Serena Williams is one of the biggest names in sports so it's fitting she served as the muse for the design of the largest office building at Nike's NKE world headquarters in Oregon. The new 1-million-square-foot Serena Williams Building, equivalent in size to three Portland city blocks or 140 full-sized tennis courts, will start welcoming back Nike's Beaverton-area workforce and have the capability to house Nike's 1,000 brand designers, all on one floor, as the brand celebrates 50 years and looks to the future of design.

Touches of Williams highlight every turn. From subtle nods—her favorite color purple throughout or her favorite flower, the rose, accenting spaces both inside and out—to the bold graphics and artwork, Nike's new center of design blends together architecture and Nike-fueled, Williams-inspired design.

"We were bringing Serena in early to not just be the building's name, but really help participate," says John Hoke, Nike's chief design officer. "It is a tribute to Serena Williams."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/timnewcomb/2022/04/27/nike-opens-design-focused-serena-williams-building-largest-office-building-on-oregon-campus/

Insider trading by a member of Congress is a serious betrayal of their oath, and Congressman Cawthorn owes North Carolinians an explanation. There needs to be a thorough and bipartisan inquiry into the matter by the House Ethics Committee. #ncpol

Matt Maddock is married to Meshawn Maddock, co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party. Both are shown here at last weekend's state party endorsement convention, which was a triumph for candidates aligned with former President Donald Trump. (Bridge photo by Jonathan Oosting)

LANSING — State Rep. Matt Maddock, a Trump loyalist and husband of a top Michigan Republican Party official, was kicked out of the House GOP caucus on Tuesday, according to multiple sources familiar with the development.

Sources say current House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Wentworth, booted Maddock for "violating caucus rules." He allegedly discussed confidential caucus matters publicly, prompting his removal.

Maddock did not immediately return a voicemail seeking comment.

As of Tuesday evening, the Milford lawmaker's page on the Michigan House Republican website was no longer active. One source told Bridge Michigan that Maddock was cut off from GOP central staff and services about a month ago amid similar caucus concerns.

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/matt-maddock-trump-favorite-ousted-michigan-gop-caucus

EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Madison Cawthorn may have violated federal insider trading laws as he hyped up an alleged pump-and-dump cryptocurrency scheme, multiple watchdog groups told the Washington Examiner.

On Dec. 29, the beleaguered North Carolina congressman posed at a party with James Koutoulas, a hedge fund manager and the ringleader of the Let's Go Brandon cryptocurrency, a meme coin set up in the wake of the chant mocking President Joe Biden.

"LGB legends. ... Tomorrow we go to the moon!" Cawthorn, who has stated publicly he owns the cryptocurrency, posted on Instagram in response to the picture posted on Koutoulas's Instagram page.

The next day, LGBCoin did exactly as the lawmaker predicted.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/madison-cawthorn-implicated-in-potential-insider-trading-scheme-experts-say

The former DuPont engineer Patrice Banks turned entrepeneur and mechanic, took night classes to learn how to fix cars as she dreaded taking her own car in to the mechanic and being taken advantage of. Her shop-Girls Auto Clinic-in Philadelphia is now a successful business.

Part of success is the fact that she hosts monthly sessions teaching other women to repair & maintain cars & she also opened an adjoining manicure-pedicure and blowout salon-empowering & helping women feel their best while they get their car needs taken care of. @girlsautoclinic

Biden aides have tried gauging the senator’s interest in a potential agreement, but time is running out

President Biden last spring proposed spending more than $4 trillion to transform the American economy. In negotiations last fall, after some of that money ended up in a bipartisan infrastructure law, the administration lowered its request to roughly $2 trillion. Now, with time running out before November’s elections, many White House officials say privately that they’d consider themselves fortunate to secure a deal worth even $1 trillion.

Biden’s shrinking ambitions are largely the result of failed negotiations with Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), the ever-elusive 50th vote for the president’s agenda in an evenly divided chamber. White House officials are confronting the “real fear” that they will fail to reach any deal with Manchin — even one that leaves out most of what Biden had initially hoped to accomplish, according to three senior administration officials and three outside advisers in communication with the White House, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment on internal talks. A year after Biden introduced his climate and social spending plans, the White House is running out of time to get Manchin onboard, with many lawmakers in Congress viewing July 4 as a crucial deadline for action.

In recent weeks, White House officials have quietly tried gauging Manchin’s interest in a package that would consist primarily of clean-energy initiatives, prescription drug reform and higher taxes on the rich and corporations, the people said. The ideas discussed internally include more than $500 billion of deficit reduction, the people said. On Monday, a Manchin spokeswoman reiterated that he supports measures to boost U.S. energy production, lower prescription drug costs and raise tax revenue from corporations and the rich.

But despite his support for these provisions generally, Manchin has not yet made clear to the White House precisely what he would support in a final agreement, the people familiar with the administration’s discussions said. Manchin privately told lawmakers in recent days that he wants Congress to approve a bipartisan energy deal in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which would complicate an already difficult timeline for a broader spending proposal, according to two other people familiar with the matter, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect private talks. A bipartisan group, including Manchin, met on Monday night to discuss energy legislation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/04/26/white-house-manchin-biden/