To Stratford With Love was Richard and Ruth Kneider’s way of giving back to the community they called home. It started 36 years ago at what was then the Army and Navy building on Lorne Avenue, and overflow from the free dinner ended up at their restaurant – RJ’s Diner – on the outskirts of the city. But the couple behind Simple Dreams Ministries never envisioned it would grow into a city staple nearly four decades later. “We believe it’s truly become a Stratford tradition,” Richard Kneider said. The concept behind the event, if you’ve never been, is straightforward. “We just want people to experience a nice celebration where, if they don’t have family that is local, or circumstances are tough, or they just need to have good way to celebrate, they know we’re here to serve,” Ruth Kneider said. “At one side of the table, you can have somebody who is literally homeless,” Richard Kneider said. “On the other side of the table, you can have somebody who is making $100,000-plus, but at that moment they’re all on the same playing field. We’ve realized over the years that depression and loneliness have no social boundaries. We want people to come and enjoy the fellowship of the evening.” This year’s event is scheduled for Dec. 14 at the Rotary Complex. The Stratford Concert Band will play guests to their seats, and local band Upside of Maybe will also perform. Guests will dine on roast beef, baked potatoes, vegetables, coleslaw and pie donated or prepared by restaurants, businesses and those among the brigade of volunteers that has grown to more than 200 people. For years, that evolving group has included Richard and Ruth Kneider’s girls – Morgan, Katey and Jillian – but now grandkids are also getting involved. Archer, Foster and Olive Chambers, and Pearl and Lincoln Patterson, whose ages range from seven to 14, have made To Stratford With Love a three-generation family event. “I’m more inspired by their willingness to help,” Ruth Kneider said. “They could say, ‘I don’t want to do this,’ but they’re excited to be a part of it, and they’re all great kids. We’re really thankful they’re willing to do this, but it’s instilling in them some values I think are getting lost in the shuffle of how busy people’s lives are getting.” There will be seating for 800 next month, Ruth Kneider said, with a room for overflow – just like the first dinner 36 years ago. No one will be turned away. “It just goes year to year,” she said. “We are people who believe everyone has a purpose, and if that means we’re reaching out to the community to make them aware of who they are, that they’re worthy of something like this and to come together and bring your family, then yeah, we want you.” Tickets, as always, are free. Hard copies are available at Stratford city hall, House of Blessing, Salvation Army Stratford and The Local Community Centre. Registration for the dinner or as a volunteer can also be done at tostratfordwithlove.ca. To Stratford With Love Saturday, Dec. 14 : 5:30 p.m. Stratford Rotary Complex. There is another event there at the same time, so those attending are asked to give themselves extra time to park or, if possible, to take public transit. Free. They can be picked up at Stratford city hall, House of Blessing, Salvation Army Stratford and The Local Community Centre. Registration for the dinner or as a volunteer can also be done at .Southfield, Michigan, Dec. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Credit Acceptance Corporation (Nasdaq: CACC) (referred to as the “Company”, “Credit Acceptance”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) announced today that we have increased the amount of Warehouse Facility V (the “Facility”), one of our revolving secured warehouse facilities, from $200.0 million to $250.0 million. We also extended the date on which the Facility will cease to revolve from December 29, 2025 to December 29, 2027. The maturity of the Facility was also extended from December 27, 2027 to December 27, 2029. The interest rate on borrowings under the Facility has decreased from the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) plus 245 basis points to SOFR plus 185 basis points. There were no other material changes to the Facility. As of December 5, 2024, we did not have a balance outstanding under the Facility. Description of Credit Acceptance Corporation We make vehicle ownership possible by providing innovative financing solutions that enable automobile dealers to sell vehicles to consumers regardless of their credit history. Our financing programs are offered through a nationwide network of automobile dealers who benefit from sales of vehicles to consumers who otherwise could not obtain financing; from repeat and referral sales generated by these same customers; and from sales to customers responding to advertisements for our financing programs, but who actually end up qualifying for traditional financing. Without our financing programs, consumers are often unable to purchase vehicles or they purchase unreliable ones. Further, as we report to the three national credit reporting agencies, an important ancillary benefit of our programs is that we provide consumers with an opportunity to improve their lives by improving their credit score and move on to more traditional sources of financing. Credit Acceptance is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol CACC. For more information, visit creditacceptance.com .
Victor Wembanyama went to a park in New York City and played 1-on-1 with fans on Saturday. He even lost a couple of games. Not in basketball, though. Wemby was playing chess. And this wasn't on a whim: He knows how to play and even brought his own chess set. Before the San Antonio Spurs left New York for a flight to Minnesota, Wembanyama put out the call on social media: “Who wants to meet me at the SW corner of Washington Square park to play chess? Im there,” Wembanyama wrote. It was 9:36 a.m. People began showing up almost immediately. Washington Square Park is a known spot for chess in New York — Bobby Fischer among others have famously played there, and it's been used for multiple movie scenes featuring the game. Wembanyama was there for an hour in the rain, from about 10-11 a.m. He played four games, winning two and losing two — he told Bleacher Report afterward that both of the losses were to professional chess players — before departing to catch the Spurs' flight. Wembanyama had been trying to get somewhere to play chess for the bulk of the team's time in New York — the Spurs played the Knicks on Christmas and won at Brooklyn on Friday night. The schedule never aligned, until Saturday morning. And even with bad weather, he bundled up to make it happen. He posed for photos with a couple of dozen people who showed up, braving a morning of cold rain to play chess with one of the NBA's biggest stars. “We need an NBA players only Chess tournament, proceeds go to the charity of choice of the winner,” he wrote on social media after his chess trip was over. Wembanyama is averaging 25.2 points and 10.1 rebounds this season, his second in the NBA after winning rookie of the year last season. The Spurs play at Minnesota on Sunday. AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBACalifornia will revive its own subsidy programs for electric vehicles if Donald Trump guts US federal tax breaks for such cars, the state's governor said Monday. The president-elect has said repeatedly he would scrap what he called the "electric vehicle mandate" -- actually a $7,500 federal rebate for anyone who purchases an EV. Gavin Newsom, who heads the solidly Democratic state and has pitched himself as a leader of the anti-Trump political resistance, said Monday California was not "turning back" towards polluting transport. "We will intervene if the Trump Administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California," Newsom said. "We're not turning back on a clean transportation future -- we're going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don't pollute," he added. "Consumers continue to prove the skeptics wrong -– zero-emission vehicles are here to stay." If Trump scraps the tax credit, California could revive its own Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, which ran until November 2023, granting rebates of up to $7,500 for people buying battery-powered cars, a press release said. California leads the nation in electric vehicle adoption, and is the single biggest market in the country, representing around a third of all units sold in the United States. State figures show that more than two million so-called "zero emission vehicles" -- which include fully electric vehicles as well as plug-in hybrids -- have now been sold in the state, with one-in-four new cars in that category. On the campaign trail, Trump was frequently hostile to electric vehicles, which he has linked with what he calls the "hoax" of climate change. He vowed repeatedly that under his watch the United States would become "energy dominant," chiefly through expanded oil and gas extraction. For many in California, such pledges are anathema, with the state frequently battered by the tangible effects of climate change, from huge wildfires to droughts to furious storms. Newsom -- who many believe has White House ambitions of his own -- has positioned himself as a bulwark against the feared excesses of an incoming Trump administration on issues from climate change to immigration, vowing to be a check on its power. With 40 million people, the sheer size of California's market has for a long time helped set the national tone when it comes to pollution standards for automakers. Rather than make two versions of the same vehicles, Detroit giants have willingly adopted California's tougher rules on emissions and efficiency for nationwide sales. That de facto standard-setting power has angered Republicans like Trump, who say -- on this issue -- states should not be allowed to set their own rules. hg/aha Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, sports, arts & entertainment, state legislature, CFD news, and more.
NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball switched a pair of series involving the Tampa Bay Rays to the first two months of the season in an attempt to avoid summer weather problems at open-air Steinbrenner Field, their temporary home following damage to Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay is scheduled to play 13 of its first 16 games at home and 47 of 59 through May 28, then play 69 of its last 103 games on the road. The Rays are home for eight of 25 games in July and eight of 26 in August. A series scheduled at the Los Angeles Angels from April 7-9 will instead be played at Tampa, Florida, from April 8-10, MLB said Monday. The second series between the teams will be played at Anaheim, California, from Aug. 4-6 instead of at St. Petersburg, Florida, from Aug. 5-7. Minnesota's first series against the Rays will be played at Steinbrenner Field from May 26-28 and the Twins' second will be at Target Field in Minneapolis from July 4-6. The Class A Tampa Tarpons, Steinbrenner Field's usual team, had six home postponements, two cancellations and four suspended games this year from June 21 through their season finale on Sept. 8. Tampa Bay is now scheduled to play its first six games at home against Colorado and Pittsburgh, go to Texas for a three-game series, then return for a 13-game homestand against the Angels, Atlanta, Boston and the New York Yankees. Tropicana Field, the Rays' home since the team started play in 1998, was heavily damaged by Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9, with most of its fabric roof shredded. The Rays cannot return to the Trop until 2026 at the earliest, if at all. AP MLB: https://apnews.com/AI Ease Unveils Its Advanced AI Photo Retouching Tool for Flawless Portrait Enhancement
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