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American 64, UMKC 60MAJOR touring acts like US grunge legends Pearl Jam will "become the norm" at Morisset under ambitious plans for Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie. Login or signup to continue reading The 30,000-capacity amphitheatre under construction by Newcastle-based company Winarch Group, is expected to be a game-changer for the east coast touring scene by becoming Australia's largest bespoke live music venue. However, questions have been raised about whether Cedar Mill will become a white elephant. The Hunter's biggest live music venues - McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Bimbadgen, Hope Estate and Roche Estate - averaged 16 concerts a year collectively from 2022 to 2024. Head of Winarch Live, Ewen Craig, has worked in music promotion for more than 30 years with Michael Coppel, Paul Dainty, Michael Chugg and Live Nation. Mr Craig said Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie will turbocharge the number of concerts in the Hunter by having permanent infrastructure in place, offering a cost-effective option for artists. "The venue has been designed to target that top-end stadium band like Pearl Jam to play to 30,000, and it's also been geared to the 10,000 to 15,000 crowd, which is your Qudos Bank Arena [in Sydney], Brisbane Entertainment Centre and Rod Laver Arena [in Melbourne] shows," Mr Craig said. "They will always play in Sydney on Saturday night, but then they can pack up and run up the road, stay in the same hotel and play our venue on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday night. "They will affectively play a show to a new population base without any extra costs for them." While the Hunter wineries have hosted world-class superstars like The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bruce Springsteen in the past decade, Mr Craig said they were "one-off" events. Cedar Mill would aim to become a permanent fixture on the east coast circuit for international acts. "It will become the norm of the touring circuit, as opposed to where the Hunter [Valley] did well by getting one-off shows," he said. "This will become the norm for anyone that plays Qudos Bank Arena or Brisbane Entertainment Centre." Upcoming shows at Qudos Bank Arena include The Killers, Bryan Adams, Billie Eilish, Kylie Minogue, Chris Stapleton, Dua Lipa and The Offspring. Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie is the first of six live events venues Winarch Group is building throughout Australia. The others are in Pokolbin, Victoria's Yarra Valley, in Sydney's Domain, Parramatta and at Bradfield near the future Western Sydney Airport. The $235 million Morisset site was expected to host its first concert by late 2025, but that's been pushed back to the first quarter of 2026 due to finalising the design of the permanent seating bowl. "We made a major change in tact last year when we went from a green field site into a permanent seating bowl and to build a fully functioning amphitheatre," Mr Craig said. "That seemed an easy decision at the time, but there's a hell of a lot of design work to go into it, because it's basically never been done here before." On Thursday the Winarch Group will release the results of their second annual Australian Live Music Census, which polled 1001 people across the country. Key findings of the report were that 68 per cent of people attended at least one concert every year and 11 per cent bought a ticket every month. Major frustrations for respondents were ticket prices, toilets and transport options. Mr Craig said travel and production costs made touring expensive for international acts, but having "plug-in-and-play" facilities at Cedar Mill would lower ticket prices. Earlier this week, Winarch announced the rebranding of the Cedar Mill Group to Winarch Music and Winarch Live. Winarch Music features Cedar Mill Lake Macqaurie, Newcastle's Muso's Corner music store and the newly acquired independent music store, The Guitar Lounge, in Sydney. Winarch Live will manage Newcastle's The Olive Tree Market and Sydney's The Finders Keepers. Josh Leeson is a news and features journalist, who focuses on Lake Macquarie, politics and entertainment at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport, including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league. Josh Leeson is a news and features journalist, who focuses on Lake Macquarie, politics and entertainment at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport, including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. 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By Noam N. Levey, KFF Health News Worried that President-elect Donald Trump will curtail federal efforts to take on the nation’s medical debt problem, patient and consumer advocates are looking to states to help people who can’t afford their medical bills or pay down their debts. “The election simply shifts our focus,” said Eva Stahl, who oversees public policy at Undue Medical Debt, a nonprofit that has worked closely with the Biden administration and state leaders on medical debt. “States are going to be the epicenter of policy change to mitigate the harms of medical debt.” New state initiatives may not be enough to protect Americans from medical debt if the incoming Trump administration and congressional Republicans move forward with plans to scale back federal aid that has helped millions gain health insurance or reduce the cost of their plans in recent years. Comprehensive health coverage that limits patients’ out-of-pocket costs remains the best defense against medical debt. But in the face of federal retrenchment, advocates are eyeing new initiatives in state legislatures to keep medical bills off people’s credit reports, a consumer protection that can boost credit scores and make it easier to buy a car, rent an apartment, or even get a job. Several states are looking to strengthen oversight of medical credit cards and other financial products that can leave patients paying high interest rates on top of their medical debt. Some states are also exploring new ways to compel hospitals to bolster financial aid programs to help their patients avoid sinking into debt. “There’s an enormous amount that states can do,” said Elisabeth Benjamin, who leads health care initiatives at the nonprofit Community Service Society of New York. “Look at what’s happened here.” New York state has enacted several laws in recent years to rein in hospital debt collections and to expand financial aid for patients, often with support from both Democrats and Republicans in the legislature. “It doesn’t matter the party. No one likes medical debt,” Benjamin said. Other states that have enacted protections in recent years include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington. Many measures picked up bipartisan support. President Joe Biden’s administration has proved to be an ally in state efforts to control health care debt. Such debt burdens 100 million people in the United States, a KFF Health News investigation found . Led by Biden appointee Rohit Chopra, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has made medical debt a priority , going after aggressive collectors and exposing problematic practices across the medical debt industry. Earlier this year, the agency proposed landmark regulations to remove medical bills from consumer credit scores. The White House also championed legislation to boost access to government-subsidized health insurance and to cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors, both key bulwarks against medical debt. Trump hasn’t indicated whether his administration will move ahead with the CFPB credit reporting rule, which was slated to be finalized early next year. Congressional Republicans, who will control the House and Senate next year, have blasted the proposal as regulatory overreach that will compromise the value of credit reports. And Elon Musk, the billionaire whom Trump has tapped to lead his initiative to shrink government, last week called for the elimination of the watchdog agency . “Delete CFPB,” Musk posted on X. If the CFPB withdraws the proposed regulation, states could enact their own rules, following the lead of Colorado, New York, and other states that have passed credit reporting bans since 2023. Advocates in Massachusetts are pushing the legislature there to take up a ban when it reconvenes in January. “There are a lot of different levers that states have to take on medical debt,” said April Kuehnhoff, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, which has helped lead national efforts to expand debt protections for patients. Kuehnhoff said she expects more states to crack down on medical credit card providers and other companies that lend money to patients to pay off medical bills, sometimes at double-digit interest rates. Under the Biden administration, the CFPB has been investigating patient financing companies amid warnings that many people may not understand that signing up for a medical credit card such as CareCredit or enrolling in a payment plan through a financial services company can pile on more debt. If the CFPB efforts stall under Trump, states could follow the lead of California, New York, and Illinois, which have all tightened rules governing patient lending in recent years. Consumer advocates say states are also likely to continue expanding efforts to get hospitals to provide more financial assistance to reduce or eliminate bills for low- and middle-income patients, a key protection that can keep people from slipping into debt. Hospitals historically have not made this aid readily available, prompting states such as California, Colorado, and Washington to set stronger standards to ensure more patients get help with bills they can’t afford. This year, North Carolina also won approval from the Biden administration to withhold federal funding from hospitals in the state unless they agreed to expand financial assistance. In Georgia, where state government is entirely in Republican control, officials have been discussing new measures to get hospitals to provide more assistance to patients. “When we talk about hospitals putting profits over patients, we get lots of nodding in the legislature from Democrats and Republicans,” said Liz Coyle, executive director of Georgia Watch, a consumer advocacy nonprofit. Many advocates caution, however, that state efforts to bolster patient protections will be critically undermined if the Trump administration cuts federal funding for health insurance programs such as Medicaid and the insurance marketplaces established through the Affordable Care Act. Trump and congressional Republicans have signaled their intent to roll back federal subsidies passed under Biden that make health plans purchased on ACA marketplaces more affordable. That could hike annual premiums by hundreds or even thousands of dollars for many enrollees, according to estimates by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank. And during Trump’s first term, he backed efforts in Republican-led states to restrict enrollment in their Medicaid safety net programs through rules that would require people to work in order to receive benefits. GOP state leaders in Idaho, Louisiana, and other states have expressed a desire to renew such efforts. “That’s all a recipe for more medical debt,” said Stahl, of Undue Medical Debt. Jessica Altman, who heads the Covered California insurance marketplace, warned that federal cuts will imperil initiatives in her state that have limited copays and deductibles and curtailed debt for many state residents. “States like California that have invested in critical affordable programs for our residents will face tough decisions,” she said. ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Goals from Jamie Gittens, Ramy Bensebaini and Serhou Guirassy took Borussia Dortmund to a 3-0 win at Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Wednesday. English winger Gittens opened the scoring with a stunning long-range solo effort before half-time, shooting in from the edge of the box. Bensebaini headed in a Pascal Gross corner early in the second half and Guirassy came off the bench to add a third late, sealing the result. The win, Dortmund's first away victory in any competition since September, sent them into the top four and all but sealed at least a spot in the knockout rounds. One concern for Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin will be Julian Brandt's fitness ahead of Saturday's game against Bayern Munich. The midfielder, captaining the side with Emre Can on the bench, was subbed out after limping off before half-time with a reported thigh injury. Zagreb had rebounded in the Champions League after an opening round 9-2 thrashing at the hands of Dortmund's German rivals Bayern, winning two and drawing another to climb into the knockout placings. The home fans welcomed last season's Champions League finalists with loud fireworks in a stadium still showing scars of a 2020 earthquake, with its capacity reduced by 14,000 due to fears of collapse. The visitors, on a run of six straight away losses in all competitions, took a while to get started, Zagreb's Ronael Pierre-Gabriel blasting just over the bar on the counter startling Dortmund into life. Donyell Malen hit the crossbar after 28 minutes. Gittens found Malen unmarked and one-on-one with the goalkeeper on the 41-minute mark but the Dutchman headed wide. Seconds later, Gittens took matters into his own hands, dribbling past three defenders to give himself space before unleashing a superb dipping rocket into the top right corner. Still just 20, the goal was Gittens' fourth in his fifth Champions League game this campaign. Gross found Bensebaini from a corner just after half-time for Dortmund's second, the Algerian standing tall and heading past the Zagreb keeper. With one eye on Saturday's clash with Bayern, Sahin made three changes with half an hour remaining, including bringing on Guirassy as he returned from illness. The Guinean showed excellent touch to seal the match with a goal in the final minute, to match Gittens' tally of four in five Champions League games. Dortmund have now won four of five outings in the Champions League, other than their 5-2 humbling in the Champions League final rematch against Real Madrid in October.Unamused 49ers GM: Cool it with Kyle Shanahan 'hot seat' talk
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