In last year’s February issue, I wrote about how I was trying to overcome the depressing sight of snow and ice on the ground by thinking ahead to April and our annual Food Automation & Manufacturing Conference in Miami. The more things change …

The COVID-19 pandemic has kicked food and beverage production into overdrive. A lot of us are feeling more worn out than ever.

Food and beverage manufacturers must keep looking for new ways to improve sustainability with water, energy and waste.

Food Engineering has revamped its schedule of most prominent annual features. Casey Laughman shares some of those changes as we kick off 2021.

What Keurig Dr Pepper and Cuisine Solutions—and the other submissions we received for this year's Engineering Plant of the Year and Sustainable Plant of the Year award—do have in common is the level of innovation and creative solutions present throughout the plants.

The company announced plans to launch an e-commerce platform in the second quarter of 2023. The new site will highlight Versatrim's high-end product offering and will offer improved functionality to streamline the online order-entry process.  

Plant of the Year entrants are automatically entered into the Sustainable Plant of the Year competition. All entries are due by December 29, 2023.

NTCA presented Martin Howard of the David Allen Company with the 2016 Tile Person of the Year award.

*The Galapagos Postman Challenge - Using 25 years of frequent flying experience to complete an epic global travel challenge in 2024/25* In March 2024, I collected 50 letters from the ancient postbox on Isla Floreana in the Galapagos Islands –...

Portobello America, the U.S. arm of Portobello Grupo, celebrates a year of achievements since launching its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Baxter, Tennessee. 

This year’s awards, announced at the Total Solutions Plus conference in Boston, celebrate Juan “Junior” Mercado from Christian Brothers Flooring & Interiors as the Commercial Tile Setter Craftsperson of the Year and Jeff Occhipinti from Columbia River Tile & Stone as the Residential Tile Setter Craftsperson of the Year.

The 2023 Sustainability Report outlines Fresh Del Monte’s progress toward its long-term environmental and social goals.

Lowe's Companies, Inc. announced its Vendor Partners of the Year, which recognizes a vendor's commitment to delivering quality products, innovation, value and service to Lowe's customers.

Children's Geographies; 10/01/2022
(AN 159948774); ISSN: 14733285
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Children's Geographies; 01/10/2024
(AN 174858895); ISSN: 14733285
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Abstract A scoping review of the online counselor education scholarship from 1997 to 2023 in 27 national and regional peer-reviewed counseling journals yielded a sample of 110 articles. Findings of the scoping review detailed the topics addressed, methodological features, key findings, and recommendations for practice and research. Read the full article ›

The post A 27‐year scoping review of practice and research in online counselor education was curated by information for practice.

I’ve been to a lot of youth ministry conferences over the last couple decades…some really good ones. But one of my favorites is always the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention (NYWC). And it will be no exception this year. (And I promise you…I don’t get a thing for posting this. I’m truly just pointing …

Continue reading "My favorite training of the year"

The post My favorite training of the year appeared first on Jonathan's Blog From The Source.

The post Past year prevalence of major depressive episode among US adults (2021) was curated by information for practice.

The continuing flow calls into question previous Coalition claims that people were crossing the border from Northern Ireland because of fears of the former British Government’s Rwanda policy.

The post International Protection applicants to exceed a record of 20,000 this year was curated by information for practice.

The standards are published by The National Pediatric Readiness Project, an initiative to empower all emergency departments to provide effective emergency care to children, and encompass training for staff, coordination of health care, and the procedures and medical equipment needed to care for ill and injured children. According to the study, adopting the standards would […]

The post Adopting pediatric readiness standards in emergency departments could save more than 2,000 lives each year was curated by information for practice.

by Suzette Smith

The Mercury provides its readers with interesting and useful news & culture reporting every single day. If you appreciate that, consider making a small monthly contribution to support our editorial team. If you read something you like, something you don't like but are glad to know about, and/or something you can't find anywhere else consider a one-time tip. It all goes in the same pot and it all goes to the editorial team. Thanks for your support!

Good Morning, Portland! We're still "turning and turning in the widening gyre" over here, and we may be for quite some time.

IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Last night's round of election results arrived without any notable changes in the Portland City Council races. News editor Courtney Vaughn writes: "With Keith Wilson securing the mayor’s seat the day prior, results in City Council districts largely held firm."

• While the national election results have been [understatement incoming] pretty distressing, local races are lined with silver. The Columbian reports Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has maintained her lead over far-right, perennial challenger Joe Kent. The Oregonian has a good breakdown of the race and history of Gluesenkamp Perez's hard-fought win.

• PCC Automotive Service Technology Program instructor Jay Kuykendall has been named this year's Educator of the Year by the North American Council of Automotive Teachers, Portland Tribune reports. "Kuykendall oversees the auto shop lab and teaches engine performance classes, along with elective courses like Subaru U, electrified vehicles and light-duty diesel."

• Beloved local coffee chain Jim and Patty's Coffee announced earlier this week that it will close its remaining two locations, in Beaverton and in Portland, on November 11. "Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your support..." owner Patty Roberts wrote. "Now I will need to find a job. If anyone has any ideas for an old lady who has been off the job market for over 40 years, let me know!" ???? For more backstory, check out this Mercury piece about the struggling coffee shops from October.

• There was once a time in Portland when one could easily—well, depending on connection issues—rent a cheery little blue and white hybrid car to drive. The little smart cars were great for unforgiving rain showers and surprisingly solid in the snow. Car2Go merged with Reachnow in 2018, then tanked in 2019. In 2021, Free2Move announced it would drop a "fleet of 200 Jeep Renegades" for Portland consumers to rent, but the cumbersome cars departed once more in 2023. This week MSN reposted that story from 2023, so some people have been letting us know about it. Sorry about MSN, and this all happened last year. Still fun to revisit this tweet:

so let me get this straight

car2go joins sharenow, while reachnow becomes reachnow pic.twitter.com/gJi7R6YZ8e

— Cabel Sasser (@cabel) March 4, 2019

• Politicians are politicians, but I find Sen. Jeff Merkley's vibe calming:

          View this post on Instagram                      

A post shared by Senator Jeff Merkley (@senjeffmerkley)

• Every week, the Mercury gives out free tickets to local shows and this week we've got sweet tix for Reverend Horton Heat, Des Demonas, Karina Rykman and moooore—check'm out and win with our Free Ticket Thursday giveaway!

IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
• I can't immediately find who said this, but I think it's a valid concern: As we watch the transition back to a Trump administration presidency, the cabinet appointments are probably going to feel like being repeatedly punched in the face. President-elect Donald Trump named Florida strategist Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff on Thursday. Wiles has run his political operation for nearly four years, making her one of the few people to survive at his side for any length of time. What's Wiles deal? Nepo baby. Ronald Reagan campaign staffer. Wiles has been credited with putting Rick Scott in Florida's governor’s office. Associated Press has a nice, long profile on her this morning. Is she going to tear the tampon machine out of the White House bathroom again? We're watching.

• A Biden administration initiative known as “Keeping Families Together” was struck down by a Texas-based US District judge yesterday; Judge J. Campbell Barker argued that the Biden administration had overstepped its authority with its attempt to lessen barriers to citizenship for undocumented immigrants married to US citizens.

• Soccer fans did violence again, but this time it might be motivated by cultural and political friction. NPR reports that "leading political figures in the Netherlands have condemned the violence that followed a match between a Dutch team Ajax and Tel Aviv's Maccabi. According to NPR, "Dutch police said 62 people have been arrested following several clashes." Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema described local men seeking out Israeli fans on scooters. Dutch police chief Peter Holla said fans of Tel Aviv Maccabi had "set a Palestinian flag on fire in the city and attacked a taxi." Dutch authorities have banned demonstrations through the weekend.

• Happy Martian New Year... soon! In Scientific American Phil Plait writes: "Why would anyone pick November 12 as New Year’s Day for Mars? And why does our official reckoning of Martian time set the eons-old Red Planet only in its 38th year? The answer involves a combination of natural cycles and the human need to impose order via somewhat arbitrary timekeeping—pretty much like on Earth."

• And now we part—wishing a fine weekend to my naysayers and hatchet men in the fight against violence.

NPR's A Martinez talks with Cary Baker, author of "Down on the Corner: Adventures in Busking and Street Music."

In a small New Hampshire community two sisters, Henrietta and Jane, grow up under the shadow of a folk tale about the ruins of a house near their own. The house, more than a century earlier, was the home of a family of five who, legend has it, were transformed into coyotes.

As extreme weather wreaks havoc around the globe NPR's Throughline looks at a natural disaster more than 200 hundred years ago that had far-reaching effects. This week, how the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Laki awed, terrified and disrupted millions around the world and changed the course of history.

Outside/In needs your help. Click here to find out how you can support the show.

There's lots of great swag to choose from (so check out the thank-you gifts!) but for $100 a month, Sam will personally give you a cross country ski lesson! And yes, it's true, he was taught how to ski by an Olympic gold-medalist.

Last Thanksgiving, Eliana Szabo suffered a brain hemorrhage when an arteriovenous malformation ruptured. Now 11, she has relearned how to walk and talk. Meanwhile, a fellow pianist is trying to raise $10,000 through selling handmade paper cranes.

Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman" reached number one on the Billboard Country chart 50 years ago today. Jimmy Webb, who wrote the song, told Songfacts that the inspiration was an image he witnessed while driving one day.

John Fogerty wrote the song shortly after being discharged from the National Guard.

Sixty years ago this week, the Winter Dance Party concert tour was crisscrossing Minnesota and neighboring states, featuring Ritchie Valens, J.P. "the Big Bopper" Richardson and Buddy Holly. Then came "The Day the Music Died."

"He sang strictly country," said Larry Byers, a former DJ in Lubbock, Texas, who heard Buddy Holly's early performances. "Until he saw Elvis Presley and decided that maybe he should change his style a bit."

"Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart 40 years ago today. The disco classic features a solo by former Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.

July 3, 2019 is the 50th anniversary of the day that Brian Jones was pronounced dead. Jones founded the Rolling Stones, gave them their name and was their first business manager.

About this time one year ago life in New Hampshire and across the world changed drastically. In this week's Something Wild, we re-visit musings from Dave Anderson in how to find solace in nature-- even during the most stressful of times.

Republican Kelly Ayotte's victory in New Hampshire will bring the total number of women holding governor’s offices to 13 — surpassing the previous high of 12 set in 2023.

In her final appearance, Laura Knoy is on the other side of The Exchange mic, as Peter Biello interviews her about her 25 years as host. We discuss the show's origins, moments that have stood out over the years, and hear her observations on how New Hampshire has changed.

This summer, towns in southern New Hampshire are breaking ground on what will become the state’s largest regional water system. It is being built in part with money from massive settlements between New Hampshire and gas companies, including ExxonMobil, that used to produce MtBE, a chemical that polluted local drinking water.

An Ohio woman who was wrongfully charged and convicted in 1994 of physical and sexual abuse against children in a Head Start program and then spent more than 15 years in prison before she was exonerated said she sometimes felt God wasn't with her as she waited for her redemption.

Christian Alliance for Orphans celebrated 20 years of ministry at its annual summit where 2,400 supporters from 46 countries came together at Brentwood Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee.

Former Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt and the SBC are scheduled to meet next year as part of his lawsuit against the denomination over allegations of defamation and invasion of privacy.

A historic African Methodist Episcopal church in Pennsylvania has been appointed its first woman pastor since the congregation was founded in the late 18th century.

For me, someone raised in the segregated South, having attended segregated schools, a segregated church, and living in a segregated neighborhood, his sermon to America was a clarion call to commitment and action in support of a cause that was demanded both by our founding documents and, more importantly, by the Gospel proclaimed in the New Testament.

As I sit in my study writing this column, I find myself in a contemplative mode. I have just experienced a Christmas season unlike any other in my eight decades of existence.

Thirty years ago, on December 8, 1991, the Belovezha Accords, signed in Belarus, led to the collapse of the USSR. Yuri Voronin, Chairman of the Commission of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR on Budget, Plans, Taxes and Prices, First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation (in 1991) recalls the events of 30 years ago. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the collapse of the USSR was the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. After the collapse of the USSR, as many as 25 million Russian people found themselves abroad overnight.

A major crisis broke out in Russia in the beginning of October 1993. It was the most serious crisis in post-Soviet history. Disagreements between President Boris Yeltsin and parliamentary leaders led to bloody massacre on the streets of Moscow.  The number of victims of the Black October crisis remains unknown even 30 years after. According to various departments and commissions, the number of victims varies from 124 to 158 people. Witnesses say, however, that hundreds were killed and thousands of others were injured.  After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the 1978 Constitution of the RSFSR was still in force vesting supreme powers on the Supreme Council and the Congress of People's Deputies.

The prosecutor on Thursday requested 9.5 years in prison for American basketball player Brittney Griner, accused of smuggling hash oil, RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the Khimki courtroom. “By partial addition, I finally ask you to appoint nine years and six months in prison with a sentence to be served in a general regime colony with a fine of one million rubles,” the state prosecutor said in his speech. Griner pleaded guilty in court, but stressed that she had no intent to commit a crime, and she "collected the bag in a hurry." During the consideration of the case, it became known that a doctor from the state of Arizona prescribed marijuana to her instead of traditional painkillers due to the side effects of the latter.

Bones of unknown animals millions of years of age were found in Yakutia.  In the Churapcha region of Yakutia, archeologists found a Paleolithic human site that is believed to be at least 30,000 years old. Bones of unknown animals were found during excavation works.  The radiocarbon research of the finds revealed that the found remains were from the Neogene era - a period that began 23 million years ago and ended 2.58 million years ago.

Notorious pop MMA fighter Nabi Nabiev faces seven years in prison for assaulting another pop fighter, Arkady Osipyan. Law enforcement officers detained Nabi Nabiev at a Moscow airport as he was returning from filming a sports reality show. Law-enforcers told Nabiev that Osipyan filed a statement against him after the fight. Nabiev was charged with hooliganism and placed under house arrest. Nabiev's upcoming fights have been canceled. In April 2024, Nabi Nabiev was expelled from Hardcore Fighting after he started a mass brawl at one of the shows. Then the promotion terminated the contract with Nabi and kicked him out for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Nabiev thus ended up in the reality show of another promotion in Thailand.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beslan. The head of state visited the City of Angels memorial complex — a large cemetery where 266 victims of the monstrous 2004 terrorist attack were buried. The attack that took place on September 1 at Beslan's School No. 1 claimed the lives of 334 people. September 2024 will mark 20 years since the tragedy. A monument on the territory of the complex, the Tree of Sorrow, was built in memory of the hostages who fell victim to the terrorist attack. There is also a monument to the fighters of the Alpha and Vympel special forces who died during the assault.

Agency closed for New Year’s Day

Flashpoint has released its midyear Cyber Threat Intelligence Index, with new data and trends surrounding both persistent and emerging cyber threats observed from 1 January to 30 June, 2024. The report includes research and data tied to vulnerabilities, information-stealing malware, ransomware and insider threats.

Red Canary, the managed detection and response (MDR) provider, has released a new report, Security Operations Trends Report, providing insight into critical challenges facing modern cybersecurity teams. Partnering with independent research company Coleman Parkes, Red Canary surveyed 700 security leaders from the US, UK, New Zealand, Australia and Nordics.