Charities facing tax hike have 'nowhere to cut'CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Kobe Sanders scored 27 points, including five of six from the free throw line in the closing minutes, and Nevada pulled away late to beat Oklahoma State 90-78 for a fifth-place finish at the Charleston Classic on Sunday. Nevada's lone loss in its first six games came in the tournament's opening round when the Wolf Pack fell to Vanderbilt 73-71. The Cowboys never led in the contest and Nevada grabbed the lead for good on Justin McBride's tip-in with under 13 minutes left to take a 14-12 lead. Tre Coleman hit two free throws and Chuck Bailey II hit a late jumper to put Nevada up 40-33 at intermission. Abou Ousmane's tip-in at the 5:21 mark got the Cowboys within five, 75-70 but Brandon Love answered with a three-point play seconds later and the Wolf Pack pulled away. Tyler Rolison's 3 with 1:38 left pushed the lead to 84-73. Sanders hit 7 of 10 shots from the field, including 3 of 5 from distance, and was 10 of 13 from the line with three assists and a steal to lead Nevada. Nick Davidson had 23 points on 9 of 16 shooting and Love was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and contributed 11 points. The Wolf Pack shot 33 of 56 from the field (58.9%), including 7 of 18 from beyond the arc. Marchelus Avery and Arturo Dean both came off the Oklahoma State bench to score 15 and 13 points, respectively. Robert Jennings II and Ousmane each scored 11 points. Both teams completed the November portion of their schedule. Nevada plays host to Washington State on Dec. 2. Oklahoma State plays at Tulsa on Dec. 4. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of APi Group Co. ( NYSE:APG – Free Report ) by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,803,708 shares of the company’s stock after selling 769,705 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in APi Group were worth $59,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in APi Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APi Group during the third quarter worth about $33,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its position in APi Group by 21.5% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 2,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in APi Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $132,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in APi Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $165,000. 86.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, Director Ian G. H. Ashken sold 53,868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.87, for a total transaction of $1,986,113.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,478,779 shares in the company, valued at $202,002,581.73. This represents a 0.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . Also, Director James E. Lillie sold 11,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total transaction of $427,784.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,134,635 shares in the company, valued at $41,958,802.30. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . 18.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. APi Group Price Performance APi Group ( NYSE:APG – Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. APi Group had a return on equity of 33.89% and a net margin of 3.01%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that APi Group Co. will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research firms have recently weighed in on APG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of APi Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on APi Group from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on APi Group from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of APi Group in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, APi Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.71. View Our Latest Stock Report on APG APi Group Profile ( Free Report ) APi Group Corporation provides safety and specialty services worldwide. It operates through Safety Services and Specialty Services segments. The Safety Services segment offers solutions focusing on end-to-end integrated occupancy systems, such as fire protection services; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning solutions; and entry systems, which include the design, installation, inspection, and service of these integrated systems. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding APG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for APi Group Co. ( NYSE:APG – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for APi Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for APi Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

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Flag football scours nation with talent camps to uncover next wave of starsBy Phil Stewart, Kanishka Singh and Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A raft of drone sightings in New Jersey and other U.S. states has underscored gaps in U.S. airspace security that need to be closed, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Sunday. President Joe Biden's outgoing administration has played down concerns about a growing number of reported drone sightings, saying most of them involve manned aircraft and stressing that there is no evidence of any national security threat. But U.S. lawmakers, including some of Biden's fellow Democrats, have expressed frustration the government is not being more transparent and more aggressive in addressing public concerns. Waltz said Americans were growing frustrated with the failure of Biden's administration to clarify what information they have on the drone reports. "What the drone issue points out are kind of gaps in our agencies, gaps in our authorities between the Department of Homeland Security, local law enforcement, the Defense Department," Waltz told CBS News' Face the Nation. "President Trump has talked about an Iron Dome for America," Waltz said, referring to Israel's missile defense system. "That needs to include drones as well, not just adversarial actions like hypersonic missiles." Developed with U.S. backing, Israel's Iron Dome is a mobile air defense system designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells that endanger populated areas. The spate of reported drone sightings began in New Jersey in mid-November but has spread in recent days to include Maryland, Massachusetts and other U.S. states. The sightings have garnered media attention and prompted creation of a Facebook page called "New Jersey Mystery Drones - let's solve it" with nearly 70,000 online members. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the U.S. response, saying his agency had deployed personnel and technology. "If there is any reason for concern, if we identify any foreign involvement or criminal activity, we will communicate with the American public accordingly. Right now we are not aware of any," Mayorkas told ABC News. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, played down concerns that America's enemies would send drones over U.S. cities when they can use satellites to safely and easily surveil the U.S. He said the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates civilian airspace, should do more to allay public concerns. "When people are anxious, when they're nervous ...people will fill a vacuum with their fears and anxieties," Himes said. Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar urged the Biden administration to hold a briefing for senators to explain "what's going on here." "We need more transparency," Klobuchar said. She also called for a look at regulation. "Because this just can't be: 'No one knows why this huge drone is right over their house.'" (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Ross Colvin and Bill Berkrot)

JERUSALEM — Israel approved a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah militants on Tuesday that would end nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the war in the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire, starting at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday, would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza , where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable. Hours before the ceasefire with Hezbollah was to take effect, Israel carried out the most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 42 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities. Another huge airstrike shook Beirut shortly after the ceasefire was announced. There appeared to be lingering disagreement over whether Israel would have the right to strike Hezbollah if it believed the militants had violated the agreement, something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted was part of the deal but which Lebanese and Hezbollah officials have rejected. Israel's security Cabinet approved the U.S.-France-brokered ceasefire agreement after Netanyahu presented it, his office said. U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement “good news” and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Biden administration spent much of this year trying to broker a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza but the talks repeatedly sputtered to a halt . President-elect Donald Trump vowed to bring peace to the Middle East without saying how. Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year. Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed accomplishments against Israel’s enemies across the region. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran. “If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” he said. “For every violation, we will attack with might.” The ceasefire deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor compliance. Biden said Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce, but that the deal "was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” Netanyahu’s office said Israel appreciated the U.S. efforts in securing the deal but “reserves the right to act against every threat to its security.” Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the ceasefire and described it as a crucial step toward stability and the return of displaced people. Hezbollah has said it accepts the proposal, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday it had not seen the agreement in its final form. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state," he said, referring to Israel's demand for freedom of action. “Any violation of sovereignty is refused.” Rescuers and residents search for victims Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in Beirut, Lebanon. Even as ceasefire efforts gained momentum in recent days, Israel continued to strike what it called Hezbollah targets across Lebanon while the militants fired rockets, missiles and drones across the border. An Israeli strike on Tuesday leveled a residential building in central Beirut — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Israel also struck a building in Beirut's bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site around 400 meters (yards) from Lebanon’s Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli military said it struck targets linked to Hezbollah's financial arm. The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously were not targeted. The warnings sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, with mattresses tied to some cars. Dozens of people, some wearing pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed overhead. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, is headquartered. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said peacekeepers will not evacuate. Israeli soldiers inspect the site Tuesday Nov. 26, 2024, where a rocket fired from Lebanon landed in a backyard in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel. The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few miles from the Israeli border. Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 20 miles north of the border. Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have exchanged barrages ever since. Israeli security officers and army soldiers inspect the site Tuesday Nov. 26, 2024, where a rocket fired from Lebanon landed in a backyard in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel. Israel escalated its bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes. More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country’s north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon. Chehayeb and Mroue reported from Beirut and Federman from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporters Lujain Jo and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed. 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.After weeks of fear and bewilderment about the drones buzzing over parts of New York and New Jersey , U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer is urging the federal government to deploy better drone-tracking technology to identify and ultimately stop the airborne pests. The New York Democrat is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to immediately deploy special technology that identifies and tracks drones back to their landing spots, according to briefings from his office. Schumer’s calls come amid growing public concern that the federal government hasn’t offered clear explanations as to who is operating the drones, and has not stopped them. National security officials have said the drones don’t appear to be a sign of foreign interference. “There’s a lot of us who are pretty frustrated right now,” said Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, on Fox News Sunday. “The answer ‘We don’t know’ is not a good enough answer.” President-elect Donald Trump posted on social media last week: “Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge? I don’t think so. Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down.” Certain agencies within the Department of Homeland Security have the power to “incapacitate” drones, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. “But we need those authorities expanded,” he said, without saying exactly how. The drones don’t appear to be linked to foreign governments, Mayorkas said. “We know of no foreign involvement with respect to the sightings in the Northeast. And we are vigilant in investigating this matter,” Mayorkas said. Last year, federal aviation rules began requiring certain drones to broadcast their identities. It’s not clear whether that information has been used to determine who is operating the drones swarming locations in New York and New Jersey. Mayorkas’ office didn’t immediately respond to questions about whether they’ve been able to identify drones using this capability. Schumer is calling for recently declassified radar technology to be used to help determine whether an object is a drone or a bird, identify its electronic registration, and follow it back to its landing place. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday said federal officials were sending a drone detection system to the state. “This system will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigations,” Hochul said in a statement. The governor did not immediately provide additional details including where they system will be deployed. Dozens of mysterious nighttime flights started last month over New Jersey, raising concerns among residents and officials. Part of the worry stems from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility and over Trump’s golf course in Bedminster. Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use, but they are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must be FAA certified.Kalyra Elevates Aged Care Experience With Boomi Integration

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration will examine ways to impose higher costs on private actors and U.S. adversaries who wage cyber attacks on America, Trump's pick for national security adviser, Representative Mike Waltz, said on Sunday. The comments come after U.S. allegations of a sweeping Chinese cyber espionage campaign known as Salt Typhoon that targeted and recorded telephone calls of senior American political figures. The White House has said at least eight telecommunications and infrastructure firms in the United States had been affected and a large number of Americans' metadata was stolen in the sweeping cyber espionage campaign. Waltz did not say what the Trump administration would do in response to Salt Typhoon but spoke more generally about the incoming administration's approach. He said Washington for too long had focused mostly on bolstering its cyber defenses. "We need to start going on the offense and start imposing, I think, higher costs and consequences to private actors and nation-state actors that continue to steal our data, that continue to spy on us," Waltz told CBS News' Face the Nation. He also said the private U.S. technology industry could also be helpful in making adversaries vulnerable as well as aiding in U.S. defense. Chinese officials previously have described the allegations as disinformation and said that Beijing "firmly opposes and combats cyber attacks and cyber theft in all forms." (Reporting by Phil Stewart, editing by Ross Colvin and Deepa Babington)Chicago election officials want more voting sites, council members float agency consolidationNEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers formally asked a judge Monday to throw out his hush money criminal conviction , arguing that continuing the case would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the Presidency.“ In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that anything short of immediate dismissal would undermine the transition of power, as well as the “overwhelming national mandate" granted to Trump by voters last month. They also cited President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “President Biden asserted that his son was ‘selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,’ and ‘treated differently,’" Trump’s legal team wrote. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, they claimed, had engaged in the type of political theater "that President Biden condemned.” Prosecutors will have until Dec. 9 to respond. They have said they will fight any efforts to dismiss the case but have indicated a willingness to delay the sentencing until after Trump’s second term ends in 2029. In their filing Monday, Trump's attorneys dismissed the idea of holding off sentencing until Trump is out of office as a “ridiculous suggestion.” Following Trump’s election victory last month, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed his sentencing, previously scheduled for late November, to allow the defense and prosecution to weigh in on the future of the case. He also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier. He says they did not and denies any wrongdoing. The defense filing was signed by Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who represented Trump during the trial and have since been selected by the president-elect to fill senior roles at the Justice Department. Taking a swipe at Bragg and New York City, as Trump often did throughout the trial, the filing argues that dismissal would also benefit the public by giving him and “the numerous prosecutors assigned to this case a renewed opportunity to put an end to deteriorating conditions in the City and to protect its residents from violent crime.” Clearing Trump, the lawyers added, would also allow him to “to devote all of his energy to protecting the Nation.” Merchan hasn’t yet set a timetable for a decision. He could decide to uphold the verdict and proceed to sentencing, delay the case until Trump leaves office, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court or choose some other option. An outright dismissal of the New York case would further lift a legal cloud that at one point carried the prospect of derailing Trump’s political future. Last week, special counsel Jack Smith told courts that he was withdrawing both federal cases against Trump — one charging him with hoarding classified documents at his Florida estate, the other with scheming to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost — citing longstanding Justice Department policy that shields a president from indictment while in office. The hush money case was the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial, resulting in a historic verdict that made him the first former president to be convicted of a crime. Prosecutors had cast the payout as part of a Trump-driven effort to keep voters from hearing salacious stories about him. Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels. Trump later reimbursed him, and Trump’s company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses — concealing what they really were, prosecutors alleged. Trump has said the payments to Cohen were properly categorized as legal expenses for legal work. A month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that ex-presidents can’t be prosecuted for official acts — things they did in the course of running the country — and that prosecutors can’t cite those actions to bolster a case centered on purely personal, unofficial conduct. Trump’s lawyers cited the ruling to argue that the hush money jury got some improper evidence, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form, testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made during his first term. Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a sliver” of their case. If the verdict stands and the case proceeds to sentencing, Trump’s punishments would range from a fine to probation to up to four years in prison — but it’s unlikely he’d spend any time behind bars for a first-time conviction involving charges in the lowest tier of felonies. Because it is a state case, Trump would not be able to pardon himself once he returns to office.

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Putting an exclamation mark on the end of his five NASCAR Xfinity Series seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing, Riley Herbst led 167 laps to motor to victory in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway. Shortly after that, 23XI Racing announced that it was tapping Herbst to drive its No. 35 Monster Energy Toyota in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series. The 25-year-old fills us in on how it all came about, and what’s next.... You’re now a full-time Cup racer. Just how does that feel? “It’s awesome. It’s been a lifelong dream, for sure, to have a full-time ride in the Cup series. We worked really hard at it. It’s exciting and I can’t wait to get to Daytona.” When Stewart-Haas Racing announced its impending closure, you were, in essence, left in no-man’s land. Was that a tough time for you? “A little bit. It was just because I didn’t know what was going to happen. I know I had good people around me, but just the outcome was kind of uncertain. So that’s where the nervousness came from. Like, we heard the rumors about SHR back in March, and so we worked with everybody to try and find a good landing spot for next year and I think we found the best spot possible. It’s been a heck of a process and I’m just so grateful for the opportunity that I have in front of me.” What did you think of the 23XI Racing team before you became a part of it? “Well, just watching with Kurt Busch and Tyler Reddick and everybody, I could see just really fast race cars, and a really fast team. So obviously I thought that team was top notch, and just to be mentioned in that name with that team is awesome, and hopefully we can capitalize on the opportunity now.” Do you know Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace at all? “I’ve met them in passing, but I don’t know them. I’ve just seen them around the track and whatnot but yeah, I’m gonna grow that relationship with them and I am excited for the future.” Have you been by the 23XI Racing Airspeed race shop? “Yeah, I went to the shop one time. It’s world class. It’s so beautiful — really, really pretty. And it’s very advanced technology thinking, forward thinking, which is really cool to see in our NASCAR industry.” You’ve done eight Cup races. Did you get any kind of read off of them? “A little bit. It was a lot there, so I’m excited to now have a stable foundation knowing how the cars drive. But I think it’s going to be totally different. The cars are going to be a lot better prepared, a lot faster than I drove last year. I’m excited for the resources I have, and to continue to learn. It’s a huge change, for sure, so it’s gonna be a lot of work but I’ve got really good people around me to get me ready. I’m excited for the challenge. “I think everybody progresses at their own pace but I’ve been proud of the work that I put into my craft and how I’ve been getting better and better over a short period of time, and the results are starting to show. I’m excited about who I’ve become as a race car driver, about all the hard work I’ve put in the last couple years in the Xfinity Series.” Looking back on your Xfinity Series career, how would you sum that up? “It was a lot of learning in the beginning but the last year and a half, man, I felt like we’re as good as anybody. We had a lot of speed, and we won those races pretty handedly, so it’s cool to see that and to go out on top at Phoenix, to win and to beat everybody in the championship race, was pretty special.” Herbst took the checkered flag first at Phoenix to sign off with Stewart-Haas Racing in the Xfinity Series. John Harrelson/Motorsport Images Your crew chief Davin Restivo is coming with you into Cup too. “Yeah, Davin’s a young, eager person like myself. He’s been in the Cup Series before as an engineer, so excited for him to take this journey, and he’s already at the shop, working, preparing for next year, which is exciting for me.” What’s it like to be back with Toyota? “Yeah, it’s been a long time since I’ve been in the Toyota building. That organization is first class, so excited for all the resources that they can help me to develop and to become a better driver. Just excited — I keep saying it, but I truly am that just, there’s so much good stuff in front of us.” How important is it to be coming out of Xfinity as a race winner? “Yeah, that’s the biggest thing. Knowing you can win is everything in the sport and really good people surrounding me is also very important.” Who’s been helping you as you started to gravitate towards Cup? Anybody been lending a hand? “Kevin Harvick, a bunch. Just with his knowledge and his wisdom. He’s been to the peak of the of the mountain, and then he’s won the championship in the Cup Series. So having somebody like him to lean on, to ask questions is invaluable to me as a young driver.” As far as goals and expectations, how can you do? What’s going to make you happy as we look to Daytona and the rest of the 2025 Cup schedule? “It’s going to be a learning process. I think it’s going to be extremely difficult, but I’m set for the challenges ahead. I think there’s going to be some really good days and I think there’s going to be some hard days, hard learning days, but that’s a part of racing, so I’m excited. I want to complete all the laps. I want to learn as much as I can. I want to learn every single time I’m in the race car, from my teammates, from everybody around Toyota, just try to be better and better.” Seems you’ve improved every year — more competitive, more confident, you get faster. That should serve you well. “I sure hope so. The grueling schedule like that, you gotta be strong minded and confident in who you are and just continue to get better. That’s our main goals. We want to be better next week than we were the previous week, and if we do that every week, and I think we’ll have a very solid year and something to be proud of.” You ran the Baja 1000 last weekend. How cool was that to go down there and win the Trophy Truck Spec classification with your family? What did that mean to you? “Yeah, it’s special. My family’s been going down there since the ’60s. So to go down there and continue the tradition, and that’s back-to-back wins for the Herbst family. It’s just so special to go down there with your cousins and your uncles and your dad and go have a good time. And on top of that, go win the race. So yeah, I’m proud of my cousins from winning the championship in that division, and hopefully we can go do it again next year.” But now it’s time to go Cup racing... “Yeah, it’s been a lifelong dream so everybody’s been pulling the rope in the same direction. We’ve all done this together. It hasn’t just been myself; it’s been my whole family. So it’s just really cool. Everybody at Monster Energy has been along every step of the way, so it’s a weight off the shoulders. But now it’s time to go to work.”NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers formally asked a judge Monday to throw out his hush money criminal , arguing that continuing the case would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the Presidency.“ In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that anything short of immediate dismissal would undermine the transition of power, as well as the “overwhelming national mandate” granted to Trump by voters last month. They also cited President Joe Biden’s recent of his son, Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of . “President Biden asserted that his son was ‘selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,’ and ‘treated differently,’” Trump’s legal team wrote. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, they claimed, had engaged in the type of political theater “that President Biden condemned.” Prosecutors will have until Dec. 9 to respond. They have said they will fight any efforts to dismiss the case but have indicated a willingness to delay the sentencing until after Trump’s second term ends in 2029. In their filing Monday, Trump’s attorneys dismissed the idea of holding off sentencing until Trump is out of office as a “ridiculous suggestion.” Following Trump’s election victory last month, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed his sentencing, previously scheduled for late November, to allow the defense and prosecution to weigh in on the future of the case. He also delayed a decision on Trump’s to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier. He says they did not and denies any wrongdoing. The defense filing was signed by Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who represented Trump during the trial and have since been selected by the president-elect to fill senior roles at the Justice Department. Taking a swipe at Bragg and New York City, as Trump often did throughout the trial, the filing argues that dismissal would also benefit the public by giving him and “the numerous prosecutors assigned to this case a renewed opportunity to put an end to deteriorating conditions in the City and to protect its residents from violent crime.” Clearing Trump, the lawyers added, would also allow him to “to devote all of his energy to protecting the Nation.” Merchan hasn’t yet set a timetable for a decision. An outright dismissal of the New York case would further lift a legal cloud that at one point carried the prospect of derailing Trump’s political future.

Renuka Rayasam | (TNS) KFF Health News In April, just 12 weeks into her pregnancy, Kathleen Clark was standing at the receptionist window of her OB-GYN’s office when she was asked to pay $960, the total the office estimated she would owe after she delivered. Clark, 39, was shocked that she was asked to pay that amount during this second prenatal visit. Normally, patients receive the bill after insurance has paid its part, and for pregnant women that’s usually only when the pregnancy ends. It would be months before the office filed the claim with her health insurer. Clark said she felt stuck. The Cleveland, Tennessee, obstetrics practice was affiliated with a birthing center where she wanted to deliver. Plus, she and her husband had been wanting to have a baby for a long time. And Clark was emotional, because just weeks earlier her mother had died. “You’re standing there at the window, and there’s people all around, and you’re trying to be really nice,” recalled Clark, through tears. “So, I paid it.” On online baby message boards and other social media forums , pregnant women say they are being asked by their providers to pay out-of-pocket fees earlier than expected. The practice is legal, but patient advocacy groups call it unethical. Medical providers argue that asking for payment up front ensures they get compensated for their services. How frequently this happens is hard to track because it is considered a private transaction between the provider and the patient. Therefore, the payments are not recorded in insurance claims data and are not studied by researchers. Patients, medical billing experts, and patient advocates say the billing practice causes unexpected anxiety at a time of already heightened stress and financial pressure. Estimates can sometimes be higher than what a patient might ultimately owe and force people to fight for refunds if they miscarry or the amount paid was higher than the final bill. Up-front payments also create hurdles for women who may want to switch providers if they are unhappy with their care. In some cases, they may cause women to forgo prenatal care altogether, especially in places where few other maternity care options exist. It’s “holding their treatment hostage,” said Caitlin Donovan, a senior director at the Patient Advocate Foundation . Medical billing and women’s health experts believe OB-GYN offices adopted the practice to manage the high cost of maternity care and the way it is billed for in the U.S. When a pregnancy ends, OB-GYNs typically file a single insurance claim for routine prenatal care, labor, delivery, and, often, postpartum care. That practice of bundling all maternity care into one billing code began three decades ago, said Lisa Satterfield, senior director of health and payment policy at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists . But such bundled billing has become outdated, she said. Previously, pregnant patients had been subject to copayments for each prenatal visit, which might lead them to skip crucial appointments to save money. But the Affordable Care Act now requires all commercial insurers to fully cover certain prenatal services. Plus, it’s become more common for pregnant women to switch providers, or have different providers handle prenatal care, labor, and delivery — especially in rural areas where patient transfers are common. Some providers say prepayments allow them to spread out one-time payments over the course of the pregnancy to ensure that they are compensated for the care they do provide, even if they don’t ultimately deliver the baby. “You have people who, unfortunately, are not getting paid for the work that they do,” said Pamela Boatner, who works as a midwife in a Georgia hospital. While she believes women should receive pregnancy care regardless of their ability to pay, she also understands that some providers want to make sure their bill isn’t ignored after the baby is delivered. New parents might be overloaded with hospital bills and the costs of caring for a new child, and they may lack income if a parent isn’t working, Boatner said. In the U.S., having a baby can be expensive. People who obtain health insurance through large employers pay an average of nearly $3,000 out-of-pocket for pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care, according to the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker . In addition, many people are opting for high-deductible health insurance plans, leaving them to shoulder a larger share of the costs. Of the 100 million U.S. people with health care debt, 12% attribute at least some of it to maternity care, according to a 2022 KFF poll . Families need time to save money for the high costs of pregnancy, childbirth, and child care, especially if they lack paid maternity leave, said Joy Burkhard , CEO of the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, a Los Angeles-based policy think tank. Asking them to prepay “is another gut punch,” she said. “What if you don’t have the money? Do you put it on credit cards and hope your credit card goes through?” Calculating the final costs of childbirth depends on multiple factors, such as the timing of the pregnancy , plan benefits, and health complications, said Erin Duffy , a health policy researcher at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics. The final bill for the patient is unclear until a health plan decides how much of the claim it will cover, she said. But sometimes the option to wait for the insurer is taken away. During Jamie Daw’s first pregnancy in 2020, her OB-GYN accepted her refusal to pay in advance because Daw wanted to see the final bill. But in 2023, during her second pregnancy, a private midwifery practice in New York told her that since she had a high-deductible plan, it was mandatory to pay $2,000 spread out with monthly payments. Daw, a health policy researcher at Columbia University, delivered in September 2023 and got a refund check that November for $640 to cover the difference between the estimate and the final bill. “I study health insurance,” she said. “But, as most of us know, it’s so complicated when you’re really living it.” While the Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover some prenatal services, it doesn’t prohibit providers from sending their final bill to patients early. It would be a challenge politically and practically for state and federal governments to attempt to regulate the timing of the payment request, said Sabrina Corlette , a co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University. Medical lobbying groups are powerful and contracts between insurers and medical providers are proprietary. Because of the legal gray area, Lacy Marshall , an insurance broker at Rapha Health and Life in Texas, advises clients to ask their insurer if they can refuse to prepay their deductible. Some insurance plans prohibit providers in their network from requiring payment up front. If the insurer says they can refuse to pay up front, Marshall said, she tells clients to get established with a practice before declining to pay, so that the provider can’t refuse treatment. Related Articles Health | Which health insurance plan may be right for you? Health | California case is the first confirmed bird flu infection in a US child Health | UC campus and hospital worker strike continues across university system Health | Phillips 66 indicted on charges it dumped tainted water from Carson refinery into sewer system Health | US towns plunge into debates about fluoride in water Clark said she met her insurance deductible after paying for genetic testing, extra ultrasounds, and other services out of her health care flexible spending account. Then she called her OB-GYN’s office and asked for a refund. “I got my spine back,” said Clark, who had previously worked at a health insurer and a medical office. She got an initial check for about half the $960 she originally paid. In August, Clark was sent to the hospital after her blood pressure spiked. A high-risk pregnancy specialist — not her original OB-GYN practice — delivered her son, Peter, prematurely via emergency cesarean section at 30 weeks. It was only after she resolved most of the bills from the delivery that she received the rest of her refund from the other OB-GYN practice. This final check came in October, just days after Clark brought Peter home from the hospital, and after multiple calls to the office. She said it all added stress to an already stressful period. “Why am I having to pay the price as a patient?” she said. “I’m just trying to have a baby.” ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Drone sightings in Maryland, elsewhere raise concerns among lawmakers, industry experts

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