Category Archives: Progress

News-Miner opinion: Just over a year ago, a Daily News-Miner editorial began with an observation that significant progress has been made in addressing the issue of untested or unsubmitted sexual assault kits throughout the state.

The editorial noted that a 2018 inventory of sexual assault evidence kits that had not been subjected to DNA analysis found that the states 48 law enforcement agencies reported having 2,568 untested kits that year, an improvement from the 2,979 reported in a 2017 inventory.

Six agencies accounted for 87%, or 2,237, of the unsubmitted kits in 2018. Of these, Anchorage police had the most, at 62%, followed by Juneau police and Alaska State Troopers, at 7% each. The Fairbanks Police Department was responsible for 6% of the unsubmitted tests last year. Other agencies accounted for the rest.

Progress from 2017 to 2018 was solid. That progress has continued.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced in an opinion column this week that the Department of Public Safety has cleared the Alaska State Troopers backlog of sexual assault kits that once stood at 650 untested kits.

The governor also wrote that Testing of additional kits submitted by local agencies is funded and well underway, with all previously untested sexual assault kits projected to be processed by the end of 2020.

An end date is at hand.

The effort to process the untested or unsubmitted tests began in 2017 following then-Gov. Bill Walkers signing of legislation that brought Alaska into compliance with the federal Violence Against Women Act.

Among its provisions, the new state law required each law enforcement agency to report to the Department of Public Safety the number of untested sexual assault evidence kits in its possession. The 2017 count of those cases led to later legislation, also signed by Gov. Walker, requiring an annual audit of unsubmitted, untested sexual assault kits so that agencies could prioritize efforts to reduce the backlog.

Getting these evidence kits tested is vital, not only for the victims in those cases but also, possibly, for victims of other cases. Public Safety Commissioner Amanda Price, on the web page of the departments Sexual Assault Kit Initiative website, writes that time, experience and research also tells us that sexual assault offenders often assault more than one victim and often commit other types of crimes. DNA may be the key to linking that offender to other actions they have not been held accountable for yet.

Alaska has the nations highest sexual assault rate. In fact, according to a recent report from the FBI, Alaskas rate of reported sexual assaults actually increased 11% in 2018, according to the FBI.

Our state has a major problem. Reducing the sexual assault rate consists of deterrence and, when that fails, bringing offenders to justice. Eliminating the backlog of untested kits is a key piece in what should remain a strong effort to reduce, if not end, sexual assault.

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Progress against sexual assault: Governor says backlog of untested evidence kits to be finished in 2020 - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

On December 5, 2019, Afrobarometer released a report on Africas progress toward reliable energy access. The report uses findings from national surveys in 34 African countries to analyze gaps in energy access, grid reliability, and government performance.

As Figure 1 shows, on average, 42 percent of households in the 34 African countries surveyed are not connected to an electric grid. Of the households that are connected, an additional 14 percent have a connection that works half or less of the time, indicating major gaps in both energy access and reliability. However, the African countries surveyed are highly heterogenous: Access is nearly universal and highly reliable in Mauritius, Morocco, and Tunisia, but more than three-quarters of households in Burkina Faso, Uganda, Liberia, and Madagascar do not have a connection to an electric grid. Reliability is also a major issue in countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Malawi, where over one-third of households have a connection that works half or less of the time.

Source: Afrobarometer 2019.

The surveys also addressed the issue of government performance, asking respondents how well or badly they would say their current government was providing a reliable supply of electricity. Figure 2 shows that on average, only 45 percent of respondents said their government was doing a good job at providing electricity. Responses were most positive in Mauritius, Botswana, and Ghana, and least positive in Guinea, Madagascar, and Malawi, where less than 20 percent of respondents expressed a positive view of government performance. Views on government performance were strongly correlated with level of access to the grid.

Source: Afrobarometer 2019

The report states that efforts to improve energy access and reliability have mostly stalled across the surveyed countries, with only marginal improvement from survey findings in 2016. Additionally, access remains very low among those living in rural areas: Rural respondents were less than half as likely as urban respondents to have access to a power grid. More effort needs to be taken to improve reliable electricity access for all, as electrification is a foundational need to achieve many development objectives.

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Figure of the week: Progress toward reliable energy access in Africa - Brookings Institution

He called the agreement a significant achievement that will drive progress over the next decade on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and asked leaders to keep the promise and ensure health for all is a reality for everyone, everywhere.

While more people than ever before are accessing essential health services, far too many are still missing out. Coinciding with the Day, the UN is joining an international coalition calling on world leaders to Keep the Promise made at the end of Septembers High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage, one of the major summits held during the opening of this years General Assembly.

It is unacceptable and unjust that half of the worlds population still lacks access to these essential services and 100 million people are driven into extreme poverty every year due to healthcare costs, the UN chief argued.

Health coverage should never depend upon wealth or location.

On the path to health for all, Mr. Guterres highlighted the importance of prioritizing the needs of those most vulnerable and furthest behind, through increased public investment in resilient primary health care systems, including for mental health needs.

He also stressed the need to recognize the increasing burden that pollution and the climate crisis place on health and healthcare systems.

Universal health coverage is integral to delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our blueprint of a better future for people and planet, he spelled out

It aims to ensure that all people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship when paying for them.

On this International Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to health for all as an investment in humanity, wellbeing and prosperity for everyone, concluded the Secretary-General.

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Universal Health Coverage will 'drive progress' on 2030 Development Agenda - UN News

Theres obvious excitement at the start of any new sports season, but where theres an influx of exuberance there often times can also be a lack of discipline.

That can spell disaster in hockey, where discipline can be the difference between winning and losing.

Just in the first week of the season, that difference was felt by a few teams, and one team even experienced both sides.

St. Dominic Academy has been burned by opposing power plays twice in its first two games, but only one of those was a loss. The Saints survived three power-play goals in their opener against South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete, butcouldnt do the same while giving up three more to Falmouth.

Its a tough lesson weve had (in) both our games, first-year Saints head coach DanDAuteuilsaid after the loss to Falmouth on Wednesday.

I think its not enough discipline, he added. I think theyve been a little selfish, taking the slashing penalty or macho trying to run somebody, and just not realizing that it puts us down. We skated earlier this week because of it and were probably going to skate some more tomorrow. At some point they got to figure it out.

Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse coach A.J. Kavanaugh called his teams play undisciplined in a 1-0 season-opening loss to Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-New Gloucester on Saturday. The Eagles went on the penalty kill five times, and while they didnt allow a goal down a man, they also couldnt find any offense themselves.

We just spent too much time in our own end because of the man-advantages, Kavanaugh said.

Capital Region was one team that did survive giving up a plethora of power plays, holding the PLOG Kings scoreless despite five man-advantages on Wednesday. Hawks coach Jack Rioux admitted hed rather his team not be shorthanded for as long as they were, but called the penalty kill flawless.

PRIOR POUNDINGS HELP HAWKS

Heading into Wednesdays opener forCapital Region (Maranacook/Winthrop/Madison/Spruce Mountain/Lawrence), the program was used to seeing a high number of shots.

The season opener against the Kings was no different as Thomas Thornton saw 30 shots. There was no panic in the Hawks, as they appeared to know what they were doing in the 1-0 win.

Our (defense) is really solid, Rioux said. This year we have the maturity that we didnt have previously because we have been (a team that sees a lot of shots against) for so long, we know how to play defense now. Now we need to put more offense on the board.

Wednesdays win was led by Thornton, who made 30 saves, and the past three years he had been sitting behind goalie Will Hays, who was outstanding in goal for the Hawks. Thornton didnt look like he was just making his second career varsity start.

He had one last year and following Will Hays, he has some big skates to fill, but he did an excellent job tonight, Rioux said. I couldnt ask more from him, his vision was great, he was tracking (the puck), theres not much there to fix.

Rioux said after Thorntons starting debut last year also against the Kings that it wasmy job is to get him ready for that fornextyear. Thornton certainly looked ready Wednesday.

A NEW SAINTS STAR?

After graduating last years Becky Schaffer Award winner, AveryLutrzykowski, the St. Domsgirlshockey team had a large void to fill in the scoring department.

Its only been three games, but Madi Pelletier has shown a flash of star potential.

The Gray-New Gloucester junior, who spent her first two seasons as part of a co-op with Greely, already has five goals and two assists. Her and the Saints were shut out in their season opener, but Pelletier scored a pair in a win over Yarmouth/Freeport, then tallied a hat trick and assisted on two other goals in a victory over Falmouth.

Saints coach Paul Gosselin called Pelletier a good, strong player.

Just getting her to play to her strengths and its working well, he added.

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H.S. hockey notebook: Discipline a work in progress early in the season - Lewiston Sun Journal

If I told you that Showtimes new series Work in Progress marked the first foray into half-hour television for Lilly Wachowski, one of the visionary directors behind The Matrix trilogy, and Speed Racer, and Bound, and honestly, I could list everything shes ever made you might picture something drastically different from what you will see when you tune in. But you should definitely tune in! Its very, very good.

Instead of a cosmic tale that transcends time and space, Work in Progress is the story of a middle-aged queer woman, one whos gender non-conforming, overweight, and struggling with suicidal ideation while living in Chicago in the late 2010s. If Wachowskis other work tries to find the specific in the universal, Work in Progress finds the universal our sadness and loneliness and fears in the hyper-specific.

But though Wachowski is working as an executive producer, writer, and showrunner on the series, its hyper-specificity comes from its star, co-creator, writer, and co-showrunner Abby McEnany, a comedian and performer from Chicago who has grounded Work in Progress in her very real experiences and life. The opening three minutes of the first episode essentially a very dark comedic sketch are at once some of the most heartbreaking and hilarious Ive seen on television this year.

And everything that follows is thoughtful about a wide range of topics, from gender identity to the intersection of queer identities and mental illness to Julia Sweeney, the Saturday Night Live performer who invented the character of Pat, whose ambiguous gender was the bane of existence for gender non-conforming folks like McEnany. Sweeney even appears in the series as herself.

Work in Progress is smart about all of this stuff and more. And when I found out it started its life as an independently filmed pilot, I wanted to know so much more about how it came to be, how it ended up on a major network like Showtime, and how Lilly Wachowski got involved as a producer. So I jumped at the opportunity to talk with McEnany; her co-creator, director, and co-showrunner Tim Mason; and Wachowski herself (after hyperventilating a little) about the process of making Work in Progress.

A transcript of our conversation lightly edited for length and clarity follows.

So you produced this pilot independently, then Showtime acquired it as a series. Thats a pretty rare way to get a TV show on the air. How did you decide to pursue that strategy?

There was no other way for us to do it. So it was just like, Well, you do it yourself. I dont know how to answer that! We just knew nobody would pick it up, or how [we would find someone who would]. We didnt know anybody. How would we get a meeting? So it just came down to: Well, well just do it ourselves.

We actually were like, What if we shot this and then we put it online in chunks, and itd be a web series? And then we put it into chunks and it really didnt work. It worked as a full pilot. I had been taking general meetings after this short film [a different project], and I told Abby, Im so sick of meetings that dont lead to anything. We didnt get into this to have meetings. We got into it to make stuff. So we looked at the budget and were like, What the hell, lets go do it.

We had to come up with $30,000, and we did.

As someone who enjoys meetings

[imitating Emily] And at that moment, I had nothing in common with the Work in Progress crew. They hate meetings?! Thats a bunch of bullshit!

[all laugh]

Im sorry! I do! When you were making the pilot, though, did you think there might be a platform for it? Or did you just want to make it the best it could be?

The goal was always to make a TV show. Create this thing. Make it as as great as we can on our budget and [with] our limited time. Then the goal is like, Lets try to sell this thing, and how are we going to do that? So the goal was always to create an episodic TV show.

Whats amazing is the favors that we called in for some people, like my editor, some of the cast. You know, like the cast came in, and it was, like, on an ultra-low-budget SAG agreement. So they got paid $125.

Julia Sweeney got $125 for the pilot.

People did it basically as a favor. Now, because Showtimes putting it straight on air, those people became cast members. We were all in together. And so my editor is now coming on as the editor for half of [the series]. The [director of photography]. Everyone. Everyone who gave us favors, we tried to keep in the family.

Lilly, you have a unique perspective on this, having joined the project a little later. [Wachowski joined the pilot on the basis of its first scene, a three-minute act with Abby in therapy.] You must get handed a lot of stuff. What was it about this?

As a viewer and supporter, I was in when I saw the first three minutes a year and a half ago.

We had filmed those first three minutes a year before.

But even before that, I was into Abby, after seeing her one-woman shows. I knew what a brilliant and unique storyteller she was. You dont get opportunities to work with people like that a lot. And so I was like, Ill do whatever I can to help you guys get the show into whatever form its going to take, because I want to see the show. Its amazingly funny and beautiful and touching, and all the things that you want a show to be.

How have you found the process of writing for half-hour television?

There was this investigation that took place to figure out what the thing was. Make the thing, and then figure out what the thing is after. Once they made the pilot, it was just, like, Well, whats going to happen? The pilot has been so perfectly set up with this idea of the person who has suicidal ideations and has given themselves 180 days to live. Its like youve built in this ticking time bomb in the plot of the show.

There was no question in my mind that you had this very A to B structure, which was like, Okay, last episode, no [time] left, what happens? If youre riding a roller coaster, what are the ups and downs? Were trying to find it. Tim is constantly reminding us all the time, Whoa guys, this is a comedy, dont forget. Its supposed to be funny. No, its dark. Heading towards the darkness.

Thats kind of my go-to.

So once you have this whole picture, then you go, where do you make the cuts? And its just like youre telling these acts. So in our case its like an eight-act thing. The first act [the pilot] is done, and then you can make little compartments [for the other acts].

A lot of Work in Progress takes place in the intersection between queer identities and people who have mental illness. What did you find interesting about that intersection? What stories lie there?

I guess Ive always wanted to just tell my truth and be very open about it. I have no shame about telling people that I have mental illness. So I didnt even think [about] it that way. I just think it was, like, tell this story. I really am just constantly trying to figure this shit out. What am I doing? Im trying to be open with that stuff.

In the last few years, to me, just the idea of gender and sexual fluidity has opened up a lot of freedom. To me, my relationship with Chris [a character on the show] is based on a real relationship I had with a young trans man I met. I was in DC for a month, years ago, and I met this lovely man. We dated and then we did long-distance. And this woman who Ive known in the community, was like, Youre dating a trans man? Well, I guess youre not a lesbian anymore. Im like, Who fucking cares? Do you have a list? In my mind, she has this big whiteboard in her home.

So I dont even know. When all the crew heads [met for the first time], Lilly introduced us, and everybody got up and said what they were doing and their pronouns. I was like, She, her, hers. Could change tomorrow. Theres so much more openness now. So youve just got to tell the truth, barf it all out, figure shit out.

You want to honor this ticking clock around the characters suicidal ideation, but Work in Progress is a TV show that might run for many years, so you dont want to treat the topic callously. How do you tell that story responsibly?

That is something thats very concerning. Its a comedy, but we people having suicidal thoughts thats not funny. But its, like, humor [is] the reason that Im still alive. Sometimes its very dark, but thats a mechanism for me and several people to survive. But weve checked in a bunch to make sure, are we honoring that darkness? We dont want it to be glib. This is real shit that people are dealing with. I hope we do it right.

In this show, its coming from a real place. To be able to talk about suicidal ideation and to do it with humor is important. We do enough of not talking about suicidal ideation. So we do it with humor as an entry point for people to enter into this discussion and get seriously involved in this kind of dialogue. When we talk about the character, for me, it super resonates as somebody whos battled depression and my gender dysphoria. Knowing that Abby has gone through her own depression, I think were definitely being sensitive about it. But its more like a welcome mat to start talking about these topics.

The goal is, were not making fun of it. A lot of comedies I love, theres one thing like, God. Really? Its fun to make fun of fat women? Whatever. Everythings great about the show except for that one thing. So hopefully were honoring the experience and not making fun of the people, or the fact that people live through this stuff. Thats like opening conversation. Because its not funny that people are so desperate that they want [to] end their life. Thats not hilarious. It is devastating and tragic and real.

But the way the three of us have created Work in Progress is to talk about it in a way where its all about losing that shame of mental illness, that stigma. People dont talk about it.

I know how these things get sold. This show will be sold as, From Lilly Wachowski, director of The Matrix, etc. People are going to come into it expecting one thing and get something very, very different. So, whats the intersection of the grand cosmic scale that Lillys other projects have been on and this tiny little project?

I think the intersection is that this show is queer as fuck. Queer and trans as fuck. I think all the trans people that come up to me and say, Oh my God, The Matrix! It unlocked so many things for me. Thank you so much. All those people will watch this show. Theyre going to watch the show and theyre going to really like it. Because its sweet and it shows trans people and queer people in a very normalizing and loving way.

As we were working, I was like, Im gonna watch Cloud Atlas. With the budget that Ive been working on for this show, theres nothing like sitting down and watching Cloud Atlas and being like, Oh my God, we are coming from such different filmmaking backgrounds.

At the crew head meeting, we were talking about cross-shooting [shooting scenes between two characters by alternating focus on those characters, with the camera always focused on the person furthest from it], and I said I had had really good luck with it on this crap mac-and-cheese commercial. Lilly was like, Oh well, we did it on Cloud Atlas. [all laugh]

[imitating Tim] Well, on my Cloud Atlas, crap macaroni-and-cheese commercial...

The intersection I see is the respect for the emotional truth that the characters have that exists in those giant, beautiful films of Lillys, and then in this tiny thing. Theres a lot of similarities, that it has to do with how you respect your characters and how you treat your characters.

Well, I will be sure to headline this interview, Work in Progress: Its just like Cloud Atlas.

Work in Progress (a TV series that is exactly like the 2012 Wachowski magnum opus Cloud Atlas) debuted Sunday, December 8 on Showtime. New episodes air Sundays at 11 pm.

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Work in Progress: Gallows humor, smart writing, and Lilly Wachowski - Vox.com

Standing on dirt and loose rocks along West Houston Street, Kerry Averyt explained that the San Antonio River Authority has tried to be a good neighbor during construction of San Pedro Creek Culture Park.

Construction of the linear park has required many road closures downtown, impacting area businesses. The river authority keeps an updated webpage of road closures on the San Pedro Creek Culture Park site.

We affect businesses along Houston Street and theres no question, theres some impact there, said Averyt, the river authoritys senior engineer. But we keep working and coordinating with all of our stakeholders up and down the creek to minimize it as much as possible.

Averyt led a tour Thursday of a segment of San Pedro Creek Culture Park stretching from Houston to Nueva streets. Phase 1s second segment is targeted for completion in November 2021. The price tag for Phases 1 and 2 of four planned phases is $260 million, Averyt said.

Historic preservation and respect for archeological exploration have influenced construction in a segment of the project that includes two historical landmarks: the 1949 Alameda Theater and the 18th-century Spanish Governors Palace. Construction has had to adapt to the occasional archeological dig, Project Manager Ryan Silbernagel said; there have been three digs in Calder Alley and one by the Spanish Governors Palace.

But the digs dont delay construction, as archeologists are able to set up alongside construction, Silbernagel said.

There havent been any major significant finds, Silbernagel said. Mostly a lot of pottery shards.

Some of the more interesting cultural artifacts will eventually be displayed as part of the San Pedro Creek Culture Park, Averyt said.

Designers and engineers have also maintained many historic elements throughout the project. Averyt pointed to a fire escape on the side of the Alameda Theater that they decided to keep through its renovation.

Originally we wanted to take that fire escape down, but this is a historic building, a historic structure, he said. It was a lot less complicated to leave that in place if we could.

Bonnie Arbittier / Rivard Report

The original fire escape is preserved on the side of the Alameda Theater next to the future entertainment plaza.

The Historic and Design Review Commission approved the final renovation design for the theater in October; work is expected to begin early next year.

About 30 percent of a retaining wall in Calder Alley was salvaged to use in the creek project too, Silbernagel added.

This segment of the linear park will include two permanent art installations. In November, Bexar County commissioners selected Brooklyn artist Adam Franks design for an interactive light installation at a water wall along one of the paseos. A microphone picks up close-range sound, and people can manipulate the light reaction with what kind of noises they make. And further down the creek, the river authority is looking for artists to paint a five-panel mural, public art curator Carrie Brown said.

We are just now starting the selection process but were working closely with Bexar County to frame what the mural content will be, Brown said.

The segment also will have an entertainment plaza by the Alameda Theater that can be utilized in many different ways, Brown said. Designers had considered building an amphitheater, but that would not have been as useful, she added.

When you have an amphitheater, its an amphitheater, and thats how you have to use it, Brown said. Now that we have a plaza, its much more flexible. We didnt want to build something that wouldnt be functional for people who would use it.

Funding sources for Phases 3 and 4 of the San Pedro Creek project are still being identified by the river authority. Those phases are being planned and would extend the linear park to South Alamo Street. Bexar County has paid for the bulk of the project, while the 2017 municipal bond allocated $19.5 million to the linear park. The county also expects to receive some federal dollars from the Mission Reach projects federal reimbursement.

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River Authority Shows Progress on Construction of San Pedro Creek Culture Park - Rivard Report

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MOLINE, ILLINOIS -- Delayed construction on the new I-74 bridge could mean a new detour for drivers coming into Illinois.The project manager, George Ryan, says the change will keep the bridge on time and on budget. Ryan also says crews are making progress on the arches.

"We are making great progress on the arch," Ryan said. "The arch is a very difficult build, very complicated build, and it takes a lot of time and effort to make sure it's right."

But the difficulty isn't stopping crews. They've laid down the first strut. The strut connects the sides of the arch.

"We've set some pieces," Ryan said. "We're just finishing setting on of the struts that goes between the arches on the Iowa side, and then they will run over and set the strutt on the Illinois side."

Ryan says setting the struts means the arch alignment is good.

"The rumors that they were off substaintly were never true," Ryan said. "Part of the reason that it takes so long to construct the arch is because we are surveying each section of that arch and the contractor is steering it, to make sure we're where we need to be."

The arch is set to be closed in Spring 2020. Then, crews will begin construction on the next arch.

"We wont be able to start on the eastbound arch until we finish the westbound arch," Ryan said.

The Iowa bound bridge was expected to be done by the end of this year, but Ryan says it is now set to be done in 2020.

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I-74 crews make progress on the bridge arches - WQAD Moline

BALTIMORE John Harbaugh is the coach of the AFCs best team and maybe the best in the NFL. But he couldnt have been more complimentary about the Jets, and almost sounded concerned about facing them Thursday night.

We see a team thats won four of their last five games, the Ravens coach said. This team has found a winning formula. Sam Darnold is playing very well, making plays. Hes a very talented young quarterback. They have really good skill players. I think that theyre a winning team.

The record, of course, says otherwise. The Jets took a 5-8 mark into the game against the 11-2 Ravens.

The Jets have one more win than last season, but no one is calling it progress. The big picture is theyre out of the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season and have underachieved on so many levels.

This year was supposed to be different.

The Jets hired an aggressive offensive-minded head coach whose system was expected to put a lot of points on the board and bring out the best in Darnold.

They brought in a fiery and proven defensive coordinator who was going to make that unit nasty. They signed two marquee free agents one on each side of the ball who had a winning pedigree and were supposed to have major impacts.

In the end, only one of those things have happened. Gregg Williams has done a tremendous job with a banged-up defense.

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Only two projected preseason starters have played in every game. Linebacker C.J. Mosley, a former Raven, has played in only two games after signing a five-year, $85 million contract.

Yet Williams is overseeing the NFLs No. 2 run defense and was looking forward to trying to slow down MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson and the NFLs No. 1 rushing game Thursday night.

Im a competition-aholic, Williams said.

Adam Gases offense hasnt had Williams type of success this season.

The Jets are 31st in total offense and 29th in scoring, and Gase hasnt turned Darnold into the next great quarterback. Theres no doubt Darnold was set back by his bout with mono that kept him out for three weeks.

Gase also hasnt utilized LeVeon Bell in a way to maximize his skill and talents.

His role and production have fallen far short of expectations after the Jets gave him $52.5 million over four years. Bell has been neither a game-changing playmaker or security blanket for Darnold.

Bell may have lost a step after sitting out last season over a contract dispute with the Steelers. But the Jets offensive line has been a disappointment, and Gase hasnt given Bell the touches he got in Piitsburgh.

Gase prefers a passing offense and using more of a running back by committee approach. Bell is someone who needs the ball and could be getting it from a different quarterback and team next season.

But with three games remaining in this season, the Jets hope to continue to make strides overall. Just as it was at this point last season, Darnolds overall development is the most important thing the Jets can take into next year.

There will be changes all across the team, but Jets CEO Christopher Johnson said Gase would be back. Barring something unexpected, Darnold will get to start out at least one more season in Gases offense.

Going into his third NFL season and second with Gase, Darnolds knowledge and understanding of the system should enable the Jets to move more quickly through some things in the offense during OTAs and training camp.

Darnold has shown signs of improvement since that fateful October night that he was seeing ghosts against New England. He has looked far more comfortable in the offense. Darnold has thrown nine touchdown passes and two interceptions over the last five games before Thursday.

But the Jets final three opponents can present plenty of challenges for quarterbacks of any experience level. The Ravens, Steelers and Bills rank in the top six in total defense and points allowed and are in the top nine in passing defense.

These games can only help Darnolds growth.

I feel like Im recognizing things a lot better than I was last year, Darnold said. I feel like coverages and different pressures that teams bring, I feel a lot more comfortable there. Ive made a jump to that degree.

I feel like I can get a lot better in a lot of different areas. Im going to continue to work on those things and make sure I continue to focus on that every single week.

Griffin goes on IR. Ryan Griffin became the 17th Jet to be placed on injured reserve. The veteran tight end suffered an ankle injury early in last weeks win over the Dolphins.Griffin had a strong first season with the Jets. Signed just before training camp, Griffin caught 34 passes for 320 yards and five touchdowns. The Jets signed him to a three-year extension last month. Offensive linemen Brent Qvale was activated to fill Griffins roster spot.

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Progress by Jets has been in short supply - Newsday

On ViewSir John Soanes MuseumHogarth: Place and ProgressOctober 9, 2019 January 5, 2020London

William Hogarths Modern Moral Subjects have been brought together for the very first time, in the former residence of Sir John Soane. Loaned from institutions across the country, these paintings and engravings dramatize the grubby reality of 18th century London, while retaining a contemporary charge, despite their conception some 280 years ago. The Four Stages of Cruelty (1751) seems progressivefor the timein its condemnation of animal abuse, while the corrupt political practices of The Humours of an Election (175455) suggest parallels with recent events, like Britains contentious exit from the European Union, and the impeachment proceedings brought against President Trump.

Given our general understanding of progress as a movement of ongoing improvement, the terms conception in this exhibition is something of a misnomer. While Hogarths series have a didactic thrust encouraging progressive reformthe iconic Gin Lane (1751) helped to pass the Gin Acthis pictorial sequences themselves are synonymous with decline. In drawing an analogy between London locations and his characters morality, he invokes John Bunyans religious allegory A Pilgrims Progress (1678), where the protagonist Christian journeys through areas like the Slough of Despond seeking spiritual redemption. Hogarths progresses diverge from Bunyans, however, by illustrating the downward spiral of vice more frequently than virtues saving grace.

Placed in dialogue in the Rear Gallery are A Harlots Progress (1732) and A Rakes Progress (1734). These are cautionary narratives, with trajectories proceeding from humble origins to sensual excess, and culminating in incarceration, insanity or death. The mise-en-scne of the first plate of A Harlots Progress reiterates this schema. On the left, the harlot Mary arrives from the Yorkshire countryside seeking employment, modestly dressed and of reserved demeanour. On the right, a lavishly attired, pockmarked brothel madame appraises Marys features, and two randy gentlemen peer out at the women from a tavern doorway. The city setting and its dissolute characters provide an inverted image of Marys healthy country ways, and imitate the young girls eventual moral decline and tragic death from syphilis.

Hogarths series echo the belief of theologian St. Jerome that one should be ever engaged, so that when the devil calls he may find you occupied. Marys downfall is signalled in the second engraving where, now the pampered wife of a Jewish merchant, her lack of utile employment leads her to engage in an extramarital affair. By the fourth plate of A Harlots Progress, shes been incarcerated in Bridewell Prison for prostitution. Reiterating the correlation between idleness, vice, and criminality seen throughout Hogarths Modern Moral Subjects, Mary stands beating hemp in front of raised stocks engraved with the phrase, Better to work than to stand thus.

The Protestant work ethic that rewards hard graft and punishes idleness structures the series Industry and Idleness (1747), whose didacticism is conveyed through the parallel progresses of two apprentices, Tom Idle and Francis Goodchild. Whereas Idle descends into criminality, is betrayed by his accomplices, and ends hung from the gallows at Tyburn, Goodchild ascends in social status: marrying his masters daughter, becoming co-owner of West and Goodchild, and eventually Mayor of London. Unequivocally confirming Hogarths moral imperatives are excerpts from the Book of Proverbs: those on the first plate state that, the drunkard shall come to poverty, but the hand of the diligent shall maketh rich.

Despite the reproving tone of these works, its unlikely Hogarth felt the violent deaths of his characters justified. Exhibition curator David Bindman notes that the artist was hostile to excessive moralising, while some of the series events echo his lived experience: Hogarth never completed his apprenticeship as an engraver, for example, and his father spent five years in Fleet Prison for debt. Perhaps embittered, his conception of progress is undoubtedly ironic. The only progress the Harlot and Rake experience is physical and mental dissolution, just as the only reward for cruelty in The Four Stages of Cruelty (1751) is Tom Neros public execution and evisceration at the hands of the Company of Surgeons.

Excepting the anomalous, unfinished series The Happy Marriage (after 1745), Place and Progress dynamically conveys Hogarths rejection of the Enlightenment eras faith in progress and human perfectibility. This cynical view has its apotheosis in his last engraving, Tailpiece, or the Bathos (1764). Leaning back, Father Time expires among the ruins of classical antiquity, while the sign for The Worlds End pub depicts Earth in flames. His fingers graze a will, of which Chaos has been appointed the sole executor, and he weakly exhales, Finis. Completed the year of Hogarths death, its weary fatalism channels what he felt to be the irrevocable moral decay of the nation. The apocalyptic progress envisioned in his work, however, has yet to be realized.

Read more here:

William Hogarth: Place and Progress - Brooklyn Rail

GENEVA / ATHENS (13 December 2019) Greece has made improvements on ending arbitrary detentions, but still has challenges due to the widespread detention in the criminal justice and migration systems which must end, UN human rights experts have concluded after a visit.

"We recognise and praise Greece's efforts to address arbitrary detention through laws on alternatives to detention, provisions for early release and plans to deinstitutionalise people with disabilities," said a delegation from the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, issuing a preliminary statement at the end of their 10-day visit.

"The cooperation from the authorities and their willingness to facilitate access to all places of detention, both announced and unannounced, was outstanding. This should serve as a model for how the Working Group's visits take place.

"However, the use of detention remains widespread in the criminal justice and migration contexts and we urge Greece to end this policy. It is worrying that it has become the common response, despite the requirement under international law that it should only be used as a measure of last resort.

"The use of pre-trial detention should be the exception not the rule. Implementing alternatives to detention would also help alleviate serious overcrowding in penal establishments."

The experts acknowledged that Greece continued to face "serious challenges" in the field of migration, given its location on the southern border of the European Union.

"It is important that a regional approach is taken to address migration with full respect for the human rights of all migrants, including those seeking international protection," they said.

"Detention in the context of migration must be an exceptional measure of last resort, based on an individual assessment of each migrant and for the shortest period."

Aspects of the recent legislative reform in Law No. 4636/2019 which will come into force on 1 January 2020 are also of concern, particularly the extension of the maximum limit of detention. "This cannot be reconciled with the international human rights obligations undertaken by Greece," they said.

"We are also seriously concerned that unaccompanied minors and other children are being detained and treated as adults. Detention of children in the context of migration is prohibited under international law and should be discontinued."

The Working Group also urged the Government to accelerate its work to deinstitutionalise people with disabilities, in accordance with Greece's treaty obligations.

During the visit, from 2 to 13 December 2019, the three members of the delegation, Jose Antonio Guevara Bermdez, Leigh Toomey and Stondji Roland Adjovi, met Government officials, judges, lawyers, civil society representatives and other relevant people. They visited 20 different places of detention, interviewing more than 150 people deprived of their liberty.

A final report on the visit will be presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in September 2020.

ENDS

The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was established by the former Commission on Human Rights in 1991 to investigate instances of alleged arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Its mandate was clarified and extended by the Commission to cover the issue of administrative custody of asylum-seekers and immigrants. In September 2019, the Human Rights Council confirmed the scope of the Working Group's mandate and extended it for a further three-year period. The Working Group is comprised of five independent expert members from various regions of the world: Mr. Jos Antonio Guevara Bermdez (Mexico; Chair-Rapporteur), Ms Elina Steinerte (Latvia; Vice-Chair on Follow-up), Ms Leigh Toomey (Australia; Vice-Chair on Communications), Mr. Stondji Roland Adjovi (Benin) and Mr. Seong-Phil Hong (the Republic of Korea).

Database of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

The Working Group is part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures' experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, Country Page Greece

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Greece praised for progress but must end widespread detention practices, say UN experts - Greece - ReliefWeb