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There are a lot of things that you might guess if someone asked, “You know what restored my faith in humanity?” A kind gesture from a stranger. A heartwarming story on the news. Ted Lasso . Malala. And now... Pickleball. During a recent interview, Karl Sanders from South Carolina death metal legends NILE opened up about his love of the sport, and confessed that it, in fact, restored his “faith in humanity.” Sanders also divulged that he plays with a Cannibal Corpse paddle and that he previously played tennis with original NILE drummer Pete Hammoura before the pair discovered paddleball. Videos by VICE “There’s a social aspect to the game, and it somehow is a game that encourages sportsmanship and politeness with your opponents,” Sanders told Side Jams With Bryan Reesman . “You’re pretty close to each other, especially if you’re playing doubles and your partner’s right next to you. So it encourages, in the most incredible way, very nice socialism between people.” A post shared by Karl Sanders (@karlsandersofficial) “You’ll see the best human behavior you could possibly imagine on the pickleball court,” Sanders continued. “It’s unbelievable. [If] you ran into that person in the parking lot at Walmart it would probably be a normal Walmart parking lot experience, you know, not necessarily the most humane thing imaginable. But put those same people on a pickleball court together, and they act like civilized human beings who care about one another. It’s just the damnedest thing.” Sanders went on to admit that he’s always liked “the violence of tennis,” but appreciates that pickleball has “a little more chess to it.” He also explained that the social aspects of paddleball make it very enticing. “After the pandemic, I was very disappointed in how I saw people treating each other,” Sanders shared. “I was like human beings are better than this. It is possible to be a good person and treat other human beings like human beings.” He finally added, “Pickleball has restored my faith in humanity.”BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — 2024 was a brutal year for the Amazon rainforest, with rampant wildfires and extreme drought ravaging large parts of a biome that’s a critical counterweight to climate change. A warming climate fed drought that in turn fed the worst year for fires since 2005. And those fires contributed to deforestation, with authorities suspecting some fires were set to more easily clear land to run cattle. The Amazon is twice the size of India and sprawls across eight countries and one territory, storing vast amounts of carbon dioxide that would otherwise warm the planet. It has about 20% of the world’s fresh water and astounding biodiversity, including 16,000 known tree species. But governments have historically viewed it as an area to be exploited, with little regard for sustainability or the rights of its Indigenous peoples, and experts say exploitation by individuals and organized crime is rising at alarming rates. “The fires and drought experienced in 2024 across the Amazon rainforest could be ominous indicators that we are reaching the long-feared ecological tipping point,” said Andrew Miller, advocacy director at Amazon Watch, an organization that works to protect the rainforest. “Humanity’s window of opportunity to reverse this trend is shrinking, but still open.” There were some bright spots. The level of Amazonian forest loss fell in both Brazil and Colombia. And nations gathered for the annual United Nations conference on biodiversity agreed to give Indigenous peoples more say in nature conservation decisions. “If the Amazon rainforest is to avoid the tipping point, Indigenous people will have been a determinant factor,” Miller said. Wildfires and extreme drought Forest loss in Brazil’s Amazon — home to the largest swath of this rainforest — dropped 30.6% compared to the previous year, the lowest level of destruction in nine years. The improvement under leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva contrasted with deforestation that hit a 15-year high under Lula’s predecessor, far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who prioritized agribusiness expansion over forest protection and weakened environmental agencies. In July, Colombia reported historic lows in deforestation in 2023, driven by a drop in environmental destruction. The country’s environment minister Susana Muhamad warned that 2024’s figures may not be as promising as a significant rise in deforestation had already been recorded by July due to dry weather caused by El Nino, a weather phenomenon that warms the central Pacific. Illegal economies continue to drive deforestation in the Andean nation. “It’s impossible to overlook the threat posed by organized crime and the economies they control to Amazon conservation,” said Bram Ebus, a consultant for Crisis Group in Latin America. “Illegal gold mining is expanding rapidly, driven by soaring global prices, and the revenues of illicit economies often surpass state budgets allocated to combat them.” In Brazil, large swaths of the rainforest were draped in smoke in August from fires raging across the Amazon, Cerrado savannah, Pantanal wetland and the state of Sao Paulo. Fires are traditionally used for deforestation and for managing pastures, and those man-made blazes were largely responsible for igniting the wildfires. For a second year, the Amazon River fell to desperate lows , leading some countries to declare a state of emergency and distribute food and water to struggling residents. The situation was most critical in Brazil, where one of the Amazon River’s main tributaries dropped to its lowest level ever recorded. Cesar Ipenza, an environmental lawyer who lives in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, said he believes people are becoming increasingly aware of the Amazon’s fundamental role “for the survival of society as a whole.” But, like Miller, he worries about a “point of no return of Amazon destruction.” It was the worst year for Amazon fires since 2005, according to nonprofit Rainforest Foundation US. Between January and October, an area larger than the state of Iowa — 37.42 million acres, or about 15.1 million hectares of Brazil’s Amazon — burned. Bolivia had a record number of fires in the first ten months of the year. “Forest fires have become a constant, especially in the summer months and require particular attention from the authorities who don’t how to deal with or respond to them,” Ipenza said. Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Guyana also saw a surge in fires this year. Indigenous voices and rights made headway in 2024 The United Nations conference on biodiversity — this year known as COP16 — was hosted by Colombia. The meetings put the Amazon in the spotlight and a historic agreement was made to give Indigenous groups more of a voice on nature conservation decisions , a development that builds on a growing movement to recognize Indigenous people’s role in protecting land and combating climate change. Both Ebus and Miller saw promise in the appointment of Martin von Hildebrand as the new secretary general for the Amazon Treaty Cooperation Organization, announced during COP16. “As an expert on Amazon communities, he will need to align governments for joint conservation efforts. If the political will is there, international backers will step forward to finance new strategies to protect the world’s largest tropical rainforest,” Ebus said. Ebus said Amazon countries need to cooperate more, whether in law enforcement, deploying joint emergency teams to combat forest fires, or providing health care in remote Amazon borderlands. But they need help from the wider world, he said. “The well-being of the Amazon is a shared global responsibility, as consumer demand worldwide fuels the trade in commodities that finance violence and environmental destruction,” he said. Next year marks a critical moment for the Amazon, as Belém do Pará in northern Brazil hosts the first United Nations COP in the region that will focus on climate. “Leaders from Amazon countries have a chance to showcase strategies and demand tangible support,” Ebus said. ___ The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .1 m 0 nya berapa 。

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter . Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend: The best movies that capture the essence of California The Essential California team this year expanded opportunities for readers to directly engage with the newsletter. Each week we ask readers to answer a question — from the best local restaurants to favorite books. One question in particular got a lot of attention and sparked some debate: What is your favorite movie that captures the essence of California? Below are the most mentioned movies and comments from readers about what makes these films special to California. We hope this list will help find something to watch this weekend. Enjoy! “Chinatown” Adelaide writes: “It doesn’t get more iconic than a film noir that tackles tremendous geopolitical issues that still affect us to this day.” And Jim writes: “How can you talk about movies that capture the essence of California and not mention one of the greatest movies of all time, ‘Chinatown’? Today, despite the state’s beauty and glorious climate (most of the time), it is still as corrupt and morally bankrupt as it was back in the days of stealing water from the Owens Valley.” “Sideways” Raymond Ballesteros writes: “One of my all time favorite movies to see that truly captures the essence of California, hands down, is ‘Sideways.’ “Alexander Payne seizes the beauty and majesty of California’s Santa Barbara wine country, including a handful of wineries that encapsulates the hearts of fellow wine lovers across California and the country. Of course, not to be watched with a glass of Merlot!” “Point Break” Fritzi Lareau write: “I am a tour guide and when touring the Golden State I show my guests ‘Point Break’ (the original with Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze) or ‘Hollywood Homicide’ starring Harrison Ford.” “Stand and Deliver” Robert Reul writes: “One great film that is 100% California is ‘Stand and Deliver,’ with Edward James Olmos and an amazing cast of young actors. I have found few, if any, films that capture the absolute magic that can happen in the community of first-generation Americans, descended from hard-working Mexican immigrants.” Honorable mentions “Top Gun” “The Birds” “The Parent Trap” “The Big Lebowski” “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” “La La Land” Want to wade into the debate over which movie captures the essence of California? Feel free to email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com . The week’s biggest stories Florida is winning the political battle with California as Trump takes office Destructive waves keep thrashing Santa Cruz, causing millions of dollars in damage in recent years Scientists say we are fighting H5N1 bird flu with one hand tied behind our backs California is growing again More big stories Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here . This week’s must reads A California inmate recruited “wives” to spread fentanyl across Alaska, federal authorities say. The prisoner, Heraclio Sanchez Rodriguez, oversaw a sprawling drug ring that spread death and addiction to the most remote corners of Alaska, prosecutors say. More great reads How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com . For your weekend Going out Staying in How well did you follow the news this week? Take our quiz. Which creature gets top billing in the title of the Barry Jenkins–directed “Lion King” prequel that hit theaters last week? Plus nine other questions from our weekly news quiz . Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor Check our top stories , topics and the latest articles on latimes.com .

Drought, fires and deforestation battered Amazon rainforest in 2024

PHILADELPHIA -- Former Temple basketball standout Hysier Miller sat for a long interview with the NCAA as it looked into concerns about unusual gambling activity, his lawyer said Friday amid reports a federal probe is now under way. “Hysier Miller fully cooperated with the NCAA’s investigation. He sat for a five-hour interview and answered every question the NCAA asked. He also produced every document the NCAA requested,” lawyer Jason Bologna said in a statement. “Hysier did these things because he wanted to play basketball this season, and he is devastated that he cannot.” Miller, a three-year starter from South Philadelphia, transferred to Virginia Tech this spring. However, the Hokies released him last month due to what the program called “circumstances prior to his enrollment at Virginia Tech.” Bologna declined to confirm that a federal investigation had been opened, as did spokespeople for both the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia. ESPN, citing unnamed sources, reported Thursday that authorities were investigating whether Miller bet on games he played in at Temple, and whether he adjusted his performance accordingly. “Hysier Miller has overcome more adversity in his 22 years than most people face in their lifetime. He will meet and overcome whatever obstacles lay ahead," Bologna said. Miller scored eight points — about half his season average of 15.9 — in a 100-72 loss to UAB on March 7 that was later flagged for unusual betting activity. Temple said it has been aware of those allegations since they became public in March, and has been cooperative. “We have been fully responsive and cooperative with the NCAA since the moment we learned of the investigation,” Temple President John Fry said in a letter Thursday to the school community. However, Fry said Temple had not received any requests for information from state or federal law enforcement agencies. He vowed to cooperate fully if they did. “Coaches, student-athletes and staff members receive mandatory training on NCAA rules and regulations, including prohibitions on involvement in sports wagering," Fry said in the letter. The same week the Temple-UAB game raised concerns, Loyola (Maryland) said it had removed a person from its basketball program after it became aware of a gambling violation. Temple played UAB again on March 17, losing 85-69 in the finals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament. League spokesman Tom Fenstermaker also declined comment on Friday. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

After a trying 2024 season, Maryland football will take any victories when available, and Wednesday offered one. On National Signing Day, the Terps earned signed commitments from 20 high school seniors who can suit up next fall. The group has attracted high marks from recruiting services such as ESPN, which rates the class 21st in its national rankings, and 247Sports, which rated the group No. 27. The crown jewel of the high school seniors is Spalding quarterback Malik Washington, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound four-star prospect who has risen in 247Sports’ individual rankings to No. 50 and is the No. 5 quarterback in the nation. , Washington became the first quarterback in Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association history to guide his school to three consecutive A Conference titles, completed 65.3% of his passes for 1,970 yards and 22 touchdowns, and added eight rushing scores. Whether Washington — who will not play basketball for the Cavaliers this winter so that he can concentrate on football — will see much playing time remains to be seen. Billy Edwards Jr., who started the first 11 games for the Terps (4-8, 1-8 Big Ten) before sitting out Saturday’s 44-7 loss at No. 3 Penn State because of an injured thumb on his right (throwing) hand, is slated to return after finishing his redshirt junior year ranked second in the Big Ten in total passing yards (2,881), third in passing yards per game (261.9) and eighth in completion percentage (.65). Although announced his intention in October to enter the transfer portal, Washington would still have to compete with redshirt sophomore MJ Morris, who was Edwards Jr.’s primary backup. Redshirt freshman Champ Long, redshirt sophomore Jayden Sauray, and freshmen Roman Jensen and Khristian Martin could also be in the mix. Maryland coach Mike Locksley noted that Juice Williams at Illinois in 2006 and Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama in 2016 and 2017, respectively, started as freshmen in his offensive system. So he was not about to set any boundaries for Washington. “To me, the sky is the limit for his talent level,” Locksley said. “He expects to come in the mail room and work his way up. He doesn’t want it any other way. He wants to come in and learn and be a sponge.” While the clock on Washington’s development begins soon, here are three recruits (in alphabetical order) who could make an impact sooner rather than later: The 6-1, 196-pound resident of Newport News, Virginia, over Ohio State, Virginia and Virginia Tech. And although he sat out the fall for Warwick High while recovering from a broken leg suffered in the spring, Delhomme offers a versatile blend of talent after demonstrating his skills at safety, wide receiver and running back. Rated a four-star recruit, Delhomme is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 22 safety in the country and the No. 115 player overall. If he remains at safety, Delhomme could replace Dante Trader Jr., a McDonogh graduate headed to the Senior Bowl, and pair with junior Jalen Huskey, who moved from cornerback to safety, in the defensive backfield. Maryland’s secondary was young and inexperienced this past season. The defense ranked 17th in the 18-team Big Ten in touchdown passes surrendered (22) and yards allowed per completion (12.1) and 16th in passing yards allowed per game (241.3). The unit also accounted for 11 pass interference and one defensive holding penalties. “Losing players like Dante Trader and Glen Miller that have been three-year starters back there on the back end, his range, his length, he has what I call the quarterback moxie that you look for out of a field general on the defensive side,” Locksley said. “He has tremendous ball skills, which — when you play that position — we see a guy that has the ability to play the deep part of the field for us and has the range, length and ball skills that you want as well as the physicality.” The 6-4, 305-pound resident of Virginia Beach, Virginia, visited South Carolina and Georgia but stayed closer to home when he selected Maryland. Gilchrist contributed to Salem High advancing to the Virginia Class 5 state Region A final and a 10-3 record this past fall. A four-star prospect, Gilchrist is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 6 interior offensive lineman in the nation and the No. 92 player overall. Gilchrist will arrive at an opportune time. There is an immediate opening at left guard with senior Isaac Bunyun exhausting his eligibility. And right guard could be a possibility if redshirt sophomore Aliou Bah, who started all 12 games there, moves to the left side. The offensive line could use some help. The unit ranked 14th in the 18-team Big Ten in sacks allowed (26) and had a hand in a rushing offense that finished 16th in rushing yards per game (110.4) and 13th in touchdown runs (15). Members of the offensive line were also responsible for 12 presnap penalties (false starts and illegal snaps) and nine holding infractions. “I see him being that talented [with] his size, his athletic ability, his skill set as well as our need to improve that position,” said Locksley, who added that Gilchrist could follow the paths of former Alabama offensive tackles Jonah Williams, Jedrick Wills and Alex Leatherwood who started early in their careers. “Jaylen’s skill set is as a big, athletic guy that has a body and strength that translates to being able to come in and compete early.” The 6-4, 335-pound resident of Washington visited Rutgers, South Carolina and Tennessee before traveling to College Park and opting for Maryland. Jenkins has played on the defensive and offensive lines for Friendship Collegiate Academy (8-3), which has limited opponents to 10.1 points per game this fall and will meet Dunbar for the District of Columbia State Athletic Association title on Saturday in a repeat of last year’s matchup won by Friendship. Related Articles Graded as a four-star recruit, Jenkins is considered by 247Sports as the No. 35 defensive lineman in the country. While redshirt sophomore Jordan Phillips figures to be a mainstay at nose tackle, there is a vacancy at defensive tackle in the defense’s 3-4 alignment. Senior Tommy Akingbesote started all 12 games there before exhausting his eligibility. Jenkins could fortify a defensive line in need of an influx of talent. As a whole, the defense ranked last in the Big Ten in total sacks (14), and the defensive line chipped in on 4 1/2 of those sacks. And in the last five games, the Terps surrendered an average of 184.4 rushing yards and 10 touchdown runs. “He’s a big guy with a little-guy skill set, meaning he’s one of those guys that is a lot like Warren Sapp,” Locksley said. “He’s a guy that has that twitch inside that most interior defenders don’t have. So for me with that part and that big body, he could very easily be an All-American left tackle as he can be an All-American interior three-technique nose guard guy.”MONTREAL — A childhood friend of the Quebec man killed in a Florida boat explosion earlier this week says one of the victim's sisters was among the other six passengers injured in the blast. Thi Cam Nhung Lê says she grew up with Sebastien Gauthier in Quebec City and considered him her best friend. Lê says Gauthier’s older sister was also on the boat in Florida's Broward County when it exploded and she was taken to a hospital. She says Gauthier’s family was in Florida to celebrate the holidays and that his sudden death feels “unimaginable.” Video posted on social media Monday shows the vessel engulfed in flames following the explosion, with a thick column of black smoke billowing into the sky. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has confirmed that Gauthier died of his injuries, saying a preliminary investigation shows the 37-foot vessel exploded after its engines were started. Lê remembers Gauthier as someone who was always smiling and says she is waiting for answers about what led to her friend’s death. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 28, 2024. Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press

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Labour promised ‘growth, growth, growth’... if they mean it, cut public sector and boost private sector

The promise of generative AI (genAI) is undeniable, but the volume and complexity of the data involved pose significant challenges. Unlike traditional AI models that rely on predefined rules and datasets, genAI algorithms, such as generative adversarial networks (GANs) and transformers, can learn and generate new data from scratch. Training these models requires high-quality, diverse data to produce accurate, coherent, and contextually relevant output. The more comprehensive the training data, the better the model will perform in producing realistic and useful responses. Organizations can find it overwhelming to manage this vast amount of data while also providing accessibility, security, and performance. For AI innovation to flourish, an intelligent data infrastructure is essential. This infrastructure must support data preparation, model training and tuning, retrieval augmented generation (RAG), and inferencing. Additionally, it should meet the requirements for responsible AI, including model and data versioning, data governance, and privacy. In most organizations, storage silos and data fragmentation are common problems—caused by application requirements, mergers and acquisitions, data ownership issues, rapid tech adoption, and organizational structure. This fragmentation includes: Data fragmentation makes it difficult for data scientists and AI engineers to access necessary datasets. This is the primary reason why AI initiatives fail, according to IDC’s new survey, , commissioned by NetApp. resembles a well-organized library. In a modern library, every book, magazine, DVD, and digital media item is stored in one place and accessible from any section without hassle. Everything is categorized and readily available through a single system, regardless of whether you’re searching for a classic novel, a research journal, a documentary film, an ebook, or an encyclopedia (do they even produce those anymore?). In the same way, intelligent data infrastructure brings together diverse data types under one cohesive umbrella. By combining access to file, block, and object-based storage from a single storage OS across corporate data centers, colocation facilities, and public clouds, unified data storage streamlines data access, enhances data management, and provides consistent data governance—providing silo-free infrastructure. In genAI, this capability means providing structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data seamlessly to your data scientists. Whether you’re using RAG or fine-tuning a large language model (LLM), you can work with a rich and diverse dataset, regardless of location, to help provide nuanced language patterns, cultural references, and proprietary knowledge, making your AI more effective in producing accurate and domain-specific answers. With intelligent data infrastructure from NetApp, you can feel confident in data preparation, data security, and data mobility. You can select cloud-based AI services for compute-intensive training, a colocation facility to help with internal power constraints, or data center infrastructure to secure sensitive information. Our are designed to scale dynamically, making it easier to expand your storage performance and capacity as your genAI initiatives grow. This is the same NetApp technology leveraged by the top three public cloud providers and available to you as a first-party cloud native storage service. As genAI continues to reshape industries and drive innovation, the importance of unified data storage cannot be overstated. NetApp’s comprehensive suite of unified storage solutions provides the scalability, performance, and security needed to unlock the full potential of genAI. By streamlining data management workflows and maintaining the availability of critical resources, NetApp empowers organizations to accelerate their genAI initiatives and stay ahead in an increasingly competitive landscape. Intelligent data infrastructure is more than just a storage solution; it plays a strategic role in genAI innovation. With our industry-leading expertise and cutting-edge technologies, organizations can harness the power of genAI with confidence, driving transformative outcomes and unlocking new opportunities for growth. We make data infrastructure intelligent: any data, any workload, any environment. To explore further, visit the page. Read more about perspectives. If you missed out on our webinar where we talked through the survey results of IDC’s AI maturity model white paper, you can .

Objectively, the Baltimore Orioles are one of the best teams in baseball. They won 101 games in 2023 and 91 games in 2024, and their 192 combined wins from 2023-24 are third most in baseball behind the Dodgers (198) and Braves (193). FanGraphs projections peg the O's as a top five team in baseball , essentially on par with Steve Cohen's big-spending Mets . So why then do they feel so underwhelming? Early Saturday morning, the Orioles lost ace Corbin Burnes to free agency. To the Diamondbacks , specifically. Arizona gave Burnes a six-year, $210 million contract with an opt out after Year 2 . The O's were said to have interest in retaining Burnes, who threw 194 1/3 innings with a 2.92 ERA and finished fifth in the Cy Young voting in his lone season in Baltimore, but obviously it did not happen. With Burnes now a D-back, Baltimore's rotation depth chart currently looks like this: RHP Zach Eflin RHP Grayson Rodriguez RHP Kyle Bradish (will miss most or all of 2025 with Tommy John surgery) RHP Dean Kremer RHP Tomoyuki Sugano LHP Trevor Rogers RHP Albert Suárez Again, underwhelming. I would even take it a step further and say you have to do better than that if your goal is winning the World Series. GM Mike Elias needs to do better by building a rotation capable of supporting a lineup loaded with young talent. New owner David Rubenstein needs to do better investing in his team. Baltimore's estimated 2025 payroll ranks 18th in baseball . Why so low? Earlier this month, Pitcher List's Ben Palmer reported Rubenstein gave Elias to green light to spend , but Elias doesn't want to. My read on that is the GM is falling on the sword for an owner who doesn't really want to spend. The alternative is Rubenstein is feckless, and unwilling to take charge of the team he owns. The owner wants to spend but the big bad GM won't let him 😕. To be fair to the Orioles, they did not make the Burnes trade until Feb. 1 last offseason, so there is plenty of time between now and spring training to do something that really moves the needle. This is a very passive approach to team building, though. The O's went through the ugly rebuild and came out the other side with a boatload of young position players but are timid on the pitching market. I get it: pitchers break, and modern pitch design and analytics allow teams to find quality arms almost anywhere. On waivers, in minor league free agency, in the late rounds of the draft, etc. Why sink $210 million dollars into Burnes' age 30-35 seasons and assume all that risk when you can dig up a Suárez or trade for a lower-salaried Eflin and coach them up? The reason is good players win games and championships, not good value. Also, there is a social contract here. Fans stick with the team through the rebuild because the promise is the team will try its hardest to win a championship down the road. Are Elias, Rubenstein, and O's going all-out to win a title? They aren't with an 18th-ranked payroll and that rotation. The Orioles have been one of the best teams in baseball the last two years and I expect them to again be one of the best teams in baseball next year. But as good as they could be? No, probably not, barring a surprise rotation addition. I mean, forget Burnes. Why weren't the O's in on Juan Soto ? He fits their contention window perfectly, yet there wasn't a shred of interest, reportedly. At some point, the Orioles need to put their foot on the gas. The AL is the leanest it's been in a long time -- Burnes is merely the latest high-end player to leave the AL for the NL -- and that should be an invitation to go for it, not hold back and bank on things going your way. The O's are very good, but an underwhelming winter to date leaves them not as good as they could be.None

A relatively new technology in the fight against the opioid crisis is helping educate people using drugs by providing in-depth analysis of samples taken in Niagara. The collected samples are analyzed by a machine at the St. Catharines consumption and treatment site (CTS) on Queenston Street. Drug-checking machines, provided by Scatr, are changing how drug testing is being utilized through Raman spectroscopy and uses light waves to identify the contents of a potential drug sample as small as the size of half a matchstick head. The machine works by using a laser to shine light on specific spots of the sample and reads the substances unique identification, said Ari Forman, co-founder of Scatr. “It’s a non-destructive form of spectroscopy utilizing the fact every single different molecule has its own light scattering fingerprint,” he said. “That’s different than mass spectrometry, which destroys the sample and ionizes it ... from there you can figure out based on the mass, what the sample is.” Thanks to Scatr’s machine and continued updates on substances mined from other machines across the province, it allows for better understanding of drug trends,” said Talia Storm, director of StreetWorks Services at Positive Living Niagara. “This allows us to flag drug trends far faster than we’ve ever been able to before. And thinking back to when fentanyl was just coming on the street ... we didn’t have the technology then, it would take upwards of four weeks to figure out what was going on in the supply,” she said. “While, we haven’t seen any huge flags yet, this will give us the ability to identify things a lot faster to have a better response both within the space and in the broader community.” Education is the key at Positive Living Niagara, Storm added, to prevent overdoses, as some people using the CTS drug-checking machine have limited their usage or refused to use once results were presented. “Harm reduction is about education and giving people all the information possible to make decisions that make sense to them. That’s what this machine offers, more information,” she said. “What people choose to do is entirely up to them, but it gives them another option, another tool in the tool box and we’re seeing changes in behaviour.” During testing the drug-checking machine inspects several points within the sample and determines the contents including expected drugs, fillers and potency. Tests can take as little as four minutes and up to 14 minutes to provide further analysis of the sample. Previously, drug checking was time consuming and required a mass spectrometer, an analytical tool, which measures the mass-to-charge of molecules in a sample through its destruction. An unintended benefit of the CTS drug checking is it allows for more one-on-one between workers and clients using the service. It helps them understand options available including treatment, said Myles Sinyard, drug-checking program team lead at Positive Living. “The most important thing is the scan impact, because that’s going to measure how the 15 minutes we spend with the client is going to impact their substance use,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to connect with clients where we might not always have the opportunity to have conversations in such a private space.” Forman said the education piece is important as it gives people a more fulsome understanding of what they are consuming. “That’s why these on-site methods, especially automated ones, are most useful because they can provide as much information as possible to the client before consuming and even motivate the behaviour, which we’ve seen in research from Western University about client behaviours as a result of drug checking,” he said. Storm said the ability to understand what someone is using opens many other avenues including available treatment options. “By its nature, harm reduction is reactive, we are encouraging people to use new harm-reduction supplies,” she said. “But all of this is reactive because we don’t know what the substance is on the street; this is changing and within the sector, everyone is excited.”

MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF ( NYSEARCA:DFUS – Free Report ) by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,302 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF were worth $641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning increased its position in Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF by 116.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,710,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992,827 shares during the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,215,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,990,000 after buying an additional 109,758 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF by 2.1% in the third quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,363,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,036,000 after acquiring an additional 47,763 shares during the last quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management grew its position in Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF by 13.0% during the third quarter. Great Waters Wealth Management now owns 2,240,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,330,000 after acquiring an additional 257,467 shares during the period. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 2,094,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,248,000 after purchasing an additional 217,976 shares during the period. Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF Stock Performance Shares of NYSEARCA:DFUS opened at $65.17 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29 and a beta of 1.04. Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF has a 1 year low of $49.17 and a 1 year high of $65.52. About Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF The Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF (DFUS) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in total market equity. The fund actively selects US equities of all sizes weighted by market capitalization in seeking to provide long-term capital appreciation. DFUS was launched on Sep 25, 2001 and is managed by Dimensional. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DFUS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF ( NYSEARCA:DFUS – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .