Each Friday, we’ll comb through as many articles, tweets and podcasts as we can find related to the world of sports betting and daily fantasy sports, and publish the good stuff here.
Stumble upon something you think we should include? Email email@example.com.
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At least 20 states are working on legislation in anticipation of sports betting becoming legalized.
While the bills that have been written don’t explicitly cite the leagues that would fall under the laws, officials in several states told NBC News that it’s possible that betting on college sports might not be allowed or would be strictly limited.
Lawmakers, meanwhile, are ready to push forward.
Under a 2013 referendum, New York voters approved a state constitutional amendment that could expand gambling at new commercial casinos to include sports betting — if it were to become legal.
State Sen. John Bonacic, chairman of the Racing, Gaming and Waging Committee, said that he came away from the hearings in his state feeling like the best option would be simply to draw a carbon copy of one of the places in the U.S. that he says already has “robust” consumer protections, monitoring, enforcement and a narrow framework for online sports betting.
“We want it to look like Vegas, frankly,” the Republican legislator said. “They’re the perfect model, obviously.
ESPN Chalk’s David Purdum wrote a feature article about how nationwide legal sports betting could change the sportsbook scene in Las Vegas.
Everyone at the supper table first came to town during a 10-year span starting in the mid-’70s. The charismatic Jimmy Vaccaro, short, with thick gray hair, is the senior statesman. In January 1975, he caught a lift from his brother Sonny to the Pittsburgh airport and headed to the desert. Sonny went on to become a prominent sports marketing executive; Jimmy became America’s bookmaker, even appearing on “The Simpsons” to break down the odds on who shot Mr. Burns. Art Manteris and Chris Andrews, two fun-loving Greek cousins from Pittsburgh, knew Vaccaro from back east and showed up a few years later. Their uncle “Pittsburgh” Jack Franzi, a renowned bettor at the time, provided them entry into the business, if only on the other side of the counter, trying to beat him. Vic Salerno, a dentist by trade, got to town around the same time to get into the bookmaking business. Vinny Magliulo and Johnny Avello, a pair of slender New Yorkers, relocated to Sin City shortly after. And they’ve all been dining together regularly ever since. Looking around the table, it’s easy to wonder how much longer this group can hold it together.
“I am worried,” says Manteris. “I have a growing list of concerns.”
His cousin, Chris, is more frank.
“Now that it’s on the verge of maybe happening,” Andrews says, “we just hope they don’t f— it up. I don’t want to see a good thing go by the wayside here.”
A British sports betting company is placing a bet in hopes that the United States legalizes sports betting.
Smarkets Ltd., which already runs a betting exchange, is investing about $5 million to create a traditional sportsbook that will first be launched in its home market in coming months, Chief Executive Officer Jason Trost said.
“The main reason we’re building this is to go into the U.S.,” Trost said by phone from Los Angeles, where he’s based. He estimates the market there could be worth $10 billion to $20 billion were it to be fully liberalized.
The closely held operator is one of many online gambling firms positioning themselves to jump into the U.S. should its ban on sports betting be lifted. The Supreme Court is due to rule in coming months on whether to end a federal law that prohibits such gambling, with at least four states having already enacted legislation to legalize and regulate sports betting.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming enforcement is encouraging potential sports betting operators to apply for licenses before the Supreme Court ruling.
“The Division of Gaming Enforcement recognizes it needs to be prepared to investigate and license businesses and individuals seeking to enter the New Jersey gaming market should the Supreme Court issue a favorable decision authorizing the state to legalize and regulate sports wagering,” David Rebuck, director of the Division of Gaming Enforcement, said in a statement to ESPN. “Under existing law, any business or individual anticipating entering into a commercial transaction with a casino must be licensed or approved by the Division. Many companies have inquired as to the State’s licensing requirements in the event they are able to engage in sports wagering operations with our casino industry. The Division has encouraged these companies to commence the application process.”


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February 1, 2023
Come together with friends and neighbors for fellowship and a hot meal prepared by David Watkins, Director of Dining and Hospitality at Episcopal SeniorLife Communities.
Menu: Chicken Marsala with Prosciutto,
Escarole and Mushroom
Served Over Rice Pilaf
$10.00 payable in cash at the door
Please call 585-663-3000 to register

domain: food


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Wednesday, September 20, 2000
Kentucky News Briefs
From Enquirer news sources
Auditor asks update of oversight laws
FRANKFORT The state auditor Tuesday said Kentucky law needs to be updated to ensure oversight of private foundations that acquire public assets such as college dormitories.
Auditor Ed Hatchett was specifically referring to an innovation by Western Kentucky University, which created a foundation to buy 17 dorms for $21.5 million.
Western will manage the dorms under a contract. The foundation is using money from a bond issue up to $75 million to finance the purchase and pay for wholesale renovations, which was the point of the deal.
The auditor's office will have access to the foundation's books but only because the foundation chose to give it and had the provision written into the contract, Mr. Hatchett told a legislative oversight committee.
Proposed location won't change at UK
LEXINGTON University of Kentucky trustees took no action Tuesday to prevent the university from beginning plans for a new research building on a site that some faculty members oppose.
Controversy erupted last week about the proposed location of the $65 million biomedical/biological sciences research building.
UK President Charles Wethington, acting on the advice of consultants, has decided to put the structure at Limestone Street and Virginia Avenue. But a faculty committee recommended a location on University Drive, near other laboratories.
The Virginia Avenue location is a 10-minute walk from the rest of the medical center and the laboratories off University Drive.
Convicted killer awaits punishment
DEL RIO, Texas A drifter convicted in the throat-slashing of a 13-year-old girl exhibits an anti-social personality disorder, according to testimony Tuesday in the punishment phase of his capital murder trial.
Jurors deliberated for 70 minutes Monday before convicting Tommy Lynn Sells of capital murder. At the end of the punishment phase, they will decide whether to sentence him to death by lethal injection or life in prison.
Since Mr. Sells' arrest in January, authorities say he has confessed to murders in seven states dating to the 1980s. He has only been charged in one other case, the May 1999 slaying of a 13-year-old Lexington girl.
Shelter ruled subject to open records laws
GREENUP The state attorney general's office says that a Greenup County animal shelter is subject to the state's open-records law.
Don Grubb, who runs the shelter, initially refused to comply with a request for copies of records from Randy Skaggs, head of the Trixie Foundation shelter in Elliott County. Tri-County, unlike most other animal shelters throughout the state, is not government funded, but rather privately owned, by his wife, Nora Grubb.
Mr. Skaggs' request to Mr. Grubb asked for a variety of records. He made the request following allegations from four people who claimed Tri-County was not holding dogs for the state-required five days before either adopting them out or destroying them. Mr. Grubb has denied the allegations.
Louisville included in Sierra Club suit
LOUISVILLE The Sierra Club has included Louisville in a lawsuit that charges the federal government has not been enforcing smog rules.
The suit, filed last week in federal court in Washington, D.C., says the Environmental Protection Agency shouldn't have granted various communities extensions in meeting Clean Air Act regulations, which requires compliance with ozone standards by 1996.
But Louisville has had no smog violations this air-pollution season and if the city stays on track through the end of October, the EPA may be able to declare metro Louisville in compliance.
Four dead after murder-suicide
CONFLUENCE Four people died of gunshot wounds in what police are calling a murder-suicide at a Leslie County couple's home.
Police say 45-year-old Bill Eversole called a Leslie County sheriff's deputy Monday night and confessed to killing his wife and two men, according to WYMT-TV in Hazard.
Mr. Eversole then shot himself, Kentucky State Police said Tuesday.
Students talk out concerns over shot
You have to stop the little things to end school violence, expert says
Census response rate down
World peace activists convene here
DOE avows safe cleanup
Residents: Keep health committee
Port vote likely will fail
'Titanic' exhibit looms
Campus a work in progress as classes begin
Father convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter
KIESEWETTER: WB comedy needles '90210'
PlayStation 2 enters the game
UC grad finds niche with Dayton dancers
ACLU sues over Day of Prayer
Boone Co. hears recreation plan
Chabot ad responds to challenger Cranley
Days dwindle for Barleycorn's on river
Doctors' group stays neutral in 6th District's Fletcher-Baesler race
Donald Harvey letter offered in eBay auction
'Eyes of nation' on school pay
Games canceled after student dies
Hamilton audiotape finding: inconclusive
Lebanon schools say growth is a given
Little Miami to ask for tax
Logo gives N. Ky. a 'brand' name
Lottery winner a puzzle to court
Meeting to discuss Taylor Mill road
Officials pinpoint threat
Plea to suspend death penalty
Police arrest murder suspect
Police seek help with April slaying
Reward offered for tip on car that hit officer
Two regions aim for relief of I-75 woes
Get to it
Kentucky News Briefs
Pig Parade: The Button Glutton
Tristate A.M. Report

domain: law


The Chiefs had completed more than an hour of their morning practice Tuesday, music blaring from the speakers on one end of the field, when a familiar face emerged from the neighboring facility. Wearing a red uniform with the number 5 across his chest, within seconds he took his place at the back of the end zone and awaited the flight of a kickoff.
Upon weaving through his blockers for the next 50-plus yards, Chiefs players began to cheer. Glad to see an old friend.
De’Anthony Thomas is back.
The Chiefs signed their former wide receiver Tuesday, and after a physical, he promptly joined the team.
“He just jumped right in,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “He’s ready to go.”
Recognizable returns became a theme Tuesday. The Chiefs also welcomed back offensive lineman Jeff Allen. In corresponding moves for the two additions, the Chiefs waved lineman Abdul Beecham and receiver Davon Grayson.
Thomas has spent his entire NFL career in Kansas City since the Chiefs drafted him in 2014. This is technically Allen’s third stint with the Chiefs, who drafted him in 2012.
“There’s a senior leadership — been through it before,” Reid said. “They know the offense. Jeff was here in my first year. DAT came just a little bit after that. It’s good to have them back out here. They’re out here competing and working to make the football team.”
The Thomas inclusion comes after the Chiefs announced receiver Marcus Kemp tore the ACL in his knee and will miss all of 2019. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill was not at practice Tuesday, though Reid said it was for personal reasons. The team expects him back Wednesday. The Chiefs also signed wide receiver Jalen Tolliver, a second-year pro, on Tuesday.
Thomas, 26, returns after suffering a fractured leg during a practice last October, ending his season.
He has spent the offseason rebuilding the strength in his leg with track workouts.
“We stayed in touch with him; made sure he was good and healthy,” Reid said. “The leg was a concern, but they did the check-up on him. He’s doing great with it.”
As aforementioned, he wasted little time in jumping back into drills. After his kick return, he also caught a couple of passes while working with the top offensive unit.
Jeff Allen arrived before practice, exchanging handshakes with teammates as it began.
“Feels like I never left,” he said.
He did once.
Allen, 29, departed Kansas City for a four-year contract with the Houston Texans in 2016. After an injury cut short that agreement, he returned to the Chiefs last October.
And once more Tuesday.
The two sides have kept in contact throughout the offseason “here and there,” Allen said, and he spent the past two weeks working out with a personal trainer in Dallas should the opportunity materialize.
Well, that and “making cookies,” he added, referring to his wife’s year-old business.
“I was always ready, just waiting,” Allen said. “Obviously being a veteran, you hear from other people and all that. I was just ready for the right opportunity. This is the obvious one.”


Uniontown awarded $400,000 grant for sewer system
Published 12:15 am Tuesday, July 21, 2009
About 129 residents in this city will receive better sewer service because of a $400,000 Community Development Block grant awarded Monday by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs and Gov. Riley.
“We are happy to receive the funds to help connect these residents with the city’s sewer system,” said Uniontown Mayor Jamaal Hunter. “After all, these folks are paying taxes, they should be receiving services.
“It also goes a long way in improving quality of life issues in that area of town.”
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Forty-nine private septic systems in the neighborhood near Perry County Road 1 and Airport Road are inadequate and allow raw sewage to leak into the surrounding soil and ultimately back up into residents’ homes, presenting a health and environmental risk to residents, according to the grant summary, Hunter said.
The homes represent the last section of town not connected to the sewer system. Residents will have their old septic systems filled in and will be connected to Uniontown’s sewer system as the city’s matching part of the grant.
Neighbors have complained for years about the odor and condition of septic systems in the area. A majority of the households in the area lack the funds to repair the old systems themselves. According to the grant, 97 percent of the residents in the area affected by the grant are considered low-to-middle income. The city will provide $40,000 in funds for the residential hookups with the grant providing the rest of the necessary funds to complete the project.
The city of Uniontown wrote the grant with assistance from the Black Belt Action Commission, the regional development agency tasked with improving living and working conditions in the 12-county Black Belt region.
Bob Corwin of SITE Inc., grant writer for the city, explained that grants for small communities like Uniontown are very competitive.
“There is only enough funding to grant a handful of projects,” he said. “This was the second year that Uniontown applied for this grant.”
Corwin also said that in similar grant projects, higher priority is given to water and sewer projects because of the health and environmental concerns associated with them.
Work on the project is slated to begin in the next 60 days. The project is expected to take nine months to complete.


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Here at Sahni Heart Center, we are proud to offer echocardiogram, also known as “echo”, services to our patients. During this test, we will monitor the heart’s movement and overall functionality using ultrasound technology to capture pictures of the heart’s chambers and valves. We will often utilize Doppler ultrasound and color Doppler to observe and evaluate blood flow.
Patients may need an echocardiogram for a variety of reasons such as detecting heart disease, evaluating the effectiveness of treatment, and to monitor changes in heart function and disease progression over time. No special preparation is needed for this test and there is no downtime following your appointment.
For more information about echocardiograms or to schedule an appointment, contact us today at (732) 396-9500.request an appointment

domain: medical


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Empty Bowls Showcases Student Art in Support of Redbud Area Ministries
by Miranda Barger, Writer
The annual Empty Bowls event was held in Buchanan on Friday April 21st. This unique event, which has been running for over 25 years, is organized by a group of dedicated volunteers in the community to raise funds and awareness for local food banks and hunger relief organizations.
The event, which took place at the Buchanan High School, featured a variety of handmade ceramic bowls, created by students and local artists. Attendees could purchase the bowls for a minimum donation of $5, which also included a simple meal of soup and cookies. Soups available were broccoli cheese, chili, macaroni and cheese, and a vegetarian option. All of the proceeds from the event went directly to the Buchanan Redbud Area Ministries.
The event was originally founded in 1995 by Buchanan High School alumni. I spoke with Marie Remington who was an art teacher at Buchanan High School from 1982-2004. According to Remington, the idea for the event came about as a way to bring together the community and create a sense of unity around a common cause.
“We wanted to do something that would not only raise awareness about hunger in our community, but also give people a way to get involved and make a difference,” said Remington. “The Empty Bowls event was the perfect way to do that.”
Over the years, the event has grown significantly, drawing hundreds of attendees each year. In addition to the bowls, the event also features a silent auction, which includes items donated by local businesses and artists.
According to an event organizer, the success of the event is due in large part to the support of the community. “We have so many people who volunteer their time and resources to make this event happen, “It’s really a testament to the generosity and compassion of the people who live here.”
Redbud Area Ministries, which is the primary beneficiary of the event, serves over 200 families in the area each month. Events like Empty Bowls are crucial to their ability to provide food and support to those in need.
“We rely heavily on donations and fundraisers like this to keep our pantry stocked and our programs running,”We’re so grateful to everyone who came out to support us and to the volunteers who worked tirelessly to make this event a success.”
Big plans are already underway for next year’s event, which promises to be even bigger and better than ever!
PAST Event Details:
- Who: Redbud Area Ministries, Buchanan Community Schools, and Roti Roti Art Center of Buchanan
- What: 28th Annual Community Empty Bowls Event
- When: Friday, April 21, 2023 ~ 4-7pm
- Where: Buchanan High School Auxiliary Gym (401 W Chicago St)
- $5 Soup and Chili Take-Out Meal
- Including macaroni and cheese for the kids and a vegetarian soup option
- Pick out a clay bowl, take home supper, and Help Fight Hunger!
- All profits will be donated to Redbud Area Ministries Food Pantry.
- Check the latest details on the Event Page HERE.
About Redbud Area Ministries: RAM is an interdenominational and interracial ministry center started to organize the churches in the Buchanan and Galien School Districts to respond to individual and family needs.
About Roti Roti Art Center of Buchanan: The mission of the Roti Roti Art Center of Buchanan is to provide a place in our community dedicated to nurturing the arts by providing a quality educational program for all ages, as well as gallery exhibits, sales opportunities, and a gift shop that are supportive of class offerings and local artists, thereby enabling the Center to creatively enlist the power of the arts in promoting positive social change.
- Wed-Sun ~ Noon-6
- Mon-Tue ~ Closed (Classes Only)
About Buchanan Community Schools: Public School system for Buchanan, Michigan area. Our vision is to develop responsible, resilient, creative citizens capable of succeeding in a global society.

domain: artistic


Search Results for Tag: Missouri School of Journalism
Remember Fader/VRappr, the marvelous VR/360 DNI project run by DW, Euronews, and Vragments from February 2017 to May 2018? Of course you do. And we just remembered it’s time to give you a last proper consortium update. But first of all, let’s take a quick look at the past, present, and future of our immersive storytelling tool.
DateWednesday, August 1st, 2018


Nuclear plant unit shut down; operators investigate fire alarm
RED WING, Minn. -- The Prairie Island nuclear power plant in southeast Minnesota filed a notification of an "unusual event" after a fire alarm sounded at 4:06 a.m. Thursday.
RED WING, Minn. - The Prairie Island nuclear power plant in southeast Minnesota filed a notification of an “unusual event” after a fire alarm sounded at 4:06 a.m. Thursday.
Operators had safely shut down one unit of the plant by 7:32 a.m. to investigate the alarm in the unit’s containment building.
There is no indication of an actual fire, according to Xcel Energy, which owns and operates the two-reactor power plant. Plant personnel needed to shut down Unit 2 before crews could enter the containment building to confirm there was no fire, officials said in a statement.
There was no release of radioactive materials to the environment as a result of this event, the company said.
A notification of unusual event is the lowest of four emergency classifications established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The declaration indicates a potential reduction in the level of safety at the plant but no threat to public safety.
Xcel confirmed that there is no danger to the public or plant workers.
Unit 1 continues to operate at full power.


There have been some rumblings that Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh is on the hot seat right now. That was before Baltimore dropped their Week 9 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-16. Immediately following the loss, Harbaugh and Ravens players were faced with rounds of questions about potential coaching changes coming during their Week 10 bye.
While Harbaugh said he didn’t foresee any coaching changes coming this week, what would it look like if owner Steve Bisciotti had enough? What would firing Harbaugh look like for the Ravens?
For one, I doubt the team would have a coach already signed up to lead the team. That would be beyond rare — college and NFL teams are still in the midst of playing their games, narrowing the pool of replacements far too much. Instead, it would mean someone on the current coaching staff would get bumped up as an interim coach, like what the Cleveland Browns have done in the wake of firing coach Hue Jackson. That would leave a lot of options for Bisciotti and Eric DeCosta, who will take over as general manager after this season, to choose from.
Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg is the only coach on the staff that has been a head coach before. Mornhinweg led the Detroit Lions from 2001-2002, going 5-27. Considering the offense’s inconsistency this season, I doubt he’d get the call to take over.
Defensive coordinator Don Martindale has been in that role for only a half year, and the results haven’t been fantastic either. With his resume not featuring a lot of time as a defensive coordinator in the NFL, it’s unlikely Martindale would get the promotion. Though with how the defensive players vouch for him, that might earn him a little more than an immediate “no.”
The guy I think is most likely to get the interim coaching job would be Greg Roman. Roman is the assistant head coach, which would put him next in line. Many figured he was an insurance policy in case Mornhinweg didn’t pan out.
Long term, I doubt any of the coaches currently on the payroll would get the next head coaching job in Baltimore if Harbaugh were fired. Bisciotti has had to fire only one coach and when he did, he promoted from outside the organization instead of bringing up then-defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, as was expected. But given the limited sample size, really anything could be possible if Harbaugh were to get fired either midseason or in the offseason.
Firing Harbaugh in the middle of the season would indicate the Ravens know they can’t compete for a playoff berth. Depending on how close DeCosta and the front office believe they are to getting to that point would dictate how the roster would play itself out.
It’s likely we’d see a little more rotation of some of the younger players into the fold. With the season already pretty firmly out of hand, the Ravens would be wise to see if they have any younger players ready to step up. Not only would that help them figure out young talent maybe in need of some special development, but it would point out where aging veterans with larger contracts could be cut in the offseason.
Baltimore has a number of tough decisions with some of their older players coming this offseason. But as we saw when Harbaugh took over for Brian Billick in 2008, a core of talent is very much there and could be refined with a new coaching regime into wins. Instead of completely blowing up the roster and starting from scratch — a process that generally takes a few years — the Ravens can retool things and remain competitive as early as next year if they’re wise with their salary cap and roster cuts.
It remains a long shot that Harbaugh gets fired during the bye week. I just can’t see Bisciotti running things that way and tossing in such a monkey wrench for no good reason. Baltimore is still in the playoff hunt, even if they’re pretty far away from a wild-card berth. That hope is more than likely enough to keep Harbaugh in charge until the Ravens are eliminated from contention.


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HOURS OF OPERATION
Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m.
All programs require registration unless otherwise noted.
M = Member price; NM = Nonmember price
Programs listed in the calendar are for individuals and families. If you have a group, such as scouts, that would like a program, please contact the Estuary Center or complete and return our Program Request Form.
Click here for online registration or call 410-612-1688.
06/29/2016 @ 10:00 am-12:00 pmOur plankton citizen science project is a great opportunity for science-minded individuals to contribute to monitoring and research at the Center. Help is needed with collection, identification, and analysis of plankton samples. Interested individuals should contact the Center for introductory training.
07/02/2016 @ 12:00 pm-1:30 pmWe supply hot dogs and fixin's, watermelon and lemonade. You bring side dishes for your family and your own folding chairs. Picnic, games, and fun for all! *Meet at Pontoon Pier
07/02/2016 @ 8:30 pm-10:00 pmExplore the woods with us on a summer night at Bosely Conservancy to learn about and locate the owls that call this bottomland hardwood swamp home. Make sure to dress for muddy trails and warm summer temperatures. *Meet at Bosely Conservancy
07/03/2016 @ 9:00 am-10:30 amGlide along Otter Point Creek as we learn about the fascinating barn and tree swallows. Watch their powerful, quick and graceful flight as they swoop after insects.
07/03/2016 @ 1:00 pm-1:30 pmStory time with a natural twist. Listen to stories, learn new songs, and move like the animals.

domain: hobby


WeWork jumps as much as 12% in public debut
18:39, 21 October 2021
WeWork traded up more than 12% to highs of $13.93 per share in its debut on the public markets.
The co-working real-estate company went public on Thursday through a merger with special purpose acquisition company BowX Acquisition, two years after its initial public offering imploded spectacularly and became the subject of documentaries and a dramatised TV series.
BowX shares closed at $11.18 per share on Wednesday before the stock was delisted from the Nasdaq and relisted on the New York Stock Exchange at $10 per share as WeWork under the ticker “WE.” At 2:30 Eastern Time, the shares were trading at $11 per share, up by around 6% on the day.
The deal values WeWork at $9bn (£6.52bn), which stands in stark contrast to the $47bn valuations it once flaunted before former CEO and founder Adam Neumann’s controversial management style came under fire and the company’s business projections proved to be too lofty.
Japanese conglomerate SoftBank continues to be the company’s largest shareholder with a 61% stake. Softbank ended up bailing out WeWork after the company withdrew its IPO, sinking $16bn into the efforts, including $11bn of equity investment and $5bn of debt financing and payments to the ousted Neumann.
Some investors worry that any increase in the shares could trigger SoftBank to begin dumping its shares as a way to recoup those earlier costs.
During WeWorks’ investor day earlier this month, the company reported preliminary third-quarter revenue of $658m.
The company withdrew its IPO in late 2019 and was then met with the challenges of the pandemic as office spaces emptied out in favor of at-home work.
WeWork is looking at new revenue models as well including “All Access” subscriptions that give members access to all of WeWork’s locations. Additionally, the company is working to roll out a workplace management platform that will allow landlords the ability to manage flexible spaces themselves.
Read more: WeWork set to go public on NYSE following successful vote
The difference between stocks and CFDs
The main difference between CFD trading and stock trading is that you don’t own the underlying stock when you trade on an individual stock CFD.
With CFDs, you never actually buy or sell the underlying asset that you’ve chosen to trade. You can still benefit if the market moves in your favour, or make a loss if it moves against you.
However, with traditional stock trading you enter a contract to exchange the legal ownership of the individual shares for money, and you own this equity.
CFDs are leveraged products, which means that you only need to deposit a percentage of the full value of the CFD trade in order to open a position. But with traditional stock trading, you buy the shares for the full amount. In the UK, there is no stamp duty on CFD trading, but there is when you buy stocks.
CFDs attract overnight costs to hold the trades, (unless you use 1-1 leverage) which makes them more suited to short-term trading opportunities. Stocks are more normally bought and held for longer. You might also pay a stockbroker commission or fees when buying and selling stocks.
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“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle
Working with a Coach 1:1 is like working with a personal trainer.
Our minds can be trained and developed in the same ways as the rest of our bodies to help us get the results that we seek.
The key is strategic and regular practice.
What are your current mental habits holding you back from?
- Are you regularly frustrated and overwhelmed at work, when you would you like to feel engaged and fulfilled?
- Are you experiencing daily conflict with your child and want to shift to a respectful, satisfying relationship?
- Is there a goal you keep setting and missing because you’re missing motivation or an effective plan?
1:1 Coaching includes interactive sections where effective, time efficient tools are developed to encourage the changes that you want.
Interested in learning more? Set up 15 minutes to talk with Nicole.

domain: psychology


HIGHLIGHT Lee Gikwang announces solo comeback with ‘PREDATOR’
HIGHLIGHT Lee Gikwang has announced he will be returning with a full-length album. Releasing on April 17th 2023, ‘PREDATOR’ will be his second solo comeback since ‘ONE’ back in 2017. This album will mark his first full-length album.
Album schedule is below:
Gikwang also recently celebrated his 33rd birthday on March 30th!
Stay tuned for more!
Written by: May Lam


Kona Process 134 CR/DL 29 - Gloss Azure Blue - 2022
The Process 134 CR DL is the Beauty and the Beast of our lineup. It’s sleek, cable-free lines and killer top-of-the-line spec will turn heads all season long. Meanwhile the 134mm of rear travel descends like nothing you’ve ever experienced on a mid-travel trail bike. This bike is our secret weapon. It climbs lightning fast and rips downhills like hungry cougar chasing an ill-fated deer. Sorry, deer. Your time is up.
Designed to be lightweight and built to demanding standards. Carbon fiber has long been praised for its weight and strength, but rather than chase grams, we place our efforts on the performance that is possible when the right high-modulus fibers are in the right places. Our designers work very closely with our manufacturer to ensure there is no compromise to the desired ride characteristics, durability and – finally – weight stipulations that we expect from our bikes.
Bearing cups are actually pressed into the frame and are easily removable. An internal headset also reduces stack height, so the height of the stem and bars are more adjustable, giving the rider the best fit possible.
TAPERED HEAD TUBE
More girth at the bottom of the head tube better distributes shock force, prolonging the bearing life of the headset itself and eliminating brake shudder, while providing confident steering performance. The inherent strength of its triangular design also means a stronger steering position and improved balance, giving the rider more control in rough terrain. A zero-stack, tapered head tube also puts strength where the load is going—into the lower headset cup—maximizing bearing durability where it’s needed.
TUBELESS COMPATIBLE RIMS
Tubeless rims allow for tires with more puncture resistance; the ability to run lower tire pressure, which provides better tire grip on the trail; lower rolling resistance; and weight savings over traditional tube and tire systems.
12x142mm, 12x148 and 12x157 rear axle standards provide two major advantages to the Kona rider: the 12mm diameter of the rear axle provides the rear hub and frame with a stiff interface, while the 142/148/157mm outer diameter of the hub allows the wheel to be quickly and properly positioned in the frame before the rear axle is inserted. For 2017, you’ll see the 12x148 Boost standard in the mix. Boost spacing provides more tire clearance at the chainstay yoke, while the rear wheel is stiffer and more durable relative to a 12x142 thru-axle.
BEAMER INDEPENDENT SUSPENSION
Built to be off-the-top progressive, Beamer Independent Suspension helps the bike to stay higher in the travel and recover from hits more quickly. The Operators are instilled with what our product managers like to call “pure shock movement,” whereby the shock is protected from side load. Designed to be highly tuneable and extremely durable, the Beamer IS is our version of greased lightning.


BID NUMBER: MKI11/2020
CLOSING DATE: 30 MARCH 2020 AT 23:59
The Moses Kotane Institute is an entity of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government through the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA), with a mandate to conduct world class research into training, skills development, and provincial strategies economic sections; to strategically lead in innovation and maritime co-ordination and implementation activities to respond to the needs of the provincial economy. It also coordinates interaction between line functions or sector departments established or envisaged provincial government training institutions, tertiary institutions, and other external service providers.
MKI invites suitable service providers to submit their proposals for the detailed design and costing of a cannabis business park in Durban. The design and costing will be executed in conjunction with the Dube TradePort Corporation. Primarily the services of the following professionals are required:
- Mechanical Engineer
- Quantity Surveyor
- Financial accountant
The Terms of Reference (TORs) are available on MKI’s website: www.moseskotaneinstitute.com Proposals must be emailed to email@example.com. Proposals received after the closing date will NOT be considered. MKI subscribes to the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act, 2000, (Act No.5 of 2000). There will be a two-stage evaluation process. MKI reserves the right not to appoint.
|Job Category||Closed Tenders|


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Tiki Bar Restaurant T-Shirt Mark Thomas' Outrigger Monterey, CA Matchbook Reprod
Mark Thomas' Outrigger began it's life on Cannery Row in Monterey, CA in about 1959. Somewhere along the line a fire engulfed the tiki bar and restaurant and it was rebuilt, soon after becoming Mark Thomas' Outrigger, probably reflecting a change in ownership and perhaps attempting to rebuild the brand or separate it from the various other restaurants named Outrigger throughout the state.
The image on the shirt comes from the front of a matchbook from the tiki bar in its Mark Thomas days. A very cool design on the front featuring graphic elements that conjure up the idea of ocean waves (I would have made them blue, but hey the algae in the water in the Monterey Bay sometimes makes the ocean look green). The back of the matchbook had what I would assume was a graphic element depicting a pier or a wharf. It makes sense when you stare at it, but honestly it seems ugly to me so was not included in the shirt design.
As a place that was semi-local to me (we are in San Jose, CA) I visited the Outrigger more than a few times before it closed and was renamed The Fish Hopper in the mid-nineties. The Outrigger had the virtue of being a tiki and nautically themed place that actually did look out onto the pacific ocean. That alone made it cool.
The image on the shirt was digitally redrawn from a small image on a matchbook. Cleaned up and re-colored, this shirt has no artifacts or other digital blemishes that often accompany this kind of product. It is, for all intents and purposes, a brand new piece of artwork. If you see this shirt offered for sale on Amazon for under $9 you are more than likely buying a bootleg version of our design sold by pirates in China.
Printed on 100% ringspun cotton t-shirt using our own full color direct-to-garment printer, this is a high quality print that will last you for some time. Check out our reviews!
Brand:Arkiva Tropika/TeeGeniuses Size Type:Regular Sleeve Length:Short Sleeve Style:Graphic Tee Theme:tiki Material:100% Ring Spun Cotton


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Internal Pain - Doctors unable to Diagnose
I am writing here today because I have a medical problem that is extremely painful for me that doctors have not yet been able to diagnose. I am hopeful that someone here with similar symptoms can recommend to me some additional testing that would help to identify the problem. Any advice would be greatly appreciated because this is really becoming unbearable for me. I am a female, 30 years of age with no prior serious medical issues.
My pain started near the end of October, 2018. I hadn’t been doing anything out of the ordinary but one evening I started to feel internal pain deep inside my back starting from my lower spine (sacrum) downward to my tailbone, and spreading deep in my buttocks (primarily the left one).
My buttocks in general is extremely sensitive. Physically pushing up on my buttocks causes the pain to increase greatly, and even just a light touch to the skin when i lay on the side and i touch over the skin I feel a pins and needles sensation and almost like a burning feeling.
In the beginning the pain would only disappear when I would lay down (on my back or side) in bed. It was impossible for me to sit straight on a chair due to the stabbing pain that I feel internally. I felt like I needed to keep my body straight all time, feeling the need to put a hand on something to help keep myself standing straight to avoid the pain. I can’t wear tight pants or anything that puts pressure on my buttocks. Even underwear is an issue.
In addition to the pain I have some other symptoms as well. I have begun to feel very weak, tired, and my muscles, bones, and joints hurt. It is becoming harder to use my hands and my arms feel heavy. My fingers feels clumsy and it’s hard to keep things in my hands. It’s becoming more difficult to walk normal because of the pain and I feel like I am losing coordination of my body.
I feel thirsty all the time, and I have a tingling sensation as well as shaking in both feet. They are also always cold. All of this is having an effect on my sleep and it is hard for me to get comfortable in bed.
While at the beginning the pain in my lower back / buttocks was intermittent, now it is constant. When I sleep I feel like there is something pulsing inside me. Any touch to my skin triggers a sharp pain in my left buttock.
My stool has changed as well – sometimes it is extremely dry and hard, while other times it is normal. I recently has a mucus discharge from my rectum as well, but this was a one time occurence. When I need to use the washroom the pain is greater.
Finally, this past month my menstruation came 5 days earlier than normal and has never stopped for 3 weeks now, although there is less blood than my usual cycle.
I have been to see about 10 different doctors now and have been through a multitude of tests as follows:
– Ultrasound of abdomen – doctor said she thought she saw a perianal abscess and recommended an MRI to confirm
– Pelvis MRI – nothing observed out of the ordinary
– Cocco-femoral and sacrum MRI – nothing observed out of the ordinary
– Lumbar MRI – nothing observed out of the ordinary
– Several blood tests – blood is normal except for slightly high cholesterol
– Rectosigmoidoscopy – Normal
– No sign of hemorrhoids, no visual issues with my anus
– Normal blood pressure, normal heart rate
– Gynecologist exam – Told me the menstruation issue is not related and can sometimes happen due to a hormone irregularity
The symptoms seem to me like this is a problem with my nerves or some sort of infection in my intestines but the MRIs and other tests don’t show any inflammation there. The doctors are telling me that based on the test results and scans that I am just fine, but I am most certainly not.
Does anyone here have a similar problem as me and if so can you please let me know what tests you did so that I can request my doctor to have them done? I really need to solve this – it is really becoming unbearable.
Thank you so much for your help.


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Expires: August 2024
Bobbi Britt, M.D., is the Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory and Vice Chair of Education of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She holds the academic rank of Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology.
Contact us: email@example.com.
Hi, I’m Ross Reichard, Vice Chair of Quality, for the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic. Did you know that ticks are not insects? They are arachnids— just like spiders, having eight legs as adults. Although this is an interesting tidbit, a more important fact is that ticks can transmit multiple disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and parasites through their bite, and they are now out in force looking for their next meal. In this month’s “Hot Topic,” my colleague, Dr. Bobbi Pritt, will talk about the different ticks that commonly bite humans, where they can be found, and how to avoid them. I hope you enjoy this month’s Hot Topic, and I want to personally thank you for allowing Mayo Clinic the opportunity to be a partner in your patients’ health care.
Thank you for that introduction, Dr. Reichard. It’s summertime, and the ticks are definitely out. Therefore, it’s a great time to talk about ticks—what types there are, where they are found, the diseases they transmit, and how you can protect yourself against them. We are also going to talk briefly about the laboratory methods used for detecting tick-borne diseases and follow up with more information on specific diseases in the other Hot Topic presentations in this series.
Now, before we begin, I’d like to say that I have no disclosures to make.
I’d also like to share some utilization messages that apply to all of the tests that we offer for tick-borne diseases. As you view this presentation and others in this series, consider the following important points regarding testing:
So, with this introduction, I’d like to set the stage—or I should say “forest” for our discussion.
We’ll start with some tick basics. Many people don’t know that ticks are arachnids, along with mites and spiders. They are not insects. Like other arachnids, they have eight legs as adults. They can be further divided into hard and soft ticks. Laboratory testing is primarily focused on diseases transmitted by hard ticks, since these comprise the bulk of tick-borne diseases. Ticks have a complicated life cycle, undergoing four life-cycle stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult. Importantly, they require a blood meal in order to molt into the next stage. The blood meal could be from a number of animals, including bird, rodents, and humans.
Here is the general life cycle for a hard-bodied tick provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (or CDC). It is specifically the life cycle for Ixodes scapularis, commonly known as the “black-legged tick” or “deer tick,” but the general concepts apply to all hard-bodied ticks.
Let’s start in the spring when eggs are laid by adult ticks that have survived the winter by staying under thick layers of leaves and snow. The eggs hatch to release larvae, some of which are actually born infected, having acquired the infection from their mom. The larvae need a blood meal in order to molt into the nymphal form, and they usually seek out small rodents and birds for this purpose. But I should mention the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, is not transmitted from the female tick, and therefore, the larvae have to acquire it when they take their first blood meal from an infected host. You can see from the life cycle how the larvae hatch after winter, feed, and then emerge as nymphs in the spring. Many of these nymphs are infected with various pathogens, having acquired them from their first blood meal the summer beforehand. In general, nymphs pose the greatest risk to humans since they are very small—as small as a poppy seed—and therefore, they are harder to identify on your body. They can easily be overlooked. After the nymphs take their second blood meal, they molt into adults. Adults are usually active in the fall, where they seek out meals from larger hosts such as deer and humans, and they may also be infected with multiple pathogens and transmit those pathogens through their bite. For some ticks, like the black-legged tick, it is only the female who takes a blood meal. However, males of some species, like the “lone star tick,” will also take a blood meal and transmit pathogens during feeding. The female tick then “overwinters” and lays eggs in the spring, starting the whole cycle over again. So, you may be asking yourself, “How do ticks find all of these hosts?”
Well, they don’t have wings, and therefore, they can’t fly, but they can pursue their hosts by crawling toward them or by using a behavior called questing.
When questing, ticks climb to a nearby high surface and extend their front legs (like we can see here) hoping to grab onto a host that is passing by. That is why we can avoid ticks by staying away from tall grasses, particularly at the edges of fields and forests.
As I alluded to earlier, ticks vary in size by their life cycle stages. They can also vary based on the type of ticks that they are. This image from the CDC nicely shows that black-legged ticks are smaller than the lone star and dog ticks at each of the life cycle stages. Of course, when ticks are partially or fully engorged with blood, size is not a reliable method for telling the ticks apart, and therefore, it should not be used in general as a key differentiating feature.
As I mentioned before, the nymphal stage of the black-legged tick can be as small as a poppy seed. Can you find all five ticks in this somewhat disturbing photo from the CDC?
Now that we’ve discussed some general tick features, let’s review the types of hard-bodied ticks found in the United States and the primary pathogens that they carry.
This first image shows the distribution in orange of Rhipicephalus sanguineus, the brown dog tick. Discouragingly, you can see that the brown dog tick is found in all 48 contiguous states.
It can transmit Rickettsia rickettsiae, the cause of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, predominantly in the southwestern United States and bordering regions of Mexico.
Then, there is Dermacentor variabilis, the American dog tick, found east of the Rocky Mountains and limited areas of the Pacific Coast. This tick can also transmit the agent that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever, as well as Francisella tularensis, which causes tularemia.
The western Rocky Mountain states and parts of southwestern Canada harbor a related tick, Dermacentor andersoni, also known as the Rocky Mountain wood tick. This tick can transmit the agents responsible for tularemia, Colorado tick fever, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Then, there is Amblyomma americanum, the lone star tick, which is widespread throughout the southeastern and eastern United States. It transmits the causative agents of tularemia, ehrlichiosis, and an enigmatic condition called the southern tick-associated rash illness (or STARI). It also most likely transmits heartland virus and possibly bourbon virus. And importantly, bites with this tick are also associated with a meat allergy. Patients who develop a meat allergy after a lone star tick bite are unable to eat the meat from most mammals, including beef, pork, venison, and mutton, without risking a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.
For completeness sake, I’ve also include the distribution of Amblyomma maculatum, the Gulf Coast tick, in this talk. This tick transmits a bacterium called Rickettsia parkerii, which causes a similar but milder illness to Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Now, last—but certainly not least—are the black-legged ticks. Ixodes scapularis has a very broad distribution throughout the eastern and upper midwestern United States and transmits all of the pathogens shown on this slide, including two bacteria that cause Lyme disease. You can watch our two related Hot Topics on Lyme disease to learn more about these organisms. Under certain circumstances, all of the disease listed on this slide can be fatal. As with all ticks, more than one pathogen can be transmitted at one time when it bites a human. Therefore, we may be at risk for multiple diseases with serious pathogens from a single tick bite.
The Western black-legged tick is associated with a similar spectrum of tick-borne illnesses and is found along the Pacific Coast of the United States.
Another important point I’d like to mention is that as the tick distributions change over time, ticks can expand into new territories.
We are seeing this with a number of ticks, including the black-legged ticks that transmit Lyme disease. The existing ranges are expanding laterally, as well as up into Canada. Therefore, it is important to keep up to date on which ticks are in your area and how to avoid them.
The laboratory detection of tick-borne diseases uses both direct and indirect methods. Direct methods are those that detect the organism, its antigens, or its DNA/RNA. Direct methods commonly employ real-time PCR, but also morphologic methods, such as blood smears. These are commonly used for detection of the Babesia species and morulae of the Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species.
In contrast, indirect methods detect the host’s immune response to the organism, specifically, the presence of pathogen-specific IgM and IgG-class antibodies. The preferred test is dependent on the time of infection, and therefore, it is important to know the stage of the illness when selecting a test.
Serology-based tests take a while to become positive because they are dependent on the host’s ability to produce detectable levels of IgM and IgG. If we consider “day 1” to be the point of infection, then we can expect to see IgM antibodies rising within the first week of infection, followed later by IgG antibodies. IgM antibodies will eventually decline to undetectable levels, but they can remain detectable for many months, whereas in contrast, IgG can remain detectable for years or even the life of the patient.
In contrast to serologic detection, direct methods such as those that detect DNA or RNA tend to be positive earlier in the disease, and then they disappear much earlier than antibodies. Now, the red line shown here is just a general pattern; it may vary by organism. Often, but not always, the periods of positivity for direct methods overlap with the time that the patient is symptomatic. There are some important exceptions, which is why my colleague, Dr. Elitza Theel, and I made an algorithm outlining the types of preferred testing for each pathogen, broken down by the time point in each patient’s illness.
This algorithm is shown here, and it is freely available on our Mayo Medical Laboratories website. We will reference this algorithm in greater detail in the other presentations in this series on tick-borne diseases.
You can watch our two prior Hot Topic presentations on Lyme disease and also look for our Hot Topics coming soon on non-Lyme tick-borne diseases and neuroinvasive Lyme disease.
For now, I will refer you to our educational offering called the “ABCs of Ticks” as shown on this slide, which provides the essentials of ticks and tick-borne diseases, including many helpful hints for avoiding ticks. You can find this information at the URL listed at the end of this presentation: https://news.mayocliniclabs.com/ticks/.
With that, I would like to thank you for joining me today for this session on tick essentials.

domain: health


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This week I have had a little time to add a few more stitches to block two of my 'Mrs Beasley's Sampler Quilt' project. Mrs Beasley's Sampler Quilt is a pretty four-block quilt designed by Leanne Beasley and, is being published in Vignette magazine over four issues. I am keen to get the stitching on this block finished now as I have a feeling that Vignette Issue 12 which, will have the instructions for the next block, is going to be out soon and on its way here!!
I have managed to stitch the little bunch of berries and I started work on the letters of the alphabet only to realise that I am not going to have enough of the thread that I am using. Unfortunately, as this is just some thread that I happened to have in my thread box and, it was wound onto a plastic bobbin for storage, I'm not sure of the number or even which make of thread it is.
I popped to a local shop which stocks DMC threads and found something as close as possible to the colour I have been using.
It is not an exact match although in some lights it looks closer than at other times. I am hoping that it will be close enough. Fingers crossed or I will be unpicking the letters I have done so far!!
While I was at the thread shop, I did find some crochet yarn which I have an idea for but, that is for another day.....

domain: design


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Author(s): Lohi EL, Lindberg C, Andersen O
Abstract Share this page
Abstract Eleven patients with mild or moderate myasthenia gravis (MG) were subjected to a strength training program of 27 to 30 sessions during ten weeks. Voluntary maximal muscle force and the degree of fatigue during repetitive maximal isometric muscle contractions were measured in three muscle groups. The subjects did not experience any subjective discomfort or any adverse effect on their MG due to the training. A 23\% increase of the maximal voluntary muscle force in knee extension in the trained side was found, compared to 4\% in the untrained side (p < 0.05). Only small changes were noted regarding maximal muscle force in elbow flexion and extension or in any of the muscle groups in the fatigue test. Physical training can be carried out safely in mild MG and provides some improvement of muscle force.
This article was published in Arch Phys Med Rehabil
and referenced in International Journal of Neurorehabilitation


Speaking from the prestigious TED Conference in Long Beach Wednesday, Sausalito activist Stewart Brand said scientists are developing the ability to reassemble an extinct animal’s genome, and even recreate the animal itself.
Brand, who gained fame after he campaigned to have the original NASA space photos of earth published, and subsequently created the Whole Earth Catalog, said Wednesday that “de-extinction” could be used to help restore organisms and habitats damaged human activity, according to a report in the Marin Independent Journal.
A team of Harvard geneticists are currently working to bring back the passenger pigeon, which has been extinct since 1914, according to the TED website. The passenger pigeon is considered a keystone species because it aided the survival of the buffalo, according to TED. Researchers believe it may now be possible to alter the genetic makeup of a close relative, the band-tailed pigeon, to re-engineer the passenger pigeon.
The Jurassic Park-like science was already used to recreate an extinct variety of wild mountain goat in 2010, but the animal died after just minutes due to a lung defect, reports TED.
But the critical question to ask is: Do we want extinct species back? Are we humans taking technology to its limits, and interfering unnecessarily in nature? Well, as Brand says, it’s our job to fix what we’ve already broken. In the past 10,000 years, we’ve made a huge hole in nature. It’s our fault that some of these crucial species have been completely wiped out, so we should dedicate our energy to bringing them back. Source: TED.com
Turning into Gods - teaser
Not all wonders are natural; many are devised by man’s ingenuity, many by the craft of demons."
Nigel Farage (UKIP) Speech on the EU, UK & Mass Immigration 2014 03 08
UKIP Nigel Farage Spring Conference speech - 2014
Red Ice Radio:
Nigel Farage MEP - The State of the EU & The Undemocratic Treaty of Lisbon
Labour wins UK by-election as Ukip trumps Tories
The ruling coalition in the UK was dealt a blow in the latest by-election test, as the UK Independence party pushed the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats into third and fourth ...
Pentagon studying Putin’s body language to predict his behavior 2014 03 07
The Pentagon has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years so that researchers can study the body movements of foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, in hopes of predicting future behavior.
An article published by USA Today reporter Ray Locker on Thursday and corroborated by documents discovered by RT provides rare insight into a scarcely-discussed military effort that ...
Pentagon Claims That Climate Change ‘Enables Terrorism’ 2014 03 07 In it’s latest Quadrennial Defense Review the Pentagon has said that climate change and ’erratic’ climate will cause increased terrorist activity.
The four yearly reports highlight threats that face civilization and this years homed in on climate change causing an increase in terrorism.
It also mentioned that rises in sea levels and other issues associated with a warming planet will lead ...
Scientists Control Tiny Mechanical Probes Inside Human Cells 2014 03 07 Nanotechnology doesn’t get as much attention these days as genetic and stem cell approaches to medicine, but all three aim to target the causes of illness with greater precision and less collateral damage in the rest of the body than conventional approaches.
Nanotech breakthroughs have come more slowly than many had hoped, but a recent success shows progress toward the goal ...
Fukushima: The Ticking Nuclear Bomb. Over 800 Tons of Radioactive Material Pouring into Pacific Ocean 2014 03 07
First published by GR in October 2013
In August this column ran a piece claiming that the Pacific Ocean was being poisoned by radioactive material escaping from Fukushima, two years after the devastating tsunami and meltdown at the Japanese nuclear facility. Three months later, shocking evidence points towards a calamity situation.
Silence from the corporate media.
There is growing evidence coming from ...


It may be a bit on the early side to be handicapping the upcoming governors' races when all but two are basically two years away. But with Democrats now shut out of the White House and Congress, the large crop of gubernatorial races on tap in 2017 and 2018 has become crucial to the party’s survival as a significant player in American politics.
Unsurprisingly, the Democrats have a lot of ground to make up. Currently, the GOP holds a historically wide edge of 33-16 in gubernatorial offices, with one governor -- Alaska’s Bill Walker -- an independent.
The gubernatorial battleground in 2018 will be especially important because it offers Democrats the biggest potential haul of governorships in advance of the once-every-decade legislative and congressional redistricting process that will begin after the 2020 Census. In most states, governors play a role in redistricting, and with the Republicans currently controlling the majority of legislatures, the Democrats will need a seat at the table to avoid being drawn out of most of the maps.
The good news for the Democrats is that Republicans will have more governorships to defend over the next two years -- 27 to the Democrats’ 10.
Some additional good news is that for the first time since 2006, the Republicans will control the White House and Congress during a midterm election, when ballots are thick with gubernatorial races and when voters have a tendency to register their antagonism against the party that controls the White House.
The bad news for Democrats is that the actual playing field of competitive races -- at least judging by our handicapping -- is more limited.
Of the 36 gubernatorial seats up in 2017 and 2018, 14 do not currently seem vulnerable for the incumbent party. Of those 14 relatively safe seats, 11 are held by Republicans, which takes out of contention a big chunk of the GOP-held seats being contested over the next two years. By contrast, only three Democratic-held governorships -- California, Hawaii and New York -- are considered equally safe for the incumbent party in 2018.
All in all, though, there are more seats in the vulnerable category over the next two years than we found four years ago, when we placed just five seats in that category. A big reason for the increase is that a large number of governors are being term-limited out.
Currently, we’re rating 12 governorships as vulnerable for the incumbent party. Of these, seven are currently held by Republicans, and five are held by Democrats.
The vulnerable Republican open seats are in Florida, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey and New Mexico, while there’s a vulnerable Republican incumbent in Illinois.
The Democrats, for their part, have two vulnerable open seats -- Colorado and Virginia -- and they must defend three vulnerable incumbents in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
In a completely neutral environment, the Democrats should stand to gain a couple seats during the upcoming cycle. But the larger gains the party needs will require a combination of strong candidate recruiting -- a particular concern in such states as Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin -- and a strong voter backlash against the stewardship of Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.
Both are plausible, but neither is a slam-dunk for the party.
We’ve also judged 10 races to be potentially vulnerable. Seven are Republican-held seats in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio and Wisconsin; two are Democratic (Minnesota and Oregon); and one is an independent seat held by Alaska’s Bill Walker.
Before we delve in, a few notes:
- Vulnerability, in our ratings, does not mean an incumbent governor is at risk of losing a primary contest -- only a general election.
- As usual, our handicapping is based on consultations with multiple experts in the states that have upcoming races, as well as national party strategists.
- Within the vulnerable and potentially vulnerable categories, the states are listed in descending order of vulnerability. In the safe category, the states are listed alphabetically.
- Later in the cycle, after the possible matchups have come into clearer focus, we will identify states as safe Republican, likely Republican, lean Republican, tossup, lean Democratic, likely Democratic and safe Democratic.
- We aren’t rating the two states -- New Hampshire and Vermont -- that hold gubernatorial elections every two years.
What follows are summaries of the 36 gubernatorial races for 2017 and 2018 -- and how likely they are to flip power.
New Jersey: Open seat; held by Gov. Chris Christie (R)
Democrats are more confident about flipping the New Jersey governorship in 2017 than any other seat that’s up in this two-year cycle.
Christie’s approval rating sunk to about 20 percent due to a disastrous second term -- marked by the “Bridgegate” investigation, a presidential bid that kept him out of the state for long stretches and his early endorsement of Donald Trump, who’s unpopular in the state.
Facing the prospect of a wide-open primary, the Democratic establishment quickly rallied behind Phil Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive, ambassador to Germany and Democratic fundraiser. His main Democratic challenger is Assemblyman John Wisniewski, a Bernie Sanders supporter who played a key role in the legislature’s Bridgegate investigation. While Murphy could catch some flak for his Wall Street background, he has the edge in organization and fundraising.
On the Republican side, Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, a relative moderate who has sought to distance himself from Christie, is running. Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno is weighing a bid, as is -- oddly enough -- former Saturday Night Live comedian Joe Piscopo, who has a radio show in the state.
While the Democratic nominee will be the favorite in the general election thanks to Christie fatigue, the race looks likelier to be competitive than a wipeout.
Connecticut: Gov. Dannel Malloy (D)
Malloy, beset by approval ratings in the 20s due to a weak economy and a dismal fiscal picture, is the nation’s most vulnerable incumbent Democratic governor. In fact, he’s so unpopular that many wonder whether he will seek a third term, which is permitted in the state.
While Connecticut remains generally Democratic, Malloy won office narrowly in his two campaigns, and on Election Day 2016, Republicans were able to move into a tie in the state Senate and gained ground in the state House.
Potential Republican challengers include Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, Senate Republican Len Fasano, attorney Kevin O’Connor and former Florida U.S. Rep. and TV host Joe Scarborough, who traveled to several Republican town committees last year.
If Malloy doesn’t run -- or even if he does -- the Democratic field could include Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, Comptroller Kevin Lembo, state Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr., Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan Harris, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim and New Haven Mayor Toni Harp.
New Mexico: Open seat; held by Gov. Susana Martinez (R)
Martinez, one of the nation’s leading Hispanic Republicans, is term-limited, and in this Democratic-leaning state, Democrats are optimistic about recapturing the governor’s office.
Indeed, Martinez’s popularity has sagged as the state grapples with a slow economic recovery and rising crime, giving Democrats an opening. Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, who would have cleared the field, recently opted against a run. Still, either U.S. Rep Michelle Lujan Grisham or Attorney General Hector Balderas would be strong candidates. Fast Company founding Publisher Alan Webber has also been mentioned on the Democratic side.
The potential Republican field includes Albuquerque Mayor R.J. Berry and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez, though neither of those positions has directly produced a governor since the 1930s. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce may also consider a bid.
Illinois: Gov. Bruce Rauner (R)
It’s been a tough first term for Rauner, a Republican who’s governor of a strongly Democratic state. An ongoing battle with the Democratic-controlled legislature has kept the state from enacting a full budget for months, and Illinois is now on pace to end 2016 with $12 billion in unpaid bills.
While the standoff has also diminished the popularity of Democratic leaders, including powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan, Rauner’s approval ratings have sunk to the 30s. Rauner’s biggest advantage is his deep personal war chest; he put roughly $30 million into legislative races this year (with relatively little success) and can afford to sink more on his own behalf in 2018.
Another challenge for Democrats will be settling on a candidate. Top-tier challengers like U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Attorney General Lisa Madigan (the speaker’s daughter) appear to be taking a pass. Democrats who might take the plunge include Chris Kennedy, a businessman and the son of Robert F. Kennedy; J.B. Pritzker, a Hyatt Hotels heir and brother of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker; U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos; state senators Daniel Biss and Kwame Raoul; and state Treasurer Michael Frerichs.
Maine: Open seat; held by Gov. Paul LePage (R)
LePage’s stormy, polarizing tenure has ruffled many feathers in the state, giving Democrats high hopes of seizing the governor’s mansion.
On the Democratic side, the potential field includes Attorney General Janet Mills, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, state Sen. Justin Alfond, House Speaker Mark Eaves and state Senate Minority Leader Troy Jackson.
On the Republican side, the top contender would likely be U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin. If Poliquin decides against a run, the GOP could turn to Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew, state Senate president Mike Thibodeau, former state Rep. Josh Tardy and attorney Ken Fredette.
History would suggest a Democratic edge; Maine hasn’t elected back-to-back gubernatorial candidates from the same party since 1958. But despite a desire among many in the state to move past the LePage era, the governor did channel economic frustration in many corners of the state, providing a roadmap to victory for a Republican nominee with less baggage.
One wild card in this state with a long history of third-party candidacies: Voters just approved ranked-choice voting by a ballot measure. But no one is quite sure yet how that could change the gubernatorial calculus.
Virginia: Open seat; held by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D)
Thanks to demographic changes, Virginia has become an increasingly Democratic state, and McAuliffe, a political operative who entered office amid some skepticism, has had a reasonably popular tenure. But Virginia holds its gubernatorial election in an off-off-year, and the race often reflects the national mood, so it's too soon to know which party will be better positioned in 2017.
The Democrats’ heir apparent is Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam. But early this month, he got a credible primary challenge from the left by former U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello.
The GOP field is led by Ed Gillespie, a longtime Republican strategist and lobbyist who nearly ousted Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner in 2014. But unlike Northam, Gillespie doesn't have the field to himself; he's slated to face off in the primary against Corey Stewart, who chairs the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, and state Sen. Frank W. Wagner of Virginia Beach. Denver Riggleman, a craft distiller and former Air Force intelligence officer, is also weighing a bid.
A mid-December poll by Quinnipiac University found Northam edging Gillespie, 38 percent to 34 percent -- a sign that this will be a highly competitive contest.
Nevada: Open seat; held by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R)
Sandoval, who’s governed as a moderate, remains popular in this swing state. Now that the incumbent is on his way out, the list of potential successors is long, though the contest is largely undeveloped.
The possible Republican candidates could include Attorney General Adam Laxalt, Lt. Gov Mark Hutchison, state Treasurer Dan Schwartz or economic development czar Steve Hill.
Potential Democrats include Clark County Commission Chair Steve Sisolak and Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford.
In the 2016 presidential election, Nevada tilted Democratic, but in the 2014 midterms, the GOP delivered a sweep. It’s unclear which pattern will prevail in 2018.
Florida: Open seat; held by Gov. Rick Scott (R)
The first failure by the Democrats to win Florida in the presidential contest since 2004 has to put a damper on the party’s hopes of flipping the governorship -- a seat they last won in 1994. Still, recent gubernatorial contests in the state have been narrowly divided, and Scott has had a somewhat polarizing tenure.
If Democrats can field a quality candidate, secure sufficient funding and keep turnout from dropping through the floor, the party should have a shot at ending its losing streak. On the Democratic side, the field may include outgoing U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Ft. Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler.
Graham is attracting the most attention. She’s a moderate Democrat in the mold of her father, former U.S. Sen Bob Graham, though she is focusing now on her husband’s bout with cancer. An intriguing “outsider” candidate for the Democrats is high-profile lawyer John Morgan, who is well known for backing a successful medical marijuana ballot initiative.
On the Republican side, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam is the leading name.
Pennsylvania: Gov. Tom Wolf (D)
Wolf has not formally announced his intention to run for a second term, but he has said that he plans a re-election bid.
Wolf has achieved some successes, including a 4.7 percent budget increase, record spending for school districts and legislation to battle opioid abuse. But Wolf’s approval ratings have been below 45 percent and the failure of Hillary Clinton to win the state in 2016 can’t be an encouraging development for his party. Wolf is also not considered the most scintillating campaigner, and the prospect of trying to enact a left-of-center agenda against a solid Republican legislature could lead him to consider skipping a second term.
Whatever Wolf decides, the GOP has an active field, led by state Sen. Scott Wagner, a businessman who will have a strong appeal to Trump voters. Other possibilities include Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, U.S. representatives Patrick Meehan and Mike Kelly, House Speaker Mike Turzai, former Lt. Gov Jim Cawley and Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce President Rob Wonderling.
If Wolf decides not to run, potential Democratic candidates could include Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Undersecretary of Army and former Rep. Patrick Murphy, and state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.
And if Wolf does run, he may face a primary challenge from his left by Pittsburgh-area Mayor John Fetterman. (Update: After this story ran, Fetterman tweeted that Wolf has his "full, unqualified support in 2018.")
Michigan: Open seat; held by Gov. Rick Snyder (R)
Snyder, who was elected as a technocrat, has seen his second term marred by his handling of the Flint water crisis. At the same time, he’s failed to establish an emotional connection with the Republican base, even as he’s alienated Democrats with his enactment of key conservative policies such as right-to-work legislation.
His difficult legacy could hurt the Republicans who try to succeed him. That field is led by Attorney General Bill Schuette, though Lt. Gov. Brian Calley entertains thoughts of running as well.
The two most prominent Democrats weighing a run are former state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, who has gained prominence for his advocacy on behalf of his hometown of Flint. Less likely to run are Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel.
Trump flipped this “blue wall” state in the 2016 presidential race, but in the 2018 gubernatorial race, the Republicans will be the incumbents, having controlled the governorship and the legislature for eight straight years for the first time since 1932. The race should be competitive.
Rhode Island: Gov. Gina Raimondo (D)
Raimondo won the general election in 2014 with only about 40 percent of the vote in a three-way race after prevailing in the Democratic primary with a similar share of the vote. She’s attracted positive attention nationally for her efforts on pension reform. But back home, she's not as popular, and her re-election bid, assuming she seeks another term, could be uphill.
A slow recovery from the recession on her watch has undercut one of her key campaign issues -- economic development -- and she’s been dogged by controversies over a troubled statewide marketing campaign and cost overruns for new software for public assistance programs. Even her pension reform efforts, popular in some circles, have alienated labor unions -- a key part of the Democratic coalition in the state.
Raimondo’s first challenge will be to win renomination. Two Democrats who ran against her in the 2014 primary might challenge her again -- Clay Pell, who could run strongly with labor and the party’s left flank, and former Providence Mayor Angel Taveras.
The potential GOP field includes several possible contenders, led by Allan Fung, who lost to Raimondo in 2014 but later won an easy re-election as mayor of Cranston, and Ken Block, who founded the state’s Moderate Party but later ran as a Republican in 2014. Another Republican possibility is business executive and former state Sen. Giovanni Feroce.
Colorado: Open seat; held by Gov. John Hickenlooper (D)
Colorado has trended Democratic in recent elections, and Hickenlooper has remained popular as governor. But with the seat coming open in 2018, keeping it won't be a slam-dunk for the Democrats.
In both parties, the contest for the nomination is wide-open. The most talked about potential Democratic contenders are former state Treasurer and Denver CFO Cary Kennedy and U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter. Other Democratic names being floated include former U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne, state senators Mike Johnston and Michael Merrifield, and businessman Noel Ginsburg.
On the GOP side, the names include U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, state GOP chair Steve House, state senators Ray Scott and Tim Neville, state Treasurer Walker Stapleton and George Brauchler, who serves as district attorney for Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties. A wild card could be Kent Thiry, the CEO of a kidney-dialysis company who has been politically active on ballot measures in the state.
The national mood in 2018 will likely shape this race.
Ohio: Open seat; held by Gov. John Kasich (R)
Even before Election Day 2016 -- when Hillary Clinton lost this bellwether state won twice by Barack Obama -- Democrats were having trouble contending in statewide races. The good news for the Democrats is that their options look better than they did in 2014, when Kasich cruised to an easy victory against an impropriety-plagued Democratic nominee.
This time, the Democratic field could include U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, who recently challenged Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in the U.S. House; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray; Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O’Neill; state Sen. Joe Schiavoni and former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton.
However, the GOP has several solid candidates with good name recognition. A competitive primary is expected between Attorney General Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, and Secretary of State and former House Speaker Jon Husted. U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci is also reportedly interested.
Recent history suggests that the GOP should have an edge, but Ryan or Cordray could make it a good contest.
Minnesota: Open seat; held by Gov. Mark Dayton (D)
Dayton has consistently registered approval ratings in the 50s, but there’s been discontent with his governorship in both parties -- frustration that could grow if a standoff between Dayton and the newly all-GOP legislature leads to a state government shutdown.
Democrats are divided between an affluent, urban-suburban, pro-environmentalist wing and a more rural, blue-collar, pro-resource-development wing.
There is no clear Democratic successor for Dayton, though the governor has worked hard to groom Lt. Gov. Tina Smith for the post. One declared candidate is state Rep. Erin Murphy, a pro-labor, urban liberal. Other Democratic possibilities include Attorney General Lori Swanson, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and state Sen. Tom Bakk.
On the GOP side, the names currently circulating include Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek, Speaker Kurt Daudt, 2010 gubernatorial nominee and U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, state GOP chair Keith Downey, former House Majority Leader Matt Dean, 2014 candidate Jeff Johnson, former U.S. Senate candidate Mike McFadden and Fox News contributor Pete Hegseth.
Wisconsin: Gov. Scott Walker (R)
Walker presides over a state that has not only leaned Republican in midterm elections but now has done so in a presidential year, as Donald Trump won the state narrowly and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson prevailed in a challenging re-election bid by a surprisingly large margin.
Walker has said he is leaning toward a third term, in which case he would start as the frontrunner against what will likely be a relatively weak Democratic field. Possible Democrats include state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, former state Sen. Tim Cullen, Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ and Assemblyman Dana Wachs.
As long as Walker seems interested in a third term, potential Republican successors have remained mum.
Alaska: Gov. Bill Walker (I)
Walker, a Republican-turned-independent, has had a reasonably good first two years. In the 2016 elections, a coalition dominated by Democrats seized control of the state House, and it seems intent on working with Walker to address fiscal issues.
Walker’s lieutenant governor is a Democrat, so the party is not expected to field a serious challenge in 2018.
The Republican incumbent ousted by Walker in 2014, Sean Parnell, could seek a rematch. If he doesn’t -- or even if he does -- a couple other Republicans might throw their hat into the ring. That said, Walker does not seem overwhelmingly vulnerable at this point.
Arizona: Gov. Doug Ducey (R)
It’s too soon to tell whether the relative Democratic strength in Arizona during the 2016 election -- when Clinton seriously contested the historically Republican state thanks to an energized Hispanic base -- will carry over to the 2018 midterm election or whether it was a phenomenon peculiar to having Trump at the top of the ballot.
Democratic state Sen. Steve Farley is considering a challenge, but Ducey’s first term has been relatively quiet, so there’s no reason to believe that he’s in serious danger at this point.
Georgia: Open seat; held by Gov. Nathan Deal (R)
Deal has had a reasonably strong second term, though there is some angst within the party about whether he should have vetoed bills on carrying guns on campus and religious liberty.
With the seat coming open, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle looks likely to run; he recently published a book on education reform. Other possible Republicans include former U.S. representatives Lynn Westmoreland and Jack Kingston, and Secretary of State Brian Kemp.
After some disappointing election cycles in which Democrats failed to gain ground in Georgia despite an electorate shifting demographically in their favor, 2016 actually turned out to be a pretty good year for the party, as Clinton narrowed the gap in presidential voting by almost three points and took some affluent, historically Republican suburban precincts away from Trump. The Democrats do have some marquee names in the pool of potential candidates, including 2014 gubernatorial nominee Jason Carter, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and House Minority Leader Stacy Abrams.
But the gains in 2016 could be a one-off quirk due to Trump. For now, the GOP seems poised to hold on to the governorship.
Oregon: Gov. Kate Brown (D)
Brown, who was elevated to the office after a vacancy two years ago and just elected governor in her own right in 2016, is expected to seek a full four-year term in 2018.
First, she must navigate a difficult legislative session in 2017 that is likely to require either unpleasant budget cuts or new tax revenues. She could also get a stronger opponent than she had in 2016 if new Secretary of State Dennis Richardson -- the first Republican to win statewide office since 2002 -- takes the plunge, or if state Rep. Knute Buehler, a Rhodes Scholar surgeon and a relative moderate, decides to run.
If Brown can survive the legislative session relatively unscathed, she should be able to match her seven-point victory in 2016 -- a decent margin, but smaller than either Clinton or incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden notched.
Iowa: Gov. Terry Branstad (R)
Kim Reynolds, currently the lieutenant governor, is expected to be elevated to governor after Republican Terry Branstad is confirmed as Trump’s ambassador to China. Reynolds would be the first female governor in Iowa history.
Given the advantage Republicans have enjoyed in recent midterms, combined with the state’s recent GOP tilt in presidential elections, she should be able to win a full term running as the incumbent. She will also have a newly Republican state Senate to enact an agenda she can run on, making it tougher for others who might otherwise have run in a GOP primary, such as Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey and Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett.
The Democrats, for their part, have a relative dearth of strong challengers. Still, the list includes former state Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, state Sen. Jeff Danielson and state Sen. Liz Mathis.
Maryland: Gov. Larry Hogan (R)
Just two years ago, it would have been hard to imagine a Republican governor of solidly blue Maryland -- and harder still to imagine one who at this point looks pretty well-positioned to win a second term.
Hogan, a moderate who has distanced himself from Trump, has recorded impressive approval ratings for any Maryland governor, much less a Republican.
A few Democrats are weighing a challenge, including state Del. Maggie McIntosh and Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz. Other names being floated are U.S. Rep. John Delaney and former Attorney General Doug Gansler.
For now, Hogan seems to be in good shape, but if a strong Democrat decides to enter the race, his vulnerability rating could increase.
Massachusetts: Gov. Charlie Baker (R)
Despite governing a solidly blue state -- in fact, one that became even bluer in the 2016 presidential vote -- Baker’s moderate ideology, technocratic orientation and cooperative style have garnered him consistently high approval ratings.
Massachusetts voters also haven’t denied an incumbent governor re-election in a general election since 1974, although governors lost primaries in 1978 and 1982. That could change if a top-tier Democrat entered the race, such as U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy or Attorney General Maura Healey. Other possibilities include Cape Air CEO Dan Wolfe and Newton Mayor Setti Warren.
Beyond a strong Democrat taking the plunge, the biggest risk for Baker would be a partisan Democratic backlash against Trump during the 2018 midterm election that filters down the ballot. Baker may well share the ballot with a Trump acolyte, the controversial former baseball player Curt Schilling, who is weighing a 2018 U.S. Senate run against Democrat Elizabeth Warren. Warren would be well-positioned to prevail in her contest, but Schilling’s candidacy could turn into a loud sideshow that drowns out Baker’s more conciliatory message.
Alternately, the Trump White House could encourage a GOP primary challenge from a more hard-edged conservative, such as 2014 candidate Mark Fisher or state Rep. Geoff Diehl.
But these are theoretical possibilities for now; unless one of these dramatic upheavals comes to pass, Baker looks good to win another term.
Alabama: Open seat; held by Gov. Robert Bentley (R)
Bentley, who has been hobbled by a sex scandal that drew an impeachment probe, will soon be out of the picture, whether by ouster, resignation or retirement. But with the GOP dominant in Alabama, the Democrats aren’t well-positioned to capitalize on his troubles.
A free-for-all GOP primary is expected, although the sudden emergence of an open U.S. Senate seat -- assuming Jeff Sessions is confirmed as Trump’s attorney general -- has shaken up the field by possibly luring Attorney General Luther Strange to that contest instead of the governorship. Jefferson County Commissioner David Carrington is already running for governor. Other Republicans who might run include Auditor Jim Zeigler, Treasurer Young Boozer, suspended Chief Justice Roy Moore, Secretary of State John Merrill, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, Supreme Court Justice Jim Main, U.S. representatives Martha Roby and Brad Byrne, and state senators Del Marsh, Arthur Orr and Greg Reed.
The tentative frontrunner is probably Strange, though Moore, a staunch religious conservative, could make the primary interesting. If he happens to win, it could provide the only opportunity for a Democratic general election victory.
On the Democratic side, state House Minority Leader Craig Ford seems interested. Nonpartisan Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox could have a run in his future as well.
Arkansas: Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R)
In relatively short order, the Democratic Party in Arkansas has all but imploded, making Hutchinson highly likely to win a second term. One potential Democratic contender who’s been mentioned is little-known state Sen. Keith Ingram.
California: Open seat; held by Gov. Jerry Brown (D)
Brown -- a legend whose mix of social liberalism and fiscal moderation has won him widespread approval from the state’s voters in recent years -- is finally on his way out. But don’t expect the Republicans to be able to seize the opportunity, since the California GOP has withered to almost nothing.
So far, the announced Democratic candidates to succeed Brown are Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Treasurer John Chiang and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Others could enter the race, such as former state Controller Steve Westly, hedge-fund manager and climate change advocate Tom Steyer and even actor George Clooney.
The GOP bench is thin at this point, consisting mainly of San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
The share of the electorate open to voting for a Republican for governor is small enough that, barring a large, splintered Democratic field, there’s a good chance that two Democrats will compete against each other after the state’ top-two primary winnows the field. The early line has Newsom finishing first and one of the other top-tier Democrats finishing second, but there’s lots of time left for the race to develop.
Hawaii: Gov. David Ige (D)
The Democrats have a virtual stranglehold on the Hawaii Legislature -- there’s not a single Republican in the state Senate and only a half dozen in the state House -- so the GOP’s prospects of ousting first-termer Ige seem slim.
Idaho: Open seat; held by Gov. Butch Otter (R)
After three terms, Otter is almost certain not to run for re-election.
Lt. Gov. Brad Little, who was appointed by Otter to the office and is considered close to him, is actively organizing for a run. Russ Fulcher, a Tea Party-aligned activist who opposed Otter in 2014, is also running again. Meanwhile, if he is not tapped for the Trump administration, U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador could make a bid.
No possible Democratic contenders have surfaced so far.
Kansas: Open seat; held by Gov. Sam Brownback (R)
In 2016, after six years of public frustration with Brownback’s hard-edged conservatism, Democrats and moderate Republicans experienced something of a rebirth in Kansas, gaining seats in the legislature and staving off challenges to state supreme court justices. With Brownback term-limited and Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an anti-immigration and voting security hard-liner, possibly headed to a job in the Trump administration, the Kansas Republican Party may now veer back toward the center.
There’s talk of U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins running for governor, which could keep Attorney General Derek Schmidt out of the race. Senate President Susan Wagle, from the party’s more conservative wing, might also run.
Meanwhile, the Democrats have limited options beyond 2014 nominee Paul Davis, a former House minority leader whose seemingly winnable race against Brownback wilted amid the 2014 Republican wave. The Democrats only look competitive for 2018 if Brownback’s legacy worsens further.
Nebraska: Gov. Pete Ricketts (R)
The 2018 gubernatorial campaign in Nebraska hasn’t really begun yet. But in this red state, Ricketts is heavily favored to win a second term.
New York: Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D)
Cuomo is expected to seek a third term in 2018, and his biggest threat probably comes from the primary rather than the general.
While he may get a challenge from someone in the party’s left wing over style and ideology, the biggest intraparty threats -- such as Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli or perhaps an as-yet unknown businessperson -- are considered less likely to materialize unless Cuomo’s standing somehow craters in the next year. Lingering ethics issues could provoke such a cratering, but there is no sign of it yet.
Meanwhile, there’s little life on the Republican side, though businessman Harry Wilson, Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro and Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino have been floated as possible contenders.
Oklahoma: Open seat; held by Gov. Mary Fallin (R)
There’s no reason to believe that the Republicans are in much danger in this solidly red state, but Fallin’s popularity has declined in recent months.
That’s partly due to the weakness of the energy sector, which has put a crimp on the state budget. Some of it also has to do with internal Republican feuding.
On the Republican side, the leading contender is Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb. There’s a deep Republican bench in the state, so others could jump in as well.
For Democrats, the most credible contender in a weak field is House Minority Leader Scott Inman, an attorney with a fiery streak. If Inman gets in the race, things could get interesting. But whoever the Republican nominee is would start out as the clear favorite.
South Carolina: Gov. Nikki Haley (R)
With GOP Gov. Nikki Haley a strong bet to win confirmation as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Henry McMaster is poised to be elevated from lieutenant governor to governor early next year. That will make him the incumbent -- and make it easier for him to clear the GOP primary field, although there is speculation that Attorney General Alan Wilson or U.S. Sen. Tim Scott could make a primary bid. Whoever the Republican nominee is will be a strong favorite in this red state.
South Dakota: Open seat; held by Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R)
The two most talked about Republican candidates to succeed the term-limited Daugaard are U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem -- a slight early favorite -- and Attorney General Marty Jackley.
The Democrats are looking to Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether, but in this red state, whoever the Republican nominee is, will be the favorite.
Tennessee: Open seat; held by Gov. Bill Haslam (R)
There are several well-known, potentially well-funded Republicans who are looking to succeed Haslam, which gives Republicans a big leg up.
They include U.S. representatives Diane Black and Marsha Blackburn, House Speaker Beth Harwell, state economic development chief Randy Boyd, Secretary of State Tre Hargett, state senators Mark Green and Mark Norris, state Transportation Commissioner John Schroer and former economic development chief Bill Hagerty. U.S. Sen. Bob Corker would be a formidable candidate if he decided to run.
The state’s weak Democratic Party has only a few credible options, including former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke and real estate investor Bill Freeman.
Texas: Gov. Greg Abbott (R)
Abbott should be in a strong position to win a second term. He has protected his right flank from a GOP primary challenge while remaining acceptable to a broad swath of general election voters.
Democrats are faced with their quadrennial challenge of trying to recruit a top-tier gubernatorial candidate for a nearly hopeless race. Potential Democrats include outgoing Obama cabinet member and former San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, along with his twin brother, U.S. Rep. Joaquín Castro.
But if either Castro decides to make a long-shot statewide bid, it would be likelier to be against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
Wyoming: Open seat; held by Gov. Matt Mead (R)
The race to succeed the term-limited Mead has been slow to start. Names being floated include state Treasurer Mark Gordon, former U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis and Secretary of State Ed Murray -- all Republicans.
Democrats are expected to be a nonfactor.
*This story has been updated to correct spelling errors in several people's names.


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Paul O'Brien is vice president for policy and campaigns at Oxfam America.
The “rising tide” of global economic growth is lifting mostly yachts. But some nations show that inequality and environmental ruin don't have to be inevitable outcomes of economic growth.

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