A second COVID-19 "testing blitz" is scheduled for Saturday in at least nine counties. State officials have not disclosed turnout for the first event.

A look at how Arizona is handling the spread of COVID-19, a highly contagious virus impacting the world.

Santa Cruz County has the highest poverty level in southern Arizona. Since the pandemic, thousands of residents have turned to the food bank for help.

History makes a great story when it’s told well. And who can resist a good story? I certainly can’t. Having been a history major in undergrad, I may be particularly susceptible. So when I came across Matthew Kneale’s new book, “Rome: A History In Seven Sackings” in the leisure reading collection at Pattee Library, I had to check it out. There are many histories of long-lived cities. Paris, London, Jerusalem and Rome have all had more than a few treatments. But every so often a writer looks at a history like this in a different way, and that makes it all the more interesting. Kneale’s choice of looking at Rome through seven different times it was conquered over the millennia is a particularly intriguing choice. Beginning with an early, brief occupation in 387 B.C. and continuing up to the Second World War, it is an engrossing tale. Organizing the history of Rome around these seven “sackings” offers fascinating snapshots of the city at specific moments in time. Together, they weave a

As the director of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, one of my favorite tasks is choosing a children’s or young adult title to represent Pennsylvania at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. It’s a responsibility I take very seriously. I consult with colleagues and search for information about children’s and young adult books by Pennsylvania authors or illustrators. I look for titles with topics that have some connection to the Commonwealth. I’m delighted to share that this year’s selection is a picture book biography—"A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin”written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Horace Pippin was the grandson of a slave, born in West Chester, Pennsylvania on February 22, 1888. He died in 1946 and is buried in the Chester Grove Annex Cemetery. He began and ended life in Pennsylvania. As a child, Horace was always drawing pictures. He won a drawing contest and the cherished prize—colored pencils, a pair of brushes, and a box of

Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, it was almost a given that young children watched at least a few episodes of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” And I’m pretty sure I watched more than just a few! I remember well the episode where we saw how crayons were made, as well as the episode where Mister Rogers visited a lighthouse. The Land of Make Believe was a familiar place – both on the show, and the ride at Idlewild Park, which my family and I visited several summers in a row. So it was with no small amount of nostalgia that I started the new book by Maxwell King – “The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers.” My nostalgia was only deepened by the fact that I listened to the audiobook version, narrated by none other than LeVar Burton of “Reading Rainbow,” another touchstone from my childhood. King, formerly the head of The Pittsburgh Foundation, brings us the first full-length biography of Rogers. In so doing, he draws on an abundance of sources, including the recollections of

I work at the Pennsylvania Center for the Book and a new book of poetry by local author Marjorie Maddox came across my desk recently. The title immediately caught my attention: “A Crossing of Zebras: Animal Packs in Poetry.” I thought, collective nouns and poetry? What a great idea! I'm a former elementary school teacher. So, I immediately started thinking about all the possibilities for this book in the classroom. Learning about collective nouns, words that describe groups of animals, individuals, or things is often part of the curriculum. When I wanted a fun way to help children understand the concept of collective nouns, I used to use a book by Ruth Heller called “A Cache of Jewels and Other Collective Nouns.” That book just gives you a page with one word, the collective noun, and a simple illustration. So, you can imagine my delight at discovering Marjorie Maddox’s entertaining poems, along with Philip Huber's imaginative scratchboard artwork. This book takes Heller's idea a step

“The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life” offers those who usually read novels a chance to enjoy ‘creative non-fiction.’ This book is a well-told narrative about the molecular building blocks of life and how they evolved. David Quammen accepts the challenge of documenting the advancement of evolutionary life science while revealing its significance to all of our lives. Quammen also gives us insight into the vibrant communities of scientists carrying out similar work. Quammen begins by introducing the image of the Tree of Life. He describes how it has evolved from the image of a ladder-to-heaven in ancient and medieval thinking into Darwin’s branching, upward-growing tree. Quammen closes his introduction with his own surprising proposition. He suggests Darwin’s tree image is no longer the precise metaphor for what life is. Quammen introduces each new evolutionary twist and turn until the new Tree of Life ends up looking more like a web than an upwardly-reaching tree with

"The Swerve: How the World Became Modern" by Stephen Greenblatt is the biography of a man named Poggio Bracciolini, and the history of a poem titled "On the Nature of Things." Bracciolini began adult life as a scribe, which is the 15th Century version of a notary public. It was a useful, but not unique, position in what is now Italy. Despite his humble beginnings, Bracciolini used his intelligence, charm, and exceptional penmanship to become the personal secretary to Pope John XXII. That was quite an achievement for a person of common birth. But, it was Bracciolini’s avocation as a book collector that gave him a place in history. Bracciolini spent much free time - and money - searching for rare manuscripts in the monastic libraries of Europe. In particular, he looked for manuscripts containing the works of ancient Greek philosophers. In January 1417, he found a manuscript of the poem, "On the Nature of Things.” Written by Titus Lucretius Carus around 50 B.C.E., "On the Nature of Things

Nearly 90 years after his death, the name Thomas Edison still stands as a synonym for invention and technical wizardry. Yet aside from a short list of his inventions, I couldn’t say that I knew all that much about him. So, when I saw that Edmund Morris had written a new biography—titled simply “Edison”—I couldn’t resist learning more. Morris is perhaps best known as the author of the magisterial three volume biography of Theodore Roosevelt, of which “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt” won the Pulitzer Prize. While not as long as that combined output, at over 800 pages, “Edison” is still a bit daunting. But with a life as long and productive as Edison’s, the book never lagged, presenting a fascinating record of both disappointment and achievement. Morris made a curious choice as a biographer. At the start of the work, we see Edison’s last race against time to come up with a substitute for rubber for tires. From there, each chapter covers a decade of his life, proceeding backwards. From his

We will be having two large size format flagship stores, one in Delhi and one in Bombay (price points between INR 100- 10,00,000) whereas THT gifting will have products ranging from INR.1000 – Rs.5000. Our endeavour is that THT Gifting reaches 50 in terms of the number of stores in the next five years--JJ Valaya

Sanjeev Kapoor's business ventures range from premium cookware and appliances brand Wonderchef to TV channel FoodFood to a chain of restaurants across India and abroad.

The company's stock was trading 3.04 per cent down at Rs 8,335 apiece on BSE today.

Ravi Saxena, MD, Wonderchef emphasizes that it is the best time to award industry status to retail sector for overall economic growth.

Founded in 2009 by Kapoor and former Sodexo Pass India MD Ravi Saxena, the company sells premium kitchen appliances, cookware and bakeware under the Wonderchef brand.

Preethi is exporting products to the US, Asian and African countries and it currently constitutes around 8% of its revenue.

The state government is looking to re-introduce the old tradition, where steel or other metal utensils were taken on rent from vendors and community stores. Over the years, disposable plates, glasses, cups and other utensils have gained popularity, replacing the system.

​​The Borosil group, which comprises two listed entities Borosil Glass Works Ltd and Gujarat Borosil Ltd, expects to attain a combined turnover of around Rs 1,000 crore in the current financial year and from there, it hopes that it has "potential" to double it in the next 4-5 years.

Tupperware India's managing director Deepak Chhabra talks about how integrating the direct sales force with the retail franchisee model is working for the home and kitchen-ware maker.

“We see this second round of investment from TCA as a token of faith. We have grown 500% over the previous financial year and on track for very aggressive growth next year as well.” said Jagadeesh Kumar of The Indus Valley.

Consolidated revenue of the company increased 24 per cent to Rs 5,293.99 crore in Q3FY19.

The Sajjan Jindal-led JSW group’s JSW Paints entered the highly competitive paints industry in India with an initial investment of Rs 600 crore.

Berger Paints' total expenses was at Rs 1,304.62 crore as against Rs 1,136.47 crore, up 14.79 per cent.

The number beat ET Now's poll estimate of Rs 547 crore profit.

The decorative business segment in India recorded high double digit volume growth.

Revenue from operations (excluding GST) in the said quarter stood at Rs 1,598.58 crore.

From Rs 12 crore in FY09, the Pune-headquartered company, which is gunning for an IPO, closed FY19 with revenue of Rs 600 crore. Here Jalan talks to TOI about his plans for the company.

"The Commission is of the view that evidence provided by JSW Paints is prima-facie sufficient to indicate that Asian Paints has denied access to the distribution channels in the relevant market to JSW Paints by threatening and coercing such dealers through various means," the fair trade regulator said.

Asian Paints' revenue from operations rose 3% to Rs 5,420.28 crore from Rs 5,263.04 crore.

“As a socially responsible company, Asian Paints is committed to providing necessary support towards various relief measures announced by the government to combat Covid-19” said K.B.S. Anand, Managing Director & CEO, Asian Paints Limited.

Berger said it has decided against any involuntary furloughs or organisational restructuring that may lead to downsizing of headcount and consequent loss of livelihood during the time of widespread uncertainty. It stated that there will be no impact of the crisis on new recruitment offers.

'Our foray into sanitizers is an effort to help the fight against Covid-19'

Ikea is exploring possibilities of building shopping malls and entertainment facilities next to some of its upcoming standalone stores, or developing multi-storey shopping centres with Ikea as an anchor store, depending on land availability, they said. The company will lease out mall space to other brands and retailers.

Home audio is not the only segment that the two firms are targeting. Other products in the range include lights, crockery, furniture, and other knick-knacks like a reflective raincoat and a cajón. Some of the devices like the speakers and smart lighting bulbs can be connected together.

Budget raised custom duties on wooden furniture, tableware etc. Ikea imports about 75% of its products.

"I think we could broaden the product range a bit in our lower price range," Abrahamsson Ring said, adding that new materials, production techniques and distribution methods would help make IKEA "even more affordable".

Most of the layoffs are at its Boston headquarters and its European office in Berlin. The company has about 17,000 employees worldwide.

From the production of raw materials and products through to customers' use and disposal, emissions shrank 4.3% in the fiscal year to the end of August 2019 to 24.9 million tonnes CO2 equivalents, it said.

In the Union Budget 2020 announced on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced to increase customs duty on imported furniture from the present 20 per cent to 25 per cent. The move was aimed to protect the interest of the MSME segment. Ikea opened its first store in the country in Hyderabad in August 2018.

"We see this as a good opportunity to become accessible for many more in China, especially in light of what the Chinese digital environment looks like," Tolga Oncu, head of retail at Ingka, which owns most IKEA stores worldwide, told Reuters.

Johan Andersson, the store's logistics boss whose team found them, had just read that hospitals were suffering from a shortage of masks amid the coronavirus outbreak so he rang up Sahlgrenska University Hospital - Sweden's biggest - in Gothenburg and asked if they were interested.

A majority of IKEA stores are or have been temporarily closed in recent months. A few stores in Germany and Israel, as well as the one in Wuhan, the city in China where the coronavirus was first discovered, reopened this week.

Veteran law enforcement officers Damon K. Jones and Cariol Horne are speaking out against police brutality and calling for reform. They talked with WPSU about the challenges they have faced as minorities in the police force, their thoughts about the Black Lives Matter movement and why change is necessary. Transcript: Cheraine Stanford: Welcome to take note on WPSU. I'm Cheraine Stanford. We're joined today by two activists advocating for law enforcement reform. Cariol Horne was a police officer in Buffalo, New York, for nearly two decades. When she was fired after she says she was assaulted by a fellow officer while attempting to stop him from choking a handcuffed man. Damon K. Jones has worked in the West Chester Department of Corrections for 28 years. He represents the state of New York in the organization, Blacks in Law Enforcement of America. The two came to Penn State as part of a panel called “Black lives inside of blue lives” to discuss the question: What happens when Black

Molly Melching first went to Senegal in 1974 as an exchange student from the University of Illinois. But, instead of returning to the United States, she stayed on, eventually creating a nonprofit organization to educate and empower women and communities. That organization Tostan created and implemented educational programs focused on human rights, health, literacy, financial management and childhood development. It may be best known for leading thousands of communities in Africa to end female genital cutting and forced childhood marriage. WPSU's Anne Danahy talked with Melching about her work. Transcript Anne Danahy: Welcome to take note on WPSU, I'm Anne Danahy. Molly Melching first went to Senegal in 1974 as an exchange student from the University of Illinois. But instead of returning to the United States, she stayed, eventually creating a nonprofit organization to educate and empower women and communities. That organization, Tostan, created and implemented educational programs

Peter Forster is an associate professor who teaches security and risk analysis at Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology. His research focuses on cybersecurity, counter-terrorism and social networks. Forster has worked on improving law enforcement’s situational awareness of issues such as drug and human trafficking. He also oversees a research project on better understanding of how extremist organizations recruit Americans in cyberspace. He talks with WPSU about why cybersecurity shouldn’t be an afterthought in today’s world and how the cyber world and the physical world are inseparable. Plus, how to practice “cyber hygiene.” Transcript: Min Xian: Welcome to Take Note on WPSU. I’m Min Xian. Peter Forster is an associate teaching professor who teaches security and risk analysis at Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology. His research focuses on cybersecurity, counterterrorism and social networks. Forster has worked on improving law enforcement’s

Jessie Sage is a sex worker who writes and speaks publicly on issues related to sex work, feminism, and social justice. James Tison is a stand-up comedian in New York who uses humor to fight stigma against his LGBTQ identity and life with HIV. Sage and Tison recently spoke at an event at Penn State called “Facts not Fear: A Night to Fight Stigma,” and talked with WPSU about fighting the sigma their communities face. This Take Note interview talks about sex work and might not be suitable for children to hear.

Robert Crumb is best known as an underground cartoonist, whose work, including Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural, remains controversial. But Crumb is also a collector and celebrator of old blues records. Jerry Zolten is a professor of communication arts and sciences and integrative arts at Penn State Altoona. His work includes the book “Great God A’Mighty! The Dixie Hummingbirds: Celebrating the Rise of Soul Gospel Music.” WPSU's Anne Danahy spoke with Crumb and Zolten about their love of old blues music and records.

Brian Wray is an award-winning children’s book author for his book “Unraveling Rose” about a toy bunny rabbit with OCD. His latest book, “Max’s Box,” talks about what happens when negative emotions are suppressed. Both of his picture books focus on children’s mental and emotional health. TRANSCRIPT: Kirsten Tekavec: Welcome to Take Note on WPSU, I'm Kirsten Tekavec. Brian Wray is a children's book author and the 2017 Gold Winner of the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award for his book "Unraveling Rose." His latest book, Max's Box," talks about what happens when negative emotions are suppressed. Both of his picture books focus on children's mental and emotional health. He is a Penn State graduate and currently lives in Brooklyn. Brian Wray, thank you for joining us. Brian Wray: Thank you for having me. Tekavec: Before we begin discussing your work, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into writing children's books? Wray: I have been writing stories for as long

Maxwell King is the best-selling author of "The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers." King talks about why he wrote the book and gives insight into the life of Mister Rogers, the unfailingly kind, compassionate namesake neighbor of the beloved "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." To learn more about Rogers' legacy visit the Fred Rogers Center and Fred Rogers Productions . TRANSCRIPT: Carolyn Donaldson: Welcome to Take Note on WPSU, I'm Carolyn Donaldson. Today, we're joined by Maxwell King, recently retired president of the Pittsburgh Foundation, former president of the Heinz Endowment, and former editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer. But now in today's context, a best selling author. In his book, "The Good Neighbor: The Life and Works of Fred Rogers," King's written a personal and professional biography of Fred Rogers, the unfailingly kind, compassionate namesake neighbor of the beloved Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Thanks for joining us today, Maxwell. Maxwell King: Good to be

In 1995, one of the deadliest heat waves in the United States killed 739 people in Chicago. Why was the death count so high? And why were the deaths concentrated in poor, mostly African American neighborhoods? In her new documentary "Cooked: Survival by Zip Code," filmmaker Judith Helfand says it wasn't the heat that killed these people, but generations of institutional racism. We talked with the Peabody Award-winning director about "Cooked," which had its TV premiere on Independent Lens on PBS earlier this month, and about her past documentaries, which include "Blue Vinyl" and "A Healthy Baby Girl." TRANSCRIPT: Emily Reddy: Welcome to Take Note on WPSU. I'm Emily Reddy. In 1995, one of the deadliest heat waves in the United States killed 739 people in Chicago. Why was the death count so high? And why were the deaths concentrated in poor, mostly African American neighborhoods? In her new documentary "Cooked: Survival by Zip Code," filmmaker Judith Helfand says it wasn't the heat that