More than 34,000 register as candidates for Mexico judges' election
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In the highly competitive world of football, players who can offer versatility and excel in multiple facets of the game are often the ones who stand out and leave a lasting legacy. Sergio Ramos, with his decision to prioritize improving his long-range shooting and being more assertive in front of goal, is showcasing his determination to evolve as a player and continue to make significant contributions to his team's success.BLOOMINGTON — Heartland Community College and Country Financial have announced plans for a newly named and restored path on the east side of Heartland's campus, around Birky Pond. Officials from the college, Country Financial and elsewhere in the community joined together Thursday at Country Financial's headquarters, 1701 Towanda Avenue in Bloomington, to announce the mile-long trail project, which will be called the Country Financial Trail at Heartland and will extend the Constitution Trail. "I think that the importance of public and private partnerships are central to any community to move forward and thrive," said Heartland President Keith Cornille. "It allows us to stretch the resources that we have, maintaining our tax rate at the same level without putting it back on the taxpayer, and enriching what we can provide to the taxpayer." "It's nice to see that we live in a community where everybody is saying, 'How do we come together to improve our community?', and I'm blessed with the fact that they look at Heartland as a place to do that here, so I'm very privileged," Cornille added. Heartland Community College President Keith Cornille speaks on Thursday at Country Financial headquarters, 1701 Towanda Ave. in Bloomington, to announce a mile-long trail project, to be called the Country Financial Trail and extend the Constitution Trail at Heartland's campus. The trail extension will include access from the Constitution Trail at Raab Road, the Heartland campus at Vermillion Way, and The Corn Crib parking lot, and will circle Birky Pond. The scope of the project will include shelter for community members to gather, an atrium-style classroom for instructors, two bird-watching stations, and four fishing piers. The project will also restore approximately 13 acres of native prairie that borders the north side of Birky Pond. Invasive species will be removed and native plants will be planted to support pollinators and other wildlife. "The thing that also is such a nice connection ... is that our roots as an organization are in agriculture, and the company has a real spirit around conservation and proper land stewardship, and we think that this is a really nice way for us to connect here in town with that history that we have," said Country Financial CEO Jim Jacobs. "The vision of the company is all about community, and I can't think of a better way to continue both our vision and our connection to Heartland than with this project." Country Financial also has the Country Financial Scholars program, which provides scholarship assistance, mentorship and technology for high school students in McLean County, and has partnered with Heartland to create a claims apprenticeship program to connect local talent with claims roles at the company. At this time, Country Financial is not disclosing the donation amount for the trail project, but the contribution does meet and exceed the college's naming guidelines, which require a donor to contribute at least 25% of the cost of construction and furnishings for the identified space as established by the college. Country Financial CEO Jim Jacobs speaks on Thursday at Country Financial headquarters, 1701 Towanda Ave. in Bloomington, to announce a mile-long trail project, to be called the Country Financial Trail and extend the Constitution Trail at Heartland's campus. The Heartland Board of Trustees approved naming the portion of trails around Birky Pond at their meeting on Tuesday , and architects will give an overview of the project to the board in January, said Steve Fast, assistant to the president at Heartland and public information and communication director. The total cost, which also is not available at this time, will go to the board for a vote in February, and a bid approval will go to another vote in March, Fast said. "The Town of Normal appreciates the partnership between Heartland Community College and Country Financial for this trail expansion. It's truly an important endeavor and undertaking of our community," Normal Mayor Chris Koos said during Thursday's event. "Today we have over 50 miles of trail in the community. I think Bloomington would agree with this, it's our most successful park system, probably the most used park system that we have, and it's so important to our community... Now we have this really exciting project that does more than just add a trail, it's a place for people to recreate and to find some passive enjoyment to see nature. It's just going to be an incredible project, and we're looking forward to seeing that happen." The trail has been part of the college's facilities master plan, which was implemented in 2020 and has included other projects like the new Agriculture Complex , which opened in January, and the Advanced Manufacturing Center , which opened in February. Normal Mayor Chris Koos speaks on Thursday at Country Financial headquarters, 1701 Towanda Ave., in Bloomington, to announce a mile-long trail project, to be called the Country Financial Trail and extend the Constitution Trail at Heartland's campus. The trail project was one of 13 projects throughout the state that received a $200,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources through its Illinois Bicycle Path Grant Program in October 2023 . The goal of the program is to provide financial assistance to eligible local governments to assist them in the acquisition, construction and rehabilitation of public off-road, non-motorized bicycle paths and related facilities. Construction of the trail is planned to begin in the spring and be completed in July. Contact Mateusz Janik at (309) 820-3234. Follow Mateusz on Twitter:@mjanik99 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Government Reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Meanwhile, in another corporate scandal, 百川智能 (BaiChuan Intelligent) is facing backlash after reports emerged that the company has been engaging in a questionable practice of forcibly buying back employee stock options at below-market prices. This controversial move has raised concerns about the company's treatment of its employees and ethical standards.ULM_Godfrey 26 pass from Armenta (Larson kick), 12:27. ARST_Z.Wallace 2 run (Van Andel kick), 6:50. ARST_Rucker 32 pass from Raynor (Van Andel kick), 7:52. ULM_Hardy 72 run (Larson kick), 11:59. ARST_Summers 12 pass from Raynor (Van Andel kick), :40. ULM_Hardy 1 run (Larson kick), 9:15. ARST_C.Jackson 44 pass from Raynor (Van Andel kick), 7:58. RUSHING_Louisiana-Monroe, Hardy 30-204, Armenta 8-52. Arkansas St., Z.Wallace 18-130, Spencer 6-31, Raynor 12-22, Cross 2-5, (Team) 1-(minus 1). PASSING_Louisiana-Monroe, Armenta 11-22-1-137. Arkansas St., Raynor 18-26-0-170. RECEIVING_Louisiana-Monroe, Godfrey 5-58, D.Wells 2-21, Hardy 2-4, T.Griffin 1-37, Cole 1-17. Arkansas St., C.Jackson 6-69, Rucker 3-49, Stevenson 3-20, A.Jones 2-15, Summers 1-12, Cross 1-5, Spencer 1-1, Z.Wallace 1-(minus 1). MISSED FIELD GOALS_None.
Trump calls for immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and says a US withdrawal from NATO is possible
As we look towards the future, the launch of the KuaiShou Kelin AI Director Cooperative Program serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration, showcasing the transformative potential of AI technology when combined with a strong sense of social purpose. With the continued support of users, content creators, and social advocates, the program has the opportunity to drive meaningful change and shape a more inclusive and socially conscious digital landscape.Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah agree to a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fighting
ULM_Godfrey 26 pass from Armenta (Larson kick), 12:27. ARST_Z.Wallace 2 run (Van Andel kick), 6:50. ARST_Rucker 32 pass from Raynor (Van Andel kick), 7:52. ULM_Hardy 72 run (Larson kick), 11:59. ARST_Summers 12 pass from Raynor (Van Andel kick), :40. ULM_Hardy 1 run (Larson kick), 9:15. ARST_C.Jackson 44 pass from Raynor (Van Andel kick), 7:58. RUSHING_Louisiana-Monroe, Hardy 30-204, Armenta 8-52. Arkansas St., Z.Wallace 18-130, Spencer 6-31, Raynor 12-22, Cross 2-5, (Team) 1-(minus 1). PASSING_Louisiana-Monroe, Armenta 11-22-1-137. Arkansas St., Raynor 18-26-0-170. RECEIVING_Louisiana-Monroe, Godfrey 5-58, D.Wells 2-21, Hardy 2-4, T.Griffin 1-37, Cole 1-17. Arkansas St., C.Jackson 6-69, Rucker 3-49, Stevenson 3-20, A.Jones 2-15, Summers 1-12, Cross 1-5, Spencer 1-1, Z.Wallace 1-(minus 1). MISSED FIELD GOALS_None.
Contentious COP29 deal shows climate cooperation fraying at edges BAKU: When COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev stepped to the podium at the closing meeting of the Baku climate summit on Sunday morning, hoping to clinch a hard-fought agreement on global climate finance, he carried with him two speeches. One was crafted around a hoped-for deal being struck, while the other for the possibility of a summit-collapsing impasse, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. “Yes, we had prepared different variations of the speech for various scenarios, but as we stepped onto the stage, we were confident in our success,” said one of the sources, an official in the COP29 presidency. In the end, Babayev managed to gavel through the $300 billion finance plan to help developing nations cope with the soaring costs of global warming over the next decade before critics had time to object, allowing him to read the more positive speech.He praised the agreement as a breakthrough and shamed the deal’s doubters as “wrong”, even as many of the climate deal’s intended recipients slammed it as woefully inadequate. Babayev’s preparation for different outcomes at the divisive summit in the Caspian Sea nation of Azerbaijan reflected what many in the audience had already known before it began: the Baku climate talks were never going to go smoothly. Expectations for a deal were depressed by worries of a looming US withdrawal from global climate cooperation, geopolitical turmoil, and a rise of isolationist politics that had shunted climate change off much of the world’s top priorities list. Those obstacles loomed large in Baku and will continue to overshadow global climate efforts in the months ahead as Brazil prepares for next year’s much broader conference in the Amazon rainforest city of Belem -- where the world will plot a years-long course for steeper emissions cuts and building resilience in the fight against climate change. “Multilateralism as a whole is under threat,” said Eliot Whittington, chief systems change officer at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. “Indeed, the UNFCCC is probably the bright spot -- proving that even in the face of incredibly hostile geopolitics and on fundamentally difficult questions, a deal can be made,” he said, referring to the UN body sponsoring the annual climate summit. But the slow pace of progress, with global emissions still rising, has raised tensions and calls for reform.“This is something that needs to be looked at, when just a handful of countries, based on their own economic interests, can almost wreck the entire process,” Sierra Leone Environment Minister Jiwoh Abdulai told Reuters. TRUMP EFFECT Among the biggest factors clouding the negotiations in Baku was the looming return of climate sceptic Donald Trump as president of the US, the world’s biggest economy, largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, and top producer of oil and gas. Trump, who takes office in January, has pledged to withdraw the US from the global Paris Agreement on climate change, as he did during his first 2017-2021 term in the White House, and has called climate change a hoax. Negotiators at the Baku conference said that while the US delegation had helped in coming up with the climate finance deal, the country was unable to take a high-profile leadership role like it has in past climate summits, and it could not provide assurances the next administration would honour its pledges. “With the United States, well, the voters have voted and that’s the way it is. What they’re going to do, we do not know,” South African Environment Minister Dion George said. US officials at the COP29 conference sought to reassure global partners that market forces, existing federal subsidies, and state mandates would ensure continued renewable energy deployment even if Trump disengages from the global process. The war in Ukraine and rising conflict in the Middle East, meanwhile, have diverted global attention to security and energy availability, and led many governments to tighten their purse strings, experts said. That made getting a bigger climate finance number hard, observers to the talks said. “Even maintaining climate finance at current levels in the current political environment is a huge fight,” said Joe Thwaites, senior advocate on international climate finance at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. The agreement to provide $300 billion annually by 2035 would theoretically triple rich countries’ previous commitments to provide $100 billion by 2020. That earlier goal was reached in full only in 2022, and expires in 2025. The unwillingness of wealthy countries to offer more money and the pressure to conclude even a weak deal ahead of more political turbulence became a major source of frustration for the Least Developed Countries and small island states, who told the Baku conference they felt sidelined in the negotiations. At one point in the summit’s final stretch, negotiating blocs representing both groups walked out of talks in protest, delaying a deal by hours.“We came in good faith, with the safety of our communities and the well-being of the world at heart,” Tina Stege, the climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, said at the closing plenary. “Yet, we have seen the very worst of political opportunism here at this COP, playing games with the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.”India’s envoy, Chandni Raina, used her time to roundly reject the climate finance deal gaveled through by Babayev. “We are disappointed in the outcome which clearly brings out the unwillingness of the developed country parties to fulfil their responsibilities,” she told the summit. Climate advocates said that, while the deal is better than an outright impasse, the rifts exposed by the conference as well as the loss of trust in the process among poorer countries will pose a problem for Brazil as it prepares for COP30. “I think this is a toxic chalice for Belem, and it’s going to be up to Brazil how they’re going to restore the trust,” said Oscar Sorria, director of the Common Initiative, a think tank focused on global financial reform.