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'Unbelievable' renaissance of rare cloud forest as unique species reclaim paradiseOkanagan College (OC) has signed partnerships with key tourism organizations to strengthen its programming and create new opportunities for students. These agreements are with the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA), the Tourism Industry Association of BC (TIABC), and Tourism HR Canada (THRC). “The tourism sector across Canada is a major driver of our economy and a major employer, with one in 10 employed Canadians working in the sector,” said Joe Baker, Dean of the OC School of Business. The partnerships will align OC’s tourism and hospitality curriculum with industry standards. They will also provide opportunities for students to gain practical experience and build connections through Work Integrated Learning. Okanagan College will align its programming with Tourism HR Canada’s SMART accreditation program. Members of TOTA, TIABC, and THRC will serve on OC’s program advisory committee, offering valuable industry guidance. The collaboration also opens doors for applied research projects and grant opportunities through OC’s Department of Applied Research and its BC Beverage and Technology Access Centre (BCBTAC). “We are focused on creating programming that fits the needs of our communities, and supporting the food, beverage, and tourism industries is a perfect fit,” said Samantha Lenci, OC Provost and Vice President Academic. “We look forward to having dynamic programming available when our new Centre for Food, Wine and Tourism is complete in 2027.” Okanagan College already offers a variety of programs supporting these industries, including its Tourism Management Diploma, Culinary Arts School, and certificates in viticulture, wine sales, winery assistant, landscape horticulture, and hospitality. Future offerings will include a Hotel and Restaurant Management Diploma and an Events Management Diploma. The Centre for Food, Wine, and Tourism is currently in the site preparation stage at OC’s Kelowna campus. Construction is set to begin in 2025, with completion expected in 2027. Once finished, the facility will support education and innovation in the food, beverage, and tourism sectors.
School property tax debates past, present and yet to come will once again haunt the state’s elected officials in the new 109th Legislature. One of western Nebraska’s five state senators will push for millions of dollars in extra tax relief after the Unicameral’s summer special session “frontloaded” a 30% K-12 school income tax credit onto December’s 2024-25 property tax bills. Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering cites a State Capitol argument whether doing so deprived property owners of their 2023-24 income tax credit. Gov. Jim Pillen, who failed to win enough support for sweeping tax changes in the extra session, meanwhile renewed his efforts with a “2024 School Property Tax Report” released Nov. 8. It included data on 2024-25 K-12 districts’ aid and property tax requests. Lowering the former typically boosts the latter, it said. Senators need to seek “predictability of aid given to school districts,” it added, to “allow Nebraska to have sustained property tax reductions for the first time in its history.” Star-Herald analyses found mixed pictures on both questions for western Nebraska property owners, at least regarding the 2024-25 tax bills they’ll get in the mail next month. A formula provided by state budget officials shows the K-12 income tax credits — which thousands of Nebraskans never claimed — will refund 30% of all property owners’ eligible 2023-24 school taxes as a second direct discount on 2024-25 property tax bills. But it won’t equal a 30% break on their latest school taxes for the three Scotts Bluff County agricultural operations and two of the three Scottsbluff-Gering area homes the paper tracks each “budget season.” Why? It’s mostly because LB 34’s K-12 school tax credit will continue to run one year behind, as the income tax credit did from its debut in 2020. It also excludes the schools’ portions of the older but smaller 2023-24 Property Tax Credit Fund break — also taken off December tax bills — and the homestead exemptions some homeowners receive, said Lee Will, director of the state Department of Administrative Services. Those factors yield effective 2024-25 school tax discounts from 24.8% to 27.8% for a ranch southeast of Lyman and farms with mixed soil types northwest of Mitchell and southwest and southeast of Melbeta. They’ll be worth 27.9% for the Star-Herald’s Home 1, located in Scottsbluff’s Westmoor neighborhood, and 28.2% for Home 2 in Gering’s Legion Park neighborhood. The picture is more complicated for Home 3 in east Terrytown, which has received a full homestead exemption since 2019. The Nebraska Taxes Online website won’t report parcels’ 2024 homestead exemption status until final tax bills are sent out. If the Terrytown home’s full exemption was renewed for 2024, that most likely will again cancel out the home’s tax bill. But if not, it won’t get the new K-12 tax credit this year — because its owners didn’t have to pay taxes in 2023. A trio of term-limited lawmakers, including Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, contend that property owners are being shortchanged by the school income tax credit’s transition to a direct discount. LB 34 dealt them a “missing year” of tax relief, the lawmakers argued, if they paid their 2023 school taxes during 2024. Hardin said he’ll introduce a bill to make up the perceived shortfall. “We took the 2023 monies and flipped them end for end and said we’ll get them in 2024,” he said. But LB 34 didn’t deprive any property owner of a 2023 school tax break, countered North Platte Sen. Mike Jacobson. Instead of claiming it when they do 2024 income taxes after New Year’s, he said, they’ll get it before Christmas off the top of their 2024 property taxes. In fact, Jacobson added, Nebraskans who paid their 2023 property taxes last December can get both the 2023 K-12 income tax credit — if they claim it — and the direct 2023 discount next month. “We told people it’s not that anybody lost out,” said Jacobson, who hopes to join the Revenue Committee in 2025. “It’s that some people double-dipped.” Even if there were a “missing year,” he said, it’s highly unlikely the Legislature can find $560.7 million — the amount allocated for K-12 income tax credits for 2023 — on top of the $750 million for the new direct discount. The Legislature’s Tax Rate Review Committee told senators Wednesday that the state’s budget balance by 2026-27 could be more than $432 million below its legal minimum reserve if lawmakers make no changes. “If anybody thinks a bill’s going to pass the Legislature that will cost $500 million to ‘make people whole,’ that’s not going to happen,” Jacobson said. The same cloud hangs over Pillen’s renewed call for even higher property tax relief, acknowledged as Nebraska’s largest single budget item in the governor’s Nov. 8 report. It lauded the 244 school districts for holding statewide growth in their 2024-25 property tax requests to 2.8% — the slowest pace this century. Senators slapped a basic 3% lid last year on how much K-12 districts can charge. But four fast-growing metro-area districts — Lincoln, Millard, Papillion-La Vista and Gretna — accounted for 82% of the $76.1 million in school property tax growth over 2023-24, the report said. Those four also lost a combined $56.3 million in state aid. The aid formula founded in 1990 “has become a large reason as to why some local school districts continue to need to increase local taxes,” the report said. The correlation between school-aid cuts and higher tax requests didn’t hold up universally, according to the Star-Herald’s analysis of Pillen’s report. Four of the Panhandle’s 20 districts — Gering, Morrill, Bayard and South Platte — both absorbed state-aid cuts and raised their tax requests by more than the 2.8% statewide average. Bayard’s situation was specifically referenced in Pillen’s report. But six others, including Scottsbluff, Mitchell and Minatare, held their tax-request growth below the average despite losing ground in state aid. Scottsbluff Public Schools’ 2024 school aid fell by 0.6%, but the district slashed its 2024-25 property tax request by 15.5%. The school board voted in June to pay off its Bluffs Middle School renovation bonds five years early. Pillen’s report acknowledged that state-aid levels don’t explain all K-12 tax increases. They “could be due to a loss in state aid ... increasing needs in the community or simply from overspending,” it said. Stuart Simpson, who will retire in June as North Platte’s executive director of finance, said the aid formula is meant to adjust for each district’s unique circumstances. It steers “equalization aid” to districts with educational “needs” that cost more than their “resources,” mainly property taxes. But Simpson said it’s how the school-aid formula measures “needs” — largely student populations, family incomes and families for whom English isn’t their first language — that so often frustrates taxpayers and lawmakers. “You can’t compare North Platte to Scottsbluff or Lexington or Alliance or McCook,” he said. The formula “is trying to address the needs of school districts compared with the economic development in the community.” If the Legislature “pushes down the property taxes” with more dollars, “they’ll push more into equalization aid to support a school district,” said Simpson, who became Alliance’s school finance director the year the current aid formula was founded. “But how can you do it when you have a shortfall?” The Star-Herald's final "tax tracker" story for Scotts Bluff County's 2024-25 "budget season" shows unofficial gross and net tax bills for three sample Scottsbluff-Gering homes and county agricultural operations apiece. The Star-Herald's second "tax tracker" story of the 2024-25 local "budget season" accounts for final taxable values and the Legislature's making a K-12 income tax credit an automatic tax-bill discount. A summer 2024 Unicameral special session changed a potential 30% income tax break on Nebraska property owners' 2023 school taxes into a direct discount on December's 2024 property tax bills. Schools' share of other 2023 property tax credits, including homestead exemptions, are excluded from the new direct credit. Here's the estimated 2024 school tax breaks from "frontloading" the former income tax credit for the Star-Herald’s sample Scottsbluff-Gering homes and Scotts Bluff County agricultural properties: • Home 1 (Scottsbluff): 27.9% • Home 2 (Gering): 28.2% • Home 3 (Terrytown): zero* • Ag 1 (ranch, southeast of Lyman): 27.8% • Ag 2 (farm, northwest of Mitchell): 24.8% • Ag 3 (farm, southwest and southeast of Melbeta): 27.6% *Received a full homestead exemption in 2023, canceling out potential school property tax credit. Home 3 likely will pay zero in 2024 property taxes if its full homestead exemption is renewed. Sources: State of Nebraska, Scotts Bluff County; Star-Herald analysis We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Former Colorado Democratic Party chair’s consultant deal violated state ethics law, commission finds— BIRTH NAME: James Earl Carter, Jr. — BORN: Oct. 1, 1924, at the Wise Clinic in Plains, Georgia, the first U.S. president born in a hospital. He would become the first president to live for an entire century . — EDUCATION: Plains High School, Plains, Georgia, 1939-1941; Georgia Southwestern College, Americus, Georgia, 1941-1942; Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, 1942-1943; U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, 1943-1946 (class of 1947); Union College, Schenectady, New York, 1952-1953. — PRESIDENCY: Sworn-in as 39th president of the United States at the age of 52 years, 3 months and 20 days on Jan. 20, 1977, after defeating President Gerald R. Ford in the 1976 general election. Left office on Jan. 20, 1981, following 1980 general election loss to Ronald Reagan. — POST-PRESIDENCY: Launched The Carter Center in 1982. Began volunteering at Habitat for Humanity in 1984. Awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Taught for 37 years at Emory University, where he was granted tenure in 2019, at age 94. — OTHER ELECTED OFFICES: Georgia state senator, 1963-1967; Georgia governor, 1971-1975. — OTHER OCCUPATIONS: Served in U.S. Navy, achieved rank of lieutenant, 1946-53; Farmer, warehouseman, Plains, Georgia, 1953-77. — FAMILY: Wife, Rosalynn Smith Carter , married July 7, 1946 until her death Nov. 19, 2023. They had three sons, John William (Jack), James Earl III (Chip), Donnel Jeffrey (Jeff); a daughter, Amy Lynn; and 11 living grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Source: Jimmy Carter Library & Museum
BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts judge dismissed criminal charges Monday against a backer of Karen Read who admitted placing dozens of yellow rubber ducks and fake $100 bills around town in support of Read. Richard Schiffer Jr. had argued in Stoughton District Court that he had a First Amendment right to support the defense theory that Read — accused of ramming into her boyfriend John O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving the Boston police officer to die in a snowstorm — has been framed in the polarizing murder case. Schiffer's attorney Timothy Bradl said Monday that the judge made the right call by quickly tossing the felony witness intimidation and criminal harassment charges against Schiffer. The ruling comes as another judge decided Monday to push back Read's retrial to April after a mistrial was declared in July when jurors couldn’t reach an agreement. Read was facing second-degree murder charges and two other charges. Her attorneys have argued that other law enforcement officers were responsible for O’Keefe’s death. Regarding Schiffer's charges, Bradl said, “There wasn't a leg to stand on.” “Hats off to the judge. He didn’t make everyone wait and ruled from the bench. Everything was completely protected by the First Amendment. This was political speech," Bradl said. The Norfolk District Attorney’s office declined to comment. Schiffer has said he got the ducks idea after thinking about a defense lawyer’s closing argument that Read was framed . Alan Jackson told jurors that “if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s a duck.” Schiffer's actions did not rise to the level of witness intimidation and criminal harassment "nor does his speech, or in this case his written word on fake currency and use of rubber toys, which are afforded the protections of the First Amendment," Judge Brian Walsh wrote. “It is the view of this Court that the defendant's conduct and speech, though a rather sophomoric expression of his opinion, is nonetheless protected speech,” he wrote. Walsh concluded the two-page ruling with quotes from Indiana poet James Whitcomb Riley, believed to have coined the “walks like a duck” phrase, and Robert McCloskey, author of the children's book “Make Way For Ducklings.” The defense alleged that O’Keefe was actually killed inside the home of his fellow Boston officer Brian Albert and then dragged outside. They argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider” who saved them from having to consider law enforcement officers as suspects. Schiffer has been among the dozens of Read supporters who accuse state and local law enforcement of a widespread cover-up. Their demonstrations have led to confrontations, especially in the town of Canton where the murder happened, between those who support Read and others who believe she is guilty. Schiffer, who owns Canton Fence and has said that he knows practically everyone in town through his contracting work, was accused of placing some of the ducks outside a pizza shop run by Brian Albert’s brother, Canton Selectman Chris Albert. Other ducks appeared in O’Keefe’s neighborhood.ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jason Zucker scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 9:30 remaining and the Buffalo Sabres notched their third straight victory by beating the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Sunday. Jiri Kulich extended Buffalo’s lead with a breakaway goal that went between Blues goalie Jordan Binnington’s legs with 3:41 to play. Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist against his former team as the Sabres won in St. Louis for just the second time in 12 years to sweep the season series. Zucker had a goal and an assist, and Jack Quinn had two assists for Buffalo. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 35 shots. Brayden Schenn and Nathan Walker scored for the Blues. Binnington had 12 saves. Buffalo scored on two of its first three shots, including its first of the game. Buffalo: After a 13-game losing streak (0-10-3), the Sabres have scored 17 goals while winning three straight. St. Louis: The Blues, who are tied for an NHL-low five power-play goals at home, went 0 for 4 with the man advantage. After Walker pulled the Blues even with 14:04 left in the game, rookie Zack Bolduc took a cross checking penalty midway through the third period that led to the decisive goal. The Sabres had scored on only six of 43 road power plays (14%) this season before going 2 for 3 on Sunday. Buffalo ranked 27th out of 32 NHL teams. The Blues play Chicago in the Winter Classic on Tuesday at Wrigley Field. Buffalo will play at Dallas on Tuesday night. AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhlNEW YORK (AP) — After acquiring Juan Soto for a one-year rental and failing to keep him as a free agent, the New York Yankees are taking the same chance with Devin Williams. New York acquired the All-Star closer from the Milwaukee Brewers for left-hander Nestor Cortes and infield prospect Caleb Durbin on Friday. The Yankees will send $2 million to the Brewers as part of the trade. “He's a year away from free agency but someone that we’ve tried to acquire for a number of years,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “I’m sure we weren’t the only bidders here in the end.” A 30-year-old right-hander, Williams is eligible for free agency after the 2025 season. He was diagnosed during spring training with two stress fractures in his back and didn’t make his season debut until July 28 . “Certainly not trying to downplay the impact the Devin had, but we feel like we still have a good amount of strength there with our bullpen,” Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said. Williams was 14 for 15 in save chances with a 1.25 ERA, striking out 38 and walking 11 among 88 batters over 21 2/3 innings. His fastball averaged 94.7 mph and he threw it on 53.5% of his pitches, mixing in 45% changeups — known as the “Airbender” — and around 1.5% cutters. William's 43.2% strikeout percentage was the highest in the major leagues among pitchers with at least 20 innings. “Certainly doesn’t seem to be afraid,” Cashman said. “You can’t do that job if you’re afraid of the big stage.” An All-Star in 2022 and 2023, Williams was a second-round pick in the 2013 amateur draft. He is 27-10 with a 1.83 ERA and 68 saves in 78 chances over six seasons, striking out 375 and walking 112 in 235 2/3 innings over 241 games. Milwaukee declined a $10.5 million club option in favor of a $250,000 buyout last month, making Williams eligible for arbitration. Williams joins a bullpen that includes Luke Weaver, who took over as closer from Clay Holmes in September, Jake Cousins and Ian Hamilton. The Yankees don’t have a left-handed reliever on their 40-man roster. “If you have right handers that can neutralize lefties, that’s a benefit. It limits your desperation for immediately a left on left,” Cashman said. Cortes, who turned 30 on Tuesday, was an All-Star in 2022 when he went 12-4 with a career-best 2.44 ERA in 28 starts. He made just one start after May 30 in 2023 because of a strained left rotator cuff and was sidelined late in the 2024 season by a flexor strain in his left elbow. He returned for the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and entered in the 10th inning of the opener, retiring Shohei Ohtani on a foulout with his first pitch and giving up a game-ending grand slam to Freddie Freeman on his second. "He’s had a fully healthy offseason," Arnold said. “We expect him to come into camp ready to go as normal.” Story continues below video Known for his many deliveries, Cortes is 33-21 with a 3.80 ERA in 86 starts and 49 relief appearances over seven seasons. He is eligible for arbitration and also can become a free agent after next season. “He brings a real stability, I think, to our rotation,” Arnold said. “Somebody that's been a major piece of a really good championship-caliber team in the New York Yankees, I think will fit us very well, especially after the loss of Willy Adames .” New York had an excess of starters after reaching a $218 million, eight-year agreement with left-hander Max Fried that is pending. The rotation also is projected to include ace Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt, with Marcus Stroman also available. Durbin, who turns 25 in February, hit .287 with 10 homers, 60 RBIs and 29 stolen bases this year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. “We just felt it was harder to acquire someone at the level of Devin Williams than it would be to try to figure out the infield circumstances,” Cashman said. Durbin was with the big league team last spring training “I think he’s a stud,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said last month. “Great bat-to-ball, elite ability on the bases as a base stealer, good defender in the middle of the diamond, second base. He’s really started over the last year-plus to create some position flexibility, too. He’s played some short, he’s played some third. We introduced him to some outfield this year.” Durbin hit .312 with five homers, 21 RBIs and 29 steals in 24 games at the Arizona Fall League. “We love the style of game that he brings to our team,” Arnold said. “I think that’s going to be a really nice fit with Pat Murphy's style of baseball.” Cashman said he's spoken with Scott Boras about the agent's remaining free agent clients, who include third baseman Alex Bregman and first baseman Pete Alonso. “Certainly respect the player and his ability and how much winning he’s been a part of,” Cashman said of Bregman, “but that’s about as far as I will say at this point.” This story has been corrected to note New York is sending cash to Milwaukee, not the other way around. AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlbA 7-year-old dispute between tech leaders Elon Musk and Sam Altman over who should run OpenAI and prevent an artificial intelligence "dictatorship" is now heading to a federal judge as Musk seeks to halt the ChatGPT maker's ongoing shift into a for-profit company. Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year alleging it had betrayed its founding aims as a nonprofit research lab benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits. Musk has since escalated the dispute, adding new claims and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI’s plans to convert itself into a for-profit business more fully. The world's richest man, whose companies include Tesla, SpaceX and social media platform X, last year started his own rival AI company, xAI. Musk says it faces unfair competition from OpenAI and its close business partner Microsoft, which has supplied the huge computing resources needed to build AI systems such as ChatGPT. “OpenAI and Microsoft together exploiting Musk’s donations so they can build a for-profit monopoly, one now specifically targeting xAI, is just too much,” says Musk's filing that alleges the companies are violating the terms of Musk’s foundational contributions to the charity. OpenAI is filing a response Friday opposing Musk’s requested order, saying it would cripple OpenAI’s business and mission to the advantage of Musk and his own AI company. A hearing is set for January before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland. At the heart of the dispute is a 2017 internal power struggle at the fledgling startup that led to Altman becoming OpenAI's CEO. Musk also wanted the job, according to emails revealed as part of the court case, but grew frustrated after two other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold too much power as a major shareholder and chief executive if the startup succeeded in its goal to achieve better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Musk has long voiced concerns about how advanced forms of AI could threaten humanity. “The current structure provides you with a path where you end up with unilateral absolute control over the AGI," said a 2017 email to Musk from co-founders Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman. “You stated that you don't want to control the final AGI, but during this negotiation, you've shown to us that absolute control is extremely important to you.” In the same email, titled “Honest Thoughts,” Sutskever and Brockman also voiced concerns about Altman's desire to be CEO and whether he was motivated by “political goals.” Altman eventually succeeded in becoming CEO, and has remained so except for a period last year when he was fired and then reinstated days later after the board that ousted him was replaced. OpenAI published the messages Friday in a blog post meant to show its side of the story, particularly Musk's early support for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit business so it could raise money for the hardware and computer power that AI needs. It was Musk, through his wealth manager Jared Birchall, who first registered “Open Artificial Technologies Technologies, Inc.”, a public benefit corporation, in September 2017. Then came the “Honest Thoughts” email that Musk described as the “final straw.” “Either go do something on your own or continue with OpenAI as a nonprofit,” Musk wrote back. Musk didn't immediately respond to emailed requests for comment sent to his companies Friday. Asked about his frayed relationship with Musk at a New York Times conference last week, Altman said he felt “tremendously sad” but also characterized Musk’s legal fight as one about business competition. “He’s a competitor and we’re doing well,” Altman said. He also said at the conference that he is “not that worried” about the Tesla CEO’s influence with President-elect Donald Trump. OpenAI said Friday that Altman plans to make a $1 million personal donation to Trump’s inauguration fund, joining a number of tech companies and executives who are working to improve their relationships with the incoming administration.
Dear Annie: I live with bipolar disorder, which I was first diagnosed with in the early 1990s. My husband and I got together after my diagnosis, and he has been my biggest support through everything -- navigating different providers, raising my children (not his) who also had their challenges and helping me stay stable. There have been tough times when I felt guilty for the toll my illness has taken on him. He didn't sign up for this life, yet he's had to watch me struggle through hospitalizations, legal troubles during severe psychotic episodes and multiple diagnoses before we found the right one. I do my best to manage my illness -- staying on my medication, working with my mental health team and attending support groups. But recently, I had a stroke that worsened my symptoms and led to another hospitalization earlier this year. This severely tested our marriage in every way: physically, emotionally, financially and socially. If it weren't for support systems like my providers, medications and groups like NAMI, we might not have made it. I know my husband needs time and space for himself, too. No one can be everything to someone, and I do my best to let him know how much I appreciate his love and support. How can I ensure that my husband feels supported and cared for in our marriage while I continue to manage my illness? How can we keep our relationship strong despite these ongoing challenges? -- Wanting to Do More Dear Wanting: You're already doing exactly what you need to do. Your letter is filled with gratitude and love for your husband, and that's one of the best ways to make someone feel appreciated, cared for and seen. Thank you for sharing your story; it's both heartfelt and inspiring. I hope it serves as a reminder to others in similar situations that they can lean on their loved ones and that there is hope and help on the other side of challenging times.NoneJudge dismisses charges against Karen Read supporter who scattered rubber ducks and fake $100 billsPopcorn sold in movie theatres to attract 5% GST
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LOS ANGELES — OpenAI’s controversial text-to-video artificial intelligence tool Sora sent shock waves through the entertainment industry when the company unveiled it earlier this year. The technology promised to revolutionize filmmaking by automatically creating short movies based on written commands. For example, users could type in descriptions, such as “a stylish woman walks down a Tokyo street,” and Sora would provide up to 60-second videos based on that information. Workers feared that it was a prelude to a future in which AI displaced jobs throughout Hollywood. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
AP Business SummaryBrief at 6:26 p.m. EST
DENVER (AP) — So you're the most valuable player of that annual Thanksgiving Day backyard flag football game. Or played tackle football on any level. Or ran track. Or dabbled in basketball. Or toyed with any sport, really. Well, this may be just for you: USA Football is holding talent identification camps all over the country to find that next flag football star. It's “America’s Got Talent” meets “American Idol,” with the stage being the field and the grand prize a chance to compete for a spot on a national team. Because it’s never too early to start planning for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, where flag football will make its Summer Games debut. Know this, though — it's not an easy team to make. The men's and women's national team rosters are at “Dream Team” status given the men’s side has captured six of the last seven world championships and the women three in a row. To remain on top, the sport's national governing body is scouring every football field, park, track, basketball court and gym to find hidden talent to cultivate. USA Football has organized camps and tryouts from coast to coast for anyone ages 11 to 23. There are more than a dozen sites set up so far, ranging from Dallas (Sunday) to Chicago (Dec. 14) to Tampa (March 29) to Los Angeles (TBD) and the Boston area (April 27), where it will be held at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. The organization has already partnered with the NFL on flag football initiatives and programs. The numbers have been through the roof, with engagement on social media platforms increasing by 86% since flag football was announced as an Olympic invitational sport in October 2023 . The participation of boys and girls ages 6 to 17 in flag football last year peaked at more than 1.6 million, according to USA Football research. “We pride ourselves on elevating the gold standard across the sport,” said Eric Mayes, the managing director of the high performance and national teams for USA Football. “We want to be the best in the world — and stay the best in the world.” Flag football was one of five new sports added to the LA28 program. The already soaring profile of American football only figures to be enhanced by an Olympic appearance. Imagine, say, a few familiar faces take the field, too. Perhaps even NFL stars such as Tyreek Hill or Patrick Mahomes, maybe even past pro football greats donning a flag belt for a country to which they may have ties. Soon after flag football's inclusion, there was chatter of NFL players possibly joining in on the fun. Of course, there are logistical issues to tackle before their inclusion at the LA Olympics, which open July 14, 2028. Among them, training camp, because the Olympics will be right in the middle of it. The big question is this: Will owners permit high-priced players to duck out for a gold-medal pursuit? No decisions have yet been made on the status of NFL players for the Olympics. For now, it's simply about growing the game. There are currently 13 states that sanction girls flag football as a high school varsity sport. Just recently, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles helped pave the way to get it adopted in Pennsylvania. Around the world, it's catching on, too. The women's team from Japan took third at the recent word championships, while one of the best players on the planet is Mexico quarterback Diana Flores . “Could flag football globally become the new soccer? That’s something to aspire to," said Stephanie Kwok , the NFL's vice president of flag football. This type of flag football though, isn't your Thanksgiving Day game with family and friends. There's a learning curve. And given the small roster sizes, versatility is essential. Most national team members need to be a version of Colorado’s two-way standout and Heisman hopeful Travis Hunter. Forget bump-and-run coverage, too, because there's no contact. None. That took some adjusting for Mike Daniels, a defensive back out of West Virginia who earned a rookie minicamp invitation with the Cleveland Browns in 2017. “If a receiver is running around, I’m thinking, ‘OK, I can kind of bump him here and there and nudge him,’” Daniels explained. “They’re like, ‘No, you can’t.’ I’m just like, ‘So I’m supposed to let this guy just run?!’ I really rebelled at the idea at first. But you learn.” The competition for an Olympic roster spot is going to be fierce because only 10 players are expected to make a squad. The best 10 will earn it, too, as credentials such as college All-American or NFL All-Pro take a backseat. “I would actually love" seeing NFL players try out, said Daniels, who's also a personal trainer in Miami. “I’m not going to let you just waltz in here, thinking, ‘I played NFL football for five years. I’m popular. I have a huge name.’ I’m still better than you and I'm going to prove it — until you prove otherwise.” Around the house, Bruce Mapp constantly swivels his hips when turning a hallway corner or if his daughter tries to reach for a hug. It’s his way of working on avoiding a “defender” trying to snare the flag. That approach has earned the receiver out of Coastal Carolina four gold medals with USA Football. The 31-year-old fully plans on going for more gold in Los Angeles. “You grow up watching Usain Bolt (win gold) and the ‘Redeem Team’ led by Kobe Bryant win a gold medal, you're always thinking, ‘That's insane.' Obviously, you couldn't do it in your sport, because I played football," said Mapp, who owns a food truck in the Dallas area. "With the Olympics approaching, that (gold medal) is what my mind is set on." It's a common thought, which is why everything — including talent camps — starts now. “Everybody thinks, ‘Yeah, the U.S. just wins,’” Daniels said. “But we work hard all the time. We don’t just walk in. We don’t just get off the bus thinking, ‘We’re going to beat people.’” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFLFamily of Hamas hostage Edan Alexander celebrates his 21st birthday in NYC's Central Park
OpenAI whistleblower found dead in San Francisco apartmentInquirer files MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has designated a community mall in Antipolo City in Rizal province as a special economic zone (ecozone) to help attract investors to the outskirts of the congested National Capital Region. Proclamation No. 752, signed on Nov. 22, declared Xentromall Antipolo and the parcels of land that it stands on in Barangay Mambugan, Antipolo City, as an information technology (IT) center as recommended by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza). The declaration for the special ecozone will cover the 27,622.18-square-meter (sqm) floor area of Xentromall Antipolo, as well as its 10,898-sqm lot area. READ: Marcos approves 2 more ecozones This will entitle IT companies locating in the mall to various tax and other fiscal incentives, such as income tax-holidays granted to ecozone locators to bring down their operating costs. It will be the second special ecozone in Antipolo after the SMMS IT Center, which was declared a Peza-accredited IT center by Proclamation No. 567 issued on March 26, 2013. Xentromall Antipolo is targeting a number of business process outsourcing firms to set up operations in the mall. It is a three-story community mall along Sumulong Highway that is operated by XRC Resources, which in turn is owned by proprietors Alex and Aida Cruz. The community complex opened in 2018 and is patterned after strip malls in the United States. Other Xentromalls are found in other towns of Rizal such as Morong, Angono, Tanay, Taytay, Binangonan and Montalban. The creation of the special ecozone in Antipolo is provided under Republic Act No. 7916, or the 1995 Special Economic Zone Act. The law sought to spur economic growth through the development of special ecozones, which are select areas that are agro-industrial; tourist or recreational; commercial banking, investment and financial centers, or have the potential to be developed into such hubs. These special ecozones are usually stand-alone buildings and are different from the regular ecozones or sprawling complexes containing industrial estates, export processing zones, free trade zones, and large tourist or recreational centers. Examples of these special ecozones are RCBC Plaza on Ayala Avenue and Pacific Star building on Makati Avenue, both in the city of Makati, Market! Market! in Bonifacio Global City, and Riverbanks Center in Marikina City. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . As of June 30 this year, Peza has registered 426 ecozones across the country, the majority of them special ecozones.Ancient Phoenician shipwreck raised off Spanish coast after 2,600 years by archaeologists
Marcus Hayes: Nick Sirianni’s finest hour: Without Jalen Hurts, coach leads depleted Eagles to NFC East title, 41-7, over the CowboysA court challenge over a Stormont vote on extending post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland has been dismissed, and the Assembly debate will go ahead as planned on Tuesday. Ruling on Monday after an emergency hearing at Belfast High Court, judge Mr Justice McAlinden rejected loyalist activist Jamie Bryson’s application for leave for a full judicial review hearing against Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn. The judge said Mr Bryson, who represented himself as a personal litigant, had “very ably argued” his case with “perseverance and cogency”, and had raised some issues of law that caused him “some concern”. However, he found against him on the three grounds of challenge against Mr Benn. Mr Bryson had initially asked the court to grant interim relief in his challenge to prevent Tuesday’s democratic consent motion being heard in the Assembly, pending the hearing of a full judicial review. However, he abandoned that element of his leave application during proceedings on Monday, after the judge made clear he would be “very reluctant” to do anything that would be “trespassing into the realms” of a democratically elected Assembly. Mr Bryson had challenged Mr Benn’s move to initiate the democratic consent process that is required under the UK and EU’s Windsor Framework deal to extend the trading arrangements that apply to Northern Ireland. The previously stated voting intentions of the main parties suggest that Stormont MLAs will vote to continue the measures for another four years when they convene to debate the motion on Tuesday. After the ruling, Mr Bryson told the court he intended to appeal to the Court of Appeal. Any hearing was not expected to come later on Monday. In applying for leave, the activist’s argument was founded on three key grounds. The first was the assertion that Mr Benn failed to make sufficient efforts to ensure Stormont’s leaders undertook a public consultation exercise in Northern Ireland before the consent vote. The second was that the Secretary of State allegedly failed to demonstrate he had paid special regard to protecting Northern Ireland’s place in the UK customs territory in triggering the vote. The third ground centred on law changes introduced by the previous UK government earlier this year, as part of its Safeguarding the Union deal to restore powersharing at Stormont. He claimed that if the amendments achieved their purpose, namely, to safeguard Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom, then it would be unlawful to renew and extend post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between the region and the rest of the UK. In 2023, the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the trading arrangements for Northern Ireland are lawful. The appellants in the case argued that legislation passed at Westminster to give effect to the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement conflicted with the 1800 Acts of Union that formed the United Kingdom, particularly article six of that statute guaranteeing unfettered trade within the UK. The Supreme Court found that while article six of the Acts of Union has been “modified” by the arrangements, that was done with the express will of a sovereign parliament, and so therefore was lawful. Mr Bryson contended that amendments made to the Withdrawal Agreement earlier this year, as part of the Safeguarding the Union measures proposed by the Government to convince the DUP to return to powersharing, purport to reassert and reinforce Northern Ireland’s constitutional status in light of the Supreme Court judgment. He told the court that it was “quite clear” there was “inconsistency” between the different legal provisions. “That inconsistency has to be resolved – there is an arguable case,” he told the judge. However, Dr Tony McGleenan KC, representing the Government, described Mr Bryson’s argument as “hopeless” and “not even arguable”. He said all three limbs of the case had “no prospect of success and serve no utility”. He added: “This is a political argument masquerading as a point of constitutional law and the court should see that for what it is.” After rising to consider the arguments, Justice McAlinden delivered his ruling shortly after 7pm. The judge dismissed the application on the first ground around the lack consultation, noting that such an exercise was not a “mandatory” obligation on Mr Benn. On the second ground, he said there were “very clear” indications that the Secretary of State had paid special regard to the customs territory issues. On the final ground, Justice McAlinden found there was no inconsistency with the recent legislative amendments and the position stated in the Supreme Court judgment. “I don’t think any such inconsistency exists,” he said. He said the amendments were simply a “restatement” of the position as set out by the Supreme Court judgment, and only served to confirm that replacing the Northern Ireland Protocol with the Windsor Framework had not changed the constitutional fact that Article Six of the Acts of Union had been lawfully “modified” by post-Brexit trading arrangements. “It does no more than that,” he said. The framework, and its predecessor the NI Protocol, require checks and customs paperwork on goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland. Under the arrangements, which were designed to ensure no hardening of the Irish land border post-Brexit, Northern Ireland continues to follow many EU trade and customs rules. This has proved highly controversial, with unionists arguing the system threatens Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom. Advocates of the arrangements say they help insulate the region from negative economic consequences of Brexit. A dispute over the so-called Irish Sea border led to the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2022, when the DUP withdrew then-first minister Paul Givan from the coalition executive. The impasse lasted two years and ended in January when the Government published its Safeguarding the Union measures. Under the terms of the framework, a Stormont vote must be held on articles five to 10 of the Windsor Framework, which underpin the EU trade laws in force in Northern Ireland, before they expire. The vote must take place before December 17. Based on the numbers in the Assembly, MLAs are expected to back the continuation of the measures for another four years, even though unionists are likely to oppose the move. DUP leader Gavin Robinson has already made clear his party will be voting against continuing the operation of the Windsor Framework. Unlike other votes on contentious issues at Stormont, the motion does not require cross-community support to pass. If it is voted through with a simple majority, the arrangements are extended for four years. In that event, the Government is obliged to hold an independent review of how the framework is working. If it wins cross-community support, which is a majority of unionists and a majority of nationalists, then it is extended for eight years. The chances of it securing such cross-community backing are highly unlikely.No. 2 UConn falls again in Maui, losing 73-72 to Colorado on Jakimovski's off-balance layup