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apex slot casino Spotlight on SolarEdge Technologies: Analyzing the Surge in Options ActivityMajor Drilling Announces Second Quarter 2025 Results, Building on Robust Net Cash PositionQuebec premier to attend Notre-Dame Cathedral reopening Saturday in Paris QUÉBEC — Quebec Premier François Legault will attend the inauguration and reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday. The historic church was renovated and rebuilt after being ravaged by a fire in April 2019. Canadian Press Dec 5, 2024 2:36 PM Dec 5, 2024 2:50 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message A police officer patrols in front of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral ahead of Saturday's reopening ceremony, Thursday in Paris. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP - Christophe Ena QUÉBEC — Quebec Premier François Legault will attend the inauguration and reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday. The historic church was renovated and rebuilt after being ravaged by a fire in April 2019. The premier's office announced Thursday that Legault's trip will be a short one — he will return to the province on Sunday. Many other heads of state and dignitaries are expected at the reopening ceremony, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not scheduled to attend. The event will highlight the restoration of the architectural gem and symbol of Paris. Legault thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for the invitation, which he said was a sign of the deep historic and cultural ties "between our two nations." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2024. The Canadian Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message More National News Put politics aside and act on online harms, mother of sextortion victim tells MPs Dec 5, 2024 3:02 PM B.C. premier says feds and premiers have right-left strategy to tackle Trump tariffs Dec 5, 2024 2:41 PM Hiking apps prompt warnings after separate rescues from B.C.'s backcountry Dec 5, 2024 2:34 PM Featured FlyerNew LAPD chief says he will work to protect immigrants ahead of Trump's plans for mass deportations

Buggs' 15 lead East Tennessee State over Austin Peay 79-57

The Latest: Police search for man who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO, new photos of suspect released

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AstraZeneca, the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant, has seen its stock price tumble 15 percent over the past six months, buffeted by a series of unsettling reports emanating from China. A widening investigation by China regulators into alleged illegal drug imports, data breaches, and potential health insurance fraud has cast a shadow over the company’s prospects in a critical market, triggering a securities class action lawsuit in the United States. Hagens Berman has opened an investigation into the allegations and urges investors in AstraZeneca American Depositary Shares who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now. Class Period: Feb. 23, 2022 – Dec. 17, 2024 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Feb. 21, 2025 Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/azn Contact the Firm Now: AZN@hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895 Probe Into AstraZeneca’s China Operations The probe conducted by China regulators, which reportedly centers on allegations that AstraZeneca employees improperly imported cancer medications like Enhertu and Imjudo from Hong Kong into mainland China and mishandled patient data, has been compounded by a broader investigation into a large-scale health insurance fraud case. The confluence of these issues has raised serious concerns among investors about the potential impact on the company’s regional sales and overall financial performance. The situation escalated with the arrest of Leon Wang, AstraZeneca’s Executive Vice President International and China President. This development, coupled with internal forecasts predicting a downturn in sales within the Chinese market, has prompted a sharp investor reaction, culminating in the legal action filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The AstraZeneca Securities Class Action Suit The lawsuit alleges that AstraZeneca issued “false and misleading statements” and withheld crucial information regarding the company’s exposure to legal and regulatory risks in China. The complaint specifically accuses AstraZeneca of engaging in insurance fraud, facing heightened legal exposure that led to Mr. Wang’s detention, understating the risks associated with its Chinese operations, and failing to disclose the potential for these issues to significantly harm its business and finances in the region. The truth allegedly began to emerge in late October. On October 30, AstraZeneca announced that Mr. Wang was cooperating with a Chinese investigation, offering few details. This initial announcement triggered a 3 percent drop in the company’s share price. The situation worsened on November 5, when Yicai , a Chinese business news outlet, reported that dozens of AstraZeneca China executives were implicated in the investigation, with some potentially facing lengthy prison sentences. The report, citing an industry insider, attributed the alleged compliance issues to “extreme pressure” on sales representatives to meet aggressive sales targets. This news sent AstraZeneca’s stock down another 7 percent. On November 12, AstraZeneca confirmed Mr. Wang’s detention and disclosed that the Chinese investigation encompassed allegations of medical insurance fraud, illegal drug importation, and breaches of personal information. More recently, on December 18, The Financial Times reported that AstraZeneca executives anticipate a decline in Chinese revenue due to the arrests of Mr. Wang and other senior executives. The report quoted an AstraZeneca executive who stated that “doctors are unwilling to interact with our salespeople and prescribe our medicines” following the investigation, precipitating a further nearly 4 percent decline in the company’s share price. Hagens Berman Investigation These events have prompted shareholder rights firm to open an investigation in the allegations. “Should the allegations be confirmed, it suggests AstraZeneca misled investors about the true extent of its exposure in China, a failure with potentially serious consequences,” said Reed Kathrein, an attorney leading the firm's investigation. If you invested in AstraZeneca and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm’s investigation, submit your losses now » If you’d like more information and answers to frequently asked questions about the AstraZeneca investigation, read more » Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding AstraZeneca should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email AZN@hbsslaw.com . About Hagens Berman Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs’ rights complex litigation firm focusing on corporate accountability. The firm is home to a robust practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and other wrongdoings. Hagens Berman’s team has secured more than $2.9 billion in this area of law. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com . Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw . Contact: Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) — John Buggs III's 15 points helped East Tennessee State defeat Austin Peay 79-57 on Saturday night. Buggs shot 4 for 7 (3 for 5 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line for the Buccaneers (6-2). Jaden Seymour scored 13 points and added 11 rebounds. Quimari Peterson had 13 points and went 6 of 11 from the field. The Governors (4-4) were led in scoring by LJ Thomas, who finished with 15 points. Austin Peay also got 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals from Tate McCubbin. Tekao Carpenter also had eight points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

STANFORD, Calif. — Andrew Luck is returning to Stanford in hopes of turning around a struggling football program that he once helped become a national power. Athletic director Bernard Muir announced Saturday that Luck has been hired as the general manager of the Stanford football team, tasked with overseeing all aspects of the program that just finished a 3-9 season under coach Troy Taylor. “I am a product of this university, of Nerd Nation; I love this place,” Luck said. “I believe deeply in Stanford’s unique approach to athletics and academics and the opportunity to help drive our program back to the top. Coach Taylor has the team pointed in the right direction, and I cannot wait to work with him, the staff, and the best, brightest, and toughest football players in the world.” Luck has kept a low profile since his surprise retirement from the NFL at age 29 when he announced in August 2019 that he was leaving the Indianapolis Colts and pro football. Cardinal alum Andrew Luck, left, watches a Feb. 2 game between Stanford and Southern California on Feb. 2 in Stanford, Calif. In his new role, Luck will work with Taylor on recruiting and roster management, and with athletic department and university leadership on fundraising, alumni relations, sponsorships, student-athlete support and stadium experience. “Andrew’s credentials as a student-athlete speak for themselves, and in addition to his legacy of excellence, he also brings a deep understanding of the college football landscape and community, and an unparalleled passion for Stanford football,” Muir said. “I could not think of a person better qualified to guide our football program through a continuously evolving landscape, and I am thrilled that Andrew has agreed to join our team. This change represents a very different way of operating our program and competing in an evolving college football landscape.” Luck was one of the players who helped elevate Stanford into a West Coast powerhouse for several years. He helped end a seven-year bowl drought in his first season as starting quarterback in 2009 under coach Jim Harbaugh and led the Cardinal to back-to-back BCS bowl berths his final two seasons, when he was the Heisman Trophy runner-up both seasons. Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck throws a pass during the first quarter of a Nov. 27, 2010 game against Oregon State in Stanford, Calif. That was part of a seven-year stretch in which Stanford posted the fourth-best record in the nation at 76-18 and qualified for five BCS bowl berths under Harbaugh and David Shaw. But the Cardinal have struggled for success in recent years and haven't won more than four games in a season since 2018. Stanford just finished its fourth straight 3-9 campaign in Taylor's second season since replacing Shaw. The Cardinal are the only power conference team to lose at least nine games in each of the past four seasons. Luck graduated from Stanford with a bachelor’s degree in architectural design and returned after retiring from the NFL to get his master’s degree in education in 2023. He was picked No. 1 overall by Indianapolis in the 2012 draft and made four Pro Bowls and was AP Comeback Player of the Year in 2018 in his brief but successful NFL career. Before the 2023 National Football League season started, it seemed inevitable that Bill Belichick would end his career as the winningest head coach in league history. He had won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and 298 regular-season games, plus 31 playoff games, across his career. Then the 2023 season happened. Belichick's Patriots finished 4-13, the franchise's worst record since 1992. At the end of the year, Belichick and New England owner Robert Kraft agreed to part ways. And now, during the 2024 season, Belichick is on the sideline. He's 26 wins from the #1 spot, a mark he'd reach in little more than two seasons if he maintained his .647 career winning percentage. Will he ascend the summit? It's hard to tell. Belichick would be 73 if he graced the sidelines next season—meaning he'd need to coach until at least 75 to break the all-time mark. Only one other NFL coach has ever helmed a team at age 73: Romeo Crennel in 2020 for the Houston Texans. With Belichick's pursuit of history stalled, it's worth glancing at the legends who have reached the pinnacle of coaching success. Who else stands among the 10 winningest coaches in NFL history? Stacker ranked the coaches with the most all-time regular-season wins using data from Pro Football Reference . These coaches have combined for 36 league championships, which represents 31.6% of all championships won throughout the history of pro football. To learn who made the list, keep reading. You may also like: Ranking the biggest NFL Draft busts of the last 30 years - Seasons coached: 23 - Years active: 1981-2003 - Record: 190-165-2 - Winning percentage: .535 - Championships: 0 Dan Reeves reached the Super Bowl four times—thrice with the Denver Broncos and once with the Atlanta Falcons—but never won the NFL's crown jewel. Still, he racked up nearly 200 wins across his 23-year career, including a stint in charge of the New York Giants, with whom he won Coach of the Year in 1993. In all his tenures, he quickly built contenders—the three clubs he coached were a combined 17-31 the year before Reeves joined and 28-20 in his first year. However, his career ended on a sour note as he was fired from a 3-10 Falcons team after Week 14 in 2003. - Seasons coached: 23 - Years active: 1969-91 - Record: 193-148-1 - Winning percentage: .566 - Championships: 4 Chuck Noll's Pittsburgh Steelers were synonymous with success in the 1970s. Behind his defense, known as the Steel Curtain, and offensive stars, including Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, and Lynn Swann, Noll led the squad to four Super Bowl victories from 1974 to 1979. Noll's Steelers remain the lone team to win four Super Bowls in six years, though Andy Reid and Kansas City could equal that mark if they win the Lombardi Trophy this season. Noll was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993, two years after retiring. His legacy of coaching success has carried on in Pittsburgh—the club has had only two coaches (Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin) since Noll retired. - Seasons coached: 21 - Years active: 1984-98, 2001-06 - Record: 200-126-1 - Winning percentage: .613 - Championships: 0 As head coach of Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington, and San Diego, Marty Schottenheimer proved a successful leader during the regular season. Notably, he was named Coach of the Year after turning around his 4-12 Chargers team to a 12-4 record in 2004. His teams, however, struggled during the playoffs. Schottheimer went 5-13 in the postseason, and he never made it past the conference championship round. As such, the Pennsylvania-born skipper is the winningest NFL coach never to win a league championship. - Seasons coached: 25 - Years active: 1946-62, '68-75 - Record: 213-104-9 - Winning percentage: .672 - Championships: 7 The only coach on this list to pilot a college team, Paul Brown, reached the pro ranks after a three-year stint at Ohio State and two years with the Navy during World War II. He guided the Cleveland Browns—named after Brown, their first coach—to four straight titles in the fledgling All-America Football Conference. After the league folded, the ballclub moved to the NFL in 1950, and Cleveland continued its winning ways, with Brown leading the team to championships in '50, '54, and '55. He was fired in 1963 but returned in 1968 as the co-founder and coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. His other notable accomplishments include helping to invent the face mask and breaking pro football's color barrier . - Seasons coached: 33 - Years active: 1921-53 - Record: 226-132-22 - Winning percentage: .631 - Championships: 6 An early stalwart of the NFL, Curly Lambeau spent 29 years helming the Green Bay Packers before wrapping up his coaching career with two-year stints with the Chicago Cardinals and Washington. His Packers won titles across three decades, including the league's first three-peat from 1929-31. Notably, he experienced only one losing season during his first 27 years with Green Bay, cementing his legacy of consistent success. Born in Green Bay, Lambeau co-founded the Packers and played halfback on the team from 1919-29. He was elected to the Hall of Fame as a coach and owner in 1963, two years before his death. You may also like: Countries with the most active NFL players - Seasons coached: 26 - Years active: 1999-present - Record: 267-145-1 - Winning percentage: .648 - Championships: 3 The only active coach in the top 10, Andy Reid has posted successful runs with both the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City. After reaching the Super Bowl once in 14 years with the Eagles, Reid ratcheted things up with K.C., winning three titles since 2019. As back-to-back defending champions, Reid and Co. are looking this season to become the first franchise to three-peat in the Super Bowl era and the third to do so in NFL history after the Packers of 1929-31 and '65-67. Time will tell if Reid and his offensive wizardry can lead Kansas City to that feat. - Seasons coached: 29 - Years active: 1991-95, 2000-23 - Record: 302-165 - Winning percentage: .647 - Championships: 6 The most successful head coach of the 21st century, Bill Belichick first coached the Cleveland Browns before taking over the New England Patriots in 2000. With the Pats, Belichick combined with quarterback Tom Brady to win six Super Bowls in 18 years. Belichick and New England split after last season when the Patriots went 4-13—the worst record of Belichick's career. His name has swirled around potential coaching openings , but nothing has come of it. Belichick has remained in the media spotlight with his regular slot on the "Monday Night Football" ManningCast. - Seasons coached: 40 - Years active: 1920-29, '33-42, '46-55, '58-67 - Record: 318-148-31 - Winning percentage: .682 - Championships: 6 George Halas was the founder and longtime owner of the Chicago Bears and coached the team across four separate stints. Nicknamed "Papa Bear," he built the ballclub into one of the NFL's premier franchises behind players such as Bronko Nagurski and Sid Luckman. Halas also played for the team, competing as a player-coach in the 1920s. The first coach to study opponents via game film, he was once a baseball player and even made 12 appearances as a member of the New York Yankees in 1919. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1963 as both a coach and owner. - Seasons coached: 33 - Years active: 1963-95 - Record: 328-156-6 - Winning percentage: .677 - Championships: 2 The winningest head coach in NFL history is Don Shula, who first coached the Baltimore Colts (losing Super Bowl III to Joe Namath and the New York Jets) for seven years before leading the Miami Dolphins for 26 seasons. With the Fins, Shula won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1972 and 1973, a run that included a 17-0 season—the only perfect campaign in NFL history. He also coached quarterback great Dan Marino in the 1980s and '90s, but the pair made it to a Super Bowl just once. Shula was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997. Story editing by Mike Taylor. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick. You may also like: The 5 biggest upsets of the 2023-24 NFL regular season - Seasons coached: 29 - Years active: 1960-88 - Record: 250-162-6 - Winning percentage: .607 - Championships: 2 The first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Tom Landry held the position for his entire 29-year tenure as an NFL coach. The Cowboys were especially dominant in the 1970s when they made five Super Bowls and won the big game twice. Landry was known for coaching strong all-around squads and a unit that earned the nickname the "Doomsday Defense." Between 1966 and 1985, Landry and his Cowboys enjoyed 20 straight seasons with a winning record. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1990. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Netflix 'totally ready' for XMas NFL games, WWEBallari varsity appoints trans as guest lecturerWASHINGTON — A top White House official said Wednesday at least eight U.S. telecom firms and dozens of nations were impacted by a Chinese hacking campaign. Deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger offered new details about the breadth of the sprawling Chinese hacking campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans. FILE - The American and Chinese flags wave at Genting Snow Park ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, in Zhangjiakou, China, on Feb. 2, 2022. A top White House official on Wednesday said at least eight U.S. telecom firms and dozens of nations have been impacted by a Chinese hacking campaign. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File) Neuberger divulged the scope of the hack a day after the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued guidance intended to help root out the hackers and prevent similar cyberespionage in the future. White House officials cautioned that the number of telecommunication firms and countries impacted could grow. The U.S. believes the hackers were able to gain access to communications of senior U.S. government officials and prominent political figures through the hack, Neuberger said. “We don’t believe any classified communications has been compromised,” Neuberger added during a call with reporters. She added that Biden was briefed on the findings and the White House “made it a priority for the federal government to do everything it can to get to the bottom this.” US officials recommend encrypted messaging apps amid "Salt Typhoon" cyberattack, attributed to China, targeting AT&T, Verizon, and others. The Chinese embassy in Washington rejected the accusations that it was responsible for the hack Tuesday after the U.S. federal authorities issued new guidance. “The U.S. needs to stop its own cyberattacks against other countries and refrain from using cyber security to smear and slander China,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said. The embassy did not immediately respond to messages Wednesday. White House officials believe the hacking was regionally targeted and the focus was on very senior government officials. Federal authorities confirmed in October that hackers linked to China targeted the phones of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, along with people associated with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris. The number of countries impacted by the hack is currently believed to be in the “low, couple dozen,” according to a senior administration official. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the White House, said they believed the hacks started at least a year or two ago. The suggestions for telecom companies released Tuesday are largely technical in nature, urging encryption, centralization and consistent monitoring to deter cyber intrusions. If implemented, the security precautions could help disrupt the operation, dubbed Salt Typhoon, and make it harder for China or any other nation to mount a similar attack in the future, experts say. Trump's pick to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel was allegedly the target of cyberattack attempt by Iranian-backed hackers. Neuberger pointed to efforts made to beef up cybersecurity in the rail, aviation, energy and other sectors following the May 2021 ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline . “So, to prevent ongoing Salt Typhoon type intrusions by China, we believe we need to apply a similar minimum cybersecurity practice,” Neuberger said. The cyberattack by a gang of criminal hackers on the critical U.S. pipeline, which delivers about 45% of the fuel used along the Eastern Seaboard, sent ripple effects across the economy, highlighting cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the nation’s aging energy infrastructure. Colonial confirmed it paid $4.4 million to the gang of hackers who broke into its computer systems as it scrambled to get the nation's fuel pipeline back online. Picture this: You're on vacation in a city abroad, exploring museums, tasting the local cuisine, and people-watching at cafés. Everything is going perfectly until you get a series of alerts on your phone. Someone is making fraudulent charges using your credit card, sending you into a panic. How could this have happened? Cyberattacks targeting travelers are nothing new. But as travel has increased in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, so has the volume of hackers and cybercriminals preying upon tourists. Financial fraud is the most common form of cybercrime experienced by travelers, but surveillance via public Wi-Fi networks, social media hacking, and phishing scams are also common, according to a survey by ExpressVPN . Spokeo consulted cybersecurity sources and travel guides to determine some of the best ways to protect your phone while traveling, from using a VPN to managing secure passwords. Online attacks are not the only type of crime impacting travelers—physical theft of phones is also a threat. Phones have become such invaluable travel aids, housing our navigation tools, digital wallets, itineraries, and contacts, that having your phone stolen, lost, or compromised while abroad can be devastating. Meanwhile, traveling can make people uniquely vulnerable to both cyber and physical attacks due to common pitfalls like oversharing on social media and letting your guard down when it comes to taking risks online. Luckily, there are numerous precautions travelers can take to safeguard against cyberattacks and phone theft. Hackers can—and do—target public Wi-Fi networks at cafés and hotels to gain access to your personal information or install malware onto your device, particularly on unsecured networks. Travelers are especially vulnerable to these types of cybersecurity breaches because they are often more reliant on public Wi-Fi than they would be in their home countries where they have more robust phone plans. This reliance on public, unsecured networks means travelers are more likely to use those networks to perform sensitive tasks like financial transfers, meaning hackers can easily gain access to banking information or other passwords. One easy way to safeguard yourself against these breaches is to use a virtual private network, or VPN, while traveling. VPNs are apps that encrypt your data and hide your location, preventing hackers from accessing personal information. An added bonus is that VPNs allow you to access websites that may be blocked or unavailable in the country you are visiting. To use a VPN, simply download a VPN app on your phone or computer, create an account, choose a server, and connect. Pickpockets, scammers, and flagrant, snatch-your-phone-right-out-of-your-hand thieves can be found pretty much everywhere. In London, for instance, a staggering 91,000 phones were reported stolen to police in 2022 , breaking down to an average of 248 per day, according to the BBC. Whether you're visiting a crowded tourist attraction or just want peace of mind, travel experts advise taking precautions to make sure your phone isn't physically stolen or compromised while traveling. There are several antitheft options to choose from. If you want a bag that will protect your phone from theft, experts recommend looking for features like slash-resistant fabric, reinforced shoulder straps, hidden zippers that can be locked, and secure attachment points, like a cross-body strap or a sturdy clip. For tethers, look for those made of tear-resistant material with a reinforced clip or ring. In order for the previous tip on this list to work, "Find My Phone" must be turned on in advance, but remotely wiping your device isn't the only thing this feature allows you to do. The "Find My Phone" feature enables you to track your device, as long as it's turned on and not in airplane mode. This is particularly helpful if you misplaced your phone or left it somewhere since it can help you retrace your steps. While this feature won't show you the live location of a phone that has been turned off, it will show the phone's last known location. With "Find My Phone," you can also remotely lock your phone or enable "Lost Mode," which locks down the phone, suspends any in-phone payment methods, and displays contact information for returning the phone to you. If your phone was stolen, experts caution against taking matters into your own hands by chasing down the thief, since this could land you in a potentially dangerous situation and is unlikely to result in getting your phone back. Strong passwords for important accounts help protect your information while you travel, but it's just a first step. The National Cybersecurity Alliance recommends creating long, unique, and complex passwords for every account and combining them with multifactor authentication to create maximum barriers to entry. If you're worried about remembering these passwords, password managers can be a vital tool for both creating and storing strong passwords. Password managers are apps that act as secure vaults for all your passwords. Some even come with a feature that allows you to temporarily delete sensitive passwords before you travel and then easily restore them once you return. Story editing by Mia Nakaji Monnier. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick. This story originally appeared on Spokeo and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.

CHICAGO — It took 32 seconds of national embarrassment for George McCaskey, Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles to finally concede what everyone else already knew. And even when the Chicago Bears brain trust decided they no longer could justify keeping Matt Eberflus as head coach of their team, they still waited until he conducted one more news conference — telling us everything was fine and he was preparing for next week’s game against the San Francisco 49ers — before they actually pulled the trigger. Remember, this is an operation worth an estimated $6.4 billion, not a local hardware business trying to decide whether a store clerk should be let go for putting the wingnuts and screws in the wrong aisle. Fittingly, the Bears were the Bears until the last drop. “It’s been a normal operation,” Eberflus said Friday morning on a Zoom call with reporters before being Zoomed out of the NFL. The sad part is the Bears truly believe they are a normal operation when it’s quite obvious they’re the laughingstock of football. Who else would let Eberflus continue to fail time and time again after he repeatedly proved he wasn’t fit for the job. His .304 winning percentage was third-worst in Bears history, ahead of only John Fox (.292) and Abe Gibron (.274). And at least Abe had Melody to help take our minds off all the losing. (Google it, kids.) Eberflus’ days had been numbered since the Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders. The 19-3 loss to the lowly New England Patriots on Nov. 10, in which he and his team were booed off the field, would’ve been a perfect time to say sayonara. The Bears had eight games remaining to try to salvage the season, and at 4-5 there was still some hope it could be done. But, no, the McCaskeys don’t fire head coaches in season, we’ve been told a thousand times. Instead they got rid of the sacrificial goat, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who was replaced by Thomas Brown. Fans would have to suffer through three more brutal endings before George McCaskey finally got it into his head that this marriage was not going to work. The Thanksgiving Day clock blunder will be remembered as the fatal blow, of course, because we all watched in a collective stupor as the clock ticked down and Caleb Williams kept barking out signals, seemingly oblivious to the fact the game was about to end. Even your Aunt Martha, who doesn’t know a football from a drumstick, was yelling: “What is he doing, for crying out loud?” It made for an unforgettable Thanksgiving, with everyone in the living room calling for Eberflus’ head. Then came the “everything is fine” news conference Friday morning that made it appear as though the Bears were actually trying to gaslight their fans. I’m not sure what made McCaskey agree to change the long-standing policy — whether it was Jimmy Johnson’s rant or a tweet by The Wieners Circle — but whoever it was should get a medal of valor for saving the city from a mass mental breakdown. We all saw this coming, except perhaps the Three Amigos: McCaskey, Warren and Poles. That still doesn’t make it any more palatable. The Thanksgiving hangover firing bookends the most famous “hiring” in Bears history, when Mike McCaskey told the media Dave McGinnis would be the head coach before actually informing McGinnis, thus losing both the coach and the rest of his own dwindling credibility. That embarrassing moment would be the lowlight of Mike McCaskey’s career, just as this will be remembered as George’s unshining moment. How will Eberflus be remembered? Was he a poor man’s Pedro Grifol or a poorer man’s Jim Boylen? Until Thursday’s debacle, perhaps the moment that best epitomized the Eberflus era was, during a lopsided loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in October 2023, when he threw the red challenge flag after the Bears scored a meaningless touchdown late in the game. He meant to throw it before the play, but Eberflus was never one to react quickly to any situation. And because there wasn’t any video replay of the actual touchdown, it was no harm, no foul. What comes next for Bears fans is the hard part. Do they trust these executives to hire the right replacement? Almost as much as they trust Mayor Brandon Johnson to manage the city budget. The easiest solution is to throw money at Bill Belichick and see if he bites. If Williams is truly a game-changing quarterback then it makes sense to give the keys to the guy who coached the greatest quarterback of his generation. But making sense is not really the Bears’ thing, so expect them to go for someone they don’t have to give any real power to and will be blander than their last five coaches combined. Someone disposable by 2027. It’s just normal operating procedure at Halas Hall. ©2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

B.C. rescuers warn of trusting online apps after helping 2 overseas hikersEby says Canada poised to respond to Trump threats with a right, left march

What happens when a creek runs dry, and the fish that call it home can no longer make their way upstream? For the team at Tenderfoot Creek Hatchery in Squamish, it’s a challenge they’re tackling head-on as the impacts of climate change ripple through the watershed. While many hatcheries focus on large-scale harvests, Tenderfoot Creek is all about conservation. “We focus on conservation and rebuilding stocks, which is pretty unique,” said Jordan Uittenbogaard, the hatchery watershed enhancement manager. “Our goal is to boost survival rates and ensure more salmon return to spawn.” It’s a straightforward process on paper––collect salmon returning to spawn in low-population areas, fertilize their eggs, and rear them until they’re ready to be released back into the wild. But with unpredictable rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, and flooding in the Sea to Sky, the seven-person team at Tenderfoot Creek has had to adapt in big ways. “One of our biggest challenges in recent years has been drought,” Uittenbogaard said. “It’s a significant issue—not just for Tenderfoot Hatchery but also for others. “We rely on two water sources: a shallow infiltration gallery pump and a deeper well. The gallery pump is more cost-efficient, and we prefer using it as costs are rising.” However, due to hot, dry summers, the groundwater table has been dropping year after year. “This means the water level is now below the pump line, so we can’t use that equipment anymore,” said Uittenbogaard. Over the last 100 years, average temperatures in British Columbia have gone up by about 1.4°C, according to the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. This has changed how and when it rains or snows, and it has also led to less snow building up in the mountains. When asked how long the groundwater had been above the pump line, Uittenbogaard explained, “It was usually always above the pump line. It’s only in the past 10 years or so that we’ve seen the groundwater table drop so drastically that we can’t use the pump anymore.” Why is this such a challenge? Uittenbogaard broke it down. “In a hatchery, having redundancy in pumps is crucial. If one pump fails, salmon need water immediately—especially at critical life stages.” “If there’s no water for even 20 minutes, you could lose all of the salmon.” “Additionally, relying on deep wells is significantly more expensive to operate, which is a concern in today’s economy.” To mitigate this issue, the hatchery received significant investment to upgrade its infrastructure. “Specifically, we twinned the lines leading to the aeration tower. It’s a bit technical, but essentially, we had two deep wells connected to a single line, which limited our capacity.” Upgrades completed in late 2023 involved adding a separate line for each well, allowing the hatchery to run both wells simultaneously. “Now, during drought conditions when we can’t use the infiltration gallery pumps, we can rely entirely on the deep wells to run the hatchery. This was a major project that took about four to five months to complete,” Uittenbogaard said. Flooding hasn’t been a major issue for the hatchery itself because of its location. “We’re a bit removed from the river’s edge, situated on Tenderfoot Creek, and the facility was built up to protect it from flooding,” Uittenbogaard said. That said, it does have a large storage area near the groundwater table that can flood during heavy rain events. “For example, during the atmospheric river in 2021, that storage area did flood, but we keep all sensitive equipment in elevated areas, so the impact was minimal,” said Uittenbogaard. While the hatchery may be safe, flooding significantly impacts wild salmon populations. “Big floods move gravel dramatically, which can kill eggs and alevins in the gravel. These events harm salmon populations,” Uittenbogaard said. To counter this, the hatchery has a program specifically for pink salmon. “Floods tend to affect pink salmon the most because they are shallow spawners,” he explained. “Our pink salmon program involves collecting over a million pink salmon eggs each cycle to use as a backup in case of severe flooding. This ensures that we can support the salmon population through these challenging events.” In 2023, all salmon enhancement programs, including hatcheries and spawning channels, underwent a fire audit by a third party. According to Uittenbogaard, Tenderfoot Creek Hatchery performed well in the audit, but some upgrades were still required to reduce wildfire risks. “We added fire suppression equipment, cleared the perimeter of the site, and removed wooden structures, like a deck, to reduce fire risk,” Uittenbogaard said. These measures were funded through the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI), a program providing resources to address environmental impacts from floods, fires, and droughts. The hatchery’s success is thanks in part to its partnership with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), Uittenbogaard said. Together, they’ve worked on projects like turning an old lawn into a pond that provides a safe space for young coho salmon during droughts. “That pond used to be a lawn where staff had to cut grass. During droughts, the natural lake would dry up, leading to the loss of thousands of coho fry rearing there. “We collaborated with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation to secure funding and redesign the area.” “Together, we dug a deeper pond—about 10 feet or two metres deeper than the original lake—and added vegetation to naturalize it. This pond now acts as a refuge for fry during droughts, helping us save thousands of fish.” The hatchery also works closely with the Nation’s Natural Resources fisheries department. Despite all the challenges, Uittenbogaard is constantly inspired by the salmon themselves. “You’d think these big environmental changes would wipe out salmon populations,” he said. “But they keep coming back. It’s amazing to see how resilient they are.” Uittenbogaard hopes more locals will get involved in helping salmon. He pointed to groups like the Squamish River Watershed Society and Squamish Streamkeepers, which do habitat restoration and education work. “Volunteering with these organizations is a great way to make a difference,” he said. He also invites the community to visit the hatchery to learn more about salmon. “When people learn about salmon and their importance, it usually leads to respect and a better understanding of why we need to protect them,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to protect these fish,” Uittenbogaard said. “It’s all about giving them a fighting chance for the future.” Bhagyashree Chatterjee is The Squamish Chief’s Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

By Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times (TNS) LOS ANGELES — As Joan Benoit Samuelson negotiated the hairpin turn into the Coliseum tunnel, ran past the USC locker room and onto the stadium’s red synthetic track for the final 400 meters of the 1984 Olympic marathon, her focus wasn’t only on finishing, but on finishing strong. Women never had been allowed to run farther than 1,500 meters in the Olympics because the Games’ all-male guardians long harbored antiquated views of femininity and what the female body could do. If Samuelson struggled to the line, or worse yet dropped to the ground after crossing it, that would validate those views and set back for years the fight for gender equality in the Olympics. “They might have taken the Olympic marathon off the schedule,” Samuelson said by phone two days before Thanksgiving. “This is an elite athlete struggling to finish a marathon. It never happened, thank goodness. But that could have changed the course of history for women’s marathoning.” Actually, that race did change the course of history because nothing remained the same after a joyous Samuelson, wearing a wide smile and waving her white cap to the sold-out crowd, crossed the finish line. This year marked the 40th anniversary of that victory, and when the Olympics return to Los Angeles in four years, the Games will be different in many ways because of it. Since 1984, the number of Summer Olympic events for women has nearly tripled, to 151, while last summer’s Paris Games was the first to reach gender parity, with women accounting for half of the 10,500 athletes in France. Fittingly the women’s marathon was given a place of honor on the calendar there, run as the final event of the track and field competition and one of the last medal events of the Games. None of that seemed likely — or even possible — before Samuelson’s win. “I sort of use marathoning as a way to storytell,” Samuelson said from her home in Maine. “And I tell people LA 84 and the first women’s Olympic marathon was certainly the biggest win of my life.” It was life-changing for many other women as well. Until 1960, the longest Olympic track race for women was 200 meters. The 1,500 meters was added in 1972, yet it wasn’t until the L.A. Games that the leaders of the International Olympic Committee, who had long cited rampant myths and dubious sports-medicine studies about the dangers of exercise for women, approved the addition of two distance races, the 3,000 meters and marathon. Which isn’t to say women had never run long distances in the Olympics. At the first modern Games in Athens in 1896, a Greek woman named Stamata Revithi, denied a place on the starting line on race day, ran the course alone a day later, finishing in 5 hours and 30 minutes, an accomplishment witnesses confirmed in writing. Her performance was better than at least seven of the 17 male runners, who didn’t complete the race. But she was barred from entering Panathenaic Stadium and her achievement was never recognized. Eighty-eight years passed before a woman was allowed to run the Olympic marathon. “There are men that are raised with resentment for women, except for their own mothers. That’s just a part of their nature,” Hall of Fame track coach Bob Larsen said. “A lot of good things have happened in the last couple of decades. Old men are passing away and opening doors [for] people who have a more modern understanding of what women are capable of.” In between Revithi and Samuelson, women routinely were banned even from public races like the Boston Marathon, which didn’t allow females to run officially until 1972. Even then, women had to bring a doctor’s note declaring them fit to run, said Maggie Mertens, author of “Better, Faster, Farther: How Running Changed Everything We Know About Women.” Seven years later Norway’s Grete Waitz became the first woman to break 2:30 in the marathon, running 2:27.32 in New York, a time that would have been good for second in the elite men’s race in Chicago that same day. Because of that, Samuelson said she hardly was blazing a trail in L.A. Instead she was running in the wake of pioneers such as Kathrine Switzer, Bobbi Gibb and Waitz. “I ran because there was an opportunity, not because I wanted to prove that women could run marathons,” said Samuelson, who still is running at 67. “Women had been proving themselves long before the ’84 Games. “If anything, maybe my win inspired women to realize that if marathoning were a metaphor for life, anything in life is possible.” Still, when Samuelson beat Waitz in Los Angeles, running in prime time during a race that was beamed to television viewers around the world, “that was the game-changer,” Switzer, the first woman to run Boston as an official competitor, told Mertens. “When people saw it on television ... they said, ‘Oh my God, women can do anything.’ “ A barrier had fallen and there was no going back. “You could make the argument that in women’s sports in general, we had to see, we had to have these women prove on the biggest stage possible that they were capable so that these gatekeepers would let women come in and play sports and be part of this world,” Mertens said. “I think it really did help burst open those ideas about what we could do and what we could see.” As a result, the elite runners who have followed in Samuelson’s footsteps never have known a world in which women were barred from long-distance races. “I grew up believing that women ran the marathon and that it wasn’t a big deal,” said Kara Goucher, a two-time Olympian and a world championship silver medalist who was 6 when Samuelson won in L.A. “I grew up seeing women run the marathon as the norm. That 100 percent is a credit to Joanie going out there on the world’s biggest stage and normalizing it.” Paige Wood, a former U.S. marathon champion, said her high school coach was inspired to run marathons by Samuelson’s story and passed that inspiration on to her runners. “She used her as an example of why we shouldn’t put any mental limitations on ourselves or shouldn’t let others tell us what we are capable of,” Wood said. Wood was born in 1996 and remembers her mom, who was very athletic, saying that cheerleading was the only sport available to her in high school in the pre-Samuelson days. “It’s undeniable, right? The courage she gave other women to start running and start competing,” Wood continued. “The trickle-down effect, it’s not even limited to running. It affected all sports and just made women less afraid to be athletic and try all different sports.” A year after Samuelson’s victory, the U.S. women’s soccer team played its first game, although it was more than a decade before the WNBA, the country’s first professional women’s league. There are now leagues in six other sports, from ice hockey and lacrosse to rugby and volleyball, and female athletes like Caitlin Clark, Alex Morgan, Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky are household names. Last summer in Paris, Sifan Hassan won the women’s marathon in an Olympic-record 2:22.55 after taking bronze in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, events that weren’t even on the Olympic calendar when Samuelson won her race. Two months later Kenyan Ruth Chepng’etich became the first woman to run under 2:10 when she won the Chicago Marathon in 2:09:56, averaging 4:57 a mile. Until 1970, two years before the Boston Marathon was opened to women, only one man had broken 2:10 in the race. “It says so much about sport and the way that humans don’t quite know what we’re capable of until we do it,” Mertens said. “We’re going to keep pushing those goalposts back. We’ve come so far, and I think that’s more to do with just having the opportunities and know that there aren’t really limits. “That’s the power of sports. These people are inspiring us; [they] help us see women as powerful athletes but also powerful in politics, as leaders.” Did Samuelson make that happen? Or did she simply make it happen faster? “You’d have to decide whether it was a huge defining moment or just a general wave of athletic events that made this possible,” Larsen said. “You know, the more times you put someone up at the plate, sooner or later somebody’s going to hit it out. “Now it’s acceptable to have a woman running for president. So things are happening and it’s more acceptable to the general public. Was Joanie a big part of it? I would think so.” ©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. More articles from the BDN