New York – October 21, 2026 -- University of South Carolina women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time national champion, argues that empathy and high standards work together to produce wins, according to a new episode of the Grey Matter podcast hosted by Consello Founder, Chairman and CEO Declan Kelly.

Staley says playing instincts do not automatically make a leader

Staley tells Kelly that the instincts that made her successful as a player did not always translate into impactful leadership when she moved into coaching. Over more than three decades at the highest levels of women's basketball, she says, empathy and adaptability have defined her long-term success.

Andover, Minnesota – October 21, 2026 -- Beef 'O' Brady's has named Andover franchisee Bradley Dethmers its 2026 Franchisee of the Year, and he also took the brand's Marketer of the Year Award at parent company FSC Franchise Co.'s 2026 conference. The family sports pub chain operates 120 locations in 21 states.

Dethmers bought the Andover restaurant in May 2021 with nearly 30 years of hospitality experience

The Andover restaurant marks 18 years in business on October 6. Before becoming a Beef 'O' Brady's franchisee, Dethmers opened restaurants around the world and worked with several franchise brands. That background shapes his focus on hospitality and guest relationships.

Rochester, N.Y. – October 21, 2026 -- CPL, a design firm with 500-plus professionals, has acquired Illinois-based Bailey Edward, adding 50 staff and strengthening its presence in Chicago and across the Midwest. The announcement did not include financial terms.

Acquisition widens CPL's sector coverage to government and cultural work

Bailey Edward brings architecture, engineering, interior design and planning capabilities in education, government, healthcare, research, community and cultural practices. CPL already serves the Community & Culture, Healthcare, Higher Education, Infrastructure, K-12 Education, and Science & Technology sectors.

CPL says the added technical capacity will let the combined firm take on a wider range of project needs. Ellen Bailey Dickson, President and CEO of Bailey Edward, said the deal allows the firm to pursue larger, more complex work.

ARLINGTON, Va. – October 21, 2026 -- The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) has named Daniel Edney, MD, state health officer for the Mississippi State Department of Health, as its 84th president. He succeeds Manisha Juthani, MD, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health.

Edney plans to focus on maternal and infant health and rural health

Edney intends to center his presidency on maternal and infant health, rural health and promoting the work of states and territories. He said the nation's public health leaders face increasingly complex challenges and that he will work with colleagues on policies and partnerships to support a healthier nation.

GRAPEVINE – October 21, 2026 -- Kubota North America expects autonomous versions of its M5 Low Profile (M5L) diesel tractor to reach orchard and nut growers in early 2027, after expanding its pilot with agricultural autonomy software company Agtonomy.

Pilot moves from narrow-row M5N to low-profile M5L platform

The next phase integrates Agtonomy's software with the M5L to cover core specialty-crop workloads: spraying, mowing and underplant cultivation. Kubota says the M5L's low-profile design and added lift capacity open up a broader set of orchard applications, including sanitation mowing. The M5N, by contrast, is tailored to narrow-row applications.

The expansion follows grower engagement and continued feedback from specialty crop operations, according to the companies. Kubota will use that grower input to refine the autonomous capabilities.

FORT LAUDERDALE – October 21, 2026 -- Crisis communications firm Red Banyan® has been named a 2026 Inc. Power Partner Awards winner for the third consecutive year, extending a run of industry recognition it has collected over the past months.

Inc. honors B2B providers across hiring, compliance, technology and fundraising

The annual awards recognize B2B companies with a track record of helping entrepreneurs build and grow businesses. Categories of support span hiring, compliance, technology, infrastructure, fundraising and marketing. Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc., said this year's honorees have turned customers into "superfans and evangelists" across marketing, financial services and technology.

LAS VEGAS – October 21, 2026 -- Collins Aerospace, an RTX (NYSE: RTX) business, will start upgrading its radio altimeters at its service centers in 2027, giving business aviation operators a route to meet new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operational standards without replacing existing systems.

Collins upgrades existing altimeter variants instead of requiring replacement

The company is offering simplified upgrade paths for its existing radio altimeter variants. Collins says the upgraded units meet the new FAA requirements and have demonstrated resilience to 5G interference.

Radio altimeters measure an aircraft's height above terrain and feed automatic flight control, cockpit instrument displays and warning systems. Collins designs its units to filter out false altitude returns caused by structures, nearby aircraft or ground features.

PALO ALTO – October 21, 2026 -- Salt Security won three awards in Cyber Defense Magazine's 14th annual Top InfoSec Innovators program, covering agentic AI security, AI-based cybersecurity innovation and API security.

The winning categories are Most Promising Agentic AI Security Solution, Trailblazing AI-based Cybersecurity Innovation and Transformational API Security Solution. The awards were presented in connection with CyberDefenseCon 2026.

Salt survey finds fewer than one in five enterprises can automatically stop a rogue AI agent

Salt cited its State of Agentic AI and API Security 2H 2026 report, released this month. The survey covered more than 380 security and technology professionals. Nearly half of respondents confirmed or suspected that an AI agent took an unauthorized action in the past year. Fewer than one in five said their organization can automatically stop a misbehaving agent.

WASHINGTON – October 21, 2026 -- Former MLB pitcher Tanyon Sturtze says a lockout is coming when Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1, citing disputes over a potential salary cap, payroll requirements and player compensation.

Sturtze made the prediction on a special episode of Franchise Value, a sports-business program produced by CrossCheck Media Inc. and distributed through Biz Talk Today TV. Host Shana Orczyk Sissel, CEO and Founder of Banríon Capital Management, conducted the interview. "Unfortunately, it's definitely coming," Sturtze said, adding that he backs the players but expects a difficult fight for them.

Wilmington, Del. – October 21, 2026 -- Thinking Streams Inc. has launched ThinkingStreams, an agentic marketing automation platform for B2B teams that integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and runs AI agents inside the marketing system rather than in a separate chat window.

Agents draft full campaigns from a single marketer brief

A marketer writes a brief, and the agents plan and draft emails, SMS, landing pages, forms, social posts, blog posts and nurture journeys. Nothing sends or publishes until a person approves it. The company says this removes the manual rebuild that follows drafting copy in a standalone AI tool, which loses brand voice and context.