AP Business SummaryBrief at 1:35 p.m. ESTAUSTIN, Texas — Austin police officer Christopher Taylor has been sentenced to two years in prison for the deadly shooting of Mauris DeSilva in 2019. Taylor is believed to be the first officer ever convicted in Travis County for an on-duty fatal shooting and the first to face a prison sentence. In early October, a jury found Taylor guilty of deadly conduct in DeSilva's death . DeSilva was experiencing a mental health crisis and was holding a knife when police were called to his Downtown Austin condo building. Later in October, the sentencing phase of Taylor's trial began, with the prosecution presenting testimony for two days, followed by the defense doing the same for two days in November. On Tuesday, Judge Dayna Blazey announced her sentencing for Taylor. The conviction and sentence also represent the fulfillment of a promise of police accountability by District Attorney Jose Garza, who ran on that platform in the aftermath of the social justice movement in 2020. Garza’s office has taken multiple officers to trial but none were convicted. Background on this case and Christopher Taylor On July 31, 2019, Austin Police Department (APD) officers, including Taylor, responded to 911 calls coming from the Spring Condominiums in Downtown Austin. At the time, DeSilva was said to be going through a mental health crisis. Officers found DeSilva inside the building, armed with a knife, threatening to harm himself. They told him to drop the knife, but after he failed to do so, Taylor shot DeSilva. In August 2021 , Taylor and Officer Karl Krycia were indicted for murder in DeSilva's death. In September of this year, days before Taylor's trial was set to begin, prosecutors announced they would be seeking a conviction on deadly conduct rather than murder. Taylor's trial lasted nearly two weeks before the jury returned a guilty verdict on Oct. 6. The sentencing phase of Taylor's trial began in late October, with the prosecution presenting testimony . The defense did the same in late November. This was not Taylor's first trial. In May of last year, Taylor was expected to stand trial on a murder charge in connection with the 2020 shooting of Michael Ramos – but a mistrial was declared amid allegations of potential jury tampering and the inability to seat a jury. Then, in October 2023, Taylor did stand trial for that charge, but the jury deadlocked . Prosecutors have since said they will not retry Taylor in the Ramos case .EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Jaddan Simmons scored 18 points, Julia Ayrault added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 24 Michigan State blew past DePaul 89-61 on Sunday, improving to 9-0 for the first time in program history. Emma Shumate scored 12 points and Jocelyn Tate had 10 points for the Spartans. Grace VanSlooten had four of MSU’s 14 blocks. Michigan State had 24 assists on 31 baskets. The Spartans outshot the Blue Demons 47%-22% in the first half and led 42-25 at halftime. The lead peaked at 32 when Kennedy Blair converted a three-point play for an 89-57 lead with 2 minutes remaining in the game. Jorie Allen had 15 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for DePaul (3-7). Grace Carstensen also scored 15 and Taylor Johnson-Matthews added 10 points. Michigan State finished at 51% from the field and DePaul shot 29%. MSU leads the overall series 5-0. Last season, the Spartans defeated the Blue Demons in Chicago, 102-64. Jill Pizzotti continues to serve as DePaul’s interim coach while longtime coach Doug Bruno is on medical leave. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up . AP women’s college basketball: and
Live Music Market to Expand by USD 35.56 Billion (2024-2028), Driven by Rising Demand for Experiences, AI Redefining the Market Landscape - TechnavioRiley Allenspach, Trey Fort lead Samford past Austin Peay 72-47
Maryam wants TFDC, five varsity campuses in Nawaz Sharif IT City Maryam says she was really sorry for inconvenience suffered by people LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has directed the establishment of Tier-Four Data Centre (TFDC) and campuses of five international universities in the Nawaz Sharif IT City. She approved in principle the establishment of the centre in collaboration with China. She chaired a meeting on Wednesday to review the progress on the CBD Nawaz Sharif IT City project. The chief minister was informed that universities of China, England and other countries would establish their campuses in the Nawaz Sharif IT City. The campuses of Tang, Xurt and Baifang Institute of Vocational Education will be established. The Buckinghamshire University and Imperial College London are also willing to set up their campuses. Besides, an artificial intelligence and information technology university will be set up. The chief minister directed all stakeholders to ensure the completion of Nawaz Sharif IT City Twin Towers at the earliest. Commenting on the suffering and inconvenience suffered by people due to political events in Islamabad, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said: “I am really sorry for the suffering and inconvenience suffered by people.” She directed authorities to open the blocked roads across Punjab. She added: “People suffered due to obstacles caused by anarchists.” She directed authorities to take necessary measures to maintain the supply of food items, besides controlling the prices of essential commodities.
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Josh Ravensbergen received an early birthday present. The day before he turned 18, the Prince George Cougars goalie made the most of his opportunity to play goal for Team Canada at the CNNHL USA Prospects Challenge Tuesday in front of a national TV audience in London, Ont. Ravensbergen came close to blanking Team USA, stopping 15 of 16 shots in a 6-1 victory. The only shot that beat him came on a power play for the Americans when Jack Murtagh took a cross-ice pass and connected on a hard one-timer into the net with just 2:14 left on the clock. In the first of a two-game series, Ravensbergen held up well to the pressure of playing with and against players considered to be among the top players available for next year’s NHL draft. He even joined in the offence, getting the primary assist on defenceman Matthieu Schaefer’s power-play goal that made it 4-0 five minutes into the second period. Now in his second WHL season with Cougars, Ravensbergen sports a 12-2-4 record with a 3.08 goals-against average and .899 save percentage. The game also showcased the talents of Prince George native Cameron Schmidt. The 18-year-old Vancouver Giants right winger collected the second goal for Canada in the opening minute of the second period and came close to scoring again later in the period. Schmidt currently leads the WHL with 23 goals and ranks eighth in the scoring race with 35 points in 21 games. The Prospects rematch will be played today in Oshawa, Ont. (4 p.m. PT, TSN). In other Cougar news, former Cats winger Ondrej Becher scored his first American Hockey League goal Tuesday for the Grand Rapids Griffins in their 5-2 win over the Iowa Wild Sunday in Grand Rapids, Mich. Becher has played seven games for the Griffins, the top farm club of the Detroit Red Wings, since his Nov. 3 return from an injury. Becher, a 20-year-old native of Czechia, played two seasons in Prince George and was a key player for the Cougars last season in their run to the BC Division regular season banner and the Western Conference playoff final. The Kelowna Rockets learned Wednesday their team will be playing late into the spring next hockey season. The Canadian Hockey League has selected Kelowna to host the 2026 Memorial Cup major junior hockey championship. The Rockets’ bid was chosen over four other WHL cities – Brandon, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Spokane. Kelowna was due to host the 2020 Memorial Cup that was cancelled because of the pandemic. The 2025 Memorial Cup will be played May 22-June 1 in Rimouski, Que.
Early Mesoamericans trapped fish far earlier than previously thought November 22, 2024 University of New Hampshire Archaeologists have collected data which indicates the presence of a large-scale pre-Columbian fish-trapping facility. Discovered in the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary (CTWS), the largest inland wetland in Belize, the team dated the construction of these fisheries to the Late Archaic period (cal. 2000-1900 BCE), pre-dating Amazonian examples by a thousand years or more. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email An archaeologist from the University of New Hampshire and her team have collected data which indicates the presence of a large-scale pre-Columbian fish-trapping facility. Discovered in the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary (CTWS), the largest inland wetland in Belize, the team dated the construction of these fisheries to the Late Archaic period (cal. 2000-1900 BCE), pre-dating Amazonian examples by a thousand years or more. "The network of canals was designed to channel annual flood waters into source ponds for fish trapping and would have yielded enough fish to feed as many as 15,000 people year-round, conservatively," said Eleanor Harrison-Buck, professor of anthropology and director of the Belize River East Archaeology (BREA) project. "The dates indicate that the fisheries were initially constructed by Late Archaic hunter-gatherer-fishers and continued to be used by their Formative Maya descendants (approximately 2000 BCE to 200 CE). For Mesoamerica in general, we tend to regard agricultural production as the engine of civilization, but this study tells us that it wasn't just agriculture -- it was also potential mass harvesting of aquatic species." Published in the journal Science Advances, the research used 26 radiocarbon dates from test excavation sites in the CTWS, which indicate that such landscape-scale wetland enhancements may have been an adaptive response to long-term climate disturbance recorded in Mesoamerica between 2200 and 1900 BCE. "The early dates for the canals surprised us initially because we all assumed these massive constructions were built by the ancient Maya living in the nearby city centers," said Harrison-Buck. "However, after running numerous radiocarbon dates, it became clear they were built much earlier." Sediment samples were collected along the walls of the excavation units and sequenced for specific elements, such as nitrogen and carbon, to look for environmental changes over time. The sediment showed a strong tropical forest dominance during that period and no evidence of crop cultivation, specifically maize. Along with a lack of any pollen from domesticated crops, there were not any signs of ditched and drained agricultural fields in the immediate area dating to that time. The multiproxy data gathered suggests the distinctive long linear zigzag channels served primarily as large-scale fish-trapping facilities. "It seems likely that the canals allowed for annual fish harvests and social gatherings, which would have encouraged people to return to this area year after year and congregate for longer periods of time," said Marieka Brouwer Burg, professor of anthropology at the University of Vermont and BREA co-director. "Such intensive investments in the landscape may have led ultimately to the development of the complex society characteristic of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, which subsequently occurred in this area by around 1200 BCE." "Wetlands have always been a critical ecosystem for humans across the globe," said Samantha Krause, professor of geography and environmental studies at Texas State University. "Knowing how to manage wetland resources responsibly is essential for the continued resilience of these ecosystems both in the past and today. The Archaic hunter-gatherer-fishers knew how to protect their resources and use them in a way that could sustain these habitats, not exhaust them, which explains their long-lasting occupation in this area." With the support of the local community, the team plans to return to Crooked Tree to investigate a larger sample of these landscape-scale modifications that they have identified across a broad area of northern Belize, hoping to more fully understand the complexity of human-wetland interactions in the past. Other co-authors include Mark Willis, department of archaeology, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia; Angelina Perrotti, Palynology & Environmental Archaeology Research Lab; Monona, Wisconsin; and Katie Bailey, department of anthropology, University of Vermont. This research was funded by a grant from the Alphawood Foundation Chicago. Additional support was provided by a collaborative research grant from the National Science Foundation. The Belize Institute of Archaeology provided an archaeological permit, granting permission to excavate in the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. The Crooked Tree Village Council welcomed the research team and permitted them to map and excavate in the wetlands around their community. Story Source: Materials provided by University of New Hampshire . Note: Content may be edited for style and length. Journal Reference : Cite This Page :No. 1 South Carolina women stunned by fifth-ranked UCLA 77-62, ending Gamecocks' 43-game win streak, The 2024 election cycle has ended, but national politics have no real ending, and the next national campaign cycle is about to begin. Of particular interest going forward is the 2026 midterm elections when the current narrow Republican majorities in the U.S. House and Senate will be challenged by the Democrats, who will be especially eager to take back control of at least one house of Congress so that they can block the ongoing Trump administration's agenda. Looking at the 2026 Senate races at this very early stage, only a general assessment of seats that might be vulnerable and those likely to be safe is possible. Many incumbent senators are over 70 years old, some even in their 80s, so a number of retirements are probable — perhaps even more so in the current bitter political environment. Additional retirement incentives occur when majority party incumbents suddenly go into the minority and lose their committee chairmanships and other perks, as just happened. The four incumbents who are more than 80 years old, and one who is 77, represent likely safe seats in 2026. Five incumbents who will be between 70 and 75 years old also hold likely safe seats. One Democrat (John Hickenlooper of Colorado) and one Republican (Susan Collins of Maine) in that age group are potentially vulnerable. Of course, voluntary... Barry Casselman
New Year, New Prices: Automakers announce January price hikes amid rising costsPhoto: UBCO Dr. Isaac Li, along with students David Bakker and Micah Yang, prepare an experiment as they work to understand counter-intuitive biological interaction, like catch bonds and how cells physically interact with each other. The University of British Columbia Okanagan has made a breakthrough in next-generation adhesives. UBCO researchers have engineered DNA to mimic biological catch bonds, an approach that replicates the efficiency and adaptability of natural systems. Dr. Isaac Li and his team have been studying biophysics at the single-molecule and single-cell levels as they try to understand how cells physically interact with each other and their environment. The ultimate goal is to develop tools for disease diagnosis and therapy. Two of Dr. Li’s doctoral students, Micah Yang and David Bakker, have engineered a new molecule that could transform how cells adhere to and communicate with one another. Yang, the study’s lead author, explains that all cells have a natural “stickiness” that enables them to communicate, join together and form tissues. Unlike everyday glues, which tend to release more easily under increasing force, many cellular adhesive interactions behave the opposite way, the harder you pull, the stronger they hold. This counterintuitive self-strengthening stickiness is known as a catch bond. “Catch bonds play critical roles in systems like T-cell receptors and bacterial adhesions, which are key to immune responses, tissue integrity and mechano-sensing — a cell’s ability to detect and respond to physical forces,” says Yang. “Nature has perfected these interactions over millions of years, but replicating their dynamic properties synthetically has been a major challenge, until now." Dubbed the “fish hook” for its distinctive structure, this DNA-based system consists of two components: the fish and the hook. Using complementary DNA base-pair interactions, the system functions like a fish biting a hook to form a catch bond. The bond’s behaviour can be precisely fine-tuned by modifying the DNA sequences of the fish and the hook, enabling control over its strength under varying forces. “By mimicking biological interactions like catch bond, scientists are not only learning more about how these systems work in nature, but they are paving the way for new technologies that are capable of enhancing human life,” Yang says. The development of artificial adhesion bonds is still in its early days, but this work opens up new possibilities for designing materials that mimic or enhance natural biological processes. The study was recently published in Nature Communications .Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'I ran away many times - I felt I was just being used as a pay cheque'
