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Uber and Convoy vets land $ 5.three million for brand spanking new startup Solo, serving to gig workers make more cash

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Solo team members, from left: Keith Ng (Co-Founder), Araceli Benitez (Growth Lead), Bryce Bennett (CEO & Co-Founder), Keith Ho (Software Engineer) and Thushara Wijeratna (Founder & Lead Engineer). (Single photos)

Gig economy companies like Uber, Instacart, goPuff, and others have given workers a new way to make money on their own schedule. However, with this flexibility comes a degree of income instability – adequate work and regular paychecks are not always guaranteed, as is the case with a traditional 9-to-5 job.

This is where solo comes in. The new Seattle-based startup, which has just announced a $ 5.5 million seed round, plans to help gig employees by providing hourly income forecasts over the course of a week. Solo is so confident of its data that the company offers a guarantee that if workers end up making less, it will make up the difference. The predictions use aggregated historical data from solo users as well as the potential impact of real-time events.

The idea is to give workers a better understanding of when, where and what kind of work to do on the different platforms. Solo’s bigger vision is to provide gig employees with extra help with insurance, taxes, mileage tracking, and more.

“We always felt the deck was against gig workers,” said Bryce Bennett, Solo co-founder and CEO. “They don’t have a lot of tools or information to use their time effectively or efficiently. It’s kind of a guessing game. “

Bennett formed Solo with Keith Ng last year. They spent time together in Seattle and Portland for Uber and trucking startup Convoy. The experience in each company gave them an in-depth look at the challenges facing independent contractors who are part of a gig economy that has grown over the past decade in part due to technology-driven services like Uber.

Devin Jansa is one of those workers. He quit his traditional full-time job in Seattle three years ago because he “never wanted to be an employee again”. He uses Solo to figure out when to work for Uber, Lyft, Grubhub, and DoorDash. His income has increased 30% since using the app.

“It’s a very useful tool,” said Jansa.

The increase in various gig job opportunities over the past five years has created a need for solos, Bennett said. It is beneficial for employees to use multiple platforms, but it also adds complexity.

“It’s great for workers that there are so many more options now, but it makes calculating when, where and what jobs to work a lot more complicated than if it was just Uber and Lyft,” he said.

The income can fluctuate from one day to the next. The following graphic shows the hourly earnings of DoorDash, Uber and Shipt on a Tuesday of the last week.

There are other startups offering tools to gig employees, but Bennett said Solo’s earnings forecasts are unique.

Solo has a number of well-known investors including former Amazon Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke and former Uber General Counsel Salle Yoo.

Slow Ventures led the seed round. Managing Director Kevin Colleran said his company had already considered the idea of ​​Solo, so the investment was a quick decision.

“We believe Solo is uniquely positioned to resolve key issues related to financial and professional instability and we look forward to supporting those who make a living doing app-based work,” he said via email.

There are over 1,000 workers on Solo. The 5-person company plans to expand beyond Seattle later this year. The app is free to use for now, but Bennett said there are plans for premium services.

Other supporters include Expa, Red Sea, Fuse, Ascend, Harry Campbell (The Rideshare Guy), Dan Lewis (CEO of Convoy), Rob Hayes (First Round Capital) and Kindergarten, a new fund created by David Rosenthal, a former director from Madrona Venture Group and co-host of the “Acquired” podcast.

“When I learned what Bryce and Keith were trying to achieve with Solo, the need was so obvious and the market opportunity so great that an investment was a given,” said Rosenthal.

Amelia Hamlin trolls Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin with a nude picture

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Amelia Hamlin don’t know how to feel after discovering parents Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin relaxed in their birthday suits.

The 20-year-old model shared a photo with her Instagram story on Saturday, Aug. 28, showing the longtime couple standing across from her while soaking in their hot tub. According to Amelia’s post, Lisa and Harry were skinny at the time.

“I just found that my parents were having a thin bath in the jacuzzi and I knew if I was traumatized as if” [it’s] sweet, “Amelia wrote of the shot below.

The day before, Lisa posted a photo of herself and Harry in the hot tub on Instagram, even though the Melrose Place star was clearly wearing a swimsuit in that picture.

Amelia and her parents have been embroiled in a playful battle of words recently after Lisa complained about Amelia’s relationship Scott Disickwho is 18 years older than the model.

Israel Doubles Covid Booster Vaccinations As Breakthrough Instances Rise

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An Israeli man receives a third vaccination against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) when the country came on Jan.

Nir Elias | Reuters

Israeli lawmakers are keen to avoid another lockdown after overseeing one of the world’s fastest vaccination campaigns. However, the daily new infections with the corona virus have just risen to record levels.

While many nations struggled with the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant, Covid-19 transmission in Israel fell sharply as the country vaccinated more than half of its population in about two months.

The country had one of the fastest vaccination programs in the world, and in early June many of its coronavirus restrictions were lifted as the number of new cases fell dramatically. But just a few days later, the masks were put back on when the number of new infections began to rise.

Around 63% of the Israeli population is fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data.

The Covid-19 cases in Israel have increased sharply since July despite the high vaccination rate. New daily cases in the country hit an all-time high of 12,113 on August 24, beating the January high of 11,934.

Months ago, the number of new infections had declined in the double-digit range, in May and June there were a few days on which no new infections were recorded.

There were 992 new cases of Covid-19 per million people in Israel on Monday. By comparison, the US had 446 new cases per million population, according to statistics from Our World in Data.

Despite the high number of so-called “breakthrough cases”, morbidity in the country has not exceeded the peak recorded in January, which is largely attributed to the introduction of vaccination. 25 deaths were recorded in Israel on Sunday – far from the record high of 101 on January 20 this year. Last month, Israel recorded 476 deaths from Covid-19, compared to 1,471 in January. But hospital stays and deaths are increasing.

Of course, anyone over the age of 12 in Israel can be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Hope for vaccination boosters

Preliminary data released by the Israeli government in July showed that the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine was only 16% effective against symptomatic infections in people who received two doses in January. In people fully vaccinated by April, the vaccine was 79% effective against symptomatic infections, suggesting that the immunity gained from immunization decreases over time.

However, the analysis concluded that the vaccine offered strong protection against serious illness and hospitalization caused by Covid-19.

In late July, Israel began offering a third dose of vaccine to anyone over 60, a move that was quickly expanded. Over the course of August, the booster program was gradually expanded to include a larger part of the population, and the third vaccination has been available to everyone over the age of 30 since Tuesday.

Israelis who receive a booster dose have to wait five months after their second dose before they are eligible for their third.

Professor Eyal Leshem, an infectious disease specialist at Sheba Medical Center who has treated patients on the Israeli front, told CNBC by phone that while the number of serious illnesses has increased, the rate of serious illness has remained “much lower”.

“We attribute this to the fact that most of our adult population were vaccinated with two doses and more than a million people received the third booster dose,” he said.

“Serious disease rates among those who were vaccinated are about a tenth of those among those who have not been vaccinated, which means the vaccine is still over 90% effective in preventing serious illnesses,” added Leshem. “People who received the booster dose also have a much, much lower risk of getting infected, as our short-term data shows.”

Leshem said in Israel one million of the country’s 9 million residents have already been confirmed to be naturally infected.

“We believe that when we have 1 million confirmed, we will likely have hundreds of thousands more, if not more, who have been ‘silently infected’,” he said, noting that this may help prevent the vaccine to strengthen given immunity.

Ultimately, according to Leshem, the goal is not to eliminate Covid-19, but to achieve a state of “equilibrium”.

“Covid circulates worldwide and it also circulates in wildlife so it will be very difficult, if at all, to eradicate,” he said. “So the majority of the population will eventually become infected. Hopefully this will be the case after they are protected with vaccines and the infection is mild.”

“Many infectious diseases initially appeared in pandemic form and then reached equilibrium. The most important question, of course, is how long will it take for us to live normally with Covid? Is it for several years or more? The vaccines “speed up that process because they allow more people to become infected naturally without developing serious illness,” Leshem said.

Gideon Schreiber, a professor at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, told CNBC on a phone call that while the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine appeared to be less effective in preventing the transmission of Covid-19 over time, Israel’s vaccine booster program did Seem to make “a big difference”. “

“I guess in a couple of weeks we’ll see a huge decrease in the disease from the third dose of vaccine,” he said. “If you look at the over-60s, who made up most of the seriously ill people, the likelihood of getting a serious illness with the Delta was about four or five times less likely [after their second dose]. But now they are more than ten times less likely to get serious illness after the third shot. “

This is likely due to the fresh antibodies produced in people who received a third dose of the vaccine. It is believed that a decrease in antibodies over time may be behind the declining immunity of people who received two doses of Covid-19 vaccination, but no vaccine is ever 100% effective in preventing disease.

“We are now at a very fast pace on the third vaccination so I expect the results will be very clear and we will see an overall decline in major illnesses and diseases in the near future.” [in general]”, Said Schreiber.

Vaccination surge

Israeli lawmakers are keen to avoid reintroducing draconian measures and are urging people who are eligible for any dose of the vaccine to get their vaccination. The reintroduction of some measures to contain Covid sparked protests in Tel Aviv earlier this month.

“I do not want to impose a lock and will avoid a lock at all costs,” Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz told the Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 TV at the time. “Everything is open – but we need masks and we need vaccines.”

Schreiber also said he believed the vaccination warranted an end to lockdown measures, despite the high number of breakthrough cases in Israel and elsewhere.

“The cases aren’t so much the problem, the severity really is the problem,” he said.

“If you can reduce the number of seriously ill people enough not to overload the system, and if you can treat them reasonably well – and treatment is better now – then lockdown really isn’t a good solution. Maybe it was good before there was a vaccine, but now that severe cases are controllable, I’m not a big proponent of this measure. “

Schreiber told CNBC that immunization should be the focus at this stage of the pandemic.

“What we need is a vaccination, and the vaccination is very successful now in Israel, it really seems to be working,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll see a real decrease in cases in a few weeks, and in severe cases we will [already] see a big reduction. The numbers show that very, very clearly at the moment. “

It will keep away from fumbling round in the dead of night when tenting

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I'm done

I’m ready Photo: Claire Lower

I’m going to hunt moose next week. This will be my first time doing any type of hunting – and my first time camping since I was a kid – and I didn’t know it would take so much planning (or so much money). I knew it would take some planning, of course, but the number of little details to remember (and $ 20 items to buy) really is something.

Not only do I buy things, I also read things or ask my dad (who goes too) about the things he has read as he is much better at actually reading. I’m sure it won’t surprise anyone to learn that there are plenty of hacks out there when it comes to outdoor living. (I was hoping to just “have an experience” without “turning it into content”, but I am unable to do that.)

As luck would have it, it turns out I’m not the only one in the family who has an eye for life hacks. “One thing Bear Grylls said is a good idea to sleep with a headlamp around your wrist,” my father told me as we stared at all of our supplies. “So you don’t have to look for it in the dark when you need it.”

Even though I’d just figured out how to get my headlamp on – the straps were confusing! – I had to admit that this was a great idea. The night is dark and full of bears, and I’ve been known to panic when I’m scared and disoriented. Wrapping the headlamp around my wrist ensures that I can turn on a light the moment I feel threatened, confused, or even momentarily afraid of the dark. (I know a headlamp won’t protect me from a bear, but it gives me a better chance of avoiding the bear. You can’t avoid what you can’t see.)

Even if you’re not camping in an area populated by bears, this tip can come in very handy. I’ve heard that kids love to camp out in the yard, which also gets dark at night, and a little lamp around their tiny wrists will make things a little less scary (for you and her – the last thing you want is yours Child whirling around in the dark and hurting himself.)

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Regardless of the propaganda victory, Russia faces nice dangers

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Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the International Military Technical Forum “Army-2021”, which will be held on Sept.

RAMIL SITDIKOV | AFP | Getty Images

LONDON – The spreading crisis in Afghanistan poses significant risks to Russia and Central Asia, geopolitical experts warn, despite the Kremlin attempting to claim a propaganda victory over the US

At first, Russia’s response to the Taliban uprising appeared to celebrate the defeat of the American-backed and trained Afghan government and the US withdrawal. Russia’s ambassador to Kabul, Dmitry Zhirnov, praised the Taliban’s behavior and said the group had helped make the Afghan capital safer in the first 24 hours after leaving the United States. Even though Russia officially recognizes the Taliban as a terrorist organization.

“The Russians feel they have achieved a great triumph,” said Kate Mallinson, Associate Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Program at Chatham House, during a webinar for the Chatham House think tank.

“They believe they will regain their influence in Central Asia,” she said. Russia will likely try to further consolidate its position as the region’s main security guarantor.

Moscow has significant military and economic influence over the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, all of which directly border Afghanistan.

“But I would say that kind of propaganda victory is more pyrrhic than triumph,” added Mallinson.

Russia launched its own evacuation plans on Wednesday, dispatching four military planes to evacuate 500 Russian citizens and those of its regional allies. The directive, issued by order of President Vladimir Putin, marked an abrupt change in the Kremlin’s attitude towards the Taliban’s takeover.

It came amid massive withdrawal efforts at Kabul airport as countries sought to evacuate people from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan before a deadline set by President Joe Biden on August 31.

Tens of thousands of people had gathered chaotically at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the days since the Taliban captured the capital, desperately looking for a safe exit from the country.

‘Time is running out’

Kremlin envoys have insisted that the US should not shift responsibility for the collapse of Afghanistan on to others, and state media have tried to portray the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan as a major coup.

More recently, however, the tone seems to have changed. “The situation is developing, time is running out, the situation remains extremely tense and we are still following it most closely and maintaining our concerns,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

Putin previously said he hopes the Taliban will give assurances that they will restore order and said it was important not to allow terrorists to invade neighboring countries.

“It will be much more difficult than the Russians think. Even if the Taliban keep their promises to the Russians, they will have to deal with much more asymmetrical warfare and it will be much more unpredictable than the Russians will be able to.” to deal with, I think, “Mallinson told CNBC.

That’s because the crisis comes at a time when many Central Asian countries are at the “deepest abyss,” Mallinson said, citing disenfranchised populations across the region, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the extremely severe drought this year.

Russian soldiers are seen during a joint military exercise by Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan at the Harb-Maidon training area, 20 km from the border with Afghanistan.

Nozim Kalandarov | TASS | Getty Images

Moscow has reinforced its military base in Tajikistan, a country that shares an 843-mile border with Afghanistan, where it will hold military exercises for a month.

Reuters reported Wednesday that the Kremlin had announced that it had learned the lessons of the Soviet Union’s failed intervention in Afghanistan in the 1980s and that it would not deploy any armed forces there.

Russia’s Influence in Central Asia

Olga Oliker, director for Europe and Central Asia at the International Crisis Group, told CNBC that Russia “very much recognizes” the potential security problems for Central Asia and for itself due to the Afghanistan crisis.

“You can be both a little pleased that the US has an egg on your face and nervous about the impact. They fear destabilizing flows of refugees, they fear a safe haven for groups who might attack them from Afghanistan, and they fear, as Putin recently said, that “militants might hide among the refugees,” she said.

“If stability under the Taliban holds and the Taliban keep their promise not to allow Afghanistan as a base for attacks on Russia and Central Asia and, ideally, to stop the flow of opium, then Russia can live with it,” added Oliker. “But it could go wrong – Russia will try to strengthen Central Asia as needed.”

Afghans trying to leave the country continue to wait around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 26, 2021.

Haroon Sabawoon | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Putin has criticized the idea of ​​some Western countries trying to relocate refugees from Afghanistan to Central Asia while their visas for the US and the European Union are being processed.

“Does that mean that they can be sent to these countries, to our neighbors, without a visa, while they are themselves [the West] don’t you want to take them with you without a visa? “said Putin, Russian news agencies reported last week.” Why is there such a humiliating approach to solving the problem?

Eurasian Union

Among Afghanistan’s neighbors, Tajikistan has pledged to take in up to 100,000 refugees. It is working with the United Nations and other agencies to set up camps and other facilities in response to the humanitarian crisis.

“I think it will be a special concern [to Russia] that ethnic Tajik and Uzbek regions of Afghanistan, which are normally a buffer against the Taliban, have also come under Taliban control, “Tim Ash, senior emerging market strategist at Bluebay Asset Management, emailed CNBC.

Ash said he expected Russia, which had previously used a “hard fist” approach to Islamic extremism, would strengthen its already large military presence in Tajikistan, and perhaps even extend it to Uzbekistan.

“However, the Central Asian states will be nervous that Moscow could use the threat of an Islamist uprising to advance its idea of ​​the Eurasian Union and the centralization agenda that Putin is pursuing across the CIS – look at Belarus,” Ash 30 said Anniversary of the collapse of the USSR in December of this year.

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) refers to a regional intergovernmental organization of nine former Soviet republics in Eurasia.

Russia is expected to increase pressure on countries in Central Asia to join the Eurasian Economic Union, a Moscow-led initiative that currently includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

What’s the milk crate problem?

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Image for the article titled The Out Of Touch Adult Guide To Child Culture: What Is The Milk Crate Challenge?

Photo: APU GOMES / Contributor (Getty Images)

This week the kids are debating whether COVID is a thing and falling from milk crates. I know Whitney Houston said, “Children are our future,” but I’m not so sure.

Online trend of the week: The milk crate challenge

In my day we stole milk crates to build insane bookshelves, but today kids stack them up, climb the resulting pyramid, and then post videos of their spectacular falls on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. The videos are so popular that #cratechallenge had more than 82 million views on TikTok before it was removed.

As you’d expect with an internet trend, swear words, parents, and doctors point it out this is a very stupid thing because falling from a pile of hard plastic crates can result in any number of broken bones – and also, vaccinators who don’t have vaccinations could hog all of the beds in your local hospital.

As a responsible adult, I agree with the doctors, but I can’t lie: I would definitely have tried this when I was young and indestructible. Doing stupid shit that could hurt you is just as much a part of young adulthood as judging being an old fart.

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Of course, don’t do this, but if you absolutely have to take up the challenge, go in with a plan. Or just sit back and relax in your boring but safe chair see miscellaneous People live their lives.

Reversal of the week: OnlyFans doesn’t ban porn

Last week We learned that reigning DIY adult entertainment site OnlyFans planned to ban sexually explicit content, citing pressure from its payment processors. This week, OnlyFans says, “Pretend we never said that. You can post what you want. “

the Company says the reversal was due to listening to their fans and creators, as well as assurances from payment processors that the money faucet wouldn’t suddenly turn off, but a conspiracy theorist might suggest the whole thing was a corporate kayfabe – a publicity stunt that grossed millions / billions of dollars in free Advertise OnlyFans with a single press release. The funniest explanation, however, comes from perennial internet satirical site TheOnion, which posted this headline:OnlyFans CEO admits the decision to ban pornography was made at an embarrassed moment after orgasm. “

Internet drama of the week: Reddit users call for COVID misinformation to be banned. Reddit says “near”.

A serious pandemic drama is brewing on Reddit. A coalition of various subreddits earlier this week called Reddit to “remove dangerous medical disinformation that puts lives at risk and contributes to the existence of this ongoing pandemic,” with subreddits by Powerhouse, over 20 million users and boards like. are sufficient r / shower thoughts Team up with small niche outlets like r / stonedswifties Demand that something be done about the growing spread of pandemic nonsense on the site.

In a statement in response, Reddit CEO Steve “spec” Huffan raised the idea of ​​’banning Rhona misinformation with cold water’ and posted: (User comments were of course banned from spec ‘mail.)

Part of what makes Reddit so damn Reddit is the site’s commitment to expressing both sides of an issue. On the vaccine advocate side, doctors and epidemiologists around the world urge you to take a tested, safe, free, and effective vaccine to prevent the spread of a deadly disease. On the anti-vaccine side, there are the dumbest people you went to high school with suggest that you treat COVID with equine worming agents from the feed store, so a valuable, useful debate.

Viral Video of the Week: “I Purchased Every Weird Ad I Saw For A Month”

In a recent video, YouTuber Drew Gooden did something I always wanted to do: He bought every “miracle” product he saw advertised online and tried them out. Gooden tested innovative products, including the Grip 6 belt, which looks more like a tied cargo belt than clothing, the so-called “SpineNeck”, the “keto-friendly” breakfast cereals from Magic Spoon and, most importantly, a paper hand that you stick on with tape Forehead was designed to make you better (?) At playing basketball. Gooden is a hilarious online stand-up comic, but he gives the products a fair chance and rates each on a scale of one to five. (Spoiler: Most of the products advertised online are total crap.)

Mini trends of the week: LeBron action figure destruction and bossa nova

Here are a few youth culture trends that are too small and now really hit the pop culture radar, but may (or may not) grow into something bigger.

  • Destruction of LeBron James action figures: There is a small subculture of TikTok users who enjoy videos of people creatively destroying LeBron James action figures. The toys are filled with goo and stretchy, so it’s fun to push them to their limits. You can fill them with water until they start to leak, manipulate the internal goo grow the package of Lebron, or just give Your Lebron doll will have the decent burial it deserves. (You know you did all of this and worse for Stretch Armstrong.)
  • The return of bossa nova. Maybe it’s because I’ve only been listening to jazz / samba music from the early sixties lately, but I predict bossa nova will make a huge comeback with the kids. My proof: The brand new K-Pop band CRAVITY has released a bossa nova track.Go Go,” on his debut album, which will expose millions of rabid K-pop fans to the bossa virus, and the great Billie Eilish released “Billie Bossa Nova“This week, a real bossa blast with the kids subtly swinging their hips. Is this the beginning of a widespread revival? Millions of Eilish heads and K-pop stans are addicted enough to try the tough stuff like Antonio Jobim and Stan Getz? Humor me and say “sure”.

This week in games: SplitGate is the game of the moment

According to my gaming sources, everyone plays SplitGate. The first person shooter combines the teleportation of Portal with the run-and-gun fun of Halo 3 and is called “The best arena shooter I’ve ever played. “ SplitGate has been languishing around Steam since 2019, but it kicked off last month with the launch of an open beta that ended up attracting over 10 million players. This week, the game’s developer, 1047 Games, released a new, improved open beta across all platforms. Players can expect a ton of new content in Season 0, including a new map, new “Infection Mode,” new gear, and a Season 0 Battle Pass. See you soon, Fortnite.

Simone Biles admits that it “simply sucks” how the Olympics turned out

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Simone Biles shares her latest thoughts on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, as well as an update on her mental health.

At first glance, exclusive to E! News, the 24-year-old superstar gymnast chatted with mom in her hometown of Houston, Texas Nellie Biles after the Tokyo Games. During the interview, available exclusively on AthletaWell on Monday, August 30th, Simone discussed her decision to retire in the middle of the gymnastics team finals to focus on her mental health and then suspend all competitions until she Balance beam returned to finals.

“I definitely had the team in my best interests and that’s why I decided to quit,” said Simone. “I didn’t want to lose a medal spot for them, because the girls were more than willing to take part and do their job, which they did.”

According to the athlete, her mental health problems began before she even arrived in Tokyo, and she attributes a “stressor” that built up over time before her body and mind could move forward with the competition. Despite her fights in Tokyo, Simone won two medals: a silver medal in the team final and a bronze medal for her beam performance.

The Day – The proposed $ 8.Eight million Predominant Avenue undertaking can be the primary to obtain Norwich grant cash

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Norwich – A $ 8.8 million redevelopment of two long-vacant high street buildings will be the first recipient of city grants and loans through a revitalized economic development program if approved by the city council.

Norwich Luxury Apartments LLC bought the two-building complex at 77-91 Main Street for $ 1.8 million in early August, proposing a 19th century remodel. The buildings were proposed as the Norwich Heritage Museum in the 1990s a project that ultimately failed after receiving government grants to stabilize decaying buildings.

The project received unanimous support from the board of directors of Norwich Community Development Corp on Thursday. for a $ 400,000 grant to fix building codes and a separate $ 400,000 loan. The move, however, is pending city council approval for a plan to use $ 2 million of the city’s $ 14.4 million US rescue plan grants to revitalize and expand city-wide the former downtown revitalization program.

The council is due to vote on September 7th on City Manager John Salomone’s spending plan for the ARP grant money.

But NCDC President Kevin Brown said the board wanted to show its support with an emergency vote on Thursday so developers can continue planning and designing for the project.

“This project is a $ 8.8 million project in downtown Norwich,” said Brown. “That’s a 10 to 1 return on the public dollars that will be put into this cause if we get permission to move forward and use the ARP to do it.”

Even if the council approves the ARP spending plan on Monday, NCDC still has a few steps to go before it can allocate the proposed $ 2 million. The expanded economic development revitalization program needs to be designed and the NCDC needs to sign an agreement with the city on how the funds will be used. Brown said the former Downtown program will serve as the foundation, with funding split into a building code correction program, rental discount to support new businesses, and a revolving loan, with proceeds remaining in the program to support future developers .

The Main Street Project grant would come under the code fix and revolving loan, Brown said.

Project attorney Stanley Schutzman said in an email to The Day describing the project that the city’s funds would be vital to moving the project forward. But he said the city’s money will not be called until the project’s renovations receive an occupancy certificate from city inspectors.

“It enables development,” Schutzman said in the email. “This development fulfills the criteria and intentions of the funds both with regard to the stimulation of inner city redevelopment and economic activity as well as with regard to the adaptation of the properties to the current regulations.”

The proposed project envisages 42 loft-style apartments with a fitness center for tenants, a lounge, “clean and green” equipment, high-speed communication infrastructure and other amenities. The developers hope to negotiate rented parking spaces for tenants in the two nearby parking garages in the city.

The two buildings would undergo a full facade restoration to maintain their original historical appearance, while retaining “the beautiful exterior masonry, arches and fine architectural details,” Schutzman wrote. A glass case in the lobby will display artifacts from the building’s history.

Schutzman said the builders expect to submit plans by local architect Stefan Nousiopoulos to the city within the next few weeks and, once approved, to begin construction. The project is expected to take 12 to 16 months.

Brown said the Main Street project is exactly the kind of development that NCDC wants to support in downtown and other parts of the city. He said bringing 42 market-priced homes on Main Street would mean customers for nearby restaurants and pubs, downtown shops, and city events.

He said NCDC staff, including former President Jason Vincent, who passed away in December, and transition specialist Fawn Walker worked with developers during the planning phase of the project. Given the “high potential” that NCDC would receive the ARP dollars, agency staff submitted them to the board for approval on Thursday.

“We wouldn’t be as committed if we weren’t sure that project funding is imminent,” said Brown.

c.bessette@theday.com

Learn how to customise Safari’s residence web page widgets in iOS 15

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Image for the article titled Another Great Reason to Use Safari on Your iPhone

Photo: Khamosh Pathak

We recently talked about how You can hide your browsing history from ad trackers in Safari, which is great, but one reason a lot of people hesitate to use Safari is simply because it looks a little boring compared to other browsers. But Apple is trying to change that iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. Now you have a modular homepage with a customizable background – and it should be a lot of fun.

But by default, Safari shows a lot of things here. You can see your favorites, your reading list, and your privacy report – not to mention the annoying “Shared with You” section that has links shared in the Messages app. Fortunately, you can add, remove, and rearrange any module you want.

First, open the Safari app on your iPhone or iPad. If you’re not already on the New Tab page, tap the Tabs in the bottom toolbar, just below the url bar (if you don’t like the url bar here, you can put it back on top). Then tap plus Button to open a new tab.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and tap on “To edit“Button.

Image for the article titled Another Great Reason to Use Safari on Your iPhone

Screenshot: Khamosh Pathak

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You will now find all modules at the top. You can enable or disable the Favorites, Frequently Visited, Shared with You, Privacy Report, Siri Suggestions, Reading List, and iCloud Tabs modules. Use the three line Handle Icon for dragging and rearranging a module. You can also choose “Use the home page look and feel through iCloud“To keep your settings consistent across all connected iCloud devices.

Next, activate the “background image”Function to display a list of all available background images. Tap a wallpaper to switch to it. You can also tap plus Button to select any picture from your camera roll. When you’re done customizing the home screen, tapx”Close button from above. And that’s it – your new homepage is updated and is ready.

Image for the article titled Another Great Reason to Use Safari on Your iPhone

Screenshot: Khamosh Pathak

Asia Pacific Shares Rise; Meituan revenue forward

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SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks rose in trading Monday morning as investors watch the earnings release of Chinese food supplier Meituan.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.75% while the Topix index was up 0.83%. South Korea’s Kospi was trading 0.83% higher.

Australia’s S & P / ASX 200 climbed 0.22%.

MSCI’s broadest index for Asia Pacific stocks outside of Japan traded 0.34% higher.

Investors in the region will look forward to the earnings release of Chinese food supplier Meituan on Monday.

As for other Chinese technology developments, Beijing is reportedly considering new rules that the Wall Street Journal said would prevent domestic Internet companies from going public in the US.

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Currencies and oil

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its competitors, hit 92.67 after falling over 93.0 recently.

The Japanese yen was trading at 109.85 per dollar, weaker than it was last week against the greenback below 109.5. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7316 after climbing below $ 0.72 last week.

Oil prices were higher on the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures rising 1.16% to $ 73.54 a barrel. US crude oil futures rose 0.77% to $ 69.27 a barrel.

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