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NFL executive assesses Patriots’ offseason, 2023 odds: ‘The talent gap is still pretty significant’

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:29:12 GMT

It’s been three months since the Patriots punctuated their disappointing, dysfunctional and downright rotten 2022 campaign.What have they done to bolster their roster since then?Re-sign most of their defensive free agents, rebuild their offensive tackle depth and make non-trivial upgrades at their skill positions. But will those moves be enough to make the playoffs? What comes next in the draft? And how big is the gap between the Pats and the rest of the AFC East?The Herald posed those questions and more to an NFL front-office executive deeply familiar with the Patriots who spoke on the condition of anonymity.The resulting Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity.Q: What is your overall impression of the Patriots’ offseason?NFL executive: “They obviously targeted offense and wanted to upgrade their weapons, which was smart. They did lose Jakobi (Meyers), and I think he’s a good player, but he’s not a great player. Though I think the same of JuJu ...

Edmunds: 2023 Volvo XC40 Recharge vs. Audi Q4 e-tron

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:29:12 GMT

With its original e-tron, Audi was one of the first luxury European automakers to offer an electric vehicle. Last year, it expanded its lineup with the more affordable Q4 e-tron. Slotting between two gas-powered models, the smaller Q3 and the larger Q5, the Q4 e-tron is an all-electric compact luxury SUV. It has a lot going for it but it’s not the only small European luxury EV vying for your attention. Another top option is the Volvo XC40 Recharge. It’s based on the brand’s stylish XC40 but is powered by electricity instead of gasoline. The car experts at Edmunds compare them to find out which one is the better buy.PERFORMANCE AND RANGE Audi offers the Q4 e-tron in two powertrain configurations: a single-motor base version that makes 201 horsepower and a dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup good for 295 horsepower. The latter variant accelerated from 0 to 60 mph in a respectable 5.7 seconds in Edmunds’ testing. It also delivered responsive handling and proved to be plenty maneuverable i...

Mississauga set to reconsider ban on cannabis retail stores

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:29:12 GMT

Ontario’s largest municipality without any legal cannabis retail stores is set to reconsider its prohibition Wednesday, with a city report highlighting that its residents are “disproportionately” served by the illegal market.Mississauga was one of dozens of municipalities to bar retail cannabis stores from their communities when legalization came into effect in 2018. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is responsible for issuing licences, but the government left it up to municipalities to opt in or out of hosting stores.Now, four and a half years later, with more than 1,700 legal stores across the province and the sector contributing $13.3 billion to Ontario’s GDP — per a recent Deloitte analysis cited in a city staff report — there’s a push to get Mississauga on board.City councillors are set to discuss a motion Wednesday from Coun. Dipika Damerla to lift the ban on cannabis stores. Mississauga has spent the past several years advo...

Woman contracted to drive kids home from school charged with impaired driving

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:29:12 GMT

A woman who was contracted out to drive children home from school has been charged with impaired driving, according to police.Toronto police say they received reports of a van striking several vehicles in the city’s west-end shortly after school was let out on Tuesday afternoon.Several witnesses called 911 after spotting the vehicle driving erratically and swerving all over the road. Officers stopped the van near Dufferin and Bloor streets and say there were kids onboard at the time.Police say it is unclear how many vehicles were struck and how many children were inside the van at the time of the incident.No injuries were reported.The driver, a woman in her 40s, has been charged with impaired driving.Police say more information will be released on Wednesday.

MTY Food Group reports Q1 profit up, acquisitions help revenue more than double

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:29:12 GMT

MONTREAL — MTY Food Group Inc. reported a first-quarter profit of $18.4 million, up from $16.6 million a year earlier, as acquisitions helped its revenue to more than double.The restaurant franchisor says its profit amounted to 75 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Feb. 28, up from 68 cents per diluted share a year earlier.Revenue at MTY totalled $286.0 million for the quarter, up from $140.5 million in the same quarter last year, while system sales totalled a record $1.36 billion, up from $885.7 million.MTY says the increase in revenue was mainly due to its BBQ Holdings, Wetzel’s Pretzels, and Sauce Pizza and Wine acquisitions.MTY franchises and operates restaurants under more than 85 different banners in Canada, the United States and internationally.At the end of its first quarter, MTY’s network had 7,128 locations in operation, including 6,895 that were franchised or under operator agreements and 233 corporate locations.This report by The Canadian Press was...

Andalusia considers more irrigation near Spanish wetlands

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:29:12 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A plan to increase irrigation in an area adjoining one of Europe’s most prized wetlands is set to advance Wednesday when lawmakers in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia vote in favor. The proposal to rezone the lands goes against the advice of ecologists and repeated warnings from European Union officials.The vote is expected to start the bill down the path towards becoming law. It is sponsored by the ruling conservative Popular Party, which holds an absolute majority in the regional parliament based in Seville. It also has the support of the far-right Vox party.If the measure becomes law, some 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of land near the Doñana nature reserve will be declared as irrigable. This would grant an amnesty to the many farms that already use illegal wells to tap into the aquifer underlying the wetlands to grow strawberries for export across Europe. The Popular Party says that its intention is to help farmers who are in a legal limbo regulari...

Tim Scott unveils 2024 White House exploratory committee

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:29:12 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is taking the next official step toward a bid for president in 2024.In a video released Wednesday morning, Scott announced he was forming an exploratory committee, which moves him closer to a formal campaign for the White House. He leaned into his biography as a Black man who overcame poverty to argue that Democrats are too liberal and have needlessly divided the country by fostering a “culture of grievance.”“All too often when they get called out for their failures, they weaponize race to divide us, to hold onto their power,” he said. “When I fought back against their liberal agenda, they called me a prop. A token. Because I disrupt their narrative. I threaten their control.”For months, Scott has been developing the infrastructure to accompany a bid for the White House, building out his political action committee and visiting early voting states. On Wednesday, he’s traveling to Iowa, the state that will k...

Credit Suisse rescue rebuked by half of Swiss parliament

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:29:12 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s lower house of parliament issued a searing — though symbolic — rebuke Wednesday of an emergency plan spearheaded by the executive branch to prop up embattled Credit Suisse and shepherd it into a takeover by Swiss banking rival UBS. The National Council, through an unusual left-right alliance, voted 102 to 71 to reject government guarantees authorized last month of 100 billion Swiss francs (about $110 billion) to help keep Credit Suisse afloat and 9 billion francs to help UBS mop up any losses it may incur in the takeover. The vote took place as part of a three-day special parliamentary session that opened Tuesday to scrutinize long-running troubles at Credit Suisse, a 167-year-old bank that was a pillar of Swiss finance, and the plan to save it from a collapse that could have had major implications for the global financial system.The vote, above all, amounted to a rebuke of the executive branch at a time when Switzerland is gearing up for crucial le...

Why new grads shouldn’t fear a recession

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:29:12 GMT

In 2023 alone, there have been over 118,000 U.S. tech layoffs, according to Crunchbase News, a business publication. That’s in addition to two major bank collapses and two federal rate hikes. The class of 2023 will graduate into this economic upheaval while facing another variable: student loan payments.This can be an overwhelming and confusing time for those set to begin repayment of student debt, says Barry Coleman, vice president of program management and education at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling . Coleman cites the expected end of a three-year pause on federal student loan payments, legal challenges to federal student debt relief programs and the potential impact of inflation on the job market as reasons new graduates could feel uneasy.But new grads don’t need to panic. Here’s how they can weather a potential recession and the financial uncertainty that might come with it.HAVE A PLAN FOR YOUR STUDENT LOANS, NO MATTER THE ECONOMYUnderstanding your student debt is...

Musk says owning Twitter ‘painful’ but needed to be done

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:29:12 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Billionaire Elon Musk has told the BBC that running Twitter has been “quite painful” but that the social media company is now roughly breaking even after he acquired it late last year. In an interview also streamed live late Tuesday on Twitter Spaces, Musk discussed his ownership of the online platform, including layoffs, misinformation and his work style. “It’s not been boring. It’s quite a rollercoaster,” he told the U.K. broadcaster at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.It was a rare chance for a mainstream news outlet to interview Musk, who also owns Tesla and SpaceX. After buying Twitter for $44 billion last year, Musk’s changes included eliminating the company’s communiciations department. Reporters who email the company to seek comment now receive an auto-reply with a poop emoji.The interview was sometimes tense, with Musk challenging the reporter to back up assertions about rising levels of hate speech on the platform. At other times, Musk l...