Category Archives: Progress

Gaspard was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1967. His parents had fled dictatorship in Haiti and heeded the call of Patrice Lumumba for francophone academics of African descent to settle in newly independent African states, according to a biographical page on the Haitian Embassys website. But the family moved to New York when he was three. After growing up on the Upper West Side and in Queens, Gaspard stayed in New York and attended Columbia.

Gaspard worked his way through city politicsa stint on David Dinkinss 1989 mayoral campaign; chief of staff of the New York City Counciland entered the citys activist circles, moving in the same political trenches that Bill de Blasio did. They cut their teeth during the Crown Heights Riots, where they were both young City Hall staffers, said Bill Hyers, who ran de Blasios mayoral campaign. (The New York Times listed Gaspard as one of three people in de Blasios inner ring as an outside adviser in 2013alongside the mayors wife.) He gained prominence through organized labor, spending nine years at the powerful SEIU 1199.

Gaspards first major foray into national politics found him on the leftier side, working for Howard Deans 2004 campaign. He was someone that really understood organization, Dean said. Four years later, Gaspard stayed at SEIU for the primaries, but backed Obama and joined his team for the general election. Afterward, Gaspard became an assistant to the president and ran the White House Office of Political Affairs. His portfolio was pure politics. That meant early preparations for Obamas reelection, a sort of domestic diplomat within the Democratic Party. When the president goes on a trip to, say, eastern Ohio, the political director needs to make sure he meets with local party officials with sway.

After Gaspard spent a stint as executive director of the Democratic National Committee, Obama nominated him as ambassador to South Africa. This wasnt one of those cushy posts rewarding political allies in countries where there isnt a lot at stake. Gaspard had to deal with South African President Jacob Zuma during a period of institutional patronage, corruption scandals, Nelson Mandelas death, and military and civil unrest in Zimbabwe.

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Where Will Patrick Gaspard Take the Center for American Progress? - The New Republic

I could spend all day talking about what makes Halo Infinite great but not necessarily superb, but, when you're in the thick of it, the faults that create that distinction are hard to notice because it's just really fun. While playing, I found myself giggling with murderous glee after successfully wiping an enemy team all on my own; laughing as I nonchalantly chucked a fusion coil and accidentally splattered an unseen player; and roaring support for an ally as they successfully held the line long enough for our team to secure an objective and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The experience of playing Halo Infinite is joyful, and what more can you ask for when it comes to a free-to-play online multiplayer shooter?

But, to reiterate, Halo Infinite isn't without its flaws. Most notably, its challenge-based progression system feels unrewarding and keeps the game's coolest-looking cosmetics locked behind dozens of hours of an unfulfilling grind. But 343 Industries has stuck the landing on what matters the most, as Halo Infinite feels good. Firearms shoot with a nice punch, and your Spartan's movements are smooth. And although not every map at launch feels like they're going down in Halo's hall of fame as all-time favorites, there's a welcome variety to them, allowing the seven currently available game types to play out in wildly different ways depending on which map you're playing on.

Similar to Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians, the narrative basis for Halo Infinite's multiplayer is a Spartan training program. With both Master Chief and the UNSC Infinity marked as missing in action, and the threat of Cortana still at large, Spartan Commander Agryna leaves you behind at a secure facility that's tasked with training the next generation of Spartan IVs. It's up to you to work hard and grow stronger in preparation for the coming fight.

The multiplayer feels like old-school Halo, but tweaked to better fit the modern FPS playerbase that has fallen in love with shooters that accentuate their solid gunplay with smooth movement and quick-to-deploy abilities. Halo Infinite leans into the traditional rhythm of the series' firefights--it's a dance that will feel familiar to long-time fans, but it also now feels wholly unique in today's shooter climate with the longer time-to-kill rate. Though fights can be ended quickly with the right weapon (or just having vastly superior numbers), most don't on account of each Spartan's rechargeable shield, which divides combat into two distinct parts. While shielded, you can take more risks and utilize weapons that take longer to have an immediate payoff (like the Plasma Pistol, which can be charged to fire a more powerful shot), but when that shield is gone, you're vulnerable and the need to take more evasive maneuvers (or pull out a faster-hitting weapon, like the fully automatic MA40 Assault Rifle, to outpace your opponent's shots) increases. If you can last long enough, your shield will recharge, reverting you back to the first phase.

As all players are tied to these constraints, fights are typically less about what weapon you have and more about how you choose to use it. A charged Plasma Pistol shot will decimate an opponent's shields faster than the MA40, but if a player with the MA40 can move side to side fast enough and avoid the loose lock-on of the Plasma Pistol, they can land enough hits to break that shield first, and the MA40 tears through unshielded targets significantly faster. Halo has consistently been a game of skill that rewards players for fighting intelligently and knowing how to best defeat an opponent, and Halo Infinite sticks to that trend.

Equipment compliments the gunplay, with every piece of equipment being useful in some way, and most being useful in different ways from mode to mode. For example, Repulsor, which sends out a shockwave to knock back everything in front of you, is great for flinging vehicles off cliffs in Big Team Battle, but can also save your life from a surprise grenade in Ranked Arena. Brief cooldowns, limited uses, and the need to collect them keeps each piece of equipment from being incessantly spammed, ensuring skilled use of firearms remains the key component to Halo's in-match meta.

Halo Infinite's movement mechanics pair well with the game's firearms and equipment, encouraging fast and aggressive play. The ability to slide after sprinting is especially noteworthy, as you go just far enough and just fast enough to quickly turn tight corners for both offense or defense. It feels as essential to combat as strafing or jumping when it comes to avoiding shots, and correctly timing a jump to go into a lengthy slide to swing around a corner and surprise your opponent by shooting them from a lower angle than they were expecting is fulfilling.

Of the new-school shooter mechanics that make their way into Halo Infinite, the ping system is the only one to really fall short. Halo's core formula wasn't built with a ping system in mind, and Halo Infinite isn't restructured to address that fact. The ping itself isn't very informative--though it thankfully does tell squadmates how many enemies are at a location, it doesn't provide context when pinging a place on the map. That can make it tricky to discern whether a teammate is saying to go to a spot, defend a spot, or attack a spot. Putting the ping on the D-pad on a controller also makes it hard to use the mechanic in the midst of a fight. Given how many objective-based modes are in Halo Infinite, a ping system is a smart idea for helping teams coordinate their efforts. However, the existing system isn't all that helpful or easy to use, and since so few people use it, players aren't conditioned to take heed of it and largely ignore it when their allies do happen to use it.

When you're ready to fight, there are four available playlists in Halo Infinite's multiplayer. Bot Bootcamp hosts an assortment of 4v4 modes, but set in a PvE setting, allowing new faces to test and improve their skills prior to diving into online matchmaking. Quick Play and Big Team Battle are Halo Infinite's two casual online multiplayer playlists--the first includes the game's assortment of 4v4 game types, while the second is 12v12. And finally, Ranked Arena presents competitive variations of what's found in Bot Bootcamp and Quick Play, pushing you to go up against similarly skilled players in attempts to rise in rank.

As Halo Infinite's multiplayer has launched in open beta, not all modes are live in the game. Elimination, for example, is absent. At launch, Halo Infinite has seven modes: Total Control, Stockpile, Oddball, Strongholds, Capture the Flag, One Flag CTF, and Slayer. Save for Slayer, all of the modes in Halo Infinite are objective-based, where securing the most kills isn't the goal for winning the game.

The challenge of how to achieve these objectives adjusts to which map you're playing on, which is dependent on which playlist you're queuing into. Bot Bootcamp, Quick Play, and Ranked Arena feature smaller maps, most of which incorporate twisting corridors that prioritize remaining hyper aware of your immediate surroundings and staying ready to pop off in intense firefights. Big Team Battle takes place on significantly larger maps, all of which encourage smart player rotation--being a good shot is still important, but knowing how to most efficiently get from point A to point B is even more critical, as you can be spawned a long sprint away from the objective that needs you.

It's an altogether solid library of maps. There are a few that make me groan in exasperation whenever they pop up--notably Highpower because of how unfairly overpowered the Wasp is on that map and Behemoth because its wide-open layout and inclusion of vehicles isn't a great fit for the 4v4 playlists. Overall though, Halo Infinite has kicked off with a welcome diversity of fun arenas. Bazaar and Recharge are my two favorites, featuring prominent open middle spaces for those brave enough for a hectic shootout, while the outer rims of both maps encompass multiple levels of hallways and rooms for those looking for a longer but typically safer trip around the map. Fragmentation is also really fun--you can't go wrong with a Halo map that's two bases sitting across from one another in a long canyon.

Halo Infinite also builds on the series' collection of firearms, adding an assortment of new guns to obliterate, melt, zap, and crush your enemies to death. The core conceit remains unchanged: Alien weapons vaporize Spartan shields while human firearms tear through the unprotected fleshy bits. But there are a few more enjoyable considerations to keep in mind this time around. For instance, the Shock Rifle can disintegrate a target with a headshot, but sending a beam into a Spartan's chest can cause the electricity-based shots to arc to additional targets, damaging nearby enemies. The weapon's shots can disrupt vehicles too, stalling Warthogs or causing Banshees to fall from the sky. Most of Halo Infinite's new weapons are similarly designed, featuring secondary effects or fire modes that, when strategically used, lead to satisfying results.

Fan favorites like the Energy Sword and M41 SPNKR return, rounding out a total roster of 20 firearms, two melee weapons, and four grenade types. The sound design for these weapons is superb--even if you can't see an enemy, you can immediately identify what weapon they're using based on the sound it's making. The shots fired from each gun and the appearance of each grenade are also visually distinct (less so for the human weapons), which helps you identify what you're up against in case a louder sound is masking the trademark noises of your foe's weapon.

This all helps ensure the outcomes of firefights lean towards skill as opposed to luck. In the few seconds that a fight lasts, visual and auditory cues can tune you into what your foe is using against you, informing how you can respond to beat them. It wouldn't be a Halo game without luck (or hilarious misfortune) also playing a part, and that's present too. I've had a fight where I won, breathed a sigh of relief, and then a destroyed Wasp fell out of the sky and crushed me. These sorts of deaths of comedic misfortune aren't what you'll usually endure though, and for the most part, the better player (or just the player who better knew how to use the environment to turn the tables to their advantage) will come out on top.

But again, save for Slayer, getting kills isn't usually the most important goal for a game. And even if Slayer is all you want, you're currently out of luck. There are no game type-specific playlists in Halo Infinite at launch. Instead, 343 Industries has chucked Halo Infinite's assortment of modes and maps into each of its four multiplayer playlists and you're randomly thrown into one mode depending on which playlist you pick. So, for example, going into Quick Play might put you into Slayer on Bazaar, and then into One Flag CTF on Launch Site in the next match. Beyond going into Custom Games and making your own playlist, there's currently no way to curate what you specifically want to look for beyond whether you want to play 4v4, 12v12, or 4v4 ranked.

I can certainly see the appeal of it. Without this format, I doubt my friends and I would have regularly played or even tried many modes beyond Slayer. But as it happens, we've come to really like Infinite's Oddball, Capture the Flag, One Flag CTF, Total Control, and Strongholds modes. This current playlist format ensures that every player gets a healthy dose of every mode. If you've never touched Halo in your life, Infinite is a continuous sample platter to give you a taste of what's on offer, helping you find new favorites to enjoy.

There is a downside to this though. You'll notice I didn't mention that my friends and I fell in love with Stockpile. That's because we don't like Stockpile. We don't want to keep playing Stockpile. Lugging each battery across the map is slow, stalling combat as players carry a battery a few feet, toss it forward, and die. And then the next player on the team repeats the process to move the battery a little further. It's essentially a much slower variation of Capture the Flag, and with teams needing to capture five batteries to win a round, it can feel like matches are going on for way too long. Halo Infinite is just a better game when players are running around and shooting, not slowly walking around with glowing batteries and being shot to death in seconds. But there's no option to filter out Stockpile. We could just stick to Bot Bootcamp, Quick Play, and Ranked Arena, but that's not a constructive solution, as we still want to play Big Team Battle's other exclusive mode, Total Control. Ultimately, there's no real way around it--Halo Infinite's lack of playlist curation means that you'll occasionally be put into modes that you may not want to play, which can be frustrating, especially if you don't have too much time in your schedule and just want to play what you want to play. A sample platter is a great starter for an evening, but at some point you just want to call over the waiter to put in an order for your favorite meal.

It really doesn't help that in-game progression is also entirely tied to completing daily and weekly challenges, and several weekly challenges are tied to playing specific modes. For example, completing challenges to kill an enemy flag carrier can only be done if you're put into Capture the Flag or One Flag CTF. So you can queue into Quick Play in hopes of getting a match in either mode, but you might be put into numerous Slayer and Oddball matches first.

Since there's no guarantee you'll be in a position to kill someone who steals your flag (save for camping the flag's spawn point), or that your team's flag will even be stolen, you may wind up having to queue again and once again wait to be put into the mode you need to play in order to progress in the battle pass. It's very frustrating, especially if the matches you're playing in the meantime aren't doing much towards your in-game progression. 343 Industries has at least added a repeatable daily challenge where completing a match earns you some XP, so no match is a total wash. But given that that daily challenge only nets you 50XP each time you complete it and you need 1000XP to level up in the battle pass, progression is still largely tied to weekly challenges where rewards range from 200-400XP.

So, as fun as Halo Infinite is to play--and, admittedly, doing well can be its own reward, especially if you have friends to hype you up after a great match--skillfully playing objectives and just being a good teammate isn't rewarded through the progression system. Though the potentially grander implications of this aren't suitable for a review (there's no way to tell if weekly challenges will ultimately influence players to play more selfishly and pursue their own progression over ensuring victory), the immediate consequences are worth discussing. As it stands, it's incredibly tedious to earn anything in Halo Infinite, short of dropping real-world money and buying battle pass levels or cosmetics from the in-game store--not an especially compelling solution.

Despite these issues, however, I keep coming back to the fact that Halo Infinite is just fun to play, with or without those rewards. Halo Infinite's online multiplayer takes everything that is good about Halo and amplifies it with the faster pacing and abilities of more modern-day shooters. Not every new mechanic and feature fits Halo's established formula--the ping system isn't very good, and tying all in-game progression to daily and weekly challenges leads to an unrewarding system. But the sound design is spot on, the maps are good, weapons hit with a gratifying kinetic energy, and the game rewards skill. Even if it's still in open beta, Halo Infinite's multiplayer is already a great free-to-play shooter.

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Halo Infinite Multiplayer Review In Progress - I Need A Weapon - GameSpot

A year after protests over the death of Breonna Taylor, friends and family of 21-year-old activist Hamza Travis Nagdy gathered Sunday in a celebration of life.

It was a cold, gray November afternoon outside the Unity of Louisville Church. A light rain fell as family and friends of Nagdy gathered to talk, smoke and greet people walking into a building beside the church in Smoketown.

Nagdy was shot and killed in an apparent carjacking last November. He was a prominent voice in last years protests for racial justice. So too were many of the people there: street organizers, faith leaders, attorneys, live streamers and community activists.

People like Rev. Stachelle Bussey, who helped organize this celebration for Nagdy. She now sits on the Louisville Metro Police Civilian Review Board. Its one of a handful of clear changes that came about in response to last years protests.

What this group of people did for this entire city was make us all wake up, Bussey said. We can never forget the work that the people marching in this city did. It made us open our eyes.

Reflecting back on the last year, Bussey reiterated the words of Louisville Metro Councilmember Jecorey Arthur of District 4: Everybody in Louisville is responsible for Louisville.

Those words, as well as Arthurs actions on Metro Council, have resonated with activists. Many at the memorial see Arthurs election to Metro Council in November of last year as one of the wins of their movement; hes more socially progressive than most of council and outspoken on issues like homelessness and racial justice.

Another racial justice activist prominent in the months-long protests, Shameka Parrish-Wright, is running for mayor. Thats something protest organizer Amber Brown says shes looking forward to.

Im very excited about next year and the possibility of getting our first Black woman mayor, Brown said.

There are more incremental changes too: reforms banning no-knock warrants, revising investigations into police shootings, and use-of tear gas policies, among others. Notably, the U.S. The Department of Justice is now investigating LMPD for discriminatory policing.

But among activists, theres still a sense of disappointment on policing reform. Metro recently approved the largest ever pay increase for LMPD leadership, and is still negotiating the contract for rank and field officers.

For many at Sundays memorial, the reforms, as well as the ongoing negotiations over police contracts, have not gone far enough.

Until there is accountability, until there is transparency, until theres a community that feels they are appropriately represented, by not just the police force, but the criminal justice system and the government, its not good enough, said Jason Downey, a livestreamer from the protests.

Beyond institutional disappointments, the protests took a physical and emotional toll on everyone involved. The National Guard shot and killed David McAtee in a skirmish in the West End. Photographer Tyler Gerth was shot in Jefferson Square Park. Two police officers were also shot. Police tear gassed and pepper balled peaceful protesters and journalists. Police made more than 1,000 protest-related arrests, according to the Courier Journal. Its not surprising activists are still processing their pain.

Where I come from we are built for war, we are built for struggle, we are built for surviving, said local musician Issa Fixit. But the mental strain that it is when you feel like you are at war with the same people that are supposed to protect you, and you feel like your battle cries aint being heard, and you feel like its compromising your well-being as a human citizen.

Many of those at the memorial said theyve endured personal sacrifice because of their activism. Theyre fighting charges, theyve lost their jobs, and their physical and mental health has suffered. Chris Wells is a street organizer who led countless protests and said hes going to trial for blocking traffic, inciting a riot and disorderly conduct.

But all of them said it was worth it in the pursuit for racial justice. Wells said thats what Nagdy believed too.

Thats why we keep going, and thats the motto [of] the late great, Travis Nagdy, my little protg, he said.

Dozens came out to the memorial for Nagdy on Sunday. Brown, the activist excited about Parrish-Wrights candidacy, said their activism has given rise to countless initiatives and organizations, inspiring people across the city.

We have done so many good things, she said. And this movement is not over. Its not over at all. Thats the biggest takeaway, were not going anywhere.

Tuesday is the one year anniversary of Nagdys death. Activists are planning a vigil at Jefferson Square Park at 7 oclock Tuesday evening.

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Breonna Taylor protesters reflect on a year of progress and pain in Louisville - 89.3 WFPL News Louisville

LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Progress was made on Friday in talks between the European Union and Britain on post-Brexit trade issues affecting Northern Ireland and solutions can be found if London redoubles its efforts, the EU official in charge of the talks said on Sunday.

The two sides agreed last week to intensify efforts to resolve difficulties over trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a British province that shares a land border with EU member the Republic of Ireland. read more

"We had some progress on Friday," Maros Sefcovic, vice president of the European Commission, said during an interview with the BBC.

Register

"I'm sure that if Lord Frost and the UK would double their efforts ... we can resolve all the outstanding issues to the satisfaction of the people of Northern Ireland," he said, referring to the chief British negotiator David Frost.

During weeks of verbal sparring, London has repeatedly threatened to invoke Article 16, an emergency brake in the Northern Ireland chapter of the Brexit deal, a move that could trigger a full-blown trade war between the EU and Britain.

Sefcovic last week welcomed a change of tone from the British side and called for that to translate into compromise in the talks about the nitty gritty of the trading arrangements.

Since leaving the EU last year Britain has delayed the introduction of some planned border checks that were designed to avoid the need for a hard frontier between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.

London says the checks are disproportionate and threaten Northern Ireland's 1998 peace deal because they create a barrier between the UK mainland and the province, something which is intolerable to the pro-British unionist community there.

The EU says checks are needed to avoid goods entering its single market from the UK side without any controls.

Register

Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Raissa Kasolowsky

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Originally posted here:

EU's Sefcovic sees progress, hope in Northern Ireland Brexit talks - Reuters

The work that went into figuring yield estimates for Factor in weaker spots when estimating yield,which was the Corn Watch article in the October issues of Farm Progress magazines, happened in early August. Timing is important because Mother Nature dealt a couple more cards afterward that made a challenging season even tougher.

First, although soils were saturated in mid-July, they soon dried out. And they stayed dry until late August. That extended dry period during the heart of grain fill affected how kernels finished the season.

Related:When applying nitrogen late helps corn most

We split ears in half in September, and although there was good kernel depth, the kernels werent as plump as usual, says Dave Nanda, director of genetics for Seed Genetics Direct, sponsor of Corn Watch. In mid-July and even early August, it looked like it might be an exceptional corn year. But the grain fill period was too dry in many areas, and that affected kernel size.

Second, once rains returned in late August and September, and it stayed warm, diseases picked up steam. The Corn Watch 21 field was sprayed with a fungicide after tasseling, and that held gray leaf spot in check for a while. However, by late September, leaf samples from plants that still had some green tissue were sent to the Purdue University Plant and Pest Diagnostic Lab. Specialists confirmed four foliar diseases: gray leaf spot, tar spot, southern rust and anthracnose.

This field consists of three soil types and is not pattern-tiled. Anhydrous ammonia was applied before planting. The lighter, somewhat poorly drained soils were saturated for extended periods during the first half of summer. Specialists suggest some nitrogen denitrified and escaped into the air as nitrogen gas. Obvious signs of nitrogen deficiency were evident in these spots before tasseling.

Relying on an aerial image of the field taken by a drone in late July, a rough estimate of the percentage of the field affected was developed for the October article. Yield in the hardest hit spots was estimated at 140 bushels per acre, based on plant and ear counts. Yield for the best part of the field was estimated at 255 bushels per acre. That led to a whole-field estimate of 225 bushels per acre.

Corn kernels in fields where it didnt rain for five or more weeks during grain fill tended to have deep but thin kernels, lacking plumpness.

After the dry spell extended much longer than expected, and once diseases set in late, Nanda lowered his expectations to 190 to 200 bushels per acre. Ears were harvested on 1/1,000 of an acre per row on two rows where corn was good, and two rows where it was affected by nitrogen deficiency. Those ears were weighed, yielding 215 and 214 bushels per acre on the better spots and 110 and 135 bushels per acre on the poorer spots. All were below earlier estimates.

Once the combine ran, the yield verified across the scales was 207 bushels per acre. Thats 92% of the yield estimated in early August. That estimate was just 8% too high. It was in the ballpark, but a tough end to a challenging year kept yield from reaching the mark, Nanda concludes.

Read more here:

Cornfield achieves respectable yield in challenging year - Farm Progress

With the goal light behind the Sabres net blinding fans with nonstop illumination, Don Granato called on Aaron Dell to replace Dustin Tokarski. It was a swap of a .900 save percentage for an .861.

The fans cheered anyway. Then they booed when Dell allowed a goal on the first shot he faced.

New season, same problems.

The Sabres scored eight goals in 27 hours and had no points to show for it. Goaltending wasnt the only deficiency during Mondays 7-4 loss to the Blue Jackets and Sundays 5-4 setback against the Rangers, but the position sure wasnt a strength. It hasnt been a strength for way too long.

The Sabres have used 20 goalies since trading Ryan Miller on Feb. 28, 2014, the most in the NHL during that span. The only team that can give them a run is Arizona, with 19. Being lumped in with the Coyotes is rarely a good thing.

Buffalo hopes it has its goalie of the future in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen,

Excerpt from:

Despite the Sabres' progress, the lack of reliable goaltending stands out again - The Athletic

The Padres on Friday added MacKenzie Gore, Eguy Rosario, Steven Wilson and Efran Contreras to their 40-man roster. Those four players are now protected from the Rule 5 draft, but the timing of that draft is unclear. Major League Baseballs collective bargaining agreement expires next week, and a lockout seems inevitable.

As we await clarity on the sports broader issues, lets answer more subscriber questions. Part 1 of the mailbag addressed the Bob Melvin hire and position priorities.

Questions have been edited for clarity.

Other than Marcus Stroman, who are starting pitchers the Padres would realistically target via free agency? And how likely would it be for the Padres to consider signing someone who received a qualifying offer given that theyd lose their second- and fifth-highest draft selections and $1 million from their international bonus pool? Susan C.

Stroman is attractive to teams in part because he was not eligible for a qualifying offer and thus would not require draft-pick compensation. Other free-agent starters in this category include Max Scherzer,

Continued here:

CJ Abrams' progress, free-agent starting pitching options and more: Padres mailbag - The Athletic

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Firefighters quickly contained a brush fire that sparked Sunday morning in the city of Riverside.

The Arlanza Fire burned 16-acres near Jurupa Ave. and Tyler St.

According to fire officials, around 11:30 a.m. they got a call of vehicle that caught fire after rolling over; the fire spread to the nearby vegetation.

The fire was upgraded to a 3rd alarm fire due to weather conditions. Firefighters are battling against strong winds and high heat.

Multiple structures were threatened but no damage was done. Riverside County Animal Control was also deployed to the area to help evacuate two horses.

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Firefighters stop forward progress on 16-acre fire in Riverside - FOX 11 Los Angeles

Long one of the worst-kept secrets in the games industry, Riot's fighting game codenamed Project L has another in-progress look out. Set in the League of Legends world, Runeterra, the video reintroduces Project L to those who saw its past previews. This latest video has the same characters as last time: Jinx, Darius, and Ahri, but adds the time-rewinding Ekko.

Project L is called an "assist-based" fighter, meaning players make a team of two fighters, controlling one at a time while the other is brought in for assist attacks. The design strives for two things: Really strong netcode and easy-to-learn/hard-to-master controls. Designers Tom & Tony Cannon describe their hopes for Project L as one that players can jump into and learn the basic moveset of a new character quickly, but still be greatly outmatched by masters of that character.

The fighting game, developed by Riot-acquired Radiant Entertainment, has been in the works for years since its 2019 reveal, but we haven't seen more of it since. The Cannons promise they're going to try to communicate more about Project L in the future, though they confirm that Project L won't release in 2021 or 2022.

Original post:

Here's a look at Riot's in-progress fighting game, Project L - PC Gamer

Posted on November 19, 2021 at 9:17 am by West Sider

Captain Neil Zuber addressing community members

By Joy Bergmann

Captain Neil Zuber, commanding officer of NYPDs 20th Precinct, characterized recent developments in UWS crime as bittersweet during Thursday evenings Community Council meeting.

He noted the area had seen an improvement in grand larcenies [major thefts] at retailers, but at the same time, the precinct saw three stores close. The leases were up, plus the larcenies, Zuber said, without naming the three retailers. He later confirmed the Rite Aid on Amsterdam and 70th was among them. According to the latest NYPD CompStat report, grand larcenies year-to-date have risen 52% compared to 2020, and 26% compared to 2019.

Zuber lamented the impact of state bail reform on policing efficacy and morale.

For example, he said, 20th detectives recently arrested a suspect in seven theft complaints with a similar modus operandi: An elderly victim in Fairway or other public place would have their wallet removed from a purse. The suspect had a long rap sheet of prior offenses, Zuber said. We requested high bail. The D.A. requested high bail, he said. He got $2 bailthats what were facing.

When asked for an update on the October 4th shooting at 72nd and Columbus and the October 28th shooting near 71st and Broadway, Zuber said there had been no arrests yet in either case. Theres been progress on bothwere waiting on labs and other results, he said, noting that investigations can take time. This is not television.

Zuber also reported the precinct saw three people resign in the past two weeks. He could not say for certain that the Covid-19 vaccine mandate caused the resignations, but indicated it may have. He also said the mandate may have spurred the departure of several school crossing guards.

See original here:

West Side Rag 20th Precinct's Chief Explains Mixed Progress on Thefts, and Concerns About $2 Bail - westsiderag.com