Author: i2wtc
Marissa Teijo, 71, of El Paso, will make history this weekend as the oldest contestant in the Miss Texas USA pageant.The Miss Texas USA pageant will be held June 21-22 at the Hilton Post Oak Hotel in Houston. This is the preliminary round for Miss USA.Teijo said in an email that she wanted to send the message that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams.Jackie Garcia-Martinez, CEO of Bazaar Models, which represents Teijo, said the Miss Universe Organization instituted more inclusive rules this year, removing age restrictions for contestants vying for the crown. “I feel like all women are…
State lawmakers and law enforcement agencies are reviving dormant laws that criminalize wearing masks in an effort to punish pro-Palestinian protesters who hide their faces, raising concerns among coronavirus-wary Americans.North Carolina Republican Senator The state is poised to overturn Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) recent veto of a bill that would have made wearing a mask a crime. New York Gov. Kathy Hockle (D) said earlier this month: He supports legislative efforts to ban masks on the subway, citing an incident in which a masked protester on the subway yelled, “Raise your hands if you’re a Zionist. Now’s your chance to…
Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s top leadership has approved the launch of a new military operation aimed at quelling the escalating violence. The operation, called “Azm-e-Isteqam,” Urdu for “determination for stability,” was announced after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif led a weekend review of the country’s “counter-terror” operations, particularly the National Action Plan adopted after the December 2014 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, which left more than 140 people, mostly students, dead and claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, known as the TTP. The new military plans are expected to focus on domestic security threats and militant militants crossing the…
Profit margins for trucking companies vary, but they aren’t low; estimates range from 2.5% to 8%. Capacity fluctuates rapidly in the trucking industry, which can cause actual margins to fluctuate, making working capital and cash flow very difficult to manage. Add to this the many and constantly changing local, state, and federal regulations, and you can see that truck fleets face a myriad of challenges. One of the biggest challenges is the increasing cost of facing lawsuits that could result in adverse judgments against the company. At a recent NationaLease conference, Steve Bryan, CEO and co-founder of Bluewire, explained this…
The Indian Lok Sabha will soon elect a new Speaker. The election is a closely watched event as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government is in power and just shy of a majority. The Speaker position is a hot topic, especially at a time when the ruling coalition has a slim majority and party divisions are the norm. The Speaker has the crucial role of interpreting the no-defection clause on one hand and presiding over an often acrimonious Parliament on the other.This time around, there were initial rumours that a non-BJP NDA (National Democratic Alliance) coalition partner was eyeing…
By Don Fenley A recurring theme in monthly local home sales reports over the past two and a half years has been a decline in home sales, typically referred to as a pullback to pre-pandemic market levels. While the regional trend descriptions are accurate, in the hyper-local world of real estate, a different story is unfolding in community markets that contradicts regional trends. The May figures are a good example. Bristol, Virginia has a lot going for it. The Hard Rock Casino is fueling an increasingly vibrant business and tourism economy. But residential growth is another matter. Until recently, the…
Down icon An icon in the shape of a downward angle. Princess Anne at Royal Ascot on Thursday. Samir Hussain/Getty Images Princess Anne is being treated at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, England for head injuries.She suffered a concussion following the accident on Gatcombe Park Estate in Gloucestershire.The palace said King Charles III had been informed of his sister’s condition and recovery. Buckingham Palace said on Monday that Princess Anne was being treated in hospital for a head injury.The royal family said the king’s sister, 73, “suffered minor injuries and a concussion” in the accident at their home in Gatcombe Park,…
Virginia Tech football coach Brent Pry received a major commitment Sunday afternoon when three-star quarterback AJ Brand decided to commit to the Hokies over the University of South Carolina and the University of North Carolina, which had been in the running to acquire Brand out of South Carolina. Brand was the first of two commitments Pry received, with linebacker Noah Chambers committing later Sunday afternoon.Brand was Virginia Tech’s preferred signal caller and would be a great addition to the Hokies as he is a dynamic duel-threat quarterback with a very similar skill set to current Tech quarterback Kyron Draughns. There…
Donald Trump and his campaign are at odds over his views on school vaccination policy.The former president has frequently said he would cut off federal funding to schools that mandate vaccinations. His campaign said in March that the policy only applied to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, but Trump has repeatedly spoken out against vaccine mandates without mentioning COVID-19. “I won’t give a penny to any school that mandates vaccinations or mandates mask wearing,” he said at a rally in May, and again this month.The campaign is right to backtrack: If voters take Trump’s repeated words at face value, this reckless policy…
A former White House aide and confidant of Melania Trump is claiming that the former first lady didn’t support her son, Barron Trump,’s path into the political spotlight.Barron, 18, is former President Donald Trump’s youngest son and his only child with his wife, Melania Trump. The teenager has kept a relatively low profile, mostly appearing alongside his family at campaign events, but he’s not yet out on his own.That all changed when it was announced in July that the young boy, who just graduated from high school in May, would represent Florida at the Republican National Convention alongside his half-siblings…