The ransomware attack on government computers in Baltimore City has affected various agencies' day-to-day activities. It has also halted scheduled updates to several government datasets on Open Baltimore , the city's open data website. The attack was discovered on May 7. Hackers used a virus to encrypt files on government systems, demanding a payment of 3 Bitcoins (equivalent to about $17,600 at current prices) to unlock a single system, or 13 Bitcoins (worth about $76,280) to unlock all the city's systems. Officials have said they won't pay and that it could take weeks to restore the city's computer systems. Here are the datasets for which regular updates have been suspended: » Part I Victim-Based Crime Data   last updated May 4; scheduled to be automatically updated every Monday. The dataset, from the Baltimore Police Department, contains information on selected criminal offenses . » 311 Customer Service Requests   last updated April 22; scheduled to be automatically updated more than once a day. The city's 311 services are still working, and customers can submit and check the status of more recent requests either by dialing 311 (or 443-263-2220 from outside of the city) or through the 311 website or mobile app. » 911 Police Calls for Service   last updated May 6; scheduled to be automatically updated more than once a day. The city's 911 and EMS services are still working. The city's computer-aided dispatch, or CAD, system, which supports the city's 911 and 311 services, had previously been infiltrated by a ransomware attack in March of last year. The system automatically populates 911 callers' locations on maps and dispatches the closest emergency responders there. The CAD system was not impacted by last week's ransomware attack, said Tammy Hawley, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore City Department of Housing who is assisting with the IT department's communications during the outage. » Gun Offenders   last updated March 27; scheduled to be manually updated every month. The controversial registry of Baltimore's gun offenders was established in October 2007 through legislation first proposed by then-Mayor Sheila Dixon. As a result of the measure, people convicted of gun crimes are required to provide addresses and other information to the city every six months for three years. The Baltimore Police Department did not update this file in April, before the attack. » BPD Arrests   last updated March 1; scheduled to be manually updated every month. The Baltimore Police Department did not update this file in April. » Parking Citations   last updated May 4; scheduled to be automatically updated on weekdays. The ransomware virus has disabled access to the parking fines database, according to a city Department of Transportation news release. The department has created an interim process for allowing people to retrieve vehicles impounded at the Pulaski Highway lot. » Environmental Citations   last updated May 10; scheduled to be automatically updated daily. Environmental citations are issued by the city's Environmental Control Board for violations of Baltimore City codes related to sanitation, health, safety and other quality-of-life issues. » Housing Permits   last updated May 7; scheduled to be automatically updated daily. The Baltimore Housing's Office of Permits and Building Inspections lists all permits issued since April 2002. » Real Property Taxes   last updated May 7; scheduled to be updated daily (method is not specified). The disruption also stands to disrupt the collection of property taxes themselves . » One Day Liquor Licenses   last updated May 3; scheduled update frequency and method not specified. One-day liquor licenses are issued by the city's Liquor License Board for nonprofit groups, societies and associations. Those licenses are still being issued, said Thomas R. Akras, the board's Deputy Executive Secretary. The board has issued a "handful" of one-day liquor licenses since last week, he said. Groups can apply by filling out the application form and submitting it in person to the board's office at 1 N. Charles St. Not all of the information on Open Baltimore is continually updated. Some datasets, like government employee salaries , are manually uploaded on an annual basis. Others, like officer-involved use of force incidents , are listed as being updated "ad hoc." A few, like the BPD arrests file , have not been updated as often as they are purported to be, ransomware attack notwithstanding. Baltimore officials have said the ransomware attack is similar to one that struck the city of Greenville, North Carolina , last month. Greenville's website and email systems are now working again, but daily reports, such as the police department's arrest logs and traffic crash reports, are no longer updated electronically. The city had been building out an "online portal" to house that data prior to the attack, said Kristen Hunter, a spokeswoman for the city of Greenville's police department. That process has been delayed as employees digitize information that had been taken by hand during the outage, she said. Hawley, the Baltimore spokeswoman helping with IT communications, said the information in many of Baltimore's open datasets, like 311 and 911 calls, is still being captured normally, even if the data cannot be automatically synced with Open Baltimore while the city's network is down. "The only thing that can't happen right now is it can't be pushed to that site," she said. Talk to us: How has the shutdown of Baltimore government computer systems affected you? » czhang@baltsun.com twitter.com/christinezhang


The Kansas City Chiefs kick off the 2019 preseason against the Cincinnati Bengals this evening. There are currently 90 players vying for a spot on the Chiefs 53-man regular season roster. Some of them will make it, but a lot of them won't. Here is a look at three of the position battles we'll be looking at during this preseason Week 1 matchup: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel Interior offensive line Within the first six weeks of the 2018 regular season, the Chiefs had to call upon their backup interior offensive line in a big way. They suffered injuries to their starting RG, C and their top backup interior offensive lineman. While there won't be a lot of scheme during preseason play, you can look at how offensive lineman do 1-on-1 in the trenches. According to the Chiefs' first preseason depth chart , the second team interior guys are LG Nick Allegretti, C Jimmy Murray and RG Kahlil McKenzie. The third team includes LG Abdul Beecham and RG Ryan Hunter. Those five are the guys that I am going to be watching very closely. McKenzie is someone that I'm really interested to see after having a full redshirt season under his belt. I want to know where he's grown and where he still struggles a bit. Allegretti and Beecham are both rookies, so I want to see how they handle speed in the NFL. That seems to be a big adjustment that a lot of young OL need to make. Last season the Chiefs backup LG Cameron Erving had to go toe-to-toe with Aaron Donald for four quarters, so these guys need to be prepared for anything early on. Continue… Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports Nickel corner Steve Spagnuolo has made it pretty clear that the team is looking for a backup nickel corner. They want somebody behind Kendall Fuller who they can call upon if he gets dinged up during a game. One guy that they've played there a bit is Tyrann Mathieu, but I don't expect him to be the main option, because he's too valuable playing other spots. There's two players that seem to be competing for that spot directly and they're both rookies. Fifth-round draft pick Rashad Fenton and undrafted free agent Dakari Monroe. Spagnuolo has said good things about both players, so it's really difficult to see where they stand right now. Performances in these games will go a long way toward determining which guy ends up winning the battle. If they come away with big play or shut down a promising rookie on the opposing team, it could go a long way. It won't all come on the defensive side of the ball, though. Keep an eye on how each player does on special teams too. When they're not on the field on defense, that's where they'll be making their biggest impact. Continue… Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports Special teams coverage units Speaking of special teams, the coverage units can tell you a lot about how the team views certain players. It's a bit of a position battle in and of itself. The guys working with the first team on special teams, typically have a leg up on the competition to make the 53-man roster. Special teams coordinator Dave Toub is going to make sure that guys get a lot of different looks so that everyone gets a fair shake, but he's also highlighted some players he wants to get a better look at. Guys like John Lovett, for instance. Toub wants to see that Lovett can tackle in a live game, it's different going through practice or drills with your teammates. He wants to see what he can do when there's someone wearing another teams jersey lined up across from him. Then you have guys like Cody Thompson, who was a stud special teams player coming out of Toledo. His highlight reel featured an insane blocked punt where he waltzes into the end zone for a score and it wasn't his first one either. Can he keep up that type of play now that he's in the NFL? We'll find out. Pay close attention to snap counts, big tackles in punt and kick coverage and potential for any big plays like forced fumbles or blocked punts. Go back… MORE: Four potential Carmelo Anthony landing spots in free agency Yankees' Brett Gardner gets ejected while sitting quietly, erupts on umpire Studs and duds from Saints preseason opener vs. Vikings Studs and duds from Packers' 28-26 win over Texans in preseason opener Seahawks 'working on' adding a QB while Geno Smith is out


The Texas Longhorns football program got a big jumpstart to its Class of 2021 recruiting class thanks to a pair of rapid fire commitments. In the span of 48 hours, the Longhorns landed both a four-star quarterback and offensive tackle. Jalen Milroe , the new dual threat quarterback from Katy (Texas) Tompkins High School, came first, picking the Longhorns on Sunday. A top-three quarterback prospect and top-15 overall player in the state of Texas' Class of 2021, per 247Sports, Milroe chose the Longhorns ahead of scholarship offers from Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Oregon, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Virginia Tech and Houston. As one of the top quarterbacks in the Class of 2021 and one of the top players in the Houston area, Milroe is also seen as a potential influencer for other top prospects in the Houston area. In fact, whether Milroe was at all responsible for it or not, it took just 48 hours for another athlete from Katy itself to join Tom Herman's Class of 2021. Four-star offensive tackle Hayden Conner , from crosstown Katy Taylor, picked the Longhorns rather than Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and even national powers like Georgia, LSU and Michigan. Conner was apparently won over by a handful of different experiences he had while visiting the Texas campus in recent months and years, and a much less frequently cited factor: a passion for aerospace engineering . According to 247Sports, what Conner learned about Texas' aerospace program helped convince him that Austin was the best fit for his future. Now, combined with fellow four-star, wide receiver Quaydarius Davis of Dallas (Texas) Skyline, Conner and Milroe may help a number of other top prospects from inside the state border to decide that Texas is the right place for them. MORE: Mike Trout's perfect 98.6 MPH throw to home plate had everyone in awe New York Mets' New 'Foul Poles' Are an Abomination NBA trade rumor rankings: What's up with CP3? The 21 dumbest ideas in NFL history Lane Johnson has a 'Bro Barn' that he uses to sculpt himself into best RT in NFL


Curious just how far your dollar goes in Atlanta? We've rounded up the latest rental listings via rental sites Zumper and Apartment Guide to get a sense of what to expect when it comes to locating an apartment in Atlanta if you don't want to spend more than $900/month on rent. Take a look at the listings, below. (Note: prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 1093 West Ave. SW (Pittsburgh) Listed at $850/month, this 549-square-foot studio apartment is located at 1093 West Ave. SW. The studio offers a balcony and hardwood floors. When it comes to building amenities, anticipate on-site laundry and a fitness center. Luckily for pet owners, both dogs and cats are allowed. Be prepared for a $250 pet deposit. According to Walk Score's assessment, the area around this address is somewhat walkable, is bikeable and has a few nearby public transportation options. (See the complete listing here .) 3390 Fairburn Road SW (Ben Hill) Next, check out this 900-square-foot two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bathroom apartment that's located at 3390 Fairburn Road SW. It's listed for $860/month. The building boasts on-site laundry, a swimming pool and a fitness center. The unit also comes with a dishwasher, a balcony and air conditioning. Cats and dogs are not welcome. Walk Score indicates that this location requires a car for most errands, has minimal bike infrastructure and has a few nearby public transportation options. (Check out the complete listing here .) 3350 Mount Gilead Road SW (Southwest) Located at 3350 Mount Gilead Road SW, here's a 1,187-square-foot two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bathroom apartment that's listed for $875/month. In the unit, you'll find a balcony, a fireplace and a walk-in closet. When it comes to building amenities, anticipate on-site laundry. Both cats and dogs are permitted. The listing specifies a $300 pet fee. Walk Score indicates that the surrounding area isn't very walkable, is somewhat bikeable and has some transit options. (Take a gander at the complete listing here .) 192 Holderness St. SW (Ashview Heights) Next, there's this two-bedroom, one-bathroom abode situated at 192 Holderness St. SW. It's listed for $880/month for its 676 square feet. Neither cats nor dogs are welcome. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee. According to Walk Score's assessment, the surrounding area is car-dependent, is relatively bikeable and has good transit options. (See the complete listing here .) 64 Willis Mill Road SW (Florida Heights) Here's an 825-square-foot three-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at 64 Willis Mill Road SW that's going for $900/month. When it comes to building amenities, anticipate secured entry. You can also expect to find stainless steel appliances and hardwood floors in the apartment. Pet owners, inquire elsewhere: This spot doesn't allow cats or dogs. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee. According to Walk Score, the surrounding area is moderately walkable, has some bike infrastructure and boasts excellent transit options. (See the full listing here .) Working with a tight budget? Here are the cheapest rentals recently listed in Atlanta . This story was created automatically using local real estate data from Zumper and Apartment Guide , then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


A two-car crash in Ozaukee County Wednesday night left one man dead and two others injured. Glenn Lewis, 56, of Cedarburg, was pronounced dead at Froedtert Hospital hours after Flight for Life transported him from the crash scene. According to the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office, Lewis was westbound on County Highway NN in the Town of Cedarburg around 5:30 p.m. when he was struck by a northbound driver who failed to obey a stop sign on Granville Road. That driver, 19-year-old Adam Gertz of Mequon, was cited for failing to stop at a stop sign, causing great bodily harm. But the investigation is ongoing, authorities said. The collision sent Lewis' vehicle into a nearby home and Gertz's into a commercial building. Gertz, and a 19-year-old female passenger were treated for injuries at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton. Follow Marisa Peryer on Twitter @marisa_peryer . Contact her at mperyer@gannett.com . Our subscribers make this coverage possible. Subscribe to the Journal Sentinel today and get a special offer at jsonline.com/deal. Top Headlines: Gov. Evers uses vast veto power to raise school spending another $65 million A lifetime of musky fishing: nighttime operations and occasional fish CPR Driving to Illinois? New 'hands-free' law takes effect to decrease distracted driving Plan your Summerfest with our interactive schedule FOLLOW THE JOURNAL SENTINEL: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Town of Cedarburg crash kills one, injures two


The Browns will honor one of the greatest players in NFL history with a statue. The question is: What took so long? Owners owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam announced Tuesday they will unveil a statue of Otto Graham at FirstEnergy Stadium during the Browns' Fantennial Weekend Sept. 6-8. "As we celebrate the NFL's 100th season, we are honored to pay tribute to Otto Graham with this timeless sculpture that will properly recognize him not only as one of the Browns' top players but also as one of pro football's greatest all-time quarterbacks," the Haslams said in a statement. "This year's Alumni Weekend will be truly special as we welcome many of our Browns Legends back home in Cleveland, as well as have the opportunity to thank and host many members of Otto Graham's family." Graham is one of the best quarterbacks in the game's history and undoubtedly will have a place on the NFL's list of 100 greatest players. He was a member of the first Browns team in 1946 and played all 10 of his professional seasons in Cleveland. The Browns appeared in 10 consecutive title games with Graham at quarterback, winning four All-America Football Conference championships (1946, 1947, 1948, 1949) and three NFL Championships (1950, 1954, 1955). Graham, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965, died in 2003 at the age of 82.


The Houston Texans entered this offseason with a glaring need to rejuvenate their offensive line. After allowing a league-high 62 sacks in 2018, they needed to bring in new blood, and they did just that with rookies Tytus Howard, Max Scharping, and veteran former Pro Bowler Matt Kalil. However, while many have predicted that both rookies will see a lot of game time early on, former NFL offensive lineman and SiriusXM NFL Radio host Ross Tucker disagrees. "I'd be very surprised if both rookies started," Tucker told the "Texans Talk Podcast" Saturday . Tucker that the Texans may look to ease the rookies in over time, and as a result, he stated that he thinks, "at least Seantrel Henderson or Kalil will step up and take one of those jobs, if not both." However, Tucker does have confidence that at least one of the rookies could have an early impact. Howard may have been Houston's first-round pick, but the overall consensus is that coming from a smaller school he lacks experience against the high-end competition. Scharping, on the other hand, is in Tucker's opinion, a more rounded player entering 2019. "Scharping was a guy I was really high on, probably doesn't have as high of a ceiling (as Howard) but I do think he has a higher floor," said Tucker. "So much experience, so bright, very technically sound, that I actually think he has a pretty good chance to play, and play early." What sort of role would Scharping fulfill his rookie year? Well, he had an answer for that as well. "I wouldn't be surprised if Kalil and Seantrel start, but Scharping ends up becoming the 'swing' guy as they develop Tytus Howard," said Tucker. Given the state of their offensive line in 2018, any improvements this year will come as music to Texans fans ears in 2019, regardless of who it comes from. MORE: NBA fans had so many memes for Steph Curry's exchange with Drake Giants get a chuckle: Odell Beckham already in hot water in Cleveland Could Raiders rookie DE Maxx Crosby start over Arden Key in 2019? Four potential Clint Capela trade destinations Packers WR Davante Adams talks 'electrifying' new offense, Matt LaFleur's leadership style


WASHINGTON (AP)   Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday he wants to build a global coalition against Iran during urgent consultations in the Middle East, following a week of crisis that saw the United States pull back from the brink of a military strike on Iran. Pompeo spoke as he left Washington for Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Sunni Arab allies that are alarmed by Shiite Iran's increasing assertiveness and are working to its influence in the region. His stops in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi were hastily arranged late last week as additions to a trip to India from where he will join President Donald Trump in Japan and South Korea. But they were not announced until immediately before his departure in a sign of fast-moving and unpredictable developments. "We'll be talking with them about how to make sure that we are all strategically aligned, and how we can build out a global coalition, a coalition not only throughout the Gulf states, but in Asia and in Europe, that understands this challenge as it is prepared to push back against the world's largest state sponsor of terror," Pompeo said about Iran. But even as Pompeo delivered his tough talk, he echoed President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in saying the U.S. is prepared to negotiate with Iran, without preconditions, in a bid to ease tensions. Those tensions have been mounting since Trump last year withdrew the U.S. from a global nuclear deal with Iran and began pressuring Tehran with economic sanctions. A fresh round of Iran sanctions is to be announced Monday in a bid to force the Iranian leadership into talks. "They know precisely how to find us," Pompeo said. It was a week of topsy-turvy pronouncements on U.S. policy toward Iran that careened between the bellicose, the conciliatory and back again after Iran shot down an American military drone and boasted it would not bow to Washington's pressure. Trump initially said Iran had made a "very big mistake" and that it was "hard to believe" that shooting down the drone on Thursday was not intentional. He later said he thought it was an unintentional act carried out by a "loose and stupid" Iranian and called off retaliatory military strikes against Iran. On Saturday, Trump reversed himself and claimed that Iran had acted "knowingly." But Trump also said over the weekend that he appreciated Iran's decision to not shoot down a manned U.S. spy plane, and he opined about eventually becoming Iran's "best friend" if Tehran ultimately agrees to abandon its drive to build nuclear weapons and he helps the country turn around its crippled economy. Then Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, stepped in Sunday with a blunt warning from Jerusalem, where he was traveling. Bolton said Iran should not "mistake U.S. prudence and discretion for weakness" after Trump called off the military strike. Trump said he backed away from the planned strikes after learning that about 150 people would be killed, but he said the military option remained. A longtime Iran hawk, Bolton emphasized that the U.S. reserved the right to attack at a later point. "No one has granted them a hunting license in the Middle East. As President Trump said on Friday our military is rebuilt, new and ready to go," Bolton said during an appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, himself a longtime and outspoken Iran critic. On Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blamed the United States' "interventionist military presence" for fanning the flames. He was quoted by the official IRNA news agency. Shortly thereafter, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched an attack against an airport in southern Saudi Arabia, killing one person and wounding seven others, according to the Saudi military. Such attacks have been cited by Saudi and U.S. officials as examples of Iran's "malign behavior" in the Middle East. Pompeo, who addressed reporters from the tarmac before he boarded his airplane in Washington, declared the goal of his talks with the Saudi kingdom and the UAE is to deny Iran "the resources to foment terror, to build out their nuclear weapon system, to build out their missile program." "We are going to deny them the resources they need to do that, thereby keep American interests and American people safe all around the world," said Pompeo, who was due to arrive in the region after one person was killed and seven others were wounded in an attack by Iranian-allied Yemeni rebels on an airport in Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening, the Saudi military said. The downing of the unmanned aircraft marked a new high in the rising tensions between the United States and Iran. The Trump administration has vowed to combine a "maximum pressure" campaign of economic sanctions with a buildup of American forces in the region, following the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. U.S. military cyber forces on Thursday launched a strike against Iranian military computer systems, according to U.S. officials. The cyberattacks disabled Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps computer systems that controlled its rocket and missile launchers, the officials said. Throughout the recent crisis, Trump has wavered between bellicose language and actions toward Iran and a more accommodating tone, including a plea for negotiations. Iran has said it is not interested in a dialogue with Trump. His administration is aiming to cripple Iran's economy and force policy changes by re-imposing sanctions, including on Iranian oil exports. ___ Associated Press writers Aron Heller in Jerusalem, Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Matthew Lee in Bahrain contributed to this report. ___ Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap


The Los Angeles Rams had a successful day of practice on Thursday against the Los Angeles Chargers at their place in Costa Mesa, but they're back home for Friday's session. It's the sixth practice of training camp, which will wrap up on Sunday. The Rams will host the Chargers for a second joint practice on Saturday, which should feature all of the top players from each team. Today's practice, however, will be a walk-through for players. Sean McVay likes these lighter days of work, which serve as slight breaks during the week of practice. For all the updates throughout the day, follow along below with our live feed. Everyday Heroes Gates open : 12 p.m. PT Practice time : 2 p.m. PT Autographs : Offensive line Daily event : Meet Cooper Pupp A Twitter List by TheRamsWire MORE: How Kawhi Leonard broke the news to Raptors coach Nick Nurse that he was leaving Five potential Jeremy Lin landing spots in free agency Biggest winners from the first week of Packers training camp Sean McVay, Rams are flipping the script on practice and the preseason Dez Bryant: Saints will get first opportunity to sign me


The South African government says there will be an appeal against the Caster Semenya ruling. The sports ministry says Athletics South Africa, the country's track and field body, will appeal the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Athletics South Africa was one of two parties alongside Semenya to challenge the IAAF's testosterone regulations at the Swiss-based sports court. ASA declined to comment on a possible appeal and Semenya's lawyers have not announced an appeal. The IAAF won the CAS case and last week rules came into effect requiring Semenya and other female athletes with high levels of natural testosterone to lower them to be eligible to compete in certain events. The sports ministry says two of the CAS judges were "conflicted" and the judgment ignored "facts." Parties can appeal a CAS decision on a very limited number of grounds. An appeal would be heard by the Swiss Federal Tribunal. ___ More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports


Cam Newton continues to ease himself back into action ahead of the 2019 season. The Carolina Panthers quarterback is set to throw during all drills starting Tuesday during the team's minicamp, according to Max Henson of the team's official website . This will be the first time he has done so since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder after the 2018 season. Though Newton has yet to participate in team drills, Panthers head athletic trainer Ryan Vermillion described the quarterback as "pain-free" and having achieved "every milestone" set for him in his recovery process. Newton looks to be on schedule. He's been doing other work to prepare him for this and appears to be determined to be not only ready to play, but in peak form by the start of the regular season. He seems to be on his way to pulling it off.


German air taxi startup Lilium announced the first test of its full-scale, all-electric five-seater aircraft. It was the latest in a series of successful tests for the nascent electric flight industry, which aims to have "flying cars" whizzing above cities within the next decade. In a video provided by the Munich-based company, Lilium's unpiloted aircraft can be seen taking off vertically like a helicopter, hovering briefly, and then landing. It may not seem like much, but it's a big step for the company, which hopes to launch a fully operational flying taxi service in multiple cities by 2025. "The first flight went exactly how it was intended to be." Compared to the other preproduction electric aircraft we've seen so far, the Lilium Jet certainly stands out: it has an egg-shaped cabin perched on landing gear with a pair of parallel, asymmetrical tilt-rotor wings. The wings are fitted with a total of 36 electric jet engines that tilt up for vertical takeoff and then shift forward for horizontal flight. There is no tail, rudder, propellers, or gearbox. When it's complete, the Lilium Jet will have a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles) and a top speed of 300 km / hour (186 mph), the company says. That's much farther than many of its competitors are predicting of their electric aircraft. Remo Gerber, Lilium's chief compliance officer, said this was due to the Jet's fixed-wing design, which requires less than 10 percent of its maximum 2,000 horsepower during cruise flight. "We are super excited," Gerber said in an interview with The Verge . "The first flight went exactly how it was intended to be." The company has conducted test flights before. Back in 2017, Lilium announced the first test flight of its all-electric two-seater vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) prototype. But while the prototype was able to demonstrate the shift from vertical to forward flight, the full-scale Lilium jet did not. The power-to-weight ratio is a huge consideration for electric flight. It's also one of its biggest inhibitors. Energy density   the amount of energy stored in a given system   is the key metric, and today's batteries don't contain enough energy to get most planes off the ground. To weigh it out: jet fuel gives us about 43 times more energy than a battery that's just as heavy. Gerber wouldn't provide any details about the Lilium Jet's weight capacity, but he insisted that it will eventually be able to carry five passengers and a pilot, plus luggage. Lilium's "payload ratio is industry-leading, and that's what is going to make the difference," he said. Unlike some of its competitors, Lilium plans to keep a human pilot on board its aircraft. This will enable an easier certification process, Gerber said. Lilium is in the process of securing certification for the five-seat air taxi from the European Aviation Safety Agency, and it will also seek an application with the US Federal Aviation Administration. Gerber had more to say about the company's business model, which includes an app-based, on-demand feature where customers can book a flight via a smartphone app, a la Uber. Think midtown Manhattan to JFK International Airport in under 10 minutes for $70. (Currently, a company called Blade, which bills itself as "Uber for helicopters," offers the same trip for $195 .) Lilium isn't the only company with designs for flying taxis. There are more than 100 different electric aircraft programs in development worldwide, with big names including Joby Aviation and Kitty Hawk , whose models are electric rotor rather than jet powered as well as planned offerings from Airbus , Boeing , and Bell , which is partnered with Uber .


On the morning of May 29, I'm en route to Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters when the Internet starts buzzing: Robert Mueller has called an impromptu 11 a.m. press conference to speak about his much-publicized report. This is unfortunate timing, because Rev. Sharpton and I are scheduled to discuss his diet and exercise routine a topic of vital importance, sure, but one that does not quite measure up to Mr. Mueller's end-of-semester class presentation. So while the Reverend, who has a daily syndicated radio show as well as a weekly television show on MSNBC, watches Mueller's remarks in his office, I am exiled to a conference room to watch on my phone. Then it's over, I'm called in, and we exchange small talk about one of the more consequential moments in recent memory. Having covered the fate of democracy, we proceed with the business of the day: analyzing Sharpton's legendary diet. The New York Times has been reporting on Sharpton's weight-loss routine since 2005 . Sharpton himself has kept us abreast of his progress via a series of viral selfies. He's less than half the man he used to be, down from 300-plus pounds to 130 pounds. But he's still figuring out what works at the age of 64. In an interview with GQ, Sharpton broke down his no-days-off 5 a.m. workout routine, his extremely regimented diet, and how he's tried to turn a Jay Z dis into a positive. He also divulges the one thing James Brown always made him eat whenever they dined together. GQ: You got to 130 pounds without working out all that much. Why did exercise become the next frontier for you? Rev. Al Sharpton: As you get older, you've got to strengthen your bones. That's why the weightlifting is important, and why the elliptical is important. The more I did it and I've been doing it every day, seven days a week the more I found that it was a calming thing. You've got to remember, I run a national organization and a television show and a radio show every day. That's with three different staffs. These are different personalities, different problems, and things you gotta deal with. You need time in the morning to just set yourself down. It's my morning therapy, and it gets me in shape at the same time. When did you start doing the workout routine? Around a year-and-a-half ago. I get up wherever I am in the world at four in the morning, because I like to go to the gym when I can be in there alone. People like to talk politics with me, but I want to use this as my time to meditate and deal with my stress, get that out of me while I workout. Every morning, I either do 20 minutes on the elliptical, and try to do 2.5 miles, or I'll do two miles on the elliptical and two miles on the bicycle. Then I do weights. I do three sets of weights of 25 or 30 pounds, and rowing for three sets. And then the pull-ups. In my building on the Upper West Side, they have a gym, so I'm used to that one. When I'm on the road, scheduling always makes sure the hotel has a 24-hour gym. I won't stay in a hotel unless they have a gym. Have you always woken up at four in the morning? I always was an early riser. As long as I can remember, I was up at 5, 5:30. But I get up at 4 now so I can be in the gym by 5. The first hour I like to read a bible scripture, look at some inspirational stuff. I watched some of your inspirational morning messages on Instagram. Yeah, that's pre-workout and post-workout. View this post on Instagram Morning thoughts during pre dawn workout in the fitness room 6/4/19 #2 #RevAlsMorningThoughts A post shared by Rev. Al Sharpton (@real_sharpton) on Jun 4, 2019 at 1:57am PDT What was the idea behind that? I'll tell you a funny thing: Jay Z did a song , and he was talking about trying to get himself together. He says, "Al Sharpton doing selfies, so who's gonna help me?" I said, "Well, the selfies can help you I'll give you a message." So I've been doing messages with my selfies every morning when I workout. When did you find out the selfie of you in the workout gear had gone viral? My daughters called me and said, "You're all over the Internet." And then when Jay Z rapped that line, it blew up again. I thought, all my life, in politics and civil rights, I've tried to take a negative and make it a positive. So I said, "Thank you Jay Z, I'm going to turn that around." And I did. People have definitely enjoyed the selfies. Plus, sometimes those photos make the selfie-taker feel good about themselves, you know? It makes the person feel good, and it hooks you into a generation that understands, yeah, he may be in his 60s, but he knows how to deal with our kind of communication. So it works. On your diet: I read you wake up and eat toast every morning? No, it's changed. I eat a banana before I work out at about 4:15 am. I have the protein powder with that. Then I may have a salad anywhere between 11 and 12, and I'll also have one slice of seven-grain toast. In the evening, around six o'clock, I have two more slices. The doctors said I have to have more carbs. So I have three slices of seven-grain toast a day in total. I have to stay at a hotel with a fitness room and that also has seven-grain toast. Waka Flocka once told me he doesn't think we need food to survive, just the nutrients from food. It doesn't sound like you have a particularly high calorie intake. Do you agree with his take? Absolutely. I eat kale salads with maybe some tomatoes, onions, and sometimes a boiled egg. That's it. That plus the banana and three slices of toast. One day a week I'll eat fish. You can have all the food I used to like right in front of me and it doesn't bother me at all. Yeah, it looked like you stuck with toast for that meal with Pete Buttigieg at Sylvia's, right? I didn't even eat the toast that morning. Same when I met with Kamala Harris. I'm very disciplined with stuff like that. I haven't eaten chicken in seven or eight years. I know you were quite close with James Brown and would often meet up when he was on tour. Do you recall any memorable meals with him? James Brown was a steak man. Loved steaks. He was very autocratic, I would say. He liked to eat at the Stage Deli in New York on 7th Avenue and 53rd. It's now the Stage Door Deli. Anytime he'd come to New York, we'd go there. When I say he's autocratic, I mean he would order, and we all had to eat what he ate. He loved Hungarian Goulash in the Stage Deli, he liked hot dogs, and he loved the steaks. If he ordered that, nobody else asked you, "What are you having?" I went all over the world with him steak, steak, steak. One day, he told me, "I heard steak is no good," so he started cutting it out in his later years. But I knew James Brown from '73 until he died, and for at least 25 years, he was totally a steak guy. It's ironic you asked me that a lot of mornings, he loved bananas. I think about him when I have my morning bananas. I stayed at his house, which was rare, he didn't like letting people do that. Very private guy. But he would do his hair every morning, and would sit under the hairdryer and eat a banana. What was the most interesting meal you've ever had with a politician? It was probably at Sylvia's with Barack Obama. This was '07, he was running for president and was a senator then. I had just started my diet. He ordered the fried chicken, the macaroni, all that stuff. He started digging in, and I wouldn't eat. He says, "C'mon Rev!" I said, "Man, I don't even that stuff no more." There's a famous picture of him eating a chicken leg and laughing because I just told him that I don't even that stuff. That's when I knew I was really disciplined: I was at a soul food dinner with Barack Obama and didn't eat the food. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.


Did people make meringues and soufflés and yeast breads and sausages before electric mixers? Of course they did. But nowadays, we don't have to put ourselves through that struggle anymore. That's because back in 1919, some genius patented the design for the first KitchenAid stand mixer. To mark that illustrious brand's 100th anniversary, we're thinking about the dishes we love that have been made exponentially easier to execute since its invention. KitchenAid, this one's for you (but mostly, it's for us). Thanks. 100 Recipes We Wouldn't Attempt Without a Stand Mixer Did people make meringues and soufflés and yeast breads and sausages before electric mixers? Of course they did. But nowadays, we don't have to put ourselves through that struggle anymore. That's because back in 1919, some genius patented the design for the first KitchenAid stand mixer. To mark that illustrious brand's 100th anniversary, we're thinking about the dishes we love that have been made exponentially easier to execute since its invention. KitchenAid, this one's for you (but mostly, it's for us). Thanks. Orange Chiffon Cake A classic chiffon cake is almost a cross between a tender, rich oil-based cake and a light, delicate sponge cake. It includes baking powder and vegetable oil like an oil cake does, but the eggs are separated and the whites are beaten to soft peaks with a stand mixer before being folded into the batter (just like a classic sponge cake). See recipe. Beer Bratwurst If you want to start making homemade brats (or any other kind of sausage), the KitchenAid stand mixer's sausage stuffer kit makes it way less intimidating. See recipe. Ricotta Tortellini Once you score the pasta attachment on your KitchenAid, you might find yourself making fresh pasta way more often than...never. See recipe. Passion Fruit Jell-O Whip This mousse-like dessert has the tartness of passionfruit and the creamy richness of sherbet without any of the hard work, since the KitchenAid tirelessly whips the gelatin-and-juice mixture for you. See recipe. Traditional Soft Pretzels Once you've made traditional German-style soft pretzels from scratch (using your stand mixer, of course), you'll never settle for those street-vendor imposters again. See recipe. Cranberry-Pistachio Baked Alaska A couple strategies make this Baked Alaska super-doable: Use a stand mixer to whip up the pile of meringue you'll need for the toasty topping, and go for a store-bought all-butter pound cake instead of making your own. See recipe. 3-Ingredient Seeded Crackers Sure, you could make these crackers in a food processor. But the pasta attachment is so good at rolling them out, why not use it twice? See recipe. 3-Ingredient Japanese Cheesecake This airy, soufflé-like take on cheesecake is super simple to make, thanks to a minimal ingredient list and plenty of whipping from the stand mixer. See recipe. Challah Bread Why make one challah when you can make three? The result you get when mixing a large batch of dough is actually much better than what you get when making a small batch. With a good amount of dough in the bowl, it is easier for the mixer to do its job and properly knead it. See recipe. Spiced Praline Meringues These meringues are intentionally oversized, so they're just as good hung from the Christmas tree as they are to eat. And thankfully, the KitchenAid makes the one tricky part of this recipe beating hot sugar syrup into whipped egg whites a breeze. See recipe. Vanilla-Buttermilk Wedding Cake with Raspberries and Orange Cream-Cheese Frosting Baking a wedding cake is not as crazy or difficult as it sounds! The recipe for this stunning and delicious tiered cake is designed to be as streamlined as possible, but using a stand mixer will certainly make everything go more smoothly. See recipe. Chai Doughnuts with Spiced Sugar Move over, pumpkin spice. The warm, sweet flavors of chai cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and ginger are magic in doughnuts. See recipe. Spiced Pavlova with Pumpkin Mousse Your KitchenAid will get a nice workout in this stunning holiday recipe, since you'll use the appliance three times: for the pumpkin mousse, the meringues, and the whipped-cream topping. See recipe. Glazed Cinnamon-Cardamom Buns The KitchenAid's dough hook attachment kneads this thick cardamom-scented dough without a bit of effort from you. And if you can't get the hang of the twisting technique that makes these Parisian rolls so beautiful, don't worry! They'll be delicious no matter what. See recipe. Giant Chocolate Candy Bar with Peanuts and Nougat The iconic chocolate bar of peanut-studded caramel and nougat is all about chewiness. Recreating it as a giant layered treat means keeping the same flavors, but whipping up nougat fluffy enough to eat by the forkful with soft peanut-studded caramel. See recipe. Orange Sweet Rolls Give these thinly rolled pastries (based on the iconic rolls at the All Steak restaurant in Cullman, Alabama) a full burst of sweet citrus flavor by beating orange zest into the filling and orange juice into the dough. See recipe. Angel Food Cake This light-as-air spongecake is said to have originated with German settlers a thrifty use of the many egg whites left over after making homemade egg noodles. See recipe. Italian Easter Bread These traditional holiday loaves are made in several easy steps over about 18 hours easy as long as you have a stand mixer, that is. See recipe. Chocolate Mousse Many of the fine-quality bittersweet chocolates sold at supermarkets typically contain 50 to 60 percent cocoa solids. If you choose chocolate with a higher percentage of cacao, your mousse may be slightly denser but no less delicious. See recipe. Apple Cider Doughnuts with Cider-Caramel Glaze The classic autumn treat gets a double dose of cider goodness from a syrupy reduction that you beat into the dough and use for the shiny doughnut glaze. See recipe. Salted Apple Pretzel Pie A soft-pretzel crust and a giant salted-pretzel topper take the place of traditional pie dough in this fun twist on apple pie. The dough requires plenty of kneading, so you'll definitely need strong arms (or a stand mixer with a dough hook) for the recipe. See recipe. Rainbow Cookies Beating air into both egg whites and almond paste gives these Italian-American treats their tender texture. See recipe. Cloud Bread Used for sandwiches, flatbreads, toast, or desserts, "Cloud Bread" is high-protein, low-carb, low-cal, and gluten-free and made from just three ingredients. Add seasonings like herbs, spices, or honey to customize the flavor. See recipe. Buttery Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls Garlicky brown butter (beaten into the dough and brushed on top) makes these rolls especially fragrant and delicious. They're a little labor-intensive, but a stand mixer makes them so much easier to pull together. See recipe. Hibiscus Pavlova with Lemon-Hibiscus Cream These individual baked meringues get extra flair (and a gorgeous magenta hue) from the addition of pulverized dried hibiscus flowers. Find hibiscus at natural food stores or Latin markets, or just use hibiscus tea bags. See recipe. Whole-Egg Molasses Buttercream This rich, spiced buttercream is perfect for chocolate or gingerbread cake. The recipe yields enough buttercream to ice a 3-layer 9-inch round cake. For cupcakes, halve the recipe. See recipe. Classic Glazed Doughnuts If your kitchen is on the cold side, create a warm place for the dough by turning the oven on to 250°F, and setting the bowl of dough (or the tray of uncooked doughnuts) on top of the range to rise. See recipe. Strawberry Shortcake with Thyme and Whipped Cream This summery, thyme-scented layer cake is even tastier than it looks. The genoise-style sponge cake includes melted butter for a tender, flavorful base, and sour cream adds brightness to the whipped-cream filling. See recipe. Our Favorite Cinnamon Rolls Our ultimate version of the buttery breakfast classic makes a double batch but you won't hear anyone complaining about that. See recipe. Whole-Egg Lemon Buttercream This rich buttercream is lightened and brightened with the addition of lemon curd. The recipe yields enough buttercream to ice a 3-layer 9-inch round cake. For cupcakes, halve the recipe. See recipe. Chocolate-Raspberry Soufflé A stand mixer instead of an electric hand mixer makes it much easier to gradually add the sugar to whipping egg whites, creating a gorgeously glossy meringue to fold into the chocolate soufflé batter. See recipe. Baked Alaska Saint Pierre This Baked Alaska is even more dramatic than most: Orange-scented cake layered with vanilla ice cream and orange sorbet is frozen, covered in meringue, toasted in a hot oven, and, finally, set on fire. See recipe. Chocolate-Hazelnut Napoleons All of the elements for this elegant last course can be prepped at least two days ahead; assemble just before eating for the ultimate light-but-luscious holiday dessert. See recipe. Chocolate Satin Silkier and lighter than any mousse you've ever tasted before all thanks to your trusty stand mixer and some billowy meringue. See recipe. Peaches Under Meringue This dessert should only be made when peaches are in peak season. And that's late summer which means it's too hot to be whipping egg whites by hand. Stand mixer to the rescue! See recipe. Sweet and Buttery Loaf This buttery vanilla-scented bread makes an excellent addition to any brunch or turn it into French toast for double the luxury. See recipe. Mile-High Chocolate Cake With Vanilla Buttercream A stand mixer certainly makes any cake easier to execute, but when there are this many layers, it's truly indispensable. See recipe. Lemon Meringue Pie This grand old American dessert is enormously popular down South for its clear, true sweetness (saved by the edginess of lemon) and its masterful contrast of textures. See recipe. Coffee Doughnuts with Coffee Glaze Cold brew concentrate lends robust coffee flavor to these crisp-edged cake doughnuts. See recipe. Easy Fruit Tart with Pecan Cookie Crust A stand mixer makes quick work of this citrusy filling, which gets its lightness from clouds of whipped cream with lemon curd blended in. See recipe. Homemade Cultured Butter Any heavy cream that's beaten long enough turns into butter, of course. But by incorporating one extra step in the process culturing the cream first with buttermilk or yogurt, essentially turning it into tangy, funky crème fraîche this recipe reaches a whole new depth of flavor. See recipe. Christmas Bombe with Spiced Cake and Chocolate-Brandy Glaze Meet your new favorite showstopper: a spiced chocolate cake topped with a cream-cheese mousse studded with dried fruit and nuts and glazed with brandy-spiked chocolate. Serve it with sparklers on top for a memorable entrance. See recipe. Peach and Pomegranate Pavlova Pomegranate seeds look stunning sprinkled over the top of this pavlova, and the way they burst in your mouth complements the chewy meringue beautifully. When peaches are out of season, feel free to use the sliced canned variety. See recipe. Giant Meringue (Pavlova Gigantata) A perfect meringue dessert, with its fissures and epic swirls, presents a beautiful landscape for garnishes like whipped cream, fruit, and toasted coconut. See recipe. Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Berries Crunchy yet marshmallowy meringue meets silky lemon curd, juicy ripe berries, and billows of whipped cream in this especially summery version of the Pavlova. See recipe. Chocolate Macarons with Orange Ganache Another dessert that relies on the lightness of a meringue for perfect loft and chewy texture. Thanks, stand mixer! See recipe. Monkey Bread No secrets here the key to the buttery flavor and signature texture of monkey bread is the delicate brioche dough, which comes together with ease in a stand mixer. See recipe. Orange and Poppy Seed Stollen This holiday recipe looks more daunting than it actually is. It's just a bread dough with a bit of butter and egg and some other tasty add-ins, kneaded for a while with the help of a stand mixer's dough hook. See recipe. Ensaymadas These sugary, Parmesan-y, buttery Filipino yeast rolls are a Christmas-morning mainstay for chef Angela Dimayuga's family. See recipe. Blood Orange and Coconut Marshmallows The key to making even and distinct layers in these two-tone treats? Smoothing them out with an oiled offset spatula and letting the first layer cool completely before proceeding. See recipe. Peanut Dacquoise with Peanut Butter Mousse Three tiers of peanut meringue, peanut butter mousse, and chocolate glaze demand calling your stand mixer into action. See recipe. Hazelnut Butter and Coffee Meringues For a high-contrast swirl, go easy when folding in the nut butter. A stroke or two with the rubber spatula is enough. See recipe. Coffee-Glazed Doughnuts Beating the dough for doughnuts in the stand mixer helps give them the structure they need to hold their shape when fried. See recipe. Bûche de Noël Why would anyone in their right mind create a dessert that is supposed to look like something cut from the forest? Because it's exponentially more impressive and downright delicious than any cake, pie, or sugar cookie on the holiday table. See recipe. BA's Best Apple Cider Doughnuts These sugared doughnuts are craggy and crunchy on the outside, tender and moist on the inside. Apple butter (not sauce!) is key to their texture and flavor; look for it alongside jams and jellies in the supermarket, or at farmers' markets, or make your own . See recipe. Honey Brioche Make this recipe as a whole loaf or turn it into rolls; any way you bake it, it's a winner. See recipe. Nutter Butter® Cookies Made with equal parts butter and peanut butter, these shortbread wafers are ultra-crunchy and salty-sweet perfect for sandwiching with whipped peanut-butter cream. See recipe. Pistachio Torrone Torrone an Italian nougat candy can vary from firm to soft, but this one has a nice, subtle chew. Flavorless sheets of edible wafer paper keep the strips from sticking to one another. See recipe. Cinnamon-Date Buns Yes, the dough is buttery, but replacing the traditional brown sugar in the filling with pureed dates is a nutritional game-changer. See recipe. Mile-High Chocolate Pie To get a super-light mousse, be sure to carefully fold together the whipped cream, egg whites, and melted chocolate. See recipe. Three-Layer Berry and Brown Sugar Pavlova Meringues aren't usually made with moist brown sugar, but here it adds a deeper kind of sweetness. Baking them in cake pans, another unusual technique, helps these meringues crisp up nicely. See recipe. BA's Best Morning Buns This recipe makes a couple dozen morning buns. That means a lot of dough and more dough equals more hard work with kneading unless you have a stand mixer, that is. See recipe. Tangerine Soufflé with Citrus Coulis To encourage the soufflé to rise sky-high, grease the inside of the baking dish with butter and sprinkle it with sugar. The sugar prevents the soufflé from sticking to the sides while helping the cake to climb up to the loftiest heights. See recipe. Toasted-Coconut Marshmallow Squares We often relegate marshmallows to a hot-chocolate topper, but these coconut treats definitely deserve to be offered up solo. Each pillowy square is surrounded by a flurry of toasted coconut. And since they keep for a month, they can be made well in advance of the holiday rush. See recipe. Fudgy Meringue Cookies These rich treats aren't cookie-jar cookies. They taste best the day they're made, so make them quickly with the help of a stand mixer. See recipe. Pineapple Macadamia Nut Meringue Pies There's something inherently festive about these tiny pies, packed full of sunny pineapple and capped with airy meringue. And since they're portable, guests can nibble while chatting. See recipe. Milk Chocolate and Salted Caramel Gâteau Saint-Honoré The stand mixer comes into play no less than three times when making this admittedly impressive dessert: You'll use it to make a whipped dough, a chocolate cream, and a caramel mousseline. See recipe. Peanut Butter Pie Making a light, airy mousse from of store-bought peanut butter is suddenly simple with a combo of your stand mixer's paddle and whisk attachments. See recipe. Plain Bagels Sure, you can make homemade bagels without the help of a stand mixer. But do you really want to? See recipe. Dark Chocolate Semifreddo The texture of this airy semifreddo is somewhere between frozen chocolate mousse and gelato. In other words: You're going to need a stand mixer to make it. See recipe. Maple-Bacon Marshmallows Maple-bacon marshmallows are what over-the-top hot cocoa fever dreams are made of. See recipe. Earl Grey Doughnuts with Brown Butter Glaze Glaze these citrusy baked doughnuts with a nutty brown butter icing and sprinkle with large crunchy granules of coffee-infused sugar for a sweet bite that hits all the marks. See recipe. Lime Angel Food Cake with Lime Glaze and Pistachios Finely grated lime peel, a tangy lime glaze, and crunchy pistachios brighten up this old-school favorite. See recipe. Chocolate-Dipped Salted Caramel Marshmallows These marshmallows get their toasty color and depth of flavor from that perennial favorite, salted caramel. A quick dip in chocolate, along with a tiny sprinkle of sea salt, can only make these modern marshmallows that much more enticing. See recipe. Bubble-Top Brioches Fancy molds aren't required for professional-looking dinner rolls but a stand mixer sure is handy. See recipe. Milk Chocolate Soufflés with Nougat Whip The centers of these soufflés are soft and mousse-like, while the topping takes its flavor cues (honey, nuts) from nougat candy. See recipe. Cardamom Knots These Swedish morning buns, also known as Kardemummabullar , are traditionally paired with coffee and have an amazing floral and delicately peppery flavor. See recipe. French Buttercream Unless you're ready to devote your afternoon to making a batch of buttercream, don't even try this one without a stand mixer. See recipe. Bourbon-Vanilla Marshmallows These vanilla bean speckled marshmallows have a more pronounced flavor than the classic version, plus an adults-only hint of bourbon. See recipe. Spiced Chocolate Torte Wrapped in Chocolate Ribbons This pecan-studded chocolate spice-cake is filled with a luscious chocolate buttercream, drenched in a rich espresso-infused ganache and then decorated with dark and white chocolate ribbons for an impressive presentation. See recipe. Dark-Chocolate Mousse You know what never, ever goes out of style? Chocolate mousse. See recipe. White Chocolate Tiramisu Trifle With Spiced Pears Put on your winter whites for this elegant dessert featuring wine-poached pears, ladyfinger cookies, and a white chocolate mascarpone mousse. See recipe. Lemon Marshmallows If you love lemon candy that has some honest pucker to it, these fluffy citrus clouds are for you. See recipe. Meringues Making meringue cookies from scratch is a study in patience. A stand mixer makes the waiting easier. See recipe. Crispy Whole Wheat Graham Crackers Not only can you use the stand mixer to quickly whip together the dough for homemade graham crackers you can also use the pasta attachment to roll out the dough into thin sheets. See recipe. Strawberry, Pomegranate, and Rose Petal Mess Featuring homemade meringues and whipped cream, this restaurant-caliber dessert is suprisingly easy. But it's even more doable if you have a stand mixer. See recipe. Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, aka "The Nora Ephron" A sandwich cookie takes way more effort than a drop cookie, so make things easier on yourself. Whip up the peanut-butter filling for this recipe with a lightness that can only come from a stand mixer. See recipe. Chocolate Babka Laden with chocolate, butter, and old-world charm, this babka is luscious when served as dessert, an afternoon snack, or breakfast. While baking, the rich dough becomes incredibly tender, so it pulls apart in buttery pieces packed with lashings of chocolate. See recipe. Fougasse These leaf-shaped breads are large and sculptural, with a heady fragrance of orange and anise. See recipe. Doughnuts with Grapefruit Curd and Citrus Sugar You will never eat a better doughnut than the one you make yourself, fresh from the bubbling oil and just filled with puckery grapefruit curd. See recipe. Chocolate-Malt Marshmallows For these soda fountain inspired marshmallows, we added chocolate-malt syrup to our classic marshmallow recipe. See recipe. Pecan-Mocha Meringues Whip egg whites with sugar and you've created magical meringue. Bake it and you have delicious cookies, especially if you've folded in espresso powder, cocoa, chocolate chips, and chopped pecans. See recipe. French Macarons with Raspberry-Rose Buttercream To create patisserie-perfect macaroons, use very finely ground almond flour. To remove the larger pieces of nuts, sift the almond flour before using. See recipe. Tagalongs Girl Scout Cookie Mousse Cake To create this Girl Scout cookie inspired dessert, the chocolate and peanut butter cookies known as Tagalongs or Peanut Butter Patties are paired with a rich peanut butter mousse. See recipe. Peaches 'n' Cream Eclairs with Bourbon Caramel Sauce Bourbon lends depth to the sauce and extra sweetness to the cream filling, but this dessert is fantastic even without it. See recipe. Cinnamon Rolls with Icing This enriched yeast dough is a snap to make in a stand mixer and even easier to shape into decadent, delicious cinnamon rolls. Best of all, the rolls can be baked ahead and reheated for a fresh-from-the-oven breakfast treat. See recipe. Lemon Meringue Pie with Graham Crust Graham crusts typically start with crushed graham crackers. Here, whole-wheat graham flour gives the crust a nutty flavor and hearty texture. See recipe. Floating Islands with Lemon-Scented Custard Sauce and Raspberries This classic French dessert relies on eggs for its pool of rich custard and its islands of soft meringue. In this easy and updated version, the meringue is baked instead of poached, and the custard is enhanced with lemon and a scattering of raspberries. See recipe. Thin Mints Girl Scout Cookie Cheesecake To create this Girl Scout cookie inspired dessert, grind Thin Mints and use them to make the cookie crust for a lusciously whipped mint-chocolate cheesecake. See recipe. Pink Peppermint Swirl Marshmallows Did you ever try to make marshmallows without a stand mixer? The time you'll save is worth the hassle of hauling the appliance out of your kitchen cabinet. See recipe.


The tenor of the PGA Tour's regular-season finale has always has been a little off-pitch. Chalk it up to post-major lethargy, that most stars watch from the sidelines or that the playoff field has mostly been set, but the importance of what's at stake at the Wyndham Championship has not resonated to the common fan. A shame, because, for a host of players, what happens at Sedgefield C.C. means a heck of a lot. With the Greensboro event the last chance for players to make their way into the playoffs (and in many cases, earn their cards for next season), here are 12 notable names on the FedEx Cup Playoffs bubble. RELATED: 2018-'19 PGA Tour FedEx Cup points list standings (through the Barracuda Championship) Aaron Wise Barring a wave of pushes from players outside the FedEx Cup top 125, Wise (No. 120) is relatively safe to advance to the Northern Trust, with a made cut this week sealing the deal. Nevertheless, that he's even in this discussion underlines the reigning Rookie of the Year's sophomore slump. It's not that the former NCAA champ has been bad, missing the weekend a mere six times in 19 events. Rather, it's when he gets there, he fails to make a move, ranked 63rd in Round 3 scoring and 93rd in Round 4. (Best seen at the U.S. Open: Wise was T-4 after 36 holes, but finished T-35). Wise's potential remains vast, evidenced in ranking 18th in strokes gained/off-the-tee. Once he gets his short game figured out (156th in sg/putting), expect the 23-year-old to be among the game's top 30 with regularity. Pat Perez That Perez is No. 122 is impressive given he missed significant time due to a calf injury . Unfortunately, he's also in a rut as of late, his last top-30 finish coming in May. Perez will maintain status next year thanks to a win at the 2017 CIMB Classic; considering his play since returning from the sidelines, perhaps sitting the playoffs out to get right before the fall slate is not the worst fate for the 43-year-old. Alex Noren Noren posted five top-three finishes around the globe last year, and won two points for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup. This year, it's been ... well, bupkis. Noren's drop in performance is solely derivative of his putting. Ranking third in the strokes gained category last year, the Swede enters Wyndham 162nd with the flat stick in 2019. However, Noren does enter with a little heat in his corner, finishing T-11 at the Open and T-12 at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude. Noren is directly on the bubble at No. 125, leaving him the master of his domain. Austin Cook The man who made a name for himself through Monday qualifiers will need that temerity in Greensboro. In 18 events in 2019, Cook has played four rounds of a tournament just six times. The stats have been just as ugly: 140th in approach, 184th in around-the-green, and 156th in strokes gained. A T-4 two weeks ago at the alternate event Barbasol Championship bestows a sliver of hope. Cook's played in the Wyndham just once, finishing in a T-43 in 2015. Martin Trainer The good news for Trainer: missing the postseason doesn't have dire consequences, as his breakthrough at the Puerto Rico Open conferred a two-year tour exemption. However, as a competitive spirit, Trainer would like to get off the Struggle Bus, and we do mean struggle. He hasn't made a cut since the first week of April, with nine MCs and one WD in that span, and ranks 197th out of 202 players in strokes gained. And yet, at No. 128, a top-40 finish would likely be enough to earn a postseason invite. Go figure. Patton Kizzire Talk about a precipitous drop-off for a guy who won twice last season and made the Tour Championship. The year started out well too, with four top 25s highlighted by a T-8 at the Tournament of Champions and T-13 at the Sony Open in his first six starts. But Kizzire has been mired in a funk of the worst kind, missing eight cuts in his last nine starts. For those searching for what went wrong, that quest can begin and end on his iron play, ranking 156th in approach after finishing 37th in the category a year before. Peter Uihlein The former U.S. Amateur champ is at a crossroads of sorts. Uihlein is a common refrain when polling players their belief on the next breakthrough on tour, and his compact, repeatable swing makes that notion hard to dispute. Conversely, following the world traveler's first full year on tour in 2018 (finishing 64th in the FedEx Cup), he's undoubtedly taken a step back this campaign with 13 made cuts in 28 starts, and turning 30 at the end of August, the term "fledgling" no longer applies. Standing at 130th, he'll need to be in the Wyndham mix to make it to Liberty National. No matter how it shakes out, the next few months will be an interesting cauldron for Uihlein, giving fans an idea if he'll ever reach his much-hyped prospects. Daniel Berger Two years ago, he was on the Presidents Cup. A summer ago, in the final group at the U.S. Open. A poor week at the Wyndham will have him fighting for his card at the Korn Ferry Finals. Berger's fall has been one of the more curious circumstances of the past season. The former Rookie of the Year took four months off from September to January to heal a finger injury, an injury that's clearly plagued his iron game. After ranking in the top 25 in approach four consecutive seasons, Berger enters Wyndham 120th in the category. Berger did finish runner-up at the Puerto Rico Open in February; since, he has only one top 20 to his credit. At No. 131, the 26-year-old will need such a standing at Wyndham, along with a few stumbles from players ahead of him. Jason Dufner Even by his standards, Duf's putting this season has been a tough swallow: 186th in sg/putting, 193rd in three-putt avoidance, 195th in one-putt percentage and 197th in overall putting. Sabermetrics have proved the importance of driving and second-shot prowess, but they are for naught if you can't convert on the green. Dufner does own two top 10s on the season, yet the short game has curbed any semblance of consistency. He does have 11 previous starts at the Wyndham with four top 25s. But at No. 136, he's going to need something higher than that to advance. Bill Haas The former FedEx Cup champ lost his tour card a season ago, a circumstance many ascribed to Haas' traumatic car crash earlier in the year. Haas had somewhat righted the ship in 2019, making 15 cuts in 22 starts. Alas, he hasn't really competed, with just two top 10s in that time. He does come into Greensboro with momentum, off promising showings in Kentucky and the Quad Cities. Haas also has a sterling track record at this event with four top 10s in 14 previous outings. At No. 140, Haas needs his best finish of the season, but what a story that would be. Beau Hossler A year ago the highly-touted Texas Longhorn was up one over Ian Poulter going into the final hole of the Houston Open. Now Hossler will need a Herculean effort (No. 143) to avoid a trip to the Korn Ferry Finals. Still just 24, Hossler has one of the best short games on tour, and his fortunes can change once he discovers how to stop the big number (150th in bogey avoidance). But Hossler is a reminder that, though the tour's youth revolution may be perpetual, it can also be fleeting. Martin Kaymer Kaymer's five-year exemption from the 2014 U.S. Open is coming to an end. Kaymer has proved his tank is far from empty with four top 20s in his last six global starts, although it's likely too late to earn his card for next season (No. 146). He does have some success at this tournament, finishing T-14 and T-20 in two previous starts. Moreover, given his willingness to play at the alternate event Barracuda Championship, it will be captivating to see if a former World No. 1 decides to head to the Korn Ferry Finals to claw his way back to the tour. That is, assuming he doesn't win this week.


LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP)   Kentucky police have honored a pizza delivery driver they say rescued two girls who were being abused by their father. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Mark Buede was honored Tuesday by the Lexington Police Department. Police say Buede was delivering a pizza to an area motel last November and knocked on the door, which opened to reveal a man and a naked child on a bed behind him. Police say the scene caused Buede to alert authorities, who responded and found two girls hiding in the room. They say a subsequent investigation led authorities to believe the man had been abusing his daughters. Police didn't release the man's identity, but said he was charged with multiple offenses. Other people, including the involved officers, were also honored Tuesday. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky pizza delivery man honored by police for rescuing abused kids


Haas test driver Pietro Fittipaldi says his return to the Formula 1 cockpit this week in Barcelona testing wasn't hindered by his DTM programme in any way. Fittipaldi is driving in the DTM this season with the WRT Audi team , which he is combining with his role with Haas in F1   where he combines a mixture of simulator and track work. He completed 103 laps on Tuesday, and said he had no problems adapting back to a single-seater machine as he worked through a full test programme that included new car parts. "It was really good to get all that running, and we did some long runs too which is good for me to get a feeling for the tyre degradation," said Fittipaldi, who ended the day seventh quickest, just behind McLaren's Carlos Sainz. "I'd done long runs before, but not as much as today. It allowed us to try out a lot of stuff too, new items to test, and it was a really great day, I can't thank the team enough. It's was a really successful day." When asked to compare the two cars, he replied: "For sure they are very different. The DTM car is amazing, but it's a lot heavier and it rolls a lot more, so you can't really compare it to an open-wheel car. "The last time I drove [the F1 car] was in Bahrain, so it took the first run to get used to it again. There's so much grip, it's so agile with all the power too. Both cars are great, and it's good for me to adapt as quickly as possible when I jump from one to the other. "I feel like I always adapt pretty quick, so I'd say it's only harder to adapt to the F1 car because it's been a month since I last drove. But it happens quick, it's just gaining the confidence to go quick through the corners. One or two laps, and you're there." Fittipaldi had previous tested for the team in Barcelona pre-season testing and the post-Bahrain GP session. "The team has made great progress I think, and was very competitive last weekend in qualifying and the race, so they've made good steps," added Fittipaldi. "Today we were testing a lot of different things for the future. It was good personally to get all those miles under my belt, but also to test all those items. "We had a big run programme. When you go from a long run on heavy fuel, then you do a short run, a lot lighter, where you really have to nail it on the first lap, for sure I've been improving at that, and I feel good in the car. "It was a mixed-up day, we did both things in both the morning and the afternoon. We got a lot of information, and that's the most important thing."


Barcelona and Arsenal are both tracking the future of AC Milan left-back Ricardo Rodriguez, with the defender's future in Italy uncertain due to the imminent arrival of Theo Hernandez. Rodriguez has been with Milan since 2017, joining from Wolfsburg for around €18m and has gone on to score four goals in 87 appearances for the Rossoneri. With Frenchman Hernandez set to join the Serie A outfit from Real Madrid in a €20m deal, however, it leaves Rodriguez likely to be shown the exit door after Sport claimed the Swiss international will 'need' to be sold. The report states that due to Barcelona 's ongoing attempts to sign Neymar, they have had to reevaluate their strategy this window after initially having their priorities set on a top quality left-back. With finances now stretched, La Blaugrana have turned their attention towards the 26-year-old, who would be available for around €15m, a far more reasonable sum. Ernesto Valverde's side have targeted a number of left-backs already, with Junior Firpo of Real Betis deemed too expensive and Atletico Madrid 's Filipe Luis too old. Meanwhile, a deal couldn't be struck with Borussia Dortmund for Raphael Guerreiro. In turn, Rodriguez fits the bill for La Blaugrana, still being relatively young and not costing over the odds to sign. However, the La Liga champions face competition from Arsenal , who are also interested as their pursuit of Kieran Tierney appears to have stalled. Therefore, it would appear the Gunners are keeping their options open in case a move for the Scottish defender fails to materialise. Barça have already asked Milan about Rodriguez's situation though, but refused to commit to making an offer as of yet with their interest still in its infancy.


The Trail Blazers will sign Mario Hezonja to a two-year, minimum-salary deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com tweets . The second year of the pact will be a player option. Hezonja is coming off an uneven season for the Knicks. The former top-five pick struggled to find a consistent role for parts of the 2018-19, though he did look impressive as a point guard/facilitator once he received the chance during New York's final contests. Portland traded away Evan Turner this offseason, and while the Blazers received Kent Bazemore in return, they'll miss Turner's ball handling. Bazemore projects to be a good fit in Portland's offense, though he doesn't have the play-making ability to regularly handle second-unit opportunities. Hezonja should have an opportunity to secure that role and improve his stock on a talented Portland team. The Croatian-born wing is positioned to re-enter the market next offseason if things go well.


Bengals guard Alex Redmond has been hit with a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, according to Adam Schefter and Kat Terrell of ESPN.com (on Twitter ). Redmond played with a torn labrum and hamstring last year and Schefter writes that Redmond "made a bad decision to try to help it." Based on that, it sounds like Redmond has accepted responsibility for the violation and will not appeal. Redmond started 15 games for the Bengals last year but graded out as just the No. 53 ranked guard in the NFL last year for his work across 928 snaps. This year, he was expected to serve as a backup, despite his presence on a line that cleared the way for Joe Mixon to amass an AFC-best 1,168 rushing yards. Redmond will be sidelined for the Bengals' games against the Seahawks, 49ers, Bills and Steelers before being eligible to return against the Cardinals on Oct. 6.


The 2019 LPGA Tour season has been unlike any other for Stacy Lewis. Her 8-month-old daughter, Chesnee, has been traveling with her all year. It's not a lifestyle that Lewis predicted when she was a rookie in 2009, watching Laura Diaz balance playing responsibilities with raising children. But now 34, Lewis is happy to be setting the example of what a playing mother on the LPGA Tour looks like. With Chesnee in tow, Lewis' tournament days look a lot different than they used to. For a morning start, Lewis gets up three hours before her tee time, an hour earlier than in the past. There are a lot of variables to consider with a baby Lewis has to leave time in case something goes awry. She packs up her golf bag and Chesnee's bag for the Smuckers LPGA Child Development Center, the first daycare to travel with a professional tour, according to the LPGA, and in its 25th year. It's a big part of what makes playing on the LPGA Tour as a mom possible for Lewis and others on tour. "The ladies are awesome; it's the same three every week," Lewis says of the women who work in the daycare. "When I walk in there, Chesnee hears their voices, and she's putting her arms out to go see those ladies. She loves it. We'll get to a point where she gets mad that I'm leaving, but we're not there yet. I just feel so comfortable leaving her there. I know that she'll be safe, they can get a doctor, if anything goes wrong, they'll come and get me. I'm completely at peace with taking her there." One of the caddies on tour drives a truck to each event, full of all of the toys and baby gear that the daycare uses. That way, it's the same setup at each event, making daycare more consistent and comfortable for the children. https://twitter.com/Stacy_Lewis/status/1069353085296881665 With Chesnee dropped off, Lewis has two hours to get into her normal routine before she has to tee off. Chesnee has already been fed, but Lewis hasn't eaten yet, so she has breakfast and then starts her warm-up. After her round, Lewis practices, meets with the media, and then goes to pick up Chesnee. "If I had an 8 a.m. tee time, it's 2:30 or 3 before I'm picking her up again," Lewis says. "By then she needs a nap, so we go back to the hotel. I might take a nap myself then, too. Then it's dinner time. I get us both dinner, get her to bed between 7:30 and 8, then I get myself to bed. And we do it all over again." https://twitter.com/ShortGameG/status/1127798031452135425 Lewis says that those morning tee times are the best. It's the afternoon tee times that are really different from her pre-baby tournament days. That's because Chesnee wakes up early. "The hardest was when we were in Phoenix," Lewis says. "That was the first time I had a 1 p.m. tee time. She was up at 6. So once I got on the first tee, I realized I'd been up for seven hours already. By the end of the day, I was exhausted." Since that week, the goal has become to figure out how to feel rested for an afternoon round, even though Chesnee is going to get up early. One way to do this, Lewis found, is to have whomever is traveling with her either her mom or her husband, University of Houston women's golf coach Gerrod Chadwell get up with Chesnee, allowing Lewis an extra hour or hour and a half of sleep. Sometimes that's not an option, though, as Lewis occasionally travels alone with Chesnee. On those weeks, early mornings are inevitable. It's the sleep that Lewis says is the biggest change not the early wake-ups as much as the wake-ups throughout the night. "Six hours of uninterrupted sleep is amazing now," she says. "I could function fine on six or seven hours of straight sleep, but it's the uninterrupted sleep that's the key. We go to bed early." Navigating the tour as a mom is made easier by the fact that Lewis isn't the only player doing it. Karine Icher travels with her two children, Cristie Kerr's children are sometimes out on tour, and Gerina Piller has a son, AJ, five months older than Chesnee. "The kids play together all the time," Lewis says of Gerina and AJ. "I'm lucky that she's gone through everything I'm going through." Piller and Lewis will pair together this week as Team Baby Mommas for the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, a new team event on the LPGA schedule. The two announced they'd be teammates with a video of their two children playing. https://twitter.com/Stacy_Lewis/status/1143251434630078464 The team event will start the week after Lewis finished third in the Marathon Classic, her best finish since returning to the tour in January after giving birth to Chesnee in October. The tour's maternity policy allows mothers two years to return to place after the date of the child's birth, and they return to the tour with the same status that they left with. "I thought my body and the game and swing would come back a lot quicker," Lewis says. "But what you go through is surgery. I thought a couple months, I'd be back and fine. But it's taken a lot longer. I'm starting to get back in golf shape." The third-place finish is Lewis' third top 10 since coming back to the tour after having Chesnee. Lewis admits that it's difficult to travel with her baby, and that keeping a consistent schedule for Chesnee is impossible, but it's worth it to Lewis for her goals in golf as well as being a role model for other girls and women. "It's good for us to show that you can have a career and play on tour and have kids instead of thinking you have to be playing in your 20s, retire and then have kids," Lewis says. "It's not easy, but Chesnee's amazing. I can't imagine life without her now." See the video.


A recently released report shows that in some American cities, the lifespan can be nearly 30 years longer in one neighborhood than in another. In fact, the span is over 20 years in 56 of the 500 largest U.S. cities . Researchers in the Department of Population Health at NYU School of Medicine set the city neighborhood life expectancy measure. They used data from the City Health Dashboard , another nonprofit organization. Their core conclusion: "The research team analyzed Dashboard data to identify factors associated with large gaps in average life expectancy across neighborhoods in 500 U.S. cities." They found that cities with greater degrees of racial and ethnic segregation more often had alarming disparities in life expectancy across different census tracts, which often are used as proxies for neighborhoods in public health research. While there is no such thing as the perfect city, the United States is full of places with few, if any, strengths -- these are the worst cities to live in America . The gap was huge in some of America's largest cities. In Chicago, the difference between the neighborhoods with the longest life expectancy level and the shortest was 30.1 years. In Washington, D.C., the number was 27.5 years. In New York, it was 27.4 years. In New Orleans and Buffalo, the figure was 25.8 years. The researchers used an example to point out the gulf: In New York City, a highly segregated city by race and ethnicity, people in East Harlem live an average of 71.2 years, but people in the nearby Upper East Side live to 89.9 years. In several cities, the difference was fairly small. The closest five life expectancy gaps were in Cicero, Illinois, (4.5); Lynwood, California, (4.8); Livermore, California, (5.1); and Meridian, Idaho, (5.3). In a final statement about the results, Benjamin Spoer, Ph.D., MPH, from the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health, said, "We've known for a while that conditions in our neighborhoods can have a profound influence on how long and how well we live. But we were surprised to see just how large the gap in life expectancy can be between neighborhoods, and how strong the link was between life expectancy and segregation, across all different kinds and sizes of cities." The comment came without a solution. Life expectancy in the United States has been increasing, except for the last two years when it dropped because of spikes in opioid deaths. The increase in life expectancy at birth, as well as the likelihood of living a long life, vary considerably across the United States -- and these are the states where people live the longest . Related Video: Death by ZIP Code: Where You Live Can Determine Life Expectancy (Provided by WCNC-TV Charlotte, N.C.)


A common trend at the beginning of the decade has made a splash in 2019, at least for one program   conference realignment. The Connecticut Huskies have announced departure from the American Athletic Conference in favor of the Big East, effective 2020. The move is not official yet. UConn must vote on the move to the Big East and officially withdraw from the American, which may happen in the coming weeks. The Big East will be UConn's future home for the majority of its sponsored sports, but the conference is nonexistent in football. Stadium's Brett McMurphy reported the Huskies plan to remain in the FBS and not revert to the FCS, which they upgraded from in 2000. That leaves four options: remain in the American, become independent, join Conference USA, or join the MAC. The MAC should avoid UConn. This is UMass 2.0. UMass transitioned from the FCS to the MAC in 2012, a move which expanded the conference back to 13 teams after former member Temple found shelter in the Big East, and eventually, in the American. The Minutemen spent four seasons as the geographic outcast of the conference and compiled an 8-40 overall record and 7-25 record against conference opponents. Adding another New England team that seems destined for failure would be questionable move for a conference that has great stability. Nine of the 12 MAC programs have 40+ years of tenure in the Group of Five's most stable conference. Akron and Buffalo joined in the 90s, as did Northern Illinois, who rejoined after a brief hiatus as an Independent/Big West member from 1986 to 1996. Since the turn of the millennium, the conference has twice been unsuccessful on adding a 13th member. Buffalo is the current geographic outcast of the MAC, lying slightly northeast of the Rust Belt. But UConn is a whole different animal. A drive from Storrs, CT to Buffalo, NY is actually longer than a drive from Buffalo, NY to Kalamazoo, MI. Connecticut would be a 6-hour drive and over 400 miles away from its nearest geographic member Buffalo, causing the MAC's athletic departments to incur ridiculous travel expenses. Adding Connecticut also hinders the current conference members in their revenue sharing. A primary reason why the Big 12 refused expansion in 2016 after Northern Illinois and several other teams mailed in their résumés, adding a 13th program generates less revenue for the other 12 athletic departments on bowl games, TV deals, and other costs split among the conference. The MAC has 12 full-time members and adding a perennial cellar dweller that's millions of dollars in debt as a football-only member is an illogical move. While Connecticut participated in a Fiesta Bowl in 2010 (despite finishing unranked and 8-5), the Huskies have become nothing more than a laughingstock in the sport since. Despite a large fanbase and identifiable brand, inviting UConn wouldn't add any prestige to the MAC. In 2018, UConn finished 1-11, failed to beat an FCS team, and had arguably the worst defense in the modern era . Randy Edsall's Huskies allowed over 50 points and 617 yards per game. UConn now has posted eight-straight seasons with a losing record, failing to finish above .500 once as a member of the American. Perhaps UConn's most memorable moment in the AAC was former head coach Bob Diaco creating the "Civil ConFLiCT" rivalry trophy with UCF, a trophy which UCF disregarded and left on the bleachers in the pouring rain when the Knights prevailed in 2016. Terrible shot from press box but there on end of bench at 40 yd line, that's Civil ConFLiCT trophy 10 min after game... pic.twitter.com/qd7tZbNHKE   Mike Anthony (@ManthonyCourant) October 23, 2016 The Huskies have downgraded conferences to the Big East in basketball (a far cry from the former Big East in which UConn was a part of) and other sports, where they'll generate a lot less revenue than the AAC. The AAC established a somewhat-lucrative TV deal in March , resulting in $83.3 million per year to be split among the member institutions, standing as the richest Group of Five league. The one question from here is, does Buffalo look to leverage its recent success into a deal with the AAC? The Bulls are fresh off their most successful season in football and basketball history and are the MAC's most geographically inconvenient and least-tenured member. If the AAC does not retain UConn as a football-only member and cannot acquire Army due to the Black Knights' satisfaction with independent scheduling, Buffalo is a logical choice for the conference. Buffalo has a strong fanbase and is located in a major city, a common theme among American programs (Houston, Cincinnati, UCF, South Florida, SMU, Tulane, Memphis, Temple). The Bulls could seamlessly replace the Connecticut's footprint in the American Northeast. For Buffalo, a move to the AAC could work wonders in terms of financials and national recognition. That's the move that causes the most chaos in this scenario. The MAC would be reduced to 11 full-time members, and only then should the conference even consider adding UConn. Even still, a 12th full-time member would be more beneficial than a football-only program to the MAC.


If book sales are any guide, then Modern Monetary Theory is gaining traction. The unorthodox doctrine, which says governments have spare capacity to borrow and spend, has won attention on Wall Street and enemies (as well as a few friends) in Washington. Now, it's trying to break into academia. And it's off to a good start. The first MMT textbook, a 600-page volume titled " Macroeconomics '' and aimed at college students, has sold out of its initial print run, according to publisher Macmillan  - about two months after the launch party in London. Macmillan didn't specify how many copies it printed. But it said more are on the way. "I knew there was pent-up demand,'' said Bill Mitchell, one of the book's authors and an economist at the University of Newcastle, Australia, in an interview. His co-writers are Randall Wray, of Bard College in New York state, and Martin Watts, also of Newcastle. Margins to Mainstream MMT argues that governments in control of their own currencies, like the U.S. and Japan, aren't constrained in the ways standard economics says they are. They may risk stoking inflation or running out of resources if they spend too much -- but they can't go broke. The doctrine was developed over about three decades by Mitchell, Wray and a handful of others  - and largely ignored for most of that time. But this year, it has burst into the mainstream. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez played a big part in its breakout, when she invoked MMT as a way to help pay for a Green New Deal. The New York congresswoman has even popped up on social media holding a copy of the new book. The goal is for universities and colleges to integrate the textbook into economic theory classes, said Philip Rees, a marketing manager at Macmillan. "We took a bit of a risk, as a mainstream publisher,'' he said in an interview in March. "The heterodox approach to economics, that's maybe 10% of academics.'' But, with contenders for next year's U.S. presidential election promising radical new approaches, "the timing, we feel, is perfect.'' 'Fallacious' Theory While Macmillan said it's encouraged by early sales, the resistance MMT has encountered from inside economics shows that conquering the curriculum won't be easy. Larry Summers, who slammed the doctrine as a "fallacious'' offer of free lunch, and Paul Krugman are among its heavyweight detractors. Many more have lined up to suggest it's a recipe for runaway prices and public debt. There have also been some more sympathetic assessments . And even economists who object to MMT -- Summers and Krugman among them -- agree that the U.S. has room to run budget deficits right now. President Donald Trump is already doing so , without triggering inflation or flight from bond markets . Several of his potential opponents in 2020 have backed expensive plans such as Medicare for All and free college  - suggesting the climate is shifting in MMT's favor. Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the Democrat contenders, hired MMT economist Stephanie Kelton as an adviser on his 2016 campaign. Kelton has her own book coming out in the summer of 2020, titled: "The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and Creating an Economy for the People.'' 'Suddenly Realized' At Westminster College in Utah, John Watkins said he's adding the new MMT textbook to his syllabus next semester. A professor who's been teaching macroeconomics for three decades, he says the field could use more intellectual diversity. "Most macro texts copy each other,'' he said. "So many professors have been schooled in mainstream economics, so they likely will continue teaching ideas that have little or no relevance to the world.'' Mitchell, the textbook's co-author, said there's growing interest outside of academia too. Investors and politicians are reaching out. He's been invited to the U.K. Labour Party's annual conference, and "I'm now giving workshops to the financial community,'' he said. "They've suddenly realized this is something they need to understand.''