Latest news with #Yates'
RTHK
4 days ago
- Sport
- RTHK
Simon Yates secures first Giro d'Italia triumph
Simon Yates secures first Giro d'Italia triumph Yates sealed victory in the Giro d'Italia after the final stage from the Vatican City to Rome. Photo: AFP Simon Yates won the Giro d'Italia after cruising home in the pack to seal a career-defining victory in the final procession stage, won by his teammate Olav Kooij, around Rome. Briton Yates effectively secured his second Grand Tour triumph on Saturday when he took the leader's pink jersey from Isaac del Toro with an epic effort in the Italian Alps. Yates, a 32-year-old who rides for Visma-Lease a bike, is the first man to win the Giro without taking a single stage since Alberto Contador 10 years ago. Yates came out on top in a Giro missing last year's winner Tadej Pogacar and Yates' teammate Jonas Vingegaard and blown wide open by the retirements of pre-race favourites Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso. The win also validates Yates' pre-season decision to move to cycling giants Visma after 10 years with the same Australian team, now called Jayco-AlUla. "I wanted to come to a team that knew how to win the Grand Tours. They have done it successfully with different riders and it's looking like it paid off," said Yates. "All of us have doubts if we are doing the right thing or on the right path. I've also had a lot of setbacks, not just here at the Giro but at other races as well where I've thought maybe it's time to stop and do something else," he added. "I had no bad luck this year, which is what I had in the past." Kooij won the bunch sprint which has become a feature of the finales in Rome, pipping Kaden Groves, Matteo Moschetti and Mads Pedersen to claim his second win of this year's hugely entertaining three-week race around Italy. It was a perfect day for Visma with Yates and Kooij both victorious in the Eternal City. "We couldn't wish for a better final weekend. Yesterday was really amazing for the team and today I just had to give everything that was still left in the legs. The team made it a lot easier. I just had to push it until the line," said Kooij. "With sprints it's never easy to do it like perfectly, but today we really committed, we just went all in, we were in perfect position and just happy to make it to the line," he added. "I was really happy with this Giro, making it ot Rome and then winning here it's really special." Yates started the day stood alongside Pope Leo XIV who blessed the peloton in a short stop in Vatican City before the race proper started. The riders dismounted in front of the pontiff and Yates shook the pope's hand before standing alongside points jersey winner Pederson, king of the mountains Lorenzo Fortunato and Del Toro for a pre-race blessing. "For some reason I didn't realise we were going to stop. Immediately I thought we just passed through. An unforgettable moment for me and, I think, for all the riders," said Yates. Del Toro had to content himself with the white jersey for best young rider after failing to spot the danger in Yates' attack on the Colle delle Finestre climb on Saturday which ended up deciding the title. Yates could still be on a high from his Giro win when he lines up alongside Vingegaard at the upcoming Tour de France which starts on July 5. (AFP)
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Kentucky Senate Democratic leader prepares a run for local office
Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Isabella Sepahban) A Kentucky Senate Democratic leader is preparing to run for local office in Jefferson County. A campaign website and social media account for Sen. David Yates, the Democratic Whip from Louisville, were updated Friday to reflect his plans to run for Jefferson County clerk next year. His website now has a campaign kick-off scheduled for Monday, June 9, with appearances by Louisville area Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey and former U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth. Yates' updated website comes on the heels of another Democratic senator leaving the caucus. Sen. Robin Webb, of Grayson, changed her party affiliation Friday to join the Republican Party. Bobbie Holsclaw, the Jefferson County clerk since 1998, is an elected Republican in Louisville, a Kentucky city where voters tend to favor Democrats. She faced some criticism after the November election following an issue with e-poll books that delayed lines early in the day. Democrats sued to keep the polls open longer in the day, but a Jefferson Circuit judge denied their emergency request. Yates' campaign did not immediately return an emailed request for comment. An attorney, Yates was elected to the Senate in 2020. He won reelection in November for the 37th Senate District, taking more than 60% of the vote in the general election. Yates isn't the first Democrat to announce a candidacy against Holsclaw. Rosalind 'Roz' Welch, a long time election worker, entered the race Thursday. Democrats hold six seats in the Kentucky Senate. Republicans have 32.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tiger Lily Hutchence marries boyfriend Ben Archer
Michael Hutchence's pregnant daughter Tiger Lily has tied the knot with her boyfriend of two years, Ben Archer. The singer, who is expecting her first child, reportedly said 'I do' at an intimate ceremony of 30 guests in East London. According to The Sun newspaper, the couple, who met in 2023, were "keen to marry" ahead of the birth of their first child. The newlyweds reportedly hired out a restaurant on Columbia Road in Tower Hamlets and invited their closest family and friends. The Sun reports that Tiger Lily's sisters, Pixie and Fifi Trixibelle, were there, as well as her adoptive father, Bob, and godfather, Nick Cave. Tiger Lily's husband revealed the news of her pregnancy last month when he shared an art flyer on Instagram that showed her baby bump. "My love @heavenlytiger is doing a show," he commented. Tiger Lily then confirmed the exciting news by responding with a hatching chicken emoji. "Wahooo love you," she wrote alongside the post. Tiger Lily is the daughter of the late Paula Yates, who died in 2000, and INXS lead singer Hutchence. She was adopted by Yates' ex-husband Geldof after the sudden death of her father in 1997 and Yates' death from a heroin overdose in 2000.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal funding cuts ripple through the heart of Trump country
By P.J. Huffstutter RAINELLE, W.V. (Reuters) -The phone rang over the whine of Trey Yates' butter churn. The person calling was polite, but the message was devastating: Mountaineer Food Bank was ending Yates' butter contract, due to the federal government's funding cuts. The next day, President Donald Trump signed a declaration celebrating National Agriculture Day, praising farmers and food makers like Yates. But the canceled contract with the federally funded food bank, one of only two in West Virginia, had been a lifeline for Yates' business. In that moment, Yates, 27, wasn't sure how much longer he could hold on. Heart pounding, he called his father, John Yates, shocked that Trump's administration would take such action. "Dad, they're trying to bankrupt me," he said. Yates, a registered independent, said he did not vote for Trump. Along the winding back roads and Appalachian hollers of West Virginia, in a state where Trump won 70% of the votes cast in November, his administration's vow to cut back on government spending is being keenly felt. Yates' lost sales stem from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's cancellation of the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which was due to provide about $500 million this year to food banks. Trump's administration also rolled out cuts to other federal funding that has kept small agriculture businesses like Yates' Greenbrier Dairy churning. Orchard owner Natasha Zoe, a retired Marine, is waiting on grant funds to reimburse her for building a small cannery near the town of Alderson that will allow fruit farmers to make and sell syrups and juices. And money that helped food banks and schools buy farmer Johnny Spangler's blueberries and popcorn in Lindside has been cut – after he scaled up plantings and bought a bigger truck to meet demand. From grants from the USDA and the Department of Commerce, to funds from the Small Business Administration, an intricate web of economic support from Washington has for decades pumped money into rural America. Much of it has now been frozen, cut back or eliminated – including at least $1.5 billion in USDA funds for schools and food banks. "The federal government is the engine of money, while the states are the distributors of money," said James L. Perry, professor emeritus at Indiana University, who studies federal grant administration. "This has become more pronounced as the federal budget has grown." The cuts now force states to come up with funding from their own budgets – or shutter programs altogether, Perry said. States like West Virginia – where more than half the $19.2 billion annual budget for fiscal 2025 relies on federal funds – are particularly hard-hit. PASS-THROUGH IN THE PAST The practice of the U.S. government granting either land or money to state and local governments dates back more than 200 years, as a way to promote action deemed to be in the national interest. These pass-through grants boomed in the 1960s under President Lyndon B. Johnson, whose domestic agenda aimed to remake America by ending poverty - which led to significantly expanded funding into education, housing and food access. Today, pass-through funding allows federal agencies to tap into local expertise and knowledge as well as help the federal government keep its own staffing levels down, said Colleen Heflin, a professor of public administration and international affairs at Syracuse University. In fiscal 2024, the U.S. spent about $1.1 trillion on pass-through grants to state and local governments - or about 16% of the federal government's total spending, according to an analysis by USAFacts of data from the Office of Management and Budget and the Treasury Department. During his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to cut government waste and spending and said he supported American farmers. "He will ensure farmers have the support they need to feed the world," Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement to Reuters. USDA is reviewing all programs for which payments have been placed on hold, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is working to make determinations as quickly as possible, an agency spokesperson said in a statement. Pass-throughs are a particularly effective approach when it comes to agriculture, Heflin said. The Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA), which were both cut, required that money be spent on purchases either within the state or a certain radius of the delivery destination. The White House said the LFPA, which began in 2021, was a Covid-era program that was being sunsetted. Overall, federal funds on average comprise about one-third of states' annual spending, according to the most recently available U.S. Census Bureau data. In addition to the cuts, a massive government spending bill enacted on March 15 has resulted in West Virginia organizations not getting nearly $109 million in funds that were sought by the state's congressional delegation, said Kelly Allen, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. That included $500,000 for youth nutrition in the state capitol of Charleston. The cuts are poised to hit the southern part of the state, where Yates lives and works, harder because of its higher concentration of low-income people, Allen said. BRIDGING THE GENERATIONS Trey Yates is four generations deep in the dirt of agriculture. His butter and cheese feed hungry school children and the hard-pressed, in a place where a decent paycheck is as rare as rain in a summer drought. His great-grandfather, grandfather and father all worked at or ran dairies. His father also worked in a local food plant, bottling vinegar and apple butter. Sometimes, John would bring Trey, who watched as the jars rolled off the line and headed out to grocery stores. Yates bridged the generations. The butter-making came first, in fits and starts. Tapping into schools and food banks just made sense, as those are two of the biggest food markets in the state. Feeding kids also came from a place of memory. His mom, Stephanie, packed him extra lunch for friends without a parent or food at home. Church ladies delivered boxes of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the school for the football team. "Everyone got a sandwich," Yates said. "Some needed more." On a recent spring morning, Yates' delivery route took him back to that same lunchroom. Swinging the cafeteria door open at Meadow Bridge Regional School, the scent of freshly baked rolls – the dough made with Yates' butter – warmed the air. Though Yates lost the contract with Mountaineer Food Bank, his sales to Fayette County Schools are secure for now: The director of school nutrition, Andrew Pense, said he had other funding to buy Yates' butter. But steady orders from one school district are not enough to keep Yates afloat. Some of his other school customers have told him they can stretch budgets through this school year, but purchases for summer food programs and beyond could be at risk. BILLS STACKING UP Even before Trump took office, Yates' bills were stacking up. His parents had pledged their home to the bank in 2016, to help him buy the two-story building that became a small creamery, the butter churn and milk pasteurizer. He owes money to dairy farmer Mike Fogus, 68. Fogus agreed in 2014 when Yates was just 17 to sell every drop of his cows' milk to the young man, if he achieved his dream of opening a creamery. He liked the idea of helping his friend's son, who cut his teeth in the 4-H youth development program showing Maybelle the Jersey cow at summer fairs. Fogus allowed Yates' cows to graze on his pastures and be milked along with his own herd. It was supposed to be a win for the older dairyman, too, whose business was too small to make a profit selling his milk to the bigger processors. But as Yates struggled, a chill has crept in between the two men. "You gonna get me that check?" Fogus asked Yates, when the butter-maker drove onto the farm recently for a milk pick-up. Yates nodded. As the truck bounced back up the muddy road, Fogus eyed Yates' cows, collateral-on-the-hoof. Yates said he has $10,000 in delinquent invoices from schools, who have yet to pay for butter delivered. About one-third of his school customers have reduced their regular orders. "I'm going to pay him back," Yates said. "The bank, Mike, everyone's going to be paid. If I have to liquidate everything, everyone is going to get paid." 'THEY AIN'T COMIN' Yates is not the only one who's angry. He strode through the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center in Beckley on March 15, as afternoon sunlight cast shadows across the polished floor. Volunteers at this town hall - hosted by local Democrat county officials - handed out booklets of the U.S. Constitution and cookies. Organizers said they sent certified letters to invite U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice, as well as U.S. Rep. Carol Miller and Riley Moore to the event, but none had appeared. Sen. Capito, who is monitoring federal funding for schools and food banks, did not receive a formal invitation to the event, a spokeswoman told Reuters. Her office said staff are communicating directly with several constituents. Rep. Moore declined to comment. Rep. Miller and Sen. Justice did not respond to requests for comment. There were Republican voters there, along with independents and Democrats. As a sound man fidgeted with the microphone at the front of the room, someone in the back called out, "They ain't comin', are they?" A volunteer shook his head no. Instead, for two hours, people addressed pictures of their government representatives. Some cried. Others yelled. Hunger came up, time and again. Yates hunched over his knees, frowning and cracking his knuckles. He stood up and walked to the microphone. He had no notes, he said later. "They are taking fresh, local foods out of our kids' mouths and those facing hunger," Yates said. "I've never been political, until now. If they need a new face of agriculture in this state, they dug me out of the woodwork." A cheer went up, loud and deep, filled with something close to desperation and hope, all stirred together. (Reporting By P.J. Huffstutter in West Virginia. Editing by Emily Schmall and Claudia Parsons)
Reuters
29-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Trump funding cuts ripple through rural America
RAINELLE, W.V., March 29 (Reuters) - The phone rang over the whine of Trey Yates' butter churn. The person calling was polite, but the message was devastating: Mountaineer Food Bank was ending Yates' butter contract, due to the federal government's funding cuts. The next day, President Donald Trump signed a declaration celebrating National Agriculture Day, praising farmers and food makers like Yates. But the canceled contract with the federally funded food bank, one of only two in West Virginia, had been a lifeline for Yates' business. In that moment, Yates, 27, wasn't sure how much longer he could hold on. Heart pounding, he called his father, John Yates, shocked that Trump's administration would take such action. "Dad, they're trying to bankrupt me," he said. Yates, a registered independent, said he did not vote for Trump. Along the winding back roads and Appalachian hollers of West Virginia, in a state where Trump won 70% of the votes cast in November, his administration's vow to cut back on government spending is being keenly felt. Yates' lost sales stem from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's cancellation of the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which was due to provide about $500 million this year to food banks. Trump's administration also rolled out cuts to other federal funding that has kept small agriculture businesses like Yates' Greenbrier Dairy churning. Orchard owner Natasha Zoe, a retired Marine, is waiting on grant funds to reimburse her for building a small cannery near the town of Alderson that will allow fruit farmers to make and sell syrups and juices. And money that helped food banks and schools buy farmer Johnny Spangler's blueberries and popcorn in Lindside has been cut – after he scaled up plantings and bought a bigger truck to meet demand. From grants from the USDA and the Department of Commerce, to funds from the Small Business Administration, an intricate web of economic support from Washington has for decades pumped money into rural America. Much of it has now been frozen, cut back or eliminated – including at least $1.5 billion in USDA funds for schools and food banks. "The federal government is the engine of money, while the states are the distributors of money," said James L. Perry, professor emeritus at Indiana University, who studies federal grant administration. "This has become more pronounced as the federal budget has grown." The cuts now force states to come up with funding from their own budgets – or shutter programs altogether, Perry said. States like West Virginia – where more than half the $19.2 billion annual budget for fiscal 2025 relies on federal funds – are particularly hard-hit. PASS-THROUGH IN THE PAST The practice of the U.S. government granting either land or money to state and local governments dates back more than 200 years, as a way to promote action deemed to be in the national interest. These pass-through grants boomed in the 1960s under President Lyndon B. Johnson, whose domestic agenda aimed to remake America by ending poverty - which led to significantly expanded funding into education, housing and food access. Today, pass-through funding allows federal agencies to tap into local expertise and knowledge as well as help the federal government keep its own staffing levels down, said Colleen Heflin, a professor of public administration and international affairs at Syracuse University. In fiscal 2024, the U.S. spent about $1.1 trillion on pass-through grants to state and local governments - or about 16% of the federal government's total spending, according to an analysis by USAFacts of data from the Office of Management and Budget and the Treasury Department. During his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to cut government waste and spending and said he supported American farmers. "He will ensure farmers have the support they need to feed the world," Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement to Reuters. USDA is reviewing all programs for which payments have been placed on hold, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is working to make determinations as quickly as possible, an agency spokesperson said in a statement. Pass-throughs are a particularly effective approach when it comes to agriculture, Heflin said. The Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA), which were both cut, required that money be spent on purchases either within the state or a certain radius of the delivery destination. The White House said the LFPA, which began in 2021, was a Covid-era program that was being sunsetted. Overall, federal funds on average comprise about one-third of states' annual spending, according to the most recently available U.S. Census Bureau data. In addition to the cuts, a massive government spending bill enacted on March 15 has resulted in West Virginia organizations not getting nearly $109 million in funds that were sought by the state's congressional delegation, said Kelly Allen, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. That included $500,000 for youth nutrition in the state capitol of Charleston. The cuts are poised to hit the southern part of the state, where Yates lives and works, harder because of its higher concentration of low-income people, Allen said. BRIDGING THE GENERATIONS Trey Yates is four generations deep in the dirt of agriculture. His butter and cheese feed hungry school children and the hard-pressed, in a place where a decent paycheck is as rare as rain in a summer drought. His great-grandfather, grandfather and father all worked at or ran dairies. His father also worked in a local food plant, bottling vinegar and apple butter. Sometimes, John would bring Trey, who watched as the jars rolled off the line and headed out to grocery stores. Yates bridged the generations. The butter-making came first, in fits and starts. Tapping into schools and food banks just made sense, as those are two of the biggest food markets in the state. Feeding kids also came from a place of memory. His mom, Stephanie, packed him extra lunch for friends without a parent or food at home. Church ladies delivered boxes of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the school for the football team. "Everyone got a sandwich," Yates said. "Some needed more." On a recent spring morning, Yates' delivery route took him back to that same lunchroom. Swinging the cafeteria door open at Meadow Bridge Regional School, the scent of freshly baked rolls – the dough made with Yates' butter – warmed the air. Though Yates lost the contract with Mountaineer Food Bank, his sales to Fayette County Schools are secure for now: The director of school nutrition, Andrew Pense, said he had other funding to buy Yates' butter. But steady orders from one school district are not enough to keep Yates afloat. Some of his other school customers have told him they can stretch budgets through this school year, but purchases for summer food programs and beyond could be at risk. BILLS STACKING UP Even before Trump took office, Yates' bills were stacking up. His parents had pledged their home to the bank in 2016, to help him buy the two-story building that became a small creamery, the butter churn and milk pasteurizer. He owes money to dairy farmer Mike Fogus, 68. Fogus agreed in 2014 when Yates was just 17 to sell every drop of his cows' milk to the young man, if he achieved his dream of opening a creamery. He liked the idea of helping his friend's son, who cut his teeth in the 4-H youth development program showing Maybelle the Jersey cow at summer fairs. Fogus allowed Yates' cows to graze on his pastures and be milked along with his own herd. It was supposed to be a win for the older dairyman, too, whose business was too small to make a profit selling his milk to the bigger processors. But as Yates struggled, a chill has crept in between the two men. "You gonna get me that check?" Fogus asked Yates, when the butter-maker drove onto the farm recently for a milk pick-up. Yates nodded. As the truck bounced back up the muddy road, Fogus eyed Yates' cows, collateral-on-the-hoof. Yates said he has $10,000 in delinquent invoices from schools, who have yet to pay for butter delivered. About one-third of his school customers have reduced their regular orders. "I'm going to pay him back," Yates said. "The bank, Mike, everyone's going to be paid. If I have to liquidate everything, everyone is going to get paid." 'THEY AIN'T COMIN' Yates is not the only one who's angry. He strode through the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center in Beckley on March 15, as afternoon sunlight cast shadows across the polished floor. Volunteers at this town hall - hosted by local Democrat county officials - handed out booklets of the U.S. Constitution and cookies. Organizers said they sent certified letters to invite U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice, as well as U.S. Rep. Carol Miller and Riley Moore to the event, but none had appeared. Sen. Capito, who is monitoring federal funding for schools and food banks, did not receive a formal invitation to the event, a spokeswoman told Reuters. Her office said staff are communicating directly with several constituents. Rep. Moore declined to comment. Rep. Miller and Sen. Justice did not respond to requests for comment. There were Republican voters there, along with independents and Democrats. As a sound man fidgeted with the microphone at the front of the room, someone in the back called out, "They ain't comin', are they?" A volunteer shook his head no. Instead, for two hours, people addressed pictures of their government representatives. Some cried. Others yelled. Hunger came up, time and again. Yates hunched over his knees, frowning and cracking his knuckles. He stood up and walked to the microphone. He had no notes, he said later. "They are taking fresh, local foods out of our kids' mouths and those facing hunger," Yates said. "I've never been political, until now. If they need a new face of agriculture in this state, they dug me out of the woodwork." A cheer went up, loud and deep, filled with something close to desperation and hope, all stirred together.
