Latest news with #RichardDavis
Yahoo
06-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Utah debates in limbo as Utah Debate Commission founder exits blasting GOP
SALT LAKE CITY () — One of the founding members of the Utah Debate Commission (UDC) has announced his departure from the organization, alleging that it is 'under attack' from the GOP-controlled Utah state legislature. 'Since the legislature now seeks to become involved (in debates), thanks to efforts of our former governor and current Republican legislative leaders, the UDC is under attack,' wrote founding UDC member Richard Davis in a letter to 24 of his fellow board members on Monday announcing his departure. 'Obviously, now the Republican officials will have the power to determine the venues, the questions, the moderators, the thresholds for participation, and so on. So, it makes sense to them to take charge. It is a travesty for Utah voters,' Davis wrote. But multiple current and former board members who spoke to ABC4 say that behind the scenes, the decade-old organization that has executed Utah's federal and statewide general election debates, and more recently primary ones, has faced a messy history of being disorganized, excluding a Republican from its board, and accusations of being biased against the state's dominant party. Davis' departure also comes as the group's future, and the future of debates in Utah, is somewhat uncertain after the legislature decided not to fund the UDC anymore, instead giving to the University of Utah and the Hinckley Institute of Politics to join with Utah Valley University's Herbert Institute for Public Policy, run by Governor Gary Herbert, to 'establish a statewide non-partisan debate organization.' 'I knew partisanship would rear its ugly head, although I did not anticipate how much that would occur as well in Utah,' wrote Davis. 'I knew it would take vigilance to resist the governing party's effort to co-opt the UDC,' he added. Former Governor Gary denied that he or Republicans were trying to usurp control of the UDC in any way; rather, he said, that his idea was that if the legislature wanted a better debate organizing system, then they should fund it. 'Rather than control it, they're trying to make sure it's fair,' said Herbret. The goal that Richard has to make it fair is the same, and they'll fund it,' he said. A BYU Political Science Professor, Davis also founded the United Utah Party and has been openly critical of Republicans, including in his 2022 Deseret News Op-ed, where he first accused them of trying to 'strip away independence' from the commission. Davis told ABC4, and he outlines in his email, that the UDC fallout with Republicans escalated that year, after the decision to participate in primary debates and the Republican Party's backlash, which led to its refusal to have its candidates participate. 'I think a lot of the folks in the state were following the lead of their national counterparts who were saying don't participate in (the Commission on Presidential Debates), debates where you have supposed, what they considered supposed non-partisan settings because their board includes Democrats,' Davis told ABC4. But Republicans have alleged biases too, citing some of the moderators chosen by the commission. Like, in 2022, when Congressman Burgess Owens skipped his general election debate, citing a 'racist cartoon' from the Salt Lake Tribune, whose editor, Lauren Gustus, was the moderator. 'Since 2014, the Utah Debate Commission has proudly provided Utahns with fair, independent, and nonpartisan candidate debates,' said current GOP Co-Chair Becky Edwards via a statement. The commission has also faced criticism over its polling methods, which have allowed several third-party candidates to qualify for the stage despite the political reality that they likely wouldn't have a chance of winning in Utah. Davis maintains that the threshold was meant to balance fairness for voters outside the two-party system while weeding out non-serious contenders, and that he was in no way trying to unfairly benefit his third party. 'This threshold was set in 2013 or 2014, long before there was a United Utah Party, ' Davis said. 'And when I did become involved with the UUP, I stepped away from UDC.' Board rejects Republican Chief of Staff With those issues as the backdrop, in 2024, the board members who spoke to ABC 4 say Mark Thomas, the Utah Senate's Chief of Staff, had been asked several times by another founding member, Democrat Scott Howell who resigned in March after serving for 12 years, to join the board because of his experience in Utah elections and relationship with the legislature. Thomas was hesitant at first because of 2022, but ultimately agreed and began attending board subcommittee meetings. With approval from the board's executive committee, Thomas, a Republican, was then brought forward for a vote of ratification. But the board ultimately chose not to ratify Thomas, but did approve former Governor Gary Herbert in the same meeting. Davis took issue with Thomas's ability to be independent because he was appointed by Senate President Stuart Adams (R-Layton). But Thomas's actual role is Chief of Staff for the entire Senate, Democrats included, just as Adams is the President over the entire Senate. 'It wasn't that he was Republican, it was that he was a state government employee who was working directly for politicians,' Davis said, citing a board bylaw that prohibited politicians from being on the board. Rumors then started swirling among board members that Howell had offered Thomas a spot on the board in exchange for legislative funding. 'I never, ever, even once made reference to anything like 'help us get an appropriation and we'll give you a seat on the board,'' Howell said emphatically. 'Never. Ever.' 'I felt bad about the situation that Thomas had been misinformed that he was already on the board,' Davis said. But the experience left a sour taste for other board members who felt Thomas was treated poorly, made to wait on Zoom for 40 minutes while Davis and others debated his eligibility. Some also believed that Thomas wasn't let in because he was too conservative, and there was a double standard of allowing public university employees funded by the legislature, and other members with ties to politicians, but not Thomas. Future of the Utah Debate Commission The following legislative session, in 2025, the legislature stripped UDC of its funding in favor of the two universities, which did not even submit a formal appropriations request for the money. And despite the criteria for appointees to serve on the future debate committee outlined anywhere in state law, Herbert maintains that the Herbert and Hinckley Institutes will be able to create a non-partisan system. 'Our goal is to make sure there's a fair and balanced debate commission to make sure they're run professionally without bias,' he said. Davis believes the legislature gave the funding to the universities to dismantle UDC. '(The legislature) is expecting that we'll just fold and that their version, because it's got to be well funded by the legislature, will just be the prominent debate organization in the state,' Davis said. With the state funding of the UDC now gone and the new system not yet created, Davis urged the media coalitions to take over running the UDC for federal and statewide races. 'The media is the one organization left of the group that is truly independent,' Davis said. His outlook on the UDC's fate, however, was grim. Davis believes that the universities that have now been funded by the legislature will be controlled by the GOP purse strings. 'With no money, I'm not sure that there's a future there, which is very sad for me.' Edwards says the UDC will continue its mission of 'elevating political discourse and empowering voters,' though presumably they'll have to find private donors. Edwards said they are moving toward debates in 2026. 'The Utah Debate Commission continues its work and is actively preparing for the 2026 elections. We believe Utahns deserve fair and substantive debates, and we are proud to serve that public interest.' Editor's note: ABC4 is a member of the Utah Debate Commission with two company representatives on the board. The information for this story did not come from them. Latest headlines: Miss United States accuses GOP Rep. Cory Mills of threatening to release explicit videos of her School Guardian Program: State security chief explains Utah's newest approach to security and safety Utah debates in limbo as Utah Debate Commission founder exits blasting GOP Federal judge sides with a Utah religion that uses 'magic mushrooms,' citing new state law The longest winning streak in baseball history happened in SLC, and is now a film Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Finextra
19-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Danske Bank appoints Tjørntved Davidsen as chief AI officer and head of GenAI
We have appointed Kasper Tjørntved Davidsen as our new Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and Head of GenAI. 0 This appointment marks a significant step towards leveraging GenAI technology to unlock potential for our employees and deliver enhanced value to our customers. Over the past years, Danske Bank has made Generative AI technologies a strategic investment and a key part of our Forward '28 strategy and our digital and technology transformation, which includes move to public cloud, leveraging the latest technology, and investing in our data platform & artificial intelligence. With the appointment of Kasper Tjørntved Davidsen, we are accelerating our efforts to integrate Generative AI into our ways of working and create a better experience for our customers. 'Kasper's technical capabilities and extensive experience with executive leadership roles and large-scale digital transformations will be instrumental to realise our commitment to being frontrunners in the GenAI revolution within financial services and becoming an AI first bank ', says Richard Davis, Chief Technology Officer at Danske Bank. At Danske Bank, we have made Generative AI a priority Now more than a year ago, DanskeGPT was launched, and since then, it has been full speed ahead with GenAI with a focus on adoption, upskilling and training, and continued enhancements and releases of new Generative AI solutions. To date, we have launched 12 Generative AI solutions including DanskeGPT, DanskeAssist, GovDoc Assistant, and HR Assistant, with new solutions being continuously tested and launched. Almost 16.000 employees at Danske Bank use one or more of our internal Generative AI solutions every month, and 90% of all Danske Bank employees have participated in Generative AI trainings. Kasper Tjørntved Davidsen is impressed by the progress Danske Bank has made so far: 'As Generative AI has gained momentum over the past few years, it has become clear that the truly successful and forward-thinking companies are those that are intentional about AI and have a purposeful approach to adoption', he says and continues: 'From my perspective, this is where Danske Bank stands out in the sector. Danske Bank creates and delivers value for customers, employees and shareholders by combining proven technologies with Generative AI capabilities and innovations. With a strong executive vision of becoming an AI-first bank, Danske Bank is leading this transformation with meaningful action and clear intent.' A possible game changer At Danske Bank, we will continue to explore new opportunities and utilise Generative AI technology to innovate and strengthen our business. Frans Woelders, COO at Danske Bank elaborates further: 'AI is increasingly fundamental to our business growth and will be transformational in how we interact with and advise and support our customers. That is why it is a key focus area in Danske Bank. I am looking forward to seeing the progress we will achieve in the coming years under Kasper's leadership.'
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'It feels like a betrayal'
Lifelong Liverpool fan Carl Duffy, 41, was at Sunday's game with his daughter in the main stand, and said both of them booed Trent Alexander-Arnold's introduction."The reason we booed comes down to a number of things, some of which in isolation would make this scenario different but combined it was always going to lead to this," Duffy explained."Trent claims to be a local lad whose dreams came true, always talking about watching the 2005 Champions League trophy coming home from his house on Queens Drive. His idol was Steven Gerrard. Everything about him screamed 'he's just the same as us'."We identified with him, he was living our dream. To us it gets no bigger than Liverpool being on top and being part of that."In our minds nothing is bigger than Liverpool, that's how it is here. It feels like a betrayal, a backstab, like everything that was said before wasn't really true, or at least not as true as was portrayed."Richard Davis, 50, was at the game against Arsenal and also condoned the booing from some supporters."Alexander-Arnold is widely known as a local lad that is a Liverpool fan," he said. "I, and most fans, can't even begin to imagine how amazing it would be to be in his place so where's the respect to 'his' club?"If you genuinely love the club, and care, why would you run your contract down for the last year or so, to make sure that the club gets absolutely nothing to replace you after they have invested for the last 20 years in turning you into the superstar that you've become?"No-one begrudges any Liverpool player wanting to change their lives and go elsewhere if they want to, but go the right way. Go with respect and some class. Be honest and straight with the club, and don't play this 'will I, won't I?' game that he's been playing with them."I am a fan, and this does mean more. Alexander-Arnold would have been a legend of the club had he stayed. He would probably been in most fans' top 10 Liverpool players of all time - but I think that legacy has all gone now and he's really tarnished how he's left so badly."Read more on the debate around the reaction to Alexander-Arnold's exit
Business Mayor
04-05-2025
- Science
- Business Mayor
Greasing the wheels of the energy transition to address climate change and fossil fuels phase out
The global energy system may be faced with an inescapable trade-off between urgently addressing climate change versus avoiding an energy shortfall, according to a new energy scenario tool developed by University of South Australia researchers and published in the open access journal Energies . The Global Renewable Energy and Sectoral Electrification model, dubbed 'GREaSE', has been developed by UniSA Associate Professor James Hopeward with three civil engineering graduates. 'In essence, it's an exploratory tool, designed to be simple and easy for anyone to use, to test what-if scenarios that aren't covered by conventional energy and climate models,' Assoc Prof Hopeward says. Three Honours students — Shannon O'Connor, Richard Davis and Peter Akiki — started working on the model in 2023, hoping to answer a critical gap in the energy and climate debate. 'When we hear about climate change, we're typically presented with two opposing scenario archetypes,' Assoc Prof Hopeward says. 'On the one hand, there are scenarios of unchecked growth in fossil fuels, leading to climate disaster, while on the other hand there are utopian scenarios of renewable energy abundance.' The students posed the question: what if the more likely reality is somewhere in between the two extremes? And if it is, what might we be missing in terms of risks to people and the planet? After graduating, the team continued to work with Assoc Prof Hopeward to develop and refine the model, culminating in the publication of 'GREaSE' in Energies . Using the model, the researchers have simulated a range of plausible future scenarios including rapid curtailment of fossil fuels, high and low per-capita demand, and different scenarios of electrification. According to Richard Davis, 'a striking similarity across scenarios is the inevitable transition to renewable energy — whether it's proactive to address carbon emissions, or reactive because fossil fuels start running short.' But achieving the rapid cuts necessary to meet the 1.5°C targets set out in the Paris Agreement presents a serious challenge. As Ms O'Connor points out, 'even with today's rapid expansion of renewable energy, the modelling suggests it can't expand fast enough to fill the gap left by the phase-out of fossil fuels, creating a 20 to 30-year gap between demand and supply. 'By 2050 or so, we could potentially expect renewable supply to catch up, meaning future demand could largely be met by renewables, but while we're building that new system, we might need to rebalance our expectations around how much energy we're going to have to power our economies.' The modelling does not show that emissions targets should be abandoned in favour of scaling up fossil fuels. The researchers say this would 'push the transition a few more years down the road.' Assoc Prof Hopeward says it is also unlikely that nuclear power could fill the gap, due to its small global potential. 'Even if the world's recoverable uranium resources were much larger, it would scale up even more slowly than renewables like solar and wind,' he says. 'We have to face facts: our long-term energy future is dominated by renewables. We could transition now and take the hit in terms of energy supply, or we could transition later, once we've burned the last of the fossil fuel. We would still have to deal with essentially the same transformation, just in the midst of potentially catastrophic climate change. 'It's a bit like being told by your doctor to eat healthier and start exercising. You've got the choice to avoid making the tough changes now, and just take your chances with surviving the heart attack later, or you get on with what you know you need to do. We would argue that we really need to put our global energy consumption on a diet, ASAP.' The researchers have designed the model to be simple, free and open source, in the hope that it sparks a wider conversation around energy and climate futures.
BBC News
22-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Shrewsbury business to 'lose thousands' as flower show cancelled
The owner of a restaurant and hotel has said the cancellation of Shrewsbury Flower Show means they will lose out on "thousands" of Ditella runs The Loopy Shrew and bed-and-breakfast Darwin's Townhouse in the event, which was due to take place in August, was called off on Wednesday, with the organisers blaming rising costs, including National Insurance Ditella told BBC Radio Shropshire her businesses could lose as much as £10,000 in cancelled bookings as a result. Both the restaurant - with 12 rooms above it - and the B&B are popular with people travelling to Shrewsbury for the event, she said."All of our accommodation was fully booked as a direct result of the flower show," she said, adding that many guests returned every Ditella said she expected many of those reservations to be cancelled, which she said would have "a huge financial impact". But not everyone is expecting to lose out - one cafe even believes it might increase takings. Richard Davis, manager of the Quarry Kitchen Cafe, said security barriers for the flower show last year blocked one of its entrances. "We only had access from inside the leisure centre, which meant our trade dropped drastically from what we could have had," Mr Davis said. "We probably only took about a hundred-and-something [pounds] for the day," he added, estimating that most weekends the cafe earned closer to £1,000 each day. "Now we can have that trade, and see what we would have taken last year." Established in 1875, Shrewsbury Flower Show was for a time listed as the longest-running event of its kind in the world, but has faced a number of issues in recent was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, during the pandemic, while the popular fireworks were cancelled in 2022 due to a following year, a security alert saw the site evacuated in the evening and the event cancelled for the rest of the day. In a statement on Wednesday, Shropshire Horticultural Society, which organises the event, said it had spent more than £150,000 on security and barriers for the 2024 show and had faced other rising also blamed a hike in National Insurance contributions and the minimum Maelor Owen, chairman of the horticultural society, said the team had "struggled to put on a show that was financially viable for several years". 'In shock' He added that organisers were "looking very carefully at the long-term viability of the Shrewsbury Flower Show".Nineteen-year-old Maddie Hards said she went to Shrewsbury Flower Show "all the time" as a child and was "in shock" when it was called off. "I think it's a big thing for Shrewsbury to not have it, you think of Shrewsbury and you think of the flower show," she said, adding that "it's always been such a big part of the town.""I thought [the cancellation] was some fake news thing originally, and then I saw the statement from the horticultural society."It's unreal, it's mad." Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
