WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump’s supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump’s movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump’s Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer , a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. RELATED COVERAGE Court rules Georgia lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to her Trump case Mexico tests cellphone app allowing migrants to send alert if they are about to be detained in US Canadian ministers head to Palm Beach for talks with incoming Trump administration Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer’s comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks , whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar.” Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with finding ways to cut the federal government , weighed in, defending the tech industry’s need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump’s world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift, and his presidential transition team did not respond to a message seeking comment. Musk, the world’s richest man who has grown remarkably close to the president-elect , was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump’s movement but his stance on the tech industry’s hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry’s need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Trump’s own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the U.S. illegally but he has also sought curbs on legal immigration , including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order , which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Trump’s businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club , and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the the H-1B program for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country” and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump told a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country,” he told the “All-In” podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump’s budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes.It seems the Grinch’s heart did grow three sizes. Or maybe second thoughts crept in while sipping a glass of Pinot Grigio. That’s because a metal Christmas tree stolen from a Welcome to Niagara Falls sign was found Thursday along the side of the road near the intersection of York Road and Concession Road 6 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, near a couple of wineries. “Maybe I’ve got to call the (Niagara-on-the-Lake) Lord Mayor (Gary Zalepa) and ask him, what kind of prank is this?” joked Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati. “(The thief) only got so far, he started sipping wine and then he abandoned it,” he added with a laugh. It seems that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes today! Thank you to our Niagara residents who wrote and phoned in to help us locate this missing tree decoration found at York & Concession 6 Road. I guess there really are Christmas miracles! @NiagaraFalls pic.twitter.com/m2Uym8vdlG Diodati used his social media channels to thank Niagarans who “wrote and phoned in to help us locate this missing tree decoration.” “I guess there really are Christmas miracles,” he tweeted, showing a photo of the tree roadside. Diodati first took to social media Tuesday to call on the community to help find the 1.8-metre-tall decoration taken from along the QEW near the Mountain Road exit. Hey @NiagaraFalls community- we need YOUR help!! I am disappointed to say that a Grinch has stolen one of the illuminated Christmas trees which welcome QEW vehicles to our City of Niagara Falls. If you have any information regarding this missing tree, please get in touch! Hoping... pic.twitter.com/TTCC7XWV4i During Tuesday’s council meeting Diodati said there’s normally three metal-frame Christmas trees installed and anchored to the ground around the welcome sign during the holiday season — one on top of the sign is about three metres tall and two smaller ones, about 1.8 metres tall, are to the right and down below to the left. The one closest to the QEW was stolen sometime on the weekend, as it was there Saturday night, said Diodati. He said the trees have been in the city’s possession for 20 to 30 years. In an interview Thursday, Diodati said it was because of the media attention that “someone reached out to us on social media” with a picture of the tree in Niagara-on-the-Lake. “I was really happy to see that it was only down a couple of days and we got enough community participation and whatever happened, for whatever reason, it’s going to find its rightful home right at the welcome sign on the QEW,” he said. “Everything crossed my mind — why? who? how? But regardless, I’m glad it wasn’t damaged, I’m glad that we got it back ... and I hope whoever did it, I hope they have a good Christmas. “Sometimes things seem like a good idea at the time and then you look back and think, what was I thinking? I was hoping it would be a happy ending — and it was.”
Turkish, US, EU, Arab diplomats due in Jordan for Syria summit
has said its name can be pronounced with either an “aitch” or a “haitch” because it respects “diversity” and different accents. The UK’s tax, payments and customs authority declared itself agnostic over the pronunciation of the letter H, in a move that will fuel a long-standing linguistic debate. Recent HMRC adverts have featured actors deploying both pronunciations of the letter while referring to the tax body. HMRC told The Telegraph this was because it respects different speech habits, adding that the government department has no official policy on how to pronounce its name. A spokesman said: “At HMRC we respect diversity, and this extends to idiolect, accent and pronunciation.” It puts the tax body at odds with the Cambridge Dictionary, whose online pronunciation guide advises that the word HMRC should be said with an “aitch”. Both the Cambridge Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary’s websites also feature audio clips ruling that the letter H is pronounced the same way. Discussion over how to pronounce the letter H in the English language has long rendered it the most contentious letter in the alphabet. “Aitch” is the standard British English pronunciation, and traditionalists insist it remains the correct one despite signs that have broadened variation. Earlier this year, Amol Rajan, host of University Challenge, relented in line with convention after a lifetime of saying “haitch” following complaints from viewers. The TV presenter found himself at the centre of a linguistic storm, later writing in an article for the BBC that he was incorrect to have been adding emphasis on the letter. “All my life I’ve pronounced it ‘haitch’, dimly aware that I was getting it ‘wrong’. Everyone I grew up with says ‘haitch’. My mates say ‘haitch’. But, dear reader, I’m here to tell you: it’s ‘aitch’,” wrote Mr Rajan. The linguistic history of the letter H is disputed, but the Oxford English Dictionary says it can be traced through the . It adds that in more modern times, the treatment of the letter has come to be regarded as a “kind of shibboleth of social position” or background. In Northern Ireland, for example, Catholics typically pronounce it with an aspirated H while Protestants usually say “aitch”. A British Library project in 2010 that asked volunteers to record a chapter from the Mr Men book Mr Tickle also suggested that young people in Britain are now increasingly likely to say “haitch”. Experts have claimed this may be a form of “hypercorrection” in accents that often drop the letter H when used at the beginning of words. Ironically, while referring to the letter itself as “aitch” has typically been associated with the middle- and upper-classes, H-dropping at the start of words is considered one of the standard markers of a cockney accent. The “distinctly aspirated” H at the start of words fell out of favour for a while following the Middle English period, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, explaining why Americans still drop it for some words such as “herb”. Recent defendants of pronouncing the letter H as “haitch” claim it may be useful for children. Kate Burridge, a professor of linguistics at Monash University, and Catherine McBride, a University of Freiburg fellow, said in a 2018 article for The Conversation that referring to the letter as “haitch” means children have an “easier time learning its correspondence as they learn to read”. Others have suggested it makes it simpler to spell out things like car registrations over the phone, with “haitch” less easily confused with the number eight. There is no reliable data about how widespread the “haitch” pronunciation is across Britain, but linguists have claimed it appears to be growing – especially among young people. HMRC videos that used social media influencers to raise awareness about filing tax claims were more likely to say “haitch” rather than “aitch”. But some young people appear to be bucking the trend towards “haitch”, including 25-year-old , who goes by the stage name Aitch. He said in a recent interview that it was “just American people” that mispronounce his name, but that “some people write Haitch sometimes”. Aitch added: “My aunty Gina, she gave me that nickname and she’s the one that spelt it like that for me”.
Some tech industry leaders are pushing the incoming Trump administration to increase visas for highly skilled workers from other nations. Related Articles National Politics | Trump threat to immigrant health care tempered by economic hopes National Politics | In states that ban abortion, social safety net programs often fail families National Politics | Court rules Georgia lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to her Trump case National Politics | New 2025 laws hit hot topics from AI in movies to rapid-fire guns National Politics | Trump has pressed for voting changes. GOP majorities in Congress will try to make that happen The heart of the argument is, for America to remain competitive, the country needs to expand the number of skilled visas it gives out. The previous Trump administration did not increase the skilled visa program, instead clamping down on visas for students and educated workers, increasing denial rates. Not everyone in corporate America thinks the skilled worker program is great. Former workers at IT company Cognizant recently won a federal class-action lawsuit that said the company favored Indian employees over Americans from 2013 to 2022. A Bloomberg investigation found Cognizant, and other similar outsourcing companies, mainly used its skilled work visas for lower-level positions. Workers alleged Cognizant preferred Indian workers because they could be paid less and were more willing to accept inconvenient or less-favorable assignments. Question: Should the U.S. increase immigration levels for highly skilled workers? Caroline Freund, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy YES: Innovation is our superpower and it relies on people. Sourcing talent from 8 billion people in the world instead of 330 million here makes sense. Nearly half our Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. Growing them also relies on expanding our skilled workforce. The cap on skilled-worker visas has hardly changed since the computer age started. With AI on the horizon, attracting and building talent is more important than ever. Kelly Cunningham, San Diego Institute for Economic Research YES: After years of openly allowing millions of undocumented entrants into the country, why is there controversy over legally increasing somewhat the number having desirable skills? Undocumented immigration significantly impacts lower skill level jobs and wages competing with domestic workers at every skill level. Why should special cases be made against those having higher skills? Could they just not walk across the border anyway, why make it more inconvenient to those with desirable skills? James Hamilton, UC San Diego YES: Knowledge and technology are key drivers of the U.S. economy. Students come from all over the world to learn at U.S. universities, and their spending contributed $50 billion to U.S. exports last year. Technological advantage is what keeps us ahead of the rest of the world. Highly skilled immigrants contribute much more in taxes than they receive in public benefits. The skills immigrants bring to America can make us all better off. Norm Miller, University of San Diego YES: According to Forbes, the majority of billion-dollar startups were founded by foreigners. I’ve interviewed dozens of data analysts and programmers from Berkeley, UCSD, USD and a few other schools and 75% of them are foreign. There simply are not enough American graduates to fill the AI and data mining related jobs now exploding in the U.S. If we wish to remain a competitive economy, we need highly skilled and bright immigrants to come here and stay. David Ely, San Diego State University YES: Being able to employ highly skilled workers from a larger pool of candidates would strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. companies by increasing their capacity to perform research and innovate. This would boost the country’s economic output. Skilled workers from other nations that cannot remain in the U.S. will find jobs working for foreign rivals. The demand for H-1B visas far exceeds the current cap of 85,000, demonstrating a need to modify this program. Phil Blair, Manpower YES: Every country needs skilled workers, at all levels, to grow its economy. We should take advantage of the opportunity these workers provide our employers who need these skills. It should be blended into our immigration policies allowing for both short and long term visas. Gary London, London Moeder Advisors YES: San Diego is a premiere example of how highly skilled workers from around the globe enrich a community and its regional economy. Of course Visa levels need to be increased. But let’s go further. Tie visas and immigration with a provision that those who are admitted and educated at a U.S. university be incentivized, or even required, to be employed in the U.S. in exchange for their admittance. Bob Rauch, R.A. Rauch & Associates NO: While attracting high-skilled immigrants can fill critical gaps in sectors like technology, health care and advanced manufacturing, increasing high-skilled immigration could displace American workers and drive down wages in certain industries. There are already many qualified American workers available for some of these jobs. We should balance the need for specialized skills with the impact on the domestic workforce. I believe we can begin to increase the number of visas after a careful review of abuse. Austin Neudecker, Weave Growth YES: We should expand skilled visas to drive innovation and economic growth. Individuals who perform high-skilled work in labor-restricted industries or graduate from respected colleges with relevant degrees should be prioritized for naturalization. We depend on immigration for GDP growth, tax revenue, research, and so much more. Despite the abhorrent rhetoric and curtailing of visas in the first term, I hope the incoming administration can be persuaded to enact positive changes to a clearly flawed system. Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health YES: But it should be based upon need, not politics. There are several industries that have or could have skilled workforce shortages, especially if the next administration tightens immigration as promised and expected. Over the years, there have been nursing shortages that have been met partially by trained and skilled nurses from other countries. The physician shortage is expected to get worse in the years to come. So, this visa program may very well be needed. Jamie Moraga, Franklin Revere NO: While skilled immigration could boost our economy and competitiveness, the U.S. should prioritize developing our domestic workforce. Hiring foreign nationals in sensitive industries or government-related work, especially in advanced technology or defense, raises security concerns. A balanced approach could involve targeted increases in non-sensitive high-demand fields coupled with investment in domestic STEM education and training programs. This could address immediate needs while strengthening the long-term STEM capabilities of the American workforce. Not participating this week: Alan Gin, University of San DiegoHaney Hong, San Diego County Taxpayers AssociationRay Major, economist Have an idea for an Econometer question? Email me at phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com . Follow me on Threads: @phillip020State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil Compares Senate Majority Leader to KKK ‘Grand Wizard’
Bitcoin pushes the $100K mark
— Court Rules in Favor of Heron in Patent Lawsuit Against Fresenius Kabi USA , LLC — SAN DIEGO , Dec. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Heron Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HRTX) ("Heron" or the "Company"), a commercial-stage biotechnology company, today announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware ruled in Heron's favor in the Company's patent litigation against Fresenius Kabi USA , LLC with respect to CINVANTI® (aprepitant) injectable emulsion. The district court found that Heron's U.S. Patent Nos. 9,561,229 and 9,974,794, which expire in 2035, are valid and would be infringed by Fresenius' proposed generic product. The district court decision concludes the litigation initiated in July 2022 in response to Fresenius' submission of an Abbreviated New Drug Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking approval of a generic version of CINVANTI®. As a result of the decision, Heron will seek an order from the Court prohibiting Fresenius from launching its generic CINVANTI® until after the expiration of the patents in 2035. This decision is subject to appeal. "We are pleased with this anticipated result of the proceeding and will continue to vigorously defend the CINVANTI® patent estate in the future," said Craig Collard, Chief Executive Officer of Heron. "The team at Heron takes great pride in the result of our successful history of developing injectable products, which is demonstrated by the strength of our intellectual property and the performance of our innovative drugs like CINVANTI® in serving patients with serious unmet needs." About Heron Therapeutics, Inc. Heron Therapeutics, Inc. is a commercial-stage biotechnology company focused on improving the lives of patients by developing and commercializing therapeutic innovations that improve medical care. Our advanced science, patented technologies, and innovative approach to drug discovery and development have allowed us to create and commercialize a portfolio of products that aim to advance the standard-of-care for acute care and oncology patients. For more information, visit www.herontx.com . Forward-looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Heron cautions readers that forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations and assumptions as of the date of this news release and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are set forth in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and in our other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including under the caption "Risk Factors." Forward-looking statements reflect our analysis only on their stated date, and Heron takes no obligation to update or revise these statements except as may be required by law. Investor Relations and Media Contact: Ira Duarte Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer Heron Therapeutics, Inc. iduarte@herontx.com 858-251-4400 View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-district-court-upholds-validity-of-cinvanti-patents-302321651.html SOURCE Heron Therapeutics, Inc.
People gather to demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to step down in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (Associated Press Photo/Ahn Young-joon) South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday said he would lift martial law just hours after he imposed it , in a brief and confusing episode in which he blasted the opposition as “anti-state forces” threatening the country’s democracy. The unexpected move from Yoon — the first time martial law has been declared in South Korea in more than four decades — alarmed the United States and the country’s other allies. READ: South Korea lifts martial law decree after lawmakers vote against it What do we know about the imposition, its lifting and what might come next? In a dramatic, late-night emergency television address to the nation, Yoon announced that he was imposing martial law in South Korea, as he accused the opposition of paralysing the government with “anti-state activities”. A six-point decree from the new martial law commander, army chief General Park An-su swiftly followed, banning political activities and parties, “false propaganda”, strikes and “gatherings that incite social unrest”. The order also brought all media outlets under the authority of martial law and directed all medical staff, including striking doctors, to return to work within 48 hours. Security forces sealed the National Assembly, helicopters landed on the roof and troops entered the building for a short time, seemingly in a bid to prevent lawmakers from getting inside. READ: South Korean parliament defies president, lifts martial law declaration But 190 lawmakers managed to enter and voted unanimously to reject Yoon’s declaration and call for martial law to be lifted. Outside, hundreds of protesters gathered, many raising chants calling for Yoon to be arrested. Following the lawmakers’ vote, Yoon backed down. His cabinet additionally approved the motion to lift the order, Yonhap news agency reported. “Just a moment ago, there was a demand from the National Assembly to lift the state of emergency, and we have withdrawn the military that was deployed for martial law operations,” Yoon said in a televised address around 4:30 am (1930 GMT Tuesday). Under South Korea’s constitution, the parliamentary vote to lift martial law has to be respected. Yoon said he was acting to safeguard his country’s liberal democracy from “anti-state elements” and “threats posed by North Korea” — but gave little detail. While unexpected, the announcement came in the context of a festering budget row between Yoon and the opposition Democratic Party. The opposition has slashed around 4.1 trillion won ($2.8 billion) from Yoon’s proposed 677 trillion won budget for next year, prompting the president to complain that “all key budgets essential to the nation’s core functions” were being cut. “What is clear is that Yoon has been a deeply unpopular, ineffectual leader and he is having a hard time getting any kind of public support for anything he’s trying to do,” said Alan Yu, a former US diplomat in Asia now at the Center for American Progress. “The use of martial law feels almost like a desperation move to try to break out, both in a political and policy sense, but it is really poorly played on both fronts.” South Korea is a key Western ally in Asia, seen as an important democratic bulwark in a region dominated by authoritarian regimes, and the drama is being watched with concern. Washington had voiced “grave concern” about the situation and called for it to be resolved “peacefully and in accordance with the law”, while Britain and Germany both said they were closely following developments. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . China, a key ally of nuclear-armed North Korea, urged its citizens to exercise caution, while Russia — itself increasingly close to Pyongyang — called the situation “alarming”.
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands (AP) — Javohn Garcia scored 16 points as McNeese beat Illinois State 76-68 on Friday. Garcia also contributed seven rebounds for the Cowboys (3-2). Brandon Murray shot 4 of 10 from the field and 5 for 7 from the line to add 13 points. Sincere Parker shot 4 for 8 (2 for 5 from 3-point range) and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line to finish with 13 points. Ty Pence led the way for the Redbirds (3-2) with 14 points and six rebounds. Malachi Poindexter added 13 points for Illinois State. Logan Wolf had 11 points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by and data from .
Ahead of Ohio State's appearance in the College Football Playoff, head coach Ryan Day received a vote of confidence from his athletic director despite the Buckeyes' latest loss to Michigan. Ohio State AD Ross Bjork appeared on 97.1 The Fan in Columbus on Thursday, where a radio host asked him whether Day would be the Buckeyes' coach at the start of next season regardless of how the playoffs shake out. "Absolutely," said Bjork, who came to Ohio State from the same role at Texas A&M in July. "Coach Day and I have just hit it off so well. I've been really, really impressed. Every single time I've talked to him, I've learned something. He's innovative. He recruits at the highest level. He's got a great staff. There's always tweaks. There was tweaks after last year, right? You're always going to tweak things. You're always going to make adjustments. You're always going to make improvements." Bjork continued by addressing the "championship or bust" attitude held by some of the fanbase. "This whole mentality about -- and look, we live it, and we sign up for it -- but if you get fixated on the end result and not have the process fully baked every time, you're going to lose," Bjork said. "The mindset's going to lose because you're only fixated on one thing. And so what we have to do is this whole ‘championship or bust' mentality, you want that as the goal, but it has to be about the process. "To me, we've got to maybe change some conversations a little bit. I think we need to maybe just approach things a little bit differently." Day is 66-10 as Ohio State's coach and led the Buckeyes to one national championship game appearance, a 52-24 loss to Alabama to cap the 2020 season. Ohio State went 10-2 in the regular season but missed out on a place in the Big Ten championship game when rival Michigan defeated the Buckeyes 13-10 on Nov. 30. It was Michigan's fourth straight win in The Game, and Day is now 1-4 as a head coach against the Wolverines. At the time, Bjork released a statement of support for Day, and he doubled down during Thursday's radio hit. "He's great to work with. He totally gets it. He loves being a Buckeye, and so we're going to support him at the highest level throughout," Bjork said. "But here's the thing too, and the reason why we needed to say something after that game is we're still breathing. They're still alive. The season's not over. The book is not closed, right? And so we've got to have confidence. I mean, Ohio State should be confident every single day. We're Ohio State. "But we also have to make sure we stay to our values and we stick to what we believe in. And so to me, it's the process as much as it is about the end result." --Field Level Media
State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, protests outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Kansas City on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, ahead of a hearing in a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood seeking to overturn the state's TRAP laws (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent). On the eve of a Wednesday hearing seeking to strike down most Missouri abortion restrictions, GOP lawmakers and anti-abortion activists assembled outside five Planned Parenthood clinics around the state to call on the courts to leave abortion regulations in place. At the same time, Republican lawmakers have begun filing some of their first pieces of legislation aimed at weakening or overturning Amendment 3, which was narrowly approved by voters last month and enshrines the right to reproductive health care in the state constitution. The constitutional amendment, which received 51.6% of the nearly 3 million votes cast, goes into effect Thursday. It prohibits the legislature from regulating abortion prior to the point of fetal viability — generally seen as the point at which a fetus can likely survive outside the womb without extraordinary measures. Already, at least 11 lawmaker-proposed amendments have been prefiled seeking to reverse Amendment 3 through another vote of the people. One such bill, filed by Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman of Arnold, would ask voters to ban gender-affirming surgeries for minors and all abortions with exceptions for medical emergencies and rape. “Missouri families deserve clarity and compassion in our laws when it comes to protecting women and safeguarding innocent life like our children from danger,” Coleman said in a statement Tuesday. “These constitutional amendments align with the beliefs of the majority of Missourians when it comes to supporting the dignity and value of all life.” State Rep. Justin Sparks, a Wildwood Republican, is proposing his own version of a repeal amendment. He said he was inspired to take action by Amendment 3’s close margin of victory. Sparks’ proposed constitutional amendment would define a “person” as “every human being with a unique DNA code regardless of age, including every in utero human child at every stage of biological development from the moment of conception until birth.” State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, filed a proposed amendment similar to Coleman’s, but one that also included abortion exceptions for fetal anomalies. It would limit abortions in the cases of rape or incest to the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and only if the victim filed a police report. Such requirements have been widely-criticized in other states, with victim advocates calling such reporting requirements harmful to survivors. But on Tuesday, standing outside the Planned Parenthood clinic in Kansas City with other anti-abortion activists, Brattin said his immediate focus was appealing to the courts to uphold the state’s current “targeted regulation of abortion providers” laws, which previously made it all but impossible for doctors to provide abortions in Missouri. The laws, enacted over the last several years by the legislature, include a mandatory 72-hour waiting period between the initial appointment and a surgical abortion, mandatory pelvic exams for medication abortions and requirements that providers report all abortions to the state. “That’s going to be first and foremost, making sure that if they’re operating, they’re operating at the highest level of standard of care,” Brattin said. ‘Care delayed and care denied’: Doctor recalls 30 months under Missouri abortion ban Less than 24 hours after Amendment 3 was approved by voters, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers announced a lawsuit seeking to strike down several of these TRAP laws . The first hearing in the case is set to take place Wednesday afternoon in Jackson County. The Missouri Secretary of State’s office filed a motion requesting the proceedings be moved to Cole County. Earlier this year, a Cole County judge struck Amendment 3 from the ballot, a decision that was quickly overridden by the Missouri Court of Appeals. Planned Parenthood leadership has said they hope a quick decision from the judge will allow them to start performing abortions at three health centers across the state — Columbia, the Central West End in St. Louis and the Midtown neighborhood of Kansas City — as soon as the new amendment goes into effect. “Abortion is safe and a very common healthcare procedure,” Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which operates the St. Louis clinics, said in a statement Tuesday. “We know that Missourians across the political spectrum support access to this life-saving care, but anti-abortion extremists are again resorting to false, tired, and previously litigated scare tactics, trying to subvert the will of the people and keep abortion banned.” A 2018 study by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded that abortion complications are rare, and complications during childbirth remain more common . Outside the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis’ Central West End, Brian Westbrook, executive director of Coalition Life, called for the TRAP laws to remain in place “to make sure that women do not go into a place like this and leave in an ambulance headed to the hospital.” “We stand here today with real, clear evidence that Planned Parenthood is not safe for women and requires serious oversight and inspections, not immunity,” he said. Westbrook also referenced a 2018 health inspection report that determined equipment in the Columbia clinic included tubing that contained “black mold and bodily fluid.” Planned Parenthood officials later said the equipment had been replaced and the issue resolved. The Columbia health center ended the procedure in fall 2018 when it could no longer meet a state requirement that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at a hospital no more than 15 minutes from the clinic and the clinic’s license expired. After that, until the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022, only one Planned Parenthood clinic in Missouri, located in St. Louis, continued to perform abortions. The St. Louis clinic temporarily lost its licensure as well until May 2020, when then- Missouri Administrative Hearing Commissioner Sreenivasa Rao Dandamudi ruled that the state health department had to re-issue the license . “Planned Parenthood has demonstrated that it provides safe and legal abortion care,” Dandamudi’s ruling concluded. “In over 4,000 abortions provided since 2018, the Department has only identified two causes to deny its license.” Westbrook ended Tuesday’s press conference saying he is hopeful the Trump administration will enforce the Comstock Act, an 1873 law that bans the mailing of obscene material, including medications used for abortion. He also said he supports Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s efforts to hold Planned Parenthood accountable. The Missouri Attorney General’s office recently posed a court challenge to the Planned Parenthood suit. The latest lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Cole County, questions Planned Parenthood Great Plains’ ability to sue, claiming a 2010 settlement agreement prevents them from doing so. Bailey, in a recent official opinion from his office , argued that while Missouri statutes prohibiting abortion prior to fetal viability will no longer be enforceable in their entirety, the state can still enforce other laws on the books related to abortion. “In a contest where the ‘yes’ side was able in effect to rewrite the ballot summary language, received tens of millions of dollars in funding from out of state, and outspent the ‘no’ side 6 to 0,” Bailey wrote, “This tight margin suggests the result may be very different if a future constitutional amendment is put up for a vote.” SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLEAhead of Ohio State's appearance in the College Football Playoff, head coach Ryan Day received a vote of confidence from his athletic director despite the Buckeyes' latest loss to Michigan. Ohio State AD Ross Bjork appeared on 97.1 The Fan in Columbus on Thursday, where a radio host asked him whether Day would be the Buckeyes' coach at the start of next season regardless of how the playoffs shake out. "Absolutely," said Bjork, who came to Ohio State from the same role at Texas A&M in July. "Coach Day and I have just hit it off so well. I've been really, really impressed. Every single time I've talked to him, I've learned something. He's innovative. He recruits at the highest level. He's got a great staff. There's always tweaks. There was tweaks after last year, right? You're always going to tweak things. You're always going to make adjustments. You're always going to make improvements." Bjork continued by addressing the "championship or bust" attitude held by some of the fanbase. "This whole mentality about -- and look, we live it, and we sign up for it -- but if you get fixated on the end result and not have the process fully baked every time, you're going to lose," Bjork said. "The mindset's going to lose because you're only fixated on one thing. And so what we have to do is this whole ‘championship or bust' mentality, you want that as the goal, but it has to be about the process. "To me, we've got to maybe change some conversations a little bit. I think we need to maybe just approach things a little bit differently." Day is 66-10 as Ohio State's coach and led the Buckeyes to one national championship game appearance, a 52-24 loss to Alabama to cap the 2020 season. Ohio State went 10-2 in the regular season but missed out on a place in the Big Ten championship game when rival Michigan defeated the Buckeyes 13-10 on Nov. 30. It was Michigan's fourth straight win in The Game, and Day is now 1-4 as a head coach against the Wolverines. At the time, Bjork released a statement of support for Day, and he doubled down during Thursday's radio hit. "He's great to work with. He totally gets it. He loves being a Buckeye, and so we're going to support him at the highest level throughout," Bjork said. "But here's the thing too, and the reason why we needed to say something after that game is we're still breathing. They're still alive. The season's not over. The book is not closed, right? And so we've got to have confidence. I mean, Ohio State should be confident every single day. We're Ohio State. "But we also have to make sure we stay to our values and we stick to what we believe in. And so to me, it's the process as much as it is about the end result." --Field Level Media