get about five starts in Double-A and if I didn't, it would have been okay. I'd just start early the next season."

Just like he wanted at the beginning of the season, Rogers came to Jacksonville in the final month of the season and did get five starts for the Marlins AA affiliate. He made his time there count. Rogers went 1-2, this time only needing three starts to notch his first win in a new division.

The Aug. 17 game against the Tennessee Smokies was his best game in AA. He pitched seven complete innings, striking out 10 batters, allowing just two hits and one walk. Rogers threw 94 pitches had had 67 percent of them go for strikes. Jacksonville won the game, 2-0.

Rogers said it was a little bit of an adjustment, he had to get rid of a lot of adrenaline after the move and then started working with his new pitching coach, Bruce Walton, and finished the season well.

Rogers said it was the confidence of his time in Jupiter that helped him avoid serious growing pains in Jacksonville.

"The hitters are more polished the higher up you go," Cornelius said. "That shows Trevor's still improving. He's only 21 so he's still learning his body and his mechanics."

Cornelius believes once Rogers finishes growing and puts on a little more weight he'll be able to solely focus on his mechanics rather than having to adjust while he still fills into his 6-foot 6-inch frame.

Rogers does not have to return to Jacksonville until the middle of February. He's staying in shape, but spending more time with family and not worrying about baseball itself. Rogers spends every Monday working on his lower body, Tuesday his upper body and Wednesday is core day.

Through November Rogers was more focused on building strength than anything else and since December Rogers added cardio into his workouts.

More: Carlsbad's Trevor Rogers promoted to AA Jacksonville

More: Trevor Rogers says All-Star performance was a confidence booster

More: Trevor Rogers, now an All-Star, continues to improve with Hammerheads

More: Carlsbad's Trevor Rogers finishes first year of professional baseball

More: Trevor Rogers gets first pro win

Rogers still hasn't picked up a baseball to throw since his final game of the season and has been able to enjoy the fruits of his labor with a few vacations. He enjoyed watching other sporting events in the state of Florida during the season and admitted he didn't know the NHL team Florida Panthers were located in Miami when we went to see a game.

"I worked hard so I spoil myself a little bit," he said. "We went to Las Vegas last year. I got to see a George Straight concert when the rodeo was in Vegas. It was the first time I had been there and it was really fun."

With the pitching position being one of the most expensive positions in the MLB, teams usually make sure their draft picks and prospects are ready to be called up to The Show before signing them a large contract. This means spending multiple seasons in the various minor leagues to make sure players are physically and mentally able to handle the strain of playing under the bright lights.

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That may not be the case for Rogers if he stays with the Miami Marlins organization, which finished last year 57-104, the worst record in the National League.

"Everyone knows Miami is rebuilding," Rogers said. "It was at instructs last year (Fall Instructional League) where we had one-on-one camps. I didn't have enough innings last year so I went there to spend more one-on-one time with the pitching coach to fix up some stuff.

"(Miami Marlins part-owner) Derek Jeter came by and explained to us that (the Marlins season) was a horrible one and we've got to do better and all that jazz. He said the best players will be playing in Miami. It doesn't matter how long or how short you've been here. So if we keep performing they'll make room on the roster and find space.

"That was lucky I was drafted by the Marlins. They're going to be a good organization for many years to come, especially now that they want all the young guys up there as soon as possible."

The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp begin the 2020 season on the road against the Mississippi Braves on April 9. The first home game for the CrustaceanNation takes place April 15 against theBiloxi Shuckers.

Matthew Asher can be reached at 575-628-5524, masher@currentargus.com or @Caveman_Masher on Twitter.

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For Carlsbad's Trevor Rogers 2019 was a year of significant progress - Carlsbad Current Argus

The panel monitoring juvenile justice reform in Kansas released a new report Thursday that documented progress in the third year of a transition to consistent methods of handling offenders within their communities, while acknowledging challenges with reinvesting millions of dollars of savings into proven interventions.

The 2016 Legislature ordered overhaul of the state's approach amid criticism that youths were too frequently removed from the home and sent to residential facilities or correctional institutions. Reformers pressed for adoption of standard practices capable of avoiding geographically inconsistent outcomes. Others insisted on evidence-based programs backed by enough money to address troubled youths early and cut recidivism.

The Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee, which includes legislative, judicial and executive branch representatives as well as people from outside state government, reported progress establishing statewide standards, imposing a prohibition on out-of-home placement for low-risk youths and directing resources to young people at highest risk of committing new crimes.

The report outlined recommendations to double annual spending to more than $21 million in the fiscal year starting in July 2020, but "acknowledges that there are and have been challenges with the implementation and outcomes" of the juvenile justice bill passed three years ago. While the report noted a decline in youths moving into the correctional system, the document didn't explore complications of more youths entering other state programs, including foster care, handled by the Kansas Department for Children and Families.

Hope Cooper, a member of the oversight panel and a deputy secretary of the Kansas Department of Corrections, said the state's system of juvenile justice was moving in the right direction.

"Of the many improvements to our states juvenile justice system, I am most encouraged to see the continuum of resources that now focus on serving kids and their families in the community, instead of removing them from the home and hoping the family can change," she said.

The annual report for the fiscal year that ended in July was forwarded to Gov. Laura Kelly, Senate President Susan Wagle, House Speaker Ron Ryckman and the chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court.

The document indicated the number of youths placed in the Juvenile Correctional Facility had dropped from 237 in the 2015 fiscal year to 179 in the last fiscal year, a decline of 24% reduction. The number of low-level offenders at the lone correctional facility fell from 34 in fiscal 2015 to zero in fiscal 2019. The length of time juveniles were under community corrections probation supervision dipped from 20.2 months in fiscal 2015 to 15.5 months in fiscal 2019.

Greg Smith, chairman of the oversight committee and a former state senator from Johnson County, said reducing out-of-home placement among lower-risk youths and caring for them in their communities was a core objective of the reform bill.

"As we learned from the research, this is what is effective for seeing long-term behavior changes in youth," Smith said.

The committee debated how to target $17 million in annual savings set aside by lawmakers to finance improvements in the juvenile justice system. The state earmarks $9.1 million annually on programs for juveniles, but the report outlined a plan for broadening allocations to $21.8 million.

Authors of the report said the reinvestment plan "adheres to best practices" and could be sustained for a minimum of six years. The document pointed to a desire for reliance on a scientific approach to "guide decision-making well into the future."

"Courts, local juvenile justice agencies, defense attorneys, prosecutors, law enforcement, educators, service providers, child welfare and KDOC have been steadfast in their work to ensure that Kansas improves the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system, and this report reflects successes in that effort," said Jeff Zmuda, secretary of the state Department of Corrections.

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Oversight panel reports Kansas making progress on juvenile justice reform - Salina Journal

Showtimes Work in Progress opens on a dark note, with its heroine threatening to kill herself in a hundred and eighty days if happiness doesnt come her way. I mean, Im forty-five, Abby gripes to her therapist. Im fat. Im this queer dyke who has done shit in her lifeand that is my identity? In a funny, curmudgeonly monologue, Abby describes herself as an unfinished building ruining a good neighborhoodan eyesore. When she glances up, her shrink, still grinning supportively, has dropped dead.

Its a Borscht Belt gag, but, then, Abbys whole life feels like a punch line. Still, buried in that Eeyore-ish lament, theres something else: Abbys girlish fantasy of herself as a fucking damsel longing for rescueby a prince or a princess, the details dont matter. Magically, thats just what she gets when she meets Chris, a twenty-two-year-old waiter who Abby (Abby McEnany) initially assumes is hitting on her straight sister. Played by the supremely chill Theo Germaine, Chris looks like Abbys prince in shining tank tops, capable of fixing the unfixable.

This budding romance isnt precisely a Nora Ephron meet-cute, but its a charmer in a new way. Abby is unfazed by the news that Chris is trans, and, despite the generational gulf, theres symmetry to their gender issues: to strangers, Chris, who cant afford top surgery, reads as a cute lesbian tomboy, while Abby, with her shlumpy butch charisma, short-cropped gray hair, and button-down shirts, has spent her life being mistaken for male, even in lesbian bars. In college, she was taunted as Pat, after the Saturday Night Live character, and when, on their first date, she and Chris run into the comedian who played Pat, Julia Sweeney (an executive producer for the show, gamely playing herself), Chris urges Abby to tell her off. I really love conflict, he explains, smiling sweetly. Because hes twenty-two, Chris is stunned to hear of the existence of Patwhats so funny about a person whose gender cant be guessed?

Work in Progress, like its heroine, is sweetly imperfect: not every bit lands, and Chris can feel, at moments, too good to be true. But the series explores, with warmth and originality, the messy gulf between the era when Abby came outas an overall-wearing romantic in a frat-boy world, drinking in lesbian bars full of folksingersand Chriss community of cheerful poly hipsters in Spock ears, corsets, and throuples. When Chris takes Abby to a night club, which features bare-assed burlesque and signs for fisting demonstrations, she groans, I look like Mitt Romney, Jr. Junior? Chris shoots back. In another episode, in a cab, the couple text their sexual preferences back and forth, turning informed consent into flirtation. PENETRATION, Chris texts. I dont think I can fit my Thoughts into one text, Abby texts back, throwing off panicked GIFs of Mr. Furley, from Threes Company.

In many ways, Work in Progress is a familiar entry in an established genre: its an indie comedy by and about a clever, dyspeptic misfit looking for love. Like Pamela Adlons Better Things and Tig Notaros One Mississippi, its about a single misanthrope cautiously dipping her toe into the dating pool. Like Josh Thomass Please Like Me and Maria Bamfords Lady Dynamite, its interested in mental illness and self-help. But Work in Progresswhich is co-written and produced by Lilly Wachowskiis smartly edited, full of odd little montages and visual juxtapositions. It has its own distinctive, salty vibe, driven by McEnanys simultaneously self-loathing and self-aggrandizing swagger. Shes an irritant with charm, along with genuine baggage. (Among other things, she has O.C.D.; as annoyed people bang on the bathroom door, she washes her hands raw.) She also has a secret closet full of notebooks in which shes recorded her whole life. Nobody knows it, but Abby is telling their story. In certain ways, Work in Progress is a mirror image of Hannah Gadsbys Nanette, which argues that self-deprecation, especially for people like her and Abby, amounts to self-harm. Work in Progress takes the position that it might be something better: a tool that, in the right hands, could renovate an unwelcoming culture in Abbys imagecrankiness, grief, and all.

In Dare Me, on USA, a cheerleading team in a depressed Rust Belt town hires a new coach, a blond hot shot who the rich boosters hope will whip their squad into trophy-winning shape. What do I see? Spray tans. Gummy-bear thighs, the coach, Colette French, observes, strutting across the school gym, pinching a girls soft belly as she passes by. (Fix this, Colette says.) I do not see my top girl. One of the cheerleaders, Addy, the striving daughter of a single mom who is also a cop, falls in Colettes thrall, becoming her favorite, her babysitter, and her confidante. Addys best friend, the troublemaker Beth, sees Colette as the enemy.

We know from the start that something bad is coming: those unexplained flash-forwards to a black pool of blood are kind of a giveaway. But while the series, an adaptation of a novel by Megan Abbott, is full of shady twistsblackmail, cyber chicanery, adultery straight out of Double Indemnitythe criminal mystery is not really its central appeal. Its a sharp character portrait and a dreamy mood piece, one style inflecting the other. Beneath the shows poetic, occasionally repetitious narration (there are only so many times we can hear Addy brood, in voice-over, about the fact that people have shadows and wear masks), theres a clear-eyed examination of a small town full of dangerously bored kids, partying in the woods, soft targets for coaches and military recruiters who offer them a ticket out of the busted local economy.

Still, the power of the show flows just as much through its imagerya decadent, unashamedly voyeuristic vision of athletic beauty, with a hallucinogenic verve that keeps it from becoming cheesy. Closeups turn a bruise or a glittering lip into a fetish object. It often feels as if the girls are being shot in slo-mo, even when theyre not. The camera lurks by the lockers, watching the team shower, vomit, and spar; it hovers under the bleachers, ogling muscular thighs. It takes a Gods-eye view of the squads wild lifts, nudges in as they grind at parties, stares out of the mirror when they apply false lashes. To call these shots objectifying would miss the point: they replicate the way the girls see themselves, as both prey and predator. Dare Me is certainly not the only show on TV with bitchy, gorgeous cheerleadersits a clich of many teen series, in multiple genresbut it treats their experiences with a freaky, sensual gravity, not as an arch joke.

The show is especially interested in female ambitionand the ways users can warp a girl-power fantasy to suit their own needs. Who runs the world? Girls!, Beths sleazy dad announces. Youve seen the T-shirt. For him, the team is a lure for investment in a lucrative stadium deal; in private, he bribes his daughters with fancy purses. Some of the best scenes are between Beth and her dissolute mother, a pill-head divorce at the crossroads between Eugene ONeill and The Real Housewives, who is a different kind of coach. You have to play the part: smile and smile, she tells Beth, pressing her to manipulate her dad. Maybe it is my fault. I made you think you can be anything, do anything. Beth answers like a Peter Pan desperate not to go Wendy: I hope I never grow up at all.

Amid a strong cast, Willa Fitzgerald is the standout as the enigmatic Colette, who alternates between spurring her cheerleaders to victory and inviting them over for drunken dance parties. Hanging out with high-school kids seems to work as a contact high for her, normalizing her hidden recklessness. You are the one who wanted the house! she hisses at her husband, as they fight. You love a pretty front. When Colette cheats on him, the show has the respect not to film the sex scenes clinically or from a distance: in the honorable tradition of noir, it looks like the kind of sex youd risk your life for.

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Uncertain Attraction in Work in Progress and Dare Me - The New Yorker

Workplace uniform giant Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) completed its $2.2 billion acquisition of competitor G&K Services in March 2017,and integrating the two companies and realizing merger benefits has proved to be a multiyear project, as management had originally projected. But efforts to wring more value from the tie-up finally seem to be coming to fruition.

In Cintas' fiscal second-quarter 2020 earnings conference call on Dec. 17, executives discussed examples of recent progress in the integration effort. Let's briefly review three of management's comments to gauge how the process is affecting Cintas' results and long-term investment prospectsfor its shares.

[In] our uniform rental and facility services segment, gross margin was 46.6% for the second quarter, compared to 45.3% in last year's second quarter, an improvement of 130 basis points. Operating-income margin was a record 19.5% for the second quarter, and it was 19% year to date. Profit margins have strengthened for many reasons, including strong revenue growth and realization of cost synergies from the acquisition of G&K.

-- Paul Adler, treasurer

Cintas' uniform rental and facilities services business makes up roughly 80% of the company's total top line. During the earnings call, executives detailed how gross margin and operating margin are improving as major integration efforts are wrapping up.

For example, as Cintas has incorporated G&K manufacturing volume into its existing plants, and closed some G&K plants, it's achieved production efficiencies that are beginning to turn up in higher profitability. This impact is speeding up as the company has now completed most of its plant integrations and closings.

Over a longer time period, Cintas will continue to find opportunities to boost the yield from combined operations. Management cited a specific example on the call, explaining that the company often converts G&K workwear rental customers to Cintas uniforms when inventory in legacy G&K products gets depleted. Cintas' products carry slightly higher margins, and management believes that switching customers over to Cintas workwear provides them, in many cases, with a higher-quality uniform.

Image source: Getty Images.

[W]e're about 85% of the way through our SAP journey at this point in time. So we've made some good progress in the quarter, and we're still on track to complete the project by the end of the fiscal year. As far as benefits are concerned, I think the benefits from SAP are going to be kind of [found] throughout the [profit and loss statement].

-- Adler

Cintas' conversion to German software giant SAP AG's namesake enterprise software was one of management's most prominent business themes in calendar year 2019. Implementing a single accounting, finance, and data analysis framework across the organization will be especially helpful to Cintas. It has grown through acquisitions of numerous smaller uniform companies, and as a result, management's information for decision making and reporting has been gathered (until now) from a host of disparate accounting and finance systems.

On the call, Adler discussed the benefits to invoicing and pricing that the SAP system will bring. He also mentioned that having the company's uniform rental and first-aid segments under a single system will foster opportunities for collaboration within its sales team and help with product cross-selling to customers.

Though the enterprise software's rollout is 85% complete, the company has so far realized only a fraction of the ultimate benefit to the profit and loss statement; this will happen over a period of years. Analyzing data provided by SAP should also help Cintas get a firmer grasp on the profitability of G&K's manufacturing operations and service routes, and assist in making better-informed decisions.

[From a] working capital standpoint, we certainly have been in a period of disruption over the last couple of years, as it relates to our accounts receivable, converting two systems as it relates to our inventory, and shutting down [distribution centers], opening new DCs, converting a lot of volume. And we're starting to get some of those inefficiencies and disruptions behind us. And so for example, in accounts receivable, we've seen a nice improvement year over year. And that's part because we've gotten a little bit of that disruption behind us.

-- CEO Michael Hansen

Hansen's point above relates to disruptions from both the G&K Services integration and the SAP implementation. It also illuminates how improving an organization's handling of its current assets, from physical inventory to accounts receivable, helps liquidity and cash flow, and ultimately widens profits.

As the SAP conversion nears completion, management has much more visibility into the accounts receivable of its various operating subsidiaries, which helps to facilitate collections while pinpointing delinquent accounts more quickly. And the integration of G&K inventory into Cintas' distributions system is speeding inventory turnover, while helping the buildup of additional inventory for future sales.

The fine-tuning of the components of working capital (i.e., current assets less current liabilities) shows up most prominently in Cintas' cash flow. Hansen said that Cintas has enjoyed a cash conversion ratio of over 100% in fiscal 2020. This ratio, calculated by dividing operating cash flow by net income, measures the amount of net profit a company converts into cash in a given period.

By my calculation, cash conversion reached 115% in the first six months of fiscal 2020. Free cash flow more than doubled during the same period against the first two quarters of fiscal 2019, to $445 million. These are perhaps the two clearest pieces of evidence that Cintas has indeed reached a tipping point in its gradual effort to extract value from the G&K acquisition.

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Cintas Is Making Progress in Three Vital Areas - The Motley Fool

The Holly area might be enjoyed and known as a sleepy bedroom community for residents, but the area comprised of Holly Village, and the townships of Holly, Rose and Groveland, have been anything but sleepy in 2019.

This area continues to grow along with their neighboring cities like Fenton and Grand Blanc.

Big changes came to Holly Village as a new police chief was hired. Chief Michael Story resigned suddenly in August. Lake Orion Police Chief Jerry Narsh was hired and his first day was Dec. 9.

The Holly Fire Department moved to a new location in midtown with official occupancy in October. The project cost just under $500,000 and is twice the size of the former Broad Street location.

We accomplished a lot and made progress on so many projects, said Katy Golden, Holly Downtown Development Authority director and assistant village manager.

Holly Village acquired a $150,000 grant for the Union Depot project. The DDA offered matching funds to refresh the look of several downtown properties.

Ongoing projects in Holly Township achieved milestones, such as the heritage farmstead structural work that was needed before development could continue.

Less visual and exciting projects are nonetheless important and clear the way for more projects to come. Weve spent time with new ordinances, for the wind and solar, agro tourism, Supervisor George Kullis said. Hollys growing.

Some policies and procedures need to be updated to allow for growth to come, such as in the Dixie Highway corridor project. Were not going to be a sleepy little burg anymore, Kullis said.

The first resident in Riverside Gardens, of the Pulte subdivision moved in this October. Kullis said approximately 15 homes are under construction in the previously stalled subdivision.

Kullis said numerous meetings have been held to rebuild North Holly Road. Theyre also working to make it easier for residents to divide and sell land.

The Holly Oaks ORV Park is set to open in the summer of 2020 in Groveland Township. Administrative and on-site work continued in 2019, with the official name being chosen, and public and private events held on site.

There were several important projects in Rose Township that were either finished or made progress in 2019, according to Supervisor Dianne Scheib-Snider. Milford Road was completely repaved inside Rose Township and a new culvert was installed.

The hill at Mason Street at the Rose Township Hall was paved to prevent erosion. It was funded by the county, township and road commission.

The township acquired property at the back of the original town hall. This will clear the way to use the hall for an assembly building, much like a community center. We dont have anything like that in Rose Township, Scheib-Snider said. This will probably be the big project for this year.

In 2019, the Townships Board of Trustees approved the creation of a conservation committee to preserve the townships rural features.

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2019 YEAR IN REVIEW: Holly area progress and exciting projects - Fenton Tri County Times

Its that time of year again: everyone is looking back on a year of listening, watching and reading and then weighing in on what lingered and satisfied.

Take a look at the music and other delights that kept Daily Progress stalwarts entertained this year, and then think about your own top picks. Just stay out of drainage ditches and icy driveways.

Tyler Hammel, courts reporter:

Top 5 Albums:

1. Pony, Orville Peck

2. Dedicated, Carly Rae Jepsen

3. Pang, Caroline Polachek

4. Magdalene, FKA twigs

5. Careful, Boy Harsher

Top 5 Movies:

1. Parasite

2. Midsommar

3. The Farewell

4. Hustlers

5. Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Meghin Moore, digital content coordinator:

Top 5 Albums:

1. i,i, Bon Iver

2. Better Oblivion Community Center, Better Oblivion Community Center

3. All Mirrors, Angel Olsen

4. On The Line, Jenny Lewis

5. Pony, Orville Peck

Favorite 5 Songs:

Wild Horses, Noah Gundersen

Demitasse, Fireworks

a morning song, Oso Oso

Supposed To Be, Bad Books

Tokyo, Julien Baker

Ruth Serven Smith, assistant city editor:

5 new books I read this year:

1. She Said,Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

2. Fleishman is in Trouble,Taffy Brodesser-Akner

3. Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino

4. Inland, Tea Obrecht

5. Normal People, Sally Rooney

Nolan Stout, city hall reporter:

Five times I injured myself this year:

1. Falling in a drainage ditch directly onto my hip after game four of the 2019 NHL Eastern Conference Final.

2. Bruising a rib while moshing to The Menzingers in Richmond.

3. Bruising my hand after a fall when I tried to take up rollerblading again.

4. Slipping on ice in the driveway and falling on the aforementioned hip.

5. Moving furniture and lifting with my back.

Five albums I listened to this year:

1. Hello Exile, The Menzingers

2. This Too Wont Pass, Cant Swim

3. Too Afraid to Say (EP), The Ones You Forgot

4. Merci, Save Face

5. Painkillers, Brian Fallon

Jane Dunlap Sathe, features editor:

Top 5 Awesome Cellists in 2019

1. Tomeka Reid. The jazz cellist and composer released Old New in October with her quartet, which includes bassist Jason Roebke, drummer Tomas Fujiwara and guitarist Mary Halvorson. Youll also want to check out music by her trio, Hear in Now, which includes violinist Mazz Swift and bassist Silvia Bolognesi. Both inspiring bodies of work will make you wonder why there arent more jazz cellists.

2. Sheku Kanneh-Mason. The first black cellist to win the BBC Young Musician Competition back in 2016 performed at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in May 2018 and came away with a massive new international following, and he spent a busy 2019 performing for those new fans. Now 20, he will release a new album in January that includes his performance of the Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.

3. Wes Swing. The Charlottesville cellist directed an experimental dance film, Sing to Me, and performed in a dance festival in Shanghai earlier this year. When hes not collaborating with other artists in a variety of disciplines, he often uses electronic looping to add texture to his solo performances.

4. Amit Peled. The 6-foot, 5-inch cellist, a frequent Tuesday Evening Concert Series guest, released two albums in 2019. Bach Suites Volume 1, released in February, captured the first three of J.S. Bachs iconic Six Unaccompanied Cello Suites G Major, D minor and C Major on Pablo Casals beloved 1733 Gofriller cello. Mozart Live, which came out in August, teamed him up with Mount Vernon Virtuosi, his Maryland-based chamber orchestra of recent music graduates.

5. Stephen Isserlis. The well-traveled cellist, author and entertaining Twitter presence will return to Charlottesville for a March 22 concert at the Paramount Theater. His February release of Shostakovich, Kabalevsky and Prokofiev works performed with pianist Olli Mustonen topped the United Kingdoms classical charts in its first week of release.

Original post:

Top 5 and top that: 2019 lists from The Daily Progress staff - The Daily Progress

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Stop us if you've heard this one before: Ben Simmons needs to improve his perimeter shot and be more willing to take those shots, period.

It remains the primary storyline when the Philadelphia 76ers' title chances are discussed, and ahead of the team's Christmas Day clash with the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, general manager Elton Brand addressed Simmons' shooting:

Coming into Wednesday, Simmons was averaging 14.4 points, 8.5 assists, 7.0 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, shooting 56.2 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. However, he has attempted only five threes this season, and two of them have been heaves, per Basketball Reference. He's 2-of-3 on actual three-point attempts, which makes it a bit surprising he hasn't attempted more.

But while that hesitance to shoot and his overall scoring numbers have been a bit disappointing, Simmons has impressed in every other facet in the game. His passing and vision are elite. He's become one of the NBA's most stifling and versatile defenders. He is a force of nature in transition.

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His weaknesses are also magnified by the roster construction in Philadelphia. Embiid and Simmons are an unnatural fit, as both operate best near the basket in the half court. Add in another big man in Al Horfordand a lack of secondary playmaking and shot creationand Simmons doesn't have a roster tailor-made for his skill set like Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee.

That has led to a number of spicy takes (or perhaps overreactions, depending on your perspective) this season:

Simmons is one of the NBA's more unique talents, and he continues to divide opinion. There aren't many comparisons for 6'10" point guards who play like LeBron James in transition, Enes Kanter in the half court and Kawhi Leonard on defense. The long-held belief is that if he develops a steady jumper, he'll become one of the NBA's top players.

The jury is still out on whether that will happen this season, or perhaps ever.

Link:

Elton Brand: 76ers Aren't Concerned About Ben Simmons' 'Work in Progress' Jumper - Bleacher Report

CORBIN While most teams will be participating in holiday tournaments this weekend, Isaac Wilsons Corbin Lady Redhounds will be getting an extended break from games to prepare for the remainder of the season.

The Lady Redhounds are currently sitting at a 6-3 record with losses only to Pulaski County, Williamsburg and Spencer County. Corbin just wrapped up their inaugural Lady Redhound Christmas Bash this past weekend where the Lady Redhounds went 2-1 and finished in third place.

Weve had our ups and downs, which is expected for a young basketball team, Wilson said. We werent returning much experience, especially that started varsity. We look at it now and were 6-3 and I feel like as a team and as a staff, were happy with where were at. Weve shown a lot of progress over these last few weeks of the season going into Christmas break.

I feel like weve had some quality wins, especially looking at our latest win against Knox Central, that rivalry game over the Christmas tournament that we had, he added. It was a good game for both teams, a very competitive game and we were able to come out on top. Also, with our losses, there havent really been any to hang your head about. All three opponents that we lost to are quality opponents and we can learn and get better from.

Wilson said he and his coaching staff are hoping to use this break as an opportunity to continue to build on their progress.

We want to continue to build and thats the same message we give to our team each and every day, take away as many backslides as possible and just continue moving forward, continue to grow and just see how good that we can become by the end of the season, he said. As a staff, we really feel that were ahead of schedule. We really like the progress that weve seen up to this point.

Specifically, Wilson said there are some specific areas that he will have his team working on in practices over the next week.

Weve definitely got to improve at rebounding, he said. I feel like we can go through segments or spots in games where we really lose the rebounding board and it really puts us in some tough situations. Also, staying out of foul trouble. I know thats something that just happens in games but we have had some key players that get critical fouls at many not the best moments and they end up getting strapped on the bench. And to just continue to take care of the ball and our defensive side of things.

Weve gotten so much better at taking care of the basketball and I think thats helped us in building and winning some games. In the last three games our defensive side of the basketball has been much better than when we started. Weve got to continue to hone into those things and make those things better.

Looking ahead at the remainder of the season, Wilson hopes to see smiles and good attitudes.

I feel like thats the biggest thing to continue to grow, he said. Theyve got to continue to come out there with that mindset, they need to be happy, obviously and they need to be wanting to grow. It seems like if they have smiles on their faces and they are having a good time, then its easier to improve and get better at the things we need to get better at.

The Lady Redhounds will be back in action on Thursday, as Corbin hosts Jenkins at 3 p.m.

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Lady Redhounds using holiday break as opportunity to build on progress - Times Tribune of Corbin

Author: Cong Cao, University of Nottingham Ningbo China

Chinas science and technology (S&T) development has been on an upward trajectory. This is evidenced by the improving quality of its large talent pool, the expansion of higher education and the rise of publications in leading international journals and of patenting activities both domestically and abroad. Together with increased foreign direct investment for innovation and industrial upgrading, China has flourished as the worlds manufacturing centre with modern world-class facilities and an increasingly technologically-sophisticated society.

The reform of the S&T system underlies Chinas impressive performance. The period of reform that began in the mid-1980s has tried to address issues such as improving the link between S&T and the economy, increasing research efficiency, improving the administration of public research and development (R&D) activities and organisations, establishing a modern R&D system and expanding institutional autonomy.

Yet, a massive injection of funds, better-trained researchers and sophisticated infrastructure have not produced many truly innovative and competitive technologies or products, nor has it brought China cutting-edge breakthroughs worthy of a Nobel Prize. Tu Youyous discovery that won her the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine the first for a Chinese mainlander took place in the 1960s and 1970s.

The commercialisation of public R&D results, a mandated goal of the reform effort, has been difficult if not impossible, due to the view that these results are public goods. This disincentivises researchers from engaging in technology transfer or becoming entrepreneurs themselves.

The role of the state has been highly visible in shaping S&T policies. Its posture shifted from kejiao xingguo (rejuvenating the nation with science, technology and education) in the mid-1990s to rencai qiangguo (empowering the nation with talent) at the turn of the 21st century. This led to the conception of the Medium-to-Long-Term Plan for the Development of Science and Technology (MLP) in early 2006.

The MLP set ambitious national goals and formalised the governments commitment to allocate substantial financial and human resources to develop China into an innovation-oriented nation by 2020 and a world leader in S&T by 2050. The plan defines its major objectives as enhancing indigenous innovation capabilities, leapfrogging in key scientific disciplines and mobilising S&T to lead future economic growth.

Nevertheless, Chinese government contributions to total R&D expenditure have remained at some 20 per cent for some time. Insufficient government funding has not only resulted in lower expenditure on basic and applied research but has also caused free-riding concerns in the United States and other developed countries.

The state-led approach is characterised by a top-level design and whole-of-nation system. The former entails a balanced and focussed approach that considers the interests of the Chinese Communist Party and the country and ensures comprehensive and sustainable development. There is also a focus on promoting coordinated innovation in economic, political, cultural and social domains.

A whole-of-nation system represents a way of organising R&D activities through the mobilisation and concentration of resources in priority areas. As a mechanism of unifying resource organisation, China utilises the nations coercive power and mobilises the support of public finance to achieve national interests. Operating under an economic system with the nation at its core, it is also a way of planning S&T development through the state-led implementation of major projects.

The Partys Central Committee and governments State Council have repeatedly called for improving the S&T whole-of-nation system. The implementation of 16 mega-engineering programs under the MLP from next-generation broadband wireless mobile communications to nuclear power stations and major pharmaceutical innovation have revived the system and demonstrates the effectiveness of the state-led model.

Stemming from the MLP, the Chinese government has devised several critical programs in accordance with the indigenous innovation rhetoric. The Strategic Emerging Industries (SEI) program prioritised seven critical high-tech industries, including advanced information technology, automated machine tools and robotics and biopharma and advanced medical products.

The Made in China 2025 (MIC 2025) program expands on the SEI and the MLP. It highlights ten sectors, including robotics, artificial intelligence and energy-efficient cars, as part of the fourth industrial revolution that is expected to drive the world economy in the coming decades.

As well as channelling government support and subsidies towards upgrading industrial and manufacturing technologies, MIC 2025 called for utilising indigenous patents, inventions and ideas, rather than those imported from abroad. It expects China to increase the use of domestic components in production to 40 per cent by 2020 and to 70 per cent by 2025.

Ultimately, market forces will be required to achieve the desired upgrades and to adopt international technical standards and benchmarks.

And Chinas state-led approach has faced challenges. Costing billions of yuan each, the MLPs mega-engineering programs have generated mixed outcomes at best. The MLPs indigenous innovation strategy also evoked so much international unease that the policy drafters had to clarify that the programs were not ideologically or politically charged.

The international business community has also raised concerns about MIC 2025s promotion of unfair competition through the subsidising of Chinese companies and limiting of market access for foreign businesses. The administration of US President Donald Trump argues that MIC 2025s ambitious targets motivate questionable behaviours that threaten US companies and national security, including forced technology transfer and cyber theft.

The state-led approach is certainly not suitable for every S&T program. The development of Chinas semiconductor industry demonstrates a failure of the state-led approach as it has not significantly eased Chinas dependence on foreign technology. The last decade has also seen a recurrence of overinvestment in prioritised sectors, from solar panels and wind turbines to electric vehicles and robotics. Such an approach has led to the inefficient allocation of resources, rent-seeking and misuse of funds disincentivising or even deterring innovation.

Cong Cao is Professor of innovation studies at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China.

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Progress and challenges for science and technology in China - East Asia Forum

The 2010s were the decade in which we were reminded that science is just a method, like the rhythm method. And just like the rhythm method, it can be more or less rigorously applied, sabotaged, overrated, underrated and ignored. If you dont treat it with respect, you may not get the optimal result, but thats not the methods fault.

That may be where the similarities end, because when its done well, science is very effective, and this decade furnished its fair share of breakthroughs to make us gasp. Physicists detected phenomena that were predicted decades ago gravitational waves, the Higgs boson particle indicating that they have been on broadly the right track in their understanding of how the universe works. Astronomers added awe-inspiring detail. Nasa probes found towering ice mountains on Pluto and organic chemistry the stuff of life on Mars and a moon of Saturn. And who could forget the exoplanets those planets orbiting distant stars? Thousands of them were discovered in just the past 10 years. No wonder science fiction is booming.

Biologists didnt slack either. They honed an immunological defence mechanism found in bacteria, Crispr-Cas9, into a powerful gene-editing tool that works in plants and animals including humans. They added several new ancestors to the human family tree and discovered ghostly traces of others as yet unseen and unnamed. And very old DNA started giving up its secrets, after researchers succeeded in extracting it from ancient bodily remains and sequencing it. This threw open a huge window on our species past, revealing that every person alive today is the product of multiple migrations and that relations between different waves of migration have always been complicated. Neanderthals and modern humans probably clobbered each other, for example, but they also interbred.

But this was also the decade in which science was commandeered by all kinds of people with political, social and economic axes to grind. Ancient DNA researchers understood early on the potential for their discoveries to be politicised the science of human origins always has been but they still werent able to fully control the message. Thus we learned about white supremacists engaging in sinister milk-chugging parties in America, supposedly designed to smoke out people of non-European heritage who cant digest lactose, and baseless claims made by some Hindu nationalists that the speakers of the original Indo-European language hailed from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient DNA researchers themselves were accused of engaging in an undignified bone rush, and disrespecting indigenous remains.

Dissing the dead is one thing, dissing the living quite another. The world was shocked when, in 2018, the Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui announced he had used Crispr to edit the genomes of twin girls the first humans born with edited DNA they can pass on. Ethical concerns were raised over whos entitled to know what about private health records as genetic testing becomes mainstream, and over the prohibitive pricing of gene therapies after the first of these was approved in 2012 then taken off the market.

We welcomed the boon of artificial intelligence the fruit of massively increased computing power, cheap memory, advances in data management and new maths and statistics and fretted over its potential negative impact on us.

The first vaccine against Ebola was approved. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Ebola continues to rage, health workers are battling not only the disease, but also hesitation about getting vaccinated. This is now a global problem, and though the reasons for it are complicated and vary according to who is hesitating in the UK and US Andrew Wakefield has a lot to answer for. He abused the scientific method in a previous decade, when he made false claims about a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Fear of vaccines has come home to roost most visibly, in the form of a global resurgence of measles. Its not all down to him, though. Weve been so well served by vaccines that relatively few people alive today remember what life was like before them how, for example, people wept with joy when Jonas Salks polio vaccine was announced in 1955.

We heard a lot in this decade about how trust in experts has waned, but its difficult to know how much of that perception is real and how much of it comes down to minority opinions bellowed through the sousaphone of social media. In 2019, the US-based organisation Scholars at Risk reported that attacks on higher education communities had more than doubled globally over the previous three years ranging from restrictions on academic expression to wrongful imprisonment and even violence. On the other hand, surveys suggest that trust in scientists is quite stable over the long term, and science funding has been slowly increasing in the worlds richest countries.

Taken together, perhaps what these indicators reflect is that, like the rhythm method, the scientific method is one we should be glad to have in our armoury, but that both have the potential to wreak havoc in the context of a toxic relationship.

Laura Spinney is a science journalist based in Paris. Her latest book is Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World

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Science made astonishing progress. It was also hijacked by those with an axe to grind - The Guardian

MADISON, Wis. (AP) Former school teacher and state education secretary Tony Evers isnt ready to give himself a grade on his first year as Wisconsins governor.

Incomplete, Evers said during a wide-ranging interview that looked back at his first year in office and ahead to 2020. After four years, Ill be glad to offer A through F, but at this point its incomplete.

Evers first year was marked by partisan disagreements with Republicans who control the Legislature, and although he and his fellow Democrats have registered some victories, little headway was made on many substantive issues.

I think we made good progress where were poised to do better things in the future, he said.

Evers took office in January after defeating two-term Republican incumbent Scott Walker. But Republicans maintained their majorities in the Legislature, creating a recipe for gridlock that proved largely to be true. Republicans started by cutting Evers powers during a lame-duck legislative session before he even took office. Most major Democratic proposals have been stymied, and Republicans have described themselves as serving as a goalkeeper to block Evers agenda.

Still, Evers did sign a budget that hit many of his top priorities and campaign promises. He increased funding for schools and the University of Wisconsin, and put more money into roads and health care, but far less than what he wanted. He also cut middle-class taxes by 10%, which Republicans strongly supported.

He cited the enactment of the budget as a highlight, calling it a down payment on the future.

We set a high bar, Evers said. We had some success in getting there.

Many other issues are going nowhere.

Bipartisan bills that would legalize medical marijuana have stalled, as have Democratic efforts to expand Medicaid, address the dark store loophole, a property tax issue thats important to local governments, and institute new gun control measures. Evers tried to force Republicans to debate universal gun background checks and a red flag law that would give judges the power to take guns from people determined to be a risk to themselves or others, but Republicans didnt even debate the measures before adjourning a special session Evers called.

Their discord also showed up in the usually routine matter of confirming Cabinet secretaries, those who lead state agencies and work closely with the governor. Republicans rejected Evers choice for the state agriculture department, in part because of his push to institute divisive, tougher siting rules designed to protect farmers neighbors from the stench of manure. It was the first time the Senate had rejected a Cabinet pick since at least the 1980s.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said its possible the Senate may adjourn for the year without voting on some of Evers Cabinet picks.

The Senate fired Evers agriculture secretary the same week it took no action on the gun bills during the special session. Evers showed his anger, lashing out at Republicans in comments to reporters laced with four-letter words.

Evers tried to force Republicans to release money to combat homelessness in December, but they refused.

While Evers refused to give himself a grade on his first year, legislative leaders were happy to.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos gave him a C, while he said the budget was worthy of an A-minus.

C is average, right? Vos said. You know, in many ways I feel like its incomplete because I havent seen a whole lot of proposals from him. But I would say average.

Fitzgerald declined to give Evers a grade, but he was critical of how the governor worked with lawmakers.

Its been kind of a rocky road, he said.

Not surprisingly, Democrats were more generous.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling gave Evers a B. Democratic Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz gave Evers an A-minus, although he said many of Evers victories like flying a gay pride flag over the Capitol for the first time were symbolic.

Hintz praised Evers for trying to govern from the center. Thats a break from Walker, who Hintz said was political 24-7.

I think it comes across as authentic, Hintz said of Evers. Some of the victories have been symbolic, but Ive appreciated his willingness to speak out on issues.

Evers rejected the notion his victories were symbolic, specifically citing funding increases for schools, roads and health care included in the state budget as substantial.

Those would not have happened if I wasnt sitting in this office, Evers said. And all you do is you have to do is walk down the street and walk around the state and talk to people in the schools and ask them if they got a better deal under me than Scott Walker.

Read the original here:

Evers says he's a work in progress entering second year - WKOW

The year 2000 came with a certain amount of fascination and fear.

It was a big round number, the biggest and roundest in 1,000 years, and it reminded us that the future was just around the corner. The future is always right there, but something about zeroes and calendars inflates some dates with more perceived importance. The year 2000 not only came with a big calendar shift, but a scary problem of our own making also related to a bunch of zeroes. Fortunately, enough people worked hard enough and long enough that the Y2K bug didnt lead to a complete technological meltdown, and people were free to focus on stuff like Elin Gonzlez getting sent back to Cuba and the Supreme Court voting 5-4 along ideological lines to stop a full Florida recount in the presidential election.

Twenty years later, people have more human-created problems to deal with and another momentous presidential election. Instead of short-sighted code, the world must contend with decades of environmental neglect and win-now thinking from a cavalcade of interests. Without progress in these areas, its unclear what would stop a slow, downward slide for everyone into decay and ruin. Its not a hopeful thought to contemplate.

But united action on these fronts could produce a great deal of happiness for everyone. Its easy to read U.N. reports about how the world has 12 years to completely change its fuel habits or else the apocalypse will happen, compare this with your inability to get your coworker to stop microwaving salmon in the breakroom, and throw up your hands and declare humanity hopelessly lost. But humanity has recovered from seemingly hopeless situations before (world wars, famine, plagues, a wide variety of awful genocides), so its reasonable to think people will be motivated to work together again. Humans have discovered vaccines, gone to the moon, and invented air conditioning.

Here are five areas San Francisco needs to make progress on in 2020 to set an example for cities and people elsewhere.

San Francisco continues its reign as the poster child for wealth and housing inequality. That will only stop if wait for it more housing units get built. Thats going to be tough with construction costs through the roof. In a detailed breakdown of why building stuff here costs so much by the San Francisco Chronicles Roland Li, data and industry experts point to insufficient construction workers and red tape as some of the key factors. Also, proposing pretty much any construction anywhere in the city is opposed by someone, often a lot of someones, often a lot of vocal and extremely stubborn someones.

Despite the difficulty, more housing needs to happen. A report from the nonprofit planning organization SPUR projects 2.3 million more Bay Area residents by 2040 and 1.3 million new jobs. An October report from the citys Budget and Legislative Analysts office suggests that housing production in San Francisco is way out of whack: not enough homes, especially not enough affordable homes.

A ray of light could happen as early as this month, though.

Senate Bill 50 would change zoning laws and clear the way for taller apartment buildings near transit. The bill, proposed by state Sen. Scott Wiener, got stymied last year by a senate committee, but could get voted on in January. San Francisco politicians past (Governor Gavin Newsom) and present (Mayor London Breed) have expressed support for the bill while the Board of Supervisors remains opposed.

Finding new ways to help the homeless (beyond building more housing) is also key to San Franciscos future.

The Board of Supervisors passed legislation in December that would create more mental health resources for those who need it (even though the supervisors arent sure how theyll pay for it).

Last year, San Francisco created a broad outline of what it needs to do to achieve net zero emissions in a timeframe that would actually matter for the environment. It involves intimidating milestones like 80 percent of all trips in the city taking place by biking, walking, or public transit by 2030, and every single car and truck on the road being electric by 2040. Theres no time like the present.

San Francisco wants to stop having traffic-related deaths by 2024. Twenty seven people have died in traffic-related instances this year according to the Dec. 5 Vision Zero monthly fatality report, a step backward for the program. Pedestrian advocates have made some progress: As of this month, personal vehicles will be banned from Market Street between Steuart and Gough streets. Supervisors have voiced support for more car-free areas in San Francisco.

Getting through 2020, which promises to have one of the most divisive and bitterly fought presidential campaigns ever, will require a little extra understanding for your fellow person to get through with any degree of sanity. That could be as basic as voting in the best interests of most people (even if it isnt necessarily you) to taking on a little more professional risk on behalf of others. Some tech workers are already doing this by making attempts to unionize their workplaces (or, failing that, trying more instances of collective action).

There were more recorded instances of collective action in the tech world in 2019 than in previous years. If 2020 can continue that trend it could make San Francisco the flagship of tech a kinder, more hospitable place for everyone from the janitorial and cafeteria workers to the social media moderation contractors to software engineers. More collective action means better and more ethical working conditions, which means an overall improvement for everyone involved. But it all starts with thinking about others first.

Richard Procter is the editor in chief of SF Weekly. You can reach him at rprocter@sfweekly.com.

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Five Areas San Francisco Needs to Make Progress on in 2020 - SF Weekly

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. Sam Darnold will play the same number of games this season as he did his rookie year, and his numbers should be better across the board.

But Dowell Loggains wont evaluate Darnold based on that. Loggains, the Jets offensive coordinator and quarterback coach, will see if Darnold has progressed from Week 1 to Week 17.

It just so happens that in Sundays season finale, the Jets will be playing the Bills, the team against whom they opened the season. Although Buffalo wont do the same things as in Week 1, Loggains said the Jets will be able to evaluate Darnolds evolution and see how far hes come and where he needs the most improvement.

Its a good test to see how he grew the first time we played them to the second time, Loggains said. Its going to be an awesome challenge, and were going to see a lot.

Being able to watch and see how much hes grown from Point A to Point B throughout the season is seeing how close we are to maxing his talent, maxing his potential, the things we still need to get better on week in and week out.

In that first game, Darnold threw for 175 yards and a touchdown in a one-point loss to the Bills. They were the second-fewest yards that he threw for in 12 games. He then missed the next three games because of mononucleosis.

Left guard Alex Lewis didnt practice Thursday because of an ankle injury. Unless he recovers quickly, the Jets could be starting their ninth offensive line combination. Brent Qvale, the next man up, would be their 11th starting lineman this season

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... Robby Anderson has been experiencing leg tightness and was limited in practice. Tom Compton (calf) and Demaryius Thomas (hamstring) did not practice . . . Brian Poole was a surprise on the injury report. He was limited because ofan ankle injury that he mighthave suffered during practice.

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Bills games give Jets a way to measure Darnold's progress - Newsday

The impact of exclusionary zoning.

Housing shortages caused by harmful government policy are a serious problem in many parts of the United States. The good news on this front is that many jurisdictions are making progress towards easing zoning restrictions that are the principal culprit behind many such shortages. After years of seeming stagnation, zoning reform is hot. The bad news, however, is that rent control is also gaining momentum. Even as zoning reform helps alleviate housing shortages, rent control is likely to make them worse.

At this time last year, I wrote about the growing momentum for cutting back on exclusionary in various parts of the country. That trend has continued in 2019. In July, the Oregon state legislature passed a law banning single-family home zoning requirements throughout most of the state, thereby enabling construction of multifamily housing in many areas where there are severe shortages. The city of Seattle has also made some progress here.

The Democratic takeover of the Virginia state legislature in November has led to consideration of a major zoning reform law in my home state. If it passes, it would legalize construction of duplex housing in any part of the state currently zoned for single-family homes, thereby expanding housing availability in the the increasingly expensive northern Virginia region. Other jurisdictions are also considering similar reforms.

A major reform bill stalled for a second time in the California state legislature earlier this year. But the very fact it had a real chance of success bodes well for the future, in a state that has some of the nation's most severe housing shortages.

These and other recent zoning reforms have mostly been passed in jurisdictions dominated by liberal Democrats. The political left has begun to take notice of and act on the broad agreement among policy experts that zoning is a major obstacle to affordable housing, and also excludes millions of people from job opportunities. Zoning thereby harm both the excluded workers themselves and the broader economy, which loses the additional productivity they would have provided.

If zoning restrictions make it difficult or impossible to build new housing in response to rising demand, basic economics 101 indicates that prices will go up, and many will be priced out of the relevant market. By contrast, the experience of cities like Houston shows that developers are more than capable of keeping up with rapid growth if they are allowed to build.

Part of the reason why recent zoning reform efforts have been led by liberals is that liberal jurisdictions tend to have the most onerous zoning regulations in the first place. Still, credit should be given where credit is due. Many on the left are making a real effort to clean up this awful mess.

Republicans, by contrast, have often been on the wrong side of the issue lately, despite the near-universal criticism of zoning by free market economists and housing specialists. For example, the Oregon GOP opposed the recent zoning reform in that state. Some on the right oppose it based on fear that it might "urbanize" suburbs and allow more poor people to move there. On the other hand, Trump administration Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carsonwhom I'm no fan of on many other issuesdeserves credit for his strong advocacy of cutting back zoning.

While the struggle is far from over, there can be little doubt that we are making progress on the zoning front. That is excellent news.

Unfortunately, the good news on zoning is coupled with bad news on rent control. The same Democratic-controlled Oregon state legislature that recently passed a strong zoning reform bill also enacted a sweeping rent control law earlier this year. California and New York has also enacted major new expansions of rent control this year. After a long period during which rent control seemed largely moribund, it has once again become a major cause of much of the political left. Bernie Sanders, the favorite presidential candidate of the growing "democratic socialist" wing of the left, has even called for the enactment of a national rent control law.

The expert consensus against rent control is at least as broad as that in favor of zoning reform. Economists across the political spectrum overwhelmingly oppose it. Expert critics of rent control range from the very liberal Paul Krugman on the left to Thomas Sowell on the right. The issue is often used in introductory economics classes as an example of a question on which nearly all economists can agree.

That consensus arises from the simple point that, if landlords cannot raise rent in response to growing demand, they are likely to put fewer rental properties on the market. For similar reasons, rent control is likely to reduce new construction in high-demand areas, and also lead to worse maintenance of existing properties. Real-world evidence backs up these theoretical predictions. Stanford economist Rebecca Diamond summed up the results of recent studies on the subject in an article published by the liberal Brookings Institution last year:

Rent control appears to help affordability in the short run for current tenants, but in the long-run decreases affordability, fuels gentrification, and creates negative externalities on the surrounding neighborhood. These results highlight that forcing landlords to provide insurance to tenants against rent increases can ultimately be counterproductive.

While current tenants get a windfall (at least in the short run), rent control reduces the availability of housing for everyone else, and also reduces economic growth by excluding people from areas where they could find new job opportunities and become more productive. Its effects are actually similar to those of exclusionary zoning. Thus, regression on the rent control front could well offset some of the progress being made on the zoning front, especially in caseslike Oregonwhere the same jurisdiction pursues both agendas, despite the contradiction between them.

In addition to having opposite effects on housing shortages, zoning reform and rent control are also based on opposing assumptions about the way housing markets work. The former relies on the assumption that increasing demand will lead to increasingly supply, so long as the government allows new construction to occur. In short, market incentives work. Increases in demand lead to increases in price, which in turn incentivizes new production, thereby alleviating shortages andeventually -reducing prices.

By contrast, rent control implicitly assumes that landlords and developers will not cut back on the quantity and quality of housing, even if prices are artificially lowered by government intervention. For this to work, either market participants must be irrationally indifferent to prices and profits, or there must be some sort of unusual market failure that makes supply insensitive to demand. Neither scenario is plausible. The many liberal Democrats who oppose exclusionary zoning while simultaneously favoring rent control are implicitly making self-contradictory economic assumptions. In one area, they accept basic Economics 101; in the other, they utterly reject it.

I am tempted to say that simultaneous revival of zoning reform and rent control is a prototypical example of the left hand undermining what the right hand is doing. But, in this case, it is really the left hand working at cross-purposes with itself, since it is the political left that has been the biggest driving force behind both developments. Hopefully, they will resolve the inconsistency in the direction of embracing good economics across the board. That means opposing both rent control and exclusionary zoning.

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Progress on Exclusionary Zoning, Regression on Rent Control - Reason

Sharing the work we create can be an act of vulnerability. Sharing art unfinished, one of the most intimate acts.

On December 19, Dorothe Munyaneza, a Rwandan-French multi-disciplinary performance artist, shared two excerpts from an in-progress work, culminating a two-month residency with High Concept Labs at Experimental Station. Though vulnerability is already the beating heart of her work.

Munyaneza and her family emigrated to London from Rwanda during the genocide when she was 12 years old. In the 100 days of violence, it is estimated that between 250,000 and 500,000 Tutsi women were raped, producing thousands of children. A generation born from violence. Munyanezas first two pieces draw from this deep reservoir of Rwandan trauma. Her second piece, Unwanted, which was performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2018, coalesced her own story with those of women survivors she interviewed during her first visit to her homeland.

At Experimental Station, we were given two excerpts from her next piece. Half of us sat on one side of the square stage, facing the other half of the audience. Munyaneza, dressed in all white, stood off-stage next to a mic in one corner of the room. A poem written and read by Asmaa Jama, a Somali, Danish-born poet, echoed through the air. On-stage, dancer Keyierra Collins was folded, hinged at the waist, weighed down by something larger than herself. Collins sweeping arm movements took her close enough to brush against one of our shoes, though the walls between performers and the audience were never there to begin with.

After the performance, Collins told us the collaboration process began with Munyaneza asking about her family, about how she grew into the person she is today.

Its a question of transmission, Munyaneza said. What is it we can transmit from our bodies across generations?

Collins said answering these questions requires exposing yourself. They require trust. The invisible weight she carries across the stage is a weight that isnt hers alone. It belongs to the women in her family. They are sweeping and caring for the rest as they move through their lives. And she, like Munyaneza, is asking how and why.

Womens stories again inform the words, choreography and sounds Munyaneza weaves together for us. The colors of all these elements are African or Afro-descendant: She wants to show people of beautiful blacks and browns. She wants to show us the way light moves through diaspora.

This piece, for the moment called Mailles, or Mesh, will premiere on another continent at the Charleroi Danse Biennale in 2020. Working with six other African women or women of Afro-descendant, Munyaneza considers it a political act to bring together these women across geography. Although her work draws from pain, her own and collective, it harnesses the power and support that can come from a knitted pattern.

The second excerpt was a duet of drum machines with composer Ben LaMar Gay. In it, Munyaneza moved and spoke on and around the stage, in the audience. There were no borders. She hit her back, shouted, pulled her body into a crescent. They told me to get up and leave if I want to live, she incanted.

Munyanezas sounds dissipated. The second excerpt ended, though it is unfinished. As memory remains unfinished. It moves on. (Amanda Dee)

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In Medias Res: A Review of Dorothe Munyaneza's Work in Progress at Experimental Station - Newcity Art

As 2020 comes in on little cat feet as poet Carl Sandburg said of fog Vermonters have something to feel good about. We have made progress, and will make further progress, on two issues of importance to our environment.

Act 148, the states Universal Recycling & Composting Law, was passed by the Legislature in 2012, and imposed a graduated waste-management regime, not just on our institutions and business but on citizens as well, which will reach its fruition on July 1. Vermonters will be required to take responsibility not only for our cardboard, cans, bottles and plastic, as weve been doing, but for our food scraps, too.

The goal is to keep them out of the Coventry, Vermont, landfill (owned and operated by Rutland-based Casella Waste Systems Inc.). Its the only landfill in the state accepting new deposits, but it cant be called Vermonts only active landfill, because most of the shuttered ones are active in the sense that decomposition continues for decades below the surface, generating methane, the potent greenhouse gas.

Also, July 1 will mark the introduction of S.113, signed into law by Gov. Phil Scott last June. It has been hailed as the most comprehensive set of restrictions on food-related single-use plastic products (primarily supermarket bags, plastic drinking straws and polystyrene containers) in the U.S. Truthfully, thats a sad distinction because there is so much plastic and micro-plastic in our environment, with enormous amounts added each day, that more severe steps must be taken. For now, though, well celebrate the approach of S.113.

Act 148 was created to drastically reduce the amount of organic waste thats sent up to Coventry. As Michele Morris, of the Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD), reports in Green Energy Times, we sent more than 80,000 tons of food and food scraps to the landfill in 2018; such materials account annually for 25% to 30%, by weight, of all the refuse taken in.

Moist organics like discarded food are also the materials that get the gaseous ball rolling (or roiling) within the depths of the landfill, because they decompose more readily than most of the other content. Thats the process that produces methane.

Large-quantity food-scrap producers such as restaurants and hospitals were required to begin diverting their food waste in 2014 if they generated an average of more than 2 tons per week and were located within 20 miles of a certified processor (such as a composting or anaerobic digesting facility). In 2015, that requirement was broadened to include establishments that generated an average of 1 ton a week. In 2016, it was reduced to half a ton a week, and that annual pattern has continued. Six months from now on July 1, 2020 the law will apply to household food scraps, with (quoting the Department of Environmental Conservation) no exemption for distance

The DECs website provides suggestions to help people comply with the law. One is to shop smarter, to reduce food waste and your grocery bill. Other ideas include backyard composting for organic matter that includes yard debris, sawdust, woodchips and leaves, along with food scraps, to create compost usable for gardens and plantings.

Importantly, the DEC makes this distinction: (I)ts OK to throw meat, bones and grease in the trash those items dont break down quickly in small-scale compost systems. (In central Vermont, the Additional Recycling Collection Center in Barre accepts such scraps.)

Theres great promise in Act 148. The DEC explains that if we can capture just 50% of the recyclables now going to the landfill ... we could eliminate upwards of 85,000 metric tons of [carbon dioxide] per year, the equivalent of taking 17,708 cars off the road.

Yet its also important to note that Vermont has an advantage with its landfill not enjoyed by most other states. Its a source of renewable electricity. Washington Electric Cooperative, which serves 10,600 member-households, schools, businesses and institutions in parts of Washington, Orange, Lamoille and Caledonia counties, owns generating facilities adjacent to the landfill that are fueled by captured methane. The power then travels over 11 miles of transmission lines to a VELCO substation, and is loaded onto the statewide electric grid.

On average, the co-op produces the equivalent of 53% of its members electricity in this way, supplying some 8,000 homes and buildings. In other locations, such as Baltimore, trash-to-energy incinerators produce unwanted gases, making them less than ideal as renewable-energy sources. Washington Electrics partnership with Casella has no such drawback.

So, welcome, 2020. Vermont will use the year ahead to reduce its cumulative strain upon the environment, and that will be a good thing.

Continued here:

Progress ahead | Editorials - Rutland Herald

MIAMI The Utah Jazz head into Mondays night matchup against the Miami Heat as winners of their last five ball games, but it will also be the first game Utah has played against a team with a winning record since they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 4 in Salt Lake City. Since then, the Jazz have won six of their last seven games, albeit against rather pedestrian teams with little playoff aspirations.

While Utah has been able to get back on the winning track, the level of competition hasnt been as good as what the Jazz will face at American Airlines Arena. The Heat are currently No. 3 in the East at 21-7 sharing an identical record with the Toronto Raptors and have just one loss on their home court. Despite the formidable task that lies before them, Jazz forward Joe Ingles said this will be a good test of how competitive the team can really be against one of the leagues better squads.

I dont really care what anyone elses record is at all, the schedule is the schedule, and we just have to play whos in front of us, he said following shootaround Monday morning. Winning record or not or win streak or not, its another opportunity for us to get better and work on the things that weve been working on all year and the things weve been getting better at all year.

Theyve been playing well; theyre playing reasonably well at home too, so theyll be a bigger challenge for us, he added.

Ingles said the Jazz will have to get into an offensive rhythm early to avoid getting behind and having to make a comeback, which has been a pattern of late.

Just going into the game knowing what were doing, looking after the ball, not having breakdowns early in the clock or in the game that gets them feeling good and gets some momentum for them, he explained. Weve all got to come out ready to play. On the (defensive) end, weve got to execute so were not running (back) in transition and on the (wrong) foot from the start.

He noted that ball movement on offense will be among the keys to getting good scoring opportunities as well as recognizing when to take shots as they present themselves.

Were one of the better catch and shoot (teams), so wed be stupid to not try and utilize that. Weve got unselfish guys, were able to break the paint with what we run and the players weve got, he said. Weve just got to shoot the ball with confidence (and) we do a pretty good job of that.

So far this season, Utah (18-11) has just four of its victories versus teams with winning records. A win against a tough Heat squad would be a strong signal to the team and the league about just how far the Jazz have progressed since the struggles that occurred around the Thanksgiving holiday road swing.

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Jazz ready for a progress report against the Heat - Deseret News

When reflecting on 2019, many of us will look back at what we didnt get done, kicking ourselves for the goals we failed to meet or the promotion that never materialized. Instead, try something new: reflect on what you did well.

Sure, looking ahead and making a New Years resolution is great. But dont forget to stop and take a victory lap and recognize your accomplishments. Perhaps you learned a new skill, delivered a fantastic presentation or expanded your networking circle. No matter what it was, be proud of it. It is that recognition that will give you a new sense confidence and motivation going into 2020.

The reason your inbox is flooded this time of year with company newsletters and elected officials doling out their legislative achievements is because this is how they show their employees, clients and constituents what they have accomplished. After all, if they dont boast their successes, who will? This is true for all of us.

Susans reflection: After working with a political client for six months, it was time to renew my contract for the following year. Unexpectedly the client reneged on the deal and made a take-it or leave-it counteroffer, which I didnt take.

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The unintended consequence of the counteroffer was, upon reflecting on the year, I realized I did a great job for them. That recognition gave me the confidence and the courage to decline the offer and to pursue a different project, which was very rewarding professionally.

Being able to identify your accomplishments keeps you positive, especially when looking toward your new goals. While setting your goals for next year, take a moment to see how you can build on some positive experiences from the previous year.

Adriennes reflection: Working on campaigns is an intense experience unlike anything else, but you always know the job is typically over on Election Day. Then its on you to figure out your next move and how to capitalize on your campaign experience.

Years ago, I started keeping track of all the fantastic people Ive worked with on various campaigns, then set a goal to reach out to each one of them throughout the following year. This allowed me to think of the positive experiences I had at different points in my year with different people on different campaigns. It also gave me a jumping off point to start the new year. By looking back, I was able to refresh my list of contacts and create a goal for the following year.

It is not only 100 percent okay to recognize the good things you have done, its critical for your future planning because when you do, it is extremely motivating. We asked Holly Harris, president and executive director of the Justice Action Network about her end-of-the year process.

Holly Harriss reflection: At the Justice Action Network, we battle to make our justice system fairer and more effective. The losses can be heartbreaking, and the wins never seem like enough.

Recently, I remarked I was getting used to rejection, to my friend Alice. With a hearty laugh she responded, Try getting denied clemency after serving twenty years in prison for a non-violent drug offense. It was a clarifying moment.

It is okay, indeed essential, to lean into our victories. In 2019, we passed a groundbreaking bill that freed thousands from prison; this year we hope to pass another that opens up jobs to millions of Americans with criminal records. I celebrate those accomplishments for Alice and for me, and for every other woman who needs hope this holiday season.

Susan and Adrienne: By taking an end-of-the-year inventory and recognizing your achievements, you build your self-confidence, create a list of accomplishments that can be used to update your resume or professional profile and energize yourself with a new sense of motivation for the year ahead. A positive internal reflection process not only gives you a sense of pride but may also be the determination you need to ask for that promotion you know you deserve.

Susan Del Percio is a New York-based Republican strategist and Adrienne Elrod is a Washington, D.C.-based Democratic strategist. Their column, "Politicking for Success" appears bi-weekly on NBC News' Know Your Value

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Why celebrating your progress in 2019 is crucial for long-term success - NBC News