Category Archives: Progress

Fans interested in the progress of the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences, 1300 Mac Davis Lane, now can follow its construction progress online, courtesy of a time-lapse construction camera launched by Lee Lewis Construction Inc. (LLCI) and the Lubbock Entertainment/Performing Arts Association (LEPAA).

A construction webcam located in downtown Lubbock streams a high definition video from a fixed position camera that continually captures video.

The video can be viewed at the LLCI website at leelewis.com, and at the LEPAA website at LEPAA.org.

The time-lapse camera will document progress from excavation to completion.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the $150-million-plus project was hosted in April.

Tim Collins, chairman of the LEPAA board of directors, said, This is an exciting addition to an already exciting project for the Lubbock community. We love the idea that our community, donors and fans can view construction progress happening in downtown Lubbock at any time, from anywhere in the world.

Construction of Buddy Holly Hall will take thousands of man hours and a team of contractors state-wide, noted Sam Krier, LLCI senior project manager. Through the construction cam, the public has a unique chance each day to see the tremendous amount of work that goes into a project like this.

Collins said, We hope this technology will allow our community to see what their donations are making happen in downtown Lubbock. Every dollar raised by LEPAA goes toward construction of this world-class performing arts venue.

Donations for Buddy Holly Hall can be made online at LEPAA.org/donate.

Buddy Holly Hall will be privately operated, and entirely privately funded through donations from individuals, corporations and foundations, said Collins.

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Webcam showing off progress on downtown Lubbock's Buddy Holly Hall - LubbockOnline.com

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After watching the highlights from OTAs, I have seen Laquon Treadwell has been lining up against Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes a lot. In your opinion, is this a good sign that he will be lining up as the WR3 on game day? From the highlights, it seems like he has taken a very large step forward offseason. -- Theron Merrick

The coaches have given Treadwell an opportunity to win that job and hes done a good job of taking advantage of that opportunity. Theres no doubt that, for me, Treadwell has been a standout in the first six OTAs. Hes getting a lot of reps with Sam Bradford and he is usually the third guy in three-receiver sets. Hes had some great battles with Rhodes, too, which will only help him as he tries to take a big step forward in his second season. The arrow is definitely point up for Treadwell.

In your observations of rookie Dalvin Cook, what do you feel his greatest physical strengths will be running or receiving? Also, how would you rate his intellectual capabilities as a player? How well is he learning his roles, the playbook, etc.? -- Phillip Taylor

Cooks main contribution to the offense will be as a runner. I dont know if hell wind up being the lead back at some point this year, but he has all the makings and completely looks the part of a back who can be the lead dog. One of my favorite traits of his is his vision; he seems to be decisive in his cuts and hes rarely running into blockers or tacklers in practices. The speed with which hes playing tells me hes picking up the playbook just fine; he doesnt look like a guy who is out there thinking too much because hes overwhelmed by the mental part of the game.

Do you see any surprises so far in camp from the third or even fourth team in terms of players who might make the team based upon what you have seen? -- Bob Holan Jacksonville, FL

Take this with a grain of salt because weve only had six OTAs and these guys are running around in shorts, not pads. But Ive been impressed with DE Tashawn Bower, an undrafted free agent out of LSU. He has great size (6-5, 250) and length, and reminds me a lot of what Danielle Hunter looked like as a rookie. TE Nick Truesdell has made a lot of plays, as has rookie receiver Rodney Adams.

Since Cordarrelle Patterson has left, are there any rookies who might lead in the competition for the gunner spot on the punt team? -- Steve Wodke Woodbury, MN

A question about the competition for a gunner spot on the punt teamVikings fans are awesome. I love it! Steve is totally dialed into the team with that kind of question in the early part of June. This will be interesting to watch because weve seen Special Teams Coordinator Mike Priefer get creative with his gunners. Everson Griffen played gunner at one time, and of course Patterson emerged in that role last year. Marcus Sherels is one of the gunners, and hes the best gunner in the NFL for my money. A guy like Jerick McKinnon wouldnt surprise me, given Priefers creativity and McKinnons willingness to do whatever the team asks of him; he also has a great skill set for that kind of role. At this stage, though, its too early to tell and I wouldnt rule anyone out given Priefers creativity.

What player who was on the roster last year but is not on the roster this year will be the biggest void to fill? -- Kevin Willier California

Patterson has been the best kickoff returner in the NFL the last few seasons, so one could argue that position right off the bat. Id say Captain Munnerlyn in the nickel role and Chad Greenway as a starter at outside LB in the base defense is a big void, too. Given how often defenses are using a sub package in todays game, Id argue the nickel CB vacancy is the biggest void to fill, but Id also argue the Vikings have a great plan/contingency plan in place to fill that void with second-year player Mack Alexander and veteran Terence Newman in the fold.

With Sam Bradford healthy and Teddy rehabbing, what is the QB2 spot looking like? And QB3 for that matter? -- Blake Dufner Richmond, MN

Case Keenum was signed this offseason to be the backup and it looks for now as if hell be able to secure that job. Three-year pro Taylor Heinicke and undrafted rookie Wes Lunt are the other two QBs on the roster and Id guess Heinicke will go into training camp ahead of Lunt for the third quarterback job.

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Monday Morning Mailbag: Treadwell's Progress, OTA Standouts, More - Vikings.com

Until the 19th century, technological and economic progress advanced inch by agonizing inch.

The fastest transportation in A.D. 1776 was the fastest transportation in 1776 B.C. the horse.

Maritime commerce flowed to the fickle rhythms of wind and tide, as it had since the opening chapter.

Life was intensely agricultural.

Night was lit by candle and torch to the extent it was lit at all.

And economic growth?

The Western worlds annual growth rate through 1820 averaged a millimetric 0.06% a year, according to Angus Maddison, economic historian.

Thats 6% a century.

The history of global GDP per capita, 15002003:

The chart reveals three centuries of economic dusk.

Then in the mid-to-late-19th century, a light bulb flickered on literally

An unlikely series of inventions came along in the mid-to-late-19th century that raised the curtain on a golden age of technological and economic progress an era of such razzle-dazzle that had no equal in history.

The electric light bulb turned night into day. Electric power brought progress on a thousand fronts.

The railroad, steamship and internal-combustion engine finally put period to the homely plod of hoof and sail that paced transportation for millennia.

The telegraph, telephone and radio unhorsed the twin tyrannies of time and distance.

Industry exploded. So did populations. And cities.

The result was a special century of technological and economic progress, 18701970.

These inventions were so thunderous and so transformative that some argue their impact can never be equaled.

Robert Gordon is an economist at Northwestern University.

Last year he wrote a book called The Rise and Fall of American Growth. From which:

The economic revolution of 18701970 was unique in human history, unrepeatable because so many of its achievements could happen only once the revolutionary century after the Civil War was made possible by a unique clustering, in the late-19th century, of what we will call the Great Inventions What makes the period 18701970 so special is that these inventions cannot be repeated.

With a few notable exceptions, Gordon adds, the pace of innovation since 1970 has not been as broad or as deep as that spurred by the inventions of the special century.

It seems theres justice in this view.

The light bulb can only be invented once.

It can be improved, refined, brought within sight of the perfections.

But not reinvented. Edison remains on his throne.

And is it coincidence that broader American prosperity began petering around 1970 as the great inventions ran their course?

It is by no means the only answer. But perhaps a partial answer.

What truly astounds is the pace of it all.

They crammed more technological progress into that one special century than a previous dozen combined.

Man walked this ball some 40,000 years before he took his fledgling flight above the dunes of Kitty Hawk in 1903.

The 12-second flight managed about a dozen feet of altitude and 120 feet of distance.

Sixty-six years later, man was rocketing to the moon.

Impossible but there it is.

Has there been progress since 1970?

Only a fool would argue there hasnt.

But it seems more a progress of the margins a progress of efficiencies.

They can build a more efficient jet, for example.

But the jet that whisks you across the ocean at 563 mph is no faster than the jet that whisked your father across the ocean at 563 mph in 1958.

Its true they can make a better, faster car with every whistle and bell.

But cars had air conditioning as early as 1933. They were going over 100 mph by the end of the 1930s.

Progress at the margin.

In no way do we deny the reality of progress.

But we havent hatched the equivalent of the internal-combustion engine or the telephone not to mention electricity.

Venture capitalist Peter Thiel lamented in 2012 that:

Whether we look at transportation, energy, commodity production, food production that with the exception of computers, weve had tremendous slowdown.

Thiel concludes, pithily:

We wanted flying cars. Instead, we got 140 characters.

We cant help but agree.

Its a counterfeit progress when someone in Kathmandu can follow the capers of Kim Kardashian on Twitter but burns the same gasoline that powered a Model T.

But is all this about to change? Are we in for another great technological revolution?

Some argue the worlds perched on the bleeding edge of revolutionary breakthroughs in the fields of robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), computing and other technologies.

They claim the decades ahead will rival if not excel the special century.

German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab said the coming revolution will be bigger than anything the world has seen before It will be a tsunami compared with previous squalls.

A gust of rhetoric?

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

James Altucher pins his hopes on the technologically based innovation economy currently taking shape.

Here is the future, James argues. Here is salvation.

In fact, he argues, The world will be fixed by the next generation of the economy.

Time will tell of course but we hope hes right.

Lord knows nothing else seems to be working

Regards,

Brian Maher Managing Editor, The Daily Reckoning

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The Hard Limits of Progress - Daily Reckoning

Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle

Oakland Athletics' Marcus Semien shares a laugh with San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey during Bay Bridge Series at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, March 31, 2017.

Oakland Athletics' Marcus Semien shares a laugh with San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey during Bay Bridge Series at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, March 31, 2017.

As Marcus Semien is making progress, slowly

Shortstop Marcus Semien, who had wrist surgery April 18, began hitting off a tee on Monday, but he might not be back with the As this month.

Semien will need plenty of time to work his way back from a hairline fracture of the scaphoid bone, and when he goes on a rehab assignment within the next few weeks, it wont be just two or three games, according to manager Bob Melvin.

Position players can spend a maximum of 20 days on a minor-league rehab assignment, but Semien isnt expected to need that much time. A happy medium of a week or two is likely.

Melvin said that Semien is allowed only to hit with a light fungo bat so far, so hes searching around for the biggest fungo he can find, trying to simulate a bat. ... Its going to be more about holding him back - hes got a target in his mind when he wants to be playing. Hes eager, he wants to be moving along. He wants to get out there as quickly as he can.

Semien is eligible to come off the DL on June 14, and Melvin said Semien really would like to be back for the Marcus Semien action figure giveaway night, which is June 18. Thats when he wants to play but I dont know if that will be the case, Melvin said. I hate to put a number on it but I would say June is probably going to be tough.

Melvin said that starters Kendall Graveman (shoulder) and Chris Bassitt (Tommy John surgery) are improving but neither has resumed throwing.

Reliever Bobby Wahl (shoulder) said he is not yet throwing, either, but he is getting treatment and is strengthening the shoulder and hes feeling much better. Initially, he was having trouble even washing his hair, but he said within a week of going on the DL last month he was able to do all everyday activity.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser

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A's Marcus Semien is making progress, slowly - SFGate - SFGate

Charlotte Observer

Will Donald Trump halt progress on slowing abortions? | Charlotte ... Charlotte Observer The Trump administration is poised to undo what it believed it accomplished on behalf of conservative Christians when President Donald Trump appointed Neil ... and more »

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Will Donald Trump halt progress on slowing abortions? | Charlotte ... - Charlotte Observer

Authorities have made "significant progress" in identifying the three suspects allegedly responsible for a terror attack in London Saturday night that killed seven people and injured dozens more, police said.

Several agencies are "working relentlessly" to "piece together exactly what occurred" and learn more about the attackers, Metropolitan Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said Sunday.

"Work is ongoing to understand more about them, their connections and whether they were assisted or supported by anyone else," Rowley said.

A series of arrests have been made in the attacks, police said. As of Sunday morning, 12 people in Barking, east London, were arrested in connection with the attacks, and police continued to search a number of addresses in the Barking area.

And early Monday, the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command said it entered two more addresses near Barking, where officers conducted searches and detained several people for questioning.

Just before 10 p.m. Saturday, white Renault van, which was recently hired by one of the attackers, plowed into a crowd of people on London Bridge.

American tourist Dan Nguyen told the BBC he was on London Bridge with his girlfriend when he "saw blinding white headlights weaving through cars and coming at us."

"It hit directly to the right of me. I saw a woman's body curled up in an unimaginable position," he told the BBC. "I looked ahead and saw there was a distance to go before the end of the bridge, so I braced myself to jump off the bridge into the river. Then I saw my girlfriend limping and sobbing so I ran back towards the scene to drag her away."

The van then continued on to Borough Market. There, three men -- who officials said were wearing fake suicide belts -- exited the vehicle and stabbed a number of people, police said.

The attackers were shot and killed by authorities just eight minutes after police were notified to the incident, said London Metropolitan Police's Cressida Dick. Eight police officers discharged their weapons, firing a total of 50 rounds, Rowley said. One bystander was hit by the gunfire, he said, but the injuries were not believed to be critical.

Seven victims were killed in the attack, including a French national and a Canadian woman named Christine Archibald, officials said.

The Archibald family said in a statement, "We grieve the loss of our beautiful, loving daughter and sister. She had room in her heart for everyone and believed strongly that every person was to be valued and respected."

She had worked in a homeless shelter before moving to Europe to be with her fianc, the family said.

Another 48 victims were taken to hospitals, officials said. On Sunday, 36 victims remained hospitalized, 21 of them in critical condition, Rowley said.

Among the injured were a British Transport Police officer and an off-duty Metropolitan Police officer, authorities said. The British Transport Officer who was injured was among the first on the scene and was "able to recount how he faced the attackers with only his baton" despite being "seriously unwell," said Chief Constable Paul Crowther.

British Prime Minister Theresa May referred to the events as a "brutal terrorist attack" and said "there is far too much tolerance for extremism in our country."

Britain has been plagued with three terror attacks since March. May said that while the attacks are not connected, "they are bound together by the single evil ideology that is Islamic extremism."

"Defeating this ideology is one of the great challenges of our times," she said, adding that the internet is a breeding ground for extremism.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the attacks in a statement.

"This was a deliberate and cowardly attack on innocent Londoners and visitors to our city enjoying their Saturday night," Khan said. "I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. There is no justification whatsoever for such barbaric acts."

President Trump, speaking at a gala at Ford's Theatre Sunday evening, described the London attack as a "horrific terrorist attack" and said he spoke with May to "express our unwavering support." The president said the U.S. will do everything in its power to "bring those that are guilty to justice."

"We renew our resolve, stronger than ever before, to protect the United States and its allies from a vile enemy that has waged war on innocent life. And it has gone on too long," he said. "This bloodshed must end. This bloodshed will end. As president I will do what is necessary is to prevent this threat from spreading to our shores."

A moment of silence will be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. local time "in remembrance of those who lost their lives and all others affected by the attacks in London Saturday night," according to an announcement from Downing Street. Flags will remain at half-mast on Whitehall government buildings until Tuesday evening.

Britain's general election will take place Thursday as planned, May said.

"Violence can never be allowed to disrupt the democratic process," May said. "So those campaigns will resume in full tomorrow, and the general election will go ahead as planned, on Thursday."

ABC News' David Caplan, Matt Foster, Tara Fowler, Joshua Hoyos, Kirit Radia, Brendan Rand, Emily Shapiro, Dean Schabner and Devin Villacis contributed to this report.

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London terror attack: 'Significant progress' made in identifying assailants - ABC News

In economics, as in life, things often take longer to happen than you think they will and then happen faster than you thought they could. So it may turn out with the catastrophic international economic policies of President Trump. It is possible that last week will be remembered as a hinge in history a moment when the United States and the world started moving on a path away from the peace, prosperity and stability that have defined the past 75 years.

For all that has gone wrong in the past three-quarters of a century, this period has witnessed more human betterment than any time. The rate of fatalities in war has steadily declined, while growing integration has driven global growth and improvement in life expectancy and living standards. Progress is too slow, and not well enough shared, but Americans have never lived so well. This has been driven by remarkable developments in human thought, especially in science and technology, and a relatively stable global order that has been underwritten by the United States.

Will these trends continue? Optimists have suggested that despite the revanchist and often anti-rationalist rhetoric of his campaign, Trump has in the international sphere surrounded himself with rational establishment advisers and has either retreated or been stymied by Congress on proposals such as launching trade wars and building walls.

Until last week, they had a reasonable argument. No longer. We may have our first post-rational president. Trump has rejected the view of modern science on global climate change, embraced economic forecasts and trade theories outside the range of reputable opinion, and relied on the idea of alternative facts rather than evidence-based truth.

Even for conservative statesmen such as Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Henry Kissinger, the idea of a community of nations has been a commonplace. Come now H.R McMaster, national security adviser, and Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, who have been held out as the presidents most rational, globally minded advisers. They have taken to the Wall Street Journal to proclaim that the world is not a global community and advanced a theory of international relations not unlike the one that animated the British and French at Versailles at the end of World War I. On this view, the objective of international negotiation is not to establish a stable, peaceful system or to seek cooperation or to advance universal values through compromise, they wrote, but to strike better deals in an arena where nations, nongovernmental organizations, and businesses compete for advantage.

In service of this theory, the president in the past two weeks renounced any claim to U.S. moral leadership by failing to convincingly reaffirm traditional U.S. security commitments to NATO and abandoning participation in the Paris global climate agreement. The latter is probably our most consequential error since the Iraq War and may well be felt even longer.

There will be consequences to all of this, as there were to the pursuit of short-term advantage rather than systemic stability at Versailles. One does not need to subscribe to pessimistic versions of Graham Allisons Thucydides Trap as it relates to worries about how China as a rising power may fill the vacuum left by the United States. How, after the events of the past week, can U.S. adversaries and allies alike not follow German Chancellor Angela Merkel in concluding that the United States is now far less predictable and reliable? How can the responses be other than destabilizing?

It is essential that leaders in U.S. society signal clearly their disapproval of the course the administration is taking. History will judge poorly business leaders who retain positions on Trump administration advisory boards because they hope to be in a position to cut favorable deals. Elon Musk of Tesla and Robert Iger of Disney have taken the correct and principled stand by resigning their presidential appointments. More should follow.

What is to be done? The U.S. president is not America. The world will be watching to see whether Trumps words and deeds represent an irrevocable turn in the nations approach to the world or a temporary aberration. The more that leading figures in U.S. society can signal their continuing commitment to reason, to common purpose with other nations, and to addressing global challenges, the more the damage can be contained. And, of course, Congress has a central role to play in preventing dangerous and destabilizing steps.

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After 75 years of progress, was last week a hinge in history? - The ... - Washington Post

Crews work on I-235 widening project at N. 50th. (KOKH/Jordann Lucero)

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation says crews have gotten a lot of work done on I-235. The interstate is completely closed at N. 50th so work can be fast-tracked during this phase of the widening project.

Crews are working to remove the N. 50th St. bridge that used to cross the interstate.

Closures began 8:00 pm Friday. On Saturday, the first full day of closures, ODOT says crews removed all the bridge beams and one of the pier columns on the remaining part of the bridge.

Sunday crews began laying asphalt for temporary lanes.

"They're still on time, progressing very well, and they're still targeting Wednesday to finish," ODOT spokesperson Mills Leslie said.

In addition to removing the bridge, during the closure crews are also lowering lanes, creating temporary lanes to shift traffic for future work, and making enough progress to reopen the I-44 ramp to southbound I-235. That ramp was closed on May 1.

We've got your back: Suggested alternate routes as the I-235 closure continues

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ODOT: Crews making "significant progress" during I-235 closure ... - KOKH FOX25

Update: Adds latest info on fire size and containment.

Ed. Note: KHTS is using the breaking news format for this incident. New information is timestamped and pushes older information down in the post.

8:15 p.m.: The brush fire is at four acres with 75 percent containment. No injuries to civilians or fire personnel have been reported. The cause is under investigation, according to L.A. County Fire officials.

6:55 p.m.: Fire officials confirmed the fire burned somewhere between 4 and 5 acres before firefighters stopped the forward progress of the flames. Crews on scene have the blaze 35 percent contained, and all aircraft have been recalled from the incident.

6:38 p.m.: Firefighters have managed to stop forward progress on the fire, which has grown to 4 acres.

6:35 p.m.: The fire is 20 percent contained according to a Nixle from the L.A. County Fire Department.

6:25 p.m.: A video by Janet Ryan shows the flames alongside stalled traffic along the freeway:

The fire reportedly broke out at about 5:45 p.m.

Fire officials confirmed the fire is at 3 acres as of 6:20, and is making slowprogress uphill alongside the freeway. The area has light to medium brush, meaning there is fuel for the fire to burn.

The California Highway Patrol issed a SIGalert shortly after 6 p.m. shutting down all northbound traffic on the 14 at Golden Valley Rd., except for the carpool lanes. The stop is expected to last approximately 2 hours.

Initial reports indicate the fire has burned one acre and is slowly growing.

KHTS will add more information about this incident as it becomes available.

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Forward Progress Stopped On Placerita Canyon Fire, At Least 4 Acres Burned (VIDEO) - KHTS Radio

JPMorgan Chase & Co.s Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said China has made huge progress on market reforms and he would like to increase his firms businesses in the nation.

The New York-based JPMorgan is hoping to get a corporate bond license in China and would consider another joint venture in Asias biggest economy, Dimon said in an interview with Bloomberg Televisions Stephen Engle in Beijing. As Chinas leaders remain on track with financial and trade reforms, Dimon said he sees full yuan convertibility in the next five to 10 years.

Dimon, 61, said in a Bloomberg Television interview last month he remains optimistic about the global economy and the prospects for regulatory reform under U.S. President Donald Trump. He said Japan is growing faster than it has in 15 years, Europe is doing well, and that America is chugging along.

Photographer: Christophe Morin/Bloomberg

In April, JPMorgan beat analysts first-quarter profit estimates on better-than-expected trading results and lending margins. Trading revenue rose for a fourth quarter, the longest streak in at least a decade, with a 17 percent advance in fixed income and a surprise increase for equities. It will be hard to gain further share in fixed income, Dimon said last month.

JPMorgan's Dimon on China, Paris Accord, U.S. Economy

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JPMorgan's Dimon Says China Has Made 'Huge Progress' on Reforms - Bloomberg