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Audit criticizes CDOT’s handling of contracts that abandon low-bid approach for some major projects

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:50:12 GMT

The Colorado Department of Transportation’s increasing use of untraditional contracting approaches for large highway projects has been hampered by problems with how the deals are awarded, negotiated and managed, state auditors found in a recent report.Awarding construction work to the lowest bidder for a set design is no longer the rule of thumb for large or complex projects designated for so-called “alternative delivery” contract methods. Instead, CDOT and transportation officials in several other states have opted for setups in which construction companies bid before the full design is complete and, once selected, work with CDOT or engineering contractors to finish it.Critics contend these newer forms of contracting — used for work including the $1.3 billion Central 70 project in Denver and major widening projects on Interstate 25 south and north of metro Denver — favor larger companies, often from out of state, and risk costing taxpayers more.But CDO...

A Russian trace is likely to undermine the head of the Ukrainian Central Bank Andriy Pyshnyy's future

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:50:12 GMT

EU Reporter already published an investigation about the new head of the Ukrainian National Bank, where we quoted famous Ukrainian journalist Serhyi Lyamets. After the publication, S.Lyamets submitted to us his separate article - published below - about suspicions of some banking malpractices, which are important as we talk about the head of the central bank and the family of Ukrainian businessmen strongly associated with former Russian president Medvedev.A Russian trace is likely to undermine the head of the Ukrainian Central Bank Andriy Pyshnyy's future, writes Serhyi Lyamets."In times of Russian invasion and European sanctions, these moments hardly can be left unnoticed. There was an episode in the activities of the current head of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), which was once widely reported by the Ukrainian mass media. In 2020, while Andriy Pishny headed the state-owned Oschadbank, he carried out a rather suspicious financial transaction. Several years have passed, and th...

2 people critically injured in Highland fire

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:50:12 GMT

Two people were critically injured in a house fire in Highland early Monday, officials said.The incident was first reported as being medical-related around 12:45 a.m., but when San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrived they saw smoke coming from a home in the 7700 block of Chanticleer Road.Neighbors told responding deputies that there might be people trapped inside and they were able to pull one victim out of the burning house.Firefighters from Cal Fire San Bernardino then rescued a second victim, Chief Grant Malinowski told KTLA.Both victims were taken to a hospital in critical condition. Their ages and genders have not been released.Firefighters were battling heavy smoke and fire conditions, and even though the blaze was knocked down, they remained on scene for several hours to make sure the rest of the house was cleared.The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

Iress is in Heaven with the Cocteau Twins

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:50:12 GMT

Cocteau TwinsHeaven or Las Vegas (4AD)Iress is in Heaven with the Cocteau Twins: Michelle Malley of L.A, dreamy doom-rockers Iress told us about her love for a Cocteau Twins gem.(4AD)Michelle Malley: There are so many influential albums that have been monumental in my life. My music taste definitely is diverse but ultimately, I am drawn to music that moves me, that makes me feel something. Heart-wrenching, dreamy, heavy and dark. Instead of choosing my favorite album of all time, which feels impossible, I decided to choose an album that has been extra special to me over this past year.Heaven or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins. I have been listening to it on repeat all of 2022 and then some. It’s just so good from beginning to end. I feel like you can listen to this album alone and in your feels when it’s raining outside,  and when you’re driving to the beach with friends loving life—it just always feels right. It’s inspiring and beautiful. If you haven’t heard it yet, I encourage you to ...

Laying the foundation of UAE’s first Technical Support Company to Secure Websites & Electronic Accounts

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:50:12 GMT

Internet is part of our daily lives; it not just plays an integral role; it has completely dominated our lives. With time, the dependence on the digital space is rapidly growing and has reached an extent where we prefer paying bills, shopping, and transferring money online. It is convenient, and there is no doubt about it, but with convenience comes risks attached to it as well. The threat in the guise of cyberattacks is real. It is time that companies and organizations start prioritizing cyber safety and security more than anything else.This is where Saud Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed Alhammadi, more professionally known as Saud Bin Ahmed, is helping companies operate without any concerns about cyber threats. Saud Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed Alhammadi is an Emirati entrepreneur and Founder of Technical Support Company to Secure Websites and Electronic Accounts. Born in 1985, he is a public figure, digital creator, awareness film director, and animation creator and has also been an Unlimited Technolo...

The Bay Area’s economy of mud: Dredging concerns threaten jobs, $100 billion in assets

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:50:12 GMT

At the Port of Oakland on a recent weekday, trucks, cranes and container-laden ships moved goods across the sprawling 1,300-acre complex with the precarious precision of a Rube Goldberg machine.Mere blocks from downtown Oakland, the port operates essentially as a city within a city. It’s the ninth biggest port in the country and the first stop for 99% percent of containerized goods moving through Northern California.A large container ship is docked at the Port of Oakland in Oakland, Calif., on April 4, 2023. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) In the whir of logistics and machinery, it’s easy to forget that everything happening here is made possible by one unsung, unglamorous and Sisyphean task: hauling mud from San Francisco Bay.That dredging process has enormous implications for the future of shipping and transportation in the Bay Area, and may hold the key to protecting local shorelines.“The bottom line is that if we don’t dredge, none of this happens,” said port spokespe...

Two dads, one baby? Gene technique works in mice

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:50:12 GMT

For the first time in history, scientists have created mice with two dads, foretelling a day when same-sex couples may be able to have biological children of their own.The success, announced by Japanese researchers last month, has not yet been tried on people.But scientists at two Bay Area startups, as well as a company in New York City and another in Japan, are striving to move the mouse research into humans, and rewrite the rules of reproduction by making sex cells in a lab. If successful in people, the technique would allow the creation of an egg cell from blood or a tiny sliver of a man or woman’s skin.So far, the research has focused on making egg cells, which would enable male-male reproduction. Creating sperm for female-female reproduction is a tougher scientific challenge.“Even the remote possibility of same-sex couples creating a baby without a donor is extraordinary and exciting,” said Drew Lloyd, board president of the Bay Area Municipal Elections Commit...

Pac-12 deputy commissioner Jamie Zaninovich to depart conference

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:50:12 GMT

Pac-12 deputy commissioner Jamie Zaninovich is leaving the conference this week after nine years to become managing director at TrailRunner International, a global strategic communications firm.Zaninovich doubles as the Pac-12’s chief operating officer and has worked closely with commissioner George Kliavkoff on the media rights negotiations.Friday will be his final day. However, his first consulting project at TrailRunner will be to advise the Pac-12 on the media negotiations, expansion and basketball strategy.(The media rights saga, which began in July, is expected to conclude later this spring.)In his new role, Zaninovich will help TrailRunner grow its sports business operation. The company is based in Dallas-Fort Worth but has offices across the country and in Shanghai.Its clients include the Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, Oakland A’s and, on two previous occasions, the Pac-12.TrailRunner worked with the conference during its multi-year initiatives in China and provided communic...

FBI warning: Don’t use free public phone charging stations

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:50:12 GMT

Federal Bureau of Investigation officials are warning travelers and shoppers to avoid public free phone charging portals, warning that “bad actors” use these to install malware and tracking software onto computers and phones.This is the practice commonly known as “juice-jacking.”“Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices,” FBI officials announced Thursday in a tweet.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Tesla staff shared images and recordings from customers’ cars, Reuters says Crime and Public Safety | Oakland’s ransomware crisis worsens as city confirms largest leak yet Crime and Public Safety | Ransomware fallout: Could lawsuits break Oakland’s silence? Crime and Public Safety | Asian Americans are anxious about hate crimes. TikTok ban rhetoric isn’t helping Crime and Public Safety | Twitter hunts Github user who poste...

Why some players believe the Giants-Dodgers rivalry could be even better in 2023

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:50:12 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Here come the mighty Dodgers, who will ride into Oracle Park for a quick three-game series then disappear, not to be seen in the Bay Area again for 172 days.The baseball gods have saved the Giants from facing the Dodgers 19 times a year and reduced that number to 13 with a new balanced schedule implemented this year.The Giants will now host their biggest rivals only twice: in their first homestand of the year, starting Monday, and then again in their last, starting on Sept. 29.It’s such an oddity that some of the players around the Giants clubhouse had no idea it was happening.“Is it really?” asked Anthony DeSclafani.“Huh,” said Logan Webb.Ross Stripling, one of five former Dodgers now on the Giants, said he hadn’t heard anyone on the team mention the six-month gap between home games with their rivals, but thinks the Giants’ ambivalence shows it’s “a good team that we’re tackling the game at hand before we think about the Dodgers. But I know it’ll be a big deal...