Rewards:Earn 3 Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent with Southwest Airlines, hotel partners and car rental partners, 2 points per dollar spent on internet, cable and mobile services, advertising on social media and search engines. All other purchases earn 1 point per dollar spent.

Annual Fee:$199

Bonus Offer: Earn up to 100,000 points. Earn 70,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, an additional 30,000 points after you spend $25,000 total on purchases within the first 6 months of account opening.

Other Benefits or Drawbacks: The Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Card is designed for a business owner whos also a frequent Southwest Airlines flyer.

The card offers up to four upgraded boarding positions per year in the A1-15 boarding group (worth at least $60), a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck enrollment credit (for up to $100 every four years) and in-flight Wi-Fi credits (up to 365 $8 credits per year).

As a Southwest Performance Card holder, youll receive 9,000 anniversary Rapid Rewards points every time you renew the card and pay the annual fee of $199 (not waived for the first year).

Additionally, the welcome bonus of 70,000 Rapid Rewards points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months will count toward Companion Pass, a perk that allows for buy-one-get-one-free tickets on Southwest Airline for you and a designated companion.

This card does not chargeforeign transaction fees.

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Best Chase Business Credit Cards of 2020 Forbes Advisor - Forbes

As we march past the grim marker of 100,000 dead, there is no escaping the conclusion that America has lost its balance, that the days when the world relied on the United States to lead the way are gone, at least for now.

We are 5 percent of the worlds population. We have 29 percent of the deaths. We had more warning than most countries, we lead the world in medical research, and we have seen that Americans are willing to make dramatic personal changes to help in the fight. And still, our government has been unable to put the pieces together and marshal a competent response.

Americans are still dying at the pace of about 1,000 a day. And even now, as we begin to reopen, we dont have a system in place to detect new outbreaks and quarantine those who are infected. This virus is not done with us, and experts warn of a second surge coming this fall. As we mark 100,000 dead, the question is whether we can avoid marking 200,000 before its over.

In Paterson, Mayor Andre Sayegh is showing what effective local leadership looks like, but its still not enough to protect the city against the predicted second surge. When a Paterson resident falls ill, a contact tracer reaches out to every person who came in contact with the patient within the last two weeks. They are asked to quarantine themselves, but many people in Paterson are packed into small apartments and cant do that.

We dont have the resources for that, Sayegh says. We had a case in a family of 12, and all of them got infected because of that.

No ones talking much about the unsexy stuff that would save lives, and allow us to open up sooner, like contact tracing and quarantine shelters. That stuff is not sexy and does nothing to rile the partisan passions.

No, the hot debate focuses on the pace of reopening, as the economic catastrophe deepens. A gym owner opened, defying the law. Republicans and churches have filed lawsuits. Sen. Declan OScanlon, R-Monmouth, has advocated civil disobedience against restrictions imposed by Murphy.

Im getting calls from mayors who say, Were being ordered to use our police against our businesses and people who are simply trying to survive, and its killing me. Im being asked to turn on the people I promised to serve and crush their businesses, OScanlon says.

But if Murphy yields to political pressure, and opens too fast, the risk of a second surge increases. That would force a second shutdown, delaying the day when the economy can return to health.

Its depressing to see the partisan divide deepen. Republicans are more likely to think the restrictions are too tight, and much more likely to approve of President Trumps performance. On Lake Hopatcong last weekend, where Trump flags were in abundance, several boats were tied together to party, virus or not. Trump himself, of course, signals defiance every day by refusing to wear a mask.

In Washington, leading Republican are dead-set against extending the $600 weekly bonus for the millions who have lost jobs. Over my dead body, says Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, suddenly concerned about the deficit. Republicans are opposing more direct help to state governments like ours as well, dismissing as a that lifeline as a blue-state bailout in the words of Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the GOP leader.

Here in New Jersey, Doug Steinhardt, the Republican state chairman, went nuclear last week by calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor over the catastrophe at New Jerseys nursing homes, as if Murphy has committed a crime. Whether its a 9-11 type of review, or a potential criminal review, we need to get to the bottom of it, he said.

I asked what crime he was suggesting Murphy might have committed. I meant to suggest what I said, he responded. Hmmm. A little taste of the dialogue in Washington.

If this becomes a badge of your partisan affiliation, were in trouble, says Farmer. To me, thats the most regrettable part of this whole thing. Its emblematic of where we are.

America is an exceptional country. With an exceptionally ineffective federal government. At least for now.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.

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The scores are in: America failed the virus test | Moran - NJ.com

The COVID-19 lockdown and subsequent reopening scheduled have raised the bar on restaurant cleanliness, especially hand cleanliness.

Operators are filling their entryways with hand sanitizer dispensers as one might expect following all the public briefings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But there is also unexpected use of technology that even the CDC hadnt thought about. Crushed Red, in their seven restaurants, assures customers that prep-line handwashing is a verified reality, even for restroom hand washes.

Please wash vs.Thank you for washing

Customer trust is the simple outcome of a well-conducted symphony. When it comes to the handwashing factor, data is the maestro, according to concept founder, Chris LaRocca. We replace hope they wash with know they wash. Data gives us facts which further drive staff motivation and professionalization.

The Crushed Red employees find this paperless logging of handwashing convenient and even motivating. First, their name appears in a window on the voice recognition box, attached to the soap dispenser. Then, via realtime reports, their compliance to the handwashing policy is confirmed. Their personal performance becomes a link in the chain of teamsmanship success.

Excerpt from:
Letter to The Editor: Reopening restaurants with digital handwashing - Food Safety News

But that's the problem with putting an incompetent reality TV host in the White House: After four years of gross incompetence and blatant ineptitude, we've come to simply be grateful for any kind of consistent and capable leadership we do receive, instead of demanding the kind of leadership we deserve.

But the New York governor is not the hero this moment in world history has positioned him to appear. And as a country, we must not let Trump's incompetence and selfishness erase the ways in which Cuomo has failed his state.

The governor initially downplayed the seriousness of the Covid-19 threat, didn't plan to provide sufficient funding for the health care system and hasn't done enough to protect the most vulnerable parts of the population.

In the early stages of the disease spreading in the United States in March, Cuomo said "Excuse our arrogance as New Yorkers -- I speak for the mayor also on this one -- we think we have the best health care system on the planet right here in New York. So, when you're saying, what happened in other countries versus what happened here, we don't even think it's going to be as bad as it was in other countries."

Just as Trump was wrong for initially downplaying the threat, Cuomo was also wrong.

"The places that are getting the most funding now because of what the federal government did are the hospitals," Cuomo said. "They are doing better than anyone else."

Instead of seemingly blindly praising Cuomo for his leadership, we need to put his actions into context: President Trump has set the leadership bar very low.

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Trump's incompetence makes Andrew Cuomo's performance look better than it is - CNN

Taylor Swift brought me to tears with her heartbreakingly beautiful performance of "Soon You'll Get Better" for the One World: Together at Home concert on Saturday night. The singer was one of the final acts for the unique globally broadcast event, and her emotional track off the Lover album really drove the message of the evening home.

The song, originally accompanied by the Dixie Chicks, was inspired by Swift's mother, Andrea, and her battle with cancer over the past few years. Soon after the release of Lover, Swift said she wasn't sure if she'd ever perform the track live because it's so personal. However, she made an exception for the at-home concert, aimed to honor the healthcare workers on the front lines against the COVID-19 pandemic and uplift the spirits of people around the world. "Soon you'll get better" is a message so many people need to hear right now.

In addition to Swift's song, other celebrities joined forces to share their talents for the powerful event. Jennifer Lopez sat down for a low-key cover of Barbra Streisand's "People," Lady Gaga performed Charlie Chaplin's classic tune "Smile," and Kacey Musgraves graced audiences with her lovely track "Rainbow."

Watch Swift's strikingly personal performance above. Her vulnerability and the poignant lyrics make this a memorable performance that will tug at your heartstrings.

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Taylor Swift's Sang "Soon You'll Get Better" Live For the First Time in an Emotional Performance - POPSUGAR

"It's just fun. It kind of keeps my life a little bit on the lighter side." Wochit

Ryan "NEON" Citro was in his fifth season with the Milwaukee Bucks' Rim Rockers when the 2019-2020 NBA season came to a haltover the coronavirus.

Citro is part of a team of ten whofly off of trampolines and dunk basketballs to hype up the crowdduringhome games and community events.

While the remainder of the season is inlimbo and the gym whereCitro works as a personal trainer is temporarily closed, he'scontinuing to do trick shots from his home in Oak Creek.

"It's just fun," he said. "It kind ofkeeps my life a little bit on the lighter-side when everybody is in a state of panic."

About a year ago, Citro started filming and uploading videos ofhimself doing trick shots online.

He aims to shoot one a day, and usually films them at his gym,Bridgewater Performance in Franklin.

When he thinks of an idea for a trick shot, he adds it to a running list on his phone, and always tries it out at least once.

Milwaukee Bucks' Rim Rocker Ryan "NEON" Citro met his fiance, Mariah Nigl, when she was a Bucks dancer.(Photo: Submitted)

"I always have to turn my camera on because I've tried some stuff just to see what would happen, and it's gone in," he laughed.

Since Citro has been home, he's shotfrom theroof of his house, backwards from his car, and with ashovel while doing yard work.

Behind the camera is Citro's fiance and former Bucks dancer Mariah Nigl.

Not only does she film the videos, she also chases down basketballs wherever they may fly and contributes ideas for shots.

"He loves to do it, and ultimately, I want to see him happy," Nigl said.

An athlete isn't somethingCitrobecame, it was always a part of who he was.

"I first climbed up on the top of the refrigerator by myself when I was 3," he said.

That was the year his mom signed him up for gymnastics, which he did through age 16. His dad got him intoT-ballas soon he was old enough to join.

"Before I could walk, I was throwing stuff around," Citro said.

He went onto play baseball forUpper Iowa University, where he studiedexercise and sports science, and taught classes and personally trained clients at the school's Recreation Center.

He also played basketball until starting high school inCudahy, then was a diver his junior and senior years. He is currentlythe head diving coach for Oak Creek High School.

"Gymnastics gave me a very different skill set than most teenagers have, to where I could go and probably be competitive in any sport I tried," he said."I liked being the guy that stood out."

Ryan "NEON" Citro is a Milwaukee Bucks' Rim Rocker, a personal trainer at Bridgewater Performance, and the head diving coach at Oak Creek High School.(Photo: Hannah Kirby/ Now News Group)

While Citro was visiting home during college, his friend who was aRim Rockerinvited Citroto one of the team'spractices.

"After I hit it one time, it was kind of like, 'I can do this,' " Citro said.

He was invited to be on the team that night.

"I've always been more-so a team guy than an individual guy throughout my life," he said. "From what I saw, how much they brought me into their circle that quick, it just seemed like something I wanted to be a part of."

But with only a year and a half left of school, he decided to headback to Iowa to finish up his degree.

As soon as he returned to the area after graduation, he reached back out to the team.

But, the first night of try-outs didn't go as planned. On his way down from a dunk, he broke his ankle.

He underwent surgery a couple days later three pins were placed in his ankle followed by eight months of physical therapy.

"Then, I got right back to dunking," he said.

If it wasn't for his injury, he wouldn't have gotten his Rim Rockers' nickname, "NEON."

When he started trainingwith the team, he worelong neon compression socks that helped to keep his ankle warm and mobile.Then he added neon shirts to his practice ensemble.

"I like to feel like I brighten people's days," he said.

Hesaid his dad, who passed away in 2013 from lung cancer, inspires him to bring joy to others.

Now, Citro sports neon leggings and sleeves atevery game, and has an exclusiveglow-in-the-dark ball for his trick shot videosthrough a partnership with Maximum Versatile Performance.

Ryan "NEON" Citro usually films basketball trick shot videos at Bridgewater Performance in Franklin, where he's a personal trainer.(Photo: Hannah Kirby/ Now News Group)

"We really never stop moving during games," Citro said.

In the first half, the Rim Rockers throwT-shirts and mini balls into the stands "to get people fired up."

They start warming up at halftimeand typically perform right after the third quarter or during the first time-out of the fourth quarter.

Routines are usually a minute and a half full of individual dunks, two teammates dunking together and the wholeteam passing to each other and dunking, Citro said.

"The possibilities are endless," he said.

Citro has performed atthree of the last four NBA All-Star Game weekends, including this year's in Chicago, and last year'sJr. NBA Global Championship.

"It sounds cliche, but it's one big family," he said. "We hang out outside of it, talk to each other daily. It's the closest thing to brothers."

Citro's videos can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Contact Hannah Kirby at hannah.kirby@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HannahHopeKirby.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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While the NBA season is on hold, this Bucks' Rim Rocker continues shooting trick shots from his Oak Creek home - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

LAWRENCE, Kan. The Big 12 Conference announced its 2020 Winter Scholar-Athletes of the Year on Tuesday, and Kansas senior Haley Downey was selected as this years Womens Swimming and Diving Co-Scholar Athlete.

The exercise science and pre-physical therapy major accumulated a 4.0 GPA while appearing in 100% of this seasons competitions. She has been named to the Academic All-Big 12 Team each of the last three seasons as well as a 2017 Academic All-Rookie Team member. Head coach Clark Campbell also announced that Downey was awarded the Team Academic Award for the 2019-20 season earlier this month. To add on to her list of accomplishments, she was also a 2020 Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award Recipient.

While competing at the Big 12 Championship, Downey claimed three top-five finishes including a second-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke.

The Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award was created back in 2012-13 with a recipient being named from each conference-sponsored sport. In order to be considered for the award, the Scholar-Athlete of the Year nominees must be a junior or senior (athletic and academic standing), have a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher, participate in at least 20% of the teams scheduled contests and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution.

"We are so happy for Haley's Big 12 honor. She was a leader in the pool and classroom during her entire Jayhawk career. Haley was truly an exemplary collegiate student-athlete."

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Haley Downey Named Big 12 Women's Swimming & Diving Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year - Kansas Jayhawks

April 23, 1998. A bipartisan summit, of sorts, on the implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act was being broadcast by C-SPAN and I had been tasked with drafting Vice President Al Gores remarks. The summit was hosted by the National Academy of Public Administration and the Council for Excellence in Government and included the House majority leader, Richard Armey, as well as one of GPRAs lead Senate sponsors, Sen. John Glenn.

At the time, Armeyat the direction of then Speaker Newt Gingrichhad recently finished leading a task force of House committee members in scouring federal agencies first-ever strategic plans and challenging them to be more results-oriented. While this review effort was largely seen by the media as a political exercise, it actually engaged members of Congress with agency strategic plans.

Gore talked about how the decline of trust in government is linked to a perceived lack of government performance and that we can help redeem the promise of self-government [so that citizens will have] healthier levels of respect for what we have accomplished . . . '' it's a matter of performance, not politics. He also said we need to shift discussion from preparing plans to using plans . . . Our challenge is to make the Act work.

What was the medias reaction to the whole event? They reported that Gore gave an impossibly wonky speech . . . and I was never asked to draft another one for him again.

Outputs Versus Outcomes

The more significant matter coming out of that event was what were these plans and subsequent performance reports going to be used for, and who was the target audience for using them? It was clear that Congress was interested in using them for accountability purposes.

At the time, the Congress was dominated by Republicans who decided to use the GPRA law (which they dubbed the Results Act) to force agencies to be clearer about what they were trying to achieve. The biggest pushback from agencies was that they wanted to focus on what they could produceoutputs like the number of Social Security checks issuedversus what outcomes were agencies trying to achieve, such as reduced poverty among elderly as a result of incomes supplemented by Social Security. Agencies felt they should be held accountable for outputs, over which they had control, but not outcomes, which they could influence but not control.

Focus on Accountability

Agencies were afraid of looking bad. In fact, in Gores remarks, he said: There has been a great deal of reluctance among many agencies to commit to goals over which they have little real control. In fact, managers in one agency told me that their leadership directed that personal performance targets should be set at 15% below of what they felt was achievable, so they could be assured of meeting their targets when reporting to Congress. That wasnt the right approach.

Stretch goals were touted as a better practice for improving performance. Yet agencies that did set stretch goals, such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, were punished by congressional appropriators for missing stretch goals, such as increasing the percentage of drivers wearing seatbelts. Seeing this response by Congress, many agencies lowered their targets and their profiles.

In 2001, the incoming Bush administration decided to double down on focusing the performance system on accountability. It created public scorecards for the performance of management systems using a red-yellow-green stoplight approach. In addition, it scored each of more than 1,000 individual government programs on a 100-point scale as to their effectiveness. These scores were made public.

The philosophy of Clay Johnson, who led the management initiatives, was that shame and humiliation was an effective way to spur improvement in performance. And to some extent, it did, but that system was dismantled in 2009 by the incoming Obama administration which had a different philosophy for driving performance improvement (the subject of an upcoming column).

Performance Accountability in Action

The emphasis on accountability, transparency and targets still has its adherents and it can work in specific circumstances, mainly in programs that are fairly stable and have a set of routines that can be directly controlled, such as processing grants, licenses, or benefits. These are largely output-oriented programs.

For example, the Veterans Benefits Administration has put in place a leading example of how to use clear goals, priorities, and publicly available information to drive performance across an organization of 25,000 employees. In a recent presentation at the National Academy of Public Administration, Undersecretary Paul Lawrence described three priorities in improving VBAs performance and accountability.

Whats been the progress? In 2013, there were 611,000 cases for benefit determination in the backlog que. By November 2019, it was 64,800. Lawrence says that veterans are getting benefits faster and are waiting less time, and that in the coming year, the targets for performance will be ratcheted upward.

The lesson: Using clear goals, performance information, transparency, and targets to highlight accountability can be a powerful tool to drive output-oriented performance (such as the approval of a benefit), especially in clearly-defined and stable program areas. But since results are not just the outputs of a particular program, and there is not always a stable program environment, there are different approaches used in other parts of government. The next column will highlight an alternative approach.

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Performance Management: The Emphasis on Accountability - GovExec.com

GAMBIER, OhioIn their final tune-up before next month's NCAA Division III Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Denison women's swimmers competed at the Kenyon Fast Chance Invitational.

The day was highlighted by senior Caroline Colville's season-best 'B' cut performance in the 200 butterfly. Colville entered with a 'B' cut time of 2:04.81 but improved that time to 2:04.51. Her teammate, Becca Taylor came close to a 'B' cut in the 200 fly as she finished with a personal best time of 2:05.86. The NCAA's provisional qualifying time in the event is 2:05.61.

Denison senior KT Kustritz had a busy day, swimming several events outside of her specialty breaststroke events. She posted a season-best 'B' cut in the 100 fly in 54.84 and another season-best 'B' cut performance in the 200 freestyle in 1:51.82.

First-year Tara Culibrk lowered her personal best in the 50 free, touching in 24.28. After having already met her 'B' cut in the 100 free in December, Culibrk returned to win the event with a time of 51.70.

First-year Emma Berdelman logged a career-best time of 57.71 in the 100 fly and Abby Fierstos notched a PR in the 500 free with a time of 5:09.34.

Another season-best time was turned in by senior Casey Kirby in a time trial of the 200 free when she touched in 1:53.01. In the 100 breaststroke, Karly Noetzel logged a personal best time of 1:06.84.

Denison returns to action on March 18-21 at the NCAA Division III Championship. The Denison divers will be in action on Feb. 28-29 at the NCAA Central Diving Regional that will be hosted by Denison. Entries will be announced early next week.

Originally posted here:
Denison women compete at Kenyon Fast Chance Invite - Big Red Athletics

It was not only Mr. Sanders and Mr. Bloomberg who were subjected to withering criticism: Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., also engaged in a bitter and lengthy colloquy about foreign policy and their qualifications for the presidency, culminating in a sharp exchange in which Ms. Klobuchar asked Mr. Buttigieg if he was calling her dumb.

There was little in the debate to suggest that Mr. Sanders, the national front-runner and the favorite to win Nevadas caucuses on Saturday, had been knocked off balance, and the pile-on against Mr. Bloomberg had the potential to work in Mr. Sanderss favor by keeping the focus of hostilities elsewhere.

But Mr. Sanders, too, was pressed to address some of the persistent questions about his candidacy, including whether he would release a fuller version of his medical records and why his candidacy appears to inspire uniquely vitriolic behavior by some of his supporters on the internet. Mr. Sanders, Vermonts junior senator, insisted that nearly all of his online fans were good and decent people, but said he would disown those people who behave in deplorable ways.

Nobody acted with more urgency than Ms. Warren, who finished a distant fourth in New Hampshire after doing little to stand out in the debate there. She repeatedly inserted herself into main currents of the conversation. The challenge for her, though, is that her newfound vigor came after tens of thousands of Nevadans had already cast their ballots in early voting.

It was Ms. Warren who initiated the exchange that may have damaged Mr. Bloomberg the most when she repeatedly demanded to know whether he would be willing to release some of the former female employees at his news media organization from the nondisclosure agreements they had signed. He declined to do so, calling the agreements consensual, and minimized the underlying complaints by suggesting that the women merely didnt like a joke I told.

After pressing Mr. Bloomberg and leaving him flustered, but unable to coax him into releasing the women she said he had muzzled, Ms. Warren then broadened her attack.

We are not going to beat Donald Trump with a man who has who-knows-how-many nondisclosure agreements and the drip, drip, drip of stories of women saying they have been harassed and discriminated against, she said.

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Warren Leads an Onslaught of Attacks, Zeroing In on Bloomberg - The New York Times