
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — LJ Thomas had 25 points in Austin Peay's 62-50 win over Georgia State on Tuesday. Thomas added five assists for the Governors (4-2). Tekao Carpenter scored 12 points while finishing 4 of 9 from 3-point range. The Panthers (3-3) were led by Zarigue Nutter, who recorded 17 points. Malachi Brown added 10 points and two steals for Georgia State. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has asked the country’s regulators, including the financial and competition watchdogs, to remove barriers to growth in an effort to revive a sluggish economy, Sky News reported on Saturday. Starmer wrote to more than ten regulators - including the Financial Conduct Authority, the Competition and Markets Authority and energy and water regulators Ofgem and Ofwat - on Tuesday, asking them to present pro-growth initiatives to Downing Street by mid-January, Sky said. It cited one recipient of the letter, which was also signed by finance minister Rachel Reeves, as saying it was unambiguous in its direction to prioritize economic growth and investment. Sky said the Financial Reporting Council, media regulator Ofcom, the Environment Agency and healthcare regulators also received the letter. Downing Street did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Official figures last week showed Britain’s economy failed to grow during the first three months of Starmer’s new government, adding to signs of a slowdown. Business groups have also said the government’s tax-raising Oct 30 budget would make it harder for companies to invest and recruit workers in the short term. Britain’s economy failed to grow during the first three months of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s new government, official figures showed on Monday, adding to signs of a slowdown that has cast a shadow over his time in office so far. The Office for National Statistics lowered its estimate for the change in gross domestic product output to 0.0 percent in the July-to-September period from a previous estimate of 0.1 percent growth. The ONS also cut its estimate for growth in the second quarter to 0.4 percent from a previous 0.5 percent. Starmer and his finance minister Rachel Reeves took power in early July, warning of the poor state of the economy before announcing tax increases for businesses in a budget on Oct 30 that has alarmed many employers. Analysts, many of whom said the grim tone of the new government risked slowing the economy, said the numbers suggested zero growth over the entire second half of the year. The Bank of England last week forecast that the economy would not grow in the fourth quarter. But it kept borrowing costs on hold because of the risks still posed by inflation. Paul Dales, chief UK economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said the GDP downgrade was caused in part by weaker demand for exports while consumer spending and business investment at home held up. “Our hunch is that 2025 will be a better year for the economy than 2024,” Dales said. Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec, said the economy was only just on course to avoid a recession - defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction - but the data raised the likelihood of the BoE cutting interest rates in early 2025. A separate survey from Lloyds Bank showed confidence among businesses fell to its lowest level of 2024 in December. Data from the Confederation of British Industry - based on previously released surveys - showed companies expected activity to fall and prices to rise in early 2025. Alpesh Paleja, a CBI economist, said the figures “suggest that the economy is headed for the worst of all worlds – firms expect to reduce both output and hiring, and price growth expectations are getting firmer.” The government’s hike in social security contributions for employers was exacerbating weak demand, Paleja said. — Reuters
By Tony Leys | KFF Health News GLENWOOD, Iowa — Hundreds of people who were separated from society because they had disabilities are buried in a nondescript field at the former state institution here. Disability rights advocates hope Iowa will honor them by preventing the kind of neglect that has plagued similar cemeteries at other shuttered facilities around the U.S. The southwest Iowa institution, called the Glenwood Resource Center, was closed this summer in the wake of allegations of poor care . The last of its living residents were moved elsewhere in June. But the remains of about 1,300 people will stay where they were buried on the grounds. The graveyard, which dates to the 1800s, covers several acres of sloping ground near the campus’s brick buildings. A 6-foot-tall, weathered-concrete cross stands on the hillside, providing the most visible clue to the field’s purpose. On a recent afternoon, dried grass clippings obscured row after row of small stone grave markers set flat in the ground. Most of the stones are engraved with only a first initial, a last name, and a number. “If somebody who’s never been to Glenwood drove by, they wouldn’t even know there was a cemetery there,” said Brady Werger, a former resident of the facility. During more than a century of operation, the institution housed thousands of people with intellectual disabilities. Its population declined as society turned away from the practice of sequestering people with disabilities and mental illness in large facilities for decades at a time. The cemetery is filled with residents who died and weren’t returned to their hometowns for burial with their families. State and local leaders are working out arrangements to maintain the cemetery and the rest of the 380-acre campus. Local officials, who are expected to take control of the grounds next June, say they’ll need extensive state support for upkeep and redevelopment, especially with the town of about 5,000 people reeling from the loss of jobs at the institution. Hundreds of such places were constructed throughout the U.S. starting in the 1800s. Some, like the one in Glenwood, served people with disabilities, such as those caused by autism or seizure disorders. Others housed people with mental illness. Most of the facilities were built in rural areas, which were seen as providing a wholesome environment. States began shrinking or closing these institutions more than 50 years ago. The shifts were a response to complaints about people being removed from their communities and subjected to inhumane conditions, including the use of isolation and restraints. In the past decade, Iowa has closed two of its four mental hospitals and one of its two state institutions for people with intellectual disabilities. After closures in some other states, institutions’ cemeteries were abandoned and became overgrown with weeds and brush. The neglect drew protests and sparked efforts to respectfully memorialize people who lived and died at the facilities. “At some level, the restoration of institutions’ cemeteries is about the restoration of humanity,” said Pat Deegan, a Massachusetts mental health advocate who works on the issue nationally . Deegan, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager, sees the neglected graveyards as symbolic of how people with disabilities or mental illness can feel as if their individual identities are buried beneath the labels of their conditions. Deegan, 70, helped lead efforts to rehabilitate a pair of overgrown cemeteries at the Danvers State Hospital near Boston, which housed people with mental illness before it closed in 1992. More than 700 former residents were buried there, with many graves originally marked only with a number. The Massachusetts hospital’s grounds were redeveloped into a condominium complex. The rehabilitated cemeteries now have individual gravestones and a large historical marker, explaining what the facility was and who lived there. The sign notes that some past methods of caring for psychiatric patients seem “barbarous” by today’s standards, but the text portrays the staff as well-meaning. It says the institution “attempted to alleviate the problems of many of its members with care and empathy that, although not always successful, was nobly attempted.” Deegan has helped other groups across the country organize renovations of similar cemeteries. She urges communities to include former residents of the facilities in their efforts. Iowa’s Glenwood Resource Center started as a home for orphans of Civil War soldiers. It grew into a large institution for people with disabilities, many of whom lived there for decades. Its population peaked at more than 1,900 in the 1950s, then dwindled to about 150 before state officials decided to close it. Werger, 32, said some criticisms of the institution were valid, but he remains grateful for the support the staff gave him until he was stable enough to move into community housing in 2018. “They helped change my life incredibly,” he said. He thinks the state should have fixed problems at the facility instead of shutting it. He said he hopes officials preserve historical parts of the campus, including stately brick buildings and the cemetery. He wishes the graves had more extensive headstones, with information about the residents buried there. He would also like to see signs installed explaining the place’s history. Two former employees of the Glenwood facility recently raised concerns that some of the graves may be mismarked . But officials with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, which ran the institution, said they have extensive, accurate records and recently placed stones on three graves that were unmarked. Department leaders declined to be interviewed about the cemetery’s future. Spokesperson Alex Murphy wrote in an email that while no decisions have been made about the campus, the agency “remains committed to ensuring the cemetery is protected and treated with dignity and respect for those who have been laid to rest there.” Glenwood civic leaders have formed a nonprofit corporation that is negotiating with the state over development plans for the former institution. “We’re trying to make the best of a tough situation,” said Larry Winum, a local banker who serves on the new organization’s board. Tentative plans include tearing down some of the existing buildings and creating up to 900 houses and apartments. Winum said redevelopment should include some kind of memorial sign about the institution and the people buried in the cemetery. “It will be important to us that those folks be remembered,” he said. Activists in other states said properly honoring such places takes sustained commitment and money. Jennifer Walton helped lead efforts in the 1990s to properly mark graves and improve cemetery upkeep at state institutions in Minnesota . Some of the cemeteries are deteriorating again, she said. Activists plan to ask Minnesota legislators to designate permanent funding to maintain them and to place explanatory markers at the sites. “I think it’s important, because it’s a way to demonstrate that these spaces represent human beings who at the time were very much hidden away,” Walton said. “No human being should be pushed aside and ignored.” Related Articles Health | A stroke changed a teacher’s life. How a new electrical device is helping her move Health | Washington power has shifted. Here’s how the ACA may shift, too Health | CDC chief urges focus on health threats as agency confronts political changes Health | New rule allows HIV-positive organ transplants Health | Biden proposes Medicare and Medicaid cover costly weight-loss drugs for millions of obese Americans On a recent day, just one of the Glenwood graves had flowers on it. Retired managers of the institution said few people visit the cemetery, but amateur genealogists sometimes show up after learning that a long-forgotten ancestor was institutionalized at Glenwood and buried there. Former grounds supervisor Max Cupp said burials had become relatively rare over the years, with more families arranging to have deceased residents’ remains transported to their hometown cemeteries. One of the last people buried in the Glenwood cemetery was Kenneth Rummells, who died in 2022 at age 71 after living many years at the institution and then at a nearby group home overseen by the state. His guardian was Kenny Jacobsen, a retired employee of the facility who had known him for decades. Rummells couldn’t speak, but he could communicate by grunting, Jacobsen said. He enjoyed sitting outside. “He was kind of quiet, kind of a touch-me-not guy.” Jacobsen helped arrange for a gravestone that is more detailed than most others in the cemetery. The marker includes Rummells’ full name, the dates of his birth and death, a drawing of a porch swing, and the inscription “Forever swinging in the breeze.” Jacobsen hopes officials figure out how to maintain the cemetery. He would like to see a permanent sign erected, explaining who is buried there and how they came to live in Glenwood. “They were people too,” he said.Article content The Montreal Alouettes have signed global kicker Jose Maltos to a two-year contract through the 2026 CFL season, the team announced Thursday. The 33-year-old from Monterrey, Mexico impressed last season while kicker David Côté was out with a lower-body injury. Maltos hit 33-of-36 field goal attempts (97 per cent success rate) and had a streak of 20 consecutive made field goals. He also registered 2,880 yards on 45 kickoffs. Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia said in a release that Maltos has thrived under pressure since being elevated from Montreal’s practice squad. Maltos was selected by Ottawa in the 2019 CFL-LFA draft and spent two seasons with the Redblacks before joining Montreal in 2023.
British Columbia Premier David Eby says Canada’s premiers and the federal government have hatched a game plan over possible U.S. tariffs, where Conservative premiers lobby their Republican counterparts and left-leaning leaders court the Democrats, while the federal government focuses on president-elect Donald Trump. Eby says the premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talked about using their political diversity and connections to approach politicians and business leaders in the United States, as talks over Trump’s proposed 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico ramp up. He says it has been discussed that Conservative premiers Danielle Smith in Alberta, Doug Ford in Ontario and Nova Scotia’s Tim Houston are well-placed to lobby their contacts with Republican governors and business leaders. In a year-end interview, Eby says as a New Democrat leader he will likely have more in common speaking with Democrat governors and business leaders from the West Coast states. He says Canada’s diversity of representation, ranging from the right and left sides of the political spectrum, can bring leverage and advantages in tariff talks. Eby also says — if it is deemed helpful — he is prepared to appear on American’s right-leaning Fox News TV network as did premiers Ford and Smith.
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