Las Vegas Market is prepping to present a new, expanded set of gift and lifestyle exhibitors during its summer event July 24-28 at World Market Center Las Vegas.
“Las Vegas Market is truly a ‘something-for-everyone’ gift sourcing destination with newcomers and expansions bringing even more cross-category resources to market this summer,” said Scott Eckman, International Market Centers’ executive vice president and chief revenue officer.
Presented together on six floors in Building C of the campus, offerings will include seven new, expanded and relocated showrooms and exhibitors.
One new showroom and four expansions will add to Las Vegas Market’s nearly 175 showrooms showing general gift product in categories like baby, children’s, books, fashion accessories, garden gift, personal care, pet, seasonal, souvenirs, stationery, paper goods, toys, games and more. A new exhibitor for summer 2022 will be Wild Republic, maker of wildlife-themed toys, stuffed animals, jewelry, gifts and more. Four expansions of existing showrooms include three sales agencies – Diverse Marketing, Kathleen Milne and Next Step Reps – and one corporate showroom for Thompson Candle.
Updates to Las Vegas Market’s more than 125 existing gourmet food, housewares and tabletop offerings extend the category throughout Building C. Messermeister, maker of handcrafted chef’s knives, kitchen cutlery and cooking tools, has relocated to a larger showroom in the C1 high-end lifestyle collection. Hammond’s Candies, a candymaker specializing in nostalgic candy made in the United States, has also moved to a larger showroom on C10.
More than 200 gift brands will also be showing in six categories – design, gift, gourmet, handmade, immediate delivery and luxe – at the Gift and Home Temporaries in the connected Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas. Notable among the cross-category temporary exhibitors are tabletop resource Albert L. Punkt, Inc, design-driven gift manufacturer American Design Club, jewelry maker Avanti/By Avanti, LLC, leather goods resource Berit Brooks, handbag brand Hobo Bags, candlemaker Glasshouse Fragrances and more. Gift buyers can also explore two new pavilions in the Expo – JuniperMarket’s RISE showcase of 12 women-owned brands and a new *Noted at Las Vegas Market showcase presented by the Greeting Card Association.
AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Ala. – The harvest may be plentiful, but the storage is likely few. If every flat kitchen surface is filled with garden goodies, freezing the surplus is a great way to enjoy fresh vegetables all year long.
The Three Ps of Freezing
Gardeners can take some simple steps to ensure quality freshness for eight to 12 months.
“When properly picked, prepped and packed, vegetables can hold their fresh qualities for about a year,” said Janice Hall, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System coordinator for Macon County.
Picking
When picking vegetables to freeze, time is of the essence. In fact, a good rule of thumb is to have the produce picked, prepped and packed in the freezer within two hours of picking them.
In general, vegetables are better if they are picked early in the morning, right when the dew is off the vines. When picking vegetables to freeze, remember tender and just-matured ones are best.
Prepping
The first step to prepping vegetables is a thorough wash. This is the perfect time to look for inferior or overly mature vegetables; remove those. After washing, it is time to blanch. Blanching is a cooking method in which the vegetables are quickly cooked with water to stop the enzyme action. If not blanched, this enzyme action can cause loss of flavor, color and texture.
“Properly blanching vegetables is a must,” Hall said. “This stops the enzymes from destroying the fresh flavor of the vegetables, while also removing bacteria.”
After the vegetables have been properly blanched, they must be “shocked” in cold ice water to stop the cooking process.
“To stop the cooking, submerge the vegetables into cold water that is at least 60 ºF or below,” Hall said. “Blanching and cooling should take about the same length of time.”
Packing
Choosing the right container is essential when packing vegetables for the freezer. Instead of large bunches, Hall suggests packing meal-size portions firmly in moisture- and vapor-resistant freezer containers. Use containers that are odor-free, grease-resistant and crack-proof at low freezer temperatures.
“It is important to check approved recipes for the required headspace,” Hall said. “Headspace is the distance from the opening of the container to the packed food. It allows for expansion of the food as it freezes.”
Label and date containers before storing in the freezer. Freezer tape is another way to identify vegetables and packing dates. Do not overload the freezer, as this will add to the freezing times. For optimal quality, place the containers in the coldest part of the freezer and store at 0 °F or below.
More Information In-depth freezing instructions are available in the Alabama Extension publication Freezing Summer’s Bounty of Vegetables available at www.aces.edu.
GREEN BAY – The area’s largest firework show is returning in full force this year for the Fourth of July.
The Festival Foods Fire Over the Fox event was called off in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was scaled-back in 2021, but organizers are preparing to host a full-capacity event this Independence Day.
“Downtown Green Bay’s local businesses will be open for all the patriotic foot traffic this Fourth of July,” Emily Cubitt, marketing manager for Downtown Green Bay, Inc., said. “Live music will fill the streets while holiday sales and one-of-a-kind menus will keep you busy shopping and dining throughout the districts.”
Cubitt said a gamut of sights and sounds along the downtown waterfront, on both sides of the Fox River, are available throughout the day. “Keep cool with a handcrafted drink, support local on Independence Day and end the day with the area’s brightest fireworks show,” she said. This year’s celebration kicks off at 3 p.m. at locations throughout the downtown area including Leicht Park, the Neville Museum parking lot, along the Ray Nitschke Memorial Bridge and Green Bay City Deck.
“The community has been anxiously awaiting the return of this event in full force,” Allie Thut, director of special events for On Broadway, Inc., said. “It is one of the largest events in downtown Green Bay, and it truly brings the community together for an entire evening of entertainment and fun.”
There will be live music scattered throughout the area – including a main stage in Leicht Park, a kids stage and activities in the Neville Public Museum parking lot and a music stage on City Deck as well.
Food trucks of all kinds will line Ray Nitschke Memorial Bridge connecting one side of the river’s activities to the other.
“You’ll see some of your favorite activities finally returning to this year’s event,” Thut said. “Expect a show from the Waterboard Warriors, live music, bounce houses, food trucks, drinks and so much more.”
The Waterboard Warriors Water Ski Show, scheduled for 4 p.m., can be viewed from the shores of Leicht Park or from the Main Street Bridge. Organizers estimate the event draws more than 100,000 people to downtown Green Bay, and with the return to full capacity, they expect attendance to return to normal.
The firework show begins after dusk and is paired to music.
VIP seating Tickets are now on sale for the VIP seating area along the river on the paved sidewalk in Leicht Memorial Park – for those looking for the “best seat in the house” to watch the patriotic display.
The cost is $12 to reserve a chair for an up-close, designated view of the show.
Folks will be allowed into the VIP seating area starting at 7:30 p.m.
Ticket holders will choose their seat when they arrive on a first-come first-serve basis.
One ticket is required per person.
For more information and a link to buy VIP tickets, head to downtowngreenbay.com.
There’s a movement going on behind the scenes at Pine Needles. Actually, it’s in plain sight, but it’s happening so early in the morning and late in the evening that you’ve probably missed it: The grounds crew at this week’s U.S. Women’s Open includes 35 women, the most ever for a major championship.
To say greenkeeping is a male-dominated area in golf is putting it lightly. The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America found that only 2 percent of superintendent positions are filled by women. Troy Flanagan, the Director of Maintenance at The Olympic Club, had the idea that when the U.S. Women’s Open came to his course in 2021, women should be preparing that golf course. To help women in the business grow their networks and gain new experiences, the USGA partnered with The Olympic Club and Syngenta (an agricultural science and technology provider) to get female volunteers for the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open. All told, 29 women joined the team at Olympic.
Some of the women there had been working on grounds crews for years. Others, like Sun Roesslein, work in other types of turf industries. Roesslein is from the sports field world. She’s a Sports Stadium Manager in Colorado. The volunteers did everything from raking bunkers to cutting cups.
“We kind of felt like we had something to prove. Like, ‘Hey, we can do a fantastic job, too,’” Roesslein said.
When the U.S. Women’s Open arrived at Pine Needles in 2022, an even larger crew of females assembled to work on the course: 20 new women joined 15 carryovers from Olympic.
The volunteers work a morning shift, then go to classes during the day—from diversity and inclusion to women in leadership—and then work another on-course shift in the evening. They are long days, but Roesslein said the comradery of the crew and the importance of the work makes it easy to be motivated.
“It was energizing,” Roesslein said. “There was this underlying buzz all week, like, How cool is this?”
When the opportunity arose to join the crew again at Pine Needles, Roesslein didn’t hesitate.
“Last year was groundbreaking, history making. It was life changing for me. It was pretty inspirational to be around that many women who came from all different parts of the industry, to be able to talk and connect and problem-solve and network,” Roesslein said.
The team’s efforts have become known—and appreciated—among players in field. Early in the week, three-time U.S. Women’s Open winner Annika Sorenstam made a point of visting the maintenance faciility at Pine Needles to thank the crew for what it’s doing.
For Roesslein and the otehrs, it’s about more than preparing a championship golf course: It’s about learning and showing other women that there are career opportunities they may not have considered.
“We wanted to prove that we can do the work and do it at a championship level and produce fantastic results,” Roesslein said. “And it’s about getting the word out: It’s such a great career to be in. So many people just don’t know about it.”
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. – The Franklin County staple announced changes to its business structure.
“I get up at 3 every morning,” Brent Craighead, a milkman said. Craighead has been delivering with the business for 8 years
“I get here by 4 and head out, it’s been a true pleasure,” said Craighead.
A true pleasure for Craighead because he’s never met a stranger while delivering milk to people’s homes.
“I know which dogs to run from, which dogs to give a lot of dog treats,” Craighead said.
In fact, the milkman has made friends for life
“I think the world of them, I’m more than just a milkman. I love to talk to them, they came to my daughter’s birthday party.”
Craighead has been driving on routes all over Franklin County.
He’s more than just a milkman, he’s a man of many trades.
“Some lady had some plumbing issues, I helped fixed her sink and toilet one day and one lady said ‘I have a treadmill I need you to put together.’”
So, it’s no surprise that many people are going to miss their favorite milkman.
“This decision does not come lightly,” Amy Rice with Homestead Creamery said.
Staffers at Homestead Creamery told us there are several factors why the business decided to stop delivering milk to homes.
Some reasons include the pandemic, inflation with gas prices and staffing shortages.
“We did continue a little bit longer than anticipated we kind of put it into perspective at the beginning of the year, and then just kind of reevaluated everything, and made our decision that way,” Rice said.
But the milkman expresses gratitude for working at the creamery.
“It’s been an honor and privilege to serve,” Craighead said.
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Matthew S. Adams is a partner with the national law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP, and co-chair of the firm’s White-Collar Criminal Defense & Regulatory Compliance Practice Group. He can be reached by email at [email protected] Views are the author’s own.
Take this as a cautionary note, C-suite financial executives: We are now living through version 2.0 of COVID-19 stimulus related investigations. Federal authorities appear to be operating under a strong mandate to ferret out perceived fraud and abuse in the oft-confusing world of COVID-19 stimulus programs, and they are no longer going after only the low-hanging fruit.
As such, the time is now for CFOs and other financial executives who are involved in these programs to ensure their proverbial houses are in order under the watchful eye of a white collar criminal and regulatory defense attorney. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that also holds true in this area of the law.
Early intervention can often spot problems so they can be addressed before it is too late. For example, unintentionally over-funded Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans should be addressed before a forgiveness application is filed. Likewise, an Employee Retention Credit (ERC) election often requires tax filings to be amended. Careful navigation of the labyrinth of ERC eligibility criteria as part of that process is a must.
Where We Have Been
It’s important to take a moment to remember how we have come to find ourselves in this unusual situation. Back in March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to derail the U.S. economy, Congress acted with rare speed and decisiveness to fashion a series of stimulus programs aimed at protecting Main Street from an economic calamity. Only weeks into the most significant public health emergency in 100 years, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was providing forgivable federal loans to small and mid-sized businesses to help keep their operations afloat amid a wave of mandatory shutdowns and other measures aimed at stopping the spread of the virus. It was quickly followed by additional programs designed to address specific aspects of the broad and devastating scope of COVID-19 financial toll.
Criminal enforcement activity began within weeks after the proceeds of the first forgivable PPP loans were disbursed, with the first PPP fraud cases progressing at a pace uncharacteristic of the government’s typically slow and steady white collar criminal investigations.
Matthew S. Adams
Courtesy of Fox Rothschild LLP
At the beginning, most PPP borrowers who found themselves in the government’s crosshairs were charged with blatant fraud: fake companies with ginned up payroll records; loan proceeds used for personal luxuries; individuals and entities precluded from participating in such federal programs attempting to access loans; and opportunistic schemers making empty promises to naïve borrowers that they could maximize their loan proceeds for a fee. Those cases have resulted in an astonishing number of convictions for the federal government, and significant jail time for those responsible for making the loan applications.
Where We Are Now
In September 2020, a Congressional Select Committee began publicly exposing an enormous amount of fraud and abuse in the pandemic stimulus programs. By March 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said publicly that its investigators alone had uncovered more than $1.8 billion in fraudulent activity related to COVID-19 stimulus funds.
In his first State of the Union address, delivered on March 1, 2022, President Biden promised that “the watchdogs are back,” announcing the appointment of a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force Chief Prosecutor at the Department of Justice (DOJ). Coinciding with the announcement, DOJ requested a sizeable budget increase to hire additional prosecutors around the country to help bolster the Chief Prosecutor’s team. There is precedent for this type of focused prosecutorial mandate, and it means borrowers, lending institutions and anyone else that touched COVID-19 stimulus money had better gear-up too.
Qualitatively, the types of COVID-19 cases we have been seeing have been evolving for some time now. The DOJ started by bringing cases where alleged fraud was somewhat easy to spot for the government, but now the cases have become more nuanced. For example, the already target-rich enforcement environment of PPP has been expanded to a half dozen or so later COVID-19 stimulus programs such as the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), ERC, and a handful of other initiatives tailored to specific sectors of the economy particularly hard hit by the pandemic.
EIDL was once considered a relatively safe space because, unlike PPP, the vast majority of the loans received under the program must be repaid, albeit at below-market interest rates. However, scrutiny of surrounding borrowers’ use of these funds, which was initially quite narrow and later expanded by amendments to the lending program, has increased significantly. Similarly, the refundable ERC is wreaking havoc on taxpayers grappling with revenue recognition issues. Put succinctly, the introduction of programs other than PPP has given the government more potential opportunities to pounce, and it means investigators are not just going after relatively easy alleged fraudulent misrepresentation cases any longer – they are getting into the granular details.
While there are more programs for the government to examine these days, prosecutors’ toolkit is evolving too. Headline-grabbing criminal fraud prosecutions make a splash. The government quite obviously sought out easy cases to bring quickly during the initial days of the PPP because of the perceived deterrent value that accompanied that early, aggressive enforcement. Nothing sends a better warning to those thinking about misusing federal dollars than a “perp walk.” However, there are only so many easy cases to go around. Eventually, the government has to put in some work if it wants to keep making cases, and that is what investigators are doing.
The number of PPP forgiveness applications flagged for review and audit that I have encountered in my practice over the past several months is astonishing. Preliminary PPP forgiveness denials and requests for information by the Small Business Administration (SBA) in connection with a borrower’s PPP forgiveness application, channeled through the banks tasked with administering PPP, should not be treated any differently than a tax audit. The government is using sophisticated technology such as artificial intelligence to examine discrepancies across loan and forgiveness applications, along with other government-mandated filings, to look for indications of fraud. What may appear on its face as an innocuous enough follow up to your forgiveness application is actually just another way the government is building cases against program participants. Such requests should not be taken lightly.
Moreover, now more than two years into this ordeal, we are about to see an overwhelming number of Qui Tam, or whistleblower cases, surrounding COVID-19 stimulus programs result in civil and criminal sanctions against program participants. By their very nature, Qui Tam cases are brought under seal by a private whistleblower. Whistleblowers are incentivized by the possibility of recovering statutory damages and the whistleblower’s attorneys’ fees. The cases are filed without disclosure to anyone other than the government so they can be thoroughly investigated for criminal wrongdoing. Using powerful statutory tools, both the private litigant and the government can obtain a civil recovery, and if the government uncovers evidence of a crime while the secretly filed pleading is being examined by authorities, it can also bring criminal charges. Because of the unique way that these cases arise, they take time to develop. There should be no doubt that secret dockets are stacked with Qui Tam cases, and as more time passes, they will start to be unsealed. That process has picked up dramatically in the first few months of 2022.
Financial institutions, called upon to administer PPP, were once thought to be immune from the government’s COVID-19 stimulus fraud dragnet. That thinking, stemming from some limited bank-friendly language included in the PPP’s initial enabling legislation, has turned out to be completely wrong. Criminal investigations targeting lenders are on the rise, and as the primary repository for stimulus-related records, that means the collateral fallout to the banks’ customers should not be ignored.
While we cannot predict precisely what shoe will drop next with pandemic stimulus enforcement, there is no question that the government is now more active in this space than ever before.
The city of Phoenix and two utility companies showed off some ways they’re preparing for summer weather. They are addressing the monsoon and excessive heat.
The Paducah Parks & Recreation Department is gearing up for the opening of the Noble Park pool on Saturday for the Memorial Day weekend. Above: Assistant Pool Manager Wes Grogan cleans vacuum equipment at the pool Wednesday morning. Right: forklift driver Greg Shelton positions a picnic table on the lawn near the pool.
Today’s MI Environment story was originally published by Kathleen Lavey of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and focused on wildfires in Michigan. Wildfires affect overall air quality, and smoke and ash from these fires can cause or worsen health issues, especially in those with breathing problems, like asthma. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) measures a variety of air pollutants in over 40 locationsstatewide. Staff in EGLE’s Air Quality Division monitor levels of pollutants and will issue advisories if air quality is likely to be harmful to health. You can sign up to get air quality alerts at Enviroflash.info/signup.cfm.
Look out the window. Depending on where you are in Michigan, you might see tentative green grass or monumental spring mud.
In any case, make no mistake: Michigan’s wildland fire season is on.
“Some local fire departments have already started running wildland fires,” said Paul Rogers, fire prevention specialist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Rogers and other fire-qualified staff in DNR’s Forest Resources Division met recently to discuss the outlook for this season and develop plans to keep Michigan’s people and forests safe from the threat of wildfire. The season generally begins in early spring, ending with winter snowfall.
DNR firefighters and equipment are stationed strategically across the state to protect Michigan’s 20 million acres of forest land, which includes nearly 4 million acres of state forest.
The season generally begins in early spring, with the highest danger in spring and early summer. Risk lessens somewhat as trees “green up,” or bring sap up from their roots, in summer.
Because of Michigan’s wetter climate, the state rarely sees fires as vast or long-lasting as the fires they assist with in western states.
During 2021, Michigan’s largest fire was the Brittle Fire, about 5,600 acres in the northeastern Lower Peninsula on federal land. Prior to that, the most recent large fire was the Duck Lake Fire that started with a lightning strike in May 2012 north of Newberry in the Upper Peninsula. It burned 21,135 acres in three weeks’ time.
Those large fires are rare and the exception to the DNR’s goal – put out wildland fires as quickly as possible, while they’re still under 10 acres in size.
During 2021, DNR firefighters battled fires on 2,379 acres and conducted prescribed burns on about 5,100 acres. Prescribed burns are carefully planned fires that mimic the effect of natural fire on the landscape. They are used to improve habitat for wildlife and remove invasive species.
Despite mud, prescribed burns started in March. In addition, the spring danger of wildland fire from natural or human causes is very real.
“Last year was probably one of the busier springs we’ve had in a long time,” said Jeff Vasher, fire specialist in Roscommon. “It was really dry, and we started really early. Our unit started running fires on March 13 and went into June.”
This year may pose similar challenges.
“We didn’t get a lot of snow this year, and the vegetation from last year is still standing up,” he said. “That makes it rough for us, because when it stands up like that it dries out quicker and it burns a lot faster.”
Even though the ground may be saturated with water, grasses that have been dormant through the winter are dried out and burn quickly.
This means that people need to be very careful and check to see if the DNR is issuing burn permits prior to burning yard waste or other allowed materials.
“Always check on the status of burn permits with your local fire department or with the DNR before you start burning,” Rogers said. “Always check the weather. If it’s windy, dry and warm, do not burn. A fire can escape very quickly under those conditions.”
Before burning yard waste, go to the burn permit website to make sure weather conditions allow.
Some additional important fire safety tips include:
Throughout spring, summer and fall, DNR fire managers have a phone call every Thursday to discuss the weather forecast and the risk of fire in each area of the state. If needed, they’ll move staff around geographically to meet expected needs.
“We’re ready for the season,” Vasher said. “The tactics meetings get us started. It’s to get your mind set that fire season is coming, that your equipment is ready, that you have everything you need for the year.”
Today’s MI Environment story was originally published by Kathleen Lavey of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and focused on wildfires in Michigan. Wildfires affect overall air quality, and smoke and ash from these fires can cause or worsen health issues, especially in those with breathing problems, like asthma. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) measures a variety of air pollutants in over 40