Friends 2 Follow

Like many little girls, a young Kristi Yamaguchi loved playing with Barbie. So, itā€™s surreal for the decorated Olympian figure skater to now be a Barbie girl herself. Mattel announced Wednesday that there will be a Yamaguchi doll as part of Barbie's ā€œInspiring Women Series.ā€ Yamaguchi was the first Asian American to win an individual figure skating gold medal at the Olympics. She says that having a Barbie is an honor and she hopes it can inspire Asian American kids. The dollā€™s release is timed for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, in May. Mattel replicated the then 20-year-old Yamaguchi's outfit and look at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.

The Biden administration is preparing to announce plans for a new five-year schedule to lease federal offshore tracts for wind energy production. The plan was to be announced Wednesday in New Orleans by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. It calls for up to a dozen offshore energy lease sales beginning this year and continuing through 2028. Three of the anticipated sales would be for Gulf of Mexico tracts. Other sales would be for the central Atlantic, the Gulf of Maine, Oregon, California, Hawaii and an area of the Atlantic known as the New York Bight, as well a an unspecified U.S. territory.