Kolotol: May 2022

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Lansing offering free 2-hour parking downtown this summer - Lansing State Journal

Monday, May 30, 2022

Carnegie Hall Celebrates 10th Anniversary Of Lullaby Project With Free, Online Concert - Forbes

Carnegie Hall will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Lullaby Project, which pairs parents with professional artists to write and sing personal lullabies for their babies, on June 10 with a special online concert.

This free, livestreamed celebration, at 4 p.m. EDT, will feature lullabies written by families in New York City and around the world, as well as the stories behind the songs, from the community of artists, songwriters and partners who worked together to create them. Performers will include parents and Carnegie Hall teaching artists, such as Grammy Award-winner Falu Shah, Juana Luna, Emily Eagen and Starr Busby, among others.

The concert will be livestreamed on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook and YouTube pages and available online directly after on YouTube.

The Lullaby Project puts together professional artists with pregnant women and new mothers and fathers to write and sing lullabies for their babies; its goals, Carnegie Hall said, are to support maternal health, aid childhood development and strengthen the bond between parent and child. In New York City, the project works with parents in correctional facilities, foster care, high schools and homeless shelters, while Carnegie Hall said the project works with partner organizations worldwide to support families in their own communities.

The Lullaby Project also offers other free resources—such as instructional guides and a Spotify playlist—for families with babies and toddlers.

The first Lullaby Project was at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx in December 2011; since then, over 2,800 families have composed songs for their children, many available for listening and sharing on Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project Soundcloud page.

Tiffany Ortiz, director of early childhood programs for Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, said, “The power of lullabies resonates broadly—we have seen how writing a lullaby connects parent and child, promotes early childhood development, empowers parents to be sensitive and creative caregivers, and much more. It has been meaningful to watch the project blossom from its inaugural pilot in New York City to being adapted for communities around the world.”

Lullabies have been written in over 20 languages and many musical styles, reflecting the diverse backgrounds of project participants; parents receive a recording of their lullabies to share with their babies.

Since the start of the pandemic, Lullaby Project professional artists have connected directly with U.S. families in free, one-on-one online sessions; parents and caregivers can sign up for these on Carnegie Hall’s website.

In 2018, Decca Gold (Universal Music Group) released Hopes & Dreams: The Lullaby Project, an album of original lullabies written by workshop participants and performed by artists including Fiona Apple, the Brentano String Quartet, Lawrence Brownlee, Rosanne Cash, Joyce DiDonato, Rhiannon Giddens, Angélique Kidjo, Patti LuPone, Natalie Merchant, Dianne Reeves, Pretty Yende and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

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Carnegie Hall Celebrates 10th Anniversary Of Lullaby Project With Free, Online Concert - Forbes
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NHL Power Rankings: Top potential free agents for 2022 offseason - nhl.nbcsports.com

In this week’s edition of the NHL Power Rankings we take a look ahead to the potential 2022 unrestricted free agent class.

Not all of these players will make it to unrestricted free agency as some of them will eventually re-sign with their current team, but quite a few will end up testing the market and ultimately cashing in.

If your team is in the market for a defenseman or starting goaltender you might find the pickings to be slim, but there are quite a few high level forwards that could potentially be available.

You might notice one name missing from the list: Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron. We made the decision to leave him out of the rankings because while his contract is technically expiring, he has made it clear that there are only two realistic options for him: Re-signing with the Boston Bruins or retirement. That does not really make him a fit here with the rest of the players on the rankings.

Which players do make the cut and where do they rank?

To this week’s NHL Power Rankings!

1. Johnny Gaudreau. Gaudreau picked a heck of a team to have a career year and be the second-leading scorer in the NHL. Gaudreau is an incredible talent, one of the most productive players in the league, and is still at an age where he should have a lot of productive hockey ahead of him. Whether it is Calgary or somewhere else, he is going to cash in this offseason.

2. Kris Letang. Letang is not only the best free agent defensemen that could be available on the open market, he is still one of the best defensemen in the league. He might be getting into his mid-30s, but he is in fantastic shape and can still play 25 minutes a game and excel in all phases.

3. Nazem Kadri. The pro: He had an incredible season and is a really good two-way player at a premium position. The concern: He will be 32 when his next contract begins and he has never really produced at this level prior to this season. Can he duplicate that on a different team, and for how many years?

4. Filip Forsberg. Coming off the first 40-goal season of his career and a bonafide first-line winger. Nashville should be able to keep him with its salary cap situation. The question is whether there is a mutual feeling on what he is worth.

5. Evgeni Malkin. If he is healthy he is still an impact player, especially on the power play. Maybe not as dominant as he was at his peak, but you would take him on your team if given the opportunity. It seems weird imagining him in a uniform other than the Penguins.

6. Claude Giroux. Pretty similar to Malkin in the sense that he is not quite the player he was at his peak, but he will definitely make somebody a better hockey team. Would Philadelphia bring him back? Or does he want to take another serious run at a Stanley Cup?

[NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2022 schedule, TV info]

7. Valeri Nichushkin. An outstanding defensive forward and possession driver that has also rediscovered his offensive game. The kind of player that you look at now and think, “I bet our team could get him for a good price,” only to realize every other team in the NHL thinks the same way and then he signs a five-year, $32 million contract on the open market.

8. David Perron. Perron is a steady producer with a track record of being a top-line player on winning teams. Also an overlooked mean streak that some teams will probably love. It probably does not matter where he actually signs because he always finds his way back to St. Louis anyway.

9. Vincent Trocheck. Trocheck is pretty much the ideal second-line center. Can do everything well, good production, and just a rock solid player that would fit on any contender.

10. John Klingberg. Klingberg seems to be the type of player whose reputation will depend on who you ask and when you are asking it. His defense gets a lot of criticism, but he can provide some offense from the blue line and is a better all-around player than his critics might have you believe. But is he the player you want to build your defense around?

11. Ondrej Palat. Palat might sometimes get overlooked on that Tampa Bay roster, but he has been one of the top players for one of the league’s top teams for a decade. Great second or third line forward for a contender. Not sure Tampa Bay will be able to re-sign him with that salary cap situation.

12. Andrew Copp. Outstanding defensive forward whose offensive game reached another level this season. Also had a very strong playoff showing that will boost his value for sure.

13. Evander Kane. Kane is a good player and has been very productive in Edmonton, but when you sign him you are not just signing the player. You are signing everything that comes with the player off the ice, and his off-ice issues are well documented and quite significant (read about them here, here, here, and here). There is a reason Edmonton was able to sign him for so cheap mid-season. But like with Edmonton, it only takes one team being willing to do it.

14.Darcy Kuemper. Finally, a goalie on the list. Kuemper had a great regular season and has a very solid resume over his career. But teams might look at what happened to Phillip Grubauer when he left Colorado and wonder what happens when a 3X-year-old Kuemper is playing behind a worse team.

15. Jack Campbell. Campbell can be very hit and miss. At times over the past two years he has looked like he put everything together, and at other times he has looked just ordinary. How much faith do you have that you are consistently getting the good version?

[Related: Tkachuk, Gaudreau headline offseason questions for Calgary Flames]

16. Andre Burakovsky. Really productive player and one of the younger players on the list, so his play will probably not drop off too much right away.

17. Nino Niederreiter. Not a superstar, but he is going to score you 20-25 goals and be a strong possession driver. That is a valuable top-six winger.

18. Ryan Strome. He ended up being a really good addition for the Rangers the past few years and a solid No. 2 center.

19. Marc-Andre Fleury. At this point Fleury is a short-term solution in goal. He was good this season given the circumstances, but far from the Vezina-level performance he had in 2020-21. And that Vezina season was probably an outlier from recent years.

20. Rickard Rakell. Really nice bounce back season for him and he looked great in Pittsburgh after the trade. He can still be a 20-25 goal scorer with some creativity to his game.

21. Max Domi. Creative playmaker with some defensive shortcomings. Good complementary player but probably not much more than that.

22. Reilly Smith. Very similar player to Niederreiter in terms of what to expect production wise, but maybe not quite the same level of possession driving ability.

23. Brett Kulak. The former Montreal defenseman teams should have been trying to acquire when the Ben Chiarot bidding war happened. Nothing flashy about his play, but he is a very good mid-pairing defender.

24. Mason Marchment. A late bloomer, Marchment had a really nice year for the Panthers. Can he repeat it? How much is that one year at age 26 worth on the open market?

25. P.K. Subban. Still a big name, still extremely talented with the occasional “wow” moment, but not quite the consistent impact player and superstar he was in his prime.

—

Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

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NHL Power Rankings: Top potential free agents for 2022 offseason - nhl.nbcsports.com
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Conroe ISD Offers Free Summer Meals for Children - hellowoodlands.com

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX – The Conroe Independent School District will be sponsoring a summer feeding program for children in our community in an effort to reduce the number of children that go hungry during the summer months.

We will be feeding children, ages 18 and under, free breakfast and lunch meals on the dates below, excluding weekends and holidays – June 20, 2022 and July 4, 2022. Please check our Conroe ISD website for directions.

Locations & Dates:

Giesinger Elementary: June 8-July 1
Hailey Elementary: June 8-July 1
Houser Elementary: June 8-July 1
Houston Elementary: June 8-July 1
Milam Elementary: June 8-July 1
Rice Elementary: June 8-July 1
Grangerland Intermediate: June 8-July 1
Travis Intermediate: June 8-July 1
Wilkerson Intermediate: June 8-July 1
McCullough Junior High: June 8-July 1
Stockton Junior High: June 8-July 1
The Woodlands College Park HS: June 7-July 13

Breakfast Serving Times:

All Schools: 7:30-8:00 am
Travis, Wilkerson, Stockton, McCullough: 7:45-8:15 am

Lunch Serving Times:

All Schools: 11:00 AM-12:30 pm

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the agency (state or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: How to File a Complaint, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:

Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
Fax: (202) 690-7442; or
Email: program.intake@usda.gov

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Conroe ISD Offers Free Summer Meals for Children - hellowoodlands.com
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Heat offseason preview: Tyler Herro extension, free agents and trade market - Hoops Hype

By Yossi Gozlan | May 29, 2022

Miami made a deep playoff run with what may be the most “Heat Culture” team ever in franchise history. They finished first in the Eastern Conference despite having no All-NBA players and being hit by plenty of injuries/load management for most of its starters. Jimmy Butler and Defensive Player of the Year candidate Bam Adebayo led this team to the fourth-best defensive rating this season. They also hit the jackpot on four young players on minimum deals who helped keep them afloat while their core players missed time.

This Heat squad is definitely good enough to win a championship and were very close, but they need to improve on the offensive end. The roster is mostly set going into next season but they could make another strong free-agent addition and could become a sneaky dark horse to trade for an impactful player.

The hard cap and free agents

Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports

Miami is heading into the offseason $13.3 million below the luxury tax assuming PJ Tucker exercises his $7.4 million player option. It’s possible he opts out to receive a slight raise and potentially more years added onto his deal. If he opts out, plenty of teams should be interested in the 37-year-old’s services. The Heat can give Tucker a maximum starting salary of $8.4 million through his Non-Bird rights.

Tucker’s additional $1 million raise shouldn’t impact their offseason plans. They currently are projected to have access to the $10.3 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception (MLE), which would hard cap them. It’s possible they opt to use the taxpayer MLE projected at $6.4 million instead in order to be able to surpass the $156 million apron if a trade opportunity calls for it. Backup center could be a priority with their MLE.

Miami has several free agents they could look to re-sign. Victor Oladipo most notably was relied upon for heavy backup minutes and key defensive assignments in the playoffs. They will have no limitations in re-signing him since they hold his full Bird rights. Caleb Martin is another hidden gem the Heat found last offseason but is headed to free agency. They can tender him a $2.1 million offer sheet to make him a restricted free agent.

Extend or not extend Tyler Herro

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Miami’s lone extension-eligible player this offseason will be fourth-year guard Tyler Herro. He had a career-best season averaging 20.7 points per game on 56 percent true shooting and won Sixth Man of the Year. As important as he was in the regular season, his numbers went down in the playoffs and was often the point of attack on defense, which is a big reason he continues to come off the bench.

Herro’s next contract feels like it could come with a lot of variance. On one hand, the Heat might view him as an elite scorer off the bench and want to pay him as such. One comparison could be the four years, $50 million Utah gave Jordan Clarkson, the previous Sixth Man of the Year. On the other hand, another team might think he’s being underutilized and want to offer him a much more lucrative deal in free agency. What Jordan Poole gets on his next deal could influence Herro’s number.

There are multiple reasons as to why an agreement might not get done. The biggest would be a potential disparity in negotiations, especially if the Heat want to see Herro improve enough to the point that he can hang defensively with their starters. It’s also possible Miami doesn’t view him as a long-term core piece and make him available for trade. If an opportunity arises this offseason, it’s easier to trade Herro without an extension since his incoming salary in a trade for his new team wouldn’t be complicated by the poison pill provision.

Trade market

Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

Miami might not have any blue chip assets or flexibility to put on the table to make a big trade, yet time and time again they manage to get into the bidding for players they may not necessarily have the strongest trade package for. Their acquisitions of Jimmy Butler, Victor Oladipo, and most recently Kyle Lowry have proven that. If scoring guards like Bradley Beal or Donovan Mitchell become available, expect to at least hear about the Heat getting into the mix.

The Heat’s biggest assets include Herro, whose value could be in the eye of the beholder, as well as up to three first-round picks. They can trade either their 2022 or 2023 first-round pick thanks to the mid-season trade with Oklahoma City where they delayed their owed pick obligation from 2023 to 2025. They could also trade either their 2028 or 2029 first-round pick, but could also trade their 2027 first-round pick conditionally in addition to their 2029 pick.

Duncan Robinson seems to be their most likely candidate to be included in a potential trade for salary matching purposes. His remaining four years, $75 million may not be appealing considering he got completely cut from the Heat’s rotation, but he could still be of value to the right team. Robinson and Herro can bring back up to $24.7 million in salary in a trade, so it’s possible they might need to include more salary to acquire the biggest fish.

Ideally, the Heat would want to keep Tucker and their minimum players, so Oladipo’s unique situation could make him a factor in a potential trade. They could include him in a sign-and-trade where he gets a raise substantial enough to inflate the Heat’s outgoing salary. He would need to receive at least a three-year deal with the first-year guaranteed to participate in a sign-and-trade. Due to earning a minimum contract last season, Base Year Compensation will lower his outgoing salary in a sign-and-trade by 50 percent.

2022-23 SALARY SITUATION

Guaranteed salaries: $128,522,450

Non-guaranteed salaries: $7,136,630

Total salary: $135,659,080

Luxury tax space: $13.3 million

Exceptions:

Non-taxpayer Mid-level: $10,349,000

Bi-Annual: $4,050,000

KZ Okpala trade exception: $1,782,621 (expires on February 9, 2023)

Jimmy Butler

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

2022-23 salary: $37,653,300

Remaining salary guaranteed: $182,918,700 through 2025-26

Additional notes: Butler has a player option worth $52 million in 2025-26.

He also has a 15 percent trade bonus that would raise his salary to the maximum amount if traded this season.

Bam Adebayo

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

2022-23 salary: $30,351,780

Remaining salary guaranteed: $134,896,800 through 2025-26

Kyle Lowry

Kyle Lowry, Miami Heat David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

2022-23 salary: $28,333,334

Remaining salary guaranteed: $58,015,874 through 2023-24

Duncan Robinson

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

2022-23 salary: $16,902,000

Remaining salary guaranteed: $64,350,000 through 2025-26

Additional notes: Robinson has an early termination option for 2025-26.

His $19.9 million salary for 2025-26 is partially guaranteed for $9.9 million.

PJ Tucker

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

2022-23 salary: $7,350,000 (player option)

Remaining salary guaranteed: $7,350,000

Additional notes: If Tucker declines his player option, he can re-sign with the Heat for up to three years, $26.5 million

Tyler Herro

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

2022-23 salary: $5,722,116

Remaining salary guaranteed: $5,722,116

Additional notes: Herro is eligible to sign a rookie-scale extension through the day before the regular season.