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Apr. 22—CANTON — The Canton Fire Department was in full training mode Wednesday as all were on hand to prepare for an upcoming state inspection that happens every five years.

Haywood County Fire Marshall Andrew Messer was helping put the department through its paces, said Canton Fire Chief Kevin Wheeler.

The N.C. Department of Insurance’s Office of the State Fire Marshall conducts fire inspections across the state, but ratings are determined by a separate company — the Insurance Service Office.

This forprofit agency provides standardized ratings based on inspection reports, and is used by all insurance companies in the nation to determine insurance rates based on the quality of the available fire protection.

Each level a fire department can improve its rating amounts to about an 8% decrease on property insurance for homeowners.

David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital was up 4.4% for the first quarter, outperforming the S&P 500’s -4.6% return. The fund’s management noted that a lot happened during the quarter, “culminating in an unexpected bout of violence.”

Is the Fed doing what it takes?

In his first-quarter letter to investors, Einhorn says that he sees a “decent risk” that the 13-year bull market and the long-running period of relative peace and stability throughout the American sphere of influence since the end of World War II are over. He pointed to the oft-repeated sentiment that COVID accelerated trends and changes already underway, adding that he believes the same is true of the war.

Einhorn notes that the war has accelerated inflation, the ongoing supply chain issues, and energy, food, materials, and labor shortages and that stock prices had already started to fall as well. He sees evidence that inflation is destroying demand, slowing the economy in the process. Einhorn adds that if the Federal Reserve were serious about halting inflation, it “would be as aggressive and creative in tightening as it was when it was easing.”

He also questions whether the Fed is doing whatever it takes to deal with inflation or is merely talking tough, emphasizing that he thinks the central bank is doing the latter.

Greenlight’s long portfolio lost 7% during the first quarter, but gains in its short book and index hedges almost totally offset that loss. The fund reports that macro, led by inflation swaps and gold, generated a little more than all the return.

He segmented the fund’s long portfolio attribution into Green Brick Partners, which plunged sharply and contributed much more than all the loss, and “pretty much everything else, which did quite well.”

Greenlight’s biggest winners were Rheinmetall, Teck Resources and CONSOL SOL Energy. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent Rheinmetall soaring during the first quarter. Teck and CONSOL both surged after sharp increases in metallurgical and thermal coal prices.

Green Brick Partners and homebuilding stocks

Einhorn believes that even though there wasn’t anything wrong with Green Brick’s corporate performance, its stock plunged from about $30 to around $20 during the first quarter. Analysts slashed their estimates for this year and next by about 2%, although Einhorn says that the problem was with the entire sector, as most homebuilders plunged by similar percentages.

He explained that homebuilding stocks de-rated amid a new consensus view of a collapsing housing market. Analysts circulated the narrative that house prices have risen and noted that mortgage rates are rising. They’re also saying that sales and housing starts are slowing, and inventories and cancellations are rising.

David explains that this narrative supposedly implies a collapse in house prices, leaving homebuilders in a precarious position. He noted that everyone remembers when the last housing bubble popped and that the market appears to be suggesting that it’s about to happen again, meaning the sector is now un-investable at any valuation.

However, the Greenlight team disagrees with the new consensus view, and Einhorn describes the comparisons between today’s housing market and that of 2006 as “strained.”

Why Greenlight thinks the market is wrong about homebuilding stocks

Overbuilding was widespread in 2006, with an average of 3.5 million existing homes for sale, and the 30-year mortgage rate averaged 6.4%. Homebuilders were also highly leveraged, and homes were financed with very loose underwriting standards.

Today’s market comes amid a nationwide underinvestment in housing, which has resulted in a shortage of about 2 million units. Only about 870,000 existing homes are for sale, and mortgage rates sit at around 5%. Underwriting standards are tight amid minimal speculation and low financial leverage among homebuilders.

In Green Brick’s largest market, existing homes for sale have declined 21% over the last year and are down 77% versus three years ago. Most of the indicators the bears are pointing to as evidence of a housing slowdown don’t actually reflect a traditional slowdown.

Instead, he said they reflect the industry’s inability to build houses due to factors like labor and material shortages, which have lengthened construction times. Mortgage rates might at some point impact demand, but for now, homebuilders are constrained more by supply than demand.

Further, any slight decrease in demand probably won’t pose a serious risk to earnings or balance sheets. House prices aren’t the only prices that are rising, as rents are up too. Additionally, homebuilding stocks and home prices did well during the inflationary period in the mid-to-late 1970s.

Changes to Greenlight’s portfolio

Greenlight’s short portfolio posted broad-based returns for the first quarter, led by plunging prices in its basket of bubble stocks and a significant decline in the price of a medical device company that posted disappointing earnings results.

In mid-January, Einhorn adjusted the fund’s positioning to reflect better his view of the weakening economy and the possibility of the end of the bull market. The Greenlight team added more index hedges and increased their macro positions in corporate credit default swaps and inflation swaps.

They focused their research efforts on short ideas, so they didn’t make any large additions to the fund’s long portfolio. However, they did add new small positions in International Seaways, Ryanair Holdings, TD SYNNEX Corporation, Southwestern Energy SWN and Weatherford International.

Greenlight also exited its long position in EchoStar during the first quarter after holding it for a year with a 22% investment rate of return. Fund management started to worry about the company’s ability to grow its subscribers. Greenlight also dumped Jack in the Box after nearly two years with a 55% investment rate of return.

At the end of the first quarter, the fund’s largest disclosed long positions were Brighthouse Financial, Change Healthcare, Global Payments GPN , Green Brick Partners and Tech Resources.

Details on new positions

International Seaways owns and operates oil tankers and product carriers. The Greenlight team noted that demand for oil tumbled during the pandemic, resulting in an extended period of low charter rates for tankers. The fund acquired its shares at less than 60% of the company’s liquidation value.

Greenlight expects a tighter market now that demand has recovered to pre-pandemic levels with no shipyard slots available for the construction of new tankers for several years. Amid the tighter market, they expect International Seaways’ discount to its net asset value to close.

Ryanair is the largest low-price airline in Europe. It expanded during the pandemic by upgrading and improving the fuel efficiency of its fleet and reducing its airport costs. Ryanair has secured a competitive advantage by hedging near-term fuel prices, so the hedge fund expects its earnings to beat expectations as demand for air travel continues to recover.

The Greenlight team reinitiated a position in TD SYNNEX as they believe its recent merger with Tech Data TECD has created the top global IT distributor with the potential for a sizable accretion to earnings per share through cost and revenue synergies. The firm held its first analyst day since the transaction closed, and management laid out a path Einhorn’s team expects to achieve $20 per share in earnings in the coming years.

Southwestern Energy is the second-largest natural gas producer in the U.S., and the Greenlight team feels it is well-situated to satisfy growing domestic and export demand. They explained that Europe now plans to cut back on its reliance on Russian energy and depend more on LN LN G from the U.S., with Southwestern being a key beneficiary.

Weatherford offers drilling tools and other products and services needed to produce oil and gas. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2019 due to poor execution and a high debt load, but the Greenlight team believes it has emerged as a “less levered, better managed and cashflow generating business.”

They expect Weatherford to benefit from the many years of underinvestment in exploration and production, which have resulted in severe oil shortages. Greenlight also expects the company to benefit from the significant increase in capital expenditures on exploration and production that’s underway.

Michelle Jones contributed to this report.

Right now, two things are certain: the Checkers have two games remaining on their regular season schedule and then they are headed for the Calder Cup Playoffs.

The specifics beyond that – what position they will end up in, who they will play, when they will play, how many rounds they will have to play – are still up in the air, and their results largely hinge on a high-stakes weekend.

“These are probably the two biggest games of the year,” said defenseman Chase Priskie. “We’re still playing for a division title.”

The Checkers currently find themselves in a dogfight atop the Atlantic Division with the Providence Bruins and the Springfield Thunderbirds. The three squads have traded grasps of first place over the last few weeks, with the Bruins currently holding a slight edge over the Checkers – who have a razor-thin advantage on the Thunderbirds.

With the AHL using points percentage to determine the standings for this season and with the Checkers playing 72 games compared to the Bruins and Thunderbirds’ 76, forecasting the race is a bit convoluted.

But the basic takeaway is this: the Checkers have a fighting chance at capturing their second-straight division title and earning the Atlantic’s top seed.

“This is what we really play for,” said Priskie. “Everything is just a bit heightened, every detail matters that much more. We’re just taking our focus into Friday night and preparing as if these were playoff games.”

Along with a division title, earning that top seed would seal home-ice advantage for a Checkers squad that has thrived under the Bojangles Coliseum roof.

“It would be huge,” said Priskie. “We play extremely well at home and we play extremely well in front of our awesome fans. Anything that can give us an advantage rolling into the playoffs is greatly appreciated.”

“Playing in front of the fans here has been unbelievable,” said rookie forward Cole Schwindt. “They’ve been here every night, they’ve been up and they’ve been cheering. That gives us a bit of a spark and getting to play in front of them with home-ice advantage would be phenomenal.”

Finishing as one of the Atlantic’s top two seeds unlocks another significant wrinkle – having a bye past the best-of-three opening round and moving directly to the second round, which could present a double-edged sword of sorts.

“You can look at it a couple of different ways,” said Checkers Assistant Coach Dan Bylsma. “If we play the play-in round, it’s still potentially seven, eight, nine days before we play. If we don’t play that round it’s like three weeks. So there’s a benefit of getting that time off but there’s also concern of not playing hockey in three-plus weeks and going into a game. But we’ll approach that when we get the opportunity to approach that.”

The Checkers are facing down two big games of consequence, but the team has been ramping up their game to shine on this stage for some time now.

“Our approach for the last 10 games here has been getting our team to play playoff hockey,” said Bylsma. “We’ve got two big games coming this weekend and we’re approaching them as playoff games in that regard.”

The two squads on the schedule for Charlotte are Hartford and Providence – one team playing for their playoff lives and one team directly battling for the division crown.

Suffice to say there won’t be any rolling over by opponents this weekend.

“We’re still fighting for position and Hartford is desperately fighting for position,” said Bylsma.

“All the games coming up here are going to be the same,” said Schwindt. “Everybody is going to be playing to win.”

The Checkers’ path forward remains unclear – even with a perfect weekend, there will still be scoreboard watching for Providence and Springfield (who currently have six and five games left, respectively) – but the bottom line for the team is to take care of business and be prepared for what is hopefully a long playoff run.

“Our focus right now is Friday night in Hartford,” said Priskie. “Go out there and put our best foot forward for the first 10 and just see where we land and roll from there.”
“I think it’s been our team’s mentality for the last 20 games or so,” said Bylsma. “We’re trying to get to championship hockey. Our guys have really bought into that and played playoff team hockey.”

The US is prepping another $800 million military assistance package for Ukraine, according to three senior administration officials and two sources familiar with the planning.

Details of the latest package are still being privately discussed and could change, but earlier Tuesday, President Joe Biden said the US plans to send more artillery to Ukraine.

Upon arrival in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Biden was asked by reporters on the tarmac if he plans to send more artillery to Ukraine.

Biden told reporters, “Yes,” before boarding his motorcade.

The senior administration official said the newest package could be approved within the next 36 hours, though another administration official said the timing isn’t locked down and it could come within the coming days.

The size of the package could also change at the last minute, the second official said.

The latest package would come a week after the Biden administration authorized another $800 million security package, which included artillery and anti-artillery radars for the first time since the Russian invasion began.

The Biden administration is working to get the military assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible because they believe the war is in a critical stage and the continued US assistance could make a difference when Russia’s more aggressive assault on Eastern Ukraine ramps up, one of the administration officials said.

The more open terrain in that region favors the use of artillery and long-range systems, which is why the administration has placed a premium on getting those types of systems in quickly as the fighting moves away from Kyiv and into the Donbas region.

The region also borders Russia, allowing the Russian forces to maintain shorter supply lines needed to sustain an assault. Ukraine and Russia, through its own forces and proxies, have fought in the Donbas region for the last eight years, making it familiar territory for both forces.

This week Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, in Washington, DC to discuss aid for Ukraine and holding Russia accountable. A Ukrainian delegation will be in the capital this week as part of the 2022 IMF-World Bank Spring meetings.

If approved, the latest package of $800 million would mean the US has committed approximately $3.4 billion dollars in assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began on February 24.

This would be the last presidential drawdown until Congress approves more money for weapons to Ukraine. In a presidential drawdown, the Defense Department pulls weapons and equipment from US inventories to send to Ukraine instead of purchasing new weapons from manufacturers.

Graduating high schoolers take a trip to Chattanooga State

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – For students about to graduate high school, knowing what the possibilities are for what college can offer is extremely valuable.

See how students from Howard gained some of that understanding in tonight’s What’s Right With Our Schools.

DR. MITCHELL: Today’s program is great because we again we always say you can’t be what you can’t see in life right so, we’re getting our students on to the Chatt State campus. They’re learning about financial aid they’re learning about to be able to collaborate with students that are already here on campus.

“I’m here to talk to give you guys kind of a uh, a small taste of what a college class is going to be like.”

DR. MITCHELL: We’re painting that vision but then also too we will be going and collaborating with the STEM students as well doing the leadership exchange program there with some brainstorming activities.

REBECCA: Having these students on campus helps them first of all to connect with college and see what’s possible after high school.

“Some of you it’ll be getting done and going to work. For some of you it’ll be leaving here and going on to a university to get a bachelor’s degree. Whatever course of action you’re choosing we’ve got things set up that’s intended to support you.”

TAY’VIONA: Getting to have a relationship with my professor I know that I’ll be able to excel somewhere in life in college instead of like sitting back and being that student that’s like I can’t do this so I give up. I’m a dropout.

TRAE: It gives us as faculty an opportunity to create alongside of them solutions when life happens, when family issues come up, when car troubles exist. When all of those things come up (as they do for everyone) when we as faculty know, we partner with the student to still make them academically successful.

“The first topic of the breakout sessions is paying for college.”

DR. MITCHELL: They also learned about the financial aid piece. How I could take 10 minutes for you just to fill out a piece of paper, and get your college paid for.

“Every single year you want to submit that FASA. And you want to submit it as early as you can.”

REBECCA: When they’re here they are connecting with people who can help them later on, when they hope to become students here. But then they can also see themselves here. You know one of the things I’m most excited about is they will actually experience a college class. So they can see what that’s like.And say I can do this.

TAY’VIONA: I thank Howard for letting me come to Chatt State today to ask questions and get like experience like what type of experience I will have when I go off into the college life.

DR. MITCHELL: The main objective is to get our students on to a college campus so they can see themselves in that position and be successful.

It’s been an unfortunate past few months for Wendy Williams. Reports suggested that her ongoing health problems (i.e. the reason behind guest hosts filling in on her daytime talk show) were in fact turning into serious financial woes. Her reps and legal team fervently denied any serious health decline in the matter but, ultimately, The Wendy Williams Show was cancelled after 13 seasons on the air. Still, it wouldn’t be long before Williams herself announced that she would be ready for a TV return in only three months. And it might just be the case after all, given the latest intel hinting that she is possibly prepping to get back to work.

Page Six spotted the TV personality out on the town in New York City earlier this week, and she seemed in relatively good spirits by the looks of her smiles for the cameras. She reportedly had dinner at the Fresco by Scotto restaurant with her niece, her niece’s boyfriend and Baruch Shemtov. According to onlookers who spoke to the outlet, the meal was both business and pleasure by all appearances. Supposedly, Wendy Williams was overheard saying that she was looking to make a “big comeback.” The subject of her financial beef with her bank Wells Fargo (which froze her accounts last that was heard) seemingly came up. A source revealed:

If true, it’s a promising sign for the media personality’s future on television. Getting her finances back in order is one thing, but it’s another thing entirely if she is quite well enough to chat up her old connections. Baruch Shemtov is known as somewhat of a prodigy in certain high fashion circles, and he used that momentum to build an extensive resume as a journalist in recent years – working everywhere from CNN to the Huffington Post to Extra. Perhaps he might get the word out (or already is) about the ex-talk show host’s plans.

Along with the recent dinner sighting, Wendy Williams has been showing off her health recovery likewise on Instagram. Some have even hinted that she’s truly getting back to her “old self.” Page Six’s source alleges the same, that the transformation is apparent to those closest to the star. They said:

Unfortunately, though, it’s not exactly the best climate for ousted talk show hosts looking to start up something new. Several other longtime shows are coming to an end in 2022, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Maury. Not to mention, following the cancellation of Nick Cannon’s namesake talk show after a one-season arc, too, another daytime talk show in The Real is getting the axe as well after eight seasons on the air.

From all appearances, a newer, younger vanguard of hosts are taking up the mantle of daytime TV. Kelly Clarkson is replacing Ellen DeGeneres. The upcoming Jennifer Hudson Show is coming in hot in the wake of The Real’s cancellation. And Drew Barrymore’s relatively new talk show is charming the pants off viewers all the time. And of course, Wendy Williams herself is being succeeded by Sherri Shepherd. All of this may not bode well for Williams’ apparent prep work.

Nevertheless, the 57-year-old had joked in her return-to-TV announcement that she has “the mind and body of a 25-year-old.” So she clearly won’t be discounted just yet. We’ll see if things pan out and she is able to develop a new show that can be added to the 2022 TV schedule.

• Homesteading is living off the land, but social media influencers have added a modern spin.
• After the pandemic, war, and inflation, it’s grown even more attractive.
• Prepping, another survivalist-style niche, has overlap with homesteading and has seen an uptick, too. 

Five years ago, Nivek Anderson-Brown and her husband moved to Virginia, where they now raise chickens, grow crops, sell at farmer’s markets, and broadcasts content on TikTok as the Leaf and Bean Farm — all part of the life of a 21st century, live-off-the-land homesteader.

“People were like, ‘Are you crazy?’ when we first did it. And then, when the pandemic happened, they were like, ‘Tell us what you did!'” Brown said. 

Courtesy company

In a time of chaotic supply chains, rising food prices, inflation, and war anxiety, being able to provide for yourself has a new glow, whether it’s through “homesteading” or its close cousin, “prepping,” 10 of the communities’ online members told Insider. 

The homesteading life

“Any small amount of trying to grow your own food or preserving. That’s homesteading,” says Ciearra Evans, of The Thrifted Planer homestead. 

But the lifestyle tends to build upon itself, Brown said. For example, she started out growing and drying herbs, then realized she had enough land to forage. 

Once she did, she found a patch of the mint-like plant horehound — which led to her making homemade cough drops.

“It was just like one thing rolling into another,” she said. “It takes on a life of its own.” 

Courtesy company

The term “homesteading” has been co-opted throughout history, from 1970s hippie communes to formerly enslaved Black Americans seeking land in Kansas to fundamentalist Christians raising children off the grid, said Brian Cannon, professor of history at Brigham Young University and author of a book about post-World War II homesteading. 

“I think we have, in the US, dating clear back to Thomas Jefferson, the conviction that rural life is wholesome,” he added. 

Nivek Anderson Brown

Homesteading also can be a form of political or social dissent, according to a 2016 dissertation Jordan Travis Radke on modern homesteaders, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It’s a way to “opt out” of systems that feel entrenched, from the government to climate change, she wrote. 

Many homesteaders tend to be white, Cannon said, which is no surprise, considering land is a key (but not essential) element of homesteading, and many Black Americans have lost land throughout US history. 

It’s something on the minds of Evans and Brown, who try to garden and create content as well as give voices to Black homesteaders online. 

“There aren’t a lot of people that look like me that do this,” Brown said. 

Homesteader’s cousin

For some, homesteading can eventually or immediately evolve into “prepping,” a term coined for another survivalist-type niche that focuses on preparing for a harder or possibly more dystopian future, the perception of which has come to pass for some.

Courtesy company

In particular, prepping has seen heightened interest as inflation has grown worse and amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine-driven anxiety about food shortages, prepper-influencers told Insider. 

Tiffany Holloway, an apartment-style prepper on TikTok, said her following grew by about tens of thousands in March amid increasing inflation.

Holloway herself got into prepping after the 2021 ice storms in Texas. One of her neighbors ran out of baby formula. “I ended up having to nurse her baby for her,” via pumping, Holloway said. “This whole experience taught me that you have to prepare.” 

Holloway now teaches prepping on TikTok for people with small spaces and lower budgets, as well as focusing on prepping for potential domestic violence as a DV survivor herself – i.e., having a bag with a burner phone, money, and financial and identifying documents. 

However, there can be a darker side to the prepper community, as far as folks who lean too far into extreme anxiety or paranoia.

Holloway said she finds some of the content on TikTok fear-monger-y, though she said that’s not her niche.

“I try to keep it pretty positive on my page,” she said. 

Most preppers isolate and stay silent about their stores, something known as the “gray man” trope.

“People will become desperate. Ninety-five percent of people don’t have food at their house,” said Cam Hardy of The Casual Preppers Podcast.

If they know you have food, “they’ll know exactly where to go,” he said

We’re still eagerly awaiting the first Android 13 beta to arrive this month, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of new details worth diving into. Esper.io’s Mishaal Rahman returned yesterday with a new deep dive into all the nooks and crannies of the next major Android release, and while it’s primarily developer-focused, there are a couple of interesting points that may impact how you use your smartphone.

One of the most intriguing API additions to Android 13 is a tool to give developers better control over how their apps work with the Recents menu on your phone. Right now, Android essentially creates a screenshot for every application in its current state as you swipe up to the app switcher page. It’s different from a screenshot you’d capture yourself, effectively showing off the current state of each open app on your device.

Devs can now disable the system from grabbing a screenshot of their app for use in the recents overview. Similar to FLAG_SECURE, but doesn’t affect user-initiated screenshots or the Assistant.https://t.co/rgxoA9QGhV

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) April 14, 2022

With the setRecentsScreenshotEnabled API, developers gain more control over how their software appears on your phone. When set to “False,” it’ll prevent the system from creating a previewable screenshot for Recents. Obviously, apps like social networks or email providers don’t usually require this level of protection, but any service with confidential data — bank apps, for example — might opt to take advantage of this option.

Rahman notes this is different from the FLAG_SECURE window flag, which prevents all screenshots regardless of how they’re captured. You’ll still be able to screenshot these apps using shortcuts on your device, though don’t be surprised if these tools go hand-in-hand for some apps.

How to move your media from Google Photos to a Synology NAS

Will Sattelberg (957 Articles Published)

Will has been an Android enthusiast since he got his first smartphone in 2011. He loves watching movies, has a never-ending backlog of video games, and produces podcasts in his spare time. He lives in Buffalo, NY and is willing to give you chicken wing recommendations at any time. Just ask.

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Nancy gives us tips on how to meal prep & grocery shop on a budget. Plus a helpful meal prep container to make it even easier! Visit www.omielife.com for more.