The Department of Justice announced today that it has transferred $311,797,876.11 to the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Nigeria) in accordance with a Feb. 3, 2020, trilateral agreement among the governments of the United States, Nigeria and the Bailiwick of Jersey (Jersey) to repatriate assets the United States forfeited that were traceable to the kleptocracy of former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and his co-conspirators.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former executive of a financial services company with orchestrating a bribery scheme to help a client to win a government contract to build and operate an electrical power plant in the Republic of…

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Louis Gracia and Vanessa Horton have been named Associate Directors of the Investment Adviser/Investment Company (IA/IC) examination program in the agency's Chicago Regional Office. Together, Mr…

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it is premiering new multimedia resources to support teachers in connection with Teacher Appreciation Week. This content builds on the Commission’s longstanding efforts to serve teachers in both their…

The Securities and Exchange Commission today issued an order directing the equity exchanges and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) (the participants) to submit a new National Market System plan (NMS plan) with a modernized governance…

Two commercial flooring executives, Robert A. Patrey Jr. and Kenneth R. Smith, pleaded guilty for their role in an antitrust conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices for commercial flooring services and products sold in the United States, the Department of Justice announced. The defendants are cooperating with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation.

The Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge a proposal by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) to operate an online platform for advertisers to solicit bids from companies that provide production services for commercial advertisements. The Department’s position was stated in a business review letter from Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim for the Antitrust Division to counsel for the AICP.

House Speaker Mike Busch and Senate President Mike Miller say they are waiting for the results of a disparity study of the state's medical cannabis program, and will consider emergency legislation when lawmakers return to Annapolis in January.

From the museum of Sankey diagrams comes this beautiful visualization of migration flows between Canadian provinces in the years 1956 to 1961. Sorry but I didn’t note the source… still wanted to share it with you.
[See image gallery at www.sankey-diagrams.com]
Unfortunately, flows are not to scale: compare, for example, the exits from the Atlantic provinces in the period (86,078 people) which should have an arrow similar to the inflow of 85,476 to British Columbia. Or look at the exodus from Ontario provice, which seemingly is larger than the influx to the provice (but in fact is smaller).

The Jockey Club board of stewards today announced that it has adopted a final rule limiting the annual breeding of individual stallions. The rule reflects The Jockey Club's goal to preserve the health of the Thoroughbred breed for the long term and will apply prospectively to stallions born in 2020 or later. Effective today, The […]

The post The Jockey Club Officially Adopts Rule Limiting Stallion Book Size To 140 Mares appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

A Dallas nurse with Ebola has arrived in Maryland for treatment. Her plane landed Thursday night in Frederick.

The mayor said he would like to see the complex town down and replaced with a development akin to Prince George's County's National Harbor.

Citing urgent public health concerns, Metro Transit authorities are moving to contain the spread of a large and growing homeless encampment near the light-rail line in south Minneapolis.

The state labor secretary says her department has made great strides in ironing out problems with the unemployment website and is trouble shooting errors.

The state labor secretary says her department has made great strides in ironing out problems with the unemployment website and is trouble shooting errors.

Seth Flaxman et al. have an updated version of their model of coronavirus progression. Flaxman writes: Countries with successful control strategies (for example, Greece) never got above small numbers thanks to early, drastic action. Or put another way: if we did China and showed % of population infected (or death rate), we’d erroneously conclude that […]

1. The news! Zad’s cat, pictured above, is not impressed by this bit of cargo-cult science that two people sent to me: No vaccine or effective treatment has yet been found for people suffering from COVID-19. Under the circumstances, a physician in Kansas City wonders whether prayer might make a difference, and he has launched […]

Anthony Fowler wrote a wonderful op-ed. You have to read the whole thing, but let me start with his most important point, about “the temptation to overclaim” in social science: One study estimated the economic value of the people spared through social-distancing efforts. Essentially, the authors took estimates from epidemiologists about the number of lives […]

The University of Washington in Seattle is a big place. It includes the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), which has produced a widely-circulated and widely-criticized coronavirus model. As we’ve discussed, the IHME model is essentially a curve-fitting exercise that makes projections using the second derivative of the time trend on the log scale. […]

The decision to shelve detailed advice from the nation's top disease control experts for reopening communities during the coronavirus pandemic came from the highest levels of the White House, according to internal government e-mails.

Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Steve Martin today announced that the park will begin accepting applications for a commercial use authorization (CUA) for bicycle rental operations on Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim.  https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grand-canyon-national-park-accepting-applications-for-bicycle-rental-operation-commercial-use-authorization.htm

The National Park Service is now accepting applications for noncommercial river trip permits to raft the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. The permits are for specific launch dates within calendar year 2011. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/national-park-service-accepting-applications-for-noncommercial-colorado-river-rafting-permits-for-2011-calendar-year.htm

https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2010-03-01_rehab.htm

Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Steve Martin today announced the issuance of a commercial use authorization (CUA) for bicycle rental operations located at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center on the park’s South Rim.  https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grand-canyon-nation-park-announces-issuance-of-commercial-use-authorization-for-south-rim-bicycle-rental-operations-beginning-may-1.htm

The National Park Service is now accepting applications for noncommercial river trip permits to raft the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. The permits are for specific launch dates within calendar year 2012. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2011-02-01_lottery.htm

The National Park Service is now accepting applications for noncommercial river trip permits to raft the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2012-02-01_lottery.htm

On Friday, February 1, 2013 the National Park Service will begin accepting applications for noncommercial river trip permits to raft the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. The permits will be for specific launch dates within calendar year 2014. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2012-01-31_lottery.htm

On Saturday, February 1, 2014 the National Park Service will begin accepting applications for noncommercial river trip permits to raft the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grand-canyon-lottery-for-2015-noncommercial-river-trip-permits-opens-february-1.htm

Grand Canyon Association (GCA), the official nonprofit partner of Grand Canyon National Park, today announced a $1 million donation from Arizona Public Service (APS) that will establish the Grand Canyon Trails Forever Endowment to help preserve and protect Grand Canyon’s trails. This is one of the most significant private, philanthropic gifts in Grand Canyon’s history. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grand-canyon-association-receives-one-million-dollars-from-arizona-public-service-to-initiate-the-trails-forever-endowment-at-grand-canyon-national-park.htm

Grand Canyon National Park will host author and conservation activist Audrey Peterman for a special evening program on Monday, March 3 in honor of Black History Month. Ms. Peterman and her husband Frank authored the book Legacy on the Land: A Black Couple Discovers Our National Inheritance and Tells Why Every American Should Care. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grand-canyon-national-park-to-celebrate-black-history-month-with-special-guest-audrey-peterman.htm

On October 14-15, 2014, the Grand Canyon Fee and Commercial Enforcement Unit partnered with the Grand Canyon Concessions and Fee Management Offices to support ongoing inspections of all commercial traffic entering the park. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2014-commercial-inspection.htm

Sunday, February 1, 2015 Grand Canyon National Park will open the permit lottery for 2016 Noncommerical River Trip launch dates. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2016-lottery.htm

Grand Canyon will celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grand-canyon-to-celebrate-asian-american-heritage-month.htm

On Monday, February 1, 2016 the National Park Service will begin accepting applications for noncommercial river trip permits to raft the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park in 2017. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2017-noncommercial-river-lottery.htm

On October 3 and 5, 2016, Grand Canyon National Park partnered with Arizona Department of Public Safety and the US Department of Transportation to support ongoing inspections of all commercial traffic entering the park. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2016-commercial-vehicle-inspection.htm

On Wednesday, February 1, 2017 the National Park Service will begin accepting applications for noncommercial river trip permits to raft the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2018-noncommercial-river-lottery.htm

On Thursday, February 1, 2018 the National Park Service will begin accepting applications for noncommercial river trip permits to raft the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. The permits are for specific launch dates within calendar year 2019. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2019-river-lottery-open.htm

In honor of African American History Month, Grand Canyon National Park will host a special evening program to highlight the African American experience in Northern Arizona and contributions to Grand Canyon National Park. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/african-american-history-month.htm

The National Park Service is accepting applications for noncommercial river trip permits to raft the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. The permits are for launch dates within calendar year 2020. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2020-noncommercial-river-trip-lottery.htm

Grand Canyon National Park is officially certified as an International Dark Sky Park by the International Dark Sky Association. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/dark-sky-designation.htm

The National Park Service will begin accepting applications for noncommercial river trip permits to raft the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. The permits are for specific launch dates within calendar year 2021. A total of 462 permits will be available for 12- to 25-day river trips. Applications will be accepted online through noon MST on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2021-river-lottery-01-31-2020.htm

Despite these Indiana neighbors being forced to stay isolated during the COVID-19 crisis, they have come up with a clever way of staying connected.

The post This Neighborhood Has Been Staying Connected During Social Distancing With Creative ‘I Spy’ Game appeared first on Good News Network.

Tanner Howe, a singer-songwriter from Huntington Beach, hoped that his performances would brighten up isolating neighborhoods—and he was 100% correct.

The post Musician Uses Truck Bed to Play Drive-By Concerts for Friends in Quarantine – and the Video is Incredibly Heartwarming appeared first on Good News Network.

Commercial thinning in fully-stocked normal Douglas-fir stands of merchantable size is evaluated and compared to the alternatives of leaving stands to grow unthinned or of liquidating them. Comparisons are made in terms of volume production and financial returns.

The Silvies Valley Ranch is an example of using local innovation to combat the global problem of incised streams on rangelands. Incised channels reduce the flow between water in the channel and water in the surrounding soils, which reduces the vegetation available for wildlife habitat and cattle forage. One of the ranch owners, Scott Campbell, a doctor of veterinary medicine, believes that stream incision is related to the decline of beaver populations; thus, the ranch’s approach to restoration includes efforts to mimic beavers’ influence on the system. He is using an extensive network of low-rise dams made from locally available materials (dirt, gravel, rock, and logs), commonly referred to as “artificial beaver dams” (ABDs). Campbell said that the ABDs on the ranch successfully increased stream connectivity to their floodplains and increased the quantity and forage quality of wet meadows on the property, with no changes in where cattle were grazing. The experiences of this landowner exemplify a unique approach that provides a model for others facing similar challenges to doing restoration on private land. The transformation taking place on the Silvies Valley Ranch has garnered the attention of neighboring ranch owners, some of whom are beginning to experiment with similar restoration technologies. Campbell would like to continue installing structures, but has encountered numerous roadblocks in the permitting process. He has since taken an active role in building legislative support for the ABD technology being used on the ranch, and in facilitating its adoption in other places. This case study—based on interviews with stakeholders involved in the Silvies Valley Ranch project—highlights the social benefits and challenges experienced by one rancher using ABDs as a restoration tool, and provides insights for improving their use in the future. It is part of a larger interdisciplinary study that explores the potential of different beaver-related restoration approaches for achieving watershed restoration and livestock production goals on rangelands in the Western United States.