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Businesses worry as part of East Brainerd Road set to close for weekend storm drain work

Drivers planning weekend trips in the Chattanooga area may need to adjust their routes as part of East Brainerd Road is set to close for two days.One business i

Oct 22 • 8:54 PM EDT • Business • newschannel9.com

3 Things I Don’t Have To Worry About

I could use an off week. I don’t know about you, but the last 3 Georgia games have not been easy to consume. (Okay, the 2H of Vandy was fairly smooth going down, but it took a while to get there). I may not be as bruised and battered as the Bulldog players, but I […]

Oct 22 • 10:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Vikings Handed Worrying Packers Message Despite 5-0 Start

The Minnesota Vikings are 5-0 and sit atop the NFC North division heading into Week 7. Nonetheless, the Vikings do have teams on their tail, as both the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers are 4-2. Moreover, the Packers are building positive momentum to get themselves back in the race for the division as they […] The post Vikings Handed Worrying Packers Message Despite 5-0 Start appeared first on HEAVY.

Oct 21 • 8:56 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

New Arrivals in the ER? Georgia Gears Up To Solve Rural Maternal Health Crisis

Most of Georgia’s counties are without a labor and delivery unit. To fill the gap, the state is looking to equip emergency rooms to handle obstetric emergencies. Advocates and doctors worry, however, that the ER is being used as a stopgap.

Oct 21 • 5:00 AM EDT • Health • kffhealthnews.org

A Woman’s Journey to Lifelong Bone Health

When should women really start worrying about bone density? If you think the answer is 65, you might want to reconsider. A Hackensack Meridian Health expert weighs in.

Oct 20 • 6:30 PM EDT • Health • newswise.com

Sundar Pichai: Google’s Frontier Imperative, Compute Scarcity Dilemmas, Future AI Products and Businesses

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has little patience for doubts about Google’s willingness or capacity to compete at the frontier of AI. His company’s latest Gemini 4 Argon model — long-promised and recently delivered — beats OpenAI and Anthropic’s latest public models on coding, math, science, and knowledge-work benchmarks and has placed Google’s AI back among the world’s best. Amid chatter that Google was fine with good-enough lightweight ‘Flash’ models, Pichai pushed back hard against any suggestion that company is limiting its research ambitions. “We won’t do it any other way,” he told me in a Big Technology Podcast interview recorded this week at Google’s Mountain View headquarters. Pursuing cutting-edge research is costly for Google, requiring compute and chips that otherwise could be sold at a high markup by its cloud business. But Pichai said allocating resources to frontier AI development is “ground zero” for Google. “Our cloud business is at any given moment in time forgoing short-term revenues because we are making compute trade-offs to support frontier AI development,” Pichai told me. In our conversation, we discussed Argon (which Pichai says processed three times as many tokens as Gemini 3 in the 72 hours after launch), AI’s role in developing better models, the AI interface of the future, competition with OpenAI, Google’s partnerships with Anthropic and Apple, data centers in space, and the nature of his optimism. You can read the full conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, below, or listen to it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice. Alex Kantrowitz: Google is back at the frontier with Gemini 4 Argon, which beats OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s public models on benchmarks spanning coding, math, science, and knowledge work. The conventional wisdom was that Google had given up on the frontier to focus on fast, good-enough models for its products. That was wrong? Sundar Pichai: Very wrong. Look, we are so committed to being at the frontier. It’s in our DNA. We won’t do it any other way. We’ve been thinking about the AI frontier for well over a decade now. The frontier is very dynamic. It’s very competitive. It’s very exciting. I couldn’t be more pleased with how Argon has come together. We took our time with it. We made sure we tested it safely and deployed it carefully. We took a bit longer than our other models, given its capabilities. Across the board, be it for agentic work, knowledge work, coding, creative tasks, Argon is one of the really good frontier models. The first 72 hours since we launched, it’s almost up to 25 trillion tokens used, which is about three times what Gemini 3.0 had in the first 72 hours. And we are capacity constrained as we are serving it. Excited, but there are always areas….. You know, the frontier is very dynamic, and you have to keep evolving the models. There are areas which we can see we need to improve as well. We’ll be at work on all of that as well. Which areas? On any given model, Argon would be across the board better at everything if you just look even two months back. But the space is so evolving. Even on coding, for example, there are pockets where we know we need to do better, and there’s clear feedback. We’ll make it better. The argument for standard models is that they’re already good enough to build great products, with the frontier valuable only for certain tasks. Meta built Muse with good models rather than the best, and Google could put standard models into Maps, Gmail, and Search. Why isn’t that sufficient? It’s definitely not how I have thought about it at all. We are deeply committed to driving the state of the art and actually pushing where this technology can go, all the way from transformers. That’s a journey we’ve been on. You will see us continue to do that. When you’re at the frontier, you get an earlier look into the emerging capabilities, earlier than others, which helps you better prepare for the future. We are fortunate to have a wide set of opportunities across consumer and enterprise. Some of our cloud customers, for sure, want the model at the frontier. The frontier models will be better at developing the next set of models in an era of recursive self-improvement. I would argue it matters there. Internally, we have definitely seen a steep point of inflection by deploying Argon to our developers. It definitely tackles problems which our previous models could not do. Being at the frontier puts you at the innovation frontier and helps you drive that as well. There is room for models of all sizes and capabilities. That’s why we did Flash, Flash-Lite, etc. I agree with you that you can develop very good product experiences with not necessarily the most frontier model, because they tend to be slower and more expensive too. But we care about the Pareto frontier, and we’re committed to doing all of that. You said developing frontier models gives you a look at what’s coming. What do you see on the horizon? What makes this moment so exciting is you build something which you think is a culmination of months of work, and you put it out. You already see clear headroom ahead. We’ve all been working on these agentic, long-horizon capabilities, but clearly the frontier is going to have multiple of these agents working together to do things. That’s an example of an exciting paradigm underway. It’s also clear to me that users, both in consumer and enterprise, will have access to some multi-agent framework for them, working all the time doing things. It feels like a moment of infinite possibilities. Sergey Brin said one of Argon’s core innovations was relying more on the model to help develop the model. Yet incidents involving OpenAI’s bots breaking containment and Google’s bots accessing a site they shouldn’t have suggest these systems still aren’t perfectly aligned. Isn’t there reasonable cause for concern about accelerating toward recursive self-improvement? There are three parts to your question. Let’s first talk about RSI itself. You’re right, Sergey mentioned RSI being a critical contributor as we are developing Argon. But to be very clear, today, in a continuum, we are pretty far from the end state of RSI or something like that. The right way to describe it is you have RSI loops along with AI researchers in various aspects of model development. You almost have agents helping AI researchers in some automated way work together to build these models. It’s good to at least understand where we are today, and it’s super exciting. I expect that continuum to keep making progress as we go into next year. The second question is around safety. Security comes from defense in depth. You’re talking about alignment, obviously. We all are doing a lot of work to make sure the models are as aligned as possible. But it’s an active area of research, and there are clear gaps. That’s not the only thing we rely on. You have the work you do on alignment, but beyond that, we put a lot of effort into real-time monitoring as these models are working. Making sure you have good telemetry into what’s happening so that you can intervene in real time if you see unexpected behaviors. How you do that, the architecture with which you do that, how you make sure it’s all sandboxed and isolated in a way that it can continue doing its job during real-time monitoring — these are all areas of investment. Obviously, when we deploy these models, giving customers, enterprises, control, both with real-time monitoring, but their ability to decide where they deploy, what type of data which models ever have access to, etc. All that work is very, very important, and we are doing a lot of that. As an industry, we need to constantly up our game and take the time to do all this stuff, including dedicating the compute required to make sure you can safely deploy these models. The third part is: Is it all enough? This is why there are a lot of conversations in the industry, and I think it’s reasonable to be worried. The right way to approach something you worry about is early on thinking about what more we can do. As an industry, you’re definitely seeing increased levels of work on alignment, testing for safety, etc., as we deploy these models. The next step would be developing better standards so there are cross-industry standards of how we do these things, including the ability to evaluate using independent evaluators. If you look at areas like financial controls, we have accounting standards, we have independent auditors. Those are all the next natural steps for us as an industry to work toward, and regulation will end up playing a role as we go through all of that as well. Google pursues both language models and world models, while some other AI companies like OpenAI have focused more heavily on LLMs as the path to AGI. Why is world-model research important to you? As humans, you obviously perceive the world around you, and you’re taking all those inputs. Making sure these models are able to understand the laws of physics, simulate the world in high fidelity. All that, I think, are key enabling blocks for intelligence. We are working across all possible applications of this. Take an area like robotics. It’s not an accident: If you look at embodied reasoning benchmarks, Argon is state of the art. That all comes from our experience building world models. Inherently, I would expect there will be architectures which will converge all of this in the future. But for us, we view this as, today, this jagged frontier that is intelligence. We want to be at the frontier of all the possible approaches, and that will help us both drive better research, better insights, and develop a much better AGI model, is how we think about it. Some people argue Google should focus on selling its computing resources rather than using them for AI research. Cloud wants to sell compute at a high markup, while researchers need a very big computer to build the best models. How do you balance those demands? Ground zero for us is making sure we are investing in the compute that’s needed to be at the AI frontier. In 2015, I set the company to be AI-first. AI is that key horizontal ingredient across everything we do, all the way from Search to Cloud to Waymo. That is ground zero for us, making sure both for research and developing the models that we have enough compute needed. Beyond that, we have these independent businesses which each have their own long-range plans. They’re using those long-range plans to project forward, and we plan for compute for all of them. The cloud team, they have a business and they have a projection and they have demand signals. They have committed contracts. With that help, we can plan on a long-term compute trajectory for them. We’re fortunate to have this wide set of opportunities. There’s no company in the world which isn’t making trade-offs at any given moment in time. But the first principles we operate on is making sure we have enough compute to invest in the frontier, and that’s non-negotiable, and everything else works on top. Remember, we are building our own compute, our own data centers. There are long lead times. The compute we have today is a function of decisions I made in 2024. Even if you think back to a year from today, last year the agentic coding takeoff hadn’t happened. Today, obviously, when you sit and look at anything, everyone is short—not just us, other companies—and everyone wishes you had two times what you had planned for. That comes with the territory. At any given moment in time, we are planning for what we would need two to three years out in the future. You’re going to find some decisions you make may look suboptimal two years out, depending on where the state of the art is. I don’t spend too much time thinking about it. The way I think about compute allocation is making sure Google DeepMind, both for research and frontier model development, is cutting edge in terms of compute access. After that, we plan for all our businesses. It’s great we can provide our compute to other people too, like we have done. It allows us to scale that up, get real tests for it in the widest application set possible, test it in the real world, and make sure we are at the cutting edge of technology at every layer of our AI stack as well. Ben Horowitz relayed on a podcast that Andy Jassy had said compute was sold out until 2028. Are you seeing the same thing? If today a customer is coming out and asking us for compute in ’27, that is incredibly difficult to do. Even last year we went out and leased some short-term compute to accommodate some customers and help them out. But yes, we are all dealing with similar timelines. Every major technology shift seems to involve overbuilding, from railroads to fiber. Do you think that’s happening here? It depends on the time frames you’re looking at. This level of build, if I take a long enough time frame, it makes complete sense to me. We are at early stages of the most consequential technology ever, and this is not like fiber. It’s not dark. We are using it. We are capacity constrained on a daily basis. The applications, the underlying technology is improving rapidly. But running a company, the way I work through the moment is you look at your demand signals. You look at your committed revenue opportunities that you’re getting in the form of contracts. You balance that with the underlying technical capability, or internally you balance how we are using it internally, the model trajectories. Based on all that, you take a disciplined approach—a confident, aggressive, but disciplined approach—to plan out compute. But when you talk about the broader economy as a whole, you’re having people operate with various levels of risk. I focus on what I can control as a company and plan through it. If your question is, can there be an overbuild? Yes, because you can have some constrained components. Remember, what matters is a set of everything you need to build out that compute. Memory, electricity, electricians…. Land. Like 2,000 components or more. You could get constrained at some point. There could be things which cause bottlenecks, and then you could have overbuilds. There could be external shocks to the economy. There are macro risks. All that is possible at any given time. But am I confident that the compute we are planning for, we will have uses for it given enough time? Absolutely, yes. I was in the room when you said AI would be as profound as fire and electricity. If you believe that, shouldn’t you give researchers the biggest possible computer, even at the expense of today’s cloud profits? We’re all doing some form of that. Our cloud business is at any given moment in time forgoing short-term revenues because we are making compute trade-offs to support frontier AI development. What you’re seeing is true already. But you want to be thoughtful. Even our AI researchers have some constraints, which are also good. That’s what inspires creativity. That’s what helps you come up with a more efficient algorithmic breakthrough, maybe to use less memory. What we are committed to is to invest what’s needed to stay at the frontier. OpenAI President Greg Brockman told me a few months ago that the ideal AI product might have no interface at all—just as natural as conversation. What do you think the interface looks like in the age of AI? Computing historically has been humans adapting to computing. With AI, it’ll be the other way around. The technology will adapt seamlessly to how humans live and go about their day-to-day life. You want to be able to speak to that AI when you want to. It has context. It can be persistently running somewhere, give you continuity. You’re not dealing with a lot of complexity. It’s natural. All that makes sense to me. That doesn’t mean it won’t have any interface, however. Nowadays, even on my phone, Gemini voice models are so good. I can just press the microphone button. I can just ramble. That’s why we call it Rambler. I can ramble. It intelligently corrects with my personal context. Even my friends’ names, weird names, it gets it right, even if it first guesses it wrong. It’s amazing. I’m not going in, backspacing, editing once I finish saying it. It’s remarkable how good it’s gotten. But there are going to be moments you will need an interface. You may want to entertain yourself. You may want to watch a video. You may ask your AI to create something, and you want to watch it, consume it. The way I think about it is, you want it to be as seamless and as natural as possible, and that you are not doing the hard work adapting to whatever the interface is. The technology is adapting to how you’re working at any given moment in time. When I asked Sam Altman about competition from Google, he argued that OpenAI was building AI-native products and implied Google was bolting AI onto existing ones. Do you accept that framing, and can a “bolt-on” compete with an AI-native product? First of all, it’s a very dynamic moment. We are all pushing each other. OpenAI has pushed us as a company too. This is not just we are doing something to them. Far from it. Yes, Google went into its own version of a code red too. In the AI moment, all of us have to respond with varying levels of urgency at any given moment in time. We are constantly building new products as well. Gemini was built from the ground up as a product—the Gemini app I’m talking about. Or tomorrow, as all of us are adapting to agents, are you bolting agents onto ChatGPT, or are they building it natively? How would you think about that? You can always put these questions back. I don’t think of it that way. I think of it as you want to build world-class product experiences that are AI-native and they are winning. Some of it is adapting products, some of it is rethinking new experiences. They will all be part of how you approach this moment. How do you expect to make money from these AI interfaces? If an agent recommends a product and I buy it, should it take a cut of the sale, even if that’s disclosed? I’m going to put enterprise aside. Consumers are going to increasingly value this technology. Take software developers today. Developers are willing to pay for these coding models because it really helps make them more productive. Nobody would want to code the way they were coding three years ago, or even the same time last year. When you’re delivering value, there’s value to be had. I’ve never seen examples where consumer products really scale to billions of users, where people are using it intensely, and haven’t had monetization to go along with it. If you’re providing value to people, there is inherent value to be had. The nature of it may change. You’re asking a scenario in which agents are doing stuff for you. At the end of the day, you will have commercial needs. The agents need to fulfill those commercial needs. The providers on the other side are going to see value in that. There’s going to be some mechanism by which it gets fleshed out. That’s what an efficient system does. But what matters is that you’re building those world-class consumer experiences. I promised myself one product feature request: Can you make Gemini-powered search in Gmail as good as searching Gmail through ChatGPT? What’s going on here? One of the exciting things we announced recently is the unified Gemini agent for enterprise, and we’re bringing that to consumers. These are persistent agents which run 24/7 in the cloud. We’re spinning up a micro VM effectively for every query, and from the runtime, the harness, the model—it’s all a headless service. It’ll work everywhere, and it has your context with you. You can address this agent whether you’re in Workspace, in Search, in Gemini. Agents are going to drive this unification from a customer experience, which people are looking for. When you have a broad product portfolio and you’re moving forward fast, there are always areas where you’re moving forward faster than some other areas. That’s valid feedback. But we are putting a lot of time and effort into making sure, as we build out our agentic experience, that unification and that capability works well across all these services. People have asked where Google’s equivalent of Muse or Dots is. Do you anticipate creating a new product to compete with them? Our goal with Gemini is to be a personal, proactive, and powerful assistant. That’s what we are working toward. You saw us describe the early versions of it at Google I/O this year with Spark. Effectively, already, if you open the Gemini app as a Pro or an Ultra user, you see Chat and Task, and they start giving you that agentic experience. With Argon now, that capability is dramatically accelerated. What we announced recently in our enterprise event, we are bringing that to consumers as well. Soon in Gemini, you will be able to ask something, and it’s a continuum. You don’t need to think about whether you’re asking a chat or an agentic task. It’ll just automatically do the right thing, and it can work persistently in the background securely and get things done for you. Already, empirically, when I look at what’s coming into Gemini in our app, last year you would have tagged them and most of them would have been chats. But a steadily growing percentage is already agentic tasks in Gemini. Yes, we are going to bring personal agents to our consumers. It’ll work in the Gemini app. It’ll work in Google Search. It’ll work in Gmail. You can address it, call it, etc. We want to make sure we’re getting it right. It’ll be powered by Argon, and we are very excited to bring it to our users. Google has invested and committed tens of billions of dollars to Anthropic. What do you see in Dario Amodei that makes you want such a deep investment and partnership? Very early on, when we looked at the founding team of Anthropic, it was very clear to us this was a world-class team which was involved in some of the earliest GPT models. We were quickly able to assess that they would be at the frontier. We’ve always tried to identify and partner with companies which would be at the cutting edge of technology. We’ve done that with SpaceX. We’ve done that with Anthropic. That’s what we saw, and we had a chance to partner. Is your partnership with Apple to license Gemini for Siri expanding, contracting, or standing still? For both us and Apple, that partnership was about translating the capabilities of AI into better experiences for users. I thought Apple has done a phenomenal job of incorporating—they customize these models and build it into Siri—and it’s been great to see the reception. We are committed to doing more. You’re going to do more with them? There’s nothing specific to comment, but it’s a partnership. It’s working well. What have you learned so far about the feasibility of data centers in space? It’s a very exciting project. Projects like this remind me—I still recall that moment in the desert for the DARPA Grand Challenge, watching the Stanley car compete in it, which ended up being the basis for Waymo. With all these technologies, you’re at a moment in time where it looks a bit like sci-fi, but 10 to 20 years down the line, it’s actually working in a meaningful way. I feel the same in space. We’ve always believed in betting big on these technologies. Quantum has been a great example of it. We’re probably 10 years into the journey. Waymo, we are almost 20 years into the journey. Space, we are two to three years into the journey. It’s clear to me that it’s an approach which will make a lot of sense in the future. Being in sub-synchronous orbits with 24/7 access to the most abundant form of energy we have access to will make a lot of sense for this exponential increase in compute that we are going to need. Having said that, this is a challenging project. The team has disciplined milestones. It was a super exciting milestone to send the TPUs up to space. Sometime, as we are speaking, we are expecting a “hello world” moment from them. I look forward to seeing that happen, and we’ll continue investing here too. You previously said 25% of the code written within Google was written by AI. What’s the number today? That number in our world today is meaningless in the sense that every part of what we now touch is influenced by AI deeply. What we are tracking with Argon, for example, it’s been a point of inflection. People are using Argon to really go tackle complex projects, including projects which affect millions of lines of code. In the four weeks since we have launched Argon, we have seen a 30% increase in CLs, and more importantly, almost a similar increase—a one-third decrease in rollbacks. People are writing code more productively and better code with it. We are tracking it with newer metrics now. How are you dealing with opposition to data centers? If you can’t build in the U.S. the way you want to, where else do you go? We’re very committed to building our data centers very responsibly. When I look at our largest data centers in some of the communities where we have been the longest, I visit them, I talk to people. There are people who come and tell us their kids have gone to college because of our investments in these communities, and we’ve grown in those communities. To me, this is about doing it right. Engaging with the communities early, doing it transparently. We are committed to making sure we are bringing incremental power, and we cover 100% of the cost of our power needs for these projects. It’s understanding the impact on neighborhoods and making sure you’re working thoroughly to address them. Done rightly, you can continue making progress. But we are constantly taking feedback into account. I do worry not everyone operates the same way. People have been surprised by data centers showing up in their backyard. Those are all important. As an industry, we should continue to do better. But part of the reason, in a 20-year time frame, we are thinking about things like data centers in space is making sure we are able to put these data centers where maybe the trade-offs will be different. What unproven area of AI is Google working hardest to crack? Is it continual learning—getting models to keep updating after release—or something else? There are multiple parallel paths. You saw with Argon we have a million output tokens. With our Gemini models early on, we had a one-million context window on the input side. These are all examples of breakthroughs we are constantly working on. How do you think about synthetic data? How do you think about continual learning? How do you think about more efficient architectures? We do dedicate a meaningful percentage of our compute to these research bets too. It always goes hand in hand, including our world models. Those are all bets we are placing. Sometimes, as part of these bets, there are ideas that emerge which just make their way into the mainline models. Maybe we don’t fully talk about it, but we have multiple steps in these areas. Working in technology requires optimism that building something will improve the world, but those bets can leave real consequences when they fail. I recently returned to a town in El Salvador where enthusiasm for Bitcoin had given way to unfinished construction and something resembling a ghost town. How do you maintain the optimism you spoke about in your Stanford commencement address while accounting for those risks? I genuinely have a deep conviction that improving technology and improving access to technology makes people’s lives better. It’s been my personal experience in my life, out of which comes that deep conviction, optimism. But with that, I’ve always felt humanity’s journey is always about working hard to harness that technology to make it work well for society. The optimism is not an optimism that you just build whatever you want, whenever. You work hard to make sure you’re building technology in the service of humanity, to make the human condition better. That’s got to be the defining goal as we are approaching it. With that framework, I’m very, very optimistic. We are in very early stages of the kind of progress that we are going to see on many areas. We’re all talking about areas like healthcare. A lot of the progress is ahead. The ability to make things in a fundamentally cheaper way on many things where things have been getting expensive for a long, long time, discovering new materials, etc., which really bend the curve—it’s tough to step today and understand the impact of all that, but they’re going to be very profound. I’m very optimistic, but we have to be rightfully concerned about all the ways this technology can go wrong. Sundar, I know you don’t do many of these. Thank you. Thanks, Alex. Appreciate it.

Oct 20 • 1:47 PM EDT • Technology • bigtechnology.com

'We lost the battle': Local businesses prepare as DEI crackdown hits OEV

New Florida law forces Tallahassee to replace its minority business aid program with a neutral alternative. Some business owners worry about the future.

Oct 20 • 5:03 AM EDT • Business • tallahassee.com

Americans With Disabilities Worry About Proposed Changes to Major National Health Survey

Questions that have been proposed for removal deal with memory, fatigue, arthritis, difficulty walking and climbing stairs, as well as others about the use of hearing aids, canes, wheelchairs and scooters.

Oct 19 • 1:27 PM EDT • Health • news.wttw.com

‘This is disgusting’: Nebraska’s independent Senate candidate rips dark money in politics

Democrats are hoping to whittle away at the Republican Senate majority in unexpectedly vulnerable red states like Nebraska. Incumbent Senator Pete Ricketts, a multimillionaire former governor, is defending his seat against independent challenger Dan Osborn, a Navy veteran and industrial mechanic. Osborn says he wants Congress to take back its power, end the war in Iran, lower fuel costs, so we “can worry about little league and bake sales.”

Oct 18 • 1:46 PM EDT • Politics • ms.now

Don’t Worry… Sunderland Are Gonna Be Alright

Four points from six games, and with a tough run of fixtures coming - should Sunderland fans be worried, or do the underlying numbers suggest better times are just around the corner?

Oct 18 • 1:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Trump ramps up attacks on Dems in tight races

President Trump is intensifying personal and Islamophobic attacks on Democratic candidates in several states as Republicans worry about a voter-enthusiasm gap ahead of the November 3 elections. CNN’s Alayna Treene reports from a rally in Northern Kentucky.

Oct 17 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Somerset campsite's £27k business rates rise 'catastrophic'

Jules Sayer, from Petruth Paddocks campsite in Cheddar says the bill has caused "untold worry".

Oct 17 • 12:17 PM EDT • Business • bbc.com

When to Worry About a Sore Throat | Hartford HealthCare

Learn more about News Detail at hartfordhealthcare.org

Oct 17 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • hartfordhealthcare.org

New SBA lending rules create hurdles for aspiring business owners

Some worry the updated rules to the Small Business Administration's 7(a) loan program would make it harder for some would-be buyers to obtain financing, putting business acquisitions further out of reach.

Oct 16 • 9:30 AM EDT • Business • ibj.com

Republicans are spending millions to oust a Democrat who won by 187 votes. Should he worry?

Adam Gray won California’s closest House race by 187 votes in 2024. Now, Republicans are spending millions trying to reclaim the Central Valley seat.

Oct 16 • 8:00 AM EDT • Politics • calmatters.org

Hegseth’s military imposes testosterone testing despite concerns about the science

Former military doctors say the new policy won’t do what the Pentagon wants. Troops worry it will affect their careers.

Oct 16 • 5:00 AM EDT • Science • ms.now

New tax proposal raises concerns with business owners in Downtown Merriam

Merriam is proposing a new sales tax to help fund downtown redevelopment and flood protection, but some longtime business owners worry the plans could threaten historic buildings and force them to close.

Oct 15 • 8:32 PM EDT • Business • kmbc.com

Americans with disabilities worry over cuts to major health survey

NEW YORK • The federal government is planning to dramatically shrink its most influential health survey, and some researchers worry that the changes will underestimate how many Americans are disabled. At least half the survey questions could be axed. The cost-saving change is part of an ongoing effort to slim down the 69-year-old National Health […]

Oct 15 • 10:22 AM EDT • Health • denvergazette.com

L.A. voters worry about outside influence in midterm elections, new poll finds

A poll suggests most L.A. County voters are confident with the county's handling of elections, but many worry that outside influence, including online misinformation and political interference, could taint the midterms.

Oct 15 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • latimes.com

The Cincinnati Chamber needs to worry more about Kroger than Blink

Opinion: Blink makes Cincinnati shine. What happens when the lights go out?

Oct 14 • 5:11 PM EDT • Business • cincinnati.com

A Second Chance for a Bookshelf Becomes a First Chapter for Young Patients at NYC Health + Hospital/Jacobi | North Central Bronx

For the young patients who walk through the doors of North Central Bronx’s (NCB) Pediatric Outpatient Services, a hospital visit can bring worry, waiting,

Oct 14 • 4:49 PM EDT • Health • nychealthandhospitals.org

Fox News Poll: Cost of living concerns weigh on GOP in midterms

A Fox News survey finds Trump's approval on inflation hitting a new low of 22% as six in 10 voters say cost of living is their top economic worry.

Oct 14 • 4:04 PM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com

Could AI spell doom for humans? Poll finds Minnesotans are worried

MINNEAPOLIS — More than two-thirds of Minnesota voters worry that artificial intelligence could someday destroy humanity, according to a new Star Tribune/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll, an extraordinary fear that joins

Oct 14 • 3:27 PM EDT • Entertainment • thederrick.com

Tap & Tees brings indoor golf and entertainment to Southwest Florida

Looking to work on your golf swing without worrying about the Florida heat? Tap & Tees Golf Lounge is bringing the golf course indoors with a high-tech experience that combines

Oct 14 • 10:16 AM EDT • Entertainment • winknews.com

Americans with disabilities worry about proposed changes to major national health survey

The federal government plans to dramatically shrink the size of its National Health Interview Survey, sparking concerns about underestimating disability rates.

Oct 14 • 10:14 AM EDT • Health • seattletimes.com

Americans with disabilities worry about proposed changes to major national health survey

NEW YORK (AP) — The federal government is planning to dramatically shrink its most influential health survey, and some researchers worry that the changes will

Oct 14 • 10:13 AM EDT • Health • ktar.com

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.

Oct 13 • 3:20 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com

GLP-1 Users Face a Health-or-Wealth Choice

51% of GLP-1 users worry they may have to choose between medication and retirement savings. See what The Harris Poll found for Nationwide.

Oct 13 • 10:12 AM EDT • Health • theharrispoll.com

Scientists worry AI is stealing their ideas

Researchers are using AI as a sounding board throughout their work. But concerns are growing that companies may present users’ ideas as those of their models

Oct 13 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • scientificamerican.com

Stats from Cagliari shows some worrying signs for Juventus

Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw by Cagliari at the weekend, and the match statistics have raised concerns for the Bianconeri and their supporters. Despite controlling much of the game, Juve struggled...

Oct 13 • 4:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Communities worry for their health after Trump weakens pollution limits: 'It's a kick in the gut'

Biden-era changes to the Clean Air Act would have tightened regulations for industrial sites, but the Trump administration has given exemptions to hundreds of facilities. People living near the sites are concerned about air quality and their well-being.

Oct 12 • 3:26 PM EDT • Health • wpr.org

Eagles’ Jalen Hurts reaches new low after Week 5 performance

Hurts delivers a worrying performance as Eagles' losing streak continues.

Oct 12 • 9:59 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Californians are ‘really losing sleep’ over this financial burden

Medical bills have become Californians’ top financial worry, a new survey finds, with many saying health care costs are forcing them to delay care and make painful tradeoffs.

Oct 11 • 6:43 PM EDT • Health • sfchronicle.com

Communities worry for their health after Trump weakens pollution limits: 'It's a kick in the gut'

Biden-era changes to the Clean Air Act would have tightened regulations for industrial sites, but the Trump administration has given exemptions to hundreds of facilities. People living near the sites are concerned about air quality and their well-being.

Oct 11 • 8:06 AM EDT • Health • nebraskapublicmedia.org

"Has excellent qualities..." Michael Carrick Praises Bryan Mbeumo vs Spurs

Bryan Mbeumo’s goal almost gave Manchester United a first win in four, yet late drama and ongoing passive play left Michael Carrick searching for answers amid a worrying winless streak.

Oct 11 • 5:29 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Can the midterm campaign trail point to 2028 presidential viability for Democrats?

After Clinton and Harris's losses, cautious voters might worry that for Democratic female presidential candidates the third time may not be a charm.

Oct 11 • 5:07 AM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com

Fabio Capello: “Roma are wise to worry about Svilar’s injury.”

A few hours before the Sinigaglia match between Como and Roma, former Giallorossi coach Fabio Capello gave an interview to La Gazzetta dello Sport and discussed Svilar’s absence. The Serbian goalkee...

Oct 11 • 3:52 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Talarico disappearance has Dem volunteers worrying and Trump asking, 'What is going on?'

Trump called James Talarico "MISSING IN ACTION" as the Texas Democrat's nearly two-week campaign trail absence sparks concerns about losing momentum.

Oct 9 • 9:35 AM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com

Eagles wide receiver faces injury setback during practice

The Eagles were given some worrying news on Thursday afternoon.

Oct 8 • 6:17 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Glen Powell Is Under Fire For This "Mind-Numbingly Stupid" Political Comment

"aka 'I'm a rich white man in America and I don't have to worry about anything because I'm rich and white'"

Oct 8 • 10:06 AM EDT • Politics • yahoo.com

Concern after Europeans endorse US science agenda

Germany’s biggest research funder has said it is “concerned” after Berlin, plus several other European countries, endorsed a controversial US-led science policy statement. On October 4, the White House announced that 16 countries, including Germany, the UK, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland, Japan and South Korea had backed the Kyoto Vision for a Golden Age of Science.The document, agreed on the margins of the annual Science and Technology in Society forum in Kyoto, which gathers science ministers from across the world, appears uncontroversial at first sight. It’s a one-page statement, without any concrete measures, that touches on reducing administrative burden on scientists, experimenting with new funding models and the use of “super intelligence” in science, the Trump administration’s preferred term for artificial intelligence. However, what’s controversial is that much of the language in the Kyoto Vision reflects Science: A New Golden Age, a major policy document released by the White House in July.That document attracted criticism for deriding universities as “legacy institutions” and suggesting money be diverted to new research labs. In a speech in Kyoto on October 4, Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office for Science and Technology Policy and the report’s author, said that the US was seeking to “diversify the ways that we support research to meet our best scientists where and when they do their best work.” The worry is that the Trump administration may be using genuine dysfunctions in academia as a pretext to defund and disempower universities, which US vice president JD Vance has labelled “the enemy.” Many in Europe also want more experimentation and reform of how science is organised and funded, and agree with criticisms of academia made by Science: A New Golden Age. But some also fear that if the US pushes for reform partially in bad faith, it could politicise and undermine the whole agenda. Washington is currently trying to change federal funding rules so that political appointees can block and cancel scientific grants. It has cut grants mid-project on topics related to diversity and other politically forbidden areas. And last year, it threatened to cut Harvard University’s federal funding unless it admitted a “critical mass” of new faculty and students to create campus “viewpoint diversity.” “Particularly concerned”Because of this wider US political context, the Kyoto Vision’s otherwise innocuous sounding statement that “we encourage experimentation with new institutional models for science that provide varying levels of autonomy, resources and direction” has caused consternation in Europe, particularly from some of Germany’s biggest science organisations. A spokesperson for the German Research Foundation (DFG), the country’s biggest funder, said that it would “closely monitor whether the current US administration uses the Kyoto Vision to restructure research funding to the detriment of research institutions such as universities and their autonomy.” The DFG was “particularly concerned” with the statement’s references to Science: A New Golden Age, they continued. A spokesperson for the German Rectors’ Conference, which represents the country’s universities, said that the reference to “new institutional models” raises “questions on the underlying understanding of academic freedom and autonomy.” Research funding must “guided first and foremost by scientific not political principles,” they went on. Dampen criticismEuropean endorsement of the Kyoto Vision might dampen domestic criticism of the Trump administration’s science policy, some in the US fear, by suggesting international support. “What we saw from Germany, Japan, the UK and other countries, is an impulse that the administration has exploited with our own science reform movement, a belief they can use dialogue to make things better,” said Cole Donovan, director of science policy at the campaigning group Stand Up for Science. “In practice, the administration has done the opposite.” Not a binding statementThere’s been so much concern in Germany that the country’s federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space put out a statement defending its endorsement of the Kyoto Vision, which it has posted on its website. Related articlesIs metascience being co-opted?European researchers sound the alarm that Trump rule changes will hit cooperationThe US ‘golden age’ science strategy: what Europeans need to know The ministry said that it “should be regarded as a basis for discussion and does not constitute a binding statement.” Backing the statement gives Germany the chance to raise “issues and concerns” with the US during upcoming talks on science and technology scheduled for November. “Although these intentions appear, in principle, to be worthy of support, they will be scrutinised and examined more closely as the process continues,” the statement continues. Super intelligence?A ministry spokesperson confirmed to Science|Business that Germany had broadly endorsed the Kyoto Vision.However, they said Berlin had not agreed to final changes in the statement to refer to AI as super intelligence. In September, facing protests against data centres and polling that suggests US citizens are far more concerned than excited by the technology, Trump issued an executive order that attempts to rebrand AI as super intelligence, following polling on social media.The name change is to “reflect the transformative capabilities of these technologies and the limitless opportunities they create for the American people,” the order says. EU askedThe UK and Italian science ministries did not respond to a request for comment on their endorsement of the Kyoto Vision. Although most EU countries did not endorse the statement, it’s not clear which states the US asked. The White House Office for Science and Technology Policy did not return a request for comment. A European Commission official, speaking under condition of anonymity, said that the US had approached the EU, but too late for the EU to quiz all its member states on whether Brussels should endorse the statement.

Oct 8 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net

Measles, the outbreak at the intersection of politics and medicine

Most of us have never had to worry about measles. The name itself sounds rather medieval, and we’re happy to adopt a similar attitude toward the disease. It seems like something that plagues the history books, but has no bearing on our daily lives, yet you may have heard it discussed more often lately. So, what exactly is going on with measles in America?

Oct 7 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • tuftsdaily.com

Can $1 billion power Republicans to victory in the midterms?

Republicans are facing anxiety as they enter the final month of the midterm campaign. They have $1 billion at their disposal but worry it may not be enough to counter

Oct 7 • 9:22 AM EDT • Politics • lancasteronline.com

Communities worry for their health after Trump weakens pollution limits: 'It's a kick in the gut'

Biden-era changes to the Clean Air Act would have tightened regulations for industrial sites, but the Trump administration has given exemptions to hundreds of facilities. People living near the sites are concerned about air quality and their well-being.

Oct 7 • 5:00 AM EDT • Health • kcur.org

Celebrating Ron Hearst: Business owners share thoughts on Ron’s viral shorts moment

For 38 years, he’s tracked the storms so you didn’t have to worry. Friday night, KY3 Chief Meteorologist Ron Hearst retires, capping a career the Ozarks won’t forget.

Oct 6 • 7:57 PM EDT • Business • ky3.com

Spurs get worrying Tobias Harris injury update

San Antonio's lone free-agent signing is reportedly dealing with an injury during preseason.

Oct 6 • 10:49 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Blood sugar spikes are not necessarily bad for you

It's trendy to be concerned about blood sugar spikes, but these can be a normal response to eating. Here's when you don't need to worry.

Oct 6 • 4:39 AM EDT • Health • bbc.com

Pee Dee business leaders worry poor infrastructure, workforce shortages will limit economic growth

Pee Dee business leaders have high ambitions to expand commercially and develop the region, but many also worry that utility and infrastructure issues could limit economic growth.

Oct 5 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • postandcourier.com

Trump Is Promising Health Care Checks Before the Midterms. How Far Will They Go?

Trump’s promised rebates come as Americans worry about health care costs. For Medicare recipients, a one-time payment may offer limited relief from rising premiums.

Oct 4 • 4:38 PM EDT • Health • time.com

Despair over future fuels political anxiety for college students on the cusp of adulthood

Their anxiety is fueling a restlessness with a national political system that they worry is no longer capable of improving their lives or no longer interested in helping.

Oct 4 • 4:30 PM EDT • Politics • pbs.org

Despair over future fuels political anxiety for college students

Their anxiety is fueling a restlessness with a national political system that they worry is no longer capable of improving their lives or no longer interested in helping.

Oct 4 • 10:09 AM EDT • Politics • boston.com

A toddler’s wobbly walk, hand tremors send parents on a medical journey

Doctors initially told the boy's parents not to worry. But they pressed for years until a rare diagnosis became clear.

Oct 3 • 5:00 AM EDT • Technology • washingtonpost.com

Flurry of Lawsuits Shows Both Parties Preparing for Post-Election Challenges

Republicans are using the courts to hunt for noncitizen voters. Democrats worry the G.O.P. is trying make it harder for eligible voters to cast ballots — and paving the way to try to toss valid election results.

Oct 2 • 11:39 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

What’s This Dark, Waxy Growth That Looks ‘Stuck’ on My Skin?

And whether you should worry about these super common lesions.

Oct 2 • 8:35 AM EDT • Health • prevention.com

Gears of War: E-Day is missing iconic features like chainsaw duels and meat shields, but The Coalition says we shouldn't worry - they're "not gone from the franchise"

The Coalition knows how you feel about "Meat Shields, Chainsaw Duels, select weapons from the franchise’s past".

Oct 2 • 6:56 AM EDT • Technology • eurogamer.net

Massive Ryan Gravenberch worry coming out, Liverpool have a problem

Liverpool have a problem here. There's a massive worry coming out with Ryan Gravenberch and it threatens to disrupt the Reds' plans.Ryan Gravenberch was on top of the world in 2024/25. The midfielder ...

Oct 2 • 1:40 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Billy Joel shares health update after undergoing brain surgery

‘I want people to not have to worry about me,’ the singer said

Oct 1 • 2:16 PM EDT • Health • yahoo.com

'Worrying signs but not a crisis yet'

Paul: League form is not representative of actual form - the Champions League exit is still having an impact. Yes, European results have been bad but that is no surprise and nothing new. Patrick: Out of the Champions League and out of the League Cup, lost twice to Rangers in a week and seemingly have no consistent starting line-up.

Oct 1 • 10:45 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

State agencies reach agreements with ICE + Democrats worry about election security

Subscribe to Under the Dome for a daily dose of North Carolina politics news.

Oct 1 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • newsobserver.com

Business Community Signals Openness to Removing Public Vote on Nuclear

PLYMOUTH — Gov. Maura Healey’s mission to restore nuclear power to Massachusetts has put the local business community at odds with nuclear watchdog groups. Advocates worry that the removal of […]

Sep 30 • 7:52 PM EDT • Business • provincetownindependent.org

How Democrats learned to stop worrying about gender politics

As they prepared for Republicans to drop another billion dollars of ads on their heads this summer, Democrats passed around fresh advice on gender politics.

Sep 30 • 1:02 PM EDT • Politics • yahoo.com

Billy Joel Shares Update on Brain Disorder, Says Health Isn't That Bad

Billy Joel shares an update on the brain disorder that took him off the road last year, saying his health isn't that bad and people shouldn't worry.

Sep 30 • 1:01 PM EDT • Health • rollingstone.com

NASA wants to send humanoid robots to the moon

Don't worry. Actual astronauts aren't out of a job.

Sep 30 • 12:01 PM EDT • Science • popsci.com

Trading cards: A hobby-turned business

“‘I shouldn’t be walking into a Target, [going] to the Pokémon section and [worrying] I’m about to get tackled by somebody because I just wanted to get a pack of cards. I feel like it drives people away from the community.’”

Sep 29 • 11:13 PM EDT • Business • thebutlercollegian.com

Kalen DeBoer Reveals Biggest Worry For Alabama Facing Mississippi State

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer revealed his biggest worry about facing Mississippi State this week.

Sep 29 • 2:28 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Will Boston Blue Hill Ave biz owners be displaced?

Blue Hill Ave. business owners worry that the corridor's redevelopment isn't for them, it's for the wealthy white people on their way.

Sep 29 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • bostonglobe.com

AI, outrage, walls and killing — a busy week

Like most older folks, I’m a tad nervous about the whole artificial intelligence trend. But don’t worry, everything will be OK because our current president, obsessed with gold-trimmed minutiae, gave a speech at the United Nations, of all places, to announce we should now stop using the term “AI” and start using “SI” for “super […]

Sep 29 • 3:00 AM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com

Health director recommends moving Douglas County Sheriff’s staff after fecal contamination worsens

Tests show liquid from the ceiling drained into buckets contains fecal matter, so sheriff’s staff worry about the effect on their health.

Sep 28 • 11:27 PM EDT • Health • wowt.com

Health director recommends moving staff

Tests show liquid from the ceiling drained into buckets contains fecal matter, so sheriff’s staff worry about the effect on their health.

Sep 28 • 11:26 PM EDT • Health • wowt.com

Study across 40 countries: Political activism linked to representation

Not happy with the election result? Don't worry. Election Day is not the only opportunity to influence politics.

Sep 28 • 9:00 PM EDT • Politics • phys.org

Floridians can give input on the state's new science ed standards during a listening tour this week

Some education advocates worry the subject of climate change will be phased out of Florida's science standards during the updating process.

Sep 28 • 5:16 PM EDT • Science • wusf.org

Bobby Kotick’s lawyers sent me a bad email (and later apologized)

The message I had received was unsettling—for a moment. Then it was just really confusing. Back on January 20 of this year, at 5:15pm ET, I received an email with the subject line “Legal Correspondence re Bobby Kotick.” It was from the law firm Clare Locke, a firm I’d heard had been emailing reporters in recent years about their coverage of Kotick, the former, longtime CEO of Activision Blizzard. The letter was threatening. A lawyer from the firm introduced themselves as “defamation counsel to Bobby Kotick.” They issued a “demand” that I “correct” a Game File article I’d published a week prior. The article that had irked them had been a scoop of sorts. I’d written about a a 2022 lawsuit brought by a Swedish pension fund, AP7, over Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard. The suit wasn’t news, but I was first to review and report about Kotick’s extensive pushback to the fund’s claims. 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.

Sep 28 • 4:13 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news

An Old Paper Really Did Suggest A Mathematical "Doomsday" On 13 November 2026, But There's No Need To Worry

The paper, written in 1960, suggests "doomsday" will occur on 13 November 2026. But unless there are billions of secret pregnancies out there, you shouldn't be all that concerned.

Sep 28 • 1:02 PM EDT • Science • iflscience.com

In brief: '9 to 5' headed back to theaters and more

Pour yourself a cup of ambition and head out to your local movie theater. 9 to 5 is headed back to movie theaters for a special, weeklong run starting on Oct. 9. This will be a newly restored version of the classic satirical workplace comedy starring the late Dolly Parton. Additionally, Disney is set to donate net proceeds from each ticket purchased for the rerelease in the U.S. to the Dollywood Foundation in support of its flagship program, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Disney is the parent company of ABC News ...Off Campus star Ella Bright has found her next gig. The actress confirmed she will star opposite Mason Thames in the movie Narcs in a post shared to her Instagram Story. This marks Bright's first major studio feature role. The upcoming coming-of-age comedy will be made for Sony Pictures. While the movie's plot is being kept under wraps, it will serve as the directorial debut of John Phillips, the writer of No Hard Feelings, Good Boys and Dirty Grandpa ... TNCMS.AdManager.render({region: 'fixed-big-ad-top-asset', slot: 1, fold: "above"}); Did you miss Evil Dead Burn in theaters? Not to worry. The film is set to make its global streaming debut on HBO Max on Oct. 2. Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright, Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Erroll Shand and Maude Davey star in the film that was directed by Sébastien Vaniček ...Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Thank you for reading kmaland.comAt KMA, we attempt to be accurate in our reporting. If you see a typo or mistake in a story, please contact us by emailing kmaradio@kmaland.com.

Sep 28 • 8:30 AM EDT • Entertainment • kmaland.com

Under Trump, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Scales Back Enforcement, Worrying Farmers

The fate of two cotton brokers highlights how the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has scaled back its regulatory actions not just for crypto cases but also for the kinds of cases it has long policed.

Sep 28 • 5:02 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Giant, feathered dinosaur with massive claws and tons of teeth found in China

But don't worry, this Cretaceous behemoth probably ate plants.

Sep 27 • 1:03 PM EDT • Science • popsci.com

Giant, feathered dinosaur with massive claws and tons of teeth found in China

But don't worry, this Cretaceous behemoth probably ate plants.

Sep 27 • 1:03 PM EDT • Science • yahoo.com

Maha split shows all is not well with Kennedy’s US health revolution

Republicans worry Make America Healthy Again is an electoral liability while activists claim it has abandoned its values

Sep 27 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • ft.com

Scientific research funding used to be bipartisan. Under Trump, it’s become a constant political football

The NIH grant process remains intact. But supporters on the Hill and in research institutions worry the administration will try to alter it again.

Sep 26 • 7:02 AM EDT • Politics • bostonglobe.com

Microsoft CEO On Recent Xbox Layoffs: 'There's Some Amount Of Streamlining Asha Is Doing...Which Is Great To See'

Don't worry folks, everything is going great and according to plan

Sep 25 • 2:38 PM EDT • Technology • kotaku.com

Why 3 Texas US House races are worrying Republicans. See which ones

A new Cook Political Report analysis moved three Texas U.S. House races toward Democrats as the GOP fights to keep its majority. See where each stands.

Sep 25 • 10:50 AM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com

'Disgraceful' - Chris Sutton Makes Worrying Celtic Claim

Chris Sutton has made a Celtic claim that could leave the fans worried about the future.

Sep 25 • 7:51 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Eagles’ Backfield Concerns Go Beyond Saquon Barkley

The performance of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ run game has been concerning. Going into Week 3, the health of the backfield adds more worry to the situation. Saquon Barkley is at the top of the pecking order for the Eagles, and he’s been dealing with a stinger. After Tank Bigsby led the Eagles in carries during […] The post Eagles’ Backfield Concerns Go Beyond Saquon Barkley appeared first on HEAVY.

Sep 24 • 8:51 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Political psychology: Why extremist parties are thriving and what democratic politicians can do

Far-right and far-left parties are celebrating success after success, leaving moderate politicians in the dust. Many Germans worry about this. Political psychology helps us understand what's behind growing polarization.

Sep 24 • 10:00 AM EDT • Politics • dw.com

Lamar Jackson Stat a Warning for Giants, Jameis Winston

A worrying stat from head coach John Harbaugh's history with Lamar Jackson should worry the New York Giants about backup QB Jameis Winston. The post Lamar Jackson Stat a Warning for Giants, Jameis Winston appeared first on HEAVY.

Sep 24 • 9:30 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Analysis | One Republican could hold back the party’s candidates in Pennsylvania. And it’s not Trump.

Pennsylvania Republicans are starting to worry that the state’s lopsided race for governor is directly affecting four of the nation’s most competitive House races.

Sep 24 • 5:32 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com

Xbox's Restructuring Is A 'Reverse Acquisition In Slow Motion'

Experts call Halo under Activision a 'demotion' and worry that 'Project Helix absolutely must hit'

Sep 23 • 1:00 PM EDT • Technology • kotaku.com

Scientists warn super El Nino could cause 450,000 deaths: Should we worry?

Sep 23 • 12:29 PM EDT • Science • aljazeera.com

Summer signings assessed & why Town fans can have hope

Heading into the international break, Ipswich Town have double the amount of points at this stage of the season compared with their previous Premier League campaign. Bear in mind as well that they've played four teams who are featuring in Europe this season. Saturday at Hill Dickinson Stadium - against a team with just their domestic fixtures to worry about - was particularly frustrating, as Gary O'Neil's side didn't deserve to come away with nothing.

Sep 23 • 11:31 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Patriots' Drake Maye Earns Worrying Label on 'Gross' Ranking

With four interceptions to start the year, a weekly ranking believes Drake Maye appears "rattled" this season.

Sep 23 • 11:22 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Hairy feet, red eyes: Salish Sea reveals two sea spider species new to science

If you're swimming in the Salish Sea late at night and feel a skittering along your calves, tiny hairy feet tip-tapping their way higher and higher toward your face, don't worry—it's probably just the ...

Sep 23 • 11:20 AM EDT • Science • phys.org

Rockstar Issues Major Update Before 'GTA 6' Release

GTA and RDR2 fans have strict new rules to worry about on PC, according to a new Rockstar announcement

Sep 22 • 12:47 PM EDT • Technology • polygon.com

Should Boeing Stock Investors Worry About Its Money-Losing Jet Business?

If you own Boeing (BA), the worry is whether its commercial airplane business can earn money on the jets it sells. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, that business lost money. Its operating margin was negative 2.7%, meaning costs ran above sales. The jet business brought in nearly half of Boeing's revenue for the quarter.

Sep 22 • 9:07 AM EDT • Business • trefis.com