Gustav Iden insists he is not motivated by the online haters who say he should stick to long distance triathlon.

The Norwegian superstar has secured two Ironman 70.3 world titles and an Ironman World Championship crown in a prolific yet young career.

Despite entering the sport via short course racing, he has enjoyed much less cruces and yet is opting to step back from the long stuff in a bid for glory at Paris Olympics next year.

Speaking to the Short Chute Show: Face-To-Face Podcast for Super League Triathlon, Iden admitted to reading online comments, but claimed most of them are stupid and that he is not motivated by a desire to prove people wrong.

He said: If I wanted an easy way out, I could just keep on doing Ironman and win every single world championship for the next 15 years. Thats a bit exaggerated, but I do enjoy the struggle to a certain degree.

I havent won every single short course race Ive ever done, but I feel like I have something that I havent shown yet and I really wanted to show it for myself. And Im not like a guy who wants to prove the haters wrong, but I do of course read the forums and the comments that say like, you should just take the long course racing.

But thats not what I want to do. I want to prove to myself what I can do. So its more like an ego thing.

I realise most people dont understand anything. Most people online, theyre so stupid. They dont understand triathlon, really. They might understand bits, but top performance triathlon is so different than just finishing an Ironman. And they dont understand also the level of short course racing. The amount of talent and hard training it requires now to win the World Series or Olympic games is insane.

SoI dont pay too much attention to the comments. I just have to realise that they have a normal life and a normal job, and they cannot dedicate their life to triathlon as I do. So of course they dont understand the sport at the same level as I do either.

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Gustav Iden: I Am Not Motivated By The Online Haters - Super League Triathlon

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is weighing in on street takeovers after more took place this past weekend, saying that part of the problem is the amount of money participants have the opportunity of making from the illegal activity.

The department says auto repair and tire shops get paid sometimes thousands of dollars, under the table, to stay open all hours of the night to service vehicles that are involved in street takeovers. "It's not going to stop. I'm 40 years old and they've been cruising Crenshaw since before I was born," said Jaaye Person-Lynn of Compton.

The department also says that people who record videos and post the takeovers online make money as well.

"Getting likes and retweets sharing that content from these illegal street takeovers are creating revenue for those participants. The spectators who are there recording and filming these acts are also making revenue and money out of these street takeovers, which is why it keeps happening," said Miguel Meza of the LASD.

The LASD says it has undercover detectives working with CHP and LAPD to stop the incidents in the future.

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Los Angeles County street takeovers keep happening because people make money off of them, sheriff's department says - KABC-TV

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) When the Rochester Knighthawks face the Buffalo Bandits in the first round of the NLL Playoffs, the pride of Western New York Lacrosse will be at stake.

The 7 p.m. tilt will be the third of the season, with each team beating the other during the regular season. Only this time, the winner moves on, and the losers season is over.

The Knighthawks come in after a horrendous loss to the Philadelphia Wings. Despite the final score of 14-11 looking close, Rochester once trailed by nine goals.

Its a bit of a reset after that last one, said head coach Mike Hasen. Playoffs is a new animal. Its a new beast. Its a new situation and I think the situation itself is enough motivation for these guys that theyre going to be ready to play this week.

This is the first time the Knighthawks have made it to the playoffs since their current franchise took shape in 2019.

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Rochester Knighthawks: Motivation high for playoff clash with ... - News10NBC

Colorados Jaylyn Sherrod (00) drives the ball past Dukes Shayeann Day-Wilson (30) during the second half of a second-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Monday, March 20, 2023, in Durham, N.C. (AP Photo/Karl B. DeBlaker)

There were a lot of factors involved with Jaylyn Sherrods decision on whether or not to return to the Colorado womens basketball team for a fifth and final season.

Attending the womens Final Four in Dallas just one week after she helped CU to its first Sweet 16 in 20 years may have sealed the deal, however.

It drove me and it also just showed me the capabilities and how opportunities like that come once in a lifetime, the Buffs point guard said. For me itll be my last go-round anyway so, yeah, it was a great atmosphere and for a player like me it just gets you hungry to want to experience it for yourself.

Sherrod and the Buffs werent far off this past year. Under the direction of head coach JR Payne, CU has dramatically improved over the past several years, with Sherrod being the catalyst. After ending a nine-year NCAA Tournament drought in 2022, the Buffs (25-9) won a game in the tourney for the first time in 20 years in 2023, and then won another. An 87-77 loss to eventual runner-up Iowa ended the run.

Last season was Sherrods fourth at CU, but the NCAA granted all players from the 2020-21 campaign an extra year of eligibility and she chose to take advantage of it.

Its a great opportunity, she said. This is another chance for me to go out there and do what I love and be with the people I love and play the game with a team that has pretty much become family to me. Im excited to see how next years gonna go.

Academically, the decision was a slam-dunk for Sherrod. She graduated with her bachelors degree in three years and then added a masters in organizational leadership this year. Coming back gives her an opportunity to obtain a second masters degree, either in forensics or criminology.

Sherrod has thoughts of coaching, but is also interested in criminology.

Im always thinking about whats next and always thinking about just putting myself in the best position to be successful in whatever I do, she said. I kind of wanted to do different things and both have been a huge interest of mine since I was a kid. I just like to give myself options so Im never just stuck on one thing and just different avenues to go.

While setting herself up for post-graduate success, Sherrod also isnt done on the court.

This past season, she averaged a career-best 11.3 points per game and earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors. She was also on the Pac-12 all-defensive team for the second time. She added career highs in total assists (167), steals (78), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.88), field goal percentage (.409) and 3-point percentage (.309).

Sherrod is one of only five players in CU history with at least 1,000 points (1,047), 450 assists (473) and 200 steals (201).

Adding to her individual totals doesnt matter much to Sherrod, though. Shes eager to make another NCAA Tournament run with almost the same core of players. CU returns four starters and eight of the 10 players from the rotation this past season. Each of the top five scorers are back.

Last year was a great year for us, Sherrod said. We took a huge step for the program, but I feel like theres so much more were capable of, what we can do, so I was like, why not come back to see if we can go even further? The goal is to go further and set new standards and set new achievements.

After CUs loss to Iowa, Sherrod took about a week off, but was right back in the gym after the Final Four.

You get out of shape faster than you get back in shape, so I like to keep moving, she said.

Sherrod has learned how to take care of her body, but said working on her body to stay healthy is her top priority this offseason. She also hopes to improve her shooting and leadership skills for a team that will welcome six newcomers.

Im excited, she said. Its a lot of new faces, a lot of new things, but we also got our core of veterans thats been here and thats been through it all, so Im really excited.

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Womens basketball: Jaylyn Sherrod motivated to help CU Buffs take next step forward - Longmont Times-Call

Declan Rice has told talkSPORT why he felt extra motivation to perform against Manchester United.

Rice starred in a 1-0 win for West Ham at the London Stadium, lifting his side seven points clear of the relegation zone with three games to play.

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The result was one of the greatest of the season in a difficult campaign for the Hammers in which their league form has dropped off a cliff from last terms seventh place.

And captain Rice said he felt some extra pressure due to the opposition.

When you play against Manchester United you really want to play well because theyre the biggest club in the world, he said in an exclusive interview with talkSPORT's Jim White.

Everyone watches Man United and you want to stand out. Thats what I try to do every game.

But when you play against the big teams youve got that extra fire in your belly to perform.

Rice has long been linked with a move up the table to United, Chelsea, and more recently Arsenal.

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With a contract that expires in 2024, West Ham may have to consider letting their star leave before his value drops dramatically.

The 24-year-old England regular has reportedly had his price tag set at 100million, while January reports claimed Arsenal ended their interest in Brightons Moises Caicedo to save funds for the Hammers superstar.

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West Ham star Declan Rice reveals extra motivation against biggest club in the world Manchester Uni... - talkSPORT

To the Editor:

It is head-spinning for island taxpayers to watch and try to understand what is happening within the MVRHS school committee regarding spending on the artificial turf lawsuit, and what will happen next. This is particularly true since their three meetings in the past eight days have been held mostly behind closed doors.

Here is a review of the volatile one-year timeline on the turf lawsuit spending issue:

May 2022: High school committee voted 5-4 to impose a cap on turf lawsuit spending to $30,000 from the FY23 budget;

April 3, 2023: High school committee voted 5-4 to lift the cap on turf lawsuit spending from the FY23 budget, thereby removing all limits and accountability as the legal case proceeds;

April 11, 2023: West Tisbury voted at town meeting to deny the MVRHS FY24 budget assessment and to demand zero spending on the turf lawsuit;

April 24, 2023: Chilmark voted at town meeting to deny the MVRHS FY24 budget assessment and to demand zero spending on the turf lawsuit;

April 25, 2023: Tisbury voted at town meeting to pass the MVRHS FY24 budget, but demanded by resolution zero spending on the turf lawsuit;

May 1, 2023: MVRHS school committee met and, after a closed door session, announced that they have asked the lawyers to engage with Oak Bluffs planning board to discuss resolution of the lawsuit;

May 5, 2023: MVRHS school committee met and, after a closed door session:

(1) announced again that they have asked their lawyers to engage in settlement discussions with opposing counsel;

(2) passed unanimously a motion to establish a new cap on the turf lawsuit spending to all the money left in the FY23 legal budget line; and

(3) passed in a 5-4 vote to cap the FY24 budget spending on the turf lawsuit at ZERO;

May 8, 2023: MVRHS school committee met and, after they emerged from another closed door session, Susan Murphy, the chair of the Chilmark finance committee, asked pro-turf members why they had opposed zero-capping the FY24 budget at their May 5th meeting. They declined to explain their reasons.

We dont want to tell you and we dont have to, was essentially their response to Susans question.

Yes, you heard right, our elected representatives on a public board refused to explain their positions on an issue of pressing island-wide significance. Despite their protestations to the contrary, it is precisely their job to make decisions on islanders behalf and then tell us why. This is how representative government works, as we learned in high school civics class. That is how voters know if our representatives are reflecting our values so we can decide whether to reelect them, or not. Their positions on important matters are supposed to be public not secret. Our democratic process requires them to explain themselves, it does not shield them from accountability.

This is particularly true at this moment.

Aquinnah voters in the dark about what the school committee will do, or not do, moving forward must go to town meeting tonight to decide whether to join West Tisbury and Chilmark to vote down their budget assessment for the FY24 MVRHS budget. If they do so, the budget goes back to the high school committee for amendment and recertification in accordance with the issues raised by four towns. If Aquinnah does not vote down the high school budget, we will have to wait until town meetings next spring to have our voices heard. By then it will be too late as we may well have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the lawsuit.

Thank you,

Vicki Divoll

Chilmark

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Aquinnah voters in the dark on school committee motivations - Martha's Vineyard Times

The TradeWinds Island Resorts - the Island Grand Resort and RumFish Beach Resort - located along acres of sugary white beaches on the island of St. Pete Beach, Florida, has announced Karleen Johnson as Director of Sales. Having spent more than two decades at TradeWinds, Johnson is now a member of the executive team and is responsible for leading the group sales team for both TradeWinds Island Resorts.

Johnson began her 22-year career with TradeWinds as Catering Sales and Convention Services Manager and was soon promoted to Senior Sales Manager, where she spent 15 years cultivating relationships, securing business, and exceeding revenue goals for the Midwest territory. She was most recently Assistant Director of Sales, where she continued to work the Midwest market, in addition to training new sales managers, working with the marketing team on group promotions, and serving as liaison to several professional organizations. Johnson was named TradeWinds Sales Manager of the Year four times, was the highest revenue producing sales team member five times, and received the 100%+ Club award 14 times. She holds a degree in hospitality management from University of Florida.

TradeWinds Island ResortsSt. Pete Beach, FloridaUnited States

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Karleen Johnson has been appointed Director of Sales at ... - Hospitality Net

$765 million. That is the conservative cost to turn Ebbing Air National Guard Base at Fort Smith into a foreign military pilot training center. Thats a lot of money to spend and a lot of work ahead to prep a one-of-a-kind facility scheduled to open in late 2024.

Ebbing, home to the 188th Wing in Fort Smith and co-located with the Fort Smith Regional Airport, was selected by the U.S. Air Force to be the long-term pilot training center supporting F-16 and F-35 fighter planes purchased by Singapore, Switzerland, Poland, Germany and other countries participating in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the federal agency managing the FMS, notes that the program provides responsible arms sales to further national security and foreign policy objectives by strengthening bilateral defense relations, supporting coalition building, and enhancing interoperability between U.S. forces and militaries of friends and allies.

According to the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, the new training center will bring about 900 military members and their families to the Fort Smith region. The Air Force anticipates moving approximately 230 personnel to the base, and the Republic of Singapore will have 300 military personnel with 300 dependent families in the region.

The cost estimate was disclosed during a mid-April interview with Tim Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Col. Rob Ator, USAF (Ret.), the Arkansas Economic Development Commission director of Military Affairs.

The latest estimate, and they think this is a conservative estimate, is about $765 million to set up Ebbing to accept the mission, Ator said during the interview with Talk Business & Politics.

That tally to be paid by the federal government does not include the $22 million $17 million from the state of Arkansas and $5 million from the city of Fort Smith to extend the Fort Smith Regional Airport main runway. That project is nearing completion.

Ator said a pricey part of the cost to create the facility is construction of special access program facilities. Such facilities are super classified spaces that include flight simulators and other special training equipment.

According to Allen and Ator, Ebbing initially made the shortlist for the new center primarily because it already had the infrastructure for a manned mission that ended in 2014. That would save money, which met an Air Force requirement to limit exposure for expense, Ator said.

That made us very, very attractive. We had move-in-ready facilities, Ator said.

Ebbing had a manned aircraft mission between 1953 and June 2014. In 1988 the F-16A Fighting Falcon replaced the F-4C, and in 2000 the F-16s were upgraded to the F-16 A variant. A last-minute decision by the Base Realignment and Closure Committee in 2005 replaced the F-16 with the A-10. On April 14, 2007, the 188th received its first A-10. It was announced in 2012 that the A-10 Thunderbolt fighters of the 188th would be lost, and the units mission would change to an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission. The final A-10 departed Ebbing in June 2014.

Much of the infrastructure to support the F-16 and the A-10 remains at Ebbing.

The Department of the Air Force conducted an enterprise-wide search for locations that would meet specified requirements for bedding down a proposed foreign military sales training center. The DAF selected Ebbing ANG Base because the base previously accommodated F-16 aircraft and can accommodate the Proposed Action with minimal renovation, new construction, and displacement of current mission(s) to meet critical F-16 and F-35 timing, according to a statement provided to Talk Business & Politics from the U.S. Air Force Air Education and Training Command in San Antonio.

Lt. Col. Drew Gus Nash has been selected to execute basing action processes required to make the new pilot training center operational. Nash, who flew F-16s and A-10s with the 188th, is now attached to the 33rd Fighter Wing out of Eglin Air Force Base, located northeast of Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

In a March 15 interview, Nash said the earliest planes and pilots from foreign nations could arrive at Ebbing would be in late 2024, part of the militarys fiscal year 2025 beginning in September 2024. Nash said the full complement of 12 F-16s and 24 F-35s from various nations could arrive in fiscal year 2026 at the earliest. The Air Force declined to make Nash available for this story.

Allen and Ator said there would be a period in which temporary training such as simulator and academic time will take place in Eglin, with flight training in Fort Smith. Temporary facilities may be part of the first phase of work at Ebbing, with those phased out as permanent structures are built.

The 188th Wing is an active unit at Ebbing. The units three primary missions are Remotely Piloted Aircraft (MQ-9 Reaper); Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR); and Targeting (Space-Focused). According to the Air Guard, the unit has about 1,000 employees and an annual impact of $40 million on the local economy.

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Conservative price is $765 million to create pilot training center at ... - talkbusiness.net

new assembly line for electric vehiclescredit: Jennifer Gross, Battle Motos

We all know the story: The U.S. industrial belt, sometimes referred to unkindly as the Rust Belt, is a tale of decline stemming from (you pick) a changing economy, international competition, costs that outpaced productivity gains, aging infrastructure, or a failure to adapt. This industrial belt usually refers to the area around the Great Lakes, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, and also the more central states of Illinois and Wisconsin. In some discussions, this economic decline is laced with broader social issues such as urban decay, youth unemployment, and drug abuse. The memoirs Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, now a Senator from my home state of Ohio, paints a poignant picture of the challenges and dysfunctionality of family life during a period of economic uncertainty.

Statistics seem to support this unhappy story, relating that national employment in manufacturing peaked at 19.6 million in 1979 and dropped to 12.8 million by 2019. Unemployment in Ohio went from 4.1% in 2000 to 10.3% in 2010. Some were able to adjust, but in general those kinds of numbers mean a lot of misery for individuals caught up in this transition.

But there is, happily, an update to this story. I caught up with journalist and author (and fellow Buckeye) Rebecca Fannin for lunch, and we discussed her latest book, "Silicon Heartland, which tells us the rest of the tale. One of the quiet success stories of recent years in the industrial belt has been the emergence of local venture capital firms, spurring innovation in the traditional economy. From tech-enabled manufacturing to standalone startups in logistics or health, the industrial belt has gone through a renewal in startups and relaunches that has reshaped the local economies.

A story of economic renewal in the industrial belt

Credit: Imagine Books

For example, Drive Capital, based in Columbus and launched by two former Sequoia Capital partners, has funded some 60 startups in the region. In Indianapolis, Scott Dorsey took his profits from selling his firm to Salesforce, and invested in Lessonly, for sales training at small and medium businesses. Pittsburgh, drawing on the strength of Carnegie Mellon, has become a national leader in robotics and automation.

I wanted to see this trend for myself, so I drove down to New Philadelphia to spend some time with Battle Motors, a specialty truck manufacturer. Founded in 1946 as the Crane Carrier Company to modify and re-manufacture surplus military vehicles for the construction and petroleum industries, by 2021 it was producing 336 trucks annually. That is when venture capital stepped in, with a $120 million investment.

Production leapt from 336 trucks in 2021 to 700 in 2022, and Battle received a follow-on investment of $150 million. Production is targeted for 2,500 vehicles for this year.

Employment at Battle Motors followed the same pattern, up from 95 employees at the start of 2022 to 450 at present.

And this growth allowed for vertical integration and new models. In 2021, Battle produced no electric vehicles. In 2022, EVs were about 5% of production, and this year they will make up about 10%.

This scale has allowed Battle to get into new lines of business and undertake some vertical integration. New models, from digger derricks to bucket trucks, now account for 15-20% of the order book.

The original company was very specialized, with low volume and high complexity products, explained Chief Technology Officer Kelleigh Ash. We are becoming a one-stop shop for all customers' needs, from food and beverage delivery, to utility, to any customized production.

The lessons from this economic renewal:

Silicon Heartland is an important story of industrial renewal led by VCs. And Ohio unemployment? It deteriorated from 4.1% to 10.3%, but has rebounded to 3.8% in March 2023. When I mentioned to Rebecca the plans by Intel to open a $20 billion chip plant outside of Columbus, Rebecca responded that the area is booming but is going to need lots more trained engineers. Training is already beginning. The Battle is just starting.

Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution. Whether in banking, trade negotiations, or e-commerce, my professional life is helping companies win in new markets, with a particular focus on China. As CEO of Export Now, I run the largest international firm in China e-commerce. Previously, I served as Undersecretary for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Before that, I was the U.S. Ambassador to Singapore. Earlier, I served in Hong Kong and Singapore with Citibank and Bank of America and on the White House and National Security Council staff. China e-commerce book: https://amzn.to/2VtfzqQ WWII history book: http://amzn.to/2qtk0wK

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The Industrial Belt Fights Back - Forbes

My time has come to an end. These are the awkward words that came out of my mouth when telling my boss I was leaving the paper. Those words were so awkward because they were something I never imagined saying.

Newspapers have consumed pretty much my entire professional life. I started 14 years ago as a receptionist with Steamboat Today (hired by the man who is now my current boss). I worked in Steamboat for five and a half years, Summit for one and a half years, and have spent the last seven years dedicated to the Sky-Hi News and Grand County.

Ive met some incredible people and grown significantly as a professional over those years. I would not be where I am today without this community and the many lessons I have learned along the way. I cant tell you how many times I have had to tell friends, You have to do your job and I have to do mine and sometimes we wont see eye-to-eye.

I also owe my career to my best friend and mentor, Meg Boyer, who passed away from cancer in December 2021 at the incredibly young age of 40. If you met her, you knew she was something special and a force to be reckoned with. She saw something in me and pushed me to be the best version of myself. She believed in me when others did not and helped me grow significantly. She saw my value even when I did not.

Honestly, since her passing, Ive felt a huge hole in my life personally and professionally. Ive felt like the newspaper business is not the same without her. Weekly I pick up my phone to vent or ask her advice on how I should handle something. Im thankful for other mentors that have stepped in, but no one will ever fill the void she has left.

I am so passionate about this community and paper. I believe that the work we do is important and know for a fact that all the staff that has been here over the last seven years took their job seriously. I know we havent always gotten everything perfect, but I know we tried and made it right when we werent.

What many people dont know about my role is that 75% of my time was dedicated to serving as the Director of Sales Training and Development for Swift Communications. In that role, I was responsible for helping develop sales training and onboarding programs for all salespeople in the company. I tell you this to say that I was a well-known face of the paper, but many of my daily duties fell outside of the Sky-Hi News.

That said, the Sky-Hi News will continue without me. Providing coverage of the topics that are important and providing small business marketing solutions to help them grow.

As for me, I love learning, so I have decided to leave the newspaper industry and start a new adventure. I will continue to serve this community just in a different capacity. I will be focusing the next couple of months of my life studying and getting licensed (hopefully) to be a financial advisor. My last day was May 5.

My parting request is that you continue to send news tips (this county is HUGE) and continue to turn to and support the Sky-Hi News. I am leaving this paper in good hands, and they will continue to publish online and twice a week in print.

I used to always say in my columns that my door is always open, but my door is now shut at the Sky-Hi News.

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Letter from the publisher: closing this chapter - Sky-Hi News