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Column: It’s not conference realignment. It’s consolidation and no one is safe in the dash for cash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:55 GMT

Don’t call it conference realignment. Call it college football consolidation. Recent history suggests few are safe from being the next to get squeezed out.And even if your school makes the cut it can come with a cost.What was once a Big Six in major college football conferences became a Power Five and is now down to four after the Big 12 and Big Ten, motivated by a dwindling pool of television network dollars, carved up the Pac-12 over the course of about 36 hours last week.The previous time college football lost a power conference was right before the Bowl Championship Series was transformed into the College Football Playoff in 2014. Don’t think it is a coincidence the latest hit came one year before the CFP — and the revenue it creates — expands.“Once USC and UCLA went to the Big Ten (last year), I knew this was all going to happen,” former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese said. “We now have total chaos.”The Pac-whatever might survive, but it will never be the same.Trang...

International Tower: Q2 Earnings Snapshot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:55 GMT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. (THM) on Monday reported a loss of $1.5 million in its second quarter.The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company said it had a loss of 1 cent per share._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on THM at https://www.zacks.com/ap/THMSource

Firefighter from Boulder killed while on duty in Oregon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:55 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — A 21-year-old firefighter from Boulder was killed while working for the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon.According to the Forest Service, Benjamin Charles Sapper was killed in an on-duty accident on Aug. 4 near Powers, Oregon. He was employed by the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and worked as a first-year hand crew member in the Gold Beach Ranger District. “This is a devastating loss of one of our own Gold Beach firefighters. We have a tight-knit community on the Gold Beach and Powers Ranger Districts, and we stand together in grief and support for his family, friends, and fellow firefighters during this heartbreaking time,” said Gold Beach District Ranger Kailey Guerrant.   3 killed when firefighting helicopters collide in Southern California, officials say Sapper graduated from Boulder High School and the University of Colorado with a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics."He joined the Forest Service out of a desire to serve the community and be...

Firefighting helicopters collide over Southern California desert, killing 3 in crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:55 GMT

CABAZON, Calif. (AP) — Two firefighting helicopters collided while responding to a blaze in Southern California, sending one to the ground in a crash that killed all three people on board. The accident late Sunday afternoon in the desert about 85 miles (137 kilometers) east of Los Angeles involved a huge Sikorsky S-64E and a smaller Bell 407. “Unfortunately, the second helicopter crashed and tragically all three members perished, which included one Cal Fire Division chief, one Cal Fire captain and one contract client pilot,” Cal Fire Southern Region Chief David Fulcher told a news conference early Monday. Fulcher did not identify the victims. Firefighter from Boulder killed while on duty in Oregon Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire Department resources had been dispatched to a structure fire near the intersection of Broadway Street and South Ronda Avenue in the community of Cabazon shortly after 6 p.m. That blaze spread into surrounding vegetation and a full wildland fire dispatch...

Ex-Minneapolis officer unrepentant as he gets nearly 5 years in George Floyd killing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:55 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Tou Thao, the last former Minneapolis police officer convicted in state court for his role in the killing of George Floyd, did not show any repentance or admit any wrongdoing as he was sentenced Monday to 4 years and 9 months.Thao had previously testified that he merely served as a “human traffic cone” when he held back concerned bystanders who gathered as former Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while the Black man pleaded for his life on May 25, 2020.A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s murder touched off protests worldwide and forced a national reckoning of police brutality and racism.At his sentencing hearing, Thao said he never intended to hurt anyone that day. He spoke at length about his growth as a Christian during his 340 days behind bars but denied any responsibility for Floyd’s death. In rambling remarks full of biblical references, he drew parallels with the suffe...

Beyoncé’s tour paid $100,000 to extend DC Metro hours after weather delayed show

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:55 GMT

(CNN) — Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” tour paid $100,000 to keep all 98 Metro stations in the Washington, DC, area open for an extra hour after Sunday’s show at the outdoor FedExField venue was delayed because of heavy rain and lightning, a news release from the transit authority said.“Due to inclement weather that may delay the start of tonight’s Renaissance World Tour at FedExField, Metro will extend the last train by an extra hour beyond the extended closing previously announced,” the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said in a statement.“The additional hour will be funded by the Tour to cover the $100,000 cost to run more trains, keep all 98 stations open for customers to exit, and other operational expenses.”The stadium issued a shelter-in-place notice citing lightning in the area before giving fans the all clear and allowing the show to go on. The delay left fans sweltering in hot and humid conditions as they waited for word on what was happening.“Due to ...

1 hurt in explosion at a Sherwin-Williams paint factory plant in Texas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:55 GMT

(CNN) — At least one factory worker was injured in an explosion and fire at a Sherwin-Williams paint manufacturing and processing plant in the Dallas suburb of Garland, Texas, fire officials said.Firefighters received a call at 1:21 a.m. Monday, according to a Garland Fire Department public information officer. When the fire department arrived, the factory was on fire.The fire alarm level was later upgraded to direct more resources toward putting it out, according to the department.Sherwin-Williams said in a statement the fire was extinguished within a few hours. “One employee suffered a minor injury and was transported to the hospital out of an abundance of caution and has since been released,” said Julie Young, the company’s vice president of global corporate communications.Production at the site has been suspended, she added, and an environmental assessment will be conducted when fire officials allow access to the site.“We want to thank the first responders for assisting us ...

Ukraine says it’s foiled assassination plot against Zelensky

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:55 GMT

(CNN) — An alleged informant for Russia has been detained in connection to a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said Monday.The detained woman has not been named publicly but is from the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, according to a statement from the SBU.The SBU said she had been “gathering intelligence” about Zelensky’s planned visit to Mykolaiv at the end of July, in order to plan a Russian airstrike to kill the president.However, SBU agents had obtained information about the “subversive activities of the suspect” and adopted additional security measures, foiling the plot.The SBU said that it caught the woman “red-handed” as she “was trying to pass intelligence to the invaders.”In monitoring the communications of the woman, the SBU established that she also had the task of identifying the location of electronic warfare systems and warehouses with ammunition of the armed forces.She allegedly ...

Google moves forward with plan to delete inactive accounts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:55 GMT

New York (CNN) — Google is moving ahead with its plan to delete accounts that have been inactive for at least two years.Accounts won’t be deleted until December 1, but Google (GOOG) will start sending warnings to affected users. The company will send multiple warning notifications to impacted Google (GOOG) accounts (and to backup emails if the user provided one), and users will have an eight-month window before deletion.The company announced the new policy back in May, saying it’s intended to prevent security risks: Internal findings show older accounts are more likely to rely on recycled passwords and less likely to employ up-to-date security measures like two-step-verification, making them far more vulnerable to issues like phishing, hacking and spam.The first accounts to be cut are those that were created and then never revisited by the user, Google said in May.“We want to protect your private information and prevent any unauthorized access to y...

Mayo Clinic Minute: A tick to blame for the alpha-gal, meat allergy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:55 GMT

Deb Balzer | Mayo Clinic News Network (TNS)You may have heard about alpha-gal syndrome also known as the meat allergy illness or tick bite meat allergy. In a recent report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says more than 110,000 suspected cases of alpha-gal syndrome were identified between 2010 and 2022. However, the CDC says that number may be much higher because people need to be tested for alpha-gal syndrome and there are many healthcare providers who may not be familiar with the emerging disease.Alpha-gal syndrome can be a serious, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. The American Gastroenterological Association added guidance earlier this year to medical professionals to watch for patients with undiagnosed abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, especially those living in areas where alpha-gal is prevalent.What is alpha-gal and how do you get it? Dr. Bobbi Pritt, director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, is a tick exp...