Question:
Uncut Gems casts Adam Sandler as Howard Ratner, a slick, fast-talking jeweler who attempts to pull off a series of high-stakes bets to pay off the various debt collectors on his tail. Filmmakers Benny and Josh Safdie have infused Uncut Gems with an impressively stylish sensibility that’s reflected in its myriad of attributes, with, especially, Daniel Lopatin’s ominous score and Darius Khondji’s lush, captivating visuals effectively perpetuating the Safdies’ visceral sensibilities. And although the picture boasts an absolutely spellbinding turn from Sandler, with the actor delivering an impressively transformative performance, Uncut Gems‘ episodic structure paves the way for an exceedingly erratic midsection that’s rarely as engrossing and tense as one might’ve anticipated – with the film’s arms-length atmosphere compounded by the protagonist’s somewhat inexplicable behavior (ie why doesn’t he just stop?) The ongoing inclusion of admittedly absorbing sequences (eg Howard attempts to repair a security door in his shop) proves effective at buoying one’s interest on a fairly regular basis, at least, and yet Uncut Gems‘ lack of connective tissue ensures that the whole thing hardly concludes on the taut note that the Safdies have clearly intended – which is a shame, certainly, given that the movie does boast a whole handful of better-than-average elements. (Sandler is indeed just that good here, despite the always-distracting fake teeth.)

** out of ****

by Jay Spight

The Safdie brothers are not the best-known directors that Adam Sandler has taken a serious turn for, but they might be after Uncut Gems, their third feature. First going quirky in Paul Thomas Anderson’s excellent Wes Anderson impression Punch Drunk Love, then playing artsy in Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories, Sandler as a serious (read: non-comedic) actor has been fully, if not frequently, vetted. And the Safdie brothers’ panic-attack directing style fits Sandler like a bespoke glove, one that is equally hideous and captivating.

The titular uncut gem is a fist-sized hunk of rock, mottled with iridescent nebulas of black opal that jeweler Howard Ratner (Sandler) imported from the mines of Ethiopia. It is the central MacGuffin around which this tornado of a film swirls. Opening at the desert mines, the white title card recalls classic adventure movies, and as the camera zooms in on the sparkling stones, and the fascinating, lilting score of synthesizers and flutes builds (the film owes much of its wired intensity to the superb score and sound design), the stone becomes a universe, and the universe becomes . . . the inside of Howard’s colon, and you realize there’s something a bit more here than just a crime thriller.

From there, the roller coaster’s nose tilts, and it’s a screaming-fast descent to the end. Howard somehow lends the stone to Boston Celtics superstar Kevin Garnett (excellent, as himself) who thinks the opals give him magical basketball powers. Howard is avoiding debt collectors while pawning off collateral to make outrageous bets on the Celtics (he’s a Knicks fan), while trying to get the stone back from Garnett so it can go to auction, while also dealing with his children, his all-but separated wife, his mistress and more collectors. It almost plays like a heist movie, each success being met with another setback. How is he gonna get out of this? Should he get out of this? Howard is, by all definitions, not a good guy, but as the film closes, the camera moves through the microscopic, incandescent opal, and the stone becomes a universe again, it doesn’t really matter, because Sandler and the Safdie brothers have made something rough and real.

The name Martin Scorsese shows up in the opening with an apt executive producer credit. Uncut Gems harkens back to Scorsese’s early meditations on anti-morality set against the grimy backdrop of his favorite diamond in the rough: NYC.

Uncut Gems’ New York (set in 2012) is just as visceral; you can practically smell the hair grease, the cheap cologne and the sweat. It’s like it comes with the accent, the gold jewelry and the F-bombs spouted with the ease and frequency of breathing. The Safdies put you right up close to all of this, rub your nose in it with kinetic, claustrophobic shots—at the club, in the jewelers, at the pawn shop—and they don’t let you go. There’s beauty in this dirt, and they want you to see it.

Many have the dream to be their own boss, with 64% of Britain’s workforce wanting to set up their own business. But free time is like gold dust, with another recent survey revealing 39% of small business owners work more than 60 hours a week - and it gets more intense over peak periods.

All e-commerce businesses are constantly under pressure to innovate and transform, but from incorporating streaming into your ecommerce platform, tailored FAQs, smart merchandising and ‘try me’ features, there is a lot to be considered. With so many options available, it can often be overwhelming, meaning innovation is often overlooked.

It’s not through lack of knowledge, but when juggling duties such as keeping on top of orders, daily business operations and pressures over customer demands, it can be hard to maximise your time. Unfortunately this means having any free time to dedicate to innovation and transformation is rare. This is especially true if you can’t justify hiring many new people, or if you’re a one-man-band.

We all want to sell more, but you can become your own worst enemy if you just invest in boosting profits. If you instead prioritise saving time to innovate and make better informed decisions, you’ll be able to sell more without facing burnout or lack of resources.

We put so much pressure on the here and now that it’s hard to focus on the future. Free time is important for innovating but also for mental health and wellbeing, especially during peak seasons such as Christmas.

Read on to find out how to implementing new systems and processes can reduce unnecessary time burden:

Automation

Some customers have reported saving up to 750 staff hours since using e-commerce integration techniques. One of the main purposes and benefits of automation technology is saving time and streamlining your processes. Utilising automation can be the difference between soaring and sinking.

As a business scales, demands become more complex, tasks mount and tedious work becomes even more tedious. Systems that used to work can break down at the drop of a hat, and instead of looking into where you can boost efficiencies, companies often end up cutting corners. Of course, if you don’t invest, your time won’t be spent on innovating, it will naturally be spent on what’s urgent at the time.

E-commerce software can turn tasks and processes within your business such as inventory management, online store creation, purchase and payment facilitations into automated systems. These intelligent systems can tackle the above tasks and offer the best, most time-efficient alternative which is tailored to the needs of your organisation.

Shipping Savings

Shipping can be one of the biggest burdens of e-commerce; racking up heaps of costs and time. In peak season, you’re likely to be dealing with high volumes of deliveries and a wider range of goods, and any delay in shipping can mean customer service, social media and investigation needs to be underway to avoid conflict, spending even more valuable company time.

Perhaps you have been up late processing orders. Or you have stood in line for the Post Office every day this week to deliver the goods that your small business sells at this time of year. Now, something has gone wrong and it is up to you to sort it out. Does this sound familiar?

Occasional issues are bound to happen when you’re shipping in large quantities, whether you’re a small or a larger organisation. If you invest in a dedicated shipping specialist who can do all of this for you - handle the process and deal with any problems that come up, so your social media team (or yourself if you’re self employed) don’t have the hassle of dealing with every single task. Look at price comparison tools to find the quickest deal without having to scour the net. After all, if there is a problem it won’t just be your customers who will suffer, it will be your reputation - everyone remembers the bad experiences they have.

SEE ALSO:

Admin burden

Ah, how many hours a week do you think you spend on shipping-related admin? If you double it, you’re probably almost correct.

Think about the last set of shipping invoices you processed. It was likely a sizeable pile of individual invoices, all with separate payment terms and bank details. Even if you already have them set up in your system, it will have taken a good chunk of time. An alternative solution would be a system that consolidates all of these invoices into a single-click solution, allowing you to settle all your carrier payments at the click of a button.

If you track your time, you’re also more likely to spot places that are time-heavy and where you can cut back on - it’s just like looking at a bank statement. You’ll identify tasks and duties in which you can cut down on, freeing up time to carry out more profitable and beneficial jobs.

There’s also a whole host of apps you can download which allow you to create schedules of tasks. Free apps like Plan have insights features which tell you, without you having to write it out and analyse it, how much time you’re spending on each project. Trust me - you will soon be shocked at how much time you’re spending on internal admin!

CRM

A good CRM (customer relationship management) system can work wonders, and increase sales productivity by up to 34%. Not only does it help you to become more customer-centric,a CRM system also creates a single source of data entry for end-to-end business processes. It can look at your site and goals, and by integrating a sales automation system within the CRM model, can help use a process-driven cloud based software to enable complete control of your business.

You can automatically tailor advertisements to the right person, and save time in traditional marketing. There are less data silos as it also increased the quality of communication by more than 50%. You can keep track of what your competitors in one single place, boosting the chances of you knowing what they’re doing, and how you can do the same.

Social Media

‘Tis the season for brands to push themselves on social media! From working with influencers to showcasing your festive adverts and keeping in touch with customer enquiries, social media can be a full time job even for the smallest businesses.

But if you use a social media management tool, you can schedule posts months, weeks and days in advance. You can keep the regular posts ticking over, giving your team time to be reactive to news stories and responses in the run up to the peak season, and not be thinking of the daily tweet or Instagram post.

You’ll also be able to take advantage of analytics features, to see what posts do well and not so well, so you can innovate your offering and making a much better, well-informed decision on content, timing, and even the platform you’re using. If you only have budget for one marketer in the business, invest in social media management platforms. It’s the best way to use your time more efficiently.

There are a whole host of other factors you can do in the spending season, and throughout the year to boost productivity. Keep up to date with industry news by dedicating 10 minutes a day to looking online or listening to the radio or podcasts.

Use email marketing tools like MailChip to create straight-forward but effective emails and track the successfulness of your emails, and you can even use website-blocking tools to block sites that might make you procrastinate, like social media for your own use, at a time when you need to be innovating. If you’re a larger team, invest in team software to keep communications visible such as Slack or Microsoft teams, which keep it all in one place, enable easy collaboration and integrate with other services you use. and quicker than email.

Just whatever you do, don’t stop innovating.

By Jon White, MD InXpress

The Oyo State Police Command on Friday vowed to fish out the killers of a trado-medical practitioner, Alhaji Fatai Yusuf, popularly known as Oko Oloyun.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the convoy of the deceased was attacked on Thursday on the Igbo-Ora-Eruwa Road by gunmen who shot at them from a thick forest, with a bullet fatally injuring him.

He was said to have later died from the injuries caused by the bullet.

A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Olugbenga Fadeyi, hinted at a nexus between a fire incident in his Lagos office, ostensibly to cover up suspected fraud, and the attack.

Fadeyi said: “The report of Yusuf’s death was received by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Igbo-ora that the two-car convoy of the deceased was allegedly ambushed shortly after passing through five different police stop and search teams along Igbo-Ora road by yet to be identified assailants who fired at the moving vehicles on the road from the thick forest.

“The two-man armed escorts of policemen protecting the deceased engaged the assailants, but they managed to escape back into the forest after a single shot had hit the deceased who died later of his bullet injuries.

“An interesting twist to the story was that the deceased had earlier detected an alleged book keeping records fraud in his Lagos office which subsequently allegedly led to the burning of some financial/book keeping records.

“Some of his staff and two police escorts are being questioned by a team of crack detectives from the homicide section of State Criminal Investigation Department( SCID), Iyaganku, Ibadan, with a view of finding and apprehending the fleeing suspects who committed the heinous act.”

Fadeyi said the police in the state were working with other police formations and units to ensure that the directive of the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, to unravel the killers was complied with.

The spokesman also said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Shina Olukolu, had promised to bring the culprits to justice within the shortest possible time.

Fadeyi said Olukolu, however, appealed to members of the public with credible information not to hesitate in passing it to the police to assist it in the apprehension of the assailants.

A Wall Street Journal commentary calling China "the real sick man of Asia" outraged Beijing so much that it immediately kicked out three of its reporters out of the country after the newspaper refused to apologize for running the commentary.

Who would have anticipated at the time that the February incident would later escalate to catch Hong Kong by total surprise?

The Foreign Ministry's expulsion of a further group of American journalists working for three US media outlets after Washington drastically slashed by a third the number of journalists working for five Chinese state media bodies was undoubtedly retaliation in the ongoing diplomatic war between the two countries.

Such expulsions were not unprecedented. However, the Foreign Ministry's decision to say the ban on those American journalists also applied to Hong Kong and Macau was a bad move as it has so much to do with the "one country, two systems" arrangement for the two SARs.

The ill-conceived move by the ministry has created a difficult situation for Hong Kong - it's not as difficult for Macau which is less international than we are here.

That difficulty is evident in Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's inability to address some legitimate questions in relation to the ban.

Mute in the beginning, she's now speaking up declaring that she could not possibly predict who would be allowed to work here as she referenced the immigration policy that every application is treated individually.

The reply was not satisfactory. She clearly tried to confine the cases to the remit of Hong Kong's immigration policy that is supposed to form part of the SAR's high degree of autonomy.

That's all she could say.

Unfortunately, this still falls short of addressing the concern that a local matter could readily become a foreign affairs matter. And when a line should have been defined with clarity, it became blurred instead.

Can Lam answer that concern? Perhaps only those in the Foreign Ministry can.

The ministry has been rather dramatic these days with a bewildering array of incidents.

If Global Times' Hu Xijin was known for his often radical commentaries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has proved he's more than a match for Hu because the latter - despite his combative mockery of the United States - has never been as successful as Zhao in creating a diplomatic storm.

Angry that the world hasn't been thankful to Beijing amid the coronavirus pandemic, Zhao dropped the bombshell alleging sick US soldiers were cuplrits of the virus that began in Wuhan. His predecessor, Cui Tianhai - currently the Chinese ambassador to the United States - had to clear the mess saying Zhao's tweet didn't represent the central government's point of view.

Hu is no match for Zhao because, while Hu is a man of the media, Zhao is an official spokesman of the Foreign Ministry.

It appears that Zhao has since gone into hibernation. Is the ministry making an adjustment to its policy towards the United States? If so, should it also adjust its ill-conceived decision to involve Hong Kong in the Sino-US diplomatic row?

The past decade was marked by many memorable ads, as marketers like P&G and Nike embraced political and social issues and others like Burger King and KFC tried to use humor to sell products.

Business Insider chose 15 that stand out for being memorable months and years after they debuted.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

This was the decade that brands like P&G and Nike took a stand on political and social issues while others like Burger King and KFC used humor to sell their products.

Business Insider has compiled 15 of the best ads from 2010 through 2019. Our method isn't scientific, but all are evergreen and have remained memorable months and years after they debuted. Here they are, in chronological order:

Cleveland kidnapping survivors Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus on journey from captivity to helping others Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus spoke openly about their decade in captivity.

Police remember finding Gina DeJesus alive, more than 9 years after her kidnapping

Police remember finding Gina DeJesus alive, more than 9 years after her kidnapping Heidi Gutman/ABC

On May 6, 2013, the city of Cleveland witnessed a miracle when Amanda Berry called 911 from a neighbor’s phone.

“I’ve been kidnapped and been missing for 10 years. I’m here. I’m free now,” Berry, now 33, told the 911 operator.

Berry, along with Gina DeJesus, now 29, and Michelle Knight, now 38, had been held captive for more than 9 years by Ariel Castro. Castro kidnapped each of the women between 2002 and 2004.

ABC News' Robin Roberts conducts the first broadcast interview with Cleveland kidnapping survivors, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus. Heidi Gutman/ABC

For years, the women endured unimaginable abuse, as they were chained, starved and tortured by Castro.

The three women never gave up hope, and since their escape they have worked to help and heal others.

Berry and DeJesus shared new details of their years of horror and how they’ve triumphed over their trauma in new interviews with “20/20.”

Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday, Jan. 3, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

April 21, 2003: Amanda Berry is abducted

Just a day before her 17th birthday, Amanda Berry got up and got ready for work.

“I almost called off of work that day because the next day was my birthday. You know, what if? What if I would’ve called off that day?” Berry said.

While walking home from work, a vehicle started to follow Berry down the street, and the man inside asked her if she needed a ride home.

The man, Ariel Castro, was an elementary school bus driver and the father of Berry’s friend and classmate from middle school.

In April 2003, Castro kidnapped 16-year-old Amanda Berry as she was walking home from her job at Burger King. ABC

“He’s like, ‘Well she’s at my house. Would you like to go see her?’" Castro said of his daughter, who lived in another neighborhood with her mother, Castro's ex-wife.

"I said, ‘Yeah, sure,’” Berry said.

After they entered the white, two-story house on Seymour Avenue, Castro told Berry that his daughter might be taking a bath, she said.

“So he said, ‘We’ll just wait,’” Berry said. “So he started showing me around the house. And I never got back out.”

Castro took Berry upstairs and showed her something strange: a mystery woman sleeping in a bedroom in front of a television set. She later learned that the woman was Michelle Knight, who was abducted by Castro at 21 and had been held by him for almost a year. Berry’s memories of what happened next are still raw.

“He took me to the next bedroom, and it was just really dark in there, and he didn’t turn on the lights, and there was a little, like, a little room off of the bigger bedroom, kind of a big closet,” Berry said. “And he took me in there, and he told me to pull down my pants. And from there I knew, like, this was not going to be good.”

She became Castro’s second prisoner.

“He took me to the basement and he taped my wrists and he taped my ankles and he put on a belt around my ankles over the tape,” Berry said. “He put a helmet over my head, and he said, ‘Just be quiet and don’t make any noise. And I’ll take you home.’”

Berry said Castro chained her to a pole, shut off the lights and left her in the dark with a television on.

“I just started screaming and crying… ‘Somebody please help me,’ you know. And nobody, nobody came,” she said. “I was so scared that I was going to die. I didn’t think that I was going to ever make it home.”

April 24, 2003: Day 4 of Amanda Berry’s Captivity

As news of her abduction made headlines, Berry watched her mother and sister on the TV in the basement.

“That kept me going. And I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to make it home to you. As long as you fight, I’m going to fight,’” Berry said.

On the fourth day of her abduction, April 24, 2003, Berry said Castro moved her to an upstairs bedroom and chained her to a radiator.

“It was really hard, you know, because in the beginning, the chain was around my stomach,” Berry said. “Going to sleep at night, you know, if you wanted to toss on to your back, you couldn’t do that, you would have to take the whole chain and move it to the front of your stomach so that you're not laying on the big lock on your back.”

One week after Amanda Berry’s abduction, Castro calls her family

Berry was missing for a week when her family received a late-night call from Castro, who taunted them using Berry’s cell phone.

“He called and said, ‘I have Mandy,’ which, nobody called her Mandy but [people] who knew her,” said Beth Serrano, Berry’s sister. “'She wants to be with me.'”

In 2003, the FBI was just starting to develop technology that could track a cell phone’s location if it was turned on. With that information, they were able to narrow down that her phone had been used within a thirty to forty block area.

“We spent about a week, around the clock, in that area, hoping that this phone would be used again,” FBI agent Tim Kolonik said. But Castro never used Berry’s phone again.

“That was the last we heard of anything,” Serrano said.

Meanwhile, Berry’s dark and filthy room at Castro’s house was about the size of a closet.

“The mattress was old and nasty, and it was just disgusting. And we had the bucket to use the bathroom, and that smelled horrible,” Berry said.

Once a day, Berry said, Castro gave her a bag of chips or crackers or other food to eat. But everything, including her weekly shower, came at a price.

In April 2003, Castro kidnapped 16-year-old Amanda Berry as she was walking home from her job at Burger King. FBI

“I mean, he tried to act nice, but he’s like, ‘Well, maybe you need to go take a shower,’ and I had to take a shower with him,” Berry said.

Berry said she had to “numb” herself to cope with the sexual abuse.

“You, like, put your mind somewhere else so that you're not there. You know, you're not in that room with him,” Berry said.

In her diary, Berry used a code to record how many times he raped her each day.

“I would always write these numbers at the top of the pages, because I felt like, you know, one day maybe authorities will get to read it. And he’ll be punished for what he did,” Berry said.

“There was plenty of times when I just never knew,” Berry said, adding that she thought, “Why is he keeping me here?”

“I didn’t know if one day we were gonna be murdered or he wanted more girls in the house,” Berry said. “Like, what was he going to do to us.”

Almost a year after Berry became his prisoner, Castro went on the prowl again just five blocks away from the street where he kidnapped Berry.

April 2, 2004: Gina DeJesus is abducted

Gina DeJesus, then 14 years old, was close friends with Castro’s daughter, Arlene. Castro was also friends with DeJesus’ dad. On the day she was kidnapped, DeJesus and Arlene were heading home from school when they went their separate ways.

As DeJesus continued her journey home, a maroon vehicle pulled up on the curb with Arlene’s father at the wheel.

“He asks me… 'You seen my daughter?’ I said, ‘Yeah, she’s right around the corner,’ and he was like, ‘Can you help me find her?’ And I said, ‘Sure,’” DeJesus said.

But instead, Castro drove Gina to his house, where he asked her for help moving a stereo. Once inside, DeJesus was unnerved by his bizarre behavior, she said.

“He was, like, fixing his eyebrows and, like, trimming his mustache and, like, cutting his nose hairs,” DeJesus said.

“He’s like, starts like, to, like, touch me and stuff, and then I’m like, ‘What are you doing? You could go to jail.’ He just switches up like, ‘Well, OK, we’re going to, you’re going to go home now.’ He said, ‘But you can’t go through the same door you came in.’”

A year after Berry's abduction, Castro abducted 14-year-old Gina DeJesus as she returned home from middle school. FBI

Castro led DeJesus to his basement, where she said he grabbed her and chained her up.

“He didn’t make it tight enough, so I threw it over, and then I tried to run, but he sat on my back,” DeJesus said. “And then I just start kicking him. I kicked him and I bruised him really bad.”

As Castro overpowered her, DeJesus screamed for help, but the radio in his basement and the radio in the living room were too loud, DeJesus said.

“He, would take my hair and like, put it in his mouth. … I don’t know why he did it but it was gross,” she said.

DeJesus said the first time Castro raped her was on May 7, 2004. Though she remembers the exact date, DeJesus said she was not comfortable discussing the details of what happened.

Life in captivity

At first, DeJesus was Castro’s new favorite.

“He seems to treat me better than the other girls. I have the nicer room,” DeJesus said.

A year after Berry's abduction, Castro abducted 14-year-old Gina DeJesus as she returned home from middle school. ABC

Berry said the slight gestures of favoritism made the girls feel jealous: “It was just simple things, but when you don’t have anything, you’re like, ‘Well, why don’t I have that? I want that.’”

She said that at first, Castro took special care to keep the girls divided and did not permit them to talk.

“He was always there watching every move, it was like he knew everything, every move that we did,” DeJesus said.

The girls were occasionally allowed out of their rooms to do chores, but had to obey stringent rules.

“We had to use, like, a tiny drop of, dish soap to wash like a full sink of dishes,” Berry said.

“We had to put the pan in the center on the stove,” DeJesus added.

“It couldn’t be a little to the left, a little to the right,” Berry said.

To fill the empty hours, Berry kept a diary in notebooks, on napkins and even on fast food bags. The black-and-white television was their only window to the outside world.

Amanda Berry tried to make her daughter Jocelyn's life normal in their room seen here. FBI

March 2006: Amanda Berry’s mom dies while she’s in captivity

Berry said she would watch the Montel Williams Show featuring psychic Sylvia Browne, desperately wishing her mother would appear on the program so “[Browne] could tell my mom that I was alive and that I’m OK,” she said.

In 2004, Berry’s mother Louwana Miller, went on the show. Browne told her, “I’m sorry … she’s not alive.”

“I just broke down crying because I couldn’t believe she said that,” Berry said. “And then my mom broke down crying, so that hurt even worse.”

Together, Amanda Berry and her daughter Jocelyn shared the room in Ariel Castro's house pictured here. FBI

Miller never got to see her daughter freed. She died of heart failure three years after Berry disappeared.

“I think that was the hardest part of being in there. Like, she was always fighting. And she was never gonna give up on me,” Berry said. “For her to get sick and I couldn’t be there with her ... I couldn’t help her when she was sick.”

Christmas 2006: Amanda Berry Gives Birth

Berry realized she might be pregnant on her 20th birthday.

“I was terrified. How? I mean, I barely eat,” Berry said, “and I’m chained to a wall, and I have a bucket for a bathroom.”

She gave birth to Jocelyn on Christmas in 2006.

“This is his kid, you know. How do I feel about that? And she resembled him a lot, and I would look at her, and I just felt, like, she’s mine. She’s mine,” Berry said.

DeJesus said that having the little girl there with them was a welcome distraction.

“It was fun because I can get away from the situation,” DeJesus said. “When I was playing with Jocelyn, Jocelyn made me forget everything.”

Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight shared this room in Ariel Castro's house. FBI

Jocelyn saw the chains on her mother, which Berry said Castro instructed her to call “bracelets.”

“She was about 2, almost 3 years old, and he finally took the chains off of me. And that was because of Jocelyn.”

As Jocelyn grew older, Castro allowed her freedoms that Berry, DeJesus and Knight were not given.

Though she was locked in with the three of them whenever Castro left the house, Jocelyn occasionally was allowed to go outside in the backyard, to the park or to Sunday services with her father. Castro’s love for Jocelyn seemed to turn him into a different man with her.

“She loved him, and he loved her,” Berry said. “I was nervous, like, would he touch her? Would he ever think about touching her because, you know, he had his problems?”

May 6, 2013: Escape

The women finally made their escape after more than nine years in captivity.

“Jocelyn goes downstairs, and then she runs back up, and she says, ‘I don’t find Daddy. Daddy’s nowhere around,’” DeJesus said.

“My heart immediately started pounding," Berry said. "I’m like, ‘Should I chance it? If I’m going to do it, I need to do it now.'"

For the first time in 10 years, Berry said she found her bedroom door unlocked without Castro around. Downstairs, the front door was open but wired with an alarm. Beyond it, the storm door was padlocked shut, but Berry was still able to squeeze out an arm.

DeJesus said she thought Berry had been caught by Castro and talked Knight out of running to Berry. Berry said someone passing by outside saw her, but did not intervene.

That’s when neighbor Charles Ramsey showed up.

A general view of the exterior of the house where, on Monday, three women who had disappeared as teenagers approximately ten years ago were found alive on May 7, 2013 in Cleveland, Ohio. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

“He kind of, like, started like trying to pull on the door, but he couldn’t get it open either,” Berry said. “And so he, like, kind of kicks it, and he’s like, ‘There you go. Finish kicking it out, and you can get out.’”

Once Berry was out, she called for Jocelyn to crawl through the door. The two of them found a neighbor with a phone to call 911. Police arrived and rescued DeJesus and Knight.

“I was terrified, and just because there’s people on the street doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t hurt me. I was so terrified,” Berry said. “I still don’t know why he left that day with the door unlocked. I will never know.”

DeJesus remembered it took her “a while to come out” of her room because she didn’t believe the police were really there.

“I thought maybe they were people in costumes ‘cause I was shocked,” she said. She wasn’t the only one.

“When I was telling [first responders] my name, they looked like they’d seen a ghost or something,” DeJesus said. “Like their face completely dropped.”

Where Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus are today

On Aug. 1, 2013, Castro was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to 937 counts of kidnapping and rape. On Sept. 3, 2013, he was found dead in his prison cell. He had killed himself.

By then, Castro’s house had already been demolished. It is now a garden.

Two years later, DeJesus and Berry graduated from high school. DeJesus got to have the quinceañera she never had and wore a dazzling white dress.

Berry and DeJesus together wrote their memoir, “Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland,” with Washington Post journalists Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan, which was released in April 2015.

Berry now works with a local news station covering missing children and adults in the Cleveland area.

“That's the most important thing that I'm doing right now,” Berry said. “I just want to make the world a better place.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, from left, introduces Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight during his State of the State address at the Performing Arts Center Monday, Feb. 24, 2014, in Medina, Ohio. Tony Dejak/AP Photo

Berry is also raising Jocelyn, who’s now 13 and thriving.

“Jocelyn is more special than I could even use words to describe. I always describe her as wise beyond her years,” said Jocelyn’s former teacher Erin Hennessey.

In 2018, DeJesus founded The Cleveland Family Center for Missing Children and Adults to “work with the families to help them navigate the media, to help to go to the police station,” DeJesus said.

“When she disappeared, we really struggled as a family to get help for anything and Gina really feels no family should have to ever endure that kind of pain while they're looking for a family member,” said Sylvia Colon, DeJesus’ cousin and the center’s co-founder.

Most amazingly, DeJesus’ foundation is located on the same street where she was held captive for nine long years.

“I just want to change the neighborhood. I want to turn it to, like, positive and I want to give back,” she said.

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Question:
Victims of Johnson County plane crash identified

An investigation continues after a small plane crashed during takeoff from an airport near Kansas City, killing the pilot and a passenger.

The Kansas Highway Patrol identified the victims as the pilot, 48-year-old Jonathan J. Vannatta of Maumelle, Arkansas, and 43-year-old passenger Darcy L. Matthews of Belton, Texas. The Federal Aviation Administration registry lists Vannatta as co-owner of the plane.

The accident happened around 4 p.m. Tuesday at Johnson County Executive Airport. The plane was on fire when emergency responders arrived.

FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said the single-engine Mooney M20S crashed "under unknown circumstances" shortly after departing from the airport.

The pilot and passenger killed when a small single-engine plane crashed during takeoff from the Johnson County Executive Airport Tuesday have been identified as a 48-year-old Arkansas man and a 43-year-old Texas woman, the Kansas Highway Patrol said.

Jonathan J. Vannatta of Maumelle, Arkansas, who was piloting the 2000 Mooney M20S, and his passenger, Darcy L. Matthews of Belton, Texas, died in the fiery crash shortly after 4 p.m., according to the highway patrol’s preliminary crash report.

Vannatta is listed as a co-owner of the plane, according to the FAA aircraft registry.

The plane had just taken off from the airport at 151st Street and Pflumm Road on Runway 18, heading south. It began to slow and then turned over headed to the ground, according to a statement from the Kansas Highway Patrol.

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As the plane descended, it struck several trees before slamming into the ground and bursting into flames in a field east of the runway near the 15600 block of Parkhill Street in Overland Park.

Vannatta and Matthews were found dead inside the aircraft. They were the only ones on board.

Overland Park and Olathe police and fire personnel responded to the crash. The four- to six-passenger craft was on fire when they arrived.

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“When you see the scene, it’s very tragic looking,” Capt. Mike Hall, a spokesman for the Olathe Fire Department said Tuesday evening. “More than likely, they were thinking recovery at the first glance.”

Firefighters extinguished the fire withing 15 to 20 minutes, Hall said.

It was unknown what caused the crash or where the plane was headed, Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Gustavo Ramirez said Tuesday evening. The pilot had not submitted a flight plan, which is not required for all flights.

An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is expected to arrive Wednesday and will take over the investigation into the crash.

The investigator will document the crash, taking photos and measurements as well as talking to witnesses and gathering air traffic control recordings. The wreckage will then be moved a secured location to be examined further, said Eric Weiss, a spokesman for the NTSB.

A preliminary report is expected to be available in about two weeks, with the final report completed in 18 to 24 months.

The Executive Airport has reopened, Johnson County announced on Twitter shortly before noon Wednesday.

The Johnson County Executive Airport has re-opened. We have those who lost their lives and their loved ones in our thoughts today. — Johnson County, Kan. (@jocogov) January 1, 2020

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Snoop Dogg and Justin Bieber are among the 2 million people who have signed a Change.org petition to change the NBA logo to a silhouette of the late Kobe Bryant.

Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among nine people who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday. Since that time, there has been an outpouring of grief from his fans, with this petition being the latest attempt to honor the 18-time all-star player.

The petition was started by a man named Nick M. who wrote: “With the untimely and unexpected passing of the great Kobe Bryant please sign this petition in an attempt to immortalize him forever as the new NBA Logo.”

As of this writing, the petition has more than 2.3 million signatures.

According to a statement given to CNN, it’s the fastest-growing petition on Change.org.

“Nick’s petition is not only the fastest-growing on Change.org, it’s also the first petition of 2020 to top 1 million signatures anywhere in the globe,” said Michael Jones, managing director of Change.org. “As the world comes to terms with the death of someone as famous and well-known as Kobe Bryant, Nick has given basketball fans an outlet to create a permanent memory of someone who made history in the NBA.”

The hashtag #ChangeTheLogo also began trending on Twitter, with fans and celebrities alike supporting the change.

Fans have also been suggesting possible images of Kobe that could be used as the new logo.

Na this is one right here...@NBA gotta do this straight up pic.twitter.com/zRecMhzM7T — LaFaybeion Brown (@Mr_Brown26) January 28, 2020

The NBA’s current logo was designed in 1969 by Alan Siegel and features the silhouette of Jerry West. Like Bryant, West was also a shooting guard who played his entire career for the Los Angeles Lakers (1960-1974). He later became the team’s coach and is now an executive board member for the NBA.

West has publicly stated that, although he was flattered by the logo designed, he is also somewhat embarrassed by it. In 2017, he told the Washington Post that he wished the NBA would change it. “If they would want to change it, I wish they would,” he said during the interview. West joked that commissioner Adam Silver would be a good replacement. Previously, in a 2015 Huffington Post article, West suggested that Michael Jordan would be a good choice for a new logo.

So it’s a fair bet that the man who is the current NBA logo wouldn’t object to the change, especially since he was the Lakers general manager when Bryant joined the team.

“I will love Kobe forever and always cherish the time that I spent with him,” West said in a statement given to the Los Angeles Times following the crash “I watched him grow from an energetic kid into the man he became, making a difference in so many people’s lives. He has left the world a better place. Kobe’s legacy will live forever.

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Scott Morrison declared that the upcoming Test match between Australia and New Zealand would be played in the shadow of tragedy.

As children of the two teams played a few overs on a lawn that crunched like tinder underfoot at Kirribilli House on Wednesday, the Prime Minister acknowledged the bushfire crisis away from the idyllic harbour setting.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison joins the Australian cricket team at Kirribilli House before the Sydney Test against the New Zealand side. Credit:Steven Siewert

"This Test and this whole season has been played out against terrible events both here in Australia and also in New Zealand with the White Island [volcanic eruption]," the Prime Minister told those gathered for the New Year’s Day function in support of the McGrath Foundation and the Pink Test that begins on Friday.

He thanked the Australian captain Tim Paine and Black Caps vice-captain Tom Latham for their teams’ decision to wear black armbands to commemorate the lives lost in the fires and expressed his gratitude to New Zealand for its on the ground support.

NEW DELHI (REUTERS) - Coal-fired utilities around New Delhi were still operating on Wednesday (Jan 1) despite threats from the Indian authorities to close them down if they had not installed equipment to cut emissions of sulphur oxides by the end of the year.

Three senior executives at companies operating power plants around New Delhi and facing an end-2019 deadline said they had not received direction on whether they could continue to run the plants having not installed the kit.

Only one out of the 11 utilities in the national capital region had installed the equipment.

India had already extended its December 2017 deadline for its utilities to meet the emissions standards - posing a further challenge to the authorities grappling with the pollution that can cause lung disease and blights air quality.

Officials from the India's Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), who had threatened a shut down for non-compliance, did not respond to repeated calls and text messages seeking comment.

Reuters reported last month that more than half of India's coal-fired power plants and 94% of the coal-fired units ordered to retrofit equipment to curb air pollution would likely miss the phased deadlines.

The air quality index for the Indian capital, the worst affected major city, indicated "severe" conditions on Wednesday - like most days this winter - a potential risk for even healthy people.

Real-time data government data showed both power plants in the country's largest state of Uttar Pradesh which had a Dec 31 deadline were operating. In Punjab, Vedanta-owned TSPL units were producing power, as were state-run plants at Ropar and Bhatinda.

Mohammed Shayin, managing director at northern Haryana state-run power generator HPGCL said all units other than ones under scheduled maintenance were operational, adding that the utility was "pleading" with federal authorities to extend the emissions deadline.

Private producers such as Vedanta and Larsen & Toubro Ltd argued for yet another extension to the deadline.

L&T-owned Nabha Power Ltd said it was "constrained to shut down both its units due to a delay in extension of timelines by the CPCB".

Vedanta said it was "confident" that authorities "would take a considerate stand".

"We shall shut the plant in case we get the directions from the CPCB or the environment ministry," the company said.

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- New video has been released of another anti-Semitic attack in Brooklyn that happened on Christmas Eve.The video, released Wednesday, shows a group of men attack a 23-year-old Hasidic man as he walked in Crown Heights.One of the suspects was caught on camera throwing a chair at the victim that hit him in the head.Other suspects can then be seeing running after the man. One punched the victim in the head while another suspect threatened him with a stick.So far no arrests have been made.The rash of anti-Semitic assaults - including a stabbing attack during a Hanukkah gathering in Monsey last week - prompted Gov. Andrew Cuomo to visit Brooklyn in a show of support for the Jewish community.The governor shook hands and spoke with Orthodox residents of Williamsburg.He said all of New York feels disturbed by the incidents and New Yorkers stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.----------

Improved Supplies

Bengaluru: India’s top online grocers and e-retailers said they have restored operations in larger cities but are still hobbled by the massive backlog of orders and shortage of workers triggered by the ongoing nationwide lockdown to stem the tide of Covid-19 E-grocers BigBasket and Grofers, ecommerce firms Amazon and Flipkart , as well as B2B platforms Jumbotail and Udaan cautioned consumers and kirana stores to expect delayed deliveries as they deal with operational upheaval caused by the restriction on manufacturing and movement of goods, and people.“Our people count is improving day by day...but it is still not enough. We should clear up most slots by Tuesday, Wednesday,” said Hari Menon, chief executive of BigBasket, which is now delivering orders in all top cities including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. However, due to a backlog in orders and some operational issues the company is selectively opening new slots, he said.Gurugram-based Grofers, which was unable to operate in several cities for a few days, following the announcement of the lockdown, has begun operations at 90% of its warehouses with half its delivery partners equipped with all relevant official permissions.For customers there will be “longer delivery times,” Rohit Sharma, head of supply chain at Grofers, told ET.As factories closed and trucking companies faced stoppages at state borders, deliveries to consumers — both online and at offline stores — have been delayed, company executives said.B2B technology platforms like Jumbotail and Udaan are of the view that the disruption will settle in a few days as policymakers and businesses collaborate.To ease this situation, the ministry of home affairs in its revised guidelines on Sunday said that transportation of all goods, and not just essential goods would be allowed.Ecommerce firms welcomed the change, saying it would allow for faster movement of essential goods and let them bring non-essentials stuck in transit safely into their warehouses.An ongoing consumer survey by community platform LocalCircles on the availability of essential goods through both offline and online stores shows a gradual improvement in the last two days.Shortages of essentials were most severe on March 25 and 26, the survey showed, with perceptible improvement in availability at both kiranas, offline stores and online retailers during March 27 and 28.“Keeping the small format retail store opened 24/7 is the key to ensure that everyone gets enough essential supply. Today about 50-70% of them are open but not all the time,” said Ashish Jhina, cofounder of Jumbotail.Ecommerce companies also continue to service orders for essentials, but delivery timelines remain stretched.“We continue to resume services gradually, adding in more cities as we get the necessary clearances and passes from the local authorities. We are first serving existing orders for essential products and accepting new orders for these items only,” an Amazon spokesperson told ET.A senior executive at a leading ecommerce firm said while inter-state truck movement had begun, companies are facing challenges of managing stock within fulfilment centres.“The bottleneck will move from trucks to fulfilment centres. It’s not ideal, but the government has been supportive, and we are slowly limping back,” the person said. “I won’t say back to normal, I don’t think it’ll get back to normal during this time, but things are certainly moving.”Snapdeal, Paytm Mall and Shopclues are also delivering essentials. “We have started intracity deliveries of food and grocery items in Delhi-NCR, including in Gurugram,” a Snapdeal spokesperson said.

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Question:
A lawsuit that accused actor Kevin Spacey of sexually assaulting a massage therapist in 2016 ended after the accuser’s estate dropped the case, court documents filed Monday show.

The filing, in Federal District Court in California, said the lawsuit against Spacey, who has faced a series of sexual misconduct allegations, had been voluntarily dismissed with prejudice — meaning it cannot be brought back before the court.

“Mr. Spacey paid no money to the plaintiff,” Jennifer L. Keller, a lawyer for Spacey, said in an email Tuesday night. “The plaintiff wished to dismiss the case and we stipulated to the dismissal to speed things up. What you see in the stipulation is all there is to see. Any reports to the contrary are false.”

(The Hollywood Reporter said Tuesday that a “settlement” had prompted the conclusion of the case.)

A lawyer for the estate of the massage therapist, a Los Angeles County man identified in the lawsuit as John Doe, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.

The massage therapist sued Spacey, 60, last January. He accused Spacey of grabbing his hand and putting it on the actor’s genitals during a massage at a home in Malibu, Calif., that had been rented by Spacey’s production company. The lawsuit claimed that Spacey groped and tried to kiss the massage therapist before offering him oral sex.

But the massage therapist died in September at 62, leaving his estate 90 days to take over as the plaintiff in the lawsuit. In November, a California Superior Court judge signed an order appointing the man’s son as the special administrator of his estate.

The case’s conclusion came less than a week after Ari Behn, a Scandinavian writer who had accused Spacey of groping him, died by suicide, according to the Norwegian news service NTB.

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Spacey’s acting career, which includes a pair of Oscars, all but vanished after several people accused him of sexual misconduct.

Massachusetts prosecutors dropped a sexual assault charge against Spacey in July after a young man who had accused the actor of fondling him at a Nantucket restaurant three years earlier, when he was 18, refused to testify about whether he had deleted cellphone evidence. The accuser also withdrew a lawsuit against Spacey six days after filing it.

In another case, Spacey apologized for what he said “would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour” after actor Anthony Rapp made an accusation about his sexual conduct with him 31 years ago, when Rapp was 14.

Director Ridley Scott replaced Spacey with Christopher Plummer in “All the Money in the World,” about the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III and his grandfather’s refusal to pay a $17-million (U.S.) ransom. Scott reshot 22 scenes that Spacey had appeared in with Plummer.

Netflix halted production on “House of Cards” — the series later resumed without Spacey — and abandoned “Gore,” a completed film starring Spacey as Gore Vidal.

A federal lawsuit filed by a massage therapist -- who has since died -- accusing actor Kevin Spacey of sexually assaulting him in Malibu three years ago has been dismissed.

Attorneys for the plaintiff's estate filed papers in federal court in Los Angeles Monday stipulating to the dismissal. There was no indication of whether a financial settlement had been reached.

Spacey's attorney, Jennifer L. Keller, told the Los Angeles Times that Spacey "paid no money to 'settle' the lawsuit," despite some media reports to the contrary.

"The plaintiff's estate simply decided to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be (refiled) and we agreed to the dismissal," Keller told the paper.

Spacey, a two-time Oscar winner, was sued last year in Los Angeles Superior Court by the masseur, who alleged the actor groped him while he was giving Spacey a private massage in Malibu in 2016. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of "John Doe," was moved to federal court in January.

The therapist alleged in the complaint that Spacey grabbed the plaintiff's hand and pulled it toward his crotch to force a sex act. The lawsuit sought unspecified damages on allegations of sexual battery, gender violence, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The plaintiff, however, died in September. The lawsuit was subsequently being handled by his estate.

In October, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office declined to file any charges against Spacey over the allegations. Prosecutors said that since the alleged victim had died, the allegations could not be proven without his participation.

Spacey, 60, has been accused by several men of sexual misconduct. In July, sexual assault charges filed against Spacey in Massachusetts involving an 18-year-old man were dropped.

Spacey revealed that he was gay after publicly apologizing in October 2017 to "Star Trek: Discovery" actor Anthony Rapp, who accused Spacey of making a sexual advance years ago in his New York apartment, when Spacey was 26 and Rapp was 14.

America Ferrara announces pregnancy with sweet family photo originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com

America Ferrara announced on Tuesday evening that she is pregnant.

The "Superstore" star and her husband, Ryan Piers Williams, shared the happy news in matching Instagram posts, featuring a family photo.

This will be the couple's second child. They welcomed their son, Sebastian "Baz" Piers Williams, in 2018.

"Welcoming Baby #2 in 2020! Happy New Year from our wild & growing bunch," Ferrara wrote.

Added Williams: "So much to look forward to in 2020, but one thing in particular sticks out! Can't wait to welcome another beautiful creature into this world. Happy New Years!!"

(MORE: America Ferrera says fans shouldn't rule out possibility of 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 3')

Ferrara, 35, and Williams, 38, got engaged in 2010 after several years of dating, and they wed in 2011. In 2018, the Time's Up co-founder told Health magazine that parenthood had changed her and her husband.

"For so long, it's been just the two of us, and we've had an amazing life together. I don't know that either one of us could anticipate how much we love him and how it makes everything new again," she said. "We've traveled to many wonderful places, and we've seen many things -- and just getting to imagine that somewhere down the line everything that we've already done and seen, Baz will be seeing for the first time ... it's amazing."

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Emergency crews in Saint John, N.B. responded to a call Wednesday morning after a pickup truck left the road and crashed into a home.

Police said it happened on Bayside Drive just east of Expansion Avenue a little before 9 a.m.

READ MORE: Woman, 7-year-old girl’s death in Rothesay deemed suspicious: police

Police have not commented on whether or not charges will be laid.

1:16 Driver who hit home causing gas explosion under impaired driving investigation: London police Driver who hit home causing gas explosion under impaired driving investigation: London police

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The Genoa fishing team is inviting all high school anglers to join the Ark-La-Tex Bassmasters and Junior Fishing Trail. In addition to the general benefits of fishing, youths have a chance to win thousands in scholarships.

The Ark-La-Tex Bassmasters and Junior Fishing Trail started because Jason Townsend saw a need. Father and organized-fishing enthusiast, Jason wanted to share his passion for sport with his son but found that difficult to do around here.

“I started this because we don’t have any organized fishing in this area. We would have to travel three hours,” Jason said. About ten years ago, some of the parents in Genoa got together to organize a local high school fishing league. After helping out for the past couple of years, Jason was approached to run the team.

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Genoa High School now has 15 teams comprising of two youth anglers and a coach. They compete in school-sponsored small tournaments or “Fishing Trails” that are open to all area schools. The Ark-La-Tex Bassmasters and Junior Fishing Trail’s upcoming events are at Millwood Lake, February 23rd; Wright Patman Lake, March 14th; Caddo Lake, April 5th; Final TBO, April 25th, and 26th.

Working directly with Lucy Johnson, director of Bass Masters of Arkansas, Jason discovered a way to provide genuine incentives from the sport of fishing.

“Bass Masters is on a national level with a chance to get a college scholarship. If we have enough people in this trial, and we’re talking about fifty teams who fish just four tournaments, we get a spot in the national tournament at Bass Masters. That is fishing against the best in the country at a high school level,” Jason said.

“This is a trail for everyone to come together, compete and an angler from this area will go to represent Texarkana against the best in the country, Jason adding, “Bethel University from Tennessee gave away $450,000 in college scholarships, last year, to the winner of the tournament. That is divided between 24 teams and the kids that won it this year, won it back-to-back, so they got that twice.”

“You can actually set your whole life up from bass fishing,” Jason imparted. Here are eight colleges offering Fishing Scholarships.

To be apart of Bass Masters, each fisher pays $20 in dues that covers registration, fishing insurance (all boats have to follow state laws), and a subscription to the bass Masters Magazine.

Mr. Townsend said that corporate sponsorship is what is needed to take Ark-La-Tex Bassmasters and Junior Fishing Trail to the next level. Jason thanked Gregg Orr Marine, Red River Lumber, and Cooper Service for their support by providing the initial funds for tools necessary to facilitate a tournament. Also, Mike Dillinger of 4D Fishing gave every junior angler that signed up for bass masters a free jig.

“We could always use some extra coaches and boats. We have a great bunch of dads, uncles, and grandpas that pitch in, Jason said.

Conservation is important and all fish are released back into the wild. Junior anglers are taught to respect their adversaries and hone their skills.

“This is the only sport I know that is actually ‘whit’ against ‘whit’; there’s not any amount of athletic ability. You have to be smart, you have to practice, you have to think, adjust on the fly, and anyone who thinks they cant fish needs to look up Clay Dyer. He is a pro fisherman with no arms and legs.

Mr. Townsend parted with this, “I’ve Always loved bass fishing, always have, and to be able to back to my own school that I grew up in and graduated from, and do this with my own son – you really can’t get better than that.”

Anyone interested in participating or sponsoring contact: Jason Townsend Email or Genoa Central Dragon High School Fishing Team on Facebook.

If memory serves, this strip came about when Missy and I went out to dinner, and the server said they had “appetizers, salad, and soups, too.” I thought she said “soup-stew,” and after she left I asked Missy what “soup-stew” could possibly be. When Missy was done laughing at me I wrote this comic.

The great thing about Basic Instructions was that I could take any stupid thing I did, have a different character do it, and some good would come of my mistake. One downside is that to this day I get reminded of mistakes I’ve made that most people would have long forgotten by now.

As always, thanks for using my Amazon Affiliate links (US, UK, Canada).

It was Blair who was behind the concerted media and propaganda campaign against Corbyn

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The two major political parties, the Conservatives and Labor, are mere shadows of their former selves. Fresh from a major landslide victory in England, the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is now a hard-right party. Traditional Tories like Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill, and Kenneth Clarke, the grand old man of Conservative Party politics, were expelled as members of the Conservative ranks sitting in the House of Commons as a result of their September 2019 vote against Johnson's government and their pro-European Union positions. With Johnson's December 12 election victory, backing for Johnson's Conservatives has come from such far-right stalwarts as Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage and the Britain First movement of neo-fascist street hooligan Tommy Robinson.

Johnson has transformed the Conservative Party into one that follows him in virtual lockstep. A similar situation has occurred with the Republican Party in the United States. It has been transformed into a party that worships Donald Trump as a cult leader. Traditional Republicans like former governors John Kasich, William Weld, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Ridge, Christine Todd Whitman, and other former governors, senators, and US House members no longer have a political home in what has become the "Trump Party," one that eschews the policies of past Republican presidents like Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and George H. W. Bush.

Britain's other major party, Labor, returned to its traditional socialist roots under leader Jeremy Corbyn. A series of "New Labor" leaders, including Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and Ed Milliband, transformed Labor into a pro-multinational corporation and free trade party barely distinguishable from the traditional Tories. After being elected leader of Labor in 2015, Corbyn faced a media and political disinformation onslaught that called him everything from a Communist to an anti-Semite. That barrage of lies resulted in Labor suffering its worst defeat since 1935 in the December 12 general election. Chomping at the bit to restore Labor to its pro-corporate/pro-Israel past, former Prime Minister Blair warned against the "hard left" policies of "Corbynism."

Blair drove additional knives into Corbyn in stating that Corbyn "personified an idea, a brand of quasi-revolutionary socialism, mixing far left economic policy with deep hostility to western foreign policy, which never has appealed to traditional Labor voters, never will appeal and represented for them a combination of misguided ideology and terminal ineptitude that they found insulting.

No sentient political party goes into an election with a leader who has a net approval rating of -40 percent."

Yet, it was Blair who was behind the concerted media and propaganda campaign against Corbyn. Corbyn suffered from the same sort of insidious attack from Labor's right-wing tendency as that suffered by past traditional baseline socialist Labor politicians like Aneurin Bevan, Harold Wilson, Michael Foot, and Tony Benn. Individuals like Blair and his ilk conveniently forget that the Labor Party was formed at the turn of the last century by colleagues of Karl Marx, someone who definitely saw no place in a workers' party for those that sought their exploitation.

After the end of World War II, Labor's right-wing faction saw to it that any Labor leader that voiced opposition to NATO and American foreign policy was drummed out of the party's leadership ranks. Prime Minister Harold Wilson's opposition to the Vietnam War helped seal his fate, as did Bevan's initial opposition to Britain's nuclear weapons. Foot favored unilateral disarmament, resulting in Kinnock taking over as Labor leader after the party's electoral defeat in 1983. Benn always remembered Labor's socialist past and it prevented him from ever becoming prime minister. Not only did Britain's MI-5 and MI-6 intelligence services constantly place Benn under surveillance, but the US Central Intelligence Agency propaganda, distributed in British media, made false allegations that Benn was a Soviet KGB agent. The same sort of CIA disinformation targeted Wilson, Foot, and Bevan.

When Corbyn attempted to restore Labor's former mayor of London Ken Livingstone to Labor party ranks, Corbyn was accused of being an anti-Semite, merely because Livingstone compared some of Israel's policies against the Palestinians to those of the Nazis in occupied nations. Livingstone, nicknamed "Red Ken" by his detractors, was seen as part of the same Labor left faction as Corbyn. There are a number of Labor officials vying to succeed Corbyn. Although they have been part of Corbyn's team, most of these heirs apparent are negotiating for support from the Blairite faction. Chief among them is Keir Starmer, Corbyn's Shadow Brexit Secretary, who the anti-Corbyn faction favors as the new Labor leader.

Benn's recognition of Labor's Marxist roots was demonstrated by the following passage:

"The Communist Manifesto, and many other works of Marxist philosophy, have always profoundly influenced the British labor movement and the British Labor Party, and have strengthened our understanding and enriched our thinking. It would be as unthinkable to try to construct the Labor Party without Marx as it would be to establish university faculties of astronomy, anthropology or psychology without permitting the study of Copernicus, Darwin or Freud, and still expect such faculties to be taken seriously."

Australia's governing Liberal-National Coalition has steadily moved to the extremist right under two fundamentalist Christian prime ministers Tony Abbott and the current prime minister, Scott Morrison. Similar to the leadership of the US Republican Party and the Conservative Party of Canada, the "Coalition," as it is known, has become a home for xenophobes and climate change deniers. Morrison's ignorance of the dangers of climate change were recently on full display as the hottest temperatures in recorded meteorological history were registered in Australia. As Australians with respiratory and other health issues suffered from the extreme heat and as a massive outbreak of brush fires swept Australia, Morrison decided to cut short his mid-December family vacation in Hawaii. Unlike past Coalition prime ministers, including Malcolm Fraser and Malcolm Turnbull, Morrison is totally beholden to Australia's mining interests, including the coal industry. As far as Morrison is concerned, there is no climate change and Australians suffering from its effects can be damned.

As for the Australian Labor Party, it has not exercised a socialist mandate since 1975, when Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was ousted in a constitutional coup brought about by the CIA, Australia's security services, and the Australian Governor-General. Never again would there be a Labor government like that of postwar Prime Minister Ben Chifley, who attempted to nationalize Australia's banks, or Whitlam, who moved Australia into a more non-aligned foreign policy. Today, Australia's Labor and Coalition parties differ only slightly in foreign policy and seek campaign donations from the same vested business interests and consortiums.

The steady drift of traditional conservative parties to the far right and neo-fascism and the insistence by traditional social democratic and working-class parties to adopt pro-business and anti-labor positions is why large blocs of voters feel abandoned. It is precisely because labor and social democratic parties have purged from their dogma any mention of state control of utilities, transit, health care, and other key public sectors that they are now at their lowest electoral strength in recent history in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, and Finland. And it is because traditional conservative parties have eschewed bedrock principles of conservation and environmental protection; multilateralism as practiced by postwar conservative leaders; and inflation-free economic stability that has many conservatives wandering aimlessly between the neo-fascists who have taken over conservative parties and progressive parties that do not seem to stand for anything.

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New Delhi, Jan 1 (IANS) Bringing relief to people, the cold wave in north India including the Delhi NCR region seems to have abated for the moment with day temperatures rising on New Year's Day and touching almost 20 degrees Celsius in Delhi.

According to the India Meteorological Department, day temperatures have risen by 3-7 degrees Celsius over most parts of the northern plains of India, while Delhi has seen a rise of 5-6 degrees Celsius over Tuesday.

New Delhi [India], Jan 1 (ANI): The minimum temperature in the national capital has shown an increase by 5 to 6 degrees Celsius on Wednesday as compared to the previous day, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The day temperature recorded in Safdarjung today was 20.2 degrees Celsius, while it was 18.4 degrees Celsius in Palam and 19.2 degrees Celsius in Aya Nagar.

The day temperatures have risen by 3 to 7 degrees Celsius over most parts of northern plains in the country.

The day temperature recorded in Amritsar today was 13.8 degrees Celsius, while it was 17 degrees Celsius in Ludhiana in Punjab.

The day temperature in Churu was 19.6 degrees Celsius, while it was 17.8 degrees Celsius in Jaipur and 18.4 degrees Celsius in Kota in Rajasthan.

The day temperature recorded in Chandigarh was 19 degrees Celsius today, while it was 17.8 degrees Celsius in Ambala and 16.4 degrees Celsius in Hisar in Haryana.

Meerut recorded a day temperature of 18.2 degrees Celsius, while it was 20.2 degrees Celsius in Lucknow and 20.6 degrees Celsius in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.

The IMD has predicted that there will be no more cold wave in Delhi till January 4 and there might be a further rise in temperatures.

Delhi will, however, continue to reel under cold weather conditions throughout the day, as predicted by the weather agency.

The city is likely to receive light rains and the sky will generally remain cloudy in the next week. (ANI)

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has made a first general election campaign pitch by promising to help deliver 50,000 new jobs and provide 25,000 new homes in the State this year.

In a New Year video, Mr Varadkar and Tánaiste Simon Coveney list Fine Gael priorities for the coming year.

Mr Varadkar says he will steer Ireland through the next phase of Brexit by helping to secure a trade deal between the European Union and the UK; he also vows to give Irish businesses and farmers access to the British market; and promises to “achieve a new record high when it comes to employment”.

“We know that well-paid secure jobs are the best ways to improve living standards, create opportunity, and reduce poverty,” he says.

Happy New Year!

Want to know what my priorities are for the year ahead? pic.twitter.com/JcR6VM8Lge — Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) January 1, 2020

The Taoiseach also claims the Government will add 11,000 units to the social housing stock. “That’s more new social houses than any other year this century under any other party,” he says.

The Taoiseach’s messages also alludes to climate change, with promises to reduce greenhouse emissions by creating warmer homes, improving air quality and investing in public transport.

The video is the second such broadcast made by the Taoiseach in recent days. On St Stephen’s Day, he described his achievements since assuming office 2½ years ago.

It is one of a number of social media broadcasts and publications recently issued by Fine Gael, suggesting the party is upping the ante ahead of a general election, which is widely expected to take place in the spring.

Minister for Climate Action Richard Bruton has also announced a raft of initiatives on waste, packaging and climate change in recent days.

Climate change and the “green agenda” are expected to be major themes of the election campaign. Fine Gael, in particular, may be vulnerable to rising support for the Green Party in affluent urban areas, after that party’s strong performance in the local and European elections and November’s byelections.

Turkiye says resolve to fight all forms of terrorism should be part of NATO’s new strategic concept

Former world number three Grigor Dimitrov saw his ranking slump last year as he struggled with a shoulder injury, but the Bulgarian Thursday said he won't push himself too hard, too fast to return to the top of tennis.

The 28-year-old was laid low early in the season and was far from his best after he returned to action, although he did reach the US Open and Paris Masters semi-finals.

Dimitrov said 2019, where he failed to win a title, had been "quite a journey".

"It's going to be a year that I remember for the rest of my life," he said in Sydney ahead of the inaugural ATP Cup team event, his warm-up for the Australian Open Grand Slam.

"Yeah, the body checks out pretty good right now. I'm still monitoring a lot of my work, a lot that I'm going through.

"I kind of pace myself in the right way. I'm not in a rush, which is also a good thing." The shoulder problem was Dimitrov's first major injury and he said he plans to limit the number of tournaments he plays, particularly early in the season.

"I'm not going to force myself to play too many tournaments early on and really look after the body. That's the number one thing," said Dimitrov, now ranked 20.

"Clearly I haven't competed for almost the past four months of the year, and so that itself brought a lot of doubts, and dropping a lot in the ranking and so on.

"But at the same time, I was able to kind of recover as quick as possible, and hopefully now I'm at a place that can only get better. I'm really going to focus on that."

He is not only playing for Bulgaria at the ATP Cup, but captaining the team, a new experience that he is relishing.

"It's challenging, no doubt about it," he said.

"It's always been a dream of mine to always be kind of on the other end, and I think to be a coach is never easy.

"I don't know if I'm going to be a good coach. I can only share my experience, my thoughts with the guys."

The ATP Cup, which starts Friday, features 24 nations split into six groups across Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, with eight of them emerging from the round-robin to compete in the knockout phase.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Two employees associated with the Department of Public Instruction — a teacher serving with a government primary school and a cluster resource person — have been suspended from service for sharing messages on social media critical of the recent request from Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa for donations from the public for COVID-19 relief works.

Dakya Naik, a teacher serving with the government higher primary school in Thimmapura village of Sorab taluk, had shared an audio clipping on WhatsApp in which the Chief Minister was criticised for requesting the public to chip in funds. The audio also had suggestions for the Chief Minister on mobilising resources from various sources to handle such exigences.

Sri Raju, a cluster resource person serving with the department, was the administrator of the WhatsApp group in which Mr. Naik posted the audio clip. He also endorsed the opinion voiced in it.

In a press release, K.M. Vaishali, CEO of Shivamogga Zilla Panchayat, said that prima facie, it was evident that both Mr. Naik and Mr. Raju had acted in contravention to their service conditions by showing disrespect to elected representatives. The CEO also said that when the people were in distress owing to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown, the duo had acted in an irresponsible manner by spreading misinformation about the government and the Chief Minister.

WELLINGTON — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced on Saturday that all travelers will have to self-isolate on their arrival to New Zealand, apart from those coming from the Pacific Islands.

She said the measures — in effect as of midnight Sunday — include New Zealanders.

She said her country had been relatively unscathed by coronavirus so far, with six confirmed cases and no fatalities, but the evidence showed the numbers would inevitably rise in the face of a global pandemic.

"But the scale of how many cases we get and how fast we get them is something we should do as much as we can to slow," she said at Saturday’s news briefing.

"We must go hard and we must go early."

Ardern said the new restrictions would be reviewed by the authorities in 16 days.

The prime minister also said that no cruise liners would be allowed to dock in New Zealand's ports until June 30.

Meanwhile, New Zealanders have been advised to avoid all non-essential travel overseas.

"There's no doubt this will have a significant impact on New Zealand's economy but our priority is to ensure we reduce the impacts of COVID-19 as much as we can," Ardern said.

Ardern said essential air and ship deliveries would continue as normal.

She said the restrictions were "about people, not products", stressing that there was no need for New Zealanders to "take a run on their supermarket".

"If you don't need to travel overseas, then don't. Enjoy your own backyard for a time. Stop handshakes, hugs and hongi (a traditional Maori greeting in which people press their noses together).

"We are a tough, resilient people. We have been here before," the PM added.

New Zealand has already canceled several major events, including a memorial planned Sunday to mark the first anniversary of the Christchurch mosque shootings in which 51 people died.

Ardern said more general restrictions on public gatherings would be imposed but details had not yet been finalized. — Agencies

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PHOENIX — If you want to work for U-Haul, you better quit that smoking habit.

Starting in February, the do-it-yourself moving company headquartered in Phoenix will no longer hire nicotine users in Arizona and 20 other states where the company says this type of policy is lawful.

“We’re hoping to build a workforce that is free from nicotine addiction as a whole,” said Jessica Lopez, chief of staff for U-Haul.

Workers hired prior to February will not be impacted, and their jobs are not in jeopardy. They will instead have access to the company’s nicotine cessation program to help them quit smoking.

Lopez said the new policy is part of U-Haul’s efforts to establish one of the healthiest corporate cultures in the United States and Canada. The company has a “Healthier You” program launched in 2016 to help employees in four areas: health, mindset, nutrition and fitness.

“Each year it has been our mission to increase our wellness benefits program’s resources to help the needs of all team members and families to conquer their health goals,” she said. “This nicotine/tobacco-free hiring policy is the next step.”

The new policy also comes after U-Haul broke ground on a new conference and fitness center at its Midtown campus near Central Avenue and 3rd Street in Phoenix.

When it’s completed in December 2020, the center will house a medical clinic, a full-size basketball court, a two-lane track, and cardio and weightlifting equipment, among other amenities.

“If we take care of our team members, they take care of our business,” Lopez said.

Follow @GriseldaZetino

U-Haul to stop hiring smokers and nicotine users in Arizona, 20 other states

If you smoke and want to work at U-Haul International, you had better submit your job application pretty soon.

The truck and trailer rental company — one of Arizona's largest employers — plans to stop interviewing and hiring nicotine users. The nicotine-free policy, which includes e-cigarettes and vaping products, will go into effect in Arizona and 20 other states where the company operates starting Feb. 1. People hired before then won't be affected.

The Phoenix-based company, which employs around 4,000 people in Arizona and 30,000 across the U.S. and Canada, expects the policy will help create a more healthy corporate culture.

U-Haul on Dec. 10 broke ground on a 54,208-square-foot conference and fitness center that will become a focal point of its campus at 2727 N. Central Ave.

The company also offers other programs including one focused on nutrition, fitness and other aspects of wellness.

Better health and lowest costs

Arizona is among 21 states where it is legal not to hire people who use nicotine, the company said. Arizona also is one of 17 states where employers can choose not hire and are allowed to test for nicotine, though U-Haul hasn't yet decided to do that.

"In our continued efforts to enhance our wellness program and decrease healthcare costs, we have become more aware of the medical side effects of using nicotine and tobacco products," said Jessica Lopez, U-Haul's chief of staff, in an email to The Arizona Republic.

For more stories that matter, subscribe to azcentral.com.

"Taking care of our team members is the primary focus and goal" of the new policy, she added. "Decreasing healthcare costs will be a bonus."

Lopez said U-Haul carefully analyzed state and local laws and crafted the policy "so as not to conflict with or violate any legal protections for nicotine users."

U-Haul encourages staff members not to use nicotine by waiving a wellness fee that otherwise applies, she added. However, the company doesn't require tobacco users to pay a health care insurance premium.

A gradual trend

Other states where U-Haul's new no-nicotine hiring policy will be implemented are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

No-nicotine hiring policies began to surface more prominently several years ago, especially at hospitals and other health businesses, but relatively few companies have adopted them.

One exception is Alaska Airlines, which has had a no-nicotine policy since 1985. The program has been "largely successful" with most employees "grateful for the pro-health stance of the company," said Alexis Myers, a company spokeswoman.

Alaska Airlines implemented the policy for two key reasons. The first involved health-care costs and health consequences for the workforce, she said. The second reflected the difficulty of smoking on planes and in many places around airports.

"Many jobs at an airline are not conducive to taking nicotine breaks, and customer service may be negatively impacted by employees who are experiencing nicotine withdrawal," Myers added.

As a general rule, job applicants at the airline must be nicotine-free for at least six months before seeking employment.

People who apply for U-Haul jobs in Arizona and the other affected states will see statements discussing the nicotine-free hiring policy on applications, and they will be questioned about their nicotine use.

In states where testing is allowed, applicants might need to undergo nicotine screening in the future.

Career opportunities with the company can be viewed at uhauljobs.com.

Reach the reporter at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8616.

A Kentucky lawmaker filed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana as a way of providing funding for the state's debt-ridden employee pension fund.

December 31, 2019 4 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

In an era of political polarization, the legalization of recreational marijuana has fallen for the most part along blue state-red state lines. That is, blue states do it and red states don’t. But that could potentially change with Kentucky.

A Kentucky lawmaker has filed legislation that would create a legal recreational cannabis system in the state. A driving force behind the proposal is to use taxes generated from cannabis sales to fund the retirement system for state employees, as well as the state teachers’ retirement fund.

Rep. Cluster Howard, the Democrat who filed the bill, said other states have shown that “legalizing cannabis for adult use is a win-win situation for everyone involved,” according to WKYT CBS. He added, “It’s a major revenue generator; it frees up critical jail and prison space; it helps counteract the deadly opioid epidemic; it gives farmers a major new cash crop. The longer we wait, the more we miss out on these benefits.”

RELATED: 7 Things You Need To Know About LA's New Cannabis Cafe

Marijuana Legalization For Adult Use Has Been A Blue State Thing

Like most progressive ideas, legalizing adult-use cannabis has been predominantly a blue state thing. And, even within those states, it’s something that gets most of its support in the metropolitan areas.

The 11 states that have legalized marijuana in the U.S. so far are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. All but two of them (Alaska and Michigan) were blue states in the 2016 election. Of the two, Alaska is the only one that is historically a red state. Michigan had been solidly blue since 1992, that is, until current President, Donald Trump, narrowly won the state in 2016.

States currently debating recreational marijuana legalization are New York and New Jersey, which are also blue states.

In contrast, Trump got 62.5 percent of the vote in Kentucky, one of the highest in the country. Kentucky hasn’t voted for a Democrat in the presidential election since Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Before that, it was Jimmy Carter in 1976.

RELATED: 20 Bold Predictions for the Cannabis Industry in 2020

The Bill In Kentucky Would Fund An Employee Pension Plan

Why would Howard think his bill has a chance, given Kentucky’s conservative politics? Because he wants to use the popularity of marijuana to address a longstanding state issue.

Technically, he’s submitted a pre-filed bill for the 2020 legislative session. The proposal calls for 75 percent of cannabis tax and fee money collected by the state to fund the Kentucky Employee Retirement System, with 25 percent going towards the Kentucky Teachers' Retirement System. Once both are fully funded, the split would move to 50-50.

That could take many years, however, as Howard said that the state’s employee retirement system is "the worst-funded pension fund in the nation." The plan has $13.6 billion in unfunded liabilities, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.

Added Howard to the Courier-Journal, “All I hear is you're not going to raise that much. Well, it's a hell of a lot more than what we're raising now, which is zero.” In that sense, on the economic argument, it seems like a no-brainer.

But Howard seems to understand the fight he will likely face, adding, “it's not a moral issue. It's an economic issue. The people who run the House and the Senate in Frankfort are not going to be able to run from this."

To stay up to date on the latest marijuana-related news make sure to like dispensaries.com on Facebook

Viewers stunned after fake news anchor drops c-bomb on live television

(Infowars) – Viewers tuning in to CNN for New Year’s Eve coverage were treated to host Anderson Cooper grotesquely discussing the male anatomy with his co-host.

A drunk Cooper was conversing with co-host Andy Cohen during the live broadcast, when he clarified a comment by blurting out the question, “Who has the biggest cock in Hollywood?”

This is @CNN Anderson Cooper saying "cock" on live TV, while my child is awake. Shameful! #CNNNYE pic.twitter.com/zVeLHJBZaP — Mike (@FuctupMike) January 1, 2020

“This is Anderson Cooper saying ‘cock’ on live TV, while my child is awake,” said Twitter user @FuctupMike, adding, “Shameful.”

One stunned viewer, who claimed his mother was visiting his home for the first time, said he was immediately embarrassed by Cooper’s remark and changed the channel.

So, CNN comes on in my house for the first time in … ever (or a really long time, at the very least.) And I’m welcomed to Anderson Cooper talking about his mom asking “Who has the biggest cock in Hollywood?” I’m no prude, folks, but the channel was changed immediately. — HAP (@hap317) January 1, 2020

CNN and Anderson Cooper have not yet released statements addressing the comment.

Cooper also nearly threw up on camera after taking a shot during the live broadcast.

INJECT ANDERSON COOPER DYING FROM SHOTS INTO MY VEINS. This is the best television. #CNNNYE pic.twitter.com/XGlxFw1ovf — Corey Cohen (@CoreyECohen) January 1, 2020

And who can forget Cooper’s reaction last year after taking his first shot.

A reminder that we must protect Anderson Cooper at all cost. pic.twitter.com/sTzddZ85hg — The Demon of Savage Park 👹 (@binaryproblem) January 1, 2020

infowars.com/stay-classy-cnn-anderson-cooper-discusses-who-has-biggest-ck-in-hollywood-during-new-years-broadcast/

Bulldog Track & Field has ‘Amazing Opener’ at Orange & Purple Elite Meet

SOURCE: GEORGIA SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS

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Georgia’s track and field teams posted nine top collegiate finishes and a series of top-five national finishes at the indoor season opening Orange & Purple Elite meet in Clemson, S.C., on Saturday.

“I’m very happy with our season opener today,” said Georgia head coach Petros Kyprianou. “We have a young but tough team on both sides. Everyone who set personal bests were my highlight today. But I was also excited to see Jasmine (Moore), Darius (Carbin) and Shelby (Tyler) for setting top-three NCAA marks. It is very early in the year but I am seeing a very, very bright future for these Dawg teams.

“Lots of energy, hunger for greatness and enthusiasm is the sum of the good culture that we have on this team. Ninety-nine percent of our student-athletes work really hard and they want to see results. We as a coaching staff are excited to ride this ride with them as they attempt to pursue success at the NCAA Championships in Marsh. I can’t wait for the next meet to see how we improve upon an amazing opener in Clemson!”

Senior Darius Carbin had four first attempt clearances in the high jump, including his victorious mark of 7 feet, 4 ¼ inches, to take over the early national lead in the event. This came within an inch of his personal best of 7-5 set at last year’s Tyson Invitational.

On the women’s side, freshman Shelby Tyler answered a third attempt in the high jump with a clearance at 5-11.50 to win in her collegiate debut. Her mark is tied for No. 2 on the current NCAA list.

Freshman Matthew Boling had a busy start to his collegiate career. He made his debut on the track and left with the third-fastest 60-meter dash time in school history. Boling sped to a 6.68 to finish .01 behind Florida State freshman Taylor Banks for second and shot to No. 10 on this year’s NCAA list. He was fifth (6.74) in the prelims with what was sixth on Georgia’s all-time list.

In the long jump, Boling took off for an opening mark of 24-7.25 to earn runner-up honors and move to ninth in the school record books. This effort tied the No. 10 entry in the Bulldog record books. He then anchored the 4x400m relay team to a 3:11.42 victory with Elija Godwin, Johannes Erm and Caleb Cavanaugh also taking a turn with the baton.

This was Godwin’s meet back with the Bulldogs after sustaining a season-ending injury during practice for last year’s SEC Outdoor Championships. Cavanaugh was making his collegiate debut on Saturday.

The women’s 4x400m relay squad helped complete the sweep for Georgia with the nation’s fifth-best time in 2020. Arria Minor, Victoria Powell, Sterling Lester and Amber Tanner moved into the No. 9 spot on the school’s all-time top-10 list after clocking a 3:41.26. Minor and Powell were competing in the red and black for the first time.

Freshman Jasmine Moore soared 20-11.75 on her first career attempt in the long jump to win and rocket to second on this year’s NCAA performance list. This gave her possession of the No. 9 spot in the school record books. Sophomore teammate Titiana Marsh approached her personal record with a fifth attempt of 20-3, which gave her second in the competition and No. 7 on the national list.

Also of note, Marsh registered a career-best finish of 7.66 in the 60m on Saturday.

Sophomore Imani Carothers recorded the top collegiate finish and was third overall in the 60m hurdle final with an 8.25. This ties Carothers’ No. 5 entry from last year in the school record books and situates her eighth on this year’s national performance list. In the prelims, Carothers was fourth with an 8.33.

Tanner, who was third at last year’s indoor conference meet in the 800m and qualified for the NCAA meet, won the 600m after crossing the finish line in 1:29.79. Freshman heptathlete Anna Hall came across in sixth place with a 1:34.38 during the first race of her collegiate career.

Georgia went 1-2-3 in the men’s pole vault with a true freshman leading two of the Bulldog decathletes. Haze Farmer went over the bar at 16-6.75 on his second try while Erm (15-11) and Tilga (15-1) finished second and third, respectively.

A pair of Lady Bulldog pole vaulters posted matching marks for fifth and sixth place. Freshman Gracie Jauch and sophomore Courtney Long each cleared 12-3.50 (Jauch on her first attempt and Long on her second) in the 17-woman field.

Kyle Garland and Erm began their in-season training for the heptathlon in the 60m hurdle prelims. Garland was 10th with an 8.07 while Erm, who is the two-time defending SEC heptathlon champion, improved his personal record to 8.08, which betters his No. 10 spot in the school record books.

Junior transfer Nina Schultz also clocked an 8.72 in the 60m hurdle prelim. This marked her first action after redshirting in 2019 and earning two national runner-up finishes in the multi-events for Kansas State in 2017-18.

In the 3000m races, redshirt freshman Sam Bowers was the top collegiate finisher (third overall) after running a time of 8:29.32 and true freshman Chase Condra was fourth with an 8:32.23. On the women’s side, freshman Ellie Hall was the second collegiate finisher (third overall) after completing her laps in 10:02.19 while senior Tiffany Yue finished one spot behind with a 10:04.10.

Results and a recap from the Orange & Purple Elite meet will also be found at georgiadogs.com. News and updates from Georgia’s track and field and cross country teams are always located on Twitter/Instagram at @UGATrack.

Bulldog Winners Name Event Mark/Time Jasmine Moore W. Long Jump 20 feet, 11 ¾ inches (No. 9 in UGA history) Darius Carbin M. High Jump 7-4.25 Amber Tanner W. 600m 1:29.79 *Imani Carothers W. 60mH 8.25 (No. 5 in UGA history) *Sam Bowers M. 3000m 8:29.32 A. Minor, V. Powell W. 4x400m relay 3:41.26 (No. 9 in UGA history) S. Lester, A. Tanner E. Godwin, J. Erm M. 4x400m relay 3:11.42 C. Cavanaugh, M. Boling Haze Farmer M. Pole Vault 16-6.75 Shelby Tyler W. High Jump 5-11.50 *top collegiate finish, third overall

There is a ton of college football bowl action today. Things kick-off with the Outback Bowl in Tampa. Then, the Vrbo Citrus Bowl in Orlando. All eyes then shift to the west coast for the 131st Tournament of Roses. Finally, the Allstate Sugar Bowl kick-off at 7:40 PM CT from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

Here is where to watch it all.

One of the two passengers was taken to Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital after a car rolled over Tuesday afternoon in Woodstock, a Woodstock fire official said Tuesday night.

It’s unclear how the car steered off the road in the 4900 block of Route 47 into an open cornfield, Woodstock Fire Capt. Brendan Parker said, but he believes it was caused by snow drifts blowing across the road.

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