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Lea Miller-Tooley hopped off a call to welcome the Baylor women’s basketball team to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, where 80-degree temperatures made it easy for the Bears to settle in on Paradise Island a week before Thanksgiving. About 5,000 miles west of the Caribbean nation, similar climes awaited Maui Invitational men's teams in Hawaii. They’ve often been greeted with leis, the traditional Hawaiian welcome of friendship. College basketball teams and fans look forward to this time of the year. The holiday week tournaments feature buzzworthy matchups and all-day TV coverage, sure, but there is a familiarity about them as they help ward off the November chill. For four decades, these sandy-beach getaways filled with basketball have become a beloved mainstay of the sport itself. “When you see (ESPN’s) ‘Feast Week’ of college basketball on TV, when you see the Battle 4 Atlantis on TV, you know college basketball is back,” said Miller-Tooley , the founder and organizer of the Battle 4 Atlantis men's and women's tournaments. “Because it’s a saturated time of the year with the NFL, college football and the NBA. But when you see these gorgeous events in these beautiful places, you realize, ‘Wow, hoops are back, let’s get excited.’” The Great Alaska Shootout was the trend-setting multiple-team event (MTE) nearly five decades ago. The brainchild of late Alaska-Anchorage coach Bob Rachal sought to raise his program’s profile by bringing in national-power programs, which could take advantage of NCAA rules allowing them to exceed the maximum allotment of regular-season games if they played the three-game tournament outside the contiguous 48 states. The first edition, named the Sea Wolf Classic, saw N.C. State beat Louisville 72-66 for the title on Nov. 26, 1978. The Maui Invitational followed in November 1984, borne from the buzz of NAIA program Chaminade’s shocking upset of top-ranked Virginia and 7-foot-4 star Ralph Sampson in Hawaii two years earlier. Events kept coming, with warm-weather locales getting in on the action. The Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Cancun Challenge in Mexico. The Cayman Islands Classic. The Jamaica Classic. The Myrtle Beach Invitational joining the Charleston Classic in South Carolina. Numerous tournaments in Florida. Some events have faded away like the Puerto Rico Tipoff and the Great Alaska Shootout, the latter in 2017 amid event competition and schools opting for warm-weather locales. Miller-Tooley’s push to build an MTE for Atlantis began as a December 2010 doubleheader with Georgia Tech beating Richmond and Virginia Tech beating Mississippi State in a prove-it moment for a tournament’s viability. It also required changing NCAA legislation to permit MTEs in the Bahamas. Approval came in March 2011; the first eight-team Atlantis men’s tournament followed in November. That tournament quickly earned marquee status with big-name fields, with Atlantis champions Villanova (2017) and Virginia (2018) later winning that season’s NCAA title. Games run in a ballroom-turned-arena at the resort, where players also check out massive swimming pools, water slides and inner-tube rapids surrounded by palm trees and the Atlantic Ocean. “It’s just the value of getting your passport stamped, that will never get old,” Miller-Tooley said. “Watching some of these kids, this may be their first and last time — and staff and families — that they ever travel outside the United States. ... You can see through these kids’ eyes that it’s really an unbelievable experience.” ACC Network analyst Luke Hancock knows that firsthand. His Louisville team finished second at Atlantis in 2012 and won that year’s later-vacated NCAA title, with Hancock as the Final Four's most outstanding player. “I remember (then-coach Rick Pitino) saying something to the effect of: ‘Some of you guys might never get this opportunity again. We’re staying in this unbelievable place, you’re doing it with people you love,’” Hancock said. “It was a business trip for us there at Thanksgiving, but he definitely had a tone of ‘We’ve got to enjoy this as well.’” Maui offers similar vibes, though 2024 could be a little different as Lahaina recovers from deadly 2023 wildfires that forced the event's relocation last year. North Carolina assistant coach Sean May played for the Tar Heels’ Maui winner in 2004 and was part of UNC’s staff for the 2016 champion, with both teams later winning the NCAA title. May said “you just feel the peacefulness” of the area — even while focusing on games — and savors memories of the team taking a boat out on the Pacific Ocean after title runs under now-retired Hall of Famer Roy Williams. “Teams like us, Dukes, UConns – you want to go to places that are very well-run,” May said. “Maui, Lea Miller with her group at the Battle 4 Atlantis, that’s what drives teams to come back because you know you’re going to get standard A-quality of not only the preparation but the tournament with the way it’s run. Everything is top-notch. And I think that brings guys back year after year.” That’s why Colorado coach Tad Boyle is so excited for the Buffaloes’ first Maui appearance since 2009. “We’ve been trying to get in the tournament since I got here,” said Boyle, now in his 15th season. And of course, that warm-weather setting sure doesn’t hurt. “If you talk about the Marquettes of the world, St. John’s, Providence — they don’t want that cold weather,” said NBA and college TV analyst Terrence Oglesby, who played for Clemson in the 2007 San Juan Invitational in Puerto Rico. “They’re going to have to deal with that all January and February. You might as well get a taste of what the sun feels like.” The men’s Baha Mar Championship in Nassau, Bahamas, got things rolling last week with No. 11 Tennessee routing No. 13 Baylor for the title. The week ahead could boast matchups befitting the Final Four, with teams having two weeks of action since any opening-night hiccups. “It’s a special kickoff to the college basketball season,” Oglesby said. “It’s just without the rust.” On the women’s side, Atlantis began its fourth eight-team women’s tournament Saturday with No. 16 North Carolina and No. 18 Baylor, while the nearby Baha Mar resort follows with two four-team women’s brackets that include No. 2 UConn, No. 7 LSU, No. 17 Mississippi and No. 20 N.C. State. Then come the men’s headliners. The Maui Invitational turns 40 as it opens Monday back in Lahaina . It features second-ranked and two-time reigning national champion UConn , No. 4 Auburn , No. 5 Iowa State and No. 10 North Carolina. The Battle 4 Atlantis opens its 13th men’s tournament Wednesday, topped by No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 16 Indiana and No. 17 Arizona. Michigan State Hall of Famer Tom Izzo is making his fourth trip to Maui, where he debuted as Jud Heathcote’s successor at the 1995 tournament. Izzo's Spartans have twice competed at Atlantis, last in 2021 . “They’re important because they give you something in November or December that is exciting,” Izzo said. Any drawbacks? “It’s a 10-hour flight,” he said of Hawaii. AP Sports Writers Pat Graham in Colorado and Larry Lage in Michigan contributed to this report. 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-basketballPACS Investors Have Opportunity to Lead PACS Group Inc. Securities Fraud Lawsuit

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Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Dec. 8, 2024The South Santiam River looked exactly as expected one recent afternoon in November — like algae as it gushed, brown-green and somewhat opaque over a low-head dam in Lebanon. And that's a weirdly colored, vaguely chlorine-scented problem for nearly 30,000 East Linn County residents who rely on the river as their main source of drinking water. The Green Peter reservoir is being drawn down to a level of 142 feet below the normal winter levels to improve the survival rates of chinook and steel head populations passing through the dam. The move has local drinking water looking more murky, causing some residents concern. Public works officials say it's safe. "This will be the second time we've called for a halt to it," Lebanon City Manager Ron Whitlatch said by phone Wednesday, Nov. 20. He was referring to Lebanon's entreaty, for the second time in consecutive years, to Oregon health officials to stop the drawdown of a nearby reservoir where sediment — dirt and bits of animal and plant — that accumulated for nearly 12 months is now flowing out from behind Green Peter Dam. A federal court has ordered the drawdown, bringing the water levels to historic lows, to help endangered salmon species swim downstream. And just like last year, all of the muck from the drawdown is gumming up the equipment that filters and sanitizes the drinking water channeled from an intake in southeastern Lebanon. "I'm not sure how far it will go — not far, I expect," Whitlatch said of the city's plea. "But we shall see." In October local elected officials declared an emergency to quickly maneuver funds after Lebanon spent nearly $500,000 replacing filters and paying for overtime at its water treatment plant following the last drawdown, in 2023. Sweet Home's city council did the same for their municipality upstream on the South Santiam, declaring an emergency the night before. That was all before this year's drawdown began in earnest. In the wake of last year's drawdown, local and state politicos called upon Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek to cover the $45 million in chemical costs and wear and tear on water treatment plants. She turned around and passed the blame to the feds , which operates the dam system in the area. Accordingly, the cities filed a claim last month with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to recover the costs. Such claims are often precursors to lawsuits. Federal rules and salmon advocates, including the Kalapuya people who lived along the Santiam before the arrival of European settlers, say juvenile salmon aren't supposed to swim through deeply pooled reservoirs. Kathleen George, a tribal councilor from the Confederate Tribes of Grand Ronde, said in an emailed statement that chinook salmon caught near the mouth of Columbia River are at "high risk of extinction by 2040," citing federal estimates. "Time is running out, and reservoir drawdowns are an important tool to allow juvenile fish safe passage downstream," George said in the statement. So this year’s drawdown is different ; a modified plan and varying rain levels may be why the water is little less murky — so far. In a letter, Whitlatch urged the state's public health officials to "prompt" the Army Corps to act on the modified order. Writing to the Oregon Health Authority, he predicted that the turbidity, the technical word for murkiness, will continue to rise. "This risks Lebanon's ability to provide safe drinking water and continues to damage our water treatment plant," Whitlatch wrote. Some Lebanites aren't convinced. “This exact thing happened last year,” Lebanon resident Jennifer Griffiths said, referring to her drinking water's appearance and odor. She noticed the color of their bath water was tinged a yellow-green. Griffiths, who lives with her 3-year-old child and husband, said that just standing in the bathroom gives her a headache. She thinks it’s the chlorine added to the water that is making her feel that way. Her pets started throwing up, she added, so her family has started using bottled water instead. When Griffiths called the city, employees told her the changes she was seeing to her water were from the drawdown and that the city was working to continue to produce safe water. The greenish tinge is a result of color from plant matter, public works officials have said. As the drawdown creates less water in the reservoir, the concentration of organic matter is higher. Tannins are a breakdown of vegetation and are not harmful to human health. They can be reduced but it is difficult to get rid of the water completely. A couple of residents have complained so far, with most ask whether their water is safe after seeing discourse on Facebook, Whitlatch said. “Of course the water is safe; we are working to keep it that way,” he said. The city pushed out additional guidance in a news release Friday morning, Nov. 22. “While this discoloration may be alarming, it is not harmful to your health,” Whitlatch said in the release. “If at any time water quality falls below safe standards, providers will issue a public notice.” Lebanon is supplying water with the same levels of microbe-killing chlorine and acidity that it always does, according to city reports based on state-required sampling. But it takes a lot more chlorine, Whitlatch said, to keep up with the muck stirred from the bottom of Green Peter Reservoir, dissolved in the South Santiam and flowing into the headworks of the city’s facilities where water is then disinfected and piped to the rest of the city. Chlorine levels in Lebanon typically hover around 1 or fewer parts per million, or ppm. The city has been adding about 1.5 ppm of chlorine since the drawdown's start, Whitlatch said. The maximum level of chlorine that can be added safely is 4 ppm. For example, the ideal range of an average swimming pool hovers around 2 to 4 ppm. Testing through Tuesday, Nov. 19, showed light passed through untreated water at more than 150 nephelometric turbidity units, a measurement of opacity. Turbidity in South Santiam water measured at a much lower average of 5 units on Oct. 25. "It's been more consistent this year," Whitlatch said compared to last year's spikes. When Sweet Home resident Brandy Wysong-Frick noticed a rash on her husband’s side abdomen, she thought it might be shingles. It was itchy but not painful, she said. Then it got worse the next time he showered, she said. “Within 30 minutes there were rashes over his whole body,” she said. During last year’s drawdown their home was unaffected, so the pair didn’t even consider it was due to the water until he washed his hands and started to get a rash there too, said Wysong-Frick, one of the many candidates this year for City Council . She didn't win. Her husband has always been extremely allergic to chlorine, she said. He can’t even be in a room with an indoor pool. The couple also noticed that their dogs seemed more dehydrated. So, they started to boil their water too and bought a filter for the shower head. Several others posted on the community Facebook group about concerns over the color, smell and feeling itchy from chlorine in the water. But unlike Lebanon, Sweet Home isn’t adding more chlorine to their treated water. There isn’t any more chlorine being added to the water supply than the normal amount, Public Works Director Greg Springman said. The chlorine levels hover around .4 to .7 ppm, which is about the same levels during no-drawdown times. Their city has a different approach than last year, Springman said. This year, employees are only adding more aluminum chloride in the treatment process, which is filtered out before being disinfected, the last step before the water makes its way to households. So really, Sweet Home residents should have less chlorine in their water compared to last year’s drawdown, Springman said. The water is also less murky than it was around this time last year, he said. “This year it’s a little less impactful, but it’s still a high turbidity,” Springman said. By comparison, some of the highest turbidity the city experienced last year was around 300 ntu, and the most recent readings hover above 100, he said. The city hasn’t received many complaints, maybe about three, he said. For those that ask, the city will come out and test the chlorine in their water. Sweet Home is constantly logging the amount of chlorine it uses everyday, he added. The city also has a webpage that provides updated information about the city’s water quality. A Thursday, Nov. 21 update says that the city is expecting higher turbidity with a heavier rainy season. “You may see some discoloration of your water due to the turbidity, or a change in smell due to necessary changes to our treatment methods. Despite these changes, again, all water is tested for quality and safety before it goes to your home or business,” the web page reads. Staff are also working around the clock because to clean the murkier water. With that need for more backwashing, it takes longer to meet the daily water demand, he added. “We want people to know that we are confident in producing clean water, and we are watching this 24/7,” he said. The trend is fairly consistent across other downstream communities. Overall, Public Works Director Chris Bailey confirmed, Albany workers also are noticing the turbidity isn’t spiking as high as it was last year — so far. That may be because the target elevation wasn’t reached at Green Peter until Nov. 10, Water Superintendent Scott LaRoque said. “Now that the banks of Green Peter are exposed, each storm event is washing sediment into the water and making its way downstream. Last year we had a few more significant rain events that contributed to higher turbidity leaving Green Peter than we have seen so far this year.” Albany has received two complaints, both about the color of the water, he said. Baily said there may be a psychological component at play, in that people are more sensitive to the changes because of the visible change in the color of the water, Bailey said. That was something that was difficult to communicate. The city can produce safe water, but the change in color makes it difficult for people to trust it, she said. Like Sweet Home, Albany also isn’t putting extra chlorine in its water this year, LaRoche said. The water is safe, he said, and the city is handling the higher turbidity. Still, officials won’t know for sure what the toll of processing the higher turbidity will be. The city plans to do an analysis on how the drawdown has affected the life expectancy of its their equipment. More Lebanon news More Sweet Home news More Albany news Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. 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An Italian renewable energy giant and Japan's largest oil and gas company are plugging into Australia's clean energy resources under the banner of a new company. Potentia Energy will be launched at the Sydney Opera House on Monday as an Australian renewable energy firm co-owned by Rome-headquartered Enel Green Power and INPEX. With rights in place for a development pipeline of over seven gigawatts across the country, Potentia is most focused on developing and acquiring assets in NSW, Queensland and Western Australia, chief executive Werther Esposito told AAP. The company is not deterred by the risk of political change, with opinion polls favouring the coalition ahead of the 2025 federal election. "The energy transition will go ahead in any case. There could be an acceleration or slowing down in the process," Mr Esposito said. "Renewables represent, from a technical and economic perspective, the solution for climate change," he said. "I don't think any government could deny that today wind and solar are cheaper than other technologies, and are faster in reaching the phase of deployment and construction and then supply of renewable energy." NSW had suffered some planning delays that had hit investment but there had been a "strong improvement" in the past 12 to 18 months, he said. The company also has a stake in Queensland, particularly in the north's Copperstring area, where the recently elected LNP government has pledged to stick by a massive transmission project begun under Labor. Enel won the bidding in 2024 to develop renewable energy to power a vanadium mining and processing project, which is one of a number of giant resources projects intended to be connected to the $9 billion Copperstring transmission line from Townsville to Mt Isa. WA offered a "huge opportunity" for the deployment of wind farms and battery energy storage systems, Mr Esposito said. With a decades-long footprint in Australia's north and west, INPEX is Japan's largest fossil fuel exploration and production company. Under pressure to reduce its global contribution to climate change, INPEX is already developing the production of liquid hydrogen and ammonia. "They elected Australia as the market to start diversification of the energy mix and huge investment in renewables," Mr Esposito said. "Of course in this regard, Australia is the place to be," he said. Enel and INPEX joined forces in a share purchase agreement in 2023, with the renewables business operating plants comprising 310 megawatts of solar capacity across South Australia and Victoria and a 75MW wind farm in Western Australia. A 93MW solar farm is under commissioning in Victoria and financial close was recently announced for a hybrid 98MW solar and 20MW battery project in NSW. But with international firms lining up to exploit clean energy resources, Australians living alongside projects are demanding a share of future profits through community funds, power bill rebates and other benefits. "The energy transition should be just. To be just it means that you need to support the communities and involve the communities in a proper way," Mr Esposito said. He said Enel was proud of its legacy in providing support to areas facing a changing landscape and the impact of new infrastructure, including community funds, a focus on local hiring and providing training to support new jobs. "It's an approach that is, for us, absolutely a pillar of our strategy," he said. "We are still facing some regulatory ambiguity in what a social licence means, and we are trying to be a leader in the industry in helping and supporting all the key stakeholders in determining and defining what it is."

Lebanon asks Oregon to halt drawdown at Green Peter

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Green Bay Packers standout cornerback Jaire Alexander missed the team’s Week 9 game with an injury, then played just 10 snaps in his Week 11 return against the Chicago Bears. As it turns out, what was characterized as a knee injury was a good bit more severe than that. Alexander admitted Thursday that he has been dealing with a torn PCL and will miss more time as a result. Alexander had been hopeful that he would be able to battle through the injury, but he aggravated the problem during his limited showing against Chicago. “I stayed here the whole bye week trying to hopefully come back and make an impact for the team,” Alexander said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic . “It was a game-time decision at that, so we didn’t know ... until, you know, a few minutes before the game if I would play or not. “I just tried to give it a go ... I went out there and s–t, all I could really give was 10 plays and then it — I felt something. If you know how (posterior cruciate ligaments) work, it don’t just get done in three weeks, so it just needed more time. I reaggravated it going back out there and only doing 10 plays, so now we just trying to get my knee back right.” A two-time All-Pro selection, injuries have been a big problem for Alexander over the last few seasons. He was limited to seven games in 2023, the same total he has played in this year. He and the Packers are not putting a timetable on his return, so it seems safe he will miss at least a few more weeks. Alexander has 16 total tackles and two interceptions for Green Bay this season. This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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