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Washington, Nov 22 (AP) After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks through Senate confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the last two years. Vance arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday with former Rep. Matt Gaetz and spent the morning sitting in on meetings between Trump's choice for attorney general and key Republicans, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The effort was for naught: Gaetz announced a day later that he was withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations and the reality that he was unlikely to be confirmed. Thursday morning Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth, the “Fox and Friends Weekend” host whom Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of defense. Hegseth also has faced allegations of sexual assault that he denies. Vance is expected to accompany other nominees for meetings in coming weeks as he tries to leverage the two years he has spent in the Senate to help push through Trump's picks. Vance is taking on an atypical role as Senate guide for Trump nominees The role of introducing nominees around Capitol Hill is an unusual one for a vice president-elect. Usually the job goes to a former senator who has close relationships on the Hill, or a more junior aide. But this time the role fits Vance, said Marc Short, who served as Trump's first director of legislative affairs as well as chief of staff to Trump's first vice president, Mike Pence, who spent more than a decade in Congress and led the former president's transition ahead of his first term. ”JD probably has a lot of current allies in the Senate and so it makes sense to have him utilized in that capacity,” Short said. Unlike the first Trump transition, which played out before cameras at Trump Tower in New York and at the president-elect's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, this one has largely happened behind closed doors in Palm Beach, Florida. There, a small group of officials and aides meet daily at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort to run through possible contenders and interview job candidates. The group includes Elon Musk, the billionaire who has spent so much time at the club that Trump has joked he can't get rid of him. Vance has been a constant presence, even as he's kept a lower profile. The Ohio senator has spent much of the last two weeks in Palm Beach, according to people familiar with his plans, playing an active role in the transition, on which he serves as honorary chair. Mar-a-Lago scene is a far cry from Vance's hardscrabble upbringing Vance has been staying at a cottage on the property of the gilded club, where rooms are adorned with cherubs, oriental rugs and intricate golden inlays. It's a world away from the famously hardscrabble upbringing that Vance documented in the memoir that made him famous, “Hillbilly Elegy”. His young children have also joined him at Mar-a-Lago, at times. Vance was photographed in shorts and a polo shirt playing with his kids on the seawall of the property with a large palm frond, a US Secret Service robotic security dog in the distance. On the rare days when he is not in Palm Beach, Vance has been joining the sessions remotely via Zoom. Though he has taken a break from TV interviews after months of constant appearances, Vance has been active in the meetings, which began immediately after the election and include interviews and as well as presentations on candidates' pluses and minuses. Among those interviewed: Contenders to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray, as Vance wrote in a since-deleted social media post. Defending himself from criticism that he'd missed a Senate vote in which one of President Joe Biden's judicial nominees was confirmed, Vance wrote that he was meeting at the time "with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director”. “I tend to think it's more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,” Vance added on X. “But that's just me.” Vance is making his voice heard as Trump stocks his Cabinet While Vance did not come in to the transition with a list of people he wanted to see in specific roles, he and his friend, Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is also a member of the transition team, were eager to see former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. find roles in the administration. Trump ended up selecting Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence, a powerful position that sits atop the nation's spy agencies and acts as the president's top intelligence adviser. And he chose Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, a massive agency that oversees everything from drug and food safety to Medicare and Medicaid. Vance was also a big booster of Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who will serve as Trump's “border czar.” In another sign of Vance's influence, James Braid, a top aide to the senator, is expected to serve as Trump's legislative affairs director. Allies say it's too early to discuss what portfolio Vance might take on in the White House. While he gravitates to issues like trade, immigration and tech policy, Vance sees his role as doing whatever Trump needs. Vance was spotted days after the election giving his son's Boy Scout troop a tour of the Capitol and was there the day of leadership elections. He returned in earnest this week, first with Gaetz — arguably Trump's most divisive pick — and then Hegseth, who has was been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, according to an investigative report made public this week. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing. Vance hosted Hegseth in his Senate office as GOP senators, including those who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, filtered in to meet with the nominee for defense secretary. While a president's nominees usually visit individual senators' offices, meeting them on their own turf, the freshman senator — who is accompanied everywhere by a large Secret Service detail that makes moving around more unwieldy — instead brought Gaetz to a room in the Capitol on Wednesday and Hegseth to his office on Thursday. Senators came to them. Vance made it to votes Wednesday and Thursday, but missed others on Thursday afternoon. Vance will draw on his Senate background going forward Vance is expected to continue to leverage his relationships in the Senate after Trump takes office. But many Republicans there have longer relationships with Trump himself. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said that Trump was often the first person to call him back when he was trying to reach high-level White House officials during Trump's first term. “He has the most active Rolodex of just about anybody I've ever known,” Cramer said, adding that Vance would make a good addition. “They'll divide names up by who has the most persuasion here,” Cramer said, but added, “Whoever his liaison is will not work as hard at it as he will.” Cramer was complimentary of the Ohio senator, saying he was “pleasant” and ” interesting” to be around. "He doesn't have the long relationships," he said. "But we all like people that have done what we've done. I mean, that's sort of a natural kinship, just probably not as personally tied.” Under the Constitution, Vance will also have a role presiding over the Senate and breaking tie votes. But he's not likely to be needed for that as often as was Kamala Harris, who broke a record number of ties for Democrats as vice president, since Republicans will have a bigger cushion in the chamber next year. (AP) PY PY (This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)

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The Kimberley Curling Club (KCC) hosted the 2025 Safetek Profire BC U18 Curling Championships from Dec. 19 to 23. "We were thrilled with how everything went," said KCC general manager Blair Jarvis. "We knew that most teams were travelling a long way to get here and unfortunately they had to deal with some adventures with the snow we had last Wednesday. "We wanted to make sure that we gave them an experience that they would remember, so we spent a lot of time on the ice, we wanted to give them a great social experience off the ice as well and we heard from a number of curlers that it was the most U18 event that they’ve attended and so we’re really proud of that fact." The event had 12 teams competing on the Boys' side and seven Girls teams. On the Boys side of the competition, Team Jaeger out of Kelowna beat out Team Hrynew in the finals and for the Girls, Team Arndt from Vernon beat out Team Rempel to win the gold. With these wins, Team Jaeger has earned a spot at the Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships, which will be held at the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon, Sask. from Feb. 16-22, 2025. Teams Arndt and Rempel will both be headed to the Nationals. Team Jaeger was made up of coaches Tyler Jaeger and Travis Wielgosz, Lead Brendan Hruschak, Second Noel Wielgosz, Third Spencer Rempel and Skip Owen Jaeger. "We really worked hard this year, this year we really wanted to win," said Skip Owen Jaeger. "We put in a lot of work and it just feels really, really good to win and for all that hard work to pay off. We’re really, really excited, it’s our first National event, first U18 provincial win so we’re really excited." Team Arndt is Coach David Arndt, Lead Alicia Evans, Second Ivy Jensen, Third Bethany Evans and Skip Ava Arndt. "We’re just super excited," said Skip Ava Arndt. "It took us a couple years to get here, but the hard work payed off and we can’t believe it, I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. It’s been a lot of hard work from us and the coaches and the parents. It’s been amazing." Jarvis coached Kimberley's Team Reynolds, who went on to win bronze. "We had set a target of making the playoffs and really happy with how the boys came together," Jarvis said. "They had a couple of games with a tough start and battled back and so the resilience they showed and how they stayed positive, there were a lot of great things we can take away from that. And the bronze medal, we were just thrilled to do that. "We saw Team Jaeger on the boys side and Team Arndt on the girls side as well — if we want to get to that level next year, we have some things to work on and it’s great to see the high level of curling in this province and so I think we’ve come away very motivated as well about what we need to do to get better if we want to be a little higher on the podium next year." Jarvis extended his gratitude to the over 50 volunteers who helped out before, during and after the event, including members of the Cranbrook Curling Club. "We’ll take some of the learnings from this event and apply them to the High School Provincials at the end of February, but we’re really happy with how everything went," he said. "And this is an event for the kids, we want to make sure that they’re going to have an experience that they’ll remember, the teams that had success will obviously remember the things that happened on the ice, but for most kids it will be the experiences they had off the ice. "We had karaoke here on the one night and a bunch of teams were intermingling together and having a great time and those are the experiences that I’m going to take away from this event." Patti Caldwell was head official for the event and Jarvis said she and Ian Milligan worked tirelessly throughout the week. "Patti’s attitude is this is all for the kids and making sure that they have fun and sure it’s a competition, but it’s meant to be fun and we’re going to enjoy this," Jarvis said. "This is a sport that we can enjoy for life and so you want to make sure you’re building positive memories in every aspect." Lindsay Shannon, administrative and event manager at Curl BC, was also on hand for the event, and presented all the awards. "We would just like to thank the Kimberley Curling Club and the City of Kimberley who put on an amazing event here and welcomed all of our athletes who have performed so well," Shannon said. "We're really looking forward to cheering our winners on at the Nationals." The Kimberley Curling Club's next big event is the High School Provincials from Feb. 26 to March 1.WT Wealth Management Buys 16,480 Shares of NVIDIA Co. (NASDAQ:NVDA)

AP Business SummaryBrief at 5:20 p.m. ESTApplied Optoelectronics Closes Exchange of 2026 Notes and Concurrent Registered Direct OfferingSANTA CLARA, Calif. — Four nights after winning the highest-scoring game of the NFL season, the Los Angeles Rams won the only game this year that didn't have a touchdown. Joshua Karty kicked four field goals and the Rams survived a slugfest a week after winning a shootout, beating the San Francisco 49ers 12-6 on Thursday night in a key game in the NFC West race. “What’s really cool is this team has found a bunch of different ways to be able to win football games," coach Sean McVay said. “You come off a 44-42 game the other day and then you win 12-6. Our group did what they needed to do to be able to get it done.” The Rams (8-6) followed up the high-scoring win over Buffalo by winning for the seventh time in nine games following a 1-4 start. The Rams moved within a half-game of division-leading Seattle. Los Angeles won a game without a touchdown for the first time since 2016. The 49ers (5-8) led 6-3 heading into the fourth quarter but came up short, dealing a major blow to the dwindling playoff hopes for the defending NFC champions. This marked the fourth time this season that the Niners lost to a division opponent after leading by at least three points in the fourth quarter, making them the first team to do that since New England in 2000 in coach Bill Belichick's first season with the Patriots. “It was the story of the year,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “Just not doing enough to win games. Not playing complementary. Just coming out a little too short.” Los Angeles Rams place kicker Joshua Karty (16) kicks a field goal from the hold of Ethan Evans during the second half of an NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Credit: AP/Jed Jacobsohn Karty capped a 17-play drive with a game-tying 23-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and then hit a 27-yarder after Matthew Stafford connected on a 51-yard pass to Puka Nacua. Karty made all four kicks after missing four in the past five games of his rookie season. “He’s steady,” McVay said. “He’s consistent. He’s kind of unflappable.” The Niners then drove into field-goal range but Brock Purdy was intercepted on a deep pass into the end zone by Darious Williams, helping the Rams secure their first series sweep against the 49ers since 2018. Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (17) reacts after catching a pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Credit: AP/Godofredo A. Vásquez Stafford then led a clock-killing drive that was capped by Karty's fourth field goal with 18 seconds to play. Stafford went 16 for 27 for 160 yards, with 137 of those yards coming after halftime when the heavy rain stopped. “In the second half, the weather was good enough to do it all,” Stafford said. “We had the feeling that that was the kind of way this game was going to be played and it’s going to have to be one of those games. We scored 44 four nights ago and come out here and score 12 but they both count for one.” Purdy finished 14 for 31 for 142 yards as the Niners failed to score a touchdown in a game for the first time since 2019. The first half was played in a downpour and it had a major impact on the offensive performances with neither team able to move the ball. The Rams had no first downs on their first four drives for the first time since 2013 before getting a late field goal to tie the game. The Niners went three-and-out three times and got one field goal. The teams combined for 11 punts, nine first downs and 197 yards four days after they both had season highs in points. The rain mostly stopped at halftime but the offenses still struggled. Injuries Rams: LB Nick Hampton (chest) left in the second half. 49ers: LB Dre Greenlaw returned for the first time since tearing his left Achilles tendon in the Super Bowl last season. He had eight tackles in the first half but played sparingly in the second half. Veteran De'Vondre Campbell, who lost his starting role when Greenlaw returned, refused to enter the game in the second half, according to coach Kyle Shanahan. ... S Ji'Ayir Brown (groin) left in the second half. Up next Rams: Visit the New York Jets on Dec. 22. 49ers: Visit Miami on Dec. 22.

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