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Times News Network Ludhiana: With work on the new bridge over Buddha Dariya starting, residents of New Madhopuri can expect some relief from flooding caused by the drain overflowing. Work on the bridge was formally inaugurated on Friday. The existing bridge is small and obstructs the flow of the drain during heavy rainfall, leading to flooding. To address this, the municipal corporation floated tenders to build a new bridge at an estimated cost of Rs 1.96 crore under the Ludhiana Smart City Mission . The new bridge will be designed to facilitate smoother water flow, reducing the risk of waterlogging in surrounding areas. By constructing a higher and bigger bridge, the danger of waterlogging will be significantly reduced. The proposal to replace old bridges on Buddha Dariya with wider ones was first made a decade ago. However, financial constraints and other issues hindered progress till it was taken up under the Smart City mission. The project has to be completed by the end of March, 2025, which is the official deadline for remaining Smart City works. MLA, Ludhiana Central Ashok Prashar Pappi inaugurated development projects worth around Rs 5.67 crore in different areas of Ludhiana central constituency on Friday, including this bridge. He also launched projects to reconstruct streets in different areas of the constituency, including Amarpura, Janakpuri, Hari Kartar colony, Cheema colony, near Kusht Ashram, New Shivaji Nagar, Hargobind Nagar and Mohalla Bhardwaj. We also published the following articles recently No one wants to clean Buddha Dariya? Ludhiana's Buddha Dariya, a major Satluj River pollutant, remains a political pawn. Parties consistently pledge cleanup during elections, but little changes. A 650 crore rejuvenation project faces legal hurdles, and despite new treatment plants, pollution persists. Residents and political figures blame a lack of will and suggest stricter enforcement against polluting industries is crucial for real progress. Box bridge to be 1st direct Hatiara-New Town link A new 20-meter box bridge is being constructed over a feeder canal near Eco Park in Kolkata, connecting Hatiara and Nawpara to New Town. This Rs 1.3 crore project will provide a direct route, eliminating the current need for detours through inner lanes or a dilapidated bamboo bridge. Box bridge to be 1st direct Hatiara-New Town link A new 20-meter box bridge is being constructed over a feeder canal near Eco Park in Kolkata, connecting Hatiara and Nawpara to New Town. This Rs 1.3 crore project will provide a direct route, eliminating the current need for detours through inner lanes or a dilapidated bamboo bridge. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .
Lebawit Lily Girma | (TNS) Bloomberg News When winter rolls around, travelers predictably turn their attention to beaches. And this year, it’s the destination that comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean” that’s experiencing outsize demand from Americans planning a warm island vacation. Talk about trashing stereotypes. Related Articles Travel | Would you pay $700 a night to sleep under the stars at this Colorado resort? Travel | Thailand’s starring role in ‘The White Lotus’ is about to pay off Travel | 5 under-the-radar travel destinations the UN says you should visit Travel | Gift ideas for people planning their next trip Travel | Lights and decor, réveillon meals make Christmastime special in New Orleans Puerto Rico has recovered overseas visitors (excluding those from Canada and Mexico) faster than any U.S. state or territory — a staggering 85% increase over its 2019 overseas inbound visitor levels as of 2023, according to an October study from the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office. There are now more daily flights from the U.S. West Coast, and hotel bookings are 6% higher so far in this last quarter of 2024 year-over-year. It’s a trifecta of tourism growth: more visitors, but also longer stays and a higher spend that reached a record $9.8 billion in 2023, boosting small businesses as well as major brands. “We don’t have a slow season in Puerto Rico anymore,” says Brad Dean, chief executive officer at Discover Puerto Rico. Even if they’re not booking, people are dreaming about “La Isla.” By tracking flight searches for trips between November 2024 and February 2025, a measure of “inspirational” demand, tourism intelligence company Mabrian Technologies reports Puerto Rico is up 9% compared with the same period last year and leads Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the Bahamas in the Caribbean proper. Only Costa Rica ranked higher in the wider region. Dean attributes Puerto Rico’s ongoing tourism growth to a strategic effort to reposition the island’s brand as more than a sun-and-sea destination, starting back in 2018. That led to the Live Boricua campaign, which began in 2022 and leaned heavily on culture, history and cuisine and was, Dean says, “a pretty bold departure” in the way Puerto Rico was showcased to travelers. He adds that at least $2 billion in tourism spend is linked to this campaign. “We (also) haven’t shied away from actively embracing the LGBTQ+ community, and that has opened up Puerto Rico to audiences that may not have considered the Caribbean before,” Dean says. Hotels are preparing to meet this growing demand: A number of established boutique properties are undergoing upgrades valued between $4 million and more than $50 million, including Hotel El Convento; La Concha, which will join the Marriott Autograph Collection; Condado Vanderbilt Hotel; and the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar. That’s in addition to ultra-chic options that are coming online in 2025, including the adults-only Alma San Juan, with rooms overlooking Plaza Colón in the heart of Old San Juan, and the five-star Veranó boutique hotel in San Juan’s trendy Santurce neighborhood. The beachfront Ritz-Carlton San Juan in Isla Verde will also be reopening seven years after Hurricane Maria decimated the island. The travel industry’s success is helping boost employment on the island, to the tune of 101,000 leisure and hospitality jobs as of September 2024, a 26% increase over pre-pandemic levels, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Efforts to promote Puerto Rico’s provinces beyond the San Juan metro area — such as surfing hub Rincón on the west coast, historical Ponce on the south coast and Orocovis for nature and coffee haciendas in the central mountains —have spread the demand to small businesses previously ignored by the travel industry. Take Sheila Osorio, who leads workshops on Afro-Puerto Rican bomba music and dance at Taller Nzambi, in the town of Loíza, 15 miles east of San Juan; or Wanda Otero, founder of cheese-producing company Vaca Negra in Hatillo, an hour’s drive west of Old San Juan, where you can join a cheese-making workshop and indulge in artisanal cheese tastings. “The list of businesses involved in tourism has gone from 650 in 2018 to 6,100, many of which are artists and artisans,” Dean says. While New Yorkers and Miami residents have always been the largest visitor demographic, Dean says more mainland Americans now realize that going to Puerto Rico means passport-free travel to enjoy beaches, as well as opportunities to dine in Michelin-rated restaurants, hike the only rainforest in the U.S. and kayak in a bioluminescent bay. Visitors from Chicago and Dallas, for example, have increased by approximately 40% from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, compared with the same period in 2022-2023, and more travelers are expected from Denver now that United Airlines Holdings Inc. has kicked off its first nonstop service to San Juan, beginning on Oct. 29. Previously, beach destinations that were easy to reach on direct flights from Denver included Mexico, Belize and California, but now Puerto Rico joins that list with a 5.5-hour nonstop route that cuts more than two hours from the next-best option. Given United Airlines’ hub in San Francisco, it could mean more travelers from the Golden State in the near future, too. In December, U.S. airlines will have 3,000 more seats per day to the territory compared with the same period last year, for a total of 84,731 — surpassing even Mexico and the Dominican Republic in air capacity, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, the island’s primary gateway, is projecting a record volume of 13 million passengers by year’s end — far surpassing the 9.4 million it saw in 2019. As for Hinchcliffe’s “floating island of garbage” line, Dean says it was “a terribly insensitive attempt at humor” that transformed outrage into a marketing silver lining, with an outpouring of positive public sentiment and content on Puerto Rico all over social media. Success, as that old chestnut goes, may be the best revenge. “It was probably the most efficient influencer campaign we’ve ever had,” Dean says, “a groundswell of visitors who posted their photos and videos and said, ‘This is the Puerto Rico that I know.’” ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Shannon and Mike Farrell started what would later become their local farm from one pumpkin. “We started with a small garden and a friend of ours laughed at a pumpkin we grew. So I kinda went... Well, I’ll show you!” Mike said. “Poor Shannon,” Mike chuckled. “We started growing pumpkins en masse.” “To show that friend,” Shannon added. The two are the married team behind Comox Valley’s Shamrock Farm. They agreed to meet up with The Discourse during the farm’s winter market — which took place from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 — to share some of what they’ve learned over the last 30 years of running a local farm. The farm has been in operation since 1993. Mike said things began slowly, with the two introducing things little by little over the years to their 20-acre property in Little River, Comox. Since the pumpkin, the family farm has grown into a diversified local business with year-round crops and some goats, pigs and chickens. They are always experimenting, but some crops include pumpkins, garlic, lavender, squash, carrots, radicchio, tomatoes, greens, and one of Shannon’s favourites — kalettes, a cross between brussels sprouts and kale. From 1999 to 2019, the farm also offered field trips to school children. Shannon said this was a good way to spread the word about the farm before social media took off in the 2010s. The two were also busy raising their three boys at this time. One of their biggest focuses over the years has been the importance of not using pesticide or herbicide sprays even while opting not to undergo the cumbersome organic certification process. “Our philosophy was to be able to pull it out of the ground, wipe the dirt off and eat it,” Mike said. The farm scales up a bit every year and they focus on trial and error to grow and diversify their crops. “We have to be able to rotate into different areas all the time,” Mike said. This helps the farm maintain soil health, control pests and weeds, and enable diverse crop production on limited acreage. “It’s kind of a jigsaw puzzle, actually.” Mike said the hardest part about having a farm that doesn’t use pesticides is the weeding, which increases the cost of labour. “We weed everything by hand so that puts our costs up,” Shannon said. “We have a great crew though.” And sometimes the farm does lose crops to bugs. “A few bitten bok choy leaves people will buy but when it gets really bad people won’t buy that vegetable.” Shannon said. Then there is the balance of pricing the vegetables. The Farrells said you can’t have them too expensive because then people won’t buy the vegetables. But if you price them too low, it’s not enough to keep the farm going. When COVID-19 hit, the team started thinking a lot about food scarcity and the supply chain issues that were hitting the Island at the time. “We were like, let’s plant as much as our fields can handle,” Shannon said. The farm did well. Shannon said she noticed a shift in how many people began to value local food. “People were worried about where their food was coming from, and I finally felt like the farm was supporting the family.” Autumn Farrell, Shannon and Mike’s daughter-in-law, has been helping out on the farm since she was in high school. Back then, her now husband Jesse Farrell asked her to help out because his parents needed some help on the farm. Now, a decade later, Autumn is still a lead farmhand weeding and harvesting vegetables, ordering seeds, operating the website and social media and sending out newsletters. “Over the years, I’ve just continued to work here. I also work in a hospital, and this is just a completely different environment for me. I really value being able to work outside and getting your hands dirty,” she said. “It’s so good to be... in nature and connecting with the soil and the earth.” “We focus a lot on diversity too,” Autumn said. Shannon added that their focus on diversity ensures there is something else to fall back on if a crop fails. It’s important for the long-term resilience of the farm. A diverse range of crops is also fun and gives them room to grow and experiment, she added. “I find it really cool, you’ve got these seeds and some of the varieties are really old heirloom varieties that have been passed down from all those generations,” she said. You save that seed, and then you grow it again, and it keeps going. I love that,” Shannon said. Shannon chuckled and added that sometimes this diversity doesn’t succeed because the farm is always experimenting. But that ends up helping them grow in the long-term. “Every year we usually try to find a few new weird varieties that people haven’t heard of before,” Autumn said. This year, it was forced radicchio. Radicchio — a type of chicory from Italy, is known for its white and purple to dark red leaves. They planted different varieties of radicchio for the farm this year, and Shannon experimented with “forcing” the plant. “So in Italy, historically, they would take their radicchio, which is field grown, inside and cover it, shade it from light, and change the water everyday... but because it doesn’t have light, you get these beautiful tender leaves that are dark red and pure white.” The lack of light reduces chlorophyll production, which also softens the bitterness that is often associated with radicchio. Radicchio is a winter vegetable, and Shannon added that she likes being able to grow during all four seasons. “Outside right now, we’ve got all of the brussels sprouts and kale and radicchio and all the winter cabbages and kalettes. Carrots are outside right now, radishes are outside right now. We are lucky that we can grow right through the season.” There are also lots of vegetables in the high tunnel right now, which is like a greenhouse but there is no heat. “We don’t like to waste anything, because obviously that’s money thrown away. So if something doesn’t sell, we pickle it right away, preserve it right away, or put it in the freezer for now in the winter.” The goats, they said, are part of the diversity gamble. The goat’s milk is used for the soap made on the farm, but the goats are a bit of a luxury, and the soap barely covers their cost. But the six pigs were a success. The farm had a forested area that needed some clearing, so they put the pigs in the area to clear it. Having animals for meat was a new experience for them, but the farmers said they see a need for serving people concerned about where their meat comes from. They even had one of the workers on the farm break a mainly vegetarian diet after seeing how well they were raising the pigs. “She could see where they were, they were outside 24/7, getting fed, they had their big wallow. They were getting all our vegetables.” Shannon said it was amazing to see how the pigs were helpful in clearing the land and is looking forward to seeing how things grow there now. They sold most of the pig meat but still have some cuts left. Shamrock Farms can often be found at the Comox Valley Farmer’s Market, and their products are also in many local restaurants. But most of their products are sold straight from the farm at their markets. Now that the winter farm market is complete, locals can look forward to the spring plant sale in May. Come July, the farm will host a lavender and garlic market then In late September and early October a fall harvest market. Shamrock Farm offered some advice for those who may want to get into farming: “Start small and pay as you go. Don’t reach for the moon and borrow a ton of money,” Mike said. Farming is tough, and the farmers said it’s important for the farm to be sustainable for not only the food they grow. “With sustainable farming, it has to be sustainable for the people who work on the farm too,” said Shannon. She said that the job can be exhausting and that breaks are important too. They also added that it’s important to have another form of income before going all-out in farming. In other words, don’t put all your eggs into one basket (pun intended). To learn more about Shamrock Farm, go to or email . None
CCPS Breaks Ground On Riverdale Early Learning Center
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — After losing to San Francisco in the playoffs three of the last five seasons, the Green Bay Packers wouldn’t mind seeing the 49ers get left out of the postseason entirely. The Packers (7-3) could damage San Francisco’s playoff hopes Sunday by beating the 49ers at Lambeau Field. San Francisco (5-5) dropped to .500 after losing at home to the Seattle Seahawks, though the 49ers remain just a game behind the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a weekU.S. women's national team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, known for her unflappable demeanor in the face of pressure, is retiring from international soccer. Naeher was on the team's roster for a pair of upcoming matches in Europe but those games will be her last after a full 11 years playing for the United States. Recommended Videos Naeher was the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. team that won the Women's World Cup in 2019 and the gold medal at this year's Olympics in France. She's the only U.S. goalkeeper to earn a shutout in both a World Cup and an Olympic final. She made a key one-handed save in stoppage time to preserve the Americans' 1-0 victory over Brazil in the Olympic final. Mallory Swanson, who scored the only goal, ran down the length of the field to embrace Naeher at the final whistle. Naeher announced her retirement on social media Monday . “Every tear shed in the challenging times and disappointments made every smile and celebration in the moments of success that much more joyful. This has been a special team to be a part of and I am beyond proud of what we have achieved both on and off the field," she wrote. “The memories I have made over the years will last me a lifetime.” Naeher has been known throughout her career for her calm and steady leadership. She is one of just three goalkeepers to make more than 100 appearances for the United States. Naeher made her debut with the national team in 2014 and was a backup to Hope Solo at the 2015 World Cup, which the United States won. She became the team’s regular starter following the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and was on the squad that repeated as World Cup winners in 2019. For her career, Naeher has appeared 113 games with 110 starts, 88 wins and 68 shutouts. She had four shutouts over the course of the Olympic tournament in France. In all, she was on the U.S. roster for three World Cups and three Olympic teams. The 36-year-old has also played for the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women’s Soccer League since 2016. She plans to play for Chicago next season. The United States is headed to Europe for a match against England at Wembley Stadium on Saturday and on Dec. 3 against Netherlands in The Hague. In addition to her save at the Olympics, Naeher has had many other memorable moments. In the 2019 Women's World Cup semifinals against England, she stopped Steph Houghton’s penalty kick in the 83rd minute. The Americans won 2-1 before downing the Netherlands 2-0 in the final. Earlier this year in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, Naeher made three saves during a penalty shootout with Canada and also converted a penalty kick herself — tucking the ball neatly into the corner of the net. Afterward she said: “Winning is the best feeling.” ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Bears interim coach Thomas Brown insists he's focused on task at hand and not what his future holds
Federal appeals court upholds law requiring sale or ban of TikTok in the US A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the law - which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January — is constitutional, rebuffing TikTok’s challenge that the statute ran afoul of the First Amendment and unfairly targeted the platform. TikTok and ByteDance — another plaintiff in the lawsuit — are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court. Police believe the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO left NYC on a bus after the shooting NEW YORK (AP) — Police officials say the gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer three days ago may have quickly left New York City on a bus after escaping on a bicycle and hopping in a cab. Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN on Friday that video of the gunman fleeing Wednesday’s shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson showed him riding through Central Park and later taking a taxi to a bus terminal, directly across from New Jersey. Kenny said police have video of the man entering the bus station but no video of him exiting, leading them to believe he left the city. Investigators also believe the shooter left his backpack in Central Park and are trying to find it. Trump offers a public show of support for Pete Hegseth, his embattled nominee to lead the Pentagon WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is offering a public show of support for Pete Hegseth, his embattled choice to lead the Pentagon. Hegseth's ability to win confirmation by the Senate is wavering as he faces questions over allegations of excessive drinking, sexual assault and his views on women in combat. Trump posted on social media that Hegseth is a winner “and there is nothing that can be done to change that.” Hegseth spent much of the week on Capitol Hill trying to salvage his Cabinet nomination and reassure Republican senators that he is fit to lead the Pentagon. IAEA chief: Iran is poised to 'quite dramatically' increase stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Iran is poised to “quite dramatically” increase its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium. That's according to comments by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday. Rafael Mariano Grossi spoke in Bahrain, on the sidelines of the International Institute of Strategic Studies’ Manama Dialogue. He says Iran had begun preparing advanced centrifuge cascades to spin at nuclear facilities to increase its supply of 60% enriched uranium. That kind of material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Grossi says this is “very concerning." Iran did not immediately acknowledge the preparations, which Grossi said had begun on Friday. Inspectors hope to examine what’s going on. US added a strong 227,000 jobs in November in bounce-back from October slowdown WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s job market rebounded in November, adding 227,000 workers in a solid recovery from the previous month, when the effects of strikes and hurricanes had sharply diminished employers’ payrolls. Last month’s hiring growth was up considerably from a meager gain of 36,000 jobs in October. The government also revised up its estimate of job growth in September and October by a combined 56,000. Friday’s report also showed that the unemployment rate ticked up from 4.1% in October to a still-low 4.2%. The November data provided the latest evidence that the U.S. job market remains durable even though it has lost significant momentum from the 2021-2023 hiring boom, when the economy was rebounding from the pandemic recession. Trump taps forceful ally of hard-line immigration policies to head Customs and Border Protection WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump's immigration and border team is filling out. Trump has announced a former Border Patrol chief, Rodney Scott, to head the Customs and Border Protection agency. Scott is a career Border Patrol agent who rose to head the agency during Trump's first term. He's been a vocal supporter of tougher enforcement measures. At CBP he'll head a department of roughly 60,000 employees responsible for protecting the country’s borders while also facilitating trade and travel. Trump also said he’d nominate Caleb Vitello as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that, among other things, arrests migrants in the U.S. illegally. Vitello is a career ICE official with more than 23 years in the agency. Romania's top court annuls first round of presidential vote won by far-right candidate BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A top Romanian court has annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election, days after declassified intelligence alleged Russia ran a coordinated online campaign to promote the far-right outsider who won the first round. Friday's unprecedented and final decision by the Constitutional Court came after President Klaus Iohannis declassified intelligence on Wednesday that alleged Russia ran a sprawling campaign comprising thousands of social media accounts to promote Calin Georgescu across platforms like TikTok and Telegram. Despite being a huge outsider who declared zero campaign spending, Georgescu emerged as the frontrunner on Nov. 24. He was due to face reformist Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union party in a runoff on Sunday. Crews recover the body of a woman from a Pennsylvania sinkhole after a 4-day search Police say the remains of a woman who fell into a sinkhole have been recovered four days after she went missing while searching for her cat. Trooper Steve Limani said Friday that the body of 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard was sent to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office for an autopsy. Pollard disappeared while looking for her cat on Monday evening, and authorities found her car close to what is thought to be a newly opened sinkhole above a long abandoned coal mine a few hours later. The sinkhole is in the village of Marguerite, about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. Jury will consider lesser charge in NYC subway chokehold case, judge dismisses manslaughter charge NEW YORK (AP) — The judge overseeing the trial of a man accused of using a deadly chokehold on an unruly subway passenger has dismissed the top charge in the case at the request of prosecutors, allowing the jury to consider a lesser count after the panel indicated it was deadlocked on whether Daniel Penny was guilty of manslaughter. The judge’s decision on Friday came hours after Manhattan jurors sent him a note saying they were unable to agree on a manslaughter verdict. Penny is facing charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely, who Penny held in a chokehold for about six minutes on a New York City subway in 2023. Vance tells residents in hurricane-stricken North Carolina that they haven't been forgotten FAIRVIEW, N.C. (AP) — Vice President-elect JD Vance is surveying hurricane damage in western North Carolina in one of his first public appearances since the November election. Vance and his wife, Usha, visited the Fairview Volunteer Fire Department, which was flooded with 4 to 6 inches of water in the storm. They heard that roughly a dozen people contracted walking pneumonia while responding to the hurricane's destruction and that power outages prevented some first responders from talking with their families. Vance said, “My simple message to the people of Appalachia is that we haven’t forgotten you — we love you.” Vance has largely stayed out of the public eye since the election aside from shepherding Trump’s Cabinet nominees around Capitol Hill.
Jayden Daniels and the offense stalling have the Commanders on a three-game losing streakBillings police misconduct investigation leads to felony cases being dropped; hundreds of cases under reviewNone
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