roulette wheel online free Abacus Life, Inc. 9.875% Fixed Rate Senior Notes due 2028 ( NASDAQ:ABLLL – Get Free Report ) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,400 shares, a drop of 12.9% from the November 30th total of 8,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Abacus Life, Inc. 9.875% Fixed Rate Senior Notes due 2028 Stock Performance Shares of Abacus Life, Inc. 9.875% Fixed Rate Senior Notes due 2028 stock opened at $29.11 on Friday. Abacus Life, Inc. 9.875% Fixed Rate Senior Notes due 2028 has a 52-week low of $24.68 and a 52-week high of $30.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.21. Abacus Life, Inc. 9.875% Fixed Rate Senior Notes due 2028 Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.6172 per share. This represents a $2.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Abacus Life Inc. 9.875% Fixed Rate Senior Notes due 2028 Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abacus Life Inc. 9.875% Fixed Rate Senior Notes due 2028 and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

The Atlantic Liberal caucus has issued a call for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign as party leader due to mounting concerns about the future of the government. This request comes in the form of a letter addressed to Trudeau, which was made public by New Brunswick MP Wayne Long. Long has been vocal since the fall about the need for Trudeau to step down, citing the necessity for new leadership to better position the party against a potential government led by Pierre Poilievre. Nova Scotia MP Kody Blois, the chair of the Atlantic caucus, authored the letter, arguing that it is untenable for Trudeau to continue leading the party. The letter highlights the instability faced by the country amid tariff threats from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and looming non-confidence challenges from opposition parties against Trudeau’s government. Acknowledging Trudeau’s nine-year tenure as prime minister, the letter also warns that his legacy could be jeopardized if he remains in leadership. This development follows the recent resignation of Chrystia Freeland from her roles as finance minister and deputy prime minister, adding pressure on Trudeau. The letter expresses a personal fondness for Trudeau within the caucus but emphasizes the critical need for leadership change to avoid losing progress under a government potentially led by Poilievre. It calls for a national caucus meeting in early January to deliberate the party’s next steps. Trudeau is reportedly contemplating his future during the holiday break. Conservative MP John Williamson has announced plans to propose a non-confidence motion at the upcoming public accounts committee meeting. If successful, this could lead to a vote in the House of Commons by January 30, potentially triggering an election. Meanwhile, the NDP has signaled its intention to issue a non-confidence motion, expressing a lack of confidence in the current government irrespective of the Liberal leadership situation.

EU to allocate over €200mln to Lebanese military as ceasefire talks continue

How to Make a French 75, the Gin Cocktail That’s Even Better With Real Champagne– Josh Barnett announced that AKIRA has been forced to withdraw from the Bloodsport XII event due to injury. AKIRA was previously scheduled to face Charlie Dempsey at today’s event in Jersey City, New Jersey. Barnett made the announcement via social media earlier, which you can view below. According to Barnett, a replacement for the matchup has been found, and Dempsey will still be in action at tonight’s event. Josh Barnett wrote, “BREAKING NEWS Due to an injury, AKIRA will not be taking on Charlie Dempsey tonight at Bloodsport XII...But a replacement has been found and a match will be had.” GCW Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XII will stream later tonight on TrillerTV. BREAKING NEWS Due to an injury, AKIRA will not be taking on Charlie Dempsey tonight at Bloodsport XII... But a replacement has been found and a match will be had. — The Warmaster (@JoshLBarnett) November 24, 2024

Posts area Latest 1 of 1 Go to latest Pinned post from 5.24am Labor eyes last chance of 2024 to tick policy boxes By David Crowe Labor will harden its demands on the Greens to pass more than a dozen bills through parliament in the next four days in the belief that voters will blame the smaller party at the next election for blocking the government’s agenda. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is seeking to have the draft laws passed without a single deal with the Greens after months of argument over housing, the environment, university fees, school funding and other reforms. Loading The approach reflects a crucial calculation that the Greens have lost ground in recent state and local government elections and are at risk of losing federal seats because voters think the party has moved too far to the left on economic policy and the Middle East. But in two significant retreats, Labor shelved a bill on Sunday that sought to crackdown on misinformation and did not put forward a long-awaited ban on gambling advertising after earlier saying it would unveil the package before the end of the year. Read more about the bills before the parliament in the final sitting week of the year here. Latest posts Latest posts 5.35am ‘Fewer homes built’ as a result of Greens, Coalition blockade: minister By Josefine Ganko The Greens’ latest housing proposal is “unlawful, unworkable” and wouldn’t construct any new homes, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil says. In an interview with ABC News Breakfast, O’Neil took issue with how a question on housing was framed, arguing it implied the Greens had “attempted some type of negotiation with the government”. “That’s not how I would describe it,” O’Neil said. Housing Minister Clare O’Neil. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer “For 21⁄2 years now, the Australian Greens have done nothing but block and delay the action the government has attempted to take on housing. They’ve worked with Peter Dutton to do so. “The result of that has been more homelessness, fewer homes built, and fewer social and affordable homes built.” O’Neil said it was time to “stop playing games” and pass the housing bills. Pushed to be specific on why the government wouldn’t accept the Greens’ proposed amendment to build 25,000 social and affordable homes, O’Neil said the projects weren’t value for money. “The way that the Greens have proposed this is something that would be unlawful, unworkable, and not actually construct any new homes,” she said. O’Neil continued: It’s a bit technical, but the government has just given Housing Australia $10 billion to fund social and affordable homes. They have money to build social and affordable homes. The reason they haven’t proceeded with the projects the Greens are proposing is because those projects are not value-for-money or those projects are going to get built anyway without government support.” 5.24am Labor eyes last chance of 2024 to tick policy boxes By David Crowe Labor will harden its demands on the Greens to pass more than a dozen bills through parliament in the next four days in the belief that voters will blame the smaller party at the next election for blocking the government’s agenda. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is seeking to have the draft laws passed without a single deal with the Greens after months of argument over housing, the environment, university fees, school funding and other reforms. Loading The approach reflects a crucial calculation that the Greens have lost ground in recent state and local government elections and are at risk of losing federal seats because voters think the party has moved too far to the left on economic policy and the Middle East. But in two significant retreats, Labor shelved a bill on Sunday that sought to crackdown on misinformation and did not put forward a long-awaited ban on gambling advertising after earlier saying it would unveil the package before the end of the year. Read more about the bills before the parliament in the final sitting week of the year here. 5.05am Starting to feel like summer’s on the way The warm weather returns to Brisbane this week, with a top of 27 degrees forecast today, and most days this week expected to go over 30. It should be a cloudy day with just the slight chance of a shower in the River City. In fact, no sunny days are forecast this week, with the chance of showers to rise within days. Here’s how the week looks to be panning out so far: Advertisement 5.03am Making headlines further afield Here’s what’s happening beyond Brisbane this morning: A media storm threatens to thwart plans to transfer five of the Bali Nine drug traffickers to Australia by year’s end, heightening a dispute over their fate. Bunnings aims to roll out facial recognition technology in all stores , despite a determination from the privacy commissioner that its use breaches privacy laws. Sitting at work is often unavoidable, but incorporating these six healthy habits into your day could be game-changing. From earbuds to e-books, here are some of our favourite gift ideas for the tech-obsessed or those who could do with a few more gadgets. Clockwise from top: Blink Outdoor 4, Adventures with Interactive LEGO Peach, Google TV Streamer, Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. And in sport, a former Junior Wallaby was one of the Scottish stars who ended Australia’s unbeaten run in a match that saw Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii leave the field injured. Also, Nathan McSweeney capped a horror debut – the worst by an Australian opener in 45 years – with a second-innings duck as Marnus Labuschagne failed to bat his way out of a concerning form slump to leave Australia on the brink of a humiliating first Test defeat in Perth. 5.00am The top stories this morning Good morning, thanks for joining us for Brisbane Times’ live news blog. It’s Monday, November 25, and we’re expecting a possible shower and a top temperature of 27 degrees. In this morning’s local headlines: As Brisbane’s population booms, something strange is happening in one pocket of the city – the number of residents is shrinking . The Brisbane suburbs shrinking the fastest. Credit: Fairfax Media The LNP’s new youth crime bill – including its signature “adult crime, adult time” policy – will be tabled on Thursday and be law by Christmas, according to Premier David Crisafulli. Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls has cast doubt over the future of pill testing at schoolies , saying that as of Friday, just 27 tests had been conducted, equating to $8000 a test. And a police officer’s gun and ammunition have been stolen from an unmarked car in Townsville as part of a break-in spree by at least four people. Latest 1 of 1 Latest Most Viewed in National LoadingPolarean Imaging (LON:POLX) Stock Price Up 7.9% – Here’s What Happened

GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in LivaNova PLC ( NASDAQ:LIVN – Free Report ) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,000. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIVN. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in LivaNova by 13.3% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 17,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in LivaNova by 3.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,832,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,537,000 after buying an additional 62,480 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in LivaNova during the first quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LivaNova in the first quarter worth $84,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of LivaNova by 6.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LIVN. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of LivaNova from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of LivaNova from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of LivaNova in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of LivaNova from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of LivaNova in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $69.17. LivaNova Trading Down 0.7 % Shares of LIVN opened at $51.32 on Friday. LivaNova PLC has a 1-year low of $42.75 and a 1-year high of $64.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.13 and a 200 day moving average of $52.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.19 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 3.37 and a quick ratio of 2.87. LivaNova Profile ( Free Report ) LivaNova PLC, a medical device company, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells therapeutic solutions worldwide. The company operates through Cardiopulmonary, Neuromodulation, and Advanced Circulatory Support segments. The Cardiopulmonary segment develops, produces, and sells cardiopulmonary products, including oxygenators, heart-lung machines, autotransfusion systems, perfusion tubing systems, cannulae, connect, and other related products. Read More Five stocks we like better than LivaNova Investing in Commodities: What Are They? How to Invest in Them Tesla Investors Continue to Profit From the Trump Trade Russell 2000 Index, How Investors Use it For Profitable Trading MicroStrategy’s Stock Dip vs. Coinbase’s Potential Rally Are Penny Stocks a Good Fit for Your Portfolio? Netflix Ventures Into Live Sports, Driving Stock Momentum Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LIVN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for LivaNova PLC ( NASDAQ:LIVN – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for LivaNova Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for LivaNova and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

Mad Vlad Putin could “turn out the lights for millions” of Brits through a blitz of cyber attacks, a cabinet minister will warn today. Pat McFadden is to tell a Nato conference that the Russian leader could shut down our power grids with the strikes. He is set to warn that the Kremlin is “exceptionally aggressive and reckless in the cyber realm” and wants to gain a “strategic advantage and degrade the states that support ”. Mr McFadden, who oversees policy on national security and state threats, fears Mad Vlad is plotting a “destabilising and debilitating” electronic strike on the UK. And the attack by cyber crooks on infrastructure and firms could deal a hammer blow to our economy. Mr McFadden is expected to say the Russian military and its “unofficial army of cyber criminals and hacktivists” have “not just stepped up their attacks, but widened their targets to a number of Nato members and partners” in the past year. “In the UK, has targeted our media, our telecoms, our political and democratic institutions and our energy infrastructure,” he will say at the summit in London. “Military hard power is one thing. But cyber war can be destabilising and debilitating. With a cyber attack, Russia can turn the lights off for millions of people. It can shut down the power grids. This is the hidden war Russia is waging with Ukraine.” Mr McFadden is set to hold crunch talks with business chiefs and security officials this week to discuss tightening their cyber defences. Meanwhile, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall told Sky News that Mr McFadden was right to say “there is not only the open military war with Russia as the aggressor, but there is also a hidden cyber war”. The warning comes after Putin bragged last week that his army could target the UK in response to Ukraine launching British-made Storm Shadow missiles. He boasted they tested a new intermediate-range missile in a strike on Ukraine and that it could use the weapon against countries that allowed their missiles to strike Russia. It comes after two NHS hospital trusts in London were hacked this summer, causing more than 800 planned operations and 700 outpatient appointments to be delayed. Last month, pro-Russian hackers claimed to have targeted several councils. A group named NoName057(16) boasted it had knocked out the websites of the Salford, Bury, Trafford and Tameside councils by flooding their websites with internet traffic.

Lam Research Co. ( NASDAQ:LRCX – Free Report ) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research cut their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Lam Research in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, November 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the semiconductor company will post earnings per share of $4.06 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $4.08. The consensus estimate for Lam Research’s current full-year earnings is $3.52 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Lam Research’s Q4 2026 earnings at $1.09 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $4.67 EPS. Lam Research ( NASDAQ:LRCX – Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.06 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.02% and a return on equity of 50.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.85 earnings per share. View Our Latest Analysis on Lam Research Lam Research Stock Performance Shares of LRCX opened at $72.64 on Thursday. Lam Research has a one year low of $68.72 and a one year high of $113.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.93 and a 200 day moving average of $87.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.48. Institutional Trading of Lam Research Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Lam Research by 20.0% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 238,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $194,451,000 after acquiring an additional 39,725 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 47,377 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Lam Research by 68.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 35,991 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,372,000 after purchasing an additional 14,658 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Lam Research by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 340,855 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $278,165,000 after purchasing an additional 28,089 shares during the period. Finally, Benson Investment Management Company Inc. bought a new stake in Lam Research in the third quarter worth about $5,182,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock. Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research In other news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total value of $528,928.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. The trade was a 13.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website . 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Lam Research Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 29.74%. About Lam Research ( Get Free Report ) Lam Research Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, refurbishes, and services semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The company offers ALTUS systems to deposit conformal films for tungsten metallization applications; SABRE electrochemical deposition products for copper interconnect transition that offers copper damascene manufacturing; SOLA ultraviolet thermal processing products for film treatments; and VECTOR plasma-enhanced CVD ALD products. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Lam Research Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lam Research and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Jacob Hansen, CEO of ALA Engineering, explains how the company's automated feed truck works during the Nebraska Ag Expo on Dec. 12 at Sandhills Global Event Center. Driving a feed truck on a farm means steering a 60,000-pound vehicle inches away from a concrete feed trough that would wreck the truck. While augers are shoveling food out of the truck to the hungry cattle below, drivers have to drive perfectly straight. “It's just one of the most demanding jobs in one of the worst environments out there,” said Jason Hansen, the CEO of ALA Engineering. “And so food truck drivers, specifically, do not stick around very long.” ALA Engineering, a startup based in Scottsbluff that also has an office at Nebraska Innovation Campus, hopes to change the livestock industry with driverless technology. The company showed off its concept for a driverless feed truck at the Nebraska Ag Expo in Lincoln earlier this month. Hansen said the truck could help farmers deal with labor shortages and food costs. People are also reading... The ALA Navigator is still being developed, but the company brought its technology attached to a normal feed truck to the Ag Expo. ALA Engineering's driverless feed truck aims to help farmers who have to drive large trucks with precision to feed cattle. Once the truck is on the market, it would drive a predetermined route with lane limits. The truck will also have sensors in order to see any obstacles on the road ahead while it is dumping feed. Hansen, who studied software engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the predetermined routes that will be used by the truck means that autonomous vehicles in agricultural settings are safer than a driverless car in city traffic. “When larger robotaxi companies and stuff make big public mistakes, it shines negatively on the autonomy industry as a whole,” Hansen said. “And it's worth knowing that agricultural and industrial and off-highway autonomy is a lot different than kind of urban autonomy, especially when it comes to safety.” Although the company’s trucks may be less likely to crash, there are still big stakes. “If you plant a week late it's a big deal,” Hansen said. “If you don't feed cattle for a week, it's the end of the world.” The engineering company is building multiple different sensors into the truck so that it can operate day after day in whatever weather conditions a state like Nebraska might throw at it. The backup sensors even have backups. Asher Khor, the senior embedded engineer for the company and a UNL graduate, said the truck can be accurate within less than an inch. Asher Khor (left), the senior embedded engineer for ALA Engineering, shows off how the company's automated feed truck at the Nebraska Ag Expo on Dec. 12 at Sandhills Global Event Center. "If you're a few inches off, you will hit the bunk," Khor said. "They're major vehicles and so we need really, really precise accuracy of the vehicle." The truck is meant to solve problems like inaccuracies in food distribution and crashes. Hansen also said the agriculture industry as a whole has experienced labor shortages. The average farmer was unable to hire 21% of the workforce they would have hired under normal circumstances, according to a 2022 National Council of Agricultural Employers survey. The vehicle is set to go into production in 2026, Hansen said. Before then, the company will work on commercial pilot programs and complying with different regulations. The truck will be ALA Engineering's first product. Hansen said the company had built a driver-assistance program but decided to keep engineers working in research and development, building toward the end goal of an autonomous vehicle. The startup’s goal isn’t to replace all of a farmer’s trucks or employees, Hansen said. He said good employees are often more useful elsewhere in a stockyard. “As your oldest truck ages out of your fleet, bring in one of ours,” Hansen said. “As you lose an employee, or you have an unfilled position, bring in one of our trucks.” Download the new Journal Star News Mobile App 15 things invented in Nebraska Round baler The invention of the round baler is credited to the Luebben family of Sutton, with the patent issued in the early 1900s. This advertisement of Ummo Luebben circulated in 1909 and mentions a Beatrice manufacturer of the invention. Kool-Aid Edwin E. Perkins, who walked 3 miles to school as a child, began mixing up potential products in his mother's Hendley kitchen at age 12 or 13. Perkins sold a number of products, including a tobacco habit remedy, and moved with his wife to Hastings in 1920. In 1927, Perkins mixed up the first packet of what would become Kool-Aid. Vise Grip Vise Grip locking pliers, developed by Danish immigrant William Petersen and patented in 1924, took a strong hold on the small town of DeWitt. Petersen began production at his blacksmith shop, but by 1928 the company he founded had more than 600 employees. The metal tools were popular additions to toolboxes because they allowed a craftsman to grab a nut or a bolt and hold onto it, leaving his hands free. In 2002 the company was sold by remaining family members, and it closed its doors in 2008. Vise-Grips, although not made in DeWitt anymore, are still sold in almost every hardware store. Dorothy Lynch dressing Among the now nationally famous brands and inventions from Nebraska is Dorothy Lynch’s salad dressing, which owes its invention to the eponymous Dorothy and the American Legion Club in St. Paul, Nebraska, nearly 75 years ago. Car rentals Appropriately located in a former horse stable, the Ford Livery Company at 1314 Howard St. in Omaha was America's first car rental company, dreamed up in 1916 by Joe Saunders. He and his brothers expanded their company, later renamed Saunders Drive It Yourself System, to 56 cities by 1926. They sold to Avis in 1955. Reuben sandwich From historian Jim McKee: The Reuben sandwich is often claimed by the Schimmel's Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, but other sources are New York City grocer/delicatessen owner Arnold (Arthur) Reuben or Reuben Kolakofsky, whose Reuben sandwiches supposedly dated from 1914. Blackstone did develop butter brickle ice cream. 911 Cary Steele checks one of his seven computer monitors while taking a 911 call in 2014 at the Lincoln Emergency Communications Center. Although the system was first used in Alabama, Lincoln is credited as the home of the 911 system's invention. Eskimo Pie Inspiration for the chocolate-coated ice cream bar came from a candy store in Onawa, Iowa, in 1920. But it wasn’t until owner and creator Christian Kent Nelson took his invention to a Nebraska chocolatier named Russell Stover that the Eskimo Pie went into mass production. Many variations of the delicious treat are available in grocery and convenience stores worldwide. Railroad engineer invented the ski lift -- in Nebraska Union Pacific Railroad mechanical engineering employees determine a comfortable speed at which the world's first ski chairlift should operate during a test at the railroad's Omaha railcar and locomotive repair shop complex in the summer of 1936. The next time you sit on a ski lift on the way to the top of a mountain, think of bananas and the Union Pacific Railroad. Credit them with the modern-day chairlift system used by ski resorts around the globe. Seventy-five years ago, Jim Curran, a structural engineer with U.P., came up with the idea of adapting a system used to load bunches of bananas onto boats into one to move people up steep, snow-covered slopes. His design called for replacing the hooks for bananas with chairs for skiers to sit on while wearing skis. The chairs would be suspended from a single cable running overhead. Curran's idea was so out of the box for its day that his co-workers thought it was too dangerous and his boss tried to shelve it. Fortunately, Charlie Proctor, a consultant brought in by the railroad to help plan the Sun Valley Resort in Idaho, saw Curran's design, which he had slipped in with some approved designs, and thought otherwise. Proctor, a famous skier from Dartmouth College, convinced the railroad's top management to allow Curran to make his idea a reality. This winter ski season, the Union Pacific and Sun Valley Resort are marking the 75th anniversary of the world's first chairlift operation, which was invented not in the mountains but in the flatlands of Nebraska in Omaha. "From our side ... it's kind of unusual that a railroad would invent a chairlift," U.P. spokesman Mark Davis said. The railroad did so to serve a need, "and it turned out to be groundbreaking for the skiing industry," he said. During the 1930s, Union Pacific Chairman W.A. Harriman saw Americans beginning to embrace winter sports and knew his railroad operated through some of the most scenic and mountainous territory in the western United States, according to the railroad's history. Harriman's vision: Develop a world-class winter sports resort served by the Union Pacific. Other railroads were thinking the same way. Harriman enlisted Austrian sportsman Count Felix Schaffgotsch to find land for such a resort. In winter 1935, the count came across the area that would become the world-famous Sun Valley Resort in south-central Idaho, about 100 miles northeast of Boise. "Among the many attractive spots I have visited, this (location) combines more delightful features than any place I have seen in the United States, Switzerland or Austria, for a winter sports resort," Schaffgotsch wrote to Harriman. Based on Schaffgotsch's recommendation, the railroad bought 4,300 acres adjacent to the Sawtooth Mountain National Forest. The Sawtooth Mountains, running east and west, would protect the future resort from northern winds. The mountains also surrounded a small basin, with hills and slopes largely free of timber. Snowfall and sunshine were abundant. And natural hot springs would provide outdoor swimming year-round. Schaffgotsch had found the perfect spot for a winter sports resort. Construction of the ski lodge and other facilities began in April 1936. Meanwhile, nearly 1,200 miles away in Omaha, members of the railroad's engineering department were investigating ways to transport skiers up slopes, including by rope tows, J-bars and cable cars. But those designs were put aside after Curran's chairlift idea was championed by Proctor. Soon prototypes of the lift were being built and tested at the railroad's locomotive and railroad car repair shops, on land that is now home to the Qwest Center Omaha and the new downtown baseball stadium. To help determine how fast a chairlift should travel up a mountainside, engineers attached one to the side of a truck for tests. Because it was summer and relatively flat in Omaha, engineers wore roller skates to simulate skis running over snow. Their conclusion: 4 to 5 mph would be a comfortable speed to pick up and drop off skiers. It's the summer of 1936, in Omaha, as the world's first snow ski chairlift is ready for a round of testing to determine a comfortable speed for snow skiers to get on and off the lift. The world's first two first snow ski chairlifts were debuted by Union Pacific Railroad at the opening of its Sun Valley, Idaho ski resort in December 1936. (Courtesy Union Pacific Railroad) When Union Pacific opened the Sun Valley resort on Dec. 21, 1936, the world's first two chairlifts went into operation. As with anything new, it took skiers awhile to get used to the newfangled invention that changed the sport forever. The railroad sold the Sun Valley Resort in 1964. Frozen TV dinners In 1896, 17-year-old Carl A. Swanson borrowed enough money from his sisters to travel from his native Sweden to Omaha. Without knowing a word of English, he began working on a farm near Wahoo, then moved to Omaha, where he continued studying English, business and accounting. While working in a grocery store, he met John Hjerpe, who sold produce for farmers on a commission, and in 1898 went to work for him. After saving $125, Swanson put his nest egg into a partnership with Hjerpe and Frank Ellison for a net capital of $456. Although the enterprise was intended to be called the Hjerpe Commission Co., the sign painter accidentally eliminated a letter and the firm was spelled Jerpe from that day forward. In 1905, the partnership became a corporation with $10,000 in capital and within a decade moved from a commission firm to paying cash for all purchases. With Ellison's death at the beginning of World War I, the corporation assumed his stock and began moving seriously into butter production and, a short time later, into poultry in general. Swanson bought out Hjerpe's interest in 1928 but retained the name Jerpe. About 1923, Clarence Birdseye developed fast-freezing as a method of not only preserving food but also retaining fresh flavor, which had not worked well with conventional freezing. As the Depression lessened, Jerpe Co. became a distributor for Birdseye, which was purchased by General Foods and inexplicably named Birds Eye. By the beginning of World War II, Jerpe's had grown to the point where Swanson was known as the "Butter King," one of the four largest creameries in the United States. During the war, production again was diverted, with the firm becoming one of the largest suppliers of poultry, eggs and powdered eggs to the military. At the end of the war, the firm's name was changed to C.A. Swanson & Sons, its major brands being called "Swanson Ever Fresh." With Carl Swanson's death in 1949, management was assumed by sons Gilbert and Clarke, who had been apprenticing for the position for some time. A year later, after considerable experimentation with crust recipes, the company introduced a frozen chicken pot pie using some of Birdseye's techniques. Although some of the story of frozen dinners may be apocryphal, it is simply too good not to repeat. Two ill-fated versions of the idea, the Frigi-Dinner and One-Eye Eskimo, already had been attempted. Then an overpurchase of 500,000 pounds —-- 10 refrigerated boxcars -- of turkeys— sent the Swansons scrambling for a solution. One of the less probable versions of the incident said that the only way the boxcar refrigeration worked was when the cars were in motion, which necessitated their constant movement from Omaha to the east, then back. Back in Omaha, Gerry Thomas discarded the previous metal trays and perfected an aluminum compartmentalized container with turkey, cornbread dressing and peas, which could be retailed for 98 cents. Because the box design resembled a rectangular television screen, the product was dubbed the TV Dinner. Unsure of the salability, 5,000 were produced and instantly sold in the first year, 1952. The second year, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce were added and an astounding 10,000,000 were sold. Not resting on the success of the TV Dinner, 1953 also saw the Swansons as one of the nation's largest margarine producers. Despite their success in butter and margarine, both products were discontinued in 1954 to allow the company to concentrate on its main items of canned chicken fricassee, boned chicken and turkey, frozen chickens, drumsticks, chicken pot pies and TV Dinners. In April 1955, Swanson merged its more than 4,000 employees and 20 plants with the Campbell Soup Co., which ultimately dropped the famous TV Dinner label, thinking it limited their market. Still generically thought of as TV dinners, the frozen dinner joins butter brickle ice cream, raisin bran and maybe even the Reuben sandwich as an Omaha original. Historian Jim McKee, who still writes with a fountain pen, invites comments or questions. Write in care of the Journal Star or e-mail jim@leebooksellers.com . SAFER barrier a key player in motorsports safety Dean Sicking of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Midwest Roadside Safety Facility examines a SAFER barrier on display at the Smith Collection Museum of American Speed on Friday, Oct. 21, 2011. (ROBERT BECKER/Lincoln Journal Star) Don't turn until you know where to turn. Mac Demere watched the car in front of him lose control and veer left toward the inside of the track. He tried to anticipate the car's next move, not wanting to turn until he knew where the other car was headed next. Don't turn until you know where to turn. He finally swerved far to the track's outside. But as the other car regained traction, it veered sharply to the right, directly toward Demere, and Demere's car smashed into its right side. "I can't tell you what caused him to lose control," Demere said of the 1983 crash at Watkins Glen International in upstate New York. "It happens so fast." Demere, now 57, walked away from that crash, but the other driver suffered a broken ankle. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you crash, said Demere, a former racer from South Carolina and longtime motorsports journalist. That certainly seemed to be the lesson at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway a week ago when 15 cars crashed, killing two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon. He was the first IndyCar driver to die on a track since Paul Dana was killed during a practice run at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2006. On Oct. 16, two cars went airborne -- Wheldon's and Will Power's. Wheldon hit a catch fence built to protect spectators from crash debris. He died later at a hospital of head injuries. Power hit a barrier designed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Midwest Roadside Safety Facility. He walked away. The tragically different fates of Wheldon and Power have raised concerns about the catch fence at NASCAR and IndyCar tracks and have highlighted the safety performance of the UNL-designed SAFER barrier. Dean Sicking, director of the safety facility at UNL, said the SAFER -- or Steel and Foam Energy Reduction -- barriers now are in place at all NASCAR and IndyCar tracks. There have been no fatalities involving crashes into those barriers since 2004, when all of the barriers were fully installed at NASCAR tracks. Before those barriers were installed, 1 to 1.5 drivers died each year at NASCAR tracks alone, Sicking said. In an especially cruel span of 10 months in 2000 and 2001, NASCAR crashes claimed the lives of budding stars Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin Jr. and Tony Roper, and one of the sport's legends, Dale Earnhardt. The trapezoidal barriers designed at UNL are made of insulation foam that is waterproof and effective at absorbing the impact of cars going well over 100 mph, Sicking said. Steel tubes serve as a barrier between the foam blocks and track. The SAFER barriers protect drivers from the unforgiving nature of concrete walls. Sicking -- whose office is decorated with a photo of him shaking hands with former President George W. Bush, as well as numerous awards -- related the story of how the UNL center got the contract to design the barriers. In 1998, Tony George, the longtime former IndyCar president and Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO, wanted a new racetrack barrier. The concrete barriers simply weren't good enough. IndyCar designers had developed a new barrier made of sheets of plastic, but it broke into 50- to 100-pound chunks that littered the speedway when hit too hard. George asked the UNL center to improve the design. "He said, ‘Can you fix this?'" Sicking said. "We never admit we can't do something." Initially, Sicking wasn't convinced it would be worth the extra effort. Then his assistant director, Ron Faller, convinced him it would drive the UNL center to find new solutions to road safety and new materials with which to build them. Sicking agreed and asked George for $1 million. "He said, ‘When can you start?'" It didn't take the UNL center long to figure out the IndyCar plastic barrier would never perform as well as foam, and Sicking worked to convince a skeptical George. Finally, George relented. In 2002, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway installed the SAFER barriers, and, seeing how well they performed, NASCAR CEO Bill France Sr. ordered them installed at all NASCAR speedways by the end of 2004 at a cost of $100 million. The UNL center oversaw installation. "No one can ever put it in right," Sicking said, laughing. The barrier has earned the UNL center numerous awards, including the prestigious 2002 Louis Schwitzer Award, presented in conjunction with the Indianapolis 500. IndyCar senior technical director Phil Casey called SAFER barriers the greatest achievement for safety in automobile racing. The barriers were installed at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2003, and the speedway where both Petty and Irwin Jr. died has had no fatalities or serious injuries since, said speedway spokeswoman Kristen Costa. "It's better on impact. It moves with the vehicle," she said. Costa said the speedway reconfigured its catch fence in 2009 to make it safer as well. Sicking said catch fences at motorsports facilities need to be re-examined. "The catch fence is a difficult safety issue, a tough nut to crack, but I think it can be," he said. Sicking said IndyCar is reluctant to invest the large amount of money required to redesign the catch fence, and NASCAR isn't as interested in redesigning it as its cars rarely go airborne like the open-wheel Indy cars are prone to do. While nothing has been determined, the UNL center could end up leading the investigation into the crash that killed Wheldon, as it did with the 2001 crash that killed Earnhardt, Sicking said. The UNL center has examined nearly 2,000 crashes under federal contract. "Any time you have a big wreck, we normally get to look at it," he said. Demere, the former racer who now is pursuing a master's in journalism from UNL, said it appears Wheldon tried to slow down by lifting his foot off the accelerator and tried to direct his car toward the gearbox of the slowing car in front of him. But his car's nose lifted, and, traveling at more than 200 mph, his car quickly took to the air. With 15 cars involved, it was simply impossible for Wheldon to avoid the carnage, Demere said. He said drivers try not to think about getting seriously injured or killed while they're racing. They simply try to focus on the track and the racers around them. "We all know that it might happen to us," he said. "Quite frankly, I'm surprised that it didn't happen to me." CliffsNotes CliffsNotes study guide for "To Kill a Mockingbird." Before the Internet and Wikipedia, the distinctive yellow-and-black covers of CliffsNotes adorned the bookshelves of many a college and high school student. The series of study guides (which are not to be used as a substitute for reading the actual text, OK?) was launched in Lincoln by Cliff Hillegass and his wife Catherine. From the original 16 Shakespeare titles, CliffsNotes has grown to include hundreds of works and has saved many a student. Crete woman invented today's voting booths The canvas-draped voting booth is still produced in Crete by the Douglas Manufacturing Company. Found in its voting materials catalogue, the booth remains in use in hundreds, if not thousands, of locations across the U.S. Nebraska history shows many inventions have originated in the Cornhusker state, some by women and a few that have lasted for more than a century. One of them that is often overlooked began with a promise and came to be after a dream by a Crete woman. John Quincy Robb’s daughter Elizabeth Jane was born in Washington, Illinois, in 1858, but the family moved to a farm near Tecumseh a short time later. Elizabeth married William Wallace Douglas and moved to Missouri, then to Glenwood, Iowa, before moving to Crete near the beginning of the 20th century. Although both were teachers, William was employed by the Burlington Railroad as a land agent. In 1904, Elizabeth attended a talk by a missionary from Tibet sponsored by a Crete Methodist church and was so taken by his story that she pledged $20,000 to his campaign. Not only was this an incredibly large amount of money, she had no idea where she might come up with it. That night, Elizabeth dreamed of “an old man with a long white beard who told her to make a steel collapsible voting booth,” which would ensure her wealth enough to fulfill her promise and prosper. The concept of voting booths at the time came from the introduction of the Australian balloting system and employed wooden booths. Because of the waste and amount of labor involved in building, then dismantling them, demand for a lightweight, collapsible, reusable booth that could be quickly reassembled by unskilled labor was obvious. The only obstacle was manufacturing a booth with those requirements that also would meet all local and national requirements. The next morning, Elizabeth began to build a prototype with paper, pasteboard and pins. With the idea and working model, the next step was securing a patent. She contacted Albert Litle Johnson, C.C. White’s partner and brother-in-law at Crete Mills, for financial help. Patent 828935A was issued to Johnson and Elizabeth Douglas in August 1906. Dempster Manufacturing in Beatrice then built a small number of booths that were sold locally. In 1909, the Douglas family moved to Los Angeles, where a small factory was built and 1,000 two-stall booths with red, white and blue canvas screens were sold to a local government with William as salesman. Within months, he sold an additional 4,000 booths for $40,000. The family returned to Crete in 1912 and leased property at 1530 Pine St. from the Burlington Railroad, where a factory was established. In less than a decade, a new building had been constructed and employed 10 workers with four salesmen. Elizabeth designed a new booth concept in 1923 resulting in another patent in her name alone the following year. Although William died in 1930, the business prospered until 1945, when the factory burned. A new building was quickly constructed. Elizabeth died in Friend in 1952, but Douglas Manufacturing continued in family ownership. I.B.M. approached the firm in 1970 and subsequently contracted for Douglas to build metal media storage containers. 1980 saw a second fire but the facility was again rebuilt with an expansion. In 1990, the leased land was purchased from Burlington and two years later a third fire was met with yet another expansion, with the firm reporting having 25 employees. Today, Douglas Manufacturing still builds voting booths with as many as five stalls per unit, now using aluminum instead of steel and vinyl attached with Velcro in place of canvas. Elizabeth and William’s great-grandson Roger C. Douglas is now president of the firm, which also produces ballot boxes, election signs, media storage boxes and even flash drive containers. Patents secured through the years for ideas never produced included retractable steps for Pullman railroad cars, a mail cart and shut-off valves for gasoline pumps. Sadly, the company is closing. Douglas broke the news Dec. 30 to the four remaining workers, according to longtime employee Tim Smejdir, who said business had been "very slow, so the decision was made to terminate." Douglas is selling or auctioning equipment and plans to retire, Smejdir said. Douglas Manufacturing was the oldest manufacturer of election equipment in the nation. Interesting, too, is that the election supply company was formed by a woman over a decade before women received the right to vote. Nebraska's connection to the McRib Dr. Roger Mandigo, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor of animal science poses with a McRib sandwich inside a meat locker at the UNL Animal Science Complex on Thursday, November 4th, 2010. Mandigo invented a process to bind meat together into different shapes. The technology is often associated with the famous McRib sandwich. Move over, Richie Ashburn and Bob Gibson. Another Nebraskan has made it to the hall of fame. Of course, University of Nebraska-Lincoln meat scientist Roger Mandigo never had Ashburn's ability to hit to all fields or Gibson's ability to back batters off the plate with an inside fastball. His induction Saturday in Scottsdale, Ariz., was into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame. And his biggest claim to fame outside that industry is research that led to the introduction of McDonald's McRib sandwich in 1981. His company is no less exclusive. Among the 10 other honorees were Col. Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken; Dave Thomas,founder of Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers; and Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's. And it just happens that Mandigo's return coincides with what the Wall Street Journal describes as the first nationwide featuring of Mc-Donald's McRib sandwich at 14,000 restaurants, including more than a dozen in Lincoln,in 16 years. Wouldn't this be a great time for a big guy - squeezed into a small, obscure, windowless office during an $18.3 million renovation at the Animal Science Building - to step up, at last, and claim credit for his highprofile work? "I get credit for inventing the McRib fairly often," Mandigo conceded in an interview earlier this week. But taking credit was not something he did back in 1981. And he won't be doing it now, in his 44th year at UNL. That's because, despite common misperception, it's just not true. "We played an important role in the technology to bind pieces of meat to each other.I didn't invent the McRib sandwich," he said. "Mc-Donald's did that." All this is said with the kind of smiling patience that a McDonald's associate is supposed to demonstrate when asked for the 44th time during the lunch rush to hold the pickles. Pickle slices, by the way, are part of the standard preparation of the McRib. As its ravenous fans, including Steve Glass of Walton, know so well, a McRib is a pork patty that's also garnished with raw onions and smothered in barbecue sauce. Glass, 47, had two McRibs on his lunch tray Thursday as he made his way to a table at the McDonald's near the intersection of 10th Street and Cornhusker Highway. That's right, two. "I haven't decided whether to eat the one now or eat it later,"he said. Rapid progress on the first one seemed to leave the choice between one and two very much open to question for a guy who likes "something different - not a burger." Glass is not one to worry about what's under the barbecue sauce."It's like a hotdog," he said. "What's in a hotdog? If it tastes good, go ahead." Decades ago, it was Mandigo who was going ahead with a research initiative launched by the National Pork Producers Council. Its members were looking for another reliable source of demand for pork shoulder. There were never any royalties associated with the results, Nebraska's newest hall of famer said. And to this day, the McRib comes and goes from the McDonald's menu for reasons that have to do with its intense popularity and a national supply of pork trimmings that's typically a lot more limited than the supply of beef trimmings. "If you suddenly start to buy a large amount of that material,"said Mandigo,"the price starts to rise." As the cost to McDonald's rises, the McRib tends to go out of circulation again. And then the same parts of a hog tend to flow back into the processing lines for Spam, Vienna sausages and other specialized products. Anything else that goes into periodic McRib feeding frenzies is not for Mandigo to analyze. "It's a function of a business strategy and that's McDonald's decision, not mine." The official word on that subject comes from Ashlee Yingling at the headquarters of McDonald's USA. The McRib is in something called "a national limited time promotion for the month of November in the U.S.," Yingling said by email. This is only the third time that's happened in the 29 years since it hit the market. The rest of the time, the company has chosen a regional strategy. "To keep it relevant and appealing," Yingling said, "it will continue to be offered as a limited-time promotion on a regional basis." Does Mandigo eat this sandwich that he did NOT invent? "Every chance I get," he said. Harold Edgerton made the invisible visible A bullet from a .22 caliber gun starts to burst from the side of a balloon held by Harold E. Edgerton in his Stroboscopic Light Laboratory at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., in 1959. An electronic photo flash invented by Edgerton stopped the motion of the bullet with a minuscule-of-a-second flash. Flash and camera were operated by sound of explosion picked up by microphone just below the balloon. Virtually no one, anywhere in the world, is unfamiliar with the iconic photos of a drop of milk above a white haloed crown just as the previous drop hits a flat surface, or a bullet as it exits a just-pierced apple. Few outside the state, however, realize that Harold Edgerton is a native son and graduate of the University of Nebraska. Harold Eugene Edgerton was born in Fremont on April 6, 1903. Harold’s father, Frank, was born in Iowa, then graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1900 as president of his senior class. After teaching in the Fremont public schools, he returned to Lincoln on the staff of the then-new Lincoln Star. After earning a law degree from George Washington University, Frank again returned to Lincoln in 1911, becoming the assistant attorney general of Nebraska and prominent in state politics before becoming county attorney in Hamilton County. Harold’s interest in science came early; in 1910, he told of attempting to build a searchlight on the roof of the family home and realizing tin cans were unable to produce a tight beam of light. While attending junior and senior high school in Aurora, he became interested in photography and, with the help of an uncle, set up his own darkroom. In 1921, Harold entered the University of Nebraska and at his father’s suggestion, he earned half of his tuition by wiring Lincoln homes for electricity and working on a line gang for the Nebraska Power & Light Company. It was here that he observed how, in the darkest night, his coworkers became suddenly visible in lightning flashes and just as suddenly again were invisible. As a student, Harold joined Acacia, chose a major in electrical engineering and was active in the annual E-Week open houses. Interestingly, although there is no record of which exhibits Edgerton participated in, one of the demonstrations during his student days involved stop-motion photography that employed either 120 flashes per second or an exposure of 1/50,000ths of a second depending on which report is to be believed. The demonstration featured an electric fan with the letter N painted on the blades. The room was darkened, the “strobe light synchronized to the fan, thus making the N stand still ... people could hardly believe their eyes.” After graduating from Nebraska with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1925, Edgerton moved first to Schenectady, N.Y., then entered MIT. He received his master's degree, having developed the stroboscope, which employed a reusable flash bulb that was linked to a camera. Edgerton married his high school sweetheart, Esther Garrett, in 1927, received his doctorate in 1931 and became an associate professor at MIT. As he further perfected his stop-motion photography, some of his work was shown at the Royal Photographic Society’s convention in London. In the 1930s, Edgerton and two of his students formed Edgerton, Germeshausen & Grier, later becoming simply E.G.&G. Corp., which manufactured Rapatronic cameras, consulted with the U.S. Army during World War II, had contracts to do photographic research surrounding atomic explosions for the Atomic Energy Commission, was instrumental in the establishment of the New England Aquarium in Boston and ultimately had 47 operating divisions with more than 23,000 employees in several countries. Often forgotten is Edgerton’s film “Quicker 'n a Wink,” which won an Academy Award for best short subject in 1941. Myriad awards followed, with perhaps the most prestigious being the Medal of Freedom for his nighttime reconnaissance photos during WWII. In 1947, his photo essay on hummingbirds was published in National Geographic magazine, and in 1953, he began working with Jacques-Yves Cousteau to develop an underwater camera using side-scan sonar technology. These experiments led to discovering the USS Monitor, which sank in 1862, and producing the first real photos of the Titanic in 1986-87. Closer to home, in October 1967, Edgerton donated two strobe lights to be mounted on Nebraska’s State Capitol tower as an aircraft warning meant to be visible for 150 miles when extended to their operational capacity, seemingly to fulfill federal aeronautics regulations. Working with Bob Newell, the Capitol building superintendent, Edgerton had his mother standing by to activate the experiment. The low-power version of the lights on the east and west sides of the building were turned on as she said “let there be light,” as instructed by her son, and almost immediately complaints began to pour in. The experiment lasted only briefly before being abandoned. Ultimately, the strobe light was perfected to the point where the light burst lasted only one-billionth of a second with his stop-motion photos of bullets, hummingbirds, Stonehenge, milk droplets, etc., known worldwide. Edgerton died at MIT on Jan. 4, 1990, and five years later the Edgerton Explorit Center opened as a museum in his honor in Aurora. Reach the writer at nfranklin@journalstar.com or 402-473-7391. On Twitter @NealHFranklin The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Business Reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.Masimo Co. 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PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter's in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Carter's path, a mix of happenstance and calculation , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That's a very narrow way of assessing them," Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn't suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he'd be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter's tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter's lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the Georgians and their inner circle as “country come to town.” Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. Born Oct. 1, 1924 , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor's race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama's segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival's endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King's daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters' early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to “move to a very liberal program,” lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan's presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan's Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on family property alongside Rosalynn . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as public pilgrimages to Plains became advantageous again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.Prime Minister leads tributes to former US president Jimmy Carter

Democrats push possible Trump response, other state legislative matters to New YearFran Brown calls out College GameDay to come for SU-Miami game

Wisconsin faces its first losing season in 23 years and the end of a bowl streak when the Badgers host arch-rival Minnesota on Friday in the annual Big Ten battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe. Minnesota (6-5, 4-4) lost to No. 4 Penn State 26-25. Wisconsin (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten) lost its fourth straight, 44-25, at Nebraska in a game that was not as close as the score. "Well 1890 is the first time we played this football team coming up and this is what it's all about," Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said of the rivalry. "And you wouldn't want to have it any other way, being able to end the season with one of your biggest rivals. I know our guys will be ready to go, ready to play." Wisconsin has 22 consecutive winning seasons since going 5-7 under Barry Alvarez in 2001, the longest active streak among Power 4 teams. The Badgers also have played in a bowl game in each of the last 22 seasons, the longest active streak in the Big Ten and third-longest in FBS. Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell is more concerned with the rivalry game than the winning season and bowl streaks. "I'm not downplaying it, I'm not saying it's not important, I'm not saying it's another thing that's on our plate," Fickell said Monday. "But when it gets down to this last week, it's about one thing, it's about the rivalry. It's about preparing to play in the most important game of the year." The Gophers have dropped their last two games after winning four in a row. Minnesota averages 26.6 points per game, while allowing 18.5, 15th-best in the country. Max Brosmer has completed 67 percent of his passes for 221 per game with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. Daniel Jackson is the top target with 69 catches for 802 yards and three scores, and Darius Taylor is the top rusher with 730 yards at 4.8 per carry with nine touchdowns. One week after leading Oregon after three quarters, the Wisconsin defense was shredded for 473 yards and five touchdowns by Nebraska. Braedyn Locke, who took over at quarterback when Tyler Van Dyke suffered an early season-ending knee injury, has thrown at least one interception in eight consecutive games. Locke has completed 56.4 percent of his passes for 180.6 yards per game, with 12 touchdowns and 10 picks. Tawee Walker is the leading rusher with 828 yards at 4.7 per carry with 10 touchdowns. He has failed to reach 60 yards in three of the last four games. Former Wisconsin and NFL standout JJ Watt posted on social media his assessment - and frustration - with the Badgers after the Nebraska game. "Losing happens, it's part of the game. Hearing announcers talk about how much tougher and more physical Nebraska & Iowa are while getting blown out ... that's the issue," Watt wrote on X. "We are Wisconsin. Physicality, running game, great O-Line and great defense. That is our identity." Wisconsin defeated the Gophers 28-14 last after Minnesota had won the previous two meetings. The Badgers have won 7 of the last 10 and lead the storied series 63-62-8. --Field Level MediaLiverpool Fans Praise 'Exceptional' Star's Display in 2-0 Win vs Real MadridPublished 6:38 pm Sunday, December 29, 2024 By Joshua Windus President of the Sumter County branch of the NAACP, Eugene Edge, recalled conversations he had with President Carter. “He always had a story to tell me.” Edge told how they would discuss affairs in the black and white communities: “There is some racism in the white community, and he would advise me on some things that we could do to, to deter that, and because, you know, I was involved in the NAACP, so he would offer suggestions.” At the time, Edge was not the president, but was on the executive committee. Edge told how the executive committee made decisions on discriminative cases or those involving police brutality. “If there was enough evidence that we saw there was enough probable cause to go after that case, you know, the executive committee would make those decisions.” He told how the conversations often centered with ways to support the black community. “Well most of it was like I said, it was dealing with the black community, on ways to help the black community politically.” While Edge recalled the conversations warmly, he mentioned that President Carter only once came close to becoming involved in local politics. “I’ve never told many people this story.” Edge told what led to President Carter’s reconsideration: “He called me over to his house one day, and we sat in his living room. And he said that some of the people from the white community was concerned that Dr. Marshall, who was the president of the NAACP at the time, was dividing the community with his strategy, and they had contacted President Carter, and to see what he could do.” Edge told how this prompted the former President to considering becoming involved. “He said Rosalynn and I, when we left the White House, we said that we would not get involved in local politics, and we have maintained that, we’ve stuck to that. And he said, but you tell me what you want me to do, if you want me to stay out of it, or get involved. And he said, here’s my proposal. He said that I’m very close friends with Julian Bond, who was the national president at the time. If you want me to, I could, I would make a call to Julian and we could move you to be president of the Sumter County branch of the NAACP.” Carter asked his advice: “But you tell me now, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to stay out of it or do you want me to proceed?’ and I told President Carter, these are my words, I told him, I said well, Mr. President, the NAACP is set up as a democracy just like this country. The president is voted in by the members of the branch, and the president is voted out. I said it would be unethical for somebody to come in who is not a member and remove him as president and while the members have already voted him in. I said Dr. Marshall may be controversial, but yet he speaks for the hurt and the pain of a lot of the people in the black community. My advice to you is to stay out of it. So those are the words that I, that I relayed to President Carter.” Edge detailed his own views of Marshall: “I agree with some of the sentiments of the white community, Dr. Marshall was quite controversial. I understood that, but at the same time, some of the things that he did, it was needed to be done.” He noted changing the name for the 44th freedom fund banquet for the NAACP to the John D. Marshall Freedom Fund Gala. For more stories about Jimmy Carter please go to www.americustimesrecorder.com/ category/jimmy-carter/New Zealand 29, Italy 11

Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100 ATLANTA (AP) — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has died. He was 100 years old and had spent more than a year in hospice care. The Georgia peanut farmer served one turbulent term in the White House before building a reputation as a global humanitarian and champion of democracy. He defeated President Gerald Ford in 1976 promising to restore trust in government but lost to Ronald Reagan four years later amid soaring inflation, gas station lines and the Iran hostage crisis. He and his wife Rosalynn then formed The Carter Center, and he earned a Nobel Peace Prize while making himself the most internationally engaged of former presidents. The Carter Center said he died peacefully Sunday afternoon in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family. Jimmy Carter: Many evolutions for a centenarian ‘citizen of the world’ PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — The 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, James Earl Carter Jr., died Sunday at the age of 100. His life ended where it began, in Plains, Georgia. He left and returned to the tiny town many times as he climbed to the nation’s highest office and lost it after four tumultuous years. Carter spent the next 40 years setting new standards for what a former president can do. Carter wrote nearly a decade ago that he found all the phases of his life challenging but also successful and enjoyable. The Democrat's principled but pragmatic approach defied American political labels, especially the idea that one-term presidents are failures. The Latest: Former President Jimmy Carter is dead at age 100 Former President Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100. The 39th president of the United States was a Georgia peanut farmer who sought to restore trust in government when he assumed the presidency in 1977 and then built a reputation for tireless work as a humanitarian. He earned a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He died Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in Plains, Georgia. Carter was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 1977, after defeating President Gerald R. Ford in the 1976 general election. He left office on Jan. 20, 1981, following his 1980 general election loss to Ronald Reagan. Jimmy Carter: A brief bio Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has died at his home in Plains, Georgia. His death comes more than a year after the former president entered hospice care. He was 100 years old. Jetliner skids off runway and bursts into flames while landing in South Korea, killing 179 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A jetliner skidded off a runway, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into flames in South Korea after its landing gear apparently failed to deploy. Officials said all but two of the 181 people on board were killed Sunday in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters. The 737-800 operated by Jeju Air plane arrived from Bangkok and crashed while attempting to land in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Seoul. Footage of the crash aired by South Korean television channels showed the plane skidding across the airstrip at high speed, evidently with its landing gear still closed. Tornadoes in Texas and Mississippi kill 2 and injure 6 as severe weather system moves east HOUSTON (AP) — A strong storm system is threatening to whip up tornadoes in parts of the U.S. Southeast, a day after severe weather claimed at least two lives as twisters touched down in Texas and Mississippi. Strong storms moving eastward Sunday are expected to continue producing gusty, damaging winds, hail and tornadoes through Sunday. That is according to National Weather Service meteorologist Frank Pereira. So far, the line of severe weather has led to about 40 tornado reports from southeastern Texas to Alabama, Pereira said, but those reports remain unconfirmed until surveys of damage are completed. Israeli hospital says Netanyahu has undergone successful prostate surgery TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An Israeli hospital says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has undergone successful prostate surgery. Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center said his prostate was removed late Sunday and that he was recovering. Netanyahu’s office had said Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a close ally, would serve as acting prime minister during the procedure. Doctors ordered the operation after detecting an infection last week. Netanyahu is expected to remain hospitalized for several days. With so much at stake, Netanyahu’s health in wartime is a concern for both Israelis and the wider world. Syria's de facto leader says it could take up to 4 years to hold elections BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s de facto leader has said it could take up to four years to hold elections in Syria, and that he plans on dissolving his Islamist group that led the country’s insurgency at an anticipated national dialogue summit for the country. Ahmad al-Sharaa, who leads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group leading the new authority in Syria, made the remarks in an interview Sunday. That's according to the Saudi television network Al-Arabiyya. It comes almost a month after a lightning insurgency led by HTS overthrew President Bashar Assad’s decades-long rule, ending the country’s uprising-turned civil war that started back in 2011. A fourth infant dies of the winter cold in Gaza as families share blankets in seaside tents DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A fourth infant has died of hypothermia in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by nearly 15 months of war are huddled in tents along the rainy, windswept coast as winter arrives. The baby's father says the 20-day-old child was found with his head as “cold as ice” Sunday morning in their tent. The baby’s twin brother was moved to the intensive care unit of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Their father says the twins were born one month premature and spent just a day in hospital, which like other Gaza health centers has been overwhelmed and only partially functions. Musk causes uproar for backing Germany's far-right party ahead of key elections BERLIN (AP) — Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has caused uproar after backing Germany’s far-right party in a major newspaper ahead of key parliamentary elections in the Western European country, leading to the resignation of the paper’s opinion editor in protest. Germany is to vote in an early election on Feb. 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party governing coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revitalize the country’s stagnant economy. Musk’s guest opinion piece for Welt am Sonntag, published in German over the weekend, was the second time this month he supported the Alternative for Germany, or AfD.

An emotional Temba Bavuma hailed the character of his team after South Africa qualified for the World Test championship final with a dramatic two-wicket win over Pakistan on the fourth day of the first Test at SuperSport Park yesterday. Needing 148 to win, South Africa crashed to 99 for eight owing to superb bowling by Mohammad Abbas. But Kagiso Rabada turned batting hero as he and Marco Jansen took South Africa to victory with an unbeaten ninth wicket partnership of 51. Rabada, so often a match-winner as a bowler, went on the attack as a batsman, hitting an unbeaten 31 off 26 balls, while Jansen provided solid support in making 16 not out. “It is an emotional moment for me,” South African captain Bavuma said at the post-match presentation. “As a team, we have overcome a lot. We haven’t been super-dominant with our performances, we haven’t been ruthless but we have always found a way to ensure the result was on our side. “Today was testament to that. It speaks a lot to the talent and character of the group.” South Africa’s win meant that only one of Australia and India can qualify for the final at Lord’s in June. Pakistan captain Shan Masood said he was proud of the effort of his players but lamented the failure to take ruthless advantage of their opportunities. “Twice we had them eight down and with the bat we could have extended our first innings and could have extended our lead (in the second innings). We have to learn to seize the moments.” Masood said Abbas, playing in his first Test in more than three years, had been “sensational”. The 34-year-old Abbas took a career-best six for 54. He bowled unchanged for 19.3 overs - four of them on Saturday when he took his first two wickets - in a spell of unremitting accuracy on a pitch which gave seam bowlers help throughout the match. Man of the match Aiden Markram and Bavuma batted solidly at the start of the day after resuming on 27 for three. However, Markram was bowled by Abbas for 37 by a virtually unplayable ball which kept low and seamed back off the pitch. Bavuma and David Bedingham added another 34 runs until Bavuma uncharacteristically charged down the pitch at Abbas and was given out caught behind for 40. He walked off immediately but Ultra Edge technology showed the only ‘spike’ was when the ball brushed his trouser pocket. It was the first of four wickets which fell for three runs in 12 balls. Naseem Shah bowled Kyle Verreynne and Abbas had Bedingham and Corbin Bosch caught behind off successive deliveries. Rabada and Jansen saw South Africa through to lunch at 116 for eight - then polished off the match in just 5.3 overs after the interval, with each stroke cheered by the home spectators. Both sides have a short break before they meet for the second and final Test in Cape Town on January 3. BRIEF SCORESSouth Africa 301 (Markram 89, Bosch 81*, Shahzad 3-75, Naseem 3-92) and 150 for 8 (Bavuma 40, Abbas 6-54) beat Pakistan 211 (Ghulam 54, Paterson 5-61, Bosch 4-63) and 237 (Shakeel 84, Babar 50, Jansen 6-52) by two wickets. Related Story Qatar Charity holds eye camp in Pakistan's Balochistan province Qatar, Pakistan strengthen fraternal tiesGreeley City Council declines raises for council members, mayor from late 2025 through 2027