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cricket live casino Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), in collaboration with Kerala-based Keltron and the city's traffic police, has initiated survey to identify locations for installing speed radars and LED-based video signage under the Rs197 crore Intelligent and Integrated Traffic Management System (IITMS). This ambitious project aims to modernise traffic control and reduce congestion across Nagpur. IITMS will feature 171 adaptive traffic signals, replacing traditional timers with Artificial Intelligence (AI) that dynamically adjust lights based on real-time vehicle flow. This innovative approach is expected to reduce travel time by 28% to 48% and increase the average speed by 46% to 62%. In addition, 50 junctions will have LED-based Variable Messaging Display, while 32 speed radars will monitor speeding by vehicles on major roads. The system integrates various advanced technologies, including automatic number plate recognition, red-light violation detection and a centralised command centre. CCTVs installed at major junctions will feed real-time data to an AI-powered control hub, which will monitor 11 critical corridors and issue automatic e-challans for traffic violations. To ensure smooth implementation, NMC, Keltron, and the traffic police are working with agencies such as NHAI, state PWD, Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), and the civic body's departments to map underground utilities. This coordination will prevent potential damage during cable-laying operations. After obtaining the required permissions, material procurement and physical work will begin. Keltron, the project's master integrator, will design, install and maintain the system for five years. The work, with a 15-month timeline, will include integrating Nagpur's Smart City infrastructure, such as existing CCTVs, to optimise costs and improve efficiency. Sensor-based traffic signal systems will further enhance traffic flow during emergencies or high-congestion periods. Nagpur city is witnessing an average vehicle registration growth rate of 7% per annum. 65% of modal share is private transport including two-wheeler and four-wheeler. A high number of truck movements is seen through the city due to its location connecting various important highways of the country - NH6, NH69, NH9, SH260 and MSH 9. Nagpur district also witnesses large number of road crashes and fatalities. The IITMS project envisages to revamp and upgrade all the traffic signals in the city and connect them with central server for implementing centrally controlled Adaptive Traffic Control System. The project also envisions to cover major junctions, and roads of the city with Violation Detection Systems for automatic enforcement against red-light violation, speed violation, no helmet, triple-seat riding and illegal parking at junctions etc. KELTRON will operate and maintain the IITMS project for a period of five years from the date of ‘Go-Live'. The system's AI capabilities extend beyond daily operations, offering simulated scenarios to predict the impact of unforeseen events, such as protests or accidents, and providing actionable solutions. By combining real-time monitoring, AI-driven decision-making, and advanced enforcement tools, the IITMS is set to revolutionise urban traffic management. Funded by the state govt, the project is a significant step towards making Nagpur a smarter, more efficient city. Once operational, IITMS will not only ease congestion but also enhance road safety, creating a streamlined and disciplined traffic ecosystem for the city's residents. SMART CITY INFRA TO COME HANDY Nagpur city is equipped with CCTV cameras, network, city operations centre and other assets installed under the Nagpur Smart & Sustainable City Development Corporation Ltd. NMC envisions to co-use existing infrastructure wherever possible, so as to maximize utilization of existing IT/non-IT assets, and save cost as well as plan for one centralized integrated system for traffic management. Box-2 Main objectives * To reduce traffic congestions on city's roads by putting up an intelligent road traffic signalling system for optimized signalling * Reduce accidents at black spots with installation of new signals * To reduce human intervention in controlling the traffic during busy hours and remotely monitor the junctions * Reduce journey time and decreased stoppage time. * Green corridor for emergency vehicles * Implement real-time information of traffic density, congestion, timing plans etc * Prosecution of traffic violators and traffic law enforcement * To implement a trigger-based alert system for better traffic incident managementOn December 5, the IndieWire Honors Winter 2024 ceremony will celebrate the creators and stars responsible for crafting some of the year’s best films . Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team, IndieWire Honors is a celebration of the filmmakers, artisans, and performers behind films well worth toasting. We’re showcasing their work with new interviews leading up to the Los Angeles event. When filmmaker Chris Sanders began to imagine what his fifth animated film , “The Wild Robot,” might look like on the big screen, he was stuck on one crucial idea: how to turn Peter Brown’s deep-feeling and beautifully rendered YA novel about a caring robot and the baby goose she adopts into a movie for everyone. “One of the things we talked about a lot, was how do you make a movie like this for a broad audience?” Sanders said in a recent interview with IndieWire. “We’ve talked a lot about who you work to not exclude , but you also don’t try to target anybody specifically. Anytime I’ve been near that, when you try to deliberately target any particular group of people, I think inevitably you miss and it throws things into a very strange place.” That meant crafting a film that could appeal to all ages, not just the built-in audience of kiddos who would naturally gravitate toward a colorful world mostly populated by chatty forest animals and the charming robot ( voiced by Lupita Nyong’o ) who brings them together. “One of my most critical concerns from the very beginning was making a movie for adults,” the filmmaker said. “I absolutely knew by nature of the story that kids were going to be interested. A robot in the wilderness and these really adorable animals? It’s naturally going to be interesting to kids, very kid-friendly. I was really concerned that the style of the movie and the storytelling be something that adults would really engage with in a big way, and that’s where the whole style of the island came from.” For Sanders, the recipient of this year’s IndieWire Honors Spark Award , dedicated to honoring those who advance and delight in the craft of animation, that meant a combination of both the look and the feel of his lauded film. “Visually, I think that was the biggest challenge: to find an artistic and aesthetic altitude that was worthy of the story,” Sanders said. “It’s just natural for me to operate in those kinds of zones because I came from ‘Mulan,’ ‘Lilo & Stitch,’ ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ where I love to attend to the big emotional wavelengths of these things and to not shy away from it.” Sanders, who has directed animated hits like “Lilo & Stitch” (he even voices the cuddly blue alien) and “How to Train Your Dragon,” pointed to a wide variety of other animated classics as his creative waypoints: everything from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” to “My Neighbor Totoro” and the “always inspiring” classic “Bambi.” Even during production on a new film, Sanders said he likes to watch other movies to keep his brain fresh and his imagination bold. “You get so busy on your particular film, you get so into the details, sometimes you just need to remind yourself what a movie is,” he said. “I’ll go to see a movie, it can have nothing to do tonally with the thing I’m working on, it can be a drama, it can be a comedy, it can be almost a near documentary. It could even be a horror film. It just reminds you of what a movie is, the audacity of it, the boldness of it.” Mostly, Sanders and his team — as you can see, the filmmaker nearly always says “we” when chatting about his creative choices, rarely just “I” — wanted to tell a story they would all enjoy. Perhaps that was the ticket. “We were just so busy making a movie that entertained ourselves, because I think we’re very representative of the core audience,” he said. “All of the things that people were feeling when they watched it, we felt when we were making it. ... Our wish was that, when the movie was over, people would walk out of the theater and just have a moment of, ‘Oh, I’m back,’ to really try to immerse people and beguile them with the environment.” Sanders, who also adapted the script for the film from the first book in Brown’s beloved trilogy about the wondrous robot Roz and the lush forest (and all its furry friends) she eventually makes her home, was so struck by Brown’s book that he could instantly “see” some of the key scenes he wanted to bring to the big screen while reading. “It absolutely happens,” he said when asked about those “lightbulb moments.” “As I’m reading a book, if I see [even one moment] very clearly in my head, I get very anxious that other people will see what I just saw. In ‘The Wild Robot,’ there were several places like that. One of the most notable would be in the very middle, the migration. It isn’t the climactic finish of the movie, it’s just the midpoint, and yet it’s one of the most compelling things I’d ever worked on.” In the film, Roz is unexpectedly shipwrecked on an uninhabited island while she’s out for delivery to the wider, decidedly human world. While the animals that live on the island — foxes (like one voiced by Pedro Pascal), squirrels, bears, beavers, falcons — are initially scared of their new mechanical citizen, Roz finds sanctuary when she adopts young Canadian goose Brightbill (voiced by Kit Connor) after she (oops) accidentally kills his entire family. Ever driven by her programmed directives, Roz makes it her job to get Brightbill ready for an upcoming migration. “I liked the complexity of it, the spectacle, the scale,” he said. “I always work to music and immediately as I was reading this, music was going through my head, visuals were going through my head. What an incredible moment.” Of course, Roz and Brightbill (plus Pascal’s fox Fink) eventually come to love each other, seeing each other as their own chosen, slightly weird but deeply adorable family. And while Brightbill is, at first, angry at Roz for forcing him to migrate (and thus, take him away from his new clan), his goose mentor Longneck (voiced by Bill Nighy) offers him some key context to her choices as his surrogate mom, just as they — and hundreds of other geese — finally take to the skies. “At that moment of truth, when Longneck lays this big last piece of information on him to consider, there’s no longer time for him to apologize, there’s no time left to make things right,” the filmmaker said. “This is something that I have experienced in my life, that I’ve waited too long to say something, and the regret that I carry is huge. So I love the complexity of the moment and these two characters are doing their best to navigate that moment while this really huge thing is going on and time has run out and the train is leaving the station and Brightbill has to be on that train.” What was thrilling for Sanders was “not only these big, magnificent events that were visually compelling, but the incredible complexity and power of the emotional wavelengths that were flowing” through them. And, yes, those first sparks of an idea, those lightbulb moments, are very close to what we see onscreen. “In the case of the migration, pretty close, because I actually [story] boarded it,” he said when asked about how closely his vision and the final product align. “I thought, ‘I know exactly what I want, let me just jump in there, I’ll board it, and I’ll get it up there.’ I had a very specific series of shots that I really wanted to get up on screen, some of those high angles with all the birds and Roz running with her arms out and stuff like that. I usually have a pretty clear thought for what I want, and in that particular case, I took the extra step of, I’ll just board it. That one didn’t shift very much at all, it pretty much stuck.” That look is essential, because while “The Wild Robot” was computer-animated, it also comes with a distinctly painterly look. A combination of technological advancements and old-school attention to details, which included hand-painted elements (artists used styluses, not brushes, in a 3D environment, but the look and feel are wonderfully familiar), made it possible. “I hadn’t been on a film that did that since ‘Lilo & Stitch,'” Sanders said of the hand-painted elements. “The idea that we had matte painters painting the sky, painting the trees, oh my gosh . It made such a gigantic contribution to the emotional resonance of that film. It cannot be understated. We are so at the verge of another Renaissance, as far as seeing new styles of things now. I’m really thrilled by it.” Given the tremendous success of the film — it has so far made nearly $320 million at the global box office, with glowing reviews from both critics and audiences to boot — talk of a sequel is only natural. After all, “The Wild Robot” is part of a trilogy of novels. “ We have not yet begun to do anything on a sequel yet,” Sanders said. “I think we’re very hopeful. I’ve definitely read the second book, and I plan to actually re-read it because his books have many, many chapters. When I read it the first time, I just read it. I just needed to digest it. And the second time through, I’m actually going to make some notes to myself that, perhaps, may come in handy.” Whatever the filmmaker tackles next, Sanders believes animation is returning to “more handmade-looking things.” “I am not somebody who is lamenting the disappearance of traditional animation,” he said. “I love traditional animation and I know it’ll always be there. I was just watching ‘Robot Dreams,’ and it’s hand-drawn and it’s the perfect style for that story, but the fact that we have now finally broken away from that gravitational hold that we were under technologically is the thing that’s so thrilling to me about where we are right now. I feel like we’ve come through a tunnel and we are looking at a big open field and mountains, and we can finally see the sky, and now we can finally go back to more broad, stylistic choices.” He credits “Into the Spider-Verse” for breaking down those doors “with a Sherman tank.” “That was such a revelation, that film worked so well because of it, and it got the Oscar,” Sanders said. “It so deserved it. That just let everybody know, ‘Oh, we are open and free to maneuver, should we be able to get our software to the point where we can do it.'” While audiences might not be too fussed about the mechanics that make this all possible, they do feel it in the final product. That’s what really gets Sanders going. “People noticed the difference on ‘The Wild Robot,'” Sanders said. “I was wondering, well, we are so attuned to it within the studio, I saw it as looking like a radically different thing, and I actually wasn’t sure, when we show this to a general audience, are they going to see the same things that we are? And they sure did, people would comment on it, and oh , that made me happy.” “The Wild Robot” is available to download or rent on various streaming platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon Video, Fandango at Home, Microsoft Store, and more.

By Kimberly Palmer, NerdWallet The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments. The start of a new year can bring a surge of motivation around setting new goals, including financial resolutions. One way to help those goals become reality, financial experts say, is to make them as specific as possible. Then, track your progress, while allowing flexibility for unexpected challenges. “It’s easier to track progress when we know where we are going,” says Sylvie Scowcroft, a certified financial planner and founder of The Financial Grove in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That’s why she encourages her clients to set clearly defined goals, often related to paying off a specific debt, saving a certain amount per month or improving their credit score. Here are more tips from financial experts about crafting 2025 financial goals : Trying to accomplish too much can feel overwhelming. Instead, pick your priorities, says Cathleen Tobin, CFP and owner of Moonbridge Financial Design in Rhinebeck, New York. She suggests focusing on those big, often emotionally-driven goals to find motivation. “It’s more compelling than just a number,” she says. For example, do you want to make sure you’re on track for retirement or save money for a house? “Start there.” Scowcroft says she sees clients get tripped up by selecting overly broad goals, such as “get better with money.” Instead, she encourages people to select specific action items, such as “sign up for a budgeting tool and set aside time each month to learn where my money is going.” That level of specificity provides direction so you know what steps to take next, she adds. For example, if your top priority is to become debt-free, then your specific goal might be to pay off an extra $200 of your debt balance each month. Tobin says labeling savings accounts so they correspond with goals can also help. An emergency fund could be named something like “Peace of mind in 2025,” so you remember why you’re saving every time you make a transfer. “It’s more motivating than just ‘emergency fund,’” Tobin says. Measuring your progress as the year unfolds is also a critical component of successful goal setting, Tobin says. She compares it to weight loss. If you want to lose 20 pounds by June, then you need to lose about a pound a week for the first six months of the year. Similarly, she says it helps to break savings goals into microsteps that specify what you need to do each week. Schedule a weekly or monthly check-in with yourself to make sure you are meeting those smaller goals along the way. You might want to review your debt payoff progress or check your credit score , for example. “Being able to break it down into steps that can be done each week or twice a month really helps,” Tobin says. If your goal is to save more money , then setting up an automatic transfer each month can help turn that goal into reality, as long as you know you have the money in your checking account to spare. “It reduces the mental load,” says Mike Hunsberger, CFP and owner of Next Mission Financial Planning in St. Charles, Missouri, where he primarily supports veterans and current members of the military. He recommends starting small to ease into the change. “I wouldn’t jump to double what you’re currently saving,” he says. For example, when it comes to saving in a retirement account, if you’re starting with a 3% contribution, you might want to bump it up to 4%, then slowly increase it from there. “My number one piece of advice is to start small, but make sure you scale over time,” Hunsberger adds. “Because it’s gradual, you probably won’t notice it impacting your lifestyle.” “Stay flexible,” Scowcroft says. “Part of it is just being kind to yourself and not being too rigid.” When unexpected challenges come up, such as a big unplanned expense, you might have to pause making progress on your goal and reset. You might even need to change your goal. Scowcroft says that doesn’t mean you “failed,” just that life changed your plans. Dwelling on any negativity won’t help your forward progress. Sharing your goals with a friend can also make it easier to reach them, Scowcroft says. “It really helps to have an accountability buddy,” she says. She suggests putting a regular “money date” with your friend on the calendar so you can ask each other how you’re doing, brainstorm any challenges or even budget together side-by-side . “It’s a fun excuse to meet up with a friend.” Kimberly Palmer writes for NerdWallet. Email: kpalmer@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @kimberlypalmer. The article The Secret to Making Successful Financial New Year’s Resolutions originally appeared on NerdWallet .The first half of the SEC Championship proved a rather dour affair, filled with lots of huffing and puffing but little quality in the most important areas of the field. Neither Texas nor Georgia found the end zone in the opening 30 minutes of Saturday's contest, although the Longhorns looked far more efficient with the ball in their possession. Nevertheless, Steve Sarkisian's side limped to just six points despite collecting 200 more yards than the Bulldogs did. One reason why? Penalties. The Longhorns were whistled for eight infractions in the first half, losing a combined 80 yards worth of territory. Georgia, on the other hand, only received two infractions in the same frame. MORE TEXAS-GEORGIA: Live updates from Longhorns-Bulldogs | Who is Matthew Golden? Sarkisian was less than pleased with the disparity in infractions recognized by the officiating crew. In a halftime interview with ESPN's Laura Rutledge, he snapped, firing off a short and snappy response perfectly encapsulating his thoughts on the matter. Here's what you need to know. Steve Sarkisian halftime interview video Steve Sarkisian doesn't seem happy with the officiating 😅 pic.twitter.com/BzUJjxPp7d Sarkisian very well could have set the record for world's quickest interview, serving up 13 words to sum up his dismay with the officiating crew in the first half. "Well, hopefully they call them for a holding one of these times, too," Sarkisian quipped. The Longhorns saw two positive plays knocked off due to offensive holding. Georgia, on the other hand, got off scot-free, only incurring penalties on an unnecessary roughness call and a delay of game. Subjectivity is the name of the game when determining holding calls. It seems luck was not on Texas' side to start the contest. Only time will tell if the refereeing crew evens things up as the game goes on.Robinson's 19 lead Northern Kentucky over IU Indianapolis 66-64

Ontario mulls U.S. booze ban as Trump brushes off Ford's threat to cut electricity OTTAWA — Incoming U.S. president Donald Trump is brushing off Ontario's threat to restrict electricity exports in retaliation for sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods, as the province floats the idea of effectively barring sales of American alcohol. Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press Dec 12, 2024 2:02 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to members of the media at Queen's Park Legislature in Toronto on Thursday December 12, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young OTTAWA — Incoming U.S. president Donald Trump is brushing off Ontario's threat to restrict electricity exports in retaliation for sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods, as the province floats the idea of effectively barring sales of American alcohol. On Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford said Ontario is contemplating restricting electricity exports to Michigan, New York state and Minnesota if Trump follows through on a threat to impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada. "That's okay if he that does that. That's fine," Trump told American network CNBC when asked Thursday about Ford’s remarks on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. “The United States is subsidizing Canada and we shouldn’t have to do that," Trump added. "And we have a great relationship. I have so many friends in Canada, but we shouldn’t have to subsidize a country," he said, claiming this amounts to more than US$100 annually in unspecified subsidies. Meanwhile, an official in the Ford government says it's considering restricting the Liquor Control Board of Ontario from buying American-made alcohol. The province says the Crown agency is the largest purchaser of alcohol in the world. The province also says it could restrict exports of Canadian critical minerals required for electric-vehicle batteries, and bar American companies from provincial procurement. Ford doubled down Thursday on the idea of cutting off energy exports. The province says that in 2013, Ontario exported enough energy to power 1.5 million homes in those three states. "It's a last resort," Ford said. "We're sending a message to the U.S. (that if) you come and attack Ontario, you attack livelihoods of people in Ontario and Canadians, we are going to use every tool in our tool box to defend Ontarians and Canadians. Let’s hope it never comes to that." Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce said the province would rather have co-operation with the U.S., but has mechanisms to "end power sale into the U.S. market" the day Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith ruled out following suit. "Under no circumstances will Alberta agree to cut off oil and gas exports," she said. "Our approach is one of diplomacy, not threats." Michael Sabia, president and CEO of Hydro-Québec, said "it's not our current intention" to cut off Quebec's exports to Massachusetts or New York state, but he conceded it might be possible. "Our intention is to respect those contracts, both because they're legally binding, but also because it's part of, in our view, a sound relationship with the United States," he said. "It's a questionable instrument to use in a trade conflict." Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew would not directly say whether Manitoba would threaten to withhold hydroelectric exports. "We are preparing our list and starting to think through what those options should look like," he said. "I'm not going to make specific news today about items that we're looking at." Kinew added that some premiers felt retaliatory measures wouldn't work in a call Trudeau held Wednesday. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey said "we have no interest in stopping" the export of energy to the U.S., adding that a trade war would hurt both countries. "We hope it is just bluster; we're preparing as if it is not," he said. Canada supplies more oil to the U.S. than any other country. About 60 per cent of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85 per cent of U.S. electricity imports as well. Canada sold $170 billion worth of energy products last year to the U.S. It also has 34 critical minerals and metals the Pentagon is eager for. Trump has threatened to impose a 25 per cent tax on all products entering the United States from Canada and Mexico unless they stem the flow of migrants and drugs. Canadian officials have said it is unfair to lump Canada in with Mexico. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. Canada since has promised more border security spending to address Trump's border concerns. Ford said that will include more border and police officers, as well as drones and sniffer dogs. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2024. — With files from The Associated Press, Liam Casey in Toronto, Lisa Johnson in Edmonton and Steve Lambert in Winnipeg. Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Get your daily Victoria news briefing Email Sign Up More Alberta News Alberta to put $29M into border security patrol unit with sheriffs, dogs, drones Dec 12, 2024 1:48 PM Edmonton Police Chief Dale McFee hired as Alberta premier's top bureaucrat Dec 12, 2024 12:03 PM Man who set fires at Calgary city hall lost testicle during police standoff: watchdog Dec 12, 2024 10:51 AM

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Tommy Mellott threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns and top-seeded Montana State tied a school record with its 13th straight win, dominating Tennessee-Martin 49-17 on Saturday in the second round of the FCS playoffs. Scottre Humphrey ran for 102 yards and a touchdown, one of three rushing touchdowns for the Bobcats (13-0), who are home next weekend against the winner of Saturday's late game between Lehigh and eighth-seeded Idaho. MSU, which has scored at least 30 points in every game this season, won 13 games in 1975-76. Mellott threw for 178 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and the Bobcats rolled to a 28-10 lead. Mellott had touchdown passes of 24 yards to Hunter Provience and 12 yards to Taco Dowler in the first quarter and 39 yards to Ty McCullouch in the second. McCullouch also had a 6-yard touchdown run. The pass to McCullouch ended a six-play, 73-yard drive that took just 53 seconds, and came immediately after Trevonte Rucker took a pass from Kinkead Dent 78 yards to the end zone that made it 21-10. The Bobcats only allowed only 10 total points in the first half of home games in the regular season. Humphrey had a 36-yard TD run and Mellott hit Dowler for a 29-yard score in the third quarter Adam Jones contributed a 30-yard scoring run in the fourth. Mellott finished 22-of-25 passing and the Bobcats had 501 total yards. Dent threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns, both to Rucker, who had six receptions for 107 yards. The Skyhawks (9-6) finished with 264 yards. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football . Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25After drubbing, San Jose Sharks look for response in South Florida

Dylan Hernández: MLS deal with Apple TV could be hurting league's efforts to grow its fan base

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Announces Inducement Grants Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)By Lea Skene | The Associated Press Maryland is suing the company that produces the waterproof material Gore-Tex often used for raincoats and other outdoor gear, alleging its leaders kept using “forever chemicals” long after learning about serious health risks associated with them. The complaint, which was filed last week in federal court, focuses on a cluster of 13 facilities in northeastern Maryland operated by Delaware-based W.L. Gore & Associates. It alleges the company polluted the air and water around its facilities with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances , jeopardizing the health of surrounding communities while raking in profits. The lawsuit adds to other claims filed in recent years, including a class action on behalf of Cecil County residents in 2023 demanding Gore foot the bill for water filtration systems, medical bills and other damages associated with decades of harmful pollution in the largely rural community. “PFAS are linked to cancer, weakened immune systems, and can even harm the ability to bear children,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement. “It is unacceptable for any company to knowingly contaminate our drinking water with these toxins, putting Marylanders at risk of severe health conditions.” Gore spokesperson Donna Leinwand Leger said the company is “surprised by the Maryland Attorney General’s decision to initiate legal action, particularly in light of our proactive and intensive engagement with state regulators over the past two years.” “We have been working with Maryland, employing the most current, reliable science and technology to assess the potential impact of our operations and guide our ongoing, collaborative efforts to protect the environment,” the company said in a statement, noting a Dec. 18 report that contains nearly two years of groundwater testing results. But attorney Philip Federico, who represents plaintiffs in the class action and other lawsuits against Gore, called the company’s efforts “too little, much too late.” In the meantime, he said, residents are continuing to suffer — one of his clients was recently diagnosed with kidney cancer. “It’s typical corporate environmental contamination,” he said. “They’re in no hurry to fix the problem.” The synthetic chemicals are especially harmful because they’re nearly indestructible and can build up in various environments, including the human body. In addition to cancers and immune system problems, exposure to certain levels of PFAS has been linked to increased cholesterol levels, reproductive health issues and developmental delays in children, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Gore leaders failed to warn people living near its Maryland facilities about the potential impacts, hoping to protect their corporate image and avoid liability, according to the state’s lawsuit. The result has been “a toxic legacy for generations to come,” the lawsuit alleges. Since the chemicals are already in the local environment, protecting residents now often means installing complex and expensive water filtration systems. People with private wells have found highly elevated levels of dangerous chemicals in their water, according to the class action lawsuit. The Maryland facilities are located in a rural area just across the border from Delaware, where Gore has become a longtime fixture in the community. The company, which today employs more than 13,000 people, was founded in 1958 after Wilbert Gore left the chemical giant DuPont to start his own business. Its profile rose with the development of Gore-Tex , a lightweight waterproof material created by stretching polytetrafluoroethylene, which is better known by the brand name Teflon that’s used to coat nonstick pans. The membrane within Gore-Tex fabric has billions of pores that are smaller than water droplets, making it especially effective for outdoor gear. The state’s complaint traces Gore’s longstanding relationship with DuPont , arguing that information about the chemicals’ dangers was long known within both companies as they sought to keep things quiet and boost profits. It alleges that as early as 1961, DuPont scientists knew the chemical caused adverse liver reactions in rats and dogs. DuPont has faced widespread litigation in recent years. Along with two spinoff companies, it announced a $1.18 billion deal last year to resolve complaints of polluting many U.S. drinking water systems with forever chemicals. The Maryland lawsuit seeks to hold Gore responsible for costs associated with the state’s ongoing investigations and cleanup efforts, among other damages. State oversight has ramped up following litigation from residents alleging their drinking water was contaminated. Until then, the company operated in Cecil County with little scrutiny. Gore announced in 2014 that it had eliminated perfluorooctanoic acid from the raw materials used to create Gore-Tex. But it’s still causing long-term impacts because it persists for so long in the environment, attorneys say. Over the past two years, Gore has hired an environmental consulting firm to conduct testing in the area and provided bottled water and water filtration systems to residents near certain Maryland facilities, according to a webpage describing its efforts. Recent testing of drinking water at residences near certain Gore sites revealed perfluorooctanoic acid levels well above what the EPA considers safe, according to state officials. Attorneys for the state acknowledged Gore’s ongoing efforts to investigate and address the problem but said the company needs to step up and be a better neighbor. “While we appreciate Gore’s limited investigation to ascertain the extent of PFAS contamination around its facilities, much more needs to be done to protect the community and the health of residents,” Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain said in a statement. “We must remove these forever chemicals from our natural resources urgently, and we expect responsible parties to pay for this remediation.” Related Articles Business | Addicts trafficked cross country by ‘army of fraudsters,’ new lawsuit alleges Business | FTC sues largest wine and spirits distributor, saying it discriminates against smaller stores Business | LA prosecutor suing over alleged demotion during Gascón era tentatively settles Business | Embattled addiction treatment empire countersues Aetna in $40 million tug-of-war Business | California charges construction firm with felony wage theft at Cathedral City projectLOS ANGELES — Until he sustained a season-ending knee injury last week in the Western Conference final, Galaxy playmaker Riqui Puig was having a tremendous season. So I heard. I watched Puig play only twice this year, once in the Galaxy's season-opening 1-1 draw with Inter Miami and a second time in his team's Fourth of July defeat to LAFC at the Rose Bowl. Outside of short highlight clips on social media, I never saw the former Barcelona prospect, not even when he assisted on the goal that sent the Galaxy to the MLS Cup final. That wasn't a reflection of my interest. Some of my friends will make fun of me for publicly admitting this, but I like Major League Soccer. I covered the league in my first job out of college and have casually kept up with it since. I take my children to a couple of games a year. My 11-year-old son owns Galaxy and LAFC hats but no Dodgers or Lakers merchandise. When flipping through channels in the past, if presented with the choice of, say, college football or MLS, I usually watched MLS. But not this year. While the MLS Cup final between the Galaxy and New York Red Bulls will be shown on Fox and Fox Deportes, the majority of games are now exclusively behind a paywall, courtesy of the league's broadcasting deal with Apple. MLS Season Pass subscriptions were reasonably priced — $79 for the entire season for Apple TV+ subscribers, $99 for non-subscribers — but I was already paying for DirecTV Stream, Netflix, Amazon Prime, PlayStation Plus and who knows what else. MLS became a casualty in my household, as well as in many others, and the possibility of being out of sight and out of mind should be a concern for a league that is looking to expand its audience. Which isn't to say the league made a mistake. This was a gamble MLS had to take. Now in the second year of a 10-year, $2.5 billion deal with Apple, MLS did what Major League Baseball is talking about doing, which is to centralize its broadcasting rights and sell them to a digital platform. Regional sports networks have been decimated by cord cutting, making traditional economic models unsustainable. The move to Apple not only increased the league's broadcast revenues — previous deals with ESPN, Fox and Univision were worth a combined $90 million annually, according to multiple reports — but also introduced a measure of uniformity in the league. The quality of the broadcasts are better than they were under regional sports networks. Viewers know where to watch games and when, as every one of them is on Season Pass and most of them are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. local time either on Wednesday or Saturday. "That's been fueling our growth and driving our fan engagement," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said Friday at his annual state of the league address. Apple and MLS declined to reveal the number of League Pass subscribers, but the league provided polling figures that indicated 94% of viewers offered positive or neutral reviews of League Pass. The average viewing time for a game is about 65 minutes for a 90-minute game, according to Garber. In other words, the League Pass is well-liked — by the people who have it. The challenge now is to increase that audience. The launch of League Pass last year coincided with the arrival of Lionel Messi, which presumably resulted in a wave of subscriptions. But the league can't count on the appearance of the next Messi; there is only one of him. MLS pointed to how its fans watch sports on streaming devices or recorded television than any other U.S. sports league, as well as how 71% of its fans are under the age of 45. The league also pointed to how it effectively drew more viewers to the Apple broadcast of Inter Miami's postseason opener with a livestream of a "Messi Cam' on TikTok, indicating further collaborations with wide-reaching entities could be in its future. Garber mentioned how Season Pass is available in other countries. The commissioner also made note of how Apple places games every week in front of its paywall. "What we have, really, is a communication problem," Garber said. "This is new, and we've got to work with Apple, we've got to work with our clubs and we've got to work with our partners to get more exposure to what we think is a great product." The greatest benefit to the league could be Apple's vested interest in improving the on-field product. MLS insiders said Apple has not only encouraged teams to sign more high-profile players but also pushed the league to switch to a fall-to-spring calendar more commonplace in other parts of the world, reasoning that doing so would simplify the process of buying and selling players. The on-field product is what matters. The on-field product is why MLS continues to face competition for viewers from overseas leagues. The on-field product is why the league hasn't succeeded in converting every soccer fan into a MLS fan. And ultimately, if casual viewers such as myself are to pay to watch the Galaxy or LAFC on a screen of some kind, the on-field product will be why. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

'Decline In Jewellery Exports Is A Wake-Up Call': Gautam AdaniTHE magical effect of Gulf State money has transformed the Premier League. It will take a while to discover whether these riches will continue. 3 Gianni Infantino operates like an emperor in football Credit: EPA Neither of the two clubs which have hugely benefited, Manchester City and Newcastle, are blowing our socks off so far this season. Pep Guardiola’s City, it is fair to say, have disappointed their fans so far — but not for long, I am sure. Toon lie close to City in mid-table which must be no more than acceptable to Eddie Howe, his players and the masses on the Tyne. There is further heat for the pair over whether any football club should be financed by a state. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL WOOD YOU BELIEVE IT Tiger Woods hugs ex-wife Elin Nordegren at Florida golf event ALL FORE IT I've been golf correspondent for nearly 25 years - here are my top ten courses A Parliamentary Bill is in the pipeline. At a debate I attended at the House of Lords last week, Lord Scriven made his view clear: “There is a specific issue with the Gulf states. “If people are potentially put to death for being gay in a state, would that debar a state entity or an individual in that government from owning an English club? It is a clear question.” One which like so many others, was not answered. Apparently, a letter answering the question will be put in the “library”. Most read in Football KRIS BOYD Philippe Clement has two games to save his job, if this is still Rangers I knew BAL ROLLING Clement delivers injury update on Balogun ahead of Motherwell & Celtic clashes GREEN LIGHT KMI review panel rules on Celtic-Motherwell penalty row and Butland yellow card KEEP CAM Celtic hero Cameron Carter-Vickers 'emerges as shock target for European giants' I hope it doesn’t have to wait as long to get his letter as it has taken the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to reply to the Prem clubs she invited in to discuss the Bill. We’ve been waiting five months and counting... Fans baffled as Donald Trump sends bizarre video message to pal ‘Jonny’ Infantino before Fifa Club World Cup draw Similar funding will be responsible for the 2034 Saudi World Cup, having dodged inspection by the 211 national federations. Or anyone else bar the press and campaigners. Critics point out that hundreds, possibly thousands, of workers died building stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in fellow oil state Qatar. The deaths were barely reported at the time. It may be too late for protestors concerned at this return to a Middle East autocracy because Fifa president Gianni Infantino wrapped up the process before they could make a full case. Infantino bizarrely said he felt “gay, African and disabled” before Qatar and also told women to “pick the right battles”, so he was hardly going to think about the treatment of the fairer sex when awarding the World Cup. Amnesty International reports women “continue to face discrimination in law, inheritance, marriage, divorce and child custody”. But women have been battling for decades against this sort of nonsense, so we won’t be relying on Infantino to fight any corners for us. I’m sure neither City nor Newcastle regard Fifa’s practices as their affair. The Prem already have strict rules about spending on transfers and soon new directives will cover what can be spent on players’ wages. Ownership is, rightly, open to investment from companies all over the world. 3 Nearly half of top-flight teams are ultimately controlled by American investors, as well as by Chinese, Pakistan, Thai, Greek and even English! All of these owners are multi-millionaires and have boardrooms. The oil states have only Arab royalty. Infantino’s behaviour is open to question. Clearly, he likes to operate as an emperor, altering the fixture list in open warfare with Uefa. His Club World Cup intrudes on the close season and relegates the Champions League to a runner-up in importance. Plus, any possibility of an open competition for the 2034 enlarged World Cup has been shut tight. Infantino, a lawyer by trade, knows just how to get his own way and pay. When he was elected Fifa president unopposed in 2023, his annual salary with bonuses was raised by 33 per cent to more than £5million a year. And, as a Swiss-Italian, he now lives in Florida and pays no taxes there. Although some countries, notably Germany, asked questions, he will remain president until 2027 when he is likely to stand again for a further four years. Read more on the Scottish Sun SNOW WAY Weather maps show heavy snow for Scotland in DAYS – with -2C New Year’s chill NO CRIME Orange Order slam cops after Celtic activist was cleared over 'sectarian rants' The new Club World Cup will take place in 11 stadiums for a month next summer in the US. Chelsea and City are our entrants on the basis of Champions League success. Good luck to them. And readers for the coming year. 3Britain should follow Australia’s lead and ban young people from social media, according to a leading campaigner for the protection of childhood. The Australian Parliament last week backed the world’s toughest measures to stop under-16s using social media – and tech companies could fines of nearly £26million if they do not enforce new rules. Former Conservative MP Miriam Cates, a senior fellow at the Centre for Social Justice and GB News presenter, hopes Australia will blaze a trail for Britain to follow. She wants children denied access to “dreadful” content which encourages suicide, self-harm and misogyny and exposes them to pornography – and she is concerned they can be “contacted by people they don’t know” and “bullied by people they do know”. Ms Cates is also alarmed that algorithms encourage young people to spend hours staring at screens. “They are not being outside, they are not making face to face contact, they are not reading, they are not studying they are not doing sport – all those things that children really need to grow into competent adults,” she said. A further goal is encouraging smartphone manufacturers to produce phones which allow children to make calls, send texts, use digital train tickets and access maps – but not download apps. “I think that’s the answer really but Government will have to incentivise that to make it happen,” she said. Her call comes as Labour MP Josh MacAlister works to change the law so headteachers will have a legal requirement to make schools “mobile-free zones”. His draft law would raise the age of “internet adulthood” from 13 to 16 – making it harder for companies to use children’s data to “push addictive content”. Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza said: “Too many children are still routinely exposed to significant and damaging online harms including violence, pornography and other material that promotes harmful behaviour. We have heard too many stories of children causing harm to themselves, or others, on the back of material they have been exposed to online.” Dame Rachel said she was “really impressed” by the action in Australia, adding that “we need to start here with holding the social media companies properly to account for their laissez faire approach to children’s safety”. Sir Peter Wanless, the chief executive of the NSPCC children’s charity, did not favour a “blanket ban”, saying this would “penalise children for the failures of tech companies to make their sites properly safe for young users”. A Government spokeswoman said there are “no current plans to implement a smartphone or social media ban for children,” adding: “We are focused on finding the best way of ensuring young people are kept safe while also benefiting from the latest technology. By next summer, the Online Safety Act will bring in protections for children to make sure their experiences online are appropriate for their age. “We have recently set out new priorities on online safety, including ensuring safety is baked into platforms from the start, and launched a research project looking at the links between social media and children’s wellbeing. This will help build the evidence base to inform future action.”