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Tahoe Basin Wildfire Evacuation Simulations Spotlight Infrastructure Limitations, Public Safety Dangers

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INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev., Aug. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, a first-ever independent Tahoe Basin Wildfire Evacuation Analysis, combining artificial intelligence (AI) and real-life Sierra Nevada wildfire experience, reveals Tahoe workers, residents, and visitors to California and Nevada’s iconic Lake Tahoe could face hours-long, potentially life-threatening slow evacuations.

The release of the Placer and Washoe Tahoe North Shore analyses are part of a larger, first-of-its-kind publicly transparent basin-wide evacuation analysis. Commissioned by TahoeCleanAir.org, the models provide hypothetical “no-notice” versus “planned event” evacuation simulations. The models incorporate operational expertise from veteran firefighters and emergency management experts involved in some of the West’s most catastrophic wildfires, including the Camp Fire in and around Paradise, California. 

Fire experts use the term “no-notice” for an emerging incident that poses a sudden and immediate threat to human life but may still involve evacuation orders. Historically, no-notice evacuations have overwhelmed emergency responder resources and defied the rapid implementation of emergency operation plans.

Based on first-hand knowledge of decades of extreme fire behavior and with AI technology, experts from PyroAnalysis and Ladris conducted over 400 Tahoe wide evacuation simulations to help provide accurate highway and feeder road capacity limitations.

Further, AI evacuation modeling software estimated potential evacuation times based on a variety of road closures that create choke points. These bottlenecks could reasonably be expected during a fast-moving wildfire evacuation in peak summer tourist season, which coincides with peak wildfire season.

Three other geographical Tahoe study areas will soon be available. Those are Douglas Tahoe, El Dorado South Shore Tahoe and West Shore Tahoe.

The Placer Tahoe and Washoe Tahoe simulations assume no notice fire events from different directions with realistic road closures. The analysis also discusses key items that could further lengthen evacuation times.

Until now, no such publicly transparent, in-depth analysis of Lake Tahoe’s limited infrastructure has been provided in connection with Tahoe land use planning and project approvals by any of the five Tahoe facing counties or the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA). Yet TRPA recently approved land use code changes to allow increased building height, density and coverage and continue to approve visitor attractions that will materially change the Tahoe environment, increase the total number of people in the basin, and elevate safety threats.

Placer County last adopted increased town center density land use amendments to its 2016 Tahoe Basin Area Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on October 31, 2023. Placer used a controversial brief environmental addendum approval process rather than providing a more focused in-depth subsequent EIR.

The AI generated Placer evacuation simulations reveal a nine to fourteen-plus hour evacuation time depending on road closure conditions. This is in stark contrast to the 2016 Placer County, Environmental Impact Statement, which estimated evacuation time for the study area at 3.7 hours. Washoe Tahoe AI generated simulations include potential closures of SR28 at Stateline and Sand Harbor resulting in eight and nine hour wait times. The heavily visited now international destination East Shore Trail and Sand Harbor State Park, get thousands of visitors by personal vehicle, bus, bicycle, and by foot.

Evacuation of the Tahoe basin is of paramount importance. Annual visitation to the Tahoe basin (207,000 acres) now exceeds that of America’s most popular National Park, the Great Smoky Mountains, which spans 522,419 acres. One report indicates Tahoe gets as many as 60-million-person trips annually. Many visitors are unaware that Tahoe spans two states, five counties and multiple communities. They simply think they’re ‘in Tahoe.’

“The public and land use planners deserve to be aware of potential evacuation outcomes. The carrying capacity in the Tahoe Basin is already beyond strained,” said Doug Flaherty, TahoeCleanAir.org, a former southern California Fire Combat Battalion Chief. “This analysis underscores the need for Tahoe policy makers to provide better, more transparent public safety planning. Officials need to take a reality-based approach to land use planning decisions to help avoid issues experienced in other major wildfires.”

Flaherty added: “While this independent analysis is aimed at raising government land use planning agency and public awareness of potential evacuation limitations in Tahoe, it is not intended to take the place of, or be utilized in connection with, official government evacuation planning or emergency event decision-making. At a minimum however, Tahoe communities and visitors should expect nothing less than what’s laid out in Best Practices for Wildfire Evacuation published by the California State Attorney General.” Learn more here.

The additional Tahoe area evacuation analyses containing respective evacuation simulations will be available in September 2024.

Simulation illustrations and added analysis is available at TahoeCleanAir.org.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tahoe-basin-wildfire-evacuation-simulations-spotlight-infrastructure-limitations-public-safety-dangers-302232490.html

SOURCE TahoeCleanAir.Org

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commercetools Recognized as a Top Performer with 24 Medals in the 2026 Paradigm B2B Combine Reports

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Independent analyst firm Paradigm B2B recognizes commercetools across all 24 categories evaluated in its 2026 Enterprise and Midmarket Combine reports.commercetools earns 24 medals, including 16 gold, in strategic categories including Vision & Strategy, Ability to Execute, Customer Service & Support and Site Search.Recognition reinforces commercetools’ continued innovation for B2B enterprises seeking to modernize digital commerce for the AI era.

BOSTON, July 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — commercetools, the global leader in autonomous commerce, today announced it has been recognized as one of the strongest-performing vendors in the 2026 Paradigm B2B Combine reports, earning recognition in every category evaluated in both the Enterprise and Midmarket editions.

Published annually by Paradigm B2B, the Combine reports evaluate leading B2B commerce platforms across product capabilities, strategy, execution and customer success. Unlike traditional analyst reports that rank vendors against one another, the Combine reports independently assess vendors across 12 individual strategic and product capability categories using 38 weighted criteria, customer feedback and in-depth product evaluations.

The approach enables organizations to assess vendors according to the capabilities that matter most to their business rather than relying on a single overall ranking. This year, commercetools earned 24 medals across the two reports, including 16 gold medals, receiving recognition in every category evaluated across both the Enterprise and Midmarket editions.

“Our B2B customers are navigating one of the biggest shifts digital commerce has experienced, as AI changes how businesses sell and how buyers purchase,” said Doug McNary, Chief Executive Officer at commercetools. “This recognition validates both the strength of our platform today and our commitment to helping enterprises modernize faster for the AI era and prepare for agentic and B2B autonomous commerce. We’re proud to be recognized not only for product innovation, but also for execution, customer success and long-term vision.”

The results reinforce commercetools’ strength across both strategic business capabilities, including vision, execution and customer success, and core commerce functionality spanning search, transaction management, promotions and integrations.

Among the most significant improvements this year was Site Search, where commercetools advanced from Bronze to Gold in both the Enterprise and Midmarket evaluations, reflecting continued investment in delivering faster, more intelligent product discovery experiences for complex B2B catalogs and buying journeys.

The recognition reflects commercetools’ continued investment in helping enterprises build AI-ready digital commerce architectures. Over the past year, the company has expanded its platform Sphere with innovations that reduce the commercial and technical barriers to enterprise commerce modernization, including:

commercetools for Builders: Enables enterprises to build production-grade B2B commerce experiences in days using AI-powered development tools.Commerce Integration Layer: Simplifies integrations across enterprise commerce ecosystems.Modular Commerce: Enables organizations to modernize one commerce capability at a time without undertaking a full replatform.

Together, these innovations help enterprises modernize incrementally while preparing for increasingly intelligent buying experiences and autonomous commerce operations.

To learn more about how commercetools supports B2B organizations and to download a copy of the Paradigm B2B Combine Digital Commerce Solutions (Enterprise Edition) report, please visit the commercetools Analyst Report Access Center.

About commercetools

commercetools provides the leading autonomous commerce platform, helping enterprises transform digital commerce for the AI era. Built API-native from the start and AI-first by design, our technology enables agentic shopping experiences, automates commerce operations and gives businesses the agility to modernize faster, innovate continuously and operate more intelligently.

More than 600 global brands, retailers and enterprise companies rely on commercetools to power their digital commerce. Together, they process more than €120 billion in annualized GMV, over 700 million orders and more than one billion customer records on our platform.

Media Contact: comms@commercetools.com

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SOURCE commercetools

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New AI Therapy That Maps Entire Brain Tumor, Plus Anesthesia Impact on Stroke Outcomes and Racial Disparity Findings to Debut at SNIS Annual Meeting, July 20 in Seattle

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SEATTLE, July 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Neurointerventionalistswill debut an AI-guided technique that maps an entire brain tumor — not just a single feeding artery — to deliver targeted chemotherapy to every vessel supplying the cancer. The breakthrough will be presented as part of the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS), July 20-24 at the Seattle Convention Center.

Abstracts on stroke recovery and functional outcomes, the impact of anesthesia choices during stroke treatment, and racial disparities in cerebrovascular care will be part of the more than 70 studies presented across four days.

Attendees will gain access to new research and technology, paired with expert-led education, to empower clinicians to provide the highest standard of care for patients across practice settings.

“The pace of innovation in neurointervention continues to accelerate,” said SNIS President Guilherme Dabus, MD. “The work our members are presenting this week — on tumors, stroke, anesthesia and equity — isn’t incremental. It’s the kind of science that resets the standard of care. At the SNIS Annual Meeting, the premier forum for scientific exchange in neurointervention, the conversations that begin here drive the progress that ultimately saves lives.”

Past SNIS President Joshua Hirsch, MD, FSNIS, will present the Grant Hieshima Luminary Lecture “Neurointervention at the Intersection of Innovation, Evidence and Policy.” Dr. Hirsch is an interventional neuroradiologist who spent his career at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and will soon begin a new role as chair of the Department of Radiology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Hirsch brings 650+ peer-reviewed publications and a proven record of leading interdisciplinary neurointerventional programs.

The 23rd Annual Meeting will highlight dozens of promising research studies, with press releases available under embargo on the following abstracts:

Health Equity: Racial Disparities in Endovascular Thrombectomy Widen with Stroke Severity: A National Inpatient Sample AnalysisHealthy Equity: Reducing Inequalities in Stroke Events-hemorrhagic Disparities (RISE-HD): A 10-year Statewide Analysis of Social Determinants of Mortality in Hemorrhagic StrokeHealth Equity: Dual Pathways to Hemorrhagic Stroke Mortality Across the U.S. Stroke Belt: Rural Neurointerventional Isolation and Urban Structural VulnerabilityAnesthesia: Center-level Utilization of General Anesthesia for Mechanical Thrombectomy is Associated with Mortality, A Neurovascular Quality Initiative Registry StudyAI Breakthrough: From Single-Pedicle to Whole Tumor Coverage: AI-guided Multi-territory Super-selective Endovascular Infusion for Brain TumorsNew Technique: Bilateral Targeted Segmental Artery Lidocaine-dexamethasone Infusion for Refractory Thoracolumbar Pain: Preliminary ExperiencePre-Stroke Disability: Impact of Successful Reperfusion on Functional Outcomes After Thrombectomy in Patients with Pre-stroke Disability

Virtual attendees can stream sessions live, engage with presenters through real-time Q&A and interactive polling, and revisit recorded sessions on demand. All registered participants will have access to meeting content and recordings for several months following the Annual Meeting.

Registration: To register for press credentials (in-person and virtual options), please email cjewell@vancomm.com.

Interview: To schedule an interview with SNIS President Dr. Guilherme Dabus or other SNIS physicians, please contact Camille Jewell at cjewell@vancomm.com or 202-248-5460.

The Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS) is a scientific and educational association dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurointerventional surgery through research, standard-setting, and education and advocacy to provide the highest quality of patient care in diagnosing and treating diseases of the brain, spine, head and neck. Visit www.snisonline.org and follow us on X (@SNISinfo) Facebook (@SNISOnline), LinkedIn (@Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery), Instagram (@SNIS_info) and Bluesky (@snisinfo.bsky.social‬).

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-ai-therapy-that-maps-entire-brain-tumor-plus-anesthesia-impact-on-stroke-outcomes-and-racial-disparity-findings-to-debut-at-snis-annual-meeting-july-20-in-seattle-302828753.html

SOURCE Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery

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Alpaca and Broadridge Announce Governance Solution for Tokenized Securities

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Broadridge enables proxy voting, investor communications, and voting entitlement reconciliation across Alpaca’s platform

NEW YORK, July 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Alpaca, a global leader in agent-first brokerage infrastructure, and global Fintech leader, Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., (NYSE: BR), today announced the integration of Broadridge’s governance infrastructure for retail and institutional investors into Alpaca’s Instant Tokenization Network. The partnership brings shareholder governance capabilities including proxy voting, investor communications, voting entitlement reconciliation, and regulatory disclosures across traditional and tokenized equities, helping investors retain the rights, transparency, and protections they expect in traditional capital markets.

Tokenization has the potential to expand access to global capital markets, but it must preserve the investor protections that market participants already expect,” said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpaca. “Through our partnership with Broadridge, we’re combining modern tokenization infrastructure with trusted governance capabilities, enabling our partners to build tokenized investment products without compromising shareholder rights, regulatory compliance, or investor transparency.”

“Today’s announcement marks an important step forward in our goal of enabling the adoption of tokenized equities by ensuring that they are paired with institutional-grade governance capabilities regardless of where they are held or tokenized,” said Doug DeSchutter, President of Broadridge’s Investor Communication Solutions business. “For decades, Broadridge has invested in the platform that powers investor communications and shareholder engagement for more than 200 million retail and institutional investor accounts globally. We’re now bringing those same capabilities to tokenized equities—enabling accurate voting, specialized investor experiences, and regulatory disclosures.”

Alpaca will continue to provide the regulated brokerage infrastructure that supports the tokenization of equities, including custody and clearing services of the underlying asset. Broadridge complements the infrastructure with shareholder governance services, including proxy voting, investor communications, regulatory disclosures, and voting entitlement reconciliation. Together, the companies enable traditional and tokenized equities to support the ownership rights, transparency, and operational integrity expected in traditional markets.

As tokenized assets are issued and held across multiple blockchain networks and intermediaries, maintaining accurate shareholder records and voting entitlements becomes increasingly complex. Broadridge’s governance platform supports voting delivery and entitlement reconciliation for beneficial and registered holders of tokenized equities, ensuring investors receive required communications and can exercise their shareholder rights regardless of how their assets are held.

Key benefits include:

Institutional-grade proxy voting and shareholder communications for retail and institutional investors globallyConsistent and transparent governance capabilities for tokenized and traditional equitiesSingle platform for voting and regulatory disclosures for registered and beneficial holdersA unified operational view for brokers, custodians, corporate issuers, and funds

Institutional investors can integrate voting for tokenized equities into existing governance workflows and reporting, including voting choice programs, while retail investors can access eligible meetings through ProxyVote.com. The solution is supported by governance capabilities with the highest standards for auditability, accountability, and investor protection and designed to support compliance with applicable U.S. regulatory guidelines.

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a US-headquartered, self-clearing broker-dealer providing global agent-first brokerage infrastructure that powers access to traditional and on-chain asset classes. Today, Alpaca supports over 10 million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in more than 40 countries, backed by $400 million in funding. For more information, visit alpaca.markets.

About Broadridge’s Tokenization Solutions

Broadridge enables on-chain proxy voting and governance, digital asset infrastructure including post trade, wallets and custody, and the scaling of digital asset capabilities across multiple asset classes. Broadridge’s governance platform serves all models of tokenized securities, including issuer-listed models, synthetic securities issued outside the United States, and third-party tokenized shares within the Unted States, helping ensure investors receive the same rights and protections regardless of how assets are structured or owned.

Broadridge’s Distributed Ledger Repo (DLR) solution is the world’s largest institutional platform for settling tokenized real assets, tokenizing approximately over $357 billion a day. As tokenization gains momentum across financial services, Broadridge is meeting the complexity of operating across traditional and digital ecosystems with established scale, critical market knowledge, and technological expertise.

About Broadridge

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR) is a global technology leader with the trusted expertise and transformative technology to help clients and the financial services industry operate, innovate, and grow. We power investing, governance, and communications for our clients – driving operational resiliency, elevating business performance, and transforming investor experiences. 

Our technology and operations platforms process and generate over 7 billion communications per year and underpin the daily trading of more than $15 trillion of securities globally. A certified Great Place to Work®, Broadridge is part of the S&P 500® Index, employing over 15,000 associates in 21 countries.

For more information about us, please visit www.broadridge.com.

Broadridge Contacts:

Investors:
broadridgeir@broadridge.com

Media:
Gregg.Rosenberg@broadridge.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alpaca-and-broadridge-announce-governance-solution-for-tokenized-securities-302829204.html

SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

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