title: Plies (rapper)

text: Plies was born Algernod Lanier Washington in Fort Myers, Florida, and grew up in the East Dunbar area of Fort Myers. While at Fort Myers Senior High School, he played receiver and defensive back in its football team, was crowned Homecoming King, was the valedictorian of his high school class, and was named the "Best Dressed" student of his class.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: He attended Miami University and under the name Nod Washington was wide receiver on its football team from 1995 to 1997, then transferred to the University of Central Florida and dropped out. As a freshman in 1995, Washington had 9 receptions for 69 yards. In 1996, his sophomore year, Washington had 25 receptions for 262 yards and 2 touchdowns. The next season, Washington had 5 receptions for 43 yards.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: In the late 1990s, Plies and his stepbrother Ronnell Lawrence Lavatte, also known as Big Gates, established an independent record label, Big Gates Records. Although Plies initially refused to rap, after a demonstration for one of his artists, Big Gates decided to keep Plies' verse on the track "Tell Dem Krackers Dat". Big Gates and Plies promoted the single and traveled many times to Miami, which eventually led to a deal for Plies on Slip-n-Slide Records. After signing to Slip-n-Slide in 2004, Plies released several mixtapes.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: "The Real Testament" was released in August 2007. His debut single "Shawty" featuring T-Pain topped the "Billboard" Hot Rap Tracks chart and peaked at number 9 on the Hot 100. "Hypnotized", the second single, featured Akon, and peaked at number 3 on the Rap chart and 14 on the Hot 100. The third single was "I Am the Club". On February 29, 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album Gold for having sold over 500,000 units; five days later the RIAA did the same for singles "Shawty" and "Hypnotized". Plies made guest performances on DJ Khaled's "I'm So Hood", also featuring T-Pain, Trick Daddy and Rick Ross in 2007, which peaked at #19 on the Hot 100 and is included on Khaled second studio album "We the Best", and Fat Joe's single "Ain't Sayin' Nothin'" from "The Elephant in the Room" in early 2008.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: "Definition of Real", his second album, was released in June 2008, 10 months after releasing his first album. The lead single was "Bust It Baby Pt. 2" featuring Ne-Yo, which peaked at number 2 on both the Hot Rap Tracks and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts and number 7 on the Hot 100. The album debuted at number 2 on the "Billboard" 200, selling over 214,000 copies its first week. The next single was "Please Excuse My Hands", featuring Jamie Foxx and The-Dream. RIAA certified Gold "Bust It Baby" on September 17 and "Definition of Real" October 14.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: That same year Plies released his third album, "Da REAList", in December 2008, six months after the release of his second album. The first single off this album is "Put It on Ya", featuring Chris J. The album debuted at number 14 on the "Billboard" 200 with 114,000 copies sold in its first week. The second single is "Want It, Need It", featuring Ashanti, and the third is "Plenty Money". He did a guest performance on Ludacris' single "Nasty Girl" from Ludacris' album "Theater of the Mind". He also appeared on DJ Khaled's song "Out Here Grindin', also featuring Akon, Ross, Young Jeezy, Lil Boosie, Ace Hood and Trick Daddy, from Khaled's third album "We Global", which peaked at #38 on the Hot 100.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: In a November 2008 interview with Plies, and according to Slip-n-Slide Records, the rapper announced he completed a fourth album which he planned to release February 16, 2009, but stated the exact date depended on the success of his third album. The album, "Goon Affiliated", ended up being released on June 8, 2010. The album's first two singles are "Becky" and "She Got It Made" featuring Bei Maejor. The album debuted at #5 on the "Billboard" 200, much more successful than his previous album. He continued to make guest appearances on Usher's "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)" (that version not making Usher's sixth studio album "Raymond vs. Raymond"), Gucci Mane's "Wasted", from "The State vs. Radric Davis" and Young Jeezy's "Lose My Mind", from Jeezy's fourth album "", all of which made the top 40 of the Hot 100.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: In 2010, Plies released a mixtape titled "You Need People Like Me" on September 3, which included a song titled "Boosie" dedicated to the incarcerated rapper Lil Boosie. On November 18, he released another mixtape titled "You Need People Like Me Pt. 2". On December 23, 2010, he released another mixtape titled "No Chaser".


title: Plies (rapper)

text: In 2011, Plies released a mixtape titled "I Fuck With The DJ" on March 15 and a mixtape titled "Aristotle" on September 1. On May 3, he announced the title for his fifth studio album titled "Purple Heart". On September 22, Plies released his first promotional single from the album titled "Just (The Tip)" featuring Jeremih and Ludacris.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: In 2012, Plies released a mixtape titled "On Trial" on February 24, which included the second promotional single from his album "Purple Heart" titled "With You". On April 17, Plies released a single titled "We Are Trayvon" that was dedicated to Trayvon Martin which all profits from the single be donated to the "Trayvon Martin Foundation".


title: Plies (rapper)

text: In 2013, Plies released the promotional single from "Purple Heart" titled "F**king or What" on July 16 and released the music video for the single on August 22. On September 3, Plies released the promotional single titled "Faithful" featuring singer/songwriter Rico Love.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: In 2014, Plies released his mixtape entitled "Da Last Real Nigga Left" on January 17, and released his mixtape entitled "Da Last Real Nigga Left 2" on November 13.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: On February 11, 2015, Plies released the first single off of his upcoming fifth album "Purple Heart" titled "Find You" featuring appearances from K Camp and Lil Wayne. On April 29, Plies released the second single titled "Dayum!", the single is known for Plies addressing the controversy surrounding him getting attacked on stage. On August 8, Plies released a mixtape titled "Ain't No Mixtape Bih". On November 19, he released the mixtape "Ain't No Mixtape BIH 2".


title: Plies (rapper)

text: On January 29, 2016, Plies released a single entitled "Ran Off on da Plug Twice", originally titled "Ritz Carlton", and was included on his mixtape "Ain't No Mixtape BIH 2", the music video for the single would be released on November 19, 2015, and would go on to become viral & the single would go on to chart at number forty-two on the "Billboard" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. On October 27, 2016, Plies released the single titled "Rich N*gga Shit", the music video for the single would be released on September 2, 2016. On December 13 Plies released the single entitled "Racks Up to My Ear" featuring Young Dolph.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: David Jeffries of AllMusic described Plies's debut album "The Real Testament" as tracks covering both gang life and love. Similarly, Jeffries described the lyrical content of "Da REAList" as having "a spectrum that runs from irresponsible gun talk to irresponsible sex talk". A profile of Plies in the December 2008 issue of "Vibe" magazine observed that Plies constantly referred to himself as "real" in his music and album titles. However, it pointed out that the word "has virtually synonymous with 'criminal' and, in some cases, almost superseded the idea of being able to actually rap". In July 2008, hip hop website HipHopDX published an investigative report suggesting that Plies exaggerated his criminal background.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: Plies' girlfriend Brandy Lacole Lyons gave birth to a son at the University Community Hospital in Tampa, Florida on October 20, 2003. Between 2015–16, Plies gained a notable following as an Instagram personality for his comedic approach to lifestyle advice and other topics.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: On July 2, 2006, after a shooting at a Gainesville, Florida nightclub, Plies was charged with illegal possession of a concealed weapon, and members of his entourage were charged with attempted murder. The shooting, in which 5 people were injured, started after Plies' microphone was cut off for Lil Boosie to perform, after Plies' performance ran over time. According to the promoter Jonathan Smith, Plies became "enraged". A fight began with fists and shouting, and ended with at least six rounds of bullets being fired.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: In January 2017, Plies was arrested in Wesley Chapel, Florida for driving under the influence. Plies refused a roadside blood alcohol content test and was taken into custody.


title: Plies (rapper)

text: On April 3, 2015, a viral video of Plies getting attacked on stage during a concert in Tallahassee, Florida was released, the attacker would later address the situation stating "I fuck with you bruh, that nigga is one of my top five artists, that nigga started talking that bullshit. So I dropped his ass like any real nigga would do like bitch, fuck you bruh.". On April 29, 2015, Plies would release a single titled "Dayum!" addressing the attack.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: Nancy Hanks Lincoln (February 5, 1784 – October 5, 1818) was the mother of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Her marriage to Thomas Lincoln also produced a daughter, Sarah, and a son, Thomas Jr. When Nancy and Thomas had been married for just over 10 years, the family moved from Kentucky to western Perry County, Indiana, in 1816. When Spencer County was formed in 1818, the Lincoln Homestead lay within its current boundaries. Nancy Lincoln died from milk sickness or consumption in 1818 at the Little Pigeon Creek Community in Spencer County when Abraham was nine years old.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: This article reflects the prevailing theories regarding Nancy Hanks Lincoln's heritage. There is information, however, published about the Shipley and Berry family and for Kentucky heritage sites that differs from the prevailing theory. This is explored in greater detail in the Nancy Hanks Lincoln heritage article.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: Nancy Hanks was born to Lucy Hanks in what was at that time part of Hampshire County, Virginia. Today, the same location is in Antioch in Mineral County, West Virginia. Abraham Lincoln's law partner William Herndon reported that Lincoln told him that his maternal grandfather was "a well-bred Virginia farmer or planter."


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: According to William E. Barton in "The Life of Abraham Lincoln" and Michael Burkhimer in "100 Essential Lincoln Books", Nancy was most likely born illegitimate and her family created stories to lead Abraham to believe he was a legitimate member of the Sparrow family.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: It is believed that Nancy Hanks' grandparents were Ann and Joseph Hanks and that they raised her from infancy until her grandfather died when she was about nine years old. At the time of Nancy's birth, Joseph and his wife and children were all living on 108 acres near Patterson Creek in then-Hampshire County, Virginia. In March 1784, Joseph Hanks sold his property via a mortgage and moved his wife, eight children and young granddaughter Nancy to Kentucky.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: The family lived on land along Pottinger's Creek, in a settlement called Rolling Fork in Nelson County, Kentucky, until patriarch Joseph's death in 1793. Nancy's grandmother, who was called by the more formal name Ann rather than the common nickname of Nancy, decided to return to her homeland, Farnham parish in Virginia. At that time, Nancy went to live with her mother, now Lucy Hanks Sparrow, having married Henry Sparrow in Harrodsburg, Kentucky two or three years earlier.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: After Lucy's sister Elizabeth Hanks married Henry Sparrow's brother Thomas in Mercer County, Kentucky in 1796, Nancy, now about age 12, went to live with the couple, whom she called mother and father. She was known as Nancy Sparrow and was described as "intelligent, deeply religious, kindly and affectionate." Lucy's sister gave birth to an illegitimate son in 1799 named Dennis Friend Hanks, who was also raised by Elizabeth and Thomas Sparrow.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: At the home of Elizabeth and Thomas Sparrow, Nancy would have learned the skills and crafts a woman needed on the frontier to cultivate crops and clothe and feed her family. She learned to read the Bible and became an excellent seamstress, working at the Richard Berry home before her marriage.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: Lucy's marriage to Henry Sparrow produced eight children, and Lucy had a reputation as a "fine Christian woman." Two sons were loyal to the Union during the Civil War and were preachers.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: On June 12, 1806, Hanks married Thomas Lincoln at Beechland, the home of Richard Berry, by Reverend Jesse Head. Nancy was brought to the home to work as a seamstress by her friend Polly Ewing Berry, the wife of Richard Berry Jr. since October 10, 1794. Polly was a friend of Nancy's from Mercer County, Kentucky, and Richard Berry Jr. was a good friend of Thomas Lincoln. Lincoln proposed to her in his childhood home at what is now Lincoln Homestead State Park or in the Francis Berry house in front of the fireplace.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: Nancy's marriage bond was signed by Richard Berry Jr., who identified himself as her guardian. Per Warren, "The title had no legal significance, Berry having never been so appointed, and Nancy Hanks was then of age. But to him to call himself 'guardian' was a courtesy customary under such circumstances [no father able to sign the marriage bond]." A record of their marriage license is held at the county courthouse.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: The young family lived in what was then Hardin County, Kentucky, (now LaRue) on the Knob Creek Farm. Neighbors reported that Nancy Hanks Lincoln was "superior" to her husband, a mild yet strong personality who taught young Abraham his letters as well as the extraordinary sweetness and forbearance for which he was known. In 1816, the year that Indiana became the 19th state, the Lincoln family moved to Spencer County in southern Indiana and proceeded to homestead at Little Pigeon Creek Settlement (now Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial). Elizabeth and Thomas Sparrow and Dennis Hanks settled at Little Pigeon Creek the following fall, having lived in a shelter in which the Lincolns had lived until they built their cabin. While Abraham was ten years younger than his second cousin Dennis, the boys were good friends.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: She was above the ordinary height in stature, weighed about 130 pounds, was slenderly built, and had much the appearance of one inclined to consumption. Her skin was dark; hair dark brown; eyes gray and small; forehead prominent; face sharp and angular, with a marked expression for melancholy which fixed itself in the memory of all who ever saw or knew her. Though her life was clouded by a spirit of sadness, she was in disposition amiable and generally cheerful.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: Nancy was also described as "a bold, reckless, daredevil kind of woman, stepping on to the very verge of propriety."


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: Abraham Lincoln inherited his mother's appearance and manner. She was "mild, tender, and intellectually inclined."


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: While living at Little Pigeon Creek Settlement, Nancy Hanks Lincoln died on October 5, 1818, age 34. Her nine-year-old son Abraham assisted his father in the making of her coffin by whittling the wooden pegs that held the planks together. Eleven-year-old Sarah cared for Abraham until their father remarried the next year.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: There are two views as to the cause of Nancy Hanks Lincoln's death. One view is that she died of "milk sickness." Several people had died that fall from the illness, including Elizabeth and Thomas Sparrow, who raised her and then lived with her on the Lincolns' property at the Little Pigeon Creek settlement. The Sparrows died in September, weeks before Nancy's death, and Dennis moved in with the Lincolns. The illness was caused by drinking the milk or eating the meat of cows that had eaten white snakeroot. The plant contains the potent toxin tremetol, which is passed through the milk. The migrants from the East were unfamiliar with the Midwestern plant and its effects. In the 19th century before people understood the cause of the illness, thousands in the Midwest died of milk sickness.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: The second view is that Nancy died of consumption. In 1870 Lincoln's law partner and biographer, William Herndon, wrote to fellow Lincoln biographer Ward Lamon saying that "Mrs. Lincoln died as said by some with the milk sickness, some with a galloping quick consumption",


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: i.e. a wasting disease or tuberculosis. It has also been theorized that Nancy Lincoln had a marfanoid body habitus (or a marfanoid type of physique) with the same unusual facial features as her son. This theory suggests that she died of cancer (which is a wasting disease) related to multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2b (MEN2B), and that she passed the gene for this syndrome to her son (see Medical and mental health of Abraham Lincoln).


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: Nancy's grave is located in what has been named the Pioneer Cemetery, also known as the Nancy Hanks Lincoln Cemetery. Her headstone was purchased by P. E. Studebaker, an industrialist from South Bend, in 1878. At least 20 unmarked and eight marked graves are at the site; Nancy Lincoln is buried next to Nancy Rusher Brooner, a neighbor who died a week before Nancy from milk sickness. Henry Brooner, Nancy Brooner's son and best childhood friend of Abraham Lincoln, later recalled, "I remember very distinctly that when Mrs. Lincoln's grave was filled, my father, Peter Brooner, extended his hand to Thomas Lincoln and said, 'We are brothers now', meaning that they were brothers in the same kind of sorrow. The bodies of my mother and Mrs. Lincoln were conveyed to their graves on sleds." Her aunt and uncle Elizabeth (Hanks) and Thomas Sparrow, also her childhood caregivers, are buried nearby. The cemetery is located on the grounds of the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, a National Historic Landmark District managed by the National Park Service in present-day Lincoln City, Indiana.


title: Nancy Lincoln

text: The Hanks–Lincoln wedding was portrayed in a play called "Dearly Beloved: The Vows of a Lincoln Legacy" to kick off a three-year bicentennial celebration of Abraham Lincoln's life. The play was held at the Lincoln Homestead State Park in Springfield, Kentucky.


title: Rivers State

text: Rivers State, also known as Rivers, is a state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed in 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include: Imo to the north, Abia and Akwa Ibom to the east, and Bayelsa and Delta to the west. The state capital, Port Harcourt, is a metropolis that is considered to be the commercial center of the Nigerian oil industry.


title: Rivers State

text: With a population of 5,198,716 as of the 2006 census, Rivers State is the 6th most populous state in Nigeria. Rivers State is a diverse state that is home to many ethnic groups: Igbo, Ogoni and Ijaw. The state is particularly noted for its linguistic diversity, with 28 indigenous languages being said to be spoken in Rivers State, these include Igbo speaking groups, the Ogoni and Ijaw languages. Rivers State is the 26th largest state by area, and its geography is dominated by the numerous rivers that flow through it, including the Bonny River.


title: Rivers State

text: The economy of Rivers State is dominated by the state's booming petroleum industry. Although the rise of the oil industry has led to increased revenue for the state government, mismanagement and corruption have prevented the state from rapid development and meaningfully tackling poverty. During the 2000s, Rivers State saw a rise in the number of cult killings committed within the state. In 2019, Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike declared Rivers State to be a Christian state because it is made up of 90% Christians and 10% orthodox with few practicing Islam unconventionally.


title: Rivers State

text: Rivers State, named after the many rivers that border its territory, was part of the Oil Rivers Protectorate from 1885 till 1893 when it became part of the Niger Coast Protectorate. In 1900, the region was merged with the chartered territories of the Royal Niger Company to form the colony of Southern Nigeria. The state was formed in 1967 with the split of the Eastern Region of Nigeria. In 1996 the state lost territory to form Bayelsa State.


title: Rivers State

text: In the early days of the colonial period, several protection treaties were signed between various indigenous communities and the British colonial government. Between 1941 and 1952, agitation for the creation of Rivers province began with the formation of the Ijo Rivers People's League. By 1953, the Council of Rivers Chiefs was birthed as a replacement body for the League, the same year, another organization, the Calabar Ogoja Rivers (COR) State Movement became existent.


title: Rivers State

text: The Council of Rivers Chiefs was later renamed in 1954 to Rivers Chiefs and People's Congress and in 1956, the organization became known as the Rivers Chiefs People's Conference. Until 1958, hopes of an independent state resonated with the region and lingered consistently in the minds of its natives. During the constitutional conference that year, the country's nationhood was affirmed while an agreement was reached on some measures to mitigate the fears of the ethnic minorities in the area. Around this time, the COR State Movement had broken away to press their own case. Thereafter, the British launched a commission led by Sir Henry Willink to look into the misgivings of these autochthons. The Willink Commission initiated the conception of the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB). The purpose was to tackle the problems of underdevelopment, however, this failed to rise to the expectations of the masses. After much discontent, some of the people attempted to take the extralegal route to achieve their goals.


title: Rivers State

text: In February 1966, Isaac Boro, Sam Owonaro and Nottingham Dick alongside their supporters proclaimed a "Delta People's Republic". The rebellion persisted for twelve days but was resisted by the Federal and the old Eastern Nigeria government. On 27 May 1967, under the administration of General Yakubu Gowon, Decree No. 14 was issued, allowing the creation of Rivers State. From then on, complaints about political marginalisation, environmental degradation and economic pauperisation remained among the Ijaw groups, such that a separate Bayelsa State was carved out of Rivers State by the military government of Sani Abacha on 1 October 1996 and Omuma Local Government Area of Rivers State was created on same day to include communities such as Umuru in Ofeh.


title: Rivers State

text: Rivers State is a predominantly low-lying pluvial state in southern Nigeria, located in the eastern part of the Niger Delta on the oceanward extension of the Benue Trough. The inland part of the state consists of tropical rainforest, and towards the coast, the typical Niger Delta environment features many mangrove swamps. Rivers State has a total area of , making it the 26th largest state in Nigeria. Surrounding states are Imo, Abia and Anambra to the north, Akwa Ibom to the east and Bayelsa, Delta to the west. On the south, it is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean. Its topography ranges from flat plains, with a network of rivers to tributaries.


title: Rivers State

text: Rainfall is generally seasonal, variable, as well as heavy, and occurs between the months of March and October through November. The wet season peaks in July, lasting more than 290 days. The only dry months are January and February having little to no effect.


title: Rivers State

text: Total annual rainfall decreases from about on the coast, to about in the extreme north. It is at Bonny along the coast and at Degema. For Port Harcourt, temperatures throughout the year are relatively constant with little variation throughout the course of the seasons. Average temperatures are typically between . Some parts of the state still receive up to of rainfall during the dry period. Relative humidity rarely dips below 60% and fluctuates between 90% and 100% for most of the year.


title: Rivers State

text: The land surface of Rivers State can be divided into three zones: freshwater swamps, mangrove swamps and coastal sand ridges. The freshwater zone extends northwards from the mangrove swamps. This land surface is generally less than 20m above sea level. As a lower Niger floodplain, it contains a greater silt and clay foundation and is more susceptible to perennial inundation by river floods. The floodplain's total thickness rises to about 45m in the northeast and over 9m in the beach ridge barrier zones to the southwest.


title: Rivers State

text: On coastal sand ridges, the soils are mostly sandy or sandy loams. Various crops are supported including coconut, oil palm, raffia palm and cocoyam. The drier upland region of Rivers State covers 61% of landmass while the riverine areas, with a relief range of 2m to 5m, take up 39%.


title: Rivers State

text: Due to its geographical location, Rivers State has always played an important role in the natural history of Nigeria, having been found to host a vast array of wildlife and plants. Its tropical rainforests are home to more species than all other local biomes combined thanks to its climate and canopy structure. Unfortunately, some of the upland forested areas have seen disruption from human activity, impacting negatively on the biodiversity and ecological functions of natural habitats. In most places, the dominant vegetation usually consists of "Elaeis guineensis" which has the highest productivity amongst all recognized oleaginous crops.


title: Rivers State

text: The riverine part of the state has three hydro-vegetation zones such as beach ridge, salt water and fresh water. Each zone has its own characteristics and composition, with the freshwaters encompassing the upper and lower floodplains of the Niger Delta.


title: Rivers State

text: Finima Nature Park is a protected area and forest reserve in Bonny Island covering an area of approximately . The park's vegetation has progressively developed into a high forest considering the form from which it began in 1999. There are two storeys that can be distinguished from outside the forest, the emergents include "Symphonia globulifera", "Cleistopholis patens", "Uapaca" spp., "Musanga cecropioides", "Hallea ledermannii", "Terminalia" spp., "Anthostema aubryanum", "Tectona grandis" and "Elaeis guineensis". The understory is composed mainly of "Calamus deeratus", "Alchornea cordifolia", "Monodora tenuifolia", "Harungana madagascariensis", "Strophanthus preussii", "Rauvolfia vomitoria" and "Raphia" spp.


title: Rivers State

text: The interior of the forest is very shady, and as a result a wide variety of shade tolerant forbs (e.g. "Nephrolepis biserrata", "Culcasia scandens", "Laportea" spp., "Chromolaena odorata", "Aframomum melegueta" and "Costus afer") and various sedges form thickets on the forest floor. By dry season, large cushion of litter cover the floor because of increase in abscission rate of some plants such as "Musanga cecropioides", "Hallea ledermannii", "Calamus deeratus", "Gmelina arborea", "Raphia" spp. and "Elaeis guineensis".


title: Rivers State

text: Mammals, reptiles and amphibians are also found in the park. The common mammals are mona monkeys and pygmy hippopotamuses. Among the reptiles and amphibians are snakes and crocodiles, turtles, frogs, lizards, and skinks.


title: Rivers State

text: One of the world's Ramsar Convention-listed wetlands, Upper Orashi Forest, is a protected area in Ahoada West. It has been identified by BirdLife International as an IBA because of its importance to global populations of grey parrots and other birds. The Biseni Forest in the north west of Ahoada and west of Upper Orashi Forest have also been designated an Important Bird Area. The forest has an area of within which mammals like red-bellied monkey and yellow-backed duiker are found along with raffia palms and some woody broadleaved species such as "Symphonia globulifera" and "Ficus" spp.


title: Rivers State

text: Over the period from 1991 to 2006, the total population of Rivers State increased by close to 3 million people. The last official census showed that 5,198,716 people were living in the state, of whom 2,673,026 were male and 2,525,690 were female. Adults and adolescents aged 15 to 64 years accounted for 61% of the population in the state. Children below the age of 15 accounted for 36% of the population, and those aged 65 years and above, another 3%. Port Harcourt and Obio-Akpor had the highest number of inhabitants of any local government area, while Ogu–Bolo and Omuma had the lowest. The total area of the state was and the density was .


title: Rivers State

text: Rivers State has higher literacy rate compared to most states in the South South geopolitical zone. Its male literacy as of 2006 was 52.3% while female literacy rate was 47.7%. In the same survey, it ranked as 26th most extensive and the 6th most populous of all the states of Nigeria. A 2015 estimate put the number of residents of Rivers State at over 7 million, nearly triple the number recorded in 1991.


title: Rivers State

text: According to the National Bureau of Statistics projection, the population in the state was 4% of the total population of the country. Data of 2010–2015 showed life expectancies for male, 54 years and female, 57 years were very low. General mortality rate was 60 per 1000, under-5 mortality rate was 90 and maternal mortality rate was 889 per 100,000 live births, one of the highest nationwide.


title: Rivers State

text: Rivers State is made up of numerous ethnic groups which includes: Abua, Andoni, Ekpeye, Bille, Eleme, Egbema, Ekpeye, Kalabari, Ndoki, Ndoni, Okrika, Ogoni, Engenni, Etche, Ibani, Ikwerre, Ogba, Odua etc.


title: Rivers State

text: Rivers state has a rich cultural-heritage, they are friendly and known for their hospitality. It is on record that Port Harcourt is the second biggest commercial, agriculture and busiest Airport & seaports in Nigeria. Rivers state has two seaports situated in Port Harcourt and Onne.


title: Rivers State

text: As a multi-cultural, multi-tribal region, Rivers State has much to offer in its diversity of people. The area that makes up the modern state has been inhabited in one way or the other since the last year of the first millennium. The earliest known settled communities in what is now Rivers State include the Riverine Ijaw; Ogoni on the lower Imo River and coastal shores of the main-lands and Ikwerre people and other Igboid groups on the main-lands. Today, over 26 distinct groups are recognized by the Rivers State government, each with its own language, lifestyle, and cultural heritage.


title: Rivers State

text: Multilingualism is a part of everyday life for the population of Rivers State and most of Nigeria. English, inherited from colonial rule is common and widely spoken in various forms in different localities. Some indigenous Riverians are also bilingual, speaking a mixture of English or Pidgin English with one of the native languages. This is partly due to the frequent exposure of the younger generations to foreign dialects especially in the country's largest cities. Excluding Pidgin, all other ones spoken in the state belong to either Benue–Congo or Ijoid and Ogoni Languages within the Niger–Congo language family. The Benue–Congo is subdivided into Cross River, Igboid, and Edoid groups. The Ijoid languages are predominant around the creek belt, Ogoni languages - about 5 of them spoken across the southern parts of the state, Igboid group of language is spoken in Northern Areas of Rivers State.


title: Rivers State

text: Rivers State has maintained its importance as a leading supplier of wealth to the nation for centuries. In 2007, the state ranked 2nd nationwide with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $21.07 billion and a per capita income of $3,965.


title: Rivers State

text: The state is famous for its vast reserves of crude oil and natural gas. just because It was perhaps the richest and most important section of the African zone of the British Empire. Rivers State has two major oil refineries, two major seaports, airports, and various industrial estates spread across the land. More than 60% of the country's output of crude oil is produced in the state. Other natural resources found within its boundaries are silica sand, glass sand and clay.


title: Rivers State

text: Prior to the discovery of oil in commercial quantity in 1951, Agriculture was the primary occupation of the people of Rivers State. Around the 19th century when the industrial revolution reached its peak in England, the area was then referred to as Oil Rivers Protectorate, this was due to its abundant palm oil and kernel which basically constituted the main revenue source of the country. In a sample survey carried out by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, about 40% of the rural inhabitants were committed to farming in 1983. Rivers State is one of the leading states in the production of yam, cassava, cocoyam, maize, rice and beans. About 39% (760,000 hectares) of the state's total land mass, particularly in the upland area, is suitable for cultivation. Major cash crops produced are oil palm products, rubber, coconut, raffia palm and jute. Other crops grown for food include vegetables, melon, pineapples, mango, pepper, banana and plantain. The fishing industry is an important sector in Rivers State. Besides being lucrative, fishing is also a favourite past time activity. There are approximately 270 species of fish existing; with many artisanal fishermen in the riverine areas. The state provides valuable seafood such as crabs, oysters, shrimps and sea snails among others. Vertebrates like birds, mammals and reptiles are also found in the region.


title: Rivers State

text: Energy, and especially electricity is the key factor for economic growth. Rivers State has one of the nation's highest per capita energy consumption rates. As of 2012, it had a power generation capacity of 400 megawatts, a significant improvement over a meagre 30 megawatts during the late nineties. Its energy sector is protected by the government through legislation and funding. It is overseen by the ministries of Power, Energy and Natural Resources. The state's oil-refining capacity is the biggest in the country, with more than 340,000 barrels of crude oil per day.


title: Rivers State

text: There's a vast untapped potential in the state for solar power. Interest in solar energy has been increasing but not much has been invested. Up to now, energy production is insufficient to meet demand, resulting in frequent power outages, slow manufacturing and business performance.


title: Rivers State

text: Transportation within Rivers State is mainly land and water-based. The industry has the Ministry of Transport as its chief regulating body. Apart from roads and waterways, there are functional airdromes that provide out-of-state transport. The sea ports contain harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land.


title: Rivers State

text: Taxicabs, buses and ferries dominate public transport. They are usually inexpensive and are often used for multi passenger pick ups. Commercial vehicles in Port Harcourt maintain sky blue, white and sky blue livery. Operating without these government-approved colors is punishable with a fine of ₦10,000.


title: Rivers State

text: Both domestic and international flights are available from Port Harcourt International Airport. Airlines such as Lufthansa, Air France, Qatar Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Med-View, Air Peace and Cronos link the state to destinations including Frankfurt, Paris, Lagos and Malabo. Passengers can easily get a taxi or rental car at the authorized vehicle area. Companies like Europcar, Avis and Hertz have offices near the airport. In addition, the Port Harcourt Air Force Base is located in the state capital. It gained popularity as a commercial destination due to the closure of the international airport. After that airport reopened, most airlines abandoned the base. However, it still has some destinations since the airport is closer to the centre than the main airport.


title: Rivers State

text: Seaports handle much more diversified import cargo activities than airports. The Port of Onne is one of the largest and busiest seaports in the country. Its mobile harbour cranes are one of the biggest in Africa, with a lifting capacity of 208 metric tonnes. Another important seaport is the Port of Port Harcourt. It was the second largest port in Nigeria in the 1950s. In 1954, it cleared about $54 million worth of imports and exports, while the shipping facilities at Calabar cleared $11 million worth of goods.


title: Rivers State

text: The majority of Riverians obtain their water for household uses from vendors. There are also those who extract their water from private boreholes and wells and incur costs for the investment, maintenance, spare parts, pumping, and in some cases treating the water. Several others receive their domestic water from rainwater catchments, nearby streams or rivers. In the oil-bearing communities, many residents have easy access to basic infrastructure systems, although, most of the facilities are nonfunctional.


title: Rivers State

text: In the large urban localities such as Port Harcourt and Obio-Akpor, Port Harcourt Water Corporation handles the provision of urban water supply and wastewater management services for 15% of the population. A number of towns and villages with iron-contaminated HO have resorted to treating one chemical contaminant with another. Most of the water collection in low-income urban residential areas is done by women. In 2008, NDHS reported that 26% of adult females collect drinking water more than adult male counterparts at 21%.


title: Rivers State

text: In order to improve access to safe, reliable, affordable, and sustainable water supply services, USAID, through its Sustainable Water and Sanitation in Africa program collaborated with the Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development from April 2013 to June 2015.


title: Rivers State

text: The Rivers State government consists of elected representatives and appointed officials. The state government has executive and legislative branches, with an independent judiciary. At the local level, elected officials are responsible for local government areas.


title: Rivers State

text: The executive branch is headed by the Governor, assisted by the Deputy Governor, both elected for a term of 4 years (maximum of 2 terms). The governor appoints commissioners responsible for each of the ministries and appoints the heads of parastatals, and the state-owned bodies with specific regulatory or administrative duties. In some cases, a governor may be replaced or removed for example, through death, impeachment or if an election is annulled by a competent court of law or by a two-thirds majority of the House of Assembly.


title: Rivers State

text: The incumbent governor is Ezenwo Nyesom Wike a member of People Democratic Party, who heads the council of Rivers State. Wike was sworn in on 29 May 2015. He is the 6th Democratic governor of the state and the 15th overall governor of River State


title: Rivers State

text: The legislative authority in Rivers State is held by the state House of Assembly, which is made up of elected representatives from all constituencies of the state. Its functions at the state level are relative to those of the National Assembly at the federal level, creating laws for the good governance of the state, as well as acting as a check and balance on the powers and actions of the state's Chief Executive. The House of Assembly consists three times the total number of seats which the state has in the House of Representatives.


title: Rivers State

text: The judicial branch of the state government has sole authority and responsibility for the interpretation and application of the state's laws as well as the adjudication of disputes or controversies. It consists of eight courts: the High Court of Justice, the Magistrates Courts, the Customary Courts, the Juveniles Courts, the Revenue Courts, the Sanitation Courts, the Mobile Courts and Ports Related Offences Courts. It is governed mainly by the Chief Judge of the High Court of Justice. There are about 26 serving judges in the High Court of Justice, which comprises 10 Judicial Divisions including Port Harcourt, Ahoada, Degema, Nchia, Bori, Omoku, Isiokpo, Okrika, Okehi, and Oyigbo.


title: Rivers State

text: Elections are conducted every 4 years in which Riverian voters will directly elect 16 representatives to the Nigerian National Assembly. Those chosen are grouped into 3 senators representing Rivers South East, Rivers West, Rivers East and 13 representatives representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro, Obio/Akpor, Oyigbo/Tai/Eleme, Port Harcourt II, Etche/Omuma, Asari-Toru/Akuku-Toru, Okrika/Ogu–Bolo, Khana/Gokana, Port Harcourt I, Ahoada West/Ogba–Egbema–Ndoni, Abua–Odual/Ahoada East, Ikwerre/Emohua, Degema/Bonny. Since the advent of the Fourth Republic in 1999, the People's Democratic Party has usually held a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.


title: Rivers State

text: Rivers State currently consists of 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs), all of which handle local administration, under an elected Chairman. Each of the local government areas has its own administrative seat. They are:


title: Rivers State

text: As at 1999, the state had 2,805 government primary schools and 243 secondary schools. The secondary schools are concentrated mainly in LGA headquarter towns and in Port Harcourt.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Harrison Joseph Bader (born June 3, 1994), nicknamed "Tots," is an American professional baseball center fielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Born and raised in Bronxville, New York, Bader played college baseball at the University of Florida. The Cardinals selected him in the third round of the 2015 MLB draft, and he made his MLB debut with them in 2017. Bader was their starting center fielder for parts of five seasons, and won a Gold Glove Award in 2021. The Cardinals traded Bader to the Yankees in 2022. Bader committed to play for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Miami in March 2023.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Bader was born in the village of Bronxville, New York, in the town of Eastchester. Bader's father Louis Bader is Jewish, and his mother Janice is Italian (Sicilian). Both of his parents are originally from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. His father is the lead counsel for Verizon in New York. He has a younger sister, Sasha. Vampire Weekend bassist Chris Baio is a first cousin of his. He is also a first cousin once removed of actor Scott Baio, who played Chachi Arcola on "Happy Days" and Charles on the 1980s television program "Charles in Charge".


title: Harrison Bader

text: He started in baseball with his father throwing batting practice to him when Bader was five years old. He played shortstop in the Eastchester Little League as a youth, with his father continuing to throw him batting practice every evening. Bader grew up a fan of the New York Yankees, and his favorite player was outfielder Roger Maris.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Bader attended the Horace Mann School ('12) in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City, and played as a center fielder for the school's baseball team. As a senior, he batted .500 with a .783 slugging percentage. He was named first-team all-region, first-team all-state, first-team all-city, and to the 2012 Rawlings Northeast All-Region First Team. While attending high school, Bader also played for the New York Grays, a travel baseball team.


title: Harrison Bader

text: In October 2011, Bader committed to the University of Pittsburgh to play for the Panthers baseball team. However, he had not signed a National Letter of Intent. He decommitted from Pittsburgh in May 2012, and committed to the University of Maryland to play for the Terrapins. However, Maryland did not offer him a scholarship. In July, he therefore decommitted from Maryland, and committed to the University of Florida to play for the Gators, inasmuch as Florida in contrast offered him a partial scholarship.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Bader led the Gators with a .312 batting average in 221 at bats as a freshman, with 15 stolen bases (10th in the Southeastern Conference), and was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team. He again led the team, with a .337 average (6th in the Conference) in 169 at bats with a .421 on-base percentage (6th) as a sophomore, and was named All-SEC Second Team. In 2014, his sophomore year, Bader was suspended for 19 games after a scooter accident that occurred while he was driving under the influence of alcohol. After the 2014 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League.


title: Harrison Bader

text: As a junior in 2015, he batted .297/.393/.566 (10th in the Conference) in 256 at bats with 17 home runs (3rd), 66 RBIs (3rd), and 10 hit by pitch (8th) in 67 games. Bader was named to the All-Tournament Team in the 2015 College World Series after he batted .348 in five games. He was named a second-team All-American by Perfect Game, and a third-team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).


title: Harrison Bader

text: In his three seasons with the school, Bader became the 11th player in school history to record over 20 home runs, over 100 RBIs, and over 30 steals over his career.


title: Harrison Bader

text: In the 2015 Major League Baseball draft, the St. Louis Cardinals selected Bader in the third round, with the 100th overall selection. He signed with the Cardinals, receiving a $400,000 signing bonus, and made his professional debut with the State College Spikes of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League, hitting two home runs in his first game. The Cardinals promoted Bader to the Peoria Chiefs of the Class A Midwest League (MWL) in July, and for the season with Peoria he was 10th in the League with 9 home runs and 8th with a .505 slugging percentage, in 206 at bats. He was the MWL Player of the Week for August 24–30 after batting .448 in seven games with two home runs, six RBIs, one double, and two triples. In 235 at bats and 61 total games between State College and Peoria, he batted .311/.368/.523 with 13 doubles, 11 home runs, 32 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases. He was named an MiLB 2015 Organization All Star.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Bader began the 2016 season with the Springfield Cardinals of the Class AA Texas League, with whom his .497 slugging percentage was 9th-highest in the league and his 10 hit by pitch, in 318 at bats, was 2nd in the league. He had a hit streak in April 2016 that fell one game short of tying the Springfield club record. Bader was named a Texas League mid-season All-Star, and in the All Star Game he collected four hits in five at-bats with a double and a run scored. He was promoted to the Class AAA Memphis Redbirds on July 6, 2016. In their updated 2016 mid-season ranking, "Baseball America" rated Bader in the top 100 for the first time, at 89th. Bader finished the 2016 season batting a combined .267 with 19 home runs and 58 RBIs in 465 at bats over 131 games between Memphis and Springfield. MLB Pipeline named him the Cardinals 2016 Minor League Player of the Year, and he was named an MiLB 2016 Organization All Star. After the season, the Cardinals assigned Bader to the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League (AFL), for whom he batted .304/.349/.430 with 16 RBIs (5th in the league) in 79 at bats. He was named an AFL 2016 Rising Star, and to the AFL 2016 All-Prospect Team.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Bader began 2017 back with Memphis, batting .283/.347/.469 with 74 runs and 20 home runs (both 2nd among Cardinals minor leaguers), 55 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases in 431 at bats while playing primarily center field. He was ranked the # 8 prospect in the Cardinals organization by "Baseball America". After the season, the Cardinals named Bader their 2017 Minor League Player of the Year.


title: Harrison Bader

text: On July 25, 2017, the Cardinals promoted Bader to the major leagues to take the place of the injured Dexter Fowler. Bader had been batting .297 with 19 home runs and 48 RBIs in 97 games at Memphis before his promotion. That night, he started in center field and batted seventh, and recorded his first major league hit, a double, and scored the winning run on a walk-off sacrifice fly against the Colorado Rockies. He hit his first MLB home run, a 395-foot shot to left field, on September 1, 2017, off Johnny Cueto, leading the Cardinals to an 11–6 win over the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. In 2017, in which he had 85 at bats for the Cardinals, his sprint speed was 30.0 feet/second, 10th-fastest of all major leaguers with 25 or more competitive runs.


title: Harrison Bader

text: MLB.com ranked Bader as the Cardinals 5th-best prospect going into the 2018 season, which he began with Memphis. The Cardinals promoted him to the major leagues on April 3, after an injury to Jedd Gyorko.


title: Harrison Bader

text: After his call-up, Bader first became St. Louis' fourth outfielder, then their starting center fielder after Tommy Pham was traded on July 31. He scored from second base on an infield single by Austin Gomber at Colorado on August 26; at the end of the season, he was the Cardinals' MLBPAA Heart & Hustle Award nominee.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Bader finished his 2018 rookie campaign batting .264 with 12 home runs, 37 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases in 138 games. His stolen base percentage of 83.3% was the 4th-best in the NL. His sprint speed was 30.1 feet/second, 2nd-fastest (behind Adam Engel) of all major leaguers with 100 or more competitive runs. On defense, he ranked 4th among MLB outfielders with 19 Defensive Runs Saved. He led the major leagues in 5-star catches (7), and was tied for first in Outs Above Average (21) according to Statcast.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Among National League rookie leaders, Bader was in the top five in runs (61; 4th), doubles (20; 5th), home runs (12; 5th), and extra base hits (34; 5th). He tied for the National League lead among rookies with eight outfield assists. His 15 stolen bases as a rookie were the most by a Cardinal since Kolten Wong in 2014, and his 100 hits were the most since Colby Rasmus in 2009. Bader was named to the "Baseball America" 2008 All-Star Rookie Team and the Topps 2018 All-Star Rookie Team, and came in 6th in the voting for NL Rookie of the Year.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Bader began 2019 as St. Louis' starting center fielder. However, he struggled at the plate, and was eventually moved into a bench role. On July 30, he was demoted to Memphis after slashing .195/.309/.648 with six home runs and 19 RBIs over 90 games. With Memphis he played in 16 games, batting .317/.427/.698 in 63 at bats with 7 home runs and 15 RBIs, and 3-for-3 in stolen bases. He was recalled to St. Louis on August 20. In his first game after being called back up, Bader hit a triple, scored two runs, and walked three times in a 9–4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Bader finished the 2019 regular season with St. Louis, batting .205/.314/.366 with 12 home runs, 39 RBIs, 11 stolen bases, and 13 hit by pitches over 128 games. He was one of eight major league players to record double-digit totals in home runs, stolen bases, and hit by pitches. His sprint speed was 29.5 feet/second, 11th-fastest of all major leaguers with 100 or more competitive runs.


title: Harrison Bader

text: On defense, he again had eight outfield assists (2nd among NL outfielders), and led National League outfielders with four double plays, the most by a Cardinals outfielder since Jim Edmonds had five in 2003, as Bader played all 122 games in center field. His .956 zone rating was the highest by a Cardinals outfielder since the category was first tracked in 1987. He was named the "Best Defensive Outfielder" in the National League in "Baseball America"'s 2019 Best Tools survey of managers, coaches, scouts, and executives. He also received his first nomination and was a finalist for a Rawlings Gold Glove.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Bader returned as the starting center fielder in the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2020 season, slashing .226/.336/.443 with 2 triples (10th in the NL), 4 home runs, and 11 RBIs over 50 games. His 29.5 feet/second sprint speed was 7th-fastest in major league baseball, of all players with 25 or more competitive runs. On defense, he had 2 assists (5th among NL center fielders), and a zone rating of .974 (2nd among NL outfielders).


title: Harrison Bader

text: During spring training 2021, Bader strained his right forearm and missed the start of the regular season. He returned to play on April 30, but fracturing a rib while diving for a ball in a May 26 game against the Chicago White Sox. Reactivated and returned to the starting lineup on July 1, he hit his first career grand slam, helping the Cardinals to a 9–3 win over the Rockies at Coors Field. Bader was named the National League Player of the Week for the first time on September 27. The prior week he batted 15-for-29, hitting .517/.548/ 1.000, with 10 runs and three home runs in eight games, and helped the Cardinals win a franchise-record 17th consecutive game. In October 2021, Will Leitch wrote for MLB: "Bader is a defensive dynamo, a base-running terror and a complete joy to watch. Who's more fun than this?"


title: Harrison Bader

text: Bader finished the 2021 season with 367 at bats over 103 games, slashing .267/.324/.460 with 16 home runs, 50 RBIs, 21 doubles, nine stolen bases, and 6 intentional walks (8th in the NL). His sprint speed of 29.5 feet/second was 6th-fastest in major league baseball, of all players with 100 or more competitive runs.


title: Harrison Bader

text: On defense, Bader's .973 zone rating was the highest by any Major League outfielder in history since the category began being tracked in 1987. He led major league baseball outfielders in SABR defensive index (14.4), ultimate zone rating (11.4), putouts/9 innings (2.93), range factor/9 (2.97), and zone rating (.973). He led NL outfielders in outs above average (13) and runs prevented (12), and was 3rd in defensive runs saved (15).


title: Harrison Bader

text: Bader won the Gold Glove Award in center field, one of five Cardinals (an MLB record) to win the award. He was the first Cardinals center fielder to win a Gold Glove since Jim Edmonds in 2000–05.


title: Harrison Bader

text: On April 3, 2022, Bader and the Cardinals agreed to a two-year, $10.4 million contract to avoid arbitration. Bader hit an inside-the-park home run on May 10, the first by a Cardinal since Vince Coleman in 1985, and the only one by a Cardinal in Busch Stadium III. On June 27, the Cardinals put Bader on the 10-day injured list due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot.


title: Harrison Bader

text: At the time of his trade he was batting .256/.303/.370 with five home runs in 246 at bats, with 15 stolen bases (5th in the NL) in 17 attempts, and had been error-less in center field.


title: Harrison Bader

text: On August 2, 2022, the Cardinals traded Bader and a player to be named later for cash considerations to the New York Yankees for pitcher Jordan Montgomery. On September 20, Bader had his first New York Yankees hit, driving in a run. He had the fastest sprint speed of all Yankees with 25 or more runs, at 29.1 feet per second.


title: Harrison Bader

text: Bader hit his first New York Yankees home run in Game 1 of the 2022 American League Division Series off of Cal Quantrill of the Cleveland Guardians. He hit three home runs in the first four games of the series, joining Bernie Williams and Mickey Mantle as the only Yankee center fielders with three homers in a single postseason. He hit a fourth postseason home run in the first game of the 2022 American League Championship Series, becoming the first Yankee ever to hit four home runs in his first six postseason games. In the ALCS he hit a fifth home run in the fourth game, and batted .400/.471/.800 for the series.


title: Harrison Bader

text: In July 2022, Bader committed to play for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Miami starting March 11–15. He will be playing for Team Israel manager and former All Star Ian Kinsler, and alongside All Star outfielder Joc Pederson, pitcher Dean Kremer, and others.


title: Harrison Bader

text: While with the Cardinals, Bader partnered with Sonic Drive-In to sell "Bader Tots" at participating St. Louis area locations.


title: Native American gaming

text: Native American gaming comprises casinos, bingo halls, and other gambling operations on Indian reservations or other tribal lands in the United States. Because these areas have tribal sovereignty, states have limited ability to forbid gambling there, as codified by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. As of 2011, there were 460 gambling operations run by 240 tribes, with a total annual revenue of $27 billion.


title: Native American gaming

text: In the early 1970s, Russell and Helen Bryan, a married Chippewa couple living in a mobile home on Indian lands in northern Minnesota, received a property tax bill from the local county, Itasca County. The Bryans had never received a property tax bill from the county before. Unwilling to pay it, they took the tax notice to local legal aid attorneys at Leech Lake Legal Services, who brought suit to challenge the tax in the state courts. The Bryans lost their case in the state district court, and they lost again on appeal in a unanimous decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court. They then sought review at the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court granted review, and in a sweeping and unanimous decision authored by Justice Brennan, the Supreme Court held not only that states do not have authority to tax Natives on their reservations, but that they also lack the authority to "regulate" Native activities on their reservations. Within a few years, enterprising Natives and tribes began to operate Indian bingo operations in numerous different locations around the United States.


title: Native American gaming

text: Under the leadership of Howard Tommie, the Seminole Tribe of Florida built a large high-stakes bingo building on their reservation near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The tribe planned for the bingo hall to be open six days a week, contrary to Florida state law which only allows two days a week for bingo halls to be open, as well as going over the maximum limit of $100 jackpots. The law was enacted from the charity bingo limits set by Catholic Churches. The sheriff of Broward County, where the Native reservation lies, made arrests the minute the bingo hall opened, and the tribe sued the county ("Seminole Tribe v. Butterworth"), stating that Native tribes have sovereignty rights that are protected by the federal government from interference by state government. A District Court ruled in favor of the Natives, citing Chief Justice John Marshall in "Worcester v. Georgia".


title: Native American gaming

text: Controversy arose when Natives began putting private casinos, bingo rooms, and lotteries on reservation lands and began setting gaming prizes which were above the maximum legal limit of the state. The Natives argued for sovereignty over their reservations to make them immune from state laws such as Public Law 280, which granted states to have criminal jurisdiction over Native reservations. States were afraid that Natives would have a significant competitive advantage over other gambling establishments in the state which was regulated, which would thus generate a vast amount of income for tribes.


title: Native American gaming

text: In the late 1970s and continuing into the next decade, the delicate question concerning the legality of tribal gaming and immunity from state law hovered over the Supreme Court. The Court addressed the potential gambling had for organized crime through the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970. A report by the Department of Justice presented to the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs on March 18, 1992, concluded that through several years of FBI investigation, organized crime had failed to infiltrate Native gaming and that there was no link between criminal activity in Native gaming and organized crime.


title: Native American gaming

text: A Supreme Court ruling issued on July 9, 2020, which expanded tribal jurisdiction for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma also opened the possibility for Native Americans to have more power to regulate casino gambling.


title: Native American gaming

text: In the early 1960s, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, near Indio, California, were extremely poor and did not have much land because of neglected treaties in the 1850s by state senators. As Stuart Banner states, the Cabazon Band and the neighboring Morongo Reservation had "some HUD buildings and a few trailers, but that was about it. There was nothing really there. The people simply didn't have a lot." The Cabazon Band turned to casino operations, opening bingo and poker halls in 1980. Shortly thereafter, the Indio police and the Riverside County Sheriff shut down the gambling halls and arrested numerous Natives while seizing any cash and merchandise held in the tribe's possession. The Cabazon Band sued in federal court ("California v. Cabazon Band") and won, as did the Seminole Tribe in Florida. Although the tribe won in the lower courts, the Supreme Court reviewed the case in 1986 to reach a decision over whether Native reservations are controlled by state law. The Court again ruled that Native gaming was to be regulated exclusively by Congress and the federal government, not state government; with tribal sovereignty upheld, the benefits of gaming became available to many tribes.


title: Native American gaming

text: In 1988 Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) (signed by President Ronald Reagan) which kept tribal sovereignty to create casino-like halls, but the states and Natives must be in Tribal-State compacts and the federal government has the power to regulate the gaming. These compacts have been used by state officials to confiscate Native casino revenue which serves as a "special" tax on Native reservations. Essentially, the tribes still have "exclusive right" to all classes of gaming except when states do not accept that class or it clashes with federal law.


title: Native American gaming

text: Class III Native gaming became a large issue for the states and federal government, because of these court cases, as Congress debated over a bill for Native gaming called the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.


title: Native American gaming

text: Currently, all attempts to challenge the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act on constitutional grounds have failed.


title: Native American gaming

text: After President Reagan signed the IGRA, Native gaming revenue skyrocketed from $100 million in 1988 to $16.7 billion in 2006. Following the IGRA, the National Indian Gaming Commission was created as a federal agency in 1988 to regulate high-stakes Native gaming.


title: Native American gaming

text: The Commission consists of three members: a chairman who is appointed by the US president with the consent of the Senate, and two associate members appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. Each member serves a three-year term and must pass a detailed background check by the US Attorney General.


title: Native American gaming

text: The NIGC withholds certain powers over Class II and Class III gaming. These include budget approval, civil fines, fees, subpoenas, and permanent orders. The NIGC monitors Class II gaming on Native lands on a continuing basis through inspection, investigation, access to records, and contracts. As for Class III gaming, all contracts must be approved by the chairman of the NIGC. 200 of the 562 federally recognized tribes created Class III gaming of large casinos and high jackpots.


title: Native American gaming

text: This rise of gaming not only brought great revenue but also corruption. In January 2006, a court case involving lobbyists convicted of felonies such as conspiracy, fraud, and tax evasion. This was known as the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal. These lobbyists, Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist, and Michael Scanlon, bribed members of Congress when lobbying for Native casinos, then overcharged their Native clients; this generated around $90 million in fees from the Natives.


title: Native American gaming

text: In 2006, Congress introduced legislation to protect their own casino interests from those tribes that are outside reservations. Further, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has faced increasing pressure to tighten regulatory policy and oversight of casino approvals. In particular, the BIA has been instructed by Congress to implement new procedures after two decades of IGRA's existence. These procedures would allow local communities to have more influence in the siting of casinos in their community and would make the process of casino approval more transparent. To many tribes, however, the proposed regulations will further encroach on tribal sovereignty.


title: Native American gaming

text: Indian gaming became the focus for many tribes in efforts to retrieve their sovereignty and economic independence. Native American tribes went through vast political, economic, and social change after the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. Non-Native Americans instituted their politics and forced Native Americans onto small reservations. Casino and bingo halls have provided funding for housing, medical, social services, education, and many other resources for the Native American tribes. Funds derived from gambling have advanced Native Americans. However, Native Americans have compromised their wants because of a set of provisions forced on the Native Americans by the federal government. The first provision enforced was that the state has to approve the form of gaming that is conducted. The second provision was the state and reservations had to agree on where to build each casino. The third provision required the tribe to develop gaming ordinances to be approved by the chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission.


title: Native American gaming

text: The Puyallup Tribe's casino advanced tribal agency majorly. The Emerald Queen Casino earnings enabled the tribe to preserve their culture.


title: Native American gaming

text: Gambling has both positive and negative effects on Native Americans. Indian gaming weakens Indian sovereignty and breaks down tribal cultures and traditional values and has increased domestic abuse.


title: Native American gaming

text: Indian gaming provides job opportunity for thousands of Native and non-Native Americans. The casino and bingo hall generates billions of dollars in revenue that helps Native American sovereignty.


title: Native American gaming

text: Statistics provided by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC), indicate that there are 460 Native gaming establishments in the US. These casinos are operated by 240 federally recognized tribes and offer Class I, Class II and Class III gaming. Gaming is divided into 3 classes with a different regulatory scheme for each:


title: Native American gaming

text: Class I gaming is defined as (1) traditional Indian gaming, which may be part of tribal ceremonies and celebrations, and (2) social gaming for minimal prizes. Regulatory authority over class I gaming is vested exclusively in tribal governments and is not subject to IGRA's requirements.


title: Native American gaming

text: Class II gaming is defined as the game of chance commonly known as bingo (whether or not electronic, computer, or other technological aids are used in connection therewith) and, if played in the same location as the bingo, pull tabs, punch board, tip jars, instant bingo, and other games similar to bingo. Class II gaming also includes non-banked card games, that is, games that are played exclusively against other players rather than against the house or a player acting as a bank. The Act specifically excludes slot machines or electronic facsimiles of any game of chance from the definition of class II games.


title: Native American gaming

text: Tribes retain their authority to conduct, license, and regulate class II gaming so long as the state in which the Tribe is located permits such gaming for any purpose, and the Tribal government adopts a gaming ordinance approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC). Tribal governments are responsible for regulating class II gaming with Commission oversight. Only Hawaii and Utah continue to prohibit all types of gaming.


title: Native American gaming

text: The definition of class III gaming is broad. It includes all forms of gaming that are neither class I nor II. Games commonly played at casinos, such as slot machines, blackjack, craps, and roulette, clearly fall in the class III category, as well as wagering games and electronic facsimiles of any game of chance. Generally, class III is often referred to as casino-style gaming. As a compromise, the Act restricts Tribal authority to conduct class III gaming.


title: Native American gaming

text: The regulatory scheme for class III gaming is more complex than a casual reading of the statute might suggest. Although Congress clearly intended regulatory issues to be addressed in Tribal-State compacts, it left a number of key functions in federal hands, including approval authority over compacts, management contracts, and Tribal gaming ordinances. Congress also vested the commission with broad authority to issue regulations in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. Accordingly, the Commission plays a key role in the regulation of class II and III gaming.


title: Native American gaming

text: The revenue generated in these establishments was close to $27.1 billion in 2011 up from $12.8 billion in 2001. The regions with largest revenues in 2011 were Sacramento ($6.9 billion) and Washington State ($6.7 billion). The Native American gaming industry has been described as "recession-resistant", although tribes in many states (including Arizona, California, Connecticut and New Mexico) saw revenues fall at a similar rate to commercial casinos during the Great Recession of 2007–2009.


title: Native American gaming

text: Tribal casinos in the eastern US generated roughly $3.8 billion in FY02. Those in the Central US recorded gross revenues of approximately $5.9 billion, while those in the Western US generated nearly $4.8 billion. Most of the revenues generated in the Native gaming are from casinos located in or near large metropolitan areas. Currently, 12% of Native gaming establishments generate 65% of Native gaming revenues. Native gaming operations located in the populous areas of the West Coast (primarily California) represent the fastest growing sector of the Native gaming industry. As suggested by the above figures, the vast majority of tribal casinos are much less financially successful, particularly those in the Midwest and Great Plains. Many tribes see this limited financial success as being tempered by decreases in reservation unemployment and poverty rates, although socioeconomic deficits remain.


title: Native American gaming

text: As of 2008 there are 562 federally recognized tribes in the United States, many of which have chosen not to enter the gambling industry.


title: Native American gaming

text: The largest casino in the state of California is the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, with 3,000+ slot machines and approximately of gaming space. Other notable gaming operations in California include the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Casino and the Chumash Casino Resort.


title: Native American gaming

text: Native gaming revenues in Oklahoma rose to $3.23 billion in 2010, representing 44 percent of all U.S. casinos. Oklahoma surpassed Connecticut as second in the United States for gaming revenue, according to Alan Meister, an economist with Nathan Associates Inc.


title: Native American gaming

text: Oklahoma has 113 tribal casinos, more than any other state in the U.S. A 2015 report on U.S. Gaming says that Oklahoma has the most gaming machines. WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma, is the third largest casino in North America with more than 500,000 square feet of gaming floor. Much of this success is due to geography: the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is roughly an hour's drive from the Oklahoma state line, and Texas does not permit casino gambling. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 mandates that net revenues of such gaming be directed to tribes for government, economic development and general welfare use; to charitable organizations and to help fund local governments. Approved by voters in 2004, Oklahoma's State-Tribal Gaming Act created a tribal gaming compact allowing federally recognized American Indian tribes to operate, electronic bonanza-style bingo games, electronic amusement games, electronic instant bingo games and non house-banked card games. The current compact automatically renews on Jan. 1, 2020. The Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act allowed any recognized tribe in Oklahoma to be federally incorporated, have the right to self-determination and make their own bylaws.


title: Native American gaming

text: The Foxwoods Resort Casino opened in 1992 in Ledyard, Connecticut. Operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and earning $1.5 billion, it was more profitable than any one casino in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. With 7,200 slot machines and 380 table games, the Foxwoods Resort Casino is the largest casino in the US and second largest in the world after Venetian Macao. Today, the property spans 1.5 miles from end to end, with 6 casinos, four hotels, more than 30 restaurants, two theaters, two spas, and more than one hundred retailers. The agreement between the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the State of Connecticut promises the state $80 million or 25% of their annual slot revenue. Since Foxwoods opened in 1992, the state of Connecticut has received more than $4 billion in slot revenue from Foxwoods alone.


title: Native American gaming

text: The Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino is also located in Connecticut, and is owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribe. The Mohegan Tribe approached the Mashantucket Pequots in the early 1990s for permission to pursue gaming. Although doing so would relinquish their gaming monopoly in Connecticut, the Mashantuckets granted the Mohegans their request, who then opened Mohegan Sun in 1996. This enterprise is and consists of 6,500 slot machines and 180 table games. It is the second largest casino in the United States, located 7 miles away from Foxwoods in Uncasville, Connecticut. Since opening in 1996, the state of Connecticut has received more than $3 billion in slot revenue from Mohegan Sun alone.


title: Native American gaming

text: The success of both casinos is due in no small part to their location roughly halfway between New York City and Boston.


title: Native American gaming

text: The economic recession that began in 2007 took a heavy toll of receipts, and by 2012 both Foxwoods in Connecticut and its nearby rival the Mohegan Sun were deeply in debt. "The New York Times Magazine" said "Foxwoods is fighting for its life", with debts of $2.3 billion. In August 2012, the tribe owning the Foxwoods Casino restructured over a billion dollars in debt in an attempt to remain profitable.


title: Native American gaming

text: The Coeur d’Alene Casino is located in Idaho, US. Founded in 1993, the establishment consists the Circling Raven Golf Club, two luxury hotels, 100,000 square feet of casino space, and various restaurants. The Coeur d’Alene Casino currently employs an average of 1000 local residents, making it one of the largest employers in the region. A part of the casino's profits are invested back to the Coeur d'Alene people in education and various investment projects.


title: Native American gaming

text: The Shoshone-Bannock Tribe also operates a slots-only casino in Fort Hall, Idaho located just outside Pocatello, Idaho.


title: Native American gaming

text: In March 1994 the Mohawk people created a joint venture with Alpha Hospitality to develop and operate a gaming facility on tribal lands. In January 1996 they entered into a memorandum with Robert A. Berman's Catskill Development, L.L.C. regarding the development and management of a casino adjacent to the Monticello Raceway. The project received approval from the National Indian Gaming Commission.


title: Native American gaming

text: In 1999, however, the Mohawk tribe signed an agreement to build the casino with Park Place Entertainment instead. The Akwesasne Mohawk Casino (AMC) was inaugurated that same year in Hogansburg, New York. The facility comprises 140,000 square feet of casino floor space that includes over 1,800 slot machines and 30 table games, as well as a luxury hotel, spas, restaurants, and a number of entertainment venues. The casino is managed by the Mohawk Nation.


title: Native American gaming

text: The state of Indiana's first tribal casino was opened on the 16th of January 2017. The 175,000-square-foot Four Winds Casino is located in South Bend and is operated by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians.


title: Native American gaming

text: The biggest casino in Minnesota is Mystic Lake Casino Hotel. Mystic Lake Casino Hotel is owned and operated by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) in Prior Lake, Minnesota, United States, southwest of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. With 4,100 employees, the SMSC – including Mystic Lake Casino Hotel and Little Six Casino – is the largest employer in Scott County. The casino's gambling options include slots, bingo, video roulette, pulltabs, and live dealer blackjack. Mystic Lake also offers bars, restaurants, shows, special events, and accommodations.


title: Native American gaming

text: The Treasure Island Resort & Casino is a tribal gaming facility owned and operated by the Prairie Island Indian Community (PIIC) in Welch, MN – Goodhue County. It is the only casino resort in southern Minnesota located on the Mississippi River. The casino's gaming options include slot machines; video roulette, blackjack and keno; live dealer blackjack, poker and other table games; and bingo. Additional amenities to the property include a hotel, the Island Event Center, a marina, RV-park, a cruise yacht, a 24-lane bowling center, several restaurants; and a water park and spa. Employing nearly 1,500 people, Treasure Island Resort & Casino is the largest employer in Goodhue County.


title: Native American gaming

text: The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, also known as "The Guitar Hotel", is a hotel and casino resort near Hollywood, Florida, United States, located on 100 acres (40 ha) of the Hollywood Reservation of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The property currently has one hotel tower, a 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m) casino, large poker room, a 4 acres (1.6 ha) lagoon-style pool facility with a center bar and many private cabanas, restaurants, shops, spa, bars and nightclubs, and the Hard Rock Event Center. A large expansion was completed in October 2019.


title: Native American gaming

text: Native American gaming has, in some instances, changed the face of tribal economies, but it has also proven to be very ineffective in other situations. Although tribal victories over the governmental and cultural oppression in the 1950s yielded a dynamic transformation, economic success fell short in comparison. Unemployment was down and personal income had increased, but only a handful of tribes had made economic changes. Their strides were spotty and fluctuated greatly from each Native reservation. This was happening because, for most tribes, their lands were not economically productive, infrastructure was poor, and they were far away from prospering markets of large populations. In order to address the issue of poverty, Native tribes were required to fuel some type of economic development. Natives sold some of their tribal land to prospecting non-Natives in order to stimulate economic growth, but tribal gaming has proved to be the single largest source of income in the Native community. However, the United States government intervened in tribal affairs throughout the rise of Native gaming.


title: Native American gaming

text: Many tribal governments have seen substantial improvements in their ability to provide public services to their members, such as building schools, improving infrastructure, and shoring up the loss of native traditions. Tribal gaming operations have not been without controversy, however. A small number of tribes have been able to distribute large per-capita payments, generating considerable public attention. Additionally, the national expansion of Native gaming has led to a practice critics call "reservation shopping". This term describes tribes that, with the backing of casino investors, attempt to locate a casino off their reservation, usually near a large urban center. However, although authorized by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, only three "off-reservation" casinos have been built to date.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The mistral (, , , , Corsican: "Maestrale") is a strong, cold, northwesterly wind that blows from southern France into the Gulf of Lion in the northern Mediterranean. It produces sustained winds often exceeding , sometimes reaching . It is most common in the winter and spring, and strongest in the transition between the two seasons. Periods of the wind exceeding for more than sixty-five hours have been reported.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: In France, it refers to a violent, cold, north or northwest wind that accelerates when it passes through the valleys of the Rhône and the Durance Rivers to the coast of the Mediterranean around the Camargue region. It affects the northeast of the plain of Languedoc and Provence to the east of Toulon, where it is felt as a strong west wind. It has a major influence all along the Mediterranean coast of France, and often causes sudden storms in the Mediterranean between Corsica and the Balearic Islands.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The name "mistral" comes from the Languedoc dialect of the Occitan and means "masterly". The same wind is called "mistrau" in the Provençal variant of Occitan, "mestral" in Catalan, "maestrale" in Italian and Corsican, "maistràle" or "bentu maestru" in Sardinian, and "majjistral" in Maltese.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The mistral is usually accompanied by clear, fresh weather, and it plays an important role in creating the climate of Provence. It can reach speeds of more than , particularly in the Rhône Valley. Its average speed during the day can reach about , calming noticeably at night. The mistral usually blows in winter or spring, though it occurs in all seasons. It sometimes lasts only one or two days, frequently lasts several days, and sometimes lasts more than a week.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The mistral takes place each time there is an anticyclone, or area of high pressure, in the Bay of Biscay, and an area of low pressure around the Gulf of Genoa. When this happens, the flow of air between the high and low pressure areas draws in a current of cold air from the north which accelerates through the lower elevations between the foothills of the Alps and the Cevennes. The conditions for a mistral are even more favorable when a cold rainy front has crossed France from the northwest to the southeast as far as the Mediterranean. This cold, dry wind usually causes a period of cloudless skies and luminous sunshine, which gives the mistral its reputation for making the sky especially clear. There is also, however, the mistral noir, which brings clouds and rain. The mistral noir occurs when the Azores High is extended and draws in unusually moist air from the northwest.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The long and enclosed shape of the Rhône Valley, and the Venturi effect of funnelling the air through a narrowing space, is frequently cited as the reason for the speed and force of the mistral, but the reasons are apparently more complex. The mistral reaches its maximum speed not at the narrowest part of the Rhône Valley, south of Valence, but much farther south, where the Valley has widened. Also, the wind occurs not just in the Valley, but high above in the atmosphere, up to the troposphere, above the earth. The mistral is very strong at the summit of Mont Ventoux, 1900 meters (6300') in elevation, though the plain below is very wide. Other contributing factors to the strength of the mistral are the accumulation of masses of cold air, whose volume is greater, pouring down the mountains and valleys to the lower elevations. This is similar to a foehn wind, but unlike a foehn wind the descent in altitude does not significantly warm the mistral. The causes and characteristics of the mistral are very similar to those of the Tramontane, another wind of the French Mediterranean region.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: In France, the mistral particularly affects Provence, Languedoc east of Montpellier, as well as all of the Rhône Valley from Lyon to Marseille, and as far southeast as Corsica and Sardinia. The mistral usually blows from the north or northwest, but in certain pre-alpine valleys and along the Côte d'Azur, the wind is channelled by the mountains so that it blows from east to west. Sometimes it also blows from the north-north-east toward the east of Languedoc as far as Cap Béar. Frequently, the mistral will affect only one part of the region.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: In the Languedoc area, where the tramontane is the strongest wind, the mistral and the tramontane blow together onto the Gulf of Lion and the northwest of the western Mediterranean, and can be felt to the east of the Balearic Islands, in Sardinia, and sometimes as far as the coast of Africa.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: When the mistral blows from the west, the mass of air is not so cold and the wind only affects the plain of the Rhône delta and the Côte d'Azur. The good weather is confined to the coast of the Mediterranean, while it can rain in the interior. The Côte d'Azur generally has a clear sky and warmer temperatures. This type of mistral usually blows for no more than one to three days.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The mistral originating from the northeast has a very different character; it is felt only in the west of Provence and as far as Montpellier, with the wind coming from either a northerly or north-northeasterly direction. In the winter this is by far the coldest form of the mistral. The wind can blow for more than a week. This kind of mistral is often connected with a low pressure area in the Gulf of Genoa, and it can bring unstable weather to the Côte d'Azur and the east of Provence, sometimes bringing heavy snow to low altitudes in winter.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: When the flow of air comes from the northeast due to a widespread low pressure area over the Atlantic and atmospheric disturbances over France, the air is even colder at both high altitudes and ground level, and the mistral is even stronger, and the weather worse, with the creation of cumulus clouds bringing weak storms. This kind of mistral is weaker in the east of Provence and the Côte d'Azur.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The mistral is not always synonymous with clear skies. When a low pressure front over the Mediterranean approaches the coast from the southeast, the weather can change quickly for the worse, and the mistral and its clear sky changes rapidly to an east wind bringing humid air and threatening clouds. The position of the low-pressure front creates a flow of air from the northwest or the northeast, channeled through the Rhône Valley. If this low-pressure area moves back toward the southeast, the mistral will quickly clear the air and the good weather will return; but if the cold-weather front continues to approach the land, bad weather will continue for several days in the entire Mediterranean basin, sometimes transforming into what French meteorologists call an "épisode cévenol", a succession of torrential rains and floods, particularly in the areas west of the Rhône Valley: the Ardèche, the Gard, Hérault and Lozère.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The summer mistral, unlike the others, is created by purely local conditions. It usually happens in July, and only in the valley of the Rhône and on the coast of Provence. It is caused by a thermal depression over the interior of Provence (The Var and Alpes de Haute-Provence), created when the land is overheated. This creates a flow of air from the north toward the east of Provence. This wind is frequently cancelled out close to the coast by the breezes from the sea. It does not blow for more than a single day, but it is feared in Provence, because it dries the vegetation and it can spread forest fires.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The mistral helps explain the unusually sunny climate (2700 to 2900 hours of sunshine a year) and clarity of the air of Provence. When other parts of France have clouds and storms, Provence is rarely affected for long, since the mistral quickly clears the sky. In less than two hours, the sky can change from completely covered to completely clear. The mistral also blows away the dust, and makes the air particularly clear, so that during the mistral it is possible to see mountains and farther away. This clarity of the air and light is one of the features that attracted many French impressionist and post-impressionist artists to the South of France.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The mistral has the reputation of bringing good health, since the dry air dries stagnant water and the mud, giving the mistral the local name "mange-fange" (Eng. "mud-eater"). It also blows away pollution from the skies over the large cities and industrial areas.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The sunshine and dryness brought by the mistral have an important effect on the local vegetation. The vegetation in Provence, which is already dry because of the small amount of rainfall, is made even drier by the wind, which makes it particularly susceptible to fires, which the wind spreads very rapidly, sometimes devastating vast expanses of mountainside before being extinguished. During the summer, thousands of hectares can burn when the mistral is blowing.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: In the Rhône Valley and on the plain of la Crau, the regularity and force of the mistral causes the trees to grow leaning to the south. Once the forest has been razed by fire, the strong wind makes it difficult for new trees to grow. The farmers of the Rhône Valley have long planted rows of cypress trees to shelter their crops from the dry force of the mistral. The mistral can also have beneficial effects—the moving air can save crops from the spring frost, which can last until the end of April.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: As summer visitors to the beach in Provence learn, the summer mistral can quickly lower the temperature of the sea, as the wind pushes the warm water near the surface out to sea and it is replaced by colder water from greater depths.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The mistral regularly affects the weather in Sardinia and sometimes also affects the weather in North Africa, Sicily and Malta and other parts of the Mediterranean, particularly when low-pressure areas form in the Gulf of Genoa. The winds create a physically cold, salty ocean body that sinks in the Gulf of Lion when certain weather conditions are present.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: Similar names—"maestral" or "maestro"—are used for (although also mostly northwestern) a quite different wind in the Adriatic Sea. It is an anabatic sea-breeze wind which blows in the summer when the east Adriatic coast gets warmer than the sea. It is thus a mild sea-to-coast wind, unlike the mistral. The strong katabatic wind there is the northeastern bora.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: In Greece, it is also known as "maïstros" or "maïstráli". In southwestern Crete, it is considered the most beneficial wind, said to blow only in daytime.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The mistral played an important part in the life and culture of Provence from the beginning. Excavations at the prehistoric site called Terra Amata, at the foot of Mount Boron in Nice, showed that in about 40,000 B.C. the inhabitants had built a low wall of rocks and beach stones to the northwest of their fireplace to protect their fire from the power of the mistral.


title: Mistral (wind)

text: The "mas" (farmhouse) traditionally faces south, with its back to the mistral. The bell towers of villages in Provence are often open iron frameworks, which allow the wind to pass through. The traditional Provençal Nativity scene usually includes a figure of a shepherd holding his hat, with his cloak blowing in the mistral.


title: Preetha Vijayakumar

text: Preetha had first signed up to portray the leading role in Ravi Raja Pinisetty's Telugu film "Rukmini" opposite Vineeth in 1997, but delays meant her Tamil film Sandhippoma released first. She is noted for her role in the movie "Padayappa" as Rajinikanth's daughter.


title: Preetha Vijayakumar

text: She was born as second child to actor Vijayakumar and actress Manjula. She married director Hari in 2002 and has three sons.


title: Cerys Matthews

text: Cerys Matthews (; born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.


title: Cerys Matthews

text: Matthews programmes and hosts a weekly music show on BBC Radio 6 Music, a weekly blues show on BBC Radio 2, and a weekly show on BBC Radio 4 'Add To Playlist' which won the Prix Italia and Prix Europa 2022. She also makes documentaries for television and radio and was a roving reporter for "The One Show". She founded 'The Good Life Experience', a festival of culture and the great outdoors in Flintshire in 2014, and is author of "Hook, Line and Singer" published by Penguin Books and children's stories "Tales from the Deep" and "Gelert, A Man's Best Friend", published by Gomer.Her illustrated version of Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood is released November 2022 published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson.


title: Cerys Matthews

text: Matthews was born in Cardiff, the second of four children. The family moved to Swansea when she was seven. She went to Bryn Y Mor Welsh language school until 11 years of age, then attended St Michael's School, Llanelli. She then attended Ysgol Bro Gwaun comprehensive school when she lived in the Pembrokeshire village of Trefin. She is fluent in English, Welsh, Spanish, and French. She has cited her childhood heroes as being Pippi Longstocking and writers William Butler Yeats and Dylan Thomas.


title: Cerys Matthews

text: She learned to play the guitar at the age of nine, sang Welsh folk songs and taught herself traditional songs from all over the globe including blues and Irish folk songs. She was a member of the West Glamorgan Youth Orchestra. She had a stint in Spain as a nanny, where she learned to speak Catalan.


title: Cerys Matthews

text: Catatonia were formed in 1992, after Matthews met Mark Roberts. She subsequently sang lead vocals on, and co-wrote the music and lyrics for, the band's hits. Songs she co-wrote included "You've Got a Lot to Answer For", "Mulder and Scully", "Dead from the Waist Down", and "Road Rage". Matthews also played guitar on the earlier material before second guitarist Owen Powell joined the band. She also performed a single with the band Space named "The Ballad of Tom Jones", which tells the story of two lovers who want to kill each other, but then hear a Tom Jones song that defuses their homicidal feelings. Matthews later collaborated with Jones to record a version of Frank Loesser's "Baby, It's Cold Outside" on Jones' 1999 album "Reload". Matthews was voted the "Sexiest Female in Rock" in a 1999 readers' poll in the now defunct magazine "Melody Maker".


title: Cerys Matthews

text: After Catatonia's rise to fame with their second album "International Velvet", and subsequent success with "Equally Cursed and Blessed", the band returned in 2001 with their fourth studio album "Paper Scissors Stone". In September 2001 the band officially split.


title: Cerys Matthews

text: Matthews joined the Pet Shop Boys on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in June 2000, performing a duet of their hit "What Have I Done to Deserve This?". In December 2001, she returned to the recording studio for the first time since Catatonia split up. She recorded a song in both English and Welsh for the pre-school cartoon series "Sali Mali". She provided guest vocals on the track "Cyclops Rock", from US alternative rock band They Might Be Giants 2001 album "Mink Car". Her line was originally supposed to be provided by Joe Strummer of the Clash. Cerys went on to co-write "Gypsy Song" with Strummer on her "Cockahoop" album released by Rough Trade in 2003.


title: Cerys Matthews

text: Matthews moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2001. On her arrival she began playing with Bucky Baxter, who had played lap steel guitar for Bob Dylan and Ryan Adams. She had already collected seventy-six traditional folk songs with the idea of making an album of folk covers. Her debut album, "Cockahoop", ended up consisting mainly of her own songs. It was recorded in seven months and appeared on Blanco y Negro Records in the United Kingdom in May 2003. Whilst recording this album she met Seth Riddle, whom she married in Pembrokeshire on 22 February 2003. She toured the album around Britain with minimal promotion as she was several months pregnant at the time. The album's Stateside Records release followed in October 2004.


title: Cerys Matthews

text: In December 2005, Matthews recorded a version of Len Barry's 1960s UK and US top 10 hit "1-2-3" in Nashville. She released it as a download-single with all profits going to a children's charity. In early 2006, Matthews introduced material from her then upcoming album at SXSW in Austin, Texas.