Krispy Kreme’s Minnesota Comeback In case you haven’t heard: Krispy Kreme is coming back to Minnesota early next year after exiting the market nearly 20 years ago. The North Carolina-based donut maker is opening up a retail and dine-in location with a drive-thru in Fridley, but it’ll primarily be a donut production factory for its product to be sold at ancillary locations, such as other restaurants and retail stores. Despite when Krispy Kreme first came to the state in 2002, the donut company abruptly shut down its Minnesota location in Maple Grove just six years later. So, what happened then, and why is the donut maker coming back now? According to Jonathan Maze, editor-in-chief at , it was an issue of “overestimation.” Krispy Kreme has developed a cult-like reputation for its glazed donuts. The iconic brand and the scarcity of Krispy Kreme in Minnesota is what drove first-week sales of more than $480,000 at its Maple Grove location in 2002. But once that novelty wears off, what happens? “The mistake that [Krispy Kreme] made was in assuming that it going to be able to generate and keep generating those sales from those existing locations,” said Maze. You can only eat donuts so many times, he added, unlike coffee which is often purchased repeatedly throughout the week. Krispy Kreme is also one of the few donut chains that makes its donuts fresh in-house, but donuts have a low shelf-life and usually aren’t as good on day two, said Maze. Freshly baked donuts vary with Dunkin’ locations, for example, which can help keep costs low. Although Krispy Kreme did sell some donuts at ancillary locations like gas stations, it wasn’t enough to sustain the brand in Minnesota. “It had a tough time paying for these [Krispy Kreme stores] because they’re really expensive, and you needed really strong sales to be able to pay for those giant donut balances,” said Maze. In 2008, Krispy Kreme was struggling, and not just in Minnesota. , which also caused Krispy Kreme stock to fall. There was also a health movement at the time, where Krispy Kreme along with other fast food chains switched out ingredients for more healthy alternatives. “Krispy Kreme had to pull back massively. It exited a ton of markets, Minneapolis included, and the result is we lost our Krispy Kreme, and it never really came back,” he said. In early 2024, Krispy Kreme and McDonald’s announced an where the latter will begin selling Krispy’s donuts in its restaurants. A phased market rollout has already begun, and nationwide availability at participating restaurants is expected at the end of 2026. This partnership is what’s helping fuel Krispy Kreme’s return to the Minnesota market. “Essentially, Krispy Kreme created a hub-and-spoke model where it just opens a smaller number of these giant donut palaces and then it uses these donut facilities to ship donuts every day to ancillary sites,” said Maze, adding that the company piloted out the model successfully in the United Kingdom. Krispy Kreme calls it the Delivered Fresh Daily (DFD) door expansion, which it began heavily rolling out in the U.S. in 2022. The new McDonald’s partnership is accelerating that initiative, and it appears to be working so far. In 2024, the company had a —a positive net income after three consecutive years of losses and its first positive quarter this year. That’s why Krispy Kreme is taking over a former CVS location in Fridley. It’s right near Interstate 694, making it more accessible for quick transportation to ancillary sites. Currently, Fridley is still waiting on a contractor to be selected to issue the building permit for the Krispy Kreme store, according to Stacy Stromberg, planning manager for the city of Fridley. Maze also predicts the Fridley location will be Krispy Kreme’s only Minnesota location, applying lesson learned by making its product still somewhat limited. “Krispy Kreme has quietly done a really good job of figuring this out,” he said. “It’s perfected this hub-and-spoke model.” Krispy Kreme’s reentrance will likely be met with much excitement. That glazed donut hype is what drove one enterprising Minnesota college student to drive across state lines to Iowa—the nearest Krispy Kreme location—to pick up . Maze also added that he doesn’t think the Fridley location will do any damage to other existing donut brands in Minnesota, but actually generate more demand. “Krispy Kreme is gonna get us all thinking about donuts for a while,” he said.Signing With Dodgers Was Really Easy Decision for 2-Time Cy Young Winner Blake SnellNEW YORK (AP) — Top-ranked chess player Magnus Carlsen is headed back to the World Blitz Championship on Monday after its governing body agreed to loosen a dress code that got him fined and denied a late-round game in another tournament for refusing to change out of jeans. Lamenting the contretemps, International Chess Federation President Arkady Dvorkovich said in a statement Sunday that he’d let World Blitz Championship tournament officials consider allowing “appropriate jeans” with a jacket, and other “elegant minor deviations” from the dress code. He said Carlsen’s stand — which culminated in his quitting the tournament Friday — highlighted a need for more discussion “to ensure that our rules and their application reflect the evolving nature of chess as a global and accessible sport.” Carlsen, meanwhile, said in a video posted Sunday on social media that he would play — and wear jeans — in the World Blitz Championship when it begins Monday. “I think the situation was badly mishandled on their side,” the 34-year-old Norwegian grandmaster said. But he added that he loves playing blitz — a fast-paced form of chess — and wanted fans to be able to watch, and that he was encouraged by his discussions with the federation after Friday’s showdown. “I think we sort of all want the same thing,” he suggested in the video on his Take Take Take chess app’s YouTube channel. “We want the players to be comfortable, sure, but also relatively presentable.” The events began when Carlsen wore jeans and a sportcoat Friday to the Rapid World Championship, which is separate from but held in conjunction with the blitz event. The chess federation said Friday that longstanding rules prohibit jeans at those tournaments, and players are lodged nearby to make sartorial switch-ups easy if needed. An official fined Carlsen $200 and asked him to change pants, but he refused and wasn’t paired for a ninth-round game, the federation said at the time. The organization noted that another grandmaster, Ian Nepomniachtchi, was fined earlier in the day for wearing sports shoes, changed and continued to play. Carlsen has said that he offered to wear something else the next day, but officials were unyielding. He said “it became a bit of a matter of principle,” so he quit the rapid and blitz championships. In the video posted Sunday, he questioned whether he had indeed broken a rule and said changing clothes would have needlessly interrupted his concentration between games. He called the punishment “unbelievably harsh.” “Of course, I could have changed. Obviously, I didn’t want to,” he said, and “I stand by that.”
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Workers pushing for an end to smoking in Atlantic City casinos say the main employee union has been won over by tobacco companies seeking allies in the fight against smoking restrictions. An official of a union involved in the anti-smoking push on Monday called for the head of the Atlantic City casino workers' union, Donna DeCaprio, to resign for failing to protect her members from the dangers of secondhand smoke. DeCaprio is president of Local 54 of the Unite Here union, which opposes a smoking ban on the grounds that so much business would be lost by smokers taking their money elsewhere that it could cause one or more casinos to shut down, costing thousands of workers their jobs. “She should be ashamed of herself,” said Ray Jensen, assistant director of United Auto Workers Region 9, which represents dealers at three Atlantic City casinos and is part of a lawsuit seeking to have the courts force an end to smoking in the gambling halls. “She should hand in her union card.” DeCaprio said her union supports the health and safety of its members, adding improvements to the workplace environment need to be made. “A balance needs to be reached that will both protect worker health and preserve good jobs,” she said. “We are protecting our members against multiple casino closures and job losses. The UAW is eager to sacrifice the entire casino industry and put 25,000 good jobs with benefits at risk.” DeCaprio said between 50% and 72% of all in-person casino revenue in Atlantic City comes from smoking sections, which occupy only 25% of the casino floor. She said her union “and the vast majority of the labor movement” support a proposal that would improve ventilation in casinos and prevent any employee from being assigned to work in a smoking section against their will. Whether to ban smoking is one of the most controversial issues not only in Atlantic City casinos but in other states where workers have expressed concern about secondhand smoke. They are waging similar campaigns in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Kansas and Virginia. Workers have been pushing for four years to end an exemption in New Jersey’s clean air law that allows smoking inside the nine casinos. They say they or their co-workers are becoming ill with cancer, heart disease and other conditions related to exposure to second-hand smoke. Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, has said he will sign a bill to end casino smoking if it reaches his desk. The casinos, joined by Local 54, oppose that effort, saying it will cost Atlantic City thousands of jobs and lead to decreased tax revenue for state programs for senior citizens and the disabled. On Monday, the workers group that calls itself CEASE (Casino Employees Against Smoking’s Effects) filed an appeal of a court ruling in August that allowed smoking to continue in the nine casinos. The Casino Association of New Jersey declined to comment Monday. Attorney Nancy Erika Smith said as far back as 1993, tobacco companies targeted labor unions in the hospitality industry as potential allies to work against smoking bans in the restaurant and hospitality industries. That effort included the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, a precursor of the Unite Here union. “HERE and the related AFL-CIO affiliates are critical allies which should be cultivated as supporters of the effort to prevent smoking bans,” a public relations firm wrote in a memo to Philip Morris Companies that was made public during several states' litigation against tobacco companies. The memo said having HERE “as an ally in this effort would be a very powerful voice.” As far back as 2001, HERE was part of a 12-member coalition including labor unions advocating for improved indoor ventilation instead of government-imposed smoking bans, according to another document cited in Monday's appeal. The anti-smoking campaigners cite a 2022 report by Las Vegas-based C3 Gaming, a consulting firm, showing that casinos that went smoke-free "appear to be performing better than their counterparts that continue to allow smoking.” Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryACOscar returns to Sao Paulo after 14 years on 3-year dealMiami of Ohio and Colorado State will try to overcome notable transfer-portal defections during Saturday's Arizona Bowl at Tucson, Ariz. Miami (8-5) enters the game without its top two wide receivers Javon Tracy and Reggie Virgil after the duo elected to play elsewhere. Tracy, a redshirt sophomore who caught 57 passes for 818 yards with seven touchdowns, is moving on to Minnesota. Virgil, a junior who tallied 816 yards on 41 receptions with nine touchdowns, is bound for Texas Tech. "It's kind of insane, to be honest," Miami coach Chuck Martin said. "We'll lose some real good kids in the portal, but we'll also gain some good ones. It's just crazy. "In some ways, it stinks, but in some ways, it's fun, too. We're looking at a lot of some good ones." Miami has also lost two cornerbacks, including sophomore Raion Strader to Auburn. Strader had 53 tackles with two interceptions and a team-best 17 passes broken up. Will Jados, a redshirt junior offensive tackle who started 38 games for Miami, is transferring to Texas Tech. Colorado State (8-4) also lost its two top receivers in the portal. Sophomore Caleb Goodie committed to Cincinnati and sophomore Jamari Person remains undecided. Goodie caught 21 passes for 436 yards with four touchdowns, and Person had 36 receptions for 386 yards and a touchdown. Another sophomore, linebacker Buom Jock, also is in the transfer portal after he led the Rams with 100 tackles. "They lost a couple receivers in the portal, just like us, so they've adjusted, just like most teams in the bowl season have adjusted to the team that they have available," Colorado State coach Jay Norvell said. Redshirt sophomore Armani Winfield, who had 37 catches for 338 yards and two touchdowns, is the top available receiver for the Rams. Miami's leading receiver entering the game is fifth-year senior Cade McDonald (49 catches for 606 yards and three touchdowns). Miami won seven straight games before losing to Ohio in the MAC championship game behind sixth-year quarterback Brett Gabbert, who has completed 57.6 percent of his passes (204 of 354) for 2,737 yards and 21 touchdowns. Gabbert has been prone to throw interceptions, with 11, including one against Ohio in the conference title game. He did not throw an interception in a 30-20 victory over Ohio earlier this season. Keyon Mozee is Miami's featured running back with 1,073 yards on 170 carries with four touchdowns. Matt Salopek, a sixth-year linebacker, leads Miami with 113 tackles. He is the first player in program history with four 100-tackle seasons. Colorado State won six of its last seven games -- committing only seven turnovers in that span. Senior running back Avery Morrow has 956 yards on 166 attempts with nine touchdowns. Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, a redshirt sophomore, has thrown for 2,475 yards while completing 207 of 335 attempts (61.8 percent) with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Chase Wilson, a fifth-year senior linebacker, has 91 tackles this season, three for loss. --Field Level MediaValladolid loses again and Getafe ends winless run in La Liga
Ruben Amorim issues storm warning after smooth start with Manchester UnitedAbout seven million years ago, though that could be way off, the chimpanzee and Homo lines split. The chimp developed one way, we went another. We don't know who our last common ancestor was, or even who the last hominin ancestor from that would produce sapiens was. But we have learned some amazing new things. We know that with all due respect to stories of supernatural generation of species from dirt, we aren't a singular artifact but a hybrid hominin with some Neanderthal, Denisovan and others inside. While sapiens and others met multiple times over 200,000 years, we newly realize that all non-Africans, all, stem from just one interspecies brush 45,000 years ago. As Homo progressed, we changed the world around us. We did this chiefly by eating all the big animals. At least we began painting the animals' pictures before driving them to extinction, and did so much earlier than had been known. Yeah we ate plant matter too; it bears pointing out that physiologically, we have to. And we do care. We always did, as indicated by the child of Neanderthals who survived – with Down's syndrome. Here are some of the human evolution stories that surprised us in 2024 and one about the evolution of our relationship with dogs. Guess what, it may not have developed as simply as we tend to think. And turtles. Ditto. Early humans lived at Gesher Benot Yaakov from at least 800,000 years ago. We don't know which species of human and who cares, says Prof. Gonen Sharon. The question is how they lived and he believes the extraordinary conditions of preservation at this unique site on the banks of an artificial river may have the answers. Yes they found elephant remains. The only body ever categorically determined to be from the Clovis culture that occupied the Americas, that of a little boy, proves Israeli theory of evolution. It involves – elephants. Over the last 1.5 million years, the body size of animals shrank by 98% and it has now been proved that it was us: our ravening appetite pushed us to pursue ever-smaller animals when the biggest ones ran out. And we had the smarts to make ever-better tools to catch the ever-smaller and fleeter animals. Bone appetite . We get it, humans like to eat meat, and fat. We will also eat plants and in fact this prehistoric village in Morocco ate a lot of them . The question is why. The earliest art , which shows a pig and was found in Indonesia, is even older than thought, archaeologists report. They had thought it was perhaps over 45,000 years old. They were right. It's more than 51,000 years old. We had begun to realize that early modern humans were beetling out of Africa a good 200,000 years ago if not more. They were meeting Neanderthals, and other human species, and mixing with them, several times. We get that. What happened next was a surprise. It is true that the Neanderthals in question were probably also hybrids, as are we. But the evidence showing Down's syndrome in a young Neanderthal speaks volumes about their compassion, which is evidently neither the fief nor the invention of sapiens. Truth, it's hard to prove what people were thinking 35,000 years ago but face it, why would people haul a rock carved like a tortoise shell into the bowels of Manot Cave in Israel, if not for some sort of spiritual reasons? Let us be clear that the Natufians, a pre-agricultural culture in prehistoric Israel living from 15,000 to 11,500 years ago, weren't driving. But they seem to have invented the first spindle whorls and the principle of rotational technology is the principle of rotational technology. We met wolf, we liked, he liked, eyebrow technology may have been involved. Or maybe the domestication of the wolf and emergence of the dog wasn't that straightforward after all, going by bewildering evidence of interactions between different canid species and the first Americans.
Trump’s conquest: President-elect posts bizarre AI pic of himself with Canadian flag (on a Swiss mountain)
Some Atlantic City casino workers call on union boss to resign for opposing a smoking ban
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Share Tweet Share Share Email Picture making crucial decisions using data that’s just seconds old. Real-time data visualization lets you convert endless streams of numbers into clear, meaningful insights right as they happen. Research from McKinsey shows organizations that implement live visualization tools speed up their decision-making by 40%. This means catching problems early, seizing opportunities faster, and staying ahead of market shifts. From production floor metrics to sales figures, watching your data unfold in real-time reveals patterns you’d miss in static reports. Smart dashboards and interactive charts turn complex information into simple visual stories anyone can understand. The result? Quick, confident choices backed by fresh data. Live visualization helps teams spot trends, predict outcomes, and take action without waiting for outdated reports. Ready to unlock the hidden stories in your data streams? 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This immediate feedback lets you identify patterns quickly and adjust your approach based on actual, current data. Making Data Come Alive Data visualization converts complex information into clear, meaningful insights that teams can act upon. Learning visualization methods and implementation strategies enables organizations to maximize their data’s potential. Types of Dynamic Visualizations Each data scenario requires specific visualization methods. Heat maps highlight intensity patterns across variables effectively, while line charts show time-based trends clearly. A Tableau analysis indicates that selecting appropriate visualization formats improves data understanding up to 30%. Teams use interactive dashboards to examine specific metrics, making complex datasets accessible to different users. Best Practices for Live Data Display Successful live visualizations depend on solid design fundamentals. Colors must enhance readability through contrasting tones for key metrics while maintaining visual balance. Proper element spacing prevents information overload, allowing users to concentrate on essential data points. Studies from the Nielsen Norman Group show that users read dashboards in an F-pattern, suggesting critical metrics should appear in the top-left area. Data Refresh Rates and Performance Optimal refresh rates create balance between accurate data and system efficiency. Some applications need instant updates, while others work fine with periodic refreshes. Success comes from matching update frequencies to specific needs – trading platforms require continuous updates, whereas manufacturing data might update hourly. Real-time implementation requires careful consideration of network capacity and server resources to ensure smooth operations. Data streaming systems enable these dynamic displays through efficient information processing. Current technologies use data buffering and gradual updates to keep displays responsive during peak usage. These approaches keep visualizations precise and quick without straining system resources or causing interface delays. Practical Applications and Impact Companies from retail to manufacturing use continuous data analysis to streamline operations and boost revenue. Seeing trends unfold in real-time allows businesses to respond swiftly and make choices grounded in current facts. Business Intelligence Monitoring Modern analytics dashboards let teams observe essential metrics in motion. Sales teams track purchases, shopper patterns, and stock quantities all at once. According to a MicroStrategy report, businesses that implement live intelligence platforms see customer satisfaction rise by 23%. Industrial Process Control Factories rely on instant data updates to keep production running smoothly. Monitoring devices track machine health, temperature shifts, and output standards. 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Success comes from showing complex data clearly, enabling users to recognize trends and respond effectively. Technical Implementation Guide Real-time visualization implementation requires meticulous planning and appropriate tools working together. The technical foundation must support efficient, secure systems that provide instant insights. Choosing the Right Tools The selection of visualization tools stems from specific needs, data size, and refresh requirements. Tools like D3.js and Apache Superset stand out for creating dynamic charts. A recent Stack Overflow survey indicates that D3.js ranks among developers’ top picks for sophisticated data projects, with 30% selecting it for complex visualizations. How Hopara Streamlines Visualization The Hopara platform makes real-time dashboard creation straightforward through user-friendly interfaces and ready-made components. Users benefit from automatic data preprocessing, allowing teams to concentrate on analysis instead of technical configuration. Ready-to-use templates speed up deployment of standard visualization types, while customization options accommodate specific business requirements. Security and Performance Considerations Real-time visualization systems require strong security protocols to safeguard sensitive information. These include data transit encryption, strict access management, and systematic security checks. Performance enhancement requires strategic database indexing, streamlined queries, and effective caching methods. Teams should track system resources and set up load distribution to maintain smooth operation during high-traffic periods. Consistent performance testing identifies potential issues before user experience suffers. Getting Started with Live Analytics Businesses depend on live data visualization to make smart decisions fast. When teams combine interactive dashboards, protected data handling, and strong visualization methods, they gain the power to act quickly when situations change. From factory production lines to stock market operations, seeing data unfold in real time offers companies a strong market advantage. Organizations that use these tools notice clear gains in how well they run, how happy their customers are, and their financial results . Related Items: Data Into Action , Visualization Transform Raw Share Tweet Share Share Email Comments
Another incredibly stacked boxing card is set to go down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 22, headlined by a rematch for the undisputed light heavyweight crown. At the top of the bill, Artur Beterbiev (21-0) and Dmitry Bivol (23-1) will meet again, with the former coming in as undisputed champion at 175-pounds following his narrow majority decision win in their first bout back in October. In the chief support, Daniel Dubois (22-2) will look to defend his IBF heavyweight title against the resurgent Joseph Parker (35-3). MORE: Who are boxing's pound-for-pound best? It will be Dubois' first outing since he stopped Anthony Joshua in September, while former WBO heavyweight titleholder Parker is coming off decision wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. After much talk on social media, Shakur Stevenson (22-0) puts his WBC lightweight title on the line against undefeated prospect Floyd Schofield (18-0). Also in action, Carlos Adames (24-1) defends his WBC middleweight strap against unbeaten Englishman Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0). Vergil Ortiz (22-0) looked to be on the way to a meeting with Jaron "Boots" Ennis on the card but that fell apart late in negotiations, seeing a bout with Israil Madrimov (10-1-1) quickly pulled together. Madrimov, who hasn't fought since a close loss to Terence Crawford, is due to fight Serhii Bohuchuk on the undercard to Oleksandr Usyk's rematch with Tyson Fury in December 21, giving him just two months to turn around and face Ortiz. The interim WBC super welterweight title will be on the line in that one. Two more belts will be up for grabs in the final bouts on the card - Joshua Buatsi (19-0) takes on Callum Smith (30-2) for the interim WBO light heavyweight title, while Zhang (27-2-1) meets Agit Kabayel (25-0) for the interim WBC heavyweight strap. Streaming platform DAZN is again expected to broadcast the event globally. Full Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 card Artur Beterbiev (c) vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 for the undisputed light heavyweight titles Daniel Dubois (c) vs. Joseph Parker for the IBF heavyweight title Shakur Stevenson (c) vs. Floyd Schofield for the WBC lightweight title Carlos Adames (c) vs. Hamzah Sheerez for the WBC middleweight title Vergil Ortiz (c) vs. Israil Madrimov for the interim WBC super welterweight title Joshua Buatsi (c) vs. Callum Smith for the interim WBO light heavyweight title Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel for the interim WBC heavyweight title49ers attempt to bounce back and boost their postseason chances as they visit Green BayCustomers Bank Named to Inc.’s 2024 Best in Business List in Financial Services Category
Miami (Ohio), Colorado State take adjustments into Arizona Bowl