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The Citizen
11 hours ago
- Sport
- The Citizen
They are happy to be watched by drunkards
They are happy to be watched by drunkards SEDIBENG.- The so-called kasi football is slowly taking over organised football in the Vaal. It seems these young soccer stars idolise this so-called kasi football over structured football. However, Zakes' Sports Corner doesn't blame them, they were told that playing these kasi games is better than playing league matches, because the scouts might see them. There is no more respect for playing organised football, which falls under the South African Football Association (SAFA) structures. These players have been told that if they want to play at the highest level of football, playing this so-called kasi football will make their dreams come true. Really! In the past, playing football under SAFA structures was the wish of any boy growing up in the community. But not now! To some, playing leagues and organised football is just a waste of time. They would rather be happy to be watched by drunkards at the 'kasi football'. Please, don't misunderstand Zakes' Sports Corner, there is nothing wrong with playing those kasi football or community tournaments. But it is concerning when the youngsters choose them over structured football. It is not a secret that the standard of SAFA at the regional and LFA levels is not the same as before. As things stand, it has been a while since this region has had a team in the top-flight football. This is because 'kasi football' is more important than playing under SAFA structures. My point is that tournaments are being played all over Sedibeng. Gone are the days when playing under SAFA structures was a top priority. Like Zakes' Sports Corner said earlier, the youngsters have been misled by a certain individual that playing this 'kasi football' is better than wasting their time playing league matches. They were told that by playing kasi football, they stand a chance of being seen by the scouts. Se Voet! There is no doubt that this region is blessed when it comes to talented footballers; stats don't lie. This region is the breeding ground of South African football. How did we end up here as a region? No one knows! Zakes' Sports Corner believes that it is not too late to start over and go back to the way we used to respect structured football. It is not as if Zakes' Sports Corner hates kasi football or these community soccer tournaments. No, but there must be respect for structured football. These youngsters must know that playing under the SAFA structure is more important than playing so-called kasi football. This region deserves better when it comes to football. History has no blank pages! At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Milwaukee killer Maxwell Anderson played Netflix series with mutilation the night he killed Sade Robinson, juror says
The jury that convicted 34-year-old Maxwell Anderson June 6 in the killing and dismemberment of 19-year-old Sade Robinson took less than an hour to render a decision and were informed of new evidence once the trial concluded. "Everyone agreed pretty early on in the morning that he was guilty," juror Melissa Blascoe said. Most of the short time in the jury room was spent looking meticulously at the law to decide whether to convict him of first-degree intentional homicide or first-degree reckless homicide, she said. Anderson was found guilty on all counts: intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, hiding a corpse and arson. Blascoe, a 33-year-old social worker, said it was revealed in post-trial meeting with the prosecution that on the night of Robinson's murder, Anderson turned on the Netflix series "Love, Death & Robots" while Robinson was inside the home. During the final episode of volume two of the animated series, a corpse is dismembered on a beach. The prosecution believes Anderson dismembered Robinson on a small beach at Warnimont Park in Cudahy. "I was like, oh, ... that's disgusting because that could have been where he got some of his ideas or fantasies," Blascoe said. A "turning point" in the case for Blascoe was the last day of testimony, June 5, when jurors were shown disturbing and graphic images of Robinson inside Anderson's home that were deleted from the phone. "That was pretty damning evidence that shook everyone," she said. "I physically felt like I was gonna throw up at that point. I know a lot of people were shaking and crying." Blascoe said it was the turning point for her because "that was really the first time they put Sade at his house and we could physically see that. It put the nail in his coffin, so to say." Blascoe described how before that moment the prosecution team, led by Assistant District Attorney Ian Vance-Curzan, were showing jurors grainy or darkened footage in the early morning hours that didn't clearly show Anderson driving Robinson's car before torching it outside an abandoned home on the city's north side. "There was just a lot of video footage and a lot of it didn't make sense because he was just making circles around the city and probably just kind of panicking," Blascoe said. Blascoe felt the prosecution did their job of proving intent to kill Robinson, noting a graphic photo of Anderson holding Robinson's right breast as she lay incapacitated. Robinson's right breast is among her body parts that haven't been recovered. "This is his trophy in a way," Blascoe said of Anderson. "Those pictures will be in my mind for quite some time." As Blascoe sat in the courtroom for two weeks after being called for jury duty, which was the case for 14 other people, she was vaguely familiar with the case after seeing it in the news in April 2024, but hadn't followed it closely since then. She didn't think she was going to be picked after revealing during jury selection that she previously worked for Child Protective Services and dealt with Children's Court often. Blascoe said jurors grew anxious after hearing the extreme nature of the crime. "I don't think anyone was ready to see the defendant at the table," she said. There was way more agreement than dissent amongst the jury for the 45 minutes they discussed the case, she said. It was mainly following the jury instructions and the law, Blascoe said, adding that everyone got a chance to speak and ask questions. "I feel I can walk away with a clean conscience," she added. "If anything, I'm walking away from this experience just knowing that there's good humans out there." In addition to meeting with Judge Laura Crivello after the trial, the jurors also met the prosecution and defense teams where evidence was discussed that wasn't presented at trial. As the jurors departed the post-trial meetings, they didn't receive a definite answer on why Anderson killed Robinson. "It was like speculative," Blascoe said. "Obviously, there was some planning that went into this." Anderson will be sentenced Aug. 15. He faces a mandatory life sentence, but part of that could be extended supervision. Crivello will make the final decision. The Journal Sentinel also reached out to several other jurors and have not yet heard back. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Maxwell Anderson played Netflix show the night he killed Sade Robinson
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Milwaukee killer Maxwell Anderson played Netflix series with mutilation the night he killed Sade Robinson, juror says
The jury that convicted 34-year-old Maxwell Anderson June 6 in the killing and dismemberment of 19-year-old Sade Robinson took less than an hour to render a decision and were informed of new evidence once the trial concluded. "Everyone agreed pretty early on in the morning that he was guilty," juror Melissa Blascoe said. Most of the short time in the jury room was spent looking meticulously at the law to decide whether to convict him of first-degree intentional homicide or first-degree reckless homicide, she said. Anderson was found guilty on all counts: intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, hiding a corpse and arson. Blascoe, a 33-year-old social worker, said it was revealed in post-trial meeting with the prosecution that on the night of Robinson's murder, Anderson turned on the Netflix series "Love, Death & Robots" while Robinson was inside the home. During the final episode of volume two of the animated series, a corpse is dismembered on a beach. The prosecution believes Anderson dismembered Robinson on a small beach at Warnimont Park in Cudahy. "I was like, oh, ... that's disgusting because that could have been where he got some of his ideas or fantasies," Blascoe said. A "turning point" in the case for Blascoe was the last day of testimony, June 5, when jurors were shown disturbing and graphic images of Robinson inside Anderson's home that were deleted from the phone. "That was pretty damning evidence that shook everyone," she said. "I physically felt like I was gonna throw up at that point. I know a lot of people were shaking and crying." Blascoe said it was the turning point for her because "that was really the first time they put Sade at his house and we could physically see that. It put the nail in his coffin, so to say." Blascoe described how before that moment the prosecution team, led by Assistant District Attorney Ian Vance-Curzan, were showing jurors grainy or darkened footage in the early morning hours that didn't clearly show Anderson driving Robinson's car before torching it outside an abandoned home on the city's north side. "There was just a lot of video footage and a lot of it didn't make sense because he was just making circles around the city and probably just kind of panicking," Blascoe said. Blascoe felt the prosecution did their job of proving intent to kill Robinson, noting a graphic photo of Anderson holding Robinson's right breast as she lay incapacitated. Robinson's right breast is among her body parts that haven't been recovered. "This is his trophy in a way," Blascoe said of Anderson. "Those pictures will be in my mind for quite some time." As Blascoe sat in the courtroom for two weeks after being called for jury duty, which was the case for 14 other people, she was vaguely familiar with the case after seeing it in the news in April 2024, but hadn't followed it closely since then. She didn't think she was going to be picked after revealing during jury selection that she previously worked for Child Protective Services and dealt with Children's Court often. Blascoe said jurors grew anxious after hearing the extreme nature of the crime. "I don't think anyone was ready to see the defendant at the table," she said. There was way more agreement than dissent amongst the jury for the 45 minutes they discussed the case, she said. It was mainly following the jury instructions and the law, Blascoe said, adding that everyone got a chance to speak and ask questions. "I feel I can walk away with a clean conscience," she added. "If anything, I'm walking away from this experience just knowing that there's good humans out there." In addition to meeting with Judge Laura Crivello after the trial, the jurors also met the prosecution and defense teams where evidence was discussed that wasn't presented at trial. As the jurors departed the post-trial meetings, they didn't receive a definite answer on why Anderson killed Robinson. "It was like speculative," Blascoe said. "Obviously, there was some planning that went into this." Anderson will be sentenced Aug. 15. He faces a mandatory life sentence, but part of that could be extended supervision. Crivello will make the final decision. The Journal Sentinel also reached out to several other jurors and have not yet heard back. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Maxwell Anderson played Netflix show the night he killed Sade Robinson
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Willamette Valley Vineyards Posts Results for Q1 2025
SALEM, Ore., May 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Willamette Valley Vineyards, Inc. (NASDAQ:WVVI) (the "Company"), a leading Oregon producer of Pinot Noir, generated a loss per common share after preferred dividends of $0.26 and $0.22 for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 respectively, an increase of $0.04, for the three month period ended March 31, 2025 over the same three month period in the prior year. Sales revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 was $7,541,583 and $8,803,080, respectively, a decrease of $1,261,497, or 14.3%, in the current year period over the prior year period. This decrease was caused by a decrease in revenues from distributor sales of $1,285,815, partly offset by an increase in direct sales to consumers of $24,318 in the current year's three-month period over the same period in the prior year. Gross profit for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 was $4,759,108 and $5,272,722, respectively, a decrease of $513,614, or 9.7%, in the first quarter of 2025 over the same quarter in the prior year. This decrease was primarily the result of a decrease in sales through distributors. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 was $5,629,086 and $5,875,299, respectively, a decrease of $246,213, or 4.2%, in the current quarter over the same quarter in the prior year. This decrease was primarily the result of a decrease in selling expenses of $60,072, or 1.5% and a decrease in general and administrative expenses of $186,141, or 10.1% in the current quarter compared to the same quarter last year. General and administrative expenses decreased in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same quarter of 2024 primarily as a result of lower legal costs. Net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 was $728,981 and $521,805, respectively, an increase of $207,176, or 39.7%, in the first quarter of 2025 over the same quarter in the prior year. The increase in net loss for the first quarter of 2025, compared to the comparable period in 2024, was primarily the result of lower case sales to distributors in 2025. Jim Bernau, Founder and President of the Company said "This first quarter reflects the current challenges in national distribution through our wholesalers. In order to help address these challenges, we have hired Mike Osborn as our new Chief Executive Officer. Mike, who was the founder of will bring to the Company extensive experience in the wine industry." For a complete discussion of the Company's financial condition and operating results for the first quarter 2025, see our Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2025, as filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR. Willamette Valley Vineyards, Inc. is headquartered at its Estate Vineyard near Salem, Oregon. The Company's common stock is traded on NASDAQ (WVVI). This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, referred to as the "Securities Act", and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, referred to as the "Exchange Act". These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company's business, and beliefs and assumptions made by management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates", "predicts," "potential," "should," or "will" or the negative thereof and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements due to numerous factors, including, but not limited to: availability of financing for growth, availability of adequate supply of high quality grapes, successful performance of internal operations, impact of competition, changes in wine broker or distributor relations or performance, impact of possible adverse weather conditions, impact of reduction in grape quality or supply due to disease or smoke from forest fires, changes in consumer spending, the reduction in consumer demand for premium wines, and the revenues or costs for any of our tasting rooms and restaurants exceeding our expectations. In addition, such statements could be affected by general industry and market conditions and growth rates, and general domestic economic conditions. Many of these risks as well as other risks that may have a material adverse impact on our operations and business, are identified in Item 1A "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following is the Company's Statement of Operations for the three months ended March, 31, 2025 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2024:Three months endedMarch 31,20252024 SALES, NET$ 7,541,583$ 8,803,080 COST OF SALES 2,782,4753,530,358 GROSS PROFIT 4,759,1085,272,722 OPERATING EXPENSES: Sales and marketing 3,967,7104,027,782General and administrative 1,661,3761,847,517 Total operating expenses 5,629,0865,875,299 LOSS FROM OPERATIONS (869,978)(602,577) OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE) Interest expense, net (298,221)(229,678)Other income, net 142,47698,043 LOSS BEFORE INCOME TAXES (1,025,723)(734,212) INCOME TAX BENEFIT 296,742212,407 NET LOSS (728,981)(521,805) Accrued preferred stock dividends (563,177)(563,177) LOSS APPLICABLE TO COMMON SHAREHOLDERS $ (1,292,158)$ (1,084,982) Loss per common share after preferred dividends, basic and diluted $ (0.26)$ (0.22) Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding, basic and diluted 4,964,5294,964,529 View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Willamette Valley Vineyards Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Wire
06-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
ServiceNow Reimagines CRM for the AI Era to Sell, Fulfill, and Service on One Unified Platform Providing Exceptional End-to-End Experiences
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Knowledge 2025 – Today, at ServiceNow's annual customer and partner event, Knowledge 2025, ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW), the AI platform for business transformation, unveiled the next milestone in its groundbreaking CRM designed to disrupt an industry long dominated by outdated, overbuilt systems. In a bold move to challenge the status quo, ServiceNow reimagines CRM for the AI era to sell, fulfill, and service on one unified platform to drive exceptional end-to-end experiences. AI-powered CRM orchestrates work across departments for fast, seamless experiences across the entire customer lifecycle, reducing time spent swiveling between applications and customer requests. In addition, ServiceNow announced new AI agents for CRM that can complete tasks autonomously, scale call centers and sales teams, and make true self-service a reality. Traditional CRM serves as a system of record ending at the front office, putting customer acquisition and retention at risk. ServiceNow CRM is built for an AI-first world, providing personalized and proactive experiences across the entire customer lifecycle. The ServiceNow AI Platform connects workflows across systems and departments, eliminating inefficient processes tied together by spreadsheets, shared inboxes, and human middleware. ServiceNow CRM is growing at an impressive rate as customers demand a better way to connect sellers, agents, and field technicians all on the same unified platform. CRM is the company's fastest-growing workflow business with annual contract value (ACV) of $1.4 billion, growing 30% year-over-year as of year-end 2024 1. The entire customer experience resides on a single platform supercharged with agentic AI capabilities, so businesses can deliver what customers want quickly, drive increased productivity, boost revenue opportunities, and foster a whole new level of customer loyalty. 'ServiceNow is delivering a groundbreaking new vision for CRM that transforms the entire customer experience around the powerful capabilities of AI. Far beyond rebranded chatbots, we're enabling our customers to orchestrate end‑to‑end sales and service on a single AI-powered platform, helping organizations manage the entire customer lifecycle with greater efficiency,' said John Ball, ServiceNow EVP and GM of CRM and Industry Workflows. 'ServiceNow does things differently – delivering complete workflow automation from order capture through fulfillment, allowing customers to focus on value-added selling and delivering exceptional service to their own customers, not wasting time tangled up in out-of-date systems.' ServiceNow CRM partner The Whole Group has experienced the power of seamlessly connected data and AI-powered workflows that maximize revenue, profit, and operational efficiency. The company has both accelerated time to value and decreased the cost of business model transformation by 40% when its customers leverage ServiceNow for CRM and build AI-powered customer journeys on the ServiceNow AI platform. "ServiceNow's vision for modern CRM fuels The Whole Group's ability to rapidly design and deploy the AI-powered, dynamic, and intelligent business models needed to compete and lead. The ServiceNow AI Platform enables us to accelerate transformation and reduce technical complexity for our customers, so they can implement more innovative solutions that maximize revenue, profit, and operational efficiency,' said Paul Andrew, cofounder & co-CEO, The Whole Group. AI Agents power seamless, intelligent customer experiences Today's customers expect more than fast service—they want personalized, proactive experiences that anticipate their needs and resolve issues without friction. New capabilities in ServiceNow CRM deliver intelligent solutions to help businesses shift from reactive customer service to proactive engagement and ensure consistent end-to-end service experiences across departments. ServiceNow today unveiled CRM AI Agents, a suite of specialized AI agents designed to autonomously orchestrate and complete tasks across the entire customer lifecycle—from selling and fulfilling to servicing. Unlike traditional automation requiring predefined rules, these AI agents can dynamically determine the best course of action by resolving inquiries instantly, routing complex cases with full context, and managing workflows across departments. These agents start with conversational interactions to capture customer requests, and can then seamlessly manage the entire fulfillment process, coordinating with live agents when human intervention is needed. At ServiceNow, AI agents are already automating 37% of the company's customer support case workflows. By scaling live call center agents, they boost efficiency, accelerate resolutions, and enhance customer engagement, enabling businesses to shift to proactive, autonomous AI-driven experiences. The news follows a drumbeat of innovation from the ServiceNow CRM and Industry Workflows business, an innovator in the customer service and support market since 2016. In April, ServiceNow signed a definitive agreement to acquire an industry leader with a modern, AI-powered, and composable CPQ solution to expand ServiceNow's growing CRM footprint and empower sales organizations to close deals faster, boost productivity levels, and achieve greater efficiency. ServiceNow's recent Yokohama platform release also strengthened CRM capabilities like self-service commerce portals, turnkey CCaaS integrations, and AI agents designed specifically for CRM use cases. By connecting AI, data, and workflows organization-wide on a single platform, ServiceNow is advancing in its CRM leadership to sell, fulfill and service from first contact to resolution. What our customers are saying 'Traditional CRMs can't keep up with the ever-increasing customer demands for highest-quality service. With ServiceNow CRM, we're putting AI to work to drive customer loyalty through faster resolutions, lower case volumes, accurate configurations, while also reducing costs,' said Paolo Juvara, chief digital transformation officer at Pure Storage. 'Our ability to service and deliver on a single platform means better service for our customers — we're delivering smarter, proactive, connected experiences at scale.' 'We have a strong vision for how technology can better serve rural communities and agriculture — and ServiceNow is helping us bring it to life," said Tiffany Smith, chief security officer and head of IT operations at Farm Credit Mid-America. "With ServiceNow's AI-powered platform, we can ensure our team members have the tools and the insights they need to resolve issues faster and deliver the consistent, quality service our customers count on. It's about more than just managing costs and finding efficiencies—it's about driving innovation and fulfilling our commitment to put customers at the heart of everything we do." 'AI isn't just a buzzword at ProAssurance, it's a game-changer,' said Max Malloy, vice president of digital experience and strategy at ProAssurance. 'We're harnessing the intelligence of ServiceNow's Agentic AI into our Insurance Customer Portal Support system to help categorize, summarize, and resolve requests and issues faster than ever. We are already seeing the power of technology across our team. With ServiceNow's AI-powered CRM, we're excited to scale what's working and bring even more speed and clarity to our service experiences.' Availability All features announced today are generally available and can be found in the ServiceNow Store. Additional information: Learn more about ServiceNow Knowledge 2025. Learn more about how ServiceNow Field Service Management (FSM), a critical component of ServiceNow's CRM motion, ranked #1 in the ISG Buyers Guide on Field Service Management and in the Customer Engagement and Proactive Maintenance categories. About ServiceNow ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is putting AI to work for people. We move with the pace of innovation to help customers transform organizations across every industry while upholding a trustworthy, human centered approach to deploying our products and services at scale. Our AI platform for business transformation connects people, processes, data, and devices to increase productivity and maximize business outcomes. For more information, visit: Forward Looking Statements This press release contains 'forward looking statements' about the expectations, beliefs, plans, and intentions relating to ServiceNow's AI agent innovations. Such statements include statements regarding future product capabilities and offerings and expected benefits to ServiceNow. Forward‑looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected or implied by the forward‑looking statements. If any such risks or uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, ServiceNow's results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward‑looking statements made. ServiceNow undertakes no obligation, and does not intend, to update the forward‑looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in any forward‑looking statements include: (i) delays and unexpected difficulties and expenses in executing the product capabilities and offerings, (ii) changes in the regulatory landscape related to AI and (iii) uncertainty as to whether sales will justify the investments in the product capabilities and offerings. Further information on factors that could affect ServiceNow's financial and other results is included in the filings ServiceNow makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. © 2025 ServiceNow, Inc. All rights reserved. ServiceNow, the ServiceNow logo, Now, and other ServiceNow marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ServiceNow, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other company names, product names, and logos may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. 1 ServiceNow Financial Analyst Day, May 5, 2025.
