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Mashed – Fast Food, Celebrity Chefs, Grocery, Reviews
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A young fan named Emily arrived at Ella Langley’s concert with one simple request written across a handmade sign: “Can I sing with you?” By the end of the night, she got her wish.
On September 12, Langley made a stop at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention center as part of The Dandelion Tour. In the crowd that night standing front row was a little girl and her family who certainly had a night to remember.

Videos shared to TikTok show Emily singing her heart out all night long. She arrived at the show dressed for the occasion, wearing a special sash and sparkling crown that she had received just a few weeks prior when she earned the title of Little Miss Gallia County 2026. An earlier post revealed that she even sang Langley’s “Dandelion” during the talent portion of the competition, proving that she is a true fan.
To stand out even more at the concert, Emily paired the look with a giant handmade poster that read, “I’m little miss 2026, but I just want to be YOU” can I sing with you?”

Langley had already started her delivery of “Loving Life Again,” when she took notice of Emily singing along and finally decided it was time to fulfill her wish. The country star paused her performance and stated she had to bring the young girl up with her on stage.
“I’ve never done this before, but I have to get this little girl up here,” the Alabama native told the crowd.
She then asked her name and asked the audience, “Y’all give it up for Emily tonight. If you have a phone to light on it, let’s get it up for Emily tonight.”
Langley proceeded to pass the microphone back and forth between herself and Emily, allowing the young fan to sing several lines of the uplifting track. Emily didn’t miss a beat as she effortlessly sang along while keeping a smile on her face, clearly impressing her country music idol.
@jocelynsawinski1121 Ella Langley brought this little girl on stage to sing with last night in Charleston 🥹❤️ @Ella Langley #charlestonwv #ellalangley #coliseum #wv #thedandeliontour ♬ original sound – Jocelyn🪬
The two shared a hug at the end of the performance, with Langley wishing Emily a job well done before sending her back into the crowd.
For Langley, seeing a young fan get to live out her own dreams onstage may have been especially meaningful as she continues to experience a career she dreamed about when she was just a little girl. During another show held the night she learned about her nine CMA nominations, the singer opened up about just how surreal her life has been and expressed gratitude for the younger version of herself who never gave up on that dream.
“I think with this year, I can’t stop thinking about that little kid who wanted to do nothing other than what I’m doing right now,” Langley reflected. “All she wanted was to get up and play her songs in front of a crowd of people…I’m thankful for the tenacity of that little girl. I’ll tell you right now.”
@ellalangleyarchive WE’RE grateful for that girl’s tenacity 🥹 @Ella Langley #countrymusic ♬ original sound – Ella Langley Archive
She added that despite how fast life has been moving lately, she feels grateful for this life “every day.”
Ella Langley continues her Dandelion Tour this weekend with stops in Oxford, Mississippi, on September 17, Athens, Georgia, on September 18, and Jacksonville, Florida, on September 19.
The post WATCH: Ella Langley Makes Little Girl’s Night By Bringing Her Onstage To Sing ‘Loving Life Again’ appeared first on Country Now.
Country Now

ICE TO SEE YOU: Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office is advising local governments that zoning and state environmental laws can stymie Immigration and Customs Enforcement from building or expanding detention facilities in their communities.
Those legal barriers — spelled out in a letter sent today by Hochul to local government leaders — represent the latest effort by her administration to halt ICE’s efforts in New York.
“We need localities focused on keeping our communities safe, which depends upon the efforts of local law enforcement, civil servants, and regulators,” Hochul wrote in the letter, which was exclusively obtained by Playbook. “While my administration will continue to demand answers and transparency from federal immigration authorities, should you become aware of these projects, my office is ready to partner with you to determine any appropriate next steps to protect our local communities.”
The missive is a new front in Hochul’s broader push to erect roadblocks against President Donald Trump’s sweeping deportation campaign — which includes a push to build or convert facilities in parts of New York.
New York lawmakers and Hochul agreed in May to a package of sweeping measures meant to limit Trump’s immigration enforcement.
Included in those measures were provisions that required expanded public notice — including holding at least two hearings — for the expansion or construction of an immigration detention facility. The law also prohibits local governments from providing financial benefits meant to offset the cost of a facility.
Hochul’s Republican critics have railed against the measures, which were first proposed during the aggressive deportation crackdown in Minnesota, which left two U.S. citizens dead.
Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar is set to testify Tuesday to the House Judiciary Committee in Washington on “the continuing tragedy of sanctuary laws.” Akshar’s office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Local government officials have already sounded an alarm this year over ICE’s apparent efforts to expand the agency’s detention capacity by leasing or expanding sites in Batavia, Newburgh and Rochester.
Hochul wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin earlier this summer requesting more information on ICE’s New York plans.
Last month her administration got a reply.
An ICE official wrote to the governor that the agency has “not directed the establishment of a detention facility” in Rochester. In Batavia, ICE is “in the early stages” of weighing a bedspace and usage expansion at a site. And in the Hudson Valley, the agency confirmed that “an acquisition [is] underway to identify a new facility to lease through the General Services Administration” that would house its investigations, enforcement and removal operations.
Details were scant in the letter, but the response is the first time the federal government has formally laid out any of its plans for ICE expansion in New York to state officials.
On Monday in New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and state Attorney General Letitia James offered some of their own push back: two lawsuits seeking to stop the Trump administration from making it harder for immigrants lawfully in the U.S. to change their status.
The suits target a federal rule change set to take effect Friday. The change would give immigration agents more leeway to deny green cards or visas to lawful immigrants on the basis of being a “public charge” — someone who’s using social safety net programs. The rule change would allow agents to factor in the use of Medicaid or food assistance into their decision making.
The Trump administration has said the rule is necessary to ensure the country is not authorizing immigrants who drain public resources.
Mamdani countered that, rather than saving the U.S. money, the change will force immigrants to forgo routine medical care, increasing the likelihood of medical emergencies.
“None of this is abstract,” Mamdani said. “People could die as a result of these changes.”
James said the administration’s rule change is overly broad and flies in the face of more than 100 years of legal precedent.
“This public charge rule goes back to 1822, where Congress basically said that it only applies to individuals who cannot support themselves, not individuals who apply every now and then for public assistance because they fall on hard times,” she said. — Nick Reisman and Joe Anuta

REGENTS EXAM PHASE-OUT COMING: The high school class of 2027 will be the final one required to pass the state Regents exams to graduate.
The state Board of Regents authorized the Education Department today to move forward with the next phase of the “New York Inspires” program. As part of that program, the board voted last year to adopt a framework that lets students demonstrate proficiency through other measures like projects or coursework. That framework will replace the Regents exam.
While the Regents will remain as an option, it will no longer be a requirement for high school graduation, beginning with students graduating in 2028, education officials said during the board’s monthly meeting today.
“For years, we looked at what elite private schools provide for their students and they do not worry about the Regents exam,” State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said. “They don’t even worry when you apply to colleges that it’s on their transcript.”
The department said it plans to advance the regulation changes to the board by February 2027 so it can implement the changes in the 2027-28 school year. The board unanimously passed a resolution to that effect today.
Districts will have to develop strategies for assessment that draw on multiple sources of evidence, including classroom performance, student work and state assessments.
Some Regents board members sought more clarity on resources to support families.
“What I did not hear was what resources, what tools do we have for parents and students who are in this purgatory period?” said Regents member Hasoni Pratts, a New York City public school parent.
The news comes as the state grapples with abysmal performance on this year’s reading exams — despite New York spending more per pupil than any other state in the country. Experts and advocates have been questioning what those results say about student learning, and precisely what led to those fluctuations. — Madina Touré
DEEPFAKE CRACKDOWN: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced today that his office seized control of a dozen domains used to create, disseminate and sell AI deepfake porn.
The sites in question featured AI-generated images and videos of roughly 1,200 individuals — primarily women and celebrities — engaging in sexually explicit activity.
“These horrific violations of privacy follow victims into their careers and personal lives, and take an immense toll on their emotional and mental well-being,” Bragg said. “We were able to seize these domains because a brave survivor stepped forward. And while victims of these sites are largely celebrities, we know that anyone can be a victim of these crimes, particularly in domestic violence cases.”
New York penal law prohibits the dissemination of pornography without a subject’s consent, and violations are punishable by up to a year in prison. That statute was updated in 2023 to explicitly prohibit AI-generated porn.
Bragg’s announcement comes as lawmakers in Albany and Washington grapple with the looming threat of artificial intelligence. But Bragg declined to comment on the potential role of the Manhattan DA’s office in working towards larger scale AI regulation.
“This is a crime in New York State,” he said, referring to the circulation of deepfake pornography. “We don’t have to talk about regulation, legislation. This is a crime now.” —Molly Reinmann

2028 VISION: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is leaning into the speculation swirling around her 2028 aspirations.
“In some ways, I understand the interest. But I wanted to write to you today to be direct about what I’m focused on,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a fundraising email. “Frankly, I could not care less about titles or positions for myself. That’s not why I got into this work. What matters to me is changing this country so that it finally works for all of us, and that’s why my focus is on the decision working people around the country will make in the next 50 days.”
She added that her political operation is “mobilizing resources, not just to get me re-elected or build for a future campaign, but most importantly to win the midterms and take back the majority.”
Ocasio-Cortez, who’s been active on the trail boosting down-ballot candidates, has kept the door open for either a Senate run or a presidential bid in 2028 — though some progressives are urging her to aim for the White House.
Any clarity on her 2028 decision before this coming Election Day seems unlikely, though — especially given how “concerned” she says she is “by how some in our party are talking” about the midterms.
“There is a narrative taking hold in Washington that the Republicans are already cooked,” her email continued. “That kind of complacency is how we grasp defeat from the jaws of victory. … All of this is why I am not spending this fall thinking about myself. I am spending it working my butt off to deliver a majority in the House and the Senate.” — Madison Fernandez
A DIFFERENT LAUDER GIVES: Estee Lauder Chair William Lauder gave $500,000 to the super PAC backing Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman.
Lauder’s contribution comes after his uncle, prolific GOP donor Ronald Lauder, ceased his political giving this year. Ronald Lauder was the principal backer of a super PAC aiding Republican Lee Zeldin’s 2022 bid against Hochul.
William Lauder wasn’t the only deep-pocketed titan to donate to the Blakeman PAC recently. Home Depot founder Ken Langone, a GOP megadonor who once led Republicans for Cuomo, gave $50,000. — Nick Reisman
— STALLED SECURITY: More than eight months into his term, Mamdani is still waiting on federal security clearance. (Gothamist)
— LEGIONELLA LOCATIONS: A Yankee Stadium cooling tower tested positive for the bacteria that can cause Legionnaires’ disease, according to the New York City Health Department. (Daily News)
— SIGN LANGUAGE: A PAC funded by Knicks owner James Dolan launched a $250,000 billboard campaign backing Blakeman and blaming Hochul for an exodus from the state. (NY Post)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
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Our classic Hoosier sandwich features a pork tenderloin, pounded till very thin and tender, breaded, fried, and stacked on a bun with your toppings of choice.

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A sample of copper — a metal that one of the world’s largest mining companies is now targeting in Alaska. (U.S. Geological Survey)
This story was originally published in the Anchorage Press. Subscribe here.
The world’s largest mining company is back in Alaska.
More than a decade after abandoning a search for coal in the western Arctic, Australia-based BHP quietly staked new mineral claims this summer in a remote part of Southcentral Alaska — with an eye for copper.
The company, which owns huge iron, coal and copper mines around the world, also conducted sampling and aerial surveys in Alaska in recent months, a BHP spokesperson told the Anchorage Press.
The project is still in the earliest stages of exploration, likely many years if not decades away from becoming an active mine. Most claims that mining companies stake never actually get developed; a subsidiary of a different mining giant, Rio Tinto, abandoned claims in 2013 in the same area that BHP is now showing interest, according to state records.
But BHP’s foray into Alaska is still notable given the company’s deep pockets and global reach, and as the latest example of the mining industry’s surging interest in the state.
Unlike the small, cash-strapped companies that do much of the claim-staking and early-stage exploration work in Alaska, BHP has the financial horsepower and expertise to turn a prospect into a mine.
“They are not going to farm it out to anyone if they find what they’re hoping to find,” said Dave Szumigala, a state mineral exploration geologist with decades of industry experience. “They’ve got the resources to take it all the way through development.”
BHP’s interest in Alaska comes amid high commodity prices, increased global demand for metals like copper and an intense push by the Trump administration to spur resource development in the state.
The company’s return to the state also reflects an uptick in new mining claims across Alaska, and it could contribute to a backlog in the Dunleavy administration’s processing of those claims.
The number of claims staked this year statewide is on track to double from last year, according to Steve Buckley, head of the mining section at the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
Buckley’s team, which reviews and approves state mining claims, has reported a backlog of more than 10,000 claims this summer. The department has transferred three employees — more than doubling typical capacity — to help work through the backlog, Buckley said.
“It’s unprecedented,” he added.
Buckley declined to comment on BHP’s claims because they are still pending review. But he said large new claim blocks make up “a good portion” of the state’s backlog, which could take months for officials to clear.
State land managers have not yet reviewed and approved BHP’s claims, meaning they don’t appear on the state’s public mining claims database.
But documents filed with the state recorder’s office show that BHP staked dozens of claims across thousands of acres in the heart of the Alaska Range at the beginning of the summer.
Many of the claims appear to be deep in the mountains near the northern edge of Lake Clark National Park and the upper reaches of the Skwentna River, a tributary of the Susitna River, about 100 miles west of Anchorage and the state’s road system.
Szumigala called that region “very prospective” for massive, low-grade copper concentrations known as porphyry deposits.
He also noted that BHP’s interest in the area could draw more investment from other companies. Small exploration firms often stake claims next to majors, he said.
“One way juniors will get investment in their company is to say, ‘Well, we staked right next to BHP’s property,” Szumigala said.
BHP confirmed that it’s assessing the area’s copper potential.
“Through the summer months we commenced non-disturbing studies as part of a first, early-stage exploration program to better understand the area’s geology and resource potential,” the company said in a statement provided to the Anchorage Press. “As we advance this work, we are meeting with local stakeholders to learn more about the region.”
BHP has not applied for permits to conduct more intensive exploratory work like drilling.
“Exploration is inherently a long-term process,” the company said, noting that “the vast majority of exploration programs do not advance beyond the early stages.”
BHP has met with representatives from the region’s Alaska Native corporation, CIRI, to review maps and discuss cultural training, a CIRI spokesperson said.
Environmental groups, meanwhile, say they’re working to ensure that new mining in the state doesn’t come at the cost of public lands and wildlife.
The broad uptick in state mining claims is a “real cause for concern, especially when DNR can’t even keep up with them,” said Mary Catharine Martin, communications director at the conservation organization SalmonState, using an acronym for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
In an email, Martin cited four principles about development espoused by the late Alaska governor Jay Hammond.
“Do Alaskans want it? Does it pay its own way? Is it environmentally sound? Does it meet our constitutional mandate to manage our natural resources for the maximum benefit of all Alaskans?” Martin said.
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By Corinne Smith and James Brooks

Rep. Andrew Gray of Anchorage is not a Swiss businessman. Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon is not selling fire sprinkler systems. Lieutenant governor candidate Zac Johnson isn’t running an equestrian fox-hunting club in Indiana.
Days after the Alaska Department of Law said it found possible gaps in dozens of political candidates’ financial disclosure forms, a review by the Alaska Beacon and interviews with the affected candidates found many of the problems identified by the department either don’t exist, rely on old information, or amount to minor errors.
“I’ve talked to probably 10 legislators, and probably eight of them had something on that list that was just bogus,” said Rep. Julie Coulombe, R-Anchorage and one of the candidates in the report, “property they don’t even own anymore, businesses they don’t own, and yet they’re on the list.”
The department’s errors matter because Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who administers the state’s elections, used the Department of Law report on Sept. 4 as justification to restore Republican governor candidate Treg Taylor and state House candidate Jose Tagle to Alaska’s general election ballot.
“On the basis of that additional information, the Lieutenant Governor will certify the two candidates,” said a statement released by Dahlstrom’s office at the time.
That restoration reversed one Dahlstrom took just five days before. On Aug. 31, Dahlstrom followed recommendations from the Alaska Public Offices Commission and disqualified Taylor and Tagle based on the fact that they had not submitted full Public Official Financial Disclosure forms within a 30-day deadline set by state law.

Taylor, a former attorney general who used to lead the Department of Law, had been asked in 2025 to provide a list of tenants at his rental properties in Anchorage. He did not provide a partial list until late July, about three weeks before the primary election.
“My biggest issue is that APOC never reached out to me with any discrepancies when I filed the disclosure,” Coulombe said. “And so the difference with Treg (Taylor) is that he knew that there was an issue and chose not to change it.”
The Department of Law’s review was extraordinary. When they register to run for office, candidates are required to submit a form listing their personal finances from the previous year. If they don’t submit one, they cannot run. Normally, any gaps in a disclosure only come to light when someone files a complaint with the commission.
Officials with the Department of Law said at a Monday news conference with Dahlstrom and Gov. Mike Dunleavy that they initiated their review last week, expediting it ahead of ballot printing deadlines.
Rachel Witty, director of the civil division of the Department of Law, said the review was done in the course of a day and a half.
“So I can’t emphasize enough that this is a preliminary review. We didn’t have time to contact candidates. We didn’t have time to verify every apparent match. Nor is it our role to do that. There might be mistaken identities. It was not conducted with the kind of due diligence that APOC would do before making a determination that someone had violated the law.”
Witty said paralegals, not attorneys, conducted a search by reviewing business licensing databases, property records, and a large national database called TLOXP.
It’s unclear whether APOC, the agency that regulates financial and political disclosures, will follow up with candidates or take any enforcement actions.
Among the candidates flagged for review were all four lieutenant governor candidates and all four candidates for governor.
Republican candidates Dave Bronson and Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, through a campaign spokesperson, denied the department’s findings, and defended their financial disclosures. Kreiss-Tomkins immediately corrected one error that was identified.
Taylor and Republican Bernadette Wilson did not respond to requests for comment.
“This is getting more absurd by the moment,” said Edgmon when informed by the Beacon that the Department of Law had identified him as director and president of Inland Empire Fire Protection, a fire sprinkler company in Spokane, Washington.
That company is a subsidiary of Choggiung, Ltd., an Alaska Native corporation based in Dillingham.
Until 2017, Edgmon served as chairman of the board for Choggiung, but he hasn’t been in that role for almost a decade.
“I’ve never had a personal relationship with them,” he said of the fire sprinkler company.
The Department of Law report also said Edgmon failed to properly disclose some rental properties in Dillingham — they’re listed, but in the “debts” section of the report, rather than under “interests.”
The Department of Law flagged Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, as possibly being the owner of William B Stapp LLC but also noted that the firm was dissolved in 2015, five years before Stapp first ran for office.
“I’m not actually sure why they even flagged me,” Stapp said on Friday.
Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, published a video on social media after the report listed him as owning a business in Switzerland. Gray said he’s both never been to Switzerland and never owned a business.
In a comment posted by Fairbanks writer Dermot Cole, independent state House candidate Joy Beth Cottle of Fairbanks said that the Department of Law review incorrectly flagged her as having an out-of-date disclosure form.
Cottle filed to run for office in 2025, a year ahead of the deadline, and thus filed a form covering the 2024 tax year. State law doesn’t require an updated POFD in that case. Several other candidates were dinged for the same reason.
Cottle also noted that she was linked to a property she “sold in 2013 and has since burnt to the ground and changed owners several times. I drove by and took a picture of it — it’s a vacant lot.”
In Anchorage, Coulombe said she was faulted for not listing her husband’s last name. After 40-plus years of marriage, she said, she thought it would be assumed that they had the same last name.
She was also faulted for listing only the zip code of a rental property. She’s since submitted a revised form to fix the problem.
“If a mistake or something happened, then OK, email me and I’ll fix it,” Coulombe said. “But you know, the whole idea of putting this big list out like we’re all hiding something is just — I have no words for that.”
Coulombe and other legislators named in the report said they are suspicious of the way the Department of Law and Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration handled it.
Anchorage Republican Sen. Cathy Giessel was surprised to hear she was flagged by the review. The department said she failed to disclose being a director of Anchorage Community Mental Health Services, Inc., but that is the old name of Anchorage Behavioral Health which was changed in 2020. Giessel is president of the board, which is listed on her disclosure report.
“Well, see, the Department of Law is going after anyone that is not a staunch radical right Republican,” she said. “So that is really immaterial to me.”
The list of candidates in the department’s review include 24 Democrats, 49 Republicans and 17 independents.
“I have huge concerns about what the Dunleavy administration is doing with the departments under its control,” she said. “This is unbelievable — the overreach that’s happening, the inappropriate behavior, the obvious interference in elections. It’s no wonder, many of my constituents, as I knock door-to-door, don’t trust this election system because they’re seeing all of this, very — I’ll call it ‘very unusual’ in quotes — behavior by state government and the federal government.”
Witty responded to Giessel’s comment by email on Friday.
“I have worked for the Department of Law for 20 years, through five administrations, and I can tell you unequivocally, that what occurred last week was not motivated by politics. The informal review was done completely internally by line level staff who only want to do good work for the people of Alaska,” she said. “The list includes candidates from all party affiliations and does not target one political party over another. By its nature, it had to be done on an extremely expedited timeline and could not be as thorough as anyone would have wanted it to be. We have been very open that the list likely contained errors and we have consistently messaged this to the candidates and to the public. However, the preliminary findings contained enough potential discrepancies to raise questions about whether the law was being applied fairly across the field of candidates. The bottom line is that candidates were added back onto the ballot and the field remains broad — allowing voters to have the final say.”
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Bo French, the GOP nominee for a spot on the Texas Railroad Commission, doubled down on Monday on a xenophobic post that disparaged Asian American students at the University of Texas after receiving blowback from fellow Republicans over the weekend.
On X, French was quick to turn his viral post, which had received more than 35 million views as of Monday afternoon, into a fundraising pledge, calling the criticism he has received an attack from “the radical left and their allies.”
He also stood by his post in an appearance on the conservative radio broadcast “The Mark Davis Show” on Monday.
“The radical left, you know, they want to make everything about race,” he said on the show. “Of course, there are some people in our party who are uncomfortable talking about those things because it scares them.”
The social media firestorm started after French posted a photo on X on Sunday of UT students celebrating in the crowd and wrote: “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”
The post drew swift rebukes from Democrats and some Texas Republicans, including outgoing Sen. John Cornyn — who called on other Republican officials to “condemn the intolerance and racism” — as well as several state lawmakers.
During his radio appearance, French said his social media post is a criticism of admissions and hiring policies at UT, the state’s public flagship, that he said discriminated against Texas residents.
“It’s not racist to point out that we should be favoring Texans over foreigners,” French said.
There’s no indication that the students French targeted are foreigners. Most of UT’s student body is made up of Texans.
According to state law, Texas high school students in the top 5% of their class are automatically admitted to UT, and around 80% of the student body is from the state.
He also took a shot at Cornyn and other Republicans who condemned him, saying many were from the establishment wing of the party that opposed him in the GOP primary.
“What is he doing to help elect [Ken] Paxton? So we have to ask those questions,” he said. “I just think we should be prioritizing our Republican platform, which, by the way, is an America First platform, which prioritizes Americans.”
French, who is running for a seat on the influential statewide body that regulates its oil and gas industry, has a history of making controversial statements.
Earlier this year, he suggested Republicans should fear Islam and advocated for deporting 100 million people.
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