Monthly Archives: January 2022

If it isn't broken, don't fix it. We say this about how we're currently doing things and the roles other people have in our firms. For example, if you've been preparing a certain client's tax return for eight years, you're excellent at it. You know just what adjustments you need to make and how to handle that tricky transaction. So why let it go to someone else who doesn't know the client's situation as well as you?

Because it's necessary if you want drive growth for yourself, your team and ultimately your firm.

If you've mastered all the components of your role, your workday runs like a tight ship, with every piece moving in clockwork fashion. If that feels like a win, you're measuring excellence on a distorted scale.

When you know how to do something perfectly, there's no challenge left. And when there's no challenge, there's no sense of reward. You're settling for being good at your job instead of stretching yourself to achieve the next level.

Any partners reading this might think it doesn't apply to them. After all, they're a partner in the firm they've achieved the highest level! But time and again, we see partners still preparing certain tax returns, handling particular clients, or writing detailed review notes for staff members. Partners doing that type of work don't contribute their highest value to the firm.

Instead of preparing returns and writing review notes, what if you spent that time training and mentoring your team? Or developing new business for the firm?

If you're thinking to yourself that training, mentoring and business development aren't really part of your skillset, they should be. Excellence is getting in the way of your growth as a leader.

Change is difficult. If you're doing something well, it can be hard to turn it over to someone else that might take longer and make mistakes. But it's important for you and the other person to make that change.

I challenge you to think about what you're excellent at that's getting in the way of growth. This can be hard for people to think about, so consider keeping a notebook nearby or a document on your desktop and for one week, take note of how you spend your time.

Undoubtedly, many of the tasks you handle align with your goals and the firm's goals. But seek out the areas you need to let go of. What can be delegated, outsourced, automated, or perhaps even scrapped altogether in order for you to grow?

Identifying those areas and making the change will be difficult, but the benefits will pay off in ways you never imagined possible, both personally and professionally.

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Arianna Campbell is a shareholder and consultant with Boomer Consulting, Inc.

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Don't Let Excellence Get in the Way of Progress - CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

The business rehabilitation at Thai Airways continues with administrators recently providing a progress report for the three months to mid-December. The embattled airline continues to make slow but steady progress as it navigates its way back to profitability and long-term viability.

Thai Airways filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2020. The airline buckled under the pressure of US$9.8 billion in debts and the worldwide travel downturn. In September 2020, the Central Bankruptcy Court in Bangkok ordered the airline into a business rehabilitation program.

With administrators now running Thai Airways, the airline is attempting to reduce its day-to-day operating costs and expenses, restructure and downsize the business, boost its income, and seek new funding sources.

Thai Airways spectacularly defaulted on over US$3 billion worth of debt in 2020. However, no further defaults have occurred since entering into the rehabilitation program. Last week, Thais administrators reported the airline had repaid US$39.09 million in debt principal and interest per the agreement with creditors since entering into the rehabilitation program

The administrators have also sold more Thais shares in aviation fuel provider Bangkok Aviation Fuel Services. The share sale raised US$6.84 million in the three months to mid-December. Previously, the administrators had sold off Nok Air and land and buildings at the Laksi training center. The airline has received payment in full for these sales.

So far, attempts to sell five spare CFM56-3C1 engines for Boeing 737-800 aircraft have been unsuccessful.

Building on the sale of land and buildings at Laksi, the administrators moved to sell land and buildings at Lun Luang, Phuket, and Chiang Mai. The administrators successfully sold Thais land and building assets at all three sites for US$37.4 million. The prices received for all three assets packets exceeded the administrators estimated prices.

In the past three months, Thais administrators also report successfully negotiating with aircraft operating and finance lease creditors to amend the original lease agreements for 12 aircraft.

One of those lessors, Amedeo Air Four Plus Ltd, recently confirmed Thai would pay rent on a power-by-the-hour basis on those aircraft leases until December 2022.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Thai Airways has been making some power-by-the-hour payments to lessors and meeting its current aircraft lease interest payments.

The same report says the renegotiated leases will switch back to monthly lease payments in January 2023. Thai Airways and its lenders have entered into hedging arrangements to service the debt.

The administrators last week said negotiations with 35 creditors concerning a further 45 aircraft continue.

In November, one of the administrators, Piyasvasti Amranand, told Reuters the airline wanted to sell 42 planes and return 16 to lessors. After this, Thai Airways would retain 58 planes across four types. Mr Amranand said the sale would see Thais lose its older and less efficient aircraft.

The administrators are happy with the rehabilitation plans progress over the last three months. They highlight the continuing debt repayment program and absence of further defaults as evidence of Thai Airways slowly beginning to find some financial and operational altitude.

Original post:

Progress Report: Thai Airways Slow But Steady Rehabilitation - Simple Flying

Despite being voted as Manchester City's U-23 Players Player of the Year in 2020 - an award previously won by the likes of Cole Palmer, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and James McAtee, Jayden Braaf has had a rough time of things in his relatively young career.

After being injured at the start of the following season and then being frozen out of the side, an ill-fated loan spell to Serie A outfit Udinese followed for the Dutch forward, whose current deal at the Etihad Stadium runs until 2023.

A knee ligament injury that required surgery meant that Braaf, who had scored on his fourth appearance for the Italian side would not be signed on a permanent deal at the end of the season - with a 9 million buyout clause stated in his contract.

According to the latest information ofSimon Bajkowski ofManchester Evening News, there is interest from a host of clubs abroad to sign the highly-rated winger, who rose through the academy ranks at Ajax and PSV before his move to the east side of Manchester in 2018.

Further details claim that the Dutchman is said to be keenon a move as soon as possible in order to kickstart his development and gain regular game time. In addition to this, Manchester City are believed to hold the stance that they will not block a potential transfer for the 19-year-old as soon as January.

The tricky winger, who has been compared to the likes of Jadon Sancho and Memphis Depay in the past, could be let go at the start of 2022 if interested parties are aware that they can make the transfer happen at a reported cut-price deal.

A serious injury in 2021 has meant Braaf has been unable to impress enough to stake a claim for a place in Citys senior side, a factor that is said to have left him grow frustrated in the past as he has had to wait on the wings.

With the prospect of the gifted forward leaving on a free next summer, it remains to be seen if a potential deal will go through in January if the clubs in question pursue their interest for Braaf.

You can follow us for live updates here: @City_Xtra

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Man City Youngster Keen On January Move Abroad to Progress Development - Club's Stance on Potential Sale Revealed - Sports Illustrated

BRAZIL, Ind. (WTHI) - 2021 was a year full of growth for one Wabash Valley community!

Over in Brazil, Indiana, they are celebrating many additions to their city -- such as the building of a new city garage.

This new garage has been a much-needed upgrade for decades.

They are also looking at utility expansions, to promote more industrial growth in 2022.

In the downtown area, they are seeing more and more development -- with businesses and retailors popping up quickly.

Although they have had to battle the ill effects of the pandemic like everyone else, Mayor Wyndham says they have more exciting things on the horizon for the year ahead.

"It's really important to see that business building. You know it's contagious -- the more that you see come in, the more that will follow."

Wyndham says that the community can expect the street-scape to continue to develop.

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Brazil Mayor, Brian Wyndham, reflects on progress made in 2021 - WTHITV.com

If you were to poll the computing industry today for most hyped technology of our times, I posit that artificial intelligence would easily top the list.

And with good reasonthe last decade of progress in AI has been exciting for sure. But the impact of that innovation follows the William Gibson principle: The future is already here, its just not evenly distributed.

Whats particularly funny about AI is that people think that AI success should be evenly distributed. If Tesla can autopilot your car and Google Photos can match your elderly parents faces to their baby photos, why cant your company increase revenue and decrease cost via AI? Heck, AI cant even figure out how to load your pile of spreadsheets into a data warehouse!

So, whats causing the disconnect between AI innovation and impact? The issue is twofold. First -- all computing challenges are not the same. While some exciting topics like computer vision have made enormous leaps in recent years, most of the classically painful business data processing problems are still well beyond the capabilities of todays state-of-the-art AI. Second -- the engineering tools and practices for successful AI and machine learning are still in their infancy.

Todays Big Tech shops are largely solving their data and AI problems by hiring armies of expert software engineers to hand-stitch together data pipelines with bits of AI. This is exacerbated by the disparate state of open-source tooling. Unless your company can recruit lots of Silicon Valley-quality software developers, youre out of luck. To democratize the progress in AI, we need to do a couple key things:

Todays Big Tech shops are largely solving their data and AI problems by hiring armies of expert software engineers to hand-stitch together data pipelines with bits of AI. This is exacerbated by the state of open-source tooling. Unless your company can recruit lots of Silicon Valley-quality software developers, youre out of luck.

Thats why going forward, I see three key trends that will play an important role in democratizing AI:

The next year promises to be a very confusing time for AI, especially in fields like MLOps where the stack hasnt begun to shake out. Be sure to keep an eye on human-AI interfaces that facilitate augmented intelligence using low-code and no-code tools. While tech news stories about AI accomplishments will continue to tantalize you with possibilities, understand that the practical uses of AI in business will remain rare.

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Will the Democratization of Technology Accelerate Progress in AI? - InformationWeek

While there seems to be no end in sight for the coronavirus, 2021 was a good year in terms of gains made to subdue another health menace, Alzheimers disease, including a promising drug emerging.

More people are becoming aware and more people are getting involved, said Pamela Padgett, who is helping to spearhead efforts in Surry County addressing the debilitating condition affecting 6.2 million Americans.

This included Padgetts co-chairing of the annual Walk to End Alzheimers held at Riverside Park in Mount Airy on Sept. 18, with Robin Portis, and other efforts to generate funds needed for the fight and bring attention to the issue.

As the year comes to an end and the last of the fundraising that supports our local walk is ending, we are in awe of all the awareness and funds that have been raised, added Padgett.

She is human resources director for Behavioral Services Inc. in Mount Airy, and like many people has lost someone to Alzheimers a grandmother, Mae Holt, in 2018 which has motivated her to get involved in efforts to find a cure.

Although the walk was held in December as a major fundraising effort for that cause with the help of teams, money has continued to be generated as 2021 comes to a close.

Our final total for the year is $77,582, Padgett reported Wednesday, which she said is a record sum.

This total speaks to the dedication to end Alzheimers, she observed. To still be in a pandemic and be able to raise this much money is phenomenal.

A true team effort

After the annual Walk to End Alzheimers was conducted on a virtual basis in 2020 because of COVID but returned to normal in a big way.

This year we had 66 teams, which is the most teams in the history of our local walk and had 368 participants, which also was a record-breaking number, Padgett mentioned regarding the event. It is held in conjunction with the Western Carolina Chapter of the Alzheimers Association.

The individual teams of businesses, families, churches and civic groups conducted mini-campaigns that added up to the total, with one involving G & B Energy (captained by Natalie Eidson) leading the way by generating $11,000.

Other top teams were fielded by the RidgeCrest retirement community, which raised $9,468 under the leadership of Jennifer Johnson-Brown; The A Team led by Robin Portis, the co-chair of the walk, which raised $6,003; Memories of Mae, led by Padgett in generating $4,231; and Team Phil, (captained by Vickie Jordan), $3,170.

All the teams in our walk did a wonderful job of not only fundraising, but raising awareness, Badgett emphasized.

Many people do Facebook fundraisers to raise funds for their teams this makes it so easy to participate and this accounts for a big increase in dollars donated.

More than walking

As is the case with any such campaign, more than just a single event such as a walk is required, with keeping the issue before the public in a variety of ways also needed.

This was true in 2021 for the local Alzheimers disease efforts, which also included a Paint the Town Purple campaign during the summer. Purple is the official color of Alzheimers, Padgett explained.

Stores in downtown Mount Airy displayed windows decorated in purple as part of a contest to generate awareness, accompanied by some merchants launching fundraisers.

First place went to F. Rees, second to The Spotted Moon, third to Fabric Menagerie and fourth, Mayberry Primitives.

Even though they were not on Main Street, Dr. John Gravittes office did a phenomenal display to raise awareness, had a team in the walk and was also a sponsor (of that event), Padgett noted.

RidgCrest further features a lighted Christmas display annually as a fundraiser.

The beauty of its lights sends a message of hope for anyone who is associated with Alzheimers whether it be a patient, a caregiver, family member or an advocate, Padgett mentioned.

We are so thankful that they have chosen to do this every year.

Meanwhile, local advocates also had floats in both the Fourth of July and Christmas parades in downtown Mount Airy.

Drug breakthrough

The money raised aids care, support and research programs of the Alzheimers Association.

This includes a variety of services gearing toward disease sufferers and their families, including its 24/7 Helpline at https://www.alz.org/help-support/i-have-alz/programs-support#helpline, educational programs, support groups and more.

On the research side of things, Padgett said definite progress occurred during 2021 in the form of a new drug that came on the market in June. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to Aduhelm (aducanumab) for the treatment of Alzheimers disease.

Padgett said this is the first drug available to slow its progression.

I think that was a good outcome of all the years of research, she said of proof that financial support does make a difference. I think that was the highlight of the year.

In May, Padgett also addressed members of Congress, via video conferencing, to lobby for federal legislation to advance research and enhance treatment and support services for those living with Alzheimers and their caregivers.

She is heartened by so many facets of this community joining to tackle a terrible disease that has affected everyone to some degree through family members or friends being afflicted.

The includes a growing array of sponsors: Behavioral Services, Surry Communications, Carolina West, Surry Insurance, Altec, Carport Central, First Presbyterian Church of Mount Airy, Home Instead, Northern Regional Hospital, Hugh Chatham Hospital, Kindred at Home, Cardinal CT, J.G. Coram Construction, Dr John Gravitte, Hayco Construction, Nester Hosiery, Rogers Realty, SouthData, Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corp. and Wayne Farms.

We are grateful to our community for all their support, Padgett summed-up in closing out 2021, which she believes was a positive period both locally and for the Alzheimers Association overall.

Tom Joyce may be reached at 336-415-4693 or on Twitter @Me_Reporter.

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Progress made in Alzheimer's fight this year - Mount Airy News

Spencer Sanders and Malcolm Rodriguez took their rightfully earned places on the State Farm Stadium stage with the ornate, golden Fiesta Bowl trophy glimmering in front of them.

Rodriguez, the loyal Oklahoma State linebacker who arrived at a midweek press conference with a gray cowboy hat perched atop his head, had discarded the Western garb for a different accessory: a Fiesta Bowl champions cap. Sanders, the quarterback who had just finished his season with a record-setting redemption story, was wearing one, too.

After the Cowboys toppled Notre Dame 37-35 on Saturday afternoon in Glendale, Arizona, Rodriguez and Sanders each received MVP honors. They stood in the eye of the postgame fanfare, celebrating a marquee victory for a program on the rise.

Of course, coach Mike Gundy was also immersed in the festivities, recovering after a couple of orange Gatorade baths. At least he didnt have to endure a mayonnaise or Cheez-It dump. Athletic director Chad Weiberg and university president Dr. Kayse Shrum were there, witnessing the grand finale to a season that surprised many. And when everything was over, when the No. 9 Cowboys had left the field, Gundy made a confident statement to put this victory into context during his pressconference.

This is clearly the biggest win in the history of the school.

Its a bold declaration, no doubt, but this day will hold a lasting place in OSU football lore. Rallying from a 21-point deficit to spoil a Fiesta Bowl triumph for a tradition-rich, fifth-ranked Notre Dame program exemplifies the Cowboys theme this season: surpassing expectations to solidify their status as a nationally relevant program.

Lets reflect on the beginning of the season. While the Cowboys were preparing for a year without Tylan Wallace and Chuba Hubbard, few people expected them to reach a New Years Six bowl and establish themselves in the same tier as the Fighting Irish. At the end of the nonconference slate, the situation still didnt look too promising. Sure, the Cowboys were 3-0, but every win was a chaotic nail-biter marked with offensive lulls, particularly in the third quarter. Would this team collapse under the pressure of a Big 12 Conference schedule?

The Cowboys (12-2) continued to have a flair for the dramatic, turning their early conference games into fourth-quarter slugfests, but another facet of their identity which Gundy says he can usually sense by October took shape. This team had guts, grit and a stunningly stout defense. Even in one midseason loss to Iowa State, the Cowboys held their own.

The two Fiesta Bowl MVPs each made profound, though different, impacts on the season. Rodriguez, the energetic, rough-and-tumble wrestler from Wagoner, ended his super senior year with a myriad of All-America honors, leading the Cowboys with 123 tackles.

Sanders, the redshirt junior signal-caller from Denton, Texas, showed growth in the face of adversity. He was self-critical and introspective, allowing himself to learn from mistakes at the end of his roller-coaster season and lead the offense with poise against a Notre Dame defense also ranked in the top 10 in the country.

Of course, the Big 12 title game was a blemish on the season, a downer as the Cowboys lost their hopes of making history with a College Football Playoff appearance. But simply advancing to the conference championship game for the first time brought the program to new heights, and defeating Notre Dame (11-2) with the largest comeback in OSU history continued that rise.

If the Fighting Irish had crushed the Cowboys, people might have viewed the entire season differently.

We felt like if we didnt win this game, this would have been kind of a season of just forgotten greatness, said Brock Martin, OSUs starting edge rusher.

Instead, the Cowboys have plenty to remember.

Sanders set a Fiesta Bowl record with 496 yards of total offense.

He stockpiled 371 passing yards for four touchdowns (including three to super senior Tay Martin), ending his season with a performance bearing few similarities to his four-interception conference championship game against Baylor.

After a sluggish first half for the offense, Sanders picked up the pace in the second, distributing the ball to multiple receivers and fueling the Cowboys comeback against the Irish.

He also accumulated a game-high 125 rushing yards, fitting the definition of a dual-threat quarterback.

I think he took control of the situation, offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn said.

Rodriguez did the same on defense. True to his usual form, he led all defenders with 11 tackles and put a bow on his stellar career with a fourth-quarter interception. He and fellow super senior Devin Harper maintained their status as a dynamic linebacker duo Harper racked up 10 stops.

The Fighting Irish presented plenty of challenges.

Tight end Michael Mayer used his size to beat Cowboy defenders on touchdown routes. Young running backs Logan Diggs and Chris Tyree provided offensive energy without leading rusher Kyren Williams, who opted out of the game for the NFL Draft. But the Cowboys relied on the tough, prove-the-doubters-wrong identity that had carried them through this season.

Notre Dame had opened as a narrow favorite in sportsbooks. College GameDay pickers chose the Irish, and so did Chutti, a rhinoceros at the Phoenix Zoo, who tattered a box featuring the Notre Dame logo while the OSU box lay abandoned in the mud.

The Cowboys proved that dang rhino wrong sorry, Chutti, no hard feelings to show that they belong in conversations about premier college football programs.

The Fiesta Bowl trophy can represent what OSU has accomplished, but more importantly, it hints at what the program could become. The Cowboys have potential to emerge as a perennial top-10 contender, and this bowl game, the biggest win in the history of the school, illustrated their abilities to stand up against powerhouses.

After the victory, as the celebration unfolded in State Farm Stadium, Gundy spoke in a TV interview. Leading up to the game, he had emphasized the importance of the Notre Dame logo, the history, the unique traditions and the meaning of the Cowboys matchup against the team with iconic gold helmets.

In the TV interview, Gundy mentioned Notre Dames famous logo one more time.

We want everybody in the country to know, with all due respect, we got a logo, too, he said.

As Sanders and Rodriguez accepted their MVP awards while donning caps that featured the schools vivid orange insignia, people across the nation knew.

Hallie Hart is a sports reporter with The Stillwater News Press. She can be contacted at hhart@stwnewspress.com.

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FROM THE HART: OSU's 'biggest win' shows progress and potential - Stillwater News Press

On Wednesday I wrote that I was not inclined to make excuses for what is, at this point, a lost season for our beloved Seattle Seahawks.

That remains the case.

However, I will offer up an argument as to why we, the 12s, might want to cut the team a little bit of slack.

Implementing a new offense takes time and isnt helped by (a) having your franchise quarterback spend his offseason in a public spat with the team, and/or (b) losing your QB midway through the 5th game of the year.

Lets start with Shane Waldron.

Dude had never held an Offensive Coordinator position before and was joining a team whose head coach is well known for wanting things his way. Yet the prevailing consensus was that Shane Waldron was going to implement a magic offense, which he would have cribbed from the Rams, and that having Russell Wilson (instead of Jared Goff) directing that offense would keep defensive coordinators awake at night.

Yeah ... that didnt really happen, did it?

Frustratingly, yet not surprisingly, the offense struggled the first few games. Yes, they scored a bunch of points (103 through their first 4 games; 25.75 per game), but their offense basically disappeared for entire halves.

Which brings us to Russell Wilson.

The beloved Seattle icon spent the offseason vocally lamenting the teams inability to keep him upright during the first 9 years of his career.

Personally, I think he had a point - even if he steadfastly refuses to acknowledge the role that he has played (and continues to play) in that equation.

After his agent (reportedly) gave the Seahawks a list of teams that Wilson would waive his no-trade clause for, and after the team (reportedly) turned down a trade offer from the Chicago Bears, the disenchanted quarterback rekindled his friendship with Pete Carroll, even going so far as to make an announcement about their friendship during a press conference at Seahawks HQ.

Whether or not that was window dressing is anyones guess. But ...

Despite the offenses (and the teams) overall inconsistency, Russell Wilson got off to a really good start this year.

Heres his stat line through the first 4 games: 79 of 109 (72.5%) for 1,044 yards (13.2 per completion) with 9 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. His passer rating up to that point was 128.4 which is about 26-1/2 points higher than his career average coming into the season (100.9).

Then this happened.

Seattle, 2-2 at the time, watched Wilsons backup throw an interception with just over 2 minutes left and came up short in Game #5.

And Game #6 (a 3-point overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road).

And Game #7 (a 3-point home loss to the New Orleans Saints).

By the time Wilson returned, Seattles season was on life support with the Hawks nursing a 3-5 record and preparing to face the Green Bay Packers (on the road) and the Arizona Cardinals (at home).

We all know how that turned out.

By his own admission, Wilson wasnt 100% when he came back. Was it too soon? Perhaps.

Some would argue that RW3 at less than 100% gave Seattle a better chance to win than Geno Smith at 100%. Some would disagree.

Me? Ill simply point out (as the News Tribune article I linked to did) that Russell Wilson threw four end zone interceptions since his return and thats not something that (a) he normally does, or (b) a middling team can easily overcome.

At the end of the day (slash season), I am sort of inclined to chalk a lot of this season up to a new offense that never really had a chance to get going and a quarterback who had some misgivings coming into the season and then got hurt (and missed games for the first time in his career).

Personally, I think Wilson will be fine and has many strong seasons ahead of him. Waldron, on the other hand ... I really dont know.

In theory, Waldron could be the greatest offensive mind of his generation, stuck with a bad hand his first go round. He could also be a JAG (Just Another Guy). The truth is undoubtedly somewhere in between those two extremes.

The question is, Will we find out?

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The Seahawks offense is still a work-in-progress - Field Gulls

TEHRAN, Iran Ongoing talks in Vienna to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between world powers and Iran have seen relatively satisfactory progress, Irans negotiator Ali Bagheri said Thursday.

Some written changes on the lifting of sanctions were established between the two parties and relatively satisfactory progress has been made over the first days of the eighth round of negotiations, Bagheri said in a video published by Tasnim news agency.

His remarks come two days after negotiators from Britain, France and Germany described the talks as urgent, warning that we are nearing the point where Irans escalation of its nuclear program will have completely hollowed out the deal.

Negotiations to restore the 2015 agreement began earlier this year but stopped in June as Iran elected a new ultraconservative government. They resumed in late November with the latest round getting underway on Monday.

The 2015 deal offered Iran much-needed relief from sanctions that have weighed heavily on its economy.

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But the unilateral withdrawal by then-US president Donald Trump derailed the deal and prompted Tehran to walk back on its commitments under it.

Iran had announced in April that it had begun enriching uranium up to 60 percent purity, well beyond the 3.67 percent threshold set by the pact. Uranium enriched to 90 percent purity is considered weapons-grade.

A technician works at the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the city of Isfahan, Iran, 255 miles (410 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2007. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, file)

But on Saturday, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran director Mohammad Eslami said Tehran had no plans to enrich uranium beyond 60 percent, even if the Vienna talks fail.

The discussions focused mainly on the lifting of sanctions, Bagheri said Thursday.

We hope that after a few days of pause, more serious work will continue on the question of lifting sanctions, he continued.

Talks are due to pause briefly before resuming on January 3.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday there may have been some modest progress in the negotiations.

Unlike other parties to the deal, Washington has only been engaged in the talks indirectly.

Shortly before Bagheris remarks, Iran had announced that it carried out a new space launch, a move likely to irk Western powers amid the ongoing talks.

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Iran says nuclear talks in Vienna are seeing satisfactory progress - The Times of Israel

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) Georgia Governor Brian Kemp was in Augusta Thursday checking up on the progress of the Hub for Community Innovation. The 10 million dollar development is coming to the historic Laney Walker and Harrisburg area.

Governor Brian Kempjoined local leaders to discussthe progress of the projectat Fat Mans CafeThursday afternoon.

It really makes you feel good to see so many people from the local level working together to address real problems that we have in communities across the state, said Governor Brian Kemp.

He says collaboration is the key to bringing this project to life. The Hub is meant to bring more services to the underserved communities of Historic Laney Walker and Harrisburg.

The Hub Augusta Collaborative has formed a leadership group to try to cultivate a community where all of its residents thrive, said Shell Barry, thePresident, and CEO ofthe Community Foundation of the C.S.R.A

Barry says the Hub will be made up of two buildings. One will become the headquarters of The Boys and Girls Club and the other will house several nonprofit organizations.

And the goal behind these two buildings and the five mission-aligned non-profits that are in them is to help reduce barriers and provide access to the historic residents of Laney Walker and Harrisburg.

That includes access to food, healthcare, and education. Right now, the project is still getting into phase 1. The next phase will look at expanding Augusta Universitys campus, by creating a research building. Theyre also looking to bring a grocery store to the area which could finally put an end to the food desert.

Completion of phase 1 is set for Spring of 2022.

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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp checks in on the progress of Hub Development - WJBF-TV