Six Historically Black Colleges and Universities marching bands delivered dynamic performances
Rickey Smiley and Loni Love hosted the event
Each participating school received a $50,000 grant from Honda for music education and career development programs
MONTGOMERY, Ala. /PRNewswire/ — Thousands of fans, students and alumni converged upon Alabama State University (ASU) on Saturday, Feb. 18 to take part in the 18th Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase (HBOB), the nation’s premiere showcase for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) marching bands and dance teams. Marking its return to a live event format for the first time since 2020, HBOB also was held for the first time on an HBCU campus, featuring spectacular performances from six marching bands representing HBCUs.
Honda Battle of the Bands returned to a live event format on Feb. 18, featuring dynamic performances from six Historically Black Colleges and Universities marching bands.
This year’s HBOB theme, “Driving the Legacy,” celebrated the distinct culture and heritage of HBCUs, honoring HBCU traditions and the important role these institutions play in providing higher education and opportunities for advancement to the Black community.
ASU alumnus and legendary comedian Rickey Smiley hosted the HBOB live event, while Emmy and two-time NAACP Image Award-winning host, comedian, and Prairie View A&M University alumna Loni Love hosted the HBOB livestream.
The six HBCU marching bands that performed in the 2023 HBOB Invitational Showcase included both first-time and veteran HBOB bands:
Alabama State University, Mighty Marching Hornets – 7th appearance
Langston University, Marching Pride – 4th appearance
Morgan State University, Magnificent Marching Machine – 1st appearance
Savannah State University, Powerhouse of the South – 7th appearance
Texas Southern University, Ocean of Soul – 3rd appearance
Virginia State University, Trojan Explosion – 10th appearance
The Invitational Showcase provided these marching bands with a national platform to display their talent, both live and streamed online. Each of the six bands received an all-expenses-paid trip to the HBOB Invitational Showcase. Building on Honda’s longstanding support for HBCUs, each of the six participating universities also received a $50,000 grant from Honda to support their music education and career development programs. Honda also supported nonprofit organizations within the host city of Montgomery through $100,000 in local grants and $20,000 to two nonprofit organizations that partnered with Honda on a new mural installed on the ASU campus.
In addition to the marching band performances at the 2023 Invitational Showcase, HBOB also included an HBCU College Fair hosted by ASU to connect high school students with representatives from ASU, Savannah State University and Virginia State University. The college fair enabled prospective college students to meet with marching band and admissions recruiters to discuss admissions requirements, financial aid, student life and scholarship opportunities. Students who attended the college fair received free admission to the HBOB Invitational Showcase.
For more information on HBOB, visit www.hondabattleofthebands.com. Fans can also check out HBOB highlights from the Invitational Showcase on the official HBOB social media channels:
Honda will continue its support of HBCUs with the upcoming Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC), America’s premiere academic competition for HBCU students. The 2023 HCASC National Championship will be held April 15-19. Visit www.hcasc.com for more details.
Honda and Historically Black Colleges and Universities For over 30 years, Honda has supported the success and dreams of Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students through initiatives including the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge and Honda Battle of the Bands. These programs provide unforgettable experiences and opportunities for HBCU students, including meeting and networking with peers from other HBCU schools. Honda has impacted the lives of more than 200,000 students and awarded over $14 million in grants in support of HBCU education programs and facilities improvements.
To advance its leading investment in HBCUs, Honda is a member of the HBCU Partnership Challenge, a Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus initiative that brings together government, industry and HBCUs to create strategic, more sustainable HBCU partnerships. Honda also has partnered with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to provide annual scholarship funding to support HBCU students pursuing an education in engineering, supply chain management and manufacturing-related fields.
About Honda Corporate Social Responsibility For more than 60 years in the U.S., Honda has been committed to making positive contributions to the communities where its customers and associates live and work. Honda’s mission is to create products and services that improve lives while conducting business in a sustainable manner and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Advancing its corporate social responsibility, Honda and the Honda USA Foundation support this direction through giving focused on education, the environment, mobility, traffic safety and community.
Regulations have cleaned up cars, power plants and factories, leaving cleaner air while economies have grown.
Cavan Images/Josh Campbell via Getty ImagesRichard E. Peltier, UMass Amherst
The Trump administration is “reconsidering” more than 30 air pollution regulations, and it offered industries a brief window to apply for exemptions that would allow them to stop following many air quality regulations immediately if approved. All of the exemptions involve rules finalized in 2024 and include regulations for hazardous air pollutants that cause asthma, heart disease and cancer.
The results – if regulations are ultimately rolled back and if those rollbacks and any exemptions stand up to court challenges – could impact air quality across the United States.
“Reconsideration” is a term used to review or modify a government regulation. While Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin provided few details, the breadth of the regulations being reconsidered affects all Americans. They include rules that set limits for pollutants that can harm human health, such as ozone, particulate matter and volatile organic carbon.
Zeldin wrote on March 12, 2025, that his deregulation moves would “roll back trillions in regulatory costs and hidden “taxes” on U.S. families.“
What Zeldin didn’t say is that the economic and health benefits from decades of federal clean air regulations have far outweighed their costs. Some estimates suggest every $1 spent meeting clean air rules has returned $10 in health and economic benefits.
How far America has come, because of regulations
In the early 1970s, thick smog blanketed American cities and acid rain stripped forests bare from the Northeast to the Midwest.
Air pollution wasn’t just a nuisance – it was a public health emergency. But in the decades since, the United States has engineered one of the most successful environmental turnarounds in history.
Thanks to stronger air quality regulations, pollution levels have plummeted, preventing hundreds of thousands of deaths annually. And despite early predictions that these regulations would cripple the economy, the opposite has proven true: The U.S. economy more than doubled in size while pollution fell, showing that clean air and economic growth can – and do – go hand in hand.
The numbers are eye-popping.
An Environmental Protection Agency analysis of the first 20 years of the Clean Air Act, from 1970 to 1990, found the economic benefits of the regulations were about 42 times greater than the costs.
The EPA later estimated that the cost of air quality regulations in the U.S. would be about US$65 billion in 2020, and the benefits, primarily in improved health and increased worker productivity, would be around $2 trillion. Other studies have found similar benefits.
That’s a return of more than 30 to 1, making clean air one of the best investments the country has ever made.
Science-based regulations even the playing field
The turning point came with the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970, which put in place strict rules on pollutants from industry, vehicles and power plants.
These rules targeted key culprits: lead, ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter – substances that contribute to asthma, heart disease and premature deaths. An example was the removal of lead, which can harm the brain and other organs, from gasoline. That single change resulted in far lower levels of lead in people’s blood, including a 70% drop in U.S. children’s blood-lead levels.
Air Quality regulations lowered the amount of lead being used in gasoline, which also resulted in rapidly declining lead concentrations in the average American between 1976-1980. This shows us how effective regulations can be at reducing public health risks to people.USEPA/Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office (1986)
The results have been extraordinary. Since 1980, emissions of six major air pollutants have dropped by 78%, even as the U.S. economy has more than doubled in size. Cities that were once notorious for their thick, choking smog – such as Los Angeles, Houston and Pittsburgh – now see far cleaner air, while lakes and forests devastated by acid rain in the Northeast have rebounded.
Comparison of growth areas and declining emissions, 1970-2023.EPA
And most importantly, lives have been saved. The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to periodically estimate the costs and benefits of air quality regulations. In the most recent estimate, released in 2011, the EPA projected that air quality improvements would prevent over 230,000 premature deaths in 2020. That means fewer heart attacks, fewer emergency room visits for asthma, and more years of healthy life for millions of Americans.
The economic payoff
Critics of air quality regulations have long argued that the regulations are too expensive for businesses and consumers. But the data tells a very different story.
EPA studies have confirmed that clean air regulations improve air quality over time. Other studies have shown that the health benefits greatly outweigh the costs. That pays off for the economy. Fewer illnesses mean lower health care costs, and healthier workers mean higher productivity and fewer missed workdays.
The EPA estimated that for every $1 spent on meeting air quality regulations, the United States received $9 in benefits. A separate study by the non-partisan National Bureau of Economic Research in 2024 estimated that each $1 spent on air pollution regulation brought the U.S. economy at least $10 in benefits. And when considering the long-term impact on human health and climate stability, the return is even greater.
Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles in 1984: Smog was a common problem in the 1970s and 1980s.Ian Dryden/Los Angeles Times/UCLA Archive/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY
The next chapter in clean air
The air Americans breathe today is cleaner, much healthier and safer than it was just a few decades ago.
Yet, despite this remarkable progress, air pollution remains a challenge in some parts of the country. Some urban neighborhoods remain stubbornly polluted because of vehicle emissions and industrial pollution. While urban pollution has declined, wildfire smoke has become a larger influence on poor air quality across the nation.
That means the EPA still has work to do.
If the agency works with environmental scientists, public health experts and industry, and fosters honest scientific consensus, it can continue to protect public health while supporting economic growth. At the same time, it can ensure that future generations enjoy the same clean air and prosperity that regulations have made possible.
By instead considering retracting clean air rules, the EPA is calling into question the expertise of countless scientists who have provided their objective advice over decades to set standards designed to protect human lives. In many cases, industries won’t want to go back to past polluting ways, but lifting clean air rules means future investment might not be as protective. And it increases future regulatory uncertainty for industries.
The past offers a clear lesson: Investing in clean air is not just good for public health – it’s good for the economy. With a track record of saving lives and delivering trillion-dollar benefits, air quality regulations remain one of the greatest policy success stories in American history.
This article, originally published March 12, 2025, has been updated with the administration’s offer of exemptions for industries.Richard E. Peltier, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, UMass Amherst
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Veggies forVeterans Phoenix VA, May 14, 2025 Image Credit: Rod Washington
In a powerful display of community support and health advocacy, the Phoenix VA Hospital hosted another landmark Veggies for Veterans event yesterday, May 14, 2025. This milestone event, marking eight years of service since April 2017, continues to transform lives through the collaborative efforts of Gregory’s Fresh Market and the VA Health Care System. Yesterday’s distribution saw 600 veterans receiving fresh produce at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, adding to the impressive total of over 22,000 veterans served since the program’s inception.
“This is a way to thank them for their service,” explains Diana Gregory, founder of Gregory’s Fresh Market. This sentiment resonates deeply with veterans like Bobby Smith, who shared, “This helps with my wife and my budget because food is getting more expensive. It really has added to our diet, we were able to have healthy food.”
Yesterday’s distribution featured carefully curated bags filled with seasonal favorites including apples, oranges, zucchini, potatoes, bell peppers, and onions. The program, funded through Gregory’s 501(c)(3) organization and supported by key sponsors including Arizona Complete Health, Peddler’s Son, and Fry’s, has become a model for veteran support programs nationwide.
What makes this initiative particularly impactful is its dual benefit: while veterans receive access to fresh, nutrient-dense foods, local farmers and suppliers also gain support through the program’s commitment to sourcing produce locally. This approach creates a sustainable cycle of community support that extends beyond the immediate benefits to veterans.
The dedication of participants like David Eberly, who waited since 6 a.m. to participate, demonstrates the program’s significance to the veteran community. Phoenix VA Nurse Practitioner Isabel Kozak, who has witnessed the program’s impact firsthand, noted, “I just absolutely love being able to hear Veterans’ stories about how this event is so helpful to them.”
Corporate volunteers and VA staff worked side by side to distribute the produce, creating an atmosphere of genuine care and community engagement. Veterans don’t need to be enrolled in VA care to participate, making the program accessible to all who have served. This inclusive approach aligns perfectly with President Lincoln’s promise to care for those who have served our nation’s military, their families, caregivers, and survivors.
The Future for Veggies for Veterans
The Veggies for Veterans program continues to grow, with regular distribution events scheduled throughout the year. For veterans interested in participating, the program will return to the Phoenix VA Hospital on September 10 and November 5, 2025. This consistent presence ensures that veterans have reliable access to fresh, healthy food options while fostering a stronger sense of community support.
As this initiative enters its ninth year, it stands as a testament to how community partnerships can create meaningful impact in the lives of those who have served our country, one bag of fresh produce at a time.
STM Daily News is a vibrant news blog dedicated to sharing the brighter side of human experiences. Emphasizing positive, uplifting stories, the site focuses on delivering inspiring, informative, and well-researched content. With a commitment to accurate, fair, and responsible journalism, STM Daily News aims to foster a community of readers passionate about positive change and engaged in meaningful conversations. Join the movement and explore stories that celebrate the positive impacts shaping our world.
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In an inspiring display of community spirit this Wednesday, something extraordinary unfolded at the Veggies for Veterans program in Phoenix. A group of seniors, driven by their desire to give back, took the initiative to volunteer and serve their local veterans – creating a beautiful moment of intergenerational connection and purpose.
The impact was immediate and profound. Not only did these senior volunteers find fulfillment in their service, but they unanimously expressed their eagerness to return, demonstrating how Veggies for Veterans serves a dual purpose: addressing food insecurity while creating meaningful social connections that combat loneliness and isolation.
Diana Gregory, founder of Diana Gregory Outreach Services, has built this remarkable program in partnership with the Carl T. Hayden VA Hospital of Phoenix. Through Gregory’s Fresh Market and initiatives like Veggies for Veterans, the organization provides critical access to fresh produce three times a year, serving thousands of veterans in our community.
The program’s success highlights a growing need in our community. As food insecurity continues to affect our veteran population, Diana Gregory Outreach Services stands at the forefront of addressing this crisis. The organization delivers over 30,000 bags of fresh fruits and vegetables annually to seniors and veterans, making a tangible difference in their lives.
But perhaps what makes Veggies for Veterans truly special is how it creates a ripple effect of goodwill. When seniors step up to serve veterans, they’re not just distributing fresh produce – they’re building bridges, fostering connections, and proving that everyone has something valuable to contribute, regardless of age.
As this week’s heartwarming event showed, Veggies for Veterans is more than a food distribution program – it’s a catalyst for community building, a source of purpose for volunteers, and a beacon of hope for those it serves. The urgent need for expanded support continues, but with each new volunteer and every bag of fresh produce distributed, we’re taking steps toward a healthier, more connected community.
To support or learn more about this vital initiative, consider reaching out to Diana Gregory Outreach Services, a 501(c) charitable organization based in Phoenix, Arizona, and be part of this growing movement of community service and care.
Related Link:
Veggies for Veterans: https://dianagregory.com/veggies-for-veterans/
STM Daily News is a vibrant news blog dedicated to sharing the brighter side of human experiences. Emphasizing positive, uplifting stories, the site focuses on delivering inspiring, informative, and well-researched content. With a commitment to accurate, fair, and responsible journalism, STM Daily News aims to foster a community of readers passionate about positive change and engaged in meaningful conversations. Join the movement and explore stories that celebrate the positive impacts shaping our world.
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