Category Archives: Progress

Alexi Lalas is always armed with a quip. During an interview Tuesday, he had one ready when he was asked about the significance of the game Wednesday between the MLS All-Stars and Spanish superpower Real Madrid.

This will dictate the success of this league for the next 20 years to come, Lalas said, somehow keeping a straight face. This result will be something that will be talked about and discussed and dissected for the next 20 years as to how relevant we are, not just as a soccer-playing nation but as a nation.

Of course, the question of significance always comes up when a club from MLS or a team of its All-Stars steps up in class to face foreign competition. And theres no better competition than Real Madrid, which was without superstar Cristiano Ronaldo but couldnt put the All-Stars away in a 1-1 tie after 90 minutes before winning the penalty shootout 4-2. Borja Mayoral scored in the 59th minute for Real Madrid, and MLS Dom Dwyer answered in the 87th to send the game to the shootout in front of a sell-out crowd of 61,428.

Real Madrid stars Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Marcelo didnt start but entered in the 61st minute.

It was a fun night, said Dwyer, who plays for Orlando City. Obviously, I was very excited to get a goal. Just a real pleasure to be here.

Real Madrid, short-handed or not, is one of the most powerful teams on the globe and not a hastily assembled side like the MLS team. Lalas pointed out how the comparisons always happen with these soccer spectacles, but the events really dont indicate much of anything one way or another about where MLS is competitively.

Everyones going to attach significance or non-significance to the result, said Lalas, an analyst for Fox who made 96 appearances for the U.S. national team. Its simply an opportunity to celebrate what weve accomplished and to show people where were going. And then when it comes to the opponent, youre playing one of the biggest teams in the world and an incredible brand, so its just a fun day out.

Whether or not the game signified much, MLS is making some progress on and off the field.

The league and Adidas announced a six-year extension of their apparel deal through 2024, an agreement worth a reported $700 million to MLS.

And on the field, MLS has shown some improvement and managed to recruit more well-known international stars. Commissioner Don Garber said one reason for that is foreign players can come to MLS and not worry about losing their national-team spots just because they play in the United States.

Its about having the right environments, Garber said.

The environment for this game included a downpour at kickoff and featured the obligatory soccer fanfest outside Soldier Field. The fans were treated to a flyover after the national anthem, the kind of glitzy show American sports do best.

Fire midfielder and MLS captain Bastian Schweinsteiger wasnt ready to make any declarations based on Wednesday.

Its not easy to compare, he said.

Follow me on Twitter @BrianSandalow.

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Even without Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid a big deal

MLS All-Stars vs. Real Madrid: What you need to know

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Hard to judge MLS progress based on All-Star Game against Real Madrid - Chicago Sun-Times

Posted: 7:39 p.m. Wednesday, August 02, 2017

Straus dismissed the claim by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that he refuses to meet with him, saying his door is open.

Brushing aside concerns that they are not moving swiftly enough to enact Gov. Greg Abbotts 20-point agenda, Texas House members opened the second half of the special session Wednesday with a flurry of activity Wednesday.

We made good progress, and were only half the way through, House Speaker Joe Straus told the American-Statesman.

Ive been spending my time, the first half of the 30-day session, trying to get the House in a place to consider the items that the governor has placed on the agenda, said Straus, a San Antonio Republican. We work more slowly than the Senate does because we listen to people and we try to get the details right. And so the House committees have been meeting and have shown some good progress, moving many of the items that are on the call.

Still, the House has given final passage to bills that address just four of Abbotts priorities, compared with18 for the Senate.

READ: Special legislative session: Why Joe Straus might have the upper hand

Straus addressed the running criticism of his leadership from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate and decries Straus as a moderate and potential obstacle to the conservative agenda he shares with the governor. Patrick insisted again this week that Straus refuses to meet with him to work out a seamless way to do the peoples business.

But I am going to say this one more time my door is open, the speaker has my phone number. He knows where I am most of the time, Patrick said Tuesday evening on a Facebook Live video stream with Michael Quinn Sullivan of Empower Texans and Jim Graham of Texas Right to Life, two relentless Straus critics.

I dont care about our differences. I dont care about anything thats been said in the past. I want to sit down and find a way to complete the governors agenda, which is my agenda and is the peoples agenda, Patrick said.

Straus dismissed the criticism.

Theres no resistance to meeting him, Straus said. My doors always open to anyone who wants to have a constructive conversation about issues facing the state of Texas, and Ive always expected that we would be having meetings at the appropriate time.

Bathroom bill

Straus has indicated he opposes a measure favored by Patrick that would pre-empt schools and local jurisdictions from making their own transgender friendly bathroom rules.

But, its sponsor, Rep. Ron Simmons, R-Carrollton, said he considered that bill an outlier the only one he knows of that Straus explicitly opposes, and so its not surprising to me that that has not moved expeditiously.

Simmons said there had been an effort to discourage members to sign on to his bill and so he only had about 50 members willing to do so, far fewer than in the regular session.

Of his other bill onschool choice for special needs students also part of Abbotts agenda Simmons said, Im not sure it will get voted out of committee. He said he holds out a faint hope that it might advance if there is some grand bargain on education.

The governor wants school finance and were going to do that; were going to pass our plan on Friday, said Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, chairman of the Public Education Committee. I think its very clear that the House has not agreed on the voucher issue, but we have a solution to help special needs students.

READ: Senate clears most Abbott priorities, shifting attention to House

The House is doing what it should do, which is being deliberative, thoughtful and being sure that legislation that we would pass is sound policy that would benefit the citizens of the state of Texas, said Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, chairman of the State Affairs Committee. The House is not built for speed.

This is the House, said Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, who chairs the House Republican Caucus Policy Committee. We will use all 30 days. Theres plenty of time.

Goldman said it looks like the bill he is carrying for the governor to pre-empt local cellphone ordinances is unlikely to make it out of committee.

Nothing nefarious, he said; theres just too much opposition from local police and elected officials who hold great sway with House members.

Goldmans other bill the House version of the Senates already-passed mail-in ballot fraud bill was left pending Wednesday by the Elections Committee. TheSenate bill has been sent to the House. The committee did approve on a 5-2 vote House Bill 47, by Rep. Mike Schofield, R-Katy, which would make lying on an application for a mail-in ballot, applying without the voters knowledge and permission, and altering the application without the voters request punishable by up to two years in state jail.

Showboating

Both Abbott and Patrick had said property tax reform is their top priority.

The House Ways and Means Committee last week approved a bill that would require cities and counties to get voter approval for tax increases of 6 percent or more. While the Patrick-backed Senate version sets the rollback rate at 4 percent, the bill passed by the Houses tax-writing committee represents a significant departure from the regular session, when the same lawmakers opted to leave untouched the current rollback rate of 8 percent.

The House version, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, the chair of Ways and Means, must still be approved by the agenda-setting Calendars Committee before heading to the House floor.

On Wednesday, the House approved several other bills related to property taxes. HB 32 by Bonnen aims to increase transparency around the appraisal and rate-setting processes to encourage taxpayers to become more involved in the process.

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Amid all the other activity, Rep. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, chairwoman of the House Committee on General Investigating and Ethics, and Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, led anews conference Wednesday calling on the governor to expand the call for the special session to include ethics reform.

The governors office, concerned that the House hasnt been sufficiently single-minded in pursuit of his agenda, wasnt pleased.

Instead of working to advance items on the special session agenda that could reform property taxes, fix school finance, increase teacher pay and reduce regulations, Reps. Davis and Larson are showboating over proposals that are not on the governors call, Abbott press secretary John Wittman said in a statement. Their constituents deserve better.

But Rep. Cecil Bell, R-Magnolia, a staunch conservative, pronounced himself pleased as he left Wednesdays session that the House was getting on track.

Were in better shape today than we were yesterday, Bell said. We are hearing bills that are consistent with the call.

We talked about taxation today. We talked about appraisal districts and we voted on them and that is progress in the right direction, Bell said. We just need to keep doing that.

Staff writers Johnathan Silver and Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this report.

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At halfway mark, House Speaker Straus cites special session progress - MyStatesman.com

Advertisershave long lamented Snapchats lack of third-party data to track return on ad spend.But now that Snapchat is adopting a marketing mix modeling program, which measures the value of all marketing inputs, media buyers are more willing to guide clients to open their purse strings.

On Tuesday, Snap announced The Snap MMM Partner Program, which gives marketers access to third-party measurement data from Neustar MarketShare, Analytics Partners, MMA and Nielsen. The new data will let marketers isolate and track specific Snapchat ad formats and their return on ad spend and sales lift. Those metrics are crucial to determine the success of past campaigns and compare ads across social media channels. This partnership will afford Snapchat advertisers even more flexibility and precision in measuring their campaigns, reads Snapchats blog.

David Song, managing director at Barker Advertising, said the new program convinces him that his clients, which include brands like SlimFast and Aston Martin, should try Snapchat, a platform he avoided recommending before. Snapchat was never seen as a serious platform for our clients. We focus a ton on ROI, and we couldnt justify a big enough spend before to advise our clients to buy the platform, he said. Now that [Snapchat] is willing and able to do MMM, its a much easier proposition to recommend them to clients.

It brings a level of instant credibility that Snapchat desperately needs, said Stephen Boidock, director of marketing and business development at Drumroll. It will definitely help marketers justify spendingsomemoney on the platform.

The move comes at a time when Snapchat shares continue to drop, and marketers shift their focus to platforms that have more robust analytics. Since Instagram replicated Snapchats Stories in August 2016, marketers have started to favor the former, partly due to Instagramsdedicated followings, but also because Snapchat couldnt prove sales.

Now more than ever, marketers are demanding a certain level of ROI and analytics, said JC Uva, managing director at MediaLink, and that hasnt been one of [Snapchats]key attributes. Before the announcement, Snapchat had 15 measurement partners such as Moat, DoubleClick, Oracle Data Cloud and Millward Brown that assessed viewability metrics, app impressions, reach and targeting, but not foot traffic or return on investment. Meanwhile, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest have had MMM programs. It also didnt help that Snapchat ads are known to be more expensive than those on other platforms such as Instagram. While a bidding auction determines the pricing of Snap Ads, Snap Lenses can cost upward of $300,000 for a day, and Snap Geofilter CPMs can range from 27 cents to $48.

The fact that Snap didnt have robust analytics and ROI on ad spend previouslymade it a tougher sell for some clients, said Lisa Evia, president of Havas Media Chicago.

Luggage brand Away, for instance, was on Snapchat but turned its priority to Instagram because it offered more transparency, engagement and analytics, said Away co-founder Jen Rubio. Now, it doesnt have a Snapchat presence at all.

However, Snapchats new MMM program has the potential to turn things around. If Snapchat can prove it has great ROI, said Rubio, its not off the table for us. Scott Linzer, who oversees paid social as vp at iCrossing, also sees potential. With Snap innovating and finding data partnerships to provide more platform insight, he said, there is reason to be optimistic.

Song said if the new data proves Snapchat has strong ROI, he will advise his clients to spend between $150,000 and $300,000 on ad formats, three times more than the amount he would suggest for trying any new channel for the first time.

See the rest here:

ROI-focused ad buyers see progress on Snapchat's measurement shortcomings - Digiday

Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt on Wednesday praised significant improvements in the nation's air quality, even as he moves to roll back regulations aimed at making further gains.

An EPA report released Wednesday shows that in the 45 years since passage of the Clean Air Act, emissions of six harmful pollutants declined by a combined 73 percent even as U.S. economic output tripled.

The biggest gains were made cutting emissions of lead and sulfur dioxide, which declined 99 percent and 85 percent, respectively, between 1990 and 2016.

"Despite this success, there is more work to be done," Pruitt said in a statement. "Nearly 40 percent of Americans are still living in areas classified as 'non-attainment' for failing to achieve national standards. EPA will continue to work with states, tribes, and local air agencies to help more areas of the country come into compliance."

According to the report, the least progress has been made in reducing ground-level ozone, which is down by 22 percent since 1990.

Ground-level ozone is created when common pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, oil refineries, chemical plants and other sources react in the atmosphere to sunlight. It can cause serious breathing problems among sensitive groups of people, contributing to thousands of premature deaths each year.

Since his appointment by President Donald Trump earlier this year, Pruitt has moved to block or delay several Obama-era regulations aimed at reducing pollutants caused by burning fossil fuels.

Follow Associated Press environmental writer Michael Biesecker at http://www.Twitter.com/mbieseck

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EPA praises progress on cleaner air amid regulatory rollback - ABC News

BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS) today announced the latest version of Progress Kendo UI Builder, an industry-leading responsive web UI toolkit for rapidly delivering beautiful and intuitive web experiences. The new release introduces browser compatibility with Electron Shell, an extended library of built-in templates, the ability to customize screens with Blank View and enhanced data connectivity.

Today, the ultimate success of a business application depends on the availability of an engaging user experience. While reliability and scalability remain the backbone of superb performance, the look and feel of an application is vital for attracting and retaining users, said John Ainsworth, SVP, Core Products, Progress. With the latest version of Progress Kendo UI Builder toolkit, our partners and customers can quickly and cost-effectively enhance their Progress OpenEdge applications using an extended library of UI components and data connectivity to better optimize development efforts.

New features in Progress Kendo UI Builder 2.0 toolkit include:

In todays digital world, the ability to quickly develop software gives organizations a competitive advantage. With Progress Kendo UI Builder toolkit, weve significantly accelerated the development time of our new web-based application, TWIN360, by leveraging its ready, pre-built UI components, said Magnus Svensson of CGI, a global information technology and business process services provider. Progress Kendo UI Builder toolkit enabled us to easily create beautiful and personalized user interactions across all channels and devices and, as a result, to ensure excellent customer satisfaction.

Progress Kendo UI Builder toolkit enables developers to define the layout and content of their web apps with easy to use, pre-built and pre-tested visual components. Based upon the popular Progress Kendo UI framework and built to run on industry-standard technologies such as Angular, HTML, CSS and JavaScript, Progress Kendo UI Builder toolkit minimizes development time.

For more details about the latest release of Progress Kendo UI Builder toolkit, and to download a free trial, please visit https://www.progress.com/openedge/components/kendo-ui-builder or watch webinar.

Additional Resources

About Progress Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS) offers the leading platform for developing and deploying mission-critical business applications. Progress empowers enterprises and ISVs to build and deliver cognitive-first applications, that harness big data to derive business insights and competitive advantage. Progress offers leading technologies for easily building powerful user interfaces across any type of device, a reliable, scalable and secure backend platform to deploy modern applications, leading data connectivity to all sources, and award-winning predictive analytics that brings the power of machine learning to any organization. Over 1700 independent software vendors, 80,000 enterprise customers, and 2 million developers rely on Progress to power their applications. Learn about Progress atwww.progress.comor +1-800-477-6473.

Progress, OpenEdge, and Kendo UI are a trademarks or registered trademarks ofProgress Software Corporationand/or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates in the US and other countries. Any other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Originally posted here:

Progress Releases Kendo UI Builder 2.0, Delivering the New Face of OpenEdge Web Experience - Business Wire (press release)

Introduction

From the formation of their collaboration in November 2014, Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) and Janssen, Johnson and Johnson's (JNJ) pharmaceutical arm have moved steadily forward in their efforts to prove the beneficial impact of imetelstat as a critical lifesaving therapy in the battle against certain cancers. Step by methodical step, they have advanced their understanding of imetelstats detailed clinical merits. Two clinical trials are gathering and assessing necessary data and have undergone formal clinical reviews.

Today they announced another advance. Insofar as it involves still more data collection, the market is showing frustration with the pace of progress. Shareholders can only wince and go forward. Todays announcement constitutes progress, albeit progress of the frustrating type for those impatient for final resolution.

Last night's press release from Geron, followed by this morning's conference call, provided new data points to consider in the lingering imetelstat saga. The conclusion I drew from the carefully scripted presentations was that all's well for those who have plenty of time and are willing to wait patiently while this multipart drama unfolds on its own time schedule.

My initial introduction to this latest bit of news was quite disconcerting. This morning I was checking out the stocks I follow and saw that Geron had taken a big hit. Then I saw a SA news headline, "Geron down 13% in early trading on extended timeline for imetelstat study, risk that Janssen will bail".

Oh no, I thought; the worst is happening. Then I realized after reading the release that this was nothing more than business as usual in the imetlstat world. Any statement about Janssen potentially bailing was mere surplusage. As is true in most, if not all such deals, the big dog has a retained right to bail. It is a background fact, akin to gravity...no need to keep repeating it, particularly in a news item. I guess the point that gave it piquancy was the stock price drop, suggesting something more was afoot. Not so.

Let me address the basics of the announcement and its significance as I see it.

First, the Imerge trial addresses patients with low-to-intermediate risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) who failed to respond to prior treatment with an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent.

Janssen has analyzed data from the Imerge trial and has determined that a subset of 13 patients show positive results at a higher rate than the remaining group of patients. These 13 patients share the commonality that they had not received prior treatment from "... a hypomethylating agent (HMA) or lenalidomide".

Janssen further determined that it should enroll an additional cohort of 20 patients to bring this subset of patients to 30, the number that it considers sufficient for its next analysis.

Rather than being negative or neutral, I consider this decision to be on the whole positive. It shows that Janssen is actively interested and engaged with the imetelstat data.

It also shows that this is going to be a lengthy process. The timing is uncertain but the press release states that active recruitment will begin in Q4, 2017. Certainly the work of recruiting, enrolling, processing and then analyzing data from 20 additional patients implies a considerable time lag.

In the written press release Geron states:

Detailed results for the original 32 patients in Part 1 of IMerge, including key secondary endpoints of hematologic improvement and rate of RBC-TI lasting at least 24 weeks, as well as duration of response and detailed safety information, will be submitted for presentation at a major medical conference. [Emphasis added]

The more Janssen interacts with imetelstat in the public sphere, the more encouraged I become that it will proceed to bring the therapy to market. Certainly its previous announcement of imetelstat as future blockbuster in its pipeline was a big positive indication. I take its intention to present Imerge results at a major medical conference in the same vein.

Janssen's Phase 2 IMbark trial, assessing imetelstat in patients with treatment-resistant intermediate/high risk myelofibrosis (MF) is on an entirely different track.

The IMbark trial will continue without modification. According to the press release:

Janssen will conduct an internal data review in Q1 2018 to enable a protocol amendment to allow long-term treatment and follow-up. Janssen will notify Geron earlier, probably in Q4, whether it intends to pursue development of imetelstat for any indication after a primary data analysis is done on IMbark (should start no later than the end of Q3)

As I see this, today's CC simply confirms the ongoing process to which Janssen has committed itself. As far as any tell on the efficacy of imetelstat, it has to be more on the positive side than the negative.

Although, when one looks at a five day chart of Geron's stock, it doesn't look positive.

GERN Price data by YCharts

What caused this violent stock reaction? I suspect it was impatience.

For those who are timing imetelstat's progress towards continuation by Janssen and ultimately FDA approval, today was something of a disappointment. Optimists have hoped that Janssen would take its next big step forward by issuing a continuation decision under its Geron collaboration agreement sometime in 2017 or early in 2018.

The following language from its press release suggests to me that Q3, 2018 is a more likely target date:

Continuation Decision

The Joint Steering Committee has agreed that the timing of the protocol-specified primary analysis for IMbark will begin upon the earlier of either a pre-specified number of deaths occurring in the trial or the end of the third quarter of 2018. Following completion of this primary analysis, which includes an assessment of potential survival benefit associated with imetelstat treatment, Janssen will notify Geron whether it elects to maintain the license rights and continue the development of imetelstat in any indication, i.e., the Continuation Decision.

Generally my own optimism for Geron's imetelstat prospects focuses more on the likelihood that Janssen proceed, rather than any expectation that it do so on an expedited basis. However, today's drop suggests that I may be in the minority on that score.

Geron had cash and equivalents of $121MM according to its Q1, 2017 10-Q. This was stated as sufficient for expected needs for at least one year. However, insofar as net cash expended during Q1, 2017 was <$8MM, Geron should not face a cash crunch if indeed Janssen waits to issue a continuation decision until 2018.

At the close of Geron's 8/1/2017 call, Geron announced that because of the proximity of its upcoming earnings release, it would not do an earnings CC this quarter. Rather, it said it would issue its earnings press release. Geron will next address investors at its presentation to the Cantor Fitzgerald Healthcare Conference taking place September 25-27, 2017.

Geron is soldiering boldly ahead as it works to bring the development of imetelstat to fruition. There are no guarantees in this drug approval business. However, Geron has managed to put itself on a path where it has reasonable prospects for a highly remunerative future.

Geron offers a binary bet on its imetelstat cancer therapy. Although I know from researching Geron articles that it has other irons in the fire, I also know these other irons have no current impact on Geron's stock price.

Today's announcement seems to have disturbed the market. I submit that it should not have done so. When Johnson and Johnson boasted about imetelstat's future prospects, it was referring to the year 2021.

Anyone who has counted on this playing out as near term story has been fooling themselves. Geron appears to have the cash resources to follow this to its conclusion. Investors in Geron should likewise consider that they are in it for the long haul.

Disclosure: I am/we are long GERN.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Geron: SLOW Progress - Seeking Alpha

LONDON--Bookmaker William Hill PLC (WMH.LN) Wednesday recorded a 2% rise in first-half adjusted pretax profit and said it expects to make good progress in 2017 and beyond.

The company, which operates betting shops and a website in the U.K. as well as operations in the U.S. and Australia, said adjusted pretax profit--which excludes exceptional items--rose to 111.2 million pounds ($143.2 million) during the 26 weeks ended June 27, compared with GBP109.3 million a year earlier. Pretax profit was down 7% to GBP93.5 million in the first half from GBP100.7 million a year earlier

The company's net revenue rose 3% to GBP837 million compared with GBP814.4 million a year earlier.

"The first half of 2017 has seen good progress against our three strategic priorities and wagering growth across all four divisions. Our product improvements combined with improved marketing have seen both existing customers respond positively and the number of new customers start growing again during the period," Chief Executive Philip Bowcock said.

The company added it is on track to deliver GBP40 million of annualized savings by the year-end and is confident about delivering a good outturn in 2017 and beyond.

-Write to Razak Musah Baba at razak.baba@wsj.com; Twitter: @Raztweet

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William Hill profit rises; sees progress in 2017 - MarketWatch

A major progressive think tank wants Democrats to stop being shy about accusing the Trump campaign of colluding with Russia.

The Center for American Progress has written a nearly 50-page report for Democrats in Congress, making the case for collusion between President Donald Trumps campaign and Russia. The report, a draft of which was reviewed by BuzzFeed News ahead of its release Wednesday, makes the bold claim that it is now clear there was collusion and this is the biggest political scandal in American history.

CAPs report, which includes several appendices linking to news reports and quotes from the Trump administration, does not include any new information, but it does represent a push for a dramatic change of tone for Democrats in Congress.

We're ... trying to convey that its time to stop beating around the bush on Trumps collusion with Russia. There is a mountain of evidence that Trump and his associates colluded with Russia and its time to start saying so, Adam Jentleson, senior strategic adviser and former deputy chief of staff for Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, told BuzzFeed News in an email.

We think its time to be a lot more forward-leading because the evidence is overwhelming.

This is a drastic departure from what most Democrats in Congress have been saying since Trump entered the White House in January. At least in public, most congressional Democrats have yielded on the side of caution, calling for further investigation before alleging actual collusion while at the same time emphasizing stories like the recent revelation that Donald Trump Jr. and others from the campaign spoke with a Russian lawyer last summer, in a meeting pitched to the presidents son with the promise of damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

I think the reason why were putting this report out is that we need to sort of face the facts of whats staring us in the face here, Max Bergmann, a senior fellow at CAP and author of the report, told BuzzFeed News. When you piece it all together and you lay out the facts, all the information that we know the picture becomes very clear. And what is clear is that the presidents campaign was willing to collude with Russians and did.

The Justice Department under special counsel Robert Mueller, the House and Senate intelligence committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee are all still conducting investigations on Russia interference in the US election and any involvement by the Trump campaign.

The draft of CAPs report lays out everything the public knows about how the Trump campaign and Russia interacted during the campaign based on information gathered from press reports and congressional testimony. According to CAP, the evidence should be enough for Democrats to argue the campaign colluded with Russia.

CAPs plan is to deliver the report to key offices on the Hill with the hope of giving Democrats the confidence to make a collusion argument. Jentleson said Democratic leadership, as well as members of the Judiciary and Intelligence committees in the House and Senate, will be receiving the report.

Original post:

The Center For American Progress Is Releasing A Nearly 50-Page Report Claiming TrumpRussia Collusion - BuzzFeed News

Pre-construction has begun. A tentative timeline has been set.

Morristown Utility Systems general manager, Jody Wigington, said the construction and implementation of a new sewer line running from Exit 8 of Interstate 81 to the Lowland wastewater treatment plant just south of Exit 12 could be complete in as little as a year if no unforeseen challenges arise.

The project includes placing the new line, which will replace an old line nearing its capacity, and updating the treatment plant itself.

Both are a part of a consent order from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. With the order in place, Wigington said the projects have to be seen through to completion. However, because the work was needed and MUS consented, he said fewer penalty payments were required.

He said it was not only the only option but was the best option as the construction will benefit the city long-term.

Weve been a little limited with knowing we cant recruit certain types of wet business that uses a lot of water and waste water (to this area) with the existing line, Wigington said. This will open the door to welcome any type of customer the city might want to recruit. The only effect on our existing customers are the rate increases.

In addition to providing development opportunities for Exit 8, Wigington said this will allow for Exit 12 development.

Other rate increases may be coming down the pike for MUS electricity customers as a result of increases from the Tennessee Valley Authority, the supplier for MUS and other companies around the Lakeway Area and state.

In a presentation at the most recent MUS board of directors meeting, a TVA representative reported the organization has cut operating costs by reducing its footprint and has conserved fuel costs by using what is economical to produce the greatest amounts of power for its customers.

Despite this, the TVA has been unable to pay down its debt of nearly $26 billion as revenue continues to decrease.

In order to reduce the debt, TVA will be recommending a 1.5 percent rate adjustment per year at the retail level.

I think they do a good job. They have a balanced portfolio of plants and are able to pick the fuel that is most efficient to run, Wigington said. Meanwhile, TVA, for the first time in its history, is predicting negative load growth. We are barely moving, and if our industry hadnt done so many expansions in the last three or four years, we would be negative, too.

Wigington said load growth is the amount of electricity used by customers. It decreases with conservation.

We are seeing conservation across the board, he continued. The sewer rates are high, so people are conserving water use to keep the sewer bill down. With electricity, its primarily been lighting. LED lighting uses about 10 to 15 percent of the power incandescent lighting uses. At the same time, we have to have revenue.

I mean, were the company that wants to help people save and cut their bills, he said. Were sitting with flat sales here, and TVA has declining sales and declining revenue. Theyre not being about to reduce their debt, so theyre having to increase the rates to make up the difference.

During the board meeting, the TVA representative said the increases will most likely take place the next two years. After, TVA will revisit the long-term financial plan and make a decision to increase rates further or stabilize them.

Read more from the original source:

Progress made on pipeline to connect Exit 8 to Lowland - Citizentribune

Fifth Ward Alderwoman Rita Rawson joked that maybe the city forgot to specify the year when it told the Rhythm City Casino Resort to have its barge removed from the Davenport riverfront by March 31.

The lack of movement is no longer a laughing matter for some on the Davenport City Council.

Rhythm City was able to find a taker for the barge in the city of Keokuk, but the City Council learned Tuesday during its management update meeting that the process to remove it willtake a minimum of a two more weeks.

"We're disappointed they are not further along," Alderwoman Kerri Tompkins, 8th Ward, said. "This should have been executed months ago."

Rhythm City was initially given a deadline of March 31 to remove the barge and structure atop it after the City Council elected to pursue land-based development.

The Council had received two proposals from U.S. Inland Marine Inc. and Restoration St. Louis with development ideas for the barge, but the proposal lacked a certain "wow" factor.

After the March 31 deadline passed, Rhythm City was without any concrete offers so it requested and was granted an extension so it could find a city in eastern Iowa to donate the barge.

The city of Clinton passed on the idea after finding the cost to move and operate the structure cost prohibitive, but the Rhythm City was able to reach a deal with Keokuk in May.

The process, however, has seen its fair share of delays since.

High river levels prevented movementbecause the barge would not have navigated past the 54-foot clearance at the Interstate 280 bridge.

The delay is barge traffic then caused the cost to move it to skyrocket, prompting Keokuk to wait until prices subsided.

Finance Director Brandon Wright said he was still awaiting news from Keokuk City Administrator Aaron Burnett, who indicated was expecting proposals for moving the barge to come in.

Wright said that the acceptance of a contract, however, would require approval from the Keokuk City Council, which would draw out the process at least two more weeks.

The new timeline was not what the aldermen wanted to hear.

Alderman Mike Matson, 7th Ward, uttered expletives in complete disbelief.

After City Attorney Tom Warner said the city planned to speak with Keokuk officials, Matson interrupted and said "We've been planning on talking to them for a while."

Matson said the city needed to "put some teeth" into its actions.

"Put a $10,000 fine every day that passes August 15," Matson said. "Seriously, I'm ready to bring that to Council to do something like that. This is ridiculous that this is taking so long."

City Administrator Corri Spiegel said that if the process did not progress quickly enough for the aldermen, she would schedule for Burnett to address the Council on Aug. 15.

"Because there was another government involved, we were trying to be a good partner in allowing them to mobilize at a pace they were comfortable with," Spiegel said.

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Lack of barge progress irks some Davenport aldermen - Quad City Times