Commuters watch a TV with images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Biden at a Seoul, South Korea, rail station in March. Ahn Young-joon/APhide caption
toggle caption
Ahn Young-joon/AP
Commuters watch a TV with images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Biden at a Seoul, South Korea, rail station in March.
Ahn Young-joon/AP
The White House has completed a review of its policy on North Korea, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday, saying that while the aim of the U.S. remains denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the Biden administration is open to diplomatic talks to boost security for the region.
"Our policy will not focus on achieving a grand bargain nor will it rely on strategic patience," Psaki said. "Our policy calls for a calibrated practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy with the DPRK and to make practical progress that increases the security of the United States, our allies, and deployed forces."
The U.S. relationship with North Korea, while deeply strained, expanded under former President Donald Trump. In 2018, Trump and North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un held the first face-to-face meeting between leaders of the two nations. The following year, Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to step foot in North Korea.
Despite the historic meetings between Trump and the North Korean ruler, discussions over denuclearization stalled, and an agreement for the volatile nation to halt its nuclear program dissolved.
As part of the administration's review of North Korea policy, Biden's team consulted with predecessors from previous administrations as well as South Korean and Japanese counterparts, according to Psaki.
The end of the White House review comes as South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set to visit the White House on May 21. In an interview last week with TheNew York Times, Moon said the U.S. should sit down with North Korea to move toward a nuclear deal.
"The most important starting point for both governments is to have the will for dialogue and to sit down face to face at an early date," Moon told the paper.
Not much of a mystery leading up to the big day today, the Jaguars have selected former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the first-overall pick, something the franchise hopes to re-ignite the team, fan base and onlookers as they attempt to rebuild the ship now led by head coach Urban Meyer.
Lawrence, 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, has been thought to be the eventual first-overall pick seemingly since his years at the high school level, and certainly during his three years at the collegiate level with the Tigers.
In three years with Clemson, Lawrence accounted for 10,098 yards, while completing 759 out of 1,138 passing attempts (66.6%), 90 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He would lead his team to two National Championship appearances, including one victory in 2018.
The Tigers reached the playoffs under the guidance of Lawrence during all three seasons while he was their signal-caller.
Leading up to tonight’s event, there was very little mystery surrounding who the Jaguars preferred to select with the first-overall selection, Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke recently stated that with Lawrence, the “stars aligned.”
“The easiest way to answer that is [there are] no negatives,” Baalke said earlier this month when asked about Lawrence and what the team has learned thus far about the quarterback.
“[With] all the research we’ve done, you’re always looking for the stars to align when you’re looking at prospects, whether that be from a physical, mental, character aspect, whatever the case may be. With his situation, like many others in this draft, the stars all align and that’s what you’re looking for.”
In January, Jaguars owner Shad Khan stated that one thing that has eluded the franchise in Jacksonville has been a franchise quarterback. Well, now the team hopes in Lawrence the team finally has one.
“If this isn’t a moment to enjoy for me to enjoy and for all the Jags fans, you need more coffee. Or you need something else. This is a great-to-be-alive kind of moment, frankly,” Khan said earlier this week.
Given the state of the franchise prior to this year, selecting Lawrence is a franchise-defining moment, one that will be remembered for many years as the team proceeds with Meyer and Lawrence as the faces of the franchise.
Cherokee Street celebrates Cinco De Mayo safely with first annual Taco de Oro competition
By Liz Wolfson // April 30, 2021
Due to restrictions related on the ongoing pandemic, Cherokee Street’s annual Cinco de Mayo festival has once again been canceled. In its place, Cinco de Mayo STL, the foundation that spearheads the event, has partnered with local events website Do314 on Taco de Oro – The Cherokee Street Taco Bracket, which opens for voting tomorrow, Saturday, May 1.
The monthlong competition highlights eight of the street’s taquerias and other restaurants’ selection of their own best taco. Diners are invited to travel the “Taco Walk-o-Fame,” where they can sample each restaurant’s offering and then vote on their top pick in brackets like Best of Al Pastor and The Steak Out. Votes will be cast online through the Do314 website; QR codes that link directly to the voting site will be posted at each participating restaurant. At the end of the month, the competition’s winner will be presented with the Golden Taco trophy (the Spanish phrase "de oro" translates to "of gold.")
“Certain folks on Cherokee Street have been dreaming of a taco competition for many years,” said Emily Thenhaus, executive director of the Cherokee Street Community Improvement District. “The street’s annual Cinco de Mayo festival is both a big celebration of our community and also a huge revenue source for so many of our businesses. Taco de Oro seemed like the perfect way to spread out the crowds and still encourage folks to support the businesses and not just do so altruistically, but also to taste some of the best tacos the region has,” Thenhaus continued.
The competition is also an opportunity for taco fans to try some of the newer arrivals to Cherokee’s taco scene, such as La Manganita, “so there’s something for everyone to try and get acquainted with,” Thenhaus explained. The organizers hope the competition will continue on after this year, with the Golden Taco trophy traveling back and forth between winning businesses.
Several area bars are getting in on the action as well by way of a margarita promotion. The first 100 people to cast their votes will receive a coupon for a free margarita at several of the participating restaurants as well as Cherokee Street bars like Yaquis, The B-Side, The Fortune Teller Bar and The Whiskey Ring.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Trevor Lawrence hasn't even been a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars for 24 hours but he already has a deal with a Jacksonville-based company.
Lawrence -- the No. 1 pick in Thursday's NFL draft -- signed a multiyear memorabilia and collectibles partnership with Fanatics, which is an official partner with the NFL and other leagues for officially licensed sports merchandise and memorabilia. Fanatics will be the lone provider of Lawrence's autograph and memorabilia products with the Jaguars as well as his time at Clemson.
The deal with Fanatics is the latest in a list of endorsements and partnerships Lawrence has signed over the past several months. He has an apparel deal with Adidas and a national deal with Gatorade, making him the first NFL quarterback to do so since Cam Newton. On Monday, Blockfolio, a global cryptocurrency investment app, announced it had signed Lawrence to a multiyear deal and that it was paying him a signing bonus entirely in cryptocurrency.
Lawrence joins a list of elite NFL players with deals with Fanatics, including Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Jerry Rice, Joe Montana and Charles Woodson. NBA player Zion Williamson, MLB player Pete Alonso and WNBA player Sabrina Ionescu are also part of the company.
"I'm really excited to be joining the Fanatics team, especially since they are based here in Jacksonville," Lawrence said in a statement. "Fanatics is the most trusted brand in the industry and together we get to give fans even more access to the game through memorabilia and exclusive signed items."
Warren Buffett (L), CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger attend the 2019 annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, May 3, 2019.
Johannes Eisele | AFP | Getty Images
Warren Buffett will kick off Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting this Saturday riding high, with shares of the conglomerate at a record and its myriad of operating businesses and equity investments primed to benefit from the U.S. economy reopening from the pandemic.
The event will be held virtually without attendees for a second time because of Covid-19. This year, however, the 90-year-old Buffett is taking the meeting to Los Angeles so he can be by 97-year-old Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger's side once again. Munger resides in Los Angeles and missed the last annual meeting due to travel restrictions. It will be the first time that the annual meeting will take place outside of Omaha, Nebraska.
While "Woodstock for Capitalists" will be missing the capitalists once again, the tone of the meeting may more likely resemble the meetings of old with shareholders clamoring for Buffett's outlook on the world following an unprecedented year.
"I hope there would be a pretty sharp contrast in the overall demeanor of the folks at Berkshire," said Cathy Seifert, a Berkshire analyst at CFRA Research. "Last year, there was a degree of an alarm just because this was an event that was very difficult to price. It was kind of written all over his face. This annual meeting, the tone from an underlying operational perspective should be more relaxed."
Berkshire's other vice chairmen, Ajit Jain and Greg Abel, will also be on hand to answer questions during the 3½-hour event. Berkshire's B shares were up more than 1% on the week, bringing their 12-month gain to more than 47%.
Here are some of the big topics shareholders will want answers on:
Airlines: His thoughts on the industry after revealing at last year's meeting he sold his entire stake (with the shares then subsequently roaring back)
Deploying the $138 billion cash pile: Why he's been buying back a record amount of Berkshire's stock instead of making one large acquisition and what his plan is going forward
Market outlook: His thoughts on the stock market's overall valuation following the pandemic comeback
Bubbles?: Cryptocurrencies and the other possible market manias that have popped up amid the huge rush of retail investors into markets
Life after Buffett and Munger: Berkshire's succession plan
"The world has changed for the airlines. And I don't know how it's changed and I hope it corrects itself in a reasonably prompt way," Buffett said at the time. "I don't know if Americans have now changed their habits or will change their habits because of the extended period."
The sale conveyed a pessimistic view on the industry from the legendary buy-and-hold investor. Many Buffett watchers were left disappointed, however, as shares of those carriers soon embarked on an epic rebound, rallying triple digits from 2020 lows. Even former President Donald Trump weighed in on the trade back then, saying that Buffett has been right "his whole life" but made a mistake selling airlines.
"He might acknowledge that the velocity of this recovery was greater than anticipated," CFRA's Seifert said. "The airline disposal may have been a function of their belief that what's going on in the airline industry may be secular and not cyclical. That's the one fine distinction that investors may want him to make."
While airline stocks have rebounded drastically over the past year, many argue that the industry may have indeed changed fundamentally due to the economic fallout and the road to a full recovery remains bumpy. United Airlines said this month that business and international travel recovery is still far off even as the economy continues to reopen.
"He may still be right about the airline industry with travel coming back slowly and there being too many planes," Edward Jones analyst James Shanahan said. "Arguably he could still be right about that, but he's certainly wrong on the stocks."
New stock moves
Berkshire bought back a record of $24.7 billion in its own shares last year. Buffett also did some bargain-hunting amid the market comeback, taking sizable positions in big dividend payers Chevron and Verizon.
Apple was still the conglomerate's biggest common stock investment as of the end of 2020. Buffett's conglomerate also appeared to dial back its exposure to financials. Berkshire exited its JPMorgan Chase and PNC Financial positions at the end of last year, while cutting the Wells Fargo stake was cut by nearly 60%.
"When you think about the legacy of Berkshire Hathaway and all the operating businesses, including railroads, manufacturing, retail, utilities, it's all old economy type companies," Shanahan said. "The way the portfolio is comprised now after the selling of airline stocks and selling of the financial stocks, together with huge performance in Apple, it looks a lot more new economy now."
Shanahan estimated that Berkshire bought back another $5 billion of its own shares in the first quarter, based on proxy filings.
'Elephant-sized' deal?
The conglomerate was still sitting on a huge cash war chest with more than $138 billion at the end of 2020. Buffett has yet to make the "elephant-sized acquisition" he's been touting for years. At last year's meeting, the legendary investor gave a simple reason for his inaction.
"We have not done anything because we haven't seen anything that attractive," Buffett said. "We are not doing anything big, obviously. We are willing to do something very big. I mean you could come to me on Monday morning with something that involved $30, or $40 billion or $50 billion. And if we really like what we are seeing, we would do it."
The deal-making environment has only become all the more competitive over the past year with the meteoric rise of SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies. More than 500 blank-check deals with over $138 billion funds are seeking their target companies currently, according to SPAC Research.
"This is a significant company with a significant cash position. Investors have the right to know what they intend to deploy the cash," Seifert said. "They are entitled to have more than just an excuse. Investors are going to start to grow a bit weary if it's just the same old story. But the stock has recovered nicely, so they are not going to be grumbling too much."
Succession
When it comes to a concrete succession plan, shareholders might not get much more from Buffett and Munger even though they are now both nonagenarians.
Abel, vice chairman of noninsurance operations at Berkshire, is seen as a top contender as Buffett's successor.
"I do not expect him to talk about succession in any more detail than he already had," Shanahan said. "Elevating the status of Abel and Jain to the roles of vice chairmen and having them available and participating in annual meeting speaks volume. I don't think he necessarily has to say more than that."
Enjoyed this article?
For exclusive stock picks, investment ideas and CNBC global livestream
Sign up for CNBC Pro
Start your free trial now
“For #Covid vaccines, shingles and even more dangerous and painful skin conditions may be the new thrombocytopenia”
Alex Berenson in a Facebook post, April 19
Posts are showing up all over social media tying covid-19 vaccinations to shingles and other painful skin disorders.
The source of one such post was Alex Berenson, an author and vaccine critic whose posts are sometimes cited for misinformation.
Berenson posted — first on Twitter, which then found its way to Facebook — a photo of a man covered in a severe rash. The man, according to the post, blamed the skin outbreak on a covid vaccination he had weeks earlier. The post also included unsubstantiated information purported to be from the man’s doctors, indicating a likely diagnosis of a type of rash usually triggered by medications or infections, such as herpes simplex. It led Berenson to draw the conclusion that “for #Covid vaccines, shingles and even more dangerous and painful skin conditions may be the new thrombocytopenia.” That is a reference to a low blood platelet condition reported among some people who experienced blood clots after getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its news feed. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with Facebook.)
Without more information, it’s impossible to know whether the picture was as described, or what might have led to the man’s condition. We reached out to Berenson by email, but he did not respond. However, in a related Twitter thread, Berenson went on to discuss a study conducted in Israel that looked at six shingles cases occurring post-vaccination in a group of about 500 people with immune disorders.
The small Israeli study drew wide attention on social media and other outlets, and currently is the most-read article in the British Medical Journal’s Rheumatology. Some outlets, including the New York Post, ran stories on its findings, often with misleading headlines.
That got us wondering: How strong is the science behind this connection?
First, a Little Background
Shingles, also called herpes zoster, occurs in people who had chickenpox, a virus that causes itchy blisters. (Shingles can be prevented by the two-dose Shingrix vaccine.)
After a person recovers from chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus that causes it can lie dormant in the body, and then reactivate years or decades later in the form of shingles. Both are part of the herpes virus family, which includes herpes simplex Types 1 and 2.
Type 1 commonly causes “cold” sores around the mouth and lips and is spread by kissing or sharing things like toothbrushes. Type 2 can cause genital herpes, which is spread via sexual contact.
Among the things that can reactivate these dormant herpes viruses are stress, drugs that suppress the immune system or simply aging.
Now, Back to Those Social Media Posts
Neither the picture of the man with a rash or the findings of the small study in Israel prove cause and effect. In other words, just because a rash follows a vaccine by days or weeks does not mean the vaccine caused the rash.
Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said it’s natural for people to link events that occur within a short span of time, but he stressed it doesn’t prove causality.
“Just because B follows A doesn’t mean A causes B,” he said.
In considering whether there are links between a treatment and a side effect, researchers often follow two large groups of similar people, one group getting a particular medication or vaccine, the other not. If the vaccinated or medicated individuals experience a side effect at a greater rate than those not treated, there may be a connection.
Safety is also monitored by tracking data on reported side effects.
In the United States, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System includes unverified reports from patients, doctors and others about possible illnesses or symptoms that occur following immunizations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention watches those reports.
“So far, the data indicates that shingles and herpes are not occurring at an increased rate in the vaccinated population,” said Schaffner, who encourages people who get a rash of any kind — or shingles — following vaccination to report it through that system.
But What About That Israeli Study?
Even its authors said it was not designed to find a cause and effect.
Instead, the study followed 491 people — all of whom were being treated for underlying autoimmune inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, making them more susceptible to shingles in general.
Out of those, six women ages 36 to 61 developed shingles in the days and weeks after they received the Pfizer vaccination, for a prevalence rate of 1.2%.
The researchers noted in their article that vaccine-related reactivation of shingles has been seen with other vaccines, such as those for influenza, hepatitis A and rabies. But there were no reports of herpes-related rashes in the clinical trials for covid-19 vaccines.
In the study, most of the cases were mild, five occurred after the first dose, and all five of those women went on to have their second dose with no additional adverse effects. The researchers said their observations cannot prove causality but should prompt “further vigilance and safety monitoring of COVID-19 vaccination side effects.”
Some media outlets, including the New York Post, ran headlines such as “Herpes Infection Possibly Linked to Covid-19, Study Says.”
That’s simply “clickbait,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
No one is getting infected with herpes from vaccinations, he said. “What the anti-vax community is doing is giving the impression that vaccinations are giving people herpes, which is simply not true.”
Adalja objects to the headline and effort to scare people, but he also said it is plausible, if yet unproven, that vaccination could reactivate an existing herpes zoster virus.
Other types of rashes and injection-site redness have certainly been reported by people who have received a covid-19 vaccine.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, for example, reported on a group of 12 patients who had rashes that appeared four to 11 days after getting their first dose of the Moderna vaccine. Ice and antihistamines were used to treat most of the patients, half of whom experienced a rash again after the second shot.
And there have been reports on social media and in the press of people reporting similar rashes following vaccination. Still, experts say those rashes may simply be a sign that the immune system is working.
Such rashes are “pretty innocuous and easily treated,” said Adalja.
Our Ruling
An online post claims the covid-19 vaccines cause shingles or other dangerous skin conditions.
Although it contains a sliver of truth, it ignores important information. For instance, the evidence to date indicates this is an area to continue monitoring, but no direct link has been established between covid vaccination and shingles or other serious skin conditions.
The study cited was not intended to prove cause and effect, and it was looking at patients who already had suppressed immune systems that made them more likely to get shingles whether they had a vaccination or not.
We rate this statement Mostly False.
Sources:
Telephone interview with Dr. William Schaffner, professor of medicine, division of infectious diseases, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, April 23, 2021
Telephone interview with Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, April 23, 2021
Fragile X syndrome involves changes in the X chromosome, as pictured in the four columns of chromosomes starting on the left. The fifth column, on the far right, shows two normal X chromosomes.
An experimental drug intended for Alzheimer's patients seems to improve both language and learning in adults with Fragile X syndrome.
The drug, called BPN14770, increased cognitive scores by about 10% in 30 adult males after 12 weeks, a team reports in the journal Nature Medicine.
That is enough to change the lives of many people with Fragile X, says Mark Gurney, CEO of Tetra Therapeutics, developer of the medicine.
"People with Fragile X with an IQ of 40 are typically living with their parents or in an institutional setting," Gurney says. "With an IQ of 50, in some cases they're able to ride the bus, they're able to hold a job with some assistance and they're able to function better in their community."
But it will take a much larger study to know whether the drug is as good as it seems, says Mark Bear, Picower professor of neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"This study is certainly not definitive, but it's encouraging," he says.
Fragile X syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects about 1 in 4,000 males and a smaller proportion of females. It is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disabilities and autism.
The idea of treating Fragile X with an Alzheimer's drug came from Gurney after he learned that both conditions affect a substance called cyclic AMP that helps transmit messages inside cells.
Tetra had been developing BPN14770 as an Alzheimer's drug that worked by manipulating cyclic AMP, "so we thought there was a strong possibility that this drug might be effective in Fragile X," Gurney says.
He contacted FRAXA, a foundation that has been funding research on the disorder since the mid-1990s. The foundation arranged to have Tetra's drug tested in animals; then it agreed to fund the study in people.
The apparent success comes seven years after two other promising drugs for Fragile X did not pan out when tested in people.
The positive result "makes up for some of the devastation of years ago when we had such high-profile failures," says Katie Clapp, one of FRAXA's founders.
Clapp says the results also give her new hope for her son Andy Tranfaglia, who is 31 and has Fragile X syndrome.
"The incredible thing about the results of this trial are that they were able to show that learning improved," Clapp says.
In some previous studies, drugs that produced dramatic results in mice failed to act the same way in people, says Dr. Michael Tranfaglia, who is Clapp's husband and a co-founder of FRAXA.
With BNP14770, "we saw an almost perfect translation of these findings we saw in the mice into the human condition," he says.
At least one promising drug candidate may have failed because people developed a tolerance to it, Tranfaglia says.
"The one thing we know with [BPN14770] is that the longer you're on it, the better you do," he says. "It just keeps on working better and better."
If the new drug's effectiveness is confirmed in adults, it is likely to be even more successful in children, Bear says.
"Fragile X can be conceptualized as a derailment of normal brain maturation," Bear says. "So the earlier we can get in there and correct the course of development, the more dramatic will be the improvement."
Tetra Therapeutics is working with its parent company, Japanese drugmaker Shionogi, to launch a much larger study of the new drug this summer.
Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow recently worked out with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a tight end, the team said on Thursday.
Tebow had reached out to the team and requested a tryout, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. Switching to tight end, according to some, might have extended his NFL career.
"[Tebow] worked out as a tight end and that's the position he'll be playing," Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said after the NFL draft on Thursday. "Right now where it stands, we're going to get through the draft. Our whole focus, quite honestly, has been on the draft and we'll worry about that when the draft is over."
Tebow played at Florida under current Jaguars coach Urban Meyer from 2006 through 2009.
Tebow, 33, hasn't played in the league since 2012 with the Jets. He appeared in 12 games, making two starts at QB.
The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner played three seasons in the NFL, two with Denver. His best season was in 2011, when he played in 14 games, going 7-4 in 11 starts to lead the Broncos to the playoffs. He was a dual threat, rushing for 660 yards that season.
He also had a look from the Patriots in 2013 and the Eagles in 2015 but never stuck with those teams.
After his football career, Tebow attempted to make it in professional baseball as an outfielder with the New York Mets organization. From 2016 to '19, he played in the minor leagues, making it as high as Triple-A.
In 2020, he went to spring training but did not play during the season. He announced his retirement from baseball in February.
JENNINGS — A long-time Jennings educator is being recognized for the lasting impact she has had on her students, school and parents.
Pauline Bourne, a kindergarten teacher at James Ward Elementary School, is among the 10 finalists for the Top Teacher award announced Tuesday by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest on the “Live with Kelly and Ryan” show.
“It’s an honor to be nominated, but I’m not one to be in the limelight,” Bourne said.
The public can vote on the top teachers until noon Thursday on-line at www.KellyandRyan.com. A link is also available on the school’s Facebook page. Voters can cast votes daily until the contest is closed. The four finalists will be featured on “Live with Kelly and Ryan” next week. The grand prize winner will be announced on May 7.
The winner will receive a grand prize of $10,000, plus the show is teaming up with Sonic Drive-In to award an additional $10,000 to use on the national education non-profit site DonorsChose to fund learning supplies for the classroom.
“Mrs. Bourne has been a staple at James Ward Elementary and Jennings, La,” school counselor Allyson Schexnayder wrote in nominating Bourne. “During this time, she has molded the lives of generations of students. She is compassionate and has a true love of teaching.”
Education was not Bourne’s first career choice. She was in nursing for three years, then decided that was not what she wanted, so she went into education. She’s never looked back in her 35 years of teaching.
“At first I did not want to teach kindergarten, but once I got into it I fell in love with it,” Bourne said. “I just love seeing the excitement on the kids’ faces. When kids tell you everyday they love you and write you little love notes, it’s worth it.”
“It just keeps you going knowing that you are making a difference in so many kids life,” she continued. “Sometimes you don’t know that until years later. I’ll meet kids that I am teaching their kids now and they’ll say, ‘I remember eating the green eggs and drinking the green milk and the crawfish races that we did. It’s the little things like that they remember.”
It was also teaching and her students that kept Bourne’s going after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Teaching is what got me through it,” she said. “I knew I had a reason to come to school and work everyday. I am not one to just stay home, which is why I’m not retired yet.”
She scheduled her chemotherapy and radiation treatments after school on Thursdays so she would have the weekend to recover.
“My doctor knew from the beginning I was willing to go through all of that but I would not miss school for it,” she said.
She has now been cancer free for nearly three years.
Principal Tanya Gaudet said Bourne is a mentor for her students, their parents and other educators.
“We call her Mama Bear in the office because not only does she teach the students, but she’s teaching the parents,” Gaudet said. “If their child is absent, she’s calling or texting to find out what is wrong, when will they be back and if someone is coming to get their work. She raises the bar and holds parents to higher expectations all for the betterment of their child.”
“When you hold the kids and the parents to that level they will raise to that expectation she haa set for them,” Gaudet continued. “She makes the parents work with their kids at home and sends home a very detailed plan for them to use of how they can help their kids at home.”
One of Bourne’s students was hospitalized this year with an infection and lost both legs. Bourne helped the student keep up with his studies and had the class make cards and write letters to him. When the student returned to school, she had signs and balloons decorating the school to welcome him back.
“We were anxious to get him back to school so he could kind of catch up with us.” Bourne said.
“Mrs. Bourne treats all the kids the same and that has spilled over into the kids that she teaches,” Gaudet said. “They have learned that he is a kid just like them and I think by her modeling that kind of behavior with her students they have picked on that and the respect and making him feels like he belongs.”
With baseball season around the corner, many Greenvillians may be thinking of a trip to watch the Drive play at Flour Field. But the Miracle League wants you to know there’s more to the local baseball scene than just that.
The Miracle League — an organization committed to giving children with disabilities a chance to play ball — opened its first field in 2000 in Conyers, Georgia, and has grown to 325 fields across the United States and Puerto Rico and into three other countries including Canada, Australia and Mexico. The organization has 17 fields in South Carolina, with two in Greenville County, said Miracle League Corporate president Diane Alford.
The first Greenville County Miracle League field opened in 2005 at 203 Corn Road in Mauldin after former Mauldin Mayor Dennis Raines learned about the league at a meeting.
“Back in 2004, I was in a meeting of a start-up company in Greenville and they had Diane Alford in there,” Raines said. “She did a video presentation at the time of the field they opened in Conyers. We [Mauldin] had the only field, I believe, for wheelchair-bound adult softball in the state and it was an asphalt surface.”
According to Raines, he told Alford the city could get a field going quickly and took her to the location. At the time, they had everything ready except the safety surface, which is constructed of recycled tires.
The first season started with 26 children and has grown to offer two divisions for players 3 years old and up. The All Stars Division allows players to hit from a tee or a pitched ball and play with a buddy, while the All-Americans Division, for ages 8 and up, plays unassisted.
Mauldin teams play from March to May and again from September to October. Its Miracle League typically works with buddies from the community, including Mauldin and Hillcrest high schools and Brookwood Church, said Miracle League volunteer and board member Sandy Somerville.
“This year’s kind of different because of COVID-19,” Somerville said. “Parents are volunteering instead of school groups to help the kids bat and run around the bases.”
In addition, the Mauldin team’s oldest player is 39 and this league does not have an age cutoff, said Somerville.
Joining Mauldin in the Miracle League family is Fountain Inn. The city decided to add the field as part of its multimillion dollar facility called the Emmanuel Sullivan Sports Complex, formerly known as Woodside Park.
“The planning started in May 2016, that started off quite simple [with] three ballfields, a small playground, more parking, an ADA-compliant bathroom facility and a multi-purpose field,” said Fountain Inn Parks and Recreation director Russell Haltiwanger. “As meetings became more frequent, the reality set in that this was really going to happen – it had been needed for quite a long time. One idea that was presented was adding a Miracle League field. The original plan called for a combination of dirt/grass T-Ball field. Adding a Miracle League field would then restructure the project to focus on ‘inclusive play.’”
With a focus on “inclusive play,” defined as going beyond minimum accessibility to create play experiences that meet a variety of needs and interests, Fountain Inn added Miracle League to the complex and plans to launch its teams with tentative open houses on June 24 and July 8.
“Our plan is to have two ‘open houses’ during the summer for participants to come out and ask questions, engage with other players and Fountain Inn Recreation staff, to get a feel for the field and become comfortable with their surroundings,” Haltiwanger said. “During these dates we will take registrations and start to establish what exactly our league will look like. The plan is to start practices in mid-August and then league play beginning in September.”
Similar to Mauldin, Fountain Inn will be working with volunteers from the community for the buddy system to be paired with players in its Miracle League. In addition, the city plans to open registration to children 4 years old and up.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Now that the Jacksonville Jaguars have their quarterback, their priority should be adding players around him.
But as tempting as it is to load up on weapons for Trevor Lawrence in the NFL draft (April 29-May 1, ESPN/ESPN App) -- especially with their next four picks through the third round -- the Jaguars have to make defense the priority.
The Jaguars have some talented offensive players on the roster already, especially after the addition of receiver Marvin Jones Jr., and if Lawrence is as good as everyone believes, the Jaguars shouldn't have too many problems moving the ball and scoring points. However, history has shown even quarterbacks taken first overall need plenty of help to succeed, including on defense.
The Jaguars' defense was a massive issue in 2020, which is why seven of the 13 players coach Urban Meyer and general manager Trent Baalke added in March and April were defensive players. That includes five new starters: cornerback Shaquill Griffin, safety Rayshawn Jenkins, defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris, defensive end Jihad Ward and nose tackle Malcom Brown.
That's a good start, but it's not enough.
Lost with all the attention going to securing the first overall pick and Lawrence was this: The 2020 Jaguars defense was the worst in franchise history. No Jaguars defense has given up more yards (6,683) or points (492) than last year's unit -- and those numbers blew away the previous highs by a significant margin.
The 2012 defense gave up 6,088 yards, and the 2013 defense gave up 449 points. The 2020 defense was 595 yards and 43 points worse.
The unit needs a complete overhaul and not only because the team is switching to a 3-4 base defense under coordinator Joe Cullen. Meyer said you build your team around a solid defensive line, so while the addition of Robertson-Harris, Ward and Brown help, that's a position group that relies heavily on rotations.
The Jaguars also need more edge players, because they've got exactly one proven pass-rusher on the roster: Josh Allen, who had 10 sacks and made the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2019. However, he battled a knee injury last season and had 2.5 sacks in eight games. K'Lavon Chaisson, the 20th overall pick last season, struggled in his conversion to defensive end and had one sack in 16 games. The hope is the move to outside linebacker, which he played at LSU, will help him make an impact.
The secondary is in better shape with the addition of Griffin and Jenkins, but the Jaguars need cornerback C.J. Henderson, the ninth overall pick in 2020, to be more consistent than he was last season. Adding a playmaker at free safety and finding a nickelback would help.
The Jaguars certainly could use more playmakers on offense, starting with a pass-catching tight end. Meyer would like to add more speed at receiver and running back, but Phillip Dorsett II was signed to help there and Jones isn't exactly a plodder, either. Plus, DJ Chark Jr. was a 1,000-yard receiver in 2019, and second-year player Laviska Shenault Jr. is intriguing. James Robinson ran for 1,000 yards as an undrafted rookie last season, and the Jaguars brought in Carlos Hyde. There has to be some thought as to what the offensive line will look like beyond 2021, too.
However, the Jags have much more proven talent on offense than on defense. This doesn't mean the Jaguars should take defensive players with each of their next four picks, but their primary focus should be on that side of the ball the rest of the draft.
The New England Patriots selected quarterback Mac Jones with the 15th pick in the NFL draft on Thursday night, hoping they've found their franchise signal-caller one season after Tom Brady's free-agent departure.
The Patriots entered Thursday not knowing if they would have a chance at Jones, who had been widely rumored to be a top candidate for the San Francisco 49ers with the third overall pick. But when the 49ers selected North Dakota State's Trey Lance, it opened the door for a Jones-Patriots pairing, especially after the Chicago Bears traded up to No. 11 to select Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields.
Jones was asked on the ESPN broadcast what the roller coaster was like as he had to wait until No. 15 to be selected.
"It was fine. I mean, you just sit around and wait and I'm just so blessed to be a part of a great organization, and it's not really where you get picked -- it's what you do with the opportunity and that's what [Alabama] Coach [Nick] Saban told me, so I'm just gonna follow that," he said.
Later, in a videoconference with reporters, Jones said the Patriots were the team he "secretly" wanted to be selected by.
"At the end of the day, you kind of want to get the right fit. I feel like, secretly, I really wanted to go to the Patriots all along. So I'm actually really happy it happened," he said.
The Patriots, who went 7-9 last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008, have returning starter Cam Newton, 2019 fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham and practice-squad player Jake Dolegala at quarterback.
Head coach Bill Belichick addressed the team's quarterback situation, saying, "Cam's our quarterback. Whatever time Jarrett or Mac are ready to challenge and compete, then we'll see how that goes."
Jones said Newton earned the respect of his teammates in New England by being voted a captain, and added that he had enjoyed watching Stidham at Auburn. He said both will be role models to him, adding, "I'm just going to go behind them, and learn how they did it."
Of Newton, he said: "It's his show, and I'm just there to support him and help out the team in whatever way I can."
Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels attended Jones' second pro day in Alabama on March 30. Jones likely came with a high recommendation from Saban, who is one of Belichick's closest friends and trusted confidants.
The 6-foot-2 and 217-pound Jones entered the draft after his redshirt junior season, and he didn't make his first career start until late in 2019 when Tua Tagovailoa was injured. He then beat out five-star freshman Bryce Young for the starting job in the summer of 2020, going on to throw for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns to help Alabama win the CFP national championship.
Jones played his best in the highest-stakes game, going 36-of-45 for 464 yards and five touchdowns in the title game against Ohio State. That set career highs for completions, attempts and passing yards.
Jones, whose accuracy and decision-making are considered top assets, totaled just four interceptions last season while completing 77.4% of his passes (an NCAA single-season record). He was one of Alabama's permanent captains in 2020. He graduated in three years with a 4.0 GPA in business communications and earned a master's degree in sports hospitality.
The Patriots selected quarterback Tony Eason with the 15th pick in the 1983 draft. Eason, Dwayne Haskins (2019, Washington) and Marc Wilson (1980, Raiders) are the only other quarterbacks to be selected in that slot.
The Philadelphia Eagles moved from the No. 12 pick to No. 10 in a trade with the rival Dallas Cowboys and selected Alabama receiver and Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith on Thursday night in the 2021 NFL draft.
Thwarted in their bids to take a cornerback, the Cowboys traded their 10th pick and got back the 12th pick as well as the Eagles' third-round pick. The Cowboys were high on cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain, who went to Carolina and Denver at Nos. 8 and 9, respectively.
Dallas selected Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons with the 12th pick.
"Really excited to get DeVonta Smith," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said. "He was really highly rated on our board, someone who we feel like is not only a great player but a great person and will come in and be ready to roll. We talked about it through this draft process, about getting guys in here who could help us build the type of culture we want. We had a plan that we talked about, and we had a list of guys that we were really targeting in this draft. And with the amount of picks that we had, the flexibility we had because of the picks, we felt like it was important to get one of those guys, and that's why we made the trade up to go get him."
Smith said he'll be ready to prove the Eagles made the right move trading up for him.
"Them moving up means that they see something in me that they want, and I'm excited for it," he said. "They're getting a guy who's going to come in everyday and work hard, and I'm ready."
Smith led the NCAA in receptions (117), receiving yards (1,856) and receiving TDs (23) en route to winning the Heisman Trophy in 2020. Still, he was the third receiver selected in the draft behind LSU's Ja'Marr Chase and Alabama teammate Jaylen Waddle due in part to concerns over his weight. He reportedly weighed in at 166 pounds during his medical check-in at the NFL combine earlier this month in Indianapolis.
"Good players come in all shapes and sizes, and so we're not going to discriminate based on any of those things," general manager Howie Roseman said during his pre-draft process when asked about non-prototypical receivers.
The Eagles have spent first-round picks on the receiver position in back-to-back years, selecting TCU's Jalen Reagor last April.
Parsons, who opted out last season, had 192 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, six forced fumbles and five pass deflections in 26 career games (13 starts).
It is the sixth draft-day trade the Cowboys and Eagles have consummated since 1989.
"When you trade in the division, you understand that you're not gonna get any values to that. It's gonna have to work for them, as well," Roseman said.
"They got who they wanted, and we got who we wanted," he added. "It's always been a good relationship. It's respect for their organization, and certainly, Mr. Jones, Jerry, and Stephen, we have a lot of respect for them, as well, competing against them."
After two strong performances in a row, the Trappers are back to their winning ways. Northwest College men’s soccer took down Central Wyoming (4-2) and Northeastern Junior College (1-0) last week, improving to 3-2 on the season.
Against the Rustlers on April 21, NWC got off to a quick start when Tumekie Blackwood scored in the third minute. Just 10 minutes later, Thomas Mullen found the back of the net, extending the lead to 2-0.
Haruki Yamazaki notched a goal on a penalty kick, once again giving his squad the lead in the 62nd minute. And a few minutes later, forward Vladimir Sennikov got on the score sheet, thanks to a mishandled play from CWC’s keeper.
But in the match’s late stages, CWC made it interesting. Rustlers Ryley Duckworth and Benjamin Nelson both scored, shrinking Northwest’s lead to 4-2.
NWC still escaped with the two-goal victory, but the squad wasn’t able to fulfill its goal of holding CWC scoreless.
“Our effort dropped off a bit in the second half,” head coach Rob Hill said. “We conceded two sloppy goals. I would’ve rather us not scored those last two goals and keep a clean sheet.”
A couple days later, the Trappers played a Saturday afternoon contest against NJC. Much of the game was a stalemate, with both teams playing exceptional defense.
With a few minutes left in the first half, NWC broke the scoreless spell. Yamazaki dribbled past a few defenders and netted a goal with his left foot, assisted by Taiga Tanabe, to give his squad a 1-0 advantage.
“It was a great shot and beautifully set up,” Hill said.
Northwest continued its defensive success from the first half to sustain its lead and earn its third win of the season.
The coach noted his midfield group — Yamazaki, Tanabe and Orlin Castro Hernandez — as players who stood out and a key factor to earning a win over a quality team.
“They were outstanding and NJC couldn’t handle them,” Hill said. “They were too clever, and we did a good job of containing them.”
The road contest against NJC required a 10-hour bus trip to Sterling, Colorado, for the Trappers, but that didn’t phase them. They were still able to prevail and play some of their best soccer of the season, not allowing a goal.
“To me, that’s the most important thing, keeping a clean sheet,” Hill said. “It was a very good win on the road.”
Now 3-2, the Trappers sit fourth in the NJCAA Region IX standings. They face off against Western Nebraska and Laramie County this weekend, playing matches on Friday and Saturday.
Two road wins would greatly increase NWC’s chances of hosting a Region IX postseason match.
“These games are huge and a big factor on if we host at home or not,” Hill said. “It’s very, very hard to go on the road in a first-round playoff game and perform, so it’s very important that we come out and try to get these wins.”
Northwest 4, Central Wyoming 2
Goals — Tumekie Blackwood 1, Thomas Mullen 1, Haruki Yamazaki 1, Vladimir Sennikov 1;
Assists — David Perez Rubio 1, Martin Gonzales-Gutierrez 1;
The Princeton Council voted unanimously on Monday night to approve an ordinance authorizing a payment in lieu of taxes financial agreement with apartment developer AvalonBay for a new 220-apartment complex that will be build at Thanet Circle. The development will include 11 affordable apartment units.
AvalonBay entered into a contract to puchase 100 and 101 Thanet, a former 110,000-square-foot office site, in 2019. AvalonBay will subdivide a 2.5-acre parcel at the 15-acre site and give it to Princeton for an age-restricted affordable housing development.
Under the PILOT agreement, AvalonBay will be exempt from paying taxes for the land and the improvements for 30 years. AvalonBay will instead pay the town an “annual service charge” or payment in lieu of taxes. In New Jersey, PILOT payments go into municipal coffers, with five percent going to the county, and no funding going to the school district. The municipality can choose to give the school district a portion of the PILOT payments.
For the first 10 years of the agreement, AvalonBay will pay the municipality an annual service charge of 11% of annual gross revenue.
For the following five years, the annual payment will be equal to 11% of annual gross revenue or 20% percent of the amount of the taxes otherwise due on the value of the property and the Improvements, whichever is greater.
For the following five years after that, the annual payment will be equal to 11% of annual gross revenue or 40% percent of the amount of the taxes otherwise due on the value of the property and the Improvements, whichever is greater.
From the first day after the twentieth anniversary of the annual service charge, the annual payment will be equal to 11% of annual gross revenue or 60% percent of the amount of the taxes otherwise due on the value of the property and the Improvements, whichever is greater.
For the final five years of the 30-year agreement, the annual payment will be equal to 11% of annual gross revenue or 80% percent of the amount of the taxes otherwise due on the value of the property and the Improvements, whichever is greater.
According to property tax records, AvalonBay paid $1.6 million in property taxes in 2020 for the company’s apartment complex on Witherspoon Street, which is a 9-acre site that includes 280 units. Fifty-six of the units are affordable.
In the February 2020 application for tax exemption, AvalonBay estimated that the annual gross revenue for the Thanet project would be about $7.3 million, with the annual revenue for each market-rate unit being $34,121. The estimated annual PILOT payment is $801,579.
Brazil on Thursday became the second country to pass 400,000 COVID-19 deaths after the United States, and experts warned the daily toll could remain high for several months due to slow vaccinations and loosening social restrictions.
Brazil on Thursday registered 3,001 new COVID-19 deaths, taking its total since the pandemic began to 401,186 fatalities, the Health Ministry said.
A brutal surge of coronavirus infections this year has pushed hospitals around the country to the brink of their capacities and led to 100,000 deaths in just over a month.
Brazil's COVID-19 deaths have fallen slightly from a peak of more than 4,000 in a single day in early April, prompting many local governments to ease lockdowns.
But infectious disease experts warned that this easing will keep deaths elevated for months as vaccines alone cannot be counted on to contain the virus. Two experts said they expect deaths to continue to average above 2,000 per day.
"Brazil will repeat the same mistake as last year," said epidemiologist Pedro Hallal, who led a national study on COVID-19.
"What will Brazil do now? Go back to easing restrictions and that will stabilize us at 2,000 deaths per day, as if 2,000 deaths from a single disease in one day is normal," he said.
India has recently surpassed Brazil in average daily deaths, although Brazil has a higher cumulative toll despite having a population one-sixth the size of India's.
The surge in infections is being driven by the P.1 coronavirus variant discovered in Brazil that is believed to be 2.5 times more contagious that the original version.
The vaccine rollout, with only about 13% of people having received one shot to date, has not been enough to contain the spread without social restrictions, said Diego Xavier, a researcher at government health institute Fiocruz.
He also predicted more than 2,000 deaths per day would become the norm without a major acceleration in vaccinations, as has been seen in countries like the United States.
The experts blamed the death toll on the failure of government - from President Jair Bolsonaro to many state governors and mayors - to launch a strong enough response to the pandemic.
"We have reached this number of 400,000 deaths mainly because of the managerial incompetence of this government, led by the president," said Jamal Suleiman, a doctor at the Emilio Ribas Infectology Institute.
Bolsonaro has downplayed the severity of the virus since the beginning, opposed strict lockdown measures, failed to strongly endorse masks and only recently embraced vaccines.
The vaccination campaign has faltered with the Health Ministry over the weekend saying that 30% fewer vaccines were received than expected in January to April.
Many municipalities have run out of vaccines and cannot administer second shots as planned, while others have seen long lines as many people fear supplies will not last.
Bolsonaro insists the country must get back to business as usual, arguing that the economic hardship for Brazilians is equally as bad as the pandemic itself.
The Senate this week launched a special committee investigating possible wrongdoing in the government's pandemic response, promising to call current and former top officials in Bolsonaro's administration to testify.
