Latest news with #DavidOlson
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pierce County school district suspends its controversial free speech policy
A staff expression policy that regulates Peninsula School District staff members' speech as employees has been suspended. The school board suspended Policy 5254 in a unanimous vote at their meeting on May 20. 'I think over the past few months since we implemented the policy, the board has heard quite a bit from the community,' board member David Olson, who made the motion, said at the meeting. ' ... I would have to admit that there was some unintended impact of the policy, mostly that there's a lot of misunderstanding, ambiguity about the policy, what the potential intent was.' Policy 5254 states that the district can regulate employees' expression when they 'speak within their official capacity' and thus represent the district. Employees' free speech is protected under the First Amendment when they speak as individual citizens 'on a matter of public concern,' but they may still receive 'disciplinary action up to and including termination' if their expression 'has an adverse impact on district operations and/or negatively impacts an employee's ability to perform their job for the district,' according to the policy. The policy describes staff expression to include 'the performance of job responsibilities and how (staff) represent the district in their use of district email accounts, school district buildings, district property, classrooms and how they present themselves to students.' It also includes a line about social media: 'Employees who use social media platforms are encouraged to remember that the school community may not be able to separate employees as private citizens from their role within the district.' The board adopted Policy 5254 in October 2024, and has heard several public comments at board meetings since then criticizing the policy's breadth and possible impact on staff, according to The News Tribune's reporting. One member of the Minter Creek Elementary Parent-Teacher Association told the board at the April 22 meeting that the staff expression policy has silenced some teachers from speaking out about the district's controversial plan to switch principals across several schools starting in July. In a statement shared at the school board meeting on May 6 and posted online, Superintendent Krestin Bahr addressed a number of concerns shared by parents and staff including those around the staff expression policy. 'We value the input of our educators,' Bahr said at the meeting. 'Feedback from our staff informs ongoing decision-making, though we remain bound by confidentiality and professional standards ... Staff are not just permitted, but encouraged to have honest conversations with their principals and share their perspectives.' She also said that a workgroup would be taking place later in May to 'help clarify the policy's enforcement,' working with the district's 'labor partners to ensure it protects employee voice while upholding (their) shared professional responsibilities.' School Board President Natalie Wimberley asked Superintendent Bahr prior to the vote May 20 to provide an update on the group gathered to discuss the policy and its implementation. Bahr said that district staff and union members visited another school district where the policy first originated to learn more about that district's process and reasons for adopting it. Based on the apparent differences between that district and the Peninsula School District's approach to the policy, she supports the policy's suspension, she said at the meeting. After the vote, Peninsula Education Association president Carol Rivera told the board during public comment that the association supports the policy suspension and 'welcomes the opportunity' to work with the district's task force on the policy. The Peninsula Education Association is the district's teachers' union.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Scientists Tweaked LSD's Molecular Structure and Created a Wild New Brain Drug
A team of researchers at the University of California, Davis, made small tweaks to the molecular structure of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) to see if it could be turned into an effective brain-healing treatment for patients that suffer from conditions like schizophrenia — without risking a potentially disastrous acid trip. As detailed in a new paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month, the researchers created a new compound called JRT by shifting the position of just two atoms of the psychedelic's molecular structure. With the two atoms flipped, the new drug could still stimulate brain cell growth and repair damaged neural connections, while simultaneously minimizing psychedelic effects, in mice. "Basically, what we did here is a tire rotation," said corresponding author and UC Davis chemistry professor David Olson in a statement. "By just transposing two atoms in LSD, we significantly improved JRT's selectivity profile and reduced its hallucinogenic potential." In experiments involving mice, the team found that JRT improved negative symptoms of schizophrenia without worsening other behaviors associated with psychosis. While it's still far too early to tell if JRT could be effective in humans as well, the team is hoping that the new drug could become a powerful new therapeutic, especially for those suffering from conditions like schizophrenia. "No one really wants to give a hallucinogenic molecule like LSD to a patient with schizophrenia," said Olson. "The development of JRT emphasizes that we can use psychedelics like LSD as starting points to make better medicines." "We may be able to create medications that can be used in patient populations where psychedelic use is precluded," he added. Olsen and his colleagues hope their new drug could provide an alternative to drugs like clozapine, a schizophrenia treatment, without negative side effects like an inability to feel pleasure and a decline in cognitive function. Interestingly, it also proved a powerful antidepressant in early experiments involving mice at doses 100-fold lower than ketamine, a popular anesthetic used for the treatment of depression and pain management. But before it can be tested in humans, the team still has plenty of work to do. "JRT has extremely high therapeutic potential," Olsen said in the statement. Right now, we are testing it in other disease models, improving its synthesis, and creating new analogs of JRT that might be even better." More on LSD: Former CEO Sues Company That Fired Him for Microdosing LSD in an Investor Meeting
CBS News
14-05-2025
- CBS News
Minnesota pool contractor at center of a WCCO investigation turns himself in
The pool contractor at the center of a WCCO investigation recently turned himself into jail, and WCCO was there. This jail stay was for violating a domestic order for protection. Charles Workman still faces federal charges for taking money from families with the promise of backyard pools that he didn't finish. "Why did you take money from families and never finish the job?" reporter Jennifer Mayerle asked Workman. Workman was federally indicted two years ago for wire fraud. Promising a swimming pool for more than a dozen families. Instead, backyards were left in ruin or without any work done at all. The U.S. Attorney's office calls it a scheme to defraud people. "What do you have to say to them?" Mayerle asked to no answer. The indictment accuses Workman of fraudulently soliciting more than $750,000 from Twin Cities families. And spending some of what people paid him on child support, at the casino and on a horse and saddle. Although he initially pleaded not guilty, court records show in January 2024, Workman was going to change his plea to guilty. So far that hasn't happened. "For the pool victims. I mean, this isn't just delayed justice. This is no justice," David Olson said. Olson's family is just one of more than a dozen who paid for a pool they never got. "It's just soul crushing to see someone who would steal your money and leave nothing behind except destruction and lies," Olson said. While the families wait for justice through federal court, Workman had to serve time for a case in Scott County. After he pleaded guilty to domestic assault, Workman's estranged wife Jennifer filed for an order for protection against him. He pleaded guilty to violating it 4 times in 2022, finally sentenced in early 2025 leading to his jail stay. "I had to protect myself and my children from him," she said. Workman got 10 days in jail, served over the course of a few weekends. He currently lives in Kentucky. "I don't think it was appropriate. I think he should have gotten a lot more time. But that's what they were giving him," said Jennifer. As for the pool business, she claims she never knew about the alleged fraud until families started calling. "I started to get messages personally from customers very upset with him, begging me to help them give them their money. It was very, very hard. There was a lot of arguments," she said. "It was hard to be at home with him. He was constantly worried about, you know, repercussions of this mess he got himself into, and he could not dig his way out of it." Workman has ignored our requests for a comment on his federal case. So it was here as he checked himself in for a weekend in jail when we caught up with him. "You can consult my attorney. That's all I have to say, thank you," Workman said. His victims say they will continue to push for justice. "We're not just victims, we're fighters, and we're not going to stop until he faces the consequences for his crimes," Olson said. Since February, WCCO has pushed for answers from the U.S. Attorney's Office about the wait for justice and told the office of Workman's jail time in Scott County. Recently, a judge scheduled that change of plea hearing for July. Separately, the Minnesota Attorney General's Office secured a civil judgment against Workman two years ago. A judge ordered he pay more than a million dollars in restitution. So far, he has not paid a dime. We reached out to Workman's attorneys but have not heard back.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fueling Up: 7-Eleven and Couche-Tard have tons of stores to sell. Who's buying?
This story was originally published on C-Store Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily C-Store Dive newsletter. Fueling Up is a column from C-Store Dive offering a fresh perspective on the top news and trends in the convenience store industry. No news coming out of the c-store industry the past few months has been bigger than Alimentation Couche-Tard's pursuit of Seven & i Holdings. And recent updates have only fanned the flames. Although Couche-Tard and Seven & i have teased negotiations since late last year, temperatures rose earlier this month when Seven & i named a new CEO and announced an initial public offering for 7-Eleven in North America in 2026. Days later, Seven & i and Couche-Tard revealed that they've begun identifying over 2,000 overlapping c-stores they could divest — as well as pinpointing possible buyers — to avoid potential antitrust pitfalls. I'll bet some executives are losing sleep over the prospect of turning their companies into one of the largest North American convenience store chains overnight. Purchasing these stores would do just that. This leaves the question: Who, if anyone, can realistically acquire these assets? The thought of a well-known convenience retailer like Casey's General Stores, GPM Investments or EG America scooping up these stores certainly excites the industry. David Olson, managing partner with advisory firm Riata Partners, said Casey's and Maverik are the only two c-store retailers that come to mind that would even stand a chance of acquiring these stores, since they've shown they're willing to aggressively spend on expansion. 'I doubt that someone who only [operates] c-stores could buy 2,000 stores… that's a pretty big nut to swallow unless you've got a diversified income stream." Former director of foodservice at 7-Eleven But even if Casey's, Maverik or any other c-store retailer wanted to acquire these stores outright, the billions of dollars it would take to purchase and integrate them is far too big a challenge for one operator. 'Ain't no way,' Olson said of one c-store retailer acquiring the whole set of stores. 'Between supply chains and fuel contracts and everything else, I just think it would be very, very hard.' A former director at 7-Eleven — whose focus was running the company's foodservice operations — concurred with Olson. The director added that if any single c-store retailer were to snag these stores, it would be a big oil company whose business focus extended beyond retail. But even then, chances are slim, they said. This person, who also held executive foodservice roles at other c-store brands over the course of multiple decades, requested anonymity to avoid any retaliation from 7-Eleven. 'I doubt that someone who only [operates] c-stores could buy 2,000 stores… that's a pretty big nut to swallow unless you've got a diversified income stream,' the former 7-Eleven director said. If acquiring all these sites is unrealistic for one convenience retailer, what other options are on the table? Quite a few, to my surprise. Both Olson and the former 7-Eleven foodservice director agree that if one company were to acquire the thousands of c-stores in this deal, it would likely be a real estate investment trust or private equity firm that has the money to do so. This company would then likely sell the stores in pieces to convenience retailers. 'Some big investment portfolio umbrella will carve it off,' Olson said. 'Then that firm takes over the marketplace for selling those [stores] to Casey's and Maverik and the others.' The most recent example of a REIT investing in the c-store industry came two years ago when EG America, which operates about 1,500 c-stores across 30 states,entered into a $1.5 billion sale-leaseback deal for over 400 of its own c-stores with Realty Income Corporation. EG has continued to run these stores, although the retailer no longer owns the land. The former 7-Eleven foodservice director said since mergers and acquisitions across all industries slowed over the past couple years, there's tons of money available on the private equity side for a deal like this. The numbers back this up: As of last December, private equity firms were sitting on about $2 trillion of capital that's expected to be used towards M&A in 2025, according to a report from Global Finance Magazine. 'Convenience as a real estate play is huge… just go buy it for the land." David Olson Managing partner, Riata Partners It goes without saying, but in the case of Couche-Tard trying to acquire Seven & i, selling these thousands of stores to one buyer would certainly speed up — and skyrocket the likelihood of — their merger. 'I think Couche-Tard would love it if somebody came in and bought it all up,' Olson said. Whether or not a private equity firm or REIT acquires these locations, it's worth considering if the future of these sites is outside the convenience store industry. Olson said any type of company could be interested in these stores for one big reason. 'Convenience as a real estate play is huge… just go buy it for the land,' he said. The former 7-Eleven foodservice director said that, while unlikely, these assets could end up in the hands of a grocery or big-box retailer looking to diversify their assets. Target or Dollar General, for instance, might crave a smaller type of store or want to offer fuel. 'I wouldn't limit the possibilities to a single channel,' the former 7-Eleven director said. 'There could be strategic reasons that people would be interested that aren't traditional c-store folks.' But why stop at grocery or big-box retailers? Any company with the scale and desire to diversify their revenue stream could pull it off as long as they raise the money quickly, 7-Eleven's former foodservice director said, adding that they wouldn't rule out companies like DoorDash or fast-food corporations such as Inspire Brands and Yum! 'I think it should be at least interesting to anyone that has a bunch of cash registers, whether they're ringing up Target sales or they're ringing up McDonald's sales,' the foodservice director said. A few months ago, retailers and analysts around the industry thought this deal's chances were slim. But given the new presidential administration's friendly outlook towards consolidation, those feelings are starting to change. 'Last year, I would have said this will never get done,' Olson said. 'Now, when I look at the current political environment… I think it gets done this year.' Recommended Reading What 7-Eleven's IPO will mean for its future in the US Sign in to access your portfolio
CBC
20-03-2025
- CBC
U.S. investigators say Alaska plane was overweight for icy conditions in crash that killed 10
A commuter plane that crashed on sea ice off Alaska, killing all 10 people on board, was half a ton overweight for a trip into icy conditions, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a preliminary report released Wednesday. The weight is just a "data point" in the ongoing investigation, cautioned Clint Johnson, who leads the NTSB's Alaska region. A final report including probable causes can take a year or more after a crash. The Feb 6. Bering Air crash was one of Alaska's deadliest plane crashes this century and the third major U.S. aviation mishap in an eight-day stretch. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided over the Potomac River on Jan. 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing all six on board and another person on the ground. Small airplanes like the Cessna Caravan in this crash are the workhorses of Alaska, where most of the state's 200-plus villages are beyond the road system and only accessible by air or boat. Residents rely on the commuter planes like people living in the Lower 48 depend on cars, using them to get to medical appointments and meetings, to go shopping, to visit relatives or to attend away high school sports games. The single-engine turboprop plane was flying that afternoon from the community of Unalakleet to Nome, a trip of about 240 kilometres, when authorities lost contact less than an hour after takeoff, David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air, said at the time. The Cessna Caravan went missing about 50 kilometres from its destination. A review of the plane's contents following the crash indicated its estimated gross weight at departure was about 4,475 kilograms — about 480 kilograms over the maximum takeoff gross weight for a flight into areas where icing is in the forecast, the report says. The pilot operating handbook notes the maximum allowable takeoff gross weight for a flight into such conditions was the same as the basic airplane, 3,995 kilograms. Johnson said it remains to be determined whether the overweight conditions were a factor in the accident. Icing conditions were forecast along the route, and it was snowing, with some freezing rain in Nome, he said. Officials are trying to determine what information was relayed to the pilot, what information he had when he left and whether ice conditions existed at the crash location, he said. An email seeking comment sent to Bering Air was not immediately returned. Weather is often a factor in remote Alaska, and while flying is commonplace to most Alaskans, it can be a dangerous endeavor, said Whitney Power Wilson, an aviation accident litigation lawyer and pilot in Anchorage. "Icing should be concern for all pilots, but especially for pilots of smaller aircraft and pilots who frequently operate in conditions conducive to icing," she said. "The weight of an aircraft, the fact that icing is something that we're dealing with, those considerations have to be taken seriously because the consequences can be so tragic." Investigators also looked at the plane's altitude. It was flying in an area where moderate icing was possible between 2,000 feet (610 metres) and 8,000 feet (2,438 metres) and where the weather could be hazardous to light aircraft, NTSB chairperson Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference in Nome last month. Contact was lost shortly after air traffic control told the pilot the runway in Nome would be closed for about 15 minutes for deicing, the report says. "The controller added that if the pilot wanted to 'slow down a little bit' to prevent the flight from arriving before the runway reopened, that would be fine, and the pilot acknowledged," the report states. The pilot handbook also indicates an air speed of 95 knots must be maintained to fly in icing conditions if de-icing equipment is fully functional. About three minutes after the pilot was told to descend to 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) at his discretion, the autopilot disengaged at 99 knots, then dropped within seconds to 70 knots and was at about 3,100 feet (945 meters), the report says. The final satellite tracking data came less than one minute later, at 3:20 p.m., at an altitude of 200 feet. The anti-icing system on the wings and tail of the five-year-old turbo-propeller airplane was designed to prevent ice from accumulating, the report says. The operator said the quantity of deicing fluid was checked during each preflight inspection. The pilot is responsible for ensuring there is a sufficient quantity onboard, but there is no requirement to record when it's added to the airplane. A worker at the Unalakleet airport told the pilot that the fluid was available, but the pilot told her the tank was full, according to the report. The U.S. Coast Guard has said it was unaware of any distress signals from the plane. After an extensive search, the wreckage was found the following day on a drifting ice floe. The pilot and all nine passengers had been killed.
