Category Archives: Progress

Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., visited the University of Virginia law School today (Feb. 19, 1937), discussed the courses offered here and took application blanks away with him, it was announced by Dr. George Boardman Eager, dean of the law school. It has been reported for some time that young Roosevelt was considering entering the University next year but Dr. Eager stated that he had no communication from the Roosevelt family until he was visited this morning.

The Daily Progress account went on: Roosevelt visited the Monticello Hotel this morning but did not register for a room, employees there said.

A day earlier, The Daily Progress acknowledged the rumors swirling about town of the presidents son considering UVa. Roosevelt and his fiance Ethel du Pont had been spotted in town, and seen by passengers on the Florida-New York train.

Roosevelt Jr. did enroll in the School of Law at UVa that fall and went on to earn his Juris Doctorate degree in 1940. It was at his graduation that his father, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, delivered his famous Stab in the Back speech, criticizing Italys entry into the war. Soon after graduation, Roosevelt was commissioned in the U.S. Navy and following WW II, assumed his law career. He also served on President Harry S. Trumans committee on civil rights, and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

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FDR visits UVa law school on this day in 1937 - The Daily Progress

Work continues for the Garfield County Sheriffs Office on a K-9 Training Facility on its grounds at West Oxford.

Its still a work in progress, Sheriff Jerry Niles said. Were waiting for the weather to warm up and finish up the concrete.

The facility occupies the northeast portion of the property on Oxford and work is being done in two phases.

We have concrete to pour for the kennels and we have some fencing to finish up, he said.With that work done, Niles said phase one should be entirely complete.

Were going to add electricity to the building and were going to put up some interior walls for training building searches and simulation training, the sheriff said. Were also going to have an area to do some corrections on the dogs for scenario-based training.

Some of the stuff were doing ourselves, Niles said. Theyre doing it off duty. Were trying to keep the costs as low as we can.

Last February, the Garfield County Sheriffs Office received a $15,000 donation from Ray Davis to get the project underway.

Its been one of our longterm goals, to have a regional training facility, Niles said. Its basically a facility that the northwest region, north-central region, will have thats accessible 24/7. When we include our classroom training facility for those officers, I think we offer a lot more for our K-9s, not just for our K-9s but all K-9s, in the area for dealing with training issues.

Niles said those wanting to make a contribution to construction of the facility can do so by mailing donations to the Garfield County Police K-9 Association, a 501(c)(3) entity, at216 W. Oxford, Enid, OK 73702.

He said contributions made to theGarfield County Police K-9 Associationare tax deductible.

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Sheriff: K-9 training facility is a work in progress - Enid News & Eagle

Kamari Murphys jumpers were two of the positive signs for UM in its win over Clemson. (Getty Images)

CORAL GABLES Miami would like to have JaQuan Newton on the floor.

While hes suspended, however, the Hurricanes have proven more than capable of winning.

UM won its second game in a row without its junior point guard, beating Clemson 71-65 at the Watsco Center in a vital chance for both teams to add to their NCAA tournament resumes.

The Hurricanes (18-8, 8-6 ACC) offset the absence of Newton, a talented scorer who can break down the stingiest of defenses, by producing four players in double figures: senior forward Kamari Murphy (career-high 15), senior guard Davon Reed (14), sophomore center Ebuka Izundu (12) and sophomore forward Anthony Lawrence (10). Freshman guard Bruce Brown had nine points.

Miami needed everyone to contribute in a tight game, which it led by one possession for most of the first half, and two scores by most of the second. Its largest lead was eight.

We all play for each other, said Murphy. If everyone plays their role, well get the win. Whoever steps up that day, well take it.

What coach Jim Larranaga liked more: his team had more assists (19) and fewer turnovers (seven) Saturday than in any one of their ACC games this year. That result came against a Clemson team that leads the ACC in steals.

Brown, Reed and Lawrence each finished with five assists. Larranaga was beaming about some of those passes afterward.

Lawrence threw one behind his head to Murphy for a first-half lay-up. Freshman guard D.J. Vasiljevic stole the ball, read the fast-break defense and dropped it to Lawrence for a slam. With 1:34 left and Miami up three, Reed drove baseline and hooked a pass to the top of the key to Brown for a three-pointer. Ballgame.

Nineteen assists, Larranaga said. I like em all.

The crowd of 6,987 liked when Murphy, a 6-foot-8 redshirt senior known for defense and dunks, showed he has a little offensive game. He hit a jumper early, and later used a pump-fake, then Euro-stepped his way to the basket for two points. He rattled home another jumper on the next possession.

Teams have got to change their scouting report now, said a smiling Murphy, who made a career-best seven shots on nine attempts, and led Miami in rebounds (nine). He admitted the Euro-step was just instinct I dont think thats part of my game.

Murphy would like to have the soft lefty jump-hook of his 6-10 frontcourt mate, Izundu, whom he said scores easiest out of anyone on the team. After early-season foul trouble plagued him, Izundu is provingit. He scored 13 points in his first nine conference games, but is averaging 8.8 in his last five, beginning with a career-high 16 on Feb. 4 at North Carolina State.

Vasiljevic, a 6-2 guard from Australia, has shot mostly assisted 3s so far. But Larranaga said he attacks the basket in practice, and was quite satisfied when Vasiljevic (five points) scored Saturday by splitting a double-team and throwing an off-balance floater at the rim.

He also noted 6-10 freshman forward Dewan Huell (six points), a former McDonalds high school All-American battling a foot injury,called his own name on a play called Chin Rip, where he scored on an up-and-under layup through contact.

Were making a lot of progress, Larranaga said. Young guys. You just dont know their timetable. Bruce Brown was ready by the time the season began. Then youve got guys like Dewan, who really needed to add strength. D.J. needed to play against the fast, quick athlete. In one of our early practices, I forget what Dewan did, but D.J. said, Yeah, we dont have those kind of dunks in Australia.'

I think our upperclassmen have played well all year, but our freshmen and sophomores are gaining more confidence.

Reed, Miamis steadiest player, grabbed seven boards and played excellent defense on Clemsons 6-7 star Jaron Blossomgame (17.3 points per game), who made 13 of his last 27 threes entering the game. He missed all five he took Saturday and scored 16 points. The Tigers didnt make a 3 in the second half (0-for-8) and finished 3-of-17.

That defense will help Miami on Monday at Virginia, currently ranked No. 14 and one of three ranked teams Miami will face in its final four games. The Hurricanes host No. 12 Duke on Saturday and finish on the road at Virginia Tech (Feb. 27) and at No. 17 Florida State (March 4). If they win one of those, it will greatly boost their resume heading into the ACC tournament (March 7-11 in Brooklyn, N.Y.).

We dont want to think too far down the line, but every game is crucial, Murphy said. We want to have a postseason. Youve always got to protect home court.

For Clemson, Saturdays loss struck a major blow. The Tigers (14-12, 4-10) have a few wins in a loaded ACC, and the fifth-toughest schedule according to KenPom.com, but are now 2-6 on the road in conference play.

Not for me to say, coach Brad Brownell said when asked what the loss did to his tournament chances. We lost the game to a top-50 RPI team. I dont think it does much.

Both teams were hot to start, each opening 6-for-7 and 13-for-20 from the floor. Thats typical for Clemson, which was ranked 27th in offensive efficiency by KenPom.com. The Hurricanes, stingy defensively all year, settled in and held the Tigers 10 points below their season average.

Clemson cut it to two points with 11:11, and one point with 7:43, but Reed and Lawrence sank threes in response both times.

Making both free throws, making a big three, a timely shot, Brownell said. We just didnt get any momentum-type plays in the second half.

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Basketball: Miami Hurricanes showing progress in critical win over Clemson - MyPalmBeachPost (blog)

Progress is being made in the renovation projects underway at the Willowick and Willoughby branches of the Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library.

Contractors report that they are on budget and about 45 percent finished. They are also on schedule for a late May completion date, said library Executive Director Rick Werner.

A discovery on the upper level of the Willoughby branch led to a slight change in design, when contractors uncovered a small piece of history one of the original brick exterior walls of the library.

The original structure of the Willoughby branch was one of the many Carnegie Libraries built across the country between the 1880s and 1920s.

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Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnate at the turn of the century, provided start-up funding to communities that were able to sustain a library on their own after he made the initial investment, said Willoughby Library Manager Debbie Mullen.

Willoughby was one of those fortunate communities and our library was built in 1909, she said.

Many of the Carnegie characteristics were lost as the structure of the library evolved over time to meet the need of patrons.

Renovations in the early 1960s to make the library compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act led to the loss of the grand stairway and the traditional Carnegie roof, Werner said.

Without adding much time to the work schedule or affecting the budget, contractors have found a way to incorporate the wall into the final design.

This is actually a wall from the original structure and its kind of neat to feature that in the library, Werner said. Its pretty well preserved from having been covered by the additions. It hasnt been weathered or anything, so we are going to leave this wall brick.

The wall is on the upper level, where the remodeled and expanded children and young adults sections will be located.

The previous young adult/teen section was not very big and it was stuck out in the middle of the rest of the library, Werner said.

Our experience with teens is that they like to have their own space and like to be by themselves, he said. We want them by themselves, but we want to keep an eye on everything going on in the library.

The architect designed a glass-enclosed teen area which will be complete with a couple of gaming systems for young adults to use.

For the first time, the library will have a space completely dedicated to teens, which is a really important group for libraries to reach out to, Werner said.

With the newly renovated teen section, the library might be able to expand its programming geared toward teens, Mullen said.

The library, which is mostly landlocked and unable to be expanded out in any direction, is looking to use the space they have in the most efficient way.

Basically, this renovation project is re-allocation of space in a way that makes more sense, Mullen said.

In addition to vastly expanding the children and young adults sections, the libraries in both Willowick and Willoughby will be increasing the number of computers available for public use, with Willoughby actually doubling the number of computers it currently has.

The buildings will be wi-fi-enabled for patrons who bring in their own devices and will have plenty of charging stations for patrons to use for their electronics, Werner said.

The one thing that the library is not expanding on is the number of self-checkout kiosks.

One of the things we did think about as we were planning both renovations is that we heard from the community and our staff that people actually like to deal with people, Werner said. Whereas some people like dealing with the self-checkout, there is still a very large group of people who like the interaction and the people on our staff like to work with the public.

The libraries realize they are going to take a hit on circulation this year as they dont have everything accessible, but, according to Werner, thats one of the prices to pay as renovations take place.

The goal is to be ready before schools let out and summer programming begins.

The library is on budget for renovations, with $2.2 million, including a contingency if a few things cost more than the budget allowed, Werner said.

The public can view renovation updates on the W-E Public Library website at http://www.we247.org, which includes a link to its Facebook page with updates.

Our board is pleased, Werner said. Our board is very focused on making sure that we finish this in a quick and timely manner and on budget, and right now we are accomplishing both of those goals.

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Willoughby-Eastlake libraries make progress on renovations - News-Herald.com

Lake County election officials likely will learn Monday if their efforts so far to find a bipartisan resolution to consolidating the county's small precincts will be enough to stop a push by the Indiana Legislature to force their hand.

The House Elections and Apportionments Committee is expected Monday to review efforts made by local election officials to reach an agreement on how to consolidate small precincts and stop the progress of a bill aimed at forcing Lake County to consolidate precincts with under 600 active voters.

Elections Board Director Michelle Fajman said the small precinct committee created by the Board of Elections met Wednesday and made some progress but that did not include consensus on the number at which precincts should be consolidated.

"We agreed anything over 1,200 should be split. We all agreed to move the date to Feb. 15 to determine active voters. We did not come down to a conclusion on the lower end number," Fajman said. "We made some progress."

Dan Dernulc, chair of the Lake County Republican Party, said he received a report from the Republican committee members and acknowledge a compromise had been reached regarding the 1,200-voter threshold to split precincts and the date of Feb. 15 for use to pull the active voter count.

He said he is uncertain the two sides can reach an agreement on the number at which precincts should be consolidated. Dernulc said he thinks the best offers have been presented and there is still no consensus.

"I think there is still a big gap. I don't know if we will ever come to some type of resolution," Dernulc said.

A report of what has so far been accomplished was sent to the Elections and Apportionments Committee for consideration Feb. 13. A second similar piece of legislation entered in the Senate also has been introduced and is set for committee hearings soon.

The Lake County small precinct committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday prior to the regularly scheduled 10 a.m. board meeting. Fajman said what steps the committee next takes will depend on what action the Elections and Apportionments Committee takes.

Carrie Napoleon is a freelancer for the Post-Tribune

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Committee updates Legislature on precinct consolidation progress - Chicago Tribune

COLUMBIA, MO. Three weeks from Sunday the mens basketball NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed, a day the Southeastern Conference hopes will mark tangible progress for a sport the league keeps trying to improve with only subtle results.

If the tournament field is the ultimate measure of a leagues fitness, the SEC has fallen behind on Selection Sunday. The league has landed only three teams in the NCAA bracket three of the last four years. With 14 selections overall the last four years, the SECs total ranks seventh among Division I conferences, behind the Big Ten (27), Big 12 (26), Pac-12 (25), ACC (23), Big East (23) and Atlantic 10 (15). Eight of those 14 SEC teams won no more than one game in their tournament appearances from 2013-16.

ESPNs latest bracket projection has four SEC teams in the field Kentucky and Florida as 3 seeds, South Carolina as a 7 and Arkansas as an 11 but thats still behind the countrys top conferences. ESPN predicts the ACC with nine teams, the Big 12 and Big Ten with seven, the Big East with six and the Pac-12 with five.

However the bracket unfolds on March 12, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey believes the leagues efforts to upgrade the sport have made progress.

This year you look at the fact we have three ranked teams at this time of the year and, the number varies, but about six in the top 50, Sankey said in a phone interview this week. Thats a step forward from where we were last year. Thats not our destination, but its a step forward. Our teams, our coaches, our campus leaders deserve a lot of credit.

What would the SEC consider a satisfactory number of NCAA bids?

I guess 14 is too lofty a goal, Sankey joked. A step forward would be four, but I dont predict thats a destination. Weve still got a lot of basketball to play. Over time I think our expectation ought to be much higher.

In the past year the SEC has addressed the sport with a number of moves. Last year, Dan Leibovitz was hired as associate commissioner for basketball and former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese as a special consultant. The SEC also mandated nonconference scheduling measures based on RPI rankings. Teams upgraded their schedules this year but still struggled against the other power conferences. SEC teams are 19-35 against the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East and Pac-12. Thanks to 5-5 split in the recent SEC/Big 12 Challenge, the conference owns an 8-7 season record against the Big 12.

Earlier this year, SEC teams lost 20 nonconference games to teams outside of the six major conferences, though some were to perennial mid-major powers: Florida and Tennessee lost to Gonzaga; Alabama and Vanderbilt lost to Dayton; Louisiana State lost to Virginia Commonwealth and Wichita State. SEC teams also lost nonconference games to teams with triple-digit RPI rankings: Lehigh, UCF and Oakland. Then theres Missouri. The Tigers own the leagues worst nonconference losses, three to teams with RPI rankings of 184 or worse: Lipscomb, Eastern Illinois and North Carolina Central.

It still bothers me that I dont think our league gets the respect that it deserves, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said earlier this month. We talk about it at our coaches meetings: We need people talking up our league. When I was in the Big 12 (at Texas) we needed announcers talking up our league.

At the beginning of the year, he added, everyone kept asking, Are we a year or two away? We were close a year ago. Coming down the stretch with two or three weeks (left) there were seven teams mentioned for the tournament. Because the league was good enough to beat up on each other and the perception was the league wasnt good enough it seemed to hurt the league.

Barnes, whose Volunteers (14-12, 6-7) host Missouri (7-18, 2-11) at noon Saturday, is one of four second-year coaches around the league whos delivered progress. With one more win, the Vols will match their total from last year. Tennessee is among the first four bubble teams just outside the bracket in ESPNs latest projections. Florida (21-5) and Mississippi State (14-11) have matched their win totals from last season under second-year coaches Mike White and Ben Howland, respectively. Alabama (15-10) has five SEC road wins under second-year coach Avery Johnson and needs three wins overall to match last years total.

With more SEC teams making splashy hires Barnes and Howland arrived as established power conference head coaches last year other schools that enter the coaching market figure to feel pressure to follow suit. Missouri and Louisiana State could be making changes this offseason. Mizzous Kim Anderson is just 8-41 against SEC foes in three seasons, while Johnny Jones has LSU (9-16, 1-12) at the bottom of the league standings a year after failing to capitalize on the addition of Ben Simmons, the No. 1 pick in last summers NBA draft.

Whatever happens next at both schools, the SEC will be watching closely from its home offices in Birmingham, Ala.

Our coaching hires are critically important, Sankey said. In one way stability and continuity is of great value, but the reality is coaches change. You look at Bruce Pearl, whos building a program at Auburn. Rick Barnes is in his second year at Tennessee. Ben Howland, Mike White, Bryce Drew (at Vanderbilt) and Avery Johnson as being the most recent and have all shown progress. Theres a building effort.

MISSOURI at TENNESSEE

When Noon

Where Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tenn.

Series Missouri leads 6-5; last meeting: Feb. 13, 2016, MU 75, Tennessee 64

TV, radio SEC Network, KTRS (550 AM)

Records: Missouri is 7-18, 2-11 SEC; Tennessee is 14-12, 7-5

About the Tigers Mizzou takes its 32-game road losing streak to Knoxville, where its 2-3 all-time and 0-2 since joining the SEC. The Tigers are coming off Wednesdays 57-54 home loss to Alabama, which snapped a two-game winning streak at Mizzou Arena. Junior forward Jordan Barnett had scored 23 points in consecutive games before scoring just five against Alabama while missing 10 of 12 shots. Barnes played one season at Texas (2014-15) under current Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. For the first time in SEC play sophomore guard Terrence Phillips finished with just one assist in Wednesdays game. He scored six points and turned the ball over three times. Sophomore forward Kevin Puryear is shooting a team-best 43.5 percent from 3-point range in SEC games, which would rank No. 3 in the league if qualified for the rankings with more attempts.

About the Volunteers Against one of the nations toughest schedules, Tennessee is one win away form last years total and last month logged impressive wins against Kentucky and Kansas State. The Vols have since lost three of four, including Tuesdays 25-point loss at Kentucky. Senior guard Robert Hubbs III leads the Vols with 14 points per game. Freshman forward Grant Williams adds 12.3 points per game and a team-best 5.4 rebounds. UT ranks No. 296 in Division I in average height and starts only one player taller than 6-5. Barnes is 11-8 all-time against Missouri: 1-0 at Clemson, 10-7 at Texas and 0-1 at Tennessee.

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SEC basketball shows progress but has room for growth - STLtoday.com

Durham, N.C. As work continues on the East End Connector in Durham, a project decades in the making that will ultimately link Interstates 40 and 85, some in areas around the construction are worried it will make traffic worse.

When the connector opens to traffic in the summer of 2019, it will tie the Durham Freeway to I-85 with big, freeway-style interchanges. It's designed to get traffic off secondary roads.

North Carolina Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Abbott says a mild winter is helping crews make progress.

"It's a very big deal for Durham because, once it is finished, that's going to get a direct connection to basically the East Coast," Abbott said.

"A lot of the work right now is bridge work. This project is going to involve construction of about 16 bridges. We're even building a detour bridge for a railroad."

Engineers say that, once it happens, it should help relieve congestion on local roads.

Cheyne Burwell says he's worried that might not be the case.

"People coming in from Granville County, from Wake Forest, are going to continue to use these secondary roads that are not built for this bandwidth of traffic," he said.

"Sherron Road is really difficult. There are times I can barely get out of my home to get to work, and there have been days where I've had to turn around and just work from home."

Burwell says he's hopeful that the DOT will expand other roads on his side of town.

DOT officials said they believe the East End Connector will go a long way to solving many of the area's traffic troubles.

As work continues over the spring and summer, crews will keep travel lanes open in the evening when the Durham Bulls play home games.

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Mild winter helping crews make significant progress on East End Connector - WRAL.com

It may not come as a total surprise: with the upcoming VIV Asia show in Bangkok, Thailand, the first edition of Pig Progress has a strong Asian flavour. Worth taking a look!

So what is new at this edition of VIV Asia? That question is key in the article previewing the largest international show in agribusiness for South East Asia, on page 10. Pig Progress editor Vincent ter Beek looks ahead to Thailand, a country that is still in mourning over the loss of its King Bhumibol.

Nevertheless, Thailand is doing well with regard to agriculture. As Dr John Strak explains, Thailand can be called a tiger cub economy, and the country is looking to make that big leap forward in case a zone free of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) can be created. Read all about it on page 12.

The interview by Pig Progress staff with Jumrat Parnpiansil, owner of a Thai livestock equipment company, almost reads like a feel-good story. He visited VIV Asia by accident years ago, and has grown out to become a regular at many international agriculture exhibitions. The interview can be found at pages 14 and further.

Jumrat Parnpiansil at his company's doser, at display at EuroTier 2016. Photo: Vincent ter Beek

More on Asia as from page 20, as Pig Progress editorial staff were allowed to take a look at one of the key centres of development for the large agribusiness Da Bei Nong, Chinese for Great Agriculture of the North.

Recently the business decided to venture into pig production (target: 100 million finishers by 2025) and we visited one of the first outcomes of this ambitious project.

Video created by: Rose Burgin

Antibiotics also take an important place in this edition. European researchers took a closer look at antibiotics usage in 4 European countries (Sweden, Belgium, Germany and France).

Comparing is only possible when measuring usage is going exactly similar, they thought and that process was used by this team. Many small steps for this team, but a giant step for a more prudent use of antibiotics. Read more on page 6.

This pig - not part of the study- receives antibiotics through an injection. Photo: Hans Prinsen

A very detailed and technical contribution this month comes from authors Wang Wei and Joris Michiels from the University of Ghent, Belgium. They explain in detail the reason why a good gut permeability is at the basis of good gut health and eventually good pig health. Read more at page 24.

For piglets, the gut can be under stress as a result of weaning and E.Coli infections. Photo: Ronald Hissink

Several yeast derivatives can enhance each other that in short has been one of the results of ongoing research at Lallemand Animal Nutrition. The company for a while has been searching for purpose-made products for the livestock industry, rather than using yeast derivatives that were originally by-products.

Outcomes are discussed by Bruno Bertaud and David Saornil, on page 26.

The phenomenon of damaged chromosomes receives ample attention in another informative article by breeding and genetics author Benny van Haandel. He dives into the topic, explaining why damaged chromosomes can sometimes have an effect on genetic programmes and reproductive outcomes. More on this on page 30.

structure of DNA with damaged chromosomes. Photo: Oleksandr Marynchenko / Dreamstime.com

What do colostrum and Trump have in common? They are both topic of a column in this issue of Pig Progress. Bimonthly columnist Dr Monique Pairis-Garcia of The Ohio State University wonders what may the new US president Donald Trump bring for animal welfare? Read her answer on page 34.

Regular columnist John Gadd has a few more words to say on colostrum and launches the A to Z on colostrum on page 8.

To read all the articles in this issue, go to the magazine overview page and sign up with your current website login.

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Latest edition of Pig Progress goes to Asia - Pig Progress (registration) (blog)

Michigan players have spoken regularly during the past two years about how they believe their new coaching staffs professional approach to running the team was getting them ready for a future in football. NFL scouts evidently are starting to agree.

Fourteen former Wolverines received invites to the NFL combine at the end of the month, setting a school record and lending some credence to one of the football program's major recruiting pitches. Michigan, which will have more players at the event than any other team, matches Ohio States 14-man contingent from a year ago. So add one more data point to the argument that Jim Harbaugh and company are slowly closing the gap on their rival in Columbus.

Starting at the top, the program's NFL experience has been a much-discussed selling point since Harbaugh's arrival. He had a decorated pro career as a player, and when he took the Michigan job, he brought several coaches to Ann Arbor who helped him lead the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl. Seven of the 10 coaches on staff have played and/or coached in the NFL.

Secondary coaches Mike Zordich and Brian Smith share common roots with the Philadelphia Eagles. Together they helped send four of their defensive backs to the combine this year -- five if you include Jabrill Peppers, who spent a healthy amount of time playing a safety role for the nations top passing defense last season.

On the other side of the ball, Michigan added two new staff members with experience as NFL offensive coordinators in the past several weeks. Pep Hamilton, most recently of the Cleveland Browns, replaced Jedd Fisch as the teams passing-game coordinator. Michael Johnson, who coached Harbaugh at the tail end of his playing career, is expected to take a support staff role for the Wolverines in the very near future.

Some of the credit for this years deep draft class belongs to former coach Brady Hoke. He and his staff recruited all 14 of the players on their way to Indianapolis this month. Not for nothing, but Hokes first two recruiting classes in Ann Arbor had almost identical rankings to Harbaughs first two classes. Hoke was 19-7 on the field in those first two seasons. Harbaugh is 20-6. The progress feels different, though, because of the obvious development many of Hokes recruits have undergone since the new staff's arrival.

Thats why the huge group headed to the NFL combine is as good of a sign as any in the past two offseasons that the program is in fact closing the gap on their Big Ten rivals since hiring a new coaching staff. Harbaugh has done plenty of things to make Michigan more attractive since his arrival. He spearheaded the fundraising for a planned $21 million weight room renovation that the universitys board of regents will vote on this week. He helped secure a unique apparel contract with Jumpman, and hes kept the football program squarely in the spotlight through one device or another for much of the past two years.

None of this, of course, means much of anything if Michigan cant translate off-field progress into wins on the field against the likes of Ohio State and other conference championship contenders. As nice as it is to have 14 players heading to the NFL combine, this isnt the trip to Lucas Oil Stadium that anyone had in mind at the start of the 2016 season. Its another tangible sign of the coaching staff producing results on one of their goals. Bigger goals exist, but for mid-February the combine announcement is a victory.

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Combine invites are another sign of progress at Michigan - Big Ten ... - ESPN (blog)

President Donald Trump addressed a variety of topics during a Feb. 16, 2017, news conference in the East Room of the White House.

Were tracking more than 100 of President Donald Trumps campaign pledges on our Trump-O-Meter. In a lengthy press conference Feb. 16, Trump listed several actions hes taken since his Jan. 20 inauguration to meet these promises.

Heres a quick rundown of the promises he listed. (We fact-checked the press conference in a separate article.)

"We've withdrawn from the job-killing disaster known as Trans Pacific Partnership."

We rated this a Promise Kept after Trump signed a presidential memoranda officially directing the United States to withdraw from the free trade deal. The TPP, negotiated by former President Barack Obama, had yet to be ratified by Congress and was unlikely to be. Trump's withdrawal is a largely symbolic move but underscores the new administration's very different outlook on global trade.

"We've imposed a hiring freeze on nonessential federal workers."

We rated this promise In the Works, after Trump signed a presidential memorandum imposing a hiring freeze on federal employees, with exceptions for employees in national security, public safety and the military sectors. But the real measure of success for this pledge will come down to how much he is able to reduce the scope of the government through attrition.

"We've issued a game-changing new rule that says for each one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated."

We rated this a Promise Kept, when he signed a Jan. 30 executive order directing that for every new regulation, two be repealed. Several regulation categories are exempt from Trump's order, including the military, foreign affairs and personnel management.

"We've begun preparing to repeal and replace Obamacare."

We rated this claim In the Works after Trump signed a broad executive order to minimize the laws economic burden on his first day in office. However, the executive order did not repeal the former presidents signature health care law or offer executive branch agencies any new authority with regard to the policy.

"We have also taken steps to begin construction of the Keystone Pipeline and Dakota Access Pipelines."

We rated Trumps promise to build the Keystone XL pipeline In the Works after he signed a presidential memorandum advancing the construction of the pipeline on Jan 25. He also signed another memorandum ordering the Army to "review and approve" the Dakota Access Pipeline. Both represent direct reversals of actions taken by the Obama administration, which took steps to halt construction of both pipelines.

We are "now in the process of beginning to build a promised wall on the southern border."

We rated this promise as In the Works after Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 25 calling for the walls "immediate construction of a physical wall." Trump didnt mention in the press conference a key component of his promise that Mexico would pay for for the wall. Mexican government officials say the country wont pay.

"We've ordered a crackdown on sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with federal law and that harbor criminal aliens."

Trump promised to "end" sanctuary cities during his campaign. We rated this promise In the Works after he signed an executive order on Jan. 25 directing the attorney general's office and the secretary of homeland security to withhold grant money from cities that protect undocumented immigrants.

"We have taken decisive action to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of our country."

Trump promised to suspend immigration from terror-prone places. We rated this promise In the Works when he signed an executive order Jan. 27 temporarily halting entry into the United States of people from seven countries impacted by terrorism. The order is currently facing significant legal challenges.

"I've started by imposing a five-year lobbying ban on White House officials...

We rated this promise a Compromise. Trump signed an executive order Jan. 28 that will restrict some of the lobbying White House officials can do after they leave his team. But like most presidential crackdowns on ethics, it has caveats. For example, the order only bans White House officials from lobbying their former agency, not from becoming lobbyists.

and a lifetime ban on lobbying for a foreign government."

We rated this a Promise Kept. Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 28 banning administration officials from ever lobbying the United States on behalf of a foreign government.

"I have kept my promise to the American people by nominating a justice of the United States Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch, who is from my list of 20."

We rated this a Promise Kept. Not even two weeks into his presidency, Trump nominated Gorsuch to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court. Gorsuch, a conservative, is currently a judge for the Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit based in Colorado.

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Donald Trump touts promise progress at press conference - PolitiFact