Category Archives: Progress

DCCA News

By Marilyn Delk

The Metropolitan Opera opened its 2021-2022 season with Fire Shut Up in My Bones, a work composed by Terence Blanchard based on a memoir by journalist Charles Blow; interesting but the most intriguing component underlying this announcement is that real progress is being made, slow as that progress may have been. This production is the first opera written by a black composer ever staged at the Met in its 138 years of existence!

Blanchard expressed his feelings about this disturbing fact by saying, The arts are supposed to be things that bring us together, that throw away all of those notions of bigotry and intolerance, right? So it breaks my heart to think that William Grant Still approached the Met, and was turned away. Over a 20-year span, William Grant Still, known as the dean of African American composers, submitted three operas to the Met, all deemed not suitable for performance by the company.

Still was the first African American composer to have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company, and the first to have an opera performed on national television, yet his work was not suitable for our nations most prestigious opera company! He composed nearly 200 works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, over 30 choral works, plus art songs, chamber music, and works for solo instruments; when he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl in 1936, he became the first African American to conduct a major American orchestra in a performance of his own work. He received three Guggenheim Fellowships in music composition, was awarded honorary doctorates from Oberlin College, Wilberforce University, Howard University, and several more prestigious institutions, and in 1976 his Los Angeles home was designated a Historic Cultural Monument but the Met found his work amateurish and uninteresting. Hmmm could there be a racial component to this?

However, in this case, the Met reached out to black musician and composer Terence Blanchard about presenting his opera. Blanchard was raised in a New Orleans home filled with opera, but discovered his passion for jazz after starting to play trumpet at age nine; his highly successful and diverse career as a jazz trumpeter and composer has won acclaim from music lovers around the world, with his work earning numerous prestigious awards. When considering subject matter for his first opera, Blanchard says that he was drawn to Charles Blows autobiography, explaining that he related to the notion of being isolated in your own community.

Charles Blow grew up in a poor, dysfunctional household in a small Louisiana town, earned a scholarship to Grambling University, and is now a highly respected op-ed columnist for The New York Times. His autobiographys title, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, comes from a Biblical quote in the book of Jeremiah: Within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones. Blanchard expertly translated the emotions expressed in the book into music that stirs emotions in listeners of all races and ethnic origins.

One of Blows sentences which especially moved Blanchard provides a high point in the opera: There once was a boy of peculiar grace. Blanchards lyric then goes on to say that this is a dangerous existence for a man of my race, and The South is no place for a boy of peculiar grace. The song ends on a hopeful note, as the boy puts his questions aside and moves to a brighter future.

The Mets first presentation of an opera written by a black composer was warmly received, selling out all performances which were often interrupted by standing ovations while winning high critical acclaim; the production has been praised as being unlike any other opera. Blanchard says, Its time for us to move on . Im trying to find the sound for my generation. And the Met has said that it would like to commission the black composer to write another opera. So after 138 years, a venerable elite institution is progressing toward a more inclusive future.

Marilyn Delk is the former executive director of the Darke County Center for the Arts and can be reached at [emailprotected] Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.

More:

Tale of artistic progress in honor of black history month - The Daily Advocate

You know your health system or organization needs to focus on physician well-being to curb burnout, but how do you know if what you are doing is making a difference?

In a JAMA Viewpoint column, How to Measure Progress in Addressing Physician Well-being Beyond Burnout, Christine A. Sinsky, MD, the AMAs vice president of professional satisfaction, and her co-authors offer suggestions on how to evaluate whether specific interventions an organization has taken to address occupational distress and enhance professional satisfaction are working.

Demonstrating outcomes is crucial for understanding the effectiveness of programs to address physician well-being and for making the case for continued investment in well-being to clinic, hospital, system and national leadership, the viewpoint says. As with the patient safety and quality movements, intermediate outcomes (upstream of the big, important outcomes such as mortality or, in this case, burnout) will be needed to help evaluate specific interventions and assess progress on efforts to enhance physician well-being.

Six useful metrics

The National Academy of Medicine in 2019 laid out priority areas for enhancing clinician well-being, including creating positive work and learning environments, and reducing administrative tasks. The viewpoint suggests that the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has an opportunity to develop measures that correspond to each of the focus areas.

The AHRQ could, for example, recommend choosing from a core set of validated, evidence-based intermediate measures in their funded studies focused on physician experience. This could facilitate more standardized evaluation of interventions to improve well-being, the viewpoint says.

From a table accompanying the viewpoint, here are six examples of intermediate metrics that correspond to key focus areas for enhancing physician well-being that can be measured from existing data or newly collected data.

Positive work environments

Existing data: Physician turnover rates. The percentage of physicians who complete set amounts of time with their organization. For example, two years, five years or 10 years.

Newly collected data: Team communication, such as the presence of regular team huddles. Team structure, such as how many clinical support staff employees there are per physician. Team function, such as skill level and institutionally allowed scope of work. Team stability, such as the frequency of the same individuals working together.

Positive organizational culture

Newly collected data, new structures: Establish a chief wellness officer with a dedicated resource and budget. This also includes regular measurement of burnout and its precursors.

Additionally, track costs of physician burnout and report to senior leadership. There should also be shared accountability among the executive leadership team for the physician workforces well-being scores.

Positive learning environments

Existing data: Decrease in the number of reports of bias and sexual harassment over time. Percent of positive responses to educational environment responses on the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) Graduation Questionnaire. Increases in percent of positive responses over time.

Newly collected data: Percentage of learners who endorse their clinical preceptors providing regular feedback.

Reducing administrative burden

Existing data: Active EHR time. Time logged into the EHR. Documentation time. Work outside of scheduled clinical hours. Inbox time. Percentage of orders with team contribution.

Newly collected data, new structures: Percentage of prior authorizations completed by a nonphysician team member. Inbox reduction initiative. Policy de-implementation initiative at the institutional level.

Enabling technology solutions

Existing data: Time spent dailytotal and after-hourson the EHR.

Newly collected data: Number of notes written with documentation assistance.

Providing support to clinicians and learners

Existing data: Percentage of trainees and faculty who successfully progress in and graduate from medical training by gender, race, and ethnicity.

Newly collected data: Number of annual visits to confidential, onsite occupational support resource.

Leverage existing data

Using data that organizations are already collecting and minimizing the amount of time spent on data collection is important.

Doing so will allow enhanced understanding of the experiences of work without adding to the numerous measurement requirements already faced by physicians, the viewpoint notes.

Committed to makingphysician burnouta thing of the past, theAMA has studied,and is currently addressing, issues causing and fueling physician burnoutincluding time constraints, technology and regulationsto betterunderstand and reduce the challenges physicians face.

By focusing on factors causing burnout at the system level, the AMA assesses an organizations well-being and offers guidance and targeted solutions to support physician well-being and satisfaction.

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6 ways to measure progress toward physician well-being - American Medical Association

Work can now be done to name Highway 65 in Porterville in honor of Porterville Fire Captain Ramon Raymond Figueroa and Firefighter Patrick Jones.

As part of its consent calendar the council approved a Caltrans permit for the installation of the memorial signs along Highway 65 in honor of Figueroa and Jones, who were killed in the February 18, 2020 fire that destroyed the Porterville Public Library.

The action now paves the way for Highway 65 to be known as the Captain Ramon Figueroa Firefighter Patrick Jones Memorial Highway.

State Senator Melissa Hurtado introduced a resolution last year to name Highway 65 in honor of Figueroa and Jones. The Captain Ramon Figueroa Firefighter Patrick Jones Memorial Highway will run along Highway 65 from Teapot Dome to Pioneer.

The families of Figueroa and Jones were consulted on the preferred memorial highway signage. Caltrans has designated the southbound and northbound locations of the signs.

The city will be financially responsible for the maintenance of the signs should they become damaged or if they need to be replaced. KRC Safety Company, has donated the cost for the signs and their installation.

A dedication ceremony for the Captain Ramon Figueroa Firefighter Patrick Jones Memorial Highway will be held at a still to be determined date.

REDISTRICTING

The Porterville City Council reached a consensus on Tuesday that a map designed by its consultant in the redistricting process, Best, Best and Krieger, be the one that's the frontrunner to be the new map for the five districts the council members represent.

The council could approve introducing an ordinance for the map to be the one that's used at its meeting on February 15. The third public hearing on redistricting was held at Tuesday's meeting and the final public hearing on the matter will be held at the February 15 meeting.

There's still time for anyone from the public to draw their own proposed draft map to be considered. Maps can be drawn at MapPorterville.org where all the information on the redistricting process can be found. Maps need to be drawn by Monday, February 7 to be considered at the February 15 meeting. Final adoption of the map needs to be done by April 17 and then submitted to the county registrar.

The council could still make revisions to the map it has selected if it chooses to do so. One other map drawn by a member of the public was submitted and considered at Tuesday's meeting.

But the council came to a consensus that it favored the map drawn by its consultant. The consultant's map significantly reduced the population deviation of the five districts to less than one percent, well below the 10 percent required threshold. The current population deviation of the districts is above the threshold at 15 percent.

The other map drawn by a member of the public also had a population deviation below the threshold at 5 percent.

But the biggest advantage of the consultant's map is it was able to achieve a population deviation of less than one percent by making minor population changes and keeping the districts virtually the same as they are now.

The map drawn by the member of the public made major population changes, moving large populations from District 2 to Districts 3 and 4. So that would mean many people who would have voted in the November election would have had to wait until 2024.

The new map for the districts will go into effect for the November election and Districts 1 and 2 are up for election in November. Districts 3, 4 and 5 will be up for election in 2024.

Since the consultant's map made little changes as far as who will vote this November, the council favored that map.

Lawana Tate represents District 1 and has said she will run in the November election to stay in her seat. Milt Stowe represents District 2 and announced recently on Kent Hopper's Hopper in the Morning Podcast he won't run for reelection.

One member of the public spoke during the public hearing and that was 75-year-old Rae Dean Strawn, who was taken into handcuffs and into a police car to the Porterville Police Station for not wearing her face mask properly.

Strawn said since the council isn't representing the community the way it should there should be at least 7 districts which would give more community members more of a say since the city is growing.

It's my opinion there needs to be more districts in the city, Strawn said. Right now we have five council men and women that aren't representing our city and getting the job done.

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Progress continues on naming highway in honor of firefighters - Porterville Recorder

There is always room for improvement in everything we do; being open to constructive criticism is a must if you are to improve on your product or service. Think of the progress made in technology year over year. Improvements were driven by the customer experience, needs, and interests. However, aspiring to do better every day should not negate the accomplishments made over time. Our successes need to be honored and celebrated as well.

Much has been said over the past several months about the interactions between those living with mental illness and law enforcement. We have heard about the catastrophic outcomes, including the loss of life for the person living with mental illness and/or addiction, as well as the pronounced trauma experienced by the law enforcement professionals involved. These situations are tragic and deserve a careful examination of the circumstances and the facts. The hope is that we could develop ways to avoid negative outcomes in the future.

At the same time, it is important to recognize the progress made to support those living with mental illness not only during times of crisis, but also when living successful, fulfilling lives in the community. For many years Riverbend Community Mental Health has worked closely with Concord first responders. Riverbends board of directors has been fortunate to have retired N.H. commissioner of safety John Barthelmes, Concord Police Chief Brad Osgood, and John Chisholm, the deputy chief of administration for the Concord Fire Department.All three are integral members of a diverse board addressing several key strategic initiatives, including integrated approaches to treating people in crisis.

We are also grateful for the leadership of Chief Osgood and that of Commissioner of Safety Robert Quinn. They have dedicated countless hours to training their teams on signs and symptoms of mental illness and de-escalation techniques when working with people in psychiatric crisis.In addition, Commissioner Quinn was recently honored for his work in supporting his troopers in managing daily stress, burnout, and critical incident debriefing and post-traumatic stress.

The Mobile Crisis Response Team has been active in Concord for 6 years.In the past three years, Riverbend alone has responded to 11,904 calls to assist someone in psychiatric crisis. The mobile crisis team has been deployed to community locations 1,017 times. Of these calls, 69 were referrals from the police department. Working together we have reduced the need to use force to manage a situation. The other nine community mental health centers in New Hampshire are engaged in similar processes. With the Jan. 1implementation of the Rapid Response Access Point and Rapid Response teams, all of New Hampshire now has access to mobile crisis services.

Although a high percentage of incarcerated people are also living with mental illness, the vast majority of people living with mental illness are not involved in the criminal justice system. They are not violent, they are not dangerous. Consider this: Riverbend serves over 7,000 people a year; 95 percent are living in the community, and most are employed either independently or through the Supported Employment Program. They attend outpatient services, pay taxes, and have families and friends who love them. They deserve to be treated with kindness, compassion, dignity, and respect, like every other person living with any other illness.

We all strive to do better every day. We will continue to work with our law enforcement and other first responder colleagues in a collaborative manner. We will continue to have high expectations of ourselves and the services we offer. People living with mental illness and/or addiction deserve nothing less.

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Commentary: Improving mental health and law enforcement interactions, and recognizing progress made New Hampshire Bulletin - New Hampshire Bulletin

It was not the traditional State of the City address by Dunkirk Mayor Wilfred Rosas we have become accustomed to viewing. Before COVID-19, the event was in Common Council chambers and filled with nearly 100 community and business leaders.

Last week, it was a video a sign of the times. However, there was still plenty to appreciate in his comments.

Most importantly, Rosas has a vision each year that normally begins at the waterfront. With improvements continuing to take place at the most vital of locations in the city, he also turned to infrastructure work that needs maintaining.

Improvements continue to be completed at our water treatment plant, and the consent order project is scheduled to be completed by summer of 2022, Rosas said. This is a huge municipal facility improvement. Again, this consent order started over a decade ago, and Im very pleased this is going to be fully complete. Work is continuing on installing new valves throughout the distribution system to mitigate any further water supply disruptions.

There is no denying Dunkirk has plenty of work to do regarding a rebirth. The good news, especially in the manufacturing sector, is there is progress.

Those are tremendous steps forward for a city that has been trying to find its footing for decades.

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

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DUNKIRK State of the City shows progress | News, Sports, Jobs - Evening Observer

VALLEY FORGE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI) today reported financial results for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2021.

HEADLINES

Roger Perreault, President and Chief Executive Officer of UGI Corporation, stated "This quarter, we navigated the challenging macro-economic environment that provided rising cost inflation and a tight labor market. With this backdrop, UGI reported lower first quarter 2022 adjusted results, which were impacted by unfavorable weather in the U.S. as the country experienced the warmest December on record. AmeriGas reported lower volumes due to weather, the impact of customer service challenges from the prior year after establishing the new operating business model, and the effect of higher commodity prices on customer usage. We also saw significantly higher and unprecedented volatility in commodity prices in Europe that had a negative impact on average LPG unit and energy marketing margins at UGI International. Our natural gas businesses delivered strong results, despite the warmer weather, due to incremental earnings from Mountaineer and higher margin from renewable energy marketing activities.

"Consistent with our past practice, we do not discuss adjusted EPS guidance until the completion of the second fiscal quarter. However, we remain focused on executing our strategy in order to achieve our long-term EPS growth commitment of 6 10%. We have developed a robust plan to leverage our proven capabilities of focused margin and expense management and expect increased benefits as fiscal 2022 progresses due to ongoing expense control and other actions to recover the Q1 shortfall. In addition, there is still a significant portion of the heating season ahead and we are encouraged that January was colder than normal in the U.S.

We continue to advance on our strategy to further invest in renewables and rebalance our business in order to deliver reliable earnings growth. The Stonehenge acquisition that closed in January 2022 represents an important step in both our rebalancing and reliability efforts. This investment is in some of the most prolific production areas in the Appalachian Basin, is immediately accretive to earnings and has stable cash flows underpinned by a long-term contract with minimum volume commitments.

"In December 2021, we were pleased to receive regulatory approval of the intended joint venture with SHV Energy to produce rDME. In addition, we have announced several partnerships related to renewables, with the most recent being a partnership with Vertimass to produce and distribute renewable energy solutions within the U.S. and Europe. Our continued efforts to advance our ESG programs and activities were recognized with the upgrade to AA by MSCI.

KEY DRIVERS OF FIRST QUARTER RESULTS

EARNINGS CALL AND WEBCAST

UGI Corporation will hold a live Internet Audio Webcast of its conference call to discuss the quarterly earnings and other current activities at 9:00 AM ET on Thursday, February 3, 2022. Interested parties may listen to the audio webcast both live and in replay on the Internet at https://www.ugicorp.com/investors/financial-reports/presentations or by visiting the company website https://www.ugicorp.com and clicking on Investors and then Presentations. A telephonic replay will be available from 12:00 PM ET on February 3 through 11:59 PM ET February 10. The replay may be accessed toll free at 855-859-2056 and internationally at +1 404-537-3406, conference ID 9390638.

ABOUT UGI

UGI Corporation is a distributor and marketer of energy products and services. Through subsidiaries, UGI operates natural gas and electric utilities in Pennsylvania, natural gas utilities in West Virginia, distributes LPG both domestically (through AmeriGas) and internationally (through UGI International), manages midstream energy assets in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia and electric generation assets in Pennsylvania, and engages in energy marketing, including renewable natural gas, in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and California, and internationally in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK.

Comprehensive information about UGI Corporation is available on the Internet at https://www.ugicorp.com.

USE OF NON-GAAP MEASURES

Management uses "adjusted diluted earnings per share," a non-GAAP financial measure, when evaluating UGI's overall performance. Management believes that this non-GAAP measure provides meaningful information to investors about UGIs performance because it eliminates the impact of (1) gains and losses on commodity and certain foreign currency derivative instruments not associated with current-period transactions and (2) other significant discrete items that can affect the comparison of period-over-period results. Volatility in net income at UGI can occur as a result of gains and losses on commodity and certain foreign currency derivative instruments not associated with current-period transactions but included in earnings in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP").

Non-GAAP financial measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative to, GAAP and should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, the comparable GAAP measures.

Tables on the last page reconcile net (loss) income attributable to UGI Corporation, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, to adjusted net income attributable to UGI Corporation, and diluted (loss) earnings per share, the most comparable GAAP measure, to adjusted diluted earnings per share, to reflect the adjustments referred to above.

1 Reportable segments earnings before interest expense and income taxes represents an aggregate of our operating segment level EBIT as determined in accordance with GAAP.

USE OF FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains statements, estimates and projections that are forward-looking statements (as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended). Management believes that these are reasonable as of todays date only. Actual results may differ significantly because of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond managements control. You should read UGIs Annual Report on Form 10-K for a more extensive list of factors that could affect results. Among them are adverse weather conditions (including increasingly uncertain weather patterns due to climate change) resulting in reduced demand, and the seasonal nature of our business; cost volatility and availability of all energy products, including propane and other LPG, natural gas, and electricity, as well as the availability of LPG cylinders; increased customer conservation measures; the impact of pending and future legal or regulatory proceedings, inquiries or investigations; liability for uninsured claims and for claims in excess of insurance coverage; political, regulatory and economic conditions in the United States, Europe and other foreign countries, and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations (particularly the euro); the timing of development of Marcellus and Utica Shale gas production; the availability, timing and success of our acquisitions, commercial initiatives and investments to grow our business; our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses and achieve anticipated synergies; the interruption, disruption, failure, malfunction, or breach of our information technology systems, and those of our third-party vendors or service providers, including due to cyber-attack; the inability to complete pending or future energy infrastructure projects; our ability to achieve the operational benefits and cost efficiencies expected from the completion of pending and future transformation initiatives, including the impact of customer disruptions resulting in potential customer loss due to the transformation activities; uncertainties related to global pandemics, including the duration and/or impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the impact of proposed or future tax legislation, including the potential reversal of existing tax legislation that is beneficial to us; and our ability to overcome supply chain issues that may result in delays or shortages in, as well as increased costs of, equipment, materials or other resources that are critical to our business operations.

SEGMENT RESULTS ($ in millions, except where otherwise indicated)

AmeriGas Propane

For the fiscal quarter ended December 31,

2021

2020

Increase (Decrease)

Revenues

$

778

$

666

$

112

17

%

Total margin (a)

$

360

$

394

$

(34

)

(9

) %

Operating and administrative expenses

$

240

$

221

$

19

9

%

Operating income/earnings before interest expense and income taxes

$

86

$

141

$

(55

)

(39

) %

Retail gallons sold (millions)

241

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UGI Reports First Quarter Results and Solid Progress on Rebalancing Strategy - Business Wire

Company announcement no. 2 2022 Holmens Kanal 2 12DK-1092 Kbenhavn KTel. +45 45 14 14 00

3 February 2022

Steady progress driven by good customer activity, strong capital markets performance and solid credit quality Net profit of DKK 12.9 billion and return on equity of 7.6% for the yearProgress with ambitious sustainable finance targets continuesProposed initial dividend of DKK 2 per share. Intention of total 2021 dividend of DKK 7.5

Danske Bank has announced its financial results for 2021.

Carsten Egeriis, Chief Executive Officer, comments on the financial results:

Throughout 2021, our expert advisory services, digital services and sustainable products have resulted in good customer activity. In turn, our business continued to develop positively with total income increasing 4%, and our initiatives to become a more efficient bank resulted in costs decreasing 4%. Our cost/income ratio thus improved significantly from 66% to 60%. We continued to invest in even better customer journeys, all the while also increasing our profitability and our return on equity to 7.6%. Building on this progress, we are making changes in our organisation to further improve the quality and speed of our compliance efforts and to further increase customer focus to ensure a strengthening of our commercial momentum. We are well-positioned to continue our progress and deliver long-term sustainable value creation for our stakeholders.

The annual report is available at danskebank.com. Highlights are shown below:

2021 vs 2020Total income of DKK 42.6 billion (up 4%) Operating expenses of DKK 25.6 billion (down 4%)Loan impairments of DKK 348 million (2020: DKK 7.0 billion)Net profit of DKK 12.9 billion (2020: DKK 4.6 billion)Return on shareholders equity of 7.6% (2020: 2.6%)Strong capital position, with a total capital ratio of 22.4% and a CET1 capital ratio of 17.7%

Changed organisation and updated ambitions towards 2023 and beyondAs 2021 is now behind us, we have reached the mid-point of the period for our transformation to become a better bank with satisfactory results, and we will continue to deliver value for all of our stakeholder groups: customers, employees, society and shareholders. Enhancing our services and products to customers as well as supporting innovation in society will continue to be part of the agenda along with focusing on ensuring employee engagement.

In October 2021, we updated our 2023 ambitions. We confirmed that our business model will allow for a sustainable return on shareholders equity of 8.5-9% in 2023 and 9-10% through the cycle. In addition, we also extended the timeline for reaching a more normalised compliance cost level to 2025 to allow us to sustain the resilience of Danske Bank. With recent progress, we are further strengthening our position to deliver long-term sustainable value creation.

In November 2021, we strengthened our compliance efforts and improved our execution in this area by gathering the overall responsibility for the Financial Crime control environment across Danske Bank end-to-end with Philippe Vollot, our new Chief Administrative Officer.

And in January 2022, we addressed the need to strengthen the commercial momentum of our retail banking activities and build on the strong position we have in relation to business customers by announcing a further finetuning of the organisation. We will adjust our business unit setup to increase customer centricity for our three key customer segments Personal Customers, Business Customers and Large Corporates & Institutions and further strengthen our commercial momentum.

Recovery evident in the Nordic economiesFollowing the gradual reopening of societies and the vaccine roll-out during 2021, the recovery in the Nordic economies became evident, with strong labour markets and consumer spending, albeit also with some inflation fears and scarcity of labour being reported. In Denmark, the recovery is broadly based, and the attention has shifted towards mitigating the risk of overheating. However, despite the fact that most of the population has been vaccinated, we saw the coronavirus on the rise again during the autumn with restrictions being reintroduced over the winter.

At Danske Bank, we are ready to continue supporting our customers with their needs. Even though the economy is doing well, the government support packages contributed to subdued credit demand in the banking sector in Denmark. The upcoming transition to a gradual return to banks offering creditworthy and viable businesses loans on reasonable terms is likely to generate more bank lending from the first half of 2022, thus supporting our income streams.

Credit quality remained strong, and we saw more normalised impairment levels than in 2020.

Diversified business model continued to prove valuableDespite the subdued credit demand in the banking sector in Denmark, our diversified business model continued to prove valuable, with total income increasing 4%. During 2021, we were able to further utilise our platform and strengthen our market position for capital markets-related activities, and our efforts to capitalise on the opportunities for increased investment activity provided by market conditions also paid off.

Net interest income stabilised, compensating for continued margin pressure and lending product mix effects, while our strong capital markets performance and landmark transactions as well as solid business and personal customer activity ensured a very positive development in net fee income. The strong activity in the debt and equity capital markets we have seen in the past quarters continues. Our leading platform has enabled us to capitalise on this trend, and we take a number one position as the leading Nordic bank in terms of volumes across both of these markets, while net trading income declined from the level in 2020 due to lower activity in 2021 along with less positive value adjustments on the derivatives portfolio. Our insurance business continued to develop positively, as income benefited from growth in the underlying business and high investment returns.

Our cost initiatives continue to drive down expenses 4% in 2021 and this remains a priority in order to become an even more efficient and competitive bank. Combined with low impairment charges based on strong credit quality, this led to the return on equity improving from 2.6% in 2020 to 7.6% in 2021.

While our business delivered good growth in many of our segments throughout the year, resulting in total income increasing DKK 1.7 billion, costs have decreased DKK 1 billion. A strong performance in our capital markets activities on the back of solid business and personal customer activity led to a significant increase in net fee income, and this growing momentum comes on top of a more stable development in other income streams. Throughout the year, our initiatives to become an even more efficient bank have resulted in a significant decrease in expenses, and we remain focused on ensuring continuous improvement of our profitability, says Stephan Engels, CFO.

Solid progress on the sustainability agendaOn the sustainability agenda, we made considerable progress during the year, and as an integral part of our strategy, Danske Bank is dedicated to further accelerating these efforts, building on our customers strong performance in the sustainability transition.

In July 2021, we raised our sustainable financing ambitions again and revised our 2023 target from DKK 100 billion to DKK 300 billion. We also raised the bar for investments made by Danica Pension in the green transition, increasing the 2023 target from DKK 30 billion to DKK 50 billion. During 2021, we increased sustainable financing from DKK 102 billion to DKK 192 billion, while investments in the green transition increased from DKK 27 billion to DKK 33.5 billion.

Throughout the year, we supported issuers and investors in a substantial number of transactions, affirming our position as a leading Nordic bank within sustainable finance. Activity was high across business areas, and we are proud to be ranked number one among the Nordic banks within arranging of sustainable bonds as well as number one within arranging of sustainability-linked loans in terms of volumes supported.

Furthermore, we joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, and in doing so, Danske Bank is committed to becoming a net-zero bank by 2050 or sooner. To substantiate this commitment and support our customers in the transition, we have set ambitious 2030 targets for carbon emission reductions related to corporate lending in the key oil and gas, shipping and utilities sectors.

The financial sector plays an important role in the transition towards a more sustainable society, and at Danske Bank, we have continued to support our customers in their green transition with best-in-class sustainable finance products and advisory services. We recognise that we have an obligation as a leading Nordic bank, and with the resources we have at our disposal to contribute to the green transition in the societies that we are a part of. Our ambition is to be at the forefront of this important work, and we will therefore continuously be developing our offerings to meet the growing sustainability needs and expectations of our customers, says Carsten Egeriis.

Dividend for 2021In accordance with Danske Banks dividend policy, Danske Bank intends to pay-out a total dividend of DKK 7.5 per share for 2021, corresponding to 50% of the net profit for the year. The Board of Directors proposes an initial dividend payment of DKK 2 per share to the annual general meeting. The remaining DKK 5.5 per share is intended to be paid out in three tranches following the publication of interim reports in 2022, subject to a decision by the Board of Directors in accordance with the authorisation given to the Board and based on the usual assessment of the banks capital position at the end of each interim period. This approach is taken to preserve the dividend policy of the bank while ensuring a prudent capital management with a high degree of flexibility in light of the Estonia matter, where we remain unable to estimate any potential outcome or timing.

Thus Danske Banks dividend policy remains unchanged, targeting a dividend of 40-60% of net profit.

Outlook for 2022We expect net profit for 2022 to be in the range of DKK 13-15 billion in 2022.

Our outlook is based on an expectation of higher income from our core banking activities in 2022 due to good economic activity and progress towards our 2023 financial ambitions, while expenses are expected to be around DKK 25 billion and impairments are expected to be below normalised levels, says Stephan Engels.

The outlook is subject to uncertainty and depends on economic conditions.

We maintain our ambition for a return on shareholders equity of 8.5-9% in 2023.

Danske Bank

More information about Danske Banks financial results is available at danskebank.com/reports.

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Steady progress driven by good customer activity, strong - GlobeNewswire

When developer Techland added the subtitle "Stay Human" to Dying Light 2, it seemed to signal the team's intentions to rediscover (and showcase) the humanity nestled at the core of the story. Since 2018, the team has made promises about the numerous narrative branches Dying Light 2 players would find in the game. Those branches are there, and they are indeed plentiful, but experiencing them felt equivalent to falling out of a tree and hitting my face on every branch on the way down. While Dying Light 2's most crucial element, first-person parkour, is certainly better than it's ever been in this massive sequel, much of the rest of the game fails to keep up.

Dying Light 2 is set in the fictional Villedor, a new city in the story, and features a fresh, grizzled hero central to its conflict. As a "pilgrim," an outsider perceived as dangerous to the few remaining safe zones in the world, Aiden Caldwell ventures into Villedor in search of his sister Mia, whom he last saw years ago when they were both kids. Through hazy flashbacks that aren't clear enough for even Aiden to rely on, his and Mia's story is poorly delivered early and often. It feels as though simply telling players that Aiden and Mia are siblings is meant to be enough for the player to care about their hopeful reunion, but Techland struggles to show why anyone should be invested in Mia beyond the familial connection. She becomes a living Macguffin, meant to justify Aiden's video gamey escapades as a side-questing superstar leaping across tall buildings in a single bound.

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Now Playing: Dying Light 2 Stay Human Video Review In Progress

Surrounding Aiden is a wide cast of characters who can sometimes be diverse and interesting, but ultimately share one thing in common: poor voice acting. While Aiden's actor, Jonah Scott, does well, and Rosario Dawson deserves some credit for her role as his part-time ally, Lewan, that's about it in terms of voice talent. Other characters try and fail to pull on heartstrings, in part because of the subpar acting, and the less important the quest is, the worse the acting tends to be too. Sometimes the only thing more awkward than how a character said a particular line is that they said it at all. The writing routinely misses the mark.

It doesn't help that the game's tone shifts so frequently that players might experience emotional whiplash. When accepting a wildly silly or deadly serious character for who they are, it's a constant struggle to feel invested in what they're asking of Aiden because they so often come off as wooden and disjointed. It can be difficult to account for precisely how a conversation will be heard in a finished game with so many branching paths, and that can lead to line delivery issues, but Dying Light 2 seems to sidestep the years of progress made in RPGs to address this particular hurdle much to every character's detriment. There was no one I cared to spend time with other than Aiden himself, because he's nearly the only character who sounds like a real person.

Dying Light 2's bad story manages to get even worse by its end, when a final act and frustrating final boss upend any possibility that there would be something to salvage by the game's 50th hour. This is a game that was billed as offering 500 hours of content, largely due to its number of quests and branching paths, but if my job didn't require it, I'd have skipped every cutscene and dialogue option after the first hour or so.

Should you decide to play that way, you'll very likely enjoy your time in Villedor more than I did. That's because, for all of its story woes, the open world and how you explore it are genuinely fun. First-person platforming is a tricky feat, but Techland flexes its muscles and improves on something that was already very good. After a few upgrades, it becomes clear that Aiden is faster and more impressive than Kyle Crane ever was in the first game. Aiden is better equipped too, with sandbox staples like a grappling hook and glider to further enhance his travels.

In some ways, this core strength makes Dying Light 2 work where so many other open-world games don't; rather than players focusing on the major beatsthe main quests and most exciting side missionsand leaving a lot of the so-called filler untouched, here those peripheral activities represent the game's finest work. Parkour time trials or even just scaling some of the game's biggest skyscrapers is quality, repeatable fun. Tightrope-walking a mile above the city while the wind threatens to leave you splattered below provides an immersive guttural sense of dread. Meanwhile, exploring abandoned stores for valuables while the undead sleep hunched over like something out of a horror movie puts the emphasis on scares in a way I wish there was more of.

This is aided by a skill tree that has very few undesirable perks. Each time I could acquire a new skill, I had to pause and really consider what I'd wantneed, reallynext for Aiden. These skills are broken into combat and parkour, so I farmed XP pretty reliably just by doing the things I wanted to do better anyway. Armor and gear perks add an additional role-playing wrinkle that had me feeling less like a hoarder, but rather, smarter for keeping different outfits as builds for the anti-hero.

The combat doesn't shine as brightly as the parkour, but it's not the game's darkest blemish. When faced with hordes of infected, including many new special types such as Howlers that signal a mass of monsters, and Anomalies, grotesque mini-bosses waiting in arenas at night, the combat is at its best. Managing a crowd when different types of monsters are slow or fast, tank-like, or agile, makes for the good kind of stress this game was always meant to have. Even after 50 hours, it's difficult to control a crowd of zombies without working up a good sweat in the process.

Combat with humans, most often the tropey Renegades who dress like Legion of Doom superfans, is less enjoyable because it regularly comes down to performing the same small moveset on every crowd of bad guys: dodge, slash, and slash. There's room for doing some cooler moves, like a vaulting ability that lets you catapult off one enemy onto another, but rarely is there incentive to be so stylish. I eventually ditched a lot of this fluff in favor of the dropkick that sends villains satisfyingly flailing off of rooftops. That one truly never gets old.

Stealth mechanics are such an afterthought that it's hard to rationalize why they're involved at all. Infiltrating enemy bases and taking them out quietly is the sort of fun Far Cry has been driven by for a decade, but Dying Light's intent to mimic it fails because there are so few tall grass areas in the world, which is about the only way to hide from human enemies. Dashing across rooftops while the infected lurk in the streets at night has a more enjoyable feeling to it, but even then, going to street level even for a moment can prove frustrating because Howlers spot Aiden so quickly. This reimagining of the series' night cycle basically turns every touch of the sidewalk into a run for your life. I found myself wishing for the original game's vision cones at times. At least that way made a bit more sense from the player's point of view.

No matter what you're doingbe it chasing down a story lead, parkouring for the fun of it, or running for your life, the soundtrack masterfully reacts to every step in a way I've not seen done in games before. The dynamic music composed by industry titan Olivier Deriviere shifts from story to side mission to open-world exploration without missing a beat, even going so far as to let the air out of the soundtrack whenever you take a jump, helping to give you that rollercoaster-like sense of weightlessness. Strangely enough, the music ends up creating a much stronger sense of atmosphere and consequences within Dying Light 2 than its story.

Despite all the time in the figurative oven, Dying Light 2 still feels a bit unpolished too. Bugs weren't at the forefront of my bad times with the gameusuallybut I witnessed things like sandbox activities being broken, a windmill puzzle that refused to be climbed, and a particular river that, when I fell in, would often not let me climb back onto land. Most often seen was an issue with the game's geometry, where I'd get stuck on some objects for reasons I couldn't understand. Thankfully a bit of button-mashing usually fixed those hiccups, and bugs rarely affected any of the game's best bits: the first-person parkour.

If all of this sounds rather inconsistent, it's meant to. Dying Light 2 is a perplexing game. Its story and characters are headache-inducing, and it appears to lack polish in many areas. But even a dozen hours after I rolled credits, I've found myself going back to the game to do another parkour challenge, rummage through another abandoned science lab, or just see if I can get from Point A to Point B without ever hitting the ground. It's rough around the edges and it asks players to invest a lot in its weakest element, but once you realize the story, like gravity, is only going to pull you down, you can begin to defy it and enjoy the things Dying Light 2 actually does well.

Editors note: We will play the co-op mode in Dying Light 2 when it becomes available to us. This review will be updated and the score will be finalized once this is done.

Read more here:

Dying Light 2 Review In Progress: Look Before You Leap - GameSpot

By Bridgette Quimpo

Like the world itself, a softball is round.

I like using this analogy when asked to describe how the sport of softball has opened doors for me and my players. These are doors that I may never have been able to imagine, not just for me, but for literally hundreds of other women.

I am the head coach for a Division III college softball program a position I have held for the past 18 years, including the past nine at Ramapo College of New Jersey. And, most recently, in the last six months, assumed the role of Senior Woman Administrator at Ramapo.

Today February 2 is National Girls & Women in Sports Day, a day when we celebrate the confidence, strength and character that being part of an athletic program can inspire. I want to empower and help champion women in softball, athletics and in life.

Ive coached teams that have won NJAC conference championships and played in NCAA Tournaments. And Ive coached women who are academic standouts many have earned spots on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-American Scholar Athlete Team for earning grade point averages of 3.5 or higher.

Ive also coached players who have been named Woman of the Year by the New Jersey Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women.

This year, we mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX the landmark ruling that gives women athletes the right to equal opportunity in sports at educational institutions, like Ramapo College of New Jersey, that receive federal funds. Today, two in five girls have the opportunity to participate in a high school sport an increase from one in 27 in 1972, the year that Title IX took effect.

Progress is being made.

Ramapo offers a total of 10 womens sports including, softball, basketball, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field and volleyball. More than 150 women participate in intercollegiate athletics at our college, a sizable number when you consider that Ramapo is a Division III school that does not offer scholarships to student-athletes. And as a coach at Ramapo, I am proud to point out that the collective grade point average among Ramapo athletes is consistently higher than that of the general student population.

By the time I reached high school in the 1990s, Title IX had opened up doors for me that may not have existed for girls before me. I played three sports basketball, softball and tennis. I was able to continue my playing career into college, earning a degree from the University of South Carolina-Aiken.

Had I been born 25 years earlier, I may never have had an opportunity to be a student-athlete, let alone enjoy a post-playing career as a coach. Title IX changed my life, making it possible for me to build a career in sports where I can inspire, mentor and guide future woman leaders to positions of success.

The Womens Sports Foundation had compiled a list of the ways that sports help a young woman build character and life skills. Here are a few:

Gender barriers that once existed are breaking down. There are more opportunities for women in sports than ever before even in predominantly mens sports. This past summer, softball returned to the Olympic Games for the first time in 13 years, after it was deemed not global enough to stick around more than a decade ago.

In 2020, Kim Ng became the first woman general manager of a major league baseball team, the Miami Marlins. Becky Hammon spent seven years as an assistant coach on the San Antonio Spurs, before being named head coach of the WNBAs Las Vegas Aces. Last month, Rachel Balkovec became the first woman to be named manager of a minor league baseball team, the Tampa Tarpons, the Yankees Class A team.

Still, despite the advances, an equity gap remains one that women like me have to work to help close.

Only 3.2% of sports media coverage is devoted to womens sports, according to the Womens Sports Foundation. Also, just 43% of head coaching positions in womens college sports are actually held by women, according to the same organization. Finally, 60% of women in sports report being paid less money for doing the same job as a man, according to the Female Leaders in Sports Survey in 2019.

Alarmingly, 31% of women coaches believe they would risk their job if they spoke up about Title IX and gender equity. Sixty-three percent of female leaders in sports report experiencing sex discrimination in the workplace (thankfully, this is not the case at Ramapo).

We can and must do better.

On this day National Girls and Women in Sports Day we are here to celebrate our successes while recognizing that we still have a long way to go. After all, there are more softballs to be pitched and hit, and more doors to be opened for women athletes everywhere.

Bridgette Quimpo is the head softball coach and Senior Woman Administrator at Ramapo College of New Jersey.

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Womens sports is still a work in progress I Opinion - NJ.com

The Athletics Keith Law revealed his annual top 100 MLB prospects rankings Monday, with the Cardinals landing four players on the list. Nolan Gorman, Matthew Liberatore and Ivan Herrera all made the cut for a second consecutive year, while Jordan Walker cracked the top 50 with his first ranking.

Its an impressive feat that the Cardinals were able to land four prospects, considering the organization has not had a top-10 draft pick since 1998. Assistant general manager and director of scouting Randy Flores has done an admirable job selecting high-upside talent in the middle rounds of the draft since taking over the position, and St. Louis player development staff continues to churn out solid talent.

Lets break down the Cardinals players highlighted in Laws top-100 picks.

No. 17: Nolan Gorman, 2B/3B

Age: 21

Draft year: 2018 (Round 1 / No. 19 overall)

How he did in 2021: The Cardinals asked a lot from Gorman when they requested their top prospect to switch from third base to second base after the team acquired Nolan Arenado.

Continue reading here:

Cardinals prospects in Keith Law's top 100: Taking stock of their progress and what's next - The Athletic