Terry Prone: Santa’s old-fashioned parenting tricks for the naughty and the niceMills’ absence means another hill to climb for ND’s top unitThe Laura Ashley tile collection is available exclusively at The Tile Shop's 142 U.S. showrooms and tileshop.com MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As 2024 comes to a close, new reports from Zillow 1 and Houzz 2 indicate that Cottage Chic style will be a dominant design trend of 2025. But homeowners don't need to wait until 2025 to get in on the trend, because The Tile Shop is ready to help you embrace Cottage Chic design right now with Wexbord and Coralie , the newest tiles in its exclusive collaboration with British brand Laura Ashley. "Cottage Chic design draws inspiration from the rustic charm and cozy style of the English countryside,” said Kirsty Froelich, director of design, The Tile Shop. "The Laura Ashley aesthetic was built on these elements, so it's a perfect fit for our new tiles.” Wexbord is based on a popular upholstery pattern launched in 1981, while Coralie is adapted from Laura Ashley's beloved wallpaper of the same name. The patterns feature floral details found in nature and evoke an organic feeling of comfort and happiness. In translating these archival designs to tile, "We modified the scale, layout and colors of these heritage prints for our customers,” explained Froelich. "We made the lines feel more organic with curved touches and updated the color palettes, so they're fresh and on-trend. These tiles will work well in traditional, transitional, city cottage and modern farmhouse designs.” The updated colorways-midnight blue, fresh green and dove grey-are also inspired by the English countryside. "These colors are fresh and energizing, but also soothing, and embody that feeling of a cozy cottage and being in nature,” said Froelich. To get the look, Froelich suggests combining multiple colors and prints to give your space a cozy, vintage feel with lots of visual interest: "One of the hallmarks of Cottage Chic style is the mixing and layering of different elements. You can use these tiles with neutrals and let the beautiful Laura Ashley patterns be the focal point, or you can go for a more eclectic look and mix several patterns and colors.” Laura Ashley is one of several exclusive collaborations between The Tile Shop and its world-class design partners, among them Nikki Chu, Alison Victoria, and Morris & Co. All pieces in the Laura Ashley tile collection are available now at tileshop.com and all Tile Shop U.S. locations . Visit tileshop.com/collection/laura-ashley to explore the complete collection. ABOUT THE TILE SHOP Tile Shop Holdings, Inc. ( Nasdaq: TTSH ) is a leading specialty retailer of natural stone, man-made and luxury vinyl tiles, setting and maintenance materials, and related accessories in the United States. The Tile Shop offers a wide selection of high-quality products, exclusive designs, knowledgeable staff and exceptional customer service in an extensive showroom environment. The Tile Shop currently operates 142 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia. The Tile Shop is a proud member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB), National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA), and the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA). Visit www.tileshop.com . Join The Tile Shop (#thetileshop) on Facebook , Instagram , Pinterest and YouTube . ABOUT LAURA ASHLEY Established in London in 1953, Laura Ashley is one of the world's best-loved fashion and home furnishings brands. The company's iconic floral prints and designs epitomize the essence of quintessential British style. Laura Ashley offers a complete range of lifestyle products, including home furnishings, women's fashion and sleepwear, children's apparel, and hospitality experiences. In 2020, Gordon Brothers acquired the Laura Ashley brand, bringing their expertise to grow Laura Ashley's product offerings and leading licensees across the world. For additional information, visit www.lauraashleyusa.com . ABOUT GORDON BROTHERS Since 1903, Gordon Brothers ( www.gordonbrothers.com ) has helped lenders, management teams, advisors and investors move forward through change. The firm brings a powerful combination of expertise and capital to clients, developing customized solutions on an integrated or standalone basis across four services areas: valuations, dispositions, financing and investment. Whether to fuel growth or facilitate strategic consolidation, Gordon Brothers partners with companies in the retail, commercial and industrial sectors to provide maximum liquidity, put assets to their highest and best use and mitigate liabilities. The firm conducts more than $100 billion worth of dispositions and appraisals annually and provides both short- and long-term capital to clients undergoing transformation. Gordon Brothers lends against and invests in brands, real estate, inventory, receivables, machinery, equipment and other assets, both together and individually, to provide clients liquidity solutions beyond its market-leading disposition and appraisal services. The firm is headquartered in Boston, with over 30 offices across five continents. 1 New technology, old-world style: Zillow reveals 2025's home trends 2 Houzz 2025 U.S. Home Design Predictions report Tile Shop Media Contact: [email protected] A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/58c25097-83f5-4ce1-84b0-26b9c8813b21 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e1eae46d-9135-4a70-9520-f8e0124c2198 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2b776a1c-4b0d-4e1e-bade-8775b1799add https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9747d25e-0ab0-4263-8431-60bcebdef190
CLEVELAND -- The NFL has closed an investigation into sexual assault allegations against Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, who is ending the season on injured reserve for the second year in a row. The league has been reviewing the case for months , trying to determine whether Watson should be punished. “The matter is closed,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said Friday in an email to The Associated Press. “There was insufficient evidence to support a finding of a violation of the personal conduct policy.” Watson, who served an 11-game suspension in 2022, was accused of assault in Texas by a woman in September. She was seeking more than $1 million in damages before the sides reached a confidential settlement. Watson strongly denied the allegations through his attorney, Rusty Hardin. The 29-year-old Watson suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon rupture in October. He's been rehabbing the injury in hopes of returning next season. The Browns still owe Watson $46 million in each of the next two seasons after they traded three first-round picks to Houston and signed him to a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract that has backfired. Watson has only played in 19 games over three seasons due to the suspension and injuries. He was acquired by the Browns, who were comfortable with his character despite Watson being accused of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. While he's in the clear with the league, Watson's future with Cleveland isn't so certain. His massive contract — and its salary-cap ramifications — has put the Browns in a bind in terms of trying to improve their roster. Cleveland has had a disappointing season after making the playoffs a year ago and could move on from Watson, but the cost would be exorbitant if the team just releases him. The Browns signed Jameis Winston for one season to be Watson's backup. Winston has gone 2-3 as a starter since taking over and he's put some life into Cleveland's offense, which didn't score 20 points or gain 300 yards with Watson before his injury. His 2023 season was ended by a broken bone in his shoulder, requiring surgery. Winston has indicated he would come back, and he could be a viable option as a starter even if the Browns draft a young QB. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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NoneThe governor of Georgia’s status as a Washington outsider helped him turn the page on a turbulent period for the US. Jimmy Carter’s ascent to the White House was something few people could have predicted when he was governor of the US state of Georgia. It was no different for Jimmy Carter in the early 1970s. It took meeting several presidential candidates and then encouragement from an esteemed elder statesman before the young governor, who had never met a president himself, saw himself as something bigger. He announced his White House bid on December 12 1974, amid fallout from the Vietnam War and the resignation of Richard Nixon. Then he leveraged his unknown, and politically untainted, status to become the 39th president. That whirlwind path has been a model, explicit and otherwise, for would-be contenders ever since. “Jimmy Carter’s example absolutely created a 50-year window of people saying, ‘Why not me?’” said Steve Schale, who worked on President Barack Obama’s campaigns and is a long-time supporter of President Joe Biden. Mr Carter’s journey to high office began in Plains, Georgia where he received end-of-life care decades after serving as president. David Axelrod, who helped to engineer Mr Obama’s four-year ascent from state senator to the Oval Office, said Mr Carter’s model is about more than how his grassroots strategy turned the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary into his springboard. “There was a moral stain on the country, and this was a guy of deep faith,” Mr Axelrod said. “He seemed like a fresh start, and I think he understood that he could offer something different that might be able to meet the moment.” Donna Brazile, who managed Democrat Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, got her start on Mr Carter’s two national campaigns. “In 1976, it was just Jimmy Carter’s time,” she said. Of course, the seeds of his presidential run sprouted even before Mr Nixon won a second term and certainly before his resignation in August 1974. In Mr Carter’s telling, he did not run for governor in 1966, he lost, or in 1970 thinking about Washington. Even when he announced his presidential bid, neither he nor those closest to him were completely confident. “President of what?” his mother, Lillian, replied when he told her his plans. But soon after he became governor in 1971, Mr Carter’s team envisioned him as a national player. They were encouraged in part by the May 31 Time magazine cover depicting Mr Carter alongside the headline “Dixie Whistles a Different Tune”. Inside, a flattering profile framed Mr Carter as a model “New South” governor. In October 1971, Carter ally Dr Peter Bourne, an Atlanta physician who would become US drug tsar, sent his politician friend an unsolicited memo outlining how he could be elected president. On October 17, a wider circle of advisers sat with Mr Carter at the Governor’s Mansion to discuss it. Mr Carter, then 47, wore blue jeans and a T-shirt, according to biographer Jonathan Alter. The team, including Mr Carter’s wife Rosalynn, who died aged 96 in November 2023, began considering the idea seriously. “We never used the word ‘president’,” Mr Carter recalled upon his 90th birthday, “but just referred to national office”. Mr Carter invited high-profile Democrats and Washington players who were running or considering running in 1972, to one-on-one meetings at the mansion. He jumped at the chance to lead the Democratic National Committee’s national campaign that year. The position allowed him to travel the country helping candidates up and down the ballot. Along the way, he was among the Southern governors who angled to be George McGovern’s running mate. Mr Alter said Mr Carter was never seriously considered. Still, Mr Carter got to know, among others, former vice president Hubert Humphrey and senators Henry Jackson of Washington, Eugene McCarthy of Maine and Mr McGovern of South Dakota, the eventual nominee who lost a landslide to Mr Nixon. Mr Carter later explained he had previously defined the nation’s highest office by its occupants immortalised by monuments. “For the first time,” Mr Carter told The New York Times, “I started comparing my own experiences and knowledge of government with the candidates, not against ‘the presidency’ and not against Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. It made it a whole lot easier”. Adviser Hamilton Jordan crafted a detailed campaign plan calling for matching Mr Carter’s outsider, good-government credentials to voters’ general disillusionment, even before Watergate. But the team still spoke and wrote in code, as if the “higher office” were not obvious. It was reported during his campaign that Mr Carter told family members around Christmas 1972 that he would run in 1976. Mr Carter later wrote in a memoir that a visit from former secretary of state Dean Rusk in early 1973 affirmed his leanings. During another private confab in Atlanta, Mr Rusk told Mr Carter plainly: “Governor, I think you should run for president in 1976.” That, Mr Carter wrote, “removed our remaining doubts.” Mr Schale said the process is not always so involved. “These are intensely competitive people already,” he said of governors, senators and others in high office. “If you’re wired in that capacity, it’s hard to step away from it.” “Jimmy Carter showed us that you can go from a no-name to president in the span of 18 or 24 months,” said Jared Leopold, a top aide in Washington governor Jay Inslee’s unsuccessful bid for Democrats’ 2020 nomination. “For people deciding whether to get in, it’s a real inspiration,” Mr Leopold continued, “and that’s a real success of American democracy”.Banco Popular was recognized as the Best Real Estate Bank in the Dominican Republic by the prestigious financial magazine Euromoney. This recognition highlighted Banco Popular’s leadership in the real estate and construction market and commitment to the sector’s development in the country. The magazine, based in England, has been awarding this prize for 27 years, although this is the first time it has been granted to a bank in the Dominican Republic. In its analysis, the magazine valued Banco Popular’s financial performance in the real estate sector. It noted a market share of 31.2% in mortgage loans and 34.5% in the commercial portfolio dedicated to the construction sector. During the last twelve months, Banco Popular’s mortgage portfolio grew by 13%, reaching RD$62,000 million. This has benefited more than 3,500 clients, with RD$17,229 million disbursed. Similarly, construction loans recorded a 41% increase in approvals, which exceeded RD$12,622 million. Meanwhile, disbursements amounted to RD$17,710 million, benefiting more than 355 clients. Euromoney magazine recognized Popular’s innovative strategies and capacity to promote the growth of the real estate and construction sector through alliances with construction companies and real estate agencies. In the last five years, the institution has facilitated more than RD$41.2 billion in mortgage loans and approved more than RD$22.8 billion in construction loans, positively impacting the national economy. Euromoney highlighted Popular’s technological leadership and the strategy of using its digital channels to facilitate the operations of real estate developers and acquirers, improving the efficiency and experience of its customers. A press release highlights that the magazine cited the bank’s commitment to sustainable development, allocating RD$2.8 billion to compliance with the UN Principles of Responsible Banking, including RD$56 million in loans for homes certified as sustainable. Speaking about the recognition, Popular’s executive president, Christopher Paniagua, highlighted how the award highlights the bank’s efforts to “offer innovative and sustainable solutions that bring value to its clients and to the development of the Dominican Republic.”
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Simple Hacks to Make the Holidays Merrier (and Cheaper)Major stock indexes we mixed on Wall Street in afternoon trading Monday, marking a choppy start to a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 21 points, or 0.1% as of 2:22 p.m. Eastern time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 1%. Gains in technology and communications stocks helped outweigh losses in consumer goods companies and elsewhere in the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, rose 3.6%. Broadcom jumped 5.7% to also help support the broader market. Walmart fell 2.2% and PepsiCo slid 1.3%. Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan said they are talking about combining in a deal that might also include Mitsubishi Motors. U.S.-listed shares in Honda jumped 12.1% , while Nissan fell 0.9%. Eli Lilly rose 3.3% after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first and only prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Department store Nordstrom fell 1.7% after it agreed to be taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal. The Conference Board said that consumer confidence slipped in December. Its consumer confidence index fell back to 104.7 from 112.8 in November. Wall Street was expecting a reading of 113.8. The unexpectedly weak consumer confidence update follows several generally strong economic reports last week. One report showed the overall economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate during the summer, faster than earlier thought. The latest report on unemployment benefit applications showed that the job market remains solid. A report on Friday said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than economists expected. Worries about inflation edging higher again had been weighing on Wall Street and the Fed. The central bank just delivered its third cut to interest rates this year, but inflation has been hovering stubbornly above its target of 2%. It has signaled that it could deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year than it earlier anticipated because of concerns over inflation. Expectations for more interest rate cuts have helped drive a 25% gain for the S&P 500 in 2024. That drive included 57 all-time highs this year. Inflation concerns have added to uncertainties heading into 2025, which include the labor market's path ahead and shifting economic policies under an incoming President Donald Trump. "Put simply, much of the strong market performance prior to last week was driven by expectations that a best-case scenario was the base case for 2025," said Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.59% from 4.53% late Friday. European markets were mostly lower, while markets in Asia gained ground. Wall Street has several other economic reports to look forward to this week. On Tuesday, the U.S. will release its November report for sales of newly constructed homes. A weekly update on unemployment benefits is expected on Thursday. Markets in the U.S. will close at 1 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday for Christmas Eve and will remain closed on Wednesday for Christmas.