Skyward Specialty director Hays sells $4.06m in stockB. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Purchases New Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)ELKHART – Billings Funeral Home has announced the return of its annual Stockings for Veterans initiative, dedicated to honoring and spreading holiday cheer to military veterans. Through Dec. 16, the community is invited to participate by picking up stockings from Billings Funeral Home, filling them with thoughtful items and returning them to ensure they reach local veterans in time for Christmas. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
scored 31 points to lead unranked to in overtime against No. 3 in the quarterfinal round of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday. Have a day, Javon Small 👏 His 31-point performance was crucial in ' win over No. 3 Gonzaga 🪣 — NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) The Bulldogs were viewed as a favorite to win the preseason tournament and led 39–31 at halftime. Yet after Gonzaga took a 43–33 lead early in the second half, the Mountaineers went on a 10–0 run to tie the game, finished off by a 3-pointer from . West Virginia continued the onslaught to take a 50–47 lead. From there, the game was a back-and-forth affair. The Mountaineers went on top 58–53, but Gonzaga quickly answered with a 3 from . The Bulldogs appeared to take control of the game on a jump shot with 1:52 remaining in regulation and took a 71–65 lead with 25 seconds left. Braden Huff delivers. Zags back on top. — Theo Lawson (@TheoLawson_SR) However, a 3-pointer from closed the margin to 71–69 for West Virginia. DeVries wasn't finished from there, getting a steal and drawing a foul. He made two free throws to tie the game at 71–71 with five seconds remaining in regulation. Gonzaga couldn't get a shot off at the end, putting the game into overtime. In the extra period, West Virginia built its lead at the foul line with and Hansberry each making two free throws to go on top 77–73. A layup from Small and two more free throws by gave the Mountaineers an 81–75 lead with 1:04 left. Harris followed up to essentially put the game away with a steal and dunk for an 81–76 margin. And two final free throws by DeVries gave West Virginia the winning 86–78 score. KB IS COOKING !!️ — Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) DeVries scored 16 points for the Mountaineers, who improved to 4–1 with the victory. Hansberry added 19 points and eight rebounds. Huff scored 19 points to lead Gonzaga, followed by 16 from and 13 by HIckman. notched 12 assists for the Bulldogs. Gonzaga lost its first game of the season after beating , and on their way to a 5–0 start. The Bulldogs' defeat continued a difficult week for top five teams, joining No. 2 ( to and ) and No. 5 ( No. 4 ) in losing during preseason holiday tournaments.🎤Town council votes to cut public time at mic 🎤Props banned, including flags, in decorum rule 🎤Ordinance follows months of meeting disruptions EDISON — Emotions ran high among dozens of critics at a Monday meeting, as the Edison Township Council adopted some new rules for public comments. One ordinance reduced the limit on public speaking time by two minutes, to a total of four minutes per person. There were two dissenting votes and an absent council member who has previously spoken against the proposal. A separate ordinance looked to codify "firm rules of decorum for conduct" at town council meetings. That conduct, already established by Edison Council President Nishith Patel, included a ban on any props from use by those at the podium. American flags and copies of the U.S. Constitution being lumped into “props” was of particular disgust from those who slammed the ordinance before a final vote. As the floor was opened up for public comment on the time restriction, the first speaker said the council should be ashamed of its proposal to “slash” the time that each member of the public is allowed to speak. He narrated that he was holding a printed copy of the ordinance, saying “I’m tearing it up and holding up the pieces, one third of it is gone,” before he picked up a bound copy of the Constitution. At that point, the council told him it counted as a prop and his remaining time would be forfeited. New Brunswick Today creator Charlie Kratovil also spoke against the proposed time limit, saying it was an abuse of power. Another critic of the time limit was the vice president of the Edison Board of Education. “We do have a right to speak, let the people speak,” Joseph Romano said, adding that their last board meeting ran over four hours long as 72 people spoke. Another female resident said that it was misguided for the council to try and “militantly control” public actions during meetings, due to a handful of disruptive individuals. Masked men at multiple meetings Disruptions have been caught at the recorded Edison Council meetings, going back for months, if not years. At the Oct. 9 meeting, at least two men wore Guy Fawkes or “Anonymous” style face masks, while a third often wore a full wrestler’s mask. A fourth man was dressed as a giant cannabis bong, cradling a baby doll dressed in a similar costume. Two of the men have a social media presence as “ Bongholeo and El Rampador ”, whose self-billed mission is in support of ”medical-cannabis and the disabled.” Their TikTok account includes repeat appearances at other municipal meetings in Sayreville and Lavalette, in addition to Edison. During his six minutes at the October meeting, the man dressed as a bong told the council they had failed miserably. He ended by singing until his time was up and he was escorted out by police officers. That unique collection of attendees was no accident, according to self-billed entrepreneur, Patrick Duff on his Instagram account. “People’s ability to freely speak is what keeps us from tyranny. The right to pray, say, and protest, must be protected, so sometimes we must push the boundaries with absurdity to act as the modern day court jester,” Duff said in an Oct. 10 post. He added the activists had turned out to support lifelong Edison resident, Christo Makropoulos. Past town controversy Makropoulos, who goes as Jersey Watcher on his own social media accounts, has been at the center of years of controversy in his hometown. He ran as an independent for mayor in 2021 but lost to Democrat Sam Joshi, the town's youngest and first South Asian mayor. Makropoulos, an Edison High School grad, then unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Edison Board of Education in fall 2022, on the “Protect the Children” platform. That same year, he was arrested after an amateur attempt to catch a child predator turned violent. Read More: Edison, NJ man arrested in bold child predator trapping fiasco By this January, his case had been dismissed and Makropoulos had become a frequent speaker at council meetings. He can be seen in videos posted from January , March, April and June , wearing a ski mask and going as "anonymous" while speaking at the podium. At the Monday meeting before a final vote on cutting back on public speaking time, Councilman Patel said the new rules were about having “better conversation.” Councilman Asaf Shmuel said most of those who had spoken that night had delivered their comments in under four minutes. Of the two opposing votes, Councilman Ajay Patil said that people were taking their time to express their feelings on any given issue and called the time limit “insane.” Councilman Richard Brescher said he agreed with the public members who had spoken against the limits. Brescher — who also lost to Joshi as an independent mayoral candidate in 2021 — said this was a repeat of history or “Jun Choi 2.0” — as the former mayor had also cut public speaking time to four minutes. Choi was Edison’s first Asian American mayor and previously the youngest mayor elected, serving for one term through 2010. Several public speakers at Monday's meeting said that while some might lack decorum or might not always be polite, the council should still hear them out and not move to restrict how individuals make their views heard. Video from the Oct. 6 Edison Town Council meeting, including costumed attendees, was shared to YouTube by New Brunswick Today: Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom How N.J. voted in the 2024 presidential election Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris won New Jersey's 14 Electoral College votes but her performance against Republican former President Donald Trump trailed President Biden's victory in 2020. Below is a county-by-county breakdown. Gallery Credit: New Jersey 101.5 Best elementary schools in New Jersey (2024) In November 2024, U.S. News & World Report released its list of the best elementary schools in New Jersey. Gallery Credit: Dino Flammia Best New Jersey Diners For Breakfast and Lunch Thank you to our New Jersey listeners for these recommendations. Gallery Credit: Bill SpadeaNoneA Cork North-Central candidate who suffered an epileptic seizure just moments before he was due on national radio has said disability or medical conditions should not stop anyone from entering politics. Labour councillor Eoghan Kenny has taken to social media, stating that he wanted to "own" his story. He revealed that he suffered an epileptic seizure in the studios of RTÉ as he prepared to go on the Drivetime radio show to speak about the general election campaign this week. "Politicians are normal, that's a phrase that I have inherited this week," he said. "I wanted to own this story myself, I'm an epileptic and encouraged that it doesn't affect my job as a public rep." Thanking those who came to his assistance, including paramedics, he said: "The politicians in the room, what some might consider rivals of mine in the upcoming election, I now consider them colleagues of mine in the political sphere, they came to my assistance along with the staff of RTÉ." However, Mr Kenny said he is now "driving on" with his election campaign. "It proves a point that people with medical conditions can go into the public eye and represent people whether that be locally or nationally." He said it's a condition that he is proud to live with.
INS Vikramaditya to Rejoin Active Fleet Post ₹1207.5 Crore Refit at Cochin ShipyardMustapha giving a shot at making Batik canting from clay during the UpayaKPT@Sepanggar programme. Prof Rosalam is to his left. KOTA KINABALU (Nov 23): A basic masterplan for Sepanggar is expected to be launched in January next year, said Sepanggar Member of Parliament Datuk Ts Mustapha Sakmud. “This basic masterplan will focus on basic infrastructure in Sepanggar and is currently in the preparation stage, as phase one of the larger Sepanggar Masterplan 2025 – 2030. “After this basic masterplan is completed, the next phases of the larger masterplan will include the addition of other models such as Living Labs as well as addressing squatter issues,” he told reporters after officiating the UpayaKPT@Sepanggar programme with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) at Kampung Kobuni, Inanam on Saturday. On the squatter issue, he said they are planning to carry out mapping works in Sepanggar, to firstly determine the number and location of its villages and squatter settlements. “We have to understand that when we deep dive into Sepanggar, the squatter settlements there comprise 70 percent locals, while the rest are undocumented. “So we have to figure a long-term plan to get them out of these settlements, such as building People’s Housing Projects (PPR) to relocate them to,” he said. Mustapha said the biggest challenge in executing these masterplans is not the infrastructure aspect, but how to change the mindset of the Sepanggar community. “For example, the residents of Kampung Kobuni in Inanam had managed to unite and made it a rubbish-free village. “So we want to educate the Sepanggar community, especially near the seasides, to also think this way. “This requires an extraordinary leap but that is the challenge. Insyallah, we will do our best,” he said. Previously, Mustapha had reportedly stated that the Sepanggar Masterplan 2025 – 2030 will cover various facets of development, not only from the physical aspect but also human capital. He said this five-year masterplan will be scrutinised by the district’s parliamentary side, utilising expertise from relevant parties such as Institute for Development Studies (IDS). Meanwhile, he said the UpayaKPT@Sepanggar programme is an initiative by the Higher Education Ministry (KPT) in collaboration with UMS to popularise the results of researches that have been carried out by institutes of higher learning, so that they can be utilised for the development of communities. Mustapha, who is also KPT Deputy Minister, said through this programme, they will implement several community projects based on the approach of transferring knowledge and technology to the community, such as aquaponics cultivation as well as the production of mushroom blocks, compost fertiliser and clay Batik. “The implementation of such projects is in line with KPT’s aspirations to empower the community as well as the Malaysia Madani concept. “I would like to urge all parties, especially higher learning institutes, to work together to develop the community and society to progress and prosper,” he said. Also present was UMS deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Prof Ir Dr Rosalam Sarbatly.
Alexander and Boston University secure 80-74 OT win over AlbanyMicrosoft refutes accusations of training AI on customer data Microsoft says "connected experience" has been on by default since it was made available in April 2019 Microsoft has denied allegations that it uses customer data from its Microsoft 365 applications, such as Word and Excel, to train artificial intelligence models, Reuters reported. The company’s statement, issued on Wednesday, came in response to social media posts where users claimed that the “connected experiences” feature—enabled by default—was being used to train AI models. A Microsoft spokesperson clarified in an emailed statement to Reuters : "These claims are untrue. Microsoft does not use customer data from Microsoft 365 consumer and commercial applications to train foundational large language models." The spokesperson further explained that the "connected experiences" feature is responsible for functions like co-authoring and cloud storage, and is unrelated to how Microsoft trains its AI models. Despite this clarification, concerns about data privacy persist on social media, with some users expressing unease over their data being potentially used for AI training without explicit consent. Additionally, Microsoft told BleepingComputer that the "connected experiences" feature has been on by default since its introduction in April 2019. The feature enables tools such as real-time grammar suggestions and web-based resources, and Microsoft emphasised that users have full control over their settings and can opt out at any time. How were Mars's moons formed? What exciting update is WhatsApp rolling out? Australian Senate backs social media ban for children VPN demand soars amid stricter social media curbs in Pakistan