How a town got together to cut crime by a third BBC Baildon's neighbourhood watch scheme is recognised as one of Yorkshire's largest It's been more than 40 years since Neighbourhood Watch was first launched in the UK, turning residents' eyes and ears into a valuable crimefighting resource. In Baildon, West Yorkshire, around a quarter of the population are registered members of their local scheme, helping to keep a watchful eye over the town. Since a boom in membership six years ago, the scheme has been credited with helping slash crime in the community by more than a third. As a result it has now been recognised by Neighbourhood Watch as one of Yorkshire's most effective schemes. "When I came to Baildon 38 years ago, we had one sergeant and seven dedicated police constables," 74-year-old David Reed, one of the co-ordinators says, noting how police numbers have been significantly reduced in the decades since. "So how do we manage to keep the crime down (now)? It's got to be down to something more than what the police are able to do." The neighbourhood watch scheme in Baildon was started by local woman Maggie Town around 20 years ago. Co-ordinator David Reed and founder Maggie Town help pass information between the community and the police For a long time, it was a slow burner, with just over two dozen volunteers in the affluent town, which lies three miles to the north of Bradford and has a population of around 16,000. Then, in March 2018, with the help of social media and an "inspiring" new police sergeant, in Maggie's words "it really took off". "I'd always run Neighbourhood Watch on my street, but I decided we need to grow this so every street has their own co-ordinator and looks after their own neighbours," Maggie, who is also a town councillor in Baildon, says. "It was just the vision that I had and I wanted to try to create that." Crime in... David SpereallThe network of satellites and incredibly sophisticated mobile technologies that power GPS navigation has become a ubiquitous part of modern life. Unlike many other modern innovations, GPS systems are reletively new, coming into being in the latter half of the 20th century and becoming commercially available just over two decades ago. Many readers today will distinctly (and perhaps fondly?) remember "MapQuesting" directions to a new destination and printing out the results to help them navigate, lacking a portable GPS solution of their own. The terminology and dependence stayed with us for much longer than you might remember, too: In a 2010 episode of "The Office," Jim MapQuests directions to a daycare center that's two minutes down the road, just to be sure. Surprisingly, MapQuest remains an active website for those seeking directions, even as other tools have risen to dominate consumer GPS and wayfinding. The origins of GPS technology began during the Cold War, with a fundamental discovery. Within a few decades of its conceptualization, the tool became a safety apparatus for commercial airliners, a battlefield supremacy item, and a fixture in civilian life. Today, GPS connectivity is a key functionality in all kinds of devices and industries, from smartwatches to agricultural planning. A few key milestones have shaped this technology and driven its rapid improvement. Here are some of the modern navigation tool's most important moments. Interestingly, the premise that spawned live GPS navigational tools is quite old, but the infancy of this discovery likely prevented people of the time from envisioning its future applications. GPS functionality relies on devices positioned in a constellation around the Earth — importantly, beyond its atmosphere. These satellites are so far from the Earth's surface that they can coordinate to identify an object's position below. However, to determine where something is positioned, you first need to know where you are. Thinking in reverse for a moment: This is a similar problem that ancient seafarers faced, solving their lack of situational awareness by using a set of fixed stars in the night sky. When the Doppler effect was discovered in 1842, astronomers hadn't yet discovered all the planets in our solar system, and they certainly weren't actively thinking of ways to launch objects into the universe. In simple terms, the Doppler effect is the phenomenon that distorts the siren of an ambulance as it drives past you. Sound waves are compressed as the vehicle speeds toward you and spread out as it moves away. The same behavior is perceived in light traveling through space. In 1957, when the Sputnik satellite was launched, scientists discovered that the radio waves it emitted exhibited a similar Doppler effect. As Sputnik came closer to a receiver on the ground, its waves' frequency increased. Researchers at Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics Laboratory observed this Doppler effect behavior in the orbiting satellite and successfully began tracking its movement. The research team quickly came to the realization that if a moving object in the sky could be tracked, then it could be utilized in the same navigational role for ground wayfinding in the same way that fixed stars once served our ancestors. Instead of calculating angles, however, an orbiting satellite would provide triangulated distances from receiver to aerial network, so long as more satellites could be successfully launched and positioned up there in the great beyond. In 1958, shortly after the Sputnik launch and this breakthrough discovery of satellite functionality, ARPA began laying out plans in coordination with the Johns Hopkins University team to build "Transit." This would serve as the first navigational aid conceived by humanity that would place artificial satellites in orbit to provide consistent wayfinding tools for accurate navigation. No longer would humans need to rely on the stars or the whims of nature to understand where they were standing. By 1960, the first Transit satellite was launched, and eight years later, a full constellation of 36 satellites was orbiting the Earth to provide constant coverage for operators on the ground. The first users were American Naval forces, specifically missile submarines, who benefitted greatly from this development. Combined with precise charts on ocean floor geometry, a definitive understanding of where the boat was positioned could radically change the navigational clarity and confidence of a submarine full of sailors. It offered 10-meter accuracy and remained in use until 1996. Retaining its thematic ties to ancient seafaring navigation, the expansion of GPS as a concept was contemplated by The Aerospace Corporation's founding president, Dr. Ivan Getting, as "lighthouses in the sky." The capability was thought of as a way to consistently know a user's location on the Earth's surface, assuring them of their position in relation to known hazards, lines of movement, and more. Just as a lighthouse illuminates a rocky shoreline, GPS satellites would help navigators on land, in the air, and at sea understand their position relative to their surroundings. To achieve this breakthrough, however, satellite technology needed further advancements. The earliest satellites relied on sophisticated clocks in ground-based receiving tools. Users required incredible accuracy to pinpoint themselves against the locations of satellites above. In 1963, a new conceptual understanding began to take place through programs called 621-B and Timation. By the end of the decade, researchers had elaborated upon a triangulation method using four satellites to measure Earthbound positions at greater degrees of accuracy. Similarly, the highly accurate clock systems that once sat in receivers were reintroduced as a component in the satellites themselves, with two satellites featuring crystal oscillator clocks in orbit by 1970 and one with an atomic clock successfully reaching orbit in 1974. This allowed the orbiting devices to act as known beacons up above, shrinking the handheld tools that users required and massively reducing the cost to create navigational devices. GPS took a huge step forward in the 1970s, transitioning from a loose network of satellites and receiving tools on the ground to a fully formed and operational GPS system. This marked the beginning of the shift toward the modern system we see and rely on today. Navstar I was the first GPS satellite launched, placed in orbit in 1978 by research teams from the U.S. Air Force. Around this time, the project also began to take on the moniker of "GPS." Testing began at this time as well, with three more Navstar satellites launched before the year's end. Over 700 individual testing sequences were performed on this initial constellation of positioning tools to assess their accuracy and capabilities. By the early 1980s, additional satellites in the grouping designated Block I were launched, further rounding out the system. Amid the expanding network of Navstar satellites, a tragedy occurred that reshaped the importance and application of this system. Initially used exclusively within military circles, President Ronald Reagan declassified the system in 1983, allowing commercial airlines to get in on the action. The reason for this change was a Soviet shootdown. The Cold War was a time of great paranoia and a race to the bottom when it came to defensive posture and weaponry. Dozens of aircraft in the north Pacific and throughout border regions in Europe were shot down or experienced near misses as the two sides increasingly felt their security threatened. However, most of these events involved military aircraft. The Korean Air Disaster was different. On September 1, 1983, a Korean Air flight seemingly came too close to the Soviet border as it made its way from Alaska to Seoul and was shot down by a Soviet missile. After the incident, the international community was united in condemning the Soviet Union. As a direct result, the GPS system that American military researchers had been expanding was made public and approved for use within commercial jets. The hope was to create a safer flying environment in which pilots knew exactly where they were in relation to border zones that might bring tremendous danger to their crew and passengers. Since its shift into the public sphere, GPS has gained significant momentum as a tool in improving everyday lives. The Navstar/GPS system wasn't done serving as a high-tech tool of war, however. Less than a decade after it was rolled out to the public, the Magellan Nav 1000 hit the shelves in 1989. Retailing for $3,000, this was the first GPS device that was truly portable. Perhaps the most notable development during this period, however, was the system's use during the Gulf War. This marked one of the first major wartime uses of GPS, as the "global war on terror" later fell under "dates of recent conflicts" rather than formal wartime declarations by the federal government. The GPS system was almost fully functional in 1991 when American military forces began their march into Iraq. It played a pivotal role in helping ground troops navigate the interminable desert landscape between Saudi Arabia and the sprawling river valley running through Iraq's center. In many instances, they navigated dune fields stretching for seemingly countless miles in every direction with no discernible paths or roadways to guide their movements. While American operators may have relied on early navigational technology running on satellite communications in other conflict zones, it was during the Gulf War that American forces first used GPS systems in wartime. After the war, but before Americans had fully left the conflict's lingering stew, the final satellite required to complete the Navstar constellation was placed in orbit. In 1994, the 24th satellite was successfully added to the group, completing the requisite grouping that allowed for constant coverage by four satellites on the Earth's surface. This meant that users below could effectively use a GPS device anywhere to determine their precise location. When paired with mapped information about the surrounding area, it gave users a detailed atlas of their location and how they might navigate to a target destination. A year later, three more satellites were introduced to the Navstar constellation to provide redundancy in case of repair needs or failures in the existing devices. While civilian users were finding new accuracy and utility in the tool, they faced a different kind of roadblock. In 1990, the American government had become worried that adversarial entities might exploit this highly accurate navigational tool to the detriment of U.S. interests and security. As such, non-military uses of the product were intentionally hamstrung by a practice known as "selective availability." This introduced deliberate errors into the system to reduce its effectiveness as a tool for conflict in the hands of non-military users. This intentional monkey wrench was similar to the obfuscation seen in satellite imagery over China – another measure designed to protect national defense capabilities. In 1999, the Benefon Esc! was released, marking the debut of a GPS-enabled cell phone and opening the door to readily available, handheld GPS systems. Before this, GPS receivers were standalone tools, much like how early mobile phone users might also carry a Walkman or later an iPod — examples of technology made obsolete by the smartphone . Over time, cell phone technology absorbed these specialized devices into its infrastructure. The Benefon Esc! was the first step toward the integrated smartphone capabilities we now take for granted today (and it certainly won't be the last, given the enormity of promising new cell phone technology on the horizon ). Around the same time, vehicle-based GPS units became increasingly common. These dedicated devices that you could mount in your car were among some of the most high-tech gadgets you could gift a friend or family member at the time. They, too, were eventually overtaken by integrated navigation systems, which became standard features in many cars' onboard consoles. Ten years after it was introduced, the use of "selective availability" ended. This made civilian applications of GPS systems significantly more accurate and far more empowering. Estimates suggest that this decision instantly improved accuracy for non-military uses by ten times. GPS receivers and processing chips also plummeted in cost, from around $3,000 in their earliest iterations to about $1.50, making the tools abundantly available for all manner of civil uses. In 2000, three new GPS signals were approved for civil applications, making the service widely available for all kinds of routine tasks. Improvements in shipping, location-based services, and many other commercial uses followed these developments. The new millennium brought with it plenty of incredible breakthroughs in GPS capabilities, supporting niche uses such as GPS devices for your camping adventure or delivering AR features in Google Maps , thanks to the removal of earlier restrictions. In 2004, Qualcomm rolled out a combined GPS system called live assisted GPS. This paired a cellular device's GPS signal with its cell tower connectivity to improve accuracy even more. GPS II blocks included five different configurations by 2005, with new signal tools incorporated into every satellite launched since approvals for new systems were finalized in 2000. In 2008, the first contracts to build out a GPS III system infrastructure were awarded, and in 2018, SpaceX successfully placed a GPS III satellite into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. More enhanced satellites were launched in the years following that initial success (some delayed, creating a hectic launch schedule with back-to-back departures ), with the final spate of GPS III's first generation taking to the skies to close out 2024. Moving forward, additional launches are slated for liftoff via ULA and SpaceX rockets every few months to remain ahead of systematic decommissionings. The current thinking is that the atomic clocks powering the GPS revolution retain their accuracy for around 25 years, requiring replacement after this point to continue offering the most accurate navigational results to users on the ground. Continued improvements are in the works, too, leading to increased functionality, granular accuracy that continues to improve, and enhanced security and user accessibility.Olivia Hussey, star of the 1968 film 'Romeo and Juliet,' dies at 73
Unconvincing Canada tops Germany 3-0 at world juniors
Pakistan, Turkiye agree to explore new avenues in agriculture, technologyNoneBengaluru: The year 2025 will be Congress' year of organisational empowerment, AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge said on Thursday, calling for efforts to increase the party's organisational strength in response to the demand from people who have lost hope in the current NDA regime. ET Year-end Special Reads Corporate Kalesh: Top family disputes of India Inc in 2024 The world of business lost these eminent people in 2024 Fast, faster, fastest: How 2024 put more speed into your shopping Addressing the extended Congress working Committee (CWC) meeting in Belagavi, Kharge reminded the party's top leaders of the discussions they had at the previous meeting on November 29-that they had decided to actively fight the atmosphere of disappointment Haryana and Maharashtra election results created. The CWC held its meeting in Belagavi to commemorate the centenary of the Congress session Mahatma Gandhi had chaired in the north Karnataka city. Kharge pledged to fill all vacant posts in the organisation and implement the Udaipur declaration to make the party combat-ready to win elections at all levels. He urged partymen to identify young people who were ideologically committed and ready to protect the Constitution, and bring them into the mainstream. 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A time-bound and solid strategy and direction are necessary. There is a need to bring forth local and new leadership, he said. "We have the power of ideas, the legacy of Gandhi-Nehru and the heritage of great leaders. We will return from Belgaum with a new message and new resolve," he said. Communal hatred Kharge referred to Gandhi's message and emphasis on communal harmony and alleged that now, after 100 years, the ruling party and its leaders are openly giving provocative slogans and their top leaders are spoiling the harmony in society, spreading hatred between communities. "They are working to make people fight," he said. Congress would continue to fight for the ideology of Nehru-Gandhi and for Baba Saheb, Kharge said, while accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not being ready to accept the mistake home minister Amit Shah committed with his comments on B R Ambedkar. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in PDF Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDFS)
Unlike scores of people who scrambled for the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight in recent years, Danielle Griffin had no trouble getting them. The 38-year-old information technology worker from New Mexico had a prescription. Her pharmacy had the drugs in stock. And her health insurance covered all but $25 to $50 of the monthly cost. For Griffin, the hardest part of using the new drugs wasn’t access. It was finding out that the much-hyped medications didn’t really work for her. “I have been on Wegovy for a year and a half and have only lost 13 pounds,” said Griffin, who watches her diet, drinks plenty of water and exercises regularly. “I’ve done everything right with no success. It’s discouraging.” In clinical trials, most participants taking Wegovy or Mounjaro to treat obesity lost an average of 15% to 22% of their body weight — up to 50 pounds or more in many cases. But roughly 10% to 15% of patients in those trials were “nonresponders” who lost less than 5% of their body weight. Now that millions of people have used the drugs, several obesity experts told The Associated Press that perhaps 20% of patients — as many as 1 in 5 — may not respond well to the medications. It's a little-known consequence of the obesity drug boom, according to doctors who caution eager patients not to expect one-size-fits-all results. “It's all about explaining that different people have different responses,” said Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity expert at Massachusetts General Hospital The drugs are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists because they mimic a hormone in the body known as glucagon-like peptide 1. Genetics, hormones and variability in how the brain regulates energy can all influence weight — and a person's response to the drugs, Stanford said. Medical conditions such as sleep apnea can prevent weight loss, as can certain common medications, such as antidepressants, steroids and contraceptives. “This is a disease that stems from the brain,” said Stanford. “The dysfunction may not be the same” from patient to patient. Despite such cautions, patients are often upset when they start getting the weekly injections but the numbers on the scale barely budge. “It can be devastating,” said Dr. Katherine Saunders, an obesity expert at Weill Cornell Medicine and co-founder of the obesity treatment company FlyteHealth. “With such high expectations, there’s so much room for disappointment.” That was the case for Griffin, who has battled obesity since childhood and hoped to shed 70 pounds using Wegovy. The drug helped reduce her appetite and lowered her risk of diabetes, but she saw little change in weight. “It’s an emotional roller coaster,” she said. “You want it to work like it does for everybody else.” The medications are typically prescribed along with eating behavior and lifestyle changes. It’s usually clear within weeks whether someone will respond to the drugs, said Dr. Jody Dushay, an endocrine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Weight loss typically begins right away and continues as the dosage increases. For some patients, that just doesn't happen. For others, side effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea force them to halt the medications, Dushay said. In such situations, patients who were counting on the new drugs to pare pounds may think they’re out of options. “I tell them: It's not game over,” Dushay said. Trying a different version of the new class of drugs may help. Griffin, who didn't respond well to Wegovy, has started using Zepbound, which targets an additional hormone pathway in the body. After three months of using the drug, she has lost 7 pounds. “I'm hoping it's slow and steady,” she said. Other people respond well to older drugs, the experts said. Changing diet, exercise, sleep and stress habits can also have profound effects. Figuring out what works typically requires a doctor trained to treat obesity, Saunders noted. “Obesity is such a complex disease that really needs to be treated very comprehensively,” she said. “If what we’re prescribing doesn’t work, we always have a backup plan.” The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Smokers who quit for a week could save a day of their life, experts sayAitken Spence Travels wins three top accolades at Sri Lanka Tourism Awards
Bauchi gov to FG: Your tax reform will bring economic setbacksLiverpool powered seven points clear at the top of the Premier League as the title favourites survived a scare in their 3-1 win against Leicester, while Bruno Fernandes was sent off in Manchester United's dismal 2-0 defeat at lowly Wolves. Erling Haaland missed a penalty as crisis-torn Manchester City failed to end their dismal run with a 1-1 draw against Everton, but it was United's travails and Liverpool's remarkable run that took centre-stage on Thursday. Arne Slot's side were shocked by Jordan Ayew's early strike at Anfield, but the leaders recovered their composure to equalise just before the interval through Cody Gakpo. England midfielder Jones marked his 100th top-flight appearance with the second goal soon after half-time. Mohamed Salah's 19th goal this term wrapped up Liverpool's 11th win in their last 13 games in all competitions. "We created enough, but because we went 1-0 down it was a game," Liverpool manager Slot said. "Then you saw how good we are and Leicester didn't want to come back into the game." Liverpool's comeback lifted them well clear of second-placed Chelsea, who were defeated 2-1 by Fulham earlier in the day. United suffered a third successive loss in all competitions to leave new boss Ruben Amorim with five defeats in his first 10 games. Fernandes was dismissed two minutes into the second half at Molineux for a second bookable offence. United's 10 men cracked in the 58th minute when Matheus Cunha's corner went straight in as goalkeeper Andre Onana flapped under pressure. Hwang Hee-chan compounded Amorim's misery when he tapped in with just seconds left. Losing to fourth-bottom Wolves was another bitter blow for United, who endured a humiliating 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth at Old Trafford last weekend after losing 4-3 in the League Cup at Tottenham. With his team marooned in 14th place -- just eight points above the relegation zone -- Amorim's woes might not be over, with United facing in-form Newcastle on Monday before travelling to Liverpool in their first game of 2025. "It's so tough to win games in this league with 11 men. With 10 men, it's more difficult," Amorim said. Champions Manchester City have just one victory in their last 13 games in all competitions as their Christmas schedule started in disappointing fashion. Bernardo Silva put City in front early on before Iliman Ndiaye salvaged a point for Everton. Seven minutes into the second half, Haaland had the chance to end his longest goal drought at the Etihad but Jordan Pickford denied him. City are languishing in seventh place and sit five points adrift of the top four, with their astonishing decline showing no sign of ending. "Of course we need results and we didn't get it. The team played really good again in all departments and unfortunately could not win," said City boss Pep Guardiola. At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea were stunned by Fulham's late fightback in a dramatic west London derby. It was Chelsea's first home defeat against Fulham since 1979. Cole Palmer put Chelsea ahead after 16 minutes, the England forward drilling home from the edge of the area after weaving through the Fulham defence in dazzling style. But Fulham levelled with eight minutes left when Harry Wilson nodded in from close range. There was worse to come for the Blues when Rodrigo Muniz completed the turnaround in the 95th minute. Nottingham Forest climbed to third place after a 1-0 win against sputtering Tottenham at the City Ground. Forest's fourth successive win was sweet revenge for boss Nuno Espirito Santo, whose former club Tottenham had Djed Spence sent off in the closing moments for a second booking. Tottenham are stuck in 11th as the pressure mounts on boss Ange Postecoglou. Newcastle swatted aside 10-man Aston Villa 3-0, moving up to fifth place after winning three consecutive league games for the first time since 2023. Jarrod Bowen's 59th-minute goal gave West Ham a 1-0 win at bottom of the table Southampton after the visitors saw Guido Rodriguez's red card overturned by VAR. It was a frustrating start for new Saints boss Ivan Juric, who has replaced the sacked Russell Martin. Bournemouth and Crystal Palace shared a goalless draw at the Vitality Stadium. smg/nfTimeline: Jimmy Carter, 1924-2024
SIOUX FALLS — The Summit League announced its 2024 Volleyball All-Summit League teams Saturday morning, and five Coyotes were represented on the teams in Kamryn Farris, Kylen Sealock, Avery Van Hook, Lauren Medeck and Morgan Bode Farris was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year and is joined on the All-League team by Kylen Sealock, who earned her second straight All-League honor. After earning a spot on the all-freshman team a year ago, Avery Van Hook was an All-League Honorable Mention this year after pacing the conference in assists and assists per set. Lauren Medeck and Morgan Bode were named to the Summit League’s All-Freshman team. During Summit League play, Farris led all players in digs with 347 and digs per set at 5.26. Farris tallied double-digit digs in all 16 conference matches and 20 or more in six matches. Farris set a career-high and new South Dakota four-set match program record with 38 digs against St. Thomas on November 14. Farris put together a four-match stretch at the end of October where she notched 20 or more digs in all four contests, a 23.0 digs per match average, and helped the Yotes to a 3-1 record over that stretch of play. Farris also tallied 23 aces during the conference season and 89 assists. Sealock had the third most kills among Summit League hitters with 241 and held the third highest kills per set average at 3.77. Sealock put away double-digit kills in 13 of 16 conference matches and has hit the 10-kill mark in each of the last 12 matches. Sealock matched her career-high of 21 kills on a .367 swing rate in a five-set win over North Dakota on October 10. She had four matches with a hitting percentage greater than .275 and twice she swung at a .300 or higher clip. Sealock totaled 22 blocks, four solo, 37 digs and a .203 attack rate. Van Hook paced the Summit League in assists and assists per set throughout the season, ending the conference regular season with 689 assists and a 10.44 assist per set average. Van Hook matched a season-high of 54 assists in the Yotes match at St. Thomas on November 14, the second time she dished out 54 helpers in a match this season (vs. Montana St. 9/13). Van Hook also ranks ninth in the conference in total digs with 196 and in digs per set at 2.97. She recorded a double-double in 12 of 16 conference matches with assists and digs. Van Hook notched 66 kills herself and held an attacking percentage of .247. In her freshman season, Medeck ranked No. 12 in the conference with 182 kills and 12 in kills per set at 2.76. Medeck put away double-digit kills in eight of 16 conference matches, including a career-high tying 20 at South Dakota State on October 22. Medeck helped the Yotes to a 3-0 sweep over Oral Roberts on November 11 as she put away 10 kills, with no errors, for a .526 hitting percentage. She recorded seven double-doubles during the conference slate, all with kills and digs, and dug up a career-high 27 attacks to go with 16 kills against St. Thomas on November 14. Medeck was second on USD with 192 digs, 3.10 per set, and had 30 blocks (2.0 solo) during the conference season. Bode was a force in the middle all season long for the Coyotes, leading the team with 78.0 blocks (14 solo) during Summit League action. Bode’s 78 total blocks led conference players, while her 14 solo rejections rank No. 3 and her 1.18 blocks per set is third. Bode had 114 terminations on a .239 hitting percentage and also tallied 15 aces. Bode had three matches with double-digit kills, including a career-best 15 against North Dakota State on October 19 while holding a .444 swing rate. Bode also tallied seven blocks (two solo) in the win over the Bison. Bode tallied multiple blocks in 14 straight matches to end the season. South Dakota is the No. 3 seed in the Summit League Tournament and will face host team and No. 6 seed Kansas City Sunday night at 6 p.m. in Kansas City, Missouri. 2024 Individual Awards (as selected by The Summit League head coaches) Player of the Year Sylvie Zgonc, South Dakota State Setter of the Year Morgan Kealy, St. Thomas Defensive Player of the Year Kamryn Farris, South Dakota Freshman of the Year Madison Burr, South Dakota State Coach of the Year Dan Georgalas, South Dakota State All-League Team Cassie Davis, Denver, OH Kaia Dunford, Kansas City, OH Ali Hinze, North Dakota State, OH McKenna Ruch, Omaha, MB Kali Jurgensmeier, Omaha, OH Kylen Sealock, South Dakota, OH Kamryn Farris, South Dakota, DS Sylvie Zgonc, South Dakota State, OH Sydni Schetnan, South Dakota State, RS/MB Megan Wetter, St. Thomas, MB Lauren Galvin, St. Thomas, OH Morgan Kealy, St. Thomas, S Honorable Mention Molly Mirabelli, Denver, MB Shayla McCormick, Omaha, OH Avery Van Hook, South Dakota, S Madison Burr, South Dakota State, RS/MB Ella Voegele, St. Thomas, DS/L Tezra Rudzitis, St. Thomas, OH/RS All-Freshman Team Jamia Johnson, Denver, OH Vanessa Imoh, North Dakota, OH/RS Anzley Rinard, Oral Roberts, OH Lauren Medeck, South Dakota, OH Morgan Bode, South Dakota, MB Madison Burr, South Dakota State, MB/RS Addie Schmotzer, St. Thomas, MB
Fortinet, Inc. ( NASDAQ:FTNT – Free Report ) – Research analysts at Wedbush dropped their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Fortinet in a report issued on Monday, November 18th. Wedbush analyst D. Ives now forecasts that the software maker will earn $0.48 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.49. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Fortinet’s current full-year earnings is $1.89 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Fortinet’s Q3 2025 earnings at $0.56 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.63 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.10 EPS. A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on FTNT. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Fortinet from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. DZ Bank upgraded Fortinet from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Fortinet from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Fortinet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.93. Fortinet Price Performance Shares of FTNT opened at $92.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.10 billion, a PE ratio of 46.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $82.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.30. Fortinet has a 1-year low of $50.65 and a 1-year high of $100.59. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortinet Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortinet by 73.3% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 409 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new position in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Fortinet by 61.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 627 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock. Insider Activity at Fortinet In other news, CFO Keith Jensen sold 4,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.83, for a total transaction of $386,027.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $425,901.87. The trade was a 47.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website . Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,307 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.89, for a total value of $1,908,610.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,915,530 shares in the company, valued at $4,005,692,751.70. This represents a 0.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last three months, insiders have sold 51,095 shares of company stock worth $4,058,575. 18.00% of the stock is owned by insiders. Fortinet Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) Fortinet, Inc provides cybersecurity and convergence of networking and security solutions worldwide. It offers secure networking solutions focus on the convergence of networking and security; network firewall solutions that consist of FortiGate data centers, hyperscale, and distributed firewalls, as well as encrypted applications; wireless LAN solutions; and secure connectivity solutions, including FortiSwitch secure ethernet switches, FortiAP wireless local area network access points, FortiExtender 5G connectivity gateways, and other products. 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