Category Archives: Freedom

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) From a new pair of shoes to skincare, the non-profit Freedom and Fashion empowers women and kids overcoming domestic violence, sex trafficking, and other injustices. For executive director and New Mexico native Laverne Delgado, the mission is personal.

Im a survivor of domestic violence and Ive gone through sexual assault growing up, said Delgado. I identify with the clients and the women that we serve.

The organization works with brands and influencers to donate luxury clothing, hygiene products, and essential goods to survivors. Delgado says the simplest acts like taking care of your skin or hair can begin the healing process.

Regardless of what economic class youre in, girls are girls, women are women, said Delgado. We love to feel good about ourselves.

This weekend, theyre spreading that good feeling in Albuquerque at the Barrett House. While not actively serving as a domestic violence safe house, they do provide shelter to women and children facing homelessness from all kinds of traumatizing events.

We are a shelter and we serve between 35 and 40 women and children every night, said Heather Hoffman, executive director of the Barrett Foundation. We have folks who are cooped up, feeling a little down, morale might be sagging a little bit, harder to get in contact with those services, that sort of thing.

Hoffman says a surprise like this can mean the world to those in the shelter. Freedom and Fashion hopes to surprise other survivors in the area this weekend.

We are always, always astounded by the caring hearts of others and the way folks think of us, said Hoffman. This additional fun thing to put in front of folks is just absolutely fabulous and we greatly appreciate it for sure.

Delgado also hopes getting the conversation going about traumas like violence can heal families moving forward. The strongest chains we have are the ones we put on ourselves so theres no shame in domestic violence, said Delgado.

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, there are resources and help available through the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

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Non-profit Freedom and Fashion surprising local women and kids in need - KRQE News 13

Cameron Sharp embraces ambiguity on a new ramshackle-folk EP recorded in the quiet of night after the birth of his son

On Earth Day in the spring of 2017, two days after Cameron Sharps Ohio State MFA thesis was approved, the musician welcomed a son, Charlie Moon, into the world. And in the days, weeks and months following the birth, Sharp would retreat to the basement at night to quietly play music while his son slept.

I was flexing a muscle that I hadn't in a while, said Sharp, who records under the name sovroncourt.But it also made me feel more centered and closer to understanding where my feet were on the ground with this major upheaval of life.

Down in the basement, Sharp waited for the furnace to go silent, then recorded hushed takes in front of a hot mic. Often, he did so in complete darkness or with only a single light bulb illuminating the room. Sometimes he closed his eyes. Denying himself a sense of sight helped Sharp focus on the sonic space of the songs. What happens if I step into these songs and have the songs live around me instead of sitting in a space and listening to it? Sharp said. I was thinking about having a space that is filled out not just a wall of sound, but a filled-out space where nooks and crannies are considered sonically, not just instrumentally. And then to be in that space.

The guitar is Sharps largest instrument; all the rest, which he made or collected over the years, can fit into a box or a drawer. The process is one that's relatively immediate and quickly satisfied. Its finding a place where something could happen, whether that's a melody or a note or a drum sound, and then just looking at the drawer of little instruments and picking and choosing, he said. It feels important to let that immediacy of a choice kind of dictate what the next move is, whether that's in choosing what instruments to use or what words to use in a song or how a thing is played.

Sharp released the summation of those choices in the form of a new, six-song sovroncourt EP, Hi Shadow (sshhh), which is actually Side A of a 12-song, homespun-folk album (look for Side B next spring, followed by a physical release containing both sides). Sharp wrote, recorded and mixed the songs and played all the instruments, other than a bassline from friend Glenn Davis, who also mastered the release. That was a really special experience, Sharp said of his time with Davis. Being able to talk about [the songs] and have him help me walk through what this album might be like sonically was really, really helpful.

Listening back now, Sharp, whose unrefined vocals take center stage on Hi Shadow, realized the concept of the unobtainable is a through line in the songs.

Its the unobtainable as a clarifying or a freeing sensibility, Sharp said, noting a particular line on Light Around: When words dont work, dont use words.

[Right now] it's fall, and I was out in the woods, and it's so beautiful to be around these trees as they're changing. That was amazing, and I wanted to take photographs of it because I just want to own it somehow. And you can't. That happens in Light Around. There's this stuff that exists and surrounds us, and oftentimes words don't do it justice. And we all know that. We've been in situations where you just can't articulate that sense, and there's something that is frustrating about that. But that can be really clarifying and freeing.

On the track In a Dream, Sharp sings about a photograph depicting someone waving, but he cant tell if the person is saying hello or waving goodbye. Photography is supposed to help tell us what's happening, but in fact, there are these moments, like that situation, where we should have definite truth, but it just kind of confuses us, he said.

For the closing track, Lookin Out My Back Door, Sharp converted a Creedence Clearwater Revival song into a goodnight tune for his son. I would play it to him, and I started playing it in a slower version and style while he was going to sleep. The song turned into this lullaby, Sharp said, noting that some of his own songs, like Nothing At All, have also begun to change over time. I thought that song was about something very specific. I've been playing it for a couple years now, and as I've played it, I recognize that it's not about this specific thing that I thought it was. That song is much more general. I think 2020 has helped shift the lenses for me on how to understand it.

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Sovroncourt finds freedom in the unobtainable - Columbus Alive

There is a word for why we wear masks, wrote Michael Tomasky in The New York Times: "One of the key authors of the Western concept of freedom is John Stuart Mill. In On Liberty, hewrotethat liberty (or freedom) means doing as we like, subject to such consequences as may follow, without impediment from our fellow creatures, as long as what we do does not harm them even though they should think our conduct foolish, perverse or wrong.

Note the clause as long as what we do does not harm them. He tossed that in there almost as a given indeed, itisa given. This is a standard definition of freedom.

Freedom emphatically does not include the freedom to get someone else sick. It does not include the freedom to refuse to wear a mask in the grocery store, sneeze on someone in the produce section and give him the virus. Thats not freedom for the person who is sneezed upon. For that person, the first persons freedom means chains potential illness and even perhaps a death sentence. No society can function on that definition of freedom.

To all who deem mask-wearing as inhibiting personal freedom, I offer the originalists' definition of the word.Freedom means the freedomnotto get infected by those who refuse to mask up. Even John Stuart Mill would have agreed.

Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.

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Letter: The definition of freedom - Anchorage Daily News

In 2020, Hollywood agents and managers who represent female and minority filmmakers are experiencing a mostly welcome, if long delayed, phenomenon lots and lots of incoming calls.

"I have seen an increased commitment and desire for directors and writers to have something in connection with the potential project," says ICM literary agent Ava Greenfield, who represents Black filmmakers such as Regina King, making her directorial debut this year with the Amazon Studios Muhammad Ali film One Night in Miami, and Matthew Cherry, who sold a series based on his Oscar-winning animated short Hair Love to HBO Max in July. "If, for example, the story is centered on Black woman, there is an initial commitment from buyers to find a Black female director or writer for this project. It comes from this understanding that there has to be a connection to the material by a writer or a director."

Studios, motivated either by a sincere desire to diversify their hiring, a sense that genuine connection to material leads to better storytelling or the simple fear of being internet-shamed are increasingly focusing on staffing films and TV shows about underrepresented groups with filmmakers and showrunners from those groups. Current projects that studios are hoping to populate with Black behind-the-camera talent include Marvel's Blade movie starring Mahershala Ali, which is looking for writers, and MGM's Sammy Davis Jr. biopic, which Lena Waithe is producing.

This approach represents a pivot from the way Hollywood used to do business, relying on a short list of mostly white, mostly male directors to helm a broad swath of material. As the marketplace evolves, a question agents have long asked themselves when they receive word of a new project who should tell this story? comes with new complexity.

"People are very aware of the optics of authenticity," says WME agent Tanya Cohen, who represents clients including M. Night Shyamalan and Janelle Mone. "Since the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests, there's been a real shift, and studios are increasingly being conscious and judicious about finding the voices to tell a story from a very authentic point of view."

Some of that awareness has come as a result of audience or critical backlash. Just a few years ago, movies with Black leads like Fox's 2016 best picture nominee Hidden Figures and Warner Bros.' 2013 Jackie Robinson biopic 42 arrived in theaters with little scrutiny about their white male directors. Instead, they were mostly hailed for their inclusive casts and messages of uplift. In 2018, some critics lambasted Universal's Green Book for white filmmaker Peter Farrelly's reliance on racial clichs, but the movie still went on to win best picture and earn $322 million at the worldwide box office.

But when red carpet interviews at the Mulan premiere in March revealed a mostly white production team working under white female director Niki Caro, a headline on the Canadian pop culture website Flare.com read, "The live-action Mulan is already making me mad." A writer for the British newspaper Metro noted, "I've loved Mulan since childhood, but the remake is too white behind the camera."

Industry figures, too, have begun signaling their discontent when a filmmaker doesn't seem steeped enough in a culture to direct a film about it. When news broke in September that Ron Howard would direct a biopic about Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang, The Farewell writer-director Lulu Wang tweeted her frustration. "As a classically trained pianist born in China, I believe it's impossible to tell Lang Lang's story without an intimate understanding of Chinese culture and the impact of the Cultural Revolution on artists and intellectuals and the effects of Western imperialism," Wang said. "Just saying."

Some in the talent-rep world say they worry the new expectations are limiting. "These are writers who are supposed to be able to fictionalize stories that didn't exist from their brains, and we are curbing their ability to create," says one representation source. And some are beginning to steer their white or male clients away from projects that may become controversial because of their attachment. "Twitter and social media are the sole fear of the studios," says the representation source. "We don't want to spend our clients' time [on projects] that studios are going to shy away from."

If white male clients are guided away from projects, that's just fine, say some agents with diverse client lists. "For 120 years it's been assumed that white men can direct any movie," says one agency source. "The pendulum has swung the other way for so long. If we are now living in a period where the pendulum swings too far to the other side, so be it."

On some recent high-profile projects where a white storyteller is presenting a film or TV show featuring a protagonist of color, creators have been careful to open up the process to a more inclusive group of collaborators. When Damon Lindelof created HBO's Watchmen, which features King as its lead, he kept the number of white men in his writers room to four of 12. In making Soul, which introduces Pixar's first Black lead character, a jazz musician, director and studio chief Pete Docter enlisted Black playwright Kemp Powers to join the writing team while the film was in development; Powers has a co-director credit on the film.

But some representatives say the studio inquiries are getting so targeted by demographic, they are creating a whole new problem pigeonholing the underrepresented clients. "The push for diversity has been increasing steadily, but studios are asking much more transparently now," says one industry source. "Now it's, 'Do you have any Mexican writers?' It's very specific where the diversity asks are coming from, and not all clients want to be thought of that way. Some people really feel rooted in telling stories about their identity, and some people want to be seen as a filmmaker regardless of their gender and race."

Some of the incoming calls are perplexing, like the company that sent a comedy script to the agent of a Black female director whose body of work is dramatic because the comedy featured a Black female protagonist, prompting the agent to wonder whether she should be grateful for the submission or point out the obvious mismatch in sensibility.

"As they start to make this outreach, studios are finding that people of color have interest in telling all kinds of stories," says Greenfield. "It's not necessarily just telling stories featuring trauma onscreen. Black people are also interested in comic books, in superheroes, in interesting histories of Black people as a whole."

If studios are overcorrecting to the point of sending any project to a demographically appropriate filmmaker regardless of that person's creative interests, that's a side effect of the industry's long-standing pattern of exclusion, some agents say. The agency source notes: "It speaks to the systemic failure of our business to have nurtured more of these kinds of filmmakers that sometimes you'll just put someone on a list because they're Black or female."

Mia Galuppo and Borys Kit contributed to this report.

This story first appeared in the Oct. 21 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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Hollywood Agents Navigate New Complexities of Balancing the Demand for Diverse Voices and Artistic Freedom - Hollywood Reporter

Sal Lando, left, of Sterling, holds up signs during a protest against mandatory flu vaccinations, outside the Massachusetts State House, in Boston, earlier this year. Boosted by the pandemic and the political climate, vaccine opponents have started to appeal to a different subset of society invested in civil libertieswhich some health officials say undercuts public health efforts during a critical moment for vaccines.

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald via AP-File

Years before this year's anti-mask and reopening demonstrations, vaccine opponents were working on reinventing their image around a rallying cry of civil liberties and medical freedom.

Now, boosted by the pandemic and the political climate, their rebranding is appealing to a different subset of society invested in civil libertiesand, some health officials say, undercutting public health efforts during a critical moment for vaccines.

A new analysis from several institutions has found that between 2009 to 2019, conversations around civil liberties in the anti-vaccine community had increased, with Facebook pages framing vaccines as an issue of values and civil rights.

Researchers reviewed over 200 Facebook pages supporting vaccine refusal for their paper published in the American Journal of Public Health this month. David A. Broniatowski, the paper's lead author, said current protests against government lockdowns and masks took their pages directly from the anti-vaccine playbook.

We couldve seen it coming, said Broniatowski, an associate professor at George Washington University's School of Engineering and Applied Science. This was all happening right under our noses, and its continuing to happen.

In recent weeks, protesters gathered in Massachusetts to demonstrate against the governors mandate requiring schoolchildren to receive the influenza vaccine. In Facebook pages and groups touting medical freedom and vaccine choice, the protesters have called the mandate unconstitutional and say it infringes on their rights.

Anita Garcia has been protesting vaccines for years and recently took part in protests against the flu mandate in Massachusetts, where she is from. Garcia is a member of an 866-member Facebook group called Massachusetts for Medical Freedom. She said that with the flu mandate demonstrations, she is seeing protesters turn out to object to what they consider government overreach.

All you can do is try to fight for your freedom, Garcia said. We are for medical freedom, bodily autonomy. Our bodies are ours, not for someone else to govern.

Vaccines, though, save lives2 to 3 million a year, according to World Health Organization estimates. And vaccines have all but eliminated from American life such childhood diseases as measles, which regularly infected 3 to 4 million people a year in the United States before a vaccine was developed. It was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, though low vaccination rates in some communities have led to outbreaks in recent years.

Vaccines are encouraged, or in some cases required, because they have been proven safe and protect not only those vaccinated but also others who can't be by slowing the spread of preventable diseases.

Historically, the anti-vaccine community has been known for its concerns around vaccine safety and the debunked theory that vaccines cause autism. Broniatowski and researchers found, though, that civil liberties have emerged as a common narrative among vaccine refusal pages on Facebook, including those who also supported alternative medicine and conspiracy theories about the pharmaceutical industry and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates.

The rebranding to emphasize liberties is allowing vaccine opponents to exploit American reactions to the pandemic, said Dorit Reiss, a University of California Hastings law professor who specializes in policy issues related to vaccines.

I do think we are seeing an increase in people in support of them just because more people are vulnerable, upset and distrustful," Reiss said. And the anti-vaccine movement knows exactly what to say."

Medical freedom advocates are moving quickly on social media to capitalize around the frustration around the pandemic. During this month's vice presidential debate, Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris was asked if she would take a coronavirus vaccine. Harris responded by saying she'd take the vaccine if public health professionals recommend itbut that if Donald Trump tells us we should take it, Im not taking it.

Shortly after her remark, accounts and pages on Facebook and Twitter that support medical freedom began circulating a text post that said Kamala wont take a vaccine that DJT pushed. Imagine being forced to take a mandated vaccine from a leader you disagree with!! The irony. Do you NOW understand what Medical Freedom means?

You can see the consequences to these groups sowing distrust around vaccines. And they really matter, and they are going to come out in this pandemic, said Mark Dredze, associate professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University and one of the papers authors.

In May, a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 31 percent of Americans were unsure if they would get the COVID-19 vaccine once released.

Medical freedom supporters are pushing out their message to a significant portion of Americans who are not anti-vaccine but who are witnessing the politicization of the virus and have concerns about the vaccine, said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Children have a fundamental right to access to vaccines," said Hotez, who is also co-director of the Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. You need a high percentage of vaccine coverage in order to achieve herd immunity to protect all children."

As public health officials fight the pandemic and groups push for the economy to reopen, one expert suggests that health professionals trying to find common ground are going to have to meet people where they are.

You cant have a system that will result in us no longer being able to protect our communities from measles because we allow so much of the choice to occur that vaccine rates plummet, said Ross D. Silverman, professor of health policy and management at Indiana University. There is an alchemy there.

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Stressing Freedom, Vaccine Opponents Are Rebranding in the COVID-19 Era - Education Week

This election offers a clear choice. Democrats, including my opponent Dan Feehan, offer far-left transformational socialism and the end of the America we grew up with and love. By contrast, Republicans, led by President Donald Trump and congressional leaders like myself, will defend our republic and the Founding Fathers vision of freedom and opportunity.

Ive focused my time in Congress looking out for the interests of our First District farmers and agriculture; small businesses and their employees. Ive supported world-class medical care, transportation projects like completion of Hwy. 14 from Nicollet to New Ulm, and defending and supporting our fine men and women in law enforcement.

As a member of the House Agriculture Committee I have supported farmers by championing new trade deals like USMCA to expand exports, forced the EPA to administer the Renewable Fuel Standard as Congress intended and worked to sustain independent farmers by mitigating losses associated with the coronavirus.

As a member of the House Small Business Committee I worked in a bipartisan fashion to enact the Paycheck Protection Program and the Employee Retention Tax Credit to support our small businesses and help them pay and retain employees.

For the Mayo Clinic and our fine rural hospitals I organized a group of 35 Republican and Democratic members of Congress to secure proportionate CARES Act funding. Our hospitals not only provide timely, quality medical care, but offer some of the finest jobs that help drive the economy of our local communities.

To improve southern Minnesotas infrastructure, I helped secure a $22 million federal Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant to complete the Hwy. 14 corridor from Nicollet to New Ulm, a project expected to reduce crashes and save lives on this vital stretch of highway.

Lastly, I have defended and supported the fine men and women of law enforcement who protect and serve our communities. It is an honor to have received the endorsement of the Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police and the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.

Meanwhile, my opponent, Democrat Dan Feehan, is involved in a pay-to-play scheme in which his own House Financial Disclosure forms show he was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by three Democrat front groups.

Yet, during our first televised debate, Feehan denied receiving this money lying directly to First District voters. Accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars to run for Congress and not performing bona fide work in return would potentially constitute felony violations of Federal Election Commission law. Our campaign has filed a formal FEC complaint against Feehan, who has yet to disclose work product, number of hours worked, consultant contracts, invoices or other substantiation that he was legally employed.

This is the most consequential election of our lifetime. Will we prevail and keep the America we grew up with, the America we love? Or will we fail and enable far-left Democrats like my opponent to transform the United States into a socialist state?

My fight to represent southern Minnesota and deliver for our farmers, small businesses and world-class hospitals is coupled with my commitment to secure Americas borders, preserve a strong military and defend our constitutional rights, especially the right to life, the right to keep and bear arms and the right to religious freedom.

Trump and Republicans built the strongest economy in U.S. history with record-low unemployment before we were hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

We built an incredible economy once and are rebuilding it very quickly. Trump is our quarterback and our playbook includes the time-tested pro-growth principle of less regulation, tax reform, U.S. energy independence and trade deals like the USMCA agreement I championed to help Americas farmers, small businesses and workers.

On all these concerns, I will continue to work across the aisle in bipartisan fashion and on behalf of southern Minnesotans and the United States of America. Please visit my website, http://www.JimHagedorn.org, to learn more about my background and positions on the issues.

The First Congressional District seat is southern Minnesotas voice in Congress. I humbly ask for your vote to continue working hard and standing up for our rural values.

Jim Hagedorn, a Republican, represents Minnesotas First Congressional District in the U.S. House.

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OPINION EXCHANGE | This election gives voters a clear choice socialism vs. freedom - Minneapolis Star Tribune

(The Center Square) Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill responded to what he called threats to religious congregations in one Indiana county with a letter warning local health officials to back off.

According to Hill, such a warning constitutes an effort, at the very least, to chill the right of individuals to congregate in exercise of their religious freedom.

According to a news release from Hill, St. Joseph County health officials sent a letter dated Oct. 13 to faith community leaders, saying the rise in COVID-19 cases over the past several weeks have put a strain on hospitals.

The letter, signed by St. Joseph County Health Officer Dr. Robert Einterz and Deputy Health Officer Dr. Mark Fox, also said local and state health officials identified five COVID-19 clusters associated with church attendance, faith communities and congregations in the county.

Health officials said that analysis was inconclusive but pointed out the risks of large indoor gatherings. Their letter urged all faith communities to move to online or virtual worship formats through March 2021.

Health officials also wrote they would have to respond to complaints about safety concerns.

We recognize that not all faith communities will share our sense of urgency related to either the status or the impact of COVID-19 in our community, the letter from health officials said. We are happy to review COVID-19 safety plans for congregations intended to continue in-person worship, however, we will also be compelled to respond to any complaints we receive regarding safety concerns identified in any establishment in the county, including churches.

Hill read that as a threat to religious institutions and responded with his own letter.

Notwithstanding your best intentions of safeguarding public health, I am concerned that the letter facially targets churches and carries a thinly veiled authoritarian tone, Hill wrote. Your decision to write a threatening letter despite a not conclusive study is a surprising and disappointing abuse of your power as county health officials. Here in Indiana, we do not govern by decrees from county officials that strip individual liberty in a such a manner.

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Indiana AG responds to what he calls threats to religious freedom - pdclarion.com

When I first saw the Wing Freedom X, I wondered if it was going to be a cheaper take on the Dutch VanMoof S3. I was walking to meet a friend and happened to pass by Wing's showroom, and I did a backward-walking double-take to peer in the window. Both electric bikes look very similar, and by that I mean they have tall, straight top tubes that overhang their tires for mounting a headlight and taillight. Both also have swept-back handlebars.

But appearances are really only skin deep. The Freedom X is a very different bike, at a price that's more palatable for most people.

Speeeeed

It's brisk. That's thanks to the Bafang rear hub motor that measures 350-watt continuous output and 550-watt peak output.

You get five levels of pedal assist, but I usually kept it on level two, the second weakest. With the seven-speed mechanical gearing, I rarely needed more power. A few rotations of the pedals on level two assist, even from a standstill, shot me to 17 mph. It didn't take much more effort to top out at 20 mph, the ebike's official top speed.

Through the displaythere's no companion smartphone appyou can unlock the bike to reach 24 mph. It's one of the Freedom's coolest features, but it does technically make it illegal for use on most multi-use paths and trails. I'd just stick to the default if you're in a city. If you buy the optional throttle for $80 extra, the Freedom X goes from a Class 1 ebike to a Class 2 because the throttle works even if you're not pedaling.

Honestly, I didn't like the throttle. It's scalable, meaning that rather than being an on/off button it's a lever that lets you select power along a continuum. Even when pinning it to its maximum, there was a lengthy delay before the bike would move. It was frustrating at stoplights, so I rarely used the throttle at all. It also didn't add much oomph to the bike when it was moving. Flinging it to 100 percent throttle didn't do anything the pedal assist wasn't already doing, so it's not like a boost button that'll pour on extra power. Not all throttle are boost buttons, but it's worth pointing out.

Hard Stop

Stopping is more of an issue. The cable-actuated disc brakes feel weak, even on a relatively light 39-pound bike (that's lightweight for an ebike). New York City puts the panic in panic-braking, and I often deal with my fair share of hard stops thanks to impatient drivers, oblivious pedestrians and, once, a man playing cards in the bike lane.

The Freedom X's brakes always stopped me before certain doom, but I often felt that I was using every last bit of braking power to come to a halt in those situations. Hydraulic brakes offer better stopping power, though they're not common at this price. Cable brakes aren't necessarily bad, but I'd have liked to see stronger ones here.

They also squeal like two pigs with a bellyache. I chalked it up to my particular bike until I read review after review of Freedom owners reporting the same, so it seems like Wing's choice of brake pad might be to blame. You may have to swap out the stock brake pads for your sanity. It doesn't cost much and it's not hard, and it's not a reason to avoid the Freedom X.

The X Factor

I tested the Freedom X ($1,449), but there's another very similar model Wing offers called the Freedom 2 ($1,299). The X's upgrades are a torque sensor for the pedals instead of a cadence sensor and a display nicely integrated into the top tube, which shows information such as speed and battery level.

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Wing Freedom X Review: Speedy and Pretty | WIRED - WIRED

Walking down the steps from MCI-Norfolk jail to freedom after 34 years ofbeing wrongly incarcerated for a 1980s murder in Boston, Chelseas TommyRosa Jr. looked ahead and saw his son for the first time without a barrier orbars between them and they embraced also for the first time.

When he first went to prison awaiting trial, his son Manny Rosa, had justbeen born. When they met outside MCI-Norfolk last week following a decision by Supreme Judicial Court Justice Gaziano, Manny Rosa was a grown man.

His son was born in 1986 when Tommy was incarcerated so their entirerelationship has been with Mr. Rosa in prison, said Rosas Attorney RadhaNatarajan of the New England Innocence Project.

His son was the first person he saw when he walked out of MCI-Norfolk.His son is 34 now. Rosa was convicted of the 1985 murder of Gwen Taylor in Dorchester, having been tried three times for the crime, but had alwaysmaintained his innocence and cooperated completely with police.

But despite that, he wasapparently misidentified by two eyewitnesses andin an era prior to scientific DNA evidence. So it was, the New England Innocence Project decided to bring in the Boston College Innocence Program to challenge the case. A decision on October 14, 2020, by Justice Gaziano, acting as the Single Justice for the Supreme Judicial Court, allowsRosa to be freed while the Superior Court considers his Motion for New Trial. His attorneys, Radha Natarajan of the New England Innocence Project and Charlotte Whitmore of the Boston College Innocence Program, filed theMotion for New Trial on June 29, 2020, presenting numerous arguments why his convictions should be overturned.

Justice Gaziano wrote that the DNA evidence, if correct, in conjunction with the Defendants other claims, could well establish that confluence of factors that would indicate that a new trial is required. On October 15, Rosa was freed after being incarcerated for 34 years on a crime he did not commit. Rosas release is based in part on the strength of the DNA evidence obtained after his conviction and scientific evidence undermining the eyewitness identifications in the case.

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Long Walk to Freedom: Chelseas Tommy Rosa Released After 34 Years of Wrongful Incarceration - Chelsea Record

Lisa Snodgrass and Dawn Hamilton

Freedom Federal Credit Union is pleased to announce two new appointments to Harford County charitable boards in support of children and education. Freedom annually supports more than 70 charitable causes that are important to its members and staff. The Credit Union encourages employees to volunteer their time and skills to better serve the Harford and Baltimore County communities, including serving on local non-profit boards.

Business Development Director, Lisa Snodgrass, was recently confirmed to the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford and Cecil Counties. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford and Cecil Counties serve over 7,500 local children with dedicated after-school and summer programming. Snodgrass is a Harford County native and mother of four, including two adopted foster children. Snodgrass and her husband were foster parents for seven years, hosting over fifty-five children during their time with the program. Snodgrass continues to mentor and advise new and existing foster parent families.

Snodgrass also brings her experience as an event fundraiser to the Boys & Girls Clubs. Her familys annual fundraiser for the Michael J. Fox Foundation has raised over $70,000 in support of Parkinsons Disease. In her role with Freedom, Snodgrass acts as a liaison to Harford and Baltimore County school employees, providing personal assistance for educators to reach their financial goals. Snodgrass also serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of the Bel Air Drama Company Parents Association, as a member of the Harford County Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, and as a member of the Career and Technology Education Citizens Advisory Council of Harford County.

According to Snodgrass, she has continued to carry a strong passion to positively impact children and educators. I hope to help enrich lives as an advocate for the youth in a community that means so much to me, remarked Snodgrass.

Freedoms Vice President of Product Management, Dawn Hamilton, was appointed to the Board of the Harford County Education Foundation, which aims to equip Harford County students with the resources they need to achieve success. Hamilton first became involved with the organization in 2013, when was celebrated as the top fundraiser for the organization as their Mardi Gras Queen. Since then, she has supported their Tools for Schools campaigns with boxes of supplies and donations from local businesses. It is my passion to see students succeed, says Hamilton, and I believe in providing teachers and students the tools they need to unlock to their potential.

Hamiltons commitment to education extends beyond parenting her three children, all HCPS graduates. Like Snodgrass, she has also served on the Harford County Chamber of Commerce Education Committee and was the Sunday School Director for Wesleyan Chapel United Methodist Church for fifteen years. In 2007, Hamilton was a founding member of WINDS of Leadership, the philanthropic arm of Harford Leadership Academy. Her tenure with WINDS of Leadership has included being Treasurer, Vice President, President, and Past President. The Dawn Hamilton Event Grant was named in her honor.

Dawn Hamilton and Lisa Snodgrass are two shining examples of the many dedicated employees who make up the Freedom Federal Credit Union Team, stated Mike MacPherson, Freedoms President and CEO. We take pride in that we are a credit union made up of employees, board directors, committee volunteers, and members, who are all working to better the communities we serve in meaningful ways.

About Freedom Federal Credit Union

Freedom Federal Credit Union is a community-chartered federal credit union offering consumer financial services to those who live, work, volunteer, worship, attend school, or have family in Harford and Baltimore County. Additionally, Freedom offers a full-line of banking services for all businesses, associations, and other organizations that are based in Harford or Baltimore County. Freedom has been in business since 1953 and has five locations throughout Harford County. To learn more, visitfreedomfcu.org.

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Freedom Federal Credit Union Appoints Lisa Snodgrass and Dawn Hamilton to Board - Citybizlist