lodibet 464 SIOUX CITY -- A swearing in ceremony for the newly elected Woodbury County Board of Supervisors members and other elected officials will take place Tuesday. Republicans will continue to hold all five seats on the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors, as the GOP swept three contested races in November. Incumbent Mark Nelson and newcomers David Dietrich and Kent Carper each won four-year terms. The trio will be joined on the board by Republicans Matthew Ung and Dan Buttinger. New County Auditor Michelle Skaff and Sheriff Chad Sheehan will also be sworn in on Tuesday. The swearing in ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. on Tuesday in the board of supervisors basement room. The supervisors will then hold a regular meeting at 9:30 a.m. Following the regular meeting, a dedication ceremony for the Dennis Butler meeting room will take place on the first floor. In September, the board of supervisors voted to rename the old Woodbury County Board of Supervisors office the Dennis Butler Meeting Room, dedicated to the county's budget director, who who died of cancer on Aug. 21 at age 73.

President-elect Trump meets with Prince William at the British Embassy in Paris on Saturday, after the two attended the re-opening ceremonies of Notre Dame Cathedral. President-elect Trump and Prince William shook hands at the re-opening ceremony of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday, and afterward held a sit-down meeting at the British Embassy ahead of Trump's inauguration. Trump and William also separately met with world leaders at Notre Dame, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. William was seen shaking hands and speaking with first lady Jill Biden, who represented the United States at the ceremony in place of President Biden. Prince William was asked to represent Britain at the event and after the ceremony, he and Trump reconvened at the British Embassy in Paris to discuss the "special relationship" between the U.K. and the U.S. SOCIAL MEDIA REACTS TO TRUMP ‘DOMINATING WORLD LEADERS' WITH MACRON HANDSHAKE DURING MEETING IN FRANCE President-elect Donald Trump talks to Prince William in Notre Dame Cathedral on Saturday in Paris. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP) Fox News Digital has reached out to Kensington Palace and the Trump transition team for comment. The meeting was the pair’s first since Trump won the election. They last met during his first term in 2019 when Trump made a state visit to the U.K. William also met with President Biden in 2022, while he was there for his Earthshot Prize. Prince William and President-elect Trump inside the British Embassy in Paris on Saturday. (Reuters/Piroschka van de Wouw) Trump also met with then-Prince Charles in 2019 and Clarence House said at the time that the two have a "good working relationship." Prince William and President-elect Trump attend a meeting at the British Embassy in Paris as part of ceremonies to mark the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday. (Reuters/Piroschka van de Wouw) TRUMP MEETS WITH MACRON, ZELENSKYY AHEAD OF THE NOTRE DAME REOPENING CEREMONY IN PARIS Trump told ITV in 2019 that he was supposed to meet with Charles for 15 minutes during his state visit, but they ended up talking for over an hour about the environment. Trump met with Prince William at the UK Ambassador’s Residence in Paris on Saturday. (Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett) "He is really into climate change, and I think that’s great. I mean, I want that. I like that," Trump told ITV in 2019. "What he really wants, and what he really feels warmly about, is the future. He wants to make sure future generations have climate that is good climate, as opposed to a disaster. And I agree." First lady Jill Biden met with Prince William at Notre Dame Cathedral on Saturday. (Thibault Camus/Pool via Reuters) King Charles also contacted Trump last summer via a letter after his assassination attempt. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump with Queen Elizabeth in 2019. (Alastair Grant - WPA Pool/Getty Images) The president-elect also met with the late Queen Elizabeth during the 2019 visit. President Trump speaking with Prince Charles in 2019. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Notre Dame has been under renovation since a devastating fire damaged the nearly 900-year-old cathedral, probably the most famous in Paris, in 2019.

AP News in Brief at 6:09 p.m. ESTSave Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size If ever a year deserved to be summed up in a cheap meme, it was 2024. It was the year that felt like being awake during surgery . Sometimes the social media chuckle gallery hits the nail right on the head, but for all the spot-on accuracy of that assessment, it’s also a year that warranted a search for its better angels; a sifting through the flotsam and jetsam for the fairy dust and joy. And there were halos to be found if you looked hard enough. “This is the biggest show we’ve done on this tour or any tour,” Taylor Swift told the crowd of 96,000 at the MCG. Credit: Jason South There was, for instance, a moment back in February when the MCG – traditionally a place that brings the feels during footy in September or the cricket on Boxing Day – seemed to swallow the entire city in a joyous embrace as host to the largest crowd of Taylor Swift’s entire 149-show Eras Tour . It was a tour, and a show, unlike anything Australia or Swift herself had ever seen. “You’re making me feel like I get to play a show for 96,000 beautiful people in Melbourne tonight,” a visibly stunned Swift told the heaving crowd, which was boosted by several thousand more fans “Taylor-gating” outside the stadium. “This is the biggest show that we have done on this tour, or any tour, ever.” The Swiftian joyfest then moved north to Sydney, where the total turnout was even bigger (320,000 across four shows). “Sydney, you are making me feel absolutely phenomenal,” she declared. The feeling was clearly mutual and spread far beyond the venues. As she had done on other stops on the Eras tour, Swift proved a human tonic to everything that ails us — from economic worries (Swiftonomics became a subject worthy of study) to general social malaise. Advertisement We spend much of our time worrying about the yoof; especially young women. Well, in 2024 Taylor Swift turned up to show us that the kids are alright. And she wasn’t alone. Swiftmania was the herald of what would become the year that “girl power” – a worn and slightly tatty ’90s concept – received a fresh, ferocious update for the 21st century as something deeper, stronger and powered by a kind of worldly-wise joy. Year of the brat Forget sense and sensibility; 2024 was all sass and sensibility. Sabrina Carpenter parlayed her supporting status on the Eras Tour into a blockbuster year that elevated her to near the very top of the tree with no need for Swift’s booster seat. In Carpenter, pop music added another voice that was savvy, sassy, sexy and smart — from the unavoidable bop of Espresso to the come-to-bed brashness of her smash album Short n’ Sweet . Charli XCX took things a step further. The British singer staked her claim to the year by giving 2024 a word, a colour and an attitude all wrapped up in one album – Brat . She summed it up like this: “You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes. Who feels herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of like, parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat.” Was 2024 the year of the brat? Charli XCX fans certainly thought so. Advertisement If it doesn’t make sense to you, that’s probably because it isn’t meant to. But as a sensibility, it rode a cultural wave – the joy wave – so adroitly Kamala Harris even hitched her (ill-fated) Joy Wagon to the phenomenon. On a similar train was American Chappell Roan – dubbed the Joy Rebel of the Year – whose success confirmed young women were increasingly sailing different seas from the rest of the culture, and landing in happier places. Gold medal to Celine Dion’s Paris Olympics performance. Credit: Screengrab by IOC via Getty Images In July, it was a diva of a different era who elevated the Paris Olympics, as a wet and occasionally weird opening ceremony gave way to the thing we mostly remember about it – the moment we heard the voice and then spotted the figure of a glistening Celine Dion perched within the Eiffel Tower . It was a moment of extraordinary power – of personal resilience and vocal artistry – that lifted the event out of the damp Paris streets and elevated it to a moment of genuine collective emotion. Paris in summer was where we went looking for hope during the Australian winter, and our team delivered. Well, the women did anyway, bringing home 13 of the 18 gold and 27 of the 45 medals overall for our greatest Games ever. Alongside the usual heroics in the pool ( Kaylee McKeown became the first Australian to win four individual gold was one stand-out among a team of them) there were more eccentric goings-on elsewhere in the Olympic city. You could, if you so chose, react to Rachael “Raygun” Gunn’s zero-point car crash with a scowl and a sneer, and many did, but the open-hearted were able to see the funny side. As were comedians around the world, who found in the Australian breakdancer one of the year’s true unifying comedic moments . In a year of much misery, this achievement should not be underappreciated. Advertisement There were happy cultural warriors elsewhere, too. In Hollywood, Nicole Kidman seemed to star in every other movie and series – as Steve Martin quipped at the Emmys , “when I see an actor I don’t know, I just say, ‘I loved your scene with Nicole Kidman’, and nine times out of 10, I’m right”. Our Nic took time out from starring in everything to win everything. This included inhaling the very rare air of an American Film Institute Life Achievement Award . Flying the flag for the younger generation, Adelaide’s Sarah Snook carted home an Emmy and a Golden Globe and warmed up for her 2025 Broadway run in The Picture Of Dorian Gray with a Laurence Olivier Award for the same tour de force in London. Ms Everywhere: It was a big year for Nicole Kidman. Credit: Dave Benett/WireImage Loyalty to royalty Acting royalty elevated us to higher planes. Garden variety royalty also played its part. Mary Donaldson, erstwhile of Hobart and Sydney, became Queen of Denmark in January, giving hope to everyone who met someone in a bar during the Sydney Olympics almost 25 years ago. You don’t have to love royalty to breathe the occasional sigh of relief at the distraction they provide from the daily grind, and you don’t have to be a monarchist to be pleased that the Princess of Wales faced and emerged from a cancer diagnosis in strong and dignified spirit. In the natural world, bad news abounds when it comes to climate change – but there were bright spots. Advertisement Did you know Britain closed its last coal power station in September ? Or that renewables surged even in the US, where wind generation outpaced coal for the first time? Or that in the Amazon, deforestation reached record lows this year? It did. All is not lost yet. Loading For some old-fashioned cheer from Mother Nature, you could wallow in dog and cat videos on social media (and millions of us did) – or you could turn your gaze to another heroine we didn’t know we needed, the Tay Tay of the Choeropsis liberiensis world. In September, the world fell in love with Moo Deng , a pygmy hippo, a girl whose social media fame drew attention to the plight and past of her species. Who knew the pygmy hippo came with a history this rich, star of a Liberian legend in which Moo Deng’s kind find their way through the forest at night by carrying diamonds in their mouths to light the way? This pigmy hippo has become a viral sensation. Credit: Khao Kheow Open Zoo Now we know, and we are the better for it. Closer to home, Pesto the king penguin gained global fame as a social media superstar , famous on TikTok as the largest chick Melbourne’s Sea Life aquarium has ever seen. Big, beautiful and comfortable in his own skin, Pesto was the kind of hero – “calm, curious and friendly” – we needed in a year when male humans to admire were thin on the ground. Advertisement For other bright lights in the darkness, we needed look no further than our own southern skies, with the return on several occasions of the Aurora Australis , which made rare and spectacular appearances as far north as Queensland in May, September and October. Scientists and citizens alike were dazzled by a liquid light show of pinks and whites and purples and greens. Was there a better symbol of hope than this – a phenomenon named for Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn, announcing the arrival of a new day? It was as if we had been given a celestial preview of what would become the year’s biggest cultural event, one that also asked us to look skyward – or in the words of the song of the year, Defying Gravity , “look to the western sky”. Bright lights, all right. Aurora Australis seen in Victoria. Credit: Facebook/Travis Carroll The screen adaptation of Wicked landed in cinemas in mid-November, amid one of the strangest promotional tours in memory and hot on the heels of an American political earthquake two weeks earlier. The weird on-camera adventures of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were at times almost as entertaining as the film they starred in. And the movie’s storyline, adapted from the 2003 stage musical, could have been taken as a contemporary riff on the state of the world , very specifically, at the end of 2024. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo star in Wicked. Credit: Out.com Wicked is a tale of defiance and friendship forged in the most difficult of circumstances; of surmounting challenges and differences; of flying, literally, in the face of a world that seeks to define you. It was, as so many of the hopeful things were in 2024, a message delivered by and to young women startling in their confidence and talent, happy to defy the doom with which the times seek to burden them. Loading The song that ends the film became the year’s musical battle cry – a moment when art and heart met irresistible force, and art and heart won. If ever a year needed an anthem , it was this one – and in Defying Gravity it found it. In a year that insisted we be sad and scared – or summed up in a cheap meme – it was proof there was still space for hearts and minds to soar. Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter .

Tech Titans on the Rise! Discover the Power Players Shaping 2024

NFL NOTESFugitive dog gains fame in New Orleans eluding dart guns and netsTaylor Swift and Travis Kelce are doing more than leaving the Christmas lights up ’til January. Indeed, the couple is celebrating the season by sending very extravagant presents to Travis’ fellow Kansas City Chiefs player Chris Jones and his girlfriend Sheawna Weathersby. In a photo Sheawna shared to her Instagram Story Dec. 25, she showed off presents from the couple: an orange Louis 200 box and several other wrapped gifts-including one large bag with a tag adorned with Taylor’s signature cursive scratch, “Merry Christmas She She and Chris! Travis and Taylor.” Another gift was addressed solely to “She She” in Taylor’s handwriting, adding, “Merry Christmas, Love Tay Tay.” Naturally, Sheawna was floored by the gifts. “So blessed and grateful this holiday season,” she added in text alongside the live photo. “Thank yoouuu Tay Tay!” Taylor has proven to be an extra set of hands for Santa Claus this year-also gifting items like a matching Miu Miu set and Dyson Airwrap to fans she visited at Children’s Mercy Hospital earlier this month. And while the “Fortnight” singer has always had a penchant for gift-giving, Sheawna has also proven to be one of her truest WAG confidants this NFL season. After all, the Mississippi native-who shares sons Deuce, 6 and Carson, 2, with Chris-has shown a glimpse into her friendship with Taylor on social media. In a photo Sheawna shared back in September, she proved she and the Miss Americana star were attached at the hip while rooting for their boyfriends’ team from a suite in Arrowhead Stadium. The Eras Tour performer squeezed into a selfie with the business owner, closing her eyes and nuzzling her face toward her pal as Sheawna gave the camera a peace sign. As for whether Taylor was expecting her stocking to be stuffed to the brim by all of her loved ones this year? Like anyone, she would never turn one down-but she isn’t expecting anything with a hefty price tag, either. “You gotta dig down and come up with something special,” Travis’ dad Ed Kelce explained of finding the perfect gift for Taylor on the Baskin and Phelps podcast earlier this month. “The amount of money is meaningless. You’re not gonna impress Taylor Swift with a gift that costs $100,000.” He emphasised, “Get something that tweaks the strings of her heart that you spend 10 bucks on and then she’ll just be all gooey.” For Taylor, the holidays are certainly a time of giving.'Weak leadership': Garin blames Duterte-era DOH chief for 7M expired Covid-19 jabs

After rough start under coach Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks' defense has become a strengthJulie Appleby | KFF Health News Unauthorized switching of Affordable Care Act plans appears to have tapered off in recent weeks based on an almost one-third drop in casework associated with consumer complaints, say federal regulators . The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees the ACA, credits steps taken to thwart enrollment and switching problems that triggered more than 274,000 complaints this year through August. Now, the annual ACA open enrollment period that began Nov. 1 poses a real-world test: Will the changes curb fraud by rogue agents or brokerages without unduly slowing the process of enrolling or reducing the total number of sign-ups for 2025 coverage? “They really have this tightrope to walk,” said Sabrina Corlette, co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University. “The more you tighten it up to prevent fraud, the more barriers there are that could inhibit enrollment among those who need the coverage.” CMS said in July that some types of policy changes — those in which the agent is not “affiliated” with the existing plan — will face more requirements, such as a three-way call with the consumer, broker, and a healthcare.gov call center representative. In August, the agency barred two of about a dozen private sector online-enrollment platforms from connecting with healthcare.gov over concerns related to improper switching. And CMS has suspended 850 agents suspected of being involved in unauthorized plan-switching from accessing the ACA marketplace. Still, the clampdown could add complexity to enrollment and slow the process. For example, a consumer might have to wait in a queue for a three-way call, or scramble to find a new agent because the one they previously worked with had been suspended. Given that phone lines with healthcare.gov staff already get busy — especially during mid-December — agents and policy analysts advise consumers not to dally this year. “Hit the ground running,” said Ronnell Nolan, president and CEO of Health Agents for America, a professional organization for brokers. Meanwhile, reports are emerging that some rogue entities are already figuring out workarounds that could undermine some of the anti-fraud protections CMS put in place, Nolan said. “Bottom line is: Fraud and abuse is still happening,” Nolan said. Brokers assist the majority of people actively enrolling in ACA plans and are paid a monthly commission by insurers for their efforts. Consumers can compare plans or enroll themselves online through federal or state marketplace websites. They can also seek help from people called assisters or navigators — certified helpers who are not paid commissions. Under a “find local help” button on the federal and state ACA websites , consumers can search for nearby brokers or navigators. CMS says it has “ramped up support operations” at its healthcare.gov marketplace call centers, which are open 24/7, in anticipation of increased demand for three-way calls, and it expects “minimal wait times,” said Jeff Wu, deputy director for policy of the CMS Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. Wu said those three-way calls are necessary only when an agent or a broker not already associated with a consumer’s enrollment wants to change that consumer’s enrollment or end that consumer’s coverage. It does not apply to people seeking coverage for the first time. Organizations paid by the government to offer navigator services have a dedicated phone line to the federal marketplace, and callers are not currently experiencing long waits, said Xonjenese Jacobs, director of Florida Covering Kids & Families, a program based at the University of South Florida that coordinates enrollment across the state through its Covering Florida navigator program. Navigators can assist with the three-way calls if a consumer’s situation requires it. “Because we have our quick line in, there’s no increased wait time,” Jacobs said. The problem of unauthorized switches has been around for a while but took off during last year’s open enrollment season. Brokers generally blamed much of the problem on the ease with which rogue agents can access ACA information in the federal marketplace, needing only a person’s name, date of birth, and state of residence. Though federal regulators have worked to tighten that access with the three-way call requirement, they stopped short of instituting what some agent groups say is needed: two-factor authentication, which could involve a code accessed by a consumer through a smartphone. Unauthorized switches can lead to a host of problems for consumers, from higher deductibles to landing in new networks that do not include their preferred physicians or hospitals. Some people have received tax bills when unauthorized policies came with premium credits for which they did not qualify. Unauthorized switches posed a political liability for the Biden administration, a blemish on two years of record ACA enrollment. The practice drew criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle; Democrats demanded more oversight and punishment of rogue agents, while Republicans said fraud attempts were fueled by Biden administration moves that allowed for more generous premium subsidies and special enrollment periods. The fate of those enhanced subsidies, which are set to expire, will be decided by Congress next year as the Trump administration takes power. But the premiums and subsidies that come with 2025 plans that people are enrolling in now will remain in effect for the entire year. The actions taken this year to thwart the unauthorized enrollments apply to the federal marketplace, used by 31 states . The remaining states and the District of Columbia run their own websites, with many having in place additional layers of security. Related Articles Health | Do not wash your turkey and other Thanksgiving tips to keep your food safe Health | Feds suspend ACA marketplace access to companies accused of falsely promising ‘cash cards’ Health | More foods are making us sick: What to know as foodborne outbreaks hit Health | Which health insurance plan may be right for you? Health | Pay first, deliver later: Some women are being asked to prepay for their baby For its part, CMS says its efforts are working, pointing to the 30% drop in complaint casework. The agency also noted a 90% drop in the number of times an agent’s name was replaced by another’s, which it says indicates that it is tougher for rival agents to steal clients to gain the monthly commissions that insurers pay. Still, the move to suspend 850 agents has drawn pushback from agent groups that initially brought the problem to federal regulators’ attention. They say some of those accused were suspended before getting a chance to respond to the allegations. “There will be a certain number of agents and brokers who are going to be suspended without due process,” said Nolan, with the health agents’ group. She said that it has called for increased protections against unauthorized switching and that two-factor authentication, like that used in some state marketplaces or in the financial sector, would be more effective than what’s been done. “We now have to jump through so many hoops that I’m not sure we’re going to survive,” she said of agents in general. “They are just throwing things against the wall to see what sticks when they could just do two-factor.” The agency did not respond to questions asking for details about how the 850 agents suspended since July were selected, the states where they were located, or how many had their suspensions reversed after supplying additional information.Tracking Ruane, Cunniff, & Goldfarb's Portfolio: Q3 2024 UpdateBJP mostly prefers new faces, sparks rebellion

T he Scottish parliament turned 25 this year, an anniversary chiefly notable for the indifference with which it was met by a general public that has tired of politics. A year ago Humza Yousaf was first minister, the Scottish Greens were in government and Kate Forbes very much was not, Douglas Ross led the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Scottish Labour held just two Scottish constituencies in the House of Commons, and Alex Salmond still believed the Alba Party might be the vehicle for his own political comeback. Salmond’s death in October did not just mean the demise of the most consequential Scottish politician in half a century, it seemed to mark the closing of one era and its replacement by another. For more than a

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