Latest news with #Ragan
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Johnstown fitness center partners with Special Olympics PA for program
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) — MorGainz Fitness West Hills in Johnstown is partnering with Special Olympics PA to help athletes work out together and build friendships. It's for the Unified Fitness Program, a 12-week fitness program that can occur during the off-season or in conjunction with seasonal sports training. According to Special Olympics PA, in Unified Fitness, athletes and Unified partners train together for one-hour-long sessions, twice a week. They're also provided a digital guidebook containing workouts, instructional videos, and health education. May 20 was the first session for the program. It will continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers needed for Special Olympics Pennsylvania summer games 'We want to give everyone the tools to be successful going forward. It's not just about these 12 weeks. It's about…knowing what things to eat…to stay hydrated… how to strengthen our muscles, and how important cardiovascular health is. All of those things are so important with this program,' Phoenix Stratemeier, Owner of MorGainz Elite Cycle & COO of MorGainz Fitness, said. Carly Cline is a coach for the program. She plans to teach spin, strength training and flexibility. 'I decided to be the coach because I have a child with special needs. So, I've been in and around the community for 20 years, and it was just something near and dear to my heart. And I just wanted to help,' Cline said. The program will coincide with the summer games in June, which is perfect for athletes like Ashlee Ragan. 'It will help me be more courageous in my attempts,' Ragan said. Ashlee is excited about getting medals and meeting new people. She said the box people try to put her and other people in won't stop her. 'They do it and they should not because we are capable of doing things,' Ragan said. If you are interested in being a unified partner, you can email cstein@ or message MorGainz Elite Cycle on Facebook. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mountain America Credit Union Wins National Recognition for Transforming Workplace Culture
Ragan Communications honors Mountain America with the Amazing Workplace Culture Award for its Team Member Experience Blueprint initiative SANDY, Utah, May 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mountain America Credit Union has been named the recipient of the Amazing Workplace Culture Award by the prestigious Ragan Employee Communications Awards, recognizing the credit union's exceptional rollout of its Team Member Experience (TMX) Blueprint—a transformative strategy aimed at building a thriving workplace rooted in purpose, trust and holistic well-being. A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available in this link. The award ceremony, held in Chicago on April 9, 2025, celebrated organizations nationwide that are redefining what it means to engage, inspire and support their team members. Mountain America stood out for its comprehensive and intentional approach to fostering a world-class culture, centered around six key drivers: meaningful work, productive environment, trusted leaders, growth and development, workplace culture and holistic well-being. 'Receiving this national recognition affirms that our focus on people and purpose is creating real impact,' said Trent Savage, chief human resources officer at Mountain America. 'The TMX Blueprint isn't just a set of values. It's a living framework that shapes how we support our team members each day. It ensures that culture is not left to chance but deliberately built.' The TMX Blueprint was introduced through an engaging, multi-phased internal campaign designed to spark curiosity, reinforce shared purpose and drive accountability. The launch included interactive communications, leadership alignment, and team-based discussions to bring the blueprint to life. Following the launch, a tailored culture survey measured progress and identified opportunities for improvement. The initiative culminated in action planning sessions across all levels of the organization, translating insights into meaningful change. Ragan's judges highlighted Mountain America's ability to not only define its desired team member experience but to act on it, making the abstract idea of 'great culture' tangible, trackable and deeply personal for team members. This honor reflects Mountain America's enduring commitment to cultivating a workplace where every individual feels empowered to grow, contribute and thrive. To learn more about Mountain America's community involvement, visit About Mountain America Credit Union With more than 1 million members and $20 billion in assets, Mountain America Credit Union helps its members define and achieve their financial dreams. Mountain America provides consumers and businesses with a variety of convenient, flexible products and services, as well as sound, timely advice. Members enjoy access to secure, cutting-edge mobile banking technology, over 100 branches across multiple states, and more than 50,000 surcharge-free ATMs. Mountain America—guiding you forward. Learn more at CONTACT: Contact: publicrelations@
Miami Herald
08-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Miami-Dade jurors opt for life over death for convicted murderer of small-time dealer
Jurors on Thursday spared the life of a man convicted last month of the brash murder of a small-time drug dealer over a decade ago, deliberating for just over an hour and extending a growing streak of distaste by Miami-Dade jurors of sending defendants to death row. In a hushed courtroom at Miami-Dade's downtown criminal courthouse, a court clerk read aloud the 12-member jury's decision to send convicted murderer Anthawn Ragan Jr., to prison for the rest of his life with no chance of parole. The jury's only other choice was death. Ragan, 30, who sat quietly for most of the week-long trial, often visibly shaking, showed some emotion after the verdict was read, bowing his head slightly. His mother was visibly shaken, sobbing under a burgundy-colored hoodie, her face hidden. The family of Ragan's victim, Luis Miguel Perez, sat silently. His mother Madrestia Figueroa spoke to the media briefly outside the courtroom. 'At least he won't be out on the street anymore hurting families like he did mine,' she said in Spanish. The state's lead prosecutor, Assistant Miami-Dade State Attorney Scott Warfman, and co-counsel Arvid Singh left quickly without a word. While Ragan's lead attorney Tony Moss — who defended his client's father on a murder charge in the 1990s — hugged Ragan's mother, then briefly quoted Shakespeare. 'This jury displayed the power of God,' he said. Though Ragan, who's been in prison since 2013 for the murder of Perez, managed to escape death row — it could be short-lived. The state is also seeking his death in the shooting death of a 10-year-old boy during the robbery of a nail salon just three weeks after Perez was killed. A three-week fatal crime wave State prosecutors say the Perez murder was the first leg of violence in a three-week crime wave by Ragan that ended in two deaths, two attempted murders and a vicious robbery at an all-night hamburger joint. The spree began with the Nov. 1, 2013, shooting death of Perez and ended with Nov. 22, 2013, murder of Aaron Vu, 10, at a nail salon in northwest Miami-Dade. Aaron's death shocked a community and led to vigils and prayer services. It's the only crime during Ragan's wave in which he has yet to be tried or convicted. In April, he was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Perez just outside his second-floor motel room. During the trial and sentencing, jurors watched video that showed Perez and a cohort named Terry Neely stalk Perez at the motel. At first, they went up to Perez's room, but he wasn't there. Then they drove off but stopped near the motel'sentrance and spoke to someone in another car before turning around and parking again near the steps of the building. Perez returned shortly after a visit to a convenience store across the street. After he walked up the steps to his room, Ragan is seen bounding up the steps, then firing at unarmed Perez several times. Neely — who may have added years to his sentence by reneging on a deal to testify against Ragan during the April trial — followed Ragan up the steps and fired at Perez repeatedly as he lay mortally wounded on the second-floor balcony. Then the two men raced down the stairs, got into a Nissan Maxima and took off — for a strip club. What was never answered at trial: A motive behind the shooting death of Perez. Then less than a week later on Nov. 7, a car Ragan was in pulled up next to a bicyclist as he rode his bike home early one morning. Prosecutors say Ragan, in the passenger seat, demanded money and shot the cyclist, Kevin Burke, as he tried to pedal away. Burke spent months in the hospital recovering. The case went cold until 2019, when investigators linked the weapon used to shoot Burke with the one used in the shooting death of Perez. Ragan was found guilty of the attempted murder of Burke. Two days after Burke was shot, Ragan tried to rip off a Northwest Miami-Dade Royal Castle before it closed just before sunrise. He was found guilty of several counts of aggravated assault and armed robbery during the incident in which he put a gun to the head of Numa-Alphonse Mitke, an employee who refused Ragan's order to open the store's safe. On the witness stand this week, Mitke said Ragan was determined to shoot her. 'You can shoot me if you want,' Mitke told jurors she told Ragan. 'But you're going to get caught. I remember I told him that.' Then on Nov. 22, prosecutors say Ragan and another man entered Hong Kong Nail Salon, 14832 NW Seventh Ave., with their guns drawn and collected more than $300 in cash and jewelry from customers and employees. But as they were leaving, investigators say, Ragan turned around and fired at Aaron and his father, killing the child and leaving Hai Nam Vu with a gunshot wound he would recover from. Ragan never had chance as a child During the week-long trial, Ragan's defense team argued his life should be spared because of a troubled childhood in which he regularly changed schools and committed crimes elevating to carjacking. They explained how his father was imprisoned for life on a murder charge while Ragan was still in his mother's womb and how several family members were absent during his upbringing, many serving time behind bars for serious crimes. Clincal psychologists told jurors how Ragan's emotions and ability to control his impulses weren't fully formed when he was 18 and committed the crimes. They said his IQ was in the 70s. At age 18, a normal IQ score is around 105, studies show. At one point during closing arguments Thursday, lead defense attorney Moss turned toward to Perez's family saying, 'We are truly and humbly sorry.' Moss argued that Death Row was a waste of time and money. He repeated statistics first brought up by a corrections expert who said Florida averages only 2.2 executions a year compared to the 3.6 people who die of old age each year while on Death Row. He said the average inmate was on Death Row for 30 years and that it cost the state $1.2 million a year for every Death Row inmate. Begging for his client's life, Moss told jurors either way Ragan would die before he ever leaves prison. 'He's a young man who did not have sufficient rebar in his concrete,' said the attorney. 'We don't have to do this. We don't have to go that far.' State prosecutors, meanwhile, had doctors testify that Ragan was not stupid, but manipulative, often answering test questions incorrectly on purpose. They said he would never be reformed in prison and deserved to die for the crimes he committed. They said that Ragan had wracked up more than two dozen write-ups in jail, mostly for fighting, but also for indecent exposure. Lead state prosecutor Warfman told jurors that Ragan was 'brazen' in his crime wave, disregarding and disrespecting life. He said video of the Perez shooting showed how it wasn't about robbery, but all for the 'thrill.' 'He left behind his path of destruction and pain,' Warfman said.
The Herald Scotland
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Chuck Ragan on King Tut's mishaps and fishing the River Tay
The singer-songwriter released his fifth solo album, Love and Lore in October last year. It's been a decade in the making, with Covid, family, fly fishing and his band, Hot Water Music, putting it on the back burner. Read More: Formed in Florida in 1994, Hot Water Music split in 1999 after releasing three LPs to scene success but not a whole lot beyond. Over time though the group's influence became apparent, their punk-Americana sound an evident inspiration for the likes of The Menzingers, The Gaslight Anthem and Against Me!. Having reformed for a second time in 2008, last year saw them play a series of 30th anniversary shows. Ragan says: "It's humbling man, 30 years is a long time to be doing anything. "If you want to live this type of life - and not just in music but any kind of independent art or expression - you have to make a ridiculous amount of sacrifices along the way. "There was a lot of reflecting on that, everything that we've done, everything that we had sacrificed to to still be standing here. "But the most important reflection to me was looking back at all the friends and the supporters, everybody who worked in the industry that had anything to do with supporting Hot Water Music along the the way. "But most importantly, our immediate family, our blood family, who I don't think ever have or ever will get enough credit. "Any of us who you seen on stage or on the marquee, they have just as much to do with all this as we do. "I mean, as clichéd as it sounds, it takes a village. It takes a it takes a family and a community to reach a milestone like that and to have that type of longevity." The singer-songwriter will bring his solo show to King Tut's in Glasgow on Monday, April 28 and it's a venue he's very familiar with. Ragan says: "I love King Tut's. "I remember Hot Water Music were playing somewhere else, but our friends the Murder City Devils were playing at King Tut's and we went down to check it out. "Derek, the bass player, jumped up and came down and broke his ankle really badly, like he destroyed his ankle. "We had to carry him to the car to ship him to the hospital - so that was a good memory of King Tut's! "Unfortunately the downside of touring and always working within the parameters of budgets and whatnot, more often than not we're only in town for one night. "Today's a perfect example, we're going to Grand Rapids, Michigan, we'll get into town at 4-5pm, we'll sound check, maybe have a chance to get something to eat, then we'll play the show, head to the hotel and wake up tomorrow and do it again in another town. "That's kind of the downside of touring when you visit amazing places like Glasgow and unfortunately you don't have a tonne of time to experience it. "Every once in a while though you get a little bit of down time, I have a good memory of fishing the River Tay years and years ago, that was a pretty incredible experience - it's some of the coldest water I can remember." Ragan is also the mind behind the Revival Tour, a touring folk-punk extravaganza which has brought the likes of Frank Turner, Dave Hause and Brian Fallon along for the ride around the world for more than two decades. He explains: "I never wanted people to look at it as my tour. I wanted people to to see a poster from across the road and whether they knew who was playing the show or not they just knew 'that's something worth seeing'. "The concept was to create a more or less a revolving showcase where the music never stopped. "My buddies and I typically play music with our heart on our sleeve. We love it and we'd be doing it whether it's a massive room full of people or if there was just a handful of people there - or even no-one. "Those are the those are the kind of songwriters I want to see, those are the musicians and that's the music that I would I would want to see. "It's the same for our solo shows, if it's real it's real and if it's in any way false you can smell it. "People understand where we're coming from, we're normal folks, normal guys. "If we're not making money playing music we're at home working jobs that we have to work to make ends meet and feed our families. "I think people can relate to that."
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Atana Recognized for Innovation and Technology in Ragan's 2025 Employee Communications Awards
Transformative Workplace Culture and Training Leader Named HR Tool/Service of the Year for 'Uncomfortable Conversations' Course Atana Wins Ragan Employee Communications Award BELLEVUE, Wash., April 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seeking to redefine workplace culture and training, Atana is proud to announce that it has been named a winner in Ragan's Employee Communications Awards. The Innovation and Technology Award for HR Tool/Service recognizes pioneering organizations like Atana that advance HR initiatives and significantly improve employee experience. The Employee Communications Awards, organized by Ragan Communications, is a highly competitive program that celebrates and recognizes the most outstanding internal communications campaigns and initiatives from the past year, shining a spotlight on companies and individuals who have excelled in fostering effective communication, engagement and collaboration within their organizations. Atana and the other finalists in this year's program were honored at a special industry event on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, where category winners were also revealed. Learn about the event and winning work here. Atana's 'Uncomfortable Conversations' course stood out among a diverse range of entries, showcasing excellence, creativity and strategic thinking in the Innovation and Technology category for HR Tool/Service. The judges recognized Atana for developing the fully interactive, behavior-based course designed to teach team managers how to navigate workplace discussions, which has earned several other industry awards and garnered praise from clients for its proven effectiveness. Atana CEO John Hansen commented, 'Employee communications remain a challenge for many organizations, especially when it comes time to have those uncomfortable conversations. Like Atana's other courses, this program uses relatable scenarios and behavioral analytics to help learners develop the skills needed to make positive changes. It's an honor to have our work recognized by Ragan as we continue to make workplace training more actionable and effective at scale.' Atana has been recognized for this accomplishment in a special write-up on Ragan's internationally read news website. To learn more about Atana's science-based approach to workplace training, visit About Ragan Communications Ragan Communications has been delivering trusted news, training and intelligence for more than 50 years to internal and external communicators and business executives via its conferences, webinars, training, awards, subscriptions and its membership divisions. Its daily news sites— and read by more than 600,000 internal and external communicators monthly. About Atana Bringing together decades of experience, award-winning courses, and a powerful analytics platform, Atana takes learners from best intentions to actionable and measurable behavioral change at scale. With Atana, employers can build more inclusive workplaces through engaging content and science-backed learning and development. For more information, please visit A photo accompanying this announcement is available at CONTACT: Note to editors: Trademarks and registered trademarks referenced herein remain the property of their respective owners. MEDIA CONTACT: The Devon Group atana@
