
LUFKIN, Texas (AP) — Tonya Jackson left an Angelina County nursing home on a recent December day, happy with the successful resolution she brokered between the staff and a resident. The elderly woman faced eviction after communication broke down between her family and the facility. That’s when Jackson stepped in. Jackson is the Deep East Texas managing local ombudsman for long-term care facilities. Each day she serves Texans living at these facilities as a state-assigned independent advocate. “We do not enter a nursing facility to wreak havoc,” Jackson said. “We enter the nursing facility to assist and advocate for the residents who do not feel they have a voice. We are there to help mend the broken bridge.” There are not enough people like Jackson in Texas, which has a dismal track record for long-term care. The state ranked 42nd for safety and quality, on a 2018 scorecard from AARP, the last time the survey was taken. The lack of ombudsmen — which include both paid staff and volunteers — is a statewide issue, and is acute in Deep East Texas, which includes Angelina, Nacogdoches and Newton counties. Just five people, two paid staff and three volunteers, bounce between 48 long-term care facilities — 34 nursing facilities and 14 assisted living facilities. “We would be lost in the long-term care community without them, but they definitely need more support across the board,” said Andrea Earl , the associate state director of advocacy and research for the AARP. In early December, the Deep East Texas Council of Governments, a group made up of representatives from local governments, called for more volunteers to bolster this program. Jackson prays the extra hands will better support her small team. She believes one volunteer for each facility would go a long way toward improving the lives of residents. “Volunteers can usually catch things that we can’t, being that our time is so limited going to each of the facilities,” Jackson said. At the same time, state officials hope the Legislature will step in to provide extra support when they reconvene in January. Patty Ducayet , the state’s lead ombudsman, wants lawmakers to fund more full-time and part-time positions, regulate the use of Medicaid and create a portal to handle involuntary discharge, the eviction of residents. Texas legislators have signaled they intend to prioritize dementia care and research this session. Earl hopes this means they’ll see the value in prioritizing the ombudsman program as well. The program has faced an uphill battle in past sessions. “This session, we have to continue to lay the groundwork to ensure that legislators over in the big pink building understand that this is a critical office to long-term care residents and families,” Earl said. The state ombudsman works independently from the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees the state’s long-term care facilities. This independence provides ombudsmen the chance to work on behalf of residents without fearing retribution. Texas utilizes full-time employed ombudsmen to investigate complaints related to the health, safety, welfare and rights of residents in care facilities and help resolve any issues. Their work is ideally supplemented by a large force of volunteers who do similar work but for only a few hours a week. Jackson tries to see 15 to 20 people at each facility during her monthly visits. If she’s successful, she’ll meet with every resident at least once a year. The job requires patience and empathy, Jackson said. In many places, ombudsmen are the only visitors residents get from the outside world and the conversations provide them a level of peace. Her visits serve not only to connect with residents but also to establish a rapport with staff at each facility so she can more effectively address complaints. Facilities without that rapport may see ombudsmen as people just trying to stir up problems, Earl said. Ombudsmen and facilities have clashed before. In 2023, the Texas Assisted Living Association worked with Rep. Travis Clardy, R-Nacogdoches on legislation that Earl said would have made the job of ombudsman harder. The legislation would have limited what files ombudsmen could review, even when it is requested by the patient, Earl said. “Accessing those documents and looking at history, especially when we’re talking about dementia patients and those facing severe medical issues, is a key part of what they do,” Earl said. Carmen Tilton, the vice president of public policy for the Texas Assisted Living Association, said the organization supported House Bill 4220 , which would have impacted ombudsman access to patient records. Their goal wasn’t to curb access, however, but to bring Texas regulation in line with federal regulations. Prior to this, even volunteer ombudsmen – without consent from residents – could access any resident information. This meant they could access Social Security numbers, bank account information, doctors information, prescriptions, and more, Tilton said. The bill also sought changes to training to clarify the differences between facilities and to establish guidelines for what is an ombudsman’s job and what is that of law enforcement. “It was perceived as an attack on the program, which was not our intent,” Tilton said. Clardy dropped the bill before it went for a vote. Since then, the ombudsman office has worked with the Texas Assisted Living Association directly to institute many of the changes Tilton hoped to see within the organization’s framework without requiring legislative intervention. Making changes actually happen within the facility can be difficult, slow and may result in backsliding instead of progress, Ducayet said. An ombudsman may fix a problem for one resident only to be back in the same facility facing the same problem with another resident. This can be extremely frustrating and requires volunteers and staff to have patience. When done right, the issues are resolved within the facility — between the administration, residents and their families — and don’t require state intervention. Jackson does a good job of this, said Lynne’ Nix , the business office manager for Shady Acres Health & Rehabilitation in Newton County. Nix’s relationship with Jackson has been built on the belief that Jackson’s interventions help both the facility and the resident. Sometimes a resident isn’t comfortable speaking their mind and the situation deteriorates quickly. The ombudsman is the logical answer. “They’re the true advocates for the residents,” Nix said. In 2024 , the state ombudsman program had a 25% turnover rate of paid staff, the highest it has ever been. Those who have stayed are overworked, Ducayet said. Ideally, Texas would have one staff member for every 2,000 licensed care facility beds. Right now, Texas has one person for every 2,514 beds, she said. If the program was fully staffed, then paid personnel could focus their work on recruiting and supporting more volunteers, Ducayet said. An additional 22 full-time employees would further improve advocacy statewide. Local volunteers, who are often people whose family members are in long-term care facilities, or are eyeing a facility for themselves, serve as the “boots on the ground,” Earl said. They can accomplish a lot if they can focus on one or two facilities at a time, Ducayet said. But that’s not a reality for Texas right now. Since 2019, the number of active volunteers has decreased by more than 100 people, leaving only 300 people to serve as volunteers across the state. The work, whether as a volunteer or a full-time staff member, takes its toll. Residents, who are often elderly or ailing, die. The sudden loss of a person who you have been meeting with for months, or even years, can be extremely difficult, Ducayet said. After serving in the field for 18 years, she learned that any meeting with a person could be her last. “Those are hard things,” Ducayet said. “It takes resilience and grit, like most hard things do.” Fewer staff and volunteers means longer times between visits to care facilities. Having more eyes and ears on the ground helps address problems at a facility more quickly, Ducayet said. This could go a long way toward improving elderly care and preventing problems from escalating to the point where state intervention feels necessary. Ducayet has several goals this legislative session to improve the ombudsman program and care for residents of long-term care facilities overall. First is increasing state funding for the ombudsman program by about $3 million. This would cover the cost of 22 additional full-time ombudsmen statewide, including a quality assurance officer and discharge rights officer at the state level. She also wants to resolve noncompliance with state and federal discharge rules by nursing facilities. Involuntary discharge, like what Jackson’s client was facing in early December, is the No. 1 complaint received by the program. Ducayet believes creating an online portal for nursing homes to file discharge notices, hiring for a position that is over discharges statewide and making it increasing fines if a nursing home violates discharge laws will help. Increasing staff at long-term care facilities should also be a priority, Ducayet said. She and the AARP are advocating for the state to require nursing homes to use 85% of Medicaid reimbursements for payroll. This would put the money in the hands of caregivers, instead of corporations, Ducayet said. A similar bill was proposed in 2023. The Texas Senate approved it, as did a House committee. But it never received a full vote by the state House. . Earl believes it can go all the way this year. These goals may not necessarily resolve the major issues within the long-term care industry in Texas, but they would go a long way toward increasing accountability in the industry, Earl said. The AARP shares many of Ducayet’s goals, and Earl believes the work completed during the 88th Legislative Session to educate lawmakers about the ombudsman program and how it’s funded could help them progress. She is optimistic, but also weary of what is gearing up to be a potentially complicated session. While Ducayet is working at the state level to improve upon the program, Jackson has other goals – mainly: to find more local volunteers. If she could find one volunteer for each of the 48 facilities in Deep East Texas, an 11 county region, then she could feel more confident that her program is truly meeting the needs of this vulnerable population. This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.The year 2025 lies ahead, and addressing climate change is high on the list of priorities for countries across the world as well as the global community at large. The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ended in the early morning hours of 24 November 2024; the 30th session (COP30) will convene on 10 November 2025. In between these sessions, much work remains to be done to advance climate action at the national and international level, including on a range of topics that include climate finance, the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), a new round of national commitments, and many more. For many participants and observers, COP29 fell short of expectations. However, the conference still produced several decisions that lay out a roadmap for 2025 and beyond, while other agenda items were postponed until June or November 2025. Arguably the most important decision out of COP29 was the last-minute agreement on a new collective quantified goal on climate finance (NCQG), which sets a goal of “at least USD 300 billion per year by 2035 for developing country Parties for climate action” and calls on all actors “to work together to enable the scaling up of financing to developing country Parties for climate action from all public and private sources to at least USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2035.” The decision text on the NCQG also highlights the importance of reforming the multilateral financial architecture as well as the need to remove barriers faced by developing countries, such as Sri Lanka, for financing their climate action. For example, these barriers could include high costs of capital, limited fiscal space, unsustainable debt levels, high transaction costs, and conditionalities for accessing climate finance. In the same decision, Parties at COP29 launched the “Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T,” which aims to scale up climate finance in line with the ambitions outlined above—through grants, concessional and non-debt-creating instruments, or measures to create fiscal space—throughout the year and until COP30. Other agenda items which made progress include the Global Goal on Adaptation, which will see further technical and political work through 2025 to adopt a set of indicators at COP30; loss and damage, which has seen pledges for the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage; and Article 6, where the framework for carbon trading has been further operationalised. In between now and COP30, there are many other milestone events, workshops, gatherings, and activities that aim to advance climate action across the different workstreams and agenda items. This includes the negotiations at the Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB62) in June; several high-level summits and ministerial meetings (for example, the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial or the Petersberg Climate Dialogue); other relevant events across the United Nations system (such as the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly); and a range of regional gatherings, mandated workshops, and the meetings of technical bodies. Both developed and developing countries are scheduled to submit their new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in February 2025, informed by the outcomes of the first Global Stocktake which concluded in 2023. For most countries, this is the third iteration of their NDCs after the initial round in 2015/2015 and a second one in 2020. Although the NDCs offer all countries a much-needed opportunity to scale up ambition, developing countries will depend on the provision of finance and other means of implementation to make stronger commitments. COP30 will take place in Belém, the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Pará, which is considered the gateway to the Amazon. Tens of thousands of participants, including many heads of states and ministers, are expected to attend the conference over two weeks in November, and logistical preparations are ongoing. While the new finance goal is decided, much work is left to be done towards operationalising it; and there are other agenda items as well that will be at the centre of attention. On climate finance, the current goals of providing $ 100 billion per year and doubling adaptation finance will come to an end. The COP29 decision on the NCQG outlines a way forward, but developed countries will need to scale up provision of finance to allow for ambitious action, while developing countries need to access and utilise funds in effective and inclusive ways. Furthermore, the global community must work together to reform the international financial architecture in a way to ensure that it is fit for purpose and reflects the needs and priorities of all countries. The Global Goal on Adaptation will be a critical part of the COP30 agenda, as Parties must define a set of indicators for the seven thematic and four dimensional global adaptation targets. These indicators aim to boost adaptation action across the world and track success across different sectors and dimensions, ultimately building long-term resilience in a holistic way that allows for green growth and sustainable development pathways. The multilateral process is only a piece of the complex puzzle of climate action, but it is an important one. COP30 might be a year away, but work must start now to ensure successful outcomes. In addition, action at the national and regional level is vital to convert decisions and global frameworks into actual implementation that reaches the ground and addresses the needs of vulnerable communities, sectors, and countries.
The political landscape in Delhi has intensified as the BJP accused AAP MLA Naresh Balyan of engaging in extortion activities. During a press conference, BJP representatives Gaurav Bhatia and Virendra Sachdeva played an audio clip allegedly featuring Balyan involved in dubious dealings with a gangster. The BJP demanded accountability from AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, challenging him to address the allegations by asking Balyan to resign. Gaurav Bhatia emphasized the significance of the alleged extortion, suggesting financial gains potentially reaching AAP's top echelons. Refuting the allegations, Balyan pledged to pursue legal actions against those spreading falsehoods. Meanwhile, AAP asserted that these accusations aimed to divert attention from rising crime rates in Delhi, blaming the BJP for deteriorating law and order conditions. (With inputs from agencies.)
UNDER President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s administration, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has expressed interest in acquiring advanced weapons systems, such as the US-made Typhon mid-range missile system. This system, capable of launching Standard Missile-6 and Tomahawk missiles with ranges of approximately 240 kilometers (km) and over 1,500 km, respectively, is intended to bolster the country's defense and deterrence capabilities, particularly within its exclusive economic zone in contested areas such as the disputed South China Sea (SCS). Deployed by the US Army in the northern Philippines during joint military exercises in early 2024, the Typhon system enables force projection up to 200 nautical miles (370 km). However, the plan has drawn opposition domestically and internationally. Critics, including China, have labeled the move "provocative and dangerous," warning of heightened geopolitical tensions and a potential arms race in the region. China's foreign ministry has urged the Philippines to reconsider, emphasizing the importance of regional peace, security and stability. Register to read this story and more for free . Signing up for an account helps us improve your browsing experience. OR See our subscription options.None
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Front Row Motorsports, one of two teams suing NASCAR in federal court, accused the stock car series Thursday of rejecting the planned purchase of a valuable charter unless the lawsuit was dropped. Front Row made the claim in a court filing and said it involved its proposed purchase of the charter from Stewart-Haas Racing. Front Row said the series would only approve it if Front Row and 23XI Racing dropped their court case. “Specifically, NASCAR informed us that it would not approve the (charter) transfer unless we agreed to drop our current antitrust lawsuit against them,” Jerry Freeze, general manager of Front Row, said in an affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court of Western North Carolina. The two teams in September refused to sign NASCAR’s “take-it-or-leave-it” final offer on a new revenue sharing agreement. All other 13 teams signed the deal. Front Row and 23XI balked and are now in court. 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan has said he took the fight to court on behalf of all teams competing in the top motorsports series in the United States. NASCAR has argued that the two teams simply do not like the terms of the final charter agreement and asked for the lawsuit be dismissed. Earlier this week, the suit was transferred to a different judge than the one who heard the first round of arguments and ruled against the two teams in their request for a temporary injunction to be recognized in 2025 as chartered teams as the case proceeds. The latest filing is heavily redacted as it lays out alleged retaliatory actions by NASCAR the teams say have caused irreparable harm. Both Front Row and 23XI want to expand from two full-time cars to three, and have agreements with SHR to purchase one charter each as SHR goes from four cars to one for 2025. The teams can still compete next season but would have to do so as “open” teams that don’t have the same protections or financial gains that come from holding a charter. Freeze claimed in the affidavit that Front Row signed a purchase agreement with SHR in April and NASCAR President Steve Phelps told Freeze in September the deal had been approved. But when Front Row submitted the paperwork last month, NASCAR began asking for additional information. A Dec. 4 request from NASCAR was “primarily related to our ongoing lawsuit with NASCAR,” Freeze said. “NASCAR informed us on December 5, 2024, that it objected to the transfer and would not approve it, in contrast to the previous oral approval for the transfer confirmed by Phelps before we filed the lawsuit,” Freeze said. “NASCAR made it clear that the reason it was now changing course and objecting to the transfer is because NASCAR is insisting that we drop the lawsuit and antitrust claims against it as a condition of being approved.” A second affidavit from Steve Lauletta, the president of 23XI Racing, claims NASCAR accused 23XI and Front Row of manufacturing “new circumstances” in a renewed motion for an injunction and of a “coordinated effort behind the scenes.” “This is completely false,” Lauletta said. Front Row is owned by businessman Bob Jenkins, while 23XI is owned by retired NBA Hall of Famer Jordan, three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and longtime Jordan adviser Curtis Polk. NASCAR had been operating with 36 chartered teams and four open spots since the charter agreement began in 2016. NASCAR now says it will move forward in 2025 with 32 chartered teams and eight open spots, with offers on charters for Front Row and 23XI rescinded and the SHR charters in limbo. The teams contend they must be chartered under some of their contractual agreements with current sponsors and drivers, and competing next year as open teams will cause significant losses. “23XI exists to compete at the highest level of stock car racing, striving to become the best team it can be. But that ambition can only be pursued within NASCAR, which has monopolized the market as the sole top-tier circuit for stock car racing,” Lauletta said. “Our efforts to expand – purchasing more cars and increasing our presence on the track – are integral to achieving this goal. “It is not hypocritical to operate within the only system available while striving for excellence and contending for championships,” he continued. “It is a necessity because NASCAR’s monopoly leaves 23XI no alternative circuit, no different terms, and no other viable avenue to compete at this level.” Stay Informed: Subscribe to Our Newsletter TodayWhatsApp ditches 'Typing' indicator for animated bubble, users not happy
How junk food firms are dodging govt’s advertising ban by targeting young people on gaming sites and social mediaANDOVER, Mass. , Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TransMedics Group, Inc. ("TransMedics") (Nasdaq: TMDX), a medical technology company that is transforming organ transplant therapy for patients with end-stage lung, heart, and liver failure, today announced that on December 9, 2024 , TransMedics granted non-qualified stock options to purchase an aggregate of 20,612 shares of its common stock and an aggregate of 13,576 restricted stock units to 3 employees, each as a material inducement for each employee's entry into employment with TransMedics. The grants included stock options to purchase 18,922 shares of TransMedics' common stock and 12,463 restricted stock units granted to Gerardo Hernandez , the Company's Chief Financial Officer. The grants were approved by the Compensation Committee of the TransMedics Board of Directors and were granted in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) and pursuant to the TransMedics Group, Inc. Inducement Plan. TransMedics granted non-qualified stock options to purchase 20,612 shares of TransMedics' common stock and 13,576 restricted stock units in the aggregate. The stock options were granted with a per share exercise price of $69.84 , the closing price of the common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market on December 9, 2024 . Twenty-five percent of the shares subject to each option will vest on the first yearly anniversary of the date of the employee's start of employment, with the remainder vesting in equal monthly installments over the subsequent three year period, subject to the employee's continued service with the Company through the applicable vesting date. The options have a 10-year term and are subject to the terms of the TransMedics Group, Inc. Inducement Plan. Twenty-five percent of each restricted stock unit award will vest on the first four anniversaries of the date of the employee's start of employment, subject to the employee's continued service with the Company through the applicable vesting date. The restricted stock units are subject to the terms of the TransMedics Group, Inc. Inducement Plan. About TransMedics Group, Inc. TransMedics is the world's leader in portable extracorporeal warm perfusion and assessment of donor organs for transplantation. Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts , the company was founded to address the unmet need for more and better organs for transplantation and has developed technologies to preserve organ quality, assess organ viability prior to transplant, and potentially increase the utilization of donor organs for the treatment of end-stage heart, lung, and liver failure. Investor Contact: Brian Johnston 332-895-3222 Investors@transmedics.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/transmedics-reports-inducement-grants-under-nasdaq-listing-rule-5635c4-302330724.html SOURCE TransMedics Group, Inc.
NoneSedgwick shares major trends in Forecasting 2025 report