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Italy and Japan have signed in Rome a bilateral deal to strengthen cooperation in the defense sector, an Italian statement said on Monday. Italy said Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya signed a deal named ACSA (Acquisition and Cross-Service Agreement). Iwaya also held talks with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. The deal is aimed at "facilitating acquisitions, supplies, exchanges in the military field, and quickly mobilizing aid in case of emergencies and natural disasters." Italy and Japan share with Britain a partnership for the new GCAP project to build an advanced front-line fighter to enter service around the middle of the next decade. Italy said the GCAP program represented a "concrete example of how nations founded on the same system of values can join forces to address the complexities of the contemporary world."San Francisco leaders have struck a deal that should keep Urban Alchemy’s ambassadors on The City’s streets, but the future of the organization’s presence there remains unclear. What officials expected to be a noncontroversial expansion of a popular community-ambassador program quickly reopened a long-simmering debate in City Hall in recent weeks. At stake is the livelihoods of hundreds of workers, according to Urban Alchemy, the nonprofit deploying community ambassadors who keep a watchful eye over some of The City’s most challenging streets. But Supervisor Connie Chan , chair of the Board of Supervisors Budget Committee, reignited a discussion about whether Urban Alchemy has proven its efficacy after several years on the job, and whether continuing to pour millions into the nonprofit is warranted as The City faces a looming budget crisis. Urban Alchemy remains nascent compared to other major San Francisco nonprofits. Still, neither The City or Urban Alchemy is able to answer what San Francisco might look like without it. The Board of Supervisors’ budget committee on Wednesday will consider a proposed $7.8 million addition to the $16 million annual Urban Alchemy contract. That figure is expected to be negotiated down to $3.4 million, which should avert layoffs and last the organization through April, according to Chan. Urban Alchemy has warned that it could lay off more than 300 employees if the Board of Supervisors holds up the funding. Chan counters The City is draining its budget as it faces a deficit that approaches $1 billion in the coming years. She questions why San Francisco and Urban Alchemy was overspending its budget. “How do we have a balanced approach to our [city] budget, knowing our budget deficit is coming, and not end in a space where we’re going to regret spending this money and to be forced to cut critical and essential services, including for our law enforcement agencies?” Chan asked. She views the November election, in which voters chose Daniel Lurie as their next mayor , as a rebuke of Breed’s leadership and, by association, her response to The City’s social ailments. “What San Francisco voters have demanded is effective city government, and clearly they have said that the outgoing administration is not one, and at this moment I agree,” Chan said. The Mid-Market Foundation, the business organization that administers the contract to Urban Alchemy, explained that the additional spending will help expand the ambassadors’ coverage to Willow Alley, Ellis Street and keep them on the streets later into the evening. No matter what the Board of Supervisors agrees to do on the proposed contract amendment, it’s still slated to expire at the end of June 2025. By that time, the board will have several new members, Chan will likely no longer be the budget-committee chair, and The City will be led by a new mayor — and it’s unclear whether they’ll take the same approach. Initially conceived as a temporary and urgently necessary remedy to pandemic-induced street conditions, The City’s plan for its future with Urban Alchemy remains murky. It’s obvious that the Tenderloin and Mid-Market neighborhoods are not pristine, but it’s also true that workers have slowly trickled back to offices, COVID-era restrictions have lifted, crime is on the decline and overdose deaths are quickly dropping. Lurie, in a statement, told The Examiner, that he’s focused “accountability, service and change.” “I’ll make these difficult decisions next year when I assume office, but I’m committed to maintaining critical services in spite of this difficult budget climate,” Lurie said. “I plan to do that by demanding accountability and measurable results whenever we spend public money.” If The City does want to reup its community ambassador contract, it will require competitive bidding for the first time in nearly four years, according to the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Urban Alchemy’s rapid growth coincided with San Francisco’s stalling out, and the organization capitalized on The City’s need to bring order and cleanliness to streets hollowed out by the pandemic. The City’s homeless services changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, as shelters implemented social distancing and a flood of federal money helped fund San Francisco shelter options, including hotels. Urban Alchemy became a go-to for support — it inked contracts to staff a safe-sleeping site outside City Hall, tiny cabins and hotels to house the homeless. In 2021, Urban Alchemy and The City agreed to a contract that would see the nonprofit’s “practitioners” spread throughout the Mid-Market and Tenderloin neighborhoods. Long a source of concern from city leaders, these blocks came under renewed focus as office workers stayed home throughout the pandemic and open-air drug markets became routine. Urban Alchemy’s pitch from the jump was that ambassadors would cover street corners and supplement police officers and security guards, using a workforce that is largely made up of people with experience in the criminal-justice system themselves. Its approach is one rooted in empathy and,the organization contends, has proven effective at lowering crime without resorting to handcuffs and harsh words. Joined by Mayor London Breed, it announced a new study by Stanford University researchers at a Tenderloin press conference in January that found areas covered by Urban Alchemy’s practitioners saw significantly lower crime rates. At that time, the research had yet to be published and peer-reviewed. The Examiner contacted the lead researcher for an update on the paper’s status and, as of press time, had not heard back. Urban Alchemy’s critics argue The City has functionally written the nonprofit — which, though still rooted in San Francisco, has grown to cover seven cities across four states — a blank check. The proposal now in front of the Board of Supervisors would be the fifth time the contract has been amended. It has not been competitively bid since 2021. Urban Alchemy’s contract has earned the ire of labor unions like IFPTE Local 21, which cited Urban Alchemy last year in a treatise on The City’s growing use of contractors to provide services that could be provided by The City — and by unionized workers. The San Francisco Deputy Sheriff’s Association has publicly offered to step in, claiming the Sheriff’s Department has been underfunded while funding for ambassador programs like Urban Alchemy’s has stepped up. “Urban Alchemy, while well-intentioned, has demonstrated that it cannot deliver the results San Francisco needs,” Ken Lomba, the union’s president, wrote in a letter. “By reallocating funds to the Sheriff’s Office, the city can ensure public safety is managed by trained professionals who have the authority, expertise, and oversight to make a real impact.” Chan, who was heavily backed by unions in her recent reelection victory, makes no secret of her preference for union labor. “Unions provide a safe working environment and a pathway to sustainable employment for workers, absolutely — I think the challenge here is that it seems like the workers are stuck in this short-term contract employment instead of truly [advancing],” Chan said. Despite its detractors, Urban Alchemy has continued to grow. It has a presence in Portland Oregon, Austin, Texas, and now reaches as fast east as Birmingham, Alabama. The organization’s fans have come out in support of it. “Our community has seen great improvement, recognized by residents and our team alike over the past year, we would be devastated to see this improvement regress,” Brooke Engelhardt, general manager of a Market Street apartment building, wrote in a letter to supervisors. “Seeing the kind faces of the Urban Alchemy team outside of our community and in the neighborhood creates a sense of community and safety that are invaluable.” Its presence in San Francisco has become so ubiquitous that it’s difficult to imagine The City without its streets full of Urban Alchemy workers in their trademark all-black outfits. In a show of force, dozens of Urban Alchemy workers filed into the final Board of Supervisors meeting before Thanksgiving, offering tangible evidence of the organization’s scale. But it remains to be seen what The City will do after the contract expires at the end of June. The City and Mid-Market Foundation have contemplated the “ramp-down” plans required under the original contract with Urban Alchemy, but shied away from ever implementing one. Last year, city officials balked at implementing a “ramp-down” plan. During budget hearings, “given the progress on the street conditions and the ongoing need to continue interventions that mitigate further decline and promote pro-social behavior, an immediate ramp-down plan was not in the best interest of the community and could potentially lead to a reversal of progress,” Kate Patterson, an OEWD spokesperson, told The Examiner in an email. But Chan has been able to imagine a future sans Urban Alchemy. She noted that The City employs several ambassador teams, including teams consisting of retired sheriff’s deputies and police officers. Chan — often criticized for being soft on crime — even openly mulls whether the funding for Urban Alchemy could be better spent on additional overtime shifts for police officers to patrol the area.
Dominant in the electric car sector, Chinese companies have been quietly consolidating their position in the lesser-watched trucking scene -- but foreign tariffs and a perceived quality gap could signal roadblocks ahead, experts warn. The domestic supply chain and low-price strategy that helped make China's EV car industry world-leading are being leveraged by established automakers and start-ups alike, aiming to similarly transform trucking. Electric trucks currently represent less than one percent of truck sales worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) -- with China making up 70 percent of those sales in 2023. But the agency said it was "optimistic" policy and technology developments would see more widespread adoption in the next 10 years. "This industry, I believe, is ripe for disruption," Han Wen, the founder of start-up Windrose, told AFP on a factory floor as the company's first vehicles for delivery were assembled behind him. Fleets of electric heavy goods vehicles from China have been growing internationally, even as Western countries target the country's EV cars with heavy sanctions. Chinese companies like BYD and Beiqi Foton have shipped trucks to countries including Italy, Poland, Spain and Mexico, and have opened assembly plants around the world. "China's trucks are generally cost-competitive in emerging markets," Stephen Dyer, from consulting firm AlixPartners, told AFP. "For mature markets, performance and durability do not yet meet the needs of most customers, but that is changing." When it comes to emissions, "heavy-duty trucks are considered one of the more difficult to abate transport segments (after aviation and shipping)", IEA analyst Elizabeth Connelly told AFP. A major challenge is the trade-off between battery size and range. "The larger the battery, the longer the range. But the larger the battery, the heavier the truck... and the worse the fuel economy," Connelly said. Chinese manufacturers have been seen as producing lower quality products than foreign counterparts. "Historically, Chinese trucks tended to have a shorter useful lifecycle than European or Japanese trucks," AlixPartners' Dyer told AFP. While that perception is changing, China's flagship companies still lag rivals on factors like range and battery capacity. According to the Zero-Emission Technology Inventory, the median Chinese heavy duty truck range is 250 kilometers, compared with 322 km in the United States. BYD -- which in October beat Tesla in quarterly revenue for the first time -- says its 8TT model's range is 200 kilometers, compared with the 800 kilometers promised by Tesla's Semi truck. But Chinese manufacturers could close the gap quickly. Han's Windrose says its semi-trucks can go up to 670 kilometers on a single charge. Meanwhile, battery giant CATL has rolled out truck battery-swapping facilities -- where drained units can be immediately replaced, eliminating charging time altogether. China's existing EV ecosystem is a massive advantage. "We're very lucky to have the Chinese supply chain (for EVs)," said Han, noting Windrose was using an electric bus company's factory to build its trucks. "There's no doubt that China also will have an edge on the electrification of heavy-duty trucks." More unpredictable are the testy geopolitical waters the sector risks stalling in. This year has seen important trading partners including the European Union and the United States impose hefty tariffs on Chinese EV cars, saying Beijing's state aid to automakers undercut their own firms. China refutes this, but as its EV truck footprint grows globally, so could the risk of similar action being taken. "Governments in potential export markets want to protect their local industries," Sam Fiorani, at AutoForecast Solutions, told AFP. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has promised huge tariff hikes on Chinese imports once he takes office. "Since EV truck volume is smaller than passenger EVs, there is a chance that EV trucks would fall a little under the radar in normal times," AlixPartners' Dyer said. But "these are not 'normal times' anymore and anything Chinese is high profile in the US government currently", he added. Some companies have already taken steps that could mitigate this risk. BYD proudly touts its trucks as being "assembled by union workers in Lancaster, California", while it has announced plans to build a factory in Mexico, and has plants in Hungary and Romania. Windrose's Han told AFP the firm has consciously spread its operations across multiple countries, moving key headquarters to Belgium earlier this year. "We do embrace the fact that every major market would like its own domestic supply chain of EV," he told AFP. But he added: "You have to start in China. We then try to move the supply chain globally... But you have to start in China. There's no alternative."As a way to promote her newest endorsement deal, Chicago Sky star Angel Reese recently gave away a few boxes of her "Angel X Reese's Puffs" cereal to random fans in the streets. Reese shared the video on social media as a bunch of unexpected supporters were left in disbelief by their chance encounter with the WNBA All-Star. Reese's cereals hit supermarket shelves on Nov. 14, and it appears to have been quite a hit. So much so, that some stores have run out of stocks. One fan recently posted a video on social media wherein she started knocking down random cereal boxes in the grocery store after finding out that they had run out of Reese's Puffs. Reese herself caught wind of the fan's "irritated" complaint, and the Sky forward just had to respond. "omgg nooo don’t knock over the boxes😭😭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 send your address so i can send you a box auntie cause ion need you crashing out & going to jail bout me lmaooo," Reese wrote on X. omgg nooo don’t knock over the boxes😭😭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 send your address so i can send you a box auntie cause ion need you crashing out & going to jail bout me lmaooo https://t.co/jd8ljMDvIg In her video, the fan admitted that she was "irritated" by the fact that she wasn't able to purchase a box of Reese's cereals for her niece. The former LSU superstar came to the rescue, though, by saying that she would be happy to send a box to the disgruntled supporter just so she doesn't end up getting in trouble for causing a ruckus in the grocery store. © Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Needless to say, her fans have come out to support Reese's latest endorsement deal. Reese's Puffs is just the latest in a growing line of product endorsements for the 22-year-old, which also includes brands such as Reebok, Beats by Dre and McDonald's, to name a few. As for her basketball, Reese is coming off a tremendous rookie campaign with the Sky -- one that had her finishing as the runner-up for the coveted Rookie of the Year title behind Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark. In 34 games played before her season was cut short by surgery on her wrist, Reese produced averages of 13.6 points , a league-best 13.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Related: Angel Reese's Honest Confession About 'Scary' Career Decision
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Quisitive Reports Third Quarter 2024 Financial ResultsMIAMI (AP) — The NBA is urging its players to take additional precautions to secure their homes following reports of recent high-profile burglaries of dwellings owned by Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis , Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley Jr. and Kansas City Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. In a memo the NBA sent to its team officials, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, the league revealed that the FBI has connected some burglaries to “transnational South American Theft Groups” that are “reportedly well-organized, sophisticated rings that incorporate advanced techniques and technologies, including pre-surveillance, drones, and signal jamming devices.” Conley's home was broken into on Sept. 15 when he was at a Minnesota Vikings game and jewelry was taken, officials told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Portis said his home was broken into on Nov. 2 and has offered a $40,000 reward for information related to the incident. The homes of Mahomes and Kelce were broken into within days of each other last month, according to law enforcement reports, and the NFL issued a similar warning memo to its teams this week. The NBA memo, relaying information from the FBI, said the theft rings “are primarily focused on cash and items that can be resold on the black market, such as jewelry, watches, and luxury bags.” The NBA, which has also been giving guidance to team security personnel, recommended that players install updated alarm systems with cameras and utilize them whenever leaving the home, keeping valuables in locked and secured safes, remove online real estate listings that may show interior photos of a home, “utilize protective guard services” during extended trips from the home and even suggested having dogs assist with home protection. “Obviously, it’s frustrating, disappointing, but I can’t get into too many of the details because the investigation is still ongoing,” Mahomes recently said. “But, obviously, something you don’t want to happen to anybody, but obviously yourself.” One of the break-ins involving the Chiefs players happened on a game day — Oct. 7 — and Portis was also playing a game when his home was robbed. “They took most of my prized possessions,” Portis said. AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBAAMGEN TO PRESENT AT CITI'S 2024 GLOBAL HEALTHCARE CONFERENCEMotorola has just released a brand-new Tag and it’s a shocker considering that the bulk of tags are attached to keys luggage or if flat like the new Cygnett or Tile cards slipped into a wallet. While the Motorola Tag is okay there is no way for it to be fitted to a suitcase or bag, or even a bunch of keys because Motorola a Lenovo Company have decided that there is no need for accessories in Australia. The only alternative is to buy third party accessories from an overseas web site. Moto Tag Accesories are available overseas but not in Australia. Motorola has given no reason as why they are not launching practicle accessories locally. Open up the app for the tag and the first thing you see is the device attached to a bag. The only problem is that the third party provider of the tags does not see it being worthwhile, to launch accessories or a means to attach the device to a key ring in Australia, with Motorola’s PR Company claiming that there are no plans to launch accessories that actually deliver the functional and means to use the device effectively. This is despite Australia’s largest airline Qantas set to use tags such as Apple’s Air Tags which do come with accessories, to track missing luggage. Sadly this type of mont for the Moto Tag is not available. Qantas is one of 15 airlines which are now able to receive tracking information from passengers via Apple’s AirTag and Find My technology such as Google’s Find My Device which the Motorola Tag actually works with. Both Qantas and Virgin have attempted to ease tension with customers via the rollout of baggage tracking features in their mobile apps, which notify passengers when their baggage arrives at the airport. On the positive side the Motorola Tags do take replaceable batteries unlike the Apple Air Tags which is not surprising as Apple likes squeezing as many dollars as they can from an Apple user. Despite complaints from customers about the short battery life the AirTag 2 would still use a coin cell battery. Samsung whose tags do take batteries also appears to have a problem with battery life with ChannelNews having to replace batteries after only a couple of months. But when they do work, they are an excellent solution for tracking keys and bags, as one Samsung PR executive discovered recently. PS: Moto Management. I think your current Moto Tags strategy needs a rethink.
President Biden’s decision to renege on his pledge not to pardon his prodigal son’s crimes has consequences for the American justice system. Ironically, it also may diminish resistance to President-elect Trump pardoning members of the mob that stormed the Capitol nearly four years ago in an effort to overturn Biden’s 2020 election victory. The two situations are not equivalent, of course. Still, they both tear at the heart of America’s scruples. More than 1,100 Trump supporters got convicted of participating in the siege that sent a joint session of Congress into hiding, injured scores of police officers and left the Capitol in a shambles. Several defendants received probation for misdemeanor charges of entering the Capitol with the mob. But more than 600 were imprisoned from one month to up to 22 years on felony charges of destroying property, assault and battery or encouraging the attack. Trump described them as “political prisoners” and “patriots,” promising to pardon them if elected president again. He said recently he will decide their pardons on a case-by-case basis. A song titled “Justice for All” described their fate. Created and posted often on social media by a group of Jan. 6 defendants (“J6 Choir”) locked in a Washington, D.C. jail block, the song’s popularity drew sympathizers across the country. It briefly made music’s top hits list. Democrats and legal experts denounce Trump’s plan to pardon Jan. 6 defendants as victims of misguided justice. The objection is somewhat hypocritical in the aftermath of Biden pardoning son Hunter. He was convicted of lying on a gun license application and income tax evasion. What devastates the rule of law is Biden’s broken pledge to let his son face the consequences of his felony crimes, including possible prison time. His stunning turnaround occurred, he said, because his son was a victim of a Justice Department political prosecution. That’s the exact reason Trump advances for his intent to pardon some, if not all, the Jan. 6 defendants. He also claims that’s why he was prosecuted and convicted of 34 felonies in his hush money trial as well as charges pending in his other legal cases. Oddly, it seems Biden and Trump agree the Justice Department has been weaponized for political means. Trump says when he returns to office he will rid the department, including its FBI office, of what he calls partisan hacks bent on destroying the country. They will, of course, be replaced by diehard loyalists committed to his America First agenda. Democrats can hardly object. Their president of the last four years has damned the Justice Department and demoralized its employees for his own sake. And just two months before departing the White House. Listen to his attempt to rationalize the decision to pardon his son when he said repeatedly he would not. “For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They will be fair-minded,” Biden said in a statement. “Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected the process and it led to a miscarriage of justice (of his son).” Biden asked Americans to understand “why a father and a president would come to this decision.” Many will not. Sure, other presidents, including Trump in his first term, granted pardons to family and friends for alleged criminal behavior. In most of these cases, the persons pardoned felt the outcome of their sentences, including prison time. Biden’s rollback of his no pardon pledge — just two weeks before his son’s sentencing — disregarded the legal standard that no person is above the law; that everyone is treated equally no matter their station in life. Sadly, Biden’s decision of defiance comes at a time when the justice system’s moral fiber is fraying.
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Italy and Japan have signed in Rome a bilateral deal to strengthen cooperation in the defense sector, an Italian statement said on Monday. Italy said Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya signed a deal named ACSA (Acquisition and Cross-Service Agreement). Iwaya also held talks with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. The deal is aimed at "facilitating acquisitions, supplies, exchanges in the military field, and quickly mobilizing aid in case of emergencies and natural disasters." Italy and Japan share with Britain a partnership for the new GCAP project to build an advanced front-line fighter to enter service around the middle of the next decade. Italy said the GCAP program represented a "concrete example of how nations founded on the same system of values can join forces to address the complexities of the contemporary world."San Francisco leaders have struck a deal that should keep Urban Alchemy’s ambassadors on The City’s streets, but the future of the organization’s presence there remains unclear. What officials expected to be a noncontroversial expansion of a popular community-ambassador program quickly reopened a long-simmering debate in City Hall in recent weeks. At stake is the livelihoods of hundreds of workers, according to Urban Alchemy, the nonprofit deploying community ambassadors who keep a watchful eye over some of The City’s most challenging streets. But Supervisor Connie Chan , chair of the Board of Supervisors Budget Committee, reignited a discussion about whether Urban Alchemy has proven its efficacy after several years on the job, and whether continuing to pour millions into the nonprofit is warranted as The City faces a looming budget crisis. Urban Alchemy remains nascent compared to other major San Francisco nonprofits. Still, neither The City or Urban Alchemy is able to answer what San Francisco might look like without it. The Board of Supervisors’ budget committee on Wednesday will consider a proposed $7.8 million addition to the $16 million annual Urban Alchemy contract. That figure is expected to be negotiated down to $3.4 million, which should avert layoffs and last the organization through April, according to Chan. Urban Alchemy has warned that it could lay off more than 300 employees if the Board of Supervisors holds up the funding. Chan counters The City is draining its budget as it faces a deficit that approaches $1 billion in the coming years. She questions why San Francisco and Urban Alchemy was overspending its budget. “How do we have a balanced approach to our [city] budget, knowing our budget deficit is coming, and not end in a space where we’re going to regret spending this money and to be forced to cut critical and essential services, including for our law enforcement agencies?” Chan asked. She views the November election, in which voters chose Daniel Lurie as their next mayor , as a rebuke of Breed’s leadership and, by association, her response to The City’s social ailments. “What San Francisco voters have demanded is effective city government, and clearly they have said that the outgoing administration is not one, and at this moment I agree,” Chan said. The Mid-Market Foundation, the business organization that administers the contract to Urban Alchemy, explained that the additional spending will help expand the ambassadors’ coverage to Willow Alley, Ellis Street and keep them on the streets later into the evening. No matter what the Board of Supervisors agrees to do on the proposed contract amendment, it’s still slated to expire at the end of June 2025. By that time, the board will have several new members, Chan will likely no longer be the budget-committee chair, and The City will be led by a new mayor — and it’s unclear whether they’ll take the same approach. Initially conceived as a temporary and urgently necessary remedy to pandemic-induced street conditions, The City’s plan for its future with Urban Alchemy remains murky. It’s obvious that the Tenderloin and Mid-Market neighborhoods are not pristine, but it’s also true that workers have slowly trickled back to offices, COVID-era restrictions have lifted, crime is on the decline and overdose deaths are quickly dropping. Lurie, in a statement, told The Examiner, that he’s focused “accountability, service and change.” “I’ll make these difficult decisions next year when I assume office, but I’m committed to maintaining critical services in spite of this difficult budget climate,” Lurie said. “I plan to do that by demanding accountability and measurable results whenever we spend public money.” If The City does want to reup its community ambassador contract, it will require competitive bidding for the first time in nearly four years, according to the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Urban Alchemy’s rapid growth coincided with San Francisco’s stalling out, and the organization capitalized on The City’s need to bring order and cleanliness to streets hollowed out by the pandemic. The City’s homeless services changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, as shelters implemented social distancing and a flood of federal money helped fund San Francisco shelter options, including hotels. Urban Alchemy became a go-to for support — it inked contracts to staff a safe-sleeping site outside City Hall, tiny cabins and hotels to house the homeless. In 2021, Urban Alchemy and The City agreed to a contract that would see the nonprofit’s “practitioners” spread throughout the Mid-Market and Tenderloin neighborhoods. Long a source of concern from city leaders, these blocks came under renewed focus as office workers stayed home throughout the pandemic and open-air drug markets became routine. Urban Alchemy’s pitch from the jump was that ambassadors would cover street corners and supplement police officers and security guards, using a workforce that is largely made up of people with experience in the criminal-justice system themselves. Its approach is one rooted in empathy and,the organization contends, has proven effective at lowering crime without resorting to handcuffs and harsh words. Joined by Mayor London Breed, it announced a new study by Stanford University researchers at a Tenderloin press conference in January that found areas covered by Urban Alchemy’s practitioners saw significantly lower crime rates. At that time, the research had yet to be published and peer-reviewed. The Examiner contacted the lead researcher for an update on the paper’s status and, as of press time, had not heard back. Urban Alchemy’s critics argue The City has functionally written the nonprofit — which, though still rooted in San Francisco, has grown to cover seven cities across four states — a blank check. The proposal now in front of the Board of Supervisors would be the fifth time the contract has been amended. It has not been competitively bid since 2021. Urban Alchemy’s contract has earned the ire of labor unions like IFPTE Local 21, which cited Urban Alchemy last year in a treatise on The City’s growing use of contractors to provide services that could be provided by The City — and by unionized workers. The San Francisco Deputy Sheriff’s Association has publicly offered to step in, claiming the Sheriff’s Department has been underfunded while funding for ambassador programs like Urban Alchemy’s has stepped up. “Urban Alchemy, while well-intentioned, has demonstrated that it cannot deliver the results San Francisco needs,” Ken Lomba, the union’s president, wrote in a letter. “By reallocating funds to the Sheriff’s Office, the city can ensure public safety is managed by trained professionals who have the authority, expertise, and oversight to make a real impact.” Chan, who was heavily backed by unions in her recent reelection victory, makes no secret of her preference for union labor. “Unions provide a safe working environment and a pathway to sustainable employment for workers, absolutely — I think the challenge here is that it seems like the workers are stuck in this short-term contract employment instead of truly [advancing],” Chan said. Despite its detractors, Urban Alchemy has continued to grow. It has a presence in Portland Oregon, Austin, Texas, and now reaches as fast east as Birmingham, Alabama. The organization’s fans have come out in support of it. “Our community has seen great improvement, recognized by residents and our team alike over the past year, we would be devastated to see this improvement regress,” Brooke Engelhardt, general manager of a Market Street apartment building, wrote in a letter to supervisors. “Seeing the kind faces of the Urban Alchemy team outside of our community and in the neighborhood creates a sense of community and safety that are invaluable.” Its presence in San Francisco has become so ubiquitous that it’s difficult to imagine The City without its streets full of Urban Alchemy workers in their trademark all-black outfits. In a show of force, dozens of Urban Alchemy workers filed into the final Board of Supervisors meeting before Thanksgiving, offering tangible evidence of the organization’s scale. But it remains to be seen what The City will do after the contract expires at the end of June. The City and Mid-Market Foundation have contemplated the “ramp-down” plans required under the original contract with Urban Alchemy, but shied away from ever implementing one. Last year, city officials balked at implementing a “ramp-down” plan. During budget hearings, “given the progress on the street conditions and the ongoing need to continue interventions that mitigate further decline and promote pro-social behavior, an immediate ramp-down plan was not in the best interest of the community and could potentially lead to a reversal of progress,” Kate Patterson, an OEWD spokesperson, told The Examiner in an email. But Chan has been able to imagine a future sans Urban Alchemy. She noted that The City employs several ambassador teams, including teams consisting of retired sheriff’s deputies and police officers. Chan — often criticized for being soft on crime — even openly mulls whether the funding for Urban Alchemy could be better spent on additional overtime shifts for police officers to patrol the area.
Dominant in the electric car sector, Chinese companies have been quietly consolidating their position in the lesser-watched trucking scene -- but foreign tariffs and a perceived quality gap could signal roadblocks ahead, experts warn. The domestic supply chain and low-price strategy that helped make China's EV car industry world-leading are being leveraged by established automakers and start-ups alike, aiming to similarly transform trucking. Electric trucks currently represent less than one percent of truck sales worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) -- with China making up 70 percent of those sales in 2023. But the agency said it was "optimistic" policy and technology developments would see more widespread adoption in the next 10 years. "This industry, I believe, is ripe for disruption," Han Wen, the founder of start-up Windrose, told AFP on a factory floor as the company's first vehicles for delivery were assembled behind him. Fleets of electric heavy goods vehicles from China have been growing internationally, even as Western countries target the country's EV cars with heavy sanctions. Chinese companies like BYD and Beiqi Foton have shipped trucks to countries including Italy, Poland, Spain and Mexico, and have opened assembly plants around the world. "China's trucks are generally cost-competitive in emerging markets," Stephen Dyer, from consulting firm AlixPartners, told AFP. "For mature markets, performance and durability do not yet meet the needs of most customers, but that is changing." When it comes to emissions, "heavy-duty trucks are considered one of the more difficult to abate transport segments (after aviation and shipping)", IEA analyst Elizabeth Connelly told AFP. A major challenge is the trade-off between battery size and range. "The larger the battery, the longer the range. But the larger the battery, the heavier the truck... and the worse the fuel economy," Connelly said. Chinese manufacturers have been seen as producing lower quality products than foreign counterparts. "Historically, Chinese trucks tended to have a shorter useful lifecycle than European or Japanese trucks," AlixPartners' Dyer told AFP. While that perception is changing, China's flagship companies still lag rivals on factors like range and battery capacity. According to the Zero-Emission Technology Inventory, the median Chinese heavy duty truck range is 250 kilometers, compared with 322 km in the United States. BYD -- which in October beat Tesla in quarterly revenue for the first time -- says its 8TT model's range is 200 kilometers, compared with the 800 kilometers promised by Tesla's Semi truck. But Chinese manufacturers could close the gap quickly. Han's Windrose says its semi-trucks can go up to 670 kilometers on a single charge. Meanwhile, battery giant CATL has rolled out truck battery-swapping facilities -- where drained units can be immediately replaced, eliminating charging time altogether. China's existing EV ecosystem is a massive advantage. "We're very lucky to have the Chinese supply chain (for EVs)," said Han, noting Windrose was using an electric bus company's factory to build its trucks. "There's no doubt that China also will have an edge on the electrification of heavy-duty trucks." More unpredictable are the testy geopolitical waters the sector risks stalling in. This year has seen important trading partners including the European Union and the United States impose hefty tariffs on Chinese EV cars, saying Beijing's state aid to automakers undercut their own firms. China refutes this, but as its EV truck footprint grows globally, so could the risk of similar action being taken. "Governments in potential export markets want to protect their local industries," Sam Fiorani, at AutoForecast Solutions, told AFP. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has promised huge tariff hikes on Chinese imports once he takes office. "Since EV truck volume is smaller than passenger EVs, there is a chance that EV trucks would fall a little under the radar in normal times," AlixPartners' Dyer said. But "these are not 'normal times' anymore and anything Chinese is high profile in the US government currently", he added. Some companies have already taken steps that could mitigate this risk. BYD proudly touts its trucks as being "assembled by union workers in Lancaster, California", while it has announced plans to build a factory in Mexico, and has plants in Hungary and Romania. Windrose's Han told AFP the firm has consciously spread its operations across multiple countries, moving key headquarters to Belgium earlier this year. "We do embrace the fact that every major market would like its own domestic supply chain of EV," he told AFP. But he added: "You have to start in China. We then try to move the supply chain globally... But you have to start in China. There's no alternative."As a way to promote her newest endorsement deal, Chicago Sky star Angel Reese recently gave away a few boxes of her "Angel X Reese's Puffs" cereal to random fans in the streets. Reese shared the video on social media as a bunch of unexpected supporters were left in disbelief by their chance encounter with the WNBA All-Star. Reese's cereals hit supermarket shelves on Nov. 14, and it appears to have been quite a hit. So much so, that some stores have run out of stocks. One fan recently posted a video on social media wherein she started knocking down random cereal boxes in the grocery store after finding out that they had run out of Reese's Puffs. Reese herself caught wind of the fan's "irritated" complaint, and the Sky forward just had to respond. "omgg nooo don’t knock over the boxes😭😭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 send your address so i can send you a box auntie cause ion need you crashing out & going to jail bout me lmaooo," Reese wrote on X. omgg nooo don’t knock over the boxes😭😭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 send your address so i can send you a box auntie cause ion need you crashing out & going to jail bout me lmaooo https://t.co/jd8ljMDvIg In her video, the fan admitted that she was "irritated" by the fact that she wasn't able to purchase a box of Reese's cereals for her niece. The former LSU superstar came to the rescue, though, by saying that she would be happy to send a box to the disgruntled supporter just so she doesn't end up getting in trouble for causing a ruckus in the grocery store. © Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Needless to say, her fans have come out to support Reese's latest endorsement deal. Reese's Puffs is just the latest in a growing line of product endorsements for the 22-year-old, which also includes brands such as Reebok, Beats by Dre and McDonald's, to name a few. As for her basketball, Reese is coming off a tremendous rookie campaign with the Sky -- one that had her finishing as the runner-up for the coveted Rookie of the Year title behind Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark. In 34 games played before her season was cut short by surgery on her wrist, Reese produced averages of 13.6 points , a league-best 13.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Related: Angel Reese's Honest Confession About 'Scary' Career Decision
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Quisitive Reports Third Quarter 2024 Financial ResultsMIAMI (AP) — The NBA is urging its players to take additional precautions to secure their homes following reports of recent high-profile burglaries of dwellings owned by Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis , Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley Jr. and Kansas City Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. In a memo the NBA sent to its team officials, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, the league revealed that the FBI has connected some burglaries to “transnational South American Theft Groups” that are “reportedly well-organized, sophisticated rings that incorporate advanced techniques and technologies, including pre-surveillance, drones, and signal jamming devices.” Conley's home was broken into on Sept. 15 when he was at a Minnesota Vikings game and jewelry was taken, officials told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Portis said his home was broken into on Nov. 2 and has offered a $40,000 reward for information related to the incident. The homes of Mahomes and Kelce were broken into within days of each other last month, according to law enforcement reports, and the NFL issued a similar warning memo to its teams this week. The NBA memo, relaying information from the FBI, said the theft rings “are primarily focused on cash and items that can be resold on the black market, such as jewelry, watches, and luxury bags.” The NBA, which has also been giving guidance to team security personnel, recommended that players install updated alarm systems with cameras and utilize them whenever leaving the home, keeping valuables in locked and secured safes, remove online real estate listings that may show interior photos of a home, “utilize protective guard services” during extended trips from the home and even suggested having dogs assist with home protection. “Obviously, it’s frustrating, disappointing, but I can’t get into too many of the details because the investigation is still ongoing,” Mahomes recently said. “But, obviously, something you don’t want to happen to anybody, but obviously yourself.” One of the break-ins involving the Chiefs players happened on a game day — Oct. 7 — and Portis was also playing a game when his home was robbed. “They took most of my prized possessions,” Portis said. AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBAAMGEN TO PRESENT AT CITI'S 2024 GLOBAL HEALTHCARE CONFERENCEMotorola has just released a brand-new Tag and it’s a shocker considering that the bulk of tags are attached to keys luggage or if flat like the new Cygnett or Tile cards slipped into a wallet. While the Motorola Tag is okay there is no way for it to be fitted to a suitcase or bag, or even a bunch of keys because Motorola a Lenovo Company have decided that there is no need for accessories in Australia. The only alternative is to buy third party accessories from an overseas web site. Moto Tag Accesories are available overseas but not in Australia. Motorola has given no reason as why they are not launching practicle accessories locally. Open up the app for the tag and the first thing you see is the device attached to a bag. The only problem is that the third party provider of the tags does not see it being worthwhile, to launch accessories or a means to attach the device to a key ring in Australia, with Motorola’s PR Company claiming that there are no plans to launch accessories that actually deliver the functional and means to use the device effectively. This is despite Australia’s largest airline Qantas set to use tags such as Apple’s Air Tags which do come with accessories, to track missing luggage. Sadly this type of mont for the Moto Tag is not available. Qantas is one of 15 airlines which are now able to receive tracking information from passengers via Apple’s AirTag and Find My technology such as Google’s Find My Device which the Motorola Tag actually works with. Both Qantas and Virgin have attempted to ease tension with customers via the rollout of baggage tracking features in their mobile apps, which notify passengers when their baggage arrives at the airport. On the positive side the Motorola Tags do take replaceable batteries unlike the Apple Air Tags which is not surprising as Apple likes squeezing as many dollars as they can from an Apple user. Despite complaints from customers about the short battery life the AirTag 2 would still use a coin cell battery. Samsung whose tags do take batteries also appears to have a problem with battery life with ChannelNews having to replace batteries after only a couple of months. But when they do work, they are an excellent solution for tracking keys and bags, as one Samsung PR executive discovered recently. PS: Moto Management. I think your current Moto Tags strategy needs a rethink.
President Biden’s decision to renege on his pledge not to pardon his prodigal son’s crimes has consequences for the American justice system. Ironically, it also may diminish resistance to President-elect Trump pardoning members of the mob that stormed the Capitol nearly four years ago in an effort to overturn Biden’s 2020 election victory. The two situations are not equivalent, of course. Still, they both tear at the heart of America’s scruples. More than 1,100 Trump supporters got convicted of participating in the siege that sent a joint session of Congress into hiding, injured scores of police officers and left the Capitol in a shambles. Several defendants received probation for misdemeanor charges of entering the Capitol with the mob. But more than 600 were imprisoned from one month to up to 22 years on felony charges of destroying property, assault and battery or encouraging the attack. Trump described them as “political prisoners” and “patriots,” promising to pardon them if elected president again. He said recently he will decide their pardons on a case-by-case basis. A song titled “Justice for All” described their fate. Created and posted often on social media by a group of Jan. 6 defendants (“J6 Choir”) locked in a Washington, D.C. jail block, the song’s popularity drew sympathizers across the country. It briefly made music’s top hits list. Democrats and legal experts denounce Trump’s plan to pardon Jan. 6 defendants as victims of misguided justice. The objection is somewhat hypocritical in the aftermath of Biden pardoning son Hunter. He was convicted of lying on a gun license application and income tax evasion. What devastates the rule of law is Biden’s broken pledge to let his son face the consequences of his felony crimes, including possible prison time. His stunning turnaround occurred, he said, because his son was a victim of a Justice Department political prosecution. That’s the exact reason Trump advances for his intent to pardon some, if not all, the Jan. 6 defendants. He also claims that’s why he was prosecuted and convicted of 34 felonies in his hush money trial as well as charges pending in his other legal cases. Oddly, it seems Biden and Trump agree the Justice Department has been weaponized for political means. Trump says when he returns to office he will rid the department, including its FBI office, of what he calls partisan hacks bent on destroying the country. They will, of course, be replaced by diehard loyalists committed to his America First agenda. Democrats can hardly object. Their president of the last four years has damned the Justice Department and demoralized its employees for his own sake. And just two months before departing the White House. Listen to his attempt to rationalize the decision to pardon his son when he said repeatedly he would not. “For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They will be fair-minded,” Biden said in a statement. “Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected the process and it led to a miscarriage of justice (of his son).” Biden asked Americans to understand “why a father and a president would come to this decision.” Many will not. Sure, other presidents, including Trump in his first term, granted pardons to family and friends for alleged criminal behavior. In most of these cases, the persons pardoned felt the outcome of their sentences, including prison time. Biden’s rollback of his no pardon pledge — just two weeks before his son’s sentencing — disregarded the legal standard that no person is above the law; that everyone is treated equally no matter their station in life. Sadly, Biden’s decision of defiance comes at a time when the justice system’s moral fiber is fraying.
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