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New Stanton, business owner clash over surge of public records requests
The public records requests began in earnest in January, arriving a few times a month afterward. The handwritten filings sought New Stanton records under the state’s Right-to-Know Law. The borough received seven requests in April and about twice as many in May, according to records obtained by the Trib. Submissions
Valve warns memory crisis is getting worse, retail prices lag bulk supply by up to six months
Valve says manufacturers are seeing component conditions that have not yet reached store shelves. The retail impact may arrive within three to six months.
Disco Elysium Dev ZA/UM Announces Layoffs Affecting Up to 32 Staff
Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM has announced layoffs affecting up to 32 staff just two months after launching Zero Parades: For Dead Spies.
Valve Says RAM Prices Are 'Lagging' And Will Only Get 'Worse'
Valve's top Steam Machine engineers think we have 'three to six months' before memory prices somehow become even more extortionate
Nara Smith says 2-year-old-daughter Whimsy's cancer is in remission
The content creator, known for making elaborate meals while wearing glamorous ensembles, tells her TikTok and Instagram followers that she and her husband have spent the last eight months processing their daughter’s health battle.
Japanese business culture focus of new study abroad offering at MSU
BOZEMAN — This summer, the inaugural faculty-led trip to Japan was jam-packed with new experiences for Montana State University students, helping instill valuable business and cultural knowledge about a unique
iPhone 18 Pro is just two months away, but you probably shouldn't wait for it
The next iPhone lineup is around the corner – and it’s going to be a different one. The base model...
'AppleCare One' is Now Even More Valuable
While the monthly and annual prices of AppleCare+ plans for Macs and iPads received a slight increase this week, AppleCare One continues to start at $19.99 per month in the U.S., making the multi-device plan even more valuable. Launched in July 2025, AppleCare One allows you to cover up to three devices as part of a single subscription for $19.99 per month, and additional devices can be added for $5.99 each.
Will Smith expected to miss at least another month
Either Saturday or Sunday, whenever Dalton Rushing starts behind the plate again, he will pass Will Smith for the Dodgers lead in innings caught this season. Rushing has started 45 games and caught 389 1/3 innings this season. Smith, who started 44 games, is at 393 innings. Smith was a starter on three championship teams […]
Montgomery Co. program provides teens a way to lead on mental health issues
Many of the people working to address mental health issues among teenagers in Montgomery County, Maryland, are still teenagers themselves.
Canadiens Former 20-Goal Scorer Could Find Home in Central
A former Montreal Canadiens 20-goal scorer might find a new home in the Central Division, despite potential headwinds. The post Canadiens Former 20-Goal Scorer Could Find Home in Central appeared first on HEAVY.
Midnight Mania! EPOezdemir Suspended 16 Months
Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!
Paul Pelosi charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run over collision with parked car
Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was charged Friday with a misdemeanor hit-and-run over a collision with a parked car earlier this month.
The Haven Exchange: New business downtown provides a unique dining experience
LOCK HAVEN — A building that once welcomed customers to manage their finances is now welcoming them to gather over food, drinks and conversation. After months of renovations, planning and a few last minute hurdles, Emma and Parker Everett officially opened The Haven Exchange, 104 E. Main St., Lock Haven, on Friday, July 17, transforming […]
Indiana Finally Gets Anticipated Final Answer on 5-Star Recruit
After months of battling to land one of the best players in the nation, Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti comes through again with an incredible achievement.The Hoosiers have been in a recruiting battle for five-star standout wide receiver Monshun Sales. Indiana was going up against schools like Alabama, Texas, LSU, and Ohio State.Ultimately, at […] The post Indiana Finally Gets Anticipated Final Answer on 5-Star Recruit appeared first on HEAVY.
Our Decade of Political Progress
I had covered the 2016 election as a blogger — and written about the candidates for Congress, including Montana’s Denise Juneau. But that election was Donald Trump’s first wave and not the historic moment we all expected. But the thing is, one thing always leads to another, and every loss builds a framework for the […]
Leon Black walked out of an Epstein House committee interview. Here’s what we know
Billionaire investor Leon Black, who for years paid Jeffrey Epstein for tax and financial advice, is facing scrutiny over his relationship with the late convicted sex offender after walking out of a closed-door interview with House investigators last month.
Disco Elysium Studio Says Game About People Forced Into Impossible Situations Didn't Sell Well Enough To Prevent Layoffs
In a post on social media, ZA/UM wrote that it would lay off 32 developers two months after releasing Zero Parades: For Dead Spies
Obviously, Bethesda Is Remastering 'Fallout: New Vegas' and 'Fallout 3'
The remasters have been an extremely poorly kept secret for months, but now, they're official.
USF marine science fire: St. Pete recovery operations save vital scientific research despite heavy damage
University leaders announced that recovery operations have yielded remarkably successful results two months after a lightning fire heavily damaged the University of South Florida St. Petersburg's College of Marine Science in May.
Not All Scientific Papers Advance Science
This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette. Research is the engine of science. But that engine should not be idling, it should be steadily propelling science forward. The extent of that
iPhone 18 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 12 New Features
It is now mid-July, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are now just two months away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more.
'These are striking forecasts': Super El Niño keeps getting even more likely, and it could bring a humanitarian crisis
Forecasts point to the ongoing El Niño rapidly strengthening to a likely all-time record in the coming months, fueling temperature rises and extreme weather.
Three companies to join Howard County business community
Through a joint venture between Greenebaum Enterprises Inc. and St. John Properties Inc., three tenants will be joining Montpelier Research Park in Laurel.
Battlefield 6 to Get Top Gun Crossover in August
Battlefield 6 is getting a Top Gun crossover next month.
DSW Marks 35 Years With Slate of Celebrations Amid Evolving Business
DSW is marking 35 years in business with a two-week customer appreciation sale this month as the company continues to evolve.
Whole Hog Politics: Trump’s election obsession is a midterm loser
It isn’t that Republicans couldn’t pass a single major piece of immigration legislation in the 18 months that their party has had unified control of Washington. It’s that they wouldn’t. None other than the late Sen. Lindsey...
Summer is winding down: Health tips for parents ahead of the school year
Summer break is wrapping up for students across the Piedmont Triad, and many parents may be wondering how to ensure their children have a good start to the school year. Here's what health experts suggest.
El Niño is here, and it’s already looking like it could be 'mind-blowing'
Temperatures in the El Niño region in the Pacific Ocean are the warmest they've been on record at this time of year. And the peak is still months away.
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Might Make the Long Wait for a New 2D Castlevania Worth It
After playing the first three hours of Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, Dead Cells developer Evil Empire's take on the legendary series seems to be poised to live up to extraordinarily high standards set by its predecessors.
Castlevania Belmont's Curse Hands-On: A Daunting Balancing Act
The 2D revival combines Dead Cells and Hollow Knight into a Metroidvania that aims to be more than an homage
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse hands-on report
Konami and Evil Empire get the blood pumping with slick combat in classic Castlevania.
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse - Komani classic rises again from Paris sewers and Joan of Arc is a boss
Evil Empire creatives explain how it is playing to today’s ‘metroidvanias’ and honouring the original’s legacy with much fresh slaying to be done
The Unlikely Story Of How Konami Asked Evil Empire To Make Castlevania: Belmont's Curse
What started as a simple crossover request became a years-long collaboration.
Google Pixel 11 Specs Leak Ahead of Next Month’s Unveiling
Early leaks for the Google Pixel 11, Pro, and Pro Fold reveal potential specs, a variety of new colors, and a price increase across the lineup.
Japanese business culture focus of new study abroad offering at MSU
The JapanX course was taught by Thomas Lechner and Maritza Espina, professors in MSU’s Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship.
Stanley Cup, World Cup lead to big betting in June, last month before tax, distribution changes
How Americans are engaged with news, politics, religion and civic life
The Briefing ☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today’s email: 🔥 Featured story German regulators said this week that the country’s media laws apply to content generated by artificial intelligence after a court ruled last month that Google is liable for inaccurate […]
Arkansas medical marijuana sales down through June
Medical marijuana sales in Arkansas were $140.3 million in the first six months of 2026, down 2.6% compared with the same period in 2025 when sales totaled $144 million, the...
Arkansas medical marijuana sales down through June
Medical marijuana sales in Arkansas were $140.3 million in the first six months of 2026, down 2.6% compared with the same period in 2025 when sales totaled $144 million, the...
5 Micro Center Finds With Deep Discounts In July 2026
Micro Center is holding a back-to-school sale along with regular monthly discounts that let you get laptops, computer monitors, and components on the cheap.
Google Gemini Launch Delayed as Tech Falls Short of Internal Goals
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is months behind schedule on delivering Gemini 3.5 Pro, its most powerful flagship AI model, because the company has been taking time to try to improve its capabilities, particularly in coding, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump is taking longer to approve disaster aid and denying Democratic states more frequently
When major disasters strike, Americans are routinely waiting weeks — or even months — to receive presidential approval for aid. And if they live in a state that didn't support President Donald Trump, chances are greater that aid will be denied.
Science Grant Could Deliver $160M For Quantum Tech In CT
At a gathering held at the UConn Hartford campus, state leaders celebrated Connecticut being selected as a Regional Innovation Engine for quantum technologies by the National Science Foundation.
Motorola is bad at Android updates, confusing promises are on full display with latest release
Motorola is pretty bad at software updates, with new Android versions delayed by months and devices often getting the bare...
SUD Industry Optimistic Despite Reimbursement Woes
This is an exclusive BHB+ article. A few months ago, I was moderating a panel on M&A in behavioral health, and a theme emerged: savvy buyers could get
Maker of Drone Boats Used in Iran War to Open New Texas Shipyard
Saronic Technologies will make naval and commercial vessels at the facility. The company’s naval drone helped rescue the crew of a downed Apache helicopter last month.
How is USF St. Pete’s Marine Science Lab doing 2 months after catastrophic fire?
For the 150 students and faculty housed in the building, the last couple months have been a series of ups and downs.
ABB to Buy Rotork in $5.5 Billion Deal to Strengthen Electrification Business
Under the agreement, shareholders would receive $6.81 for each Rotork share, a 60% premium to the company’s three-month average share price.
Trump is taking longer to approve disaster aid and denying Democratic states more frequently
Americans are waiting longer for disaster aid under President Donald Trump, with delays often lasting weeks or months
5 of 10 questions policy researchers—and all healthcare stakeholders—should be asking this year and next
In healthcare policymaking, priorities are like flaming swords to a circus juggler. It’s easy to take on one too many—and overlook the overreach until a burn or laceration halts the show. The word picture is suggested between the lines of a peer-reviewed paper published this month.
ZeniMax Online Studios leadership to exit as part of Xbox cuts
There are major changes happening atop Maryland-based ZeniMax Online Studios, developer of the Elder Scrolls Online, Game File has learned. Joe Burba, a 14-year veteran of the studio who was appointed to run it last July, is departing, along with ESO executive producer Susan Kath, studio game director Rich Lambert and production director Ala Diaz. Their roles were listed among hundreds of others cut last week from the Maryland offices of ZeniMax, in a WARN letter sent to the state by ZeniMax and obtained today by Game File. Tonight, BUrbam Kath, Lambert and Diaz notified Zenimax Online Studios workers of plans to “transition” to a new leadership team consisting of promoted ZOS veterans. That transition will occur “over the next few months,” they told workers, according to a copy of the notice reviewed by Game File. “We will remain in place during the transition period to help ensure a smooth handoff.” Last week, Microsoft laid off of 1,600 workers across its vast gaming teams in locations around the U.S. and abroad. Just who has been impacted and how hard various studios have been hit has been emerging day by day. Game File reported last week that Microsoft/ZeniMax notified officials in Maryland that 379 gaming jobs were being cut across the state. They tallied cuts in two locations: one for ZeniMax Media Inc. (covering Elder Scrolls/Starfield/Fallout-maker Bethesda Game Studios and central Bethesda game publishing) and one for ZeniMax Online Studios (Elder Scrolls Online). More than 200 jobs were cut at the latter. Last week’s totals did not reveal job titles, nor did Microsoft announce any leadership changes in the ZeniMax group. That has now happened. Earlier today, Game File obtained from Maryland officials a breakdown of the 379 impacted roles, which, extraordinarily, included “studio head.” Microsoft later confirmed to Game File which studio head that referred to: ZeniMax Online Studios’. Microsoft has since has notified studio employees and internally announced new leadership. ZOS will now be run by Josh Henderson, previously head of business operations at the studio, and Nick Giacomini, who was promoted to game director for ESO last August. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Last week’s news of 200+ cuts at ZeniMax Online Studios generated public sympathy for those workers and questions about the long-term viability of the Elder Scrolls Online. ESO is a massively multiplayer online game that inherently persists on the strength of new content being developed for it. Earlier today, fans and workers in Maryland protested the cuts at the ZeniMax teams in a rally organized by the Communication Workers of America, the union that represents many of the impacted employees. Regarding concerns around the game, a community manager stated on Saturday: “The plan is still to deliver great content, and we will hopefully have an update soon.” In their note to the studio today, the outgoing leaders of ZeniMax Online Studios predicted “growth” for the game: We have tremendous confidence in Josh and Nick, the future of this studio, and the continued growth of ESO. With exciting experiences still ahead for our players as we wrap up work for Update 51 and beyond, we believe that your passion, creativity, and commitment to each other and the community will continue serving as the heartbeat of ESO. The list of jobs cut in the ZeniMax WARN notice in Maryland includes several very senior roles, including: Studio Head Studio Operations Director Studio Game Director Studio Audio Director Studio Art Manager Vice President and Controller VP, Global Sales & Business Development While some of those job descriptions match the exiting ZOS leadership team, Game File couldn’t verify if all were from that studio. The full list of cut roles shared by Maryland officials also covers workers at Bethesda Game Studios and its central publishing office. The following is an excerpt: The list of 379 eliminated ZeniMax jobs in Maryland also includes: four animators three bilingual CS (community service) leads for Chinese, Italian, and Japanese a creative director for the Elder Scrolls Online Player Life Cycle two food service workers seven producers more than 60 senior QA testers. and many others The WARN notice states that almost all of the 379 workers were notified of their layoff on July 6. In fine print, it states: “Approximately 9 employees were notified of the elimination of their position prior to July 6, 2026.” A 2021 mega-merger scaled back Microsoft announced in 2020 that it intended to buy ZeniMax and its network of game studios in 2020, and closed the $7.5 billion deal in March 2021. The purchase, which preceded Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, added several award-winning studios to Microsoft’s portfolio, including Bethesda (Elder Scrolls, Fallout), Arkane (Dishonored), and id Software (Doom). The studios’ output since then included a 2024 Game of the Year contented from MachineGames in the form of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle along with Starfield from Bethesda and the poorly-received Redfall from Arkane Austin. In recent years, a Microsoft repeatedly in cutback mode closed ZeniMax’s Tango Gameworks (which was reconstituted by Krafton) and closed Arkane Austin. The Xbox cuts last week have hit the ZeniMax group hard, with 158 jobs eliminated in Texas, many of them at id, and 379 from the ZeniMax teams in Maryland. Xbox also said last week that it would be entering a consultation process around Arkane Lyon, a process expected to end in a sale, shutdown or other form of divestment. The Lyon team has been working on a game tied to Marvel’s Blade vampire-hunting super-hero.
The States Try to Topple WarnerMount…Thus Begins the Local Antitrust Era
(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.) Well, it looks like it’s time for another strategy column. Can I finally avoid writing about M&A? No, it seems I cannot. Admittedly, I’m a week early with this column, since I usually put it out every other week. But this news couldn’t wait. This will make three “Most Important Stories” in a row with a merger or acquisition as its centerpiece. First, Roku-Fox (an acquisition), then Comcast-NBCUniversal (a divestment!), and now the State AGs and the WGA’s lawsuits against Paramount’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery (antitrust). M&A is usually the “most important” topic any given week, simply because a giant company merging or breaking up (or preventing those outcomes) can have the biggest impact on the streaming board. If you think about these companies as players in a game, changing the number of players is one of the biggest changes you can make. I shouldn’t really complain, either, since this lawsuit is very good news for customers and suppliers (econ speak for talent, workers and indie studios in Hollywood). So let me answer some questions about this potential trial, along with (shudder) making some heavily caveated predictions. I’ll also look at whether Hollywood must consolidate, whether or not the states can win, trouble at X-Box, Netflix’s YouTube binge, and more. Plus, I have five images that visualize this merger and the harm, including three brand new data looks you’ve never seen before. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Can The States and the WGA Stop Hollywood’s Consolidation (Crisis)? If every other newsletter and news outlet is writing about the same story, I try to avoid writing about it as well, but I can’t ignore a story this consequential. The story of the last year was the fate of Warner Bros. Discovery, and this development potentially extends that saga into 2027. As I tried to figure out my angle, I realized, like my last column, I’m again faced with a series of questions. These questions, though, are much more forward-looking. Will the states win? Will the WGA win? If so, what happens to Warner Bros. Discovery? Either way, will this chill the market for future mergers? So you know what that means: predictions. About the future, no less, the hardest thing to predict.1 Just remember: nothing here comes with a guarantee. And the more confident someone is in their predictions, the less you should trust them. This situation is incredibly fluid, nuanced, uncertain and tenuous. So let’s try to explain what may happen. Question: Why File this Lawsuit? I’ll admit, a few months back, I was fairly pessimistic about the fate of this lawsuit. Rumors had started bubbling up that the state Attorneys General (in particular California) wanted to settle with either some minor divestments (usually CNN) or behavioral remedies. And that tracked for me: the states usually settle lawsuits, like the recent John Deere right-to-repair suit. Yet, they plan to fight this. (As they did the LiveNation-Ticketmaster monopolization trial and the Nexstar-Tegna merger.) Honestly, that also makes a ton of sense. Frankly, this move is just good politics for these State AGs. Most are still running for higher and higher office in blue states—some folks have emphasized that only Democratic AGs joined this suit, but given the Ellison/Trump ties, and fears of retribution, that tracks—and a high profile case like this will help them move up the electoral ladder, especially since Paramount and its leadership (the Ellisons, father and heir) have sided with the other side of the political aisle. That makes them unsympathetic to Democratic voters and Hollywood workers in particular. Why did this lawsuit happen? In addition to the very real concerns about industry consolidation, this is why. That said, I don’t think we would have seen this lawsuit for Netflix and Warner Bros., simply because they’re more sympathetic and aligned with Democrats. But those consolidation concerns are real. The “town”—meaning Hollywood and such—really is seeing the damage of mergers on this industry. That’s why the WGA also filed its own lawsuit in defense of workers as well. (Wildcard: What about Europe? Will they try to stop the deal, too? There have been some rumors out of the UK they may try to fight the deal, and UK enforcers just stopped a Getty Images-Shutterstock tie up, so there is precedence. This argument could go either way, though. On one hand, the EU doesn’t need to step in, cause they states are handling it. On the other hand, this could make the EU’s case easier. Just imagine if both sides coordinated. I’ll simply say, “We’ll see!”) Question: Will The State AGs or the WGA Win? Can the state AGs play David to Paramount-Skydance’s Goliath here? That’s really the whole thing, isn’t it? If you know this result, you could make a lot of money. When things are uncertain, it’s tempting to shrug and say, “Eh” meaning it’s a 50/50 proposition. I wouldn’t, though. When in doubt, you should expect that the merging parties succeed. AT&T did successfully buy Warner Bros., after all, and Disney bought Fox without any challenges. Many judges are extremely sympathetic to mergers, and I’d bet the state AGs get a judge who will allow the merger. (Even Obama-appointed judges often allow mergers.) As I understand it, we’ll see two main attacks. First, theatrical films. The AGs are arguing that, when it comes to share of box office and the number of both “wide releases” and blockbuster (or “tentpole”) films, the merging parties will have over 27% market share. Now, the Supreme Court once ruled from on high that any merger that exceeds 30% is presumptively illegal, but that’s guidance, not an ironclad bar. Still, the states will have to argue that this is close to having too much power, and with that power, this will likely further worsen the theater/studio splits in particular. Indeed, as Matthew Stoller pointed out, “just five studios are responsible for 95% of all blockbusters; if this merger goes through, then Paramount and Disney will control 60% of that.” So yes, movie studios will be very concentrated after this merger. Want me to visualize some of that? Well, here’s the share of films that grossed over $200 million at the domestic box office since 2022. (Note: this isn’t all films released in over 3,000 screens, but it is a good look at market power.) First, here are the 43 films by studio: Notice all the blue (Disney), orange (Universal), and purple (Warner Bros)? Yeah, those studios are powerful, and this combines Paramount with one of them. Here’s the look by studio and share of the films that grossed over $200 million: Now, if you look at that and also think, “Huh, should we break up Disney?” I’m with you. I’ve seen some folks poo-poo this idea that this is a real category, but it is! For an upcoming article, I’ve been pulling data on the share of top 100 films at the box office as a share of total box office, and it’s massive. Here’s the chart: (This analysis looks at The-Number’s top 100 films and total domestic box office each year.) To be clear, tentpoles make up 80.7% of the box office each year, so I do think it’s a genuine market. (To be clear, films grossing over $50 million make up 80% of the domestic box office, and films grossing over $100 million make up 64.1%.) I mean, the top 100 films at the box office make up 95% of each year’s grosses. Worse, the combined studios will likely cut output to flex that market power. Everyone can just look at what happened to Disney and Fox to see the precedent. (With fewer films, the remaining theaters have to give more for those few films that remain.) Here’s an image I’ve used a lot, the share of wide-release films from Disney and Fox over time: The AGs will also argue that this consolidation will also impact the cable industry. In this case, the consolidation is actually worse, but that environment is…complicated. Paramount will argue that the cable industry is shrinking. That said, predictions that cable will “go to zero” also don’t look very well supported by the data, as the declines are shrinking, meaning “cable” or “vMVPDs” will likely stabilize at some point. Can the state Attorneys General win on those two main arguments? I honestly don’t know. Again, I’d bet no, since history in general supports that, but it depends on the judge/jury and how they interpret the arguments. Notably, Paramount won’t face accusations about monopoly power in other areas, like streaming, news, sports rights, or vertical integration. I tend to disagree with leaving out sports rights, but I also see the appeal for a simpler case. The states also aren’t really pushing novel theories about labor harm either, which should help. (By the way, Sean McNulty at The Ankler wrote a great run through of potential options, and Capitol Forum also wrote a great paper on theatrical consolidation. Both these pieces predated the lawsuit. Matthew Stoller is also out with his analysis of the pros and cons of the case too.) In some ways, the WGA’s case is even stronger. Quoting Sean McNulty’s summary: “The WGA is citing WARNAMOUNT as crossing a 30% market share in multiple sectors, a number that the Supreme Court has precedent for deeming “presumptively anticompetitive” in a market. According to the WGA numbers, WARNAMOUNT would have represented: - 35% of film writing jobs between 2021 and 2024 - 36% of TV writing projects between 2022 and 2025 - 38% of overall deals between 2021 and 2024” Notably, antitrust enforcers did win recently in the Penguin-Simon & Schuster merger by focusing on labor impact, so don’t count this thinking out. (Wildcard: Will the states try to get a jury trial? Most likely no, they’ll let a judge handle it. If I’m them, though, I’d try to put this in front of a jury. Juries tend to understand monopoly power in a more realistic way than judges faced with legions of economists.) Question: What if They Win? What if They Lose?
Cook County Public Health Offers Back-to-School Vaccinations at Suburban Cook County Community Events - Cook County Department of Public Health
Parents can get their children vaccinated for the upcoming school year, right on time for National Immunization Awareness Month in August. Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) is providing back-to-school immunizations at no cost for the 2026-27 school year to children ages 6 months to 18 years old, regardless of immigration or insurance status, now through mid-October.
AppleCare+ gets a price increase for new Mac and iPad plans
As Bloomberg reports, Apple has increased its monthly and annual AppleCare+ rates for new Mac and iPad customers. Here are the details.
Charlotte business break-in: Police seek suspect caught on camera along Eastway Drive
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are asking for the public’s help identifying a man caught on surveillance camera breaking into a business along Eastway Drive near Independence Boulevard last month.
Apple Boosts AppleCare+ Monthly Prices by 50 Cents in Latest Increase
Apple Inc. slightly raised the cost of individual AppleCare+ service subscriptions, marking its latest price increase in the face of a global memory shortage and other challenges.
She Spent 6 Months Looking for the Perfect Spring Water. What She Found Changed Her Entire Business.
Clara Sieg, co-founder and CEO of Loonen, learned that even spring water has footnotes. Her answer was reinventing the process, not the source.
Google releases first Pixel 11 teaser and shows Pixel Glow [Video]
Following the event announcement last week, Google today released the first Pixel 11 teaser. We are just under a month...
Microsoft patches record number of security vulnerabilities, citing its use of AI
Microsoft's monthly release of security fixes, dubbed Patch Tuesday, resolved a record 570 security vulnerabilities across the company's product line, thanks to discoveries with AI.
Hit Superhero Comedy Game Dispatch Finally Lands on Xbox This Month, Uncensored Scenes and All
Hit superhero workplace comedy game Dispatch will finally land on Xbox this month, developer AdHoc Studio has announced.
July’s PS Plus Game Catalog titles include Rise of the Ronin and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit is also one of two Classics Catalog titles this month…
Essentia Health encourages parents to schedule well-child/teen visits during slow summer months
As families settle into summer routines, Essentia Health is encouraging parents to take advantage of the season’s added flexibility by scheduling well-child/teen visits before school, sports and activities pick back up.
Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) Stock Still Looks Like A Bargain Despite Earnings Risks
Flutter Entertainment stock is coming off a steep share price decline over the past year while valuation checks still lean cheap, and that contrast is now front and center for investors watching renewed interest following high profile buying from Michael Burry. Over the last 12 months, Flutter Entertainment shares have fallen 63%, which puts the focus squarely on whether the current price already reflects the recent pain. Michael Burry’s long position and the wider debate around how tighter...
How Clean, Accessible Data Powers Agentic AI Workflows and Better Business Decisions
Over the past few months, conversations with customers, partners, and peers — including at the recent Databricks Data + AI Summit — have surfaced a consistent set of shifts happening across the analytics and data landscape.
USA Roller Sports National Championships Bring Elite Competition to Lincoln
Athletes from across the country are in Lincoln this month for the 2026 USA Roller Sports National Championships, where competitors of all ages are vying for na
Apple adds new 36-month financing options for iPad purchases
Apple has added new financing options for cellular iPad purchases. As of today, you can buy cellular iPads directly from...
House G.O.P. Releases Budget to Unlock $95 Billion for Iran War and SAVE Act
The plan faces a rocky path amid Republican divisions and would pave the way for votes months before the midterm elections to fund a war that polls show is deeply unpopular.
Sons of country music star and NFL great will face off to start high school football season
Bo Bryan and Battle Ground Academy will face off against Gunner Rivers and St. Michael Catholic next month.
‘Victorious’ star Daniella Monet recalls auditioning against Miley Cyrus and Taylor Momsen for ‘Hannah Montana’
‘Victorious’ star Daniella Monet relives the ‘wild, wild day’ when she auditioned against Miley Cyrus and Taylor Momsen for the role of Hannah Montana.
As Western wear booms, one Fremont Street shop shows off old-school bootmaking
Javier Martell, the owner of Old Country Boots, is among the few remaining bootmakers in the United States.
New Roadmap to Strengthen Local Public Health-Elected Official Relationships
The roadmap encourages local leaders to commit to five concrete actions to improve collaboration around public health in their communities.
Inside the states' case to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger
Winning a restraining order will be a crucial test for California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and his group. Some observers see the states' efforts as an uphill climb because the U.S. Justice Department last month approved the merger.
Iowa Tribe claims health care sovereignty from IHS
The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma entered the Indian Health Service’s Tribal Self-Governance Program this month, announcing it now has more direct oversight of its healthcare.
Iowa Tribe claims health care sovereignty from IHS
The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma entered the Indian Health Service’s Tribal Self-Governance Program this month, announcing it now has more direct oversight of its healthcare.
Forrester’s 2027 Budget Planning Guides: After A Year Of Caution, Business And Tech Leaders Are Ready To Invest Again
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 15, 2026--According to Forrester’s (Nasdaq: FORR) 2027 Budget Planning Guides, business and technology leaders are approaching 2027 with renewed confidence as they increasingly accept volatility as a permanent feature of the business environment. After a year of more cautious spending, more than 80% of leaders expect their budgets to increase over the next 12 months, with as many as one-quarter anticipating growth of 10% or more. But planning in the age of AI demands more
Independent Testing Shows Which Business Security Products Actually Hold Up When It Matters
When Iranian-linked hackers breached medical device maker Stryker in March 2026, they did not need a sophisticated zero-day exploit to cause chaos. Once inside, they triggered simultaneous factory resets on more than 200,000 corporate devices across 79 countries, grinding order processing, production and shipping to a halt for days. Two months later, Foxconn confirmed that the Nitrogen ransomware group had stolen an alleged 8 terabytes of data from its North American factories, including project
Independent Testing Shows Which Business Security Products Actually Hold Up When It Matters
When Iranian-linked hackers breached medical device maker Stryker in March 2026, they did not need a sophisticated zero-day exploit to cause chaos. Once inside, they triggered simultaneous factory resets on more than 200,000 corporate devices across 79 countries, grinding order processing, production and shipping to a halt for days. Two months later, Foxconn confirmed that the Nitrogen ransomware group had stolen an alleged 8 terabytes of data from its North American factories, including project
Grief and mental health - The real reasons for Stanley Nwabali's exit from, and return to, Chippa United
Five months after his surprise departure from Chippa United without much explanation, Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali has returned to the South African Premiership club, in equally unexpected fashion.
Cartier Owner Richemont Posts Sales Beat on Strong Jewelry Performance
Sales at the luxury group rose 20%, bolstered by its jewelry business and despite a volatile market for the sector.
Heat Dome Broils the Western U.S.
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Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse for Switch launches October 15
The Switch version of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse will launch day and date with the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC (Steam, Microsoft Store) versions on October 15, publisher Konami and d…
The Trump team’s worst predictions about the Iran war
Over the last four and a half months, President Donald Trump and those around him have confidently made predictions that quickly fell apart.
Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) Stock Trades Below Fair Value Following Its 62% Slump
Flutter Entertainment has had a tough run over the past year, with the stock down 61.9%, yet current valuation checks still flag it as looking cheap against its fundamentals. High profile interest from investors such as Michael Burry has sharpened the focus on whether the market has pushed Flutter too far to the downside or is correctly pricing in regulatory and competitive risks. Over the last 12 months, Flutter Entertainment's share price has fallen 61.9%, which puts recent interest from...
‘Not harmless entertainment’: Montgomery County bill looks to tackle street takeovers
A new bill moving through the Montgomery County Council is aimed at tackling a big, sometimes dangerous problem on county streets.
'This is not normal': AOC unloads on McConnell's prolonged absence
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questions whether Mitch McConnell's months-long Senate absence is legal, while GOP senators insist he'll return for key votes.
County business park to get first infrastructure, new name
New Hanover County’s Holly Shelter Business Park could be getting its first infrastructure and a new name in the coming months. The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a $6.5 million infrastructure construction contract and renaming on Monday. Once developed, the approximately 300-acre master-planned industrial park is expected to accommodate more than 2 million square feet of industrial space. The construction contract was awarded to Carolina Civilworks, which submitted the lowest responsive bid for the construction of the infrastructure, Akin Akinola, the county’s engineer, told commissioners on Monday. In May 2023, the county approved a development agreement with Sidbury Land & Property Company to establish the business park. The firm then conveyed approximately 52 acres to the county, giving officials the option to purchase another 200 acres, Akinola said. “The county’s role is to construct the initial public infrastructure that will make the site ready for future development,” he said. “Today’s contract award represents the first major construction phase of that project.” The first phase of development will include approximately 2,750 linear feet of business park roadway, a water main and fire hydrants, along with a sanitary sewer pump station, sewer force main and gravity sewer. Other infrastructure will include a right-turn lane on Holly Shelter Road, along with associated drainage, utilities and traffic control improvements. “Completing this work establishes the backbone infrastructure necessary to serve future development and positions the site for future economic investment,” Akinola said on Monday. County staff, in consultation with Wilmington Business Development officials, are also recommending renaming the park as the I-40 Coastal Commerce Park, said Jennifer Rigby, the county’s chief strategy officer. The new name would emphasize the park’s proximity to I-40 and its location on the coast, she said. Several county commissioners also asked to add New Hanover County's name to the business park's name to commemorate the county's contributions. “We are hoping to achieve space for our businesses to grow and expand here in New Hanover County,” Rigby said. “We’ve had great success with out Blue Clay Business Park and this is another opportunity to really provide locations for our businesses to grow and expand.”
47 revelatory hours with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
To review this month’s supposed remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, I must first correct the record. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced isn’t a game about pirates (and assassins) in the 18th century Caribbean. Sure, sure, that’s what the trailers would have you believe. They’ve go their clips of Edward Kenway swinging his swords and steering his pirate ship into cannon-blasting combat against British frigates. Is Resynced truly a pirate game? Of the 47 hours I spent playing Resynced over the past few weeks, I will admit I spent maybe 44 (?) of them collecting plunder with Blackbeard, drinking rum with Anne Bonny and debating the pros and cons of the lawless pirate-run settlement Nassau with Benjamin Hornigold. I may in fact have spent dozens of hours sailing to remote islands, reading treasure maps, opening messages left in bottles, sinking the odd Man o’ War with a well-timed broadside, collecting sea shanties for my crew, befriending a pet monkey, and hunting whales. I am nevertheless neither so Gullible nor so Narrow-Minded as to call the magnificent Resynced a “pirate remake.” Oh no. Forget any reviews of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced you may have read. Forget what you yourself may have played, if you’ve spent any time with the game since its launch. What Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is really about I’m here to give you the scoop (spoilers for Resynced’s Animus menu lore, which many players are probably not going to see): Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, the new game whose development was led by Ubisoft Singapore, is set in the year 2096. It’s about a societal split, about revolution, about an old Assassin’s Creed adventure repurposed in the series’ distant future as propaganda or samizdat. It’s about the overheated future of 2096, essentially conquered by the series’ well-established nefarious Templar-run company Abstergo. (In this future, Abstergo is, among other things, remaking a 2013 pirate movie called Devils of the Caribbean, but this time in VR. The VR version will be backed by a marketing plan that involves AI influencers, a 10,000-avatar “metaverse premiere event” and that manufacturing of memes aimed at “50 million VR nodes.” See what I mean about Abstergo being evil?) Resynced is about a late 21st-century population mollified by the widespread use of Abstergo’s Animus devices which let people experience the lives of historical figures culled from “genetic memories.” It’s about an insurgent faction of Assassins. And it’s about a plan to wake the population into revolutionary fervor by showing them the memories of 18th century pirate Edward Kenway, who—as depicted in the original Black Flag and again in Resynced—gradually comes to an understanding about the Assassins of his day and their centuries old fight for freedom. Resynced is also about an AI developed within the late 21st-century Animus, called Ego. It has found a way to alter genetic memories, to create and show Animus users false ones. The game is about Ego’s efforts to tell the people experiencing Edward Kenway’s memories that Kenway was wrong, that fighting against order is folly, that we should crave a world where “compliance is rewarded with power.” Who are we in this game? We’re an unnamed Animus user in 2096 who experiences Kenway’s journey virtually. At four moments during Kenway’s exploits in the Caribbean our virtual jaunt can be interrupted for 10-15 minutes, as we explore Animus “rifts” where Ego explicitly tries to tell us how wrong Kenway was. None of this is what 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was about, of course. That was a different game, even if you also spent dozens of hours pirating as Kenway in that game, across missions and a map that’s been faithfully reintroduced and rebuilt for Resynced. The 2013 Black Flag was about you playing as an unnamed researcher newly hired in 2013 by Abstergo Entertainment, the video game development wing of the Templars’ evil-corp. In that game, you were assigned to use the Animus to dive into the genetic memories of Desmond Miles, a man who died in Assassin’s Creed III and who was descended from a long line of Assassins (and at least one Templar) whose adventures were featured across the prior AC games. In 2013’s Black Flag, your mission was to plumb the Edward Kenway experience for material that Abstergo could use in productions such as the motion picture Devils of the Caribbean, though the Templars had some ulterior motives for the assignment. Resynced is therefore not a remake of 2013’s Black Flag. It’s a sequel. It is a new game about a new exploration of Edward Kenway’s pirate/assassin journey, set 83 years after the framing sequences of the original game. Resynced provides a new narrative framework that, thanks to the concept of an AI that wants to alter historical memories, arrives with creative justification to tweak a now-classic 13-year old game. That makes Resynced, already a hot seller, a tantalizing hint of where Ubisoft could go with a line of Assassin’s Creed remakes. They could remake the first game, the Ezio games, even the recent ones set in ancient Egypt and Greece. And for each, they could not just modernize the graphics and controls but expand and alter their sequences of events to use them as reference points for a conflict set in the late 21st century, as rival factions try to weaponize historical memories. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, even when that work consists of ravings about Assassin’s Creed’s modern day plot, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe A story most players will probably miss If you didn’t know any of this, I’m not surprised. If you played the game and still didn’t catch it, I’m not a bit shocked. If Ubisoft has no plans to do more of this, I won’t fall down. Almost all of what I’ve described is optional and missable in Black Flag Resynced. I nearly missed it myself, as I planned for a breezy playthrough of an old Assassin’s Creed favorite. Instead, I found myself in a 40+ hour hunt for the “real” story, buried deeper in Resynced than any gold-filled chest. The story of 2096 is Resynced’s meta-story, told in two remote pockets of the game: 1) four optional playable “rifts” that players may find as they proceed through Resynced’s pirate fantasy , 2) in dozens of text files tucked three menus deep in the game’s barely-interactive Animus hub. Assassin’s Creed games have almost always had a meta-story about people in the 21st century (usually matching the game’s release year) and their connections to the main history portions you play. Those meta-stories have always been squeezed into the margins, though seldom as severely and as, uh, graphiaclly simple, as in recent games. Back in 2013, the modern-day exploits of you as an Abstergo Entertainment employee were prominent. They were portrayed via first-person portions that occasionally interrupted the third-person Kenway experience and could be explored for hours, complete with their own missions, side quests and puzzles. Resynced’s 2096 story—of Assassin “Watchers” vs. Abstergo/Tempar goons, of rogue AIs, of panicking scientists, of a woman wondering why her Animus-addicted husband is muttering about Mary Read (“What does he mean by Assassins?”), of a fight for the population’s hearts and minds via varying interpretations of Edward Kenway’s life choices—is mostly told through unlockable text files. The files are interesting. Offered via diary entries, intercepted chats and news reports, they present varied perspectives of a world in crisis. One set works as a narrative puzzle as it reveals the Rashomonic interpretations of a massacre, or was that a successful Assassin hit? Another favorite reveals the rising bitterness of a person who, through Edward Kenway’s journey, now shakes at the ignored evil around him. One surmises that Ubisoft is averse to putting the Assassin’s Creed’s meta-story in the way of more marketable pirate playgrounds and ninja/samurai epics. Instead, we get a better-than-nothing text-in-menus approach introduced in 2025’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In Shadows, players unlocked the meta-story text files largely via time-gated missions that called on the user to kill X number of enemy type Y, clear three enemy castles, re-win a three-phase fighting tournament, and other grinds. Time restrictions on accessing these missions and unlocking the files meant it could take players months to access the full story in-game. But even in the most hardcore Assassin’s Creed hangouts, the fanbase instead seemed to throw up their hands rather than grind to keep up. In Resynced, Ubisoft has shown some mercy, diminishing the amount of new text files that are tied to timed grinds. Now, most of the text-based 2096 lore are associated with “data file” collectibles that players can find in the world. That includes a batch of written entries that explain a historical link between the feudal Japan era in Shadows and the piracy adventures in Black Flag. Players who explore a lot will find dozens of data files, though the game does not appear to offer any in-game tracker for finding each one. You just need to keep looking for them. As of this writing, I have most of them, but not all. I can’t find any full guide for them online. And even Ubisoft’s optional $5 microtransaction that reveals lots of items in-game does not appear to reveal the locations of the text files (at least the official description omits them from its collectibles list). That’s not a huge bother, because tracking the data files down compelled me to re-explore the waves and islands of Black Flag. That was a thoroughly pleasant task to do for the first time in a dozen years. I expect many players, though, will be content to wait for the files to be reproduced in an online AC wiki somewhere, the easier to read on a web page. It may not seem enticing to play a video game in order to gradually unlock pages of text to read. Why not, you may ask, just read a book, where they put the pages in order? For one, they’ve not tucked this latest installment of Assassin’s Creed’s meta saga in a book. I also enjoy the unordered delivery, the dawning comprehension of a story about 2096’s desperate people and questionable tech, which I glimpsed first at its middle, then the end, then the front, then other moments in between1. I am also enamored with the idea of the Assassin’s Creed games I’ve previously played, including Black Flag, being repurposed for an information war. The ideas in Resynced’s meta-story, which builds off characters and ideas in Shadows’ chunks of text, are strong. The potential of where they could go with it is exciting. As for the pirate stuff? Looks great, controls pretty well, is fun to play and oh so speedy in terms of how much of a good time you can have with each sit-down. It never gets old to chase a new shanty page across a rooftop, bombard a fort with upgraded mortars or use a diving bell to explore sunken wrecks (hats off to the team at Ubisoft Barcelona that worked on the underwater portions in Resynced; that team is now facing layoffs, such is the misery of modern gaming and oft-troubled Ubisoft). New pirate missions in Resynced involving new ally characters are brief, dramatic and add more to Edward’s story, even if the gameplay perks they provide barely enhance the gameplay. A new denouement for high-class pirate Stede Bonnet is affecting; a new hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure is a welcome extra moment. A new epilogue to hunt down a pirate killer, on the other hand, over-complicates Kenway’s character. The ending credits remain my favorite of any game I’ve ever played. Black Flag provides great source material. The revisit is well-made and a great sign of what could be. It is offered in a different wrapper that hints at an opportunity for more interesting remakes to come, should Ubisoft choose to pursue such treasures—and as we brace to resist or comply with an Abstergo future. 1 The messages that Edward Kenway finds in bottles tell another out-of-order story, one about a man reckoning with the strange memories and voices he’s heard in his head since he was a boy. That tale was also in the 2013 game and develops into one of Black Flag’s most compelling character arcs. In Resynced, it has lost its climax, because the bottle story previously paid off in the halls of the first-person Abstergo Entertainment, which is exclusive to the older game. An altered resolution, written by the 2013 game’s lead writer is fine, doesn’t invalidate the 2013 version, but makes for an inferior final note.
Major Montana healthcare organizations exploring partnership
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In football and also in politics, we must balance high hopes with realism
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Trump administration claims healthcare fraud crackdown has saved taxpayers $5.56B in six months
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Microsoft Patches a Record 570 Security Flaws
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Monster Hunter Wilds Gets Permanent Price Cut Next Month Alongside 'Streamlined' Digital Editions
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Can humans hibernate their way to Mars?
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Science of the city: Why is the county so overweight?
Last month, “Science of the City” explored the unique reasons why Greater Hyattsville can support so many healthy food outlets, despite more than 50% of the county being classified as a “food desert.” This month we explore the controversy over how living in a food desert, which lacks healthy food, or a “food swamp,” which […]