Racers Ready for Four-Game Battle with Morehead State - MSU GoRacers

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Murray State (21-17, 11-7 OVC) at Morehead State Eagles (20-15, 10-5 OVC)
                                                    
GAME 39-42
Dates: April 30 – May 2, 2021
First Pitch: Friday: 12 p.m. & 3:30 p.m.; Saturday: 12 p.m.; Sunday: 11 a.m.
Location: Morehead, Ky.
Stadium: Allen Field (1,000)
Series History: Murray State leads 66-56 (L4)
Last Meeting: May 23, 2019 (MOR Won 2-1)

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Murray State Game Notes       
 
First Pitch
The Racers were on their longest win steak until their midweek loss to Southern Illinois. They are coming of their first sweep of the season against EKU. Morehead State defeated Jacksonville State in two of three games over the weekend to stay atop the OVC.
 
Inside the Matchup
The Racers and Eagles have met 122 times on the diamond before with Murray State holding a 66-55-1 series lead. Two season ago, the Racers were swept by the Eagles in Morehead. In Morehead, the Racers hold a 33-32 advantage.
 
Probable Starters
Friday Game 1 - Jack Wenninger (RHP) (4-3, 4.54 ERA) vs Jason Goe (RHP) (2-4, 4.73 ERA)
Friday Game 2 – Shane Burns (LHP) (1-1, 4.83 ERA) vs Luke Helton (RHP) (3-1, 5.49 ERA)
Saturday – Sam Gardner (RHP) (3-4, 5.40 ERA) vs John Sherman (RHP) (1-0, 6.52 ERA)
Sunday (Non-Conference) - TBD vs TBD
 
Big Sluggers
The series features two of the OVC's top slugging teams as Morehead State and Murray State both rank in the top-three of the league in both home runs and team slugging percentage. The Eagles rank third in home runs (43) and second in slugging (.445) while the Racers rank first in home runs (50) and third in slugging (.442).
 
A Look at the Racers:
Murray State sits third in the conference standings only behind Morehead State and Southeast Missouri with an overall record of 21-17 and a conference record of 11-7. They have won series four of their six series.
 
The Racer began the second half of their Ohio Valley Conference schedule with a sweep of last place Eastern Kentucky over the weekend. Murray State will play road series at Morehead State (Apr. 30-May 1) and SIUE (May 14-15), and host UT Martin (May 7-8) and Austin Peay (May 20-21) in its final two home series to close out its 30-game conference slate.
 
After dropping back-to-back conference series versus Southeast Missouri and Belmont in which they were outscored 36-18 in their losses. The Racers got back on track against Eastern Kentucky sweeping the Colonels for their first conference series sweep of the season. The Racers used strong pitching, stellar defense and timely hitting to put together three "team" wins.
 
Murray State tied a program record with three triples in Saturday's 7-3 win seeing Slunder hit his third of the season, second of the series, Jacob Pennington his first career and Ryan Perkins his first of the season.
 
Murray State was riding a five-game win streak that ended on Tuesday at Southern Illinois with a 5-4 loss. Their previous long this season was four games. This was their longest since they won five in a row Apr. 23-29, 2017.
 
Bryson Bloomer has been on a tear in the month of April batting .433 with an on-base pct of .462 and slg pct of .650. He has a team-high 27 hits, 8 doubles and 14 RBI in the month and is outhitting the next closest Racer by 8 hits. Since his hot-streak, Bloomer's batting average has improved 101 points to highest on the team at .301, collecting 10 of his 13 multi-hit games during this time.
 
Jake Slunder is showing off his lighting quick speed, swiping 17 bases so far this season, tied for 23rd best in the nation. Slunder has legged out three triples, 29th-most in the country and 2nd in the OVC. He also has an active six-game streak, the longest active on the team. 12 of his 44 hits have been infield singles and scored from second on a wild pitch.
 
After a slow start to the season in which he was 0-4 in five starts with an ERA as high as 15.58, Gardner has found his groove in his last four outings. He has thrown 28.2 innings with an ERA of 1.26, only allowing four earned runs. Gardner matched his career-high in strikeouts, nine, thrice in this span and walked just four batters. He was named OVC Pitcher of the Week for his complete game shutout performance against Belmont on last Sunday.
 
Scouting Morehead State
The Morehead State Eagles were predicted to finish ninth in the OVC in the preseason poll but with a 20-15 overall record and a 9-3 conference record in the first half, the Eagles sit atop the OVC.
 
Morehead State has won every conference series so far against Eastern Kentucky, SIUE, Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois and Jacksonville State taking two of three from each.
 
The Eagles are being outhit in most offensvie categories by their opponents and 13 of their 20 wins have come by three runs or less. 
 
Jackson Feltner is one of four players in the OVC with a batting average over .400 (.409) and is second-best among NCAA freshman. He leds the Eagles in doubles and home runs, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
 
Bryce Hensor has been the Eagles best scoring threat, with a .366 batting average, he leds the team in runs (41), 17 more than the next closest.
 
On the mound, Jason Goe has thrown 51.1 innings for the Eagles with a 50-15 K-BB ratio.  John Bakke has made 21 appearances, picking up six saves.
 

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Four more COVID-19 infections found in Jefferson County - Port Townsend Leader

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Four new COVID-19 infections have been confirmed in Jefferson County, public health officials reported late Thursday.

Three of the confirmed tests for the coronavirus involved women, and the fourth was a man.

Two people in the mid-county area, and two in the south county area (Quilcene, Brinnon, and West Jefferson) tested positive. One person was in their 20s; two were in their 30s; and the fourth was in their 60s.

The new confirmed cases of the coronavirus pushed the total number of COVID-19 infections in Jefferson County to 390 Thursday.

Public health officials said COVID-19 test results were still pending for 16 residents, and 11 people remain in isolation for potential COVID contacts.

According to Jefferson County Public Health, a total of 22,655 tests have been administered for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic through April 29, and 22,249 tests have come back negative.

Through Thursday, 166 COVID cases have been found in Port Townsend residents; 180 in mid-county residents; and 44 in south county.

Based on gender, 198 males have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in Jefferson County, and 192 females have tested positive.

A total of 26 residents have been hospitalized for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, and three deaths have been linked to COVID-19.

County health officials reported that 355 local residents have recovered from COVID-19.

People are considered "recovered" at 28 days from the onset of symptoms if they are alive and not hospitalized, according to the state Department of Health.

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Al Schmitt, Maestro of Recorded Sound, Is Dead at 91 - The New York Times

The winner of multiple Grammys, he engineered or produced records by Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane and many others.

Al Schmitt, who as a boy watched Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters record music in his uncle’s studio, and who went on to become a Grammy Award-winning engineer for a long roster of artists including Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Diana Krall, died on Monday at his home in Bell Canyon, Calif. He was 91.

His death was confirmed by his wife, Lisa Schmitt.

For more than 60 years, Mr. Schmitt brought deft engineering skills and a sixth sense about what made a song great to his collaborations with dozens of musicians and singers. He was renowned for his ability to make subtle but critical changes during a recording session.

His gentle, informed guidance from behind the recording console was an essential, if unseen, element in 15 of Ms. Krall’s studio albums.

“It’s how he heard things,” she said by phone. “Sometimes he’d adjust the mic a bit or put his hand on my shoulder and say, ‘It’s OK.’ I don’t know if he was adjusting the mic or me.”

While recording at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, she added, “Al would say, ‘Why don’t we bring out the Frank Sinatra stool?’ And you’d do the best take in your life.”

Mr. Schmitt, whose engineering credits also included Sinatra’s popular “Duets” albums in the 1990s, won 20 Grammys, the most ever for an engineer, and two Latin Grammys. He also won a Trustees Award for lifetime achievement from the Recording Academy in 2006.

In 2005, Mr. Schmitt’s contributions to Ray Charles’s own duets album, “Genius Loves Company,” brought him five Grammys. (He shared four with others, for album of the year, record of the year, best pop vocal album and best engineered album. One of the five, for best surround-sound album, he won on his own.)

As an occasional producer, his credits include albums by Sam Cooke, Eddie Fisher, Al Jarreau, Jackson Browne and, most notably, Jefferson Airplane. In his autobiography, “Al Schmitt on the Record: The Magic Behind the Music” (2018), he described the zoolike atmosphere during the recording of the Airplane’s album “After Bathing at Baxter’s” in 1967.

“They would come riding into the studio on motorcycles,” he wrote, “and they were getting high all the time. They had a nitrous oxide tank set up in the studio, they’d be rolling joints all night, and there was a lot of cocaine.” In spite of those obstacles, “After Bathing at Baxter’s” was well received, and Mr. Schmitt went on to produce the group’s next three albums.

A tamer atmosphere existed in 2015, when Mr. Schmitt engineered “Shadows in the Night,” Mr. Dylan’s album of songs associated with Frank Sinatra. (Mr. Dylan produced the album under the name Jack Frost.) Between sessions over three weeks, they listened on Mr. Dylan’s small player to Sinatra’s renditions of the songs that they were about to record.

Mr. Schmitt recalled that they were trying not to approach each song “in the same way” that Sinatra had, “but to get an idea of the interpretation,” he told Sound on Sound magazine in 2015.

“We then would talk for maybe a couple of hours about how we were going to do the song,” he said.

He was initially uncertain about whether Mr. Dylan could sing the Sinatra standards, he said, but he was thrilled by what emerged from the speakers from the start.

“If there was something slightly off-pitch, it didn’t matter because his soul was there, and he laid the songs open and bare the way they are,” he told Sound on Sound. “He also wanted people to experience exactly what was recorded, hence no studio magic or fixing or turning things or moving things around and so on.”

Mr. Schmitt at the 2014 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles with the 20th and final Grammy of his career, which he won for the Paul McCartney DVD “Live Kisses.” He also won two Latin Grammys and a lifetime achievement award.Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Albert Harry Schmitt was born in Brooklyn on April 17, 1930. His father, also named Albert, made PT boats at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and later worked for a printing company and for a record processing plant. His mother, Abigail (Clark) Schmitt, was a homemaker.

In his Uncle Harry Smith’s recording studio in Manhattan, Al discovered his future.

“I loved my mother and father, but life with Uncle Harry was glamorous,” Mr. Schmitt wrote in his autobiography. (His uncle had changed his surname from Schmitt.)

At first his father escorted him to the studio on weekends. But by age 8 Al was taking the subway on his own. He reveled in listening to Crosby, being asked by Orson Welles if he believed in Martians (soon after Welles’s nation-rattling radio broadcast of a Martian invasion in “The War of the Worlds”) and being taken to bars by his uncle and his close friend Les Paul.

His uncle put Al to work — setting up chairs for a big band, cleaning cables. And Al learned about the proper placement of musicians in a one-microphone studio.

After Mr. Schmitt was discharged from the Navy in 1950, his uncle helped him get a job as an apprentice engineer at Apex Studios in Manhattan. He had been working there for three months, still not certain of his capabilities, when he was left alone in the studio on a Saturday. He was taken aback when the members of Mercer Ellington’s big band arrived, along with Mr. Ellington’s father, Duke.

Fearful of fouling up the session, he fetched a notebook with diagrams about how to set up the seating and place the microphones. He apologized to Duke Ellington.

“I’m sorry, this is a big mistake,” he recalled telling him. “I’m not qualified to do this.”

“Well,” Ellington said, “don’t worry, son. The setup looks fine, and the musicians are out there.”

Over three hours, Mr. Schmitt said, he successfully recorded four songs.

He worked at other studios in Manhattan before moving west in 1958 to join Radio Recorders in Los Angeles, where Elvis Presley had recorded “Jailhouse Rock” and where Mr. Schmitt in 1961 was the engineer for both the celebrated album “Ray Charles and Betty Carter” and Henry Mancini’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” soundtrack, indelibly featuring the Mancini-Johnny Mercer song “Moon River.”

Mr. Schmitt was nominated for a Grammy for “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” but he did not win. His first Grammy came the next year, for his work on Mancini’s score for the film “Hatari.” (He was also nominated that year for “The Chipmunk Songbook,” by Alvin and the Chipmunks.)

After five years at Radio Recorders, Mr. Schmitt was hired by RCA Studios, where he moved into production. He left RCA after three years to become an independent engineer and producer.

Those years were among his busiest as an engineer. In 2018, during an interview on “Pensado’s Place,” an online series about audio engineering, he remembered one two-day period.

“From 9 to 12 I did Ike and Tina and the Ikettes; we’d take a break, and from 2 to 5 I’d be doing Gogi Grant, a singer with a big band, and that night I’d be doing Henry Mancini with a big orchestra. The next day, Bobby Bare, a country record, and then a polka record.

“I hated polka music,” he added, “but what I’d concentrate on was getting the best accordion sound anybody ever heard.”

Mr. Schmitt began his career after leaving the Navy and continued working well into the digital age.Chris Schmitt

Mr. Schmitt kept working until recently, helping to shape artists’ sound well into the digital era. His most recent Grammy, in 2014, was for Mr. McCartney’s DVD “Live Kisses.”

In addition to his wife, Mr. Schmitt is survived by his daughter, Karen Schmitt; his sons, Al Jr., Christopher, Stephen and Nick; eight grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; his sister, Doris Metz; and his brothers, Russell and Richy. His previous three marriages ended in divorce.

In 2015, Mr. Schmitt received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Speaking at the unveiling of that star, the record producer Don Was said that Steve Miller had recently played him several new songs.

“I listened for a minute and I said, ‘Did Al Schmitt record this?’” Mr. Was said. “He was taken aback and said, ‘Yes, how did you know?’ I said, ‘Because your vocals sound better than I ever heard them before.’”

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Global Sound Reinforcement Markets Outlook 2021-2026 - Growing Convergence of PRO AV & IoT & Rising Demand from Corporates, Government & Institutions - PRNewswire

DUBLIN, April 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Sound Reinforcement Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global sound reinforcement market size was valued at USD 7.8 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 9.6 billion by 2026, representing a CAGR of 3.5%.

The sale of sound mixers, audio amplifiers, processors, and other related sound products affected due to the decline in the music industry in 2020.

The music industry has faced a high decline due to music publishing's resilience and social distancing measures. It bans large public gatherings, resulting in cancellations/postponements of live events and store closures. Unlike the earphones and headphones market, the global music industry expects to decline significantly, reflecting the tremendous effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The recorded music segment declined by around 8%, whereas the publishing market decreased by 4% in 2020. However, the market is likely to rebound with ease in restrictions and lockdowns and the implementation of COVID-19 safety measures. The demand for sound reinforcement equipment has majorly been concentrated in developed countries such as the US, Japan, the UK, Germany, and France.

However, developing countries in APAC such as India and China are witnessing increased penetration of sound reinforcement devices and observing high demand for digital AV equipment. The shipment of these machines has increased globally due to the launch of new product models.

Strong demand and increased end-user spending sentiments on music concerts and festivals worldwide are likely to boost the market's growth.

GLOBAL SOUND REINFORCEMENT MARKET SEGMENTATION

The global microphones market expects to reach over USD 3 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of approximately 4%. Upgrading and replacement of legacy systems in developed regions is propelling the growth of the microphones market. Further, new demand for microphones is mainly concentrated in developing markets, where economies are flourishing. Technological innovations generate new opportunities for vendors in North America and Europe and developed APAC economies. The outbreak of the COVID has affected the microphones market. The global pro speaker market by unit shipment is likely to reach 3,488 thousand units in 2026.

The growing music industry, the increasing demand for PA systems worldwide, and efficiently sound distribution at large venues such as worship places or stadiums are the major reasons for pro speakers' growth. The global audio/sound mixer segment is expected to reach approx. USD 1.3 billion by 2026. With increased music production and the growing nightclubs and DJ equipment market, the demand for audio mixers increases during the forecast period. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a massive challenge for the growth with restrictions imposed on domestic and international travel, limiting the need for sound mixers.

In 2020, the corporate segment dominated the market with over 26% and over 24% market shares in value and unit shipment. The corporates segment will grow owing to the growing demand for sound reinforcement and video conferencing solutions among corporates during the forecast period. Also, the increasing number of offices, geographic expansion of companies, and IoT integration in business workflow processes are the major driving factors boosting the segment's growth.

The large venues and events segment, which accounted for 17% and 18% shares in terms of value and unit shipment, respectively, in 2020, is the second-largest contributor to the market. The increasing number of live performances, growing numbers of music concerts and festivals, and the growth in the number of music tour shows by celebrities expect the segment to gain market share during the forecast period.

Retail and online stores are the two major distribution channels for sound reinforcement equipment in the market. Most of the revenue comes from the retail distribution segment. Retail stores are the foremost destinations for end-users purchasing this equipment.

Although selling these products online is increasing, a significant share of product distribution takes place through conventional pro audio and electronics stores/outlets. Sound reinforcement equipment producers harness these stores due to personalized customer services. Online sales contributed around 30-35% of the overall revenue in 2020. Sound reinforcement equipment and solutions are available to end-users through online OEMs' e-commerce portals and online direct-to-consumer stores.

The growth in online sales is set to increase by over 11-12% YOY during the forecast period. Online stores offer various options to choose from compared to retail stores. Moreover, over 95% of online retailers provide sound reinforcement systems at discounted prices than in pro audio and electronics stores and other brick-and-mortar distribution channels.

INSIGHTS BY VENDORS

Audio-Technica, Bose, Harman International, MUSIC Group, Sennheiser, Shure, Sony, and Yamaha are the key leading vendors in the market. Although the high-end market is concentrated, the market is moderately fragmented, with leading vendors accounting for 40% of the market share.

High capital investments and rapid technological advances are the major factors hindering new vendors' entry into the market. However, vendors are focusing on developing digital solutions, which are likely to boost new vendors' entry. Factors such as price and product quality are set to become significant competition factors among players to gain an edge over other vendors.

Further, the growth of players in the market depends on financial condition, GDP growth, and industry development.

The following factors are likely to contribute to the sound reinforcement market during the forecast period:

Market Opportunities & Trends

• Growing Convergence of PRO AV & IoT
• Emergence of Networked Audio Technology
• Growing Adoption in Educational Institutions
• Rising Number of Exhibitions, Conferences & Seminars
• Growing Popularity of Nightclubs & Bars In APAC

Market Growth Enablers

• Rising Demand from Corporates, Government & Institutions
• Growth in Live Performance & Music Industry
• Rising Number of Sports Events & Tournaments
• Growing Music Production & Recording Industry

Market Restraints

• Government Regulations - FCC Wireless Spectrum Auction
• Technical Hurdles Hamper Adoption of Wireless Microphones
• Acoustic Challenges Related to Pro Speakers
• Raw Material Price Volatility Affecting Vendor Margins

Products

• Microphones
• Pro Speakers
• Audio Mixers
• Audio Signal Processors
• Power Amplifiers
• Others

End-users

• Corporate
• Large Venues and Events
• Educational Institutions
• Government and Military
• Studio and Broadcasting
• Hospitality
• Others

Format

• Digital
• Analog/Non-digital

Distribution

• Retail
• AV System Integrators
• Pro Audio and Electronic Stores
• Pro Audio Dealers and Distributors
• Online Stores

Prominent Vendors

• Audio-Technica
• Bose
• HARMAN International (Samsung)
• MUSIC Group (MUSIC Tribe)
• Sennheiser Electronic
• Shure
• Sony
• Yamaha

Other Prominent Vendors

• ADK Microphones
• AEB Industriale (DB Technologies)
• Alcons Audio
• Galaxy Audio
• Apex Audio
• Biamp Systems
• Audio Engineering Associates (AEA)
• AUDIX Microphones
• Beijing 797 Audio
• Belden
• Beyerdynamic
• Blue Microphones
• Bowers & Wilkins (B&W)
• BOYA
• CAD Audio
• Carlson Audio Systems
• CELTO Acoustique
• CODA Audio
• CORDIAL
• Dynaudio
• D&B Audiotechnik
• Electro-Voice (EV)
• Extron Electronics
• GTD Audio
• HEDD - Heinz Electrodynamic Designs
• Heil Sound
• Hz Sound Systems
• InMusic Brands
• Klipsch Audio Technologies
• K-Array
• Lectrosonics
• Legrand
• Lewitt
• Liberty AV
• LOUD Audio
• MIPRO Electronics
• MXL By Marshall Electronics
• Nady Systems
• OUTLINE
• Pan Acoustics
• Powersoft Audio
• PROEL
• Pyle Pro
• Samson Technologies
• SE Electronics International
• Southwire Company
• Stewart Audio
• Vivolink
• Zaxcom
• Amadeus
• D.A.S. Audio

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/15u5jt

Media Contact:

Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

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New Report from Widex Underscores that Natural Sound Quality in Hearing Aids Enables Wearers to Seamlessly Participate in Everyday Life - PRNewswire

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., April 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Widex Inc. has published a survey that highlights the importance of sound quality in hearing devices and validates the company's philosophy that natural sound is the most important feature because it supports social participation in everyday life.

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Widex survey

"While hearing aids continue to evolve to include new features, we believe that quality of sound is and will always be central. Natural sound enables a hearing aid wearer to react to external stimuli – the sounds of the environment, the voices of family and friends, and more. This helps keep their minds active, and in turn, preserve brain function," said Laura Winther Balling, Evidence and Research Specialist at Widex. "This new report serves to further emphasize the role that a hearing aid's natural sound quality plays in this critical daily social participation."

The international survey included 101 experienced hearing aid users in seven countries including the United States, Canada, China, Germany, France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. Each participant was fitted with WIDEX MOMENT hearing aids and asked to rate their satisfaction with them in comparison to their own hearing aids from various brands.

Their responses suggest that high-quality sound better enabled their ability to participate in real-life moments and encounters. When asked how satisfied they are with their ability to participate effortlessly in everyday life, only 69% indicated that they can with their own hearing aids, while a whopping 90% indicated effortless everyday participation with the WIDEX MOMENT.

Overall, participants were reasonably satisfied with their own hearing aids at the beginning of the survey period, but after trying the WIDEX MOMENT, ratings of their own hearing aids significantly lowered. Their responses indicated that natural sound quality – which Widex is known for – is a key feature for overall hearing aid satisfaction.

"The fundamental purpose of hearing aids is to restore the ability to experience life, and this report showed how critical sound quality is to achieving that goal," Balling emphasized. "Unfortunately, according to recent studies, even slight hearing loss can result in social isolation, depression, anxiety and cognitive decline. Meanwhile, social factors have been shown to positively impact health outcomes. Being able to participate socially has serious implications for the health of the aging population – which is why a hearing aid's ability to provide natural sound is so important."

Widex is committed to providing the best sound experience possible. WIDEX MOMENT hearing aids use proprietary technologies to create a more perfect, natural sound that's uniquely and automatically tailored to each wearer's listening preferences and profile. Its PureSound™ ZeroDelay™ technology all but eliminates processing latency, resulting in a more natural sound without the "tinny" distortions associated with other hearing aids. Plus, its SoundSense Learn technology leverages artificial intelligence to create a more personalized sound experience adjusted to the wearer's listening environment.

To read the entire survey, visit The Hearing Review's article here. For hi-res graphics, click here.

About Widex
At Widex we believe in a world where there are no barriers to communication; a world where people interact freely, effortlessly and confidently. With sixty years' experience developing state-of-the-art technology, we provide hearing solutions that are easy to use, seamlessly integrated in daily life and enable people to hear naturally. As one of the world's leading hearing aid producers, our products are sold in more than one hundred countries, and we employ 4,000 people worldwide.

Media Contact:
Tom Terzulli
Account Executive
[email protected] 
212-481-3456 x11 

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Exxon posts a profit, snapping four-quarter loss streak - CNBC

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Exxon Mobil returned to profitability during the first quarter, beating top- and bottom-line estimates for the period, as the company recovers from the havoc wreaked on the energy sector by the coronavirus pandemic.

The oil giant earned $2.7 billion during the period. The company posted earnings per share of 65 cents, excluding items on $59.15 billion in revenue. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected the company to earn 59 cents per share on $54.6 billion in revenue.

In the first quarter a year earlier, the company lost $610 million as the impact of the coronavirus began to weigh. Last quarter, the company posted a $20.1 billion loss, its fourth straight quarter of losses.

Shares of Exxon were flat during premarket trading on Friday.

"The strong first quarter results reflect the benefits of higher commodity prices and our focus on structural cost reductions, while prioritizing investments in assets with a low cost of supply," Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said in a statement.

"Cash flow from operating activities during the quarter fully covered the dividend and capital investments."

Exxon's oil-equivalent production rose 3% quarter-over-quarter to 3.8 million barrels per day. The company said the winter storm that hammered the South cost the company $600 million across its businesses.

Energy is the top-performing S&P 500 sectors this year, and shares of Exxon are up 43% for 2021 through Thursday's close.

To combat lower oil prices over the last year, the company implemented aggressive cost-cutting measures. Throughout the downturn Exxon maintained its commitment to its dividend, which stands at 5.9%.

Chevron also said Friday it returned to profitability during the first quarter.

Board battle heats up

Exxon has faced pressure from shareholders to shake up its board. As a result, the company added three new board members, including activist investor and ESG proponent Jeffrey Ubben.

Ubben recently told CNBC that he believes Exxon is integral to a low-carbon future. "If you think about Exxon's role, it's to do the hard stuff, and you cannot get to net zero without doing the hard stuff. To use the existing infrastructure and capture the carbon is probably the least expensive and quickest way to net zero," he said.

But some, including activist firm Engine No. 1, believe Exxon hasn't gone far enough to ensure its place in a low-carbon world. The group has been targeting the oil giant since December, and has proposed its own slate of four new directors.

Earlier this week the firm said it won support from large pension funds, including CalPERS, CalSTRS and the New York state pension fund. Among other things, Engine No. 1 cites: failure to position ExxonMobil for long-term value creation, lack of capital allocation discipline and misaligned incentives.

D.E. Shaw was also targeting the energy company at one point, but Exxon's Woods said conversations with the firm have been productive.

"I think they've been fairly aligned with the discussions that we've had, and the direction that we've taken and today I'm not aware of any really air between ourselves or gap in terms of how we think we should move forward and what they think we should be doing," he said Friday on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Conversations have been less productive with Engine No. 1. Woods said the firm "wasn't particularly interested in engaging and understanding" how Exxon can grow shareholder value while transitioning to a low-carbon future.

"Frankly they're pushing us to wind down our investments, wind down the business, move into solar and wind where we don't really have a competitive advantage," Woods said.

The board vote will take place at the company's 2021 annual shareholder meeting on May 26.

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ZHU Brings His Signature Sexy, Provocative Sound To ‘Dreamland 2021’ - Forbes

Four North Carolina deputies involved in fatal shooting of Andrew Brown return to duty - Reuters

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Andrew Brown Jr., who was killed by law enforcement last week, poses with his daughter in an undated family photograph. Ben Crump Law/Handout via REUTERS

Four North Carolina deputies suspended over the fatal shooting of a Black man while trying to serve him with a search warrant have returned to duty after investigators found they never fired their guns, but three others who did will remain on leave, their sheriff said on Thursday.

Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten released the names of all seven deputies placed on administrative leave after the April 21 shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr., 42, in Elizabeth City, a riverfront town near the Virginia border.

Brown's family and their lawyers have accused the officers involved in the deadly confrontation of using unnecessary lethal force against someone who posed no threat and was attempting to flee, characterizing the shooting as an "execution."

They cited conclusions of a private autopsy showing Brown was shot in the arm four times through the front windshield of his car before he spun the vehicle around and was killed by a fifth gunshot to the head as he tried to get away.

The shooting, which sparked a week of protests, came a day after a Minneapolis jury returned a murder conviction in the closely watched trial of the white former police officer who killed George Floyd, a Black man, by kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes.

At a court hearing on Wednesday in Elizabeth City, District Attorney Andrew Womble disputed the Brown family's account of the shooting.

Womble said police video shows officers surrounding Brown's car and the vehicle backing up twice after a deputy tried opening a car door while others shouted at Brown to halt. Womble said deputies opened fire when Brown's car lurched forward and made "contact" with them.

Lawyers for Brown's family, along with Wooten and news outlets, have urged state investigators to release video footage captured by deputies' body-worn cameras and dashboard cameras.

But a judge on Wednesday denied petitions for immediate public disclosure of the video, while ordering investigators to allow Brown’s son, Khalil Ferebee, to view the footage within 10 days. Relatives were previously shown only a 20-second clip.

Wooten said Wednesday he was "disappointed" by the ruling. But on Thursday he issued a new statement saying investigators' review of the video showed that "four of the deputies never fired their weapons and deserve to be reinstated to active duty."

"More investigation is necessary into the three deputies who did fire their weapons and they will remain on administrative leave pending completion" of a criminal probe underway by the State Bureau of Investigation, Wooten said.

The three officers who remain suspended are deputy Robert Morgan, Corporal Aaron Levelly, and sheriff's investigator Daniel Meads, who signed the affidavit accompanying the search warrant that led to Brown's death.

According to that affidavit, posted online by the sheriff, Brown was known to local law enforcement as a drug dealer suspected of being a source of crack cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine in and around Elizabeth City.

Narcotics investigators had carried out two “controlled” purchases of drugs from Brown by a confidential informant in March and obtained a search warrant for his home and cars seeking additional evidence of drug-dealing operations, according to the affidavit.

(This story corrects date of Andrew Brown’s shooting to April 21.)

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Bears Land Four on All-Southland Teams - UCA Sports

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FRISCO, Texas – The Southland Conference announced its yearly awards for women's golf on Thursday. The Central Arkansas women's golf team had four golfers named to all-conference teams. Elin Kumlin was named to the first team. Camila Moreno and Tania Nunez were named to the second team, while Pim-Orn Thitisup was named to the third team.
 
Kumlin earned First-Team All-SLC after a stellar season. This is her first all-conference award. She led the Bears with an average round of 74.27 and a score relative to par of 2.40. She won the dual against Missouri State to start the season. She finished tied for fourth at the Southland Conference Championship. She posted five top-10 finishes during the season.
 
Moreno picked up her first all-conference honor with a second-team nod. She led the Bears at the Southland Championship with a third-place finish. She finished fourth in the dual against Missouri State and collected two top-10 finishes. She played 22 rounds throughout the season. She compiled an average round of 75.59 and a relative to par score of 3.72.
 
Nunez earned her first all-conference selection with her second-team accolade. She led the Bears with seven top-10 finishes. She tied for fourth at the Callaway Gardens Invite. At the conference championship, she tied for 10th. Over the course of the season, she produced an average round score of 75.42 and posted a relative to par mark of 3.57.
 
Thitisup was named to her first all-conference honor with a third-team nod. She tied for sixth at the Bama Beach Bash. She tied for 20th at the Southland Championship to ensure all of the UCA golfers finished inside the top-20 for the tournament. She notched an average round of 76.31 and had a score relative to par of 4.45 across the eight tournaments.
 
From the Coach – Head Coach Natasha Vincent
"To have four of our seven student-athletes receive all-conference awards is not only rewarding, but a great reminder of the path we are on and the opportunities that lie ahead. We couldn't be prouder to have Elin leading this team. Her first-team award was very deserving. Elin and Tania's fall seasons were spectacular. The spring was a grind, but these two continue to steadily get more and more out of their games. Our youngest duo, Camila and Pim, are studs. I can see their improvement season to season. I foresee a very tight lineup next season and a strong presence in the conference. I'm blessed to have this crew for a few more years!"
 
Player of the Year: Hanna Alberto, Sam Houston
Freshman of the Year: Jennifer Herbst, Sam Houston
Newcomer of the Year: Carolina Rotzinger, McNeese
Coach of the Year: Brandt Kieschnick, Sam Houston State
 
First Team

Name	School	Class	Hometown
Elin Kumlin	Central Arkansas	So.	Kinna, Sweden
Elise Parel	Houston Baptist	R-Fr.	Kingwood, Texas
Hannah Alberto*4	Sam Houston	Sr.	Kingwood, Texas
Jennifer Herbst*	Sam Houston	Fr.	Perth, Australia
Zulaikah Nasser	Sam Houston	Fr.	Kuala Lampur, Malaysia

 
Second Team

Name	School	Class	Hometown
Camila Moreno	Central Arkansas	Fr.	Bogota, Colombia
Tania Nunez	Central Arkansas	So.	Guadalajara, Mexico
Ellen Nicholas	UIW	So.	Angmering, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Leah Alberto	Sam Houston	So.	Kingwood, Texas
Viera Permata Rosada	Sam Houston	Fr.	Jakarta, Indonesia

 
Third Team

Name	School	Class	Hometown
Pim-Orn Thitisup	Central Arkansas	Fr.	Bangkok, Thailand
Lauren Mancha	UIW	Gr.	Spring Branch, Texas
Alessia Trebbi-Tindall	Lamar	Fr.	London, England
Lucie Charbonnier	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Fr.	Peron, France
Kellsey Sample	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Monument, Colo.

 
⁴ Four-time All-Conference selection
* 2021 Southland Championship top finisher
 
 
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Virginia Business wins four VPA awards - Virginia Business Magazine

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Series Preview: Blue Raiders Set for Four-Game Series vs. No. 16 LA Tech - GoBlueRaiders.com

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Coming off a series win over UAB in Murfreesboro, the Middle Tennessee baseball team will remain at home for a four-game series vs. No.16 Louisiana Tech. This will be the first time since April 9, 2019 (Vanderbilt) that Reese Smith Jr. Field will play host to a ranked opponent. 
 
Games 40-43 (Murfreesboro, Tenn.): Middle Tennessee (21-17-1, 10-9-1 C-USA) vs. No. 16 LA Tech (28-11, 14-6 C-USA)
» Friday, April 30 | 6 PM CT | vs. LA Tech
» Saturday, May 1 | 1 PM CT & TBA | vs. LA Tech (Doubleheader)
» Sunday, May 2 | 1 PM CT | vs. LA Tech
 
Fan Attendance
» Attendance will be limited to 10 percent fan capacity. Attendees will also be asked to practice social distancing and wear a mask at all times while inside Reese Smith Jr. Field.
 
About the Blue Raiders
» MT right-hander Aaron Brown is tied for No. 5 nationally with 87 strikeouts this season and is rapidly nearing the top 10 for most strikeouts in a single season as a Blue Raider. With the rest of the regular season schedule still remaining, Brown lacks four punch outs of tying Jack Laverty's 1973 total of 91 for tenth most in a season. Atop the single season strikeout list is former No. 3 overall draft pick and Blue Raider Hall of Famer Dewon Brazelton who fanned 154 batters in 2001. Only seven Blue Raider pitchers have struck out 100 or more batters in a season (Dewon Brazelton, Zac Curtis, Dave Richardson, Chris Mobley, Chris Crabtree (2), John Williams, and Steve Sonneberger).  
» David Zoz and Trent Seibert linked up to throw the eighth one-hitter since 1976 in the series finale vs. UAB (4/25). Seibert started the game against the Blazers and tossed the first four innings allowed a hit and a pair of runs before turning the ball over to David Zoz in the fifth. Zoz entered the game and was lights out from the jump. The senior threw five innings, didn't allow a hit or a walk, and struck out five on his way to a team-high sixth win of the season.   
» With two outs, a full count, and down a run in extra innings, freshman Briggs Rutter hit a walk-off home run down the left field line to give the Blue Raiders a 5-3 win over the Blazers (4/23). Briggs' home run was his first career hit as a Blue Raider and it came in his first career start. The freshman went on to start the next two games for MT, hitting .300, slugging .600, and raking in a team-high six runs in the weekend series vs. UAB. 
 
All-time vs. LA Tech
» The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with MT, 14-11, dating back to April 20, 2001.
» The last time the Blue Raiders and LA Tech played was March 22-24, 2019. The Bulldogs took the series 2-1 in Murfreesboro and outscored the Blue Raiders 16-10 over three games.

Scouting The Bulldogs
» Six Bulldog batters with 20 or more games played are batting over .300 on the season. Hunter Wells leads the team with a .371 batting average and 59 hits in 2021.   
» LA Tech ranks in the top three of C-USA in 10 offensive categories including batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, runs scored, hits, RBI, doubles, triples, home runs, and total bases.    
» The Bulldog pitching staff is led by Jonathan Fincher. The red-shirt junior has a perfect 6-0 record and a C-USA best 1.79 ERA. Fincher also leads the conference in both opponent batting average (.172) and innings pitched (65.1).    
 
Next Time Out
» Following the series against LA Tech, the Blue Raiders will head to Hattiesburg, Mississippi for a four-game series against Southern Miss. The series is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 7^th.

For more on the Blue Raiders, follow us on Twitter (@MT_Baseball), Facebook (Blue Raider Baseball) and Instagram (@MT_Baseball).
 

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Film Club: ‘Sensations of Sound’ - The New York Times

At age 20, Rachel Kolb received cochlear implants that gave her partial hearing. In virtual reality, experience how music felt for her, before and after. Then consider: What does music feel like to you?

For those who are deaf, music is not just about sound. At age 20, Rachel Kolb received cochlear implants that gave her partial hearing. In virtual reality, experience how music felt for her, before and after.James Merry for The New York Times.

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

In the seven-minute virtual reality video “Sensations of Sound: On Deafness and Music,” Rachel Kolb describes what music felt like for her before and after she received cochlear implants that gave her partial hearing. She discovers that, “Music is not just about sound. Music is also about the body. About what happens when what we call sound escapes its vacuum and creates ripples in the world.”

After being asked, “Can you hear the music?” throughout her life, she says, “I now think a better question might be, ‘What does music feel like to you?’”

How would you answer Ms. Kolb’s question?

Students

1. Watch the short film above. While you watch, you might take notes using our Film Club Double-Entry Journal (PDF) to help you remember specific moments.

2. After watching, think about these questions:

• What moments in this film stood out for you? Why?

• Were there any surprises? Anything that challenged what you know — or thought you knew?

• What messages, emotions or ideas will you take away from this film? Why?

• What questions do you still have?

• What connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience? Why? Does this film remind you of anything else you’ve read or seen? If so, how and why?

3. An additional challenge | Respond to the essential question at the top of this post: “What does music feel like to you?”

4. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

5. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

6. To learn more, read “Sensations of Sound: On Deafness and Music.” Rachel Kolb writes:

When I got a cochlear implant seven years ago, after being profoundly deaf for my entire life, hearing friends and acquaintances started asking me the same few questions: Had I heard music yet? Did I like it? What did it sound like?

I was 20 years old then. Aside from the amplified noises I’d heard through my hearing aids, which sounded more like murmurs distorted by thick insulation swaddling, I had never heard music, not really. But that did not mean I wasn’t in some way musical. I played piano and guitar as a child, and I remember enjoying the feel of my hands picking out the piano keys in rhythm, as well as the rich vibrations of the guitar soundboard against my chest. I would tap out a beat to many other daily tasks, too.

For several years, I became privately obsessed with marching in rhythm when walking around the block, counting out my steps like a metronome: One, two. One, two. Watching visual rhythms, from the flow of water to clapping hands and the rich expression of sign language, fascinated me. But in the hearing world, those experiences often didn’t count as music. And I gathered that my inability to hear music, at least in the view the people I knew, seemed unthinkable.

---

Want More Film Club?

• See all the films in this series.

• Read our list of practical teaching ideas, along with responses from students and teachers, for how you can use these documentaries in the classroom.

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Biden’s Speech Offers an Alternative Vision for Democrats to Love, After Four Years of Trumpian Fantasy - The New Yorker

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In his first speech before a joint session of Congress, President Biden argued for the power of government to shape America for the better.Photograph by Chip Somodevilla / Getty

Candidate Joe Biden campaigned as the centrist exemplar of a return to pre-Trump normal, but President Joe Biden has moved swiftly to enlarge the scope of his ambitions far beyond the status quo ante. On Wednesday night, the ninety-ninth of his Presidency, Biden offered a striking vision of a country renewed by an activist government. Harkening back to the early-twentieth-century liberalism of his party forebears, Biden envisioned a new age of “once in a generation” federal investments in everything from child care to electric cars, while promising benefits as varied as free community college and an end to cancer. To anyone who remembered last year’s Democratic primaries, the President’s first address to a joint session of Congress sounded as if Elizabeth Warren, and not Biden, had won.

For just over an hour, Biden dazzled with the prospect of an American utopia—a stark contrast to the dystopian reality of our plague year just past. He spoke of “the largest jobs plan since World War II,” universal preschool, of “meeting the climate crisis,” and of the “chance to root out systemic racism that plagues America”; he called for gun control and immigration reform and cutting the prices on prescription drugs. He pushed for raising the minimum wage and equal pay for women and family and medical leave. Beyond a populist promise of higher taxes on wealthy corporations and people making more than four hundred thousand dollars a year, Biden did not mention the multi-trillion-dollar price tag that would come with his proposals. Nor did he talk about the remote chance of passage that so much of this agenda has on Capitol Hill, where, despite the general popularity of many of his proposals, gridlock prevails and the political reality is a fifty-fifty Senate. For the past four years, Donald Trump used his speeches to sell alternate realities to his supporters. Here, at last, was an alternate reality that Democrats could get behind.

In a response, Tim Scott, the Republican senator from South Carolina, called Biden’s address nothing more than a “liberal wish list,” a blunt summation about which it was hard to disagree. In many ways, there was a notable convergence in how Democrats and Republicans saw Biden’s speech: as a breathtakingly ambitious set of proposals to use government as an instrument of social and economic transformation—an unabashed progressive platform unseen from a President in my lifetime. Republicans hated it; Democrats, for the most part, loved it. The Drudge Report christened him “Biden Hood,” in honor of a program it summed up as “tax the rich, give to the poor.” “We cannot stop until it’s done,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the leader of the Democratic Party’s activist left wing in the House, enthused in a tweet. “Keep going.” Few were entirely sure how Biden, who has long been seen as an avatar of genial Beltway centrism, had got to this place.

Part of the answer, of course, is the mess that Biden inherited, an interlocking set of crises unleashed or worsened during Trump’s disastrous Presidency, from the coronavirus pandemic and attendant economic damage to the attack by Trump and his supporters on the legitimacy of the election, which Biden called “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.” Another part of the answer is undoubtedly that Biden himself, after spending the better part of five decades in Washington, is a believer in the power and possibility of government to shape America for the better. Politically, Biden is best known as Uncle Joe, a humble son of Scranton who rode the Amtrak home to Delaware at night—but that overlooks perhaps a more relevant truth about the forty-sixth President, which is that he is fundamentally a creature of Washington: a senator for thirty-six years, and Vice-President and thus president of the Senate for eight years after that. “It’s good to be back,” he said, smiling broadly, as he opened his address on Wednesday night, in the building he knows so well. Congress is where he began his national political career, and now he has staked his Presidency on getting things done there, too.

Joe Biden is the sixth President whose tenure I have covered. All of them, until now, operated in the shadow of Ronald Reagan. Three of these Presidents—the two George Bushes and Trump—were Republicans, and each resorted, at various times, to Reagan’s formula when speaking about the role of the federal government: as the problem, and most definitely not the solution to what ailed the country. Two were Democrats—Bill Clinton and Barack Obama—and while both often gave stirring perorations about the achievements of Democratic Presidents such as F.D.R. and L.B.J., they, too, were shadowed by Reagan’s message when it came to outright embrace of big government, fearing to do so, politically, and often settling instead for incremental and more achievable change. Even the Obama health-care program that would ultimately bear his name represented a split-the-difference compromise between liberals, who wanted a single-payer national-health-care system, and more cautious Democrats, who feared that was never going to be politically achievable without some interim steps.

Biden may yet close out his Presidency with a record that has more in common with Obama’s or Clinton’s than with Roosevelt’s, but his early decisions suggest that he is starting out by making a fundamentally different set of choices. The result was the most avowedly liberal call to action I have ever heard a President make from that congressional podium. Unlike the longtime socialist Bernie Sanders, whom Biden beat in the Democratic primaries, he does not call himself a revolutionary. Unlike the self-styled populist Donald Trump, whom Biden beat in the general election, he does not call himself a disrupter. Were Congress to enact his proposals, Biden would end up as both.

Transformation, however, requires the passage of legislation, not just words. Washington is still Washington, as Biden knows better than anyone, and if you don’t have the votes you don’t have the votes. Key Democrats as well as Republicans are skeptical of his costlier plans, and, so far, no G.O.P. votes have materialized for any of his major initiatives. At a hundred days, the politics are less transformed than Biden’s rhetoric might suggest: in addition to the stubborn facts of a tied Senate and a House where the Democratic majority hangs on a handful of votes, the public remains as polarized and partisan toward this President as it was toward the last one. Biden’s approval ratings, so far, are a straight-line inverse of those for Trump: about fifty-three per cent support Biden, which is just a percentage point or two higher than his share of the popular vote, last November. Biden’s policies, however, are more popular: the $1.9 trillion COVID-relief bill that was passed in the early days of his Administration has more than sixty-per-cent support, as does his over-all effort to fight the pandemic. Raising taxes on large corporations, as Biden proposes, is overwhelmingly popular, as are other ideas he offered in his address—making for a kind of poll-tested, policy-wonk populism that stands in contrast to the pitchforks-and-rage variant that Trump relentlessly peddled. Republican members of Congress may not like it, but Biden claims that bipartisan support from the public ought to count as bipartisanship, too.

It’s early days yet, but this is where Biden’s true genius as a politician may lie: he has turned his likability into a moderating asset, suggesting that an ideological agenda when offered by a relatively non-ideological salesman does not sound all that threatening. Which, come to think of it, is pretty Reaganesque. Much like the Democrats during Reagan’s Presidency, Republicans today are struggling with how to attack a President who seems like such a nice guy. Just about everything else about American politics has changed in the four decades since then, however, including the brute realities of Congress. Understanding that, Biden appealed to his former colleagues not with transformational rhetoric but with the pragmatism of the Senate-committee chairman who he was for so many years. He said, “It’s within our power to do it,” and “We can do it,” and “Let’s get it done.”

In reality, he probably will not get it done, at least not all of it, but is there anything all that wrong with another hour or so of political fantasy in Washington? At least this time it was not the Trumpian variant of grievance and division. Biden made no mention of culture wars or admiring references to brutal dictators; he did not gaslight the nation about “criminal illegal aliens” or interrupt his speech to give one of the country’s highest honors to a man famous for disparaging “feminazis.” On the eve of his hundredth day in office, Joe Biden never publicly uttered the name Donald Trump, but being the un-Trump means Biden has already accomplished the first and most important promise of his Presidency.

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