The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has successfully launched the Girls for Goals program in Keta in the Volta Region. The launch was spearheaded by Deputy General Secretary (Admin), Ama Brobey-Williams with support from the Women’s Football Development office of the Technical Directorate. Executive Council Member, Dr. Gifty Oware-Mensah, Director of the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence at Prampram, Winifred Mawudeku, and the head of the Women’s Football Development Desk at the Technical Directorate Jennifer Amakwaa Sarpong played an instrumental role in the successful organization of the program. The Girls for Goals program is a 9-month empowerment initiative aimed at promoting gender equality through Sports, Education, Healthy Lifestyles, among young girls to inspire them reach their full potential. The program will provide training and mentorship to girls and boys aged 10-18, with a focus on football and other sports activities. It also aims to promote grassroots football and increase participation in the sport through various campaigns. The program brought together dignitaries, including the District Chief Executive of Keta, the Director of Education for the Keta Municipal Assembly, Chiefs and Elders of the Keta Traditional area and representatives from the Ghana Education Service together. The Girls for Goals program aligns with the GFA’s vision of promoting women’s football. The program has received significant support from FIFA, the world football governing body, La guilde, GIZ, and the GFA. GFA COMMUNICATIONS Get all the latest football news sent directly to your inbox

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Surf Air Mobility Unveils Four-Phase Transformation Plan and Updated Investor PresentationNEW YORK (AP) — An early rebound for U.S. stocks on Thursday petered out by the end of the day, leaving indexes close to flat. The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% following Wednesday’s tumble of 2.9% when the Federal Reserve said it may deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year than earlier thought. The index had been up as much as 1.1% in the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15 points, or less than 0.1%, following Wednesday’s drop of 1,123 points, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%. This week’s struggles have taken some of the enthusiasm out of the market, which critics had been warning was overly buoyant and would need everything to go correctly for it to justify its high prices. But indexes remain near their records , and the S&P 500 is still on track for one of its best years of the millennium with a gain of 23%. Traders are now expecting the Federal Reserve to deliver just one or maybe two cuts to interest rates next year, according to data from CME Group. Some are even betting on none. A month ago, the majority saw at least two cuts in 2025 as a safe bet. Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they give the economy a boost and goose prices for investments, but they can also provide fuel for inflation. Micron Technology was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500 Thursday. It fell 16.2% despite reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected. The computer memory company’s revenue fell short of Wall Street’s forecasts, and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said it expects demand from consumers to remain weaker in the near term. It gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that fell well short of what analysts were thinking. Lamb Weston, which makes French fries and other potato products, dropped 20.1% after falling short of analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. It also cut its financial targets for the fiscal year, saying demand for frozen potatoes is continuing to soften, particularly outside North America. The company replaced its chief executive. Such losses helped overshadow a 14.7% jump for Darden Restaurants, the company behind Olive Garden and other chains. It delivered profit for the latest quarter that edged past analysts’ expectations. The operator of LongHorn Steakhouses also gave a forecast for revenue for this fiscal year that topped analysts’. Accenture rose 7.1% after the professional services company likewise topped expectations for profit in the latest quarter. CEO Julie Sweet said it saw growth around the world, and the company raised its forecast for revenue this fiscal year. Amazon shares added 1.3%, even as workers at seven of its facilities went on strike Thursday in the middle of the online retail giant’s busiest time of the year. Amazon says it doesn’t expect an impact on its operations during what the workers’ union calls the largest strike against the company in U.S. history. In the bond market, yields were mixed a day after shooting higher on expectations that the Fed would deliver fewer cuts to rates in 2025. Reports on the U.S. economy came in mixed. One showed the overall economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate during the summer, faster than earlier thought. The economy has remained remarkably resilient even though the Fed held its main interest rate at a two-decade high for a while before beginning to cut them in September. A separate report showed fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, an indication that the job market also remains solid. But a third report said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region is unexpectedly contracting again despite economists’ expectations for growth. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.57% from 4.52% late Wednesday and from less than 4.20% earlier this month. But the two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for action by the Fed in the near term, eased back to 4.31% from 4.35%. The rise in longer-term yields has put pressure on the housing market by keeping mortgage rates higher. Homebuilder Lennar fell 5.2% after reporting weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Stuart Miller said that “the housing market that appeared to be improving as the Fed cut short-term interest rates, proved to be far more challenging as mortgage rates rose” through the quarter. “Even while demand remained strong, and the chronic supply shortage continued to drive the market, our results were driven by affordability limitations from higher interest rates,” he said. A report on Thursday may have offered some encouragement for the housing industry. It showed a pickup in sales of previously occupied homes. All told, the S&P 500 slipped 5.08 points to 5,867.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 15.37 to 42,342.24, and the Nasdaq composite lost 19.92 to 19,372.77. In stock markets abroad, London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.1% after the Bank of England paused its cuts to rates and kept its main interest rate unchanged on Thursday. The move comes as inflation there moved further above the central bank’s 2% target rate, while the British economy is flatlining at best. The Bank of Japan also kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.7%. Indexes likewise sank across much of the rest of Asia and Europe. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.Ex-aide drops lawsuit against former Gov. Cuomo for alleged sexual harassment

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Dejounte Murray plans to return to the ' lineup on Wednesday night for the first time since in a season-opening victory over Chicago on Oct. 23. And when Murray takes the court against the , his mother will be on his mind. After practice on Tuesday, Murray discussed his impending return and disclosed more details about the previously unspecified “personal matters” that caused him to leave the team during the final days of the preseason. His mother had a stroke, he said. “It was tough to leave and go deal with that. As she got better, she wanted me to come play,” Murray said of his last-minute decision to start against Chicago. He added that his hand injury near the end of that game was God's way of telling him, “‘Nah, you need to stay with your mom.’” “I was more concerned about my mother. That was my priority,” Murray continued. “I wasn’t really worried about my recovery.” Murray's mother has recovered well, he said, while he is “healthy and ready to help this team.” “I’m ready to hoop. Play for my mother — she’s going to be watching," Murray said. “I’m ready to compete, bring that winning spirit.” The Pelicans (4-14) certainly could use the help, having lost 14 of 16 games since opening the season with a pair of victories. Injuries have ravaged the roster. At times, all five starters have been out. Star power forward Zion Williamson has missed 12 games this season — one with an illness and 11 with a hamstring injury. Herb Jones has been sidelined by a shoulder strain and Brandon Ingram's status is in doubt after he sat out practice on Tuesday with calf soreness that also sidelined him during a loss on Monday night at Indiana. But at least two starters — Murray and fellow guard CJ McCollum — are expected to play against the Raptors. “I don’t care how many games we’ve lost. I just know every time I step on the floor I feel like we can win games,” said Murray, who had 14 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in his lone game with the Pelicans. "That’s just my mentality, and I feel like it can carry over to a lot of guys.” AP NBA:

Flag football uses talent camps to uncover new starsA contentious race for the White House dominated national headlines in 2024, but there wasn’t much ballot suspense in Eagle County. Kamala Harris secured nearly 61 percent of the vote among local voters, while races for two seats on the Eagle County Board of Commissioners weren’t close. Incumbent Democrat Matt Scherr earned nearly 59% of the vote, and Democrat Tom Boyd cruised to victory in the general election with no Republican challenger vying for the seat vacated by Kathy Chandler-Henry, who opted not to seek a third term. Amid the charged national and statewide debates, such as ballot measures to ban big cat hunting or a sweeping overhaul of Colorado’s electoral system, Eagle County residents found plenty else to argue about. Large developments, school safety, taxpayer-funded art in public spaces and the return of wolves to the Western Slope dominated local headlines and generated piles of letters to the editor. There was also plenty of news to celebrate, from low-cost carriers finally landing at the local airport to Lindsey Vonn returning to World Cup racing at 40 — more than five years after injuries chased her into retirement. Also, the mystery of a hiker who went missing on Eagle County’s highest peak 19 years ago finally saw a major break in the case. What did Vail Daily readers find important in 2025? We pored over all the stories that drew the most engagement from our digital audience to arrive at this year-end list. Here’s a look back at the year that was, based on the stories you clicked the most and the ones you spent the most time reading. The Eagle County Board of Commissioners in December had in-person seats for a case before the U.S. Supreme Court in which Eagle County was the lead plaintiff. The case, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v Eagle County, Colorado, invalidated a U.S. Surface Transportation Board decision that cleared the way for a proposed Uinta Basin Railway. If approved, the rail line would have linked oilfields pumping “waxy” crude oil to the Union Pacific Railroad’s main east-west line that roughly parallels Interstate 70 and the Colorado River. That line runs through Glenwood Canyon and along the river through much of Eagle County, and ultimately through the Moffat Tunnel to the Front Range. Eagle County was the lead plaintiff in what became a broad-based case against the Utah coalition. An appellate court overturned the Surface Transportation Board’s decision, and the Utah coalition appealed that decision to the nation’s high court. The appeal asks whether the federal National Environmental Policy Act required the Surface Transportation Board to consider the potential environmental harm of the waxy crude cargo. In addition to Commissioners Jeanne McQueeney, Kathy Chandler-Henry and Matt Scherr, county attorneys Beth Oliver and Christina Hooper also attended the oral arguments in the case. A decision is expected by the end of the court’s current term in June . — Scott Miller When Lindsey Vonn officially announced her return to the U.S. Ski Team and World Cup racing five years after her 2019 retirement, she was greeted by a mix of excited anticipation and justified doubts. After all, the 82-time World Cup winner cited chronic injuries as her main reason for leaving the sport in the first place. Plus, she’s 40. At a team press conference the night before the Birds of Prey World Cup races — where Vonn acted as a forerunner — the eight-time downhill Crystal Globe champion addressed both concerns. “The last few years of my career were I think a lot more challenging than I let on,” she said. “But I feel stronger now than I did in my mid to late 20s ... now that I have the chance to physically do what I love, why would I not try?” Concerning her age, Vonn pointed to gymnast Simone Biles as one example of an athlete who exists “outside of the confines of what we believe is the right age” for a particular sport. “I’m just doing what I feel is right for me but at the same time continuing on what other women have done before me,” she added. Vonn nervously stepped into the starting gate in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Dec. 21, rocketing to a 14th-place finish in her first World Cup race in five years. Fans who’ve followed the Minnesota-born, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail-raised star since the beginning likely were encouraged by the result. They also probably aren’t surprised by Vonn’s ambitious definition of success for her second go-round. “Success is not just participating,” she said. “I know my way back to a competitive level might take a race or two, but I certainly intend on getting back to where I was before.” — Ryan Sederquist For nearly two decades, Vail has been working to build a residency program for artists, and in 2024, it was beginning to look like that was going to come together with Danielle SeeWalker, a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota, receiving an invitation to participate in the program. SeeWalker was to create a mural, participate in a workshop and an artist talk, and exhibit a photo documentary project. Much of SeeWalker’s work contains themes that focus on the loss of language her people are experiencing, with many of her pieces showing a native Indigenous person with no mouth, or pixelation occurring over the mouth of her subject. In February, SeeWalker created one of those pieces for an exhibition in Denver, titling the piece “G is for Genocide.” It depicts a native woman with no mouth, wearing a keffiyeh. In a March post on Instagram that displayed the piece, SeeWalker wrote a caption saying “Some days, I have overwhelming grief + guilt for walking around privileged while people in Gaza are suffering.” On May 9, she received a call from a representative from the town of Vail, saying the town was canceling her artist-in-residency program due to the political nature of her work. The announcement sent shockwaves through the art community in Colorado, with one former muralist in Vail saying it was wrong for Vail to pull the residency out from under SeeWalker instead of having a conversation. Many agreed, but the town stuck by its decision , saying Art in Public Places did not want to “use public funds to support any position on a polarizing geopolitical issue.” SeeWalker later appeared at a Vail Symposium event in Vail , saying she was grateful that the Symposium had invited her to visit and “have a voice, which was something I wasn’t given the opportunity to do.” In October, the American Civil Liberties Union announced that it had filed a suit against the town of Vail on SeeWalker’s behalf. “G is for Genocide” had no relationship with the AIPP program or SeeWalker’s residency, the ACLU said, “Nonetheless, the town of Vail decided to cancel SeeWalker’s residency because of the views SeeWalker expressed in her post. Vail’s invidious viewpoint discrimination — which violates the First Amendment and Colorado Constitution — perpetuates a history of censorship of Indigenous people’s perspectives in Colorado and the United States.” — John LaConte The Eagle County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 9 closed out a summer of hearings by approving the massive West End project , a 275-unit apartment project in Edwards. Just west of the Gashouse Restaurant, the West End will be developed by East West Partners. It is being built without government subsidies and will have 275 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, with deed restrictions on 207 of the units. While supporters cited the need for workforce housing in the valley, many residents opposed the plan , expressing concerns about the size of the building and the impact it and its residents would have on the adjacent Eagle River Preserve open space. Critics also questioned the parking plan and the impacts of traffic on local roads, particularly on a proposed loop road intended to direct traffic to only right turns into and out of the complex, and through the roundabout at the intersection of U.S. Highway 6 and the Edwards Spur Road. Other residents, and the commissioners, also asked about the potential affordability of the units. Several businesses, including Vail Health, intend to master lease units at the West End. Other units will be price-capped, geared toward those making no more than 80% to 100% of the area median income. With the Sept. 9 approvals in hand, East West must now submit a “final plat application.” That application requires a public hearing. As of late November, East West had submitted that application but it had not yet been deemed “sufficient” by county planners. The application cannot move forward until any deficiencies have been addressed. — Scott Miller The reintroduction of gray wolves in Colorado has faced mixed reviews since 10 wolves were relocated from Oregon to the Western Slope in December 2023. The restoration, mandated by voters, aims to reinstate wolves to a region where they were eradicated over 80 years ago. While Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials report positive biological outcomes, such as the birth of five wolf pups in the first established pack from the reintroduced wolves, the first year of reintroduction was fraught with tension, particularly among ranchers who describe the experience as painful and stressful, aggravated by livestock conflicts and management challenges. There have been calls for a pause in future reintroductions until effective conflict mitigation measures are implemented. Environmental advocates argue the reintroduction supports wildlife biodiversity and ecosystem health, asserting that the program is on track despite reports of livestock conflicts and three wolf deaths. Yet, ranchers feel overwhelmed by the added stress and financial burdens, leading to heightened concerns about the safety of their herds. There are also worries over politics interfering with science-backed decision-making and a lack of support for ranchers from state officials. Earlier this month, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Eagle County Board of Commissioners hosted a listening session regarding wolf reintroduction efforts . They got an earful. District Wildlife Manager Matt Yamashita presented plans for introducing more wolves to the area, prompting a strong response from ranchers advocating for a pause in the program due to ongoing concerns over livestock safety and wildlife management. Rancher James Bair emphasized the need for improved management strategies for both livestock and wildlife, especially in cases of depredation — echoing requests made by agriculture and livestock groups seeking a pause in reintroduction. He also expressed worry that wolf reintroduction could potentially harm the growing moose population and negatively impact out-of-state hunters. Other ranchers voiced their anxiety about the presence of wolves near their cattle, arguing that Western Slope dynamics differ significantly from the successful wolf management seen in Yellowstone. Jill Schlegel, along with others, highlighted the loss of property rights and the necessity of allowing ranchers to protect their livestock with lethal force if necessary. Some ranchers dismissed preventive measures like range riders and drones as ineffective against the vast grazing areas they manage. Commissioner Kathy Chandler-Henry affirmed the ranchers’ vital role in the community and assured them that their concerns would be taken seriously. Yamashita acknowledged the composure of the ranchers during discussions, praising their commitment to responsible management in Eagle and Garfield counties. Looking forward, CPW plans to introduce up to 15 additional wolves this winter, alongside new initiatives to address challenges faced by the agricultural community. The agency has said it is committed to enhancing educational programs and improving communication with impacted stakeholders.” — Ali Longwell and Scott Miller For just about as long as the Eagle County Regional Airport has brought countless visitors to the valley, locals have asked, “What’s in it for me?” We saw an answer to that question this year, with the announced arrival of Alaska Airlines and Frontier Airlines. Frontier flights arrived first on Dec. 16 , with flights from Denver and Dallas. A flight from San Francisco followed a few days later. Frontier is flying into Eagle County with full-size Airbus A320 jets. Alaska Airlines followed suit on Dec. 20 , when a pair of 76-seat “regional” jets arrived from Seattle and San Diego. Alaska is coming to Eagle County with a “minimum revenue guarantee” common to airlines starting new routes. Those guarantees backstop airlines against losses if flights don’t have enough flights to be profitable. Frontier is coming to Eagle County without those guarantees and is instead putting various deals onto both its social media channels and its website, with fares to Denver as low as $19. Locals were taking advantage of the initial flights. One Eagle resident was getting aboard the first Frontier flight back to Denver to catch a connecting flight to Arizona, while an East Vail resident was ready to board the Alaska flight back to Seattle to visit family there. The Alaska flight will be through the winter. The Frontier flight may stretch past the winter, with some seasonal interruptions. — Scott Miller In September, the Eagle County School District was rocked by the dissemination of several messages that contained threats to students’ safety. While the initial messages came through social media, follow-up threats were called in directly to the Vail Public Safety Communications Center. Law enforcement agents from the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, the Eagle Police Department, the Avon Police Department and the Vail Police Department worked with state and federal agents to investigate the source of the threats and determine their credibility. The majority of the threats were identified as “swatting” incidents, in which illegal prank messages are sent to emergency services falsely reporting a serious crime or criminal threat to initiate an armed police turnout to a specific location. While the threats were under investigation, Eagle County School District Superintendent Phil Qualman opted to keep schools open. Students’ safety “is always our top priority,” Qualman said during the Sept. 11 school board meeting, which came in the middle of the week of threats. “In an effort to provide support and normalcy for our students, we made the decision to continue with classes and extracurriculars today with an increased police presence out of an abundance of caution.” Qualman cited the lack of credibility of the threats, and the need to keep students in school to prevent learning loss from online classes similar to that which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, and said that although many students and families did ask to switch to remote learning, many also thanked him for the approach he took. “This district is not going to shut down again because of some random, anonymous threats that come across social media, a forum that is too easy to make anonymous threats,” Qualman said during the school board meeting. In an interview with the Vail Daily the week following the majority of the threats, Qualman stood by his decision. “For the most part, we believe that our actions were appropriate,” he said. Still, students, teachers and families expressed concerns for their own and their children’s safety to the school board and on social media, and some families chose to keep their students home from school. “I have never been more scared to attend school (than) this past week ever, in my 16 years of school,” said Victor Lopez, a student at Battle Mountain High School, during the school board meeting. “I was thinking ‘I would rather skip class and be alive than be in a hallway where there’s an active shooter.'” The majority of threats were tracked down by law enforcement. While some came from outside of the United States, in Eagle, a juvenile was identified and arrested within days in connection to threats made to Eagle Valley Middle School students. — Zoe Goldstein After years of fighting over a piece of land in town, the town of Vail and Vail Resorts agreed to settle the dispute for the greater benefit of the community. The controversy surrounded a parcel of land in East Vail which is home to a native herd of bighorn sheep. The parcel was long thought to be state, but in 2016 the Eagle County assessor determined that the true owner of the land was Vail Resorts. Vail Resorts paid back taxes for the property and in 2017 received new zoning for housing and conservation, followed by Town Council approval in 2019 for the construction of 61 units, including 49 deed-restricted apartments However, a referendum vote that reshaped the Town Council eventually led the town to pursue acquiring the land through eminent domain. That resulted in a legal battle which was finally settled in 2024, with Vail Resorts agreeing to drop all appeals regarding the eminent domain acquisition, and the town agreeing to prioritize the redevelopment of the West Lionshead area. The town agreed to partner with Vail Resorts to support the development of a base village on the site, which is anticipated to feature access to Vail Mountain along with new lodging, restaurants, boutiques, and skier services as well as community benefits such as workforce housing, public spaces, transit and parking. Vail Mayor Travis Coggin, who grew up in Vail, said the plan represents a shared goal for all parties involved. “We are in an era of renewed collaboration between the town and Vail Resorts,” Coggin said. “The entire Vail Town Council and I are excited to partner with Vail Resorts and East West Partners in a process to enable this exciting new base village for Vail Mountain, which will bring significant benefits to our guests and community.” Beth Howard, vice president and chief operating officer of Vail Mountain, said the development of the West Lionshead base village will benefit the community as well as the resort’s employees and guests. “We look forward to this next chapter of building the future together,” Howard said. “And we appreciate that East West Partners is a part of the partnership, given they are known for creating meaningful places that bring people together, with creativity and expertise.” After almost 19 years, the mystery of Michelle Vanek’s disappearance may have been solved by an all-female search team. Vanek, a 35-year-old mother of four, went missing on Sept. 24, 2005 while on a hike to Mount of the Holy Cross — Eagle County’s tallest peak and only 14’er. An intense, eight-day search in 2005 failed to turn up any signs of the missing woman before it was called off due to inclement weather. In October 2022 a local man and his son were hiking off trail in a boulder field when they found a boot that was later identified as belonging to Vanek. That discovery prompted another search, but no other clues were found. In the fall of 2023, Vanek came in a dream to Vail Mountain Rescue Group Board President Scott Beebe, who told him she didn’t want to be found by men. Beebe turned over the case to the group’s growing number of female members. Those women took a deep dive into maps and files from previous years of searching, and set Aug. 20 as the date of its first organized search. On Sept. 13, team member Erika German and Zack Smith went into an area where they believed Vanek may have been, and found what are believed to have been Vanek’s belongings. While Eagle County Coroner Cara Bettis has not yet confirmed that the remains found at the site are those of Vanek, her family has been notified, and the belongings match those Vanek took into the backcountry with her.

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Liberal government survives third Conservative non-confidence voteThe suspect in the high-profile killing of a health insurance CEO that has gripped the United States graduated from an Ivy League university, reportedly hails from a wealthy family, and wrote social media posts brimming with cerebral musings. Luigi Mangione, 26, was thrust into the spotlight Monday after police revealed his identity as their person of interest, crediting his arrest to a tip from a McDonald's worker. He has been connected by police to the fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week in broad daylight, in a case that has laid bare deep frustrations and anger with the nation's privatized medical system. News of his capture triggered an explosion of online activity, with Mangione quickly amassing new followers on social media as citizen sleuths and US media try to understand who he is. While some lauded him as a hero and lamented his arrest, others analyzed his intellectual takes in search of ideological clues. A photo on one of his social media accounts includes an X-ray of an apparently injured spine, though no explicit political affiliation has emerged. Meanwhile, memes and jokes proliferated, many riffing on his first name and comparing him to the "Mario Bros." character Luigi, sometimes depicted in AI-altered images wielding a gun or holding a Big Mac. "Godspeed. Please know that we all hear you," wrote one user on Facebook. "I want to donate to your defense fund," added another. According to Mangione's LinkedIn profile, he is employed as a data engineer at TrueCar, a California-based online auto marketplace. A company spokesperson told AFP Mangione "has not been an employee of our company since 2023." Although he had been living in Hawaii ahead of the killing, he originally hails from Towson, Maryland, near Baltimore. He comes from a prominent and wealthy Italian-American family, according to the Baltimore Banner. The family owns local businesses, including the Hayfields Country Club, per the club's website. A standout student, Mangione graduated at the top of his high school class in 2016. In an interview with his local paper at the time, he praised his teachers for fostering a passion for learning beyond grades and encouraging intellectual curiosity. He went on to attend the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, where he completed both a bachelor's and master's degree in computer science by 2020, according to a university spokesperson. While at Penn, Mangione co-led a group of 60 undergraduates who collaborated on video game projects, as noted in a now-deleted university webpage, archived on the Wayback Machine. On Instagram, where his following has skyrocketed from hundreds to tens of thousands, Mangione shared snapshots of his travels in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. He also posted shirtless photos flaunting a six-pack and appeared in celebratory posts with fellow members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. However, it is on X (formerly Twitter) that users have scoured Mangione's posts for potential motives. His header photo -- an X-ray of a spine with bolts -- remains cryptic, with no public explanation. Finding a coherent political ideology has also proved elusive. Mangione has linked approvingly to posts criticizing secularism as a harmful consequence of Christianity's decline. In April, he wrote, "Horror vacui (nature abhors a vacuum)." The following month, he posted an essay he wrote in high school titled "How Christianity Prospered by Appealing to the Lower Classes of Ancient Rome." In another post from April, he speculated that Japan's low birthrate stems from societal disconnection, adding that "fleshlights" and other vaginal-replica sex toys should be banned. ia/nro

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