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Rich Rodriguez is returning to West Virginia for a second stint as head coach at his alma mater. Athletic director Wren Baker announced the hiring on Thursday, 17 years after Rodriguez made a hasty exit for what became a disastrous three-year experiment at Michigan. “We are thrilled to welcome Coach Rich Rodriguez and his family back home,” Baker said in a statement. “Coach Rodriguez understands what it takes to win at West Virginia, and I believe he will pour his heart, soul and every ounce of his energy into our program. I am convinced Coach Rodriguez wants what is best for West Virginia, WVU and West Virginia football, and I am excited about the future of our program.” Rodriguez, who is the current coach at Jacksonville State, an architect of the spread offense and a polarizing figure in his home state, replaces Neal Brown, who was fired on Dec. 1 after going 37-35 in six seasons, including 6-6 this year. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be the head football coach at West Virginia University,” Rodriguez said. “My family and I are filled with gratitude to lead the Mountaineer football program again and look forward to working with the many supporters, fans, and friends to build the best football program in America! Take Me Home!” Rodriguez, 61, will be tasked with restoring a consistent winning climate at West Virginia, which hasn’t been ranked or had back-to-back winning seasons since 2018. The Mountaineers have yet to qualify for the Big 12 championship game since joining the league in 2012. Its best finish was a tie for second place in 2016. Success was a standard at West Virginia under Rodriguez, who went 60-26 from 2001 to 2007 after replacing Hall of Fame coach Don Nehlen. With star players such as quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton, Rodriguez led the Mountaineers to four Big East titles in five years and one of the greatest victories in school history, an upset win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl following the 2005 season. But many in the West Virginia fanbase remain jaded over his long-ago exit. Needing a win in their 2007 regular season finale to advance to the BCS national championship game, the Mountaineers lost at home to heavy underdog Pittsburgh, 13-9. “We picked an awful time to have our worst offensive game in years,” Rodriguez said after the game. Despite earning a berth in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma as a consolation prize, Rodriguez was gone two weeks later, taking some of his assistant coaches and recruits with him to Michigan. Rodriguez has insisted the Pitt loss had nothing to do with him leaving. He has said promises made by the school’s administration were not kept and his request for more money for his assistant coaches was rejected. Rodriguez said his relationship with then-athletic director Ed Pastilong had disintegrated by August 2007 to the point that the two men barely spoke. West Virginia went to court in an attempt to recoup Rodriguez’s $4 million buyout. Eventually, Michigan paid $2.5 million and Rodriguez paid $1.5 million to settle the dispute. Things didn’t go well for Rodriguez in Ann Arbor. He went 15-22 and was fired after the 2010 season. His stay at Michigan was marred by embarrassing losses and NCAA violations for exceeding limits on practice and training time at college football’s winningest program. After that he went 43-35 over six years as coach at Arizona. Rodriguez was fired in January 2018 after his former administrative assistant filed a claim with the Arizona attorney general’s office accusing him of sexually harassing her and creating a hostile work environment. The university said it couldn’t substantiate the claims but was concerned about the “direction and climate of the football program.” The lawsuit was later dismissed. Rodriguez spent one season each as offensive coordinator at Mississippi and Louisiana-Monroe and went 27-10 the past three seasons as coach at Jacksonville State, which moved from the Championship Subdivision to the FBS in 2023. Using an up-tempo, spread offense, Rodriguez has a 190-129-2 career record in 27 seasons as a head coach, including seven at Division II Glenville State. Rodriguez will be introduced on Friday at West Virginia's basketball arena, where ESPN's Pat McAfee, a former West Virginia and Indianapolis Colts kicker, will broadcast his show live.Toyota's basketball-playing humanoid sinks a record-breaking 80-ft shot
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OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – A 65-year-old Oakland County woman “could hardly sleep” because she couldn’t believe she won a $123,884 prize from the Michigan Lottery. The lucky player, who decided to stay anonymous, was selected in a random drawing on Nov. 21 to win the BIG CA$H second chance jackpot prize, according to Michigan Lottery officials. The woman earned entries into the drawing by playing eligible games on the Michigan Lottery’s website. “When I saw the email from the Lottery that said I’d won a $123,884 BIG CA$H second chance jackpot, I didn’t believe it at first,” said the player. “It was exciting and nerve-racking calling the Lottery office to confirm it was real. I could hardly sleep that night because I was in such disbelief!” The player recently claimed her prize and says that with her winnings she plans to complete some home improvements and then save the rest. Part of each purchase of select online instant games funds a progressive jackpot. Players get one entry for every $.50 wagered while playing eligible games. Entries are only valid for the period in which they were earned. After the entry period closes, a jackpot winner is selected from all the entries received that month. Here are the jackpots players have won over the last 12 months: The next drawing is happening on Dec. 10.HOUSTON , Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- OptiSigns, a leader in digital signage software solutions, is thrilled to announce its participation as a Platinum Sponsor in this year's Digital Signage Experience (DSE) 2024, taking place this December in Las Vegas, Nevada . The highly anticipated event, a premier gathering for digital signage innovators, professionals, and enthusiasts, will provide the perfect stage for OptiSigns to unveil its latest advancements and engage with industry leaders. Visitors of DSE 2024 will have the opportunity to experience firsthand how OptiSigns' powerful and user-friendly platform is transforming how businesses communicate, engage, and inform their audiences. From dynamic content scheduling to seamless integrations and real-time updates, OptiSigns' solutions are designed to meet the needs of businesses across industries, including retail, hospitality, healthcare, and more. "At OptiSigns, we are passionate about empowering businesses with technology that engages audiences and drives results," said Head of Sales John Shelley. "We are excited to connect with industry professionals at DSE 2024, showcase our solutions, and demonstrate how digital signage can transform communication strategies." DSE 2024 will take place from December 9, 2024 , to December 10, 2024 , at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada , and promises to bring together key players and thought leaders in digital signage, offering a unique platform to explore the latest technologies and network with industry professionals. What to Expect from OptiSigns at DSE 2024: Live Demonstrations: Visitors of DSE can visit OptiSigns booth #3134 to explore the intuitive features of the OptiSigns platform and learn how it can simplify and enhance digital signage management. Using OptiSigns innovative technology like the Pro Player and Android Stick, visitors will be treated to LIVE Demos of unique OptiSigns features like Audience Intelligence, the OptiSync Data Management System, and the Lift and Learn Interactive Kiosk Experience. New Product Announcements: Stop by OptiSigns booth #3134 and be the first to see the newest innovative Pro Max technology designed by OptiSigns and learn more about unique updates that will redefine the digital signage landscape. Our newest Pro Max technology is our most powerful digital signage player that supports 8K or 4x4K video walls. With OptiSigns experts onsite, visitors will have the opportunity to discuss trends, best practices, and strategies for maximizing the impact of digital signage. Exclusive Giveaways and Promotions: Attendees visiting OptiSigns booth #3134 will have access to special offers, giveaways, and prizes. This year, OptiSigns will unleash their interactive Opti Claw Machine, tantalizing visitors with a chance to win OptiSigns Android Sticks, Pro Players, Optibot Keychains, and more. One lucky winner will win a brand new PS5 Pro via a LinkedIn competition, and the winner will be announced LIVE at DSE! For more information on the PS5 giveaway, check out OptiSigns' LinkedIn page. About OptiSigns OptiSigns is a leading digital signage software provider dedicated to helping businesses create engaging, impactful content experiences. Focusing on simplicity, scalability, and innovation, OptiSigns empowers organizations to communicate their message effectively and captivate their audience through digital displays. For more information on OptiSigns, visit www.optisigns.com or follow us on all social media @OptiSignsInc. Media Contact: Aisha Albritton Director of Trade Show Strategy and Event Marketing Aisha.Albritton@OptiSigns.com | (404) 641-0613 View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/optisigns-to-showcase-cutting-edge-digital-signage-solutions-at-the-digital-signage-experience-2024-in-las-vegas-302320107.html SOURCE OptiSigns
By HILLEL ITALIE NEW YORK (AP) — Even through a year of nonstop news about elections, climate change, protests and the price of eggs, there was still time to read books. U.S. sales held steady according to Circana, which tracks around 85% of the print market, with many choosing the relief of romance, fantasy and romantasy. Some picked up Taylor Swift’s tie-in book to her blockbuster tour, while others sought out literary fiction, celebrity memoirs, political exposes and a close and painful look at a generation hooked on smartphones. Here are 10 notable books published in 2024, in no particular order. Asking about the year’s hottest reads would basically yield a list of the biggest hits in romantasy, the blend of fantasy and romance that has proved so irresistible fans were snapping up expensive “special editions” with decorative covers and sprayed edges. Of the 25 top sellers of 2024, as compiled by Circana, six were by romantasy favorite Sarah J. Maas, including “House of Flame and Shadow,” the third of her “Crescent City” series. Millions read her latest installment about Bryce Quinlan and Hunter Athalar and traced the ever-growing ties of “Maasverse,” the overlapping worlds of “Crescent City” and her other series, “Throne of Glass” and “A Court of Thorns and Roses.” If romantasy is for escape, other books demand we confront. In the bestselling “The Anxious Generation,” social psychologist Jonathan Haidt looks into studies finding that the mental health of young people began to deteriorate in the 2010s, after decades of progress. According to Haidt, the main culprit is right before us: digital screens that have drawn kids away from “play-based” to “phone-based” childhoods. Although some critics challenged his findings, “The Anxious Generation” became a talking point and a catchphrase. Admirers ranged from Oprah Winfrey to Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee, who in a letter to state legislators advocated such “commonsense recommendations” from the book as banning phones in schools and keeping kids off social media until age 16. Bob Woodward books have been an election tradition for decades. “War,” the latest of his highly sourced Washington insider accounts, made news with its allegations that Donald Trump had been in frequent contact with Russian leader Vladimir Putin even while out of office and, while president, had sent Putin sophisticated COVID-19 test machines. Among Woodward’s other scoops: Putin seriously considered using nuclear weapons against Ukraine, and President Joe Biden blamed former President Barack Obama, under whom he served as vice president, for some of the problems with Russia. “Barack never took Putin seriously,” Woodward quoted Biden as saying. Former (and future) first lady Melania Trump, who gives few interviews and rarely discusses her private life, unexpectedly announced she was publishing a memoir: “Melania.” The publisher was unlikely for a former first lady — not one of the major New York houses, but Skyhorse, where authors include such controversial public figures as Woody Allen and Trump cabinet nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And its success was at least a minor surprise. Melania Trump did little publicity for the book, and offered few revelations beyond posting a video expressing support for abortion rights — a break from one of the cornerstones of GOP policy. But “Melania” still sold hundreds of thousands of copies, many in the days following her husband’s election. Taylor Swift was more than a music story in 2024. Like “Melania,” the news about Taylor Swift’s self-published tie-in to her global tour isn’t so much the book itself, but that it exists. And how well it sold. As she did with the “Eras” concert film, Swift bypassed the established industry and worked directly with a distributor: Target offered “The Eras Tour Book” exclusively. According to Circana, the “Eras” book sold more than 800,000 copies just in its opening week, an astonishing number for a publication unavailable through Amazon.com and other traditional retailers. No new book in 2024 had a better debut. Midnight book parties are supposed to be for “Harry Potter” and other fantasy series, but this fall, more than 100 stores stayed open late to welcome one of the year’s literary events: Sally Rooney’s “Intermezzo.” The Irish author’s fourth novel centers on two brothers, their grief over the death of their father, their very different career paths and their very unsettled love lives. “Intermezzo” was also a book about chess: “You have to read a lot of opening theory — that’s the beginning of a game, the first moves,” one of the brothers explains. “And you’re learning all this for what? Just to get an okay position in the middle game and try to play some decent chess. Which most of the time I can’t do anyway.” Lisa Marie Presley had been working on a memoir at the time of her death , in 2023, and daughter Riley Keough had agreed to help her complete it. “From Here to the Great Unknown” is Lisa Marie’s account of her father, Elvis Presley, and the sagas of of her adult life, notably her marriage to Michael Jackson and the death of son Benjamin Keough. To the end, she was haunted by the loss of Elvis, just 42 when he collapsed and died at his Graceland home while young Lisa Marie was asleep. “She would listen to his music alone, if she was drunk, and cry,” Keough, during an interview with Winfrey, said of her mother. Meanwhile, Cher released the first of two planned memoirs titled “Cher” — no further introduction required. Covering her life from birth to the end of the 1970s, she focuses on her ill-fated marriage to Sonny Bono, remembering him as a gifted entertainer and businessman who helped her believe in herself while turning out to be unfaithful, erratic, controlling and so greedy that he kept all the couple’s earnings for himself. Unsure of whether to leave or stay, she consulted a very famous divorcee, Lucille Ball, who reportedly encouraged her: “F— him, you’re the one with the talent.” A trend in recent years is to take famous novels from the past, and remove words or passages that might offend modern readers; an edition of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” cuts the racist language from Mark Twain’s original text. In the most celebrated literary work of 2024, Percival Everett found a different way to take on Twain’s classic — write it from the perspective of the enslaved Jim. “James,” winner of the National Book Award, is a recasting in many ways. Everett suggests to us that the real Jim was nothing like the deferential figure known to millions of readers, but a savvy and learned man who concealed his intelligence from the whites around him, and even from Twain himself. Salman Rushdie’s first National Book Award nomination was for a memoir he wished he had no reason to write. In “Knife,” he recounts in full detail the horrifying attempt on his life in 2022, when an attendee rushed the stage during a literary event in western New York and stabbed him repeatedly, leaving with him a blinded eye and lasting nerve damage, but with a spirit surprisingly intact. “If you had told me that this was going to happen and how would I deal with it, I would not have been very optimistic about my chances,” he told The Associated Press last spring. “I’m still myself, you know, and I don’t feel other than myself. But there’s a little iron in the soul, I think.”Gulfport Energy upgraded at KeyBanc on Trump tailwinds
Podeli : Despite Rio Tinto’s announcement in August 2021 that a pilot plant for the chemical treatment of jadarite with sulfuric acid would be sent to Serbia within weeks, this has not happened—and, according to the company, it will not happen. The foreign company cited „a massive campaign of disinformation and public intimidation“ as the reason for reversing its decision. As evidence, Rio Tinto referenced an open letter to Serbia’s president by the organization “Ne damo Jadar” and an opinion piece on the Nova.rs website. According to Rio Tinto, the pilot plant is located at the Bundora Technology and Development Center near Melbourne, Australia. The company claims the facility was developed by domestic and international experts. „All testing of mineral processing for jadarite ore was conducted following all safety standards. Three chemical testing campaigns were carried out, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. During these tests, we collaborated with 40 top international suppliers and tested 5,000 pieces of equipment. Five independent audits confirmed the process is stable, safe, and successful,“ Rio Tinto stated. However, the company did not provide data to substantiate these claims. The process involves three stages: mining, chemical processing to produce lithium carbonate, and waste disposal. Rio Tinto added that if the professional public expresses interest in learning about the technology tested at the pilot plant for the Jadar project, the company is willing to respond positively but did not clarify how this would be done.
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