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New York partially banned cryptocurrency mining. Now environmentalists want more.

January 7, 2023 Published by

“We need to better understand what is happening and to enforce the environmental laws that we have against coal and gas plants that are being operated primarily for the benefit of cryptocurrency operations,” Sierra Club staff attorney Megan Wachspress said in an interview.

The New York law “is a really important initial step towards getting that information and towards better understanding how cryptocurrency miners are turning coal and gas into Bitcoin, basically, and what the impacts of that are,” she said.

Environmental groups pushed for the temporary pause on some types of cryptocurrency mining in New York because of concerns that old fossil fuel plants would be brought back online or ramped up to run computers to earn cryptocurrency — a process that uses an extraordinary amount of energy. They’ve also warned that the industry itself may not be compatible with the state’s new climate law that requires a steep reduction in emissions.

The law does not affect cryptocurrency mining that uses power drawn from the electric grid. Operations can continue at large and small sites across upstate New York, including a former aluminum smelter in Massena near the Canadian border and a former coal plant in Somerset near Niagara Falls.

The partial ban comes as upstate New York has become attractive to companies that mine digital currencies, including Bitcoin. The region has an abundance of former power plants and manufacturing sites with unused electrical infrastructure that is appealing to the industry.

The law is likely to scare off companies from coming to New York for fear of further restrictions, some owners said, and it comes as the digital currency market has also crashed following the bankruptcy of Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX — leaving the industry with additional uncertainty.

Cryptocurrency businesses are already directing their investments elsewhere, said Kyle Schneps, Foundry’s director of public policy. He said the Rochester-based Bitcoin mining company has acquired two sites in other states and is focusing investments there.

“The sentiment pervading the crypto industry now is that New York is willing to use its climate goals to arbitrarily exclude any industry which is politically expedient to target,” Schneps said.

“Any cryptocurrency company, whether proof of work or proof of stake, that is not already grandfathered in by New York’s singular crypto laws is unlikely to build their business in New York under current conditions because nobody knows who could be next on the chopping block.”

The moratorium bill exempted the only two power plants currently burning fossil fuels to run cryptocurrency mining machines, carving out any that had already submitted permit applications.

“The legislation has no impact on our operations, and we continue to invest and create good jobs at our facility,” said David Fogel, the CEO of Coinmint, which operates the up to 160 megawatt cryptocurrency mining facility in Massena.

The impact of the new law has already hit one company.

Blockfusion, which owns a cryptocurrency mining facility in Niagara Falls that is currently idle due to an order by the city, lost insurance coverage because of the statewide moratorium, despite not being impacted, said CEO Alex Martini-LoManto. He supported the moratorium but said it should have gone further and prohibited any fossil fuel plants coming back online for any reason. Blockfusion, when it was operating, ran on power from the grid, which is primarily hydropower.

“It’s a lot of circus — media and politics but the effect is very minimal,” Martini-LoManto said. “It doesn’t change Bitcoin mining in New York… it doesn’t have a retroactive effect.”

Cryptocurrency industry groups are alarmed by calls from environmental advocates to broaden the limits on the “proof of work” method underpinning Bitcoin and the push to take similar actions in other states. Miners are engaged in a global competition to solve complex calculations that validate transactions, all in exchange for a fee. The approach is called “proof of work,” and the more computing power a mining operation has, the more fees it can earn. And that means a thirst for electricity.

“In some ways, all of the concerns that the industry had about this bill and about the rhetoric around it were valid,” said John Olsen, the Blockchain Association’s Albany lobbyist. “This isn’t about an environmental impact from the work, it’s about energy use and whether it’s valid that that energy is for a specific operation.”

Greenidge, the former coal plant turned gas plant turned cryptocurrency mining site, continues to operate. The state Department of Environmental Conservation rejected the company’s renewal of a key air permit in June, but, under the state’s administrative laws, the plant can keep running during appeals. Greenidge is also seeking to renew its water permit.

Additionally, the Fortistar gas plant near a residential neighborhood in North Tonawanda in Niagara County with storage container-like pods with cryptocurrency miners and fans outside can keep running. The facility, bought by Digihost, a Toronto-based blockchain company, has a pending Title V air permit application with the state DEC. The application has not yet been deemed complete by the agency.

No new applications to run a fossil fuel power plant for cryptocurrency mining would be approved by the DEC under the law.

The agency also has a big lift with a short timeline ahead. The legislation directs DEC to finalize a “generic environmental impact statement” considering a range of issues related to cryptocurrency mining that uses the energy-intensive “proof of work” methodology underpinning Bitcoin by Nov. 22.

This sets up a tight schedule because the statute also requires DEC to hold 120 days of public comment and multiple hearings across the state on a draft of this document.

The law calls for the DEC to analyze the number of “proof of work” cryptocurrency mining locations in the state, the amount and sources of energy used, the greenhouse gas emissions from the operations and any anticipated increase and potential impacts of mining expansions. The study will also consider water usage and public health impacts.

The outcome and details of the final product of that process could lead to additional regulations for the industry from the state Legislature. For example, a generic environmental impact statement on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas was a key step toward New York’s prohibition on the practice in 2014 — also a first in the nation at the time.

“We’re hopeful that DEC recommends policy … and will make the determination whether or not this particular validation practice should be happening at all, and if if aligns with our climate goals,” Moran said of New York’s goal of slashing emissions 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.

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Damar Hamlin injury revives safety debate over a sport built on butting heads

January 7, 2023 Published by

Damar Hamlin’s tragic gridiron collapse underscores a longstanding societal dilemma over a game that, however deeply engrained in American culture, might just be too dangerous to play. 

Participation in tackle football among children has been slipping for years amid mounting safety concerns. The signal moment in that decline was probably the release of a 2017 study that examined the brains of 111 deceased NFL players and found a degenerative disease in all but one. Together with a landmark 2013 book and a 2015 Will Smith film, the Boston study seeded public awareness of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), inspired reforms and sent thousands of families searching for safer sports. 

Head injuries may get the most ink, but football poses a risk to many parts of the human body, including the heart. Hamlin, a 24-year-old safety on the Buffalo Bills, suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field Monday night after tackling an opponent. Doctors restarted his heart on national television.  

Fortunately, Hamlin was sufficiently recovered by week’s end to FaceTime with his teammates.  

Even so, his high-profile injury has reignited debate over the fundamental safety of a game that, even after a century of progress in protective equipment and medical protocols, still requires its participants to crash into each other.  

More than 1.5 million children play tackle football. Surveys suggest they and their families know the risks, as well as the reforms, and believe the game can be played safely. Colliding heads and concussions are becoming less common.  

“I think it’s frankly as safe as it’s ever been for a kid to play,” said Bruce Howard, a spokesman for the National Federation of State High School Associations, a rulemaking body for high-school sports.   

But the helmeted ranks are thinning. Participation in high-school football declined from 1.1 million students in 2008 to 973,000 in 2022, Howard said. Among children ages 6 to 12, tackle football participation has dropped by nearly 40 percent in the same span, according to the Aspen Institute.  

Lawmakers in several states have even proposed measures to ban tackle football for younger children. None of the initiatives has passed.  

“Football’s not going away, and I don’t think that it should,” said Mariah Warner, a doctoral candidate and football researcher at the Ohio State University, and a lifelong New England Patriots fan. “I want to watch quality, safe football. But I don’t think that means 7-year-olds should be tackling each other with metal helmets on.” 

The societal retreat from tackle football in the preteen and tween years arises from two brain research findings.  

One is that the risk of CTE rises with more years of play. A child who starts tackle football in elementary school and plays through college faces far more risk of cognitive decline, researchers say, than someone who starts in high school.  

The second is that a child’s brain is still growing and more vulnerable to injury. 

“What occurred was that parents looked at the risk to their children, and they recognized that there was a risk to the developing brain, and that was something that they had to take seriously,” said Gregory O’Shanick, medical director of the Center for Neurorehabilitation Services in Richmond, Va., and board member of the Brain Injury Association of America. 

“When you look at the No. 1 cause of concussions, in terms of sports, it is, in fact, football,” he said. 

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention page advises, “We all play a role in protecting youth from concussion.” The federal agency cites a study that found children who play tackle football sustain 15 times more “head impacts” than athletes in flag football, a tackle-free variant. 

A competing page, uploaded by the NFL, offers talking points for coaches looking to rebuild flagging programs. “You might get some questions — here’s how you can answer them,” the site says, listing safety enhancements and urging coaches, with just a hint of defiance, to “help parents see for themselves.” 

In the 6-12 demographic, tackle football trails several other team sports in participation, including baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, golf and volleyball.  

But football remains America’s national sport, in terms of popularity and television viewers. And it retains its dominance in high schools, even after the modest decline of the past decade.  

Given the sport’s public relations issues, researchers have grown curious about the sensibilities of the million-plus families that still support the sport. 

Warner and her Ohio State colleagues surveyed nearly 4,000 Americans and found them almost evenly divided on whether tackle football is appropriate for children.  

Football supporters tend to be male, conservative, racially diverse, patriotic and a bit less educated than those who think the sport ill-suited to the young.  

“It’s not just your gender, just your race or just your class, or whether you played football, but a lot of those things in combination with each other,” she said. “Football has been thought of as this sport that turns boys into men.”  

A survey of high school athletes by researchers at Grand View University in Iowa found that students who quit football worried more about earning money and managing time than avoiding concussions.  

“The kids who have chosen to play have taken on that risk and understand there are potential harms, but they’re willing to play anyway,” said Scott Bull, an associate professor of sport management at Grand View.  

Indiana University researchers surveyed public attitudes toward juvenile football and found well-reasoned arguments on both sides. 

The Indiana survey asked respondents if they would let a teenage boy play tackle football. Those who said yes tended to know a lot about the game and its safety protocols, said Kyle Kercher, an assistant professor of sport management in the university’s School of Public Health.  

Those who said no tended to be well-versed on the potential for brain injury and to think the sport is implicitly unsafe. 

Like his colleagues in Ohio and Iowa, Kercher is a football fan. He played in high school and college. He sustained two concussions. He awoke from one at a stadium in Oregon, thinking he was in Montana. 

To help the sport, Kercher has conducted groundbreaking research on how coaches can conduct meaningful practices without injuring brains.  

Kercher’s findings sound obvious. Players are much less likely to butt heads when they run drills without physical contact, and when they collide with a bag rather than a body. Coaches can run “control” drills, which halt at the moment of contact, and “thud” drills, which stop in mid-tackle.  

“It wasn’t that long ago that I was in high school, and there were no limits on how much we hit each other,” he said. Today, coaches are learning to limit tackles outside of games. At game time, players are instructed not to “lead with their head,” Kercher said.  

When Kercher was a graduate student, a colleague told him, “Nobody should be allowed to play football,” thinking he would agree. He did not. 

“My whole approach to this is, I feel it is so deeply, culturally ingrained in American society, I don’t see it going away,” he said. “And so, I want to make it as safe as possible.” 

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McCarthy is finally Speaker. But he's not weak like you think. Now he can deploy the 'crazy boss' strategy

January 7, 2023 Published by

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Stop the pearl-clutching, my fellow Republicans. This drama over the House speakership is the best thing that could have happened. 

Well, maybe not the best thing: that would have been a 30–vote Republican majority in the House.  That would have stopped the Democrat’s big spending, radical leftist agenda dead in its tracks. That would have let the Speaker of the House to tell Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to pound sand. But the supermajority didn’t happen.  

So, House Republicans need to change tactics. Senate Majority Leader Schumer is no longer Speaker McCarthy’s biggest obstacle. It’s now his Republican counterpart on the other side of the Capitol –Senate Minority Leader and profligate spender, Mitch McConnell. 

FREEDOM CAUCUS CHAIR PERRY DEFENDS CHANGING MCCARTHY VOTE, SAYS SPEAKERSHIP ‘ACCOUNTABILITY’ KEY

In the past, McConnell’s idea of leadership has been to give the Democrats most of what they want, especially when it comes to budget-busting, pork barrel legislation. For the last two years, he’s joined with Senate Democrats and former Speaker Pelosi to pass the Biden agenda. 

He will no doubt try and pressure the new Republican Speaker to do the same, in the interests of “bipartisanship” and “compromise.”  

That’s what has those 20 or so House Republicans and the Freedom Caucus worried. They don’t think compromise means giving Democrats what they want, especially when it comes to out-of-control spending.  Now that Republicans finally have the majority, they want a strong Speaker who will stand up and fight against the Swamp.

At first glance, McCarthy’s tortuous path to Speakership looks to diminish his ability to be that strong leader. But if he’s smart, he can turn that razor-thin majority to his advantage in negotiations with the Senate, and even with the White House. He can employ what I call the “crazy boss” strategy.

GOP ‘DYSFUNCTION’ AROUND MCCARTHY’S SPEAKER BID COULD BOOST DESANTIS’ APPEAL TO VOTERS, INSIDERS SUGGEST

To get elected Speaker, McCarthy was forced to accept to a slew of changes in how the House governs itself. Most involve reducing the dictatorial powers of the Speaker and giving it back to individual congressmen. 

Under the new rules, a handful of House Republicans can hold the Speaker accountable, especially if he tries to push through budget-busting bills riddled with pork barrel spending, or leave on the southern border unprotected, or embrace Green New Deal fanaticism, or hire 87,000 IRS agents. 

The criticism of McCarthy has always been that he lacks the backbone to stand up to the big spenders in the GOP, that he will cave to pressure from the Swamp Creatures. 

Now he doesn’t need a backbone. Thanks to the Freedom Caucus, his back is up against the wall.  He can’t go along to get along with McConnell and Democrats and survive as Speaker.  And everybody knows it. It’s potentially the most powerful tool in McCarthy’s toolbox.   

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Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger used the “crazy boss” strategy with his North Vietnamese counterpart in negotiating the end of the Vietnam War.  We used it in the Trump administration as a tool to pressure recalcitrant allies.

A negotiator can point to his “crazy boss” as the reason why he can’t agree to the other’s side’s demands. “My boss will never agree to this; if I even suggest it, he’s likely to do something really crazy.”  

The crazier the boss seems, the more credible the threat.  The drama over the speakership has left no doubt in anyone’s mind that a handful of congressmen would plunge House into another battle over leadership, rather than meekly accept Democrats’ demands.

The House holdouts have just become Speaker McCarthy’s “crazy boss.”

Most pundits will claim his protracted fight to be Speaker has damaged McCarthy, and he won’t have the muscle needed to bring his fellow Republicans in line. But they’re missing the point. 

The American people don’t want business as usual.  They want leaders who will stand up to the Swamp and do what is in the best interests of the people, not the career politicians. 

The tortuous way McCarthy was elected has given him an unexpected opportunity to be that leader.  

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All he has to do is point to his “crazy bosses,” those 20 or so House Republicans, and then refuse to budge.  

Whether McCarthy seizes that opportunity is up to him.  If he doesn’t, he will be one of the most short-lived Speakers in history.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM KT McFARLAND

K.T. McFarland was President Trump’s Deputy National Security Advisor. She is a board member of the American Conservative Union and author of the best-selling book, Revolution: Trump, Washington and “We the People.”

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Western Australia in grip of 'devastating' flood emergency, PM says

January 7, 2023 Published by



Reuters
 — 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday his government was ready to provide whatever support was needed to residents of Western Australia state as record-breaking floods isolated far-flung communities there.

The crisis in the Kimberley – an area almost three times the size of the United Kingdom – was sparked this week by severe weather system Ellie, a former tropical cyclone that brought heavy rain to the vast region.

Among the worst-hit locations was Fitzroy Crossing, a town of around 1,300 people where supplies were being airlifted in due to the flooding, which authorities have said is the state’s worst on record.

Supplies were being airlifted in Fitzroy Crossing, a town of around 1,300 people that was among the worst-hit locations.

Albanese said his Labor government was “working constructively” with the Western Australia government on the crisis in the sparsely populated region that also includes the resort town of Broome.

“These floods are having a devastating impact, many of these communities … are communities that do it tough, and the resources simply aren’t there on the ground,” Albanese told reporters in the city of Geelong, in Victoria state. “My government stands ready to provide whatever support is requested.”

Western Australia emergency authorities said Australian Defence Force aircraft were being used to assist flood-hit communities, and Chinook helicopters were en-route to help relocated impacted residents.

The nation’s weather forecaster said severe weather was no longer occurring in the state but that “the situation will continue to be monitored and further warnings will be issued if necessary.”

The emergency in the country’s far northwest comes after frequent flooding in Australia’s east over the last two years due to a multi-year La Nina weather event, typically associated with increased rainfall. Some regions have endured four major flood crises since last year.

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Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is erupting once again

January 7, 2023 Published by



CNN
 — 

Weeks after Hawaii’s Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in decades, neighboring volcano Kilauea is showing activity again after a brief pause, according to officials.

Kilauea – which had stopped erupting last month for the first time since September 2021 amid Mauna Loa’s own lava eruption and subsequent slowdown – had increased earthquake activity beneath its summit and recorded ground deformation on Thursday morning, officials said.

“Kilauea volcano is erupting,” the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and the US Geological Survey said on Thursday. A glow was detected in nearby webcam images, “indicating that the eruption has resumed within Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Kilauea’s summit caldera” at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the agencies said.

Officials elevated Kilauea’s volcano alert level to “warning” status as well as updated its aviation color code from orange to red on Thursday before dropping the levels down again on Friday.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory “is  lowering  Kīlauea’s  volcano alert level from WARNING to WATCH because the initial high effusion rates are declining, and no infrastructure is threatened,” the Friday update says.

The color code was changed back to orange for aviation on Friday “because there is currently no threat of significant volcanic ash emission into the atmosphere outside of the hazardous closed area within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park,” according to the update.

Because the eruptions is occurring within a closed portion of the national park, “high levels of volcanic gas are the primary hazard of concern, as this hazard can have far-reaching effects down-wind,” according to a status report from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

It also warns residents to avoid exposure to volcanic particles that could waft some distance from the eruption.

The National Park Service has posted an air quality alert on its website, warning that unhealthy levels of volcanic pollutants can occur. It includes charts with regular air quality readings, particularly relevant for those with pre-existing respiratory conditions. Mostly “good” air quality readings had been recorded through Friday morning.

Visitors to the national park may encounter a “minor hazard,” the status report says.

“Visitors to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park should note that under southerly (non-trade) wind conditions, there is potential for a dusting of powdery to gritty ash composed of volcanic glass and rock fragments.”

The eruption is currently confined to the crater and poses “no threat to communities,” the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said on social media.

Kilauea’s eruption in 2018 was one of the most destructive in recent Hawaii history, forcing evacuations of surrounding neighborhoods and destroying hundreds of homes.


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Here are key things you need to know if you're eyeing a Medigap policy alongside basic Medicare

January 7, 2023 Published by

Dragos Condrea | Istock | Getty Images

If you’re signing up for Medicare, you’ve likely discovered that there are a lot of out-of-pocket costs that come with your coverage.

For about 23% of Medicare’s 65.1 million beneficiaries, the solution for covering those outlays is a so-called Medigap plan.

These policies, sold by private insurance companies, generally pick up part or most of the cost-sharing — i.e., deductibles, copays and coinsurance — that comes with basic Medicare (Part A hospital coverage and Part B outpatient care).

However, they do have limitations, and monthly premiums can be pricey.

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Nevertheless, some beneficiaries determine that pairing basic Medicare with a Medigap policy is a better fit than choosing to get their Parts A and B benefits delivered through an Advantage Plan (or having no supplemental insurance at all). Those plans, which can restrict coverage to in-network providers, also usually include Part D prescription drug coverage, often come with no premium and may offer extras such as dental and vision. 

The reasons that some beneficiaries instead choose Medigap alongside basic Medicare vary from person to person, according to Elizabeth Gavino, founder of Lewin & Gavino and an independent broker and general agent for Medicare plans.

For example, she said, they may want more freedom in choosing doctors and other providers or need coverage while away from home  — i.e., they travel a lot, sometimes for extended stays. (Advantage Plans may disenroll you if you remain outside their service area for a certain time — typically six months.)

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Here’s what to know about Medigap policies if you’re considering purchasing one.

Medigap policies are standardized

Medigap policies are standardized across most states — available plans are designated A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M and N — so you know the benefits are the same regardless of where you live or which insurance carrier is offering, say, Plan G or Plan N.

However, not every plan is available in all states. And, Plans C and F aren’t available to people who are newly eligible for Medicare in 2020 or later.

To be clear, each lettered plan differs in what is covered.

For instance, some may pay the full Part A deductible ($1,600 per benefit period in 2023), while others don’t. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has a chart on its website that shows the differences. You also can use the agency’s search tool to find available plans in your ZIP code.

Many states let doctors have a 15% ‘excess charge’

Also be aware that in many states, some doctors or other providers may charge you the difference between the Medicare-approved amount under Part B and their full fee, with a 15% cap on that “excess charge.” 

“If your state is one that allows up to the 15% excess charge, consider [a plan] that covers it,” Gavino said. 

Also, be aware that Medigap plans don’t cover costs associated with prescription drug coverage — unless, perhaps, the policy was issued prior to 2006. This means you’d need to purchase a standalone Part D plan if you want that coverage.

Medigap also doesn’t cover services that are excluded from Medicare’s coverage, generally speaking, such as dental or vision.

There are rules that go with Medigap signup

When you first enroll in Part B, you generally get six months to purchase a Medigap policy without an insurance company checking on your health history and deciding whether to insure you.

After that, depending on the specifics of your situation and the state you live in, you may have to go through medical underwriting.

There’s huge variation in cost

Despite Medigap policies’ standardization, the premiums can vary greatly.

For example, in New York, the lowest monthly premium for Plan G is $278 and the highest is $476, according to the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance. In Iowa, the least expensive Part G policy is $79 and the most expensive is $192.

There are several reasons for the wide variance in pricing, said Danielle Roberts, co-founder of insurance firm Boomer Benefits. That includes the cost of health care in your area, the open enrollment rules for your state and the actual loss ratio experienced by the insurance company across all policyholders with that same plan, she said.

“For example, Medigap plans cost more in New York because they have year-round open enrollment,” Roberts said.

If the carrier can’t underwrite for health, then they must raise the rates for everyone.

Danielle Roberts

Co-founder of Boomer Benefits

“This means that residents there can literally wait until they get sick to buy a policy,” she said. “If the carrier can’t underwrite for health, then they must raise the rates for everyone.”

Additionally, insurance companies routinely roll out new plans, Roberts said. So if an insurer begins offering a plan and taking on new policyholders for it, over time the premiums rise a little each year due to inflation and claims, making that plan less competitive when another insurer opens a new plan that hasn’t incurred any losses yet, she said.

“Healthy people who can pass underwriting begin to switch plans to the cheaper company and then the first company is left with a lot of people who can’t pass underwriting to switch,” Roberts said. “That is an aging block of business with many policyholders who have costly health conditions, which further drives up the rates.”

The way a Medigap plan is ‘rated’ also matters

Another difference in Medigap premiums can come from how the plans are “rated.” If you know this, it may help you anticipate what may or may not happen to your premium down the road.

Some plans are “community-rated,” which means everyone who buys a particular one pays the same rate regardless of their age. 

Others are based on “attained age,” which means the rate you get at purchase is based on your age and will increase as you get older. Still others use “issue age”: The rate won’t change as you age, but it’s based on your age at the time you purchase the policy (so younger people may pay less).

These are some other things to consider

Svetikd | E+ | Getty Images

If you work with an agent, ask how many insurance companies they work with (or are “appointed with”), according to the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance. They may not recommend a particular insurer’s policies if they don’t get a commission to do so.

There also may be a household discount offered.

“One trend we see is that carriers are becoming more lenient with this and not requiring the spouse to be on the policy to qualify,” Roberts said. “Many will give you a discount just for having another person living at the same residence.”

Also, be aware that some insurance companies give large discounts to new enrollees, but the reduction in price may go away in a year or two.

“You’ll want to know that up front,” Roberts said.

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Markets rally on signs inflation is abating, as investors look to next week's consumer price data

January 7, 2023 Published by

Tourists are lined up for taking photos by the Charging Bull Statue in the financial district of New York City, United States on August 16, 2021.

Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Markets closed out the first week of 2023 on a high note, with the S&P 500 closing up more than 2%, as stocks rallied on fresh signs inflation may be easing.

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Justice Jackson working on a memoir, titled 'Lovely One'

January 7, 2023 Published by

NEW YORK (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is working on a memoir. Jackson, the first Black woman appointed to the court, is calling the book “Lovely One.”

“Mine has been an unlikely journey,” Jackson said in a statement released Thursday by Random House.

“But the path was paved by courageous women and men in whose footsteps I placed my own, road warriors like my own parents, and also luminaries in the law, whose brilliance and fortitude lit my way. This memoir marries the public record of my life with what is less known. It will be a transparent accounting of what it takes to rise through the ranks of the legal profession, especially as a woman of color with an unusual name and as a mother and a wife striving to reconcile the demands of a high-profile career with the private needs of my loved ones.”

No release date has been set for “Lovely One.” Jackson, 52, was born Ketanji Onyika Brown. The book’s title comes from the English translation of Ketanji Onyika, the name suggested by an aunt who at the time was a Peace Corps worker in West Africa.

Jackson joined the court last year after President Joe Biden named her to succeed the retiring Stephen Breyer. She had previously been a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

“My hope is that the fullness of my journey as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, litigator, and friend will stand as a testament for young women, people of color, and dreamers everywhere,” Jackson added, “especially those who nourish outsized ambitions and believe in the possibility of achieving them.”

“Lovely One” is Jackson’s first book, but not the first by a current member of the Supreme Court. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor are among those who have released books in recent years. Justice Amy Coney Barrett has a deal with the Penguin Random House imprint Sentinel.

Financial terms for “Lovely One” were not disclosed, although interest in her makes it likely her advance is at least comparable to the 7-figure deals negotiated in the past for memoirs by Sotomayor and Justice Clarence Thomas.

In announcing Jackson’s book, Random House called it a story she tells with “refreshing honesty, lively wit, and warmth.”

“Justice Jackson invites readers into her life and world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her,” the announcement reads in part, “from growing up in Miami with educator parents who broke barriers during the 1960s to honing her voice as an oratory champion to performing improv and participating in pivotal student movements at Harvard to balancing the joys and demands of marriage and motherhood while advancing in Big Law — and, finally, to making history upon joining the nation’s highest court.”

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Another storm threatens more heavy rain in California and West Coast areas already reeling from flooding

January 7, 2023 Published by



CNN
 — 

More storms are set to slam Northern California and other parts of the West Coast this weekend, threatening heavy rain late Friday to places already struggling with flooding from a separate system that killed at least two people.

After much of California was lashed with heavy rain and damaging winds Wednesday and Thursday that flooded roads, toppled trees and knocked out power to most across the state, daytime Friday will bring some relief before another storm moves in at night.

TRACK THE STORMS HERE

“California continues to take the brunt of the heavy precipitation and strong winds associated with these systems as we head into the first full weekend of 2023,” the National Weather Service said early Friday morning.

Torrential rain is expected Friday night in Northern California and southwest Oregon, with the heaviest rain falling along the coastal ranges where flash flooding also is expected, according to the weather service.

By Saturday night into early Sunday, heavy rain is expected shift toward central California, the forecasters said.

This weekend’s forecast comes as about 60,000 homes and businesses in California are still in the dark from a deadly storm system that over the past two days whipped up damaging winds, dangerously heavy rainfall and heavy snow in much of the state as well as southern Oregon. Before that, a New Year’s weekend storm system also had produced flooding.

The deluges have occurred as California has been enveloped by drought and faced fierce wildfires that have scarred the landscape. Now, much of the state cannot bare to absorb more moisture without the possibility of even more flooding.

Over the coming weekend, “additional rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches, with locally higher totals forecast for northern California will likely exacerbate flooding concerns over already saturated soil,” the weather service warned.

A support piece from the Capitola Wharf lies Thursday in the storm-damaged Zelda's restaurant in Capitola, California.

Excessive rain proved deadly Wednesday when a 19-year-old woman died after crashing her car into a utility pole on a partially flooded road in Northern California, the Fairfield Police Department said. The driver hit “a patch of standing water and hydroplaned, losing control of the vehicle, before colliding into a utility pole,” police explained.

A young child – about age 1 or 2 – was killed Wednesday after a redwood tree fell on a home in Sonoma County in Northern California, Occidental Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ron Lunardi said.

In nearby San Francisco, some saw localized flooding, mudslides and sinkholes as of Wednesday evening, said Mary Ellen Carol, executive director of the city’s emergency management department.

Indeed, San Francisco experienced its wettest 10-day period on record for downtown since 1871, according to a Thursday tweet from the local weather service. The area soaked up more than 10 inches of rain between December 26 and Wednesday, the agency said.

Strong waves along the shores of Capitola in Santa Cruz County damaged piers as flooding inundated local businesses.

People walk Thursday along Cliff Drive to see the Capitola Wharf damaged by heavy storm waves in Capitola.

Weather alerts beyond some that expired Friday are expected to be issued this weekend for places due for a mix of rain and snow. Here’s what’s forecast for millions:

• Friday night: Heavy rain arrives in Northern California.

• Saturday: The accrual of back-to-back heavy rainfall events could lead to even more significant flood impacts possibly including rising waters and mudslides in Northern and central California. Flash flooding and debris flows are also possible.

“By Saturday night into early Sunday, the next moisture-laden Pacific cyclone is forecast to approach California with the next onslaught of heavy rain once again aiming for northern California,” the weather service said.

• Also Saturday: An additional 1 to 2 feet of snow threaten to make travel dangerous in areas above 5,000 feet in mountains of Northern and central California, the Weather Prediction Center said.


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Sarah Michelle Gellar reflects on time on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': 'Very proud of the show we created'

January 7, 2023 Published by

Sarah Michelle Gellar is proud to have been the official vampire slayer of her generation.

In a recent interview with SFX Magazine, Gellar discussed her time on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” revealing how she feels about the show 20 years after the final episode aired. 

Gellar said she is “very proud of the show that we created,” but she doesn’t think her story as Buffy needs to continue, saying “we wrapped that up.” 

While she doesn’t want her character’s story to continue, she is “all for them continuing the story,” because it tells “the story of female empowerment.”

‘BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER’ STAR SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR REVEALS ‘EXTREMELY TOXIC MALE’ SET EARLY IN HER CAREER

David Boreanaz and Sarah Michelle Gellar starred together in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as love interests.

David Boreanaz and Sarah Michelle Gellar starred together in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” as love interests.
(Getty Images)

“I love the way the show was left. ‘Every girl who has the power can have the power.’ It’s set up perfectly for someone else to have the power,” Gellar explained. “But, like I said, the metaphors of ‘Buffy’ were the horrors of adolescence. I think I look young, but I am not an adolescent.”

The actress starred as the show’s titular character seven seasons, starting in 1997 until the show came to an end in 2003. Her character, Buffy Summers, inherited the mission of destroying vampires and other demons from her town of Sunnydale, which was built on a gateway to the realm of the demons.

Gellar starred alongside David Boreanaz, who plays Angel, a vampire cursed with a soul that makes him unable to feast on humans, as well as Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, Michelle Trachtenberg and Seth Green, whose characters team up to help Buffy fight the demons.

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Sarah Michelle Gellar
(Getty Images)

In December 2022, Gellar opened up about experiences she had working on a toxic set led by men. While she didn’t specify which set she was referring to, many believe she was talking about her time on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” which was run by creator Joss Whedon.

“For so long, I was on a set that I think was known for being an extremely toxic male set, and so that was ingrained in my head that that was what all sets were like,” she explained, before saying she felt “women were pitted against each other” to keep them apart.

There were many female characters on “Buffy.” Without naming names, Gellar explained she felt they were kept apart out of fear that “if women became friends, then we became too powerful” and that couldn’t be allowed to happen.

Sarah Michelle Gellar speaks onstage at the Teen Wolf: Wolf Pack panel during New York Comic Con 2022 Oct. 7, 2022, in New York City.

Sarah Michelle Gellar speaks onstage at the Teen Wolf: Wolf Pack panel during New York Comic Con 2022 Oct. 7, 2022, in New York City.
(Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for ReedPop)

Fans believe these statements were made about Whedon due to past comments made by Carpenter, who, in February 2021 claimed, “Joss has a history of being casually cruel. He has created hostile and toxic work environments since his early career. I know because I experienced it firsthand. Repeatedly.”

Representatives for Whedon had no comment when reached by Fox News Digital at the time.

Meanwhile, Gellar posted a statement on her Instagram, stating, “While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don’t want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon.”

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Though Gellar made it clear she won’t return to the role of Buffy, it doesn’t mean she has put the supernatural world behind her. She is set to appear in the new series “Wolf Pack” on Paramount+. The show will follow a group of teenagers who find themselves drawn to each other after a series of unexplained wildfires in a California town awaken a supernatural creature.

Gellar will play a wildfire investigator in the new Paramount+ series "Wolf Pack."

Gellar will play a wildfire investigator in the new Paramount+ series “Wolf Pack.”
(Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for This Is About Humanity)

Gellar plays Kristin Ramsey, an expert brought in to investigate the mysterious wildfires. Not much else is known about her character and how heavily she figures into the plot.

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“Wolf Pack” premieres on Paramount+ Thursday, Jan. 26.

Lori Bashian is an entertainment production assistant for Fox News Digital. 

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