ELGIN Rural Comanche County elementary students can moo! Can you?
Friends of Elgin Library offer youngsters books
Around 260 first grade students at Elgin, Sterling and Fletcher were given copies of Dr. Seuss" famous book of onomatopoeias, "Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?" as part of an outreach program Thursday by the Friends of the Elgin Community Library. Debbie Thomason, group member, said this is the second year they have donated dr. seuss books to children on the famous author"s birthday.
"We always want to do something to help out in the community," she said. "It worked so well last year that we decided to do it again this year."
Thomason and several other volunteers visited the three schools in their own Dr. Seuss outfits to bring the books to all of the wonderful children. There were no Grinches in the crowd, but plenty of cats in hats and Hortons and Whos. Thursday was Dr. Seuss day and that meant plenty of fun for first graders happy to partake in the fun festivities.
"I had a shirt with colored fish from his stories and I fit right in with a sea of Dr. Seuss stuff," Thomason said. "There were plenty of hats on a lot of the little ones. I blended in well today."
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 5 Trailer + Super Bowl Spot (2017) Dead Men Tell No Tales, Disney Movie HD
The full length trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales" dropped yesterday, promising a thoroughly swashbuckling adventure on the high seas. But as this movie sets sail for cinemas, is this just the beginning of another #PiratesoftheCaribbean trilogy?
The trailer certainly seems to suggest this:
"The final adventure... begins."
If you were watching closely, you"ll have noticed this cheeky teaser flash up on the screen. It seems that Dead Men Tell No Tales does indeed mark the end of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise but if this is only the beginning of the end, then it seems likely that the course is laid for a new trilogy.
This doesn"t really come as a surprise for anyone who has been following the #PiratesoftheCaribbean5 news from the start, as rumblings of a soft reboot in the form of another trilogy first came to us (via IGN) from Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) himself.
"Basically they want to reboot the whole franchise, I think, and do something with me and my relationship with my son."
Henry is almost definitely the son of Will Turner. [Credit: Disney]
After the first trailer dropped, many fans suspected that new character Henry is indeed the son of Will and Elizabeth, and although #Disney haven"t officially confirmed this it seems more and more likely that this is the case. So if that"s true, then Bloom"s "reboot" comment is probably also true, hinting that Disney are intending Dead Men Tell No Tales to be the start of a new adventure.
Kaya Scoledario who plays Carina in the new movie made a similar comment to DigitalSpy in 2015.
"[The producers] want to take it back to the beginning again. They wanted it to have this epic journey, and for it to make sense, and for it to tie things up, and also lead to new storylines."
Carina and Henry join Jack Sparrow for a new adventure. [Credit: Disney]
This is all the information we can scrape together, but all signs seem to be pointing to a new trilogy. If there are two more movies after Dead Men Tell No Tales, this would also explain Will"s role in the story while the previous trailers teased his entrance, the son of Bootstrap Bill was notably absent from this new trailer. And then of course there"s Elizabeth Swann"s rumored appearance in a post credits scene that may set up the rest of the trilogy.
So keep a weather eye on the horizon there be more Pirates movies coming our way soon!
Do you think "Pirates 5" should start a new trilogy?
Law enforcement searches Caterpillar facilities in Illinois
Years of federal scrutiny over Caterpillar"s overseas business practices and tax strategies came to a head Thursday with a raid on the heavy machine maker"s Peoria headquarters.
Authorities from three agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, arrived before 11 a.m. at the headquarters and two nearby facilities. Initially only confirming the raid, Caterpillar later in the day acknowledged it was tied to the same issue that has dogged the company for eight years: its use of a parts subsidiary based in Switzerland and tax-saving practices that sparked a Senate investigation, shareholder lawsuits and a $1 billion penalty.
The raid is the latest shock to a city still adjusting to Caterpillar"s January announcement that it would relocate its headquarters from Peoria to the Chicago area.
Long a global and domestic powerhouse in the world of mining and construction equipment, Caterpillar has been under investigation by federal authorities for years.
In 2014, a Senate investigation found the company had used its Swiss affiliate to take advantage of a corporate tax rate it negotiated and avoided paying at least $2.4 billion in U.S. taxes. Soon after, shareholders filed lawsuits against the company and its accounting firm, PwC, alleging breach of fiduciary duties. That matter is ongoing.
A technical change Caterpillar made in 1999 shifted most of the profits from replacement parts sold outside the U.S. to the Swiss subsidiary, Caterpillar SARL, or CSARL, but "did not ... otherwise change how Caterpillar"s replacement parts business functioned on the ground," according to a Senate report.
The Senate investigation grew out of a whistleblower suit filed in 2009 by then-Caterpillar employee Daniel Schlicksup, alleging the company shifted profits to avoid taxes.
In 2015, the company said the IRS had proposed tax increases and penalties of about $1 billion after examining returns from 2007 to 2009. It also wanted to tax profits from the Switzerland-based affiliate, but the company maintained that it paid all the taxes it owed.
In its most recent annual report, filed last month, the company noted that it received a grand jury subpoena in January 2015 requesting financial documents and information dealing with its U.S. and foreign subsidiaries, including the Swiss affiliate.
Besides the company"s downtown Peoria headquarters, federal authorities executed search warrants at company locations in East Peoria and Morton, said Sharon Paul, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney"s office for the Central District of Illinois.
The Morton facility is responsible for shipping and receiving replacement parts to dealers and parts facilities around the world, according to Caterpillar"s website.
Agencies involved in Thursday"s searches included the Internal Revenue Service"s Criminal Investigation Division; the Office of Export Enforcement at the U.S. Department of Commerce"s Bureau of Industry and Security; and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp."s Office of Inspector General, Paul said. She declined additional comment.
Caterpillar said in a statement that it is cooperating with law enforcement.
"While the warrant is broadly drafted, we believe the execution of this search warrant is regarding, among other things, export filings that relate to the CSARL matter first disclosed in Caterpillar"s Form 10-K filed on February 17, 2015, and updated in Caterpillar"s most recent Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 15, 2017," the company said in a statement.
Also mentioned in the company"s most recent annual report is a subpoena issued in September 2014 from the Securities and Exchange Commission for information concerning Caterpillar"s 2011 acquisition of mining equipment manufacturer Bucyrus International.
The company also responded to concerns from the SEC on possible business operations in other far-flung locales that are subject to U.S. sanctions. The SEC asked Caterpillar in 2014 for further explanation of operations in Syria and Sudan and to explain a news article that mentioned delivery of Caterpillar products from a Ukrainian tractor plant to Cuba. The three countries were designated by the State Department as state sponsors of terrorism, and subject to export controls, according to the SEC filings.
Caterpillar responded to the concerns, pointing out that sales in Syria and Sudan were a small fraction of its total revenues and that some of the subsidiaries have since stopped "accepting orders" in those countries. The company"s subsidiaries in Sudan were dealing with products such as service parts, engines and generators, according to SEC documents. Caterpillar denied doing any business in or with Cuba, noting that a news article the SEC cited was unrelated to the company.
The maker of mining and construction equipment announced in January its plans to move to the Chicago area, though it has yet to name a location. While most of Caterpillar"s 12,000 jobs will remain in the Peoria area, the announcement of the move was a blow to the town, which is entwined economically with the company.
On Thursday in Peoria, the lunch crowd at Adams Street Cafe, which is kitty-corner from Caterpillar"s headquarters, was unusually light, owner Joe Slyman said. Only about one-third of the typical 100-plus diners showed up, and that crowd is usually more than half Caterpillar employees, he said.
A line of more than a dozen official-looking vehicles filled the block outside the restaurant, Slyman said. Most were unmarked SUVs and vans, led by an Illinois State Police SUV. Slyman said one of his regular customers walked over not long after the vehicles pulled up around 11 a.m., took a selfie and encouraged the agents to stop by for lunch.
Several Illinois state troopers were on scene for security, requested by the Department of Commerce, Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Jason Bradley said.
Logan Official Trailer #1 (2017) Hugh Jackman Wolverine Movie HD
Following in the footsteps of Mad Max: Fury Roads Black & Chrome edition, Logan director James Mangold says hes producing a de-colorized version of the X-Men blockbuster, which hits theaters on Friday.
Mangold, who has also shared several black-and-white photos from the production, evidently has a fondness for the old-fashioned look, and though its set in the future, Logan makes a point of tying its story to the past through repeated, sometimes heavy-handed, evocations of the 1950s Western Shane. But its also of a piece with the movies efforts to set itself apart from the rest of the comic-book movie crowd, with its gory violence and strenuously downbeat outlook. What better way to do that than to leach out its color entirely, reducing comics traditional four-color palette to none? The move would also parallel Quentin Tarantinos Kill Bill, Vol. 1, which shifted from color to black and white in the middle of a supremely b****y fight scene in order to secure its R rating, but since Logan already wears its hard R like a badge of honor, its doubtful Mangold would try to get it knocked down to something more kid-friendly.
EXCLUSIVE: Bella Thorne Explains Why Dating in Hollywood Is "Literally the Worst Thing" Bella Thorne Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Meow! Bella Thorne got a playful set of tattoos on Tuesday, September 13. The Boo! A Madea Halloween actress, 18, included a shot of her new ink in a Snapchat story that depicted a very busy day.
PHOTOS: Celebrities" Crazy Tattoos Celebrities Obsessed With Their Cats All the Celebs Who Walked the Women"s March: Madonna, Miley and More! Bella Thorne Defends Ex Gregg Sulkin, Says Alleged n**e Leaks Are Not His"
She started at Carries Pilates Plus in West Hollywood, clad in a cropped hot-pink camisole and a pair of camouflage sweatpants. The DUFF star took time to snap selfies of her round mirrored Sunday Somewhere sunglasses in between class and lunch (where she played with her food, naturally!).
PHOTOS: Celebs Like Jessica Alba and Ariana Grande Are Obsessed With the Puppy Dog Snapchat Filter Bella Thorne Bella Thorne/Snapchat
After her meal, she changed into a pair of dark wash cropped jeans and visited a tattoo parlor where an artist inked two words on her calves: Wild and Kitty. These additions join Thornes other small tats, including a small outline of a heart on her right shoulder and B on the inside of her right wrist. Her best friend, Bella Pendergast, has a matching mark of the latter.
PHOTOS: Celebrity Splits of 2016
Earlier this summer, Thorne, who split from longtime boyfriend Gregg Sulkin in August, took to Snapchat to share another special tattoo. She had her eyebrows microbladed (or semi-permanently inked) on July 31 at Microblading LA, in Los Angeles.
A technician used a needle dipped in ink to etch natural-looking strands on the former Disney stars face. Though it hurt (Ok now I get more numbing, she wrote at one point in the story), the pain paid off. YASSS brows, she captioned a final selfie.
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Uber CEO Kalanick Argues With Driver Over Falling Fares
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
In a memo to Uber employees posted to the company"s blog on Tuesday night, CEO Travis Kalanick apologized for his behavior in a video showing him arguing with an Uber driver over falling fares in February.
"My job as your leader is to leadand that starts with behaving in a way that makes us all proud," he wrote. "That is not what I did, and it cannot be explained away. This is the first time I"ve been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it."
In the dashcam video, Kalanick gets into a heated discussion with an Uber driver named Fawzi Kamel over the price of fares on the app, with the CEO ultimately telling Kamel: "Some people don"t like to take responsibility for their own s---. They blame everything in their life on somebody else."
Here"s the full text of Kalanick"s memo, as shared by the company to its blog:
"By now I"m sure you"ve seen the video where I treated an Uber driver disrespectfully. To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement. My job as your leader is to leadand that starts with behaving in a way that makes us all proud. That is not what I did, and it cannot be explained away.
"It"s clear this video is a reflection of meand the criticism we"ve received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up. This is the first time I"ve been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it.
"I want to profoundly apologize to Fawzi, as well as the driver and rider community, and to the Uber team.
"Travis"
Uber"s very bad year is continuing as more evidence of a toxic work environment, starting at the top, comes to light.
