www online casino slots NoneRams looking at first, second downs to fix third-down issuesBy TOM KRISHER, Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — For a second time, a Delaware judge has nullified a pay package that Tesla had awarded its CEO, Elon Musk, that once was valued at $56 billion. On Monday, Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick turned aside a request from Musk’s lawyers to reverse a ruling she announced in January that had thrown out the compensation plan. The judge ruled then that Musk effectively controlled Tesla’s board and had engineered the outsize pay package during sham negotiations . Lawyers for a Tesla shareholder who sued to block the pay package contended that shareholders who had voted for the 10-year plan in 2018 had been given misleading and incomplete information. In their defense, Tesla’s board members asserted that the shareholders who ratified the pay plan a second time in June had done so after receiving full disclosures, thereby curing all the problems the judge had cited in her January ruling. As a result, they argued, Musk deserved the pay package for having raised Tesla’s market value by billions of dollars. McCormick rejected that argument. In her 103-page opinion, she ruled that under Delaware law, Tesla’s lawyers had no grounds to reverse her January ruling “based on evidence they created after trial.” What will Musk and Tesla do now? On Monday night, Tesla posted on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, that the company will appeal. The appeal would be filed with the Delaware Supreme Court, the only state appellate court Tesla can pursue. Experts say a ruling would likely come in less than a year. “The ruling, if not overturned, means that judges and plaintiffs’ lawyers run Delaware companies rather than their rightful owners — the shareholders,” Tesla argued. Later, on X, Musk unleashed a blistering attack on the judge, asserting that McCormick is “a radical far left activist cosplaying as a judge.” What do experts say about the case? Legal authorities generally suggest that McCormick’s ruling was sound and followed the law. Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said that in his view, McCormick was right to rule that after Tesla lost its case in the original trial, it created improper new evidence by asking shareholders to ratify the pay package a second time. Had she allowed such a claim, he said, it would cause a major shift in Delaware’s laws against conflicts of interest given the unusually close relationship between Musk and Tesla’s board. “Delaware protects investors — that’s what she did,” said Elson, who has followed the court for more than three decades. “Just because you’re a ‘superstar CEO’ doesn’t put you in a separate category.” Elson said he thinks investors would be reluctant to put money into Delaware companies if there were exceptions to the law for “special people.” What will the Delaware Supreme Court do? Elson said that in his opinion, the court is likely to uphold McCormick’s ruling. Can Tesla appeal to federal courts? Experts say no. Rulings on state laws are normally left to state courts. Brian Dunn, program director for the Institute of Compensation Studies at Cornell University, said it’s been his experience that Tesla has no choice but to stay in the Delaware courts for this compensation package. Tesla has moved its legal headquarters to Texas. Does that matter? The company could try to reconstitute the pay package and seek approval in Texas, where it may expect more friendlier judges. But Dunn, who has spent 40 years as an executive compensation consultant, said it’s likely that some other shareholder would challenge the award in Texas because it’s excessive compared with other CEOs’ pay plans. “If they just want to turn around and deliver him $56 billion, I can’t believe somebody wouldn’t want to litigate it,” Dunn said. “It’s an unconscionable amount of money.” Would a new pay package be even larger? Almost certainly. Tesla stock is trading at 15 times the exercise price of stock options in the current package in Delaware, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors. Tesla’s share price has doubled in the past six months, Jonas wrote. At Monday’s closing stock price, the Musk package is now worth $101.4 billion, according to Equilar, an executive data firm. And Musk has asked for a subsequent pay package that would give him 25% of Tesla’s voting shares. Musk has said he is uncomfortable moving further into artificial intelligence with the company if he doesn’t have 25% control. He currently holds about 13% of Tesla’s outstanding shares.

Green technologies and sustainability-focused project strategies are helping the industry address risks earlier and build longer-lasting community ties, a London industry event heard this week. Better technologies, integrating artisanal miners and out-of-the-box mine closure strategies are key to improving mining's...LOS ANGELES — After another loss, this one of the 37-20 variety to the Philadelphia Eagles , Rams head coach Sean McVay was once again asked about his offense’s third-down conversion rate. It’s been a recurring issue for the Rams (5-6) this season, especially in the previous three games in which the Rams failed to convert more than 25% of their attempts on third downs. But Sunday marked a new low, as the Rams went 0-for-8, their first time failing to convert a single third down all season. “There’s a lot of different reasons. It wasn’t one thing in particular,” McVay said. “But that hasn’t been successful enough. It’s been an area that we have to be better at, no doubt about it.” The Rams rank 31st in the NFL, ahead of only Cleveland, in third-down conversion percentage with a 31.71% mark. They are similarly 31st in estimated points added (EPA) on third downs at -0.287 per play. The Rams actually have a respectable success rate when running the ball on third down at 54.5%. But they aren’t getting into enough and-short situations to justify handoffs on third downs, as evidenced by Sunday’s performance. The Rams lined up for 11 third downs on Sunday, though three were nullified by penalty. They faced an average distance of 9.4 yards on those plays. This number is slightly inflated by two 10-yard penalties committed by the Rams on third downs; as far as what distance the Rams had earned through their work on first and second downs, the number is 7.9 yards. On their eight third-down plays that were allowed to stand, the Rams ran seven pass plays and one run, a white-flag handoff on third-and-13 that gained 8 yards. On the seven drop backs, quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 2 of 4 passes for 10 yards while being sacked three times, all on to-go distances of 9 or greater yards in which Philadelphia’s pass rushers knew what was coming. “We didn’t put ourselves in a lot of favorable ones today,” Stafford said. “You don’t do that against that defense, it’s going to be difficult. No doubt there are some that we can convert on, look back on but it takes great execution by everybody to convert on third down. We just gotta do a better job.” The Rams actually did move the sticks after one third down, a third-and-16, but did not get credit for it in the stat book because it came via a Philadelphia pass interference penalty. So then, what did the Rams do to put themselves in these unfavorable situations? Let’s take a look at the first and second downs in the second quarter or later, given the Rams did not reach third down until the second quarter. The Rams ran the ball 10 times and dialed up 24 drop backs on first and second downs after the first quarter; given the nature of the blowout loss, the imbalance in play calls is not surprising. On the 10 carries, the Rams managed 23 yards and allowed three tackles for loss. Stafford was also sacked twice while completing 14 of 22 attempts. And this is where inconsistent execution in the run game is hurting the Rams, a team that wants to power the ball down defenses’ throats using their big bodies on the line and duo blocking. The Rams have made a heavy investment in this aspect of the team over the last two years. The second-round pick spent on guard Steve Avila. Big contracts paid to interior linemen Kevin Dotson and Jonah Jackson. The addition of Blake Corum in the third round in April to take some of the load off starting back Kyren Williams. Related Articles Los Angeles Rams | Alexander: Rams-Eagles was Saquon Barkley’s show Los Angeles Rams | Rams running out of time to fix offense after loss to Eagles Los Angeles Rams | Rams prepare for primetime Eagles game as NFC West heats up Los Angeles Rams | Philadelphia Eagles at Rams: Who has the edge? Los Angeles Rams | Rams’ ultra-competitive pass rush thrives working ‘five as one’ But 11 games into the season, injuries and shuffling rotations along the offensive line have made that goal difficult to achieve. But that doesn’t stop the Rams in believing it can still be their identity. “I think we know what we’re really about and how to get where we want to get. I think we’ll lean a little bit more on the run,” Dotson said in the post-game locker room Sunday. “I feel like our run game is a little I guess underrated. I feel like we run it pretty good when we actually get it all set. It’s just the matter of fact of getting ourselves in situations where running is better.” “When you’re looking at a lot of third-and-longs and the opportunity for a rush to kind of play with their hair set on fire, it definitely presents a lot of difficulties for anybody in this league,” receiver Puka Nacua added. “It’s the physical game of football that has been playing for a long time and it starts in the trenches and being able to make sure that we can protect our back and not allowing safeties to kind of cap off on some of our hits and stuff like that, being able to get to that second level with a great push.”Bill Clinton, the former US president who has faced a series of health issues over the years, was admitted to hospital Monday in Washington after developing a fever, his office said. "President Clinton was admitted to Georgetown University Medical Center this afternoon for testing and observation after developing a fever," the 78-year-old's deputy chief of staff Angel Urena said on social media platform X, adding Clinton "remains in good spirits." Clinton was previously hospitalized for five nights in October 2021 due to a blood infection. In 2004, at age 58, he underwent a quadruple bypass operation after doctors found signs of extensive heart disease. He had stents implanted in his coronary artery six years later. The health scare motivated him to make lifestyle changes, including adopting a vegetarian diet, and he has since spoken publicly about his efforts. Clinton's health last made headlines in November 2022 when he tested positive for Covid-19. He said at the time that his symptoms were "mild" and he was "grateful to be vaccinated and boosted." Clinton, who led the United States for two presidential terms from 1993-2001, is the second-youngest living US president, after 63-year-old Barack Obama. He was born mere months after fellow former US president George W. Bush and President-elect Donald Trump. Though his prosperous time in office was marred by scandals, he has enjoyed a second life in the two decades after his presidency, which has seen him venture into numerous diplomatic and humanitarian causes. bur-jgc/aha

Muncy Columbia financial executive chairman buys $7,364 in stockBy ZEKE MILLER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team on Tuesday signed an agreement to allow the Justice Department to conduct background checks on his nominees and appointees after a weeks-long delay. The step lets Trump transition aides and future administration staffers obtain security clearances before Inauguration Day to access classified information about ongoing government programs, an essential step for a smooth transiton of power. It also allows those nominees who are up for Senate confirmation to face the background checks lawmakers want before voting on them. Teams of investigators have been standing by to process clearances for Trump aides and advisers. “This agreement with the Department of Justice will ensure President Trump and his team are ready on Day 1 to begin enacting the America First Agenda that an overwhelming majority of our nation supported on Election Day,” said Susie Wiles, Trump’s designate to be White House chief of staff. The announcement comes a week after the Trump transition team signed an agreement with the Biden White House to allow transition staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before taking office on Jan. 20. The White House agreement was supposed to have been signed by Oct. 1, according to the Presidential Transition Act, and the Biden White House had issued both public and private appeals for Trump’s team to sign on. Security clearances are required to access classified information, including on ongoing operations and threats to the nation, and the Biden White House and outside experts have emphasized to Trump’s team the importance of having cleared personnel before Inauguration Day so they could be fully briefed and ready to run the government. Republican Senators have also insisted on FBI background checks for Trump’s nominees before they face confirmation votes, as has been standard practice for decades. Lawmakers have been particularly interested in seeing the findings of reviews into Trump’s designated nominee for defense secretary, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, and for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence. “That’s why it’s so important that we have an FBI background check, a committee review of extensive questions and questionnaires, and a public hearing,” said. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine on Monday. John Thune, the incoming Senate Republican leader, said the Trump team “understands there’s going to have to be a thorough vetting of all these nominees.” AP congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed.

Amid the rampant speculation about what’s next for Matt Gaetz after the MAGA firebrand abruptly and dramatically withdrew his nomination for attorney general, one right-wing cable channel is making it abundantly clear they’d like him to join their lineup. Hours after the former Florida congressman pulled his name from consideration to be the nation’s top prosecutor amid sexual misconduct allegations, Newsmax host Greg Kelly told his viewers that there was a job waiting for Gaetz at the network if he wanted it. “Hey, he’s got a couple of fallback plans,” the Trump-boosting host declared. “He could always come and work here at Newsmax, as he has done quite a bit over the past couple of years, like filling in as an anchor on this program.” Airing a clip of Gaetz guest-anchoring his primetime program in May 2023, which occurred while Gaetz was a sitting U.S. congressman, Kelly went on to praise the ex-lawmaker as a “great guy with a big future.” Besides Kelly’s show, Gaetz has also sat in the anchor’s chair to spell Newsmax star Rob Schmitt in the past. “Greg is a great friend,” Gaetz told The Independent of Kelly’s offer. “I really look up to him. It’s very kind that he said something to lift my spirits.” According to multiple Newsmax insiders and staffers who spoke with The Independent , Kelly’s segment was part of a concerted effort to both appeal to Gaetz directly while also planting the idea in viewers’ minds that the former congressman may bring his services to the network’s airwaves. One source familiar with the situation told The Independent that Newsmax vice president of programming Chris Knowles mandated Kelly’s monologue alongside the clip of Gaetz’s past hosting performances on the network. The source added that the appeal to Gaetz was similar to when Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy pressed the network’s lineup to run multiple segments a day on Fox News firing its top-rated host Tucker Carlson last year. With conservatives furious at Fox for terminating Carlson, the source added, Ruddy hoped to convince the former Fox News star to come to Newsmax. Even before Gaetz dropped his bid to become attorney general, multiple staffers said Knowles had long made it clear behind the scenes that he wanted to make Gaetz a permanent fixture at the network. Knowles “has wanted Matt Gaetz to bring his firebrand personality to the network full-time for a long time,” one current Newsmax employee stated. “Knowles has said several times in the past he wants Gaetz on the air with a show one day, and he has recently said there’s a spot for him on the network if he isn’t confirmed,” another staffer stated prior to Gaetz’s withdrawing his nomination. Network executives also felt that Fox News growing increasingly squeamish over Gaetz’s nomination amid the drip-drip of more sexual misconduct allegations would only help Newsmax in building trust with the MAGA base, one source added. Newsmax gave Gaetz nothing but positive coverage throughout the nomination while repeatedly brushing off the allegations, noting that the Justice Department has not charged Gaetz with a crime. In a statement, a Newsmax spokesperson said the network “is not planning any lineup changes and has no plans to offer Rep. Gaetz a position at the network.” Gaetz did not immediately respond to a request for comment. While the network is denying there have been any discussions between the two parties, Gaetz did acknowledge in 2021 that he held numerous conversations with several conservative media outlets about potential post-Congress gigs — including Newsmax. Gaetz’s initial exploration for a “soft landing in right-wing media” took place shortly before it was announced he was under federal investigation for possible sex trafficking. Gaetz, meanwhile, has remained vague about what his plans are now that his dreams of being attorney general have flamed out. In a Friday interview with conservative pundit Charlie Kirk, Gaetz confirmed that he won’t return to Congress while pledging to keep fighting for the president-elect in other ways. He also slammed the allegations against him as a “smear” campaign. The former congressman took to social media on Friday morning, claiming he’d soon tell the “stories of corruption, treason and betrayal” regarding members of Congress trading stocks. So will Gaetz do that as a member of Trump’s White House — or within the world of right-wing media? Stay tuned.

Feds suspend ACA marketplace access to companies accused of falsely promising ‘cash cards’

NoneNoneGilbert makes clutch layup, steal as No. 7 LSU beats Washington 68-67 in the BahamasRobert F. Kennedy Jr. and his advisers are considering an overhaul of Medicare’s decades-old payment formula, a bid to shift the health system’s incentives toward primary care and prevention, said four people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The discussions are in their early stages, the people said, and have involved a plan to review the thousands of billing codes that determine how much physicians get paid for performing procedures and services. The coding system tends to reward health care providers for surgeries and other costly procedures. It has been accused of steering physicians to become specialists because they will be paid more, while financial incentives are different in other countries, where more physicians go into primary care — and health outcomes are better. Although policymakers have spent years warning about Medicare’s billing codes and their skewed incentives, the matter has received little national attention given the challenge of explaining the complex issues to the public, the technicalities of billing codes and the financial interests for industry groups accustomed to how payments are set. “It’s a very low-salience issue,” said Miriam Laugesen, a Columbia University professor who has written a book, “Fixing Medical Prices,” about Medicare’s physician payments. “The prominent stakeholders in this area would probably prefer to keep it that way.” Kennedy was selected this month by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and has been drawing up plans to roll out his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, a set of ideas to reduce the causes of chronic disease and childhood illness. The position requires Senate confirmation. A spokesperson for Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment. Medicare’s billing codes are shaped by the American Medical Association, which represents more than 250,000 physicians. The lobbying group oversees a panel of several dozen physicians — known as the AMA/Specialty Society RVS Update Committee, more commonly referred to as the RUC — who study the resources needed for each medical service and issue recommendations to the federal government. While those recommendations are not binding, federal officials overwhelmingly accept them and use them to set reimbursement for doctors’ duties. The panel’s recommendations have historically been skewed by misleading estimates of how physicians spend their time, according to a 2013 Washington Post investigation. For instance, the Post found that the RUC repeatedly inflated the amount of time a doctor needed to perform a procedure. The AMA also collects millions of dollars in revenue from its work to develop and recommend billing codes, with the lobbying group conducting trainings, selling books and charging royalties. The AMA declined to comment. Lawmakers have spent decades questioning why physicians play a role in setting their own federal payments. Trent Lott, the Mississippi Republican who served as Senate minority leader, in 2001 took aim at the lobbying group’s influence, calling to strip the AMA’s copyright for the codes. Senators say those concerns have persisted. “I’ve long been concerned with this secretive AMA committee setting their own payment rates from Medicare,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) said in a statement to the Post on Wednesday. “It’s just plain unethical — these recommendations should be made in the best interest of patients and taxpayers, not a handful of well-connected insiders.” Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) and Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) also have launched an effort to overhaul physician payments, asking for feedback this year on creating a federal committee — separate from the RUC — to advise on billing codes. Cassidy is the incoming chairman of the Senate health committee. Kennedy and his aides are looking to work with the AMA on changes to the billing codes, said one of the people familiar with the discussions. The medical association has said that some criticisms of its process are outdated and that hospitals, health insurers and other industry representatives provide input as well to Medicare that shapes payment rates for those organizations. STAT News first reported that Kennedy and his aides were discussing changes to Medicare payments. Any federal attempt to overhaul billions of dollars in annual payments to health-care providers appears destined to spark an intense lobbying effort to stymie the changes or shift them to reward certain procedures, experts said. The billing codes are implemented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, commonly known as CMS. Trump on Tuesday selected Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and longtime TV personality, to lead CMS. “Our CMS codes embed a system that waits for Americans to get sick and profits,” Calley Means, a Kennedy adviser, posted Wednesday on X, commenting on Oz’s selection. If Kennedy and Oz are confirmed, they would play significant roles in reshaping the Medicare coding system. Many public health officials and experts have been alarmed by Trump’s selection of Kennedy to lead HHS, saying his longtime vaccine skepticism makes him an unacceptable choice to oversee agencies responsible for the nation’s vaccine supply. Kennedy has repeated debunked claims about a link between vaccines and autism, written that coronavirus vaccines were a “crime against humanity” and made other statements that experts say undermine confidence in shots credited with eliminating diseases such as polio in the United States and saving millions of lives globally. “I think the most dangerous thing about the nominee for secretary is his view on vaccines,” Kathleen Sebelius, who served as HHS secretary during the Obama administration, told CNN this week. “That is enormously dangerous and life-threatening for people in this country and across the globe.” Kennedy, who founded a prominent anti-vaccine group, has said he is not anti-vaccine and would focus federal vaccine efforts on conducting additional research. He and his allies have said the former Democrat is trying to shake up incentives that produce poor health outcomes in the U.S. health system, citing elevated rates of chronic disease and other public health problems that outpace other high-income countries. Kennedy and his aides have pinned some of the blame on entrenched industry groups, including the pharmaceutical industry, and criticized conflicts of interest between drugmakers and physicians. “There is a culture of looking at all levers of our healthcare system with fresh eyes to deliver wins for the American people,” a person with knowledge of the discussions wrote in a text message to the Post. A variety of groups and observers have long called for changes in how Medicare pays physicians. The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan watchdog, in 2015 called for more transparency around how physician payment rates are set and warned of potential conflicts of interest among the AMA physicians who make recommendations. “It is clear that the RUC process is broken and that the AMA has no interest in even minor changes,” the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank, wrote in 2018. “This cabal wields its influence to favor costly specialty care over primary care, and the prices of physician services skyrocket, year after year,” Joe Lonsdale, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Republican donor, wrote in 2019.

New coach Chris Holtmann has been tasked with rebuilding DePaul to the point where it can return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004. Northern Illinois coach Rashon Burno knows what it takes to steer DePaul to the NCAAs because he was the starting point guard on the 2000 team that made the tournament -- the Blue Demons' only other NCAA appearance since 1992. Perhaps they can compare notes Saturday afternoon when Burno leads the Huskies (2-3) back to his alma mater as DePaul (5-0) hosts its sixth straight home game in Chicago. Last season, Burno's NIU squad helped accelerate DePaul's need for a new coach -- as the Huskies waltzed into Wintrust Arena and owned Tony Stubblefield's Blue Demons by an 89-79 score on Nov. 25. The Huskies built a 24-point second-half lead before coasting to the finish line. Can history repeat for NIU? There's just one problem with using last year's game as a potential barometer for Saturday's rematch: Almost no players on this year's teams were part of last year's squads. At DePaul, only assistant coach Paris Parham remains as Holtmann had the green light to bring in an all-new roster. UIC graduate transfer Isaiah Rivera (16.0 ppg, .485 3-point rate) and Coastal Carolina transfer Jacob Meyer (15.4 ppg, .406 on 3s) lead a balanced attack that focuses on getting half its shots from beyond the arc. At NIU, Burno retained only two players who competed against DePaul last year -- Ethan Butler and Oluwasegun Durosinmi -- and they combined for three points in 26 minutes in that game. The Huskies' main players used the transfer portal to join such programs as Kansas, Wisconsin, Penn State, Colorado State, James Madison, Georgia State and Niagara. With every starting job open, Butler has jumped into the lineup and produced 11.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. Transfers Quentin Jones (Cal Poly) and James Dent (Western Illinois) pace the Huskies with 14.4 and 14.0 points per game. NIU is on a two-game losing streak, most recently a 75-48 home defeat at the hands of Elon on Wednesday. Holtmann hopes to have Arkansas transfer Layden Blocker for Saturday's game. Blocker missed Tuesday's 78-69 win over Eastern Illinois with a quad injury. With the combo guard unavailable, point guard Conor Enright handed out a career-high 11 assists in a season-high 38 minutes. "We need (Blocker)," Holtmann said. "I don't want to play Conor 38 minutes." --Field Level Mediawashington — President Joe Biden on Monday announced that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump , an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. The move spares the lives of people convicted in killings , including the slayings of police and military officers, people on federal land and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals, as well as the killings of guards or prisoners in federal facilities. The decision leaves three federal inmates to face execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of life Synagogue in 2018 , the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history. “I’ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system,” Biden said in a statement . “Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.” Reaction was strong, both for and against. A Trump spokesperson called the decision “abhorrent.” “These are among the worst killers in the world and this abhorrent decision by Joe Biden is a slap in the face to the victims, their families, and their loved ones.” said Trump spokesman Steven Cheung. “President Trump stands for the rule of law, which will return when he is back in the White House after he was elected with a massive mandate from the American people.” Heather Turner, whose mother was killed during the 2017 robbery of a Conway, South Carolina, bank, blasted the decision in a social media post, saying Biden didn’t consider the victims of these crimes. “The pain and trauma we have endured over the last 7 years has been indescribable,” Turner wrote on Facebook, describing weeks spent in court in search of justice as “now just a waste of time.” “Our judicial system is broken. Our government is a joke,” she said. “Joe Biden’s decision is a clear gross abuse of power. He, and his supporters, have blood on their hands.” Some of Roof’s victims supported Biden’s decision to leave him on death row. Michael Graham, whose sister Cynthia Hurd was killed by Roof, said Roof’s lack of remorse and simmering white nationalism in the U.S. means Roof is the kind of dangerous and evil person the death penalty is intended for. “This was a crime against a race of people who were doing something all Americans do on a Wednesday night — go to Bible study,” Graham said. “It didn’t matter who was there, only that they were Black.” The Biden administration in 2021 announced a moratorium on federal capital punishment to study the protocols used, which suspended executions during Biden’s term. But Biden actually had promised to go further on the issue in the past, pledging to end federal executions without the caveats for terrorism and hate-motivated, mass killings. While running for president in 2020, Biden’s campaign website said he would “work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level , and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example.” Similar language didn’t appear on Biden’s reelection website before he left the presidential race in July. “Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden’s statement said. “But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vice president, and now president, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.” He took a political jab at Trump, saying, “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.” Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has spoken frequently of expanding executions. In a speech announcing his 2024 campaign , Trump called for those “caught selling drugs to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts.” He later promised to execute drug and human smugglers and even praised China’s harsher treatment of drug peddlers. During his first term as president, Trump also advocated for the death penalty for drug dealers . There were 13 federal executions during Trump’s first term, more than under any president in modern history, and some may have happened fast enough to have contributed to the spread of the coronavirus at the federal death row facility in Indiana. Those were the first federal executions since 2003. The final three occurred after Election Day in November 2020 but before Trump left office the following January, the first time federal prisoners were put to death by a lame-duck president since Grover Cleveland in 1889. Biden faced recent pressure from advocacy groups urging him to act to make it more difficult for Trump to increase the use of capital punishment for federal inmates. The president’s announcement also comes less than two weeks after he commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, and of 39 others convicted of nonviolent crimes, the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The announcement also followed the post-election pardon that Biden granted his son Hunter on federal gun and tax charges after long saying he would not issue one, sparking an uproar in Washington. The pardon also raised questions about whether he would issue sweeping preemptive pardons for administration officials and other allies who the White House worries could be unjustly targeted by Trump’s second administration. Speculation that Biden could commute federal death sentences intensified last week after the White House announced he plans to visit Italy on the final foreign trip of his presidency next month. Biden, a practicing Catholic, will meet with Pope Francis, who recently called for prayers for U.S. death row inmates in hopes their sentences will be commuted. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has long called for an end to the death penalty, said Biden’s decision is a “significant step in advancing the cause of human dignity in our nation” and moves the country “a step closer to building a culture of life.” Martin Luther King III, who publicly urged Biden to change the death sentences, said in a statement shared by the White House that the president “has done what no president before him was willing to do: take meaningful and lasting action not just to acknowledge the death penalty’s racist roots but also to remedy its persistent unfairness.” Madeline Cohen, an attorney for Norris Holder, who faced death for the 1997 fatal shooting of a guard during a bank robbery in St. Louis, said his case “exemplifies the racial bias and arbitrariness that led the President to commute federal death sentences,” Cohen said. Holder, who is Black, was sentenced by an all-white jury. Weissert reported from West Palm Beach, Florida. Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and Jim Salter in O’Fallon, Missouri, contributed to this report.Google and the US government faced off in a federal court on Monday, as each side delivered closing arguments in a case revolving around the technology giant's alleged unfair domination of online advertising. The trial in a Virginia federal court is Google's second US antitrust case now under way as the US government tries to rein in the power of big tech. In a separate trial, a Washington judge ruled that Google's search business is an illegal monopoly, and the US Justice Department is asking that Google sell its Chrome browser business to resolve the case. The latest case, also brought by the Justice Department, focuses on ad technology for the open web -- the complex system determining which online ads people see when they surf the internet. The vast majority of websites use a trio of Google ad software products that together, leave no way for publishers to escape Google's advertising technology, the plaintiffs allege. Publishers -- including News Corp and Gannett publishing -- complain that they are locked into Google's advertising technology in order to run ads on their websites. "Google is once, twice, three times a monopolist," DOJ lawyer Aaron Teitelbaum told the court in closing arguments. Presiding judge Leonie Brinkema has said that she would deliver her opinion swiftly, as early as next month. Whatever Brinkema's judgment, the outcome will almost certainly be appealed, prolonging a process that could go all the way to the US Supreme Court. The government alleges that Google controls the auction-style system that advertisers use to purchase advertising space online. The US lawyers argue that this approach allows Google to charge higher prices to advertisers while sending less revenue to publishers such as news websites, many of which are struggling to stay in business. The US argues that Google used its financial power to acquire potential rivals and corner the ad tech market, leaving advertisers and publishers with no choice but to use its technology. The government wants Google to divest parts of its ad tech business. Google dismissed the allegations as an attempt by the government to pick "winners and losers" in a diverse market. The company argues that the display ads at issue are just a small share of today's ad tech business. Google says the plaintiffs' definition of the market ignores ads that are also placed in search results, apps and social media platforms and where, taken as a whole, Google does not dominate. "The law simply does not support what the plaintiffs are arguing in this case," said Google's lawyer Karen Dunn. She warned that if Google were to lose the case, the winners would be rival tech giants such as Microsoft, Meta or Amazon, whose market share in online advertising is ascendant as Google's share is falling. The DOJ countered that it simply "does not matter" that Google is competing in the broader market for online ads. "That is a different question" than the market for ads on websites that is the target of the case, said Teitelbaum. Google also points to US legal precedent, saying arguments similar to the government's have been refuted in previous antitrust cases. Dunn also warned that forcing Google to work with rivals in its ad products would amount to government central planning that the court should reject. If the judge finds Google to be at fault, a new phase of the trial would decide how the company should comply with that conclusion. And all that could be moot if the incoming Trump administration decides to drop the case. The president-elect has been a critic of Google's, but he warned earlier this month that breaking it up could be "a very dangerous thing." arp/dw

Banana auction billionaire's $30 million investment in Trump's crypto token highlights new ways to enrich president-elect

Who Is Making a Difference in Fresno? Explore This List of 2024’s Shining StarsBy TOM KRISHER, Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — For a second time, a Delaware judge has nullified a pay package that Tesla had awarded its CEO, Elon Musk, that once was valued at $56 billion. On Monday, Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick turned aside a request from Musk’s lawyers to reverse a ruling she announced in January that had thrown out the compensation plan. The judge ruled then that Musk effectively controlled Tesla’s board and had engineered the outsize pay package during sham negotiations . Lawyers for a Tesla shareholder who sued to block the pay package contended that shareholders who had voted for the 10-year plan in 2018 had been given misleading and incomplete information. In their defense, Tesla’s board members asserted that the shareholders who ratified the pay plan a second time in June had done so after receiving full disclosures, thereby curing all the problems the judge had cited in her January ruling. As a result, they argued, Musk deserved the pay package for having raised Tesla’s market value by billions of dollars. McCormick rejected that argument. In her 103-page opinion, she ruled that under Delaware law, Tesla’s lawyers had no grounds to reverse her January ruling “based on evidence they created after trial.” On Monday night, Tesla posted on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, that the company will appeal. The appeal would be filed with the Delaware Supreme Court, the only state appellate court Tesla can pursue. Experts say a ruling would likely come in less than a year. “The ruling, if not overturned, means that judges and plaintiffs’ lawyers run Delaware companies rather than their rightful owners — the shareholders,” Tesla argued. Later, on X, Musk unleashed a blistering attack on the judge, asserting that McCormick is “a radical far left activist cosplaying as a judge.” Legal authorities generally suggest that McCormick’s ruling was sound and followed the law. Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said that in his view, McCormick was right to rule that after Tesla lost its case in the original trial, it created improper new evidence by asking shareholders to ratify the pay package a second time. Had she allowed such a claim, he said, it would cause a major shift in Delaware’s laws against conflicts of interest given the unusually close relationship between Musk and Tesla’s board. “Delaware protects investors — that’s what she did,” said Elson, who has followed the court for more than three decades. “Just because you’re a ‘superstar CEO’ doesn’t put you in a separate category.” Elson said he thinks investors would be reluctant to put money into Delaware companies if there were exceptions to the law for “special people.” Elson said that in his opinion, the court is likely to uphold McCormick’s ruling. Experts say no. Rulings on state laws are normally left to state courts. Brian Dunn, program director for the Institute of Compensation Studies at Cornell University, said it’s been his experience that Tesla has no choice but to stay in the Delaware courts for this compensation package. The company could try to reconstitute the pay package and seek approval in Texas, where it may expect more friendlier judges. But Dunn, who has spent 40 years as an executive compensation consultant, said it’s likely that some other shareholder would challenge the award in Texas because it’s excessive compared with other CEOs’ pay plans. “If they just want to turn around and deliver him $56 billion, I can’t believe somebody wouldn’t want to litigate it,” Dunn said. “It’s an unconscionable amount of money.” Almost certainly. Tesla stock is trading at 15 times the exercise price of stock options in the current package in Delaware, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors. Tesla’s share price has doubled in the past six months, Jonas wrote. At Monday’s closing stock price, the Musk package is now worth $101.4 billion, according to Equilar, an executive data firm. And Musk has asked for a subsequent pay package that would give him 25% of Tesla’s voting shares. Musk has said he is uncomfortable moving further into artificial intelligence with the company if he doesn’t have 25% control. He currently holds about 13% of Tesla’s outstanding shares.Bill Clinton, the former US president who has faced a series of health issues over the years, was admitted to hospital Monday in Washington after developing a fever, his office said. "President Clinton was admitted to Georgetown University Medical Center this afternoon for testing and observation after developing a fever," the 78-year-old's deputy chief of staff Angel Urena said on social media platform X, adding Clinton "remains in good spirits." Clinton was previously hospitalized for five nights in October 2021 due to a blood infection. In 2004, at age 58, he underwent a quadruple bypass operation after doctors found signs of extensive heart disease. He had stents implanted in his coronary artery six years later. The health scare motivated him to make lifestyle changes, including adopting a vegetarian diet, and he has since spoken publicly about his efforts. Clinton's health last made headlines in November 2022 when he tested positive for Covid-19. He said at the time that his symptoms were "mild" and he was "grateful to be vaccinated and boosted." Clinton, who led the United States for two presidential terms from 1993-2001, is the second-youngest living US president, after 63-year-old Barack Obama. He was born mere months after fellow former US president George W. Bush and President-elect Donald Trump. Though his prosperous time in office was marred by scandals, he has enjoyed a second life in the two decades after his presidency, which has seen him venture into numerous diplomatic and humanitarian causes. bur-jgc/aha

Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates before Trump can resume executions WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday announced that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. The move spares the lives of people convicted in killings, including the slayings of police and military officers, people on federal land and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals, as well as the killings of guards or prisoners in federal facilities. The decision leaves three federal inmates to face execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of life Synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history. “I’ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system,” Biden said in a statement. “Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.” Reaction was strong, both for and against. A Trump spokesperson called the decision “abhorrent.” House Ethics Committee accuses Gaetz of paying for sex, including with 17-year-old girl WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee on Monday accused Matt Gaetz of “regularly” paying for sex, including once with a 17-year-old girl, and purchasing and using illicit drugs as a member of Congress, as lawmakers released the conclusions of a nearly four-year investigation that helped sink his nomination for attorney general. The 37-page report by the bipartisan panel includes explicit details of sex-filled parties and vacations that Gaetz, now 42, took part in from 2017 to 2020 while the Republican represented Florida's western Panhandle. Congressional investigators concluded that Gaetz violated multiple state laws related to sexual misconduct while in office, though not federal sex trafficking laws. They also found that Gaetz “knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct” the committee's work. “The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report said. Before the report came out, Gaetz denied any wrongdoing and criticized the committee's process. Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to murder and weapons charges in UnitedHealthcare CEO's death NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of fatally shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare pleaded not guilty on Monday to state murder and terror charges while his attorney complained that comments coming from New York’s mayor would make it tough to receive a fair trial. Luigi Mangione, 26, was shackled and seated in a Manhattan court when he leaned over to a microphone to enter his plea. The Manhattan district attorney charged him last week with multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism. Mangione's initial appearance in New York’s state trial court was preempted by federal prosecutors bringing their own charges over the shooting. The federal charges could carry the possibility of the death penalty, while the maximum sentence for the state charges is life in prison without parole. Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state charges expected to go to trial first. One of Mangione’s attorneys told a judge that government officials, including New York Mayor Eric Adams, have turned Mangione into a political pawn, robbing him of his rights as a defendant and tainting the jury pool. Man faces murder charges in the death of a woman who was lit on fire in New York City subway A man is facing murder and arson charges in New York City for allegedly setting a woman on fire inside a subway train and then watching her die after she was engulfed in flames, police said Monday. The suspect, identified by police as Sebastian Zapeta, was taken into custody hours after the woman died on Sunday morning. Zapeta, 33, is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally after he had been previously removed in 2018, said Jeff Carter, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Surveillance video showed the suspect approach the woman, who was sitting motionless and may have been sleeping, on a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn and set her clothing on fire, police said. The woman's clothing "“became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” said Jessica Tisch, the New York City police commissioner, while the suspect remained at the scene, watching her burn from a bench on the subway platform as police and a transit worker extinguished the flames. Middle East latest: Defense minister acknowledges Israel killed Hamas leader JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister has confirmed that Israel assassinated Hamas’ top leader last summer and is threatening to take similar action against the leadership of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen. The comments by Israel Katz appeared to mark the first time that Israel has acknowledged killing Ismail Haniyeh, who died in an explosion in Iran in July. Israel was widely believed to be behind the blast and leaders have previously hinted at its involvement. In a speech Monday, Katz said the Houthis would meet a similar fate as the other members of an Iranian-led alliance in the region, including Haniyeh. He also noted that Israel has killed other leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, helped topple Syria’s Bashar Assad and destroyed Iran’s anti-aircraft systems. “We will strike (the Houthis’) strategic infrastructure and cut off the head of the leadership,” he said. “Just like we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon, we will do in Hodeida and Sanaa,” he said, referring to Hamas and Hezbollah leaders killed in previous Israeli attacks. Trump again calls to buy Greenland after eyeing Canada and the Panama Canal WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — First it was Canada, then the Panama Canal. Now, Donald Trump again wants Greenland. The president-elect is renewing unsuccessful calls he made during his first term for the U.S. to buy Greenland from Denmark, adding to the list of allied countries with which he's picking fights even before taking office on Jan. 20. In a Sunday announcement naming his ambassador to Denmark, Trump wrote that, “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity." Trump again having designs on Greenland comes after the president-elect suggested over the weekend that the U.S. could retake control of the Panama Canal if something isn't done to ease rising shipping costs required for using the waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He's also been suggesting that Canada become the 51st U.S. state and referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor” of the “Great State of Canada.” Nissan and Honda to attempt a merger that would create the world's No. 3 automaker TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan have announced plans to work toward a merger that would form the world’s third-largest automaker by sales, as the industry undergoes dramatic changes in its transition away from fossil fuels. The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday and that smaller Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors Corp. also had agreed to join the talks on integrating their businesses. Automakers in Japan have lagged behind their big rivals in electric vehicles and are trying to cut costs and make up for lost time as newcomers like China's BYD and EV market leader Tesla devour market share. Honda's president, Toshihiro Mibe, said Honda and Nissan will attempt to unify their operations under a joint holding company. Honda will lead the new management, retaining the principles and brands of each company. They aim to have a formal merger agreement by June and to complete the deal and list the holding company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by August 2026, he said. No dollar value was given and the formal talks are just starting, Mibe said. Magdeburg mourns Christmas market attack victims as fears swirl of deeper German social divisions MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Mourners laid flowers near the scene of the deadly Christmas market attack on Monday as investigators puzzled over the motive of the suspect and his previous encounters with authorities were scrutinized, while fears swirled that the rampage could deepen divisions in German society. The Johanniskirche, a church a short walk from the scene of the attack, has become a central place of mourning since the suspect drove a car into the busy market on Friday evening, killing five people. A carpet of flowers now covers the broad sidewalk in front of the church. Prosecutors said the number of injured has risen to as many as 235 as more people have reported to hospitals and doctors, but it's possible there was some double-counting. Authorities have identified the suspect as a Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency. They say he doesn't fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. The man described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam, and on social media expressed support for the far-right. A picture has emerged of someone who had come to authorities’ attention for threatening behavior and been the subject of tipoffs, but wasn't known to have committed any violence. The interior minister of Saxony-Anhalt state, Tamara Zieschang, told lawmakers Monday that police had contacted him in September 2023 and again in October this year, but didn't comment publicly on why, German news agency dpa reported. How faith communities can be welcoming of believers with disabilities this holiday season and beyond The Rev. Shannon Blosser sees how his son loves church — the music, the singing, the communion. But the United Methodist pastor said his family hasn’t always felt like 11-year-old Noah, who is autistic, has been welcome. At one point, Blosser’s wife and the couple’s two sons stopped attending in-person services at a church where he served. “If we felt more supported, we probably would have pushed through.” Many people with disabilities, advocates and families want more religious congregations to know that there are ways to be accommodating and inclusive of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities this holiday season — and year round — and to fully embrace them and their families. “They just have to have the willingness to be the church that sees the image of God in every child and every adult,” said Blosser, who now serves two small West Virginia congregations that have been supportive of his family’s needs. Mount Olivet United Methodist Church, one of the congregations, is hosting a “Calm Christmas,” a sensory-friendly celebration and worship, where music will come from a guitar, rather than a piano, and candles will be swapped for glow sticks to avoid any dangers. There are fidget toys and a “visual schedule” to help those needing images and graphics to better process the sequence of events. Tennessee and Auburn remain 1-2 in AP Top 25 poll featuring 10 SEC teams Tennessee and Auburn remained Nos. 1-2 atop The Associated Press men's college basketball poll. It's a fitting spot for a pair of Southeastern Conference teams considering the league put 10 teams into Monday's AP Top 25. The Volunteers (11-0) and Tigers (11-1) spent a third straight week in the same position, and it marked a fourth consecutive week for Auburn sitting at No. 2. They were part of a top 10 that featured the same top-10 programs, though slightly reshuffled with Kentucky tumbling six spots to No. 10 after a loss to Ohio State. The poll also featured four additions that previously had been ranked this season, including No. 19 Mississippi State and No. 23 Arkansas to add to the SEC's season-long hauls. The SEC thrice had as many as nine ranked teams this season, including in the preseason poll. This is the first time since at least the start of the 2012-13 season that one league had 10 ranked teams. Iowa State was third, followed by Duke and Alabama to round out the top five. Florida, Kansas, Marquette and Oregon followed, with those teams all moving up one spot given the Wildcats' fall to 10th.

Testing complete: BSD Builders, Inc. successfully pushed the boundaries of innovation with its state-of-the-art Microgrid Solutions, having undergone rigorous testing for seismic certification by California’s OSHPD/HCAi. BSD Builders, Inc. is a leading general contractor specializing in the healthcare industry. Focusing on exceeding industry standards and delivering exceptional value to clients, BSD Builders, Inc. continues to set the benchmark for excellence in the construction and energy sectors. Testing complete: BSD Builders, Inc. successfully pushed the boundaries of innovation with its state-of-the-art Microgrid Solutions, having undergone rigorous testing for seismic certification by California’s OSHPD/HCAi. BSD Builders, Inc. is a leading general contractor specializing in the healthcare industry. Focusing on exceeding industry standards and delivering exceptional value to clients, BSD Builders, Inc. continues to set the benchmark for excellence in the construction and energy sectors. SAN DIEGO , Dec. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- BSD Builders, Inc. today announced it has received seismic certification from California's OSHPD/HCAi for its state-of-the-art Microgrid Solutions. Developed in partnership with 2G Energy Inc., the BSD Special Seismically Certified (SSC) Microgrid product is set to revolutionize energy resilience and efficiency for all types of buildings. The BSD SSC Microgrid system, consisting of a cogeneration power plant and fuel storage, was initially designed to support California skilled nursing facilities' compliance with California Assembly Bill 2511, which California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law on September 29, 2022 . This bill requires these facilities to have an alternative power source to protect resident health and safety for at least 96 hours during any type of power outage. This microgrid power solution is a self-contained electrical system that can operate independently from the main power grid. With the seismic certification, it is now available for any type of building that needs uninterruptable power. "At BSD Builders, we're passionate about creating solutions that make a difference in people's lives. We have developed a proprietary solution that not only meets but exceeds California's stringent seismic requirements while providing a reliable and efficient source of power, especially during unexpected power loss or natural disasters," said Jeff Blair , CEO of BSD Builders, Inc. "This solution offers long-term benefits not only by lowering utility costs, it can also help to improve the stability of the regional electric grid and reduce carbon emissions." Key features of the BSD SSC Microgrid Solution include: "2G Energy is proud to partner with BSD on the BSD SSC Microgrid System designing it for a wide range of applications, providing a reliable and cost-effective energy solution for skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, data centers, pharmaceutical labs, research facilities, cold storage units, data centers, and more," stated Darren Jamison , Managing Director of 2G Energy North America. "The design utilizes proprietary technologies to offer clients reduced utility costs and increased reliability. It is designed for continuous parallel operation with the utility as well as stand-alone island mode," concluded Jamison. For more information about the BSD SSC Microgrid System or to schedule a consultation, please visit bsdbuilders.com . About BSD Builders, Inc . - BSD Builders, Inc. is a leading general contractor specializing in the healthcare industry. Focusing on exceeding industry standards and delivering exceptional value to clients, BSD Builders, Inc. continues to set the benchmark for excellence in the construction and energy sectors. About 2G Energy – 2G Energy is a globally recognized leader in the development and production of combined heat and power (CHP) systems. With a commitment to sustainability and innovation, 2G Energy provides cutting-edge solutions that optimize energy efficiency and environmental performance. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bsd-builders-inc-advanced-microgrid-solutions-receives-california-seismic-certification-for-uninterruptible-power-supply-302324334.html SOURCE BSD Builders, Inc.Cadillac has “agreement in principle” to join F1 as 11th team in 2026 | Formula 1