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Sir Keir Starmer will set out a “plan for change” this week as part of what he is calling the next phase of government after a tumultuous start in No 10 – but Britain’s top pollster has raised serious doubts about whether he can convince the public. After five months which have seen the prime minister ’s poll rating plummet, Sir Keir is planning to set numerical targets for the economy, the NHS, public safety, energy security and social mobility against which the public can judge him and his government at the next general election, expected in 2029. The milestones will run alongside public sector reform, Downing Street said, and will include a focus on reforming Whitehall, spearheaded by an as-yet-unannounced new chief civil servant and cabinet ministers, so it is geared towards the delivery of Labour’s missions. But polling guru Sir John Curtice has warned that Sir Keir’s government has “hit significant political trouble rather early on in its life”, adding that “the fundamental question is whether a politician who has shown so far absolutely no ability to construct a narrative can suddenly construct a narrative”. Speaking to The Independent , Sir John Curtice said the government “lacks a story of what it is about”. “There is an appreciation that what you need to do is improve things, and if you improve things, people will vote for you,” he said. “That is not sufficient, because you had to persuade people you have done things. “I presume part of the idea of ‘plan for change’ is that all they had to say during the election was ‘change’ and that is all they campaigned on, and now they have to be a wee bit more specific on what kind of change they have in mind – which was an obvious gap six months ago.” Since being elected in July with a landslide majority, Sir Keir has made a series of hugely unpopular changes, including cutting winter fuel payments to millions of pensioners, hiking national insurance contributions for employers and extending inheritance tax to cover agricultural properties, which farmers claim will force a generation of family farms out of business. Next week, he will claim to have made the moves after inheriting the “unprecedented twin challenge of crumbling public services and crippled public finances”, framing changes including the winter fuel cuts and family farm tax as “difficult decisions” Labour had to take. The PM will claim that despite the challenges, his government has acted to stabilise the economy, crack down on illegal immigration and ploughed an extra £22bn into the NHS since coming to power. The reset comes after Sir Keir’s transport secretary Louise Haigh was forced to quit for making a false report to police over a stolen mobile phone 10 years ago, becoming the first major cabinet casualty of his government. Ahead of the speech, Sir Keir said: “This plan for change is the most ambitious yet honest programme for government in a generation. Mission-led government does not mean picking milestones because they are easy or will happen anyway. “It means relentlessly driving real improvements in the lives of working people. We are already fixing the foundations and have kickstarted our first steps for change, stabilising the economy, setting up a new Border Security Command, and investing £22bn in an NHS that is fit for the future. “Our plan for change is the next phase of delivering this government’s mission. Some may oppose what we are doing and no doubt there will be obstacles along the way, but this government was elected on a mandate of change and our plan reflects the priorities of working people. “Given the unprecedented challenges we have inherited, we will not achieve this by simply doing more of the same which is why investment comes alongside a programme of innovation and reform.” Since the general election, which saw Labour win a 174-seat majority with 34 per cent of the vote, Sir Keir’s party has fallen within touching distance of the Conservatives in the polls, with just a three-point lead. Responding to Sir Keir’s plans, Tory co-chairman Nigel Huddleston mocked the prime minister for launching his “17th reset”, a reference to his repeated changes of direction in opposition. He said: “Keir Starmer’s 17th relaunch will do nothing to hide the chaos Labour have unleashed on the country. “In four short months, his Labour government has been engulfed in a cronyism row, cut the winter fuel payment for 10 million pensioners, hit farmers with the family farm tax and hammered businesses and working people with higher taxes. Keir Starmer has serious questions to answer about why he let someone serve in his cabinet who he knew had a fraud conviction. “The British people will rightly be wondering why they have been short-changed by the party that claimed to offer change.” The Reform UK party – which Nigel Farage said on Thursday now numbers more than 100,000 members – was equally sceptical. A Reform UK spokesperson said: “We are a matter of months into this new government and it would appear they are already trying to have a reset. After freezing pensioners, hiking taxes and risking the future of British farming, the damage has already been done. “We were promised growth and change, instead we have had sleaze, dishonesty and more of the same that failed the Tories.” Sir Keir will promise his priorities will be at the heart of an upcoming spending review, vowing to ensure “every pound the government spends” goes toward improving peoples’ living standards. And he will promise to charge his new cabinet secretary and ministers with a Whitehall shake-up to focus departments on the delivery of Labour’s missions, rather than “working in the traditional silos that focus on fiefdoms not outcomes”.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Corey McKeithan scored 28 points as La Salle beat Temple 83-75 on Saturday night. McKeithan shot 10 of 19 from the field, including 3 for 6 from 3-point range, and went 5 for 5 from the line for the Explorers (6-2). Demetrius Lilley added 13 points while shooting 5 for 12, including 2 for 4 from beyond the arc while he also had six rebounds. Jahlil White shot 3 of 13 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line to finish with 11 points, while adding 12 rebounds. Quante Berry led the Owls (4-3) in scoring, finishing with 18 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks. Temple also got 15 points from Jamal Mashburn Jr.. William Settle had 13 points and seven rebounds. La Salle took the lead with 14:45 to go in the first half and did not relinquish it. The score was 42-33 at halftime, with McKeithan racking up 16 points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .None
Election results on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean have set the background for the final stretch of campaigning for Irish parties ahead of polling day on Friday. Donald Trump’s presidential election victory in the US has brought heightened concern that his administration’s proposals around corporation tax and tariffs would significantly impact Ireland’s economic model. Mr Harris, leader of Fine Gael, has argued Ireland and other EU countries need to prepare for the possibility of trade shocks as he criticised the scale of Sinn Fein’s spending pledges as well as their saving plans. He said: “I think that is irresponsible, I think it is dangerous and I think it is reckless.” He accused Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald of not being able to say what her party was prepared to do in the event of an economic crash, adding that Fine Gael would borrow and stop putting money towards a rainy-day fund. Asked if the party was engaging in “project fear” to dissuade voters against Sinn Fein, Mr Harris said: “I call it ‘project truth’. It’s telling people what’s being discussed right across European capitals.” Ms McDonald told an RTE interview on Wednesday morning that a Sinn Fein government would also be prepared to start borrowing in the event of an economic downturn. Both Mr Harris and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, who were partners in the last coalition government in Ireland, have made clear they will not countenance Sinn Fein as a potential partner in the next administration in Dublin. One day after the only three-way debate featuring the leaders of the main parties, Mr Martin accused Sinn Fein of being “dishonest” about how they will fund their manifesto plans. Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, he said he is anxious to get clarity on the issue. “I think Sinn Fein have been very dishonest, frankly, in terms of the funds, because if you go through their figures, and this is a matter of fact, not opinion, they’re predicting a surplus of a billion in 2026, a billion in 2027. “Even in 2025, they’re talking about a mini budget, which would mean reducing the surplus that we’re anticipating in 2025. “There’s a legislative obligation now on any new government to put 0.8% of GDP to one side, and into the funds. There’s no way you can do that with a surplus of a billion in 2026 or 2027, and we would argue they would not have enough funds next year either to put into the funds.” He added: “It means they have no room to manoeuvre if things go wrong, if there’s headwinds come externally, or there are shocks internationally, Sinn Fein is not allowing any headroom at all in terms of room to respond or to move it.” Ms McDonald accused the other two parties of conspiring to keep Sinn Fein out of government and prevent change in Ireland. She said the two men were now “indistinguishable” from each other as she claimed they were suffering “acute amnesia” in regard to their records in government. On a visit to Naas fire station in Co Kildare, she said: “To listen to them, you’d imagine they had just arrived on the scene and that they were going to come up with all of these solutions. “They have had ample chances, ample opportunity, to make things better, and they have failed, and in between the two of them I make the case that now we ask for our chance, with our plans, with our team, to demonstrate how change can happen, how your community, your family, yourself, can be supported when the government is actually on your side.” Mr Martin’s and Mr Harris’ coalition partner Roderic O’Gorman, the leader of the Greens, issued a warning to the public over a future government without his party. On Wednesday, he said it is looking likely that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael will be returned to government – but cautioned they may not want the Greens to continue “fighting hard” on policies. He told reporters: “My sense is certainly the mood music from Fianna Fail and Fine Gael is that they’d like an easier life in the next government – and my concern is they use these small populist parties and right-wing independents.” Mr O’Gorman argued that the Greens could continue to provide stability to government at a time when economic shocks may be around the corner. As the Green leader suggested that relying on independents would be unstable, Mr Martin has also argued that “too much fragmentation would lead to incoherence in government”. Reflecting on Tuesday night’s debate, the Fianna Fail leader said the race remained “too close to call” while Mr Harris said it is “all to play for”. The leaders of Ireland’s three main political parties clashed on housing, healthcare and financial management in the last televised debate before Friday’s General Election. The tetchy debate, which was marked by several interruptions, saw the parties set out their stalls in a broadcast that commentators said did little to move the dial before polling day. The latest opinion poll on Monday put the parties in a tight grouping, with Fianna Fail slightly ahead of Sinn Fein, and Fine Gael in a close third after a significant slide in a campaign marked with several hiccups for Mr Harris’s party. After the 2020 general election delivered an inconclusive result, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, two parties forged from opposing sides of Ireland’s Civil War of the 1920s, agreed to set aside almost a century of animosity and share power – with the Greens as a junior partner. From 2016 to 2020, Fianna Fail had supported Fine Gael in power through a confidence-and-supply arrangement from the Opposition benches in the Dail parliament. Sinn Fein won the popular vote in 2020 but a failure to run enough candidates meant it did not secure sufficient seats in the Dail to give it a realistic chance of forming a government.The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . ABILENE, Texas (AP) — Sam Hicks scored on a 53-yard run in the fourth quarter and finished with 171 yards on the ground to lead Abilene Christian to a 24-0 victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday in the first round of the FCS playoffs. The Wildcats (9-4), ranked No. 15 in the FCS coaches poll and seeded 15th, qualified for the playoffs for the first time and will travel to play No. 2 seed and nine-time champion North Dakota State (10-2) on Saturday at the Fargo Dome. The Bison had a first-round bye. Abilene Christian grabbed a 7-0 lead on its second possession when Carson Haggard connected with Trey Cleveland for a 37-yard touchdown that capped a 10-play 97-yard drive. Northern Arizona (8-5), ranked 17th but unseeded for the playoffs after winning five straight to get in, picked off Haggard on the Wildcats’ next two possessions but could not turn them into points. NAU went for it on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line with 9:30 left before halftime, but Jordan Mukes tackled Ty Pennington for a 4-yard loss. That led to a 46-yard field goal by Ritse Vaes and a 10-0 lead at halftime. The score remained the same until Hicks’ big run with 10:16 left to play. Haggard passed 6 yards to Blayne Taylor for the final score with 2:16 to go. Haggard completed 23 of 29 passes for 244 yards with three interceptions. RELATED COVERAGE Michigan, Ohio State fight broken up with police pepper spray after Wolverines stun Buckeyes 13-10 Sellers’ 20-yard TD run with 1:08 to go lifts No. 16 South Carolina to 17-14 win over No. 12 Clemson No. 7 Tennessee gives up 1st 14 points before rallying to rout Vanderbilt 36-23 Abilene Christian’s defense allowed at least 20 points in every game during the regular season and yielded at least 30 six times. The Wildcats lost their season opener to FBS member Texas Tech 52-51 in overtime. Abilene Christian’s last shutout came in a 56-0 victory over Lamar on Sept. 25, 2021. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballBe protectors, not figures of fear: CM to new police recruits
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A 31-year-old man has been charged with murder after a married couple were found dead at their burger shop at Cambridge Park in Sydney's west on Saturday. Police said the man will appear in court on Sunday following the alleged murders of Hoa Tek Cien, 69, and Heang Kim Gau, 68. In a statement, police said emergency services were called to the couple's shop on Oxford Street about 9.40am following reports of an assault. Officers attended the scene and found the bodies of the man and the woman. Following inquiries, the 31-year-old was arrested shortly after midnight, about 12.30am, at a home in Canley Heights, western Sydney. "He was taken to Fairfield Police Station where he was charged with two counts of murder (DV)," the police statement said. The man was refused bail and will appear before Parramatta Local Court later on Sunday. Police will allege in court the three people were known to each other. The murdered couple owned their shop, Buzzy Bee’s Burger House, for decades and were well-liked in their community. A police spokesperson said their son discovered their bodies and called police, describing the "confronting" murder scene and the "significant injuries" dealt to his parents. A spokesperson said the family were "obviously devastated" and were assisting police. Detectives investigating the case were also looking into social media footage which showed a man dressed in black who had been seen on the roof of the shops.
With artificial intelligence everywhere, everyone is talking about AI and its applicability. Artificial intelligence-driven predictive analytics is also making an advance in child welfare services and has shown efficiency in preventing child maltreatment cases. This development has been made possible by individuals like Premkumar Ganesan, Consulting Manager and Technology Leader, whose team's implementation of AI-powered early intervention systems has reduced the number of child maltreatment cases by 20 per cent for participating welfare programs. Ganesan, who has led several AI initiatives in the public sector, says that predictive analytics can not only detect risk factors earlier but also guide us to data-driven interventions that can significantly reduce harm to children. It does this by analyzing patterns across health, education, and social services data points to identify families at risk before a crisis occurs.” This technology goes beyond just prevention numbers. Child welfare agencies using these AI solutions have found that operational efficiency improved by 30 per cent, freeing social workers to spend their time working on high-priority cases and letting automated systems do the mundane tasks of data crunching. The result has been millions of dollars in cost savings for state governments, resulting largely from reduced long-term intervention costs. But, such systems are not easily implemented in the sensitive child welfare arena. The AI and ethics trend is now popular, says Ganesan, 'Ensuring data privacy and compliance while maintaining effective predictive capabilities was our primary concern.' Innovative solutions that uphold strict confidentiality standards while providing real-time analytics helped his team set the benchmark for privacy-conscious AI implementation in public services. Some of the other concerns were resistance to adaptability to AI, scalability of the predictive analytical system, and delivering real-time predictions from limited history. These were solved by holding demonstrations and workshops to showcase the benefits of AI, using cloud-based infrastructure and advanced machine learning models to help scale and develop innovative AI algorithms that can generate reliable predictions by focusing on behavioural patterns and early warning signals. The biggest challenge was integrating data between the different government agencies. Too often, traditional child welfare systems are siloed, with important information scattered throughout health, education, and social service departments. By building a unified platform that allows for seamless data sharing while adhering to security protocols, Ganesan's team was able to gather information to help deal with individual cases. The success of this initiative has inspired other state agencies to adopt AI-driven solutions in their public sector services. Under Ganesan's leadership, these implementations have helped Deloitte's public sector practice grow by 10% and improved decision-making accuracy by 25% in identifying at-risk families. Looking at the current trends, Ganesan envisions even more sophisticated applications of AI in child welfare. The evolution of technology could further decrease response times and perhaps improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families. With an impressive portfolio of published research on this topic, from recent work on AI-driven early interventions in child welfare services to the role of artificial intelligence in public health, Ganesan’s expertise in this field is strong. Throughout his experience, he has consistently pointed out, that technological innovation must be balanced with ethical considerations and human judgment. This AI-driven approach has implications that go well beyond child welfare. The same predictive analytics principles could also be used for other social services and change how public sector agencies provide support to populations in need. Ganesan notes that with government agencies becoming more and more digital, it is important to maintain a human-centred approach, with technology aiding human potential. This approach to child welfare shows how artificial intelligence can make a social impact. As these systems continue to evolve and improve, they will continue to serve the current and future of child protection services around the world.Ion Superhighways: The Nanotech Breakthrough Powering Tomorrow’s Tech76ers' star Paul George sidelined the next 2 games with bone bruise in left kneeA pair of teams with minimal rest will face off in Nassau, Bahamas, on Sunday when No. 22 St. John takes on Georgia. St. John's (5-1), which will play its third game in four days, began the stretch in the Bahamas Championship on Thursday, dropping a heartbreaker to No. 13 Baylor. The Red Storm led by 18 in the first half before Baylor forced overtime. From there, St. John's rallied from five down with 1:47 left to send the game to a second overtime, where it saw Baylor knock down a pair of 3-pointers in the final seven seconds -- including Jeremy Roach's buzzer-beater -- to knock off the Red Storm 99-98. In the third-place game on Friday, St. John's breezed past Virginia 80-55. RJ Luis Jr. led the way with 18 points and four steals, followed by Kadary Richmond's 12 points, as the Red Storm took a one-point lead with 15:21 left in the first half and didn't trail again. "I'm really impressed with our guys, coming off a double-overtime, extremely emotional loss," St. John's head coach Rick Pitino said. "To respond that way was extremely impressive, both offensively and defensively." Pitino, in his second year with the Red Storm, was moved by something off the court on Friday, involving captain Zuby Ejiofor, who chipped in eight points, nine boards, two steals and two blocks. Ejiofor was serenaded by St. John's fans during the win, following his two missed free throws at the end of double overtime against Baylor. "When you've only been in a job for a year, you search for things you love about a place," Pitino said. "Tonight I found out what I love about St. John's. Our fans chanted Zuby's name the whole game, which doesn't happen anywhere else in America. I was really impressed with our fans and I thank them for making Zuby feel good, because he gives you all the energy." Luis leads the Red Storm with 17.3 points per game, followed by Ejiofor (10.7), Aaron Scott (10.5), Deivon Smith (10.3) and Richmond (10.2). Georgia enters Sunday's matchup looking to rebound from its first loss after falling to No. 15 Marquette 80-69 on Saturday. Georgia (5-1) battled back from a 15-point, second-half deficit, but was held to just three points over the final 4:57 in Saturday's loss. Blue Cain led the Bulldogs with a season-high 17 points, including five 3-pointers. "It's a process. It's a journey with this team," Bulldogs head coach Mike White said. "It's about continuing to make strides, continuing to protect our culture. ... At the end of the day, wins and losses are going to take care of themselves. We just have to embrace the process and enjoy it." Five-star freshman recruit Asa Newell was held to a season-low nine points but leads the team with 15.5 points per game. Silas Demary Jr. is second with 13.8. --Field Level Media
It’s almost a new year, and that means it’s almost time for a bevy of new state laws to go into effect. For the 2023-24 legislative session that just wrapped up (each session spans two years) Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 1,017 bills into law, according to Chris Micheli, a veteran Sacramento lobbyist. That’s a tick more than one-fifth of t he 4,821 bills introduced over that two-year span . Most of the new laws are slated to kick in on Jan. 1. From new parking rules to health care coverage and more, here is a quick look at just 10 of those new laws: Local jurisdictions could give the green light to permit certain cannabis retailers to prepare and sell drinks and food that do not contain cannabis. The law, signed by the governor in late September , also allows the retailers to host ticketed live events on the premises. The idea is to pave the way for a version of Amsterdam-style cannabis cafes, where people can use cannabis with others while also consuming coffee, sandwiches and live music, for example. The new law “will allow cannabis retailers to diversify their business and move away from the struggling and limited dispensary model,” Assemblymember Matt Haney, a San Francisco Democrat who championed the effort in the legislature, said in a news release . Newsom vetoed similar legislation last year over concerns from public health advocates. This bill included additional provisions meant to reduce health risk, including letting employees wear employer-provided masks and allowing local governments to require filtration and ventilation systems to prevent smoke from permeating nearby buildings. Minors who make money by producing online content should get some extra financial protection as a result of two bills the governor signed this year. One expands the Coogan Act , a longtime California law that requires parents to open a trust and set aside at least 15% of their child actor’s gross earnings. The new rules have been expanded to include “kidfluencers” — or, as the bill describes them, “child influences in paid online content or internet websites, social networks and social media” — as part of the creative or artistic services that would trigger a Coogan trust account. Another extends those financial protections to children who appear in vlogs, or video blogs. Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, noted the Coogan Act covers children under contract — not necessarily children who appear in their parents’ online content. This new law requires content creators to set aside a percentage of total gross earnings in a trust for the child (to be accessed when they become an adult) if the minor is in at least 30% of their content within a month. Several education bills were signed into law this year, ranging from rules to protect young people from being outed against their will to rules that require elementary schools to offer free menstruation products . Other new laws cover what is taught in the classroom, including a bipartisan measure that ensures students are being taught accurately how Native Americans in California were treated during the Gold Rush era and the Spanish colonization of California. “Classroom instruction about the Mission and Gold Rush periods fails to include the loss of life, enslavement, starvation, illness and violence inflicted upon California Native American people during those times,” said Assemblymember James Ramos, D-San Bernardino. “These historical omissions from the curriculum are misleading.” California public schools also will be required to teach Mendez v. Westminster , a landmark court case involving an Orange County family and local school districts that helped bring about the end of segregation laws in local schools around the country. Selling a device, often called a “tuning kit,” that can modify the speed capability of an electric bicycle so that it is no longer defined as an e-bike will be prohibited . California law already has speed guidelines for e-bikes. For example, a Class 1 bike has a motor that kicks in when a rider is pedaling and tops out at 20 mph; a Class 3 motor is meant to stop at 28 mph, and those bikes include speedometers. Modifying the speed of e-bikes is already illegal and unsafe, Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, said in an analysis of her bill. The new law specifically bans the sale of products that can make the alterations. Tenants soon will have more time to respond to an eviction notice. California law originally dictated that a landlord could not file an eviction lawsuit until after serving their tenant with a three-day notice — which excludes Saturdays, Sundays and judicial holidays — to pay. Tenants then had five days after they were served to file their defense in court. If they failed to do so, a judge could award a default judgment to the landlord. The new law doubles those five day-windows to 10 days. Responding to eviction lawsuits is not necessarily a simple feat, supporters of the new law have argued , particularly for people struggling to pay their rent. Tenants need to obtain hard-to-find legal aid or an expensive attorney to complete their defense filing accurately, and then they have to find the means to travel to the courthouse. Certain insurers must cover fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization, in 2025. This law, which won’t take effect until July 2025 , will require large group health care service plans to cover up to three oocyte (egg) retrievals. It also prohibits health care service plans from imposing different conditions or coverage limitations on fertility medications or services. Sen. Caroline Manjivar, D-San Fernando Valley, said her bill being signed into law is “a triumph for the many Californians who have been denied a path toward family-building because of the financial barriers that come with fertility treatment, their relationship status or are blatantly discriminated against as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.” Medical debt will no longer be shared with credit reporting agencies , meaning that debt will not show up on credit reports. That said, medical debts still must be paid. In her analysis of the bill Sen. Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara, noted that the new rules doesn’t forgive medical debt or restrict the collection of it. Instead, she said, the new rules are meant to help “lift the credit scores of people who have been inaccurately and unfairly saddled with medical debts on their credit reports, opening opportunities for access to healthier financial products, better housing and more employment opportunities.” A new law may make it easier to opt out of pesky automatic subscription renewals. Companies will now have to obtain the “express affirmative consent” to automatically renew subscriptions entered into after July 1, 2025. Consumers also will need to be sent annual reminders about automatic renewals, what the charges are, and information about how to cancel the service. Think you’ve finally found an open parking spot? If it’s within 20 feet of any marked or unmarked crosswalk, then you may want to find a new spot. Starting in 2025, motorists could be ticketed for parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk — even if there is no sign posted. The no-parking zone decreases to 15 feet if there is a curb extension present, the law says. Newsom OK’d this law in 2023 — the bill is part of the two-year legislative session that ended in 2024 — and technically it already is in effect. However, the law only allowed jurisdictions to begin ticketing offenders starting Jan. 1, 2025. Residential treatment facilities (also called short-term residential therapeutic programs) that provide services for minors, must report certain information to the child, their parent or guardian, and California’s Department of Social Services when seclusion or restraints are used. These facilities are allowed to use seclusion or restraints when staff believe the patient may be a danger to themselves or others, said Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, who championed this law. The new law mandates that children must be informed of their rights — including the right to contact state social service workers and the California Office of the Foster Care Ombudsperson — within one day of seclusion or restraints being used. Those minors also must be given an oral and written description of the incident, including who approved the disciplinary actions and the rationale behind them. That written information must be given to Dept. of Social Services within seven days, leaving it up to the state to review and determine if any laws were potentially violated by using seclusion and restraints, therefore warranting an investigation. Beginning in 2026, the department will need to publicly post information about these incidents, so parents and guardians can be better informed about where they send their children. The effort to bring more transparency to what punishments are used in youth residential facilities was championed by actress and activist Paris Hilton, who has detailed the “continuous torture” she faced while attending a boarding school as a teenager. Hilton has championed similar laws in other states related to what’s been dubbed the troubled teen industry as well as at the federal level . “For too long, these facilities have operated without adequate oversight, leaving vulnerable youth at risk,” said Hilton. “After being abused in a California facility in my teens, it is validating to see California taking a stand to protect our youth, and I hope our state is the standard for transparency and accountability in these facilities moving forward.” Related ArticlesThe end of the year marks a key deadline for local governments that received pandemic-era money from the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021. Officials have until Dec. 31 to declare how they plan to use the money, or they must return any amount not used. Not only has Allen County met that deadline, the county also has spent all of the $2.4 million it was awarded. The final payment was made in September, County Clerk Shannon Patterson said. The money allowed Allen County to complete high-dollar projects — including a communications tower, storm shelters, and water and airport infrastructure projects — that officials hope will benefit the area for decades to come and lead to future economic development. They also leveraged the money as matching funds for grants, increasing the scope of the projects. Since the pandemic, the county received nearly $8 million from recovery programs and a state grant. That’s not counting ARPA funds for individual cities. “I think we made good use of that money,” Allen County Commission Chair David Lee said. Commissioner Jerry Daniels agreed. “If those kinds of funds are available, you want to fight for your county and do the best you can with it. In that timeframe, post-COVID, there were a lot of unknowns but we tried to do as many good things as we could. It took a lot of cooperation. Projects that big take every spoke in the wheel.” THE AMERICAN Rescue Plan was passed in March 2021 to provide $1.9 trillion through various programs aimed at helping the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, in 2020, Allen County received $2.4 million through the Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) funding program, with only about six months to spend the money. That money primarily helped local businesses during the worst months of the pandemic and paid for such things as protective equipment, masks, security measures at schools and grants for small businesses. A second round of funding under ARPA brought another $2.4 million directly to the county in 2022, with smaller amounts to individual cities. That second round of funding gave local leaders more than two years to decide how to best use the money, with the deadline to allocate the money by this coming Tuesday. They have until Dec. 31, 2026, to spend it. In August 2022, the county hired Thrive Allen County to administer the ARPA program, at a cost of $96,101, or 4% of the total ARPA grant. Thrive CEO Lisse Regehr said she believes the experience with SPARK offered a blueprint to follow. “One of the things I’m most proud of was how, in the midst of COVID, we were able to bring together all sectors — business, social services, child care, educational institutions and governmental agencies — to put together a steering committee and make sure everyone had a voice at the table on how to spend those funds,” she said. “It was one of the most intense things we’ve ever had to do.” When it came to the second round of funding, the goal was to fund projects that would benefit the county on a larger scale. “With the first round, we were in more of a reactive mode,” Regehr said. “The second tranche was more about how to look forward and prepare to become stronger.” Regehr said Thrive promised commissioners “to find a way to make your money go further.” As a result, Thrive and the county secured a $2.9 million Building a Stronger Economy (BASE) grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce for infrastructure improvements at the Allen County Regional Airport. The county used ARPA money to meet its 25% match requirement, or $965,174.06. Altogether, the county received $2.4 million from SPARK, another $2.4 million from ARPA and $2.9 million from the BASE grant for a total of $7.7 million.
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No. 22 St. John's, Georgia pack busy schedule with game on SundayS&P 500, Dow pinned at one-week highs after business activity data - Reuters
GTA 5 Online Car Duplication Glitch: How to Duplicate Cars for Money (2024) Despite Rockstar Games addressing numerous issues with the *Agents of Sabotage* update, one GTA 5 Online money glitch is still reportedly active. As shown by the YouTuber All Eyez On Glitch GTA, a car duplication glitch continues to function even after the 1.70 patch update. According to the YouTuber, players can use this glitch to duplicate cars and earn substantial in-game money by selling them. On December 20, 2024, All Eyez On Glitch GTA shared a video demonstrating how GTA Online players on all consoles can duplicate cars using the Mobile Operations Center and the Bunker business. To begin, players need to find a quick job from the in-game phone and leave as soon as the mission lobby starts to load. Next, they should drive the desired car into the Bunker, store it, and exit the property. After that, players must use any service or NPC vehicle to travel to their Facility, where a few Imponte Deluxos should be stored.Once a Deluxo is driven out, it will despawn. Returning to the Bunker, the previously stored vehicle's number plate should have changed. Players can now drive it to the back of the Mobile Operations Center and try to store it. A "vehicle storage full" message will appear, which must be accepted for the glitch to work. After the vehicle is stored in the Mobile Operations Center, the glitch is complete, allowing players to sell the duplicated vehicle for in-game money. Note: Players are strongly advised to avoid engaging in GTA 5 Online money glitches, as Rockstar Games takes strict action against those exploiting such issues.
DR. PETER CHOW: Attitude, not necessarily aptitude, adds up to math successThe 2024 byelections tell a tale of local mightKathmandu, Dec 25: Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung, has said that the government would not let anyone off named in the report of the Parliamentary Investigation Committee on Cooperative Fraud. Addressing the Tamu Journalism Award Distribution and Launching of the Gurung News.com Year Book Programme organized by Tamu (Gurung) Mediapersons' Association Nepal here today, Minister Gurung, who is also the government spokesman, expressed the government's determination to bring to justice anyone implicated in the cooperative fund misappropriation as per the report prepared by the Parliamentary Investigation Committee under lawmaker Surya Thapa's leadership. He said that no one was above the law and made it clear anybody whether they are the leaders or cadres of the Nepali Congress, the UML, Maoist or any other party would be brought to justice. Stating that all those named by lawmaker Thapa's report cannot be brought to justice simultaneously together now, Minister Gurung said, "We will not let off any one and take action against them turn by turn. Let those involved in cooperative fraud never think that they can escape the law. All will be arrested as per the law." He termed as unconstitutional the protest demonstration aimed at freeing Rabi Lamichhane, the President of Rastriya Swotantra Party (RSP), who is in police custody in connection with investigation process on the charge of cooperative fraud. The government spokesman also expressed his objection over such acts which according to him are carried out with the objective of influencing the case which is being considered by the court, calling attention of the sides concerned not to carry out activities that are against the democratic conduct and process. "It is the RSP's responsibility to cooperate in the investigation process against its leader. It is not at all appropriate to seek to influence the investigation process by organizing sit-in and protest demos, until the Respected Court gives its verdict. I urge RSP to stand on the side of the rule of law and the due process, rather than the undemocratic acts," Minister Gurung reiterated.(RSS)