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Chicago Tribune
5 days ago
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Kaden Poppe's move to designated player lets her ‘focus on hitting.' Her bat lets Hanover Central win.
No matter how much Hanover Central junior Kaden Poppe invested, defense remained her greatest nemesis. Instead of having Poppe spend more time on a part of her game that wasn't clicking, Wildcats coach Sam Antkiewicz gave her a different option: forget about defense altogether and become the designated player. For Poppe, the move worked. 'It made me focus on hitting,' she said. 'That's all I had to do, just hit. I didn't have to worry about anything else. I just had to do this for the team because that's where they needed me.' Poppe delivered Tuesday night with a pair of hits, kick-starting Hanover Central's 5-1 victory against host Highland in a Class 3A regional championship game. Poppe and the Wildcats (15-12) will play Columbia City (19-5) in the Twin Lakes Semistate semifinal on Saturday after steadily pulling away from the Trojans (19-12) with runs that were not easy to come by, according to Antkiewicz. 'We knew we were going to get a game and we had to be firing on all cylinders,' he said. 'We were struggling for runs early, but we kept getting good pitching and were able to scratch some runs across.' That quality pitching came from freshman Jillian DeYoung, who allowed one unearned run, four hits and two walks while striking out nine. Batting sixth, Poppe got Hanover Central's offense going in the second inning, when she reached base with a single and scored on a bases-loaded walk drawn by junior catcher Sienna Stilley, a Jacksonville State commit. Poppe also singled in the fifth before being replaced by a pinch runner, sophomore Jordan Varble, who scored to extend the lead to 3-0. Poppe's hits were the result of a simple approach at the plate. 'I was just thinking about getting a base hit,' she said. 'We just had to get base runners. We didn't need any big hits. It was a good team effort because everyone was putting the ball in play.' Putting the ball in play wasn't as easy for Poppe earlier this season, when she was trying to nail down a position at third base. 'I struggled with my glovework for a long time, and then I would carry my errors into my at-bats,' she said. 'I was even putting in work outside of practice, but I just wasn't getting it. Sometimes that happens.' A solution arrived midseason when sophomore Kendall LaReau was promoted from Hanover Central's junior varsity team and provided a reliable glove at third base. Poppe was moved to designated player to focus solely on hitting while LaReau handled third. Poppe had no issue with the new role. 'I knew that somebody I trusted and somebody who was able to do the job was going to take that spot,' Poppe said. LaReau also didn't have any reservations. 'We're a good duo,' she said. 'We both do our jobs very well.' Until the Wildcats scored a pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning, including Stilley's 15th homer, their lead was built by the bottom four spots in the batting order. 'Anyone on this team can hit,' Antkiewicz said. 'We're not just a one-player team.'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Top analyst says Bitcoin rally 'imminent' due to dollar devaluation
Bitcoin's record-breaking spree continued for the second day as it reached a new all-time high (ATH) of $111,970.17 on May 22. Now that the cryptocurrency has succeeded in getting over the four-month lull, experts are weighing in on how soon BTC will reach the much-coveted price target of $200,000. Leading crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe is even more bullish and believes that Bitcoin will reach a new ATH of $500,000, and that too, faster than he expected — all due to the devaluation of the U.S. dollar. "$120,000 is imminent. $150,000 is imminent. $200,000 is imminent." Poppe opined on X. The U.S. dollar index (DXY), which measures the value of the U.S. dollar relative to a basket of foreign currencies, was quoting at 100.04 at the time of writing. In fact, the index has been struggling to keep afloat the 100 level since President Donald Trump initiated the tariff war, primarily against China, on Apr. 2. The international rating agency Moody's downgrading the U.S. government rating from AAA to AA1 on May 16 also had an adverse effect on the already weakening dollar. Poppe's projection isn't unique. Even Standard Chartered has predicted that Bitcoin will reach $200,000 by the end of 2025. It will reach $300,000 by the end of 2026, $400,000 by the end of 2027, and $500,000 by the end of 2028, the banking giant said. However, Poppe added that people won't buy Bitcoin due to its high price and will opt for altcoins during this period. Top analyst says Bitcoin rally 'imminent' due to dollar devaluation first appeared on TheStreet on May 22, 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
PG&E foresees ‘bright future' with lower prices, higher demand
This story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. Pacific Gas & Electric expects to file a rate case with its lowest requested rate increase in a decade as the company continues to make strides toward cutting costs and improving its credit rating, CEO Patti Poppe told investors during a Thursday earnings call. Increased demand from prospective data center customers — which grew sharply — should help the company reduce residential rates, and PG&E does not expect to be heavily impacted by tariffs, according to Poppe. Company leaders held up a recent rating upgrade by Moody's as proof of their progress, but cautioned that further improvements in the company's credit score are unlikely pending legislation to reform California's overwhelmed wildfire insurance fund. With growing demand and possible legislative reforms in the works, Poppe expressed optimism about PG&E's future even though the San Francisco-based company saw its first-quarter earnings decline slightly. Customers may remain skeptical of the company's ability to deliver, but PG&E is on a path toward lower costs and more modest electric bills, she said. 'We're interrupting a pattern here in California for affordability for customers,' she said. 'We know our customers don't feel that yet, so there is a doubt that we can deliver on this but we are able to deliver, and we've delivered this year.' The company's upcoming general rate case, which PG&E plans to initiate next month, will request the lowest increase in electric rates in a decade, Poppe said — and it doesn't include the effects of other potential cost-saving developments, including the improved credit rating by Moody's and growing electrical demand. PG&E's regulatory framework, Poppe said, should allow the company to cut overall customer bills by 1% to 2% for every gigawatt of new demand from data centers. PG&E's data center pipeline grew from 5.5 GW at the beginning of the year to 8.7 GW at the end of the first quarter, Poppe said. Most of the interest within PG&E's service area does not come from large AI-training data centers, but from more modestly sized, 100-MW range data centers that support existing AI applications for various companies, according to Poppe. 'These are a variety of smaller projects that will go through because that demand for compute power is real, particularly here in the Bay Area where we have this density of technical talent who can leverage AI,' Poppe said. 'So this trend is absolutely real for us.' The company also plans to cut costs by undergrounding power lines in regions where PG&E currently spends significant sums of money on vegetation management, and anticipates limited impacts from the recent spate of tariffs announced by the Trump administration. Most of the company's materials and supplies come from domestic sources, with the company's biggest areas of tariff exposure coming from the purchase of computer hardware, smart grid equipment and other electric equipment like transformers, according to Carolyn Burke, chief financial officer for PG&E. Poppe indicated that company leaders have been working with state lawmakers on a solution to shore up the state's wildfire fund, which insures participating utilities, including PG&E, against catastrophic wildfire losses. Frequent, severe wildfires, including the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County earlier this year, have strained the fund's financial resources. Poppe said she was unable to share details of what a solution could look like, but told investors that she has continued to emphasize the importance of a financing plan that does not require contributions from the utility's investors. Access to low-cost capital, she said, remains critical to affordable electric rates. In the meantime, PG&E is conducting a review of its de-energized and deactivated electric lines to ensure they haven't overlooked the possibility they could start a wildfire in light of recent allegations that an idled power line owned by Southern California Edison may have sparked the Eaton Fire, Poppe said. Given rising consumer costs and recession fears, Poppe said it was essential for the company to continue to make the case that investments in initiatives such as undergrounding power lines will lead to lower power bills in the long-run. 'When the Legislature is looking at all this simultaneously, it's pretty hard to absorb all of it at once,' she said. 'So it's important that we continue ... an active conversation and make sure that we're sharing the information that we have and continuing to demonstrate that we don't have to choose between customers and investors.' Recommended Reading Moody's upgrades PG&E on reduced credit risks from wildfires
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Top analyst warns of ‘Black Monday' as Bitcoin crashes to 5-month low
The bloodbath in the crypto market continued on Apr. 7 as the market cap dipped 10% over the last 24 hours to $2.5 trillion. Bitcoin itself has suffered a decline of 6.5% within a day to trade at $77,179.48 at press time, as per Kraken's price feeds. In fact, the world's largest cryptocurrency even fell to $74,604.47 on the day — its lowest in five months. However, crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe believes that things could go even worse for Bitcoin from here. Poppe referred to the day as 'Black Monday' and highlighted Bitcoin's slump. Black Monday refers to the global stock market crash that occurred on Oct. 19, 1987, that led to a worldwide loss of $1.71 trillion. The analyst mentioned a few factors that the market could count on to recover. Either President Donald Trump, who announced 'reciprocal tariffs' on Apr. 2, would delay implementing them — which isn't happening — or the Federal Reserve would announce an emergency meeting within 1-2 weeks maximum. The Fed has notified about a closed meeting of its Board of Governors on Apr. 7. If none of such actions follow, the market could slide even lower, Poppe warned. The next 1-2 weeks will be a 'rollercoaster' in which we could see how low Bitcoin will trade at. From here, it 'can go as deep as' $70,000, he added. Poppe said that Bitcoin's correction also offers a buying opportunity to traders who can ride gains in a year or two. Over $1.4 billion was wiped out within the last 24 hours from the crypto market in liquidations, as per Coinglass. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
PG&E sent me a Valentine signed ‘with love.' As a customer, I'm not feeling the love
'State agencies propose how to lower California energy costs,' ( Feb. 18) PG&E's CEO Patti Poppe is signing letters to customers this Valentine's Season 'with love,' while blaming them for higher rates because they have been more energy efficient and, subsequently, buying less power. Her letter says that PG&E avoided summer blackouts in 2024 due to rooftop solar energy and battery storage kicking in during peak heatwave demand. Yet Poppe continues to blame rooftop solar owners for driving up energy prices. The only thing driving up rates is overbuilding transmission lines. If she really loved her customers, Poppe would charge them affordable energy rates. Sandy White Fremont Opinion 'State agencies propose how to lower California energy costs,' ( Feb. 18) As a residential solar rooftop owner, I put about seven times as much energy back into the grid as we use in our home. This is sold to our neighbors at 'prime time' rates (about four cents per kilowatt). We receive a whopping three-cent credit toward our bill for this generous contribution to the electrical grid. Residential solar is not to blame for the huge spike in utility bills and the record profits of your local utility provider. Dave Osland Aptos 'Sacramento pays $300,000 settlement to ousted fire chief,' ( Feb. 12) Sacramento's former fire chief — whose 'nearly four-year tenure in Sacramento was muddled in controversy, from allegations of harassment, bullying, hazing and racial insensitivity within the department to the chief and city's decision to allow a reality TV series to film Sacramento firefighters responding to calls' — received a whopping $300,000 from the city. From the city's perspective, it's better to settle. After all, it's not their money. Bill Motmans Sacramento 'Trump ban puts Sacramento-area Afghan refugees in limbo. 'An incredibly difficult time',' ( Feb 13) My church, the Sierra Vista Community Church, has supported the local Afghan community for years After planning a big dinner to raise funds this month, we were horrified to learn that the International Rescue Committee, the group we worked with, was closed by the Trump administration. These families work, pay taxes and want to lead productive American lives. Now their transportation is cut off? IRC supplies starter kits for homes, food, resources and support for families (many of which have a family member who helped support the U.S. military). It is inhumane and certainly un-Christian to eliminate this vital support. Kay Muther Carmichael 'Trump ushers in dangerous era of water management in CA,' ( Feb. 13) The recent unilateral order by President Donald Trump to release water from California reservoirs ostensibly to assist fire-fighting efforts in Southern California was totally ineffective and grossly wasteful. If such an irresponsible action had been directed by an employee of a water management agency, that employee's future service with the agency would undoubtedly have been terminated. Ken Lentz Sacramento
