Latest news with #Fork
Scotsman
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Clarkson's Farm series 4: how many episodes are left?
Clarkson's Farm is back with a fourth series on Prime Video 🚜 Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Clarkson's Farm is back for a brand new series on Prime Video. Season four will be released in weekly batches of episodes. But when exactly will the remaining episodes be out? Clarkson's Farm is back for a fourth series on Prime Video. However audiences might not be sure when exactly the next episodes will be out. Viewers are being invited into Diddly Squat Farm yet again - to catch-up on the latest going-ons. The mega-popular streaming show will continue in the coming days on Amazon. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But when exactly is the next episode of Clarkson's Farm out? Here's all you need to know: How many episodes are left in Clarkson's Farm series 4? Jeremy Clarkson and Kaleb in Clarkson's Farm series 4 | Prime Video In each of the previous three seasons, the hit Prime Video show has had eight episodes a piece. The trend is set to continue with the 2025 edition of the beloved show. Clarkson's Farm series 4 will have eight episodes in total, it has been confirmed. The first four were released last Friday (May 23) and the remaining will come out over the coming weeks. Four episodes have yet to be released by Prime Video. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad When will the next episode of Clarkson's Farm be out? The show is being released weekly on Fridays starting on May 23. Prime Video will be putting out the next two episodes on May 30 and the remaining ones will come out on June 6. The release schedule is as follows: Episodes 1-4 - May 23 Episodes 5-6 - May 30 Episodes 7-8 - June 6 What to expect from Clarkson's Farm in series 4? Amazon's synopsis for the latest season of the hit show reads: 'After rounding off series three with the Diddly Squat gang toasting a tumultuous year, we return a few months later to find life on the farm has changed. Kaleb is on a nationwide tour, Lisa is working on a new product line, and Jeremy is left to run the farm alone. 'In Kaleb's absence, Jeremy must keep Diddly on track and comes up with an idea. Thwarted in his attempts to open a Farm to Fork restaurant, Jeremy plans to reignite that vision and get back in the council's good books by drawing crowds away from the farm shop. All he needs to do is buy a pub.' The synopsis adds: 'However, the road to becoming a pub landlord isn't straightforward either. Jeremy faces obstacles including derelict buildings, red tape and a picnic site with a colourful past. Cheerful Charlie lends a hand, but even he isn't prepared for the challenges that arise once Jeremy finds his perfect pub. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Back at Diddly Squat, the Lamborghini tractor is showing its age, and there's a menagerie of livestock to manage - from a big new bull, a very little pig, to high-tech goats. Mother nature conspires to make this one of the toughest years ever for British farmers. But when the whole gang pulls together, anything is possible.'
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Pulls on your heartstrings': demolition starts on former Sauced building, Thayer Mansion
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — Demolition gets underway after a massive fire on Christmas Day left a restaurant in ruins. The Italian restaurant Sauced and the Thayer Mansion is coming down where birthdays, weddings and receptions were celebrated. After standing tall in Evansville for decades those two buildings at 1113 Parrett Street are coming down after a fire heavily damaged Sauced on Christmas last year. Some say it's heartbreaking. Some on-lookers tell me a piece of Evansville history and what some credit as the spark in the neighborhood revitalization effort will be gone sooner rather than later. Sauced Owner Scott Schymik certainly has made an impression on the city and the customers who came through the door. Brian Buxton who runs the ever-popular Fingers, Fork, Knife & Spoon Facebook page is just one of them. 'Sauced: it was one people's favorite Italian restaurants in town. I had been for many times for dinner. They had a great outdoor patio. Scott obviously is a great chef, had a great menu and it's sad when you lose anything like this,' Buxton says. Construction crews began taking down what house the beloved restaurant, ballroom and the former Kirby's Private Dining where several people hold special memories. That includes Moriah Hobgood who ran the blue bar for two years and now owns Mo's House which sits across the street from hallowed grounds. 'I literally would not be where I am without Sauced, and Scott and the blue bar and what it is. So, it definitely pulls at your heartstrings to see it being torn down and not being part of the neighborhood anymore for sure,' Hobgood says. Schymik tells me the Christmas Day fire waterlogged the entire building and someone was also renting the upstairs apartment. Some say it's a loss, but they have memories to hold close for life. 'It was Sauced — I felt like — was the first thing that was here — Kirby's — and people got married there. They had huge moments, first dates, the married later on. I don't exactly know how to process seeing it gone or what it will look like,' Hobgood says. Schymik believes crews will stay on scene for a couple weeks to finish the demolition. 'Pulls on your heartstrings': demolition starts on former Sauced building, Thayer Mansion '…the good Lord sent the Red Cross': volunteers across America work around-the-clock to aid flood victims Saturday protests against Trump administration also take place in Henderson Clean-up continues in Princeton following tornado touchdown 'You're not a pouncer. You're a bouncer:' Hendrix family 'emotional' over Chaser's bouncers incident Eyewitness News. Everywhere you are. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A federal worker was months away from a full pension when DOGE laid her off. Now she'll get $3,000 less per month.
Katherine Ann Reniers' abrupt layoff from USAID will cut her monthly pension earnings. She joins many Americans who are worried about having enough money to retire. Reniers last day at USAID is July 1 under a plan by Elon Musk's DOGE to shrink the agency. When Katherine Ann Reniers bought a house in Rockville, Maryland, two years ago, she thought her financial future was mapped out. Reniers, 53, was on track to have served two decades in the federal government in November 2025. At that point, she'd be eligible for a pension that paid out nearly $6,000 a month and covered health insurance, according to documents reviewed by Business Insider. Those monthly retirement checks would rise for every year Reniers worked beyond her 20-year anniversary. Reniers' plans abruptly changed in March, when she received emails notifying her that her position at the US Agency for International Development would be abolished on July 1 as part of sweeping layoffs known as a reduction in force ordered by the White House's DOGE office — five months short of Reniers' 20-year anniversary. The gap means Reniers won't be able to receive her full federal pension until she's 62, and based on federal rules for foreign service retirement, her monthly payments will be an estimated $3,000 less than she planned. "I've been panicking," Reniers, a single mom of two children, told BI. "I realized it wasn't enough to cover my monthly mortgage and medical bills." Reniers is among tens of thousands of government employees whose lives have been upended by DOGE's moves to shrink federal agencies and cut costs. The changes are creating economic uncertainty for many Americans, especially those close to retirement. An administration official told BI that "the State Department is committed to offering additional resources and benefits to ensure the safety and security of USAID employees transitioning from service." After DOGE arrived at USAID in January, chaos ensued. Employees received the "fork in the road" email offering full pay and benefits through September to those who voluntarily resigned. They were temporarily locked out of computer systems and told to stay home as the Washington, DC headquarters was shut down. In February, Reniers said leadership initially told her that she was an "essential" employee. Reniers rose to be division chief for Europe at USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance. The bureau provides food, water and sanitation, shelter, and emergency healthcare to people facing various crises around the world. Reniers' division covered Ukraine, Turkey, and other countries. It made Reniers think she was safe from widespread layoffs. "So I did not take the Fork, and now I'm shooting myself in the foot," Reniers said. On February 24, Reniers received an email stating that she was being placed on administrative leave and that a subordinate would take over her duties. On March 27, she was informed that her position was being abolished. Another email asked employees to volunteer to "support critical work" while the agency shifts tasks to the State Department. Reniers said she plans to return for a few weeks because her colleagues are burned out and need help. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 28 notified Congress of the reorganization and previously said about 83% of the agency's programs had been cut. Meanwhile, Reniers said she's had panic attacks while trying to figure out a backup financial plan. She wasn't planning to retire for at least another four years, when her son will graduate from high school. Now that Reniers won't reach 20 years of federal service, she estimated her pension benefits will be about half of what she would've qualified for in November. For foreign service employees with less than two decades of service, monthly retirement calculations follow this formula: an employee's highest annual salary, multiplied by 20, multiplied by 1%, and divided by 12. Reniers earned $177,200 a year, making her new pension a little under $3,000 a month under that formula. If she had made it to 20 years, that 1% would instead have been 1.7%. That higher rate, along with a supplemental annuity, would have given her a pension of around $6,000 a month — about double what she expects to get now. Further, while she could have retired at any time after her 20th anniversary and received that full pension, she won't be eligible for the smaller pension until she turns 62. Reniers will receive a severance package worth one year's annual salary and is also planning to sell an apartment she owns in Belgium to help establish a financial safety net for monthly expenses. "I'm lucky I have that, so I can make sure to keep my home in Maryland," she said. "How do I find a job with a similar salary when I'm 53 with a disability?" When Reniers is 59, she can start receiving payments from a separate federal retirement account known as a Thrift Savings Plan without penalty. At 62, her pension and Social Security kicks in. In the near term, finding affordable health insurance is Reniers' top concern. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis several years ago and has biweekly injections of medication to manage inflammation and joint pain. Once she is laid off on July 1, she'll have federal health insurance through the end of the month but then need to find another policy for her family, which will likely be more expensive. "I'm so angry right now," Reniers said, adding that participating in protests and talking to lawmakers on Capitol Hill is helping ease some of the anxiety. "That's what I want to spend my time on." Do you have a story to share with this reporter? Email cboudreau@ Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Administration Orders IRS Workers Back To Office, Ignoring Union Contract
The Trump administration has ordered employees who work remotely for the Internal Revenue Service to return to office this month, signaling it intends to ignore telework protections in the agency's union contract. The Treasury Department, which includes the IRS, issued a memo Friday saying it would 'cancel' all regular telework agreements on March 8 for people who live within 50 miles of an office. They would be expected to report to work on March 10. Many Treasury workers have remote-work protections in their collective-bargaining agreement. But the Treasury directive will require '100%' in-person work, 'including members of a bargaining unit.' In a subsequent phase of the plan, workers who live more than 50 miles from an office would be assigned to one, suggesting they would be required to commute long distances or move to keep their jobs. There would only be 'limited exceptions' to the plan, such as for military spouses, according to the memo. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents thousands of IRS workers and other Treasury employees, sent an email to members Friday calling the mandate a clear violation of its agreement. It described the policy as 'outrageous.' 'We will file a national grievance and unfair labor practice charge that will cover each one of you, and we will vigorously fight to have this policy rescinded and restore the hard-earned contractual rights of our members,' the union said. A Treasury employee, asking to speak on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, told HuffPost that workers across the agency were 'furious.' The return-to-office mandate is part of the White House's sweeping attack on the federal workforce. The administration has fired probationary employees en masse, effectively shut down agencies unilaterally and tried to push out tens of thousands of civil servants through a deferred resignation offer called 'Fork in the Road.' All those actions are being challenged in court as illegal. The White House has been using a complete return-to-office mandate as one of its cudgels to make people quit. It has said that anyone who resigns under the 'Fork' program would be exempt from the return and paid through September. Federal unions have warned that many agencies literally don't have the space for a full return-to-the-office. Noting that remote-work arrangements in the federal government long predated the pandemic. Workers at several agencies were able to secure or extend telework arrangements under the administration of President Joe Biden, setting up a fight with the new White House. Trump has said he hates the union contracts with such protections and intends to throw them out. In an earlier memo, the administration claimed union telework agreements that conflict with its own plans are 'unlawful and cannot be enforced.' The NTEU recommended employees follow the IRS' order, 'even though it violates the CBA.' 'If you do not comply with such directives, you may be subject to potential disciplinary action from the agency,' the union said. Are you a federal employee with something to share? You can email our reporter , or contact him over Signal at .
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's Department of Government Inefficiency
Elon Musk showed up in Washington in January on a promise to streamline the federal government and make it run more efficiently. But over the course of just five weeks, he's accomplished precisely the opposite: a massive and unnecessary time suck that's pulled federal employees away from their duties on a daily basis. Firing essential workers who need to then be rehired. Distracting agencies with directives that are reversed and then reversed again. Forcing workers back into offices where they don't have enough desks. And provoking countless agency meetings where managers are unable to answer basic questions about the White House's latest move. On and on it goes. 'The meetings are as clear as mud,' said Sheria Smith, a civil rights attorney at the Department of Education in Texas and president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252. 'No one knows anything. … People are being released from duty, then returned to duty. We don't know who's calling the shots. It's just wildly inefficient.' She added, 'How can you be on task when you don't even know from hour to hour whether you're going to [have a job]?' President Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail to fire a lot of people and shrink the federal workforce, which numbers around 2.4 million, excluding the U.S. Postal Service. So far the administration has terminated thousands of people through legally dubious layoffs and tried to push out tens of thousands more through the also legally dubious deferred resignation program known as 'Fork in the Road.' In more than a dozen interviews, federal workers described lost hours and days as they tried to navigate an endless stream of unclear guidance as their jobs hang in the balance. Most of them spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being fired or retaliated against. A mental health provider at the Department of Veterans Affairs said in the wake of the 'Fork' proposal they'd had four impromptu staff meetings, each up to a half-hour long, 'pulling us away from veteran care.' 'In response to Saturday's 'what did you do last week?' email, leadership scheduled yet another meeting first thing Monday morning — forcing me to reschedule a veteran's appointment just to receive guidance from my leadership on how to respond,' they said. Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, should instead be called a department of 'inefficiency or ineptitude,' said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization that advocates for a more effective federal government. 'They have caused unbelievable waste, unbelievable distraction from the mission, unbelievable loss of critical talent,' Stier said. 'They've done nothing to understand the systems they're trying to change or learn from those around them who know better.' He added, 'The federal government isn't, in fact, a tech startup.' Much of the wasted time stems from the White House's hostile and confusing directives. Some of the most critical information isn't coming from federal agency leaders — it's coming from the previously obscure Office of Personnel Management, and from Musk, the unelected head of a not-real federal agency. (Trump has formally renamed the U.S. Digital Service the U.S. DOGE Service, but DOGE is better understood as a White House government-cutting initiative.) Late last week, more than 2 million workers received an email from OPM instructing them to reply with a list of five bullet points explaining what they'd accomplished during the previous week. The insulting demand was paired with a threat from Musk on X, his private social-media platform formerly known as Twitter, where he said a failure to reply would be considered 'a resignation.' Workers, union representatives and agency managers spent the weekend trying to figure out whether people actually needed to respond. Many employees got little done on Monday as unscheduled meetings were called and agency heads gave conflicting guidance on what to do. OPM later said replying to Musk's demand was voluntary, suggesting there would be no repercussions for ignoring it. But Trump contradicted that guidance by saying those who didn't reply would be 'fired' or 'sort of semi-fired.' Such chaos ends up having a real-world impact, said an employee of the Veterans Benefits Administration who processes disability claims. The worker receives a daily report on her productivity rate, which is based on the number of claims processed and their complexity, and she saw a roughly 20% drop on Monday as she and others were dealing with the Musk ultimatum. In other words, veterans with disabilities stemming from their service to the country were waiting longer to have their claims processed because of confusing threats from the White House. 'People are stressed out, and that's going to get in the way,' she explained. 'We have to focus. These claims are very complex. It requires a lot of attention. We're definitely being taken away from the focus we should be putting on the veterans.' Another VA worker said their superiors had been 'mired in daily meetings to discuss what little information we had, how it was affecting employees and overall morale, and addressing whether or not any of this is legal.' 'To estimate time loss over the course of one week, I'd say it cost us at least a full day's productivity, if not more,' they said. Nothing may be more wasteful than firing workers who must then be rehired. After the Trump administration's sloppy firing of probationary employees, agencies had to try to hastily reinstate workers who oversee nuclear weapons, manage the power grid and fight bird flu. Among them were more than two dozen workers at the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal power supplier in the Pacific Northwest managed under the Energy Department. Mike Braden, a Bonneville Power Administration employee and president of its employee union, said that by the time the workers were rehired they had already lost their access to the IT systems and their clearance to enter buildings. The advice from management upon their return was to 'pretend like nothing happened.' 'There's no thought to this, no coordination with the agencies,' Braden said of the White House. 'We have all this disruption, and we can't figure out how things are going to work moving forward.' He said his phone is buzzing nonstop with questions from members about emails or memos from OPM or posts online from Musk. 'I'm getting hit up all through the weekend, all throughout the evening,' he said. 'Somebody will ping me, 'Hey I just saw this — what does this mean?' I'm like, 'Aw shit.'' Paul Dobias, a Department of Navy engineer and president of his union, said agency managers are so afraid of appearing hostile to the Trump administration's goals that they seem to pass along guidance without review. Many of those managers, he noted, could lose their civil service protections under Trump's Schedule F scheme. 'It just goes right through their doors where nobody takes the time to go and sit down and figure out, ′Does this all add up and make sense?′' Dobias said. 'I've seen a number of documents where it [appears] there's like five or six different people generating the documents … and they're not talking with each other.' The turbulence has created an enormous amount of work for federal employees who also are union representatives and help enforce collective bargaining agreements. Coworkers are coming to them more than ever for clarity — and in many cases managers are steering them to the union representatives because the managers themselves don't have answers. Smith, the union president at the Education Department, said supervisors seem to be at a loss when they're peppered with questions in online staff meetings about the administration's latest directive. She said she's heard a variation of one particular nonanswer more than once. 'They'll say, 'We all got the same email,'' Smith said.
