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2025-01-24
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned home Saturday after his meeting with Donald Trump without assurances the president-elect will back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner. Trump called the talks “productive” but signaled no retreat from a pledge that Canada says unfairly lumps it in with Mexico over the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States. After the leaders’ hastily arranged dinner Friday night at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trudeau spoke of “an excellent conversation." Trump said in a Truth Social post later Saturday that they discussed “many important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address.” For issues in need of such cooperation, Trump cited fentanyl and the “Drug Crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of Illegal Immigration," fair trade deals "that do not jeopardize American Workers” and the U.S. trade deficit with its ally to the north. Trump asserted that the prime minister had made “a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation” of American families from fentanyl from China reaching the United States through its neighbors. The U.S., he said, “will no longer sit idly by as our Citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic.” The Republican president-elect has threatened to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders when he takes office in January. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. On immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024 — and Canadian officials say they are ready to make new investments in border security. Trudeau called Trump after the Republican's social media posts about the tariffs last Monday and they agreed to meet, according to a official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss detail of the private talks. The official said other countries are calling Canadian officials to hear how about how the meeting was arranged and to ask for advice. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, after speaking with Trump on the telephone, said Thursday she was confident a tariff war with Washington would be averted. At the dinner that was said to last three hours, Trump said he and Trudeau also discussed energy, trade and the Arctic. A second official cited defense, Ukraine, NATO, China, the Mideast, pipelines and the Group of Seven meeting in Canada next year as other issues that arose. Trudeau's office said in a statement that the leaders “shared a productive wide-ranging discussion” centering on “collaboration and strengthening our relationship,” adding, "As Canada’s closest friend and ally, the United States is our key partner, and we are committed to working together in the interests of Canadians and Americans.” Trump, during his first term as president, once called Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest,” but it was the prime minister who was the first G7 leader to visit Trump since the Nov. 5 election. "Tariffs are a crucial issue for Canada and a bold move was in order. Perhaps it was a risk, but a risk worth taking,” Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. Trudeau had said before leaving from Friday that Trump was elected because he promised to bring down the cost of groceries but now was talking about adding 25% to the cost of all kinds of products, including potatoes from Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada. “It is important to understand that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There’s no question about it,” Trudeau said. “Our responsibility is to point out that he would not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but he would actually be raising prices for Americans citizens as well and hurting American industry and business,” he added. The threatened tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade pact that Trump’s team negotiated during his first term. Trudeau noted they were able to successfully renegotiate the deal, which he calls a “win win” for both countries. When Trump imposed higher tariffs as president, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for instance, announced billions of new duties in 2018 against the U.S. in a response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US $2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security. Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 77% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S. ___ Gillies reported from Toronto.FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — MiLaysia Fulwiley’s 14 points led seven players in double figures as fourth-ranked South Carolina overwhelmed Purdue 99-51 in the Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off on Saturday. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — MiLaysia Fulwiley’s 14 points led seven players in double figures as fourth-ranked South Carolina overwhelmed Purdue 99-51 in the Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off on Saturday. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — MiLaysia Fulwiley’s 14 points led seven players in double figures as fourth-ranked South Carolina overwhelmed Purdue 99-51 in the Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off on Saturday. Ashlyn Watkins and Tessa Johnson added 13 points, Chloe Kitts and Bree Hall had 12, Joyce Edwards 11 and Maddy McDaniel 10 for the Gamecocks (7-1). Purdue’s Destini Lombard led all scorers with 24 points. At one point, Purdue (4-3) and South Carolina (7-1) were tied 10-10. But coming out of a timeout, the Gamecocks went on a 13-2 run. South Carolina kept extending the lead. The Gamecocks led 53-18 at halftime and 78-31 after three quarters. No. 10 MARYLAND 66, GEORGE MASON 56 ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Kaylene Smikle scored 16 points and made a couple key baskets down the stretch to help No. 10 Maryland hold off George Mason in a matchup of unbeatens at the Navy Classic. The Terrapins (7-0) led by just two when Smikle stole the ball and made a layup while being fouled. The free throw pushed the lead to 58-53. Then a putback by Smikle put Maryland up by seven. The Terps won despite shooting 13 of 26 on free throws. George Mason (6-1) trailed by 10 at halftime before outscoring Maryland 18-7 in the third quarter. The Patriots’ final lead was 49-48 in the fourth after a jumper by Kennedy Harris. Harris led George Mason with 26 points. Maryland is off to its best start since winning its first 12 games in 2018-19. No. 15 IOWA ST. 75, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 59 FORT MEYERS, Fla. (AP) — Audi Crooks scored 21 points and No. 15 Iowa State rebounded from a 40-point loss to South Carolina with a win over Middle Tennessee in the Fort Meyers Women’s Tip-Off. The Cyclones closed the first half on a 10-2 run to lead 41-33. Mackenzie Hare had a steal she turned into a three-point play and Addy Brown had a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Brown finished with 12 points and eight rebounds for the Cyclones (6-2), who shot 55% from the field with eight 3-pointers. Ta’Mia Scott scored 24 points, 17 in the second half, for the Blue Racers (6-2). Anastasiia Boldyreva and Jalynn Gregory both added 14. The Blue Racers shot 28% in the first half and finished at 31.5%. No. 18 MISSISSIPPI 89, ALABAMA ST. 24 OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Sira Thienou scored 16 points with six rebounds, five assists and four steals and No. 18 Mississippi coasted to an win over Alabama State. Starr Jacobs and Christeen Iwuala both added 12 points and Kennedy Todd-Williams had 11 for the Rebels (5-2), who had a breather after losing to No. 2 UConn by 13 in the Bahamas. Kaitlyn Bryant had seven points to lead the Hornets (2-5), who shot 19% with 33 turnovers and were outrebounded 43-25. Alabama State was 1 of 8 with 11 turnovers in the first quarter, falling behind 24-4. The Hornets were 2 of 11 with seven giveaways in the second quarter when they were outscored 33-6 to trail 57-10 at the half. No. 24 LOUISVILLE 79, COLORADO 71 BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Nyla Harris had 14 points and Jayda Curry scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter to help No. 24 Louisville get past Colorado. The Cardinals led 56-55 after three quarters before pulling away in the fourth by scoring 16 unanswered points, capped by a fast-break layup by Curry, before Colorado made its first field goal of the frame with 2:48 left. Colorado scored the next six points to get within single digits at 72-63, but freshman Tajianna Roberts banked in a jumper in the lane at the other end. Izela Arenas sealed it on two free throws with 24.9 seconds left for a nine-point lead. Roberts finished with 13 and Arenas had 11 for Louisville (5-2). Advertisement777 49jili

Rutgers 77, Georgia Southern 60

Bamboo expert, ISO Excellence awardee appointed as DOST-FPRDI director

ATHENS, Ga. — This one’s going to hurt for a while. Ahead by 17 points at the half, by 14 with four minutes left in regulation, Georgia Tech tasted the most bitter of defeats. And instead of sweet, sweet victory over a most hated rival, instead of stunning a national power for whom a win Friday was widely assumed, the Yellow Jackets and their fan base once again have only heartbreak. What if Tech could have converted a fourth-and-1 (or a third-and-1) from the Georgia 25 early on? What if the Jackets hadn’t missed a 25-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter? What if the Tech defense could have made only one play to stop any of Georgia’s three fourth-quarter touchdown drives? What if the Jackets could have converted a first down after taking possession of the ball with 3:33 left in regulation and leading 27-20? What if Tech could have scored on either of the two overtime periods when it had the ball second after a failed Bulldogs attempt and could have ended the game with a successful two-point conversion? What if, what if, what if? No. 7 Georgia 44, Georgia Tech 42, eight overtimes. For the seventh consecutive meeting, the Jackets fell to their in-state rivals, this time in a fashion that was like a gut punch followed by a kick to the face and finished off with strangers barking loudly in their face. But what ought not be forgotten in such a crushing defeat was the incontrovertible evidence that Tech has become a team to be reckoned with — in college football, in the ACC and undoubtedly in the state of Georgia. It took Georgia, a national championship contender playing in front of its vaunted home crowd — where it hadn’t lost in its past 30 games — eight overtimes to survive its archrival’s upset attempt. Only once in college football history have two teams played more overtimes, a nine-overtime game between Illinois and Penn State in 2021. That was the degree to which Georgia and Tech were evenly matched. This at the end of a regular season in which the Jackets beat two top-10 teams, won more regular-season games (seven) than they had won since 2018 and earned back-to-back bowl bids for the first time since their 18-year bowl streak ended in the 2015 season. If Georgia goes on to win the national title, the Bulldogs and their fan base will have to look upon that late November night at Sanford Stadium and feel thankful (and perhaps lucky) that the Jackets didn’t have one more play in them. It was so, so close. Entering the game as 17-point underdogs, the Yellow Jackets took control of the game from the start. They drove into Georgia territory on their first five possessions, twice scoring touchdowns, while forcing two punts, a turnover, a fourth-down stop and a missed field-goal attempt in Georgia’s first five times with the ball. They led 17-0 at the half, the first time the Bulldogs had been held scoreless through halftime since 2019. If anyone had doubted Tech’s capacity to take down the Bulldogs before kickoff, the time for disbelief had passed. Tech continued to control the game into the third quarter, with the Jackets answering two Georgia touchdown drives with a field goal and a touchdown. Quarterback Haynes King, his right (throwing) shoulder in much better health than it had been in Tech’s previous two games when his passing ability was severely limited, was at his gritty playmaking best. When he ran in a keeper from 11 yards out that (along with an Aidan Birr point-after try) put the Jackets up 27-13 with 5:37 to play in regulation, it seemed safe for Tech fans to start to celebrate. Indeed, Georgia fans began to leave Sanford Stadium, their expectations of victory dashed. But, as is the history of this one-sided rivalry, the talented Bulldogs had the final say. Georgia drove 75 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 27-20 with 3:39 left in the fourth quarter, then forced a fumble out of King on a fateful third-and-1 carry from the Tech 31. It followed another “what if?” — a King pass to receiver Abdul Janneh on second-and-13 in which Janneh was forced out of bounds just shy of the marker. Georgia exploited the mistake and tied the score with a 32-yard touchdown drive that finished with 1:01 left in the fourth quarter. In the wildest back-and-forth struggle in overtime, Georgia and Tech could not be separated, stuck to each other like magnets bound by titanium and sealed in a vacuum. Seven overtimes could not yield a winner. The two teams matched touchdowns and extra points (first overtime), then touchdowns and failed mandatory two-point tries (second overtime), then failed two-point conversion tries (third and fourth overtimes), then successful conversions (fifth overtime), then failed conversions (sixth and seventh overtimes). The seventh had a now-or-never feel for the Jackets. Going first, Georgia was stopped on a Carson Beck keeper when the Bulldogs borrowed from the Tech playbook with a fake toss by Beck and a run up the middle, a King staple. He was stopped short by safety Omar Daniels. Tech could now win with a conversion from the 3-yard line. Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner dug deep from his own cache of plays, lining up both offensive tackles and both guards near the sideline. The resulting pass play yielded a pass interference against Georgia and now the Jackets had the ball at the 1 1/2-yard line. If the Jackets could just punch it in from 54 inches out, victory would be theirs. But King, carrying after a fake handoff, was tackled well short of the goal line. And in the eighth overtime, Georgia finally prevailed. King threw incomplete to receiver Eric Singleton Jr. and then Bulldogs running back Nate Frazier scored on a run up the middle. In the first minutes of Saturday morning, game (finally) over. Some Tech players walked straight to the locker room. King, who had played so valiantly, graciously wandered through the field finding Bulldogs players to congratulate before heading back to the locker room. There is one consolation for Tech and its fan base. Tech must have Georgia’s full attention now. It already had Smart’s. He has seen his colleague Key build this program and claim recruits that the Bulldogs have gone after, something that hasn’t always happened in this state. “This rivalry is good for our state, and that’s what Brent and I shared before the game and after the game,” Smart said. Where recent Tech-Georgia meetings have been so one-sided in the red team’s favor that it barely seemed like a rivalry and losses nothing to lose sleep over, that’s no longer the case. But on this cold night, that might have been about it. ©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.HELOISE 1-03-25Manmohan Singh's father may have believed his bookworm son would one day lead India, but the understated technocrat with the trademark blue turban, who died Thursday at the age of 92, never dreamed it would actually happen. Singh was pitchforked into leading the world's largest democracy in 2004 by the shock decision of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to turn down the role after leading the party to an upset win over the ruling Hindu nationalists. He oversaw an economic boom in Asia's fourth-largest economy in his first term, although slowing growth in later years marred his second stint. Known as "Mr Clean", Singh nonetheless saw his image tarnished during his decade-long tenure when a series of corruption cases became public. As finance minister in the early 1990s, he was hailed at home and abroad for initiating big-bang reforms that opened India's inward-looking economy to the world. Known as a loyalist to the Gandhi political dynasty, Singh studied economics to find a way to eradicate poverty in the vast nation and never held elected office before becoming PM. But he deftly managed the rough and tumble of Indian politics -- even though many said Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of the assassinated Rajiv Gandhi, was the power behind the throne. Born in 1932 in the mud-house village of Gah in what is now Pakistan, Singh moved to the holy Sikh city of Amritsar as a teenager around the time the subcontinent was split at the end of British rule into mainly Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. His father was a dry-fruit seller in Amritsar, and he had nine brothers and sisters. He was so determined to get an education he would study at night under streetlights because it was too noisy at home, his brother Surjit Singh told AFP in 2004. "Our father always used to say Manmohan will be the prime minister of India since he stuck out among the 10 children," said Singh. "He always had his nose in a book." Singh won scholarships to attend both Cambridge, where he obtained a first in economics, and Oxford, where he completed his PhD. He worked in a string of senior civil posts, served as a central bank governor and also held various jobs with global agencies such as the United Nations. Singh was tapped in 1991 by then Congress prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to reel India back from the worst financial crisis in its modern history -- currency reserves had sunk so low the country was on the brink of defaulting on foreign loans. Singh unleashed sweeping change that broke sharply with India's Soviet-style state-directed economy. In his first term he steered the economy through a period of nine-percent growth, lending the country the international clout it had long sought. He also sealed a landmark nuclear deal with the US that he said would help India meet its growing energy needs. But by 2008 there was growing disquiet among the ruling alliance's left-leaning parties about the pact, while high inflation -- notably food and fuel prices -- hit India's poor hard. Still, voters remained drawn to his calm, pragmatic persona, and in 2009 Congress steered its alliance to a second term. Singh vowed to step up financial reforms to drive economic growth, but he came under increasing fire from critics who said he had done nothing to stop a string of corruption scandals on his watch. Several months before the 2014 elections, Singh said he would retire after the polls, with Sonia Gandhi's son Rahul earmarked to take his place if Congress won. But Congress crashed to its worst-ever result at that time as the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Narendra Modi, won a landslide. More recently, an unflattering book by a former aide titled "The Accidental Prime Minister" portrayed him as timid and controlled by Sonia Gandhi. Singh -- who said historians would be kinder to him than contemporary detractors -- became a vocal critic of Modi's economic policies, and more recently warned about the risks that rising communal tensions posed to India's democracy. pmc-grk/abh/fox/leg/sms

COA: PH jails need 550,000 sq m additional space

A I means too many (different) things to too many people. We need better ways of talking – and thinking – about it. Cue, Drew Breunig , a gifted geek and cultural anthropologist, who has come up with a neat categorisation of the technology into three use cases: gods, interns and cogs . “Gods”, in this sense, would be “super-intelligent, artificial entities that do things autonomously”. In other words, the AGI (artificial general intelligence) that OpenAI’s Sam Altman and his crowd are trying to build (at unconscionable expense), while at the same time warning that it could be an existential threat to humanity. AI gods are, Breunig says, the “human replacement use cases”. They require gigantic models and stupendous amounts of “compute”, water and electricity (not to mention the associated CO 2 emissions). “Interns” are “supervised co-pilots that collaborate with experts, focusing on grunt work”. In other words, things such as ChatGPT , Claude, Llama and similar large language models (LLMs). Their defining quality is that they are meant to be used and supervised by experts. They have a high tolerance for errors because the experts they are assisting are checking their output, preventing embarrassing mistakes from going further. They do the boring work: remembering documentation and navigating references, filling in the details after the broad strokes are defined, assisting with idea generation by acting as a dynamic sounding board and much more. Finally, “cogs” are lowly machines that are optimised to perform a single task extremely well, usually as part of a pipeline or interface. Interns are mostly what we have now; they represent AI as a technology that augments human capabilities and are already in widespread use in many industries and occupations. In that sense, they are the first generation of quasi-intelligent machines with which humans have had close cognitive interactions in work settings, and we’re beginning to learn interesting things about how well those human-machine partnerships work. One area in which there are extravagant hopes for AI is healthcare. And with good reason. In 2018, for example, a collaboration between AI researchers at DeepMind and Moorfields eye hospital in London significantly speeded up the analysis of retinal scans to detect the symptoms of patients who needed urgent treatment. But in a way, though technically difficult, that was a no-brainer: machines can “read” scans incredibly quickly and pick out ones that need specialist diagnosis and treatment. But what about the diagnostic process itself, though? Cue an intriguing US study published in October in the Journal of the American Medical Association , which reported a randomised clinical trial on whether ChatGPT could improve the diagnostic capabilities of 50 practising physicians. The ho-hum conclusion was that “the availability of an LLM to physicians as a diagnostic aid did not significantly improve clinical reasoning compared with conventional resources”. But there was a surprising kicker: ChatGPT on its own demonstrated higher performance than both physician groups (those with and without access to the machine). Or, as the New York Times summarised it , “doctors who were given ChatGPT-4 along with conventional resources did only slightly better than doctors who did not have access to the bot. And, to the researchers’ surprise, ChatGPT alone outperformed the doctors.” More interesting, though, were two other revelations: the experiment demonstrated doctors’ sometimes unwavering belief in a diagnosis they had made, even when ChatGPT suggested a better one; and it also suggested that at least some of the physicians didn’t really know how best to exploit the tool’s capabilities. Which in turn revealed what AI advocates such as Ethan Mollick have been saying for aeons: that effective “prompt engineering” – knowing what to ask an LLM to get the most out of it – is a subtle and poorly understood art. Equally interesting is the effect that collaborating with an AI has on the humans involved in the partnership. Over at MIT, a researcher ran an experiment to see how well material scientists could do their job if they could use AI in their research. The answer was that AI assistance really seems to work, as measured by the discovery of 44% more materials and a 39% increase in patent filings. This was accomplished by the AI doing more than half of the “idea generation” tasks, leaving the researchers to the business of evaluating model-produced candidate materials. So the AI did most of the “thinking”, while they were relegated to the more mundane chore of evaluating the practical feasibility of the ideas. And the result: the researchers experienced a sharp reduction in job satisfaction! Sign up to Observed Analysis and opinion on the week's news and culture brought to you by the best Observer writers after newsletter promotion Interesting, n’est-ce pas ? These researchers are high-flyers, not low-status operatives. But suddenly, collaborating with a smart machine made them feel like... well, cogs. And the moral? Be careful what you wish for. Chamber piece What If Echo Chambers Work? is a striking essay that highlights a liberal dilemma in the Donald Trump era. Savings plan A sharp analysis by Reuters is Mapping the Way for Elon Musk’s Efficiency Drive . Inventive thinking Steven Sinofsky’s fabulous, wise essay On the Toll of Being a Disruptor is about innovation and change.

Cumberland County man faces more charges in child sex, porn caseA secretary bought three shares of her company's stock for $60 each in 1935. Grace Groner reinvested her dividends for 75 years, and her stake ballooned to $7.2 million. Her employer, Abbott, shared Groner's story in a recent website post. A secretary paid $180 in 1935 for three shares of her employer's stock. By the time she died in 2010, her investment had mushroomed to $7.2 million . Advertisement Abbott, a pharmaceutical company, gave a shout-out to the former employee in a recent post on its website. "As we celebrate 101 years of dividend payouts, we're remembering one of the earliest Abbott investing success stories, that of Grace Groner , who worked as a secretary at Abbott for over 40 years," the post reads. Advertisement "In 1935, Groner bought three shares of Abbott stock for $60 each. She consistently reinvested her dividend payments and quietly amassed a $7.2 million fortune. Groner passed away in 2010, at the age of 100, and it was only then that her multimillion-dollar estate was discovered." She gifted her entire fortune to a foundation she'd established in support of her alma mater, Lake Forest College. She earmarked the money to finance internships, international study, and service projects for students. Groner hung onto her Abbott shares for over 75 years without selling a single one, despite several stock splits, and used her dividends to bolster her stake. Advertisement She was likely able to leave her nest egg intact for so long because of her simple lifestyle. She lived in a one-bedroom house, bought her clothes at rummage sales, and didn't own a car, the Chicago Tribune reported in 2010. Her shares would be worth north of $28 million today, excluding dividends, given that Abbott's stock price has roughly quadrupled since 2010. The drugmaker's market value has risen to around $200 billion, meaning it now rivals Disney, PepsiCo, and Morgan Stanley in size.A coalition of Canadian news publishers, including prominent names such as The Canadian Press, Torstar, Globe and Mail, Postmedia, and CBC/Radio-Canada, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging unauthorized use of news content for its ChatGPT AI training. In a statement released on Friday, the publishers accused OpenAI of routinely breaching copyright by extracting large amounts of content from Canadian media. They argue this practice undermines substantial investments in journalism and breaches copyright protections. OpenAI responded, asserting its models are built on publicly available data and align with fair use and international copyright standards. This legal action marks the first of its kind in Canada while similar lawsuits are ongoing in the United States. (With inputs from agencies.)

BEMIDJI — As the glow of nearly 800,000 lights illuminates downtown Bemidji and snow blankets the ground, it is once again time to celebrate the holidays. Whether you're looking for homemade gifts for your loved ones or want to hear some Christmas carols, here's a breakdown of this year's holiday celebrations. Email to have your event added to the list. A map of homes with the most illuminated Christmas displays will be available at the Bemidji Pioneer office, the Tourist Information Center and various locations around town for interested Christmas light enthusiasts to go see throughout the month of December. The in partnership with Bemidji Community Education, will host Historical Holiday Light bus tours at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 2, and Monday, Dec. 9. Local author and historian Cecelia McKeig will guide attendees through Bemidji's most beautifully decorated homes while uncovering fascinating neighborhood histories, a release said. The tour begins and ends at the Beltrami County History Center, 130 Minnesota Ave. SW. After the tour, guests can warm up with a cozy cup of hot cocoa at the History Center. Tickets cost $12 for adults and $7 for children age 12 and younger. To purchase tickets, visit For more information, visit or follow the Beltrami County History Center The First City Singers will perform a Christmas Concert at 4 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 2, at the Bemidji Senior Center, 216 Third St. NW. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided following the concert. For more information, call the center at Laporte School will host a holiday open house from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5, at the school, 315 Main St. W. Students will give a choir concert at 6 p.m. in the school gym. Dinner will be available for a small fee and kids and their parents can try their hand at free cookie decorating, stop by a hot cocoa bar fundraiser and visit with local agencies handing out resource information. There will also be a gift drop-off for the Gift of Giving program. For more information, contact Caitlin at The is set to offer a variety of holiday events this December at the center, 216 3rd St. NW. On Friday, Dec. 6, the center will hold a "Come pick up everything you need to make your Christmas special," a release said. All proceeds from the sale will go to the center and any items not sold will be donated to the Kind Heart Christmas Market. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, and Sunday, Dec. 8, a will be open at the center. Children from lower-income families can come and "shop" for up to six gifts for their families, a release said. While their gifts are wrapped, children will enjoy treats with their families. The center is accepting gift donations, except clothes and shoes, for this event. They can be dropped off at the center prior to Dec. 7. For more information, call Heather Johnson at The center is also offering services as part of its annual fundraiser. Participants can stop by the center between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Dec. 12-14, 16-20 or 23 to have their holiday gifts wrapped for a small fee. On Saturday, Dec. 14, from 8 to 10:30 a.m., the Bemidji Senior Center will host a Attendees can eat a pancake breakfast, have their gifts wrapped and enjoy a special visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus, all while listening to Christmas carols played live on the piano, a release said. The Senior Creations Gift Shop will also be open during the event for some last-minute holiday shopping. The breakfast costs $7 for adults and $3 for children ages 11 and younger. Bluebelle Event Venue will host a a Silverbelle Christmas event Dec. 6-8, at 4710 Jacks Road NW. Attendees can stop by from 3 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7 and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8. The event will feature a Santa's Workshop and photos with Santa, a variety of vendors, wreath making, outdoor fire pits, food trucks and hot cocoa and cider. Attendees can also go on sleigh rides on Saturday and Sunday. Admission costs $10 per child, $5 per adult and children age one and under get in free. Sleigh ride tickets are $15 each, which includes admission to the event. For more information, visit the Bluebell Event Venue Mt. Zion Church will host a Christmas cookie sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, at the church, 414 Lincoln Ave. SE. Attendees will receive a cookie box to fill with an assortment of their favorite cookies, a release said. Boxes will be weighed per pound for the total cost. Bars, candies and other non-cookie treats will be sold and priced separately. The craft sale will feature small Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers, including cookie tins, cake pans, coasters, cutting boards and more. Attendees can also browse repurposed and upcycled crafts and a vintage ugly sweater collection. All money received will go to the upkeep and improvement of the church, the release said. For more information, visit the Mt. Zion Church or contact Laporte School will host a Holiday Bazaar from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, at the school, 315 Main St. W. Attendees can browse crafts from over 50 vendors, have their pictures taken with Santa and eat hot soup and baked goods. The school's basketball team will also be running a wreath fundraiser at the event. For more information, contact Caitlin at LAPORTE — St. Theodore's Catholic Church will host a holiday lefse and bake sale from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 7, at the church, 580 County Highway 39, Laporte. Items for sale will include homemade lefse and a variety of cookies, candies and holiday treats, a release said. The event is open to the public. WASKISH — Big Bog State Recreation Area is set to host a Festive Foliage Wreath-Making workshop from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8, at the shop building. "Join us for a creative and festive wreath-making workshop," a release said. "In this hands-on class, you'll learn to craft your own beautiful wreath using a variety of fresh greenery and you are welcome to bring your own decorations." The instructor will guide participants through the steps. No prior experience is needed and all materials will be provided, the release said. Registration is required and limited to 12 participants. The cost per wreath is $8.50 and must be paid prior to the workshop. To register, email or call the park office at All vehicles entering the park need a valid Minnesota State Park vehicle permit which costs $7 per day and $35 per year. First Presbyterian Church of Bemidji will hold its annual Christmas Carol Community Sing-along at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8, at the church, 501 Minnesota Ave. Following the caroling, participants can enjoy cider, coffee and cookies. For more information about this free event, visit Participants can create a fun and festive clay gingerbread man from 1 to 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, at the Tourist Information Center. The will provide all the materials needed for attendees to create a keepsake that will last for years, a release said. Sessions are limited to 10 participants and run every 30 minutes. Advance registration is required. The cost is $6 per participant. This event is open to all ages, but children under age 15 must be accompanied by an adult. To register, visit For more information, call The will host a simmer pot workshop event from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, at the Tourist Information Center. "A simmer pot is a great way to make your home smell warm and inviting without chemical fragrances," a release said. The cost to participate is $12 for the first jar and $8 per jar after that. Dried ingredients, jar and decorative items are all included in the cost. Registration is required as space is limited. For more information on how to register visit or contact The will host an Ugly Sweater 5K run or walk challenge at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14. Participants can complete the run virtually or in person, starting at the Tourist Information Center. The first 3 finishers will receive a prize. This is the last run in the Bemidji Holiday Running Series. Participants who also completed the BSU Turkey Trot and Raphael's Reindeer Run will be eligible to receive a medal following this race, a release said. New to the event this year is an Ugly Sweater Contest. Participants can vote for their favorite ugly sweater starting at 9:30 a.m. The person wearing the sweater with the most votes will win a prize. The cost is $15 for the virtual run and $20 to run in person. In-person registration will start at 9 a.m. on Dec. 14. To register online, visit With questions, contact A Rock and Roll Xmas Spectacular will be held at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15, at the Sanford Center, 1111 Event Center Drive NE. Attendees will hear timeless holiday hits like "Silent Night," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Jingle Bells" and "The Little Drummer Boy" reimagined with a rock twist, a release said. The lineup will feature Paul "Stretch" Diethelm and Ted Manderfeld, alongside vocalists Pamela McNeill, Stacy Bauer and Tim Haussner. They'll be backed by a band including bassist Cody McKinney, saxophonist and flutist Mike Kreitzer and drummer Pete Hennig. Tickets are available now on or at the Sanford Center Box Office. For more information, visitEagles vs. Ravens: Odds, picks, predictions, and betting previewBrian Stanley’s wife has resigned from Sinn Féin with “immediate effect” as she claimed the party organisation in Laois is “not a safe place to be”. In a lengthy post on Facebook, Caroline Dwane-Stanley, a councillor in Laois, suggested there had been “outright attacks” on her and her family. Brian Stanley resigned from Sinn Féin in October following an investigation into allegations and counter allegations. READ MORE - Woman, 70s, killed in horror collision with car READ MORE - Tears as first pictures of husband and wife killed in St Stephen's Day hit-and-run tragedy released The matter was referred to the gardaí, with Mr Stanley likening the internal Sinn Féin investigation to a “kangaroo court”. He welcomed the referral to gardai. He was re-elected as an independent TD for Laois in November’s general election. In a post on Facebook, Ms Dwane Stanley, confirmed she had resigned from Sinn Féin with “immediate effect” after 27 years in the party. She said: “I have come to the conclusion that Laois Sinn Féin is not a safe place to be. “I had hoped that the party at leadership level would have made the effort to engage with me directly and give some support and assistance to me to try and deal with these matters. “However, no contact has been made by the leadership with me over the past five months. “While the party has always prided itself on the values of equality and in particular supports for women in politics, in my case this has proven to be a fallacy. “With this in mind I have decided that the time is right for me to draw a line on 2024 and resign, look to the future and embrace what I hope will be a better political future in the time ahead.” A Sinn Féin spokesperson said: “Cllr Caroline Dwane-Stanley this evening tendered her resignation from the party. This decision was not unexpected.” In October, Ms Stanley was appointed to the EU Committee of the Regions for a five year term, which was due to start next month. Join the Irish Mirror’s breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive breaking news and the latest headlines direct to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice .

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