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HGTC Area Commission Selects Dr. Lori Heafner as College’s Next President

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CONWAY, S.C., Sept. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Horry-Georgetown Technical College (HGTC) Area Commission has selected Lori A. Heafner, Ph.D., as the next president of Horry-Georgetown Technical College following a comprehensive national search.

The Area Commission made its selection during a special-called meeting Friday, Sept. 18, following finalist visits and public forums held on the Conway Campus. Heafner will assume the presidency Jan. 4, 2027.

“The Area Commission entered this national search determined to identify the leader best prepared to build upon HGTC’s strong foundation and guide the college confidently into the future,” said Robert P. Hucks, II, chairman of the HGTC Area Commission and Presidential Search Committee. “Lori distinguished herself through her depth of experience, knowledge of higher education, commitment to students and understanding of the communities we serve. She knows this college and our region and has demonstrated throughout her career an ability to bring people together around a shared commitment to student success and institutional excellence. We are confident in her ability to lead HGTC forward.”

Heafner currently serves as vice president for academic affairs at HGTC and has more than 25 years of experience in higher education, including 20 years at HGTC. Her leadership experience spans academic affairs, institutional effectiveness, strategic planning, accreditation, grants, assessment and community and workforce partnerships.

Throughout her career, Heafner has helped advance academic and workforce pathways, transfer opportunities, dual enrollment and early college partnerships, and collaborations with K-12 schools, universities, health care organizations, businesses and community leaders. She previously served as HGTC’s vice president for institutional effectiveness and development and has also served as an adjunct instructor.

A community college graduate, Heafner began her higher education career at Cleveland Community College before joining HGTC in 2006. She earned a doctorate in educational sciences with a concentration in higher education administration from Coastal Carolina University.

The Area Commission’s selection followed a comprehensive national search conducted with assistance from the Association of Community College Trustees. Three finalists were invited to HGTC for campus visits and public forums, providing faculty, administrators, staff, students and members of the community an opportunity to hear from the candidates and provide feedback.

“I am deeply honored to be selected as the next president of Horry-Georgetown Technical College,” Heafner said. “For 20 years, HGTC has been an important part of my life, and I have had the privilege of working alongside extraordinary faculty and staff who are deeply committed to our students and communities. I am grateful for the confidence of the Area Commission and excited to build upon the college’s strong foundation as we expand opportunities for our students, strengthen our partnerships and continue meeting the changing educational and workforce needs of our region.”

About Horry-Georgetown Technical College

Horry-Georgetown Technical College (HGTC) is a public, two-year college serving Horry and Georgetown counties with campuses located along the Grand Strand in Conway, Myrtle Beach and Georgetown, South Carolina. A member of the South Carolina Technical College System, HGTC offers more than 80 associate degree, diploma and certificate programs, including many online options, designed to prepare students for careers or transfer to four-year colleges and universities. The college also provides workforce development programs that support regional economic growth. HGTC is the fourth largest of South Carolina’s 16 technical colleges and among the fastest-growing higher education institutions in the state.

For more information, visit www.hgtc.edu.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hgtc-area-commission-selects-dr-lori-heafner-as-colleges-next-president-302883572.html

SOURCE Horry-Georgetown Technical College

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Saturday, September 19, 2026

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OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 18, 2026 /CNW/ —

Note: All times local

National Capital Region, Canada

10:00 a.m.

The Prime Minister will attend the National Caucus retreat.

Closed to media

This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister’s Office

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4Humanity Introduces the National Positivity Portal, Using AI to Make the Good Happening Across America Easier to See

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AI-powered platform discovers and organizes real stories of nonprofit impact into a growing, searchable archive of America’s goodness

BOSTON, Sept. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Today, 4Humanity announced the National Positivity Portal, an AI-powered platform designed to discover, organize, and amplify real stories of positive impact happening across America.

The idea behind the Portal is simple: use artificial intelligence not to tell people what to think, but to help people see more of what is already happening. Its larger mission is to help lift humanity by building trust in human potential.

The National Positivity Portal continuously discovers publicly available stories from nonprofits and organizations across the country and organizes them into one searchable experience. Visitors can explore organizations and stories by cause, location, and mission, watch short daily stories of hope, compassion, service, and positive change, and find opportunities to learn more, support, volunteer, donate, or get involved.

“The problem isn’t that good things aren’t happening. It’s that we rarely see them,” said Glenn Court, Founder of 4Humanity. “Every day across America, nonprofits, foundations, civic organizations, and individuals are feeding families, supporting young people, strengthening communities, protecting the vulnerable, and helping people in countless other ways. But those stories are scattered across thousands of websites, social feeds, and local news outlets, making the full picture difficult to see. 4Humanity is working to change that.”

What AI Makes Possible
For the first time, artificial intelligence makes it possible to discover, organize, and connect positive impact stories at a scale and speed no human team could sustain.

The Portal can continuously search publicly available information, identify stories of service and positive impact, categorize them, and make them accessible through one platform. Each story contributes to a growing archive searchable by cause, location, and organization.

Rather than using AI to generate another stream of outrage or division, 4Humanity is asking a different question: What if AI could help make humanity’s best qualities more visible?

The result is intended to become a daily proof of goodness, a place where people can regularly see real examples of service, compassion, responsibility, and positive change.

An Invitation to Organizations Across America

4Humanity is inviting nonprofits across the country to opt in, with each becoming an affirming organization of the National Positivity Portal.

Organizations are affirming that their work is part of a larger national pattern of positive virtue and helping make that pattern visible.

For participating organizations, the Portal offers another way for people to discover their mission, learn about their impact, and connect with opportunities to support, volunteer, donate, or get involved.

For more information, visit 4Humanity.net to learn, explore the Portal, and opt in to help connect the good happening across America.

About the National Positivity Portal – 4Humanity.net
The National Positivity Portal is a nonpartisan, nonreligious, AI-driven platform that showcases, connects, and organizes the work of America’s nonprofits and civic organizations under one shared umbrella of demonstrated positive virtue. Its mission is to help lift humanity by building back trust in human potential. For more information, visit: 4Humanity.net.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/4humanity-introduces-the-national-positivity-portal-using-ai-to-make-the-good-happening-across-america-easier-to-see-302883582.html

SOURCE 4Humanity

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iScreen Expands iOS 27 Customization With New Extra-Large Widget Experiences, iPhone Duo Theme Support and AI-Powered Home Screen Design

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The latest update introduces interactive extra-large widget hubs, adaptive layouts for iPhone Duo, and AI-assisted Home Screen personalization.

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — iScreen, a mobile customization app for iOS and Android, today announced a new round of features and content designed around iOS 27, expanding the ways users can personalize their Home Screens with widgets, themes and emerging display formats.

The update highlights new experiences built around iOS 27’s extra-large widget format, theme layouts optimized for iPhone Duo, and a new collection of iOS 27-inspired visual styles. iScreen is also expanding its exploration of AI-assisted personalization through AI Home Screen Designer, offering a more intuitive way to create coordinated screen setups.

Extra-Large Widgets Unlock New Home Screen Experiences

With the expanded widget dimensions available in iOS 27, iScreen is introducing new experiences designed specifically for the larger canvas, going beyond simply scaling up existing widget formats.

The new collection features a variety of extra-large widgets, including Photo, Album, Music, Calendar, Interactive Refrigerator and Quick Launch widgets, giving users new ways to display content, interact with their Home Screen and access frequently used functions. iScreen also supports customizable extra-large widgets, allowing users to personalize content, layouts and visual styles to create more functional and expressive Home Screen experiences.

Theme Layouts Optimized for iPhone Duo

To accommodate the new screen proportions and display dimensions of iPhone Duo, iScreen has optimized selected theme resources for the device’s current screen format.

Wallpapers, widgets, icons and overall Home Screen layouts have been adjusted to better fit the new proportions while maintaining a balanced and cohesive visual experience.

Looking ahead, iScreen plans to further explore layout behavior, widget adaptation and visual continuity across different display states as new device formats create additional possibilities for mobile personalization.

iOS 27-Inspired Themes for a Cohesive New Look

Alongside its widget and device-format updates, iScreen has introduced a new collection of iOS 27-inspired themes reflecting the latest visual trends in iPhone customization.

The collection brings together coordinated wallpapers, transparent-style widgets, icons and other visual elements. By combining these assets into complete setups, users can create a polished and consistent Home Screen without having to manually search for and match individual elements.

AI-Assisted Home Screen Design

iScreen is also exploring how AI can make Home Screen personalization faster and more intuitive. AI Home Screen Designer can generate coordinated design suggestions based on a user’s preferences for style, color and visual elements, combining wallpapers, widgets and icons into a unified setup.

The feature is currently available to a limited group of users for testing. iScreen will continue refining the generation experience based on user feedback and plans to gradually expand availability.

“Personalization is shifting from static aesthetics to dynamic, context-aware experiences,” said the iScreen creative team. “With iOS 27’s larger widgets and iPhone Duo’s dual-display format, this update delivers deeper visual immersion and automated tools that simplify creating a cohesive Home Screen setup.”

About iScreen

iScreen is a mobile customization app providing widgets, wallpapers and themed layouts for iOS and Android devices. Ranking among the top home screen customization platforms worldwide, iScreen has more than 100 million users and has been featured by Apple Editorial in 128 countries for five consecutive days. With interactive and decorative options, iScreen enables users to personalize both Home Screens and Lock Screens for a more immersive mobile experience.

Official Website: iScreen – Phone Style, iScreen it!

iOS Download: ‎‎iScreen – Widgets & Wallpaper App – App Store ‎

Android Download: iScreen Google Play

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iscreen-expands-ios-27-customization-with-new-extra-large-widget-experiences-iphone-duo-theme-support-and-ai-powered-home-screen-design-302881925.html

SOURCE iScreen

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