d ace suites condominium CHICAGO — It took 32 seconds of national embarrassment for George McCaskey, Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles to finally concede what everyone else already knew. And even when the Chicago Bears brain trust decided they no longer could justify keeping Matt Eberflus as head coach of their team, they still waited until he conducted one more news conference — telling us everything was fine and he was preparing for next week’s game against the San Francisco 49ers — before they actually pulled the trigger. Remember, this is an operation worth an estimated $6.4 billion, not a local hardware business trying to decide whether a store clerk should be let go for putting the wingnuts and screws in the wrong aisle. Fittingly, the Bears were the Bears until the last drop. “It’s been a normal operation,” Eberflus said Friday morning on a Zoom call with reporters before being Zoomed out of the NFL. The sad part is the Bears truly believe they are a normal operation when it’s quite obvious they’re the laughingstock of football. Who else would let Eberflus continue to fail time and time again after he repeatedly proved he wasn’t fit for the job. His .304 winning percentage was third-worst in Bears history, ahead of only John Fox (.292) and Abe Gibron (.274). And at least Abe had Melody to help take our minds off all the losing. (Google it, kids.) Eberflus’ days had been numbered since the Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders. The 19-3 loss to the lowly New England Patriots on Nov. 10, in which he and his team were booed off the field, would’ve been a perfect time to say sayonara. The Bears had eight games remaining to try to salvage the season, and at 4-5 there was still some hope it could be done. But, no, the McCaskeys don’t fire head coaches in season, we’ve been told a thousand times. Instead they got rid of the sacrificial goat, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who was replaced by Thomas Brown. Fans would have to suffer through three more brutal endings before George McCaskey finally got it into his head that this marriage was not going to work. The Thanksgiving Day clock blunder will be remembered as the fatal blow, of course, because we all watched in a collective stupor as the clock ticked down and Caleb Williams kept barking out signals, seemingly oblivious to the fact the game was about to end. Even your Aunt Martha, who doesn’t know a football from a drumstick, was yelling: “What is he doing, for crying out loud?” It made for an unforgettable Thanksgiving, with everyone in the living room calling for Eberflus’ head. Then came the “everything is fine” news conference Friday morning that made it appear as though the Bears were actually trying to gaslight their fans. I’m not sure what made McCaskey agree to change the long-standing policy — whether it was Jimmy Johnson’s rant or a tweet by The Wieners Circle — but whoever it was should get a medal of valor for saving the city from a mass mental breakdown. We all saw this coming, except perhaps the Three Amigos: McCaskey, Warren and Poles. That still doesn’t make it any more palatable. The Thanksgiving hangover firing bookends the most famous “hiring” in Bears history, when Mike McCaskey told the media Dave McGinnis would be the head coach before actually informing McGinnis, thus losing both the coach and the rest of his own dwindling credibility. That embarrassing moment would be the lowlight of Mike McCaskey’s career, just as this will be remembered as George’s unshining moment. How will Eberflus be remembered? Was he a poor man’s Pedro Grifol or a poorer man’s Jim Boylen? Until Thursday’s debacle, perhaps the moment that best epitomized the Eberflus era was, during a lopsided loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in October 2023, when he threw the red challenge flag after the Bears scored a meaningless touchdown late in the game. He meant to throw it before the play, but Eberflus was never one to react quickly to any situation. And because there wasn’t any video replay of the actual touchdown, it was no harm, no foul. What comes next for Bears fans is the hard part. Do they trust these executives to hire the right replacement? Almost as much as they trust Mayor Brandon Johnson to manage the city budget. The easiest solution is to throw money at Bill Belichick and see if he bites. If Williams is truly a game-changing quarterback then it makes sense to give the keys to the guy who coached the greatest quarterback of his generation. But making sense is not really the Bears’ thing, so expect them to go for someone they don’t have to give any real power to and will be blander than their last five coaches combined. Someone disposable by 2027. It’s just normal operating procedure at Halas Hall. ©2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Hand-painted holiday scenes with recognizable Joplin features will be lit Tuesday night at Joplin City Hall. The winter scenes are painted to resemble stained glass art by Neosho artist Sandra Pemberton of Sandra Dawn's Fine Arts. City efforts to decorate the first-floor windows during the holiday season resulted from the building's earlier history as Newman's, a mercantile store that once provided Joplin-area residents with goods such as clothing and furniture. Patrick Tuttle, director of the Visit Joplin bureau, said city staff in 2009 brought back the holiday tradition to decorate the windows as Newman's once did. The painted window effects are provided by Visit Joplin, the city's convention and visitors bureau, which is located in City Hall. Pemberton, known regionally for large-scale murals, created the paintings for the windows on vinyl. The 2024 installment is titled "Mining Camp Celebration;" it features a depiction of a particular groundhog that served in the past as a Joplin mascot representing a miner and now represents the visitors bureau. The mural recounts Joplin’s history as part of the Tri-State Mining District. "A miner’s life was hard and, at times, treacherous. Family and faith were dear to them," Tuttle said. "Mining Camp Celebration" is a three-panel mural showing that though the winter weather may have brought snow, ice and cold conditions at ground level, the climate within the mines stayed consistent year-round, Tuttle said. The window series started in 2021 with "Santa's Stop in Joplin." It depicts is a wintry scene in three panels that showcases Joplin’s Grand Falls with a classic Woody Wagon, some puppies, gifts, nature and Santa pausing before delivering another sack of presents. In 2022, "Dressed in Holiday Style" draws from the days when Newman’s Department Store would be decked out for holiday shoppers. Depicted in three panels, the left panel shows men’s and women’s fashions for the season and the styles the upper society might wear. The right double panels show off the toy shop to delight children's wishes for Santa's visit. In 2023, "Holiday Home" joined the series. It depicts what a family Christmas might have looked like in Joplin's yesteryear homes such as those of the Dr. Winfred Post and Oliver S. Picher families. The grand staircase, where all the stockings were hung, is set in the Picher home of the historic Murphysburg neighborhood. The interior of the house is the picture of elegance with high wainscoting, stained glass windows, crystal chandeliers, 10-foot vaulted ceilings, six fireplaces, a servant’s dumbwaiter and a grand staircase. The tree in this painting is a remembrance of Post. It is said that he wired together many trees to achieve a grand height in the Great Hall of the Post home on East 15th Street. He would decorate the tall tree by placing a a hook on the end of a pole to place decorations on the tree's great height. Tuttle said that “though the stained-glass scenes can be viewed by residents and guests alike at any time of the day, the stained-glass effect is backlit and best observed at night." The holiday scenes will be in place until Friday, Jan. 3.

Alabama A&M fires football coach Connell Maynor after 7 seasonsLAFAYETTE, Ind., Dec. 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wabash (NYSE: WNC) , the visionary leader of connected solutions for the transportation, logistics and distribution industries, today announced the renewal of its strategic agreement with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT), one of the world’s largest tire companies. This agreement reinforces Goodyear’s position as the preferred tire supplier for Wabash's van, tank and platform trailers, and provides Wabash customers with full-service tire management support. “We are excited to continue our long-standing relationship with Goodyear,” said Richard Mansilla, vice president, global supply chain at Wabash. “This agreement strengthens our supply chain with a premium brand, enhances customer support and contributes to the continued growth of the Wabash ecosystem. We look forward to building on our shared commitment to industry innovation and exceptional service.” Goodyear has been a trusted supplier to Wabash for more than 15 years, playing a key role in supporting its trailer product lines as Wabash has expanded its equipment offering. This renewal leverages Goodyear’s extensive network of company-owned locations and dealerships, helping enable streamlined tire management and service access for Wabash customers and increased uptime and operational efficiency. “Goodyear's collaboration with Wabash underscores our combined focus to deliver high-quality, innovative products and seamless, end-to-end services to van, tank and platform trailer customers,” said Joe Burke, vice president of Goodyear’s North America Commercial business. “We are excited to continue advancing solutions that enhance the Wabash customer experience and help ensure they carry their cargo with confidence.” Wabash: Changing How the World Reaches You ® Wabash (NYSE: WNC) is the visionary leader of connected solutions for the transportation, logistics and distribution industries that is Changing How the World Reaches You ® . Headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana, the company enables customers to thrive by providing insight into tomorrow and delivering pragmatic solutions today to move everything from first to final mile. Wabash designs, manufactures, and services a diverse range of products, including: dry freight and refrigerated trailers, flatbed trailers, tank trailers, dry and refrigerated truck bodies, structural composite panels and products, trailer aerodynamic solutions, and specialty food grade processing equipment. Learn more at onewabash.com . About The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Goodyear is one of the world's largest tire companies. It employs about 71,000 people and manufactures its products in 54 facilities in 21 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate . Media Contacts: Dana Stelsel Director, Communications (765) 771-5766 dana.stelsel@onewabash.com Amanda O’Neil Director, Americas Communications, Goodyear (330) 796-4114 Amanda_oneil@goodyear.com Investor Relations Contact: Ryan Reed Vice President, Corporate Development & Investor Relations (765) 490-5664 ryan.reed@onewabash.com

J.K. Dobbins' knee injury could be tough news for the Chargers offenseFox attorneys seek to dismiss shareholder lawsuit over reporting of vote rigging allegations in 2020A train is due to arrive at the nation's busiest railway station five years late. Login or signup to continue reading After years of delays and disputes, the first service using a new fleet of intercity trains is due to pull in to Sydney's Central station shortly before 11am. The train left Newcastle at 8.21am on Tuesday - about five years after the first sets were originally due to enter service in NSW. The Korean-built trains were too wide to fit through some tunnels, too long for some platforms and faced opposition from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union due to plans for drivers to monitor platforms using CCTV, reducing staffing requirements. An agreement was eventually reached with the union after a long dispute with the former coalition government and modifications were made locally beginning in August 2023. Transport Minister Jo Haylen said it should not have taken so long for the trains to enter service, but they were finally taking passengers along the Newcastle and Central Coast lines. Passengers along the Blue Mountains, Illawarra and South Coast lines will have to wait a while longer, but Ms Haylen said it would be worth it. "These state-of-the-art trains will make travel between Sydney and our regional cities safer and more comfortable," she said. The trains are due to replace rolling stock that entered service almost five decades earlier. Early renders of the trains featured "NSW TrainLink" branding, which is being abolished as its operations merge with Sydney Trains. Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said getting the trains on the tracks was an incredibly complex project. "But we are pleased we have been able to work with the unions to locally modify these trains and get them into service," he said. "The Mariyung trains are quieter and roomier and will provide our passengers with a much improved and more comfortable travelling experience for decades to come." The electric trains, also known as the "D Set", have been given the name Mariyung after the Darug language word for emu. They will feature artwork from Indigenous artist Leanne Mulgo Watson. Australian Associated Press DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. WEEKLY Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe. WEEKLY Get the latest property and development news here. WEEKLY Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. WEEKDAYS Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more. WEEKLY Follow the Newcastle Knights in the NRL? Don't miss your weekly Knights update. TWICE WEEKLY Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday. WEEKLY Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert, ACM's exclusive motoring partner. TWICE WEEKLY Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily!

The Government’s track record in housing is nothing to boast about and it should be realistic about the number of houses it can build. Opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Senator Ryan Walters made the point yesterday as the Senate debated a resolution to vest land at Holders Hill, St James, for a soon-tobe completed housing project. He said Barbadians also had a genuine concern about the level of food security based on the usage of land for housing. “It has been a political issue as well, but it is a genuine concern,” he said, adding that the Government should at least give the country the assurance that agricultural production was safe. That, Walters said, was not too much to ask considering that land use was being shifted and there was a crisis of food and vegetable produce. He said it was an ambitious plan to build 10 000 homes in five years when over the last six years that the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) was in office, fewer than 500 were built, representing an average of 70 a year. “And now . . . they are going to build 2 000 homes a year. It is not ambitious, it is nonsensical,” he said. Barbadians wanted to hear the truth and wanted their leaders to be practical and honest, the Senator told the Chamber. Walters said much had been made of the DLP’s record on housing but the Leader of Government Business Senator Lisa Cummins’ major reference was to a DLP project at Coverley, Christ Church. He listed projects in Marchfield and Work Hall in St Philip, Greens in St George, French Village and Four Hill in St Peter, and Country Park Towers, Valery, the Grotto and others as part of the DLP’s housing projects. Walters said that based on the number of houses constructed so far, the BLP had nothing to show that it could undertake the proposed 10 000 homes. He said the contribution of construction to the gross domestic product (GDP) had declined under the BLP administration as between 2014 and 2018 construction contributed five per cent of GDP. He also criticised the Government over the HOPE programme in which $60 million was spent and the houses were not completed. “Sixty million-plus dollars later, taxpayers’ money have gone unaccounted for with this Government,” he said. There was money to pay the chairman, the CEO, and consultants and management team but there was a lot not known about the project, Walters charged. ( AC) Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

NHL fines Edmonton Oilers forward Jeff Skinner $2,000 for embellishment

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With “Nosferatu,” director Robert Eggers reinvents the F.W. Murnau 1922 silent classic by emphasizing the folk tale mythology and leaning more into the supernatural. We find Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp ) demonically possessed by vampire Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) after inadvertently awakening him from the dead. It’s a twisted reversal of “Sleeping Beauty,” in which she becomes haunted and he becomes increasingly obsessed. Be careful what you wish for. For Linda Muir, the director’s go-to costume designer, it was essential to dig deeply into 1838 fashion for Ellen, who hails from a German village, and late 16th-century fashion for Orlok, the nobleman from Transylvania. This enabled Muir to convey the necessary authenticity, emotion, and social status of the characters, creating a costume story with its own arc. “For me, it was interesting to have all the taboos that are embedded in the period with a character like Ellen, who’s not adhering to what the norms are,” Muir told IndieWire. “Thomas [Nicholas Hoult], her husband, wants comfort and luxury, he’s trying to do what he thinks is best for her. But she comes from all that, and she doesn’t care about it. What she wants is him, she wants love.” Ellen valiantly fights Orlok’s power, but he’s obsessed with an all-consuming appetite for her and schemes to tear her apart from Thomas. “I thought it was fascinating to watch Bill and think that, under all of that prosthetic decay and decomposition, there was such a strong, visceral feeling of the guy, obviously wealthy, entitled, the beautiful young man that he might’ve been centuries before.” Ellen’s wardrobe, which is part of a pre-Victorian transitional period, reflects her confined status in the male-dominated society (she’s put in a self-tightening corset to help cure her), as well as an ethereal quality as a result of Orlok’s thrall. But as she gains confidence, Ellen’s wardrobe becomes less restrictive. “In the 1830s, women had a huge gigot sleeve, really extended puffy tops coming down into a tighter forearm,” Muir said. “Then, around 1836, that style starts to change. Women had taken all that excess fabric and didn’t want to cut it all out, it’s expensive. So they would fold it all in and then stitch it down and make it slightly smaller. So that would start to change the dimension of the sleeve.” Since Ellen’s costume choices are reduced and they repeat costumes, Muir learned that you could make a dress with removable sleeves. “So we actually shot a scene [which was cut] where she has short sleeves as well,” added Muir. “And the long sleeve is hanging over her dressing screen at the back.” Ellen’s most prominent evening dress is indigo with lilacs embroidered and beaded on the front and on the sleeves. This lavender hue subliminally underscores the connection between Ellen and Orlok, who remembers lilacs from when he was alive. “The period had some extraordinary patterns on the same piece of fabric: paisley, dots, ombre,” said Muir. “On the one hand, it’s very schitzy and overpowering, but I chose cotton as the fabric to make it calmer.” Meanwhile, Muir had fun digging into the 16th-century costuming for Orlok in a way that affected everything about him, from his speech to his manners to his castle. She went for an overall look of decadence and opulence, epitomized by the gold bar-like buttons on his large cloak (called a mantle), which was lined in fur and had a massive collar. It only slightly recalled the silhouette of Max Schrek’s Orlok from Murnau’s “Nosferatu.” The outer coat has very long arms, which got Muir researching how the men wore them. “You could put your arms through the coat and wear it, or you could wear it as more of a cape, like Dracula, without putting your arms through it,” Muir said. “And I thought that’s really fascinating because that’s like on the super-rich nobility level, and it’s also on the poorest of the peasants in the mountain by themselves, shepherds. So Orlok has that as his major piece. And he has the Hungarian fur hat and we played with the size of that so that it appears significant.” Muir wanted to convey the image of an ancient nobleman without overwhelming Skarsgård with a heavy outfit while obscuring enough of his decay to not arouse fear when he meets with Thomas in his castle. “And then he has underneath a beautiful dolman, which is like a tunic,” Muir said. “And that is layered and layered and layered. It has patterned silk, and I tried to choose textiles that have a lot of gold threads because I knew [cinematographer] Jarin [Blaschke] would be using firelight and candlelight and this beautiful moonlight. So things that could twinkle and reflect back to us to give the shape of an outline. “And then he has kind of Mick Jagger trousers,” she continued, “which are mustard-colored, kind of shiny gold thread, skin-tight trousers and a beautiful sash at his waist. And then he has the coolest footwear. He has leather. They’re like mules, so a slip-on. But for safety and comfort, they gave Bill another 4 inches or so in what is already a really beautiful, thin, tall outline.” And, for practical purposes, Skarsgård wore a hefty harness next to his body that came through the tunic and clamped inside of the cloak because of the tremendous weight, heat, and prosthetic makeup. “So we tried to make it so that we could release him as quickly as possible,” said Muir. “We cooled him off between takes, in between setups, and not tire him out from walking around with this. It also had to look effortless, like he wouldn’t fall off, like it’s mesmerized onto his shoulders, and magical, too.” Focus Features will release “Nosferatu” in theaters nationwide December 25.Breaking down Arizona State’s tiebreaker scenarios as Big 12 title drive churns on

Bryce Lindsay scores 18 to lead James Madison over Utah Valley 78-61