Welcome to www.automotivelogistics.media. This site uses cookies. Read our policy By 2024-08-02T05:30:00+01:00 Lucon will take over as the new head of logistics and containersation after driving enterprise change in South America. Wawrzynski retires after helping restore logistics stability and signing long-term agreements with LSPs especially North American rail providers.  There are changes at the top of General Motors’ logistics organisation as Marcio Lucon will become executive director of global logistics and containerisation effective September 1st who is retiring after 41 years with the carmaker and nearly two years in the leading logistics role who is currently executive director for Global Purchasing and Supply Chain (GPSC) for GM South America will assume responsibility across global inbound finished vehicle and service parts logistics global logistics purchasing as well as packaging and returnable containers He will relocate to Michigan and continue to report to Jeff Morrison vice-president of Global Purchasing and Supply Chain GM has yet to announce a replacement for Lucon to lead purchasing in South America General Motors has also confirmed a new director of finished vehicle logistics in Amy Paulsen and form part of his senior leadership team teams and collaboration in the supply chain Renee Wawrzynski retires from top logistics job after 41 years at GM Renee Wawrzynski will retire effective September 1 Renee Wawrzynski took over global logistics at the end of 2022 topping off a career spanning major supply chain She started at GM in 1983 as a co-op student (working and studying simultaneously) whilst at General Motors Institute – Engineering and Management Institute (now known as Kettering University) She went on to leading positions across GPSC as well as at eight different GM plants in North America She would later hold director roles in containerisation including as director of demand and supply planning immediately prior to becoming executive director of logistics During her tenure in global logistics, Wawrzynski helped to further grow and refresh the organisation, including appointing new global directors across inbound, vehicle logistics and purchasing as well as important positions across key regions for the carmaker Wawrzynski has led logistics during a turbulent time for the sector the inbound supply chain was still feeling the effects of Covid-related disruptions and the semiconductor shortage – a crisis that Wawrzynski helped to mitigate during her previous role in supply and demand planning ­­– with production schedules uncertain and impacting supplier deliveries capacity planning and making sure the investment is there is so important… We can work better together with the providers to share data back and forth and there is opportunity for new technology and more sharing on both sides.”-Renee Wawrzynski Addressing these issues becoming a major focus point for the global logistics team. Speaking at the Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Global conference in September 2023, Wawrzynski pointed out how GM had significantly improved supplier visibility after the pandemic and chip crises exposed gaps The carmaker’s supply chain and logistics teams were now updating and sharing production schedules and forecasts more frequently with suppliers she noted that not all vehicle logistics providers were accessing the data leading to misalignments in the network in available logistics capacity and fleet investments among providers Renee Wawrzynski and her team worked closely with railways in North America to stabilise supply and agree long-term contracts capacity planning and making sure the investment is there is so important and we have to do a better job on providing that future outlook and what the volumes and flows are expected to be,” she said “We can work better together with the providers to share data back and forth and there is opportunity for new technology and more sharing on both sides.” when we both worked together in global logistics drives for results and builds highly effective teams,” said Morrison “One of her many legacies will be how she’s transformed our railroad agreements into long-term “She has made a positive impact in the careers of so many in her time with GM and will be greatly missed.” Marcio Lucon is now executive director of global logistics at GM he has seen considerably success in driving enterprise change including in purchasing and supply chain across Asia and South America Marcio Lucon has been with General Motors for 25 years holding positions across multiple departments and cross-functional roles including sales He has developed a reputation as a leader able to adapt across different departments and stakeholders he has helped to usher in important changes with significant benefits across the enterprise “I most enjoy going to a business to try to bring real change I like to create things and to bring real value to the business,” he tells Automotive Logistics “And this is what I’m looking forward to doing in GM’s global logistics.” After graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering in São Paulo and working at trainee programmes for Ford and Mercedes-Benz Lucon began his career in the automotive industry in sales at GM After five years he left the carmaker to pursue an MBA at Michigan State University and the next phase of his career would see him work across a wide range of positions both in Brazil and globally that would see him interface with stakeholders in virtually every department across the carmaker outbound logistics and master scheduling across the Mercosur region Lucon developed a reputation for moving across widely different functions and teams he was responsible for more than 2,000 employees in plant material handling across Brazil; in his next role he led a small team responsible for product portfolio strategy and long-term forecasting Marcio Lucon has held significant supply chain and logistics roles he moved to Singapore to lead logistics and purchasing programme management across key Asian markets In 2016 he relocated to South Korea to lead purchasing across the country and later also supply chain and logistics operations across GM’s significant production supplier and export operations in the country who led global logistics from 2014 before retiring at the end of 2022 was also Brazilian and had previously responsible for purchasing and supply chain in South America before leading global logistics “It is important that logistics is part of the decision-making process from day zero of a project whether in sales strategy or manufacturing as that helps us to create solutions that are more balanced to total enterprise needs.” -Marcio Lucon Lucon has worked with teams in the region to realise important efficiencies across operations including in supply chain design and inventory reduction Lucon has played an instrumental role in advancing the carmaker’s supply chain in the region during a challenging time “Marcio has been instrumental in building strategic partnerships both within GM and with our suppliers building winning teams and working with different challenges and cultures,” he said Other strategic achievements included the implementation last year of special electric and gas-powered trucks in São Paulo state moving engines transmissions and bumpers between factories as well as accessories and spare parts between distribution centres and dealerships which is expected to save 35 tonnes of CO2 per year is a first step in a wider sustainable logistics and supply chain initiative in the region Lucon is clear that logistics and supply chain should play a key part in enterprise-level decisions and not only act as a service provider to other functions as that helps us to create solutions that are more balanced to total enterprise needs,” he says “I’m really looking forward to working with our teams and our partners in logistics is to achieve that across our global logistics operations.” General Motors’ Jeff Morrison, vice-president of Global Purchasing and Supply Chain, will be among the speakers at Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Global 2024 in Dearborn He will take part in a fireside chat on ’Controlling supply chain destinies – proactive influence Audi’s Supply Chain function is highly integrated with objectives closely aligned to the carmaker’s 360factory strategy Barbara Bergmeier has handed her role as executive director of industrial operations at JLR to Nigel Blenkinsop who will oversee the carmaker’s end-to-end supply chain Buelent Ileri has a successful track record of optimising logistics and supply chain planning Site powered by Webvision Cloud Source: www.ghanaweb.com « Prev Next » Comments (12) Listen to Article Robero Carlos and his ex-wife Mariana Lucon famed for his thunderous free kicks and legendary stint at Real Madrid finds himself in a serious legal battle  following a bitter divorce from his wife of over 15 years According to Spanish outlet Estadio Deportivo the 51-year-old Brazilian legend is now living at Real Madrid’s training ground in Valdebebas as the legal tussle over his €160m (£133m) fortune heats up their marital breakdown has reportedly left Lucon in possession of their primary home while Carlos’ in-laws occupy his secondary property.  This unusual arrangement has forced the former footballer to sleep at Madrid's facilities where he continues his ambassadorial duties for the club amassed through his illustrious career and post-retirement endeavours is at the centre of the divorce proceedings.  Known for his 11-year tenure at Real Madrid from 1996 to 2007 the iconic full-back won three Champions League titles and four La Liga trophies his personal life has often attracted as much attention as his footballing achievements.  Carlos previously shocked fans by revealing that he has 11 children by seven different women.  Three of his children were born to his first wife Despite the sprawling nature of his family tree Carlos has maintained relationships with many of his children Former champion has hailed Evra ahead of his MMA debut Paris Saint-Germain's top scoring forward is a doubt for the Champions League semi-final second leg clash against Arsenal FIFA has relegated one African club over match-fixing allegations Time and where to watch Nigeria's Efe Ajagba take on Congo's Martin Bakole in a fight for African boxing king Time and where to watch Flying Eagles of Nigeria's 2nd U20 AFCON group game against Young Atlas Lions of Morocco Former England player who rejected the chance to represent the Nigerian national team now wants to replace Eric Chelle See what fans are saying about the robbery of Nigerian boxer Efe Ajagba against Congolese star Martin Bakole as Battle of Africa ends in a draw Artificial intelligence weighs in on the speculations surrounding Victor Osimhen's future The Swiss star has clapped back at her critics once more CR7 celebrated the two leading women in his life with a special message has grabbed the headlines with a stunning outfit while attending a concert Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella was emotional wiping away tears as he spoke about the personal challenges his son's autism has brought upon him Max Verstappen welcomes his first child with Kelly Piquet just days before racing in the 2025 Miami Grand Prix Love may have brought them to Italy but it could not keep the world's most followed female footballer and her Brazilian boyfriend together Barcelona unveil a bold new El Clásico kit featuring Travis Scott's Cactus Jack logo in partnership with Spotify Afrobeats finds the fast lane as three Nigerian stars rev up the soundtrack for the most anticipated racing film of the year World 100m champion Sha'Carri Richardson featured in a WHOOP star-studded ad alongside Liverpool football captain Virgil van Dijk and other sporting stars Jannik Sinner is set to make his comeback from a doping ban amid swirling rumours of a new romance Hulk married his ex-wife's niece for the second time in back in January Junelle Bromfield and Noah Lyles delved into details on their wedding plans set for spring 2026 lovebirds Noah Lyles and Junelle Bromfield gave more details on their high profile wedding scheduled to happen in Spring 2026 Victor Osimhen's girlfriend embarked on a mini-vacation to Dubai with their adorable daughter Yung Miami has responded to the claims on social media that she's chasing after Cleveland Brown's newest recruit Shadeur Sanders Maya Jama was at Wembley to cheer on Ruben Dias as Pep Guardiola's team reached a third successive FA Cup final Metrics details An intriguing hypothesis to explain the ubiquity of numerical abilities is that all vertebrates are born with hardwired neuronal networks for processing numbers only studies on human foetuses have clearly supported this hypothesis Zebrafish hatch 48–72 h after fertilisation with an embryonic nervous system providing a unique opportunity for investigating this hypothesis we demonstrated that zebrafish larvae exposed to vertical bars at birth acquired an attraction for bar stimuli and we developed a numerical discrimination task based on this preference When tested with a series of discriminations of increasing difficulty (1vs.4 zebrafish larvae reliably selected the greater numerosity The preference was significant when stimuli were matched for surface area thereby suggesting a true capacity to process numerical information Converging results from two phylogenetically distant species suggests that numerical abilities might be a hallmark feature of vertebrates’ brains it is critical to investigate non-human species that have short embryonic periods and show an immature nervous system at birth to test the hypothesis of hardwired vertebrate numerical abilities a teleost fish displaying a developmental mode similar to extreme altriciality The zebrafish larvae hatch 48-72 h post fertilization (hpf) and tend to be inactive when the digestive tract’s development is completed The visual system starts to develop early (response to light: 72 hpf; tracking eye movements: 80 hpf) permitting the exploitation of available numerical tests that typically rely on visual stimuli zebrafish’s particular developmental biology is a key tool for testing the hypothesis of hardwired circuities for numerical abilities and for understanding the development of cognitive abilities in general If the hypothesis of innate numerical abilities in vertebrates holds true we expect to observe the capacity to discriminate the stimuli based on numerical information in newly hatched zebrafish larvae a Groups of larvae were reared in aquaria with walls with bars since hatching. b The preference for bar stimuli was tested with a dichotomous-choice test, recording the time spent in proximity of the stimuli. a Preference for the choice sector with bar stimuli (blue) and for the choice sector without stimuli (green) divided according to the rearing aquaria of the subjects (N = 60 subjects) b Temporal variation in preference for vertical bars in larvae raised in the aquaria with bars (N = 60 subjects) Large dots and error bars represent means and standard errors Small dots indicate individual data points Asterisks represent a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the time spent in the two choice sectors These results suggested using a 6-min testing time in the following experiments a Bar stimuli used in the first numerical discrimination experiment b Preference for the choice sector with the larger numerosity and for the choice sector with the smaller numerosity divided according to the numerical ratio of the stimuli (N = 180 subjects); large dots and error bars represent means and standard errors respectively; small dots indicate individual data points; asterisks represent a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the time spent in the two choice sectors c Preference for the choice sector with the larger numerosity and for the choice sector with the smaller numerosity divided according to the stimuli’s control type (N = 180 subjects); large dots and error bars represent means and standard errors respectively; small dots indicate individual data points; asterisks represent a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the time spent in the two sectors In addition, the overall analysis revealed a significant interaction between stimulus and control type (F2,348 = 15.97, P < 0.001; Fig. 3c) A separated analysis indicated that zebrafish larvae significantly preferred the larger number of bars in both the set of stimuli not controlled for the cumulative area and luminance (preference for the larger quantity: 56.15 ± 25.90%; t59 = 2.76 P = 0.007) and in the set of stimuli controlled for these two variables (70.08 ± 20.67%; t89 = 8.37 zebrafish larvae did not use the bars’ cumulative surface area and their luminance as a proxy for number The preference for the larger numerosity also emerged when considering the first block of minutes (time spent in the sector with the larger quantity: 21.1 ± 14.76 s; time spent in the sector with the smaller quantity: 9.03 ± 11.17 s: F1,348 = 84.15, P < 0.001; Supplementary Table 3) The analysis on the first block further revealed a significant interaction between stimulus and numerical ratio (F2,348 = 7.04 P = 0.001) and a significant interaction between stimulus and control type (F2,348 = 5.21 a Stimuli used in the 2vs.4 bars discrimination performed to unravel the role of continuous variables in quantitative discrimination b Preference for the choice sector with the larger (four) and the smaller (two) number of bars with respect to the four continuous variables controlled (N = 120 subjects) Asterisks represent a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the time spent in the two sectors Although the list of known vertebrate species capable of solving numerical tasks is steadily growing uncertainty remains on whether cognitive functions for numerical computation are a constitutive feature of vertebrates We tried to shed light on this question by studying numerical abilities in recently hatched zebrafish larvae We discovered that larval zebrafish acquired a preference for vertical bar stimuli after being habituated from hatching to a background with similar characteristics When assayed in a dichotomous choice test between clusters of bars with different numerosity Results showed that subjects selected the larger quantity regardless of whether the stimuli have been paired for total surface area or the width of the array (as measured by its convex hull) While this result does not exclude that larvae can also process continuous quantities it indicated that they used and prioritised numerical information in this context such hardwired numerical abilities might prepare individual zebrafish for important behaviour but only in later life Extending the range of species investigated will be also paramount with particular attention to those that permit associating behaviour with genetic and neurobiological data to infer homology of cognitive functions the powerful research tools recently developed in zebrafish larvae (e.g. single-cell resolution functional brain imaging and cost-effective mutagenesis) also open a new window of opportunity This research adheres to the ASAB/ABS Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Research72 The experiments were conducted in compliance with the Italian legislation (Italy 26) and were approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Padova (Protocol No The stimuli (4 × 5 cm) were two-dimensional vertical black bars on a white background draw using Microsoft PowerPoint and printed with a laser printer (Kyocera TASKalfa 4052ci) the subject was transferred into the centre of the experimental apparatus and left free to swim and interact with the stimuli Testing time was 10 min in the first experiment because data suggests that the latter time window was the most relevant for our analysis A Canon LEGRIA HFR38 camera positioned 30 cm above the apparatus recorded the test since subject’s insertion We analysed subjects’ behavioural preference from the digital recordings played back on a computer. To assess spontaneous preference for the stimuli, we virtually divided the apparatus in three sectors; two 2 × 4 cm choice sectors facing the stimuli and one 4 × 4 cm central, no-choice sector (Fig. 1b) An experimenter blind with respect of the position of the stimuli analysed the video recordings at 2× speed using the computer software ‘Ciclic Timer’ (written in Delphi 5 Borland) The software allows to quantify the time spent in each choice sector of the tank we administered the choice between three bars on a white background (single size item 0.3 × 3 cm separate by 0.6 cm) and a white stimulus with no bars to test for a general preference for the bar stimuli We tested 30 subjects from each treatment (experience with bars and control) the control for stimulus’s cumulative surface area was conducted as follow: in the 1 vs we presented four 0.3 × 3 cm bars separated by 0.6 cm (cumulative surface area: 3.6 cm2) and one 1.2 × 3 cm bar (cumulative surface area: 3.6 cm2); in the 1 vs we presented three 0.3 × 3 cm bars separated by 0.6 cm (cumulative surface area: 2.7 cm2) and one 0.9 × 3 cm bar (cumulative surface area: 2.7 cm2); in the 1 vs we presented two 0.3 × 3 cm bars separated by 0.6 cm (cumulative surface area: 1.8 cm2) and one 0.6 × 3 cm bar (cumulative surface area: 1.8 cm2) finding that this variable significantly covaried with the cumulative surface area (rho = 0.97 half of our stimuli resulted also controlled for luminance (t4 = 0.82 we tested 30 subjects for each condition (total: 180 subjects) In the last set of numerical discriminations, we used four types of 2 vs. 4 stimuli, differing for the type of continuous variable controlled (Fig. 4A) we used 0.3 × 3 cm bars separated by 0.6 cm in both the larger and the smaller stimulus we presented four 0.3 × 3 cm bars separated by 0.6 cm (cumulative surface area: 3.6 cm2) and two 0.6 × 3 cm bars separated by 0.6 cm (cumulative surface area: 3.6 cm2) we presented four 0.3 × 3 cm bars separated by 0.6 cm and two four 0.3 × 3 cm bars separated by 2.4 cm To simultaneously control for the cumulative surface area and the convex hull we presented four 0.3 × 3 cm bars separated by 0.6 cm (cumulative surface area: 3.6 cm2) versus two 0.6 × 3 cm bars separated by 1.8 cm (cumulative surface area: 3.6 cm2) Further information on research design is available in the Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article The data of this study are available as Supplementary Data Counting on numbers—numerical abilities in grey bamboo sharks and ocellate river stingrays Understanding the origin of number sense: a review of fish studies Quantity discrimination in trained lizards (Podarcis sicula) Adaptive numerical competency in a food-hoarding songbird Numerical cognition and quantitative abilities in nonhuman primates Horses (Equus caballus) select the greater of two quantities in small numerical contrasts The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics (Oxford University Press Visual statistical learning in the newborn infant Prenatal thumb sucking is related to postnatal handedness Learning-induced neural plasticity of speech processing before birth Is perception informationally encapsulated The issue of the theory‐ladenness of perception A predisposition for biological motion in the newborn baby Rudimental numerical competence in 5-day-old domestic chicks (Gallus gallus): identification of ordinal position Social cognition and learning mechanisms: experimental evidence in domestic chicks Multiple benefits of multiple mating in guppies Development and application of a new method to investigate cognition in newborn guppies Rudiments of mind: Insights through the chick model on number and space cognition in animals Developmental dyscalculia: compensatory mechanisms in left intraparietal regions in response to nonsymbolic magnitudes Strategy use on bounded and unbounded number lines in typically developing adults and adults with dyscalculia: an eye-tracking study On the evolution and adaptive significance of postnatal growth rates in the terrestrial vertebrates The evolution of human infancy: why it helps to be helpless Dissociation between small and large numerosities in newborn infants Two core systems of numerical representation in infants Magnetoencephalographic signatures of numerosity discrimination in fetuses and neonates Children’s Thinking: Cognitive Development and Individual Differences (Sage Publications Ordering of the numerosities 1 to 9 by monkeys Continuous versus discrete quantity discrimination in dune snail (Mollusca: Gastropoda) seeking thermal refuges The use of local landmarks by foraging goldfish Variation of early social experience and environmental preference in rats Background-selection in tadpoles of Xenopus laevis The behaviour and ecology of the zebrafish The distribution and habitat preferences of the zebrafish in Bangladesh Number as a primary perceptual attribute: a review Asymmetric distribution of retinal ganglion cells in goldfish Exploratory behaviour in the open field test adapted for larval zebrafish: impact of environmental complexity Number versus continuous quantity in numerosity judgments by fish Multiple cues for quantification in infancy: Is number one of them Large number discrimination in 6-month-old infants Spontaneous number representation in semi–free–ranging rhesus monkeys Numerical abstraction in young domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) Spontaneous versus trained numerical abilities A comparison between the two main tools to study numerical competence in non-human animals The role of numerical competence in a specialized predatory strategy of an araneophagic spider Quantity discrimination in Tenebrio molitor: evidence of numerosity discrimination in an invertebrate Quantity discrimination in parental fish: female convict cichlid discriminate fry shoals of different sizes Safety in numbers: shoal size choice by minnows under predatory threat Does participation in intergroup conflict depend on numerical assessment Guppies discriminate between two quantities of food items but prioritize item size over total amount Small and large number discrimination in guppies Spontaneous number representation in mosquitofish Chimpanzees remember the results of one-by-one addition of food items to sets over extended time periods Quantity discrimination by zebrafish (Danio rerio) Characterizing ontogeny of quantity discrimination in zebrafish Terminology of intervals in fish development Zebrafish embryos as an alternative to animal experiments—a commentary on the definition of the onset of protected life stages in animal welfare regulations Impact of analgesic drugs on the behavioural responses of larval zebrafish to potentially noxious temperatures Development of social behavior in young zebrafish Stages of embryonic development of the zebrafish The development of vision in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) The adaptive value of numerical competence Functional connectivity of the infant human brain: plastic and modifiable Brain and cognitive development in infancy A kind of auditory ‘primitive intelligence’already present at birth Relative versus absolute numerical representation in fish: can guppies represent “fourness” Guidelines for the treatment of animals in behavioural research and teaching The Zebrafish Book: A Guide for the Laboratory Use of Zebrafish (“BrachyDanio rerio”) Scototaxis as anxiety-like behavior in fish R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing Kuznetsova, A., Brockhoff, P. B. & Christensen, R. H. B. Package ‘lmertest’. R package. https://cran.uib.no/web/packages/lmerTest/lmerTest.pdf (2015) On multi-level modeling of data from repeated measures designs: a tutorial Robustness of linear mixed‐effects models to violations of distributional assumptions Download references The authors are thankful to Andrea Margutti for building the apparatuses and to Raffaele Zabbari and Tina Corradini for help in testing the subjects This work was carried out within the scope of the project ‘use-inspired basic research’ for which the Department of General Psychology of the University of Padova has been recognized as ‘Dipartimento di eccellenza’ from ‘Ministero dell’Istruzione This work was supported by FAR2021 grant from University of Ferrara to T.L.-X. by PRIN 2015 (grant number 2015FFATB7) from ‘Ministero dell’Istruzione Azione IV.6 - Contratti di ricerca su tematiche Green’ program of European Union These authors contributed equally: Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology breed the fish and carried out the behavioural experiment All authors wrote and revised the manuscript The authors declare no competing interests Communications Biology thanks Culum Brown and the other reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Primary Handling Editors: Jacqueline Gottlieb and Manuel Breuer Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04595-7 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science An official website of the United States government https://www.nist.gov/awards/mml-project-leader-enrico-lucon-receives-astm-international-award-merit The Award of Merit was established in 1949 by the ASTM International Board of Directors and is the highest society award granted to an individual member for distinguished service and outstanding participation in ASTM International committee activities Recipients also receive the honorary title of Fellow from the MML Applied Chemicals and Materials Division received the 2018 ASTM International Award of Merit for exceptional and sustained technical and leadership contributions to ASTM International; task group leadership; and symposia and publication activities.  In particular and significant contributions to ASTM though: (a) his leadership of and subcommittees on fracture mechanics; (b) his contributions to advancing the technical understanding critical to ensuring the highest-quality technical content of fracture mechanics test methods as evidenced by his technical presentations and publications; (c) his role in technically leading the updates and revisions of standardized approaches for characterizing fracture mechanics behavior in materials and structures as evidenced by the regular contributions he has made at task/working group meetings over two decades of active membership in Committee E08 on Fatigue and Fracture; and (d) his contributions and more recently as a co-organizer/co-chair to ASTM-sponsored symposia and workshops.  He is also recognized for being a consistent and valued contributor to the technical activities of Committee E28 on Mechanical Testing and Committee E10 on Nuclear Technology and Applications.  He will receive the award and participate in the ASTM Fellow Pinning Ceremony at the Committee E08 Meeting in May or November.  Within the ACMD Fracture and Fatigue Group Lucon leads the Charpy Verification Program FLATBUSH — Father Lucon Rigaud recently traveled to his hometown in Haiti but he did not experience any of the gang violence that roils the troubled Caribbean country’s capital gang-affiliated thugs throttle the flow of vital goods and services from the capital city people can’t buy food because banks can’t replenish cash hospitals lack life-saving medical supplies But his family struggled to find a hospital or clinic with the means to treat him “They were finally able to get him the oxygen that he needed but he wasn’t able to recover,” Father Rigaud said ordained in 2013 for the Diocese of Brooklyn is now the pastor of Our Lady of Miracles Parish in Canarsie While visiting Haiti in February and March he was still pastor of Holy Innocents Church and Our Lady of Refuge Church in Flatbush 17 was to celebrate his father’s funeral Mass Father Rigaud said his father did not have much of an education “But he believed education was the only way for people who are not upper class to find a way out and live life with dignity and respect,” Father Rigaud said Father Rigaud is also a certified mental health counselor He said he didn’t have to work on the family farm yet he loved helping his father in the fields But that was in more peaceful times. During Haiti’s recent gang-fueled turmoil, Catholic priests and religious sisters have been kidnapped for ransom.  an explosion inflicted severe burns to Haitian Bishop Pierre-André Dumas who was taken to a Miami-area hospital for treatment Authorities have not yet determined if the explosion was an accident or intentionally set Father Rigaud said his family urged him to stay in Brooklyn during his father’s illness and death “I had no choice,” he explained “It was the better way for me to have closure.” He wound up staying much longer than anticipated The gang violence focused on government institutions gang-engineered jailbreak freed 4,000 prisoners gangs locked down Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince reportedly to keep widely unpopular Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning from trips abroad But the ongoing chaos kept Father Rigaud from reaching Port-au-Prince the journey back to Brooklyn is done in a day It takes a few hours to drive between Les Cayes and the capital Father Rigaud’s return journey took three days With the airport in Port-au-Prince closed and roads to it impassable and on to the border with the Dominican Republic so unlike fellow Haitians who are kept from crossing the border he entered at Pedernales with his American passport where he caught a flight to Newark Liberty International Airport “It was a very stressful situation that added to the loss of my father,” he said Father Rigaud said he managed his parish via Zoom while stuck in Haiti the parishioners prayed for his safe return He arrived in Brooklyn just in time for Holy Week and Easter is to keep guns and ammunition from reaching the gangs federal agents in Florida recently intercepted crates of guns destined for Haiti “I will say this — things cannot be like that forever,” the priest said “Haiti is a country where people are good believers in God “God can always make possible what seems to be impossible.” Your email will be used to send you The Tablet newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy. More info Create your free account or log in to continue reading The Tablet is the newspaper of the Diocese of Brooklyn, serving Brooklyn and Queens since 1908.© 2025 DeSales Media Group, Inc. Website by 345 Design ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " Community-based nonprofit Hui Mālama i ke Ala ‘Ūlili located in Hāmākua on Hawai‘i Island regenerative spaces that foster place-based ancestral knowledge and strong ‘ohana with the capacity to thrive in the district for generations has been connected to the organization since he was a child “When I first got involved with huiMAU at the after-school program in Pa‘auilo,” he explains huiMAU initiated an after-school program under their organization—and I was fortunate enough to be a part of it.” From cultivating small kalo gardens to making lei with ti leaves educational and immersed in Hawaiian culture Route is a student at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo majoring in agroforestry and Pacific Islander studies His collegiate path was heavily influenced by his involvement with huiMAU—he originally planned to join the Army after high school which is one of the Federated States of Micronesia,” he says our community members there will enlist in the military or serve in a state work environment but … huiMAU shined a different light for me.” Keiki of huiMAU’s HoAMa summer program plant ‘uala together on a huaka‘i (excursion) at Ulu Mau Puanui in Kohala set him up on a path that’s more connected to his former everyday life in Pohnpei “A lot of the work we did was cultivate food in our community and help feed others,” he recalls we were surviving off an independent type of workspace And huiMAU provided a foundation for me to build upon what I already know from my background.” Route says he used to feel disconnected from his own culture as much of Pohnpei has been westernized and many people there—including Route and his family—were raised Catholic “I don’t hold anything against it,” he explains “but huiMAU … really helped me to appreciate my culture and build a stronger connection to my family.” The welcoming environment of huiMAU played a large part in why he continues aiding in its mission “Everyone here that I had an experience with hasn’t shown any kind of hate or animosity toward me because of my different culture,” he says he hopes to obtain a full-time position with the nonprofit “I don’t see myself ever living anywhere else because the community is so well protected,” he says And while huiMAU has played a huge role in Route’s educational and career trajectory he says it’s been even more influential in shaping his outlook on history and culture however small your community is,” he says “Culture will help you connect with your history and the people that helped you get to where you are now I wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for the people within this community They helped me become the person I am today and have a better perspective on what I want to be and what I want to do as an individual.” He adds that huiMAU helped him figure out what he wants for his future and he hopes to be able to guide local youths to do the same “I want to help paint a better picture for them,” he says “so they can see where they want to be as well.” Hui Mālama i ke Ala ‘Ūlili’s mission is to reestablish the systems that sustain our community through place-based educational initiatives and ‘āina-centered practices that cultivate abundance and promote collective health and well-being After-School All-Stars Hui Mālama i ke Ala ‘Ūlili  Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking Maui Farm A directory of Hawai‘i charities and how you can support their worthy causes Christie Shinn resides on the North Shore of O‘ahu She captures the everyday beauty of Island life with her signature brushwork and bright palette shinnstudio.com, @shinnstudio zebrafish larvae can discriminate between bigger and smaller numbers suggesting they may have an innate numerical ability By Jason Arunn Murugesu Zebrafish appear to have numerical abilities at a very early age Zebrafish larvae may possess some primitive counting ability just days after hatching Several animals, including honeybees and salamanders, have been shown to have some form of numerical skill. For example, lab experiments suggest rhesus monkeys may be able to count up to six Numerical ability has also been seen in very young humans, with one study showing that number sense in 6-month-old babies is linked to better scores in maths tests three years later Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato at the University of Ferrara priest is now back at his parish after a harrowing trip to his native Haiti — one that saw his return delayed by that nation’s chaotic gang violence pastor of Holy Innocents Parish and Our Lady of Ransom Parish in Brooklyn’s Flatbush section 17 to attend the funeral of his father in the southeastern city of Les Cayes more than 120 miles from Haiti’s besieged capital of Port-au-Prince the ravages of gang warfare could be felt — and his father was in a very real sense a direct victim “My father presumably died because of a lack of oxygen,” he said citing the numerous roadblocks installed on the nation’s roads by warring factions “There was no way to get him to the hospital.” After some “12 hours without oxygen,” his father succumbed to lung damage and died “His case is not unique,” said the priest “It happens to so many people down there including — but not limited to — pregnant women and people who are sick An estimated 80% of Port-au-Prince is currently under the control of armed gangs a number of which have been targeting state institutions police stations and the main international airport The attacks were believed to be an effort to oust prime minister Ariel Henry with troops from the latter nation set to be deployed as part of a now-paused United Nations peacekeeping mission At least 4,000 inmates were freed by gangs while scores of Haitians have been reported killed and some 17,000 left homeless Henry announced his resignation; one week earlier Embassy began urging its citizens to leave Haiti as soon as possible has relocated some non-essential staff to the neighboring Dominican Republic Haitian Bishop Pierre-André Dumas of Anse-à-Veau and Miragoane sustained severe burns over most of his body in what may have been a deliberately set explosion The injured bishop is now receiving treatment at a Miami-area hospital where he is “making progress,” Archbishop Thomas G 4 million in Haiti are facing “acute food insecurity,” warned U.N World Food Program director Jean-Martin Bauer March 12 Father Rigaud likened Port-au-Prince to a “cancer” that is metastasizing and threatening the health of the entire nation “Everything comes from Port-au-Prince,” Father Rigaud said “Everyone is dying right and left because of the lack of basic needs.” While “the violence is not that much in other (Haitian) cities,” but “with Port-au-Prince we have all the drama that you hear (about in the news),” he said The capital is home to three ports — APN Port Terminal Varreux and Port Lafito — that handle the majority of cargo arriving into Haiti which is heavily dependent on imports for basic goods such as food and medical supplies two fuel terminals are close to the capital Port-au-Prince is “the main entry port for everything,” said Father Rigaud “Everything has to go through it.” And that would have included Father Rigaud himself when he sought to return to his parishes after his father’s funeral — until gangs attempted to seize control of the city’s international airport March 4 leading to a shutdown of the airport that remains in place Father Rigaud managed to keep in touch with his parishioners remotely “I had a Zoom account,” he said “I began to host meetings to manage my parishes I was having staff meetings online; I met with my pastoral councils.” Brennan of Brooklyn presided over a March 18 Mass for peace at Holy Innocents assisted by priests of the diocese’s Haitian apostolate In his homily the bishop shared he had been in contact with Father Rigaud “He is safe … but he can’t get to the capital,” said Bishop Brennan at that Mass “Even if there were planes taking off Reaching the country’s second-largest airport in the northern city of Cap-Haitien was even less likely with the highway patrolled by armed gangs and the U.S Embassy in Haiti warning that the overland trip was “dangerous.” Father Rigaud — who first came to the U.S in 2008 and is a citizen — journeyed for three days to get back to his parishes He managed to get an overland ride to Haiti’s city of Jacmel and from there he flew — via helicopter — to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic “It was a scary ride,” he admitted and we had no (official) access to go over there We had to go to … the immigration staff (in the Dominican Republic).” Father Rigaud then flew from Santo Domingo to Miami the island nation — which features stunning beaches waterfalls and forests — is still “home sweet home,” he said especially since the rest of his family is there they’re not really Haitians,” said Father Rigaud “They are those who use the country for their own gains not really seeing the country (as it could be).” Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @GinaJesseReina You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed From left are Griffin Fire Rescue Chief John Hamilton Chief McDaniel’s granddaughter Janie (McDaniel) Evans and Thomaston Fire Museum Committee Chairman Jeff Sanders Sanders presented the plaque last week at the LUCON Manufacturing Plant in Griffin with Griffin Fire Rescue assisting during the presentation Luke and Janie Evans own LUCON Manufacturing As Thomaston Fire Department moved into a new station earlier this year plaques adorning the former station in honor of Chief “Bushy” McDaniel and other involved city officials were removed from the former station on the corner of Green and Thompson Streets Thomaston Fire Museum Committee Chairman Jeff Sanders recently presented the plaques to descendants of McDaniel and Milton Ellington Chief “Bushy” McDaniel faithfully served the Thomaston community as fire chief from 1948 until his unexpected death in December of 1966 The night prior to his death he had responded to an electrical fire at McConnell’s Dime Store then returned home to get ready to rabbit hunting near Fickling Mill in Taylor County Prior to the trip hunting he went to the fire station to check on his men and let them know he would out of town until midafternoon he suffered an apparent heart attack and died As he had responded to a fire earlier in the day and died several hours later An on-duty death occurs when a firefighter dies within 24 hours of his/her last hours on duty An “in the line of duty” death occurs when he/she suffers a traumatic injury or illness while on an incident Chief McDaniel got his nickname while in grammar school According to facts obtained from previous classmates he never combed his hair and it often stood up like a bush A name that stuck with him throughout his entire life the town’s citizens raised the funds for a memorial plaque in his honor and with the support of the mayor and council named the fire station as the C.W a bronze memorial plaque bearing his name was erected on the fire station by the “grateful citizens of Thomaston.” Mayor Henry A Barron and the city council also read an official proclamation naming the station in his honor Bushy was an “extra special servant for our community,” commented Sanders There was no such thing as racism in him nor in the fire department He treated everyone like he wanted to be treated.” In the fire department he strived to improve his men teaching them everything he learned from the countless training programs and conferences he attended He wanted his officers to be better than he was ●In 1950 he met with the Griffin Fire Chief Together they developed the Tr-Cities Mutual Aid Compact They held quarterly training classes with Thomaston hosting classes in the Masonic Hall and patient removal from their drill tower ●Chiefs McDaniel and Pitts developed the first state district fire conference Firefighters from all across the state came for the week-long conference and on graduation day came local and state dignitaries all became certified fire instructors and taught many other firefighters in those drills and the annual fire conference ●Chief McDaniel developed the first building fire inspection program where every commercial and residential building was inspected annually for fire hazards ●Chief McDaniel developed the first fire safety program for grammar school children and a yearly wall safety calendar for adults ●He wrote a city ordinance prohibiting fireworks inside the city limits ●He won approval for an ordinance prohibiting bicycles parked in front of the movie theaters thus providing a safe exit in the event of a fire or other emergency ●He served as civil defense director for several years and obtained fire and rescue equipment for the department ●He removed the status of being a “suppression only” department to one being an all-hazards department When a tornado struck the city of Manchester the first outside agency was Thomaston’s fire department The firefighters were called upon to provide first aid to the injured TFD was recognized by the state fire commissioner as the city with the lowest fire loss on record were given the award on an Atlanta television station ●Chief McDaniel provided an ordinance that stated all commercial and residential buildings had to have their address posted visible from the street he obtained state funding for a smaller fire engine Citing the need to conserve fuel and a faster truck to county fire calls he designed the engine to meet the demands to lower the fire rating with an additional 500 gallons-per-minute engine This engine was first out on every call and remained in service until 1989 ●He attended and studied the latest technology and techniques of the fire service in to keep the city’s fire department in a progressive position and often met with other departments to see what worked and what did not before making purchases of equipment ●Through his leadership he enabled his officers to become well-known fire instructors teaching both in service classes and classes across middle Georgia This was the reason Thomaston’s fire department continued to be first class and progressive for many years Though these are the highlights of his career as one of the “best fire chiefs in our history,” he was also a character He treated his men fairly and always well investigated situations he had to deal with before making a decision News traveled like wildfire of his unexpected death that December morning flags across the city were lowered to half-mast Immediately the mayor named Captain Roy Grubb chief so he could provide leadership and provide support for the firemen Milton “Fat” Ellington was a city councilman and served as the city’s fire commissioner during much of the time Bushy was fire chief When the city charter was written and adopted in 1889 each city department had a councilman who served oversight and assistance to the department they represented “Fat Ellington was an exceptional fit serving as fire commissioner,” commented Sanders “Not only did he work well with the fire chief but to ensure he knew just what the fire department was about he travelled often with the fire chief to attend training courses and conferences “Of all the accomplishments Bushy made in the fire service he couldn’t have done anything without the full support of fire commissioner Ellington or playing a quick game of checkers or see what tricks had been played and joining in on the fun I have to tell this story that Charles told many times Barron asked Bushy to design the inside of the new station the city was going to build Its location would be one block north on the corner of Thompson and Green It was a small corner lot with no room for growth and it would be almost impossible to make the turn onto Green Street Mayor Barron said ‘Fine,’ he would design it himself and put the chief’s office in the back and the clerk’s office up front he calmly replied that it was good with him he wouldn’t have to see his face when he came in the door The mayor stomped out of the station and Bushy looked at Fat with a big smile on his face and said ‘I think I got the old fool’s goat!’.” there are no recent results for popular videos Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: BUTTE – Janice Lucon and her husband Peter were enjoying a quiet spring day when the bottom suddenly fell out “We’re we sitting in our kitchen and heard kurrrrr whomp! And gingerly looked out the door and there’s no yard anymore,” said Lucon A 30-foot sinkhole swallowed the backyard to their home in the 400 block of West Broadway but you always hear about people having holes show up in Butte and you just never think that it will happen in your own yard until it does,” said Lucon The hole came from an old silver mine that was abandoned in the 1890s who spent the rest of this year isolating and filling the sinkhole because it came from a very old mine “Because there’s usually not very good records of what happened, you know when they [were] here there was nobody around here except sagebrush and jackrabbits,” said Marty Bennett, an engineer at Pioneer Technical Services The state’s Abandoned Mine Lands program has spent $100,000 to plug the sinkhole and restore the yard now we brought in structural fill over the top of that and then we’ll put this structural cap over it with the idea that if the plug settles a little bit with the cap you’ll never know it,” said Bennett When that sinkhole suddenly appeared in their yard earlier this year the only thing of value they lost was a shovel that shovel is still lost somewhere down there in that deep but it makes the Lucons thankful that no one was hurt in that very dangerous situation my husband and I could have fallen into it there’s lots of opportunities for the hole to give away suddenly and somebody’d be at the bottom of a mine shaft,” she said she and her husband and three young children feel safe staying in their Butte home “I’ve seen them work on the hole for the whole summer and off and on through the fall and I might have the most solid yard in all of Uptown when this is done,” said Lucon Metrics details Inhibitory control is an executive function that positively predicts performance in several cognitive tasks and has been considered typical of vertebrates with large and complex nervous systems such as primates evidence is growing that some fish species have evolved complex cognitive abilities in spite of their relatively small brain size We tested whether fish might also show enhanced inhibitory control by subjecting guppies to the motor task used to test warm-blooded vertebrates Guppies were trained to enter a horizontal opaque cylinder to reach a food reward; then the cylinder was replaced by a transparent one and subjects needed to inhibit the response to pass thought the transparency to reach the food a performance fully comparable to that observed in most birds and mammals we tested guppies in a task with a different type of reward Guppies rapidly learned to detour a transparent barrier to reach the social reward with a performance close to that of experiment 1 Our study suggests that efficient inhibitory control is shown also by fish and that its variation between-species is only partially explained by variation in brain size we considered the cylinder task as a measure of inhibitory motor control Performance of guppies in the cylinder task (experiment 1). (a) Percentage of correct trials in which guppies did not contact the cylinder (mean ± SEM), and (b) time to solve the task (mean ± SEM) over the 10 days of the test phase. Performance of guppies in the barrier task (experiment 2) (a) Percentage of correct trials in which guppies did not enter the barrier (mean ± SEM) and (b) time to solve the task (mean ± SEM) over the 5 days of the experiment we investigated the ability of a fish species to perform two inhibition motor tasks based on the presence of transparent obstacles between the subject and the goal Our results indicate that guppies are capable of solving inhibition motor tasks and that their performance is fully comparable to that observed in warm-blooded vertebrates the difference between guppies and warm-blooded species (58%) is even smaller Also the individual guppy with lowest performance (38% correct trials) outperformed several mammalian and avian species learning mostly occurred in the training phase with the opaque cylinder after three days of experiments (roughly corresponding to the length of the training using the opaque cylinder in experiment 1) the guppies reached a performance very close to that of the cylinder task (50%) We should additionally consider that the barrier was perhaps more difficult to detour because it was larger than the cylinder and was C-shaped the performance of the guppies appears similar for the two different types of reward and thus this study does not support the hypothesis that the high performance of guppies in experiment 1 was the consequence of a reduced attractiveness of the food reward compared to warm-blooded vertebrates this suggests that brain size alone cannot explain the large differences in inhibitory motor control observed among species the brains of teleost fish and land vertebrates evolved in large part independently and may show a very different anatomical and cytoarchitectonic structure the cytoarchitectonic structure of the teleost brain and the localisation of the functions studied here are less well known compared to warm-blooded vertebrates and therefore any conclusion on this topic is premature it is conceivable that selection acting on these cognitive functions can indirectly select for high inhibitory control The experiments adhere to the current legislation of our country (Decreto Legislativo 4 marzo 2014 26) and were approved by the Ethical Committee of Università di Padova (protocol n The subjects were adult female guppies of an ornamental strain (“snakeskin cobra green”) bred in our laboratory since 2012 We tested 10 guppies in experiment 1 and 12 guppies in experiment 2 which housed guppies before the experiments and 15-W fluorescent lamps (12 h:12 h light/dark photoperiod) We kept water temperature at 26 ± 1 °C and fed the fish with commercial food flakes (Fioccomix Italy) and Artemia salina nauplii three times per day View from above of the apparatuses used in (a) experiment 1 We used two types of cylinders of the same size (4 cm length the cylinder was transparent (an acetate sheet) Both cylinders were glued above a green plastic sheet (4 × 4 cm) Three days before the beginning of training we randomly selected a female in the maintenance tanks and moved it to the apparatus together with one adult male and three juveniles to avoid social isolation We fed the subject five times each day in the two test compartments alternately in order to simulate the procedure of the following days (see below) we moved the male companion to a 60 × 40 × 38 cm tank with immature guppies as social companions we inserted a Pasteur pipette with crumbled flakes mixed with water into the test compartment opposite the one with the subject We slowly moved the pipette to attract the subject; when the subject entered this test compartment we closed the guillotine door and slowly released the food from the pipette This was done to train the fish to get the food from the pipette Five guppies that did not learn to feed from the pipette were discarded and substituted with new subjects the immature companions were removed from the tank with the exception of the two in the trapezoidal compartments The subject was trained to feed inside the opaque cylinder in which the position of the opaque cylinder was alternated between the two test compartments Thirty minutes before the experiment started the male companion was removed from the tank and the female was confined in one test compartment The experimenter placed the cylinder into the other test compartment at a distance of 15 cm from the guillotine door the experimenter inserted the Pasteur pipette and showed it to the subject confined behind the guillotine door After ensuring that the subject was looking in the direction of the pipette the experimenter inserted food inside the cylinder and opened the guillotine door The subject had 30 min to find the food; after this period the trial was considered null and was repeated thereafter we waited 15 min and then started the next trial in the opposite test compartment we measured whether the first attempt to reach the food was through the front of the cylinder (incorrect trial) or from the open sides (correct trial) Subjects had to achieve four out of five correct trials in a day to pass to the test phase The apparatus was an 80 × 40 × 36 cm tank covered with a white plastic sheet and filled with 10 cm of water (Fig. 4b) we built a white start box (15 × 10 × 20 cm) The social stimulus was a shoal of 4 female guppies confined in a transparent sector of the apparatus (11 cm diameter We positioned the transparent barrier (18 × 18 cm) C-shaped by means of two white plastic wings (18 × 5 cm) at a distance of 30 cm from the start box and 15 cm from the stimulus An 18-W fluorescent lamp placed above the stimuli illuminated the apparatus and a video camera recorded the trials One week before the beginning of the experiment we moved each individual subject from the maintenance tank to a 50 × 20 × 38 cm ‘home tank’ with immature guppies as social companions The experiment consisted of a series of 25 test trials subdivided over 5 days (5 trials per day) The length of the experiment was reduced compared to experiment 1 for ethical reasons because this procedure was presumably more stressful for the subjects We placed the stimuli in the sector of the apparatus 30 min before the first trial transported in a plastic jar and gently inserted into the start box we scored whether the subject reached the stimulus shoal by entering into the area delimited by the wings of the barrier (incorrect trial) or not (correct trial) and the time spent within this area we left it undisturbed for 5 min as a reward before starting the following trial Four subjects that did not attempt to join the stimulus shoal within 20 min were substituted we analysed the reliability of our measures of performance A second experimenter re-analysed the video recordings of 40 trials performed by 8 guppies differed between the two scores in 1 out of 40 trials (2.5% trials) The time in front of the barrier was highly correlated between the two scores (Spearman’s rank correlation: ρ = 0.987 we computed the percentage of correct trials in the first 10 trials we also compared the proportion of correct trials in the last day of the training phase of each subject versus the test phase using paired-sample t test We analysed time performance (time to reach the reward in experiment 1 and time spent trying to pass thought the barrier in experiment 2) using linear mixed-effects models (LMMs ‘lmer’ function of the ‘lme4’ R package) fitted with the trial as covariate after log transformation due to right-skewed distributions All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the Supplementary Information file Fish cognition and behavior (John Wiley & Sons Evolutionary ecology: the Trinidadian guppy (Oxford University Press Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence (Academic Press Download references The authors would like to thank Alice Andreoli and Pietro Manconi for their help in testing the animals and “PRIN 2015” (prot.: 2015FFATB7) to A.B analysed the data and drafted the manuscript All authors provided critical revisions and approved the final version of the manuscript The authors declare that they have no competing interests Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13447-4 Damaged cars with broken windshields and numerous dents from the hail storm are lined up for repair at Tip Top Auto Body in Garden City Park There are 37 holes in the roof of New Hyde Park resident Alison Lucon's sun porch and they're all from hailstones -- she counted them Tuesday while on the phone with her insurance company Lucon's house was hit hard in Monday's storm, which brought teacup-sized hailstones, about 3 inches in diameter, to parts of western Nassau County "It looks like a meteor shower came through here," said Lucon One of her gutters was split in half in the storm and her aluminum awning and window panes were bruised with deep dents from hail The damage is even more stressful for Lucon because her house is for sale "This room was the best selling point of the house," she said of the porch Meteorologist David Stark from the National Weather Service in Upton, said that a combination of forces created perfect conditions for dangerous hail in New Hyde Park and Garden City From breaking news to special features and documentaries the NewsdayTV team is covering the issues that matter to you By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy "The storm was reaching very high up into the atmosphere where it was plenty cold, and the hail was being suspended up there for quite some time, which is why it got so big," Stark said, adding that this kind of hailstorm on Long Island is "definitely a rare occurrence." The storm's aftermath was evident by the overflow of damaged vehicles parked at auto body shops around New Hyde Park Tuesday. By 11 a.m., Bob Tolgar, owner of Tip Top Auto Body in Garden City Park trucks and SUVs towed in or dropped off with hail damage ranging from clusters of golf ball-sized dents to shattered windshields but "we can't even get the glass fast enough" to keep up with the demand owners of cars without cracked glass were asked to make appointments later in the week so the shop can deal with the influx of cars that aren't fit for the road New Hyde Park Auto Body Works had a line of customers snaking around the corner Tuesday morning before the shop opened said his shop had seen around 35 customers and had 25 appointments for Wednesday so far "I've never seen anything like this," said DiMarino as tow trucks hauled in damaged cars two at a time When Beauvais Plaisance, 28, left LA Fitness in Lake Success Monday afternoon, he discovered a shattered, jagged rear windshield, a cracked front windshield and massive dents across the body of his silver Nissan Maxima my car seat is in the back," Plaisance said after he dropped his car off at New Hyde Park Auto Body Works "So I definitely don't feel comfortable driving my car like this." Another storm has been forecast for Wednesday, but Stark said the most it should bring is heavy downpour in western areas of Long Island Get more on these and other NewsdayTV stories The Newsday app makes it easier to access content without having to log in Unlimited Digital AccessOnly 25¢for 6 months Philippines and Japan eye regular South China Sea exercisesThree-way cooperation seen as key to deterring China along 'first island chain' hold their first trilateral exercises in the South China Sea in June Japan and the Philippines plan to coordinate security strategies in the East China Sea and South China Sea and discuss opportunities to stage regular joint exercises under plans announced Friday aiming to bolster deterrence against potential Chinese aggression in the region National security advisers Jake Sullivan of the U.S. Takeo Akiba of Japan and Eduardo Ano of the Philippines met for the first time in Tokyo agreeing to produce a formal strategy document by year-end Subscribe to BuzzFeed Daily NewsletterCaret DownDistrict Attorney Opens Criminal Investigation Into Exploded New York BuildingTwo people died in the blast and fire Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance opened a criminal investigation into the circumstances by Nicolás Medina MoraBuzzFeed News Reporter by Mary Ann GeorgantopoulosBuzzFeed News Reporter Both bodies will no undergo testing to determine their identity while workers continue to search the site for any further victims The @fdny is working diligently to clear the debris after the #EastVillage explosion Figueroa had been on a lunch date at the Sushi Park restaurant The NYPD spokesperson said the body has not yet been identified Moises Lucon worked at Sushi Park and Nicholas Figueroa dined at the restaurant shortly before the crash Family members of both men were out on the streets looking for any traces "We have just been walking down the streets, one by one," Zacarias Lucon told the New York Daily News Office of Emergency Management chief Joseph Esposito said he highly doubts the two men are likely to be found alive New York Mayor Bill de Blasio meets firefighters at the site of a building explosion in the East Village on Friday "There's a possibility a gas pipe was accessed improperly," de Blasio said The mayor cautioned that the city will not issue a final determination of what happened until its investigators are able to reach the basement of the building where the explosion originated But de Blasio did offer a preliminary narrative of the events leading to the fire inspectors with ConEd visited 121 Second Avenue for a routine review of earlier plumbing work the inspectors found two people — Bronx contractor Dilber Kukic and one of his employees — doing plumbing work in the basement The ConEd inspectors found the work "deficient," the mayor said (Kukic does not appear to have had a permit for the work.) called the building's landlord to inform him of a gas smell in the building Fifteen minutes after the ConEd inspectors left starting a fire that eventually spread to four other structures New York Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said firefighters continue to fight "smoldering" fires at the scene "The fire will not extend any further," Nigro said "We have people at the scene to prevent that." De Blasio said that the injury toll had increased to 22 people two people known to have been in the buildings at the time were still missing but there was no reason to believe he or she had been present during the explosion and building officials are conducting investigations into possible wrongdoing An Arson Explosion detective looks at the site of a building explosion in the East Village on Friday The East Village building that exploded on Thursday was undergoing gas and plumbing renovations without a permit which injured at least 19 and left two people missing appears to have originated from a gas leak at the corner of Second Avenue and 7th Street Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference Thursday "The initial impact appears to have been caused by plumping and gas work that was occurring inside 121 2nd Avenue," the mayor said "Con Ed inspectors arrived at the site earlier for a separate reason entirely gave instructions as to what changes were needed – and that was an hour or more before the explosion." The New York City Department of Buildings requires all major renovations to request a permit to ensure the safety of workers and residents the last permit authorizing work at 121 Second Avenue dates from August 2014 allowed for mechanical and plumbing work to be done on all five floors of the century-old tenement told BuzzFeed News that his company had only done the engineering work in the building and had not actually been involved in the construction "We only worked in the residential portion of the building," Im said "Yesterday's incident was in the commercial part Yesterday's work must have been done without a permit and I singed off the project on September 2014." A Department of Building's spokesperson confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the project for which Doric Consultants had been granted a permit was finished in September 2014 and that no further permits had been issued for 121 Second Avenue it would be on our website," the spokesperson said adding that he could not give any further details because the investigation is still ongoing the restaurant in the commercial section of the building registered owner of at least part of the lot could not immediately be reached for commen U/D Manhattan: FDNY Commissioner &amp; Chief &amp; @BilldeBlasio visiting the explosion site Press conference soon Two of the missing people have a "direct connection" to the site at the time of the explosion The other four to six are "tangentially" related to the site – there's no evidence they were near the building at the time of the blast a friend may have reported one of those people missing after not hearing from him or her Figueroa and a co-worker had lunch at Sushi Park shortly before the explosion. His family told The New York Times they haven't heard from him since Figueroa's bank statements show he used his debit card to pay at the sushi restaurant just before the explosion Family members are checking nearby hospitals police departments and the Red Cross center in East Village for traces of the 23-year-old man The person Figueroa was dining with was taken to Bellevue Hospital "We're just praying that they find him," Figueroa's brother New York firefighter Ed Long told BuzzFeed News that among those injured in the blast and ensuing destruction Four of the civilians were in critical condition Thursday Seven others had been taken to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries Three people were treated at the scene and released Also injured were five fire department members four of whom were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries A medical responder was treated at the scene Authorities were "still tallying" the injured late into Thursday night "My thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been impacted by the explosion in Lower Manhattan today The Department of Public Service is on-site monitoring Con Edison's response to this incident and will conduct a full investigation to determine the cause of today's explosion," the governor said I thank the hundreds of first responders who put the safety of others before their own We will continue to monitor this tragedy and do whatever is needed to support the ongoing response and recovery in the days ahead." New York City firefighters work the scene of a large fire and a partial building collapse in the East Village neighborhood of New York Bill de Blasio said that the building was undergoing work on its gas system there were only private companies doing work at the building," de Blasio said ConEd had sent a team of inspectors to supervise the work of the private contractors company president John McAvoy said at the conference The ConEd inspectors found the work unsatisfactory The private contractors did not make any calls to 9/11 or ConEd as they should have done the moment they detected a leak Four buildings were affected by the explosion: 119 "The actual explosion occurred in 121 "Our thoughts and our prayers are with every one of them and their families," he said we are praying that no other individuals are found injured but that is an ongoing effort that FDNY and all other first responders are involved in." "Preliminary evidence suggests a gas related explosion That investigation is ongoing." - Mayor @BilldeBlasio "At this moment we know of 12 individuals who have been injured three in critical condition." - Mayor @BilldeBlasio "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families." - Mayor @BilldeBlasio Antonia Stoyanovich who lives on 7th told me it felt like an earthquake and her building shook "You felt it in the buildings structure." Stoyanovich said the fire started in a sushi restaurant Elise Ford who works at Blackstones salon said she immediately knew it was a gas explosion from sound and smell The building collapse as it happened on 2nd avenue was walking past the building earlier this afternoon when he noticed a strong smell of gas "I walked literarily 15 seconds past the building and saw two workers walking out of the residential part of the building and entering the sushi bar," Farber told BuzzFeed News over the phone "I went down the street and suddenly saw a huge explosion "I tried to get him out but people were telling me that I should get away because the building was going to blow up." A ConEd spokesperson did not immediately answer BuzzFeed New's questions on whether the explosion was due to a gas leak 2nd Ave has been closed between 14th Street &amp; Houston St More aerial photos shared by @NYPDSpecialops show the fire in East Village 3 young men that live there told me but refused to comment further New Yorkers being awesome and helping this young lady get down including Bellevue," the spokesperson said #BREAKING: Aerial view of building collapse @NYPD9Pct Numerous rescue units on scene #SOD #ESU #K9 #Aviation #FD It was not immediately clear whether the building that collapsed was the origin of the fire Explosion shreds East Village restaurant: An explosion rocked the East Village Thursday… http://t.co/fSuk18og6F Massive explosion rocks New York's East Village; injuries unknown (Pic: @Jamie_S_Kennedy) http://t.co/MwQgLBkuII 2nd and 3rd Avenues up until 12th street being evacuated Mary Ann GeorgantopoulosBuzzFeed News Reporter we ordered @WilliamOwain to go on a scouting trip when he visited France recently Every football club has history but some's are more interesting than others Erster Fußball Club Neudorf is one such club Formed in 1906 in the German city of Straßburg today they are French and known as Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace They have changed nationality three times and very much reflect the city they reside in Throughout their history there has been one thing that has never changed - they have always been Alsatian Two of their best known former players, Morgan Schneiderlin and Arsene Wenger Schneiderlin and Wenger are as about as Alsatian Today Racing are top of the table in the Championnat National just five years after suffering liquidation and having to restart in the regional fifth tier of French football Before I arrived in Strasbourg there had been a chance that they could win promotion at home against Vendée Luçon and though subsequent results had meant that was no longer possible this was still a big match with Luçon being one of the teams chasing Racing Racing had priced tickets for women at just €2.00 Now I can't comment whether the below image of women preparing for a "big night out" by putting make up on but there was definitely a party atmosphere when I arrived at Stade de la Meinau Tout ce qui vous attend ce soir pour #FemmesDeFoot. #RCSAVLF https://t.co/2i7DNgUqKj pic.twitter.com/I4hcUPlQJp Loud techno music blasted across the local area men in tuxedos stood guard at a women only turnstile and musicians were also playing on a stage when the techno was given a rest Les #FemmesDeFoot ont été exceptionnelles, hier !! <3 #JPeuxPasJaiRacinghttps://t.co/9sJiramxf3 pic.twitter.com/LHbVeXCKOb but it created a friendly carnival atmosphere There was a nod to the club's Alsatian identity with the free handout of coiffes I can't see them taking off at the Madejski Stadium but then again do we even know if traditional Berkshire folk clothing even exists Les coiffes #FemmesDeFoot ne sont pas réservées qu'aux femmes... pic.twitter.com/m3pSyJGy5Q The Stade de la Meinau was rebuilt for the last time France hosted the European Championship in 1984 It is showing it's age and can't be a great place to be when small crowds are in attendance For the game I attended that was not a problem and indeed I found my seat already occupied but I did notice from angry arguments going on with stewards that I was not the only fan in my block whose seat had been taken One to possibly watch out for at Euro 2016 Once the game started it struck me almost straight away that despite this being the third tier there was virtually no hoofing Every player looked to pass the ball and in skill level it was on a par with the Championship It was easy to see why France has produced players like Thierry Henry Both teams tried to keep the ball on the ground and everything was very deliberate No one was a better example of this than the Luçon goalkeeper, Anthony Martin who put in one of the most entertaining individual performances I have ever witnessed Such was his belief in playing football the right way he refused to kick the ball long and would play the ball to teammates on the edge of the box even when they were being marked It seemed on the rare occasions when his teammates were rude enough not to give him an option that he would deliberately clear the ball to an area where none of them were He would then do the most Gallic of shrugs and shout at his teammates for forcing him to give the ball away My personal highlight though was his mad rush out of his goal following a poor Racing cross with half the players still in his area and the ball harmlessly drifting out for a throw in before playing a short five yard pass to the Luçon right back A photo posted by @williamowain on Apr 22 Unfortunately Martin was probably a bit culpable for the opening goal A clever through ball from the impressive Jérémy Grimm split the Luçon defence and found his namesake Blayac Martin then did the anti Ali Al-Habsi/Jonathan Bond by charging out to the edge of his box and Blayac duly rounded him and scored After the goal Racing continued to dominate the game without creating any clear cut chances It was only after the game that I realised that despite being top they have a pathetic goal record They have scored just 30 goals in 30 games Only five teams have a worse record and even the bottom team have scored more In hindsight it was not a surprise then that as the game went on they sat deeper and deeper Their only attacks seemed to occur when their captain and centre back Ernest Seka would go on mad Garath Davies style charge forwards though they did miss a 1 on 1 when Jean-Philippe Sabo took too long to shot and was tackled With six minutes to go a rare long Luçon ball was not dealt with by Racing and Ludovic Ajorque steeled in to poke home Sadly there were no Luçon fans to witness it but the goal did remind Racing that it is okay to score more than one goal The rest of the game was end to end with the crowd on their feet The sort of end to a league game Reading fans have not seen for a while With the virtually last kick of the game a Racing midfielder found himself with so much space and time in the box he somehow contrived to miss kick the ball wide Le résumé du nul concédé hier soir à la Meinau face à @VLFofficiel #RCSAVLF https://t.co/tj6PWxfMjS Coming away from the match I was surprised we do not see more English clubs scouting in the lower French leagues who Leicester found at Ligue 2 side Le Havre The pace of the game was slower than here in England Every player was comfortable on the ball and my only concern on whether players could hack it in England would be the physical side of the game It was notable how often the players went down and it was annoying how many stayed down even when the ref ignored them It almost seemed like they needed to prove to the ref everyone else and themselves that they had been hurt on the evidence of this game I would be happy to see Reading look at the French market And in the highly unlikely event that a Reading scout is reading this and wants to justify a trip to France I would recommend Luçon's playmaker Charly Charrier Racing's holding midfielder Jérémy Grimm and left back Abdallah Ndour Not that you should need an excuse to visit Strasbourg It's a lovely city with amazing food and beer A photo posted by @williamowain on Apr 14 We would love you to share your experience on the Tilehurst End Combined cash funds at two companies behind a restaurant/accommodation business cookery school and media business associated with one of Ireland’s best known chefs Mr Maguire operates MacNean Restaurant and guesthouse at Blacklion in Co Cavan with his wife Amelda New accounts for the firm behind the business show it recorded pre-tax profits of €51,523 for 2022 which is a 90pc decrease on the pre-tax profits of €499,901 for 2021 The 2022 pre-tax profit last year takes account of combined non-cash depreciation and amortisation costs of €221,498 The business is jointly owned by Amelda Maguire and Neven Maguire and the reduction in profits coincided with the numbers employed increasing from 47 to 62 The main activity of Lucon Ltd is the management and co-ordination of the operations of a restaurant and accommodation business and the profits were skewed by other operating income declining from €834,973 in 2021 to €221,437 last year This followed Employer Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) payments declining from €687,338 to €219,655 while a restart grant of €130,483 received in 2021 did not re-occur last year At the end of December the firm was sitting on accumulated funds of €212,449 The firm last year recorded post tax profits of €14,255 The connected HCM Productions Ltd is 100pc owned by Amelda Maguire and employs only one person but was far more profitable than Lucon Ltd last year recording pre-tax profits of €490,687 which was a 26pc increase on the pre-tax profits of €388,347 in 2021 The principal activities of HCM Productions Ltd are to manage and co-ordinate the operation of a cookery school and associated public relations demonstrations and media activities of the cookery school Mr Maguire has published 19 cookery books while he also has a popular ‘Cook with Neven Maguire’ range at Dunnes Stores The Neven Maguire Cookery School – located beside MacNean restaurant – opened in 2014 The bumper 2022 enjoyed by HCM Productions resulted in accumulated profits increasing from €802,078 to €1.21m The company’s cash funds increased by €421,532 from €913,012 to €1.334m The profits take account of combined non-cash depreciation and amortisation costs of €108,701 Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel Combined cash funds at two companies associated with chef Neven Maguire increased to €3.5 million last year One of Ireland's best known cooks and media personalities Mr Maguire operates MacNean Restaurant and guesthouse at Blacklion show it recorded pre-tax profits of €51,523 for 2022 – a 90 per cent decrease on the pre-tax profits of €499,901 for 2021 Lucon Ltd had cash funds of €2.175 million The business is jointly owned by Amelda Maguire and Neven Maguire The reduction in profits coincided with the numbers employed increasing from 47 to 62 The main activity of Lucon Ltd is the management and co-ordination of the operations of a restaurant and accommodation business The profits were skewed by other operating income declining from €834,973 in 2021 to €221,437 last year This followed Employer Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) payments declining from €687,338 to €219,655 while a restart grant of €130,483 received in 2021 did not re-occur last year The firm last year recorded post-tax profits of €14,255 the firm was sitting on accumulated funds of €212,449 The connected HCM Productions Ltd is 100 per cent owned by Amelda Maguire and employs only one person it was far more profitable than Lucon Ltd last year recording pre-tax profits of €490,687 – a 26 per cent increase on the pre-tax profits of €388,347 in 2021 The principal activities of HCM Productions Ltd are to manage and coordinate the operation of a cookery school and associated public relations while he also has a popular cookware range at Dunnes Stores The bumper 2022 enjoyed by HCM Productions resulted in accumulated profits increasing from €802,078 to €1.21 million The company’s cash funds increased by €421,532 from €913,012 to €1.334 million The profits at HCM Productions take account of combined non-cash depreciation and amortisation costs of €108,701 Keep up-to-date with the top stories in Cork with our daily newsletter straight to your inbox Please click here for our privacy statement. Sign up to receive our weekly newsletter to be in with a chance to win prizes and see what's coming up in The Echo Add Echolive.ie to your home screen - easy access to Cork news