St. Vincent de Paul Baton Rouge names new CEO after search
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — St. Vincent de Paul Baton Rouge announced Sunnie Johnson-Lain as its new CEO after a national search.
A committee of eight current and former board members selected Johnson-Lain, the CEO of Catholic Charities Washtenaw County in Michigan, after former leader Michael Acaldo accepted a new position as CEO of St. Vincent de Paul USA in September 2024. Her official start date is June 2.
'It is a great honor to have been selected as CEO, in the 160th year of SVdP in Baton Rouge. I am so grateful to Michael Acaldo and the talented SVDP-BR team for their excellent efforts that have resulted in a firm foundation, meaningful and impactful programs, and steadfast community support,' Johnson-Lain said.
Johnson-Lain is credited with rebranding the Michigan county Catholic Charities organization and increasing fundraising. Her previous experience includes overseeing and developing new programs at St. Vincent de Paul organizations in Cincinnati and Dayton.
Sean Elliott named new CEO and president of YMCA of the Capital Area
Racist remarks caught on video at California high school baseball game
Homesellers want nearly $39K more than buyers will pay: Redfin
115-year-old British woman now the world's oldest: 'I do what I like'
'Worst thing you could do': Viral video shows 'irresponsible' driver causing Ohio pileup
St. Vincent de Paul Baton Rouge names new CEO after search
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Albo urged to go hard on Trump
Anthony Albanese should play hardball with the US on beef as tariff talks grind on, Nationals leader David Littleproud says. American beef imports have emerged as a key negotiating item in the Albanese government's efforts to secure a tariff carve out. The Trump administration has been pushing for Australia to loosen import rules to include beef from cattle originating in Canada and Mexico but slaughtered in the US. The Prime Minister has confirmed biosecurity officials were reviewing the request but vowed his government would not 'compromise' Australia's strict bio laws. But the prospect of changing laws has sparked unease among cattle farmers worried about keeping bovine diseases well away from the country's shores. With beef imports seemingly key to securing a US tariff exemption, Mr Littleproud on Monday said there needed to be some 'perspective'. 'The United States does need Australia and other countries to import beef to be able to put on their hamburgers,' he told Sky News. 'They don't have the production capacity to be able to produce the type of beef that goes on their hamburgers. 'So this is a tax on themselves that they put on Australian beef.' Despite being subject to the blanket 10 per cent tariffs on foreign imports, Australian beef into the US has risen by 32 per cent this year, according to Meat and Livestock Australia. Meanwhile, the cost of domestically produced beef within the US has been climbing, as cattle farmers struggle with drought. Mr Littleproud said the Nationals were not against importing American beef provided that it was from cattle 'born in the United States and bred all the way through to their slaughter in the United States'. But beef from cattle originating in third countries was a risk because 'we don't have the traceability that we have over the US production system'. 'And that's why Anthony Albanese needed to rule out straight away that he would not open that up to those cattle that were born in Canada, Mexico, or anywhere else in the Americas, because that poses a significant risk unless we can trace those cattle,' Mr Littleproud said. Mr Albanese has been clear in saying he would 'never loosen any rules regarding our biosecurity'. But he has also said that if a deal can be struck 'in a way that protects our biosecurity, of course we don't just say no'. Mr Littleproud acknowledged Mr Albanese's words but said 'when you see reports from departments saying this is what's on the table in terms of negotiations – where there's smoke, there's fire'. In addition to the baseline 10 per cent duties on foreign goods, Australia has also been subjected to 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium. Only the UK has been able to secure a partial exemption from the Donald Trump's tariffs. A key UK concession was scrapping its 20 per cent imposts on American beef and raising the import quota to 13,000 metric tonnes. But with many British goods still subject to tariffs, analysts have questioned whether the deal was worth it. The US has trade surpluses with both the UK and Australia. Though, Australia also has a free-trade agreement with the US, meaning goods should be traded mostly uninhibited. The Albanese government has repeatedly criticised Mr Trump's decision to slap tariffs on Australian products as 'economic self-harm' and 'not the act of a friend'.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘Significant challenges' in use of AI within UK screen sector
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) within the UK screen sector raises 'significant legal, ethical, and practical challenges' such as the use of copyrighted material being used without the permission of the rights holders, a report has warned. Other issues highlighted by the British Film Institute (BFI) report include the safeguarding of human creative control, the fear of jobs being lost as positions are replaced through the use of AI, and investment in training in new skills. High energy consumption and carbon emissions, and the risks to creative content around biased data, are also described as being of concern. The report, which has been carried out in partnership with CoSTAR universities Goldsmiths, Loughborough and Edinburgh, analyses how the screen sector is using and experimenting with rapidly evolving generative AI technologies. It warned that the 'primary issue' was the use of copyrighted material – such as hundreds of thousands of film and TV scripts – in the training of generative AI models, without payment or the permission of rights-holders. 'This practice threatens the fundamental economics of the screen sector if it devalues intellectual property creation and squeezes out original creators,' the report said. But it added that the UK's strong foundation in creative technology – as it is home to more than 13,000 creative technology companies – means that the UK screen sector is well positioned to adapt to the technological shift. The report – titled AI in the Screen Sector: Perspectives and Paths Forward – said generative AI promises to democratise and revolutionise the industry, with the BBC, for example, piloting AI initiatives. Meanwhile, projects such as the Charismatic consortium, which is backed by Channel 4 and Aardman Animations, aim to make AI tools accessible to creators regardless of their budget or experience. It said this could empower a new wave of British creators to produce high-quality content with modest resources, though concerns about copyright and ethical use remain significant barriers to full adoption. The report sets out nine key recommendations it suggests should be addressed within the next three years to enable the UK screen sector to thrive in using AI. These include establishing the UK as a world-leading market of IP licensing for AI training, and embedding sustainability standards to reduce AI's carbon footprint. It also calls for structures and interventions to pool knowledge, develop workforce skills and target investments in the UK's creative technology sector, while it urges support for independent creators through accessible tools, funding and ethical AI products. The BFI's director of research and innovation, Rishi Coupland, said: 'AI has long been an established part of the screen sector's creative toolkit, most recently seen in the post-production of the Oscar-winning The Brutalist, and its rapid advancement is attracting multimillion investments in technology innovator applications. 'However, our report comes at a critical time and shows how generative AI presents an inflection point for the sector and, as a sector, we need to act quickly on a number of key strategic fronts. 'Whilst it offers significant opportunities for the screen sector such as speeding up production workflows, democratising content creation and empowering new voices, it could also erode traditional business models, displace skilled workers, and undermine public trust in screen content. 'The report's recommendations provide a roadmap to how we can ensure that the UK's world-leading film, TV, video games and VFX industries continue to thrive by making best use of AI technologies to bring their creativity, innovations and storytelling to screens around the globe.' Professor Jonny Freeman, director of CoSTAR Foresight Lab, said: 'This latest CoSTAR Foresight Lab report, prepared by the BFI, navigates the complex landscape of AI in the screen sector by carefully weighing both its transformative opportunities and the significant challenges it presents. 'The report acknowledges that while AI offers powerful tools to enhance creativity, efficiency, and competitiveness across every stage of the production workflow – from script development and pre-production planning, through on-set production, to post-production and distribution – it also raises urgent questions around skills, workforce adaptation, ethics, and sector sustainability.' CoSTAR is a £75.6 million national network of laboratories that are developing new technology to maintain the UK's world-leading position in gaming, TV, film, performance, and digital entertainment. Last month stars including Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ian McKellen, wrote a joint letter to Sir Keir Starmer, urging the Prime Minister to introduce safeguards against work being plundered for free. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Hill
7 hours ago
- The Hill
Speaker Johnson teases follow-ups to the ‘one big, beautiful bill'
The 'one big, beautiful bill' may not be so singular, after all. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is teasing follow-up legislation to the megabill of President Trump's tax cut and spending priorities that Republicans can push though using the same special budget reconciliation process that requires only GOP votes. That tool can be used once per fiscal year, with the current fiscal year ending on Sept. 30. So after Republicans are done with the 'big, beautiful bill,' the GOP trifecta has, in theory, two more shots to muscle through party-line legislation before the next Congress comes into power after the midterms. Johnson floated plans for a second reconciliation bill while rebutting concerns from deficit hawks on the budget impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — which includes an extension of tax cuts and boosts to border and defense funding, with costs offset in part by new requirements on low-income assistance programs like Medicaid and food aid. 'Everyone here wants to reduce spending,' Johnson said Friday morning on CNBC. 'But you have to do that in a sequence of events. We have a plan, OK? This is the first of a multistep process.' 'We're going to have another reconciliation bill that follows this one, possibly a third one before this Congress is up, because you can have a reconciliation bill for each budget year, each fiscal year. So that's ahead of us,' Johnson continued, also pointing to separate plans to claw back money based on recommendations from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 'We're also doing rescissions packages. We got the first one delivered this week from the White House, and that will codify many of the DOGE cuts.' The promise of another reconciliation bill is somewhat surprising given the crux of the debate that dominated the early weeks of the year: Should Republicans divide up their agenda into two bills, passing the first quickly to give Trump an early win on boosting funding for border enforcement and deportations? Or would putting all of Trump's priorities into one bill — which would contain both bitter pills and sweeteners for different factions of the razor-thin majority — be a better political strategy? Trump eventually said he preferred 'one big, beautiful bill,' a moniker that became the legislation's official title in the House last month. It's not clear what would be in a second piece of legislation. Multiple House Republicans who spoke with The Hill were unaware of plans for more reconciliation bills and were not sure what could be included in them. 'I think we need to see what's left on the table after the first one,' Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) said. And to muster through multiple reconciliation bills is a delicate prospect. If members know more reconciliation bills are coming, that complicates the argument that everything in the current package — even policies some factions dislike that others love — need to stay in one megabill. The Speaker declined to elaborate on what might be in such a package when asked in a press conference last week. 'I'm not going to tell you that,' Johnson said. 'Let's get the first one done.' 'Look, I say this is the beginning of a process, and what you're going to see is a continuing of us identifying waste, fraud, abuse in government, which is our pledge of common sense, restoring common sense and fiscal sanity. So we have lots of ideas of things that might be in that package.' Republicans had started planning for the current legislative behemoth months before the 2024 election so they would be prepared to quickly execute on their policy wish list if they won the majority. 'This isn't something we just drew up overnight. So, we'll go through that same laborious process,' Johnson said. But some members have ideas of what else they'd like to see. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said that he'd hope a second bill would do more to tackle rolling back green energy tax credits and make further spending cuts. Ultimately, though, it will be Trump's call, Norman said: 'I know when the president gets involved, it adds a lot of value.' And Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) speculated that passing the 'big, beautiful bill' would inspire members to keep going with another bill. 'People like the feeling of winning,' Pfluger said.
