Virginia has a green light from the administration of President Joe Biden to use $1.48 billion in federal infrastructure funding to extend high-speed internet access to more than 133,000 unserved locations, most of them in the rural Southside and Shenandoah Valley. Gov. Glenn Youngkin has announced that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration approved Virginia's list of unserved locations for extending access to broadband telecommunications networks that will allow homes, businesses and community institutions to tap into high-speed internet services that proved essential for education and business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Expanding access to high-speed internet has been a priority for three successive governors - Youngkin, a Republican, and two Democrats, Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam - since 2017, with Virginia committing almost $1 billion in state and federal aid to extend broadband to more than 400,000 locations in 82 cities and counties. But the federal Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program is providing the state with federal infrastructure money aimed at making high-speed internet universal and affordable in Virginia. "Virginia remains firmly committed to bridging the digital divide across the commonwealth so all Virginians can thrive in our digital world," Youngkin said in an announcement late Friday. "Coupling this historic investment with the state's ongoing broadband efforts, we are confident that will connect all Virginians that are currently unserved to high-speed, affordable internet, therefore solidifying Virginia's place as the best state to live, work and raise a family." However, a sweeping new report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission - the General Assembly's watchdog agency for state government - makes clear that achieving that goal won't be easy, based on a number of hurdles that have delayed completion of projects and driven up the cost. The report warns that Virginia might not meet its goal of providing universal access in 2028, with the target date slipping until 2030 or later. The state originally sought to achieve universal access in 2024, which is about to end. Currently about 87% of the state has access to high-speed internet service, but JLARC estimates that about 392,000 locations remain unserved. Most of those locations are in rural areas of Southside and the Valley, but they also include pockets in more unlikely places, such as Loudoun County and tidal Virginia localities on the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. JLARC said state and federal funding already has been awarded to extend service to about two-thirds of those unserved locations, and the BEAD program aims to reach the remainder. Bryan Horn, director of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, said the state will meet the 2026 deadline for committing the federal funding or returning it. "We do not foresee having to return any money at this time," he told the commission on Dec. 9. JLARC Associate Director Tracey Smith said the state agency "has done really a commendable job in spearheading the state effort to close the digital divide." "In many ways, Virginia has been and remains a leader in broadband deployment," Smith said. JLARC staff cited a delay in accessing the federal BEAD funds and problems on the ground as local governments, internet service providers and electric utilities sometimes face barriers in attaching fiber-optic cables to utility poles and extending them along state highway rights-of-way and across railroad tracks. In some cases, internet providers failed to reach many unserved homes and businesses as promised, missed their deadlines and exceeded the estimated costs of the projects, putting them in jeopardy. Hanover County close to finalizing internet access to 95% of homes Virginia was the first state to submit a request - in July 2023 - for federal funds provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that Biden signed into law three years ago. The Biden administration approved the grant in July, but permission to proceed with a list of unserved locations was delayed in part by Hurricane Helene, which devastated parts of Southwest Virginia that the program plans to serve, as it did in western North Carolina. "It changed the facts on the ground," said Evan Feinman, director of the national BEAD program and former broadband adviser to Northam, who dedicated a half-billion dollars in federal emergency relief funds to the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative during the pandemic. Feinman said Virginia has no reason to fall behind in its goal of achieving universal broadband access by 2028. "States can move as quickly or as slowly as they want to move," he said. "Virginia should have more than enough resources to solve the problem." Sen. Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, a member of JLARC who has pushed to extend broadband in his district, said the federal government has not moved as fast as it had promised, but he said, "We're seeing in parts of eastern Hanover that a lot of work is going on the ground right now." "One of the challenges out there is there are a significant number of projects going on, not only in Virginia abut nationally," McDougle said. "The more projects you have, the more challenging it is to get people to do the work." U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, is a former telecommunications executive has made broadband expansion a priority as governor and in his three terms in the Senate. He played a pivotal role in passage of the bipartisan infrastructure act, as well as the American Rescue Plan Act, both of which have helped finance the initiative in Virginia. "It won't be lack of capital - it will be lack of execution if we don't get there," Warner said Monday in a telephone interview from London. He called the federal greenlight for BEAD funding "great news," especially for rural areas that lack access. "With broadband, in rural areas kids have a choice of whether they're going to stay," he said. "Without broadband, there is no choice."American Airlines is boarding flights again after the FAA lifted its nationwide groundstop
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'Crorepati constable' triggers demand for MP transport dept probe; Digvijaya writes to PMTua Tagovailoa is my Start of the Week for Week 14, so naturally I should be excited about his pass catchers. Tyreek Hill, Jonnu Smith and De'Von Achane are must-start Fantasy options, but what about Jaylen Waddle? The safe answer is to call him a No. 3 Fantasy receiver in the majority of leagues. He scored at least 11.3 PPR points in each of his past two games against New England and Green Bay, but that's the only time this season he's reached double digits in PPR in consecutive games this season. He's topped 60 receiving yards just twice, he has more than four receptions just twice and he only has two touchdowns on the season. And this week, he's facing a Jets defense that is No. 1 in fewest Fantasy points allowed to opposing receivers. But Sauce Gardner (hamstring) is likely out in Week 14, and four receivers have scored at least 11.9 PPR points against the Jets in the past four games. Waddle also destroyed the Jets in two games last season with 16 catches for 256 yards and a touchdown on 17 targets, and he scored at least 19.4 PPR points in each outing. Will that version of Waddle show up in Week 14? That's hard to expect given his body of work in 2024. Your best bet is to start him in three-receiver leagues, and maybe he can surprise us with a rare dominant game at home.Currencynewsbreaks Dealflow Events' Upcoming Conference To Showcase Insights, Foster Connections In The Microcap Community
What is the best internet provider in Sedona? According to CNET experts, T-Mobile Home Internet is the best internet provider in Sedona . The service comes with decent speeds and affordable pricing that's locked in for as long as you stay a customer. Optimum’s cable internet service is our choice for the best cheap internet in the city, but be prepared for prices to increase by $25 a month in the second year. Starlink offers some of the fastest speeds in the area, but it requires an expensive equipment purchase when you sign up for service. Best internet in Sedona, Arizona Sedona internet providers compared Source: CNET analysis of provider data. Other available internet providers in Sedona Cheap internet options in Sedona Sedona residents don’t have a ton of options when it comes to cheap internet. Optimum offers the cheapest starting price at just $40 a month, but that increases to $65 after just one year. T-Mobile and Verizon are your best bets for cheap internet in the long term, and you can get meaningful discounts if you bundle with one of their eligible cellphone plans. What’s the cheapest internet plan in Sedona? Source: CNET analysis of provider data. How to find internet deals and promotions in Sedona The best internet deals and the top promotions in Sedona depend on what discounts are available during that time period. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers. Sedona internet providers such as Optimum may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, however, including Starlink, T-Mobile and Verizon run the same standard pricing year-round. For a more extensive list of deals, check out our guide on the best internet deals . How fast is Sedona broadband? There is a major lack of fast internet options in Sedona. According to the FCC , less than 1% of residents have access to 100/20Mbps speeds, which is practically unheard of for a city of its size. For comparison, 99.8% of Flagstaff residents can get those speeds. If you’re looking for high-speed internet in Sedona, Verizon is the only provider in Sedona that offers gig speeds, and it’s only available to around 1 in 4 residents. Fastest internet plans in Sedona Source: CNET analysis of provider data. What’s a good internet speed? Most internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you're looking for an internet plan that can accommodate videoconferencing, streaming video or gaming, you'll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here's an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the FCC . Note that these are only guidelines -- and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address. For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need How CNET chose the best internet providers in Sedona Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone , laptop , router or kitchen tool , it's impractical to personally test every internet service provider in a given city. So what's our approach? For starters, we tap into a proprietary database of pricing, availability and speed information that draws from our own historical ISP data, partner data and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov. This guide leverages an in-house artificial intelligence tool called RAMP, which is trained on our own writing and uses our database to generate content about specific internet service providers that our writers can use in determining and presenting our picks for a given guide. Check CNET’s AI policy for more information about how our teams use (and don’t use) AI tools. Because our database is not exhaustive, we go to the FCC’s website to check the primary data for ourselves and make sure we’re considering every ISP that provides service in an area. Plans and prices also vary by location, so we input local addresses on provider websites to find the specific options available to residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP's service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of the time of our pre-publication fact-check. Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions: While the answer to those questions is often layered and complex, the providers who come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. When it comes to selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, though we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. We look at advertised upload and download speeds, and also take into account real-world speed data from sources like Ookla (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) and FCC reports . To explore our process in more depth, you can visit our How we test ISPs page. What’s the final word on internet providers in Sedona? Living in Sedona has a lot of perks, but the internet isn’t one of them. Our top pick, T-Mobile Home Internet, is typically the third or fourth best option when we look at internet providers in a city. In Sedona, T-Mobile is the best provider, offering fast speeds and fair prices. Optimum’s cable internet service has a lower starting price, but prices increase by $25 a month after the first year. Starlink is a decent backup option that offers faster speeds than Optimum, but you’ll have to buy the equipment for $599 upfront. Internet providers in Sedona FAQs What is the best internet service provider in Sedona? T-Mobile Home Internet is the best internet service provider in Sedona, with a price tag of $50 per month, download speeds up to 245Mbps and no equipment fees, data caps, or contracts. Optimum and Starlink are decent backup options, but they have drawbacks like price increases and high equipment costs. Is fiber internet available in Sedona? Fiber internet from Optimum is technically available to a handful of homes in Sedona -- around 0.2% of the city, according to FCC data. Who is the cheapest internet provider in Sedona? Optimum offers the cheapest starting prices of any internet provider in Sedona at $40 a month. That said, prices increase by $25 a month after the first year. T-Mobile and Verizon both offer home internet service starting at $50 monthly. Which internet provider in Sedona offers the fastest plan? Verizon 5G Home Internet offers the fastest internet plan in Sedona, with 1,000Mbps download speeds.WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee's long-awaited report on Matt Gaetz documents a trove of salacious allegations, including sex with an underage girl, that tanked the Florida Republican's bid to lead the Justice Department. Citing text messages, travel receipts, online payments and testimony, the bipartisan committee paints a picture of a lifestyle in which Gaetz and others connected with younger women for drug-fueled parties, events or trips, with the expectation the women would be paid for their participation. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., closes a door to a private meeting with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. The former congressman, who filed a last-minute lawsuit to try to block the report's release Monday, slammed the committee's findings. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and has insisted he never had sex with a minor. And a Justice Department investigation into the allegations ended without any criminal charges filed against him. "Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn't ask for — and that isn't 'charged' for sex is now prostitution?!?" Gaetz wrote in one post Monday. "There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses." Here's a look at some of the committee's key findings: The committee found that between 2017 and 2020, Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women "likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use." He paid the women using through online services such as PayPal, Venmo and CashApp and with cash or check, the committee said. The committee said it found evidence that Gaetz understood the "transactional nature" of his relationships with the women. The report points to one text exchange in which Gaetz balked at a woman's request that he send her money, "claiming she only gave him a 'drive by.'" Women interviewed by the committee said there was a "general expectation of sex," the report said. One woman who received more than $5,000 from Gaetz between 2018 and 2019 said that "99 percent of the time" that when she hung out with Gaetz "there was sex involved." However, Gaetz was in a long-term relationship with one of the women he paid, so "some of the payments may have been of a legitimate nature," the committee said. Text messages obtained by the committee also show that Gaetz would ask the women to bring drugs to their "rendezvous," the report said. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club's annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. While most of his encounters with the women were in Florida, the committee said Gaetz also traveled "on several occasions" with women whom he paid for sex. The report includes text message exchanges in which Gaetz appears to be inviting various women to events, getaways or parties, and arranging airplane travel and lodging. Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges in 2021, initially connected with women through an online service. In one text with a 20-year-old woman, Greenberg suggested if she had a friend, the four of them could meet up. The woman responded that she usually does "$400 per meet." Greenberg replied: "He understands the deal," along with a smiley face emoji. Greenberg asked if they were old enough to drink alcohol, and sent the woman a picture of Gaetz. The woman responded that her friend found him "really cute." "Well, he's down here for only for the day, we work hard and play hard," Greenberg replied. The report details a party in July 2017 in which Gaetz is accused of having sex with "multiple women, including the 17-year-old, for which they were paid." The committee pointed to "credible testimony" from the now-woman herself as well as "multiple individuals" who corroborated the allegation. The then-17-year-old — who had just completed her junior year in high school — told the committee that Gaetz paid her $400 in cash that night, "which she understood to be payment for sex," according to the report. The woman acknowledged that she had taken ecstasy the night of the party, but told the committee that she was "certain" of her sexual encounters with the then-congressman. There's no evidence that Gaetz knew she was a minor when he had sex with her, the committee said. The woman told the committee she didn't tell Gaetz she was under 18 at the time and he didn't ask how old she was. Rather, the committee said Gaetz learned she was a minor more than a month after the party. But he stayed in touch with her after that and met up with her for "commercial sex" again less than six months after she turned 18, according to the committee. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., center, attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club's annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. In sum, the committee said it authorized 29 subpoenas for documents and testimony, reviewed nearly 14,000 documents and contacted more than two dozen witnesses. But when the committee subpoenaed Gaetz for his testimony, he failed to comply. "Gaetz pointed to evidence that would 'exonerate' him yet failed to produce any such materials," the committee said. Gaetz "continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead the Committee in order to prevent his actions from being exposed." The report details a months-long process that dragged into a year as it sought information from Gaetz that he decried as "nosey" and a "weaponization" of government against him. In one notable exchange, investigators were seeking information about the expenses for a 2018 getaway with multiple women to the Bahamas. Gaetz ultimately offered up his plane ticket receipt "to" the destination, but declined to share his return "from" the Bahamas. The report said his return on a private plane and other expenses paid by an associate were in violation of House gift rules. In another Gaetz told the committee he would "welcome" the opportunity to respond to written questions. Yet, after it sent a list of 16 questions, Gaetz said publicly he would "no longer" voluntarily cooperate. He called the investigation "frivolous," adding, "Every investigation into me ends the same way: my exoneration." The report said that while Gaetz's obstruction of the investigation does not rise to a criminal violation it is inconsistent with the requirement that all members of Congress "act in a manner that reflects creditably upon the House." The committee began its review of Gaetz in April 2021 and deferred its work in response to a Justice Department request. It renewed its work shortly after Gaetz announced that the Justice Department had ended a sex trafficking investigation without filing any charges against him. The committee sought records from the Justice Department about the probe, but the agency refused, saying it doesn't disclose information about investigations that don't result in charges. The committee then subpoenaed the Justice Department, and after a back-and-forth between officials and the committee, the department handed over "publicly reported information about the testimony of a deceased individual," according to the report. "To date, DOJ has provided no meaningful evidence or information to the Committee or cited any lawful basis for its responses," the committee said. Many of the women who the committee spoke to had already given statements to the Justice Department and didn't want to "relive their experience," the committee said. "They were particularly concerned with providing additional testimony about a sitting congressman in light of DOJ's lack of action on their prior testimony," the report said. The Justice Department, however, never handed over the women's statements. The agency's lack of cooperation — along with its request that the committee pause its investigation — significantly delayed the committee's probe, lawmakers said. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Kash Patel spent several years as a Justice Department prosecutor before catching the Trump administration’s attention as a staffer on Capitol Hill who helped investigate the Russia probe. Patel called for dramatically reducing the agency’s footprint, a perspective that sets him apart from earlier directors who sought additional resources for the bureau. Though the Justice Department in 2021 halted the practice of secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during leak investigations, Patel said he intends to aggressively hunt down government officials who leak information to reporters. Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation. “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The commission oversees U.S. securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Gensler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, announced last month that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated — Jan. 20, 2025. Atkins began his career as a lawyer and has a long history working in the financial markets sector, both in government and private practice. In the 1990s, he worked on the staffs of two former SEC chairmen, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Jared Isaacman, 41, is a tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk . He is the founder and CEO of a card-processing company and has collaborated closely with Musk ever since buying his first chartered SpaceX flight. He took contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to be ambassador to China, saying in a social media post that the former CEO “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and ran unsuccessfully in a primary against Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Perdue pushed Trump's debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for governor. Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Guilfoyle is a former California prosecutor and television news personality who led the fundraising for Trump's 2020 campaign and became engaged to Don Jr. in 2020. Trump called her “a close friend and ally” and praised her “sharp intellect make her supremely qualified.” Guilfoyle was on stage with the family on election night. “I am so proud of Kimberly. She loves America and she always has wanted to serve the country as an Ambassador. She will be an amazing leader for America First,” Don Jr. posted. The ambassador positions must be approved by the U.S. Senate. Guilfoyle said in a social media post that she was “honored to accept President Trump’s nomination to serve as the next Ambassador to Greece and I look forward to earning the support of the U.S. Senate.” Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as National Security Advisor to Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Rodney Scott led during Trump's first term, and is essentially responsible for protecting the country's borders while facilitating trade and travel. Scott comes to the job firmly from the Border Patrol side of the house. He became an agent in 1992 and spent much of his career in San Diego. When he was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump's policies. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump's hard-line immigration agenda. He appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He's also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Former Rep. Billy Long represented Missouri in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2023. Since leaving Congress, Trump said, Long “has worked as a Business and Tax advisor, helping Small Businesses navigate the complexities of complying with the IRS Rules and Regulations.” Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler was appointed in January 2020 by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and then lost a runoff election a year later. She started a conservative voter registration organization and dived into GOP fundraising, becoming one of the top individual donors and bundlers to Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign. Even before nominating her for agriculture secretary, the president-elect already had tapped Loeffler as co-chair of his inaugural committee. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. James Blair, deputy chief of staff Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health Trump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. He promoted the idea of herd immunity during the pandemic, arguing that people at low risk should live normally while building up immunity to COVID-19 through infection. The National Institutes of Health funds medical research through competitive grants to researchers at institutions throughout the nation. NIH also conducts its own research with thousands of scientists working at its labs in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug Administration Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. Makary also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Surgeon General Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor to Fox News. Dr. Dave Weldon, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Weldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed Weldon’s opponent. In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative state after cardiac arrest, should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed. Jamieson Greer, U.S. trade representative Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team. He announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy. Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.” Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. Ron Johnson, Ambassador to Mexico Johnson — not the Republican senator — served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump's first administration. His nomination comes as the president-elect has been threatening tariffs on Mexican imports and the mass deportation of migrants who have arrived to the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson is also a former U.S. Army veteran and was in the Central Intelligence Agency. Tom Barrack, Ambassador to Turkey Barrack, a wealthy financier, met Trump in the 1980s while helping negotiate Trump’s purchase of the renowned Plaza Hotel. He was charged with using his personal access to the former president to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates, but was acquitted of all counts at a federal trial in 2022. Trump called him a “well-respected and experienced voice of reason.” Andrew Ferguson, Federal Trade Commission Ferguson, who is already one of the FTC's five commissioners, will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars worth of corporate acquisitions and suing Amazon and Meta while alleging anticompetitive behavior. “Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “Andrew will be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country’s History.” Jacob Helberg, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment Dan Bishop, deputy director for budget at the Office of Budget and Management Leandro Rizzuto, Ambassador to the Washington-based Organization of American States Dan Newlin, Ambassador to Colombia Peter Lamelas, Ambassador to Argentina Trump says he’s picking Kari Lake as director of Voice of America, installing a staunch loyalist who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor and a Senate seat to head the congressionally funded broadcaster that provides independent news reporting around the world. Lake endeared herself to Trump through her dogmatic commitment to the falsehood that both she and Trump were the victims of election fraud. She has never acknowledged losing the gubernatorial race and called herself the “lawful governor” in her 2023 book, “Unafraid: Just Getting Started.” Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Heinrich Haarberg will continue to venture away from being a full-time quarterback, and it’s created an opening for Nebraska to pursue another arm out of the transfer portal. The NU coaching staff has “made a commitment to Heinrich that we would let him explore some other positions,” Matt Rhule said Wednesday. Haarberg was the Huskers’ starting quarterback for most of 2023 and has played sporadically this season. He relieved Dylan Raiola when he was injured against UCLA and has added a wrinkle to Nebraska’s offense as an occasional running threat and gadget player. It leaves the Huskers’ quarterback room in flux with freshman Daniel Kaelin entering the portal and Jalyn Gramstad’s future uncertain. Four-star prospect TJ Lateef will soon join the team and an already-young position group. “If we need to get a third guy to be in that room, then we would do it,” Rhule said. “We probably will, and Heinrich obviously gives us some flexibility.” People are also reading... Rhule works through roster trim In recent days, players have walked into Matt Rhule’s office, asking for help with the next stage of their football careers. Parents have texted him as they try to guide their kids through an unprecedented time in college sports. Next season, football rosters will be limited to 105 players. Nebraska, equipped with a robust walk-on program, will have to trim its roster. “We’ve got (general manager) Sean Padden in there making tapes for kids,” Rhule said. “I hate that. I hate that.” The evolution into a new era has already begun. Jimari Butler, James Williams and Princewill Umanmielen are among players planning to enter the transfer portal when it opens. With 20 new recruits joining the program, there are still lots dominoes left to fall over the offseason. “I tried to warn everyone there would be a lot of attrition and a lot of scary attrition, but it’s all part of what has to happen right now,” Rhule said. “I think as we move forward it’ll be a little bit more normalized ... but I’m just telling you this is like nothing we’ve ever seen before. It’s just completely different this year than it was.” Photos: Nebraska football vs. Iowa on Black Friday — Nov. 29 Nebraska players, including Jacob Hood (center), turn to wave during the "Hawkeye Wave" on Friday in Iowa City. Nebraska assistant coach Garret McGuire looks on during warm up before the Iowa game, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska assistant coach Marcus Satterfield looks on during warm up before the Iowa game, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska fan Zachary Roth of Omaha dances in the cold during the Iowa game, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule talks with an official during the Iowa game on Friday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Nebraska's Jahmal Banks is tackled by Iowa's TJ Hall on Friday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa's Kamari Moulton (center) is tackled by Nebraska's MJ Sherman (left) and Elijah Jeudy, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska's Carter Nelson (center) is tackled by Iowa's Deontae Craig (right) on Friday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa's Quinn Schulte (left) tackles Nebraska's Nate Boerkircher, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska's Thomas Fidone picks up a pass against Iowa, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska's John Hohl reacts after missing a field goal against Iowa, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska's Dylan Raiola runs with the ball against Iowa on Friday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Nebraska's Isaac Gifford (left) rips the ball away from Iowa's Jarriett Buie on Friday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. The Nebraska defense stops Iowa on fourth down on Friday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Nebraska's Jahmal Banks picks up a pass next to Iowa's Deshaun Lee, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska's Emmett Johnson escapes a tackle by Iowa's Deshaun Lee, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule looks on during the Iowa game, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska's Dante Dowdell tries to break a tackle from Iowa's Jay Higgins (left) and Koen Entringer (4), Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska's Emmett Johnson fumbles under pressure from Iowa's Sebastian Castro (top) and TJ Hall (bottom), Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa's Drew Stevens (18) celebrates after making the game-winning kick against Nebraska, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa's Drew Stevens (18) celebrates after making the game-winning kick against Nebraska, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa's Luke Elkin (left) and Ty Nissen carry Heroes Game trophy after defeating Nebraska on Friday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa's Drew Stevens (18) kicks a game-winning field goal through the arms of Nebraska's Ty Robinson (9) and Nash Hutmacher (0) on Friday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Nebraska's Dante Dowdell scores a touchdown against Iowa in the second quarter, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska's Dylan Raiola carries the ball against Iowa, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa's Deontae Craig (bottom) pressures Nebraska's Dylan Raiola, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska's John Hohl (right) celebrates his field goal against Iowa, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska's Mikai Gbayor tips a pass by Iowa's Jackson Stratton on Friday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa's Deontae Craig (left) and Aaron Graves (right) pressure Nebraska's Dylan Raiola on at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule (left) talks with Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz before the game, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Jesse Divis of David City, 17, braves the cold before the Nebraska game at Iowa, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule arrives before the Iowa game, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska special teams coordinator Ed Foley arrives before the Iowa game, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska's Dylan Raiola arrives before the Iowa game, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. The Nebraska football team arrives arrives at Kinnick Stadium before the Iowa game, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. The Nebraska football team arrives arrives at Kinnick Stadium before the Iowa game, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen arrives at Kinnick Stadium before the Iowa game, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. 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Americans Are Exhausted By Political News. TV Ratings And A New Poll Show They're Tuning OutEx-Candidate Wants to 'Reinvent the Party'
I ditched my best friend's wedding because I had work and she refused to change the date: 'I was maid of honour... I cut up my dress'
INDIANAPOLIS ( MIRROR INDY ) — Indianapolis college counselors are urging families to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid as soon as possible. The 2025-26 form was scheduled to launch Dec. 1, but the federal government announced students could access it Nov. 18. The form is in the testing stage, though, meaning officials could make adjustments depending on performance. When the new FAFSA form launched last year, there were widespread issues almost immediately — the most serious of which was a glitch that blocked many parents who immigrated here . Counselors are hopeful that filing will run more smoothly this year, but they’re prepared to weather the worst. “Our staff will remain calm, cool, collected and supportive,” said Austin Dodd , who oversees postsecondary programs at IPS. “We’re ready to stand there and walk alongside the students and families for every step of the process.” Indiana high school students are required to fill out FAFSA or opt out by April 15. Counselors recommend creating your Federal Student Aid account as soon as possible, because it can take several days to process. “We cannot stress enough how important it is: If you know you’re going to be filing, get that done right away,” said Bill Wozniak, vice president of marketing at INvestEd , a nonprofit that offers free financial aid assistance to Indiana families. “If it takes 10 minutes, great, but if there are glitches and problems, you don’t want to be doing that at the last moment.” You can create your student aid username and password online anytime by following this checklist . You will need to provide your name, date of birth and Social Security number. Monique Ware , executive director of financial aid at Ivy Tech Indianapolis, recommends having your 2023 tax information on hand when filling out the FAFSA. You should also have records of untaxed income such as child support, as well as the balances of your checking and savings accounts. This winter, IPS will prioritize helping seniors who plan to graduate early. Starting in the spring, they’ll begin helping all other college-bound students. “We want to make sure that it’s getting processed quickly so that they can get a turnaround financial aid package,” said Dodd. “We’re hopeful that this year those can be a little bit more timely as opposed to last year.” IPS also recently restructured its Future Centers to have a counselor at each school focused solely on enrollment and FAFSA. All its college specialists were also given cell phones to better communicate with families. At Ivy Tech Indianapolis, counselors will use shortcuts and tips they’ve learned over the last year. “We know how to navigate some of the things that may still exist or haven’t been resolved yet that we can help students through,” Ware said. “We’re here to help, and we just want to make it as smooth as possible for families and students.” INvestEd Indiana experts offer free financial aid help by phone or email. Call 317-715-9007 or email Outreach@INvestEdIndiana.org . INvestEd is also hosting free events across the state to help people create student aid accounts and will begin hosting free FAFSA completion workshops in December. Ivy Tech, IPS and other Indianapolis colleges and school districts will host events this winter and spring to help students and families complete their forms. Contact your school or college of choice for more information. Learn More Indiana , an initiative led by the state Commission for Higher Education, has a FAFSA assistance tool. Fill out this form to be connected with an Indiana-based expert. You can call 1-800-433-3243 to be connected with a government representative for FAFSA help in English or Spanish. Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire at claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org or on Instagram / X @clairerafford .The standard Lorem Ipsum passage, used since the 1500s "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." 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This is a story about fear and anxiety. It’s also about Taash, the fire-breathing qunari companion in Dragon Age: The Veilguard . When I was playing through the game for my review , they were one of my favorite folks to have along on missions. There are various reasons why and some are just practical: I was playing a mage, so having a warrior on hand for Warrior StuffTM was useful, but I also enjoyed Taash’s snarky and practical approach to the world. Every time another party member would get lost in their own head about something, Taash’s “That’s vashedan!” would inevitably yank them back out in a fun way. Taash is also nonbinary, which is one of two axes their character conflict and development rotate around. The other is that they were born in the lands of the Qun , a religious and deeply stratified society, but they were raised in Rivain, a close-enough Mediterranean analog with a sharply contrasting culture. In both respects, Taash is presented to us as a character who feels pulled between opposing poles by these forces in their life. Taash’s mother, Shathann, is an expert in Qun history and a stern and lecturing type who seems to disapprove of everything “nontraditional” her child does, including both not being feminine enough and not following the Qun enough. My moment of fear about Taash came when I encountered a specific in-game codex entry: Taash Notes: Meeting Shadow Dragons to Talk Gender Stuff . A hefty number of codex entries involving Taash are framed as notes they take on various subjects (including one on how to set traps in the Lighthouse , which I enjoyed). Their notes on gender unlock after a conversation with Neve and Rook about Taash’s discomfort with their gender identity; the implication is that Neve hooked Taash up with trans folks in the Shadow Dragons faction who might have useful information on the subject. Unfortunately, this codex entry feels both awkward and out of place. Not necessarily harmful — there’s nothing in it that made me go “ that’s obviously untrue” or anything of the sort. That said, if this were a Mass Effect game and not a Dragon Age one, it would be extremely easy to paint this codex entry as Taash’s net search history. It has extremely strong “baby queer person googling what ‘queer’ means and writing it down” energy, because that’s basically what it is. Without an in-game internet, Taash has to rely on speaking to actual people; without in-game social media, they get their thoughts out on paper to make sense of them. Taash’s notes cover everything from what dysphoria is, to struggling with the definition of the term “nonbinary,” to uplifting testimonials from said trans NPCs about what gender means, to the literally stated “Trans woman IS woman.” Speaking from experience, and as someone who was working out their sexuality at a time when the internet was not even remotely as widely available as it is today, these are the kind of notes and scribbles I would have written, it’s true, but in the process they can come across in a very “here’s Taash’s Being Genderqueer 101 blog post” kind of way. Since Taash’s way of speaking is already relatively informal and “modern-sounding” compared to other party members, that contributes to the feeling that this is just ever so slightly out of place. Critics and fans have argued that “nonbinary,” an already modern term, needed an in-universe equivalent, which I disagree with. Harvey Randall at PC Gamer argues that instead, Veilguard ’s writers needed to establish more of how the term was situated in the DA world’s culture and history, and I do think contextualizing “nonbinary” in Thedas culture/language would have helped , but it’s not strictly speaking required . As I read through the codex entry, I had a pit-of-the-stomach feeling getting bigger with each new word. I wasn’t worried about the anti-woke crowd; one, they would hate this game regardless, and two, who cares what fools think? What worried me was what my fellow queer players would have to say about it, because in my imagination, the possibility of a deeply negative reaction loomed large. That was informed by my own reading, too; because the relevant codex entry had a somewhat “101-level” tone — and was delivered in a codex entry and not through, say, a scene where Taash interacts directly with those trans NPCs about this — made me worried that queer players would feel it didn’t go far enough, or would believe it to be targeted at non-queer players instead. However, a large part of my anxiousness came from personal experience. In the summer of 2011, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the MIT Game Lab , which was at the time the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab. Our partnership with the Singapore Media Development Authority meant that every summer, Singaporean game dev students from our Singaporean sister lab would come to Boston, split into teams alongside local students from MIT, Berklee College of Music, and Rhode Island School of Design, and make games in an intensive eight-week program. Specifically, they would make games that furthered the research of academics working in games, who applied to have their projects chosen. That summer, one team was making a game for my research. The study sought to understand a team’s process as they built a game with a very broad mandate: “Make a game with a queer-resonant theme.” In game development terms, I was product owner; another lab researcher was our game director. While we did spend time in the room with the team to observe them and provide input and oversight, the game’s creative direction — story, art, sound, gameplay — was in the hands of the students, and it was really their efforts that drove the project. The result was a game called A Closed World , a short and simple Flash-based RPG. When the game was released, it got good press both internally and externally, with coverage by multiple game publications, including Kotaku , as well as non-games news outlets. In retrospect, I am sure the MIT name opened doors for us that might not open as easily for other queer creators, particularly indie queer creators working on their own. My team was thrilled to see our little game find positive reception in the world, however. This is not to say we didn’t receive criticisms for missteps or things we overlooked, and of those, many were still the products of intense discussion and debate among the team, or between the team and myself or my colleague who was serving as game director. The game’s story involves escaping from a seemingly haunted forest; at one point, I suggested the ending involve the main character finding a cliffside over clouds and taking a leap of faith to leave their home and start a new life. Members of my team argued, convincingly, that such an ending might read like an attempt at self-harm instead. Discussions of that kind were numerous, and that was about a thing that didn’t make the final cut, let alone what did. However, some high-profile queer indie devs took serious issue with it, for various reasons. In one of the more striking examples, Anna Anthropy made a parody game called “A Closed Mind,” using a similar visual style but written to suggest our game believed intolerance could be defeated like a JRPG boss. Many of the criticisms we received at the time suggested that it was a waste for MIT to spend money having my team make this game; that we didn’t understand how to make queer games, or understand the issues. At the time I needed to be diplomatic in my public responses, since I was representing the lab and the university, but in hindsight, things like “A Closed Mind” and accusations that my team didn’t really understand the issues at all feel not only misplaced but extremely petty. For the members of my team who identified as somewhere in the vastness of the queer spectrum, accusations from queer devs that the team wasn’t queer enough, or didn’t understand queer experiences, were deeply hurtful (and to be honest, they hurt me too). It’s one thing to dislike what we did; that’s natural, and putting art in the world means needing to be prepared for people to dislike it. This felt like something else entirely. That experience is what made me scared for Taash’s and Veilguard ’s reception. Was it going to get the “not queer enough!” label because it had, admittedly, tackled things at a more basic and beginner level than some might like? Would people use things like the “Taash Notes” codex entry to claim that the writer(s) didn’t understand the issues? Criticism of queerness — or, indeed, a focus on any marginalized identity category — in an artistic work is fraught from the jump. You want to support creators who make attempts to be inclusive, who actively work to bring in these types of characters and themes, but at the same time, it feels so easy for even the most well-intentioned attempt at inclusivity to head somewhat off the rails anyway — something that’s happened to BioWare before . Thus, it’s necessary that such criticism be able to call “queer work” into account for its mistakes too. It’s such a careful line to walk. The problem is that I think we as both critics and fans have, over the past decade plus, created an environment where creators experience enormous fears about getting it wrong, and producing something that isn’t pitch-perfect on the issues in every way is immediately painted as so harmful or detrimental the work needs to be thrown out entirely. The anxiety is real, but the concrete steps devs can take to address concerns can also lead to positive outcomes. The rise in sensitivity readers, diversity consultants, and other such steps devs can take to head off mistakes before games reach the shelves are an unalloyed good, and they have roots in a similar place. Are our only two options “getting it right” and “getting it harmfully wrong,” though? Things aren’t, if you’ll excuse the sorta-pun, binary in that way. I don’t necessarily think the presentation of Taash’s gender journey is as artful as it could be, for sure; I think it could have been smoother, more integrated into the setting and into their broader story about choosing who they wish to be (Taash’s big, oft-repeated line is “You don’t get to tell me who I am”). Is it harmful , though? Or just not to some players’ tastes? With each new take and article and blog post I’ve read, I find it harder to justify excoriating the writing team for Veilguard on this one, of accusing them of “getting queerness wrong.” That’s wild, and I am not gonna put myself in the place of people who told my team, back in 2011, that their earnest attempt wasn’t queer enough. I said this was a story about fear and anxiety, and that’s what it is now, although the pitch I made to Polygon about this story had a very different form at first. The original idea was less about Taash and more about how I felt the approach to “playersexual” companion story and romance designs in Veilguard was a step forward from Dragon Age 2 (spoilers: it is); Taash was more of a footnote in that story. As I wrote it, though, I was getting more and more blocked, and I realized it was because I was cutting and rearranging and rewording and watering down what I was saying in the interest of not upsetting anyone. I didn’t want to criticize too hard and have Trick Weekes (Taash’s primary writer) and the Veilguard team feel I was attacking them unduly, but I was also afraid of drawing backlash from queer readers who felt I was too forgiving or didn’t go hard enough. I think this is why I have such mounting frustration with accusations I’ve seen from critics and players saying that Taash is just a cardboard stand-in for the writers’ thoughts on gender, or that the writing surrounding it was too “safe” or sanded down or not messy enough. Of course it’s not messy! Queer players and critics have been in comment sections, blogs, and social media posts for years tut-tutting everyone — even other queer devs and indie devs with nowhere near the resources at their disposal! — for not getting things pitch-perfect, for not using the exact right terms, for being messy at all . It’s totally believable this situation is the result. Which do you want? Messiness, or infallible politics? You cannot have both! They are antithetical! Perhaps being too safe, too “polished,” is indeed the problem when it comes to Taash, or Veilguard ’s handling of gender broadly, but I’d much rather have an earnest and too-safe attempt based on an ethos of trying to do right by us queer players than something actively harmful to the community at large. Too safe is not actively harmful; too safe is “room for improvement.” Too safe is a learning opportunity. Culture Opinion Dragon Age: The VeilguardPay first, deliver later: Some women are being asked to prepay for their babyJayson Tatum one of two Celtics starters ruled out for Pistons matchup
Coote was sacked earlier this month after the emergence of a video in which he made derogatory remarks about Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp. Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) said that a thorough investigation had concluded he was “in serious breach of the provisions of his employment contract, with his position deemed untenable”. “Supporting David Coote continues to be important to us and we remain committed to his welfare,” PGMOL’s statement on December 9 added. Coote had the right to appeal against the decision but PA understands the Nottinghamshire referee has decided not to. The video which triggered PGMOL’s investigation into Coote’s conduct first came to public attention on November 11. In it, Coote is asked for his views on a Liverpool match where he has just been fourth official, and describes them as “s***”. He then describes Klopp as a “c***”, and, asked why he felt that way, Coote says the German had “a right pop at me when I reffed them against Burnley in lockdown” and had accused him of lying. “I have got no interest in speaking to someone who’s f****** arrogant, so I do my best not to speak to him,” Coote said. Later in the video, Coote again refers to Klopp, this time as a “German c***”. The Football Association opened its own investigation into that video, understood to be centred on that last comment and whether Coote’s reference to Klopp’s nationality constituted an aggravated breach of its misconduct rules. The investigation by PGMOL which led to Coote’s contract being terminated is also understood to have looked at another video which appeared to show Coote snorting a white powder, purportedly during Euro 2024 where he was one of the assistant VARs for the tournament. European football’s governing body UEFA also appointed an ethics investigator to look into the matter.
Despite boasting the talents of two-time NBA champions Steph Curry and Draymond Green the Golden State Warriors are struggling to find their form. The Indiana Pacers dealt the Warriors their latest playoff blow with a 105-111 win, Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam caused major headaches scoring a combined 43 points. Despite the recent addition of Dennis Schroder the Warriors have now lost four of their last five games including their NBA Cup defeat to the Houston Rockets . Following the latest defeat Curry explained how the team’s performances need to improve , he also criticized his display which saw him score just 10 points. Despite the loss, Curry explained how one man on the side can ‘change the game’ for this struggling Warriors team. Kuminga is a game changer For a while now the performances of Jonathan Kuminga have been praised by many around the NBA including his teammates and coaches at Golden State. NBA expert Bill Simmons believed Kuminga was only getting a chance to shine to boost his trade value with the Warriors looking to bring in Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler . However, it appears this ship has likely sailed and Kuminga is now genuinely being seen as a man that the Warriors should build around. The 22-year-old top-scored for the Warriors in the defeat to the Pacers banking 26 points as well as eight rebounds and four assists. Kuminga’s influence on the team was recently praised by Warriors coach Steve Kerr , and Curry now has also had his say on the hot prospect. Stephen Curry on Kuminga's improved play after Steve Kerr critiqued his shot selection: "He was probably the best player out there in terms of attacking, being decisive. Anytime you're decisive and aggressive, you live with mistakes... We love energetic, confident JK." pic.twitter.com/tLRnejV9cf Speaking to the media Curry said: “He was probably the best player out there in terms of attacking, being decisive. Anytime you’re decisive and aggressive, you live with mistakes by playing in-the-flow offense and taking what the defense gives you. “You saw him getting to the paint and getting another couple of possessions for us. He knocked down his open three, was getting downhill and putting pressure on the rim, doing things that only really he can do on our team.” Curry went on to explain how Kuminga’s performances can help boost the teams’ overall success in the coming games. He continued: “We love energetic, confident JK [Jonathan Kuminga], he can change a game for us like he did and stringing a couple of games like that together will hopefully raise our play and give us a chance to win on any given night.” Why the Warriors must keep Kuminga Since the beginning of December Kuminga has been averaging more than 25 minutes of court time per game, something which looked a long-shot at the beginning of the season. If the Warriors were playing Kuminga more to use him as a boosted trade asset the star has certainly shown his worth, so much so that the Warriors would be silly to move him on. JONATHAN KUMINGA @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/2nER1uutHb Kuminga is continuing to prove his worth from the Warriors bench but with the numbers he’s dropping, it’s surely a matter of time before coach Kerr has to debate giving him regular starts. Shooting 66.7% from behind the arc in the Pacers defeat shows Kuminga’s versatility, especially as he is more known for driving to the paint. According to StatMuse, Kuminga has played 37 career games where he’s stayed in the game for 30+ minutes. In those games, he averages 20.2 PPG & 5.6 RPG on 54.2 FG%, 41.8 3P%. Curry is seen as one of the best play-makers and shooters in the NBA, and while the two are very different in terms of playing styles it’s interesting to compare the numbers the pair are putting up. While Steph still outscores Kuminga in every metric here, it’s important to realise that Curry is also averaging six minutes per game more than the youngster. The franchise was reportedly looking to get to a ‘win now’ situation but throwing away a future talent in Kuminga to achieve this seems a bad idea. Warriors fans are becoming impatient with poor results and Kuminga seems to be the key to turning that around. This article first appeared on NBA Analysis Network and was syndicated with permission.The New York Knicks are no strangers to playing on Christmas Day. But few of their holiday games have come with the anticipation that accompanies Wednesday's clash against the San Antonio Spurs. The Knicks will look to remain hot, while second-year Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama will play at Madison Square Garden for the second time in his career Wednesday afternoon. Both teams were off Tuesday after playing on Monday night. The Knicks beat the visiting Toronto Raptors 139-125 and the Spurs' late comeback fell short in a 111-106 loss to the host Philadelphia 76ers. The lopsided victory was the latest evidence a new mix is starting to gel for the Knicks, who have won four straight and have gone 9-2 since Nov. 29 to move into third place in the Eastern Conference. Karl-Anthony Towns, who was acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 2, and OG Anunoby shared the team lead with 31 points each on Monday night. "It's great vibes right now," the Knicks' Josh Hart said. "So we've just got to make sure we continue to bring that to the game." Anunoby became the fifth different player in the last 11 games to at least share the team lead in scoring. The only player to pace the Knicks in scoring in consecutive games over that span is Towns, who scored 23 points in a 121-106 win over the Orlando Magic on Dec. 3 and 27 points two nights later in a 125-101 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. "We're a very talented team, so it could be anyone's night, for sure," Anunoby said. Few players in the NBA are as talented as Wembanyama, the versatile 7-foot-3 star who already has collected three triple-doubles in 95 NBA games. Wembanyama earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors last week after collecting 72 points, 14 blocks, 13 rebounds and eight assists in a pair of wins. "He has helped put us in a lot of cool positions, especially this year," Spurs point guard Tre Jones told the San Antonio Express-News. Wembanyama finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and eight blocks Monday, when the Spurs overcame a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to take a pair of late leads. Wembanyama missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:08 left for San Antonio, which went ahead once more at 103-102 before the 76ers ended the game on a 9-3 run. The loss was just the second in the last six games for the Spurs, who are in ninth place in the Western Conference but just 1 1/2 games behind the sixth-place Los Angeles Clippers in the race for the final guaranteed playoff spot. San Antonio has missed the playoffs in each of the last five seasons. While Wembanyama struggled in his first game in New York on Nov. 8, 2023 (14 points on 4-of-14 shooting), his breakout game against the Knicks in San Antonio on March 29 -- when he had 40 points and 20 rebounds in a 130-126 overtime victory -- has increased the intrigue surrounding the Christmas meeting. "The first time I'm going to play on Christmas," Wembanyama told the Express-News. "I'm super excited." The Knicks will be playing on Christmas Day for the fourth straight season and an NBA-high 57th time overall. They improved to 24-32 on the holiday last Dec. 25 with a 129-122 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. The Spurs are playing on Christmas Day for the first time since 2016, when they beat the Chicago Bulls 119-100 to improve to 6-5 all-time on the holiday. --Field Level MediaAP News Summary at 5:36 p.m. EST