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ATLAS publishes first paper on Public Engagement with Science

You can’t exactly take the ATLAS experiment on tour. At 7,000 tonnes and buried 100 metres underground at CERN, it’s not easy to move. So, for more than a decade, the ATLAS Collaboration has found another way to bring the experiment to people around the world: live, interactive virtual visits with the scientists who work on it. In a recent paper published in the European Physical Journal Plus, the ATLAS Collaboration documents the evolution and impact of its flagship Virtual Visits programme. The paper is the Collaboration’s first publication focused specifically on science education, communication and outreach. It traces the programme from its beginnings as an experimental outreach effort in 2010 through its growth into a global programme – connecting classrooms in the Amazon, schools in the Himalayas and even a research station in Antarctica. Drawing on data collected between 2019 and 2025, the paper examines the programme’s reach and impact. Global reach, local connection Figure 1: World map showing the number of virtual visits across participating countries from 2019 to 2025. Cooler colours (purple and blue) are used for countries with fewer visits, and warmer colours (red and orange) for countries with more visits. (Image: ATLAS Collaboration/CERN) The core mission of the ATLAS Virtual Visit programme is to connect audiences worldwide with particle physicists and engage them in accessible discussions about cutting-edge research. While visiting CERN in person is an unforgettable experience, financial and logistical barriers can make such a trip difficult for many students and public groups. Video conferencing has allowed the Collaboration to break down these barriers: between 2019 and 2025, the Collaboration hosted 698 virtual visits, engaging tens of thousands of participants across nearly 70 countries (see Figure 1). Interactivity is central to the programme. Far from simple one-way broadcasts, Virtual Visit audience members are encouraged to engage in conversation with the scientist(s) hosting the visit. Most hosts are volunteers from the ATLAS Collaboration, who bring their diverse scientific expertise, language skills and cultural backgrounds to each visit. Where possible, audiences are paired with volunteer scientists who share their native language and cultural background, making it easier to engage, ask questions and connect with the hosts. Between 2019 and 2025, Virtual Visits were held in 19 different languages. The core mission of the ATLAS Virtual Visit programme is to connect audiences worldwide with particle physicists and engage them in accessible discussions about cutting-edge research. Constant evolution Figure 2: The number of ATLAS Virtual Visits organised annually since 2019. (Image: ATLAS Collaboration/CERN) The ATLAS Virtual Visit programme has continuously evolved to enhance the visitor experience. Early sessions were hosted directly from the ATLAS Control Room before transitioning in 2014 to a dedicated space in the ATLAS Visitor Centre, equipped with modern videoconferencing technology. In 2019, the ATLAS Collaboration expanded the programme’s reach, introducing live Virtual Visits from the experimental cavern during year-end maintenance stops and long LHC shutdowns. These exclusive sessions take participants beyond the ATLAS visitor platform, offering real-time, up-close views of the towering detector. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted in-person gatherings worldwide, demand for virtual engagement surged. The ATLAS Collaboration adapted rapidly by introducing Open Virtual Visits streamed via Zoom and YouTube, allowing individual science enthusiasts and families to join live guided tours. Figure 2 shows that the programme reached a peak of 155 visits in 2021 and has since maintained around 100 visits per year, demonstrating sustained engagement beyond the pandemic-driven increase. More than just a tour Beyond participation numbers, the paper highlights the positive impact on participants and educators. Teachers report successfully integrating Virtual Visits into their physics curricula, sparking sustained curiosity and in many cases inspiring students to pursue STEM studies and careers. Feedback received also highlighted how the direct dialogue with ATLAS scientists has given students an authentic and personal perspective on particle physics, helping them connect what they learn in the classroom with the people behind ATLAS research. Looking ahead, the programme will continue to evolve with new technologies and communication platforms. The goal is simple: to give even more audiences the opportunity to engage directly with particle physics and make fundamental science open to all. Learn more Breaking barriers: the impact of ATLAS Virtual Visits in science communication (Eur. Phys. J. Plus 141, 874 (2026), arXiv:2601.22457, see figures) ATLAS Virtual Visit Dashboard Register for an ATLAS Virtual Visit

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Sep 2 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • atlas.cern
Chaos reigns at Everton

As timelines go, turbulent doesn't really do justice to the final days of Everton's transfer window. First, Everton CEO Angus Kinnear declared in an interview with BBC Radio Merseyside on 18 August that the club were in a stable financial position heading towards the end of the transfer window. Two weeks later, and with just two days of the transfer window remaining, the club accepted a £40m bid from Nottingham Forest for highly rated academy graduate Harrison Armstrong, a move that collapsed following fan backlash.

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Sep 2 • 7:32 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Chevron expands Venezuela position, to invest $7 billion in next five years

Chevron said ‌on Wednesday it had agreed with Venezuela on updated ​terms for its joint ​ventures in the country ⁠and plans to invest ​more than $7 billion over ​the next five years, targeting production of about 600,000 bpd.

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Sep 2 • 6:20 AM EDT • Business • reuters.com
Employer Health Costs Are Expected to Spike in 2027

A new U.S. survey anticipates an average increase of 11 percent unless benefits are cut, the highest rate in decades. Other findings also predict a sharp rise.

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Sep 2 • 6:00 AM EDT • Business • nytimes.com
Employer Health Costs Are Expected to Spike in 2027

A new U.S. survey anticipates an average increase of 11 percent unless benefits are cut, the highest rate in decades. Other findings also predict a sharp rise.

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Sep 2 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • nytimes.com
Delaware signs maternal health bill requiring hospital discharge plans

Delaware lawmakers and maternal health advocates gathered at Josie’s Grace in Newark to celebrate the ceremonial signing of legislation designed to strengthen protections for pregnant patients experiencing labor symptoms.

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Sep 2 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • wdel.com
Indiana University Athletics and JLab Announce Partnership Extension as Part of Jlab’s 2026-27 College Sports Campaign

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana University Athletics and JLab have announced the expansion of their successful multi-year partnership, marking JLab's ongoing sup...

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Sep 2 • 5:11 AM EDT • Sports • iuhoosiers.com
August Monthly Review: ChatGPT In Epic

Death, taxes, another frontier lab healthcare launch inspiring truly insane LinkedIn takes. As much as I want to stay away, I repeatedly am the crewman unplugging his ears whenever we pass these sirens. So it’s not the first and probably not the last time we dial up the typewriter rather than tie ourselves to the mast. The full blow-by-blow timeline: Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe The End of the Standalone PHR (Jan 8): ChatGPT Health arrives for consumers, at the time powered by b.well. I was bullish on the approach in that the best way for the PHR to finally solve distribution was to meet consumers were they already are (i.e. When Horizontal Meets Healthcare (Jan 9): OpenAI for Healthcare puts out the shingle for enterprises, with SharePoint ingestion standing in for the EHR integration the product actually needed. Another One: Anthropic’s Healthcare Debut (Jan 16): Claude's version, on HealthEx rails instead of b.well, with Agent Skills for FHIR development as the one true vertical-specific investment. ChatGPT for Clinicians: The Trap Sprung (Apr 24): OpenAI filled in the missing GTM middle with a free product for verified clinicians, effectively peeling the enterprise wrapper off ChatGPT for Healthcare and taking the PLG fight directly to OpenEvidence. OpenAI’s Second Attempt at Health (Jul 31): a relaunch of their patient specific app, now branded Health in ChatGPT, where the privacy partition came out, the connectors thinned, and b.well disappeared in favor of first-party FHIR work against a smaller network Beyond a Shingle So what was announced now? Today, we’re introducing a new electronic health record integration that brings authorized patient context from Epic into ChatGPT for Healthcare, along with the Healthcare Public Data plugin for direct, structured access to official healthcare datasets like PubMed, DailyMed, and CMS Coverage. Together, these capabilities bring ChatGPT closer to the systems and sources healthcare teams trust, while supporting the controls and compliance healthcare work requires. The core portfolio is unchanged from prior announcements we delineated and discussed (aside from the relaunch of patient-facing). Since trade publications still seem to be confusing them by using the wrong names: Enterprise sales motion: ChatGPT for Healthcare Protecting their core product / PLG: ChatGPT for Clinicians Consumer/patient-facing product: Health in ChatGPT So really, this is a feature release (specifically for ChatGPT for Healthcare when it comes to EHR integration). What’s cool about it, though, is that we are moving beyond just putting out a shingle. Everything in the January enterprise launch was horizontalizable: Horizontal tech companies thus generally start verticalization with their “putting out a shingle phase”. Telling the world you’re open for business as a horizontal tech company reliably attracts early inbound interest from buyers who are already trying to force-fit horizontal tools into domain-specific workflows and are eager for any signal that the vendor intends to support their use case more directly. Nothing was really vertical specific, which is exactly what you'd expect from the ultimate hypergrowth horizontal company dipping their toes into specific industries. But eventually you have to stop changing the sign on the door and start changing the product. Can you guess where the horizontal product was going to run out of road? This is the core dilemma writ large: verticalization requires differentiation, while scale economics of consumer and horizontal push toward unification. I’ve buried the lede so deep here it will be painful to some readers, but what should be shocking to no one is that my perspective is that EHR integration is the only path that meaningfully resolves this tension for ChatGPT for Healthcare. Integration with Microsoft Sharepoint is fine, but it is categorically insufficient for any product that hopes to influence clinical decision-making. SMART Money Well here we are, eight months later! Real vertical investment has begun, which surprised a few people. One friend in the industry messaged me: “Absolutely no way Epic gave ChatGPT API access.” Looking forensically at the announcements, the integration is notably read-only across appointment notes, laboratory results, medications, and specialist documentation. So while I’m not a betting man, I'd wager the house this is a SMART on FHIR launch: That sounds a lot like USCDI! The recommended path for the workflow they outline would be SMART on FHIR Their Health AI lead’s post is evocative of both standalone and EHR launch SMART, which another termed “ChartGPT” and “EHR Plugin” The implementation burden for SMART on FHIR is the lowest of the available integrative paths This is the team who literally did patient-facing SMART on FHIR with Epic last month Most importantly, if you’re a horizontal company, you generally still haven’t taken the full plunge and thus (overly) value reusability. SMART on FHIR is the logical compromise: healthcare-specific enough to matter, but standardized enough to reuse. Nobody Asked Judy Another friend asked “I thought they had to go to each health system, or did they go direct to Epic and now health systems opt in?” Given the trust paradigms in healthcare, this functionally cannot be Epic hoovering up all the data for OpenAI and shoving ChatGPT in their customers’ faces (or they would revolt). However, I do believe the aforementioned terrible coverage by TechCrunch and other outlets is probably responsible for that question, given the 325 million reference. When using FHIR as a business associate to an Epic customer, there is no EHR gatekeeping to speak of, as that isn’t how fhir.epic.com works: You register an app You pick your APIs You test against the sandbox APIs You list as “Ready for Production” Hospitals pick your app You test and go live with them Bluntly, nobody had to say yes or no in Verona (nor were they given the chance). Vendor Services (their next developer tier up that I doubt OpenAI is using quite yet in this initial release) certainly has contractual paperwork that some resent, but even there, the twin pressures of mounting antitrust and information blocking make outright gatekeeping increasingly fraught. My friend’s sentiment is, to me, representative of a broader industry neurosis, perhaps a sort of scar tissue of prior eras: people assume the gate is still there and never actually try the door. There are certainly other ways Epic (and any EHR) can put its thumb on the scale, but they are not so dumb as to stand in front of a federally mandated API and play bouncer at this exact moment in time. So I think they can and probably should go deeper, as this release is at best parity and at worst behind vertical-specific competition. OpenEvidence did a basic SMART launch with Sutter Health in February, allowing for more convenient evidence search by providers. They then add patient-context (the equivalent SMART on FHIR flow to what we see here) when Cedars-Sinai went enterprise-wide in May. UpToDate has four distinct applications across deeper workflows like patient engagement listed in Epic Showroom and announced a partnership with Epic to power Art at UGM Abridge and other ambient scribes have invested deeply into the deepest bidirectional clinical copilot workflow with integrations well beyond SMART on FHIR. In that light, the “Who is OpenAI primarily targeting here?” is clear. This release brings them into striking distance of OpenEvidence, but not the others quite yet. They are the only one of the three you can reach without building something truly Epic-specific. When will they go further? Competition is a great motivator to overcome the horizontal demons and start building things that can’t be reused: not across industries, not across EHRs, maybe not past the customer you built them for. That’s the price of actually verticalizing. The question is if and when OpenAI will be willing to pay it. Month in Review Here is the monthly review. As a reminder, this is a regular round-up of the month’s posts and other content to surface things you may have missed across regulation, litigation, interoperability, and beyond. AI assistance is used in these bullet summaries so I can focus on articles. Articles Published: None this month Video Content: The Information Exchange: Standards-based Thruple Edition (Aug 14): Back to school for us too, with Brad reporting in from the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem’s one year anniversary in DC. We get into the January CMS-0057 deadline, the fall rulemaking reading list, and why enrollment still keeps most apps off FHIR. The Information Exchange: Epic Dúnadan Edition (Aug 25): A UGM roundup with Ryan Brickner joining for the first time to check our takes against what the building actually thinks. Rangers, Ergo sitting on top of EHI, and a down-market lineup that needs some cuts. Regulatory: Stacked Deck, Bad Hand (Aug 05): ONC’s website refresh took the entire HIT Policy Committee record with it, so I rebuilt the archive and went looking for the regulatory capture story everyone assumes is buried in there. Stacking the deck and winning the hand turn out to be very different things. The Sixth Generation of Patient Access (Aug 19): A quick catalog of the five generations of patient access we’ve layered on since HIPAA, and the two candidates now competing to be the sixth. One is planned. The other is the market routing around the plan entirely. Court cases: Three Cases Walk Into a Docket (Aug 06): Two surprise settlements cleared the board in a single week, and then Judge Maddox dropped ninety-four pages on Vyne v. Henry Schein. The sleeper is a DMCA holding that makes direct-to-database a considerably riskier business model. Epic v. Health Gorilla: Into the MDL (Aug 10): Nine class actions are headed to Miami, and the Panel signaled it wants to bring the case that spawned them along too. That would leave Epic arguing the requests were obviously fraudulent in one courtroom and unknowable in the other. Amazon v. Perplexity: Agents Are Legalized! (Aug 11): The Ninth Circuit vacated the injunction against Comet, holding that the user is the one accessing the servers rather than the company that built the agent. A real win for agentic access, and a much narrower one than the headline suggests. Veeva v. Epic: Come At Me, Bro (Aug 26): Epic’s response brief wants the dismissal affirmed and, unusually, wants the opinion published as precedent. Buried in it is Epic’s own description of what its non-competes actually prohibit, which current and former employees should read closely. EHRs: The Contract Epic Would Never Sign Today (Aug 04): A 1999 SEC exhibit catches Epic licensing nearly its entire product line, Tapestry included, to the company that became TriZetto. The marketing services menu attached to it is the part that will make you blink. Forecast from Verona (Aug 07): The Epic Almanac makes one argument six different ways: the AI is only as good as the networks behind it. Emmie headlines, Art’s context stack is the most ambitious part, and Penny finally gets an autonomous coding date on the calendar. Works With Epic MyChart (Aug 17): Epic’s first new Showroom category since the death of Workshop certifies hardware instead of software, badge on the box and all. Made for iPhone, but for blood pressure cuffs, and rough news for anyone selling the RPM stack sitting in between. UGM Hot Takes 2026 (Aug 20): Everyone else covered the AI announcements, so I went after Savvy deleting the payment gateway, Rangers as Boost with the timer removed, and a down-market lineup with too many entries. Plus the Health Grid tidbits I cannot help myself on. MyChart Central Grows Up (Aug 24): Device data and Emmie turn Epic’s identity hub into a full consumer platform, which is both a logical answer to ChatGPT and a bit of a mistake. It also happens to be the best scraping target Epic has ever shipped. Industry Analysis: The Wrong Yardstick (Aug 12): Vertical software keeps getting judged against Superhuman and Notion, which is the wrong bar entirely. Your user is comparing your product to a whiteboard and forty phone calls before lunch. Primitives vs. Abstractions (Aug 27): Developers want building blocks, systems of record prefer to hand out business logic, and both sides have a real case. There’s no test from the outside that separates the engineering reason from the competitive one, which is why this keeps ending up in court. Cross-industry Comparisons: The Two Kinds of Platform Power (Aug 18): Attention power and record power are different problems that keep getting handed the same regulatory toolkit. Congress’s latest swing at Big Tech shows both what’s possible and where it falls apart. The Dogs of (Platform) War (Aug 21): A CourtListener alert turned up a property management fight with healthcare’s exact shape and none of the Cures Act. Shell prospects, ghost accounts, a notetaker bot that came back to haunt someone, and a lawyer arguing both sides of the same theory in two states. Fractals All the Way Down (Aug 31): Yardi dominates property management right up until you zoom into one segment, where AppFolio owns it outright and Yardi doesn’t appear at all. Where you draw the line around a B2B software market is about to decide an awful lot of cases. Other News: If Judy Had the Courage (Aug 13): A short eulogy for the era when software was allowed to look insane: WinAMP, bold colors, and everything the grey chatbot era has taken from us. External Media: Portland Monthly Health Tech Meetup: Erin O’Brien channeled my own feelings - maybe it’s just because it’s August and beautiful, but the monthly edition of the PDX Health community meetup was a ripper. Make sure to reach out if interested to join for the next one. STAT’s Coverage of Epic This Month: Brittany Trang of STAT did a fantastic job of breaking the FTC investigation that’s been lurking, as well as UGM related coverage, so I had to give her her wish of a meme. Fall Conferences: I’m pumped to be kicking off my fall conference season in NYC at Nabla Accelerate next month, which Chrissy provided the link to apply for. Here’s the rest of my schedule in case you want to meet up: Commonwell (Redwood Shores, CA): Oct 13-14 Open@Epic (Madison, WI): Oct 21-22 eHealthExchange (Austin, TX): Oct 27 Sequoia Project (Austin, TX): Oct 28-29 HLTH (Vegas): Nov 15-18 RSNA (Chicago): Nov 29-Dec 3 Posts I Liked: HTI-6 Should Unbundle API Certification: Josh Mandel makes the case that HTI-6 should split (g)(10) into separate authorization and data certifications, so a PACS or a genomics platform can certify only the role it actually performs. Imaging is the urgent example, but the structure solves a much bigger problem. On implementing ePrior Auth with Epic: Scott Rossignol’s field notes from a live ePrior Auth build on Epic, including the two app registrations nobody warns you about and the CPT mapping problem waiting at the end. CMS-0057 implementations are going to be such a beast. Healthcare point solutions are starting to look a lot like streaming services: Spencer Dorn runs the cable-to-streaming arc against health IT and lands squarely on the bundling half of the cycle. Bundling can be good! It can also be bad! Life is nuanced. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

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Sep 2 • 5:05 AM EDT • Health • healthapiguy.substack.com
Opposition Lowdown: Mansfield Town Starting Season Strong

Reading return home this Wednesday with an evening game under the lights of the SCL, facing Mansfield. Join us as we take a closer look at the opposition.

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Sep 2 • 5:04 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
FiveThirtyEight’s Podcast Hosts Reunite for a New Show

Nate Silver, Clare Malone and Galen Druke will host “Still Counting,” a nonpartisan politics show — on a decidedly partisan podcast network.

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Sep 2 • 5:04 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
Get to Know Your Phone’s Built-In Emergency Kit

In times of natural disasters and other dangers, special features tucked away on your iPhone or Android device could help make a difference.

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Sep 2 • 5:03 AM EDT • Technology • nytimes.com
Don’t trade away our TABOR refunds

Here we go again — tax-and-spend politicians going in the wrong direction. Colorado families are being asked to believe a familiar lie: the only way to fund education is to let politicians keep more of your money — forever. Proposition NN is being sold as a solution for schools and teacher pay. But look past […]

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Sep 2 • 3:00 AM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com
Six Takeaways From the Massachusetts Primaries

Senator Ed Markey, 80, trounced a younger challenger who had made an argument for generational change. Two other longtime Democratic lawmakers hung on, too.

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Sep 1 • 11:44 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
New investment into perinatal care could help Iowa mothers with mental health concerns

A Coalville mother recounts her experience with postpartum psychosis, as Iowa invests federal funding to improve access to perinatal mental health resources.

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Sep 1 • 11:32 PM EDT • Health • kcci.com
Is a Sea Change Coming for New Horizons Heliospheric Science?

If you visit the New Horizons mission website frequently, you'll notice that the spacecraft continues to generate excellent science as it plows its way through the Kuiper Belt. It recently woke up from its latest hibernation period in good health and is transmitting data it gathered back to Earth. The spacecraft, in addition to studying the Jupiter system in 2007, the Pluto system in 2015, and the Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth in early 2019, has been doing some other fascinating solar system science since then thanks to two mission extensions in 2016 and 2023. Now, as a result of budget cuts at NASA, an important part of the NH science mission could end as early as October of this year.

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Sep 1 • 9:03 PM EDT • Science • universetoday.com
Deep dive
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Sen. Ed Markey defeats 47-year-old challenger to win Massachusetts Democratic Senate bid

Markey defeated his challenger, NBC News projects, after he stressed his progressive positions and touted endorsements from Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

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Sep 1 • 8:27 PM EDT • Politics • nbcnews.com
High-Signal Publisher
Too much coffee may weaken bones, study finds

Following nearly 10,000 older women for 10 years, researchers found that tea drinking was associated with slightly higher hip bone density. Moderate coffee consumption did not appear harmful, but drinking more than five cups a day was linked to lower bone density. The findings suggest tea may offer a small bone-health boost, while excessive coffee could carry some drawbacks.

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Sep 1 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Marijuana business owner charged with murder after Oklahoma explosion kills 2

Ryan Bassham, 35, turned himself in over the weekend after being charged with two counts of first-degree murder in last week's blast at Solos Extracts near Tulsa, Oklahoma, authorities said.

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Sep 1 • 7:46 PM EDT • Business • livenowfox.com
Former President Joe Biden Will Attend Sept. 11 Ceremony in New York

Mr. Biden will join three other living presidents at the event. President Trump has decided to skip the ceremony and is expected to appear at the Pentagon on the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

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Sep 1 • 7:10 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
House Censures Republican Accused of Sexually Harassing Two Aides

Representative Chuck Edwards received a formal rebuke on the floor after a speech in which he apologized for his conduct but said it did not constitute harassment.

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Sep 1 • 6:22 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
What Box Office Bomb Crushed Obsession on Streaming?

(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Before we get into this week’s issue, let me ask you for some suggestions. At the risk of coining too many names for too many things (hence my dictionary of terms...), I need a name for straight-to-streaming films that are too expensive to justify a straight-to-streaming release, but not big enough to justify a theatrical release. Like some of the films I highlighted in last week’s tally of the biggest film flops of 2026 so far: Hulu’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, Pizza Movie or Never Change! They don’t feel like “made for TV movies” (think Hallmark and Lifetime movies, cheap Netflix romcoms, or Disney Channel Original movies, for example) but they don’t feel big enough for the big screen. They’re not “cinematic” enough, so to speak. As I wrote... “I still need a name for this middle zone of film that’s too expensive to go straight-to-streaming but too small to justify a theatrical release (with all the PR, distribution, marketing and whatnot costs that go along with it), the Goldilocks zone of streaming film death.” Friend of the newsletter Brandon Katz has suggested the “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”. I love that first one. I’d offer up the much wordier “The Streaming Budget Dead Zone” or “the Goldilocks Zone of streaming film death” but that last one isn’t accurate since, unlike Goldilocks’ porridge, these films are the opposite of “just right”. That’s the problem! Anyway, if you have any suggestions, let me know! On to today’s Streaming Ratings Report. As you can tell by today’s headline, things are going to be spicy! I’m looking at a box office bomb that did really, really well on streaming, somewhat challenging a few different narratives. And another Netflix series declined in its second season. All that, plus Wicked: For Good switching streamers, The Hawk continuing its strong run, _The Bear’_s finale season finally dropping off the charts, the WNBA posting a big viewership number, “shallow libraries”, a sitcom spinoff failing to launch, more big budget IP flopping on Paramount+, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of July 20th to July 26th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - The Latest Theatrical Success Story on Streaming In the latest edition of “Flops, Bombs and Misses of the First Half of 2026”, I made a crucial change: I started including theatrical films with the streaming misses. The streamers have collectively—including Netflix, but not to as big of an extent—stopped making a lot of straight-to-streaming films, and the ones they do make aren’t as expensive as in the heyday of the streaming bubble. After the following two films bombed in theaters, you’d guess that they’ll be included in my next collection of flops, bombs and misses six months from now: Masters of the Universe on Prime Video (only $64 million domestic box office) Mortal Kombat II on HBO Max ($79 million domestic) But you’d be wrong! Masters of the Universe, a reboot of the He-Man franchise, a toy from the 1980s, came to streaming on 22-July and did great! This long-gestating project—it’s been at every studio for years, and came close to getting a greenlight at Netflix—then finally came to theaters in June, and showed up on streaming less than two months later. (I don’t love this short theatrical window.) It surprisingly grabbed nearly 20 million hours on its debut: That means, wait for it, Masters of the Universe is currently the eighth biggest film on streaming through two weeks. My rough bar for “hit” is shows or films in the top 15%. Ergo…Masters of the Universe is a legit, streaming hit! (One quick caveat: if it falls out of the top ten next week, it will move to 13th overall, just on the edge of the top 15.) Of course, that’s the data for just 2026. Here’s how it stacks up to Prime Video’s theatrical films: That drop into its second week is typical for Amazon films, but also a worrying sign. I have a feeling interest in this film is front-loaded and we’ll see it drop off after this. As for Mortal Kombat II, in this case, the viewership numbers roughly match the theatrical outing, with only 4.1 million hours in its first week. Here’s how it stacks up to other HBO Max films: The best defense of this number is that, as a relatively violent rated-R film, Mortal Kombat II never had a good chance at breaking out. So now it’s time for a little big of “Entertainment Nuance Guy”: First, yeah, my headline is obviously facetious, since Masters of the Universe besting Obsession says more about horror as a genre than it does that film. Second, I read and listened to quite a few “nobody wanted this IP” takes about Masters of the Universe, and that’s not really true. At least enough people wanted it to power a 20 million+ hour debut! Third, both this film and Mortal Kombat II were considered “average” by viewers, but not great films, with a 6.4 and 6.3 respectively on IMDb. That’s just shy of the level needed to be a word-of-mouth hit. Fourth, in the olden days, strong word of mouth could transform a box office miss into a cable/DVD hit, like Austin Powers or The Shawshank Redemption. We haven’t seen a lot of examples of that on streaming, though. And there are far fewer ways to monetize the post-theatrical life of a film these days. Fifth, Prime Video has shown an ability to push their own titles well, likely because they control the Amazon Fire TV ecosystem. Add it all up, and here’s my nuanced take on Masters of the Universe: it was a box office bomb, but, shockingly, a streaming hit. Unfortunately, while being a theatrical hit saves your film financially, being a streaming hit does not. Both Masters of the Universe and Mortal Kombat II had big budgets and needed to make more money in theaters to justify them. So…Straight-to-Streaming or Theaters? We’ve hit a really fun point in the streaming calendar, since the films that came out in theaters in April, May, and June are now arriving on streaming. So the “Do theatrical releases help streaming performances?” question is gonna get a fresh round of updates nearly every week. No single week will answer the question, but we may get some insights. For example, so far in 2026, it looks like theatrical films are lasting longer on the weekly Nielsen film charts. Here’s a list of films that have made the charts in their fourth or fifth week of release, separated by “for kids” and “general entertainment”: It certainly seems like theatrical films are lasting just a pinch longer on the charts, with Project Hail Mary being the current five-week champion. One Battle After Another did well for HBO Max too, and even The Sheep Detectives made it four weeks. The only exception to this trend? Obsession, which only lasted two weeks on the charts. You might tempted to overreact to this news. Don’t. Obsession is a huge horror hit, but horror just doesn’t do as well on streaming. By the way, here’s the Google Trends for various theatrical and stremaing films: Plus, when it comes to Netflix in four months, Obsession may have another big boost. Quick Notes on Film Note that when I write, “the streamers have pulled back on straight-to-streaming films” that doesn’t mean “abandoned” because Netflix is gonna Netflix. On 24-July, they released 72 Hours, a Kevin Hart comedy. Along with Eddie Murphy, Mark Wahlberg, John Cena and Adam Sandler, Kevin Hart is a streaming film star now. Did this latest one work? Not really. It only garnered two weeks of 13.2 and 12.2 million hours on its debut, well below the 20-million-hour hit threshold. It also was poorly received critically—a 44 on Metacritic—and by customers—a 5.4 on IMDb on 21K IMDb reviews. We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… The latest Netflix true crime doc to pop on the charts… How The Bear finished its run… Netflix’s latest Western to return to streaming… What Paramount+ animated film flopped… And what sitcom also missed… All the flops, bombs and misses… And a whole lot more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! I’m behind by a week, so we’ve got two issues coming your way this week, including one in a couple of days or so, then we’ll be all caught up**.** Next issue, inspired by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie coming to Peacock, I’m going to take a look at the workhouse of streaming TV: kids films. Plus The Devil Wears Prada 2 continues theatrical films’ big run on streaming. All that, plus another surprise hit on Hulu, Lioness on CBS, and a whole lot more. Long term, LeBron James is filming his own “Last Dance”-style docu-series, surprising no one. But as I’ve been writing about a lot this summer, this genre is really overrated, so whoever ends up buying it (reportedly ESPN) really shouldn’t pay too much for it.

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Sep 1 • 6:15 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com
Cook County Department of Public Health Earns 15 NaCO Awards for Public Health Programming and Impact - Cook County Department of Public Health

Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) is proud to announce that 15 of its programs received achievement awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) during its 2026 Annual Conference and Exposition, held July 17-20 in New Orleans, La.

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Sep 1 • 5:51 PM EDT • Health • cookcountypublichealth.org
On Trump’s Ballroom, Chief Justice Finds Himself in an Unusual Spot: In Dissent

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has been in the majority in divided cases more times than any other chief since 1953. But not this time.

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Sep 1 • 5:19 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
Youth Sports Programs

Let the little ones get their chance to shine! The City of Chino Hills offers fun and engaging youth sports programs designed to introduce children ages 3-8 to the fundamentals of sports in a supporti

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Sep 1 • 4:24 PM EDT • Sports • chinohills.org
Beacon Health & Fitness Three Rivers to shut down after nearly 30 years due to revenue

Beacon Health & Fitness Three Rivers is closing this month after nearly 30 years.

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Sep 1 • 3:50 PM EDT • Health • wwmt.com
Nashville family-owned business will close after over 120 years of history

After 42 years in business, a family-owned business in East Nashville is closing. Cumberland Hardware owners announced their plans on Sept. 1.

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Sep 1 • 2:54 PM EDT • Business • yahoo.com
LA Rams owner Kroenke reaches agreement to buy Angels

Kroenke Sports & Entertainment ("KSE") today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Angels Baseball Club from the Moreno family. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions and approval

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Sep 1 • 2:46 PM EDT • Entertainment • mlb.com
Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences museum is closing

The Academy will continue scientific research and public education, but its museum will go the way of the dinosaur.

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Sep 1 • 2:37 PM EDT • Science • whyy.org
Stanford Health Care, John Muir Health to cut 173 Bay Area jobs

Stanford Health Care is eliminating 95 technology and administrative jobs in Palo Alto, while John Muir Health plans to cut 78 positions across several East Bay locations.

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Sep 1 • 2:25 PM EDT • Health • sfchronicle.com
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Man City agree joint British record Enzo Fernandez move

Chelsea have agreed to sell midfielder Enzo Fernández to Manchester City for £125 million ($169 million), as Mykhailo Mudryk and Tosin Adarabioyo prepare to make deadline-day moves to rivals Tottenham. With the 11 pm (2200 GMT) deadline fast approaching, the Press Association understands a British record-equalling deal has been struck to take the Argentina international to the Etihad Stadium.

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Sep 1 • 2:18 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Family Business Symposium to Be Held

The University of Mississippi Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship’s 5th Annual “It’s All Relative” Family Business Symposium is scheduled for Sept. 15-16, 2026 at the Sheraton Flowood Refuge Hotel & Conference Center in Flowood, MS. As a part of the UM CIE Legacy Leadership Program, the “It’s All Relative” Family Business Symposium is an open […]

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Sep 1 • 2:17 PM EDT • Business • deltabusinessjournal.com
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House Votes to Avert Government Shutdown Before Midterm Elections

Lawmakers sent the legislation to President Trump in an overwhelming vote, reflecting bipartisan enthusiasm around punting a messy spending fight until after the midterms.

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Sep 1 • 2:06 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
Dwarf Fortress Creator Calls Out One Of AI's Biggest Issues: Bosses

'Everyone I know, their bosses are slowly getting psychosis'

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Sep 1 • 1:45 PM EDT • Technology • kotaku.com
How data centers complicate American politics

Opinion: Data centers are driving a political realignment, creating contradictions in Republicans’ and Democrats’ positions on the economy, environment and the working class, writes Sreedhar Potarazu.

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Sep 1 • 1:09 PM EDT • Politics • baltimoresun.com
Crazed Times Square stabber's brother reveals long struggle with mental health, possible bipolar diagnosis
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Sep 1 • 1:06 PM EDT • Health • nypost.com
The Academy of Natural Sciences is closing its museum after nearly two centuries

The closure does not affect the rest of the institution, which builds and maintains the collections and conducts research through departments such as the Patrick Center for Environmental Research.

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Sep 1 • 11:56 AM EDT • Science • inquirer.com
Broward’s Memorial Healthcare System board to vote on CEO position this week

During his tenure, interim CEO Shane Strum has pushed for Broward Health and Memorial to work together.

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Sep 1 • 11:44 AM EDT • Health • miamiherald.com
Ada Yonath, Chemist and First Israeli Woman to Receive a Nobel, Dies at 87

Her mapping of the ribosome, which led to new designs for antibiotics, faced years of derision, as many scientists saw it as a dead-end effort.

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Sep 1 • 11:02 AM EDT • Science • nytimes.com
Scientists Hunting Dark Matter Found Something Strange

A lone signal from an experiment in South Dakota doesn’t fit the profile of any other known particles, physicists say.

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Sep 1 • 10:00 AM EDT • Science • nytimes.com
LZ Sees Surprising Result in Search for Dark Matter

Key Takeaways Dark matter is the mysterious substance that accounts for the vast majority of matter in our universe. LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a world-leading dark matter detector and specializes in searching for WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. A new LZ study found one particle interaction that is difficult to explain with known background processes and could potentially have been caused by a WIMP. LZ continues to run to see if additional data strengthens or weakens the hint of a dark matter interaction. For the better part of a century, people have been trying to understand dark matter. This invisible substance makes up roughly 85% of the mass in the universe but has never been directly detected. Determining exactly what it is remains one of the biggest questions about our world. Now, a new analysis from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment has recorded a single particle interaction that researchers have great difficulty explaining with known background signals from normal matter. The result does not yet meet the statistical threshold required to claim a discovery, but is the most compelling hint of dark matter reported by the experiment to date. LZ is an international collaboration of 250 scientists and engineers from 39 institutions. The detector is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and operates nearly one mile below ground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota. The experiment uses 10 tonnes of ultrapure liquid xenon to search for dark matter and is optimized to look for WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. The results were presented in a scientific talk at the 2026 TeV Particle Astrophysics conference in Japan. The paper will be released on the online repository arXiv and submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters. “We’re very intrigued to see this event in the data, in the region where we expect dark matter to show up and the competing backgrounds are very low,” said Rick Gaitskell, a professor at Brown University and the spokesperson for LZ. “With only one event, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We are not claiming to have seen dark matter. But we have seen something interesting that we want to share with the scientific community for their input.” The LZ collaboration studies experimental data in batches. In the new result, researchers analyzed 220 live days of data collected between March 2023 and April 2024. The collaboration had previously searched this dataset for faint signals from the simplest kinds of WIMP interactions. The new analysis searched for a broader range of possible WIMP interactions that could deposit more energy in the detector. LZ is particularly sensitive to such signals while also minimizing false positives. “This was a detailed study in a region we hadn’t explored within this dataset, and we spent months of additional effort to understand all the possible causes of background events,” said Sam Eriksen, a senior research associate at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and lead author of the study. “We understand our detector and the backgrounds so well that even a single outstanding event, like the one we found, is important. We expect dark matter events to be extremely rare, so only a handful could mark the first detection of WIMP dark matter.” If the anomalous event was caused by dark matter, the WIMP that generated it would likely have a mass of at least 200 GeV/c2 (gigaelectronvolts), or more than 200 times the mass of a proton. It would also suggest a specific type of interaction between WIMPs and ordinary matter beyond the simplest model. The LZ results have not reached “5-sigma” significance, the statistical threshold considered a discovery in physics. The new analysis is 2.6 sigma, meaning there is approximately a 0.5% chance that the event could be explained by known backgrounds. With additional data, researchers can test whether the finding continues to grow in significance or fades away. LZ has already accumulated the world’s largest dark matter dataset and will continue to accrue WIMP search data at SURF, substantially improving their search statistics. LZ searches for dark matter by looking for signature flashes of light from energy deposited in the detector. The collaboration leverages multiple methods to prevent or account for particle interactions caused by normal matter. This includes the mile of rock that shields the detector from cosmic rays from space, a water tank and outer detectors that protect the central detector from background neutrons, and a suite of computational tools that disentangle particle interactions and reject dark matter mimics. “Outlier events in the data are not unexpected, but they usually stand out as a background of some kind when you look at them deeper,” said Aaron Manalaysay, a physicist at Berkeley Lab and the chair of LZ’s Institutional Board. “This is the first example in any experiment I’ve worked on of an outlier that appears valid in every way. Of course, we’re still twisting our brains trying to think if there’s a rare background mechanism we could’ve missed, but it’s thrilling to wonder if this could be the first hint of a dark-matter observation.” LZ is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics, and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science user facility. LZ is also supported by the Science & Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom; the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics; and the Institute for Basic Science, Korea. Thirty-nine institutions of higher education and advanced research provided support to LZ. The LZ collaboration acknowledges the assistance of the Sanford Underground Research Facility. ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.

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Sep 1 • 10:00 AM EDT • Science • newscenter.lbl.gov
Business owner turned positive experience with childcare into school for others

This week's Up-and-Comer is Paige Berg, franchise owner of Primrose School of Sioux Falls at Heather Ridge.

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Sep 1 • 9:43 AM EDT • Business • siouxfalls.business
Can Burnham maintain his bounce?

New PM faces the Commons today for the first time, but critics say likeable ‘chameleon’ has already ducked decisions and rolled back on positions

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Sep 1 • 9:14 AM EDT • Politics • theweek.com
Trump says US position on Falklands 'one of many' under review

The UK says Falkland islanders "are British with a right to determine their own future".

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Sep 1 • 8:54 AM EDT • Politics • bbc.com
Three Ways a Pulmonary Fibrosis Lung Health Navigator Can Support You

In July 2025, the Lung Association, with support from the Feldman Family Foundation, launched the Pulmonary Fibrosis Lung Health Navigator program.

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Sep 1 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • lung.org
Matias Fernandez-Pardo to Newcastle: Signing from Lille is ‘'very fast' with 'unbelievable power' like Jeremy Doku

With Newcastle United signing Matias Fernandez-Pardo for £51m from Lille, Adam Bate speaks to the players former coach to find out what makes the Belgian forward so good: You could compare him a little bit to Jeremy Doku. He is very explosive, very fast

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Sep 1 • 7:00 AM EDT • Sports • skysports.com
Grace Meat + Three closing September 13 in the Grove

Grace Meat + Three (4270 Manchester), the nine-year-old restaurant inspired by the Southern tradition of pairing a choice of meat with three side dishes, will close after service on September 13, owners Rick and Elisa Lewis announced. With its lease in The Grove coming up for renewal, the husband-and-wife team chose to consolidate operations at […]

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Sep 1 • 6:50 AM EDT • Technology • stlmag.com
Pajaro Valley Unified hires new chief business officer after years of CBO turnover

Pajaro Valley Unified School District's governing board hired Victoria Knutson, currently Newark Unified's chief business officer, to fill the CBO role at a $248,418 salary — the district's fourth person in that position in roughly three years, as trustees hope her experience will help guide upcoming school closures.

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Sep 1 • 6:30 AM EDT • Business • lookout.co
Whistle-Blower Says Trump Officials Are Defying Court Orders on Voting by Mail

A report detailed “grave concerns” that a new system being rushed into use by the U.S. Postal Service could imperil millions of mail ballots ahead of the midterm elections.

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Sep 1 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
UA Businesses Encouraged to Take the Water Quality Pledge

TAKE THE WATER QUALITY PLEDGE TODAYSince 2014, the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District’s Water Quality Partner Program has been helping local businesses understand and implement stormw

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Sep 1 • 5:32 AM EDT • Business • upperarlingtonoh.gov
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Clancy trial sparks need for postpartum mental health care education, expert says

With the spotlight on postpartum mental health amid the Lindsay Clancy trial, the medical director of Allegheny Health Network’s Women’s Behavioral Health Clinic said many people are “suffering in silence” from postpartum depression and psychosis. Dr. Ewurama Sackey, a psychiatrist, is director of the clinic within AHN’s Psychiatry and Behavioral

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Sep 1 • 5:01 AM EDT • Health • triblive.com
Opinion | The Political Power of Christian Kitsch

Precious Moments figurines and Christian romance novels aren’t overtly political, but they shape how Christian women see themselves and the world.

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Sep 1 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
Book Review: ‘American Scoundrel,’ by Kai Bird

“American Scoundrel” traces the career of Roy Cohn, whose smash-mouth politics continue to shape our own.

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Sep 1 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
Taste of China expands with second location, plans local chain

Taste of China plans to open a second location at the former Mister B's Restaurant & Tavern in Niagara Falls after closing the deal Aug. 21.

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Sep 1 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • bizjournals.com
Burnham to say he wants to unlock ‘positivity’ in first statement to MPs since becoming PM

Prime minister will bring upbeat message to adversarial Commons after a summer of policy announcements and improved poll ratings

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Sep 1 • 4:04 AM EDT • Politics • theguardian.com
Ureña continues dominant rookie campaign, offense finally wakes up

The Angels snap their seven-game losing streak on the back of another dominant performance by Walbert Ureña and an offensive breakout.

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Sep 1 • 1:33 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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CRC seawall science skeptics attempt 'political stand': Cahoon

The Coastal Resources Commission Science Panel's recently presented analysis and recommendations regarding proposed fixes for the Outer Banks' severe beach erosion were not the messages that commissioners opposed to the state ban on breakwaters and other hard structures on oceanfront wanted to hear, nor was the chair's sharp rebuke.

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Sep 1 • 12:00 AM EDT • Science • coastalreview.org
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Theranostic pair shows promise for diagnosing and treating kidney cancer

The paired agents 68Ga and 177Lu-NYM096 target carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX), an enzyme that is highly expressed in ccRCC.

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Aug 31 • 11:46 PM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com
‘Most’ of Star Wars Zero Company studio Bit Reactor was furloughed ahead of launch

Last week was meant to be a moment of triumph for Bit Reactor, the Maryland-based game studio founded in 2021 with ambitions to create a great new tactical combat game. On Thursday, August 27, Bit Reactor’s debut title, Star Wars Zero Company, released to stellar reviews. And, from the Gamescom show in Cologne, Germany, studio co-founder Greg Foertsch was giving interviews discussing what the studio’s next game may be. But for many developers on the game, launch has been bittersweet. Fans love it. Critics prefer it to most recent Star Wars games. Zero Company, which is out for PS5, Xbox Series consoles and PC, is the top-selling game on Steam. Much of the team that made it, however, is currently going without pay. They were furloughed, just weeks ahead of the game’s launch. A rep for Bit Reactor confirmed to Game File today that the studio had furloughed many of its workers prior to the game’s release. They said it was a difficult decision and one that had been made before it was clear how launch would go. The rep emphasized that the call to do this was Bit Reactor’s alone (meaning not from publisher EA nor Star Wars license holder Disney). While the rep declined to comment on the scale of the furloughs, a previously unreported lawsuit brought by studio co-founder Alison Kelly in 2024 noted in a filing from August 12 of this year that Bit Reactor “has furloughed most of its employees and terminated contractors…” One source told Game File the furloughs impacted 80% of the team; another referred to there only being a skeleton crew left on Bit Reactor’s active payroll, ready to address any of Zero Company’s post-launch bugs. The issue is that Bit Reactor, a studio formed in 2021, had run out of most of its money just ahead of the launch of its first game. Over the weekend, Zachariah Scott, a senior technical artist who worked at Bit Reactor from early 2023 until an acrimonious exit this past May, said on LinkedIn that the studio was “concealing the fact that the team was Furloughed weeks ago.” Reached by phone today, Scott told Game File that he spoke to nearly a dozen Bit Reactor workers over the weekend. “Everybody has essentially the same story, which is, ‘Yeah, I got furloughed three weeks ago.” The Bit Reactor rep told Game File that the studio hoped to bring furloughed workers back, suggesting that a successful launch of the game could be impactful. Scott told Game File that workers he spoke to were less confident that even if there were returns, that all who were furloughed would get their old jobs again. A heated dispute Bit Reactor’s mid-2026 was almost even more tumultuous. The lawsuit by co-founder Alison Kelly that first revealed the furloughs was initially slated to go to trial in June. The suit is a she-said/he-said about whether Kelly, until 2024 the chief operating officer of Bit Reactor, was a co-owner of the studio or whether it was solely owned by Greg Foertsch. In July 2024, Kelly sued, saying she was pushed out by Foertsch. She first sued in federal court and later refiled in Maryland’s Baltimore County, alleging breach of contract and that Foertsch had unjustly enriched himself. Kelly cited damages of over $20 million, on the basis of Bit Reactor allegedly being worth more than double that. Foertsch’s side has said Kelly was never a co-owner and has countered with claims about her job performance (which she has denied). The June trial was postponed until early 2027, as both sides have been deposing witnesses and filing more claims and denials along the way. Amid all of that, filings in the lawsuit reviewed by Game File paint a picture about Bit Reactor’s origins, early aspirations around tactics games, the team’s breakthrough in drawing the attention of Electronic Arts with the help of a pitch tied to one of EA’s non-Star Wars franchises, and early fractures among its co-founders. The real story about the company behind Zero Company

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Aug 31 • 10:23 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news
How the Pentagon Is Getting Into the Venezuelan Oil Business Under Trump

The Defense Department’s Office of Strategic Capital, founded by the Biden administration to give loans to bolster the U.S. defense industry, is helping lead President Trump’s oil deal.

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Aug 31 • 9:56 PM EDT • Business • nytimes.com
US Small Business Administration to offer low-interest loans to Indiana homeowners, entrepreneurs impacted by flooding

INDIANAPOLIS — The U.S. Small Business Administration is planning to offer low-interest loans to Indiana homeowners and entrepreneurs who were impacted by flooding earlier this month. Hoosiers in t…

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Aug 31 • 8:09 PM EDT • Business • fox59.com
The IDA Health Window Is Gaining Traction: Four Responses to the Proposal

I recently proposed an IDA Health Window as the future of multilateral global health financing. The proposal is beginning to gain traction. It has received interest (mostly positive, but always with good, constructive challenges) from colleagues associated with the Accra Reset; Africa CDC and the African High-Level Ministerial Committee on Global Health Architecture Reform; low- and middle-income country health and finance officials; key high-income donors including the UK, France, Germany, and Norway; the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank; the World Health Organization, Wellcome Trust, and civil society.

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Aug 31 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • cgdev.org
Trump Mocks Data-Center Opponents as Wanting to Stay ‘Backwards and Poor’

The giant computing sites that power A.I. are increasingly opposed by communities across the country, a signal of voters’ concern about a changing economy.

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Aug 31 • 7:30 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
These 9 metro Detroit area spots are closing, 1 after 30 years

Several popular metro Detroit restaurants and breweries are closing their doors. Here's a look.

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Aug 31 • 6:40 PM EDT • Business • yahoo.com
JD Vance Called Michigan Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed ‘Evil’ in Speech

Vice President JD Vance also told Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee, to “keep my wife’s name out of your mouth.”

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Aug 31 • 6:36 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
C.D.C. Director Challenges Pennsylvania’s Report of Two Measles Deaths

Questioning a state’s investigation is highly unusual for the public health agency, but reflects tensions between the Trump administration and many states over health issues.

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Aug 31 • 6:35 PM EDT • Health • nytimes.com
Scott Brown Was a GOP Star. Will It Matter in the New Hampshire Senate Race?

Scott Brown is chasing the political limelight again with a seemingly improvised Senate campaign.

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Aug 31 • 6:18 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
Young Kalshi users have traded an estimated $3.9B on sports and parlay-type contracts this year, exposing a loophole that lets them bet before age 21

Critics warn prediction markets let 18-year-olds make sports wagers while bypassing state betting age limits.

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Aug 31 • 5:26 PM EDT • Sports • fortune.com
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Apple Releases New iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, and tvOS 27 Public Betas

Apple today released the sixth public betas of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, tvOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate, allowing anyone with a compatible device to download and test the new software. The sixth betas come a week after Apple seeded the fifth betas and a few hours after the eighth developer betas. You can get started by signing up on Apple's beta website and then opting in to the public beta by opening up the Settings app on your device, selecting General, and choosing Software Update.

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Aug 31 • 5:13 PM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com
What does the Lindsay Clancy trial tell us about treating maternal mental health?

Lindsay Clancy is currently on trial for killing her three children.Prosecutors say the murders were intentional, but her defense team says she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis -- a condition that does not have a distinct diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.That's the handbook used to identify mental health conditions, so patients often have a hard time getting proper care.The case has put a spotlight on maternal mental health and how its treated by the public and healthcare professionals. What does it reveal?WBUR’s Deborah Becker contributed reporting to this episode.It was produced by Megan Lim and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Éowyn Fain, Hannah Gluvna and Ted Mebane. Our director is Jonas Adams.It was edited by Justine Kenin and Tinbete Ermyas.Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

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Aug 31 • 4:45 PM EDT • Health • npr.org
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BUYcott Urges Elected Officials and Business Owners to 'Stand Up' to Task Force

Organizers said 48 businesses have publicly declared their opposition of the MSTF, by refusing search and service to agents.

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Aug 31 • 4:36 PM EDT • Business • memphisflyer.com
Half of women experience hair loss. Can this supplement actually help?

The brand behind URO Vaginal Probiotic is entering the hair wellness category with new supplement designed to help women experiencing hair thinning and shedding.

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Aug 31 • 4:08 PM EDT • Health • usatoday.com
Republican Candidate in Key House Race Bet on Her Own Campaign

The trading platform Kalshi issued a three-year suspension to the candidate, Laurie Buckhout, and fined her nearly $2,600. Ms. Buckhout said she had made a “dumb mistake.”

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Aug 31 • 4:05 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
Mountain View City Council candidates square off at business forum

Ahead of the November election, the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce held a forum last week to give voters an early look at the policy positions of eight candidates vying for a seat on the City Council.

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Aug 31 • 1:51 PM EDT • Business • mv-voice.com
Trump’s bogus narrative about the GOP losing in the 2026 midterms

President Donald Trump keeps trying to preemptively blame congressional Republicans if they lose big in the 2026 midterms — but he’s now making an argument that’s flat-out wrong

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Aug 31 • 1:35 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Cat Tests Positive for Rabies in Chatham County

CHATHAM COUNTY, GA – The Chatham County Health Department’s Environmental Health office is alerting the community that a cat... Continue Reading This Post

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Aug 31 • 1:18 PM EDT • Health • coastalhealthdistrict.org
State health officials confirm rabies at mobile petting zoo

Several goats at Farm Adventures in Iredell County have tested positive for rabies and may have been in direct contact with people at events while infected.

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Aug 31 • 12:19 PM EDT • Health • wfdd.org
‘Furious’ ending explained: Emmy Rossum on Alice’s ‘monster side’ and what’s next in season 2

The first season of Hulu’s ‘Furious’ ends with explosive confrontations and a harrowing revelation. Emmy Rossum gives EW the inside scoop on the finale — and what’s next for Alice in season 2.

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Aug 31 • 12:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com
Private Equity Wants to Invest in College Sports. Some Schools Are Wary.

As desperate as many athletic programs are for money, they are proceeding cautiously when it comes to deals with private equity.

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Aug 31 • 11:22 AM EDT • Sports • nytimes.com
Hanover volleyball looks to build defense after losing key seniors

Hanover Coach: Avery Kretschmar (1) League: NHIAA Division II Last Year: 12-5; loss in the quarterfinals Top Returners: Seniors — Sage Fargher (Setter), Bella Poisson (Outside), Casey Wilkinson (Libero), Esther Skogerboe (Middle) Newcomers: Juniors — Nour Tannous (Outside), Laila Sundred (Defensive Specialist), Amelia McGinnis (Right Side) Coach’s Analysis: “With the matriculation of seasoned front row […]

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Aug 31 • 11:05 AM EDT • Sports • vnews.com
Jennifer Garner was in ‘mourning’ after losing ‘West Wing’ role — and then she got ‘Alias’

Jennifer Garner admitted to being distraught after being passed over for ‘The West Wing,’ only to soon land her star-making vehicle.

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Aug 31 • 11:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com
Study A.I. Consciousness? The Bots Would Like a Word With You.

Given access to email, A.I. agents have started reaching out to the philosophers and researchers exploring deep questions about them.

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Aug 31 • 9:44 AM EDT • Technology • nytimes.com
Nashville mayor proposes business grants as high costs continue to challenge city staples

Nashville's Mayor is proposing grants and incentives for small and longstanding businesses as costs continue to rise, but many opponents prefer property tax cut

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Aug 31 • 9:38 AM EDT • Business • fox17.com
Green Bay Packers Kaleb Johnson trade gets strong review From ESPN

The Green Bay Packers have bolstered their backfield by bringing in Kaleb Johnson from the Steelers, sending Pittsburgh a future 2028 draft pick in return. ESPN viewed the transaction favorably, pointing to Green Bay’s decision as a savvy way to strengthen the position before the 2026 season gets underway. “The most likely outcome is still [...]

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Aug 31 • 8:30 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Politicians paying influencers for support — some without disclosing: Report

Unbiased Politics News

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Aug 31 • 8:00 AM EDT • Politics • thehill.com
Gwengwe asks to play up front after fast start

Newport County boss Hayden Mullins has revealed Shaquille Gwengwe jokingly asked to play up front after scoring his third and fourth goals of the season. Gwengwe, who netted 46 non-league goals in the past season, scored his first County brace as they drew 2-2 with Tranmere Rovers on Saturday. The 25-year-old has been deployed on the left wing for the Exiles so far this season, but would prefer to start in his more natural striker position.

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Aug 31 • 7:09 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. $LYV Stock Holdings Decreased by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its position in Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV - Free Report) by 31.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,891,959 shares of the company's stock after selling 873,002 shar

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Aug 31 • 5:29 AM EDT • Entertainment • marketbeat.com
Global Oil Price Rises to $90 a Barrel After U.S. and Iran Trade Attacks

The first attacks in a month jolted energy markets. The average U.S. gasoline price remained 37 percent higher since the war began.

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Aug 31 • 5:07 AM EDT • Business • nytimes.com
Legal & General Group Plc Takes $13.61 Million Position in Caesars Entertainment, Inc. $CZR

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 450,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approxi

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Aug 31 • 5:04 AM EDT • Entertainment • marketbeat.com
More Mail Ballots Are Arriving Late This Year, and They’re Getting Tossed

State officials say they worry about the Postal Service’s ability to deliver votes this fall. They are urging voters to mail their ballots early or use drop boxes so their votes count.

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Aug 31 • 5:02 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
Gene-Editing Technology Offers New Ways to Create the Dogs of Our Dreams

Technologies like CRISPR are giving us new ways to create the dogs of our dreams — and a reason to reckon with our past mistakes.

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Aug 31 • 5:02 AM EDT • Science • nytimes.com
This Marine Died in the Iraq War. His Mother Asks, ‘What Was It For?’

Travis Fuller was from my hometown. I went back and talked with his family about how they made sense of his death, 25 years after Sept. 11.

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Aug 31 • 5:02 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
West Hartford Business Buzz: August 31, 2026 - We-Ha

A round-up of openings, closings, and other news about West Hartford businesses.Business Buzz is sponsored by NBT Bank, and we are very thankful for their support!By Ronni NewtonI find myself writing the same thing at this time every year: It’s the last week of August. Today is actually

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Aug 31 • 4:02 AM EDT • Business • we-ha.com
Did We Just Witness the End for Novak Djokovic?

There are losses, and then there are moments that feel like a chapter closing. Novak Djokovic’s stunning first-round exit at the U.S. Open felt like the latter. The 24-time Grand Slam champion was beaten by Mariano Navone 7-6, 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 Sunday night in a four-hour, 36-minute marathon. It was Djokovic’s first opening-round loss…

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Aug 31 • 1:35 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
☹️ Negative (-5%)
wow
67%
love
33%
Bayer's investigational PET tracer shows high accuracy for cardiac amyloidosis

The imaging agent could offer a new approach for diagnosing stiff heart syndrome, according to data presented during the European Society of Cardiology Congress.

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Aug 30 • 11:34 PM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com
Vanderbilt University Medical Center sued after allegedly exposing dozens of patients to bloodborne pathogens

Many of the details are unknown, but a primary plaintiff in the lawsuit said the exposure stemmed from a contaminated solution used during a 2024 colonoscopy. An attorney representing the patient said as many as 100 people could have been exposed to bloodborne pathogens.

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Aug 30 • 11:32 PM EDT • Health • healthexec.com
3 Things We Learned From the Bengals' Final Roster Cuts

Surprising departures and a seventh-round steal reshape Cincinnati’s depth chart, revealing a new plan for the receiver room and long-term stability at the tight end position.

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Aug 30 • 10:37 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
😐 Neutral (0%)
wow
100%
‘Glee’ star Naya Rivera’s 10-year-old son Josey sets film debut opposite his father

Naya Rivera’s son Josey has landed his first film role at only 10 years old. He will star in the drama ‘The Burning Valley’ opposite his dad, Ryan Dorsey, 6 years after his mother’s death at age 33.

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Aug 30 • 10:19 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com
Undrafted Patriots Rookie Earns Roster Spot With Unusual Position Switch

Undrafted rookie Tanner Arkin learned a second position during the preseason, and that unusual move helped him claim a spot on the Patriots’ initial roster.

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Aug 30 • 9:43 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
6 Eagles rookies who made the initial 53-man roster

Five Eagles draft picks and one undrafted rookie earned positions on Philadelphia’s initial 53-man roster.

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Aug 30 • 8:20 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
International Overdose Awareness Day

August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day which is designated to raise awareness of overdose, reduce the stigma of drug-related death, and honors the memories of those we have lost. Remember.

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Aug 30 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • shrewsburyma.gov