
Penn State fans, and James Franklin , can take a deep breath. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki posted on social media Monday night to hint that he plans to stay with Penn State moving forward. “Beyond lucky to be a part of the Penn State Football Family,” he wrote on X . “Still a lot to accomplish this season and I am looking forward to what 2025 has in store for our program!” Kotelnicki’s job status has been under scrutiny since reports surfaced on Dec. 2 that he’d interview at West Virginia for the Mountaineers' open head-coaching job . He went through the process, but clearly, Kotelnicki will remain in Happy Valley. The former Kansas offensive coordinator came to Penn State this offseason with the promise of delivering creative and explosive offensive play. Kotelnicki’s group has scored 33.2 points per game this season, good for 25th in the country, en route to an 11-2 record and a Big Ten Championship berth. While the numbers are a statistical decrease from 36.2 points in 2023, this year’s Penn State squad has been more consistently explosive. The Lions generated 57 plays of 20-plus yards in the regular season compared to 47 in 2023. A 37-point, 518-yard performance against No. 1 Oregon for the conference title was another example of why Kotelnicki was brought in. His work with quarterback Drew Allar and Heisman-candidate tight end Tyler Warren, specifically, has caught national attention for good reason. He’s also notorious for trick plays, like one Penn State ran for Warren against USC in which the tight end both snapped the ball and caught a touchdown . It’s not particularly surprising to see Kotelnicki stick with Penn State this time around, but he’s sure to continue generating head-coaching interest if he also continues to excel with the Nittany Lions. BETTING: Check out our guide to the best PA sportsbooks , where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks. Sign up for the PennLive’s Penn State newsletters, the daily Penn State Today and the subscriber-exclusive Penn State Insider ©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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DETROIT (AP) — For a second time, a Delaware judge has nullified a pay package that Tesla had awarded its CEO, Elon Musk, that once was valued at $56 billion. On Monday, Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick turned aside a request from Musk’s lawyers to reverse a ruling she announced in January that had thrown out the compensation plan. The judge ruled then that Musk effectively controlled Tesla’s board and had engineered the outsize pay package during sham negotiations . Lawyers for a Tesla shareholder who sued to block the pay package contended that shareholders who had voted for the 10-year plan in 2018 had been given misleading and incomplete information. In their defense, Tesla’s board members asserted that the shareholders who ratified the pay plan a second time in June had done so after receiving full disclosures, thereby curing all the problems the judge had cited in her January ruling. As a result, they argued, Musk deserved the pay package for having raised Tesla’s market value by billions of dollars. McCormick rejected that argument. In her 103-page opinion, she ruled that under Delaware law, Tesla’s lawyers had no grounds to reverse her January ruling “based on evidence they created after trial.” What will Musk and Tesla do now? On Monday night, Tesla posted on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, that the company will appeal. The appeal would be filed with the Delaware Supreme Court, the only state appellate court Tesla can pursue. Experts say a ruling would likely come in less than a year. “The ruling, if not overturned, means that judges and plaintiffs’ lawyers run Delaware companies rather than their rightful owners — the shareholders,” Tesla argued. Later, on X, Musk unleashed a blistering attack on the judge, asserting that McCormick is “a radical far left activist cosplaying as a judge.” What do experts say about the case? Legal authorities generally suggest that McCormick’s ruling was sound and followed the law. Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said that in his view, McCormick was right to rule that after Tesla lost its case in the original trial, it created improper new evidence by asking shareholders to ratify the pay package a second time. Had she allowed such a claim, he said, it would cause a major shift in Delaware’s laws against conflicts of interest given the unusually close relationship between Musk and Tesla’s board. “Delaware protects investors — that’s what she did,” said Elson, who has followed the court for more than three decades. “Just because you’re a ‘superstar CEO’ doesn’t put you in a separate category.” Elson said he thinks investors would be reluctant to put money into Delaware companies if there were exceptions to the law for “special people.” What will the Delaware Supreme Court do? Elson said that in his opinion, the court is likely to uphold McCormick’s ruling. Can Tesla appeal to federal courts? Experts say no. Rulings on state laws are normally left to state courts. Brian Dunn, program director for the Institute of Compensation Studies at Cornell University, said it’s been his experience that Tesla has no choice but to stay in the Delaware courts for this compensation package. Tesla has moved its legal headquarters to Texas. Does that matter? The company could try to reconstitute the pay package and seek approval in Texas, where it may expect more friendlier judges. But Dunn, who has spent 40 years as an executive compensation consultant, said it’s likely that some other shareholder would challenge the award in Texas because it’s excessive compared with other CEOs’ pay plans. “If they just want to turn around and deliver him $56 billion, I can’t believe somebody wouldn’t want to litigate it,” Dunn said. “It’s an unconscionable amount of money.” Would a new pay package be even larger? Almost certainly. Tesla stock is trading at 15 times the exercise price of stock options in the current package in Delaware, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors. Tesla’s share price has doubled in the past six months, Jonas wrote. At Monday’s closing stock price, the Musk package is now worth $101.4 billion, according to Equilar, an executive data firm. And Musk has asked for a subsequent pay package that would give him 25% of Tesla’s voting shares. Musk has said he is uncomfortable moving further into artificial intelligence with the company if he doesn’t have 25% control. He currently holds about 13% of Tesla’s outstanding shares.
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Sweet success for The PudderyBy Leah Nylen and Jaewon Kang | Bloomberg A judge blocked Kroger Co.’s $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons Cos. , finding the takeover would lessen competition for US grocery shoppers, in a ruling that marks a likely death knell for the deal. In a decision filed in Oregon federal court Tuesday, US District Judge Adrienne Nelson found in favor of the US Federal Trade Commission. The agency had argued that the proposed tie-up violates US antitrust law and that a division of hundreds of stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. wouldn’t do enough to replace the lost competition. Also see: Biggest question from Kroger-Albertsons trial: What’s a grocery store? “There is ample evidence that the division is not sufficient in scale to adequately compete with the merged firm and is structured in a way that will significantly disadvantage C&S as a competitor,” Nelson wrote. “The deficiencies in the disvestiture scope and structure create a risk that some or all of the divested stores will lose sales or close, as has happened in past C&S acquisitions.” Nelson’s decision is a major victory for the FTC and its outgoing Chair Lina Khan, who came under harsh criticism from conservatives and business groups for stepped-up antitrust enforcement under the Biden administration. “Today’s win protects competition in the grocery market, which will prevent prices from rising even more,” said FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar. “This statement makes it clear that strong, reality-based antitrust enforcement delivers real results for consumers, workers, and small businesses.” Also see: Albertsons would have shed these 63 California stores A C&S Wholesale spokesperson said the company is disappointed by the court’s decision and that it looks forward to seeing how Kroger and Albertsons will determine the next steps of the proposed deal. Kroger and Albertsons didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Attorneys for the companies have said the acquisition would probably be called off if the judge ruled against the deal. Kroger shares jumped as much as 6.1% in New York trading on Tuesday, extending earlier gains. Albertsons slumped as much as 10%. Specific Market Nelson agreed with the FTC that supermarkets constitute a specific market, countering the companies’ argument that the market extends to online retailers like Amazon.com Inc. “Supermarkets are distinct from other grocery retailers,” Nelson wrote. “Supermarkets offer a larger selection of fresh and non-perishable items, a one-stop shopping experience that appeals to a particular consumer’s preference to meet all their grocery needs in one location, and a customer service focus with deli, bakery, meat, and other specialized departments.” The ruling marks a disappointing end to a two-year odyssey by Kroger and Albertsons, which sought to become a bigger player with a more substantial national footprint to better compete against larger, non-unionized rivals including Walmart Inc. Kroger and Albertsons agreed to combine in October 2022 in what would have been the biggest US grocery deal in history, bringing together more than 4,000 stores across 48 states and Washington, DC. Kroger will likely turn its focus back to improving and investing in its existing network of about 2,750 stores. Albertsons, on the other hand, could emerge again as a deal target, but is expected in the near term to invest in its roughly 2,270 stores and technology. The proposed deal has been a political hot potato, drawing pushback from elected officials, union groups and consumer advocacy firms. The companies vowed to spend $1 billion to cut prices, $1.3 billion to improve store conditions and $1 billion to raise worker wages and benefits following the deal. The FTC has increased antitrust enforcement under the Biden administration, though the results in court have been mixed. The FTC lost a challenge to Microsoft Corp.’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. and won against Illumina Inc. over its purchase of startup Grail and against Tapestry Inc.’s planned $8.5 billion acquisition of Capri Holdings Inc. The companies and the agency fought their case in court for three weeks over the summer in Oregon, as grocery inflation came back into the political spotlight ahead of the US presidential election. Grocery inflation hit a four-decade high in 2022 due to higher costs of labor, transportation and ingredients. Price increases have moderated and are expected to stay within historical ranges, though many American shoppers still say expensive groceries continue to squeeze their ability to spend. The FTC argued that the deal would harm consumers by eliminating competition on prices and quality, making the combined entity less likely to improve its services by offering flexible hours and pickup services. It said the grocers would have more leverage over workers, which would slow wage growth and worsen benefits, and that the proposed divestiture would be inadequate. The agency tried to depict Kroger and Albertsons as the most direct competitors. It said the deal would combine the two largest “traditional supermarkets” in a market that includes Walmart and Target, but does not include Amazon, Costco, Aldi and dollar stores. The companies argued that such a definition is “antiquated” and no longer describes how people shop and pointed to various changes they have made in response to newer threats. The grocers also said joining forces would help them increase market share and improve technology to compete with Amazon, Walmart and other companies. The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Kroger Co., 24-cv-00347, US District Court, District of Oregon (Portland). Related Articles Retail | Fear of Trump tariffs sending Americans into debt as pantry stockpiling rises Retail | Costco’s popular Kirkland diapers shifting suppliers Retail | Status Update: Gifts urgently needed for OC Rescue Mission children, adults Retail | Status Update: Barnes & Noble returning to Orange, but with a twist Retail | Cyber Monday shoppers expected to set a record on the year’s biggest day for online shoppingMISSOULA — After battling tooth-and-nail for almost four quarters with arguably the best mid-major program in the country, the Montana women's basketball team went cold when it mattered most Saturday in squandering a rare opportunity. Reigning Summit League Player of the Year Brooklyn Meyer piled up 32 points in leading South Dakota State to a 78-70 win at Robin Selvig Court. The Jackrabbits, ranked No. 1 in the mid-major poll, improved to 7-2. All things considered, it was hard for Montana coach Brian Holsinger to be anything but proud of his team afterwards. Yes he would have loved to have seen the Lady Griz pull the upset, but there were extenuating circumstances following Montana's Wednesday loss at North Dakota State. "We didn't practice before this game. We had travel issues," he told 406 MT Sports. "We got back (Friday), no practice before this game. We were stuck in Denver for 36 hours. "Our effort in a situation where we didn't get to prepare at all — we had a ton of adversity trying to get home and for us to come out and play as hard and as tough as we did, I was really proud. They're a really good team and at some point you gotta tip your hat to a really good team with juniors and seniors who made plays down the stretch." Trailing 68-67 with just under 2 minutes left, Montana had a chance to take the lead on a Mack Konig drive to the bucket. Her layup attempt banked hard off glass and Meyer made Montana pay on the other end with two free throws to give the Jackrabbits a three-point lead. Konig tried to answer with a 3-pointer but it fell off the rim and South Dakota State came up with the loose ball. The Jackrabbits then seized control with a 3-pointer by junior Haleigh Timmer. From there it was a free-throw contest. South Dakota State hit six of seven foul shots in the final 30 seconds. Montana hit three of four but ultimately paid the price for missing all three of its shots from the floor in the last two minutes. Of Meyer's 32 points, 19 came in the second half. The 6-foot-2 junior forward from smalltown Iowa went 12 for 15 from the field and 8 for 9 from the free-throw line. "We picked our poison a little bit with the post and she's good," Holsinger said. "I mean, she's the (Summit) player of the year last year and the (Summit) defensive player of the year and she's the reason why they almost go to the Sweet 16 (in 2023). "Could we have done a better job? Probably. We have to learn how to get a few stops here and there. But we had multiple shots to swing the momentum and couldn't quite make it." Montana fell to 4-5 (2-5 against NCAA Division I competition). The Lady Griz have dropped three of their last four and the win came at home against NAIA Evergreen State. Still, the team is playing like a serious contender for the Big Sky Conference title. The Lady Griz beat the Big Ten's Washington Huskies earlier this season and Saturday's performance was just as inspiring, all things considered. Montana shot a respectable 44.1 percent from the floor (26 for 59 overall, 11 for 25 from 3-point range). Four players scored in double figures, including Helena native Dani Bartsch with 19 points, Adria Lincoln with 12, Avery Waddington 11 and Izzy Zingaro 10. Of all those numbers, Zingaro's 10 points stands out as another important positive since she was being defended by Meyer. Zingaro scored a career-high 25 points in Wednesday's loss at NDSU and delivered another impact performance in her first start Saturday. "She's getting healthy," Holsinger said, alluding to Zingaro's ankle injury. "She's a really good player. She's just been hurt. "She's going to be tough inside and she was tough for them to stop inside at times when we could get it to her. We have to continue to get her in better shape and she'll be a major force for us hopefully." South Dakota State's inside game was key to the outcome. The Jackrabbits finished with a 35-23 edge in rebounds and a 36-28 edge in points in the paint. Montana will take a long break now before playing in the West Palm Beach Classic in Florida on Dec. 19-20. The Lady Griz will face Michigan State and Tulsa in that event. Bill Speltz is Missoulian sports editor. Contact him at or on Twitter @billspeltz Get local news delivered to your inbox!
{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "dateCreated": "2024-12-30T00:48:44+02:00", "datePublished": "2024-12-30T00:48:44+02:00", "dateModified": "2024-12-30T00:48:43+02:00", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22925/opinions/editorial/come-2025-kinshasa-must-act-in-good-faith-for-peace-to-return", "headline": "Come 2025, Kinshasa must act in good faith for peace to return", "description": "The year 2024 will most likely leave eastern DR Congo as volatile as it found it, if not worse: a conflict zone. This year offered a number of...", "keywords": "", "inLanguage": "en", "mainEntityOfPage":{ "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22925/opinions/editorial/come-2025-kinshasa-must-act-in-good-faith-for-peace-to-return" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/12/30/67516.jpeg", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/12/30/67516.jpeg" }, "articleBody": "The year 2024 will most likely leave eastern DR Congo as volatile as it found it, if not worse: a conflict zone. This year offered a number of opportunities to bring an end to the conflict in eastern DR Congo, particularly in North Kivu province. These included seven back-to-back tripartite ministerial meetings held in Luanda, Angola. As the conflict also affected bilateral relations between Rwanda and DR Congo, the Luanda meetings, mediated by Angola, brought together Rwandan and Congolese foreign ministers to find a way out of the diplomatic tiff between the two countries. ALSO READ: Rwanda calls for ‘serious actions’ on FDLR as Luanda summit is postponed However, like in 2023, this year the government in Kinshasa manifested little to no political will to end the crisis. At first, Kinshasa was reluctant to sign an agreement that would chart the path to the neutralisation of the genocidal FDLR militia, even after intelligence experts from Rwanda, DR Congo and Angola had recommended it. When the FDLR issue was, on paper, addressed along with the issue of the lifting of Rwanda’s defensive measures, Kinshasa put up another hurdle by refusing to negotiate with the M23 rebels. This culminated in the last-minute cancellation of the proposed summit of Presidents of Rwanda, DR Congo and Angola, who would sign an agreement on peace on December 15. ALSO READ: Dialogue with M23: The impasse in Luanda talks The Luanda process sought to address the three issues of contention in the conflict: the FDLR, Rwanda’s defensive measures and the M23 rebellion. While the proposal for an agreement had been discussed at the high-level meetings between the three countries since at least August, on December 14, during the seventh ministerial meeting, the Congolese side acted against the nod it had given to proposed negotiation with M23 rebels. This put the African Union-backed Luanda process in limbo. Peace and stability in DR Congo means stability in the region. Therefore, if the Congolese leadership sincerely wants peace to reign, it must take responsibility in the conflict. This will require Kinshasa to boost its political will in pursuit of peace and to act in good faith during negotiations. The only missing link to have headway in as regards achieving a peaceful DR Congo and the Great Lakes Region by extension is for Kinshasa to show goodwill and faith other than constant prevarication.", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "The New Times" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "The New Times", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/", "sameAs": ["https://www.facebook.com/TheNewTimesRwanda/","https://twitter.com/NewTimesRwanda","https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuZbZj6DF9zWXpdZVceDZkg"], "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "/theme_newtimes/images/logo.png", "width": 270, "height": 57 } }, "copyrightHolder": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "The New Times", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/" } }
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The Egypt international and France counterpart Kylian Mbappe both joined the 50-goal club in the competition. Mohamed Salah extended Liverpool’s perfect Champions League record as they won 1-0 at Girona to claim a sixth victory out of six. Salah nervelessly converted a 63rd-minute penalty, his 16th goal of the season, after French referee Benoit Bastien had been advised to take another look at Donny van de Beek’s clumsy challenge on Luis Diaz. In the process, he became just the 11th man to score 50 goals in the competition – Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe later also joined that exclusive club – on a night when victory at the Estadi Montilivi meant the six-time European champions will enter 2025 sitting proudly at the top of the table. France international Michael Olise produced a moment of magic to set the seal on Bayern Munich’s demolition of Shakhtar Donetsk and ease them towards the knockout stage. Olise’s brilliant stoppage-time run and finish capped a 5-1 victory for the Germans, in which he had early scored from the penalty spot, in Gelsenkirchen. Kevin’s fifth-minute strike had given the home side the perfect start, but Konrad Laimer levelled before Thomas Muller’s 55th goal in the competition sent the visitors in ahead at the break and set the stage for Olise’s double either side of Jamal Musiala’s strike. Jude Bellingham breathed life back into Real Madrid’s campaign as they held off Atalanta to earn a 3-2 victory in Bergamo. After Charles De Ketelaere had cancelled out Mbappe’s opener from the penalty spot, second-half goals from Vinicius Junior and Bellingham in quick succession put the visitors in charge, although Ademola Lookman’s 65th-minute strike meant the contest was alive until the final whistle. Ross Barkley took Aston Villa a step closer to automatic qualification with a late winner against RB Leipzig in Germany. Villa had led twice through John McGinn and Jhon Duran, but equalisers from Lois Openda and Christoph Baumgartner kept Leipzig in it until substitute Barkley struck five minutes from time to snatch a 3-2 victory. Goals from Goncalo Ramos, Nuno Mendes and substitute Desire Doue – his first in the competition – handed French champions Paris St Germain a much-needed three points after a comfortable 3-0 win at RB Salzburg. Nordi Mukiele left it late to end Inter Milan’s unbeaten Champions League record as Bayer Leverkusen claimed a dramatic 1-0 victory at the BayArena. Mukiele struck in the 90th minute to inflict a first defeat across six games in this season’s competition on the Serie A champions – it was also the first goal they have conceded. Casper Nielsen came off the bench to fire Club Brugge to a 2-1 home victory over Sporting Lisbon after Eduardo Quaresma’s own goal had handed them a way back into the game following Geny Catamo’s early opener. Julien Le Cardinal’s first-half strike was enough to handed Brest a 1-0 victory over Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven, while Kasper Schmeichel’s save from Marko Pjaca’s close-range 80th-minute header ensured Celtic returned from Dinamo Zagreb with a 0-0 draw.Walker & Dunlop Arranges 2nd Largest Sale in San Diego in 2024