Daily Archives: October 3, 2021

Connor Colby was blocking high school defensive linemen at this time last year.

Now hes starting for a college team ranked No. 5 in the national polls.

Yeah, its a different world for Colby, who made his first start for Iowa in last Saturdays game against Colorado State.

It is, Colby said on Tuesday, a work in progress.

It was definitely a big adjustment, said Colby, who started at right guard last week. Im still not all of the way there, not even close.

Colby, who played at Cedar Rapids Kennedy and was a first-team all-state selection as a junior and senior, joined the Hawkeyes early for spring practice, and worked himself on to the two-deep heading into fall camp.

It was a big step forward in the spring, and Ive just got to keep going on that, Colby said.

Obviously being a true freshman and coming in here and starting for us, its pretty impressive what he can do, center Tyler Linderbaum said. Obviously he hasnt had the game experience as others, but he plays his heart out.

He's definitely in the mix, mainly because when he was starting in the spring, he didn't look like he was overwhelmed, coach Kirk Ferentz said. Not because he looked like he knew what he was doing 100 percent and still doesn't, but he looked like he belongs in the pack, if you will, and he's done a lot of good things.

The size of the players he is facing is something Colby has learned about.

I know I cant overpower people now, he said.

Colby has been eased into his role with Iowa playing a rotation of players on the offensive line. Getting game work, while also getting a chance to watch, has helped in his education.

I would say its pretty helpful. Its helpful for me to come off and sort things out, Colby said. Ive just been kind of living in the moment, focusing on now.

Iowas offensive line is young, but there are enough veterans to help Colby. Linderbaum, a preseason All-American, has provided plenty of advice. And Colbys roommate on game weekends is senior guard Kyler Schott.

Me and Shooter talk a lot. He helps me out, Colby said. If I dont understand whats going on, I can go to him and get a straight answer. Work around it and shoot me straight.

Colby is No. 2 on the depth chart at right tackle for Saturdays game. But he has proven to be a key piece in Iowas offensive line, even with his inexperience.

Ferentz said on Tuesday he would like a more consistent line group as the season progresses. Colby, he said, is in the mix.

He's also struggled some out there, which is totally predictable in practice, and also on the game field, Ferentz said. He had a couple plays the other day that I thought he was capable of making, but it just happened a little faster than maybe he thought. That's part of inexperience and youth. We'll just kind of see how it all plays out.

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Connor Colby A Work in Progress - CalBearsMaven

Despite only winning seven games last season, the Washington Football Team was expected to take a step forward in 2021.

The defense that was elite to close the 2021 campaign was poised to improve with the addition of Williams Jackson III and first-round linebacker Jamin Davis, while the offense looked ready to take a step forward with better quarterback depth and more weapons at wide receiver like Curtis Samuel and rookie Dyami Brown.

But three games in, and Washington hasn't lived up to any of those aforementioned expectations. Injuries and a tough schedule have had something to do with it, but even at 1-2, the team's record has been better than its performance.

"This team is a work in progress, OK?" Ron Rivera told the Sports Junkies Tuesday."By no means did we arrive after last seasonand that's the thing we all have to understand. We're not going to show up and be who we were last year. We have to continue to work. We have to continue to grow. We got to understand that we have to play disciplined football."

Perhaps the silver lining for Washington entering Week 4 is that its struggles don't appear to be a talent issue. They have plenty of capable playmakers on both sides of the ball, but the execution hasn't been there. Chase Young still doesn't have a sack this season, the defense can't get off the field on third down, and the offense can't convert any third downs either (32nd in NFL).

The key for Rivera is taking what happened last week, learning from the mistakes and moving on to the next game. And if he can't get his players to do that, he's ready to accept responsibility.

"If after watching tape yesterday as a team, and our players haven't gotten it, we've got a lot of work to do," Rivera said. "I would like to believe that yesterday's tape, a big opportunity to review, how bad we played as a team and coaches as a group, then there's something wrong. That'll disappoint me even more. I believe this was a good message for us, it's a good opportunity to learn and grow from it. And if we don't, that's on my ass. That's on me. I'm the head coach and I'll be responsible to that."

The good news is it's still early in the season and the NFC East is a forgiving division when it comes to early season slumps. Just last season, Washington started 2-7 and won the division. They probably won't be able to get away with that again, but it goes to show how different the conversation could be in a month or two.

"After this week, there's still 13 games," Rivera said. "And then as far as I'm concerned, it's just one at a time. It's one at a time.When you start focusing and worrying about what you have to do, what you got to do, what you must do, you have a lot of stress on yourself. It's about what you want to do. You got to go out there and you got to want to play hard. You've got to go out and you've got to want to win. That's the way we have to approach things."

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Ron Rivera says struggling Washington Football Team is a 'work in progress' - NBC Sports

What GAO Found

Congress and executive branch agencies have made significant progress in addressing many of the 1,200 actions that GAO identified from 2011 to 2021 to reduce costs, increase revenues, and improve agencies operating effectiveness, although work remains to fully address them. As shown in the figure below, these efforts have resulted in approximately $515 billion in financial benefits, an increase of $85 billion from GAOs 2020 annual report. These are rough estimates based on a variety of sources that considered different time periods and used different data sources, assumptions, and methodologies.

Total Reported Financial Benefits of $515 Billion, as of 2021

To achieve these benefits, as of August 2021, Congress and executive branch agencies have fully addressed 666 (56 percent) of the 1,200 actions GAO identified from 2011 to 2021 and partially addressed 207 (17 percent). Examples of actions taken that led to significant financial benefits include:

Further steps are needed to fully address the actions GAO identified from 2011 to 2021. While GAO is no longer tracking 93 actions due to changing circumstances, GAO estimates that fully addressing the remaining 441 open actions could result in savings of tens of billions of dollars and improved government services, among other benefits. For example:

The federal government continues to respond to and recover from significant public health and economic challenges battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the size and scope of these efforts demand strong accountability and continued agility, opportunities also exist for achieving billions of dollars in financial savings and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of a wide range of federal programs in other areas.

GAO has responded with annual reports to a statutory provision directing it to identify and report on federal programs, agencies, offices, and initiativeseither within departments or government-wide. These entities and initiatives have duplicative, overlapping, or fragmented goals or activities, as well as additional opportunities to achieve cost savings or enhance revenue collection.

This report discusses the progress Congress and executive branch agencies have made in addressing actions GAO identified in its 2011 to 2021 reports. Additionally, the report provides examples of open actions where further steps by Congress and executive branch agencies could yield significant financial and non-financial benefits.

For more information, contact Jessica Lucas-Judy at (202)512-6806 or lucasjudyj@gao.gov, or Michelle Sager at (202)512-6806 or sagerm@gao.gov..

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Addressing Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication: Progress in Enhancing Government Effectiveness and Achieving Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in...

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Title IX and women's sports at K-State: 50 years of progress - Manhattan Mercury

WASHINGTON Pressure mounting but with signs of progress, President Joe Biden will hunker down at the White House to try to strike a deal and win over two holdout Democratic senators whose support is needed for his potentially historic $3.5 trillion government overhaul.

With Republicans solidly opposed and no Democratic votes to spare, Biden canceled a Wednesday trip to Chicago that was to focus on COVID-19 vaccinations so he could dig in for another day of intense negotiations with lawmakers ahead of crucial votes.

The stakes are as high as ever as Biden and his party try to accomplish a giant legislative lift, promising a vast rewrite of the nations balance sheet with an oh-so-slim majority in Congress. His idea is to essentially raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy and use that money to expand government health care, education and other programs an impact that would be felt across countless American lives.

As if that wasnt enough, Bidens focus is gaining traction at the same time Congress courts a crisis. Republicans refuse to approve routine legislation to keep the government funded past Thursdays fiscal yearend and raise the nations debt limit to avoid a dangerous default on borrowing. More votes are expected Wednesday and are likely to at least temporarily head off a catastrophe.

With Biden and his party reaching for what would be a signature policy accomplishment, there is a strong sense that progress is being made, said an administration official who requested anonymity to discuss the private talks.

All eyes are on Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who say the price tag for Bidens plan is too big but are publicly quiet about a number they can live with.

The president met separately with the two centrist senators at the White House on Tuesday and Democrats are poised to trim the huge measures tax proposals and spending goals to meet the overall size they are demanding.

Really good, honest, straightforward negotiations, Manchin told reporters back at the Capitol after his White House meeting with Biden. He said he did not give the president a new topline figure.

Bidens problems with fellow Democrats arent just in the Senate. A small number of centrist House Democrats are bristling at the far-reaching scope of his domestic agenda and demanding changes. But progressive lawmakers warn against cutting too much, saying they have already compromised enough.

Applying pressure, progressives are threatening to withhold support for a companion bill, a $1 trillion public works measure heading to a vote Thursday, that they say is too meager without Bidens bigger package assured.

Were obviously at a very sensitive time, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. The president, she said, is not going to tell anyone what to do. Hes going to have a discussion, have an engagement.

Taken together, its all putting the entire Biden agenda perilously closer to collapse, with consequences certain to shape his presidency and the lawmakers political futures.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress in a letter Tuesday that Oct. 18 is a critical date the day the Treasury Department will likely exhaust all of its extraordinary measures being taken to avoid a default on the governments obligations.

Yellen urged Congress to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by acting as soon as possible to either raise the debt limit or suspend it.

Faced with Republican opposition to linking the routine government funding with the debt limit vote, Democrats are separating the two, stripping out the more-heated debate over the debt limit for another day, closer to a separate October deadline.

The Senate is poised to vote swiftly to provide government funding to avoid a federal shutdown after the Sept. 30 fiscal year end, keeping operations flowing temporarily to Dec. 3. The House could quickly follow.

The House is also preparing a possible vote to extend the debt limit through through Dec. 16, something Democrats are likely to support. But even if it is approved by the House, its unclear if it could pass the Senate in the face of GOP obstruction.

Tensions are flaring at the Capitol as the contours of Bidens big agenda come into focus amid standoff over normally routine votes over government operations.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell grew testy with reporters when asked about Yellens warning that Congress must swiftly resolve the issue.

Of course the debt ceiling has to be raised, McConnell said. But he insisted Democrats shoulder the unpopular vote on their own.

Meanwhile, the behind-the-scenes action over the $3.5 trillion measure is testing Bidens grip on his party, as he seeks a once-in-a-generation reworking of the nations tax priorities and spending goals.

With all Republicans opposed to the big bill, Democratic leaders cant spare a single vote in the 50-50 Senate, relying on Vice President Kamala Harris to break a tie to pass the eventual package.

Physically holding up the bill of 2,000-plus pages, Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming warned it was nothing but big government socialism.

Biden insists the price tag actually will be zero because the expansion of government programs would be largely paid for with higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy businesses earning more than $5 million a year, and individuals earning more than $400,000 a year, or $450,000 for couples.

To lower the price tag and win over centrist Democrats, its not necessary that any specific programs be get axed, those familiar with the process have said. Rather, lawmakers are eyeing ways to adjust the scope and duration of some of Bidens proposals.

Still, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said they have the votes to derail the other bill unless it comes with Bidens broader one tacit pressure on the holdouts to arrive at a deal. Backing that position, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also urged a no vote.

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Sign of progress, Biden digs in to strike deal on $3.5T plan - WGN TV Chicago

Arsenal struggled to build on their impressive derby win over Tottenham after being held to a goalless draw at Brighton & Hove Albion in a game the hosts were arguably unfortunate not to win.

After a start to the season that saw the Gunners lose three in succession, Mikel Arteta's side looked to have turned a corner with three straight wins, culminating in last weekend's impressive 3-1 victory over rivals Spurs.

However, Arsenal failed to get going against an in-form Brighton side, who had the better of the chances in front of their home fans and could have secured all three points were it not for a fine late save by Aaron Ramsdale.

The point moves Arsenal up to ninth in the Premier League table but they can drop into the bottom half if Brentford and Tottenham collect results against West Ham and Aston Villa respectively on Sunday.

Brighton climb one place to fifth to continue their encouraging start to the campaign.

Elsewhere in the Premier League on Saturday, Leeds United collected their first win of the season after edging Watford at Elland Road, courtesy of an 18th-minute goal by Diego Llorente, who had returned to the side after two weeks sidelined with injury.

Wolves secured their second successive league win as Hwang Hee-Chan scored twice either side of Jeff Hendrick's equaliser to lead his side to a 2-1 victory over struggling Newcastle.

While Wolves climb up to 11th in the standings, defeat leaves Newcastle mired in the relegation zone and the pressure on manager Steve Bruce is sure to only increase as the search for an elusive first win continues.

"Whoever you are, whether you are the manager of Newcastle or not if you haven't won in seven games then ultimately we all know the drill, we all know what comes," Bruce said.

"The quicker we get a result the better, but that is the story so far. It could have been our day, but it wasn't."

Also in the relegation zone, bottom side Norwich and 18th-placed Burnley played out a goalless draw at Turf Moor.

Updated: October 2nd 2021, 7:06 PM

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Arsenal progress halted after goalless draw at Brighton; pressure builds on Steve Bruce - The National

Illinois State Police say they have dramatically reduced backlogs of applications and renewals for Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) cards in the state, with new processes and increased hiring credited for expediting that effort.

According to a press release, the ISPs efforts to rebuild the Firearms Services Bureau have resulted in a backlog reduction of 89% for FOID card renewals, and a 75% reduction in backlogs of new applications for the cards, which gun owners in the state are legally required to have.

ISP says that it has implemented three specific strategies to erase those backlogs. First, the FSB has implemented improvements in both the technology and the processes involved in moving through the applications and renewals that they have received.

The bureau is currently processing applications and renewals within the legally-mandated 72-hour waiting period, according to state police.

State police say that they have hired more employees to help address those concerns, with applications for FOID cards spiking dramatically during the COVID pandemic.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, NBC 5 Investigates discovered that the FSB was staffed with just five individuals, who were tasked with helping thousands of residents with questions about FOID cards and concealed carry applications.

Since early 2020, the bureau has hired 35 analysts to bolster its efforts to clear FOID card backlogs, and says it will continue hiring additional analysts.

Finally, the state police received help from the Illinois Legislature, which combined FOID and CCL cards into a single card, and allowed for electronic cards instead of paper cards to help streamline the process of renewals and applications.

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Progress Made in Clearing Backlogs in FOID Card Applications, Renewals, ISP Says - NBC Chicago

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Preventing falls is important for all ages | Pontotoc Progress | djournal.com - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

WHO / Noor- Tanya Habjouqa

As COVID-19 spread across the occupied Palestinian territory, the Hugo Chavez Hospital was turned into the COVID-19 treatment and isolation centre for patients from Ramallah District. Dr Bassel Bawatneh, the hospitals Acting Director, found himself both serving as a medical professional and performing social care to help fill the gap in hospital staff to carry out all the necessary duties.

In March 2021, Dr Bawatneh found his retired Arabic language teacher, Mohammed Mhanna, critically ill in one of the wards. He visited Mohammeds bedside regularly, providing friendship, comfort and kindness until Mohammed succumbed to the disease. Despite the tragic circumstances, Dr Bawatneh knew that Mohammed was pleased that one of his former students was looking after him.

More than half my time is given to social support for elderly people. Its hard for them to understand why their children cant visit. If we dont focus on the social aspect of our elderly patients, we might lose them. I cannot lose a patient with respiratory problems just because of lack of social support, so we try to control all other aspects in order to give them the medical care they need, said Dr Bawatneh.

WHO, through the Universal Health Coverage Partnership (UHC Partnership), is working closely with the Ministry of Health to support the development of the hospital sector. This is part of overall efforts to strengthen the health system, enhance linkages to primary health care (PHC), and make progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Hospitals are crucial for achieving UHC

Hospitals, combined with effective PHC, are essential in achieving UHC. In practice, this means that an effective PHC system, operating within or closer to communities, serves as the first point of contact of patients and their pathway to hospital care. This can be improved through strengthening the referral system, which will send patients from PHC to hospital and vice versa.

A renewed focus on hospital roles, functions and operations through an integrated and people-centred lens is critical. It brings a fresh perspective on the features of hospitals that are needed to meet present and future challenges to health and health systems. The experience of COVID-19 shows the importance of hospital care when needed.

Social care is one of the many important functions that the health system needs to provide. The gaps in this area demonstrate how much the hospital sector in the occupied Palestinian territory struggles to meet all the needs of patients.

Strengthening the hospital sector

Drawing on the WHO regional framework for action in the hospital sector, WHO, through the UHC Partnership, has provided technical support to the Ministry of Health in the occupied Palestinian territory to strengthen its hospital sector development and policy. At least 53 hospitals in the West Bank with around 520,000 annual patient admissions, as well as 34 hospitals in Gaza, will benefit from improved services once the hospital sector policy is implemented. This effort strengthens the capacity of the occupied Palestinian territory to ensure that more people receive the health services they need, even in the face of conflict and pandemic.

The occupied Palestinian territory is among the 115 countries and areas to which the UHC Partnership helps deliver WHO support and technical expertise in advancing UHC with a PHC approach. The Partnership is one of WHOs largest initiatives on international cooperation for UHC and PHC. It is funded by the European Union (EU), the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Irish Aid, the Government of Japan, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Belgium, Canada and Germany.

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The occupied Palestinian territory reforms its hospital sector to make progress towards universal health coverage - World Health Organization