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Smoky Hill seniors overcome obstacles to become part of marching band together

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:39:00 GMT

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A lesson in the power of friendship and compassion is coming from two local high school seniors.In a marching band, where every musician plays a part, staying in sync makes the performance.“Every student has their own unique spot,” said Zak Ruffert, director of bands at Smoky Hill High School. So when we're missing somebody, there's quite literally a hole in the band, a blank spot on the field."At Smoky Hill High School, two seniors make the marching band whole together: Nolan Dauer and Donovan Light.“Donovan plays the trumpet and Nolan moves them where he needs to be,” Ruffert said. "Together, it completes the picture." From Black Hawks to brewery owner, Castle Rock veteran continues to give back The friendship between Dauer and Light goes back to middle school."We hung out during lunches and talked to each other then,” Dauer said.A school later, those conversations evolved into harmony.“Freshman year, I was still very interested in the marching band, but I...

Pembroke Pines metaphysical shop Qunubus is hosting 3-day aura photography event

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:39:00 GMT

It is a colorful world out there, but there are some colors we can’t see with our own eyes … like our auras. Now you can learn more about your aura and even get pictures of it. Can’t be any worse than your driver’s license photo, right?Forget a psychedelic trip. All you need to do to see colors this weekend is get your aura photos taken.The metaphysical shop Qunubus is hosting a three-day aura photography event.Ilena Romero: “On this three-day event, it’s for everyone to come in, they can take their aura photo. It’s going to teach them what energy they’re putting out into the world, and for them to grow spiritually.”Your aura is the energy frequency your body gives out that we can’t see with the naked eye, but in simpler terms…Atena de Jong: “You can think of the aura as kind of a snapshot of where you are on your soul’s journey.”The only way to see it is with special equipment that takes a picture of your aura....

Israeli envoy: Hamas ‘animals’ must be destroyed

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:39:00 GMT

Israel’s Ambassador to Berlin Ron Prosor said the Western world must stand with Israel as it fights the “bloodthirsty animals” of Hamas. Speaking to POLITICO’s transatlantic podcast Power Play, the diplomat said militants from the armed Palestinian group “will pay a price” for their recent terror attack against Israel, which left more than 1,200 people dead in what Prosor called the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.“This is civilization against barbarity. This is good against bad,” Prosor said. “This is people who basically act as animals and do not have any, any respect for children, women.”Prosor was doubling down on language by Israel’s Defense Minister Yoan Gallant, who sparked controversy by saying Israel was fighting “human animals.” Talking about Israel’s retaliatory measures against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Prosor said the goal can no longer be containment, as trying to contain Islamic jihadists “does not and will never work.”Isra...

What’s in a name? Why unmet medical needs are riling the pharma industry 

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:39:00 GMT

This article is the product of a POLITICO Working Group presented by Sanofi. The debate over how to make pharmaceutical companies treat all European markets fairly is raging. But there’s a second front opening in the industry’s fightback against the European Commission’s pharmaceutical reform: the category of unmet medical need. The idea seems innocent enough. It’s an incentive that rewards new drugs for patients with serious diseases who don’t have any other treatments and whose medical needs are, well, unmet. But it’s already provoking strong reactions in some corners, with objections spanning from accusations of more red tape to worries that it will actually stymie innovation.“Having another step of evaluation [in the drug approval process] would just add complexity, and create unbelievable discussions between member states,” said Christian Deleuze, deputy managing director for innovation at Sanofi, who was speaking at a working group on rare...

Going to war: Ambassador Ron Prosor on Israel’s fight with Hamas

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:39:00 GMT

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Google Play EN_Google_Podcasts_Badge Created with Sketch. Acast Amazon Music The horrific events unfolding in Israel have sent shockwaves around the world. As the death toll mounts from Hamas’ deadly attacks and Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Gaza, how will the ensuing conflict alter the power balance of the Middle East and its alliances?In...

Editorial: The horrific cost of Biden’s $6B Iran deal

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:39:00 GMT

Once again, Joe Biden’s blunders have had deadly consequences.The president believed that unfreezing $6 billion in assets to Iran, a nation that funds terrorists, wouldn’t have any negative repercussions.The mounting death toll and tales of horror in Israel speak volumes to the contrary.Biden, the $6 Billion Man, approved the August deal to unfreeze the assets in exchange for the release of five American prisoners. Under the terms of the deal, the money can only be used for humanitarian-related purposes, including purchasing food or other goods outside Iran for import, U.S. officials said.As this administration has shown repeatedly, it doesn’t have a firm grasp of how money works.Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, pointed out that allowing Iran access to those funds under any circumstances improves its budget situation, freeing up money that would be used to use elsewhere, Reuters reported,“Let’s be h...

Foxx, Jones knock ’em dead in ‘The Burial’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:39:00 GMT

Shot a year before Jamie Foxx’s mysterious hospitalization, “The Burial” is a demonstration of that acting phenomenon known as chemistry. I am not only talking about the marvelous and amusing chemistry between fellow Texans Jamie Foxx, playing real-life wealthy lawyer Willie E. Gary; and Tommy Lee Jones as Mississippi funeral home owner and father of 13 children Jeremiah O’Keefe. Although Gary is a personal injury lawyer with the manner and vocabulary of a fundamentalist Baptist preacher, he is hired in 1995 by O’Keefe to be lead attorney in his lawsuit against a Canadian corporation run by the menacing Ray Loewen (Bill Camp).The chemistry spills all over the screen in this film, thanks to some brilliant casting. When Loewen’s legal team learns that O’Keefe has hired Gary and that the case will be heard in a small Mississippi county called Hinds, where the population is two-thirds African-American, Loewen hires Howard-and-Harvard-educated Mame Downes (J...

Find the Cause fights breast cancer before it starts

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:39:00 GMT

As Breast Cancer Awareness Month continues, I want to turn to a non-profit that’s approaching the disease in a completely different and critical way: Find The Cause. Based right here in Boston, I’ve worked with them for many years. And as a survivor myself, I can’t tell you how important their work is. The progress they’re making is incredible.While many other terrific organizations focus on finding a cure for breast cancer, their mission is to find the cause. In short, they fund scientific research on the environmental causes and then use that data to educate the public on prevention. And given that one in 18 women in the Unites States will be diagnosed with breast cancer—and that each year, 7,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer in Massachusetts alone—that effort couldn’t be more important. Billions of dollars have been put toward researching treatments, and yet the disease is still with us. We know that 90% of those diagnosed have no family history with the disease, making...

Violent Femmes head back to ’83 at MGM show

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:39:00 GMT

At 15, Gordon Gano knew he wanted to spend his life playing rock ‘n’ roll.Yes, yes, a ton of 15-year-olds dreaming of becoming rock stars. But most of them haven’t already written a song like “Kiss Off.”Violent Femmes singer-songwriter-guitarist Gano still plays a dozen or more of the songs he wrote in high school — and he still enjoys playing them; nobody has a healthier relationship with their back catalog. On Friday, Violent Femmes will perform its entire 1983 debut (and a bunch of other songs) at MGM Music Hall.“I started writing songs when I was 13,” Gano told the Herald. “I thought they were good at the time then later they would all make me cringe. But there’s a song, at least one song, that I wrote when I was 15 on each of the first four albums… And everything on the first album was written when I was 15 to 17. I think I might have been right around 18 when we recorded it.”The adolescent energy of the band, its punk sneer and experimental freedom, drives the Femmes 1983 debu...

Brem & Clauss: Accessory units will help solve housing crisis

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:39:00 GMT

Like much of the nation, Massachusetts has a housing crisis. Many other states are addressing theirs by taking bold action, and we should do the same.For instance, California is leading the way with a new state law called Build Housing Faster; efforts are also underway in Oregon and Maine. It is time for Massachusetts to stop discussing our housing problem and start implementing laws, regulations, standards and incentive programs to make a solution reality.We believe Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) – sometimes called “in-law apartments” – to be the low-hanging fruit in solving the housing crisis. This is allows for a second living unit to be created on an existing single-family residential lot, whether the ADU is attached to the existing home or detached. It is important to note that all of the typical rules and regulations for health, wetlands, setbacks and zoning would still apply.If allowed statewide by statute, these units would be automatically spread out across cities and town...