Longer naps tied to higher risk for obesity, high blood pressure: Brigham research

• April 26, 2023

People who take longer midday naps are at a higher risk for obesity and high blood pressure, according to Boston researchers who found that “not all siestas are the same.”

The Brigham and Women’s Hospital scientists looked at more than 3,000 adults from a Mediterranean population, examining the relationship of midday naps with obesity and other conditions tied to heart disease and diabetes.

The researchers found that those who took siestas of 30 minutes or longer (considered long siestas) were more likely to have a higher body mass index, elevated blood pressure, and a cluster of other conditions associated with heart disease and diabetes (metabolic syndrome) — compared with those who didn’t take long siestas.

However, those who took short siestas, also known as “power naps,” did not see an increased risk for obesity and other conditions. In contrast, short siesta-takers were less likely to have elevated systolic blood pressure than those who took no siestas, according to the Brigham researchers.

“Not all siestas are the same,” said senior author Marta Garaulet, a visiting professor in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at the Brigham. “The length of time, position of sleep, and other specific factors can affect the health outcomes of a nap.

“A previous study that we conducted in a large study population in the UK had found that siestas were associated with an increased risk of obesity,” Garaulet said. “We wanted to determine whether this would hold true in a country where siestas are more culturally embedded, in this case Spain, as well as how the length of time for siestas is related to metabolic health.”

The researchers examined data from 3,275 adults in a Mediterranean population, specifically people from the Spanish region of Murcia.

The scientists found that long siesta-takers had a higher body mass index and were more likely to have metabolic syndrome than those who did not take siestas. Also, compared with the no-siesta group, the long siesta group had higher values of waist circumference, fasting glucose levels, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure.

The researchers found that long siestas were linked with later nightly sleep timing and food timing, and with increased energy intake at lunch and cigarette smoking.

“This study shows the importance of considering siesta length and raises the question whether short naps may offer unique benefits,” said co-author Frank Scheer, a senior neuroscientist and professor in the Medical Chronobiology Program in the Brigham’s Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders.

Scheer added, “If future studies further substantiate the advantages of shorter siestas, I think that that could be the driving force behind the uncovering of optimal nap durations, and a cultural shift in the recognition of the long-term health effects and productivity increases that can amount from this lifestyle behavior.”

​ Orange County Register 

Review: ‘Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love’ is an old-school NBC special for an old-school talent

• April 26, 2023

Nina Metz | Chicago Tribune

NBC’s “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love” is a throwback to the kind of old-school specials that rarely air on television anymore.

But it’s fitting. Carol Burnett is old-school herself.

She’s also one of the executive producers here and her influence on the show’s pacing is evident. In the 11 years that she made “The Carol Burnett Show” from 1967 to 1978, Burnett kept things moving: “I never wanted to reset and retape anything,” she recently told The Hollywood Reporter. “We taped our show in an hour and 15 minutes.”

Burnett isn’t on stage this time out, she’s in the audience, but the same philosophy has carried over. Even with careful editing, these kinds of things can sag. She didn’t want that to happen: “I want people to feel like they’re seeing a Broadway show, not sitting around waiting for scenery or costume changes.”

Her showbiz instincts have always been razor sharp and they remain so even at age 90.

Other details are hazy. Her original show aired on CBS. That the special is airing on NBC hovers as a silent question mark over the proceedings, which feature a list of boldface names who pay tribute: Steve Carell, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Amy Poehler, Billy Porter, Lily Tomlin, Maya Rudolph, Charlize Theron, Bob Odenkirk and more.

The show’s format is straightforward: A star comes out to share a memory or two — maybe perform a number — and then introduces a segment featuring old clips and a new sit-down interview with Burnett.

With the theater’s cabaret seating, Burnett is posted up front. Close friend Julie Andrews gets the prime spot by her side. The pair made three variety specials together over the years, filled with moments that brought out Andrews’ willingness to cut up.

Burnett had a way of pulling that out of stars who weren’t innately comic, as seen in footage of her and the opera diva Beverly Sills singing a duet — a number that’s charmingly recreated on stage by Kristin Chenoweth and Bernadette Peters.

There’s a segment devoted to the incredible costumes Bob Mackie designed for Burnett’s show — somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 to 70 new garments each week — including the famous “Gone with the Wind” spoof “Went with the Wind!” featuring Scarlett’s dress made from curtains, complete with curtain rod.

I wish more time had been spent on the logistics of how Mackie and his team managed to design and create so many vivid costumes on such a tight deadline. It would be fascinating to know more about the inspirations that informed his work, which was always a bit larger-than-life on “The Carol Burnett Show,” serving as an exclamation point on the comedy.

Like Burnett, Cher understood the power of Mackie’s visuals and takes the stage in a gloriously eye-popping design of his and reveals a bit of trivia: “When ‘Sonny & Cher’ had the summer show, we didn’t have any money. And Carol and I are the same size, so Bob raided your closet so I would have something to wear. Did you know that?” Burnett shakes her head no, stunned.

Also missing are any of the writers who worked on “The Carol Burnett Show.” Are any of them still around? They labored in obscurity then, and apparently even a special devoted to Burnett all these years later wasn’t going to change that.

Thirty million people watched her on a weekly basis. She was ubiquitous and embraced Black performers as guests on her show in a way that was unique for the time. She influenced so many who are working today, but the best anecdotes come from those who knew her back when. Tomlin talks about running into Burnett on the CBS lot early in her career, when she was in need of a confidence boost. Burnett was just the person to give it.

Time and again, what comes through is that Burnett has formed real friendships, not just showbiz friendships.

Among those longtime friends is Vicki Lawrence, hired by Burnett when she was just 17. “Thanks to Carol, I got to go to the Harvard school of comedy in front of America.” Their most enduring characters remain the embittered Mama and Eunice, who anchored the spinoff “Mama’s Family,” which ran for six seasons. Looking back, Burnett is thoughtful: “Eunice spoke to me. I don’t know, the frustration, the angst, the wanting to be somebody but not quite making it. I just felt for her.”

The frustration. The angst. Burnett is human and surely she experienced some of that herself. Hollywood is not for the faint of heart. It can be tough on the ego. But Burnett gives no indication of that. If the special flounders, it’s that it doesn’t ask her to talk about some of these aspects of her life in front of, and behind, the camera. Was there ever a time when she lost her confidence? Or felt the glare of celebrity a bit too intensely? She doesn’t say.

An appearance by Ellen DeGeneres late in the special briefly sours the mood. Despite the “queen of nice” image she cultivated over the years, her talk show ended in 2021 after allegations of sexual misconduct and a toxic workplace environment.

Burnett’s legacy is the opposite of that. DeGeneres’ inclusion here is really misjudged.

The trick to Burnett’s approach to comedy is not just that she’s funny, but she’s such a tremendous actor and understands how to imbue so many of her characters with a tragic absurdity. Her performances have always felt human, no matter the chaos happening around her — or the chaos that she gleefully instigates.

Her public persona remains bright-eyed and down to earth. The special is funny and genuine and even if it’s not especially original, I found myself choked up by the end.

It got me thinking about who might have the chops to be Burnett’s successor. Keke Palmer would be a natural, assuming she even wanted a variety show and an executive was smart enough to make it happen. She has Burnett’s warmth and talent and creativity and professional instincts for playfulness — but also her innate sense of what it means to play host to an audience and make us feel as if we’ve been invited into something special.

“I’m so glad we had this time together,” Burnett sings in her signature song. A sentiment that has always felt genuine. And mutual.

———

‘CAROL BURNETT: 90 YEARS OF LAUGHTER + LOVE’

3 stars (out of 4)

Rating: TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children)

How to watch: 8 p.m. ET Wednesday on NBC (and streaming Thursday on Peacock)

———

©2023 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

Amazon starts round of layoffs in AWS cloud division

• April 26, 2023

By Matt Day | Bloomberg

Amazon.com has started laying off employees in its cloud services operation amid slowing sales growth in its most profitable division.

Amazon Web Services personnel in the US, Canada and Costa Rica whose jobs were being eliminated were notified early Wednesday, the unit’s chief said in an email to staff.

SEE MORE: EV-maker Rivian lays off 239 Orange County workers

AWS generates most of the company’s profits but is experiencing slowing growth as corporate customers look to trim expenses.

Overall, Amazon is axing 27,000 mostly corporate positions after a hiring spree during the pandemic left the company with too many people.

Amazon employed 1.54 million people worldwide at the end of December. At least 170,000 of them work in California, according to industry reports. The company last year leased several hundred thousand square feet of office space in Orange and Los Angeles counties. Some of the office include cloud services, according to a story by TheRealDeal.com.

SEE: Amazon closing or delaying 9 California warehouses

Having wrapped up a round of job cuts earlier this year that totaled about 18,000 workers, Amazon announced another 9,000 layoffs in March, which Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy said would land on AWS, human resources, advertising and the Twitch live-streaming service.

Cuts were rolled out in recent weeks in areas including Twitch and the company’s video game group.

“It is a tough day across our organization,” AWS chief Adam Selipsky said in the email reviewed by Bloomberg.

MORE ON AMAZON: Irvine gaming team spared latest Amazon layoffs

AWS, like much of the rest of Amazon, expanded its headcount rapidly as the pandemic boosted demand for digital services.

“Given this rapid growth, as well as the overall business and macroeconomic climate, it is critical that we focus on identifying and putting our resources behind our top priorities—those things that matter most to customers and that will move the needle for our business,” Selipsky said. “In many cases this means team members are shifting the projects, initiatives or teams on which they work; however, in other cases it has resulted in these role eliminations.”

Selipsky added that cuts in regions outside North America would roll out following local processes, including consultations with employee groups where mandated by law.

Some AWS-related teams had already been hit by layoffs, including recruiters and members of the “Just Walk Out” physical stores technology group that joined the division in a reorganization last year. But the first rounds of cuts landed heaviest on the company’s recruiting and human resources teams, its sprawling retail group and devices teams.

Wednesday brought more cuts to Amazon’s beleaguered HR group, which has been subject to waves of buyout offers and cuts that began in November.

Beth Galetti, who leads the People Experience and Technology team, as Amazon calls HR, announced the latest set of cuts in an email Wednesday. “These decisions are not taken lightly, and I recognize the impact it will have across both those transitioning out of the company as well as our colleagues who remain,” she said.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the latest layoffs, referring back to Jassy’s email in March saying that they would be coming.

Amazon has instituted a hiring freeze for jobs outside its warehouses and delivery operations — with exceptions for certain projects and jobs — and managers say it’s not clear when the company might begin hiring en masse again.

The vast majority of the retailer’s workers are hourly employees who pack and ship products in warehouses. Before the first round of layoffs began in November, the company said it had roughly 350,000 corporate employees.

Other tech giants have also reduced their headcount, including Meta Platforms, Google parent company Alphabet, Microsoft, Dell Technologies and International Business Machines.

Amazon is scheduled to report financial results on Thursday, and investors will be watching to see if cost-cutting measures have helped profitability and whether cloud services sales growth is bottoming out.

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​ Orange County Register 

Travel: Sandhill cranes rule the roost in Nebraska each spring

• April 26, 2023

I’m a full-fledged “craniac” now that I’ve spent four days awestruck at one of Earth’s most epic animal migrations — on, of all places, the wind-whistling prairies of central Nebraska.

Every year — perhaps dating back eons — about 500,000 sandhill cranes roost along the Platte River, swooping down in spellbinding squadrons and resembling both prehistoric pterodactyls and the flying monkeys from “The Wizard of Oz.” Deeply stacked in shallow water and on sandbars, the cranes’ deafening cacophony will absolutely blow your mind — at times their nonstop racket sounded like raucous crowds cheering gladiators at Rome’s Coliseum.

World-renowned anthropologist Jane Goodall, who has crane-watched here for 20 seasons, compares the feathered phenomena to the famed wildebeest migration in Africa. I too felt I was on another continent instead of in the Cornhusker State (and birthplace of Kool-Aid).

First, a little of the big birds’ background, before I divulge stringent “crane etiquette” and how to secretly spy on them with guides (and binoculars) in viewing blinds and the great outdoors. How amazing is this: Fossils place a close relative of sandhill cranes in Nebraska some 10 million years ago when since-extinct rhinos, camels and elephants roamed what was then the region’s savannas. It’s believed the sandhill cranes have migrated through this area for thousands, even millions, of years.

And on they continue, these long-necked, spindly-legged, four-foot-tall, steel-gray miracles with wingspans of six feet, yellowish-orange eyes, cherry-red patches on their foreheads, life partners, and dance moves galore. From late February to the start of April the cranes, largely arriving from Texas and Mexico, stop to fatten up in Platte River Valley cornfields for their arduous journeys to nest in Siberia, Canada and Alaska.

“It just drops your jaw on the ground,”  camouflage-clad 50-year-old corn-bean-and-sod farmer Chad Gideon enthused about the spring fling. We were about to walk on a dirt trail of his agricultural sprawl to an open-air viewing spot about 50 yards from where the birds would roost. Cranes easily spook, so we’d be out of sight and silent except for my chattering teeth in the biting 28-degree cold.

Several years ago, Chad, a colorful friendly character, started bringing tourists to this crane-ogling position on his property (nebraskacraneviewing.com). Chad is an avid duck hunter but, go figure, he swoons over sandhill cranes. (Note: It’s illegal to even disturb cranes in Nebraska.) I’d come to the Platte River Valley in mid-March — usually the peak time for crane numbers — and this sunset would be my first-ever crane show. The action always centers on sunset, when cranes return to rest on the river after the day’s foraging, and at sunrise when they take off again to peck at leftover harvests in the fields.

We patiently waited. And then, the ancient avians began streaming in, the opening act of a spectacular 90-minute grand entrance by thousands. They descended in waves — in lines of just three birds, in V-shaped formations of 40 or more, in U patterns, in squiggles, this way and that, over our heads, from sides in opposite directions, their wings underneath glinting from the sun’s reflection until they comically landed with two dangling feet in the masses. What looked like storm clouds miles away were actually swirls of more cranes coming one after another. Their thunderous, simultaneous Jurassic Park-like sounds were nothing you could imagine — piercing trills, bizarre trumpeting, booming rattles, drawn-out “karooooo, karroooo.”

At one point, magnificent cranes glided past a nearby large nest and the head of a bald eagle peeked out. Another time, a lone white swan gracefully touched down among congregating cranes and seemed perfectly welcome. Incoming cranes soon streaked across blazing fuchsia and neon orange skies. As nighttime fell, the prairie’s leafless cottonwood trees transformed into a dark fairytale forest; the cranes were barely visible but surreally clamored on. It was magical, it was primal and heck yes, it was emotionally stirring.

The next evening, I crane-gawked in the Crane Trust’s heated VIP observation blind that was nicely supplied with red and white wine. A nonprofit conservation group, the 45-year-old trust focuses on restoring and protecting the cranes’ habitat and offers a host of public programs. (One afternoon at the Visitor Center, the daughter of Muppet creator Jim Henson gave a free crane puppet performance.)

You can book a guided two-hour unheated blind tour for dusk or dawn along the Platte River on the trust’s Wild Rose Ranch. However, I joined the two-night, three-day VIP Experience which includes multiple viewings, a stay in an onsite cottage, shared catered meals, hobnobbing with wildlife biologists, documentary shorts accompanied by dessert, and a bison “safari” on the ranch’s 5,000 continuous acres. It was crane dream camp with two dozen like-minded new pals and cool, knowledgeable counselors.

This is where I realized the plumaged stars mimic Fred Astaire. Their amusing dance repertoire includes the “single-wing spin” (think of a spinning figure skater), “tuck-bob” (bobbing body with coiled neck), “bow,” “curtsey,” “minuet,” “jump-rake” (leaping crane kicks out toward dance partner) and more. Also sandhill cranes are monogamous, traveling in families with the kids and sometimes grandparents.

Crane Trust president Brice Krohn told me he’s seen migration-watching tourists in tears. “When I talk to people all over the world to explain what we have, it’s hard to put into words. Wherever you’re from in life and whatever your views are, at the end of the day, it really does down deep spark something within you. I feel it vibrates your soul.”

Like I mentioned, sandhill cranes are keen-eyed anxious birds, but then they’re legally hunted in 17 states, and a camera lens may look like a gun. If they sense anything amiss, all the cranes could soar off in a panic which is dangerous for them. So, as instructed, we switched our phones to airplane mode and lowered the brightness to prevent light from reflecting on our faces, and taped down flashes on cameras. Depending on how close the birds roosted we could be 50 to 100 yards away.  An hour before the crane activity, in single file we mutely followed guides on a short dirt path to two enclosed VIP blinds that had small hinged openings in plexiglass windows.

And then the eco-extravaganza unfolded on America’s Serengeti.

To back up, for my human self, flocking to Nebraska’s bird Shangri-La proved simple. I flew into the small airport in Grand Island, which is about 25 minutes from the Crane Trust (cranetrust.org) and 45 minutes from the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center’s crane-viewing Rowe Sanctuary (rowe.audubon.org), which is closer to Kearney’s regional airport. Either way, plan to rent a car. When you take a birding break, in Grand Island make sure to visit the impressive Stuhr Museum, where you can play with a 19th- century ping pong set and scrutinize the natal home of Grand Island native and Oscar-winning actor Henry Fonda.

During the day, nature buffs used their vehicles as blinds to peep on cranes scavenging in cornfields and trying to put on 20 percent of their body weight for their lengthy trip north. By the way, I found those unending, flat brownish-gold prairies not boring but temporarily enchanting, a Zen change from asphalt jungle cities. And how charming that passing motorists, even strangers, always give each other the “farmer’s wave” to say “hello” with one upright index finger. (The first time I thought a guy flipped me the bird.)

On my last Heartland morning, bundled up in pre-dawn darkness, I stationed myself inside a chilly Rowe Sanctuary observation blind with a volunteer wearing electric heated mittens and a “Keep Calm and Crane On” T-shirt under her puffy coat. Another tourist sported a “Certified Craniac” pin from the gift shop. At first, we only heard the cranes until their faint silhouettes appeared. Glued to my binoculars for the fourth straight day, I soon zoomed in on thousands of sandhill cranes along the river as far as I could see.

More than once, contingents of cranes abruptly lifted off in black swarms, a domino effect of chaotic flapping wings. They returned, though, perhaps initially scared by a predator such as a coyote.

Interestingly, two strolling deer cut a path directly through the throngs of cranes and the birds didn’t freak out. When a beaver swam in the river across from the cranes, dozens of them sauntered over and marched squawking alongside the furry intruder.

Best of all, during this 90-minute sunrise-plus pageantry,  gregarious cranes again crazily danced, jumped in the air, preened, strutted, gyrated and tossed twigs at mates for fun. Finally, groups of this wondrous species pointed their elongated necks toward one direction and, in dramatic sequences, as they have for millennia, took flight.

​ Orange County Register 

Disney sues DeSantis, says Florida politics is punishing its business

• April 26, 2023

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts on Wednesday sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his hand-picked oversight board, accusing the Republican 2024 presidential prospect of weaponizing his political power to punish the company for exercising its free speech rights.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court minutes after the board appointed by DeSantis to oversee Disney’s special taxing district sought to claw back its power from the entertainment giant, voting to invalidate an agreement struck between Disney and the previous board in February, just before that board’s dissolution.

SEE MORE: DeSantis appointees begin reshaping Disney World’s district

“What they created is an absolute legal mess, OK? It will not work,” said Martin Garcia, chairman of the DeSantis-picked Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board of supervisors.

Wednesday’s moves are the latest escalation in the fight between DeSantis and Burbank-based Disney as DeSantis moves toward a 2024 presidential bid.

Disney responded by suing DeSantis, the board and Florida Department of Economic Opportunity acting secretary Meredith Ivey, seeking to block the board’s moves.

The lawsuit characterizes Wednesday’s vote as the “latest strike” in “a targeted campaign of government retaliation — orchestrated at every step by Gov. DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech.”

RELATED: ‘Don’t Say Gay’ expansion requested by DeSantis approved

It says DeSantis’ retaliation “now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.”

“Disney finds itself in this regrettable position because it expressed a viewpoint the Governor and his allies did not like. Disney wishes that things could have been resolved a different way,” the lawsuit says. “But Disney also knows that it is fortunate to have the resources to take a stand against the State’s retaliation — a stand smaller businesses and individuals might not be able to take when the State comes after them for expressing their own views. In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind.”

Niles: Disney thwarts Florida’s bid to take over special district, but company needs oversight

The yearlong fight has strained what had long been a cozy relationship between Florida’s government and the state’s best-known employer and attraction of tourist dollars. DeSantis earlier this month suggested the state could build a prison or competing theme park on what had for decades been Disney-controlled property.

The Florida governor’s battle with Disney has become a flashpoint in the early stages of the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Former President Donald Trump and a slew of other candidates and potential rivals, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, have lambasted DeSantis for his actions, characterizing them as anti-business.

After a hearing in which several business owners, including those who run restaurants and bars at Disney World locations, urged the board to work with Disney, Garcia said the board would seek to raise taxes to pay for its legal fees in evaluating and combatting what he called “eleventh-hour agreements.”

“Because that’s going to cost us money, we’re going to have to raise taxes to pay for that,” Garcia said.

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board of supervisors — the board named by DeSantis and packed with his allies earlier this year — took over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the special taxing district that for half a century gave Disney control over the land around its Central Florida theme parks.

But before the DeSantis-selected board was in place, Disney in February reached an agreement with the outgoing board that seemed to render the body powerless to control the entertainment giant. The DeSantis administration was unaware of the agreement for a month and vowed retribution after it became public.

The agreements Disney signed with the previous board ensured the company’s development rights throughout the district for the next 30 years and in some cases prevented the board from taking significant action without first getting approval from the company. One provision restricted the new board from using any of Disney’s “fanciful characters” until “21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England.”

Its development agreement was approved over the course of two public meetings held two weeks apart earlier this year, both noticed in the local Orlando newspaper and attended by about a dozen residents and members of the media. No one from the governor’s office was present at either meeting, according to the meeting minutes.

In Wednesday’s meeting, the board’s special general counsel, Daniel Langley, walked through its legal argument for nullifying the deal between Disney and the previous board.

He said the board had not provided the required public notice of its meetings, and said the agreement was not properly approved by two municipalities within the district, the cities of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista.

He also argued that previous amendments to Disney’s long-term comprehensive plan were not properly vetted and approved by those two municipalities.

“The bottom line is that a development agreement has to be approved by the governing body of a jurisdiction, and that didn’t happen from the cities that have jurisdiction,” Langley said.

Former Florida Supreme Court justice Alan Lawson, an attorney hired by the district, said that “the old board attempted to act without legal authority to act.”

“This is essentially about what it means to live and work in a country governed by the rule of law. Everyone must play by the same rules,” he said. “Disney was openly and legally granted unique and special privilege — that privilege of running its own government for a time. That era has ended.”

The end of a decades-old agreement

The state legislature created the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1967 and effectively gave Disney the power to control municipal services like power, water, roads and fire protection around its Central Florida theme parks that didn’t exist before Walt Disney and his builders arrived. But the special district also freed Disney from bureaucratic red tape and made it cheaper to borrow to finance infrastructure projects around its theme parks, among other significant advantages.

That special arrangement, though criticized at times, was largely protected by state politicians as both Disney and Florida benefited from the tourism boom.

The unlikely fracturing of Florida’s relationship with its most iconic business started during the contentious debate last year over state legislation to restrict certain classroom instruction on sexuality and gender identity. Disney’s then-CEO, Bob Chapek, facing pressure from his employees, reluctantly objected to the bill, leading DeSantis to criticize the company. When DeSantis signed the legislation into law, Disney announced it would push for its repeal. DeSantis then targeted Disney’s special governing powers.

For DeSantis, who has built a political brand by going toe-to-toe with businesses he identifies as “woke,” the latest twist threatens to undermine a central pillar of his story as he lays the groundwork for a likely presidential campaign. An entire chapter of his new autobiography is devoted to Disney, and the saga is well-featured in the stump speech he has delivered around the country in recent weeks.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Fattal: Andy Newman’s humble, hard-working approach is what CSUN basketball has been longing for

• April 26, 2023

When Cal State Northridge introduced Mark Gottfried as its head men’s basketball coach in March of 2018, it had a Hollywood feel to it. There was a formal press conference, flashing cameras and a buzz in the gym, but only because Gottfried’s presence made it feel like his drop from high-major college basketball was going to save the program.

It was pretentious. It was flashy. It was too much. It wasn’t CSUN.

On Monday night, first-year Director of Athletics Shawn Chin-Farrell beamed with pride as he introduced his new hire and hosted a meet and greet at Premier America Credit Union Arena.

No fluff. No flash. Just Andy Newman.

It was down to earth. It was community. It felt right. It was CSUN.

“We came from nothing,” Newman said. “I wanted to be a head coach really bad, so I bet on myself. I took the head coaching job at University of Texas Permian Basin (in 2013) for $52,000 a year. I taught driver’s training in Midland-Odessa, Texas so I could be a basketball coach. In a lot of ways, that’s still who I am. I’m a grinder.”

He couldn’t help but add: “Our gym at UTPB had stands on one side. The gym here at CSUN is like the Taj Mahal.”

Good turnout for the meet and greet of new Cal State Northridge men’s basketball coach Andy Newman.

I’ll get a chance to chat with Newman a little later tonight. pic.twitter.com/K8pKSuSBZ3

— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) April 25, 2023

The decade of big-name coaches like Reggie Theus, Mark Gottfried and Trent Johnson is over. Flashy names that were never seen at any San Fernando Valley high school games are gone. And a pledge to recruit local talent from a valley with 2 million people in it and from a pool of arguably the best high school basketball in the state is here.

“We have to get out to practices and games and build relationships with the local coaches. That will be the number one priority,” Newman said. “I do believe that once potential student-athletes in the Valley see what we’re doing here, they’re not going to want to leave. They’ll see they have a great option here to play in front of friends and family.”

Newman, 48, is a disciple of longtime college basketball coach Bob Burton, who had two successful stints at West Valley Community College and was the head coach at Cal State Fullerton from 2003 to 2012.

“When we think about basketball in the San Fernando Valley, we want people thinking about CSUN. When people in the San Jose area thought about basketball, they thought about West Valley College. It’s where all the best runs were, the best players were. When I was at Fullerton, we started getting that in Orange County. We want to build that reputation at CSUN. We want CSUN to be where good basketball is.”

New Cal State Northridge men’s basketball coach Andy Newman (right) and first-year Director of Athletics Shawn Chin-Farrell address the crowd at Monday night’s meet and greet on April 24, 2023. (Photo courtesy of CSUN Athletics)

Newman was the lead assistant at Cal State Fullerton for 10 years (and was the interim head coach for one year in 2012-13) before going to Texas to coach Division II basketball at UTPB from 2013 to 2018. He then took his most recent post at Division II Cal State San Bernardino for the last five years, capping his time there with a trip to the NCAA Final Four this past season.

Newman, who holds a 206-98 overall record as a head coach, has led his teams to five NCAA Tournaments, and at every stop, he’s improved the program, recruited talent and won games.

“If you can recruit at the University of Texas Permian Basin, you can recruit anywhere,” Chin-Farrell said Monday night.

Newman also made sure to address what Matador basketball will look like while he’s at the helm.

“We’re going to play fast, with a lot of pace, and we’re going to score a lot of our points in transition,” he said.

Newman’s offenses have led each conference he’s coached in, in scoring and field goal percentage. All 10 years at Fullerton in the Big West Conference, all five years at UTPB in the Lone Star Conference, and each year at San Bernardino in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

Cal State Northridge men’s basketball coach Andy Newman says he’s bringing former Cal State Fullerton standout Bobby Brown on staff to head player development. Brown also played in the NBA.

— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) April 25, 2023

In less than 10 days on the job, Newman offered Northridge Heritage Christian sophomore wing Dillon Shaw last week. That gesture alone shows Newman knows what the community is thirsty for, which is a program it can get behind – a program it can identify with. A Big West championship isn’t going to come overnight, and neither is a five-loss season.

But change is coming, and Newman is going to bring the San Fernando Valley with him. Not leave it behind.

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​ Orange County Register 

Should you buy now, pay later for your wedding?

• April 26, 2023

As wedding season approaches, couples are booking venues, compiling guest lists and hiring a dizzying array of vendors — and they’re digging deep into their pockets to pay for it.

The average U.S. wedding cost $30,000 in 2022, a $2,000 increase from 2021, according to a study from wedding website The Knot. Though weddings have long been expensive, inflation is pushing costs higher.

Couples may turn to increasingly popular “buy now, pay later” payment plans to ease the burden. These plans let you divide the total cost of your purchase into installments, often with no interest and zero fees if you pay on time.

But they have risks, and there may be better ways to fund your nuptials.

How buy now, pay later works for weddings

Popular buy now, pay later providers like Affirm, Afterpay and Klarna partner with thousands of merchants, including retailers in the wedding industry.

Affirm partners with David’s Bridal, Men’s Wearhouse, Kay Jewelers and Zales, among others, to offer its pay-later plans to customers. By opting into Affirm when they check out online or in store, couples can break up payments on a wedding-related purchase at no additional cost, depending on the retailer.

“Wedding planning can really get out of control, and an option like Affirm helps couples regain that financial control,” says Katrina Holt, senior vice president of operations at Affirm. “It’s a way to pay in bite-sized amounts that fits into how couples are used to budgeting.”

Repayment terms for buy now, pay later plans range from pay-in-four, which divides your total cost into four equal payments due every two weeks, to monthly payment plans that extend up to five years.

Getting approved for these plans is often easier than for traditional credit. Applications are short, and most providers run only a soft credit check with no minimum credit score requirement.

While providers like Affirm can help couples fund smaller purchases, others focus on big wedding expenses.

Maroo, a payment processing platform with a pay-later option, lets couples pay wedding vendors — think photographers, musicians, caterers, even the venue — over three, six or 12 months.

“If you can buy your Peloton in installments, why shouldn’t you be able to pay for big pieces of your wedding in installments?” says Anja Winikka, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Maroo. “They’re huge expenses, and what ends up happening is couples run into cash-flow issues and throw their wedding invoice amounts onto high-interest credit cards.”

Maroo doesn’t charge interest and, like other providers, requires only a soft credit check to qualify.

Risks of buy now, pay later for weddings

Though these plans can help you break up purchases, they tend to encourage overspending, and couples should be careful.

If you’re successfully sticking to a budget but want help managing your monthly cash flow, using a buy now, pay later plan may be a good option, says Natalie Slagle, a Minnesota-based certified financial planner who works with couples.

“But the people who can’t afford the wedding unless they do this? That’s who I do not think these payment plans are for,” she says.

Slagle urges couples to also think about their wedding in the context of other plans, like buying a house or having a child.

“Is this going to be the only hurdle coming your way financially over the next few years? Because from what I see in my professional experience, it’s not,” Slagle says. “How are you setting yourself up for financial success after the wedding?”

The industry is also facing federal scrutiny. In September 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a study on buy now, pay later that cited inconsistent consumer protections, data security and debt accumulation among its concerns.

A second study, released in March, identified buy now, pay later users as more likely to show signs of financial distress compared with nonusers.

Other ways to pay for your wedding

The best way to pay for your wedding is through savings, Slagle says. Another option is a gift or no-interest loan from a family member.

If you need to finance, there are choices besides buy now, pay later.

Credit cards can help you earn cash back or points, which can offset other costs, like a honeymoon. You’ll want to pay off your balance each month to avoid compounding interest.

Another option is a wedding loan, which is an unsecured personal loan from a bank, credit union or online lender that covers wedding expenses. These loans charge fixed interest and have predictable monthly payments, but rates can be high depending on your credit score.

This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by The Associated Press. 

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​ Orange County Register 

How the Hollywood Bowl put together the ultimate party for Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday

• April 26, 2023

Dozens of artists and thousands of fans will come together at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on April 29-30 to wish country music icon Willie Nelson a very happy birthday.

The “On the Road Again” singer-songwriter, musician and political activist turns 90 on Saturday, April 29 and several of his famous friends and longtime collaborators will be performing alongside him during a special concert to mark the occasion.

“He certainly seems to be having a moment this year,” said Bill Silva, promoter of Live Nation Hewitt Silva, during a recent phone interview. “If you just look at this year, he won two Grammy awards and has a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination. It really feels like the year of Willie and it just happens to coincide with this 90th.”

RELATED: George Strait, Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Stills added to Willie Nelson’s 90th at Hollywood Bowl

“(This) is one of the best lineups we have ever put together for one show,” Silva’s booking partner Andrew Hewitt added.

Nelson did pick up two Grammy awards in February in the best country album category for “A Beautiful Time” and the best country solo performance award for his cover of Billy Joe Shaver’s “Live Forever” off of the album, “Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver.” He’s also a 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee alongside Kate Bush, Missy Elliot, Joy Division/New Order, George Michael, Rage Against the Machine and several others.

The cherry on his year, or atop his birthday cake, is this massive two-day celebration dubbed Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90, which is scheduled to included appearances by Alisson Russell, Beck, Billy Strings, Bobby Weir, Booker T. Jones, Buddy Cannon, Charley Crockett, Chris Stapleton, Daniel Lanois, Dave Matthews, Dwight Yoakam, Edie Brickell, Emmylou Harris, Gary Clark Jr., George Strait, Jack Johnson, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson, Leon Bridges, Lyle Lovett, Margo Price, Miranda Lambert, Nathaniel Rateliff, Neil Young, Norah Jones, Orville Peck, Particle Kid, Rosanne Cash, The Lumineers, Sheryl Crow, Shooter Jennings, Snoop Dogg, Stephen Stills, Sturgill Simpson, The Avett Brothers, The Chicks, Tom Jones, Tyler Childers, Warren Hayes, Waylon Payne, Ziggy Marely, Nelson’s sons, Lukas and Micah Nelson, and several more special guests.

“I mean, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing,” said Brian Smith, Live Nation California senior vice president of booking, during an interview. “Willie is an American icon not only for his music, but he’s just done so much for us culturally. To be able to put together his 90th birthday and celebrate with him like this at The Bowl is breathtaking. I’m excited to see it.”

Silva can’t pick out which artists and collaborations he’s the most interested in seeing. Without revealing any set list secrets, he added “I think there’s just going to be so many special moments created in this, so I hope I get to see the full show.”

It’s a diverse lineup — with hip-hop, indie rock, folk, country, R&B, pop, reggae, jazz and blues artists all on one bill. There was an entire team, including Silva, Hewitt and Smith, along with Nelson’s longtime manager Mark Rothbaum, that came up with a list of artists to perform at the birthday bash. All of the acts that were available and not already booked for a tour, responded “yes” immediately to this exclusive invite.

“We really wanted to celebrate the diversity of all of the different music Willie has created in his career — he did that reggae album with Ziggy (Marley) and ‘Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die’ with Snoop Dogg,” Silva said.

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The artists on the lineup were tapped because they’ve either covered a Nelson song in the past, he’s covered one of their songs or they’ve collaborated together live on stage or in the recording studio.

Nelson and Neil Young are longtime friends, having performed at the annual Farm Aid music festival together, playing songs like “Heart of Gold” and “Four Strong Winds.”

Masked alternative country singer Orville Peck has covered Nelson’s “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other” and Sturgill Simpson teamed up with Nelson for the song “Juanita” on Simpson’s 2021 album “The Ballad of Dood and Juanita.” Chris Stapleton, who is also the Sunday headliner at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival out in Indio this weekend, has performed the cover “Always on My Mind” with Nelson several times.

Tom Jones’ song “Opportunity to Cry” was written by Nelson and Lyle Lovett wrote the song “Farther Down the Line,” which Nelson has covered. Norah Jones and Nelson have played and recorded several jazz songs together and bluegrass artist Billy Strings has covered Nelson’s “Hands on the Wheel” and joined him on stage during the Outlaw Music Festival tour.

In his nearly 70-year-career Nelson has recorded and released more than 100 studio, live and compilation albums.

“He’s never quit putting out music,” Silva said. “There was one decade where he put out about two albums a year; in the ’80s he put out 23 albums. His album output has been so consistent that it gives him the ability to continue to connect with younger artists and connecting with different audiences. We’re now seeing generations of fans and artists influenced by his music. Willie’s art and the songs have been cherished for so many generations. How many times to we get to celebrate an artist still performing at 90 years old, still on tour and still singing with that voice.”

Siliva has worked with Nelson for a long time, first booking him at the San Diego Sports Arena when he was just starting out as a promoter back in January 1982. The idea to celebrate Nelson’s 90th at the Hollywood Bowl, a venue Silva and Hewitt have booked outside the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s scheduled season since 1991, came when Silva was thumbing through Nelson’s autobiography a few years ago.

“I realized he was 88 at the time and about to be 89, so the 90th was right around the corner,” he said. He reached out to Rothbaum and the plotting began. “We convinced him that he deserved a moment on the Hollywood Bowl stage to really highlight the iconography of his career because it’s not solely based in country and western music.”

“This is a guy who touches everything from Patsy Cline to Snoop Dogg,” Smith added. “Who else has that breadth?”

Additional acts may be announced in the days leading up to the event, but others will be kept under wraps to surprise those attending these unique concert dates.

“There are so many special things happening here,” Smith said. “The event itself is special, but there are so many acts performing that haven’t even been announced yet, so I think that will tickle the audience when they find out. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff going on and I think that it will be a day of celebration and surprises.”

Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, April 29; 6:30 p.m. Sunday, April 30

Where: Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Los Angeles

Tickets: Two-day tickets start at $325 at Ticketmaster.com.

​ Orange County Register