Chris Otts
@christopherotts
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Autos at @WSJ . previously: @Bagehots '21-22; @WDRBNews @courierjournal . Dadx2. lifetime dishwasher 4 @katieelizcarter . #WhoDat and #RollTide
Louisville now, Detroit tba
Joined August 2009
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Personal update: I'm officially back on the job in
#Louisville
after nearly a year away. The
@Bagehots
fellowship at
@columbiajourn
/
@Columbia_Biz
was an incredible experience. Most of all I'll miss these folks ...
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In Kentucky, you might have better odds of winning the lottery than getting the unemployment office to call you back ...
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Truck driver on way to GM Corvette plant in Bowling Green decides to turn around at
@UAW
picket line. Then, he gets out and gives striking workers a hug.
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Big News:
@LMPD
police chief steve conrad is FIRED after Fischer says the body cameras were not on last night for shooting
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Definitely the most comical update I can remember putting in a story:
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What’s more disturbing than my
@JCPSKY
2nd grader getting home at 7:55p (2 hours late) is that the bus driver cut a corner by dropping her 0.15 mi away from her bus stop on the side of a 30mph street with no sidewalk. Thank god she knew where she was and which way to walk.
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More Schnatter news: John Schnatter's wife, Annette, filed for divorce today. They've been married 32 years.
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Fischer calling the shooting of David McAtee: "a well-known barbeque man who nurtured so many people in their hearts and in their bellies."
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hey
@tkonz
I think you might have something in common w Kroy Johnson and fiancé Jenna Culligan of Appleton, Wisc.
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Here’s a development:
@UofLPresNeeli
just said she will donate the 12% raise ($95,000) the
@uofl
board gave her today back to the university
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On 3Q earnings call,
@papajohns
CEO John Schnatter blames "NFL leadership" for "current debacle" between players and owners. Stock is -5%
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New: Kentucky Supreme Court steps in to keep
@GovAndyBeshear
executive orders in place, staying the temporary injunctions from Boone and Scott county judges
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New: Much closer than previous stores but it appears a third Starbucks in greater Louisville will unionize based on votes counted Friday
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Months before $160m deal, Tom Jurich's daughter got a job at adidas
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Some
@uofl
news: J. David Grissom is out. Will resign the board of trustees years ahead of his term (through 2023)
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True story: In middle of talking to reporters just now,
@GovMattBevin
got a call from
@realDonaldTrump
. Bevin then put Trump on iPhone speaker phone to talk about the
@NucorCorp
steel mill coming to KY. Via
@HaydenWDRB
, who witnessed it all.
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Personal news: I am honored and excited to have been selected for the
@Bagehots
program at
@columbiajourn
, "the most comprehensive and rigorous business journalism fellowship in the world." Starting in August, I'll spend the academic year taking graduate business courses in NYC
.
@Bagehots
, the largest mid-career business journalism fellowship, announces its 2021-22 Fellows:
@ahmed
,
@AnujChopra
,
@MihirDTweets
,
@v_dendrinou
,
@estherfung
,
@lailakearney
,
@shurufu
,
@christopherotts
,
@coryweinberg
and
@Kzalan
.
Read more:
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County officials from Bourbon Country are absolutely pleading with the Kentucky legislature not to go along with bourbon industry's top priority of repealing the tax on aging barrels. Here is Tim Hutchins, judge/exec of Nelson County clashing with GOP House budget chair J Petrie
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.
@joesonka
isn't on here anymore, but it's still major media news that he left
@courierjournal
for
@LouPubMedia
. A big coups for LPM.
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Former
@GoCards
AD
@vincetyra
has a new gig leading a $6b global apparel company ... and he'll still keep
#louisville
as a "home base" with a primary office in Canada (umpteenth example of remote work flattening the world)
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.
@gannett
's team of 14 Midwest digital producers who serve
@USATODAY
properties like
@indystar
@courierjournal
filed charges with
@NLRB
last week. They were in midst of unionizing when Gannett eliminated the team, per charge document obtained under FOIA.
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So, if
@GovMattBevin
pursues a recount, he has to file a lawsuit in Franklin Circuit Court ... with a 50% chance the presiding judge would be the same one he called an incompetent political hack...?
Lots of people asking about KY recanvass/recount law. Here you go! Thanks
@UKYelectionlaw
students!
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Jurich is not doing interviews or commenting today but his rep,
@prbob
, confirms he does plan to attend football and b-ball games with the 20-year tickets included in settlement
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Unclear,
@louisvillemayor
said, whether cops failed to activate the body cameras or did not bring them. "This type of institutional failure will not be tolerated," Fischer said.
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Kansas City Chiefs Isiah Pacheco, Creed Humphrey and Mike Caliendo. Travis Kelce may or may not be here later
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.
@GovAndyBeshear
bristled at my question, said it sounded like I was making "a judgment." But it was just pointed question based entirely on facts confirmed by his administration.
Q: Gambling venues can have up to 1,700 people but charitable bingo limited to 25 people. What's the public health rationale? Beshear: Some entities have 30% capacity & some have 25 people. That's determined only by a legal interpretation of what kind of facility it is.
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My math: Total Jurich settlement = $7.17m in cash; health coverage for Jurich and wife until Medicare; 8 “club level” tickets to home football and basketball games for 20 years and two parking passes for those games
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New: Proud to say the wonkiest story I've ever written (which is saying a lot for me) continues to pay dividends for Louisville public schools.
@JCPSKY
has realized additional $4m from one big corporation,
@ChurchillDowns
, paying its fair share of taxes
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every year the wife makes sure this ornament is hung front and center 😐
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New: Former
@uofl
board chairman J. David Grissom said under oath that Jim Ramsey told him a university trustee was the 'cash source' of payments in the basketball stripper / escort scandal
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New: The nonprofit healthcare group that Louisville entrusted with $40m in grants has a history of spending its tax-exempt funds on for-profit businesses owned by the sister and ex-husband of its CEO. My investigation:
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Wow. Jeffersonville showing Louisville what can be done with highway-free Ohio River waterfront 👀
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This morning
@UofLPresNeeli
gave royal-blue-shirt
@KyelandJ
a gentle reminder as to where he obtained his two degrees
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Not asking a lot
@JCPSKY
. Just a way to reach an adult human being when your 7 year old is unaccounted for. A line to call to when the line you’re supposed to call won’t pick up. How much do we have to pay for a
@JCPSSuper
who can effectuate that?
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Stumbled on a little taste of Kentucky in the United Kingdom today. 🥃 I think the
@BuffaloTrace
availability is probably better in London than in Louisville.
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New:
@JCPSKY
is in line to receive more than $700k in additional, annual tax payments from
@ChurchillDowns
after officials raised the tax value of the iconic racetrack -- which hadn't been touched in 16+ years until we pointed it out last year
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Schnatter asks Jurich: Wha would you do? Jurich: I'd put arena on campus.
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Dr. Sarah Moyer of Louisville health department says loss of sense of smell and general "malaise and fatigue" are possible symptoms of the coronavirus. Coincidentally, these are also symptoms of a disease called Working from Home with Two Kids Under Five.
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Mary Poppins will go trick or treating whenever she damn well pleases. Splendid.
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New:
@uofl
is eyeing a $280m building on its health sciences campus, with fingers crossed the funding is finalized in the state budget.
@ULPresSchatzel
calls it a "game changer" to address the nursing shortage.
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PODCAST | I spoke at length with
@UKGattonCollege
economist Ken Troske, who says Kentucky's "costly" COVID-19 restrictions, particularly closing schools to in-person instruction, aren't based on good data...
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.
@KYAlGentry
, a Democrat, puts school choice bill over the top ...
It’s now 48-47 in favor. Democrat Rep. Al Gentry votes ‘yes,’ he says, because that’s what his constituents want.
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.
@UofLPresNeeli
has lost her voice (due to a cold or something) and David Grissom made a joke I can only describe as weird about her "sexy" voice and how he wasn't giving up his seat next to her. Now, on to a powerpoint about professional development opportunities for faculty...
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Louisville's tragedy invoked at the NRA convention two hours away in Indy as frm VP Mike Pence calls for "crime control." The Louisville shooter had evidently never a committed a crime until the morning he slaughtered five people at a bank.
Pence invokes recent shootings in Louisville and Nashville, says Democrats and Biden have "turned to same tired arguments about gun control and gun confiscation. But we don't need gun control, we need crime control"
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It’s my last day with
@WDRBNews
until mid-2022. So thankful to all colleagues (other than
@JasonRileyWDRB
) and especially to the WGND
@BarryFulmerWDRB
for their support.
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Just in: The
@Teamsters
have reached a deal with
@UPS
. Contract delivers $30 billion in gains over 5 years, union says.
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the only thing better than going out for ice cream on a beautiful night is taking a 5-year-old with you. She killed that cone.
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“if the board decides to terminate Tom Jurich, they will have made a big mistake on behalf of
@uofl
, community & state,” Glasscock told me
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Kentucky/Indiana spent billions on new Louisville bridges, decided to pay for them by incentivizing people to use the old Louisville bridges instead, and the response from elected leaders is a collective shrug. New via
@MarcusGreenWDRB
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Back to work today after 2 weeks off for new baby time and I be like ...
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By this logic we should also consider removing the dentists from Kentucky 🤔
Rep. Kevin Bratcher, R-Louisville, says if KY continues have poor dental outcomes, then maybe the fluoride in the water isn't working.
Rep. William Lawrence, R-Maysville, says fluoride in drinking water is "forced medication."
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Each new "Bevin pardoned ..." story seems to reinforce the idea that Matt Bevin is not running for elected office again anytime soon.
Matt Bevin pardoned a Kentucky man who beheaded a woman and stuffed her in a barrel
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The Onion's infamous rinse-repeat headline comes to
#Louisville
‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
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5K
30K
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You can imagine the frantic atmosphere here at
@WDRBNews
when we heard scanner traffic about 15 min ago about another shooting happening across street from us while we were covering the earlier mass shooting. Exhausting.
There is NO active aggressor at JCTC at 8th Chestnut streets.
We are confirming that there was a shooting outside, and the suspects fled prior to police arrival.
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My observation is that Louisville has known these things for a long time. You can find mentions in downtown plans going back to the 90s. The challenge is having elected officials who will actually make it happen.
Envirome's Urban Design Studio brought renowned urban planner and
#walkability
expert Jeff Speck to Louisville. We had a full house last night eager to learn how to make Louisville a more amazing place to live, work, and visit.
@LFPL
@uofl
@stadsbeeld
@JeffSpeckFAICP
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This is all a tad ironic b/c the donor of the KY Kingdom passes -- The Mardrian Group -- is owned by Frank & Teresa Bridgewaters, who pocketed $743,000 in Louisville Metro government money a few years ago in the wake of the failed Walmart development. Bear with me. Thread...
Thread below on the massive turnout for 300 free Kentucky Kingdom passes from a local construction company, The Mardrian Group.
Company says their intention was to respond to the closure of public pools. I've reached out to the city for comment/to see if they were involved.
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New: The biggest union vote in
#Louisville
in almost a decade is happening today with
@HBWorkersUnion
. More than 200
@HeineBrosCoffee
workers at 17 stores. My story on the stakes for the labor movement locally
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On a train between London and Edinburgh. Such a pleasant experience. Much cheaper than flying and much more relaxing than driving. And the food is 😚
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“
@Gannett
, the company that owns
@courierjournal
, must be held accountable for the staff bleed during the pandemic and chronically low wages at the paper," according to the
@CJNewsGuild
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.
@GovAndyBeshear
's defense of his looser rules 4 slot-like gaming is that he made a "legal interpretation" about which rules within his executive order apply to which facilities. The curious thing about that is, he came up w/ the executive order. It says whatever he wants it to.
New: Hundreds or even thousands of people can still go to Kentucky's slot-like gaming venues under
@GovAndyBeshear
latest COVID-19 order. But bingo and charitable gaming is practically shut down. My story w/
@KatrinaWDRB
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❗️
@UAW
Pres
@ShawnFainUAW
apparently heard
@jimfarley98
's quip about how he's on TV more than "Jake from State Farm"
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🚨 News I'm bummed to be breaking:
@humana
is giving up its signature Humana Tower building in
#Louisville
as it further consolidates its local HQ
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The workers who make $10-$15hr taking care of my snotty, messy kids had to go back in July. They have no NTI or at-home accommodations. And Kentucky is not giving them vaccine priority like K-12 teachers. God bless these women. I would not last half a day in their job.
Frustration is growing as Kentucky childcare workers remain left out of Phase 1B vaccinations: |
@Kate_Springer
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Excited to be at
@Columbia
this morning to start as
@Bagehots
‘22 fellow. Back in Louisville, my oldest is starting K at
@BrandeisBears
today.
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This story is wild: The federal govt wants to seize one of downtown Louisville's prime office buildings, saying Ukrainian oligarchs used it to launder stolen money
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Grissom just said the board of trustees unanimously agrees with these decisions... Um, when did you have a meeting? Violation of state law?
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Don't mean to get preachy but this is indicative of how many public officials misunderstand KY meetings law. You don't get to exclude public just because it's a controversial topic.
Grissom tried to go into closed session b/c discussion was getting too heated but was informed that would not be legal
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Journalists get pretty used to nasty, spiteful, ignorant and/or racist feedback emails from the world out there. You can imagine my surprise to get one like this. Thinking about how big a frame to order ...
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Good news (and more news) for
@WDRBNews
. We are adding 5p newscast in Sept and former
@wave3news
anchor Scott Reynolds has been hired to lead it with
@ewoolseywdrb
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To be clear, I would be totally fine with her having to walk .15 mi home or even .5mi. But you can’t just decide to drop a 7 year old somewhere different than the place you were supposed to drop her and hope for the best.
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Persuaded 5 year old to watch football with me. At first, she said was for Kentucky because she likes blue. Then, she saw the numbers on screen change after TD and said “Go Alabama.” I said, hey I thought you liked the blue team. she said, “I changed my mind b/c I want to win.”
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New:
@uofl
has a plan for a near-campus hotel to replace the aging retail center where Gray's Bookstore used to be. Details:
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Grissom said he polled each board member in private phone calls. Pretty sure that's a violation of the Kentucky Open Meetings Act
Grissom just said the board of trustees unanimously agrees with these decisions... Um, when did you have a meeting? Violation of state law?
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@BGPolitics
Meanwhile, here is a look at some horse racing that goes on everyday in Kentucky ...
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Kentucky
@GovAndyBeshear
on
@Humana
leaving its HQ building in Louisville. "Remember, this is one of our top Fortune-ranked companies ... We're gonna have to reimagine parts of downtown" (Humana is the only Fortune 500 HQ'd in Kentucky (no. 42). The next is
@yumbrands
at 521.)
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Imagine a clean, safe, fun, vibrant, walkable, energetic, inviting, 24/7 downtown where people take selfies under the interstate 👀
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there’s an impeccably dressed staffer from the the US DOT following
@PeteButtigieg
around shooting vertical video with a rig for Instagram and social accounts. Feels very Veep
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Ky., where 375k + ppl got health coverage and uninsured rate halved through Obamacare, elects governor who opposes all that
#kyelect
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Hearty congrats to
@courierjournal
@JWoodJourno
, SPJ Louisville’s Journalist of the Year. Well deserved. Turns out he did a shoot for Food & Wine Magazine along the way
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Louisville for many years basically begged
@googlefiber
to come, then passed the utility pole ordinance Google Fiber wanted, then spent $382,328 on contract lawyers to defend that ordinance in lawsuits from
@ATT
&
@GetSpectrum
, then permitted Google to cut seams in the streets...
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Unlike in Minnesota, where the officer who killed George Floyd was immediately fired,
@louisvillemayor
says he cannot fire the officers who shot Breonna Taylor even if he wanted to. He cites state law and the police-union contract. Says due process needs to play out.
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How does
@GoCards
new stadium naming rights deal stack up?
@ericcrawford
did some research. Right on top of Kentucky probably not a bad place to land ...
Story w
@ericcrawford
on Cardinal Stadium’s new naming sponsor, nearly 5 years after the break w John Schnatter
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My 6 month is starting solid foods and the dog may as well have hit the Powerball
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I recall
@UofLPresNeeli
saying she wanted to convince her daughter and son-in-law in Chicago to move with her to Louisville. Well, they just bought a house in Northfield, per public records.
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It was a
@courierjournal
ole timers reunion at
@LouPubMedia
last night. remembering the days when
@JasonRileyWDRB
@rgdunlopjr
were chasing crooked cops,
@MarcusGreenWDRB
was fretting about Museum Plaza, and I was filing colorful dispatches from Sears on Black Friday
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