Latest news with #Abruzzo
Telegraph
2 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
The rugged region that's home to Italy's wild side
Day one of our wildlife and walking adventure in Abruzzo, and already we'd seen a bear. Or that's what our group of amateur wildlife-spotters hoped we'd seen: a large, dark-brown creature with a humpy back shuffling along a ridge some distance across the valley. Passing the binoculars around, our guide Filippo let us down gently. 'It is very like a bear,' he said – from a distance – but it was a wild boar. 'The bear is much faster. It does not stop. It moves very quickly through the landscape until it finds food.' The Marsican brown bear is the icon of Italy's National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise. Everywhere there are murals and peep boards to poke your head through, depicting cuddlier versions of this elusive, endangered creature. There are bear-themed road signs, too, warning you to watch your speed. In 2023, a beloved three-year-old bear nicknamed Juan Carrito, who became famous for a bakery break-in at a ski resort, was hit by a car and killed in a village just outside of the park – a tragedy not only for Carrito and his fans, but for the species itself. It's estimated there are only 50-60 Marsican brown bears left in the world, all of them living within or just beyond the Abruzzo National Park. The wild heart of Italy The chance to spot a bear was not the only thing that drew me to what local conservation group Rewilding Apennines calls the 'wild heart' of Italy, at once remote but only a couple of hours' drive east from the mayhem of Rome. There are hiking trails through spectacular mountain scenery – in May amidst a profusion of spring flowers including wild pansies, iris and orchids, or if you go in September, through mushroom-scented woods rivalling New England for autumn colour. This region also harbours wolves, and has done for more than 400,000 years. After the Second World War, they were almost driven to extinction, but since the 1970s, the Apennine wolf has been strictly protected, and there are now at least eight packs within the Abruzzo park. Wolves I did get to see. On our second day, we rose at 5am for a dawn wildlife-watching session at an abandoned village with panoramic views across a steep wooded valley. Before we even got there, we spied two of these charismatic creatures, just metres away from our vehicle, trotting purposefully parallel to the road on the low, scrubby hillside. They stared directly at us, then picked up their pace, loping further up the hill, camouflaged against the rocks and bushes. It was rare to see wolves so close to the town, Filippo told us. The town was Pescasseroli, where we stayed at a comfortable, art nouveau-style hotel for four nights of our trip. In springtime, Pescasseroli is sleepy and sedate, waking up from its winter hibernation just like the bears. Come August, Filippo told us, the streets will be thronged with Italians on their summer holidays. The tour I was on, with Exodus Adventure Travels, is part of a wider collaborative effort in the region to educate people about the benefits of coexisting with bears and wolves. Despite misconceptions, the Marsican brown bear is rather shy and not at all aggressive (reassuring when you're sitting on a lonely mountainside armed only with a pair of walking poles). There have never been any bear attacks on humans here, and wolves prefer to steer clear. Exodus donates all profits from the sale of the trips to Rewilding Apennines, who are maintaining what they call 'bear-smart corridors,' which link the Abruzzo with nature reserves and other national and regional parks in the Apennines. By minimising human-bear conflict in these more densely populated and unprotected areas, they hope to encourage the bears to roam more widely and find new areas where they feel safe. A night in the wild Our overnight stay at the Rifugio Terraegna, a mountain lodge 1,780m above sea level, was a high point of the trip in both senses of the word. We trekked through ancient beech forests, admiring the lichens cloaking the live trees and marvelling at the life that still teemed in the dead ones – holes made by beetles and woodpeckers, and hoof fungus up the trunks like stepping stones. Our group of six, strangers when we set off but by now bonded (Exodus limits group sizes to eight), spent a magical early evening looking for wildlife across a wide valley with grazing horses and foals. We saw only a roe deer (and heard a tawny owl), but even a sudden downpour couldn't dampen our enthusiasm. As the clouds rolled on over the mountains and the sun broke through, a double rainbow appeared. Returning to the lodge, chilly but elated, our chef-host Debora welcomed us with a blazing fire on which to warm our toes, and a feast that included local aged pecorino, soft sheep's cheese rolled in 16 mountain herbs, and ' Marzolina' – the first goat's milk cheese of spring. Garlicky fennel sausages with grilled aubergines followed. Snuggled up with the rest of the pack in a dormitory, stuffed full of cheese and mountain air, I had the best sleep of the trip, my dreams inhabited by shadowy wild animals. In the end, I never saw a bear, but it didn't matter. I had seen their claw marks on posts, and their hair caught on fences and trees as they left their scent for others along the trail. I knew that somewhere in the forest, or high in a mountain cave, they were there, and that was enough. Essentials Anna was a guest of Exodus Adventure Travels. A six-day tour, Italian Apennines: Walks and Wildlife, costs from £1,449 per person, B&B, including one night in the Mountain Refuge, listed meals, transport and activities. Excluding flights. Departures include September 21 2025, May 17 and September 20 2026. Vueling flies from London Gatwick to Rome Fiumicino from £70 return. You also have the option to travel by train to Rome with Byway (arrange through Exodus); route via Paris with overnight stay in Turin, £714 return journey per person.
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Tucci in Italy review – Stanley works his magic yet again. Tutta bella!
In my next life I am definitely coming back as Stanley Tucci. Or Francesco da Mosto (that Venetian count with the exuberant hair who was all over the schedules a few years ago, do you remember?), or Steve Coogan or Rob Brydon or any celebrity, really, who is sent off to foreign parts on jollies disguised as work. I am never going to be a world traveller. But if I were, I would, like most of the above, stop at Italy. Why, honestly, would you go further? Why would you not stay in the place that breaks your heart with its beauty everywhere you look? That is suffused with the confidence and style that screams 'We owned the Renaissance! We proved ourselves once and for all. No need to sweat the small stuff now! Sit down, chill, and eat penne al'arrabiata until it's time to prostrate yourself in awe before some ancient frescoes. And btw, the spirit of Michelangelo wants you to eat your body weight in gelato before bed. That's why he released David from his marble. So you know you can never compete.' I don't know if you've heard, but Stanley Tucci is Italian. The clue is in the name and in the previous travelogue Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, a number of autobiographical cookbooks about pasta 'n' that, and now Tucci in Italy, which is very like Searching for Italy, except, obviously, he's found it. Each of the five episodes purportedly set out to explore the connections between a region – Tuscany, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Aldige, Abruzzo, Lazio – and its food. In effect, however, it is simply a love fest between Tucci and everyone he meets, Tucci and everything he eats and, just possibly, for those of us who have started to feel that a little bit of Tucci goes a long way, between Tucci and Tucci. Look, it's not a grift, obviously. Making telly is not like going down t'pit but it's hard work of a kind. That said, the absolutely minimal effort put into scripting the narration (Lombardy, for example, is 'innovative', 'forward-thinking' and 'industrialised' to an almost risibly repetitive degree) and the level of analysis by Tucci of the food disappearing down his gullet ('So fresh!' 'This is the greatest day of my life') feels borderline contemptuous of his audience. But perhaps I am asking too much. We do, after all, get to gaze upon beautiful culinary creations and imagine what it would be like to taste them in ceaselessly inviting restaurants and against endlessly gorgeous backdrops (from every inch of Florence, to cooking fish on the banks of the Sarca River). Miniature amberjack taco with balsamic herbs picked on the kitchen premises, anyone? Or perhaps you'd prefer to keep it simple with a steak that could make the gods weep, from Maremmana cattle raised in northern Lazio by some of the last butteri (specialist cowboys), or with sturgeon caviar atop a simple shrimp and spaghetti dish? Remember – if it's truly fresh, the caviar should have no smell! What about a revitalised vitello tonnato with an aerated tuna sauce? 'I make the other dishes ugly deliberately,' says the chef as he finesses the plate. 'So that customers don't become intimidated.' You wouldn't believe me if I told you what the Lombardians can do with tripe or the Florentines can do with tongue (make you want to eat it, basically), so I won't try. But it is by their service stations that you shall truly know them. Italians rejoice in the presence of hundreds of branches of Autogrill, a phenomenon that could exist only in a country that privileges la dolce vita beyond all things. What can I tell you? It's a chain of motorway service stations that doesn't think customers should be served fried rat. It serves meals you would be glad to have in any restaurant in England. In its test kitchen – test kitchen! – it is working on making a palatable vegan ragu for the masses. A customer explains how sometimes 'you don't want a full osso bucco' because you would need to pull over for a nap afterwards. Indeed. Indeed. So Tucci and his Tucciness work their magic yet again, even if it is mainly by pointing a camera at Italy, letting Italians speak for themselves and their priorities shine through. Tutta bella. Tucci in Italy is on Disney+ now.
Business Journals
13-05-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
What business leaders should know about non-compete agreements in 2025
While non-compete agreements survived two federal agencies' attempts to ban or deem them invalid in 2024, such provisions remain a legitimate way to protect an employer's interests from unfair competition under federal law. However, 2024 saw more states adopting laws restricting the use of non-competes for lower-paid employees and medical professionals. State courts also issued decisions invalidating non-competes that were overly broad or not supported by adequate consideration. This means that prudent employers should (1) review the terms of their non-compete provisions to ensure compliance with state laws; (2) consider strengthening agreements to include non-solicitation, anti-raiding, and confidentiality provisions; and (3) be prepared to promptly enforce these agreements when violations happen or risk a court declining to provide certain relief. Two federal agencies took aim at non-competes in 2024 and missed…for now The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) attempt to ban non-compete agreements failed. In April of 2024, the FTC adopted a rule banning new non-competes and prohibited enforcement of already executed agreements, with limited exceptions, for all employees because such restrictions limit workers' mobility and lead to lower pay. The rule was set to take effect on Sept. 4, 2024. Before the rule could become effective, two federal courts, one in Texas and one in Florida, issued injunctions blocking it. Under the Trump administration, the likelihood the FTC will try to enforce this ban is minimal (the FTC has appealed the rulings, but we expect those appeals to be withdrawn). The National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) former general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, a Biden-appointee, was long critical of the use of non-competes. In 2023, Abruzzo issued a memo to all NLRB regional directors, officers-in-charge, and resident officers stating her position that non-compete provisions in employment contracts and severance agreements violate the National Labor Relations Act, except in limited circumstances. On Oct. 7, 2024, Abruzzo went even further and took the position that an employee should be entitled to 'make whole relief' if the NLRB determines an employer utilized an unlawful non-compete. This would mean employees could pursue monetary damages against their former employer for alleged lost wages related to missed job opportunities they had not pursued because of the purported unlawful non-compete. President Donald Trump terminated Abruzzo on Jan. 27, 2025. Therefore, these directives will very likely be rescinded by the NLRB's new Trump-appointed general counsel. As a result, under the Trump administration, these federal agency attempts to invalidate non-compete agreements are expected to fail, and non-competes will remain a valid way to protect an employer's reasonable business interests under federal law. Restrictive covenant legislation at the state level continued to increase in 2024 Currently, four states [1] ban the use of non-competes entirely and 33 states, plus Washington, D.C., have legislation restricting their use. States have continued to adopt salary-level thresholds for the use of non-competes. The map below shows those states that have banned non-competes, implemented salary-threshold requirements, and have other legislative restrictions. expand For example, Colorado limits non-compete agreements to employees making more than $123,750. Some other states' current salary requirements are as follows: Washington, D.C. – $154,200 Illinois – $75,000 Maryland – $46,800 Maine – $60,240 New Hampshire – $30,160 Oregon – $113,241 Rhode Island – $37,650 Virginia – $73,320 Washington – $120,559 In 2025, three states, Louisiana, Maryland and Pennsylvania, will prohibit or limit the use of non-competes for various types of health care professionals. They join 17 other states, including Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas, which have some limits on non-competes for health care professionals. For example, Pennsylvania's new law limits non-competes for health care practitioners to one year in duration and voids non-competes for health care practitioners who are dismissed by their employers. Increased limits on non-competes at the state level are expected to continue in 2025. Courts increase scrutiny of non-compete agreements Several states' highest courts recently invalidated non-compete clauses in employment or other business sales agreements. These cases are reminders that non-compete language should be reasonable in geographic scope and duration and supported by adequate consideration. The Delaware Supreme Court, in Sunder Energy, LLC v. Tyler Jackson et al., refused to enforce a non-compete agreement that was overly broad. In its Dec. 10, 2024, opinion, the Sunder court held that a robust non-compete agreement presented to a minority, non-voting member of the business on New Year's Eve as part of the sale of that business was invalid. For example, he was asked to sign the non-compete that same day, the terms and language were so complex that it would have required legal counsel to assist in understanding them, the restrictions were essentially indefinite because they expired following the member's sale of certain restricted stock, the member was not involved in the business sale negotiations, and he received very minimal consideration for signing what was otherwise an overly broad non-compete. The Sunder court held the restrictions that applied to the member's 'affiliates' would have prevented his 'daughter from selling girl scout cookies' door to door. Notably, the Sunder court declined to 'blue pencil' or revise the agreement to make the restrictions more reasonable and, instead, invalidated the non-compete restriction entirely. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court also issued a stark reminder in recent years to employers there that non-competes must be signed at or before the start of employment for an offer of employment to serve as consideration for signing a non-compete. In Rullex Co., LLC v. Tel-Stream, Inc., the court refused to enforce a non-compete agreement that was signed by a new employee approximately two months after the start of his employment, even though the employer gave and explained the non-compete agreement to the employee prior to the start of employment, informed him he could take time to review it with a lawyer, and the employee didn't request to make any changes to the non-compete before signing — albeit belatedly. The Rullex court held the agreement was not supported by the necessary consideration because the employee, who was now working at a direct competitor, had not signed the non-compete at the start of employment and was not given any additional consideration when he ultimately signed the agreement. These two cases highlight an increasing trend of state courts scrutinizing and sometimes refusing to enforce seemingly valid non-compete agreements. What should prudent employers do when using and enforcing non-competes? Non-compete provisions are still valid ways to protect an employer's reasonable business interests in most states. Employers should consider taking the following steps when it comes to non-compete agreements: Review the terms for compliance with state laws where the employee is working, including salary threshold requirements. Realize non-competes are not a one-size-fits-all provision and narrowly tailor the non-compete to the employee's actual job duties, including the geographic areas where the employee truly works or has contact with customers. Confirm the non-compete agreement is supported by sufficient – not nominal – consideration given at the time of signing. Give new employees non-competes for review before the start of employment and have the employee sign at the start of employment. For current employees, some courts have ruled that continued employment is sufficient consideration. Consider if non-solicitation provisions (provisions that allow the former employee to work in the same industry but restrict solicitation of former or current customers or employees) are sufficient safeguards for certain employees. Strengthen confidentiality provisions. Consider offboarding procedures that remind departing employees about their post-employment obligations, including providing a copy of the non-compete/non-solicitation agreement. Promptly issue cease and desist letters and pursue court action, if necessary, when a former employee breaches their non-compete obligations. For more information, please contact the authors or any member of Frost Brown Todd's labor and employment practice group. Frost Brown Todd is a national law firm serving some of America's top corporations and emerging companies. With attorneys regularly identified by clients, peers and industry organizations as leaders in their practice areas, the firm advises and protects clients in business transactions and litigation in many industries, including insurance, financial services, manufacturing, real estate, construction, technology, energy and health care. The firm's more than 600 attorneys in offices across California, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia provide unparalleled service to meet clients' needs; deliver the insights and solutions available only from a diverse group of professionals; and support the communities in which they operate. [1] California, Oklahoma, Minnesota, and North Dakota all generally ban non-competes in employment with limited exceptions such as restrictions tied to the sale of a business. Presidential Administration Impacts
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Yahoo
Late Albuquerque balloonist will be inducted into FAI Ballooning Commission Hall of Fame
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The late legendary Albuquerque balloonist Richard Abruzzo is one of two individuals who will be inducted into the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Ballooning Commission Hall of Fame. Abruzzo set many world records for distance and duration and won several competitions. Most notably, he placed first in the National Gas Balloon Championship in 1994 and also holds a Montgolfier Diploma and is the only five-time winner of the America's Challenge Gas Balloon Race to date. Unser family racing collection now on display in Nebraska The National Aeronautical Association awarded Abruzzo the Harmon Trophy three times: in 2001 for the longest solo flight from Albuquerque to Crawfordville, Georgia; in 2003 for the first solo gas balloon transcontinental flight from San Diego to the Georgia coast; and in 2005 for achieving a 1,802 km flight over Europe, winning the 48th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett. He and his ballooning partner Carol Rymer Davis died in a ballooning accident off the coast of Italy in 2010 while competing in that year's Gordon Bennett race We are truly moved to receive the news of our beloved Richard as an inductee to the 2025 FAI CIA International Balloon and Airship Hall of Fame. It's hard to believe it will be 15 years since his passing. His passion for the sport and love of ballooning was on full display for us all to watch and enjoy. He competed at the highest levels, and to be honored in this way by the ballooning committee warms our hearts. He is smiling down on all of us.' The Abruzzo family said in a news release. Abruzzo joined the Balloon Fiesta Board in 1996, chaired the Board of Trustees of the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, and is in the Balloon Fiesta Hall of Fame. The museum is named in part for his father, Ben, who was a pioneering aeronaut. Hans Åkerstedt, a world specialist in aviation and ballooning history, will also be inducted into the hall of fame. The Sweden native has volunteered with the FAI Ballooning Commission for more than forty years, holding several positions from delegate to subcommittee chairman and vice president. He has also piloted balloons in multiple competitions, including the first World Hot Air Balloon Championship in 1973 in Albuquerque and seven times in the Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett, between 1984 and 2003. The induction ceremony will be held at the Balloon Museum in Albuquerque on Oct. 3. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
PBC commission averts questionable "fix" in replacing county administrator
What started off as a perceived "fix" morphed into a a credible procedure in replacing County Administrator Verdenia Baker, who is retiring. Following an eyebrow-raising 4-3 vote earlier this month to skirt a national search, Palm Beach County commissioners Thursday took the time to craft a national search, minimal and preferred qualifications and a timeline for applications, interviews and evaluations that ensures a more open, competitive and thorough hiring process. It's closer to the kind of process that the residents and taxpayers of this county deserve. And it's a notable improvement from an earlier meeting in which a majority of the board — Commissioners Sara Baxter, Joel Flores, Bobby Powell and Maria Sachs — voted to set aside hiring a firm to conduct a national search in favor of an expedited "stay home," approach of finding a new administrator. That move seemed to boost the chances of one applicant in particular — County Clerk & Comptroller Joe Abruzzo — and quite rightly drew the ire of county residents. Still, the Post Editorial Board believes that a national search conducted by a headhunter would have ensured a better talent pool of candidates based on that firm's knowledge and contacts with qualified candidates. As it is, commissioners settled on having staff advertise the opening on various public administration association websites, a way to get the word out but not necessarily in front of those "elite" administrators who may not seek the job without the urging of a reputable headhunter. To be sure, Abruzzo is no stranger to Palm Beach County and its government. He's a duly elected constitutional officer and has represented the county in the Florida Legislature. But had the commissioners not spelled out a more thorough hiring process, he would have been seen as the tainted beneficiary of a political appointment. And deservedly so. Besides the commission and the public, it's Abruzzo who'd benefit by going through a more open process to replace Baker, a 38-year administrator respected nationally for her bureaucratic acumen. More: Why developers say they see better days ahead with Palm Beach County Administrator gone Fortunately, the commission took a step toward bringing rationality back to the process while dispelling the notion that Baker's successor could be found so easily through a political appointment. Baker started working for the county 38 years ago as an analyst. She worked hard, climbing the ranks to become the first woman and the first Black person to run Palm Beach County government. In that position, she oversaw growth, often siding with taxpayers against the interests of developers, while achieving the county's current AAA bond rating. Her last day is May 31. Baker's successor will have big shoes to fill. The good news is that county commissioners have moved closer to a transparent process that whoever gets the position, it now looks like that individual will be hired through an open procedure rather than a backroom deal that would have hobbled the next county administrator even before he or she showed up to work. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Transparency to pick new PBC administrator is right move | Editorial
