Latest news with #Fazio
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Adair County: Driver more than triple the legal limit arrested
Jun. 4—Osvaldo Moran-Salas, 22, of Des Moines, was taken into custody 12:50 a.m. May 25, in Adair on the charge of driving while barred. According to an Adair Police report, at approximately 11:54 p.m May 24, Moran-Salas was observed driving a John Deere Gator UTV with no headlights or taillights on Delta Ave/Fifth Street. The UTV pulled into the Casey's General Store in Adair and Moran-Salas exited from the driver's position. His information was ran and he was found to have a barred license. Moran-Salas was transported to the Adair County Jail where he was released from after posting $2,000 cash or surety bond. — — — — — Tracey M. Fazio, 57, of Des Moines, was taken into custody 9:45 p.m. May 26, at the westbound rest area of Interstate 80 in Adair on the charge of OWI, first offense and issued a citation for open container. According to an Iowa State Patrol report, at approximately 6:45 p.m. a 2009 Pontiac G6 pulled into the the rest area and hit a semi-trailer. The Pontiac had been previously reported for erratic driving. When troopers arrived at the rest area, the Pontiac was still making contact with the semi, but neither had reportable damage. Contact was made with the driver of the Pontiac, identified as Fazio, who had slurred, thick-tongued speech and required assistance when walking to the patrol car. The odor of an alcoholic beverage was detected coming from the vehicle. Fazio handed troopers an open bottle of Southern Comfort that was approximately two-thirds empty. She admitted the bottle was full when she started drinking. Fazio consented to field sobriety testing during which clues of impairment were observed. She consented to a PBT, which indicated her BrAC to be .286%. Fazio was transported to the Adair County Jail where she consented to provide a breath sample for testing. The test indicated her BAC to be .272%. Fazio was released from the Adair County Jail after posting $1,000 cash or surety bond. — — — — — Jason E. Caldwell, 53, of Stuart, was taken into custody 10:56 p.m. May 27, in the 1700 block of Sheldon Avenue in Stuart on a Guthrie County warrant for the charge of failure to appear. He was released directly to the custody of Guthrie County Sheriff's Office. — — — — — Silas J. Foster, 18, of Fontanelle, was taken into custody 3:23 a.m. May 30, at East Iowa and Northeast Fourth Street in Greenfield on the charges of OWI, first offense and possession of alcohol under age 21. According to an Adair County report, at approximately 2:39 a.m. a 2005 Buick LeSabre was observed in a parking lot of the northwest corner of the intersection with its lights on and the driver's side door open. Deputies did not believe it was occupied initially from a distance. After approaching the vehicle, a male was observed lying in the driver's seat. The keys of the car were still in the ignition and an open bottle of alcohol was observed in the front passenger's seat. The male, later identified as Foster by an ID found in a wallet in the door of the vehicle, appeared to have vomited on himself. He initially resisted instruction to exit the vehicle, but finally did and was sat on the ground near the back of his car. Foster was dry-heaving, very unsteady on his feet and unable to answer questions in a manner that made sense, including being able to say where he was. EMS was called to assist. A probable cause search was conducted of the vehicle. Open alcohol containers and a used vape cartridge were located, which Foster is not of age to possess After being checked by medics, Foster consented to field sobriety testing and showed indicators of impairment. He refused a PBT. Foster was transported to the Adair County Jail for further testing. He consented to provide a breath sample for chemical testing, the result of which indicated his BAC to be .143%. Foster was cited and released on a summons to appear.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CT energy fight takes circuitous route. At risk is lower electric bills, any relief for ratepayers
A year after record heat drove up electric bills and touched off ratepayer protests, legislators are racing against an end-of-session deadline to deliver relief. With less than two weeks remaining before the legislature closes shop, what has emerged is long, complex and evolving draft legislation that would cut consumer costs modestly in the short term while attempting to control some future costs by tweaking the way the state's highly regulated utilities operate. Political and industry analysts said the evolving legislation — as it stood last week — could save customers 5 percent on electric bills. While the projected savings are not inconsequential, there have been other proposals with greater projected savings. An energy package introduced in April by Sen. John Fonfara, a Hartford Democrat, promised to lower bills 25 percent or more. It fell to legislative rivalries and opposition from environmentalists. But some of its most significant proposals were preserved — watered down in some cases — and transferred to the pending draft legislation. Minority Republicans have called for deeper cuts by removing what are known as public benefits from customer bills. The state bills about $1 billion a year in public benefit costs to electric customers, using utility bills as a hidden tax to cover costs of state programs such as those that promote energy efficiency, subsidize new clean energy generation and pay the electric bills of low income or medically disabled utility customers. Sen. Ryan Fazio, a Greenwich Republican, said his caucus was pushing late last week for draft language that would eliminate as much as $200 million in state-mandated public benefits. Fazio said there is bipartisan support for a compromise that would cut consumer electric bills, describing the work as the 'most important' the legislature will do this year. 'The measure of success will be whether we can get meaningful savings for taxpayers and ratepayers, which I believe we will,' Fazio said. One of the draft proposals borrowed from Fonfara's bill permits the state and its two electric utilities to borrow nearly $3 billion to cover costs running from decarbonization programs to storm damage by issuing long-term, low-interest government bonds. Customers and taxpayers would still be stuck with the costs, but bonding means smaller incremental payments over a far longer period. As it stood last week, the plan uses the state government bonds to cover the cost of $580 million of public benefits costs — $150 million for energy conservation programs, $300 million to pay the bills of those unable to do so and $80 million for an incentive program to promote installation of electric vehicle charging stations. Those costs would disappear from electric bills but resurface as taxes. The draft also authorizes the issuance of up to $2.2 billion in what would be called rate reduction bonds. Those bonds pay for the $1 billion it has cost Eversource since 2018 to repair storm damage. Utilities customarily recover storm damage costs from customers over six years or so. With rate reduction bonding, the expense would remain on customer bills, but could shrink as much as $3 a month by stretching payments out for as many as 15 years. Rate reduction bonds also would finance the $800 million it is projected to cost to install high-tech electric meters, known as AMI, primarily in the homes of Eversource customers, another cost that was to have been billed to customers over a relatively short term. In addition to notifying utilities of outages, so-called programmable smart meters help customers save money by informing them to use off peak hours when it is cheaper to operate high-energy appliances. The draft legislation expands on off-peak usage by requiring Eversource and United Illuminating to establish a variable rate system and pricing scheme that creates an incentive to use appliances during periods of low electricity demand. It requires the utilities 'to design a comprehensive customer education and engagement program to inform customers of the benefits of time-varying rates.' Legislative staff and lawmakers, aides to Gov. Ned Lamont, officials across the state energy bureaucracy and the electric utilities have been shaping the draft legislation for weeks. They are expected to finish this week. If it is held up, a culprit is likely to be the session-long disagreement over the operation of the Public Utility Regulatory Authority. Under the leadership of Chairman Marissa Gillett, PURA has been in an increasingly bitter fight with the utilities. Eversource and United Illuminating claim in a lawsuit that PURA has shown an anti-utility bias under Gillett, who they say has pushed aside fellow commissioners in order to issue unilateral — and therefore illegal — decisions. The result, the utilities claim, has been erosion of their financial conditions and repeated reductions in their credit ratings. PURA denies any irregularities and has said the utilities are complaining about being held to account for their spending and earnings. The fight about a once-obscure state agency spilled into the legislature, which opened its current session with promises to address the state's second highest in the nation electric rates. The body was paralyzed when an 11th hour deal was needed to confirm Lamont's nomination of Gillett to a second term. Among her loudest supporters are Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, and Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, co-chairmen of the Energy and Technology committee. Among her critics are Fonfara, a legislative expert on energy and utility questions, and House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford, who has been given an unusually strong voice in the energy legislation by the House Democratic majority. The deal to preserve Gillett's confirmation involved appointing Fonfara, a former Energy and Technology chairman, to an expanded PURA. Gillett and Needleman fought Fonfara's appointment, which was eventually abandoned. Needleman later worked to block Fonfara's energy bill, parts of which are contained in the draft legislation that, normally, should have been produced by Needleman's committee. Candelora has proposed language in the draft that addresses the question of unilateral decision making by Gillett with a law requiring all commissioners to vote on significant matters. Candelora wants the votes recorded and made available for public review, something all other government bodies are required to do under open government law. When Candelora's proposal was reduced to draft form and sent to PURA for review by the House speaker's office, the version that came back replaced Candelora's language with a version that supported PURA in its fight with the utilities. Someone also, at some point, inserted a sentence in the 126-page draft legislation that would have retroactively undermined the joint Eversource and United Illuminating suit accusing PURA of illegal decision making, according to people involved in the process. Speaker Matt Ritter, a Hartford Democrat, said that Candlelora's language will be reinserted in the legislation and that a final version will not move forward without Candelora's support. 'Look at it this way,' Ritter said. 'I'm not calling the bill unless Vinnie is voting for it. I'm sorry. I will amend it and send it back down if Vinnie is not happy about it. I have been very very clear about that.' There is also expected to be opposition from conservation and environmental groups that oppose changes to public benefits that would require favored programs to compete for money at the legislature with all government programs. About 70,000 people have signed a petition demanding that the public benefits be removed from utility bills. Public benefits probably won't be at much risk under a draft proposal that requires the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to lead a year-long study of the scores of line items the legislature has added to public benefits over more than a dozen years. Among other things DEEP is required under the study requirement to determine the purpose of each line item, how it was authorized and who it benefits. Another study required by the draft would examine a proposal from Fonfara's earlier bill to establish a more aggressive means by which the state contracts for the power that Eversource and United Illuminating distribute. Under the current procurement model, the state participates in about a half dozen pre-scheduled energy auctions a year. The study will examine possible savings from a system in which professional energy traders would search markets continuously for favorable price fluctuations. The bill also proposes some savings through changes in the way medical and financial hardship cases receive assistance on electric bills. It also would increase the amount of energy purchased from Dominion Energy's Millstone Nuclear Power station in Waterford, presumably at a savings, and orders advance planning for the construction of a new nuclear plant, as well as planning for offshore wind and geothermal energy energy projects.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Matcha companies issue limits on purchases as potential global matcha shortage looms
Grace Fazio, a L.A. resident and college student, has a matcha almost every day. Moving from Pittsburgh, she wasn't familiar with the popular drink until she moved to L.A.'When I first moved to L.A., my friends were like, 'You've never tried matcha,'' said Fazio. '[Now], I have a matcha every single day.'Fazio also cited health benefits as a reason for matcha being one of her favorite drinks. 'I used to drink coffee more often in the past,' said Fazio. 'I was diagnosed with a heart condition at the beginning of the semester, and I have to be more cautious of my caffeine intake.'Fazio isn't alone. Many matcha connesiours share the same sentiments. Industry experts agree that interest in personal health following the Covid-19 pandemic can be attributed to the tea's popularity.'A lot of people are learning that this is a very healthy product,' said Yongsun Paik, director of the Center for International Business Education and Center for Asian Business and professor of international business and management at Loyola Marymount University. 'I think that this particular tea is known for its real good health benefits, such as it contains [antioxidants] content and also helps boost your energy.'Social media has also increased the popularity of the drink. Matcha-related content has opened new markets where matcha was previously 'essentially unknown.' As the popularity of matcha continues to grow, companies such as Ippodo Tea are placing restrictions on the amount of the product that people can buy. The company stated that while matcha's popularity has grown over the years, 'in recent months, demand has surged beyond all expectations.'As a result, Ippodo said that their Kanza, Kuon, Seiun/Shoin and Hatsu blends would be temporarily unavailable. The company also stated that there will be a limit of 12 units per customer every 60 company cited two key factors that limit supply: Matcha is harvested once a year and high-quality matcha production is a 'slow [and] precise' also states that space and labor shortages could be a likened the process of matcha to that of Colombia's coffee industry, sharing that high quality coffee beans are hand picked. He guessed that the processes are quite similar and that younger generations in both countries might not be as interested in the industry. '[Younger] generations in Japan, just like in Colombia, [may not be] terribly interested in the tea industry,' said Paik. 'They are more interested in software, entertainment … so I think the shortage of labor is one of the main things that really make it difficult to meet the growing demand.' He also states that matcha will potentially need to be grown in other parts of the world. He equated this phenomenon to that of the wine and kimchi industry.'Kimchi is originally from Korea, but now the Chinese are making kimchi and they are selling kimchi in their own brand,' said Paik. 'I would suspect that probably the same thing would happen in the future for the matcha industry [in] Japan.'Paik shared that he doesn't think that it will have a massive effect on Japan's economy. 'By innovation, by differentiation and by branding, I believe it's not going to hurt the Japanese economy, but at the same time, it should be able to continue to accommodate the changing matcha market, the growing demand and all the other factors that will affect the matcha supply in Japan,' said Paik. He also shares that this is a 'good illustration of the globalization of the global economy.''This is not surprising,' concluded Paik. 'This is the result of the global economy and globalozation. We have to solve the problem collectively and try to meet the growing demand.'In response to a potential shortage, Fazio said she's terrified.'For people who are buying matcha [and] making it at home, or getting it from other places, I think that if there's a shortage, that [may] result in [an] upcharge in price,' said Fazio. 'I think, especially in L.A., I don't think that that's gonna affect the demand.'Despite this, she shared that she doesn't plan on halting her matcha drinking anytime soon.'If anything, hearing this shortage just makes me want to drink it more because I'm scared that it's gonna run out,' said Fazio. 'I'll still continue to drink it every day until they tell me that it's out.'
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
Home Living Handbook, Formerly a Men's Journal 'Pursuits' Channel, Launches as Independent Destination for Everything Home, on Par with The Spruce, Martha Stewart, Family Handyman
The new home improvement / home maintenance / DIY site led by veteran home enthusiast writer/editor, Emily Fazio, aims to provide homeowners & renters with expert-led content inspiring a home suitable for them, designed for them, and adaptable to them NEW YORK, March 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Home Living Handbook (HLH), a trusted online authority with +6M views, launched as its own independent digital destination at Leveraging insights from home experts spanning construction, real estate, design, maintenance, home efficiency and technology & beyond, the new site will inform and inspire homeowners on how to tackle the fun and not-so-fun projects in, on, around and outside the home. Formerly one of more than twenty dedicated "Pursuits" channels premiered in the fall of 2023, the high-performing HLH has migrated its content from The Arena Group-owned site, establishing its own domain complete with new look, branding, categories and robust subcategories. In an attempt to capture niche readers, tapped Emily Fazio, a 15+ year home improvement and DIY writer, to build HLH from the ground up -- including sourcing a team of consultants, writers, and overseeing all content development. Fazio's following in the home space stems from her experience writing for HGTV, the former and her personal blog, a website she started when she became a homeowner in 2009. Through her work, she has developed authority and gained rapport with national and global home and tool brands, as well as a network of industry experts. Recognizing its readers' appreciation for longform content -- a driving force behind HLH's 300% YoY growth -- the new website will continue to prioritize in-depth pieces while allowing for deeper exploration of micro-niche topics. In addition to HLH's hero categories: lawn care, home maintenance, cleaning, smart home technology, seasonal trends, sustainability, and home energy efficiency, new categories like parents and pet-owners have been built out to appeal to a broader audience. Articles like "Watch For These Homeowner and Homebuyer Trends in the Next Year" and "How to Insulate Your Basement Rim Joists," have amassed a following of 4.3M active HLH users and 600K returning users since the brand's initial debut. The launch of HLH as a standalone site reinforces consumer's departure from relying on brand name, legacy media, and the power digital natives hold to deliver highly-specialized, on-demand content. Expanding upon its focus of guiding readers through the good, bad, and ugly -- (and pretty!)-- aspects of home ownership and everyday living, HLH will continue to deliver expert insights, home trends, product reviews, and DIY inspiration for homeowners, do-ers, renters, and enthusiasts alike. Press Contact:Samantha Perriello392319@ About Home Living Handbook: Since 2023, Home Living Handbook has provided practical, expert-backed advice, resources, and inspiration to help you create, maintain, and enjoy your home—inside and out. Whether deciding between a DIY project or hiring a contractor, looking for real estate insights, or seeking industry expert home maintenance tips, Home Living Handbook's trusted, actionable advice has helped millions of readers make informed decisions every step of the way. With new content posted daily, Home Living Handbook helps homeowners, renters, and DIY enthusiasts find the guidance they need to renovate their spaces, tackle home repairs, enhance their gardens, and elevate their interiors. Our extensive library of articles include in-depth industry expert interviews, step-by-step guides, and practical solutions to make every home project a success, as we believe your home should be a reflection of you. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Home Living Handbook Sign in to access your portfolio
USA Today
19-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Open appeal: Reynolds Lake Oconee adds some spice with Tom Fazio's new Richland course
AI-assisted summary Reynolds Lake Oconee opens its seventh golf course, Richland, designed by Tom Fazio. The course features nine new holes with rolling terrain and long views across multiple holes. Fazio aimed to create a challenging course with a unique character, featuring dramatic elevation changes and strategic bunkering. Variety is said to be the spice of life. The same can be said of golf courses, and the members of Reynolds Lake Oconee have a new flavor on their already vast menu of golf options at the waterfront resort and residential property. Famed course designer Tom Fazio has taken the basic ingredients that make Reynolds Lake Oconee such a treat, added a few surprises and developed a completely fresh dish in introducing Richland, the new 18-hole private course that features nine new holes to complement an already existing nine. The new layout stretches to 7,090 yards with a par of 72. 'My goal is always to create distinctive, one-of-a-kind golf courses,' Fazio said on Richland's opening day. 'There's a lot of terrain variation – lots of ups and downs, ins and outs, twists and turns – which is great for golf. That's what makes this such a fine natural setting. . . . Members will enjoy this golf course because it has character and will never play the same. This new course will provide a challenge and have endless possibilities for a fun and captivating golf experience.' Fazio and his team started with the existing Bluff nine of Reynolds' 27-hole National Course and added the new nine, splitting the Bluff into Nos. 1-5 and 15-18 of the new Richland layout. The new holes are Nos. 6-14, playing across what is now rolling open land southeast of what was the Bluff nine. And these new holes are unlike anything else at the expansive resort community, which now features seven 18-hole courses. Most of the prior six courses – Great Waters, The Preserve, The National, The Oconee, The Landing and Creek Club – play through tree-lined corridors or along the lake's shoreline, typically offering only limited or no views of neighboring holes. By contrast, the new nine at Richland offers long views over multiple holes as they rise and fall across hilly terrain. Instead of tall pines separating holes, at Richland there are hearty grasses and exposed hillocks. Also different: There are no homes within the confines of the new nine at Richland. You have to cross a residential street while climbing uphill to the newest nine holes, but from that point on, the only interruption is a unique food truck serving as a halfway house. Not that the project began on open land. Veteran Fazio design associate Bryan Bowers said the site of the new nine holes was heavily wooded when the team began, and those trees hid much of the 75-acre parcel's character. 'We came in and moved a significant amount of earth to shape the golf holes,' Bowers said on opening day. 'When you move the dirt, you have to clear the trees. So the solution was to come back in and plant the native grasses. When we got out there and were looking at the holes, the conclusion we came back with was that this is really neat, it's open, it's unlike anything at Reynolds. Vistas of holes, different perspectives, seeing golf holes from different vantage points – we thought that was really attractive.' Fazio said it's all part of delivering three key ingredients that he always reaches for: drama, quality and variety. The rolling meadow-like environment his team created certainly stands out. By removing most of the trees, players can see the terrain and the holes they are about to play – only No. 9 at the far edge of the parcel, a 451-yard par 4, plays its entire length through its own corridor of pines. The rest of the new nine feature fewer and thinner stands of trees in play, opening sight lines and building a satisfying level of anticipation as players move across the landscape. 'At Richland, we love the idea that we're going to have this new nine holes that we will blend with an existing nine that has a lot of single golf holes (in corridors), and we will blend them together to create this open space,' he said. But while the newly introduced landscape is easy on the eyes, the holes sitting upon it are far from pushovers. Fazio said the most difficult holes of the combined 18 fall in the middle, with No. 10 – the fifth hole of the newly constructed nine – possibly being the most difficult. After loading up on snacks at the food truck, players face an uphill, 436-yard par 4 that plays about 40 yards longer. The plateaued, multi-section green is guarded by just one bunker on the front right, but the putting surface features a false front and roll-offs to the sides. An aggressive approach that flies too deep can bounce over and onto a hill, leaving a delicate downhill pitch. Make par here and you will have proved yourself deserving of those snacks. 'The strength of this golf course . . . is in the middle,' Fazio said. 'Those are the hard golf holes. That adds to the level of uniqueness as well as individual character.' The greens show many features often found on Fazio courses, severe in spots and more accepting toward their centers. Fazio said these newest nine greens feature less slope than many greens he has built over the years, a result of improved agronomics that allow for greater green speeds. If the contours were too great, putting and short-game shots would be too difficult. 'In the old days, pitch and slope were part of the design process to make the game challenging,' Fazio said. 'But now, you have to be very careful that the pitch and slope isn't too severe.' Fazio and his team also renovated the existing Bluff nine, which he designed and opened in 1997. Those nine holes saw a full bunker renovation with several new traps added, and capillary bunker liners were added throughout the full 18 to improve drainage and conditioning. Several of the greens on the Bluff nine also were reshaped or moved, areas of fescue grass were added in spots and several low-mow chipping areas were introduced. 'It's part of human nature to believe you can always do something better,' Fazio said of the renovation to his own work on the Bluff and the introduction of the new nine holes. Members were lined up on that October opening day, eager to hear Fazio describe their new playground. The Richland course, positioned within the 500-acre Richland Pointe community, will be the second private course at Reynolds Lake Oconee, joining the Jim Engh-designed Creek Club as such. That leaves five public-access courses open to guests of the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds Lake Oconee or the resort's luxurious condominiums and cottages. Great Waters, designed by Jack Nicklaus, is ranked by Golfweek's Best as the No. 2 public-access course in Georgia and is tied for No. 72 on the list of top resort courses in the United States. The Oconee, The Preserve and the now-18-hole The National also rank among the top 15 public-access courses in the state and appear on multiple other Golfweek's Best rankings. The options are dizzying with so many solid golf holes at one resort and real estate community. 'Richland adds a seventh distinct playing experience for Reynolds Lake Oconee members, highlighting the talents of Tom Fazio's design and the topography of the site,' said John Gunderson, president of Reynolds developer Daniel Communities and the managing partner for Reynolds Lake Oconee. 'It's tough to imagine a finer collection of golf courses in any community in the country.'
