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Player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: Orlando Pride vs North Carolina Courage
Here is this week's player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, for Friday's home match vs North Carolina Courage
Atrium Health, WakeMed propose to merge
WakeMed would become part of Advocate Health, Atrium’s parent company. The deal has sparked concern from local lawmakers, who worry it could raise healthcare prices in North Carolina’s most populous county.
Cubs reveal devious punishment for crab who rises above bucket
Congratulations on your home runs, here's a drink I made out of old branches, Band-Aids and wrung-out Wet-Naps.
Britney Spears pleads guilty to lesser 'wet reckless' charge in DUI case
Spears pleaded guilty through her lawyer Monday
Player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: Orlando Pride vs Washington Spirit
Here is this week's player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, for Saturday's home match vs Washington Spirit
Arizona State football program gets $10 million endowment
Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham has begged for big donors to step up. Brian and Kelly Swette have done so with a $10 million gift.
Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 NFL Draft grades: WR/KR Kaden Wetjen
The Pittsburgh Steelers have added the nation’s top return specialist to their draft class, selecting Iowa’s Kaden Wetjen in the fourth round with the 121st overall pick. Here is what our staff had to say about the pick. Mike Nicastro: With a renewed emphasis on kick returns, Wetjen is expected to be the primary man […]
Player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: Orlando Pride at Racing Louisville FC
Here is this week's player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, for Friday's away match at Racing Louisville FC.
Rowett reacts to relegation-sealing draw with Hull
Leicester City manager Gary Rowett speaks to BBC Radio Leicester following the 2-2 draw with Hull City that condemned the Foxes to relegation to League One.
Axios Live: North Carolina faces health care funding, staffing gaps
Health leaders at an April 16 Axios event warned that funding uncertainty and workforce shortages are colliding in the state.
Chris Paddack, opposing Cardinals, tries again for first Marlins win
JJ Wetherholt, off to a solid start to his rookie season, and the St. Louis Cardinals will look to bounce back on Tuesday after dropping the opener of a three-game series against the host Miami Marlins.
JJ Wetherholt has already set an all-time Cardinals record
The rookie has himself a record already.
Scientists develop dirt-powered fuel cell that could replace batteries
Scientists have developed a fuel cell that uses microbes in soil to produce electricity. The device can power underground sensors for tasks like monitoring moisture or detecting touch, without needing batteries or solar panels. It works in both dry and wet conditions and even lasts longer than similar technologies. This could pave the way for sustainable, low-maintenance sensors in farming and environmental monitoring.
The Hidden Cost of Swiping Personal Credit Cards for Business
Watch more: Need to Know With Capital One’s Nat Hewett Small business spending continues to underpin broad economic activity, but the systems that support
Water on Mars? Scientists discover 'bathtub ring' which may reveal contours of ancient ocean
Like Earth and the solar system's other planets, Mars formed roughly 4.5 billion years ago. Early in its history, Mars was warmer and wetter than the cold and arid place it is today.
Cards ride JJ Wetherholt's power surge into finale vs. Guardians
Cards ride JJ Wetherholt's power surge into finale vs. Guardians
JJ Wetherholt Homers Twice as Cardinals Rally to Beat Guardians
Tuesday night’s game at Busch Stadium was a parade of solo home runs for both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cleveland Guardians. JJ Wetherholt homered twice and made some epic plays in the field as the Cardinals showed their come-from-behind heart yet again to walk off the Guardians in extra innings. Michael McGreevy gave […]
Commissioner Bill Canda created septic business to evade taxes
Thanks to a miscommunication in March between the Custer County Sheriff’s Office and the 12th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Alamosa, the majority of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into Custer County Commissioner Bill Canda for alleged sales tax fraud was made public. The
ON THE JOB: “What is the Best Business Advice You’ve Ever Received?
Interviews by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant Sound advice can contribute to your success. We recently asked area business leaders, what was their best advice they’d ever received. Here’s what they said: “The best advice I ever received was from my then –boss, Gerry Church, Fulton plant manager at Miller Brewing Co. He told me that whenever I wanted to discuss a business problem or issue with him, I should also be prepared to offer possible solutions. It’s the difference between being proactive or reactive. It’s also the difference between being a leader or follower. That has served me well in any business relationship I have had since then.” — Stephen Chirello, Owner, Steve Chirello Advertising, Fulton “Someone will always do it for less; they will also take the most effort to service or satisfy and leave you for the next lower price.” — John M. Henry, Owner, Speedway Press, Mitchell Printing, Phoenix Press, Oswego “I’m going to answer this question by turning it around and giving my own advice that is, ‘Always treat every customer as if they were your only customer!’ We are celebrating our 50th anniversary in business this year. We started our business on March 25, 1976. My advice works.”” — Nick Chervinsky, President, Brewerton Pharmacy, Brewerton “’You need to toot your own horn, my grandfather, Howard D. Dice, told me.” — Beth Ann Dice, Women’s active aging and cancer recovery coach, Mission Movement Wellness Studio & Breast Cancer Recovery Studio, Fulton “In the micro enterprise class, they taught, ‘Get a good lawyer, accountant and bank.’ That was over 30 years ago and I still have those three today. I chose good people I could grow with.” — Tony Pauldine, Owner, Anthony M. Pauldine General Contractors Inc., Oswego “From my grandfather; ‘Listen to everyone! You never know where you will get the solution you need.’” — Kevin Dean, Executive director, Oswego County Opportunities, Fulton “‘Preparation is the mother of success.’ My dad always drilled that into my head growing up, and it has helped me avoid a lot of snags in both my personal and professional life. Thanks, Dad!” — Bekkah Frisch, Owner and president, iHeart Holdings, Inc., Fulton “If you don’t take a risk and try, you will never know.” — Justin Taber, Owner, Torbitt’s Service Center, Oswego “Be ready to take a loss.” — Cody Seymour, Manager, Damiano’s Eatery, Mexico “I’ve received so much good business advice over the years. When people are giving you advice, always be curious rather than judgmental. Follow your gut. Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing.” — Dana Decker, Principal owner/broker, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Oswego ’Do it and figure it out later.’ It hasn’t failed me yet. Too many people take time to think about doing this and this and this and then the opportunity is over with. If it’s somewhat reasonable — if it’s not something outrageous — do it and figure it out later.” — Jeremy Allen, Licensed real estate salesperson, Acropolis Realty Group, Syracuse “’Try to meet the needs of the customer. Treat them like you’d like to be treated.’ It’s like the Golden Rule says.” — Douglas Dickson, Physician and associate at CNY Foot Surgery and Podiatry Care, East Syracuse “The best piece of business advice I’ve ever received applies to life in general: always be honest. Never overstate your capabilities and always be willing to ask questions. The more specific you can be in any given topic will always lead to a better outcome.” — Tom Fernandez, President, Woodbine Hospitality, Syracuse “As a business owner, the advice would be ‘Don’t overextend yourself. Especially in agriculture, expect issues to come up.’ If something is going right, it’s not true agriculture. This last season, we scaled very hard to field another crew. We got more drones, crew and generators based on projections. This last season hit the ag community hard with a very wet spring. We did 15,000 to 20,000 acres for fungicide and the same for cover crop seeding in 2024. We scaled to 25,000 to 30,000 for 2025. We ended up doing 2,000 for fungicide and 3,000 for cover crop seeding. That’s why that advice was good.” — Rick Jordan, Operations manager, CNY Drove Services, Clinton “’Keep your head down, mind your own business and do the best for your clients that you can do.’ It has a lot to do with my success in working for Galloway Century 21.” — Ed Fayette, New York state licensed real estate agent, Century 21 Galloway, Oswego “’Expand in all ways, always.’ It just keeps you going and keeps you growing.” — Stephen Baier, Licensed real estate person, The Real Estate Agency & Bouck Commercial, Auburn “The best advice is, ‘Your biggest asset you won’t see on the books because it comes from your employees.’” — David Flickinger, Owner, Edible Arrangements, Syracuse “Don’t take things personally when you’re working with the public.” — Leeann Desimone, Manager, Annie’s Hallmark Shop, Auburn “‘Follow up.’ The customer knows that you care about what you are doing and that their opinion counts. Sometimes they might be on the fence about whether they want to use your company. If they’re asking your opinion on things, they feel you are concerned about what you’re doing. They like to be kept in the loop if they’re spending money with you.” — Dorothy Casper, Saslesperson, SweetWoods Memorials, Phoenix “The best business advice I received is ‘Never be the smartest person in the room. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.’ That’s how you learn.” — Debbie Bilello, Owner, Virtual Office Solutions, Central Square “’You need to grow your business but you can’t grow too big too fast.’ That’s what we’ve done at Pinnacle Maintenance. We’ve tried to grow but not too fast. Along those same lines, there’s another good piece of advice, ‘Don’t take on more than you can handle because it only leads to a bad name for your business and a bad experience for your customers.’ It goes along the same lines as growing your business slowly and carefully.” — David Wines, Owner, Pinnacle Maintenance, Central Square “Always be on time and do what you say you are going to do.’ I’ve done very well following that advice. Most of my work is referral and I don’t really do any advertising so I have a pretty good customer base. It’s mostly word-of-mouth from satisfied customers.” — Robert J. Fleming, Owner, Bob Fleming Windows & Doors, Brewerton “’Concentrate on your finances, always pay your taxes, and form a team you can depend on. Try to help the community you’re in as much as you can.’ We do all of these all the time here. We give and give and give to the community and the community gives back to us always.” — Susan Bonnet, Co-owner, Bonnet Sales and Service, Central Square “Keep smiling. It brings a positive attitude to the workplace.” — Karin Lindsley, Vice president, DTS Truck Service, Syracuse “‘Customer service above all.’ Following this advice has served us very well.’ — Guy Fox, Owner, Fox’s Discount Parts, West Monroe “The best thing to do is to make sure you’re taking in more money than you’re spending. I wish I could say I’m a good businessman but I have been in business since 1981. I’m not a bean counter but work well with my hands and its’s served me well all these years and I am still in business.” — Matt McGill, Owner, Matt McGill Collision, Brewerton
“AI polls” are fake polls
A few weeks after Donald Trump’s second presidential win, I took the train up from London (where I was living at the time) to Oxford to attend a conference on polls and forecasts of the 2024 election. Most of the attendees were pollsters or academics, but I also watched presentations from Aaru and Electric Twin, two companies that do what is interchangeably called synthetic sampling, silicon sampling, or synthetic audiences. Stripped of startup jargon, that means they use large language models (LLMs) to simulate responses to public opinion polls by having AI agents take on the role of survey respondents. I had already heard of Aaru thanks to some articles with eye-catching headlines like “No people, no problem: AI chatbots predict elections better than humans” in the months leading up to Election Day. The founders were making some big, some might even say far-fetched claims, such as: “within two years, we will simulate the entire globe — from the way crops are grown in Ukraine to how that impacts production of oil in Iraq, trade through the strait of Malacca, and elections for the mayor of Baltimore.” When Semafor asked Aaru’s cofounders — Cameron Fink and Ned Koh — about my boss, they said “we respect all those who came before us.” Nate (as he so often does) shared his thoughts on Twitter: Fink and Koh were relatively good-natured about this back-and-forth when we spoke at Oxford. They even offered to mail me one of the t-shirts featuring Nate’s quote they apparently had made. I never took them up on the offer, which I now somewhat regret. These synthetic sampling companies fell off my radar for a while, but they do still exist. In fact, Aaru recently received a $1 billion valuation. Is what they’re doing anywhere close to the most important frontier in AI development? Not by a longshot, especially when Anthropic just developed a model so adept at exploiting software vulnerabilities that it’s only being released to 40 companies. Still, silicon sampling is increasingly finding its way into public polling. Axios reported in March that “a majority of people trust their own doctors and nurses” based on findings from Aaru — without mentioning that the “people” in that sentence were actually LLMs. Around the same time, the Public Sentiment Institute “boosted” their online sample of 373 real survey respondents with 114 AI agents.1 (Spoiler alert: even the co-founder of Electric Twin doesn’t think that’s a particularly defensible approach.) Polling companies like Qualtrics and Ipsos are also developing synthetic data panels. So, what should we make of these … “polls”? Let’s get one thing out of the way: whatever they are, they’re not polls in the way that term is usually defined. Subscribe You can’t replace polls with AI On one hand, using LLMs to essentially make up fake survey respondents sort of sounds like the dumbest idea ever, one that will at best imperfectly replicate real polls while introducing all sorts of biases. On the other hand, with LLMs improving at a remarkable, perhaps even alarming rate, maybe that means I’m a dinosaur at the ripe old age of 24 because I still want to rely on polls that talk to actual people. I’m not going to argue that synthetic samples are completely useless. In fact, as I’ll return to later, there is evidence that some techniques can replicate topline survey results quickly and cheaply. But the marketing from certain companies can be slightly optimistic. “No traditional poll will exist by the time the next general election occurs,” said Fink in 2024. We’re just 206 days away from the midterms, and based on the fact that I still have to collect a bunch of polls every day, I’d say he should have run that prediction by a sample of AI agents before the interview.2 To see why synthetic samples can’t replace polls, here’s a quick primer on how they work. The simplest version of these models involves taking a LLM (like ChatGPT or Claude), giving it a demographic profile (e.g., a white, college-educated woman who lives in Utah and makes $70k a year), and then asking it to respond to a survey question. You repeat that process a few thousand times using different demographic profiles and end up with a sample of synthetic survey responses. The actual models used by private companies are more sophisticated than this, usually because they incorporate more hypothesized demographic characteristics for each agent and provide them with extra information. Aaru, for example, feeds agents a diet of news and information they’d be likely to consume, while Electric Twin incorporates their customers’ proprietary data about the audience they’re trying to replicate. The way Ben Warner, the co-founder of Electric Twin, explained it to me was “we have a large amount of data on […] for instance, 5,000 people. Can we make an accurate prediction of how they would respond to another question?” Still, it should be obvious why synthetic samples can’t replace polls. Polling is fundamentally a data collection process. We might use surveys to make predictions by feeding them into election forecasts, but the main purpose of a poll isn’t prediction, it’s gathering new data about what people think and how they feel. Silicon sampling, on the other hand, produces no new data. It’s simply a model: you input LLM training data, demographic prompts, and a bunch of other information, and it spits out a prediction for what a poll would say. We love models here, but models aren’t polls. That difference is an important philosophical sticking point for most pollsters I talk to. “I think politics should stay away from [synthetic sampling], because we’re trying to […] represent the voice of the people,” said Natalie Jackson, a vice president at GQR Insights. Democratic pollster John Hagner told me: “I think I’m just incredibly skeptical of this idea. I don’t think it’s research. At that point, you’re asking the machine to tell you what you already believe.” Hagner has seen some presentations of early synthetic sampling experiments, but so far, “if it’s being used in a campaign, people are keeping it incredibly quiet.”3 But Eli, I hear you saying, aren’t polls themselves increasingly governed by modeling decisions? Indeed they are: pollsters’ choices on which sampling method to use, how to define their likely voter models, and how to weight their samples can and do lead to dramatic differences in the results they publish. Aaru even referenced these limitations in the methodology statement included with that maternal mortality “poll” — although I’m using the term “methodology statement” loosely here, because it doesn’t really explain how the model works at all. We can ignore the (frankly preposterous) implication that synthetic sampling isn’t subject to a separate set of biases. The important point is that there’s still a meaningful difference between using weighting and other statistical techniques on actual polling data and using a model to predict what a poll would say. The latter is far closer to election forecasts or techniques like MRP — potentially useful models, but not a replacement for polls.4 To be fair, other synthetic sampling companies are perfectly happy with the distinction between polls and models. Warner compared polling and synthetic sampling to different tools in a toolbox. “The mistake I think we make is we think that these new tools should either work in exactly the same way or somehow replace these old tools,” he said. “Rather than thinking of it as, okay, so we’ve always had the hammer, we’ve always had the screwdriver, now we’ve got a saw. But don’t use a saw to try [to] do the job of a hammer.” A quick comment from Nate Eli didn’t ask me for a comment — rather rude of him, don’t you think? But since I’m editing this story, I figured I’d add a few quick thoughts rather than putting words in his mouth. Beyond the frequently misleading marketing, what bothers me about the AI “poll” hype is that as AI tools make statistical inference cheaper and/or better (note that these are not synonyms) that actually increases the comparative value of collecting original data. You might be able to train a model to make a reasonable estimate of what some hard-to-reach poll respondent would say — say, a young Black man who voted for Trump. (Such a person checks a number of boxes for a voter who is usually hard to reach in surveys.) Indeed, this is closely related to what models like the Silver Bulletin forecast already do. They essentially smooth out the kinks in noisy survey data by making inferences based on past voting patterns or national polls or surveys of other states. But you don’t actually know what these voters think unless you’re reaching them directly. If there’s a shift in opinion among this subgroup, you’re not going to detect it. So if I were running a campaign, I’d invest more in going the extra mile to find a representative sample of those voters. And then I’d hire some smart quants — or Claude? — to figure out the implications for campaign strategy based on proprietary data that my competitors didn’t have access to. -Nate Silver Are these models any good? If synthetic surveys are just a new type of model, the next obvious question is whether the models are at least accurate. The answer very much depends on who you ask. On one end of the spectrum, you have the maximalist argument that synthetic sampling is more accurate than actual polls. “It’s an incredibly challenging problem to go to someone and say ‘hey, we’re going to be more accurate at predicting human behavior than you, even when you talk to your customers directly’,” Koh recently told CNBC. In his view, synthetic sampling isn’t a saw to polling’s hammer, it’s “magic.” There’s certainly evidence that synthetic samples can replicate certain survey toplines. But if Aaru does have any examples of their approach outperforming the polls, they’re keeping those to themselves.5 Aaru’s 2024 election model, for example, had Kamala Harris leading in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin on November 4th. And although they’ve since taken down their forecast page, they gave Harris a 50.5 percent chance of winning the race on November 2nd.6 After the election, Fink told Semafor he was happy enough with those results because they were “within margin of error,” a term that is completely meaningless when applied to a “sample” of AI agents. And of course, Aaru says their models have improved since 2024, so supposedly now they’d be more accurate than the polls? Still, their stronger argument is on cost: “We are significantly faster and cheaper than traditional polling, and still more accurate,” said Fink. The first two claims are undeniably true, but the third brings us to the opposite end of the spectrum. Both Jackson and Hagner are skeptical that these models are reliable for anything beyond replicating common survey toplines. “I just […] don’t think the machines are what we want when we’re looking for nuanced views. My example on this is people in Arizona and Nevada in 2024 who voted for Trump and voted for expanding abortion in their states on ballot initiatives,” said Jackson. Hagner identified another issue. Maybe the synthetic respondents, like sycophantic LLMs, are inhuman in one important way: they’re too nice. “The reports that have come through at the meetings that I’ve been at are that the early experiments on this, they cannot get respondents to be as racist or sexist or, frankly, as negative as human respondents,” he said. Academic research mostly agrees on this point. While there are some papers that show promising results when using LLMs to replicate polling data, most show that LLMs suffer from various quirks like producing too few “don’t know” responses and can seriously overpredict the favorability of politicians like Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. They also seem to struggle with too little variation between demographic subgroups, so the difference in predicted opinion between Democrats and Republicans, for example, is too small. When I asked Warner about these studies, his response to these papers was that just because academics can’t get synthetic sampling to work doesn’t mean that the technique doesn’t work in general. “Actually, the argument is, okay, yours does not [work]. That does not mean […] for this complex set of machinery, which uses a lot of investment, a lot of time, a lot of money, you can’t get it to work.” Cards on the table, I’m somewhat sympathetic to this argument because academics aren’t exactly great at making election forecasts. Usually, the people with skin in the game are the most accurate. Warner’s argument is that the approach Electric Twin takes — which includes, for example, making multiple predictions for each synthetic respondent using different models and prompts and subsequently averaging those to get a final prediction in a sort of ensemble forecast — produces better results than the simpler academic models. Warner shared a comparison between his method and the method from a recent academic paper with me, and Electric Twin was indeed able to get more accurate replication. But even still, he acknowledged that synthetic sampling “is not a crystal ball.” “If you asked me, do I think using other data sources will be more accurate than asking somebody who they will vote for, I would probably say no. But if you asked me ‘would your system be useful for our turnout modeling today?’ I would say yes.” For better or worse, it looks like the method is already getting more popular in the market research world. Most of the clients Aaru touts these days are businesses like EY and McDonald’s. And AI will probably begin to pop up in other parts of the political polling process. Pollsters are already using it to code open-ended survey responses, and some firms, like YouGov, are testing using LLMs to ask survey respondents questions. More worryingly, one danger to actual polls is that AI agents can be used to infiltrate online surveys. Most online polls use various checks to prevent that from happening, but there’s conflicting evidence on how effective those filters are and how prevalent AI agents currently are in online panels. If those agents ever become impossible to detect, it might spell the end of online polling, but the solution isn’t to replace all of your respondents with ChatGPT. Silver Bulletin is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribe 1 That particular poll obviously doesn’t meet Silver Bulletin standards for aggregation. But we exclude all Public Sentiment Institute polls from our averages because we classify them as an amateur polling firm. 2 You could argue that Fink meant the next presidential election, but (a) I’m also confident we’ll still have real polls in 2028 and (b) in that case he should have asked an LLM to define “general election.” 3 Quick caveat: that’s reporting from a Democratic pollster. It’s possible that Republicans are more willing to use AI in political campaigns. 4 Indeed, Silver Bulletin does not include “polls” produced by MRP in our forecasts or averages, and we think it’s extremely misleading when their practitioners describe them in a way that suggests original data had been collected among a large number of states or Congressional districts. 5 A recent report from Aaru and EY did show two examples of a synthetic estimate being closer than a survey to a real-world benchmark — but I’d take those findings with a grain of salt because the report reads more like an ad and didn’t involve any sort of prediction being made ahead of time. 6 For comparison, our odds for Harris on the same day were 48.2 percent.
Judge strikes down DEC regulation over definition of 'freshwater wetland'
Business groups and landowners argued the rules would make it much harder to get new development projects off the ground like housing.
New York Small Businesses Win Legal Challenge to Onerous New Wetlands Regulations
NFIB joined a lawsuit in 2025 challenging a harmful, vague wetlands mandate in New York.
WATCH LIVE: Hegseth and Caine hold Pentagon briefing as Trump threatens Iran's infrastructure
Head of the Harbor nursery opens for business after fire engulfs storage trailer
The fire was located away from the family business' storefront and did not affect any people, its owner said.
‘Bob’s Burgers’ Star Eugene Mirman Shares Health Update After Fiery Crash
The governor of New Hampshire and a member of her security detail swung into action at the scene after Mirman became trapped in the burning car.
Player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: Orlando Pride vs Angel City FC
Here is this week's player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, for Friday's home match vs Angel City FC
Controversial business development breaks ground near Milan Bottoms
Nature’s Treatment Marijuana Dispensary and Gas Station will now call an area near Milan bottoms home contingent upon preserving the wetlands.
Player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: Orlando Pride at Gotham FC
Here is this week's player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, for Sunday's away match at Gotham FC
Ernie Fazio, LI business owner, supporter and utility watchdog, dies at 85
The Centerport insurance broker had expansive opinions about energy, including wind power, and transportation
Business Lookahead: Gauging the war's impact
STORY: From a worrying drop in stocks to a surge in energy prices from the war in the Middle East to key data on jobs and trade, these are the stories to watch in business and finance in the coming week. ::Look Ahead::War impactThe first quarter is ending with financial markets at the mercy of geopolitics.The Iran war has wiped roughly $7 trillion off global stocks since it erupted.With oil prices up nearly 70% year to date, suddenly interest rates are heading up, rather than down, and energy-hungry AI does not look like such a slam-dunk anymore.Meanwhile, gold has plunged 16% after being nearly unstoppable since the start of 2025.We’ll see whether markets roll on or rollover as the second quarter begins.::Job growth in focusThe U.S. jobs report for March comes out Friday.It will offer a crucial view into the economy's health as investors gauge fallout from the energy price surge.Monthly payrolls are seen rising by 48,000, according to a Reuters poll. February's surprisingly weak report caught Wall Street off guard, showing nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000 while the unemployment rate increased to 4.4%.Uncertainty over the Iran war is also clouding the economic forecasts for the Federal Reserve, with Wall Street pulling back on expectations for U.S. interest rate cuts this year as the oil price surge fuels concerns about rising inflation.Other U.S. data in the coming week includes retail sales for February and reports on manufacturing and services activity.::Chip checkSouth Korea releases its trade data for March on Wednesday.It will provide an early indicator of how the global economy is holding up in the face of the war and the resulting shock to energy prices. Korea's export-heavy economy is a bellwether for global trade and one of the first to report data from the previous month.Its manufacturing fortunes are of even greater interest than usual, not just because of its dependence on Middle Eastern energy imports, but also because its world-leading DRAM chips are of critical importance to the AI sector and currently in short supply too. ::Inflation assessmentAnd flash euro zone inflation for March is due on Tuesday. After long hovering around the 2% mark, higher energy prices are now expected to push headline inflation up, as they did in 2022. The question is, how large and sustained any jump in inflation might be.Early data is not painting a pretty picture. Private sector growth in the euro zone slowed sharply in March, with input costs rising to their highest in more than three years and supply chains being significantly disrupted.Money markets are now heavily pricing in a rate hike which was almost unthinkable before the Iran war.
Some East Grand Forks businesses must register with city to sell low-potency hemp products
Changes in requirements from the state Office of Cannabis Management mean businesses selling these products must now be licensed with the OCM and registered with their local cities.
Player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: Orlando Pride at Chicago Stars
Here is this week's player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, for Friday's home match at Chicago Stars
Brian Nathan edges out Josie Tomkow in SD 14 as she pledges a rematch in November
The race was being watched as a potential bellwether ahead of the November Midterms.
A secret weapon to fight carbon emissions was just discovered: Beavers
A new study in Switzerland finds that beaver-built wetlands can trap and store large amounts of carbon, offering a low-cost boost for restoration and climate resilience.
Webb Telescope spots “impossible” atmosphere on ancient super Earth
Astronomers have uncovered surprising evidence of a thick atmosphere surrounding TOI-561 b, a scorching, fast-orbiting rocky planet once thought too extreme to hold onto any gas. Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, researchers found the planet is far cooler than expected for a bare rock, hinting at a heat-distributing atmosphere above a churning magma ocean. This strange world—where a year lasts just over 10 hours and one side is locked in eternal daylight—may even be rich in volatile materials, behaving like a “wet lava ball.”
Player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: Orlando Pride vs Denver Summit
Here is this week's player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, for Friday's home match vs Denver Summit
What are WSJ’s entertainment reporters watching for?
“I’m looking forward to seeing the tribute segment to [Rob Reiner](https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/film/rob-reiner-director-of-this-is-spinal-tap-when-harry-met-sally-dies-at-78-10f173d4?gaaat=eafs&gaan=AWEtsqcsCM1C96TeMZywXFmpOxqT5r-PI5LtSs21eYXrdWiCfc5MGyZi3A3WA806Yc%3D&gaats=69b46c63&gaa_sig
Player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: Orlando Pride vs Seattle Reign
Here is this week's player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, for Sunday's home match vs Seattle Reign
Main Event set to join battle for Long Islanders' entertainment dollar
Main Event offers bowling, laser tag, arcade games, billiards, gravity ropes courses and other activities, as well as food and drinks.
NovaBridge to Host Business Update Call to Review Phase 2a Data for VIS-101 in Wet AMD on Monday, March 9, 2026
VIS-101, purpose-designed to be a best-in-class dual VEGF-A/ANG-2 inhibitor, has the potential to provide more effective and durable treatment than the current standard of care for patients with wet AMD, DME and RVO Visara, a NovaBridge Majority-Owned Subsidiary, Holds Global Rights to VIS-101 Outside of Greater China and Certain Asian Territories ROCKVILLE, Md., March 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NovaBridge Biosciences (Nasdaq: NBP) (NovaBridge or the Company) a global biotechnology platform co
‘We’re going into a dark place’: Brit awards artists voice alarm over Reform UK’s rise
CMAT, Wolf Alice, Wet Leg, Self Esteem and Loyle Carner say musicians should not shy away from politics – with several warning of ‘scary times’ as the far right gains ground
That’s entertainment! Or not. State of the Union 2026
Jason Dick and Brandon Wetherbee discuss the artistic merits of the 2026 State of the Union, whether Hollywood or Washington is the entertainment capital and the reasons for sitting through President Donald Trump’s 1 hour, 47-minute, 43-second event. Show Notes:
Blaming beavers for flood damage is bad policy and bad science, research shows
Beaver dams are critical to river health and a source of biodiversity. They create wetlands, slow water and improve water quality. They also reduce flood peaks and delay runoff. But beaver dams are often ...
Unequal Access to Nature Fuels America’s Health Crisis
Communities of color and low-income neighborhoods face the worst impacts as the U.S. loses forests, wetlands and other green spaces.
New sodium ion battery stores twice the energy and desalinates seawater
A surprising breakthrough could help sodium-ion batteries rival lithium—and even turn seawater into drinking water. Scientists discovered that keeping water inside a key battery material, instead of removing it as traditionally done, dramatically boosts performance. The “wet” version stores nearly twice as much charge, charges faster, and remains stable for hundreds of cycles, placing it among the top-performing sodium battery materials ever reported.
Before he created his park, George Barber left big imprint on Birmingham’s business world
He sold the family business to Dean Foods in 1998.
Business Restructuring Review
In This Issue: The Year in Bankruptcy: 2025 A brief chronicle of the year's notable developments in corporate bankruptcy and restructuring, including business bankruptcy filings, significant court rulings, and legislative developments. [read more …] U.S. Bankruptcy Court Denies Chapter 15 Recognition of Maltese Liquidation Absent Evidence of Meaningful Activities Supporting Finding of COMI or Establishment in Malta In In re Geden Holdings, Ltd., No. 25-90138, 2025 WL 2484883 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. Aug. 28, 2025), stay pending appeal denied, No. 25-90138, 2026 WL 97993 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. Jan. 13, 2026), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled that, for purposes of recognition under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, although a foreign debtor may have had its center of main interests ("COMI") or an establishment in Malta when a liquidation proceeding was commenced for it in a Maltese court in 2017, the absence of any meaningful activity by the debtor's liquidator from that time until the liquidator filed a chapter 15 petition in the United States more than five years later meant that the debtor had neither a COMI nor an establishment in Malta on the chapter 15 petition date. The court accordingly denied the petition for recognition. [read more …] The Ninth Circuit's Expansive Reading of "Financial Accommodations" that Cannot Be Assumed or Assigned in Bankruptcy It is generally well understood that agreements to extend credit or provide financing to a debtor cannot be assumed or assigned in bankruptcy. Even so, the provision of the Bankruptcy Code that precludes assumption or assignment—section 365(c)(2)—also extends to "financial accommodations," a term that is not defined in the Bankruptcy Code and has been the subject of relatively few bankruptcy and appellate court rulings. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit examined the meaning of the term in In re Svenhard's Swedish Bakery, 154 F.4th 1100 (9th Cir. 2025). The court of appeals ruled that a deeply discounted settlement of pension plan withdrawal liability is a "financial accommodation" that cannot be assumed or assigned, thereby extending the reach of section 365(c)(2) well beyond conventional lending arrangements. [read more …] Pennsylvania District Court Applies "Hypothetical Test" in Determining that Patent License Agreement Is Assignable in Bankruptcy In Crivella Holdings Ltd. v. Mesearch Media Technologies Ltd., No. 2:25-cv-333, 2025 WL 2443400 (W.D. Pa. Aug. 25, 2025), the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania affirmed a bankruptcy court ruling denying a software licensor's motion for relief from the automatic stay to terminate the license agreement. The court found the license was assumable in bankruptcy under the Third Circuit's hypothetical test as a result of language in the agreement stating that it could be assigned to a "successor in interest" of the debtor without the licensor's further consent, thereby overriding federal patent law's general prohibition against the assignment of patents. [read more …] New York Bankruptcy Court Denies Motion to Terminate Chapter 15 Recognition and Dismiss Chapter 15 Case In In re Oi S.A., No. 23-10193 (LGB), 2025 WL 2806591 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Oct. 1, 2025), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York considered whether chapter 15 recognition of a debtor's Brazilian restructuring proceeding should be terminated and the case dismissed due to the debtors' financial deterioration and inability to satisfy its restructuring plan obligations after entry of the recognition order. The court denied the motion, concluding that recognition of the Brazilian proceeding and a court-approved restructuring plan for the debtors should not be terminated under section 1519(d) of the Bankruptcy Code—according to the court, the sole authority for revocation of chapter 15 recognition—because, among other things, the restructuring proceeding was still pending, the debtors might still need relief authorized under chapter 15, and the debtors' prospects for reorganizing under a hypothetical chapter 11 case were uncertain at best. It also found that no provision of the Bankruptcy Code authorizes the dismissal of a chapter 15 case. [read more …] Newsworthy Effective January 1, 2026, Jones Day welcomed Isel M. Perez (Miami), Andrew M. Butler (New York), Sid Pepels (Amsterdam), and Anna C. Bretting (Munich) to the partnership in the Business Restructuring & Reorganization Practice. Sid Pepels (Amsterdam) has been nominated for the Future Leader Award by the Global Restructuring Review, an organization that acknowledges and honors excellence within the global restructuring and insolvency sector. This award is designed to recognize exceptional contributions made by both individuals and firms in the field. The 2026 edition of Chambers UK recognized Ben Larkin (London) in the practice area Restructuring/Insolvency and Adam R. Brown (London) in the practice area Restructuring/Insolvency: Litigation. The 2026 edition of Chambers Asia-Pacific ranked Roger Dobson (Sydney) in the practice area Restructuring/Insolvency. An article written by Corinne Ball (New York) titled "Backstop Fees for Lenders in Chapter 11 Plans: Absent Market Test, Equality of Treatment Now Required in Fifth Circuit After 'ConvergeOne'" was published on November 12, 2025, in the New York Law Journal. An article written by Oliver S. Zeltner (Houston) titled "Delaware Bankruptcy Court: No Legal Authority for Chapter 11 Plan Gatekeeping Provision" was published on November 20, 2025, by Lexis Practical Guidance. An article written by Daniel J. Merrett (Atlanta) titled "First Impressions: Eleventh Circuit Rules that Annulment of Automatic Stay Does Not Violate U.S. Supreme Court's Prohibition of Nunc Pro Tunc Orders" was published on November 21, 2025, by Lexis Practical Guidance. An article written by Genna Ghaul (New York) titled "Iowa District Court: Avoidance Claims Cannot Be Encumbered by Pre-Bankruptcy Liens" was published on November 20, 2025, by Lexis Practical Guidance. An article written by Dan T. Moss (Washington/New York), Corinne Ball (New York), David S. Torborg (Washington), and Ben Rosenblum (New York) titled "New York Bankruptcy Court Rejects Challenge to Barnet Rule Permitting Foreign Debtors to Obtain Chapter 15 Recognition With Only Minimal U.S. Assets" was published on November 21, 2025, by Lexis Practical Guidance. The M&A Advisor has recognized the Silvergate Capital Corporation Bankruptcy case as the Chapter 11 Reorganization of the Year (over $5 billion) during its 20th Annual Turnaround Awards. Jones Day is listed among the professionals for the representation of Exploration Capital, which was led by Joshua M. Mester (Los Angeles). Lawyer Spotlight: Sid Pepels Sid Pepels, a partner in Jones Day's Amsterdam Office, litigates and advises clients on commercial and international insolvency matters, with a focus on complex restructurings and insolvencies. He has advised and litigated high-profile cases, including: the cross-border WHOA (Wet Homologatie Onderhands Akkoord) proceedings concerning Vroon Group and Diebold Nixdorf; proceedings on behalf of expropriated SNS Reaal bond holders against the Dutch State; the bankruptcy of Intertoys, the leading Dutch toys retailer; the restructuring of Oi, the Dutch finance vehicle of the Brazilian telecom giant; and Blokker, the leading Dutch home appliances retailer. Sid holds a Ph.D. in European insolvency law and regularly publishes in academic journals on topics of cross-border insolvency. He has been recognized in The Legal 500 Netherlands and was noted by his peers for being client-minded and a creative thinker with a "strong grasp of the law and strong interpersonal skills." Sid was also nominated for the "Future Leader" award at the Global Restructuring Review Awards 2025. He is a board member for the Netherlands Association for Comparative and International Insolvency Law and a NextGen member of the International Insolvency Institute.
Visionary business leader behind Alabama motorsports park dead at 85
"We are grateful for his vision and leadership," his namesake museum posted.
Home health aides play a vital role
Lawmakers must ensure home care receives its fair share, a reader writes.
Business Lookahead: Giddy Up
STORY: From bellwether Walmart reporting earnings... to new economic data out of the UK... these are the stories to watch in business and finance in the coming week.:: The trillion dollar clubFresh off hitting $1 trillion in market value, Walmart posts quarterly results on Thursday.Walmart's report offers a glimpse into consumer spending after recent data showed December U.S. retail sales were unexpectedly flat.A surprisingly strong employment report for January eased some concerns about economic weakening.Economic reports in the coming week include the advance reading of fourth-quarter GDP, a monthly consumer sentiment survey, and the personal consumption expenditures price index, a key inflation measure.:: Heavy metalsEurope's four largest mining companies report earnings in the coming week.Copper, gold, silver and other precious metals all recently hit records - but the January rally has given way to a sharp February sell-off.Last month's rally boosted the market values of Rio Tinto, Glencore, Anglo American and Antofagasta.Their earnings will test whether the momentum can be sustained.:: UK economic data UK labor market data and inflation readings will provide fresh fodder for markets, even though investors are still digesting the fallout from the recent government instability.Labor market numbers due on Tuesday will show if a gradual cooling of wage growth has continued.Then, January inflation data comes Wednesday.The political turmoil has set a tense backdrop, leaving markets highly sensitive to data swings. Fitch is also due to review its UK rating on Friday.
The best medicine: Jimmy Blewett is happy, healthy and ready to race again with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
After a health scare sidelined Jimmy Blewett for a full year, the New Jersey driver is returning to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
This tiny molecular trick makes spider silk almost unbreakable
Scientists have cracked a key mystery behind spider silk’s legendary strength and flexibility. They discovered that tiny molecular interactions act like natural glue, holding silk proteins together as they transform from liquid into incredibly tough fibers. This same process helps create silk that’s stronger than steel by weight and tougher than Kevlar.
Wyalusing man sentenced after stealing money from business
WYALUSING, Pa. (WETM) – A Wyalusing man was sentenced after being convicted of entering a business without permission and stealing money from inside. Hunter B. Oslin, 28, was sentenced to a minimum of...
Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham raves about incoming Utah transfers
Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham discusses the impact of key transfers from Utah.
India hands Apple a win by letting foreign firms fund equipment for manufacturers
India's government on Sunday handed a major win to Apple by allowing foreign companies to freely provide machines to their contract manufacturers set up in certain areas for five years, without fearing any tax risk.
Photos: Krewe du Vieux parades in the cold
Krewe du Vieux paraded through the French Quarter on a freezing evening to the theme, "Save The Wet Glands.” Co-founder and CEO of Glass Half Full, Franziska Trautmann, reigned over the satirical parade with Glass Half Full co-founder Max Steitz as Royal Consort.
TikTok ups bid to entertainment marketers with latest ad solutions
Streaming Ads and New Title Launch are meant to deliver personalized, entertainment-specific content and drive subscriptions and ticket sales.
DA: Purple Heart veteran’s mental health likely led to deadly Coweta County shootout
MENTAL HEALTH STRUGGLES: A Purple Heart veteran’s combat-related mental health struggles likely led to a deadly Coweta County shootout with police, according to the district attorney.
Should you avoid sleeping with wet hair? Expert-backed tips for strong, healthy hair
In the realm of hair care, there’s a few crystal clear dos and don’ts. But what about sleeping with wet hair?
When Texas Republican John Cornyn became a senator, Bush was president. Will he survive Trump's GOP?
Four-term Texas Sen. John Cornyn is in the political fight of his career.
Confusion erupts in mental health and substance abuse programs as HHS cuts, then reinstates grants
Providers, state health agencies and others are feeling whiplash and confusion after the Trump administration eliminated and then abruptly reinstated grants that support substance abuse and mental health programs nationwide.
Scientists discover what’s linking floods and droughts across the planet
Scientists tracking Earth’s water from space discovered that El Niño and La Niña are synchronizing floods and droughts across continents. When these climate cycles intensify, far-apart regions can become unusually wet or dangerously dry at the same time. The study also found a global shift about a decade ago, with dry extremes becoming more common than wet ones. Together, the results show that water crises are part of a global pattern, not isolated events.
Roborock's Iconic Wet and Dry Vacuums at Nearly 40% Off to Start Year Right
The flagship F25 Ultra Wet and Dry Vacuum and the powerful F25 GT are both marked down in a big way, but for a limited time only.
Florida lawmaker is back with bill promoting water pollution
'This bill doesn’t make any sense.'
Wethersfield woman’s bonnet business made her an early female entrepreneur
While Danbury is known as the Hat City of the World, Wethersfield has its own claim to headwear fame through a woman who turned local grass into a thriving bonnet business.
Google TV's new Gemini features range from useful to unnecessary
I got to see a preview of the Gemini features coming to Google TVs. Deep dive AI answers and Google Photo support were among the notable changes.
Fossilized bones are revealing secrets from a lost world
Researchers have uncovered thousands of preserved metabolic molecules inside fossilized bones millions of years old, offering a surprising new window into prehistoric life. The findings reveal animals’ diets, diseases, and even their surrounding climate, including evidence of warmer, wetter environments. One fossil even showed signs of a parasite still known today. This approach could transform how scientists reconstruct ancient ecosystems.
Petkit’s first automatic wet food feeder keeps track of how much your pet eats
The feeder is joined by a new water fountain that uses AI and a camera to track your pet’s drinking behavior and health.
Several businesses thrashed by flooding in East Central Fresno
Local agencies were faced with a wet and windy Christmas Eve Wednesday, as calls came rushing in.
Only 25 People Can Own This Rolls-Royce, And That’s Probably Enough
Venuum’s limited-run tuning package turns the Rolls-Royce Dawn convertible into a rolling spectacle of plastic panels and orange leather
Here's Your Entertainment Round Up for the Long Holiday Break
Wether you want a big blockbuster or you'd rather curl up at home with a classic, Fandango's Nikki Novak stops by TODAY with a list of the best movies to watch over the long holiday break.
4 Takeaways From the Seahawks' Win Over the Rams
Trailing by 16 points in the fourth quarter, the Seattle Seahawks rallied to force overtime, with Sam Darnold finding tight end Eric Saubert for a two-point conversion and a 38-37 victory over the visiting Seattle Seahawks on a wet night at Lumen Field on Thursday.
Faith-based entertainment sees a revival in Hollywood. Defining what it is can be a challenge
Faith-based films are gaining traction in Hollywood, with recent successes sparking renewed interest.
"MicroProse and Geoff Crammond Reunite to Revive a Racing Legend"
MicroProse is excited to announce its renewed partnership with legendary game developer Geoff Crammond, creator of some of the most influential racing simulation games of the 1990s and early 2000s. Together, we are bringing back his groundbreaking racing game engine in a re-release of the original game technology, enhanced with updates, new tools, and Steam Workshop support, through the upcoming Geoff Crammond Racing series: GCR1, GCR2, GCR3, and GCR4, scheduled to release in 2026. These titles are being reintroduced under new names to reflect our independent direction and to ensure full separation from any official motorsport licensing. While the names are new, the core simulation engine, physics systems, and pioneering gameplay features developed by Geoff Crammond remain at the heart of each release. Geoff Crammond’s original work helped define the foundations of modern racing games, introducing innovations such as advanced real-time physics, highly configurable driving assists (including the ideal racing line, steering help and auto braking), realistic AI driver behaviour, deep telemetry analysis, comprehensive car setup systems, extensive wet weather system, and the list goes on. The GCR series proudly carries this legacy forward. Steam Workshop support will enable the community to create and share custom tracks, cars, liveries, teams, drivers and more. This reunion marks the beginning of a long-term partnership between MicroProse and Geoff Crammond, with further announcements in the series to come. MicroProse is officially back on the track at full speed. GCR1 Steam Page GCR2 Steam Page GCR3 Steam Page GCR4 Steam Page -- MicroProse, founded in 1982, is a world-famous simulation software company known for developing groundbreaking classics and new blockbuster titles such as Falcon, HighFleet, B-17 The Mighty Eighth, Ground Branch, Gunship and many more! Today, MicroProse is not only remaking select classics from its past but also paving the road to next-generation, state of the art games that will create the memories and experiences of new generations of gamers.
Wetzel: Beware, college sports, private equity has arrived
The University of Utah approved a groundbreaking private equity deal. Dan Wetzel writes that big changes could follow.