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4:30 p.m. | Autzen Stadium | Eugene, Oregon TV: NBC | Streaming: Peacock | Radio: SportsRadio 93.3-FM KJR Jump to: Live updates » | Comments »Swift's daily impact on Vancouver may have exceeded 2010 games, says industry figure VANCOUVER — Taylor Swift's three-night run at BC Place, closing out the pop star's global Eras Tour, generated daily economic impact for Vancouver that could rival the 2010 Olympics and smashed data streaming records, industry figures say. Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press Dec 9, 2024 3:07 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Taylor Swift performs during the Eras Tour concert, in Vancouver on December 6, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck VANCOUVER — Taylor Swift's three-night run at BC Place, closing out the pop star's global Eras Tour, generated daily economic impact for Vancouver that could rival the 2010 Olympics and smashed data streaming records, industry figures say. The CEO of the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association, Ian Tostenson, said the shows that ended Sunday had an effect that went far beyond other concert or sporting events in the city. Tostenson said Monday that his group estimates there was a $25 million boost for Metro Vancouver’s establishments for each of the three show days. In comparison, a sold-out, highly anticipated Vancouver Canucks playoff game brings an estimated $3 million a day in economic impact, Tostenson said. “In the context of comparing to anything else, it’s not even believable almost — it’s such a huge impact,” Tostenson said. “I was out a little bit on Friday and Saturday, and every place I went to was absolutely lined up and packed.” Tostenson said the concerts rivalled the Olympics in drawing fans from regions far beyond what a typical playoff hockey game would, and while it is difficult to compare the 2010 Winter Games to the Taylor Swift weekend, the events were in the same magnitude in daily impact on restaurants. “The financial impact of the Olympics was massive, (but) it was spread out over a couple weeks in different venues and stuff,” he said. “So, you didn't sort of feel this concentration that you saw with Taylor Swift.” Tostenson also said Swifties bumped up business across Metro Vancouver all weekend, with one major restaurant owner with multiple locations reporting full capacity not just at its downtown location but also in North Vancouver and Olympic Village. He credits the festive mood brought by fans that had an emotional effect on people in general, which in turn has a major impact on restaurants, an industry built largely on discretionary spending. People consume more when the mood is right, he said. “From a financial point of view, the Olympics probably had a bigger impact,” Tostenson said. “But ... I'm going to venture to estimate that this, on a daily basis compared to the Olympics, was stronger.” Telecommunications giant Rogers said data used during the last show was enough to stream Swift's entire music catalogue 9,450 times. It said in a statement that fans on the company's network set a Canadian record when they used more than 11 terabytes of mobile data in just a few hours at BC Place. The company's chief technology officer Mark Kennedy said Monday that is the equivalent of uploading 307,000 photos and 2,180 hours of video streaming. The previous record was set Nov. 21, when fans at Swift's concert in Toronto used 7.4 terabytes of data on the Rogers network. Music industry publication Pollstar also said Monday that Swift's 149-show worldwide tour brought in revenue of US$2.2 billion in its 20-month run. Vancouver Police thanked residents and visitors for a "safe and memorable weekend." Const. Tania Visintin said in a social media post that police spent months preparing for the shows. "We've had so much fun meeting people of all ages from all around the world, trading friendship bracelets and showing what a great city it can really be when we all look out for one another," she said. Thirteen Swift-themed lighting installations were set up at locations around the city to celebrate the singer's arrival. Suzanne Walters, a spokeswoman for Destination Vancouver, said most of the lit-up letters will be coming down over the next few days, but the “Swiftcouver” display downtown will stay until Dec. 13 — Swift’s birthday. Walters said the letters will be reused for holiday displays over the month of December and then be part of a pool of rentable supplies. Swift told the 60,000 fans in BC Place at Sunday's show that they were part of a tour seen by 10 million people, and that it was the most thrilling chapter of her life to date. She said the legacy of the tour will be "a space of joy and togetherness and love" that the fans have created. Swiftie Alaina Robertson echoed Swift's sentiments after the show, saying she shed lots of tears watching the "once in a lifetime" spectacle. Robertson — who travelled from Camas, Wash., for the show and wore a "Reputation" inspired outfit along with a temporary silver bedazzled snake tattoo — said she doesn't think any other concert will be able to compare. "It's going to be hard to beat," she said of the show. "She's changing the world of music. She's changing entertainment entirely, and to be at the tour with the crowd here, getting to do the friendship bracelets, getting to get dressed up — it's just love and joy and friendship, and it's been really magical to be a part of it." Fan accounts on social media platform X have posted photos showing a number of television and music stars at BC Place Sunday night, including actors Jenna Fischer, Aubrey Plaza and Jesse Tyler Ferguson as well as Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. — With files from Ashley Joannou, Brieanna Charlebois and The Associated Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2024. Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message More Entertainment News 10 new TV shows from 2024 that are worth watching before the new year Dec 9, 2024 3:14 PM 'Looking for the Weinstein of Quebec': impresario Gilbert Rozon's civil trial begins Dec 9, 2024 2:58 PM Jay-Z says lawsuit accusing him of raping a child at awards after-party is part of an extortion ploy Dec 9, 2024 2:38 PM Featured FlyerA report this week indicated Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins was with a knee sprain and it will be at least a four-game absence from the lineup. The Chargers announced that Dobbins has been placed on injured reserve on Saturday. Safety Alohi Gilman, who has a hamstring injury, was also moved to that list. Dobbins has been enjoying a strong season after three injury-plagued years with the Ravens. He has 158 carries for 766 yards and eight touchdowns, but the Chargers will have to go with Gus Edwards, Hassan Haskins, and Kimani Vidal for the time being. The Chargers filled one of the open roster spots by signing veteran safety Tony Jefferson to the active roster. They also called up cornerback Dicaprio Bootle and linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste from the practice squad on a temporary basis.
Vancouver Island book shop shares favourite books of 2024HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania conceded his reelection bid to Republican David McCormick on Thursday, as a statewide recount showed no signs of closing the gap and his campaign suffered repeated blows in court in its effort to get potentially favorable ballots counted. Casey’s concession comes more than two weeks after Election Day, as a grindingly slow ballot-counting process became a spectacle of hours-long election board meetings, social media outrage, lawsuits and accusations that some county officials were openly flouting the law. Republicans had been claiming that Democrats were trying to steal McCormick’s seat by counting “illegal votes.” Casey’s campaign had accused of Republicans of trying to block enough votes to prevent him from pulling ahead and winning. In a statement, Casey said he had just called McCormick to congratulate him. “As the first count of ballots is completed, Pennsylvanians can move forward with the knowledge that their voices were heard, whether their vote was the first to be counted or the last," Casey said. The Associated Press called the race for McCormick on Nov. 7, concluding that not enough ballots remained to be counted in areas Casey was winning for him to take the lead. As of Thursday, McCormick led by about 16,000 votes out of almost 7 million ballots counted. That was well within the 0.5% margin threshold to trigger an automatic statewide recount under Pennsylvania law. But no election official expected a recount to change more than a couple hundred votes or so, and Pennsylvania's highest court dealt him a blow when it refused entreaties to allow counties to count mail-in ballots that lacked a correct handwritten date on the return envelope. Republicans will have a 53-47 majority next year in the U.S. Senate. Follow Marc Levy at twitter.com/timelywriter Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Baldoni sued by ex-publicist after Blake Lively claimsAn innovative electrolyser design that uses steam to produce green hydrogen rather than water has completed its first successful road test in a real world setting. The technology – a modular assembly of tubes about half a metre long – has been installed at BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks in New South Wales where it has run without incident for over 1000 hours. This by a team of 14 scientists from CSIRO and in partnership with Hadean Energy which has licensed the technology and has ambitions to build a 250 kWh demonstration system. Conventional hydrogen electrolysers work by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, but the new technology developed by CSIRO passes 750C waste heat generated in heavy industrial processes through a series of ceramic tubes. An electric current is run along the walls of these tubes which splits the high temperature steam into hydrogen and water. The modular design of these tubes promises to reduce the cost of manufacturing, reduces production costs by 30 percent, allowing the system to make hydrogen at less than 36 kWh a kilo. CSIRO Senior Principal Research Scientist and Group Leader Dr Sarb Giddey says the use of steam is important in lowering costs of green hydrogen. The lion’s share of variable production costs for renewable hydrogen are in electricity, and a 30 per cent reduction in the electricity required – by using this steam-based technology – could be a game changer for the industry. Giddey says that with the trial run serving as proof of concept, the question now was how to scale up the system to provide the amount of hydrogen needed for use applications such as iron and steelmaking, or ammonia production. “There are two factors that are really critical to decarbonising iron making and steel making – one is the cost of hydrogen, the other is the scale we can produce at,” Giddey said. “We are looking at tonnes and tonnes of hydrogen being produced. If you look at the scale required for iron and steel making, it’s a lot of hydrogen. You have to replace the coal.” According to the , the steel industry globally accounts for 2.8 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions each year, or 8 percent of total energy system emissions. Hydrogen is expected to be essential in helping to decarbonise iron and steelmaking processes but it is currently made using gas or coal. Some proposals have sought to use carbon, capture, utilisation and storage to remove the CO2 from the steel production process, but of the approach. Of the six proposed steelmaking projects that are seeking to rely on CCUS, the analysts found all lack transparency about key details on the projects including capture capacity and storage type. Two of three projects considered in “advanced development” do not have dates by which they expect to enter production. The world’s only operational commercial-scale CCUS project for steelmaking, the project in the United Arab Emirates, only manages to capture a quarter of its emissions, the analysts found. CSIRO’s green hydrogen technology has been licenced to Hadean Energy which is seeking to develop a modular design. A showcase of a 5kW demonstration unit as part of the Australia-UK Renewable Hydrogen Innovation Partnership is in planning. Under this partnership the company is working to build a small 5kW electrolyser for use in a UK .
Trump, Vance attack and troll Democrats on ThanksgivingAuthored by Ted Snider via AntiWar.com, On December 11, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that, as one of the last things he would do at the end of his term as the European Union’s rotating president, he proposed a Christmas truce between Ukraine and Russia. "At the end of the Hungarian EU presidency, we made new efforts for peace. We proposed a Christmas ceasefire and a large-scale prisoner exchange ," he said. Sadly, he said, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "clearly rejected and ruled out" the idea. There is a history of the Christmas truce, and there is a history of civilian and military leaders rejecting it. On Christmas morning of 1914, a truce spread across multiple regions along the hundreds of miles western front. The truce broke out spontaneously and was not officially sanctioned. Pope Benedict XV had proposed a Christmas truce, pleading "that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang." But officials on both sides rejected his plea . But individual soldiers did not, and an unofficial, spontaneous truce broke out in different ways in different places . In some, British soldiers could see lanterns on small Christmas trees along the German trench and could hear German soldiers singing “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht.” Amazed British soldiers applauded the carol singing and responded with their own chorus of “The First Noel.” In other places along the front, British soldiers heard German soldiers inviting them to cross the no man’s land and “Come over here.” British soldiers answered, “You come half-way. I come half-way.” Sometimes the call included the invitation to bring a bottle and meet half way. In yet another account, British soldiers decided to take advantage of the thick fog that blanketed the field that morning to repair their trenches. As the fog suddenly lifted, they saw German soldiers doing the same thing. The two sides were close enough to shout greetings back and forth. Some German soldiers said they wanted a truce for that day, and the British soldiers approached, meeting them in no man’s land where the enemies shook hands and exchanged cigarettes . They spoke, and for one brief moment, the war came to a stop. There are remarkable reports in diaries of the effect the Christmas truce had. One British soldier recorded that “There was not an atom of hate on either side.” Another wrote in his diary, “Here we were laughing and chatting to men whom only a few hours before we were trying to kill!” British soldiers report Germans telling them in accented English that “they rather dislike[d]... the whole war in fact. They weren’t aggressive at all.” There are accounts of soldiers helping enemy soldiers collect their dead. There are even accounts of a soccer game breaking out. The Germans won 3-2. Officials were not at all pleased by the peaceful actions of their armed forces. Military leaders feared that the camaraderie and conversation would allow the men to get to know each other and undermine their willingness to kill each other. Orders were given on both sides to cease all “fraternization with the enemy.” Officers were ordered to fire on enemy soldiers who approached across no man’s land. Soldiers who violated the order face court martials. That would be the first and last Christmas truce in World War I. After that magical Christmas, High Command on both sides prevented it from ever happening again. In December 2022, faith leaders’ call for a Christmas truce in the Russia-Ukraine war “in the spirit of the truce that occurred in 1914 during the First World War” was drowned out by the continued sound of artillery . And, now three years into the war, Orban has repeated that call. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó says that Zelensky “forcefully but politely” refused a call from Orban to discuss a Christmas truce . Despite that initial rejection, Hungary is still pushing for the truce. Orban says that Moscow responded positively to the idea of a Christmas truce and prisoner exchange and that, though Kiev has so far rejected the idea, hope still remains. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also claims that “Putin has supported” the effort of Orban and that “Russian President Vladimir Putin backs Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s efforts to achieve a Christmas ceasefire in Ukraine.” Asked about the Christmas truce proposal that “Orban seems to floating,” Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick for national security advisor, answered that “if that is some type of ceasefire as a first step, again, we’ll – we’ll take a hard look at what that means.” Russia and Ukraine have agreed on nothing during this war. There has even been a cultural battle in Ukraine between Russian and Ukrainian linked Orthodox churches. But, perhaps, the two churches can agree that Jesus’ message was not one of war. It is unlikely that the two sides will officially agree to a Christmas truce. It is, perhaps, even unlikely that small, spontaneous truces will pop up along the Donbas front. But, perhaps, in some small pocket of the front, a small number of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers will approach each other half way across the field that separates them and shake hands and exchange Christmas greetings and remind their leaders that the people who are suffering and dying are not just enemy soldiers but, more essentially, humans and brothers who just want to go home and stop this dreadful war.Charleston Southern 83, Miami 79
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay's surest path to the NFL playoffs is a division championship. The Buccaneers will need help to repeat in the NFC South , but only if they first and foremost give themselves a chance. That means winning their remaining games at home against Carolina and New Orleans, while the Atlanta Falcons lose at least once in the final two weeks of the regular season. The Bucs (8-7) and Falcons share the best record in the division, however Atlanta holds the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series between the teams. Tampa Bay, which has won three consecutive division titles, is the only NFC team that has made the playoffs each of the past four seasons. “We’ve got to take care of business or else we’ve got no shot,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said after a 26-24 loss at Dallas cost the Bucs control of the NFC South race. “This one, we've got to take it on the chin,” Mayfield added. “It's a short week. It's Christmas week. We've got to focus on Carolina and figure out a way to win.” If Atlanta is able to maintain its lead, Tampa Bay could make the postseason as a wild card if the Bucs win out and the Commanders lose twice. Coach Todd Bowles sounds confident that his players understand the challenge ahead and will clean up mistakes that contributed to the end of their four-game win streak. “We’ve got to win a ballgame (this week). If we don’t win a ballgame, we don’t give ourselves a chance,” Bowles said Monday. “We have to focus on us like we’ve been doing,” the coach added. “We have to correct the mistakes, and we have to go out and win Sunday, and we’ve got to win the next week, and then we’ll see what happens after that.” The offense, which ranks third in the NFL at 389.8 yards per game, isn't a fluke. Despite losing to the Cowboys, Tampa Bay finished with 410 yards total offense. It was the team's fifth straight game — as well as an NFL-high ninth overall — with 400-plus yards. The Bucs are seventh in rushing (143.7 yards per game) after ranking 32nd each of the past two seasons. The defense yielded 292 yards passing against the Cowboys, 226 of it in the first half when Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb had six catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Bowles said shoddy tackling was the biggest issue — not poor coverage. Lamb had one reception for 5 yards after halftime. Mayfield's chemistry with rookie WR Jalen McMillan, who has 27 receptions for 336 yards and five TDs, continues to grow. McMillan had five catches for 57 yards and a touchdown — his fourth in the past three games — against Dallas. He was also the intended receiver on Mayfield's deep throw that CB Jourdan Lewis intercepted in the end zone to help the Cowboys hold off the Bucs in the closing minutes. Turnovers were costly against Dallas. The end-zone interception stopped the Bucs from cutting into a 26-17 deficit with 6:22 remaining in the fourth quarter. Rachaad White's fumble with 1:31 left ended any hope for a last-minute victory. On both plays, defenders ripped the ball out of the grasp of the offensive player. “We knew they were going to rake at the ball going into the ballgame," Bowles said. "We just have to have two hands on the ball, and we have to fight for it. We have to take better care of the football. That’s priority No. 1.” Bowles said it's too early to project the status of several starters for coming games, including S Antoine Winfield Jr. (knee), who has missed the past two games. TE Cade Otton (knee) and LB K.J. Britt (ankle) were inactive against the Cowboys, while reserve WR Sterling Shepard left during the game with a hamstring injury. 80. Bucky Irving leads all NFL rookie RBs with 920 yards rushing. He needs 80 over the next two games to reach 1,000. He scored his seventh rushing touchdown against Dallas. That tied Errict Rhett and Lars Tate for the second-most rushing TDs by a rookie running back in franchise history. Doug Martin set the record of 11 in 2012. Host Carolina on Sunday. NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflJohnson Lukaza Unveils Brand New Personal Website to Inspire Innovation and Leadership
2 years into process, DEEM says financing ready to start Bader Field developmentA reestablished team of Clark County cold-case investigators is hoping to link trace evidence to one of serial killer Warren Forrest’s suspected victims from 50 years ago. In October 1974, a hunting party found Carol Valenzuela, 18, and Martha Morrison’s skeletal remains in shallow graves about 100 feet apart in a densely wooded area of Dole Valley in eastern Clark County. Morrison’s remains weren’t identified until July 2015, however. A Clark County Superior Court jury convicted Forrest of Morrison’s cold-case murder in February 2023 — after a breakthrough in the case thanks to DNA evidence. Blood found on an air pistol Forrest used to torture a Camas woman in October 1974 was identified as Morrison’s. Now, investigators want Forrest prosecuted for Valenzuela’s slaying. Earlier this year, Clark County Sheriff John Horch reestablished a mostly volunteer cold-case team that had been suspended in 2020. The team includes retired homicide detectives, including Doug Maas, who joined in June. Maas was one of the first deputies who responded after a Camas woman escaped an attack by Forrest at Lacamas Lake in 1974. Maas later served as a detective on the Forrest cases in 1976, according to the sheriff’s office. “We want the community to know we haven’t given up on this, and we mainly want Forrest to know we haven’t given up on this — and won’t,” Maas said during a Monday interview from the Major Crimes Unit office in downtown Vancouver. “As long as I stay vertical, I’m going to stay on this one.” With Maas taking the lead, a trio of cold-case investigators are working on Forrest’s cases. A couple other cold-case investigators are actively working on another seven unsolved cases, said sheriff’s Sgt. Fred Neiman Jr., who oversees the unit. (Another 23 unsolved cases are pending, he said.) Forrest, 75, of Battle Ground is suspected in the disappearances and deaths of seven women and girls in Clark County between 1971 and 1974: Jamie Grissim, 16, in December 1971; Barbara Ann Derry, 18, in February 1972; Diane Gilchrist, 14, in May 1974; Gloria Nadine Knutson, 19, in May 1974; Krista Kay Blake, 20, in July 1974; Valenzuela in August 1974; and Morrison in August or September 1974. Two others — Norma Jean Countryman, 15, who was abducted in July 1974, and the 20-year-old Camas woman — survived. Forrest, an Army veteran and former Clark County parks employee, is serving two life sentences for Morrison and Blake’s slayings. Blake was last seen July 11, 1974, climbing into Forrest’s light blue van near downtown Vancouver. Her remains were found exactly two years later in a shallow grave on Clark County parks property at Tukes Mountain. Cold-case investigators are now working to analyze trace evidence, including hair and nail samples, recovered from Forrest’s van in the 1970s. Some of the trace evidence was examined by the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab more than a decade ago. But at that time, the lab didn’t have the capability to build a DNA profile. Advances in DNA technology now make that possible. Private labs, in particular, are able to work off as little as a hair shaft, Maas and Neiman said. The sheriff’s office is consulting with Texas-based Othram, a private laboratory, to explore options for testing. The agency has previously worked with the laboratory, Neiman said. The sheriff’s office does not yet have a timeline for when the evidence will be tested. It is still determining what should be sent to Othram and how that will be funded, and what can be tested by the State Patrol, Neiman said. DNA testing can take six months to a year to complete, although private labs are typically faster, he said. In the meantime, the sheriff’s office is seeking the public’s help in gathering information related to Forrest’s suspected victims. A sheriff’s office team contacted Forrest in prison earlier this year, Neiman said, and plans to reach out again. “We’ve given him opportunities to bring closure to the families,” Neiman said. At his sentencing in Morrison’s case, Forrest declined to address the court, despite Morrison’s brother and prosecutors urging him to provide answers. “He probably hopes he never sees us, but we’re never going to give up,” Maas said. Starr Lara has been seeking answers about her sister, Jamie Grissim, for decades. Grissim’s wallet was discovered in May 1972 beside a road in Dole Valley, about a mile from where Morrison and Valenzuela’s remains were later found. Grissim’s remains have never been located, although a K-9 trained in cadaver detection searched as recently as July, Maas said. “Forrest is an enigma. (Serial killer Ted) Bundy came clean in the end. ... Forrest is as cold as they come,” Maas said. “He’s 75 now. Time is of the essence.”(TNS) — A new website unveiled Friday will warn drivers and emergency services in southern Elkhart County about blocked railroad crossings. The site tracks the status of 10 railroad crossings between Goshen and the intersection of U.S. 6 and S.R. 15, just north of Milford . A green dot on the map means a crossing along the Marion Branch tracks is open and a red dot means a train is occupying it. A timer at each red dot can give an idea of whether a train is moving through or camping out. The site adds a black circle to indicate that a crossing has been blocked for more than 10 minutes. “The public and first responders are really tired of being held hostage with blocked crossings,” Elkhart County Commissioner Brad Rogers said. “We created this knowledge, and knowledge is power for first responders and the public. When you have this knowledge of where the crossings are open, you can make adjustments.” Elkhart County contracted with Blocked Crossings LLC to install the system, which has been in operation for several weeks and is now available to the public. Company co-owner Glenn Gilbert believes it’s the first community in the country to use the technology, which relies on cameras to detect when the warning lights at a crossing are flashing. The method was designed by Goshen software developer Douglas Miller. Over the past 10 years he tried a range of ways to remotely determine if a crossing was blocked, from ground vibrations and audio cues to changes in magnetic fields. Miller said the problem with each of those detection methods was that a train became invisible once it stopped. He realized that the question they should be trying to answer was, “Is this crossing open or blocked?” and that a camera was the simplest, most reliable solution. Blocked Crossings LLC came along at a time of mounting frustration with rail traffic in cities like Goshen and towns like New Paris . Local government representatives saw the usefulness of the technology to emergency services, who when confronted with a train may have only seconds to decide whether a left or right turn is the better bet to find an open crossing. When Rogers was the Elkhart County Sheriff, he had his department issue tickets to train engineers who were stopped at crossings for more than 20 minutes. But a 2018 ruling by the Indiana Supreme Court ended the longtime state law that gave local law enforcement agencies that power. The Jackson Township Fire Department’s New Paris station is a stone’s throw from a crossing that serves as the gateway to its western coverage area, which includes part of Union Township. Fire Chief Bill Dunlap and Rogers, whose district includes Jackson Township, issued a statement in the spring of 2022 pointing out the danger to public safety and calling on Norfolk Southern Railway to stop parking trains in the way. City of Goshen representatives expressed similar frustration a year earlier, asking the railway to “stop using our community as a parking lot.” The county appropriated an initial sum of $60,000 in August 2023 to install poles and cameras at the New Paris -area crossings and to pay for the first year of service with Blocked Crossings. Jackson Township Trustee Tom Lantz agreed to cover the annual maintenance cost of $9,600 starting in 2025. ©
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Hyun tabbed as DNR secretaryNASHVILLE, Tenn. — Married couples across the U.S. have had access to no-fault divorce for more than 50 years, an option many call crucial to supporting domestic abuse victims and key to preventing already crowded family courts from drowning in complicated divorce proceedings. But some advocates for women worried as old comments from now Vice President-elect JD Vance circulated during the presidential campaign opposing no-fault divorce. After President-elect Donald Trump and Vance won the election, warnings began popping up on social media urging women who might be considering divorce to "pull the trigger" while they still could. Some attorneys posted saying they saw a spike in calls from women seeking divorce consultations. Donald and Ivana Trump pose in May 1988 outside the Federal Courthouse in New York after she was sworn in as a United States citizen. Trump — who is twice-divorced — hasn't championed overhauling the country's divorce laws, but in 2021 Vance lamented that divorce is too easily accessible, as have conservative podcasters and others. People are also reading... "We've run this experiment in real time and what we have is a lot of very, very real family dysfunction that's making our kids unhappy," Vance said during a speech at a Christian high school in California, where he criticized people being able to "shift spouses like they change their underwear." Marriage rates held steady but divorce rates of women age 15 and older declined from 2012 to 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released in October. Despite concerns, even those who want to make divorces harder to get say they don't expect big, swift changes. There is not a national coordinated effort underway. States determine their own divorce laws, so national leaders can't directly change policy. "Even in some of the so-called red states, it hasn't gotten anywhere," said Beverly Willett, co-chair of the Coalition for Divorce Reform, whose group unsuccessfully attempted to convince states to repeal their no-fault divorce laws. A couple exchanges wedding bands Oct. 11, 2018, at City Hall in Philadelphia. Matt Rourke, Associated Press Mark A. Smith, a political science professor at the University of Washington, said while many Americans became accustomed to no-fault divorce being an option, Vance's previous comments on making it more difficult to separate from a spouse could help jump-start that effort. "Even though he's not directly proposing a policy, it's a topic that hasn't gotten a ton of discussion in the last 15 years," Smith said. "And so to have a national profile politician talk that way is noteworthy." Meanwhile, Republican Party platforms in Texas and Nebraska were amended in 2022 to call for the removal of no-fault divorce. Louisiana's Republican Party considered something similar this year but declined to do so. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts A handful of proposals were introduced in conservative-led statehouses over the years, but all immediately stalled after they were filed. In January, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Dusty Deevers introduced legislation that would have removed married couples from filing for divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. Deevers backed the bill after writing a piece declaring no-fault divorce was an "abolition of marital obligation." Sen. JD Vance smiles as his wife Usha Vance applauds Nov. 6 at an election-night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. Evan Vucci, Associated Press Similarly, in South Carolina, two Republican lawmakers in 2023 filed a bill that would have required both spouses to file for a no-fault divorce application rather than just one. In South Dakota, a Republican lawmaker attempted to remove irreconcilable difference as grounds for divorce since 2020. None of the sponsors of these bills responded to interview requests from The Associated Press. All are members of their state's conservative Freedom Caucus. Nevertheless, some Democratic lawmakers say they remain worried about the future of no-fault divorce. They point to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the constitutional right to abortion in 2022 as an example of a long-accepted option that was revoked through a decades-long effort. "When you choose to be silent, you allow for this to creep in," said Democratic South Dakota Rep. Linda Duba. "These are the bills that gain a foothold because you choose to be silent." Before California became the first state to adopt a no-fault divorce option in 1969, married couples had to prove their spouse violated one of the approved "faults" outlined in their state's divorce law or risk a judge denying their divorce, said Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Qualified reasons varied from state to state, but largely included infidelity, incarceration or abandonment. Donald and Marla Trump wave to photographers Dec. 20, 1993, as they enter their wedding reception in New York's Plaza Hotel. Kathy Willens, Associated Press The system was a particular burden on domestic violence victims, who are often women who could be stuck in dangerous marriages while they try to prove their partner's abuse in court through expensive and lengthy legal proceedings. "If there was any evidence that the couple both wanted to get divorced that was supposed to be denied because divorce was not something you got because you wanted it, it was something you got because you've been wronged in a way that the state thought was significant," Grossman said. To date, every state in the U.S. adopted a no-fault divorce option. However, 33 states still have a list of approved "faults" to file as grounds for divorce — ranging from adultery to felony conviction. In 17 states, married people only have the option of choosing no-fault divorce to end their marriages. The Most Divorced Cities in the U.S. Divorce rates have declined alongside increasing marriage ages since the 1980s The link between rates of divorce and age at first marriage has been borne out over time, but it also explains geographic differences in rates of divorce. Today, most of the states with the lowest rates of divorce are also those with a higher median age for marriage. States like New Jersey, New York, California, and Massachusetts all stand out for having fewer than 10% of adults divorced and an age at first marriage above 30. One exception to this is Utah, which has the lowest overall median age for first marriage at 25.5 but also the third-lowest share of divorced adults at 9%, likely due in part to the state’s strong religious ties to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . In contrast, Maine and Nevada lead all states in the share of the population currently divorced at 13.9% and 13.8%, respectively. And at the local level, many of the cities with the highest levels of divorce are found in Florida, Appalachia, and the Southwest. Maine and Nevada have the highest proportions of adults currently divorced The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 American Community Survey . To determine the most divorced locations, researchers at ChamberOfCommerce.org calculated the percentage of adults currently divorced. In the event of a tie, the location with the higher percentage of adults currently separated was ranked higher. To improve relevance, only cities with at least 100,000 residents were included. Additionally, cities were grouped into cohorts based on population size: small (100,000–149,999), midsize (150,000–349,999), and large (350,000 or more). Here are the most divorced cities in the U.S. Small and midsize cities with the most divorced adults 15. Aurora, CO Photo Credit: Jacob Boomsma / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 12.7% Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.0% Percentage of adults currently married: 46.1% Percentage of adults never married: 34.9% Shutterstock 14. New Orleans, LA Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 12.8% Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.7% Percentage of adults currently married: 28.5% Percentage of adults never married: 50.3% Shutterstock 13. Oklahoma City, OK Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 12.9% Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.3% Percentage of adults currently married: 45.1% Percentage of adults never married: 34.2% Shutterstock 12. Colorado Springs, CO Photo Credit: photo.ua / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 13.0% Percentage of adults currently separated: 1.5% Percentage of adults currently married: 49.9% Percentage of adults never married: 31.1% Shutterstock 11. Louisville/Jefferson County, KY Photo Credit: Jonny Trego / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 13.0% Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.0% Percentage of adults currently married: 41.9% Percentage of adults never married: 36.6% Shutterstock 10. Kansas City, MO Photo Credit: Tupungato / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 13.3% Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.2% Percentage of adults currently married: 39.7% Percentage of adults never married: 39.7% Shutterstock 9. Wichita, KS Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 13.5% Percentage of adults currently separated: 1.9% Percentage of adults currently married: 45.9% Percentage of adults never married: 33.4% Shutterstock 8. Tampa, FL Photo Credit: Kevin J King / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 13.5% Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.4% Percentage of adults currently married: 38.5% Percentage of adults never married: 40.5% Shutterstock 7. Cleveland, OH Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 13.5% Percentage of adults currently separated: 3.4% Percentage of adults currently married: 24.7% Percentage of adults never married: 52.3% Shutterstock 6. Miami, FL Photo Credit: Galina Savina / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 13.5% Percentage of adults currently separated: 3.5% Percentage of adults currently married: 36.8% Percentage of adults never married: 39.8% Shutterstock 5. Las Vegas, NV Photo Credit: f11photo / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 13.8% Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.0% Percentage of adults currently married: 43.8% Percentage of adults never married: 35.3% Shutterstock 4. Jacksonville, FL Photo Credit: CHARLES MORRA / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 14.0% Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.2% Percentage of adults currently married: 42.3% Percentage of adults never married: 35.8% Shutterstock 3. Tucson, AZ Photo Credit: LHBLLC / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 14.3% Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.3% Percentage of adults currently married: 35.7% Percentage of adults never married: 42.5% Shutterstock 2. Tulsa, OK Photo Credit: Valiik30 / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 14.6% Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.5% Percentage of adults currently married: 42.2% Percentage of adults never married: 34.7% Shutterstock 1. Albuquerque, NM Photo Credit: turtix / Shutterstock Percentage of adults currently divorced: 15.1% Percentage of adults currently separated: 1.4% Percentage of adults currently married: 39.8% Percentage of adults never married: 38.2% Shutterstock Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!