Latest news with #Quist
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Spoleto Festival USA names new music director of the festival chorus
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)—Spoleto Festival USA has appointed a new music director for the festival chorus. Starting in 2026, Dr. Amanda Quist will bring her knowledge to the position of directing the chorus. Dr. Quist is an associate professor and director of choral activities at Western Michigan University. She possesses a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting and a Doctoral Cognate in Voice Pedagogy and Science from the University of North Texas. 'We are incredibly excited to welcome Amanda Quist to the Spoleto Festival USA family,' said Spoleto Festival USA General Director and CEO Dr. Mena Mark Hanna. 'Her profound musicality, innovative programming ideas, and commitment to nurturing the next generation of professional singers align perfectly with the Festival's artistic mission. Amanda will build upon Joe Miller's legacy at Spoleto and continue to lead the Festival Chorus to new heights of artistry and excellence.' Dr. Quist was selected for the role after the departure of Dr. Joe Miller, who led in the role for 19 years. 'I am honored and incredibly excited to join Spoleto Festival USA,' said Dr. Quist. 'I look forward to leading this incredible professional choir program and building on the tremendous legacy of world-class choral music at Spoleto. My goal is to cultivate the Festival Chorus as a vital platform for emerging professional singers, allowing them to hone their craft at the highest level across a great diversity of musical opportunities. I envision a chorus that not only delivers breathtaking performances but also inspires a broad audience, making the Festival known to everyone across America and the world.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Utah's newest political party has a new chair
Utah's newest political party announced its first leader on Tuesday. Former Utah attorney general candidate Michelle Quist will chair the newly merged United Utah/Forward Party upon final approval from party members at their convention on Saturday. 'I am deeply grateful for this opportunity to serve Utah,' Quist said in a press release. 'The legacy two-party system has left behind the common sense majority of voters. That's why building a truly viable alternate option is so critical to both Utah and the Nation at large.' Quist ran unsuccessfully for attorney general in 2024 as the nominee for the United Utah Party and was also endorsed by the Forward Party. She secured just over 7% of the vote in the general election. Quist works as an attorney at Buchalter in Salt Lake City. Prior to pursuing elected office, Quist served as a Utah State Bar commissioner and as secretary of the Utah Republican Party from 2013-2015. As a candidate, Quist drew a contrast with the Republican Party under President Donald Trump, which she said had alienated many women and moderate voters. She also strays from the GOP platform in opposing abortion restrictions. The United Utah Party, which operates only in Utah, emerged in 2017 out of frustration with the state's Republican supermajority for allegedly moving to the right and for limiting access for candidates to get on the ballot. The party's platform 'is not ideological,' and does not include firm stances on most issues, but instead outlines principles of transparency, free market solutions and increasing voter access. Similarly, the Forward Party, formed in 2021 by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, is not based on rigid policy goals. Instead, the organization focuses on election processes like ranked choice voting that the party says decreases partisanship and promotes problem solving. Last month, Utah Sen. Dan Thatcher became the first state lawmaker to leave the Republican Party to join the Forward Party, citing what he saw as a growing divide between what regular Utahns want and what elected representatives were doing in a polarized political environment. In response to Thatcher's announcement, which came on the final day of the 2025 legislative session, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he supported Thatcher's decision. 'I think it's healthy. We have different ideas,' Adams said. Neither the United Utah Party or the Forward Party appears to have ever nominated a candidate that has gone on to win a general election in Utah. The governing body of the merged United Utah Party-Forward Party will include members who previously served on the respective parties' executive committees.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Yahoo
Effort to restore Lindstrom's iconic coffee pot percolating
The Brief The coffee pot water tower in Lindstrom has been a fixture in the north metro for more than 30 years. Community members raised $12,000 to install a fog machine to simulate steam coming from the coffee pot's spout. The feature will debut on June 21. LINDSTROM, Minn. (FOX 9) - Something special is brewing in Lindstrom, where a local landmark is getting an update. What we know: From the statues of fictional immigrants Karl-Oskar and Kristina Nillson to the barn quilts on the buildings and the coffee pots in the local antique store, it's easy to see Lindstrom's Swedish roots run deep. Now an effort to revive the city's biggest nod to its Scandinavian heritage is going full steam ahead. The coffee pot water tower has been a local landmark in Lindstrom for more than 30 years. Standing 105 feet in the air along Highway 8 in Chisago County, the coffee pot with the words "Welcome To Lindstrom" in Swedish in giant letters, has become a symbol of the community as well as to passersby on their way to cabin country in Wisconsin. "It's a showstopper for people. If you google iconic water towers in the United States, I think we hit the top ten," said mayor Judy Chartrand. The backstory The water tower was originally built in 1908 and served the community for decades, until the city decided to build a new one in 1992. The plan was to demolish the old water tower until the owner of a local plastics company, Marlene Smith, suggested turning it into the world's largest Swedish coffee pot, even though some people believe it's a tea kettle. "It's a coffee pot, but we don't want to offend people. So we just say that's interesting, but it's a coffee pot," said Chartrand. Smith not only came up with the idea, she provided the design and funding to convert it and the coffee pot was on full display when the King and Queen of Sweden visited Lindstrom in 1996. During the royal visit, the pot had steam pouring from its spout, but that feature eventually stopped. "So it had steam originally in the early 90s, I think for a brief period of time. I vaguely remember as a young kid, seeing it or hearing about it, I can't quite remember," said Jason Quist, owner of Aerotek Heating and Air Conditioning. What they're saying Quist was enlisted to bring the steam back to the coffee pot after a group of community members decided to revive the feature. They sold miniature replicas of the water tower to raise the $12,000 dollars needed to turn their dream into a reality. Only this time instead of a steam boiler, Quist will install a fog machine to simulate steam at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily, which coincide with the Swedish tradition of Fika, where people in Sweden take a break to sit down and have coffee with friends a couple of times a day. "It'll give people driving through town several times and options to be able to catch it as they're stopping in, shopping, eating, and all of that. so it'll be pretty cool, " said Quist. City leaders hope the steam from the coffee pot will stimulate interest in visiting America's Little Sweden. After all, it already has the community buzzing like it did more than 30 years ago. "I would have never dreamed in a million years that an old water tower would become an icon like it is. I don't know why things become symbols as they do, but it's definitely a symbol for our area," said Chartrand. Digging deeper: For more information about the Lindstrom Coffee Pot Water Tower, click here.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Yahoo
Kent County man's charges tossed after terrorist threat law ruled unconstitutional
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A man police say threatened to kill people at a Rockford restaurant where he once worked is no longer facing a 20-year felony after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled a state law covering such threats is unconstitutional. A judge in Grand Rapids on Friday dismissed two felony counts against Jacob Tyler Vanderkooy and reduced his $200,000 bond now that the two most serious of his charges have been nixed. This comes one week after the Court of Appeals, in a case out of Wayne County, upended a 2002 state statute that made it a crime to make a terrorist threat or false report of terrorism. The three-judge panel called the law 'facially unconstitutional.' Its Feb. 13 opinion was published, meaning it is binding on lower courts. Based on that decision, Vanderkooy's lawyer asked Kent County Circuit Court Judge George Quist to dismiss the May 2024 charge of making a false report or threat of terrorism. 'This is a published opinion by the Michigan Court of Appeals. I am bound to follow it,' Quist said from the bench. Quist also dismissed a companion charge of using a computer to commit a crime. 'I'm not sure what the Michigan Supreme Court is going to do; that is not before the court right now,' he said. Quist dismissed the charges without prejudice, meaning they can be refiled should the Michigan Supreme Court reverse the lower court's opinion. The appeals court ruling was based on a 2023 case out of metro Detroit in which a 23-year-old man was accused of making threats via social media to a Trenton Public Schools student and a school. In the message, Michael Joseph Kvasnicka threatened to 'come to your school and shoot it up and blow it up like Columbine,' court records show. With the appeals court sending the case back to be dismissed, prosecutors statewide are bracing for a flurry of legal action asking that other pending cases be tossed. Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said the ruling affects five cases in Kent County. 'Hopefully the Legislature will be able to amend it and change it or the Supreme Court takes a look at it and overturns the Court of Appeals,' Becker said. 'In the meantime, we're sort of stuck with the decision and how to deal with it.' Three of the pending Kent County cases involve juvenile defendants. Also pending is the case of a man who garnered national headlines in September when he drove around a security checkpoint outside a rally for President Donald Trump in Walker and allegedly claimed to have explosives. , 65, was charged with four felony counts, including false report or threat of terrorism, and remains in jail awaiting trial. Becker said he anticipates a defense motion will be filed to have Nauta's charge dismissed. Court docs: Man claimed to have C4 at Trump checkpoint The 2002 statute made it a crime to make a terrorist threat or false report of terrorism. It carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $20,000. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office is asking the Michigan Supreme Court to weigh in, saying the appeals court ruling is 'egregiously mistaken.' 'Our position is that the statute is not unconstitutional, it requires a true threat of terrorism,' Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Maria Miller said in a statement. 'We clearly had that in the facts of our case.' Vanderkooy, accused in the Rockford threats, isn't completely off the hook. He still faces two felony charges: possession of methamphetamine, a 10-year felony; and aggravated stalking, which carries a five-year term. With the two most serious charges dismissed, the judge agreed to reduce Vanderkooy's $200,000 bond to $50,000 – 10%. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
