Tester Leads Senate Coalition to Push Air Force on Huey Replacement Timeline
Senators Team Up to Increase Defense Capability and Provide Certainty to Airmen at Malmstrom, Minot, and Warren Air Force Base
(U.S. Senate)—U.S. Senators Jon Tester, Steve Daines, Mike Enzi, Heidi Heitkamp, John Hoeven, and Mike Lee and are pushing the U.S. Air Force to provide a detailed timeline on the replacement of Vietnam-era helicopters that are used to patrol the country’s ICBM sites.
The bipartisan group of Senators teamed up to raise their concerns directly with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and emphasized that recent actions from the Air Force and the Government Accountability Office have derailed the scheduled arrival of replacement helicopters at Malmstrom, Minot, and F.E. Warren Air Force Bases.
Tester, Daines, Enzi, Heitkamp, Hoeven, and Lee told Secretary Wilson that an updated timeline is needed to provide certainty and increase the defense capability of the ground component of the country’s nuclear triad.
“We have increasing concerns about the timeline for the program replacement of the Huey helicopter fleet,” the Senators wrote. “At a time when our nation is upgrading our nuclear arsenal due to the increased global threats and near peer adversaries, we cannot afford to continue delaying additional capabilities to secure our ICBM fields.”
The bipartisan group of Senators have previously expressed concerns to the Air Force that the decades old Huey helicopter fleet lacks the capability to fully secure the country’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) sites and proposed a replacement plan to use an existing Army contract to replace the fleet with better equipped helicopters. The Air Force ultimately opposed that replacement plan and has yet to provide an updated framework or reward a purchasing contract during the current fiscal year.
With more than $288 million already set aside to replace the Huey helicopter fleet, the Senators are demanding more transparency from the Air Force.
“We need a clear understanding of the Air Forces’ ability to execute the replacement program,” the Senators added.
Tester originally secured the funding for the replacement helicopters in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act and the Defense Appropriations bill. The replacement helicopter fleet was originally expected to arrive by 2019.
Helicopters are a critical component of the Air Force’s land-based ICBM mission and are used to secure and transport airmen between launching sites.
The Senators’ letter to Secretary Wilson is available HERE.
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A2IM Announces Final Lineup of 2018 Libera Award Nominees
As anticipation builds ahead of A2IM's Indie Week - an event presented by SoundExchange in partnership with BuzzAngle - the organization is bringing the excitement to a fever pitch by announcing the final nominees for the 2018 Libera Awards.
"Since Edison invented the phonograph, independent music labels have defined American musical culture and disseminated it to the world. The Libera Awards is the first platform to celebrate and honor the entrepreneurial spirit, creative independence, and cultural diversity that undergirds these genre-defining American artists and businesspeople." Richard James Burgess, CEO A2IM
From outstanding artists and labels to mesmerizing live acts and groundbreaking music videos, the Libera Awards provide an opportunity for the independent music community to come together to celebrate the accomplishments of their peers. This year's lineup of nominees features artists and music that are just as remarkable and diverse as ever, with rock & roll pioneer Chuck Berry leading the pack with a posthumous Album of the Year nomination for his final album, Chuck. Other artists that are nominated this year are Deer Tick (Partisan Records), Powerflo (New Damage Records) and Independent Champions, SoundExchange and Merlin.
Billy Graziadel of Powerflo responded to their nomination for Best Metal Album by saying: "Psyched for this honor but what d'ya mean, we're a hip hop band!" Sen Dog adds - "F*ck that, we're METAL!"
Jamie Collinson, head of Ninja Tune North America says of the nomination: "Ninja Tune is absolutely thrilled to be nominated for (big) label of the year. This is the nomination we've long been hoping for, and we're very grateful. The A2IM Libera Awards are the real deal for independent music - the best there is."
"We passionately believe the health and vitality of independent record labels all over the world is crucial for the future of the entire industry. We are big supporters of the independent artists and labels we serve, and big believers in A2IM's mission. It is rewarding that our efforts have been recognized by our peers with this nomination for the Libera Awards' 'Independent Champion'. We commend our fellow nominees for their service to the independent community," said SoundExchange President and CEO Michael Huppe.
"As an organization created by the independent sector specifically to enhance the value of the digital business for independents worldwide, including our many A2IM members, being nominated in this category is truly satisfying. The Merlin team, who work tirelessly on behalf of our proudly independent members, are deeply honored that the A2IM constituency has recognized that work via this nomination, especially in our tenth anniversary year," said Merlin's CEO, Charles Caldas.
For a full list of 2018 A2IM Libera Awards Nominees and their responses to the nominations, please visit:http://liberaawards.squarespace.com/nominees/
The Libera Awards will take place on June 21 at NYC's PlayStation Theater. A2IM is thrilled to announce that this year's Libera Awards will be hosted by NYC comedian Kate Wolff, who is best known for her appearances on truTV's World's Dumbest, FOX's Red Eye, NickMom Night Out on Nickelodeon, as well as performances at comedy festivals and clubs across the country.
The Libera awards provide the perfect venue for the independent music community to celebrate the previous year's hard work and honor their own. The event has grown year over year, with this year's awards expected to be the biggest yet.
The awards are the culmination of A2IM Indie Week presented by SoundExchange, a four-day gathering of music industry leaders and luminaries that will take place from June 18 to June 21 at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center on NYC's Lower East Side. It will feature talks, workshops, and panels meant to instruct and inspire.
Together, Indie Week and the Libera Awards are part of A2IM's mission to represent and act as guardians of the independent music community through advocacy, education, and connection-building. A2IM is proud to use Indie Week as a tool to help decrease gender inequality in music through the PRS Foundation's International Keychange initiative. Indie Week is one of only two US festivals to sign up for the initiative, which requires festivals and conferences to achieve and maintain a 50/50 gender balance across their events by 2022.
For more information on A2IM's 2018 Indie Week, please visit:
http://a2im.org/event/a2im-indie-week-2018/
To learn more about the A2IM Libera Awards or to buy tickets, please visit:
https://a2im.org/event/a2im-libera-awards-2018/
About A2IM:
A2IM is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade organization headquartered in New York City that exists to support and strengthen the independent recorded music sector. Membership currently includes a broad coalition of more than 550 Independently-owned American music labels. A2IM represents these independently owned small and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. In doing so, it supports a key segment of America's creative class that represents America's diverse musical cultural heritage. Billboard Magazine identified the Independent music label sector as 37.32 percent of the music industry's U.S. recorded music sales market in 2016 based on copyright ownership, making Independent labels collectively the largest music industry sector.
The organization's board of directors consists of the following: ATO Vice President Stephanie Alexa, President of Concord Music Group Glen Barros, Redeye Co-Owner Glenn Dicker, INgrooves EVP & General Manager Amy Dietz, Co-President of Mom+Pop Music Thaddeus Rudd, Big Machine COO Andrew Kautz, Beggars Group Founder/CEO Martin Mills, Hopeless Records Owner Louis Posen, Kill Rock Stars President Portia Sabin, Secretly Label Group Co-Owner Darius Van Arman and Razor & Tie President Vic Zaraya.
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With March Madness just over a week away, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its NCAA Tournament Stats & Facts infographic as well as its report on 2018’s Best Cities for College Basketball Fans to help get hoops lovers psyched for this magical time of year.
To find 2018’s top spots for NCAA hoops, WalletHub crunched the numbers on more than 280 cities using nine key metrics. They range from the number of teams per city and the winning percentage of each to stadium capacity and social-media engagement.
Best Cities for College Hoops Fans
Worst Cities for College Hoops Fans
1
Chapel Hill, NC
280
Fairfax, VA
2
Lawrence, KS
281
Jonesboro, AR
3
Los Angeles, CA
282
Lynchburg, VA
4
Durham, NC
283
Colorado Springs, CO
5
Lexington, KY
284
Hackensack, NJ
6
Philadelphia, PA
285
Riverside, CA
7
Storrs, CT
287
Pocatello, ID
8
Bloomington, IN
287
Clinton, SC
9
East Lansing, MI
288
Daytona Beach, FL
10
College Park, MD
289
New Britain, CT
Best vs. Worst
To read the full report and to see where your city ranks, please visit:
http://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-for-college-basketball/32944/
