Latest news with #Morales
Edmonton Journal
a day ago
- Business
- Edmonton Journal
CF Montreal pledges rebuild in open letter
Article content MONTREAL — CF Montreal has started its rebuild quickly. Article content The Major League Soccer club announced Wednesday that it has acquired 21-year-old defender Efrain Morales from Atlanta United in return for US$450,000 in 2025 general allocation money (GAM) and $350,000 in conditional GAM. Article content Atlanta would also retain a percentage of a future transfer involving Morales Article content Article content The move came hours after club executives published an open letter to fans that acknowledged the team's shortcomings and stated the club would begin a new chapter rooted in ambition, pride and winning. Article content Article content President and CEO Gabriel Gervais, managing director of recruitment and sporting methodology Luca Saputo and managing director of academy strategy and roster management Simone Saputo signed the letter. Montreal is currently languishing at the bottom of the MLS with a 3-15-6 record — for 15 points in 24 games — and dropped out of the Canadian Championship with a quarterfinal loss to lower-tier Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League in a bleak season. Article content The letter said supporters would see concrete steps toward a rebuild in the upcoming transfer windows. The MLS summer window, which allows clubs to sign players plying their trades in other countries, opens Thursday. Article content Article content Montreal had the league's lowest payroll last season. Morales is making $112,019 this year, according to the website Article content Morales began his professional career in 2020 with Atlanta United 2, where he had three goals and an assist over three USL Championship seasons and three MLS Next Pro seasons. Article content He made his MLS debut with Atlanta in a 3-0 victory over the Charlotte Independence in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup on May 7, 2024. Article content Over two MLS seasons, Morales has played 648 minutes over nine games and picked up one assist. He also played in three U.S. Open Cup games. Article content 'We have not met the standards we set for ourselves, nor those you have the right to expect. That is why we felt the need to communicate with you directly today. Article content We share your dissatisfaction with the Club's results, and it is our responsibility to build a winning team that we can all be proud of. Article content That is why we have decided to undertake a rebuild and launch a new chapter at CF Montreal. A chapter based on ambition and pride. A new era with victory at the heart of our sporting ambitions, while also honouring our rich history and the connection with you, our 12th player. Article content We know that trust is regained through actions. As such, during the upcoming transfer windows, you will see concrete steps, a committed team, and strong initiatives aimed at rebuilding, together, a Club that deserves your loyalty.'
Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
CF Montréal pledges rebuild in open letter, acquires defender Morales from Atlanta
MONTREAL - CF Montreal has started its rebuild quickly. The Major League Soccer club announced Wednesday that it has acquired 21-year-old defender Efraín Morales from Atlanta United in return for US$450,000 in 2025 general allocation money (GAM) and $350,000 in conditional GAM. Atlanta would also retain a percentage of a future transfer involving Morales The move came hours after club executives published an open letter to fans that acknowledged the team's shortcomings and stated the club would begin a new chapter rooted in ambition, pride and winning. President and CEO Gabriel Gervais, managing director of recruitment and sporting methodology Luca Saputo and managing director of academy strategy and roster management Simone Saputo signed the letter. Montreal is currently languishing at the bottom of the MLS with a 3-15-6 record — for 15 points in 24 games — and dropped out of the Canadian Championship with a quarterfinal loss to lower-tier Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League in a bleak season. The letter said supporters would see concrete steps toward a rebuild in the upcoming transfer windows. The MLS summer window, which allows clubs to sign players plying their trades in other countries, opens Thursday. Montreal had the league's lowest payroll last season. Morales is making $112,019 this year, according to the website . Morales began his professional career in 2020 with Atlanta United 2, where he had three goals and an assist over three USL Championship seasons and three MLS Next Pro seasons. He made his MLS debut with Atlanta in a 3-0 victory over the Charlotte Independence in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup on May 7, 2024. Over two MLS seasons, Morales has played 648 minutes over nine games and picked up one assist. He also played in three U.S. Open Cup games. Born in Decatur, Ga., Morales represents Bolivia on the international stage. Full letter: 'We have not met the standards we set for ourselves, nor those you have the right to expect. That is why we felt the need to communicate with you directly today. We share your dissatisfaction with the Club's results, and it is our responsibility to build a winning team that we can all be proud of. That is why we have decided to undertake a rebuild and launch a new chapter at CF Montréal. A chapter based on ambition and pride. A new era with victory at the heart of our sporting ambitions, while also honouring our rich history and the connection with you, our 12th player. We know that trust is regained through actions. As such, during the upcoming transfer windows, you will see concrete steps, a committed team, and strong initiatives aimed at rebuilding, together, a Club that deserves your loyalty.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2025.
Indianapolis Star
17-07-2025
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
How much did Diego Morales spend on travel? His campaign finance report has details
Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales often catches flak for his jet-setting. His latest campaign finance report provides some insight into how much of that he considers for campaign purposes ― and how much it costs. The largest of his travel-related expenses reported is a $1,300 flight purchased about a month before his May trip to Hungary, though his campaign says that that particular line item was for "travel related to other campaign activities." That's just half of the overall amount he spent on air travel in the first six months of the year, during which he spent time and money on campaign expenses in numerous states outside Indiana. Morales raised nearly $160,000 in the first half of 2025, and enters the second half of the year with $900,000 in the bank. All the money he raised this year came in after May 1, when he announced his reelection campaign; shortly thereafter, two potential challengers emerged in Knox County Clerk David Shelton and former gubernatorial candidate Jamie Reitenour, who both have filed exploratory committees. Neither have reported raising any money. The expensive air travel was just one of IndyStar's findings from an analysis of his most recent campaign finance report. The $1,300 Delta Airlines expense is dated April 7, and the Hungary trip happened during the last week of May. Morales and his wife traveled there on what his office previously labeled "personal time," though he also spoke at CPAC Hungary about his role as secretary of state. Social media posts show Morales "enjoying some personal time in Europe" visiting family with his wife, Sidonia, who is Hungarian, as well as meeting with local dignitaries and speaking at CPAC Hungary. In response to criticism and questions over who paid for this trip, Morales wrote on social media that this was a "personal trip" and that CPAC covered the costs. In an email Thursday, his campaign reiterated that CPAC covered the trip costs through their Center for Fundamental Rights. It did not respond to a follow-up question asking where this $1,300 flight was to. More: Secretary of State Diego Morales gets flak for overseas travel. Is he breaking any rules? A quick search on Delta's website shows round trip tickets between Indianapolis and Budapest can cost anywhere from $700-$1,300 per person. Further, the Minnesota-St. Paul airport is a often a layover stop for this flight, and he got a meal from that airport on May 27 ― and a Facebook post later that day shows him in a meeting with local officials in Hungary. He also paid $240 on March 7 to U.S. Customs to get "precheck for air travel," shortly before a separate trip to India that month. While state law says that campaign money "may not be used for primarily personal purposes," campaign money can be used for "activity related to service in an elected office." Morales has repeatedly made the case that he'll always take opportunities that arise to represent and endorse Indiana as secretary of state, no matter where he is in the world ― though the mixture of business, personal and campaign-appearing activities amid Morales' overseas travel to both India and Hungary this year has drawn him critics from across the political spectrum. Morales' largest contribution this period comes from a political action committee with only two reported funders, one of whom is Kelley Automotive of Fort Wayne, where Morales' $90,000 state vehicle was purchased. Hoosiers for Good Government PAC, a political action committee created in 2023 by now-Allen County Commissioner Ronald Turpin, gave Morales $20,000 on June 30. This PAC has only reported contributions from two funders: $10,000 from Kelley Automotive of Fort Wayne and $60,000 from Ambassador Enterprises LLC ― a private equity firm founded by the parents of former gubernatorial candidate Eric Doden and for whom Turpin was a senior vice president. This PAC has only ever given two donations: $5,000 to a Fort Wayne mayoral candidate Tom Didier in 2023, and this large contribution to Morales. Here are Morales' other top donors: Here are the largest line items on his expense sheet:
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Texas Community Where No One Died in Devastating Floods Credits Siren System with Saving Lives
Officials in one Texas community are attributing their investment into an updated siren system with saving lives amid the devastating floods that impacted several counties in central Texas last week Danny Morales, assistant chief of the Comfort Volunteer Fire Department, told NBC News that residents "knew that if they heard the siren, they gotta get out" 'Anything we can do to add to the safety, we're going to sit down and try to make it work,' he saidOne Texas community hit by last week's multi-county flooding activated an emergency siren system for the first time, which officials believe helped save lives Danny Morales, assistant chief of the Comfort Volunteer Fire Department, said that nobody died in Comfort, according to NBC News. The small town home to about 2,300 people in Kendall County, which is about 20 miles away from Kerr County, where the majority of deaths from the flooding disaster occurred and at least 96 have died. 'People knew that if they heard the siren, they gotta get out,' Morales told NBC News. In a separate interview with the Associated Press, Morales, who has been with the fire department for decades, said that he helped secure funding for the security system last year when the opportunity came up — years after a 1978 flood killed 15 people in Comfort, including his grandfather. Last year, the firehouse was given a new siren, while an old siren was refurbished and moved to Comfort Park, where officials hooked it up to a U.S. Geological Survey sensor at Cypress Creek, the AP. reported While the siren can be manually triggered, the sensor also does the same when water levels reach a certain point. According to the news agency, the sirens use a specific flat tone for floods and a different sound for tornados. 'We do for ourselves and for the community,' Morales said. 'If we hadn't had a drought the past months and the [Cypress] Creek hadn't been down, we could have had another '78. The past few days, I'll tell you, it brings back a lot.' 'Anything we can do to add to the safety, we're going to sit down and try to make it work,' he added, sharing that funders have contacted him about adding a third siren in town. 'The way things are happening, it might be time to enhance the system even further.' As noted by NBC News, despite years of talks about installing a sirens in Kerr County, there was none in place at the time of the tragedy, although it's difficult to know the impact that kind of warning system could have had. The outlet went on to point out that the flooding hit Kerr Counter earlier, at a time when many residents were either sleeping or at least still indoors. In Kendall County, where Comfort is located, by the time the sirens went off, many people were already awake and aware of the devastating situation at hand. Still, Lorena Guillen, owner of Blue Oak RV Park in Kerrville — who went door to door to urge her guests to flee last week — told MSNBC that cell service in Texas Hill Country is spotty and having 'a siren like they do with tornadoes" could have helped. Brady Constantine, fire marshal and emergency management coordinator for Kendall County, told ABC affiliate KSAT that he awoke to the a warning he set up around 2 a.m. on the day of the floods and learned of the rising waters of the Guadalupe River. He then called up Morales, who set up a command at the fire station by 4:30 a.m. The county sent out its first wireless emergency message by 5:30 a.m. — ahead of three additional alerts all before 8:06 a.m., per KSAT. The county also issued a mandatory evacuation for those living near the river, which began rising around 9 a.m. in Comfort, according to the outlet. At 10:52 a.m., the fire department sounded the flood sirens — both at the park and at the fire station. Together, the sirens cost the county about $70,000, with 80% covered by a nonprofit, according to KSAT. 'We're going to sit back and do an evaluation after this to see how we can improve our system," said County Judge Shane Stolarczyk. Beyond the sirens themselves, residents were also sent a flash flood warnings and additional notifications, per the outlet. 'That warning system was utilized and was a significant factor in us having a quick response,' Stolarczyk said. Cruz Newberry, owner of Table Rock Alerting Systems which installed Comfort's system last year, told NBC News that the sirens are a measure of a last resort — following media alerts, phone warnings and social media. 'The nice thing with an outdoor warning system is it's one of the few methods that local officials have at their disposal where they can literally press a button and warn citizens themselves,' Newberry said. 'It's difficult to ignore a siren blaring for three minutes straight.' To learn how to help support the victims and recovery efforts from the Texas floods, click here. Read the original article on People
Euronews
11-07-2025
- Climate
- Euronews
Flood sirens gave this Texas community a crucial warning
When the Guadalupe River began rising fast on 4 July, emergency sirens blared across the small Texas town of Comfort. Their long, flat tone – a final warning to evacuate for those who had not done so – saved lives, says Daniel Morales, assistant chief of the Comfort Volunteer Fire Department. The sirens are a testament to the determination of a community that has experienced deadly floods in the past, warning residents of devastating floodwaters that hours earlier had killed at least 118 people in communities along the same river, including 27 campers and counsellors in neighbouring Kerr County. That county did not have a warning system like the one in Comfort. Everyone in Comfort, a town of more than 2,200 people in unincorporated Kendall County, survived the flooding, with many riverside residents evacuating in time, Morales said. Learning from history Morales has been with the department for decades. He was there when flooding in 1978 killed 33 people, 15 of them in Comfort, including his grandfather. So when an opportunity arose last year to expand the community's emergency warning system, he and other residents found a way to fund it. The fire department's siren needed an upgrade. While the firehouse got a new siren, Morales found a Missouri company willing to refurbish the old one at a low cost so it could be moved to a central location in Comfort Park and connected to a US Geological Survey sensor at Cypress Creek. When the water reaches a certain level, the sensor triggers the siren, but it can also be sounded manually. 'We do [it] for ourselves and for the community,' Morales said. 'If we hadn't had a drought the past months and the [Cypress] Creek hadn't been down, we could have had another [flood like in 1978]. The past few days, I'll tell you, it brings back a lot.' Funding emergency infrastructure Morales said they cobbled together money from a grant, the county commission, the department's own budget and the local electric utility, which also donated a siren pole. They also got help installing the flood sensor gauge in the creek. The total cost with donated materials and departmental expenses was somewhere around $50,000 to $60,000 – about €43,000 to €51,000 – 'maybe a little more,' Morales said. In Kerr County, the price tag for a proposed flood warning system covering a larger stretch of the Guadalupe River was close to €850,000. Several county and city officials backed away when grants and funding fell through. The system ultimately was not installed near the camps where dozens of young campers died in the recent flood. Comal County, Texas – about 90 miles, or 145 kilometres, east of Kerr County – completed its own siren project in 2015 with funding from several local entities. The county now manages the system and river height data. Officials there did not respond to requests for details about costs. Training residents to respond After the updated Comfort sirens were installed, the volunteer fire department spent months getting the community accustomed to the siren tests that sound daily at 12pm, putting out messaging that if they hear a siren any other time, they should check local TV stations, the department's Facebook page and other outlets for emergency notifications. The sirens have a distinct sound for tornadoes and a long, flat tone for floods. So on 4 July, if people in Comfort hadn't seen the alerts sent to phones or heard shouting firefighters urging evacuation, they heard the long tone and knew they had to leave. A Facebook post from the department noted a mandatory evacuation for all residents along the Guadalupe River. Comfort was miles away from the flash flooding that overtook the camps and didn't experience cresting river levels until after the early morning surge. Many Comfort residents were already awake and aware of the rising water by the time the sirens sounded. The Guadalupe's crest was among the highest ever recorded in the town, rising from hip-height to three storeys tall in just over two hours. Morales doesn't know if sirens would have changed outcomes in Kerr County. But he's sure they gave Comfort residents an extra level of warning. He's already been contacted by some funders about the possibility of adding a third siren in town. 'Anything we can do to add to the safety, we're going to sit down and try to make it work,' he said. 'The way things are happening, it might be time to enhance the system even further.'
