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SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — Dr. Phil and Tom Homan visited Cochise County on Wednesday, to learn more about how activity at the southern border is affecting the rural county. President-elect Donald Trump appointed Homan to be border czar. The visit served two purposes: One for Dr. Phil to film a segment for his show and two for Homan to sit down with local law enforcement. Homan had a meeting with community leaders, including Sierra Vista Mayor Clea McCaa, Border Patrol, Cochise County Sheriff Deputies, and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb. "Now that we have this engagement you can’t say well 'I don’t want to work with you', that doesn’t serve a purpose. It’s hypocritical,” Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said. The visit comes after Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and other politicians visited the area this past election cycle. For Dannels, having anyone from the federal government come and listen to the problems he, his deputies, and his constituents face, is a step in the right direction. “We’re hoping that now that has been shared our expectations that we'd be funded properly, the resources are probably put back on the border," Dannels said. "Let the federal government do their job, let us do our job, but there is still need to be a partnership.” He's been calling for action from the federal government for years since there are limitations to what his deputies and local law enforcement can do. Dannels says the meeting went well, and that Homan shared some of Trump's agenda for illegal immigration and deportations. “The biggest threat of public safety, national security, threat to this country, are the ones that they're looking at," he said, "That's what the pride of this plan is.” Dannels expressed to the new border czar the need for resources and funding. The sheriff says border crimes is Cochise County have increased the workload for public defenders and the county attorney's office. Dannels told KGUN 9 that Homan told the group the exact plan isn’t done yet. "What matters is, how are we protecting the people in this county," he said. This is why, Dannels says they host visits like Homan's and Dr. Phil's; to help educate people. Mayor McCaa says it’s time to put aside politics and political affiliation, and find answers. "(The) ideal way forward is to make sure that people of Cochise County are taken care of," he said. "I share that way forward as we together collaborate to make sure Cochise County is safe.” --- ——- Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9 . She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook .NoneThings to watch this week in the Big 12 Conference: No. 14 BYU (9-1, 6-1 Big 12, No. 14 CFP) at No. 21 Arizona State (8-2, 5-2, No. 21), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) League newcomer Arizona State has a three-game winning streak and BYU is coming off its first loss. The Cougars, after losing at home to Kansas, still control their own destiny in making the Big 12 championship game. They can clinch a spot in that Dec. 7 game as early as Saturday, if they win and instate rival Utah wins at home against No. 22 Iowa State. Arizona State was picked at the bottom of the 16-team league in the preseason media poll, but already has a five-win improvement in coach Kenny Dillingham's second season. No. 16 Colorado (8-2, 6-1, No. 16 CFP) at Kansas (4-6, 3-4), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (Fox) Coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes are in prime position to make the Big 12 title game in their return to the league after 13 seasons in the Pac-12. If BYU and Utah win, Colorado would be able to claim the other title game spot with a win over Kansas. The Buffs have a four-game winning streak. The Jayhawks need another November win over a ranked Big 12 contender while trying to get bowl eligible for the third season in a row. Kansas has won consecutive games over Top 25 teams for the first time in school history, knocking off Iowa State before BYU. Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht has thrown a touchdown in a school-record 14 consecutive games, while receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel both have more than 800 yards receiving. San Jose State is the only other FBS team with a pair of 800-yard receivers. Becht has 2,628 yards and 17 touchdowns passing for the Cyclones (8-2, 5-2), who are still in Big 12 contention. Oklahoma State goes into its home finale against Texas Tech with a seven-game losing streak, its longest since a nine-game skid from 1977-78. The only longer winless streak since was an 0-10-1 season in 1991. This is Mike Gundy's 20th season as head coach, and his longest losing streak before now was five in a row in 2005, his first season and the last time the Cowboys didn't make a bowl game. ... Baylor plays at Houston for the first time since 1995, the final Southwest Conference season. The Cougars won last year in the only meeting since to even the series 14-14-1. ... Eight Big 12 teams are bowl eligible. As many as six more teams could reach six wins. The Big 12 already has four 1,000-yard rushers, including three who did it last season. UCF's RJ Harvey is the league's top rusher (1,328 yards) and top scorer with 21 touchdowns (19 rushing/two receiving). The others with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons are Texas Tech career rushing leader Tahj Brooks (1,184 yards) and Kansas State's DJ Giddens (1,128 yards). Cam Skattebo with league newcomer Arizona State has 1,074 yards. Devin Neal, the career rushing leader at his hometown university, is 74 yards shy of being the first Kansas player with three 1,000-yard seasons. Cincinnati's Corey Kiner needs 97 yards to reach 1,000 again.We’re now into the final month of what has been a crazy, volatile 2024. This has seasoned and new investors alike wondering about Canadian stock picks for 2025. Here’s a look at some of the options to consider buying now and into 2025. Most investors are aware of ( ) as one of the largest of Canada’s big telecoms. BCE operates a nationwide network of subscription-based services, which includes wireline, wireless, internet and TV segments. Those segments, which also boast some defensive appeal, provide a recurring revenue stream that helps BCE to pay out a very generous quarterly dividend with a yield of 10.5%. Why is BCE one of the Canadian stock picks for 2025? The telecom has come under increasing pressure in the past few years, particularly as rising interest rates have made borrowing more expensive. Rising costs have also pushed BCE to limit capital investments and turn to cost-cutting. Those cost-cutting efforts include staffing reductions, selling off parts of its media arm, and even its interest in MLSE. In the most recent quarter, the company posted a net loss of $1.2 billion. This led the company to announce it was halting dividend increases. Ouch. So then, why is BCE one of the Canadian stock picks for 2025? The stock is trading down significantly, despite its long-term defensive appeal. BCE is also expanding into the U.S. market through its Ziply acquisition, which should provide long-term growth. While waiting for that growth to come, investors can enjoy that juicy dividend. Canada’s are often regarded as great long-term investment options. And if investors are looking for Canadian stock picks for 2025, the big banks are always near the top of that list. So then, what big bank should investors turn to in 2025? That would be Canada’s third-largest lender, ( ). Coincidentally, the bank just announced results for the fourth fiscal, which were below expectations. This led to the stock taking a dip. As of the time of writing, Scotiabank is trading down nearly 3%, but that doesn’t paint the picture Scotiabank should be one of the Canadian stock picks for 2025. Scotiabank is Canada’s most international bank. That includes a presence in developing markets of Latin America as well as a growing presence in the U.S. and Mexico. That presence provides higher growth potential over the saturated and mature domestic market in Canada. And apart from that stellar growth potential, Scotiabank also pays out a handsome dividend. As of the time of writing, the dividend works out to a tasty 5.3%, making it one of the better-paying among the big banks. It would be hard to compile a list of Canadian stock picks for 2025 (or any year for that manner) and not mention ( ). For those unfamiliar with the stock, Fortis is one of the largest utility stocks on the market. Utilities like Fortis are great long-term investment options for any portfolio thanks to their reliable business models. In short, utilities are tasked with providing a utility service, for which they are compensated. That compensation is set out in long-term regulated contracts that can span decades. This means that utilities generate a recurring revenue stream that leaves room for both investing in growth as well as paying out a . As of the time of writing, Fortis’ dividend works out to a respectable 3.9% yield. Adding to that appeal is Fortis’ status as a Dividend King. This means Fortis has provided investors with annual bumps to that dividend going back at least 50 consecutive years. This easily makes Fortis one of the Canadian stock picks for 2025 and beyond No stock is without some risk, including the trio of options mentioned above. Fortunately, all three of the stocks above provide some defensive appeal and juicy yields. In my opinion, one or all of the above should be a core holding in any well-diversified portfolio.
Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in DICK’S Sporting Goods, Inc. ( NYSE:DKS – Free Report ) by 276.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,172 shares of the sporting goods retailer’s stock after buying an additional 861 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in DICK’S Sporting Goods were worth $245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in DICK’S Sporting Goods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods by 70.5% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 133 shares of the sporting goods retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods in the second quarter worth $30,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in DICK’S Sporting Goods in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in DICK’S Sporting Goods during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 89.83% of the company’s stock. DICK’S Sporting Goods Price Performance DKS stock opened at $210.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.26. The company has a market capitalization of $17.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.64. DICK’S Sporting Goods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.84 and a 52-week high of $239.30. DICK’S Sporting Goods Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 4th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 20th. DICK’S Sporting Goods’s payout ratio is currently 32.28%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth DKS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on DICK’S Sporting Goods from $247.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods from $243.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.62. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on DICK’S Sporting Goods DICK’S Sporting Goods Profile ( Free Report ) DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an omni-channel sporting goods retailer primarily in the United States. The company provides hardlines, includes sporting goods equipment, fitness equipment, golf equipment, and fishing gear products; apparel; and footwear and accessories. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DKS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for DICK’S Sporting Goods, Inc. ( NYSE:DKS – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for DICK'S Sporting Goods Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for DICK'S Sporting Goods and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
Canadian minister says Trump was joking when he said Canada could become the 51st stateNone
by Shanthilal Nanayakkara Retired Principal Engineer, Digital Transition Division, Australian Communications and Media Authority A Japanese delegation recently announced the resumption of the previously stalled digital television project in Sri Lanka following a meeting with the newly-elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The commencement of the digitisation project is now imminent. Once terrestrial television transmissions are digitised in Sri Lanka, it will replace the old analogue terrestrial television forever. Therefore, it is critically important that the final outcome is better than the current analogue television, if not far superior. Setting such a goal prior to the implementation of the project is crucial for its fruitful completion. To achieve this outcome, deficiencies in the current parameters in the Japanese Digital Plans need to be revisited and appropriately addressed for the benefit of all stakeholders. Otherwise, as it stands today, there is a high potential for rural and regional viewers in Sri Lanka to miss out on the digital coverage. (This is further illustrated below). Such an unwarranted outcome could become a highly ‘politically sensitive’ issue for the new government . Why Digital In analogue transmissions, radio waves encounter several problems. When radio waves are subjected to multipath, ghosting images appear on television screen. They are also subjected to cancellation of their own signals and interference. Digital technology overcomes these analogue transmission weaknesses and, as a huge value addition, is able to carry more information than its analogue counterpart. As this capacity enhancement feature helps carry multiple programmes on one frequency or channel, digital television transmission technology is considered to be highly spectrum productive. Once analogue is switched off, the vacant spectrum that can be harnessed, commonly known as Digital Dividend (DD), becomes an income earner for the Government, as spare spectrum can be sold to Telcos for broadband internet use. Thus, this digitisation project is effectively a self-financing venture for the government and a win-win for all stakeholders. Stakeholder benefits of digital Many countries in the world have now moved or are in the process of moving to the digital domain. Irrespective of the digital television transmission standard adopted in Sri Lanka, benefits of a conversion from analogue to digital television are many for the majority of stakeholders. These are listed below against the various stakeholders: * Government – a significant income from selling the vacant spare spectrum to Telcos, following full conversion to digital, provided appropriate modifications are made to the JICA plan; * Broadcasters – increased television channels and scope for increase of advertising revenue; * Viewers – increased number of television channels to facilitate a wider selection of content, with True High Definition (True HD) quality and potential 5.1 Surround Sound; * Content providers – opportunity to produce a wide range of programmes that are in demand; * Production houses – larger revenue from vastly increased niche productions; * Creators of social media and other internet-based content – opportunities to develop novel visual and aural media content; * Electronic Manufacturing/Testing – opportunities to manufacture digital television receivers and set up a receiver harmonisation/compatibility centre; * Broadcast Towers (similar to Lotus Tower) – Opportunities to establish and operate consolidated broadcast towers in the country; * Telcos- opportunity to purchase superior vacant spectrum for future fixed and mobile broadband applications. Funding arrangements or self-financing The current funding arrangement for digitisation of television in Sri Lanka is a ‘soft loan’ from the Japanese government, and it is tied up in ‘one bundle’ with loans for other projects. This loan is also based on the premise that the deployment of the Japanese digital television standard, Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (ISDB-T) is mandatory. As the vacant spectrum can be sold after Analogue Switch Off (ASO), the venture could also be a self-financing project, albeit with bridging finance. Purpose of this essay The main purpose of this article is to suggest ways of optimising the benefits of the digitisation project while retaining the support of the Japanese government. If the bulk of problems for viewers and broadcasters can be removed by making appropriate adjustments to the current plans at a minimal cost, with broadcasters becoming willing participants, the digitisation of television in Sri Lanka would no doubt be a success for all stakeholders, including the new government. Otherwise, there is an urgent need to review the bi-lateral agreement that was signed previously. The broadcasting fraternity in Sri Lanka is fully aware that the Japanese system is not as efficient as the second generation European standard, Digital Video Broadcast-Terrestrial 2 (DVB-T2). Understanding Digital Simply put, digitisation of analogue vision and sound enables radio waves to carry more information within the same channel or bandwidth than in the analogue era. This allows producers of visual and aural content to be more creative than before. The technology also facilitates easy communication in both fixed and mobile environments and facilitates two-way communication more than in the analogue era. However, there are two main pitfalls that one needs to address in order to make the venture a success. They are as follows: Cliff effect (sudden loss of signal): – * to avoid the ‘cliff effect’ a robust signal (with higher reliability and availability at a receive location than in analogue era) is needed at the receiver to prevent momentary picture pixelation and/or sudden loss of signal; and * it is also necessary to ensure that all television digital services reaching viewer locations are of the same signal strength to ensure equity of services and therefore must originate from ONE location such as the Lotus Tower. * Absence of ‘graceful degradation’ and its effect on signal level – even with a degraded signal with ‘snowy pictures’, analogue signal is still watchable. It is not so with digital due to ‘cliff effect’. Therefore, there is a need to ensure that the digital coverage is the same or better than the existing watchable analogue coverage that is defined by a signal level of 43 dBuV/m in VHF Band III. This limit was adopted for digitisation in Australia. Deficiencies of the Japanese standard/plan In planning to deploy the ISDB-T system in our country, everyone should aim for a cost-beneficial outcome as it is of paramount importance to all stakeholders. There are several issues in the Japanese documentation of 2014/2018, which should be addressed to suit the needs of the public/consumers, broadcasters and government. They range from policy issues at the outset, technical areas during planning and management issues during the proposed phases of ASO and Digital Switch On (DSO). Spectrum for Digital: VHF/UHF issue In particular, the proposal to use only a part of the available broadcast spectrum has an impact on the eventual DD income for the Government. The Japanese have deployed both VHF and UHF spectrum in Brazil, strangely not offered to Sri Lanka. In that context, it is not clear why the Japanese team has not proposed a VHF and UHF combined solution as deployed in Brazil. This was pointed out by the writer when a Japanese team, including a senior Embassy official Sato Takefumi, met him in 2017 in Colombo to discuss Lotus Tower issues (after his disclosure in an article in The Island about the Lotus tower) and digitisation in general. Their response was ‘no one asked for it’. As it stands today in Sri Lanka, analogue television transmissions are based on frequencies using both VHF and UHF Bands, but the proposed Japanese digital conversion is not utilising the VHF Band. In particular, VHF Band III exhibits superior propagation characteristics, while contributing to lower the consumption of electricity by the transmitters. More importantly, VHF radio waves carry longer distances than UHF due to lower propagation losses, are able to travel around obstacles comparatively and therefore VHF is more suitable for wide coverage transmissions. Currently, the VHF spectrum is occupied by three television broadcasting networks i.e. Rupavahini, ITN and TNL. These networks will lose their inherent wide coverage VHF Band advantage. They also have the additional burden of occupying a digital channel in the UHF spectrum, especially when the earmarked UHF channels for digital are almost at the bottom of the UHF Band V, where propagation losses are higher than in UHF Band IV. ISDB-T New Coder H.265 It is a known fact that the Japanese ISDB-T standard, in payload capacity terms, is second to the second generation European Standard DVB-T2 that provides 45 Mb/s capacity. However, the Japanese standard can only carry about 1/2 of the European standard per channel at 23 Mb/s. But as the Japanese are now offering to change the content source coder to H.265, they will be able to provide HD at 1080P at a rate of 2-4 Mb/s. This change would now allow all HD TV ready broadcasters to provide True HD content at 1920 x 1080P and possibly can accommodate all television channels in Colombo. But the downside is that the receivers are going to be more complex with the new coder. This may then lead to more expensive ISDB-T receivers or STBs in Sri Lanka. Vacant VHF Band III The unused VHF Band III is likely to reduce the DD for the government though the Japanese strategy is to achieve some productivity by the use of single frequency networks in the UHF Band (SFNs-a technique to use the same frequency multiple times to improve spectrum productivity). However, in practice receiving of SFNs is not simplistic as the reception of SFN signals are subject to receiver complexities. The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) may be exclusively reserving the VHF band for future digital radio, but the same band could be co-shared with digital television without any problems. For example, Australia is co-sharing VHF Band III for both digital television and radio without any issues. Once all analogue transmissions are switched off with the deployment of UHF band per se for digital, the unused VHF Band III spectrum, where 7 MHz bandwidth, 8 VHF Frequency channels exists, will become vacant. This is clearly a waste of unused spectrum. Additionally, as Restacking [restack is the re-arrangement of frequencies ideally in the two bands of VHF and UHF, to maximise the spectrum productivity] is in the Japanese Plan, additional expenditure on broadcasting infrastructure is also on the cards. Where are the funds coming from? There is no mention of new funding arrangements for Restacking of the spectrum, and it also raises questions about the STB/Receiver specifications as frequencies may need to change after Restacking. If some broadcasters are not keen to use ISDB-T, they may canvass for the opportunity to use the vacant VHF Band for the potential deployment of DVB-T2 standard. This MUST be avoided at all costs! If this happens, there will be two digital systems in Sri Lanka. This issue, in particular, could become another potential headache for the government as it is likely to be under heavy pressure from commercial broadcasters to release the vacant VHF Band III for the more efficient DVB-T2. This issue, too, was pointed out by the writer when another Japanese team consisting of a Senior Engineer from Yacheo Engineering along with Sato Takefumi of the Japanese Embassy met him in 2017/2018. Unless there are plans to use the vacant VHF Band III by Restacking the spectrum, this spectrum specifically allocated for broadcasting would go to waste. Digital Signal Reliability & Availability Unlike in the analogue domain, television signal reliability and its availability becomes crucial in digital reception. In the analogue era, television broadcasting service field strength was planned for 50% of the locations and 50% of the time at a receiving height of 10 m. But in digital this becomes 80%-95% of the locations and 90% of the time to ensure reliability and availability of the digital signal. Hence the planned field strength would need to be adjusted to ensure the required reliability and availability at a higher field strength. In Australia, field strength used was 50 dBuV/m for Band IV and 54 dBuV/m for Band V frequencies in a rural environment However, it is not clear from the published documents of the Japanese plans 2014/2018 whether this issue had been addressed or otherwise. The signal level at 51 dBuV/m identified in the 2018 Japanese documentation is certainly not adequate for a rural grade of service in the UHF Band! It ought to be in the region of 54-74 dBuV/m in the UHF Band V. For example, the Australian Broadcasting Planning Handbook for Digital Television Broadcasting has clearly identified these requirements and provided information on how they were derived. Duplication Parameter The potential impact of the proposals for duplication of coverage is illustrated in the diagram. (See Figure 01) The signal threshold of a planned analogue coverage is 50 dBuV/m for VHF Band III. However, some regional and rural viewers in Sri Lanka are currently receiving watchable analogue signals well below this value. If, as planned by the Japanese studies in 2014, the analogue coverage is converted at the planned cut-off level of 55 dBuV/m, then the majority of regional and rural viewers, who are currently watching the analogue television with no issues, will not be able to receive digital television coverage. This could potentially become a political nightmare for the new government. Therefore, the cut-off signal level, as illustrated above, should be lowered to 43 dBuV/m. Though Single Frequency Networks (SFNs) are a solution to mitigate this difference in coverage, it is not easy to implement them at the receiver-end due to the variation in receiver profiles of Set-Top-Boxes (STBs) and complexities in receiver SFN signal detection. The Japanese designers, while being aware of this issue, may have been heavily constrained due to the requirement for spectrum productivity. Most probably, given the limits of the available UHF spectrum for digital and the lower data efficacy of the Japanese ISDB-T standard, this higher limit of duplication may have been proposed by the designers in order to preserve some spectrum productivity. One Network Operator for Digital The advent of digital terrestrial television also signifies the end of individual transmission facilities for broadcasters, as several content feeds are carried on one frequency or the channel and the requirement to consolidate all transmissions at one site. A combined digital transmission service provider may, in the future, be an independent entity and the facilities may be offered to the broadcasters on a fee-levying basis, based on a pragmatic business plan. In a future digital broadcasting landscape, the broadcasters will essentially be ‘content’ providers. Perhaps, there ought to be some sort of protection provided to the existing broadcasters in the event new content providers also express a desire to use digital transmissions. Cost to viewers and broadcasters All consumer television sets require digital receivers to extract video and audio content from digital transmissions. Therefore, either in-built ISDB-T receivers or compatible STBs are required. For example, there are flat TVs that do not have in-built ISDB-T receivers. The cost of an STB for ISDB-T with H.265 decoders, is likely to be around US $ 50-100, depending on their complexity and economies of scale. If in the event, there is likely to be a Restack of frequencies including the VHF Band, two band STBs or receivers may be needed; one during the first phase and another after the Restack of channels with the ability to tune into the VHF Band. Additionally, at some household locations, there may also be a requirement for new receiver antenna installation to receive VHF/UHF channels. If so, this is also an additional cost to the viewer. There is also a significant cost to the commercial television broadcasters to provide HD ready studios, Outside Broadcast (OB)/Electronic News Gathering (ENG) equipment, and content feeding arrangements. However, once the commercial television broadcasters elect to use consolidated broadcast towers, analogue era transmission costs would also disappear as their independent transmission networks are no longer needed, in a digital environment. It is noteworthy to highlight that the Japanese financial proposal for digitisation of television is primarily for Rupavahini, and limited to funding the analogue to digital transfer of Rupavahini facilities, including the provision of a True HD studio, OB unit, Transmission equipment and a Central Command centre for the proposed Digital Broadcast Network Operations (DBNO) at the Lotus Tower. At this stage, there are no signs of any discussions with the broadcasters to develop a ‘road map’ to facilitate the smooth transition from analogue to digital of commercial channels. If Restack is to take place, there is likely to be additional costs but there is no mention of further Japanese funding for Restack of channels either. As additional costs to the commercial television broadcasters are likely, strategic government policy initiatives to compensate for the additional capital expenditure in a highly competitive market are in order. Way forward It is heartening to note that the Japanese plan has now incorporated the more efficient coder in H.265 with an intention to maximise the use of limited payload capacity of an ISDB-T channel, which then will result in providing True HD transmission (1920 x 1080P) for ALL licensed television channels in Colombo. If Japanese consultants can pay attention to the issues of using VHF Band III, changing receiving the field strength requirements to that of the ITU signal level requirements for UHF and address the duplication parameter issue, then ALL stakeholders including the government and broadcasters will no doubt look forward to the venture of digitisation of television in Sri Lanka.
Madigan trial testimony reveals big political fight over tiny piece of landBy MICHELLE L. PRICE NEW YORK (AP) — Chad Chronister, Donald Trump’s pick to run the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Tuesday he was withdrawing his name from consideration, becoming the second person selected by the president-elect to bow out quickly after being nominated for a position requiring Senate confirmation. Sheriff Chronister, the top law enforcement officer in Hillsborough County, Florida, said in a post on X that he was backing away from the opportunity, which he called “the honor of a lifetime.” “Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration,” Chronister wrote. He did not elaborate, and Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Chronister follows former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz , Trump’s first pick to serve as attorney general, in withdrawing his name for a post in the administration. Gaetz withdrew following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer. Trump’s pick of Chronister for the DEA job drew backlash from conservatives, who raised concerns over his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic and his saying that his office “does not engage in federal immigration enforcement activities.” In March 2020, Chronister arrested the pastor of a megachurch who held services with hundreds of people and violated a safer-at-home order in place aimed at limiting the spread of the Covid virus. “Shame on this pastor, their legal staff and the leaders of this staff for forcing us to do our job. That’s not what we wanted to do during a declared state of emergency,” Chronister said at the time. “We are hopeful that this will be a wakeup call.” U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky, was among those airing public complaints, saying Chronister should be “disqualified” for the arrest. Others flagged comments Chronister made in a video about Florida’s immigration laws that he released in 2023 that circulated again online after Trump named him last weekend. Related Articles National Politics | Trump team signs agreement to allow Justice to conduct background checks on nominees, staff National Politics | President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urge judge to toss his hush money conviction National Politics | Democrats stick with Schumer as leader, their strategy for countering Trump is far less certain National Politics | Trump vows to block Japanese steelmaker from buying US Steel, pledges tax incentives and tariffs National Politics | Democrats’ outgoing chair says Trump’s win forces party to reassess how it reaches voters In the video, Chronister praised the “rich diversity” of his community and called it “a place where people from all walks of life come together.” He said it was important to note his office “does not engage in federal immigration enforcement activities. We do not target individuals based on their immigration status. That’s the authority of federal agencies.” Trump has made a sweeping crackdown on immigration a central focus of his campaign and his aims for his coming administration. Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida contributed to this report.
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Mexico President Has 'Excellent' Talk With Donald Trump Amid 'Invasion' Reports