Latest news with #Gardner
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Don't hire him' Customers out thousands after contractor leaves jobs unfinished
ATHENS, Tenn. (WATE) — More complaints have been filed in Monroe County against a home improvement contractor from Meigs County. Records show Jerry Gardner was taken to court last year, lost the case, but never paid up. Two women in Monroe County found out about him because he places ads on and responds to social media sites for those looking for a contractor. Libby Robinson hired Gardner to install flooring one year ago. The agreed-upon cost was $8,000, although Robinson paid more. 'All total, I have paid $9,572. But the bad thing is I didn't have the three bedrooms and the two baths done. They were included in that $8,400,' said Robinson, who questions Gardner's workmanship. 'Oh, it just squeaks when you walk on it. You can hear it. He didn't put it down. You can hear the sounds. I think he just wedged it in there, beat it down, and left it.' NCAA responds to Zakai Zeigler lawsuit seeking to play another season on Rocky Top Gardner was supposed to install jacks under the home to add support, but visual evidence shows no jacks or any type of support were added. Robinson said Gardner told her the job would take two weeks. Katharyn Ahart hired Gardner two years ago. 'He was supposed to do a complete remodel, new floor, new cabinets,' said Ahart. Gardner quit before finishing the kitchen and never painted the walls inside her home. Hardwood flooring was laid, but the workmanship is questionable. 'He put in the floors and they're uneven. I can feel stuff underneath the floor. It kind of ripples,' said Ahart. Her initial contract was $23,000, but costs kept on adding up. 'I had to pay more money for tile. I had to pay more money for the flooring, my own countertop,' said Ahart. 'He ghosted me when I told him I was not going to pay him another dime until he was done.' She paid him a total of $39,500. 'What I'm left with [is] a house I could not live in,' said Ahart. Sweetwater Police: Bear spotted near North Main Steet Because Gardner left so many things undone in the home when he quit, Ahart recently moved back into her home after living with her mother for quite a while. 'Three months shy of two years… long time. A long time to pay my mortgage without being able to live in my own house,' said Ahart. Ahart sent a four-page demand letter to Gardner, but it went unanswered. Robinson became so frustrated with Gardner, she filed a civil lawsuit charging him with breach of contract and won the case. But Robinson hasn't collected a dime. We tried to reach Gardner at the number he gave to his customers, but received the following message: 'We're sorry the number you dialed has calling restrictions that prevent the completion of your call.' Athens couple out $9,000 after contractor never finishes job Amy Guillot and her husband were the first to tell us about Gardner early last month. 'We just wanted someone to come in to put some flooring in for us and have the job done,' said Johnny Guillot. 'We paid him everything upfront,' Amy Guillot added. The contract with the couple was signed in February. They paid Gardner more than $9,000 for work left undone. 'Don't hire him. Do not hire him,' said Ahart. $5 million in funding available for Tennessee senior centers: What to know The people we talked with had to hire a second contractor to complete the work that Gardner never finished. There is a law in Tennessee that says contractors may be charged with a felony when they start work, quit, don't respond to a demand letter, and if law enforcement believes there is enough evidence to press a theft charge. The people we've met with in Athens, Sweetwater, and Tellico Plains said they are considering filing theft charges. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Price Tag for New York Jets' Star Sauce Gardner Revealed
Price Tag for New York Jets' Star Sauce Gardner Revealed originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The New York Jets seemingly struck gold with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, when they selected two-time All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner. The Jets picked up a pair of Pro Bowlers in the first round that season with Gardner and Jermaine Johnson II, as well as standout receiver Garrett Wilson. Advertisement Now, all three players are extension-eligible, as is running back Breece Hall. The Jets will have to hand out a few hefty checks to keep their stars in town longterm, and Gardner's price tag is going to be sky-high, and it keeps going up and up. ESPN's Rich Cimini recently revealed that Gardner wants to remain a Jet, and has a price tag in mind. "Gardner has professed his desire to stay with the Jets long-term," Cimini wrote this week. "The Texans' Derek Stingley Jr. raised the ceiling with his three-year, $90 million extension. Gardner is thought to be seeking at least that much." The Jets seemingly want to get a deal done with Gardner, who was one of the best players in the NFL in his first two NFL seasons. Gardner had a down year in 2024, which may have the Jets a touch apprehensive to hand out a $30 million salary. Advertisement But Gardner has showcased all-world talent at cornerback. Gardner led the NFL in pass breakups in his rookie campaign, with 20. In 2024, Gardner had just one interception and nine pass breakups, and a career-low 49 tackles and one tackle for loss. "Gardner was an All-Pro in each of his first two seasons, but his play tailed off last season, as it did for many of the Jets' defenders," Cimini wrote. "Nevertheless, he's still regarded as one of the top corners, an essential position in coach Aaron Glenn's man-heavy scheme." Contracts in the NFL can tend to be a crapshoot, with injuries and scheme changes potentially leading to up-and-down play, but Gardner's talent is undeniable. It's not often you come across a player with that level of talent at corner, and the two seasons of elite play likely outweigh the risks of declined play. Related: Jets Desperately Need Fields Four-Word Claim To Come True Related: Jets Coach Reveals Update on Fields' Progress This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Measles Vaccination Rates Are Plummeting Across the U.S.
A person walks past a sign at a health center where the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine is administered in Lubbock, Texas, on Feb. 27, 2025. Credit - Ronaldo Schemidt—AFP/Getty Images Childhood vaccination rates against measles, mumps, and rubella have been declining in much of the U.S. since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study has found. The study, which was published in JAMA on June 2, analyzed measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rates by county where data were available. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University collected county-level data on MMR vaccination rates for kindergarteners from each state's health department website for the school years before the pandemic (2017-2018) and after (2023-2024). In states where that data were not available, researchers analyzed the most comparable data instead. Of the 2,066 counties in 33 states that researchers analyzed, 78% of them reported a decline in vaccination rates. Researchers found that the county-level mean vaccination rate decreased from almost 94% before the pandemic to about 91% after the pandemic—falling well below what public-health experts generally consider to be the threshold for herd immunity against measles of about 95%. Read More: What to Know About the New COVID-19 Variant NB.1.8.1 Lauren Gardner, senior author of the study and director of Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering, says the goal of this research was to get a 'more comprehensive, higher resolution understanding of the vaccination landscape' in the country. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 'has national- and state-level data, but we know that vaccination patterns can vary significantly within a state and even at a higher resolution than that across communities, within even the county,' Gardner says. For places with a low vaccination rate, 'if measles gets introduced into these regions, there's more likely to be an outbreak. And that's what we're seeing.' As of May 29, a total of 1,088 confirmed measles cases were reported by 33 jurisdictions in the U.S., according to the CDC. Of those cases, 96% were in people who were either unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. So far in 2025, there have been 14 reported outbreaks and three people confirmed to have died of measles-related complications, all of whom were unvaccinated. Before this year, the last confirmed measles-related death in the country occurred in 2015. Getting vaccinated is the best way to be protected against measles. The MMR vaccine is both safe and effective, and the CDC has said that most people who get it will be protected against measles for life. Read More: Do You Need a Measles Vaccine Booster? The new study found that only four of the 33 states that researchers analyzed—California, Connecticut, Maine, and New York—reported a rise in the median county-level vaccination rates. Researchers didn't investigate the causes behind disparate rates, and Gardner says that many factors—including the pandemic's impact on access to health care, different populations, the quality of reported data, and vaccine hesitancy—play a role in a community's vaccination rates. But she also notes that the four states that reported an increase in the measles vaccination rate are among the few that don't allow non-medical exemptions for school immunization requirements, such as the MMR vaccine. Gardner says that Hawaii stood out to her in the study because it experienced a significant drop in measles vaccine coverage; before the pandemic, its rate was around 95%, but after the pandemic, it plummeted to roughly 80%. Wisconsin had the lowest vaccination rate, on average, among the states studied; its most recent rate was in the 70s. Gardner says that a state's average vaccination rate might be misleading because the rate can vary greatly within communities. It would be ideal, she says, if researchers could get even more granular with the data and analyze vaccination rates school by school. 'The higher granularity you get, the more you actually see problems—and then can also respond to them and figure out where it's actually important to go and target and try and help get vaccination rates up,' Gardner says. Contact us at letters@
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Big Slick raises more than $4.5 million for Children's Mercy cancer research
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This year's Big Slick fundraiser exceeded everyone's expectations, beating last year's total and surpassing its intended goal! Over the weekend, Big Slick raised over $4.5 million for Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. Last year, the fundraiser raised $3.9 million. Download WDAF+ for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV The official Big Slick Instagram page posted the news, saying: 'Wow. Just wow. Thank you to everyone who came out tonight, to our sponsors, donors, auction bidders, to every one of our partners and volunteers, and to the entire team at @childrensmercy. We asked you to go big and you came through. $4.5M raised for Children's Mercy! 💙' Saturday night's benefit show at T-Mobile Center raised millions of dollars for pediatric cancer research. Over the past 16 years, Big Slick benefit fundraisers have raised $25 million for the hospital. View the latest headlines from Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas at 'Saturday Night Live' star Heidi Gardner, who graduated from Notre Dame de Sion High School, refers to Big Slick's yearly fundraising campaign as 'a love letter to Kansas City.' Gardner joins Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Eric Stonestreet, David Koechner and Rob Riggle to form this variety show's annual cast. At Saturday night's performance, they were joined by several other celebrities, including Travis and Jason Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, Johnny Knoxville and more. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
a day ago
- Health
Most US counties saw decline in childhood MMR vaccination rates: Report
Most counties in the United States have seen a decline in childhood measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates over the last five years, according to a new report published Monday. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University looked at data from 2,066 counties across 33 states between 2019 and 2024. They found that 78% of the counties, or 1,614, reported a decrease in vaccination rates over that period. What's more, the average vaccination rate fell from 93.92% pre-pandemic to 91.26% post-pandemic, according to the report. This represents a decline of about 3%. Researchers also found that just four states -- California, Connecticut, Maine and New York -- had an increase in county-level vaccination rates. "Measles outbreaks happen within a community, and so it's really important to understand vaccination coverage at a higher resolution than the state level," senior author Lauren Gardner, director of Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering, told ABC News. "You could have a state level average that is around 95%, which looks pretty good and makes it seem like that state is protected but, in reality, you may have a situation where you have a group of counties with coverage around 100% and another group of counties with coverage that's 90% or below. So, you actually really have a lot at risk," she continued. Gardner said this report is the first to examine counties to identify trends in vaccination rates using such a comprehensive dataset, and it mirrors national trends, showing a lag in MMR vaccinations. During the 2023 to 2024 school year, 92.7% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is lower than the 93.1% seen in the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019 to 2020 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. It comes as the U.S. has been facing a rise in measles cases across the country amid outbreaks in states such as Texas and New Mexico. As of Friday, a total of 1,088 cases have been confirmed in 32 states this year, according to the CDC. This marks the first time the U.S. has surpassed 1,000 cases in five years. Among the nationally confirmed cases, CDC says about 96% are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. Three measles deaths have occurred so far this year, two among children and one in an adult, all of whom were unvaccinated. Measles was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, but declining vaccination rates have led to outbreaks over the last several years. The Johns Hopkins researchers noted that if vaccination rates continue to decline, the U.S. could be at risk of measles becoming endemic. "I hope that [the report] sheds light on the importance of vaccination and the fact that we have a problem in this country right now with vaccination rates dropping in a lot of locations, and that this poses a risk to a lot of communities, but that it's a recoverable problem and something that we can fix," Gardner said. The CDC currently recommends that people receive two vaccine doses -- the first at 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says. Previous studies have shown that even a small uptick in vaccination could prevent millions of measles cases in the U.S. "It's a very preventable problem," Gardner said. "We have a very safe and very effective vaccine that is available, and so I think I would like people to take away that this is a problem right now, but it's a problem that we can overcome." The report did not look at why MMR vaccination rates are declining, but Dr. Whitney Harrington, an associate professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Washington, who was not involved in the study, said there are likely a couple of reasons, including less exposure to the disease. "In the case of MMR, historically, we've been very close to elimination within the United States, and that makes it hard to understand the rationale for being vaccinated or getting your children vaccinated," she told ABC News. "And then I think, in combination, as we've seen less exposure to these diseases, at the same time, there's been rising concern about safety of vaccines, and more vaccine hesitancy among parents and families." She said that any parents who are vaccine-hesitant should speak with their health care provider about the benefits of vaccination. "I ask families, 'What questions do you have?" rather than 'Do you have questions?'" she said. "I think it's much more effective to say, 'Are there concerns that you have, or there are questions that I can answer for you about the safety of this vaccine, or about the disease that that were preventing' and I think being able to share with family what its he disease that we're trying to prevent can be really helpful."
