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sport betting registration Great Osobor scored 12 points, grabbed six rebounds and had three assists in 18 minutes of playing time as Washington wrapped up nonconference action with a 90-53 rout of NJIT on Sunday afternoon in Seattle. Zoom Diallo came off the bench to contribute 12 points and a game-high five assists for the Huskies (9-4), and Wilhelm Breidenbach, who missed Monday's 79-70 upset loss to Seattle U., added 10 points and five rebounds. Sebastian Robinson led the Highlanders (2-12) with 16 points, Tim Moore Jr. scored 14 and Ari Fulton added 11. NJIT, which suffered its third consecutive defeat and dropped to 0-9 on the road, played without leading scorer Tariq Francis (18.6 ppg) because of an ankle injury. The Huskies shot 34 of 61 from the field (55.7 percent) and were 10 of 24 from 3-point range. NJIT was 19 of 51 (37.3 percent) and just 3 of 17 from distance. Washington forced 13 turnovers while committing just five, leading to a 17-4 edge in points off miscues. The Huskies also had sizable advantages in points off the bench (47-4), in the paint (42-24) and in fastbreak scoring (17-0). The Huskies led 46-26 at the half as Osobor, Breidenbach and Mekhi Mason each scored seven points. Osobor scored the game's first five points and Mason made a 3-pointer to give the Huskies an 8-2 lead. A jumper by Mason extended the lead to 26-16 with 8:30 left in the first half. The Huskies continued to pull away, with Jase Butler capping an 8-0 run with a 3-pointer to make it 42-22 with 2:29 remaining before the intermission. A 9-0 run gave Washington its first 30-point lead of the day at 60-30 with 15:24 still to play. The Huskies led by as many as 40 on Luis Kortright's fastbreak layup at the 7:09 mark. Mason, Kortright, Christian King and KC Ibekwe all scored nine points for Washington. Washington resumes Big Ten Conference play Thursday when Maryland makes a trip to the West Coast. The Highlanders have one more nonconference game before opening America East play Jan. 9. --Field Level MediaJimmy Carter, the 39th president and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has died at 100

Rockcliffe Park fight over 'big, modern' home not over yetWhen Jimmy Carter set out to forge a legacy in his post-White House years, he not only created the Carter Center, but also wrote stacks of books documenting his political and personal history. He was not the most prolific U.S. president (Theodore Roosevelt authored about three dozen works), but Carter and his word processor galloped through a multitude of genres before his death at age 100 on Sunday. His 32 books include personal histories, political memoirs, a novel, poems, spiritual lessons, guides to aging, Middle East critiques, lectures and a children’s book. Some became best sellers, all are valuable to historians. Many, especially those about his Georgia experiences, are rewarding reads. Even so, Carter’s writing can be exasperating. The trained engineer was not prone to the creative phrase or an engaging narrative voice. In “Sources of Strength” (1997) he notes that while his evangelist sister Ruth Carter Stapleton prayed as though she was talking with a friend, “my prayers are usually more formal, as I speak somewhat cautiously to Almighty God.” Jimmy Carter wrote like he prayed. Even in his personal memoirs, readers are often kept at a distance, as if an inner Secret Service agent were standing guard over his deepest self. New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani found that in “Always a Reckoning” (1995), Carter’s poems “plod earnestly from Point A to Point B without ever making the leap into emotional hyperspace.” Washington Post reviewer Jonathan Yardley declared Carter’s “White House Diary” (2010) to be “stupendously dull.” Many of his books repeat themselves or read like over-extended opinion pieces. There are hints that Carter didn’t appreciate being edited. Peter Osnos, who says he worked closely with Carter on “Living Faith” (1996), read the first draft and made suggestions that led to “several very stiff exchanges.” When Carter co-authored “Everything to Gain” (1987) with wife Rosalynn, he wrote only half-jokingly that the process threatened “the stability of our marriage.” It’s possible this disinclination to editorial input cost him in his peacemaking pursuits. “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” (2006) created a national and local furor. Some members of the Carter Center advisory board resigned and Jewish organizations bought ads to sharply protest Carter’s stance. In “We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land” (2009), Carter blames much of the outrage on his use of “apartheid” in the title. Questions arise: Did no editor or colleague raise a red flag over the word? Would Carter have heeded their reservations? The irony is that Carter’s books are valuable precisely because they are his own work and bespeak the earnestness Kakutani laments in his poetry. In “Sources of Strength,” perhaps the key piece in the jigsaw puzzle of his personality, Carter writes that “the most important goal most people share...is...to live in a truly meaningful way.” His written words also reveal the virtues, tics, talents and contradictions of the man. “White House Diary” attacks the late Sen. Ted Kennedy — with what seems disproportionate venom — for, among other things, condemning Carter’s health care plan. Yet in the earlier “Living Faith” (1996), the former president preaches forgiveness, then laments his own hypocrisy: “Most of my lingering resentments relate to our time in Washington. In some cases, I have said, ‘I can’t forgive that jerk!’” Carter’s books, at bottom, are about struggle: to overcome his personal faults, to bring meaning to his life and legacy, to battle injustice, to free the hostages in Iran, to come to terms with losing the presidency, to negotiate peace, to harness slippery language. The last struggle may have been the most challenging. William Zinsser, in his guide “On Writing Well,” cited President Carter for signing an executive order directing that federal regulations be written “simply and clearly.” But as Carter mused in a post-White House poem: “Now when I seek efficient words / to say what I believe is true / or have a dream I want to share / the vagueness is still there.” Language in federal regulations was one thing; language in literature proved to be another. RECOMMENDED READING An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood (2001): The best seller traces Carter’s boyhood during the Depression in Georgia, is honest about Southern race issues and provides background on formation of his values. Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age (1992): The story of Carter’s 1962 campaign for the Georgia Senate draws a shocking portrait of local politics. Oddly, Carter never wrote a book on his term as governor. Living Faith (1996), Sources of Strength (1997): The closest we get to the inner man, Carter explains in the first book how his creed developed through life. The second contains 52 Sunday school lessons that provide eye-opening glimpses of a remarkable psyche. Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope (2007): Describes the amazing scope of the Carter Center’s work, from negotiations in Haiti to eradicating Guinea worm in Ghana. The Hornet’s Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War (2003): This is flawed fiction about Deep South patriots in the Revolutionary War, but it deserves better than one snooty review headline: “Founding Bubbas.” As The Texas Observer noted, it is also “a studious reminder not to take the South for granted.”

, It was only a matter of days, but, somehow, losing the usual week between Thanksgiving and the start of December compressed the holiday marathon into a 100-yard dash. I was winded by the time I pulled the first batch of cookies out of the oven, and now it’s time to host another feast? After all of the gift wrapping and party hopping, there’s something wonderful about slowing down to prepare a big meal, especially when the centerpiece leaves you time to sip eggnog (or just lie down and rest). A pork shoulder roast rivals a standing rib roast or beef tenderloin in richness, but it’s more foolproof (and costs far less). This one tastes and smells like the holidays, savory with the scent of rosemary, cozy with a caramelized crust and warming with black pepper. Even though the marinade has only four ingredients, the cut of meat and miso carry a natural complexity that becomes even more nuanced over time, so the roast wows like a restaurant dish without demanding medium-rare perfection. But what exactly is a pork shoulder roast? It goes by at least half a dozen names, so it helps to know where it’s from. If you imagine a pig standing on all fours, the shoulder starts at the top of its front legs and extends up behind its neck. That upper portion is confusingly sometimes known as Boston butt or, simply, butt, because preserved pork shoulders were shipped in the colonial era from Boston in barrels with the size designation “butt.” The lower part is (more obviously) labeled shoulder, shoulder roast, picnic shoulder or blade roast. At most supermarkets, you get what you get in the meat case. If you’re lucky enough to have options, pick the part you want: This recipe works with any part of the shoulder, whether it has bone or skin, both or neither. The well-marbled butt is often cut into a tidy rectangle with the bone in and a thick cap of fat, so much of its flavor comes from its own richness. The cut labeled shoulder usually comes in boneless triangles or trapezoids and has slightly less fat. If it’s sold already tied, unfurl it to slather the marinade all over both sides to permeate throughout, then reroll and tie it. No matter how the pork is butchered, tying it gives it the structure to end up sliceable. Otherwise, it’ll collapse like shreddable pulled pork — also tasty, but not sturdy enough to carve. If this pork overcooks a little, it’ll still taste great, thanks in part to the miso. Because it’s primarily soybeans fermented with salt, miso both deeply seasons the meat and keeps it moist and tender. Aka (red) miso has a higher proportion of soybeans and ferments for longer than paler miso, which gives it a robustness that works well with fatty shoulder. Time is the final ingredient. The hours the marinade fuses into the meat yield a glistening roast run through with the tingle of pepper and pine. Like its accompanying cranberry sauce, it can all be prepared ahead. However exhausted you may feel at the end of this race to the holidays, you can cross the finish line with this winning showstopper. By Genevieve Ko 12 to 16 servings 4 3/4 hours, plus 4 hours’ marinating 1. Prepare the roast: Mix the miso, sugar, minced rosemary and black pepper until well combined. Unfurl the pork if it’s boneless and cut along its natural breaks to butterfly the meat without cutting all the way through. Rub the marinade all over the meat in an even layer. 2. If needed, roll the pork back into a somewhat cylindrical shape. Use kitchen twine to tie it in 1-inch intervals. Refrigerate in an airtight container for 4 to 8 hours. 3. If you’re making the sauce, bring all of the ingredients to a boil in a large pot, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium-high and continue boiling, skimming off and discarding any pink foam that rises to the surface, for 10 to 12 minutes. The liquid should be syrupy and the pears tender. The sauce can be refrigerated in jars or airtight containers for up for up 1 week. You’ll have about 6 cups. 4. Remove the pork from the refrigerator an hour before you want to start cooking (about 4 1/2 hours before you want to serve it). If the sauce has been refrigerated, let it sit at room temperature as well. 5. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Wipe off any thick patches of marinade from the pork and place on a roasting pan or sheet pan. Scatter the onion and rosemary sprigs around the meat and pour in 1/4 cup water (or wine or stock). 6. Cook for 1 hour, then baste with the pan juices. Continue cooking, basting every 30 minutes, until an instant read thermometer registers 165 degrees in the thickest part, about 2 hours longer. Tent with parchment paper when the pork is dark brown. 7. Let rest on a cutting board for at least 30 minutes. Slice and serve, with the sauce, if you’d like. Red miso, generally made with a higher proportion of soybeans and fermented for a longer period, is strong and savory, making it ideal for meat. If you can find only milder white or yellow miso, which is also sweeter, you can use it instead and reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup. Pork shoulder, which comes from the upper portion of a pig’s foreleg, is usually split into the fattier top, known as Boston butt, pork butt or just butt, and the lower portion, called the picnic shoulder, blade roast or picnic roast. They all can be labeled pork shoulder and they all work in this recipe.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. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. 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 president from Plains 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. And then, the world 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. A small-town start 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. 'Jimmy Who?' 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. Accomplishments, and ‘malaise’ 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. 'A wonderful life' 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.” Former Associated Press journalist Alex Sanz contributed to this report.Waterfront homes in desirable neighbourhoods are leading Sydney’s downturn, with values falling by as much as 10 per cent in the past three months in some areas, fresh data reveals. Buyers’ limits are being tested at the upper end of the market as higher interest rates for longer weigh on the ability and appetite to pay top dollar for blue chip real estate. A string of waterfront suburbs topped the list of largest house value falls in the three months to October, including Balmain East (down 6.9 per cent), Glebe (down 6.5 per cent), Rodd Point (down 9.7 per cent) and Abbotsford (down 8.1 per cent) on CoreLogic data. Zetland recorded the largest fall, at 10.1 per cent, in that period. The data included suburbs with a minimum of 20 sales. It was a similar trend for units, with the fastest falling suburb being Kurraba Point – its median, almost double the Sydney-wide value, fell 6.9 per cent to $1,537,771. That was followed by McMahons Point (down 5.3 per cent), Mosman and Neutral Bay (both down 4.1 per cent). CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen said the steepest declines were in suburbs where values were much higher than the citywide median. “It’s the high end of the Sydney market where most declines have been concentrated,” Owen said. “The median house value is $1.5 million, and the high end, the top 25 per cent of house values in Sydney, start at $1.8 million.” Aside from Zetland, the rest of the suburbs in the top 10 sit in the top quartile of the market where values are falling the most , Owen said. “This represents premium areas like Fairlight in the northern beaches, Glebe and Forest Lodge. A lot of these suburbs are extremely desirable markets within the parts of Sydney,” she said. The auction of a three-bedder in Zetland: It sold for $2.33 million, some $20,000 below its reserve. Credit: Rhett Wyman “There is a lot more investor concentration in the market, and investors tend to target lower value properties and units. “It’s also a reflection of affordability constraints, high interest rates, high cost-of-living pressures pushing buyers out of the high end, and [that] has them seeking the next most affordable market.” Owen said it was a similar trend with units: a string of suburbs that have double Sydney’s median unit value fell fastest. “Affordability is exhausted across the high end and the buyers are just not there, and I do think it’ll spread,” Owen said. “That’s because it’s a natural progression of the cycle, where the higher values go at the low end of the market, the more out-of-reach they become, so demand begins to weaken there as well.” McGrath Maroubra’s Simon Nolan said even rare houses in a unit-heavy market such as Zetland were struggling to find willing buyers because they were at the top end of the suburb. “I’m at a price point that’s barely tested in the suburb,” he said. “It’s a price point where very few people have ever paid that sort of price. It’s never easy to get two of them. “People in Zetland don’t have that budget. It’s quite a rare person to have that money in the upper end. Overseas money doesn’t seem to be coming in either. Even they are not getting involved. “It’s certainly not an oversupply problem but a price point problem because of affordability and interest rates, and I’m seeing that across the board.” Warwick Williams’ Samuel Williams said the supply and demand balance had flipped in tightly held Rodd Point. “We’ve had a lot more supply in the last 12 to 18 months,” he said. “There were a couple of outlier sales as well ... when stock levels were very low so we were getting a premium too.” Williams said that turnkey homes were commanding a premium because the cost and availability of labour was proving difficult. Since rates had remained steady, the number of homes hitting that market in this pocket was piling up. CobdenHayson Balmain’s Matthew Hayson said that even in the exclusive peninsula of Balmain East, there were more buyers for the lower end of the market than the top as affordability was being tested. “We’ve said the depth of the buyer pool has been tested for the past six months,” Hayson said. “Supply and demand has fallen in favour of buyers, and any agent will tell you ‘you’ve got a two-week window to secure a buyer’, and if you don’t, you’re in for a tricky time,” he said. “That’s very much evident at the top end.” As a recent example, he said that a property in Balmain East hit the market with a guide of $15 million, the auction was postponed, and the guide dropped to $12 million before selling for $10 million in a private treaty sale.

They are ugly, intimidating and can be dangerous. For years, the alligator gar was intentionally killed by fishermen who felt they were undesirable. But these days, there is a renewed respect for the unique reptiles, especially by professional fishermen like Coryea Frances. “Just to be in the water with a real-life living dinosaur, it’s beautiful. It’s actually the best,” said Frances. Frances is an alligator gar angler whose lifelong passion for the outdoors became his profession about eight years ago when he began fishing for gator gar. “After a while, I started catching them and then once I started catching them and posting them and actually blogging, and you know, putting them out there on the internet, you know, it started blowing up,” said Frances. Whether he's face-to-face with the fish's two rows of razor-sharp teeth, or holding one bigger than him, more than 300,000 followers across social media platforms are hooked. “They love the fact that I have a passion for these fish, and I take care of them, and I make other people take care of them as well,” said Frances. Frances took NBC 5 to a spot on the Trinity River south of Dallas where, as a fishing guide, he brings people from around the world who want the experience of reeling one in. After his bait hit the bottom of the 50-foot-deep channel, alligator gar began to break the surface of the water. Seconds later, his reel began spinning and the five-minute fight was on. “She’s about to make a jump,” warned Frances as he reeled the fish close to shore. Once ‘she’ calmed down, the nearly five-foot fish was pulled onto the bank by hand. Then, its jaws are pried open so Frances can remove the hook. In the process, he barely avoids being bitten by a fish that despite perception, is no threat to humans. “A little while ago, they were on the endangered species list. People were riding around killing them with bows calling them trash fish just because of how they looked,” explained Frances. The living fossils are now adored by people like Frances. “I love ‘em,” he said. “They’re literally my babies.” After safely removing the hook, he used a lasso to gently release the fish back into the river. “I just love making people’s dreams come true when they finally get to hold that fish that they’ve been waiting to do,” said Frances. Not much has changed about the alligator gar in more than 100 million years. But through both his fishing and social media reels, Frances hopes our understanding of them has. Proper catch-and-release practice is encouraged by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to help protect the alligator gar for future generations to enjoy.RICHEST! Elon Musk Richer Than Ever, Earns 119 Bn YTD, Thanks To Tesla Stock Rally; 15:1 Splits Post Covid

Three LA Lakers players had big role in decision to trade D’Angelo Russell away, next trade possibleNEW YORK (AP) — Top-ranked chess player is headed back to the World Blitz Championship on Monday after its governing body agreed to loosen a dress code that got him fined and denied a late-round game in another tournament for . Lamenting the contretemps, International Chess Federation President Arkady Dvorkovich said in a statement Sunday that he’d let World Blitz Championship tournament officials consider allowing “appropriate jeans” with a jacket, and other “elegant minor deviations” from the dress code. He said Carlsen’s stand — which culminated in his quitting the tournament Friday — highlighted a need for more discussion “to ensure that our rules and their application reflect the evolving nature of chess as a global and accessible sport.” Carlsen, meanwhile, said in a video posted Sunday on social media that he would play — and wear jeans — in the World Blitz Championship when it begins Monday. “I think the situation was badly mishandled on their side,” the 34-year-old Norwegian grandmaster said. But he added that he loves playing blitz — a fast-paced form of chess — and wanted fans to be able to watch, and that he was encouraged by his discussions with the federation after Friday’s showdown. “I think we sort of all want the same thing,” he suggested in the video on his Take Take Take chess app’s YouTube channel. “We want the players to be comfortable, sure, but also relatively presentable.” The events began when Carlsen wore jeans and a sportcoat Friday to the Rapid World Championship, which is separate from but held in conjunction with the blitz event. The chess federation said Friday that longstanding rules prohibit jeans at those tournaments, and players are lodged nearby to make sartorial switch-ups easy if needed. An official fined Carlsen $200 and asked him to change pants, but he refused and wasn’t paired for a ninth-round game, the federation said at the time. The organization noted that another grandmaster, Ian Nepomniachtchi, was fined earlier in the day for wearing sports shoes, changed and continued to play. Carlsen has said that he offered to wear something else the next day, but officials were unyielding. He said “it became a bit of a matter of principle,” so he quit the rapid and blitz championships. In the video posted Sunday, he questioned whether he had indeed broken a rule and said changing clothes would have needlessly interrupted his concentration between games. He called the punishment “unbelievably harsh.” “Of course, I could have changed. Obviously, I didn’t want to,” he said, and “I stand by that.” Jennifer Peltz, The Associated PressNumber of women who are state lawmakers inches up to a record high