zero wildcard The Utica Comets continued their Thanksgiving Week tradition. On Monday, the American Hockey League team helped provide Thanksgiving meals to families in need of them in the Utica area. Players, coaches and staff were involved in the event. The team donated 200 Thanksgiving dinners — including turkeys and canned vegetables — to the Rescue Mission of Utica, according to the Comets. It is the 12th season the team has been involved in the initiative, which is assisted by Chanatry’s Hometown Market in Utica as well as Comets’ President Rob Esche’s Save of the Day Foundation. “We really enjoy being here. For (Comets captain Ryan Schmelzer) and myself, it is our fourth year in the organization. It something that is a date we circle on the calendar every year. It is really special to get out in the community and get involved,” Comets alternate captain Joe Gambardella said. “They’re doing a wonderful thing here. Some people aren’t fortunate enough to have a home-cooked meal. Being able to give back in a sense like this by putting food on their tables with their families at Thanksgiving is special. We’re really happy we can be part of it every year.” Ernie Talerico, director of operations for the Rescue Mission, said in a news release the organization is “grateful to have the Comets” help provide Thanksgiving dinner to people in the area. “It means so much to our staff and guests to see them take time out of their busy schedules to give back to our community,” Talerico said in the release. PHOTOS: The Rescue Mission of Utica distributes Thanksgiving turkeys with the help of the Utica Comets Utica Comet players arrive for the turkey distribution at the Utica Rescue Mission Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. People lined up on Rutger St. for the turkey distribution at the Utica Rescue Mission with the Utica Comets players helping to distribution them on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Rescue Mission operation manager Ernie Talerico talks with the Utica Comets players prior to the turkey distribution at the Utica Rescue Mission Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Turkey distribution at the Utica Rescue Mission with the Utica Comets players helping to distribution them on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Utica Comets goalie Nico Daws helps carry food as part of the Utica Comets' annual Thanksgiving distribution Monday afternoon at the Rescue Mission of Utica. Nathan Legare helps with the Utica Comets’ Thanksgiving dinner distribution Monday at the Utica Rescue Mission in Utica. Turkey distribution at the Utica Rescue Mission with the Utica Comets players helping to distribution them on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Turkey distribution at the Utica Rescue Mission with the Utica Comets players helping to distribution them on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Turkey distribution at the Utica Rescue Mission with the Utica Comets players helping to distribution them on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Turkey distribution at the Utica Rescue Mission with the Utica Comets players helping to distribution them on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Turkey distribution at the Utica Rescue Mission with the Utica Comets players helping to distribution them on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Turkey distribution at the Utica Rescue Mission with the Utica Comets players helping to distribution them on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Turkey distribution at the Utica Rescue Mission with the Utica Comets players helping to distribution them on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Turkeys at the Utica Rescue Mission where the Utica Comets players were helping with the distribution Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Happy people walking away with their Thanksgiving turkeys and sides from the turkey giveaway at the Utica Rescue Mission Monday, Nov. 25, 2024.SHE may be just 27 but Grace Beverley has a net worth of over £8million thanks to her multiple businesses. But now the Tala and Shreddy founder , who started doing side hustles as a teenager, has opened up about the errors she has made along the way. In a transparent post , the CEO revealed some ways that she wasted money as a young entrepreneur, to help other people keen to start their own businesses. In addition to her businesses, she has also launched a book and podcast - both called Working Hard, Hardly Working, and was featured on the Forbes 30 under 30 Europe list in 2020. However, she admitted that she spent too much on social media stars at the beginning. In a TikTok video, she explained: “I shouldn’t have spent so much money on influencers - until you’re established, work with 80 per cent ‘converting’ influencers and MAX 20 per cent ‘brand building’ (cool) influencers. “Converting influencers will actually drive sales rather than just add brand value (which is so important but not as important as staying afloat early on). “Ask to see their affiliate link data before going ahead to ensure they can actually sell! “Tbh I would avoid using influencers altogether until a few launches in and focus on gifting instead.” Her next tip was to not spend so much money sampling products before releasing them, and advised “done is better than perfect.” She said you can get feedback from people after you have launched which you will learn “so much” from. Grace said that she held events “WAY too early” to be necessary. She explained: “Events are a vanity project and good for building ‘brand’, but you can’t afford to focus on truly building brand until you have some cash. “So skip the events and put that money into ad spend until you have stronger cash flow.” The businesswoman said you should only invite influencers who convert and give them a discount code to walk away with for their followers. She added that events should be able educating them on the brand and not just getting a “meaningless tag” on Instagram . Grace said she should have avoided relying so much on social media and instead focused more on email marketing. She explained: “Automated email marketing will make you money IN YOUR SLEEP . “You will have customers come to your site, add something to their basket and then get distracted before checking out; automated CRM flows will remind that customer via email that they left something in their basket. “So many other flows too. “Think how many people you follow on ig and tt whose posts you never see - email is far far more effective and relies less on algorithms.” Another tip she had for new businesses is to secure all social media handles as soon as you know the name. RUNNING your own company is a monumental feat, but Grace Beverley has multiple on the go. The entrepreneur has a net worth of a whopping £8million. Shreddy Thanks to her loyal fan base following her fitness videos, Grace launched an app while at university. The fitness app Shreddy is filled with recipes, workouts, and a built-in community. Tala Grace added to her empire by creating a sustainable activewear brand, which she started in 2019 at 22. In its first year, she made £6million in sales. In 2022, she received £4.5million in investment to expand the business, and it now has 469,000 followers on Instagram The Productivity Method Skilled at time management, Grace started another hustle, selling planners. Her business flogs physical planners for £36, while her digital planners rise to £42. The website states: "Quite simply, we got fed up with planners that ask us how many sh**s we've had a day while not actually helping us to improve our productivity... so we set out to make productivity tools that *actually*, *genuinely* work!" Book On top of all this, Grace launched a book called Working Hard, Hardly Working in 2022. It "offers a fresh take on how to create your own balance, be more productive and feel fulfilled." Grace's book has proved to be a huge success and is a Sunday Times bestseller. Grace launched Shreddy, a fitness app while studying at the University of Oxford . Speaking to CEO Today Magazine, the businesswoman said: "I wanted to help simplify people’s fitness journeys and create products that helped make what can be a daunting, confusing process a lot easier. "I was in my first year at university, so I didn’t start in the same way I’d start a business now. "I released a digital product at first, then went into physical products after we spotted a gap in the market for accessible, cute gym accessories that made your gym experience that much better, whilst allowing you to create an affordable portable gym." Grace added "she'd be lying" if she said starting a business at a young age hadn't come with "challenges", but she claimed the key was to hire "a powerhouse of young women from all different backgrounds." But Grace didn’t stop there. In 2019 when she was 22, the entrepreneur decided to launch another business - an activewear brand called Tala. The Instagram star was already making a name for herself as a fitness influencer with her @GracefitUK account. In its first year, Grace made a whopping £6million in sales. However, she counts the real launch of the business in April 2021, after she severed ties with her initial manufacturing partner and licenser. She revealed to Vogue : “I haven’t talked about this much because at the time it was sensitive but having to rip it all down and start from scratch in order to build a brand with [longevity] was incredibly hard, it was incredibly expensive and incredibly tough emotionally. “It required a huge amount of conviction.” The previous business partners had wanted Tala to be an influencer brand, with sales driven by Grace’s account and “viral drops”. However, she hoped to build a long-lasting business model and invest in product innovation. She added: “Being an influencer merch brand is fine and it has its value. But capping the brand’s growth at myself and my own reach, where being an influencer actually isn’t even what I want to do, wasn’t what I wanted for my future or for the brand.” The relaunch paid off, as she received a £4.5million investment in 2022.

Avid Bioservices Reports Financial Results for Second Quarter Ended October 31, 2024

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GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell tripped, spraining his wrist and sustaining “a minor cut to the face,” his office said in a statement. CNN's Manu Raju reports.For more than a decade, the United States has sought to keep out of Syria's political debacle, seeing no viable partner. Islamist rebels' toppling of strongman Bashar al-Assad has forced a change of tune -- and a debate over just what US interests are. Donald Trump, who returns to the White House in little more than a month, on the eve of Assad's fall called Syria "a mess" and stated in his plain-speaking style that the United States should not be involved. Joe Biden's administration, after putting Syria on the backburner in a turbulent region, has offered a tacit rebuttal by stating that clear US interests are at stake -- including preventing Syria from fragmenting and avoiding a resurgence of the Islamic State extremist group. Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Trump's and Biden's statements could be combined and "together they make a kind of decent policy." The United States needs to address real concerns about the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda but "as far as getting involved in arranging the politics of Syria, I think that no good can come from it," Cook said. Since the presidency of Barack Obama, the United States has walked a fine line on Syria that critics often derided as a non-policy. The United States questioned the legitimacy of Assad, demanding accountability for brutality in one of the 21st century's deadliest wars, but stopped short of prioritizing his departure due to suspicions about the main rebels. The Islamist movement Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has now led Assad's ouster, traces its roots to Syria's Al-Qaeda branch and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States. Since Obama's time, the United States instead has allied itself in Syria with a smaller fighting force of the Kurdish minority -- over strenuous objections of neighboring Turkey, which backs HTS -- with a narrow mission to counter the Islamic State group. Some 900 US troops remain in Syria. Assad fell in a lighting surprise offensive as his protector Russia is bogged down in its invasion of Ukraine and after Israel's military heavily degraded Assad's other key supporters -- Iran and Lebanese militia Hezbollah. Robert Ford, the last US ambassador to Syria, helped spearhead the terrorist designation of HTS in 2012 but said that the group since then has not attacked US or Western targets and has instead fought Al-Qaeda and Islamic State forces. Ford also pointed with hope to post-victory statements by rebel chief Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, including welcoming international monitoring of any chemical weapons that are discovered. "Can you imagine Osama bin Laden saying that?" said Ford, now a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. "I'm not saying 'trust Jolani.' He's obviously authoritarian. He's obviously an Islamist who doesn't believe that Christians have an equal right to power as Muslims. But I sure as hell want to test him on some of these things," Ford said. He said that the United States should encourage HTS, as well as other Syrian actors, to reach out and reassure the country's diverse communities including Christians, Kurds and Alawites -- the sect of the secular-oriented Assad. Beyond that, Washington should take a back-seat and let Syrians sort out their future, he said. "We should learn from the experience in Iraq that trying to impose exiles on a population traumatized by a brutal dictatorship and war is not a recipe for success," Ford said. Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday offered US recognition to a future government that is "credible, inclusive and non-sectarian." Trump in his first term, at the urging of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, abruptly said he would pull troops out of Syria. He backtracked after intense criticism at home and appeals from French President Emmanuel Macron, who pointed to the risk of Islamic State filling the vacuum. Trump has not indicated how he would change Syria policy this time. But he has shown no reluctance in the past to negotiate with foreign adversaries on the US blacklist, from Afghanistan's Taliban to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said there was no legal restriction on US contact with designated terrorists, although he indicated there was no direct dialogue with HTS. Natasha Hall, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Syria could face "devastating economic and humanitarian consequences" unless the United States reconsiders the terrorist designation of HTS, which impedes aid groups. "That said," she said, "if there isn't sort of an established framework for negotiations and good behavior now, before that designation is lifted, that could potentially also be a major mistake down the line for Syria's future." sct/sms

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CalMatters: Tough love plan could end California’s unemployment insurance stalemateZilinskas shot 11 for 20 (5 for 10 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line for the Jaguars (3-5). Jarvis Walker scored 13 points while going 3 of 9 from the floor, including 2 for 5 from 3-point range, and 5 for 7 from the line. Timaris Brown and Sean Craight both added 11 points. Darius Ford led the Bulldogs (4-4) in scoring, finishing with 20 points, six rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Anthony Bryant added 17 points for Alabama A&M. Chad Moodie also had 16 points and three blocks. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .When baseball historian Bill Humber first heard about the golden at-bat idea that Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred floated on a recent podcast, he was a little taken aback. "I kind of laughed, actually," Humber said Wednesday. "I thought it was one of the stupidest ideas I'd ever heard." MLB has seen its share of change of late, but the thought of a team using one at-bat each game to send any hitter it wants to the plate — even if it's not their turn in the batting order — was quite a curveball. "This can’t be real," former Blue Jays pitcher and seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens posted on social media. Wild-card playoff tinkering, pitch clocks, shift rules and automatic runners are some of the more significant changes to the game in recent years. All had varying levels of detractors and the golden at-bat discussion is no different. Critics are eyeing it like a meatball thrown across the middle of the plate. "It doesn't really fit within the logic of the game in my mind," said Humber, a Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer. "I look upon it quite askance to be honest with you. I don't see the point of it in a way. "I mean to some extent, the magic of baseball is those unheralded batters who arrive at a situation that one wouldn't have thought that they would ever have been in, and allowing them to bat in place." Humber cited a number of grand baseball moments that might not have happened if a golden at-bat rule were in effect. "One can imagine when Bobby Thomson hit his famous home run against the (Brooklyn) Dodgers in 1951, Willie Mays was on deck," he said of the 'Shot Heard 'Round the World' that gave the New York Giants the National League pennant. "What if they had a golden at-bat and put Mays at bat, maybe he would have struck out or popped up or hit into a double-play or who knows what. There's lots of situations like that." What about the two famous World Series-winning walkoffs? Would the skippers have used a golden at-bat to get their best pure hitter to the plate? Bill Mazeroski went deep to give Pittsburgh the Fall Classic in 1960 and Joe Carter's walkoff blast in 1993 gave the Blue Jays their second straight World Series title. Mazeroski's power numbers were middling while Carter, who led the Blue Jays in homers and RBIs that year, had a mediocre batting average. "I think the magic of the game are those moments that are unpredictable and yet kind of create some of the joy of the game in our memories," Humber said. " I think this kind of runs afoul of that tradition. "I'm not a fan, let me say that. But that's not to say it won't happen." Manfred first mentioned the golden at-bat idea publicly in an interview with John Ourand on Puck's "The Varsity" podcast. The commissioner said the subject came up at a recent owners' meeting. Retired sportswriter Dave Perkins, who covered the Blue Jays for years over his long career at the Toronto Star, said use of a golden at-bat would be "a travesty." "On the surface I say it's absolutely stupid and ridiculous," he said. "But a lot of other things I thought were stupid and ridiculous worked their way into the games and they're even OK with me now." The subject of potential rule changes like the golden at-bat came up when Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins met with the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America earlier this week. "It's interesting to me because we went through so much change over the last couple of years," he said. "Getting to that change was a scratch and a claw and a climb. And then once the change happened, everyone — for the most part — thought, 'OK, that went OK and it seems like there's a better product on the field.' "So now the dialogue around change is with a much more open mind whether it be players, staff, the exchanges, the ideas, even if they seem very difficult to wrap your head around. They're not getting stiff-armed as much as they were the first go-round." Scott Crawford, operations director of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, said he prefers a traditional setup where any player can be a hero at any time. "I like the team aspect of the game where you get your shot," he said. "You can be a No. 8 hitter and you can come up with a big hit and win a World Series and (a superstar like Shohei) Ohtani can strike out." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2024. Follow @GregoryStrongCP on X. Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press

Facebook still silent after suddenly banning then reinstating this popular gun manufacturerA concealed carry instructor in Oregon says he's been unfairly caught in the crosshairs of a social media ban on firearm sales. The popular American gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson says it is still being kept in the dark after its Facebook account was suddenly suspended last month . Though the account has since been reinstated, a representative for the company told Fox News Digital that "despite multiple attempts to reach Facebook to discuss the matter, to date we have not had direct communications with any of their staff members." The gun company , which is headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, said staff suddenly received a notification from Facebook on Nov. 22 stating that their official Smith & Wesson account had been "suspended indefinitely." "No warnings of a page suspension were previously communicated by Facebook," said the representative. BIDEN-HARRIS POLICIES MAY BE BEHIND SURGE IN REPUBLICAN WOMEN OWNING GUNS, CONCEALED CARRY ADVOCATE SAYS Handguns are displayed at the Smith & Wesson booth at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) The representative said Facebook referenced five posts dating back to December 2023 that they "suggest did not follow their community guidelines." "The posts in question included consumer promotional campaigns, charitable auctions, and product release announcements," the Smith & Wesson representative explained. "While Facebook’s policies are ever-changing, which creates a burden for users to comply with, we do not believe this content violated any of Facebook’s policies or community guidelines, and similar posts have been published in the past without issue." Facebook’s commerce policy prohibits the promotion of buying, selling and trading of weapons, ammunition and explosives. However, according to Facebook’s parent company Meta’s website, there is an exception for legitimate brick-and-mortar and online retailers, though their content is still restricted for minors. ‘SMOKING-GUN DOCUMENTS’ PROVE FACEBOOK CENSORED AMERICANS ON BEHALF OF WHITE HOUSE, JIM JORDAN SAYS Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook, speaks during the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Jan. 31, 2020. (George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images) According to the representative, the page was reinstated on Nov. 27 after the gun manufacturer made a public statement about the incident on X. In the post, which has 3.1 million views, Smith & Wesson criticized Facebook and thanked Elon Musk and X for supporting free speech amid what it called ongoing attacks against the First and Second Amendments . The company encouraged its 1.6 million Facebook followers and fans to "seek out platforms" that represent the "shared values" of free speech and the right to bear arms. Despite the page eventually being reinstated, the representative told Fox News Digital that the company has still had no contact with Meta and "no rationale was given for the reinstatement beyond a comment on social media from a Facebook representative stating that the suspension had been ‘in error.’" That same Meta staffer, Andy Stone, also directed Fox News Digital to the X post positing that Smith & Wesson’s suspension was an accident. In the post, Stone said "the page was suspended in error and we’ve now restored it. We apologize that this happened." TRUMP FCC PICK SAYS BRINGING ‘CENSORSHIP CARTEL’ TO HEEL WILL BE A ‘TOP’ PRIORITY: ‘IT’S GOT TO END' Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk (Getty Images) CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Through it all, the Smith & Wesson representative said the manufacturer is "grateful to Elon Musk for having created a public square platform that respects the right for Americans to voice their opinions, ALL opinions, and not just those that coincide with one agenda or another – especially as it relates to our constitutional rights guaranteed under the 1st and 2nd Amendments." The spokesperson said that since their account was suspended, they have become aware that many other social media users have been similarly silenced and de-platformed. "While we were encouraged by the reinstatement of our account, we were similarly disappointed by the number of other users reacting to our statement on X that commented that they have had very similar experiences with their accounts being de-platformed without warning," said the representative. "While we obviously do not know the details of those instances, we encourage Meta to continue working towards a more inclusive platform which allows the freedom for respectful dialogue from all viewpoints, which is a hallmark of American society." Founded in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1852, Smith & Wesson is one of the most recognized gun brands in America and reported $535.8 million in sales in the 2024 fiscal year. Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.SOUTHERN REACH Davao del Sur joins the growing list of INQskwela partners with the signing of a memorandum of agreement on Dec. 2. From left: Inquirer corporate affairs officer Bianca Kasilag- Macahilig (representing assistant vice president Connie Kalagayan); provincial administrator Herbert Gonzales (representing Gov. Yvonne Cagas), Inquirer national sales manager Roy Mendiola, Department of Education division superintendent Lorenzo Mendoza. —Contributed photo DIGOS CITY, DAVAO DEL SUR, Philippines — Davao del Sur schools division superintendent Lorenzo Mendoza of the Department of Education (DepEd) could still recall how he first heard about INQskwela from his counterpart in Baguio City last year. “Aside from students gaining access to e-copies of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), there were also interesting activities for learners and pupils. They enjoyed them so much,” said Mendoza, an Inquirer reader since his high school days. He was referring to the experiences shared by colleague Soraya Faculo, schools division superintendent in Baguio which signed up as an INQskwela partner in June 2023. READ: INQSkwela boosts news literacy, reading skills, partners say “I was thinking back then: when could all these beautiful things also happen for us here in Davao del Sur?” Mendoza told the Inquirer in an interview on Monday. The answer became clear two months ago when word came from the provincial governor’s officer that Inquirer would also like to partner with DepEd in Davao del Sur for INQskwela. On Dec. 2, Mendoza, Gov. Yvonne Cagas, represented by lawyer Herbert Gonzales, the provincial administrator, and Inquirer officers signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) formalizing the partnership, making the province INQskwela’s first LGU (local government unit) partner in Mindanao and the 10th nationwide. Under the MOA, 20 schools in the province will be given access to InqPlus, the digital copy of the paper, through the provincial government’s subscription. DepEd principals and teachers will help implement the program by integrating the Inquirer news reports, features and commentary in their classroom discussions, especially in social studies. “This is aligned with our vision to empower communities,” said Gonzales. “Information is empowering. This is a welcome opportunity for the province because access to information enables our people to have empowered, informed decisions.” Mendoza also found the agreement to be timely in view of Davao del Sur’s achievements in a recent national campus journalism competition, where it placed third overall, an improvement from their fifth-place ranking last year. Aside from the digital subscription to the paper, among the components of the INQskwela program is the conduct of journalism workshops for campus writers and their teachers in the partner schools. “With this agreement, we hope to strengthen further the hold of Davao del Sur in campus journalism,” the DepEd official said. Roy Raul Mendiola, PDI national sales manager, thanked Cagas, the provincial government and DepEd for their invaluable support for the project. “INQskwela hopes to instill in students the habit of keeping abreast with the latest news, which will improve not only their critical thinking skills but also their communication skills,” Mendiola added. “In a time where disinformation has become widespread on social media, it is vital to guide young minds toward trustworthy sources of information.” Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . Also present at the MOA signing was corporate affairs officer Bianca Kasilag-Macahilig, representing Inquirer assistant vice president for corporate affairs Connie Kalagayan.

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