Bluesky has now crossed 14.7 million users and added 1 million members since the US presidential elections.

The post Bluesky Inches Closer to 15 Million Users appeared first on Thurrott.com.

On Wednesday, King County Council Member Claudia Balducci announced her candidacy for King County Executive. Her announcement came the morning after current Executive Dow Constantine announced he would not seek reelection. by Ashley Nerbovig

On Wednesday, King County Council Member Claudia Balducci announced her candidacy for King County Executive. Her announcement came the morning after current Executive Dow Constantine announced he would not seek reelection.

Thirty-ish years ago, Balducci moved from New York into a house in Bellevue’s Lake Hills neighborhood with her then-boyfriend, now husband. She’s stayed right there ever since, not counting a brief return to New York for law school. 

Her political career began at the Bellevue City Council. She served as mayor of that mall town from 2014 to 2016. Voters elected her to the King County Council in 2016. Throughout that time, she advocated for more housing density, defended Sound Transit’s East Link extension, and pushed for improvements to the criminal legal system.

She considers housing, transit, and public safety the pillars of her campaign for King County Executive. Plus, she supports finding progressive revenue streams for the county. When we asked her if, as someone from the Eastside, she felt additional pressure from big business to oppose legislation such as a payroll tax, she responded: “No more so than somebody from Seattle.” Touche, Balducci.

Balducci views herself as a coalition-builder, someone who reaches across the aisle. The biggest difference she sees between herself and her would-be predecessor, Constantine, is her approach: Rather than solely focusing on rallying advocates to push an idea across the finish line, she believes in sitting down with people who disagree with her to reach consensus. 

“You might come out with something that's a little different than what you thought, but hopefully we start to build deeper and more lasting support, not just for that thing, but for all of government,” Balducci said.

If elected as County Executive, Balducci says her first four years in office would focus on addressing the human suffering and disorder in King County’s downtown cores without increasing the jail population. She wants to ensure that people have the services they need to help them address substance abuse, their mental health, and maintain housing. Though she headed up the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, she was not a “lock-them-up sort of person,” though she did say she’d like to see crime go down in city centers.

She also wants to focus on delivering light rail expansion projects in a reasonable amount of time. 

A Yimby Year One

Balducci found her YIMBY calling in the early 2000s, when the owners of her neighborhood shopping center, Lake Hills Village, sought to redevelop the mall due to a lack of business and businesses. But as the property owners pushed to change zoning requirements to allow a mixed-use, multistory complex Balducci says many of her neighbors came out to oppose the redevelopment. She readily supported the idea and said so in front of her neighbors. Standing up in those meetings almost two decades ago launched her political career, she says. 

On Tuesday ahead of her campaign launch, she showed The Stranger around the redeveloped lot. Shops now fill the storefronts, and the Village houses a branch of the King County Library along with a community space. The large apartments attached to the complex–many three or four bedrooms–are some of the largest in the area. None are “deeply affordable, but they're not outrageously expensive either.” Balducci’s only regret is that the property couldn’t also connect to the light rail. The complex’s large parking lot in the center makes it clear the Lake Hills community still has a car-centric, commuter mindset.

Lake Hills was the first stop on Balducci’s Bellevue Accomplishments Tour. As we drove to our next stop, she chatted about the County’s need to build more housing and Eastside developers’ need to build more townhomes on single lots instead of the giant homes she often sees built in her neighborhood. (She acknowledged those townhomes would be expensive.)

A Defender of Transit

From Lake Hills Village, Balducci whisked us off to Wilburton Station, which she reluctantly called her favorite while saying, “It’s like my children, I love them all equally.” Balducci came alive as she talked about the importance of light rail planning, and how building along the freeway can limit how much density can pop up around a station. She pointed out The Spring District, which happened to be at the end of a rainbow that appeared as the rain slowed to a drizzle. The Spring District is a sort of evolved version of what Balducci did for Lake Hill Village. A developer turned an area of Bellevue made up mostly of warehouses and parking lots and turned it into a housing, shopping, and business core, complete with a light rail station right in the center that had support from private investors. Again, Balducci acknowledged the housing in Spring District probably wouldn’t be something anyone could afford, with the cost of a cheap studio hovering around $1,994, but the project brought more housing and more jobs, all made possible because of the light rail.

Balducci explained how unlike in Seattle, many people in Bellevue vehemently opposed light rail. She fought for years to bring the option to the Eastside as a member of the Bellevue City Council, fighting not only against her fellow council members, but also those who challenged it in court. She came from a city where you could survive without a car and saw the benefit and importance of a reliable transportation system. She called building the Eastline a labor of love. 

As King County Executive, she’d have a huge say in how light rail expanded, because not only would she become a member of the Sound Transit Board, but she’d have the ability to appoint another nine members to the 18 member board. Much of her political life has been dedicated to the issue of improving and expanding transit, and as King County Executive, she says, she’d throw herself into delivering the light rail the county promised to voters as quickly and efficiently as she can.

Not Zero Youth Detention, but Less Youth Detention

Balducci has never styled herself as an abolitionist. She’s a reformer, someone who helped to change conditions at the King County Jail after the US Department of Justice found that the facility had violated people’s constitutional rights by failing to adequately protect them from harm. When the issue of the new youth jail came up, Balducci said she saw a need for an improved youth jail, a smaller one, that could be refitted as the county worked to reduce the number of kids in lock up. But she never saw the existence of the building as a problem, it's more about how the county manages the building and treats the people inside. She also stressed she supports diversion programs and upstream investments to help reduce the number of kids who find themselves on the path to prison. She said she believes in community-based diversion programs and has supported increasing funding to them.

Final Stop

Balducci ended the tour at Porchlight, a men’s shelter in Bellevue that she helped establish during her time as Mayor. The whole process involved a lot of planning, funding, and dealing with community pushback, but it resulted in a 100-bed shelter and the first permanent shelter for men in all of East King County. From there, Bellevue wanted to expand the site, eventually purchasing the property from the county and expanding it to create permanent supportive housing as well as 300 units of family housing, Balducci said. She acknowledged that this particular project may not be the best example of the coalition style governance she wants to represent as King County Executive — a lot of neighbors still had issues with the project — but in the end, many came around. 

Balducci sees herself as somebody who fights Nimby-ism wherever it sprouts. With the drop from her colleague King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay Tuesday night, announcing he also planned to “strongly consider” a run for King County Executive, Balducci probably won’t end up the most outwardly progressive candidate in the race. However, given Zahilay’s recent retreat on criminal legal system issues, Balducci may be able to style herself as a more consistent, left voice who delivers on her promises. Plus, she’d be the county’s first woman King County Executive in the position’s 56-year history. Wild we haven’t managed to elect one of those yet.

iPhone shipments in the third quarter of 2024 crossed 4 million units for the first time, driven by steep discounts, multiple financing options, and a strong demand for premium handsets during the festive season, said research firm IDC in a report released Wednesday.

SECRET W* NFAC No.5436-79 Approved For Release 2007/02/08 : CIA-RDP83BO1027 000200030009-4 MEMORANDUM FOR: See Distribution 10 October 1979 SUBJECT : Alert Memorandum on Pakistani Plan for an Early Nuclear Test We are preparing an Alert Memorandum on Pakistani plans for an early nuclear test....

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American author, activist, lesbian, teacher, anthropologist, and working-class escapee, Dorothy Allison, died November 6th, 2024. She was 75 years old. In her honor, Arlene Zaucha shared the radio program she […]

The post In Memoriam, Dorothy Allison (Author, Lesbian, Working-class Escapee) appeared first on KKFI.

keyboarding while on a stationary bike

The overflow CSS property is common when building a website. It’s used for different purposes: Enable vertical scrolling (e.g., overflow-y: auto) Clip the content of a wrapper (e.g., overflow-x: hidden)

President-elect Donald Trump announced members of his White House senior staff on Wednesday.

The post Donald Trump Makes White House Senior Staff Announcements: ‘Best in Class’ appeared first on Breitbart.

By Don Thompson, KFF

California public health officials are dipping into state and federal stockpiles to equip up to 10,000 farmworkers with masks, gloves, goggles, and other safety gear as the state confirms at least 21 human cases of bird flu as of early November. It’s the latest reminder of the state’s struggle to remain prepared amid multibillion-dollar deficits.

Officials said they began distributing more than 2 million pieces of personal protective equipment in late May, four months before the first human case was confirmed in the state. They said they began ramping up coordination with local health officials in April after bird flu was first detected in cattle in the U.S. Bird flu has now been confirmed at more than 270 dairies in central California, and traces were recently detected at a wastewater sampling site in Los Angeles County. Bird flu was also recently detected in a flock of commercial turkeys in Sacramento County.

California is putting a number of lessons from the covid-19 pandemic to use, such as coordinating emergency response with local health officials and tracking infectious diseases through wastewater surveillance, as the state tries to limit the spread of bird flu to humans. It’s striving to maintain an adequate emergency stockpile to withstand the first wave of any new public health disaster without hemorrhaging the state budget.

“We are far better prepared to respond to a pandemic than we were in 2020,” said Amy Palmer, a spokesperson for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

For instance, before the coronavirus struck in 2020, the state’s emergency supplies stockpile was barely big enough to crowd two basketball courts.

By the time California ramped up its pandemic response, it had enough personal protective equipment and other disaster supplies to fill 52 football fields. California spent $15.6 billion on direct pandemic response during the covid crisis years, much of it provided by the federal government.

Today, the stockpile fits into about 12½ football fields, though it can seesaw from month to month.

According to the state, the current stockpile includes 101 million face masks, 26 million more than the 90-day supply recommended by the state’s pandemic preparedness guideline.

That includes 88 million N95 masks, more than the emergency services agency said was needed last year. The high-efficiency masks are considered crucial to protect against airborne viruses such as covid-19.

Although the state is building up its stockpile, Palmer could not say if the additional masks are related to fears of bird flu, only that planners are always working “to keep pace with the current risk environment.”

The state’s goal, Palmer said, is to have “an initial supply during emergencies to allow us the time to secure resources,” whether through the federal government or by buying more.

There is no indication of spread between humans in the recent California bird flu cases, and health officials say public risk remains low. Human transmission of bird flu is among several worst-case scenarios for a new pandemic, alongside the possibility of a resurgent mutant coronavirus; wider international spread of mpox, Marburg virus, or Ebola; or an entirely new virus for which there initially is no immunity or vaccine.

Yet, health officials nationwide have struggled to track bird flu transmission. And California has a history of swinging back and forth on preparedness.

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered an increase in California’s pandemic preparedness in 2006 in response to an earlier threat from bird flu. That included three mobile hospitals that could immediately be deployed during disasters.

Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, ended the program in 2011 as state finances went bust. By the time covid struck, the state released 21 million N95 masks, some so old they were past their expiration date.

Now hospitals are required to maintain their own three-month supply of masks, gowns, and other personal protective equipment under a state law passed in 2020. California’s aerosol transmissible disease standard also uniquely requires hospitals and other high-risk workplaces to follow precautions such as using negative pressure isolation rooms and the highest level of protective equipment until more is known about a new pathogen.

“It is difficult to overstate the level of unpreparedness exhibited by hospitals both in and outside of California in dealing with the 2020 outbreak of COVID-19,” according to a legislative analysis. “Harrowing images of nurses walking the corridors of hospitals in makeshift masks and garbage bags became commonplace.”

California Hospital Association spokesperson Jan Emerson-Shea said hospitals “continuously prepare to respond to all types of disasters, including outbreaks of transmissible viruses.”

In addition, Palmer said California has five mobile hospitals acquired from the federal government, though they got little use during the pandemic. She said they have to be maintained, such as making sure pulse oximeters have working batteries.

But, once again, the current deficit has the state trying to strike a balance.

While lawmakers rejected most of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $300 million proposed cut to public health funding, the state slashed funding for its stockpile of personal protective equipment by one-third a year ago after it determined that no additional covid-related purchases were necessary, according to the Department of Finance. California eliminated funding this year for eight 53-foot-long trailers that would have moved stockpiled items between warehouses. It’s also cutting nearly $40 million over the next four years from its $175 million disaster stockpile budget.

The state’s preparedness wasn’t good enough for Californians Against Pandemics, which gathered more than 1 million signatures to put a ballot measure before voters in November. The measure would have increased taxes on people with incomes over $5 million and used that money for pandemic prevention and response.

But that effort collapsed after one of its key financial supporters, former cryptocurrency executive Sam Bankman-Fried, was convicted of defrauding customers and investors. In exchange for initiative backers dropping the measure, state officials agreed to broaden the scope of the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine, which was created in 2015 to focus on developing new medicines and therapies, to include technologies for preventing another pandemic.

“By harnessing the power of precision medicine, California is moving to the forefront of pandemic preparedness and prevention,” Newsom said at the time.

Rodger Butler, a spokesperson for the state Health and Human Services Agency, said it’s unclear if the precision medicine initiative will receive additional funding.

U.S. 550 reopened after it was closed in both directions Wednesday morning because a boulder crashed onto the highway near Ouray overnight.

The U.S. 50 bridge over Blue Mesa Reservoir closed in April after state and federal transportation officials discovered cracks in the steel supports. 

[Written by Stephen Wright] It has been exactly three years since Dame Flora Duffy became the island’s first athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. She claimed victory in the women’s triathlon at the rescheduled Tokyo Games on July 27, 2021, to become only the second Bermudian to medal at the Olympics […]

David Selley and Steven Bridges took to the waters once again competing in the 41st Annual Race World Offshore Key West Championship in Florida. The pair were racing aboard Team Bermuda in the Super Stock Class. A total of 11 boats went to the start line, with Team Bermuda finishing 10th 7 laps down. Team […]

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources [DENR] responded to the Coalition’s concerns on Clean Air and Water Resources Acts. A Government spokesperson said, “The Department of Environment and Natural Resources [DENR] notes the Coalition’s concerns about the Clean Air and Water Resources Act and welcomes the opportunity to clarify several key points. “The public […]

The Rotary Clubs of Bermuda recently held a cleanup at the Riddles Bay Mangrove Reserve, while also inspiring the island’s Brownies to “become stewards of the environment.” A spokesperson said, “This year, the Rotary Clubs of Bermuda have been cited for their interest and continued concern about the environment. Rotarians held a most successful cleanup […]

The Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute [BUEI] announced that registration for the Island’s 4th Annual Youth Climate Summit taking place November 18th-23rd is now open. A spokesperson said, “The Youth Climate Summit [YCS], a weeklong event for students ages 13-22, engages and educates young people on global climate issues and is the foundation for a year […]

Taylor Carrick’s campaign at the Men’s White Oaks Squash Cup 2024 concluded in the first round following a hard-fought encounter with England’s Robert Downer, the ninth seed. Held at the prestigious White Oaks Resort and Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, the match saw Downer assert his dominance early on, taking the first two games with scores […]

[Written by Dale Butler] It was a busy weekend for Bermuda’s Filipino community this past weekend; the Filipino Association held a karaoke contest, which was won by Ariel Timbal, on Saturday night at the Vasco da Gama Club and on Sunday, the Filipino Club 2000 held a gala at Cambridge Beaches. Both events were sold […]

The Comet Class Winter Series continued in Sy George’s Harbour, with Allan Frith and his crew Sarah Frith claiming victory. Maxwell Curtis and Wesley Tucker secured second place with six points, and Gladwin Lambert and Greg Proctor claimed third place with seven points. Comet Class Winter Series Race Day Two 05 Allan Frith & Sarah Frith 06 […]

Bernews and TROIKA Bermuda recently invited children from around the island to enter a colouring competition in order to win tickets to see a production of Beauty and the Beast tomorrow [Aug 28]. The contest, which ran for nearly two weeks, received about 100 entries from colouring enthusiasts, each of them 12 or under. Eight […]

The Bermuda Festival Outreach Programme is offering a drama based masterclass led by the Aquila Theatre Company. This workshop is being offered to high school students with an interest in drama. Drama students will get the opportunity to explore some of the vocal, movement and acting techniques used by members of the Aquila in rehearsal […]

The Bermuda Festival Outreach Programme is offering two masterclasses in acting technique led by a cast member of Walnut Street Theatre. Here to perform A Life in the Theatre, the Walnut Street Theatre will focus on improving participants’ acting technique. These masterclasses will be centered on activities that are designed to improve technique and explore […]

The special episode premieres on Monday, November 25 only on Hulu as a part of the year-round "Family Guy" 25th Anniversary Celebration!

The doubleheader begins on ESPN at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 27 when Aaron Judge and the Yankees host Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers, who won the National League Central in 2024.

Nick Wright unveils his Week 11 Tiers alongside Chris Broussard, Kevin Wildes and Coach Eric Mangini. Watch as Nick addresses "massively underestimating" the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles and why the Buffalo Bills climb higher up the tiers.

Gambling expert Chris “The Bear” Fallica and former NFL Offensive Lineman Geoff Schwartz reveal their best bets of CFB Week 12, choosing Washington vs. UCLA and Penn State vs. Purdue.

The Chiefs got three of their key players back from injuries Wednesday: WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, RB Isiah Pacheco and DE Charles Omenihu.

As a growing population financed more costly purchases, total debt rose. But income rose even faster in recent quarters. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. Total household debt outstanding ticked up by $71 billion in Q3, or by 0.57%, from Q2, to $17.9 trillion, according to the Household Debt and…

For Europe to remain both a decarbonisation pioneer and competitive, it must focus on three key priorities: common financing, strategic coordination, and support for demand.

In the three years since it launched, Wordle has become a part of the daily lives of millions of puzzle fans around the world. The popular brainteaser was invented by Josh Wardle, a Welsh-born software engineer based in New York City. He perfected Wordle during the COVID-19 lockdowns before…

We may very well be winding down the working week ahead of the weekend, but that does not mean that we take a break from Connections. The daily word puzzle has proved a huge hit since The New York Times released it in June 2023. Newsweek is here not only to help you play the game, but also to give…

The United States foreign food aid program can be a big help when extreme weather fueled by climate change hammers communities

By Jessica DiNapoli NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that parent company Unilever has silenced its attempts to express support for Palestinian refugees, and threatened to dismantle its board and sue its members over the issue. The lawsuit is the…

In This Article: HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese premium electric vehicle maker Zeekr plans to take control of Lynk & Co, a sister brand owned by Geely and Volvo Cars, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The move is part of efforts by Geely Holding, which is the parent…

Australian law firm Gerard Malouf & Partners on Thursday said it had filed class action lawsuits against the country's top two retailers, Woolworths and Coles , for allegedly encouraging misleading discount claims on everyday products.

Australian law firm Gerard Malouf & Partners on Thursday said it had filed class action lawsuits against the country's top two retailers, Woolworths and Coles, for allegedly encouraging misleading discount claims on everyday products. The two supermarket giants are currently in court, sued by the…

Dutch appeal court ruled in favour of oil and gas company over judgment telling it to limit emissions A court ruling in favour of Shell does not spell the end of climate litigation against companies, legal experts have said. The oil and gas company celebrated on Tuesday when it won an appeal…

The Spanish government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (S&D) on Wednesday called the opposition Partido Popular's (EPP) boycott of Teresa Ribera, Ursula von der Leyen’s Spanish commissioner pick, “shameful” and “anti-patriotic”. Ribera (PSOE/S&D), Spain's current minister for ecological…