Event organiser The Rum Lab has revealed the seminar programme for the New York Rum Festival in June.
The 6th New York Rum Festival & Congress is scheduled to be held over two days in June.
The rum festival will take place on Saturday 10 June at the Metropolitan Pavilion, while New York Rum Congress will follow on the Monday (12 June) at the Astor Learning Centre.
The New York Rum Festival kicks off a week-long schedule of spirits events in the city. The Indie Spirits Expo is due to be held on 12 June, while on-trade show Bar Convent Brooklyn is planned for 13-14 June.
The first day of New York Rum Festival will see around 150 rums participating in the event, the organiser said.
Seminars will focus on topics such as Jamaican rum, how the category is attracting whisky drinkers, 100% estate-grown rum and Spanish-style rums.
Martha Miller, CEO of National Rums of Jamaica, will speak at the first seminar, called ‘The spirit of the Caribbean, Jamaica leading the charge for a better future’.
A-K Hada, Liz Rhoades and Astrophel ‘Troy’ Arquiza will look at how rum is attracting the attention of whisky lovers in a seminar at 3.15pm local time.
Worthy Park’s Alexander Kong will focus on the theme of 100% estate-grown rum, alongside Miriam Pacheco, general manager of sugarcane spirit Uruapan Charanda.
The evening will conclude with Ron Barceló brand ambassador Otto Flores, who will discuss the ‘misconception of Spanish-styled rum’ at 6.15pm.
In addition, a trade session will be held from 2pm-3.30pm on 10 June, while VIP ticket holders can join the Rum Experts Session (2pm-7pm) and the four-hour Enthusiastic Session from 3pm.
The Rum Aficionados General Admission Tasting Session will be held from 4pm to 7pm.
Meanwhile, Monday’s sessions will feature a guided tasting of the Hampden Estate range and a Maison Ferrand experience.
Visitors can also help choose the next Holmes Cay release with a tasting of single cask rums from 1.40pm to 2.30pm.
The Rum Lab has partnered with agricole rum specialist Spiribam to host the Congress day with the event split into two parts: The Rum Lab workshops and industry training from Spiribam.
“The team at TheRumLab.com is grateful that some of the most important rum brands in the world trust in us and share our belief that to grow the premium category of rum, education is fundamental,” said Federico J Hernandez, founder of The Rum Lab.
In December last year, The Rum Lab revealed its US festival schedule for 2023, including events in Chicago, Puerto Rico, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Can Aljamain Sterling crack the top five after his big win at UFC 288? Plus, one of the greatest MMA fighters ever makes his return to the men’s top 10.
There were some strange intersections in MMA this past weekend. The original flyweight GOAT, Demetrious Johnson, fought in a rubber match with Adriano Moraes on Friday night—settling the series by defending the 135-pound title in ONE Championship’s first-ever fight card in the United States.
Meanwhile, at UFC 288 in Newark, two men also weighing 135 pounds—known more commonly as bantamweights in the UFC—fought in what amounted to a legacy bout between current champion Aljamain Sterling and returning two-division champion Henry Cejudo.
It was Cejudo, you might remember, who narrowly beat “Mighty Mouse” Johnson back in 2018 to essentially save and revitalize the UFC’s dying flyweight division, thus facilitating the unprecedented trade of Johnson to the Asia-based ONE Championship. Since then, Cejudo has defended the flyweight title against T.J. Dillashaw, moved up to bantamweight to capture a second UFC belt (which he also defended), and took a three-year break from fighting.
Sterling, meanwhile, won the vacant bantamweight title in 2021 and has never looked back. With his victory over Cejudo on Saturday night, he has now strung together a historic nine-fight win streak, the longest in UFC bantamweight history.
What does it all mean? For starters, it solidifies Sterling’s place in the P4P rankings while Cejudo misses his opportunity to regain a spot in the top 10. And Demetrious Johnson? The GOAT of the smaller weights? Guess who’s back in the P4P discussion, baby!
The panel of Chuck Mindenhall, Ariel Helwani, Petesy Carroll, and producer Troy Farkas—known as 3PAC on The Ringer MMA Show—have ranked both the men’s and women’s P4P best, one through 10.
Our only criterion for these monthly rankings is that a fighter has competed within at least a calendar year of the publication date, or has at least had a fight booked within that window. That is why you will not see Cris Cyborg (who last fought in April 2022) or Rose Namajunas (who just passed the year mark with her fight last May) on this latest women’s P4P list, and it’s also the reason erstwhile UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is excluded.
Though most of the best fighters are currently in the UFC, these rankings are not UFC exclusive. We take into consideration all the major promotions, from Bellator to ONE Championship to the PFL.
Without further ado, The Ringer MMA P4P Rankings for the first half of May.
Men’s Pound-for-Pound Rankings
1. Jon Jones
UFC Heavyweight Champion Last month: no. 1
It didn’t take long for Jones to remind everyone that he is a finite commodity in the UFC. After making his long-awaited heavyweight debut and winning the vacant title against Ciryl Gane in March, Jones is now teasing the idea that his next fight—presumably against Stipe Miocic in the fall—might well be his last. That is unless … you know … the UFC can coax Francis Ngannou back for the biggest fight in heavyweight history! Jones seems open to hanging around a bit longer if Francis comes back for the massive payday. Where does that leave Sergei Pavlovich, the new contender at heavyweight who has six straight first-round knockouts? In the lurch, that’s where.
2A.Alexander Volkanovski
UFC Featherweight Champion Last month: no. 2A
If anybody was keeping a sideways eye on UFC 288, it was Volkanovski—the man that Henry Cejudo has been gunning for in his quest to become “Triple C,” the UFC’s first three-division champion. But Cejudo sputtered away his chance to move up and face Volkanovski, and besides, Volk is already busy for the foreseeable future. He has a date with interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez on July 8 in Las Vegas, the headliner of International Fight Week. After a failed attempt to capture the lightweight title against Islam Makhachev back in February, Volk returns to the place where he’s been an absolute beast: featherweight. And if he wins again in the summer, he’ll be breathing down Jon Jones’s neck in these rankings.
2B. Islam Makhachev
UFC Lightweight Champion Last month: no. 2B
To unearth the next challenger to Makhachev’s lightweight title, all eyes will be on UFC 289 in early June, when Charles Oliveira takes on Beneil Dariush. The winner likely earns a date with Dagestan’s latest cage marauder. Perhaps Volkanovski removed a smidge of the terror that comes with stepping in there with Makhachev (Volk more than held his own, and actually was turning the tide late), but there is something about Makhachev’s dark, abyss-like eyes, the Caucasus beard, and the overall icy demeanor that makes a grandiose label like “Khabib 2.0” feel like an understatement.
4. Israel Adesanya
UFC Middleweight Champion Last month: no. 4
With his primary rival Alex Pereira now shrinking in his rearview mirror, Izzy can breathe easy again. He is back on top at middleweight, where he’s right at home. And he’s once again the bullseye for all contenders to train their sights on. The question is, who the hell is next? Sean Strickland has a fight with Abusupiyan Magomedov in July, and Dricus Du Plessis (who has bad blood brewing with Adesanya) is set to face Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. Pereira is conflicted but seems destined for a move up to 205 pounds, and Jan Blachowicz—who has a victory over Izzy at light heavyweight—would need at least six months to whittle his body down into a middleweight frame. Who does that leave? (No, seriously … WHO DOES THAT LEAVE?!)
5. Leon Edwards
UFC Welterweight Champion Last month: no. 5
UFC 288 was supposed to spotlight a couple of new entries into the Leon sweepstakes, as welterweight contenders Belal Muhammad squared off with the prolific Gilbert Burns. It ended up being a cautionary tale, though. Muhammad beat Burns in a toiling, mundane affair, running his unbeaten streak to 10 in a row. But it also served as a reminder that Muhammad isn’t exactly going to blow the roof off the joint when he fights. It didn’t help that he couldn’t finish Burns, even though Burns tore a ligament in his shoulder early in the fight. So does that re-open the door for a Colby Covington-Edwards fight, as Dana White prophesied over a month ago? Or does the UFC reward Muhammad for stepping in on short notice and winning yet again?
6. Aljamain Sterling
UFC Bantamweight Champion Last month: no. 6
At this point you wonder what it’ll take for Aljamain Sterling to get a measure of respect. Not only did he thwart Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 and establish himself as the undisputed bantamweight champion, he scored four takedowns against the Olympic gold medal wrestler. Yet what everyone was talking about after Sterling’s latest title defense was that his teammate—the fun-loving fellow bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili—pranced around wearing Sean O’Malley’s jacket in the Octagon after the UFC brought O’Malley in for a face-off with Sterling. The cascade of boos for Aljo was alarming, and the guess here is that he’ll hear a lot more when he steps in against “Suga” Sean.
7A. Kamaru Usman
Former UFC Welterweight Champion Last month: no. 7
Somebody might want to check in on Kamaru Usman. There aren’t a lot of people calling out Khamzat Chimaev, yet the former welterweight champ was doing just that recently. “A fight with myself and Khamzat? Boom,” he said. “I’m kind of in a place now where I’m having fun with it, and what’s the biggest, funnest, most intense fight that really makes me feel something? That’s a fight right there—that could headline a pay-per-view.” It’s hard to imagine a fight with Chimaev being fun, but kudos to Usman for turning out his pockets to show how few fucks he has left to give. (UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard should run to the booking board and get this one down before anyone has a chance to have second thoughts).
7B. Charles Oliveira
Former UFC Lightweight Champion Last month: no. 8
Oliveira was supposed to fight Beneil Dariush in Newark at UFC 288, but the fight was pushed back a month to Vancouver. Not that it’s exactly a stay of execution for the bleached blond Brazilian, but it’s a tall order to try and cool down Dariush, who has won eight straight and honestly has the feel of someone who won’t be denied his title shot. Oliveira has plenty of UFC records, including most submission victories and most finishes, yet you always wonder what’s left to prove for the ex-champ who has done so much already. He’s only 33, yet he’s been fighting in the UFC for 13 years. At some point it all has to take mental and spiritual tolls, right? I mean, right?
9. Demetrious Johnson
ONE Championship Flyweight Champion Last month: Not ranked
It’s fitting that DJ breaks back into the pound-for-pound conversation just as he hints at retirement, given that there are plenty of those within the fight game who see him as the GOAT in mixed martial arts history. At 36, Johnson is an artist’s artist. You don’t need to be a connoisseur of fistic pleasures to understand just how special Johnson has been in his career. Since losing to Dominick Cruz in 2011 as an undersized bantamweight, Johnson has gone 18-2-1. He shattered the all-time title defense record in the UFC. He’s the only man to ever finish Henry Cejudo. And even when he lost his UFC title to Cejudo in the rematch, it was by the slimmest of squinting margins (many thought Johnson won). The new rules got to him at ONE Championship, as Adriano Moraes knocked him out with a knee when he was grounded (an illegal blow in the UFC), yet he has since avenged himself not once but twice against Moraes. Great? Nah, great barely begins to define DJ.
UFC Flyweight Champion Last month: no. 9
Moreno finally knows who his next flyweight title defense is against, and it’s once again a familiar foe: Alexandre Pantoja. Moreno fought Pantoja back in 2018 and ended up on the wrong end of the judges’ scorecards. After closing out his epic quadrilogy with Deiveson Figueiredo with a resounding TKO to kick off 2023, the Mexican champ continues his revenge tour. One thing is certain with the “Assassin Baby”—he’s a completely different fighter than the one Pantoja faced five years ago. Since that loss Moreno has gone 7-1-2, facing the who’s who of dynamite in small packages.
Others receiving votes: Alex Pereira, Max Holloway
Women’s Pound-for-Pound Rankings
1. Amanda Nunes
UFC Bantamweight and Featherweight Champion Last month: no. 1
For just a minute there, it looked like Nunes would be forced to put an exclamation point on her rivalry with Julianna Peña at UFC 289, but that’s on hold for now. With Peña injured, Irena Aldana steps in to try to dethrone the queen of women’s MMA in Vancouver. The fresh blood perhaps gives Nunes’s next title defense a little more intrigue, especially since Aldana could become the fourth Mexican champion in the UFC (joining Moreno, Yair Rodríguez, and Alexa Grasso), but the “Lioness” will be a vast favorite to retain.
2. Zhang Weili
UFC Strawweight Champion Last month: no. 2
Perhaps we have a clearer indication of who will get the next crack at China’s greatest champion, Zhang Weili. Her name is Yan Xiaonan, who just happens to be China’s greatest contender. With Xiaonan taking out Jessica Andrade at UFC 288, a battle with Weili would do gangbusters if it can be held in China (or at least the UFC’s favorite Chinese proxy, Macau). What are the options otherwise? Another fight with Rose Namajunas, who has beaten Weili twice already? Carla Esparza, whom Weili already beat in New York? Amanda Lemos? None of these names moves the needle like Xiaonan.
3. Alexa Grasso
UFC Flyweight Champion Last month: no. 3
The burden of toppling a long-reigning champion like Valentina Shevchenko is that you’ll inevitably be asked to do it again. Not that Grasso’s UFC 285 upset of Shevchenko came off as a fluke, as she was more than holding her own before applying that ridiculous face crank, but the UFC respects its tenured champions enough to give them a second crack once they lose the belt. Most were sleeping on Grasso’s chances heading into the first fight, but now that she’s proven she has the formula, it doesn’t seem all that wild to think she can do it again. (In fact, there’s a sneaking suspicion that she will.)
4. Valentina Shevchenko
Former UFC Flyweight Champion Last month: no. 4
Before her loss to Alexa Grasso in March, the last time Shevchenko had tasted defeat was back in 2017 against the women’s GOAT, Amanda Nunes. In that fight, which she lost by split decision, Shevchenko was fighting up at bantamweight, just a little bit out of her comfort zone. What did she do back then? She ripped off a nine-fight win streak, winning the flyweight title from Joanna Jedrzejczyk, postering Jessica Eye with a brutal head kick, and finishing Katlyn Chookagian, Jessica Andrade, and Lauren Murphy with vicious elbows—which I believe in Kyrgyzstan are known as “hellbows.” In other words, she didn’t take to losing kindly. So how will she handle her loss to Grasso? Buckle up.
5. Carla Esparza
Former UFC Strawweight Champion Last month: no. 6A
If you follow the UFC’s official rankings, which are put together by a handful of random strangers loosely affiliated with fighting, Esparza is the no. 1 contender in the strawweight division. That is a misleading piece of information. Esparza is about as far away from another fight with champion Weili Zhang as the proverbial hog from the moon. She will need to beat somebody—and possibly multiple somebodies—before she can re-emerge as a challenger. Now, if the UFC books Yan Xiaonan against Weili, and Xiaonan wins? Esparza does have a victory over Xiaonan, meaning Esparza could then sneak back into the title picture … but you get the feeling the UFC isn’t salivating at the idea.
6A. Julianna Peña
Former UFC Bantamweight Champion Last month: no. 8
Peña suffered a fractured rib in training, which shelves her chance to get back at Amanda Nunes for the time being. However,you have to think she’s still in a good position to get that fight in the near future. If Nunes takes care of Irene Aldana at UFC 289, Peña represents the biggest “threat” to the throne, having shocked the world once already by taking out Nunes at UFC 269 in 2021. Should Aldana sneak in there and beat Nunes? That would be a double blow for Peña, who might find her place in the bantamweight pecking order—and in the world at large, given how much she obsesses over that Nunes fight—a little confusing.
6B. Erin Blanchfield
UFC Flyweight Contender Last month: no. 9
For now the brewing battle between her and Valentina Shevchenko will have to be tabled, as the new object of Blanchfield’s fancy is Alexa Grasso. That’s who has the title, and that’s who wears the target. Yet with the rematch all but certain to take place between Valentina and Grasso, Blanchfield may need to machete her way through another contender. The best bet might be Taila Santos, who nearly beat Shevchenko last summer in Singapore, and who is now sitting behind the 8-ball herself waiting for things to clear up at the top. Blanchfield was supposed to fight Santos back in February, yet when Santos was forced to withdraw due to visa issues with her cornermen, Blanchfield happily plowed right through her replacement, Jessica Andrade.
8. Yan Xiaonan
UFC Strawweight Contender Last month: Not ranked
Let’s face it, UFC 288 was a dull affair. The main card produced four decisions in a five-fight offering, leaving any PPV-buying adventure seekers at a loss. Well, wouldn’t you know that the one fight that delivered on the card was Yan Xiaonan’s explosive first-round TKO over Jessica Andrade. It was an eye-opening moment for everyone who has followed Xiaonan’s career. Since coming to the UFC in 2017, she had scored seven victories before UFC 288, and all of them had been decisions. Yet just when you least expected it, boom—she opens up that can of whoop-ass. A title fight with Weili Zhang in China would be tremendous theater.
9. Manon Fiorot
UFC Flyweight Contender Last month: no. 10
Fiorot is already primed and ready to fight for a title, but with Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko set for a rematch, she finds herself in the crowded waiting room with Erin Blanchfield and Taila Santos. Maybe she fights one of them in the meantime, or maybe she takes another stay-busy fight against somebody a little lower in the rankings, but with a 5-0 in the UFC, you’d hate to see her slip in the penultimate challenge before getting her shot. She is France’s best chance to get an undisputed UFC champion, yet at 33 years old there’s no time to be lost in that pursuit.
10. Taila Santos
UFC Flyweight Contender Last month: Not ranked
And of course there’s Santos, the other pending flyweight contender whose immediate future is cloudy. Santos came super close to defeating Valentina Shevchenko when they fought last year, controlling large patches of action and showing a blueprint on how to bite the “Bullet.” Yet now that Alexa Grasso has finished the job, Santos will need to keep at it a little longer. The fight with Erin Blanchfield is a tough one—as in super freaking tough, as in probably not all that advisable—but what are the options? To be a backup in the Grasso-Shevchenko rematch? (Actually, that might not be the worst idea …)
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ST CLOUD TC COLLEGE CYCLONES 6 FF MN TC SPARTANS 4
(Friday May 5th)
The Cyclones defeated their MCAC Central Division rivals in their regional play-in game. They were down 3-0 going into the fourth inning, they put up one run in the fourth and four in the fifth innings. Backed by eight hits including a pair of doubles and a triple and they were aided by six walks. The Cyclones starting pitcher was righty Christian Lessman a sophomore from New London-Spicer. He threw a complete game to earn the win, he gave up four hits, four runs, issued three walks and he recorded thirteen strikeouts.
The Cyclones offense was led by Brock Woitalla, he went 3-for-3 with a double for a RBI, he earned a walk, had a trio of stolen bases and he scored a pair of runs. John Deschamps from Puerto Rico went 2-for-4 with a triple for two RBIs and Brady Linn earned a walk, had a stolen base and he was credited for a RBI. Sam Holthaus a freshman from St. Cloud Apollo High School went 1-for-4 with a double for a RBI and he scored a run. Blaine Fischer a freshman from BBE High School earned a walk and he was credited for a RBI. Joel Torres Rivera a sophomore form Aibonito, Puerto Rico went 1-for-3 and he scored a run, Dylan Gertken a sophomore from Melrose High School and Cayden Hansen both earned a walk.
The Spartans starting pitcher was righty Aiden O’Brien a freshman from Red Wing High School, he threw 4 2/3 innings, he gave up six hits, four runs, two walks and he recorded four strikeouts. Righty Mike Short threw 1 2/3 innings in relief, he gave up two hits, two runs, four walks and he recorded two strikeouts.
The Spartans offense was led by Logan Pulju a freshman from Richville, Minnesota went 1-for-3 with a home run for three RBIs. Beau Fetting a freshman from Ada High School went 2-for-4 and he scored a run. Jackson Martin a sophomore from Dassel- Cokato went 1-for-3 for a RBI. Mike Short earned two walks and he had a stolen base and Bryce Krueger a freshman from Barnesville High School earned a walk.
ST CLOUD TC COLLEGE CYCLONES 5 FF MN TC SPARTANS 3
(Friday, May 5th)
The Cyclones defeated their MCAC Central Division rival the Spartans, backed by eight hits, including a double. Along with nine stolen bases to give their starting pitcher Righty Jacob Hendrickson a sophomore from Moorhead High School. He threw 4 1/3 innings, he gave up three hits, two runs, issued four walks and he recorded eight strikeouts. Righty Landon Lunser a sophomore from Sauk Rapids-Rice High School threw 2 2/3 innings to earn the win. He gave up one run and he recored three strikeouts.
The Cyclones were led on offense by Brock Woitalla, Cyclones shortstop went 2-for-4 for two RBIs and a pair of stolen bases. Sam Holthaus, Cyclones first baseman went 1-for-4 with a double for two RBIs. DH John Deschamps went 1-for-3, with a stolen base and he scored a run. Catcher Blaine Fischer went 1-for-3, with a stolen base and he scored a run. Center fielder Cayden Hansen went 1-for-4, he had a stolen base and he scored two runs. Second baseman Joel Torres Rivera went 1-for-2, he was hit by a pitch, he had two stolen bases and he scored a run. Third baseman Matthew Perry went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and Peyton Randall earned a walk and he had a stolen base.
The Spartans Righty Bret Englemeyer started on the mound, he threw six innings. He gave up eight hits, five runs, one walk and he recorded four strikeouts.
The Spartans Offense was led by Jackson Martin, he went 2-for-4 with two doubles for a RBI and he scored a run. Bryce Kruger went 1-for-2 with a triple for a RBI, he was hit by a pitch and he scored a run. Luke Ruter went 1-for-2 for a RBI, he earned a walk, he was it by a pitch and he scored a run. Beau Fetting, Mike Short, Ben Monson all earned one walk and Logan Pulju was hit by a pitch.
ALEXANDRIA TC LEGENDS 6 BRAINERD CLC TC RAIDERS 4
(Friday May 5th)
The Legends defeated their MCAC Central Division rivals in their first play-in game, backed by thirteen hits, including a home run, one triple and a double. Their starting pitcher righty Lucas Burgum, from Mandan, ND threw five innings, he gave up eight hits, four runs, issued two walks and he recorded five strikeouts. Righty Logan Bullock from Watertown-Mayer HS threw 1 2/3 inning in relief, he gave up one hit, issued one walk and he recorded three strikeouts.
The Legends offense was led by Levi Lampert from Upsala HS went 1-for-4 with a home run for three big RBIs. Brady Goebel from Albany HS went 1-for-3 for a RBI and Jacob Merrill from Sartell, Mn went 2-for-4 with a triple and he scored a pair of runs. Austin Henrichs went 1-for-3 with a double and he scored a run and Calen O’Connell from Sartell, Mn went 2-for-3 and he scored a run. Carter Lang from New Ulm HS went 2-for-4 and he scored a run. Felix Porras from Orlando, Florida went 2-for-4 and Noah Lower from EagleRiver HS went 1-for-3. Mason Conrad from Farmington HS went 1-for-4 with a stolen base.
The Raiders starting pitcher was righty Noah Cekalla from Pierz HS, he threw five innings, he gave up eleven hits, six runs and he recorded six strikeouts. Righty Brett Letness from Moorhead HS threw one inning in relief, he gave up two hits.
The Raiders offense was led by Jack Thorn from Becker HS, he went 2-for-4 for a RBI and Rylee Rauch from Pierz HS went 1-for-2 for a RBI and he earned a walk. Beau Lepel from Plato, MN earned a walk and was credited for a RBI and Leo Villa from Green Valley, Arizona earned a walk and he was credited for a RBI. Noah Cekalla went 2-for-4 and he scored a pair of runs and Adam “Deuce” Braun from Buffalo HS went 2-for-4 and he scored a run. Mason Argir from Brainerd HS went 1-for-4 with a double and he scored a run. Erubiel Ozuna from Casa Grande, Arizona went 1-for-4 with a double.
BRAINERD CLC TC RAIDERS 7 ALEXANDRIA TC LEGENDS 6
(Friday May 5th)
The Raiders come back to take game two over their MCAC Central Division rivals the Legends, backed by ten hits, including three home runs, two doubles and a triple. Righty Luis Diaz from Agua Prieta, Mexico started on the mound for the Raiders, he threw four innings. He gave up seven hits, six runs, issued two walks and he recorded four strikeouts. Righty Ben Dornseif from Hector, MN threw three innings in relief to earn the win. He gave up two hits, issued three walks and he recorded two strikeouts.
The Raiders offense was led by Adam “Deuce” Braun he went 3-for-4 with a home run and a double for three RBIs and he scored a pair of runs. Alonso Bacame from Tucson, Arizona went 2-for-3 with two home runs for three RBIs. Jack Thorn went 1-for-4 with a double for a RBI and he scored a run and Beau Lepel went 1-for-4. Erubiel Ozuna went 1-for-3 with a triple and he scored a run and Mason Argir went 2-for-4 and he scored a run.
The Legends starting pitcher was lefty Jalen Vorpahl from Sartell, MN he threw four innings. He gave up seven hits, six runs, issued two walks and he recorded four strikeouts. Righty Parker Jendro from Alexandria HS threw two innings in relief, he gave up three hits, two runs, one walk and he recorded three strikeouts.
The Legends offense was led by Brady Goebel, he went 1-for-4 with a home run for three RBIs. Carter Ruschmeier from Glencoe-Silver Lake HS went 1-for-3 for a RBI and he earned a walk. Mason Conrad went 2-for-2, he earned two walks and he scored a run and Jacob Merrill went 2-for-4 and he scored a run. Levi Lampert went 1-for-2 with a triple, he earned a walk and he scored a run. Carter Lang went 2-for-4 and he scored a pair of runs and Felix Porras earned a walk.
ALEXANDRIA TC LEGENDS 8 BRAINERD CLC RAIDERS 1
(Sunday May 7th)
The Legends defeated their MCAC Central Division rivals the Raiders to advance to their regional tournament. They collected seven hits, including a pair of doubles and they played very good defense. The Legends put up five runs in the first and three in the second innings and never looked back. Righty Chuck Hackett from Foley High School started on the mound, threw three innings. He gave up five hits, one run and he recorded four strikeouts. Righty Brock Depute from Mowhall, North Dakota threw three innings, he recorded six strikeouts. Lefty Jalen Vorpahl threw one inning and he recorded one strikeout.
The Legends offense was led by Carter Lang, he went 2-for-3 with a double for two RBIs and he scored two runs. Felix Porras went 1-for-3 for two RBIs and he scored a run and Carter Rademacher went 1-for-3 for two RBIs. Levi Lampert went 1-for-3 with a double and he scored two runs. Jacob Merrill and Mason Conrad both went 1-for-3 and each scored a run and Brady Goebel earned two walks and he scored a run.
The Raiders starting pitcher was righty Devin Begay a freshman from Mesa, Arizona threw four innings, he gave up six hits, eight runs, two walks and he recorded one strikeout. Ivan Villa a sophomore from Green Valley, Arizona threw two innings, he gave up one hit and he recorded two strikeouts.
The Raiders offense was led by Noah Cekalla, he went 1-for-2 with a stolen base and he scored a run. Rylee Rauch, Erubiel Ozuna, Mason Argir all went 1-for-3 and Josh Kivela a freshman from Hibbing HS went 1-for-2.
ANOKA RAMSEY CC GOLDEN RAMS 5 RIDGEWATER WARRIORS 1
(Friday May 5th)
The Golden Rams defeated their MCAC Central Division rivals the Warriors in the first of their 2 of 3 play-in for the regions. This was backed by nine hits, including two home runs and a pair of doubles. Righty Josh Stoll a sophomore from Andover High School started on the mound, he threw 2 2/3 innings. He gave up four hits, one run and one walk. Righty Noah Findels a freshman from Omaha, Nebraska threw 4 1/3 innings to earn the win. He gave up six hits and he recorded three strikeouts.
The Golden Rams offense was led by Jacob Contreras a freshman from Osseo High School, he went 2-for-4 with a home run for three big RBIs. Jeremy Brown a freshman from North St. Paul High School went 2-for-4 with a home run and Matt Ramsdell a freshman from Masa, Arizona had a sacrifice fly for a RBI and he had a sacrifice bunt. Patrick Brey a freshman from Robbinsdale Armstrong HS went 2-for-4 with a double and he scored a run. Hunter Wavinak a sophomore from Coon Rapids High School went 1-for-4 with a double. Henry Gibbs a sophomore from Frenchtown, Montana went 1-for-4 and he scored a run. Ricky Ramsdell a freshman from Mesa, Arizona went 1-for-3, Tyler Schwaab a freshman from St. Francis HS scored a run and Mike McBryar a freshman from Tulsa, Oklahoma earned a walk.
The Warriors starting pitcher was righty Reece Schwirtz from Glencoe-Silver Lake HS threw six innings, he gave up seven hits, five runs, two walks and he recorded nine strikeouts. Righty Zeke Walton a sophomore from BOLD HS threw one inning in relief, he gave up two hits and he recorded one strikeout.
The Warriors offense was led by Bennett Knapper a sophomore from Yellow Medicine East HS, he went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly for a RBI. Caden Lang a freshman from Glencoe-Silver Lake HS went 2-for-3 with a double. Reece Schwirtz went 2-for-4 and Josh Robb a sophomore from St. Peter High School went 1-for-4. Tyler Flis a sophomore from Robbinsdale Armstrong HS went 2-for-3 and he earned a walk. Sam Etterman a freshman from Willmar HS went 1-for-4 and he scored a run. Matt Beacom a sophomore from Blooming Grove, Texas went 1-for-3.
RIDGEWATER WARRIORS 7 ANOKA RAMSEY CC GOLDEN RAMS 3
(Friday May 5th)
The Warriors took game two over their MCAC Central Division rivals the Golden Rams, backed by nine hits and a solid pitching performance. Righty Jack Howard from Renville County West HS started and he threw a complete game. He gave up eight hits, three runs, one walk and he recorded five strikeouts.
The Warriors offense was led by Sam Etterman, he went 3-for-4 with a double for two RBIs, he had a stolen base and he scored two runs. Bennett Knapper went 2-for-4 for two RBIS and Tyler Flis had a sacrifice fly for a RBI. Carter Thelen a sophomore from Rocori HS earned a walk, he was credited for a RBI and he scored a run. Matt Beacam went 3-for-3 and he scored a run and Josh Robb earned two walks and he scored two runs. Reece Schwartz went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and he scored a run.
The Golden Rams starting pitcher was lefty Wyatt Doubler from Osseo HS, he threw a complete game. He gave up nine hits, seven runs, three walks and he recorded six strikeouts.
The Golden Rams offense was led by Jeremy Brown, he went 2-for-4 with a home run for two RBIs and Patrick Brey went 1-for-4 for a RBI. Matt Ramsdell went 2-for-3 and Henry Gibbs went 1-for-3. Noah Thompson a sophomore from Osseo HS went 1-for-1 with a double and he scored a run. Noah Findels went 1-for-3 and he scored a run and Hunter Wavinak had a sacrifice bunt.
RIDGEWATER WARRIORS 4 ANOKA RAMSEY CC GOLDEN RAMS 1
(Saturday May 6th)
The Warriors defeated the Golden Rams their MCAC Central division rivals, to earn a spot in the region tournament this week. Backed by seven hits, solid defense and a good pitching performance. Righty Bennett Knapper started on the mound for the Warriors, he threw a complete game to earn the win. He gave up five hits, one run, issued one walk and he recorded seven strikeouts.
The Warriors offense was led by Bennet Knapper, he went 1-for-2 for a RBI and he earned a walk. Reece Schwirtz went 1-for-3 for a RBI and Sam Etterman earned two walks and he was credited for a RBI. Matt Beacam went 1-for-1 with a double, he earned a walk and he scored a run. Nikson Knapper a freshman from Yellow Medicine East HS went 2-for-3 and he scored a run. Josh Robb went 1-for-3 and he scored a run and Caden Lang had a sacrifice bunt. Nolan Spence a sophomore from Zimmerman HS went 1-for-3 and he scored a run.
The starting pitcher for the Golden Rams was Daniel Pacheco a freshman form Tucson, Arizona threw 4 1/3 innings. He gave up six hits, three runs and three walks. Righty Brett Sullivan from Champlin Park High School threw 1 2/3 innings, he gave up one hit, one run and one walk.
The Golden Rams offense was led by Ricky Ramsdell, he went 2-for-3 with a double for a RBI. Jacob Contreras and Hunter Wavinak both went 1-for-3 and Jeremy Brown went 1-for-2, he earned a walk and he scored a run.
YANELY HENRIQUEZ, MOTHER of Angellyh Yambo, addresses the crowd during the co-naming of the intersection of Bailey Place and Bailey Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights as Angellyh Marieh Yambo Way on April 8, 2023, in honor of the 16-year-old teen who was killed when she was hit with a stray bullet shot by a 17-year-old male youth one year prior on April 8, 2022. Photo by Ariel Pacheco
The intersection of Bailey Place and Bailey Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights was officially co-named Angellyh Marieh Yambo Way on April 8, in honor of Angellyh Yambo, the 16-year-old teen who was born and grew up in the area, and who was tragically killed in broad daylight last year when she was hit by a stray bullet, shot by a 17-year-old male youth as she was walking home from school with friends in the Mott Haven section of the borough.
The unveiling ceremony was held on April 8, exactly one year after the tragedy, and was attended by dozens of Angellyh’s family and friends, as well as a host of neighbors and elected officials, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The intersection was chosen as the location for the street co-naming due to the fact that Angellyh had spent much of your childhood in the area.
Addressing the crowd, Yanely Henriquez, Angellyh’s mother, said, “I didn’t want her name to be in a place where she lost her life, so this means so much to me.” Meanwhile, with tears in his eyes, Manuel Yambo, Angellyh’s father, said, “Whenever I look up at the street sign, I’ll see my daughter’s name and I’ll remember all the great memories my daughter and I had.” He added, “This is the very place where Angellyh was born, raised, and [was] so loved.”
In addition to Adams, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, and Council Members Rafael Salamanca Jr. (C.D. 17), who represents the South Bronx neighborhood where Angellyh later lived and attended school, and Pierina Sanchez (C.D. 14), who represents Kingsbridge Heights among other Bronx neighborhoods, were also in attendance.
THE INTERSECTION OF Bailey Place and Bailey Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights was officially co-named Angellyh Marieh Yambo Way on April 8, 2023 in honor of Angellyh Yambo, the 16-year-old teen who grew up in the area and who was tragically killed in broad daylight last year when she was hit by a stray bullet shot by a 17-year-old male youth as she was walking home from school with friends in the Mott Haven section of the borough. Photo by Ariel Pacheco
Addressing those gathered, the mayor said, “When that bullet pierced her body, it also ripped apart the anatomy of the community.” He added, “The pain never dissipates.” For her part, the borough president said of the occasion, “It’s an emotional day but it is a day that we come together to reflect, to honor, and to celebrate a life that was cut short but a life that made a difference.”
Gibson added, “This has not been an easy year for this family, but somehow in the midst of pain, they have come together with a plan to create a foundation in her honor, to not only celebrate her life but to remember her life.”
As reported, The Angellyh Yambo Foundation was launched earlier this year on Jan. 24 on what would have been Angellyh’s 17th birthday. Her family and friends gathered at her mausoleum in Woodlawn cemetery to mark the official launch of the foundation. Founded by her aunt, Mary Hernandez, who is also the CEO, other family members are also involved. Hernandez said, “We want to make sure she is not just a number. She was a valuable person to us and to the community.”
The foundation was created with the goal of helping raise awareness about gun violence prevention and other ways to help the community. The family is currently working with the staff of Angellyh’s former high school, University Prep Charter High School, where they plan to host an anti-bullying program as well as parent and children’s workshops. The foundation also provides after-school programs for teens which include counseling and mentoring.
NEW YORK CITY Mayor Eric Adams addresses the crowd during the co-naming of the intersection of Bailey Place and Bailey Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights as Angellyh Marieh Yambo Way on April 8, 2023, in honor of the 16-year-old teen who was killed when she was hit with a stray bullet shot by a 17-year-old male youth one year prior on April 8, 2022. Photo by Ariel Pacheco
Hernandez later told Norwood News, “Angellyh Yambo, she’s an inspiration. She will always be remembered with love and respect. Her legacy will continue through all of us who knew her. Angellyh’s street co-naming event was bittersweet for me, and my family. We were happy to honor Angellyh and this sign serves as a reminder of her legacy.”
She added, “We are proud to be a part of this event, and honor Angellyh’s memory by continuing her work in the community through education and to create change in The Bronx.”
The stray bullet that fatally wounded Angellyh near her school was shot from a ghost gun, a firearm made from components purchased online with no serial number so it isn’t traceable. The topic of ghost guns and gun violence was prevalent throughout the dedication. Multiple elected officials pointed to the effects of such guns on The Bronx community.
Adams said, “We are extremely dogmatic about removing these illegal guns off our streets. It is killing our community in a real way.” He continued, “Guns are not made in the South Bronx, so why are there so many here in The Bronx, in Brooklyn, in Manhattan? It’s because people are exploiting our communities.”
Gibson also addressed the issue, saying, “[We must] make sure that this work continues to address gun violence in our borough so that Angie is not a statistic, but her life becomes a success story of what we do as a borough moving forward, to prevent another family from mourning another loss of a child.”
As reported, Jeremiah Ryan, 17, was charged last year with the murder and attempted murder of Angellyh. Two other students were also shot during the incident. Police said Angellyh was not the intended target of the shooting and that she and her friends were innocent bystanders. Ryan is due back in court in June. Federal law now requires that ghost guns assembled at home be licensed and include serial numbers.
The street co-naming was the second dedication made in Angellyh’s name within a two-week period. Earlier, on March 30, as reported, Concourse Village Elementary School held a ceremony naming the school’s art room in honor of Angellyh. She was a former student at the school, and according to her family and the school’s representatives, had formed a close bond with the community there, one which continued even after she graduated.
BRONX BOROUGH PRESIDENT Vanessa Gibson addresses the crowd during the co-naming of the intersection of Bailey Place and Bailey Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights as Angellyh Marieh Yambo Way on April 8, 2023, in honor of the 16-year-old teen who was killed when she was hit with a stray bullet shot by a 17-year-old male youth one year prior on April 8, 2022. Photo by Ariel Pacheco
Despite such violent tragedies, like the one which resulted in Angellyh’s death, gun crime has been gradually dropping in New York City and in The Bronx, compared to what it had been in 2021. So far this year in The Bronx, according to NYPD data as of April 24, there have been 101 shooting victims compared to 157 at the same time last year, and 81 shooting incidents to date in the borough, compared to 135 at the same time last year.
In February 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden visited New York to discuss with local elected officials how best to combat the proliferation of ghost guns across the country. As reported, in April 2022, a Norwood man was sentenced to two years for possession of ghost guns in his home. Mayor Eric Adams had called, earlier that year, for the cancellation of the country’s largest ghost gun supplier.
Later in 2022, landmark gun legislation was either introduced or passed at nearly every level of government in the wake of a series of mass shootings,across the country, including in Buffalo, NY, but not without challenges to the laws by Republicans. On June 6, New York State passed a comprehensive 10-bill package closing critical gun law loopholes exposed in the Buffalo and Uvalde mass shootings. Legislation S.9458/A.10503 bars the purchase of semi-automatic rifles by anyone under 21 by requiring a license. Legislation S.9407-B/A.10497 prohibits the purchase of body armor with the exception of those in specified professions.
THE ART ROOM at Concourse Village Elementary School in the South Bronx was officially renamed The Angellyh Yambo Art & Design Room during a ceremony on March 30, 2023, in honor of the elementary school’s former student, Angellyh Yambo, a gifted artist who was fatally shot near her high school in Mott Haven on April 8, 2022. Photo by Ariel Pacheco
Legislation S.9113-A./A.10502 expands the list of people who can file Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) and requires law enforcement to file ERPOs under a specified set of circumstances. The package also strengthens crime reporting; closing “other gun” loopholes; requires the microstamping of new semi-automatic pistols; eliminates grandfathering of high-capacity feeding devices; and requires social media companies to improve the response to and reporting of hateful content.
Two days later, on June 8, federal legislators in the House of Representatives voted 223 to 204 in what has been called an unprecedented bipartisan bill, the “Protecting our Kids Act,” which, among other measures, if it passes in the U.S. Senate, will also raise the age to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, and will restrict the sale of large-capacity ammunition magazines. It was received in the U.S. Senate on June 9, 2022.
Norwood News readers later weighed in on whether they believed the new laws will have any impact on gun violence in The Bronx.
Back at the unveiling ceremony, Sanchez shared with those present a section of Angellyh’s high school application essay, which read, “I’m always excited to learn about new topics. As a shy student, I prefer to work independently but I’m open to working in groups and push myself beyond my discomfort.”
ANGELLYH YAMBO OF Melrose, who was born and raised in Kingsbridge Heights, was shot and killed at the age of 16 by a stray bullet fired by a 17-year-old user of a ghost gun as she walked home from school with friends in Mott Haven on April 8, 2022. Photo courtesy of The Angellyh Yambo Foundation
For more information on The Angellyh Yambo Foundation, or to make a tax-deductible donation, click here.
A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.
( NC)– The quantity of nutrients in our food is continuously decreasing, according to current research study. Particularly, the potato has actually shed 100 per cent of its vitamin A, 57 per cent of its vitamin C and also iron, as well as 28 per cent of its calcium.
The research study checked out 25 veggies as well as fruits, and also discovered that 80 percent revealed decrease in calcium and also iron, 75 percent in vitamin A, 50 percent shed vitamin C as well as riboflavin, 30 percent shed thiamine and also 12 percent shed niacin.
Information from the United States Department of Agriculture additionally records a comparable pattern in veggies, from the beginning throughout of the 20th century. The typical mineral material of veggies such as cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, as well as spinach has actually decreased from 400 mg to much less than 50 mg.
The decrease in dietary web content is most likely because of modifications in farming approaches that often tend to concentrate greatly on a food’s look and also capability to be moved and also saved efficiently. As opposed to concentrating on vitamin web content, food manufacturers are a lot more worried about high returns, aesthetically appealing item and also illness resistance. Just how foods are prepared as well as refined might likewise contribute in lessening nutrition material.
Today, the diet plan might not always supply all the minerals and also vitamins you require at ideal degrees. For even more details on vitamin and also mineral supplements, browse through www.centrumvitamins.ca.
– News Canada
( NC)– The quantity of nutrients in our food is progressively decreasing, according to current study. Especially, the potato has actually shed 100 per cent of its vitamin A, 57 per cent of its vitamin C and also iron, and also 28 per cent of its calcium.
Instead than concentrating on vitamin web content, food manufacturers are extra worried with high returns, aesthetically appealing item as well as condition resistance.
A rule that closed the Southern border to most asylum seekers and migrants because of the COVID-19 pandemic will expire on Thursday at 11:59 p.m. ET.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in March 2020 implemented Title 42.
The Biden-Harris administration in April 2022 announced it would terminate the previous White House’s policy, but Republican attorneys general from Texas and more than a dozen other states filed a federal lawsuit.
The U.S. Supreme Court last December ruled Title 42 must remain in place. The Biden-Harris administration a few weeks later announced the COVID-19 public health emergency — and Title 42 — would end on Thursday.
“Title 42 exacerbated already dangerous and often deadly situations for LGBTQI people seeking asylum,” San Diego Pride Executive Director Fernando Z. López told the Washington Blade on Tuesday. “It’s tenure caused additional strain on direct services, legal aid and community organizing resources that were felt on both sides of our cross-border region.”
Abdiel Echevarría-Caban, a South Texas-based immigration attorney who the LGBTQ+ Bar in 2021 recognized as one of its 40 best LGBTQ lawyers who are under 40, on Tuesday said Title 42 “needed to end a long time ago, given the country was open to accept travelers through all our airports.”
“It did not make sense to keep enforcing the policy when we have public health safety protocols in place already,” he said. “The use of a public health mechanism to deter asylum seekers at the Southwest border from seeking protection was barbaric, wrong and a misuse of public policy.”
Echevarría-Caban further detailed the impact Title 42 had on LGBTQ and intersex people and other asylum seekers from vulnerable groups that he and other lawyers represented.
“Here, at the Southwest border, we had to request exemptions for people, especially women, children and LGBTQIA people, who were sent back to Mexico, and were exposed to further danger at the streets in Mexico, exposed to cartel violence, extortions, kidnapping and rape,” he said. “Here, in the United States, we have obligations under the Convention Against Torture. The United States was an active party in the development of our current international human rights and refugees system.”
The Associated Press notes the U.S. on Thursday will begin to deny asylum to migrants who don’t seek protection in a country through which they traveled or apply online before they reach the Southern border.
The Department of Homeland Security last fall created a humanitarian parole program for Venezuelans that it expanded to Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans in January.
A senior administration official on Tuesday said the Biden-Harris administration plans to “expand the family reunification parole programs” to Central American countries that include Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras and to Colombia.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who was born in Cuba, on April 27 announced the U.S. will open more than 100 “regional processing centers” throughout the Americas. A senior administration official on Tuesday said they “will facilitate a broad range of legal pathways, lawful pathways to the United States and eventually Canada and Spain as well.”
“Again, our goal is to add these centers to the set of legal pathways that already exist and that the administration has rolled out over the last two years,” said the official.
Another senior administration official said the U.S. has “a robust set of consequences for noncitizens who, despite having these options available to them, continue to cross unlawfully at the border.”
They said the U.S. on Thursday will begin to return them to Mexico under Title 8 after it reached an agreement with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s government. (Mexican prosecutors have announced they will charge the director of the country’s National Immigration Institute after a fire at an immigration detention center in Ciudad Juárez, a border city that is across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, killed 40 migrants on March 27. The Associated Press reported a security camera inside the facility recorded two guards who did not try to help the migrants who were inside the cell in which the fire began. The guards, according to the Associated Press, eventually walked away.)
“It also includes the circumvention of lawful pathways rule that we will be posting for public inspection tomorrow (Thursday) morning, and that rule will place significant conditions on asylum eligibility for individuals who do not take advantage of these robust lawful pathways that we have established, who do not schedule their safe and orderly presentation at the border using our CBP One mobile application, and who do not claim asylum in one of the countries that they travel through,” said the official.
The official further noted the U.S. will begin “significantly expanding … our use of expedited removal at the border.”
“This is our traditional Title 8 consequence for individuals who are encountered between ports of entry,” said the official.
TransLatin@ Coalition President Bamby Salcedo on Wednesday told the Blade it is “unfortunate that instead of moving forward, we continue to go backwards.”
“The elimination of Title 42 will impact all of us, but specifically LGBTQ asylum seekers,” said Salcedo. “It is incomprehensible that this administration is taking this step. It’s about moving forward and bettering the lives of people, not taking away the gains that we have earned with hard work, blood and tears.”
Immigration Equality Legal Director Bridget Crawford in a statement also sharply criticized the Biden-Harris administration over its new rules for asylum seekers and migrants once Title 42 ends.
“We are astonished by the administration’s callous disregard of the dangers President Biden’s asylum ban imposes on LGBTQ refugees. In the final rule — scheduled to go into effect once the Title 42 policy is lifted — the administration doesn’t meaningfully address or fix problems with the ban we identified in the notice and comment process. Instead, using circular logic, the administration dismisses our concerns, and doubles down on the illegal implementation of the ban,” said Crawford.
“This ban is a travesty that will cause LGBTQ refugees (and others) with strong, meritorious asylum claims to be sent back to countries where they will be persecuted or killed,” added Crawford. “By implementing this ban, instead of humane solutions that would effectively and compassionately manage the border, President Biden has broken his promise to protect LGBTQ asylum seekers and refugees.”
The Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration works with Jardín de las Mariposas, a shelter for LGBTQ and intersex migrants in the Mexican border city of Tijuana.
ORAM Executive Director Steve Roth on Wednesday said even though his organization “is glad to see an end to Title 42, an unlawful, Trump-era policy, we are deeply concerned about the new barriers to asylum put forward by the Biden administration.”
“President Biden’s restrictions on asylum will have especially harmful and dangerous consequences for vulnerable LGBTIQ refugees and asylum seekers, leaving them in places where their safety will be at risk,” said Roth. “The administration’s new border policies will continue to deny many LGBTIQ refugees their legal right to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.”
Echevarría-Caban said the new policies will “pose more obstacles, and contrary to what is expected, it will increase the immigration court backlogs.”
“Our government needs to understand that we cannot use domestic law to weaponize immigration proceedings to avoid compliance with our international obligations or due process,” he told the Blade. “Due process is the core of our legal system, without it, who are we as a nation?”
Paloma de los Ángeles Villegas Pacheco, director of Trans Igualdad, a transgender rights organization in Ciudad Juárez, on Tuesday told the Blade there “is disinformation” among LGBTQ and intersex migrants who are in the city.
“They think that they are going to be able to access the legal asylum process,” said Villegas. “It will be more difficult for them to enter (the U.S.) once Article 42 ends. The impact will be worse for them.”
Altagracia Tamayo is president of Centro Comunitario de Bienestar Social (COBINA), a group that works with LGBTQ and intersex people and other vulnerable groups in Mexicali, a Mexican border city that borders Calexico, Calif., in California’s Imperial Valley.
Tamayo said roughly a quarter of the 600 migrants who are currently living in the two shelters that COBINA operates are LGBTQ. Tamayo, like Villegas, told the Blade there is “uncertainly” around the end of Title 42.
“The problem is that they think they are going to open the borders … they think they are going to receive them,” said Tamayo. “Article 8 is going to impose many, many restrictions.”
A fire destroyed a COBINA shelter in July 2021. Tamayo told the Blade her organization struggles to support the migrants who live in COBINA’s two remaining shelters.
“The heat is coming,” she said. (Summer temperatures in Mexicali frequently exceed 110°F) “We don’t have enough food to give them three meals a day. It is one of the problems of so much waiting, for so many months. It’s definitely very complicated.”
Mayorkas ‘clear-eyed’ about post-Title 42 challenges
Mayorkas on Wednesday during a press conference in D.C. said his agency is “clear-eyed about the challenges that we are likely to face in the days and weeks ahead, which have the potential to be very difficult.”
“Even after nearly two years of preparation, we expect to see large numbers of encounters at our Southern border in the days and weeks after May 11,” he said.
Mayorkas, nevertheless, stressed the end of Title 42 “does not mean our border is open.” He also reiterated the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policy.
“We will once again process people at our Southern border using our immigration authorities under Title 8 of the United States code,” said Mayorkas. “Our overall approach is to build lawful pathways for people to come to the United States and to impose tougher consequences on those who chose not to use those pathways.”
“We are taking this approach within the constraints of a broken immigration system that Congress has not fixed for more than two decades and without the resources we need, personnel, facilities, transportation and others that we have requested of Congress and that we were not given,” he added.
As she awaits the near-inevitable denial of her appeal to the Ninth Circuit, after which she will get a new prison reporting date, Elizabeth Holmes is relaxing in San Diego, bonding with her newborn, and apparently trying to rehabilitate the public perception of herself.
Back in March, as Holmes’s attorneys were filing last-ditch appeals and fending off criticism from prosecutors that she had booked a trip to Mexico for a couple weeks after her January 2022 fraud conviction, Holmes and partner Billy Evans welcomed a New York Times freelance reporter into their home for a couple of weeks. The resulting profile by writer Amy Chozick, published in the Sunday business section, is neither glowing nor wholly critical. But Chozick is careful to admit that while she was easily “taken… and taken in” by Holmes, who now mostly goes by “Liz,” she knew that she could not, obviously, believe everything that Holmes told her, or take it at face value.
A friend of Holmes who requested anonymity, in fact, warned Chozick not to believe everything Holmes said. And Chozick said her editor, when she said over the phone that she found Holmes “gentle and charismatic,” replied, “Amy Chozick, you got rolled!”
But, apparently, Holmes talks in her normal voice now, which is not the put-on deep voice of her Theranos past. And she has critiqued portrayals of her, like the Emmy-winning one by Amanda Seyfried in Hulu’s The Dropout, “They’re not playing me. They’re playing a character I created.” And, hilariously, she now says, “Maybe people picked up on that not being authentic, since it wasn’t.”
One has to feel bad for Evans, because whether you believe they are both head-over-heels in love with each other or that he and the two quickly-produced children are part of a deeply cynical ploy to keep her out of prison, he’s still likely going to be stuck raising two kids on his own.
Among the revelations in the piece, which is the first in which Holmes has spoken to a reporter willingly since 2016, we learn that her second child, a daughter born in February, is named Invicta “(Latin for ‘invincible’)”. And when asked by Chozick whether Evans’s wealthy hotelier family was footing the bill for any of Holmes’s legal expenses, she shook her head no. Holmes said she would have to work the rest of her life to pay those bills — and it’s unclear if her attorneys were working pro bono or being paid by someone or expecting to be paid at some point.
Also, it seems Holmes and Evans relocated fairly recently from that expensive rental in Woodside, where they lived during the trial, to a house by the beach in San Diego, which is where Evans’s family is from. And, implying that they have moved to avoid stalkers or paparazzi or something, Evans reportedly told Chozick that he and Liz had “been chased out of residence after residence,” and they never unpacked in case they were “found” and had to move again.
He relayed the story of meeting and falling immediately in love with Liz at the Fleet Week party of a friend (in the Marina, clearly) in 2017. He was 25 and she was 32. The two quickly moved in together and went to Burning Man in 2018 just as Theranos was in full collapse. And it was in early 2019, around the time her original trial date was being set, that Inside Edition spotted her walking her dog in the Marina, and the reporter said, “A lot of people think it was heartless that you were partying at Burning Man while your company was closing down.”
Also, she hadn’t totally dropped the deep voice at that point that she’s now saying wasn’t authentic — neighbors in her building at the time told Inside Edition they recognized her by the voice.
Holmes says that falling in love and getting pregnant when she did was all just a matter of “bad timing.” And, she says, once in prison, she intends to keep developing healthcare inventions from behind bars.
Holmes’s second-in-command, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, also tried appealing his conviction and sentence to the Ninth Circuit, but that was denied within weeks and he reported to the federal pen last month — coincidentally not far from where she is staying in San Diego.
Holmes is expected to serve her time a minimum-security facility in Bryan, Texas, starting a date still to be determined.
Photo: Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes alongside her boyfriend Billy Evans, walks back to her hotel following a hearing at the Robert E. Peckham U.S. Courthouse on March 17, 2023 in San Jose, California. Holmes appeared in court for a restitution hearing. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images)
It’s mid-April and not only is the weather heating up, but so is the ultrarunning calendar. For New England ultrarunners, that meant April 15-16 was a jam-packed weekend – so busy, in fact, that it merits two roundups. Here in part one we highlight the races that took place here in the region, where Massachusetts residents Matt Pacheco and Kehr Davis earned victories at the grueling Traprock 50K in Connecticut and Bay Stater Mead Binhammer and Vermont’s Dylan Broderick earned victories at the Runamuck 50K in Vermont.
Traprock 50K
Though course records survived at this year’s Traprock 50K, the 13th annual event on Saturday, April 15, in Bloomfield, Conn., enjoyed one of its deepest fields in history with plenty of close competition and fast times on the rocky singletrack trails and challenging doubletrack that make up the three-loop course.
Eighty-two runners finished the race within 10 hours.
In the men’s field, 38-year-old Matt Pacheco of South Hadley, Mass., fended off a tough challenge from 32-year-old Jacques Saarbach of New Haven, Conn., and took home the win in 5:01:42. Saarbach followed five minutes later in 5:06:23. Lee Davis, 41, of Hamden, Conn., rounded out the men’s podium in 5:28:19.
A tight pack of runners collected the next three places, with 39-year-old Cary Fridrich of Harvard, Mass., finishing fourth in 5:35:30, 44-year-old Brian Rusiecki of South Deerfield, Mass., taking fifth in 5:36:28, and 33-year-old Andris Briga of Marlborough, Conn., following two seconds later in 5:36:30 to finish seventh.
Pacheco posted the sixth-fastest men’s time in course history and Saarbach notched the eighth-best time. Fifth-place finisher Rusiecki owns two of the five best times in course history
In the women’s field, 46-year-old Kehr Davis capped her Traprock debut with a victory in 6:00:20 and placed ninth overall. Jessica Crandall, 44, of Berlin, Conn., and 40-year-old Jamie Miller of North Haven, Conn., placed second and third in a close battle, finishing in 6:14:11 and 6:14:26, respectively.
Davis logged the fourth-best women’s time in course history, while Crandall and Miller had the eighth- and ninth-fastest times.
Runamuck 50K
A road closure and partial course re-route didn’t stop the ninth annual Runamuck 50K from taking place on Saturday, April 15, in South Pomfret, Vt. The course still tested runners with plenty of rolling hills on dirt – and occasionally mud – roads with just a couple miles of pavement thrown in. Eighty-three runners started the race and 81 ultimately finished.
The men’s and women’s champions both won by comfortable margins as 28-year-old Mead Binhammer of Attleboro, Mass., topped the men’s field by a nine-minute margin in 3:54:39 while 32-year-old Dylan Broderick of Middlesex, Vt., outdistanced her closest competitors in the women’s field by more than 11 minutes, winning in 4:38:52. Binhammer was a Runamuck newcomer while Broderick earned her eighth Runamuck finish, eighth trip to the podium and third straight victory.
Joining Binhammer on the men’s podium were 27-year-old Andrew MacGibbon of Lebanon, N.H., in 4:03:37 and 46-year-old Michael Fenzel of Norwich, Conn., in 4:29:31. Matt Czaplinski, 56, of Northampton, Mass., was a close fourth in 4:34:04.
Broderick was joined on the women’s podium by 34-year-old Hannah Wittmann of Hanover, N.H., in 5:00:17 and 37-year-old Ashley Hensel-Browning of Weathersfield, Vt., in 5:09:41. Hensen-Browning finished third for the second year in a row but improved her time by 20 minutes.
*Editor’s Note: Results are found on a variety of sites, including ultrasignup.com, UltraRunning Magazine, and official race websites. We do the best we can to find as many results as possible to report on and recognize the local ultrarunning community.
Let’s be honest — we are pushing our planet to a climate change catastrophe. But there could be a solution. 71% of Earth’s surface is covered with water.
Why don’t we make use of all that underwater real estate? What would it be like to live at the bottom of the ocean?
Transcript and sources: https://insh.world/science/what-if-we-lived-in-cities-under-water/
Made possible with the support of Ontario Creates http://www.ontariocreates.ca
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Planet Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-HhCwYD7rc&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJCzxwmCq0NNpYq9N9wyb2l
The Cosmos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfuJyVkMH_g&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJno6oFF9nLGuwXNGYHmE8U
Technology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS3bBO05fpU&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTIeRY3JtgXgoGqSEB7kDdKO
Your Body: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmXR46TrbA8&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJNsV9FFeNAKl2ySsHj8GZO
Humanity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdCDQIyXGnw&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTIFnvmOeWbv-Mt8zFxSCSvZ
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