Latest news with #GOES
The Hill
5 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Ethics panel: Pennsylvania Republican violated code of conduct with spouse's stock trades
The House Ethics Committee 'found substantial evidence' that Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) violated the code of conduct for the lower chamber when his wife profited off stock trades for a company the congressman was focusing on in Washington. The report — which spans 28 pages and has three packets of supporting documents — cleared Kelly of intentionally causing his wife to trade based on insider information and having a conflict of interest, determining there wasn't evidence to prove those two wrongdoings. But the panel found that Kelly, a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, breached the House's code of conduct 'by failing to meet his duty of candor.' The committee ordered he and his wife to divest their investments in Cleveland-Cliffs, the steel manufacturer at the center of the report. 'Representative Kelly's conduct with respect to Cleveland-Cliffs and his wife's stock purchase raised significant concerns for the Committee, even if it did not rise to the level of insider trading or clearly violate conflict of interest rules,' the committee wrote, later adding Kelly 'has not demonstrated sufficient appreciation for the harm to the institution caused by the appearance of impropriety.' The panel's investigation focuses on a series of trades of Cleveland-Cliffs stock that Kelly's wife, Victoria, made in the last five years. Cleveland-Cliffs in 2020 acquired AK Steel, which is the sole producer of grain oriented electrical steel (GOES) in the U.S. GOES is produced in Butler, Pa., a town in Kelly's district. In early 2020, Cleveland-Cliffs had said it may have to close the Butler location and lay off employees if the Trump administration did not implement Section 232 tariffs, which would protect the production of GOES in the U.S. Kelly took part in actions in Washington to address the matter. On April 28 of that year, the Commerce Department told Cleveland-Cliffs — and Kelly learned — it would begin a Section 232 investigation for some GOES-based steel products, according to the report. The next day, the panel learned, Victoria Kelly bought 5,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock for $23,075. The investigation was announced on May 4. The committee said it was unable to determine if Victoria Kelly was made aware of the development before making the trade. But, the congressman was working from home at the time after testing positive for COVID-19 and told the committee 'Mrs. Kelly would've heard any of my conversations,' adding that she 'sits around for most of the time I'm on the phone,' according to the report. The panel said it could definitely determine if she heard the conversation. The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, enacted in 2012, prohibits members and staff from engaging in insider trading using information learned in official capacities. While Kelly was interviewed as part of the investigation, his wife 'refused to participate in a voluntary interview or to respond to written questions from the Committee, citing her prior cooperation with document requests as well as health concerns,' according to the report. The Congressman also said his wife did not want to speak to the committee because she felt the process was 'invasive.' 'The Committee did not receive full cooperation from Mrs. Kelly and was therefore unable to determine whether her stock purchase was improper,' the report reads. The panel did, however, find that the investment in Cleveland-Cliffs 'was an outlier' in her portfolio, noting that unlike other trades that were made at her firm's discretion, that transaction 'had to be instructed and confirmed directly by Mrs. Kelly in order for the transaction to be completed because it was not on PNC's investment platform.' The move marked her first purchase of individual stock in a year, according to the report, and was different from the mainly funds and bonds on her account. Kelly said he believed his wife made the transaction because 'she thought the stock was so low priced, it'd be foolish not to… I know that she thought she made a hell of a buy.' In August 2020, however, Kelly's office told a local news outlet inquiring about the purchase that it was made 'to show her support for the workers and management of this 100-year old bedrock of their hometown, where they both are life-long residents.' The second transaction examined by the committee was made in January 2021, shortly after Cleveland-Cliffs in December 2020 acquired a steel manufacturing corporation that caused its stock to skyrocket in value. Victoria Kelly that month sold all her shares in the company for $87,551.06, turning a $64,476.06 profit. 'None of the witnesses interviewed by OCC or the Committee, including Representative Kelly, provided an explanation for why Mrs. Kelly chose to sell her stock at that time. Representative Kelly told the Committee he did not speak with Mrs. Kelly about the sale at any point,' the report reads. Then in June 2024, Kelly disclosed that his wife purchased between $50,000 and $100,000 in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs back in March, as the congressman's office was involved in a matter involving the company and the Department of Energy. In March, the Energy Department made a decision on the matter that protected the facility in Butler. As a result of the findings, the panel recommended that Kelly and his wife 'divest all of Cleveland-Cliffs stock should he continue to take official actions relating to the company.' 'It is rare for the Committee to recommend divestment of stocks where there is a potential appearance of a conflict of interest. As Representative Kelly himself noted, however, he is an 'insider' when it comes to Cleveland-Cliffs, by virtue of his position as the representative for his district,' the report reads. In a statement responding to the Ethics report, Kelly said: 'This investigation has unnecessarily lasted for nearly five years.' 'In the years since this investigation began, the Cleveland Cliffs Butler Works plant faced an uncertain future due to the Biden administration's reckless energy policies. Throughout this process, I have fought for the 1,400 workers at the plant, I've spoken with these workers, and they appreciate the hard work we have done to fight for those jobs and for Butler. My family and I look forward to putting this distraction behind us,' he added.
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Satellite images track Grand Canyon wildfires burning across thousands of acres
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Two wildfires in Northern Arizona, sparked from lightning, have burned at least 60,000 acres in a little over a week — and, while firefighters work around the clock trying to contain the fires, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s satellites are aiding the fight from space. The fires have also spread to the Grand Canyon. The first wildfire to directly impact Grand Canyon National Park was the Dragon Bravo Fire, which began on July 4. Dragon Bravo has already scorched thousands of acres and continues to destroy a number of structures, including the monumental Grand Canyon Lodge, along its path within the park's North Rim. Five days after the Dragon Bravo Fire began, another thunderstorm resulted in the creation of the White Sage Fire, which rapidly grew and expanded during a period of dry and hot weather accompanied by powerful wind gusts. In order to fight the fires from all angles, firefighters, weather forecasters and community leaders depend on information gathered in space from satellites. Some satellites are equipped with instruments that can monitor a wildfire's progression and growth, as well as provide high-resolution photos of both the fire itself and the associated smoke plume. There are two satellite constellations from NOAA that particularly tag-team with wildfire updates: the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). Together, the satellites can paint a picture using tools they're equipped with, with JPSS tracking the United States in a non-geosynchronous orbit while 512 miles (824 kilometers) above us and GOES orbiting around the Earth at the same speed in a geosynchronous orbit while 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above. So, how do satellites gather information that's crucial in the fight to contain a wildfire? There are different filters and spectral bands that can be used to get that information., and tools on the satellites are able to analyze just those two things. These tools capture high-resolution images of the growth and expansion of a wildfire in almost real-time. They can also show, via time-lapse, the direction that fire and smoke are moving. If we look at the time-lapse of images taken by the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) aboard NOAA's GOES-18 satellite, you can see where the fire originated, its rapid growth and expansion, and how the direction of the wind steered the flames over time (in this view, the winds were blowing from the north/northwest). Another instrument that regularly provides important information about wildfires lives on NOAA's JPSS satellites, NOAA-20 and NOAA-21. Even after the sun goes to sleep, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) can continue to snap photos of the wildfire. These details keep first responders and community leaders aware of the fire's behavior — and alert them if any growth, new hot spots, or updates critical with fighting the wildfire can be seen. These monitoring tools thus remain of extreme importance, continuously providing information to help us understand a wildfire with a level of accuracy and precision that ground reports alone cannot offer. You can find more information on both the Dragon Bravo and White Sage fires through the InciWeb site and any closure details from Grand Canyon National Park are located here.
USA Today
27-06-2025
- Climate
- USA Today
People reported earthquakes and fire in the sky. It was probably a meteor.
The fireball is presumed to be from a meteor fragmenting in the sky, according to meteorologists and other experts. People in the southeastern United States on Thursday, June 26, reported a fireball in the sky and rumbling on the ground, an unsettling combination that was probably a meteor, according to various agencies. Reports of sightings flooded the American Meteor Society around 12:30 p.m. And the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia, said residents reported what felt like earthquakes around that time. Bill Cooke, the chief of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, told The New York Times and local news outlets that the flying space rock was about three feet in diameter and weighed more than one ton. (The USA TODAY Network left a message with the Marshall Space Flight Center seeking more information.) And the earthquake reports? Those were likely sonic booms, the brief, thunder-like noises when a spacecraft, aircraft or space rocks travel faster than the speed of sound, the local weather service office said. The awesome sight likely wasn't entirely harmless: Remnants of the cosmic object may have broken off and plummeted through the roof of a home in Henry County, Georgia, according to the local National Weather Service office. Did a meteor crash into a Georgia home? Did you feel that today? Many in north Georgia not only felt it but saw it. It appears that either a meteor or space... The weather service, citing the Henry County Emergency Management agency, said a resident south of Atlanta reported that a "rock" fell through their roof, broke through the ceiling and cracked the home's laminate flooring. Because the incident occurred around the time sightings were happening, "we are presuming that a piece of the object fell through their roof." What was the 'fireball' spotted over the US? The fireball that caught the attention of people across the southeastern United States is presumed to be from a meteor fragmenting in the sky, according to meteorologists and other experts. Where was the 'fireball' meteorite seen in US? The American Meteor Society received nearly 150 reports of a meteor bright enough to be seen streaking across the midday sky beginning around noon local time Thursday, June 26. Most of the reports were from Georgia and South Carolina, but a few witnessed the object in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina. There have been many reports of a #fireball streaking across the southeastern U.S. this afternoon! The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (#GLM) on @NOAA's #GOES satellites can occasionally detect these bright meteors (aka #bolides) when they pass through the the… The National Weather Service office in Charleston said on Facebook that its satellite-based, lightning-detection system showed 'a streak within cloud free sky' over Gasburg, Virginia, near the state's border with North Carolina. What is a fireball? How rare is a 'fireball' meteor? Rocks in space are known as meteoroids. If those space rocks enter Earth's atmosphere, they become meteors that streak across the sky in events colloquially referred to as "shooting stars." Meteors – or fragments of them – that survive their atmospheric trip and land on the surface without burning up become meteorites, according to NASA. What many witnessed recently was a very bright meteor known as a fireball. It's relatively rare for fireballs to be sighted on Earth, especially during the daytime, as the objects generally have to be at least as bright as Venus to be visible to the naked eye, according to the American Meteor Society. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@
Express Tribune
26-06-2025
- Science
- Express Tribune
Fireball over Georgia sparks meteorite investigation after debris damages home
A bright fireball that lit up the sky over Georgia and surrounding Southeastern states on June 26, 2025, is under investigation as officials examine whether it was caused by a meteorite. The object may have caused property damage in McDonough, Georgia, where debris reportedly fell through the roof of a home. The fireball appeared around 12:20 p.m. and was seen from Macon, Georgia, to Upstate South Carolina. More than 100 eyewitnesses filed reports with the American Meteor Society, describing a sudden flash, ground tremors, and a loud boom. Radar imagery and lightning sensors from NOAA's GOES satellites picked up signatures consistent with a meteor entering Earth's atmosphere. A Columbia County resident recorded a video of the fireball, while another in Henry County reported a rock crashing into their home, piercing the roof and damaging the floor. BREAKING: Apparently bits off the fireball/meteor hit the roof of a home in Henry County, Georgia... 📷 WSB-TV/11Alive — Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) June 26, 2025 Although residents initially suspected an earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed no seismic activity occurred. Experts now believe the shaking was due to a sonic boom from the object's high-speed entry. Meteorologists also identified a debris field near Blacksville, Georgia, just south of the Home Depot distribution center off Highway 20. South Carolina authorities in Anderson, Greenville, and Spartanburg counties are also investigating potential impact sites. The exact nature of the object—whether a meteorite or space debris—remains unconfirmed. Officials urge anyone with footage or images to submit them to local news outlets. Investigations are ongoing.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Artificial intelligence among new tech shaping forecasts during 2025 hurricane season
MIAMI – In light of hurricane season starting this weekend, NOAA's National Hurricane Center (NHC) provided a sneak peek into how the agency has updated its approach to forecasting hurricanes, particularly by using new technology. NHC Director Michael Brennan told FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross on Friday that some of those changes include upgrading NOAA's hurricane analysis and forecast system hurricane models this summer. They will also apply updates to how his team forecasts rapid intensification, which is when a tropical cyclone's maximum sustained winds increase by at least 35 mph in a 24-hour period. Brennan said progress has been made in this field since Katrina hit in August 2005, allowing forecasters to improve their understanding of how intensity works. Another update to the NHC's forecasting includes using a new Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES. Brennan noted how the satellite, which has been parked over the Atlantic and the eastern U.S., is already being used as the primary tool for monitoring the tropics, or the area of the Atlantic where tropical storms form. Noaa's Goes-19 Weather Satellite Begins Operations In Orbit Perhaps one of the newest types of technology the NHC will use in developing its forecasts is artificial intelligence (AI). Traditionally, some of the more accurate forecasts are developed by taking the so-called "averages" of multiple weather models. This year, meteorologists at the NHC will begin to test models produced by AI in the context of traditional modeling when they build their forecasts. "They're (AI) not going to be part of our official sort of consensus or blended models this year, but we may make some additional ones on the side that we're going to test out and see how they do and perform," Brennan said. He noted how AI might especially show a lot of promise when it comes to forecasting the path of a hurricane. However, he looks at that potential with a keen eye. "It's important for us to look at it ourselves, do our own evaluation and see how it fits in," he said. NOAA said this hurricane season is expected to see 13-19 named storms, or storms with maximum sustained winds strong enough to classify them as either tropical storms or hurricanes. In fact, NOAA predicts that 6-10 of those named storms will be hurricanes, and about half of those are expected to become major hurricanes with sustained winds of at least 111 mph. 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook FOX Weather will premiere two specials on the FOX Weather channel and FOX Weather app as the U.S. kicks off hurricane season. The first special will be "Hurricane HQ: Eye on the Season," which will air on Sunday at noon ET. In this special, FOX Weather Meteorologist Ian Oliver revisits hard-hit communities from last year's deadly storms, while Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross breaks down the driving forces behind the season ahead. On Monday at 9 a.m. ET, Norcross will answer hurricane questions live during a unique, interactive hourlong special called "Hurricane HQ&A with Bryan Norcross." How To Watch Fox Weather In addition to the two specials, FOX Weather will also kick off the official start of the 2025 hurricane season with "Hurricane HQ Week." The network's meteorologists will share the latest predictions, heartfelt stories of survival and talk with those still rebuilding from last year's destructive storms. You can watch FOX Weather on your favorite platform or streaming device and on your FOX Weather article source: Artificial intelligence among new tech shaping forecasts during 2025 hurricane season
