Category Archives: Progress

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The city of L.A. is making progress on three new L.A. River bike/walk bridges that SBLA last reported on in August. There are three new pedestrian bridges currently under construction, all in the relatively natural eight-mile-long Glendale Narrows stretch of the river through Northeast Los Angeles.

The La Kretz bridge is located in North Atwater, connecting that community to the river bike path on the west bank. The bridge is designed to carry pedestrians, cyclists, and equestrians. The bridge provides a safe equestrian connection to Griffith Park via an existing tunnel under the 5 Freeway.

Construction was anticipated to be completed this year. The citys Bureau of Engineering posted pictures of people riding horses there (for load testing) in October. Though there are still fences preventing the public from accessing the new facility, construction appears complete and north-south travel on the bikeway has been fully reopened. A grand opening should take place any day now.

As part of the citys retrofit of the historic Glendale-Hyperion Bridge, a new pedestrian bridge is being added just downstream atop the old Red Car pier walls.

Construction there just got underway in April, and the cross-river span is already in place, with construction still in progress on each end. The existing south bank river bike path remains passable during construction.

The third bridge is located in Elysian Valley, near the end of Altman Street. That bridge will connect Elysian Valley to Cypress Park, and the planned large-scale river revitalization at Taylor Yard. Construction there broke ground in June and is expected to be complete in 2021.

Construction is not that far along, though it has closed off a portion of the walk/bike path though Elysian Valley. Detour signage is posted directing cyclists to neighborhood streets, though many pedestrians and cyclists chose to walk on the sloped channel wall below the closed area.

The city of Glendale is planning a fourth bridge nearby, designed to connect Glendale to the L.A. River path and to Griffith Park. That bridge will be accessible via Glendales existing walk/bike path located on the north bank north of the 134 Freeway. As part of a rail grade separation project, Metro is finalizing designs for two connective bridges that will facilitate walk/bike access from Glendale.

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Eyes on the Street: Progress on Three New Walk/Bike/Horse Bridges over L.A. River - Streetsblog California

After unveiling the first footage of Levan Akins Directors Fortnight film And Then We Dance and Nora Fingscheidts Silver Berlin Bear winning System Crasher during last years edition, the 11th Work-in-Progress session of Les Arcs Film Festival reached new heights with a flurry of highlights, including The Hill Where Lionesses Roar, The Gravedigger, Shorta and Dark Rider.

Among the 18 films in post where presented during the event, these four titles have received the most offers from sales companies. Spearheaded by Les Arcs and Tribecas artistic director Frederic Boyer, the Work-in-Progress session has become one of the worlds most successful industry events dedicated to helping filmmakers and producers find sales agents and distributors and get under the radar of festival programmers. In spite of the massive strikes ongoing in France and the cancelations of trains and flights, more than 500 professionals turned up for the Industry Village of Les Arcs, which also included a co-production forum with 22 projects in development.

The competition among similar industry events is steep but our track record and strategic positioning ahead of Berlin and Cannes has allowed us to curate films with a crossover appeal, and the rising attendance from sales companies and distributors proves that we are on the right track, said Boyer, who added that the event might be expanded in some ways next year.

The Hill Where Lionesses Roar marks the feature debut of actress-turned-filmmaker Luna Bajrami, who notably starred in Celine Sciammas Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The lushly-lensed film follows three young and free-spirited women who decide to escape their daily lives and form a gang. The film has been compared to Mustang by several sales agents. Frances Vents Contraires is producing with Kosovo-based company OrZan Films. The film won the inaugural Alphapanda Audience Engagement Award which rewards films with a strong potential for digital marketing and social media promotion.

The Gravedigger, which was presented at the Atlas Workshop in Marrakech earlier this month and won a prize, takes place in the slums of Djibouti and follows Guled, a middle-aged gravedigger whose wife suffers from a chronic kidney disease. The drama is produced by Finnish banner Bufo with Pyramide Productions in France and Twenty Twenty Vision in Germany.

Shorta, directed by Fredrik Louis Hviid and Anders lholm, unfolds in the aftermath of the killing of a young man while in custody and follows two police officers who come face to face with a violent riot in a guetto. The politically-engaged action-packed film, which deals with racism and police brutality in Denmark, is produced by Toolbox Film (The Hunt).

Dark Rider, meanwhile, is directed by Eva Kpper, is a documentary about Ben Felten, a blind motorcycle rider from Australia who was determined to become a professional racer and joined forces with the former race champion, Kevin Magee, to accomplish his childhood dream. Dark Rider is produced by Belgiums Serendipity Films and Clin dOeil Films and Dutch banner Volya Films.

Aside from The Hill Where Lionesses Roar, several other films and projects presented at the Industry Village won prizes, including To Sail Close to the Wind, Gregoris Rentiss tragicomic documentary exploring the business of maritime security at a time when the number of piracy incidents keeps rising off the coast of Somalia. The documentary, produced by Greeces Asterix* and Byrd, as well as Frances Good Fortune Films, won the Titrafilm Award.

Rabia, directed by German filmmaker Mareike Engelhardt, won the Artekino International Award. Presented at the Co-Production Village, the project follows a French teenager who finds herself locked in an ISIS-controlled womens shelter in Rakka. Rabia will be produced by Frances Films Grand Huit and Germanys Starhaud.

Figures in the Urban Landscape, directed by Russian helmer Ekaterina Selenkina, picked up the Eurimages Lab Project Award. Now in post-production, the drama captures the day-to-day life of a drug dealer in the outskirts of a city in Russia. The film is produced by Vladimir Nadein in Russia and Dutch Mountain Film in The Netherlands.

Lastly, Dana Lerers Double Happiness, presented as part of the Talent Village, won the T-Port Prize, while Thessa Meijers feature project Volcano Girl won a special mention.

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Les Arcss Work-in-Progress Showcases Shorta, The Hill Where Lionesses Roar, The Gravedigger - Variety

Abby McEnany and Tim Mason have inspired much more than an impending cultural sensation with their new Showtime comedy series, Work in Progress. Besides earning a ton of critical praise, the duo represents a thriving reminder that Chicago is a great place for aspiring filmmakers to be.

The community-wide excitement was obvious during the series December 6 premiere at AMC Theatres. Filling the entire width of a corridor on the fourth floor, it generated a contagious kind of joy that spread far beyond the red carpet: Work in Progress is a win for everybody.

The crew was as excited as the cast, recalls Laura Roeper, a member of Studio Mechanics Local 476 and the shows Property Manager. Ive never seen that it was one of the happiest nights of my life.

Roeper spent three years on Empire before joining Work in Progress. Every day on the set, she reaped the benefits of a commitment to inclusivity that transcends so many boundaries.

A lot of the crew came from the advertising world and a lot of them came from the improv world, and there were no definitions on what our job descriptions were, she explains. Everyone on the crew did what they were supposed to, of course, but if there was something that someone noticed during a shot, we could approach (director) Tim Mason and make a suggestion. The only other director I worked with who did that was Craig Brewer on Coming to America.

WORK IN PROGRESSINTERVIEW WITH ABBY MCENANY

Meet Abby McEnanyIn Work in Progress, McEnany plays lead-character Abby, a 45-year-old self-identified fat, queer dyke (IMDb). Rolling through situations based on her own life, she encounters death, doubt, suicide and depression while becoming an altogether likable heroine. And thats pretty much only the first episode.

Varietys Caroline Framke describes the series as nuanced and funny. The Guardians Rebecca Nicholson says that it marks the arrival of an important new voice. Sun-Times entertainment columnist Richard Roeper declares that the show should be one of the breakout new TV series of 2019-2020.

McEnany worked long and hard to earn the praise. She spent a decade auditioning for Chicagos venerable Second City before getting accepted, then introduced Work in Progress as a live storytelling performance at the organizations iO Theater. When her friend and frequent collaborator Tim Mason persuaded her to convert it into a web series with him as director, she hired the first of many Chicago-based film professionals who came along for the ride.

WORK IN PROGRESSON THE RED CARPET WITH TIM MASON

Rewarding the crewTessa Films co-founder Lisa Masseur would be another cohort to sign on during the early days. Serving as Executive Producer for the pilot, which premiered at Sundance, she stayed on as a producer for the series and knew that great things were ahead.

From the get-go, I never had any doubt that this would happen because of Abby herself, she recalls. Abbys a magnetic person in real life, but on camera I cannot stop watching her.

Masseur is also pleased, but not surprised, by the way that McEnany and Mason handled production and shared the rewards of their success. She has worked with each of them for years: McEnany has been involved in various projects at Tessa Films, and Mason is one of the directors on the company roster.

They wanted a diverse cast and crew and they really stuck to that and went to great lengths to make sure it happened, she says. Virtually everyone who worked on the pilot was offered a spot on the show.

Besides her obvious admiration for the people and the process, Masseur is also a true fan of the series.

The first scene is great and fantastic, but if you only watch that you dont get to know what the show is all about, she explains. Its dark, and theres heart, and its deep.

The fantastic moments in the first episode include an unexpected casualty and a public swoon triggered by Saturday Night Live alum Julia Sweeney, who plays herself in the series. These kinds of traditional gags require a top-notch actor to be funny, and McEnany pulls them off like a modern-day Lucille Ball.

WORK IN PROGRESSON THE RED CARPET WITH JULIA SWEENEY

Capturing the actionWork in Progress Cinematographer Michael Ognisanti is the man who captured the action. After collaborating on commercial projects with Mason for years, he has come to understand and anticipate the directors style, which involves a lot of cross shooting.

One camera capturing it one way and another capturing it from another angle, he explains. Tim has always been like this: he wants two cameras.

The technique suited McEnanys talent perfectly.

Abby is an energetic onstage performer, he says. But we found a subtlety that she is able to convey on film these emotions in the quiet times that was really cool.

His job was made easier by the relaxed and family-type atmosphere supported by McEnany, Mason, and Chicago film legend Lilly Wachowski, who had come on board as writer and producer around the time that the pilot screened at Sundance.

On set, a lot of times, it can be contentious and stressful, he continues. Our crew was diverse and inclusive and everyone felt comfortable, which was important. When that mentality comes from the top from Lilly and Tim and Abby it just kind of ripple-effects down.

According to Periscope Post & Audios Mike James and Sam Wong, who handled dailies for Work in Progress, the positivity continues long after the cameras stop rolling.

Even though we were not technically on set, it was a joy to work on, says James. Theyre both super nice, adds Wong. Abby makes every single person she talks to feel like her best friend.

WORK IN PROGRESSON THE RED CARPET WITH LILLY WACHOWSKI

Turning success into traditionMcEnany and Mason are not the first indie filmmakers to convert passion into success with help from Chicagos film resources. Sam Bailey and Fatimah Asghar got a boost for Brown Girls from OTV. Bing Liu honed his Oscar-nominated documentary, Minding the Gap, through Kartemquins Diverse Voices in Docs program. Fawzia Mirza and Jennifer Reeder brought Signature Move and Knives and Skin to the screen after pitching them at the Chicago International Film Festivals The Pitch Industry Days event. Theres also the tireless work of Free Spirit Media, Full Spectrum Features, Stage 18, and Chicago Media Angels.

So in that respect, Work in Progress is not unique, which is another cool thing about the show.

Work in Progress premiered December 8 on Showtime, but the entire series is still available for viewing. To check it out, click here.

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Beyond the red carpet of McEnany and Mason's 'Work in Progress' - ReelChicago

This post is part of CoinDesk's 2019 Year in Review, a collection of 100 op-eds, interviews and takes on the state of blockchain and the world. Lex Sokolin is Global Fintech Co-Head at ConsenSys, a Brooklyn-based blockchain software company.

It looks like we havent gotten very far! Its been ten years of magical internet money, and the best we can show for it is Twitter tipping?

On the other hand, maybe we have gotten really far! Decentralized financial protocols are pumping out unfiltered peer-to-peer trading, margin lending, and synthetic structured products. Financial manufacturing machines are converting cash money into virtual money, and real estate, cartoon cats, regulated securities, with hundreds of millions of notional corporate bonds and payments and invoice securitizations done by the worlds largest banks on public, private, and open source blockchains.

Of course, there also are the people who have been sued and gone to jail, or lost their life savings, or disappeared, or paid $24 million in fines for unregistered security offerings. There are the Ponzi schemers and the pyramid marketers and the Twitter botnet kings. A grain of beautiful truth has been placed squarely on a throne of artifice and innovation theatre, spinning wildly while people yell their unbridled emotions into the abyss. Rat Poison Squared! Code is Law!

Chinas sword of blockchain and AI will ring against the shield of American regulation in the century to come.

And then we have power. America is flexing its black letter law and alphabet soup of pre-war regulatory bodies. The CFTC and the SEC agree to split securities from commodities, unless they are moving around a bit and regulated by FinCEN or touch New York State and its BitLicense. Dont forget that if you do banking or lending looking at you, hot DeFi stuff the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) may think you are a bank, and their lenient fintech charter was overturned in court. European power has been slightly more amenable, with its Brexit stroke encouraging each side of the body to compete for most favourable tintech nation.

But even hungrier power is around the corner. Facebook, looking at its 2.3 billion users and seeing Ant Financial in the rear mirror, has maximized the attention its artificial intelligence machine can syphon. After solving the problem of online loneliness and the human need for friends, it seeks to liberate human-kind from poverty and launches Libra. To date, Facebook has been a techno nation. Now it tries to be a state, and both the Americans and the Chinese notice. Unlike the former, the latter grab risky innovation as a national priority putting hundreds of billions of yuan to work on next-generation infrastructure. Chinas sword of blockchain and AI will ring against the shield of American regulation in the century to come.

Progress is like water

So yeah, nothings really happened.

What I mean to say is that progress is like water. It flows around the barriers of human society, washing away at the soft parts in our beliefs and structures, and then, just at the right time, collapses away some arcane thinking in favor of the new. Sometimes, like in AI, it takes 50 years of little drips and multiple false starts to get anywhere meaningful. But once you arrive, the technology is everywhere. Also, sometimes, like in crypto, there is a magnificent spotlight on the industry. We have been lucky to work with a technology people can easily own and trade. It has been our greatest weakness as well.

Hundreds of billions of dollars have poured into making the distribution of financial products easier. Yet, nothing real has changed in the manufacturing of financial instruments, until now.

When I look at the next decade of blockchain-based systems and decentralized protocols, I see far less focus on the asset class, and far more focus on operating progress within the chassis of human technology. To build a capital markets business that treats software units of bitcoin, ethereum and the rest as financial instruments is a great first goal. I would posit that we are already there. From custody to exchanges to broker/dealers, and eventually integrated robo-advisors and fintech apps this stuff is being solved fast, and by companies large and small. Between Fidelitys institutional solutions, Coinbases American consumer dominance, and Binances global presence, we have the initial use-cases covered. These stacks are hundreds of competitors deep, with many doing strong work. Yes, more merchants should accept BTC or DAI or USDC. But this, too, shall come to pass.

Each day I wake up with an obsession. It is a simple one: all financial services infrastructure will be powered by open source programmable blockchains. Over the last decade, hundreds of billions of dollars have poured into making the distribution of financial products easier. Just look at your phone, from Revolut to Robinhood to Venmo to Betterment to Sofi and TransferWise. These apps have broadened the retail footprint and collapsed pricing in everything from banking to investments. And yet, nothing real has changed in the manufacturing of financial instruments, until now.

Think about our financial infrastructure how we make deposits, or underwrite loans, or invest our pensions and how it is governed by entirely separate regimes and supported by disconnected software platforms and value chains. Massive public companies like Visa, FIS, Fiserv, Envestnet, Temenos, Broadridge and others power the hum of institutional finance. Some of their infrastructures are so old that developers who understand the code that these systems are written in have mostly retired or passed. Just Google COBOL!

Hundreds of billions of enterprise value and trillions in money flows are waiting for the type of digitization that only blockchain-native companies can accomplish. At ConsenSys Codefi, which I co-lead out of London, we are focused on building this bridge using public and private ethereum. In the beginning, industries are comfortable mutualizing their data and the standards around them. Next, they contribute workflows and intellectual property into these shared systems. Tokenization follows, giving the workflows a meaningful object with which to interact. This is where most of the world is today.

But tomorrow, tokens are not just representations of some chunky legal document sitting printed and signed on a corporate lawyers desk. They are programmable, fully-featured financial instruments that perform corporate functions, distribute dividends, enable governance, rebalance portfolios, adjust risk exposure, provide provenance and audit data, self-administer, and instantly settle. They can live in your enterprise cloud, and in your phone, and on printed-out QR codes. This tomorrow is much closer than you think.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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We Made No Progress, Other Than All the Progress We Made - Coindesk

ALBANY Gov. Andrew Cuomo started off the week dropping pieces of his agenda for the 2020 State of the State and unveiled his theme for the year: Making Progress Happen.

Two of Cuomos proposals were released Tuesday, first one of which would tighten penal law against sexual offenders by deeming voluntary intoxication a form of incapability to consent.

Under current penal law, a person is considered incapable of consent if theyre mentally incapacitated from forced ingestion of drugs or alcohol, not voluntary. Cuomo plans to release a legislation that would close what he calls this legal loophole.

While New York has some of the most aggressive laws in the nation when it comes to combatting this insidious disease, a loophole in current law allows rapists to walk free and vacate their heinous crimes based on a legal technicality, Cuomo said in a press release. Our laws must protect the people of this state not condone rape as a punishment for consuming alcohol. With this proposal we are saying enough is enough and taking action to close this nonsensical loophole and help end the culture of abuse once and for all.

There were nearly 300 reported rapes total in Columbia, Greene, Genesee, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties in 2018, according to data from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. The data also showed most New York counties have seen a gradual uptick in reported rapes from 2014 on.

Cuomo also revealed Tuesday that he would be pursuing legislation to ban single-use styrofoam containers.

With the top Republican Assembly voting record on the environment, I agree we need to make progress in removing more Styrofoam from circulation, Assemblyman Mark Walczyk, R-116, said in a statement. I look forward to reviewing the Governors plans and getting input from the businesses and people impacted.

Monday brought another two proposals from Cuomos office, the first of which would create legislation to ban fentanyl analogs, a highly potent synthetic opioid. With this new legislation, the posession and sale of fentanyl analogs would be subject to the same penalties as other controlled substances.

Drug dealers have turned to lacing opioids and other illicit drugs with fentanyl analogs a deadly synthetic opioid that current law does not ban, Cuomo said in a statement. This two-pronged proposal will tackle that problem by banning these dangerous fentanyl copycats and providing treatment to people suffering from opioid addiction before its too late.

Fentanyl, which is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, is not currently illegal to use or sell in New York because, unlike on the federal level, it is not listed in the states controlled substances schedule. Cuomos proposal would not only make fentanyl illegal, but would also authorize the DOH commissioner to add more analogs to the list of controlled substances as they are discovered.

Recently, data from the state Department of Health revealed that New York saw its first decline in opioid overdose deaths in a decade, dropping nearly 16 percent between 2017 and 2018. But while the state saw an overall decrease in overdose deaths, it also saw a major jump in overdose deaths caused by fentanyl a 124 percent increase outside of New York City in 2016.

On the treatment side, Cuomo is proposing an aggressive expansion of access to medication-assisted treatment, or MAT. This includes growing a program that provides MAT to patients in emergency rooms, allowing them to be imimediately transitioned into long-term treatment; providing MAT through teleheath, which would be particularly useful for spread-out rural communities with limited access to health care; adding 10 mobile clinics across the state; and making MAT available to incarcerated individuals.

But to state Sen. George Amedore, R-46, Cuomos office could have taken similar actions a long time ago to combat the opioid crisis.

If theyre really truly serious about helping the disenfranchised and those who are bound with addiction, they would pick up the handbook that I helped lead as a majority member in... the Senate Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction, Amedore said Monday. We laid out a multi-pronged approach with a plan that took money, policy, changes of insurance coverages, more treatment, more recovery services, more education, inspiring more case workers, counselors, jail based services all the efforts that were needed to help those who are bound by addiciton.

Also on Monday, Cuomo announced his plan to create legislation that would require an automatic manual recount of votes in close elections, where the margin of victory for a candidate or ballot proposition is 0.2 percent in statewide elections or 0.5 percent in all other elections.

Right now decisions about whether to proceed with recounts in closely contested races almost always get bogged down in costly and unnecessary litigation because theres a hodgepodge of standards around the state, Cuomo said in a statement. By establishing clear rules mandating when a recount should be triggered and a process for local governments to follow, well boost confidence in the democratic process and take another step toward transforming our electoral system into a model for the rest of the nation to follow.

Lastly, Cuomo on Sunday proposed a gun safety restriction that would prohibit an individual from getting a gun license in New York if they have committed certain misdemeanors in other states.

Under the current SAFE Act, people are barred from receiving New York gun licenses if they have committed misdemeanors deemed serious offenses, such as domestic violence, forcible touching and unlicensed possession of a firearm, in the state but the law does not apply to those who committed the same offenses across state lines.

Until the federal government acts, states with weak gun laws will continue to endanger New Yorkers at home, and I will not tolerate it, Cuomo said. This new law will keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people and save lives. Im proud that New York continues to show the country that we dont have to live like this - that we can and will end gun violence.

To Republican legislators, this move from Cuomo is yet another impediment on Second Amendment rights.

It sounds like the same old partisan issues, wedge issues, fear issues of the Democratic mantra, Amedore said. More gun control, more of the same old thing they think is going to solve the problems of New York when we already have the strictest gun laws in the nation.

Assemblyman Will Barclay, R-120, said he doesnt support gun control, but would have to read the detailed legislation Cuomo is proposing to take a stance.

Its not so much that Im worried about people committing felonies in other states and equivalent felonies in New York that would bar them from getting a gun license that seems reasonable, Barclay said. But Im not sure what the governor is trying to accomplish on this. Im not sure where this has been a problem. This stuff isnt going to solve any gun violence issues we have.

State Sen. Daphne Jordan, R-43, Assemblymember Didi Barrett, D-106, and Assemblyman Jake Ashby, R-107, did not respond to requests for comment.

Massarah Mikati covers the New York State Legislature and immigration for Johnson Newspaper Corp. Email her at mmikati@columbiagreenemedia.com, or find her on Twitter @massarahmikati.

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Cuomo unveils 2020 theme and proposals: Making Progress Happen - Hudson Valley 360

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

MAMMOTH HOTSPRINGS, Wyo. The annual removal of non-native lake trout from YellowstoneLake recently concluded and the multiyear effort points to a declining population.Lake trout are removed in an effort to preserve the native cutthroat troutpopulation, the largest remaining concentration of inland cutthroat trout inexistence.

Native cutthroat trout are the parks most ecologically important fish and the most highly regarded by visiting anglers. It is an important food source for grizzly bears, birds of prey and other wildlife. The cutthroat decline resulted in several of these species being displaced from Yellowstone Lake or having to use alternate food sources during certain times of the year.

I want to personally thank the National Park Service team, our partners and the many people who have philanthropically supported this continuing conservation effort, said Superintendent Cam Sholly. There is a considerable amount of work yet to do to build on this progress. This will continue to be one of our conservation priorities.

Yellowstone National Park and contract crews removed 282,960 fish between May and October of this year compared to 297,110 in 2018, and 396,950 in 2017. It is a 29 percent decline over three years.

Yellowstones lake trout suppression program is one of the largest nonnative fish removal programs in the United States. Since lake trout were first discovered in 1994, more than 3.4 million have been removed from Yellowstone Lake through suppression gillnetting. The number of lake trout caught in nets continues to steadily decline, from 4.4 per net in 2017 and 3.1 per net in 2018, to just 2.9 per net in 2019.

In order to predict the success of the removal effort and set benchmarks for gillnetting in the future, Yellowstone National Park and Michigan State University collaborated to generate statistical models of the lake trout population. The models suggest there are 73 percent less lake trout ages six and older in Yellowstone Lake now than were present at the populations peak in 2011. This is critical because older, larger lake trout have the highest reproductive potential and consume the most cutthroat trout. The models also indicate that the invasive species has been in decline since 2012.

Concurrent with the lake trout decline, long-term monitoring indicates a substantial increase in the number of cutthroat trout in the Yellowstone Lake ecosystem. Cutthroat that inhabit the lake migrate more than 30 miles up into the Upper Yellowstone and Thorofare streams where they spawn and then return to the lake. This July, fisheries staff found large numbers and sizes of cutthroat in these backcountry streams. Ten years ago, few cutthroat were present. This long-distance migration highlights the spatial extent to which the recovery of the cutthroat impacts Yellowstone.

While models and monitoring point to positive trends, a panel of expert fishery scientists in May 2019, estimated that a minimum of five more years of effort is needed to reach the lake trout population goal of below 100,000. They also emphasized that lake trout cannot be completely eradicated with current techniques and will continue to require annual removal and monitoring into the future.

Yellowstone fishery biologists continue to explore alternatives to gillnetting that will augment lake trout suppression, increase efficacy and reduce costs. For example, over the last few years, biologists tested a method to suppress the population by killing lake trout eggs on spawning sites. One technique involved placing plant-based organic pellets on spawning sites to facilitate decomposition and loss of dissolved oxygen. This method killed eggs within two days. Since the results are promising, the park intends to expand the technique in the future. Yellowstone has invested more than $20 million over the past two decades on this recovery effort. Much of that funding has come from the generosity of donations through Yellowstone Forever.

The park will never completely eradicate lake trout but the return on investment is the ecological restoration of Yellowstone cutthroat trout, sustainable angling and a chance to glimpse a river otter, osprey or bear catching a cutthroat, said Todd Koel, leader of Yellowstones Native Fish Conservation Program.

Visit nps.gov/yell/learn/management/native-fish-conservation-program.htm to learn more.

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Yellowstone makes progress to reduce non-native lake trout - Explore Big Sky

The analysts at PlayPennsylvania.com have published their take on how the Pennsylvania sports betting market has shaped up in its first year of legal operations. The verdict is for the most part hugely positive for a state that was slow to get off the mark, but has since confounded the views of some high-profile critics of its tax regime.

According to the firm, the industry has gone from having just a single retail sportsbook operating at Hollywood Casino in Grantville, to one that has accepted over $1bn in wagers.

It noted: Betting handle has increased every month since April, thanks in large part to the start of online betting in PA in late May. As expected, the start of football season meant the amount of dollars bet exploded. Handle jumped from $59m in July to over $109m in August.

Since the start of the football season, betting handle has grown significantly. In August it stood at $109,038,051, rising to $316,468,264 in November. The first billion is a landmark for the growing PA sports betting market, but a glance at these numbers show us that the second billion will hit in no time, said Play Pennsylvania.

Online betting accounts for more than 80% of the wagering in Pennsylvania. As more apps unfold and the states population learns more about legal and regulated sports betting, that number will grow, as will the overall handle.

It added: The billion dollars in bets is the focus after a year into wagering in Pennsylvania; however, the revenue sportsbooks are bringing in is nothing to scoff at either. The sportsbooks have netted $75m in profit from betting.

In terms of the market pecking order, late arrival FanDuel, along with its casino partner Valley Forge Casino, are the dominant force. Between retail and online wagering, they account for over 36% of the marketplace. By comparison, Rivers Philadelphia (formerly SugarHouse) was one of the first retail sportsbooks and the first PA online sportsbook and generated almost 21% of bets.

Putting the importance of Pennsylvania betting in real world perspective, the company stated: Hollywood Casino was the first retail sportsbook to launch in November, but is responsible for only $40m of total wagers. Moreover, the sportsbook has produced just $3.8m in revenue. Nonetheless, because there are more retail sportsbooks than online sites that have been in operation longer, retail did outearn online betting sites with $39m in revenue compared with $35m.

Commentary: PlayPennsylvanias typically thorough assessment of the states first year of legal sports betting pours plenty of cold water on some of the heated criticism it has attracted. Enough to extinguish Chris Christies rolling dumpster fire? Quite possibly. Even though Pennsylvania lags some distance behind the likes of New Jersey, those revenue receipts have gone a long way to prompting its critics to speak in lower tones, if not silence them altogether.

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Pennsylvania's first billion marks a year of progress despite all the critics - SBC Americas

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold NadlerJerrold (Jerry) Lewis NadlerDemocrats question fairness of Senate trial after Graham, McConnell statements Sunday shows - Republicans, Democrats maneuver ahead of House impeachment vote Durbin: Witnesses to exonerate Trump may not exist MORE (D-N.Y.) said reports of President TrumpDonald John TrumpWhite House counsel didn't take lead on Trump letter to Pelosi: reports Trump endorses Riggleman in Virginia House race Lisa Page responds to 'vile' Trump attacks: 'Being quiet isn't making this go away' MOREs personal attorney Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiUS diplomat William Taylor to leave Ukraine post at the beginning of January Giuliani: Trump remains 'very supportive' of my efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine US prosecutor says Lev Parnas received M from Ukrainian oligarch's lawyer MOREs recent trip to Ukraine show a crime in progress is happening and reiterate the need for lawmakers to follow through with the impeachment process.

This is a crime in progress against the constitution and against the American democracy, Nadler said on ABCs This Week.

We cannot take the risk that the next election will be corrupted through foreign interference solicited by the president, which he is clearly trying to do. It goes to the heart of our democracy.

ABCs George StephanopoulosGeorge Robert StephanopoulosSchiff: I 'hope to hell' I would have voted to impeach Obama if he had committed same actions as Trump Nadler: Giuliani trip to Ukraine shows 'crime in progress' is being committed against American democracy Schiff: Trump acquittal in Senate trial would not signal a 'failure' MORE asked Nadler to respond to reports that Giuliani had been reporting back to the president during a recent trip to Ukraine and that he wastrying to gather more information about former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenHouse panel sets guidelines for historic impeachment vote Schumer on Trump's Pelosi letter: 'He's obviously under a great deal of duress' Pelosi calls Trump impeachment letter 'ridiculous' and 'really sick' MORE and the company Bidens son, Hunter, sat on the board of.

Nadler said the reported actions of Trump and Giuliani are the heart of what the Constitution meant by high crimes and misdemeanors.

For the president to engage in self-dealing for his own benefit to put himself above the country and to threaten the integrity of our elections, upon which everything else depends. It is a total threat. And we must meet that threat, Nadler said.

House Intelligence Chairman Adam SchiffAdam Bennett SchiffTrump says McConnell can decide on witnesses for Senate trial Schiff says Pence refusal to declassify aide's testimony 'raises profound questions' McConnell takes heat from all sides on impeachment MORE (D-Calif.), who appeared alongside Nadler in the Sunday morning interview, said the reports show the misconduct hasnt stopped.

So this misconduct goes on, the threat to our election integrity coming up goes on, Schiff said. It's a clear and present danger and not something that we can turn away from simply because the Republicans in the House refuse to do their duty, and [are] continuing to put the person of the president above their personal obligation.

Giuliani recently traveled to Ukraine and met with former and current officials. Giuliani told The Washington Post that Trump has asked him to brief GOP senators and the Justice Department on his findings. A source told The Wall Street Journal that Giuliani told the president that his Ukraine trip produced more than you can imagine.

Giuliani is a central figure in the impeachment probe. Democrats allege Trump withheld foreign aid to Ukraine while placing pressure on the foreign nation to announce an investigation into Biden, a top-tier presidential candidate.

The House is expected to vote on articles of impeachment after the House Judiciary Committee approved them in a party-line vote.

The rest is here:

Nadler: Giuliani trip to Ukraine shows 'crime in progress' is being committed against American democracy | TheHill - The Hill

More than simply a big dig, notable progress is being made on the Halifax County Courthouse renovationproject, with structural steel in place and work beginning on the roof of the 1834 courthouse at the center of the project.

County Building Official Otis Vaughan continues to provide monthly updates to supervisors on progress at the site.

A 30-day look ahead has progress being made on plumbing and HVAC at the project, including overhead HVAC rough-in at the second floor and overhead plumbing rough-in at the second and third floors, overhead electrical rough-in at the first floor, all at the new building, according to Blair Construction.

Steel installation at the 1834 foyer will start, with steel erection at the connector already in progress.

Formwork at the second floor connector floor and steel installation at the 1834 foyer will start in the next 30 days, and foundation waterproofing and foundation drain work and backfill will continue in the next 30 days.

In the next month, masonry will continue at the sally port, and the new building and masonry will restart at the detention elevator shaft.

Installation of the new 1834 metal roofing, gutters and downspouts will continue, and formwork for the new concrete walls at the south attorneys offices will start and be completed.

A look back at the last 30 days of construction revealed steel decking at level two and level three is complete, and steel erection at the connector is progressing.

Waterproofing at selected areas of the foundation began, and installation of foundation drainage pipe and backfill at selected areas of the foundation is progressing.

Portico concrete walls have been poured, and stripping the portico concrete wall formwork has been completed. Steel inspection of the second and third floors has been completed as well as prep of the second floor slab on deck.

The Halifax County Courthouse was designed and built in 1838-1839 by Dabney Cosby.

It is a two-story, T-shaped brick building in the Federal style. The front facade features a two-story, tetrastyle portico in the Greek Ionic order.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

A concrete truck waits to deposit its load of concrete at the rear of the Halifax County Courthouse construction project recently.

A front-end loader unloads a pallet of cinderblocks on the second floor of the Halifax County Courthouse construction project.

Concrete flooring and foundation work continue at the site of the Halifax County Courthouse renovation and construction project.

Concrete flooring has been poured and the outline of the building is taking shape at the Halifax County Courthouse renovation project.

The front of the historic Halifax County Courthouse shows progress being made recently as work continues on renovation and construction.

Construction workers labor on the second floor of the addition to the Halifax County Courthouse building this week.

A front-end loader unloads a pallet of cinderblocks on the second floor of the Halifax County Courthouse construction project.

A welder works on structural steel at the site of the courthouse renovation and construction project recently.

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Above ground progress seen at courthouse project in Halifax - YourGV.com

Its somewhat of a bright spot that Facebook Watch ranked higher than Sling TV or PlayStation Vue, which have been on the market longer (PlayStation Vue is shutting down in January, however), and only slightly lower than HBO's two streaming products.

But considering that Facebook Watch is freeas is IGTVthe lackluster uptake is still concerning heading into 2020.

Grade: D

As 2018 ended, we were curious how Facebook would tackle the growth of private sharing in social media. We expected it would focus more attention on its smaller, messaging-oriented properties such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and that it would shift its attention away from the News Feed and toward Stories. We also questioned whether the introduction of ads on WhatsApp would change the way users perceived the messaging app.

Here, the jury is still out on Facebooks progress. While Facebook is still heavily focused on Stories, there are no signs that its moving away from the News Feed. And WhatsApp didnt end up introducing ads this year; Status Ads are slated to appear in 2020.

The biggest news on this front was that in March 2019, the company announced a pledge to shift all of Facebooks apps toward private communications. The plan, as described by Zuckerberg, will be built around principles such as encryption, interoperability and secure data storage. But progress has been slow, and there are questions about whether encrypted messaging (which is what WhatsApp uses) is the right direction to go for Facebooks other apps, and about whether any of these moves will give users more privacy from Facebooks data gathering machine (not likely).

We suspect that the pivot toward private communication will take some time.

Grade: Since its too early to give a letter grade, well just give it a P for passing.

More here:

Facebook's Year in Review: Grading Its Progress on Three Big Questions - eMarketer