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Senate passes major conservation package
The vote in the Senate was 73-25. Many Democrats privately scoff at the notion the bill’s passage will help the two in their Senate races, but said they felt it crucial to take advantage of the opportunity to get the legislation passed. “Whether it’s because of politics or policy, this is a great piece of legislation and I’m proud to have been involved,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), the measure’s lead Democratic sponsor, said in a recent interview. “And I’m proud that I have colleagues that see it the same way and those that are Johnnies come lately, God bless them.” Manchin delivered the votes of the entire Democratic conference, while more than two dozen Republicans dissented. He also credited Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for not standing in the way of the bill...
‘It’s going to be a slow slog’: Economists knock down hopes of quick rebound
The White House has focused on certain statistics to bolster its election-year narrative, but it rarely acknowledges that widespread recovery and a return to full employment will hinge largely on the country’s ability to contain a virus that has infected about 2.2 million Americans and continues to spread. Powell has been among the most sobering forecasters, stressing on Tuesday that “significant uncertainty remains about the timing and strength of the recovery” because of the virus. His testimony came a week after the central bank projected that GDP would contract by a staggering 6.5 percent this year and that the unemployment rate will still be above 9 percent through December. The White House has largely brushed off his comments, with National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlo...
Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera Scrap Fall Seasons Due to Coronavirus
The Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera have canceled the fall portions of their 2020-21 seasons due to the new coronavirus. The Lyric Opera eliminated four of its 10 productions and delayed opening night from Sept. 17 to Jan. 16. San Francisco canceled five of seven stagings and delayed opening night from Sept. 11 to April 25. Twenty-six performances were canceled in Chicago and 37 in San Francisco. Lyric general director Anthony Freud said Tuesday he hopes to reschedule the missed stagings for future seasons: a double bill of Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci;” what was to have been the North American premiere of George Benjamin’s “Lessons in Love and Violence;” Puccini’s “Tosca;” and Verdi’s “Attila.” The season now is set to start with the Chicag...
Riot Fest 2021 Set With Headliners My Chemical Romance, Smashing Pumpkins & Run the Jewels
Chicago’s Riot Fest 2020 has been scrubbed, due to the health crisis. But the multi-day festival will return next year with a bill headlined by My Chemical Romance, Smashing Pumpkins, Run the Jewels and Pixies. Also confirmed to the 2021 lineup are Coheed and Cambria, Taking Back Sunday, Sublime With Rome, Dirty Heads and Lupe Fiasco, performing The Cool in full. The 2021 edition will take place Sept. 17-19, 2021 at Douglas Park, almost a year to the day from the scheduled 2020 show (originally set for Sept. 11-13). A first of three waves of performers 50 acts is announced with Vic Mensa, Living Colour, Big Freedia, Toots and the Maytals, Best Coast, L7, Gogol Bordello, and many more on board. “If you already have your 2020 ticket, you’re in luck, it’s good for 2021,” reads a stateme...
Wide range of groups urge FERC to reject anti-net metering petition
The petition attracted criticism from a diverse group of energy trade organizations, free market and environmental groups, as well as state regulators and officials. Iowa’s Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds sent a letter in opposition, as did former Democratic FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff. The head of a group representing state utility regulators called the petition a “full frontal assault on state authority.” Solar companies said it risks decimating the residential solar sector — and the vast number existing rooftop solar contracts that are built on the arrangements. “Opposition to this petition is pervasive and the legal and jurisdictional problems the petition would create are impossible to overlook,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. “It’s...
President Buhari begs Nigerians to be patient with government on insecurity
President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to Nigerians to be patient with his government as everything is being put in place to tackle headlong the insecurity in the polity. The President has also approved joint military, police operations to tackle insecurity in North West. President Buhari also called for calm in his home state of Katsina, assuring that security agencies were working to bring the current wave of banditry and killing to a halt. The President in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu in Abuja, Tuesday, observed that violent reactions to the security by citizens could distract the plans already laid out by security agencies, assuring that security forces were capable of stemming both terrorism and banditry. The President ...
Newcastle to spend €135 million on Italian striker
Newcastle United are working on becoming one of the biggest club’s in England and are ready to spend €135m in total to snap up Italian international, Ciro Immobile, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. The Magpies are close to selling the club to a Saudi investor and the Public Investment Fund willing to make a statement signing. Immobile has scored 27 goals in 26 Serie A matches this term and leads more establish goalscorers like Cristiano Ronaldo and Edin Dzeko. Interestingly, Immobile’s contract with Lazio expires in June 2023 but Italian media have claimed that the club is looking at offering him a new bumper new deal at the Olimpico that will scare away potential buyers. Lazio President Claudio Lotito wants the forward’s contract to be extended until 2025 and is prepared to offer €4m...
Minister: Naira Marley will be prosecuted
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mohammed Bello, has announced that rapper Azeez Fashola who is popularly known as Naira Marley, and some members of his team, will have their days in court. Marley’s June 13 concert in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja has been widely criticized and condemned for its blatant flouting of COVID-19 guidelines and protocols. FCT authorities have shut down the Jabi Lake Mall venue of the concert and Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika has temporarily withdrawn the license of Executive Jets–the airline that flew Marley and his crew to Abuja. In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary Anthony Ogunleye, Bello said “there is a very real possibility that a single positive individual at that event could by now have gone ahead to infect several others t...
NiDCOM chief congratulates Benedict Oramah on his re-appointment as Afreximbank president
The Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has congratulated Prof. Benedict Oramah on his re-appointment as President, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for a second term in office. The NiDCOM chair expressed the felicitations in a statement by Mr Gabriel Odu of the Media, Public Relations and Protocol Unit of the commission on Tuesday. The NiDCOM chief said that Oramah’s “enormous contributions to the growth and development of the bank and the huge successes attained during his first tenure” testified to his re-appointment. She, therefore, urged Oramah, as a Nigerian in diaspora, to woo more diaspora investors to invest in the continent particularly Nigerian diasporas and to continue on his quest to better prepare the African continent to c...
NPR Variety Show ‘Live From Here’ Canceled by American Public Media
The Chris Thile-hosted variety series was a retooled version of Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion.” Live From Here, the Chris Thile-hosted radio show that served as a successor to A Prairie Home Companion when the latter series was retooled in 2017, has been canceled by American Public Media. CEO Jon McTaggart revealed the news in a post on APM’s website announcing drastic cuts at the broadcaster. Thile and Live From Here’s official social accounts also broke the news on Tuesday (June 16). “Not one live broadcast has gone by where I didn’t thank my absurdly lucky stars for your wide open ears and hearts,” Thile wrote on Twitter. “Over the weekend, I was informed that American Public Media will no longer be producing the show. “While this news fills me with sadn...
Warner Music Group Moves to Replace Old Debt With New, Better Debt
The music company is conducting a private offering to purchase senior notes due in 2023 with funds from sales of senior notes at a better interest rate due seven years later. Warner Music Group is trading old debt for new debt with a better interest rate and later due date. The music company is conducting a private offering for $535 million of senior secured notes due in 2030 that it expects to close June 29, it was announced Tuesday (June 16). At the same time, Warner wants to use the proceeds to purchase $300 million of new senior secured notes due in 2023. If Warner sells $535 million notes due in 2030 to redeem $300 million of notes due in 2023, it would replace a 5% interest rate with 3.875%. On $300 million of principal, the difference in rates of 1.125% equals $3.375 million of inte...
Powell’s warning on pandemic clashes with Trump’s upbeat tweets
The Fed chief’s testimony came a week after the central bank projected the economy would ultimately contract by a staggering 6.5 percent this year, despite regaining some ground in the second half of the year, and conflicted with the narrative from Trump, who trumpeted positive economic data. “Wow! May retail sales show biggest one-month increase of ALL TIME, up 17.7%,” the president tweeted Tuesday morning. “Far bigger than projected. Looks like a BIG DAY FOR THE STOCK MARKET, AND JOBS!” The previous day Trump boosted the theory that the country is experiencing a quick rebound, quoting Chetan Ahya, chief economist at Morgan Stanley: “We have greater confidence in our call for a V-shaped recovery, given recent upside surprises in growth data and policy action.” The unemployment rate ...
