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Sagittarius – (22nd November to 21st December) Daily Horoscope Prediction says, you play on the turf of life A diligent love affair requires utmost care and patience. Overcome the tremors at work and ensure you meet the expectations. Financial prosperity exists. Keep your lover happy and ensure you are romantically creative today. Be diligent at the workplace and take care of every assigned job. Handle wealth carefully and plan smart investments. No major health issue will trouble you. Sagittarius Love Horoscope Today There will be fun in the love affair today but you should also give proper space to the emotions and preferences of the lover. Do not impose your opinions and instead accept the person without biases. Be ready to meet someone new today while traveling. Those who are new in the relationship need to spend more time together to know each other. Take the love affair to the parents today to get their support. Sagittarius Career Horoscope Today Though your office life will be easier, it is good to be cautious of troubles caused by office politics. Do not be scared to experiment at the workplace as you may need that to bring in expected results. Be innovative at team meetings and your communication skills will impress clients. Interviews will be cleared easily while students will also clear competitive examinations today. Some entrepreneurs dealing with textiles, electronics, fashion accessories, food processing, and footwear will see good returns today. Sagittarius Money Horoscope Today Despite you receiving wealth from different sources, it is good to save for the rainy day as you may have unexpected expenses in the coming days. You may also incur an emergency at home which will need financial assistance. Some seniors may also require spending for a function within the family. Some entrepreneurs will sign new deals that may help take the business to the regions abroad. Sagittarius Health Horoscope Today Throat infection, migraine, and minor pain in joints will be common among Sagittarius children today. You should be careful about your diet today and also maintain a balanced office and personal life. While traveling, ensure a medical kit is always with you. If you have sleeping-related issues, opt for natural methods rather than medicines. Sagittarius Sign Attributes Strength: Wise, Practical, Audacious, Beautiful, Lively, Energetic, Lovely, Optimistic Weakness: Forgetful, Careless, Irritating Symbol: Archer Element: Fire Body Part: Thighs & Liver Sign Ruler: Jupiter Lucky Day: Thursday Lucky Color: Light Blue Lucky Number: 6 Lucky Stone: Yellow Sapphire Sagittarius Sign Compatibility Chart Natural affinity: Aries, Leo, Libra, Aquarius Good compatibility: Gemini, Sagittarius Fair compatibility: Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio, Capricorn Less compatibility: Virgo, Pisces By: Dr. J. N. Pandey Vedic Astrology & Vastu Expert Website: www.astrologerjnpandey.com E-mail: djnpandey@gmail.com Phone: 91-9811107060 (WhatsApp Only)Brazil's STF launches AI writing tool
What both sides are saying about the ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah
DETROIT (AP) — Starting in September of 2027, all new passenger vehicles in the U.S. will have to sound a warning if rear-seat passengers don’t buckle up. Related Articles National News | TikTok asks the Supreme Court for an emergency order to block a US ban unless it’s sold National News | Survivors seek a reckoning as FBI investigates child sex abuse in little-known Christian sect National News | Trump migrant deportations could threaten states’ agricultural economies National News | Federal Reserve is likely to slow its rate cuts with inflation pressures still elevated National News | Teacher and a teenage student killed in a shooting at a private Christian school in Wisconsin The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday that it finalized the rule, which also requires enhanced warnings when front seat belts aren’t fastened. The agency estimates that the new rule will save 50 lives per year and prevent 500 injuries when fully in effect, according to a statement. The new rule will apply to passenger cars, trucks, buses except for school buses, and multipurpose vehicles weighing up to 10,000 pounds. Before the rule, seat belt warnings were required only for the driver’s seat. Under the new rule, outboard front-seat passengers also must get a warning if they don’t fasten their belts. Front-center seats will not get a warning because NHTSA found that it wouldn’t be cost effective. The agency said most vehicles already have warnings for the outboard passenger seats. The rule also lengthens the duration of audio and visual warnings for the driver’s seat. The front-seat rules are effective starting Sept. 1 of 2026. Rear passengers consistently use seat belts at a lower rate than front passengers, the agency says. In 2022, front belt use was just under 92%, while rear use dropped to about 82%. About half of automobile passengers who died in crashes two years ago weren’t wearing belts, according to NHTSA data. The seat belt rule is the second significant regulation to come from NHTSA in the past two months. In November the agency bolstered its five-star auto safety ratings to include driver assistance technologies and pedestrian protection. Safety advocates want the Department of Transportation, which includes NHTSA, to finish several more rules before the end of the Biden administration, because President-elect Donald Trump has said he’s against new government regulations. Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, urged the department to approve automatic emergency braking for heavy trucks and technology to prevent impaired driving.A ceasefire deal that could end more than a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group won backing from Israeli leaders Tuesday, raising hopes and renewing difficult questions in a region gripped by conflict. Hezbollah leaders also signaled tentative backing for the U.S.-brokered deal, which offers both sides an off-ramp from hostilities that have driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese and 50,000 Israelis from their homes. An intense bombing campaign by Israel has killed more than 3,700 people, many of them civilians, Lebanese officials say. But while the deal, set to take effect early Wednesday, could significantly calm the tensions that have inflamed the region, it does little directly to resolve the much deadlier war that has raged in Gaza since the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people. Hezbollah, which began firing scores of rockets into Israel the following day in support of Hamas, has previously said it would keep fighting until there was a stop to the fighting in Gaza. Here’s what to know about the tentative ceasefire agreement and its potential implications: The terms of the deal The agreement reportedly calls for a 60-day halt in fighting that would see Israeli troops retreat to their side of the border while requiring Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the deal is set to take effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday (9 p.m. EST Tuesday). Under the deal, thousands of Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers are to deploy to the region south of the Litani River. An international panel lead by the U.S. would monitor compliance by all sides. Biden said the deal “was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL , does not provide “effective enforcement” of the deal. Lingering uncertainty A Hezbollah leader said the group's support for the deal hinged on clarity that Israel would not renew its attacks. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Qatari satellite news network Al Jazeera. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state” of Lebanon, he said. The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel’s security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France. Where the fighting has left both sides After months of cross-border bombings, Israel can claim major victories, including the killing of Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, most of his senior commanders and the destruction of extensive militant infrastructure. A complex attack in September involving the explosion of hundreds of walkie-talkies and pagers used by Hezbollah was widely attributed to Israel, signaling a remarkable penetration of the militant group. The damage inflicted on Hezbollah has come not only in its ranks, but to the reputation it built by fighting Israel to a stalemate in the 2006 war. Still, its fighters managed to put up heavy resistance on the ground, slowing Israel’s advance while continuing to fire scores of rockets, missiles and drones across the border each day. The ceasefire offers relief to both sides, giving Israel’s overstretched army a break and allowing Hezbollah leaders to tout the group’s effectiveness in holding their ground despite Israel’s massive advantage in weaponry. But the group is likely to face a reckoning, with many Lebanese accusing it of tying their country’s fate to Gaza’s at the service of key ally Iran, inflicting great damage on a Lebanese economy that was already in grave condition. No answers for Gaza Until now, Hezbollah has insisted that it would only halt its attacks on Israel when it agreed to stop fighting in Gaza. Some in the region are likely to view a deal between the Lebanon-based group and Israel as a capitulation. In Gaza, where officials say the war has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, Israel’s attacks have inflicted a heavy toll on Hamas, including the killing of the group’s top leaders. But Hamas fighters continue to hold scores of Israeli hostages, giving the militant group a bargaining chip if indirect ceasefire negotiations resume. Hamas is likely to continue to demand a lasting truce and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in any such deal. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas offered a pointed reminder Tuesday of the intractability of the war, demanding urgent international intervention. “The only way to halt the dangerous escalation we are witnessing in the region, and maintain regional and international stability, security and peace, is to resolve the question of Palestine,” he said in a speech to the U.N. read by his ambassador.Hundreds of open gangway subway cars to start rolling into NYC by 2027What Donald Trump Has Said About Drones
Dominion Energy Inc. stock underperforms Monday when compared to competitors despite daily gainsA judge on Monday rejected a request to block a San Jose State women's volleyball team member from playing in a conference tournament on grounds that she is transgender. The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver will allow the player, who has played all season, to compete in the Mountain West Conference women's championship opening this week in Las Vegas. The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by nine current players against the Mountain West Conference challenging the league's policies for allowing transgender players to participate. The players argued that letting her compete was a safety risk and unfair. While some media have reported those and other details, neither San Jose State nor the forfeiting teams have confirmed the school has a trans woman volleyball player. The Associated Press is withholding the player's name because she has not commented publicly on her gender identity. School officials also have declined an interview request with the player. Crews' ruling referred to the athlete as an "alleged transgender" player and noted that no defendant disputed that the San Jose State roster includes a transgender woman player. San Jose State will "continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms," the university said in a statement, confirming that all its student-athletes are eligible to participate under NCAA and conference rules. "We are gratified that the Court rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to change those rules. Our team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West volleyball tournament this week." The conference did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The players filed a notice for emergency appeal with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Crews said the players who filed the complaint could have sought relief much earlier, noting the individual universities had acknowledged that not playing their games against San Jose State this season would result in a loss in league standings. He also refused a request to re-seed the tournament without the forfeited losses. The judge said injunctions are meant to preserve the status quo. The conference policy regarding forfeiting for refusing to play against a team with a transgender player had been in effect since 2022 and the San Jose State player has been on the roster since 2022 -– making that the status quo. The player competed at the college level three previous seasons, including two for San Jose State, drawing little attention. This season's awareness of her reported identity led to an uproar among some players, pundits, parents and politicians in a major election year. Crews' ruling also said injunctions are meant to prevent harm, but in this case, he argued, the harm has already occurred. The games have been forfeited, the tournament has been seeded, the teams have made travel plans and the participants have confirmed they're playing. The tournament starts Wednesday and continues Friday and Saturday. Colorado State is seeded first and San Jose State, second. The teams split their regular-season matches and both get byes into Friday's semifinals. San Jose State will play the winner of Wednesday's match between Utah State and Boise State — teams that both forfeited matches to SJSU during the regular season. Boise State associate athletic director Chris Kutz declined to comment on whether the Broncos would play SJSU if they won their first-round tournament game. Utah State officials did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. The conference tournament winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. San Jose State coach Todd Kress, whose team has not competed in the national tournament since 2001, has said his team has been getting "messages of hate" and that has taken a toll on his players. Several teams refused to play against San Jose State during the season, earning losses in the official conference standings. Boise State and Wyoming each had two forfeits while Utah State and Nevada both had one. Southern Utah, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, was first to cancel against San Jose State this year. Nevada's players stated they "refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes," without elaborating. Nevada did not qualify for the conference tournament. The nine current players and others now suing the Mountain West Conference, the California State University Board of Trustees and others include San Jose State senior setter and co-captain Brooke Slusser. The teammate Slusser says is transgender hits the volleyball with more force than others on the team, raising fear during practices of suffering concussions from a head hit, the complaint says. The Independent Council on Women's Sports is funding a separate lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing transgender women to compete in women's sports. Both lawsuits claim the landmark 1972 federal antidiscrimination law known as Title IX prohibits transgender women in women's sports. Title IX prohibits sexual discrimination in federally funded education; Slusser is a plaintiff in both lawsuits. Several circuit courts have used a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to conclude that discriminating against someone based on their transgender status or sexual orientation is sex-based discrimination, Crews wrote. That means case law does not prove the "likelihood of success" needed to grant an injunction. An NCAA policy that subjects transgender participation to the rules of sports governing bodies took effect this academic year. USA Volleyball says a trans woman must suppress testosterone for 12 months before competing. The NCAA has not flagged any issues with San Jose State. The Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the team cancellations, citing fairness in women's sports. President-elect Donald Trump likewise has spoken out against allowing transgender women to compete in women's sports. Crews was a magistrate judge in Colorado's U.S. District Court for more than five years before President Joe Biden appointed him as a federal judge in January. Get local news delivered to your inbox!WASHINGTON (AP) — A person accused of accosting U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace in a Capitol Office building pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to a misdemeanor assault charge. Witnesses told police that James McIntyre, 33, of Chicago, shook Mace's hand in an “exaggerated, aggressive” manner after approaching the South Carolina Republican in the Rayburn House Office Building on Tuesday evening, according to a police affidavit. Mace, who is identified only by her initials in a court filing, posted a string of social media messages about the incident. She said she was “physically accosted” at the Capitol, and she thanked President-elect Donald Trump for calling her Wednesday morning to check on her condition. “I’m going to be fine just as soon as the pain and soreness subside,” Mace wrote. Mace declined to be treated by a paramedic after her encounter with McIntyre, who was arrested Tuesday by the Capitol Police, the affidavit says. Mace told police that McIntyre said, “Trans youth serve advocacy,” while shaking her hand. Last month, Mace proposed a resolution that would prohibit any lawmakers and House employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” Mace said the bill is aimed specifically at Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride — the first transgender person to be elected to Congress. A magistrate judge ordered McIntyre’s release after an arraignment in Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Efforts to reach an attorney for McIntyre weren't immediately successful.Toll Brothers Announces Overbrook Estates Community Coming Soon to Huntersville, North Carolina
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, in collaboration with the Equality Federation, an advocacy accelerator rooted in social justice that builds power in a network of state-based LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, released the 13th edition of the Municipal Equality Index (MEI), the only comprehensive nationwide assessment of LGBTQ+ equality in the areas of municipal policies, laws and services. This survey includes an evaluation of seven cities and towns across Wyoming. Key findings from the 2024 Municipal Equality Index, which scored seven cities in Wyoming, include: This year, a record-breaking 130 cities, or over 25% of all MEI-rated cities, earned the highest score of 100, which is up from 129 in 2023. The national city score average jumped to an all-time high of 72 points. Only six cities scored zero points. Across Wyoming, cities scored include: “Wyoming has championed the ‘live and let live’ ethos of the West for decades, and it has protected LGBTQ+ Wyomingites until this year,” Sara Burlingame of Wyoming Equality said in a news release. “The rise of the Freedom Caucus is funded and sustained by the belief that they can turn back the clock on our rights in red states. With your help, WE will prove them wrong, again.” Every year, the Municipal Equality Index scores the 50 state capitals, the 200 largest cities in the United States, the five largest cities or municipalities in each state, the cities home to the state’s two largest public universities, 75 cities and municipalities that have high proportions of same-sex couples, and 98 cities selected by HRC and Equality Federation state groups, members, and supporters. The full 2024 MEI report, including detailed scorecards for every city and a searchable score database, is available online at hrc.org/mei . Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, sports, arts & entertainment, state legislature, CFD news, and more.
Charlotte Crosby trebles security measures to ‘feel safe’ amid attempted robberyShortly after completing a 31-year tenure as the coach of the Towson men’s lacrosse program, Carl Anthony Runk was celebrated widely for his accomplishments. He was inducted into Towson’s Hall of Fame in 2007, the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame in 2018, the University of Arizona’s Men’s Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2019 and received the John F. Steadman Lifetime Achievement Award from the Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022. But according to his son, Keith Runk, Mr. Runk downplayed the accolades. “He would say, ‘I haven’t cracked an egg in my life, and they’re recognizing me with this,’” his son said. “He never did anything for the recognition. He did it for the love of it.” Mr. Runk, who shepherded the Tigers from NCAA Division II to Division I status and the 1974 Division II national championship, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer at his home in Baltimore. He was 88. From 1968 to 1998, Mr. Runk compiled a 262-161 record that included that national title against Hobart, seven consecutive College Division Tournament berths from 1973 to 1979, an appearance in the 1991 Division I Tournament final against North Carolina, five East Coast Conference championships, and 24 seasons with winning records. Tony Seaman, who succeeded Mr. Runk at Towson and met him as rivals when the former coached at Penn and Johns Hopkins, described his predecessor’s legacy as “long-lasting.” “I’ll always remember how well his teams were coached and how well his players played for him,” Seaman said. “They loved him, and they’d give everything in the world. You knew that you would get a game from beginning to end anytime you played against a Carl Runk team.” One of 13 children raised by George and Anna Runk and Josephine McGill in Highlandtown, Mr. Runk grew up working on tugboats and picking beans on farms on the Eastern Shore, according to his son. “They kicked and scratched for everything they got,” Keith Runk said. “Just making ends meet to get through and help the family out.” After graduating from Patterson Park High, Mr. Runk attended the University of Maryland on a football scholarship for a year-and-a-half, but then transferred to the University of Arizona where he was an offensive tackle. Already married to the former Joan Johns who also graduated from Patterson Park, Mr. Runk squeezed in earning a master’s degree and teaching at an area high school between two stints coaching men’s lacrosse for the Wildcats. After the births of sons Carl, Keith and Curt, Mr. and Mrs. Runk decided to return to Maryland after Curt contracted spinal meningitis and lost his hearing as a result. Upon his return, Mr. Runk joined what was formerly known as Towson State College to coach lacrosse. Mr. Runk added football to his coaching responsibilities when the coach quit prior to the program’s debut in 1969. In three seasons, the Tigers went 11-14-1 under Mr. Runk, who handed the reins to one of his assistant coaches, Phil Albert. Lacrosse is where Mr. Runk made his greatest impact. From 1968 to 1979, Mr. Runk amassed a 115-63 at the NCAA Division II level with only one losing season. His crowning achievement was shaping the 1974 squad into a group that outlasted Hobart, 18-17, in overtime for the NCAA Division II championship. Tom Moore, a midfielder and co-captain of that 1974 team, said Mr. Runk insisted on a culture absent of favoritism. “The ones that didn’t buy into the culture, they had to work harder to get into the starting lineup,” he said. “Some of them did, and some of them decided to quit. The bottom line was we expected everybody to work really hard and we expected everybody to be a team player.” Keith Runk, who played goalkeeper for the Tigers from 1979 to 1982, said his father extended that expectation to his son. “There was no special treatment,” he said. “When I was on the field, I was a player. I wasn’t his son. I was no better or no worse. But on the way home, it was different. He was Dad.” Members of Towson and Hobart and their parents dined together on the eve of the 1974 title game. While the Hobart coach praised his players’ efforts and dedication, Mr. Runk took a different approach. “Coach Runk got up there in front of our parents, and he started making fun of all of us. He was saying, ‘I don’t know how these kids got into school because their SAT scores weren’t really that good,’” Moore said with a laugh. “This was one of the most intense moments we all had because we were looking at the guys we had to fight against the next day, and he’s got everybody in tears and laughing by making fun of us. And we didn’t mind it because we knew he was doing it to just have a good time.” Mr. Runk had a certain command of his teams. Tensions always ran high between Towson and Maryland. So when a skirmish broke out during a scrimmage between the area rivals in 1980, the Tigers players were more than willing to jump into the fray. “Our entire bench started to run out on the field, and Coach Runk turned around and put up his hand, and you never saw 40 guys stop on a dime like that in your life,” said former Baltimore Sun sports editor Gerry Jackson, who was a defenseman for Mr. Runk from 1978 to 1981. “The kind of respect he had from the team was amazing.” After back-to-back 5-7 records in 1997 and 1998, Mr. Runk was not retained by Towson, which hired Seaman after he had been let go by Johns Hopkins. While Seaman quipped that Mr. Runk was too upset with the administration to take out his anger on Seaman, the latter said Mr. Runk was always supportive. “We were such good friends that it never came up,” said Seaman, who had known Mr. Runk since Seaman was a coach at a high school on Long Island where Mr. Runk often visited to recruit players. “He never felt bitter toward me. He knew that I needed the job.” Mr. Runk enjoyed playing musical instruments such as the guitar, banjo and harmonica and was a member of a barbershop quartet while he was a student at Arizona. But next to lacrosse, he prioritized his family. Related Articles In 1978, Mr. Runk took a partial sabbatical to enroll at Gallaudet University and sign up for classes in sign language, audiology and the sociology of deafness. The following year, he taught basic sign language at Towson at least once per semester for 20 years. “It was important for him to teach people how to communicate with those who were hard of hearing,” his son said. “It was a tribute to the care that he had for the family and for people in similar positions. It wasn’t just about us or him.” Mr. Runk is survived by three sons, Carl of Burke, Virginia, Keith of Bel Air, and Curt of Jacksonville, South Carolina, one daughter, Brenda Parker of Ocean City, three brothers, Alfred of Forest Hill, David of Tampa, Florida, and Ted of San Francisco, California, two sisters, Joan of Daytona, Florida, and Donna of Port Richey, Florida, 11 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. The family will hold a private service. A celebration of Mr. Runk’s life is planned for a later date.US to require passenger vehicles to sound alarms if rear passengers don’t fasten their seat belts
A judge on Monday rejected a request to block a San Jose State women's volleyball team member from playing in a conference tournament on grounds that she is transgender. The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver will allow the player, who has played all season, to compete in the Mountain West Conference women's championship opening this week in Las Vegas. The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by nine current players against the Mountain West Conference challenging the league's policies for allowing transgender players to participate. The players argued that letting her compete was a safety risk and unfair. While some media have reported those and other details, neither San Jose State nor the forfeiting teams have confirmed the school has a trans woman volleyball player. The Associated Press is withholding the player's name because she has not commented publicly on her gender identity. School officials also have declined an interview request with the player. Crews' ruling referred to the athlete as an "alleged transgender" player and noted that no defendant disputed that the San Jose State roster includes a transgender woman player. San Jose State will "continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms," the university said in a statement, confirming that all its student-athletes are eligible to participate under NCAA and conference rules. "We are gratified that the Court rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to change those rules. Our team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West volleyball tournament this week." The conference did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The players filed a notice for emergency appeal with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Crews said the players who filed the complaint could have sought relief much earlier, noting the individual universities had acknowledged that not playing their games against San Jose State this season would result in a loss in league standings. He also refused a request to re-seed the tournament without the forfeited losses. The judge said injunctions are meant to preserve the status quo. The conference policy regarding forfeiting for refusing to play against a team with a transgender player had been in effect since 2022 and the San Jose State player has been on the roster since 2022 -– making that the status quo. The player competed at the college level three previous seasons, including two for San Jose State, drawing little attention. This season's awareness of her reported identity led to an uproar among some players, pundits, parents and politicians in a major election year. Crews' ruling also said injunctions are meant to prevent harm, but in this case, he argued, the harm has already occurred. The games have been forfeited, the tournament has been seeded, the teams have made travel plans and the participants have confirmed they're playing. The tournament starts Wednesday and continues Friday and Saturday. Colorado State is seeded first and San Jose State, second. The teams split their regular-season matches and both get byes into Friday's semifinals. San Jose State will play the winner of Wednesday's match between Utah State and Boise State — teams that both forfeited matches to SJSU during the regular season. Boise State associate athletic director Chris Kutz declined to comment on whether the Broncos would play SJSU if they won their first-round tournament game. Utah State officials did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. The conference tournament winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. San Jose State coach Todd Kress, whose team has not competed in the national tournament since 2001, has said his team has been getting "messages of hate" and that has taken a toll on his players. Several teams refused to play against San Jose State during the season, earning losses in the official conference standings. Boise State and Wyoming each had two forfeits while Utah State and Nevada both had one. Southern Utah, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, was first to cancel against San Jose State this year. Nevada's players stated they "refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes," without elaborating. Nevada did not qualify for the conference tournament. The nine current players and others now suing the Mountain West Conference, the California State University Board of Trustees and others include San Jose State senior setter and co-captain Brooke Slusser. The teammate Slusser says is transgender hits the volleyball with more force than others on the team, raising fear during practices of suffering concussions from a head hit, the complaint says. The Independent Council on Women's Sports is funding a separate lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing transgender women to compete in women's sports. Both lawsuits claim the landmark 1972 federal antidiscrimination law known as Title IX prohibits transgender women in women's sports. Title IX prohibits sexual discrimination in federally funded education; Slusser is a plaintiff in both lawsuits. Several circuit courts have used a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to conclude that discriminating against someone based on their transgender status or sexual orientation is sex-based discrimination, Crews wrote. That means case law does not prove the "likelihood of success" needed to grant an injunction. An NCAA policy that subjects transgender participation to the rules of sports governing bodies took effect this academic year. USA Volleyball says a trans woman must suppress testosterone for 12 months before competing. The NCAA has not flagged any issues with San Jose State. The Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the team cancellations, citing fairness in women's sports. President-elect Donald Trump likewise has spoken out against allowing transgender women to compete in women's sports. Crews was a magistrate judge in Colorado's U.S. District Court for more than five years before President Joe Biden appointed him as a federal judge in January. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
People are getting $100 checks from Elon Musk’s America PAC—even if they didn't sign the petition
-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email If you're worried about mysterious drone sightings seen across New York and New Jersey, you're not the only one. Joe Rogan is too. These drones that people have spotted in the last several weeks have triggered an FBI Investigation and speculation online from figures like Rogan. On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on ABC News , “There's no question that people are seeing drones. I want to assure the American public that we in the federal government have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing the drone sightings.” Related Joe Rogan podcast controversy underscores bigger problem driving misinformation: Analysis Mayorkas reiterated that the federal agency is on the case and the drones are not a threat to public safety. "No foreign involvement with respect to the sightings," he said. But Rogan doesn't quite believe in the government's response and took to X to share his thoughts about the situation over the weekend. "I want to believe it's adderalled up incels holed up in a basement f***ing with 'the man' more than I want it to be aliens. #iwanttobelieve," he wrote . Rogan shared another post , this time with a video attached. His caption reads, "This is the first video about these drones that has got me genuinely concerned." The video features John Ferguson, a Kansas-based government contractor who builds systems and vehicles like drones, saying that the drones aren't a threat but, "The only reason why you would ever fly an unmanned aircraft at night is if you're looking for something." Read more about this topic What did we learn from Donald Trump's "Joe Rogan Experience"? Nothing good "Sort of a liberal guy": Trump says he hasn't been invited on Joe Rogan's podcast Joe Rogan turned down Donald Trump as a podcast guest, calling him a "threat to democracy" MORE FROM Nardos Haile Advertisement:State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, added his voice to a growing chorus of public officials in Connecticut and beyond demanding some transparency from the federal government regarding a spate of unidentified drone sightings over the tri-state area in the past few weeks. “I want to be here to advocate and give voice to my constituents, and to ask for information that is critically needed to guide state authorities, our state agencies, and to ultimately empower our local law enforcement to be able to do their job to protect and inform our community,” he said at a at the Fairfield Train Station Monday morning. “Because at present, we’re at a standstill. We’re not getting that information from our federal authorities. So it’s very unsettling to public safety and security and our peace of mind during the holiday season.” Since last Thursday, residents in Fairfield, Enfield, Danbury, and East Windsor have claimed to have spotted drones in the sky over their towns. Authorities have also charged two men Saturday with . that drone activity has been spotted around Picatinny Arsenal, a military research and manufacturing facility in New Jersey, and also that drone activity around US military bases at home and abroad has been occurring for several years. The FAA also estimated this year that there are over 2.8 million commercial and recreation drones circulating in the US. Hwang said that there are two possible theories: that the federal government does not know who is flying drones or why, or that the government knows and is not sharing the information with the community. He said that neither possibility is good. He also addressed some of the conversations he’d heard about shooting down the drones, but he said that course of action must be avoided without federal assurances and guidelines. “Without facts, we lead to speculation. And speculation leads to uncertainty and potentially fear. And we cannot allow that,” he said. “I think that is the concern. That is a big reason why I wanted to have this press conference, is absent action, absent guidance, people are going to take actions into their own hands, and that is dangerous.” Hwang also pointed out that fears about balloons floating over the United States two years ago were confirmed when the objects were shot down and discovered to be flying with surveillance technology over American soil. While no drone has been seen with weapons, they still pose a risk based on their potential to interfere with other aircraft in the area. During the wildfires that burned in the state earlier this year, officials asked residents multiple times to refrain from operating drones near the fires. Interference from drones led to firefighting helicopters being grounded multiple times. Other Connecticut elected officials have gone public about the drones as well. US Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, appeared on Sunday morning to discuss the drone concerns as the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He said that he knows “with confidence” that the drones do not belong to a foreign adversary or are extraterrestrial in origin, but said that the federal government could do a better job of allaying people’s fears. “My frustration is that the FAA in particular, which is the agency of jurisdiction for our domestic skies, ought to be out on Saturday morning saying, ‘Let us show you how many aircraft, commercial and private and military, go over New Jersey in any 24-hour period,” he said. “And then the FAA should say, ‘We’ve got about 800,000 registered drones in this country and there’s probably several million more that aren’t registered.’ So just putting information out there to fill that vacuum would be helpful.” to the FAA, FBI, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security last Friday, US Sen. Richard Blumenthal requested a briefing from the FAA no later than Dec. 18, asking that the agency present a comprehensive plan to address the public’s concerns. “The proliferation of reported drone activities in this region raises significant safety and security concerns for both commercial and private aviation as well as national security concerns,” Blumenthal wrote. “Incidents involving drones interfering with aircraft operations have increased, posing a real and substantial risk to passengers, crews, and others in the vicinity. And, I am particularly concerned about the potential for these unmanned aerial vehicles – many of which are as large as a car – to disrupt air traffic and, more alarmingly, to be used maliciously to threaten national security.” State officials have said that if any resident sees an unidentified flying system, they can either file a report on the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security’s , call the Homeland Security tip line at 1-866-HLS-TIPS (1-866-457-8477) or use the CT Safe app on their phones. According to the Connecticut General Statutes, it is illegal to intentionally or carelessly discharge a firearm in a manner likely to cause bodily injury or death can be charged with a Class C misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $500. Residents who decide to shoot into the sky at lights or objects they think are drones should realize that most of the sightings have been verified as commercial aircraft with pilots and passengers, and they should be cognizant that bullets can injure or kill others on the way back down as well. It is legal to own drones but it is not legal to fly them without a flight plan, depending on the size of the device. You can find information on .
Sagittarius – (22nd November to 21st December) Daily Horoscope Prediction says, you play on the turf of life A diligent love affair requires utmost care and patience. Overcome the tremors at work and ensure you meet the expectations. Financial prosperity exists. Keep your lover happy and ensure you are romantically creative today. Be diligent at the workplace and take care of every assigned job. Handle wealth carefully and plan smart investments. No major health issue will trouble you. Sagittarius Love Horoscope Today There will be fun in the love affair today but you should also give proper space to the emotions and preferences of the lover. Do not impose your opinions and instead accept the person without biases. Be ready to meet someone new today while traveling. Those who are new in the relationship need to spend more time together to know each other. Take the love affair to the parents today to get their support. Sagittarius Career Horoscope Today Though your office life will be easier, it is good to be cautious of troubles caused by office politics. Do not be scared to experiment at the workplace as you may need that to bring in expected results. Be innovative at team meetings and your communication skills will impress clients. Interviews will be cleared easily while students will also clear competitive examinations today. Some entrepreneurs dealing with textiles, electronics, fashion accessories, food processing, and footwear will see good returns today. Sagittarius Money Horoscope Today Despite you receiving wealth from different sources, it is good to save for the rainy day as you may have unexpected expenses in the coming days. You may also incur an emergency at home which will need financial assistance. Some seniors may also require spending for a function within the family. Some entrepreneurs will sign new deals that may help take the business to the regions abroad. Sagittarius Health Horoscope Today Throat infection, migraine, and minor pain in joints will be common among Sagittarius children today. You should be careful about your diet today and also maintain a balanced office and personal life. While traveling, ensure a medical kit is always with you. If you have sleeping-related issues, opt for natural methods rather than medicines. Sagittarius Sign Attributes Strength: Wise, Practical, Audacious, Beautiful, Lively, Energetic, Lovely, Optimistic Weakness: Forgetful, Careless, Irritating Symbol: Archer Element: Fire Body Part: Thighs & Liver Sign Ruler: Jupiter Lucky Day: Thursday Lucky Color: Light Blue Lucky Number: 6 Lucky Stone: Yellow Sapphire Sagittarius Sign Compatibility Chart Natural affinity: Aries, Leo, Libra, Aquarius Good compatibility: Gemini, Sagittarius Fair compatibility: Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio, Capricorn Less compatibility: Virgo, Pisces By: Dr. J. N. Pandey Vedic Astrology & Vastu Expert Website: www.astrologerjnpandey.com E-mail: djnpandey@gmail.com Phone: 91-9811107060 (WhatsApp Only)Brazil's STF launches AI writing tool
What both sides are saying about the ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah
DETROIT (AP) — Starting in September of 2027, all new passenger vehicles in the U.S. will have to sound a warning if rear-seat passengers don’t buckle up. Related Articles National News | TikTok asks the Supreme Court for an emergency order to block a US ban unless it’s sold National News | Survivors seek a reckoning as FBI investigates child sex abuse in little-known Christian sect National News | Trump migrant deportations could threaten states’ agricultural economies National News | Federal Reserve is likely to slow its rate cuts with inflation pressures still elevated National News | Teacher and a teenage student killed in a shooting at a private Christian school in Wisconsin The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday that it finalized the rule, which also requires enhanced warnings when front seat belts aren’t fastened. The agency estimates that the new rule will save 50 lives per year and prevent 500 injuries when fully in effect, according to a statement. The new rule will apply to passenger cars, trucks, buses except for school buses, and multipurpose vehicles weighing up to 10,000 pounds. Before the rule, seat belt warnings were required only for the driver’s seat. Under the new rule, outboard front-seat passengers also must get a warning if they don’t fasten their belts. Front-center seats will not get a warning because NHTSA found that it wouldn’t be cost effective. The agency said most vehicles already have warnings for the outboard passenger seats. The rule also lengthens the duration of audio and visual warnings for the driver’s seat. The front-seat rules are effective starting Sept. 1 of 2026. Rear passengers consistently use seat belts at a lower rate than front passengers, the agency says. In 2022, front belt use was just under 92%, while rear use dropped to about 82%. About half of automobile passengers who died in crashes two years ago weren’t wearing belts, according to NHTSA data. The seat belt rule is the second significant regulation to come from NHTSA in the past two months. In November the agency bolstered its five-star auto safety ratings to include driver assistance technologies and pedestrian protection. Safety advocates want the Department of Transportation, which includes NHTSA, to finish several more rules before the end of the Biden administration, because President-elect Donald Trump has said he’s against new government regulations. Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, urged the department to approve automatic emergency braking for heavy trucks and technology to prevent impaired driving.A ceasefire deal that could end more than a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group won backing from Israeli leaders Tuesday, raising hopes and renewing difficult questions in a region gripped by conflict. Hezbollah leaders also signaled tentative backing for the U.S.-brokered deal, which offers both sides an off-ramp from hostilities that have driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese and 50,000 Israelis from their homes. An intense bombing campaign by Israel has killed more than 3,700 people, many of them civilians, Lebanese officials say. But while the deal, set to take effect early Wednesday, could significantly calm the tensions that have inflamed the region, it does little directly to resolve the much deadlier war that has raged in Gaza since the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people. Hezbollah, which began firing scores of rockets into Israel the following day in support of Hamas, has previously said it would keep fighting until there was a stop to the fighting in Gaza. Here’s what to know about the tentative ceasefire agreement and its potential implications: The terms of the deal The agreement reportedly calls for a 60-day halt in fighting that would see Israeli troops retreat to their side of the border while requiring Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the deal is set to take effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday (9 p.m. EST Tuesday). Under the deal, thousands of Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers are to deploy to the region south of the Litani River. An international panel lead by the U.S. would monitor compliance by all sides. Biden said the deal “was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL , does not provide “effective enforcement” of the deal. Lingering uncertainty A Hezbollah leader said the group's support for the deal hinged on clarity that Israel would not renew its attacks. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Qatari satellite news network Al Jazeera. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state” of Lebanon, he said. The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel’s security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France. Where the fighting has left both sides After months of cross-border bombings, Israel can claim major victories, including the killing of Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, most of his senior commanders and the destruction of extensive militant infrastructure. A complex attack in September involving the explosion of hundreds of walkie-talkies and pagers used by Hezbollah was widely attributed to Israel, signaling a remarkable penetration of the militant group. The damage inflicted on Hezbollah has come not only in its ranks, but to the reputation it built by fighting Israel to a stalemate in the 2006 war. Still, its fighters managed to put up heavy resistance on the ground, slowing Israel’s advance while continuing to fire scores of rockets, missiles and drones across the border each day. The ceasefire offers relief to both sides, giving Israel’s overstretched army a break and allowing Hezbollah leaders to tout the group’s effectiveness in holding their ground despite Israel’s massive advantage in weaponry. But the group is likely to face a reckoning, with many Lebanese accusing it of tying their country’s fate to Gaza’s at the service of key ally Iran, inflicting great damage on a Lebanese economy that was already in grave condition. No answers for Gaza Until now, Hezbollah has insisted that it would only halt its attacks on Israel when it agreed to stop fighting in Gaza. Some in the region are likely to view a deal between the Lebanon-based group and Israel as a capitulation. In Gaza, where officials say the war has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, Israel’s attacks have inflicted a heavy toll on Hamas, including the killing of the group’s top leaders. But Hamas fighters continue to hold scores of Israeli hostages, giving the militant group a bargaining chip if indirect ceasefire negotiations resume. Hamas is likely to continue to demand a lasting truce and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in any such deal. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas offered a pointed reminder Tuesday of the intractability of the war, demanding urgent international intervention. “The only way to halt the dangerous escalation we are witnessing in the region, and maintain regional and international stability, security and peace, is to resolve the question of Palestine,” he said in a speech to the U.N. read by his ambassador.Hundreds of open gangway subway cars to start rolling into NYC by 2027What Donald Trump Has Said About Drones
Dominion Energy Inc. stock underperforms Monday when compared to competitors despite daily gainsA judge on Monday rejected a request to block a San Jose State women's volleyball team member from playing in a conference tournament on grounds that she is transgender. The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver will allow the player, who has played all season, to compete in the Mountain West Conference women's championship opening this week in Las Vegas. The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by nine current players against the Mountain West Conference challenging the league's policies for allowing transgender players to participate. The players argued that letting her compete was a safety risk and unfair. While some media have reported those and other details, neither San Jose State nor the forfeiting teams have confirmed the school has a trans woman volleyball player. The Associated Press is withholding the player's name because she has not commented publicly on her gender identity. School officials also have declined an interview request with the player. Crews' ruling referred to the athlete as an "alleged transgender" player and noted that no defendant disputed that the San Jose State roster includes a transgender woman player. San Jose State will "continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms," the university said in a statement, confirming that all its student-athletes are eligible to participate under NCAA and conference rules. "We are gratified that the Court rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to change those rules. Our team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West volleyball tournament this week." The conference did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The players filed a notice for emergency appeal with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Crews said the players who filed the complaint could have sought relief much earlier, noting the individual universities had acknowledged that not playing their games against San Jose State this season would result in a loss in league standings. He also refused a request to re-seed the tournament without the forfeited losses. The judge said injunctions are meant to preserve the status quo. The conference policy regarding forfeiting for refusing to play against a team with a transgender player had been in effect since 2022 and the San Jose State player has been on the roster since 2022 -– making that the status quo. The player competed at the college level three previous seasons, including two for San Jose State, drawing little attention. This season's awareness of her reported identity led to an uproar among some players, pundits, parents and politicians in a major election year. Crews' ruling also said injunctions are meant to prevent harm, but in this case, he argued, the harm has already occurred. The games have been forfeited, the tournament has been seeded, the teams have made travel plans and the participants have confirmed they're playing. The tournament starts Wednesday and continues Friday and Saturday. Colorado State is seeded first and San Jose State, second. The teams split their regular-season matches and both get byes into Friday's semifinals. San Jose State will play the winner of Wednesday's match between Utah State and Boise State — teams that both forfeited matches to SJSU during the regular season. Boise State associate athletic director Chris Kutz declined to comment on whether the Broncos would play SJSU if they won their first-round tournament game. Utah State officials did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. The conference tournament winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. San Jose State coach Todd Kress, whose team has not competed in the national tournament since 2001, has said his team has been getting "messages of hate" and that has taken a toll on his players. Several teams refused to play against San Jose State during the season, earning losses in the official conference standings. Boise State and Wyoming each had two forfeits while Utah State and Nevada both had one. Southern Utah, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, was first to cancel against San Jose State this year. Nevada's players stated they "refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes," without elaborating. Nevada did not qualify for the conference tournament. The nine current players and others now suing the Mountain West Conference, the California State University Board of Trustees and others include San Jose State senior setter and co-captain Brooke Slusser. The teammate Slusser says is transgender hits the volleyball with more force than others on the team, raising fear during practices of suffering concussions from a head hit, the complaint says. The Independent Council on Women's Sports is funding a separate lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing transgender women to compete in women's sports. Both lawsuits claim the landmark 1972 federal antidiscrimination law known as Title IX prohibits transgender women in women's sports. Title IX prohibits sexual discrimination in federally funded education; Slusser is a plaintiff in both lawsuits. Several circuit courts have used a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to conclude that discriminating against someone based on their transgender status or sexual orientation is sex-based discrimination, Crews wrote. That means case law does not prove the "likelihood of success" needed to grant an injunction. An NCAA policy that subjects transgender participation to the rules of sports governing bodies took effect this academic year. USA Volleyball says a trans woman must suppress testosterone for 12 months before competing. The NCAA has not flagged any issues with San Jose State. The Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the team cancellations, citing fairness in women's sports. President-elect Donald Trump likewise has spoken out against allowing transgender women to compete in women's sports. Crews was a magistrate judge in Colorado's U.S. District Court for more than five years before President Joe Biden appointed him as a federal judge in January. Get local news delivered to your inbox!WASHINGTON (AP) — A person accused of accosting U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace in a Capitol Office building pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to a misdemeanor assault charge. Witnesses told police that James McIntyre, 33, of Chicago, shook Mace's hand in an “exaggerated, aggressive” manner after approaching the South Carolina Republican in the Rayburn House Office Building on Tuesday evening, according to a police affidavit. Mace, who is identified only by her initials in a court filing, posted a string of social media messages about the incident. She said she was “physically accosted” at the Capitol, and she thanked President-elect Donald Trump for calling her Wednesday morning to check on her condition. “I’m going to be fine just as soon as the pain and soreness subside,” Mace wrote. Mace declined to be treated by a paramedic after her encounter with McIntyre, who was arrested Tuesday by the Capitol Police, the affidavit says. Mace told police that McIntyre said, “Trans youth serve advocacy,” while shaking her hand. Last month, Mace proposed a resolution that would prohibit any lawmakers and House employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” Mace said the bill is aimed specifically at Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride — the first transgender person to be elected to Congress. A magistrate judge ordered McIntyre’s release after an arraignment in Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Efforts to reach an attorney for McIntyre weren't immediately successful.Toll Brothers Announces Overbrook Estates Community Coming Soon to Huntersville, North Carolina
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, in collaboration with the Equality Federation, an advocacy accelerator rooted in social justice that builds power in a network of state-based LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, released the 13th edition of the Municipal Equality Index (MEI), the only comprehensive nationwide assessment of LGBTQ+ equality in the areas of municipal policies, laws and services. This survey includes an evaluation of seven cities and towns across Wyoming. Key findings from the 2024 Municipal Equality Index, which scored seven cities in Wyoming, include: This year, a record-breaking 130 cities, or over 25% of all MEI-rated cities, earned the highest score of 100, which is up from 129 in 2023. The national city score average jumped to an all-time high of 72 points. Only six cities scored zero points. Across Wyoming, cities scored include: “Wyoming has championed the ‘live and let live’ ethos of the West for decades, and it has protected LGBTQ+ Wyomingites until this year,” Sara Burlingame of Wyoming Equality said in a news release. “The rise of the Freedom Caucus is funded and sustained by the belief that they can turn back the clock on our rights in red states. With your help, WE will prove them wrong, again.” Every year, the Municipal Equality Index scores the 50 state capitals, the 200 largest cities in the United States, the five largest cities or municipalities in each state, the cities home to the state’s two largest public universities, 75 cities and municipalities that have high proportions of same-sex couples, and 98 cities selected by HRC and Equality Federation state groups, members, and supporters. The full 2024 MEI report, including detailed scorecards for every city and a searchable score database, is available online at hrc.org/mei . Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, sports, arts & entertainment, state legislature, CFD news, and more.
Charlotte Crosby trebles security measures to ‘feel safe’ amid attempted robberyShortly after completing a 31-year tenure as the coach of the Towson men’s lacrosse program, Carl Anthony Runk was celebrated widely for his accomplishments. He was inducted into Towson’s Hall of Fame in 2007, the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame in 2018, the University of Arizona’s Men’s Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2019 and received the John F. Steadman Lifetime Achievement Award from the Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022. But according to his son, Keith Runk, Mr. Runk downplayed the accolades. “He would say, ‘I haven’t cracked an egg in my life, and they’re recognizing me with this,’” his son said. “He never did anything for the recognition. He did it for the love of it.” Mr. Runk, who shepherded the Tigers from NCAA Division II to Division I status and the 1974 Division II national championship, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer at his home in Baltimore. He was 88. From 1968 to 1998, Mr. Runk compiled a 262-161 record that included that national title against Hobart, seven consecutive College Division Tournament berths from 1973 to 1979, an appearance in the 1991 Division I Tournament final against North Carolina, five East Coast Conference championships, and 24 seasons with winning records. Tony Seaman, who succeeded Mr. Runk at Towson and met him as rivals when the former coached at Penn and Johns Hopkins, described his predecessor’s legacy as “long-lasting.” “I’ll always remember how well his teams were coached and how well his players played for him,” Seaman said. “They loved him, and they’d give everything in the world. You knew that you would get a game from beginning to end anytime you played against a Carl Runk team.” One of 13 children raised by George and Anna Runk and Josephine McGill in Highlandtown, Mr. Runk grew up working on tugboats and picking beans on farms on the Eastern Shore, according to his son. “They kicked and scratched for everything they got,” Keith Runk said. “Just making ends meet to get through and help the family out.” After graduating from Patterson Park High, Mr. Runk attended the University of Maryland on a football scholarship for a year-and-a-half, but then transferred to the University of Arizona where he was an offensive tackle. Already married to the former Joan Johns who also graduated from Patterson Park, Mr. Runk squeezed in earning a master’s degree and teaching at an area high school between two stints coaching men’s lacrosse for the Wildcats. After the births of sons Carl, Keith and Curt, Mr. and Mrs. Runk decided to return to Maryland after Curt contracted spinal meningitis and lost his hearing as a result. Upon his return, Mr. Runk joined what was formerly known as Towson State College to coach lacrosse. Mr. Runk added football to his coaching responsibilities when the coach quit prior to the program’s debut in 1969. In three seasons, the Tigers went 11-14-1 under Mr. Runk, who handed the reins to one of his assistant coaches, Phil Albert. Lacrosse is where Mr. Runk made his greatest impact. From 1968 to 1979, Mr. Runk amassed a 115-63 at the NCAA Division II level with only one losing season. His crowning achievement was shaping the 1974 squad into a group that outlasted Hobart, 18-17, in overtime for the NCAA Division II championship. Tom Moore, a midfielder and co-captain of that 1974 team, said Mr. Runk insisted on a culture absent of favoritism. “The ones that didn’t buy into the culture, they had to work harder to get into the starting lineup,” he said. “Some of them did, and some of them decided to quit. The bottom line was we expected everybody to work really hard and we expected everybody to be a team player.” Keith Runk, who played goalkeeper for the Tigers from 1979 to 1982, said his father extended that expectation to his son. “There was no special treatment,” he said. “When I was on the field, I was a player. I wasn’t his son. I was no better or no worse. But on the way home, it was different. He was Dad.” Members of Towson and Hobart and their parents dined together on the eve of the 1974 title game. While the Hobart coach praised his players’ efforts and dedication, Mr. Runk took a different approach. “Coach Runk got up there in front of our parents, and he started making fun of all of us. He was saying, ‘I don’t know how these kids got into school because their SAT scores weren’t really that good,’” Moore said with a laugh. “This was one of the most intense moments we all had because we were looking at the guys we had to fight against the next day, and he’s got everybody in tears and laughing by making fun of us. And we didn’t mind it because we knew he was doing it to just have a good time.” Mr. Runk had a certain command of his teams. Tensions always ran high between Towson and Maryland. So when a skirmish broke out during a scrimmage between the area rivals in 1980, the Tigers players were more than willing to jump into the fray. “Our entire bench started to run out on the field, and Coach Runk turned around and put up his hand, and you never saw 40 guys stop on a dime like that in your life,” said former Baltimore Sun sports editor Gerry Jackson, who was a defenseman for Mr. Runk from 1978 to 1981. “The kind of respect he had from the team was amazing.” After back-to-back 5-7 records in 1997 and 1998, Mr. Runk was not retained by Towson, which hired Seaman after he had been let go by Johns Hopkins. While Seaman quipped that Mr. Runk was too upset with the administration to take out his anger on Seaman, the latter said Mr. Runk was always supportive. “We were such good friends that it never came up,” said Seaman, who had known Mr. Runk since Seaman was a coach at a high school on Long Island where Mr. Runk often visited to recruit players. “He never felt bitter toward me. He knew that I needed the job.” Mr. Runk enjoyed playing musical instruments such as the guitar, banjo and harmonica and was a member of a barbershop quartet while he was a student at Arizona. But next to lacrosse, he prioritized his family. Related Articles In 1978, Mr. Runk took a partial sabbatical to enroll at Gallaudet University and sign up for classes in sign language, audiology and the sociology of deafness. The following year, he taught basic sign language at Towson at least once per semester for 20 years. “It was important for him to teach people how to communicate with those who were hard of hearing,” his son said. “It was a tribute to the care that he had for the family and for people in similar positions. It wasn’t just about us or him.” Mr. Runk is survived by three sons, Carl of Burke, Virginia, Keith of Bel Air, and Curt of Jacksonville, South Carolina, one daughter, Brenda Parker of Ocean City, three brothers, Alfred of Forest Hill, David of Tampa, Florida, and Ted of San Francisco, California, two sisters, Joan of Daytona, Florida, and Donna of Port Richey, Florida, 11 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. The family will hold a private service. A celebration of Mr. Runk’s life is planned for a later date.US to require passenger vehicles to sound alarms if rear passengers don’t fasten their seat belts
A judge on Monday rejected a request to block a San Jose State women's volleyball team member from playing in a conference tournament on grounds that she is transgender. The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver will allow the player, who has played all season, to compete in the Mountain West Conference women's championship opening this week in Las Vegas. The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by nine current players against the Mountain West Conference challenging the league's policies for allowing transgender players to participate. The players argued that letting her compete was a safety risk and unfair. While some media have reported those and other details, neither San Jose State nor the forfeiting teams have confirmed the school has a trans woman volleyball player. The Associated Press is withholding the player's name because she has not commented publicly on her gender identity. School officials also have declined an interview request with the player. Crews' ruling referred to the athlete as an "alleged transgender" player and noted that no defendant disputed that the San Jose State roster includes a transgender woman player. San Jose State will "continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms," the university said in a statement, confirming that all its student-athletes are eligible to participate under NCAA and conference rules. "We are gratified that the Court rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to change those rules. Our team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West volleyball tournament this week." The conference did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The players filed a notice for emergency appeal with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Crews said the players who filed the complaint could have sought relief much earlier, noting the individual universities had acknowledged that not playing their games against San Jose State this season would result in a loss in league standings. He also refused a request to re-seed the tournament without the forfeited losses. The judge said injunctions are meant to preserve the status quo. The conference policy regarding forfeiting for refusing to play against a team with a transgender player had been in effect since 2022 and the San Jose State player has been on the roster since 2022 -– making that the status quo. The player competed at the college level three previous seasons, including two for San Jose State, drawing little attention. This season's awareness of her reported identity led to an uproar among some players, pundits, parents and politicians in a major election year. Crews' ruling also said injunctions are meant to prevent harm, but in this case, he argued, the harm has already occurred. The games have been forfeited, the tournament has been seeded, the teams have made travel plans and the participants have confirmed they're playing. The tournament starts Wednesday and continues Friday and Saturday. Colorado State is seeded first and San Jose State, second. The teams split their regular-season matches and both get byes into Friday's semifinals. San Jose State will play the winner of Wednesday's match between Utah State and Boise State — teams that both forfeited matches to SJSU during the regular season. Boise State associate athletic director Chris Kutz declined to comment on whether the Broncos would play SJSU if they won their first-round tournament game. Utah State officials did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. The conference tournament winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. San Jose State coach Todd Kress, whose team has not competed in the national tournament since 2001, has said his team has been getting "messages of hate" and that has taken a toll on his players. Several teams refused to play against San Jose State during the season, earning losses in the official conference standings. Boise State and Wyoming each had two forfeits while Utah State and Nevada both had one. Southern Utah, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, was first to cancel against San Jose State this year. Nevada's players stated they "refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes," without elaborating. Nevada did not qualify for the conference tournament. The nine current players and others now suing the Mountain West Conference, the California State University Board of Trustees and others include San Jose State senior setter and co-captain Brooke Slusser. The teammate Slusser says is transgender hits the volleyball with more force than others on the team, raising fear during practices of suffering concussions from a head hit, the complaint says. The Independent Council on Women's Sports is funding a separate lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing transgender women to compete in women's sports. Both lawsuits claim the landmark 1972 federal antidiscrimination law known as Title IX prohibits transgender women in women's sports. Title IX prohibits sexual discrimination in federally funded education; Slusser is a plaintiff in both lawsuits. Several circuit courts have used a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to conclude that discriminating against someone based on their transgender status or sexual orientation is sex-based discrimination, Crews wrote. That means case law does not prove the "likelihood of success" needed to grant an injunction. An NCAA policy that subjects transgender participation to the rules of sports governing bodies took effect this academic year. USA Volleyball says a trans woman must suppress testosterone for 12 months before competing. The NCAA has not flagged any issues with San Jose State. The Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the team cancellations, citing fairness in women's sports. President-elect Donald Trump likewise has spoken out against allowing transgender women to compete in women's sports. Crews was a magistrate judge in Colorado's U.S. District Court for more than five years before President Joe Biden appointed him as a federal judge in January. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
People are getting $100 checks from Elon Musk’s America PAC—even if they didn't sign the petition
-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email If you're worried about mysterious drone sightings seen across New York and New Jersey, you're not the only one. Joe Rogan is too. These drones that people have spotted in the last several weeks have triggered an FBI Investigation and speculation online from figures like Rogan. On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on ABC News , “There's no question that people are seeing drones. I want to assure the American public that we in the federal government have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing the drone sightings.” Related Joe Rogan podcast controversy underscores bigger problem driving misinformation: Analysis Mayorkas reiterated that the federal agency is on the case and the drones are not a threat to public safety. "No foreign involvement with respect to the sightings," he said. But Rogan doesn't quite believe in the government's response and took to X to share his thoughts about the situation over the weekend. "I want to believe it's adderalled up incels holed up in a basement f***ing with 'the man' more than I want it to be aliens. #iwanttobelieve," he wrote . Rogan shared another post , this time with a video attached. His caption reads, "This is the first video about these drones that has got me genuinely concerned." The video features John Ferguson, a Kansas-based government contractor who builds systems and vehicles like drones, saying that the drones aren't a threat but, "The only reason why you would ever fly an unmanned aircraft at night is if you're looking for something." Read more about this topic What did we learn from Donald Trump's "Joe Rogan Experience"? Nothing good "Sort of a liberal guy": Trump says he hasn't been invited on Joe Rogan's podcast Joe Rogan turned down Donald Trump as a podcast guest, calling him a "threat to democracy" MORE FROM Nardos Haile Advertisement:State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, added his voice to a growing chorus of public officials in Connecticut and beyond demanding some transparency from the federal government regarding a spate of unidentified drone sightings over the tri-state area in the past few weeks. “I want to be here to advocate and give voice to my constituents, and to ask for information that is critically needed to guide state authorities, our state agencies, and to ultimately empower our local law enforcement to be able to do their job to protect and inform our community,” he said at a at the Fairfield Train Station Monday morning. “Because at present, we’re at a standstill. We’re not getting that information from our federal authorities. So it’s very unsettling to public safety and security and our peace of mind during the holiday season.” Since last Thursday, residents in Fairfield, Enfield, Danbury, and East Windsor have claimed to have spotted drones in the sky over their towns. Authorities have also charged two men Saturday with . that drone activity has been spotted around Picatinny Arsenal, a military research and manufacturing facility in New Jersey, and also that drone activity around US military bases at home and abroad has been occurring for several years. The FAA also estimated this year that there are over 2.8 million commercial and recreation drones circulating in the US. Hwang said that there are two possible theories: that the federal government does not know who is flying drones or why, or that the government knows and is not sharing the information with the community. He said that neither possibility is good. He also addressed some of the conversations he’d heard about shooting down the drones, but he said that course of action must be avoided without federal assurances and guidelines. “Without facts, we lead to speculation. And speculation leads to uncertainty and potentially fear. And we cannot allow that,” he said. “I think that is the concern. That is a big reason why I wanted to have this press conference, is absent action, absent guidance, people are going to take actions into their own hands, and that is dangerous.” Hwang also pointed out that fears about balloons floating over the United States two years ago were confirmed when the objects were shot down and discovered to be flying with surveillance technology over American soil. While no drone has been seen with weapons, they still pose a risk based on their potential to interfere with other aircraft in the area. During the wildfires that burned in the state earlier this year, officials asked residents multiple times to refrain from operating drones near the fires. Interference from drones led to firefighting helicopters being grounded multiple times. Other Connecticut elected officials have gone public about the drones as well. US Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, appeared on Sunday morning to discuss the drone concerns as the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He said that he knows “with confidence” that the drones do not belong to a foreign adversary or are extraterrestrial in origin, but said that the federal government could do a better job of allaying people’s fears. “My frustration is that the FAA in particular, which is the agency of jurisdiction for our domestic skies, ought to be out on Saturday morning saying, ‘Let us show you how many aircraft, commercial and private and military, go over New Jersey in any 24-hour period,” he said. “And then the FAA should say, ‘We’ve got about 800,000 registered drones in this country and there’s probably several million more that aren’t registered.’ So just putting information out there to fill that vacuum would be helpful.” to the FAA, FBI, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security last Friday, US Sen. Richard Blumenthal requested a briefing from the FAA no later than Dec. 18, asking that the agency present a comprehensive plan to address the public’s concerns. “The proliferation of reported drone activities in this region raises significant safety and security concerns for both commercial and private aviation as well as national security concerns,” Blumenthal wrote. “Incidents involving drones interfering with aircraft operations have increased, posing a real and substantial risk to passengers, crews, and others in the vicinity. And, I am particularly concerned about the potential for these unmanned aerial vehicles – many of which are as large as a car – to disrupt air traffic and, more alarmingly, to be used maliciously to threaten national security.” State officials have said that if any resident sees an unidentified flying system, they can either file a report on the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security’s , call the Homeland Security tip line at 1-866-HLS-TIPS (1-866-457-8477) or use the CT Safe app on their phones. According to the Connecticut General Statutes, it is illegal to intentionally or carelessly discharge a firearm in a manner likely to cause bodily injury or death can be charged with a Class C misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $500. Residents who decide to shoot into the sky at lights or objects they think are drones should realize that most of the sightings have been verified as commercial aircraft with pilots and passengers, and they should be cognizant that bullets can injure or kill others on the way back down as well. It is legal to own drones but it is not legal to fly them without a flight plan, depending on the size of the device. You can find information on .