After a thrilling double-overtime win over Fresno State, California Baptist makes the nearly 2,500-mile trip to Orlando to face Central Florida on Sunday. The Lancers (5-3) capped their time at the Acrisure Holiday Invitational in Palm Springs, Calif., with an 86-81 victory over the Bulldogs on Wednesday. That followed a last-second, 79-77 loss to SMU the day before. Dominique Daniels Jr. played 45 minutes against Fresno State and led California Baptist with 29 points. He paces the Lancers with 20.3 points per game, while Kendal Coleman averages 15.1 points and is shooting 59.7 percent form the floor. However, coach Rick Croy's team has struggled from 3-point range, shooting just 30.7 percent entering its first true road game this season. UCF (5-2) is coming off of an 84-76 win over Milwaukee last Wednesday despite being outrebounded 41-31. The Knights were helped by the heroics of senior guard Darius Johnson, who had 28 points as he shot a career-best 8-for-10 from beyond the arc. "Darius was terrific," UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. "He's so comfortable in his leadership role now, he's leading our team and running the show, and our new players are becoming more comfortable playing with him. He's been a rock for us this season, and you love to see it out of a senior point guard." "I had an extraordinary night shooting the ball from three," Johnson said. "I rarely think that would happen again, but it's great. I know my teammates are going to have nights like that as well." Johnson is among the nation's leaders in minutes per game (36.6) and is shooting a team-high 50 percent from 3-point range (23 of 46). He, along with his fellow guard Jordan Ivy-Curry, are each averaging 16.9 points to lead UCF. The Knights opened the season with an impressive win over Texas A&M, now No. 20 in the AP poll, but lost both games at last weekend's Greenbrier Tip-Off, including a triple-overtime defeat against LSU on Sunday. UCF has not reached the NCAA Tournament since 2018-19. This will be the first meeting between the Knights and the Lancers, who will each have time off afterwards. UCF won't play until Dec. 8 against Tarleton State, while California Baptist is idle until its Dec. 11 game at San Diego State. --Field Level MediaDays after two Albany heavy hitters vetoed the MTA’s next five-year capital plan , an audit released Thursday by the state C omptroller’s office says that the operators of New York’s largest transportation agency has not done enough to save money. Get the Full Story The lack of money savings is centered around “ procurements, ” per state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. According to the state’s top money big wig, the MTA has “ not done enough to consolidate its procurements across its agencies to save money as was expected under its Transformation Plan. ” The MTA was required by law to create a Transformation Plan by June 30, 2019, which it did. O ne part of the plan was to consolidate procurement for its five operating agencies, MTA Construction and Development, and MTA Headquarters to save money and avoid redundancies , DiNapoli explained. But those actions were not enough, and now the state comptroller believes the MTA needs to take additional steps to better coordinate its purchasing efforts. “T he MTA faces continued pressure to implement its capital programs and savings initiatives, which would benefit from furthering its stated goals of transforming its procurement process, ” DiNapoli said. “ More savings may be possible if it does more to coordinate purchasing among its agencies instead of the status quo of having them procure their needs independently. Consolidation, efficiency, and savings in this area was promised years ago, but has yet to be fully realized .” The audit follows another blow to the MTA this week , when state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie rejected the agency’s capital plan for 2025-2029 just days before Jan. 1. Delving deeper into Thursday’s audit, the MTA’s “ actual practice of buying goods and services ” has not changed as of September 2023, two years after its October 2021 effective date of consolidation . The audit cites several examples of this lack of progress, mostly with procurement operations, which handles direct purchases of things like parts for train cars and buses. According to the comptroller’s officer, the MTA reported saving $152 million in 2022, but the audit examined $37.7 million of that total and concluded that “ none of it was due to transformation or consolidation .” The audit revealed that the savings were from canceled orders and services that were no longer needed. According to the audit, just $4.29 million of the sampled savings were the result of procurement operations actions. But MTA officials said they largely disagree with the findings. As for consolidation, the agency’s five different procurement departments now fall under one umbrella, with most cost savings coming through construction contracts. “The MTA successfully consolidated and reorganized the agency per the Transformation Plan, forging ahead with less redundancy and red tape,” MTA spokesperson Joana Flores said. “The MTA is still continuously improving business practices with more cost savings and has achieved reduced costs – identifying an additional $100 million in annual recurring savings for a total of $500 million annually, all while providing more subway, bus, and railroad service than ever before.” Riders react Meanwhile, riders’ groups are responding to the MTA’s heavy blows this week. With the capital plan in limbo, public transit users do not know what to expect regarding the future of MTA projects, including signal upgrades and station improvements. “A gain and again, funding uncertainty has turned MTA capital plans into political footballs, with riders caught flailing like Charlie Brown, ” Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, said. “ Riders deserve a fully funded capital plan now so the MTA can begin the State-of-Good-Repair and system improvement projects we desperately need .” Danny Pearlstein, the Riders Alliance’s policy and communications director, said in response to the audit that riders’ needs are paramount. “Efficiency is a work in progress, but elected leaders can’t make the perfect the enemy of the good when it comes to meeting riders’ needs for safe, reliable, accessible public transit service,” he said.
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Ridgeline High School senior Cyerra Spencer recently earned a $1,000 scholarship for organizing a successful blood drive through the Leaders Save Lives Program. The American Red Cross of Utah celebrated Cyerra’s efforts in a press release, calling her efforts to bring lifesaving donations to patients in critical need “extraordinary.” Cyerra said she started donating blood her sophomore year of high school and found it to be a rewarding experience. Since then, she donates regularly and considers it a passion. “Hosting the blood drive was my way of making a meaningful impact,” Cyerra said. “I wanted to reach more people and inspire them to join this lifesaving effort. My hope was to ignite that same passion in others and show them how powerful giving can be.” Cyerra hosted her blood drive on July 24, Pioneer Day. The Leaders Save Lives program empowers high school and college students to organize blood drives during school breaks. “This unique initiative not only gives students a chance to save lives but also helps them develop leadership skills and earn scholarships,” stated the press release. “Cyerra’s achievement highlights how young leaders can inspire change and make an impact.” Leaders Save Lives encourages students to host blood drives during key collection periods, such as school holidays, when blood donations are often critically needed. Participants earn volunteer hours and leadership experience. They are also eligible for gift cards and scholarship opportunities if they collect at least 25 pints of blood. “Cyerra’s commitment demonstrates the power of young people to rally their communities for a lifesaving cause,” said Benjamin Donner, Executive Director of the American Red Cross Central and Southern Utah Chapter. “We hope her story inspires other students to host blood drives and the community to support these students’ efforts by donating blood. Your generosity can save lives this holiday season.” Cyerra said organizing the blood drive was easy, and she didn’t do a lot of work, she just set the date, time and place, and coordinated things with the Red Cross and a representative from her church, which is where they held the blood drive. But her mother, Michelle Spencer, gave her more credit. Michelle said her daughter also made and distributed flyers, advertised on social media, supplied chairs and tables and got volunteers to man the different stations. Cyerra said a lot of her friends didn’t feel comfortable donating blood, but they helped check people in. Michelle said she is always in awe of her daughter, and she is so proud of her. “She is so compassionate. She is always looking out for other people. She is a leader,” Michelle said. Cyerra plans to attend Utah State University next fall after she graduates from Ridgeline. Learn more about hosting a blood drive at redcrossblood.org/LeadersSaveLives . The Red Cross is offering special rewards for those who give blood this season. Between Dec. 16 and Jan. 3, 2025, donors will receive an exclusive Red Cross long-sleeved T-shirt, while supplies last. Additionally, donors contributing between Jan. 1 and Jan. 26, 2025, will be automatically entered for a chance to win a trip for two to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. For more details, visit RedCrossBlood.org/Gifts and RedCrossBlood.org/SuperBowl .Liverpool power seven points clear, Man Utd crash at Wolves
No. 12 Boise State heads to Wyoming hoping to maintain No. 4 seed in College Football PlayoffKosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said an explosion late Friday night that damaged a key water canal was a “terrorist act” and accused groups aligned with Serbia of having been behind it — an accusation Serbia called baseless. Kosovo’s interior minister, Xhelal Svecla, announced the arrest of eight people linked to the explosion and said police seized a large cache of weapons and military equipment during the operation. He said the searches were carried out at 10 locations in northern Kosovo. The searches “to the confiscation of arms, explosives, hundreds of uniforms, and other military gear, which will serve as evidence in criminal proceedings,” he said during a press conference on Saturday evening. The blast in the Zubin Potok municipality of northern Kosovo damaged a canal that carries drinking water to several regions as well as cooling water for the country’s thermal power plants. The incident raised concerns about potential disruptions to essential services, including water and electricity. Local media showed photographs of water leaking from the reinforced canal. “The attack was carried out by professionals, and we believe it comes from groups orchestrated by and directed by Serbia,” Kurti said in the Kosovan capital of Pristina at an emergency press conference after midnight. Kurti said Serbian operatives have the “capacity to carry out such attacks using large quantities of explosives,” without offering specific evidence. Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric fired back against “premature accusations” in a lengthy post on X, saying the blast may have been “a deliberate diversion” orchestrated by Kosovo’s government. He offered financial and technical support to help repair the canal, which is vital to Serb-populated municipalities of Kosovo. Aleksandr Vucic, Serbia’s president, said in Belgrade on Saturday that his country had nothing to do with the incident “and Pristina knows that.” Kosovo’s National Security Council convened an emergency meeting to approve additional security measures for critical infrastructure. Jeff Hovenier, U.S. ambassador to the Balkan nation, and other diplomatic missions, including France and the EU, also condemned what they called an attack. The U.S. is closely monitoring the situation and supports a full investigation, Hovenier said. The incident follows a series of grenade attacks in northern Kosovo targeting police stations and government buildings. Serbian List, the political party in Kosovo that represents the minority Serb population and is backed by Belgrade, also condemned the explosion, calling it a threat to the water supply of Serb residents in northern Kosovo. ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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