NoneCECO Environmental Announces Expiration of HSR Waiting Period
DMACC plans to offer a certificate and associate degree in AI starting in the fall for students, working with national partners and mentors. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Des Moines Area Community College has expanded its partnerships in developing curriculum for education on artificial intelligence to better prepare students for a changing professional world. The community college announced last week that it has been selected to join the National Applied AI Consortium Mentorship program, which will provide DMACC with support and resources from colleges and universities with their own established AI curriculum. Executive Academic Dean for Business and Information Technology Anne Power said DMACC is also working to expand its AI education from non-credit, basic courses into an associate degree and certificate to help students and employers across the state gain the necessary knowledge and skills to deal with AI in their work. “I think it’s important that our education system in general does take the lead on AI in the state of Iowa, so that we can help educate our industry partners, governmental agencies on AI and how they can use it effectively in their organizations,” Power said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The consortium, developed by Miami Dade College, Houston Community College and Maricopa County Community College District, will give DMACC access to mentorship and resources from the colleges’ already-established AI curriculum, Power said. Only two other community colleges are involved on the mentee side of the consortium. Miami Dade College AI faculty member Norge Pena Perez has been assigned to work with DMACC, Power said, and in group meetings they have already discussed what courses and competencies should be included in curriculum and barriers that students have dealt with in the past in other programs. “It is all mentorship — how to develop the curriculum, how to market the program,” Power said. DMACC this fall became the first Intel AI for Workforce college partner in Iowa, aiding the college in developing curriculum for introductory, non-credit courses on AI. The first course, which started in October with 22 enrolled continuing education students, filled up within a couple of days, said Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence faculty member Becky Deitenbeck. The class is eight weeks long. A second course starting in November was offered to meet demand, which also met capacity. As it is an introductory class to the topic and industry of artificial intelligence, she said students are given broad strokes of its history, different ways it is utilized and where it has already been applied in the real world, like the Christmas Coca-Cola ad that was developed with AI graphics. “I always like to call it the 5,000-foot view of AI,” Deitenbeck said. When AI is brought up in conversation, Deitenbeck said people’s thoughts usually go to generative programs like ChatGPT, but in reality artificial intelligence has been around in different fashions for around 50 years. Deitenbeck said students are shown AI’s presence in different industries and its functions, and how and why it has become more popular. “It’s recently gained traction because we have not only the computing power, but also the resources in order to utilize the capabilities of these large language models,” Deitenbeck said. A separate, non-credit course on the ethics of AI will be available to students starting next semester alongside the introductory class. Power said the community college is currently working to get AI certificate and associate degree programs approved so students can enroll for the fall semester. One area of concern surrounding AI is the idea that people’s jobs will disappear as a result of these programs, Deitenbeck said, but she doesn’t believe this is true. Industry leaders have requested AI training for their employees, Power said, which served as a sort of catalyst for the college’s delve into AI education possibilities. AI is in the “forefront of everyone’s minds at this point in time,” Power said, with it impacting many, if not all, aspects of people’s lives. Deitenbeck said it affects how people create graphics, write code and complete other tasks, but that doesn’t mean that people’s careers or ways of life will go away. “There’s a lot of opportunities and exciting items on the horizon, even from an educational standpoint, in being able to ensure that students going into the workforce have the skills necessary that they need to be successful,” Deitenbeck said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
AUSTIN, Texas — Cecile Richards, the daughter of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, is the latest recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Freedom to Richards, a longtime abortion rights activist who served as the president of Planned Parenthood from 2006 until 2018. During Wednesday's ceremony, Biden praised Richards, saying she has “led some of our Nation’s most important civil rights causes — to lift up the dignity of workers, defend and advance women’s reproductive rights and equality and mobilize Americans to exercise their power to vote.” "Such an honor representing abortion rights and the need for health care for all," Richards said in a post on the social media platform X . "@POTUS and @FLOTUS, thank you for all you’ve done to support women’s health and rights. Here’s to the work ahead!" Richards was born in Waco and attended St. Stephen's Episcopal in Austin. During her time at Planned Parenthood, Richards worked to increase access to affordable reproductive health care nationwide and helped push the Democratic Party to embrace abortion rights as a cornerstone political issue. After leaving Planned Parenthood, Richards co-founded Supermajority, an organization that focuses on gender equality. She also co-chairs the super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, which focuses on opposition research against Republican candidates. Richards was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer, in 2023. People with the condition are expected to live for only up to a year and a half after being diagnosed.Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was allegedly attacked after a man threw liquid on him during his padyatra in the national capital’s Malviya Nagar on Saturday, November 30. The man was immediately overpowered and handed over to the police. A video of the incident has gone viral on social media. It shows a beaming Kejriwal shaking hands with his supporters when suddenly the accused throws a liquid at him. Kejriwal’s security immediately shields the him from further attacks. VIDEO | Security personnel overpowered a man who apparently tried to attack AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal during padyatra in Delhi's Greater Kailash area. More details are awaited. pic.twitter.com/aYydNCXYHM AAP has responded strongly to the attack claiming that the attacker is associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). AAP also made a reference of the growing law and order decline in the Union Territory and threw light on the Delhi Police inability to curb it. It should be noted that being a Union Territory, the Delhi Police is governed by the Union Home Ministry and not the Delhi government. Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena took to X stating that BJP was ‘nervous’ for the upcoming Delhi Assembly election in 2025. “Today in broad daylight, a BJP worker attacked Kejriwal-ji. The BJP is feeling very nervous about losing the Delhi elections for the third time. Delhi people will take revenge for such cheap acts. Last time they got eight seats, this time Delhi people will give zero seats to BJP,” her X post read. आज दिन दहाड़े भाजपा के कार्यकर्ता ने @ArvindKejriwal जी पर हमला किया। दिल्ली का चुनाव तीसरी बार हारने की बौखलाहट भाजपा में दिख रही है। भाजपा वालों: दिल्ली के लोग ऐसी घटिया हरकतों का बदला लेंगे। पिछली बार 8 सीटें आयीं थी, इस बार दिल्ली वाले भाजपा को ज़ीरो सीट देंगे pic.twitter.com/LgJGN1aQ0T Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged the attacker wanted to set Kejriwal afire after throwing spirit on him. In a post on X, Bharadwaj also alleged that the attacker was connected with the BJP. “एक हाथ में स्पीरिट और दूसरे हाथ में माचिस... आज अरविंद केजरीवाल को ज़िंदा जलाने की कोशिश की गई... वे जब से पदयात्रा कर रहे हैं, भाजपा को नींद नहीं आ रही है... आरोपी, नरेंद्र मोदी, योगी, संगीत सोम आदि को फॉलो करता है. इसके fb पर BJP का id card भी है” – PC में मंत्री @Saurabh_MLAgk pic.twitter.com/5AVjqzqe2d On Saturday evening, Kejriwal was greeting people standing behind a cordon when the man approached him and splashed some liquid on him, following which the security personnel swiftly overpowered him. Kejriwal and the security personnel accompanying him were later seen wiping their faces. “A man threw spirit on him (Kejriwal). We could smell it. And there was an attempt to burn him (Kejriwal) alive. “The man was carrying spirit in one hand and a matchbox in the other hand. He threw spirit that fell on Kejriwal and me... but he could not start the fire. Our alert volunteers and the public caught him,” Bharadwaj claimed in a press conference.
NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball switched a pair of series involving the Tampa Bay Rays to the first two months of the season in an attempt to avoid summer rain at open-air Steinbrenner Field, their temporary home following damage to Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay is scheduled to play 19 of its first 22 games at home and 37 of 54 through May 28, then play 64 of its last 108 games on the road. The Rays are home for eight games each in July and August. A series scheduled at the Los Angeles Angels from April 7-9 will instead be played at Tampa, Florida, from April 8-10, MLB said Monday. The second series between the teams will be played at Anaheim, California, from Aug. 4-6 instead of at St. Petersburg, Florida, from Aug. 5-7. Minnesota's first series against the Rays will be played at Steinbrenner Field from May 26-28 and the Twins' second will be at Target Field in Minneapolis from July 4-6. Tampa Bay heads into the All-Star break with a 10-game trip to Minnesota, Detroit and Boston, and has a 12-game trip to the Angels, Seattle, Oakland and San Francisco from Aug. 4-17. Tropicana Field, the Rays’ home since the team started play in 1998, was heavily damaged by Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9 , with most of its fabric roof shredded. The Rays cannot return to the Trop until 2026 at the earliest, if at all. Tampa's average monthly rainfall from 1991 to 2020 was 2.25 inches in April and 2.60 in May , according to the National Weather Service, then rose to 7.37 in June , 7.75 in July and 9.03 in August before falling to 6.09 in September . The Class A Tampa Tarpons, the usual team at Steinbrenner Field, had six home postponements, two cancellations and four suspended games this year from June 21 through their season finale on Sept. 8. The Rays are now scheduled to play their first six games at home against Colorado and Pittsburgh, go to Texas for a three-game series, then return for a 13-game homestand against the Angels, Atlanta, Boston and the New York Yankees. The Tarpons will play their home games on a back field. AP MLB: https://apnews.com/TikTok is inching closer to a potential ban in the US. So what's next?
Blues host the Flyers after Holloway's 2-goal gameAs much as theaters are humming right now, with “Wicked” and “Moana 2" bringing moviegoers by the droves, it's been a fairly bruising movie year. In between the blockbusters, though, the challenge of not just capturing the attention of audiences but of simply getting to the screen feels more perilous than ever. The year was marked by filmmakers who wagered everything from a $120 million pile ( Francis Ford Coppola's “Megalopolis” ) to their life (the dissident Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof's “The Seed of the Sacred Fig"). Considering the paths of the “The Apprentice” (about Donald Trump's rise in New York) or the Israeli occupation documentary “No Other Land” (which still lacks a distributor), the question of what gets released was a common and chilling refrain. That also made the movies that managed their way through — the ones that told urgent stories or dazzled with originality at a time of sequel stranglehold — all the more worth celebrating. Here are The Associated Press’ Film Writers Jake Coyle and Lindsey Bahr's picks for the best movies of 2024: Was this a great year for movies? The consensus seems to be no, and that may be true. But it did produce some stone-cold masterpieces, none more so than Payal Kapadia’s sublime tale of three women in modern Mumbai. It’s a grittily real movie graced, in equally parts, by keen-eyed documentary and dreamy poetry. Beguilingly, “All We Imagine As Light” grows more profound as it cleaves further from reality. In theaters. Like Kapadia, RaMell Ross started out in documentary before bringing a singular eye to narrative film. His adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, about two Black teenagers at an abusive reform school in the Jim Crow South, is shot mostly from the two boys’ first-person perspective. The result is one of the most visually inventive American films of the decade and, just as certainly, one of the richest in empathy. Opens in theaters Dec. 13. So many of the reasons to go to the movies — to laugh at a clattering comic set piece, to witness the breakthrough of a young performer, to be devastated by something tragic — are contained within the thrillingly kitchen-sink “Anora.” It’s a concoction that only Sean Baker could conceive, let alone execute. (And, by the way, if you liked Yura Borisov’s performance alongside Mikey Madison, seek out 2021’s “Compartment No. 6.”) In theaters. Jane Schoenbrun’s sophomore feature — a dramatic leap forward for filmmaker and a transfixing trans parable — is a chilling 1990s coming of age in which a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”-like series called “The Pink Opaque” offers a possible portal out of drab suburban life and other suffocations. It feels chillingly, beautifully ripped out of Schoenbrun’s soul — and it’s got a killer soundtrack. Streaming on Max, available for digital rental. The fury of Agnieszka Holland’s searing migrant drama is suitably calibrated to the crisis. Along the Poland-Belarus border, a small band of migrants from Syria and Afghanistan are sent back and forth across a wooded borderland — sometimes they're even literally tossed — in a grim game of “not in my backyard.” It’s not an easy movie to watch, nor should it be. To keep up with the times, more uncomfortable movies like this may be needed. Streaming on Kino Film Collection, available for digital rental. We also need more big, fun movies with Ryan Gosling. David Leitch’s affectionate ode to stunt performers manages to celebrate behind-the-scenes crew members while simultaneously being completely carried by two of our most winning movie stars in Gosling and Emily Blunt. The societal value of watching Gosling cry to Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” should not be underestimated. Streaming on Peacock, available for digital rental. The way the Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, who was forced into exile while editing this, condenses real-life social upheaval into a family drama makes this a uniquely disquieting film. Like Kurosawa’s “Stray Dog,” Rasoulof’s movie centers around a lost handgun. The subsequent search reveals just how deeply the Iranian government's policies have seeped into the most intimate relationships. In theaters. We had not one but two movies this year that captured the therapeutic properties of theater. Each, almost unbelievably, deftly eludes tipping into cliche thanks to abiding compassion and authenticity in the performances. Alex Thompson and Kelly O’Sullivan’s “Ghostlight” is about a grieving father, a construction worker (an exceptional Keith Kupferer), who reluctantly joins a local production of “Romeo and Juliet.” “Sing Sing” dramatizes a real rehabilitation prison program. Its screening at Sing Sing Correctional, where many of its performers were once incarcerated, was easily the most moving moviegoing experience of the year for me. “Ghostlight” is available for digital rental. “Sing Sing” returns to theaters Jan. 17. In Azazel Jacobs’ funny, tender and raw family drama, a flawless cast of Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne play three sisters caring for their dying father. In close quarters and with death looming, it all comes out. Streaming on Netflix. In between large, lengthy epics, Martin Scorsese has made some his most interesting and personal films. In this, Scorsese narrates for director David Hinton his lifetime journey with the films of Powell and Pressburger, the great filmmakers of “The Red Shoes,” “I Know Where I’m Going!” and “Black Narcissus.” As an expression of movie love — of the power of film to transfix you, to change your life, to live alongside you as you grow older — “Made in England” could hardly be more effusive. Such insightful, passionate testimonies are an increasingly necessary lifeblood in a film culture where algorithms are typically blind to the treasures of cinema’s past. Streaming on WatchTCM and available for digital rental. Also: “Grand Tour,” “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found,”“No Other Land,”“Rebel Ridge,”“The Brutalist,”“Between the Temples,”“Evil Does Not Exist,” “Universal Language,” “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl,” “Daughters” Steve McQueen tells a different kind of World War II story in “Blitz,” a powerful and clear-eyed odyssey through London during the German bombing raid. Structured around a 9-year-old boy (Elliott Heffernan) trying to make his way back to his mother (Saoirse Ronan), it is a sneakily revolutionary glimpse into and poignant elegy for worlds unexplored and stories untold. Streaming on Apple TV+. Poetic and transportive, Kapadia’s Mumbai-set film explores the vibrations of a thrilling but brutally impersonal metropolis, the lives of three women in different stages and predicaments (forbidden love, loneliness, eviction) and delicacy of female friendships. Josh Margolin’s debut feature about a 90-something (played by the incomparable June Squibb ) on a mission to get $10,000 back from a scammer is so modest in scope and effortlessly enjoyable that it’s easy to undervalue. This independent film feels as sharp and put-together as a yesteryear studio comedy. It’s pure joy and one of those movies you could recommend to anyone. Streaming on Hulu. It takes a special kind of movie to transcend the echo chamber of arthouse cinephelia and become a cultural moment, but Baker’s “Anora” did it. A classic in waiting, Baker and his star Mikey Madison, who lifts the streetwise stripper trope, take audiences on an unforgettable ride in this fairy tale that falls apart in spectacular fashion. Ross transforms Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning novel about the abuses and generational trauma of a reform school in the Jim Crow South for the screen by employing first-person point-of-view. It’s a bold choice that pays off, transporting you into the heartbreaking reality of Elwood and Turner, two characters you won’t soon forget. A Zambian family says goodbye to their Uncle Fred in this remarkable, semicomic film from writer-director Rungano Nyoni. With an eye for the beautifully absurd and a keen understanding of generational trauma and toxic familial cycles, Nyoni has firmly established herself as a major talent. In theaters Dec. 13. Decades of dreaming about a film does not always seem to benefit said film, but Denis Villeneuve was able to translate his passion for Frank Herbert’s opus into pure cinematic spectacle, and doom, about the rise of a leader. It’s a grand and thrilling adventure that could make sci-fi nerds out of us all. Streaming on MAX. Jesse Eisenberg grapples with modern and historical trauma in the disarmingly entertaining road trip film “A Real Pain,” which he wrote, directed and stars in alongside Kieran Culkin as cousins on a Holocaust tour in Poland. In theaters. Saoirse Ronan delivered one of the year’s absolute best performances as an alcoholic who goes further and further into seclusion in the Orkney Islands in an attempt to start life anew. Films about addiction are hardly novel, and yet Nora Fingscheidt captures the wild highs, lows and in-betweens of the human condition with unapologetic honesty. Available for digital rental. It was a great year for first-time directors, including India Donaldson whose quietly brilliant character study of a teenage girl on a camping trip with her dad and his friend resonates even a year later. Streaming on Apple TV+ Also: “The Taste of Things”; “Green Border”; “Challengers”; ”Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ”; “La Cocina”; “Will & Harper”; “Evil Does Not Exist”; ”Conclave”; “Maria”; “Young Woman and the Sea”; “Tuesday”; “Lee”.
(The Center Square) - California Gov. Gavin Newsom said if President-elect Donald Trump ends the $7,500 electric vehicle rebate program, he’ll get Californians to pay for new credits. However, the credits would not include Tesla, which is the most popular EV company and the only EV manufacturer in the state. This comes weeks after Newsom and his administration passed new refinery and carbon credit regulations that will add up to $1.15 per gallon of gasoline and require Californians with gasoline-powered cars to earn up to another $1,000 per year in pretax income to afford. “We will intervene if the Trump Administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California,” said Newsom in a statement. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose rocket launches were recently blocked by a California regulatory board that cited his personal politics, shared his disapproval on his social media platform, X, after Newsom staff told Bloomberg that Tesla models would not qualify for California rebates. “Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California,” said Musk. “This is insane.” Musk recently moved SpaceX and X out of California, citing a new law signed by Newsom banning parental notification for gender change requests from K-12 students. The credits would be paid for through California’s cap-and-trade program, which requires carbon emitters to purchase credits from the state — costs which are generally passed on to consumers in the form of more expensive gasoline, energy, and even concrete. Emitters buy a few billion dollars worth of credits from California each year, with the state’s $135 billion high speed rail project getting the lion’s share of the revenue. The California Resources Board — all but two of whose voting members are appointed by the governor — recently approved $105 billion in EV charging credits and $8 billion in hydrogen charging credits to be largely paid for by drivers of gas cars and diesel trucks. An investigation by The Center Square found the change was pushed by EV makers and the builders of EV charging systems. Buyers of EV chargers, who pay for the energy and own the charger, sign installation contracts that permanently give away their rights to government or other EV charging credits generated from fueling a vehicle with electrons instead of gasoline. These chargers are often bundled with the purchase of an EV, or covered entirely by utility or government rebates, meaning they are permanent, zero-or-low-cost revenue streams for the company collecting the credits.