November 23, 2020 12:00 ET | Source: Wisekey International Holding SA

WISeKeys Cybersecurity AI technology creates a platform that helps connected devices to become intelligent devices, organize themselves into trusted networks to learn from attacks, defend themselves, and transfer this intelligence to other devices within the network

FacebookLinkedBig Data collected from IoT devices can help WISeKey customers detect and predict future behavior and optimize productivity across industries through predictive maintenance on equipment and machinery

Geneva, Zug, Switzerland November 23, 2020 WISeKey International Holding Ltd (SIX: WIHN) (WISeKey), a leading Swiss cybersecurity and IoT company announced today that it has fully integrated the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) chip embedded with cryptographic Root of Trust (RoT) and problem-solving Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions as part of its Vertical IoT Platform. WISeKeys IoT cybersecurity Vertical Platform allows IoT devices to organize themselves into trusted networks based on mutual authentication, identity and integrity.

The integration of arago technology is accelerating this process as arago has a large recurring customer base and licensing model which is expected to bring significant synergies to WISeKey and strengthen WISeKeys position in the fast-growing Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) market. The ability to authenticate and remotely manage millions of networked, automated devices and equipment is becoming pervasive: from the factory floor, to the hospital operating room, to the residential home, everything from refrigerators, watches and wearables, to wine bottles, is connecting and communicating via the Internet.

WISeKey owns everything necessary to authenticate users and devices. With arago, the authentication is extended to data and action. The arago platform has an oAuth-based identity that is used to control access to any data point or AI activity which can easily be integrated with the WISeKey services.

The increasing adoption of AI and IoT convergence is one of the primary factors that is driving the growth of the market. Over the past five years, a rapid surge in the adoption of AI IoT cloud services has been witnessed. It is driven by its capabilities to provide enterprise wide array of resources they can utilize to scale, orchestrate, and support their operations.Addingsecure AI cloud services from Switzerlandin cooperation witharago, using Swiss data centers and Swiss alps mountain bunkers to store the personal data generated by users and enterprises. WISeKey, is the first e-security company in the world to offer decentralized Trust Models and PKI architecture. In addition, WISeKey allows data ecosystems to be federated via a unique digital identity, enabling users to interact while maintaining control of their personal data. Users have the have the freedom to choose where their data resides and who is allowed to access it. By decoupling content from the application and digital identity itself, users will be able to use their data as currency and develop digital data dividends-based solutions as consumers have a right to know and control how their data is being used and be able to monetize their data.

The WISeKey IoT cybersecurity Vertical platform is producing an unprecedented amount of Big Data as WISeKey has an install base of over 1 billion IoT secure microchips since 2010 invirtually all IoT sectors(autonomous cars, smart cities, drones, anti-counterfeiting, smart lights, servers, mobile phones, etc.). Big Data collected from IoT devices can help WISeKeys customers detect and predict future behavior and optimize productivity across industries through predictive maintenance on equipment and machinery.

As the rapid expansion of connected devices and VaultIC chips connected to the IoT continues, the sheer volume of data being created by them will increase to a mind-boggling level. This data will hold extremely valuable insight into whats working well or whats not by pointing out conflicts that arise and providing high-value insight into new business risks and opportunities as correlations and associations are made.

The IoT Industry is a game changer new business segment for WISeKey. An estimated 50 billion IoT devices are expected to be connected by the end of 2020, while worlds population is estimated to grow to 6.8 billion; thus, there will be more than 7 IoT devices per person connected to the internet by 2020.

As a result, it is anticipated that this year already the number of IoT devices will surpass the number of mobile devices. By 2021, this number is expected to grow to 1.8 billion PCs, 8.6 billion mobile devices, and 15.7 billion IoT devices, and by 2035, the amount of data usage is expected to grow more than 2,400 times, from 1 exabyte to 2.3 zettabytes. A huge and increasing amount of sensitive data that will need to be protected by the IoT chips (such as the ones produced by WISeKey) will be interchanged between connected devices and back-end servers, allowing companies to provide users with new type of applications. These applications will be designed to offer increased control over the use of resources, improve efficiency in power grids, optimize processing of information in industrial environments, secure autonomous vehicles, provide better and higher quality healthcare services and personalized experience for shopping or leisure, among others.

This new technology enables IoT connected devices which can provide a recognized identity and a valid integrity report to communicate with peer devices within the community. WISeKey offers a range of contact and contactless secure microcontrollers that share consistent secure 8-/16-bit RISC CPU performance, strong security mechanisms, and enhanced crypto engines to optimize performance and power consumption. The products also provide high-density, low-power EEPROM technologies. Designed to meet the most stringent security requirements, many of these products are EAL5+ Common Criteria security-certified.

This new capability will enable authenticated sensor data. Currently, most IoT devices are not built with embedded secure systems, which makes these devices vulnerable to exploits. By integrating AI into the IoT hardware and platform, objects connected to the Vertical Platform can develop their own cybersecurity behavior and make smarter and safer decisions.

Objects secured with these IoT chips produce a huge amount of Big Data that when analyzed with AI can help industrial applications to predict the failure of their equipment before it happens. The WISeKey platform allows the IoT device equipped with these chips to send authenticated data to the cloud using a dual factor authentication at the device level. Imagine a smartcard sending authenticated data of each component of the car to predict when these parts will require maintenance and to digitally sign all the logs required to prove that service was provided. This platform which can be used in different industrial applications allows optimized productivity across industries through predictive maintenance on equipment and machinery, creates truly smart homes with connected appliances and provides critical communication between devices including self-driving cars and smart homes. The possibilities that IoT brings to the table are endless.

WISeKeys technology creates a platform that helps connected devices to become intelligent devices that can learn from attacks, defend themselves, and transfer this intelligence to other devices within the network.

Additionally, WISeKeys technology provides smaller IoT manufacturers that do not have the resources or expertise to perform thorough security analysis of their products will the ability to adopt this platform, reducing the number of unprotected products that are released to consumers.

About WISeKey

WISeKey (NASDAQ: WKEY; SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN, NASDAQ: WKEY) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity ecosystems for people and objects using Blockchain, AI and IoT respecting the Human as the Fulcrum of the Internet. WISeKey microprocessors secure the pervasive computing shaping todays Internet of Everything. WISeKey IoT has an install base of over 1.5 billion microchips in virtually all IoT sectors (connected cars, smart cities, drones, agricultural sensors, anti-counterfeiting, smart lighting, servers, computers, mobile phones, crypto tokens etc.). WISeKey is uniquely positioned to be at the edge of IoT as our semiconductors produce a huge amount of Big Data that, when analyzed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), can help industrial applications to predict the failure of their equipment before it happens. Our technology is Trusted by the OISTE/WISeKeys Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust (RoT) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visitwww.wisekey.com.

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Disclaimer:

This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of the Swiss Financial Services Act (FinSA), the FinSAs predecessor legislation or advertising within the meaning of the FinSA, or within the meaning of any other securities regulation. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey.

The securities offered will not be, and have not been, registered under the United States of America Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States of America, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of said Act.

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WISeKey's Cybersecurity AI technology creates a platform that helps connected devices to become intelligent devices, organize themselves into trusted...

2. The wealthy can take on more risk

People who have millions upon millions of dollars to their name are apt to have an easier time dealing with significant losses than the average investor. As such, they can take on more risk in their portfolios -- risk you may not be in a strong enough position to bear. Imagine you were to lose $10,000 on a bum stock. For you, that might be catastrophic. For someone with millions of dollars, it's probably a non-event. As such, if you're an average investor, you're better off buying stocks with a proven performance history, strong earnings, and a clear competitive advantage. Let the wealthy invest in speculative stocks that could deliver strong returns, but could also crash and burn.

Investing in real estate or art can be a great way to grow wealth. And the ultra-rich may have the means to tie up $1 million in an income property or $500,000 in a painting, both of which aren't as easy to sell as a stock or index fund. You, on the other hand, like the typical average investor, may not have the ability to tie up even a much smaller amount of money in an investment you can't unload quickly, which is why you probably can't afford to broaden your horizons the way the wealthy do.

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4 Reasons You Can't Afford to Invest Like the Wealthy - Mooresville Tribune

"In these days of COVID, the creative team and I are breaking new ground to deliver a high-quality theater experience using streaming technology, director Matthew Mazuroski said.

YOUNGSTOWN University Theatre at Youngstown State University will open its fall season with an online performance of The Glass Menagerie at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25.

Additional performances of the Tennessee Williams play, directed by Matthew Mazuroski, are at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26, Sept. 27, Oct. 3 and Oct. 4; and at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2.

The production will be available here, where tickets also can be purchased. Ticket prices are $10 for general admission single viewer; $25 for general admission group viewing/watch party; and free for YSU students and YSU faculty and staff with inclusion of Banner ID.

The Glass Menagerie is the story of a family desperate to break free of the burdens of their past and their present. The semi-autobiographical account of Williams early days in 1930s St. Louis is a heartbreaking yet often funny "memory play" told from the perspective of Tom Wingfield. Tom's mother, Amanda has been abandoned by her husband and now lives only for her children; his unmarried sister, Laura, who is a fragile and painfully shy, retreats into a world of glass animals; and Tom is torn between his poetic inclinations and the responsibility of supporting his mother and sister. Each escapes into their own personal "glass menagerie" as a means of eluding the pain of their own and each other's existence.

"In these days of COVID, the creative team and I are breaking new ground to deliver a high-quality theater experience using streaming technology, Mazuroski said in a news release. By adapting this traditional theater experience into a more filmic experience, we are recording the work of the actors, designers and crew that allows us to continue our educational mission in a robust and rewarding way one I strongly believe that our audiences will thoroughly enjoy."

The cast includes Nate Montgomery, Elise Vargo and Mitchell Sharp. Guest artist Molly Galano, a veteran regional community theater actor, will perform the role of Amanda Wingfield.

For more information, call the Office of Community Engagement and Events at 330-727-7514.

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University Theatre to open season with virtual performance of Glass Menagerie - Mahoning Matters

Image source: Getty Images.

Municipal bonds have historically low default rates, which means that if you choose to invest in them, you're likely to get all of your interest payments on schedule, especially if you choose bonds with a high credit rating. But here's where municipal bonds have a major advantage over corporate bonds: You'll get a huge tax break for putting them in your portfolio.

The interest you earn from corporate bonds is subject to taxes -- there's no getting around it. On the other hand, municipal bond interest is always exempt from taxes at the federal level. Furthermore, if you buy municipal bonds that are issued by the state you reside in, you'll avoid state and local taxes on that interest as well. That's a good thing if taxes are a concern for you, whether because you're already in a high bracket or you're worried about paying them during retirement.

Now one thing to keep in mind is that while municipal bond interest may be tax-free, capital gains on the sale of those bonds -- which will apply if you buy municipal bonds and then sell them at a price that's higher than what you paid for them -- will still be subject to taxes, the same way you'd pay taxes for selling a stock at a price that's higher than what it cost you to buy. But that interest income won't generate a federal tax bill, which makes it a nice source of incoming cash for you. You'll have the option to reinvest that interest as you see fit, or collect it and use it to supplement your income (retirement or otherwise).

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Here's Why Municipal Bonds Belong in Every Investor's Portfolio - Mooresville Tribune

A busy HR manager is reviewing stacks of applications for a position that just opened in the company. The HR manager knows that a host of factors determine employee performance: prior experience, training, interpersonal skills, personality, IQ, emotional intelligence, and work ethic. But after reviewing hundreds of resumes, as many HR managers do, the details on each applicant blur together. And so the HR manager does what many employers do: defaults to selecting hires based on the prestige and rank of the university from which graduates hail.

Presumably, better universities attract better students and provide better training, so it makes sense to use the university rank as a predictor of employee performance. This, after all, is why employers offer higher starting salaries to hires selected from prestigious schools. But is it a good hiring strategy? Do university rankings predict job performance? Our research suggests yes but only to a degree.

Why top-tiered college graduates perform (nominally) better than their peers

In a recent study, we tested the relationship between the university rank and performance of graduates. We tracked the performance of 28,339 students from 294 universities in 79 countries. The students came from 294 universities that ranked from Top 10 to about top 20,000 in the Webometrics global university rankings that rank over 30,000 universities worldwide. We observed the students performance for two months as they were working in global virtual teams on real-life business consulting projects for a number of corporate clients. Importantly, we captured not only the quality of the output, but a wide range of hard and soft competencies including cooperation with team members, leadership, language proficiency, technical skills, emotional intelligence, creativity, and more.

Our results offer some solace to the traditional recruiters. After controlling for age, gender, and the year of study, we found that graduates from higher-ranked universities performed better, but only nominally and only on some dimensions of performance. Specifically, the overall performance improved by only 1.9% for every 1,000 positions in the Webometrics global university rankings. When comparing the performance of candidates whose universities rank further apart a graduate from a top university versus a global average university the performance differential jumps to 19%.

The 19% difference in performance between the top and the average seems significant, but keep in mind that this is for graduates from universities that are 10,000 university ranking positions apart. At a given organization, candidates are likely to be selected from within a much narrower pool, perhaps from universities whose rankings differ by a couple of hundred positions. In this more realistic case, the predicted difference in performance would be closer to 1%.

We found several reasons why the graduates from the top universities performed somewhat better than those from the lower-ranked schools. The first was selection: higher-ranked universities usually can choose from a larger pool of applicants, which leads to steeper competition and a higher quality of the incoming class. Corroborating the selectivity hypothesis, our data demonstrated that students at higher-ranked universities indeed score higher on general cognitive ability tests, have more international experience, better English proficiency, and higher cultural intelligence. However, competitive selection suggests that these competencies may have been attained earlier in their education and, thus, is not a result of their university studies.

Second, higher-ranked universities should provide better training. Top universities employ better instructors, offer access to better-equipped facilities, attract better speakers and guests to campus, which in turn, should lead to better training and subsequent performance. Indeed, our data suggest that students at higher-ranked universities score higher on competencies that could be attributed to better training, such as superior technical and business writing skills, are more knowledgeable in subjects related to the business project, and score higher on team leadership and coordination.

Finally, while it might be expected that higher-ranked institutions might provide a more stimulating academic environment, we did not document that this had an effect on graduates work performance. Indeed, education is not only lectures and seminars. Having notable, hardworking, celebrity-status professors, along with being around intelligent, highly-motivated, achievement-oriented peers, positively affects self-efficacy, motivation, effort, and work ethic. However, our study revealed no difference in these performance-related attributes. Based on our data, the institutional environment did not seem to play a role in enhancing performance. Graduates from lower-ranked universities showed an equal level of motivation and work ethics, so this could be more affected by personality and other individual factors.

The downsides of superior academic pedigree

Despite their slightly better overall performance, hiring graduates from higher-ranked institutions could have a downside. Our data suggest that students from higher-ranked universities might damage team dynamics, sometimes inadvertently. We found that graduates from higher-ranked universities tend to excessively focus on the instrumental tasks, often at the expense of paying insufficient attention to interpersonal relationships. In some instances, graduates from top universities tend to be less friendly, are more prone to conflict, and are less likely to identify with their team.

Numerous studies have shown that interpersonal relationships at work play a critical role in employee motivation, job satisfaction, and, ultimately, performance and career success. As good interpersonal relationships are critical for organizational success, lacking collegiality and a propensity towards conflict could present adverse effects not only on personal performance, but also team and workgroup efficacy, possibly leading to an overall net loss.

Notably, graduates from high-ranking universities tend to share a common identity and could see themselves as different from their team members from a lower-ranking university, and this social categorization can lead to us-vs.-them dynamics. As a result, graduates from top universities could be perceived by their co-workers with less impressive academic pedigrees as arrogant and snobby, and because of that not liked by their peers. Our data did not confirm that this was the case. In fact, students from more prestigious universities tended to be more modest in their self-evaluations than some of their peers from lower-ranked institutions. However, we found that while students from higher-ranked universities generated more conflict, engaged in fewer non-instrumental conversations, and displayed less team commitment and identification with their teams.

So, whom should you hire?

While job candidates from more prestigious universities may slightly outperform their peers, data from Payscale and the U.S Department of Education show that these graduates are also more expensive to hire. For example, the average early career salaries of graduates from the top 10 colleges ($72,160) in the United States are 47% higher than those with degrees from the ten colleges within the City University New York (CUNY) school system ($48,960), many of which are ranked within the top 100. At the 6-year mark, that gap jumps to 108 percent.

Is the extra cost worth the investment? To answer this question, employers need to carefully consider the worth of the increase in performance for the firm. For some companies, the difference between a hypothetical graduate from an average vs. top university may be well worth the extra pay. Yet, for others, the added cost may not result in a positive return on investment and, thus, may not be justified. All in all, our results suggest that hiring graduates from higher-ranked universities would lead to a nominal improvement in performance. However, the university rank alone is a poor predictor of individual job performance. Employers can get a much better deal by hiring the right students from lower-ranked institutions, than anyone from better-ranked institutions. It would also be wise to use additional tests designed to evaluate the technical and interpersonal competencies needed for the job.

Considering the growing gap between skills acquired in college versus on-the-job readiness, any modest performance advantage stemming from the university rank might also be mitigated by on-the-job training. Since employers already invest significant resources into training new hires, such training may be a much better determinant of performance than the rank of the university from which the hire hails.

To a large extent, the answer would also depend on specific job demands. Does the job require a top performer from a higher-ranked university where even a 2% improvement in performance is critically important and offsets any pay differential? Or can the performance criteria be met by graduates from lesser-ranked universities? To make the most strategic decision, an HR manager should know the answer to this question before they look at an applicants college pedigree.

Contributors to this article include:Alexander Assouad, assistant professor of IB and Strategy at Belmont University; Alfredo Jimenez, associate professor at KEDGE Business School; Justin Kraemer, lecturer at Mae Fah Luang University; Anna Svirina, Dean of Engineering Economics and Entrepreneurship School at the Kazan National Research Technical University; Weng Si (Clara) Lei, program coordinator of Tourism Event Management and Assistant Professor at the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies.

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Graduates of Elite Universities Get Paid More. Do They Perform Better? - Harvard Business Review

Dustin Johnson holds the trophy after winning the Northern Trust golf tournament at TPC Boston, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020, in Norton, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

NORTON, Mass. (AP) Dustin Johnson is back to No. 1 in the world and wants to stay there as long as he can.

The manner in which he obliterated one of the strongest fields of the year at The Northern Trust is to wonder how he ever left in the first place.

At his best, no one makes golf look easier.

"He can absolutely dismantle a golf course," said Kevin Kisner, who used to ride to junior golf tournaments with Johnson when they were kids in South Carolina. "I've been watching it for 25 years. I'm pretty accustomed to it. When he's on, I just step to the side and try to add on to my bank account."

The numbers that defined Johnson's dominance go well beyond the $1.71 million he earned for his 22nd career victory on the PGA Tour, his second this summer since golf returned from the pandemic or his fifth title in the FedEx Cup playoffs, tying him with Rory McIlroy for most in the postseason.

He started with a five-shot lead Sunday and matched the low score of the final round with an 8-under 63. Former Baylor School star Harris English, playing with Johnson in the last group, shot 32 on the front nine and lost ground.

"Kind of had my own tournament that I was playing," English said.

His 11-shot victory was the widest margin on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson won by 13 at the TPC Sugarloaf outside Atlanta in 2006, a week before the Masters.

When he tapped in for birdie on the final hole at TPC Boston, he was at 30-under 254, both personal bests.

Johnson became only the third player to finish at 30-under par or better on the PGA Tour. He was one shot from the record Ernie Els set in 2003 at Kapalua. Jordan Spieth was 30 under at Kapalua in 2016. He also was one shot from the 72-hole record Justin Thomas set 253 when he won the Sony Open in 2017.

Johnson wasn't aware of either record. "What is it?" he said when it was over, and then added, "That's all right. Next time."

What led to those numbers was missing only three greens over his last 54 holes none on Sunday while posting rounds of 60-64-63 the final three rounds, the lowest closing 54-hole total in tour history.

The 60 in the second round was noteworthy for Johnson being 11 under through 11 holes. It might have been the first time golf was buzzing about the prospect of a 57. Not many could have guessed he would finish with seven pars.

But then, Johnson is a mystery even at his best.

He shot 61 on his way to winning the Travelers Championship, but when he returned after a two-week break, he had a pair of 80s to miss the cut at Memorial, and a 78 before he withdrew from the 3M Open in Minnesota.

Since then, he has an average score of 66.25 in 12 rounds.

He came off the disappointment of another major that was in his grasp the PGA Championship was his fifth runner-up finish in the majors, including the career Grand Slam of silver medals by steamrolling the top 125 players outside Boston.

Claude Harmon III, his swing coach, recalls Johnson showing up for The Northern Trust, going to the range and then saying, "Bro, what am I supposed to be working on again? I was hitting it good in San Francisco."

And he was. Johnson had a one-shot lead going into the final round at Harding Park and shot 68, only to lose to a 65 by Collin Morikawa. There was disappointment in not adding to his lone major (2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont) but not in the way he played that week.

"I didn't feel like I really did anything wrong at he PGA," Johnson said. "Generally, you shoot 68 on Sunday in a major with the lead on a tough golf course, you're going to win most of the time. So obviously, Collin jut played very, very well. Went home and took a few days off, and then got back to work. The game started feeling really good."

He moved to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup, the fifth time in the postseason he has been at the top. The trick is being No. 1 when it ends at East Lake in two weeks, and that has proven difficult.

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Johnson back to No. 1 with performance that looked the part - Chattanooga Times Free Press

Mill Creek Mayor Pam Pruitt at a city council meeting in 2018. She resigned Monday after more than six years in the job. (Lizz Giordano / The Herald)

Pam Pruitt, a figure in city politics since the 80s, stepped down Monday with little formal notice.

MILL CREEK Mayor Pam Pruitt abruptly resigned Monday after more than six years at the helm of a city that has long shown signs of underlying turmoil.

Pruitt told her fellow City Council members in a letter that she is retiring effective immediately to focus on friends, family and helping those in need.

Ive missed spending time with my friends and family, Pruitt wrote in the letter, dated Monday, which she provided to The Daily Herald. Ive had all the right excuses: Im busy, I have a conflict, etc. Thats over.

The move comes just days after City Finance Director Jeff Balentine ended his tenure at Mill Creek less than five months into the job, citing philosophical differences with city leadership.

Mayor Pro Tem Brian Holtzclaw will assume the role as mayor as the council begins the process of appointing a new council member to the vacant seat, the city said in a news release.

We offer Mayor Pruitt our profound gratitude and respect for her steadfast service to our community, and express our sadness about the news of her resignation, says the news release.

Pruitt is leaving as the city faces a pandemic-induced budget crisis that could deal a $2 million blow to its roughly $30 million general fund in 2020 alone.

The council is also in the middle of City Manager Michael Ciaravinos first annual performance review.

Ciaravino, whom the council hired in the spring of 2019, has come under fire recently for laying off longtime staffers; at the same time, hes drawn criticism for retaining two temporary staffers he worked with at past jobs.

Two of the employees who were let go told The Herald that the environment at City Hall was barely functional, with little or no communication between the administration and the slashed workforce.

The councils evaluation is taking place over the course of two closed-door meetings this month. The first of those executive sessions happened last week. The second is slated for Tuesday, according to a notice on the citys website.

Pruitt, whose term would have concluded at the end of 2021, has a long history as a city leader. She served as a councilwoman during the late 1980s and early 90s and was mayor in 1992 and 1993.

It has been a privilege and honor to serve the residents and businesses of Mill Creek since the mid-1980s both as an activist and later as an elected official, Pruitt said in her resignation letter. When I first ran for office in 1987, it was because I wanted to make life better for everyone in Mill Creek. That has never changed.

The council then again chose her as mayor after her 2013 election, and she has held the seat since.

Pruitt also previously worked as a legislative aide for Snohomish County Councilman Terry Ryan, who stepped down early this year to join the county executives staff.

When I left my employment in Snohomish County last December, it was to volunteer to help people who cannot help themselves, Pruitt said in the letter. With the pandemic, there are even more people who need help. Its in my DNA. Its what I need to do.

She cited some of her accomplishments: lobbying federal officials to get the local post office built, fighting for more than $6 million for improvements to 35th Avenue, and working on a proposal to save law enforcement and fire agencies money on radio communications.

Over the years, the council has cut ties with city manager after city manager as the governing body has struggled to find an adequate chief executive officer for Mill Creek.

A pending lawsuit against the city alleges that Pruitt sought to oust four top city officials after they filed formal complaints in 2018 about the behavior of ex-city manager Rebecca Polizzotto, whom the council later fired amid allegations that she bullied staff and misused her city credit card.

An attorney for former city spokeswoman Joni Kirk, one of the whistleblowers, wrote in the lawsuit that Pruitt penned negative articles regarding the four of them that were published in local newspapers and addressed them in an antagonistic manner during meetings.

Another one of the whistleblowers, then Police Chief Greg Elwin, parted ways with Mill Creek earlier this year after an investigation found that he failed to arrest a fugitive relative living in his home and didnt report a threatening employee comment.

Pruitt declined to comment further on the timing of her departure, aside from what was said in the letter.

The news came as a surprise to Mill Creek Councilman John Steckler.

Shes truly a public servant, Steckler said. She did work very hard for the city. I do wish her the very, very best.

Rachel Riley: 425-339-3465; rriley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @rachel_m_riley.

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Mill Creek mayor resigns mid-term, citing personal reasons - The Daily Herald

A comprehensive research study titled Global Silicone For Personal Care Market 2020 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2025 comprises the current market scenario that demonstrates value chain structure, market size, regional analysis, application, and forecast. The report includes an important study on the global Silicone For Personal Care market along with a realistic overview of the industry. The report includes data about opportunities that will completely change the business environment in the coming years to 2025. The research covers the summary, market dynamics, competitive analysis, and leading players. This report analyzes the historical and forecasted number of companies, locations in the industry, and breaks them down by company size.

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Based on segmentation, the market report is made up of an in-depth investigation of the leading regions with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2015 to 2019, and forecast to 2025, including: North America (United States, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, etc.), Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)

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In this report, graphics and diagrams are included to make the report more potent and easy to understand. The report states import/export consumption, supply and demand figures, cost, price, revenue, and gross margins. The report outlines the industrial chain structure and describes the upstream. With tables and figures, the report analyzes global Silicone For Personal Care market forecasts key statistics on the state of the industry.

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Global Silicone For Personal Care Market 2020 Industry Outlook Dow Corning Corporation, Momentive Performance Materials, BASF SE - Scientect

Briggs Healthcare

Personal Mobility Devices Market Segmentation:

Personal Mobility Devices Market, By Product

Wheelchairs Scooters Walking Aids o Rollators o Other Walking aids (canes, crutches, walkers)

Geographically, the Personal Mobility Devices market report is segmented as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. This analysis report similarly reduces the present, past, and future market business strategies, company extent, development, share, and estimate analysis having a place with the predicted circumstances. Moreover, the possible results and the exposure to the enhancement of the Personal Mobility Devices market widely covered in this report.

Personal Mobility Devices Market: Regional Analysis Includes:

Asia-Pacific (Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Australia)

Europe(Turkey, Germany, Russia UK, Italy, France)

North America (The United States, Mexico, and Canada)

South America(Brazil etc)

The Middle East and Africa(GCC Countries and Egypt)

This report also describes the key challenges and threats possible. The report presents a full description of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the Personal Mobility Devices market. The market report provides the analytical tools that help identify the key external and internal factors that should be considered for the growth of the market. The report also helps companies in marketing for tasks like identifying their prospective customers, building relationships with them, and retention.

Key Highlights of the Personal Mobility Devices Market Report:

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Personal Mobility Devices Market is Booming Worldwide 2020-2027 | NOVA Medical Products, Performance Health, Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, Medline...

WASHINGTON A rising generation of Republican stars offered an optimistic view of President Donald Trumps leadership, but were undermined on the opening night of the GOPs scaled-back convention by speakers issuing dark warnings about the countrys future and distorting the presidents record, particularly on the pandemic.

As Trump faces pressure to expand his appeal beyond his loyal supporters, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the Senates sole Black Republican, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, sought to cast the GOP as welcoming to Americans of color, despite the partys overwhelmingly white leadership and voting base.

I was a brown girl in a black and white world, Haley said Monday night, noting that she faced discrimination but rejecting the idea that America is a racist country. She also gave a nod to the Black Lives Matter movement, saying of course we know that every single Black life is valuable.

But the prime-time convention proceedings, which featured a blend of taped and live speeches, focused largely on dire talk about Joe Biden, Trumps Democratic challenger in the November election. Speakers ominously warned that electing Biden would lead to violence in American cities spilling into the suburbs, a frequent Trump campaign message with racist undertones. One speaker called Trump the bodyguard of Western civilization.

Scrambling to find a message that sticks, Trumps team tried out multiple themes and tactics over the course of the night. They featured optimism from those who could represent the GOPs future, attempts to characterize Biden as a vessel for socialists and far-left Democrats despite his moderate record, and humanizing stories about the 74-year-old man who sits in the Oval Office.

Trump and a parade of fellow Republicans misrepresented Bidens agenda through the evening, falsely accusing him of proposing to defund police, ban oil fracking, take over health care, open borders and raise taxes on most Americans. They tried to assign positions of the Democratic left to a middle-of-the-road candidate who explicitly rejected many of the partys most liberal positions through the primaries.

The opening night of the four-day convention reflected the rising urgency fueling Trumps push to reshape a presidential contest that he is losing, at least for now, with Election Day just 10 weeks away. It will continue on Tuesday when first lady Melania Trump will deliver remarks from the White House.

Biden and his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, are keeping a relatively low profile this week. In a tweet Monday night, Biden told supporters to stay focused.

The emphasis on diversity at Trumps convention was an acknowledgement that he must expand his coalition beyond his largely white base. Polling shows that Black Americans continue to be overwhelmingly negative in their assessments of the presidents performance, with his approval hovering around 1 in 10 over the course of his presidency, according to Gallup polling.

One of several African Americans on Monday nights schedule, former football star Herschel Walker, defended the president against those who call him a racist.

It hurts my soul to hear the terrible names that people call Donald, Walker said. The worst one is racist. I take it as a personal insult that people would think I would have a 37-year friendship with a racist.

But that emphasis clashed with Trumps instinct to energize his die-hard loyalists.

He featured, for example, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple charged with felonies for pointing guns at what prosecutors deemed non-violent Black Lives Matter protesters marching past their home.

What you saw happen to us could just as easily happen to any of you who are watching from quiet neighborhoods around our country, Patricia McCloskey said, sitting on a couch in a wood-paneled room.

Theyve actually charged us with felonies for daring to defend our home, her husband said.

And Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida said Democrats will disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home, and invite MS-13 to live next door.

Trumps political future may depend on his ability to convince voters that America is on the right track, even as the coronavirus death toll exceeds 177,000 and pandemic-related job losses also reach into the millions

A deep sense of pessimism has settled over the electorate 10 weeks before Election Day. Just 23% of Americans think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Trump and his supporters touted his response to the pandemic while standing alongside front-line workers in the White House, although he glossed over the mounting death toll, the most in the world, and his administrations struggle to control the disease.

Organizers also repeatedly sought to cast Trump as an empathetic figure, borrowing a page from the Democrats convention playbook a week ago that effectively highlighted Bidens personal connection to voters.

Those cheering Trumps leadership on the pandemic included a coronavirus patient, a small business owner from Montana and a nurse practitioner from Virginia.

As a healthcare professional, I can tell you without hesitation, Donald Trumps quick action and leadership saved thousands of lives during COVID-19, said Amy Ford, a registered nurse who was deployed to New York and Texas to fight the coronavirus.

The first day of the 2020 Republican convention began early in the day as Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were renominated by delegates who gathered in Charlotte, the city that was originally selected to host the convention before the pandemic struck.

Trump paid a surprise visit and he city, where he warned delegates that the only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election, raising anew his unsupported concerns about Americans expected reliance on mail voting during the pandemic. Experts say mail voting has proven remarkably secure.

The fact that the Republicans gathered at all stood in contrast to the Democrats, who held an all-virtual convention last week. The Democratic programming included a well-received roll call video montage featuring diverse officials from across the nation.

The Republicans spoke from the ballroom in Charlotte and were overwhelmingly white before the proceedings moved to Washington for prime-time.

--By Steve Peoples, Michelle L. Price and Zeke Miller

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RNC 2020: Republicans open convention with rising stars, dark warnings - AL.com