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My wife's sister is a JUCO medical instructor and this new term the college encourages all faculty/student communications to be done via "Google Voice". She related to us some of the capabilities of the app and it all sounded "kinda OK", and had some positive possibilities. My question to this forum: has anyone on here used Google Voice, and if so, are there any caveats?

(Kitco News) - HSBC Holdings Plc, one of the world’s top bullion banks, has announced the launch of a platform that utilizes distributed ledger technology (DLT) to tokenize the ownership of gold held in its London vault as it looks to help usher in the digital age for the London gold market.According to a report from Bloomberg, the new system creates digital tokens representing gold bars, which can then be traded through the bank’s single-dealer platform. This approach “generates a permissioned digital representation of clients’ physical gold holdings,” said Mark Williamson, global head of FX and commodities partnerships and proposition...

HOLBROOK — Threats of death toward state Sen. Wendy Rogers from last year were met with prison time Tuesday for a Tucson man. Donald Brown was sentenced to 2½ years in prison in Navajo County Superior Court in Holbrook. The sentencing came after Brown entered a guilty plea on April 6 for attempting to make a terroristic threat, a class 4 felony. Brown sent an email to Trumped Store owners Steven and Karen Slaton on July 4 threatening to kill Rogers, who came to Show Low for the Fourth of July parade. In the email, Brown used an alias and...

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly made a very brief appearance in Show Low on Tuesday.His plane landed at Show Low Airport just after 10:30 a.m., and from there he was taken to White Mountain Performance and Horne Auto Center.The reason for his visit remains unclear, specifically considering that President Joe Biden was in Washington signing the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act, a bipartisan bill that Kelly endorsed and takes partial credit for.The CARES Act did come up in conversation between Kelly and Dan Macleod, the general manager at Horne Auto Center, along with water concerns affecting the state. Macleod...

5Dimes has made a sudden and surprising announcement that it will be suspending its services for US players. On September 21st, 2020 at midnight, American players will no longer be able to access the betting markets on the site. As 5Dimes is one of the most popular US-facing sportsbooks out there today, the news has come as a shock to punters across the country. Fortunately, 5Dimes has stated that it will relaunch its “new operations with a fresh start” – although there is no word on when exactly that will happen. Contents [show] A New Business Venture 5Dimes has stated...

The Russian army and its medical personnel are being dispatched to Russia’s largest gold mine, Olimpiada, to help contain a coronavirus outbreak. Located in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk Krai, Olimpiada employed around 6,000 people. The mine is run by Russia’s largest gold producer, Polyus. Polyus said that so far 866 peopled tested positive for COVID-19 and 2,790 tested negative. Majority of those who tested positive are not showing any symptoms, according to Russian media reports. Polyus is the only company in the region that will be testing all of its workers for the coronavirus infection, the reports said. To help the mining...

(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are sharply higher in early morning U.S. trading Thursday. Gold powered to a five-year high, while silver prices hit a five-week high. Major central banks that are leaning easy on their monetary policies are boosting the metals and the raw commodity sector, in general. Gold is also seeing increased safe-haven buying interest as tensions in the Persian Gulf are on the rise. August gold futures were last up $37.50 an ounce at 1,386.50. July Comex silver prices were last up $0.417 at $15.385 an ounce. Traders and investors are still digesting Wednesday’s conclusion...

migraine (not my real name; but I received this email) -- Emily's List just put Mark Brnovich "On Notice" for his long record of pushing an extreme anti-woman agenda. Brnovich is the only Attorney General Emily's List is targeting. It's time to put a stop to his agenda. Will you help us seize on this news by donating to help January defeat Brnovich? Brnovich attempted to force health clinics into releasing the names and confidential records of women who had abortions with no regard for their privacy. And now he's attempting to take away sexual assault survivor's right to sue...

I received a letter this past week from Chase because I was a safe-deposit-box customer. It was heavy handed and startling. Some of the terms included that lessee agrees not to have more than $25K worth in there (what's that? half of a good diamond?), that you can't have cash or coins in there (right away I thought Krugerrands, etc), and that the bank can restrict access to the box for any reason, or for no reason (unexpected circumstances, natural or manmade -- the sky is the limit). The contents are not protected against loss or damage. Oh, and they...

Wife and I, in hot tub this morning, just before dawn, caught sight of a long-duration, glorious meteor/fireball with a long tail. For us (in Eastern Arizona, White Mountains), it began at about 10 o'clock high in the NW sky and arced toward the western horizon. Lasted a good 15 seconds, very bright. Anyone else see it?

WHITERIVER — Just when politics were being eliminated from White Mountain Apache tribal operations, politics appeared again, this time during the run-up to the election. The supposedly independent WMAT Election Commission issued a decision Dec. 31 that of nine candidates for tribal chairman, only one, current Chairman Ronnie Lupe, qualified through his nominating petitions. Lupe has told The Independent that he has spent the last four years trying to eliminate politics from most facets of tribal operations. How Lupe’s petition passed muster when no one else’s did, they did not say. However, they did tell candidates that there were many...

WHITERIVER (AZ) — Tax breaks, according to economists, are designed to encourage some types of behavior, such as business investment. Taxes and regulation, they say, discourage other types of behavior, such as smoking, drinking and conspicuous consumption. One such project is the Fort Apache Timber Company (FATCO), a once-thriving lumber company that created jobs and kept the White Mountain Apache forests clean and relatively fireproof. According to WMAT (White Mountain Apache Tribe) planning office officials, the tribe has secured $40 million in loans stemming from these tax credits. The loans will ultimately result in $10 million of “free money” to...

CONCHO — There is an old saying about eating crow when one is in the wrong, but what happens to a crow who makes a faulty decision? One such bird who made the wrong decision paid the ultimate price, and then some. A small brush fire in Old Concho was started around 1:30 p.m. on April 22 by a crow that was wiresitting on a telephone pole. According to Vernon Fire Chief James Borrego, the crow touched the wire in such a way that the bird caught fire and fell to the ground. The area where the crow fell was...

I was just watching the short morning speeches on C-SPAN when liberal Mr. Cohen from NC (I think), was referring to the fact that conservatives are now opposing the raising of the debt ceiling; but they supported same when Bush was president. He referenced the scene in "Blazing Saddles", when the citizens of Rock Ridge were asked by the new black sheriff for just 24 more hours to solve the crisis. Denied. Whereupon Sheriff Bart protested, "You'd do it for Randolph Scott." The citizens then showed reverence at the mention of that name, and capitulated.

WHEATLAND -- A Wheatland man shot and killed his three children and his brother, and shot and injured his wife Thursday evening. Platte County law enforcement got the initial call of shots fired at 5:45 p.m. Thursday. Wheatland Police officers and Platte County Sheriff's deputies responded to the 700 block of Oak Street, where they became involved in a brief standoff with Everett Conant III, who was born in 1975. His exact age was not available from police this morning. Conant surrendered without incident and is in custody. At a news conference this morning, Wheatland Police Chief Randy Chesser said...

Another person is severely wounded, Juergen Linker told CNN, and one person is in custody. A U.S. military official said initial reports were that two people had been killed, including the driver of the bus. It is not clear if the driver was German or American, or military or civilian.

People of faith. To speak to the heartland, Democrats also must be comfortable using the language of faith. Religious Americans believe, with good reason, that bicoastal elites look down on them as Bible-thumping primitives. Yet Democrats ought to be able to oppose the political agenda of religious conservatives -- on abortion, on school prayer, on homosexuality -- without dismissing people of faith in general as hopelessly "retro." They ought to be able to defend the establishment clause and religious liberty without getting in bed with the secular absolutists of the ACLU. It makes little sense for Democrats to be estranged...

Four people were injured when a Pima County Sheriff's Department helicopter crashed late this morning in the mountains northwest of Tucson, officials said. The helicopter crew was scouting the area for possible locations for radio communication towers in the Ironwood National Forest when one of the passengers reported the aircraft had crashed about 11:30 a.m., said Chief Rick Kastigar, of the sheriff's department. The crash occurred on the side of the Waterman Mountains west of Picture Rocks. The closest intersection is at West Avra Valley and North Waterman Mountain roads. All four people have been taken from the crash site....

At about 2 pm on Friday, June 11, a small plane, apparently taking off from Springerville airport crashed into the Round Valley High School's main building. Shortly after the crash, there was an explosion that was rattled windows all over town. It is suspected the plane's fuel tank exploded. The first person on the scene was James Nelson Jr., Eagar councilman. "I was driving down Main Street and saw a small plane that was too low and wobbling. It went down near the High School so I pulled in and saw it had crashed into the roof. There were pieces...

HOLBROOK — A local Lakeside man shot and wounded another local man when he discovered what appeared to be a burglary in process at his neighbor’s home. The incident occurred March 2 at approximately 8:30 p.m. in the 4800 block of Rim Spur in Lakeside. Deputies responding to the scene met with Gaylon Crawford, who told deputies he had been asked by his neighbor to check on his residence because an alarm had been activated indicating a possible intrusion. The neighbor/ homeowner Jim Schueller, who lives in the Valley, was not home at the time of the incident. Crawford said...