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Essentials Fall 100: Why We Think The Cosori Dual Blaze Is The Best Air Fryer Of Fall 2022 – CBS News https://collincountynewsonline.com/essentials-fall-100-why-we-think-the-cosori-dual-blaze-is-the-best-air-fryer-of-fall-2022-cbs-news/ CBS Essentials; Cosori via Amazon Air fryers are still the hottest kitchen gadgets around. If you don’t have one yet, we’ve found an Amazon bestseller that we love with a 4.8-star-rating and tons of positive reviews. Keep reading to see why the Cosori Dual Blaze smart air fryer earned a spot on our Essentials Fall 100 list — and why it deserves a spot on your kitchen counter.  Top products in this article: Cosori Dual Blaze smart air fryer (6.8 quart), $180 Cosori air fryer oven combo (5.8 quart), $100 Ninja Foodi 12-in-1 deluxe XL fryer (8 quart), $220 (reduced from $250) Air fryers can help you make all sorts of tasty fall foods. Use an air fryer to whip up crispy roasted vegetables or perfectly toasted pumpkin seeds. An air fryer can even make a Sunday night football or Thanksgiving appetizer feast, including stuffed peppers, mozzarella sticks, chicken wings (even from frozen) and potato skins. And you’ll still have your oven free for baking even more goodies. Best of all, because of the way air fryers work, you can make these foods with less oil than traditional methods of preparation. Air fryers cook faster than traditional ovens too, which means you and your crew won’t have to wait as long for your food. The Cosori Dual Blaze is an Amazon best seller. It boasts a bunch of cool features and functions, including Wi-Fi connectivity, voice command and dual heating elements (so you don’t need to flip your food while it’s cooking). Keep reading to shop the Cosori Dual Blaze smart air fryer and see more CBS Essentials air fryer picks. Cosori Dual Blaze smart air fryer (6.8 quart) Amazon The Cosori Dual Blaze air fryer features 12 different cooking functions. According to the brand, the air fryer’s aluminum basket conducts heat three times faster and stores heat more effectively than other air fryers. The kitchen gadget uses dual heating elements and Cosori’s 360 ThermoIQ technology to make real-time temperature adjustments during cooking, so you’ll get evenly cooked and crisped food, without having to shake or flip whatever’s in your basket. The non-stick basket is dishwasher safe. This large Cosori air fryer connects to your phone, so you can scan the barcode of your favorite frozen foods to get the ideal temperature and time settings. This smart air fryer can also be operated by voice command.  “I love how easy it is to cook many different types of food in my new air fryer. No heavy greasy foods to deal with and the foods retain their natural flavors. Extremely fast cooking speeds and the model I chose makes shaking and turning foods over a thing of the past. The foods come out tender crisp and browned perfectly,” raved an Amazon customer who purchased the Cosori Dual Blaze 6.8 quart smart air fryer. Cosori Dual Blaze smart air fryer (6.8 quart), $180 More air fryers to consider If you have limited kitchen counter space or a limited budget, the Cosori Dual Blaze air fryer may not be right for you. Here are more top-rated air fryers that we think you’ll love. Cosori air fryer oven combo (5.8 quart) Amazon The bestselling Cosori air fryer features 13 different cooking functions that prepare your food at the best temperature and time for the most crisp and crunch. Cooking for more than one or two? According to the brand, the 5.8-quart basket can fit a five-pound chicken. The non-stick air fryer basket is removable and dishwasher safe. The top-rated air fryer comes in black, red and white.  “This thing is so easy to clean and use,” enthused an Amazon customer who purchased the Cosori air fryer. “It has made cooking bacon the easiest thing ever, it’s great for reheating items or using it as a mini oven. It becomes a must-have item after you’ve gotten used to adding it to your cooking accessories. I’ll always have an air fryer from now on in my kitchen.” Cosori air fryer oven combo (5.8 quart), $100 Philips Essential Airfryer Compact (4.3 quart) Philips/Amazon Here’s a good air fryer for people with smaller kitchens.  An updated and compact version of the original gadget introduced in 2010, this Philips Essential Airfryer grills, roasts, bakes, reheats and air fries — it’s ready to take on a multitude of air fryer recipes. It features a digital touchscreen with seven presets for simplified cooking. Measures 4.1 liters (more than 4.3 quarts). Philips Essential Airfryer Compact (4.3 quart), $150 Emeril Lagasse power air fryer Emeril Lagasse/Amazon Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse’s countertop convection oven offers many of the same functions as other countertop air fryers, but manages to “kick it up a notch,” in his signature fashion, by adding a rotisserie to the mix. It offers 12 functions on its LCD digital display — air fry, bake, rotisserie, dehydrate, toast, reheat, roast, broil, bagel, pizza, slow cook and warm/reheat — and comes with a crisper tray, rotisserie spit, pizza rack, baking pan, drip tray and cookbook filled with Lagasse’s recipes.  Emeril Lagasse power air fryer, $165 (reduced from $250) Chefman digital air fryer (10.6 quart) Chefman via Walmart The Chefman digital air fryer does more than just get chicken fingers nice and crispy. This 10-liter appliance (10.6 quart) can be used as a rotisserie spit, oven and a dehydrator.  It comes with cooking accessories that include removable racks, a rotisserie basket, rotisserie spit, drip tray and retrieval tool. Chefman digital air fryer (10.6 quart), $116 Instant Pot Crisp multi-cooker and air fryer (8 quart) Instant Pot via Walmart This nine-in-one Instant Pot device can air fry, pressure cook, steam, slow cook, sauté, bake, broil, roast and keep food warm as well as make rice and oatmeal.  The pressure-cooking lid and cooking pot insert are both dishwasher safe. Instant Pot Crisp multi-cooker and air fryer (8 quart), $79 (reduced from $99) Instant Vortex Plus (6 quart) Instant Pot via Amazon Yes, it’s another Instant Pot device but this one specifically air fries. Unlike many air fryers, the Instant Vortex Plus has an easy view window. Instead of opening the air fryer every 10 minutes to see if your food is crisping, watch it get that delicious crunch while it cooks without letting all the heat out of your device.  The Instant Vortex Plus can also roast, broil, bake, reheat and dehydrate food.  Instant Vortex Plus (6 quart), $99 (reduced from $160) Ninja Foodi 12-in-1 deluxe XL air fryer (8 quart) Ninja/Amazon One of Ninja Foodi’s highest-rated models on Amazon, this 4.8-star-rated, family-friendly 12-in-1, extra-large air fryer offers an 8-quart pot that holds up to a 7-pound chicken or eight breasts.  It can pressure cook and slow cook, air fry and crisp, steam, slow cook, bake, sous vide, keep warm, sear, sauté, roast, broil, dehydrate and make yogurt.  Ninja Foodi 12-in-1 deluxe XL fryer (8 quart), $220 (reduced from $250) Instant Pot Omni Plus air fryer toaster oven Instant/Amazon The sleek-looking Instant Omni Plus boasts 10-in-1 functionality, but the headline is: It works as an air fryer and as a toaster oven. It boasts enough space for a large chicken, or 12-inch pizza. Amazon reviewers rate it 4.6 stars; they give it high marks for its easy-to-operate digital interface and stainless-steel exterior.  Instant Pot Omni Plus air fryer toaster oven, $224 The CBS Essentials Fall 100 Want the secret to the perfect fall? The shopping experts at CBS Essentials (that’s us!) have compiled the first-ever Essentials Fall 100, a list of the 100 most essential products of fall 2022.  These must-have items include bestsellers, seasonal favorites, top-rated products and hotly anticipated new gadgets including the new Apple iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple AirPods Pro 2. Before you buy anything this season, check out the CBS Essentials Fall 100 list for the best in tech, kitchen gadgets such as coffee makers, 4K TVs and streaming boxes, home appliances such as washers and dryers, robot vacuums, must-have apparel, cozy furniture, fall decor, Halloween costumes, Thanksgiving turkeys and more. CBS Essentials Fall 100: Our picks for the top 100 must-have products this fall Essentials Fall 100: Why the Apple iPhone 14 is our first-ever must-have fall essential pick Essentials Fall 100: The iRobot Roomba i7+ is our best selling robot vacuum Essentials Fall 100: The Apple AirPods Pro 2 are the must-have earbuds for fall Essentials Fall 100: The Apple Watch 8 is the must-have smartwatch for fall workouts Essentials Fall 100: Apple TV is $60 off right now Essentials Fall 100: Why this Samsung washer and dryer are CBS Essentials best sellers Essentials Fall 100: Amazon Fire TV Omni series is the perfect budget TV upgrade (and it’s on sale) Essentials Fall 100: The Instant Dual Pod Plus coffee maker is the must-have fall kitchen gadget for coffee drinkers Essentials Fall 100: Why your home needs a Ring home security system with cameras this fall

FTX Is Paying $51 Million In Cash For Voyager Assets, Court Records Show – CNBC https://collincountynewsonline.com/ftx-is-paying-51-million-in-cash-for-voyager-assets-court-records-show-cnbc/ Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and chief executive officer of FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange, speaks during an interview on an episode of Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein in New York, US, on Wednesday, Aug 17, 2022. Jeenah Moon | Bloomberg | Getty Images FTX’s winning $1.4 billion bid for bankrupt crypto firm Voyager Digital was announced earlier this week, but court filings indicate that the cash paid for the firm itself is significantly lower — $51 million. The bulk of FTX’s offer focused on Voyager’s crypto holdings, which amounted to $1.31 billion. Those holdings will be distributed to eligible creditors on a pro rata basis, the filings say. related investing news Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s founder, has pursued an aggressive buying spree across the crypto industry, snapping up deeply discounted assets in the wake of defaults, bankruptcies, and market tumult. In the Voyager deal, FTX’s consideration for non-crypto assets — the users, intellectual property, and structure of Voyager itself — constitutes a total of “at least $111 million,” filings show. Just $51 million of that is for Voyager’s assets, intellectual property, and user base. The remaining $60 million consists of an accumulated $50 account credit for each Voyager user who successfully onboards with FTX and a $20 million “earn out” allowance. It was not immediately apparent, based on filings, who would benefit from an earnout, which is often used in acquisitions as a way to incentivize founders and management teams of the company being purchased. Voyager’s most recent bankruptcy report indicated that the company held just shy of $900 million in crypto assets for customers, with another $456.44 million loaned out and $173.68 million held as collateral from borrowers.  Voyager users who chose to migrate to FTX’s platform would receive a pro rata distribution of Voyager assets, based on their portion of Voyager’s overall holdings. Voyager’s troubles emerged after the firm extended a loan valued at $670 million to crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) in early 2022. When 3AC defaulted on its loan obligations in late June, it unleashed a financial cascade that pushed Voyager into bankruptcy and 3AC’s founders into hiding.  FTX’s bid, if approved by creditors, would transfer Voyager’s loan balances — excluding the 3AC loan, which was not part of the deal — to FTX and, by extension, to Bankman-Fried. The $51 million price tag for Voyager and its associated claims would represent a steep discount, given FTX’s assumption of customer assets and loan balances. WATCH: Voyager Digital files for bankruptcy amid crypto lender solvency crisis

Hurricane Ian Already Ranks Among The Top Storms In U.S. History – The Washington Post https://collincountynewsonline.com/hurricane-ian-already-ranks-among-the-top-storms-in-u-s-history-the-washington-post/ The devastation from Hurricane Ian’s direct hit in Southwest Florida is still being tallied, but the storm’s sheer force as it crashed into the coastline has already placed Ian in the upper echelon of hurricanes to strike the United States. When Ian made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Cayo Costa Island, it carried with it maximum sustained winds of 150 mph and a minimum central pressure of 940 millibars. Ian became the 37th major hurricane — a designation reserved for storms of Category 3 intensity or greater — to have ever struck the state of Florida, and just the 15th to be rated a Category 4 or higher. Records of hurricane intensity date back to 1851. By measure of sustained winds at landfall, Ian is in an eight-way tie for the fifth-strongest storm to strike the United States. Over the past two years, two other storms pummeled the United States with winds up to 150 mph: Hurricane Ida, which just last year carved a path of destruction from Louisiana to New York, and Hurricane Laura, which also slammed into Louisiana and brought with it a 17-foot storm surge. Another storm that packed 150 mph winds with it was Hurricane Charley, which made landfall in 2004 in nearly the exact same spot that Ian did — though Charley was significantly smaller when it careened into the coastline. The strongest storm to ever strike the United States was the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, which came ashore in Florida with sustained wind speeds of 185 miles per hour — making it a high-end Category 5 storm. The storm also had a central pressure of 892 when it hit the coast, something that is extraordinarily rare in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, let alone at landfall. Ian’s central pressure of 940 millibars put it in 18th-place historically — edged out by recent major hurricanes like Hurricane Harvey (937 millibars), Hurricane Ida (931 millibars), Hurricane Katrina (920 millibars) and Hurricane Michael (919 millibars). When looking just at Florida, Ian enters a 3-way tie for the fourth strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in the state by maximum sustained winds, surpassed in order by the Labor Day Hurricane (185 mph), 1992′s Hurricane Andrew (165 mph) and 2018′s Hurricane Michael (160 mph). By the measure of minimum central pressure, Ian becomes the ninth-strongest hurricane to ever hit Florida, surpassed by both historical cyclones and recent storms like Hurricane Andrew (922mb), Hurricane Michael (919 millibars) and Hurricane Irma (931 millibars). While it is too early to tell where Ian will stack up in terms of lives lost — Florida has had a history of deadly hurricanes, with fatalities generally dropping in recent years due to improved building codes and much greater warning in advance of storms. The deadliest storm in the modern record to strike Florida was the Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928, which is estimated to have killed at least 2,500 people, with some estimates taking the death toll markedly higher, according to the National Weather Service. Since 2000, the deadliest storms to have hit the state of Florida are Hurricane Irma, which killed 77 people when it made landfall in 2017; Hurricane Michael, which killed 50 people in 2020; Hurricane Frances, which killed 37 people in 2004 and Hurricane Charley, which killed 29, also in 2004. It is also too early to tell if Ian will rank among the costliest hurricanes to hit the United States, but it seems likely to do so. According to NOAA, the top 5 costliest cyclones in U.S. history are Hurricane Katrina ($186.3 billion), Hurricane Harvey ($148.8B), Hurricane Maria ($107.1B), Hurricane Sandy ($81.9B) and Hurricane Ida ($78.7B). All of those storms, with the exception of Katrina, have struck the United States within the past 5 years. To be one of the 10 costliest hurricanes in U.S. history, Ian would have to beat or tie the $29 billion dollars in damage caused by Hurricane Michael, something early estimates suggest it could do. An analyst with Fitch Ratings estimated that insured cost losses in Florid could be anywhere from $25 to $40 billion, with more damage set to come along the Southeast coast when Ian makes landfall in South Carolina. Speaking of South Carolina, if Ian makes landfall in the state as a hurricane as it is currently forecast to do on Friday afternoon, it will be the first storm to do so since 2016, when Hurricane Matthew made landfall in the state, according to Phillip Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University. The last storm to make landfall in both Florida and South Carolina as a hurricane was Hurricane Charley in 2004. Ian will be far from one of the strongest hurricanes to make landfall in South Carolina, though the storm is still quite hazardous. Ian’s massive size means it will bring widespread tropical-storm-force winds to both North Carolina and South Carolina. Storm surge is also a threat for nearly the entire Southeast coastline, with 2-4 feet of surge expected from northern Florida to the surge-vulnerable Outer Banks, with 4-7 feet of surge forecast in South Carolina from Edisto Beach to Little River Inlet.

WCC Expands Information Technology Academic Partnerships | News – Ashepostandtimes.com https://collincountynewsonline.com/wcc-expands-information-technology-academic-partnerships-news-ashepostandtimes-com/ Copyright © 2020 by Mountain Times Publications. Digital or printed dissemination of this content without prior written consent is a violation of federal law and may be subject to legal action. Post a comment as anonymous Welcome to the discussion. Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don’t Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don’t knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the ‘Report’ link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We’d love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article. Ashe Post and Times Newsletters To view our latest e-Edition click the image on the left.

Jesus “Jessie” Cardenas Baiza | Fort Stockton Pioneer – The Fort Stockton Pioneer https://collincountynewsonline.com/jesus-jessie-cardenas-baiza-fort-stockton-pioneer-the-fort-stockton-pioneer-2/ Jesus “Jessie” Cardenas Baiza was born on March 18, 1935, in Agujita, Coahulia, Mexico, to the late Valentin and Julia Baiza. Jessie went home to be with his Heavenly Father on Sept. 23, 2022. Jessie is survived by his children Grace Pulk (the late David) of Double Oak, Texas, Jessie Baiza (Arlene) of Houston, Texas, and Ella Juarez (Michael) of Flower Mound, Texas; his grandchildren Jacqueline Pulk and Katherine Pulk of Double Oak, Michael Pulk (Monty) of Houston, Texas, Lara Calo (Vinnie) of Frisco, Texas, Brianna Baiza of Chicago, Ill., Collin Baiza of Houston, and Mia Juarez and Trent Juarez of Flower Mound; his sister Dora Rascon (the late Luciano) of Odessa, Texas; brothers Candelario Baiza (MaryAnn) of Chicago, Rogelio Baiza (Alicia) of Fort Stockton, Texas, and Ramiro Baiza (the late Corina) of Cedar Park, Texas; his in-laws Frank Granado Sr (Mary Alice) of Fort Stockton, Texas, Shelia Rivera (the late Adan) of Rockwall, Texas, and Felipe Chavarria (the late Eva) of Fort Stockton. Jessie was preceded by his wife Elizabeth Baiza, and his parents Valentin and Julia Baiza. Jessie was a loving husband of 57 years, and a devoted father to his three children, Grace, Jessie and Ella. He immigrated at a young age, settling in West Texas. His love for horses and ranching began while working with his father which then grew into a life-long passion. Jessie worked as a mechanic followed by a short stint in crop-dusting. He then made a 40-plus year career working for Valley Distributors, Inc. Jessie spent his free time working with horses. He roped, broke, trained, and raced Quarter horses and Thoroughbreds. He also enjoyed hunting, which allowed him to travel to Botswana, Republic of South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. When Jessie was not working with horses or hunting, he enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and his family, especially when he got to travel to Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay with them. His high work ethic continued on after retirement, always seeking a job, a task, or an activity. He was never not working. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to Dallas Safari Club or Dallas Safari Club Foundation. Jessie had a true love for the outreach efforts of DSC and their mission to make certain the conservation of wildlife through public engagement, education and advocacy. Dallas Safari Club, 13709 Gamma Road, Dallas, TX 75244. Visitation with rosary was held on Sept. 30, 2022, at First United Methodist Church of Fort Stockton. The funeral service was held Oct. 1, 2022, at First United Methodist Church with graveside service immediately following.

How To Travel More Sustainably Without Harming Destinations – Insider https://collincountynewsonline.com/how-to-travel-more-sustainably-without-harming-destinations-insider/ Traveling sustainably is about making intentional choices to serve your destination and planet well. We asked experts how to make these choices when planning a trip to be as sustainable as possible.  This article is part of “Better Me,” a series about improving your lifestyle and helping society through sustainable efforts and eco-consciousness. Loading Something is loading. Sustainable travel can feel like an oxymoron — as Justin Francis, the cofounder and CEO of Responsible Travel, a UK-based travel company that evaluates trips and vacation providers, told Insider. The travel industry can create jobs, or it can lead to over-tourism that lowers residents’ quality of life. Flights emit harmful emissions, but transport travelers to destinations where they can support local economies and participate in positive, nature-based tourism. Lodging accommodations can boost the local economy, or price residents out of their homes. But Francis believes people can travel “in a way that not only reduces harm but actively maximizes the benefits, for both planet and people.” Five other sustainable travel experts who spoke with Insider agree and say there are actions travelers can take to lower their negative impact, support the destinations they’re visiting, and have an overall better trip. They suggest considering every aspect of your trip — from where you go to how you get there — as you plan to travel more sustainably. Kelley Louise, the executive director and founder of Impact Travel Alliance, a nonprofit centered on informing travelers to help improve the world, told Insider that traveling sustainably takes practice and being an imperfect traveler is better than not trying. As Louise said, “It’s about asking, ‘How can you make little decisions that add up over time and have a positive impact on the world?'” If you’re looking for a place to start, here’s what the experts Insider spoke with recommend. Abbey Lossing for Insider Go off the beaten path Some of the experts Insider spoke with suggest skipping top tourist destinations and opting for under-the-radar spots. “By seeking out the less-visited destinations, you will be helping to spread the economic benefits of tourism more widely and helping to avoid the negative impacts that over-tourism has on local residents,” Georgina Davies — the communications manager for The Travel Foundation, a group that advocates for sustainable tourism — told Insider. Paloma Zapata agrees. The CEO of Sustainable Travel International — an organization that works with local governments, businesses, and nonprofits to provide sustainable travel opportunities — also recommends visiting a hidden gem. If you’re going to Greece, for instance, you could skip Mykonos and head to an island like Anafi or Ios with fewer tourists. Once you’ve picked your destination, Davies encourages travelers to visit the region’s national parks and protected areas. Often these places have entrance fees, which support conservation efforts. Choose a destination that embraces sustainability Jessica Blotter, CEO and cofounder of public benefit corporation Kind Travel, told Insider she looks for destinations with tourism boards that have a dedicated sustainable travel section on their website. She recommends avoiding areas where sustainable transportation and lodging are hard to find, and “where access to nature and the outdoors is limited.” Vacation during shoulder season Tossing a coin in the Trevi Fountain without hordes of people around or exploring Niagara Falls in the winter isn’t just beneficial to travelers; experts say it also supports sustainability. Visiting destinations during shoulder seasons “spreads the benefits of tourism locally across the year and lightens the burden of over-tourism in popular destinations,” Francis said. His company, Responsible Travel, has a guide that outlines the best time to visit certain destinations.  Zapata added that you’re also more likely to have a stress-free and special vacation if you’re visiting when there are fewer crowds. “It could be even more enriching,” she said. “When you’re on a beach or on a sailboat and it’s just surrounded by masses of people, maybe that’s not the best experience.” Visit fewer places for longer One way to travel more responsibly is to visit fewer places for longer periods of time. For example, instead of spending a week in four European countries, plan a 10-day trip to one or two. “Fewer but longer trips mean fewer air miles, more money in local hands, and you’ll have a more relaxing trip, too,” Francis said. “If you can, keep shorter trips close to home or travel by land or sea.” He added that these modes of travel can be an adventure in themselves, and allow you to “see so much more of a destination.” If you must travel a long distance, Blotter recommends stretching the trip as much as possible to maximize your experience. “Booking multiple, long-haul trips per year is not sustainable or carbon-friendly,” she said. Abbey Lossing for Insider Evaluate the distance for the most sustainable way to get there The first step in deciding how to responsibly get to your destination is considering the number of people traveling and the distance you’re going. Besides biking and walking, trains are typically one of the most sustainable ways to travel, Zapata said. If your destination is accessible by train, consider that. If you’re debating whether it’s more sustainable to fly or drive, Zapata said it comes down to the distance. “A lot of times trains are going to be more energy and carbon efficient,” she said. “But when it comes to a car, there comes a moment when flying is actually more carbon efficient than driving when you’re talking about very long distances.” Calculators like the ones offered by the International Civil Aviation Organization and Environmental Defense Fund can help travelers map out the least carbon-intensive way to get from A to B. If you need to fly, opt for nonstop routes and travel in economy Flying will likely be the most unsustainable aspect of your trip. Aviation makes up about 2% of global carbon emissions and 80% of a vacation’s carbon footprint comes from the flight, according to National Geographic. Experts suggest thinking about how much you should fly in a year. For example, maybe you take one international flight a year and prioritize having the rest of your trips close to home, Louise said.  But no matter where you jet off to, experts recommend flying nonstop in economy. “When booking long-distance plane travel, always choose a direct flight with no layovers,” Blotter said. “Direct flights use less carbon dioxide than connecting flights.” Additionally, by flying in economy, as some of the experts Insider spoke with pointed out, you maximize the number of people a flight can carry by taking up less space. Ultimately, though, the best thing you can do is reduce your carbon footprint during your trip. Experts like Louise and Gregory Miller, the executive director of the international nonprofit Center for Responsible Travel, agree that carbon offsets act more like a Band-Aid than a solution to sustainable travel. But if they do decide to purchase carbon offsets, which reduce or remove emissions to compensate for those made during a trip, Miller suggests purchasing through a reliable, vetted program. Groups like Zapata’s Sustainable Travel say they invest people’s money into carbon-reducing projects centered on clean energy and biodiversity.  Abbey Lossing for Insider Pack light The simplest advice when it comes to being a sustainable packer is to pack less, Zapata said. “Travel light,” she said. “You don’t need 20 shoes to travel.” Blotter agrees and says that by packing lighter, you’ll reduce carbon emissions. That’s because the lighter the aircraft, train, car, or boat, the less energy is needed.  Louise added that by packing fewer items and using a carry-on, you’ll get through security faster and avoid the hassle of checking a bag. Pack reusable items Francis suggests adding the items you use at home to your packing list. That might include a reusable water bottle, a bag for shopping, and utensils to avoid plastic cutlery.   Louise acknowledges that it might not be feasible for every traveler to carry a reusable water bottle, so she urges travelers to consider what other meaningful swaps they could make. For example, Louise said she swapped liquid shampoo and conditioner for shampoo and conditioner bars a few vacations back. The bars are lighter than liquid soaps, which means they save carbon emissions during transportation. Plus, many are packaged in recyclable paper instead of plastic.   The switch became permanent in Louise’s daily life, she said, adding that it made traveling easier since she didn’t have to worry about leaks or liquids at airport security. “It’s a cool example of how we can look for more sustainable experiences that are also better travel experiences,” she said. “Plus it opens our eyes to new habits that can help us become more conscious consumers as well.” Pack brands you support If you’re doing some pre-vacation shopping, Louise recommends buying from brands that place sustainability at the forefront of their business. “If you’re supporting corporations and brands that are working on sustainability as well, then that’s going to move the needle and create change a lot quicker than we could as individuals,” she said. For tropical getaways, pack reef-safe sunscreen If you’re heading to Aruba or planning a diving trip in Belize, experts say travelers should ensure reef-safe sunscreen is on their packing lists. “Sunscreen can be very damaging to the environment and not everybody knows,” Zapata said.  Ingredients in everyday sunscreen can harm both coral reefs and local w...

Priciest Home Sales In Centerport – Long Island Business News https://collincountynewsonline.com/priciest-home-sales-in-centerport-long-island-business-news/ Get our free LIBN e-alerts & breaking news notifications! 34 Spring Hollow Road Centerport / OneKey MLS photo By: David Winzelberg September 30, 2022 Priciest home sales in Centerport (11721)  August 2022  The three highest-priced home sales in Centerport last month ranged from $1.245 million to $2.25 million.  The priciest Centerport home sold in August was a 6-bedroom, 7-bath waterfront farm ranch on 2.1 acres at 34 Spring Hollow Road that sold for $2.25 million in cash. It was listed and sold by Tami Malico of Coach Realtors.  A 5-bedroom, 3.5-bath farm ranch on 1.04 acres at 11 Gina Drive fetched $1.3 million. It was listed by Gayle Snyder of Coach Realtors and sold by Sari Eidelkind and Catherine Wallack of Lucky to Live Here Realty.  At 17 Waterview Drive, a 4-bedroom, 2.5-bath colonial on .29 acres went for $1.245 million. It was listed by Donna Spinoso Gelb and Maria Lanzisero of Compass and sold by Rocky Graziose of Serhant.  Source: OneKeyMLS.com  × Enjoy This Free Article We Have 2 More For You All You Need To Do Is Register To Receive Your 2 Additional Free Articles

What To Know About The White House Plan To End Hunger By 2030 – EatingWell https://collincountynewsonline.com/what-to-know-about-the-white-house-plan-to-end-hunger-by-2030-eatingwell/ Read on for how the new National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition & Health could affect you and your family. For the first time in 50 years, the White House is launching a new set of goals to reshape access to food, nutrition and health for Americans. The strategy includes a goal to end hunger and increase healthy eating and exercise by 2030, which the Biden administration hopes will help reduce health disparities that became clearer than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. “For so many families—including families of color, those living in rural communities and territories and low-income families—structural inequality, such as disparities in educational and economic opportunities and lack of access to health care, safe housing and transportation, make the impact of hunger and diet-related diseases even more severe,” Joe Biden wrote in his announcement letter. “The pandemic made these problems worse, reinforcing the need for urgent, sustained action.” The strategy announcement includes some of the statistics that encouraged the White House to treat food insecurity and health with such urgency—including the fact that one in 10 households experienced food insecurity in 2021 and that four in 10 Americans have hypertension. The plan has five “pillars,” three of which will have direct impacts on accessing healthy foods. The first prong of the plan is all about improving access and affordability for all—that means expanding access to free school meals and summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) for kids, plus working to increase access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for more people. Right now, SNAP benefits aren’t available to people who were previously incarcerated, some young people who have aged out of foster care and even many college students who may have low income. Expanding that coverage would mean empowering folks in those populations to take greater control of their health. The second pillar aims to bring together nutrition and health, for which some doctors have long been campaigning. Two of the goals in this pillar include a Congressional plan to cover “medically tailored meals” under Medicare and testing Medicaid coverage of nutrition education and counseling. That could mean insurance-covered dietitian consultations for folks who need to change their eating habits after a diabetes or heart condition diagnosis, which could be huge for folks feeling overwhelmed by the idea of overhauling their eating pattern. The plan also includes a pillar about making it easier for folks to find healthy choices when they’re at the grocery store or a restaurant. That pillar includes a proposal to add nutritional labeling to the front of food packages, reducing sodium in the food supply—that’s a goal the FDA is already working on—and adding more incentives for SNAP recipients to buy fruits and veggies. There’s even a proposed update to what makes a food product “healthy”—as in, what criteria a food has to meet in order to use the word healthy on its packaging. The old definition was established in 1994, and the new definition would expand some of the nutritional requirements and add bonus points for foods that supply a “certain amount of food” from one of the major food groups or subgroups. The result is that water, avocados and nuts, which are currently ineligible for “healthy” status, could be labeled “healthy”, while items like white bread and sweetened yogurts would be demoted from healthy to ineligible for the “healthy” label. The other two pillars focus on supporting exercise for all and bolstering nutrition and food security research funding. They include items like expanding access to parks and advancing research around treatment and prevention of diet-related diseases, like oral diseases and type 2 diabetes. These goals are wide-ranging, so it may be a while before you see the fruits of this strategy. But plenty of consumer-facing policies are included in this master plan. For instance, the Federal Trade Commission will work more aggressively to tone down the way unhealthy foods and drinks are marketed to kids, and the Department of Transportation will improve public transit, bicycling and pedestrian options to make it easier for people to access their nearest supermarket. You might even notice a new garden, farmers’ market or grocery store in your area, since the Department of Housing and Urban Development will work to make food hubs a central, accessible part of public housing areas. Eliminating hunger in just eight years is a pretty exciting goal—but a lot of the supporting goals around health and nutrition in the new plan are just as interesting. You can read more about the total strategy, including making more school lunches from scratch and making traditional indigenous foods more accessible on reservations, in the White House’s strategy document.

Fantasy Football Week 4 Lineup Decisions: Starts, Sits, Sleepers And Busts To Know For Every Game – CBS Sports https://collincountynewsonline.com/fantasy-football-week-4-lineup-decisions-starts-sits-sleepers-and-busts-to-know-for-every-game-cbs-sports/ Dig into the players who might be tough start/sit calls in your lineup based on game film notes, stats, more Sep 30, 2022 at 11:09 am ET • 22 min read USATSI Fantasy Football is all about the matchups. Even though you drafted your team with certain hopes and intentions, your weekly lineup decisions shouldn’t be determined by the order you picked your players in. You need to check who your players play and make sure you’ve got the right guys in — and the wrong guys out. It’s too early to be absolutely sure on which matchups will be easy and which ones will be tough, but we can take some educated guesses based on healthy personnel, defensive schemes, track records and key details of offenses. The things we know can help us minimize the impact of the things we don’t know. This should lead to better decisions being made. We’ll go through every game and highlight the players who aren’t obvious starts and sits (because you don’t need to be told to start Jonathan Taylor). You should feel more comfortable starting or sitting players based on the information given, and feeling comfortable with your Fantasy lineup before the games start is the best feeling in the world.   All lines from Caesars Sportsbook. Bust Candidate (Lineup Decisions) Projections powered by Sportsline Dave’s Notebook: MIAMI: Offense played just 43 snaps last week, should be more rested than a typical offense playing on Thursday. That includes Tagovailoa, who didn’t practice much this week with ankle and back injuries.  MIAMI: Because the Dolphins defense played 92 snaps, the onus might be on the offense to control the clock and play at a slow pace. However, per TRU Media, they’re already the third-slowest in seconds between plays. TAGOVAILOA: Has struggled against blitzes (higher completion rate, yards per attempt, TD rate, QB rating vs. non-blitzes) and has been less efficient versus zone coverages (higher completion rate, yards per attempt, TD rate, QB rating vs. man coverages). BENGALS: Have played the eighth-least zone coverage, but this is their first matchup against a potent passing offense. They’re expected to play more zone. The Bengals have also blitzed less week over week, and with defensive tackle D.J. Reader out for a while, their blitz rate may fall below 20% for the first time this season. The more the Bengals play zone and not blitz, the worse things get for Tagovailoa.  BENGALS: Have seen the second-most pass attempts of 20-plus Air Yards (15) to wide receivers this season, but only four have been completed and only one for more than 30 yards. The 26.7% catch rate allowed is sixth-best. The Bengals also lead the league in fewest YAC/rec (Yards After Catch per reception) allowed to receivers (1.61).  BENGALS: Have not allowed more than 15 Fantasy points to a quarterback through three games. But, they’ve played Mitch Trubisky, Cooper Rush and Joe Flacco. DECISION: Tagovailoa has obvious upside given the speed of his receiving corps, but the Bengals have handled all comers so far with good results. You’re OK starting him ahead of passers with lower upside (Tom Brady, Marcus Mariota, Trevor Lawrence) but anyone who can barrel home 23-plus Fantasy points, including Derek Carr, Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford, is a safer choice. Start Him (Lineup Decisions) Projections powered by Sportsline Dave’s Notebook: COUSINS: Struggled mightily with man coverage so far this year (-0.40 EPA/dropback, 42.2% completion rate), and outside of a terrific TD rate (10%!) has been equally bad when blitzed (-0.29 EPA/dropback, 42.5% completion rate). He’s been blitzed on one-third of his dropbacks and seen man coverage on one-third of his dropbacks (and both blitzed and versus man coverage on 21% of his dropbacks).  COUSINS: Has to get rid of the ball faster — the Lions sacked him once but forced 10 incompletions on 14 pressures.  VIKINGS: Have surprisingly allowed a pass rush pressure on 35.5% of Cousins’ dropbacks — including 34.1% last week against the Lions.  SAINTS: Finally generated pass rush pressure (32.1% of snaps) and dialed up more blitzes (39.3%) in Week 3 against the Panthers.  SAINTS: Played the least amount of zone coverage last week (50.8%) since the start of 2021. They usually play more zone but they’ve been getting more comfortable with man coverage over the past two weeks.  SAINTS: No QB has 20-plus Fantasy points against them this year, but the defense has faced Mariota, Brady without top receivers and Mayfield. Flex Starter (Lineup Decisions) Projections powered by Sportsline Dave’s Notebook: THIELEN: After closing Week 2 strong, Thielen landed a 21.6% target share and cashed in an 8-61-1 stat line against Detroit.  SAINTS: Have allowed an impressive 61.5% catch rate to opposing receivers, especially since they’ve seen the sixth-most targets through three weeks, but they’re allowing 14.3 yards per catch and an egregious 6.25 YAC/rec (that’s third worst).  SAINTS: If the Saints opt to play a lot of man coverage, which they might, considering the Eagles and Lions had some success with it against Minnesota, it’s assumed Thielen will draw lighter coverage than Justin Jefferson. Thielen is efficient versus both man and zone but better against man. Flex Starter (Lineup Decisions) Projections powered by Sportsline Dave’s Notebook: SAINTS: Michael Thomas has been ruled out and Jameis Winston is doubtful. Andy Dalton is expected to start for the Saints. Dalton has long been considered to be a safe passer who doesn’t like to take chances. Last year with the Bears he completed 63% of his throws for 6.42 yards per attempt. His average throw depth was 6.96 yards his deep (20-plus yards) pass attempt rate was 7.2%. OLAVE: Has been sensational in his past two games, but the quarterback change will likely mean fewer deep opportunities. With Winston, Olave has caught 13 of 18 targets for 110 yards on passes that traveled 15 or fewer Air Yards. That obviously doesn’t make for a great receiving average, nor has Olave helped with his 2.08 YAC/rec average on those throws (which have mostly been screens and short hitch routes). VIKINGS: On the year, Minnesota has allowed a 72.1% catch rate (third-worst) to wide receivers. That number balloons to 88.1% (league-worst) on passes that traveled 15 or fewer Air Yards, and they’ve allowed fifth-most yards per catch (10.76) and the seventh-most YAC/reception (5.32) on those short grabs. That lends some optimism. Bust Candidate (Lineup Decisions) Projections powered by Sportsline Dave’s Notebook: HUNT: Exactly 15 touches in each game this year. Has averaged 4.2 yards per run and 6.0 yards per catch, both of which are lower for him compared to his career totals. He totaled at least 60 yards per game.  HUNT: Had five touches inside of 10 yards compared to six for Chubb. Chubb has scored more often, including in Week 3 when Hunt had three straight goal-to-go carries and couldn’t score, but Chubb did on a fourth-down try.  FALCONS: Allowing 4.49 yards per carry so far this season (a little above league-average), and no running back has more than 10 PPR or non-PPR points against them, but they haven’t exactly been tested. Of the 59 carries they’ve seen, only three have come from inside of 10 yards. FALCONS: Seem especially deficient against runs to the edge (7.24 yards per carry allowed) compared to runs up the middle (4.22), and they’ve allowed much fewer yards before and after contact on edge runs compared to between the tackles.  HUNT: Averaging 3.86 yards per carry on edge runs; Chubb is averaging 4.92. Chubb’s better than Hunt on between-the-tackle runs, but both are north of 4.40 yards per carry.   Start Him (Lineup Decisions) Projections powered by Sportsline Dave’s Notebook: NJOKU: Became a factor in Week 3 picking up a bunch of short-range targets from Jacoby Brissett. Only one target, and only two of his 27 routes, went beyond 10 yards downfield last week.  NJOKU: Seemed to be more involved against Cover-2 and Cover-3 style defenses recently. Last week, 9 of 10 targets came against those specific coverages, and the week before he had two efficient catches against Cover-3. Both types of defense are designed to eliminate the big play while still fighting the run, which is perfect for a short-area outlet like Njoku.  FALCONS: Lead the NFL in Cover-2 snaps played through three weeks (23.8%), and are just below league average in Cover-3 snaps played (32.8%).   FALCONS: Rank bottom-five in catch rate allowed (78.3%) and receiving yards allowed (219) to tight ends. Also rank bottom-10 in yards per catch (12.17) and first-down receptions allowed (nine) to tight ends. Sneaky Sleeper (Lineup Decisions) Projections powered by Sportsline Dave’s Notebook: RAVENS: Have allowed an 82.4% catch rate (third highest) and two TDs to tight ends through three games. Quarterbacks have earned a 158.0 QB rating when targeting tight ends against Baltimore.  KNOX: It’s discouraging that in a game when Josh Allen was dinking and dunking for most of his 63 pass attempts last week that Knox saw just four targets. Knox played 71% of all snaps, but 68% of all pass snaps. Sit Him (Lineup Decisions) Projections powered by Sportsline Dave’s Notebook: BILLS: Between the heat and the matchup, the Buffalo offensive line allowed a pressure on 45.1% of their snaps, more than double what they averaged in their first two games combined. That helped Singletary’s crazy-high target rate last week. Of Singletary’s nine catches, only two seemed like designed throws (including his touchdown versus man coverage).  RAVENS: Rank 24th in pass rush pressure rate (28.8% of snaps) and 20th in blitz per dropback rate (23.5%). They don’t attack quarter...

Shemaroo Launches Metaverse Cinema Experience In Decentraland – NFTgators https://collincountynewsonline.com/shemaroo-launches-metaverse-cinema-experience-in-decentraland-nftgators/ Quick take: Shemaroo has joined the metaverse race with an immersive movie experience. The Indian entertainment company boasts of being the first to open a cinema in Decentraland. The company has teamed up with metaverse consulting company Filmrare to launch “Shemaroo Theatre”. Shemaroo Entertainment has launched its web3 campaign with an immersive movie experience in one of the leading metaverse platforms, Decentraland. The Indian entertainment and media conglomerate has teamed up with metaverse consultancy and development company, Filmrare to open an immersive cinema called “Shemaroo Theatre”. According to Shemaroo, this ‘first-of-its-kind’ movie experience is a huge opportunity for the company as it creates an avenue for delivering Bollywood’s best entertainment content to the world. The metaverse is generally described as a 3D virtual space where people can interact anonymously in 3D avatars and engage in experiential activities like gaming, virtual concerts or watching movies in immersive theatres. Shemaroo Theatre is created to offer the same level of experience provided at real-life movie theatres including virtual popcorn and drink counters for immersive storytelling. Virtual visitors will also explore all-new screening experiences like the exciting plush lobby, box office counter, and virtual trailer zones. Commenting on his company’s foray into the metaverse, Hiren Gada, CEO of Shemaroo Entertainment said: “As a brand, Shemaroo has always fostered the culture of innovation and technology and with the augment of Shemaroo Theatre on Decentraland Metaverse, we will be spearheading a parallel ecosystem for Bollywood movies to be experienced on a big screen, now from the comfort of one’s home.’’ The company looks to take the Bollywood cinema experience to the next level by leveraging opportunities created by the next generation of the internet, web3. According to Gada, the new product is a testament to the company’s commitment to constantly evolving to create diverse content offerings. Shemaroo was established 60 years ago by Buddhichand Maroo as a book circulating library. The company set up India’s first rental business in 1979, before growing to become the giant media and entertainment conglomerate it is today. Ravi Krishnan, Founder, Filmrare commented: “It’s a great honour to partner with a brand like Shemaroo that has been entertaining the audiences for the past 60 years and to showcase some of its blockbuster Bollywood movies through the virtual theatre in Metaverse.” Filmrare is a metaverse developer and consultant focusing on onboarding brands into the metaverse. The web3 startup helps companies to create quality venues in the metaverse. The Decentraland DAO Governance Facilitation Squad added: “We are beyond thrilled to have Shemaroo Theatre on our platform and to bring some of the Bollywood’s greatest films to our existing as well as potential metaverse users. This will surely take the whole movie-watching experience to the next level without limiting the possibilities of what one can do in an actual movie theatre.” Stay up to date: Google News Twitter Telegram LinkedIn Facebook TikTok

How To Make Better Coffee, Whether Pour-Over, Cold Brew Or Keurig – The Washington Post https://collincountynewsonline.com/how-to-make-better-coffee-whether-pour-over-cold-brew-or-keurig-the-washington-post/ The body of knowledge around coffee seems to grow exponentially every year, as the industry continues to roll out new brewers (sometimes to fix a problem created by a brewer from the prehistoric era of, say, 2005) or just develops more gadgets to separate coffee geeks from their money. (One peek into my kitchen cabinets, and you can tell who’s a sucker for gadgetry.) But here’s the thing about gadgets: No Japanese Origami dripper, no sleek high-tech grinder, no pouring tool and no temperature-controlled goose-neck kettle can overcome a batch of inferior beans. As James Hoffmann, managing director of Square Mile Coffee Roasters in East London and a general authority on the subject, writes in his latest volume, “The Best Coffee at Home”: Depending on your method, you should use beans four to five days after they’ve been roasted (for filter coffee) or seven to eight days after the roast (for espresso). But either way, once you’ve opened the bag, you should plan to use it up within two weeks. It’s safe to say, you won’t consistently find these kind of freshly roasted beans at supermarkets, even at Whole Foods. Which is why you need to frequent, and befriend the team, at your local roastery. They’ll make sure you start with the freshest beans, often sourced from small farms or collectives that have developed close relationships with roasters. Over the years, I’ve written a lot about brewing coffee at home and my relationship with the drink. As we head into the cooler months, I thought it would a good time to collect these articles on a single page, for easy reference if nothing else. My knowledge, like the industry’s, has evolved, which is just another way of saying that I might approach some of these stories differently in 2022. But I think they still give you an idea of how different brewers, techniques, beans, water temperatures, roast levels and more can affect what you taste in the cup. The stories may not change how you brew coffee at home, and that’s cool. If I’ve learned one thing about coffee over the years, it’s this: People love to fight for their right to enjoy a dark-roast blend that’s been reduced to mud after an hour on the warming plate of a Mr. Coffee. And you know what? They’re right. Coffee is one of the most personal things you consume, day in and day out. It should be prepared just as you like it. How to brew better coffee at home and save money in 5 easy steps: You don’t have to be a barista to make better coffee. With just a small investment in equipment — you don’t need a scale or thermometer! — and a little bit of time, you can turn your morning cup into something appreciably better than what you can make from a cheap drip coffee maker or a Keurig. How to hack your Keurig machine and get a better cup of coffee: Speaking of the Keurig, the popular push-bottom brewer may be anathema to specialty-coffee snobs, but, as we discover, you can improve the machine’s performance with a few important alterations. I thought cold brew coffee wasn’t worth a hill of beans until I used the right ones: Cold brew is a divisive subject among coffee lovers for one reason: Steeping ground beans in cold (or room temperature) water doesn’t extract the same flavors as steeping them in hot water. The cold-brew process produces a cup that’s sweeter and rounder, for sure, but usually at the expense of acids and other flavor compounds that give coffee depth and balance. These two recipes, however, produce a coffee that has more complexity than your typical cold brew. Each coffee brewing method has pros and cons. We tried 5 to help you find your perfect cup. No two coffee brewers are alike, even when using the same beans. Each will extract different flavors. Each will result in a different viscosity, or weight, which you can sense on the tongue. Which is why it’s important to find the brewer that best suits your tastes. (By the way, if you’re curious, Mia Farrow went with the Chemex.) How to make an excellent coffee pour-over and start your day right: Do you consider making coffee by hand a hassle? This streamlined recipe delivers many of the benefits of pour-over coffee without all the equipment and fuss. The recipe also suggests you can treat the morning ritual more like a meditation, one that results in a stimulant, the perfect combination to start any day. Coffee at home: Experiments in brewing. You might wonder why there are so many coffee brewers on the market, some that require no skill and some that take weeks to master. We take you through the pros and cons of nine brewing systems, whether a French press or a cool Japanese siphon that requires a small butane burner. You might find one that aligns with your daily habits and needs. Coffee is not just a drug to make us good worker bees. It’s a pleasure. No matter how you brew coffee, you shouldn’t treat the drink as if its sole purpose is to prepare you for another day on the hamster wheel. Kick back. Hold a warm cup between your hands. Enjoy it for what it is: One of life’s great pleasures.

8 Best Crypto & Bitcoin Poker Sites To Play At In 2022 – Cryptonews https://collincountynewsonline.com/8-best-crypto-bitcoin-poker-sites-to-play-at-in-2022-cryptonews/ Disclaimer: The text below is an advertorial article that is not part of Cryptonews.com editorial content. The number of online casinos that accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has grown exponentially over the past couple of years. For poker players, using a crypto gambling site means access to exclusive games, huge bonuses, and privacy.  This guide reviews the best Bitcoin poker sites for players to consider in 2022.  We also explore the benefits that crypto poker sites offer and how players can make the most of their online gambling experience when using a top-rated platform.  The Best Crypto Poker Sites Ranked Below we offer a list of the best Bitcoin poker sites to consider in 2022: CoinPoker – Overall Best Bitcoin Poker Site BC.Game –  Top Crypto Casino for Video Poker Cloudbet – Best Bitcoin Poker Site for Welcome Bonuses Winz.io – Crypto Gambling Site With Tons of Poker Games BetOnline – Best Crypto Casino for Poker Championships  Bitslot – Great Casino Site for Table Casino Games Fortune Jack – Earn a Welcome Bonus of Up to 6 BTC Bovada – Best Bitcoin Poker Site for US Players  Each of the platforms listed above has distinct offerings when it comes to supported poker games in addition to any bonus promotions.  As such, be sure to read our complete reviews before deciding on a crypto poker site.  Reviewing the Best Bitcoin Poker Sites  The crypto poker industry has since become super competitive. This makes it even more challenging for players to find the right crypto casino for their needs.  With this in mind, we have reviewed the best crypto poker sites available in the market today.  We pay close attention to the variety of poker games offered, the types of bonuses available, and the ease of making deposits and withdrawals.  1. CoinPoker – Overall Best Bitcoin Poker Site CoinPoker is a blockchain-based online crypto gambling site that primarily deals with poker games. It is truly decentralized, meaning it not only accepts payments in cryptocurrencies but it has also integrated blockchain technology into its games. For instance, CoinPoker has devised its own decentralized random number generation (RNG) software that guaranteed fairness for each card shuffle.  There is even an RNG validation tool built into the website, which enables players to check the fairness of each hand. In terms of games available, the platform offers several varieties of poker  – which include Texas Hold’Em, Omaha Hold’Em, 5-Card Omaha, and Short Deck. Additionally, CoinPoker also supports sports betting, allowing its players to wager on the most popular championships and leagues.  However, CoinPoker does not offer any welcome bonuses. Instead, it has a range of attractive promotions that comes with the promise of attractive rewards. Players can find weekly poker tournaments and progressive jackpot promotional offers on this platform.  CoinPoker uses USDT as its in-game currency. However, it also supports deposits and withdrawals in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and its native digital token, CHP. CHP is the transactional coin of this platform, meaning that promotional winnings will be paid out in this cryptocurrency. However, when making withdrawals from the platform, players can choose to take their winnings in USDT, Ethereum, or Bitcoin. All that being said, CoinPoker games cannot be played via its website. Instead, players will need to download the desktop software to their device to then access different poker rooms.  This makes it incredibly easy to play Bitcoin poker on an iPhone, laptop, or Android device. Apart from supplying a valid email address, players need not provide any personal information, which means that they can remain anonymous and make crypto deposits by setting up a Bitcoin wallet.  Pros: Crypto poker specialist offering live games  Truly decentralized Completely anonymous Unique RNG software Excellent promotions Cons: No welcome bonus Desktop software has to be downloaded Available Poker Options Welcome Bonuses Accepted Cryptos Minimum Deposit Texas hold ’em, Omaha Hold’em, Short Deck,  and Bad Beat Jackpot No welcome bonus, but other promotions are offered Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, CHP None Visit CoinPoker Today 2. BC.Game – Top Crypto Casino for Video Poker BC.Game is another popular crypto gambling site that features a variety of casino games as well as the best Bitcoin casino bonuses. It has a huge selection of over 10,000 games across slots, roulette, and baccarat. And, of course, BC.Game is also preferred by gamblers when it comes to playing video poker.  However, this popular Bitcoin casino does not offer any live poker games, which could be a deal breaker for some players. But live support is available for other games, such as slots and baccarat, where players can interact with a human dealer via an HD video link.  BC.Game also has a generous welcome offer. It offers a matched deposit bonus for the first four payments made by new users. These bonuses are offered in BCD – the native digital token of the BC.Game network. The value of BCD is pegged to that of USDT.  Players can get a bonus of up to 180%, 200%, 220%, and 240%, depending on the amount they deposit. In total, the maximum bonus attainable by a single player comes to 220,000 BCD tokens – across four deposits.  Pros: Over 10,000 casino games  Wide selection of provably fair games Great welcome bonus across four deposits Cons: No live poker Rewards pain in BCD Available Poker Options Welcome Bonuses Accepted Cryptos Minimum Deposit Video poker 180% to 240% matched bonus across four deposits  150 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and more $30 to get the deposit bonus Visit BC.Game 3. Cloudbet – Best Bitcoin Poker Site for Welcome Bonuses Like BC.Game, Cloudbet also offers a top-notch gaming experience to its users. It comes with tons of table games, casino titles, and a diverse selection of provably fair contests. Cloudbet is also known for its fully-fledged sportsbook that allows wagering on outcomes of football, basketball, tennis, and more.  When it comes to poker, Cloudbet offers several variations – such as Pai Gow Poker, Texas Hold ‘em, and Caribbean stud. More pertinently, the platform also offers live poker tables, which might make the platform more attractive to seasoned players.  The welcome bonus at Cloudbet is also very generous. It offers new players a 100% matched bonus, enabling users to claim up to 5 BTC. In addition to this, this Bitcoin poker site also hosts tournaments and other daily promotions that offer free spins and bets as prizes.  Cloudbet also has a loyalty club that rewards its regular players based on the time they spend on the site. The loyalty club comes with six tiers, and the incentives vary depending on the level the player belongs to.  Pros: Supports video and live poker Access to sports and esports betting Welcome bonus of up to 5 BTC Cons: Does not operate in the US, UK, or Australia Limited selection of poker games Available Poker Options Welcome Bonuses Accepted Cryptos Minimum Deposit Video poker, Pai Gow Poker, Live Poker 100% up to 5 BTC 34 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum Dogecoin, Solana, and more 0.0001 BTC Visit Cloudbet 4. Winz.io – Crypto Gambling Site With Tons of Poker Games Those who like to play various poker game varieties will certainly find Winz.io suitable for their needs. This Bitcoin casino features around 60 poker titles across many variations, such as American, Cainnean Stud, Joker Poker, and more. In addition to this, players will also have access to multiple live dealers and poker rooms.  Poker isn’t the only category that Winz.io excels at. This gambling site has also curated a large library of casino games and even exclusive titles based on live TV shows – offering complete entertainment to its players.  However, Winz.io’s welcome bonus comes in the form of free spins, which might not appeal to poker players. Instead, there are other crypto promotions that offer much better rewards. For instance, as of writing, Winz.io has an Ethereum adventure tournament that promises a prize of up $5,000 for those who complete the challenge.  It also has other exclusive promotions for table and live games, with rewards capped at 0.3 BTC or $10,000.  Pros: Wide selection of video and live poker Rakeback of up to $20k on live games Attractive crypto bonuses Zero wagering requirements Cons: Welcome bonus only caters to slots players Available Poker Options Welcome Bonuses Accepted Cryptos Minimum Deposit American, Texas Hold’em, Caribbean Stud, Red Dog, Pai Gow + 30 more, Live Poker Up to 300 free spins Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Tether, Ripple, Tron, and BNB 0.001 BTC Visit Winz.io Now 5. BetOnline – Best Crypto Casino for Poker Championships  BetOnline is best known for its sports and racebook. However, BetOnline also has an exclusive site for poker games. This platform offers its players access to several video poker games, including Boost Poker, Windfall Poker, and Six Plus Hold’em.  With frequent bonuses, promotions, and tournaments, BetOnline has shaped itself into one of the best sites to play poker with cryptocurrency online. At the time of writing, BetOnline features a championship poker series with rewards of up to $2.3 million.  Bear in mind that the welcome bonus for the BetOnline poker platform is also different from its casino site. New players signing up to play poker get a 100% matched deposit bonus of up to $1,000. The platform will release the reward as increments every time the player generates $50 in rake.  Poker players can also participate in jackpots and weekly tournaments and earn up to $80,000 in rewards. This casino also comes with a pro...

U.S. Says Oil Companies ‘must Do More’ To Build Domestic Fuel Levels – Reuters https://collincountynewsonline.com/u-s-says-oil-companies-must-do-more-to-build-domestic-fuel-levels-reuters/ A pump jack operates in front of a drilling rig owned by Exxon near Carlsbad, New Mexico, U.S. February 11, 2019. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo HOUSTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) – U.S. fuel supplies are “unacceptably” at or near 5-year lows amid hurricane threats and the oil industry must do more to address prices and demand, a Department of Energy spokesperson said on Friday. The spokesperson was commenting on a report that the chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), the largest U.S. oil producer, had warned the Biden Administration against limiting U.S. fuel exports. Exxon did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com “The nation is facing serious risks from hurricanes and in some parts of the country, oil and gas supply levels are unacceptably at or near 5-year lows,” the Department of Energy spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The administration has impressed upon the oil and gas industry that it must do more to ensure fair prices and adequate supply for all Americans, while meeting the needs of our allies,” the spokesperson added. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm last week said the Biden administration at that time was not considering restrictions on U.S. oil product exports. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar; additional reporting by Sabrina Valle; Editing by Bill Berkrot Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Ougazzaden And Collaborators Awarded ANR Grant For Optically Stimulated Cochlear Implants | News Center – Georgia Tech News Center https://collincountynewsonline.com/ougazzaden-and-collaborators-awarded-anr-grant-for-optically-stimulated-cochlear-implants-news-center-georgia-tech-news-center/ The French National Research Agency has awarded a grant to Georgia Tech and Georgia Tech-Lorraine researchers to develop technology for a new class of cochlear implants. For individuals suffering from hearing loss, good news may be on the horizon thanks to cutting-edge optical technology. The French National Research Agency (ANR) has awarded Abdallah Ougazzaden, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech and president of Georgia Tech-Lorraine, a €560,000 ($560,700) grant to develop technology for a new class of cochlear implants that may be able to restore hearing for patients. The project aims to create optically stimulated, reduced-size, high-density cochlear implants with removable LEDs (CORTIORGAN). Project collaborators include Jean-Paul Salvestrini, director of the Georgia Tech-CNRS IRL 2958 lab and adjunct lecturer in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE); Paul Voss, associate professor in ECE; and Suresh Sundaram, adjunct lecturer in ECE. “CORTIORGAN is taking the technology for cochlear implants in a completely new direction through the optical stimulation of the cochlea with compact, dense, and highly flexible LED implants,” Ougazzaden said. “In particular, we will use a new semiconductor material – a two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride – that brings about a radical rethinking of existing methods for processing inorganic LED devices.” The key technology is based on optogenetics, a groundbreaking biological technique that stimulates neurons and other cells with light. The technology has a range of medical and neuroscience applications, including sight recovery and blocking pain signals. The researchers will use optogenetic methods to achieve optical stimulation of auditory nerves rather than traditional electrical stimulation. Because tissue inside the cochlea has high electrical conductivity, optical stimulation of nerves can result in better spatial resolution and thus better implants.  CORTIORGAN’s goal is to develop removable ultra-thin LEDs that can be packaged in cochlear implants. The novel process allows the researchers to achieve size and flexibility requirements for cochlear implants that will be inserted into mouse cochlea and tested at the end of the project. “This innovation will have a strong positive impact on the hearing-impaired by offering them an optical implant with greater spatial resolution and higher sound reproduction fidelity in comparison to existing electrical stimulation technology,” Ougazzaden added. “This optical technology will open the door for future neuroscience applications with many opportunities for commercialization.” Other partners include Institut Pasteur, a renowned Paris-based center for biomedical research, and the Center for Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies (C2N), a collaboration between the University of Paris-Saclay and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). Writer: Catherine Barzler

Campus Con To Include Gaming, Characters, Fun: Indiana University Kokomo – IUK Newsroom https://collincountynewsonline.com/campus-con-to-include-gaming-characters-fun-indiana-university-kokomo-iuk-newsroom/ KOKOMO, Ind. — Get your geek on at the first-ever Indiana University Kokomo Campus Con! Planned from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, October 7 in Alumni Hall, the free event includes board games, costumed characters, arcade games, vendors with comics, graphic novels, gaming supplies, and more. Campus Con was completely planned by students, according to Lexi Eisaman, event coordinator. “We realized over the summer we’re missing a very large category of students by not having more nerdy events on campus,” she said, adding that volunteers visited a similar event at another school for inspiration and ideas. She also worked with planners of the annual Kokomo Con, who provided a list of people to contact. The event is open to the public, she said, adding that she’s been attending cons, or conventions, her whole life, and participating in cosplay, dressing up as favorite book, movie, or television characters. “We just want everyone to come be their nerdy selves,” she said. “It’s fun to escape from reality for a while and put yourself in someone else’s shoes.” Cosplay is encouraged, though masks may not cover faces. Eisaman said representatives from Kingdom Cards and Games will run the game room, and the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library’s Digital Den will have giveaways for their new Dungeons and Dragons initiative. For more information, contact slcd@iu.edu. Education is KEY at Indiana University Kokomo.

Dysfunction In Texas AG’s Office As Paxton Seeks Third Term – Chron https://collincountynewsonline.com/dysfunction-in-texas-ags-office-as-paxton-seeks-third-term-chron/ JAKE BLEIBERG, Associated Press Sep. 30, 2022Updated: Sep. 30, 2022 10:01 a.m. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 1of3FILE – In this June 22, 2017 file photo, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a news conference in Dallas. As Paxton seeks to fend off legal troubles and win a third term as Texas’ top law enforcement official, his agency has come unmoored by disarray behind the scenes, with seasoned lawyers quitting over practices they say aim to slant legal work, reward loyalists and drum out dissent.Tony Gutierrez/APShow MoreShow Less 2of3Coryell County sheriff’s deputy walks into the courthouse in Gatesville, Texas, on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office in September quietly dropped a series of human trafficking and child sexual assault cases that were pending in the court after losing track of one of the victims.Jake Bleiberg/APShow MoreShow Less 3of3 GATESVILLE, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s staff this month quietly dropped a series of human trafficking and child sexual assault cases after losing track of one of the victims, a stumble in open court emblematic of broader dysfunction inside one of America’s most prominent law offices. The Republican has elevated his national profile in recent years, energizing the right by rushing into contentious court battles that have affected people far beyond Texas. He has fought access to abortion, Democratic immigration policy and the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. But as Paxton seeks to fend off legal troubles and win a third term as Texas’ top law enforcement official, his agency has come unmoored by disarray behind the scenes, with seasoned lawyers quitting over practices they say aim to slant legal work, reward loyalists and drum out dissent. An Associated Press investigation found Paxton and his deputies have sought to turn cases to political advantage or push a broader political agenda, including staff screenings of a debunked film questioning the 2020 election. Adding to the unrest was the secretive firing of a Paxton supporter less than two months into his job as an agency advisor after he tried to make a point by displaying child pornography in a meeting. The AP’s account is based on hundreds of pages of records and interviews with more than two dozen current and former employees, many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation or because they were not authorized to talk publicly. In the small town of Gatesville, the fallout was felt this month with the collapse of cases dubbed “Operation Fallen Angel.” Six of the people indicted last year on allegations that they were involved in a scheme to force teenage girls to “exchange sexual contact for crystal methamphetamine” are now free. One is being held in the central Texas community on other charges. An eighth died in jail. “It’s absolutely broken. It’s just broken. You don’t do it this way,” Republican District Attorney Dusty Boyd said of the attorney general’s office, which took over the cases from his five-lawyer team. “I made the mistake of trusting them that they would come in and do a good job.” Paxton and his staff did not respond to voicemails, text messages and email questions sent Tuesday. For years, Paxton has weathered a storm of troubles like few other elected officials in the U.S., including felony securities fraud charges and a federal investigation into accusations of corruption . He has broadly denied wrongdoing and remained popular with GOP voters, even while losing staff. One prosecutor said he quit in January after supervisors pressured him to withhold evidence in a murder case. Another attorney signed a resignation letter in March that warned of growing hostility toward LGBTQ employees. By August, records show the division over human trafficking cases — a major emphasis in Texas, where more than 50 migrants died in the back of a trailer in June — had a job vacancy rate of 40%. “When you’re experiencing the type of climactic upheaval in an office, which affects agency-client relationships and trust, there’s naturally going to be a lot of movement among staff,” said Ron Del Vento, who served as a division chief under Paxton and four previous Texas attorneys general before retiring in 2019. “Collateral damage is inevitable,” he said. The latest departures are aftershocks of an extraordinary revolt in autumn 2020, when eight of Paxton’s top deputies accused the attorney general of using the office to help a political donor who employed a woman with whom Paxton acknowledged having had an extramarital affair. The deputies all quit or were fired after going to the FBI, which opened an investigation that remains ongoing. In America’s largest red state, the accusations have not given GOP voters pause about Paxton, who carried Donald Trump’s endorsement into again winning his party’s nomination. Paxton faces Democratic challenger Rochelle Garza, a first-time candidate and former ACLU attorney, in the November election. “He’s been one of the greatest attorneys general for the state of Texas and one of the most conservative ones in the entire country,” said Abraham George, chairman of the Collin County Republican Party, adding that Paxton deserves the same presumption of innocence as any other American. After the dramatic exit of Paxton’s top staff in 2020, those brought into senior roles included a California attorney who donated $10,000 to help Paxton fight his 2015 securities fraud indictment and Tom Kelly Gleason, a former ice cream company owner whose father gave $50,000 to the attorney general’s legal defense fund. Gleason was fired less than two months into his new job as a law enforcement adviser. Paxton’s office has not disclosed why, but three people with knowledge of the matter said Gleason included child pornography in a work presentation at the agency’s Austin headquarters. The people said Gleason displayed the video — which one of them described as showing a man raping a small child — in a misguided effort to underscore agency investigators difficult work. It was met with outrage and caused the meeting to quickly dissolve. Afterward, Paxton’s top deputy, Brent Webster, told staff not to talk about what happened, according to one of the people. Gleason, who began his career as a police officer in the late 1970s, did not respond to voicemails, text messages, emails and letters left at this home and business. A lawyer who has represented him also did not respond to an email seeking comment. As of August, payroll data show the number of assistant attorneys general — the line lawyers who handle daily case and litigation work — in the criminal prosecutions division was down more than 25% from two years ago. The data, which was obtained under public records law, show the group that handles financial and white-collar cases was cut by more than half and merged with another division. “This is scary to me for the people of Texas,” said Linda Eads, who served as a deputy attorney general in the early 2000s, when she said it was rare for any division to have more than two or three vacancies. Boyd said staff turnover in Paxton’s human trafficking unit contributed to the collapse of the cases in Gatesville. In the last two years, Republican lawmakers have doubled the division’s budget to $3 million, but Boyd questioned whether it was well spent. On Sept. 13, the attorney general’s staff wrote in court papers that they were dismissing three trafficking cases because a witness had recanted and dropping the other four because they were “unable to locate victim.” “For Pete’s sake, you’re the AG’s office. You can’t find the victim?” Boyd said. “The culture is broken.” Bill Turner, who spent five years in the office under Paxton, said he quit in January after senior leaders tried to prevent him from turning over evidence to the defense in a murder prosecution. He would not discuss specifics, saying that could affect ongoing work related to the case. “We had a difference of opinion on the ethical obligations of a prosecutor and I didn’t feel like I could continue working in that environment,” said Turner, who was previously an elected Democratic district attorney in Texas. Two months later, assistant attorney general Jason Scully-Clemmons left the same division, accusing a new wave of executives in his resignation letter of “directing prosecutors to prioritize political considerations.” He also said the environment had grown hostile to LGBTQ employees around the time Paxton issued a legal opinion that set in motion child abuse investigations into the parents of transgender youth in Texas. Several other employees told AP that before Texas’ March primary elections, Amber Platt, a deputy over criminal justice cases, convened a meeting to ask about upcoming cases that would help Paxton’s reelection prospects. Scully-Clemmons, who declined to comment, referred to the meeting in his letter. In May, the head of Paxton’s election integrity division invited his team to a movie theater for a screening of “2000 Mules,” the debunked film that falsely claims to prove the 2020 election was stolen. “General Paxton will be present, among others, and I think they would love to have a good showing from our office,” assistant attorney general Jonathan White wrote in an email. As senior lawyers have been leaving the attorney general’s office, newcomers who’ve stuck by Paxton have seen their careers and compensation skyrocket. Aaron Reitz, who finished law school in 2017, was hired as an aide to Paxton’s top deputy at a salary of $135,000 in October 2020. The next month, after the deputy reported Paxton to the FBI and quit, Reitz was promoted to oversee agency legal strategy, a senior job making $205,00...

Best Bed And Breakfasts In The U.S. — Best Life – Best Life https://collincountynewsonline.com/best-bed-and-breakfasts-in-the-u-s-best-life-best-life/ When it comes to choosing a place to stay in a quaint destination around the United States, it’s likely that bed and breakfasts make up some of the top options in each city. The fact is these lodgings offer a host of amenities that many traditional hotels do not, such as snacks, the chance to mingle with your host and the other guests at happy hour, house-made breakfasts, and of course, adorable accommodations all included in the cost. Sure, staying in an old house may seem like something straight out of a Halloween movie, but these B&Bs aren’t haunted with ghouls and ghosts of former owners. These beautiful homes have been transformed into luxury accommodations where couples, families, and friends can gather for a vacation that’s equal parts relaxing and exciting. If you’re looking for a cozy place to call home for a few days while exploring a new destination or going to an old favorite vacation spot, keep reading for our list of travel expert-recommended B&Bs around the country. READ THIS NEXT: 10 Small Towns in the U.S. That Feel Like Stepping Back in Time. Kevin Ruck/Shutterstock Less than a mile from downtown Asheville is Abbington Green, a AAA Four Diamond Select Registry Property. The historic home was completed in 1908 by the same supervising architect that worked on the Biltmore Estate, George Vanderbilt’s Gilded Age mansion. “There is a main and carriage house with seven rooms, a two-bedroom suite, a spa room, a dining room, and a living room with games, a piano, and a guitar,” says hotel expert for Insider Picks, Jennifer Agress. “Unique for historic homes, there are only king beds, towel warmers, fireplaces, luxury bathtubs with a view of the TV in every room.” Adults traveling together will love that there’s a daily social hour with free wine and beer, along with a delicious breakfast. When it’s time to get out and explore, the B&B is close to downtown Asheville, The Biltmore, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. refrina/Shutterstock Chapel Valley Estate is a stunning bed and breakfast that started out as a renovation project in 2003. The large inn has three bedrooms and two suites, including a beautiful cottage loft with a full kitchen. “I’ve stayed at a variety of guest houses and Airbnbs, but this one has retained the original charm and still runs like a traditional B&B. Their remodel of the old farmhouse is impeccable down to every last detail,” says Meg St-Esprit, a Pittsburgh-based journalist. Those staying in the cottage loft or the carriage house suite can have breakfast delivered right to their room, which is nice for couples looking to have a little more time alone. Speaking of breakfast, the signature dish is ratatouille, and it always ends with dessert. Another perk is that the bed and breakfast is not far from a range of outdoor activities. “It’s very close to Volant, which is an Amish community with tons of tourist attractions, shops, and eateries. McConnell Mill State Park has some of the most gorgeous kayaking, hiking, and climbing in the state,” says St-Esprit. Tada Images/Shutterstock With just four guest rooms and suites, Sandes of Time Bed and Breakfast in Portland is a sought-after bed and breakfast where country life is just a short drive away from the city. The 1907 home has a large porch where you can take in the view while sipping on your morning coffee or lemonade in the afternoon. “This bed and breakfast oozes with quaint, old-fashioned charm as it sits perched on a knoll. The proprietors are just as warm and friendly…the location is ideal for visiting Portland, Lake Oswego, Oregon City, Canby, Wilsonville, and Aurora,” says Cori Solomon, a wine and travel writer at Written Palette. “One can enjoy a relaxing stay in a picturesque setting yet be close to attractions within a 30-mile radius,” says Solomon. Within driving distance is Lake Oswego, which is known for its Museum without Walls, and downtown Portland. In the morning guests can enjoy a two-course breakfast where the menu changes each morning. And after a day of exploring the area, grab a blanket from your room and enjoy a movie at the in-house movie theater where popcorn and drinks are always on the house. For more travel advice delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. Those looking for a wine country getaway will want to book a room at the For Friends Inn. The charming bed and breakfast has the perfect combination of modern amenities with old-world charm, and its location can’t be beat. “It’s an ideal location for a Santa Barbara County wine country visit with 100 plus wineries in the area,” says Solomon. In fact, most of the wineries are within an easy 30-minute drive. While the main house is beautiful, six tiny houses offer a private home, porch, and parking. Near the back of the property is the Sunstone Tower, which is a two-story suite with two bedrooms. No matter what type of room you book, guests are privy to a “Friendship Pass” where they can get complimentary and two-for-one tastings at nearby wineries and complimentary desserts at local restaurants. Before setting out for the day, enjoy a three-course breakfast and coffee. Along with the wineries, there are plenty of other activities for guests to do including visiting Solvang, which is known for its Danish vibe, and adorable shopping. Then return to For Friends Inn for its evening social wine and hors d’oeuvres happy hour. Nestled along the historic streets and buildings of the nation’s oldest city is The Collector Luxury Inn & Gardens. With a minimum age of 16 to stay, the inn has a distinctly adult feel and leans into that with fire pits and an onsite bar. “The Inn itself consists of nine historic buildings, some of which date back to 1790. The property is a gorgeous, luxurious respite in the heart of America’s oldest city, St. Augustine. So you are completely wrapped in history,” says travel journalist Betsi Hill. Among the historic buildings is The Well, the onsite bar, which was St. Augustine’s first two car garage. Now, the locale is serving hand-crafted cocktails to those staying at the Inn. With so much to do nearby, there’s no way you can do it all in just one weekend. According to Hill, highlights in the city include the Lightner Museum, the Castillo de San Marcos, and the Colonial Quarter. If you’re looking to stay in for an afternoon, the Inn offers historical tours of the property three times a week and has a heated pool and lawn games for some fun in the sun. Another great B&B for those going wine tasting in Virginia is Stone Manor Boutique Inn. This all-suite inn dates back to 1908, and each suite features a private bathroom, luxury amenities, and has a different theme. “There’s a large room that’s converted into a grand dining area and a long communal table that almost feels somewhat Games of Thrones-y,” says Ruksana Hussain, a travel and lifestyle journalist. “They also have a lovely outdoor space where you can hang out with a book or chat with other guests. And the best part is this is a south Asian-owned venue, which is rare to find in the industry.” Each morning breakfast is served in the grand dining room, where a large communal table is set for guests. Behind the table is a large coffee and tea bar where you can make your own drinks while waiting for your meal. When evening draws near, step into the bar to grab a beer or glass of wine before going out to the game room or one of the parlors to enjoy reading a book or playing a card game with friends before going out for dinner in nearby Loudoun County, which is known for its wineries and delightful restaurants. Matt Sampson Photography/Shutterstock While you may not think of Wisconsin as a destination for bed and breakfasts, the Thorp House Inn and Cottages will change your mind. “It’s in a beautiful location (year-round) and offers classic B&B charm with vintage flair and homey atmosphere. Plus, the breakfasts served daily were varied and delicious,” says travel writer Katy Spratte Joyce. The family-friendly bed and breakfast has six standard rooms and six stand-alone cottages, so you’ll be able to find a room that can best fit your needs. Just note that the only guests who get breakfast included are those who stay in the inn rooms and not the cottages. “Thorp House is conveniently located in the mid-peninsula area of Door County, so the entire area is easily accessible,” says Joyce. “Specifically, the inn is near Peninsula State Park which offers great hiking, a lighthouse, and a new observation tower hundreds of feet up on Eagle Bluff. Water recreation opportunities, winery tours, and a lavender farm are other nearby attractions.” READ THIS NEXT: The 10 Prettiest Small Towns in the U.S. Just minutes from the beach and perfectly situated in the historical district of Grandview Heights is Casa Grandview. The beachy bed and breakfast has recently been completely refurbished and restored into a place where guests can relax after a day of exploring. “It is located in a historic but hip part of Palm Beach County and the owners have made it a must-visit destination. Truly a hidden gem and a best-kept secret,” says Annie Davis, founder of Palm Beach Travel. The bed and breakfast allows guests to have breakfast on their private veranda before going out sightseeing. Guest rooms are well appointed with a beach theme that fits the area. When it’s time to cool off, guests can enjoy the onsite pool. “There are even villas with private pools,” says Davis. With the beach close by, there are plenty of water activities to take part in, and those who love shopping will find the Antique Row district a great spot for finding treasures. If you enjoy staying out late will love knowing that the area is filled with nightlife, and when you’re done at the club, the bed and breakfast is just a short ...

LI Developer To Buy Sprawling Hicksville Sears Site – Long Island Business News https://collincountynewsonline.com/li-developer-to-buy-sprawling-hicksville-sears-site-long-island-business-news/ Get our free LIBN e-alerts & breaking news notifications! Sears store in Hicksville. By: David Winzelberg September 30, 2022 EXCLUSIVE: After walking away from a planned $200 million mixed-use redevelopment of the former Sears property in Hicksville, Seritage Growth Properties is selling the site.  Bethpage-based Steel Equities has outbid several other Long Island development firms and is now in contract to buy the 26.4-acre property.  Real estate industry sources say the sale price for the development site at 195 North Broadway is north of $52 million.  Rendering of Heritage Village / Courtesy of Seritage Growth Properties Seritage, the real estate investment trust spun off by Sears Holdings in 2015, had planned to transform the former department store property into a mixed-use development with 425 rental apartments, retail and office space, restaurants, a grocery store, cinema, fitness center and food-service kiosks for the project dubbed Heritage Village.  The Seritage project had been slowly working its way through the approvals process, with the Town of Oyster Bay last holding a public hearing on the plan in Sept. 2020. But seven months later, the company put the project on pause and the executive who headed the plan exited.  At the time, Seritage issued a statement that it was pausing the Heritage Village project “to ensure it is consistent with market conditions, our own realigned goals and business objectives, and reflects our discussions with community and government leaders.” The statement added that “COVID has clearly altered the landscape for the entire real estate industry.”  Eventually, Seritage put the Hicksville site on the market and began fielding offers from other developers. The property was being marketed by Jose Cruz, J.B. Bruno and Ryan Robertson from JLL, but the brokers declined to comment on the sale.  Steel Equities has purchased two other former Sears properties on Long Island in recent years. The company paid $28 million for the 225,000-square-foot Sears department store at the Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove, which it later leased to Stony Brook Medicine. Steel also acquired the former Sears store on Franklin Avenue in Garden City that it leased to NYU-Langone.  Steel has not yet revealed what it plans for the Hicksville property.  × Enjoy This Free Article We Have 2 More For You All You Need To Do Is Register To Receive Your 2 Additional Free Articles

ACTIVE AGING WEEK BEGINS OCTOBER 3 THROUGH PARKS AND RECREATION – City Of Fort Wayne https://collincountynewsonline.com/active-aging-week-begins-october-3-through-parks-and-recreation-city-of-fort-wayne/ September 30, 2022 – As wellness and healthy living become increasingly important priorities for all populations, the 20th annual Active Aging Week October 3-7 treats older adults throughout North America to a broad array of exciting opportunities that promote physical, mental and social health. Initiated by the International Council on Active Aging® (ICAA) in 2003, Active Aging Week (AAW) highlights the value of embracing all dimensions of wellness – including physical, emotional, intellectual, social and more – to enrich quality of life. Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Director Steve McDaniel emphasizes that “the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Community Center offers a variety of local activities to engage and empower older adults as part of a broader effort to redefine how we experience and perceive aging.” He adds, “it’s just an exceptional way to enjoy friendly competition as well.” “Our industry continues to evolve approaches that encompass the longer health spans, extended work lives and active lifestyles of older adults,” says Colin Milner, founder and CEO of ICAA. “During Active Aging Week, we celebrate the contributions and potential of older adults in pursuing purpose-filled lives and fostering vibrant communities.” This year, as part of AAW, the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Community Center is hosting healthy, friendly, competitive fun for those who are age 50 and above. Participants choose up to 14 completely free events such as cornhole, kayaking, golf, billiards, disc golf, table tennis, Bocce, Wii tournament and more. To sign up, just call 260-427-6460 or stop by the Community Center located at 233 West Main Street. Please register at least two days prior to the scheduled event. A full listing of the tournaments and all activities is in the Fall edition of the Fun Times. You can also find the listing online on page 47 at https://www.fortwayneparks.org/images/stories/funtimes/Fall_22_Interactive.pdf. The Fort Wayne Active Aging Week is sponsored by American Senior Communities, Anthem, North Senior Living, Oak Street Health, Evergreen Village At Fort Wayne, Ossian Health, Silver Birch, Englewood Health, Chapman Place Senior Living, Hearing Aids Plus, Majestic Care of Fort Wayne and New Haven, Life Care Center of Fort Wayne and Nine Mile Restaurant.

Fantasy Football Today: The Toughest Lineup Decisions For Every Week 4 Game Plus A TNF Recap – CBS Sports https://collincountynewsonline.com/fantasy-football-today-the-toughest-lineup-decisions-for-every-week-4-game-plus-a-tnf-recap-cbs-sports/ Latest updates for each Week 4 game plus a Dolphins-Bengals recap Sep 30, 2022 at 10:05 am ET • 24 min read Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images The early part of this season has been defined by injuries, and we saw another scary one Thursday night. Tua Tagovailoa was forced from the game against the Bengals after hitting his head against the turf on a sack, but he was released from a Cincinnati-area hospital Thursday night. That’s the good news after such a scary sight.  The Dolphins ended up losing that game, and Tyreek Hill was the only player on the team who really performed all that well — Jaylen Waddle, Chase Edmonds and Raheem Mostert all scored 10 or fewer PPR points. On the other side of that game, Joe Mixon had another OK game, as did Ja’Marr Chase, while Tee Higgins was a star and Joe Burrow hit on three plays of 36 yards or more — a good sign given his struggles finding big plays so far this season. The Bengals ended up winning 27-15, and Fantasy players left come out of the game mostly dissatisfied. That’s been a theme through the first month of the season, and it might have left you in a hole. But don’t worry; we also have plenty of injuries to wade through just in case the degree of difficulty wasn’t already high enough.  I want to help out there, so send any questions you might have my way at Chris.Towers@ViacomCBS.com with the subject line “#AskFFT” and they’ll get included in my Sunday morning mailbag. Plus, you can catch our YouTube stream Sunday morning at 11:30 EDT where Adam Aizer, Frankl Stampfl and I will be answering all of your lineup questions.  Get ready for Week 4 with all of our preview content here:   Week 4 Start ‘Em & Sit ‘Em: QB | RB | WR Starts, sits and sleepers for every game Cheat Sheet: PPR | Non-PPR Week 4 Position Previews: QB | RB | WR | TE Week 4 Rankings: Jamey | Dave | Heath | Chris And here’s what the rest of today’s newsletter has in store to help you get ready for Week 4: TNF Fantasy Recap: Bengals 27, Dolphins 15 Week 4 Game Previews: Injury updates and lineup dilemmas TNF Recap: Bengals 27, Dolphins 15 Winner: I don’t think Ja’Marr Chase has a Tee Higgins problem, or anything, but Higgins is a problem for defenses. We knew this, of course, but the gap in the preseason ADPs of Chase and Higgins’ suggests we might not have understood it well enough. Chase is an incredible player, of course, but Higgins is pretty good in his own right. And, as SportsLine’s Jacob Gibbs has noted, Higgins has actually been targeted more than Chase when they’ve been on the field together in their careers. Both are great players — top-12 WRs in my eyes — and Higgins deserves more credit for what he’s done right alongside his brilliant running mate.  Loser: Chase Edmonds. You got bailed out if you started Edmonds this week, as he scored another touchdown from in close, but that’s about all he’s got going for him right now. Raheem Mostert is just a more effective runner in this system, and that was especially notable Thursday with Mostert rushing 15 times for 69 yards while Edmonds lumbered for 6 yards on five carries. Both players were targeted three times, with Edmonds’ seeing two targets from inside the 10. That’s the only saving grace for Edmonds, but you can’t rely on touchdowns every week, especially if Teddy Bridgewater is playing QB for the Dolphins. Edmonds’ Week 1 usage was pretty promising, but his snap share has fallen in each game since then — cratering to 27% Thursday — and he now has just 16 carries and seven targets over the past three weeks. He isn’t droppable, but I’m not starting him next week.  One more thing: Jaylen Waddle had a quiet game, going for two catches for 39 yards and five targets while Tyreek Hill went for 10 for 160. However, it’s worth noting that Waddle was dealing with a groin injury on a short week and had a few more plays on the sidelines than we’re used to seeing. I’m not worried about it, even if Bridgewater has to start a few games. This Dolphins offense is heavily concentrated between those two, and Waddle’s 35 targets in four games is still a very healthy number.  By submitting my email I agree to receive the “Fantasy Football Today Newsletter” and other marketing and promotional emails from CBS Sports, which may include information from our affiliates and/or partners’ offers, products and services. For more information about our data practices consult our Privacy Policy Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Thanks for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. Sorry! There was an error processing your subscription. Week 4 Game Previews There’s something to watch in every game on the NFL schedule every week, even if you have to squint to see it sometimes. Here’s a look ahead at every Week 4 game, with some notes on what Vegas is expecting to see, some lineup help and one thing to watch for from each game: All odds are via Caesars Sportsbook. Vikings “at” Saints Sunday, 9:30 a.m. Line: Vikings -2.5; 43.5 O/U  Implied totals: Vikings 23-Saints 20.5 Remember, we have a 9:30 am EST start this week with the Vikings and Saints playing in London, so you have to make sure you have your lineups set early. And, unfortunately, there are plenty of injury question marks here that we may not have any clarity on before Sunday morning. That makes it hard to know exactly what to expect from this game as of Thursday afternoon.  Toughest lineup decision: Dalvin Cook — Start. Obviously, this depends on Cook being active, but you might be worried about starting him even if he is. Don’t be. Cook has a lot of experience playing through shoulder injuries, and he’s been mostly just fine — he missed a game with a similar issue last December and returned with 27 carries for 205 yards and two touchdowns. He’s not going to do that, in all likelihood, but I am expecting Cook to more or less play his usual role if he’s out there. If not, start Alexander Mattison with confidence.  Injuries: There’s a lot to keep track of here, starting with Jameis Winston (back, ankle), who has yet to practice this week. Andy Dalton would start in his place if Winston is unable to play, and I think it would be a downgrade for the offense as a whole. Michael Thomas (foot) was also unable to practice, while Jarvis Landry (ankle) was upgraded to limited participation Thursday, so he figures to be in better shape. On the other side, Cook was a full participant Thursday, so it looks like he’s going to play.  Browns @ Falcons  Sunday, 1:00 p.m. Line: Browns -1.5; 47.5 O/U Implied totals: Browns 24.5-Browns 23 I’m surprised to see the Browns favored by just 1.5 against the Falcons. I guess Vegas isn’t buying into the Browns sixth-ranked offense — or they are buying into the Falcons ninth-ranked offense, which seems harder to believe. Both of these teams have found their greatest success on the ground, and that could lead to pretty low-volume game for both offenses if they can do so again.  Toughest lineup decision: Amari Cooper — Start. It probably isn’t fair to Cooper that he has two consecutive top-10 finishes and is the No. 13 WR on the season and I still don’t know if I trust him in my lineup. It’s not about Cooper, to be clear — I don’t trust Jacoby Brissett, who held seeming-superstar Jaylen Waddle to just 258 yards and 11.36 PPR points per game in five games as the primary quarterback for the Dolphins last season. But the Browns are funneling a huge target share to Cooper, and he’s still a really good player. He’s not a top-20 WR for me, but I’m probably starting him where I have him.   Injuries: Cordarelle Patterson (knee) — Patterson has yet to practice this week, which is obviously a concern, especially given how he seemingly wore down toward the end of last season. He’s been very active with 49 carries through three games, and it’s fair to wonder if he can keep up his current usage. He’s an RB2 if he plays, but he carries some risk here.  Commanders at Cowboys  Sunday, 1:00 p.m. Line: Cowboys -3; 41.5 O/U Implied totals: Cowboys 22.25-Commanders 19.25 With Dak Prescott sidelined, the Cowboys have won consecutive games allowing 17 and 16 points, and they’re doing it on the strength of what might be the NFL‘s best pass rush. The Commanders just got dominated by the Eagles, who sacked Carson Wentz nine times. The blueprint for the Cowboys is clear, and this could be another long day for Wentz and the Commanders offense. Toughest lineup decision: Carson Wentz – Sit. This is a really tough one because you may not have a good alternative — quarterback has been pretty bad so far this season. Wentz is my 13th-ranked QB for the week, so I’m not saying he’s an automatic sit, and the amount of drop backs for the Commanders offense so far — 153 pass plays, the third-most in the league — makes it especially tough to go away from Wentz. But we just saw him struggle against a very similar matchup, and the Cowboys might be even tougher. He’s a risky start, at best.  Injuries: Michael Gallup (knee) — Gallup has practiced without limitations so far this week and looks in line to make his debut after saying he wasn’t quite mentally ready in Week 3. I’m not starting him, but I’m definitely stashing him … Dalton Schultz (knee) — Schultz has been limited each day so far, which points to a decent chance at returning from a one-game absence. I wouldn’t expect him to play his usual role, and he’s more of a fringe starter if he does play.  Seahawks at Lions Sunday, 1:00 p.m. Line: Lions -4; 48 O/U Implied totals: Lions 26-Seahawks 22 The Seahawks actually looked like a competent modern NFL offense in Week 3, and it wasn’t just chasing points — they put up 20 in the first half while throwi...

World Wide Web3 | The Metaverse, A Virtual And Digital Escape Experience – REVOLT https://collincountynewsonline.com/world-wide-web3-the-metaverse-a-virtual-and-digital-escape-experience-revolt/ In 2022, we are able to buy virtual land, attend digital musical festivals, and make money in the metaverse as video vixens. Are we on the brink of the biggest technological revolution ever or are we just the subjects of the next Jordan Peele movie? Whatever your thoughts are, they don’t negate the fact that this technology is here and it’s here to stay. But the question is what really constitutes the metaverse? Where do we draw the line between virtual reality and the real world? Lets first start by understanding what the word “metaverse” means: Webster’s dictionary defines it as “computing: a persistent virtual environment that allows access to and interoperability of multiple individual virtual realities.” Based on that definition alone, the metaverse doesn’t fall under the Web3 category. For an item to be considered Web3, it needs to be built on blockchain technology, but that’s not a requirement of a metaverse. The conflict of how to define this new, emerging reality has sparked a debate across the Web3 community.  Especially after the recent announcement of Walmart’s move into the parallel virtual world by way of Roblox. Many Web3 community members side-eyed the news, as Roblox is not built on blockchain technology or decentralized and doesn’t have a tokenomics aspect to it. To get more perspective on the topic, I asked the creator of Black Meta, Tina Bonner, and metaverse consultant Don Allen Stevenson for the true definition of a metaverse. Bonner responded with, “A digital experience in which the same things you are doing in the physical realm, you are doing them in the digital realm. So, a digital environment in which you socially interact and transact all the things you do in the physical world. Another big point of the metaverse is where the experience is — in the internet — as opposed to the Web2 realm, where you are just on the internet … scrolling on social media, for example.” Stevenson defines the metaverse as “a moment in time when people value their digital selves more than their physical selves. I also think of it as the future of the internet and digitalization. The metaverse is a platform, hardware, a company, and agnostic.” The origin of the word comes from the sci-fi novel “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson that was later made popular by movies like Ready Player One and The Matrix. The metaverse was created for the purpose of providing a virtual escape where the characters could get away from their harsh realities. The creation of the metaverse didn’t start with the description that Stephenson gave us, it actually started with virtual reality technology, which was first created was by Morton Heilig in 1956. He made a VR machine that simulated the experience of riding a motorcycle in Brooklyn, NY. It was the foundation for the first virtual reality headset that was created by Ivan Sutherland in 1968. The tech gave Stephenson the ground work to conceptualize the metaverse within his novels. The first computerized metaverse developed from the 1982 coined term “cyberspace,” which is defined as “a notion of an environment distinct from the real world, which deals only with communications over computer networks. In a way, this is like a very basic metaverse. It creates the idea of our online activity taking place in an environment separate from the physical world.” But in 2000, Gartner further fleshed out this concept with the term “supranet,” defined as “fusion of a digital/virtual world with the physical (real) world.” The version of the metaverse we know today was made popular by the gaming industry. In 2003, the world was introduced to Second Life, a virtual game where users could create an avatar and curate a fictional life in a parallel world, and many consider this the first metaverse. Since then, the development of gaming computer experiences such as The Sims have provided opportunities for people to curate not just fictional characters, but full blown story lines that evolve like a human’s would. But, in the last few years, the new “metaverse” game, Roblox, has emerged and taken over the masses — especially in the Gen Z generation. I asked expert Bonner if Roblox should be considered the metaverse. Her response? “Roblox is absolutely the metaverse because the characteristics of the metaverse are a shared experience where you are virtually interacting with people, and you can do the same things in the digital realm as you can in the physical realm. If Roblox did not have a component that allowed you to interact with other people, it would be considered a game, not necessarily the metaverse. Every game doesn’t have to be in the metaverse, but if it has a social aspect or connectivity aspect, then it is,” she explained. As it pertains to Web3, metaverses built on the blockchain tech — Decentraland and Facebook’s Meta — have become a popular development, yet none of them have triumphed the user engagement and popularity of Roblox. What is the future of the metaverse? Bonner told REVOLT, “I see the metaverse as being a way of life. I envision that at some point very soon, within the next decade as Apple releases their new headset, just as everyone had a DVD player in their house, everyone at someone point will have virtual headsets or augmented reality glasses in their home. It’s not meant to take away experiences we have now, its meant to add to it.” Stevenson added, “I see the metaverse becoming more relevant than the internet in the next 10 to 15 years. I think it will allow for increased user experiences that aren’t limited to space, time, or 2D. Our next generation of social media will involve the virtual world in more ways than we have seen before.” Whether it’s concerts or virtual shopping experiences, the metaverse is here to stay, and it will be incorporated into our daily lives sooner than we think.

Samsung Announces Expert RAW Camera App Support For More Old Galaxy Devices – TechNave https://collincountynewsonline.com/samsung-announces-expert-raw-camera-app-support-for-more-old-galaxy-devices-technave/ Samsung has the Expert RAW camera app made for its premium flagship smartphones to access more advanced camera features. The devices that support the app are limited. It’s only available for devices with the highest tech specs in the newer series, and even the Flip foldables are out of the list. Now, the Korean tech giant has announced that the app will arrive on more previous Galaxy devices, allowing more customers to get a taste of it. It’s announced that the Expert Raw app will be available on three more devices, the Galaxy S20 Ultra, Note 20 Ultra, and Fold 2. According to the source, the performance may vary due to the hardware as they have different image sensors and processors. However, users will still get access to a lot of new camera features with this app. The Expert Raw camera app gives users control over shooting parameters such as shutter speed, exposure, ISO, white balance, and more. It also allows them to save photos in RAW format to apply effects easily later. Besides that, it offers the option to save the images in JPEG format as well. It’s worth mentioning that these features are not available on the default camera app installed on Galaxy smartphones out of the box. It’s cool for Samsung to make a more professional camera app for its Galaxy smartphones to unlock the full capabilities of the camera sensors. What do you think about it? Leave a comment to let us know your thoughts, and stay tuned to TechNave.com for more tech news.

Ethereum Scaling Solution Aurora Pays $2 Million Bug Bounty To Hackers – Cryptonews https://collincountynewsonline.com/ethereum-scaling-solution-aurora-pays-2-million-bug-bounty-to-hackers-cryptonews/ Image credit: Aurora.com Aurora, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible scaling and bridge solution built on top of the NEAR Protocol blockchain network, has completed the payment of a $2 million bug bounty to a pair of whitehat hackers that reported vulnerabilities on the platform back in June.  According to a blog post written by ImmuneFi, a leading web 3 bug bounty platform that facilitated the transaction, the whitehat hackers will each receive $1 million worth of the platform’s eponymously named native token streamed linearly over one year.  The vulnerabilities the hackers discovered related to Aurora’s permissionless bridging functionality between NEAR Protocol and Ethereum. The first vulnerability was that the platform had a different ERC-20 (fungible token standard) called NEP-141. This would potentially allow an attacker to create worthless NEAR tokens, bridge them to Aurora, and then use them to withdraw ETH from the addresses of Aurora users.  The second bug had to do with the burn function of the bridge. It would have allowed an attacker to create a “fake burn event” on Aurora which could then be used to withdraw ETH from the protocol’s reserve.  Both vulnerabilities have been fixed without any loss of funds to users, the blog post noted. The first report on the vulnerabilities was written by DeFi security firm Halborn.  “We would like to thank the anonymous whitehat for doing an amazing job and responsibly disclosing such an important bug. Big props also to the Aurora team who responded quickly to the report and patched it,” ImmuneFi said in the post.  Hacks still a major problem among blockchain platforms Not all cross-bridge blockchain platforms have been as lucky as Aurora in handling major vulnerabilities without loss of funds. According to a CNBC report in August, bridge protocols have lost over $1.4 billion to hackers so far in 2022.  The report notes that the endemic attacks on bridges can be traced in part to sloppy engineering. This was the case in the hacks of Axie Infinity’s Ronin Network, and also Harmony Horizon, Wormhole, and Nomad.  Meanwhile, they are not the only sector of the crypto market under attack by cybercriminals. The New York Times estimates that over $2 billion in total have been stolen from the crypto industry this year by hackers. The trend points to the need for greater scrutiny and regulation of the space the report noted.

U.S. Consumer Spending Rebounds, But High Inflation Eroding Demand – Reuters https://collincountynewsonline.com/u-s-consumer-spending-rebounds-but-high-inflation-eroding-demand-reuters/ Consumer spending increases 0.4% in August Personal income rises 0.3%; saving rate steady at 3.5% Core PCE price index jumps 0.6%; up 4.9% year-on-year WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) – U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in August, but aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve as it battles stubbornly high inflation are slowing demand, which could limit an anticipated rebound in economic growth in the third quarter. The report from the Commerce Department on Friday also showed underlying inflation pressures building up last month. The U.S. central bank last week raised its policy interest rate by 75 basis points, its third straight increase of that size, and signaled more large increases to come this year. “The latest data are pointing to a loss of momentum in household spending,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics in White Plains, New York. “With further rate hikes in the pipeline, risks to both consumption and growth remain to the downside.” Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, increased 0.4% last month after falling 0.2% in July. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending rising 0.2%. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Some of the increase in spending reflected higher prices for household utilities. Spending was driven by services as a drop in gasoline prices freed up cash to spend on travel and dining out. Outlays on services increased 0.8% after edging up 0.1% in July. Spending on goods fell 0.5%, held down by a drop in receipts at gasoline service stations amid lower gasoline prices. Goods spending fell 0.7% in July. In addition to the gasoline price drag, outlays on goods are slowing as spending rotates back to services. Gasoline prices dropped 11.8% to $3.691 per gallon in August from July, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Still, monthly inflation picked up in August. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.3% last month after dipping 0.1% in July. In the 12 months through August, the PCE price index increased 6.2% after advancing 6.4% in July. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the PCE price index jumped 0.6% after being unchanged in July. The so-called core PCE price index climbed 4.9% on a year-on-year basis in August after increasing 4.7% in July. The Fed tracks the PCE price indexes for its 2% inflation target. Other inflation measures are running much higher. The consumer price index increased 8.3% year-on-year in August. U.S. stocks were set to open slightly higher. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury yields fell. WAGE GROWTH SLOWING Since March, the Fed has hiked its policy rate from near zero to the current range of 3.00% to 3.25%. The central bank last week raised its median forecast for core PCE inflation to 4.5% this year from its previous estimate of 4.3% in June. Its estimate for core inflation in 2023 was boosted to 3.1% from the previously projected 2.7% in June. High inflation is cutting into spending. Inflation-adjusted consumer spending edged up 0.1% in August after dipping 0.1% in the prior month. That suggests consumer spending could be tepid this quarter after helping to blunt the drag on gross domestic product from a slowdown in the pace of inventory accumulation in the second quarter. The economy contracted at a 0.6% annualized rate last quarter after shrinking at a 1.6% pace in the January-March quarter. Growth estimates for the third quarter are as high as a 2.1% rate, driven largely by a narrowing trade deficit. An accumulation of inventory, part of it unsold goods because of slowing demand, is also seen supporting GDP growth this quarter. Consumer spending is likely to remain moderate, with wage growth showing signs of slowing. Personal income rose 0.3% in August, matching the prior month’s gain. Wages increased 0.3% after surging 0.8% in July. The saving rate was unchanged at 3.5%. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

California Bars Tech Companies From Complying With Other States’ Abortion-Related Warrants – The Mercury News https://collincountynewsonline.com/california-bars-tech-companies-from-complying-with-other-states-abortion-related-warrants-the-mercury-news/ By Brian Fung and Clare Duffy | CNN Business California is attempting to stymie abortion prosecutions in other states by making it illegal for Silicon Valley giants and other businesses based in the Golden State to hand over the personal information of abortion-seekers to out-of-state authorities. A new law signed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom forbids California-based businesses from giving up geolocation data, search histories and other personal information in response to out-of-state search warrants, unless those warrants are accompanied by a statement that the evidence sought isn’t connected to an abortion investigation. The prohibition also bars companies in the state from complying with out-of-state law enforcement requests related to abortion, including subpoenas and wiretaps. It’s the latest example of how California is using its status as a powerful state, with jurisdiction over the world’s most powerful tech companies, to influence policy at a national scale. “California is setting a national privacy standard,” said Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, an architect of the bill, in a statement Tuesday. According to a release by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the law went into effect immediately upon signing. Bauer-Kahan’s law, AB 1242, bars California-based companies, including Google, Meta, Uber and others, from producing records about a person if the companies know “or should know” that the warrant they’re responding to is related to an abortion probe. CNN has reached out to the companies for comment. The new law prohibits abortion-related search warrants in the first place, and requires all out-of-state search warrants to attest that they are not abortion-related. But in directly undercutting the anti-abortion laws of other states, California’s new law could put businesses in the difficult position of having to pick sides — and face potential legal penalties no matter what they choose. Companies that violate AB 1242 could face prosecution by the California attorney general. But if they comply with AB 1242, they could also face legal action in states that have restricted abortion for failing to comply with legal process. “Anti-choice sheriffs and bounty hunters are going to be highly motivated to do anything they can to get this data,” said Adam Schwartz, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group that supports the California law. In the event of a conflict between state laws, Schwartz said courts first look to whether a state has jurisdiction over a company and then, if it does, they fall back on a procedural tool known as “choice of law” to determine which law should apply. A state with only some employees of a company, or that is home to users of an electronic service, isn’t likely to satisfy the jurisdictional test, Schwartz said. Even if it did, he added, it would likely fail in the choice of law because the California law is tailored to govern businesses that are incorporated in California or that have their “principal executive offices” in California. Still, he acknowledged there will likely be many court battles ahead. “We are going to see more of this situation where a business is facing, at one time, legal process from an anti-choice state commanding it to disclose abortion-related data, and a blocking statute from a pro-choice state forbidding it from disclosing that same data,” Schwartz said. “This is an important new area, this contest between anti-choice legal process and pro-choice blocking statutes, and it is a matter that could work its way up the courts to the highest court.” In the meantime, tech companies could find themselves between a rock and a hard place, according to tech trade group Chamber of Progress. “Red states and blue states are at war over abortion, and online platforms are caught in the crossfire,” Chamber of Progress CEO Adam Kovacevich said in a statement to CNN. “California’s new law could potentially have a big impact on protecting reproductive privacy — but first it will create a challenging conflict between state laws.” —CNN’s Clare Duffy contributed to this report. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

10 Best Gaming USB & Bluetooth Speakers In 2022 – Screen Rant https://collincountynewsonline.com/10-best-gaming-usb-bluetooth-speakers-in-2022-screen-rant/ Speakers are a great tool for gamers who don’t want the intrusiveness of strapping a device to their head but want enough quality to be able to hear the conversations and sounds that are unfolding on screen. In the past, they no doubt compromised the quality of sound in favor of volume (as speakers of the past were particularly made for projecting music rather than picking up the hundreds of sounds games have today). Thankfully, with technology improving every single day, speakers have now been designed for both parties. While there are a lot of prominent companies that specialize in creating tech for gamers, only a few of them have really managed to impress the public with their range of products (and would certainly be a worthwhile investment in the long run). Logitech G560 Price: $199.99 With Logitech, users can expect quality in appearance and performance. Nothing says gaming like two speakers fashioned with glowing RGB lights that can be configured using an external application (although expecting the devices to only pulse sometimes is nothing short of underestimating its technology). The speakers have an option to sync to activity send through it, such as actively lighting up when receiving music waves of different decibels. The Logitech G560 is compatible with both Bluetooth and AUX. The device’s lights are bright enough to illuminate a dark and fairly large room, but if that’s too bright, they can be dimmed accordingly using the mobile app. Audio can even be mixed using the app as well, allowing the user to manipulate how much base they want their speakers to give. Creative Pebble V2 Price: $25 In terms of being the best, the Creative Pebble V2 provides sustainable quality for its insanely cheap price tag. The pair of devices are small enough to fit in the average adult’s palms, and yet they are powerful enough to fill an entire room with high-quality sound without hitting the maximum volume. For only $25 on Amazon, anyone can enjoy leisurely gaming or music. Speakers make playing horror games several degrees scary because, unlike with headsets, simply throwing the device off the head is not a feasible solution. As such, users will be subjugated to loud sounds and eerie atmospheres, stuff that could be found in the best point-and-click horror games. Razer Nommo Chroma Price: $169.99 Razer wins again for its simple-to-use yet powerful gaming accessories. With the Razer Nommo Chroma, all the user needs are the two speakers; no separate subwoofer is required. From that point, the owner needs to download the drivers and that’s about it. Manipulating settings could be done by the driver. To simply up the gain of the speakers the owner needs to simply turn the dial on each device. Even without the aforementioned subwoofer, the two speakers are perfectly capable of immersing the listener in whatever sounds it’s projected. Whether it be the boots of an enemy or the sound of friends talking, the sound would resonate loudly across the room. Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2 Price: $329.99 Soundbars are a particular type of speaker that only recently started to be manufactured with gaming in mind. Both stylish and practical, the Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2 is a slim bar that shouldn’t be intrusive enough to take up too much desk space. Fashioned with RGB lights, the device can even fit comfortably as a speaker someone would use for entertainment in their living room. The Sound Blaster V2 is clearly designed not only for gaming but for watching films and playing music as well. The remote allows the device to alternate between several modes to fit the user’s preferences. There are even modes to enhance the user’s gameplay experience, modes that focus on precise sounds like footsteps or how far gunfire is from the player. Logitech Z407 Price: $109.99 Sound is important if a player wants to get the drop on fearsome enemies, such as the deadliest high-value targets in Halo. Logitech’s gear is usually on the higher end when it comes to price. Thankfully, Logitech has a cheap alternative to their most powerful devices that only slightly falls behind in quality but is several hundred dollars cheaper. The Z407 is compatible with Bluetooth, a 3.5mm headphone jack, or a micro USB. The pair of speakers can even be converted to wireless speakers if combined with an attachment. It’s also important to know that if someone were to choose this item, they would only get one device; they would need to purchase another one separately if they want two. However, they might be worth it in the long run if a gamer wants a wire-free gaming station. Redragon GS550 Orpheus Price: $39.99 The GS550 Orpheus is a pair of tower-like speakers that can either be placed vertically or next to each other on their sides. One speaker is equipped with a knob that controls the gain for both devices. A microphone can even be connected to one of the speakers to allow microphone input should the owner desire it. Redragon is a relatively well-known brand for its low-priced gaming accessories such as keyboards, headphones, and microphones. Thankfully the price of their equipment does not reflect their quality, the GS550 illuminates a glowing red with long durable cables to allow for easier placement. These features make the device perfect for immersing in some of the best horror games. Sudotack Gaming Computer Speakers Price: $66.99 Speakers that provide 360-degree coverage are quite rare, especially in the gaming category. That’s precisely what makes the Sudotack speakers stand out compared to its competitors. Of course, there are other things the product deserves praise for as well, such as its compact design that allows for them to be easily transported without fuss. The Sudotack speakers are small in scale when compared to other gaming speakers. The RGB lights adorning the speakers can be configured using the panels on top of each speaker. Working with a wide variety of PCs, the speakers are compatible with a wide variety of PCs. Insmart YM-130 Price: $26.99 The Insmart speakers are classic in appearance, resembling jukeboxes vaguely in stature while having the aesthetic of stereos from some old diner. What’s unique about the pair is that they are activated upon touch; press their faces, and they’ll turn on (though interested parties should be aware the speakers cannot have their RGBs configured in any manner). These speakers can be connected to a computer via USB. For those wanting some privacy, there’s a port located on one of the speakers that the user could connect to and isolate the sound to their ears privately. The versatility of these speakers is nothing to scoff at as well, aside from consoles they can be attached to mobile devices and most iPads. Razer Leviathan Price: $199.99 This speaker is truly deserving of its name. This time, Razer did away with the lights and showmanship. Instead, they created a titan of a speaker system that focuses more on rattling the innards of whoever catches its absurd bass during the action, for example, while playing some of the best first-person shooters of all time. Placing the device anywhere in the room will allow the user to get the experience of being immersed in the center of it all with its state-of-the-art Dolby Digital surround sound. The sound bar itself doesn’t exactly take much space, but the subwoofer is a little on the larger side, thankfully it does not possess any wiring. The speaker can be connected via Bluetooth. Computer Speakers SK010 Price: $40.00 Ultra-compact meets ultimate quality, the SK010 is suitable for the go and is compatible with almost every device thanks to its USB compatibility. With the exterior looking like something straight out of a Sci-fi plot the speaker is shaped triangular with its body consisting of black. The edges however glow a neon green as each end is capped off by a silver knob. Aside from USB compatibility, the SK010 can be connected to devices using Bluetooth and AUX. The device boasts Hi-Fi capabilities, alluding to its use of dual drivers and diaphragms to perfectly encapsulate and amplify high-pitched and deep bass noises. For only $40, this device is a steal that can be used for more than just PC gaming. NEXT: The 10 Best Gaming Controllers Of All Time

Ken Paxton Loses Appeal In Zena Stephens Case — What To Know – Law & Crime https://collincountynewsonline.com/ken-paxton-loses-appeal-in-zena-stephens-case-what-to-know-law-crime/ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC held at the Hilton Anatole on July 11, 2021 in Dallas, Texas. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) slammed the Lone Star State’s highest criminal appeals court Wednesday for its “shameful decision” that his office lacks unilateral authority to prosecute fellow members of state government for election law violations. The CCA’s shameful decision means local DAs with radical liberal views have the sole power to prosecute election fraud in TX—which they will never do. The timing is no accident—this is devastating for the integrity of our upcoming elections. Time for #txlege to right this wrong. https://t.co/Hjtkn8SkNk — Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) September 28, 2022 The all-Republican appeals court (eight of them elected and one appointed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott) ruled 8-1 that the Texas constitution’s separation of powers mandate blocks Paxton’s office from the kind of prosecutorial authority it desires. The case grew from the 2016 election of Democrat Zena Stephens, Texas’ first Black female sheriff. Stephens, the incumbent, defeated her Republican challenger in a county that narrowly voted in favor of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the same election. Paxton’s office, however, indicted Stephens in early 2018 for accepting excessive campaign donations. An FBI investigation found that Stephens received cash contributions in excess of $100 in violation of federal campaign-finance law. It referred its findings to the Texas Rangers, which presented the case to the Jefferson County District Attorney. That prosecutor’s office declined to prosecute Stephens, but Paxton pursued the case against Stephens independently. Paxton presented the case to a grand jury, secured a three-count indictment for tampering with government records and accepting unlawful contributions. Stephens succeeded in quashing the first count of the indictment on the grounds that the attorney general had no authority to independently prosecute criminal violations. The second two counts remained in place during the parties’ appeal, with Stephens arguing that any attempted delegation of authority to pursue election code infractions violated separation of powers. The Court of Criminal Appeals (the highest criminal appellate court in Texas) sided with Stephens on Wednesday, but did not issue a majority opinion. However, Judge Scott Walker authored a 12-page concurrence that laid out his take on the basis for the decision against Paxton. Walker explained that the court’s decision was rooted in its desire to protect the fairness of all elections. He wrote: It is possible that, in the not-too-distant future, a new politician could be elected as the Attorney General of Texas. If we ruled that the legislature could give the Attorney General the unfettered power to prosecute all election cases, we would be giving every future Attorney General the power to bring possibly fabricated criminal charges against every candidate running for public office in the State of Texas who disagrees with the Attorney General’s political ideals. The framers of the Texas constitution, said Walker, were “determined to reverse” the turmoil of Reconstruction, and “believed it was best” to clearly separate power into three distinct branches of government. As an executive branch official, said Walker, the attorney general is not a prosecutor. However, Walker pointed out, “the fact that the Attorney General does not have the authority to prosecute crimes, including Election Code offenses like voter fraud or campaign finance violations, does not mean that those crimes will invariably go unchecked.” Rather, he said, “The duly-elected district and county attorneys certainly can and should prosecute those cases.” For those who disagree with this system, Walker said, “The remedy is not for the courts to water down the Texas Constitution from the bench.” Rather, an amendment to the Texas constitution is what would be required. Paxton himself faces felony fraud charges pending in Collin County, Texas. The case against him alleges that Paxton lured investors into a stock deal without disclosing his personal interest while he was a member of the Texas legislature. Paxton has denied all wrongdoing. Earlier this week, Paxton made headlines for dodging a process server outside his home. The AG took exception to the suggestion that he knowingly fled to avoid being served with a subpoena to testify in an abortion-related lawsuit. It’s clear that the media wants to drum up another controversy involving my work as Attorney General, so they’re attacking me for having the audacity to avoid a stranger lingering outside my home and showing concern about the safety and well-being of my family. — Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) September 27, 2022 (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images.) Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

The 50 Funniest Town Names In America, State By State – USA TODAY https://collincountynewsonline.com/the-50-funniest-town-names-in-america-state-by-state-usa-today/ The American landscape is scattered with hidden treasure, from awe-striking flatlands, untouched wilderness, and hyper-specific cuisine. It’s a map not quite like any other. Perhaps the most amusing among these hidden treasures though are the offbeat and sometimes outright ridiculous town names that can be found in each state. Carefree, Arizona for example sits northeast of Phoenix and Waterproof, Louisiana is just inland from the Mississippi River. Some of these hamlets claim less than a thousand residents, while others are prominent cities in their state. Come with us from the wild west to the northern coast on a phantom road trip as we take you across America to the most distinctively named cities and towns. You might even decide some of these spots are worth a real-life visit. Alabama Eclectic The population of this Alabama town is just under 1200 people, Mayor Gary Davenport tells me. The name was generated by one of the founding fathers who practiced ‘eclectic medicine‘, a form of American medical practice that focused on noninvasive therapy and healing.  Arkansas Delight This small town in Pike County, Arkansas is only a few miles from the birthplace of country music sensation Glen Campbell, known best for his countrypolitan anthem ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’. In fact, the sign welcoming you to Delight has a black and white portrait of the singer.  Arizona. Why This community sits at the intersection of Highways 85 and 86 and is home to 65 residents. Anyone passing through can visit the comically named Why Not Travel Store which offers refreshments, knick-knacks, and, one would assume, a ‘why not’ attitude.  Alaska Unalaska This island, inhabited for thousands of years by the Unangan people gets its name from a Native Aleut word: Agunalaksh.  Ray Hudson, an Unalaska historian and author writes, “The name “Unalaska” does not reflect a thwarted attempt to secede from the 49th State, nor does it imply that the residents of Unalaska view their community as one that runs counter to the majority of the state, although some might.” It is simply the evolution of a word, first co-opted by Russians, then by the United States Board on Geographic Names.  What is the world’s most populous city?: Top 10 most populous cities in the world, US ranked. California Rough and Ready This small town in Nevada County, California has less than a thousand residents and was named after President Zachary Taylor whose nickname was “Old Rough and Ready.” In 1850 the town seceded, deciding it didn’t want to be taxed and becoming the independent Republic of Rough and Ready. The secession was later reversed when residents became frustrated that nearby saloons would not sell liquor to “foreigners.” Connecticut Mystic This coastal town earned Hollywood fame when it was depicted in the 1988 rom-com “Mystic Pizza” starring Julia Roberts. It documented three young girls working at a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut.  The real parlor from the film still serves up hot pies today. If you visit, you can grab a slice! Colorado Superior This Colorado town has a population just above 13,000 and was given its name at the turn of the 20th century for the ‘superior’ quality of the coal mined in the region.  Honorable mentions in this state go to the unincorporated communities of Paradox and Hast and, notably, Moffat, Colorado which is considering changing its name to ‘Kush’ to honor the growing cannabis industry.  Delaware Slaughter Beach This tiny beach side town has a lot of varied lore surrounding its name. One story though involves the horseshoe crabs which are plentiful in the area. In the spring and summer they come to shore to lay their eggs and are sometime flipped by waves, then left to die in the hot sun. This phenomenon is nicknamed “Slaughter of the Crabs.” Bob Wood, mayor of the town of slaughter beach tells me by phone that another theory is that the name comes from a old English word, sounding similar to ‘slaughter’ and referring to plum trees, which are also plentiful by the shoreline.  Georgia  Enigma Located in southern Georgia, Enigma has a town population of just above 1,000. In his book “Georgia Place-Names”, author Kenneth Krakow writes that when the citizens of the town were unsuccessful in deciding a name, one commented that it was “just an enigma.” It stuck. What are the best beaches in America?: Destinations for any type of beach vacation. New Hampshire Sandwich Believe it or not Sandwich is actually one of the largest towns in the state of New Hampshire. It is named after the Fourth Earl of Sandwich who had a propensity for gambling, so much so he refused to get up from the table for meals. He is said to have asked for a slab of beef between two slices of bread to be brought to him. Soon enough people at the table began to say, “I’ll have the same as Sandwich”, hence the birth of the popular lunchtime special.  Washington Electric city Located in eastern Washington, Electric City has a population of 1,025 residents, according to city clerk Peggy Nevsimal. And is named for the nearby Grand Coulee Dam which produces, you guessed it, large amounts of electricity. When the dam was first built many of the engineers settled in the town. Nevada Cal-Nev-Ari Intuitive minds might guess, this is a small area in Nevada’s Clark County that sits incredibly close to the borders of nearby Arizona and California. It’s name is an abbreviated jumble of the three states. As of 2021, it had a mere 250 residents.  West Virginia Hometown That’s right, for residents who grew up in this West Virginia hamlet, their hometown is literally Hometown. There are only six streets and one elementary school, which services about 80 children according to the county clerk. The town in total had 595 residents as of the 2020 census. Virginia Tightsqueeze This unincorporated community in Pittsville County got its name many years back when both a general store and a blacksmith-wheelwright shop were built on a narrow dirt road, close enough to the road so that people riding by in carts could step right out of the carriage and onto the porch of the stores.  According to the Pittsylvania Historical Society, when passersby came through they would have to slow their vehicles because it was such a “tight squeeze”, hence the name.  New York  Tuxedo This town, bearing the name of men’s formal wear, is located in New York’s Orange County along the Ramapo River.  The name is actually derived from tucseto, a word found in the language of the Lenni-Lenape tribe, native Americans indigenous to this region.  New Jersey  Loveladies This waterfront neighborhood in New Jersey was named after Thomas Lovelady, who once owned a small island just across from the land. Lovelady Island can still be seen on a map.  New Mexico Truth of Consequences Formerly called ‘Hot Springs’ this 6,000 person town is home to plentiful natural hot springs and a ‘retro’ vibe. The new name came about in 1950 when, for the 10th anniversary of NBC radio’s Truth or Consequences game show, host Ralph Edwards suggested there might be a town willing to adopt the name as their own. The people of “T or C”, as locals call it, bought in.  Honorable mention for New Mexico goes to Dulce, a town on the Jicarilla-Apache reservation originally dubbed “Agua Dulce”, or ‘Sweet Water’ in English for the natural springs which supplied quality drinking water. Not unlike another famed New Mexico town, Dulce has a great deal of paranormal lore. Residents claim to have seen and photographed UFOs, and a group of theorists is convinced there is an underground alien base.  Autumn colors abound!: 10 best destinations for fall foliage Iowa What Cheer This Iowa town has just over 600 residents. City clerk Melanie Vermillion told local newspaper The Gazette in 2015 that school children all across the county write to her about where the name came from. The answer? Joseph Andrews, an early settler. Andrews opened a post office once the town grew big enough and named it after the English greeting “What Cheer.” The town later took on the name as well. Maine Bald Head This village on the coast of Maine was christened ‘Bald Head’ for a nearby rock formation bearing the same name.  Maryland Halfway This community sits halfway between Hagerstown and Williamsport, making the name a natural choice. Near the Pennsylvania border in Maryland’s Washington County, this community is home to just under 12,000 residents.  Michigan  North Star North Start Township, to be exact, was founded in 1857, though it didn’t receive its noble name until 1884. The 2020 census indicated a population of 895 people.  Honorable mentions go to Loud Township and Covert Township.  Minnesota  Harmony Local legend has it that this town was named when residents were engaged in a tense debate over what the town was named and an onlooker stepped in saying, “Let’s have Harmony here!” Participants agreed that indeed, Harmony would be a nice idea, and named the town after it.  Mississippi Hot Coffee In the market for a piping hot cup of joe? Perhaps this should be your first stop. How Coffee is an unincorporated area in southern Mississippi. It gets its name from an inn that was built back in pioneer days. The inn brewed, you guessed it, hot coffee, and travelers used to delineate their journey’s progress by how much longer it would be until they could get to this town and snag a cup. Kentucky  Monkey’s Eyebrow Mark Usler, author of ‘Hometown Revelations’, told NPR in 2007 that the town name originates from a local legend that if you stand on a nearby mountaintop and look down at the region, it resembles the shape of a monkey’s eyebrow.  Located on the Ohio river, an LA Times article noted in 1987 that residents of nearby Pa...

ConnectOne Bank Expanding With New East Hampton Office – Long Island Business News https://collincountynewsonline.com/connectone-bank-expanding-with-new-east-hampton-office-long-island-business-news/ Get our free LIBN e-alerts & breaking news notifications! A ConnectOne Bank branch in Ridgewood, N.J. / Google Maps image By: David Winzelberg September 30, 2022 ConnectOne Bank will soon be opening an office in East Hampton.  The bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of publicly traded ConnectOne Bancorp, will open a 1,000-square-foot office at 14 Main St. in late October.  The East Hampton loan production office will be ConnectOne’s second Long Island location, with its other office in Melville.  “We are thrilled about the expansion of our banking model onto the east end of Long Island,” ConnectOne Bank Chairman and CEO Frank Sorrentino III said in a company statement. “Since the establishment of our Melville office, we’ve seen growing demand from local small businesses for a bank that understands community roots.”    ConnectOne also announced the hiring of Margie Meighan as vice president and business development officer. Meighan was formerly a branch manager for Dime Bank in East Hampton.  “I am very excited to join the ConnectOne Bank team and support the growth of its people-first business model,” Meighan said in the statement. “The East End of Long Island has a robust small business market that values the relationship focused banking that ConnectOne provides.”  × Enjoy This Free Article We Have 2 More For You All You Need To Do Is Register To Receive Your 2 Additional Free Articles

Solano Board Sends Letter Seeking CPUC Funds For Railroad Crossings – Fairfield Daily Republic https://collincountynewsonline.com/solano-board-sends-letter-seeking-cpuc-funds-for-railroad-crossings-fairfield-daily-republic/ FAIRFIELD — The Vanden Road/Jepson Parkway rail overcrossing project is the highest priority in Solano County because it directly supports vehicular traffic accessing Travis Air Force Base. The county also noted the importance of the Parkway Boulevard Overcrossing project in a letter the Board of Supervisors is sending to the California Public Utilities Commission seeking funding for design and construction of the two rail overcrossings. “The (Vanden Road/Jepson Parkway rail overcrossing project) represents a final phase in a long series of projects that will complete the Jepson Parkway corridor between the cities of Fairfield and Vacaville,” the staff report to the board states. “Since annexation into . . . Fairfield in 2012, the Jepson Parkway corridor has seen major investment into transit-oriented development along Vanden Road, including the recent completion of the Fairfield-Vacaville Hannigan Train Station. A new overcrossing at Vanden Road from Canon Road would remove the existing at-grade rail crossing on Canon Road, which has been experiencing significant accident rates.” Fairfield and the Solano Transportation Authority have been working on the overcrossing utilizing impact fees, “but additional grant funds would be necessary to fully offset the significant cost involved in this project,” the report states. Similar language was used to support the need for funding for the Dixon project. “Due to changes in requirements for the overcrossing design over time, the total cost of the project has escalated to an estimated $34.5 million. Currently, there is a $24.7 million shortfall for the project after consideration of the funding provided by the city and local and regional impact fees, to date,” the staff report states. The project would include the closure of the existing crossing at Pitt School Road near Porter Road as required. In other action, the board: • Approved adding the Health Services Clinic manager and Health Services Clinic senior manager positions with a monthly salary range of $8,582 to $11,310; added the Health Services Program manager and Health Services Program senior manager positions with a monthly salary range of $8,582 to $11,310; reclassified four Health Services manager to Health Services clinic managers, and three Health Services managers to Health Services Program managers; and reclassified one Health Services senior manager to Health Services Clinic senior manager and three Health Services senior managers to Health Services Program senior managers. • Added Organization Development and Training specialist with a monthly salary range of $6,990 to $8,496; and added Emergency Medical Services administrator with a monthly salary range of $8,631 to $10,491. • Approved a $210,068 contract with Innovative Health Solutions to provide nutrition education services through Sept. 30, 2023, and approved a $40,044 appropriations transfer to recognize unanticipated revenue from the California Department of Public Health CalFresh Healthy Living Program. • Approved the Notice of Completion for the Asphalt Rubber Cape Seal 2021 Project for Bridgeport Avenue, Creed Road, Fry Road, Lopes Road, Peabody Road, Pitt School Road, Richie Road, Walters Road, Weber Road and on the public roads within the Home Acres and Starr subdivisions. The contractor was VSS International of West Sacramento. The cost was $2.56 million. The project was paid for with a $250,000 CalRecycle grant, with the remainder coming from the Road Fund.