A recent study published in the journal Science found the number of birds in North America is plummeting. The bird population dropped by more than a quarter over the past 50 years. Grassland birds, shore birds and songbirds are all affected. WPSU's Anne Danahy spoke with Greg Grove, editor of Pennsylvania Birds, and Doug Wentzel, president of the State College Bird Club, about bird watching and those trends

In her book, “Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore,” Elizabeth Rush takes readers around the country to see rising tides . Rush talks with people around the country who have lost their homes and communities; with scientists who study what’s happening; and with conservationists trying to find ways to restore wetlands. Rush’s book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. WPSU's Anne Danahy spoke with Rush, who will be in State College March 23 to give a talk at 7 p.m. at Schlow Library to celebrate Earth Day.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper says the state's stay-at-home order from COVID-19 will remain in place for at least another two weeks because current data doesn't support loosening restrictions that began in mid-March. The Democratic governor said this and other prohibitions on dine-in restaurant services and mass assemblies has now been extended until May 8. The stay-at-home order was supposed to expired next week. Cooper also unveiled a three-phase plan for reopening based on expanded tracing and testing and declining case growth. Republican governors in Tennesse, South Carolina and Georgia this week announced they would ease restrictions so that some nonessential businesses could open.

As Governor Roy Cooper’s order to ease restrictions takes effect later this week, 29 state parks will reopen to the public on Saturday, May 9th. That includes Fort Macon, which is one of the most visited state parks each year. “Our main goal is to give people access to the park without it getting too crowded,” said Katie Hall, the Public Information Officer for the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation. Fort Macon State Park closed almost seven weeks ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Saturday, beach areas, trails, and restrooms will reopen to the public. However, the visitors center and the exhibit will remain closed. Hall said park rangers are expecting a record number of visitors this weekend, surpassing park visitation numbers during the Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Independence Day holidays. “We’re not really opening the park for people to hang out. The idea is to get to the park, get some fresh air, get some exercise, run on the beach, whatever you like to do, and

Thursday, June 25, 2015, at 7 p.m. This "Context" public affairs event takes a closer look at Illinois' medical cannabis pilot program approved by state lawmakers. There have been a few delays getting the project started, and tens of thousands of patients who’ve qualified for medical marijuana cards are waiting to get their prescriptions filled. However, before that happens, there are some regulatory hurdles marijuana growers and dispensaries have to cross before the drug can be sold in Illinois. Learn more about the “debilitating” diseases that qualify for marijuana treatment, grow centers, dispensaries, and the legal rights protecting patients. Four experts in the field brought us up to date on the program and answered questions on June 25 at 7 p.m. in Studio A, in the Northern Public Radio studios in the NIU Broadcast Center, 801 N. First Street in DeKalb. The guest panelists included: Dan Linn: Executive Director, Illinois chapter of National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws,

There’s been a lot of news about strained relationships between police officers and the citizens they serve. Police officials say they’re making changes to improve relations and build trust within the community but critics claim not enough is being done. WNIJ's public forum, “Context - Safe Neighborhoods, Safe City: Changing Roles of Police and Community,” was held Thursday, August 27, 2015, at the Kresge Hall in the Riverfront Museum Park, in Rockford. WNIJ Reporter Sue Stephens moderated the Context panel. Guests were: Rockford Mayor Lawrence J. Morrissey Rockford Police Chief Chet Epperson State Representative Litesa Wallace United Way Community Impact Manager Matthew Simpson For more information about WNIJ's Context series, please contact Maria Boynton, Director of Community Engagement, at mboynton@niu.edu or at (815) 753-9000.

“I never thought I would have to ask for food.” The young mother said as a box was placed in her car. In the last three weeks over 500,000 Illinois residents have filed for unemployment. We have never seen such a sudden, dramatic increase in the need for food in our region. There are now growing lines at area food pantries. Numbers of those seeking help has tripled. For 70% of them this is their first visit to a food pantry. This is occurring when food banks are receiving fewer donations from their sources. The food banks are dependent upon the donations from large food chains. Usually food whose shelf life has nearly expired, or produce that is about to go bad. Because nervous buyers have cleared out so many store shelves there is less leftover to donate. When you live at the bottom of the food chain and depend on leftovers, it is extra frightening when there is little left behind. We need to use this crisis to question our present food system built on dependence. We need to ask how

As you listen to or read this essay, you will be celebrating the beginning of a brand-new month. But it is being written and recorded on another milestone -- the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. I was present for the very first one, as a student at the University of Illinois. Seminars, programs, speeches and leaflets urged the protection of our environment and an appreciation of the outdoors. For me, that appreciation would continue for a lifetime. This was the era of the "back to the land" movement and Mother Earth News. REI and Backpacker Magazine. Community cleanups and widespread tree planting. I would be fortunate enough to acquire a small hobby farm in Northern Wisconsin, if only for a few years. I often think about that property and can imagine in my mind how the land has changed, and how it hasn't. I will celebrate today not only by getting outdoors, but also by revisiting some of my favorite outdoor writers: Henry David Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, and Sigurd Olson. Their thoughts are

Experts says India needs to avoid ‘vice versus virtue’ dichotomy with regard to alcohol.

There is a lot of deal activity because businesses are looking for capital.

Bata has already identified 180 such markets in smaller cities pan-India.

Russia has imported leather and footwear worth USD 3.9 billion in 2018, and India's exports to that country stood at only USD 52.6 million, said Panaruna Aqeel Ahmed, chairman of Council for Leather Exports (CLE).

Exports to Hong Kong, the sector's biggest market, plummeted 41.3 percent, while exports to France fell 48 percent, and those to South Korea were down 46.2 percent.

The elderly Viv notices our presence and invites us to sit in her kitchen, right there in front of her, where she can see us. Thus began the interactive video experience “The Visit“, born from the collaboration of the artist →

"We will be closing all of our retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27," Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a letter posted on the company's website.

Many people assume that the videogame seller will go the route of book, music, and video stores, reports Joshua Brustein at Bloomberg Businessweek.

There are nearly 100 such gaming cafes currently and less than 1000 non-exclusive cafes, said Vamsi Krishna, Head of Consumer Marketing, South Asia, NVIDIA.

The company had also brought the Classmate Pulse Selfie notebooks, allowing personalisation of notebooks with a selfie on the cover.

"Sales and profits of set products business, including smartphones and TVs, are expected to decline significantly as COVID-19 affects demand and leads to store and plant closures globally," Samsung said in a statement.

Both LG and Samsung have opened bookings for various products on their websites for limited periods and are offering gifts of up to Rs 10,000 on pre-bookings made during the lockdown period. LG has opened pre-bookings till May 15 and Samsung by May 8.

At Myntra, Kamal was heading different verticals including logistics, operations excellence and the training function, where he built the in-house logistics team and scaled it to include more than 3500 people, spread across 80 plus towns and delivering over 100,000 packets a day.

With about a million products available on its website, Tolexo is among the largest B2B ecommerce sites in the country, serving 2.5 lakh businesses.

​​H​​anung Toys and Textiles Ltd (borrowing account) dealing with the bank since 2008 had availed various credit facilities under consortium arrangement wherein, Karnataka Bank was one of the member banks, it said in a regulatory filing.

It costs Rs 5-6 crore per store to set up and over the next three years, the company will spend Rs 50-60 crore on The Collective portfolio, its brand head, Amit Pande, said. “We want to double our footprint and our monobrand portfolio will also see growth. However, those (mono-brand) stores cost much less at about Rs 2-3 crore per store to set up.”

The 49-year-old, who has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest last year, appeared before a UK court via videolink.

The body has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state chief ministers to facilitate payement of wages to workers for these two months. GEMA president Vijay Jindal also sought intervention of Textile Minister Smriti Irani and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the matter.

In a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, he said the council members could not clear the shipments on time because of lack of documents, "therefore, demurrage waiver may please be granted starting from March 1 till the time lockdown continues".

According to exporters, payments of previous dispatches are also withheld by importers in the UK and Europe. These exporters employ about 50,000 people, and 60% of them are women engaged in tailoring, thread-cutting and other hands-on work.

Next said store sales plunged 52% in the 13 weeks to April 25, its fiscal first quarter, while online sales were down 32%.

The continued lockdown in April 2020 (from late March) has impacted the entire textile industry and disrupted exports, Ind-Ra said in a report.

The council had recently organised a webinar on 'Manufacturing of PPE Products under Medical Textiles', which saw about 2,000 participants, mainly apparel exporters from across the country.

Toonz has signed a deal with Tariq Albassami Group for opening 10 stores in the Gulf region in the next one year.

Omni-channel kids wear retailer Toonz Retail India has announced a partnership with Tariq Albassami Group for entering the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

​​​The intention is to bring all B2B, B2C, consumer-facing, consumer-based content platforms, apps-based commerce and IoT device-based services under the policy, potentially engulfing products like the Amazon Echo, which is powered by artificial intelligence-driven virtual assistant Alexa, and MG Hector, the Internet-enabled vehicle from Morris Garages in the regulatory realm of e-commerce.

The business is split in three verticals, services, products and skilling. The services which include slimming and diet planning is the oldest and most known.

O2 Spa is currently operating 60 centres across 17 cities in the country.

With this acquisition, a total of 18 outlets will become a part of O2 Spa and would be known as Zazen Spa from the house of O2 Spa.

Even though that is the small fraction of the $33 -billion revenue the market generate globally, it also means there is tremendous scope for growth for India.

The company, which plans to open 15 stores across India over the next five years, at present has one store in India. It entered India in June this year.

“The export of all ventilators including any artificial respiratory apparatus or oxygen therapy apparatus or any other breathing appliance/devices... is prohibited with immediate effect,” the the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.

The startup, backed by Ratan Tata's investment platform RNT Capital, confirmed his appointment.

Anytime Fitness further eyes expansion in Tier II and III market.

The company is looking at a revenue run rate of about USD 50 million by December 2018, from USD 10 million currently. Revenue run rate is a term used to indicate total sales value of merchandise sold through the marketplace over a certain period of time.

As of Friday in Texas, you can go to a tanning salon. In Indiana, houses of worship are being allowed to open with no cap on attendance. Places like Pennsylvania are taking a more cautious approach, only starting to ease restrictions in some counties based on the number of COVID-19 cases. By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon. "The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak," said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later

A storage safe manufacturer is closing two Chicago-area factories and moving operations to Mexico to counteract the effects of metal tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump's administration. The Chicago Tribune reports Stack-On Products will lay off about 150 people at its Wauconda and McHenry plants when they close Oct. 12. Human resources director Al Fletcher said Tuesday the decision to relocate operations to Juarez, Mexico, was made about two months ago. That's when Trump announced tariffs on numerous goods and materials from China as well as other countries. Stack-On makes products ranging from tool boxes to gun vaults. Fletcher says the company has a plant in China and another in Mexico, and its only U.S. factories were the two in the Chicago area.

Amazon is a leader in online shopping. It has warehouses across the country to sort and deliver its products. Recently, Amazon Air announced it will expand its delivery network into Rockford. Chicago Rockford International Airport is already a major hub for UPS. The airport also has maintenance facilities capable of repairing the world's largest aircraft. But Amazon took particular interest due to the airport's cargo operations. Director Sarah Rhoads says it's part of the retailer's "Middle Mile" network for two-day deliveries. "That package would go from a fulfillment center to one of our 21 air gateways that we have throughout the United States for transport to then another air gateway for downstream transit to a sort center where that package would be sorted for final delivery to your location," she explained. Amazon has been operating at Rockford's airport in some capacity since September 2016. Airport executive director Mike Dunn says they operated under a different corporate name

The Mayors of DeKalb and Rockford responded to the statewide minimum wage hike that was signed into law last week. The measure will raise the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025. DeKalb Mayor Jerry Smith worries about the effect this may have on small businesses. Smith says he would have preferred that the increase be done more incrementally. "I would have liked to have seen something that was written into law that mandated perhaps a one or two year step, and then let's take a look at it," he said. "You know, economies change." But he says the law taking effect means businesses know what to expect. "If you know that you're going to be paying nine and a quarter next year and ten the following year, or whatever the case may be, the smart businesses -- small or large -- are going to make those adjustments that are necessary so the bottom line is still black," he said. Smith says the City of DeKalb already pays its employees at a level where the wage hike's effect on city

IT’S becoming a real bore that our main sporting authorities, particularly the Scottish Football Association, the Scottish Professional Football League and the Scottish Rugby Union, continue to get in a fankle over the way to end the 2019-20 season.

Former Rangers midfielder Ian Black has signed for junior outfit Dunbar United.