The consequences of his actions have been swift and severe. The referee has been stripped of his officiating duties and banned from all football-related activities indefinitely. His once promising career now lies in ruins, a cautionary tale of the dangers of greed and arrogance.Some have speculated that the missing woman may have experienced a traumatic event that pushed her to retreat from society and start afresh. Others believe that she may have been struggling with mental health issues that made it difficult for her to reintegrate into her previous life. Whatever the reasons may be, one thing remains clear - the missing woman's story is a complex and fascinating tale that continues to captivate the public's imagination.None
But it soon becomes apparent while driving down Greenwood Avenue in Munster that giant snowmen stand sentry on nearly every lawn. Neighbors on the street banded together to put up a festive display of Christmas cheer in one of the Region's new Christmas traditions. Like at Candy Cane Lane in Crown Point, the homeowners are coordinating their Christmas decorations to achieve a greater cumulative effect than any could attain on their own. Dustin Voris, who does the Griswold’s on Greenwood Christmas display at 8147 Greenwood Ave. in Munster, organized the Christmas display after seeing neighbors display pumpkins in a similar way in a Hammond neighborhood. "I'm big into trying to make memories for Christmas, especially for kids," he said. "I thought it was pretty cool when I saw the pumpkins. I proposed the idea for spreading Christmas cheer. Four or five people did it at first. But it caught on. There are now 27 snowmen." Neighbor Amanda Kilibarda Gutierrez said more and more of the snowmen kept cropping up along the street. "Dustin really did the heavy lifting on this," she said. "He pitched the idea on Facebook and started tagging people. Every day, you would see a couple more. It was fun to see how many participated. Even people who don't live on the block joined in after seeing it on the Munster Facebook page. It really brightens my day." The Munster Education Foundation named Greenwood Avenue the best block for two years as part of a fundraiser. It was recognition for block parties that helped bring everyone together, she said. "Knowing everybody really helped this happen," she said. "That really isn't that common anymore." Word spread along the block. Frosty-like snowmen popped up, and carloads of wide-eyed kids followed. Though it's a residential neighborhood, it gets a lot of traffic because of all the people who come to see the "National Lampoon's A Christmas Vacation"-inspired Griswold’s on Greenwood. "Dustin has a destination house that people have been driving down the street to see for years," she said. "The snowmen are something unexpected for folks who see his house. Little kids love it. My kids are 6 and 8 and love to go by his house. But it's spread to houses on Ridge Road. It's gotten bigger than we originally thought." Voris chose snowmen for the display so it would be inclusive for everyone. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts "It's holiday-sensitive," he said. "It's neutral across all religions. I went on Amazon, found a snowman with good reviews, made a flier with a QR code and distributed it around the neighborhood." It began to snowball. As more and more neighbors joined in, 12-foot-tall snowmen now smile brightly outside of almost every other house on the block. "People get excited driving their kids down and counting the snowmen. Kids say this is the coolest block," he said. "I want to create memories for kids. I love seeing them smile. It brings cheer and creates memories." As far as his own childhood goes, he fondly remembers Christmas mornings. "It was chaos but there was a warmth and happiness," he said. "Everyone lives so far apart but they would be there for each other. That meant so much to me." Voris loves Christmas and piles his family into the car to sing Christmas carols and go see Christmas lights in towns throughout Chicagoland. They've traveled as far north as Gurnee to go look at Christmas lights, using three different iPhone apps to find the best spots to see. "We've gone everywhere," he said. "We go to a couple different cities a day. We go into Illinois." He's a big fan of several Christmas stories, including "A Christmas Story," "Elf," "Miracle on 34th Street" and "National Lampoon's A Christmas Story," which inspired his own display. "Mine combines traditional Christmas displays with splashy technology," he said. "Some would call it Christmas puke. There's so many to look at." People can tune into 105.7 FM and listen to a selection of songs synced to music, including "Frosty the Snowman," "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," Ariana Grande's "Santa Tell Me," "Hot Chocolate" on the "Polar Express" soundtrack and Lindsey Sterling's "Snow Waltz." "I just want to facilitate memories," he said. "The journey is about the end result. It's about the memories and joy." He put out more than 20,000 lights this year, coordinating them all to the Christmas soundtrack. He started decorating right after he took the Halloween decorations down but said it was a year-round commitment to plan and come up with ideas like the snowmen. "We've seen some out by Wicker Park. My goal would be to eventually have snowmen across the whole city of Munster," he said. "This shows how tight-knit a Munster block can be. It unifies everyone. It's just a great community."SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stitch Fix, Inc. (NASDAQ: SFIX), the leading online personal styling service, today announced its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, ended November 2, 2024. “Our fiscal year is off to a strong start. We exceeded our expectations in the first quarter on the top and bottom lines,” said Matt Baer, Chief Executive Officer, Stitch Fix. “Our clients are responding to the newness we have brought to our assortment as well as the improvements we’ve made to our client experience. This progress is a testament to the Stitch Fix team’s ongoing execution of our transformation strategy, and we continue to expect to return to revenue growth by the end of FY26.” During the first quarter of fiscal 2024, we ceased operations of our UK business and met the accounting requirements for reporting the UK business as a discontinued operation. Accordingly, our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect the results of the UK business as a discontinued operation for all periods presented. Unless otherwise noted, amounts and disclosures below relate to our continuing operations. First Quarter Fiscal 2025 Key Metrics and Financial Highlights Net revenue of $318.8 million, a decrease of 12.6% year-over-year. Active clients of 2,434,000, a decrease of 74,000, or 3.0%, quarter-over-quarter; and a decrease of 555,000, or 18.6%, year-over-year. Net revenue per active client (“RPAC”) of $531, an increase of 4.9% year-over-year. Gross margin of 45.4%, an increase of 180 basis points year-over-year, which reflects improved transportation leverage and product margins. Net loss of $6.3 million and diluted loss per share of $0.05. Adjusted EBITDA of $13.5 million, which reflects continued cost management discipline. Net cash provided by operating activities of $14.3 million and free cash flow of $9.9 million in the first fiscal quarter. We ended the quarter with $253.3 million of cash, cash equivalents, and investments; and no debt. Financial Outlook Our financial outlook for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, ending February 1, 2025, is as follows: Our fiscal year is a 52-week or 53-week period ending on the Saturday closest to July 31. The fiscal year 2025 is a 52-week year and the fiscal year 2024 was a 53-week year, with the extra week occurring in the fourth quarter ending August 3, 2024. Our financial outlook for fiscal year 2025 is as follows: (1) Full fiscal year 2024 net revenue from continuing operations has been adjusted to remove the impact of the 53rd week for year-over-year comparative purposes. We expect both the second quarter and full fiscal year 2025 gross margin to be approximately 44% to 45%, and full fiscal year 2025 advertising expense as a percentage of revenue to be at the high end of an 8% to 9% range. Stitch Fix has not reconciled its Adjusted EBITDA outlook to GAAP net income (loss) because it does not provide an outlook for GAAP net income (loss) due to the uncertainty and potential variability of restructuring and other one-time costs, net other income (expense), provision for income taxes, and stock-based compensation expense, which are reconciling items between Adjusted EBITDA and GAAP net income (loss). Because Stitch Fix cannot reasonably predict such items, a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measure outlook to the corresponding GAAP measure is not available without unreasonable effort. We caution, however, that such items could have a significant impact on the calculation of GAAP net income (loss). For more information regarding the non-GAAP financial measures discussed in this release, please see “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below. Conference Call and Webcast Information Matt Baer, Chief Executive Officer of Stitch Fix, and David Aufderhaar, Chief Financial Officer of Stitch Fix, will host a conference call at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time today to discuss the Company’s financial results and outlook. A live webcast of the call will be accessible on the investor relations section of the Stitch Fix website at https://investors.stitchfix.com . To access the call by phone, please register at the following link: Dial-In Registration: https://register.vevent.com/register/BIb75f616c9a2a4320adf40088c7b87810 Upon registration, telephone participants will receive the dial-in number along with a unique PIN number that can be used to access the call. A replay of the webcast will also be available for a limited time at https://investors.stitchfix.com . About Stitch Fix, Inc. Stitch Fix (NASDAQ: SFIX) is the leading online personal styling service that helps people discover the styles they will love that fit perfectly so they always look - and feel - their best. Few things are more personal than getting dressed, but finding clothing that fits and looks great can be a challenge. Stitch Fix solves that problem. By pairing expert stylists with best-in-class AI and recommendation algorithms, the company leverages its assortment of exclusive and national brands to meet each client's individual tastes and needs, making it convenient for clients to express their personal style without having to spend hours in stores or sifting through endless choices online. Stitch Fix, which was founded in 2011, is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, please visit https://www.stitchfix.com . Forward-Looking Statements This press release, the related conference call, and webcast contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed forward looking, including but not limited to statements regarding our expectations for future financial performance, including our profitability and long-term targets; guidance on financial results and metrics for the second quarter and full fiscal year of 2025; that the execution of our strategy and priorities will enable us to achieve long-term, sustainable, and profitable growth and positive free cash flow; our expectation to return to revenue growth by the end of fiscal year 2026; that the changes we have made to our client experience will help us acquire, retain, and reactivate highly engaged clients over time and better serve our clients; that our actions to make Stylists more visible to our clients will deepen relationships between clients and Stylists and increase client engagement; and our expectations regarding warehouse costs, transportation costs, gross margin, inventory levels, and advertising spend. These statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including risks and uncertainties related to the current macroeconomic environment; our ability to generate sufficient net revenue to offset our costs; consumer behavior; our ability to acquire, engage, and retain clients; our ability to provide offerings and services that achieve market acceptance; our data science and technology, Stylists, operations, marketing initiatives, and other key strategic areas; risks related to our inventory levels and management; risks related to our supply chain, sourcing of materials and shipping of merchandise; our ability to forecast our future operating results; and other risks described in the filings we make with the SEC. Further information on these and other factors that could cause our financial results, performance, and achievements to differ materially from any results, performance, or achievements anticipated, expressed, or implied by these forward-looking statements is included in filings we make with the SEC from time to time, including in the section titled “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 3, 2024. These documents are available on the SEC Filings section of the Investor Relations section of our website at: https://investors.stitchfix.com . We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If any such risks or uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, our results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements we make. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements represent our management’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. Non-GAAP Financial Measures We report our financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). However, management believes that certain non-GAAP financial measures provide users of our financial information with additional useful information in evaluating our performance. We believe that adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations (“Adjusted EBITDA”) is frequently used by investors and securities analysts in their evaluations of companies, and that this supplemental measure facilitates comparisons between continuing operations of companies. We believe free cash flow from continuing operations (“Free Cash Flow”) is an important metric because it represents a measure of how much cash from continuing operations we have available for discretionary and non-discretionary items after the deduction of capital expenditures. These non-GAAP financial measures may be different than similarly titled measures used by other companies. Our non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as substitutes for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. There are several limitations related to the use of our non-GAAP financial measures as compared to the closest comparable GAAP measures. Some of these limitations include: Adjusted EBITDA excludes interest income and net other (income) expense as these items are not components of our core business; Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect our provision for income taxes, which may increase or decrease cash available to us; Adjusted EBITDA excludes the recurring, non-cash expenses of depreciation and amortization of property and equipment and, although these are non-cash expenses, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future; Adjusted EBITDA excludes the non-cash expense of stock-based compensation, which has been, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, an important part of how we attract and retain our employees and a significant recurring expense in our business; Adjusted EBITDA excludes costs incurred related to discrete restructuring plans and other one-time costs attributable to our continuing operations that are fundamentally different in strategic nature and frequency from ongoing initiatives. We believe exclusion of these items facilitates a more consistent comparison of operating performance over time, however these costs do include cash outflows; and Free Cash Flow does not represent the total residual cash flow available for discretionary purposes and does not reflect our future contractual commitments. Adjusted EBITDA We define Adjusted EBITDA as net loss from continuing operations excluding interest income, net other (income) expense, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation expense, and restructuring and other one-time costs related to our continuing operations. The following table presents a reconciliation of net loss from continuing operations, the most comparable GAAP financial measure, to Adjusted EBITDA for each of the periods presented: (1) For the three months ended October 28, 2023, depreciation and amortization excluded $4.3 million reflected in “Restructuring and other one-time costs.” (2) For the three months ended November 2, 2024, restructuring charges were $1.0 million in severance and employee-related benefits and other restructuring costs; and other-one time costs were $1.4 million in one-time bonuses for certain continuing employees. For the three months ended October 28, 2023, restructuring charges were $8.0 million in severance and employee-related benefits, accelerated depreciation, and other restructuring costs. Free Cash Flow We define Free Cash Flow as net cash flows provided by operating activities from continuing operations, reduced by purchases of property and equipment that are included in cash flows from investing activities from continuing operations. The following table presents a reconciliation of net cash flows provided by operating activities from continuing operations, the most comparable GAAP financial measure, to Free Cash Flow for each of the periods presented: Operating Metrics Active Clients We define an active client as a client who checked out a Fix or was shipped an item via Freestyle in the preceding 52 weeks, measured as of the last day of that period. Clients check out a Fix when they indicate what items they are keeping through our mobile application or on our website. We consider each Women’s, Men’s, or Kids account as a client, even if they share the same household. Net Revenue per Active Client We calculate net revenue per active client based on net revenue over the preceding four fiscal quarters divided by the number of active clients measured as of the last day of the period.Despite the awkwardness and tension that defined their encounter, Trump and Macron eventually managed to find common ground on a few key issues, including trade and security cooperation. In a rare moment of unity, the two leaders put aside their differences and publicly pledged to work together towards shared goals, providing a glimmer of hope that their relationship could evolve beyond the awkwardness of their initial meeting.
This change has left many players feeling frustrated and disappointed, as the throwing Poke Balls summoning mechanism was not only a fun and interactive feature but also a core element of the gameplay that many had come to love. Some have even accused the developers of "softening up" the game by removing a key aspect that set it apart from other similar games in the genre.
Landowners sue Henry County over proceeds from tax sales
METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Dejounte Murray plans to return to the New Orleans Pelicans ’ lineup on Wednesday night for the first time since fracturing his left hand in a season-opening victory over Chicago on Oct. 23. And when Murray takes the court against the , his mother will be on his mind. After practice on Tuesday, Murray discussed his impending return and disclosed more details about the previously unspecified “personal matters” that caused him to leave the team during the final days of the preseason. His mother had a stroke, he said. “It was tough to leave and go deal with that. As she got better, she wanted me to come play,” Murray said of his last-minute decision to start against Chicago. He added that his hand injury near the end of that game was God’s way of telling him, “‘Nah, you need to stay with your mom.’” “I was more concerned about my mother. That was my priority,” Murray continued. “I wasn’t really worried about my recovery.” Murray’s mother has recovered well, he said, while he is “healthy and ready to help this team.” “I’m ready to hoop. Play for my mother — she’s going to be watching,” Murray said. “I’m ready to compete, bring that winning spirit.” The Pelicans (4-14) certainly could use the help, having lost 14 of 16 games since opening the season with a pair of victories. Injuries have ravaged the roster. At times, all five starters have been out. Star power forward Zion Williamson has missed 12 games this season — one with an illness and 11 with a hamstring injury. Herb Jones has been sidelined by a shoulder strain and Brandon Ingram’s status is in doubt after he sat out practice on Tuesday with calf soreness that also sidelined him during a loss on Monday night at Indiana. But at least two starters — Murray and fellow guard CJ McCollum — are expected to play against the Raptors. “I don’t care how many games we’ve lost. I just know every time I step on the floor I feel like we can win games,” said Murray, who had 14 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in his lone game with the Pelicans. “That’s just my mentality, and I feel like it can carry over to a lot of guys.” ___ AP NBA:
One of the most intriguing revelations is the potential inclusion of a player with ties to Manchester United, one of the world's most renowned football clubs. The prospect of such a high-profile individual joining the Indonesian national team has sparked excitement and curiosity among fans, with many eagerly anticipating the player's official unveiling.
The impact of the Israeli airstrikes in Syria extends beyond the immediate military consequences. The strikes have further complicated the already complex web of alliances and rivalries in the region. Russia, a key ally of the Syrian government, has expressed support for Syria's right to defend itself against external aggression but has also called for restraint to prevent a further deterioration of the situation.Emergency responders arrived promptly at the scene and worked tirelessly to extract the injured individuals from the wreckage. The victims, two men and a woman, were rushed to the nearest hospital and are currently being treated for multiple fractures and internal injuries.
Word of Xiao Hua's exceptional work quickly spread through social media, with fans and industry insiders praising her talent and dedication. Many expressed their admiration for her ability to deliver such impeccable results in a short amount of time, highlighting the level of skill and expertise required to excel in the world of celebrity hairstyling. Some even called her the "hair whisperer," a title that speaks to her uncanny ability to understand her clients' needs and deliver beyond expectations.
