25th annual Kids Fishing Day reels in more than 200 children - Watauga Democrat

Hayden Fox caught a 7.92-pound fish, the biggest catch of the day for the under 12 age group.

Hayden Fox caught a 7.92-pound fish, the biggest catch of the day for the under 12 age group.
PINEOLA — On June 18, the pond at the Old Hanes Plant in Pineola drew in a crowd for the High Country Sportsman Coalition’s annual Kids Fishing Day.
This year, 287 children under 16 years of age registered to participate. As always, the event was free, and the sponsors provided bait and fishing poles, according to Steve Hicks of the High Country Sportsman Coalition. At the end of the day, they passed out free poles for the kids to take home. Hicks said he hopes this event encourages children to spend more time outdoors.
Debbie and Bobby Blalock from Montezuma heard about the event the night before on Facebook. They’ve been to one Kids Fishing Day before, they said, and since their 7-year-old granddaughter Lucy was staying with them for the week, they decided to bring her. While Lucy didn’t catch any fish in Pineola, she said she caught “15 or so” fish at the pier one time, and Blalock said she had a great time anyway.
Hayden Fox caught the biggest fish for the under 12 age group, and Jaylee Shew caught the biggest fish for the 12 and up age group. Fox’s fish was 7.92 pounds and Shew’s was 4.85 pounds. Both will receive a lifetime fishing license as an award from the High Country Sportsman Coalition.
The event always takes place on the third weekend of June, Hicks said. While the event is free, they accept donations, which fund for the next year’s event. They raffled off several guns, coolers and gift cards as well.
The pond is stocked beforehand and the kids are welcome to keep their fish. If they don’t want to, however, the organizers make sure to give them to someone who will clean and eat them, Hicks said.
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Pennsylvania Guard, SPP Partner Lithuania Join NATO Exercise - ang.af.mil

From left, Pennsylvania Air National Guard Lt. Col. Frank Shoaf, Chief Master Sgt. Jason Everetts, Capt. Matthew Reed, Master Sgt. Frankie Perez, Chief Master Sgt. Andrew Mowry and Capt. Benjamin Kaufman with the 171st Air Refueling Wing’s 258th Air Traffic Control Squadron at Siauliai Air Base, Lithuania, during the Defender Europe 22 exercise, June 2022. The Pennsylvania Guard and Lithuania are partners under the Department of Defense National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program.

CORAOPOLIS, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 258th Air Traffic Control Squadron attended the multinational joint Defender Europe 22 exercise with NATO and other military partners.
The exercise in May and June focused on building operational readiness and interoperability between allies and partners to train as they fight. The Airmen from the 258th went to Lithuania to collaborate with the Lithuanian Air Force and share their expertise on air traffic control operations.
“We are sharing our capabilities and working together to become more efficient. We are collaborating and placing an emphasis on modernization, especially with equipment,” said Capt. Benjamin Kaufman, an airfield operations officer at the 258th.
While the Airmen from the 258th worked directly with the Lithuanians, the exercise consisted of more than 8,000 participants from 11 countries. Over 1,200 Guard members participated.
“It’s important to see things at our level and how we fit into the bigger picture as a whole,” said Master Sgt. Frankie Perez, a mobile tower chief controller at the 258th.
“It was an amazing experience to walk in and see all the different flags on people’s shoulders knowing we are working together,” said Kaufman.
Participating countries practiced many operations, such as live ammunition exercises, road marches and river crossings. 
Members of the 258th partnered with Lithuania on airfield operations as part of the State Partnership Program. The Pennsylvania National Guard and Lithuania have been partners under the Department of Defense National Guard Bureau program since 1993.
“It was great to communicate our capabilities — what capabilities we have, what we can learn from each other, and even how we can work together in the future,” said Perez.
With all the moving pieces in a large-scale exercise, extensive support from each host nation was imperative.
“It was impactful to see all of the different NATO countries involved in the exercise,” Kaufman said. “With our State Partnership Program visit, we were able to discuss how our future engagement could benefit both the Lithuanians and the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.” 
 

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Gardening Tools

Gardening and the Outdoors

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Drop’s MT3 keycaps are buy one set, get one free through July 31st - The Verge

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Plus deals on refurbished GPUs, Pixel 6A preorders, and more
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Only the best deals on Verge-approved gadgets get the Verge Deals stamp of approval, so if you're looking for a deal on your next gadget or gift from major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and more, this is the place to be.
Nothing livens up your desk like some colorful mechanical keyboard keycaps, and Drop’s buy one, get one deal has returned to brighten up your hump day. You can buy one base or ortholinear kit of MT3 keycaps from Drop’s selection and get a second one of equal or lesser value for free. This sale includes some returning favorites like the two-tone blue Dasher set that’s reminiscent of the keyboards in Severance. You can see them in action by our own Dan Seifert in this Verge TikTok video.
This BOGO promo includes some sets we haven’t seen looped into deals before. In addition to offering a few Lord of the Rings sets (Dwarvish and Elvish), the sleek Godspeed R2 and retro 9009 sets are also in the mix. Most sets cost $120 before the discounted savings, with Lord of the Rings and Marvel-licensed sets running up to $130. While individual sets vary in their uses of ABS or PBT-based plastics, all of them are the unique MT3 profile with deeply scooped tops for a unique typing feel that looks vintage.

MT3 keycap designs feature a heavily scooped spherical top for your fingers to rest in as you type. These colorful sets are meant for Cherry-style keyboard switches. Drop is offering buy one, get one free on base and ortho kits when you use code MT3BOGOJULY until 11:59PM PT / 2:59AM ET on July 31st.
Today is the last day to take advantage of preorder promotions for the Google Pixel 6A. The new midrange A-series phone for Google’s Pixel lineup officially launches tomorrow, and preordering one for $449 at Amazon, Best Buy, or Google gets you a pair of $99 Pixel Buds A wireless earbuds for free.
The deal may get sweeter if you have an older phone to trade in, especially a prior Pixel A-series model. The Google Store is offering up to $300 of credit toward a 6A. Notably, the Pixel 4A 5G, Pixel 4A, and even the outdated Pixel 3A can fetch that $300 off if they power on with working, crack-free screens. According to Google’s fine print, these promotions end at 11:59PM PT tonight, so the clock is ticking if you’re on the fence.
The Pixel 6A offers a lot of the flagship Pixel 6 formula in a smaller 6.1-inch form factor. It has the same speedy Tensor CPU, but Google ditched some premium features, like its wireless charging and a high-refresh screen, to keep the price down. All said, it offers great performance in an affordable package. Read our review.

If you preorder the Pixel 6A for $449, you’ll get a complementary set of Pixel Buds A-Series. The phone releases on July 28th, so be on the lookout for your delivery on or after that date.
Nature continues to heal (metaphorically, of course; reality still doesn’t look so good), and high-powered GPUs continue to become readily available — with added discounts. Speaking of which, EVGA is offering some great pricing on refurbished cards. The RTX 3070 Ti XC3 costs just $579.99 ($130 off), and the RTX 3070 Ti FTW3 is just $10 more at $589.99 ($230 off). These cards are very similar, with the FTW3 having a marginally faster clock speed and bolder RGB lighting.
Whichever one strikes your fancy, they’re both slightly faster than the Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition. And with these prices, these refurbished models cost slightly less, too. EVGA calls them “B-stock” merchandise, but they’re refurbished. Even so, EVGA claims that they offer the “performance and reliability of a new product of the same model.” Additionally, each comes with a one-year warranty.
One extra thing to keep in mind is that if you haven’t bought a video card recently, be sure to check the measurements of whatever case you plan to install it in. These things can take up a whole lot of space.

EVGA’s RTX 3070 Ti XC3 Ultra is a PCI-Express 4.0 video card with 8GB of graphics memory, DLSS, ray tracing, and discreet RGB illumination (the EVGA logo only).

EVGA’s RTX 3070 Ti FTW3 Ultra is a PCI-Express 4.0 video card sporting 8GB of graphics memory, DLSS, and ray tracing.
If you’re looking for a gaming laptop on a budget that is also great at some other regular laptop duties, the last-gen Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is down to $1,099.99 at Best Buy. That’s a $300 discount on this great laptop, which was the model to beat when it came out in 2020. Yes, it’s 2022, so that means that it’s a little long in the tooth now, but it’s much cheaper than the current model. And, its AMD Ryzen 7 5800HS processor, RTX 3060, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD are still very capable today — especially since it’s only outputting 1080p to its 14-inch 144Hz screen. Just keep in mind that it lacks a webcam, so you’ll need an external option if Zoom calls are a major part of your routine. Read our review.
Related

The ROG Zephyrus G14 is great potable gaming laptop. Its AMD Ryzen 7 CPU, GeForce RTX 3060, and 16GB of RAM manage great performance with games played on its 1080p 144Hz display, and it’s also a fine everyday Windows laptop.
We frequently mention the Samsung 980 Pro NVMe SSD in deals coverage, and that’s because it offers very fast speeds at increasingly appealing prices. Whether you want to upgrade the storage in your PC or PS5, the 2TB model that doesn’t get discounted as often as the 1TB model is cheaper today. The Samsung 980 Pro 2TB — complete with pre-installed heatsink — is down to $249.99 ($150 off) at Amazon. It may be half the cost of a PS5 itself, but just think about all the games that you can fit on it.
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Samsung’s 980 Pro is a fast PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD that’s capable of sequential read speeds of up to 7,000MB/s and write speeds of up to 5,000MB/s. These specs make it a great choice for a modern PCIe 4.0-equipped PC or for a PS5, the latter requiring a heatsink.
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Wicker Park Fest @ Milwaukee Ave between Paulina St and North Ave. - thirdcoastreview.com

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Best VR fitness apps and games 2022 - Livescience.com

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By Henry Stockdale published 21 July 22
Whether you’re dancing away in Beat Saber or livening up your exercise bike, these are the best VR fitness apps and games you can currently find.
What are the best VR fitness apps and games? Between dedicated workouts to games which simply get you moving, we’ve had many great choices these last few years that got us immersed in our VR headsets. If you’ve never liked visiting the gym or struggle to focus with more traditional home exercise, virtual reality offers a great means of mixing fitness with home entertainment, making it an ideal choice.
By utilizing your full body, there’s an inherent physicality which traditional games don’t provide, naturally lending itself to healthier lifestyles. So, even with less intense experiences, you’ll be burning through those calories quickly. For that reason, we’d recommend wearing a sweat band while playing, and make sure you clean your VR headset after use. Be sure to avoid any abrasive cleaning products, though, as these will likely damage your VR headset.
It’s worth mentioning now that this list doesn’t contain any VR experiences that weren’t specifically designed with fitness in mind, even if they provide a decent workout. That includes VR games that aren’t focused on fitness, yet still provide an incidental workout, like Pistol Whip, Synth Riders, and Creed: Rise to Glory. Undoubtedly, you’ll work up a sweat playing them, but those aren’t part of our list here for that reason. However, other games that’ve gone a step further have been considered.
So, if you’re looking to find out which are the best VR fitness apps and games, here’s our top five recommendations. And if you're looking to pick up a new VR headset to help with your fitness routine, our VR headset deals guide has all the latest offers and discounts.

Beat Saber is one of VR’s most acclaimed games, and for good reason. Created by Beat Games, this iconic rhythm game is a great example of a simple premise executed perfectly, swapping the plastic accessories of older music games for a VR headset and motion controllers. Giving you two colored light sabers in each hand, all you need to do is slice the corresponding blocks, avoiding any obstacles like bombs or walls along the way.
It's a brilliant workout and the game has always warned players this requires high physical activity levels, so get those warm ups in first. However, Beat Games took this a step further post-launch with FitBeat (opens in new tab), a free fitness focused song that’s an intense ride on higher difficulties. Beyond this, Beat Saber’s largely been fueled by an active modding community on PC and Quest, who’ve continued making new maps and songs at pace, alongside official DLC packs.

Following its success on Guitar Hero and Rock Band, Harmonix established itself as the king of rhythm games, and many of us remember Dance Central from the Xbox 360 days. Starting life as a Kinect launch game, Harmonix took a small hiatus before making a surprise return with Dance Central (2019) (opens in new tab). Bringing us a new 32-song soundtrack, this latest entry ditched those camera peripherals for VR.
It adapted to this new format well and Dance Central leaned into the fitness aspect of VR gracefully.  However, this isn’t just another incidental workout. Harmonix went further by releasing an integrated fitness tracker. Appearing in-game as a virtual smartphone, Dance Central estimates how many calories you’ve burned during a dance off once you’ve input your weight and height. Even if you’re not playing to lose weight, it’s a great time that comes highly recommended.

Holofit is best described as a companion app to existing fitness equipment, compatible with any Bluetooth enabled exercise bike, rowing machine, or cross trainer. Featuring over 100 different workout settings, Holofit aims to liven up your home exercise experience when using these machines. This provides 10 different environments, taking us to space stations or tropical environments, instead of spending your time staring at walls.
Boosted by a virtual coach and five workout modes, there’s plenty to keep you occupied here. Because of its reliance on physical exercise machines, Holofit is best suited for those who already own one, so it won’t universally appeal. Still, you can trial it for seven days free first to decide if it’s for you. While it’s available on PC, the Meta Quest’s wireless design makes it a much more preferable platform to test this out on.

Fit Reality's Viro Move (opens in new tab) is a strong choice for PC players, aiming to replicate your gym results. Career Mode offers four sports with 30 levels each. Boxing turns your motion controllers into punching gloves, hitting blue and orange orbs while dodging incoming walls. Swords has you swiping through these orbs without the color coordination. Shooting sees you taking down enemies once a hitbox aligns with them. Finally, Weapon Master combines all three into one mode.
If Career Mode starts getting too easy, Viro Move houses some tougher ‘Challenges’ that’ll keep you on your toes, awarding new cosmetics once completed. Alternatively, should you seek variety without necessarily making it harder, ‘Playlists’ mix up the levels to keep it interesting. It's a good workout, there’s a fun EDM soundtrack backing it up, and if you’re playing alongside friends, you’ll also find some online leaderboards.

YUR.Fit is an app that provides a real-time overlay, monitoring your heart rate when playing VR games to track your weight loss. Ranking progress through a level system, YUR breaks down your workout for each game. So, when you’ve finished your latest round on Pistol Whip, expect an email detailing how long you played, calories burned, and more. It’s a good fitness companion and for greater accuracy, one that’s also compatible with Bluetooth heart rate monitors.
If you’re not fond of the set overlay, some games directly integrate YUR support. Often, that’s achieved via unofficial mods, though official adoption of the YUR Watch (opens in new tab) has increased. Allowing you to track progress through an in-game virtual watch, it’s supported by games like Gym Masters (opens in new tab), OhShape (opens in new tab), Synth Riders (opens in new tab), and more. Quest users can access it through SideQuest, though there’s a similar built-in app called Oculus Move (opens in new tab).
Henry Stockdale is a contributing freelancer for Live Science. Having graduated from Bournemouth University in 2015 with a Computing BSc, he's built-up years of experience writing about video games, tech, and virtual reality. He’s previously covered VR and its more technical aspects at PC Gamer, Upload VR, Eurogamer, and more. You can find him on Twitter at @Terranauts93 (opens in new tab).
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See You on the Patio - Columbia Business Times

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