Latest news with #Murphy
Time Out
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Ever slept inside a cherry blossom forest? This San Francisco hotel offers a suite you have to see.
Springtime in San Francisco's Union Square means you'll see flowers everywhere as part of the plaza's annual 'in bloom' celebration. It's an upbeat, joyful time—and while the neighboring Westin St. Francis decorates its lobby with flowers to the degree that it's worth stepping into for an Instagrammable moment, this year the venerated hotel rolled out something even more intense. It's an over-the-top, extravagant beyond belief, frothy confection of a springtime suite. The ' Suite in Bloom ' is billed as a 'luxurious floral escape,' and that captures it exactly. It's a dream come true for anyone who ever wanted to retreat to the woods and live with nature's bountiful color—but without, you know, the actual nature part. The two-bedroom suite is utterly bedecked in 'cherry blossoms' and holds three life-sized 'trees' (all faux foliage in this case). Ivy twines everywhere, and even the bathroom shower is festooned. I visited with my daughter and her friend, and we all fangirled over the idea that we had always wanted a tree in our childhood bedrooms. We also loved the discreet machine that periodically emitted a floral fragrance into the suite. We walked back and forth between the rooms in a daze. We had never seen a hotel space that was so devoted to fantasy, to surprising and pleasing the guests. Each room in the suite has a French bistro set to enjoy a glass of rosé in front of an incredible skyline view out the window (the suite's on the ninth floor). The photos you see here are the main bedroom, and the second bedroom has a Murphy bed, two trees and a sitting room with a sofa. This is the first year the Westin St. Francis has decorated the suite, and it's only available until July 31 (the lowest rate we could find for the remainder of the run is $894). If you can't get in this year, it will be offered again next spring. So how did this incredible suite even get decorated? A team of 20 people helmed by Flowers by Edgar worked all day to set it up. These workers lovingly orchestrated the transformation of a hotel suite into an orchard you'd expect to see a fawn walking around in. There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of individually placed flowers poked into the 'frog' of a false wall. That night, I lay in bed looking at how each individual flower was embedded in the wall. Although the room's terribly romantic, I was actually glad my husband wasn't there because I think he might've felt a bit of claustrophobia at the amount of pink involved… and like me, he would be tripping on the ivy at the base of the tree. Our group checked in, swooned, took about a million photos, then went to the hotel's beautiful wood-paneled Westin Club Lounge for some snacks. Once upon a time, the Westin St. Francis washed coins for its guests, and you can see the machine that performed that duty in the small St. Francis Museum. It wasn't that long ago that women wore white gloves, and coins could soil them if not cleaned. We went back to the room for more photos, and then headed out on foot to see the enormous R(Evolution) statue in front of the Ferry Building. Returning in the evening, the three of us ate a great informal meal at the lobby's Cafe Rito (shrimp scampi, skirt steak and chicken alfredo). The hotel itself is worthy of a story. It survived San Francisco's two biggest earthquakes (1906 and 1989) and sits right on the cable car line. If you watched the movie Babylon, this is also the hotel where, during a wild party in 1921, actress Virginia Rappe was assaulted and actor Fatty Arbuckle was charged with her murder. I was told which room it happened in and crept outside it that night to marvel at the darkness of history. It's just a room now. Anyone can stay without knowing what happened there. Another astonishing part of the hotel is the fact that a delicate staircase goes all the way up the original 12-story building. It's terrifying-slash-exciting to walk past enormous windows to the exterior while on a winding staircase. The hotel is honestly a blast to explore at night, with wooden hallways, impressive elevator banks and historical photographs everywhere. Don't leave without taking a ride on the exterior glass elevator. It goes up to the 32nd-floor Tower Salon—part of a more recent addition—where you can get a cocktail at night or a breakfast buffet in the morning. The views up there are supreme at night. The next morning, we rose well-rested… but reluctant to leave the room. For breakfast, we got housemade pastries at Cafe Rito and brought them back to the room to eat because we honestly just wanted to savor every last minute in that magical space. It was San Francisco at its finest: history, creativity, spectacle.
USA Today
5 hours ago
- Business
- USA Today
Packers to transition to new CEO/president Ed Policy at annual shareholders meeting
Packers to transition to new CEO/president Ed Policy at annual shareholders meeting The Green Bay Packers will formally transition from Mark Murphy to Ed Policy as the team's CEO and president during the annual shareholders meeting, which is set for Friday, July 25 inside Lambeau Field. The mandatory retirement age of 70 arrives for Murphy on July 13. He has served as CEO and president of the Packers since Jan. 28, 2008. "I look forward to Ed taking over leadership of the Packers. He's been a tremendous asset to the organization and I'm confident he will be an excellent steward in the role," Murphy said in a press release. Over Murphy's 17 years in charge, the Packers successfully transitioned from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers, won Super Bowl XLV and built up the area around Lambeau Field now known as "Titletown." Green Bay made 12 playoff appearances, and Murphy oversaw only two sets of coaches/general managers -- Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson, and Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst. Policy, the son of former San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns president Carmen Policy, has been with the Packers since 2012. He has been the team's chief operating officer since January of 2018. The Packers announced him as the successor to Murphy last summer, and he's been transitioning into the top job over the last year. Policy is 54 years old. The meeting will also include a vote on three candidates for the Packers Board of Directors. The Packers open training camp with a practice on Wednesday, July 23. The team is expected to hold a training camp practice on the same day as the shareholders meeting.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio leaders at odds about property tax relief in budget
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — State lawmakers will be passing a multi-billion-dollar state budget in just a few weeks, but more changes are coming to the spending bill on Tuesday. Public school teachers said they hope some of the changes are in school funding. 'We're just asking for things to be made fair,' Ironton City Schools physical education teacher Daniel Murphy said. Murphy said he grew up in a low-income house, went to public school and is now a teacher and president of his local union. Without his public school, he said none of it would have been possible. 'It's a stamp on what public education can truly do when it's given a fair, equal cut of the budget,' Murphy said. Murphy said that's why budget talks worry him right now, and said it risks cutting programs for students. 'How does that effect funding for meals? How does that directly affect us on how we do our after-school activities,' Murphy said. Under the proposal, schools do see an increase in funding compared to the past two years, but the 'fair school funding plan' that was created several budget cycles ago is no longer in play. 'If we had done what some call the 'third phase,' it would've been a $1.8 billion increase in school funding, which pretty much would've wiped out other funding we did for daycare, a whole number of other things,' Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said. Instead, schools now see $550 million in the house version of the budget; Huffman called it substantial. Property tax relief plays into all of this too. Right now, the state budget has a relief plan that works like this: if you live in a school district that carried over more than 30% of its budget from the previous year, your property tax bill will go down. But Republican leadership between chambers is at odds about the proposal. 'The 30% number was based on the fact that prior to this conversation, the school standard was 25% carryover,' Huffman said. 'I think 30% is too low. I think it fails to account for some of the unforeseen circumstances that schools that may have to deal with from a capital perspective,' Ohio Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) said. The proposal would impact 486 of the state's 600-some school districts. Huffman touts this as likely the largest property tax relief in the state's history, estimated to help Ohioans save $4.2 billion dollars. But will he compromise on the 30%? 'It's not a matter of sort of, 'well how about 70%, how about 50%,' or whatever,' he said. 'It's 'what is the reason that some other number is appropriate,' so I guess I'd have to have that argument as to what would be appropriate.' McColley said schools need enough money to be ready for unforeseen circumstances, like replacing a boiler or a getting a new roof. But he said he can see that too much stored money is not ideal. 'Acknowledging that if a school is carrying over very large amounts of money, is that really a good thing either? So, we'll see where we end up,' McColley said. 'I don't know that we've reached a final idea as to what we're going to do.' The Senate is planning to amend the state budget on Tuesday. Once the Senate passes its version of the state budget, the House and Senate will need to come to an agreement by July 1. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NJ tackles teacher shortage by offering student loan relief
The Murphy administration is offering student loan relief of up to $5,000 annually for four years to public school teachers working in high-need subject areas in some of the state's low-performing school districts. Accepted applicants could get total relief of $20,000 in outstanding loan balances if they qualify for each of the four years. The New Jersey Teacher Loan Redemption Program is in its second year as a way to bolster teacher pipelines in districts where student performance is below the state average. Applications opened May 15, and remain open until June 15 on the website of the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority for teachers employed at a number of schools eligible for the qualify, teachers at these schools must be teaching mathematics, science, special education, English as a second language, world languages, or career and technical education. Last year the program only included teachers hired after 2022. The state expanded the program this year to include teachers with a hiring date back to Jan. 1, 2009. The state budget allocates $5 million for the program, with $1 million of that for teachers hired on or after Jan. 1, 2024. In addition to the subject areas targeted by the loan redemption program, there are teacher shortages in technology, engineering and English language learning for non-native speakers, according to a 2024 report from Rutgers University's Heldrich Center for Workforce Development. While the percentage of teachers in the state has remained relatively steady for the past decade or so, they now tend to leave the profession early, the report said, due to "insufficient compensation, lack of professional respect, and being overburdened with additional job responsibilities for which they did not receive adequate training or institutional supports to perform." Many of the state's districts reporting teacher shortages had large populations of students from low-income families, according to a 2017 report from the U.S. Department of Education. The state program is designed to "strengthen both recruitment and retention of educators who teach high-need subjects in eligible New Jersey schools," said Margo Chaly, executive director of the state Higher Education Student Assistance Authority. It reduces "teacher student loan burdens while helping school districts fill critical vacancies." Initiatives like these help "maintain our standing as one of the best states in the nation for K-12 education,' Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement. More: 55,000 public employees to benefit from last round of Biden student loan forgiveness Applicants must reside in New Jersey, hold a current teaching certification from the New Jersey Department of Education, and be employed to teach in a high-need subject at the time of hire. Each annual payment will cover 25% of the principal and interest on eligible expenses from student loans. HESAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of a report due to Murphy and the legislature by July 1 on the program's performance in 2024 or the number of applicants served by it. This article originally appeared on NJ tackles teacher shortage by offering student loan relief
Fox Sports
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips to undergo Tommy John surgery, miss rest of season
Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips will have Tommy John surgery next week and miss the rest of the season in the latest blow to the World Series champion's pitching staff. "Evan tried to play catch a couple days ago when we were on the road and it didn't go well, so he's going to get Tommy John surgery on the 4th," manager Dave Roberts said Friday. "Unfortunately that's going to be season-ending." The 30-year-old right-hander had been out the last three weeks because of forearm discomfort. He didn't progress in his recovery despite what had been anticipated to be a short stint on the injured list. "It's surprising, more disappointed for Evan," Roberts said, "but he just wasn't responding to the rest and then tried to ramp back up and so ultimately, that was kind of the advice." Phillips began the season on the IL while recovering from a partially torn rotator cuff he sustained in the playoffs last year. He returned in late April and made seven scoreless appearances before getting hurt during the Dodgers' trip to Miami earlier in May. Phillips was 5-1 with a 3.62 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 54 2/3 innings last season. He is 15-9 with a 2.28 ERA in 194 games since coming to the Dodgers five years ago. He previously played for Atlanta, Baltimore and Tampa Bay. Mookie Betts is also out of the Dodgers' lineup against the New York Yankees with an injured left toe. Manager Dave Roberts said Friday that the shortstop was having X-rays and is day-to-day. Roberts said Betts "stubbed his toe, not exactly sure how" after the Dodgers returned from their road trip. "It's just kind of an accident." "I feel confident saying it's day-to-day," Roberts added, "but putting on a shoe today was difficult for him." The manager said Betts was available to pinch hit in the series opener against Aaron Judge and the Yankees in the rematch of last year's World Series, won by the Dodgers. Betts' mishap was reminiscent of first baseman Freddie Freeman slipping in the shower at home in April. He aggravated his surgically repaired right ankle and missed nine games. "It just keeps coming," Roberts said, referring to the team's string of injuries, especially to the pitching staff. "It's Murphy's law, but yeah, this is a weird one." The Dodgers' staff has been riddled by injuries this season. Starters Blake Snell (shoulder inflammation), Tyler Glasnow (shoulder inflammation) and Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki (shoulder impingement) are on the IL. Shohei Ohtani is at least 1 1/2 months away from pitching in a game while rehabbing from 2023 surgery. He's expected to face hitters for the second time this weekend. Relievers Blake Treinen (forearm tightness) and Michael Kopech (shoulder impingement) are sidelined. Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
