Vikings withstand Bears' furious rally, win on field goal in OT
Warren County supervisors gave themselves more power on Tuesday to oversee the investments of local taxes and to keep a better eye on the books. The Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to abolish the county finance board it established on Nov. 18. State code allows the county to create a finance board. The state then allows the supervisors to, by ordinance, abolish the finance board. Once abolished, the panel’s authority, powers and duties revert to the Board of Supervisors. The action gave supervisors the power to direct the county treasurer to invest money in state investment pools and provide monthly reports on the investments. Chairwoman Cheryl L. Cullers, Vice Chairman Jerome K. “Jay” Butler and supervisors Vicky L. Cook, Richard A. Jamieson and John W. Stanmeyer voted in favor of an ordinance abolishing the short-lived board. Supervisors also voted in a separate action to direct the treasurer to invest county funds in one or both state investment pools and provide monthly reports on the amounts and accrued interest. County Administrator Edwin Daley explained by phone on Wednesday that the county collected $8 million in real estate tax receipts last week, Daley said. The county could deposit that money into an investment account the same day and accrue interest, Daley said. But county officials recently raised concerns about investment interest accruals in the last couple of years. In one year information showed a negative amount, Daley said. “(We) don’t understand how you lose money on $15 million of investments,” Daley said. Supervisors on Tuesday held a public hearing on the proposed ordinance. South River District resident John Jenkins said he opposed the abolishment of the finance board. Jenkins pointed out that the state code calls for a finance board to include a county citizen “of proven integrity and business ability” as an appointed member. Jenkins said he thinks it’s a good idea to have such a citizen to help the county manage its $91 million budget. Wood responded to Jenkins’ comments before the vote and noted that the county has a finance/audit committee that meets once a month. Butler and Wood also serve on the committee. The committee includes three appointed citizens. The committee’s mission “is to review all of the county’s internal fiscal controls,” Wood said. “We identify gaps of what needs to be looked at to make sure that the finances and the budgets, reports are being presented in a standardized way, transparent ...” Cook said. Whenever the committee finds what Cook called a “hiccup” in financial reporting for a department, such as the treasurer’s office or the School Board, the panel then can request representatives of those entities to speak to the committee. “[T]his (finance) board is taking it a step level higher, which is going to be a board that will be working with the treasurer, because there’s a separation of powers between Warren County and the treasurers, and we’re working together to try to work on some improving of investments and trying to look at better ways of accounting and investing in our finances,” Cook said. The finance/audit committee members also have term limits, Cook added. The resolution refers to the supervisors’ actions creating and abolishing a finance board. The resolution goes on to state “the Board is concerned that County funds are not being invested to maximize their investment returns; WHEREAS, pursuant to Code of Virginia § 58.1-3156, the Board determines that County funds are drawing a lesser rate of interest than they otherwise may be earning; WHEREAS, the Board is entitled, pursuant to Code of Virginia § 58.1-3160, to receive a monthly report from the County Treasurer on the amount of County money on deposit with each depository ..." Supervisors requested that the treasurer invest all available county funds with the Virginia Local Government Investment Pool and/or the Virginia Municipal League/Virginia Association of Counties Finance Virginia Investment Pool. Supervisors also directed the treasurer to provide monthly reports on the amount of county money on deposit with each depository and the interest earned on each account. Also at the meeting, supervisors voted to: • Lease the Claude A. Stokes Jr. Community Swimming Pool to the Warren County Sunfish for $613 for their swim practices and meets from May 25-July 13, 2025. • Approve an amendment to the agreement between the county and LaBella Associates to extend the contract to Dec. 12, 2025. • Approve the board’s legislative initiatives for 2025. • Re-appoint Walter Mabe to the Department of Social Services Advisory Board for a four-year term from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2027. • Authorize the Department of Fire and Rescue Services to execute the proposed firefighter cancer protection plan to provide secondary sets of personal protective equipment for all full-time employees, and access to secondary sets of equipment for all part-time employees and volunteer responders in the amount of $365,335. • Authorize the county administrator to execute agreement with T. Preston Bennett/PG Bennett Enterprises as the emergency medical services physician-operational medical director. • Approve the request from the Department of Public Works to replace the chiller unit at the Public Safety Building. The department plans to buy a new, Innovative Air Technologies unit from Hoffman Mechanical Solutions in the amount of $515,627 • Accept the grant award from the SRT Small Rural Tribal Body Worn Camera Grant Program, and to add $162,000 to the grant budget line item. The county must spend $162,000 which will be reimbursed by the grant. The total project cost, including hardware, software, equipment, five years of licensing and five years of unlimited storage for that period is $299,416.71. • Approve the purchase of a Kubota tractor for $55,977.80 with funds from the Shenandoah Farms Sanitary District budget. Prior to the meeting, supervisors met in closed session to consult with legal counsel on matters concerning the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority and related litigation and financial matters; and a lawsuit between Rockingham County and unknown heirs of Frances Rexrode.
Hyderabad: In a tragic accident, a 33-year-old cyclist was hit by a speeding car near Parvat Nagar junction in Madhapur on early Saturday morning. Due to the impact, the cyclist’s head hit the footpath railings on the side. He died on the spot due to excessive bleeding. The deceased has been identified as Ganesh who worked in a private company. He was cycling to work at around 6:40 am when the accident took place. According to police, the car driver has been taken into custody. A formal complaint is yet to be filed by the deceased’s family. The body has been taken for postmortem. Incidentally, just a day ago, two youngsters were killed in the same spot when their speeding bike crashed into a divider. Following the cyclist’s death, the Hyderabad Cyclists Union has expressed grief and appealed to the Madhapur police to ensure their safety. These cyclists come from economically weaker backgrounds and rely on cycles for their livelihood due to their inability to afford a two-wheeler. “We are deeply saddened by this accident & news! Day can’t pass over this life loss, bcos low income livelihood cyclist May I req @psmadhapur_cyb @acpmadhapur_cyb @dcpmadhapur_cyb to pls help enf (enough) so motorists realise & justice prevails,” spread the X post of mayor of BYCS for Hyderabad Santhana Selvan. ❤️🩹❤️🩹We are deeply saddened by this accident & news! 🥲 Day can’t pass over this life loss, bcos low income livelihood cyclist May I req @psmadhapur_cyb @acpmadhapur_cyb @dcpmadhapur_cyb to pls help enf so motorists realise & justice prevails https://t.co/qU2u9B96NS ...MISTRAS Group appoints Natalia Shuman as president and CEOWhat tech industry delivers the most growth for the least capex? Very clearly it is the software industry. Develop a nifty games programme and you can rake in tens of millions. The UK games industry makes around $10 billion a year – lots of lovely tax lolly. My plan is to get the UK repositories of unique bodies of data to make them available to commercial software developers with HMG acting as an enabler. The software developers will gain access to troves of data which can then be used to train programmes to be developed for commercial markets, There are health records, political archives, weapons development records, virus research, criminal records, historical records, transportation records etc and the kind of specialist data which universities and research institutes have amassed over decades. Commercial companies have data banks they may want to monetise. The government will make AI servers available for the training of the programmes developed under the scheme. Royalties and licence fees will be paid to those who provide data, profits will flow to those who can fashion the data into commercial products and taxes will flow to HM Treasury. I get Greaser on the burner blower. “What would be the ideal data collection to build a commercial AI product on?” I ask him. “Crime records, Ed.” “Easy-peasy we have several hundred years of them,” I tell him. “The gorier the better,” says Greaser. “50, 50?” “You’ve got to be joking. 10% of the net,” says Greaser. “Screw you. Find your own crime records.” “12 then.” “Done.”
Cade Lucas This story was one of the top stories from 2024 and was originally published in January. A Wyndham councillor suspended for misconduct has been reinstated until an appeal hearing in June. On January 9, VCAT granted Cr Jasmine Hill a stay on her suspension after deciding it would be prejudicial for it to remain in place until her appeal is heard. VCAT has confirmed Cr Hill’s appeal is provisionally set for June 13 and 14, meaning she will remain on council for at least another six months, longer than her original four month suspension from December 2023 to April 2024. Cr Hill has already returned to councillor duties and was seen alongside other council members at Australia Day celebrations in Wyndham Park on Friday. Cr Hill confirmed to Star Weekly that her reinstatement comes with a series of restrictions imposed by Wyndham council CEO Stephen Wall, though neither party would detail what these restrictions involved. Just before Christmas Cr Hill lodged an appeal with VCAT seeking to overturn the suspension imposed by the Councillor Conduct Panel which found she engaged in serious misconduct by bullying two council officers during 2021 and 2022. Cr Hill disputed the finding, claiming she is the victim of a ‘political machine’ determined to silence her. In statement to Star Weekly she again denied any wrong doing and said the matter wouldn’t distract from her role on council. “Throughout my life, I’ve never had a record of bullying. My Christian beliefs, instilled from a young age, emphasise forgiveness as a core value,” she said. “I value feedback from our officers. Despite the challenges, I remain dedicated to serving the community and overseeing the performance of the council, ensuring that it operates efficiently and effectively.” The Councillor Conduct Panel found Cr Hill engaged in misconduct by repeatedly screaming and shouting at two council staffers on multiple occasions, affecting their health and underminding council operations. On one such occasion, during a telephone call with one of the staffers on April 14, 2022, Cr Hill screamed: “why can’t you do your job properly?” and “You should hire new staff from culturally diverse backgrounds because the staff you have won’t accommodate other cultures“. The staff member said Cr Hill screamed “I am not a communist” over and over during the 40 minute conversation which was so loud she had to turn down the volume on her Bluetooth. Both staff members have since resigned, citing Cr Hill’s behaviour as a major factor in their decisions. The bullying allegations against Cr Hill were originally brought by fellow councillor and now Wyndham deputy mayor Josh Gilligan. Wyndham council’s first meeting for 2024 is on Tuesday February 27.
Dogecoin is a joke—so what's behind its rally?Special counsel Jack Smith has asked judges to dismiss a federal election interference case and a classified documents case against Donald Trump as he is set to become the next US president. In new documents filed on Monday, Smith told the judges the cases should be closed because of a Justice Department policy that bans the prosecution of a sitting president. Trump had pleaded not guilty in both cases. One is related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden, and the other is related to his handling of sensitive files once he left the White House. “It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President,” Smith wrote in a filing in the election case. “This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant,” Smith added in the six-page filing. A judge must sign off on both cases for them to be officially dismissed. In a statement, Trump’s team said the move to end the cases was “a major victory for the rule of law”. “The American People re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again,” said Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung. “The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.” Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in 2022 to take over the two federal investigations into Trump’s conduct. The request to dismiss Trump’s election subversion case marks an end to a lengthy legal saga after Smith had to refile charges against the president based on a July Supreme Court ruling that Trump was immune from prosecution over "official acts" that took place while he was in the White House. Smith had argued in a revised indictment that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were related to his campaign and therefore not official acts. When Trump won the 2024 election this month, Smith began to take steps to wind down both the election interference case and the classified documents case, in which Trump was accused of storing sensitive files in his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them. Trump had pledged to get rid of Smith as soon as he takes office. Smith has reportedly said he plans to step down next year. Trump’s return to the White House left several of the criminal cases against him in limbo. His sentencing for his criminal conviction in the state of New York has been indefinitely delayed. Trump also faces state charges in Georgia for his attempts to overturn election results there, but that case faces delays as well. An appeals court is considering whether to overturn a previous ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the case despite a relationship she had with a prosecutor she hired. Since Trump won the 2024 presidency, “his criminal problems go away”, said former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani. “It’s well established that a sitting president can’t be prosecuted,” he said. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App . You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts.
Many vitamins are produced in chemical factories, often synthetically, but researchers at the Technical University of Denmark have succeeded in developing a natural and simple method for producing vitamin B2: by gently heating lactic acid bacteria. This could be a game-changer in developing countries, where many suffer from vitamin B2 deficiency, enabling fortification with B2 directly in local kitchens. Currently, most vitamins are produced in factories, either synthetically or with the help of microorganisms that are not approved for food use. These production methods require extensive and often complex purification processes (to separate the vitamin from non-food-approved materials), which are costly and energy-intensive. Now, a team of researchers from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) has successfully produced vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, in significant quantities using a novel, cost-effective, and climate-friendly method. The researchers employed a food-approved lactic acid bacterium, demonstrating that it can produce vitamin B2 when subjected to heat. "I think it's beautiful that something as simple as gentle heating and lactic acid bacteria can be used to produce vitamin B2. The method allows for food to be fortified with vitamin B2 in an easy way, for example, during the production of yoghurt or sourdough," says Associate Professor Christian Solem from DTU National Food Institute, who led the research. Vitamin B2 is essential for energy production and for maintaining a normal immune function. It also plays an important role in iron absorption, and deficiency has wide-ranging effects. Fortification with B2 as part of food preparation This innovative method integrates vitamin production into the food fermentation process. Vitamins can thus be produced and added locally. By using riboflavin-producing bacteria in food production, manufacturers can improve the nutritional value of traditional foods economically, enhancing public health while reducing environmental impact. The method differs from existing technologies by being natural—without genetic modification—and consuming less energy and fewer chemicals compared to traditional synthetic vitamin production. Fortification only requires basic fermentation tools, which are already common in many households. How the researchers stressed the bacteria The team subjected lactic acid bacteria to "oxidative stress," a natural pressure that compels bacteria to produce more riboflavin to protect themselves. We used the microorganism Lactococcus lactis, commonly known from cheese and cultured milk, to produce vitamin B2. Lactococcus thrives best at around 30°C, but we heated the bacteria to 38-39°C, which they didn't like. Bacteria adapt to new conditions, and to defend themselves against the oxidative stress caused by the heat, they started producing vitamin B2." Christian Solem, Associate Professor, DTU National Food Institute The researchers optimized the vitamin production process by adding various nutrients, achieving a production of 65 milligrams of vitamin B2 per liter of fermented substrate—nearly 60 times the daily human requirement for the vitamin. Cultural compatibility and future potential "It would be ideal to package these B2-producing lactic acid bacteria as a starter culture that can be added to foods like milk, maize, or cassava for fermentation. When these foods are fermented using the starter culture, which includes specially selected lactic acid bacteria along with traditional ones, they automatically produce riboflavin while maintaining the traditional flavor and texture of the food," says Christian Solem. Many developing countries already have strong traditions of fermenting foods, which extends shelf life and reduces waste. The method could potentially be expanded to produce other essential vitamins and nutrients, such as folic acid (B9) and vitamin B12, which are often lacking in plant-based diets. It could also be applied to various food types, including sauerkraut. About the research The original title of the scientific article published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry is: Harnessing Oxidative Stress to Obtain Natural Riboflavin Secreting Lactic Acid Bacteria for Use in Biofortification. (Link to the article: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.4c08881 ) The research is funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark through the project Bioshuttle. Authors: Emmelie Joe Freudenberg Rasmussen, Norbert Acs, Peter Ruhdal Jensen, and Christian Solem, all from DTU National Food Institute, Denmark. The work was primarily carried out by Ph.D. student Emmelie Joe Freudenberg Rasmussen. DTU (Technical University of Denmark) Freudenberg, J., et al. (2024). Harnessing Oxidative Stress to Obtain Natural Riboflavin Secreting Lactic Acid Bacteria for Use in Biofortification. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry . doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.4c08881 .Maha cabinet formation: Mahayuti may go for 21-12-10 formula