Corps Members Get Over N3.2Million Business Grant

Business News

The Director General of National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General YD Ahmed has said his administration would continue to partner with stakeholders that are ready to empower Corps Members towards self-employment.
He said that as stated in his five-point policy thrust, his administration would leave no stone unturned in reducing the number of unemployed graduate youths in the country.
General Ahmed disclosed this when Five Corps Members received business grant from the Founder of Activate Success International Foundation, Mrs Love Idoko Uloko, at the NYSC National Directorate Headquarters in Maitama, Abuja.
The Corps beneficiaries are; Enwemeka Blessing FC/24A/5897, Abdumalik Ibrahim FC/24A/6157, Akande Olaitan Sunday FC/24B/3856, Blessing Ijeoma Omachi FC/24B/5031 and Emmanuel Ali FC/24B/0603.
While the first three received Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira each, the last two received Five Hundred Thousand Naira each.
Their business ideas revolved round fashion, food and confectionaries, horticulture among others.
In her address, Mrs Uloko said the beneficiaries were selected through a rigorous, transparent and merit-based process, adding that they have demonstrated creativity, resilience, and a clear vision for the future with good potentials.
“As of today, we have supported 53 Corps Members through this initiative. We are investing in dreams, nurturing potential and sowing seeds of success that will flourish for years to come.
For over seven years, Activate Success International Foundation has partnered with the NYSC to bring transformative opportunities to Corps Members across the country to pursue their gifts, discover their talents and build purposeful lives.
Through this programme, we are creating a ripple effect of growth and innovation by building a generation of self-reliant leaders who are equipped to contribute meaningfully to the society”, she added.
She appreciated the NYSC Director General and his Management team for their unwavering partnership and dedication towards empowering Nigerian youths.

Business taxpayer? State copies of income record forms due soon

Business News

NEWS RELEASEMICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY************************Business taxpayers are reminded that they must submit state copies of their 2024 income record forms — such as W-2s, 1099-NEC, 1099-MISC and 1099-R — to the Michigan Department of Treasury on or before Jan. 31, 2025. Business taxpayers can submit their 1099-MISC on or before Feb. 28 for paper filers and on or before March 31 for electronic filers.

Business taxpayers may send their income record forms to Treasury through one of the following options, depending on how many W-2s and 1099s the entity issues:

Michigan Treasury Online (MTO): While open to all taxpayers, businesses issuing 250 or more income record forms are required to use MTO to send W-2 and 1099 forms. Taxpayers and tax professionals can create a personal user profile and upload these forms. For guidance, visit the MTO Help Center.

Mailed Magnetic Media: Treasury accepts magnetic media filing from taxpayers with fewer than 250 forms. Details for mailing magnetic media can be found on Transmittal for Magnetic Media Reporting of W-2s, W-2Gs and 1099s (Form 447).

Paper Form Mailing: Paper copies of income record forms may be mailed by issuers with fewer than 250 forms to the following address:

Michigan Department of TreasuryLansing, MI 48930.

No additional documentation is needed with paper form mailing.

Combined Federal/State Filing (CF/SF) Program: Michigan participates in this federal file sharing program. The IRS sends certain electronically filed income record form information to Michigan, satisfying a taxpayer’s filing requirement with Treasury.

Notably, while Form 1099-NEC is eligible for this program federally, Michigan requires direct filing of the state copy with Treasury. For more information, including requirements and limitations, review Treasury’s Income Record Form Remittance Guide.

Although most income record forms are due on or before Jan. 31, 2025, the Sales, Use and Withholding Taxes Annual Return (Form 5081) is still due on Feb. 28, 2025. W-2s and 1099s should not be submitted with Form 5081.

To learn more about Michigan’s tax system, go to www.michigan.gov/taxes or follow Treasury on X, or on LinkedIn.

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US V-P J.D. Vance says big tech still ‘on notice’ in clash over free speech

Technology

WASHINGTON – US Vice-President J.D. Vance said big tech companies remain “very much on notice” under the Trump administration to avoid content moderation that conservatives view as censorship. “We believe fundamentally that big tech does have too much power,” Mr Vance said in an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation broadcast on Jan 26. “They can either respect Americans’ constitutional rights, they can stop engaging in censorship, and if they don’t, you can be absolutely sure that Donald Trump’s leadership is not going to look too kindly on them.”Mr Vance’s comments reflect a long-standing allegations by Mr Trump and his supporters that tech companies and social-media platforms exhibit anti-conservative bias by seeking to moderate content.On Jan 20, the day of his inauguration to a second presidential term, Mr Trump issued an executive order against “government censorship” that forbids federal employees or officers from interfering in constitutional free speech rights.After leaving office in 2021, Mr Trump complained that Alphabet Inc’s Google suppresses good news about him and accused Meta Platforms of unfairly banning him from Facebook and Instagram in 2021.Since he won reelection in November, tech CEOs have made pilgrimages to Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and donated to his inaugural fund. Alongside Trump ally Elon Musk, inauguration attendees included Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.Mr Zuckerberg has sought to reposition Meta as more friendly to Mr Trump after years of conflict. In January, the company moved to end third-party fact-checking on its platforms, a decision Mr Trump hailed.Mr Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, said content moderation systems at the company had “gone too far” and were blocking free expression too often.Mr Trump clashed with X – then known as Twitter – in 2020 after it fact-checked posts from him, saying one had violated the platform’s rules over “glorifying violence” and others about mail-in voting it called “potentially misleading.”Mr Trump accused the company of censorship and threatened to shut it down before signing an executive order intended to limit social-media companies’ liability protections that asked agencies to take appropriate actions.Platforms including Facebook and Twitter suspended Mr Trump over posts seen as encouraging rioters during the Jan 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol.After buying the Twitter platform, Mr Musk lifted its ban on Mr Trump in 2022. Meta reinstated Mr Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in Jaunary 2023 after a two-year suspension. BLOOMBERGMore on this TopicJoin

Andrea Brooks Was Pregnant While Filming ‘When Calls the Heart’ Season 12

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

TVBrooks, who plays Dr. Faith Carter on the Hallmark Channel show, welcomed her third child in November 2024.

Published on January 26, 2025

2 min read

Yes, that’s a baby bump! Andrea Brooks, who plays Dr. Faith Carter on When Calls the Heart, was pregnant while filming season 12 of the Hallmark Channel show. 

Is Faith pregnant on ‘When Calls the Heart’? 

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On Jan. 5, Brooks took to Instagram to tease the new season of When Calls the Heart. 

“Watch me grow a baby during the filming of season 12,” she captioned the video that showed her progressing through her pregnancy. 

Brooks also quickly clarified that Faith is not expecting a baby this season. 

“And NO my character is not pregnant,” she added. However, Faith recently became a mom when she informally adopted a young girl named Lily (Chloe McKinnon). Brooks told TV Insider that it was a happy change that was “a long time coming” for the doctor. She added that Faith’s “heart cracks open” when she welcomes Lily into her life.

At this point, Brooks is a seasoned pro when it comes to hiding a baby bump from the cameras. She was also pregnant during filming for seasons 7 and 10. In another post, she gave a shout-out to her body double and the show’s costume designer “for not believing me when I said I wouldn’t be needing my maternity wardrobe after season 10.”

Clever use of props such as Faith’s medical bag also helped conceal Brooks’ growing bump. 

“Take a shot every time you see Faith holding a prop… No! Wait! Don’t! the results would be disastrous!” she joked on social media. 

Andrea Brooks welcomed baby no. 3 in November 2024 

Brooks filmed right up to her due date, she said.

“Thankfully I didn’t go into labour in Hope Valley,” she said. “I wouldn’t exactly have been able to call Faith for help.”

The actor and her husband, Riley Graydon, welcomed their third child in November 2024. “Baby Angus. Earthside,” she wrote in the Instagram announcement, which featured a photo of her and her newborn son. Their first child was born in 2019 and their second in 2022. 

In a 2019 interview with ET, Brooks praised Hallmark for being “wonderful and supportive” during her first pregnancy. She added that she would have loved to include her real-life pregnancy into her character’s storyline.  

“I think it would be neat to integrate an actual pregnancy into a character’s storyline, but that is ultimately not up to me,” she said. “There are many creative ways to deal with pregnancy while shooting.” 

When Calls the Heart Season 12 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel. Episodes stream the next day on Hallmark+. 

For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.

2-alarm fire hits Commerce Avenue business

Business News

Authorities say a two-alarm fire hit a downtown Longview business early Sunday.The Longview Fire Department did not name the business in a Sunday press release but photos show crews working near Kathie’s Clutters and Crafts and All In Saloon, both located at 1315 Commerce Ave. in different suites.No injuries were reported, the notice states, but crews faced a complicated building structure after decades of remodels.

Crews work to put out a fire in a business in downtown Longview on Sunday, Jan. 26.

Longview Fire Department, Contributed

Crews were dispatched at 3:15 a.m. to the 1300 block of Commerce, where, according to the press release, police found a first-floor unnamed business fully engulfed in flames.

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Fire units called for backup and worked for an hour to put out the blaze and ensure it didn’t spread to the roof of the early 1920s construction which has undergone remodels and houses apartments above the businesses.

Crews work to extinguish a fire on Commerce Avenue early Sunday, Jan. 26 in Longview. 

Longview Fire Department, Contributed

The fire was contained to the first business, but nearby units sustained smoke and heat damage, the notice states.“It’s hard to express how rigorous the firefighters worked to save the neighboring units, let alone the entire city block,” said Longview Fire Battalion Chief Matt Amos in the press release. “This was not your typical house fire, but a complex, aging commercial occupancy threatening residential units that stretch over multiple city blocks. Without their quick work, this could have been much worse.”Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue and Medix Ambulance also responded. The cause of the fire is under investigation. 

Crews work to put out a commercial fire in downtown Longview on Sunday, Jan. 26.

Longview Fire Department, Contributed

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Scientists Find Signs of Life Deep Inside the Earth

Science and Health

Deep, deep underground.Little FriendsWe’ve heard of underground parties, but this is ridiculous. A new study by an international team of researchers has uncovered troves of microbes thriving in the hostile subsurface of the earth, far from the life-giving energy of the sun.The findings, published in the journal ScienceAdvances, are the culmination of eight years of first-of-its-kind research comparing over 1,400 datasets from microbiomes across the world.Chief among the findings is that the dank cracks of the planet’s crust could be home to over half of microbial cells on Earth, challenging our previous — and logical — understanding that life gets less diverse and abundant the farther it gets from the sun.”It’s commonly assumed that the deeper you go below the Earth’s surface, the less energy is available, and the lower is the number of cells that can survive,” said lead author Emil Ruff, a microbial ecologist at the famed Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, in a news release about the research. “Whereas the more energy present, the more diversity can be generated and maintained — as in tropical forests or coral reefs, where there’s lots of sun and warmth.””But we show that in some subsurface environments,” he added, “the diversity can easily rival, if not exceed, diversity at the surface.”BreakthroughThat comparable diversity is the key to the group’s breakthrough — the researchers wrote in their paper that “species richness and evenness in many subsurface environments rival those in surface environments,” in what the team is calling a previously unknown “universal ecological principle.”The study is notable not only for its findings, but also for its methodology.Prior to the team’s work, which began in 2016, there was little concerted effort to standardize microbial datasets from around the globe, due to differences in collection and analysis standards. That changed thanks to a survey led by Bay Paul Center molecular biologist Mitchell Sogin — also a coauthor of the new paper — who organized a drive to standardize microbial DNA datasets from researchers around the world.The team’s comparative work is built on these standardized datasets, allowing them to compare a sample sourced by a team at the University of Utah to that of a sample from the Universidad de Valladolid in Spain.It’s a captivating tale of international collaboration and deep-diving research — paving the way for a fascinating and previously overlooked avenue of research.More on microorganisms: Researchers Say “Conan the Bacterium” Could Be Hidden Beneath Mars’ SurfaceShare This Article