Ducks sign goaltender Oscar Dansk to one-year, two-way contract

• September 5, 2024

The Ducks bolstered their goalie depth by signing Oscar Dansk to a one-year, two-way contract.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but it’s maximum value is likely near the NHL minimum salary.

Dansk, 30, has just six games of NHL experience, all coming with the Vegas Golden Knights. He won four of his decisions with a .906 save percentage, two points above his .904 mark in the American Hockey League, where he has made 171 appearances.

He was originally selected 31st overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2012.

After he was not tendered a second contract offer by Columbus, he signed with Vegas. He helped the Golden Knights’ minor-league affiliate reach the Calder Cup finals in 2019.

The Swede later spent a year in Russia with Spartak Moscow before returning to North America for two seasons with the Calgary Flames’ top affiliate, where he spent the past two seasons.

Last year, he backed up Dustin Wolf and also won his club’s IOA/American Specialty Man of the Year Award for the third time, which honored Dansk’s community service. The Stockholm native has worked with Ronald McDonald House and other charities.

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Internationally, Dansk won a silver medal for Sweden at both the U18 and U20 levels.

Dansk will likely compete with Calle Clang for starts in the AHL, with Vyacheslav Buteyets also entering the Ducks’ stateside netminding mix. Tomas Suchanek, who emerged last season after signing as an undrafted free agent, sustained a lower-body injury and may miss significant time as a result.

​ Orange County Register 

The best ways to give money to a teenager

• September 5, 2024

By Kimberly Palmer | NerdWallet

The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.

Giving money to teenage children might sound simple, but it can quickly become complicated. Parents often want to set limits on how much their teens can spend, teach them about money management and protect them from fraud, all at the same time.

“It’s about knowing your kids and tailoring the approach a little bit to the child,” says Amy Spalding, a certified financial planner at District Capital Management, a Washington, D.C.-based firm. Some kids need more active help to stay organized and learn how to stay within a budget, while others need to be encouraged to practice spending in the real world.

Here are some strategies to consider when providing money to your teenager:

Start with cash

When children are using money on their own for the first time, sticking with cash can be the easiest way for them to learn how to manage it, says Dan Tobias, a CFP and founder of Passport Wealth Management in Cornelius, North Carolina. “First, get them to understand and appreciate money with paper. Then, when you need to, you can switch to electronic methods,” he says.

That’s the approach he uses for his own three children. He gives them a cash allowance and lets them decide how to spend it, which includes letting them make mistakes.

“Don’t be afraid to let them fail,” Tobias says. Kids might lose a $20 bill, splurge on something that breaks the next day or, in his case, buy a fish and a tank that they soon don’t want anymore. Those mistakes are critical teaching moments, he says, so it’s important parents don’t micromanage their kids’ spending.

Leverage familiar apps

Once children start earning and spending their own money without you nearby, digital payments become more appealing. You can use methods you and your kids may already know, like Apple Wallet, Venmo or other apps already connected to your phone. They are often connected to a parent’s credit card or checking account, unless a child already has their own.

Sarah Behr, a financial planner and owner of Simplify Financial in San Francisco, says apps can be helpful because a parent can closely monitor a child’s spending and “keep the guardrails up” while still giving them the freedom to make their own spending decisions.

If a teen overspends without permission, that can lead to a helpful conversation about budgeting. At the same time, parents can find ways to make sure their own accounts are protected, by using the apps to set spending limits or creating separate accounts with low balances and low credit limits.

Spalding turned to digital payment apps when her teenagers started spending money on their own. She set up a separate bank account with a low balance to limit the potential damage if the account was compromised or a teen overspent.

(Kimberly Palmer shares how she gives money to her teenage daughter.)

Try paid products for more support

Debit cards and apps designed for kids like Greenlight, GoHenry and BusyKid offer additional support for families, such as allowing them to actively manage a budget and chores, but they often come with a fee.

Greenlight, which costs between $5.99 and $14.98 a month, offers parental controls, the ability to assign chores and allowance automation, among other features. “Kids can understand the bigger picture of money management” and also set savings goals for themselves, says Jennifer Seitz, director of education at Greenlight.

Gregg Murset, a CFP and CEO of BusyKid, a debit card and chore app for kids, says the app helps parents teach kids important lessons about tracking money, investing and giving to charity. “That’s what we do as adults — save, invest and share — so we are modeling reality,” he says, adding that kids ages five through 17 can use the app, which costs $4 a month.

Encourage savings

Regardless of the method you choose, saving money should be part of the conversation with your kids, Spalding suggests. When her children were young teenagers, she took them to a local bank to set up a savings account so they could deposit money they had accumulated from babysitting jobs and gifts. She says you could also use an online high-yield savings account to see the money compound more quickly.

Investing in a Roth IRA can be a smart next step for children earning their own money. Behr offered her daughter a savings match up to the amount she contributed to encourage her to save more for the future. “I’m hoping the discipline of this exercise in delayed gratification sinks in,” she says. Teens can save up to the amount of their earned income with a limit of $7,000 for 2024.

With that kind of practice, saving for the future might even become a lifelong habit.

Kimberly Palmer writes for NerdWallet. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @kimberlypalmer.

The article The Best Ways to Give Money to a Teenager originally appeared on NerdWallet.

​ Orange County Register 

Rams place starting corner Darious Williams on injured reserve

• September 5, 2024

LOS ANGELES — The Rams placed starting cornerback Darious Williams on injured reserve Thursday, ruling him out for at least the first four games of the season.

Williams, who returned to the Rams this offseason as a free agent after two years with the Jaguars, pulled his hamstring during the first week of training camp. He had returned to practice of late and was a limited participant Wednesday.

Head coach Sean McVay said before practice Wednesday that Williams had not suffered any kind of setback in regards to the injury.

“He got his hamstring good earlier in camp, but he’s making progress,” McVay said.

Williams’ absence puts the Rams in a precarious situation at cornerback entering Sunday’s season opener against the Detroit Lions.

Third corner Decobie Durant is dealing with his own hamstring injury and has been limited for three consecutive practices. If he’s unable to play Sunday, the Rams could find themselves relying on undrafted rookies Josh Wallace and Charles Woods to start opposite of Tre’Davious White.

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“That’s just the reality of the NFL and you’re prepared for any situation,” Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula said. “[They are] very mature rookies, ask great questions in meeting rooms. Guys who can take it from the meeting room to the field. … We think both of them can go out there and execute.”

Shula, who deferred questions about Williams’ injury to McVay, added that the Rams haven’t discussed the possibility of adding a free-agent cornerback as of Thursday afternoon.

​ Orange County Register 

Interest rates have dropped, but homeowners are not moving

• September 5, 2024

By Rukmini Callimachi | The New York Times

On an earnings call last month, the CEO of online real estate brokerage Redfin was asked whether he had a contingency plan if interest rates did not come down. His answer was maybe a bit too frank.

“Great question,” Glenn Kelman, the CEO, began on the Aug. 6 call, “Plan B is to drink our own urine or our competitors’ blood.”

A little more than a minute later, he corrected himself, saying that he shouldn’t have used those exact words. But to the analysts on the call, his point was clear: The housing economy is in trouble, and a major reason has been soaring interest rates, which hit a high-water mark of 7.79% last fall.

Since then, the 30-year mortgage rate has dipped into the low 7s, then the high 6s, and as of last week, it fell to 6.35%. The drop — coupled with a “likely” rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its upcoming meeting in September — should spell good news for the housing economy, but a major structural problem remains. Close to 60% of homeowners have outstanding mortgages that are locked in at rates below 4%, according to recently released data from Redfin.

If a homeowner sold and bought a new home in a comparable neighborhood, they would forego a low rate for another that is at least 2.5 percentage points higher. For many homeowners, that simply doesn’t make sense — a phenomenon that economists call the “golden handcuffs.”

Although the recent dip in the mortgage rate has been significant — over 1 point in less than a year — I interviewed seven economists, as well as finance and real estate experts, who say it’s not enough.

“It’s a drop in the bucket,” said Sam Khater, chief economist of Freddie Mac.

A Sisyphean battle

The recent decrease in rates is equivalent to a 2% reduction in the price of the home, according to Daniel McCue, a senior research associate at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The math is as follows: Take a house priced at the national median, which is around $430,000. The recent drop in interest rates would have shaved $66 off the monthly payment of around $3,435, McCue estimates. Had the interest rate not dropped, that $66 in savings is equivalent to buying the same house for around $424,000.

Although that may sound significant, McCue points out that this year alone, the price of homes has inched up over 4.5%, according to the Case-Shiller index. McCue estimates that rates would need to drop almost another half-point — down to around 6.09% — for homeowners to get back to the payments they would have had in the first month of this year.

He paints a picture of a Sisyphean battle: Rates have come down, reducing the cost of a monthly mortgage, but even as they fall, prices continue to rise, negating any savings.

“The bottom line,” said McCue, “It’s not enough to kind of make up for these rising prices.”

Sidelines

As many as 800,000 fewer moves occurred last year, a direct result of what economists call the “rate lock effect” or the “golden handcuffs,” according to a paper published last month by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Growing families have postponed moving to more spacious homes. Households hoping to trade up have held off. And a lot of people have been sitting on the sidelines, waiting and watching.

Yet, people are itching to pack their bags, according to a survey of more than 1,000 homeowners published Wednesday by Point, a home equity startup. About 72% of homeowners have a desire to move, up from 35% last year, the startup found.

Sean Adu-Gyamfi, 33, an associate broker with Coldwell Banker Warburg, sets aside an hour each day to send out text messages to the list of contacts and fence-sitters he has amassed in the months since interest rates hit a two-decade high.

His messages mostly went out into the ether. “Very little engagement,” he said.

Then, as rates tumbled to 6.49% from 6.73% in the first half of August, he began hearing back.

Among the people who responded was 31-year-old Christina Branche: “I was waiting for rates to drop for sure,” she said, describing how she was at work at Citigroup, where she is an in-house counsel, when she received an alert on her phone about the fall in rates.

When Adu-Gyamfi’s message popped up sometime after, she decided to resume her search — she had been looking for more than a year and had given up, frustrated at the double whammy of high interest rates and high home prices.

At her broker’s urging, she began looking in the upper reaches of the New York City borough of Manhattan, including a neighborhood not far from the Cloisters, an outpost of the Met, where a listing caught her eye: a two-bedroom co-op in the low $700,000s.

But Branche fits into a unique category: a first-time homebuyer. She has no former mortgage to give up, hence no “golden handcuffs.”

The part of the housing economy that has been hit the hardest is the so-called “resale” sector — homes that were previously owned and are sold again.

“That segment of the market is what has really evaporated,” said Lance Lambert, co-founder of news-and-research platform ResiClub and one of the analysts on the Redfin earnings call last month, who previously reported on Kelman’s colorful comments.

Existing home sales remain at the lowest they have been since 1995, but the country has almost 70 more million people today, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

Five D’s

John Campbell, a research analyst who focuses on real estate-related stocks at investment research firm Stephens Inc., refers to the five “D’s” that drive the housing economy even in times like these, when the finances of homebuying are out of whack: diamonds (or marriage), diapers (or having children), divorce, downsizing and death. Major life events, he said, will eventually overwhelm a subset of families who are trying to wait it out.

“Like you’re not going to live in your house with your ex-wife, right, and her new husband,” Campbell said.

It was the last of the D’s — death — that finally made things come together for Branche: The co-op that she fell in love with was being offered at a competitive price because its former owner had died.

When she got off the subway in the Hudson Heights neighborhood, it felt familiar — and then she realized why: An avid runner, she had gone for long runs along the Hudson River ending at Fort Tryon Park, a slice of green that is walking distance to the co-op.

The apartment has a curved archway and a blue mosaic tile in the bathroom that reminded her of the bathhouses she had visited in Istanbul. She loved it immediately: “I’m not a grand person, but it makes you feel grand,” she said.

In August, her offer was accepted in a convergence of two forces — lower interest rates and one of the D’s.

Since the CEO of Redfin made his blunt comments, the company’s stock price has jumped from just over $7 to just under $10 — a far cry from its height of $96 a few years ago, but also significantly better than earlier this summer.

​ Orange County Register 

Bunk beds are the trendiest new amenity at luxury hotels

• September 5, 2024

Carlye Wisel | (TNS) Bloomberg News

The new trend at luxury hotels draws inspiration from the least luxurious accommodations on Earth: dorm rooms.

At a time when consumers are looking for better value and hotels are dealing with unprecedented demand, the bunk bed has emerged a win-win design solution.

“In markets with really high room rates and really high occupancies, adding a few more beds to a room means you can fit more people in it and charge more,” says Alastair Thomann, chief executive officer of the hip hostel brand Generator, where custom bunks now stretch three high in some locations. “Suddenly, a little villa which used to sleep two or three can sleep five because they’re doubling up. The space allows it. So that’s the game, really — that’s the economics behind it.”

But it isn’t just well-designed hostels that are thinking vertically: It’s luxury and lifestyle brands that range from JW Marriott to Montage and Moxy. And the demand isn’t coming from budget travelers but from parents who want a luxe vibe without paying for multiple rooms. In these cases, bunk beds provide a glorious and rare compromise. They allow families to room together without getting in one another’s way.

Thomann, who got in early on the bunk bed trend, says the uptick in demand has been so sharp — from hoteliers and consumers alike — that it’s driven up purchasing costs and created a supply chain crisis. As a result, he says he now spends 40% more per bunk bed than he did five years ago. And there are so many orders that factories can’t keep up the production, leaving hotels waiting two to three times longer for their orders. Thomann says it’s like witnessing the emergence of a new cottage industry. “The companies that manufacture for us are producing fantastic numbers,” he says. “Their sales guys are really happy.”

With luxury bedding and cozy accommodations, these posh hotel bunks are a far cry from your teenage backpacking days. Here are some high-capacity alternatives for your next family getaway.

Tourists, North Adams, Massachusetts

This Berkshires weekend escape — a 48-room converted motel whose owners include the former bassist of Wilco — is all about comfortable minimalism, with a white-and-blond-wood look that’s full of clean lines and rustic accents. For a particularly smart use of space, book into the Caravan rooms: They have a lofted wooden bunk tucked between the king bed and the wall. Sure, it’s meant as a sleeping nook, but the boxy design feels almost like a fort or play area for kids who need a break from all the hikes, art classes and activities on offer. The bunks are such a hit that when Tourists designed a new cluster of rental homes near the main hotel earlier this year, they included a five-bedroom option with its very own bunked room. Caravan rooms from $196 per night.

Moxy Hotels, New York, New York

“There is something about bunk beds that is inherently playful and camplike,” says Mitchell Hochberg, president of real estate group Lightstone and developer of Moxy Hotels in New York City. He thought the quad bunk accommodations at the 612-room Times Square property, which opened in 2017, would appeal to young travelers who’d also enjoy the nightly DJs at the rooftop bar. But the rooms, outfitted with two sets of twin bunks, have been a hit with a much wider demographic. “Much to our surprise, they’ve been embraced by a broader array of guests — everyone from families with small children to bachelorette parties,” he says.

The bunks were added as a riff on Yabu Pushelberg’s initial design for the hotel, which had an urban camping theme—think pegboard closets, retro phones and metal-framed tray tables with ceramic campfire mugs. They’ve proved so successful that the brand has added them to several other locations around the city, including the Moxy Hotels in the Lower East Side, Chelsea, the East Village and Williamsburg. “The rooms become a win-win to both travelers and hotel owners, notes Hochberg. “They afford a lower rate to the individual traveler [in cases where multiple friends are splitting the nightly rate] and, in the aggregate, a higher rate to the hotel.” Twin bunk rooms from $264.

Beaverbrook, Surrey Hills, UK

Just 20 miles outside London is this family-friendly manor with 470 acres in the scenic Surrey Hills. Since December 2023, it’s also been home to the Village, a collection of cottages inspired by literary and artistic giants, including C.S. Lewis and the Brontë sisters. Of the 21 rooms, a half-dozen are whimsically outfitted suites that feature bunks: pastel-colored beds adorned with sweet checkered blankets and seersucker privacy curtains.

The elevated design of the bunks proves that Beaverbrook is a place that knows how to play to fancy kids—or perhaps fancy parents. On any given week there are G-rated film screenings in a private cinema, mini bento box lunches in the dining room and a full slate of camplike weekend activities, such as survival skills training and beekeeping. That means parents get to explore the grounds on their own, whether that means enjoying an afternoon spritz at Sit Frank’s Bar, which is lined floor to ceiling in botanical paintings, or taking a jaunt to the checkerboard-tiled pool at the Coach House Spa. Village Suites from $1,512.

JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes, Orlando, Florida

Bunk suites have proved so popular among theme-park-bound families in central Florida that the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes doubled its inventory just two years after first introducing them in 2022. “As we continue to see the rise of multigenerational travel, the need and desire for this style of room continues to grow,” says Michael Scioscia, the hotel’s general manager. Guests in the hotel’s two-bedroom suites — which have a king bed and twin bunks in one bedroom and a king bed in the other — get a dedicated hospitality team and VIP check-in experience. (Consider it a leg up on the chaos of Disney and Universal.) The newly renovated on-site water park is another perk: Its three waterslides, lazy river and aquatic ropes course rival the options at its theme-park neighbors. Two-bedroom suites from $1,741.

Montage Los Cabos, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

The two- and three-bedroom residences at this Baja Peninsula getaway take bunk beds to another level — a wider one. Here, three sets of bunks contain a total of six queen-size mattresses — no twins — which may be the plushest way to sleep a half-dozen cousins under one roof.

“It’s a great way to turn a room into a fun, larger sleepover experience,” says Azadeh Hawkins, global creative director for Montage International, which has also installed bunks at its Big Sky, Montana location. In Cabo, it takes an already kid-friendly resort over the edge. When larger broods aren’t splashing in the villa’s private plunge pool or running on the white sand beaches of Santa Marina Bay, their younger members can partake of activities such as paintball, mountain biking and archery. As for the adults, the hotel has a focus on mezcal, using it for “renewal” massages at the spa, putting it into Benedicts at breakfast and offering classes on mixing the spirit into cocktails. Three-bedroom residences with bunks from $4,370.

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©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

USC retires Heisman winner Caleb Williams’ No. 13 jersey

• September 5, 2024

LOS ANGELES — The word immortality was always special to Caleb Williams, a word that represented a legacy forever left, cementing one’s name would circle through rooms they’d never walk into.

The goal to cement that for himself at USC was a national championship, as Williams expressed before the start to last season. And such lofty expectations led to the most trying season of his career, with losing stretches and playoff hopes quickly dashed and a bevy of character attacks on the former Heisman winner.

On Thursday, though, the now-Chicago Bears quarterback Williams became immortal in a wholly different light, as USC announced on Twitter the school had retired his No. 13 jersey with a star-studded video fitting for a quarterback who helped restore glamour to college football in Southern California.

Congratulations poured in from singer John Legend, whose song “Ordinary People” Williams performed – shakily – as part of a rookie ritual with the Bears displayed on the show “Hard Knocks;” Snoop Dogg, who dubbed him “nephew” while surrounded by an appropriate cloud of smoke; head coach Lincoln Riley, the man who brought Williams from Norman, Oklahoma to USC; and even fellow Trojan superstar JuJu Watkins.

Several of his former teammates, too, assembled on Howard Jones Field for well wishes.

“Caleb, one-three, 13, we just wanted to say congratulations on getting your jersey retired,” said Trojans quarterback Miller Moss, flanked by teammates like Jaylin Smith and Zachariah Branch.

Williams led USC to the brink of the College Football Playoff in 2022, captivating the collegiate football world in a Heisman campaign throwing for 4,537 yards and amassing 52 touchdowns. His junior season, before being drafted by the Bears, saw a slight step back in stats and team success, but still ranked among the most efficient quarterbacks in the nation.

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Along the way, he became perhaps the face of the name, image and likeness movement in college athletics, building a remarkable portfolio of sponsorships and commercial appearances, and was frequently praised for his foundation Caleb Cares’ work with a local Boys and Girls Club in Los Angeles.

USC revealed Thursday, too, that Williams’ No. 13 banner under the peristyle at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will set next to renewed Heisman winner Reggie Bush’s No. 5, the former superstar running back seeing another step toward vindication after a long legal battle with the NCAA.

​ Orange County Register 

Brace yourself for more 100-degree days and red-flag warnings, Southern California

• September 5, 2024

Hot. Hotter. Not quite hottest, but really really hot.

That’s the forecast for the next week throughout Southern California, as temperatures soar past 100 degrees in many areas. A late-summer heat wave — expected to stretch into the weekend — pushed up temperatures anew on Thursday and raised fears of wildfires in some areas.

The days won’t likely reach “hottest ever” status because the heat wave “is coinciding exactly with the extreme heat wave in 2020, so while we may not break a lot of records with this event, it doesn’t diminish the impacts or lessen the precautions that need to be taken to stay safe,” said the National Weather Service. “Do not do any hiking or other physical activities except very early in the day and even then use extreme caution and stay well-hydrated.”

“All systems go for what will be a dangerously hot stretch of weather through the weekend, and in some areas continuing into next week,” according to NWS forecasters.

The NWS issued an excessive heat warning for much of Southern California’s inland areas through 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7. Coastal region have a heat advisory in place through 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6.

In the Inland Empire, temperatures are forecast to reach 112 degrees Friday, Sept. 12, in Riverside and San Bernardino, and 110 in Murrieta and Redlands, according to the National Weather Service.

An excessive heat warning took effect Tuesday morning in the western San Fernando Valley, and it will remain in force until 8 p.m. Saturday — one day longer than originally anticipated. Forecasters said the area could see temperatures reaching as high as 118 degrees.

An excessive heat warning was also in effect through 8 p.m. Saturday in the Santa Clarita Valley, the inland coastal areas stretching into downtown Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, Calabasas, eastern San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Mountains, San Gabriel Valley, the Antelope Valley and Antelope Valley foothills and the 5 and 14 Freeway corridors.

Forecasters said those areas could reach 110 degrees.

The Santa Ana Mountains and foothills and Orange County inland areas were also under excessive heat warnings, with temperatures predicted up to 105 degrees.

There won’t be much relief overnight either, low temperatures are forecast to drop into the high 70s.

Even coastal areas will not be immune from the heat. An excessive heat warning will take effect at 11 a.m. Thursday and remain in place until 8 p.m. Saturday for the Malibu Coast and Los Angeles County beaches, along with the Palos Verdes Hills, with some of those areas possibly reaching triple-digits, according to the NWS.

A less severe heat advisory will be in place for Orange County coastal areas from 11 a.m. Thursday through 8 p.m. Friday. Temperatures there are anticipated as high as 95 degrees.

The combination of high heat and anticipated low humidity prompted the NWS to issue a red flag warning of heightened fire danger for the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, San Gabriel Mountains, Western Antelope Valley Foothills and the 5 and 14 Freeway corridors until 10 p.m. Saturday.

Forecasters said wind conditions will “limit the potential for classic red flag criteria,” however, “there is a history of large fires with similar weather conditions during this time of the year.”

According to the NWS, humidity levels could drop to between 8 and 15% in the red flag areas, with little recovery during overnight hours. Meanwhile, temperatures will be soaring well into the triple digits.

A cooling trend is expected to begin by Saturday, slowly lowering temperatures over the ensuing days, reaching normal levels by about Wednesday of next week, according to the NWS.

Due to the high heat, the South Coast Air Quality Management District issued an ozone advisory that will be in place until 8 p.m. Friday due to anticipated elevated smog levels because of the heat wave. The ozone level is expected to reach the unhealthy level or worse in the Santa Clarita Valley and portions of the San Gabriel Valley through Friday, according to the AQMD.

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Officials warned the public to drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors.

Residents were also urged to never leave children or pets in unattended vehicles, which can reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.

The hot, dry weather will also create elevated fire conditions across the mountains, valleys and deserts throughout the week.

City News Service contributed to this report

​ Orange County Register 

Security technology credited with helping in Georgia school shooting

• September 5, 2024

Cassidy Alexander and Martha Dalton | (TNS) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA — Staff at Apalachee High School have only worn badges for about a week that can quickly alert school officials or first responders about emergencies with a few clicks of a button.

On Wednesday, the badges were used by school workers and are being credited by law enforcement officials for helping authorities arrive quickly at Apalachee High to respond to the school shooting.

“All of our teachers are armed with a form of an ID called Centegix. And Centegix alarms us and alerts the law enforcement office after the buttons are pressed,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told reporters during a news conference Wednesday night.

About 60% of schools statewide have contracts with Centegix, a company based in metro Atlanta. Centegix charges roughly $8,000 per school per year for its system, which includes the badges, other equipment and software.

The system has two types of alerts that are triggered based on the number of times a user pushes a button. General alerts for medical help, intervention with a student or other situations send a signal to the school district’s central office along with computers and smartphones connected to the system. Emergency alerts trigger flashing lights and a lockdown message that plays throughout the campus.

Apalachee High students reported seeing screens in their classrooms change to say “lockdown” before hearing gunshots on Wednesday.

The vast majority of the approximately 50,000 alerts issued nationwide in fall 2022 — upward of 98% — only went to school personnel. Most uses of the badges were related to student behavior or medical emergencies, the company previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Inadvertent presses of the badges accounted for roughly 10% of the alerts in Cherokee, Fayette and Henry counties. The company’s 2022 report does not include information about accidental alerts.

“When we talk now about the platform, we call the campuswide emergency program more of an insurance policy,” Centegix CEO Brent Cobb said. “It’s not going to be used very often — but when you need it, it’s by far in the industry the best solution.”

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©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register