Latest news with #Ranson
RTÉ News
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
From sailor style to vintage Basq, 5 summer trends to check out
Summer style for 2025 is leaning into contrasts. From the influence of the Met Gala's dandy-inspired dress code to the return of powder pink and other Noughties staples, this season is less about reinvention and more about rethinking the familiar. So, whether you're investing in tailoring or experimenting with drop waists, these are the pieces shaping wardrobes right now – and how to wear them. 1. Masculine tailoring Following a flood of sharp blazers and suit trousers on the fashion week runways, the 2025 Met Gala centred its whole theme around dandyism and masculine tailoring. "Thanks to the Met, we are back and this trend is great for your capsule wardrobe," says celebrity stylist Ellis Ranson. "A key piece such as a blazer or tailored trouser can be worn in a variety of ways from day to night. Opt for oversized but controlled – we don't want to look like we are wearing someone else's clothes." Ranson says tailored pieces should be your wardrobe's new workhorse. Pair wide-leg trousers with a silk blouse for an evening look, or pair an oversized suit with trainers and a T-shirt in the day. "The key is contrast," says fashion expert and celebrity stylist Oriona Robb. "Oversized doesn't have to mean overwhelmed. Play with proportion and [incorporate] updated accessories." Adding feminine twists in the form of jewellery and fluid fabrics – such as silk, suede and linen – help soften the silhouette. 2. Powder pink You may remember 'millennial pink' that was popularised in the age of Tumblr. Now, the pastel shade is back – following spring's colour of the season butter yellow, powder pink is set to be the colour of the summer. But wearing pink doesn't have to make you look ultra feminine – as reds, browns and deep denims can edge up the look. "Powder pink is surprisingly such a versatile colour," says Ranson. "It fits into many of our favourite trends, from mono-dressing – or colour drenching – the boho style teamed with suedes, denim and even tassels if feeling fun. "Red is another great colour for spring that works perfectly with pink." However, if you're new to pink, colour drenching may not be your thing. If so, Robb suggests working pink into your wardrobe gradually. "If head-to-toe pink feels too saccharine, dip a toe in with a bag, a sandal or even a pair of sunglasses." 3. The Noughties tank top Back from the Y2K archives, the scoop neck tank top is having a moment. "Layering is your best friend," says Robb. "Start with a light linen shirt left open, an oversized blazer or even a waistcoat to break up the exposure." If you're not used to wearing this style of neckline, Ranson recommends pairing it with old faithfuls: "If you feel unsure about trying something new, always pair it with your favourite items, whether that's your favourite jeans or midi skirt. Play it safe when testing out a new trend or style." For a smarter look, pair a white scoop-neck vest with tailored trousers, a gold cuff and slouchy blazer. For a more casual one, wear with slouchy denim trousers, slimline trainers and vintage sunglasses. 4. Aye aye Captain Sailor style has come back beyond the classic Breton stripes this season. The nautical trend has had a luxe upgrade, combining styles of the French Riviera with relaxed city-girl chic. "Keep it playful, not costumey," says Robb. "Relaxed tailoring, chunky gold jewellery and a classic Breton stripe – maybe in an unexpected colourway or with an asymmetrical cut – and you can't go wrong." To make the seaside look work, Ranson swears by white jeans: "They work perfectly with a stripe and knits. "Just don't go full yacht club – no skinny jeans with boat shoes. Instead, go with a floaty dress or a short suit to keep it feminine." 5. Drop and Basque-waist dresses Drop and Basque-waist dresses are now the silhouette of the summer silhouette. The vintage shape feels unexpectedly fresh and flattering, but they can be tricky to wear. "These silhouettes can be surprisingly flattering," says Robb, "they draw the eye downward and elongate the torso. "Go for flowy fabrics that skim rather than cling, and styles with structure in the shoulders or bust to balance things out." If you're not totally comfortable with wearing drop waists, opt for a smocked bodice or structured detailing. While Basque waists are slightly easier to wear, Robb recommends going for one colour as opposed to a print that could look a little dated.
The Spinoff
16-05-2025
- Politics
- The Spinoff
Meet the kaiāwhina who volunteer to keep protesters safe
Since the first rally in support of the people of Gaza in 2023, seasoned activists knew there would be counter-protesters. They formed a group, Kaiāwhina Tāmaki, to de-escalate disruptions and keep people safe. 'Our first week, we were like a fruit salad,' says Bianca Ranson (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa), a long-time community organiser and activist. At the very first rally in support of Palestine at Auckland's Aotea Square on October 21, 2023, about 20 seasoned activists wore mismatched hi-vis vests – blue, orange, yellow, pink, green. They were what each had lying around at home or had borrowed to marshal the event. Thousands of people turned up wearing red, green, black and white, waving Palestine flags and bearing placards. On the edges of the crowd, a handful of counter-protesters appeared with Israel's white and blue flag, megaphones and their own placards. The marshals focused on de-escalation, but the counter-protesters were disruptive, and Ranson knew that they'd continue to appear at any future rallies. They needed to be more organised. A year and a half later, all the rally marshals wear fluro green vests with two reflective strips, a Tino Rangatira flag patch and the word 'Kaiāwhina' (helper, assistant, contributor, counsel, advocate) stencilled in black along the back. Some have radios with headsets, others have megaphones. When counter-protesters come, as they do every week, they're quickly blocked off from the main protesters with banners – some plain white, others painted with messages like 'nothing to see here' or 'Zionist here'. People attending the rallies are told to move along and not give the disruptors any energy. After that first rally, the group's formation 'happened very quickly,' says Ranson. The core group already knew each other thanks to years of intertwined kaupapa. But as their ability to deal with counter-protesters is growing, so are the threats they face. A community security or marshalling service isn't a new idea. Māori Wardens are one of the longest standing volunteer institutions in the country, established in the late 1800s to help maintain order within Māori communities and protect the rights and safety of Māori people. Today, they're regulars at large events including protests, visible in uniforms which include black ties, silver-button blazers and sometimes hats or hi-vis vests. Māori Wardens are known to watch out for people and de-escalate situations with an understanding of tikanga to resolve conflicts and steer away from violence. 'We kind of see them as our tuākana,' says Ranson. The newly forming Kaiāwhina group turned to them for advice and training. 'They've been very supportive and willing to share their knowledge and experiences with us.' When Kaiāwhina are asked to help at one-off events, they encourage the organisers to also reach out to the Māori Wardens for support. With the Palestine rallies, 'we can't expect Māori Wardens to be down there every single week for 18 months. We just wanted to be able to organise ourselves.' There are more than 120 Kaiāwhina from different activist groups and communities who volunteer their time, and their services aren't restricted to Palestine events. They have marshalled the Auckland stretch of Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation strike in December 2024 and the Pride Parade march earlier this year as well as the weekly Palestine rallies. They run social media accounts that give people advice on how to stay safe at protests. Currently, they're fundraising for radios and getting ready for self-defence workshops. There's one belief that ties the Kaiāwhina together – that people have the right to be safe while protesting and that the police do not provide that safety. Their un-official motto is: 'We keep us safe'. As the conflict in Gaza continues, so do the weekly rallies. Over the 18 months the political moment has 'heightened' and 'people are feeling a little bit more emboldened,' says Ranson. In recent months, there's been increasing awareness that Kaiāwhina need to keep themselves safe as well as others. Starting this month, self-defence is being incorporated in their regular training, and while they extend their marshalling services beyond Palestine rallies, they won't marshal events where they don't believe they'll be safe – because of the kaupapa or because organisation is lacking. A core belief guiding the Kaiāwhina is that everyone should be able to protest safely as long as they aren't harming others. Ranson tentatively stretches this out to the counter-protesters. 'Hold your own event, if you want to hold your own protest,' she says, 'don't consistently come and intentionally enter into our space to create harm.' Ranson says that at first the Kaiāwhina wondered, 'Whoa, who's this guy? Who are these guys?' but now they recognise most of them, know their names and can trace which groups or ideologies they're associated with. Many, she says, are members of Destiny Church, though they don't usually turn up with the same force or visibility as they did in October last year outside TVNZ. When members of Destiny Church's group Man Up gathered outside the rainbow story time event at Te Atatū Community Centre on February 15, Kaiāwhina were alerted. Trav Mischewski, who is also a member of the Tāmaki Street Medics collective, says that a message pinged on his screen saying 'there's a shit ton of Destiny Church people here. It's feeling really tense. We would love for some Kaiāwhina to turn up'. He put his first aid kit in the car and began the half-hour drive there. Another message came shortly after saying to hold off because there were concerns that the presence of Kaiāwhina could escalate tensions. Mischewski waited in a carpark around the corner for a few minutes before popping into the library 'incognito' without his kit or hi-vis. He remembers that a librarian was on the phone trying to get police officers to come, and then the violent entry. 'I've protested in front of all sorts of scary, ugly, tough people, and I didn't think it was gonna affect me that much,' he says. 'It still affects me'. In late March, seven people who were arrested following the event appeared at Waitākere District Court. They were charged with assault, indecent assault and injuries with intent. While an application for interim name suppression was denied for six of them, it was immediately appealed, meaning the defendants cannot yet be named. All defendants were remanded on bail. They are not to threaten or use violence, not be within 100m of the Te Atatū Library or have contact with the complainants. 'They're [Destiny Church counter protesters] extremely dangerous,' says Ranson. 'People need to understand they're not just annoying, they've proven that they will use violence.' She says that at the weekly Palestine rallies, the counter-protesters yell 'all of their usual Destiny Church kind of things about terrorists and Islam and immigrants that is just completely abhorrent'. Ranson believes that the counter-protesters are trying to provoke reactions to create content for social media. 'It's pretty much all about content.' In response, Kaiāwhina run safety briefings at the beginning of rallies asking people to ignore counter-protests. Kaiāwhina have noticed that where once disruptions would be livestreamed onto Facebook, now only snippets are uploaded. The police are part of the equation too. Mischewski says the police are contacted in advance to advise about protests as a sort of olive branch. He says while police are 'not allies', the relationship has improved as the weekly Palestine protests have gone on. 'They are generally way more inclined to listen to us and respect our wishes and acknowledge that we too want to keep the peace.' Mischewski knows that they will step in if things 'get really out of hand' but Kaiāwhina aim to diffuse and prevent harm much before that. 'Ultimately we want the police to not be needed.' Being a Kaiāwhina is showing Mischewski glimmers of something bigger. 'Kaiāwhina has been a really beautiful sort of meeting point,' he says. He's seeing people from different organisations and kaupapa turn up to support each other, he's seeing skills and knowledge shared and spread, he's seeing the building of alternative structures and people attuning themselves to question, 'How can we look after each other in a way that is meaningful and matters?'
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New OSDE school standards come with $33 million price tag
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The newly proposed school standards submitted by the Board of Education are coming with a $33 million price tag, and lawmakers could have the board take another look at them. The resolution was filed late Thursday by Senator Adam Pugh (R-Edmond) to reject the standards that were submitted. Which means if this resolution makes its way through the legislature and is fully approved, the standards would go back to the board. 'We had to file that resolution on Thursday. So, I just felt like it was the right thing to do,' said Sen. Pugh to News 4 before his guest appearance on Flashpoint this Sunday. 'So, that is the cost of going through this textbook adoption cycle. When you write a new curriculum of standards and you go through that process, then you have to issue an RPF (Request for Proposal). The cost that taxpayers are going to have to foot the bill for is a consideration for us as the legislature. So, we're being very careful and scrutinizing every single dollar that we're going to send to state agencies.' The resolution mentioned that there were questions regarding the transparency of the standard's adoption process. It states that the board was given the latest version of the standards at 4 p.m., when they were going to be voted on the next morning. The board members battled with Supt. Ryan Walters at the Thursday board meeting over the fact that the standards they saw online and available to the public weren't like the ones they got the evening before the vote at the board meeting. There were many changes made to the standards, some included asking kids to identify irregularities in the 2020 presidential election, using means that have been debunked largely in the courts. Another was identifying the location of COVID-19 originating from a Chinese lab in Wuhan, as well as many other controversial topics. Senate leader taking a 'second look' at social studies standards 'I just felt like it was the right thing to do,' said Sen. Pugh. 'What I've been told by the school districts in my area is that the big vendors, the big curriculum vendors that they're using already don't want to touch our standards,' said Rep. Trish Ranson (D-Stillwater). Rep. Ranson said that many of her school districts have voiced concern over the most current proposed standards. She mentioned Prager U and The Heritage Foundation. Both of them were involved in the committee when the standards were being put together. 'So, what my district is telling me is that they are seeing The Heritage Foundation and Prager U as the two options for curriculum coming forward,' said Rep. Ranson. 'This leaves Prager U as, oh, we have curriculum that you could use. That just reeks of inside dealing.' The Heritage Foundation sells books and provides curriculum resources for those who need them. Right now, teachers have access to Prager U teacher supplemental material for free. It's unknown if PragerU would be interested in participating in the RFP process if these standards do get final approval. News 4 reached out to the media contact for PragerU, and a representative responded immediately saying they would try to get a response. Board clashes with Supt. Walters over social studies standards PragerU has partnered with Idaho for its social studies standards. On Prager U's website, it said that the department of education there had approved a list of more than 400 PragerU resources, including videos, books, lesson plans, and worksheets aligned with the state's K-12 Social Studies standards. PragerU's website also stated that they 'are not an accredited university, nor do we claim to be. We don't offer degrees, but we do provide educational, entertaining, pro-American videos for every age. View counts represent cumulative views from our website and social media channels.' Superintendent Ryan Walters, in their recent annual report, said this about the organization, 'There's no better example of a curriculum that rips the soul out of the liberal takeover of our schools than providing PragerU to every Oklahoman student.' Rep. Ranson said that the time is ticking as the textbook adoption cycle starts in August. RFP's are sent out for bids, the superintendent chooses which ones get the contracts, and then the 2026 school year starts for the ones chosen. 'Let's reject the standards and hold our current standards for now, and come back to it at the next adoption cycle,' said Rep. Ranson. So far, three of the board members, the governor, and several Senate and House Democrat lawmakers have asked for the standards to be sent back to the board. The resolution that was filed by Pugh could end up on the governor's desk if it is voted in both houses at the Capitol. An OSDE spokesperson was asked for comment on the filing from Pugh to reject the standards, and they are choosing not to comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tariff troubles: Outdoor gear company faced with pausing shipments as costs skyrocket
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – American-based companies that do business overseas are tracking every tariff development closely. Among these companies is Showers Pass in Portland. The outdoor gear company relies heavily on a specific factory in mainland China. CEO Kyle Ranson said around 80% of their products are made in China and then shipped to the U.S. But since these new tariffs, they have paused those shipments. Ranson said the tariffs have made it too expensive to ship their product into the States. Two children found dead in family home attended Cornelius Elementary School 'So we're in a crazy situation where we have finished product in our factory that our consumers and customers want and need, and we don't dare move it because we don't have the cash flow to pay the tariffs,' he said. Ranson said something that is not being talked about as much is the tariffs that were already in place. When you add the latest ones on top, he said they are looking at closer to a 200% rate. 'A $100 jacket is now $300 just coming into the country,' Ranson said. '$1 million shipment, we would have to find $2 million of free cash flow just to pay the government for the privilege of bringing it into the country. It's impossible.' Making their gear in America would help them avoid the tariffs, but Ranson said they have a highly technical product and making it requires a skillset that does not exist in the U.S. Even if they wanted to change factories, Ranson said it is a process that could take years. Showers Pass does have other factories in Vietnam, Taiwan, and South Korea — all countries that have also seen new tariffs. 'Deeply emotional': Ringside Steakhouse remains closed after kitchen fire George Dolack with Showers Pass said at this rate, what you find in the store could start to change. 'We can really only invest in, you know, the surest buyer thing,' he said. 'So we're looking at a contraction of our product line over the next year so that we can ensure that we can keep those styles in stock. So that's a big challenge to making it really hard for us to grow and expand our line.' With tariffs this steep, Ranson said passing price hikes onto the customers would be unrealistic, but it does make it harder for the business to profit. 'If you're a consumer and you have $100 or $150 to spend on a jacket, and now you're told that same jacket is $450, you're just like, 'I'm not buying the jacket,'' he said. 'It is no longer affordable for our target market, for our consumer.' Ranson said with those halted shipments, business is basically stalled and they do not have many answers for what is next. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
