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Takeaways from Microsoft exec speaking at Marquette Business Leaders Forum event
Kathleen Hogan, the chief strategy and transformation officer for Microsoft, was the featured speaker at the Marquette University College of Business
How Trump’s AI-Generated Memes Impact Political Authority and Masculinity
A new article by sociologists Tristan Bridges (University of California-Santa Barbara) and James W. Messerschmidt (University of Southern Maine) examines how AI–generated memes circulated on social media by President Donald Trump represent a significant transformation in the visual politics of masculinity
Statewide high school computer science course encourages discussions…
One might think a curriculum designed to teach high school freshmen and sophomores computer science would avoid discussions of diversity, race, equity and…
UN Decade of Healthy Ageing midpoint report finds progress, calls for greater investment
New evidence in the Secretary-General's report to the 81st UN General Assembly, prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in coordination with the UN system, finds more countries acting on healthy ageing than ever before – but longer lives will not become healthy, dignified ones without faster, more sustained investment at country level.(NEW YORK, 28 September 2026) The Secretary-General transmitted to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly the mid-term progress report on the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030), marking the midpoint of the ten-year global effort to improve the lives of older people. The report was prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in coordination with the UN Inter-Agency Group on Ageing and with inputs from thirteen UN entities, the World Bank Group and civil society partners. It finds real progress in countries – and persistent gaps that must close before 2030.The number of people aged 60 and over passed 1 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach 2.1 billion by 2050, with the fastest growth in low- and middle-income countries. Longer lives are not automatically healthy ones: globally, the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at age 60 widened between 2000 and 2023, and an estimated 71% of excess deaths from COVID-19 between 2020 and 2023 were among people aged 60 and over. “Longer lives are one of humanity’s great achievements, but we cannot congratulate ourselves while leaving millions without health and support,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, Director, Department of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, WHO. “The first half of the Decade has shown what is possible. The second half must be about scaling and financing the progress to meet the needs and rights of older persons.”Real progress, unevenly sharedThe report finds that more countries than ever now have legislation against age-based discrimination – up from 44.5% in 2018 to 57.7% today – and over half now have national long-term care policies, up from 49% in 2023 to 56.7%, dedicated programmes to build age-friendly environments (54.6%), and comprehensive health and social assessments of older people (54.6%). New WHO guidance on services for long-term care and for Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) delivered in communities is enabling systemic change as an increasing number of countries incorporate these services within national universal health care benefit packages. A host of UN agencies and other partners support training, increasing health workforce competencies and use of digital health tools.“This report shows the Decade of Healthy Ageing is working,” said Dr Ritu Sadana, Head of the WHO Secretariat for the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing. “More countries are legislating against ageism, providing integrated care, strengthening long-term care systems, and creating age-friendly environments than ever before, in all regions and income levels. But progress is uneven and in one area, regressive: fewer countries report active multi-stakeholder forums on ageing, down from 53.1% in 2020 to 43.3% today. The second half of this Decade must turn commitments into results, in every country.”The financing gap: this Decade's binding constraintFinancing remains the binding constraint: more than a third of reporting countries (33.8%) have very little or no dedicated resources to develop long-term care, with similar shortfalls across the Decade’s other priority areas. Less than half of countries (45.4%) have legislation providing access to assistive devices (including hearing aids, spectacles or rollators), which are key to enabling older people to maintain productive, independent and dignified lives. Only 22.7% of countries can track older people’s health over time – the largest gap across the Decade’s core progress indicators. Nationally representative information is needed in each country, as policies and interventions cannot be designed as if all older adults of a given age share similar needs and capacities. The report calls for sustained investment through national budgets, country-owned plans, development cooperation and innovative financing mechanisms to fully close these gaps by 2030.“The Decade was designed as a whole-of-UN effort, and this report shows it in action,” said Amal Abou Rafeh, Chief of the Programme on Ageing Section at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), and Permanent Co-Chair of the UN Inter-Agency Group on Ageing. “Thirteen UN entities, the World Bank group and civil society organizations contributed to this report, with WHO as the lead technical and implementing agency. That is the model of coordination the second half of the Decade will need to scale, with countries leading legislation, funding and implementation, engaging older people.”“Investing in healthy ageing is not simply a cost; it is one of the highest-return investments a government can make,” said Fiona Stewart, Global Lead for Ageing and Pensions at the World Bank Group. “Countries that invest early in integrated and long-term care see savings that outweigh the upfront cost many times over. The evidence in this report makes the economic case; what is now needed is predictable financing at country level to act on it, along with efforts to support older entrepreneurs and the silver economy.”Older people's own voicesThe report also draws on the direct experience of older people themselves, including a multilingual global survey conducted by the International Federation on Ageing that reached more than 1000 older people across 58 countries. WHO and UN partners called on Member States to use the second half of the Decade to accelerate implementation, strengthen data systems, and secure the financing needed so that the gains of longer lives reach older people everywhere. About the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030)Proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 2020, the Decade is a global collaboration bringing together governments, UN agencies, civil society, the private sector, academia and older people themselves to improve the lives of older people, their families and communities. It is coordinated by the World Health Organization together with the UN Inter-Agency Group on Ageing. The Decade's mid-term progress report was transmitted to the General Assembly by the Secretary-General, prepared by WHO, and is available in 6 languages.Full Report available: A/81/366 Implementation of the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030): Note by Secretary-General [ العربية | 中文 | English | Français | Pусский | Español
Morrisey announces more than $8 million in Rural Health Transformation grants for WV
The state will allocate $1.1 million of its federal Rural Health Transformation program funds to Community Care of West Virginia.
Jaunt celebrates 50-years of business
Public transportation company Jaunt is celebrating 50-years of business.
Dallas of the future - The 10-year plan to transform downtown with apartments and entertainment
PAHO and MSD for Mothers sign agreement to reduce preventable maternal deaths in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic
Two-year initiative will support countries to reduce maternal mortality, prevent unintended repeat adolescent pregnancies, and strengthen efforts to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and other infectionsWashington, D.C., 30 September 2026 (PAHO) — The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and MSD for Mothers have signed an agreement to help reduce preventable maternal deaths in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic by strengthening adolescent health and improving maternal health services.
Vanderbilt Clarksville transitions to new health record system
Nashville News, Weather, and Sports
State leaders tout Oklahoma's Rural Health Transformation Program
Gov. Kevin Stitt was joined by State Health Commissioner Keith Reed at Southwestern University in Weatherford to announce the latest update on Oklahoma’s Rural Health Transformation Program.
EPA’s Chemical Science Aims to Speed Reviews, Limit Animal Tests
Scientists transferred into the EPA’s chemicals office are working on new methods of assessing chemicals and pesticides to help the agency reduce the backlog of substance assessments it’s charged with doing.
Where Michigan is spending $173M to transform rural health
Michigan is doling out the first in a pool of federal funds meant to innovate and strengthen rural healthcare systems.
Protecting Your Clients and Your Business From Fraud
Essential real estate fraud prevention tips for agents: verify, detect, and report to protect clients and transactions.
Transformative new robot that can fly, sail, and swim autonomously
ALBATROSS plays fast and loose with nature’s rules.
UPMC completes acquisition of Ohio-based Trinity Health System
UPMC has officially expanded its footprint into Ohio. The Pittsburgh-based hospital system and insurer announced Wednesday that it had completed its acquisition of Trinity Health System from Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health. Trinity’s facilities will transfer to UPMC on Thursday. They include Trinity East and West campuses — both in Steubenville —
County health departments could see cuts as Iowa HHS shifts to regionalized model
Iowa HHS plans to transition the state’s public health system into a regional model by 2028. The move will shift the oversight of funds for each county to a lead entity in each region. Public health officials are warning the new system will leave gaps in services for residents.
Dairy farmers look to nutrition tools to improve efficiency, health
Zinpro Corporation discovery researcher Daryl Kleinschmit says he’s visiting with dairy farmers about improving efficiency during World Dairy Expo this week. “Improve transition health, reduce lameness, improve reproduction. So I think it’s the same topics every year, maybe a little different spin. But every year people come with a lot of the same questions, depending […]
Chelsea Make Estevao Willian Transfer Decision Amid Barcelona Interest
Barcelona are reportedly monitoring Estevao's situation at Chelsea, amid uncertainty over the winger's role under Alonso.
Ken Griffin’s $3B Carnegie Mellon plan turbocharges Miami transformation
Since leaving Chicago in 2022, Griffin has taken dramatic steps to make his presence felt in Miami.
Virginia Tech leads multimillion-dollar project for women's health
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded a Virginia Tech–led research project to better understand and predict women’s health outcomes by investigating how hormones shape the structure and function of vaginal tissue across the lifespan. The award for up to $9.26 million is part of a growing initiative by the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health.
Federal Cannabis Rescheduling Update Leads CBT’s Top Stories in September
Former federal prosecutor and CBT contributor Julie A. Werner-Simon breaks down where we are months after the U.S. Attorney General’s April order.
Book review: The shadow politics of US-Africa relations
Can Africa build a mutually beneficial relationship with the US that reshapes decades of transactional security relationships?
Seedy K’s Peerless Pigskin Prognostications: Week V
Back in the day, when more pliable and adventurous, I probably would have ventured into the middle of that crush at B & B, if only to hear Red Clay Strays. But I have more awareness in my dotage of personal space and transmittable afflictions, music junkie that I remain. But, believe me, Brandon Coleman, […]
Tigers Finish With Second Most Blown Saves in MLB
Despite a potent run differential, Detroit’s postseason dreams withered as a volatile bullpen and league-high individual struggles transformed late-inning leads into a historic collection of heartbreaking losses.
NOAA report highlights how research drives innovation and real-world impact
NOAA’s newly released Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Annual Transition Report showcases how research and development across NOAA shifted to operational uses that benefit Americans in FY25.
Oklahoma officials cite early milestones in first year of Rural Health Transformation Prog
State and health leaders say they are making progress as they work to improve rural health in Oklahoma.In the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Prog
Tottenham, Brighton and Everton monitoring Eintracht Frankfurt and Germany forward
Eintracht Frankfurt forward Younes Ebnoutalib has reportedly emerged as a transfer target for three Premier League clubs.According to a report from TEAMtalk, Tottenham, Brighton & Hove Albion and Ever...
Alaska Airlines is moving to join American's transatlantic and transpacific revenue-sharing deals
The carriers plan to file for antitrust immunity with the U.S. Department of Transportation, with approval expected to take months
What Does Anthropic’s Wet Lab Mean for Pharma?
Anthropic has established a wet lab in the San Francisco East Bay. In this article, experts explore what this means for scientific oversight, data ownership, and AI’s potential to transform drug discovery and rare disease research.
What happens to the body in the first hour after death? Science reveals a surprising sequence of changes
Death can look like a single moment: the heart stops, breathing ends and the person is declared dead. At the level of individual organs, tissues and cells, however, the transition is not synchronized....
Travel plans? Here's what to know as measles exposures reach trains and games
Measles is traveling, with outbreaks in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York, and exposures on transportation and in sports. What should you know before getting on a plane or train?
Conference League 'very winnable'
Brighton owner Tony Bloom says he is looking forward to seeing what the Seagulls can achieve after results he described as the "best in the history of the football club". In a rare interview, Bloom told BBC South East victory over Manchester United in the Carabao Cup, a 3-0 win over Premier League champions Arsenal and beating Coventry City 5-0 had boosted confidence at the club. Bloom helped transform Brighton's fortunes after he became majority shareholder in 2009, when the team were struggling in the third tier of English football and playing at a temporary ground.
Nearly half of Americans favor candidates who support trans sports bans
As more candidates campaign on restricting trans athletes, The 19th and YouGov asked whether that makes a difference to voters.
Tottenham Hotspur vs. the transfer market: Part 1
Summer was fun at least, right?
Bournemouth to resist interest in Scott until the summer
Bournemouth are not willing to entertain offers for midfielder Alex Scott during the January transfer window.
Trump can't stop America's shift to clean energy. And we can accelerate it.
The cost of clean energy just keeps falling as the price of coal ramps up. Politicians promising affordability will follow those savings no matter who is in the White House. And in the meantime, there are ways to speed up the transition.
When “DEI” research is cut, what happens to community health?
“I’m just going to run to the grocery store!” How many times have we said this without thinking about it? For most of us, it's usually an easy walk or a short drive to get the cheese we forgot. In reality, though, 13% of the U.S. population (about 39 million people) live in “food deserts,” which means living more than a mile from a grocery store in urban areas and more than 10 miles in rural areas. This was the case for people in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, where a quick run to buy food wasn’t an option. In the 1930s, federal maps marked the Hill as "hazardous" for lending, a practice known as redlining that steered investment away from Black neighborhoods. Decades of disinvestment followed, and residents went about 30 years without a nearby grocery store. This made it hard to keep healthy eating habits and contributed to chronic disease. When a grocery store finally opened in the area in 2013, researchers saw the opportunity and launched the PHRESH study, which initially compared the health of participants from the Hill district to those in the Homewood district. Over time, the study expanded to other factors such as brain health and Alzheimer's risk. Residents like Roderick Blair overcame initial hesitation to share their health data, trusting it would benefit their neighborhood. Then, in August 2026, the NIH abruptly canceled the study’s grant, citing that it was “subjective” and fell outside their scientific scope—an effect of the administration’s interpretation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Research like PHRESH can help determine what changes in a neighborhood actually improve health, so cutting it has left that question unanswered. Other canceled studies have examined health issues like maternal health, preterm birth rates, or sickle cell disease. Courts have reversed some of these grant cancellations, but not all of them. If we really want America to be healthier, research into why some communities get sicker than others is absolutely critical. The law that created the federal minority health research institute passed with bipartisan support in 2000. But these days, as evidenced by grant cancellations, the political shift in attitudes toward DEI means we often lose access to the health information we need to help all communities thrive. DEI vs. health equity vs. equality and the overlap (or lack thereof) The letters “DEI” evoke very different reactions depending on who you are in the U.S. DEI programs can address gender, disability, age, and other factors, but the fiercest debate centers on race. For some people, hearing DEI brings to mind policies that may have cost them a job or a college seat because they are white. Others see DEI as a matter of justice: a way to expand representation and opportunity for groups that have been historically marginalized. Both perspectives are rooted in lived experience, and both center on the same question: whether hiring and admissions practices are fair. Hiring and admission practices, though related, are not the same as health equity. Health equity is “the attainment of the highest level of health for all people.” It’s the recognition that some groups of people consistently experience worse health outcomes than others. For instance, black mothers die from pregnancy-related complications at three times the rate of white mothers, and rural Americans are more likely to die from issues such as heart disease and cancer. Equity is also often conflated with “equality,” which leads to misunderstanding of how to actually best support communities. Equality ignores the fact that we aren’t all starting life with the same resources or circumstances, whereas equity is about helping people get what they specifically need based on their situation so they have the chance to achieve the same outcome as anyone else. For example, if every household in Pittsburgh got a $30 grocery gift card, that would be equal. But during the decades the Hill District went without a grocery store, that card wouldn’t have helped much. Equity means making sure everyone can actually access a store in the first place. DEI policies can overlap with health equity in many ways. For example, they may help expand access to quality education and stable, well-paying jobs, which in turn can provide health insurance, safer housing, and improved finances—all of which can reduce health disparities. But to make that happen, we first need data to identify disparities in communities and to develop solutions that effectively address them. What we lose when the research stops Community data is important to health equity because: You can’t fix what you don’t see: Data show which communities are most affected by health factors such as infection, heart disease, and cancer. If we don’t know what is happening and where, then we can’t develop interventions to help. Poor health costs everyone: Chronic disease is expensive—both to the individual person and to the overall economy. Understanding what groups of people are most at risk allows us to develop interventions that can save everyone money. Disparities exist for many communities: Health equity includes disparities that exist due to a whole host of factors, such as family background, race and ethnicity, rural vs. suburban residence, gender and sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, and lower income. This means many Americans can benefit from research into differences in health outcomes and how to improve them. Trust is easy to lose: Some participants in the PHRESH study were initially vocal about their concerns about participating. But that trust was earned because the researchers kept their promises and centered their work on the community. When projects are canceled mid-cycle, researchers have no choice but to leave behind communities they had promised to help. This hurts trust in the long run. It’s also a very inefficient use of resources, and it will take significant time and effort to redo the work when the government realizes this work is important again. How should we talk about health equity? This is hard because the words “equity” and “DEI” are currently very politically charged. So whether you’re a public health professional, teacher, or friend, how we talk about this topic matters. The right framing can help people who might otherwise be skeptical see why health equity research is important and deserves funding. Here are some suggestions to help your conversations: Choose your words strategically: Who are you trying to reach with your message? Are they likely to be resistant to terms like “diversity” and “equity”? If so, find alternative words to use to still get the message across. It is frustrating to be in that position, but the goal of improving health is too important not to try to make inroads. Sometimes simply reframing can help the message reach those who need to hear it. Focus on the problem: The terms “health equity” and “DEI” are abstract. Make it more specific. For example, discuss differences in maternal death or ways to improve health outcomes in rural communities. These still have equity at their core but will likely be better understood by those you’re talking with. Focus on systems: Disparities exist, but if they are communicated poorly, people can mistakenly think the issue is the individual’s fault. Disparities are largely driven by failures of the system—such as lack of access to health care and a long legacy of racism. When discussing the disparities, frame them around these systemic issues to ensure blame isn’t placed on the individuals impacted. Tell stories: Personalize these policies by using stories from those impacted that connect to the data you’re trying to convey. This helps make the policies and outcomes more concrete and meaningful. Bottom line Some communities end up sicker than others. That’s just the facts. We can argue about the best way to do that research, but canceling it simply because it may be linked to DEI doesn’t make anyone healthier. It just leaves communities like the Hill district behind. And in the end, it causes us all to move backward in our efforts to improve health in this country. Love, EM Big thanks to MacKenzie Isaac & Legairre Radden, who reviewed this piece and generously shared their expertise and lived experience to help improve it. Dr. Liz Marnik, PhD, is Executive Director of The Evidence Collective and a science communicator and immunologist working at the intersection of public trust, science, and public health. To discuss communication training on topics like health equity and storytelling, email Liz at liz@yle.health or learn more on our website. Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) comprises a team of experts, ranging from physicians to immunologists to epidemiologists to nutritionists, working together with one goal: to “translate” ever-evolving public health science so that people are well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. The YLE suite of newsletters reaches over 475,000 people across more than 132 countries. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below: Your Local Epidemiologist is a reader-supported publication. 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NAD IV therapy promises more energy. But it could come at a cost
Sometimes, even an essential nutrient can be repackaged to seem more transformative than the science suggests. NAD IV therapy is a prime example.
$500M Gift Will Fuel Next Era of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon
A landmark $500 million gift will transform Carnegie Mellon University’s top-ranked School of Computer Science into a global powerhouse shaping students, research and technologies to address emerging global challenges.
Governor, health commissioner tout Oklahoma's Rural Hospital Transformation Program
Gov. Kevin Stitt was joined by State Health Commissioner Keith Reed at Southwestern University in Weatherford to announce the latest update on Oklahoma’s Rural Hospital Transformation Program.
What's behind HHS claims that gender-affirming care 'may' radicalize
The report is the agency's latest effort to chip away at trust in established health care models for transgender people. Critics say it frames transgender identity as illegitimate or even dangerous.
Arkestro Co-Founder and Procurement Expert Edmund Zagorin Launches Latest Book, The Predictive Enterprise: How Superhuman Supply Chains Transform Global Business
/PRNewswire/ -- Edmund Zagorin, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Arkestro, today announced the launch of his new book, The Predictive Enterprise: How...
HRBT expansion enters final phase
The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion in Virginia is entering its final phase, aiming to increase capacity and improve travel by 2027.
Protesters push Drexel to accept funding to keep museum at Academy of Natural Sciences open
Paolo Banchero is Set to Lead With Vengeance
Fueled by a bitter playoff exit, Orlando’s cornerstone demands collective urgency and peak efficiency to transform the Magic from first-round mainstays into legitimate Eastern Conference powerhouses.
Beijing warns of retaliation if Europe imposes curbs on Chinese businesses
China must "respond firmly" if the EU introduces restrictions on Chinese businesses or products, the Commerce Ministry said, according to a CNBC translation.
6 years later, the office is making a comeback
Six years after COVID-19 transformed the way Americans work, the pendulum is swinging back toward the office. The pandemic forced companies to send employees home almost overnight, transforming remote work
Angels Face Decision On Upcoming Free Agents
Fresh off a historic 100-loss season, new ownership must decide if veteran stalwarts or rising youth will lead the Halos’ roster overhaul during a pivotal winter transition.
Over 640 workers to be laid off in Wayne County
Workers in Livonia and Plymouth face layoffs this fall as Trinity Health and Niagara Bottling cut jobs.
Ardent Health transfers full ownership of St. Francis Campus to KU Health System
Ardent Health announced that it will be stepping down from its role at the University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus in Topeka.
The University of Kansas Health System and Ardent Health Announce Plans to Transition Ownership of St. Francis Campus
The University of Kansas Health System and Ardent Health (NYSE: ARDT) announced the signing of a definitive agreement today for The University of Kansas Heal...
American Airlines and Alaska Airlines announce plans for Alaska to join the Atlantic and Pacific Joint Businesses
The carriers anticipate filing for approval and antitrust immunity with the U.S. Department of Transportation and seeking other relevant approvals from international regulators in the coming months.
Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital getting multimillion-dollar health record system upgrade
Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital is transitioning to Epic, a new electronic health record system designed to enhance the coordination of care and improve efficiency.
10 Washingtonians weigh in on initiative to ban trans girls from girls' sports
KUOW asks 10 Washingtonians what they think about the initiative to ban trans girls from girls' sports
Innovative country experiences show how primary health care can accelerate health system transformation in the Americas
Barbados, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and Guyana shared experiences on strengthening Primary Health Care through targeted actions in health workforce, services organization and system’s planning during the 63rd PAHO Directing Council.Washington, D.C., 29 September, 2026 (PAHO) – Innovative approaches to transform health systems based on primary health care (PHC) were highlighted today during a briefing session at the 63rd Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Valley West Mall sold; site plan to be finalized
Brian Martin likes to do “impactful” developments that will help transform the communities where he works. That’s why the president and CEO of Threshold Capital and Threshold Development decided to invest in the redevelopment of Valley West Mall. The $11 million deal closed on Monday, and as the new owner, he is ready to begin…
Elevance Health rolls out new site-of-care billing policies
Elevance Health is rolling out new billing policies that aim to ensure services are paid for at the appropriate level and drive greater transparency into where patients receive care. | Elevance Health is rolling out new billing policies that aim to ensure services are paid for at the appropriate level and drive greater transparency into where patients receive care.
Operational Drift is Risky Business for Power Generators
Power generation operators are navigating a major workforce transition at the same time operations and maintenance (O&M) work is becoming more
Heartland Whole Health Launches 'Blueprint for Rural Healthcare Transformation'
Bentonville's Heartland Whole Health Institute has launched Heartland Whole Health Connect, which it calls a pioneering initiative designed
Mario Hezonja Explains Dramatic Body Transformation Before Cavaliers Return
Mario Hezonja says he has grown from a 190-pound rookie into a 260-pound forward, giving the Cavaliers more versatility in his NBA return.
Fitchburg, Wisconsin, fire fighters secure staffing gains and mental health benefit after contract fight
After a lengthy contract fight, fire fighters in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, secured two additional full-time fire fighters and a new mental health benefit, with
Rural healthcare providers in Colorado get boost from federal government
How Conway became the ‘City of Halloween’
The City of Conway transforms into the City of Halloween for the entire month of October. Here is where the idea came from and how it came to become a national attraction.
McDonald’s is using AI to help price your Big Mac
A McDonald’s “pricing engine” analyzes millions of transactions and estimates what customers are willing to pay, Reuters reports.
Virginia Tech leads multimillion-dollar project for women's health
A team of researchers from across the country will investigate the connection between hormones and vaginal tissue health in a project funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Michigan got $173M to transform rural health. Where is it going?
Some rural healthcare leaders say the first round of funds allocated from the Rural Health Transformation Program don’t go far enough to stabilize their industry amid federal cuts.
Nominate a leader for the 2027 CNBC Changemakers list of women transforming business
CNBC is now accepting nominations for our fourth annual Changemakers list. Julia Boorstin reports.
Sage’s Financial Symphony: Unveiling Business’ Hidden Rhythm
Aaron Harris, Chief Technology Officer at Sage, explains how Sage and Loud Numbers use Financial Symphony to make AI finance transparent
Geotab receives Business Intelligence Group's 2026 Sustainable Transportation Award
/PRNewswire/ -- Geotab Inc. ("Geotab"), a global leader in connected operations, video telematics and AI-powered insights, today announced it has been named a...
Syra Health Awarded Three-Year Public Health Analytics Contract with Mississippi State Department of Health
/PRNewswire/ -- Syra Health Corp. (OTCQB: SYRA) ("Syra Health" or the "Company"), an integrated healthcare solutions company powering better health outcomes...
Senate passes college sports bill that would rein in athlete payments,transfers
The House must still approve the legislation before it can become law
Senate passes bipartisan Protect College Sports Act amid ‘chaos’ in industry
The Senate passed a sweeping bipartisan bill on Monday that would regulate college sports amid athlete payments and near-unrestricted transfers
The Beclowning of Scott Bessent
One iron law of current politics is that nobody who associates themselves with Donald Trump emerges with a shred of credibility. For some, that’s not a big loss — it’s not as if anyone respected Pete Hegseth even before he decided that the key to military success in an age of drones and AI was more testosterone. For others, however, the costs are real. I’m old enough to remember when Marco Rubio was widely considered a reasonable, thoughtful politician. Right now, however, my candidate for the biggest loser is Scott Bessent, the Secretary of the Treasury. Bessent started out with significant reputation to lose: When Trump selected him, this was the headline in the Financial Times: Jason Furman, Barack Obama’s chief economist, described him as a “credible Treasury secretary who has a real understanding of the global economy”. But Bessent has now transformed himself into the Baghdad Bob of bonds. Three weeks ago, after intervening (for reasons that remain somewhat unclear) to support the Japanese yen, Bessent boasted about his ability to move markets and dared investors to bet against his, declaring “I am the house now.” He then tried to push long-term interest rates down, buying 30-year U.S. Treasuries in a move some have compared to paying down part of your mortgage by running up your credit card balance. Here’s how that’s going so far: To get some perspective on how high interest rates have gone, here’s a longer-term perspective: We haven’t seen interest rates this high since the fading days of the dotcom bubble. Why are interest rates hitting new records? The backdrop, as I argued in last Sunday’s primer, is the huge AI-driven investment boom; more on that next week. But the immediate cause of the latest interest rate spike was Trump’s rejection of an Iranian proposal to end the war. This rejection sent crude oil prices, which for a while had fallen considerably, shooting back up: It’s notable, by the way, that oil prices remain high even though a significant amount of oil is now being shuttled through the Strait of Hormuz by night, on smaller vessels. That’s an interesting story, which has a lot to do with the fact that oil from the Hormuz shuttle runs must be transferred to larger vessels before being shipped to markets in Europe and Asia; around 15 percent of the world’s large crude carriers are now parked off the coast of Oman, waiting to be tanked up. This is creating a shipping crunch: But that’s a topic for another day. For now, the point is that with oil still high and refined products, especially diesel, still close to record levels, inflation will remain elevated. And this in turn means that the Federal Reserve will keep short-term interest rates high, an expectation that is feeding into longer-term rates. Hence Bessent’s bond-market humiliation. The truth is that Bessent might not have been able to get interest rates down even in the best of circumstances. But he certainly won’t get anywhere as long as Trump keeps believing that he can somehow convert his Iran debacle into a triumphant victory. And Trump will keep believing that as long as he is surrounded by sycophants who tell him what he wants to hear. Sycophants like, for example, Scott Bessent, who is predicting the imminent collapse of the Iranian economy, possibly within two weeks. Bessent is right to say that the embargo on Iranian oil exports is placing the country under great economic strain. But his implicit prediction that this will quickly produce a deal that Trump can call victory looks no more plausible than his boasts about the bond market. The big question now is, why would anyone with a reputation to lose work for Donald Trump? As the beclowning of Bessent shows, joining the Trump team won’t just damage your reputation; it will utterly destroy it.
Lesbian Bar Project Co-Founder: Purity Politics Could Destroy Our Remaining Spaces
Subscribe As a professional lesbian and Massachusetts native, I’ve recently been asked by a lot of folks what I think about the saga unfolding at Last Ditch. The now-viral story, first reported by The Boston Globe, centers on a Western Massachusetts lesbian bar that lifted its mask requirement for one night a week to help drum up business. The decision ignited an intra-queer controversy that has been feasted on by media outlets across the political spectrum—from the New York Post to LGBTQ Nation—and is even reportedly being eyed for a Hollywood adaptation. Apparently nothing is more entertaining than a bunch of lesbians and queers fighting with each other over KN-95s. What has been lost in all of the chatter and media coverage is the very real possibility that Last Ditch, which just opened in April 2025, will have to close its doors. The venue’s one remaining founder, Jackie Matellian, revealed in a community Zoom meeting that she’s working four jobs, is now solely responsible for the bar’s $50,000 business loan and is struggling to keep up with the bills. So as we laugh about the controversy’s similarity to a “Portlandia” skit and how one of the bar’s founders left to enroll in clown school, we forget that yet another lesbian bar is facing an existential crisis—and this time the call is coming from inside the house. In 2020, my friend Elina Street and I created The Lesbian Bar Project, an Emmy-, Webby- and GLAAD Media Award-winning docuseries and initiative that tells the stories of lesbian queer bars around the world. We were moved to act because at the time there were only an estimated 16 lesbian bars in the United States, and the pandemic threatened to bring that number down even further. There are now more sapphic bars than there were just before the pandemic—about 36 of them in total—but this is down from approximately 200 in 1980. Maybe that doesn’t mean much to you, but for the millions of sapphics living in the U.S., this number is calamitous. As the world laughs at lesbians and sapphics, I want to take a second and tell you what I feel when I walk into one of these bars, which are all unique and irreplaceable in their own way: I feel seen. Sometimes I think Cubbyhole in New York City’s West Village neighborhood knew I was gay before I did. When I walked in there for the first time, before I was even out, I was transfixed by the colorful array of tchotchkes hanging from the ceiling and how the women standing next to me were completely unafraid to express their desire for one another. I knew the minute I was ready to come out, I had a home. I also felt the joy of a new couple falling in love at Seattle’s Wildrose, the quiet confidence of a short king lining up her shot at the pool table at Ginger’s in Brooklyn and the kick of cayenne pepper in Julie Mabry’s crawfish at Houston’s Pearl Bar. Subscribe Lesbian bars don’t just serve lesbians; they serve queer folks across the spectrum, including bisexual, pansexual and trans people. As Elina and I traveled across the U.S. and Europe and to parts of Latin America to document the bar owners, staff and patrons that make up the ecosystems of these spaces, we also became uniquely acquainted with the factors that threaten their existence: gentrification, wage gaps, sexism, environmental disasters, gun violence, rising insurance premiums and political administrations working to annihilate queer people and their families. Lesbian bar owners, like all leaders and entrepreneurs, are imperfect. There have been significant issues over the years at lesbian bars: employee harassment, racism, lack of accessibility, sexual assault and transphobia. All bar owners should be held accountable and should listen to their communities to evolve into safer and more equitable spaces. I also acknowledge my privilege: I am able-bodied, white, cis and from a family system that loves me for who I am. Not everyone has that. Queer people, especially trans and bisexual people, are suffering from disproportionately high levels of depression, and our mental health system isn’t equipped to support them. Immunocompromised people and long COVID are real, and many of my friends are suffering to this day. The people with the least safety net are often the ones for whom a bar closing costs the most. And yet, as we’re seeing with Last Ditch, the queer community often lashes out at each other. It’s also the mainstream media taking the internal conflict and making a mockery out of it, distracting from the real possibility that this bar could close due to financial pressures. A bar that many people loved and needed is facing extinction. Perhaps it’s safer to dissent with one another than with the larger forces trying to eradicate us, but in doing so, we risk destroying the few spaces we have left. Due to the constraints of purity politics—some in good faith, some not so much—lesbian bar owners, almost all of whom are queer women themselves, are forced to be everything for everyone, similarly to how women are forced to be everything for everyone. By asking these bars to uphold impossible standards—standards very few other third spaces are asked to consider—we all end up losing. I want to move as a community toward dialogue, compassionate dissent and collaboration to make our spaces better with the goal of keeping them OPEN and thriving, rather than destroying them from the inside with expectations that are arguably unattainable. Subscribe While I have your attention—for this fleeting second of the news cycle—may I urge us to spearhead a way to keep these small businesses afloat without attacking our own community along the way? Bar owners are left with an impasse: They want to be community-centered, but they also have to make money to keep their doors open. Sometimes they might make business decisions that don’t work for everyone—and that’s partly because different patrons have different priorities and want different things—but these owners deserve the opportunity for productive dialogue**.** We have to work with them and with each other to keep our spaces open, to keep them growing. Lesbian bars raised me into the queer woman I am today. One thing I think about as I reflect on the six years of work we’ve done to document these spaces is that shared, unspoken language I have with a stranger the moment we both walk into one of these bars: the nod, the ease, the not having to explain ourselves. I don’t want to lose that, and neither should you. If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button: Donate
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The pension fund’s core contention was that the sale had been rushed by Kotick to avoid the consequences of sexual misconduct scandals swirling around the company in 2021. (He’d not been accused of misconduct himself in those suits, to be clear.) As I wrote at the time, Kotick had denied the allegations of the rushed sale. Beyond that, Kotick used a December 2025 reply to the Swedish fund’s lawsuit to assign blame for those workplace scandals, the bad press and even for the AP7 lawsuit. I’d found Kotick’s arguments novel and newsworthy. Across nearly 3,000 words, I explained Kotick’s take: that a Swedish gaming company was behind the Swedish fund’s lawsuit (the Embracer group; they denied it); that the Microsoft-Activision deal was not rushed and was secured at what Kotick felt history had proven to be an optimal price for shareholders; that he believed a conspiracy of people at unions government agencies, PR firms and the media had spun up claims of widespread workplace misconduct at Activision Blizzard in 2021. The article gave context for all of this, letting readers assess the claims and weigh their credibility. As I’d later write to Kotick’s lawyers: I would be surprised if you could point to any news article about Bobby Kotick in the last five years that has spent more of its wordcount articulating his point of view. He is welcome to do an interview with Game File any time. Nonetheless, there they were in my inbox that Tuesday evening: Clare Locke, the law firm that secured a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News over false statements about voting machines. They were emailing me, threatening that failure to comply with their demand could support a claim of “actual malice,” a legal standard for libel. Unless… Unless, they said, I added a key paragraph to my article. This was a paragraph that I already knew Kotick’s lawyers had been emailing reporters about for at least a year, and it was a paragraph that was already in my article. The paragraph they wanted is from a 2023 settlement that California’s Civil Rights Department struck with Activision Blizzard. The settlement had closed a two-year-old lawsuit over alleged sexual discrimination at the game maker. The paragraph basically said that claims of systemic or widespread sexual harassment—or of execs like Kotick tolerating such behavior—had never been proven. I’d already seen proof that Kotick’s lawyers had pushed for the settlement’s language to be added to reports about 2021 sexual discrimination and misconduct lawsuits brought against Activision Blizzard by California and, separately, by the U.S. federal government (both suits were since settled). I knew that Kotick and his lawyers felt that the California settlement language should be mentioned in the same breath as references to an article he hated and denied, a November 2021 Wall Street Journal article claiming Kotick knew “for years” of sexual misconduct at Activision Blizzard. So, in the Game File article that Clare Locke emailed me about, in the interest of ensuring I was being fair and balanced regarding the person I was covering, I had already included the following excerpt from the California settlement [emphasis added in bold]: (Kotick has repeatedly pushed back against that November article in the Wall Street Journal, citing among other things, language from a court-approved consent decree as part of Activision’s 2023 $54 million settlement over the California suit. It states: “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard [or] that Activision Blizzard senior executives ignored, condoned, or tolerated a culture of systemic harassment, retaliation, or discrimination.”) On the evening of January 20, I was incredulous. How do you write a four page legal threat about a week-old article and miss this? While scrambling to also make my kids dinner, I wrote a lengthy reply to Clare Locke’s lawyers, basically asking them to cool it with the threats and to start making sense. In part, I wrote: I hope you can understand why I am having trouble understanding what you’re asking for, when the statement you’re demanding to see in Game File’s article already appears in Game File’s article. Actual malice, as you know, refers to a reckless disregard for the truth. I’m not sure what your argument is when my article already states your client’s position. Here is where I should remind you, the reader, that I am an independent journalist. I publish on Substack, and have availed myself of the Substack Defender program that provides writers on the platform with legal support. But I’m no Wall Street Journal or New York Times, nor even IGN or GameSpot when it comes to such things as, well, having a legal department. There are more fun things for me to do as an independent journalist than writing back to a powerful law firm representing a very rich person. On the evening of January 20th, I was just trying to cook some pasta, broccoli and chicken nuggets for hungry twins. Nevertheless, I wrote back to them. Two hours later, I got a reply. Summarizing: A lawyer for Clare Locke said they’d “reviewed an incomplete version” of my article and they “apologize for the confusion.” (My guess: Someone didn’t read past the piece’s paywall, even though they’d had a full week to scrounge up the funds to do so. What I’d published above the paywall was balanced, as was what came after.)1 That was almost that, but something about the situation bothered me. The letter had been marked “confidential.” I hadn’t agreed to that, and I disliked the idea that powerful people on the beat that I cover would act like they could unilaterally control what I might tell my readers about. On the morning of the 21st, having already gotten the powerful law firm to back off, I oh-so-wisely re-approached them with just one more thing. I thanked them for clearing things up the night before but noted that I’d never agreed to keep their letter confidential. I’m all for agreeing with a source to keep things off the record, but that’s the thing. We have to agree. You can’t just declare it. I’m not bound by that. I wrote to Clare Locke’s lawyer and said, in part: I trust the matter is resolved. It was disappointing to have to spend less time with my kids last night in order to address your legal letter. Family time’s precious. I will add, for clarity’s sake, that, while your letter stipulated that it was confidential, I did not agree to those terms. In the future, should you wish to communicate with me confidentially, I am happy to agree to classifying our communication as “off the record” prior to the actual communication—as is standard with any professional journalist. The firm’s lawyer replied, not directly addressing the confidentiality issue but asserting that the matter was resolved. Why I didn’t write about this until now In May, I told this story on an episode of Simon Parkin’s podcast My Perfect Console, but I held off on sharing it directly with Game File readers. I held off to avoid stepping on the toes of another reporter, the journalist Mikhail Klimentov. He’d interviewed me in the spring of 2025 about an investigation he was working on regarding Bobby Kotick lawyers pressing the media to add the California settlement language to stories referencing the 2021 lawsuits. And about how some outlets had changed their stories and how some simply deleted them. Initially, I was a third-party source for Klimentov’s reporting, providing on-the-record context about the state of the games media. I’d heard about the letters but hadn’t put the time into pursuing the story. I thought it was interesting, and I was glad he was covering it. When the outlet that Klimentov was going to run his reporting in dropped the story, I began talking to him about potentially publishing his reporting on Game File. This was tentative. Then, in January, when I got my own Clare Locke letter, I told Klimentov that I didn’t think it would make sense for me to publish him, not with me now being part of the story. I had my own version of this situation to tell. But I wished him well and said I’d refrain from telling my tale until he could get his reporting out there. Last Friday, Klimentov finally ran his investigation, in a nearly 48-minute video report for People Make Games. It covers various Clare Locke letters, how media outlets reacted to them and what to make of all this. His video weighs the merits of Kotick’s request and looks at some of the articles that were changed (one of which had a glaring error). I highly recommend watching it: (Note, I did some editorial consulting for a People Make Games video last year but nothing to do with this report.) While many outlets haven’t left any public evidence that they updated their Kotick coverage at Kotick’s counsel’s request, at least one has. Back in October 2025, the mainstream outlet Reuters applied the most transparent article update I’ve seen. On the 3rd of the month, they published an article about the state of the Swedish pension fund’s lawsuit. Days later, they added this: In an October 7 letter sent after publication of this article, Kotick’s defamation counsel disputed claims of widespread harassment at Activision. “Not a single investigation, court finding, verdict, or ruling ever concluded that there was any merit” to the allegations of widespread harassment at Activision, Tom Clare and Nick Brechbill of Clare Locke wrote. I’ve never added a statement to my article on Game File, because none was needed. Not for fairness’ sake, nor to meet any demands of Kotick’s lawyers. I’ve nevertheless wanted to be transparent with Game File readers. If someone powerful is questioning my reporting, is threatening a lawsuit over it… if that threat is part of a pattern involving other games media outlets and if, in my case, the whole thing ran into a ridiculous ditch, I want you to know about it. I also share this as a real example of how I handle threats to Game File. I stand up for my own reporting, even when it’s not comfortable to do so. (In that same category of standing up for the work I do, I’ll point to an incident in late August. Asocial media post I published to X/Twitter regarding reporting I did about Take Two and GTA VI was hit by bogus copyright claim by a firm working for the publisher. I pushed back and got it reversed; even while a bigger games media outlet let themselves be censored. This is the other reason I’m sharing this story: To emphasize that dealing with threats from powerful people is one of the costs of covering the video game industry independently and as fearlessly as possible. This is where you come in. Your support, through free and paid subscriptions (sign up here!), can help me keep doing that. It can ensure that I’ve got the back-up I need. And it can help make fiascoes like this even less of a worry, so I can spend my evenings dealing with more important things, such as making sure I steam the kids’ broccoli just right. 1 That pension fund lawsuit I wrote about in January has all but gone away. In May, the fund and Activision Blizzard owner Microsoft agreed to settle. Lawyers for the fund brokered a $250 million settlement for former Activision Blizzard shareholders. In the settlement, the fund’s lawyers changed their rhetoric. Where once they’d questioned the meaning of the California settlement language, they adopted a version of it for themselves. Several weeks ago, while seeking to get a court to sign off on the terms of the settlement, they proposed their fee for their work in the case: $60 million.
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