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John Cornyn, the lead Republican working on a bipartisan gun agreement in the U.S. Senate, was heavily booed by the audience at Fridays Texas GOP convention in downtown Houston.

A number of convention-goers have labeled Cornyn a RINO short for Republican in name only for his role in brokering a gun deal in the wake of the Uvalde massacre and other recent shootings.

Delegates in the crowd chanted "no red flags" and "say no to Cornyn" multiple times during his speech Friday afternoon.

Cornyn, who is from Houston, has called tougher restrictions on guns a non-starter. The most recent details about the proposed deal do not include a ban on assault weapons or raising the minimum age for purchasing assault rifles.

Instead, the senior senator from Texas has pushed for things like financial incentives for states to enact and enforce red flag laws allowing law enforcement to petition for gun removal under certain circumstances in which a person is deemed dangerous to themselves or others. The law would also expand background checks to include the juvenile records of people under 21.

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John Cornyn booed at Texas GOP convention in Houston - Houston Public Media

Anderson CountyPalestine Maintenance crews will be on FM 860 widening the pavement. Traffic will be controlled by flaggers and a pilot car.

Anderson County construction projects updates:

US 79 Super 2 Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue work on roadway elements. The speed limit has been reduced to 60 mph throughout the project limits. Motorists should use caution when traveling through the project and expect lane closures and delays. Project consists of widening for a Super 2, including sub-grade work, surface treatment, base and surface hot mix asphalt, widening structures, bridge rail, MBGF, signage and permanent striping.

SH 155 Overlay Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on driveways and drainage structures on SH 155 in Anderson County. The speed limit has been reduced to 60 mph throughout the project limits. Motorists should use caution when traveling through the project and expect lane closures and delays. It consists of OCST, PFC surface, shoulder texturing, edge treatment and pavement markings.

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Cherokee CountyJacksonville crews will be performing base repairs on US 79 on Monday in the Jacksonville City Limits. The rest of the week, this crew will be cleaning ditches on US 79 near New Summerfield. Expect daytime lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic.

Rusk crews will be performing rehab operations on FM 1247. Expect daytime lane closures with traffic controlled by flaggers.

Cherokee County construction projects updates:

SH 204 Super-2 Widening Project

No work is scheduled this week. The project adds passing lanes and incorporates safety upgrades.

US 84 Widening

The contractor is scheduled to replace bridge rail and continue widening on the travel lanes. Lane closures will be in place. Expect delays on this corridor when construction is in progress. The project will widen and resurface the roadway, along with adding safety upgrades.

FM 22 Safety Widening and Bridge Replacement Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue corrective work and construction on the bridge at Turnpike Creek. Flaggers will be present during construction hours. Expect daily lane closures when work is being done. The bridge will be closed during construction. The project will widen the existing roadway, replace three bridges and incorporate safety upgrades.

SH 21 Resurfacing Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue road work construction on driveway upgrades and structure extensions. No lane closures are expected. The project will consist of pavement resurfacing.

US 69 Signals in Jacksonville

On US 69 from US 175 to Canada Dr, the contractor will continue changing intersections to flashing yellow arrows and striping crews will begin work at intersections. Traffic control will consist of occasional lane closures and work outside of the roadway when the work is in progress (Monday-Thursdays, weather permitting). This is a safety project to update existing signals and add pedestrian signals, crosswalks, and curb ramps.

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Gregg CountyLongview Maintenance will continue mill and inlay operations on FM 2012 with Tyler Special Crews from SH 31 to the Rusk County line in the north and southbound lanes. Crews will also be emulsion sealing the inlay patches and overlaying that entire section of roadway. Expect delays. Traffic will be controlled by flaggers and a pilot car.

Gregg County construction projects updates:

Spur 63/McCann Road Bridge Project

This project is part of the City of Longview Guthrie Creek Trail project. It will consist of building a bridge over Guthrie Creek to allow bicyclist and pedestrians to travel under Spur 63. The traffic will be reduced to two lanes, one northbound lane and one south bound lane to allow the contractor to build half of the bridge. Traffic will be switched later to allow completion of the bridge construction. Expect delays.

FM 2206/Harrison Road

This project consists of widening a two-lane road to four lanes with a center turn lane. This includes drainage structures, new bridge, flexible base, hot mix and pavement markings. Contractor will be extending culverts and constructing detours. There will be daytime lane closures. Expect delays.

FM 2206/Harrison Road

This project consists of widening a two-lane road to four lanes with a center turn lane. This includes drainage structures, flexible base, curb and gutter, sidewalks, hot mix and pavement markings. Contractor will be extending culverts and constructing detours. There will be daytime lane closures. Expect delays.

Pentecost Rd. Bridge Replacement

The project consists of replacing the bridge structure on Big Head Creek. Pentecost Road will be closed to through traffic. Only local traffic will be allowed. Through traffic needs to select an alternate route. Estimated completion is August of 2022.

FM 1249 - Kilgore

There is no work scheduled this week. The project consists of milling existing hot mix asphalt and placing new hot mix asphalt, new striping and minor drainage structure work. There will be daytime lane closures. Expect delays. Estimated completion is August 2022.

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Henderson CountyAthens maintenance is scheduled to perform base work on FM 2709 between FM 316 N and SH 19 N. A second crew is scheduled to blade-lay hot mix on SH 274 between SH 334 and the Kaufman County line. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic.

Henderson County construction projects updates:

SH 198 Bridge Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on the new northbound bridge and roadway elements. Motorists should be prepared for lane closures and delays. The speed limit has been reduced to 50 mph throughout the project. The project consists of the construction of replacing bridges, approaches, grading, structures, asphalt concrete pavement (ACP) base, ACP surface, retaining walls, curb & gutter, MBGF, and pavement markings.

BUS 175 Safety Improvement Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on traffic signal supports on BUS 175. Motorists should be prepared for lane closures and delays. The project includes traffic signals, curb ramps and pavement markings.

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Rusk CountyRusk County crews will be performing pavement repairs on FM 2867. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic.

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Smith CountyTyler Maintenance will have a base failure crew on FM 15. Flaggers will control traffic. A herbicide unit will also be in various locations throughout Smith County. Also, crews will be assisting with seal coat operations in Troup this week, including on SH 110 and FM 13 through the downtown area, SH 110 south to the county line and FM 13 to the county line. The crews will finish on SH 135 going out of town towards the golf course. Expect road closures on various city streets.

Smith County construction projects updates:

Sidewalks at Various Locations in Smith County

No work is scheduled this week. The project consists of sidewalk construction along SH 64 west in Tyler, SH 110 west in Troup and SH 135 north in Troup.

FM 344, etc., Safety Improvements

No work is scheduled this week. The project consists of improving drainage, culvert work, and guardrail upgrades.

SH 155 Resurfacing Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue the mill and inlay on the main lanes. Anticipate lane closures while work is in progress. When in progress, hours will be from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., Sunday through Thursday nights. Expect delays. The project will resurface the roadway, upgrade drainage structures, and repair bridge joints.

SH 64 Bridge Maintenance

No work is scheduled this week. When work is in progress, hours will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lane closures will be in place when working on the metal beam guard fence and retrofit rail. The project consists of bridge maintenance and repair.

Tyler State Park Bridge and Resurfacing Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue ROW prep, place stormwater pollution prevention measures and begin construction on the bridge. The project will consist of bridge and pavement resurfacing.

SH 110 & FM 346 Landscape Project

No work is scheduled this week. The project consists of landscape development.

Whittle Street, CR 2110 and CR 289 Bridge Replacement Project

No work is scheduled on Whittle Street at West Mud Creek Tributary. The project replaces the existing bridge with a new structure.

The contractor is scheduled to continue construction on the CR 2110 bridge at Kickapoo Creek. The road is closed to through traffic. The project replaces the existing bridge with a new structure.

No work is scheduled this week on the CR 289 bridge at Prairie Creek. The road is closed to through traffic. The project replaces the existing bridge with a new structure. The contractor will complete one bridge at a time. Weather permitting, the bridge is scheduled to be completed at the end of May.

IH 20 Mill and Inlay

The contractor is scheduled to continue base repairs on the westbound inside lane and the eastbound inside lane. Nightly lane closures will be in place. Work will be done at night, Sundays from 9 PM to 5 AM and Monday-Thursday 8 PM to 5 AM. Expect delays on this corridor when construction is in progress. Project consists of an overlay with TBPFC surface, ACP surface, planning, shoulder texturing and pavement markings.

SH 135 Bridge Replacements

No work is scheduled this week. The project is currently under time suspension due to migrating birds nesting under the bridges. The project consists of the replacement of the bridge at Mud Creek and Mud Creek Relief.

US 271 Rehab, Turn Lanes, and Pavement Overlay

Crews will be performing paving rehab operations on the NB side. The NB outside lane will be permanently closed with signs and channelizing devices for the affected section. Traffic control will be managed by flaggers as needed. The project consists of paving, structures, MBGF, and pavement markings from I-20 north to the Gregg County line. The portion from I-20 to FM 16 also includes turn lanes and pavement rehabilitation.

IH 20 at Barber Road

This project consists of widening on ramps and exit ramps, culverts, drainage upgrades, new metal beam guard fence and bridge rails on the Barber Road overpass, and asphalt overlay. No work this week on this project.

Safety Improvement Project (Van Zandt, Anderson, Smith and Henderson County)

The contractor is scheduled to continue work on driveways and drainage structures on FM 850 in Smith County. Motorists should be prepared for lane closures and delays. The project includes grading, structure work, guard rail replacement and bridge rail upgrades.

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Van Zandt CountyMaintenance crews are scheduled to perform base work on FM 859 between IH 20 and US 80. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic.

Van Zandt County construction projects updates:

I-20 MBGF Improvements (Van Zandt, Smith, and Gregg counties)

Crews will be addressing punch list items in Gregg County (eastbound and westbound). Lane closures will be in effect nightly and will be managed by message boards, channelizing devices and law enforcement officers. Seeding will be performed daily using a mobile operation managed by LEOs and TMAs. This project is to construct safety improvements consisting of upgrading metal beam guard fence and mow strip.

SH 19 Super Two Widening & Overlay

Crews will be performing roadway widening operations northbound. Traffic control will consist of a northbound shoulder closure managed by channelizing devices. The project consists of Super 2 work including grading, base repair, treated subgrade, flex base, OCST, PFC surface, structures, signs and pavement markings.

CR 2918, etc. Bridge Replacements

Crews will be grading and paving at CR 2708 and addressing punch list items on CR 2918 and CR 2319. CR 2708 will be closed at the bridge for the remainder of construction. Minimal impact to the traveling public is anticipated. The project consists of removing and replacing four bridges.

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Wood CountyMaintenance crews are scheduled to overlay on SH 11 with lay down machine starting at the Camp County Line, heading west towards the Winnsboro city limits. Expect lane closures with flaggers and a pilot vehicle controlling traffic. Short delays expected.

Wood County construction projects updates:

SH 37 Road Widening and PFC Overlay

Crews will be performing roadway widening operations on the northbound side. Traffic control will consist of daily shoulder closures managed by flaggers and a pilot car. The project consists of base repair, level-up, spray paver, permeable friction course surface, structures, bridge rail, metal beam guard fence, and pavement markings.

FM 2088, etc. MBGF Improvements in Wood County

Crews will be replacing MBGF on FM 17 at three Lake Fork bridges and on FM 2088. Traffic control will consist of daily lane closures managed with flaggers. The project is for bridge maintenance consisting of MBGF and bridge retrofit rail.

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I-20 Total Maintenance Contract

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TxDOT Project Updates for the Week of June 20, 2022 - Texas Department of Transportation

Sir Frederick Barclay, whose fortune was estimated as 6bn as recently as May, faces the possibility of being sent to prison at the age of 87 after a high court judge ruled that he must stand trial for the non-payment of part of a 100m divorce settlement.

The court heard that the former owner of the Telegraph Media Group had considered applying for legal aid to fight a divorce battle with his wife of 34 years.

Barclay, who still owns half of the private island of Brecqhou and whose family sold the Ritz Hotel for an estimated 800m in 2020, is now terrified of being sent to prison for his failure to pay the 50m due to his wife last June.

He was also separately and additionally ordered to pay his wifes legal costs, which are said to be approaching 500,000. The court was told that Barclays nephews, the sons of his twin brother Sir David Barclay, are paying for his legal fees but not those of his wife.

In evidence, Stewart Leech QC, for Hiroko Barclay, said the legal playing field was not level. She owes her lawyers over half a million pounds and Sir Frederick Barclay owes his lawyers virtually nothing.

Earlier this year, the court was told that Barclay had also unilaterally halved the maintenance payment of 60,000 awarded to his wife each month.

The court heard that Barclay, who started life as a painter and decorator alongside his brother, cannot access his fortune, which is held in a complex series of trusts.

Neither Barclay nor his brother, David, who died last year, were beneficiaries of the family trusts, which is essentially divided between Barclays daughter, Amanda, and three of David Barclays sons.

In the high court hearing, it was stated that Barclay said that he had no control over the complex trust structure. I havent got anything, he said.

Both Lady Barclay, 78, and Barclay appeared in court via an online link on Thursday but the judge ordered that both parties would have to appear in person in the three-day hearing due in July as non-payment is a quasi-criminal offence.

Lawyers representing Barclay have indicated that he will mount a defence to Lady Barclays application.

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Scot Young, a property boss, was one of the few men to be committed to prison for contempt of court resulting from the non-payment of a divorce order when he was jailed for for six months in 2013.

In March, the court was told that Barclay had been evicted from his home. His lawyer, Charles Howard QC, told the court that hes got no money and his bank statements show that.

Sir Jonathan Cohen, who is hearing the case, criticised Barclay in his final order last May, saying he had behaved in a reprehensible fashion during the dispute after having sold his luxury yacht and applied the equity for his own use in breach of orders.

During Thursdays hearing, the Guardian applied for documents in the complex case to be released to the media before the committal hearing, which was largely successful.

Continued here:
Frederick Barclay terrified of jail, court told, as judge rules he must stand trial - The Guardian

June 17, 2022

FEATURE

Chronicling the faces of Juneteenth with iPadPro and ApplePencil

Illustrator, comic creator, and scholar Ajuan Mance brings the past into the present through portraits of historical Black figures to celebrate Juneteenth

The Combahee River flows southeast through South Carolina, a 40-mile route that spills into the Saint Helena Sound. More than a century and a half ago on June 1, 1863, the Combahee turned the tide of emancipation when Harriet Tubman and her regiment of 150 Black Union troops led more than 700 escaped slaves to freedom aboard two gunboats. For Tubman, the river marked her heroism as the first woman to lead an armed US military operation in the Combahee Ferry Raid. For illustrator, comic creator, and scholar Ajuan Mance, its symbolic of the movement geographically, between the North and the South, and politically, from the Emancipation Proclamation and Juneteenth, to the Civil Rights Act Tubman and other activists have made throughout history.

Their activism challenged prevailing systems and policies that limited when and how Black people could move through the world, Mance says, comparing Tubman to civil rights activist Rosa Parks. These limits on Black movement were not only the practical tools for oppression, but also the symbols of white control of Black bodies. Harriet Tubman used movement from the South to the North as a tool for freeing other Black people, and Rosa Parks rejected Black peoples conditional access to transportation. These womens activism was really about restoring to Black people the right to move freely throughout their world.

In celebration of Juneteenth, Mance is revisiting a series of digital drawings created on iPad Pro titled The Ancestors Juneteenth, in which she places historical Black figures in present-day settings to reflect on Black peoples journey from the 19th to the 21st century. In these illustrations, Mance draws ink on paper before she snaps an image in Adobe Scan on her iPad Pro. In Procreate, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Fresco, she colors her scanned image non-photo blue, simulating the process of creating comics, while using Apple Pencil to add layers of color a workflow she previously completed using a light table and analog tools.

As an artist who often works on a larger scale, Mance appreciates the ability to zoom all the way in on a snippet of a giant canvas on iPad Pro. iPad and Apple Pencil make it easy for me to draw, manipulate, and add color and effects at the micro level, she says. So the closer people look, the more they will see.

As part of the Juneteenth series, Mance pictures Parks and Tubman at a picnic on the banks of the Combahee River. They were pioneers for whom freedom of movement was so much a part of their impact that they hold this iconic role in our minds. All of the marching Rosa Parks did, getting arrested, walking up the courthouse steps, so that we have less obstacles today than we did during her lifetime; and Harriet Tubman, walking from the South to the North at least 13 times to escort other Black people to freedom both of these women deserve a respite. I thought that all they might want to do today is sit by the river, take a load off of their feet, and just let the water do the moving, Mance says.

Mance describes herself as a history detective. She will spend hours digging through archives, hunting for the unknown in the 19th-century Black experience, and poring over primary sources, religious texts, photos, and other historical documentation. Whether shes preparing for a lecture at Mills College in Oakland, California, where she teaches African American literature, or beginning a new piece of art, she will always start with research to call to mind an image of the people and the time period she is exploring.

For The Ancestors Juneteenth, a work of speculative fiction, as she describes it, Mance contemplates which historical figures across different periods of time would be friends, and even what their dialogue would be. At Parks and Tubmans picnic, intricately detailed down to the books they are reading, she emphasizes that whatever they are saying will have a touch of humor to it.

My goal is to really humanize them, Mance explains. These are esteemed people who I respect, but I also think we need to understand them and experience them as people who walked the earth the same way that we do. That creates a sense of intimacy with our history that I find really empowering and inspiring.

Part of humanizing these historical figures lies in their dialogue, but its also in their features. To bring those features into focus, Mance casts them in a light and mood uncommon to the way the world knows them. For Tubman, who was almost never seen smiling, Mance emphasizes a jovial grin. In all of her portraits, she starts with the nose, works her way down to lips, up to the eyes, and then finally the hair and the shapes it creates. That African heritage that is almost written on the body and that signifies our history all the ways that we wear our heritage are really compelling to me, she says.

Mance first started using iPad Pro and Apple Pencil for her artwork while teaching a digital drawing class at Mills College. She remains impressed with how iPad has streamlined her workflow. I can create a sketch and then ink over it all in the same app and all on the same device, she says.

She also credits iPad for making the arts accessible to her students and equipping aspiring artists with skill sets that work across multiple devices, whether theyre working in Adobe Fresco or Procreate on iPad, or transferring a project to Mac.

iPad has put the production of art into the hands of everyone, Mance continues. Voices and aesthetic visions are getting out there that would not have been able to reach a broad audience just 10 or 15 years ago.

Though the Emancipation Proclamation was signed into law on January 1, 1863, it took more than two years for the legal right to freedom to be recognized for all Black people. On June 19, 1865 celebrated as Juneteenth today slavery officially came to an end in Texas as federal troops marched to Galveston.

Juneteenth is the day when legally all of America saw Black people the way theyd always seen themselves: as human beings with the right to be free, Mance says. My hope is that pairing Black people together from throughout our history and setting them in the present will be a symbol of unity that demonstrates that no matter how spread across the nation we are, even with divided historical experiences of Civil War and freedom, we are one community.

Press Contacts

Jessica Reeves

Apple

j_reeves@apple.com

(669) 283-2855

Tara Courtney

Apple

tcourtney@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com

(408) 974-2042

View original post here:
Chronicling the faces of Juneteenth with iPad Pro and Apple Pencil - Apple

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has doled out over $319 million in grants, awards, and charity to media organizations, including $38 million to so-called investigative journalism centres.

According to Mint Press News (MPN), which sorted through over 30,000 documents, Bill Gates has given roughly $38 million to investigate journalism centres aimed at training journalists. Of this sum, over $20 million has gone to the International Center for Journalists, which builds the expertise and digital skills journalists need to deliver trustworthy news essential for vibrant societies.

The generous donations given to the ICFJ over several years have been given with the express purpose of producing journalists who focus on data-driven health and development news reports to help African media to better contribute to setting development agendas and furthering public accountability, according to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations website.

Producing health-obsessed investigative journalists is a common trend with Gates.

According to the Foundations website, the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism received its grant ($3,800,357) to support sustained high-quality, evidence-based, and solutions-oriented media coverage of global health and development issues in Primary Health Care systems, Agriculture & Financial Inclusion.

Other recipients of over $1 million include The Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting ($2,432,552) to support editorial projects focused on global health issues, Fondation EurActiv Politech ($2,368,300), International Womens Media Foundation ($1,500,000), Center for Investigative Reporting $1,446,639, InterMedia Survey institute ($1,297,545), and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism ($1,068,169).

Put simply, it appears Bill Gates wants to install a personal army of professional scrutineers in various media outlets that disseminate his position on healthcare and propaganda about public officials who deviate.

Gates also, of course, funds the journalism programs of several universities, including Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, the University of California Berkeley, Tsinghua University, Seattle University, Rhodes University, and Montclair State University.

Harvard University (of which Gates is a dropout), the University of Southern California, Boston University, and Ahmadu Bello University have also received money from Gates Foundation to take on various media projects.

Producing new journalists isnt the only area in media that Gates is focusing on, though. He also targets experienced journalists in legacy media organizations. According to MPNs report, a total of $166.2 million has been given to well-known legacy media organizations.

The money is generally directed towards issues close to the Gateses hearts. For example, the $3.6 million CNN grant went towards report[ing] on gender equality with a particular focus on least developed countries, producing journalism on the everyday inequalities endured by women and girls across the world, while the Texas Tribune received millions to to increase public awareness and engagement of education reform issues in Texas. Given that Bill is one of the charter schools most fervent supporters, a cynic might interpret this as planting pro-corporate charter school propaganda into the media, disguised as objective news reporting, reports MPN.

Just over one decade ago, Bill Gates was under fire for his attempt to control the media through spread-out donations, but this fire seems to have flickered out until recently.

Beyond their subject matter, these [health report stories] have something else in common: They were all bankrolled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Seattle Times wrote in 2011.

Better-known for its battles against global disease, the giant philanthropy has also become a force in journalism.

The foundations grants to media organizations such as ABC and The Guardian, one of Britains leading newspapers, raise obvious conflict-of-interest questions: How can reporting be unbiased when a major player holds the purse strings?

Unsurprisingly, the Seattle Times and the Blethen Corporation do not appear to have ever received money from Bill Gates.

See original here:
Bill Gates' media control dream - The Counter Signal