FEMA recently approved disaster assistance funding for public utilities affected by Hurricane Dorian. More than $940,000 will go to Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative for the replacement of damaged poles and transformers. The City of Kinston will receive more than $143,000 to replace damaged poles and transformers. And Brunswick County will receive nearly $45,000 for wastewater treatment repairs. FEMA has provided more than $16.1 million for Hurricane Dorian-related expenses in North Carolina through the Public Assistance program.

Thursday, June 25, 2015, at 7 p.m. This "Context" public affairs event takes a closer look at Illinois' medical cannabis pilot program approved by state lawmakers. There have been a few delays getting the project started, and tens of thousands of patients who’ve qualified for medical marijuana cards are waiting to get their prescriptions filled. However, before that happens, there are some regulatory hurdles marijuana growers and dispensaries have to cross before the drug can be sold in Illinois. Learn more about the “debilitating” diseases that qualify for marijuana treatment, grow centers, dispensaries, and the legal rights protecting patients. Four experts in the field brought us up to date on the program and answered questions on June 25 at 7 p.m. in Studio A, in the Northern Public Radio studios in the NIU Broadcast Center, 801 N. First Street in DeKalb. The guest panelists included: Dan Linn: Executive Director, Illinois chapter of National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws,

There’s been a lot of news about strained relationships between police officers and the citizens they serve. Police officials say they’re making changes to improve relations and build trust within the community but critics claim not enough is being done. WNIJ's public forum, “Context - Safe Neighborhoods, Safe City: Changing Roles of Police and Community,” was held Thursday, August 27, 2015, at the Kresge Hall in the Riverfront Museum Park, in Rockford. WNIJ Reporter Sue Stephens moderated the Context panel. Guests were: Rockford Mayor Lawrence J. Morrissey Rockford Police Chief Chet Epperson State Representative Litesa Wallace United Way Community Impact Manager Matthew Simpson For more information about WNIJ's Context series, please contact Maria Boynton, Director of Community Engagement, at mboynton@niu.edu or at (815) 753-9000.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is one unexpected silver lining that I just have to share. Teachers are finally getting some of the love and respect that they so sincerely deserve from parents who now have that role – at least temporarily. Praise for educators is all over social media right now, and even celebrities and sports stars are acknowledging how challenging it is to teach and how appreciative they are for their children’s teachers. Teachers of all levels – from preschool through college – have shifted their instruction online while also demonstrating their compassion and concern for their students. Teacher car parades are driving through neighborhoods with signs to remind children and families that their teachers care about and miss them. Teachers are calling students to show they care, and online class sessions are routinely beginning with “check-ins” to make sure everyone is OK. Has the shift to at-home learning been perfect? Absolutely not, but educators across

Volume growth in India’s spirits industry was just 3% last year, compared to 10% a year earlier, impacted negatively by the national elections and subsequent sagging consumer demand. With two months of lockdown, about 16% of annual sales have literally vanished this year.

The company, which has a portfolio of more than 50 beer brands including Stella Artois, Corona and Harbin, reported quarterly revenue of $956 million, down from $1.6 billion last year.

Green Visor Capital backed-Simpl, that allows users to buy now and checkout with pay-later function, said the surge in the number of transactions done for daily essentials increased despite supply and workforce issues by merchant partners.

The five southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala together consume as much as 45 per cent of all liquor sold in the country, the report by Crisil said. While Tamil Nadu and Kerala top the list in revenue percentage terms at 15 per cent each, for Kerala the tax on liquor is its single largest revenue source.

The move came after Future group firms defaulted on loans taken against the pledged shares of Future Retail in March, which also impacted its share price.

In addition to making their products available at more outlets, top spirits makers are also in discussion with state excise departments and online food delivery giants such as Swiggy, Zomato and Dunzo to push for home delivery of liquor, including select premium brands, sources said.

The Supreme Court refused to pass any orders to this effect, but suggested that it could be a better alternative than the chaos which has followed the government decision to open liquor shops during the lockdown.

The High Court passed the interim order on Friday as a result of the blatant violation of the conditions that the court had prescribed under which liquor shops could function. These conditions included adhering to social distancing norms while also deploying additional staff to manage the crowd.

Bata India Chairman Uday Khanna said: “We have plans to open 100 stores a year and would close 25 to 30 which are either at wrong place or not making profits. We tend to continue to keep this pace. (On a net basis) we do add about 70 stores a year.”

There is a lot of deal activity because businesses are looking for capital.

Bata has already identified 180 such markets in smaller cities pan-India.

The actor will endorse 2020 collections of the casual footwear brand.

The company, which has a retail network in 450 towns, is further expanding by adding new stores in smaller towns through franchise route.

Industry players say premium and luxury buying sees an uptick in two cases — purchase for occasions by the aspirational millennial and by a growing cohort of marathon runners.

Every year, leather shoes worth over Rs 3,000 crore are exported to European countries from Agra. The US and several African countries are also important destinations for Agra footwear, say industry sources.

The outbreak that has infected over 24,000 people and killed nearly 500 in mainland China has forced many stores and factories to close and airlines to cancel flights.

The donation will impact a number of countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia-Pacific, including India.

The pandemic is also likely to catalyse the shift to e-commerce.

The brand will expand into Hyderabad, Goa, Kochi, Pune and Mysuru next year by introducing products through a mix of exclusive and multi-brand outlets, Xtep India director Vijay Chowdhary said at an event here organised in memory of US-born boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

Campus Activewear is part of the Synergy Action Group that sells 100,000 pairs of shoes every day through more than 50,000, mostly third-party, outlets, according to Action Shoes’ website.

Sportswear makers say sales in tier II and III towns have grown exponentially in the last few years and contribute a sizable percentage of their revenue now.

Vatika has leased this space to French firm Decathlon, which is into retailing of sports goods, at its project 'Shopper's Village INXT' in New Gurugram, Haryana.

Khan will be the face for Puma’s soon-to-be launched collection of low-intensity training apparel collection targeted at workouts such as yoga, barre, and pilates. The new line will be launched in April and retailed both online and offline.

"We would like to wholeheartedly apologise. We have paid our landlords the rent for April." Adidas, which made a net profit of nearly two billion euros ($2.2 billion) in 2019, has been hard hit by a slump in Chinese sales and store closures around the world.

No large-cap company in the FMCG/ retail space is offering growth visibility as high as Titan.

​​​​Voganow Fashion owned Brune & Bareskin sells leather jackets, footwear, bags and accessories for men on online platforms such as Myntra, Jabong and Snapdeal.

The company had posted Rs 314.38 crore profit in the year-ago period.

The growth of healthy lifestyle has added impetus to the athleisure trend.

Retail in India has not developed at the same pace as the products. Getting good quality retail is a challenge. The country has limited number of malls. There is no high street.

Jewellery remains the main business of the company, generating most of its operating profit (EBIT). It added 34 jewellery stores in the first nine months and plans to add another 16 by the end of the fiscal taking the total store count to 337.

The watchmaker will form a development centre in Hyderabad with HUG in hardware, firmware, software and cloud technology and has appointed the company's founder Raj Neravati to head technology for wearables at Titan Company.

The unpredictable resurgence of vinyl has rekindled an interest in physical sonic structures. Gilles Azzaro’s “Macrogroove” realises the idea of a three-dimensional sonogram. It is a 3D printed ‘audio coding’, which is played by a laser beam, scanning the form →

The MIT Press, ISBN-13: 978-0262039802, English, 464 pages, 2019, USA

Nam June Paik is back in the limelight, thanks to an important historical exhibition at Tate Modern (see the report in this issue). There has →

The elderly Viv notices our presence and invites us to sit in her kitchen, right there in front of her, where she can see us. Thus began the interactive video experience “The Visit“, born from the collaboration of the artist →

Duke University Press, ISBN-13: 978-0822368687, English, 288 pages, 2019, USA

Eidsheim starts this book by introducing ‘the acousmatic question’ (“who’s this, who’s speaking?”) to discuss the dichotomy between a sound and its source before and →

Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN-13: 978-1501333774, English, 208 pages, 2019, UK

This is the second (revisited edition) of one of the first books addressing sound art as such, attempting through a diversified research a consistent and universal →

INTRO -- An Asheville Americana trio is starting to get some national attention with airplay of their second CD taking it into the Top 20 of some radio charts. The national attention comes courtesy of some humble origins that embarrassed teenagers across the country can probably identify with. George Olsen has more. Time in the car with parents can sometimes be irritating for the kids, sometimes beneficial, sometimes both. “I grew up listening to my mom singing harmony with Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt and Barbara Streisand full tilt, full volume every time I was in the car for many years. At the time I was “oh, mom, stop.” Eleanor Underhill, one half of the namesakes of the Asheville trio Underhill Rose. It took a while for the Joni Mitchells and Bonnie Raitts to sink in though. Eleanor says there was a lot of Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul in her youthful listening, but it seems the more acoustic oriented choices of her parents won out, as evidenced by Underhill Rose’s new CD

INTRO – The Triangle’s Red Clay Ramblers have been involved in a number of artistic collaborations … with Academy Award and Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright and actor Sam Shepard for two of his films and one off-Broadway play and with the late Doug Marlette on the musical based on his comic strip Kudzu, amongst others. Another collaboration took the band away from stage and screen into a different realm, and about nine years after its debut the music is now available on CD. George Olsen talked with Bland Simpson of the Red Clay Ramblers and has this. The latest CD from the Triangle’s Red Clay Ramblers “Carolina Jamboree” plays out as somewhat of a “greatest hits” CD … the bulk of the material spans the band’s 40+ career from the early 1970s to present day. And the band has performed the entirety of the “Carolina Jamboree” CD multiple times for multiple audiences. But the likelihood that the crowd was laser-focused on the band is doubtful … given all else that was going on. “And when

Industry watchers say wholesalers are holding back stocks of popular phone models in anticipation of a price rise by the month-end as production in China slows; brands as yet unaware of complaints.

“There are supply issues for several brands. There is no clarity when the situation will normalise,” said Nilesh Gupta, director at Vijay Sales, a leading electronics retailer in Mumbai and New Delhi. “If it doesn’t get corrected fast, we may move into a stock-out situation from next month.”

In an interview with Fox Business, Cook said: "I see India as a huge opportunity for us. For years, we could not enter there unless we entered there with a partner into retail and we did not want to do that. We wanted to maintain control of our brand and so forth".

Due to an 'abundance of caution' as the coronavirus threat loomed, Apple closed all retail stores, corporate offices and contact centres in Mainland China. Last week, Apple warned that coronavirus outbreak will affect its business in the January-March quarter as worldwide iPhone supply will be temporarily constrained

Apple reopened 38 Apple stores which were temporarily closed after the epidemic, state-run China Daily reported. Only four stores remain closed.

"We strongly appeal to you to not increase GST on mobiles. The increase of 6% would directly lead to hike in prices of product, impacting consumer behaviour leading to a slowdown in demand affecting business adversely,” said the letter written by AIMRA national president Arvinder Khurana.

The tech giant closed all retail stores in the country from February 1 based on the advice from leading health experts. It aimed to reopen stores on February 9 but that date ended up being extended. The closure of Apple's retail stores in China, along with supply issues, has affected iPhone sales in the country.

"We will be closing all of our retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27," Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a letter posted on the company's website.