Source: www.businessinsider.com - Saturday, May 09, 2020
Mother's Day is the single most important holiday for flower shops, with many businesses relying on strong holiday sales to survive the summertime slowdown in demand for flowers. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, spring 2020 got off to an ominous start for florists across the United States. 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc. CEO Chris McCann and BloomNation CEO and cofounder Farbod Shoraka told Business Insider that their florist partners are seeing a major uptick in spending in the run-up to Mother's Day. The National Retail Federation is projecting that flower sales on Mother's Day will increase from $2.01 billion to $2.1 billion in 2020. Despite the good news, there remain major challenges to florists and the flower industry as a whole during COVID-19, including a major downturn for growers and wholesalers, reduced staffing, and even figuring out distribution capabilities. But Society of American Florists CEO Kate Penn told Busines Insider that florists are some of the "resourceful" and scrappy business owners out there: "Come rain, sleet, or social distancing they'll figure out how to get it delivered." Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories . For flower shops across the United States, Mother's Day is the most important date on the calendar. Millions of Americans setting out to make their moms feel special with a bright bouquet consistently ensure that the second Sunday of May is the biggest holiday in the flower business

Source: api-internal.usatoday.com.akadns.net - Friday, May 08, 2020
Vice President Pence's trip to Iowa shows how the Trump administration's aims to move past coronavirus are sometimes complicated by the virus itself.            

Source: www.sohh.com - Friday, May 08, 2020
Canadian hip-hop artist NAV isn’t letting quarantine stop him from having fun. The rap star has linked up with Young Thug for their new “No Debate” music video premiere. Watch and comment below! The post Watch: NAV Teams Up W/ Young Thug For New No Debate Music Video appeared first on .

Source: www.vox.com - Friday, May 08, 2020
Trump gestures during an event with House Republicans on Friday. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images The president wants you to believe the US response is the envy of the world. It isn’t. The United States has endured over 78,000 coronavirus deaths as of May 8, far more than double the second hardest-hit country. Unlike most comparable countries, the trajectory of the per-day death toll has not yet meaningfully bent down here nor has the number of new cases diagnosed each day. By contrast, Germany and Japan combined have had just over 9,000 confirmed Covid-related deaths. Though Japan didn’t get off to a great start , the number of new cases per day has been hovering around 200 there. In Germany, it’s around 1,000 . In either case, the new case numbers are far below the nearly 15,000 identified in the US on Thursday. Put succinctly, while both countries continue to grapple with the virus and life is far from normal for people there, the pandemic has been somewhat brought under control to an extent Americans can only dream of. Here, by contrast, things aren’t really improving — and there’s no indication our federal government is capable of meeting the challenge. In fact, it’s quite the opposite . And yet to hear President Donald Trump tell it, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are enamored by his fantastic response to the novel coronavirus, and they’re following his lead. They’ve even told him as m

Source: hyperallergic.com - Friday, May 08, 2020
It’s an era of masks, but Ýrúrarí Jóhannsdóttir’s knitted versions are the fantastical creations we need to see right now. Not sure if they are exactly ideal for a pandemic, but they make us smile amidst the zaniness. More knitted masks and info on Colossal . (via Colossal ) I’ve been thinking about this article since I read it earlier this week and I highly suggest you read it too. Immunoprivilege is a thing and there’s a long US history around it, according to Kathryn Olivarius: Yellow fever, a mosquito-borne flavivirus, was inescapable in the 19th-century Deep South and a point of near-constant terror in New Orleans, the region’s hub. In the six decades between the Louisiana Purchase and the Civil War, New Orleans experienced 22 full-blown epidemics, cumulatively killing over 150,000 people. (Perhaps another 150,000 died in nearby American cities.) The virus killed about half of all those it infected and it killed them horribly, with many victims vomiting thick black blood, the consistency and color of coffee grounds. The lucky survivors became “acclimated,” or immune for life. I can’t stop laughing at this: A wall slashes right thru the the heart of Midtown Manhattan, courtesy of ????????????????, A Real Estate developer, sometimes a museum and NY Times is concerned about a hypothetical wall on the Far West Side of the Town. https://t.co/e2B9HmOczh pic.twitter.com/nBLUPDGT0Y — Garo Gumusyan (@GaroGumusyan) January 21, 2020 Bhakti Sh

No method is infallible when trying to reduce Bible poverty among the least reached, an OM worker discovers as he distributed Bibles.

In Arctic Russia, reindeer are the Nenets' life. Living among these people, ES longs for the Nenets to know Jesus, the true source of life.

African women who never went to school were unable to read the Bible upon becoming Christ followers. A new opportunity is giving them access to God's Word firsthand.

Jude, project coordinator of OM's Refugee Relief Serbia describes her busy role, and how OM’s service can be a powerful practical witness of the love of Jesus to hundreds of refugees.

Prayer and fasting have been part of the Algerian Church's lifestyle since its beginning. Unity among believers has contributed to ongoing spiritual strength amidst persecution.

A short-term creative outreach team helps long-term workers connect with several young men in a least-reached area.

Small outreach teams will share the life-changing message of the gospel with hundreds of women in brothels and on the street this Easter.

People in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe are still recovering from Cyclone Idai. OM is responding to the needs in different communities in these countries.

The leader said: "This is a secret; if we started to teach about Jesus in our mosques then we might as well open churches."

Ariela left Argentina to serve Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and ended up going on a journey she never could have imagined.

“As I watched the ending scene (that lasted about three minutes) I thought about the “happy ending” notion,” says Ava. “Is it real or is it a fairy tale? A utopia created by Hollywood to give their viewers a false sense of hope in the reality of a broken world? And so, I said to myself: I believe in happy endings.”

The Bailie family serve with their local church as part of OM in Ireland's Philippian Project.

In 2019, OM Ireland hosted its largest St. Patrick's outreach.

Santa Cruz, Bolivia :: God surprises a Logos Hope crewmember with birthday treats and new perspectives as she serves with a team on shore.

Jose, an Argentinian worker serving in Southeast Asia, tells of how he entered overseas service and what he has seen God do through his not-so-typical ministry.

CDC head Robert Redfield and FDA chief Stephen Hahn are also quarantining.

A married Maryland couple in their 80s were the victims in a shooting at a veterans cemetery in Delaware

Scores of nature lovers from dozens of states crowded trails, blocked-off areas.

Images show man lunging toward an officer who had tried to calm him down.

Penn State Altoona has announced the spring 2020 commencement student marshals, chosen to represent their academic division based on outstanding academic achievement.

Courtney Kantoski has created a line of T-shirts and tank tops which she is selling to benefit the United Way of Blair County’s COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund.

Penn State Altoona's Alumni Society is mailing "graduation goodie" packages to each of the college's 200 graduating seniors.

Penn State Altoona this spring recognized outstanding employee contributions with the 2020 faculty and staff awards.

The North Central PA LaunchBox is driving collaborative relationships with and between local, regional and state organizations, as well as government, to drive economic development in the region.

Penn State DuBois is teaming up with Penn State York to offer a remote learning opportunity for those seeking the Assisted Living Administrator, 15-hour training. This training prepares those who are planning on taking the licensing test, or qualifies as the required 15 hours of Continuing Medical Education for those completing training to maintain their current license.

Penn State DuBois Lecturer of Human Development and Family Studies Marly Doty was added to the University-wide Student Engagement Network’s Faculty Academy as a fellow this spring. She will create a model to help freshmen students be informed in their journey as they participate in a first-year seminar or first-year experience course.

In addition to Penn State’s virtual spring 2020 commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. on May 9, individual campuses and colleges across the University will be offering special recognition and events to their graduates.

James Dillard, distinguished professor of communication arts and sciences at Penn State, describes strategies to help regulate emotions during the stress and uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic.

A district in Michigan started a response-to-intervention process to deal with overidentification problems. But some are worried about overworked general education teachers.

Assessment for reading interventions in response-to-intervention models may be too narrow to identify students struggling in different aspects of reading.

Quiz Yourself! How can Response to Intervention help struggling learners, what factors are important in raising student achievement, and what impact does the Every Student Succeeds Act have on students with disabilities who are lagging behind their peers?

Having all children reading on grade level by third grade must include students with disabilities such as dyslexia, say organization leaders.

There is a direct connection between the leader's actions and the students' success or failure.

The funding will establish a center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. that will focus on instructional strategies in reading and math for students with persistent learning struggles.

Three hundred people interested in sports ministry gathered in Ecuador in April for a forum organised by the Coalición Internacional del Deporte.

After ministering for many years on Santay Island, the OM Ecuador team saw three men come to Christ.

Human trafficking grows like a cancer in Ecuador. Boris and Fernanda Salinas are destined to fight it.

“I climb in the name of the young women we serve,” said Boris Salinas, who will participate in a Freedom Climb event on 26 April.

God heals physical and spiritual lives during OM Ecuador’s 2014 Medical Brigade in the Saraguro Canton region of Ecuador.

OM Ecuador's annual mission school (ECTM) impacts 13 lives, while changing one community.

“Jesus really died for me?” asks one child during a recent outreach in Cañar, where OM witnesses God impact many through sports and Bible study.

Dr. Eddie and Jeanette Moore share testimonies and lessons in faith as newly appointed OM Ecuador interim country leaders.

OM Ecuador team member Candy Arteaga shares a story that demonstrates how God leads us to Himself, even while we wait for healing.

The lives of children in a small Ecuadorian community are changed through the love of an OM and short-term team during a week of VBS.