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Oklahoma City voters consider 1% sales tax to build a $1 billion arena for NBA’s Thunder

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:22:29 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — When a group of Oklahoma City investors moved the NBA’s SuperSonics from Seattle in 2008 and renamed the franchise the Thunder, civic pride swelled at the arrival of the state’s first major league sports franchise.Since then, the Oklahoma City Thunder have played their home games in what is now a modest arena by NBA standards. But the team owners want a new arena, and under a deal they cut with city leaders, they want taxpayers to foot most of the $900 million price tag.Oklahoma City voters are set to decide Tuesday whether to approve a six-year, 1% sales tax to help fund construction or risk the same fate as Seattle: losing the team to another market. But some residents and experts who have studied public-private partnerships say the deal is much better for the wealthy team owners than the average resident.Under the plan before voters, the new arena would cost at least $900 million, with Thunder owners chipping in 5%, or $50 million. The team also would agree t...

The inauguration of Javier Milei has Argentina wondering what kind of president it will get

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:22:29 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — As economist Javier Milei assumes Argentina’s presidency on Sunday, the nation wonders which version of him will govern: the chainsaw-wielding, anti-establishment crusader from the campaign trail, or the more moderate president-elect who emerged in recent weeks.Milei, 53, rose to fame on television with profanity-laden tirades against what he called the political caste. He parlayed his popularity into a congressional seat and then, just as swiftly, into a presidential run. The overwhelming victory of the self-declared “anarcho-capitalist” in the August primaries sent shock waves through the political landscape and upended the race. Argentines disillusioned with the economic status quo — triple-digit inflation, four in 10 people in poverty, a plunging currency — proved receptive to an outsider’s outlandish ideas to remedy their woes and transform the nation. He won the election’s Nov. 19 second round decisively — and sent packing the P...

China is hardening against dissent, rights groups say as they mark International Human Rights Day

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:22:29 GMT

LONDON (AP) — When her husband fled China in 2019 to escape a police crackdown on dissidents, Lu Lina thought she and their young son could soon join him in safety abroad. She did not know that she would be forced to move house, that her 8-year-old son would be effectively kicked out of school and that border police would block her from leaving the country over the next three years. In the end, the couple had to resort to filing for divorce in China to get around the exit ban. “After my husband left, police gave our lives so much trouble,” Lu said from Los Angeles, where the family eventually reunited and settled late last year. “Every time the border guards would stop me, take away my phone, my wallet and all my things. They gave no explanation.”Lu’s husband, Liu Sifang, a musician and former teacher, was among a number of Chinese activists and rights lawyers who were either arrested, forced into hiding or self-exiled after attending an informal get-together in 2019 to discuss huma...

Military-themed brewery wants to open in a big Navy town. An ex-SEAL is getting in the way

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:22:29 GMT

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A former U.S. Navy SEAL who says he shot Osama bin Laden is at the center of a much different fight in Virginia, where plans for a military-themed brewery are drawing opposition over his alleged racist and homophobic remarks.Robert J. O’Neill has a small ownership stake in Armed Forces Brewing Company and has served as its brand ambassador. His recent social media complaint about a Navy sailor who performs as a drag queen and a police report alleging he used a racial slur are fueling efforts to stop the brewery from opening in military-friendly Norfolk. The company, which markets itself with politically conservative ads, has dismissed claims of bigotry and toned down O’Neill’s public-facing role. But last month, Norfolk’s planning commission recommended the City Council deny permits for the planned taproom and distribution center, which would be only a few miles (kilometers) from the nation’s largest Navy base. The nonbinding 4-to-2 vote came af...

Cows in Rotterdam harbor, seedlings on rafts in India; are floating farms the future?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:22:29 GMT

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — On the top deck of a three-tiered structure moored near downtown Rotterdam, brown and white cows graze on hay dropped from a conveyor belt above their heads and rinds of oranges salvaged from supermarket juice machines in the port city. Canopies overhead protect the cows from sun and collect rainwater they will eventually drink.Sometimes the Maas-Rijn-Ijssel cows — named for three Dutch rivers — walk over to a machine that automatically milks them, or they shuffle out of the way of a robot trundling past to mop up manure that will be turned into organic fertilizer.“We call our cows upcycle ladies,” says Minke van Wingerden of the Floating Farm, which sells the milk, cheese and buttermilk produced by the cows in a small shop on dry land next to its harbor berth.The Floating Farm, which has been operational since 2019 and bills itself as the world’s first such farm, isn’t on entirely new terrain. Efforts to put agriculture on or in the water a...

Texas takes out Stanford 3-1 to clinch spot in NCAA volleyball semifinals

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:22:29 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — There's only one team that isn't a No. 1 seed in its region headed to the NCAA volleyball national semifinals, and that's the defending national champion Texas Longhorns.The second-seeded Longhorns avenged an early-season loss to top-seeded Stanford 3-1 in the regional final Saturday at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, California. Texas will play Wisconsin on Thursday in Tampa, Florida. It's the 15th time in school history that Texas has made it to the national semifinals.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersSet scores were 25-16, 15-25, 25-19 and 25-22.Madisen Skinner put the Longhorns on her back in the deciding set, hammering eight of her match-high 24 kills in the frame with a service ace to lift them to victory. Asjia O'Neal had 10 kills with five blocks while Bella Bergmark and Molly Phillips combined for 12 blocks.Texas was much more efficient in its att...

Watch a replay of the 2023 Motion Picture & Television Fund telethon on KTLA

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:22:29 GMT

Thank you, Southern California, for helping raise over $750,000 for the Motion Picture & Television Fund during its annual telethon on L.A.'s Very Own KTLA 5.MPTF supports working and retired members of the entertainment community with a safety net of health and social services, including temporary financial assistance, case management, and residential living.Tap here to donate to MPTFHost Tom Bergeron reads a proclamation from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for the 2023 Motion Picture & Television Fund telethon on Dec. 9, 2023. (KTLA)The Dec. 9, 2023, telethon was hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown and Tom Bergeron and included celebrity appearances by:Camilla BelleKyle BornheimerJeff BridgesDarren CrissLena DunhamColin FarrellJodie FosterJason GeorgeClark GreggCurtis “50 Cent” JacksonWendy LiebmanLeslie Odom Jr.Phil RosenthalTiffany SmithJohn StamosBilly Bob ThorntonMing-Na WenWilmer ValderramaDavid WildSpecial performances by:Lalah HathawayAnnette O’Toole & Michael...

Incredible Los Gatos rally comes up just short in wild 2-A championship loss to Central Valley Christian

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:22:29 GMT

PASADENA – Los Gatos had reached the California Interscholastic Federation 2-A title game by showing championship grit against a varied cast of opponents. The Wildcats had survived Riordan’s air raid, St. Ignatius and Wilcox’s power, and El Cerrito’s athleticism to earn the right to face Central Valley Christian.Los Gatos had played close games throughout that run, and even authored a couple of memorable second-half comebacks.But against the brutal Central Valley Christian running attack and its precise passing game, there would be no comeback in the South Bay school’s first state title game.Los Gatos sure did try though.Central Valley Christian defeated Los Gatos 45-42 in a thriller.Los Gatos trailed 24-7 at halftime after committing two turnovers and turning it over on downs once. Though the Wildcats offense kept it competitive into the fourth quarter, that was just too much of a hole to dig out of, even for the seniors that carried the program to the...

Virginia proposes adding 12 plants, including kudzu, to noxious weeds list

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:22:29 GMT

Virginia is considering adding 12 more plants to its noxious weeds list, a compilation of species that are banned from use in the state because of the damage they provide to ecosystems.On Thursday, the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services held a public hearing on the proposed additions. No one spoke during it, but one comment was submitted via the state’s online regulatory Town Hall website from Chesapeake resident Rogard Ross, who said he “strongly agrees” with the additions.“You should also add English Ivy, Japanese Stilt Grass, and Linden Viburnum,” wrote Ross.  “These are all terribly invasive plants in our local parks in Chesapeake, Virginia.”The public comment period is scheduled to end Friday, Dec. 8.The plants proposed to be added to the list are:Two-horned trapaGarlic mustardChinese yamAutumn oliveLesser celandineBicolor lespedezaAmur honeysuckleJapanese honeysuckleCommon reedKudzuJapanese knotweedSiberian elmTwo-horned trapa would be added as a “tier 2” noxious weed,...

Today in History: December 10, Nelson Mandela is mourned

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:22:29 GMT

Today in HistoryToday is Sunday, Dec. 10, the 344th day of 2023. There are 21 days left in the year.Today’s Highlight in History:On Dec. 10, 2013, South Africa held a memorial service for Nelson Mandela, during which U.S. President Barack Obama energized tens of thousands of spectators and nearly 100 visiting heads of state with a plea for the world to emulate “the last great liberator of the 20th century.” The ceremony was marred by the presence of a sign-language interpreter who deaf advocates said was an impostor waving his arms around meaninglessly.On this date:In 1817, Mississippi was admitted as the 20th state of the Union.In 1861, the Confederacy admitted Kentucky as it recognized a pro-Southern shadow state government that was acting without the authority of the pro-Union government in Frankfort.In 1898, a treaty was signed in Paris officially ending the Spanish-American War.In 1958, the first domestic passenger jet flight took place in the U.S. as a National Airlines Boeing...