Standards Organisation of Nigeria appoints Talatu Ethan as Director, Public RelationsThe gunman who stalked and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fled New York City by bus, police officials told CNN on Friday. Video of the suspected shooter leaving the scene of the shooting Wednesday showed him riding a bicycle to Central Park and later taking a taxi cab to a bus depot, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN. Here's the latest: The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer may have fled the city on a bus, New York City police officials told CNN on Friday. Video of the suspected shooter leaving the scene of the shooting Wednesday showed him riding a bicycle to Central Park and later taking a taxi cab to a bus depot, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN. “We have reason to believe that the person in question has left New York City,” Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer made sure to wear a mask during the shooting yet left a trail of evidence in view of the nation’s biggest city and its network of security cameras that have aided authorities piecing together his movements and his identity. A law enforcement official said Friday that new surveillance footage shows the suspect riding the subway and visiting establishments in Manhattan and provided more clues about his actions in the days before he ambushed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson . The gunman’s whereabouts and identity remain unknown Friday, as did the reason for Wednesday’s killing. New York City police say evidence firmly points to it being a targeted attack . ▶ Read more about the search for the gunman In many companies, investor meetings like the one UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was walking to when he was fatally shot are viewed as very risky because details on the location and who will be speaking are highly publicized. “It gives people an opportunity to arrive well in advance and take a look at the room, take a look at how people would probably come and go out of a location,” said Dave Komendat, president of DSKomendat Risk Management Services, which is based in the greater Seattle area. Some firms respond by beefing up security. For example, tech companies routinely require everyone attending a major event, such as Apple’s annual unveiling of the next iPhone or a shareholder meeting, to go through airport-style security checkpoints before entering. Others forgo in-person meetings with shareholders. ▶ Read more about how companies protect their leaders Those images include New York’s subway system, a law enforcement official said. In establishments where the person was captured on camera, he always appeared to pay with cash, the official said. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. — Mike Balsamo Medica, a Minnesota-based nonprofit health care firm that serves 1.5 million customers in 12 states, said it’s temporarily closing all six locations. The firm has offices in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and North Dakota, and employs about 3,000 people. Employees will work from home, Medica spokesman Greg Bury said in an email Friday. “The safety of Medica employees is our top priority and we have increased security both for all of our employees,” a statement from Medica said. “Although we have received no specific threats related to our campuses, our office buildings will be temporarily closed out of an abundance of caution.” Bury also said biographical information on the company’s executives was taken down from its website as a precaution. The insurer cited the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in its announcement about the Dec. 12 event. “All of us at Centene are deeply saddened by Brian Thompson’s death and want to express our support for all of those affected. Health insurance is a big industry and a small community; many members of the CenTeam crossed paths with Brian during their careers,” Centene CEO Sarah M. London said in a news release. “He was a person with a deep sense of empathy and clear passion for improving access to care. Our hearts are with his family and his colleagues during this difficult time.” Centene Corp. has grown in recent years to become the largest insurer in Medicaid, the state- and federally funded program that covers care for people with low incomes. Insurers manage Medicaid coverage for states, and Centene has more than 13 million people enrolled in that coverage. The insurance company also said it’s focused on ensuring the safety of employees and assisting investigators. “While our hearts are broken, we have been touched by the huge outpouring of kindness and support in the hours since this horrific crime took place,” the company said. But he said Friday that he’s confident police will arrest the shooter. “We are on the right road to apprehend him and bring him to justice,” Adams said on TV station WPIX. Later, it removed their names and biographies entirely. Police and federal agents have been collecting information from Greyhound in an attempt to identify the suspect and are working to determine whether he purchased the ticket to New York in late November, a law enforcement official said. Investigators were also trying to obtain additional information from a cellphone recovered from a pedestrian plaza through which the shooter fled. The fatal shooting of Brian Thompson while walking alone on a New York City sidewalk has put a spotlight on the widely varied approaches companies take to protect their leaders against threats. Experts say today’s political, economic and technological climate is only going to make the job of evaluating threats against executives and taking action to protect them even more difficult, experts say. Some organizations have a protective intelligence group that uses digital tools such as machine learning or artificial intelligence to comb through online comments to detect threats not only on social media platforms such as X but also on the dark web, says Komendat. They look for what’s being said about the company, its employees and its leadership to uncover risks. ▶ Read more about the steps companies take to protect their leadership Police said Thursday they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper from a trash can near the scene of the ambush and think the suspect bought them from a Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The items were being tested by the city’s medical examiner.
The Latest: Police believe gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO has left New York City
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Maresca led the Foxes to the Sky Bet Championship title last season before joining Chelsea over the summer. Leicester famously toasted their improbable Premier League success in 2016 with an impromptu bash at Vardy’s house. But the venue for last April’s party was not at the striker’s abode, but at Maresca’s house when the players turned up unannounced at 2am. Maresca recalled: “The best present I had from last season was when we got promoted and they arrived at my home. All the team. “This showed the connection between the players; they could go for a party at a different place but they all arrived at my home. It was a fantastic connection and I will always be thankful for them. “I was at home celebrating with my staff and my family and about two o’clock in the morning all the squad was there. We celebrated all together. Last night at Enzo’s 🏡 💙 pic.twitter.com/dqP8BFsDn3 — Leicester City (@LCFC) April 27, 2024 “When I was a player and I won things I never thought to go to the manager’s home. That shows the connection.” Similarly to when they clinched the Premier League crown, Leicester were not actually playing when they found out they were promoted after Leeds lost at QPR. “To be honest I was at home watching the game and when it finished all the staff came over – and later the players,” added the Italian. “They didn’t knock on the door, they were in the garden and knocked on the window. What time did they leave? I don’t remember.” Vardy might not be having a party at the end of this season but he is still banging in the goals at 37 and Maresca rates the striker even more highly than England’s two top goalscorers – Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney. “People don’t realise how good he is,” added Maresca. “I know England have been quite lucky because of Kane and Rooney, this type of striker, they are fantastic. “But Jamie is, if you ask me, the best one.” Maresca returns to the King Power Stadium for the first time with Chelsea on Saturday, but he will be without captain Reece James due to a hamstring problem.PurpleVine Drives TCL's Successful Entry into the HEVC Advance Patent Pool
CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Joseph Paintsil and Dejan Joveljic scored in the first half, and the LA Galaxy won their record sixth MLS Cup championship with a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. After striking twice in the first 13 minutes of the final with goals from their star forwards, the Galaxy nursed their lead through a scoreless second half to raise their league’s biggest trophy for the first time since 2014. MLS’ most successful franchise struggled through most of the ensuing decade, even finishing 26th in the 29-team league last year. But the Galaxy turned everything around this season with a high-scoring new lineup that finished second in the Western Conference and then streaked through the playoffs with a whopping 18 goals in five games to win another crown. Sean Nealis scored for the seventh-seeded Red Bulls, whose improbable charge through the playoffs ended one win shy of its first Cup championship. With the league's youngest roster, New York fell just short of becoming the lowest-seeded team to win MLS' playoff tournament under first-year German coach Sandro Schwarz. Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy made four saves to win his second MLS title in three seasons. He was the MVP of the 2022 MLS Cup Final for the Galaxy's crosstown rival, Los Angeles FC. The Galaxy won this title without perhaps their most important player. Riqui Puig, the playmaking midfielder from Barcelona who ran their offense impressively all season long, tore a ligament in his knee last week in the Western Conference final. Puig watched the game in a suit, but his teammates hadn't forgotten him: After his replacement, Gastón Brugman, set up LA's opening goal with a superb pass, Paintsil held up Puig's jersey to their fans during the celebration. Paintsil put the Galaxy ahead in the ninth minute when he ran onto that sublime pass from Brugman and pounded home his 14th MLS goal — including four in the playoffs — in the Ghanaian forward's outstanding first season. Just four minutes later, Joveljic sprinted past four New York defenders and chipped home the 21st goal of his outstanding year as the Galaxy's striker. Nealis got New York on the scoreboard in the 28th minute when he volleyed home a ball that got loose in LA's penalty area after a corner. The Galaxy's usually shaky defense gave up another handful of good chances before reaching halftime with a tenuous lead. The second half was lively, but scoreless. Red Bulls captain Emil Forsberg hit the outside of the post in the 72nd minute, while Gabriel Pec and Galaxy substitute Marco Reus nearly converted chances a few moments later. The ball got loose again in the Galaxy's penalty area in the third minute of extra time, but two Red Bulls couldn't finish. The Galaxy bench rushed onto the field and prematurely celebrated a victory in the seventh minute of injury time, only to be herded back off for another 30 seconds of play. The Galaxy finished 17-0-3 this season at their frequently renamed suburban stadium, where the sellout crowd of 26,812 for the final included several robust cheering sections of traveling Red Bulls supporters hoping to see their New Jersey-based club’s breakthrough on MLS’ biggest stage. The Galaxy’s Greg Vanney became the fourth coach to win an MLS title with two clubs. The former Galaxy player also won it all with Toronto in 2017. The club famous for employing global stars from David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Robbie Keane and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández rebuilt itself this season with lesser-known young talents from around the world. The Galaxy signed Pec from Brazil and the Ghanaian Paintsil out of Belgium, and the duo combined with incumbent Serbian striker Joveljic to form a potent attack that could outscore almost any MLS opponent. But the Galaxy also relied heavily on Puig, their Catalan catalyst and one of MLS’ best players. Puig stayed in last week's game after injuring his knee, and he even delivered the decisive pass to Joveljic for the game’s only goal. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer Greg Beacham, The Associated PressPure Storage and Kioxia Collaborate to Drive Scalability, Efficiency, and Performance in Hyperscale Data CentersPhiladelphia takes a starring role in " The Madness ," the limited series that hit Netflix on Thanksgiving. Though it was largely filmed in Toronto, the thriller is set here and stars West Philly's busiest actor, Colman Domingo . Reading Terminal Market, City Hall and Malcolm X Park appear in the show, and so does a Northwest Philly shop — just not its storefront. Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books earns a cameo in the fourth episode, when a character sports one of its T-shirts. "Netflix is not a small platform," Justin Moore, general manager at Uncle Bobbie's, said. "So it was like, wow, a lot of people are seeing our logo, some for the first time, some as like a friendly reminder, oh, that's the place I go to get my coffee, or that's the place I get my books from." A post shared by Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books (@unclebobbies) The Germantown bookstore and cafe was founded in 2017 by Marc Lamont Hill — an author and TV personality, just like the lead character of "The Madness." Moore said Uncle Bobbie's has seen a bump in online sales since the show premiered, though he acknowledged holiday shopping could be a factor. What's more quantifiable, in his estimation, is the excitement. Loyal customers have been tagging Uncle Bobbie's in screenshots of the episode and hyping its appearance elsewhere on social media. "People who come to Uncle Bobbie's, they feel like they're a part of it," Moore said. "Like, you know when your favorite indie band goes big, right? It's like I was with them since the beginning. Now they're on Netflix." Uncle Bobbie's staffers were aware of the show's plans, but just barely. According to Moore, a producer contacted him in 2023 for permission to use a shirt with the shop's logo but offered only vague details on the project, like its name and star. Moore approved the request and mostly forgot about it until "The Madness" debuted and shot to the No. 1 streamed show on the platform. The series concerns a massive conspiracy that ensnares news pundit Muncie Daniels (Domingo). After he is framed for the murder of a white supremacist in the Poconos, Muncie tries to find the true culprit while on the run in Philadelphia. His estranged daughter Kallie (Gabrielle Graham), who has built her own life in North Philly, helps him hide. She's the one who sports the Uncle Bobbie's shirt. "Kallie definitely represents someone who would be an Uncle Bobbie's regular," Moore said. "She's very politically minded. Well read, cares very, very deeply about community and Black folks and Blackness. And that is obviously what Uncle Bobbie's is built on and stands for in terms of mission." This isn't the store's first brush with Hollywood. Kerry Washington has filmed interviews at Uncle Bobbie's, Moore said, and the shop also appeared in the HBO documentary "Stand Up and Shout: Songs from a Philly High School." The John Legend-produced film followed the students and teachers at Hill-Freedman World Academy as they recorded an album, and one of the instructors, Kristal Oliver , asked that her interviews be shot at Uncle Bobbie's. A post shared by Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) Still, Moore conceded "The Madness" feature is the shop's biggest exposure yet in terms of scale. He's hoping the visibility will inspire more customers to buy shirts like Kallie's as Philadelphians search for holiday gifts. Follow Kristin & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @kristin_hunt | @thePhillyVoice Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Have a news tip ? Let us know.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Fourteen North Korean nationals have been indicted in a scheme using information technology workers with false identities to contract with U.S. companies — workers who then funneled their wages to North Korea for development of ballistic missiles and other weapons, the head of the FBI office in St. Louis said Thursday. The scheme involving thousands of IT workers generated more than $88 million for the North Korean government, Ashley T. Johnson, special agent in charge of the St. Louis FBI office, said at a news conference. In addition to their wages, the workers stole sensitive information from companies or threatened to leak information in exchange for extortion payments, Johnson said. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Tommy Mellott threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns and top-seeded Montana State tied a school record with its 13th straight win, dominating Tennessee-Martin 49-17 on Saturday in the second round of the FCS playoffs. Scottre Humphrey ran for 102 yards and a touchdown, one of three rushing touchdowns for the Bobcats (13-0), who are home next weekend against the winner of Saturday’s late game between Lehigh and eighth-seeded Idaho. MSU, which has scored at least 30 points in every game this season, won 13 games in 1975-76. Mellott threw for 178 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and the Bobcats rolled to a 28-10 lead. Mellott had touchdown passes of 24 yards to Hunter Provience and 12 yards to Taco Dowler in the first quarter and 39 yards to Ty McCullouch in the second. McCullouch also had a 6-yard touchdown run. The pass to McCullouch ended a six-play, 73-yard drive that took just 53 seconds, and came immediately after Trevonte Rucker took a pass from Kinkead Dent 78 yards to the end zone that made it 21-10. The Bobcats only allowed only 10 total points in the first half of home games in the regular season. RELATED COVERAGE Appalachian State hires South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains as head coach Georgia QB Carson Beck sidelined following arm injury in SEC championship game against Texas Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy gets restructured deal after 3-9 season, according to reports Humphrey had a 36-yard TD run and Mellott hit Dowler for a 29-yard score in the third quarter Adam Jones contributed a 30-yard scoring run in the fourth. Mellott finished 22-of-25 passing and the Bobcats had 501 total yards. Dent threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns, both to Rucker, who had six receptions for 107 yards. The Skyhawks (9-6) finished with 264 yards. ___ AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football . Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25Now that the historically nasty, contentious presidential election of 2024 is over, don’t let down your guard just yet. There’s another war percolating that most certainly could boil over come a day meant for expressing gratitude for loved ones. You guessed it: Thanksgiving. Whether your candidate won or not, there’s gonna be trouble at Thanksgiving dinner tables across America. The election results will be argued over and litigated over gravy-splattered battlegrounds until the last leftover is reheated and consumed. This means that about 75 million Americans will be saying, “Pass the gravy, my candidate was robbed” or another 75 million will be saying, “More cranberries, I’m leaving the country” — but nobody will be saying, “I totally get where you’re coming from.” To chill the room when the tempers are flaring hotter than a roasted turkey thigh, here are 10 songs and 10 movies designed to bring family peace and also ensure that all pies, pumpkin, peach or pecan, stay on the table for dessert and are not utilized as airborne missiles of political vengeance. 🎶 ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE ( The Beatles ) No, it didn’t stop the Vietnam War back in 1967 when the Beatles first released it, but this hippie dippy retro-rock classic can still put a smile on the face of even the most sour election day loser. 🎶 JUST LIKE A WOMAN ( Nina Simone ) One note of caution: Simone’s delivery of Bob Dylan ’s classic line, “She breaks just like a little girl,” may be just too much emotion for some family members to take. 🎶 IMAGINE (John Lennon) There’s always the danger of some Blue Meanie relative accusing you of being a pawn in George Soros’ plan for global domination by buying into John Lennon’s sweet utopian reverie about one world at peace, and in harmony, but hopefully there’s also a fair chance there’s a cool fool on the hill grannie around to tell the Meanie to let it be. 🎶 IT’S A MAN’S MAN’S MAN’S WORLD (James Brown) This James Brown soul-stirrer (which he co-wrote with Betty Jean Newsome) can appease both sides of the election aisle. Its he-man title can slide alongside such dominant male anthems as the Village People’s “Macho Man,” a Trump rally staple (yep, go figure!) but, of course, the deeper message to the dudes is that all their deals and deeds “mean nothing without a woman or a girl.” Or as Joni Mitchell would say, “Both sides now.” 🎶 CRYSTAL BLUE PERSUASION (Tommy James & the Shondells) Marijuana is pretty much legalized/normalized in almost all 50 states now, right? So what else is there to say? 🎶 HEAVY ON PRIDE (LIGHT ON LOVE) (Smokey Robinson) “Never mind wasting time Talking about who did who wrong Heavy on pride, light on love Give it up, baby Oh, come on, give it up, baby” This is why Dylan once listed Robinson as one of his favorite poets. 🎶 FIRST THERE IS A MOUNTAIN (Donovan) The original peace and love troubadour has been calming down rancor, discord and bad vibes for nearly 60 years, starting with offering to clean up that broken bottle mess in the Dylan doc “Don’t Look Back.” This neat Zen ditty makes the point that no matter who won the election, it’s now time to breathe deep, dig the slowness and catch the wind. 🎶 WHAT’S GOING ON (Marvin Gaye) Gaye’s epic social anthem for tumultuous times feels and reads like it was written last week. It might make it easier to pass the biscuits and put down the butter knives on Nov. 28. “Picket lines and picket signs, Don’t punish me with brutality. Talk to me, so you can see what’s going on.” 🎶 BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND (Bob Dylan) Imagine two of the most stridently political animals in your family menagerie are at one another’s throats over the election and you drop the needle on our favorite American Nobel laureate singing, “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.” It’s your cue to say, “Even Bob Dylan says who the eff knows the answer, can we bring out the peach cobbler, please!!!!!!!” 🎥 THREE COLORS: RED (Krzysztof Kieślowski) This inspiring Euro arthouse film beautifully dramatizes the theme of “what unites us is stronger than what divides us” and it just might soothe the savage Democrats and Republicans in your house. 🎥 MEET THE FOCKERS (Jay Roach) Her dad’s a crazy military intelligence fruitcake who makes you feel like a refugee at the dinner table, but we can still laugh and celebrate the wacky ways that love conquers all, socio-politico prejudices and punctures all poli-sci prickliness. 🎥 MOONLIGHT (Barry Jenkins) The film’s lyrical and poetic evocation of how healing and compassion can transform lives will work like a charm unless it unleashes a “‘La La Land’ should have won the Oscar” argument. 🎥 GANDHI (Richard Attenborough) It’s an epic big enough to fill your 65-inch screen and intimate enough to draw your family into the story of the original What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding prophet. 🎥 CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (Steven Spielberg) Since half of the people at your Thanksgiving dinner table might wish they could get on a spaceship and journey to another planet after the election, this should be a winning choice. 🎥 THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (Robert Wise) Sometimes, the only person that everyone will listen to is the person who isn’t beholden to anyone. Michael Rennie’s alien and his charismatic robot companion are calm, smooth and patrician, with Rennie’s hair so perfect you can only ponder what kind of salons they have on his home planet. “Day” is the ultimate “can’t we all get along” message movie. 🎥 THE FISHER KING (Terry Gilliam) Just as Paul McCartney knew “The Fool on the Hill” could speak words of wisdom everyone would understand, screenwriter Richard LaGravenese and director Gilliam knew that a parable about a deranged homeless man and a cold-hearted media star could warm even the chilliest of hearts. 🎥 NOMADLAND (Chloé Zhao) Since none of the politicians seem to address the epidemic of homelessness, you can still rally your dinner companions to engagement and compassion on this day when hundreds of thousands of Americans have no table to eat at or argue around. 🎥 BIG (Penny Marshall) After these endless months of bad debates, indictments, assassination attempts, recalibrated campaigns and billions of dollars’ worth of advertisements, everyone in the family is ready to celebrate the discovery of their inner child. 🎥 BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE (Reinaldo Marcus Green) This is the movie that garners the ganja slot occupied by Tommy James on the playlist. Once everyone in the house is mildly buzzed, time to watch the biopic of the man who helpfully explained, “Never make a politician grant you a favor. They will always want to control you forever.”
A LIFE-SAVING initiative is coming to an end after two years, meaning certain families will see their final cash distribution. The direct payment opportunity comes as part of a guaranteed basic income pilot program in one state. Qualifying residents in Mountain View, California , about 14 miles northwest of downtown San Jose, have been benefiting from Elevate MV. Elevate MV is run through the Community Services Agency in Mountain View, along with support from the YMCA and Community Financial Resources. It's also used as part of a research study from the University of Pennsylvania Center for Guaranteed Income Research. The program offers financial assistance to those with "extremely low income" for access to living necessities and more security, per its website. Read More on Direct Payments Funds are sent out in $500 monthly payments over two years, a total of $6,000, and are also unrestricted. That means eligible candidates can choose to use the money however it "best meets the basic needs of their family and is not tied to conditions," according to Elevate MV. The guaranteed income pilot decided to leave it unrestricted as a way to financially "empower" residents. At least 166 candidates were randomly selected in an unbiased lottery process to receive funds from Elevate MV after submitting applications. Most read in Money ELIGIBILITY Those applications must've met two crucial requirements: First, residents must have cited income per household below the 30% Area Median Income (AMI). They must've also been pregnant or a caregiver for at least one child under 18 when the application was filed. The first payments to the 166 Mountain View residents were sent out on December 15, 2022. A final payment was issued on November 15, but some participants may not have seen their last $500 as of yet. Elevate MV noted on its website that the "pilot program concludes December 2024." Guaranteed Income and Universal Basic Income programs have taken off in popularity recently. After the Biden administration's American Rescue Plan of 2021 sent stimulus money to local governments, dozens began testing guaranteed income (GI) systems. The specifics vary, but GI typically involves payouts to people with low incomes. Unlike traditional welfare, there are no job requirements, drug tests, or other strings attached. Some have pushed for a Universal Basic Income (UBI), which would go to everyone regardless of how much money they make at work. Alaska has used a similar system since the 1970s. Proponents say this alleviates poverty while incentivizing work, unlike classic welfare, which cuts benefits from people who begin earning "too much" money to qualify. Opponents argue such a system is too expensive to function on a large scale and suggest Americans should avoid becoming reliant on government money. With some cities heralding the success of GI programs, some Republican-led states have moved to ban them. States like Texas and Iowa, for example, have undermined major spending plans by pushing against GI . It's unclear if Elevate MV will conduct another application process to benefit other candidates for an additional two-year period. CALIFORNIAN CARE Californians should also remain aware of the Family First Economic Support Pilot (FFESP) in Sacramento. FFESP will assist about 200 low-income households in select zip codes, with a mission of combating financial disparity among Alaska Native, American Indian, and Black families. It seeks to offer parents an opportunity to not only provide for themselves and their children while building solid financial footing but also take care of their mental health, per behealthysacramento.org . Payments worth $725 per month are sent out to the eligible households that apply for one year, a total of $8,700. Applications closed on October 13, but those who know they were approved to be part of FFESP can expect their first payment on December 15. Read More on The US Sun There's also a no-strings-attached 'artist' program in another state that will send out $500 monthly checks to qualifying applicants for five years. Some families were also able to get $1,000 monthly payments as part of a "music" program in Georgia.Austin, TX, Dec. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Digital Brands Group, Inc. ("DBG”) (NASDAQ: DBGI), a curated collection of luxury lifestyle brands, today announces the first 45 day results since it entered into a marketing partnership on October 21, 2024, with VAYNERCOMMERCE, https://vaynercommerce.com/ . VAYNERCOMMERCE is a full service digital growth agency created by Gary Vaynerchuk, also known as GARYVEE. VAYNERCOMMERCE's services aim to help digital companies scale their online presence and revenues. This partnership has already led to a 224% increase in daily digital revenues during the 45 day period (October 22 nd , 2024 to December 5th, 2024) after VAYNERCOMMERCE began providing DBG with digital marketing services versus the prior 45 day period from September 6th nd to October 21 st . "We made the decision to outsource digital marketing services to VAYNERCOMMERCE based on their reputation in the industry. We felt that we could benefit from an outside performance driven marketing solution team that can focus its efforts on improving our marketing campaigns. We have just begun this journey with them and are already experiencing an increase in our results,” said Hil Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Brands Group. Forward-looking Statements Certain statements included in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are made based on our expectations and beliefs concerning future events impacting DBG and therefore involve several risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by the fact that they use words such as "will,” "anticipate,” "estimate,” "expect,” "should,” and "may” and other words and terms of similar meaning or use of future dates, however, the absence of these words or similar expressions does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. All statements regarding DBG's plans, objectives, projections and expectations relating to DBG's operations or financial performance, and assumptions related thereto are forward-looking statements. We caution that forward-looking statements are not guarantees and that actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. DBG undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Potential risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results of operations or financial condition of DBG to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: risks arising from the widespread outbreak of an illness or any other communicable disease, or any other public health crisis, including the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic; the level of consumer demand for apparel and accessories; disruption to DBGs distribution system; the financial strength of DBG's customers; fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of raw materials and contracted products; disruption and volatility in the global capital and credit markets; DBG's response to changing fashion trends, evolving consumer preferences and changing patterns of consumer behavior; intense competition from online retailers; manufacturing and product innovation; increasing pressure on margins; DBG's ability to implement its business strategy; DBG's ability to grow its wholesale and direct-to-consumer businesses; retail industry changes and challenges; DBG's and its vendors' ability to maintain the strength and security of information technology systems; the risk that DBG's facilities and systems and those of our third-party service providers may be vulnerable to and unable to anticipate or detect data security breaches and data or financial loss; DBG's ability to properly collect, use, manage and secure consumer and employee data; stability of DBG's manufacturing facilities and foreign suppliers; continued use by DBG's suppliers of ethical business practices; DBG's ability to accurately forecast demand for products; continuity of members of DBG's management; DBG's ability to protect trademarks and other intellectual property rights; possible goodwill and other asset impairment; DBG's ability to execute and integrate acquisitions; changes in tax laws and liabilities; legal, regulatory, political and economic risks; adverse or unexpected weather conditions; DBG's indebtedness and its ability to obtain financing on favorable terms, if needed, could prevent DBG from fulfilling its financial obligations; and climate change and increased focus on sustainability issues. More information on potential factors that could affect DBG's financial results is included from time to time in DBG's public reports filed with the SEC, including DBG's Annual Report on Form 10-K, and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Forms 8-K filed or furnished with the SEC. About Digital Brands Group We offer a wide variety of apparel through numerous brands on a both direct-to-consumer and wholesale basis. We have created a business model derived from our founding as a digitally native-first vertical brand. We focus on owning the customer's "closet share" by leveraging their data and purchase history to create personalized targeted content and looks for that specific customer cohort. Digital Brands Group, Inc. Company Contact Hil Davis , CEO Email: [email protected] Phone: (800) 593-1047 SOURCE Digital Brands Group, Inc. Related Links https://ir.digitalbrandsgroup.co