AP News Summary at 6:28 p.m. ESTNo. 22 St. John's, Georgia pack busy schedule with game on SundayCourt bars Wike, others from Abuja disputed landPittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens will not carry an injury designation into Wednesday's game against the visiting Kansas City Chiefs. Pickens has missed the past three games for the Steelers (10-5) due to a hamstring injury that he sustained in practice. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said he's pleased to welcome back Pickens after the team has lost two in a row to find itself tied with the Baltimore Ravens (10-5) atop the AFC North. "I think it's self-explanatory," Tomlin said on Tuesday. "He is a splash playmaker. He's a one-on-one playmaker. Oftentimes he controls schematics, which creates one-on-ones for others, or a light box regarding the run. "But that's what talented, outside people do. Not only George, but anybody that has talented outside people." Pickens, 23, has a team-leading 55 catches and 850 yards. He has caught three touchdown passes. While Pickens is expected to play on Wednesday, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (knee) and wide receiver Ben Skowronek (hip) didn't practice for the second straight day this week on Tuesday and have been ruled out against the Chiefs (14-1). Quarterback Justin Fields was limited in practice on Tuesday and is questionable to face Kansas City due to an abdomen injury. Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (groin), cornerback Donte Jackson (back) and safety DeShon Elliott (hamstring) do not carry an injury designation and are expected to play against the Chiefs. --Field Level Media
Space-Based Solar Power Market worth $6.8 Billion by 2040, at a CAGR of 3.3%Fabuwood Introduces Mocha: The Newest Addition to Their Popular Stain Collection
NDA’s Maharashtra victory is historic: KumaraswamyState employees sent a deluge of comments asking lawmakers for higher pay to address high turnover and rising costs of living. The Change in Employee Compensation Committee on Dec. 20 received an overview of the more than 1,700 responses seeking comment as the group prepares to make a recommendation to the state’s budget writers. Human Resources Administrator Janelle White told members she recommends a 4% increase to employee salaries or a $1.25 an hour increase, with discretion given to agencies to decide to implement either the percentage increase or dollar amount. She recommended a 5.5% increase for IT/engineering employees, which has a turnover rate of nearly 26%. “When employees leave the state it has a profound and lasting impact on the bottom line in our ability to deliver services,” White said. “The hidden cost of turnover is frequently overlooked yet its consequences are very costly to the state.” Statewide, the average turnover rate was around 19% last year, White said. She estimated that it cost roughly $301 million to replace 19.2% of Idaho’s state employee workforce. In 2023, White presented the committee a report detailing how far behind Idaho’s compensation was in comparison to the public and private sector and recommended greater increases for public safety, IT/engineering, and nursing and health care staff pay. White recommended last week that lawmakers implement the IT/engineering salary structure improvement this coming session. She said that the average market salary for these positions is around $36,000 a year more than the average state salary. Primary state employees who don’t fall into specialized categories fall about $22,250 behind the average market salary. In fiscal year 2024, Idaho spent about 21% of the state budget on personnel at around $1.9 billion; the recommendation White provided would bring this to about $2.3 billion, she said. Alberto Gonzalez, head of the Office of Information Technology Services, told the committee that state IT employees created the “backbone of our cybersecurity infrastructure.” “I think not investing increases our chance of cyber attack,” he said. Idaho State Police Director Col. Bill Gardiner told lawmakers that several regions in the state faced particularly high turnover and vacancy rates, such as near Lewiston. The district has eight vacant patrol positions, which leaves 13 current troopers patrolling a 13,000-square-mile area, he said. Most of the public comment the committee received came from Idaho Transportation Department staff, with close to 350 respondents, as well as more than 150 responses each from Idaho State Police, the Department of Health and Welfare, and Boise State University. Many of the comments from ITD employees focused on high turnover and its impact on the workload of remaining employees, cost of living, and the safety concerns of working near high-speed traffic. One Idaho Falls-based employee said their compensation of $25.12 an hour allows them to “meet basic living expenses,” but it “is increasingly inadequate to keep pace with the growing costs of housing, fuel and groceries.” The employee also underscored the risk of working near traffic traveling 80 mph. A North Idaho state trooper who’s been with the agency for 15 years said they have seen the housing market skyrocket and the impact that has had on recruitment and retention in the area. “I’ve observed Troopers work long shifts covering crashes, arrests, pursuits, and other heinous acts which changes a person’s life, only to return to their small camper parked on someone else’s property because that’s all they could afford based off the provided wage,” the trooper wrote. The longtime officer asked lawmakers to consider existing employees when changing the structure to avoid pay compression — in which new hires in a competitive market end up making more than, or nearly as much as, longstanding employees. The state’s retirement and health plans are often touted as a recruitment tool, but aren’t as highly regarded, comments indicated. “While benefits are valued, employees feel they no longer sufficiently offset the low wages or the competitive advantage compared to private sector jobs,” legislative Budget and Policy Analyst Frances Lippitt said. Costs related to inflation came up on 381 of the responses, Lippitt said. A number of emailed comments mentioned the approximately $5,000 pay bump for legislators recommended by the Citizens’ Committee on Legislative Compensation in November, the Idaho Capital Sun reported. The citizens’ committee does not include legislators, but the Legislature may reject or reduce the recommended rates by concurrent resolution. “I advocate that all state employees get paid appropriately, to meet the cost of living,” one health department employee wrote. “... I also assert that if the state legislature wants a raise, that the same raise should apply to every state employee. Otherwise, if the legislators truly want to be leaders, they have no right to a raise until state staff meet the cost of living.” The committee did not make a decision and is scheduled to meet again Jan. 7 and Jan. 9.
NEW YORK: Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was chosen by Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general hours after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration after a federal sex trafficking investigation and ethics probe made his ability to be confirmed dubious. The 59-year-old has long been in Trump's orbit and her name had been floated during his first term as a potential candidate for the nation's highest law enforcement role. Trump announced his plans to nominate Bondi Thursday in a social media post. If confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, Bondi would instantly become one of the most closely watched members of Trump's Cabinet given the Republican's threat to pursue retribution against perceived adversaries and concern among Democrats that he will look to bend the Justice Department to his will. Here's a few things to know about Bondi: Bondi has been a longtime and early ally. In March 2016, on the eve of the Republican primary in Florida, Bondi endorsed Trump at a rally, picking him over the candidate from her own state, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. She gained national attention with appearances on Fox News as a defender of Trump and had a notable speaking spot at 2016 Republican National Convention as Trump became the party's surprising nominee. During the remarks, some in the crowd began chanting "Lock her up" about Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Bondi responded by saying, "'Lock her up,' I love that." As Trump prepared to move into the White House, she served on his first transition team. When Trump's first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was ousted in 2018, Bondi's name was floated as a possible candidate for the job. Trump at the time said he would "love" Bondi to join the administration. He ultimately selected William Barr instead. She kept a toehold in Trump's orbit thereafter, including after he left office. She served as a chairwoman of America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers to lay the groundwork if he won a second term. Bondi made history in 2010 when she was elected as Florida's first female attorney general. Though the Tampa native spent more than 18 years as a prosecutor in the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office, she was a political unknown when she held the state's top law enforcement job. Bondi was elevated in the primary after she was endorsed by former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. She campaigned on a message to use the state's top legal office in a robust way, challenging then-President Barack Obama's signature health care law. She also called for her state to adopt Arizona's "show me your papers" immigration law that sparked national debate. As Florida's top prosecutor, Bondi stressed human trafficking issues and urged tightening state laws against traffickers. She held the job from 2011 to 2019. Bondi worked as a lobbyist for Ballard Partners, the powerful Florida-based firm where Trump's campaign chief and incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles was a partner. Her U.S. clients have included General Motors, the commissioner of Major League Baseball and a Christian anti-human-trafficking advocacy group. She also lobbied for a Kuwaiti firm, according to Justice Department foreign agent filings and congressional lobbying documents. She registered as a foreign agent for the government of Qatar; her work was related to anti-human-trafficking efforts leading up to the World Cup, held in 2022. Bondi also represented the KGL Investment Company KSCC, a Kuwaiti firm also known as KGLI, lobbying the White House, National Security Council, State Department and Congress on immigration policy, human rights and economic sanctions issues. Bondi stepped away from lobbying to serve on Trump's legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. He was accused — but not convicted — of abuse of power for allegedly pressuring the president of Ukraine to investigate his Democratic rivals while crucial U.S. security aid was being withheld. He was also charged with obstruction of Congress for stonewalling investigative efforts. Trump wanted Ukraine's president to publicly commit to investigating Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. He pushed for the investigation while holding up nearly $400 million in military aid. Bondi was brought on to bolster the White House's messaging and communications. Trump and his allies sought to delegitimize the impeachment from the start, aiming to brush off the whole thing as a farce. Bondi has been a vocal critic of the criminal cases against Trump as well as Jack Smith, the special counsel who charged Trump in two federal cases. In one radio appearance, she blasted Smith and other prosecutors who have charged Trump as "horrible" people she said were trying to make names for themselves by "going after Donald Trump and weaponizing our legal system." It's unlikely that Bondi would be confirmed in time to overlap with Smith, who brought two federal indictments against Trump that are both expected to wind down before the incoming president takes office. Special counsels are expected to produce reports on their work that historically are made public, but it remains unclear when such a document might be released. Bondi was also among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. As president, Trump demanded investigations into political opponents like Hillary Clinton and sought to use the law enforcement powers of the Justice Department to advance his own interests, including in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Bondi appears likely to oblige him. She would inherit a Justice Department expected to pivot sharply on civil rights, corporate enforcement and the prosecutions of hundreds of Trump supporters charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol — defendants whom Trump has pledged to pardon. Bondi issued a public apology in 2013 while serving as attorney general after she sought to delay the execution of a convicted killer because it conflicted with a fundraiser for her reelection campaign. The attorney general, representing the state in death row appeals, typically remains available on the date of execution cases in case of any last-minute legal issues. Bondi later said she was wrong and sorry for requesting then-Gov. Rick Scott push back the execution of Marshall Lee Gore by three weeks. Bondi personally solicited a 2013 political contribution from Trump as her office was weighing whether to join New York in suing over fraud allegations involving Trump University. Trump cut a $25,000 check to a political committee supporting Bondi from his family's charitable foundation, in violation of legal prohibitions against charities supporting partisan political activities. After the check came in, Bondi's office nixed suing Trump's company for fraud, citing insufficient grounds to proceed. Both Trump and Bondi denied wrongdoing. Two days before being sworn in as president in January 2017, Trump paid $25 million to settle three lawsuits alleging Trump University defrauded its students. Trump also paid a $2,500 fine to the IRS over the illegal political donation to support Bondi from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which he was forced to dissolve amid an investigation by the state of New York. A Florida prosecutor assigned by then-GOP Gov. Rick Scott later determined there was insufficient evidence to support bribery charges against Trump and Bondi over the $25,000 donation.
NoneThe AP Top 25 men’s college basketball 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 . GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Marcus Tomashek scored 30 points and Division II Michigan Tech handed Green Bay its eighth straight loss, 72-70 on Wednesday. Anthony Roy, the nation’s second-best scorer at 25.7 points per game, did not play for Green Bay. He was on the sideline with a walking boot on his left foot. Tomashek also contributed eight rebounds for the Huskies, who played the game as an exhibition. Dawson Nordgaard finished 5 of 9 from the floor to add 10 points. Ty Fernholz shot 3 for 7 from beyond the arc to finish with nine points. Jeremiah Johnson recorded 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Phoenix (2-11). Marcus Hall added 17 points and Ryan Wade had 11 points and five assists. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .CHURCHILL COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL The library received a new sound-proof study pod, which offers many benefits for students. From being a quiet place to record something for an assignment, to studying, or just having a few minutes to block out the world the pod is a great tool for students to eliminate distractions from the world around them and allow them the ability to truly focus. “We are so thankful for the Nevada Library Services and Technology Act grant provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Nevada State Library and Archives that made this happen,” library specialist Holly McPherson said. CHURCHILL COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOL The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1002 donated new flags for every school in Churchill County District. Last Thursday, CCMS received its new flag presented by members of the CCHS Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program. This generous gift is something the VFW hopes to be able to do for our school each year. “We are so appreciative of this gift and we cannot thank the VFW enough for their support and for promoting patriotism throughout the school and Fallon community,” Principal Victor Schoenfeldt said. NUMA Fifth graders kicked off the holiday season with a Christmas-themed treasure hunt. Each class is competing to uncover the hidden treasure that will be revealed on Dec. 19, just in time for winter break. Each day students receive a clue and have to work together to try and discover where the clue leads them, hoping each day, that they are getting closer to finding the treasure. E.C. BEST All the students at E.C. Best participated in a week full of kindness. Last week, students in Ashley Youles’ class drew and cut out their own "Grinch Hearts" before they were taped to their desks. Students rotated around the classroom writing kind things on each other's hearts. When they were done, they read the kind things their classmates said about them then hung them up on the classroom bulletin board. “This is a great way to teach students to recognize the good in each other but also it shows them how other people see them, building their confidence. It was fun to see their faces light up as they read the things their classmates had to say about them,” Youles said. LAHONTAN Students in Jennifer Vasquez’s kindergarten class are making a trip around the world, learning about how different countries celebrate Christmas. The students are virtually traveling around the world to a different country every day to experience different Christmas traditions and cultures. “The students are excited to come to class each day because they are eager to see what country we are ‘visiting’ next. They have really enjoyed learning about the differences and similarities each country has when it comes to celebrating Christmas,” Vasquez said.
Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggles, shouts while entering courthouse ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggled with deputies and shouted while arriving for a court appearance in Pennsylvania a day after he was arrested at a McDonald’s and charged with murder. Luigi Nicholas Mangione emerged from a patrol car, spun toward reporters and shouted something partly unintelligible while deputies pushed him inside Tuesday. At the brief hearing, the defense lawyer informed the court that Mangione would not waive extradition to New York but instead wants a hearing on the issue. Mangione was denied bail. Brian Thompson, who led the United States’ largest medical insurance company, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference. From wealth and success to murder suspect, the life of Luigi Mangione took a hard turn Luigi Nicholas Mangione was apparently living a charmed one: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and with degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities. Friends at an exclusive co-living space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Hawaii where the 26-year-od Mangione once lived widely considered him a “great guy.” Pictures on his social media accounts show a fit, smiling, handsome young man on beaches and at parties. Now, investigators are working to piece together why Mangione diverged from a path of seeming success to make the violent and radical decision to gun down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a brazen attack on a Manhattan street. Key details about the man accused of killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO The 26-year-old man charged in last week’s killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO in New York City has appeared in a Pennsylvania courtroom. Luigi Nicholas Mangione was arrested Monday after a worker at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, notified police that he resembled the suspect in last Wednesday's killing of Brian Thompson. While being led into court to be arraigned Tuesday, Mangione shouted something that was partly unintelligible but referred to an “insult to the intelligence of the American people.” During the hearing in Hollidaysburg, Mangione was denied bail and his attorney said Mangione would not waive extradition. DA suggests unusual idea for halting Trump’s hush money case while upholding his conviction NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors are trying to preserve President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction as he returns to office, and they're suggesting various ways forward. One novel notion is based on how some courts handle criminal cases when defendants die. In court papers made public on Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books. The proposals included freezing the case until he’s out of office, or agreeing that any future sentence wouldn’t include jail time. Another idea: closing the case with a notation that acknowledges his conviction but says that he was never sentenced and that his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity. There's no immediate response from Trump's lawyers. Middle East latest: Israel bombs hundreds of sites across Syria as army pushes into border zone Israel says it bombed more than 350 military sites in Syria during the previous 48 hours, targeting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the wave of strikes was necessary to keep the weapons from being used against Israel following the Syrian government’s stunning collapse. Israel also acknowledged its troops were pushing into a border buffer zone inside Syria, which was established after the 1973 Mideast war. However, Israel denied its forces were advancing Tuesday toward the Syrian capital of Damascus. Life in the capital was slowly returning to normal. People celebrated for a third day in a main square, and shops and banks reopened. Donald Trump is returning to the world stage. So is his trolling NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s recent dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his visit to Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral were not just exercises in policy and diplomacy. For Trump, they were also prime trolling opportunities. Throughout his first term in the White House and his recent campaign to return there, the Republican has dished out provocative, antagonizing and mocking statements. Now that’s he’s preparing to return to the Oval Office, Trump is back at it, and his trolling is attracting more attention — and eyerolls. Report on attempts to kill Trump urges Secret Service to limit protection of foreign leaders WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional task force looking into the assassination attempts against Donald Trump during his presidential campaign is recommending changes to the Secret Service. These include protecting fewer foreign leaders during the height of the election season and considering moving the agency out of the Department of Homeland Security. The 180-page report was released Tuesday. It constitutes one of the most detailed looks so far into the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and a second one in Florida two months later. South Korea's ex-defense minister is formally arrested over brief imposition of martial law SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's previous defense minister has been formally arrested over his alleged collusion with President Yoon Suk Yeol and others in imposing martial law last week. Kim Yong Hyun resigned last week and has been detained since Sunday. He is the first person arrested in the case. Prosecutors have up to 20 days to determine whether to indict him. A conviction on the charge of playing a key role in rebellion carries the maximum death sentence. Kim is accused of recommending martial law to Yoon and sending troops to the National Assembly to block lawmakers from voting on it. Homes burn as wind-driven wildfire prompts evacuations in Malibu, California MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of Southern California residents are under evacuation orders and warnings as firefighters battle a wind-driven wildfire in Malibu. The flames burned near seaside mansions and Pepperdine University, where students sheltering at the school’s library on Monday night watched as the blaze intensified. Officials on Tuesday said a “minimal number” of homes burned, but the exact amount wasn’t immediately known. More than 8,100 homes and other structures are under threat, including more than 2,000 where residents have been ordered to evacuate. Pepperdine University on Tuesday morning said the worst of the fire has pushed past campus. It was not immediately known how the blaze started. More beans and less red meat: Nutrition experts weigh in on US dietary guidelines Americans should eat more beans, peas and lentils and cut back on red and processed meats and starchy vegetables. That's advice from a panel of nutrition experts charged with counseling the U.S. government about the next edition of the dietary guidelines. The panel did not weigh in on the growing role of ultraprocessed foods that have been linked to health problems or alcohol use. But they did say people should continue to limit added sugars, sodium and saturated fat in pursuit of a healthy diet. Tuesday’s recommendations now go to federal officials, who will draft the final guidance set for release next year.