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8 fish clipart LONDON (AP) — A woman who claimed mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor “brutally raped and battered” her in a Dublin hotel penthouse was awarded nearly 250,000 Euros ($257,000) on Friday by a civil court jury in Ireland. Nikita Hand said the Dec. 9, 2018, assault after a night of partying left her heavily bruised and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. McGregor testified that he never forced the woman to do anything against her will and said she fabricated the allegations after the two had consensual sex. His lawyer had called Hand a gold digger. The fighter, once the face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship but now past his prime, shook his head as the jury of eight women and four men found him liable for assault after deliberating about six hours in the High Court in Dublin. He was mobbed by cameras as he left court but did not comment. He later said on the social platform X that he would appeal the verdict and the “modest award.” Hand's voice cracked and her hands trembled as she read a statement outside the courthouse, saying she would never forget what happened to her but would now be able to move on with her life. She thanked her family, partner, friends, jurors, the judge and all the supporters that had reached out to her online, but particularly her daughter. “She has given me so much strength and courage over the last six years throughout this nightmare to keep on pushing forward for justice,” she said. “I want to show (her) and every other girl and boy that you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you, no matter who the person is, and justice will be served.” The Associated Press generally does not name alleged victims of sexual violence unless they come forward publicly, as Hand has done. Under Irish law, she did not have the anonymity she would have been granted in a criminal proceeding and was named publicly throughout the trial. Her lawyer told jurors that McGregor was angry about a fight he had lost in Las Vegas two months earlier and took it out on his client. “He’s not a man, he’s a coward,” attorney John Gordon said in his closing speech. “A devious coward and you should treat him for what he is.” Gordon said his client never pretended to be a saint and was only looking to have fun when she sent McGregor a message through Instagram after attending a Christmas party. He said Hand knew McGregor socially and that they had grown up in the same area. She said he picked her and a friend up in a car and shared cocaine with them, which McGregor admitted in court, on the way to the Beacon Hotel. Hand said she told McGregor she didn't want to have sex with him and that she was menstruating. She said she told him “no” as he started kissing her but he eventually pinned her to a bed and she couldn't move. McGregor put her in a chokehold and later told her, “now you know how I felt in the octagon where I tapped out three times,” referring to a UFC match when he had to admit defeat, she said. Hand had to take several breaks in emotional testimony over three days. She said McGregor threatened to kill her during the encounter and she feared she would never see her young daughter again. Eventually, he let go of her. “I remember saying I was sorry, as I felt that I did something wrong and I wanted to reassure him that I wouldn’t tell anyone so he wouldn’t hurt me again,” she testified. She said she then let him do what he wanted and he had sex with her. A paramedic who examined Hand the next day testified that she had never before seen someone with that intensity of bruising. A doctor told jurors Hand had multiple injuries. Hand said the trauma of the attack had left her unable to work as a hairdresser, she fell behind on her mortgage and had to move out of her house. Police investigated the woman’s complaint but prosecutors declined to bring charges, saying there was insufficient evidence and a conviction was unlikely. McGregor, in his post on X, said he was disappointed jurors didn't see all the evidence prosecutors had reviewed. He testified that the two had athletic and vigorous sex, but that it was not rough. He said “she never said ‘no’ or stopped” and testified that everything she said was a lie. “It is a full blown lie among many lies,” he said when asked about the chokehold allegation. “How anyone could believe that me, as a prideful person, would highlight my shortcomings.” McGregor’s lawyer told jurors they had to set aside their animus toward the fighter. “You may have an active dislike of him, some of you may even loathe him – there is no point pretending that the situation might be otherwise,” attorney Remy Farrell said. “I’m not asking you to invite him to Sunday brunch.” The defense said the woman never told investigators McGregor threatened her life. They also showed surveillance video in court that they said appeared to show the woman kiss McGregor’s arm and hug him after they left the hotel room. Farrell said she looked “happy, happy, happy.” McGregor said he was “beyond petrified” when first questioned by police and read them a prepared statement. On the advice of his lawyer, he refused to answer more than 100 follow-up questions. The jury ruled against Hand in a case she brought against one of McGregor’s friends, James Lawrence, whom she accused of having sex with her in the hotel without consent.

Four in 10 rectification orders issued by the Building Commission to builders of standalone houses were not complied with inside the mandated period, amid warnings of widespread defects across greenfield construction in Sydney’s southwest. Data obtained by the Herald under NSW freedom of information laws provides a snapshot of the Building Commission’s first-year foray into regulating the construction of residential standalone houses, known as class-one buildings, after new powers legislated in late 2023 boosted the scope and funding of the agency beyond apartments. Homes with defective work are often not being rectified in an acceptable time frame. Credit: Jessica Hromas Cowboy home builders operating in tough financial conditions have forced the commission to suspend and cancel a spate of licences after defects were found across dozens of sites. Rectification orders are issued where building work is non-compliant as a means of remediating the problem before it becomes a serious defect. The data comes at a time the state needs to build 378,000 homes by July 2029. Premier Chris Minns has previously insisted the eye-watering quantity required will not come at the cost of quality, with the building commission empowered to try to prevent a repeat of the Mascot and Opal Towers debacle . Figures provided by the Department of Customer Service show 3339 complaints were received in relation to standalone houses between January 1 and October 8 this year, resulting in 897 inspections. Of those, the commission issued 319 rectification orders, and 126 were not complied with inside the designated period. The new building commissioner, James Sherrard, told the Herald that he did not believe the proportion of rectification orders disobeyed represented a compliance problem for the regulator. New building commissioner James Sherrard does not believe the number of rectification orders ignored represents a compliance problem Credit: Janie Barrett “I don’t believe we do. I mean, you can look at statistics a number of different ways. One in three have already been complied with, I think that is a better way of saying. Some won’t be complied with because the builder has gone under, or some such thing like that,” he said. Sherrard said “a lot of” rectification orders could not be complied with until the project was complete. “So the order is effective in ensuring that we have a solution to the problem, albeit that the strict time frame of the order is there to ensure that we get that adherence,” he said. The Building Commission had also slapped 216 home building licenses with conditions in the first 10 months of the year, limiting their work to apartments. Aggrieved clients of builders have previously questioned the effectiveness of Building Commission-issued rectification orders, finding there was little consequence for builders who defied the compliance measures unless there was a commitment to pursue them legally. Home owners and building commission sources said, in some cases, the cost of defying rectification orders had been baked into the costs for builders, who preferred to be fined and then gamble that financially stressed clients would not have the means to seek remedy through the courts. “Builders would ask if they could pay fines on Amex,” a building commission inspector told this masthead on the condition of anonymity. The source estimated that 75 per cent of houses being constructed would have at least 10 defects, including major issues such as waterproofing or structural issues, pointing to poor education of tradespeople as the driving force behind defects. Chandler has been heartbroken by the state of some of the buildings he has investigated. Credit: Kate Geraghty In August, former building commissioner David Chandler told the Illawarra Mercury there was a “deep denial about the quality of home construction”. Inspections of class-one buildings since last December showed there was “widespread, statewide non-compliant construction going on”. Grahame McCulloch, a third-party building inspector who worked with a number of customers of Punjabi film producer turned home builder Sippy Grewal, said the amount of defective building work was “very, very widespread” in the parts of Sydney’s south-western greenfield fringe where he operated. McCulloch attributed the shoddy workmanship to accelerated learning pathways for tradespeople, leaving a broader pool of underqualified workers to choose from. Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter .Bosch is the latest recipient of (preliminary) CHIPS and Science Act funding. The company signed a non-binding agreement with the US Commerce Department and could receive up to $225 million in funding. Lest you think Amazon’s gruff crime solver somehow got a piece of the action, Bosch is also a German multinational corporation that makes... just about everything under the sun. (That even includes a stink-removal machine !) The company recently accelerated its silicon development, buying TSI Semiconductors in 2023 and finalizing the deal early this year. But instead of focusing on cutting-edge silicon for computers, phones and AI, Bosch specializes in chips for the auto industry. The company plans to use the funds on the Roseville, CA facility it acquired in the TSI deal. The company will invest up to $1.9 billion to convert the plant into one that spits out silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors, which are used to boost the efficiency of EV driving and charging. Bosch expects the first 200mm wafers to come off the line there in 2026. “The Roseville investment enables Bosch to locally produce silicon carbide semiconductors, supporting US consumers on the path to electrification,” Paul Thomas, president of Bosch in North America and Bosch Mobility Americas, wrote in a statement. In addition to boosting America’s primacy in the chip industry, the CHIPS Act’s other goal is job creation. The White House says the proposed funding would create up to 1,700 jobs, including 1,000 in construction and 700 in manufacturing, engineering and R&D. “Today’s agreement catalyzes nearly $2 billion of private investment and the creation of over 1,700 jobs, while investing in a critical technology relied upon on by our defense and auto industry,” wrote Natalie Quillian, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff. In November, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s leading advanced chip maker, was the first to have its CHIPS Act grants (to the tune of $6.6 billion) finalized. Other recipients include Intel (although its funding was recently cut ), HP , Samsung , GlobalFoundries , Texas Instruments and Rocket Lab .North Carolina still needs a new football coach. Will its search end with a respected name from the college ranks, or a revered eight-time Super Bowl champion who has never coached college football? Finding someone to replace the program’s all-time winningest coach Mack Brown, who was fired in late November, has proven tougher than the Tar Heels initially thought. Meanwhile, UNC’s ongoing contact with former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has hung over the search as a wild card that would represent a dramatic reversal in the anticipated process of filling one of the most enticing job openings in the college coaching carousel. Advertisement In an appearance Monday on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Belichick confirmed that he had spoken with UNC chancellor Lee Roberts but declined to elaborate on specifics of their conversations. “We’ve had a couple of good conversations, so we’ll see how it goes,” Belichick said. Tulane coach Jon Sumrall, arguably the top candidate from the Group of 5 level, said Sunday that he isn’t leaving for any coaching vacancy this cycle. On Monday, Tulane’s athletic director announced the school and Sumrall have agreed to a contract extension. No matter who eventually gets the job, what has transpired behind the scenes since Brown’s firing — and for most of the last six months in Chapel Hill — highlights the type of disagreement and dysfunction that can arise inside a major college athletic department. A UNC spokesperson said the school cannot comment on ongoing coaching searches. From conversations with multiple people briefed on the search, granted anonymity in order to discuss the ongoing process, here’s what we know so far, and where the search may lead next. The power struggle at the center of UNC’s search Part of the explanation for why UNC’s coaching search has played out this publicly traces back to May, when North Carolina’s Board of Trustees — the 13-person group that serves as the school’s top governing body — approved an audit of the university’s athletic department. At the time, Board of Trustees chair John Preyer publicly scolded athletic director Bubba Cunningham over “the level of bad data that has been provided” to the committee regarding UNC athletics’ financials. Then-interim chancellor Roberts (who has since had the interim tag removed) responded by backing Cunningham in the face of that criticism, saying, “Our athletic director is one of the most senior, well-respected, admired athletic directors in the country.” Advertisement Days later, a local judge granted a temporary restraining order against Preyer and the board preventing them from discussing athletics financials in a closed-door session. But that interaction was the first public sign of the long-simmering power struggle between Cunningham, who has been in his role since 2011, and the board. Preyer did not respond to a request for comment via email. According to sources briefed on the situation, both camps have been frustrated with each other for months, if not longer. Brown did not feel like Cunningham was giving him the resources necessary to continue building UNC into an elite football program — despite the Tar Heels being third in the ACC in football spending in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available. UNC completed a $40.2 million indoor practice facility in 2019 and recently renovated both its locker and weight rooms, but with a revenue sharing structure arriving next year as a result of the House v. NCAA settlement, what constitutes the “necessary” level of investment is going to change in the immediate future. Cunningham, meanwhile, was frustrated by Brown, who long maintained he would remain UNC’s coach until the program was in a suitable place to “pass off” to someone else, only to stay on after quarterback Drake Maye left for the NFL last winter. This year’s Week 1 starting quarterback Max Johnson was sidelined by a broken leg in the season-opening win at Minnesota. After an embarrassing 70-50 mid-September loss to James Madison, Brown reportedly told players he would “walk away and step down if he was the problem,” then expressed regret for the comments two days later while confirming he would stay with the team. The Tar Heels went 6-6, a clear step backward from 2023’s 8-4 squad. Behind closed doors, Brown — with the backing of the Board of Trustees and other high-profile donors, all of whom were integral to his return as UNC’s coach in 2018 — was a walking challenge to the idea that anyone but the coach himself was in control of his exit timeline. At his Monday media availability before the season finale against NC State , Brown was asked point-blank if he planned to return next season as UNC’s coach. He said yes. Advertisement Within 24 hours, Cunningham and Roberts had dismissed Brown remotely from Hawaii, where they were following the UNC men’s basketball program at the Maui Invitational. Preyer publicly criticized the administration’s handling of Brown’s exit days later. “I have no doubt coach Brown would have done whatever the university would have wanted him to do at the end of the season,” Preyer said. “And for some reason that I do not understand, the athletic director would not allow that to happen and instead fired him from halfway around the world ... I think that is shameful.” Mixed signals After Brown was fired, Cunningham appeared on UNC’s “Carolina Insider” podcast and detailed what he was looking for in the Tar Heels’ next football coach. “There’s a certain person that’s best suited at the right time, at the right place. Right now, that’s what we’re looking for,” Cunningham said. “We have to develop this program. As we’ve said, we’ve been right at the cusp of really great seasons: getting to eight, nine wins. How do we get to 10, 11? Who can get us to that level?” The Tar Heels also had reason to replace the 73-year-old Brown with a younger coach more suited for the long haul of elevating the program, which has consistently run up against a ceiling below conference championship and College Football Playoff contention. With help from an advisory committee, Cunningham said on Dec. 3 that his intention was to cull the roughly 30 names he had on an initial list down to 10-12 for Zoom interviews and proceed from there. “But all the coaches we’re talking to right now are playing, and so they’re continuing to be in championship games or in the playoffs,” he added. “So it’ll probably take a week or so.” With a smaller-than-usual number of power-conference head coaching jobs changing hands this season, UNC was widely expected to be one of the most coveted openings. But then last week, another name emerged from seemingly out of nowhere: Belichick. Advertisement Belichick spent this season out of coaching after parting ways with the Patriots in January. But The Athletic confirmed that North Carolina officials — including Cunningham — spoke to Belichick last Wednesday, before meeting with him in person on Thursday. Sources familiar with the board’s thinking believe that it, as well as UNC’s highest-profile boosters, would prefer that Belichick be the one to succeed Brown. Belichick may have never coached in college, but he has spent ample time in the last year around the University of Washington’s program, where his son Steve serves as the Huskies’ defensive coordinator. Sources familiar with Bill Belichick’s thinking say the coach has been encouraged by seeing college players pick up his schemes. Belichick is only 15 wins away from breaking Don Shula’s all-time NFL wins record, but sources close to Belichick say he was turned off by the NFL’s hiring cycle last winter , when only the Atlanta Falcons opted to interview him out of eight total openings. Belichick was expected to have a stronger NFL market this offseason; three franchises have already fired their coaches — the New York Jets, the Chicago Bears and the New Orleans Saints — with another five to seven expected to open up. “Any time as a coach you join with an organization, whatever level it’s at, you just want a shared vision with that person,” Belichick said on “The Pat McAfee Show”. “What are your goals, what are your expectations, what do you need to achieve those, how do we achieve them and so forth. Talking through a lot of things — I don’t think it really matters where the program is — there are a lot of things that go into that, team building, and the structure of the program and so forth, that take some time to just talk through.” Bill Belichick emphasized "IF" he was coaching in a college program, it would be "a professional program." 👀 @PatMcAfeeShow "The college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players that have the ability to play in the NFL." pic.twitter.com/p2raPzm2DN — ESPN (@espn) December 9, 2024 Adding to the uncertainty, multiple people briefed on the school’s conversations with Belichick have described a disconnect between the coach’s and the school’s expectations for the terms of the job, should Belichick take the plunge into college coaching. Part of the disconnect comes from the impression that Preyer and at least one other member of UNC’s board presented Belichick with a preliminary offer to make him the Tar Heels’ next coach. Any board member going over top university officials’ heads to do so would violate the university’s bylaws, which would be grounds for dismissal from the board. UNC’s finances are another potential complication. The school paid Brown, who entered this season as one of three active national championship-winning coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision, $5 million in total compensation. How much could the program realistically afford to pay Belichick — formerly the NFL’s highest-paid coach, believed to be earning at least $20 million per year from New England — plus an entirely new staff? And would there still be enough thereafter for North Carolina to field a competitive roster built to Belichick’s liking? Who else, if not Belichick? Amid the uncertainty around who is actually making this hire, Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell declined to meet with UNC on Sunday, according to sources familiar with his thinking and those briefed on UNC’s search. As the search continues, other college options could emerge in the wake of Sumrall and Campbell’s withdrawals. Army coach Jeff Monken could be a logical target. He has been wildly successful in 11 years at the service academy (81-56) and has made it known that he is not married to running a triple-option offense at other programs. Advertisement But Monken also has one more very important game to play, against Navy this weekend, and no coach wants to seriously engage with another school while they are preparing for their current team’s most important game. So if Monken is indeed a desirable candidate for UNC, it will take at least a few more days for the search to conclude. Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks — who is from nearby Charlotte and spent last season as an advisor with the Charlotte 49ers — also spoke with UNC officials the same day school representatives first made contact with Belichick, according to a source briefed on Wilks’ thinking. Wilks coached UNC and Pro Football Hall of Famer Julius Peppers for several seasons while both were with the Carolina Panthers. Should Wilks earn the UNC job, it would be expected that Peppers — who has spent time in an advisory role with the Carolina Panthers since retiring in 2019 — would also return to his alma mater in a more pronounced role, likely related to the program’s name, image and likeness efforts. Meanwhile, college football’s winter transfer portal window opened Monday. Most schools with head coach vacancies, many of which made changes after UNC fired Brown, have filled their jobs with the portal period in mind. That UNC remains open suggests a process that has been unusual. The school certainly can’t wait until Belichick goes through the NFL hiring cycle in January and February to fill its head coaching job. If the Tar Heels really want to hire Belichick, and Belichick really wants the job, the time for it to happen would be ... pretty much now. — The Athletic ’s Bruce Feldman, Dianna Russini and Jeff Howe contributed reporting. (Photo: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)

Four in 10 rectification orders issued by the Building Commission to builders of standalone houses were not complied with inside the mandated period, amid warnings of widespread defects across greenfield construction in Sydney’s southwest. Data obtained by the Herald under NSW freedom of information laws provides a snapshot of the Building Commission’s first-year foray into regulating the construction of residential standalone houses, known as class-one buildings, after new powers legislated in late 2023 boosted the scope and funding of the agency beyond apartments. Homes with defective work are often not being rectified in an acceptable time frame. Credit: Jessica Hromas Cowboy home builders operating in tough financial conditions have forced the commission to suspend and cancel a spate of licences after defects were found across dozens of sites. Rectification orders are issued where building work is non-compliant as a means of remediating the problem before it becomes a serious defect. The data comes at a time the state needs to build 378,000 homes by July 2029. Premier Chris Minns has previously insisted the eye-watering quantity required will not come at the cost of quality, with the building commission empowered to try to prevent a repeat of the Mascot and Opal Towers debacle . Figures provided by the Department of Customer Service show 3339 complaints were received in relation to standalone houses between January 1 and October 8 this year, resulting in 897 inspections. Of those, the commission issued 319 rectification orders, and 126 were not complied with inside the designated period. The new building commissioner, James Sherrard, told the Herald that he did not believe the proportion of rectification orders disobeyed represented a compliance problem for the regulator. New building commissioner James Sherrard does not believe the number of rectification orders ignored represents a compliance problem Credit: Janie Barrett “I don’t believe we do. I mean, you can look at statistics a number of different ways. One in three have already been complied with, I think that is a better way of saying. Some won’t be complied with because the builder has gone under, or some such thing like that,” he said. Sherrard said “a lot of” rectification orders could not be complied with until the project was complete. “So the order is effective in ensuring that we have a solution to the problem, albeit that the strict time frame of the order is there to ensure that we get that adherence,” he said. Loading The Building Commission had also slapped 216 home building licenses with conditions in the first 10 months of the year, limiting their work to apartments. Aggrieved clients of builders have previously questioned the effectiveness of Building Commission-issued rectification orders, finding there was little consequence for builders who defied the compliance measures unless there was a commitment to pursue them legally. Home owners and building commission sources said, in some cases, the cost of defying rectification orders had been baked into the costs for builders, who preferred to be fined and then gamble that financially stressed clients would not have the means to seek remedy through the courts. “Builders would ask if they could pay fines on Amex,” a building commission inspector told this masthead on the condition of anonymity. The source estimated that 75 per cent of houses being constructed would have at least 10 defects, including major issues such as waterproofing or structural issues, pointing to poor education of tradespeople as the driving force behind defects. Chandler has been heartbroken by the state of some of the buildings he has investigated. Credit: Kate Geraghty In August, former building commissioner David Chandler told the Illawarra Mercury there was a “deep denial about the quality of home construction”. Inspections of class-one buildings since last December showed there was “widespread, statewide non-compliant construction going on”. Loading Grahame McCulloch, a third-party building inspector who worked with a number of customers of Punjabi film producer turned home builder Sippy Grewal, said the amount of defective building work was “very, very widespread” in the parts of Sydney’s south-western greenfield fringe where he operated. McCulloch attributed the shoddy workmanship to accelerated learning pathways for tradespeople, leaving a broader pool of underqualified workers to choose from. Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. License this article Construction NSW Fair Trading For subscribers Max Maddison is a state political reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald. Most Viewed in Politics Loading8 Trends Influencing U.S. Freight Railroading In 2025

DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit Lions season ticket holders — many of them longtime season ticket holders who were with the team through thick and thin — were shocked to see a huge jump in price from hundreds to thousands of dollars more. Hundreds of fans flooded our Facebook page with comments. Some are saying this is just the price for winning while others say the team is pricing out loyal fans. For the second year in a row, the Lions are raising season ticket prices, with costs hitting some pretty hard. Tim Stanfield said when he first got season tickets in 2022, they were about $2,300. Stanfield told me this season, season tickets were $4,307. On Thursday, he received an email saying that they are jumping to $5,687. When asked asked how he feels about the increase, Stanfield responded "ouch!" Chris Williams has been a Lions season ticket holder for 15 years. He says his two season tickets for 2025 are going up $1,700. "My invoice that I just got yesterday, for two tickets for 2025 is $7,798, and so they have totally priced me right out," Williams said. He said the price also jumped last year as well. "I wish they were just mediocre. I used to have a ball going to the Lions game. It was always exciting, always fun and I could afford it," Williams said. Stanfield says he understands why the prices are continuing to jump. "The third-party ticket sales are through the roof and the Lions see that," he said. According to SportsCasting, in 2024, the Detroit Lions have the most expensive average tickets in the NFL and NFL ticket prices in general are up 9%. Related video: Lions fan who got into heated exchange with LaFleur has season tickets revoked for life While the prices are high, it is no secret that many season ticket holders do make a lot of their investment back selling tickets to select games. Stanfield sold his tickets for this Sunday's game for $550 each. Season ticket holders have been told they have until Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, to find that extra money and renew. If they don’t, they lose out on all renewal incentives. Fans like Williams are considering to not renew their season tickets. "I think I’ll go back to what I used to do. I used to go on Thanksgiving and maybe one other game," Williams said. Stanfield said he's still willing to pay to for 2025 season tickets. "Can’t beat it," he said of the team's recent success. According to the Detroit Lions' website, season tickets have officially sold out even with the new prices. Fans can reserve a spot on their waitlist on their website . Where Your Voice MattersCan a Free VPN Be Trusted?

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The Stewart C. Meyer Harker Heights Public Library published its holiday calendar of events, with a full slate of programs, services, displays and more. During December and during Winter Break in 2024, the library provides a variety of programs for all ages. This Friday, drop in for free hot chocolate and help celebrate Hot Chocolate Day. Here’s a list of other activities through the New Year’s holiday. Pokemon and Yugioh. Card Games: Every Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m.; bring your own cards or play with ours. Frosted Fairytales Storytime: Children age 3 to 6 beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. Thursday. Bring the family and enjoy stories, songs and more. Wear pajamas and plan on decorating cookies. Frosted Fairytales Toddler Time: Families with infants to age 3 meet at 10 a.m. Thursday. Enjoy stories, songs and more. Wear pajamas and plan on decorating cookies. Holiday Family Storytime: Bring the whole family at 6:30 p.m. Thursday for an evening of fun for everyone. Holiday Music Time: Babies to age 18 months, start at 9 a.m. Monday. Children ages 18 months to 6 years begin at 10 a.m. Bring the family to ring the bells and enjoy discovering the magic of music. Babytime: At 10 a.m. every Tuesday infants to 18 months and their families are welcome to come for a lap-sit program filled with finger rhymes and music. Holiday Hooplah Storytime: Beginning at 10 a.m. Dec. 18, children ages 3 to 6 years and their families may enjoy stories, songs and more. Enjoy stories about Christmas, Hanukkah and other holiday traditions. STEAM Cupcake Decorating: At 2 p.m. Dec. 18, teens age 7 to 12 years in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics come to assemble kits with Ms. Heather. All supplies are included. Space is limited so call 254-953-5491 to register. Teen Game Time: From 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 18 teens ages 12-17 years drop by the Library for board games, card games and more. Homeschool Holiday Meet-Up In the Maker Space: From 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 18, the whole family is invited for science exploration, art creation and more in Maker Space. Holiday Hooplah Toddler Time: At 10 a.m. Dec. 19, Families with infants to 3-year-olds come to enjoy stories, songs and more. Learn about Christmas, Hanukkah and other holiday traditions. Book Discussion Club for Adults: At 6:30 p.m. Dec. 19, drop in for a lively discussion of “The Bees: A Novel” by Laline Paull. In the book, Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, a member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive where work and sacrifice are the highest virtues and worship of the beloved queen the only religion. But, Flora is not like other bees. With circumstances threatening the hive’s survival, her curiosity is regarded as a dangerous flaw but her courage and strength are an asset. To join virtually, send an e-mail to lyoungblood@harkerheights.gov for an invitation. Baby Play: From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 20, families with babies to 18 months come and go for free play with the library baby toys. Kwanzaa Storytime: At 9 a.m. Dec. 26, children from 3 to 6 years and their families learn a little about family and fun with stories and songs about Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa Toddler Time: At 10 a.m. Dec. 26, families with infants to three years learn a little about family and fun with stories and songs about Kwanzaa. Music Exploration for All Ages: From 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 30, bring the whole family to play with our large and small musical instruments. Come and go to try a floor piano, bells, boom sticks and more. New Year’s Eve Party for Kids: From 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 31, help count down to the new year. Enjoy games, crafts, funny hats, snacks and more. We’ll practice out countdowns to 11 a.m. and to noon. Happy New Year Storytime: At 9 a.m. Jan. 2, it’s a new year and children ages 3 to 6 years can bring their families to celebrate 2025 with stories, crafts and songs. Happy New Year’s Storytime: At 10 a.m. Jan. 2, it’s a new year and families with infants to 3 years come to celebrate 2025 with stories, crafts and songs. Join us in discussing “The Bees: A Novel” by Laline Paull on Thursday, Dec. 18 at 6:30 p.m. If you would like to join us virtually, just e-mail lyoungblood@harkerheights.gov for an invitation. The Stewart C. Meyer Harker Heights Public Library is excited to announce the return of Inter Library Loan services available to individuals with our Library card. If you are looking for an item that our Library does not own, we may be able to borrow it for you from another Library. Call 254-953-5491 for details. The Library’s Maker Space will be OPEN much of the holiday season. Other than the days on which we close for all or part of the day, the room for creativity and fun will be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Just drop in to see what you can make with whatever we have in the room. Thanks to our generous community, new items come in all the time. For a full list of programs, please take a look at the library’s website at https://harkerheights.gov/library . The schedule and the programming events are listed in several sections. The library also posts additional fliers on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/harkerheightspubliclibrary . For additional information, please call 254-953-5491 or e-mail lyoungblood@harkerheights.gov .

Struggling Syracuse looks to climb back above .500 when it hosts Albany on Tuesday night. The Orange (4-4) are coming off a conference loss to Notre Dame where they failed to make a 3-pointer in a game for the first time in more than 10 years, going 0-for-9 from behind the arc. They will be without leading scorer J.J. Starling, who broke his hand in practice last Monday. Orange coach Adrian Autry said there was "no timetable" for Starling's return after the loss to the Fighting Irish and lamented his team's struggles with turnovers and free-throw shooting in the defeat. "Too many blown opportunities," Autry said. "We're not shooting the ball well. We have to adjust and go game by game now. Our front court has been pretty secure, but we have to keep working and getting better." Starling was averaging a team-high 19.8 points before his injury. The Orange may need to lean more on freshman Donnie Freeman, who has been a standout for Syracuse this season. He's averaging 12.8 points and 8.8 rebounds and already has four double-doubles. He was co-ACC Rookie of the Week last week. Defensively, the Orange have struggled. They rank No. 329 in scoring defense, giving up 79.4 points per game. Albany is scoring 77.2 ppg so far this season. The Great Danes (6-4) were downed by Boston University 80-74 in overtime on Saturday. They started the season 5-1 but have lost three of their last four. Senior guard Byron Joshua, a transfer from Alcorn State, is the Great Danes' leading scorer at 13.6 ppg. Amar'e Marshall was an All-America East Conference pick last season after averaging 16.7 points, but his field goal shooting has dropped from 43.4 percent last season to 34.5 percent this season. He is scoring 11.7 ppg. "I think we're learning how to compete at the right level," Albany coach Dwyane Killings said after a loss to Georgetown on Nov. 30. "I think the one thing that troubles us a lot is that our identity and our energy comes when the ball goes in the basket. When it doesn't, I don't think we have the grit that we need right now." Albany has been one of the best teams in the country in terms of steals. The Great Danes average 10.2 steals per game, which is tied for No. 12 in the nation. Syracuse is 8-0 against Albany all-time with the teams last meeting in 2011. Syracuse is 4-0 at home and 4-0 against non-power-conference opponents. --Field Level MediaMLB NOTESPolitics, like comedy, is about timing. Albanese will be a victim of the liberal era’s fall

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