SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " check " 2,731 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
We tried the new Googlebook OS - What can it do and what not?
The new Googlebook models featuring Google's new operating system for laptops have been on the market since last week. We take a closer look at Googlebook OS and explain what it can do and where it (still) has limitations.
Regional Summit highlights economic growth, competitiveness
The Greater Des Moines Partnership hosted its annual Regional Summit on Oct. 8, to explore ideas, partnerships and trends that are shaping Central Iowa’s future. The summit featured discussions on economic growth, talent and regional competitiveness, including a keynote address from Dominic Williams, senior expert at McKinsey & Co.’s Institute for Economic Mobility, who said…
In this deep-red city, rising costs test Trump’s affordability message
Trump campaigned on a promise to cut energy bills and attack inflation, but many voters say their expenses are rising faster than their paychecks.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Busy Fall
We have a busy fall ahead of us—and that’s always good news. We like to stay busy. We’re working on two special annual publications: the CNY Business Guide and the CNY Winter Guide. Both publications are designed to reach specific audiences in the community. We’re excited about these new editions and would like to share a few details about them. Let’s begin with the Winter Guide. Winter can be challenging, but it also offers plenty to celebrate. The new CNY Winter Guide will help readers embrace the season and make it more fun and enjoyable. This year’s annual publication will feature an extensive calendar of events, compelling stories, and curated lists of things to do and see throughout the winter. This will be our 31st annual issue. It is one of the few publications—if not the only one—devoted exclusively to winter in Central New York. For advertisers, it offers a valuable opportunity to reach readers across the region. As we tell prospective advertisers, one ad works for them all season long. Rates start in the low $200s. The guide will be available at hundreds of high-traffic locations, including all Wegmans stores and select Price Chopper and Tops Friendly Markets locations. It will also be available online, with every ad hyperlinked so readers can click directly through to the advertiser’s website or Facebook page. Our network of drivers will also deliver the guide to hundreds of high-traffic locations several times throughout the winter. The publication will be out by Thanksgiving. The CNY Business Guide is a one-of-a-kind publication that many readers use as a reference. Unlike the books of lists published by business journals across the country, it comes in a glossy, full-color magazine format. It also ranks employers in four counties, with a particular emphasis on Oswego and Onondaga and substantial information about Cayuga and Jefferson. It is an ambitious project that requires extensive research, phone calls, careful fact-checking, writing and design. In short, it takes a great deal of work—and we’re glad to take on the challenge. The guide is widely distributed to business and professional readers throughout Central New York. The Business Guide gives companies an excellent opportunity to highlight their growth and expansion, showcase new products, and share other noteworthy developments. For readers, it provides a valuable snapshot of companies across the region, including what they do and who leads them. The guide will be published in early December. We invite companies to advertise in both publications. Advertising costs are relatively low, and each guide offers access to a broad audience across Central New York. Wagner Dotto is the editor and publisher of Oswego County Business Magazine.
BUSINESS UPDATE: Attracting World-Renowned Piercing Educators to Oswego
Growing number of renowed piercers are coming to Oswego to share knowledge at newly opened Aqua Spa Float Center piercing suite Submited by Aqua Spa Float Center & Wellness Boutique [caption id=attachment_11066 align=alignright width=450] Recent opening of Aqua Spa Float Center piercing suite.[/caption] Professional piercers and educators from countries including France, Scotland and India have come to Oswego’s Aqua Spa Float Center & Wellness Boutique to share their knowledge In the past year and a half, the Port City has become a destination for some of the industry’s most respected educators through the efforts of the Aqua Spa Float Center & Wellness Boutique. Beginning in January of 2025, Aqua Spa Float Center envisioned a new version of body piercing, one where elegance, safety and personal expression could converge. According to the Aqua Spa, piercing is no longer just a trend — it’s a refined form of personal identity, luxury styling and self-investment. It’s not only about the jewelry — it’s about the entire experience. The team welcomed first guest piercer Ruben Triguero, a senior French piercer, piercing stylist and international educator, who has over two decades of experience and has worked in some of the world’s best studios, including Paris, Rome, New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Dubai. In those studios, he offered his expertise and refined styling skills. Triguero is a prominent figure and leader in the piercing community and shares his knowledge with piercers teaching classes for the industry’s most prestigious organizations, including Latinoamérica Body Piercing Association (LBP) and Association of Professional Piercers (APP). He is currently the senior international instructor of the APP. Triguero has a passion for creating stunning, personalized piercings for clients around the world. Education and Mentorship Following a year of success and popularity, Aqua Spa Float Center hosted the grand opening of its private dedicated piercing suite in March. Aqua Spa Float Center & Wellness celebrated this next chapter with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by the Oswego Mayor Robert Corradino, members of the Greater Oswego-Fulton Chamber of Commerce, local business owners and community members. The educational focus, aligned with Aqua Spa Float Center’s vision and mission, had already begun expanding beyond clients. Aqua Spa has hosted multiple workshops and continuing education opportunities for professional piercers, inviting studios from across the region to gain hands-on experience from internationally recognized instructors without the expense of traveling to national or international conferences. These educational events have welcomed nationally and internationally recognized professional piercers and educators from countries including France, Scotland, India, and throughout the United States. Aqua Spa also continues to collaborate with talented regional and local professionals, creating opportunities for education and mentorship that benefit both industry peers and clients throughout Central New York. Aqua Spa Float Center & Wellness Boutique owners — Tammy Wilkinson and Terry LeRoi — have been deeply rooted in the piercing industry with over 30 years in business as LeRoi Fine Body Jewellery. Combining that experience with holistic wellness, self-care and self-expression is the new concept with the client Luxe Piercing Experience at the Aqua Spa Float Center. “At LeRoi Fine Body Jewellery and Aqua Spa Float Center, we’ve been fortunate to work with many of the world’s most respected piercers through our involvement with the Association of Professional Piercers and by attending conferences across North America and Europe,” said LeRoi, founder of LeRoi Fine Body Jewellery and co-owner of Aqua Spa Float Center & Wellness Boutique. “Those experiences have shown us that education is what drives our industry forward. “Not every piercer or studio can travel to major conferences like the APP Conference in Las Vegas or APP Benelux in the Netherlands, so we’re committed to bringing that level of education here. Hosting internationally respected educators like Jef Saunders allows our clients to experience the highest standards of professional piercing while giving piercers throughout the Northeast the opportunity to learn from some of the very best in the profession. That’s something we’re incredibly proud to offer our community.” When asked about the client experience, Wilkinson explained that education is at the heart of every appointment as well. “Our vision is to nurture and enhance wellness, balance and harmony through a multi-modality-centered facility, and we aspire to empower sustained, positive change, well-being and self-awareness; and educate to the benefits of natural health, holistic wellness and life balance,” Wilkison explains. “Piercing is no different. The piercing experience feels just as peaceful and rejuvenating as any other spa services. From the moment our clients arrive, they are in the very best hands with our kind and professional Wellness Ambassadors and experienced APP guest piercers.” Wilkinson also explained that piercing clients receive stellar care: every Luxe Piercing appointment includes a one-on-one private piercing in Aqua Spa’s dedicated piercing suite, their choice of custom jewellery by LeRoi Fine Body Jewellery, thorough after-care instructions and complementary check-up appointment, complementary whole-body red light therapy session in the Class II NovoTHOR medical device to promote healing, and access to many rejuvenating spa services. Piercing clients get 15% off during any event. According to Wilkinson, “Health and safety are always our highest priority when you come in for a piercing or jewelry installation. Before each appointment, all tools and jewelry are sterilized in a Statim autoclave, and every surface in the piercing room is carefully disinfected. During the procedure, your piercer will wear a mask and change gloves as needed to maintain a sterile environment. Once your piercing is complete, your piercer will go over detailed aftercare instructions with you. Following these steps is crucial to ensure proper healing before you leave our sanctuary.” As a part of the experience, guest piercers include a thorough anatomy review of the client’s desired piercing to ensure the new addition will work in harmony with the existing. “Our clients are enjoying building and creating ear curations with these international professionals. It’s a unique styling event and a chance to highlight self-expression,” Wilkinson said. Clients and piercers throughout the region are flocking to this piercing destination in Upstate New York. The Luxe Piercing Experience has welcomed clients and piercers alike from around the globe. Owners Wilkinson and LeRoi hope to continue the momentum with more educational seminars with industry experts to be a hub of knowledge and expertise. They hope to establish LeRoi Fine Body Jewellery and Aqua Spa Float Center as legacy businesses known for their lasting, positive impact on the piercing and holistic wellness industries.
Are Bank Lobbies Still Relevant?
Local banking leaders say technology is changing the way customers use their banks — and their lobbies By Deborah Jeanne Post [caption id=attachment_11109 align=alignright width=300] Steve Gorczynski is M&T Bank Central New York regional president.[/caption] When was the last time you entered the lobby of your bank? If it’s been a while, you’re part of a trend of eschewing the lobby in favor of ATMs, drive-thrus, online banking and remote deposit. A 2025 study performed by the American Bankers Association revealed that only 9% of consumers use bank branches as their preferred way to do banking and 76% prefer mobile banking. The trend away from the lobby reflects consumer behavior in other areas of doing business, including online shopping instead of perusing the mall, ordering fast food at a kiosk, not at the counter and selecting curbside pick-up rather than walking into the restaurant. Consumers want convenience and going in the lobby adds another layer to the task. It also places consumers face to face with one or more representatives of the business, something less favorable to people feeling burned out from interpersonal interactions. Nixing or at least minimizing the size of the lobby isn’t necessarily negative for banks. Fewer people passing through their doors reduces overhead for building maintenance, staffing and furnishing. Greater reliance on virtual banking can mean closing brick and mortar locations and hiring fewer staffers to cover roles like teller and lending officer. “Our focus is on meeting customers where they are and giving them flexibility in how they bank,” said Steve Gorczynski, M&T Bank Central New York regional president. “While many everyday transactions can be supported digitally and through ATMs, branches remain important for more complex financial needs, offering face-to-face guidance and a more personal banking experience.” Talking with a commercial lender or working on a home mortgage are two examples where meeting face-to-face is more desirable for many people. They can receive immediate feedback to questions and can possibly reach their goals more quickly. But there’s little need to have a large seating area, long counters and numerous tellers for routine banking that’s quicker to handle virtually. Online banking can also help people on the go more readily complete banking tasks such as depositing checks, transferring funds among accounts and checking balances. [caption id=attachment_11135 align=alignright width=300] Tina M. Stephens is the vice president branch administration for Fulton Savings Bank.[/caption] “The traditional bank lobby is certainly being evaluated by most institutions today, as the typical large, open and cavernous spaces do not necessarily meet the needs of today’s customers,” said Tina M. Stephens, vice president branch administration for Fulton Savings Bank. “Traditional lobbies often bisect traditional teller stations and customer service areas, which adds confusion, especially for the demographic who routinely use online banking and only access the lobby for customer service needs.” Despite the rollback in physical locations across the industry, Fulton Savings Bank began modernizing its six branch offices in Oswego and Onondaga counties about three years ago and have finished four offices so far in Baldwinsville, Fulton, Constantia, and Phoenix. “We made the decision to build a new branch across the street from our current office in Brewerton which will be completed by the end of 2026, and we will begin the retrofit of our Central Square office in early 2027,” Stephens said. “Our efforts specifically address where we think customers will be in the next three to five years and have greater flexibility to make changes out into the future.” The bank may be onto something, as numerous reports state that screen-weary Gen Z young adults crave more in-person interactions than virtual ones. If the pendulum continues to swing in that direction, it’s hard to see all physical bank areas disappear, even if they change somewhat. Fulton Savings Bank has also consolidated its teller and customer service representative areas to larger “universal banker” areas, where the bank representative can address all customer retail needs. A one-stop-shop experience appeals to busy banking customers who want to perform a few different banking tasks in one visit. Stephens also said that Fulton Savings Bank made additional technology and security enhancements and created flex spaces to accommodate bank meetings throughout the two-county branch footprint. At Solvay Bank, Elizabeth Lavier, vice president marketing and communications manager, lauded digital and online services as convenient and flexible for managing finances; however, “technology is not meant to replace what matters most: the relationships behind every account that have always been at the heart of community banking,” she said. “Even in today’s digital-first world, people of all ages still value the opportunity to sit down with a trusted banker for personalized guidance. We understand that some of life’s biggest moments call for more than a screen.” Lavier views digital banking as another way for the organization to serve customers rather than a replacement for branches, tellers and lenders, which tend to serve customers better for transactions like buying a first car, purchasing a home, saving for a child’s education, or planning for retirement. “Those conversations, built on understanding, experience and personal guidance, are what community banking is all about,” Lavier said. “At the end of the day, banking is about more than transactions. It’s about helping our customers achieve their goals and being there for them every step of the way. By combining the convenience of digital banking with the care, commitment, and personal service of a local community bank, Solvay Bank offers customers the best of both worlds.” Are Paper Checks Destined to Disappear? With the ubiquity of debit cards, online payments, virtual checks and peer-to-peer payment platforms like Venmo, Zelle and PayPal, will paper checks become passe? “In my view, paper checks are unlikely to disappear in the near future,” said Tina M. Stephens, vice president branch administration for Fulton Savings Bank. “They continue to serve a practical purpose by providing a clear paper trail and tangible proof of payment.” According to the American Banker, a leading trade publication that covers the banking and financial industry, in 2024, checks accounted for 65% of all payment fraud losses. Paper checks should be phased out, according to the publication. “The phrase, ‘The check’s in the mail’ probably sounds strange to younger people because the era of paper checks is rapidly drawing to a close. Put bluntly, checks are an expensive, insecure legacy that is a drag on the U.S. economy. Rather than wait for them to vanish slowly, the pragmatic choice is to strategically accelerate the transition to paperless payments.”
Retiring from Farming
Start now to ensure your farm passes to the next generation Deborah Jeanne Post [caption id=attachment_11062 align=alignright width=405] Adam C. Howell, outreach director at Cornell’s NY FarmNet: “Retirement from farming is atypical planning,” he says.[/caption] Roughly 70% of family-owned farms will transfer ownership withing the next two decades, according to data from to the USDA census. Only 30% of those will remain in the family. The number of farms in New York is shrinking as the size of farms increases. In other words, there are fewer farms in the state, but they’re much larger. This is why succession planning is so important for family farms. A farm represents not only a way to make a living but a legacy and family tradition. Many families want to preserve the small farm segment of agriculture and the values it represents. Passing the family farm to the next generation can’t be left to chance. And it shouldn’t be left for “the kids to figure out” after the older generation dies. Succession planning in agriculture isn’t like other types of business retirement planning or personal final planning. “Retirement from farming is atypical planning,” said Adam C. Howell, outreach director at Cornell’s NY FarmNet. “Most farmers, their assets and the way they live and survive in retirement is tied up in the equity in the farm. Those conversations must take place a lot earlier than they think. They’re dealing with something asset-heavy that may require a trust and tax planning.” NY FarmNet offers farmers free, confidential consultation services regarding financial and business management, and family, and mental health support for farmers in New York state. It’s a program of Cornell University in Ithaca. Howell urges farmers to begin the conversation early. Most family farms are run by generations with the oldest generation most involved and typically with fewer of the middle-aged adults and young adults involved. Some of the younger generation may have off-farm jobs and not live on the homestead. “Different people have different expectations on their legacy,” Howell said. “Intergenerational conflict and discussions can be difficult. It may be good to check with NY FarmNet or Ag Mediation to help mediate these conversations with a third party. A lot of farms have broken up because people can’t decide how to divide things.” New York State Agricultural Mediation Program is a USDA‑certified, free or low‑cost service for farmers. Fair is not always equal. A sole owner simply stating that he wants to divide things equally among his children may leave one-quarter of the farm operation to an adult child who moved away and hasn’t sat in a tractor for decades. The three adult children who have toiled on the farm for 30 years may need to buy out the fourth, non-farming sibling but cannot because all of their money is tied up in the equipment, land and stock that supports their livelihood. Their payrate may not allow them to set aside much to buy out the non-farming sibling. As a result, they may need to sell parts of the farm off in order to keep it. However, doing so may limit their ability to sufficiently support their families. The farm owner may need to bequeath more assets to the farming siblings because their efforts have kept the farm going and without those assets and their work, the farm will cease operations. Howell advises seeking professional help on tax and legal issues. Without it, families can be exposed to expensive problems and infighting. A third-party expert can help farm families navigate what is truly fair in the family’s succession plans. Beyond the practical aspects of inheritance, succession also relies upon planning who will operate the farm and how. “I think it’s important that farmers understand the means and methods of farming are always changing,” Howell said. For example, many young adult farmers earn a degree at a school such as Cornell, SUNY Cobleskill or Morrisville, work on a different farm for a while and then return to their family farm with big ideas on how to improve the farm — if only their dad and uncles will agree. Intergenerational conflict is often centered on newer ideas such agritourism, online marketing and shipping goods. “It causes conflict,” Howell said. “A lot of it comes down to communication and respect within the family. If no one in the family wants to take on farming, what we’ll see is older farmers start to help trusted managers buy into the farm.” The middle-aged generation, now in their 40s and 50s, often struggle with wresting the helm from their parents. Howell said that many older farmers don’t discuss with their grown children their vital business information such as vendors, ordering supplies, pricing, recordkeeping and farm planning. They even claim that “the kids” aren’t ready yet. These gaps in cross-training may cause significant problems even before the older generation dies, if there’s an illness or injury. Howell urges farmers to document these processes and cross-train others on the farm how to handle these areas “to make sure if one person is incapacitated, the entire operation is not at risk,” he said. Mark Modzeleski, financial adviser, financial planner and president at Legacy Wealth Advisors of NY in Syracuse, advises families to talk sooner than later about who should be operating the farm. “Someone is driving the farm,” he said. “Have you decided who? Be honest when you have that conversation. Who do they turn to when there’s a question? Or who has the potential to be leaders?” Planning for leadership continuity is vital. Unfortunately, talking like this can become fraught with emotions if it’s only the family involved. Modzeleski advised finding a third party who can help drive the conversation. “Invite the right people to the conversation who can get you from point A to point B,” he said. “This is a marathon, not a sprint.” It may take sitting down a few times with an estate planning attorney who specializes in farm transition, along with a tax professional and others who can help moderate and plan. Family members, owners and possibly, integral farm managers should attend the meetings. “Figure out what you want your legacy to be,” Modzeleski added.
Is healthcare on Florida's ballot? Many voters say it's a top priority
An Orlando woman survived after a brain tumor that grew unchecked for seven years because she couldn't get the insurance necessary to see a doctor. She now supports candidates who favor Medicare for all.
The scores are in. Who received low, high scores in health inspections?
Check out the most recent health inspection scores for restaurants in Chatham County.
Entertainment Weekly Shares Sneak Peek at Billy and Sally's Wedding on The Young and The Restless
Check out the vintage glam!
MSU’s Fresh Check Day features campus mental health resources
Mental health and wellness resources for Spartan students were on full display Tuesday at the third-annual Fresh Check Day at Michigan State University.
When 1 + 1 = 1: The Miserable Math Behind Many Media Mergers
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) The last few issues of this newsletter have circled two topics: September’s streaming viewership and all the Paramount/Skydance/Warner Bros./Discovery merger news. I’m happy to say on the Streaming Ratings Report front, we’ll be all caught up by early next week, then the SRR will come out on a tight weekly schedule. Then, after today, I’ll have slayed my PSWbD dragon. It’s such a big story, it demanded multiple issues. With the announcement of a name (just Skydance) and executive team, though, I think we can almost close the book on this story. In terms of topics, it becomes just another studio to cover. So today, I have one last set of takes on that merger. As I’ve sat with it, reading about who was staying and who was going, a big worry crystallized in my brain, and I gotta get that take out. Plus, I still owe you a host of “ugliness” that didn’t fit in my previous “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” takes. Let’s dive in! Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - As Paramount Shuffles Deck Chairs, Will They Build or Consolidate? On social media—I try to avoid most social media platforms, but sometimes I end up checking in—the best joke I saw about the announcement of the new name of Skydance was from fellow reporter Claire Atkinson who pointed out… Yeah, I laughed out loud at that one. Later, though, I saw another Twitter response (that later got deleted, so I can’t shout the person out) that did give me pause. The person noted that the Titanic film made the better analogy: a super expensive project everyone in the town doubted that went on to conquer the globe. So yeah: on one hand, the image of the Titanic recalls the actual ship and its infamous end, but that clip is from a movie which proved the doubters wrong. So for all the skepticism of the latest massive media merger, one could wonder which way this one goes. Does it crash like the Titanic or rise to glory like Titanic, the movie? Either way, this deal is “Titanic”, looking at the massive debt required to close the deal, which is not going well when it comes to borrowing costs for Paramount… …or borrowing costs for Oracle. But I’ve started to get worried about another outcome: the sum of this merger will be smaller and weaker and less profitable than its former parts. In other words, one plus one won’t equal three or two, but an even smaller number. Skydance paid to take a traditional studio off the board, but they won’t really capture the upside. Let me explain what I mean, but first, let’s look at the series of news that inspired this thought. Skydance Sets Its Leadership Team As soon as the Paramount-Skydance-Warner Bros.-Discovery merger closed, the new leadership team announced a new name—Skydance, which I’ll use going forward—and a new executive leadership team. You’ve probably read through all the executive shuffling, but if you haven’t, here’s a quick, incomplete summary, in rough order of importance: Mattel’s CEO Ynon Kreiz—who previously ran Maker Studios—joined as co-CEO with David Ellison. HBO/HBO Max’s Casey Bloys will stay and run streaming. Former head of streaming for Paramount-Skydance Cindy Holland—who was also at Netflix—will depart. The former heads of Warner Bros.—Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca—are out. The film studios will be run by Dana Goldstein and Josh Greenstein. George Cheeks of Paramount will run Skydance TV, controlling all the TV production units. In comic book news, the DC films will still be run by Peter Gunn and Peter Safran. Lastly, the head of CNN, Mark Thompson, will stay in place. Let’s quickly opine on the particulars before diving into the broad ramifications. We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… Who I like and dislike in their next gigs… Why I think this consolidation will likely leave Skydance worse off… The math behind which mergers succeed and which don’t… A lot more ugliness in this merger… And a whole lot more... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support.
*POSTPONED* Behind the Science with Paleontologist and Curator of Dinosauria Dr. Matthew Carrano
***Due to speaker illness, this event has been postponed. A new date will be announced in two weeks. If you registered for this program, please check your email for more information. We apologize for the inconvenience.*** Is the 21st Century the real Age of Dinosaurs? Today, more paleontologists are discovering more dinosaur fossils from more places in the world than ever before. Our understanding of these amazing creatures has leapt forward while their popularity has surged. Museums sit at the junction of these phenomena. The Smithsonian has been a center for dinosaur research for more than a century, and its collections include many iconic and scientifically important specimens. Today, Smithsonian researchers continue to discover new dinosaurs, but they are also uncovering more information about the ones we already know and love. New techniques and approaches allow them to investigate aspects of dinosaur biology, ecology, and evolution in ways that would have been inconceivable to early paleontologists. The result is an ever-improving understanding of dinosaurs as living, breathing, and thriving animals. This month, go behind the science with paleontologist Dr. Matthew Carrano, Curator of Dinosauria at the National Museum of Natural History as he discusses new discoveries at home and abroad, in the field and in the museum. Registration is encouraged. Space is filled on a first come first served basis. ---------------- About the Series: Behind the Science A monthly after-hours series featuring NMNH scientists and researchers Each month, join the National Museum of Natural History for the new series, Behind the Science, where NMNH researchers share insights into their latest discoveries and explore the fascinating questions driving their work—from the origins of life to the future of our planet. Come learn what’s happening behind the scenes and how science shapes our understanding of the natural world. Programs take place in Q?rius, the Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center. Topics and speakers announced on a rolling basis, but save the dates now!
Detroit Lions WR Jameson Williams wins appeals on gesture fines
Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams can cancel a few checks to the NFL.
Pope Leo's lung surgery: What we know
Pope Leo is set for lung surgery after doctors discovered a nodule during a routine checkup. Here's what to know.
Retiring DMI CEO Barb O'Brien: How Dairy Checkoff Shifted from ‘Got Milk?’ to a $13B Demand Engine
The Dairy Management Inc. executive reflects on 25-year journey from advertising campaigns to science-driven partnerships that put dairy demand ahead of supply.
When paychecks fall short: America's affordability squeeze
Three US families share how rising housing, health care and everyday costs are straining household budgets and turning affordability into a major political issue ahead of the midterm elections.
Blackhawks’ Frank Nazar Hits Back At NHL After Suspension
The struggling Chicago Blackhawks, who are 1-5 to begin the 2026-27 NHL campaign, lost forward Frank Nazar for two games after he was tossed from their recent contest against the New York Islanders for an illegal check to the head of forward Bo Horvat.Nazar, who had never been suspended earlier in his NHL career, was […] The post Blackhawks’ Frank Nazar Hits Back At NHL After Suspension appeared first on HEAVY.
Fact Check: Trump's Truth Social Account Did NOT Post 503 'Service Unavailable' Error From Yandex -- It Appeared On A Political Humor Account
Did President Donald Trump's Truth Social account post a 503 "Service Unavailable" error referencing Yandex? No, that's not true: A review of Trump's Truth Social account found no record of the post, ...
AMD releases powerful new mini-PC with 160 GB VRAM, 10 GbE and AMD Gorgon Halo
AMD has released a new mini-PC in the US. Arriving in the wake of recent Nvidia RTX Spark announcements, the new AMD Ryzen AI Halo Developer Platform hopes to surpass its predecessor with 192 GB RAM, of which 160 GB can be assigned as VRAM, and the Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 495 with the new Radeon 8065.
How worried should Catholics be about the pope’s health?
Pope Leo XIV announced on Sunday that he will undergo surgery this week to remove a “nodule” from his lung. The pope made the announcement at the end of his Sunday Angelus address, asking for prayers. “Dear all, recently, during some checkups, the doctors discovered a nodule in my lung. It was detected at a very early stage and was well-localized,” Leo said. “The doctors felt it was necessary to intervene, and so, following their advice, I decided to have surgery to remove it. The procedure is already scheduled for the next few days. I thank you for your spiritual support and I entrust myself to your prayers.” The Vatican press office subsequently added that Leo is scheduled to undergo surgery at the Gamelli hospital on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The pope is expected to spend up to a week in the Gamelli recovering, after which, for the moment, he is still expected to undertake his largest and longest to-date Apostolic journey, heading to Argentina, Uruguay, and Peru, beginning Nov. 6. Prayers have, understandably, poured in from dioceses around the world, accompanied by the best wishes of heads of state and international institutions. So how worried should Catholics be for the health of the pope? The Vatican’s messaging around Leo’s pending surgery is, in many ways, a new approach to papal health issues. But, despite the pope’s personal candour, the Holy See’s messaging perhaps raises as many questions as it answers. Subscribe — Leo’s decision to announce his own medical status and pending hospital stay during the Sunday Angelus is, it should be said, already something of a big deal. Traditionally, the health of popes simply hasn’t been discussed publicly or officially, until circumstances made it absolutely necessary. Memorably, in 2023 Pope Francis was rushed to the Gemelli in an ambulance, exhibiting signs of cardiac arrest according to many close to him, only for the Sala Stampa to put out a statement insisting he was merely going in for “pre-scheduled” tests. That Pope Leo has decided to announce his condition himself, with remarkable frankness, is a significant comms policy shift around the Apostolic Palace. This might reflect a deliberately more open posture, as opposed to the traditional, otiose evasiveness, and the first fruits of an American pope and American prefect of the Dicastery for Communications favoring honesty as a baseline. Equally, it must be allowed, it could be that the pope’s situation is serious enough that there would be no keeping it under wraps or playing it off, and the decision was made to be as open as possible to head off speculation about the papal health. Certainly, Leo appeared to make every effort to sound reassuring — stressing that, whatever the diagnosis is, exactly, it is “well-localized” and “early stage.” Of course, for everyone listening, talk of a “nodule” in a lung will immediately send thoughts — and prayers — running to concerns about words not used, like “cancer,” “tumor,” “begnin” or “malignant.” To be clear, none of those words may yet be medically appropriate. And there is every reason to believe and assume that Leo is giving almost as much information as he may have himself at this stage. But the context of the pope’s announcement and the timing of his surgery do reasonably raise reasonably serious concerns for Leo. We don’t know, and this isn’t to say anyone has the right to expect to know, when the routine medical checks made this discovery. It could have been last week, last month, or even earlier. As such, it isn’t really possible to say with what kind of urgency Leo is being brought in for surgery. However, there is clearly some serious urgency to the matter. Leo making the announcement and going into hospital this week, of all weeks, means he is having to miss the balance and conclusion of his global meeting of the heads of the world’s bishops conferences, which he convened in Rome this week. That, as the Vatican has announced, has meant some serious changes to the schedule, with the newly minted dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Tagle, subbing in for the closing Mass on Wednesday, and the meeting’s organizers announcing that the final working document/summary of the meeting being delayed until Leo can read and feed into it. Those changes suggest that the timing of Leo’s surgery isn’t of his own choosing, and he is acting on the best medical advice he can get by moving urgently. Had this issue been discovered weeks ago, it seems reasonable to assume the pope would have seen it dealt with before the meeting began. And were it possible to delay it, even by a few days to allow the meeting to conclude as scheduled, the expectation would surely be he’d have opted for that. It cannot be excluded that Leo is simply having to fit in with the schedules of his medical team, but a man who occupies arguably the most important and prominent role in Italy, if not Western Europe, could generally be assumed to be the one whose calendar others work around. All this points to a very recent medical discovery leading to a “days matter” diagnosis, or at least suspected possible diagnosis. Of course, another factor weighing in the balance is Leo’s upcoming apostolic visit to three South American countries, including a return to Peru, where he spent many years as a priest and bishop. It is entirely possible that the doctors, and the pope himself, are more concerned about the potential knock-on effects of surgery, and the time needed for recovery, for a 71-year-old — even one as physically sound and actively sporty as Leo. The pope is due to depart Rome November 6 for his 10-day three-country trip, returning on Nov. 17. It may be that Leo has simply made the decision to allow maximum time for his own post-op recovery, and even allow for potentially unforeseen circumstances, so that he is at full strength for the landmark trip. While it might be an inconvenience, and clearly a last-minute wrench in the works for the Amoris meeting, it is possible that Leo simply weighs the importance of that conference more lightly in the balance than even the possibility of missing his homecoming trip to Peru, or even having to scale back his itinerary for the trip. If that is the case, it would suggest a real abundance of caution by the pope approaching his Latin American tour, and a sobering indication of where Leo ranks the non-synodal meeting currently underway in Rome. In any event, what can be said for certain is that the pope having to take this, of all weeks, out of his schedule for surgery and an extended hospital stay is extremely unfortunate timing. It is clear that this is a decision Leo has made on the advice of his doctors. Together, they clearly consider that the risks of delaying, even by a little as a few days, represents an unacceptable risk for the pope. Even expecting and allowing for Leo’s full and speedy recovery, that should be a very sobering thought for Catholics everywhere. Subscribe
Bakery, mini golf: Check out 15 Plano business updates
Discover the latest on 15 Plano businesses, including new openings like San Martin Bakery, Sip'Stroke Lounge and 10x10.
Fact check: No, James Talarico was not in a mental health facility in Ohio
When James Talarico took time off the trail with the flu, conservative influencers spread rumors he was being treated at a mental health facility - which he and the center have denied.
Ted Lasso, AFC Richmond Women Featured in EA FC 27, Check Out Preview Photos
Barbecue sauce.
Netflix’s Best New Show Has A 95% Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
Netflix's best new show has a sky-high 95% audience review score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it is going to be worth checking out even if it's not your usual genre.
Pope Leo XIV Announces Surgery Following Troubling Health Discovery
Pope Leo XIV has shared an update about a recent health discovery that will require surgery. The 71-year-old pontiff said doctors found a nodule in his lung during a medical check-up. His medical team...
Doctored 2006 front page falsely portrayed as genuine article about Nigerian politician's 'madness'
As political activity intensifies ahead of Nigeria’s January 2027 election, misinformation is circulating online, including a purported 2006 newspaper front page with claims that presidential candidat...
From major store openings to closings: Check out 11 San Marcos business updates
San Marcos business updates include the opening of a third H-E-B, construction on Home Depot and Rooms To Go, and the upcoming closure of IKEA.
Apple MacBook Pro 16 vs Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra: Poll shows clear winner
With the launch of the newest Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra, many people are comparing the laptop to the Apple MacBook Pro 16 with the M5 Pro. This comparison is quite apt, as both machines target the same audience. A poll run by Hardware Canucks has now revealed which laptop users prefer more.
Business as usual at the Vatican as Pope Leo prepares to have surgery to remove a lung nodule
The Vatican press office said no particular issue precipitated the tests, denying Italian media reports suggesting an inflammation had prompted the medical check-up.
Science Snapshots: October 11, 2026
Three key science updates: 2024’s extreme, possibly normalizing rainfall; hypertension-linked osteoarthritis worsened by vasopressin; and an AI-proof checker solving Erdős problems autonomously.
Jonathan Taylor held in check
Running room tough to find for Indianapolis Colts RB Jonathan Taylor
Behind the factory walls: accountability failures in the global textile industry - Business and Human Rights Centre
Check out this page via the Business and Human Rights Centre
Bears HC Ben Johnson Called Out After Packers Embarrassment
The Chicago Bears and head coach Ben Johnson got a reality check at the hands of the rival Green Bay Packers. The post Bears HC Ben Johnson Called Out After Packers Embarrassment appeared first on HEAVY.
Colston Loveland held in check against GB
Bears TE Colston Loveland unable to reach 20 yards for third time this season
Texas Business Owner Spots Unauthorized Charges, Then Investigators Trace 154 Payments Worth $1.7 Million to Employee's Credit Cards
A Texas business owner’s discovery of unauthorized payments in a company checking account led investigators to an alleged employee theft totaling $1,748,901.35. Authorities say the ... Read More
John Leguizamo says his ‘Miami Vice’ paycheck paid for 2 things that most ‘actors don’t have’
John Leguizamo, who made his TV debut on ‘Miami Vice,’ has revealed the two things that his first-ever paycheck helped him pay for.
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro: Is the Upgrade Worth It?
iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro: Check the camera, display, design, battery, charging, price and other one-on-one specs comparison here.
Colts Week 5 Gameday Roster, Inactives vs. Steelers
Check out the Indianapolis Colts' gameday roster for Week 5 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Apple A20 outclasses Android rivals in our review: iPhone's lead is impressive
New iPhone 18 Pro reviewed! Our review shows what the flagship can do: a 2nm A20 Pro processor, 12 GB of RAM and a 6.3" ProMotion OLED display. Find out all about the camera upgrade (48 MP with a variable aperture), the long-lasting 4,056 mAh battery and faster 45-watt charging
Mental health starts with us: A call to care for Natchez
Alcorn State University psychology student urges Natchez residents to make mental health a year ’round community conversation by checking in on themselves and ...
How I went from 'healthy' to a quadruple bypass in weeks
A request at a checkup turned into lifesaving surgery.
Pope Leo says will undergo surgery for small growth on lung
VATICAN CITY, Oct 11 () - Pope Leo said on Sunday that doctors had detected a small growth on his lung during a recent health check and he would be undergoing surgery this week to remove it, in the...
The grave consequences of politicizing science
If political ideology determines which scientific questions receive support, science ceases to function as a check on power.
📊 Check out the updated Brasileirão table after Saturday's matches
Matchday 30 of the 2026 Brasileirão kicked off this Saturday (10) with two games.At São Januário, Vasco drew 0–0 with Remo and failed to pull away from the threat of the relegation zone.Later, at...
Florida crews round up 59 swans in annual health checkup, and children get a rare chance to hold one
"It really sparks interest, and it shows how important it is in Lakeland."
Czech PM faces first electoral test
Early results suggest gains for the Czech prime minister's party, but opposition groups are battling to retain control of the upper chamber, which remains a key check on his governing coalition.
Microsoft offers MacBook Pro owners up to $1,000 to switch to Surface Laptop Ultra
Microsoft is offering MacBook Pro owners up to $1,000 in extra cash back when they trade in their Apple laptop and preorder the new Surface Laptop Ultra. The bonus is paid in addition to the device’s normal trade-in value, as Microsoft tries to lure Apple users to its $2,599.99 RTX Spark-powered flagship.
Why most health apps are biased even before their first lines of code are written
Many of us use digital health tools every day, such as period trackers, fitness apps or online quizzes to check our mental health.
For World Mental Health Day, a check-up on the music industry
Consider it a musical manifesto devoted to mental health
For World Mental Health Day, A Check-up on the Music Industry
Consider it a musical manifesto devoted to mental health
Poll reality check: Texas, Maine and Michigan
Larry Sabato joins Michael Smerconish to break down key Senate races in Texas, Maine and Michigan, and what the polls may be missing ahead of the midterms.
Visited Massachusetts town that's better than Salem: Beverly
Instead of visiting Salem, Massachusetts, I suggest checking out Beverly, a less-crowded alternative with great food and amazing Halloween decor.
Confused by a Trump check? Here’s why some Oregonians are getting $500
The Trump administration has started sending $500 health insurance refunds to eligible Oregonians.
MRN BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: Dr. Christian Zwick, QMG
It’s Breast Cancer Awareness month and MRN’s Crissie Caccamo talks to Dr. Christian Zwick of Quincy Medical Group talks about breast health and regular checkups. Bank of Springfield brings you Business Spotlight.
In Small-Business Lending, AI Reads The Numbers But Bankers Still Make The Call
AI is starting to read small firms’ books and draft advice. For generative tools, federal guidance leaves the job of checking that advice to each bank.
190K subscribers gone: YouTuber loses channel over new horror game
Ten years of work, around 3,000 videos and 190,000 subscribers – all gone because a YouTuber showed footage from the new horror game Hellraiser: Revival. What makes the case particularly controversial is that he claims to have censored the explicit scenes.
Celebrate National Women's Small Business Month at these local stores
Looking to celebrate National Women's Small Business Month? Check out some of these local businesses.
Fact-Checking Senate Ads in Iowa, New Hampshire and North Carolina
We assess three campaign ads in the battleground states that have focused on the cost of living.
10/9 Gridiron Glory
PADUCAH, Ky. — Check out the scores and highlights from week 8 of Gridiron Glory below.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time Switch 2 pre-orders set Amazon record, dominating GTA 6
The Ocarina of Time remake and GTA 6 should overshadow all November competition. Yet physical Amazon sales of the Zelda title are moving at an unprecedented pace. Nintendo’s Switch 2 exclusive game has sold more than 100,000 copies in the last month alone.
Hotel executive checks in on the blows to Hawaiʻi's tourist business
Jerry Gibson, President of the Hawaiʻi Hotel Alliance, discusses rising travel costs and troubling tourism numbers.
FOX54 News Huntsville
FOX54 News - Huntsville - The FOX54 News Team brings you local and national news, weather, sports, and VERIFY fact-checking on the latest trending topics, from elections to COVID-19 to online scams. Watch the FOX54 News Team Monday-Friday at 5:30 p.m. and every night at 9:00 p.m. We reserve the right to moderate or remove comments that are hateful, contain inappropriate language, or violate YouTube community guidelines. Keep it civil, folks.
Week 6 Open Thread
Welcome to the open thread, the home for discussion for all non-UW games this weekend. With the Huskies playing on Friday, you can check in any time you like on Saturday, but you can never leave. Saturday Early – There are no ranked vs. ranked games in the early slot, but Indiana at Nebraska could […]
Mid-Michigan entertainment for the weekend of Oct. 9-11 and beyond
Check out what’s happening this week.
The 6 College Football Games to Watch in Week 6
Check out our conference preview for all the Big 10 action this weekend. Florida State at Louisville 7 p.m., ESPN (Friday) Both teams are in desperation mode as they try to avoid the season going into a complete tailspin. Florida State is coming in with momentum after pounding Virginia, although it’s been proven you can’t […]
Gears of War: E-Day sells 230K copies
Gears of War: E-Day has sold 230K copies since its advance-access launch on October 1 and full release on October 6. Steam accounts for 168K of those, with Xbox (console and PC) selling 62K. But there’s more to this story, as Xbox makes up the bulk of revenue. E-Day is the best-reviewed Gears game in nearly two decades (and the best one ever made, in my opinion). The Coalition has made a banger here (it’s currently in my top 10 of the year). Despite E-Day’s undeniable quality, this is a soft result. And it’s down to the business model, really. E-Day has made $37M so far, thanks to the Premium upgrade On Xbox, Game Pass is cannibalising much of the premium revenue. Our estimates show that 1.7M folks accessed E-Day via their subscription rather than a copy. But Xbox is having it both ways – or having it halfway, at least – via its Premium Edition Game Pass upgrade. Game Pass subscribers could pay $30 (or their local equivalent) for up to five days of early access starting October 1. Our estimates show that of the 1.7M who accessed E-Day through Game Pass, 722K paid for the upgrade. Between the review embargo lifting on October 1 and the full release, E-Day managed to shift another 250K early-access upgrades – no doubt helped by the campaign’s rave reviews. So despite selling far fewer copies on Steam, Xbox accounts for almost three-quarters of the revenue (roughly $26M of the $37M, versus about $11M on Steam). So “230K copies” undersells the paying audience. Including the 722K upgrades, nearly 950K people actually paid something for E-Day. The $30 upgrade is a halfstep from cannibalisation, but will Xbox go all the way? While E-Day is a sublime game, these are soft numbers for a flagship when Xbox badly needs revenue wins. E-Day sold 62K copies on Xbox against 722K Premium upgrades, so for every one copy sold on Xbox, nearly 12 Game Pass upgrades were sold. The $70 premium SKU is – functionally – dead on Xbox. Normally you can’t see what a Game Pass player would have paid, because the game’s just there in the subscription. But the $30 early-access upgrade estimate shows that 722K people demonstrated they’ll spend real money on this game. In a world without day-one Game Pass, many of these folks would have bought E-Day at $70. They paid $30 for five days early access to something they don’t own. Xbox is, in effect, charging its most valuable customers the least, based on a hangover from a tried-and-exhausted strategy from a previous administration. Those 722K willing-to-pay players generated about $21.7M via the upgrade. If three quarters of this group – mostly US and European audiences – bought E-Day outright, that’s nearly $40M. Of course, Game Pass does bring in meaningful recurring revenue, and E-Day is adding value for hundreds of thousands of subscribers. However, Game Pass is no longer growing, so Xbox is at a crossroads. Xbox is reportedly looking to do a Netflix and bolt on an ad-supported tier to pad it further. But that will just set a new floor, and leadership keeps telling us the priority now is revenue growth, which is subscriber-speak for ARPU. Xbox has already pulled Call of Duty from day-one Game Pass after day-one inclusion hammered its sales, with new CoD titles now arriving on the service around a year late. We know that some Microsoft executives believe the service devalues games outright, and rumours (which Microsoft has dismissed so far, to be fair) suggest that day-one releases could be taken off Game Pass. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe When a game this well-reviewed does this softly on its home platform, the model – not the game – gets brought into question. What else E-Day’s early adopters have played (including this month so far) Looking at E-Day‘s players on Xbox, most have played the franchise before (86% have played Gears 5, 76% Gears 4), and every game on the crossover list is either a shooter or a title from an Xbox-owned studio (though Game Pass is inflating those numbers, of course, more on that later): As for what else Xbox’s E-Day players have played this month, the top three are Fortnite (16%), Roblox (7%), and Call of Duty (6%). Another 5% played Minecraft Dungeons II, which is also on Game Pass and launched a couple of days before Gears‘ advance-access date. Many Game Pass players are happy to check out most big new additions. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Over on Steam, the top crossover games are also mostly shooters (slightly more PC-coded ones), including Space Marine 2, which was itself heavily inspired by Gears: Looking at what E-Day‘s Steam players are into this month shows who they are – as subscriptions don’t skew the data. The top three are Wardogs (13%), Deadlock (12%), and CS2 (10%), so you’ve got the restless shooter crowd checking out the new hotness. A little further down are Helldivers 2 and Space Marine 2, your co-op PVE shooter players who’ll feel right at home in Horde mode. Game Pass is skewing the playtime distribution on Xbox Looking at the playtime distribution in our platform, E-Day players on Steam are – relatively speaking – playing for longer: 54% of E-Day players on Xbox have played for five hours or less (versus 32% on Steam) 19% of Xbox players played for over 15 hours (versus 33% on Steam) 14% of Xbox players played for over 20 hours (22% on Steam) The absolute number of people playing for over 15, 20, and 50 hours is, of course, bigger on Xbox, thanks to the sheer volume of folks who came in through Game Pass (upgraders included). None of that is cause for alarm. Game Pass is the reason Xbox playtime skews lower, as when a game is free to try, people try it and bounce without putting in even an hour (17% under an hour on Xbox versus 6% on Steam). Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe The subscription brings in tourists alongside the committed, dragging down the average even when the game is excellent (but also perhaps winning over the uninitiated). It’s standard across every subscription-included title, on PS Plus too. Forza Horizon 6, for instance, had 11% of its Xbox players bounce under an hour, versus just 2% on Steam. So, Xbox’s crossroads So there we have it. Gears of War: E-Day is an incredible game whose revenues have been stifled by subscription inclusion and exclusivity. It’s the best-reviewed entry in the series in fifteen-odd years, but it still turned into one of the year’s softer flagship launches, not because players didn’t want it, but because Xbox’s own storefront gave its most willing buyers a reason not to pay. Which leaves Xbox at a crossroads. Will it keep making Gears games when the financial returns are this thin and the margins this low? And if it does, does the next one arrive off Game Pass at day one – the way CoD now does, or even on PlayStation? I think it should. Alright, back to E-Day for me! The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
Fueling Performance: Kansas Checkoff Keeps Beef Front and Center in High School Sports
Targeting the next generation of beef consumers, the initiative reinforces beef’s role as the premier protein for athletic fueling and recovery.
Bills Week 4 Takeaways: Broken Mess or an Elite Team?
Bills Week 4 Takeaways: Overreactions and reality checks. Are the Bills broken, or are they an elite team? Is Buffalo a top team and a Super Bowl contender?
Mercy Health reminds public to prioritize health during busy fall and winter months
The fall and winter months get busy quickly with holidays, school activities and year end obligations. Mercy Health encourages the public to prioritize health with routine checkups and preventive care.
How are Giants fans feeling about the playoffs so far?
Since there is a break in the action today, let’s check in to see how Giants fans are feeling about the playoffs so far.
Here are 4 day trips to take from New Orleans this fall: Charming small towns, seasonal events, more
Want to get out of town for a bit? Here are some day trip ideas, plus a few fall festivities to catch while you’re checking out a new-to-you city.
Dell launches Nvidia RTX Spark laptop with 18-core CPU, 3.2K 120Hz OLED display and 99 Wh battery
Dell has launched its first XPS laptop powered by Nvidia’s RTX Spark platform. The XPS 16 combines an 18-core N1X chip, 5,120 GPU cores, 32 GB of unified memory and a 16-inch 3.2K Tandem OLED touchscreen.
New Britain Public Library to Host "Health to Treat Spooktacular" for Halloween
The New Britain Public Library, in partnership with Access Health CT, is set to host, ” Health to Treat – a Spooktacular Day of Health Resources & Community Care” on Halloween. The event promises free food alongside “free professional health screenings, services & more!”. Services available are to include blood pressure checks, cholesterol screenings, blood […]
Trump bucks and the politics of mailing checks
The checks started going out last week, nearly one million of them, and mostly to battleground states. With a return address for the U.S. Treasury and a letter enclosed signed by President Donald Trump, these one-time checks for $500 were ostensibly government rebates for Obamacare enrollees who overpaid. In the accompanying letter, however, Trump attacks his predecessor and talks about his record in office on an important issue he’s not polling well on, which makes it seem more like the most expensive political mailer in U.S. history. The average piece of direct mail costs between 30 cents and $3, according to Mail Processing Associates, a print, mail, and fulfillment company. At $500 a pop plus roughly 50 cents each to issue the paper check, the cost of Trump’s healthcare mailer sent to more than 950,000 enrollees comes in at more than $475 million. Trump’s midterm healthcare message “For years, the Biden Administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare dot gov,” Trump wrote in the letter. “That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now, I am returning it to you!” In the letter, Trump makes false and misleading claims about his administration’s record on healthcare costs, an issue Democrats have a 20 point advantage on over Republicans, according to a recent poll from KFF, a nonpartisan health policy think tank. Trump touts his administration’s TrumpRX program, which he claims is “delivering massive discounts.” However, new research from KFF found that of a selection of drugs available on the TrumpRX platform, just five were the lowest price, while 13 were the highest price. Trump also falsely claims in the letter that he’s fighting to lower healthcare costs. In reality, average monthly premium payment costs for enrollees rose 58% under Trump while marketplace sign-ups declined 5%, per KFF. Under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, it’s estimated 10 million more Americans will be uninsured by 2034. You get a check and you get a check and you get a check Trump’s long promised cash outs to his fans, from his days as a casino operator and gameshow host to his presidency. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the first Trump administration made the unprecedented move to put Trump’s name on checks that went out under the CARES Act (notably the $500 refund checks this time around don’t feature Trump’s name). Ever since, Trump’s been chasing that high. In his second term, Trump’s promised more stimulus that never arrived, like refund checks from DOGE cuts and tariffs, while he said at his party’s convention last month that he’d give out $5,000 checks to everyone if Republicans win in November. In reality, DOGE overstated its cost cutting and Trump’s government actually now spends more than former President Joe Biden’s, while Trump’s tariffs actually grew the trade deficit. His proposal for $5,000 checks would add about $1.2 trillion to the national debt. The problem is there’s no money to give. These $500 checks — plus $90 Medicare rebate checks also going out as well as $250 deposited this week in some Trump Accounts for kids courtesy Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell and his wife Susan — represent the closest Trump’s going to get to making good on his promise to deliver cash fast. And the checks seem especially targeted. Though the $500 checks went out to enrollees in one of 30 states that use the federal HealthCare dot gov marketplace, a Reuters review found 71% of the payments, or $339 million, went to enrollees in 13 states that have the most competitive elections for governor and U.S. Senate. Most Americans don’t buy it Could Trump bucks sway the election? An Economist-YouGov poll found 57% of U.S. adults doubt Trump will deliver on his promise for $5,000 checks, compared to 21% who do. “I’m waiting on my DOGE check and I’m still waiting on my tariff check,” one 2024 Trump voter who’s since turned on him told a recent focus group. “It felt like kind of trying to buy people’s votes, which honestly felt like in elementary when the class president was like, hey we’re going to take you to the water park if you vote for me. It’s like, I don’t think it works like that.” But for voters in swing states who got a check, it could still matter. One survey published in 2022 found receiving a physically personalized check in the mail during the pandemic was associated with a much greater self-reported likelihood of voting for Trump in 2020, and those gains mainly came from out partisans. The issue for Trump comes if these checks are mostly going to Obamacare enrollees whose premiums have gone up by more than just $500 since he took office and who view the money as something like a bribe before the election rather than an actual long-term solution to lowering household costs. Spending $500.50 per mailer would be absurd as a normal campaign expenditure, but since Trump’s checks and letter are a government rebate, his campaign and super PAC didn’t have to spend a dime and he got out his message regardless. If enough voters in key states are swayed by the one-time payment, it could prove to be the best $0 the Trump campaign spent. Subscribe [ ](https://www.yellopolitics.com/p/why-independent-candidates-are-making) [ Why independent candidates are making independence central to their brand ](https://www.yellopolitics.com/p/why-independent-candidates-are-making) Hunter Schwarz · Oct 6 [ Read full story ](https://www.yellopolitics.com/p/why-independent-candidates-are-making) [ ](https://www.yellopolitics.com/p/these-designers-and-grocery-nerds) [ These designers and grocery nerds will brand Mamdani’s NYC grocery stores ](https://www.yellopolitics.com/p/these-designers-and-grocery-nerds) Hunter Schwarz · Oct 2 [ Read full story ](https://www.yellopolitics.com/p/these-designers-and-grocery-nerds) Trump wants to turn his first-ever golf course into a government course for presidents
Fact-checking Ashley Hinson and Josh Turek in first Iowa US Senate debate
Iowa U.S. Senate candidates Republican Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek met for their first debate Oct. 7, sparring over immigration and healthcare — and scrutinizing each other’s personal and campaign finance sources.
Google is ending support for Pixel Watch’s emergency LTE ‘Safety Signal’
Google launched the Pixel Watch 2 with “Safety Signal” to ensure users could use Emergency SOS and Safety Check without...
NFLSU rookie check-in: Week 5 preview
The top LSU players from the class continue to play well
Health Check: Doctor discusses prostate cancer risk and screening for awareness month
Dr. David Mendoza, a surgical urologist, discussed prostate cancer risk factors and screening recommendations.
Health Check Prostate Cancer: Part 1
Dr. David Mendoza, a surgical urologist, discussed prostate cancer risk factors and screening recommendations.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered Patch Adds Bloom Toggles on Console and Larger Lighting Changes
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered just got a significant update to tweak the presentation of CD Projekt’s RPG epic. Check out the patch notes.
2026 Heisman Poll Week Five
Welcome to the 2026 Heisman Poll Week Five. Alabama's Keelon Russell has entered the poll after a big win over Mississippi State. The same game also saw poll favorite Kamario Taylor get injured. We are getting deeper into the season, and the stakes keep climbing. To see all the movement from last week, check out …
Self-service health check machine in Essex workplaces refers to GPs
London Stansted Airport says one employee's life has been saved by using the mobile sit-down unit.
The Herald's weekly entertainment picks
Looking to be entertained from Thursday, Oct. 8, through Wednesday, Oct. 14? Check out the Skagit Valley Herald’s weekly recommendations.
Who Won August and September: Original Films or Franchises?
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) I just heard someone say that if you’re reading a pundit or data analyst, and they don’t tell you that they got anything wrong, they’re not a pundit but an “influencer”. I agree with that. You have to tell your audience when you get things wrong, or they won’t (or shouldn’t) trust you as much. Today, we’ve got another edition of “What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong”. In general, I’m patting myself on the back (and patting very hard) about a few things like IP at the box office, LIV golf, horror films, crowdfunding movies, superheroes, and old people going to the theaters. That said, I also made a couple of data mistakes on the streaming bubble popping and HBO’s datecdotes, so I’m not perfect. But first, I need your feedback... Subscribe Follow-Ups: What Should We Call Mid-Budget Movies Which Aren’t Cinematic Enough for Theaters But Are Too Expensive to Make Money on Streaming? After I asked for feedback on what we should call straight-to-streaming films that are too big to pencil out on streaming but not really big enough to resonate in theaters, I got some great suggestions from you all, including... “Moldilocks” from John Aboud “Little Big Indie” from Travis Frick1 “Midflicks” from Jonathan Funke. “Extra-Medium” from Jona Nwuke. (Read the explanation in the footnote.) Between these and Brandon Katz—who suggested “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”—we’ve got some excellent suggestions. And they’re better than my suggestion, the “Streaming Budget Dead Zone”, so let’s take a poll! The winning entry becomes the new term. Loading... RIGHT: LIV Golf is Fully Bankrupt…Is Anyone Else Next? A few years ago, I was always a bit perplexed at all the articles I’d read praising LIV Golf and their strategy to disrupt the PGA. LIV Golf, a brand new professional golf league, offered PGA stars ten times what they made on the PGA Tour to join their new league. And folks praised this strategy for its initial “success” in that a lot of big names did indeed leave the PGA. Yeah, of course the players came over. LIV Golf paid them so, so, so much more! But LIV Golf hadn’t discovered a way to increase potential revenue. So think about this in basic business terms… They paid much more in costs… …but had no real way to increase revenue. That’s not a strategy! That’s deficit financing. It won’t work unless you bankrupt the competition (and then turn around and pay those same golfers much, much less). It’s not a sustainable strategy and only lasts as long as the company/person/nation backing it decides they’re cool with losing money. For LIV Golf, that meant Middle East oil wealth, in particular Saudi Arabian money. Clearly, the current Iran War has hurt Middle East finances, so they need to trim their more exorbitant spending. And LIV Golf was part of that trimming. This should be a major warning for others. TGL’s parent company, TMRW Sports, just got a $1 billion valuation, despite TGL’s (the indoor golf league) horrible TV viewership of less than half a million viewers per match. Unrivaled, the women’s basketball league, just secured a $650 valuation, despite its horrible TV viewership and a new rival (Project B) entering the scene next year. To relate this to streaming, Hollywood should ask which streamers may have wealthy patrons funding their losses. (Let’s be clear: Google, Amazon and Apple.) Could those patrons lose their appetite? For Amazon, probably not. But Apple has a new boss, so maybe! WRONG: My Analysis of the Streaming Bubble Was Missing a Week I’m going to be congratulating myself a lot today, but I make mistakes too, like this data goof. When I last compiled the data on the decline in TV shows, I was missing one week at the end of June. If you look at the first image, you can see that one week was mislabelled as “July”. Mainly, this image got updated to show a 27% decline, not 29%: This change doesn’t really impact the overall analysis, but it is two percent better. By the way, through the third quarter, the decline increased and it’s now a 30% decrease since 2022. (I’ll write/visualize this in an upcoming article.) But I want you to trust me and my data. Especially these days, when many people are using LLMs that I know are inserting faulty data into their charts, I want to keep earning my audience’s faith. So that’s the accurate data. RIGHT: IP Remains Very, Very Popular In July, I wrote a giant (and I mean giant) article on Backrooms, Obsession, and the box office, going over what we know, what we don’t know about what works in theaters, looking at YouTubers, IP, the horror genre, comic book movies, and a whole lot more. The month of August really tested a lot of my theses and, being honest, mostly supported my arguments. Let’s start with IP. Looking at 8-Aug (the weekend after Spider-Man: Brand New Day came out) to 18-Sep (the weekend that Resident Evil came out, which I think provides a nice bookend to this time period), there were seven films based on pre-existing IP: Resident Evil (2026) ($126 million) Practical Magic 2 ($65 million) _Insidious: Out of the Furthe_r ($65 million) Coyote Vs. Acme ($59 million) Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie ($53 million) Tony ($15 million) Super Troopers 3 ($7 million) Compare those to the notable original films from the past month—I actually could have included more movies, but here are just thirteen, bringing us to an even twenty films—including.... The End of Oak Street ($54 million) Buddy ($26 million) Mutiny ($15 million) By Any Means ($15 million) The Dog Stars ($14 million) Runner ($14 million) One Night Only ($11 million) Hope ($8 million) Spa Weekend ($7 million) The Uprising ($6 million) Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma ($6 million) Onslaught ($3 million) Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man ($2.8 million) Here’s that in chart form: Five of the top six films in this time period were all based on IP. I made a big chart of films that grossed over $200 million at the box office before Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey hit theaters. Let’s update that chart! By the way, if you want to see how I categorized each film—so another bar chart—here it is: I know that many of my fellow critics/pundits/analysts dislike films based on IP and how Hollywood is making so many of them. And I’m sympathetic to this point of view. As I’ve written many, many times before, you need a balance between existing franchises, new IP, and original films. And Hollywood clearly needs to make more films like Resident Evil (a well-made film from a visionary director) and fewer Practical Magic 2’s (which didn’t get critical or customer buzz). But at some point, critics and pundits need to contend with what audiences are telling them: Movie-goers aren’t showing up to original films. Audiences are speaking with their dollars, telling you they want more IP and franchises. You can try to convince studio heads to make fewer IP-based films and franchises, but the data and numbers aren’t there. Instead, critics need to work harder to convince audiences to show up for original films. Aim your ire/concern at the average person, not studio heads.2 Because they’re just making the films that audiences are telling them to make. WRONG: Original Horror Films Didn’t Break Out I’ll be honest, even though I wrote an article casting some skepticism on the horror genre in July, if you asked me to make a prediction, I would have predicted that, in August, a new, original horror film would have blown up. No, seriously, I just assumed that Obsession and Backrooms presaged a change in audience behavior. But none of the buzzy new original horror films from August—Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Onslaught (not an action film in spite of the ads), The End of Oak Street, Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man, or _Buddy—_broke out. To be clear, exactly one of those films (Buddy) had good “ROI”, but again—I try to be specific in my language—none were “popular” in any broad sense of the word. None of them will be “saving” movies theaters like Backrooms or _Obsession_helped save the summer. The new Insidious film and Resident Evil, both based on IP, were far and away the biggest horror films since July. (We’ll see if this changes in October/Halloween season.) RIGHT: Stay Skeptical about Crowdfunding... I’ve long been skeptical about crowd-investing platforms as one of Hollywood’s saviors, mainly because there’s so much hype/buzz. People need to stay more skeptical about more things, explaining both the potential upside but also the downsides. In particular, the media often hypes crowdfunding at the start and never checks in on the actual results after they’ve come in later. And August gave us our first update! _Ice Cream Man—_directed by Eli Roth—grossed $6 million off of a $5.5 million budget. This is a production of The Horror Section, which was one of the first “crowd investing” studios with 2,400 investors, which means that 2,400 investors probably lost money. They certainly aren’t getting as great of returns as if they had just invested their dollars in the stock market. Hopefully Stiletto (Tagline: “Someone’s Going to Make it Rain Blood!”) does better next month. WRONG: Another Data Goof Here’s another data error. When the first episode of House of the Dragon came out, HBO put out that it had 21.5 million viewers in the first three days, and I read that to mean in the US…but no, it was global. So my US-only datecdotes charts shouldn’t have included it. We never got US-only numbers for the first episode, but for the final episode, HBO put out that it had 11 million US viewers. (And that global dropped to 21 million viewers.) Here’s the updated chart (which I’ve since used in the Streaming Ratings Report): Still, this show is absolutely huge. RIGHT: Superhero Films Remain Very, Very Popular After Supergirl flopped, I read a few takes that “comic book movies are going the way of the Western”. Post-Spider-Man: Brand New Day, that take didn’t age well. To be fair, I have a very nuanced take on the superhero genre right now; it’s down right now, for a lot of reasons. But it’s not “dead”. Maybe _Spider-_Man is just a really popular character? I saw that take, and it’s a fair counter-argument. (But pundits arguing that superhero movies were dead should have mentioned this $1.5 billion counter-argument…) But is it just Spider-Man? The next Avengers film already has $50 million in pre-sales (and I was skeptical that that film would do well) and the Avengers: End Game re-release topped the box office two weekends ago (over three original films). And I wouldn’t bet against Batman or Superman. So maybe it’s just Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and the Avengers. Oh, and Deadpool, of course. And Black Panther. And Wolverine. And probably the X-Men. Plus a well-made Wonder Woman or the Hulk film could break out. But that’s it! It’s just those ten characters/teams. Oh, what’s that? Lanterns is also doing well on HBO? (See previous section…) To be fair, I’m actually pretty sympathetic to the argument that more popular characters—like Spider-Man and Batman—anchor more popular films. In fact, I made that exact argument three years ago when I first wrote about the “Marvel-cession”. In many ways, you can blame The Guardians of the Galaxy for fooling Marvel Studios (and the rest of us) into believing that any character could pop. It turns out, the list of iconic characters is probably smaller than most people think. But it’s probably too early to say that superhero films and comic book movies are dead unless “death” means a slight decline over a longtime. RIGHT: Who Killed Theaters? Old People I get frustrated whenever I see headlines or analysis about how young people are “returning” to theaters. As I’ve detailed(for years), young people have always powered the US box office, despite narratives about “kids these days” and their “phones”. Really, what’s changed post-2020/pandemic is that old people aren’t going to the movies nearly as much. This summer, I saw a movie (from an older director) in a theater near a retirement community, and multiple older people at the theater were talking about how this was their first time seeing a movie in years. I dislike personal anecdotes, so YouGov can fill in the data, best summarized by this headline: “Who killed movie theaters? Not the youths”. According to them, 64% of people aged 18-29 have seen a movie in the last year, but only 30% of 65-and-older. 20% of 18-29 have seen a movie in theaters in the last week and 42% in the last month. Here’s the polling data: Most concerning? Many Americans (17%) think theaters are a worse or much worse experience than watching films at home. Slight WRONG: Hadestown Opens Big A live theater capture of the Broadway musical, Hadestown, made $20 million at the US box office, which begs the question: was I wrong to be skeptical about musicals a few years ago? Yes and no. On the one hand, $20 million is a far cry from being “popular”, so yeah, the genre isn’t that popular overall and Hadestown is one of the more popular musicals from recent years (i.e. the “Taylor Swift Data Fallacy” in action). On the other, I doubt filming this cost all that much, and I don’t think that they spent much on marketing, so this is a good source of ancillary revenue. Smaller Updates WRONG: As I mentioned in a Streaming Ratings Report, I underestimated the budget for Enola Holmes 3. It probably cost more like $50 million, if not more. But... I’m not sure that it really matters? At sub-10 million hours, prices have to come down to make this work. WRONG: Netflix is giving Ink a 27-day in theaters! To quote the kids/YouTubers these days, let’s go! Now I might actually have a chance to see Danny Boyle’s latest in theaters. I’d complained about this in a “Coming Soon” section, but I was heartened to read that Netflix is giving multiple films longer theatrical windows this year. RIGHT: Netflix is sending 4-5 films per year to theaters. Netflix is slowly but surely sending more and more films to theaters, as I cautiously predicted earlier this year. For now, it’s just three big films and a number of awards contenders, but still, this is great news. And they’ll be releasing box office grosses! Just this week, Ted Sarandos confirmed that KPop Demon Hunters 2 will come to theaters (and my guess is it performs in the box office top ten at a minimum). WRONG: Angel has 3 million subscribers! How do I know this? Well, they told Deadline, who reported it. I marked this as “wrong”, since they’ve doubled their subscribers in one year but, you know, they don’t really have a hit film to speak of and they’re still losing money. WRONG: Furious was only renewed for one more season. I accidentally wrote “two more seasons” in my latest “Renewals, Cancellations, Un-Orders and Removals Update”. RIGHT: House of David is ending with its third season. In July, Prime Video renewed House of David for a third season, as I just wrote in my latest “Renewals and Cancellations” report. Well, now it’s ending after that third season. Why? As I’ve been writing, its viewership wasn’t great. I got feedback that this show didn’t cost very much, but it cost enough that its limited viewership didn’t save it. WRONG: Adults was a Hulu original! So I missed Adults when it first came out last year; I saw that it aired on FX and just assumed that it was a linear-first program. Turns out, it aired three episodes on FX, but binge-released the rest of its episodes the next day on Hulu. Huh. So I should have covered it last year! But I just wrote about it. 1 “When I was a kid in the 90s, if you wore a t-shirt to school that wasn’t too big and also wasn’t too small, but somehow didn’t quite fit, we’d say you were wearing an “extra-medium” shirt.” 2 As always, a huge exception is Disney, which barely makes anything original anymore.
Thieves break into Mountain Feed and Nursery in Coarsegold, steal business checks
A second-generation, family-owned business in Madera County is warning the public not to accept its checks after a break-in that left its office ransacked.Mount
What Amazon's profiles got right and wrong about us
Amazon's "About You" shows customers what it infers from their shopping activity. We asked Business Insider staff to check theirs.
Analysis: Voters are angry about money in politics. But are they angry enough to oust popular Republicans?
Journalists Kevin Woster and Seth Tupper check in on the campaigns and measure the effects of big money in state politics. They also explore the confusion of Amendment I.
Everything announced at Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra event
Check out our coverage of the show.
Arizona Cardinals release Week 5 depth chart following roster moves
The Cardinals have a new depth chart for Week 5 as they get ready to face the Lions. Check it out.
She got Trump's $500 check for health insurance. To her, it's a 'political stunt'
As checks from President Trump for health costs hit millions of mailboxes, a poll shows Americans don't trust Republicans on healthcare. Experts doubt it will move the needle and say it is likely illegal.
She got Trump's $500 check for health insurance. To her, it's a 'political stunt'
As checks from President Trump for health costs hit millions of mailboxes, a poll shows Americans don't trust Republicans on healthcare. Experts doubt it will move the needle and say it is likely illegal.
She got Trump's $500 check for health insurance. To her, it's a 'political stunt'
As checks from President Trump for health costs hit millions of mailboxes, a poll shows Americans don't trust Republicans on healthcare. Experts doubt it will move the needle and say it is likely illegal.
Still on Windows 11 24H2? You have one week to upgrade
Windows 11 24H2 support ends October 13th, 2026. Here's how to check your version and upgrade to 25H2 or 26H2 before the deadline.
Another ‘blank check’ program passes at King County
It's a rather tiny amount — just $10 million per year for three years. But it comes after a series of blunders and mismanagement in social services funding.
Small Business Administration head visits Howell defense contractor
The administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration, Kelly Loeffler, was in Livingston County Tuesday to check out a government contractor. As Russ McNamara reports, the stop was well-received.
Nvidia RTX Spark for $2,999.99: HP leak reveals RTX Spark laptop pricing ahead of launch
HP is gearing up to launch its new OmniBook Ultra 16 and OmniBook X 14 laptops with Nvidia's new RTX Spark super chip. Ahead of launch, the two models have briefly appeared on the company's US store, revealing a higher starting price than anticipated.
8 Halloween parades to check out in Lancaster County in 2026
From Columbia to Ephrata, there are more than a half dozen ways to watch Halloween parades and maybe get some candy along the way, too.
7 Halloween parades to check out in Lancaster County in 2026
From Columbia to Ephrata, there are more than a half dozen ways to watch Halloween parades and maybe get some candy along the way, too.
Nevada 2026 election: Your guide to voting in Clark County
Clark County voters can register, vote early Oct. 17-30, vote on Nov. 3 or return a mail ballot. Here’s how to check registration, find polling sites and track your ballot.