iwildcasino.com Titans vs. Jaguars Same Game Parlay Picks – NFL Week 17 Published 5:40 pm Thursday, December 26, 2024 By Data Skrive The Tennessee Titans (3-12) take a four-game losing streak into a matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-12) on Sunday, December 29, 2024 at EverBank Stadium, and here are some same-game parlay options to consider. BetMGM is one of the most trusted Sportsbooks in the nation. Start with as little as $1 and place your bets today . Titans vs. Jaguars Game Info Titans vs. Jaguars Spread Titans vs. Jaguars Total Parlay With Mason Rudolph’s Pass TD Prop Parlay payout based on standard calculation and is not associated with any sportsbook offers. Visit BetMGM for odds and payout information. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER .Published 5:40 pm Thursday, December 26, 2024 By Data Skrive The New Orleans Pelicans’ (5-26) injury report has four players listed as they ready for their Friday, December 27 matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies (21-10, also four injured players) at Smoothie King Center, with a start time of 8:00 PM ET. Watch the NBA, other live sports and more on Fubo. What is Fubo? Fubo is a streaming service that gives you access to your favorite live sports and shows on demand. Use our link to sign up. Their last time out, the Grizzlies won on Thursday 155-126 over the Raptors. In the victory, Zach Edey paced the Grizzlies with 21 points. The Pelicans are coming off of a 128-111 loss to the Rockets in their last outing on Thursday. Trey Murphy III scored 21 points in the Pelicans’ loss, leading the team. Sign up for NBA League Pass to get live and on-demand access to NBA games. Get tickets for any NBA game this season at StubHub. Catch NBA action all season long on Fubo. Bet on this or any NBA matchup at BetMGM. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER .

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NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump used his image as a successful New York businessman to become a celebrity, a reality television star and eventually the president. Now he will get to revel in one of the most visible symbols of success in the city when he rings the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday as he's also named Time Magazine's Person of the Year. Trump is expected to be on Wall Street to mark the ceremonial start of the day's trading, according to four people with knowledge of his plans. He will also be announced Thursday as Time's 2024 Person of the Year , according to a person familiar with the selection. The people who confirmed the stock exchange appearance and Time award were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. It will be a notable moment of twin recognitions for Trump, a born-and-bred New Yorker who at times has treated the stock market as a measure of public approval and has long-prized signifiers of his success in New York's business world and his appearances on the covers of magazines — especially Time. Trump was named the magazine's Person of the Year in 2016, when he was first elected to the White House. He had already been listed as a finalist for this year's award alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, X owner Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kate, the Princess of Wales. Time declined to confirm the selection ahead of Thursday morning's announcement. “Time does not comment on its annual choice for Person of the Year prior to publication,” a spokesperson for the magazine said Wednesday. The ringing of the bell is a powerful symbol of U.S. capitalism — and a good New York photo opportunity at that. Despite his decades as a New York businessman, Trump has never done it before. It was unclear whether Trump, a Republican, would meet with New York's embattled mayor, Democrat Eric Adams , who has warmed to Trump and has not ruled out changing his political party. Adams has been charged with federal corruption crimes and accused of selling influence to foreign nationals; he has denied wrongdoing. Trump himself was once a symbol of New York, but he gave up living full-time in his namesake Trump Tower in Manhattan and moved to Florida after leaving the White House. CNN first reported Wednesday Trump’s visit to the stock exchange and Politico reported that Trump was expected to be unveiled as Time's Person of the Year. The stock exchange regularly invites celebrities and business leaders to participate in the ceremonial opening and closing of trading. During Trump’s first term, his wife, Melania Trump, rang the bell to promote her “Be Best” initiative on children’s well-being. Last year, Time CEO Jessica Sibley rang the opening bell to unveil the magazine's 2023 Person of the Year: Taylor Swift . After the Nov. 5 election, the S&P 500 rallied 2.5% for its best day in nearly two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1,508 points, or 3.6%, while the Nasdaq composite jumped 3%. All three indexes topped records they had set in recent weeks. The U.S. stock market has historically tended to rise regardless of which party wins the White House, with Democrats scoring bigger average gains since 1945. But Republican control could mean big shifts in the winning and losing industries underneath the surface, and investors are adding to bets built earlier on what the higher tariffs, lower tax rates and lighter regulation that Trump favors will mean. Trump has long courted the business community based on his own status as a wealthy real estate developer who gained additional fame as the star of the TV show “The Apprentice” in which competitors tried to impress him with their business skills. He won the election in part by tapping into Americans' deep anxieties about an economy that seemed unable to meet the needs of the middle class. The larger business community has applauded his promises to reduce corporate taxes and cut regulations. But there are also concerns about his stated plans to impose broad tariffs and possibly target companies that he sees as not aligning with his own political interests. Trump spends the bulk of his time at his Florida home but was in New York for weeks this spring during his hush money trial there. He was convicted, but his lawyers are pushing for the case to be thrown out in light of his election. While he spent hours in a Manhattan courthouse every day during his criminal trial, Trump took his presidential campaign to the streets of the heavily Democratic city, holding a rally in the Bronx and popping up at settings for working-class New Yorkers: a bodega, a construction site and a firehouse. Trump returned to the city in September to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Manhattan tower and again in the final stretch of the presidential campaign when he held a rally at Madison Square Garden that drew immediate blowback as speakers made rude and racist insults and incendiary remarks . At the stock exchange, the ringing of the bell has been a tradition since the 1800s. The first guest to do it was a 10-year-old boy named Leonard Ross, in 1956, who won a quiz show answering questions about the stock market. Many times, companies listing on the exchange would ring the bell at 9:30 a.m. to commemorate their initial offerings as trading began. But the appearances have become an important marker of culture and politics -- something that Trump hopes to seize as he’s promised historic levels of economic growth. The anti-apartheid advocate and South African President Nelson Mandela rang the bell, as has Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone with his castmates from the film “The Expendables.” So, too, have the actors Robert Downey Jr. and Jeremy Renner for an “Avengers” movie and the Olympians Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin. In 1985, Ronald Reagan became the first sitting U.S. president to ring the bell. “With tax reform and budget control, our economy will be free to expand to its full potential, driving the bears back into permanent hibernation,” Reagan said at the time. “We’re going to turn the bull loose.” The crowd of traders on the floor chanted, “Ronnie! Ronnie! Ronnie!” The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed in 1985 and 1986, but it suffered a decline in October 1987 in an event known as “Black Monday.” Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The countdown clock to Christmas and the holidays leaves many scrambling to buy last-minute gifts in what’s called “Panic Week.” John Talbot, senior lecturer at Indiana University Kelly School of Business, joined “Daybreak” to talk about the stress that comes from buying gifts for the whole family. “I don’t know that retailers intentionally raise prices, but certainly the things that are must-have items typically don’t get marked down as we get closer to the holidays,” Talbot said. Desirable gifts are going to be out of stock, and definitely not marked down, Talbot said, “If there’s something that you must have, the Tickle Me Elmo of this particular holiday season, you should have already bought it.” Most of the data surrounding Talbot looked over focused on online shopping. Sites like Amazon encourage promotions during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but those sales don’t last forever . “You can see a deep dip in the data in terms of prices and discounts during that time period, and they tend to get off that as we get closer to Christmas,” Talbot said. For more on “Panic Week” leading into Christmas, watch the video above.LG Energy Solution Hosts 'Battery Innovation Contest (BIC) 2025' to Foster Breakthrough Battery TechnologiesNEW YORK (AP) — Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the U.S. but was unknown to millions of the people his decisions affected. Then Wednesday's of the UnitedHealthcare CEO in a targeted killing on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk thrust the executive and his business into the national spotlight. Thompson, who was 50, ran the insurance arm of the giant UnitedHealth Group Inc. since 2021 and had worked at the company for 20 years. He previously led its Medicare and retirement businesses. As CEO, Thompson led a business that provides health coverage to more than 49 million Americans — more than the population of Spain. United is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run versions of the U.S. government’s Medicare program for people age 65 and older. The company also sells individual insurance and administers health-insurance coverage for thousands of employers and state-and federally funded Medicaid programs. The business run by Thompson brought in $281 billion in revenue last year, making it the largest subsidiary of the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group. His $10.2 million annual pay package, including salary, bonus and stock options awards, made him one of the company's highest-paid executives. The University of Iowa graduate began his career as a certified public accountant at Pricewaterhouse Coopers and had little name recognition beyond the industry. Even to investors who own its stock, the parent company's face belonged to CEO Andrew Witty, a knighted British triathlete who has testified before Congress. Thompson’s few moments of public attention stood in contrast to his role in reshaping the way Americans get health care. At an investor meeting last year, he outlined his company's shift to “value-based care,” paying doctors and other caregivers to keep patients healthy, rather than focusing on treating them when they get sick. “Health care should be easier for people,” Thompson said at the time. “We are cognizant of the challenges. But navigating a future through value-based care unlocks a situation where the ... family doesn’t have to make the decisions on their own.” Thompson also drew attention in 2021 when the insurer, like its competitors, was widely criticized for a plan to start denying payment for what it deemed non-critical visits to hospital emergency rooms. “Patients are not medical experts and should not be expected to self-diagnose during what they believe is a medical emergency,” the chief executive of the American Hospital Association wrote in an open letter addressed to Thompson. “Threatening patients with a financial penalty for making the wrong decision could have a chilling effect on seeking emergency care.” United Healthcare responded by delaying rollout of the change. Thompson was scheduled to speak at an investor meeting when he was shot around 6:45 a.m. outside the New York Hilton Midtown by a masked assailant who fled on foot, the New York Police Department said. Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said investigators were looking at Thompson's social media accounts and interviewing employees and family members. He said Thompson walked out of the hotel alone. “Didn’t seem like he had any issues at all,” Kenny said. "He did not have a security detail.” AP reporter Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report. This story corrects the style of the company’s name to UnitedHealthcare.

The Ravens announced that tickets for a potential home wild-card playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium will go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m.PALERMO, Calif. (AP) — There was a shooting Wednesday at a Northern California elementary school and the suspect is dead, sheriff’s officials say. Deputies were “on scene of an active incident involving a shooting” at Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Palermo, the Butte County Sheriff's Office said on the social platform X. It wasn’t immediately known if anyone at the school was hurt. “The suspected shooter is deceased,” the post said. A phone call and email to the sheriff’s department were not immediately returned. A representative from the Butte County Fire Department did not immediately have any information about the shooting. Students were being taken to the Oroville Church of the Nazarene to be reunited with their families, the sheriff's office said. Palermo — home to about 5,500 people — is about 65 miles (104 km) north of Sacramento. The Associated PressMarin Academy alum’s Battle Tested Kids provides mentorship to the next generation

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Gun found on suspect in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO matches shell casings at scene, police say ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — New York City’s police commissioner says the gun found on the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO matches shell casings found at the crime scene. Commissioner Jessica Tisch also said Wednesday that lab results matched suspect Luigi Mangione’s prints to a water bottle and a snack bar wrapper found near the scene of the killing. Police had said earlier that they believed the gunman bought the items at a nearby coffee shop while awaiting his target. Mangione is jailed in Pennsylvania on weapon and forgery charges, but he also has been charged in New York with murder in Brian Thompson's death. His lawyer has noted that Mangione is presumed innocent. Authorities are scrutinizing evidence and the suspect’s experiences with the health care industry. Arguments over whether Luigi Mangione is a 'hero' offer a glimpse into an unusual American moment Memes and online posts in support of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, who's charged with killing UnitedHealthcare's CEO, have mushroomed online. Some cast Mangione as a hero. That's too far, says Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a rising Democrat who was almost the Democratic vice presidential nominee this year. CEO Brian Thompson's death touched off off these ripples. They offer a glimpse into how so many different aspects of 21st-century life can be surreally connected, from public violence to politics, from health care to humor, or attempts at it. FBI Director Wray says he intends to resign before Trump takes office in January WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Christopher Wray says he plans to resign at the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January. The announcement Wednesday comes a week and a half after President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate loyalist Kash Patel for the position. His impending resignation will bring him three years short of the completion of a 10-year term during which he tried to keep the FBI out of politics even as the bureau found itself entangled in a string of explosive investigations. Trump applauded the news Wednesday, saying it will end the weaponization of what he called the “Department of Injustice.” Donald Trump will ring the New York Stock Exchange bell as he's named Time's Person of the Year NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange for the first time and be named Time magazine's Person of the Year. Thursday's events will be a notable moment of twin recognitions for Trump, a born-and-bred New Yorker who has long seen praise from the business world and media as a sign of success. Four people with knowledge of his plans told The Associated Press that Trump was expected to be on Wall Street on Thursday to mark the ceremonial start of the day's trading, while a person familiar with the selection confirmed that Trump had been selected as Time's Person of the Year. The Trump and Biden teams insist they're working hand in glove on foreign crises WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t think much of Joe Biden’s foreign policy record. He frequently casts the outgoing Democratic president as a feckless leader who shredded American credibility around the world during his four-year term. But the Trump and Biden national security teams have come to an understanding that they have no choice but to work together as conflicts in Gaza, Syria and Ukraine have left a significant swath of the world on a knife’s edge. It’s fuzzy how much common ground Biden and Trump’s teams have found as they navigate crises that threaten to cause more global upheaval as Trump prepares to settle back into the White House. Syrians flock to morgues looking for loved ones who perished in Assad's prisons DAMASCUS (AP) — Many bodies have been found in Syrian detention centers and prisons since President Bashar al-Assad's government fell. Now Syrians around the world are circulating images of the corpses in hopes that they will see slain loved ones whose fate had been a mystery. At the morgue visited by The Associated Press on Wednesday in Damascus, families flocked to a wall where some of the pictures were pinned in a haunting gallery of the dead. Relatives desperately scanned the images for a recognizable face. Some of the prisoners died just weeks ago. Others perished months earlier. US warns Russia may be ready to use new lethal missile against Ukraine again in 'coming days' WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says Russia could launch its lethal new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine again soon. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh cited a U.S. intelligence assessment in telling reporters on Wednesday that an attack could come “in the coming days.” She says the U.S. does not consider the Oreshnik missile a game changer on the battlefield. But that Russia is using the weapon to intimidate Ukraine as both sides wrestle for an advantage that will give them leverage in any negotiations to end the war. The Russian Defense Ministry also is warning it may retaliate against Kyiv for an attack on a military base in the Rostov region in southern Russia on Wednesday. Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 33 including children, Palestinian medics say DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian medical officials say Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 33 people. One of the strikes hit a home where displaced people were sheltering in the isolated north, killing 19. A separate strike outside nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital killed a woman and her two children, and another strike in central Gaza killed at least seven people. Israel's military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and accuses militants of hiding among them, putting their lives in danger. Local health officials say Israel’s retaliatory offensive after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023 has killed over 44,000 Palestinians in Gaza. Hannah Kobayashi, missing Hawaii woman whose disappearance prompted a massive search, is found safe LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hannah Kobayashi has been found safe. That’s according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Kobayashi vanished last month in Los Angeles. The missing Hawaii woman's disappearance prompted a massive search and a missing persons investigation. It was not immediately clear where she was found, but police previously said she had voluntarily crossed the border into Mexico. The LAPD said Wednesday the department will wrap up its investigation. Kobayashi's family reported her missing to law enforcement on Nov. 11 after relatives received “strange and cryptic, just alarming” text messages. Kobayashi’s mother and sister said they are “grateful” she has been found safe. Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup. But when exactly? ZURICH (AP) — Saudi Arabia scored a major win in its campaign to attract major sports events to the kingdom when it was formally appointed as the 2034 World Cup host on Wednesday. Still, many questions remain about the tournament. Key issues include during which part of the year to stage the tournament, where to play the games, whether alcohol will be allowed at all and how to protect workers rights in the massive construction projects required to host the World Cup.AP News Summary at 2:36 p.m. EST

WASHINGTON — A top White House official said Wednesday at least eight U.S. telecom firms and dozens of nations were impacted by a Chinese hacking campaign. Deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger offered new details about the breadth of the sprawling Chinese hacking campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans. FILE - The American and Chinese flags wave at Genting Snow Park ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, in Zhangjiakou, China, on Feb. 2, 2022. A top White House official on Wednesday said at least eight U.S. telecom firms and dozens of nations have been impacted by a Chinese hacking campaign. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File) Neuberger divulged the scope of the hack a day after the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued guidance intended to help root out the hackers and prevent similar cyberespionage in the future. White House officials cautioned that the number of telecommunication firms and countries impacted could grow. People are also reading... Trump, Musk can learn from North Carolina, Raleigh writer says Statesville native Tomlin leads Delaware State to MEAC volleyball title, NCAA berth Top vote-getter Houpe: Why am I not chairman of Iredell board of commissioners? Letter to the editor: Charging kids to play baseball at Jennings Park is poor idea Iredell-Statesville Schools closed Tuesday due to snow, ice Iredell-Statesville Schools nutrition department receives award 'The Message' religious sect sprouts destructive groups across globe Iredell deputies charge Catawba County men with stealing Duke Energy wire North Dakota man brings shed-building expertise to Troutman Lake Norman residents voice concerns with Marshall Steam Station changes New school chairman rules 2 fellow board members out of order in Iredell Cabinet manufacturer closing Statesville facility, laying off all 74 employees Women report widespread misogyny in churches tied to religious group 'The Message' Iredell County woman celebrates $100,000 scratch-off win Mooresville’s bid to topple No. 3 seed East Forsyth comes up short in third round The U.S. believes the hackers were able to gain access to communications of senior U.S. government officials and prominent political figures through the hack, Neuberger said. “We don’t believe any classified communications has been compromised,” Neuberger added during a call with reporters. She added that Biden was briefed on the findings and the White House “made it a priority for the federal government to do everything it can to get to the bottom this.” US officials recommend encrypted messaging apps amid "Salt Typhoon" cyberattack, attributed to China, targeting AT&T, Verizon, and others. The Chinese embassy in Washington rejected the accusations that it was responsible for the hack Tuesday after the U.S. federal authorities issued new guidance. “The U.S. needs to stop its own cyberattacks against other countries and refrain from using cyber security to smear and slander China,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said. The embassy did not immediately respond to messages Wednesday. White House officials believe the hacking was regionally targeted and the focus was on very senior government officials. Federal authorities confirmed in October that hackers linked to China targeted the phones of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, along with people associated with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris. FBI tells telecom firms to boost security following wide-ranging Chinese hacking campaign By DAVID KLEPPER - Associated Press The number of countries impacted by the hack is currently believed to be in the “low, couple dozen,” according to a senior administration official. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the White House, said they believed the hacks started at least a year or two ago. The suggestions for telecom companies released Tuesday are largely technical in nature, urging encryption, centralization and consistent monitoring to deter cyber intrusions. If implemented, the security precautions could help disrupt the operation, dubbed Salt Typhoon, and make it harder for China or any other nation to mount a similar attack in the future, experts say. Trump's pick to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel was allegedly the target of cyberattack attempt by Iranian-backed hackers. Neuberger pointed to efforts made to beef up cybersecurity in the rail, aviation, energy and other sectors following the May 2021 ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline . “So, to prevent ongoing Salt Typhoon type intrusions by China, we believe we need to apply a similar minimum cybersecurity practice,” Neuberger said. The cyberattack by a gang of criminal hackers on the critical U.S. pipeline, which delivers about 45% of the fuel used along the Eastern Seaboard, sent ripple effects across the economy, highlighting cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the nation’s aging energy infrastructure. Colonial confirmed it paid $4.4 million to the gang of hackers who broke into its computer systems as it scrambled to get the nation's fuel pipeline back online. 5 tips for protecting your phone while traveling abroad 5 tips for protecting your phone while traveling abroad Picture this: You're on vacation in a city abroad, exploring museums, tasting the local cuisine, and people-watching at cafés. Everything is going perfectly until you get a series of alerts on your phone. Someone is making fraudulent charges using your credit card, sending you into a panic. How could this have happened? Cyberattacks targeting travelers are nothing new. But as travel has increased in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, so has the volume of hackers and cybercriminals preying upon tourists. Financial fraud is the most common form of cybercrime experienced by travelers, but surveillance via public Wi-Fi networks, social media hacking, and phishing scams are also common, according to a survey by ExpressVPN . Spokeo consulted cybersecurity sources and travel guides to determine some of the best ways to protect your phone while traveling, from using a VPN to managing secure passwords. Online attacks are not the only type of crime impacting travelers—physical theft of phones is also a threat. Phones have become such invaluable travel aids, housing our navigation tools, digital wallets, itineraries, and contacts, that having your phone stolen, lost, or compromised while abroad can be devastating. Meanwhile, traveling can make people uniquely vulnerable to both cyber and physical attacks due to common pitfalls like oversharing on social media and letting your guard down when it comes to taking risks online. Luckily, there are numerous precautions travelers can take to safeguard against cyberattacks and phone theft. Use a VPN Hackers can—and do—target public Wi-Fi networks at cafés and hotels to gain access to your personal information or install malware onto your device, particularly on unsecured networks. Travelers are especially vulnerable to these types of cybersecurity breaches because they are often more reliant on public Wi-Fi than they would be in their home countries where they have more robust phone plans. This reliance on public, unsecured networks means travelers are more likely to use those networks to perform sensitive tasks like financial transfers, meaning hackers can easily gain access to banking information or other passwords. One easy way to safeguard yourself against these breaches is to use a virtual private network, or VPN, while traveling. VPNs are apps that encrypt your data and hide your location, preventing hackers from accessing personal information. An added bonus is that VPNs allow you to access websites that may be blocked or unavailable in the country you are visiting. To use a VPN, simply download a VPN app on your phone or computer, create an account, choose a server, and connect. Wear a cross-body bag or antitheft strap Pickpockets, scammers, and flagrant, snatch-your-phone-right-out-of-your-hand thieves can be found pretty much everywhere. In London, for instance, a staggering 91,000 phones were reported stolen to police in 2022 , breaking down to an average of 248 per day, according to the BBC. Whether you're visiting a crowded tourist attraction or just want peace of mind, travel experts advise taking precautions to make sure your phone isn't physically stolen or compromised while traveling. There are several antitheft options to choose from. If you want a bag that will protect your phone from theft, experts recommend looking for features like slash-resistant fabric, reinforced shoulder straps, hidden zippers that can be locked, and secure attachment points, like a cross-body strap or a sturdy clip. For tethers, look for those made of tear-resistant material with a reinforced clip or ring. Turn on "Find My Phone" In order for the previous tip on this list to work, "Find My Phone" must be turned on in advance, but remotely wiping your device isn't the only thing this feature allows you to do. The "Find My Phone" feature enables you to track your device, as long as it's turned on and not in airplane mode. This is particularly helpful if you misplaced your phone or left it somewhere since it can help you retrace your steps. While this feature won't show you the live location of a phone that has been turned off, it will show the phone's last known location. With "Find My Phone," you can also remotely lock your phone or enable "Lost Mode," which locks down the phone, suspends any in-phone payment methods, and displays contact information for returning the phone to you. If your phone was stolen, experts caution against taking matters into your own hands by chasing down the thief, since this could land you in a potentially dangerous situation and is unlikely to result in getting your phone back. Protect your passwords Strong passwords for important accounts help protect your information while you travel, but it's just a first step. The National Cybersecurity Alliance recommends creating long, unique, and complex passwords for every account and combining them with multifactor authentication to create maximum barriers to entry. If you're worried about remembering these passwords, password managers can be a vital tool for both creating and storing strong passwords. Password managers are apps that act as secure vaults for all your passwords. Some even come with a feature that allows you to temporarily delete sensitive passwords before you travel and then easily restore them once you return. Story editing by Mia Nakaji Monnier. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick. This story originally appeared on Spokeo and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.

Wall Street mostly upbeat on GM's decision to pull the plug on CruiseLIVINGSTON — From the hillside above her home on Suce Creek, Maggie McGuane has a clear view of the property a Miami-based investment firm is eyeing for a luxury resort development. The lower boundary of the empty three-lot parcel is easily identifiable. It’s been planted in winter wheat, highlighting the right angles that form the property’s lower edge. The upper lot has more relief, stretching up a pine-dotted hillside. McGuane has climbed above the cottonwoods that shelter her house from Park County’s infamous wind — blowing moderately on a late October day — to explain why she finds a proposal to put 100 cabins, a restaurant and a spa in this tucked-away slice of Paradise Valley a “uniquely mysterious” prospect. The mystery pertains to peculiarities of the 90-acre property, which is still listed for sale, and the inscrutability of the parties involved: an out-of-state landowner named Robert Pappert whom McGuane has been unable to reach outside of communications with his attorney and Realtor, and Flex Capital Group, an out-of-state real estate developer that’s an unknown quantity here. McGuane has been unofficially appointed by her neighbors to lead the charge against the development, which has generated difficult conversations about zoning in the two months since the proposal came to light via an email exchange unearthed by a local nonprofit. McGuane and others argue that the development is out of alignment with the area’s predominantly rural character, and a poor fit for a community eager to avoid the breakneck development that’s reshaping nearby Bozeman, a rapidly growing college town of 57,000 that was recently crowned one of the country’s “coolest” small cities. Though McGuane is well aware of an outpouring of interest in the amenities Paradise Valley has to offer, aesthetic and otherwise, several features of Flex’s plan have challenged her understanding of the voracity of the land lust transforming Paradise Valley, the place she scattered the ashes of her mother, actress Margot Kidder, and the home she said she can’t imagine leaving. Suce Creek is a relatively tight drainage perpendicular to Paradise Valley, a wider valley that has long been a thoroughfare for ranchers raising cattle, anglers casting for trout in the Yellowstone River, and tourists eager to spot geysers, grizzlies, wolves and bison in nearby Yellowstone National Park. Even without a zoning district precluding the type of commercial resort development Flex has in mind, McGuane finds it hard to imagine more than 100 structures and 400 parking spaces packed into a 90-acre property with so much slope. “It just doesn’t make any sense,” McGuane said, going on to describe the land as “rattlesnake-crusted, barren [and] windblown.” “Barren” pertains to water availability, which McGuane said is “core to this battle,” especially given an active lawsuit between Pappert and neighboring landowners and the fact that several of her neighbors have had to redrill their wells in recent years in search of a reliable water supply. Pappert, a North Carolina-based dentist, acquired a right to some of Suce Creek’s water when he purchased the property in 2014. Since it’s not a particularly senior right, scant water is available to the property owner during the dry months. A three-year legal battle produced a recent water court ruling finding that Pappert is entitled to 40 miner’s inches of water (roughly 450 gallons per minute), but whether he has access to that water via an easement across his neighbor’s property remains legally unresolved. Another access issue pertains to roads. Though the property is just a few miles from two major north-south routes — Highway 89 and its cousin to the east, East River Road — Suce Creek Road is a gravel road prone to drifting in with snow when Park County’s winter winds kick up in earnest. Finally, there are concerns of the horned, hooved, furred and fanged variety. On a recent fall day, dozens of cattle roamed above a cattle guard posted with an “open range” sign. The Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, just a couple of miles up-drainage from Pappert’s property, supports the kinds of large mammals that need distance from people to thrive, including moose and rarer animals. In 2006, a trio of teenage hikers spent nearly two hours tucked into the fetal position to protect themselves from a charging grizzly bear. Up on the hillside, McGuane takes a break from throwing a stuffed octopus for Penny, her copper-colored mutt, to relate the story of a black bear that frequented the drainage from 2018 to 2022. He was first seen as a small cub near her house. Her husband dubbed the bear Darren. McGuane’s not sure what happened to the bear, but she suspects a neighbor shot him. She knows plenty of people in Park County don’t share her views about large carnivores — or any number of natural resource issues, for that matter — which is part of the reason she’s been so struck by what she describes as consensus around the Suce Creek development. “It’s amazing to see everyone in agreement — and this is Park County-wide. I have grown up around these things being huge battles. This is my first experience with a proposal that, across the board, everyone thinks this is a bad idea,” she said. “This development has challenged all of our notions of how far things could go, how nonsensical the growth could be.” Like other residents of southwestern Montana, McGuane learned about the development from the Park County Environmental Council, a 34-year-old nonprofit perhaps best known for a successful multiyear campaign to fend off an exploratory gold-mining operation in nearby Emigrant Gulch that state environmental regulators permitted in 2017. Curious if murmurs about a new development in Suce Creek were founded, the group submitted a record request to the county planning department in early October. “This is my first experience with a proposal that, across the board, everyone thinks this is a bad idea.” The request produced about a dozen emails between Park County Planning Director Mike Inman and Nir Balboa, one of Flex’s managing partners. Balboa described the property’s location and inquired about what sort of environmental reviews would be required for a 100-cabin development sketched out in renderings for Flex projects in Utah and North Carolina that he described as “identical to” the company’s plans for Paradise Valley. The documents show small, flat-roofed cabins with lots of right angles and glass situated near 27,000 square feet of shared amenities: an airy 200-seat restaurant, a pair of indoor pools with a view into surrounding green space, an event space and a storefront for recreational gear. The renderings generated an immediate stir on social media. (“Tell these derivative traders that don’t give a flying damn about this place that they are not welcome here,” software executive and local lodge owner Jeff Reed wrote on his Facebook page shortly after Park County Environmental Council shared the renderings. “Make this an election issue for our county commissioners.”) Park County fields inquiries from developers trying to understand the regulatory lay of the land in the county “fairly frequently,” Inman told Montana Free Press in a recent interview. It doesn’t take long to give interested parties the broad outlines: There is a sign ordinance along Highway 89 as well as five smaller citizen-initiated zoning districts scattered throughout the county, but there is no county-wide zoning. Local review requirements for most commercial projects — including those like Flex’s — are therefore extremely limited, he said. Substantive project reviews would instead go through state agencies such as the Montana Department of Natural Resource and Conservation, which would examine the water-availability piece of the equation, and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, which would review project components pertaining to wastewater management and public waterworks. “Nobody wants things in their backyard, which we hear a lot, but there are no guardrails,” he said. Inman and the appointed, volunteer-staffed county planning board he works with spent several years developing a proposal for an agricultural and residential preservation zoning district (previously dubbed a “conflict mitigation zoning district”) that would have allowed local elected officials to weigh in on proposals like Flex’s, as well as other commercial enterprises such as tire dumps, asphalt plants, wind farms, chicken processing facilities and shooting ranges. County commissioners voted to put that proposal on ice in 2022, partly due to the logistical challenges of taking public comment during the COVID-19 pandemic. It generated intense interest: 226 pages of comments regarding the zoning proposal landed in county employee inboxes. In an interesting twist, anti-zoning and pro-zoning contingents banded together to halt it. One side argued that it went too far, and the other said it didn’t go far enough. “Fear runs both sides,” Inman said of the two camps’ unusual cooperation. “When you are operating out of fear, it is really difficult to have consensus and productive conversations.” The community fears that county planners are grappling with now underscore why it’s better to discuss growth before conflict around a specific proposal sharpens the debate, Inman said. “I’m really amazed at how [the Suce Creek proposal] has blown up, for something that may not even get built.” Whether Flex is casually interested in Pappert’s property or fully committed to pursuing a Paradise Valley development is a source of widespread speculation in Park County seat Livingston and beyond. Billed as an “innovation-oriented real estate investment firm with fully integrated acquisition, development and property management expertise,” Flex was founded in 2020 by real estate and hospitality executives with experience in the Miami and New York City real estate markets. The company did not respond to emails and calls seeking comment. Property owner Pappert declined to be interviewed, but the Realtor representing him told MTFP on Dec. 3 that Pappert is still accepting offers for the property, which has been listed intermittently since 2021. It’s currently listed for $3.9 million. In 2014, the year Pappert bought it, it was listed for $800,000. Park County Environmental Council Co-Director Max Hjortsberg said the Suce Creek proposal strikes him as a “very Big Sky-esque” development slated for an area that has retained its agricultural foundation and “quiet social fabric.” “This is indicative of a new type of development,” he said. “[We’re] being sought after by a different level of developer and investor.” Since the nonprofit received its record request, Hjortsberg said, it’s learned that Flex has approached at least two other Park County property owners with purchase offers. (They were declined.) “They’re doing their due diligence, so we think they’re very serious and definitely making a play at this development opportunity,” Hjortsberg said. Erica Lighthiser, Hjortsberg’s co-director, said she doesn’t particularly relish the marathon time commitment involved with zoning questions — “the ‘Z’ word,” she calls it — but she’s grateful that the Suce Creek prospect has reignited conversations about community planning. “We need something, because otherwise it’s this slow erosion of this ecosystem and this area where there’s a little development here, a little development there. And all of a sudden, we’re like everywhere else.” To Lighthiser’s relief, conversations about the Suce Creek development aren’t confined to social media — they’ve spilled over into the City-County Complex, the nexus of local government for the 18,000 people who live in Park County. Lighthiser said she’s encouraged that county residents voted in June to deny Referendum One, which would have repealed the county’s existing growth plan and effectively kneecapped a county-wide zoning initiative. To the chagrin of planning proponents, a sister initiative, Referendum Two, did pass. As a result, any new county growth policies — or amendments to the existing one passed in 2017 — won’t be implemented unless they garner the approval of voters living outside of Livingston and Clyde Park, Park County’s only incorporated communities. On Nov. 20, the commission held a workshop on growth before a standing-room-only crowd in the City-County Complex’s Community Room. Though the workshop wasn’t explicitly about the Suce Creek proposal — the county attorney advised against discussing developments that may eventually come before the commission — the project came up frequently in public remarks during the hour-long meeting. “We need something, because otherwise it’s this slow erosion of this ecosystem and this area where there’s a little development here, a little development there. And all of a sudden, we’re like everywhere else.” First up to the microphone was Suce Creek resident Richard Walker, who said Flex’s project would jeopardize his water and, by extension, his property value. He said five of the “dozen or so” families living in the drainage have had to drill deeper wells in the decade since he moved into the area, and he’s heard of similar issues in more southerly drainages. “If this property goes in at Suce Creek, the water usage is going to render our properties worthless,” he told commissioners. “We won’t have water.” A couple of attendees advised commissioners to consider their legacies, and to act proactively and swiftly to initiate county-wide zoning. Kevin Johnson, who described himself as living “within eyeshot of the Suce Creek project,” implored the commission to preserve Livingston and Park County’s “old-school charm.” Still others cautioned that without guardrails, the area is destined for the growth-related issues that have afflicted other communities like Bozeman and Big Sky. Leslie Fiegel with the Livingston Chamber of Commerce and It’s My Land, a landowner rights organization, offered a different view. Park County residents have had lots of opportunities to participate in planning discussions, she said, and the outcome “has played out the way that it should.” “This is not a time for political division. This is not a time for blaming others or companies that want to start a new business,” she told commissioners. “Thank you for what you’ve done up to this point. ... We have your back.” Park County’s three commissioners stayed quiet through most of the meeting. Toward the end, though, they opened a window into their views about where one person’s property rights end and another person’s start — the tension at the heart of so many land-use debates, both locally and West-wide. Mike Story, who is midway through his term, described the Suce Creek development and the discussions it’s engendered as “an ongoing thing” and encouraged Park County residents to keep reaching out for conversations. He said he’d like to see similarly packed meetings in Park County’s less populous areas — places like Clyde Park, Emigrant and Gardiner — “just [to] have ideas out there that we can look at.” Commission Chair Clint Tinsley, whose term is up at the end of this year, said there are options the commission can pursue now, but they’ll require a lot of hard conversations — a nod to how “beat up” commissioners have gotten in meetings about previous zoning proposals. “If the majority of this community wants zoning, that’s probably where we need to go,” said Tinsley, who formerly led Livingston’s public works department. His seat will be assumed by Jennifer Vermillion, a Shields Valley hay and pig farmer, in January. Brian Wells, an Emigrant business owner appointed to fill a commission vacancy in 2023 and recently elected to serve a four-year term, said in his careful drawl that he would like the planning department to evaluate growth-wrangling options that other counties with similar populations and political leanings have pursued. “We’re a pretty diverse and divided community,” he said, “but one thing we have in common [is] most everybody I talked to would like to see some kind of guardrails, some kind of protection.” For nearly two months, McGuane has made it her mission to learn the public and private tools Suce Creek residents can use to protect their drainage. They’ve mulled over county-wide zoning and citizen-initiated zoning, purchasing the property outright or encouraging a land trust to make an offer. No solution is perfect, McGuane says, so they’ve also hired an attorney to represent their interests if the sale goes through and Flex forwards their proposal to state regulators. (DEQ spokesperson Rebecca Harbage told MTFP on Dec. 3 that DEQ hasn’t fielded any proposals or outreach from Flex.) In the meantime, McGuane said she and her neighbors are “in a weird state of limbo.” But that status hasn’t been without benefits, she said. “This is the most perfect tiny example of the conflict all over the state. So much of it is just the conflict between people from remarkably varying backgrounds with big financial losses and gains on the line,” she said. “If we can do a good job working through this, I would love for this to be a good example for the rest of the state.” Get any of our free daily email newsletters — news headlines, opinion, e-edition, obituaries and more.PMPML to check drivers’ credentials and training

AI thought knee X-rays show if you drink beer -- they don'tTo The New York Times, it was a standard journalistic practice done in the name of fairness — asking someone involved in a story for comment. To the mother of the nominee for secretary of defense, it constituted a threat. On Wednesday, Pete Hegseth's mother accused the Times of making “threats” by calling about its story on an email she had sent to her son six years earlier that criticized his treatment of women. Penelope Hegseth sought and received an interview on Fox News Channel to support her son, whose by a series of damaging stories about his personal conduct. At one point, she said she wanted to directly tell President-elect Trump that her son “is not that man he was seven years ago.” She also called the Times “despicable” and attacked a basic tenet of journalism: giving someone the chance to speak for a story about actions that could be seen in a negative light. The Times' story, , quoted from a private email that Penelope Hegseth sent to her son in 2018 while he was in the midst of divorcing his second wife. She criticized his character and treatment of women, suggesting that he get some help. “I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego,” she wrote to her offspring. “You are that man (and have been for many years).” She told the Times for its story that she had sent the email in a moment of anger and followed it up two hours later with an apology. She disavows its content now. When the Times called her for comment on the story, Hegseth told Fox News that, at first, she did not respond. She said she perceived the calls as a threat — “they say unless you make a statement we will publish it as is and I think that's a despicable way to treat anyone,” she said. “I don't think a lot of people know that's the way they operate,” she said, speaking about the story. She accused the newspaper of being in it "for the money. And they don't care who they hurt, families, children. I don't believe that's the right way to do things.” Charles Stadtlander, a spokesman for the Times, said Hegseth's claim “is flatly untrue,” and she was in no way threatened. “The Times did what it always does in reporting out a story, simply reaching out and asking for a comment, which we included,” he said. Such a call is the opposite of a threat — it's an attempt to be fair, said Tom Rosenstiel, a University of Maryland professor and co-author of “Elements of Journalism: What News People Should Know and What the Public Should Expect.” “She's basically saying that brake lights are a threat because they alert you that the car ahead of you is about to stop," he said. But many Americans would perceive that call as a threat, or certainly as rude and a violation of privacy, said Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the conservative Media Research Center. “She didn't write that email to be on the front page of The New York Times,” he said. A secondary question is the newsworthiness of publishing the content of the private email, one that Hegseth said she almost immediately regretted sending and doesn't reflect how she perceives her son. Graham suggested that the newspaper wouldn't do the same for the nominee of a Democratic president-elect. “The New York Times is out to destroy these nominees,” he said. In its initial story, the Times wrote that it had obtained a copy of the email “from another person with ties to the Hegseth family.” “This was a piece of independently reported journalism published in the name of public awareness of the nominee to lead the largest department in the federal government,” Stadtlander said. “We stand behind it completely.” In many circumstances, an email from a mother to her son would be considered a private matter and out of bounds to a news organization, Rosenstiel said. But in this case, Hegseth, a former Fox News weekend host chosen by Trump to lead the Pentagon, has built himself into a public figure and is up for a very important job — and one that leads the military, which involves waging war and in which character is considered a fundamental trait. “It makes this news, honestly,” Stadtlander said. The Times wrote about Penelope Hegseth's Fox interview on Wednesday, leading with her saying her son “was not the same man he was in 2018 when she fired off an email accusing him of routinely abusing women and lacking decency and character.” There was some question about whether Hegseth would appear for an interview at his former network on Wednesday, after CNN's Kaitlan Collins the night before that “multiple people” said that was expected. A Fox News representative said that no such interview had been scheduled, and the nominee was on Capitol Hill meeting with senators. He has faced a flurry of other damaging reports, including stories about reported to police in 2017. No charges were filed then, and Hegseth said the relationship was consensual. The New Yorker magazine wrote about , sexist behavior and excessive drinking when Hegseth ran a veterans' organization, and NBC News people at Fox News concerned about his alcohol use. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at and Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

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