wolfeyvgc champion Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling alliance won an election in Maharashtra by a wide margin, signaling policy continuity in a state which houses most of India’s billionaires and is home to some of the country’s biggest investments. The Mahayuti coalition, led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, is ahead with 228 seats of the 288-member legislative assembly, according to the Election Commission of India. The Indian National Congress-led alliance has the advantage in just 47 seats, halting a momentum they built during national elections. The margins are wide enough for the elections to be called even as the final stages of counting are in progress. “Development wins! Good governance wins! United we will soar even higher!” Modi said in a post on X on Saturday. A separate Congress alliance in Jharkhand is leading in 50 seats of the 81-member legislative assembly, according to the Election Commission. Modi has conceded in the state. Exit polls released Wednesday predicted a tight contest in both states, with a slight edge forecast for the BJP alliance in Maharashtra. Mahayuti is now expected to win by a landslide with the main opposition and other smaller regional parties barely scraping by. BJP candidates are in the lead in 90 seats and have had a win declared for 42 more. “This is the voice of the people, it is the government of the people and it is a government for the best of the people,” Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told reporters Saturday afternoon. A victory in Maharashtra, which houses the financial capital of Mumbai, is expected to give a boost to stock markets which had already made gains on Friday in anticipation of the results. It suggests Modi remains popular, even though his party lost an outright majority in national polls. In those elections, more than 20 different parties worked together, shedding ideological differences and pooling resources to take on Modi’s electoral prowess. Since the results in June, four state polls were conducted with the BJP picking up two significant ones. “The BJP has a reasonably fixed vote share which it will get,” said Neelanjan Sircar, an associate professor at Ahmedabad University. Also, “we are seeing local seat level factions taking on an importance.” Maharashtra contributes over 10% of India’s gross domestic product, with Mumbai home to companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd. and Tata Group, the country’s two main stock markets, and the Hindi film industry. The state’s economic reputation, however, is at risk of being tarnished by growing farmer distress and high unemployment. Modi and his party have introduced a series of social welfare programs, including cash handouts to women and have promised further subsidies. The state is also one of the biggest recipients of foreign investment and BJP’s win will calm investors and allow ambitious development projects already in the works to continue. Billionaire Gautam Adani aims to revamp one of Asia’s biggest slums, but his $3 billion plan to convert 620 acres (251 hectares) of Dharavi into a glitzy urban hub had become a political hot potato. The opposition has repeatedly vowed to cancel the project during campaigning. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who won both parliamentary seats he contested in June, chose to vacate his seat in Wayanad, Kerala. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is running in the by-election there in her first political match for the Congress party, winning the seat with a margin of more than 410,000 votes. ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Newly appointed government efficiency co-czar Vivek Ramaswamy says he will scrutinize a loan issued by the Biden administration to electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Rivian , a rival of Tesla Inc. TSLA . What Happened : Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk following President-elect Donald Trump ‘s inauguration. Ramaswamy recently criticized President Joe Biden administration for approving a $6.6 billion loan to Rivian for a Georgia plant construction, which has since been suspended. He questioned the high cost per job created by this loan and suggested it could be a political move against Musk and Tesla, reports Fortune. The Department of Energy defended the loan, highlighting their Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program’s role in reinforcing America’s global automotive standing. They pointed to the successful loan granted to Tesla in 2010 as evidence of the program’s efficacy. Also Read: Elon Musk’s Social Media Onslaught Targets Federal Employees Ramaswamy’s critique of the loan comes amid concerns about Rivian’s financial stability. Despite its reputation as a high-end EV brand with a growing lineup of award-winning vehicles, Rivian has yet to turn a profit. The company is currently working to streamline its production process and aims to generate a gross profit in the current fourth quarter. Why It Matters : Ramaswamy’s scrutiny of the loan to Rivian underscores the ongoing debate about government involvement in the EV market. The loan’s approval has raised questions about the government’s role in supporting emerging industries and the potential political motivations behind such decisions. This scrutiny comes at a critical time for Rivian, which is working to establish its profitability amidst growing competition in the EV market. Read Next Musk And Ramaswamy Seek Spending Cut Wins Where Others Failed This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Is anything more gratifying than an unexpected gift from a stranger? The answer is “yes,” but we’ll get to that. Several days ago, a friend was shopping at a local dollar store, buying small items to place in gift boxes for children. Her church had given her a debit card with a $150 allowance, and she went through the aisles placing dozens of toys and school supplies in her cart, keeping a running amount in her head. When she got to the checkout, she told the clerk to stop when the total got close to her spending limit. The clerk, a big rough-looking man, started scanning the items. “You sure have a lot of stuff here,” he said. My friend explained what she was doing, that everything would go to children who do not get any other presents for Christmas. He smiled and kept scanning. When the register total came to just shy of $150, he paused. “What about those?” He pointed to the handful of things left in the cart. “That’s OK,” my friend said. “They can go back on the shelf.” “I’ll pay for them,” he said. My friend objected at first, but the clerk was insistent. “I was one of those kids,” he said. “My dad never got us presents for Christmas, and I don’t have any kids of my own.” He scanned the rest of the items, then reached into his pocket for a crumpled wad of bills to pay the balance. Then he put everything into bags and her cart. “God bless you,” he said with a smile. “Every gift requires two freedoms,” author Peter Kreeft wrote, “the giver’s and the receiver’s.” We must be careful to respect the privilege of giving, for it is in giving that we feel our humanity most deeply. As technologies make life more automated, our interaction with strangers is declining. That might seem good to some. But the overall effect is to increase anxiety by depriving us of daily exercise in social skills, something necessary for a healthy democracy. It also removes opportunities to give and to receive. One of the great misfortunes of a prosperous society is that giving and receiving become transactional rather than relational: A class of people deliver goods and services, and a class of people receive them. One group funds the local shelter and the soup kitchen, and another group goes there to get housing and nourishment. One is the host, the other the guest. Many less prosperous societies still follow the ancient practice of bringing a stranger into one’s home for shelter and meals together. The guest and host get to know each other. It is not easy to say who benefits most, because both provide something to each other: the need to receive and the need to give. This practice of relational giving and receiving is retained in the gift exchanges among family and friends during the holidays. It is a chance to remind one another of our interdependence. Yet for those who have no one close with whom to celebrate, this time of year can be especially sad and lonely — not just because they receive no gifts but because they have nobody to whom to give. It doesn’t have to be that way. Every community is filled with people who need something. Churches have giving trees. Schools and nursing homes need volunteers. And just about everybody has a neighbor who could use a small box of cookies and a smile. Every year I rewatch “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It just might be the best movie ever made. Watching it reminds us that the greatest contribution a person can make in life is to lovingly tend to the relationships where you are. A pivotal moment in the movie comes shortly after George Bailey pulls Clarence out of an icy river. As they are drying off, Clarence explains he is an angel sent to save him. George is understandably skeptical. “Save me!?” he responds. Clarence explains, “I knew if I were drowning, you’d try to save me, and that’s how I saved you.” The gift Clarence gave to George was an opportunity to be useful when he thought the world would be better off without him. Like many of us, George overvalued the worth of his contributions and undervalued the worth of his presence. Even those who have great needs can be raised up by an opportunity to give. It is through the mutuality of both giving and receiving that we experience the grace that shines on every act of shared kindness. Kyte is the director of the at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

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One of Colombia ’s legendary drug lords and a key operator of the Medellin cartel has been deported back to the South American country, after serving 25 years of a 30-year prison sentence in the United States. A short while later, Fabio Ochoa was again a free man. > Philadelphia news 24/7: Watch NBC10 free wherever you are Ochoa arrived in Bogota on a deportation flight on Monday afternoon, wearing a modest grey sweatshirt and carrying his personal belongings in a plastic bag. After stepping out of the plane, Ochoa was met by immigration officials in bullet proof vests. There were no police on site to detain him. Immigration officials took his fingerprints and confirmed through a database that Ochoa is not wanted by Colombian authorities. The country's immigration agency said on the social media platform X that Ochoa was “freed so that he could join his family.” “I was framed,” Ochoa claimed as reporters at Bogota’s El Dorado Airport asked if he regretted his actions. The former cartel boss smiled as he hugged his daughter, whom he had not seen in seven years, and said he would go to Medellin to live with his family. “The nightmare is over” said Ochoa, 67. Stories that affect your life across the U.S. and around the world. Ochoa and his older brothers amassed a fortune when cocaine started flooding the U.S. in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to U.S. authorities, to the point that in 1987 they were included in the Forbes Magazine’s list of billionaires. Living in Miami, Ochoa ran a distribution center for the cocaine cartel once headed by Pablo Escobar. Escobar died in a shootout with authorities in Medellin in 1993. Ochoa was first indicted in the U.S. for his alleged role in the 1986 killing of Barry Seal, an American pilot who flew cocaine flights for the Medellin cartel, but became an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration. Along with his two older brothers, Juan David and Jorge Luis, Ochoa turned himself in to Colombian authorities in the early 1990s under a deal in which they avoided being extradited to the U.S. The three brothers were released from prison in 1996, but Ochoa was arrested again three years later for drug trafficking and was extradited to the U.S. in 2001 in response to an indictment in Miami naming him and more than 40 people as part of a drug smuggling conspiracy. He was the only suspect in that group who opted to go to trial, resulting in his conviction and a 30-year sentence. The other defendants got much lighter prison terms because most of them cooperated with the government. Ochoa’s name has faded from popular memory as Mexican drug traffickers take center stage in the global drug trade. But the former member of the Medellin cartel was recently depicted in the Netflix series "Griselda," where he first fights the plucky businesswoman Griselda Blanco for control of Miami's cocaine market, and then makes an alliance with the drug trafficker, played by Sofia Vergara. Ochoa is also depicted in the Netflix series "Narcos," as the youngest son of an elite Medellin family that is into ranching and horse breeding and cuts a sharp contrast with Escobar, who came from more humble roots. Richard Gregorie, a retired assistant U.S. attorney who was on the prosecution team that convicted Ochoa, said authorities were never able to seize all of the Ochoa family’s illicit drug proceeds and he expects that the former mafia boss will have a welcome return home. “He won’t be retiring a poor man, that’s for sure,” Gregorie told The Associated Press earlier this month.

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Number of seats: 4 Seats filled: 1 10pm: Mr Donohoe, Fine Gael Minister for Public Expenditure, said the main theme of the election is "one of the centre holding", describing Sinn Féin as "the weakest opposition party in Europe". He told reporters at the RDS in Dublin: "I think we're on the verge of a very, very positive election for the party and a very, very strong electoral performance." On the potential election of Gerard Hutch in his constituency, he said: "I think it's worth noting that the vast majority of people in Dublin Central have not voted for him, and the vast majority of voters in Dublin Central have chosen to put their votes behind other candidates and we will have to reflect in due course regarding why he performed like he did, but the big picture today is one of the centre holding, that's the big picture. "The big picture is, at a time in which incumbent governments all over Europe are struggling to get re-elected, the two larger parties within this government, in particular Fine Gael, are going to deliver a very strong performance." Referring to Sinn Fein he added: "It's now very evident that they're the weakest opposition party in Europe." 9.30pm: Clare Daly has been eliminated in Dublin Central after the fourth count. Mary Lou McDonald has already been re-elected. Gerrry 'The Monk' Hutch is now looking very likely to take the fourth seat, after Paschal Donohoe and Gary Gannon. Fine Gael's Paschal Donohoe and Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats also look secure to win seats 8.30pm Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has been elected on the third count in Dublin Central. There were loud cheers from supporters as her election was announced. 7.47 pm After two counts in Dublin Central Mary Lou McDonald is nearly across the line for the first seat. She needs 41 more votes, and seeing how her running mate Janice Boylan has been eliminated she will benefit from her transfers. Also eliminated now are Andrew Kelly (Centre Party Ireland), and Ian Noel Smyth (Aontu) 7.30pm: After Count 2, Mary Lou McDonald's running mate Janice Boylan has been eliminated. Full results after the second count, with no one yet elected: McDonald, Mary Lou (SF) 6,510 Donohoe, Paschal (FG) 5,569 Gannon, Gary (soc Dems) 4,397 Hutch, Gerard (Ind) 3,187 Sherlock, Marie (LAB) 2,505 Fitzpatrick, Mary (FF) 2,427 Hourigan, Neasa (Green) 1,986 Steenson, Malachy (IND) 1,955 O’Ceannabhain, Eoghan (PBP/SOL) 1,497 Daly, Clare (Ind 4 Change) 1,367 Boylan, Janice (SF) 1,295 Eliminated this round: Janice Boylan (SF) Mary Lou 6.30pm Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has topped the first count votes in Dublin Central but no candidate has yet been elected in the constituency as no one has yet reached the quota. Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch is currently in fourth place, after Paschal Donohoe and Gary Gannon. Things are not looking good for sitting Green TD Neasa Hourigan in the four seater, polling 1952 first preference votes. Full results: Mary Lou McDonald 6389 Paschal Donohoe FG 5493 Gary Gannon - Soc Dems - 4353 Gerard Hutch - Independent - 3098 Marie Sherlock Lab 2465 Mary Fitzpatrick FF 2344 Neasa Hourigan Green 1952 Malachy Steenson - Non party - 1602 Eoin O Ceannabhain PBP 1471 Clare Daly Indepdents for Change 1317 Janice Boylan SF 1257 Eliminated Ian Noel Smyth Aontu 715 Andrew Kelly Centre Party 298 The second count has now commenced, with the eliminated candidates' votes being redistributed according to preferences. 5.30pm Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said her party had delivered an “incredible performance” in the general election. She made clear she wanted to engage with other parties about the “possibilities of government”. Ms McDonald arrived at the count centre in the RDS in a very positive mood ahead of the first official Dublin counts. The first thing I want to say is to acknowledge every single person right across the state who came out to vote for Sinn Féin,” she told reporters in the RDS count centre in Dublin this evening. Mary Lou McDonald (right) and deputy Michelle O'Neill (centre) arrive at the RDS (Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire) “You have given us again a powerful and a strong mandate, and we understand the trust that you have placed in us to make life better for you, and we are determined to do just that. This has been really an incredible performance by all of our candidates, by Sinn Féin across the state. “Over a short number of weeks we have achieved a result that many people a few weeks ago would have thought impossible. So thank you. Thank you to every single person who voted for us. “I said in the course of the campaign that I believe another five years of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is bad news for our society, for our communities, for families who are struggling, for our housing crisis, which is deepening, and nobody should miss the record homeless numbers that we saw on election day itself. “We’re now at a really important decision point for Irish society and politics, and we need change. “We intend when the votes are counted and when we know th e lie of the land, we will be talking to people about the possibilities of government. “I do not want to see another five years of the kind of chaos, the kind of disregard that we have seen under Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. I think that is a bad outcome for our society.” Speaking to Newstalk later, Ms MacDonald was asked if she had a message for Gerry “The Monk” Hutch: “Not particularly,” she said. "This is a democratic system; the people make the call. If he is a representative of the people to the Dáil he will have the same rights and responsibilities as the rest of us. “I look forward to and hope to be working with other colleagues on the left in the Dáil”, she added. 5.07pm Independent 4 Change candidate Clare Daly, who polled poorly in Dublin Central, said the fact that Gerry Hutch did well was an anti-establishment vote that could bring a needed focus on the area. “It’s incredibly interesting. It’s not a place I would have wanted to be obviously but I think we’ve seen the massive galvanising of that anti-establishment vote around the candidacy of Gerard Hutch,” she said. “I think all progressive Independents across Dublin probably suffered a little bit in favour of the parties as well, so it left me where I am.” “There’s huge goodwill out there and all the rest but I’m not going to get to see the benefit of all of the massive transfers that we got, but that’s life and I think it has put the world’s attention and the country’s attention on a constituency that has been so badly neglected, and for me that’s a really good thing.” “I hope that attention can be maintained and the people in this wonderful area can get the attention that they so badly deserve and haven’t got,” she added. Asked if she welcomes the fact that Hutch appears to have the level of support he has, Ms Daly said the fact that he is there in the constituency will focus attention on it. “The challenge will be to him to build on that. I do believe the constituency needs that. I don’t see him being a national parliamentarian or a legislator per se, which is part of the job, but if elected he could, if the will was there, really keep a focus on an area that has been left behind and is crying out,” she said. “There are so many people in that community trying their best. It is an incredibly diverse constituency with a lot of division within it.” “Let’s see what happens. Either way the constituency has spoken and by voting for Gerard Hutch in such numbers they’ve sent that signal anyway, and the political establishment should take note,” she added. 1.57pm Social Democrats candidate Gary Gannon has said he is humbled by the vote in Dublin Central. “I'm humbled and also determined to vindicate that over the course of the next five years. We've done a massive amount of work in Dublin Central. In terms of the work that we are doing on the ground, the strength of conviction we have bringing through issues in the Dail that was really starting to come back for us, and we were picking up a lot of momentum in Dublin Central. And I think today you'll see the results of that,” he said. Asked about the effect that Gerry Hutch had being on the ballot paper, Gannon said it was something that “none of us expected”. “He came in and he got a lot of media with this announcement, and that's going to be expected. But I think, for me, it's not just about what happens and who takes the fourth seat. I think it's a reflection of the fact that there's a lot of hurt, there's a huge amount of pain. I mean, that period of austerity in 2011 to 2016 destroyed the fabric of communities, and you're still seeing the tentacles of that now,” he added. “I appreciate what the headlines will be today and tomorrow, but I do encourage everybody to go beyond them and look deeper. Because when people are hurting to the extent that they are in, some of the communities that I represent the length and breadth of Ireland, and you're going to see outcries of that, and it'll manifest in different ways. And I think we're seeing one manifestation of that today,” he said. Asked if he thought the Hutch vote was a protest vote he said he didn’t think so. Soc Dems leader Holly Cairns gave birth to her first baby yesterday as the nation went to the polls, and Gary Gannon was delighted for her. “For me, I just want to say how in awe I am of Holly Cairns. She's not only our leader, she's my friend. She is somebody that has took the reins of this party two exceptional TDs in Catherine Murphy and Roisin Shortall, and she's really brought us on,” he explained. Regarding future plans and possible negotiations for government, he said the next step is to see exactly what's in the boxes. 1.30pm Independent candidate Malachy Steenson has said it looks like Mary Lou McDonald will take the first seat in Dublin Central, followed by Paschal Donohoe, and Gary Gannon for the Social Democrats will take the third seat. The battle for fourth seat could be between Gerry Hutch (Ind), Marie Sherlock (Lab) and Mary Fitzpatrick (FF) in his opinion. He thinks Sherlock may take it on likely transfers. The Monk is in the mix as Malachy Steenson gives his view on the tallies from Dublin Central “It’s a disappointing day for the Nationalist movement but it shows what acres of media coverage can do for a celebrity candidate,” he said in reference to Gerry Hutch’s entry. “The media have to look at the role they have played in this election in excluding people they didn’t agree with. Sadly, the people will pay the price,” he told the Irish Independent. 12pm With practically all the boxes tallied in Dublin Central the news of the day is how well convicted criminal Gerry Hutch has polled. From the outset he was doing well on tally sheets from his own inner city areas like North Strand, and there was an expectation among some of the tally crews that this would change as more boxes were opened. But his vote was strong across the city, and when it comes to the first count he looks destined to come fourth. Transfers in later counts will erode this, but the fact that he has featured so strongly has surprised many. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald will top the poll on around 20pc it appears, followed by Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe on around 17pc. Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats is polling in third place at 13pc followed by Hutch on 9pc. The fact that Hutch entered the race in the first place will have hurt the ambitions of right wing candidate Malachy Steenson, and Independent 4 Change Clare Daly, who are in ar around the 5pc mark. The Green Party’s Neasa Hourigan’s ambitions to retain her seat appeare to have taken a bruising, with the tallies indicating 6pc of the vote. Transfers will play around with the placings a lot, but this constituency is one to watch today. Read moreNBC’s Chuck Scarborough to Retire After Record-Setting 50+ Years as Anchor

Percentages: FG .448, FT .875. 3-Point Goals: 1-16, .063 (Dezonie 1-2, Berry 0-1, Brown 0-2, Stanford 0-2, Gray 0-3, Mashburn 0-3, Settle 0-3). Team Rebounds: 4. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 4 (Berry 2, Durodola, Settle). Turnovers: 15 (Berry 5, Mashburn 4, Dezonie 2, Durodola, Gray, Settle, Stanford). Steals: 4 (Dezonie 2, Brown, Durodola). Technical Fouls: Gray, 9:51 second. Percentages: FG .395, FT .750. 3-Point Goals: 7-25, .280 (McKeithan 3-6, Lilley 2-4, Marrero 1-4, Shepherd 1-5, White 0-2, Vahlberg Fasasi 0-4). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 8 (Lilley 2, Jones, Marrero, McKeithan, Shepherd, Vahlberg Fasasi, White). Turnovers: 6 (White 2, Jones, Marrero, Shepherd, Vahlberg Fasasi). Steals: 12 (Marrero 3, Jones 2, McKeithan 2, White 2, Etienne, Lilley, Vahlberg Fasasi). Technical Fouls: None. .Trump reiterates he wants to buy Greenland for US security

Sinn Fein actively pursuing route into government, insists leader McDonaldAndrew Hanson Vice President of Generations Wealth Management Interviewed on the Influential Entrepreneur Podcast Discussing Finding the Right Investment VehicleVeteran first baseman Carlos Santana, who began his major league career in Cleveland in 2010 and returned for a second stint in 2019, signed a one-year contract with the Guardians on Monday. A 15-year major league veteran, Santana previously spent 10 seasons with the organization (2010-17, 2019-20) and hit .251 with 273 doubles, 216 home runs and 710 RBIs in 1,334 games. During his time in Cleveland, Santana was an All-Star and Silver Slugger in 2019, when he achieved career highs in batting average (.281) and RBIs (93) along with a career-high-tying 34 home runs. The 38-year-old Dominican Republic native ranks in the top 10 in Cleveland franchise history in three offensive categories: walks (second, 881); home runs (sixth); and extra-base hits (eighth, 503). In 2024 with the Minnesota Twins, Santana became the oldest position player in MLB history win a Gold Glove Award for the first time. He also led the team with 23 home runs, 65 walks and 71 RBIs in 150 games. Along with Cleveland and Minnesota, the well-traveled vet has also played for the Philadelphia Phillies (2018), Kansas City Royals (2021-22), Seattle Mariners (2022), Pittsburgh Pirates (2023) and Milwaukee Brewers (2023). Altogether, he has hit .242 with 393 doubles, 324 home runs, 1,278 walks and 1,082 RBIs in 2,080 games. --Field Level Media

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The Kimberley Curling Club (KCC) hosted the 2025 Safetek Profire BC U18 Curling Championships from Dec. 19 to 23. "We were thrilled with how everything went," said KCC general manager Blair Jarvis. "We knew that most teams were travelling a long way to get here and unfortunately they had to deal with some adventures with the snow we had last Wednesday. "We wanted to make sure that we gave them an experience that they would remember, so we spent a lot of time on the ice, we wanted to give them a great social experience off the ice as well and we heard from a number of curlers that it was the most U18 event that they’ve attended and so we’re really proud of that fact." The event had 12 teams competing on the Boys' side and seven Girls teams. On the Boys side of the competition, Team Jaeger out of Kelowna beat out Team Hrynew in the finals and for the Girls, Team Arndt from Vernon beat out Team Rempel to win the gold. With these wins, Team Jaeger has earned a spot at the Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships, which will be held at the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon, Sask. from Feb. 16-22, 2025. Teams Arndt and Rempel will both be headed to the Nationals. Team Jaeger was made up of coaches Tyler Jaeger and Travis Wielgosz, Lead Brendan Hruschak, Second Noel Wielgosz, Third Spencer Rempel and Skip Owen Jaeger. "We really worked hard this year, this year we really wanted to win," said Skip Owen Jaeger. "We put in a lot of work and it just feels really, really good to win and for all that hard work to pay off. We’re really, really excited, it’s our first National event, first U18 provincial win so we’re really excited." Team Arndt is Coach David Arndt, Lead Alicia Evans, Second Ivy Jensen, Third Bethany Evans and Skip Ava Arndt. "We’re just super excited," said Skip Ava Arndt. "It took us a couple years to get here, but the hard work payed off and we can’t believe it, I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. It’s been a lot of hard work from us and the coaches and the parents. It’s been amazing." Jarvis coached Kimberley's Team Reynolds, who went on to win bronze. "We had set a target of making the playoffs and really happy with how the boys came together," Jarvis said. "They had a couple of games with a tough start and battled back and so the resilience they showed and how they stayed positive, there were a lot of great things we can take away from that. And the bronze medal, we were just thrilled to do that. "We saw Team Jaeger on the boys side and Team Arndt on the girls side as well — if we want to get to that level next year, we have some things to work on and it’s great to see the high level of curling in this province and so I think we’ve come away very motivated as well about what we need to do to get better if we want to be a little higher on the podium next year." Jarvis extended his gratitude to the over 50 volunteers who helped out before, during and after the event, including members of the Cranbrook Curling Club. "We’ll take some of the learnings from this event and apply them to the High School Provincials at the end of February, but we’re really happy with how everything went," he said. "And this is an event for the kids, we want to make sure that they’re going to have an experience that they’ll remember, the teams that had success will obviously remember the things that happened on the ice, but for most kids it will be the experiences they had off the ice. "We had karaoke here on the one night and a bunch of teams were intermingling together and having a great time and those are the experiences that I’m going to take away from this event." Patti Caldwell was head official for the event and Jarvis said she and Ian Milligan worked tirelessly throughout the week. "Patti’s attitude is this is all for the kids and making sure that they have fun and sure it’s a competition, but it’s meant to be fun and we’re going to enjoy this," Jarvis said. "This is a sport that we can enjoy for life and so you want to make sure you’re building positive memories in every aspect." Lindsay Shannon, administrative and event manager at Curl BC, was also on hand for the event, and presented all the awards. "We would just like to thank the Kimberley Curling Club and the City of Kimberley who put on an amazing event here and welcomed all of our athletes who have performed so well," Shannon said. "We're really looking forward to cheering our winners on at the Nationals." The Kimberley Curling Club's next big event is the High School Provincials from Feb. 26 to March 1.US budget airlines are struggling. Will pursuing premium passengers solve their problems?