San José State volleyball player at center of transgender lawsuit can play, judge rulesThe Arizona Cardinals were rested, relatively healthy and had been playing some of their best football in years. That's why Sunday's sobering 16-6 road loss to the Seattle Seahawks was so surprising. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.go777 app download 。

Former Boise State coach Chris Petersen still gets asked about the Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma on the first day of 2007. That game had everything. Underdog Boise State took a 28-10 lead over one of college football's blue bloods that was followed by a 25-point Sooners run capped by what could have been a back-breaking interception return for a touchdown with 1:02 left. Then the Broncos used three trick plays that remain sensations to not only force overtime but win 43-42. And then there was the marriage proposal by Boise State running back Ian Johnson — shortly after scoring the winning two-point play — to cheerleader Chrissy Popadics that was accepted on national TV. That game put Broncos football on the national map for most fans, but looking back 18 years later, Petersen sees it differently. "Everybody wants to talk about that Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl game, which is great how it all worked out and all those things," Petersen said. "But we go back to play TCU (three years later) again on the big stage. It's not as flashy a game, but to me, that was an even better win." Going back to the Fiesta Bowl and winning, Petersen reasoned, showed the Broncos weren't a splash soon to fade away, that there was something longer lasting and more substantive happening on the famed blue turf. The winning has continued with few interruptions. No. 8 and third-seeded Boise State is preparing for another trip to the Fiesta Bowl, this time in a playoff quarterfinal against No. 5 and sixth-seeded Penn State on New Year's Eve. That success has continued through a series of coaches, though with a lot more of a common thread than readily apparent. Dirk Koetter was hired from Oregon, where Petersen was the wide receivers coach. Not only did Koetter bring Petersen with him to Oregon, Petersen introduced him to Dan Hawkins, who also was hired for the staff. So the transition from Koetter to Hawkins to Petersen ensured at least some level of consistency. Koetter and Hawkins engineered double-digit victory seasons five times over a six-year span that led to power-conference jobs. Koetter went to Arizona State after three seasons and Hawkins to Colorado after five. Then when Petersen became the coach after the 2005 season, he led Boise State to double-digit wins his first seven seasons and made bowls all eight years. He resisted the temptation to leave for a power-conference program until Washington lured him away toward the end of the 2013 season. Then former Boise State quarterback and offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin took over and posted five double-digit victory seasons over his first six years. After going 5-2 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he left for Auburn. "They just needed consistency of leadership," said Koetter, who is back as Boise State's offensive coordinator. "This program had always won at the junior-college level, the Division II level, the I-AA (now FCS) level." But Koetter referred to "an unfortunate chain of events" that made Boise State a reclamation project when he took over in 1998. Coach Pokey Allen led Boise State to the Division I-AA national championship game in 1994, but was diagnosed with cancer two days later. He died on Dec. 30, 1996, at 53. Allen coached the final two games that season, Boise State's first in Division I-A (now FBS). Houston Nutt became the coach in 1997, went 4-7 and headed to Arkansas. Then Koetter took over. "One coach dies and the other wasn't the right fit for this program," Koetter said. "Was a really good coach, did a lot of good things, but just wasn't a good fit for here." But because of Boise State's success at the lower levels, Koetter said the program was set up for success. "As Boise State has risen up the conference food chain, they've pretty much always been at the top from a player talent standpoint," Koetter said. "So it was fairly clear if we got things headed in the right direction and did a good job recruiting, we would be able to win within our conference for sure." Success didn't take long. He went 6-5 in 1998 and then won 10 games each of the following two seasons. Hawkins built on that winning and Petersen took it to another level. But there is one season, really one game, no really one half that still bugs Petersen. He thought his best team was in 2010, one that entered that late-November game at Nevada ranked No. 3 and had a legitimate chance to play for the national championship. The Colin Kaepernick-led Wolf Pack won 34-31. "I think the best team that I might've been a part of as the head coach was the team that lost one game to Nevada," Petersen said. "That team, to me, played one poor half of football on offense the entire season. We were winning by a bunch at half (24-7) and we came out and did nothing on offense in the second half and still had a chance to win. "That team would've done some damage." There aren't any what-ifs with this season's Boise State team. The Broncos are in the field of the first 12-team playoff, representing the Group of Five as its highest-ranked conference champion. That got Boise State a bye into the quarterfinals. Spencer Danielson has restored the championship-level play after taking over as the interim coach late last season during a rare downturn that led to Andy Avalos' dismissal. Danielson received the job full time after leading Boise State to the Mountain West championship. Now the Broncos are 12-1 with their only defeat to top-ranked and No. 1 seed Oregon on a last-second field goal. Running back Ashton Jeanty also was the runner-up to the Heisman Trophy. "Boise State has been built on the backs of years and years of success way before I got here," Danielson said. "So even this season is not because of me. It's because the group of young men wanted to leave a legacy, be different. We haven't been to the Fiesta Bowl in a decade. They said in January, 'We're going to get that done.' They went to work." As was the case with Danielson, Petersen and Koetter said attracting top talent is the primary reason Boise State has succeeded all these years. Winning, obviously, is the driving force, and with more entry points to the playoffs, the Broncos could make opportunities to keep returning to the postseason a selling point. But there's also something about the blue carpet. Petersen said he didn't get what it was about when he arrived as an assistant coach, and there was some talk about replacing it with more conventional green grass. A poll in the Idaho Statesman was completely against that idea, and Petersen has come to appreciate what that field means to the program. "It's a cumulative period of time where young kids see big-time games when they're in seventh and eighth and ninth and 10th grade and go, 'Oh, I know that blue turf. I want to go there,'" Petersen said. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Sleep Apnea Devices Market to See Rapid Expansion Over the Next Decade 2024-2032

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia’s incumbent President Zoran Milanovic won most of the votes in the first round of a presidential election on Sunday, but must face a runoff against a ruling party candidate to secure another five-year term. With nearly all of the votes counted, left-leaning Milanovic won 49% while his main challenger Dragan Primorac, a candidate of the ruling conservative HDZ party, trailed far behind with 19%. Pre-election polls had predicted that the two would face off in the second round on Jan. 12, as none of the eight presidential election contenders were projected to get more than 50% of the vote. Milanovic thanked his supporters but warned “this was just a first run.” “Let’s not be triumphant, let’s be realistic, firmly on the ground,” he said. “We must fight all over again. It’s not over till it’s over.” Milanovic is an outspoken critic of Western military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. He is often compared to Donald Trump for his combative style of communication with political opponents. The most popular politician in Croatia, 58-year-old Milanović has served as prime minister in the past. Populist in style, he has been a fierce critic of current Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and continuous sparring between the two has lately marked Croatia’s political scene. Plenković, the prime minister, has sought to portray the vote as one about Croatia’s future in the EU and NATO. He has labeled Milanović “pro-Russian” and a threat to Croatia’s international standing. “The difference between him and Milanović is quite simple: Milanović is leading us East, Primorac is leading us West,” he said. Though the presidency is largely ceremonial in Croatia, an elected president holds political authority and acts as the supreme military commander. Milanović has criticized the NATO and European Union support for Ukraine and has often insisted that Croatia should not take sides. He has said Croatia should stay away from global disputes, though it is a member of both NATO and the EU. Milanović has also blocked Croatia’s participation in a NATO-led training mission for Ukraine, declaring that “no Croatian soldier will take part in somebody else’s war.” His main rival in the election, Primorac, has stated that “Croatia’s place is in the West, not the East.” His presidency bid, however, has been marred by a high-level corruption case that landed Croatia’s health minister in jail last month and featured prominently in pre-election debates. During the election campaign, Primorac has sought to portray himself as a unifier and Milanović as divisive. Primorac was upbeat despite such a big defeat in the first round. “I know the difference (in votes) at first sight seems very big,” said Primorac, who insisted that the center-right votes had split among too many conservative candidates. “Now we have a great opportunity to face each other one on one and show who stands for what,” he said. Sunday’s presidential election is Croatia’s third vote this year, following a parliamentary election in April and the European Parliament balloting in June.

Croatia's incumbent president gains most votes for re-election, but not enough to avoid a runoffThe Arizona Cardinals were rested, relatively healthy and had been playing some of their best football in years. That's why Sunday's sobering 16-6 road loss to the Seattle Seahawks was so surprising. “Frustrating day offensively, especially the way we’ve been playing to come out here and lay an egg and get physically dominated in a sense,” quarterback Kyler Murray said. The Cardinals (6-5) had their four-game winning streak snapped. Murray completed 24 of 37 passes for 285 yards, but made a brutal mistake, throwing an interception that was returned 69 yards by Seattle's Coby Bryant. The running game never got going, gaining just 49 yards. James Conner, the team's leading rusher, had just 8 yards on seven attempts. “There were a lot of things where it felt like the flow of things just wasn’t in our favor,” receiver Michael Wilson said. "Some games go like that. And then we didn’t execute enough to make up for the game sort of not going our way.” Arizona's still in decent playoff position, tied with the Seahawks on top of the NFC West with six games to play. But after all the good news and winning over the past month, Sunday's loss was humbling. “We’re going to learn a lot from this game,” Gannon said. Arizona's defense continued its remarkable midseason turnaround, giving the team every opportunity to win Sunday. The front seven doesn't have any stars, but continues to cobble together a respectable pass rush. The Cardinals finished with five sacks, all by different players. Second-year cornerback Garrett Williams intercepted a pass by Geno Smith on the first play of the fourth quarter, briefly giving the Cardinals some momentum as they tried to fight back. Williams — a third-round pick out of Syracuse in 2023 — is growing into a steady starting corner that the Cardinals have missed for years. “I thought that they hung in there and battled, forced a bunch of punts, kept points off the board,” Gannon said. “I thought the interception by Garrett was fantastic, kept us in the game there, kept points off the board. We made some mistakes. We made some mistakes, starting with me.” The Cardinals aren't going to win many games with a rushing performance like Sunday's. Conner, held to a season low in yards rushing, did have 41 yards receiving. Rookie Trey Benson had four carries for 18 yards, while Emari Demercado broke a 14-yard gain. Getting Conner going is key. Arizona has a 5-1 record this season when he has at least 100 total yards from scrimmage. Gannon said falling into an early hole affected some of the things the Cardinals could do, particularly in the second half. “I thought there was plays there, but again, where you get down in that game, you’re not really playing normal ball there for a good chunk of the game,” Gannon said. “So we’ve got to do a better job earlier in the game to make sure we’re not playing left-handed.” Fourth-year edge rusher Zaven Collins isn't necessarily the star fans hoped for when he was selected with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2021 draft, but he has quietly had a productive season leading the team's no-name front seven. Collins picked up his fourth sack of the season Sunday and put consistent pressure on Smith. Murray's still having a great season, but the quarterback's MVP credentials took a hit with Sunday's mediocre performance. He played pretty well at times, but the interception that turned into a pick-6 was a backbreaker. The sixth-year quarterback had largely avoided those types of plays this season, which is a big reason they're in the playoff hunt. “Can't give them seven points, especially when our defense is playing the way that they’re playing,” Murray said. “I feel like if I don’t do that, we’re in the game four quarters because that’s the way it was trending.” The Cardinals came out of Sunday's game fairly healthy. Gannon said starting safety Jalen Thompson (ankle) should be back at practice Wednesday. He missed the last two games. 12 and 133 — Tight end Trey McBride continued his breakout season with a career-high 12 catches for 133 yards. The Cardinals have another difficult road game against the Vikings (9-2) on Sunday. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflMicrosoft is reportedly looking to reduce its reliance on OpenAI for the AI models powering its Microsoft 365 Copilot assistant. Citing cost and speed concerns, reported yesterday that Microsoft is developing in-house, smaller AI models to make its flagship AI assistant more efficient. The company is also said to be looking at third-party AI models to diversify the technology behind Microsoft 365 Copilot. “In addition to training its own smaller models including the latest Phi-4, Microsoft is also working to customize other open-weight models to make 365 Copilot faster and more efficient,” Reuters said citing sources familiar with the efforts. “The goal is to make it less expensive for Microsoft to run 365 Copilot, and potentially pass along those savings to the end customer, one of the sources said.” Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift! In recent years, Microsoft invested billions of dollars into OpenAI to get an exclusive license to use and customize OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, which powers its Microsoft 365 Copilot offering for commercial customers. The AI assistant is priced at $30 per user per month on top of a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan, and it’s integrated into various Microsoft 365 apps. Organizations can also add agents to Copilot to automate business processes. In a statement shared with Reuters, a Microsoft spokesperson said “We incorporate various models from OpenAI and Microsoft depending on the product and experience.” The company also said that OpenAI remains Microsoft’s main partner to work on the most advanced AI models coming to the market. While Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI allowed the company to get its hands on cutting-edge AI models, the earlier this year probably in an increasingly complex relationship. Led by DeepMind and Inflection co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, this new AI division is now developing proprietary AI models. The that Microsoft launched in October actually uses a combination of in-house AI models and OpenAI models. According to Reuters, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other Microsoft leaders are keeping a close eye on the company’s efforts to reduce its reliance on OpenAI. In addition to the consumer version of Microsoft Copilot no longer relying as much on OpenAI technology, Microsoft also announced in October that GitHub Copilot was . At the time, the company acknowledged that developers should be able to “decide which models work best for them.” Laurent is a Senior News Editor at Thurrott.com. He's been writing about the tech industry for many years and his favorite topics to cover include Big Tech, media, and gaming. He was also the former Editorial Manager of the from 2022 to 2023. Join the crowd where the love of tech is real - become a Thurrott Premium Member today! Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday

By EDDIE PELLS When the page turns on 2024, it will be time to say goodbye, once and for all, to the amateur athlete in college sports. Related Articles Sports | Team of the Week: Cuyamaca College makes history with state soccer championship Sports | San Diego’s Athletes of the Week include holiday tournament stars in basketball and wrestling Sports | Netflix is airing 2 NFL games on Christmas Day. Here’s what to know Sports | Padres roster review: Brandon Lockridge Sports | Fantasy Football Week 17: Waiver Wire Targets In theory, the concept held on stubbornly via the quaint and now all-but-dead notion that student-athletes played only for pride, a scholarship and some meal money. In practice, the amateurs have been disappearing for years, washed away by the steady millions, now billions, that have flowed into college athletics, mostly through football and basketball both through legitimate and illicit means. In the coming year, the last vestiges of amateur college sports are expected to officially sputter out — the final step of a journey that has felt inevitable since 2021. That’s when the Supreme Court laid the foundation for paying college players in exchange for promotions — on social media, TV, video games, you name it — featuring their name, image or likeness (NIL). The changes have come in spasms so far, not always well thought out, not always fair and not regulated by any single entity like the NCAA or federal government, but rather by a collection of state laws, along with rules at individual schools and the leagues in which they play. But on April 7, the day final approval is expected for the landmark, $2.8 billion lawsuit settlement that lays the foundation for players to receive money directly from their schools, what was once considered anathema to the entire concept of college sports will become the norm. David Schnase, the NCAA’s vice president for academic and membership affairs, acknowledges that maintaining the unique essence of college sports is a challenge in the shifting landscape. “You can use the word ‘pro,’ you can use the word ‘amateur,’ you can attach whatever moniker you want to it, but those are just labels,” Schnase said. “It’s much less about labels and more about experiences and circumstances. Circumstances are different today than they were last year and they are likely going to be different in the foreseeable future.” Few would argue that college athletes should get something back for the billions they help produce in TV and ticket revenue, merchandise sales and the like. But is everyone going to cash in? Are college players really getting rich? Recent headlines suggest top quarterback recruit Bryce Underwood was lured to Michigan thanks to funding from billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and that a top basketball recruit, A.J. Dybantsa, is heading to BYU — not a hoops powerhouse — for the reported price of $7 million. For every Underwood or Dybantsa, though, there are even more Matthew Slukas and Beau Pribulas. Sluka’s agent says his son agreed to play quarterback at UNLV after a promise of receiving $100,000 and quit three games into the season after the checks never came. Pribula was the backup quarterback at Penn State who abruptly entered the transfer portal earlier this month, choosing the college version of free agency over a chance to play with the Nittany Lions in the College Football Playoff. He’s not the only one hitting the portal in hopes of getting rich before new regulations related to the NCAA settlement take effect. “We’ve got problems in college football,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. The settlement will overhaul the current system. Currently, players receive money via third-party collectives that are booster-funded groups affiliated with individual schools. Coming up fast: the schools paying the athletes directly — the term often used here is “revenue sharing” — with collectives still an option, but not the only one. “It’s going to be more transparent,” said Jeff Kessler, the plaintiffs’ attorney and antitrust veteran who helped shape the settlement. “If anything, having the schools handling all the payments is only going to improve the system.” The NCAA has started collecting data about NIL payments, which date to July 2021. Its first set of numbers, which includes data from more than 140 schools across more than 40 sports in 2024, show a bracing disconnect between have and have-nots. For instance, average earnings for football and men’s and women’s basketball players is nearly $38,000. But the median earning — the middle number among all the data points on the list — is only $1,328, a sign of how much the biggest contracts skew the average. The statistics also show a vast difference in earnings between men and women, an issue that could impact schools’ ability to comply with Title IX. That 1972 law requires schools to provide equal athletic scholarships and financial aid but not necessarily that they spend the same dollar amount on men and women. Heading into 2025, there is no clarity on how this issue will play out. Regardless, the numbers are jarring. The NCAA data set shows the average earnings for women in 16 sports was $8,624, compared with $33,321 for men in 11 sports. Men,’s basketball players averaged $56,000 compared with $11,500 for women. The biggest losers from this move toward a professional model could be all the swimmers and wrestlers and field hockey players — the athletes in the so-called non-revenue sports whose programs also happen to serve as the backbone of the U.S. Olympic team. Only a tiny percentage of those athletes are getting rich, and now that universities have to use revenue to pay the most sought-after players in their athletic programs, there could be cuts to the smaller sports. Also, someone’s going to have backfill the revenue that will now go to the players. Well-heeled donors like Ellison are not around for every school, nor have private equity firms started sending money. The average fan will have to pony up, and the last six months have seen dozens if not hundreds of athletic directors begging alumni for money and warning them of changes ahead. Already there are schools placing surcharges on tickets or concessions . How will fans respond to a more transactional model of college sports? “I don’t know that fans have this really great love for the idea of 100% pure amateurism,” said Nels Popp, a University of North Carolina sports business professor. “I think what they care about is the colors and the logos and the brand. I don’t know that it matters to them if the players are making a little bit of money or a lot of money. They’ve been making money for the last couple years, and I don’t know that that’s making fans really back off.” The last time amateurism came under such assault was in the 1980s, when the Olympics unwound the final remnants of pretending the vast majority of their athletes were anything other than full-time professionals. The transformation was tinged with a note of honesty: The people putting on the show should reap some benefits from it. Even 40 years later, there’s an good argument they remain underpaid. The contours of the same debate are shaping up in college sports. Athletes are pushing for a players’ association that would add more transparency to a business that, even with the changes coming, is still largely dictated by the schools. The NCAA, while acceding to the need to pay the players, wants nothing to do with turning them into actual employees of the schools they play for. It’s an expensive prospect that is winding its way through the legal system via lawsuits and labor hearings that many in college sports are desperate to avoid for fear it will push the entire industry off the financial cliff. Among the few things everyone agrees on is that things aren’t going back to a time when athletes pretended to play for pride while the money moved under tables and through shadows. And that this, in fact, could only be the start, not the end, of the transformation of college sports. “At some point, I think people might have to understand that maybe college athletes don’t go to college anymore,” Popp said. “Or maybe they don’t go to class during the season. There could be more radical changes, and as long as they’re wearing the right logo and the right colors, I’m not sure that fans really care.” Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballDePaul looking to halt downturn vs. Loyola Maryland

American Healthcare REIT, Inc. ( NYSE:AHR – Get Free Report ) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share on Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. American Healthcare REIT Stock Down 0.5 % AHR stock opened at $28.48 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.36. The stock has a market cap of $4.36 billion and a P/E ratio of -59.33. American Healthcare REIT has a twelve month low of $12.63 and a twelve month high of $29.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. American Healthcare REIT ( NYSE:AHR – Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $523.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $474.26 million. American Healthcare REIT had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 1.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Healthcare REIT will post 1.42 EPS for the current year. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In View Our Latest Analysis on American Healthcare REIT About American Healthcare REIT ( Get Free Report ) Formed by the successful merger of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III and Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV, as well as the acquisition of the business and operations of American Healthcare Investors, American Healthcare REIT is one of the larger healthcare-focused real estate investment trusts globally with assets totaling approximately $4.2 billion in gross investment value. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for American Healthcare REIT Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for American Healthcare REIT and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

Zuby Ejiofor delivered an early Christmas present to St. John's in the form of a buzzer-beating shot to keep the Red Storm's winning streak alive. St. John's (10-2) beat Providence at the horn back on Dec. 20 to win its fifth straight game and move to 2-0 in the Big East. Back on its campus in New York, St. John's will face Delaware on Saturday for one last tune-up before returning to conference action. In the Red Storm's first true road game of the season, Providence led most of the way before Ejiofor and RJ Luis Jr. steered the comeback. Ejiofor made a jumper in the lane in the final second to secure a 72-70 win. Coach Rick Pitino saw evidence that his team had grown from the start of the season. The Red Storm's two losses came on a double-overtime buzzer-beater against Baylor and by three points versus Georgia. "I think they're mentally maturing," Pitino told the New York Post. "Three weeks ago, with missing all those free throws, all those shots, we lose by 12 to 16 points. But they're maturing mentally and getting tougher because (that night) we didn't have it offensively, and they still found a way to win on the road in a tough environment." Ejiofor had 19 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. On a team stacked with talent, he and Luis have been the main catalysts. Luis averages 17.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, and Ejiofor provides 14.6 points and a team-best 7.8 rebounds per contest. Ejiofor's game-winner came on an offensive board and second-chance look. "My philosophy is, and Coach says, every shot is essentially my rebound," Ejiofor said. "I have pride in getting my team a second chance, and that's exactly what I did." Delaware (7-5) has had a quiet month, with two of its three wins coming against non-Division I teams. But its other win in that time was a 93-80 romp against rival Delaware State on Dec. 3. That night, the Blue Hens shot a red-hot 17-of-31 from 3-point range. The 17 makes were one shy of tying the program record. Cavan Reilly (five 3-pointers) led them that night with 20 points, but three other starters also buried three triples. "That's what I envisioned out of this group," coach Martin Ingelsby told the Delaware News Journal, "to have multiple weapons." Delaware would love to rediscover that shooting touch. It made just 6 of 21 shots from deep in a 72-64 loss to Saint Peter's on Dec. 20. John Camden paces Delaware with 14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Four other players average double-figure scoring: Niels Lane (13.7), Reilly (12.9), Erik Timko (12.4) and Izaiah Pasha (10.7). --Field Level MediaAn online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump’s political coalition

By Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times A recent study that recommended toxic chemicals in black plastic products be immediately thrown away included a math error that significantly overstated the risks of contamination, but its authors are standing by their conclusions and warn against using such products. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Chemosphere , experts from the nonprofit Toxic-Free Future said they detected flame retardants and other toxic chemicals in 85% of 203 items made of black plastic including kitchen utensils , take-out containers, children’s toys and hair accessories. The study initially said the potential exposure to chemicals found in one of the kitchen utensils approached the minimum levels the Environmental Protection Agency deemed a health risk. But in an update to the study, the authors say they made an error in their calculations and the real levels were “an order of magnitude lower” than the EPA’s thresholds. The error was discovered by Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Canada. In a blog post, Schwarcz explained that the Toxin-Free Future scientists miscalculated the lower end of what the EPA considered a health risk through a multiplication error. Instead of humans being potentially exposed to a dose of toxic chemicals in black plastic utensils near the minimum level that the EPA deems a health risk, it’s actually about one-tenth of that. Though Schwarcz said the risks outlined in the study aren’t enough for him to discard his black plastic kitchen items if he had them, he agreed with the authors that flame retardants shouldn’t be in these products in the first place. “The math error does not impact the study’s findings, conclusions or recommendations,” said Megan Liu, a co-author of the study who is the science and policy manager for Toxic-Free Future . She added that any traces of flame retardants or toxic chemicals in cooking utensils should be concerning for the public. Flame retardants are getting into commonly used items because black-colored products are being made from recycled electronic waste, such as discarded television sets and computers, that frequently contain the additives. When they’re heated, the flame retardants and other toxic chemicals can migrate out. If you’re wondering whether your old black plastic spoon or other utensils are a part of this group, Liu shared some more guidance. It’s nearly impossible to know whether a black plastic product is contaminated. That’s because these products that include recycled e-waste don’t disclose a detailed list of all ingredients and contaminants in the product. Liu said it’s also unclear how many types of flame retardants are in these black plastic products. Some of the products that researchers tested in this recent study “had up to nine different harmful chemicals and harmful flame retardants in them,” she said. Anytime you’re looking for the type of recycled plastic a product is made of you’re going to look for a number within the chasing arrows (that form a triangle) logo. Recycling symbols are numbered 1 to 7 and we commonly associate the numbers with what we can toss in our blue recycling bins. The 1 through 7 numbers stand for, respectively, polyethylene terephthalate, high-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene or Styrofoam, and miscellaneous plastics (including polycarbonate, polylactide, acrylic, acrylonitrile butadiene, styrene, fiberglass and nylon). The study found higher levels of toxic flame retardants in polystyrene plastic, which is labeled with the number 6, said Liu. There isn’t a definitively timeline of when recycled electronic-waste started to be incorporated into black plastic products specifically, but e-waste started to get recycled in the early 2000s, Liu said. The way computers, cellphones, stereos, printers and copiers were being disposed of previously was to simply add them to a landfill without reusing salvageable parts. But as the National Conference of State Legislatures notes, electronics production required a significant amount of resources that could be recovered through recycling. Recovering resources such as metals, plastics and glass through recycling used a fraction of the energy needed to mine new materials. However, the study pointed out that flame retardants and other chemical contaminates have been detected in and near e-waste recycling facilities, in indoor air and dust at formal e-waste recycling facilities in Canada, China, Spain and the U.S. It also noted contamination in soil samples surrounding e-waste recycling sites in China and Vietnam. The safest nontoxic material options for kitchen utensil are wood and stainless steel. ©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.