Asia-Pacific markets are set to open lower on the second last day of the year, tracking Wall Street's declines on Friday. Asia-Pacific markets were set to open lower on the penultimate trading day of this year, after Wall Street declined on Friday. > 24/7 San Diego news stream: Watch NBC 7 free wherever you are Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.3% lower in its first hour of trade. Japan's Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a weaker open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 40,210 compared to the index's previous close of 40,281.16. This week, traders await China's manufacturing PMI on Tuesday, while markets will be closed on Wednesday for New Year's Day holiday. U.S. stocks fell Friday, led by technology names, but major indexes still rose for the week. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 333.59 points, or 0.77%, to 42,992.21, falling for the first time in six sessions. The S&P 500 fell 1.11% to 5,970.84. The Nasdaq Composite slid 1.49% to 19,722.03, as Tesla dropped about 5% and Nvidia fell 2%. Money Report Stock futures inch lower as Wall Street readies for the final trading week of 2024: Live updates ‘Noctourism' is expected to be a big travel trend in 2025 —CNBC's Yun Li and Pia Singh contributed to this report. Also on CNBC 10-year Treasury yield rises, hovering near a seven-month high Japan's cabinet approves record $730 billion budget for next fiscal year China's industrial profits extend decline to a fourth straight month, dropping 7.3% in NovemberSocial media users are misrepresenting a report released Thursday by the Justice Department inspector general's office, falsely claiming that it's proof the FBI orchestrated the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The watchdog report examined a number of areas, including whether major intelligence failures preceded the riot and whether the FBI in some way provoked the violence. Claims spreading online focus on the report's finding that 26 FBI informants were in Washington for election-related protests on Jan. 6, including three who had been tasked with traveling to the city to report on others who were potentially planning to attend the events. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Get the latest need-to-know information delivered to your inbox as it happens. Our flagship newsletter. Get our front page stories each morning as well as the latest updates each afternoon during the week + more in-depth weekend editions on Saturdays & Sundays.
Center for Employment Opportunities Denver Named a Top 100 Nonprofit in North America, Awarded PepsiCo Foundation Community Impact AwardWELLINGTON, New Zealand , Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- WAISL is delighted to announce the launch of its Digital Twin-Powered Integrated Airport Predictive Operations Centre (APOC) at Hyderabad International Airport in India . Rishi Mehta, President & CEO of WAISL Ltd This is India's first end-to-end fully integrated digital twin-powered APOC that covers the Terminal, Airside and Landside, integrating with over 40 modules and tracking more than 100 KPIs, capable of managing 40+ million passengers annually. WAISL's innovative APOC solution can significantly enhance the efficiency of New Zealand airports, reduce flight delays, and enhance passenger satisfaction. By integrating advanced technologies, the country's airports can effectively manage rising passenger volumes, improve revenue streams, and reduce operational expenditures, ensuring a seamless and efficient travel experience. This deployment ushers in a new era in airport operations, offering predictive, prescriptive, and simulative insights and a comprehensive 360-degree view of the entire airport ecosystem. The solution leverages next-generation technologies like Digital Twin, Cloud Computing, Computer Vision, AI/ML, video, and Data Analytics. WAISL had identified and established a key partnership with Kloudspot using their IoT technology for this solution. More recently, WAISL partnered with AWS to further evolve this solution and take it to other airport and transport clients globally. This was launched by AWS via press releases and at their prestigious Re-invent in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. "At WAISL, we are setting a new benchmark for airports worldwide. We don't just innovate; we transform the boundaries of what's possible. In the digital age, transformative impact stems not from technology alone but from its bold, strategic application to complex operational challenges," said Rishi Mehta , President & CEO of WAISL Ltd. WAISL's digital solution is designed to deliver significant business advantages for airports. It delivers real-time insights and an automated plan of the day that seamlessly integrates with all systems, predicts potential disruptions, analyses trends, and continuously learns from post-operative analysis for performance optimisation. " We want to clear the myth and quantify a real achievable business value and RoI to Airport Operators and CxOs who are in various stages of maturity with their APOC strategy. The WAISL digital APOC is one of the first to embrace Total Airport Management, Con-Ops, and IOT/AI/ML technology to drive end-to-end Digital Operations Transformation. This milestone underscores WAISL's commitment to being a preferred digital transformation and innovation partner for airports and the larger aviation and transport industry worldwide," said Preetham Kamesh , acting Global Chief Business Officer of WAISL Ltd. The business value for airport operations by deploying the solution is derived by enhancing capacity with existing infrastructure, optimising non-aero revenue streams, and lowering costs through improved operational efficiency. The solution empowers airports to handle surges in demand with predictive and prescriptive analytics, ultimately reducing flight delays and enhancing passenger satisfaction. It also provides a truly integrated experience that will fuel the next generation of airport operations, setting a new standard in the New Zealand aviation industry. About WAISL At WAISL, we design, implement and integrate technologies with a focus on operations and process efficiencies for airports, airlines, smart cities, energy and hospitality. Our solutions-spanning biometric systems, digital twins, integrated command and control centres, cyber security/sustainability suites, predictive data-driven insights, etc. - work together seamlessly to deliver more innovative, efficient, and intuitive experiences, elevating business outcomes. WAISL is the primary solutions partner for Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi , Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad , Manohar International Airport, Goa , Bhogapuram International Airport, Kannur International Airport, and Kuwait International Airport. We manage and service 135+ million passengers and 80+ airlines, integrating and deploying 2000+ applications vendor-agnostically in highly complex technology-converging ecosystems. This excellence in managed services delivered by WAISL has enabled our partner airports to be rated amongst the best-in-class service providers by Skytrax and ACI awards. Website: https://www.waisl.in WAISL's innovative APOC solution
RA Capital Management Announces Close of $1.4 Billion Acquisition of Aliada Therapeutics by AbbVieNoneEL SEGUNDO — Lamar Jackson is the kind of quarterback who has troubled the Chargers. Aw, who are we kidding? He’s the kind of quarterback who troubles everyone in the NFL. He’s a passer. He’s a runner. He’s a playmaker. He’s a destroyer of defenses. “He’s one of one,” Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said Friday. Minter also called Jackson “the most electric quarterback in the history of the National Football League.” Jackson will be the Chargers’ problem this week, when they host the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night at SoFi Stadium. Jackson is another in a string of standout quarterbacks the Chargers will face during what is without question the toughest, most challenging part of their 2024 schedule. The Chargers rallied past Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night, pulling out a 34-27 victory on a last-minute drive led by Justin Herbert. Now, here comes Jackson, followed quickly by Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons, followed quickly by Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs. No rest for the weary. No question, Burrow, Jackson, Cousins and Mahomes could wear out a defensive coordinator, causing him to lose sleep. In fact, it’s already happened, as Minter admitted last week while preparing to face Burrow, who led the NFL in passing yardage going into the game, and still does. Jackson (2,876 yards) is second to Burrow (3,028) going into Week 12. Jackson (25) is also second to Burrow (27) in touchdown passes. Jackson (nine) is second to Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions (9.2) in yards per passing attempt. Jackson leads the NFL in passer rating (117.3). No one has passed and run for as many yards as Jackson (3,460). “It’s an ultimate challenge,” Minter said. The Chargers have struggled to contain players with a similar mix of skills to Jackson, including Mahomes, Justin Fields of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Bo Nix of the Denver Broncos. Jackson does it better than the others, and that’s what keeps Minter up late at night, worrying about how to contain the uncontainable. “We’ve played against different types of guys, guys who do different things well,” Minter said. “(Jackson) does everything well. The second you overcommit to where you’re going to have all these eyes on him to run, he’ll throw the ball over your head. There’s no one you can compare him to, he’s one of one.” Plus, Jackson isn’t all the Chargers must worry about Monday. Jackson serves as something akin to a basketball point guard, distributing the football as he sees fit, whether it’s handing it off to bruising running back Derrick Henry, the NFL’s leading rusher with 1,185 yards and 13 touchdowns, or throwing it to wide receiver Zay Flowers or tight end Mark Andrews. The Ravens are first in the NFL in net yards per game (430.1) and yards from scrimmage per play (8.64). They are second in points per game (30.4) and net rushing yards per game (177.3). They are third in net passing yards per game (252.8). They also are first in red-zone touchdown percentage (77.8%). The Ravens are 7-4, second in the AFC North. The Chargers are 7-3, second in the AFC West. “The ultimate red-zone weapon because every play can be so many different things,” Minter said of Jackson’s versatility. “High, high level of respect for him, how he works. Just a challenge. You can run to the challenge. You can run from the challenge. We’re going to run to the challenge, meet it head on, put our best stuff out there and see what happens.”
Former Halifax mayor Mike Savage installed as Nova Scotia's lieutenant-governor
Incentive programs meant to catalyze the adoption of greener, cleaner, low carbon technologies, such as we’ve seen with solar and EVs, and most recently e-bikes, can be effective if done right, but when a cookie-cutter one-size-fits-all approach is used, they can end up being not very cost-effective or efficient in moving the needle toward the desired outcome. A recent study analyzing the “consumer purchase response” to existing e-bike incentive programs suggests that these programs could be more equitable, cost-effective, and efficient if they begin with the end in mind. In essence, starting out with clear and well-defined goals for incentive programs is necessary for designing, funding, and implementing them with maximum effectiveness. The study, “ Consumer purchase response to e-bike incentives: Results from a nationwide stated preference study , ” was published in the journal ScienceDirect this past April, with the authors stating in its Abstract that it is “among the first to experimentally analyze prospective purchase behavior of e-bike consumers to assess price sensitivity, behavioral response to incentives, and consumer value of e-bike attributes.” “Purchase incentives offset the price of an e-bike for consumers, with the goal of increasing e-bike adoption and ownership. While programs initially offered incentives of $300 or less, amounts have progressively increased over time. The 2023 legislative cycle has seen a notable expansion in state- and province-level purchase assistance programs, as well as the re-introduction of a proposed federal tax credit known as the “E-BIKE” Act. Despite the growing funding allocated to e-bike purchase incentives, there is little evidence as to their cost-effectiveness or optimal design.” Some of the results of the study are pretty straightforward, and perhaps no-brainers: Point-of-purchase discounts are more cost-effective than rebates or tax credits for stimulating additional e-bike adoption Cost-effective e-bike incentives require equivalent amounts provided across standard and cargo e-bike types, and require the largest incentives be provided to those in the 200–300% FPL (Federal Poverty Level) income range However, one finding that really stood out was this (emphasis added): “[W]e find that even when e-bike incentive programs are designed cost-effectively, the costs per ton of CO2 reduced still far exceed those of alternatives or reasonable social costs of GHG emissions . We conclude that the argument for allocating public funds for e-bike incentive programs must be based on the co-benefits of e-bike travel and ownership, and not solely on GHG reduction. If you don’t have time (or access) to read the full text, an article published on GovTech about the study offers a great summary and some additional insights direct from the authors. For example, “it takes about $4,000 worth of incentives to induce that extra e-bike purchase,” which far exceeds the benefits gained by displacing carbon emissions due to the adoption of that e-bike. As we are likely to see a lot of political pushback on any and all government incentive programs for cleaner transport and energy in the US in coming years, using the findings of this study — and others like it that may follow — could be a key element in designing and funding effective programs in the near future. CleanTechnica's Comment Policy LinkedIn WhatsApp Facebook Bluesky Email RedditHoliday stress can lead Alzheimer’s patients and those with dementia to go missingInfrastructure projects in Tibet have often drawn controversy for failing to balance development, human rights, and environmental protection. As CDT has covered this year, state-sponsored hydropower projects have forcibly displaced local communities and led to violent reprisals against protesters. A series of recent reports expand on this topic to highlight the social and environmental perils of these projects. Last week, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) published a report titled, “ Chinese Hydropower: Damning Tibet’s Culture, Community, and Environment .” The report includes an interactive map showing the location of 193 hydropower dams constructed or proposed in Tibet since 2000, along with their areas of impact and proximity to locations of cultural importance, protected areas, and land cover. The report reveals that these dam projects are causing “irreparable damage” to Tibetan communities, downstream countries, and the environment : If completed, 1.2 million residents living nearby dam projects could be dislocated from their homes, communities, and livelihoods. Religious and sacred sites serving communities will also be destroyed. Almost 80 per cent of dams studied are large or mega dams (\>100MW), which carry the most significant risk to the Tibetan civilization, environmental sustainability, and the climate. However, over half the dams (60%) are either in proposal or preparation stage, presenting opportunities to change course. A truly sustainable pathway for the energy plan must account for the climate, social, environment, and geopolitical costs of hydropower and change course. No plan is sustainable without the consent, participation and co-management of local communities. Tibetans, who remain among the most politically marginalized in China, should not bear the highest cost to power China’s industrial centers. Any long-term solution must involve a political solution where Tibetan people enjoy the right to freely decide how their natural resources are used. This begins with the PRC entering into a meaningful dialogue with representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. [ Source ] Speaking to French newspaper Libération about the report, ICT researcher and advocacy officer Tenzin Palmo stated, “We wanted to show what was happening in this inaccessible border area in the west of the country, but also to reveal the projects of the Chinese authorities who are trying by all means to hide information, to harass civil society, all while engaging in a greenwashing operation around these dams .” Other groups have provided related evidence. Last month, Turquoise Roof and Tibet Watch published a report titled, “ The risks of China’s dangerous dam-building in Tibet: the impacts of China’s move upstream on the Machu/Yellow River ,” which highlighted the threat of geological disasters and environmental problems: For the first time, China’s construction of hydropower dams is reaching upstream to the sources of Asia’s great wild rivers in Tibet, with at least three major new dams on the upper Machu (Chinese: Huang He) river. Chinese scientists have warned of the risks of heavy infrastructure construction in a seismically unstable region where river systems are increasingly unpredictable due to climate change. [...] While China can point to its solar and hydro projects in Tibet to signal a green transition, the smart grid is currently orientated to fossil fuels, which may reveal a slower, less substantial shift than these projects imply. Although hydroelectric power is technically renewable, the large-scale hydropower projects underway in Tibet have complex environmental and social impacts, including ecosystem disruption and displacement of communities. The first major dam to be built upriver on the Machu, the Yangkhil (Yangqu) hydropower station, has devastated an entire community. Accounts and images from eyewitnesses in this report documents how Tibetans have been compelled to dismantle their own homes and an important monastery has been emptied and destroyed. China removed the monastery from a protected heritage list before beginning demolition to make way for a dam that Chinese engineers boast is constructed by AI-driven robots. [ Source ] In the Made in China Journal last month, James Leibold wrote about the Tibet-Aid Project, which he describes as a CCP initiative that pairs Tibet’s administrative units with inland government actors in order to extend Beijing’s settler-colonial enterprise and fortify Han dominance in the region. Among the Tibet-Aid cadres championed in CCP propaganda are Han engineers committed to transforming Tibet’s physical landscape through “civilizing” infrastructure projects. Leibold argued, “By unleashing a new legion of Han officials and settlers on to the Tibetan Plateau, Xi seeks to complete the discursive, demographic, and cultural integration of Tibet into a new Han empire.” In this excerpt, he describes how Han migration and infrastructure-building erode local Tibetan sovereignty : Most of the Han people living and working in Tibet today are descendants of former Tibet-Aid cadres. In a recent survey of 300-plus Han retirees who had worked in Tibet, 49 per cent had a parent who had previously worked in Tibet, with one-quarter of those born in Tibet (Zhou and Du 2023: 83). They are called ‘second’ or ‘third-generation Tibetans’ (藏二代 or 藏三代) in Chinese and now make up the backbone of the party-state’s governing and economic apparatuses in the region. According to officials, they are the ‘strongest source of strength’ for forging what Xi Jinping has called the ‘collective consciousness’ (共同体意识) of the Han-centric nation/race (Thondup and Tsring 2023). By claiming Tibetan identity, albeit an altered one, Han migrants are engaging in a common settler-colonial strategy—what Lorenzo Veracini (2010: 46) calls the discursive erasure of ‘indigenous specific alterity’. Han colonists live a highly fluid existence in the TAR and their roots are impermanent. Due to health concerns, they split their time between apartments in lower-elevation cities, chiefly in Sichuan, and their posts on the plateau. China’s mega-infrastructure building in the TAR—roads, airports, railways, power and telecommunication lines, etcetera—serves as conduits for Han mobility, allowing colonial subjects to move more comfortably and smoothly through ‘harsh’ Tibetan spaces while imprinting the landscape with Han norms that ultimately efface Tibetan sovereignty. The 1,629-kilometre Chengdu-to-Lhasa high-speed railway is of ‘immense strategic value’, a 2018 blog post asserts, as it will not only facilitate military logistics, but also allow the vibrant economy and Han-dominated population of the Sichuan Basin to ‘more easily spread and radiate into the Tibet region’ when it is completed in 2030 (Sohu 2018). [ Source ] Similar dynamics are playing out in other borderland regions, such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. In an article for Atmos, Nithin Coca and Patrick Wack described how state-affiliated energy companies have built massive solar plants in Xinjiang that greenwash rights abuses against local Uyghur communities . Uyghur activists argue that these projects are part of longstanding efforts to Sinicize the region and exploit its resources while further colonizing their homeland through Han migration. This also plays out in the realm of Tibetan language politics, as the Chinese government has imposed Sinicization policies to force Tibetans to use Mandarin instead of their local languages. For more on this topic, see CDT’s recent interview with Gerald Roche about the erasure of Tibet’s minority languages, which face unique challenges in the face of both Mandarin and Standard Tibetan. Other interviews can be found in CDT’s series on Tibet . Categories : Environment , Human Rights , Level 2 Article , Society Tags : colonialism , dam , dams , dams resettlement , environmental degradation , environmental destruction , human rights violations in Tibet , migration , Tibet , Tibet culture , Tibet development , Tibet environment , Tibet plateau , tibet policy , Tibet protests , Tibet railroad , Tibetan culture , Tibetan language , Tibetan plateau , tibetan politics , Tibetan protests Related Posts Interview: Gerald Roche on the Erasure of Tibet’s Minority Languages Jimmy Lai Did Not Ask the U.S. to Nuke China China’s Global Fishing Fleet Intrudes on Distant Waters French Museums Waver Between “Tibet” and “Xizang” Amid Uproar Over Chinese Influence Essays on Colonialism and Indigeneity in and Beyond the P.R.C. 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The confidential briefing note is part of the tranche of documents made public in the annual release of State papers from the Irish National Archives. An Irish Department of Foreign Affairs official focusing on justice and security created the list in October 2002. The document starts by referencing a 1999 interview given by George Mitchell, the chairman of the Good Friday Agreement negotiations, in which he claimed the British and Irish governments, as well as Northern Ireland’s political parties, had leaked information to manipulate public opinion. However, he further accused the NIO of attempting to sabotage the process by leaking information on British Government policy to the media. Mr Mitchell, a former US senator, is said to have expressed alarm and anger over the frequency of leaks from the NIO – saying they were uniquely “designed to undermine the policy of the British Government of which they were a part”. The Irish civil servant notes Mr Mitchell himself was subjected to an attempted “smear” when he first arrived in Northern Ireland, as newspaper articles falsely claimed his chief of staff Martha Pope had had a liaison with Sinn Fein representative Gerry Kelly with ulterior motives. The Irish civil servant goes on to list several “leaks”, starting with the publication of a proposed deal in a newspaper while “intense negotiations” for the Downing Street Declaration were under way. Next, the Department lists two “high-profile and damaging leaks issued from the NIO”. A so-called “gameplan” document was leaked in February 1998, showing papers had been prepared weeks before the Drumcree march on July 6, 1997. In the preceding years, there had been standoffs and clashes as nationalists opposed the procession of an Orange parade down Garvaghy Road in Portadown. The gameplan document showed then secretary of state for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam, who was publicly expressing a desire for a negotiated solution to the 1997 parade, advocated “finding the lowest common denominator for getting some Orange feet on the Garvaghy Road”. In 1997, a large number of security forces were deployed to the area to allow the march to proceed. The incident sparked heightened tension and a wave of rioting. The document further describes the release of a document submitted by the NIO’s director of communications to the secretary of state as a “second major leak”. It claims a publicity strategy was released to the DUP in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement and showed how the UK Government would support a yes vote in a referendum following any talks agreement. In addition, it is claimed unionists used leaked sections of the Patten report on policing to invalidate its findings ahead of its publication in 1999. The report recommended the replacement of the Royal Ulster Constabulary with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the changing of symbols, and a 50-50 recruitment policy for Catholics and Protestants. At the time, UUP leader David Trimble said the recommendations would lead to a corruption of policing in Northern Ireland. Chris Patten, chairman of the independent commission on policing, said some of the assertions were a “total fabrication” and designed to “muddy the waters” to create a difficult political atmosphere. Elsewhere, the author notes it was leaked to the media there was serious disagreement between the governments of the UK and Ireland on the composition of that commission – with not a single name submitted by the Irish side being accepted by the other. The author notes this incident, still under the heading “NIO leaks”, was believed by British officials to have emanated from the Irish side. The report turns to leaks of other origin, claiming “disgruntled Special Branch officers in Northern Ireland” were blamed by the British Government for a series of releases about the IRA which were designed to damage Sinn Fein in the 2001 general election in Northern Ireland. One senior Whitehall source was quoted in the Guardian as complaining that Special Branch was “leaking like a sieve” after details of an IRA intelligence database containing the names of leading Tories – described at the time as a “hit list” – was passed to the BBC in April 2002. The briefing note adds: “This was followed days later by a leak to The Sunday Telegraph which alleged that senior IRA commanders bought Russian special forces rifles in Moscow last year. “The newspaper said it was passed details by military intelligence in London.” The briefing note adds that other Special Branch leaks were associated with the Castlereagh break-in. The final incident in the document notes the Police Ombudsman’s Report on the Omagh bombing was also leaked to the press in December 2001. Then Northern Ireland secretary John Reid said at the time: “Leaks are never helpful and usually malicious – I will not be commenting on this report until I have seen the final version.” The reason for creating the list of leaks, which the Irish National Archives holds in a folder alongside briefing notes for ministers ahead of meetings with officials from the UK Government and NIO, is not outlined in the document itself. – This document is based on material in 2024/130/6.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $1.75 Million Stock Holdings in First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIBK)Shelia Poole | (TNS) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ATLANTA — Holidays are a time for families and friends to gather, but for older people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, it can cause so much stress and confusion that they could be in danger of what experts calls wandering. Related Articles Health | Health officials say Louisiana patient is first severe bird flu case in US Health | After pandemic explosion, California drug overdose deaths are falling fast Health | What’s behind rising autism rates: A broader definition of autism and better screening Health | Most US teens are abstaining from drinking, smoking and marijuana, survey says Health | An Alabama woman is doing well after the latest experimental pig kidney transplant “I would say around the holiday time is the biggest challenge for people with dementia,” said Kim Franklin, senior manager of programs and services at the Georgia chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. “Schedules are changing, people are traveling, families are coming together and friends are coming over. There’s a lot of chaos going on and that can cause a person to wander. They want to get away. It’s hard for them to process what’s happening.” The Alzheimer’s Association reports 72% of dementia patients who wander are found alive by the next day. Alerting 911 as soon as the person goes missing is critical. The odds of survival decrease as more time passes. Angel Alonso, president of Georgia Emergency Search and Recovery based in Gwinnett County, said the vast majority — between 60% and 70% — of the 30 to 40 calls the nonprofit received last year involved people with the disease. The GESAR is a volunteer-driven organization that works with law enforcement to find people who have gone missing, including children, people with Alzheimer’s and dementia, and people lost during major disasters. “We get so many Alzheimer’s calls,” said Vice President John Clark, who is also volunteer instructor with the Georgia Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. For caregivers and loved ones, a relative who goes missing is devastating. Two of Clark’s grandparents had dementia, so he gravitated to search and rescue to help other families and caregivers keep their loved ones safe. He’s consulted with police departments across metro Atlanta on the best ways to find people with Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias can cause people to lose their ability to recognize people and places that are familiar. According to the Alzheimer’s Association there are often warning signs that a person might wander. Six in 10 people with dementia will wander during the course of the disease. That includes people returning from a regular walk or drive later than usual. Or they may talk about fulfilling former obligations, such as going to work or talk about going home even when they’re at home. Sometimes they become restless and pace or make repetitive movements. Clark recounted one call for help when a family reported a missing relative, but they insisted she couldn’t have gone far because of a bad knee that limited her to walking no further than the mailbox. Searchers found the missing woman 7 miles from home. Even those who have never shown an interest in wandering might start without warning. Dan Goerke is fortunate. His late wife, Diane, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2012, once went missing from the car of a caregiver. The caregiver had stopped for an errand. Diane had waited alone in cars as people ran errands before. But this time, when the caregiver returned, Diane was gone but her seat belt was still fastened. “It was like she disappeared into thin air,” said Goerke, who said he doesn’t blame the caregiver. Fortunately, she was found uninjured and nearby a short time later that same day. Goerke said it’s hard for caregivers to always be on guard for wandering. “We have so many things to juggle that’s not necessarily at the top of our minds. We have to manage medications, take them to doctor’s appointments, cook meals and taking care of things day to day,” he said. Clark said when searching for someone with dementia, one of the keys is to know what the person was like before their diagnosis. Often their long-term memories are still strong. They once found a woman who walked out of her home and went to where she used to shop and to her old job, although it had closed. Recently, GESAR unveiled a new tool to search for missing people: Maverick. An 8-month-old chocolate Labrador retriever, Maverick is in training to be part of the GESAR search and research team that will track missing people, including wandering dementia patients in metro Atlanta. In cases involving children and people with dementia, a dog’s personality can also be an asset. Labs like Maverick are friendly and affectionate, not imposing or threatening like some other breeds — and less likely to scare the person who is lost. Canines can be used in searches in both rural and urban areas. “He’s an asset,” said Maverick’s handler, Carmen Alonso. “His nose can pick up odors and track where a person has been that we might not think to go that direction.” At the Cobb County Police Department, Public Information Officer Sgt. Eric Smith said if dogs are needed to search for a wanderer they call the sheriff’s department, which has bloodhounds. “They’re not apprehension dogs so there’s little or no likelihood of a bite,” he said. Technology can also help, Smith said. Searchers can use drones and families can install technology on a person’s car to help locate it or use other kinds of trackable devices including on their phone. “We get so many Alzheimer’s calls,” said Clark, who is also a volunteer instructor with the Georgia Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Most cases they’ve worked on have had favorable results, according to the Georgia Emergency Search and Recovery organization. No two searches are the same, said Sgt. Jeremy Blake of the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office. “When responding to calls for a missing person, the response is different than that of a fleeing suspect,” he wrote in an email. “The K-9s that are used to track missing persons are not trained in the apprehension of suspects. ... Often times, if the K-9 cannot locate the missing person, they can provide officers with a more accurate direction of travel than they may previously had.” Nearly 7 million U.S. residents age 65 and older were living with Alzheimer’s according to the most recent Facts & Figures report . Of those, more than 188,000 Georgians ages 65 and older also have been diagnosed with the disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association Georgia Chapter. There is a better chance of being found in urban environments because of a higher probability of a “good Samaritan” stepping in. Wanderers may give no forewarning. Often those with memory issues wander away during activities they’ve done safely in the past, such as shopping or sitting on a front porch. Some people who still drive can become disoriented and drive for miles away from home. According to the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, on average, half the calls for missing persons involve the elderly or someone with disabilities. Call 911 as soon as possible. Have a photograph available for first responders and an article of clothing to provide a scent for search dogs. Sharing what the missing person liked to do in prior years can be a key: Did they have a job they went to every day? Did they like to fish or go to a certain spot? Searchers will need to know the last time the person was seen to help determine how far a person might have wandered. (Source: Alzheimer’s Association and Cobb County Police Department.) ©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Incredible PS5 Pro Black Friday sale cuts £300 from the priceThe UK Government was warned that a “save David campaign” for UUP leader Lord Trimble would ruin progress made under the Good Friday Agreement. Extensive confidential documents in the lead-up to the collapse of Northern Ireland’s institutions in 2002 have been made available to the public as part of annual releases from the Irish National Archives. They reveal that the Irish Government wanted to appeal to the UK side against “manipulating” every scenario for favourable election results in Northern Ireland, in an effort to protect the peace process. In the years after the landmark 1998 Good Friday Agreement, a number of outstanding issues left the political environment fraught with tension and disagreement. Mr Trimble, who won a Nobel Peace Prize with SDLP leader John Hume for their work on the Agreement, was keen to gain wins for the UUP on policing, ceasefire audits and paramilitary disarmament – but also to present his party as firmer on these matters amid swipes from its Unionist rival, the DUP. These issues were at the front of his mind as he tried to steer his party into Assembly elections planned for May 2003 and continue in his role as the Executive’s first minister despite increasing political pressure. The documents reveal the extent to which the British and Irish Governments were trying to delicately resolve the contentious negotiations, conscious that moves seen as concessions to one group could provoke anger on the other side. In June 2002, representatives of the SDLP reported to Irish officials on a recent meeting between Mr Hume’s successor Mark Durkan and Prime Minister Tony Blair on policing and security. Mr Blair is said to have suggested that the SDLP and UUP were among those who both supported and took responsibility for the Good Friday Agreement. The confidential report of the meeting says that Mr Durkan, the deputy First Minister, was not sure that Mr Trimble had been correctly categorised. The Prime Minister asked if the SDLP could work more closely with the UUP ahead of the elections. Mr Durkan argued that Mr Trimble was not only not saleable to nationalists, but also not saleable to half of the UUP – to which Mr Blair and Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid are said to have laughed in agreement. The SDLP leader further warned that pursuing a “save David” campaign would ruin all they had worked for. Damien McAteer, an adviser for the SDLP, was recorded as briefing Irish officials on September 10 that it was his view that Mr Trimble was intent on collapsing the institutions in 2003 over expected fallout for Sinn Fein in the wake of the Colombia Three trial, where men linked to the party were charged with training Farc rebels – but predicted the UUP leader would be “in the toilet” by January, when an Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) meeting was due to take place. A week later in mid September, Mr Trimble assured Irish premier Bertie Ahern that the next UUC meeting to take place in two days’ time would be “okay but not great” and insisted he was not planning to play any “big game”. It was at that meeting that he made the bombshell announcement that the UUP would pull out of the Executive if the IRA had not disbanded by January 18. The move came as a surprise to the Irish officials who, along with their UK counterparts, did not see the deadline as realistic. Sinn Fein described the resolution as a “wreckers’ charter”. Doubts were raised that there would be any progress on substantive issues as parties would not be engaged in “pre-election skirmishing”. As that could lead to a UUP walkout and the resulting suspension of the institutions, the prospect of delaying the elections was raised while bringing forward the vote was ruled out. Therefore, the two Governments stressed the need to cooperate as a stabilising force to protect the Agreement – despite not being sure how that process would survive through the January 18 deadline. The Irish officials became worried that the British side did not share their view that Mr Trimble was not “salvageable” and that the fundamental dynamic in the UUP was now Agreement scepticism, the confidential documents state. In a meeting days after the UUC announcements, Mr Reid is recorded in the documents as saying that as infuriating as it was, Mr Trimble was at that moment the “most enlightened Unionist we have”. The Secretary said he would explore what the UUP leader needed to “survive” the period between January 18 and the election, believing a significant prize could avoid him being “massacred”. Such planning went out the window just weeks later, when hundreds of PSNI officers were involved in raids of several buildings – including Sinn Fein’s offices in Stormont. The resulting “Stormontgate” spy-ring scandal accelerated the collapse of powersharing, with the UUP pulling out of the institutions – and the Secretary of State suspending the Assembly and Executive on October 14. For his part, Irish officials were briefed that Mr Reid was said to be “gung ho” about the prospect of exercising direct rule – reportedly making no mention of the Irish Government in a meeting with Mr Trimble and Mr Durkan on that day. The Northern Ireland Secretary was given a new role and Paul Murphy was appointed as his successor. A note on speaking points for a meeting with Mr Murphy in April showed that the Irish side believed the May elections should go ahead: “At a certain stage the political process has to stand on its own feet. “The Governments cannot be manipulating and finessing every scenario to engineer the right result. “We have to start treating the parties and the people as mature and trusting that they have the discernment to make the right choices.” However, the elections planned for May did not materialise, instead delayed until November. Mr Trimble would go on to lose his Westminster seat – and stewardship of the UUP – in 2005. The November election saw the DUP emerge as the largest parties – but direct rule continued as Ian Paisley’s refused to share power with Sinn Fein, which Martin McGuinness’ colleagues. The parties eventually agreed to work together following further elections in 2007. – This article is based on documents in 2024/130/5, 2024/130/6, 2024/130/15 We do not moderate comments, but we expect readers to adhere to certain rules in the interests of open and accountable debate.