Filed under: Rumormill,BMW,Future,Luxury,Performance
And not just regular M models, but special edition M models.
Continue reading A new BMW 8-Series and many M models in the works, according to leaked codes
A new BMW 8-Series and many M models in the works, according to leaked codes originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 18:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Green,Spy Photos,BMW,Convertible,Hybrid,Performance
This time the drop-top BMW is out with its top in place.
Continue reading Here's the BMW i8 Spyder WITH its roof
Here's the BMW i8 Spyder WITH its roof originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Government/Legal,Hirings/Firings/Layoffs,Tesla,Electric
Tesla is disputing the allegations.
Continue reading Tesla engineer sues over sexist workplace culture (updated)
Tesla engineer sues over sexist workplace culture (updated) originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsYou might have heard: Trump held off-the-record meetings with network executives in November, as well as an on-the-record meeting with the NYT
But did you know: President Trump met with “regional press affiliates,” including reporters from E.W. Scripps Company, in a private off-the-record dinner on Monday night. “The meeting is comparable to the off-the-record lunch Trump will host Tuesday with major network anchors ahead of his first address to Congress,” Scripps TV station WRTV reports. Tuesday’s meeting is a “continuation of a White House custom,” WRTV explains, as presidents have traditionally met with news anchors prior to their first State of the Union.
+ A Wall Street Journal / NBC News survey found that just over half say they believe media organizations are being “too critical” of Trump’s administration (Wall Street Journal), a finding that Mathew Ingram argues could suggest that coverage of Trump’s administration could be backfiring as the administration attacks news organizations (Fortune); George W. Bush tells Matt Lauer, “I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy. That we need the media to hold people like me to account … It’s important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power, whether it be here or elsewhere” (Politico)
+ Jill Geisler’s tips for news managers on covering Trump: Know the right style of leadership to use for the situation, clearly define your managers’ roles and responsibilities, and expect your habits to be adopted by those you manage (CJR)
The post Trump met with ‘regional press affiliates’ in an off-the-record dinner on Monday night appeared first on American Press Institute.
In a new report for the Reuters Institute, Kevin Anderson examines how news organizations are moving “beyond the article” and adopting new story forms and methods of distribution. Some of the key findings from the report: All of the cases Anderson studied involved using distributed methods to spread stories via social media or messaging apps; targeted engagement is just as important as chasing scale; and having limited resources does not have to be a hindrance to innovating new story forms.
+ Earlier: Our report on the best ways to build sustainable distributed content and platform strategies and how to break away from articles and invent new story forms
The post Ideas for moving ‘beyond the article’ appeared first on American Press Institute.
Amedia, Norway’s largest media company, has developed a common log-in system to use across its 62 titles — and that system is encouraging subscribers build digital habits. The system is part of a three-step plan for Amedia: The first stage is converting print subscribers to digital subscribers, the second stage is encouraging non-subscribers to register for a log-in, and the third stage is moving registered users up the value chain (getting non-registered users to sign in and getting logged-in users to become subscribers). “We had a subscription economy that was nose diving fast at about 10 to 15 percent, so the plan was to get these customers to build digital habits, hoping that this strategy would lead to growth and new audiences,” says Amedia’s executive vice president for digital Pal Nedregotten. “The online log-in system was designed to give paying subscribers a reason to still be a subscriber, and create digital habits to help them find value in an online edition.”
The post Norway’s Amedia developed a common log-in system to use across its titles that encourages subscribers to build habits appeared first on American Press Institute.
A year ago, Twitter said in a letter to its shareholders that it was committing itself to a “live” strategy, trying to make itself a place where people would talk about events as they were happening in real-time. But thinking about that statement in the context of Sunday night’s Oscars mistake “highlights what I and so many others mean when we bemoan Twitter’s product stagnation, and how said stagnation so severely limited the company’s long-term prospects — and, on the flipside, how to think about innovation and the disruption of what came before,” Ben Thompson writes. What makes Twitter good for live events is seeing something happening, and then the immediate reaction — which is currently lost once the event is over. Thompson imagines “a Twitter app that, instead of a generic Moment that is little more than Twitter’s version of a thousand re-blogs, let you replay your Twitter stream from any particular moment in time.”
The post Twitter may have committed itself to a ‘live’ strategy last year, but it’s still offering essentially the same product it was when it launched in 2006 appeared first on American Press Institute.
The spread of misinformation online is a multi-faceted problem with many different sources, and that means that there’s no one solution to the “fake news” problem, Shan Wang writes. Summarizing the ideas to come out of this weekend’s MisinfoCon at Harvard University, Wang writes that the weekend was focused on fixing the things that are broken about journalism now. Some ideas to come out of the conference: Readers may be inclined to believe false stories because of a lack of legitimate news sources in their geographic area, a tool could be built to help advertisers block fake news sites better, and an “empathy accelerator” could help newsrooms facilitate conversations with groups who may not have interacted before. You can see all the presentations from the conference here.
The post ‘Getting to the root of the “fake news” problem means fixing what’s broken about journalism itself’ appeared first on American Press Institute.
Copy editors are the new Internet stars, “a refreshing renaissance for a profession that is generally underappreciated and rarely noticed,” Thomas Vinciguerra writes. Editors such as the Baltimore Sun’s John E. McIntyre and The New Yorker’s Mary Norris have turned columns and blogs about grammar into a substantial online following. “I’ve had the good luck to be noticed. I would think that the popularity of the videos shows there is a great interest in copy editors,” says Norris.
The post Copy editors and grammar pros are finding Internet stardom appeared first on American Press Institute.
Filed under: Green,China,Electric,Hybrid
Techrules' GT96 extended-range plug-in vehicle gets tested by professional driver in Italy.
Continue reading Techrules' GT96 plug-in supercar gets tested in Italy
Techrules' GT96 plug-in supercar gets tested in Italy originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Green,Toyota,Hatchback,Electric,Hybrid
Panasonic's Tesla connection raises intriguing possibilities.
Continue reading Panasonic is building the solar roof for Japan's Prius plug-in
Panasonic is building the solar roof for Japan's Prius plug-in originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 15:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: BMW,Toyota,Technology,Crossover,Truck
That classic red-orange BMW hue is there for a reason, but so is every other color.
Continue reading The myth and science behind your gauge cluster illumination color
The myth and science behind your gauge cluster illumination color originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Ownership,Open Road
An auto show is a great opportunity for businesses in the auto-related industries to reach their target market.
Continue reading Here's how to host a car show fundraiser that really drives home the fun
Here's how to host a car show fundraiser that really drives home the fun originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Ford,Gadgets,Infotainment,Technology,SUV
Using a Slingbox, you'll be able to watch your TV on your phone, computer, and SUV.
Continue reading The 2018 Ford Expedition will offer live streaming TV via the SlingBox app
The 2018 Ford Expedition will offer live streaming TV via the SlingBox app originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Ford,Gadgets,Infotainment,Technology,SUV
A new rulebook for Formula 1 in 2017 has led to completely new designs from every constructor taking part in the sport. Here's a look at all of them.
Continue reading A complete visual guide to the cars of the 2017 F1 season
A complete visual guide to the cars of the 2017 F1 season originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Here's a battered Colt spotted in a Denver self-service yard not long ago.
Continue reading Junkyard Gem: 1982 Dodge Colt Hatchback
Junkyard Gem: 1982 Dodge Colt Hatchback originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Green,Plants/Manufacturing,Tesla,Electric
Tesla chief Elon Musk doubles down on his effort to stave off unionization at the company's Northern California plant by offering perks such as a roller coaster and free frozen yogurt.
Continue reading Tesla's Elon Musk promises roller coasters, fro yo at factory
Tesla's Elon Musk promises roller coasters, fro yo at factory originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 13:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Government/Legal,Humor,Safety,Gadgets,Police/Emergency
It's just the right thing to do.
Continue reading State trooper's PSA about mysterious safety feature goes viral
State trooper's PSA about mysterious safety feature goes viral originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFa La Ma found another victim — this one its most high-profile yet.
The ritualistic, voodoo-style dancing and hazing of the McNeese State bats, Shelbi Strickland’s creation that’s now a pregame staple among this entire Cowgirls team suddenly brimming with confidence, made its home debut in a Fat Tuesday matinee against a stalwart South Alabama pitching staff.
“It is for real,” Morgan Catron declared. “It’s got to be done.”
Catron and Tori Yanitor, hitting three and four, had three hits apiece and the Cowgirls chased Jaguars starter Destin Vicknair before she could finish two innings, pummeling a South Alabama team that came in winners of eight straight, 7-1, at Cowgirl Diamond.
Catron, named the Southland Conference’s Hitter of the Week during Tuesday’s game, had three extra-base hits by the fourth inning. Her first-inning home run off Vicknair began an offensive onslaught not seen by this Jaguars team and a pitching staff that had surrendered only 11 runs.
McNeese had seven across the game’s first two innings.
“I’m just proud of our team for sticking to the plan,” first-year coach James Landreneau said. “(Vicknair’s) tough, she’s had a lot of success. We just had to go in and get our pitch. The difference is, today we were able to hit some balls hard to get some luck.”
Coming off a weekend where her team did not permit a run in four games, Vicknair entered the proceedings with a 0.53 ERA. It swelled to 1.21 after three Cowgirl batters.
By the time she exited, after 1 1 /3 innings, it ballooned to 1.72, the result of a reinvigorated McNeese offense finally embodying its potential.
Vicknair required 38 pitches to navigate the McNeese order in the first inning, where all nine hitters came to the plate and forced the imposing right-hander to find the strike zone.
She refused. Hailey Drew was hit in the elbow by the first pitch Vicknair threw. Erika Piancastelli drew a walk — her 18th of the season — before Catron demolished Vicknair’s 0-2 offering into a swirling left-to-right wind in dead center field, affording her team a 3-1 lead that would only grow.
“I think our energy was really there because we saw, I guess, she struggled in those first two at-bats,” Yanitor said. “And when you see a pitcher struggling like that, it’s just time to attack.”
So they did. Vicknair exited after Yanitor yanked her 2-2, second-inning offering off the top of the scoreboard for a two-run home run, leaving after recording just four outs and with her team down 7-1.
South Alabama, a 13-1 team receiving votes in national polls, could muster little against Cowgirls freshman starter Alexsandra Flores, who made just the second start of her collegiate career and first in Lake Charles.
Flores twirled a complete game five-hitter — all five were singles and three did not leave the infield — while permitting zero earned runs.
“Impressive start from a freshman,” Landreneau said. “One thing about Flores is her composure is way above her years in the circle. She’s been brought into some really tough situations. A lot of confidence in that kid.”
Allowed aboard by Cowgirls’ second baseman Jamaiya Miller’s error to open the game, Kaleigh Todd scored on Haleigh Lowe’s first inning single.
Defensive miscues have dotted the Cowgirls’ early season struggles. Though not pleased with the gaffes, Landreneau maintains a similar answer when questions arise. The offense he trots out is good enough, he says, to overcome a miscue or two per game.
His rationalization is now realized.
“We’re so bought into the process that outcomes are just a byproduct,” Yanitor said. “It’s just a really cool thing to see it come together.”
WASHINGTON -- Republicans confronted a conservative rebellion in their own party Tuesday over their long-promised plans to repeal and replace the health care law, and beseeched President Donald Trump to settle the dispute in his first speech to a joint session of Congress.
"He's the leader on this issue right now; he's the one that's got to hold us together," said Rep. Dennis Ross of Florida as he left a morning meeting during which he said Republican leaders urged the rank-and-file to "'stay strong'" on the issue and told them: "'Now is not the time to back down."
The pep talk from leadership came amid signs of serious trouble for the emerging House GOP health care plan even before legislation is officially released. Conservatives are objecting to new tax credits that would help consumers buy health care, arguing they amount to a costly new entitlement.
Influential House conservatives say there's no way the approach can pass the House.
The dispute comes a month into Trump's presidency, and seven years after the Affordable Care Act passed a Democratic-controlled Congress with Barack Obama in the White House. Now the Republicans are in charge of the White House and Congress. Yet, having spent all those intervening years promising to uproot the law and replace it with something better, they find themselves flailing and divided at the moment of truth.
Most Republicans and aides professed to have little insight into what Trump would say Tuesday night, and to what extent he would endorse their plan, though several all but begged him to do so.
"What the president can say is that the plan that gets presented to the conference is the one you need to vote 'yes' on," said GOP Rep. Bill Flores of Texas. "That's how he can be helpful."
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin sought to put a positive face on the divisions.
"You're going to have a lot of churning on any kind of legislative product like this," Ryan said. "This is a plan that we are all working on together, the House, the Senate and the White House, so there aren't rival plans."
"I feel at the end of the day when we get everything done and right, we're going to be unified," Ryan said.
For now, most evidence is to the contrary.
After a recess week filled with raucous town hall meetings, lawmakers' return to the Capitol this week immediately put deep divisions on display. The two leading conservative groups in the House both announced their opposition to House leadership health care plans based on a leaked draft and reports that the bill would cost more than expected while covering fewer people than the Affordable Care Act.
And three key conservative senators, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas, added their voices in opposition, too, announcing that they will resist "Obamacare Lite" and "accept nothing less than full repeal of Obamacare."
Amid the high-profile defections, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky summoned Republicans to a meeting Wednesday afternoon to hash things out.
Health care is far from the only issue dividing Republicans. Plans to overhaul the tax code have them tied in knots, and senior lawmakers are busy throwing cold water on Trump's budget proposal, which was made public in broad outlines on Monday. The budget envisions a huge $54 billion surge in U.S. military spending while slashing domestic programs and foreign aid.
GOP Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, said the budget as presented could not possibly pass the House.
"No, no. There's a lot of members that have a lot of interest in a lot of these programs," Simpson said. "There's more to our government than just defense."
Yet for defense hawks, Trump's Pentagon spending didn't go far enough. Sen. John McCain of Arizona complained that Trump's plans represented just a small increase over Obama's own Pentagon wish list.
And, Trump's budget would leave large deficits intact while sparing Social Security and Medicare, the entitlements that make up an enormous and growing share of the federal budget. That puts Trump in direct conflict with Ryan and other leading Republicans who've long advocated adjusting entitlement programs to put them on a more sustainable footing and get deficits under control.
Ryan himself, pressed on whether he still favored reforming entitlements, something that has been his legislative calling card for years, claimed that repealing and replacing Obamacare actually qualifies as entitlement reform.
Republicans hope for clarity on all these issues and more from Trump Tuesday night.
"More than anyone else the president will drive what happens next," said GOP Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina.
Unlike the inauguration, Democrats plan to attend the speech, with women in the House wearing white to honor the suffrage movement and also to "stand in solidarity with the women of our nation."
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Three people died and two were injured, one critically, when a small plane carrying them home from a cheerleading competition slammed into two Southern California homes and sparked a raging fire, authorities and witnesses said.
The twin-engine plane with five occupants had just taken off from Riverside Municipal Airport at 4:40 p.m. Monday intending to return to San Jose after the weekend Disneyland event when it crashed about a mile away in the residential neighborhood, Riverside Fire Chief Michael Moore said.
One of the survivors was hospitalized with critical burns and the other was in stable condition, police Officer Ryan Railsback said Tuesday. He said both were adult women recovering after undergoing surgery.
The remains of an adult woman were removed from the wreckage, which was still smoldering the morning after the crash, Railsback said.
The bodies of an adult man and a female teenager remained the site of the crash that destroyed two suburban houses and sent debris flying down the block of single-family homes. One of the plane's propellers landed on a rooftop.
"It's unrecognizable really as a plane," said Railsback, who added that it was "remarkable" no one on the ground was hurt.
One of the destroyed houses was empty at the time and a man escaped the neighboring home without suffering injuries. Nearly all of about 40 residents evacuated after the fiery crash returned home.
One of the survivors was thrown from a back seat of the plane but suffered only minor injuries, Moore said.
Three witnesses told TV stations one survivor crawled from the home asking for help. She was able to talk to firefighters about what had happened as she was taken to a hospital, Moore said.
Police said the airport's control tower called local authorities after the plane went down. Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board will try to determine what occurred in the minutes after takeoff.
Witness Brian Marsh, driving nearby, said he saw the Cessna turn moments before the crash.
"All of a sudden it turned into a freefall," he told the Press-Enterprise. "Flames were everywhere. Smoke was billowing out."
Ken Sampson told the newspaper the flames shot so high that he could see them from his house six blocks away.
Firefighters entered one of the burning houses and pulled out another passenger, who was unconscious.
"It's horrible," Moore said, especially given that they had gone to a cheerleading competition and it was "supposed to be a happy time."
Authorities initially said four people died, and that the critically injured victim was a resident of the homes. They later reduced the death toll to three and said all five victims had been on the plane. They have not given the ages or identities of the victims.
Moore did not provide the name of the cheerleading competition, but the Jr. USA Nationals for girls age 15 and under was held at Disney California Adventure Park over the weekend. Officials with the competition did not immediately return calls Tuesday.
The two homes that were hit directly were destroyed, and there was minor damage to neighboring houses, Moore said.
H.L. Reyes, who lives about a quarter-mile from the crash site, told The Associated Press she felt the ground shake and saw plumes of black smoke.
"I thought it was a possible earthquake, and we heard all the birds just suddenly react outside, too," Reyes said. "This was just like a nightmare coming true."
Shannon Flores, a teacher at an elementary school about three blocks away, said she saw the plane out her classroom window. She said it was raining during the crash, though other witnesses said the rain was very light.
"As soon as we saw it fly over, we knew it wasn't a good thing," Flores told KABC-TV. "We watched it go down very quickly ... Before we knew it, there was a loud crash and huge plumes of smoke."
STUART, Fla. -- A Florida college student accused of randomly killing a couple in their garage and chewing on the dead man's face told television psychologist Phil McGraw he was fleeing a demon-like figure named Daniel and only had a vague recollection of the slayings.
In a 22-minute interview released Tuesday by prosecutors, Austin Harrouff said he lost his wits as he walked back to his father's home after storming out of a restaurant where they had an argument.
McGraw asked about "the devil talking to you," and Harrouff went on to describe a "dark figure" he called Daniel.
"I got scared out of my mind," Harrouff told McGraw, who interviewed him by computer when the former high school wrestler and football player was still hospitalized last fall.
Harrouff, 20, was arrested upon release from the hospital for the Aug. 15 deaths of John Stevens, a 59-year-old landscaper, and his wife, Michelle Mishcon, 53. Both had been beaten and stabbed. He could face the death penalty if convicted of murder.
The interview, which is now evidence in the case, was scheduled to air on McGraw's "Dr. Phil" show last Oct. 28 but was pulled at the last minute without explanation. Prosecutors released it without comment after NBC affiliate WPTV hired lawyers to seek its release under the state's public information law.
Harrouff, a bodybuilder who majored in exercise science at Florida State University, said he stripped off most of his clothes as he tried to run away from Daniel. McGraw asked what he was thinking.
"I just need to find someone to help me, to figure out where I am," said Harrouff, speaking in a steady, even voice as his father, dentist Wade Harrouff, stood just off camera. "I don't even remember what I said to myself. I just remember being afraid, scared."
He said he doesn't remember how he came face-to-face with Mishcon in the couple's garage. He said she screamed, and "then it's a blur."
"I don't remember what she said — I just remember being yelled at," Harrouff said. He said he grabbed a machete he found in their garage, but doesn't remember why he killed her and her husband.
"It's like it happened but I wasn't aware of it at the time," Harrouff said, crying. "I don't know, I don't know. If I knew, I would tell you."
Harrouff said he drank something he found in the garage after the attack. He refused to say what it was, but it severely burned his esophagus. He denied ever using steroids or hallucinogenic drugs such as flakka or bath salts. None showed up in his blood tests.
When sheriff's deputies arrived, they found Harrouff on top of Stevens, chewing his face. It took numerous deputies, jolts from an electric stun gun and bites from a police dog to pull him off. They said they didn't shoot Harrouff because they feared hitting Stevens.
McGraw ended the interview by promising to work with Harrouff's father to learn why he snapped.
"You keep hanging in there and we are going to look for answers," McGraw told him.
Harrouff's family has said he had been acting strange for weeks before the attack.
His mother, Mina Harrouff, told police he claimed to have superpowers and that he had been sent to help people. She said his bed had been moved to the garage because he thought there were demons in the house, and that a few hours before the attack, she stopped him from drinking cooking oil from the bottle, only to find him eating a bowl of cooking oil and cheese.
Filed under: Honda,Technology,Autonomous,Future
This group will spearhead Honda's future vision.
Continue reading Honda's new R&D Center X will focus on robots, energy, and AI
Honda's new R&D Center X will focus on robots, energy, and AI originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Celebrities,TV/Movies,Videos,Performance,Racing
This almost could've been called The Fast and the Furious: Family Vacation.
Continue reading The latest Fate of the Furious trailer shows Dom and Letty's Cuban paradise
The latest Fate of the Furious trailer shows Dom and Letty's Cuban paradise originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsBOISE, Idaho -- U.S. officials say three types of potatoes genetically engineered to resist the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine are safe for the environment and safe to eat.
The approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration late last week gives Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Company permission to plant the potatoes this spring and sell them in the fall.
The company says the potatoes contain a potato gene resistant to late blight.
Late blight is pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine.
Fungicides have been used for decades to prevent the blight.
The genetically engineered potatoes will require half of the fungicide normally used by potato farmers.
The company says the potatoes also have reduced bruising and black spots and enhanced storage capacity.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy grew at an anemic 1.9 percent rate in the fourth quarter, unchanged from an initial estimate, although consumers performed better than first thought.
The increase in the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, represented a significant slowdown from 3.5 percent growth recorded in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
The fourth quarter figure was unchanged from the first estimate a month ago, although some of the components were revised. The government found that consumer spending grew at a faster rate, but spending by state and local governments and businesses equipment purchases were weaker.
Growth for 2016 overall was just 1.6 percent, the poorest showing in five years. Since the recession ended in mid-2009, annual growth has averaged 2.1 percent, the worst performance for any recovery in the post-World War II period.
President Donald Trump vowed during the campaign to double economic growth to 4 percent or better. He said his economic program of tax cuts, deregulation and increased spending in such areas as the military and infrastructure would boost the economy back to growth rates not seen on a sustained basis in decades.
However, Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has cited a lower projection. He has said he believes the Trump program would achieve growth 3 percent or better and that the improvements would likely not be felt until 2018, after the Trump program had been enacted.
Even a 3 percent growth goal is viewed by many economists as overly optimistic, given the headwinds the economy faces including an aging workforce and disappointing productivity gains.
At the moment, many economists are forecasting growth for this year of between 2 percent and 2.5 percent. Some say growth could hit 3 percent in the second half of the year if elements of Trump's economic program such as the middle-class tax cuts win approval in Congress by this summer.
Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said that even with the fourth quarter slowdown, the second half of 2016 was much better than the first half, with encouraging signs from business and consumer surveys.
"The marked improvement in the survey evidence recently suggests that growth will continue at a decent pace in the first half of this year," he said, predicting GDP growth of 2.5 percent in the first quarter.
While the overall GDP figure in the fourth quarter was unchanged, the report Tuesday did show revisions to various components. Consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity, was revised to show solid growth at a 3 percent rate, up from an initial estimate of 2.5 percent growth.
But spending by state and local governments was revised lower to 1.3 percent growth, just half the initial 2.6 percent estimate. Spending by businesses on equipment such as cell phones was revised down to a 1.9 percent increase instead of the initial 3.1 percent estimate. Housing construction was trimmed to growth at a still-strong rate of 9.6 percent but lower than the initial 10.2 percent gain.
The release Tuesday was the second of three estimates the government releases for GDP performance each quarter.
Trump was expected to unveil details of his economic plans before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. The budget portion of that program will feature a $54 billion boost in military spending. The extra spending is intended for new aircraft, ships and fighters and will be paid for with $54 billion in cuts in domestic programs and foreign aid.
The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates twice in the past two years but Fed officials have signaled that rates could increase three times this year as the economy moves closer to the Fed's goals for employment and inflation.
Filed under: Geneva Motor Show,Volvo,Safety,Emerging Technologies,Crossover,Future
Volvo, take the wheel!
Continue reading Volvo goes beyond automatic braking, adds automatic steering
Volvo goes beyond automatic braking, adds automatic steering originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Weird Car News
In no way could this possibly go wrong.
Continue reading SUV drivers take cars out on flooded frozen lake
SUV drivers take cars out on flooded frozen lake originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 08:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Design/Style,Jaguar,Land Rover,Coupe,SUV,Luxury,Off-Road,Racing
The Jaguar watches are British while the Land Rover watch is Swiss.
Continue reading Buy a Jaguar E-Type continuation, get a matching wristwatch
Buy a Jaguar E-Type continuation, get a matching wristwatch originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsBISMARCK, N.D. -- A federal judge will hear arguments Tuesday about whether to stop the final bit of construction on the disputed Dakota Access pipeline, perhaps just days before it could start moving oil.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., will consider a request by the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes to order the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw permission for developer Energy Transfer Partners to lay pipe under Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The stretch under the Missouri River reservoir is the last piece of construction for the $3.8 billion pipeline that's to move oil through the Dakotas and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois.
The tribes argue that the mere existence of an oil pipeline under the reservoir that provides water to the neighboring reservations violates their right to practice their religion, which relies on clean water.
"The granting of the easement and resulting construction activity violates the tribe's and its members' constitutional rights, and will result in immediate and irreparable harm to the tribe and its members before this court will be able to rule on the merits of this claim," tribal attorney Nicole Ducheneaux said in court documents.
When they filed the lawsuit last summer, the tribes argued that the pipeline threatens Native American cultural sites and their water supply. Their religion argument is new, however, and both the Corps and Energy Transfer Partners argue that the delay in raising it is a reason for Boasberg to reject the argument.
Company attorney William Scherman also said the tribes' claim is suspect based on other man-made infrastructure under the lake, and that the company respects the tribe's religious beliefs but has no legal duty to make concessions for them.
Corps attorney Erica Zilioli said the government's permission for the company to lay pipe under the lake "does not substantially burden the exercise of the tribe's religious beliefs."
Earlier this month, Boasberg declined the tribes' request to order an immediate halt to the pipeline construction, ruling that as long as oil wasn't flowing through the pipeline, there was no imminent harm to the tribes.
In a court filing Friday, Ducheneaux argued the claim is "about the religious harm arising from the mere siting of this pipeline under the tribe's sacred waters."
Boasberg's decision on the matter won't be the end of the court battle. Both tribes have asked him to overturn the federal permission for the Lake Oahe crossing and to bar the Corps from granting permission in the future. The judge won't rule until at least April.
Hundreds and sometimes thousands of pipeline opponents who sided with tribal opposition to the pipeline camped on federal land near the drill site for months, often clashing with police. There have been about 750 arrests in the region since August. Authorities last week closed the camp in advance of spring flooding season and set up roadblocks to prevent protesters from returning.
Work under Lake Oahe had been held up in the courts until President Donald Trump last month instructed the Corps to advance construction. The Army is involved because its engineering branch manages the river and its system of hydroelectric dams, which is owned by the federal government.
Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners began drilling under the lake Feb. 8. The pipeline could be operating as early as Monday and no later than early April, according to Scherman.
Filed under: Design/Style,Motorsports,Geneva Motor Show,Renault
The berlinette is back.
Continue reading Alpine reveals sultry A110 for Geneva Motor Show
Alpine reveals sultry A110 for Geneva Motor Show originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2017 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsThe second playoff meeting in as many seasons between Washington-Marion and Edna Karr didn’t deliver the drama of the first, as the Charging Indians dominated the first half en route to an 80-52 win in a Class 4A regional round game.
The top-seeded Charging Indians (29-6) will host the winner of tonight’s No. 8 Tioga-No. 24 Assumption game in the quarterfinal round Friday.
In last season’s semifinal game, W-M needed a layup at the buzzer to down the Cougars. This time, W-M started the game with an 11-1 run and scored the final 11 points of the first half en route to a 40-14 halftime lead.
Karr (17-17) never got closer than 23 in the second half.
W-M head coach Albert Hartwell said he asked his team to show some urgency from the outset.
“I told them we had to come out like we wanted to win from the start, not give them a chance,” he said. “We all come out with the same momentum from the first round game (a win over Leesville) the other night. We are playing good ball. We are helping each other and communicating on defense. We are not letting people penetrate on us, we are cutting off the gaps and talking to each other.”
Cody Stansberry connected on a 3-pointer on the game’s first possession. Karr turned the ball over four times in it first eight possessions, scoring just once in that span, and Da’Vantre Vitor and Christian Edwards added three pointers as W-M built a double-digit lead within the first three minutes. Vitor finished with nine points in the quarter, making three of four attempts from long range.
Reserve guard Jaylin Walker sparked the second quarter run, scoring on a drive and making a fast-break layup after stealing the ball to start an 11-0 run which also featured four points by Vitor and another Edwards 3-pointer.
Vitor finished the game with a team-high 24 points and has scored 44 points in W=M’s two playoff games after missing time at the end of the regular season due to a hand injury.
“He makes a big difference because he is bigger than most guards, and he can shoot the ball,” Hartwell said. “He does a lot of things for us. He plays good defense for us, he is a long body.
Edwards added 14 points and Walker scored 12.
Marc Bowie led Karr with 15 and Quindell Johnson scored 14.
NEW YORK -- When White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer wanted to crack down on leaks last week, he collected his aides' cell phones to check for communication with reporters. The crackdown quickly leaked.
President Donald Trump now says he probably would have handled the situation differently, meeting with staff one-on-one instead — but perhaps still demanding to look at their phones.
"I mean, you know, there are things you can do that are a hell of a lot worse than that, I'll be honest with you," Trump told "Fox & Friends" in an interview aired Tuesday.
Trump denied that there was a "major leak process" at the White House. So who did it?
"We have sort of ideas," Trump said. "But don't forget, we have people from other campaigns, we have people from other governments. We've got a lot of people here."
Spicer's losing round in Washington's perpetual game of information Whack-a-mole was hardly a surprise. In trying to plug leaks from anonymous sources, President Donald Trump and his aides are going after one of the most entrenched practices in Washington politics and journalism, an exercise that has exposed corruption, fueled scandals and spread gossip for decades.
But the practice has created several headaches for the new president, leading Trump, just weeks into his presidency, to publicly vow to try to punish "low-life leakers" in his own administration.
"Let their name be put out there,' Trump said before the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, accusing reporters of making up anonymous sources and stories. He declared reporters shouldn't be allowed to use sources "unless they use somebody's name."
"'A source says that Donald Trump is a horrible, horrible human being.' Let 'em say it to my face."
But Trump's administration has not been practicing what the boss preached. Despite the president's anger about unnamed sources, White House budget officials insisted on anonymity Monday as they outlined details of Trump's spending plans to reporters on a conference call. The budget officials ignored requests to put the briefing on the record.
Several anonymously sourced stories have driven Trump coverage: revelations that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had lied about conversations with Russians about sanctions; details of private phone calls Trump had with leaders of Australia and Mexico; draft memos of policy plans for actions like rounding up undocumented aliens.
Trump isn't the first president to be frustrated by leaks.
From the release of the Pentagon Papers on Vietnam policy, the Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon to Edward Snowden's data dump of national security files, American history is filled with stories of government misconduct that came to light through information passed privately into the hands of journalists.
"Leaking is gigantically important in modern presidential coverage and Washington history," said Frank Sesno, a former CNN Washington bureau chief and now a journalism professor at George Washington University.
Sources have countless reasons for leaking, Sesno said. Maybe they're raising a trial balloon, or shooting one down. Maybe they don't like a policy being considered or want to report wrongdoing. Maybe they just want to talk back to the boss.
Journalists prefer sources go on the record; it lends more credibility to the stories. But on important areas of national security, it's understandable when people insist upon anonymity, said Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, on CNN's "Reliable Sources" Sunday.
"These are not people who pull us aside because they want to screw Donald Trump," Baquet said. "These are people who are worried about the direction of the government. These are people who are taking risks to talk to the media because they think these things need to be exposed. And I have to say, in an administration that has expressed so much distaste for the press and so much distaste for our role, are you surprised that some of the people who want to criticize the administration want to do it without their names attached? I'm not."
Leaks have progressed beyond the days of clandestine meetings in darkened parking garages — although that still happens. Since leakers can be tracked if they use government-issued phones, journalists and sources have increasingly turned to encrypted messaging services, such as Signal, that aren't logged by phone companies, with messages that can be programmed to self-destruct after they are viewed.
Spicer called the White House communications staff into his office to express his frustration with unauthorized leaks to reporters, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting but not authorized to discuss it publicly. He asked the aides to provide him with both their government-issued and personal cell phones so he could check communications with journalists.
He also told them that use of encrypted texting apps was a violation of the Federal Records Act and had representatives from the White House counsel's office in the meeting, according to one person with knowledge of the meeting. That person said Monday that Trump was not aware of the inquiry.
Spicer also requested that details of the meeting not be shared with the press. Politico first reported the meeting Sunday.
Sesno said the Trump White House's battle against leakers is likely fueled by a combination of being new to Washington and a genuine desire to control the message. But to some who knew Trump from a different era, it's a little jarring.
In the 1990s, Trump was a frequent anonymous source of information about his social life and television series, "The Apprentice," said newspaper columnist Linda Stasi, who covered Trump at the New York Daily News and New York Post. Once Trump called and pretended to be someone else delivering information about him; Stasi said she could easily recognize his voice.
"I think he was surprised to find out that it's not the same when you're talking about the most important things in the world, as opposed to when your mistress is saying she was having good sex with him," Stasi said.
Stasi said she got along well with Trump, even though she felt the relationship was more beneficial for her than it was for him.
"When it comes to politics, it's a different game," she said. "He's turned into someone I don't know."
LSU lefthander Jared Poch? was one of Collegiate Baseball magazine’s players of the week for the second straight week, but there was also bad news for the Tigers’ pitching staff.
Poch? was three outs away from throwing his second consecutive no-hitter in a 14-0 victory over Maryland Saturday before giving up his line hit thus far into the season to lead off the top of the ninth.
But it was the seventh inning a day later that proved most costly to the Tigers when junior right-hander Doug Norman left the game in obvious pain after delivering a pitch.
Monday it was learned that Norman, who was likely to be in the bulllpen set-up role for closer Hunter Newman, will require elbow surgery and miss the remainder of the season.
“Our worst fears were realized when we found out today,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “Doug is a great competitor, and he will meet head-on this next challenge in his life. Our thoughts and prayers are with him as he goes through the surgery and begins his rehab.”
Norman is the second key player this season the Tigers have lost — designated hitter Bryce Jordan had knee surgery just before the season began. In 47 career appearances for the Tigers, Norman is 6-2 with a 2.82 ERA in 70.1 innings.
Meanwhile the Tigers moved slightly up in twos national polls, slightly down in another and stayed the same in the other after going 4-1 last week, including a weekend sweep of previously No. 25 Maryland.
LSU is now 7-1 overall headiing into a home game tonight against Nicholls State, followed by a big weekend in Houston against three Big 12 teams at the Astros’ Minute Maid Park.
The Tigers moved up to No. 2 nationally in the Perfect Game poll, but slipped from No. 2 to No. 3 in the Collegiate Baseball poll. They remained No. 4 in Baseball America poll and moved up a spot to No. 4 in the D1 Baseball poll,
The Shriner’s Classic in Houston will feature LSU, Ole Miss and Texas A&M from the SEC playing three Big 12 teams. All six teams in the tournament are ranked.
LSU will play consensus No. 1-ranked TCU on Friday, No. 25 Baylor on Saturday and No. 12 Texas Tech Sunday morning.
WESTLAKE — The 17th ranked Westlake Rams held No. 1 Peabody’s top players in check early but the Warhorses broke the game open in the second half to win 86-54 in the regional round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Peabody’s Cedric Russell and Kevin Norman were limited to just 15 combined points in the first half. But Norman switched from wing to post in the second half to score 13 of his game-high 29 points in the third quarter and lead the Warhorses second half surge.
“Westlake did a great job on defense,” Peabody head coach Charles Smith said. “They were taking away my best two players, Norman and Russell.
“They pushed up on Russell and didn’t let him drive to the goal and it forced him to take the outside shot. With Kevin on the wing, he didn’t get good shots so we moved him in to the post and that is when the game really changed.”
Peabody (32-3) moves on to the quarterfinal round for the 12th consecutive year.
After a slow start, Westlake’s Reiko Johnson fired up the Rams with a three-pointer four minutes into the game that cut Peabody’s lead to 7-6. The Warhorses finished the first quarter on a 12-0 run and Melvion Flanagan hit three three-pointers early in the second quarter to put Peabody up 28-8 but the Rams didn’t fold.
“We came out and played a little skittish,” Westlake head coach Doug Morris said. “In the second quarter is where I thought that we played pretty well.
“We got over that it was Peabody and their size. That was what was hurting us the most. It wasn’t their shooting but the rebounding. When you are 6-5 and you have a 5-7 underneath you it is hard to box out and get rebounds.”
Junior London Vinson helped spark a 7-0 run for the Rams with a putback off an offensive rebound and a three-pointer. Seth Vinson’s shot in the lane cut Peabody’s lead to 30-13 but Westlake could never get any closer.
Eventually the Warhorse size advantage took its toll. Peabody out rebounded Westlake 23-14 and scored 18 points off offensive rebounds.
Russell finished with 12 points and Darius Smith nearly had a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
London Vinson led Westlake with 23 points and went 13-for-18 from the free throw line while Johnson finished with 15 points.
Westlake finishes the season 17-14 but returns its entire lineup next year.
“We played hard,” Morris said. “We were just a little short.
“I have all of them back next year. Hopefully they learn from this situation and we will be better prepared for next year.”
Beauregard Parish authorities have made what they said is their first arrest in an investigation into a recent rash of vehicle vandalisms.
According to authorities, DeRidder resident Christopher Yanko, 18, was arrested Friday, Feb. 24, and charged with 12 counts of felony criminal damage and four counts of misdemeanor criminal damage. His total bond has been set at $70,000.
Sheriff Ricky Moses said the arrest was the result of a Crimestoppers tip, and that he does not believe Yanko acted alone.
“I expect that we will have more arrests to announce in the coming days as we wrap up the investigation,” he said. “Thanks to some Crimestoppers tips we were able to get some credible information to go off of, and we believe there were other participants involved in these vandalisms.”
Moses said deputies have received numerous reports over the past few weeks of windows being shot out of personal vehicles by what appeared to be pellet guns.
The incidents began to cross over parish lines and into Vernon Parish last week with deputies there receiving reports from Rosepine residents whose vehicle windows were also being shot out, as well as tires being slashed.
Beauregard detective Jared Morton has been leading the investigation.
A 46-year-old man has been sentenced to life for a 1999 aggravated rape near the Lake Charles Civic Center.
Austin Mott Jr., was convicted Feb. 13 in state district court for beating and raping a woman inside a public restroom located not far from the Civic Center on Oct. 5, 1999.
The victim had been jogging in the area and stopped to use the facility when Mott came in, hit her multiple times, broke her nose and raped her in a bathroom stall.
Lake Charles police stated in July 2015 that the initial investigation was unable to make headway due to few leads and to limited lab testing available.
But after Lt. Kevin Kirkum reopened the case in December 2014 and resubmitted evidence for testing, a DNA match to Mott was made. Mott was incarcerated at the time in Rosharon, Texas for a sexual offense.
Judge Ron Ware found Mott guilty of aggravated rape after a one-day bench trial.
Ware sentenced Mott on Feb. 17 to life in prison without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.
Detectives with the Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office recovered more than 145 pounds of illegal narcotics early Sunday morning after being alerted to suspicious activity in the area.
According to Sheriff Sam Craft, agents with the Vernon Parish Narcotics Task Force were contacted after employees of a commercial business noticed that a railway car was being off-loaded at the location, and that suspicious items were discovered inside. Agents arrived on the scene and located 66 bricks of marijuana, worth an estimated street value of $218,000.
The name of the business who contacted agents continues to be witheld, though Craft said that as more information is gained from the investigation the name may be released at a later date. Also being withheld is whether Vernon Parish was the intended destination for the narcotics.
“The investigation is ongoing and we have several leads that we are following right now, so we hope to be able to release more information in the future,” Craft said.
HAMMOND — A year after falling just four points short of a state championship, the Merryville girls basketball team has returned to the University Center on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana in hopes of winning its first ever state title.
In order to get another shot at the Class 1A championship, the No. 2 Panthers will first have to defeat No. 3 Gueydan in the state semifinals in a clash
of styles that will feature Merryville running a half-court offense and the bears trying to run the floor.
“We had a tough, overtime game against Tensas because they are very athletic,” said Merryville head coach Vic Ortiz. “We see that Gueydan is pretty athletic itself. It should be a great semifinal game.”
The Panthers will once again be led by junior point guard Andrea Cournoyer, who last year set the Class 1A record for combined points in the state tournament with 69.
This year, Ortiz said Cournoyer brings more strength and a better ability to distribute the ball to the University Center.
“Andrea has really helped this team throughout the season with her unselfish play,” Ortiz said. “She’s done a great job of getting others involved in the offense.
“She’s definitely stronger than she was last year. We did some off-season weight training, and she’s grown a lot. As a result she’s a tremendous rebounder for a point guard. She has great timing, and her strength helps a lot.”
But Ortiz knows more than just Cournoyer will have to have a great game in order for Merryville to reach its second consecutive state final game. The role players around her will also play a big part in the Panthers’ success.
“The key to our success has been teamwork, especially on the defensive end” Ortiz said. “They work hard for each other, and they go out for maximum effort every time.
Despite Cournoyer’s record-breaking performance last season, the Panthers fell just short of a win in their first ever title game, losing to Arcadia 66-62.
Ortiz said last year’s trip to Hammond has had a number of positive side effects, as he is comfortable knowing his veteran players have played in this environment before as well as using it as a motivating factor.
He added they have also been motivated by the recent death of former Merryville Mayor and Panthers super fan Charles Hudson.
“These girls want to get back to the state finals bad,” Ortiz said. “We recently lost a board member Mr. Hudson. He was probably our biggest fan. We’re definitely trying to win one for him.”
The Lake Charles Port Board voted on Monday to approve year licenses for all five stevedoring companies that operate at the port after deferring the item at a Feb. 13 board meeting.
A number of representatives from the International Longshoremen’s Association, a labor union with three local chapters, asked the board on Feb. 13 not to approve the license for Gulf Stream Marine, the port’s newest stevedoring company, because it didn’t use local labor.
Gulf Stream has only operated at the port for a year and during that time only handled one shipment, the weekend of Feb. 11. As the only one of the port’s five stevedoring companies that doesn’t use union labor, Gulf Stream hired outside workers instead of local longshoreman for the job.
ILA representatives voiced concern at the Feb. 13 meeting that the Houston-based company would continue to win bids without hiring locals and asked the port not to renew the license. Since a few board members were out that day and the board wanted to give each member a chance to vote, it deferred all license renewals until a special meeting, later scheduled for Monday.
Lash Chretien, president of Local 1998 of the ILA, told board members Monday that he had met with Gulf Stream representatives within the last two weeks and was encouraged by their feedback. He said Gulf Stream seemed willing to make a deal with the union.
Chretien said he also realizes that Gulf Stream could bring good jobs into the port that could actually help local workers.
“It’ll be a plus for us and a plus for the port,” Chretien said.
Raymond Dallas, president of Local 247 of the ILA, said he looked forward to the possibility of working with Gulf Stream.
“That’s all we’re asking for is that they use local workforce,” Dallas said. “We’re just looking to come up with an agreement that brings back jobs.”
Tony Sayorski, chief operating officer at Gulf Stream, said the company’s plan is to hire local labor in the future. The only question, he said, is whether Gulf Stream can reach an agreement with the ILA on hiring terms such as pay.
Sayorski aid Gulf Stream was relieved to have the license passed so that it could begin securing more jobs at the port this year.
Bill Rase, port executive director, said each company has a strong track record, including Gulf Stream.
“Gulf Stream itself is a very highly sought out company that has a strong financial background and a very strong safety record and has been able to operate in several ports successfully,” Rase said. He said Gulf Stream has been able to add jobs and opportunities to many ports and that he expects it will do the same here.
Rase said the reason Gulf Stream only had one project this year was that a number of local industrial projects were delayed. But he said the port expects that trend to reverse very soon.
“All of these (stevedoring companies) are going to be interesting over the next four or five years because we’re hoping that 70 and 80 percent of projects will move forward, especially now that oil has stabilized itself,” Rase said.
He expects that Gulf Stream will end up finding a way to use local labor because it’ll save them money in travel fair, he said, but only if it could reach an agreement with the ILA.
WELSH — A Vietnam war hero from Welsh will be honored by his hometown Saturday during a special ceremony to officially dedicate the interchange of Interstate 10 and La. 99 at Exit 54.
The Welsh Exit 54 interchange will be renamed the Sp4 Donald C. Gillett Memorial.
Gillett was fatally wounded by a sniper after jumping from a helicopter in the jungles of Vietnam in 1969. He was 23.
“His loss was a big one for the town,” Karen Trahan of the Friends of the Welsh Museum said. “Now when people see his name when they leave Welsh they will remember him.”
Trahan attended school and college with Gillett and remembers him fondly.
“What I remember of Charlie in high school was that everyone liked him and that was obvious because he was class president for all three years of high school,” she said. “He always had a twinkle in his eyes and liked to play pranks, but he always got down to business when he had to.”
A memorial dedication ceremony is set for 2 p.m. March 4 at the Welsh Community Center, 101 Palmer St. A reception will follow at the Welsh Museum, 202 East South St.
Museum board president Mary Sue Lyon, who grew up next to the Gillett family and whose nephew is named after the fallen hero, said the dedication is a way to eulogize his life and sacrifice.
“It’s something we have always wanted to do, but no one took the initiative to get the ball rolling till now,” she said.
A special display highlighting Gillett’s childhood, family, education and military life will be on display 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday through November at the Welsh Museum.
The display features old photographs, letters, certificates, yearbooks and other memorabilia on loan from Gillett’s family and friends.
Gillett attended Welsh High School where he lettered in football and track. He also served as class president for his sophomore, junior and senior years and was active in the Future Farmers of America Chapter. He was awarded the Star Chapter Farm Award his senior year.
He was a 1963 graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) where he was the chancellor of the Alpha Zeta, a national agriculture fraternity. He later attended LSU to pursue a masters in agriculture, but dropped out to enlist in the military, Trahan said.
“He really wanted to farm,” she said. “That was his life goal, but he wanted to get his military obligation out of the way so he could farm. Everyone tried to talk him out of going, but he wouldn’t listen. Military was important to his family and he volunteered to go.”
He was assigned to Company A, 8th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division and received his basic training at Fort Polk.
Vietnam was his first assignment and he had only be there about six months when he was killed, she said.
Fellow classmate Wayne Phenice, who was also serving in Vietnam, identified Gillett’s remains and escorted the body home.
He is buried in the Oak Lawn Cemetery in Welsh.
HAMMOND — For the second straight season, the Fairview girls basketball team will be absent from the Class B state finals after suffering a 54-36 loss to the hands of district rival No. 3 Anacoco on Monday night at the University Center in the state semifinals.
The Panthers (40-3) played a majority of the game without star point guard Maddisen Martin who suffered a knee injury in the first quarter.
“The biggest thing was when we lost our best defender and one of the best defenders in the state in all classifications and our second scorer averaging 22 points per game and our third leading rebounder,” said Fairview head coach Kyle Jinks. “She’s our point guard. She kind of makes us go. ... You take that away and you have players playing positions they’ve never played before.
“You cannot replace a Maddisen Martin. There just is no replacing her.”
Without Martin distributing the ball, Fairview struggled shooting the ball, finishing with a 21.9 percent shooting percentage and hitting just 3 of 32 shots from beyond the arc.
The Indians (26-7) really pulled away from the Panthers in the second quarter when they outscored Fairview 16-7 to take a 27-16 lead into the halftime break.
Anacoco then opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run to extend their lead to 19 points and put the game out of reach of the Panthers.
“We tried to do too much,” Jinks said. “We’re not very good one-on-one, and we tried to do too much. We tried to get back in our offense and tried to get some points defensively.”
Fairview chipped away at the Anacoco lead, getting it down to as few as 12 points, but that’s as close as it would get in what would be their final game of the season.
“They fought, and they didn’t quit,” Jinks said. “That’s all I ask them to do: fight.”
Anacoco reached the the Class B finals for the first time in 15 years with the win.
After losing to Fairview twice during the regular season, Indians head coach Michelle Goins said this win was that much sweeter.
“Our goal both times we played Fairview in the regular season was to learn and grow and know what we needed to do for the third time, and that’s just what we did,” Goins said.
Callie Maddox led the Panthers with 16 points.
Despite her high school career ending short of another state championship, she said she will remember her senior season most fondly.
“It’s been awesome being a Lady Panther and playing for Coach Jinks,” Maddox said. “Even though this year did end the way we wanted it to, this has been the best year. I’m not pleased with this game, but I’m happy with the way we fought this season.”