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By Leah Nylen and Jaewon Kang | Bloomberg A judge blocked Kroger Co.’s $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons Cos. , finding the takeover would lessen competition for US grocery shoppers, in a ruling that marks a likely death knell for the deal. In a decision filed in Oregon federal court Tuesday, US District Judge Adrienne Nelson found in favor of the US Federal Trade Commission. The agency had argued that the proposed tie-up violates US antitrust law and that a division of hundreds of stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. wouldn’t do enough to replace the lost competition. Also see: Biggest question from Kroger-Albertsons trial: What’s a grocery store? “There is ample evidence that the division is not sufficient in scale to adequately compete with the merged firm and is structured in a way that will significantly disadvantage C&S as a competitor,” Nelson wrote. “The deficiencies in the disvestiture scope and structure create a risk that some or all of the divested stores will lose sales or close, as has happened in past C&S acquisitions.” Nelson’s decision is a major victory for the FTC and its outgoing Chair Lina Khan, who came under harsh criticism from conservatives and business groups for stepped-up antitrust enforcement under the Biden administration. “Today’s win protects competition in the grocery market, which will prevent prices from rising even more,” said FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar. “This statement makes it clear that strong, reality-based antitrust enforcement delivers real results for consumers, workers, and small businesses.” Also see: Albertsons would have shed these 63 California stores A C&S Wholesale spokesperson said the company is disappointed by the court’s decision and that it looks forward to seeing how Kroger and Albertsons will determine the next steps of the proposed deal. Kroger and Albertsons didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Attorneys for the companies have said the acquisition would probably be called off if the judge ruled against the deal. Kroger shares jumped as much as 6.1% in New York trading on Tuesday, extending earlier gains. Albertsons slumped as much as 10%. Specific Market Nelson agreed with the FTC that supermarkets constitute a specific market, countering the companies’ argument that the market extends to online retailers like Amazon.com Inc. “Supermarkets are distinct from other grocery retailers,” Nelson wrote. “Supermarkets offer a larger selection of fresh and non-perishable items, a one-stop shopping experience that appeals to a particular consumer’s preference to meet all their grocery needs in one location, and a customer service focus with deli, bakery, meat, and other specialized departments.” The ruling marks a disappointing end to a two-year odyssey by Kroger and Albertsons, which sought to become a bigger player with a more substantial national footprint to better compete against larger, non-unionized rivals including Walmart Inc. Kroger and Albertsons agreed to combine in October 2022 in what would have been the biggest US grocery deal in history, bringing together more than 4,000 stores across 48 states and Washington, DC. Kroger will likely turn its focus back to improving and investing in its existing network of about 2,750 stores. Albertsons, on the other hand, could emerge again as a deal target, but is expected in the near term to invest in its roughly 2,270 stores and technology. The proposed deal has been a political hot potato, drawing pushback from elected officials, union groups and consumer advocacy firms. The companies vowed to spend $1 billion to cut prices, $1.3 billion to improve store conditions and $1 billion to raise worker wages and benefits following the deal. The FTC has increased antitrust enforcement under the Biden administration, though the results in court have been mixed. The FTC lost a challenge to Microsoft Corp.’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. and won against Illumina Inc. over its purchase of startup Grail and against Tapestry Inc.’s planned $8.5 billion acquisition of Capri Holdings Inc. The companies and the agency fought their case in court for three weeks over the summer in Oregon, as grocery inflation came back into the political spotlight ahead of the US presidential election. Grocery inflation hit a four-decade high in 2022 due to higher costs of labor, transportation and ingredients. Price increases have moderated and are expected to stay within historical ranges, though many American shoppers still say expensive groceries continue to squeeze their ability to spend. The FTC argued that the deal would harm consumers by eliminating competition on prices and quality, making the combined entity less likely to improve its services by offering flexible hours and pickup services. It said the grocers would have more leverage over workers, which would slow wage growth and worsen benefits, and that the proposed divestiture would be inadequate. The agency tried to depict Kroger and Albertsons as the most direct competitors. It said the deal would combine the two largest “traditional supermarkets” in a market that includes Walmart and Target, but does not include Amazon, Costco, Aldi and dollar stores. The companies argued that such a definition is “antiquated” and no longer describes how people shop and pointed to various changes they have made in response to newer threats. The grocers also said joining forces would help them increase market share and improve technology to compete with Amazon, Walmart and other companies. The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Kroger Co., 24-cv-00347, US District Court, District of Oregon (Portland). 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BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Nyla Harris had 14 points and Jayda Curry scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter to help No. 24 Louisville get past Colorado 79-71 on Saturday. The Cardinals led 56-55 after three quarters before pulling away in the fourth by scoring 16 unanswered points, capped by a fast-break layup by Curry, before Colorado made its first field goal of the frame with 2:48 left. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a week
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Pig kidney transplant gives US woman second chance in lifeNoneParliament set to hold an 11th hour vote on $21B in government spendingCalifornia’s card rooms lost a costly legislative fight this year as they sought to kill a bill that would allow their competitors, tribal casinos, to sue them. But that didn’t stop the gambling halls from punishing a handful of lawmakers for their votes after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the gambling bill into law. In an extraordinary display of political retribution, California’s card room industry spent more than $3 million in the lead up to the November election to oppose four lawmakers who played key roles in the bill’s passage. Three of the candidates targeted by the card rooms ended up losing, including the rare defeat of an incumbent Democratic senator. “We really don’t want to be the sort of, you know, the Rodney Dangerfield of industries. We want to be respected,” said Keith Sharp, a lawyer for the Hawaiian Gardens Casino, a card room in Los Angeles County. “We (will) work hard to continue to gain respect and protect our employees, protect our cities, protect our businesses.” To the card rooms, the three defeats were a sign their money was well spent, even if the cash went to purely punitive purposes. Case in point: Two of the lawmakers who lost their races were vacating their Assembly seats and were running in non-legislative races. Had they won, it’s unlikely they’d deal very often with card room related issues. Tribes have long outspent card rooms in state politics. Tribes have given candidates for state office more than $23.5 million since 2014. That’s more than double what oil companies have given the state’s politicians during the same years. Card rooms have spent only a fraction as much. More recently, tribes have contributed $6.3 million to candidates since January 2023 while card rooms have donated at least $1.3 million. Those funds don’t include the $3 million the card rooms spent targeting the four candidates this fall. The cash the card rooms poured into the four races sends a message to lawmakers that they’re also capable of spending big, including on political vengeance, said former Democratic Assemblymember Mike Gatto. “Any time you have a group essentially announcing to the world that they are going to do vengeance spending, it does cause lawmakers to pay attention,” he said. The bill Newsom signed, Senate Bill 549 , gives tribes the ability to ask a judge to decide whether card rooms are allowed to operate table games such as black jack and pai gow poker. The tribes, which will be able to sue beginning Jan. 1, say California voters gave them exclusive rights to host those games, but they’ve been unable to sue the state’s 80 or so card rooms because tribes are sovereign governments. The stakes are high since some cities receive nearly half of their budgets from taxes on card rooms, meaning a tribal victory in court could jeopardize money for police, firefighters and other local services. The card rooms insist their games are legal, but they also worry the cost of court fights could force them out of business. Facing what they saw as an existential threat, card rooms responded to the bill’s introduction last year with a massive lobbying blitz. Hawaiian Gardens Casino alone spent $9.1 million on lobbying, the second highest amount reported to state regulators last year. Only the international oil giant, Chevron Corp., spent more. Despite losing the legislative battle, card rooms spent more than $3 million on attack ads, text messages, mailers and other outreach to voters targeting the four candidates. The card rooms also bought ads supporting candidates running against them. The ads came from independent expenditure committees funded by the card rooms. Under state and federal election rules, organizations not affiliated with a candidate can spend unlimited amounts of money supporting or opposing candidates through advertisements and other tactics as long as the actions are not coordinated with the candidate’s campaign. Only one candidate, Laurie Davies , a Republican from Oceanside, won her race for reelection despite the card room’s cash onslaught. And just barely. Only 3,870 out of 230,546 total votes separated her from her Democratic challenger, Chris Duncan. The card rooms spent at least $1.3 million on outreach boosting Duncan and slamming Davies, according to state campaign finance reports. One mailer said she was aligned with “anti-choice radicals,” “MAGA extremists” and “Big Oil.” Davies infuriated card rooms when she cast a vote that let the gambling bill advance out of a committee this summer, despite having a cardroom in her district. Outgoing Democratic Assemblymember Evan Low of Cupertino faced similar attacks in his failed congressional bid. Low sat on the same Assembly committee as Davies and voted this summer for the gambling bill. Low also had a major cardroom in his Assembly district. Low’s campaign didn’t return a message seeking comment. The card rooms spent at least $500,000 on ads attacking Low, according to the card rooms. The card rooms also went after termed-out Democratic Assemblymember Brian Maienschein in his failed bid for San Diego city attorney. The card rooms spent at least $443,000 opposing Maienschein. He got on the card rooms’ bad side when he cast a key vote that let the bill advance from the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which Maienschein chaired. Sharp, the lawyer for Hawaiian Gardens, said Maienschein also refused to meet with him and other card room representatives before the vote. Maienschein didn’t return messages. A TV ad from the card rooms attacked Maienschein for his voting record before he switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in 2019. Fullerton Democratic Sen. Josh Newman, the lead author of the gambling bill , wasn’t spared even though he represented a competitive district that was important to the Democratic Party. The card rooms spent at least $900,000 in that race that paid for ads and mailers opposing Newman and supporting his Republican opponent, Steven Choi, according to the card rooms and campaign finance reports. Newman, the state’s most vulnerable senator who’d been recalled from office once before, ended up losing to Choi by 6,075 votes out of the 458,615 cast in the race. It was the first time since 1980 that a Republican flipped a Democratic senate seat in a presidential election. Newman had a $6 million fundraising advantage over Choi. Choi raised just $856,000. In one card-room funded TV ad, Newman was portrayed as being soft on crime, and it attacked him for voting to give benefits to “illegal immigrants” In an interview with CalMatters, Newman said he didn’t think the card room ads made as much of an impact on the race as another independent expenditure committee that opposed him with more than $1 million from a prominent public employee union . But Newman acknowledged the card rooms probably did send at least some voters to Choi. “The margins probably matter in a race as close as mine,” Newman said. Still, Newman told CalMatters he has no regrets about introducing the bill despite the blowback and the possible impact the card rooms had in his senate race. Newman said he believes the tribes deserve their day in court. But he said he doesn’t see the logic in the card rooms spending so much money on races after they already lost their fight in the Legislature. “The question really is: If you shut the barn door after the horse is out, who are you really punishing?” he said. CalMatters data reporter Jeremia Kimelman contributed to this story.
ALBANY 93, PUERTO RICO-MAYAGUEZ 50Luigi Mangione’s face is now familiar worldwide, following his arrest for allegedly killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week in Manhattan. But new details on the life and background of the Ivy League-educated 26-year-old are still emerging by the hour. Mangione, in custody in Pennsylvania following a five-day manhunt and facing a second-degree murder charge in New York, struggled with police and yelled out as he entered an extradition hearing on Tuesday. Those who knew Mangione are now trying to reconcile the friendly computer science major with the suspect who allegedly shot and killed Thompson and was arrested carrying a short manifesto criticizing health insurance companies for putting profits above care and specifically singling out UnitedHealthcare, according to the New York Times and CNN. Well-known family Mangione was born in 1998 to Louis and Kathleen Mangione, and was part of a well-known family in Maryland that owned a wide range of businesses. Luigi’s grandfather, Nick Mangione Sr., and his wife purchased a golf course and country club in Howard County in the 1970s. It included a 220-room hotel, a 10,000-square-foot ballroom and an 85-seat amphitheater, according to the Washington Post. They had five daughters and five sons, including Luigi’s father Louis. They later bought another country club and a radio station in the 1980s. Mangione Sr. died in 2008, but his children have continued to run the family businesses. Thomas J. Maronick Jr., a lawyer and radio host who knew Mangione Sr., praised the family, describing them as “incredibly generous.” He said they were generous with charities. Maronick Jr. said he was shocked that Luigi Mangione has been named as the shooter. “Given the family, and how generous and supportive of charity they are, and the esteem their name carries in Maryland, it’s the last person you’d expect,” he said. Promising childhood before disappearance Former classmates at the Gilman School, an all-boys, $37,000 a year private school in Baltimore, told the New York Times that Luigi Mangione was intelligent. They said he made mobile apps before college, and participated in clubs including model U.N. and robotics. Mangione was also an athlete, and was on the wrestling team. Former classmate Aaron Cranston told the Times he became friends with Mangione in high school, describing him as perhaps the “smartest” at the elite private school. “He was a big believer in the power of technology to change the world,” Cranston told the paper. In his senior yearbook page, Mangione thanked his parents for sending him to Gilman, saying the school was “the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” “Thanks for dealing with me these past 18 years,” Mangione wrote to his parents. “I cannot thank you enough for supporting me along the way.” The yearbook page shows he fulfilled his community service requirement at the Maryland nursing home company Lorien Health Services, which his father was an owner of, according to the Times. After graduating and giving the valedictorian speech at Gilman in 2016, Mangione attended the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in computer science. He later got his master’s in computer and information science. Mangione was interested in video game development, and his LinkedIn profile states that he fixed 300 bugs as an intern for the company Firaxis Games in the video game “Civilization VI.” His LinkedIn page shows Mangione worked as a software engineer for the California-based company TrueCar for several years starting in 2020. In recent years, those who knew him said Mangione was dealing with significant back pain. He lived for six months in Honolulu, moving into a “co-living” space called Surfbreak that caters to remote workers. Surfbreak’s founder, R.J. Martin, told the Times that Mangione was a smart, accomplished and upbeat engineer. Fellow Surfbreak resident Jackie Wexler told the Honolulu Civil Beat that Mangione was “just such a thoughtful and deeply compassionate person at everything he did.” He didn’t complain about his back pain, but it had a major impact on his life, Martin said. “He knew that dating and being physically intimate with his back condition wasn’t possible,” Martin told the Times. “I remember him telling me that, and my heart just breaks.” The now-charged suspect’s GoodReads account paints a complex picture. It includes praise for a the book “Industrial Society and Its Future” by Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber. His reading history included several books on dealing with chronic back pain, and his X profile shows an X-ray image of a spinal fusion surgery, though it’s unconfirmed if the image actually depicts Mangione. Friiends told the Times that Mangione’s family was unaware of his whereabouts before his arrest on Monday. His mother, Kathleen, reported to San Francisco police that her son was missing on Nov. 18, the San Francisco Standard reported . Public records suggest Mangione may have relatives in San Francisco, the Standard added.Analysis: After Juan Soto's megadeal, could MLB see a $1 billion contract? Probably not soon
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Taylor Cagnacci moved from California to Tennessee with hopes of starting a new chapter in a state that touts a low cost of living and natural beauty. But she’s infuriated by Tennessee’s meager social services, which leave her and many other moms struggling in a state where abortion is banned with limited exceptions. “I was going to have my child no matter what, but for other women, that’s kind of a crappy situation that they put you in,” said Cagnacci, a 29-year-old Kingsport mom who relies on Medicaid and a federally funded nutrition program. “You have to have your child. But where’s the assistance afterward?” Tennessee has a porous safety net for mothers and young children, recent research and an analysis by The Associated Press found. It’s unknown how many women in the state have given birth because they didn’t have access to abortion, but it is clear that from the time a Tennessee woman gets pregnant, she faces greater obstacles to a healthy pregnancy, a healthy child and a financially stable family than the average American mom. Like other states with strict abortion bans, Tennesseans of childbearing age are more likely to live in maternal care deserts and face overall doctor shortages. Women, infants and children are less likely to be enrolled in a government nutrition program known as WIC. And Tennessee is one of only 10 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid to a greater share of low-income families. “It’s survival, every day,” said Janie Busbee, founder of Mother to Mother, a Nashville-based nonprofit providing baby supplies for low-income moms. “If we took some of that stress off of them, then maybe they’d have time to dream.” GOP state leaders in Tennessee and other states that banned abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 argue that they are bolstering services for families. Tennessee boosted its Medicaid coverage for mothers in 2022 from 60 days postpartum to a year, which allowed an additional 3,000 moms to use the program each year. The state also raised the Medicaid income limit for parents to the poverty level — nearly $26,000 for a family of three — and offers recipients 100 free diapers a month for babies under two. According to the governor’s office, these changes have resulted in thousands of new parents accessing government services. “Pro-life is much more than defending the lives of the unborn,” Republican Gov. Bill Lee said in his 2023 annual address to lawmakers and echoed more recently on social media. “This is not a matter of politics. This is about human dignity.” Yet, nonprofit leaders and mothers told the AP there are still significant gaps in the safety net. Anika Chillis, a 39-year-old single mom in Memphis, has Medicaid, WIC and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps). While she’s deeply grateful for the help, she said it also can disappear — like when she temporarily lost WIC. “It’s hard,” she said, sitting on a park bench as her 2-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter played nearby. “Groceries are constantly going up.” And being a single mom “makes it doubly hard on you.” Tennessee fared poorly at WIC enrollment, Medicaid, having enough maternal care and requirements for paid family and medical leave, an October study found. Other states with similarly restrictive abortion laws — such as Idaho, Alabama, Missouri, Georgia and Mississippi — ranked poorly on numerous measures, too. Researchers said restrictive states had a slightly higher average birth rate and a much lower average abortion rate than the least restrictive states. “In general, these states that restrict abortion are the more fiscally conservative, the more socially conservative states,” said Dr. Nigel Madden, lead author of the study published in the American Journal of Public Health. The Republican supermajority in the Tennessee legislature has long rebuffed efforts to expand Medicaid to people earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level — about $35,600 for a family of three. And TennCare faces criticism already, with a federal judge ruling earlier this year that the state unlawfully terminated coverage for thousands of families and had a “lethargic” response to nearly 250,000 children losing coverage because of paperwork problems caused by the state. DiJuana Davis, 44, was among the plaintiffs. In 2019, the Nashville resident was supposed to have surgery to prevent pregnancy and ease her chronic anemia. Days before the procedure, she was informed her Medicaid coverage had been cut off and the hospital was canceling. She later found out her renewal paperwork went to the wrong address, an error that left her uninsured for two months — during which she became pregnant and developed preeclampsia. Doctors induced labor to save her life, and her son was born prematurely. “The system is broken,” she said, “and it needs to be fixed.” More than 3% of the 83,000 babies born in Tennessee in 2023 had mothers who didn’t receive prenatal care. Only seven states had a higher share, according to an AP analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After birth, doctor shortages impede ongoing care. Around a third of Tennesseans live in a primary care shortage area — a greater share than in all but 10 other states — according to an AP analysis of data from the Census Bureau and the Health Resources and Services Administration. Moms described several aid programs as frustrating to navigate. Chillis was on WIC for several months after her son was born, but then went without because of mistake during the renewal process — eventually getting it restored with help from the nonprofit Tennessee Justice Center. Chillis credits a nonprofit preschool provider with linking her to aid programs in the first place: “I don’t see a lot of advertisements about, you know, how you can join this program or go get this” service, she said. “People just don’t have the knowledge.” Cagnacci, who is pregnant and has a 1-year-old, said she was on SNAP for a while but missed an appointment and was unclear about the steps after that. The process to get recertified was “such a headache” that she’s going without it. “I just felt like it was purposely being made difficult so that I would just give up,” she said. Women with young children in states where abortion is banned or limited to early weeks of pregnancy said it can be tough to get social services there, according to a survey by the health policy research organization KFF. Nearly half said it’s difficult for women in their state to get food stamps, for example, compared with 3 in 10 in states where abortion is generally available. “People who claim to be pro-life, who advocated for these abortion bans, often suggest that these policies are designed to protect children, women and families,” said Madden, the researcher. But the weakness of the safety net shows “the hypocrisy of that argument.” Tennessee’s new diaper program shows the deep political divisions surrounding aid programs. The Republican governor described it as an effort to strengthen families while Democratic state Sen. London Lamar said GOP leaders are “trying to put a little bow on an abortion ban.” And GOP state Sen. Mark Pody recently told the right-leaning news website Tennessee Conservative that “it is not the state’s responsibility to have a diaper for every single baby” and floated the possibility of cutting the program. Of Tennessee’s 2.8 million households, 30% earn above the poverty level but not enough to afford the basic cost of living in their counties, according to a recent report . Often, they don’t qualify for government help. “Some are working three jobs and still can’t survive,” said Busbee, of Mother to Mother. A fragmented patchwork of charities can help, but they don’t cover the entire state. The Nashville Diaper Connection, for example, serves 30 counties, working with partners to provide 50 diapers a month, mostly to working families who make a bit too much for Medicaid. Other nonprofits are hindered in helping by government agencies’ income rules. And most charities are constrained by the ebb and flow of donations. Nonprofit leaders fear their job may get harder with a new administration in Washington and a GOP-controlled Congress. Republicans could seek significant changes to federal assistance programs they’ve long criticized, like Medicaid and food stamps. “We’ve been through four years of a Trump administration, and the goal under the Trump administration was to cut social services,” said Signe Anderson, the justice center’s senior director of nutrition advocacy. “I’m concerned ... for families in Tennessee and across the country.”Gabby Baratta came to Nebraska to pursue a law degree and to swim for the Huskers. After accomplishing both feats, she's onto another task — leading one of the most successful swimming and diving teams in Lincoln. Baratta's first year as Lincoln East's coach got underway officially last week when the Spartans swept Lincoln Southwest. The boys defeated the Silver Hawks 120-53 and the girls took down 98-76. Baratta said there's plenty of reason to be excitement about the team this season. "It's going great. They're a great group of kids," Baratta said. "They are really hard workers, super open to having a new coach, and it's been great getting to know them and their personalities in and out of the pool." Perhaps a head coaching job was only a matter of time for Baratta, who has embedded herself within the city's swimming scene since moving to Lincoln from New Jersey eight years ago. Baratta, 25, has coached for seven years at Club Husker, a swimming organization that attracts many top athletes. People are also reading... The East boys finished second in Class A at state last season and have one of the sport's stars in Jadeon Carter, who enters his senior season with the expectation of adding to his collection of two gold medals. The Spartan girls finished third in the team race in Class A in part due to Avari Wischhof, who finished second to Natalya Woods in the 50 and 100 freestyles last season. Wischhof, now a senior, will be one of the favorites at state this season as Woods, one of the state's best swimmers ever, is now competing collegiately at LSU. "I think that's one of the more exciting things about coming into a program like that is knowing that they already are expecting hard work," Baratta said. "They are all hard workers because you don't have that success without that." Gabby Baratta swam at Nebraska for four seasons. She's now the head coach at Lincoln East. Baratta said Carter is "looking great" early this season and said his leadership qualities stood out right away. Carter is the defending champion in the boys 200 and 500 freestyles. "He's an awesome leader," Baratta said. "Works really hard. He's super coachable. He's just an all-around, really great kid." Baratta takes over for Uriah Reiners and Emma McEntarffer, who served as East's co-head coaches. Baratta Nate Head is the sports editor of the Journal Star. On Twitter @NateHead_LJS. 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How Henry Kissinger foresaw the power and potential of AIAlaska Airlines and UP.Labs launch Odysee, an AI-enabled startup taking a new approach to schedule optimization (PRNewsfoto/Alaska Airlines) Daily year-round service will seamlessly connect our guests between the nation's capital and one of our key West Coast hubs SEATTLE , Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Airlines is proud to announce new nonstop service between San Diego International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), becoming the only airline to offer this direct route and enhance connectivity to the nation's capital. Tickets will soon be available for purchase on www.alaskaair.com . On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation approved our application as part of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2024 to operate roundtrip service between San Diego and DCA. For nearly 40 years, we've proudly served San Diego with the exceptional and caring service that we're known for. We've connected our guests to DCA since 2001 and today offer nonstop service from Seattle , Portland , San Francisco and Los Angeles . "We are pleased the DOT sees the value of Alaska providing direct service between San Diego and DCA, and we thank the many leaders, local businesses and organizations who supported our bid," said CEO Ben Minicucci. "This new route reflects our commitment to San Diego , home of the nation's largest military community, and offers our guests a seamless travel option to our nation's capital." "Today is a great day for the San Diego Region with the announcement of a new, nonstop flight to Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport. This flight will further connect our growing defense, research and innovation economies to our leaders in the Capitol," said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria . "Securing this flight was a team effort by our partners from Alaska Airlines, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, and our congressional delegation. I especially want to thank U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker for selecting San Diego as one of the five new DCA flight slot recipients." As the carrier with the most nonstop destinations from San Diego , Alaska will offer 40 nonstop destinations and more than 70 peak-day departures when our new service to DCA begins. Together with our Global Partners, we offer one-stop service from San Diego International Airport (SAN) to more than 330 destinations.* Currently, SAN has the greatest number of passengers of any U.S. airport without service to DCA. Whether you're flying nonstop or catching a connecting a flight at SAN, www.alaskaair.com has options for what works best for you: you can book flights on 22 partner airlines or redeem Mileage Plan miles, all on our site. "We are very pleased Alaska Airlines has received approval to begin nonstop service between San Diego International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport," said Kimberly J. Becker , president and CEO, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. " San Diego has been the largest origin-destination market without service to Reagan National Airport and it has significant defense, biotech, and communications technology sectors that require efficient access to the core of the national capital region. This new nonstop route will greatly enhance the connectivity between these two strategic regions for business and our leisure passengers." Alaska's elevated travel experience offers a blend of comfort and caring service for a seamless journey, including no change fees, the most legroom in First Class* and Premium Class, satellite Wi-Fi and the most generous Mileage Plan with the fastest path to elite status. Savor the best of West Coast-inspired food and beverages, including complimentary snacks and chef-curated meals. With access to Alaska Lounge locations for members and First Class guests on flights more than 2,000 miles, you can unwind in ultimate comfort before take-off. Building off our newest Lounge in San Francisco , we're set to nearly double our footprint in 3 years. We recently announced a plan to continue expanding our Lounge program, including in San Diego and Honolulu , followed by a new world-class Lounge in Seattle to support international service. We'll begin with an expanded Anchorage Lounge early next year and open our new Portland Lounge in 2026. In September, we began adding more Premium Class seating across our mainline fleet, including our 900ERs, 800s and MAX9s. We plan to increase our 737-800 First Class seats from 12 to 16 to make it easy for our guests to upgrade and meet the demand for premium seating. In First Class, our new premium seating will provide a calf rest, new seatback device holder, 6-way headrest with neck support and USB-C charging capabilities. In our 737-800 Main Cabin and Premium Class, guests will continue to experience comfort and convenience at every seat with improved features, including new device holders with built in cup holders, USB-C charging and a 6-way headrest with dedicated neck support. About Alaska Air Group Alaska Air Group, Inc. is based in Seattle and comprised of subsidiaries Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Holdings, Inc., Horizon Air and McGee Air Services. With our recent acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, we now serve more than 140 destinations throughout North America , Central America, Asia and across the Pacific. We are committed to safety, remarkable customer care, operational excellence, financial performance and sustainability. Alaska Airlines is a member of the one world Alliance. With one world and our additional global partners, our guests have more choices than ever to purchase, earn or redeem on alaskaair.com across 30 airlines and more than 1,000 worldwide destinations. Book travel throughout the Pacific on Hawaiian Airlines at hawaiianairlines.com . Learn more about Alaska Airlines at news.alaskaair.com and Hawaiian Airlines at newsroom.hawaiianairlines.com/blog . Alaska Air Group is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as "ALK." View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alaska-airlines-selected-to-connect-san-diego-and-ronald-reagan-washington-national-airport-with-nonstop-service-302334277.html SOURCE ALASKA AIRLINES
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