Author: mangakiko

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US

Nebraska woman charged with helping daughter have abortion

Nebraska woman charged with helping daughter have abortion

OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) — A Nebraska woman has been charged with helping her teenage daughter end her pregnancy at about 24 weeks after investigators uncovered Facebook messages in which the two discussed using medication to induce an abortion and plans to burn the fetus afterward.

The prosecutor handling the case said it’s the first time he has charged anyone for illegally performing an abortion after 20 weeks, a restriction that was passed in 2010. Before the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, states weren’t allowed to enforce abortion bans until the point at which a fetus is considered viable outside the womb, at roughly 24 weeks.

In one of the Facebook messages, Jessica Burgess, 41, tells her then 17-year-old daughter that she has obtained abortion pills for her and gives her instructions on how to take them to end the pregnancy.

The daughter, meanwhile, “talks about how she can’t wait to get the ‘thing’ out of her body,” a detective wrote in court documents. “I will finally be able to wear jeans,” she says in one of the messages. Law enforcement authorities obtained the messages with a search warrant, and detailed some of them in court documents.

In early June, the mother and daughter were only charged with a single felony for removing, concealing or abandoning a body, and two misdemeanors: concealing the death of another person and false reporting. It wasn’t until about a month later, after investigators reviewed the private Facebook messages, that they added the felony abortion-related charges against the mother. The daughter, who is now 18, is being charged as an adult at prosecutors’ request.

Burgess’ attorney didn’t immediately respond to a message Tuesday, and the public defender representing the daughter declined to comment.

When first interviewed, the two told investigators that the teen had unexpectedly given birth to a stillborn baby in the shower in the early morning hours of April 22. They said they put the fetus in a bag, placed it in a box in the back of their van, and later drove several miles north of town, where they buried the body with the help of a 22-year-old man.

The man, whom The Associated Press is not identifying because he has only been charged with a misdemeanor, has pleaded no contest to helping bury the fetus on rural land his parents own north of Norfolk in northeast Nebraska. He’s set to be sentenced later this month.

In court documents, the detective said the fetus showed signs of “thermal wounds” and that the man told investigators the mother and daughter did burn it. He also wrote that the daughter confirmed in the Facebook exchange with her mother that the two would “burn the evidence afterward.” Based on medical records, the fetus was more than 23 weeks old, the detective wrote.

Burgess later admitted to investigators to buy the abortion pills “for the purpose of instigating a miscarriage.”

At first, both mother and daughter said they didn’t remember the date when the stillbirth happened, but according to the detective, the daughter later confirmed the date by consulting her Facebook messages. After that he sought the warrant, he said.

Madison County Attorney Joseph Smith told the Lincoln Journal Star that he’s never filed charges like this related to performing an abortion illegally in his 32 years as the county prosecutor. He didn’t immediately respond to a message from the AP on Tuesday.

The group National Advocates for Pregnant Women, which supports abortion rights, found 1,331 arrests or detentions of women for crimes related to their pregnancy from 2006 to 2020.

In addition to its current 20-week abortion ban, Nebraska tried — but failed — earlier this year to pass a so-called trigger law that would have banned all abortions when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

A Facebook spokesman declined to talk about the details of this case, but the company has said that officials at the social media giant “always scrutinize every government request we receive to make sure it is legally valid.”

Facebook it will fight back against requests that it thinks are invalid or too broad says, but the company said it gave investigators information in about 88% of the 59,996 times when the government requested data in the second half of last year.

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Technology

Microsoft celebrates 15 years of OneDrive with a redesign and new features

Microsoft celebrates 15 years of OneDrive with a redesign and new features

Microsoft’s marking OneDrive’s 15th anniversary with a new landing page, called OneDrive Home, and it should make it easier to keep tabs on your work. Instead of arriving on the My files tab when you first open OneDrive, you’ll find yourself on the new Home page that resembles that dashboard in the online version of Office.

Like the Office web app, OneDrive Home contains a list of your files, organized by how recently you accessed them. Above the list are filters that let you sort your documents by Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF file types.

It’s easier to understand the new changes once you see them.
Image: Microsoft

There’s also a new “Activity” column to the right of the “Owner” file field that tells you when someone leaves a comment, @mentions another user, or assigns you a task within a shared document. On the left side of the Home view, Microsoft’s adding a new Quick access section, where (just like on Windows) you can find and pin your most frequently accessed spaces.

Unfortunately, these changes aren’t live right now — Microsoft says OneDrive Home will be available in “the coming months.” From what it looks like, though, the new Home page could serve as a central hub that should help you stay organized while collaborating remotely.

Aside from its OneDrive web app, Microsoft is also rolling out its photo story feature for the OneDrive mobile app (essentially OneDrive’s equivalent to Instagram stories) to users in Australia. The feature’s not reaching users in the US or other regions until later this year.

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Sports

‘Greatest player’: Billie Jean King leads tennis tributes to Serena Williams | Serena Williams

Billie Jean King, the former women’s world No 1, has led tributes within tennis to Serena Williams, describing her as the sport’s “greatest player” following the 23-time grand slam singles champion’s announcement that she is retiring.

In a column for Vogue, the 40-year-old Williams described her intention to finish her playing career as an “evolution” away from tennis and indicated she could step away after the upcoming US Open.

“When Serena steps away from tennis, she will leave as the sport’s greatest player,” said King, the winner of 12 grand slam singles titles, including six at Wimbledon. “After a career that has inspired a new generation of players and fans, she will forever be known as a champion who won on the court and raised the global profile of the sport off of it.”

Speaking to USA Today, the former men’s world No 1, John McEnroe, said of Williams: “She should do whatever she wants. She’s an icon. Her place de ella in American society has gone to a place where she deserves it after everything she’s accomplished, everything she’s done.

“I don’t know the answer whether she wants to play again, I don’t think she needs to play again. Ella she’s at that level where Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Tom Brady are. Ella she’s like one of the all-time greatest athletes in the history of any sport – male or female. It seems to be a great place in her life. She she’s added a lot.

“Anyone who saw the movie [King Richard] realizes where they came from and where she is now is unbelievable so she can spend the rest of her life going ‘not bad huh?’”

Meanwhile, Coco Gauff, the current world No 11, hailed Williams as the very reason she took up the sport in the first place. “I grew up watching her. That’s the reason why I play tennis,” said Gauff after her first-round victory at the Canadian Open in Toronto on Tuesday. “Tennis being a predominantly white sport, it definitely helped a lot. Because I saw somebody who looked like me dominating the game. It made me believe that I could dominate too.”

Paying her own tribute to Williams, Emma Raducanu, the US Open champion, said: “She definitely changed the game. There’s not really been someone who has dominated like her in the women’s game. So I think she did change the game a lot in that respect.”

Pam Shriver, the former world No 3, added: “She [Williams] you have impacted tennis on the court and off the court. She’s taken tennis off the sports pages and into pop culture. She bridges people of all generations, diversity of background. She’s become a great spokesperson, a philanthropist and she’s matured before our eyes.”

Categories
Australia

Nuclear bomb tests at Maralinga triggered Hedley Marston to study fallout over Australia

Nuclear bomb tests at Maralinga triggered Hedley Marston to study fallout over Australia

Hedley Marston could be charming, genial and witty but he was not above fulmination, especially where fulminations of a different kind were concerned.

In the mid-1950s, the CSIRO biochemist emerged as arguably the most significant contemporary critic of Britain’s nuclear weapons testing program, which was launched on Australia’s Montebello Islands almost 70 years ago in October 1952.

Despite the imminent anniversary Marston remains an obscure figure, but his biographer Roger Cross believes that it should change.

“He appears to be totally unknown to the Australian public and, of course, to South Australians — he was a South Australian after all,” Dr Cross said.

Marston’s reservations about the nuclear program were far from spontaneous; indeed, his strongest concerns about him were n’t voiced until several years after the first test, when he recorded a radioactive plume passing over Adelaide.

The source of that plume was Operation Buffalo, a series of four nuclear blasts in 1956, and Marston was especially outraged by the fact that the general population was not warned.

A black and white portrait of Australian biochemist Hedley Marston, sitting at his desk.
Marston was highly regarded within the scientific community, and counted the likes of Mark Oliphant among his friends.(Creative Commons: CSIRO)

“Sooner or later the public will demand a commission of inquiry on the ‘fall out’ in Australia,” he wrote to nuclear physicist and weapons advocate Sir Mark Oliphant.

“When this happens some of the boys will qualify for the hangman’s noose.”

What made Marston’s fury difficult to dismiss, especially for those inclined to deride opposition to nuclear testing as the exclusive preserve of ‘commies’ and ‘conchies’, was the fact that he was no peacenik.

Detractors might have damned him as an arriviste, but never as an activist: his cordial relations with Oliphant and other scientific grandees demonstrate that Marston was, in many respects, an establishment man.

Dr Cross has described Marston’s elegant prose as “Churchillian”, and the adjective is apposite in other ways.

While the roguish Marston might not have gone as far as the British wartime leader’s assertion that, during conflict, truth is so precious “that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies”, he had, in a 1947 letter to the editor, publicly defended scientific secrecy:

“Under present conditions of fear and mistrust among nations it is obvious that military technology must be kept secret; and to achieve this end it should be conducted in special military laboratories where strictest security measures may be observed.”

But by late 1956, Marston’s alarm at radioactive fallout across parts of Australia was such that he was privately demanding greater disclosures to the general public.

One color and one black-and-white image of nuclear explosions at an outback location.
Two of the four Operation Buffalo nuclear detonations at Maralinga, in outback SA, in October 1956.(Creative Commons)

Much of his ire was aimed at the Atomic Weapons Tests Safety Committee — a body established before the Maralinga tests, but after blasts had already occurred at Emu Fields* and the Montebello Islands.

“He was the only senior Australian scientist to express concerns and, because of his character, the concerns that he expressed were very forthright,” said Dr Cross, whose biography of Marston, aptly entitled Fallout, inspired the documentary Silent Storm.

“When the safety committee after each explosion said there was absolutely no effect on Australians, I believed that they were lying.”

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
One of the 12 nuclear blasts that occurred in Australia in the 1950s.(Supplied: ABC Library Vision)

‘If the wind changes, we need to go’

The experiments that led Marston, whose reputation largely rested on his expertise in sheep nutrition, to reach this conclusion were two-fold.

In the more protracted one, I analyzed the presence of radioactive iodine-131 — a common component of nuclear fallout — in the thyroids of sheep.

“One group he kept penned up under cover eating dried hay, which had been cut some time before. The other group, he put outside eating the grass,” Dr Cross said.

“I have tested the thyroids in each group – the ones on the hay only had background amounts of iodine-131.

“But the ones in the fields had a tremendously high concentration of this radioactive isotope, both north and south of the city.”

In a paper published in the Australian Journal of Biological Sciences, Marston speculated on the implications for the nation’s food chain.

A map from the 1985 Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia.
A fallout map from the 1985 royal commission, which stated that while fallout at Maralinga Village from the October 11, 1956, test was “considered to be ‘negligible from a biological point of view’ it does suggest difficulties with the forecast prior to the test “.(Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia)

For the other experiment, Marston conducted air monitoring in Adelaide.

He was especially alarmed by what he found for the period following the Maralinga test of October 11, 1956.

“There was a wind shear and at least part, maybe the best part, of that cloud, blew in a south-easterly direction and that took it towards Adelaide and the country towns in between,” Dr Cross said.

“The safety committee — who must have known of the wind shear — had done nothing about warning Adelaide people perhaps to stay indoors.”

A middle-aged man in a white coat testing substances in a laboratory.
Australian biologist John Stewart Charnock worked with Marston at the time of his studies into fallout.(Supplied)

Among Marston’s assistants at this time was John Stewart Charnock, who later discussed aspects of his work with daughter Cathryn.

“One of the jobs that dad was asked to do was to stand on the roof of the CSIRO building here in Adelaide,” Ms Charnock said.

“Marston asked him to … capture dust to see if there was any fallout.

“He was very aware of some of the risks that were facing people that people didn’t know about.”

A woman wearing glasses and a green cardigan, smiling.
Cathryn Charnock was born years after the tests, but remembers her father describing some of his work.(ABC Radio Adelaide: Daniel Keane)

Ms Charnock said that, following one test, her father had even considered leaving the city.

“Dad was supposed not to tell anybody, but he did ring my mother and say if the wind changes, it’s going to be in Adelaide and we need to pack the car and we need to go,” she said.

A newspaper article on nuclear testing at Maralinga.
An article from The Canberra Times of September 17, 1957, reporting on nuclear testing at Maralinga.(Supplied: Trove)

Despite Marston’s reservations, the nuclear program carried on regardless.

Less than a year after the Operation Buffalo tests, Maralinga was hosting Operation Antler.

In September 1957, newspapers around Australia reported on an upcoming “second test” that would, weather permitting, proceed as part of a “spring series”.

If it hadn’t been for the presence of the words “atomic” and “radioactive”, a reader might easily have inferred that what was being described was as commonplace as a game of cricket.

*This article is the first in a two-part series, the second of which will focus on the tests at Emu Fields.

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Categories
US

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler concedes primary defeat to Trump-endorsed challenger Joe Kent

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler concedes primary defeat to Trump-endorsed challenger Joe Kent

Six-term US Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler conceded defeat to Donald Trump-endorsed challenger Joe Kent on Tuesday after new vote totals confirmed she would place third in the primary.

The concession was further proof of the political price paid by Republicans who dared to impeach Trump over his role in stoking the January 2021 assault on the US Capitol. Of the 10 House Republicans who joined Democrats in that vote, Herrera Beutler was the seventh to retire or be ousted in a primary.

Kent, an Army combat veteran and first-time candidate, will face Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in November. She placed first in the primary with about 31% of the vote to 23% for Kent and 22% for Herrera Beutler.

In a prepared concession statement just after 5 pm, Herrera Beutler thanked voters of Southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District for supporting her for many years, and cited accomplishments that included working to help the local fishing industry and passing a law to help low-income children get specialty medical care.

“Ever since I was first elected to this seat I have done my very best to serve my home region and our country. Though my campaign came up short this time, I’m proud of all we’ve accomplished together for the place where I was raised and still call home,” Herrera Beutler said in a statement.

Herrera Beutler did not mention Kent or Trump but made an apparent reference to her vote to impeach Trump over the Capitol attack.

Referring to “unexpected and difficult” moments, Herrera Beutler said, “I’m proud that I always told the truth, stuck to my principles, and did what I knew to be best for our country.”

Trump issued a statement Tuesday night celebrating Herrera Beutler’s defeat.

“Joe Kent just won an incredible race against all odds in Washington State. Importantly, I have knocked out yet another impeacher, Jaime Herrera Beutler, who so stupidly played right into the hands of the Democrats,” Trump said. “Joe is a wonderful guy, who bravely served our Country as a Green Beret. He has a truly bright future.”

Kent’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

He ran a campaign marked by loyalty to Trump — echoing the former president’s false claims about the 2020 election — promoting an “America First” agenda including a near-total shutdown on immigration and refugees. He also has vowed to move immediately to impeach President Joe Biden if elected and to launch investigations of Democrats.

On social media and in appearances on Fox News, Kent loudly criticized the FBI search warrant executed at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where agents were reportedly looking for classified documents illegally taken by the ex-president.

“Now, more than ever, we must unite to save our nation. The enemy is organized & on the attack, we have to be ready to fight back,” Kent tweeted on Monday.

Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, had led Kent on election night, but slipped in subsequent vote counts, finally falling behind Kent on Monday. After new counts Tuesday in Clark and Thurston counties, Kent kept his hold on second place, leading Herrera Beutler by 928 votes out of more than 200,000 that were cast in the race.

Kent advanced to the general election despite a flood of attack ads fueled by more than $4 million in outside PAC spending aimed at helping to get Herrera Beutler incumbent past the primary despite the widespread anger among GOP voters over her impeachment vote. Some of that money came from a newly created super PAC that timed its spending to avoid revealing its donors until after the primary.

An ex-Green Beret combat veteran and Gold Star husband, Kent first met Trump at Dover Air Force Base in 2019, after Kent’s wife, Navy cryptologist Shannon Kent, was killed by a suicide bomber in Syria while fighting the Islamic State terrorist group.

Trump endorsed Kent last year, calling him “a warrior for the America First agenda” and attacking Herrera Beutler for supporting “the Democrats’ impeachment scam.”

Gluesenkamp Perez lives in rural Skamania County and co-owns a Portland auto-repair shop with her husband. She has been involved in the state Democratic Party and ran unsuccessfully for Skamania County Board of Commissioners in 2016.

In a statement Monday after Kent passed Hererra Beutler for second place, Gluesenkamp Perez said the November race will be “a national bellwether for the direction of our country.”

Calling Kent a white nationalist for his ties to extremist groups, she said his “unapologetic extremism and divisive approach demonstrate he is unfit for public office.”

The race may still be headed for a mandatory recount, though those almost never change the outcome. A machine recount is required if the gap between the No. 2 and No. 3 candidates is less than half of 1% and less than 2,000 votes.

Categories
Technology

Repco Roars Into 100th Birthday With New Campaign Via Thinkerbell

Repco Roars Into 100th Birthday With New Campaign Via Thinkerbell

To celebrate 100 laps around the sun, Repco has filled its “Driven by Passion for 100 Years” campaign to the brim with hidden car history, via Thinkerbell.

Whether it’s finding Brian’s ’94 Supra, the fabled Peter Brock Energy Polarizer, the rock that ended DJ’s Bathurst, or Brabham’s legendary engine – every asset is a game of ‘I-SPY’ for any and every car lover.

This celebration of iconic bits of car history, racing moments, and pop culture has been carefully crafted to remind Australia and New Zealand of Repco’s deep connection to auto culture. From winning F1 championships to helping you fix your first car – Repco’s been riding shotgun through it all.

The hidden references are loaded throughout all campaign assets across TV, Print, Radio, Social and Instore – which culminate in an interactive game – challenging enthusiasts to test their skills with an online experience.

Jim Ingram, national chief creative tinker at Thinkerbell, said: “Whether you’re buying an air freshener for your new car, or a replacement four-barrel carby for your old one, anyone who shops at Repco shares a passion for all things auto . And it’s been fun creating a centenary campaign that’s riddled with hidden moments of passion, some obvious and some that will challenge even the most rusted on car nut.”

Kym Sutherland, general manager, marketing at Repco, said: “Repco’s been there for all car enthusiasts for a hundred years now. Whether it’s yours, or someone else’s that you’re working on, we understand that passion – it’s how we got started in the first place.”

CREDITS

Client: Repco

Scott Whiteley – Executive General Manager Marketing and CX, Automotive
Kym Sutherland – General Manager, Marketing
Priscilla Sugrue – Brand Manager

Creative Agency: Thinker Bell
Matias Reyes – Creative Tinker
Julia Keller – Thinker
Cale Berry – Creative Tinker
Gideon Nedas – Lead Thinker
Jess Evernden – Lead Production Tinker
Jaime Morgan – General Manager – South
Dom Counahan – Exec Brand Thinker
Jim Ingram – National Chief Creative Tinker
Sam Whatley – Lead Creative Tinker
Josh Parmenter – Lead Creative Tinker
Adam Ferrier – Chief Thinker

Media Agency: Initiative

Aaron Farrelly – Group Director
Bec Olsson – Partnerships Manager

Production Co: The Producers

Mitch Kennedy – Director
Victoria Conners – Exec Producer

Original Composition: Ack Kinmonth

Sound: BangBang

Digital Agency: Kojo

Categories
Sports

Nick Kyrgios defeats Sebastian Baez in straight sets

Nick Kyrgios has continued his red-hot form going into the US Open, but it was his opponent who stole the show with an incredible shot.

After winning both the singles and doubles in Washington earlier this week, Kyrgios advanced to the second round in Montreal with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Argentina’s Sebastian Baez, but it was the latter who produced a tweener lob that left the commentary team stunned.

“It could be one of the shots of the week, it could be one of the shots of the year, giving Nick Kyrgios a taste of his own medicine,” commentator Adam Fielder said.

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Kyrgios could only smile after feeling what so many of his opponents had felt over the years – what looked like a routine volley winner at the net was returned over his head, via an audacious between-the-legs shot from his opponent.

“Quite remarkable, incredible bit of skill from Baez,” added Miles Maclagan.

“He’s got a lot of ground to cover, almost overruns it – and then the flight, to perfection.

“He draws a smile from Kyrgios who knows he’s probably been outdone for shot of the match.”

At deuce and leading 5-4 in the second set, Kyrgios set up match point with a delightful drop shot, before an emphatic forehand sealed the deal.

Kyrgios stunned by ‘shot of the year’

The win was Kyrgios’ seventh-straight on the singles circuit, and now sets up a mouth-watering clash with Daniil Medvedev.

“Physically I feel fine, just mentally so tired,” Kyrgios said on court afterwards.

“It’s never easy – I haven’t really had much sleep in the last couple of days but I’m trying to put that behind me already.”

I have conceded that he hadn’t really “played great tennis” in Montreal in the past, and wanted to rectify it.

Kyrgios claims seventh career title

“I wanted to come out here today and just try and get that match-up. Obviously playing Medvedev next is a great test, and he’s obviously coming off a title as well,” Kyrgios said.

Kyrgios leads the head-to-head against the Russian 2-1 – beating him in the final at Washington in 2019, and in Rome in the same year – before losing to him at this year’s Australian Open.

“On rankings, he’s the number one in the world. Rankings don’t really say much, the guy I played today was ranked ahead of me – but Medvedev is a hell of a player, the way he plays is so unorthodox,” Kyrgios said.

“He’s a great competitor, and he’s just an animal. I’d like to see where I’m at.

“He’ll probably be feeling a little bit fatigued as well – I know I am, but I’m going to give it my best shot.”

Should Kyrgios win, it could potentially be an all-Australian clash in a round of 16, with Alex De Minaur taking on Grigor Dimitrov after beating Denis Shapovalov, 7-5 7-6.

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The backstories and controversies that have ignited feuds involving athletes

Categories
Australia

Live updates: China’s ambassador to Australia to address National Press Club

Live updates: China's ambassador to Australia to address National Press Club

Here’s Will Jackson with the details.

The relationship between Australia and China has been battered by a series of acrimonious disputes over the last two years. But since Work won the election in May both countries have taken tentative steps towards stabilizing the relationship.

Both the Foreign Minister Penny Wong and the Defense Minister Richard Marles have held a one-on-one meetings with their Chinese counterparts, ending a two-year high level diplomatic freeze between Canberra and beijing.

But there are still structural barriers to serious improvement.

(ABCNews)

Australia remains deeply concerned about a raft of issues from China’s treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang regionto the imprisonment of Australian journalist ChengLeirepression of rights and free speech in Hong Kong and Beijing’s moves to increase its influence in the Pacific.

And the recent taiwan crises have you seen China once again step up its verbal attacks on Australia, after the federal government raised concerns about Beijing’s military drills in the wake of the Nancy Pelosi visit to the island.

All of which should make for an interesting Q&A session at the end of Mr Xiao’s talk.

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Categories
US

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler grants; Perez will face Kent for the 3rd District

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler has fallen behind challenger Joe Kent, also a Republican, in primary results for the 3rd District race.

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler granted her reelection race Tuesday, making her the first incumbent to be defeated in the 3rd Congressional District since 1994.

The Battle Ground Republican’s concession statement arrived minutes after the latest tally showed Joe Kent of Yacolt with what appeared to be an insurmountable lead.

“Ever since I was first elected to this seat, I have done my very best to serve my home region and our country,” Herrera Beutler’s statement said. “Though my campaign came up short this time, I’m proud of all we’ve accomplished together for the place where I was raised and still call home.”

Kent, who had been steadily gaining votes in updated tallies since election day, saw his lead decline slightly on Tuesday evening, though he was still ahead by 928 votes.

On Tuesday evening, Kent had 49,515 votes, or 22.74 percent of the vote, compared with Herrera Beutler’s 48,587 votes, or 22.31 percent of 217,780 tallied ballots. He will join top vote-getter Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez on the general election ballot in November.

Perez received 67,674 votes as of Tuesday evening, or 31.07 percent of the total.

In Clark County, the most populated county in the district, Perez led with 35.96 percent of the 139,195 votes cast, followed by Herrera Beutler, 21.52 percent, and Kent, 20.40 percent. Voter turnedout rose to 43.44 percent as of Tuesday evening, with 500 ballots left to count. An update will be posted 2 pm Wednesday.

Although there are ballots to be tallied in rural counties, the remaining counts will not change the outcome of the primary election. The results will be certified Aug. 16.

“I’m proud that I always told the truth, stuck to my principles, and did what I knew to be best for our country,” Herrera Beutler wrote in a statement.

The congresswoman will remain in her position until Jan. 3, her statement said.

National trends, looking forward

Herrera Beutler’s absence from the playing field is unusual but not unprecedented, especially when considering national trends.

She was one of 10 House Republicans who voted for former President Donald Trump’s impeachment last year.

Among those seeking re-election, Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed candidate, but Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, triumphed over Loren Culp, a former police chief and gubernatorial candidate who had also won the former president’s support.

Political analysts say Herrera Beutler’s stand likely to cost her the race.

“If she had not voted that way, I have a really hard time believing that she would have lost in the primaries,” said Mark Stephan, Washington State University Vancouver political science professor.

Stephan said Trumpism, or the goal to sustain powers associated with Trump and his base, has dominated the district and local politics in general. Consequently, Kent’s endorsement last September from the former president was significant in his campaigning and was a key tool in overcoming the incumbent.

Vancouver-based political consultant Jim Mains questioned whether Herrera Beutler invested what she could have into the race to retain her congressional seat. Often incumbents utilize every penny of campaign funding they have, he said, but it appeared that Herrera Beutler’s campaign didn’t pick up steam until a few weeks before the primary election.

“In some respects, do you wonder, did she take it as serious as she could have?” he said.

Mains said the primary results will leave moderate Republicans struggling to decide whether to cast a vote for Perez or Kent — or to sit out the upcoming election entirely.

Both Perez and Kent are new to politics, and they face a similar problem. They don’t have name recognition outside their loyal base.

“The big thing I’ve been hearing about both of these candidates, Joe Kent and Marie Perez, is nobody really knows them,” Mains said.

On the other hand, Carolyn Long, the former Democratic candidate in the 2018 and 2020 elections for the same position, hosted hundreds of listening sessions and town halls throughout the region to instill familiarity in voters. Mains said constituents had a grasp of who she was, which is something neither Perez or Kent has.

Now, the best move is for candidates to stake their claim, particularly when it relates to appealing to Herrera Beutler’s base — moderates.

“It goes back to who’s going to get out in front and who’s going to really tell their story and tell their opponent’s story,” he said. “For me, this whole game is going to be in the middle.”

Washington’s 3rd Congressional District has tilted Republican since 2010, when the Washington State Redistricting Commission adjusted boundaries after the 2010 Census created the need for a new congressional district to accommodate increasing populations, drawing Democratic voters near Olympia away from the 3rd District.

Democrats are leading into the race with an optimistic note that the district can flip, Stephan is dubious about this forecast.

“If there’s an open contest, there is a chance for the party in opposition to flip that seat,” he said. “Is that likely under the current conditions in the 3rd District? Nope.”

Categories
Technology

Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 Wireless Headphones Promise 60 Hour Battery Life, But Forgettable Style

Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 Wireless Headphones Promise 60 Hour Battery Life, But Forgettable Style

Not only is Sennheiser known for its excellent sounding audio gear, it’s also known for its distinct styling, particularly with headphones like its wireless over-ear Momentum line. In past iterations, the line featured an exposed metal headband strap that aesthetically stood out against the competition, but for the new Momentum 4, Sennheiser is introducing a complete redesign that promises more comfort and better performance, but with uninspired looks.

When the Sennheiser Momentum 3 wireless headphones were released back in 2019, we raved about not only their sound quality and ANC performance, but also their retro-inspired design. Given how generic most wireless earbuds are, larger wireless on-ear headphones are one of the few ways consumers can express their style through their gear, but it’s hard to imagine anyone buying the Sennheiser Momentum 4 for its looks. The distinctive metal headband strap is now gone, replaced with a more generic but articulated structure that makes these $AU549 cans look like the cheaper alternatives to the rest of Sennheiser’s headphone lineup.

Image: SennheiserImage: Sennheiser

Also gone are the hinged earcups that fold in on themselves. Like recent Sony and Apple offerings, the new Momentum 4 wireless headphones feature a fold-flat design instead, so while the included carrying case has a larger footprint, it’s also much slimmer and potentially easier to slide into a bag. With the headband now connecting to pivot points on the edges, the featureless sides of the Momentum 4 earcups are now large touchpads for activating playback, function, and volume shortcuts through taps and swipe gestures. All physical buttons have been removed from the Momentum 4, except for a single power/Bluetooth pairing button.

Image: SennheiserImage: Sennheiser

So, what do the Momentum 4 wireless headphones do? Sennheiser promises the redesigned headband has increased padding, while the added articulation on each slightly angled earcup allows the headphones to stay on the head with less pressure, making them more comfortable to wear. The lambskin covering the padding on each earcup has also been replaced with a synthetic leather, which is another step in the right direction.

The headphone’s touch-sensitive controls might not be an improvement as far as functionality is concerned, but while the Sennheiser Momentum 3 headphones offered around 17 hours of battery life at most, the Momentum 4 promise a staggering 60 hours. That’s twice the battery life that Sony promises with its recent WH-1000XM5, and even if hitting 60 hours requires some power-saving techniques (like keeping the volume pumping through its 42mm transducers low) that’s still an impressive achievement. When they do die, a quick 10 minute charge provides an extra six hours of runtime.

Sennheiser is also promising improved active noise cancellation performance, and added customization and personalization through an accompanying mobile app. But the most compelling reason for the extreme redesign is the $AU549 price tag (available for pre-order starting today and officially on sale starting on August 23). If you prioritize function over form, there’s undoubtedly a lot to like here, but if you care more about how your headphones look, it might be time to move on.