Hundreds of Cambridge sixth-graders flocked to the Harvard Museum of Natural History (HMNH) last week, exploring what Wendy Derjue-Holzer, the museum’s education director, called the great “lab” of Cambridge Public Schools.While preparing a 12-week geology unit for the city’s sixth-graders, public school officials enhanced the in-class curriculum by collaborating with the HMNH to build a broad-based program.“The fossil sets we had in the classroom last year — little shells — just couldn’t compare to the large fossils here,” said David Suchy, a science teacher at Rindge Avenue Upper School. “There’s content, and then there’s inspiring kids to want to learn. Those big, inspiring fossils are right here at the museum.”Museum staff and school officials built a day of programming that included an hour-long class on New England’s prehistoric past, exploring the galleries, and closely examining fossils from the Cambrian and Triassic eras and the Pleistocene epoch.“HMNH is all about kids” in local schools, Suchy added. “It couldn’t be a better relationship. They’re very accommodating and always on board to help.”For Derjue-Holzer, the opportunity to bring classes into the museum is an opportunity to make strides in student learning.“The museum really is a lab for the schools,” she said. “When you’re here with your family, you’re here to explore. When you come with your class, you are coming here with a learning agenda. There are specific things that the museum, the teachers, and the schools want students to take away from the experience.“And obviously, they don’t have a Kronosaurus at their school,” she added with a smile, referring to the museum’s 42-foot-long prehistoric marine reptile, the only mounted example of its kind in the world.HMNH provides a wide range of options for educators, including classes for grades K-12, self-guided visits, after-school visits, and tailor-made programs.About 35,000 students and teachers visit the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture, which includes the HMNH, each year.“When they came to us, it meant that the museum was creating something that was really useful to them,” Derjue-Holzer said. “I’m a former teacher, so I know the school side of things. And for me, it’s really important for it to fit very closely with that curriculum. It’s wonderful to be able to work” with the Cambridge schools “to provide content for a very clear, curriculum-based purpose.”To learn more about additional partnerships Harvard has with local schools, visit Harvard Community Connections on the Web. read more

According to the Wegmans website, they said they would be donating 4 million dollars to help those who are at risk of hunger during the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement on their website they said, The food banks located in New York that Wegmans will be helping include the FoodLink Abundance Shared in Rochester, the Food Bank of Central New York in Syracuse, the Food Bank of the Southern Tier in Elmira, the Feedmore WNY in Buffalo, and City Harvest in New York City. “At times like these, everyone is called on to come together and support one another. One of our highest giving priorities is providing food for people at risk of hunger. The best way to do this is by supporting local food banks that can provide food directly to people in need. Given the unknown duration and overall impact of this crisis, Wegmans is donating $4 million spread across all our partner food banks. We will continue to support our partners and adapt as needed. ” (WBNG)-Wegmans has announced that they will be donating money to help its partner food banks. Other States with Wegmans stores that will be getting help include Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Virginia. For more on the coronavirus, click here. read more

The Austrian company HETA, together with the companies HETA Beteiligungen GmbH and, a member of MK Group, has signed an agreement on the sale of a 100% stake in all companies of the Skipper Group. Thus, the luxury hotel complex “Skiper Resort” in Istria since yesterday is part of Istrian Hotels doo, a member of the holding company MK Group, a leader in the field of tourism, agriculture and banking.Kompanija ISTRIAN HOTELS d.o.o. je članica MK grupe, koja posjeduje Grand Hotel & Spa **** i Angella Hotel & Residence – Konaci Sunčevi vrhovi **** na Kopaoniku, 88 Rooms Hotel u Beogradu i Hotel Kempinski palas u Portorožu, dostavila je najbolju ponudu na međunarodnom natječaju za kupovinu ovog luksuznog kompleksa na Jadranu. Pored toga, MK grupa je manjinski vlasnik grupe Budvanska Rivijera Hotel u Crnoj Gori i ima 30% akcija u Aerodormu u Portorožu.With this move, MK Group continues its investments in the entire region and its infrastructure with the aim of further popularizing it in the interest of Istrian tourism and all investors in the region. “As one of the leading hotel companies in the region, Istrian hotels, located within the MK Group, understands the importance of regional connectivity. We are a serious investor who has 7 4 and 5 star hotels in its portfolio, and by purchasing this prestigious hotel on the Croatian coast we will certainly raise the level of hotel and catering services even more. With the purchase of the prestigious Skiper Resort in Istria, where the Kempinski Adriatic 5-star hotel belongs, as well as the recent cooperation with the Sheraton hotel brand, we will further strengthen our market position and believe that this is a significant step towards creating a strong regional hotel company. which will connect businesses in the most attractive locations and complement each other with already existing links in the system“, izjavio je Nikola Avram, direktor grupacije hotela koje posluju u okviru MK sustava.After a successful cooperation with the Kempinski hotel chain, MK Group has established cooperation with the Sheraton hotel chain, a member of the Starwood Group, and plans to open the first Sheraton hotel in Serbia in January 2018. The current total accommodation capacity is 2500 seats, with a tendency to further increase in the coming period.By the way, Skiper Group companies are located in one of the most beautiful parts of the Croatian coast, by the sea, with a beautiful view of the Slovenian and Italian coasts. They own and manage accommodation and tourist facilities in Savurdija in Istria, including, among other things, a luxury hotel, unfurnished luxury villas and apartments and furnished apartments of middle and upper class. Within the Skiper Resort there is also the Kempinski residence, which offers 22 luxury villas. Each has its own pool and a spacious yard with plenty of vegetation which provides special privacy. In addition to accommodation, the complex has a private beach, a luxury spa and an 18-hole golf course and other sports and recreational facilities. read more

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That heightened alarm about the rapid spread of the pandemic and how it has paralyzed parts of the global economy and squeezed company revenue.Investors appear increasingly worried about how effectively policymakers will be able to mitigate the economic damage from the spreading virus.Stocks fell further late in the session as President Donald Trump urged Americans to halt most social activities for 15 days and not congregate in groups larger than 10 people, in a bold, new effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in the United States.“There’s nothing that can really give us a sense of when the full extent of the virus’ impact will be known,” said Jeffrey Kleintop, chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab. Trump also said the United States may be heading into a recession.Most market watchers at this point are bracing for the likelihood that the economy is headed for a recession, but they said it is too early to know the full extent of the economic downturn.Investors also are not yet convinced that all the rushed, panicked responses are gaining traction.Bars, restaurants, theaters and movie houses in New York and Los Angeles were ordered shut, and US states pleaded with the Trump administration to coordinate a national response to the outbreak.Nike Inc, Under Armour Inc and others said they would close stores in the United States and some other markets.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2,997.1 points, or 12.93 percent, to 20,188.52, the S&P 500 lost 324.89 points, or 11.98 percent, to 2,386.13. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 970.28 points, or 12.32 percent, to 6,904.59.The S&P 500 lost US$2.69 trillion in market capitalization for the day, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices, and the index is down 29.5 percent from its record high close on Feb. 19 and has lost $8.28 trillion in that time, based on S&P Dow Jones data.Trading on Wall Street’s three main stock indexes was halted for 15 minutes shortly after the open as the S&P 500 index plunged 8 percent, crossing the 7 percent threshold that triggers an automatic cutout.The real estate sector was the weakest out of the S&P 500’s 11 major sectors with a 16.5 percent dive, which was its deepest one-day percentage drop since 2009. The smallest loser was consumer staples which sank 7 percent on the day.The technology sector fell 13.9 percent, which was a record one-day decline for the sector that was the biggest driver of the bull market.The Cboe Volatility Index , known as “Wall Street’s fear gauge,” ended the session at 82.69, its highest ever closing level.Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group in Minneapolis, speaking of the VIX, said the market was in “full panic mode.”“Until comfort returns, panic kind of dies down, I think we are going to continue to have big moves,” he said.Despite the intense volatility, the markets should stay open, the head of the US securities regulator said, quashing speculation that the government might shut down the country’s exchanges to stop the plunge in stock prices.Lance Pan, director of investment research and strategy at Capital Advisors group in Newton Massachusetts, said that he was trying to calm clients on Monday and noted the extra problems people were having from working from home.“We’re flying blind and traders, even though they talk to each other, they may not see the body language, they have kids with them,” he said.Some 16.37 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges compared with the 13.51 billion average for the last 20 sessions.Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 14.68-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 11.64-to-1 ratio favored decliners.The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and 341 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded three new highs and 1,477 new lows. Wall Street suffered its biggest drop since the crash of 1987 on Monday after unprecedented steps taken by the Federal Reserve, lawmakers and the White House to slow the spread and blunt the economic hit of the coronavirus failed to restore order to markets.The S&P 500 tumbled 12 percent, closing at its lowest level since December 2018, despite the Fed’s surprise move late Sunday to cut interest rates to near zero, its second emergency rate cut in less than two weeks and ahead of a scheduled policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.It was the third-largest daily percentage drop on record, beaten only by the 1987 “Black Monday” rout and the crash of October 1929. Topics : read more

Governor Tom Wolf: Medicaid Block Grant Effort Could Cut Health Coverage for Children, Seniors, and Addiction Treatment January 23, 2017 SHARE Email Facebook Twitter Healthcare,  Human Services,  Medicaid Expansion,  National Issues,  Press Release,  Public Health,  Seniors Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf today said the federal government should not pursue a block grant program that would cut funding for Medicaid coverage for many hard-working Pennsylvanians and their families, including seniors getting nursing and home care, people with disabilities, children and those being treated for substance use disorder.“The current plan to replace the Affordable Care Act would cut health care for our most vulnerable residents, including children, seniors, and individuals suffering from opioid and heroin addiction,” Governor Wolf said. “This will have a devastating impact for many Pennsylvanians, and I will fight any attempt to cut coverage for hard-working families and seniors.”Shifting Medicaid to a block-grant program has emerged as part of a still unknown plan to follow the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A plan introduced in 2012 by the current Speaker of the House to block-grant Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) would lead to funding reductions of approximately one trillion dollars in just a decade, and impact services that could result in:Seniors and children losing their health insurance;Some of our most vulnerable Medicaid enrollees losing access to drug and alcohol treatment, which is essential in battling the opioid and heroin public health crisis that took over 3,500 lives in Pennsylvania in 2015;Nursing home care for Pennsylvania seniors put at risk;Closures of rural hospitals and put rural health care in danger.Governor Wolf has already contacted U.S. congressional leadership and Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation, warning of the impact on these populations and communities from a repeal of the Affordable Care Act.Pennsylvanians are encouraged to share their Medicaid stories with the Department of Human Services here.Like Governor Tom Wolf on Facebook: Facebook.com/GovernorWolf read more

According to McClelland, so far Tontine Trust has 10,500 people on its waiting list, most of whom are aged between 45 and 65. All of these come from Ireland, the UK or the US, where the company is planning to launch a separate product. The company aims to have registered its PEPP in 33 European countries by the end of 2021, but Van Meerten admits this is a “good weather scenario”.McClelland says he will focus on markets “with unsatisfactory pension products” or a lack of pension provision, but declined to name any specific countries.“We want to launch in a couple of markets first and after that I believe we can add multiple countries a month,” he said. ”The beauty of PEPP is that we do not need to register in separate countries. We just need to make sure our product is compliant with local tax codes.”Because some EU rules for the PEPP still need to be finalised – so-called delegated acts – it is expected that providers won’t be able to apply for PEPP licences before late 2021.TontinesMcClelland said his initiative takes aim at “inadequate and expensive” annuities offered by insurance companies. As an alternative, Tontine Trust pools the money its clients have reserved for retirement to protect against longevity risk.These so-called tontines, a concept invented by the Italian banker Lorenzo de Tonti in 1653, are similar to annuities: members will receive a fixed, life-long monthly payment for the rest of their lives. But the difference is that the members have insured the longevity risk among themselves.According to McClelland, this makes the product cheaper than an annuity while offering similar investment outcomes.“We will charge an all-in fee of 1%, and we don’t charge additional fees for switching to the decumulation phase as is the case with annuities,” he said.The fee being right at the 1% cap for the PEPP was a coincidence, according to McClelland.The final PEPP regulation stipulated a fee cap for the so-called Basic PEPP, the default option, of 1% of accumulated capital per annum, and a requirement for PEPP providers or distributors to provide advice, including a personalised recommendation, to customers. Asset managers and insurance companies have warned that with a 1% fee cap including advice costs there is a risk the PEPP would turn out not to be a commercially viable product.Separation of the sexesInitially, Tontine Trust will offer a single defensive portfolio to participants, targeting annual gross returns of 4.5%. The money will be managed externally but an investment management partner is yet to be appointed.One of the main criticisms of tontines is that the structure leads to higher pay-outs once time passes as the remaining members profit from the death of their fellow participants. However, pensioners typically spend more in their early years of retirement and see their outlays dwindle as they age.“Unfortunately, we have not found any design that allows us to pay higher benefits to those aged between 65 and 80, and less to those over 80 that doesn’t increase the risk of bankruptcy for the fund,” said McClelland, who claimed post-retirements pay-outs will still be “significantly higher” than those offered by comparable insurance-based schemes.Clients will be placed in separate tontines based on their age and, interestingly, their sex. This is because women have a higher life expectancy than men.“The men fully agree with this solution, but the women don’t because they want to profit from them outliving the men,” McClelland said, adding that he is looking at introducing additional factors that impact life expectancy, such as educational level, at a later stage. Ireland-based Tontine Trust is aiming to launch personal pension products “in a couple of markets” by the end of the year with the EU’s pan-European personal pension product (PEPP) in mind, according to its CEO Dean McClelland.   The product is to charge an all-in fee of 1% and introduce separate pools for men and women.Tontine Trust has partnered with Dutch consultancy Westerbrink to help with the planned launch of the product and with expanding to markets beyond Ireland, where the fintech company aims to launch its pan-European product first.“We will take care of the legal aspects of launching the PEPP, such as the compatibility of the product with tax legislation in each jurisdiction where it will launch, and we will do market research for them to investigate which markets have the most potential,” said Hans van Meerten, partner at Westerbrink. read more

The Franklin County Lady Wildcats blank The Rising Sun Lady Shiners 3-0.The pitching was strong on both sides. McCool struck out 14, while Pitts sat down seven. Franklin County Wildcats Varsity got things moving in the second inning. Gabby Mitchum drove in one when she doubled.A single by Ab Wallace in the second inning was a positive for Rising Sun.McCool was the winning pitcher for Franklin County Wildcats Varsity. She surrendered zero runs on five hits over seven innings, striking out 14 and walking one. Pitts took the loss for Rising Sun. She surrendered three runs on 11 hits over seven innings, striking out seven and walking one.Franklin County Wildcats Varsity saw the ball well today, racking up 11 hits in the game. Hannah Hornsby, Mitchum, Kloe Bolos, and Sidney Wilbur all managed multiple hits for Franklin County Wildcats Varsity. Wilbur, Bolos, Mitchum, and Hornsby each managed two hits to lead Franklin County Wildcats Varsity.Rising Sun racked up five hits. Wallace and Bostic all managed multiple hits for Rising Sun.Courtesy of Wildcats Coach Landon Bundy. read more

HIGHWAY NINE, Minn. – Twenty-five miles and eight days separate six race dates for IMCA Xtreme Motor Sports Modifieds at Buffalo River Race Park in Glyndon and Norman County Raceway at Ada. The Highway Nine Challenge takes IMCA Modifieds to Buffalo River on Saturday and Sunday, June 21 and 22, Friday, June 27 and Sunday June 29; and to Norman County on Wednesday, June 25 and Saturday, June 28.IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, Belleville Motorsports North Central Region, Allstar Performance Minnesota State and local track points will be awarded at all six shows. A bonus of $350 will be paid to the June 27 feature winner providing they have completed the transition to all IMCA rules. Taking the June 28 checkers will be good for a $250 bonus. The June 21 show at BRRP is on Fan Appreciation Night. Drivers will be giving away tickets good for complimentary admission to the grandstand and the driver giving the most tickets redeemed at the front gate that evening gets free pit parking for the rest of the season. Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods run at the June 21, 22, 28 and 29 shows and Mach-1 Sport Compacts on June 25 for national, state and track points.Also on the June 28 card at Norman County are school bus races. More information about the respective programs is available from Buffalo River Race Park promoter Kevin Nathe at 701 729-4575 and the www.buffaloriverracing.com website; and from Norman County Raceway promoter Jake Bitker at 218 766-4409 and the www.ncraceway.com website. read more