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A proposal to ban a transgender Montana lawmaker from using the women’s bathroom in the state's capitol building failed on Tuesday. The proposed amendment, introduced by Republican Rep. Jerry Schillinger of Circle, would have required state legislators to use restrooms based on their biological sex at birth. The amendment needed to receive a majority from House members and Senate members on the joint rules committee to advance. It got enough votes to pass on the Senate side, but not the House. Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, was Montana’s first openly transgender female lawmaker. Rep. SJ Howell, D-Missoula, was the first nonbinary lawmaker. Both were first elected in 2022 and reelected this year. RELATED STORY | Montana transgender lawmaker on Capitol Hill's bathroom ban: 'Do not cede ground' On social media, Zephyr thanked her colleagues — particularly her republican colleagues — who she said “recognized this as a distraction from the work we were elected to do.” Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton, one of four Republicans to vote against the proposal, said, “This particular action will have the effect of making people famous in the national news and will not contribute to the effective conduct of our business." This comes after some intense moments last month in Washington after a Republican representative from South Carolina proposed a similar ban on Capitol Hill ahead of the first openly transgender member of Congress, Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Delaware, taking office next year. RELATED STORY | Justices seemingly unmoved to overturn transgender health care ban for minorsNone
National Health Investors, Inc. (NYSE:NHI) Plans $0.90 Quarterly DividendWorkflow Automation Software Market to Scale New Heights as Market Players Focus on Innovations 2024 - 2030
Unlocking fiscal constraints for climate actionPayPal 's ( PYPL 2.30% ) stock has rallied 41% this year as the digital payments leader has attempted to put its struggles behind it under a new CEO. Is it still worth investing in anticipation of a long-term recovery? Let's take a fresh look at its business model, its most pressing challenges, and its valuations to decide. What are PayPal's most pressing problems? PayPal owns one of the world's largest digital payment platforms, but a lot of its revenue came from its former parent company, eBay . That's why it was worrisome when eBay replaced PayPal with Dutch competitor Adyen as its preferred payments platform from 2018 to 2023. The pandemic temporarily masked PayPal's loss of eBay's business as more consumers and businesses relied on digital payments, but its growth in active accounts, total payment volume (TPV), and revenue decelerated after those tailwinds dissipated. Inflation, rising interest rates, and other macro headwinds for consumer spending exacerbated its slowdown in 2023. Metric 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 YTD 2024 Active accounts growth 14% 24% 13% 2% (2%) 1% TPV growth 23% 31% 33% 9% 13% 11% Revenue growth 15% 21% 18% 8% 8% 8% Data source: PayPal. The biggest problem for PayPal is its inability to gain more active accounts. Its active accounts rose 1% year over year to 432 million in the third quarter of 2024, but that was well below the 750 million active accounts it had once planned to reach by 2025. PayPal abandoned that long-term goal back in early 2022, and it's clearly struggling to gain new users as it faces stiff competition from other payment platforms like Block 's Cash App, Stripe, and Apple Pay. To offset that pressure, PayPal relied more on its Venmo peer-to-peer payments app and Braintree back-end payments platform to grow its TPV. But that's a double-edged sword because those two higher-growth platforms actually generate lower take rates (the percentage of each transaction it retains as revenue) than its namesake platform. As a result, PayPal's annual transaction rate has declined every year since its spin-off from eBay in 2015. What are PayPal's plans for the future? So looking ahead, PayPal needs to grow its average TPV per existing account if it can't win over new consumers and businesses. Under Alex Chriss, who took the helm as its CEO last year, it's been rolling out new features -- including the FastLane checkout service, Smart Receipts tool, and Cash Pass rewards program. It's also been expanding its own buy now, pay later platform to counter disruptive challengers like Affirm and Block's Afterpay, and it's been using its own PayPal USD stablecoin to facilitate more cross-border transactions. Those initiatives might increase the stickiness of PayPal's ecosystem, expose it to higher-growth markets, and boost its average TPV per active account, but it's also been aggressively cutting costs to grow its transaction margins -- which actually expanded sequentially over the past two quarters. It also bought back $5.4 billion shares over the past 12 months to boost its earnings per share ( EPS ). It could be tough for PayPal to balance its investments with its cost-cutting initiatives and buybacks. But for the full year, it expects its adjusted EPS to grow by the "high teens" as its free cash flow ( FCF ) rises 30% to roughly $6 billion. It plans to return that cash to its investors via $6 billion in buybacks. Should you buy PayPal's stock right now? PayPal has survived the loss of eBay, weathered the inflationary headwinds, and is still squeezing more revenues from its existing users. From 2023 to 2026, analysts expect its revenue and EPS to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6% and 11%, respectively. Its high-growth days are certainly over, but the stock looks reasonably valued around 18 times next year's earnings. Yet it's not cheap enough to be considered a value stock, either. Therefore, I wouldn't rush to buy PayPal's stock at its current price under $87. Instead, I'd personally buy higher-growth fintech stocks instead of this aging market leader before it overcomes its long-term challenges.
Hunter Sallis poured in 31 points and Wake Forest needed most of those in a 67-57 home victory against Detroit Mercy on Saturday at Winston-Salem, N.C. Davin Cosby had 11 points as the Demon Deacons (6-1) won their second straight since their only loss, which came a week earlier at Xavier. But it wasn't easy as the visiting Titans (3-3) were persistent as they trimmed a 19-point deficit to nine points with plenty of time remaining (5:54). Orlando Lovejoy led the Titans with 15 points and TJ Nadeau had 13 points and nine rebounds off the Detroit Mercy bench despite shooting 1-for-8 on 3-pointers. Jared Lary added 10 points. Wake Forest doubled up the Titans in 3-point production by making 10 compared to Detroit Mercy's five. But the Demon Deacons took more than half of their attempts (61) from beyond the 3-point arc (35). As a result, they were just 9-for-13 on free throws. The Titans also held a 48-31 advantage in rebounding. Some of that might have been attributed to the absence of Wake Forest center Efton Reid III, who has been dealing with migraines. Detroit Mercy trailed 36-23 at halftime, but Wake Forest couldn't put the Titans away. Sallis shot 12-for-18 from the field and made five 3-point shots. He ended up two points shy of his career-high mark. Sallis came through with clutch shots, including a 3-pointer to go up by 12 with 4:59 left. Cosby had three 3-pointers before hitting his lone 2-point basket with 3:33 left to push the lead back to 14. The Titans shot only 5-for-19 on 3-pointers and they checked in at 33.3 percent overall from the field. Detroit Mercy was charged with 14 turnovers compared to only five for Wake Forest. Detroit Mercy was coming off Wednesday night's victory at Ball State. That outcome marked the team's first true road triumph since February 2023, but the Titans couldn't duplicate it. --Field Level MediaStouffville Joins CFUW In Recognizing International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
Huskies win in high-scoring affair against Eagles
Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. (NYSE:MD)
Uncovering the men who hid a note in a Scottish lighthouse 132 years ago
NoneDominic Zvada kicked a 21-yard field goal with 45 seconds left and Michigan stunned No. 2 Ohio State 13-10 on Saturday at Columbus, likely ending the Buckeyes ’ hopes of returning to the Big Ten title game. Late in the game, Kalel Mullings broke away for a 27-yard run, setting up the Wolverines (7-5, 5-4) at Ohio State’s 17-yard line with two minutes remaining. The drive stalled at the 3, and Zvada came on for the chip shot. Ohio State (10-2, 7-2) got the ball back but couldn’t move it, with Will Howard throwing incomplete on fourth down to seal the Wolverines’ fourth straight win over their bitter rival. This loss might have been the toughest of those four for Ohio State because the Wolverines were unranked and were wrapping up a disappointing season. The Buckeyes were supposed to win, but records rarely mean much when these two teams meet. Ohio State needs No. 4 Penn State and No. 10 Indiana to lose later Saturday in order to make it into the Big Ten title game next week. No. 8 Tennessee 36, Vanderbilt 23 Nico Iamaleava threw for 257 yards and four touchdowns to rally the Volunteers from a 14-point deficit within the first five minutes to rout their in-state rival at Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee (10-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) needed a big victory to impress the College Football Playoff committee enough to earn a home playoff game in December. The Volunteers beat Vanderbilt (6-6, 3-5) for a sixth straight season. Better yet, they rebounded from a nightmare start giving up the first 14 points by scoring 29 straight points. They led 24-17 at halftime on Iamaleava’s first three TD passes. Junior Sherrill returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown for Vanderbilt to stun a mostly orange crowd. Dylan Sampson fumbled on the Vols’ second play from scrimmage, and Sedrick Alexanader’s 4-yard TD run on a 26-yard drive put Vandy up 14-0 quickly. No. 15 South Carolina 17, No. 12 Clemson 14 LaNorris Sellers’ 20-yard touchdown run with 1:08 to play gave the Gamecocks a sixth straight win, a victory over the host tigers. Sellers, a freshman in his first season as starter, finished with 166 yards rushing and two scores as the Gamecocks (9-3, 4-1 SEC) continued a run that has seen them defeat four ranked opponents this month. Clemson (9-3, 5-2 ACC) drove to the South Carolina 18 with 16 seconds left — well within reach of a tying field goal — when Cade Klubnik was intercepted by Demetrius Knight Jr. The Gamecocks, who were 3-3 after losing at Alabama in mid-October, have given the College Football Playoff selection committee plenty to consider with their second-half charge. Much of the credit goes to the maturing Sellers, who has played with poise under most circumstances. He shook off an early fumble and a late interception in this one as South Carolina won its second straight at rival Clemson.The union representing striking postal workers says most provinces, including New Brunswick, turned down a free offer for its members to voluntarily deliver welfare cheques to those in need at their homes. Critics say the New Brunswick Liberal government’s decision could force hundreds, if not thousands, of the most impoverished people in rural areas to travel many kilometres to get their monthly social assistance cheques from government offices. On Friday, Premier Susan Holt told reporters at the legislature that government staff had worried the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, or CUP-W, wouldn’t deliver the Dec. 1 cheques on time. “Originally, the reason for the rejection was because of the timing. There was concern that CUP-W wouldn’t be able to deliver the cheques in as timely a way as the department felt they could, and there was an urgency to making sure those cheques were getting out to the people who need them.” In the face of criticism, the premier said the department is re-evaluating its position. “They perhaps do have the ability to deliver to the timelines that we want to see and help get those cheques to people as soon as possible. So the conversation is happening.” The day before, the minister of social development, Cindy Miles, told reporters at the legislature she didn’t know why her department had turned down the offer, but insisted that welfare recipients could visit with their case workers to get the monthly social assistance cheques in person or set up automatic bank deposits. When it was pointed out that some of people in rural New Brunswick live very far away from government offices, she said civil servants could travel to the recipients in person to deliver their cheques. The revelation about the spurned offer raised concerns in question period on Thursday, with opposition Progressive Conservative critic Margaret Johnson demanding answers. “We’re talking about serving our vulnerable populations who struggle with transportation and financial insecurity. How could the department ignore this reality?” Johnson is the Tory MLA for Carleton-Victoria, a sprawling riding in the northwest of the province. She said for many poor people, it would be tough to get to a provincial office. “For some in my riding, getting their cheques means finding a way to get from Juniper to Woodstock or Perth-Andover – that is 71 kilometres or 53 km – and then back home again,” she said Thursday in the House. “If they live in Plaster Rock, that means driving 39 km and back. If they’re in Nackawic, they have the choice of 64 km to Fredericton or 47 km to Woodstock and back home. “As I said, we’re talking about serving vulnerable populations who struggle with transportation and financial insecurity. “Gas costs money. We all know that, which is why it causes me to shake my head.” In an open letter sent to supporters last week, the CUP-W’s Atlantic national director, Jeff Callaghan, said the union’s striking postal members had delivered cheques to communities around the country, as outlined in the “Socio-Economic Cheque Memorandum of Agreement” with Canada Post. The document states that unionized workers have agreed to voluntarily process and deliver government payments to senior citizens, low-income people and others who receive pension cheques and other forms of social assistance. “Despite our offer to continue this service during the strike, there were no provincially issued cheques included in these deliveries from the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island,” Callaghan wrote. “Canada Post reached out and offered the Socio-Economic Cheque service to all provinces and territories. Only three accepted, and one has since backed out.” Brunswick News contacted the union’s Atlantic office to learn more details, but no officials were made available. Miles provided no insight as to why the provincial government turned down the offer. “That’s something I’d have to get back to you on,” the Liberal minister told reporters on Thursday. “I don’t know what that conversation looked like. But as I said before, relationships are so important. And folks have relationships with the folks in the central office or their regional office. There will be accommodations for folks in order to receive their cheques that they so desperately need.” Miles said she’d speak with her staff about the possibility of allowing the union workers to deliver the cheques. She also said special arrangements could be made for government employees to travel to recipients who have no vehicle or gas money. “We can have staff go out and meet them where they are at.” But such a task would be a logistical nightmare if every welfare recipient wanted their cheque delivered personally to them. The latest statistics for November show that 24,709 cheques went out, helping more than 37,500 people and their families. Green Deputy Leader Megan Mitton also criticized the Liberal government’s decision to turn down the offer. “That’s unacceptable. It’s putting the burden on the most vulnerable to travel to get their cheques. I think that’s wrong.” In a news release on Wednesday, the Department of Social Development said that due to the postal strike, December’s social assistance payments had been sent to its regional offices for preparation by staff. The release also encouraged clients who do not receive their monthly payments by direct deposit to pick up a form at their local office to set it up. About 55,000 Canada Post workers went on strike Nov. 15 over wage and benefit demands. The two sides – Canada Post and The Canadian Union of Postal Workers – are said to be far apart on the issues. Negotiations broke down Wednesday.
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — Kimani Hamilton led High Point with 18 points and Bobby Pettiford made a contested shot in the lane with 10.9 seconds remaining as the Panthers knocked off Hampton 76-73 on Tuesday. Hamilton also added eight rebounds for the Panthers (7-1). Trae Benham scored 17 points while shooting 4 for 5 (4 for 4 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line. Kezza Giffa shot 4 of 10 from the field and 2 of 3 from the free-throw line to finish with 11 points. George Beale led the way for the Pirates (3-5) with 17 points. Noah Farrakhan added 16 points for Hampton. High Point went into halftime ahead of Hampton 38-33. Giffa scored 11 points in the half. Hamilton scored a team-high 13 points in the second half. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Passing on the exams