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College football picks: Brutal stretch run in Pac-12 is obstacle to breaking CFP drought

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:57:53 GMT

Now comes the hard part for the Pac-12.The Pac-12 has been tons of fun and high quality in what will be its last season in its current form. Next year, 10 Pac-12 schools scatter to three other Power Five conferences.Before they go, the conference is trying to break a six-year College Football Playoff drought. To do so, it will have to overcome itself.Because of some excellent out-of-conference results, the Pac-12 has four teams with zero or one loss. Only the Southeastern Conference has that many.The difference: In the Pac-12, most of those teams still have to play each other, starting with No. 8 Oregon (6-1) at No 13 Utah (6-1) on Saturday.The Utes also play No. 5 Washington (7-0) next month. The Ducks and Huskies have already played each other and each play No. 11 Oregon State (6-1) in late November. The Beavers handed Utah its only loss.That doesn’t even count No. 24 Southern California’s back-to-back games against the Huskies and Ducks in early November, though calli...

Trayectoria del huracán Otis: ¿a dónde se dirige y qué estados amenaza?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:57:53 GMT

(CNN Español) — El huracán Otis se intensificó rápidamente en su rumbo a México hasta alcanzar la categoría 5 y luego se debilitó hasta categoría 4 tras tocar tierra, amenazando con fuertes lluvias en el suroeste y sur del país. A esta hora de este miércoles, de acuerdo con el último reporte del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional de México (SMN), Otis se degradó a categoría 1.¿Dónde y cuándo se espera que toque tierra el huracán Otis en México?El SMN pronostica “lluvias persistentes” para las siguientes horas sobre entidades del centro del país.¿Cuál será el curso de Otis esta semana?Según el SMN, en este momento el centro de Otis se ubica sobre Guerrero, a 20 km al sur-sureste de la ciudad de Altamirano, y a 160 km al nor-noroeste de Acapulco.Además, la misma fuente establece que Otis se desplaza hacia el nor-noroeste a 17 km/h, con vientos máximos sostenidos de 130 km/h y rachas de 155 km/h.Trayectoria de Otis (Servicio Meteorológico Nacional de México)“Otis s...

Johnson captures Speakership, with strong GOP support: Live coverage

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:57:53 GMT

Johnson captures Speakership with strong GOP support: Live coverageRepublicans overwhelmingly backed Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.)'s bid for House Speaker on Wednesday, ending a chaotic stretch 22 days without a chamber leader.Johnson secured 220 votes, compared to 209 for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).The fourth Speaker candidate in three weeks, Johnson won the conference's nomination on Tuesday night.Johnson, 51, has been the House GOP’s vice chairman, a junior leadership position, since 2021. He is also a former chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House. Follow along here for live updates.

Jason Momoa signing vodka bottles in Parker, Wheat Ridge

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:57:53 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Jason Momoa, widely known for his role as Aquaman, is in town this week signing autographs and meeting fans while promoting his Meili Vodka brand.Momoa will be signing bottles for fans in Parker on Wednesday and again in Wheat Ridge on Thursday. Top spots to drink local hard cider around Denver Co-founded by Momoa and Blaine Halverson, Meili Vodka boasts a distilling process that is sustainable and incorporates all four elements; fire, water, earth and air."To honor the Earth, we ensure that Meili is created, sourced, and produced as ethically, environmentally friendly, and humanely as possible," the website says.Each bottle, according to the website, is made of 100% recycled glass, making no two bottles alike.It is distilled with water from the mountains of Montana and locally sourced grain, according to the website. Before it is bottled, the vodka is set to rest and breathe which, according to the website, results in a smoother flavor profile.Where and when you ...

Potatoes and turnips were the original jack-o'-lantern

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:57:53 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Jack-o'-lanterns are an iconic symbol of Halloween today, and the tradition goes back centuries. But it wasn't always pumpkins that people carved ghoulish faces into and stuck a candle inside before displaying them on the porch to rot.The tradition of carving faces into vegetables in the fall dates back to the 1600s when people in Ireland would carve spooky faces into turnips and potatoes to scare off evil spirits. Best places to pick pumpkins near Denver They were targeting one evil spirit in particular. He's called Stingy Jack, and he is described as old, drunk and miserable.Stingy Jack: The spirit, the myth, the legendJack was mean, stingy, grumpy and a trickster. Elizabeth Stack, the Executive Director of the Irish American Heritage Museum in Albany, New York, told FOX Weather that he was mischievous and liked to play tricks on his neighbors, family and friends.According to legend, Jack was even able to trick the devil, twice. Both times, Jack was on his deat...

Mike Johnson elected House speaker with broad GOP support

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:57:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans eagerly elected Rep. Mike Johnson as House speaker Wednesday, elevating a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader to the seat of U.S. power and ending for now the political chaos in their majority.Johnson of Louisiana swept on the first ballot with support from all Republicans anxious to put the past weeks of tumult behind and get on with the business of governing.A lower-ranked member of the House GOP leadership team, Johnson emerged as the fourth Republican nominee in what has become an almost absurd cycle of political infighting since Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as GOP factions jockey for power. While not the party’s top choice for the gavel, the deeply religious and even-keeled Johnson has few foes and an important GOP backer: Donald Trump.“I think he’s gonna be a fantastic speaker,” Trump said Wednesday at the New York courthouse where the former president, who is now the Republican front-runner for president in 2024, is on trial over a...

Woman who burned herself on Dunkin’ coffee settles for $3 million

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:57:53 GMT

New York (CNN) — A Dunkin’ franchisee is paying a woman $3 million to settle a lawsuit involving hot coffee falling on her lap that she alleges caused severe burns and life-altering injuries, according to her lawyers.The unnamed woman claimed the incident, which happened in February 2021 at an Atlanta-area location, occurred because the cup’s lid was not secured.According to the woman’s attorney, the lid came off the cup after she was given the drink and the hot coffee spilled on her lap causing second- and third-degree burns to her thighs, groin and abdomen. She also required “extensive” skin grafts, a statement said. The injury resulted in her spending weeks at a burn unit in a Georgia hospital, costing her $200,000 in medical bills.“America may run on Dunkin’, but our client had to re-learn how to walk due to the severity of her burns,” said Morgan & Morgan attorney Benjamin Welch in a statement. “We alleged that the spill never would have happened had the drive-thru employee...

Medford man wins $1 million prize after house cleaner finds instant ticket in vase

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:57:53 GMT

A man from Medford was the winner of a $1 million prize, thanks to a discovery by his house cleaner.Khalil Soussa won big via the Massachusetts State Lottery’s “15,000,000 Money Maker” instant ticket game, according to officials.Soussa told the state lottery that he bought the winning ticket months ago, but only came across it again thanks to his house cleaner, who found it in a vase and brought it to his attention.According to lottery officials, Soussa opted for the prize’s cash option and received a payment of $650,000 (before taxes).Tony’s Convenience on Salem Street in Medford will also receive a $10,000 bonus for selling the ticket.According to the Massachusetts State Lottery’s website, the odds of winning the 15,000,000 Money Maker’s $1 million prize are 1 in 2,268,000.

At least 30 US military personnel suffered minor injuries in recent drone attacks, officials say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:57:53 GMT

(CNN) — At least 30 US military personnel sustained minor injuries from drone and rocket attacks on coalition military bases in Iraq and Syria on October 18, defense officials told CNN on Wednesday.One of the officials said that four personnel sustained minor injuries from an attack on al-Asad airbase in Iraq on October 18, and an additional 20 personnel suffered minor injuries from an attack that same day on the US garrison in al-Tanf, Syria. It is not clear where the other injuries occurred. CNN previously reported that were some minor injuries in the incidents but not how many.The officials said that all of the personnel have since returned to duty, but that several continue to be monitored for any additional side effects or injuries. The number of injured has risen as more US troops have reported symptoms in the days following the attacks. The officials declined to elaborate on the nature of the injuries, but some injuries like traumatic brain injury can take seve...

White House releasing $3.7B in home heating aid. See if you’re eligible

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:57:53 GMT

By Niels Lesniewski, CQ-Roll CallWASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday announced the release of roughly $3.7 billion in funding to help lower-income households afford their home heating costs.The funding, according to a senior administration official, represents 90% of the allocated funding for the program known as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program for fiscal 2024, with the balance being held back in case there is a budgetary adjustment in the final full-year appropriation for the program, which is run by the Department of Health and Human Services.“We’ve got news because the president worked so hard to get a bipartisan infrastructure law passed,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said on a call with reporters. “We know that in the next several weeks — we’re beginning to figure out how people need to be able to stay warm.”Six million families were reliant on LIHEAP for heating or cooling last year, the secretary said. The funding largely comes from regular appropriations th...