Raphael Stevens

The Battery is a lively venue featuring shops, bars and restaurants from local chefs at Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves MLB team as the facility is currently closed while sports are on quarantine during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Atlanta, Georgia on April 18, 2020.David J. Griffin | Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesMajor League Baseball is discussing the status of its 2021 All-Star Game in Atlanta as more corporations publicly oppose a new voting law recently passed in Georgia.The league is gathering feedback from teams and executives about the matter before coming to a decision on relocating the game. Baseball’s midsummer event is scheduled for July 13 at Truist Park, the Braves home field.MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told The Associated Press the league expects to have “substantive conversations” with MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark about moving the game. But Manfred didn’t go into detail about MLB’s plan or its stance on the new law.”I am talking to various constituencies within the game and I’m just not going beyond that in terms of what I would consider or not consider,” Manfred said.Georgia lawmakers passed a bill that will overhaul state elections. The new law adds guidelines around mail-in ballots, voter registration and provides state officials more authority around how elections are operated. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed the changes into law on March 25.Critics of Georgia’s new voting laws say it will suppress votes, especially among people of color in underserved areas. In an interview with ESPN, President Joe Biden criticized the changes, calling it “Jim Crow on steroids.” The president added he would support moving the MLB All-Star Game.Kemp defended the law when he appeared Wednesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” saying it gives more people the chance to vote on weekends. Kemp also said calls to move the All-Star game is “ridiculous” in an interview with Fox News.On Wednesday, top Wall Street executives, including Merck’s CEO Ken Frazier, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian and former American Express CEO Ken Chenault expressed displeasure around the new law.”Corporations have to stand up. There is no middle ground,” said Chenault, who appeared with Frazier on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” The executives called for more companies to publicly stand against elements of Gregoria overhauled voting laws.Economic falloutShould the city lose the game, it could suffer financially.According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, local taxpayers would pay $2 million for expenses to host MLB’s event but would see a great return on that investment. The 2019 All-Star Game was projected to bring in $65 million for Cleveland. According to baseball-almanac, the last time Atlanta hosted the game in 2000, it generated $49 million.”There is economic impact,” said Bill Squires, an expert in sports facilities and event management. “People are going to travel there for the weekend; watch the home run contest, the game on Monday. There is hotels, Uber, restaurants, airfare, rental cars — there is economic impact, no doubt.”CNBC coverage of Georgia’s election lawAlso see these CNBC stories regarding Georgia’s new voting measure:Major U.S. companies take aim at Georgia’s new voting restrictionsGeorgia Gov. Brian Kemp dismisses corporate backlash over election lawBiden condemns GOP-backed voting restrictions in Georgia as an attack on the ConstitutionThough moving the game could be difficult logistically, Squires, who formerly managed Yankee Stadium, said he would be shocked if MLB doesn’t already have a contingency plan, especially in a pandemic. He used the National Football League as an example.”Knowing how sports operate, just think about the NFL with the situation with the San Francisco 49ers who couldn’t play at Levi Stadium and relocated quickly to State Farm Stadium in (Arizona)” said Squires, who is also a lecturer at Columbia University. “The contingency plans are always in effect; they have to be. I’d be shocked if every league doesn’t have a backup plan for the primary location because it’s contingent on what is going on in the world.”Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. presents the Commissioner’s Trophy to the Houston Astros owner Jim Crane after the Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, November 1, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.Alex Trautwig | Getty ImagesDoes MLB have a stance?Should MLB move its contest, it wouldn’t be the first time a professional league relocated a significant event due to a controversial law.In 2016, the National Basketball Association removed its 2017 All-Star contest from North Carolina after “House Bill 2,” also known as the “bathroom bill,” restricted rights among the LGBT community. The NCAA also suspended its championship events in the state. The bill was eventually repealed and the NBA returned the event to Charlotte in 2019.”It has stained our reputation, it has discriminated against our people, and it has caused great economic harm in many of our communities,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said in 2017 after the bill was overturned.But as MLB remains quiet on its stance, it could harm baseball’s image. Patrick Rishe, director of the sports business program at Washington University in St. Louis, said MLB’s lack of action could alienate younger fans.”If MLB is serious in catering to a younger audience, and that has been a major goal, their actions in this matter will say a lot,” Rishe said. “These younger fans, they want the brands they utilize to stand for something and they also want their teams and their leagues to stand for something.”MLB opens its 2021 regular-season on Thursday, returning to a 162-game format after playing only 60 games last season due to the pandemic. More

aldomurillo | E+ | Getty ImagesRetired, vaccinated and ready to hit the road? Don’t forget to check whether your Medicare plan will travel with you.While coverage when you’re away from home depends partly on where you’re headed, it also hinges on the specifics of your coverage. Whether the care you receive is routine or emergency also can play a part.Roughly 70% percent of individuals age 65 or older have now received their first Covid shot, and 43% are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As more of the population becomes inoculated against the virus, travel is again on the minds of people who have hunkered down for the last year.Here’s what to know about the differences in Medicare coverage away from home.The nitty grittyBasic, or original, Medicare consists of Part A (hospital coverage) and Part B (outpatient care). Individuals who choose to stick with that coverage — instead of going with an Advantage Plan — typically pair it with a stand-alone prescription-drug plan (Part D).If this is your situation, coverage while traveling in the U.S. and its territories is fairly straightforward: You can go to any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare (most do), whether for routine care or an emergency. It’s when you venture beyond U.S. borders that things get trickier.”If you travel outside the U.S., Medicare doesn’t cover you except in very limited or rare circumstances,” said Danielle Roberts, co-founder of insurance firm Boomer Benefits.More from The New Road to Retirement:Required minimum distributions are back — and differentHow marginal and effective tax rates differHow Social Security’s services have changed during the pandemicThose exceptions include when you’re on a ship within the territorial waters adjoining the country — within six hours of a U.S. port — or you’re traveling from state to state but the closest hospital to treat you is in a foreign country (i.e., you’re in Canada while heading to Alaska from the 48 contiguous states).Be aware that amid the ongoing pandemic, the State Department has numerous advisories in effect for foreign travel. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is requiring all air passengers — including citizens — heading for the U.S. (or returning to it) to show proof of a negative Covid test, or proof of recently recovering from the virus.Nevertheless, if you are eyeing a different country for a vacation, pairing basic Medicare with a supplemental policy — aka Medigap — may give you some coverage abroad.If you travel outside the U.S., Medicare doesn’t cover you except in very limited or rare circumstances.Danielle RobertsCo-founder of Boomer BenefitsThose policies, which are generally standardized across states but vary in cost, offer some coverage for the cost-sharing that goes with basic Medicare, such as copays and co-insurance. Some of them also have limited coverage for foreign travel, said Elizabeth Gavino, founder of Lewin & Gavino and an independent broker and general agent for Medicare plans.”A member pays a $250 deductible and 20% of the cost of the medical treatment received, up to a lifetime maximum of $50,000,” Gavino said.Be aware that this coverage applies to medically necessary emergency care and there may be other restrictions, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.Advantage PlansFor beneficiaries who get their Medicare benefits — Parts A, B and typically D — through an Advantage Plan, it’s worth checking to see if you get any coverage for emergencies while abroad. And even if you don’t leave U.S. soil, you should see what your plan would cover.While Advantage Plans are required to cover your emergency care anywhere in the U.S., you may be on the hook for routine care outside of their service area. “With a traditional HMO plan, when you travel outside the network, you have emergency coverage only,” Roberts said. “With a PPO, you have both coverage for emergencies and out-of-network coverage for non-emergencies [but] will pay more for these out of network services.”There also are hybrid plans that may allow limited out-of-network treatment under certain circumstances, Roberts said.It’s possible that your Advantage Plan will disenroll you if you remain outside of their service area for a certain length of time — typically six months. In that situation, you’d be switched to basic Medicare.Some beneficiaries, regardless of their specific coverage, purchase travel medical insurance for trips overseas, Gavino said. More

In this articleFNKOThe Merch Awakens: ‘Star Wars’ blitz before film opens’ Funko Pop Star Wars action figures line the shelves at Meltdown Comics and Collectibles in Los Angeles on October 30, 2015.Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty ImagesShares of Funko surged more than 12% in premarket trading Thursday after the pop culture collectible maker said it acquired a majority stake in TokenWave, putting it into the NFT market.TokenWave is behind the TokenHead app and website, which tracks nonfungible token, or NFT, holdings.Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.Funko, known for its dolls with oversized heads, said it plans to launch its own NFT offerings in June. A new one will be introduced each week, starting at $9.99, it said.”Our strategy in this space is clear — bring the value-added NFT opportunity to our licensing partners to leverage our broad range of existing pop culture content across television, movies, sports, music, anime, video games and comic books,” Funko CEO Brian Mariotti said in a statement.Funko has a market cap of $959.4 million. Its stock is up more nearly 414% over the past 12 months, as of Wednesday’s market close.Find the full press release from Funko here. More

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320 takes off from Los Angeles international Airport on August 27, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.AaronP | Bauer-Griffin | GC Images | Getty ImagesFrontier Airlines raised $570 million in an initial public offering, the latest U.S. carrier to take that route as the industry starts to see signs of a recovery, the company said late Wednesday.The Denver-based budget carrier sold 30 million shares that priced at $19 apiece, the low end of the target range, which gave it a valuation of about $4 billion.Frontier starts trading Thursday under the ticker ULCC, the initials of the ultra-low-cost carrier, on Nasdaq Global Select Market. More

In this articleTWTRAZN-GBPFEBNTXMRNAA health worker seen holding vials of AstraZeneca vaccine.SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty ImagesLONDON — There are signs that Europe’s diverging — and changing — usage rules when it comes to the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford are sowing further confusion and mistrust among citizens.Not only have EU citizens had to contend with a barrage of negative sentiment toward the vaccine, even from top officials themselves, but they’ve also seen the shot suspended by more than a dozen European countries following concerns over a small number of reports of blood clots.The European Medicines Agency and World Health Organization, following safety reviews of the data, recommended continued use of the shot, saying its benefits outweighed possible risks. But those fears have not gone away, with confusion now reigning over which age group should, and can, take the vaccine.On Tuesday, Germany suspended use of the AstraZeneca shot in all citizens under 60, citing renewed concerns after a small number of reports of rare but serious blood clots. Earlier this week, some hospitals in Berlin had initially stopped vaccinating women under 55 with AstraZeneca’s shot.Germany had initially only permitted the vaccine to be used in the under-65s, saying there was not enough data to show it was safe and effective for the elderly, although it reversed that decision in early March.Meanwhile, Spain decided on Wednesday to extend the use of the vaccine to essential workers over 65 years old. The vaccine had until then been restricted to the 55-to-65 age group, but will now be made available to priority groups in that age group such as health workers, police officers or teachers.In France, the AstraZeneca vaccine was also initially not permitted for the over-65s, with French President Emmanuel Macron, now criticized for his armchair epidemiology by many French commentators, saying erroneously that the vaccine was “quasi-ineffective” for the over-65s.France later reversed that stance as more clinical trial data emerged, saying that the vaccine would be allowed for people affected by co-morbidities, including those aged between 65 and 74.Confused yet? You’re not alone. Comments on Twitter show that people on both sides are confused over official stances toward the vaccine. One Twitter user based in Germany noted that “you can’t blame people for being confused” after he listed the twists and turns that have characterized the timeline of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.Another user, Aetera, based in Germany noted that “everyone here is confused whether it is good or bad” while another British Twitter user, Mike Carrivick, said the reversal of usage rules around the vaccine was the “irony of ironies” but one with a potentially serious consequence. He noted: “No wonder many are confused and lives put at risk.”London-based Kristen Covo was another Twitter user expressing her confusion over AstraZeneca’s safety credentials following its suspension in a handful of European countries, and then the resumption of its use following the EMA and WHO’s advice.With regard to the question of administering the second vaccine dose to younger people who have already received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Germany’s vaccine committee said it would issue guidance on the matter by the end of April.The ambivalent, and changing, stance taken by European countries toward the vaccine has been made all the more confusing by an accompanying narrative (and big dispute) over supplies of the shot.The EU has repeatedly lambasted the drugmaker for not living up to its supply delivery schedule while at the same time, various EU officials and leaders have provoked doubts on the vaccine’s efficacy, which in turn has prompted vaccine skepticism among many EU citizens.One BBC reporter based in Brussels noted that it had been labeled the “Aldi vaccine,” after the low-cost grocery store, because people saw the shot as the budget option. There are other reports of people requesting the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna shots instead of the AstraZeneca vaccine.As one English Twitter user called gazztrade questioned on Wednesday, does the EU “want the AstraZeneca vaccine or not?” More

Perhaps best known for his work on 2018’s “Crazy Rich Asians,” Jon M. Chu has been working as a director in Hollywood since 2008.His films span multiple genres, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to action flicks and, most recently, musicals. Chu’s latest release, a filmed version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning Broadway hit “In the Heights,” is due out this summer.Next, he’ll take on Stephen Schwartz’s “Wicked.””I think we have a lot to say and, therefore, a lot to do,” Chu said during CNBC’s “Race and Opportunity in America” special on Wednesday. “I think the doors are opening now.”However, the journey to the director’s chair wasn’t an easy one for Chu.”I would say one of the biggest barriers for me growing up was the fact that people didn’t think Hollywood was a place for an Asian-American director,” Chu said. “There were Asian directors from other places, but an Asian-American director, the voice of that, the who we are and what we have to say, I think, wasn’t quite there yet.”In the last few years, Asian representation in Hollywood has grown, but there’s still room for improvement.Chu, for his part, in 2018 helped bring the first Hollywood release to feature a mostly Asian cast to the big screen since 1993’s “The Joy Luck Club.””Crazy Rich Asians” tallied $238 million globally and was widely embraced by critics and audiences alike.”Representation is showing the world who you are at, at its most intimate levels,” Chu said. “Showing your languages, not just actual word languages but the love language of food, the love language of insults, of class in terms of what self-worth is, not just the worth of your car.””Crazy Rich Asians” focused heavily on how it feels for an Asian-American to go through a cultural identity crisis when traveling to Asia for the first time, Chu said. The realization being that Asian-Americans belong to both worlds.”I think sharing our culture on the big screen where people have to pay money or subscribe to, saying we’re worth your time and your space to hear our stories is huge,” he said. More