By Sam Parsons
The Pella Community School Board met last night and formally approved a name for their new Early Childhood Learning Center, which remains under construction. The new center will be called the “Little Dutch Academy at the Viersen Early Learning Center,” and it honors Lillie Viersen, the first Pella native to teach within the Pella Community School District, which she did for 52 years from 1875-1928.
A presentation on Viersen is available for viewing here.
By Sam Parsons
The Ottumwa community school board met last night and received a presentation from their Teen Outreach Program on their activities this year. It was shared that students in the program have volunteered a total of 988 hours this school year. The program also included Mental Health First Aid training, two blood drives, and their Stomp Out the Stigma group, which featured group activities and projects focused on promoting mental health awareness.
The board received another presentation updating them on Career and Technical Education (CTE). The presentation included a discussion on the Department of Labor’s Youth Systems Building Academy, which aims to “provide training and technical assistance to workforce systems and their community partners to help them explore, design, test, implement or expand approaches to attract young workers and support them once they join the workforce”. Ottumwa was one of 9 communities across the country to be selected to participate in the program.
Tracy Lawrence owned the 90’s – and to this day is one of the standard-bearers for classic country music. So it’s fitting that the singer has played over 30 times at the legendary Billy Bob’s Texas – and even more fitting that when he played there last October, he recorded everything in order to release “Tracy Lawrence Live At Billy Bob’s Texas” next month.
The album features 18 tracks, including many of Tracy’s own hits, as well as versions of Jamey Johnson‘s “In Color” and Charlie Daniels Band‘s “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” And, to celebrate the release of the album, Tracy is playing a live show that same night – May 12 – at Billy Bob’s Texas. Should be quite a show!
Here’s the track listing for the album:
Source: WhiskeyRiff
NEW YORK (AP) — Fox Corp.’s $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over defamation charges is eye-popping, but the ultimate cost to the media company is likely to be much lower.
On Tuesday, Fox settled with Dominion over charges that Fox News baselessly accused the company of rigging its voting machines against former President Donald Trump in 2020. It was the most-watched media libel case in decades.
Fox had about $4 billion of cash on hand as of December 2022, and MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman expects the company to pay the settlement during the current quarter.
How much the lawsuit will actually end up costing Fox is unclear because there are ways it can defray some of the expense, primarily through insurance and the use of tax deductions.
Fox can deduct the Dominion settlement from its income taxes as an expense necessary for the cost of doing business. Fox Chief Communications Officer Brian Nick has confirmed the deductibility of the settlement.
Big companies often deduct large settlements to help offset some of the cost, but since settlement amounts are usually confidential, it’s difficult to pin down exactly how much they benefit. Payments that are seen as restitution or compensation can be deducted, while payments made to the government or at the direction of a government are usually not deductible.
Robert Willens, a tax professor at the Columbia University School of Business, estimates that after the tax write-off, Fox will incur about three-fourths of the settlement amount, about $590 million.
“The key is that if the payments are being made to private parties and not at the behest of the government then you can pretty much conclude without any fear of contradiction that the payment will be deductible,” he said.
A study by the Government Accountability Office in 2005 found that of 34 settlements totaling over $1 billion, 20 companies reported deducting some portion or all of their settlement payments. Big banks such as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase reportedly also deducted portions of their settlements of charges tied the financial crisis of 2008.
Also, if Fox is insured, insurance is likely to cover some of the settlement. Chad Milton, a partner at Media Risk Consultants, said a large media company such as Fox could have anywhere between $100 million to $500 million in coverage, including media liability insurance and other types of insurance.
“It’s not hard to stack up $100 million but as you go higher than that, it gets harder and harder,” Milton said.
Usually, there’s a certain amount a media company has to pay, which could be in the millions, before insurance kicks in. However, the deductible incudes attorney fees, which in a high-profile case like Fox-Dominion could be tens of millions of dollars or higher, so the deductible could be swallowed up just by attorney fees.
One wrinkle: even if an insurance company pays a substantial part of the settlement, there could be an annual aggregate limit of liability, which could mean that insurers wouldn’t cover another big-money settlement.
And media companies and insurers don’t always agree on who should cover what, since there are caveats written into contracts that allow insurers to avoid paying under certain circumstances. In 2017, Disney settled a defamation suit that was filed in 2012 after ABC aired a segment that questioned the safety of a meat producer’s products that critics dubbed “pink slime.” But one of its insurers, AIG, ended up suing Disney so it wouldn’t have to pay part of the settlement, although AIG eventually lost.
Fox has also said it doesn’t expect the settlement to affect its operations.
“We don’t expect significant operational effects or changes to our business given our cash flow, strong balance sheet and the health of our business,” the company said in a statement after the settlement was announced.
MoffettNathanson’s Fishman said everything indicates the company will be able to run its business as usual.
“It isn’t clear there has been much, if any, impact of these lawsuits on Fox News’ viewership and business,” he said.
Fishman said he doesn’t expect the settlement to hamper Fox’s ability to return money to shareholders, including a $1 billion accelerated share repurchase program announced in February.
Fox has a similar lawsuit looming with another voting machine company, Smartmatic, but no date has been set and the case might not go to court for a couple of years.
By Matt Kelley (Radio Iowa)
Thanks to a sudden social media buzz, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is seeing a renewed surge in demand for its big, blue, recyclable litter bags — which are free.
Todd Robertson, the DNR’s river programs outreach coordinator, says the effort was launched 14 years ago and was originally designed for canoe paddlers and kayakers, so they could haul out any trash they might see or generate during an outing.
“But then everybody started seeing these bags and so everybody wanted to start using them and we thought that was a great idea,” Robertson says. “Whether you’re just an equestrian, or a bicyclist, or a picnicker, or a hiker, whatever you want to do, so we’re making them available to everyone.”
The bags are about the size of an onion sack, with a drawstring at the top, and they’re made of a durable blue mesh. They’re light weight and fold up so they can be stuffed in a tackle box, a backpack or your glove compartment.
“It’s not like taking a plastic bag out on your outing and filling it with trash and having it tear and then garbage spills everywhere and then you have litter all over the place,” Robertson says. “These are very strong bags that are recyclable, and the real important thing here is that they’re reusable. If you rinse it out, and maybe just hang dry it, you’re able to take it out and use it again.”
Over the past 14 years, Robertson says the state’s given away around 30,000 of the bags and they’ve just gotten in a fresh shipment, each emblazoned with the motto: “Keep It Clean, Keep It Fun!”
“It’s great to have free stuff, but to have something that you can actually utilize in making the environment better? People are all over that these days,” Robertson says. “They will do anything and take anything that will help them accomplish that goal, and that’s what this tool does. And we look at it like that, it’s a tool, but it’s a gift to everybody out there. We have plenty of them and I’m happy to send them out to anybody.”
To get one or two free bags, email Robertson direct at: todd.robertson@dnr.iowa.gov, or order through the Google doc address HERE.
OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa Public Library is will be hosting two writing classes for adults on Saturday, April 29, 2023. IHCC instructor Patti Jones will be leading the classes.
At 10 am will be a class focused on writing family histories and at 1pm the class will focus on more creative forms of writing. Each class will run around two hours with a break included.
“We are happy to offer a wide variety of program opportunities at the library and are grateful to people like Patti who are willing to volunteer their time to lead them,” Sonja Ferrell Director of the Ottumwa Public Library said. “Writing is a wonderful outlet for stress and relaxing hobby for our community members.”
There is no registration required. Call the library 641-682-7563 with questions.
By Sam Parsons
The Mahaska County Farm Bureau hosted Ag Day at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds on Friday with a total of 268 third grade students in Mahaska County invited to learn about where their food comes from and how agriculture is relevant in other areas of their life.
Mahaska County Farm Bureau Ag in the Classroom Coordinator Karen Adams shared some of the things that the third graders were learning as part of the trip out to the Fairgrounds.
Mahaska County Board President Mike Jackson said that the good relationship between the Bureau and the local schools and their FFA chapters plays a key role in making events like this possible.
The event was run with the help of 35 FFA volunteers from Oskaloosa and North Mahaska, as well as 14 adult volunteers.
Reba McEntire has her third book, “Not That Fancy,” coming out this fall. In a sit-down with “Sunday Today,” the singer/actress broke down what she thinks is the real meaning she hopes people take from the book.
“We talk about family, friends, how to throw a party that’s not so fancy – that’s my kind of party. I don’t really care if everything matches; sometimes I ask to use real plates instead of paper plates. But I love Solo cups. I think that’s the main message of the book: don’t not have a party because everything doesn’t look right, or you didn’t have time to get this ready…just go have fun!”
The book is expected to his shelves October 10.
Source: Today.com
