aces wild horse
Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) Shares Up 1.4% – What’s Next?WINNIPEG — Kyle Walters doesn’t believe losing a third consecutive Grey Cup means the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ roster should be blown up. The CFL club’s general manager told reporters at his year-end availability Tuesday that reaching a fifth straight championship game by overcoming lots of injuries was a big accomplishment. Even before Winnipeg’s recent 41-24 Grey Cup loss to the Toronto Argonauts, Walters said he was looking forward to next season. “I was excited for next year based on what I’m looking at, compared to years past, where we’ve got more young guys that have contributed that are under contract,” he said. “We’ve got more young players in the building. So, the idea of, ‘This is the end of the road. The team is in a free-for-all downward,’ I don’t think is accurate. “We have a good group of guys and we were in a one-point (Grey Cup) game with 10 minutes left ... before things went downhill.” The Blue Bombers started the season 0-4, moved to 2-6 and finished 11-7 to claim the West Division title. Star receiver Dalton Schoen, veteran linebacker Adam Bighill and backup quarterback Chris Streveler all suffered season-ending injuries and are pending free agents. Negotiating with the team’s 27 unsigned players could be impacted by moves across the league among coaches, personnel staff and players such as quarterbacks, Walters said. The Bombers have given permission for offensive coordinator Buck Pierce to speak to the B.C. Lions and Edmonton Elks about those teams’ vacant head-coaching jobs, he said. Walters also revealed the Ottawa Redblacks were given the go-ahead to talk to Richie Hall about their defensive coordinator vacancy. Hall was a Winnipeg defensive assistant this season after Jordan Younger took over from him as defensive coordinator. Walters said the Bombers received permission to speak to Lions offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic in case Pierce leaves. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have already been given the OK to talk to Winnipeg assistant general managers Danny McManus and Ted Goveia about the Ticats’ GM opening. “You’re hesitant to have too much conversation with people who may not be in the organization next year, so it’s just been me and (head coach) Mike (O’Shea) in this moment huddled together and talking about next year,” Walters said. He said an NFL team had asked Tuesday morning to work out one Blue Bomber, but he didn’t reveal the player’s name in case he wasn’t aware of the request yet. The Blue Bombers won the Grey Cup in 2019 and ’21, but lost 28-24 to the Montreal Alouettes last year and 24-23 to Toronto in 2022. Winnipeg re-signed placekicker Sergio Castillo last week. Walters said he’d like to have deals done with three or four main players before the end of the year. The team has some up-and-coming young players inked for next year, and injuries gave others valuable experience on both sides of the ball, Walters said. Receivers such as rookie Ontaria Wilson (1,026 yards receiving in 18 games) and Keric Wheatfall (273 yards in seven games) are signed through next season. “The experience that they got was invaluable,” Walters said. Re-signing players who missed time because of injuries can get tricky. “Organizationally, can we approach (their agents) and say, ‘Well, your guy was hurt, he should come back for less money?’” Walters said. “Generally, they don’t view it like that. They view that they’ll be back 100 per cent.” One question mark is the backup to starting quarterback Zach Collaros, who suffered a deep cut to the index finger of his throwing hand late in the third quarter of the Grey Cup. Collaros got five stitches and numbing agent applied to his finger. He returned with a bandage on it, but admitted he had a hard time gripping the ball. “We’ll have to find out who our offensive coordinator is first,” Walters said when asked who might be Collaros’s backup. Terry Wilson, who briefly replaced Collaros in the Grey Cup, and Jake Dolegala are signed for next year. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2024. Judy Owen, The Canadian PressNEW YORK (AP) — A shoplifting ring that stole nearly $2 million in clothes and beauty products from Macy’s and other well-known stores in the U.S. and then resold them in New York City and the Dominican Republic has been busted, law enforcement officials announced Tuesday. Five New Yorkers have been charged with felony possession of stolen property, conspiracy and other related crimes, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. The bust served as a reminder to shoppers as the holiday shopping season kicks off in earnest with Black Friday this week to make sure they are supporting legitimate establishments, she said. “When a deal seems too good to be true, I guarantee you, it’s too good to be true,” Katz said. Nationally, businesses lose roughly $100 billion and the average family pays $500 more a year because of the impact of organized retail theft, according to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who joined the district attorney and other law enforcement officials in Queens. The Democrat said the arrests also marked the first time anyone has been charged under a new criminal statute of fostering the sale of stolen goods that she recently signed into law to help crack down on retail theft. “This is real simple. We’ve had enough with criminals preying on our citizens,” Hochul said. “We are sick and tired of our citizens feeling they’re vulnerable to random crimes on the streets or these sophisticated organized crime rings. And we are coming after you.” Katz, the district attorney, said the group stole high-end makeup, perfume, beauty products, designer clothing and accessories from stores ranging from Macy’s to Victoria’s Secret, American Eagle, Sephora and Ulta Beauty over a roughly two-year period. The group’s leaders, married couple Cristopher Guzman and Yvelisse Guzman Batista, directed shoplifting crews to steal specific merchandise as they hit multiple stores in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and elsewhere along the East Coast, she said. They also paid truck drivers to divert products bound for retailers from manufacturer warehouses directly to locations under their control. The group, operating out of a home in Queens, then resold the merchandise online as well as at a brick-and-mortar boutique called Yvelisse Fashion in Santiago, a city in the Dominican Republic. Vince Scala, a lawyer for the couple and two of the other defendants, said his clients pleaded not guilty at their arraignment Saturday. They were released pending their next court date in January. “The charges are only a couple of days old, and I have not seen a single piece of evidence, discovery or police reports,” he said. “I look forward to reviewing the case at the appropriate time.” Tuesday’s announcement is part of a broader push from Hochul to counter Republican criticisms that Democrats in New York are soft on public safety issues, an issue that hurt her party in the 2022 midterm elections and has remained a consistent talking point for the GOP. Earlier this year, Hochul signed off on a handful of policies aimed at cracking down on retail theft, including increased criminal penalties for assaulting retail workers, new funding for law enforcement teams dedicated to retail theft and tax credits for businesses to install security cameras. She also approved policies that allow prosecutors to combine the value of stolen goods when filing larceny charges and made it easier to criminally charge third-party sellers of stolen goods. Retail theft has also been a concern elsewhere. Videos of brazen shoplifting crews rampaging through stores have been widely shared on social media, fueling widespread frustration that retail crime is rampant and unpunished. Earlier this month, California voters overwhelmingly passed a tough-on-crime ballot measure that makes shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders again. The measure partly rolled back a progressive law passed by voters a decade ago downgrading several nonviolent crimes to misdemeanors, including theft under $950 in value. Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in Albany contributed to this story. Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo .
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments in a yearslong legal battle over a contentious proposed railroad that could send tens of millions more gallons of crude oil along the Colorado River, including near the critical water source’s headwaters in Colorado. Opponents of the 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway — led by Colorado’s Eagle County — successfully halted the Utah project when a federal appeals judge in 2023 agreed with their arguments that the potential environmental impacts of the rail line had not been sufficiently analyzed. But the coalition of private companies and seven Utah counties supporting the project petitioned the Supreme Court to review the appeals judge’s decision. In June, the nation’s highest court accepted their petition and said it would consider how far federal agencies must go in analyzing potential environmental impacts. If constructed, the rail line would connect Utah’s oil fields to the national rail network. It would greatly increase the amount of crude oil transported across Colorado and on to the refineries on the Gulf Coast. The project would allow oil producers to send up to 350,000 barrels of crude oil a day on nine more trains — each stretching as long as two miles — on the tracks along Colorado’s Interstate 70, which follows the Colorado River for hundreds of miles. A dozen local governments in Colorado , across political divides, and the state’s attorney general filed briefs in the case urging the Supreme Court not to change the decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. They also argue in favor of maintaining the federal environmental law in question, the National Environmental Policy Act. “The project raises the risk of leaks, spills, or rail car accidents immediately adjacent to the headwaters of the Colorado River, the most critical water source for the state’s residential communities, and agricultural and outdoor recreation sectors,” Attorney General Phil Weiser‘s brief states . “The project’s risks to Colorado’s residents and natural resources have generated deep concern and strong opposition from across the state.” The justices will hear from both sides Tuesday morning, but a decision is likely weeks or months away. Justice Neil Gorsuch last week recused himself from the case after ethics watchdogs noted his ties to Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz , whose companies could profit if the railway is built, according to reporting from The New York Times. Construction on the project could not begin even if the Supreme Court sides with the railway project because the court is analyzing only one of the reasons the lower court halted the railway. If the Supreme Court agrees with railway proponents’ arguments, the lower court will have to reassess its analysis and issue a new opinion. But conservationists fear the court could use the case to weaken one of the nation’s foundational environmental protection laws. The decision could lead to “a radical restriction of the way the government evaluates the environmental impact of decisions,” said Sam Sankar , the senior vice president of programs for the environmental legal group Earthjustice. At the heart of the litigation is whether the U.S. Surface Transportation Board — a federal agency that regulates railways — violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to analyze potential environmental impacts of the project outside of the immediate area of the proposed line. The federal appeals judge last year found that the board had violated the law and should have scrutinized potential threats to the Colorado River as well as increased wildfire risk caused by more train traffic. Lawyers for the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, which is spearheading the rail project, argued that such a thorough analysis was not needed. The Surface Transportation Board should consider the immediate environmental impacts of a project, such as whether construction will displace bighorn sheep habitat or alter a mountain stream, the attorneys argued in their brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. But the board should not be required to analyze “imponderables such as whether the new rail might contribute to an accident hundreds or thousands of miles downline,” they wrote. “If a new rail line in Utah will displace habitat for bighorn sheep or alter the topography in ways that threaten a pristine mountain stream, the Surface Transportation Board must consider those issues,” the brief states. But the chance of a faraway crash or that “the new rail might ... somehow affect ‘environmental justice (in) communities (on) the Gulf Coast’ are not issues the Surface Transportation Board must run to ground.” The Colorado communities opposed to the new railway include Glenwood Springs, Grand County, Grand Junction, Avon, Basalt, Routt County and the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, which represents 31 counties and municipalities in the northwest region of the state. They reject arguments that impacts on their communities shouldn’t be considered. Glenwood Springs city councilman Jonathan Godes said any spill of crude oil into the Colorado River would be catastrophic for his town and every community downstream. “Our entire recreation economy is built around the river,” he said. “It would destroy our economy and our drinking water.” ©2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at denverpost.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
None
Penn St. 67, Georgia 47Strategy devised for civil disobedience, says Hamid Raza
NASSAU, Bahamas — Justin Thomas was long off the tee and made a few long putts on the back nine to overtake Scottie Scheffler with a 6-under 66 and build a one-shot lead Saturday over golf's best player going into the final round of the Hero World Challenge. Thomas is trying out a 46-inch driver — a little more than an inch longer than normal — that he previously used for practice at home to gain speed and length. He blasted a 361-yard drive to 8 feet on the par-4 seventh hole and led the field in driving distance. But it was a few long putts that put him ahead of Scheffler, who had a 69. Thomas was on the verge of falling two shots behind when he made an 18-foot par putt on the par-3 12th hole. On the reachable par-4 14th, he was in a nasty spot in a sandy area and could only splash it out to nearly 50 feet. He made that one for a most unlikely birdie, while behind him Scheffler muffed a chip on the 13th hole and made his lone bogey of a windy day. Scheffler never caught up to him, missing birdie chances on the reachable 14th and the par-5 15th. Thomas hit his approach to 3 feet for birdie on the 16th after a 343-yard drive. Scheffler made an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th to close within one. Scheffler missed birdie chances on the last two holes from the 10-foot and 15-foot range, while Thomas missed an 8-foot birdie attempt at the last. "I had a stretch at 13, 14, 15 where I felt like I lost a shot or two there, but outside of that I did a lot of really good things today," Scheffler said. Thomas hasn't won since the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, and a victory at Albany Golf Club wouldn't count as an official win. But the two-time major champion has made steady progress toward getting his game back in order. "I'm driving it great. I've had a lot of confidence with it," Thomas said of his longer driver. "I feel like I've been able to put myself in some pretty good spots going into the green. I'm still not taking advantage of some of them as much as I would like, but that's golf and we're always going to say that." Thomas was at 17-under 199 and will be in the final group Sunday with Scheffler, who is trying to end his spectacular season with a ninth title. Tom Kim put himself in the mix, which he might not have imagined Thursday when he was 3 over through six holes of the holiday tournament. Kim got back in the game with a 65 on Friday, and then followed with 12 birdies for a 62. He had a shot at the course record — Rickie Fowler shot 61 in the final round when he won at Albany in 2017 — until Kim found a bunker and took two shots to reach the green in making a double bogey on the par-3 17th. Even so, he was only two shots behind. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley (68) was four back. "Feel like I've been seeing signs of improvement, which is what you want and that's all I can do," Thomas said. "I can't control everybody else or what's going on, I've just got to keep playing as good as I possibly can and hope that it's enough come Sunday." Get local news delivered to your inbox!
The NFL's security division is warning players to be aware of professional burglars targeting the homes of pro athletes. The Athletic reported Thursday that the NFL sent a memo to teams that outlines the threat. "The homes of professional athletes across multiple sports leagues have become increasingly targeted for burglaries by organized and skilled groups," read the memo, which was obtained by The Athletic. "Law enforcement officials have noted these groups appear to exploit team schedules to target athletes' homes on game days." NBC News reported Wednesday that law enforcement is working to figure out whether an international crime syndicate is involved. The Athletic reported that the memo includes tips for home security and also gives recommendations about the use of social media, such as not posting photos of items that would attract thieves. Players also learned via the memo how homes are targeted and how burglars enter. Mahomes hasn't said much about the burglary, other than to call it "disappointing" and "frustrating." "I can't get into too many of the details because the investigation is still ongoing," he said. "But obviously something that you don't want to happen to really anybody, but obviously yourself." It's not clear what was stolen from Mahomes' home in Belton, Mo., during the Oct. 6 incident. But Kelce apparently lost $20,000 in cash in the burglary at his home in Leawood, Kan., the following day when the Chiefs played the New Orleans Saints on "Monday Night Football," according to a police report. The burglary at the home of Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis in River Hills, Wis., occurred Nov. 2 during the Bucks' home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He said the perpetrators "took most of my prized possessions" and is offering a reward for the return of his property. "Any info that leads to the return of any of my belongings will be rewarded handsomely," Portis said. "Let me know, thank you." --Field Level MediaMatt Rempe was called up by the New York Rangers as he played in their 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Monday night. Rempe made some headlines with his aggressive play to put it lightly. The 22-year-old was involved with a massive scrum that took place at the end of the second period and that was just the start of all the theatrics. In the third period, Rempe nailed Jake Neighbors in the neutral zone when he didn’t have the puck in what many considered a dirty play. Well, Rempe’s back — Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) Ultimately, Rempe received a very untimely roughing penalty due to that play, hindering the Rangers’ momentum even further. The Rangers sent Rempe back down to Hartford Wolf Pack following the game and elevated Chad Ruhwedel.Want To Study At IIT Without JEE Advanced? Explore These Options