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Dreamy dining experiences are a great way to plan your next holiday – and if we’re honest, that’s exactly how most of the Good Food team decide where they’ll next drop their bags. But the menu is only part of the picture. Sometimes a venue is so drop-dead stunning, it needs to go on a must-visit list just so you can marvel at the objects spotted by the owner at a flea market overseas. Or to experience the feeling of dining beneath an awe-inspiring ceiling. These restaurants, cafes, gelaterias, pubs and bars around the country, all shortlisted or awarded by this year’s jury at the Eat Drink Design Awards, are worthy of building a trip around in 2025, and beyond. The Beach Hotel, NSW This 1880s-built pub overlooking Merewether Beach has been given some spit and polish, but it hasn’t forgotten its roots as an institution for Newcastle’s surf community. The walls at the downstairs kiosk Larrie’s are covered in old photos of Newcastle’s surfing community; upstairs, a long board sits above the undulating main bar. Architects EJE commissioned local metalworkers, signwriters and other craftspeople for the revamp. Spot their handiwork as you wait for milkshakes and hot chips at Larrie’s, or sit down to lunch in the upstairs restaurant. At the very least, a beer with sweeping sea views through floor-to-ceiling windows should be high on your list of new year’s resolutions. 99 Frederick Street, Merewether, thebeachhotel.com.au LVN Restaurant, SA Eating restaurant-quality food while feeling like you’re in your friend’s dining room goes from fantasy to reality at this Adelaide Hills winery. A serene space of creams and sandy tones, Bird in Hand’s revamped restaurant is unencumbered by dividing walls, allowing diners to truly relax into their surroundings. Perch at the end of the kitchen pass and watch the chefs’ careful movements, or sink into a leather tub chair and admire the bold artworks by South Australian artists that dot the walls. Former Restaurant Botanic chef Jacob Davey picks up the local thread in his set menus, a combination of Australian, Japanese and French influences, starring ingredients such as wallaby, quandong, saltbush lamb and more. 150 Pfeiffer Road, Woodside, birdinhand.com.au Blak Cede Gunyah, NSW If beach holidays on the NSW South Coast are a ritual for you, add this cafe (and a few of these hatted restaurants ) to your list of regular haunts. A women-led social enterprise, Blak Cede Gunyah was borne out of grassroots initiatives to provide employment and nutritious food for local First Nations communities. It’s now grown into a thriving meeting place. Culture is front and centre. Over breakfast burritos made with pulled kangaroo, you may spot a large fish trap hung on one wall, kangaroo hide upholstery on banquettes and bushfire-charred timber that’s milled locally. Many of the bush foods used in dishes are grown in a nearby community garden. While you’re there, stock up on granola and other items from the shelves. 39A Kinghorne Street, Nowra, blakcede.com.au Gerard’s, QLD Past meets present at this standout Brisbane fine-diner , which marked its 11th year with a bold new look that’s earned it several awards. Celebrating both history and new beginnings, the updated Gerard’s nods to the owners’ Lebanese heritage and the more immediate past, which is captured through repurposing dirt from the demolition for the striking rammed earth walls. A new central bar and a long bank of windows that open up to the laneway allow diners to experience the acclaimed restaurant in more flexible ways. But the Middle Eastern cooking is just as elevated under new chef Jimmy Richardson. Settle in under the soaring ceilings for wagyu kibbeh nayeh, Lebanon’s makanek sausages made with quail, and lamb collar with saltbush zhoug. Fortitude Valley’s many nearby bars beckon before or after dinner. 14-15 James Street, Brisbane, gerards.com.au Chicho Gelateria & Production Lab, WA This playful gelato shop will win over even the most reluctant dessert eaters. Chequerboard tiles and a palette of burnt orange, burgundy and aquamarine match the fun of flavours such as violet shot through with lemon meringue. But perforated steel panels, smooth stone and ridged ceilings pull Chicho back from the brink of feeling like a kids’ carnival. The result is a pleasing hangout for all ages (although you may be tempted to lean into your inner big kid with a spider). 556 Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley, chichogelato.com Latteria, SA Every corner of this softly lit restaurant is a photo waiting to happen, but the long low banquettes that look like sticks of butterscotch might be the most enticing seats in the house. Ready for day-to-night fun, Latteria’s menu is a little Milanese and a lot of Italian with a dash of Aussie nostalgia. Think tiramisu-meets-lamington desserts, savoury cannoli of ricotta and prosciutto, and bold pastas. Fun-loving cocktails are dispatched from a powder blue bar. Some restaurants make you feel like a million bucks just by setting foot inside – this is one of them. 185 Hutt Street, Adelaide, latteriabar.com.au Bar Besuto, NSW Minimalist architecture can leave you feeling cold, but this bunker of a whisky bar manages to be both sleek and inviting. Patchwork leather upholstery, dark timber, tapestries and sculpture add warmth to the steel surfaces and charcoal tones. Squeeze into a cosy corner with a nip of something rare from one of the many Japanese bottles that line the back bar, and snack on items made by the chef who helms the omakase next door, Besuto. We hear the prawn sando is a winner or you can take a punt on the mystery bento box, packed with seafood and other small bites. 3 Underwood Street, Sydney, besutosydney.com.au Hopper Joint, VIC Hoppers, the fermented rice pancakes that accompany curries in Sri Lanka, are traditionally eaten with your hands. It’s this practice that drives the layout and look of this Melbourne restaurant . A large stone hand-washing station commands the entrance, while the walls and menus feature illustrations that instruct diners on how to eat a hopper in the traditional way. Shaded by teak shutters and defined by blood-red floors offset by splashes of amber and green, the venue celebrates the tropical architecture of Sri Lanka in a sleek and modernist package. The food is a similarly personal snapshot of the owners’ rituals, from Sri Lankan snacks (“short eats”) to a vast array of curries and exciting cocktails that highlight South Asian ingredients. 157 Greville Street, Prahran, hopperjointmelbourne.com.au Canteen Pizza, WA Get the best of both worlds at this Perth pizzeria, one block away from the glittering Swan River. There’s the easy-breezy look of a mid-century diner – red leather bar stools and timber venetian blinds – but also the warmth of a coastal Italian restaurant, with sage green and terracotta splashed across tiles and furniture. The offering is just as accommodating. Canteen is open from breakfast, serving pizzette (small pizzas) topped with smoked salmon, poached egg and asparagus. Later in the day, picking up a pizza is easy from the takeaway window right beside the kitchen. But why wouldn’t you want to nab a spot on the shaded terrace and kick off lunch with a spritz and some prawns from Shark Bay, slathered in smoked chilli butter? 32 Ardross Street, Applecross, canteen.pizzaATLANTA — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors. He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” ‘An epic American life’ Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners. He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian, would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn’t long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” The Carters and a “Peanut Brigade” of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015. “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.”
The next year’s city budget will make headway on a few necessary improvements needed by the City of Duncan. In one segment of this month’s Duncan City Council meeting, the city board opened a public hearing for the 2025 budget for the City of Duncan. With no comments, the board closed the public hearing with a 4-0 vote from Mayor Robert Armstrong, Vice Mayor Gene Brown, Councilman Nick Fischer and Councilwomen Patty Wininger. Councilman Jimmy Peters was absent. The board proceeded to adopt a resolution to adopt the City of Duncan’s budget for the calendar year 2025. Mayor Robert Armstrong said the annual budget is a long process and they have a publicly posted council meeting to go through the budget. “We appreciate your efforts and department heads’ efforts and doing a lot with a little that we have,” Armstrong said. Councilwoman Patty Wininger said they will do a lot in 2025. The proposed budget allocates for revenues, as well as expenditures in personnel services, operations maintenance, capital outlay and debt service. For revenues, the budget reflects the sales tax and use tax in the fiscal year 2024. For the general fund, the estimated revenues are $16,405,082, while the city anticipates to spend $24,107,419. With transfers, however, the projected end amount totals $4,214,405. The proposed City of Duncan fiscal year 2025 budget allocates for operating funds within the general fund. Additional operating funds include: – Duncan Power: estimated to bring in $18,844,415, spend $16,801,490 and end with $3,086,411 after transfer. – Other utilities: estimated to bring in $19,866,742, spend $15,855,284 and end with $4,296,935 after transfers. – Street and alley fund: estimated to bring in $183,061, spend $265,000 and end with $116,213 after transfers. – Airport fund: estimated to bring in $503,000, spend $122,000 and end with $2,658 after transfers. In the personnel section of expenditures, the City looks to reduce their contributions to retiree insurance premiums by 10%, as well as to allow for new positions in multiple departments and to budget for additional pension revenues. For operations maintenance, the budget allows for expenditures related to WW Improvements, AMI Improvements, the fire station project, water system improvements, El Rancho Water Tower and clean water projects. For Capital Outlay, the penny sales tax is designated for capital purchases for the fiscal year 2025 budget and will include several big ticket items, such as six new vehicles for the police department, three vehicles for the streets department and additional street improvements, fire station upgrades and repairs, along with improvements to the boat ramps and docks at lakes, as well as electric upgrades and more. Additional budgeted items, like software improvements, computer equipment and building improvements in city areas also top the list. Fire hydrant replacements, safety equipment, water meters, meter boxes and water line extension are on the list, as well as items for water production. Other items, such as cemetery and park improvements, Fuqua pool and airport improvements are on the budget list as well. According to the proposed budget, the total estimated revenue for sales tax is $4,911,007 with $10,847,861 in expenses to leave an ending fund balance after transfers at $4,706,137. Other funds ending balance after transfers are: Employee retirement fund, $6,808,105; Cemetery care, $115,500; Sinking Ad Valorem, $108,997; Technology fund, $31,038; Waurika, $1,383,923; Library grant and gifts, $12,070; 911 telephone, $431,960; Police grant, DEA, DA, $165,233; Duncan Enhancement Trust Authority, $32,118; Hunting and fishing fund, $116,510; Economic Development Trust — Capital, $669,988; Economic Development DAEDT, $308,001; CDBG Community Development Grants, none; Fire grants, $48,026; ARPA, $2,620,295; Workers Compensation, $351,152. With a total estimated revenues for the City at $65,589,236, the City plans to spend $73,668,423; however, the ending fund balance after transfers total $29,625,677. The City budget states there is continued debt service for a fire ladder truck; fire pumper truck; fire brush rig; fire pickup; streets excavator; water distribution backhoe; 2009A Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loan; 2009 DWSRF loan, 2012 revenue note, 2015 WLMCD — a working capitol loan — 2017 WLMCD loan, 2018 CWSRE loan, 2019 CWSRE loan, 2021A CWSRF, — low-cost loan from clean water state revolving fund; 2021B CWSRF; 2021C fire station; 2021D Water System Improvements; Clear Creek Dam, El Rancho Water Tower and 2024 Clean Water SRF — state revolving fund loan. The next Duncan City Council meeting will convene at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in Duncan Council Chambers, located inside the Duncan Police Department.
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. Monday’s ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver will allow the player, who has played all season, to continue competing in the Mountain West Conference women’s championship scheduled for later this week in Las Vegas. The ruling comes after a lawsuit was filed by nine current players who are suing the Mountain West Conference to challenge 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 women’s volleyball player. The Associated Press is withholding the player’s name because she has not publicly commented on her gender identity. School officials also have declined an interview request with the player. Judge Crews referred to the athlete as an “alleged transgender” player in his ruling and noted that no defendant disputed that San Jose State rosters a transgender woman volleyball player. He said the players who filed the complaint could have sought relief much earlier, noting that the individual universities had acknowledged that not playing their games against San Jose State this season would result in a forfeit in league standings. He also 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 identity led to an uproar among some players, pundits, parents and politicians in a political campaign year. The tournament starts Wednesday and continues Friday and Saturday. San Jose State is seeded second. The judge's order maintains the seedings and pairings for the tournament. Several teams refused to play against San Jose State during the season, earning losses in the official 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 providing further details. Crews served as a magistrate judge in Colorado’s U.S. District Court for more than five years before President Joe Biden appointed him to serve as a federal judge in January of this year. ____ Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Hanson from Helena, Montana. Mead Gruver And Amy Beth Hanson (), The Associated Press
Is there already a College Football Playoff controversy? Potential bye wracking nerves with 2 weeks left — 'The data doesn’t lie'
Former President Jimmy Carter, our nation’s 39th chief executive, dies at 100Photo credit: Vinitaa Jayson for Fernwayer SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fernwayer announced the launch of its new marketplace designed to connect discerning travelers with meticulously curated, high-end private tours, addressing a growing need in the travel market. The company debuts with a carefully selected collection of experiences across five countries: Italy, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, and Croatia, with more countries to follow rapidly. Founded by San Francisco-based entrepreneurs Vinitaa Jayson and Alok Singh, Fernwayer aims to redefine luxury in travel by emphasizing authentic connection, exclusive access, and immersive storytelling. "We aim to flip the itinerary: adventures first, logistics later," explains Jayson. "Most travelers secure accommodation and flights months in advance but often leave booking experiences until the last minute. By then, the best experiences are sold out, and they end up settling for the ordinary. We're changing that by offering highly differentiated experiences, available for booking months in advance, easily and instantly." "We choose to partner with Experience Makers based on their storytelling skills, cultural insight, and welcomingness-our goal is to offer experiences where the expertise of a professional truly makes the difference," adds Jayson. Imagine stepping into Venice's Carnevale with an expert, capturing the elegance of timeless masks and costumes through your lens. Or watching sunrise from the slopes of Mount Etna , followed by a homemade Sicilian lunch with locals. In Porto , feel the thrill of negotiating the day's catch with fishermen. Hike through Toubkal National Park with a mountain guide who has deep connections with the Berber community, or dance through Seville's Feria de Abril , complete with a Sevillana masterclass and a horse-drawn carriage ride. "Uncurated platforms overwhelm travelers with endless, lookalike options, reducing experiences to bare-bones offerings and turning tours into transactions,” says Singh. "Travel agencies inflate prices with opaque, marked-up packages, while layers of intermediaries drive up costs and force weeks of email back-and-forth-only to push generic options from the agent's playbook in the end, instead of the differentiation that travelers crave. At Fernwayer, we cut through the noise with curated, one-of-a-kind experiences, transparent pricing, instant booking, and a commitment to equitable practices." Fernwayer's experiences span arts and crafts, design and architecture, cultural immersion, gastronomy, photography, social impact initiatives, and outdoor adventures. Most experiences are private and limited to two to eight participants, ensuring intimate and meaningful connections. "We've learned that true luxury is about the richness of experience rather than traditional comforts. It isn't defined by 'stars'-not a 5-star hotel, not a first-class flight,” says Jayson. "It's about unrateable moments: being welcomed like a friend in places typically inaccessible to tourists, engaging in heartfelt conversations that reveal new perspectives, or capturing the perfect photo with guidance from a local expert. Travel should be more than just a journey from point A to point B. It should touch the heart, inspire curiosity, create empathy and foster real human connection.” Travelers can now book experiences through the Fernwayer website ( fernwayer.com ) or with a companion mobile app , available for iOS devices, that includes unique planning features such as Travel Goals , Dreamboards for saving favorite experiences, and an itinerary builder called Journeys . About Fernwayer Fernwayer is a marketplace connecting discerning travelers with carefully crafted, authentic, locally-sourced experiences. Founded by entrepreneurs with a vision for sustainable luxury tourism, the company champions travel experiences that enrich both visitors and local communities. The name "Fernwayer," inspired by the German word "fernweh" (an aching for unfamiliar places), reflects the company's commitment to meaningful travel that sustains and enriches destinations for generations to come. Contact Info: Fernwayer fernwayer.com [email protected] A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0ca78885-e562-4225-be1c-1fe34a5b927eSilicon Powerhouse Strikes Again! ON Semiconductor’s Surprising Turnaround
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