A Brooklyn woman says construction on her neighbor's property caused significant damage to her own building and that she has not received compensation.
Frances Babb, an immigrant from Guyana, bought the building at 1074 Rogers Ave. in 2007. In the past few months, she says development and renovations on her neighbors building left her property with severe damages.
According to documents Babb showed News 12, the company that bought 1076 Rogers Ave. asked for access to her property to do its construction for a fee. In return, the document stated the company, called 1076 Rogers Realty LLC, would promptly repair any damages caused.
Babb found that the company had built a scaffold on the roof, which caused leaking, water damage and eventually a ceiling collapse. She claims the construction also damaged an adjacent part of the building that she used as a kitchen for her catering business, which had to be demolished completely.
“I didn’t know they were building scaffold on the roof until one day I heard a noise like a bomb,” she says.
Babb says she had to pay tens of thousands of dollars to repair the roof to prevent the building from completely deteriorating, but she said there are still so many repairs that need to be made.
“I cannot live like this. They’re doing nothing about it,” she says.
Babb reached out to the company but hasn’t received a response. After getting an attorney, the neighbor's attorney said they filed an insurance claim for the damage and are waiting for an update from the insurance company.
Babb says she still hasn’t heard from anyone nearly seven months later.
News 12 called the property manager, but no one answered any of the calls. News 12 also reached out to the insurance company for the status of that insurance claim and is waiting to hear back.
Engulfed in blue smog with a front grill glowing red, the Batmobile of Matt Reeves’ The Batman looks and moves like a terrifying demon.
Its rear muscle car spoilers evoke devils in medieval paintings, and the fiery blast of its engine roars like a biblical dragon. Behind the wheel is someone equally otherworldly: A fully transformed Robert Pattinson brings a freakish spin to an enduring DC superhero. You’ve seen gritty Batman before. But you’ve never seen gritty Batman like this.
Operatic, simmering, and replete with a smoky noir atmosphere, The Batman is an enthralling package of contradictions. It is in many ways the ideal amalgamation of Batman and his 80-plus years of history; it’s a movie where his vengeance doesn’t negate the camp fun of a climax set in “Gotham Square Garden,” a gag practically ripped from the Adam West era.
In other ways, it’s subversive of popular notions of what the Dark Knight should be. See Bruce cake on black eye makeup, his leaner physique, and his royal botching of a dramatic escape. What’s been subtext in analyses of Batman — a calculating sociopath whose wealth can’t buy him resolution — is now all on the surface. And it’s the first time that Batman has ever felt dangerous.
The Batman will go down as another game-changer, with its unique take on an iconic hero that is more of a feral vigilante than a crusader.
Robert Pattinson stars in the title role of The Batman, a new interpretation of the DC Comics superhero from director Matt Reeves.Warner Bros.
The Batman is set in its own universe. From the jump, Reeves pushes back against the superhero industrial complex to leave out needless universe-expanding Easter eggs. In this canon, “The Batman” is a known entity with unknown capabilities. He has been a folk legend at work for two years. When his signal is in the sky, criminals shudder in dark corners and darker alleyways out of fear they’ll face the fury of the vigilante.
“I can’t be everywhere,” narrates Pattinson in the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman as he journals. With a straight face, he remarks, “I am the shadows.” Fear is an effective deterrent.
But Bruce Wayne suspects his efforts have done little to lift Gotham City from its apathy. What’s worse, he lacks the trust of Gotham and its people. Walking into a crime scene, he’s gawked at with suspicion by the police. Batman’s despair that his work’s been for naught is proven right by a string of high-profile murders, committed by cryptic mastermind Riddler (Paul Dano). The Riddler — whose eyes pop behind translucent glasses and whose first appearance is one of the scariest intros ever in a superhero movie — provokes Batman to seek the truth to his family’s legacy.
“What lends The Batman an air of danger is how eccentric its hero is.”
Joining Pattinson and Dano is Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon, a lieutenant in the Gotham PD who risks his badge by working with Batman. In makeup, an unrecognizable Colin Farrell plays the Penguin, a gangster club owner, while John Turturro is slick mafioso Carmine Falcone. Andy Serkis is the paternal Alfred, and Zoë Kravitz is bewitching as Selina Kyle/Catwoman.
It’s deceptively easy to dismiss The Batman at first blush. Thirty-five years after Frank Miller’s seminal The Dark Knight Returns, 17 years after Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, and six years after Batman v Superman, framing Batman through the gritty filter is hardly ingenious. What’s more, The Batman’s obvious comic book inspirations, from The Long Halloween to Hush to recent tales by Scott Snyder and Tom King, all tap into the same well of “dark.”
Matt Reeves’ specific modulation feels more lateral to that than progressing forward. But like the visible stitching on Pattinson’s cowl, Reeves’ potent impact as an artist is in the details.
The Batman stars a more animalistic Batman than past iterations, with Pattinson inhabiting his role like an eccentric vigilante rather than a noble crusader.Warner Bros.
Reeves’ vision of Gotham City is textured, not sprawling; the story unfolds over just a handful of locations, which lends The Batman an unusual feeling of containment. It’s a place soaked in rain, as though nature itself wants to wash away the grime. Here, the most famous city in comics sits between Nolan’s sleek Chicago and Tim Burton’s gothic graveyard, once described as “hell erupted through the pavement.”
In The Batman, Gotham City isn’t hell so much as it is purgatory. It’s a damned place crowded with bodies and empty of ambitions. Even the more benevolent politicians have ulterior motives, and they’re always in someone else’s crosshairs. (The Batman also sports one of the most regionally specific Gothams ever put to screen, with its large ensemble of characters speaking in various New York accents.)
“Pattinson may be the steamiest Batman yet.”
Reeves’ film is noir through and through; the movie is sandwiched with narration, and for once, Batman conducts real detective work, not simply sitting behind a beefed-up gaming PC doing all the work. But what lends The Batman an air of danger is how eccentric its hero is.
In defiance to previous Batmen, who rendered Bruce Wayne’s playboy lifestyle into an aspirational male fantasy, Pattinson plays things rough, jagged, and ascetic. This Batman isn’t living the old origin story, but he’s still young and angry. Pattinson is most evocative of Michael Keaton, whose approach to Bruce Wayne as a social recluse in Burton’s 1989 film was innovative and the least replicated.
Pattinson spends most of the runtime in costume as Batman. It’s a creative choice of Reeves, who argues that Batman is the true identity, and Bruce Wayne is the mask. That’s not a terribly original thesis — that was Batman Begins’ theory too — but how Reeves tells it is no less compelling.
Evocative of Tom King’s Batman, The Batman features Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz in a budding romance pregnant with tension and eroticism.Warner Bros.
Despite the absence of an active love life, Pattinson may be the steamiest Batman yet. Though there is nothing explicit, The Batman’s abundance of leather and moisture oozes eroticism within the boundaries of PG-13. Reminiscent of the “Bat/Cat” romance seen in Tom King’s comics, Kravitz and Pattinson are magnetic as a couple, their bodies close but their principles islands apart.
Like its subject’s gunslinger-like gait as he strides towards the camera, The Batman is methodical and deliberate. It wields the might of a thermonuclear detonation in the delicacy of a poison needle. The movie boasts some of the most exciting action set pieces ever constructed, plus plenty of tense and euphoric moments. Nevertheless, it is a movie that focuses more inward than outward. Even the movie’s stirring climax, powered by a literal shot of adrenaline, underlines its core idea: This Batman is totally unlike any iteration of the hero you’ve seen before.
The Batman is many things — gripping, funny, and scary, as well as overlong and overly plotted — but it is primarily a complete reinvention of an icon that, through sheer will, shows why this character Batarangs back to our screens the most.
(CNN)Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton appeared on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. The Republican had this exchange with host George Stephanopoulos on Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Russia:
Stephanopoulos: You've been stalwart in your opposition of Vladimir Putin. The same cannot be said for the leader of your party, Donald Trump. Last night, he finally condemned the invasion, but he also repeated his praise of Putin, calling him smart. Earlier in the week, he called him pretty smart. He called him savvy. He said NATO and the US are dumb. Are you prepared to condemn that kind of rhetoric from the leader of your party?
Cotton: George, you've heard what I had to say about Vladimir Putin. That he is a ruthless dictator who's launched a naked, unprovoked war of aggression. Thankfully, the Ukrainian army has anti-tank missiles that President Obama would not supply, that we did supply last time Republicans were in charge in Washington. That's why it's so urgent that we continue to supply those weapons to Ukraine.
Stephanopoulos: Why can't you condemn Donald Trump for those comments?
Cotton: George, if you want to know what Donald Trump thinks about Vladimir Putin or any other topic, I'd encourage you to invite him on your show. I don't speak on behalf of other politicians. They can speak for themselves. I speak on behalf of Arkansans, who I talked to this week and who are appalled at what they saw in Ukraine and they want me right now to fight in Washington to support those brave Ukrainians.
Stephanopoulos: You're a senior member of the Republican Party. Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. He said last night again -- suggested that he would be running for president. When Fox News asked him if he had a message for Vladimir Putin, he said he has no message.
Why can't you condemn that? I feel quite confident that if ... a Barack Obama or Joe Biden said something like that, you'd be first in line to criticize him.
Cotton: Again, George, if you want to talk to the former President about his views or his message, you can have him on your show. My message to Vladimir Putin is quite clear. He needs to leave Ukraine unless he wants to face moms and teenagers with Molotov cocktails and grandmothers and grandfathers with AK-47s for years to come. I'm speaking on behalf of all Arkansans who want me to send that message to him.
What Cotton would like Stephanopoulos -- and you -- to believe is that because he is not, in fact, Donald Trump, he is unable to offer any opinion at all on the former President and his praise for Putin as "smart" for invading Ukraine.
By that standard, Cotton would never be able to comment on anything he hasn't said or done himself because, well, he is only one person. He wouldn't be able to criticize Democrats because he isn't one of them. (Somehow, of course, it seems Cotton's policy doesn't apply to the other party.)
What's really going on here is simple: Cotton, like virtually every other ambitious Republican, is afraid of Trump and the Trump base.
There's a zero percent chance that Cotton, among the most hawkish of politicians when it comes to Russia and other foreign adversaries, agrees with Trump's praise of Putin. None.
But he also knows that if he wants to run for president -- either in 2024 or 2028 -- he can't risk upsetting the former President and his devoted supporters. So Cotton hedges -- "I don't speak on behalf of other politicians" -- in hopes that he can thread the needle between not being seen as vocally opposed to Trump, while also clearly disagreeing with him.
(If you don't think Cotton wants to run for president, ask yourself why a senator from Arkansas would keep making trips to states like Iowa and New Hampshire.)
This is, of course, the opposite of leadership. For an example of what that looks like, consider what Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said of those, like Trump, who praise Putin amid the Ukraine invasion.
"It's unthinkable to me, it's almost treasonous and it just makes me ill to see some of these people do that," Romney said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
Today is the day in which Major League Baseball has dictated that an agreement needs to be reached in order for the season to start on time. You know, to end a lockout that they instigated, followed by weeks of no attempts to negotiate from them, followed by an absolute unwillingness to actively negotiate with the MLBPA.
If you’ve got a subscription to The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal wrote an absolutely scathing rebuke of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and the owners group. It’s an absolute must-read if you can. I’d just like to share this part:
...the league has shown such bad form that any negative portrayals of the players’ side are not even relevant to the conversation. The owners are so intent on a zero-sum victory, so cavalier about the possibility of missing games, they do not even care how fans might interpret their actions.
Rosenthal goes on to show the ridiculous disparity between the negotiation tactics between the two sides, showing the players submitting realistic requests and making actual concessions to try to move the needle, and MLB basically just responding with a loud fart noise.
So remember this when your Uncle Jim starts talking about how the players are entitled whiny rich people (and then almost immediately start simping for the owners). The players aren’t responsible for the lack of baseball. They are not on strike. They are the only side actually negotiating in good faith.
There’s only one side actually trying to start the season on time and it isn’t the owners. I’m fully on board with the players walking away at this point, since they’re basically negotiating with a brick wall, and letting the owners remember that they have no product without them. Craig Calcaterra put it best, I think:
The owners are willing to sacrifice a month or maybe more of the season in order to break the union. I suggest taking them up on that invitation -- specifying expanded playoffs are now off the table -- and seeing how their debt holders and gambling partners feel about that.
Anyway, as of the this is being written (Sunday afternoon), no progress has been made. If anything, things have gone backwards. So it’s hard to imagine that anything will change in time to avoid a delay to the start of the season, but I guess anything can theoretically happen. We’ll keep you posted.
How many days has it been since the owners locked out the players?
90 days, and it looks like we might as well start hunkering down for another 90 days.
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The MLB-imposed deadline to end the MLB-imposed lockout is here - McCovey Chronicles
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In what turned out to be a huge night for nascent streamer Apple TV+, CODA and Ted Lasso were the biggest winners at the SAG Awards 2022, taking home the top ensemble prizes for feature films and TV comedy, respectively. With a drama ensemble win for Sucecssion but two individual acting awards for Squid Game stars Hoyeon Jung and Lee Jung-jae, the television drama categories offered a welcome dose of suspense, while longtime awards season favorites like Will Smith (for King Richard) and Ariana Debose (for West Side Story) had the chance, at long last, to give the televised acceptance speeches most awards watchers have been expecting.
Below find a list of all of the SAG nominees, updated live as the show goes on with the winners indicated in bold. For Vanity Fair’s winner predictions, go here, and check back to Awards Insider and VF.com for much, much more SAG Awards coverage, from the red carpet to the best acceptance speeches.
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
Belfast CODA Don’t Look up House of Gucci King Richard
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick…Boom! Will Smith,King Richard
Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jessica Chastain,The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
Lady Gaga, House of Gucci
Jennifer Hudson, Respect
Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Ben Affleck, The Tender Bar
Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza Troy Kotsur,CODA
Jared Leto, House of Gucci
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Caitríona Balfe, Belfast
Cate Blanchett, Nightmare Alley Ariana Debose,West Side Story
Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
Ruth Negga, Passing
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA SERIES
The Handmaid’s Tale The Morning Show Squid Game Succession Yellowstone
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Kieran Culkin, Succession Lee Jung-jae,Squid Game
Jeremy Strong, Succession
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show Hoyeon Jung,Squid Game
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Sarah Snook, Succession
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY SERIES
The Great Hacks The Kominsky Method Only Murders in the Building Ted Lasso
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building Jason Sudeikis,Ted Lasso
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Elle Fanning, The Great
Sandra Oh, The Chair Jean Smart,Hacks
Juno Temple, Ted Lasso
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES
Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus
Oscar Isaac, Scenes From a Marriage Michael Keaton,Dopesick
Ewan McGregor, Halston
Evan Peters, Mare of Easttown
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES
Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus
Cynthia Erivo, Genius: Aretha
Margaret Qualley, Maid
Jean Smart, Mare of Easttown Kate Winslet,Mare of Easttown
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Black Widow Dune The Matrix Resurrections No Time to Die Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES
Cobra Kai The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Loki Mare of Easttown Squid Game
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It's been a challenge all season long for the Blackhawks to score goals, which is why Friday's offensive explosion in an 8-5 win over New Jersey was a little bit of a weight lifted off their shoulders. That also ended a seven-game winless skid at home.
Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, they couldn't capitalize on that momentum on Sunday afternoon. They were shut out for the sixth time this season — second against the St. Louis Blues — and gave their fans little to cheer about.
Seth Jones has been really good since being acquired by Chicago over the offseason, but you can sense the dejection in his voice when talking about another defeat in which the Blackhawks didn't give themselves a chance.
"I hope it's getting through our heads here," Jones said following the 4-0 loss. "It sucks losing like this, at home, the way we're losing. It's not fun for us, for the fans, for anybody."
Jones, of course, signed an eight-year extension with the Blackhawks one week after the trade, which indicated he wants to finish his career in Chicago. You don't sign a contract like that if you don't believe the future for the organization is bright, and the Blackhawks' trajectory appeared to be pointing up after the flurry of offseason moves.
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Patrick Kane has been here for the highest of highs in franchise history and has been one of the leaders in helping the Blackhawks try to maintain a winning culture through the retooling seasons. He doesn't want the younger players to get comfortable with losing, and he doesn't get the sense that they are.
"I think a lot of what’s been going on the last couple of years, you lose games and all of a sudden you start thinking, is this OK? Is this the way it should be?" Kane said after Friday's game. "But when you start looking in the mirror and start taking it upon yourself to make something happen every shift and know the moment that’s on the line, when it gets to crunch time, a lot of these young guys are really doing well in that position, so it’s good to see."
The Blackhawks have relied way too heavily this season on Marc-Andre Fleury, who masks the team's flaws as best as he can. But at some point, they need to figure things out in front of him, because who knows where the Blackhawks would be without him.
"He stood on his head," interim head coach Derek King said. "He was unbelievable. He keeps us in the games every night. ... I don't know know what else to say about this guy."
Videos uploaded to social media are giving a rare view of clashes between Russian and Ukrainian military forces on the streets of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine.
Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, has been the target of frequent Russian military strikes since the invasion began early Thursday morning. Now it's the site of intense street battles as the Russian military attempts to win control of the city.
One sequence of videos uploaded to social media show an attempt by a Russian unit to advance towards an important airfield and arms factory in the northeast of Kharkiv. The airfield at the Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company is small — just a single runway — but might be a useful bridgehead for the Russians.
CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of the videos.
The first video, taken by a resident, shows a convoy of Russian troops surrounding military vehicles, creeping along a roadway that ends near the airfield.
"There are two [military vehicles] as far as I can see," someone says in the video. "A third one is crawling through with infantry who are wielding automatic rifles."
Suddenly, gunfire is heard and seen.
A Russian soldier is seen quickly kneeling and firing a shoulder-fired rocket towards the area where the gunfire appears to be coming from.
A second video, taken after the firefight, shows the military vehicles driving in reverse in an apparent retreat. The Russian troops are seen huddled behind their vehicles.
A Reuters journalist was at the location after the firefight and took video that showed one of the Russian military convoy vehicles abandoned and a significant amount of blood staining the snow on the ground. The Reuters journalist spoke with a resident, identified as Yevgeniy, who told them that at least one Russian soldier was killed.
"After we've killed this one, the others run away," Yevgeniy told Reuters, pointing to a bloody stain in the snow. "They were some 12-15 people. That's it...They won't take Kharkiv. They have run back to where they came from. They don't have good navigation you see. Nothing works for them. They came and were hiding behind the houses," Yevgeniy said.
Their efforts to retreat appear to have been stopped by another attack. A convoy of vehicles — the same type — is seen on fire in another video.
"And that's how we meet the b**** Russian army," someone is heard shouting in the video. "That's how it's going to be for each of them who come to our Kharkiv land."
It's not possible to be absolutely sure that the Russian trucks on fire are the same as those trying to reach the airport, but they are in the same location, are the same type, and bear the same markings.
Another video taken at the site of the abandoned military convoy — the vehicles are no longer on fire — shows Ukrainian troops engaging.
"Give it all to them," a voice yells repeatedly in the video.
Amid the firefight, a Ukrainian soldier steps out from the wall and is seen firing a shoulder-fired rocket.
Later, another video shows Ukrainian troops around the convoy, appearing to rummage through the abandoned vehicles. Sporadic gunfire is heard and some Ukrainian forces move along a wall in the background.
"Slava Ukraini," someone says in the video — "Glory to Ukraine."
"That's how we meet Russian world," another person said. "This will be the same with everyone who will come to stomp on our Kharkiv's lands! There you go with your Russian-Russian letters 'Z!' Everyone will get the same."
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Catch up: Here are some of the ways countries are responding to Russia's invasion of Ukraine - CNN
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I know. “Normal” exists on the washing machine, not in the world. If the last few years haven’t proved that, I don’t know what will, between pandemics, protests, wildfires and … well, you don’t need the litany from me. We’ve all lived it.
And now we have a war half a world away. Demanding attention. Stirring up its own bizarre mix of feelings.
Scott Rochat
Part of mine come from old memories — those of my generation and my parents’ — of the old Cold War flare-ups. Like a standoff in a room full of nitroglycerin, you had to wonder if any sudden move would have devastating results.
Part of it is the same helpless feeling I get in the wake of another school shooting, when the alarm keeps going off with no clear way to answer the call.
On top of it all sits the clash, the collision between peril and mundanity. The little voice that whispers about how frivolous, even silly, some of my thoughts and activities are. Maybe you’ve heard it, too: “How can you even bother doing (X) at a time like this? Don’t you know what’s going on in the world?”
If so, take heart. You may be doing more than the voice knows.
I’m not advocating a callous denial of reality. The world doesn’t need another Nero fiddling while the world burns, or a Scarlett O’Hara complaining about how war is ruining her social life. It’s not about locking out another’s pain to make yourself feel better.
But we’re complicated beings. We’re capable of attending to more than one thing at a time. And when we turn to something that doesn’t have to do with either a crisis or a day-to-day need, it’s not necessarily because we don’t care.
Many times, it’s a release. One acquaintance of mine dances in times of stress. Others turn to music, or to books, or to a mile-long walk to free the anxiety that has nowhere else to go. Engines can’t run hot all the time, and the soul needs cooling down and maintenance just as much.
Sometimes it even goes beyond that. It becomes transformative, channeling the fear and anxiety and anguished hope into something that lifts up instead of presses down.
One of my favorite authors, J.R.R. Tolkien, took this above and beyond. A veteran of World War I, he mingled old battlefield horrors with his love of language and nature to produce a mythology that’s still giving people hope, inspiration and release today.
Naturally, he also had his “times like these“ critics — after all, with so many real problems to address, why waste time on fantasy? His pointed response was that “escape” could be a virtue … except, maybe, in the eyes of jailers.
“Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home?” Tolkien noted in a lecture. “Or if he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls? The world outside has not become less real because the prisoner cannot see it.”
Regeneration. Transformation. Hope. These become especially vital in hard times — not in denial of them, but to better grapple with and endure them.
Don’t turn away. But don’t fear the ordinary, either. It doesn’t have to be a dereliction of duty. It might even be just the thing to make you readier than ever.
The British team animated both races with Tom Pidcock, Ben Turner, Magnus Sheffield and Jhonatan Nárvaez among their roster to go on the attack throughout the weekend.
Narváez came closest to a top result when he was caught just a hundred meters from the line in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday, but throughout the weekend the young squad gelled and showed attacking intent.
Roger Hammond, who joined as a sports director over the winter, came away from the “opening weekend” with a great sense of pride in his riders, and claimed that they were the strongest team in Sunday’s race.
“I feel really pleased with the guys and how quickly that they’ve come together, and how quickly that they’ve formed a really good team that’s worked together. As a team, I’ve not seen that many team performances like that in my lifetime. We come out of the weekend with really something to look forward to. The guys should be really proud and very excited about what’s to come in April,” Hammond said.
It was AGONISINGLY close 😱@NarvaezJho gave it everything, but his break is caught within sight of the line after a thrilling finale at #KBK22
The team came into the weekend with a young roster that included team-leader Pidcock and a number of exciting prospects. Ethan Hayter is still feeling his way back to racing, and Ben Swift crashed on Saturday but Turner was a constant present at key points in both races.
Hammond believes that despite the young age within most of the classics team the rider bonded well and raced intelligently.
“We’re working hard, we’re trying to get things going and there’s a lot going on but that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to calm the chaos. I think that showed with the riders today and how they road. They had a plan, they committed to it, and they executed it. The result is the cherry but if they ride like that then the results will follow. It makes it all worthwhile to see them race like that,” he added.
On Sunday the team created several important splits and Narváez was part of a three-man move that almost claimed the race from eventual winner Fabio Jakobsen.
The Ineos rider was caught just shy of the line and he eventually finished 39th but his performance, and those from his teammates around him, suggested that the team could be genuine contenders for top honors once the cobbled season resumes next month.
“Look at the age of the guys on the team, and this is only their second one-day race together. That’s pretty impressive,” added Hammond.
“We were by far the best-placed team in the race today. The second-best team was nowhere near us today. So if we take that home from today, that’s pretty bloody impressive. I find it really impressive because there’s real headspace. We’ll keep pushing, keep working, and that’s why I’m so excited with what’s to come. These guys are learning, we’ve got the talent, we’ve got the attitude, the desire and the hunger. If they ride like this they’re going to win.”
The Belgian classics without the fans are just not the same.
For the first time since the 2020 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, spectators were allowed back into the iconic Kuipke velodrome in the center of Gent for one of the best pre-race team presentations of the year.
About 4,000 people — with their COVID-19 vaccination pass in hand — rolled into the small track to welcome the men’s peloton ahead of the start of the race.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, which is organized by Flanders Classics, was one of the final races to be run under “normal” conditions two years ago. Race operations are not quite back to normal yet, with access to team busses completely restricted, but the buzz around the start felt like a big step back to normality.
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“It feels like the first day of school for all of us. Not just for me, but for the whole organization, for the press, and the fans,” Flanders Classics CEO Tomas Van Den Spiegel told VeloNews. “Even though we can’t yet welcome fans to the riders, I saw in ‘t Kuipke that there are several thousand people. It’s really exciting and this is what you do it for.
“The last two years have been really tough on us on the logistical side but also on the emotional side, because you want to offer emotions to the people. We couldn’t do it the same that we used to so that’s the feeling today. The sun is out, and everybody is happy so that helps.”
Around 4,000 people packed into the Kuipke velodrome in Gent (Photo: Bas Czerwinski/Getty Images)
While it might not be the same outpouring of excitement that we saw at the road world championships in Flanders late last year, the atmosphere in ‘t Kuipke was still akin to a concert with fans rapturously welcoming each team onto the stage.
“It took me a little moment to realize that it was the velodrome because there were so many people, but I think it just shows the unique atmosphere with racing in Belgium,” Magus Sheffield, who is making his debut at the race, said shortly before the start. “There’s nothing like this in the US. I think it’s really about soaking up all of the memories so I can remember it in 20 years.”
Oliver Naesen is riding his eighth Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and experienced last year’s behind closed doors edition. Though it’s not yet back to business as usual, he’s happy to see fans being able to get a taste of the race up close.
“It’s nice, it’s good that almost everybody is back. Normally there are people at the busses but it’s a good start,” Naesen said.
The relaxation of COVID-19 rules as the latest omicron wave of the virus has subsided in recent weeks has allowed for the organizers to open their doors, literally and metaphorically. The cheering fans and bustling roadside is a stark difference to the last two years where you’d have been almost able to hear a pin drop at the start of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
The riders got a rock star entry into the velodrome (Photo: David Stockman/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images)
With the last two years showing us that anything can change at any moment, Van Den Spiegel hopes that the opening up of races to the fans will continue into the heart of the spring classics.
“We have a legal framework now in Belgium that allows us to have fans inside, with some demands. We are very happy that we can welcome 4,000 fans inside ‘t Kuipke,” van den Spiegel said. “I’ve been in the organization since 2018 so half of my time has been crisis management during COVID-19. It has been tough on us, and it felt like crisis management. It still feels like that but at the same time you get a lot of satisfaction.
“Everything is going for us, we will keep our fingers crossed and we won’t take anything for granted.”
Looking for a new home may seem like a daunting task these days.
Prices are up, inventory is low and mortgage rates are rising.
That's why, in this environment, it pays to do your homework before you enter the market. Once you start looking, you'll have to move at light speed to place an offer, explains Jessica Lautz, vice president of demographics and behavioral insights for the National Association of Realtors.
"As interest rates are climbing, there has been a rush to lock in lower relative rates, while at the same time the inventory of homes has hit all-time lows," she said.
The median price of a home in January jumped to $350,300, an increase of 15.4% from January 2021, according to the National Association of Realtors. Homes are spending an average of 19 days on the market.
Meanwhile, the mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan is 4.17%, according to Mortgage Daily News. Early last year, they were less than 3%.
With that in mind, here's what you can do now to put yourself in the best position to find your new home.
Learn the language
Becoming familiar with real-estate lingo, like closing costs and home inspections, is part of the process. Yet learning the language before you jump in can help you move quickly.
"Your offer will likely be up against other buyers, so educate yourself with your agent on what terms like earnest deposit, appraisal contingency, home inspection contingency, and appraisal gap mean before viewing homes," Lautz suggested.
Earnest money is the deposit you put down on the property you'd like to buy. It shows good faith, and the funds eventually go toward the down payment and closing costs. An appraisal contingency is a provision in your contract that allows you to back out if the appraisal price comes in lower than the sale price. That difference in the appraisal and sale prices is known as an appraisal gap.
Similarly, a home inspection contingency gives you an out if there are issues that arise during the home inspection. In both cases, you can also try to negotiate with the seller instead of pulling out of the sale.
Since competition is so fierce, many buyers have been waving contingencies in order to get a leg up.
Make a list
Write down your "must-haves" and your "nice-to-haves," said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com.
This way, when you have to make a quick decision you already know what trade-offs you want to make.
It can also help you in a bidding war, which is easy to get carried away with in a highly competitive market.
"Focus on the goal you set out for yourself, like your list of must-haves and nice-to-haves and your budget," Hale said. "Stick to that. Be persistent."
Tackle debt
Momo Productions | Digitalvision | Getty Images
Mortgage lenders will look at your debt-to-income ratio, which is the amount of debt relative to your income, when determining your loan. If you have debt, try to pay it down before you start house hunting, Lautz advises.
Consider using any bonus money or cash gifts to pay it off. If you don't have debt, put that cash into savings to help with your down payment.
Know your credit
Your credit score is also an important factor in getting a mortgage and the type of loan you'll get. It also impacts the interest rate you'll receive and potentially how much money you need for a down payment.
By checking your credit score ahead of time, you'll know whether you'll need to make any changes or adjustments to try to increase that number.
Also, get a copy of your credit report to check for any errors or unpaid bills, which may also affect your credit score. Consumers can get their credit report up to once a week for free from the nation's three largest credit reporting firms — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — through April.
Talk to a mortgage lender
Reach out to a lender as soon as possible, at least to ask questions and find out what they need from you in order to preapprove a mortgage.
Using online calculators can help you figure out what you can afford and whether it makes sense to buy or rent. You'll also want to know how much money you'll need to bring to closing, since there are fees — known as closing costs — that are due in addition to your down payment.
You can also get preapproved for a mortgage before you start house hunting, since you'll need it before you submit a contract for a house.
Have a budget
Just because you are preapproved by a mortgage lender for a certain amount of money to spend doesn't mean that is your budget.
Look at your monthly expenses to determine what you can afford to pay each month. Don't forget about interest rates. If they continue to rise before you close on the home, they will increase your monthly mortgage payments.
Consider expanding your market, if possible, to find lower-priced options.
"This is the time to go to overlooked areas if there are any in your market," Lautz said.
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Before rushing into the hot housing market, here’s how to set yourself up for success - CNBC
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