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CBS News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CBS News
12-year-old Allegheny County native crowned queen of marbles at annual National Marbles Tournament
Elise Peterson, a 12-year-old Allegheny County native, was recently crowned the queen of marbles at the 102nd National Marbles Tournament in Wildwoods, New Jersey. After four days of competition involving over 50 players and 1,200 total games played, the king and queen grand champions were announced on June 19. The Wildwood Marbles Tournament was founded in 1922. The event features four days of matches, "showcasing the skills and strategies of some of the nation's most talented marble players," per an accompanying press release. "The tournament has long been cherished as a testament to the enduring nature of friendly competition and the artistry of the game of marbles while fostering camaraderie, sportsmanship, and a deep appreciation for the game's rich history," the press release added. The "Mibsters," as the players are described, are male and female marble players between the ages of 8 and 14 who qualified for the competition by winning local tournaments throughout the country. Players often competed for national honors, college scholarships, and other prizes during the tournament. The tournament will return for its 103rd year, from June 15 through June 18, 2026, where a new king and queen will be crowned. How are games played? The game played during the tournament, "Ringer," begins by placing 13 marbles in the form of an "X" in a 10-foot circle, with players then alternating shots to knock marbles out of the ring. The winner is the individual who is first to shoot seven marbles out of the ring.
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Britney, Taylor and Beyoncé defined the 2000s. How they changed pop culture forever
Growing up in a small town in New Hampshire, Nora Princiotti lived two hours away from the nearest mall, so the Scholastic Book Fair was her lifeline to pop culture purchases. In fall 2003, the then-9-year-old made a beeline to the fair and bought gum, glitter gel pens and 'Metamorphosis,' the second studio album from 'Lizzie McGuire' star Hilary Duff. At that time, Duff was 'the single most important person in the world to me outside my immediate family,' Princiotti writes in 'Hit Girls: Britney, Taylor, Beyoncé, and the Women Who Built Pop's Shiniest Decade.' 'This is the first day of the rest of my life.' This proclamation is no exaggeration. Duff's CD was Princiotti's gateway to the vibrant pop music universe of the 2000s — an era that 'Hit Girls' thoroughly examines through the lens of some of the decade's music icons. The chronological book opens with Britney Spears reigniting industry interest in mainstream pop after the roaring success of her snappy debut single, 1998's '…Baby One More Time.' Princiotti subsequently devotes chapters to Rihanna's world-shifting dance music and savvy use of technology; the scrappy (and occasionally bumpy) pop-punk odyssey of Avril Lavigne; and the complicated relationship between indie rock and pop, exemplified by 'American Idol' sweetheart Kelly Clarkson. She also reexamines with a much kinder eye the music of Ashlee Simpson, whose career cratered after she was caught lip-syncing on 'Saturday Night Live,' and then-tabloid fixtures Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. Princiotti, a staff writer at the Ringer who covers pop music and the NFL and co-hosts the podcast 'Every Single Album,' says she was certain which artists needed to be included in 'Hit Girls.' 'I had the idea a little bit before the Y2K resurgence that we've experienced over the last few years,' she says. 'But it was trickling into the ecosystem. And I had this very clear idea that there are all these disparate segments of the pop star world and the version of that world that existed in the 2000s. … Even though that music is different, it all fit together to me really obviously, because I was the fan.' Princiotti augments her rigorous research with colorful memories from this era, including chatting on AIM (her handle was mangorainbow99), digging up Taylor Swift rarities on YouTube and hearing Lady Gaga's 'Just Dance' at a high school dance. Finding a cohesive story of the 2000s was more challenging. 'The question that I had to answer [in the book] was, 'Other than the audience — and other than having this feeling inside me that a book that covered the rise of Britney Spears also needed to cover 'Rumors' by Lindsay Lohan and also needed to cover Ashlee Simpson, because that's how I lived it — what actually ties these artists together?'' That uniting thread is Spears. The book deftly traces the parallels between the evolution of Spears' career and how the decade itself unfolded — from the way her music broadened beyond teen pop (e.g. the electro-disco 'Toxic') to the negative impact the intense tabloid scrutiny had on her mental health. 'She is the artist of the 2000s,' Princiotti says. 'If you think of the aughts as a whole, it starts with Britney, [and] she manages to keep it going. There's so many things that I think just come back to that one woman.' Princiotti also concludes that the female pop stars of the 2000s helped legitimize pop music. 'There's something about what all of these women — because it is women in the book — did to chip away at the idea that pop is disposable and unserious music, that somehow got us to this place where it is more often recognized as a serious art form, something that moves culture [and] is worthy of real, deep criticism,' she says. 'You're seeing every day where there are thesis-driven projects about Taylor Swift and the music of Taylor Swift, and [people asking,] 'What does she mean to society?' and 'What does she mean to culture? The thing that struck me was, 'Oh, we didn't have that. It wasn't like that — and now it is.'' Given the book's narrow time frame — 'Hit Girls' starts just before Y2K and ends in the early 2010s — the book also takes a different spin on the careers of Swift and fellow superstar Beyoncé. The latter was newly emerging as a solo artist with 2003's 'Dangerously in Love' after breaking through with Destiny's Child. Princiotti argues that Beyoncé's success on the pop charts opened doors for hip-hop and R&B artists, which had a seismic impact on culture as a whole. Although these genres had started making massive inroads into the pop charts and mainstream music starting in the late 1990s, Princiotti observed in her research that magazine and tabloid covers still largely prioritized white artists. 'While there was a clear relationship between the interest in an artist like Britney Spears's life and the interest in her music, that feedback loop did not exist for a lot of Black artists,' she writes. 'Which meant that hip-hop could dominate popular music while being shut out of the elite celebrity spaces that promote true pop stardom.' Swift, meanwhile, was an earnest country-pop wunderkind building her fan base one MySpace comment at a time — and even then happened to be a genius at understanding the psychology of fandom and the online habits of her followers. 'I came away with an appreciation of just how early in her career she laid the blueprint of how she would develop her fan base,' Princiotti says. 'When it's all said and done, we will look back at her artistic legacy, yes, as the songwriter of a generation, yes, as the poet laureate of young women.' 'But I do think that the legacy of Taylor Swift is going to start with the communities of people that she brought together within her fan base — and how powerful and sometimes scary and how mobilized that fan community has become, and how she built it to be that way.' As with Swift, many of the artists in 'Hit Girls' remain popular today. Lavigne and Beyoncé are currently on major tours; Clarkson has found success with her daytime talk show; Rihanna is a billionaire business mogul thanks to her brands Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty. And Duff, who now has four kids, starred in the TV show 'Younger' and, most recently, the short-lived 'How I Met Your Father.' Near the end of 'Hit Girls,' Princiotti explores the ongoing influence of these artists and this decade — from the current crop of young pop stars led by Olivia Rodrigo and nostalgia festivals like When We Were Young to fashion trends such as dark denim, 'going-out' tops and butterfly hair clips. Princiotti herself maintains a love of pop stars and offers solid theories about why this specific era remains such a fascination: a heady mix of nostalgia, second chances and perspective. 'For people like me who lived through at least some of it, it's the ability to go back a little bit older and wiser,' she says. 'We can take the best of it and then reexamine the worst of it with more open eyes. And there's something to me that's very satisfying about that.'
NBC Sports
10-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Extend him? Trade him? Atlanta Hawks Trae Young decision this summer.
The Atlanta Hawks have always chosen Trae Young. They chose him the night he was drafted, trading Luka Doncic for him. They chose him again as recently as last summer, when Atlanta traded Dejonte Murray to New Orleans and kept Young as the core of its backcourt. This summer, that could change. New Hawks new general manager Onsi Saleh — as well as the just-added Bryson Graham (senior vice president of basketball operations) and Peter Dinwiddie (senior vice president of strategy and analytics) — have a decision to make about Young, and by extension the future direction of the Hawks. Young is eligible for a four-year, $228.6 million max extension this offseason. Do the Hawks pay that, do they try to get Young to re-sign for a smaller amount, or do they look to trade him and retool the roster around their younger stars Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher? The Hawks also could push this decision back, those extension decisions available this summer will still be available all season and up through June 30 of 2026 (the risk by next summer is Young declining his player option and becoming a free agent, potentially leaving for nothing). Young was an All-Star last season averaging 24.2 points and a league-best 11.6 assists a game while shooting 34% from beyond the arc, but also had a league-high 355 turnovers (4.7 a game), and he is a minus defender targeted by other teams. He is viewed around the league as a good player, but one who puts a ceiling on how good your team can be. However last season we started to see Young evolve his game some, he tried harder on defense, and he worked a little more off ball, positive steps we could see grow. No max, but also no trade? First, it's nearly impossible to envision the Hawks re-signing Young for the maximum. This is a team that, if it re-signs players such as Clint Capela and Caris LeVert, would be flirting with the luxury tax, something ownership is highly unlikely to want to pay for a 40-42 team that didn't advance past the play-in. Max out Young and that new management is going to limit its roster-building options in future years because they will be flirting with the tax. As for trading Young, while those rumors are popular on NBA Twitter, they go nowhere with NBA front offices. Fans tried to link him to San Antonio for a long time, but the Spurs traded for DeAaron Fox (and are about to draft Dylan Harper at No. 2). Zach Lowe said it best on his Ringer podcast. 'I don't think there's a great market for him. So I don't think there's a trade out there that completely just reorients the franchise in a positive way.' That leaves two options. The first is to get Young to sign a more team-friendly contract. ESPN's Bobby Marks threw out a three-year, $120 million extension, which feels about right. That's a $40 million per season contract ($17 million a year less than the maximum) and a shorter term, which has Young back on the market at age 29. It's also a more tradable contract in a year if the Hawks (or Young) want to go that route. The other option is to postpone any decision and see how this season plays out, then make a call. If Johnson remains healthy throughout the season and the Hawks add depth through the draft and with the mid-level exception, this could be a team pushing for a top-six seed. After that, both sides might be more interested in a below-max contract extension (and if things go poorly, the ability to part ways is easier). It's Saleh and the new front office's first major decision, and it will give us a good idea of the direction they plan to take the team in the coming years.
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Trump's China tariffs are having a 'massive impact' on small business
When President Donald Trump temporarily reduced tariffs this month on imports from China from the astronomical level that he had set in March, the stock market soared and economists said a recession was now less likely. But the emergency is not over for small business owners like Carina Hamel and Robby Ringer who import products from China. Hamel and Ringer's company, Bivo , sells stainless steel water bottles with a patented nozzle that allows users -- think thirsty cyclists -- to gulp drinks quickly. Before Trump's tariffs threatened the company's existence, the founders said, the nearly 5-year-old business, run out of a former corset factory in Richmond, Vermont, was growing fast and close to becoming profitable. Play Video Play Skip Backward Skip Forward Mute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions and subtitles off , selected Audio Track Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Elegant New Scooters For Seniors In 2024: The Prices May Surprise You Mobility Scooter | Search Ads Learn More Undo The drop in tariffs this month to 30% from 145% on most Chinese goods was a relief but in the way that a flood is better than a tsunami. "Six weeks ago, 30% would have shocked the world and been appalling and hard to deal with -- and it is now," Ringer said. The duties on Bivo's bottles are higher than 30% because of the material they're made from and how they are classified by trade officials. Bivo bottles that are not insulated are subject to tariffs that add up to 47%, and the rate for insulated bottles is 37%. Live Events Trump has frequently said that foreign businesses that ship products to the United States pay the tariffs. But, in reality, importers like Bivo pay the duties to the federal government when goods arrive at a U.S. port. "It's still a massive impact to the cash, and it still requires reworking a whole new strategy," Ringer said. Bivo now estimated sales to be 30% lower than it had previously expected, in large part because many retailers, which buy around two-thirds of its bottles, are buying less outdoor gear as they try to navigate their way through economic uncertainty. Trump's tariffs are weighing on businesses of all sizes. Walmart's CEO said this month that the giant retailer probably would not be able to "absorb all the pressure" from the tariffs. Tariffs pose even bigger risks to small businesses. They typically don't have the deep financial reserves needed to weather economic problems, the heft to demand lower prices from suppliers and the sway to lobby the government for exemptions from tariffs, said Ebehi Iyoha, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. "We should generally expect small businesses to be more vulnerable to trade shocks than large businesses," Iyoha said. The National Federation of Independent Business, an association that represents small businesses, regularly surveys its members about how their businesses are doing. In April, its members' expectations for future sales declined for the fourth month in a row. In a note accompanying the survey results, the federation said that millions of small businesses "acquire imported goods as inputs to their operations and those supply chains are currently at risk." The United States imported goods worth $439 billion from China last year, and many businesses -- including Bivo -- say they cannot get their products anywhere else any time soon. Things might have been a lot worse for Hamel and Ringer, who are married and live a few doors from Bivo's offices in Richmond, a trailhead town on the Winooski River. Expecting strong demand for their bottles, they had imported roughly 50,000 from China days before Trump first imposed his tariffs this year. "Dumb luck," Ringer said. But when tariffs climbed to 145%, Bivo had to effectively stop importing because it did not have the cash to pay the duties. But it had committed to buying 30,000 more bottles from Haers, its supplier in Yongkang, China. Hamel, Ringer and their six full-time employees snapped into survival mode. Hamel went to Europe to see if the company could sell its bottles there, but she realised it would take too long to quickly sell many bottles there. During the trip, Hamel was at her lowest point since the tariffs were introduced. "I still feel super optimistic we can make it through this," she said from England, "but I think it's going to be really freaking hard." She did make some inroads. A German outdoor gear retailer said it would start selling Bivo's bottles, and Hamel found a warehouse in the Netherlands where the company could ship its bottles from China for distribution in Europe. After Hamel returned home, Ringer went to China to plead for better terms from Haers. Though the supplier would not cut the cost of the bottles, it did give Ringer more time to pay for them, offering Bivo some financial breathing room. Haers did not respond to a request for comment. When he was in China, Ringer asked to see Bivo's products in the warehouse, which is something he has done before to check manufacturing quality. But this time, he had to clamber over pallets in the aisles to see the bottles. The warehouse was crammed full of goods that customers had delayed shipping to avoid paying the 145% tariffs. On May 12, when Trump reduced tariffs on China for 90 days, Hamel and Ringer concluded that they could now afford to pay the tariffs on a small shipment -- 7,624 of the 30,000 bottles they had promised to buy. They will pay $24,436 in duties on the shipment, compared with an estimated $3,645 at the rates that existed before Trump took office, according to their calculations. Hamel and Ringer said they were not planning to increase prices on the bottles, which sell for $34 to $54. Bivo pays roughly $8 per bottle, before tariffs, and sells them to wholesalers for around $20. Critics of tariffs say they hurt entrepreneurs such as Hamel and Ringer. The two had come up with the idea for a stainless-steel bottle for athletes in 2019 while cross-country skiing on Mount Hood in Oregon, after noticing most sports water bottles were invariably plastic. They have put $500,000 in personal savings into Bivo and used their house as collateral for a line of credit for the business. Supporters of the tariffs, however, say China has subsidised many industries, including steel and aluminium mills, giving the country's manufacturers an unfair advantage over businesses elsewhere. Trump and his aides have exhorted American businesses to move production to the United States. Bivo has considered making bottles in the United States but determined that would push up the cost of manufacturing to at least $50 each. Hamel and Ringer said that, without significant government support, many businesses would not be able to shift production to the United States. "It's not laid out to set up U.S. manufacturing," Ringer said about Trump's tariff policy. "It is only laid out to, in theory, punish China, when it's really also punishing U.S. businesses."
Boston Globe
27-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Trump's China tariffs are having a ‘massive impact' on small business
The drop in tariffs this month to 30 percent from 145 percent on most Chinese goods was a relief but in the way that a flood is better than a tsunami. 'Six weeks ago, 30 percent would have shocked the world and been appalling and hard to deal with — and it is now,' Ringer said. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The duties on Bivo's bottles are higher than 30 percent because of the material they're made from and how they are classified by trade officials. Bivo bottles that are not insulated are subject to tariffs that add up to 47 percent, and the rate for insulated bottles is 37 percent. Advertisement Trump has frequently said that foreign businesses that ship products to the United States pay the tariffs. But, in reality, importers like Bivo pay the duties to the federal government when goods arrive at a US port. 'It's still a massive impact to the cash, and it still requires reworking a whole new strategy,' Ringer said. Advertisement Bivo now estimated sales to be 30 percent lower than it had previously expected, in large part because many retailers, which buy around two-thirds of its bottles, are buying less outdoor gear as they try to navigate their way through economic uncertainty. Trump's tariffs are weighing on businesses of all sizes. Walmart's CEO said this month that the giant retailer probably would not be able to 'absorb all the pressure' from the tariffs. Bivo displayed their bottles from China in Richmond, Vt. HILARY SWIFT/NYT Tariffs pose even bigger risks to small businesses. They typically don't have the deep financial reserves needed to weather economic problems, the heft to demand lower prices from suppliers and the sway to lobby the government for exemptions from tariffs, said Ebehi Iyoha, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. 'We should generally expect small businesses to be more vulnerable to trade shocks than large businesses,' Iyoha said. The National Federation of Independent Business, an association that represents small businesses, regularly surveys its members about how their businesses are doing. In April, its members' expectations for future sales declined for the fourth month in a row. In a note accompanying the survey results, the federation said that millions of small businesses 'acquire imported goods as inputs to their operations and those supply chains are currently at risk.' The United States imported goods worth $439 billion from China last year, and many businesses — including Bivo — say they cannot get their products anywhere else any time soon. Things might have been a lot worse for Hamel and Ringer, who are married and live a few doors from Bivo's offices in Richmond, a trailhead town on the Winooski River. Advertisement Expecting strong demand for their bottles, they had imported roughly 50,000 from China days before Trump first imposed his tariffs this year. 'Dumb luck,' Ringer said. But when tariffs climbed to 145 percent, Bivo had to effectively stop importing because it did not have the cash to pay the duties. But it had committed to buying 30,000 more bottles from Haers, its supplier in Yongkang, China. Hamel, Ringer, and their six full-time employees snapped into survival mode. Hamel went to Europe to see if the company could sell its bottles there, but she realized it would take too long to quickly sell many bottles there. During the trip, Hamel was at her lowest point since the tariffs were introduced. 'I still feel super optimistic we can make it through this,' she said from England, 'but I think it's going to be really freaking hard.' Sam Noel received product from China in Richmond, Vt. HILARY SWIFT/NYT She did make some inroads. A German outdoor gear retailer said it would start selling Bivo's bottles, and Hamel found a warehouse in the Netherlands where the company could ship its bottles from China for distribution in Europe. After Hamel returned home, Ringer went to China to plead for better terms from Haers. Though the supplier would not cut the cost of the bottles, it did give Ringer more time to pay for them, offering Bivo some financial breathing room. Haers did not respond to a request for comment. When he was in China, Ringer asked to see Bivo's products in the warehouse, which is something he has done before to check manufacturing quality. But this time, he had to clamber over pallets in the aisles to see the bottles. The warehouse was crammed full of goods that customers had delayed shipping to avoid paying the 145 percent tariffs. Advertisement On May 12, when Trump reduced tariffs on China for 90 days, Hamel and Ringer concluded that they could now afford to pay the tariffs on a small shipment — 7,624 of the 30,000 bottles they had promised to buy. They will pay $24,436 in duties on the shipment, compared with an estimated $3,645 at the rates that existed before Trump took office, according to their calculations. Hamel and Ringer said they were not planning to increase prices on the bottles, which sell for $34 to $54. Bivo pays roughly $8 per bottle, before tariffs, and sells them to wholesalers for around $20. Critics of tariffs say they hurt entrepreneurs such as Hamel and Ringer. The two had come up with the idea for a stainless-steel bottle for athletes in 2019 while cross-country skiing on Mount Hood in Oregon, after noticing most sports water bottles were invariably plastic. They have put $500,000 in personal savings into Bivo and used their house as collateral for a line of credit for the business. Supporters of the tariffs, however, say China has subsidized many industries, including steel and aluminum mills, giving the country's manufacturers an unfair advantage over businesses elsewhere. Trump and his aides have exhorted American businesses to move production to the United States. Bivo has considered making bottles in the United States but determined that would push up the cost of manufacturing to at least $50 each. Hamel and Ringer said that, without significant government support, many businesses would not be able to shift production to the United States. Advertisement 'It's not laid out to set up US manufacturing,' Ringer said about Trump's tariff policy. 'It is only laid out to, in theory, punish China, when it's really also punishing US businesses.' This article originally appeared in .
