81.7 F
Houston
Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Home Blog Page 371

GARCIA’S EMPLOY2EMPOWER TO BE RECOGNIZED BY WHITE HOUSE

Adversavvy
-
0
GARCIA’S EMPLOY2EMPOWER TO BE RECOGNIZED BY WHITE HOUSE

Wednesday, July 13, Commissioner Adrian Garcia will travel to the White House to discuss the ARPA-funded Employ2Empower countywide homeless workforce initiative, which originally began as a pilot program in Precinct 2. Commissioner Garcia will join Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, plus other officials from around the country for a series of events to discuss EMPLOY2EMPOWER.

Portions of the event will be available via livestream. Registration is available for viewing the live event by clicking here

On behalf of the White House, you are invited to join the White House Summit on the American Rescue Plan and the Workforce headlined by Vice President Kamala Harris and hosted by the White House American Rescue Plan Implementation Team, and the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. This event will feature state and local leaders across the country and highlight model American Rescue Plan investments in workforce development across the areas of care and public health, infrastructure, and expanding the workforce. This event will take place via Zoom on Wednesday, July 13 at 11am ET, and you can register here.

The program will include (subject to change):

PRECINCT 2 NOTE: ALL TIMES LISTED BELOW ARE IN EASTERN TIME (CST IN PARENTHESIS)
11 a.m. (10 a.m. CST): Opening remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Senior Advisor to the President and White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator Gene Sperling, and Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Julie Rodriguez

11:10 a.m. – 12:40 p.m. (10:10 – 11:40 a.m. CST): Roundtables and Various ARPA- Funded Programs Highlighted

12:40 p.m. (11:40 a.m. CST): Expanding Access to the Workforce for Underserved Populations: Featuring Harris County (TX) Commissioner Adrian Garcia, Memphis (TN) Mayor Jim Strickland, Employ Milwaukee CEO Chytania Brown, and WRTP Big Step President Lindsay Blumer

¡Oportunidades universitarias y profesionales para todos!

Adversavvy
-
0
¡Oportunidades universitarias y profesionales para todos!

¿Necesitas información sobre oportunidades educativas? Visita la Ventanilla de Orientación Educativa este 15 de julio de 1 a 5 pm y recibe asesoría gratuita y personalizada de GRADcafé sobre cómo inscribirte a la universidad, requisitos de admisión, FAFSA y TASFA, clases de inglés y carreras técnicas. ¡No necesitas cita!

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joins incoming Denver Broncos ownership group

Adversavvy
-
0
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joins incoming Denver Broncos ownership group

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is joining the new Denver Broncos ownership group, the NFL team announced Monday.

Rice said it was an honor to join the ownership group.
“Football has been an integral part of my life since the moment it was introduced to me, and I am thrilled to be a part of the Broncos organization today.” Rice, the daughter of a football coach, said on Facebook.
Walmart heir Rob Walton called her a highly respected public servant and an accomplished academic and business leader.
“Secretary Rice is well known as a passionate and knowledgeable football fan who has worked to make the sport stronger and better,” Walton said in a statement on behalf of the Walton-Penner family group that has offered to buy the team.
“She moved to Denver with her family when she was 12 years old and went on to attend the University of Denver for both college and graduate school. Her unique experience and extraordinary judgment will be a great benefit to our group and the Broncos organization.”
Last month, the Broncos and the Walton-Penner family entered into a purchase and sale agreement to acquire the team from the Pat Bowlen Trust. The agreement is subject to approval from the NFL’s finance committee and league ownership.
According to ESPN, the deal is expected to be worth $4.65 billion — a record price tag for a North American sports franchise.
Rice was the national security adviser in the George W. Bush Administration from January 2001 until January 2005, when she became Secretary of State, a position she held until January 2009.
Rice’s name has been linked to football groups before.
In 2018, ESPN reported, citing a league source, that the Cleveland Browns wanted to interview Rice for the head coaching position.
“I love my Browns — and I know they will hire an experienced coach to take us to the next level,” she said on social media. “On a more serious note, I do hope that the NFL will start to bring women into the coaching profession as position coaches and eventually coordinators and head coaches. One doesn’t have to play the game to understand it and motivate players.”
The Browns also denied the report and eventually hired Freddie Kitchens.
In the early 2000s, Rice told the New York Times and several other media outlets her dream job was to be NFL commissioner. She was also on the College Football Playoff Selection Committee for three years beginning with the first group in 2014.
Rice already has a sports ownership stake. Earlier this year, she joined a group of equity partners in the WNBA.
Rice lives in California, where she is the director of the Hoover Institute, a public policy think tank, at Stanford University.

Bruce Springsteen coming to Houston in 2023

Adversavvy
-
0
Bruce Springsteen coming to Houston in 2023

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform at Houston’s Toyota Center on Feb. 14, 2023.

The show is part of a 31-date tour. Springsteen is currently in the middle of European dates, his first shows since 2017. The new dates will be his first in North America since 2016. His last performance in the Houston area was a 2014 concert at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands.

Additional 2023 dates will be announced. Tickets for the Toyota Center show will go on sale at 10 a.m. on July 22 at ToyotaCenter.com.

Springsteen’s most recent album with the E Street Band is “Letter to You,” from 2020. The current E Street touring band is Roy Bittan on piano and synthesizer; Nils Lofgren on guitar and vocals; Patti Scialfa on guitar and vocals; Garry Tallent on bass; Stevie Van Zandt on guitar and vocals; and Max Weinberg on drums. They’re accompanied by Soozie Tyrell on violin, guitar, and vocals; Jake Clemons on saxophone; and Charlie Giordano on keyboards.

Source: preview

COVID-19 Reinfections May Increase the Risk of Serious Health Problems

Adversavvy
-
0
COVID-19 Reinfections May Increase the Risk of Serious Health Problems

Scientists aren’t sure if there’s a cumulative effect on your health from repeated COVID-19 infections.

However, what does seem clear is that every reinfection carries the risk of serious illness, death, or long-term disability.

Reinfection “adds non-trivial risks of all-cause mortality, hospitalization, and adverse health outcomes in the acute and post-acute phase of the reinfection,” according to a new pre-print study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and the VA Saint Louis Health Care System in Missouri.

Researchers reviewed millions of healthcare records from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The preliminary study included data on more than 250,000 veterans who had one COVID-19 infection, nearly 39,000 people who had one or more reinfection, and more than 5 million people in a control group.

“The risk and [disease] burden increased in a graded fashion according to the number of infections,” wrote the authors of the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal.

The researchers reported that the probability of negative health outcomes due to reinfection rose regardless of vaccination status and included both the acute phase of the reinfection and long-term health issues occurring after acute symptoms such as fever and shortness of breath abated.

“What’s really eye-opening is the long-term manifestation of this disease. Most people bounce back but not everyone,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a study author and an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine as well as director of the Clinical Epidemiology Center and chief of research and education service at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System.

“We were asking a simple question: Does reinfection matter?” Al-Aly told Healthline. “We were not comparing first and [subsequent] infections, but asking whether it’s worth it to protect yourself against a second infection.”

The answer, said Al-Aly, is that “every time you’re infected, you’re rolling the dice.”

“You may have been vaccinated or had a previous infection, but that doesn’t eliminate your risk,” he said, noting that the risk of serious illness from reinfection with COVID-19 ranged from about 3% to 5% of all cases.

“It’s still wise and responsible to try to protect yourself from reinfection,” he said.

Time can also be a factor.

“As you get further from your vaccination, boosters, and previous infections, the risk of reinfection increases significantly,” Dr. Luis Ostrosky, an infectious disease specialist at UT Health Houston’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in Texas, told Healthline.

Al-Aly acknowledged the limitations of the study. They included the fact the VA population is older, whiter, more male, and in worse overall health than the general population.

However, he noted, the sheer number of people included in the study meant that significant populations of women, minorities, and younger people were included in the analysis. Future research will focus on whether the same findings apply to these subpopulations.

Looking toward the future

Past studies have indicated that COVID-19 reinfection rates were low among the earliest variants of the disease but rose when the highly contagious Omicron variant spread around the world in late 2021 and early 2022.

Researchers say that the latest COVID-19 variants, such as Omicron B.A.5, are even better at evading the immunity offered by vaccination or previous infections.

“I’ve seen patients who have been reinfected with every new variant,” said Ostrosky. “Some have been reinfected 3, 4, and 5 times. We’re seeing people get reinfected with the B4 and B5 variants who were infected with Omicron as recently as March.”

“It’s still very clear that getting vaccinated helps protect people from getting seriously ill from COVID-19,” said Dr. Emily E. Volk, the chief medical officer at Baptist Health Floyd in Indiana and president of the College of American Pathologists.

“I don’t think we know if there is a cumulative effect from reinfection,” Volk told Healthline. “But getting a COVID-19 reinfection is not a risk-free event for anyone, including the risk of long-term effects. We can solidly say that.”

Ostrosky said that, anecdotally, people who had milder cases of COVID-19 on the first infection seem to have milder cases when reinfected. Those with more severe cases initially also tend to have more difficult reinfections — perhaps because their ability to fight the subsequent infection was damaged during their first bout with the disease.

Even a mild reinfection could carry risks, however.

“We don’t know the long-term effects of multiple infections even if they are mild,” said Ostrosky.

Volk said that while there is little public enthusiasm for a return to mask mandates, both she and Ostrosky recommended wearing a mask when indoors, especially in crowded spaces with poor ventilation, and particularly if you’re at elevated risk, or have someone in your life who is.

“It’s still important to protect yourself, stay home when you’re sick, practice good hand hygiene, and mask when appropriate,” said Volk.

Source: healthline

López Obrador visita a Biden con el drama migrante como telón de fondo

Adversavvy
-
0
López Obrador visita a Biden con el drama migrante como telón de fondo

López Obrador vuelve a la Casa Blanca. El presidente mexicano viajará a Estados Unidos para reunirse la mañana del martes con Joe Biden y la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris. La última vez que estuvo en Washington fue en noviembre, en una reunión de líderes de América del Norte. Y dos años antes estuvo por invitación de Donald Trump, con el que tuvo una gran sincronía contra todo pronóstico. Su retorno al despacho oval será en condiciones muy diferentes, pues la relación bilateral ha acumulado meses de tensiones. El encuentro es antecedido por el desaire del jefe del Ejecutivo mexicano a la cumbre de las Américas, una reunión regional que tuvo como tema central, y preocupación común, la migración. El líder mexicano fue el gran ausente en Los Ángeles en un momento en el que su país ha desplazado a Centroamérica como el principal expulsor de personas al norte. Estas migran de forma insegura, como reveló la tragedia de San Antonio, donde fueron hallados 53 personas muertas dentro de un tráiler. 26 eran mexicanas.

La migración será un tema inevitable entre los dos socios. Las estimaciones indican que Estados Unidos llegará en septiembre a los dos millones de arrestos en la frontera, una marca que superará los 1,7 millones que rompieron los récords de inmigración en 2021. La Cumbre celebrada en junio definió una hoja de ruta regional que pretende desincentivar la salida de los países de origen basada en inversiones para el desarrollo y facilitar la devolución de migrantes. Ese ha sido el eje de las negociaciones entre la Administración de Biden y López Obrador, quien ha dicho recientemente que también está interesado en poner sobre la mesa la propuesta de un plan común para hacer frente a la inflación que aprieta ambas economías.

México también llega a Washington con una petición añeja, que EE UU amplíe según las necesidades de su mercado laboral el número de visas para los trabajadores temporales mexicanos y centroamericanos. Los expertos son escépticos sobre la posibilidad de éxito de esta iniciativa en una relación que siempre ha tenido un carácter transaccional. “Como mucho se podrá conseguir algo marginal en algún apartado muy concreto. En el sector servicios, por ejemplo, donde hay mucha oferta, se necesita cierta especialización, como hablar bien el idioma”, considera Víctor Espinoza, el presidente del Colegio de la Frontera Norte.

El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional y el Departamento del Trabajo anunciaron hace un par de meses 35.000 visados de este tipo para el segundo semestre del año. Una previsión que parece testimonial en relación con los 239.000 migrantes irregulares que entraron en mayo.

El pragmatismo fue clave del trato de Trump con López Obrador, cuyo acuerdo implícito redujo una compleja agenda a comercio y control migratorio. La ventana para el pragmatismo parece que comienza a cerrarse para los demócratas, sobre los que pende la amenaza de perder el Congreso en las elecciones legislativas de noviembre. Las encuestas indican que la política migratoria de Biden y su control de la frontera serán, junto a la economía, uno de los asuntos dirimidos en las urnas. La Casa Blanca lo sabe, por ello el presupuesto de 2023 contempla la contratación de 300 elementos de la Patrulla Fronteriza, quienes auxiliarán a despejar la frontera en la antesala de las presidenciales de 2024.

Alejandro Mayorkas, el secretario de Seguridad Nacional, hizo un llamado a los legisladores estadounidenses tras la tragedia de San Antonio a aprobar nuevas leyes que “ayuden a componer un sistema de inmigración que está roto”. Es improbable que esto suceda en el clima de polarización política que se vive en Washington. El funcionario, no obstante, ha confirmado que el programa conocido como Quédate en México seguirá funcionando unas semanas más.

Este programa, instaurado por Donald Trump y su radical asesor Stephen Miller, tiene los días contados gracias al Tribunal Supremo, quien dio la razón a la Administración de Biden en una temporada con múltiples descalabros judiciales para el demócrata. La iniciativa exigía a los solicitantes de asilo esperar la resolución de su caso en territorio mexicano, lo que multiplicó durante los últimos años albergues y campamentos de migrantes en la frontera, del lado mexicano. Este concluirá una vez que el Supremo comunique la sentencia a los circuitos inferiores.

Biden prometió en campaña acabar con la medida y el fallo judicial supone un balón de oxígeno para una serie de promesas por cumplir que siguen en la lista de pendientes. Otra de estas fue recordada en junio por el canciller mexicano, Marcelo Ebrard. “México respalda por completo el compromiso del presidente Biden de regularizar a 11 millones de indocumentados”, dijo en referencia a la ambiciosa reforma presentada por la Casa Blanca en febrero del año pasado.

Para Ana Saiz, abogada y directora de la ONG Sin Fronteras, el final de Quédate en México es una buena noticia. Sin embargo, sostiene que “no deja de ser una simulación porque el sistema de asilo está empantanando. El saldo fue de apenas el 1% con Trump y ha subido solo al 5% con Biden”. La Casa Blanca ya ha anunciado que busca revitalizarlo. En la cumbre de Los Ángeles se comprometió a reasentar a 20.000 refugiados de las Américas durante los años fiscales 2023 y 2024, triplicando el ritmo actual.

Polémica por Assange

La negativa de López Obrador a acudir a la cumbre bajo la justificación de que no fueron invitados Cuba, Nicaragua y Venezuela ni siquiera ha sido la última esquirla en la relación bilateral. El presidente mexicano salió en defensa de Julian Assange, cuya extradición a Estados Unidos fue aprobada en junio por el Gobierno británico. El mandatario aseguró que intercederá en favor del fundador de Wikileaks. El día de la independencia estadounidense incluso dijo en una de sus provocadoras intervenciones que si este es condenado a prisión a la pena máxima “hay que empezar una campaña para desmontar la estatua de la libertad”.

Durante los primeros meses del año ya se habían sucedido episodios de tensión como la polémica reforma eléctrica mexicana, que merma la operación de muchas empresas estadounidenses, y el apoyo a Rusia de sectores de Morena, el partido en el poder, habían despertado una ola de preocupación y malestar en instancias gubernamentales y del Partido Demócrata. Una tensión que ha colocado en el ojo del huracán al embajador, Ken Salazar. Una reciente información de The New York Times apuntaba la creciente preocupación desde las altas esferas de la Casa Blanca en relación con la tarea diplomática de Salazar, acusándolo de tener demasiada cercanía con el presidente mexicano.

Source: elpais

President Biden reveals the James Webb Space Telescope’s stunning first image

Adversavvy
-
0
President Biden reveals the James Webb Space Telescope’s stunning first image

The first glimpse of how the James Webb Space Telescope will change the way people see the universe has arrived.

President Joe Biden has released one of Webb’s first images, and it’s “the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date,” according to NASA.
The image shows SMACS 0723, where a massive group of galaxy clusters act as a magnifying glass for the objects behind them. Called gravitational lensing, this created Webb’s first deep field view of incredibly old and distant, faint galaxies.
The presentation occurred at the White House during a preview event with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
“It is the deepest image of our universe that has ever been taken” in infrared, according to Nelson.
Some of these distant galaxies and star clusters have never been seen before. The galaxy cluster is shown as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago.
“This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground,” according to a NASA release.
The image, taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera, is composed of images taken at different wavelengths of light over the course of 12.5 hours. The Hubble Space Telescope’s deepest fields took weeks to capture.
The rest of the high-resolution color images will make their debut on Tuesday, July 12.
The space observatory, which launched in December, will be able to peer inside the atmospheres of exoplanets and observe some of the first galaxies created after the universe began by viewing them through infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye.
The first image release highlights Webb’s science capabilities as well as the ability of its massive golden mirror and science instruments to produce spectacular images.
There are several events taking place during Tuesday’s image release, and all of them will stream live on NASA’s website.
Opening remarks by NASA leadership and the Webb team will begin Tuesday at 9:45 a.m. ET, followed by an image release broadcast that kicks off at 10:30 a.m. ET. Images will be revealed one by one, and a news conference at 12:30 p.m. ET will offer details about them.

The first images

NASA shared Webb’s first cosmic targets on Friday, providing a teaser for what else Tuesday’s image release will include: the Carina Nebula, WASP-96b, the Southern Ring Nebula and Stephan’s Quintet.
Located 7,600 light-years away, the Carina Nebula is a stellar nursery, where stars are born. It is one of the largest and brightest nebulae in the sky and home to many stars much more massive than our sun.
Webb’s study of the giant gas planet WASP-96b will be the first full-color spectrum of an exoplanet. The spectrum will include different wavelengths of light that could reveal new information about the planet, such as whether it has an atmosphere. Discovered in 2014, WASP-96b is located 1,150 light-years from Earth. It has half the mass of Jupiter and completes an orbit around its star every 3.4 days.
This test image was taken by Webb's Fine Guidance Sensor over a period of eight days at the beginning of May. It shows how Webb can capture detailed images of very faint objects.

This test image was taken by Webb’s Fine Guidance Sensor over a period of eight days at the beginning of May. It shows how Webb can capture detailed images of very faint objects.
The Southern Ring Nebula, also called the “Eight-Burst,” is 2,000 light-years away from Earth. This large planetary nebula includes an expanding cloud of gas around a dying star.
The space telescope’s view of Stephan’s Quintet will reveal the way galaxies interact with one another. This compact galaxy group, first discovered in 1787, is located 290 million light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. Four of the five galaxies in the group “are locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters,” according to a NASA statement.
The targets were selected by an international committee, including members from NASA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.

Looking ahead

These will be the first of many images to come from Webb, the most powerful telescope ever launched into space. The mission, originally expected to last for 10 years, has enough excess fuel capability to operate for 20 years, according to NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.
“Webb can see backwards in time just after the big bang by looking for galaxies that are so far away, the light has taken many billions of years to get from those galaxies to ourselves,” said Jonathan Gardner, Webb deputy senior project scientist at NASA, during a recent news conference. “Webb is bigger than Hubble so that it can see fainter galaxies that are further away.”
The initial goal for the telescope was to see the first stars and galaxies of the universe, essentially watching “the universe turn the lights on for the first time,” said Eric Smith, Webb program scientist and NASA Astrophysics Division chief scientist.
Smith has worked on Webb since the project began in the mid-1990s.
“The James Webb Space Telescope will give us a fresh and powerful set of eyes to examine our universe,” Smith wrote in an update on NASA’s website. “The world is about to be new again.”
Source: cnn

Appeals courts delays Texas execution set for this week

Adversavvy
-
0
Appeals courts delays Texas execution set for this week

An appeals court has stayed this week’s execution of a death row inmate who had raised questions about whether prosecutors had presented false and inaccurate testimony from an expert on whether he would commit more crimes in the future

An appeals court on Monday stayed this week’s execution of a death row inmate who had raised questions about whether prosecutors had presented false and inaccurate testimony from an expert on whether he would commit more crimes in the future.

Ramiro Gonzales, 39, had been set to receive a lethal injection for fatally shooting Bridget Townsend. Gonzales kidnapped Townsend, who was the girlfriend of his drug dealer, from a Bandera County home in January 2001 after stealing drugs and money. He later took her to his family’s ranch in neighboring Medina County, where he sexually assaulted the 18-year-old before killing her. Her remains weren’t found until nearly two years later.

Gonzales’ attorneys had asked the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to stay his execution, arguing prosecutors presented false testimony that wrongly claimed he would be a future danger, a legal finding needed to impose a death sentence.

His attorneys had argued that a prosecution expert, psychiatrist Edward Gripon, had falsely testified that people who commit sexual assault “have an extremely high rate of … recidivism,” as high as 80%.

Gonzales’ attorneys argued subsequent reviews by experts and reporters found that no reliable statistical study had ever supported such a high recidivism rate.

In its three-page order on Monday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said Gonzales’ attorneys had made sufficient claim “showing that testimony of recidivism rates Gripon gave at trial were false and … that false testimony could have affected the jury’s answer to the future dangerousness question at punishment.”

The appeals court ordered Gonzales’ case to be sent to his trial court for further review.

It was not immediately known if the Texas Attorney General’s Office would appeal the execution stay. An agency spokesman didn’t immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

After re-evaluating Gonzales earlier this year, Gripon says his prediction the inmate would be a future danger was wrong, adding Gonzales has taken responsibility for what he did and has expressed remorse.

The appeals court’s order came about a couple of hours after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied a request by Gonzales’ attorneys to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty or delay his execution for 180 days so he could donate a kidney to someone who may need it.

Gonzales had also asked Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to delay his execution, for 30 days, so he could donate a kidney.

Gonzales’ attorneys say the kidney donation is part of his effort to atone for his crimes.

“I am sorry, deeply sorry, that I took what was so precious to you and I know there’s nothing I can do or say to make it better.

I have absolutely no excuse for what I have done and there’s absolutely no one to blame but me,” Gonzales wrote in a letter to Townsend’s family.

If his execution had proceeded, Gonzales had asked that his spiritual adviser be allowed in the death chamber so she can pray aloud, hold his hand and place her other hand on his chest.

Texas prison officials objected to the hand holding request, citing security concerns, but a federal judge in Houston said in a temporary order the execution could only go forward if all of Gonzales’ religious accommodations were granted.

Prosecutors described Gonzales as a sexual predator who told police he ignored her pleas to spare her life.

Townsend’s body wasn’t found until October 2002, when Gonzales led authorities to her remains after receiving two life sentences for kidnapping and raping another woman.

Source: ivpressonline

Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi to Kick Off Blues Brothers Con at Old Joliet Prison

Adversavvy
-
0
Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi to Kick Off Blues Brothers Con at Old Joliet Prison

The late John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd formed The Blues Brothers as part of a soul and revivalist band as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1978. That stroke of genius would evolve into a hit 1980 movie of the same name and pull in several iconic artists like James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin. To this day, The Blue Brothers is still one of the few successful movies based on characters from SNL and the characters maintain a faithful fan following. Aside from that, the location of the film’s opening scene is just as popular.

Formerly known as the Joliet Correctional Center, the Old Joliet Prison is where audiences see Jake (John Belushi) being escorted down a hallway full of inmates (real prisoners who were paid for being in the movie). Jake walks across the yard to collect his belongings which leads to one of the most iconic shots of the entire film – Elwood (Aykroyd) waiting across the street to pick up his brother. The Old Joliet Prison has long been famously used for filming locations including the tv series Prison Break and the movie Natural Born Killers.

Now a popular tourist destination, it will host the inaugural Blues Brothers event on August 19 (2-11 p.m.) and August 20 (10:30 a.m. – 11 p.m.). The cost of two-day general admission is $60 for adults and $20 for children. Aykroyd will be present at the event with John’s brother, Jim Belushi.

Though the event is described as being an annual one, it is doubtful whether Dan Aykroyd or Jim Belushi will attend each year. However, there is a call for persons to portray Jake and Elwood on the Blue Brothers’ website. The event will feature a 90-minute performance from Aykroyd and Belushi and the 16-acre complex will be filled with vendors selling food, drinks, artwork, and souvenirs. Also, the Soul Café and Bob’s Country Bunker restaurants featured in the film will be recreated for the event. Even the Bluesmobile will be on display.

Opened in 1958, the Old Joliet Prison remained operational until 2002. In 2018, the prison was opened to the public, offering guests paid guided tours of the building. Whiles tours have been ongoing for a few years, Blue Brothers Con will likely be the most activity the site has seen in a long time.

Source: movieweb

Rockets reportedly hoping to use two-way contract slot on backup center

Adversavvy
-
0
Rockets reportedly hoping to use two-way contract slot on backup center

The Houston Rockets would like to add center depth behind second-year starter Alperen Sengun, but they have a clear incentive to avoid longer-term salaries that could hinder their salary cap flexibility in 2023.

According to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, the Rockets are exploring big-man additions for 2022-23 via a two-way contract (for one season).

Iko named Moses Brown and Freddie Gillespie as potential candidates, along with the possibility of re-signing Bruno Fernando or calling up Mfiondu Kabengele from Houston’s G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Vipers. There is no clear timetable for such a move.

Internally, the Rockets have veteran big man Boban Marjanović and second-year forward Usman Garuba as candidates to play beyond Sengun. But neither is a proven, consistent NBA rotation player, so it makes sense for Houston general manager Rafael Stone to explore outside additions — particularly if they are cap friendly.

Time will tell on whether any of these potential deals materialize. Another plausible candidate could be 6-foot-9 big man Aric Holman, who continues to play well for Houston’s 2022 summer league team.

Source: rocketswire

1...370371372...716Page 371 of 716

Houston’s premier Hispanic news network, dedicated to keeping you informed with the latest updates on local and national breaking news, community events, entertainment, chisme, and much more. We strive to be your trusted source for engaging and timely content that connects with our vibrant community and celebrates the culture and stories that matter most to you.

Contact us: contact@queondamagazine.com

© Copyright - Que Onda Magazine 2024