Blaze causes Grand Canyon park to close North Rim for rest of season
A lightning strike sparked the fire on July 4. The US National Park Service said the blaze had burned more than 30 square kilometers by Tuesday.
It said the blaze had destroyed more than 70 structures, including a historic lodge and cabins, but no injuries have been reported.
The park service says the North Rim of the park will remain closed to visitors for the rest of the season that runs through mid-October.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs issued a statement, questioning the federal government's decision to manage the fire as a controlled burn in hot dry weather. She called on the federal government "to conduct a comprehensive, thorough, and independent investigation."
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Japan Times
6 days ago
- Japan Times
Hall of Fame always held deeper meaning for Ichiro
One of the things Ichiro Suzuki has noted about the National Baseball Hall of Fame is how hard it is to get there. The Hall is located in Cooperstown, New York, over a three-hour drive from Manhattan and more than an hour's drive from the nearest airport and train station. It is, to say the least, off the beaten path. Few active players ever visit, and many Hall of Famers made their first trip only after being elected. Ichiro, as he is in many ways, is the outlier, having visited so often that he could probably lead the tour that new inductees receive. 'I don't think before I came here I realized how rare that is,' Hall of Fame President Josh Rawitch said. 'I guess I figured a good amount of guys in the offseason, if they happen to live in the northeast or if they are visiting family during the offseason, that they would make a stop by here. 'But one of the things that Ichiro said many years ago, that I think he's said better than most people, is that part of what makes Cooperstown special is that it's not easy to get to. That you have to actually put an effort into going there, and that it would be different if it was, say, in New York City, where anybody from around the world visits and could go there. This requires wanting to go to Cooperstown. It's not on the way to anything. It's not the sort of place that you accidentally come across. I think once I knew that was the way he looked at it, it made it even more special.' Ichiro will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame on Sunday after being elected in his first year on the ballot — he garnered 99.7% of the vote, coming a single vote away from being a unanimous selection. He is the first Japanese player elected. His induction comes as no surprise. Ichiro hit .311 over 19 MLB seasons and finished with 3,089 hits. The 2001 American League MVP broke the single-season hits record in 2004 and compiled 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons from 2001 to 2010, an MLB record. There is no greater honor in baseball than being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Only 351 people have been elected — 278 former players, 40 executives and pioneers, 23 managers and 10 umpires. The annual induction ceremony is usually filled with emotion as the inductees, often tearfully, reflect on their journeys and take their place in baseball history. For Ichiro, who will be inducted alongside CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, the Hall seems to hold an even deeper meaning. While players visiting Cooperstown is rare, Ichiro made seven trips during his career. 'I think for Ichiro, it was about understanding everything about his craft, and people who are successful in their craft, no matter what that craft is, the ones who are the most successful know the most about it,' said Jeff Idelson, who served as president of the Hall from 2008 to 2019. Idelson, who later co-founded Grassroots Baseball, a nonprofit organization that released a documentary on women's baseball titled "See Her Be Her" that Ichiro was also featured in, returned on an interim basis in 2021 and was succeeded by Rawitch. "They know it inside and out. And he's someone who's always appreciated baseball history. He knew Japanese baseball history, and once he came to the States, he made it his mission to understand American baseball history and world baseball history. So the seven times he visited while I was there, every time he came, he was interested in something different with the museum.' Ichiro Suzuki speaks during a news conference at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, on Jan. 23. Ichiro was elected to the Hall in his first year on the ballot. | JIJI Ichiro soaked up the history around him during each visit. On one tour, he took a particular interest in the connection between baseball and art. On another trip, his interest was piqued by equipment. 'He is really able to identify with the players from history,' Idelson said. 'Not only by holding the bats, but he can tell what the grains are like within the bat. So he can hold the bat up next to his ear and tap the bat to understand the density of the wood and the grains, and it helped him understand those players even more deeply.' The Hall was always given advance notice when Ichiro visited, and a curator accompanied him on his tours. He was given access to the back catalog, which is not available to the public, where he saw some of the rarest artifacts in baseball history. He always asked lots of questions, Idelson said. 'I really believe that his visits to Cooperstown helped him at some level, on the mental side of the game, to have a full understanding of baseball history,' Idelson said. 'Touring with him always involved a lot of depth. There was nothing superficial about his visits.' Ichiro also took an interest in artifacts from players whose records he had broken, such as George Sisler, whose 257 hits in 1920 stood as the single-season mark until Ichiro finished with 262 in 2004. Ichiro also visited Sisler's grave in St. Louis to pay his respects. 'The first time I really met him was a few years ago when he got inducted into the (Seattle) Mariners Hall of Fame,' Rawitch said. 'I went out there, and Jeff Idelson, my predecessor, and I went to dinner with him because Jeff was going to introduce us and let us spend some time together. 'That was one of the first things I wanted to know, why are you like this with the Hall of Fame? "What he talked about was just being able to feel the history. That when he would be chasing the record of someone like George Sisler, he could go, and when he touched his bat or touched his glove, he could actually feel the presence of the history that came before him.' Ichiro also holds a special place in baseball history as the first Japanese position player to play in an MLB game, and the Hall of Fame is expecting to welcome an influx of fans from Japan to watch his induction. The timing of Ichiro's induction also coincides with a new exhibition called 'Yakyu Baseball / The Transpacific Exchange of the Game' that will explore the connection between Japan and the U.S. Ichiro also donated some of his memorabilia to the exhibit. 'I think one of the things that's become very clear is just how global the game is, and what a huge part of Major League Baseball that Japan is,' Rawitch said. 'Obviously, our exhibit, Yakyu / Baseball, is gonna be a huge part of that. 'But I think when we look out at the crowd and we see international faces and Japanese flags, in a way it will be as unique as anything we've ever had.' Ichiro stands with former Mariners Edgar Martinez (middle) and Ken Griffey Jr. during a ceremony in his honor in Seattle in September 2019. | USA TODAY / VIA REUTERS Ichiro's professional journey to Cooperstown took him from the Orix BlueWave in Kobe to the Mariners, the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins before he returned to Seattle for a final curtain call. It was a long road, just like the actual trek to the Hall of Fame. When he is inducted into the Hall, Ichiro will be immortalized as a part of the history that he held in such reverence. 'I just think the game means as much to him as anything in life,' Idelson said. 'It's an important part of his DNA. There's so much baseball history that's taken place over the last 2½ centuries, it's not easy to do in one visit. 'Cooperstown also has a way of reinvigorating the spirit, or giving you a new sense of appreciation for the game. Though he never said those things, I have to think at some level, coming to the Hall of Fame really was something that had deep meaning to him. I mean, he was quoted as saying it's just like an at home feeling going to Cooperstown. "So he felt very much at home coming to Cooperstown and coming to the Hall of Fame. His induction now is truly the capstone to an incredible career.'
Japan Times
22-07-2025
- Japan Times
Induction of Ichiro has Cooperstown fretfully preparing
Mom-and-pop apparel and memorabilia stores have long lined picturesque Main Street here in the town that is home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. When visitors for this year's induction ceremony arrive in the coming week, they might find something new: Japanese-speaking interpreters to help them shop. The headliner of this year's Hall of Fame class is outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who amassed 3,089 hits in MLB and will soon become the first Japanese player enshrined in the game's hallowed museum. The number of visitors to Cooperstown, a town of a couple thousand, fluctuates with the star power of a given year's inductees. But this year presents a new wrinkle: The area has never anticipated an influx of fans from so far away. "The biggest issue I was thinking about over the winter is, like, how do we communicate?' said Vincent Carfagno, owner of the memorabilia store Seventh Inning Stretch, which is in its 31st summer and will have interpreters available Friday to Sunday. "I know we all have phones, and you can do Google Translate, but it's just easier in person if someone wants to talk about a certain piece.' Cooperstown is not home to a sizable Japanese American population. Across from Carfagno's store on Main Street is the only sushi restaurant in town. To find interpreters, Carfagno took to Facebook. "A couple of my friends knew some people,' he said. "There's a Japanese teacher and her husband that have never been here, and wanted to come anyway.' Cassandra Harrington, president of an organization that promotes tourism in the area, is printing 3,000 village and museum maps that are translated into Japanese. But she said that as far as other planned changes for new clientele, business owners do not want to make too many assumptions about what foreign visitors may seek. A confectioner was considering making fudge with sake in it, but was not sure how that would be received. "They're trying to remain culturally sensitive,' Harrington said. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum two years ago started preparing for Ichiro's induction, said the institution's president, Josh Rawitch. That work culminated this month when the Hall opened an exhibit celebrating the ways Japanese and American baseball are intertwined. Displays in "Yakyu / Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game' honor not only Ichiro, but pitcher Hideo Nomo — the second Japanese player to reach the majors — and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the most prominent player in either country today. With a budget of roughly $2.5 million, it is one of the most expensive exhibits that the nonprofit has created, Rawitch said. On a bronze cast of a baseball, fans can place their hand on the same spots that Nomo would grip the ball when throwing his signature forkball. A video-and-audio installment later shows what it is like to be in the stands for games in both countries. In one clip at Yankee Stadium, fans in the outfield seats who are known as the Bleacher Creatures chant the names of the Yankees' starters — "roll call,' the tradition is called. Then the viewer is transported to Japan, where Rakuten Eagles fans release balloons into the sky. Several items were sourced from Japan, such as a happi coat presented to Hall of Famer Lefty Gomez during a 1934 tour of the country, making for a more complicated procurement process than the Hall usually encounters when seeking artifacts on loan. But even amid the preparations, there is an air of mystery in Cooperstown in the lead-up to next Sunday's ceremony: How many fans will actually make the trek from Japan? "There's a good degree of uncertainty,' said Vincent Russo, who runs another Main Street shop, Mickey's Place, where an interpreter will be available. "Is it 5,000? Is it 10,000? Is it 1,000?' The cost to fly across the Pacific is not the only concern for travelers from Japan. After landing at one of the major airports in the New York metropolitan area, a four-hour-or-so drive awaits, some of it on back roads. "The opportunity of having the first-ever Japanese baseball player and somebody who was just so uber-popular in Japan is going to drive people here,' Rawitch said. "But I also think we have to be realistic about the fact that it is not easy to get from Tokyo to Cooperstown. And so do I imagine there's going to be tens of thousands of Japanese fans here? Probably not. But there's going to be tens of thousands of fans here, and we want to make sure that we're welcoming regardless of where they're coming from.' Most identified with the Seattle Mariners, Ichiro is not the only attraction this year. He is going into the Hall as part of a five-player class that includes CC Sabathia, a longtime New York Yankees pitcher who should attract plenty of visitors. But other forces are at play. This year's inductees were revealed Jan. 21, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump was inaugurated. That is significant because while everyone long expected Ichiro would receive enough votes to be inducted, most induction weekend reservations come after the announcement, according to Jay Smith, whose company Sports Travel and Tours sells licensed packages through the Hall. U.S. tourism has dropped this year, a topic at a tourism conference Smith recently attended. "The international markets that I had meetings with, they are very well aware of the downward trend of interest for people coming to the U.S. at this point,' Smith said. In the final week of June, Smith said he had about 75 people signed up for an induction package from Japan. "We thought that there would be more,' he said. The National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Coopesrtown, New York | USA TODAY / via Reuters Meanwhile, the Hall of Fame expects more than 60 media members representing about 20 Japanese news outlets to cover Ichiro's induction. But even when the Hall is trying to figure out how many U.S. attendees will arrive, a lot of guesswork is involved. The induction ceremony is not a ticketed event, and plenty of people book their trips independent of travel agencies. The Japanese American Association of New York and Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York offer a one-day tour bus from New York City on induction day at a cost of $305. But that amount, too, can be hefty, said Koji Sato, president of the association. "Because Ichiro is being inducted, that makes it very desirable to go,' said Sato, who plans to attend. "The average Japanese, let's say restaurant worker, in New York might not want to spend that much money for a day. But it all depends.' Induction weekend is not the only game in town for local businesses, which have a busy summer season with youth baseball teams playing tournaments there. But they do feel the impact of turnout, and the induction weekend headliner genuinely matters. Russo said that the year Cal Ripken Jr., the Baltimore Orioles great, went into the Hall, about 8% of his annual revenue came from induction weekend. Last year, when Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer led the class, it was under 5%. Shopkeepers here still talk about Derek Jeter's ceremony, which was supposed to be in 2020 but was delayed by the pandemic until after Labor Day in 2021. In a typical summer setting, a Yankees superstar like Jeter would have driven eye-popping sales. COVID-19 made that a painful missed opportunity. Mickey's Place has not moved many Ichiro caps yet, but Russo expects that will change over induction weekend. The greater question, he said, is how many Ichiro caps will sell after that. Will Ichiro's enshrinement draw new fans to the area? A new development nearby might help. In a few years, Hoshino Resorts, a Japanese hospitality company, is planning to open its first continental U.S. location in Sharon Springs, New York, about a half-hour away. The Hall is hoping that dovetails with its own efforts; Rawitch expects the Hall will display its new exhibit for at least five years. "Regardless of how many people show up this July, whoever does is going to go back home and say, 'Man, did you see that incredible exhibit they did in Cooperstown, and you can go see Ichiro's plaque, and there's this town that's just for baseball?'' Rawitch said. "All of that is a five- to 10-year play. It's not just about July 27.' This article originally appeared in The New York Times © 2025 The New York Times Company
Japan Times
21-07-2025
- Japan Times
U.S. airlines reap rewards from premium travel strategy amid demand slump
U.S. airlines doubled down on high-end travel after the COVID-19 pandemic to drive up profits and reduce their vulnerability to economic swings. The strategy is paying off as the margins of carriers selling premium seats have held up despite a slump in overall travel demand. Strong demand from affluent travelers is helping airlines offset a pullback in spending by price-sensitive customers. Delta Air Lines last week reported a 5% year-on-year jump in its second-quarter premium ticket revenue, compared to a 5% decline in main cabin revenue. The 10-percentage-point gap was the widest since the pandemic, helping it post a double-digit margin in the April-June quarter. Similarly, premium cabin revenue helped United Airlines mitigate the financial hit from operational constraints at Newark airport near New York City — one of its largest hubs — and increase its earnings in the latest quarter. United's premium revenue rose 5.6% in the June quarter from a year ago. Its overall passenger revenue grew just 1.1%. The industry saw a similar trend in the first quarter when President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs raised the specter of an economic recession, hammering airline bookings. "Premium capacity remains resilient," said United's Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella. Airline executives have attributed the resilient demand for premium travel to the healthy financial conditions of U.S. households with earnings of $100,000, which account for 75% of air travel spending. While an April selloff in financial markets after Trump announced tariffs raised the risk of undermining that demand, a sharp rebound in U.S. stocks since then has eased those concerns. "Our core consumer is in good shape and continues to prioritize travel," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said last week. Trouble in the main cabin In contrast, lingering uncertainty about the broader economy and rising living costs have taken a toll on demand from less-affluent customers. Bank of America data shows, while spending by middle- and higher-income households held up in June, lower-income household spending turned negative. Low-fare carrier JetBlue Airways last month told staff that it was planning new cost-cutting measures as soft demand made achieving a breakeven operating margin in 2025 "unlikely," according to an internal memo. Summer travel season tends to be the most profitable for carriers. But weak demand for main cabin seats has forced airlines to offer sales to fill planes. Discount carriers such as Frontier and Spirit Airlines are aggressively slashing flights to prevent more discounting pressure. Airline executives say premium cabins have become "the profit differentiator" in the industry. Since premium travelers tend to be less price-sensitive, carriers expect them to be less affected by economic shifts, making their spending more stable and offering a buffer in a downturn. At Delta, premium revenue accounted for 43% of passenger revenue in the June quarter, up from 35% in 2019. It has helped the Atlanta-based carrier become a pre-tax margin leader post-pandemic. The company expects its revenue from premium cabins to surpass that from main cabins in 2027. Diversified revenues, including from premium cabins, have helped shares of Delta and United outperform the broader industry in the past two years. Encouraged by the payoff, carriers are further ramping up investments to make their premium offerings more attractive. United has unveiled new premium suites with privacy doors on its new Boeing 787-9 planes. The suites will have 27-inch screens, luxury skincare amenities, and caviar and wine pairings. Alaska Airlines is on track to increase the share of premium seats on its flights to 29% by next summer from 26% currently. Risk of supply glut Faced with weak margins, budget airlines are now also trying to tap into the high-end market. JetBlue, which has reported a profit in just two of its last nine quarters, is putting first-class seats on domestic flights and opening its first airport lounges in New York and Boston. Frontier is retrofitting the first two rows of its aircraft with first-class seats. Spirit, long known for its no-frills service, is seeking to rebrand itself as a premium airline to turn around its business. The number of premium seats in the U.S. domestic market has increased by 14% since 2019, more than three times the growth in main cabin seats, according to data from Visual Approach Analytics. The rush to add premium seats is hampering aircraft deliveries. It also risks causing a supply glut, hurting pricing power. But Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci downplayed those concerns, saying premium travel is more about an experience than a seat. "We see it as an end-to-end premium experience that people will pay for and people expect," Minicucci said in an interview.
