Month: May 2025

ATLANTA, May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) today announced the next chapter of its Black culture product, UATL, with a new paid tier that will offer members expanded access to events, content and discounts designed to build community and connection.

Launched in September 2024, UATL has built a community membership program and an engaged social media following through distinct journalism, unique perks and exclusive events.

Today, UATL introduced a new “supporting member” program for those who want to connect more deeply with all things Black culture. For $5 a month, supporting members get unlimited access to all articles on UATL.com, early invites to UATL events, the ability to bring a guest to select events and access to exclusive discounts at Scotty ATL, Just Loafn, Seed Atlanta, Trap Museum, Breakfast Boys and more. This adds to UATL’s existing free member benefits: a weekly newsletter, three monthly articles, and select event invitations.

UATL is a key part of the AJC’s plan to transform from a storied daily newspaper into a modern media company. AJC Editor-In-Chief Leroy Chapman Jr. said it’s been exciting to see how Atlanta has welcomed UATL into the fold.

“For the last several months, we have consistently heard from members asking: How can we help this community grow?” he said. “This is a natural next step that will help us deepen our connection to the community and expand our contribution to this culture, which continues to shape the world.”   

Starting today, supporting members can sign up to receive:

• Unlimited access to every article on UATL.com. Enjoy all UATL has to offer from 404ward a signature series that recognizes the people and brands moving Atlanta forward to thought-leading content like “Atlanta: America’s Black Mecca?” a new series exploring the reasons and justifications behind the city’s moniker.
• Early invites to UATL events. Member events are designed to connect you with the culture, including movie nights, suite parties and happy hour connections. They sell out, so getting early access (and a plus-one) is key.
• Perks and discounts that help support local and Black-owned businesses.
• Ticket giveaways to Atlanta’s top sporting events.
• One bonus account with a separate login to share.

Membership Rates

• Supporting Membership is $5 a month or $49 a year
• Special Founding Member Offer is $39 a year for a limited time.
• Get the combined UATL+AJC subscription for $11.99 a month.
• Visit UATL.com to explore available plans

About The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the most essential and engaging source of information for metro Atlanta. With approximately 6 million monthly unique visitors to our digital products and platforms and a growing digital subscriber base, the AJC serves one of the most dynamic, diverse and influential cities in America. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises Inc. For more information, visit http://www.ajc.com. 

Media Contact
Shumuriel Ratliff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Shumuriel.Ratliff@coxinc.com

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SOURCE The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

‘This historic report marks the first time a third-party has verified that another source has been more accurate and more effective in predicting hurricanes and their impacts than NOAA’s National Hurricane Center’ — AccuWeather Founder and Executive Chairman Dr. Joel N. Myers.  

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — A new study conducted by Kantar, one of the world’s leading marketing data and analytics companies, has found that AccuWeather provided the most accurate and most effective hurricane forecasts during the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, outperforming the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and all other known sources.   

“We are very gratified by these results, which further support our mission of saving lives and protecting property,” said AccuWeather Founder and Executive Chairman Dr. Joel N. Myers. “This historic report marks the first time a third-party has verified that another source has been more accurate and more effective in predicting hurricanes and their impacts than NOAA’s National Hurricane Center.” 

Key Findings: 

In 2024, AccuWeather hurricane forecasts consistently outperformed those from the NHC and other sources, with storm track predictions averaging 6.2% greater accuracy overall and 8.9% for U.S. landfalling storms. Landfall location forecasts were 8.6% more accurate on average, while landfall intensity forecasts showed a substantial 37.8% improvement. These forecasts were issued an average of 19 hours earlier and extended 25 hours farther into the future—rising to 31 hours in advance on average for U.S. landfalls. Additionally, maximum wind intensity forecasts were on average 4.0% more accurate overall and 4.4% more accurate for storms hitting the U.S. 

This Superior Accuracy™ and detail of AccuWeather’s hurricane forecasts means people have extra time to prepare and take protective action with greater understanding of the severe weather threats. For example, people and businesses who receive warnings further in advance have an increased window to seek shelter, evacuate or secure property. Clearer communication of the nature, severity, timing and location of the threat explained in a way that is easy to understand and act on leads to improved outcomes, such as lives saved, injuries reduced and property damage minimized due to better-informed decision-making.  

For businesses, more advance notice and better communication translates to better safety for employees and customers, minimized reputational harm and liability, maximized efficiencies, reduced costs and possibly even increased profits.    

“As we enter into the 2025 hurricane season, this analysis by Kantar confirms what the emergency managers, businesses, government agencies and millions of individuals who use the AccuWeather Hurricane Service already know: AccuWeather is the gold standard for the most accurate and actionable hurricane forecasting to keep people better prepared and safer,” said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter. 

Porter said the important foundational work of the National Hurricane Center should in no way be disregarded.  

“The agency provides a vital life-saving service. Our work complements this effort and state and local agencies and companies that need the most accurate forecast of hurricane tracks and impacts ranging from storm surge to rain flooding to tornadoes to wind and water damage, we are not discouraging the use of the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service forecasts, but if you want the best and access to expert consulting meteorologists that you can speak to at any time 24/7, AccuWeather is the answer.” 

AccuWeather CEO Steven R. Smith said, “AccuWeather’s unique blend of advanced AI and machine learning with six decades of human expertise is key to successfully delivering and communicating risk-based forecasts focused on real-world impact to help people and businesses make the best weather-impacted decisions often with more advance notice than any other source enabling people to be better prepared and stay safer.”  

Storm-Specific Highlights:  

• Hurricane Beryl – AccuWeather accurately predicted Texas landfall 30 hours before the NHC and was the first to forecast severe rainfall and flooding.
• Hurricane Francine – AccuWeather was the only known source to correctly and consistently forecast landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
• Hurricane Helene – AccuWeather was the only known source to accurately predict that Helene “could cause a flooding disaster” and be “a once-in-a-generation storm” for parts of the southern Appalachians.
• Hurricane Milton — AccuWeather was the first known source to predict that Milton “could bring damaging winds and flooding to Florida, including areas recovering from Helene.” In addition, AccuWeather was the first known source to say, “rapid intensification is possible.”
• Unnamed September Storm – AccuWeather was first to warn of significant impact, issuing its first forecast track 26 hours before NHC and all other known sources. The storm was never named by the NHC.

“This is the latest in a long history of examples of AccuWeather’s Superior Accuracy™, and we are proud of AccuWeather’s track record forecasting severe weather as well as helping people to make the best decisions every day,” added Porter. “Our expert meteorologists are poised and ready for the upcoming hurricane season right around the corner.”  

Hurricane season officially begins June 1 and continues through Nov. 30. To learn more about AccuWeather’s commitment to accuracy, visit:  www.AccuWeather.com. 

About AccuWeather

AccuWeather, recognized and documented as the most accurate and most used source of weather forecasts and warnings in the world, has saved over 12,000 lives, prevented injury to over 100,000 people, and saved companies tens of billions of dollars through better planning and decision-making. 

Billions of people around the world rely on AccuWeather’s proven Superior Accuracy™ across our consumer digital platforms. AccuWeather.com is the #1 weather destination and one of the top 100 most-visited websites in the world, and our award-winning AccuWeather app delivers detailed real-time forecasts to millions of smartphones.

AccuWeather forecasts also appear on digital signage, in 700 newspapers, are heard on over 400 radio stations, and viewed on 100 television stations. The AccuWeather Network and AccuWeather NOW® reach an audience of over 125 million on cable and streaming platforms including DirecTV, Charter Communications – Spectrum, Verizon, Philo, Frndly TV, Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Stream, Roku, Xumo, Rockbot, LG, and Amazon Freevee.

AccuWeather For Business serves more than half of the Fortune 500 companies and thousands of other businesses and government agencies globally who pay for the most accurate weather forecasts from any source.

AccuWeather’s story is one of a fanatical dedication to Superior Accuracy™, detail, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, and the loyalty and commitment of many people who have joined AccuWeather’s center of excellence, including many others who have dedicated their entire careers to AccuWeather.

Dr. Joel N. Myers, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, established AccuWeather in 1962 and is considered the “father of modern commercial meteorology.” Myers, a leading creative thinker and visionary, has been named “the most accurate man in weather” by The New York Times and one of the top entrepreneurs in American history by Entrepreneur’s Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs.

Visit accuweather.com for the most accurate hyperlocal forecasts, weather news, and information, and download the free AccuWeather app for Android or iOS.

Contact: Rhonda Seaton Rhonda.Seaton@accuweather.com 310-508-0799 or pr@accuweather.com

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SOURCE AccuWeather

As CA Cities Choke in Debt, New Analysis Shows Crushing Costs from AB 342’s Early Morning Bar Hours

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Between law enforcement, reckless driving, crime, and injuries, the financial burden from 4 A.M. last call times may exceed $2 billion over 5 years, according to an analysis just released by Alcohol Justice. The costs far exceed the benefits, calling into question the wisdom of state legislator efforts to extend last calls through Assembly Bill 342 (Haney, D- San Francisco). These costs are driven by spiraling costs from emergency services, law enforcement, motor vehicle crashes, injuries, and violent crime, along with broader economic disruption.

“Extending last call times only benefits a handful of bars, while spreading the cost of alcohol harm over everyone,” said Raul Verdugo, Director of Advocacy for Alcohol Justice. “Year after year, Californians have spoken out against extended last call times. It’s time the legislature listened.”

“California’s health officers are deeply concerned about the harms associated with extending the alcohol service hours,” said Kat DeBurgh, Executive Director, Health Officers Association of California. “AB 342 ignores decades of public health evidence showing that later last calls leads to more injuries, hospitalizations and deaths. These are preventable harms. At a time when alcohol-related mortality has increased 70% in just six years, we urge the Legislature to prioritize community health by rejecting AB 342.”

Although the bill was conceived to help San Francisco, it allows any city to establish weekend 4 a.m. zones of arbitrary size—and those zones would impact every other city in the area. Substantial research shows how alcohol harm spreads out around neighboring communities, including:

• A 2008 report from Ventura County Behavioral Health showing that intoxicated drivers travel 7 to 40 miles before being stopped.
• An analysis of New York state arrests showing that counties bordering another county with extended last call times still saw increased DUI arrests.
• A comparison of alcohol-related freeway deaths in the San Francisco Bay Area, showing that crashes are 50% to 120% more likely to occur coming out of the cities of Oakland and San Francisco than into them.

“It’s easy for lawmakers to pretend their cities are the only ones that exist,” said Miryom Yisrael, Chief Operating Officer of Alcohol Justice. “But most of us live in residential areas, where the party isn’t always happening, but the crashes sure are.”

The new cost analysis replicates the landmark 2019 cost study from Meena Subbaraman and William Kerr of the Alcohol Research Group. This study looked at the impacts per extra drink sold in Los Angeles if that city extended its last call times to 4 A.M. seven days a week. For the new analysis, the impact-per-drink was extended to the entire state, limited to just weekend early mornings, and adjusted for inflation. Assuming just 1 in every 20 bars and restaurants in the state adopt extended last call times, the costs would top $376 million per year, and $2.046 billion over five years. Costs for individual cities include:

• San Francisco: $27.2 million/year, $150 million over 5 years
• Los Angeles: $27.9 million/year, $154 million over 5 years
• San Diego: $22.1 million/year, $122 million over 5 years
• Sacramento: $10.9 million/year, $60.4 million over 5 years

This comes at a time when city after city is contemplating painful cuts to needed services, forced into austerity by budget holes.

“From the desert to the redwoods, our cities’ budgets are drowning in debt,” said Carson Benowitz-Fredericks, Research Director for Alcohol Justice. “Ad hoc efforts to create Bourbon St. on Main St. will suck money away from public transit, housing, EMS, recovery services—everything that makes a city livable.”

“We’ve always known that late last calls bring a lot risks and harm,” said Verdugo. “What we’re realizing is that they’re also financially devastating. We can’t afford it. We call on the California legislature to keep common-sense last calls in place and reject AB 342.”

CONTACT:        

Raul Verdugo
(310) 689-9401

Carson Benowitz-Fredericks
(917) 426-6443

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SOURCE Alcohol Justice

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Family Research Council’s (FRC) Dr. Jennifer Bauwens and Walt Heyer published a new book through Fidelis Publishing titled: “Embracing God’s Design: Addressing the Spiritual and Psychological Crisis Behind Transgender Identity.” In Embracing God’s Design, Dr. Bauwens and Heyer have created a resource to help talk about the real issues that drive a person to adopt a transgender identity and what can be done to bring a person back to their true God-given identity.  

The book covers:  

• God’s design for humanity
• How the transgender movement began
• The harms caused by so-called “gender-affirming care”
• The healing process for someone who has claimed a transgender identity
• How to help someone return to their true identity

Dr. Bauwens, who serves as FRC’s Director of the Center for Family Studies, commented on the book: 

“Through Embracing God’s Design, we address the true conditions underlying the gender topic by discussing it primarily as a question of identity that stems from psychological, social, and spiritual issues. The root of these issues can never be properly addressed by ‘gender-affirming care.’  When we correctly understand the problem, we can promote policies and practices that will bring true healing and unfold a person’s real identity.”

Heyer, who serves as FRC’s Senior Fellow, added: 

“After identifying as a woman for eight years, I had to accept that the magical transformation doctors had promised had not occurred. Even after years of ingesting female hormones and undergoing sex change surgery, I was still a man. No doctor using hormones and surgery has ever successfully achieved a change in a patient’s biological sex. It is my hope that through Embracing God’s Design, I can help prevent others from making the same mistakes I did.”  

To schedule an interview with the authors, please email: media@frc.org

CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Alice Chao, (866) FRC-NEWS or (866)-372-6397

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SOURCE Family Research Council

First Tech teams up with fellow credit unions to support medical research and care for children and families

HILLSBORO, Ore., May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today, 12 Oregon and Southwest Washington credit unions announced they are joining forces for a collaborative Credit Unions for Kids (CU4Kids) member campaign to fundraise for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals).

These 12 credit unions will all collectively launch a pop-up on their online banking platforms from June 1 to June 30, 2025:  Central Willamette Credit Union, Columbia Credit Union, Fibre Federal Credit Union, First Tech Federal Credit Union, Forrit Credit Union, InRoads Credit Union, iQ Credit Union, OnPoint Community Credit Union, Oregon State Credit Union, Red Canoe Credit Union, Rivermark Community Credit Union, and Unitus Community Credit Union.

For nearly 40 years, credit unions have come together to fundraise for CMN Hospitals through the cooperative network known as CU4Kids. To this day, CU4Kids remains one of the top 5 fundraising bodies supporting CMN. This new initiative allows the more than one million members from the 12 credit unions to donate directly to CU4Kids. These donations will be instrumental in funding critical pediatric cancer research, critical, life-saving treatments, financial assistance for families in need, and improving care for patients supported by CMN Hospitals.

“It’s a powerful display of unity to partner with these fellow philanthropic credit unions to further our support for CU4Kids and CMN Hospitals,” said Monique Little, Chief People and Administrative Officer at First Tech. “With the collaboration of these credit unions and the support of members across our joint footprint, this fundraising campaign will provide a brighter and healthier future for children and their families at CMN Hospitals.” 

The donations raised among the 12 credit unions during this initiative, in combination with employee fundraising campaigns hosted by many of the same credit unions, along with corporate donations, will support life-saving care for patients across the following CMN Hospitals:

• Children’s Hospital Colorado (Aurora, Colorado)
• OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital (Portland, Oregon)
• PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend (Eugene, Oregon)
• Seattle Children’s Hospital (Seattle, Washington)
• UC Davis Children’s Hospital (Sacramento, California)
• UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital (Oakland, California)

“We’re continually inspired by the credit union industry’s commitment to supporting children’s healthcare,” said Nick Coleman, Director of Credit Unions for Kids at CMN Hospitals. “CU4Kids and CMN Hospitals are proud to have the support of these 12 credit unions. We remain humbled and grateful for your generosity and commitment to supporting our patients and their families’ health and emotional well-being.”  

This collaborative campaign is a testament to these credit unions’ enduring commitment to the cause. It comes before the 25th anniversary of their CU4Kids Northwest Classic golf tournament in July, one of the largest credit union-sponsored events supporting CMN Hospitals. Together, these credit unions, with the help of employees, members, and business partners, have raised more than $15.2 million at the tournament since its inception in 2000.

ABOUT CREDIT UNIONS FOR KIDS AND CHILDREN’S MIRACLE NETWORK HOSPITALS^®   

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® raises funds and awareness for 170 member hospitals that treat 12 million kids a year across the U.S. and Canada. Donations stay local to fund critical treatments and healthcare services, pediatric medical equipment and charitable care. Since 1983, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $9 billion. One of CMN Hospitals most successful partnerships is Credit Unions for Kids. This is a nonprofit collaboration of credit unions, chapters, leagues/associations and business partners from across the country, engaged in fundraising activities. Adopted as the CU4Kids movement’s charity of choice, credit unions are the 5th largest sponsor of CMN Hospitals. Since 1996, CU4Kids has raised more than $200 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Find out why children’s hospitals need community support, identify your member hospital and learn how you can Change Kids Health to Change the Future, at childrensmiraclenetworkhospitals.org/ and www.cu4kids.org.

ABOUT FIRST TECH FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

First Tech Federal Credit Union is a nearly $17 billion institution headquartered in San Jose, California. The nation’s premier credit union serves the world’s leading technology-oriented companies and their employees, including HP Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft, Agilent, Intel, Cisco, Amazon, Nike, Intuit, Google, and more. First Tech is recognized as the industry catalyst for delivering effortless banking experiences to more than 700,000 members through its 31 branch locations, more than 5,600 CO-OP Shared Branch locations, 30,000 CO-OP Network ATMs, and online platforms. First Tech offers a full range of financial services, including traditional banking, online banking, mortgages, financial planning, various consumer loans, and insurance services. Federally insured by NCUA. Equal Housing Lender. For more information, visit www.firsttechfed.com.

FIRST TECH, the First Tech logo, and ENVISION FUTURE FINANCE are trademarks or registered trademarks of First Technology Federal Credit Union. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

CONTACT 

Sophia Gilbert
The Hoffman Agency
(541) 521-2459
firsttech@hoffman.com

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SOURCE First Tech Federal Credit Union