General News

Washington – September 19, 2026 -- The National Press Club will host a screening of "Contaminated: The Carpet Industry's Toxic Legacy" on September 30 at 6:00 p.m., spotlighting a joint investigation into PFAS chemical contamination linked to carpet manufacturing across Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.

Five newsrooms collaborated on a multi-state PFAS contamination probe

The documentary was produced by FRONTLINE (PBS), The Associated Press, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Post and Courier and AL.com. The investigation draws on thousands of pages of documents and court depositions, alongside interviews with former regulators, industry insiders, doctors and scientists studying illnesses linked to PFAS exposure.

Kansas City – September 19, 2026 -- Conexon's Conexon 100 Club now counts nearly 50 electric cooperatives across 13 states that have delivered fiber broadband to 100 percent of their members, following the induction of seven new co-ops in 2026.

Seven cooperatives across three states complete full fiber buildouts

The 2026 inductees -- Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative (Oklahoma), Central Florida Electric Cooperative, Glades Electric Cooperative, Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative (all Florida), and Grady EMC, Habersham EMC and Satilla REMC (all Georgia) -- finished on-system fiber-to-the-home construction between the second half of 2025 and the first half of 2026.

Bridgewater, N.J. – September 19, 2026 -- OneSchool Global (OSG), a school network operating 122 campuses across 20 countries, has received a Silver A' Design Award for its Learning to Learn framework, an education design model applied to its 8,000-student system.

OSG's proprietary framework earns international design recognition

The A' Design Award and Competition, one of the world's largest international design programs, evaluates submissions through a blind peer-review process involving academics, design professionals and international press members. OSG's Learning to Learn framework was recognized for its innovation, functionality and impact within the education design category.

Carlsbad, Calif. – September 19, 2026 -- Hall of Fame quarterback and broadcaster Troy Aikman has taken an ownership stake in Qualia Life Sciences, a supplement brand founded in 2015 that has built its reputation on human clinical studies conducted on every formula prior to release.

Aikman moves from potential endorser to equity owner in longevity brand

Aikman, a three-time Super Bowl champion and current broadcaster on the third most-watched television show in America, said he has historically turned down endorsement offers from nutritional brands due to skepticism about efficacy. He credited Qualia's supplements with personally sustaining his energy, fitness, and mental sharpness at age 59, stating the results convinced him to join the company's ownership team rather than simply lend his name.

Arlington, Texas – September 19, 2026 -- Plastic has overtaken metal as the most frequently reported contaminant in food manufacturing, cited by 37% of respondents in FlexXray's third annual Foreign Material Contamination in Food Benchmark Report.

Detection investment growth slows even as confidence in equipment stays flat

The share of food producers planning to increase detection investment fell to 57% in 2026 from roughly 70% in 2025, according to the report, based on survey responses from more than 170 food safety and manufacturing professionals across North America. Confidence that in-line equipment catches all foreign material has not improved despite prior years of investment growth.

London – September 19, 2026 -- Ninety-seven percent of telecom executives expect AI to deliver major productivity and operational gains within five years, yet organizational readiness gaps threaten to blunt that upside, according to the EY-Parthenon Telco of Tomorrow study, based on interviews with nearly 100 telecom C-suite leaders globally.

Cédric Foray, EY Global Telecommunications Sector Leader, said telcos are not short of growth opportunities, but the greater challenge is whether they have the operating models, skills and strategic clarity needed to capture them.

Rancho Santa Fe – September 19, 2026 -- Meriwether Companies has completed a $50 million renovation of La Valle Coastal Club, a 300-acre private club and resort property in Rancho Santa Fe, California, roughly three miles from Del Mar's beaches.

Golf infrastructure absorbs the largest share of capital investment

The property now offers 27 holes across three nine-hole courses -- Olivos, Cedros and Palmas -- following a rebuild that included new routing across an additional 20 acres for the former East Course. Practice facilities were expanded to include a driving range with 40 hitting bays, a 12,000-square-foot putting green and a separate 5,000-square-foot social putting green.

San Jose, Calif. – September 19, 2026 -- Anixa Biosciences (NASDAQ: ANIX) has appointed Carmen Guerra, M.D., M.S.C.E., F.A.C.P., to its Cancer Business Advisory Board as the company prepares to advance its breast cancer vaccine into a Phase 2 clinical trial and continues its ovarian cancer CAR-T therapy Phase 1 trial.

McKinney, Texas – September 19, 2026 -- FarmHouse Fresh Founder and CEO Shannon McLinden has been named a 2026 BeautyMatter Awards Changemaker of the Year finalist for mobilizing more than 15,000 community members to lobby Congress on the Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act.

Beauty brand turns 15,000 supporters into federal lawmakers' inboxes

The bipartisan bill, H.R. 1661/S. 775, would permanently ban the slaughter of horses and donkeys for human consumption in the U.S. and prohibit their export abroad for that purpose. FarmHouse Fresh has used its consumer platform to convert product buyers into advocates who contact their senators and representatives directly.

Greene, N.Y. – September 19, 2026 -- The Raymond Corporation is marking the 75th anniversary of the patent behind its Reach-Fork® Truck, the invention credited with establishing the narrow-aisle warehousing concept as an industry standard.

Patent granted in 1951 created narrow-aisle material handling category

On Aug. 14, 1951, Raymond founder George Raymond Sr. and engineer Christian D. Gibson were granted a U.S. patent for a power-driven narrow-aisle material handling truck. The design allowed operators to maneuver in aisles less than 7 feet wide and stack pallets multiple tiers high, letting warehouses increase storage density without expanding their physical footprint.