Latest news with #AARP
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
When a Pasadena rest home became a movie set, the residents got creative
Director Sarah Friedland knew she wanted to set her debut feature, 'Familiar Touch,' in Los Angeles. The decision was, in part, personal — both her grandmothers lived in the city — but also thematic. 'Familiar Touch' is about an aging woman, Ruth (Kathleen Chalfant), dealing with memory loss. 'I didn't want the viewer to have a sense of time passing that Ruth doesn't,' 33-year-old Friedland tells me at the film's publicity office on a gray New York day. 'So it needed to be somewhere where you couldn't tell that there was seasonal change.' But Friedland, who was born in Los Angeles but grew up in Santa Barbara, also had another goal in mind. She wanted to shoot in a real senior living community where the residents could participate in the production. Friedland ended up making 'Familiar Touch' (in theaters Friday) at Pasadena's Villa Gardens in a unique collaboration with both the staff and denizens. Before her 15-day shoot, she and her team held a five-week workshop on filmmaking for Villa Gardens' seniors, who later became background actors and production assistants on the project. It was an example of Friedland essentially putting her money where her mouth was. 'It came a lot from the anti-ageist ideas of the project,' Friedland says. 'If we're going to make this film the character study of an older woman that sees older adults as valuable and talented and capacious, let's engage their capaciousness and their creativity on all sides of production.' Friedland, whose background is in choreography, wrote the screenplay inspired by her own experience as a caregiver to artists with dementia. In the film, Ruth is disoriented when her son (H. Jon Benjamin), whom she does not recognize, moves her into a senior living home. Ruth does not see herself as elderly, instead making her way to the kitchen and working alongside the staff. That's where she is comfortable, having spent years as a cook. In order to find her perfect setting, Friedland started researching just as if she were a child of older adults looking to move her parents. She heard about Villa Gardens from the sister of her own grandmother's caregiver, and it was exactly what she wanted: a place with the resources to accommodate her crew that felt appropriate for the story she was trying to tell. In her mind, the community in her fictional story should be one of privilege, a circumstance in which Ruth, who grew up in a working-class Yiddish family, could initially feel ill at ease. The history of Villa Gardens also was appealing. It was founded in 1933 by Ethel Percy Andrus, who also started the AARP and was California's first female high school principal. 'It's a community that draws a lot of retired educators and social workers,' Friedland says. 'So there's this culture of lifelong learning.' Before Friedland could move in, however, she had to prove herself. Villa Gardens executive director Shaun Rushforth turned her down four times before saying yes. Having worked at Kingsley Manor in East Hollywood — another senior living community which is often used as a location thanks to its handsome brick facade — he was skeptical of inviting the crew. 'Small independent films were the ones I'd had the worst experiences with,' Rushforth says. 'I wasn't sure how this was going to fly with the residents.' Still, every time Rushforth thought he was going to give Friedland a strong no, it ended up being a 'soft no,' he remembers. Eventually, she won him over with her commitment to telling an authentic story. With that pledge in place, Rushforth gave her a final test: She had to convince the residents. Lisa Tanahashi, 68, a resident who ended up assisting the 'Familiar Touch' art department, was happy Rushforth gave Friedland a hard time. 'I feel bad that Shaun always has to say that he turned her down four times,' she says on a joint Zoom call from Villa Gardens with Rushforth. 'And yet from my perspective, that's exactly what we residents want him to do.' Jean Owen, 87, who was the elected president of the residents' association at the time, was immediately impressed by Friedland and the narrative she wanted to tell. 'We need more information about senior living,' she says in a video call from her apartment at Villa Gardens, her face hovering at the bottom of the frame. 'We need more information about dementia or Alzheimer's or whatever we call it — anything that can give it a good spin, not a negative, because we're all aging.' Owen, like Tanahashi, signed up for Friedland's twice-a-week workshops, where she learned about cinematography and production design from 'Familiar Touch' department heads who were patient in their teachings. 'We're not easy,' Owen says. 'We don't mean not to be, but there's just something about the aging process that it takes a little longer to catch on. She made us feel so comfortable. They all did.' Once the workshops concluded, the participants could then decide what department they wanted to contribute to during the actual filming. Owen helped cast background actors for scenes. She says she received very little pushback from her fellow residents. Only two complained. 'One man said he had better things to do for four hours than to sit at a table with stale food,' she says. 'And the other woman complained because in her scene, which was a dining scene, they kept serving the same food and it was cold.' (Friedland confirms this gripe: 'The scrambled eggs being cold was the main point of complaint.') Friedland worked with Rushforth and other members of the staff so that the filming wouldn't interrupt the daily rhythms of life at Villa Gardens. Caregiver Magali Galvez, who has worked at Villa Gardens for around 20 years, fielded questions from 'Familiar Touch' actor Carolyn Michelle, who plays the woman who assists Ruth. Although Ruth is supposed to be in a memory care unit, the production did not collaborate with those receiving similar treatment because Friedland believed they would not be able to give consent to be on camera. Ultimately, close to 30 Villa Gardens employees worked on 'Familiar Touch,' along with 80 residents. The movie's 80-year-old star, Chalfant, who shot the film when she was 78, saw the people living at Villa Gardens as her peers. 'We're all old people,' she says. 'The oldest person in the crew was in their middle-30s. In an odd way, that was a kind of division and also a collaboration between old people and young people. There wasn't any hierarchy.' One issue Friedland had directing the non-professional actors was that they often became entranced with Chalfant's performance. 'Kathy's such a magnetic performer that there were some residents who would start out playing their background role, and then Kathy would start her dialogue, and they were mesmerized and watching her,' Friedland says. One sequence where Chalfant was supposed to be floating alone in the pool drew crowds of residents watching through windows. Meanwhile, the video village, where a director typically watches playback footage on screens, was perpetually crowded. 'Video village was a village,' Friedland says. But the participation also kept the filmmakers honest. Through working with the Villa Gardens community members, Friedland strove to inject humor into the film based on what she observed. A moment where Ruth sees a woman wearing a potato chip clip as a hair adornment captures that atmosphere. 'The residents, when I pitched the film — one of the first things they said was that this film can't be too depressing,' she recalls. 'There's so much humor in our daily lives. This has to capture that sense of humor, but we can't be laughing at them — we have to be laughing with them, and it has to be absurd and uncanny.' Watching the final product has been a bittersweet experience for those from Villa Gardens, who both are thrilled to see themselves on screen but recognize that some of their fellow castmates have since died. 'It's wonderful to see them real again,' Owen says, also noting that she found the portrayal of the onset of dementia true to life. Many saw the film for the first time during its AFI Fest premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre, a screening that Friedland says gave her more nerves than the movie's debut at last year's Venice Film Festival, where it won the prestigious Lion of the Future award, as well as prizes for directing and acting. 'The residents and staff put so much work into this, and I wanted to do them proud,' Friedland says. 'But it was so joyous.' The day after the Chinese Theatre screening, Friedland brought the film to Villa Gardens for those who couldn't make it to Hollywood. She also brought along the Lion statues the team won in Venice and got the festival to send an extra award certificate to give to the community. It is going to live in the Villa Gardens library, forever connecting the place to its cinematic history.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Remembering the 2016 flooding nine years later
LEWISBURG, WV (WVNS) – Nine years ago on June 23rd, parts of Southern West Virginia were affected by major flooding. According to the National Weather Service, several rounds of storms brought heavy rainfall to most of the state. One of the areas most affected was Greenbrier County, where 8 to 10 inches of rain fell in less than a 12-hour period. The Greenbrier River at Alderson reached a peak of 22 feet, it's third highest on record. Sadly, 23 people died during the flooding, including 15 in Greenbrier County alone. Kara Dense is the President of the Greenbrier County Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Hotel Thelma Apartments receive $15,000 in grant funds from AARP's Community Challenge program She personally grew up in the county and was working in Lewisburg on the day of the flooding. She said she didn't realize how bad the situation was until she got home later that evening. I live here in Lewisburg, so I wasn't affected but it was on social media all evening. I was literally watching over the internet the things unfold. It was just devastating.' Kara Dense, President of the Greenbrier County Convention and Visitors Bureau A State of Emergency was declared for 44 out of the 55 counties in West Virginia. According to NOAA, they estimate the total cost of damage was $1.2 billions dollars. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Drew Barrymore removes make-up to reveal what she really looks like at 50
Drew Barrymore took the Instagram on Tuesday to share a makeup-free selfie. The longtime talk show host — who turned 50 in February — smiled with her tousled brunette locks falling around her face. She was clad in a faded gray graphic T-shirt, with frames of floral art hanging on a wall in the background. '50 = The B-Side of life — where the real magic starts to spin!' she wrote in a caption to her 18.3 million followers. Reflecting on her age back in January, Drew told AARP: 'You just realize you're going to live X amount of years, if you're lucky, and I would like to live the second half of my life, like, the B-side of a record, not the same way as the A-side.' In April Barrymore shared her tip for aging gracefully in a question-and-answer segment of her eponymous TV program, The Drew Barrymore Show. 'Can you let us know your secret to aging gracefully and being so comfortable in your own skin?' a woman asked. In terms of cosmetic surgery, she answered, 'I haven't done anything and I want to try and stay that way. 'But I also am like, do whatever works for you. The only thing I do know is don't judge other people because they do things differently.' 'We're all on our own path and we have to support each other,' the Whip It director said, admitting she has her struggles. 'I see a lot of turkey neck or I have a lot of other times where I'm like "Oh Wow, we're there now,"' the host noted. As for self-confidence, Barrymore shared, 'I want to tell myself not to be so mean to myself.' 'How many beautiful moments do we even get the privilege of seeing our reflection and that person looking back at us is us?' she posited. She elaborated, 'So the kinder, more patient, more resilient, more loving, embracing, less dismissive that we can be, the better it is for our mental game and spiritual game, which affects the face.' Last week Barrymore also went bare-faced as she shared a trio of photos with longtime friend and former Charlie's Angels co-star Cameron Diaz, 52. Along with the cheerful cheek-to-cheek snapshots, she wrote, 'A Poo Poo Appreciation Post! @camerondiaz ❤️.' The 50 First Dates siren shares daughters Olive, 12, and Frankie, 11, with ex-husband Will Kopelman. The exes divorced in 2016, four years after they tied the knot. Drew was previously married to Tom Green (2001-2002) and Jeremy Thomas (1994-1995). In a January episode of her talk show, she said while discussing the topic of dating, 'If there's one thing that the wisdom of my life is giving to me now at 50-years-old, it's to be a little... a lot kinder to ourselves. You deserve nothing less than goodness.'
Politico
4 days ago
- Business
- Politico
Hillsdale's lobbying pays off
With Amanda Chu, Daniel Lippman CONSERVATIVE COLLEGE CARVEOUT: President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are angling to use their megabill to turn the screws on elite liberal colleges that take millions in taxpayer funds while sitting on endowments worth tens of billions of dollars. But a single college that's a paragon of conservative higher education has managed to secure a carveout after finding itself in the crossfire, your host reports for Pros. — Hillsdale College, a Christian liberal arts school of fewer than 2,000 students located in southern Michigan, is one of a slew of smaller institutions that had been working to avoid being swept up in the GOP effort to raise taxes on the seemingly bottomless endowments of household names like Harvard, Princeton and Yale. — But Hillsdale stands apart from those schools: For one, it's a rare institution of higher learning that the modern Republican Party applauds. Just as uncommon, Hillsdale accepts no funding from the federal government. — That formed the crux of its argument that, on principle, Hillsdale and schools like it should not be subject to a federal tax on endowments. The university, like other schools fearful of a tax hike on their endowments, turned to K Street earlier this year for help with the endowment tax, as PI previously reported. — While the Hillsdale would still be hit by the tax under the House-passed reconciliation bill, Hillsdale's distinctive argument appeared to have broken through in the Senate, where tax writers last week included an exemption for schools that fit Hillsdale's profile in the draft text of their bill. — Despite Hillsdale's incomparable conservative credentials — or possibly in spite of them — that reprieve is by no means guaranteed, as Hillsdale found out eight years ago. And there remains one hitch that could complicate things: At least right now, there aren't believed to be any other schools besides Hillsdale that don't accept federal cash and have large enough endowments that they're at risk of being hit by the endowment tax. (Pro subscribers can read the full story here. Others can find it on the POLITICO home page tomorrow morning.) Happy Tuesday and welcome to PI. What's going on out there? Add me on Signal or email me at coprysko@ And be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko. FLYING IN: AARP will fan out across the Hill tomorrow for an 11th-hour lobbying blitz to seek changes to the reconciliation bill, including its new work requirements for recipients of Medicaid and food stamps. The advocacy group has more than 330 meetings on the books with members from both parties on both sides of the Capitol. — AARP supports certain parts of the bill, including the broadening of the bonus standard deductions for older Americans and expansions of a caregiver tax credit and the low-income housing tax credit. And AARP-opposed language in the House-passed megabill that would have expanded the orphan drug exclusion from the Inflation Reduction Act's drug pricing provisions was dropped from the Senate text. — But AARP wants to see additional changes to the Senate bill's cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, including its move to foist the costs of SNAP onto states, which may end up securing approval from the Senate parliamentarian. — The Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition, meanwhile, was on the Hill today in an effort to salvage an investment tax credit that is poised to sunset at the end of this year for solar projects under the reconciliation bill. SEMA is also lobbying for the removal of a restriction in the Senate version on how many products companies can claim an advanced manufacturing tax credit for. COMING ATTRACTIONS: As Republicans' war with elite colleges rages on, Wall Street is the latest industry 'trying to get out of the crosshairs of Republican states that are cracking down on companies for 'woke' policies that conservative policymakers say are illegal and discriminatory,' The Wall Street Journal's Alexander Saeedy, AnnaMaria Andriotis and Dylan Tokar write. — 'Representatives from JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and other big banks met in recent weeks with officials in states including Texas and Oklahoma to defend against allegations that they refuse to do business with industries such as gun manufacturing and fossil-fuel extraction, people familiar with the discussions said.' — 'Banks are also worried about a bigger threat: that President Trump could turn the power of the federal government against banks, as he has with universities and big law firms. The Trump administration is considering an executive order on 'debanking,' according to people familiar with the matter.' A NEW STAMP ON BALLARD'S PASSPORT: Ballard Partners has announced another expansion to its series of strategic partnerships around the globe, teaming up with the Mexico City-based government affairs firm Global Nexus. — The latest addition to the Ballard Global Alliance means that the firm now has a foothold in every country on the continent ahead of next year's likely renegotiation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, and as the Trump administration looks to squeeze America's neighbors on trade and immigration issues. — Ballard announced its partnership with Quebec-based TACT in March, and has also struck up partnerships with government affairs shops in Japan, South Korea, Latin America, the U.K. and Italy as well as a domestic alliance with Checkmate Government Relations. FIRST IN PI — GLASS HOUSE ALERT: One of the intellectual architects of the push to cut Medicaid once took a loan from the government that was never repaid, Daniel reports. Brian Blase is president of Paragon Health Institute, which has taken on a high-profile role in the effort in Congress to slash Medicaid costs through work requirements and other reforms. — He has called Medicaid America's 'most flawed' entitlement program while advocating for changes that would reduce spending on the program by hundreds of billions of dollars. — But while Blase calls for those cuts, he has benefited from government largesse in the past. His consulting firm, Blase Policy Strategies LLC, took a $20,833 Covid relief loan under the Paycheck Protection Program in May 2020, but it was not repaid and was later fully forgiven in line with many other PPP loans. Shortly after, in January 2021, he bought a house near Jacksonville for almost $700,000, according to real estate records. — Blase said he was told to apply for the PPP loan by his accountant and that he adhered to all rules as he ran his small business. 'Like millions of other Americans, I applied for a PPP loan as part of the shared national effort to keep the economy going during COVID,' he said in a statement. 'I'm proud of the work that my Paragon team and I have done to expose how government programs often fail American patients, particularly the most vulnerable, and hard-working families.' — Blase, a former congressional staffer, is testifying on Wednesday before the House Budget Committee on Medicaid reform. In a sign of Paragon's sway, a letter in early May released by fiscal hawks in Congress appeared to be written at least in part by Paragon. — Blase served on the National Economic Council in the first Trump administration. But on Jan. 6, 2021, he implicitly criticized Trump's efforts to overturn the election. In 2022, Paragon Health Institute received almost $3 million from Koch-funded outfit Stand Together. HOSPITALS HIT THE AIRWAVES: The American Hospital Association launched a seven-figure ad campaign in Washington Monday in a last-ditch effort to persuade Congress to protect hospital care in the GOP megabill, Amanda reports. — The campaign, which includes TV and digital advertising, comes a week after Senate Republicans unveiled draft provisions in the megabill to curtail a crucial Medicaid financing mechanism for hospitals, known as provider taxes, by nearly half. The ad buy comes on the heels of a fly-in of more than 250 hospital leaders last week to sway senators on Medicaid changes. SPOTTED last night at a Capitol Hull fundraiser hosted by Moran Global Strategies' Austin Durrer, HM&CO's Helen Milby, Duberstein Group's Kate Keating, Venn Strategies' Erik Olson, Thorn Run Partners' Andy Rosenberg and Stuart Chapman and DLA Piper's Jamie Gregorian for James Walkinshaw, who's running in the special election to succeed his late boss Gerry's Connolly (D-Va.), per a tipster: Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va), David Gillis of General Dynamics, Kevin Richards of SAP, Peter Brown of Deloitte, Ryan McGuire of the National Electrical Contractors Association, Tania Hanna of L3/Harris, Vanessa Ide of Demand Elections, Adam Goldberg of Elevance Health, Michelle Dorothy of Rep. Chrissy Houlahan's (D-Pa.) office, Ed An of Google, Travis Robey of the American Hospital Association, Gordon Taylor of Ogilvy, Roger West of HII, Chris Gaspar of BAE, Lee Friedman of NCTA, Karl Koch of Holland & Knight, Joe Vidulich of Capital One, Linda Auglis of the National Beer Wholesalers Association, Christopher Hartmann of Cigna, Roger Jordan of SAIC, Cindy Brown of Forbes Tate Partners and Tom McMillan of Moran Global Strategies. Jobs report — Joe Brown is joining Mehlman Consulting. He was most recently a senior professional staffer on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and is a John Boozman alum. — Heath Taylor is joining AxAdvocacy as director of government relations research. He most recently was a consultant at ThinkTek, and is a Booz Allen Hamilton and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) alum. — Dow Chemical has promoted Colleen Litkenhaus to global director of public policy in addition to her current role as global director of plastics/circularity advocacy. — Elena Hernandez is now chief of staff at the Office of Science and Technology Policy. She previously worked in policy and corporate communications at YouTube and is an OSTP alum from Trump's first term. — Danielle Melfi will be the new CEO of Resolve: The National Infertility Association. She previously was the first chief people officer in the Biden White House, and is an AmeriCorps and Building Back Together alum. — Julia Trent is now director in Ervin Graves Strategy Group's defense, aerospace and cybersecurity practice group. She most recently was deputy director of member services and chief clerk for the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. — David Berrios is now vice president of organizing and campaigns for Reproductive Freedom for All. He previously was North Carolina campaign manager for the Harris campaign and is a DOE alum. — Sydney Maingot is now communications director for Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.). She most recently was a communications associate for Bullpen Strategy Group. — John Provenzano will be CEO of NENA: The 9-1-1 Association. He was previously vice president of public affairs for Publix Super Markets. — Dan Krassner is now senior vice president at Kensington Avenue Strategies and executive director of the American EV Jobs Alliance. He previously was senior director of campaigns at Unite America. New Joint Fundraisers None. New PACs Alliance 4 American Leadership (PAC) Californians For A Better Future (Hybrid PAC) La Luz (Leadership PAC: Luz Rivas) Neighbor Network (PAC) New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS Alston & Bird LLP: Remitly, Inc. Avoq, LLC: Kidde Global Solutions Ballard Partners: Manhattan Telecommunications Corporation, LLC A/K/A Mettel Ballard Partners: Rio Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. Boundary Stone Partners: Chambers For Innovation And Clean Energy Canfield Consulting, LLC: Applied Intuition Carpi & Clay, Inc: City Of Inglewood Carpi & Clay, Inc: Trifiletti Consulting Checkmate Government Relations: Digicel Holdings (Bermuda) Limited Checkmate Government Relations: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (Finra) Checkmate Government Relations: Summit Sd, LLC Checkmate Government Relations: Syberjet LLC Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: City Of Baton Rouge And Parish Of East Baton Rouge Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Rune Technologies, Inc. Cr Federal: Umbra Lab, Inc. Dga Group Government Relations LLC: Federation Of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers, Inc. Dla Piper LLP (US): Novartis Farragut Partners LLP: Neuralace Medical, Inc. Franklin Square Group, LLC: Ai Integrators Council Franklin Square Group, LLC: Consuli Government Relations Group, LLC: Millenium Natural Systems LLC Guardian Police Solutions LLC: Phoenix Law Enforcement Association Icebreaker Strategies, LLC: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Keller Partners & Company: Manchester University K&L Gates, LLP: Fwc2026 US, Inc. K&L Gates, LLP: H.Q. Energy Services (U.S.) Inc. K&L Gates, LLP: Portland State University Maven Advocacy Partners LLC: National Wildlife Federation Michael Best Strategies LLC: Gray Media, Inc. Off Hill Strategies L.L.C.: Altria Client Services LLC Off Hill Strategies L.L.C.: American Efficient LLC Penn Avenue Partners: Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. Platinum Advisors Dc, LLC: Microsoft Corp. Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.: Aurubis Ag Saxa Innovation LLC: Rev Group, Inc. Sparacino Pllc: Sparacino Pllc Squire Patton Boggs: Moet Hennessy USa Strategies 360: Hawaii Foodbank Strategies 360: Homeaid Hawaii Thorn Run Partners: Ufa, Inc. Thorn Run Partners: Xiphos Partners Yc Consulting, LLC: Locked Brands, LLC New Lobbying Terminations Inline Policy Inc.: Skyscanner Limited Justice Action Network: Justice Action Network Mr. Mark Kopec: Motorola Solutions
Axios
4 days ago
- Business
- Axios
States crack down on bitcoin ATMs as scams surge
States across the U.S. are rolling out tough new laws that cap deposits and tighten oversight on cryptocurrency ATMs, seeking to cut off a favorite tool of scammers and extortionists. Why it matters: The kiosks are the easiest way for ordinary people to turn cash into crypto, and their use by fraudsters has surged over the last few years, especially with scams targeting older Americans. The big picture: Cryptocurrency provides criminals with a way to receive money that a third-party can't roll back. Since crypto works like cash, once a person has a digital token in their wallet, it's theirs. These kiosks have popped up all over the country. And over the last few years, scammers have increasingly utilized them in all manners of schemes. Between the lines: While not all crypto scams get paid off via ATMs, they are handy for scammers, with a familiar form factor for victims who have never dealt with a blockchain. And for many victims, paying off a scammer might be their first (and only) experience with cryptocurrency. By the numbers: Fraud losses specifically involving crypto kiosks jumped nearly 10x from 2020 to 2023, the FTC reported last September. The FBI reported $247 million in losses tied to the kiosks in 2024, with a 99% increase in complaints from the year before. Schemes have particularly impacted older Americans, both the FTC and FBI warn. People 60 and over were more than three times as likely as younger adults to report a loss using a crypto kiosk, per FTC data. States taking action include Illinois. The state legislature sent a bill to Gov. JB Pritzker in early June, who had called for legislation to address the issue early in the year. Among other things, the law would require crypto ATM operators to include details on every receipt — such as the blockchain address where funds are sent — that would help law enforcement with any future fraud investigation. Other states have taken similar actions. Vermont passed a law in May. One thing it does it put a daily limit on usage for these machines — pulling back the throttle on how much criminals can gouge victims. Nebraska stamped a new law in March that establishes a licensing system for crypto ATM operators. Nebraska has been eager to bring crypto business to the state. Arizona, which also enacted a bitcoin reserve fund, established a law in May that requires refunds on fraudulently induced transactions. An Oklahoma law, which survived a veto by the state's governor, will go into effect on Nov. 1, establishing similar protections. The latest: Rhode Island's governor signed one into law Monday. In addition to enacting similar measures as other states, that one requires a warning about the irreversibility of cryptocurrency transactions stated clearly on the kiosk. Cities have also homed in on the issue too. The City of Spokane, Washington, voted to ban all crypto kiosks on June 16. And they've been a topic in Minnesota cities including St. Paul, Stillwater and Forest Lake. Zoom out: AARP, which has been urging state legislators to pass these bills, says they have endorsed 12 bills that have passed in different states so far. Follow the money: Crypto ATMs — which allow crypto holders to convert their digital assets into cash, and vice versa — can be a strong business. Bitcoin Depot, one operator, reported a margin of 20% on $33 million in profits for the first quarter. What we're watching: Scammers have been using AI to make their tricks more convincing. The most popular strategies security firms are spotting include using AI to clone familiar voices, Ponzi schemes and social engineering (either lucky offers or dire warnings).
