Latest news with #Wells'
Business Journals
15-05-2025
- Science
- Business Journals
How Posie Pots founder Kay Wells makes plant care easier with 3D printing technology
Covered in dirt and mosquito bites, Kay Wells knew there had to be a better way. Not long after moving back to St. Louis in 2012, Wells, who was working in the aerospace sector at the time, decided to start digging in her garden — until the mosquitoes arrived. 'I was fresh from California, with no bug spray, shorts and a T-shirt,' Wells remembers. 'I look down and there was a scene of mosquitoes tearing me up. I ran inside and in an instant was like, 'I only need to water my plants once a month.' It was this obsession, idea and creation, all in that moment.' Armed with some 30-gallon storage totes, PVC plumbing tubes and Computer Aided Drafting software, Wells got to work fashioning grow boxes. In the first, she grew a two-foot-tall tomato plant; in the second, five bushels of asparagus. Those would soon become the prototypes for Posie Pots, Wells' line of innovative self-watering planters now made on 3D printers. Posie Pots combines Wells' lifelong passion for horticulture with her professional background in mechanical and manufacturing engineering. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from Saint Louis University and Missouri Institute of Science & Technology, respectively, and has worked in product development, R&D and six sigma methodologies for Amazon, Bayer and Boeing, among other companies. 'I've always had a very deep and intense curiosity for aerospace, aeronautics and really overall design — how we as human beings can create something that did not exist before,' Wells says. 'I learned all about rapid prototyping, 3D printing, additive manufacturing and composite engineering. I knew everything about materials science, how structures and strengths come together and also the art in it — how to make it aesthetically beautiful and pleasing, how air actually flows in and out of different angles and concave and convex curves and all of these different mathematical equations. Art meets science meets gardening with the Posie Pot.' Wells spent five years on R&D before acquiring her first 3D printer in 2018 and officially launching Posie Pots the next year. Her planters feature a patented water system that helps with drainage, aeration and circulation of the plant's root system so that plants only need to be watered once a month. Posie Pots require just one third of the soil and 95% less water than a typical pot, making them less susceptible to pests, root bound and root rot. expand In 2022, Posie Pots was named to the third cohort of the University of Missouri–St. Louis' Anchor Accelerator. She received $50,000 in non-dilutive funding and an eight-week business development program that enabled her to scale the business by buying more 3D printers to increase production, expanding marketing efforts and broadening Posie Pots' footprint outside of St. Louis. Wells has continued to find support from St. Louis' startup community in the years since. In 2024, the company was named to the first cohort of Saint Louis University's New Venture Accelerator, which gave it the opportunity to receive up to $50,000 in non-dilutive funding and mentorship. Later that year, Posie Pots received $75,000 in non-dilutive funding from Arch Grants. Wells says the support from the St. Louis community has been vital to the success of Posie Pots, which are available for sale on the brand's website and through retailers, including the gift shop at the Missouri History Museum and Dierbergs Markets. All of the pots are produced in Wells' space in the Wellston Business Incubator. Wells is also working closely with the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center St. Louis to advance her 3D printing work, including a giveback component working with students and the community. She has also partnered with Lincoln University of Missouri's St. Louis Urban Impact Center to teach kids about 3D printing, CAD software and plant science. In 2024, Wells was selected as one of 500 entrepreneurs out of nearly 15,000 applicants across the country to be invited to Walmart's 11th-annual Open Call pitch event. Posie Pots are currently available for sale on the Walmart website and in 100 Walmart stores; the more items Wells sells, the greater her chances of securing a permanent placement with the retailer. But while Posie Pots continues to grow across the country, Wells remains firmly rooted in St. Louis. In 2023, her pots were featured on Good Morning America's 'Deals & Steals' segment, and Wells was particularly thrilled to hear host Tory Johnson note that the pots were 'made in America — St. Louis, to be specific.' STLMade is a movement within the St. Louis metro that shines a light on the amazing things our innovative, tenacious, big-hearted people are doing. It's supported by a region-wide collaboration of residents, local leaders, institutions, organizations, businesses and nonprofits helping to tell our story — that St. Louis is a place where you can start up, stand out and stay.
WIRED
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- WIRED
The Reason Murderbot's Tone Feels Off
May 14, 2025 2:00 PM Martha Wells' book series uses wry humor to tell a story about artificial intelligence, humanity, and free will. The Apple TV+ adaptation tries to do the same—with mixed results. Still from Murderbot. Courtesy of Apple TV+ All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. A confession: This dispatch will not be coming to you from one of the long-devout Martha Wells faithful. I'm a convert, a curious reader who turned to Wells' The Murderbot Diaries series after reading my colleague Meghan Herbst's fantastic 2024 profile of the author, which left me questioning who would be challenged with taking on the series' title character in Apple TV+'s adaptation and why it was Alexander Skarsgård. Put differently, I wanted to know if the actor known for playing blood-sucker Eric Northman in True Blood and a berserker prince The Northman would be the right fit to play a security robot, or SecUnit, struggling with social awkwardness after hacking his own 'governor module' to give himself the freedom to not obey human orders. If the weird affection he forms for the scientists he's charged with protecting, and the stunted way he goes about showing it, would translate to Murderbot . After watching the first episodes of the show, which debuts Friday on Apple TV+, I got my answers—and found myself asking a lot more questions. Namely: Why is Skarsgård both so wrong and so right for this role? Why is Mensah (Noma Dumezweni), a cool and confident extraterrestrial expedition leader in the books, anxious and unsure onscreen? Why is her PreservationAux crew portrayed as hippies who seem to have personality quirks instead of personalities? Why does the tone of this thing feel so off? The rejoinder to any of these boils down to 'because TV,' reasoning that's likely to be Murderbot 's doom and salvation. Readers love Wells' books. They've won Hugos and Nebulas, the highest praise bestowed on science fiction writing. Read the comments on almost any review of Murderbot 's first season, which closely follows the original Murderbot novella All Systems Red , and you'll find hand-wringing from loyal fans; they're hoping the show gets it right. Wells resembles George R.R. Martin or Hugh Howey in that regard. The thing about sci-fi fans is they have opinions—and they're hard to please. Not that Murderbot 's flaws lie in pandering. Murderbot (the character) narrates All Systems Red , and also the series, and its tone is very specific. (Yes, Murderbot's pronouns are 'it.') Not to spoil anything—and this piece will remain largely spoiler-free—but it's a security robot, and interacting with people isn't its forte. When it finds itself wanting good things for the people who, for once, don't treat it like a servant, it struggles. It wants to hide that it's jailbroken itself to gain free will while also acting normal , and in the process either acts very flatly or just repeats dialogue from the hours of streaming content it binge-watches with its newfound freedom (that Murderbot has turned The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon into a show-within-a-show is a plus here). Murderbot's narration, both in All Systems Red and its adaptation, gives the story its voice. It's what people, even though they're human, identify with. Murderbot does alright with this, but fumbles all the other stuff. Characters, like Mensah, like Gurathin (David Dastmalchian), are given tacked-on traits like anxiety or creepiness in an effort to make them well-rounded but often feel disjointed. Polyamory, a matter-of-fact part of life in Wells' books, gets turned into an unnecessary B-plot, attempting to add drama by pointing out that throuples exist. Tone, then, becomes the issue. Anyone who read All Systems Red , or any of Wells' subsequent stories or novels, read Murderbot's acerbic wit and deadpan observations in their own way and Skarsgård's delivery, no matter how good, may not be what they imagined. Every adaptation risks running afoul of reader expectations, but the show's straightforward plot runs thin at times and when Murderbot's narration doesn't land it just feels flat. Not that this is Skarsgård's fault. While some may be asking Why is this unit being played by such an absolute unit? , having a handsome weirdo in the lead was the right move. Ever since his vampire days, Skarsgård has perfected playing bloodless skinjobs. But as Murderbot 's plot ping-pong's around no one seems to be sure if they're on a workplace comedy or a sci-fi thriller, making the stakes confused or nonexistent. Ostensibly, Murderbot is a mystery on two levels. On the first, there's the PreservationAux crew and their scientific fact-finding mission on a world thought to be relatively innocuous. PreservationAux had to take a SecUnit to get insurance for their mission and while they don't trust the corporation from which they got their equipment, including Murderbot, they do need it. It's only when they get there and discover very bad things that they realize how much. Something has gone wrong on this planet and Mensah and her crew need to find out why. Second mystery: Murderbot's true nature. While it may be struggling to play it cool and not give away the fact that it has hacked its control systems, the crew doesn't really see it as a threat. Only Gurathin, an augmented human, suspects something is amiss. If anything, they worry about how humanely they should treat it. Slowly, as Murderbot becomes more fascinated with their lives and realizes they're not the 'assholes' it might have thought, they learn to be a team. Perhaps this is where Murderbot struggles most to find its footing. Each of Wells' characters was fleshed out, even though they are only observed from Murderbot's perspective. In Murderbot , they are just as well-rounded, but the show seems preoccupied with their quirkiness—the polycules (cool!), the neuroses. Murderbot never dwelled too much on those parts of their humanity. Murderbot wants, then, to be a quirky sci-fi dramedy with hints of a deeper anti-corporate message—a welcome reprieve on the streaming network most known for big downers like Silo, Foundation , and Severance —but it struggles to be all those things at once. Midway through the season, Murderbot does shake off some of its clunkiness. As a viewer, you can get used to its wild tonal unevenness. But given the release schedule for the show—two episodes Friday, then one every week until early June—some would-be fans may never get there. In All Systems Red , Murderbot, illustrating its harm-reduction-seeking nature using one of its favorite TV shows, frets 'I hate having emotions about reality; I'd much rather have them about Sanctuary Moon .' Viewers may never get there with this show. Murderbot does, if it's permitted to, have room to grow. Wells' story, like all good sci-fi, imagines futures that parallel the present in an attempt to find solutions. At a time when the threat of an artificially intelligent bot taking one's job feels very real, All Systems Red asks whether creating humanoids to do dirty work is any different from slavery. It questions whether corporations really should be the ones investigating other planets. Topical, but Murderbot 's first season only scratches that surface. Maybe it could find its voice in season two.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Community members request Wells Police terminate contract with ICE
The Wells Police Department was the first agency in Maine to sign an agreement under the 287(g) program, which permits local officers to arrest people on immigration violations, an authority otherwise reserved for federal agents. (Photo via Wells Police Facebook) After federal immigration authorities accepted Maine's first police department into an official partnership earlier this month, some community members are now requesting police terminate the contract. The crux of the rift between the community and police: uncertainty and disagreement over how they expect the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 287(g) program will operate in practice. Revived under President Donald Trump's administration to bolster ICE's capacity by deputizing local police officers to detain immigrants, those pushing back on Wells' participation in the program argue it entangles their local police with a federal agency that has been accused of disregarding due process. Four community members asked the Wells Select Board on Tuesday night to direct the police department to dissolve the agreement, arguing the department should have first consulted the public and raising concern about the program's history of abuse. Before Trump reinstated the program, it was discontinued in 2012 after the discovery of discriminatory practices, including racial profiling. But Wells police leadership argue the agreement doesn't mean their local agency will adopt ICE's recent approach to arrests. Rather, Wells Police Chief Jo-Ann Putnam told Maine Morning Star she entered into the agreement to take advantage of a training opportunity and streamline work flow. First Maine police department joins ICE partnership As first reported by Maine Morning Star, the Wells Police Department was the first — and so far only — agency in Maine to sign an agreement under the 287(g) program, which permits local officers to arrest people on immigration violations, an authority otherwise reserved for federal agents. Wells' agreement is specifically for 287(g)'s 'task force model,' which ICE describes as a 'force multiplier' to allow law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during their routine police duties. 287(g)'s other two models are focused on investigating people who have already been arrested and booked in local jails. As of April 16, ICE had signed 456 Memorandums of Agreement for 287(g) programs covering 38 states, with task force agreements with 190 agencies in 23 states, including Wells. Putnam said ICE has informed her department that the training includes 40 hours of online courses, which the department had yet to begin as of this week. The department submitted to ICE a list of officers eligible to participate in the program, who must have two years of police experience and be a U.S. citizen, which Putnam said is the majority of the department. Regarding when arrests for immigration violations could begin after that, 'We don't know,' Putnam said. 'We haven't been told when to start.' The memorandum of understanding ICE signed with Wells Police permits its officers once trained to interrogate any 'person believed to be an alien as to his right to be or remain in the United States' and 'arrest without warrant any alien entering or attempting to unlawfully enter the United States in the officer's presence or view,' among other capabilities otherwise reserved for federal authorities. But Putnam said when Wells officers start enforcing immigration violations through the agreements, they will only act on existing federal warrants that have had judicial review. Normally, she said, when local police run a license and discover an existing federal warrant for an immigration offense, they have to wait for federal authorities to make an arrest. The agreement eliminates that redundancy, Putnam said. 'We're not rounding up undocumented people,' said Wells Police Captain Kevin Chabot. 'Wells Police does not do proactive immigration enforcement.' Putnam said regardless of what the partnership allows, 'We're doing what I'm telling you we're going to do, and that's it.' Putnam has repeatedly told Maine Morning Star that she hopes Mainers have confidence in their local law enforcement officers who'll be carrying out the work. But a lack of trust in local authorities is not why some are objecting to the ICE agreement. 'It's not a matter of not trusting the chief and her force,' Cheryl Dearman Mills, one of the people who spoke at the select board meeting, told Maine Morning Star. 'As I read the [memorandum of understanding], it raises concerns about control and future entanglement with ICE.' The memorandum also states that local police have the authority to serve and execute warrants of arrest for immigration violations, issue immigration detainers and prepare charging documents. Others who called for the select board to terminate the ICE agreement similarly said their concern was with local police formalizing a relationship with an agency that appears, at times, to be acting outside of the law. 'Chief Putnam was looking at this contract primarily with a local focus, separate from the larger picture of ICE's current tactics of enforcement and deportation,' Wells resident Mary Marra told the select board. 'And I was seeing this agreement primarily from a broader focus and how ICE's questionable and sometimes illegitimate enforcement reflects very poorly on our town.' For example, Marra pointed to masked immigration officers detaining Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk for allegedly supporting Hamas by co-authoring an op-ed calling for the school to divest from companies with ties to Israel, as well as the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. This week in Florida, a U.S.-born citizen was arrested for entering the state as an 'unauthorized alien.' His mother and a community advocate showed his birth certificate during a hearing, but the judge said she had no authority to release him, as reported by Maine Morning Star's sister outlet the Florida Phoenix. 'This is Wells Police acting as ICE agents in certain situations and I am extremely uncomfortable with what ICE is doing,' said another Wells resident, Peg Duddy, who is calling for the termination of the ICE contract. Duddy and others have met on-on-one with Putnam, as well as attended meetings with the chief and her leadership team, including one hosted by the Wells Democratic Town Committee Wednesday night. They don't want ICE in their town. This is one way of hopefully keeping them out of town. – Jo-Ann Putnam, Wells Police Chief 'They don't want ICE in their town,' Putnam said of attendees after the meeting. 'This is one way of hopefully keeping them out of town.' Duddy and Dearman Mills told Maine Morning Star that the meeting did not change their opposition and that they will continue to push for the contract to be terminated. More immediately, they're requesting at minimum a 90-day pause, which they said would afford time to clarify the work Wells Police will engage in through the agreement. 'Also to evaluate where the national picture is in 90 days,' Duddy said, 'because this is not in isolation from that.' Chair of the Wells Select Board John MacLeod III did not respond to a request for comment about the community members' requests. Putnam said she's having meetings with various groups — places of worship, the local Chamber of Commerce, businesses who employ immigrants on work visas — to answer questions about the ICE agreement but said she's not reconsidering it in light of pushback from some community members. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, she said. Data posted on the ICE website listed the Monmouth Winthrop Police Department, a combination of departments that serve central Maine communities, with a pending application earlier this month but ICE has since removed the department from that list and also does not indicate an agreement has been signed. ICE, Monmouth Winthrop Police Chief Paul Ferland and Lieutenant Dana Wessling did not respond to requests for comment regarding whether the application was terminated and why. Such agreements could face legal hurdles as Democrats in the Maine Legislature proposed legislation to prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies or officers from entering into contracts with federal immigration enforcement authorities. The bill has yet to have a public hearing. Aside from 287(g) agreements, an uptick in immigration detentions have revealed increased federal operations in Maine. Cumberland County Jail in Portland had 122 people detained under ICE orders last month, according to data Maine Morning Star obtained through a Freedom of Access Act request. According to attorneys, while some of these people were arrested in the state, the majority appear to be transferred from other states and are quickly transferred out too, signaling that federal authorities are using Maine as a tool in its 'mass deportation' goal. 'It's crucial for Maine's people to know how their public officials may be supporting federal immigration enforcement, which often violates people's constitutional rights,' ACLU of Maine Staff Attorney Anahita Sotoohi said in a statement on Thursday, after the organization filed information requests seeking a more comprehensive picture of local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. 'Abuses of power and attacks on due process threaten all people, regardless of immigration status,' Sotoohi said. 'When due process is undermined for some, all people are at risk as power is consolidated and our system of checks and balances is dismantled.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Yahoo
The Bewildering Mystery of How a Detroit Family Found a Stranger's Headstone on Their Loved One's Grave
The family of a deceased Black man told local news they'd dedicatedly been visiting his unmarked grave for over the past year until something both concerning and confusing occurred: a tombstone it didn't belong to their family. The family of Samuel Wells made the bewildering discovery after 18 months of visiting his gravesite. Latonya Gouch, Wells' sister, tells Local 4 Detroit News he was buried at the Sacred Heart of Saint Mary's Cemetery in Detroit back in August of 2023. Since his death, she told reporters she would lay flowers for Wells and play music every visit. However, one day in January she said she went to visit the site and found another family's headstone appeared on Wells' grave, per Click On Detroit. 'I want to know where my brother is,' Gouch told reporters when she visited the cemetery last Tuesday. 'Just as simple as that. I don't understand. I need some answers.' Upon the discovery, the family made dozens of attempts to contact the cemetery's office for answers but to no avail. After a while, they sought another outlet to have their voices heard and turn the heat up on their demands: the press. After their story published to Local 4, Mother of Divine Mercy Parish's cemetery operations manager Marianne Peggie finally responded with an answer in connection to the incident. Peggie told Local 4 News she discovered two neighboring gravesites were involved in the mixup, clarifying that the headstone was placed incorrectly too far onto Wells' plot. Then, action was finally taken. 'Once I heard about it, I decided to make sure it was taken care of immediately, looking into it more on my end of things and making sure the situation was remedied,' said Peggie, adding that workers moved the headstone to its respective site, per Local 4. Though it took longer than they would've liked, Wells' family is at peace knowing they can continue their visits knowing exactly where their loved one is resting. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
USA Today
27-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Austin Wells makes MLB history, hits first leadoff home run on Opening Day by catcher
Austin Wells makes MLB history, hits first leadoff home run on Opening Day by catcher Show Caption Hide Caption ARod thinks international games for the MLB could be a huge success Alex Rodriguez is showing his support in the MLB international and Japan games. Sports Seriously The New York Yankees' Austin Wells made history Thursday, becoming the first catcher to hit a leadoff home run on Opening Day in MLB history. Given Major League Baseball's long history, this seems like an almost impossible achievement. How in the world has this never happened before? However, this wasn't the only history Wells made on Opening Day. Yes, despite incredulous odds and the Yankees' outstanding history of all-time great players, Wells also became the first catcher to hit leadoff for the Yankees, and the first Yankees player to hit a leadoff home run on Opening Day. IS MOOKIE BETTS PLAYING TONIGHT? What is the Dodgers' star infielder's status for opener Why is a catcher hitting leadoff? Given that catchers are traditionally much slower runners and worse batsmen than other positions, opting for Wells at the leadoff spot was certainly a questionable choice for Yankees' manager Aaron Boone. Boone has spoken very highly of Wells in the past though, claiming that Wells is "going to become one of the really good two-way catchers in the league." Boone also appreciates Wells' ability to get on-base, a characteristic much desired among leadoff hitters in MLB. Still, despite Wells' skill set, putting the catcher at leadoff is still a very rare move. In fact, Wells is just the fifth catcher since 1901 to bat leadoff on Opening Day, with the most recent being Austin Nola for the San Diego Padres in 2022. Jason Kendall is another player who received such an honor, doing it three times throughout his career – 1999 and 2000 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, then in 2007 with the Athletics. Wells' home run is also just the 21st leadoff home run by a catcher in any capacity, with the Kansas City Royals' MJ Melendez doing it most recently on Sept. 28, 2022. MLB WIN TOTALS FOR 2025: Projecting every team's record for the new season
