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ABOUT THE BRIXTON GROUP
We are a values-based professional technology services firm with over 150 years of combined experience in the technology industry. We're deeply engaged in the successful pairing of the right people to the right projects, and we attribute our national presence to the referrals we've received through current and past clients and candidates.
National footprint operating in over 28 states.
Four straight years listed on Inc. Magazine's Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America.
Three straight years listed on Charlotte's Fast 50.
"When people find the ideal setting to express their talents, the possibilities are infinite…"
We believe that when people find the ideal setting to express their talents, the possibilities are infinite. This is why we exist. We are inspired and guided by a greater purpose than profit.
ANDREW SOBEL, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Andrew founded The Brixton Group in 1998. He is a seasoned entrepreneur providing leadership and vision for the entire Brixton team as well as overall strategic direction for the growth of the firm. Andrew's leadership has fostered The Brixton Group into a national-award- winning technology services firm in the midst of changing markets and intense competition. His virtual model approach to recruiting has attracted a high-caliber employee base and has been imitated by competing firms across the nation. Prior to founding Brixton, Andrew founded several other firms, including iReadyWorld, The Young Professional Society and Ego Free Couture, and he is recognized throughout the U.S. as an authority on the virtual recruiting model. Andrew earned his degree from Cornell University and lives in Charlotte.
PHILIP BERMAN, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Philip is a seasoned entrepreneur providing leadership, operational and strategic direction of the firm. He assembles and mentors a high caliber team and focuses the organization on driving exceptional value to clients. Philip was the CEO of several other firms, driving revenue and profits, while leveraging synergistic industry transactions. Philip earned a degree from Furman University, where he played varsity tennis.
BRENDAN SOBEL, VP OF RECRUITING & RETENTION
Brendan leads and manages the day-to-day efforts of the Brixton sourcing, recruiting, and retention teams. He is a veteran of the staffing industry and sets the tactical and strategic direction of these mission critical functions. Responsibilities include Best Practice definition, Standard Operating Procedures creation, Key Performance Indicators analysis, Work Flow Automation, and Infrastructure improvements. His knowledge and expertise in identifying, recruiting, and developing top talent & relationships are the epitome of Brixton's core competency. Brendan's entrepreneurial spirit, relationship-based approach to business, and fluid management style enables him to mentor and develop a seasoned on-shore and remote recruiting team responsible for all vendor and candidate relationships. Brendan has a degree from the University of Vermont and lives in Rockville Centre, NY.
SEAN SLATER, VP OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & DELIVERY
Sean is an accomplished leader and entrepreneur with responsibility for all aspects of Brixton Client Development and Delivery within the United States. He provides insight, guidance and advice derived from his technology consulting experience to drive success in strategy, approach, process and delivery. Sean also oversees quality programs to ensure the successful delivery of results to Brixton's Clients. Prior to his work with Brixton, Sean was an Accenture Communications, Media and Technology executive based out of the Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Washington DC offices. His workforce experience was in Consulting, Application & Infrastructure Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing (on & off shore) with engagement sizes ranging from $5M to $60M. He possesses deep technical, functional and process experience across the entire technology delivery lifecycle. Sean has an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Penn State University. He is currently based in Philadelphia, PA.
JOANNE HOUGHTALING, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES & OPERATIONS
Joanne joined The Brixton Group as the Director of HR and Operations in January 2015. She has 16+ years of diverse human resources and management experience. Joanne has extensive experience collaborating with leaders, mobilizing change, developing and implementing talent programs in complex-highly-matrixed organization. She is action oriented and motivated to delivery high quality HR Services. Prior to joining The Brixton Group, Joanne was part of the Talent Supply Chain team at a Fortune 500 Consulting company where she managed the talent supply process for Procurement Operations in North America. Joanne earned her Bachelor's Degree from the University of Phoenix in Business Management and resides in New Jersey
COPYRIGHT 2019, THE BRIXTON GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


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Rico Roman
Sport: Sled Hockey
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Currently Resides: Bush Prairie, Washington
Birthdate: February 4, 1981
Social Media: Twitter: @RicoSled23; Instagram: @RicoSled23; Facebook: RicoRoman
Toyota Vehicle: Toyota Tundra
Paralympic History: 2014, 2018
Competition Highlights
Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, gold
Paralympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, gold
Three-time world champion (2012, 2019, 2021)
Six Para Hockey Cup titles (2012, January 2016, December 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
10 seasons with the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team (most recently 2021 – 2022)
About Rico Roman
The son of Connie Roman, Rico Roman has two brothers, Benito and Carlos. Roman is a retired U.S. Army Staff Sergeant who had his left leg amputated above the knee when he was wounded by an improvised explosive device while serving his third tour in Iraq in February of 2007.
As a Purple Heart recipient, he was introduced to sled hockey in 2008 by Operation Comfort, an organization dedicated to assisting injured U.S. service personnel at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. In addition to sled hockey, Operation Comfort introduced Roman to hand cycling and wheelchair basketball.
Within a year of his amputation, Roman completed two bike marathons and rode 150 miles in a day to raise money for multiple sclerosis research. In 2009, he joined his first major league hockey team and has been hooked ever since. Roman made his debut on the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team in 2011 and went on to secure a spot on his first Paralympic team in 2014. He lit the cauldron during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Warrior Games.
Roman is married to Ela and the couple has two children, Juliet and Raul. When not on the ice, he likes to work on cars, hunt, play wheelchair basketball, hand cycle and swim. His favorite NHL team is the Seattle Krakens and favorite NBA team is the Portland Trail Blazers.
Four Golds, Four Silvers and Infinite Inspiration from Team Toyota's U.S. Paralympic Athletes
Team USA, Team Toyota's Rico Roman Wins Third Paralympic Medal at Paralympic Winter Games
Chasing Dreams: Team Toyota Gears Up for the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Kahak (; also known as Kahak-e Bālā) is a village in Aq Kahriz Rural District, Nowbaran District, Saveh County, Markazi Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 288, in 104 families.

References

Populated places in Saveh County

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Get updates on important news and legislation from the Education Committee.
Senator John Flanagan (2nd Senate District) today joined with his Senate Republican colleagues at a press conference in Albany to call for the complete elimination of the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA) to protect our public schools and taxpayers. The Conference proposed a plan that would return $1 billion to schools across the state by accelerating the complete elimination of the GEA in the 2015-16 state budget.
"As the Chair of the Senate Education Committee, my number one priority has been, and will continue to be, the complete elimination of the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA). Since regaining control of the Senate in 2011, the Senate Republican Majority has worked to restore more than $1.6 billion in funding that was lost to schools under the GEA. Today, we're making it clear that we will continue to work together to make record investments in education funding with our primary focus on eliminating the devastating effects of the GEA," stated Senator Flanagan.
The GEA was first imposed on New Yorkers as a budget gimmick in 2010 by former Governor David Paterson and the Democrats who controlled the Senate and Assembly. Senator Flanagan and the entire Senate Republican Conference voted against the GEA because it created severe cuts to the bottom lines for public schools and harmed taxpayers and students.
Since it was first approved, Senate Republicans have been leading the effort to abolish the GEA and deliver major funding increases to help mitigate the GEA's impact on education. The GEA cuts have been reduced by 62 percent – from a high of $2.6 billion in the 2011-2012 budget to $1 billion in the 2014-15 budget – to help restore billions of dollars in state aid to schools.
Last year alone, the Senate Republicans successfully negotiated an additional $602 million – 86 percent more than the Governor proposed and nearly seven times more than what the Assembly proposed – to help schools overcome the GEA challenge created by Democrats. That funding represented a major step towards lessening the GEA's burden on school budgets, but there is still more than $1 billion in GEA budget cuts anticipated for the upcoming fiscal year.
The Governor's Executive Budget proposes an overall $1.1 billion increase in education funding over last year. However, that increase is not specifically tied to the elimination of the $1 billion needed for this year's GEA.
The Senate Majority is currently preparing its own budget proposal which will include revenue estimates for the next fiscal year, reviews of all new initiatives, and sources of funding that can be found within the Executive proposal. The conference will be proposing a budget that uses the majority of the $1.1 billion increase proposed in the Executive budget – up to $600 million – and is working to identify the sources for the additional $300-$400 million needed this fiscal year to eliminate the GEA once and for all.


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Police investigate Hopewell Valley Central HS…
Police investigate Hopewell Valley Central HS student who asked, 'Who wants to get lynched?'
Screenshots of a Hopewell Valley High School student's racially charged Snapchat messages.
Another screengrab of high school student's Snapchats.
Baye Kemit said a Hopewell Valley high school student was talking about his son when he sent this Snapchat message to a group of friends.
According to this screenbrab, this teen sent out a Snapchat asking friends who wanted to get "lynched."
Screengrab of Hopewell Valley Regional School District Superintendent Thomas Smith's letter notifying parents of the racially charged Snapchat flap that happened this week.
By Isaac Avilucea | iavilucea@trentonian.com | The Trentonian
PUBLISHED: December 19, 2018 at 10:21 a.m. | UPDATED: August 19, 2021 at 1:22 a.m.
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP – A high school student has been suspended after sending racially charged Snapchat messages this week to a group of friends in which he used the N-word, asked the group if they wanted to be "lynched" and called a fellow black student a "monkey," the father of the student who was targeted told The Trentonian.
Hopewell Valley Regional School District Superintendent Thomas Smith in a letter to parents this week acknowledged that a Hopewell Valley Central High School student posted "disturbing and hurtful" messages on social media while outside of school.
Hopewell Township Police is involved with the investigation of the posts that included "several CHS students," the superintendent said, promising the school district will improve race relations at the mostly white school, which was previously the focus of racial discord over a decision to serve stereotypical foods to honor Black History Month.
"The actions of this student do not reflect the values of our district or our community," Smith, who couldn't immediately be reached for comment, wrote in the letter. "The decision by a student to post these disturbing and hurtful images underscores the need for us to continue our efforts to improve equity and cultural competency in our schools, and our community. … We are committed to working collaboratively to raise awareness so incidents like this do not occur again."
While the letter didn't name the students who were involved in sending or receiving the hateful Snapchat messages, the father whose son was "targeted" by the racially offensive posts identified the sender as a 16-year-old junior at Hopewell Valley Central High School.
Baye Kemit, who spoke with The Trentonian by phone from Atlanta, said his son Azikiwe Kemit, also a junior at the township high school, didn't directly receive the messages from the teen who posted it.
But Azikiwe learned the kid who posted it was talking about him to others over Snapchat when another student who received the messages forwarded them to him, his father said.
"When you're a young black man, you just have to develop thick skin," Baye Kemit said about how his son is dealing with the situation. "He's taking it all in stride. He wants to get this information out. He feels the school sweeps it under the carpet."
To prevent that from happening, Baye Kemit posted the four Snapchat messages online and condemned them in a Facebook live video.
The messages, copies of which were obtained by The Trentonian, included selfies of the teen – one with him wearing a dark hoodie and glasses – with the messages, "Sup n-? Who wants to be lynched?' "F-k n-" and "n-s."
The one that Baye Kemit said specifically targeted his son included a picture of a television with the words "Azikewe is a monkey" written over the screen.
Underneath, the teen wrote, "I love this show," according to the messages.
Azikiwe Kemit told The Trentonian his friend also showed him another screen shot of a conversation in which his peer suggested he "can maybe pick my cotton for me."
"This is about our people and what they have to deal with," Baye Kemit said in the video, alluding to other instances of racism he says his son has experienced while attending the high school.
"He said 'what' up n-? Who wants to get lynched?' Me and all my boys from the Wilbur section. We all want to get lynched. Let's all meet on Route 31 and figure out how we gonna handle this. I'll stand in the back 'cause y'all minors. I won't touch nobody I promise you."
Azikiwe Kemit struggled to point to a reason the student may have disliked him. He remembered having a single class with the student and said they never had problems in the past. As far as Azikiwe Kemit knew, the student was a "regular dude," quiet and reserved, so he was shocked to learn of his racists remarks.
"I wouldn't call him a friend, but now I'd call him an enemy," Azikiwe Kemit said. "He's a messed-up young man."
Baye Kemit said he has been contacted by school district officials who urged him to "tone down the tenor" of his Facebook posts.
He said he also received two calls from the teen's father but he seemed unconcerned about how the messages impacted Azikiwe.
"The father was just totally oblivious, 'My son is not a racist. What are you talking about?' That's a default answer. 'So what do you define as a racist?' 'Well I don't know. What I know is it's not like my son is out here trying to kill [people].' … This is a wake-up call for white America for white privileged Americans, to dig down deep and understand their own privilege," Kemit said.
When reached for comment, the teen's father said, "You're going to write your story no matter what I say, correct? I don't want my side to be told."
Baye Kemit, who once ran the independent Garvey School in Trenton, has no plans to stop talking about the racial injustice.
"I guess the fact that I was sharing it [on social media]," he said. "The fact that I was talking about it, they don't want egg on their face. They don't want their school name shared," Kemit said.
He had already been in contact with Jonette Smart, the president of the Trenton NAACP and with a representative from the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office who informed him the office was looking into the matter.
Baye Kemit said his son's mother also filed a police report with Hopewell Township Police believing the messages could be construed as cyberbullying.
Chief Lance Maloney confirmed in a statement that his office and the county prosecutor's office is investigating "a possible bias incident involving students at the high school," but he couldn't say much more "due to the incident involving juveniles."
No one has been charged.
Smart said she planned to meet with school officials this week to discuss the incident.
"It's something we're not going to tolerate," she said. "It's not a joke. We really have to start talking about the racial issues and why does it seem to be coming out more and more today. We shouldn't be at the level of racial disharmony that we face today. Instead of it getting better, it's becoming worse."
Baye Kemit said he wants vindication for his son, who has become accustomed to hearing the N-word spewed "every day" at school to the point where he had to stop himself from fighting another student a couple weeks ago during a separate racial flap.
During that one, Azikiwe Kemit said he stood up for a friend who had been approached by a white student and told that the white student didn't want "you n- sitting at this table."
Describing the toxic environment at the high school, he said he has seen racial epithets scrawled in marker on the bathroom walls.
Baye Kemit said school officials are often reluctant to act because they don't have "proof."
But this time, he said, the proof is all over the web.
"We want this kid expelled," Baye Kemit said. "We don't want this brushed under the carpet. If you're 16, you're supposed to be accountable for your actions. I think that this young man, what would help the young man, is for him to understand his actions so he doesn't because some white privileged American who is oblivious to other people's realities. If he can learn this at a young age, this will help him and his friends."
Azikiwe Kemit hopes this week's racially charged episode helps bring an end to any division at the high school. He wants to start a support group for black students at the high school.
While he acknowledged the student apologized to him, he said everything is too fresh to accept right now.
"I don't think you can change racism," Azikiwe Kemit said. "I don't know, that's a hard question. That's learned behavior. I guess you could say he's a stone-cold racist. It's not like being vegetarian, 'Oh, I don't do that anymore.' I don't think I can ever forgive him. That's really deep."
Isaac Avilucea | Reporter


Microsoft today announced the much-awaited availability of Clear Linux OS for Intel Architecture in the Azure Marketplace. Clear Linux OS is a free and open source Linux distribution software built from the ground up for cloud and data center environments and built to complement the performance and value of Intel architecture.
With the announcement, Azure becomes the first public cloud service to host Clear Linux OS. Microsoft currently supports a number of Linux distributions on Azure, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, CentOS, Oracle Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise, and openSUSE.
Azure is also launching these additional features with the Linux implementation.
An improved VM, intended to serve as a starting point for those wandering into the waters of open source software.
A container image that includes the Docker container runtime.
A sample solution image for developing machine learning applications, pre-loaded with familiar open source tools.
By allowing for the separation of system defaults from the user configuration, Clear Linux aims at simplifying maintenance and deployment which becomes essential as the firm's infrastructure scales. It also pairs well with bundles, an effective way of distributing software that allows for scenarios like this system update with new kernel and reboot in just a few seconds.
This announcement is apparently the need of the hour as Microsoft recently came out with numbers that show almost one-third of all Azure users are on Linux instead of Windows. The availability of Clear Linux in Azure Marketplace helps add more open source options to the portfolio of teams and organizations that are looking to accelerate business value and increase agility in the cloud.
This move is also is an important milestone of the collaboration between Microsoft and Intel as the two tech giants worked together throughout 2016 to bring the Azure Linux Agent to Clear Linux, and collaborated in kernel and system improvements focusing on improving boot times and performance.


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'We are killing ourselves.' Meet the Chicagoans preaching peace on violent streets
Tyronne Muhammad and others chant at a vigil for Vernado Jones Jr. asking for change from both the community itself and from city officials. Muhammad advocates that the members and specifically men in the community must be the first to enact change within their communities if they want to see an end to the gun violence. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Anthony Vazquez
For three individuals, exposure to gun violence has inspired them to create change in their communities. A pastor dedicated to helping families cope with the loss of a loved one, an ex-con hoping to keep young men and women off the streets by giving them work opportunities and education, and a boxer wants to right the wrongs that he contributed to when he was younger by providing a place for mental health for those who live through violence.
CHICAGO — More than 50 friends and family members have gathered, forming a prayer circle in a parking lot on the corner of 93rd and South Halsted streets, in Washington Heights. In front of a convenience store, a lone balloon blows in the wind — a memorial to a man who was shot to death inside on Aug. 18 at 2:30 p.m., when two gunmen entered the convenience store and began firing. Oyedele Olupitan was 42.
A group of drummers play traditional African music on djembes and the chatter of people greeting and catching up fills the air. Some are dressed in traditional African attire and a man waves the Ghanaian flag on the outskirts. The music quiets and Pastor Donavon Price walks into the center and begins to pray.
"We pray also today that we can remain holding on to the Oye in all of us, to the Oye in the community, the Oye in our neighborhood, the Oye at the dinner table, the Oye taking their children from the laundromat safely. The Oye that knows that all the glitters ain't gold out there. So we better dig for some gold on our own."
A lone balloon is tied to a guardrail in front of the convenience store where Oyedele Olupitan was shot and killed the afternoon of Aug. 18, 2020. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Tyronne Muhammed listens to potential investors speak about the possibility of building up the basement level of the building to classrooms where students could potentially learn trades such as electrical, construction and auto work on Wednesday, July 15, 2020. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Olumide Olupitan and his family are comforted as they mourn his brother's death over an open casket at the funeral home on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Basement of Ex-Cons for Community Service and Change where Tyronne and other members of the organization hope to build out an area of classrooms where students could potentially learn trades such as electrical, construction and auto work in hopes of taking away some of the allure of street life. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Pastor Donavon Price holds his arm out in prayer during a prayer circle in the south side of the city in a vacant parking lot at a strip mall. During the summer months Pastor Donavon Price holds weekly Monday prayers to pray for the victims of gun violence and their families. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Olumide Olupitan looks down on his brother at the visitation for Oyedele Oluptian, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Oyedele's hand lies in rest under a piece of clothing placed by Olumide on the day of visitation that is based on Nigerian tradition that his father once wore. Oyedele's family shared its proud history and roots in Nigerian tradition and to Olumide there was nothing more fitting than having his brother have those as a reminder. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Olumide Olupitan and his grand nephew Tacari Zarell Wright Jr. point to the sky outside the funeral home, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. Olumide now feels a sense of responsibility to lead his nephew on the right path as he grows older now that his brother isn't around to be the elder figure in Tacari's life. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Shadows of tree branches on the ground outside the funeral home where services for Oyedele Olupitan were held on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Family of Oyedele Olupitan cry and grieve during the service for his death on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Pastor Donovan Price reads an excerpt as a last prayer for Oyedele Olupitan after the casket has been closed and services have ended. Price grew up in the same neighborhood as the Olupitans and had a close relationship to the family. Oyedele's death had a more personal feeling than other funerals that he services, but to him the commitment and emotional support he provides is the same regardless of personal connection. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Derrick Durr stands in front of a vacant lot where his family used to live in Englewood. Hardship led to the loss of the house but luckily a family member was able to obtain the property rights. He hopes to be able to buy the lot back and build up his own home and live on the same block he grew up on, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Derrick Durr wraps his hand prior to a sparring match during training. Though an escape from street life, Durr's back and forth from the streets to boxing had a toll on his potential career. The stress, anxiety, and PTSD of the streets and his friends caused him to stop boxing for months or years at a time as he dealt with the consequences of street life. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Derrick Durr spars with a training partner during a workout at the Ring of Hope. Durr hopes to use his boxing experience and community engagement as a way to reach young kids in his community to hopefully provide mentorship and to steer them away from life on the streets. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Tyronne Muhammad and others chant at a vigil for Vernado Jone Jr. asking for change from both the community itself and from city officials. Muhammad advocates that the members and specifically men in the community must be the first to enact change within their communities if they want to see an end to the gun violence. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
A poster with photos of 14-year-old Vernado Jones Jr. who was one of eight people shot near 61st and Carpenter shortly after 11:30 p.m. on the Fourth of July held up at a vigil where members of the family and activists ask for help identify the shooter and pleaded for change in the community to prevent further gun violence in the community. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Tyronne Muhammed poses for a portrait in front of an SUV he has acquired for his fleet of vehicles that will patrol violence prone areas in Chicago, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Nancy Wardlaw-Williams, aunt of slain 14-year-old Vernado Jones Jr. who was one of eight people shot near 61st and Carpenter shortly after 11:30 p.m. on the Fourth of July. Members of the family and activists asked for change from the community and help from city officials. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Pastor Donovan Price prays inside a prayer circle in the parking lot in front of the convenience store where Oyedele Olupitan was shot and killed on August 18th. The prayer circle was formed as an ode to the Olupitan's Nigerian roots, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. Price knew the Olupitans as a young child and grew up in the same neighborhood and the prayer service was more personal than the usual calls Price responds to but he shared that he gives the same effort and care to all calls he responds to. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Olumide Olupitan holds balloons in the air after a prayer circle and vigil for his younger brother Oyedele Olupitan. The two brothers didn't always see eye to eye but the death hurt Olumide , Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Price has presided over such grief before. In service with Operation Wake Up, which brings together local police departments, various activists and community leaders to rally against violence in the streets of Chicago, Price began to lead prayers on behalf of victims like Olupitan. Through this work, he was exposed to stories of gun violence and became dedicated to help families cope with their loss.
"Some of the parents that I've worked with still talk about the fact that I was there before they were, you know; in some cases, I was there and they never were, you know, they'd never got to the scene," said Price. "One mom found out the next morning that her daughter had been killed but I was there and saw her daughter dead in the car, you know, prayed for her daughter at that level and then of course there's a feeling of comfort to know that. Yeah, my daughter died and I wasn't there to take care of my baby but there's this guy. He prayed for her."
Chicago experienced a surge in violence this past summer. As of Nov. 23, there have been 700 homicides in the city, compared to the 503 homicides in 2019 — a confluence of various factors such as COVID-19 and its impact on communities, and the raised tensions between police and residents in response to George Floyd's May death in Minneapolis.
Pastor Donavon Price holds his arm out in prayer during a prayer circle in the south side of city in vacant parking lot at a strip mall. During the summer months the pastor holds weekly Monday prayers for the victims of gun violence and their families. Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
City and state initiatives are attempting to approach the problem from different directions. Newly appointed Police Superintendent David Brown announced the creation of two new units to combat violence and build community relationships. The office of the mayor allocated 7.5 millions dollars in funding to various anti-violence organizations in April 2020. But residents are dissatisfied with the lack of progress, spurring various community activists to pursue creative ways to help curb gun violence in Chicago.
Still, perceived inaction on the part of local leaders created a gap in what residents are expecting and what is actually happening on the ground. Well-known organizations such as My Block My Hood My City, GoodKids MadCity and a multitude of others are taking action against the violence by lobbying for better opportunities, especially educational opportunities.
The ripple effect of gun violence is perhaps its most pervasive quality. Price was never a stranger to the violence in his communities, but visiting a family at their home in Englewood, in 2016, challenged him to ask how he could better serve his neighbors.
In July of 2016, 6-year-old Tacarra Morgan survived a shot to the stomach. She was sitting on her porch when her house was riddled with bullets. Eye witness reports indicate that two passing vehicles unleashed gunfire at one another. A bullet hit Tacarra and several more rounds hit her house and the neighboring homes. Price met with the family to offer his support but the remnants of the violence nagged at him.
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"I was able to go and pray with their family at her house while she was in the hospital, and notice the holes in the windows and walls of their house," said Price. "Afterwards I felt God saying to me, 'You know what, the event was really kind of cute but that's not gonna help.'"
Price now dedicates many sleepless nights to the streets after receiving phone calls or text messages notifying him that someone has been shot. He goes to the scene of the crime and prays, sometimes finding the victim's family there, sometimes alone. He helps the family in any capacity he can, whether it be with funeral arrangements or burial rites, anything that comforts the family. The work takes a toll; engaging with grief and violence regularly takes a mental and physical toll on Price.
"My life is this and so 24 hours a day it is constantly affecting me," explains Price. "You're on your way finally home and you think, 'Okay now I'm home,' and you start thinking about how bad off the pillow is going to be. But for me that stops at a certain level, even in coming home because it's like, 'Well I hope I can stay in bed all night.'"
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Olumide Olupitan, Oyedele's older brother, grew up in a household that strongly believed in its Nigerian roots. Their father Pa David Olupitan was the founder of The Africa International House in Chicago and served on the African Chamber of Commerce. Though they didn't always see eye to eye as brothers they shared a bond.
"I was the first one to show him a lot of things. I was the first one to inspire him, you know, the first one to protect him in the streets, the first one to kick his ass if he f—ed up, if you understand what I'm saying. I was a real big brother," said Olupitan.
His brother Oyedele wasn't the intended target; he represents the innocent. The tragedy of living in these communities, Olupitan said, is that such violence is ever-present.
"That is not supposed to happen man, not there in a place that in the community you grew up with, with people you are familiar with, a place that you're familiar with, you know, that's the last place that you will feel that you might lose your life. Yeah. And the chances are, just like that, anywhere that any shooter decides to shoot."
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In Englewood, Tyrone Muhammed stands vigil with the family of Vernado Jones, a 14-year-old boy shot and killed on the Fourth of July. Family and friends gathered to remember Jones' short life and to speak out against another life lost to gun violence.
But Muhammed would not have always been able to speak out for others. In 1997, he was staring down two decades and a year in prison at 27 years old, sentenced for killing 21-year-old gang member Robert Jones in retaliation for an earlier attack at a housing complex. He served his full 21 years and was released in 2017.
"Once arriving to prison, my first two years was about 'woe is me' self pity type stuff, trying to figure out, suicidal in nature," explains Muhammed. "I'm not doing 20 years. I can't even see that, I can't fathom the depths of 20 years and in a 9×12 cell. I think I want to run or jump over the gate and make them shoot me."
He turned to education after seeing a constant flow of young men entering the prison system.
"I got tired and grew tired of watching 18- to 24-year-old young men coming in and out of prison, 20, 30, 40, 60, 80 years and never knowing or never thinking that they will have an opportunity towards life," he said.
Muhammed walked out of prison into a different world. The city had changed drastically. The projects were gone, trips to downtown kept coming up with surprises as he discovered new buildings and developments with each visit. Englewood's demographics had shifted and he was slowly grasping the intricacies of the smartphone. At the same time he was grappling with trying to understand why the only thing that remained the same was the neglect of the communities where he grew up.
"The whole city seemed to have changed [except for] our communities, ours. So it's more demoralized, it's more blight, it's more abandoned buildings with the exception of the gentrified areas…So, I'm seeing those dynamics and I'm looking like, 'Wow it's worse than when I left.'"
Muhammed wanted to mentor young men but he realized that first he would have to take to the streets to diffuse the heated tensions between gang members by talking them out of retaliation. Then he grew to find a way to provide young men with an alternative to selling drugs. Providing them with alternative education, work experience and volunteering in hopes of guiding them onto a path of nonviolence.
"I got tired of young men as I say coming in and out, and the recidivism rate like a revolving door," explains Muhammed. "You know what, we got to change this, because these people, it's not that they don't want to know or don't want to listen. It's just that we haven't presented them an opportunity to be served."
Taking what he learned during his time in prison and his own understanding of how to give direction to young men in his communities, Muhammed founded Ex-Cons for Community and Social Change (ECCSC).
"ECCSC was formed on the basis of not waiting for outsiders to do for us what we are more than capable of doing for us. And it starts with us, we perpetrated as I said the violence, it's on us to clean it up."
At the age of 10, Derrick Durr witnessed his neighbor get shot in the stomach as Durr dribbled a basketball in West Englewood.
The threat of violence was ever present as he grew up, normalized. Schoolyard cliques translated to rival gangs, and Durr felt his upbringing primed him for committing violence. For him, it was never a choice.
"Just growing up poor, my idol was the dope dealer because I can't touch Michael Jordan even though how great and a beautiful athlete and a well-spoken person he was. I can't touch him," explained Durr, "But the guy making 4-5 thousand dollars a day? He going to talk to me. That's who I idolized, that's who I can touch, that's who can talk to me back."
He refers to his childhood as growing up in a warzone where there was little choice but to become a soldier. And just like a warzone the toll on his mental health was significant. By the age of 16, Durr had lost several friends to gang violence. He became emotionally distant and the trauma of loss, violence and poverty buried him deep in a dark hole he could see no way out of.
"I was in the shower one day, and I had a cat," explained Durr, "The cat knocked over a chair and it made a pop. When it made that pop I broke down in the tub and I cried for two hours. Because you're always on the defense out there on the streets."
Durr began to look for an outlet to help him handle his anxiety, which brought him to a more controlled form of violence: boxing. Durr started boxing in his early twenties, well past the usual starting age for boxers looking to become professionals, but he was dedicated and motivated. He won two Golden Gloves belts and competed at the Olympic trials qualifier.
Boxing wasn't an immediate way out, and Durr still found himself pulled into violent behavior on the streets, but boxing is what ultimately gave him the tools to move on from that life. Now he is looking for ways to spread that message and to confront his past and the trauma affecting his mental health.
Having lived through it himself he understands the need to help children and young adults cope with what they witness and experience. Durr wants to motivate children to seek alternative forms of inspiration and goals in life but he also wants to ensure that there is safe space for victims of trauma in Englewood.
"We need a crisis counselor on hand for our children, there is no other way to go," said Durr. "Just to reboot the brain while we still got them, because when I turned 24, I had nothing to do with my life, I didn't expect to see 21. So when I was 24 I'm on the street corner hanging out, you know, doing whatever because I didn't expect to get this far. We need to reboot the kids' brain, motivate them, inspire and get them some crisis counseling. These kids have seen a lot and it's overlooked. Their trauma and healing is overlooked as well."
Durr is currently on probation relating to a weapons charge. There is also a restraining order issued against him by Kane County Circuit Court, based on sworn testimony of physical abuse and harassment. When asked, Durr denied any claims of physical abuse.
At the visitation and funeral, Oyedele's body and the casket are surrounded by flowers. His brother Olumide requests a piece of Nigerian clothing that belonged to their father be placed in the casket with Oyedele.
"We have so much PTSD right now, unconsciously. People don't even know what it is. So the plan is to let them know that lives can be lost forever, including yours. Or maybe your loved one like I've just suffered, right? But know that for you to send somebody to the morgue you should visit the morgue yourself as a shooter, right?" said Olumide. "See some of the damage that you do right? Then maybe listen to a little Bible scripture right? And then go talk to somebody for real for real. That is somebody that's your neighbor or family member that just took a serious loss that might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Feel the emotion but harness the energy and understand that we [are] pretty much killing ourselves."
Oyedeles' daughter, Jasmine, looks over her dead father with her three-year-old son, Tacari, in her arms. As the family gathers to mourn, Olumide reaches out to his great-nephew, innocent of what brings them here today.
Throughout the day, Tacari glances at Olumide and then looks back at the casket. "That's you," he said, confusing his great-uncle with his dead grandfather in the casket. Olumide smiles and takes him everywhere he goes; they play outside, they try to do push-ups and take photos. Olumide looks at Tacari and vows to make sure his nephew doesn't follow the wrong path in life.
"You can follow this path and be a part of crime in the streets. Or you can be a person who witnesses crimes, and those that witness are not always therefore a part of. But they are in the same place at the same time so I want him to have the right perspective about who he is, in the streets of Chicago. Because they are going to change by the time he gets to be of age. But true history and knowledge always stays the same. And if he knows the knowledge of his grandfather, being killed by being in the wrong place at the wrong time then maybe that might have an effect on how he moves."
Olumide Olupitan holds balloons in the air after a prayer circle and vigil for his younger brother Oyedele Olupitan. The Olupitan's Nigerian history influenced their lives as they grew up. The prayer circle accompanied by a local drumming circle was a representation of that culture. Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. (Photo by Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Anthony Vazquez covers the city's south and west sides for the Chicago Sun-Times. This dispatch is part of a series called "On the Ground" with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.
Editor's note: The story was updated on Dec. 4 to include recent allegations of violence against Derrick Durr.
The stakes are high. If there's anything this year has taught us, it's that the need for truthful, unbiased, on-the-ground journalism is more vital than ever.
By strengthening journalism, we strengthen democracy. We can only restore what feels so broken with the truth. With a shared set of facts about our communities.
With your help, GroundTruth will field over 300 local and global reporters to restore journalism from the ground up in 2021. From now until Dec. 31, our challenge donors will triple your donation. Will you join us and make a gift today?
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Attorneys will gather on Wednesday morning for a hearing outside the presence of the jury.
Defense version was titled "informational instruction on commitment procedure"
Tjq, I do believe they have an uphill battle. That being said, they have their own experts and jurors may listen to them. Can't really imagine who else they could bring...guards from the jail when he flipped out months after the event...but who else could help their case?
Defense argues that the standard instruction doesn't "convey just how difficult it is and what the procedures are for someone to be released from custody following a finding of NGRI"
and the smoke and mirrors begins for the DT.
@Tammy if I were in JH situation I would flip out too.
No judge can argue with a previous supreme court ruling.
Is this lasting all day?
It seems like even the judge has a pretty good idea that JH will be found NGRI . He's really satisfying the DT's concerns about the jury understanding JH will stay hospitalized upon such verdict .
stacy, it ain't over til it's over. These are just a part of the instructions to the jury.
Honestly , I didn't even think this was going to go to trial at all. I think a lot of people were surprised about that.
What's with Arapahoe County? What have you got in the water there?
Phil, I love your calm yet interesting delivery style. You also do a great job of explaining everything in a way that makes sense. Thank you for what you do!
Thanks Phil. My spelling is awful.
I agree he is sick but he knows the difference between right and wrong. so frustrating to spend all this money when he is guilty!
will 7news air the verdict live on TV when its decided?
Phil, obviously you wanted to pursue law as a second career.
@stacy--if JH is found not guilty by reason of insanity there is no guarantee whatsoever that he would be hospitalized for life. If he were eventually determined to be "cured" and "not a danger to himself or others", he would legally have to be released back into society.
thanks Phil :) and i second Lori's sentiment...great job!


text:
Warner Classics' final release for Beethoven's 250th anniversary year is a charming programme of chamber music with flute. The four works, all dating from the earlier years of the composer's career, were recorded in June 2020 in Berlin's Pierre Boulez Saal by a distinguished group of musicians led by Daniel Barenboim, here in his role as pianist, and flautist Emmanuel Pahud. Joining them are two of Pahud's colleagues from the Berliner Philharmoniker, the orchestra's First Concertmaster Daishin Kashimoto and it's Principal Viola, Amihai Grosz, and two players with links to the Wiener Philharmoniker, it's Principal Bassoon Sophie Dervaux, and Silvia Careddu, formerly it's Principal Flute.
Artist: Emmanuel Pahud
1. Violin Sonata No. 8 in G Major, Op 30 No. 3 in G Major: I. Allegro Assai (Arr. Pahud for Flute ; Piano)
2. Violin Sonata No. 8 in G Major, Op. 30 No. 3: II. Tempo Di Minuetto Ma Molto Moderato E Grazioso (Arr. Pahud for Flute ; Piano)
3. Violin Sonata No. 8 in G Major, Op. 30 No. 3 in G Major: III. Allegro Vivace (Arr. Pahud for Flute ; Piano)
4. Serenade in D Major, Op. 25: I. Entrata. Allegro
5. Serenade in D Major, Op. 25: II. Tempo Ordinario D'un Menuetto
6. Serenade in D Major, Op. 25: III. Allegro Molto
7. Serenade in D Major, Op. 25: IV. Andante Con Variazione
8. Serenade in D Major, Op. 25: V. Allegro Scherzando E Vivace
9. Serenade in D Major, Op. 25: VI. Adagio
10. Serenade in D Major, Op. 25: VII. Allegro Vivace Disinvolto
11. Duo for 2 Flutes in G Major, Woo 26: I. Allegro Con Brio
12. Duo for 2 Flutes in G Major, Woo 26: II. Minuetto Quasi Allegretto
13. Trio for Piano, Flute and Bassoon, Woo 37: I. Allegro
14. Trio for Piano, Flute and Bassoon, Woo 37: II. Adagio
15. Trio for Piano, Flute and Bassoon, Woo 37: III. Thema Andante Con Variazioni ^1.16


text:
Q: C# Using a single event for increment and decrement I have a recursive function and two events (Going_in and Coming_out).
I use the Going_in event to increment a progressbar every time the function calls itself and I use Coming_out to decrement the progressbar every time the function returns from recursion.
Now i have to combine Going_in and Coming_out into one event.
How can I do that?
Thanks in advance!
Here is part of the code.
Form1.cs
   .....
   void ProgressBar_increment(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        progressBar1.Value++;

    }
    void ProgressBar_decrement(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        progressBar1.Value--;
    }
   public void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        initialize();
        label3.Visible = false;
        int wait_time = telltime();
        int number = reading();

        Facto mth;

        mth = new Facto(label3, wait_time, progressBar1);

        mth.Going_in += new EventHandler(ProgressBar_increment);
        mth.Coming_out += new EventHandler(ProgressBar_decrement);

        int result = mth.Factorial(number);

        string display = result.ToString();

        label3.Visible = true;

        label3.Text = display;
    }

Facto.cs
public event EventHandler Going_in;
public event EventHandler Coming_out;

........

public int Factorial(int number_to_calculate)
    {

        int Result;

        if (Going_in != null)
        {
            Going_in(this, new EventArgs());
        }

         System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(wait_time);
        if (number_to_calculate == 0)
        {
            if (Coming_out != null)
            {
                Coming_out(this, new EventArgs());
            }

            return 1;

        }
        else
       {
           Result = (number_to_calculate * Factorial(number_to_calculate - 1));
           if (label_for_output != null)
           {
               label_for_output.Visible = true;
               label_for_output.Text = Result.ToString();
               label_for_output.Update();
           }
           else
               Console.WriteLine(Result);

       }

        if (Coming_out != null)
        {
            Coming_out(this, new EventArgs());
        }
        System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(wait_time);

        return Result;
    }

A: That is what the EventArgs are for.
Put some variable in the EventArgs object (or create your own for this purpose) from where you can determine whether to increment or decrement (enum maybe?)
I.e. (possible pseudo code alert)
if (Going_in != null)
{
   CustomEventArgs cea = new CustomEventArgs();
   cea.Type = Type.Decrement;
   Going_in(this, cea);
}

And in your event do something like:
void ProgressBar_DoProgress(object sender, CustomEventArgs e)
 {
    if(e.Type == Type.Increment)
       progressBar1.Value++;

    if(e.Type == Type.Decrement)
       progressBar1.Value--;
 }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


DESCRIPTION: Well crafted Carnelian Chip Strand with Seven Chakra Tree of Life Charm attached. Carnelian is orange Chalcedony, a crypto crystalline quartz. It is an ancient stone with a rich history of use in many cultures. You will find these refreshing and energizing to use. Its purposes include being used in meditation or even something to hang in your rear view mirror. You will receive the typical item shown.
SIZE: Size of strand is about 4 inches in diameter. Charm is 1 1/2 inches in length.
USES: Carnelian brings us orange, the color of joy and friendship. Joy is a pure emotion, an elusive one, but a heartfelt one. Often as people grow older, they lose the capacity for experiencing pure joy. It can be a simple delight or a deep, lasting feeling. If something seems to be missing but you can't really describe it, perhaps a bit of orange mixed in your daily life is needed.
Carnelian is an ancient amulet of luck and has a long association with Virgo. It was reported to help staunch the flow of blood from a wound, and to protect from the Devil. All in all, a powerful amulet.
Carnelian is a Seeker Transformer Crystal. As a talisman, Carnelian an ancient talisman of luck. It drives away evil, will move a man to love and brings women hope and comfort in pain. The wearing of Carnelian is recommended by the Lapidario of Alfonso X published in 1881 for those who have a weak voice or are timid in speech. A famous imam, Jafar taught that this stone would bring satisfaction to the desires of any who wore it.
In modern times, Carnelian is a talisman of happiness, joy, and family togetherness. It celebrates physical pleasures.
With its orange color, this stone is the color of the true birthstones of those born at the end of summer (August 22–September 22). The passion of the red ray has an almost multiplicative effect in the orange ray as it combines with the happy elements of gold.
Carnelian is the ancient stone associated with Virgo.
Place on your hand her own gem true, Carnelian."
The Egyptians used Carnelian to symbolize the love of Isis. Medallions of Carnelian were made for the deceased to assure her support in the afterlife. Carnelian is also perfect for devotions to Ceridwen, the Welsh Mother, and Knowledge Goddess.
Ancient medical texts discuss using carnelians to check the flow of blood. The Europeans found it to be a protection from the Devil. It cures envy.
Carnelian is associated with the Second Chakra, the Sacral Chakra. The Sacral Chakra is located below the naval and above the pubic bone at the front of the pelvis. It controls the flow of energy and is the center of gravity of the body. It is the center of the Life Force of the body.
Carnelian has Fire energy and is used in the south area of a home or room. Fire elemental energy is the energy of enthusiasm, warmth, brightness, illumination and activity. It is Yang in nature.
Carnelian in the ancient text is noted to derive its powers from the Sun and from Venus. Also called Odem, in ancient Egypt hieroglyphic texts from The Book of the Dead were engraved on amulets of carnelian. Modern writers find that Carnelian has the power to build confidence and increase our zest for life. It builds courage and strength of purpose. If you seek the power of Isis, and the power of the Sun to build your self confidence and find ways to achieve your potential, use a carnelian.


text:
Jalpaiguri child trafficking case: CID files chargesheet against 7 accused
The CID on Wednesday filed its first chargesheet in a Jalpaiguri court against seven people, including a suspended BJP youth leader, in connection with the child trafficking racket it had busted in February. Sources in the agency said the investigation is still on and that there was sufficient evidence against those chargesheeted.
"Seven people have been chargesheeted, including Juhi Chowdhury," ADG (CID) Dr Rajesh Kumar told The Indian Express. Chowdhury, who was the general secretary of BJP's Jalpaiguri Mahila Morcha, has been accused of helping the traffickers using her "political influence". Her father, Rabindra Narayan Chowdhury, was a BJP state committee leader and a party district unit chief. Both were removed by BJP after their name cropped up in the case.
The seven accused have been chargesheeted under IPC sections 370 (5) (offence involving trafficking of more than one minor), 420 (cheating), 467 and 468 (forgery), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (tampering with evidence) and various sections of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The names of two top BJP leaders had also come up during investigation, but they have not been named in the first chargesheet. "They haven't been named but investigation is on. It is mentioned in the chargesheet that the accused were using their political influence. We will be able to proceed against them only when their role is clear," another official told The Indian Express.
Chandana Chakraborty, who was chairperson of the NGO Bimala Sishu Griho, Sonali Mondal, its chief adoption officer, Chakraborty's aide Manas Bhowmick, former District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) of Darjeeling Mrinal Ghosh, his wife and DCPO Jalpaiguri Sasmita Ghosh and Darjeeling Child Welfare Committee member Debasish Chanda are among the seven who have been chargesheeted.


text:
Searching for Bird Life in a Former 'Ocean of Forest'
Andrea Morales Rozo, who teaches biology at the Universidad de los Llanos in central Colombia, guided the team at the nets, from which she skillfully extricated birds unharmed. Ms. Morales Rozo has been studying the blackpoll warbler, a species that migrates between the Amazon and Canada; she was part of a group that recently compared museum specimens and field-caught birds and learned that the warbler's northward range had shifted by nearly 400 miles in 45 years.
Dr. Cuervo, the expedition leader, offered calm, fatherly support to those at the processing table. It's not always obvious how best to describe a bird's colors, for example, and second opinions were often requested. Was a wing "verde café," greenish brown? Or was it "verde olivazo," olive green? Was a female bird's brood patch, the bare skin that warms the eggs, still smooth or becoming wrinkly?
MOR-001 struggled in Ms. Soto's hand as she passed it to her colleague, Jessica Díaz, a field biologist hired for the expeditions. The bird was photographed and logged. Ms. Díaz labored to extract a tiny amount of blood from its jugular vein with a syringe, expressing the drops into a vial of alcohol. She then prepared herself to euthanize it with rapid cardiac compression, using fingers to apply firm pressure over the bird's heart. With this technique, small birds pass out within seconds and die in about half a minute. Large birds are anesthetized.
Ms. Díaz held MOR-001 under the table so as not to have to watch; her colleagues did the same whenever their turn came to sacrifice a bird. "This is the not-fun part," she said, softly.
A few in the group, including Ms. Soto, avoid sacrificing birds, although they believe in the necessity of scientific collecting and participate in the process. "I think it's hard on all of us," said Ms. Soto, whose high, mellifluous voice gave her a certain birdlike aura. "But it's really hard on me. It just stabs me through the heart." On this expedition, Ms. Soto assumed other jobs on the assembly line: cutting samples of pectoral muscle to drop into liquid nitrogen, calling out colors of beaks and feathers, gingerly tagging a leg.
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Davenport is the largest city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County; it is also the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population estimate of 382,630 and a CSA population of 474,226, making it the 90th largest CSA in the nation. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk War stationed at nearby Fort Armstrong. According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 99,685 (making it Iowa's third-largest city). However, the city is currently appealing this figure, arguing that the Census Bureau missed a section of residents that would place the total population over 100,000, and indeed, even the Census Bureau's own estimate for Davenport's 2011 population is 100,802.
Located approximately half way between Chicago and Des Moines, Davenport is on the border of Iowa and Illinois. The city is prone to frequent flooding due to its location on the Mississippi River. There are two main universities: Saint Ambrose University and Palmer College of Chiropractic, which is where the first chiropractic adjustment took place. Several annual music festivals take place in Davenport, including the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, The Mississippi Valley Fair, and the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival. An internationally known 7-mile (11 km) foot race called the Bix 7 is run during the festival. The city has a Class A minor league baseball team, the Quad Cities River Bandits. Davenport has 50 plus parks and over 20 miles (32 km) of recreational paths for biking or walking.