Latest news with #RobertGriffin
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP challenger notches a win in state appellate court decision
Apr. 9—A N.C. Court of Appeals ruling, one that has been temporarily blocked, may determine whether 65,000 voters — including 147 in Haywood County — cast legal ballots in the 2025 state supreme court race The stay gives the N.C. Supreme Court time to consider the lower court's ruling. The Friday decision by the Court of Appeals upheld N.C. Appellate Court Judge Robert Griffin's allegations that his loss for a state supreme court seat was because certain voters were improperly included in the final tally. Griffin lost to sitting N.C. State Supreme Court Judge Allison Riggs by 734 votes after two recounts. The majority opinion, issued by two Republican members of a three-judge panel, made it clear it had the authority to simply discard the challenged votes. Instead the ruling ordered that challenged voters be given 15 days to provide missing information. After that, a new tally would decide the race. In his lawsuit, Griffin challenged three categories of voters: 60,000 whose original voter registrations were missing a partial Social Security number or a driver's license number; 5,500 military and overseas absentee ballots where voter identification was not provided, and 267 votes from the adult children of North Carolina residents allowed to vote in the state. Before 2024, neither a driver's license nor Social Security number were required information, leaving voters who registered as far back as 20 years ago susceptible to a challenge from Griffin's lawsuit. Absentee overseas and military voters are not required by state law to provide identification in North Carolina and most other states, yet the Griffin lawsuit said that should have been the case and is challenging votes in this category in a handful of Democratic-leaning counties. U.S. citizens residing overseas are allowed to vote in the state where their parents reside, but the appellate court rules that applied to federal, not state, races. A consultant paid by the N.C. Republican Party searched voter registration data from 2004 until present and identified the 66,000 absentee voters to be included on the challenge list. Up in the air Robert Inman, director of the Haywood County Board of Elections, was at a loss of what to do early Monday. "We've not received state guidance yet," he said. "We're just trying to get our arms around (the ruling) right now. We don't need 100 different counties going in 100 different directions. We need to work through the process." In reality, the Haywood County election staff took a proactive approach by working with the challenged voters to clear up registration issues soon after Griffin raised the question. More than half on the list now have updated information. Should the appellate court decision stand, Griffin could possibly lose more votes in Haywood than he now has. An analysis of the party affiliation of the voters on the Haywood challenge list previously published included 60 Republicans, 56 unaffiliated voters, 28 Democrats and two voters from other parties. Long-time attorney Sybil Mann, who chairs the Haywood County Democratic Party, said staying the latest court ruling is standard. She predicted the N.C. Supreme Court, which has a Republican majority, would rule in favor of Griffin and that the case would end up in federal court. "The 60,000 people who voted believed they were voting legally, and that the administrative issue regarding not having a driver's license or Social Security number was cured when they voted by the showing their identification when voting," Mann said. "All those votes should be counted, and the lawsuit should be dismissed. He's a sore loser." Haywood County Sheriff Bill Wilke was an early Griffin supporter and was one of 50 law enforcement officers listed on Griffin's campaign website. In a text response for a comment, Wilke wrote: "An endorsement for Judge Griffin's was an endorsement, in conjunction with multiple law enforcement agencies and their supporting organizations, for an interpretation of our laws and constitution that best guarantee the rights of all to access of an impartial and equality based system of justice." In regard to the Haywood citizens who were angered that their votes could be discarded even though they did everything asked of them before voting, Wilke had this to say. "The end result was favorable for our system of justice and it's a win for the rule of law as it pertains to the conduct of elections as well as the Constitution." Penny Squires, a former Republican member of both the Haywood County and Buncombe County election boards, was beyond surprised her vote was being challenged. She found out when the Republican Party sent out postcards on behalf of those in several contested races telling the recipient his or her vote "may be affected by one or more protests filed in relation to the 2024 General Election." Voters were instructed to scan a QR code to view the protest filings. "I sit down and research all the candidates. A person's vote is not something you mess with," Squires said. She said if the lawsuit is successful, it will be a chilling precedent and could set the stage for more "nitpicking" going forward.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
University of West Florida gets $478K grant for robotics research
PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) — The University of West Florida's Institute for Human Machine & Cognition research team was awarded a $478,000 grant for 'the acquisition of advance robotics platforms,' according to a UWF news release. Fairhope is one of two remaining single-tax colonies in the U.S. — what it means The grant will enable IHMC to buy specialized equipment from the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program of the Office of Naval Research, the release said. UWF faculty members Dr. Robert Griffin, Dr. Matt Johnson, and Dr. Hakki Erhan Sevil worked together on the application process. Only 64 grants are reportedly awarded nationwide. 'The DURIP program equips universities to perform state-of-the-art research that boosts the nation's technological advantage, while ensuring that the future science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforce remains second to none' Johnson said. 'We're looking forward to the next phase of this work, which will allow us to take our state-of-the-art robotic systems out of the lab and into the real world.' 'This award is a significant milestone for the Intelligent Systems and Robotics program and a reflection of the outstanding collaborative work between UWF and IHMC,' said Dr. Brent Venable, director of the ISR program. 'The continued support from the Office of Naval Research is instrumental in enabling cutting-edge research, and this new equipment will provide our students and faculty with the tools they need to lead in the field of robotics. 'We're proud to contribute to both scientific advancement and the growth of high-tech innovation in our region.' Coffee creamer shipped to Alabama, Florida and Mississippi, among other states, recalled To learn more about the doctoral program in Intelligent Systems and Robotics at UWF, visit . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
With 38% stake, Escalade, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ESCA) seems to have captured institutional investors' interest
Institutions' substantial holdings in Escalade implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price 50% of the business is held by the top 8 shareholders Insiders have been selling lately Every investor in Escalade, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ESCA) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 38% to be precise, is institutions. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn). Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute. In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Escalade. Check out our latest analysis for Escalade Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index. We can see that Escalade does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Escalade's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Escalade. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Robert Griffin with 16% of shares outstanding. With 8.1% and 7.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, Thoroughbred Financial Services, LLC and Guagenti Family Limited Partnership are the second and third largest shareholders. We did some more digging and found that 8 of the top shareholders account for roughly 50% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat. Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar. The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO. Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances. Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Escalade, Incorporated. Insiders own US$54m worth of shares in the US$205m company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling. The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 27% stake in Escalade. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies. Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 9.1%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company. I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Take risks for example - Escalade has 2 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about. If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meriwether County school employees have not been paid since December
Meriwether County Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Griffin confirmed Friday morning that payroll issues had kept employees across the system from receiving their checks on time. According to the superintendent, January paychecks are having delays due to an 'internal error with our bank,' causing a delay in direct deposits. The district acknowledged the 'importance of timely payment and are actively working with our bank to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.' They said they were working to resolve the issue and appreciated their employees' patience while it was being corrected. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: Lawmakers introduce bill to increase Georgia teachers' amount of sick leave The Fish 104.7 is going off the air. Today is the last day you can listen 'I told everyone no:' Former purchasing manager says South Fulton mayor has a problem with spending However, the district also said that they weren't alone. 'This error was not isolated to the Meriwether County School District. We expect this to be sorted out shortly. We will keep you updated on the status as more information becomes available,' Griffin told Channel 2 Action News. Channel 2 Action News has asked for more information about the situation and is waiting for new details. The district did not provide an expected time for when the payroll issues would be fixed. Since the start of the year, Meriwether County is not the only metro area school district to see payroll issues, though with different reasons. The Henry County School District saw delays and paycheck issues for January but resolved them more than a week ago. A district spokesperson told Channel 2 Action News on Friday that while they'd expected to have payroll fixed by Jan. 29, they actually were able to resolve it even earlier, with personnel being paid Monday. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
