Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, top left, sits on the bench with George Hill, from bottom left, Kevin Love, third from left at rear, Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith during the second half of Game 2 of basketball’s NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, June 3, 2018. The Warriors won 122-103. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)OAKLAND, Calif. — J.R. Smith turned from villain to Warriors’ fan favorite thanks to his memorable blunder.Unfortunately for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Smith was a nonfactor Sunday night after his late-game mistake in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.ADVERTISEMENT Steam emission over Taal’s main crater ‘steady’ for past 24 hours Jiro Manio arrested for stabbing man in Marikina Lacson: Calamity fund cut; where did P4 billion go? View comments Smith was a prominent figure in Game 1 for all the wrong reasons. He grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw by George Hill in the final seconds of regulation with the game tied. Smith then dribbled toward midcourt as if he was running out the clock and thinking Cleveland had the lead. The Cavs couldn’t get off a shot and lost in overtime.James and coach Tyronn Lue raved about Smith’s ability to bounce back from tough moments but that didn’t happen Sunday. The Cavs will need much more from Smith when the series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 on Wednesday night if they are going to match their comeback from an 0-2 deficit that they accomplished in beating the Warriors for the title two years ago and in the Eastern Conference finals last month against Boston.James was his typical brilliant self but was unable to match the 51-point scoring he had in the opener as the Warriors made a stronger effort to pick him up quicker to make him work for everything.James, who played with a bloodshot left eye after getting poked by Draymond Green in Game 1, finished with 29 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds. He made 10 of 20 shots from the field but was not nearly as efficient as he was the series opener.The Cavs once again failed to take advantage of good looks from 3-point range that are apt to come with all the attention Golden State pays to James. They shot just 9 for 27 from long range and are at 35 percent for the series, a number that will need to improve if Cleveland wants to reverse the tide of the finals.ADVERTISEMENT Volcano watch: Island fissures steaming, lake water receding Carpio hits red carpet treatment for China Coast Guard PLAY LIST 02:14Carpio hits red carpet treatment for China Coast Guard02:56NCRPO pledges to donate P3.5 million to victims of Taal eruption00:56Heavy rain brings some relief in Australia02:37Calm moments allow Taal folks some respite03:23Negosyo sa Tagaytay City, bagsak sa pag-aalboroto ng Bulkang Taal01:13Christian Standhardinger wins PBA Best Player award Dave Chappelle donates P1 million to Taal relief operations China population now over 1.4 billion as birthrate falls Winfrey details her decision to withdraw from Simmons film Curry dazzles from deep, Warriors take 2-0 NBA Finals lead Smith has been one of the Cavs best options from 3-point range, but he was just 1 for 4 in this game.Sports Related Videospowered by AdSparcRead Next After he inexplicably dribbled out the clock at the end of regulation in a tied game, Smith was basically a nonfactor on a night LeBron James needed all the help he could get to keep up with Stephen Curry and the Warriors.Smith made just 2 of 9 shots and didn’t make a single basket after the first quarter as the Cavaliers fell into an 0-2 series hole after a 122-103 defeat.FEATURED STORIESSPORTSGinebra beats Meralco again to capture PBA Governors’ Cup titleSPORTSAfter winning title, time for LA Tenorio to give back to Batangas folkSPORTSTim Cone, Ginebra set their sights on elusive All-Filipino crownThe game started with Smith getting loud cheers from the Warriors fans, who booed him mercilessly in Game 1 after Smith slipped and fell into Klay Thompson’s leg, sending the Warriors guard to the locker room briefly with an injury.That sarcastic support continued all game long, with Smith getting serenaded with chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” on a trip to the foul line in the first quarter. MOST READ Lights inside SMX hall flicker as Duterte rants vs Ayala, Pangilinan anew LATEST STORIES Don’t miss out on the latest news and information. Jury of 7 men, 5 women selected for Weinstein rape trial
Division two Heats scraped Blazers 62-56 points to level the score 2-2, in their best-out-of-five encounters, at the Sports Commission on Broad Street last Wednesday.Heats controlled the floor in the first quarter 20-11 points, but the Blazers made some amendments and led the 2nd quarter 19-12 points. After recess, Blazers sustained the floor in the third quarter 15-12 points, but Heats consolidated and repaired to blast Blazers 18-11 points to win.In the female division, triple champs K-Delta dashed the dream of Timber Wolves 47-45 points to rotate the tally to 2-2.For the 1st division, LPRC Oilers chipped the tally 2-1 on Wednesday to also deny Mighty Barrolle the glory.Oilers bashed Mighty Barrolle 73-67 points in an entertaining basketball game which put the gold-and-black fans to their heels and saddened the red fans.A diehard Barrolle fan, Edith Gray said: “We are still in the lead and hopeful of this year’s championship.”“This is our time,” Bobby Morris of Paynesville said. “Nothing will stop us this time around…nothing…absolutely nothing.”The best-out-of-five games were supposed to continue on Friday but the games were rained off as well as on Saturday and were scheduled for yesterday.A win for Barrolle will automatically make her champion after more than a decade of title drought but a loss will flatten the tally 2-2 and the final battle would be on Wednesday.Meanwhile, a win for either side in the second and female divisions will make them champions for the LBA 2014 Basketball League.A lot of diehard female fans tipped Timber Wolves to emerge champions to undercut K-Delta’s dominance.Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Minister Samuel D. Tweah (pictured) explained that the significant share in the increase of the wage of central government came from the health pool drive of US$11 million.-But Sen Morais challenges Min Tweah over number of people currently employed In what appeared to be a rebuttal to Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel Tweah’s disclosure of the number of persons employed by this Government, Senator H. Dan Morais on Thursday, September 5, 2019, told Senate plenary that government has employed additional 14,800 on its payroll, and not 1,200 as claimed the Minister.Senator Morais, cross-examining the Finance Minister who has been on the witness stand for three days, reminded him (Tweah) that, based on his own survey, “the grand total of employees to include public and civil servants at this moment is about 71,800.”The Maryland County Senator furthered that in 20 months, “if we can be truthful and honest to ourselves, we could graduate from where are. I took what you presented us on Tuesday home and put it under the microscope and I noticed from my simple arithmetic, and from a document sourced from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, the IMF and the World Bank, that this thing though partially true, there are lots of omissions.”Senator Morais, a former Superintendent and Minister of Internal Affairs, put it to Minister Tweah that, after all the interventions, “this government, under your watch has employed an additional 14,800 persons instead of 1,000, instead of 2000 or 3000.”Morais continued: “Taken from your own analysis, by January 2018, total monthly wage bill for the public sector, including civil servants hovered between 21.6 million to 22.5 million.”Still grilling the embattled Minister, Senator Morais further observed that by the end of fiscal year 2017/2018, “total public sector compensation increased to US$308.6 million, this is principally credited to the government policy of additional employment and pay increases. By this time, as of June 2019, this is what we have — a payroll with approximately, including civil servants, 72,000, instead of what is being presented to us.”The soft but outspoken Senator further put it that the total number of public sector workers as of January 2018 stood at 57,000, including public servants of 44,000, “but when you tie that to what you have done over the last two years, the variance and employment we see here says you have employed 14,800 new persons to our payroll, that’s what our figure shows.”However, responding to the Senator’s cross-examination, Minister Tweah firstly bragged that, besides being an economist, he graduated Magna Cum Laude in mathematics from the University of Liberia. He displayed through power-point what he claimed to be the authoritative figure from central government which shows that 70,000 workers as of January 2018 in all of the government systems, which includes 43,000 civil servants plus 25,000 people on general allowance, central government.Minister Tweah explained that the significant share in the increase of the wage of central government came from the health pool drive of US$11 million; and the government hired the rest of the people. “It is not mathematically possible in any one fiscal year for this central government to employ 14,800 persons on payroll.”The heated argument to determine the correct number of government employees as of January 2018 to June 2019, ensued between Minister Tweah and Senator Morais.Senator Morais then reminded Minister Tweah that the IMF intervention came about when that institution observed that the government wage analysis/bill was way up, it suggested that it needs to be harmonized. “Let’s be fair and honest to ourselves in how we treat this matter; Ghanaians years ago stood in line to buy sardines, what we are using now as our litmus test, but they were honest and fair to themselves; once we identify our problem and speak to it, we can find a way to solve it. If we have added 14,800 persons,,let’s defend why we added 14,800, we can’t stay in the state of denial.”Meanwhile, the Minister was relieved from the witness stand, through a motion proffered by Senator J. Alphonso Gaye.Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Two employees attached to Automotive Arts on Croal Street, Georgetown were on Wednesday relieved of a bag containing close to million in cash by two armed men. The incident occurred just after 13:00h.The workers, according to reports, had just returned from a commercial bank and as they exited their motor car, a black car pulled up alongside them and stopped. As the black car came to a halt, one man who was carrying a hand gun exited and grabbed the bag that contained the money.The gunman then reportedly discharged a round into the air and hurriedly entered the waiting motor car, which fled the scene. By this time, several persons from within the building rushed out and immediately summoned the Police.An official of the paint company told media operatives that two workers went to the bank to collect “change money” and confirmed that it was less than $1 million. A Police source told Guyana Times that they were up to late Wednesday evening reviewing the surveillance footage captured by the business place.He noted that the man who exited the getaway car was not wearing a mask and the Police would check their database to see if there was a match.The manager of the company was happy no one was hurt during the robbery, but related that the two employees were traumatised.
The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) will be conducting line maintenance from Monday, December 10 to Sunday, December 16, within the perimeters of Georgetown and other sections of communities along the coastline.The maintenance will commence on Monday at Cummings Lodge and Area H, Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) from 08:00h to 16:00h.On Tuesday December 11, works will continue at Project Dawn, Demerara Estates, Beterverwagting and Triumph South of the Railway Embankment from 08:00h to 19:00h. During the period of 08:00h to 18:00h, the Mahaicony Branch Road will be facilitated.Meanwhile, on Wednesday, December 12, Parika to Naamryck on the East Bank of Essequibo, will be covered from 08:00h to 17:00h.Number 53 Village to Auchlyne, Berbice, will be done from 18:00h to 17:00h while Happy Acres, ECD is scheduled for 08:00h to 16:00h.On Thursday, December 12, Christiani Street, North Ruimveldt and surrounding environs will commence from 08:30h to 17:30h. Simultaneously, Oleander Gardens, Shamrock Gardens, Ogle North and the Lusignan Prison Road, South of the Railway Embankment will be facilitated from 08:00h to 16:00h.South of Market Street, Beterverwagting, ECD, will see works on Friday, December 14.Maintenance will continue on Saturday, December 15 at Tucville and Lamaha Park from 08:00h to 17:00h, while Enmore to Annandale and Nabaclis Middle Walk will be done during that same time.The last maintenance is scheduled to conclude on Sunday, December 16, in Georgetown at Queenstown, Albert Street, North Road and Woolford Avenue from 08:00h to 17:00h.Less than one week ago, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson had assured Guyanese that there would be full electricity capacity for the entire Christmas season. According to him, GPL has a supply of 134 megawatts of power and there were efforts to fix any shortcomings before the holidays.Patterson announced that some $3.6 billion was listed in the 2019 Budget for works on the distribution network which is considered a weak link in the power supply. However, this would materialise until next year.
SACRAMENTO – A federal judge ruled Friday that a voter-approved restriction on where sex offenders can live can’t be applied retroactively, potentially freeing thousands of offenders from a ban on living within 2,000 feet of schools, parks or places where children gather. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton said there was nothing in Proposition 83, commonly known as Jessica’s Law, that specified its provisions were intended to be applied retroactively. When that’s the case, California law requires that the statute apply from the date it takes effect, he added. “The court finds that the law does not apply to individuals who were convicted and who were paroled, given probation or released from incarceration prior to its effective date,” he wrote. Proposition 83 was approved They sought a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of the residency restrictions, but Karlton denied the motion, saying it was unnecessary because the restrictions didn’t apply to the plaintiffs. The attorney for the three plaintiffs, Scott Wippert, said he interpreted the decision as also freeing sex offenders who were released before Proposition 83 was passed from its tracking requirements. “It’s actually a victory for our clients,” he said. “It clarifies the law consistent with what we argued all along, that it’s prospective.” He said the only remaining question was whether the proposition covers sex offenders who were still incarcerated when the measure was approved. “That issue is still up in the air,” he said. Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Bill Sessa said the ruling wouldn’t affect residency and monitoring requirements the state imposed on paroled sex offenders before Proposition 83 was approved. Those laws require parolees to live more than 2,000 feet from schools and other areas where children congregate for three years after they’re released, Sessa said. Those sex offenders the state classifies as high-risk also face GPS monitoring, Sessa said. Child molesters also have other restrictions, such as not being allowed to socialize with people who have children or loiter in areas where children gather. “Sex offenders, out of all our parolees, are on the shortest leash and under the biggest microscope of any of them,” Sessa said. “Whatever we do to enforce Jessica’s Law is just an extension of what we do already to regulate these parolees, and, in fact, have been doing since long before passage of the law.” Sessa said that at any one time the state is monitoring some 10,000 paroled sex offenders. Altogether, there are about 90,000 registered sex offenders in California. Attorneys representing the governor, attorney general and local prosecutors disagreed at a hearing on Feb. 5 about whether the proposition should be applied retroactively. Only the attorney general’s office said it should be retroactive, an interpretation Karlton called “frivolous.” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was pleased that the ruling removed a potential impediment to enforcing the statute. “The people of California passed this important initiative to help protect themselves from sexual predators and today’s ruling allows the state to continue its implementation of Jessica’s Law,” he said in a statement. Gareth Lacy, spokesman for Attorney General Jerry Brown, said his office was still interpreting the judge’s order. He said Brown’s goal is to implement the law in a way that protects Californians and gives guidance to law enforcement. 160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! Nov. 7 by 70.5 percent of voters and took effect the next day. As well as barring sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of places where children gather, the measure increases prison terms for sex offenders and requires lifetime satellite tracking for rapists, child molesters and other felony sex criminals after they are released from prison. The Sacramento case is one of two lawsuits that asked federal judges to interpret the restrictions. A day after the election, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco temporarily blocked the 2,000-foot residency requirement from applying to current registered sex offenders who are not on parole or probation. Karlton’s decision Friday was in response to a lawsuit filed by three unidentified sex offenders, including one on parole and one on probation, who said they lived within 2,000 feet of schools or parks. 
Roughly 80 of the city’s 242 vehicles run on alternative fuels – 50 on natural gas, plus a dozen hybrids and two forklifts that use propane. In addition, the city uses solar power to generate 500 kilowatts of power that help run the wastewater treatment plant. The massive array of solar panels rotates throughout the day to gather the sun’s rays. “It’s incredibly elegant,” said Chuck Rogers, the city’s wastewater superintendent. “It’s got a coolness factor up the Richter scale. “We’re blessed here to have a smart City Council that is very environmentally minded,” Rogers added. “We have some technology out here that is awesome.” susan.abram@dailynews.com (818) 713-3664 160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! THOUSAND OAKS – On its own, the city of Thousand Oaks perpetuates green living. Nestled against the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounded by more than 14,800 acres of open space, the city of 127,000 boasts 75 miles of trails for hiking, biking and walking. But officials are also working to drive green, replacing their fleet of gasoline-powered cars and buses with those that run on alternative fuels. “We’re what we call `fuel neutral’ here,” said Grahame Watts, the city’s special projects manager. “Our fleet ranges from natural gas to electric to hybrids.” 
Alan Brazil and Ray Wilkins were joined on the show by Michael O’Neill, Jason McAteer, Carlton Cole and Sir Jackie Stewart to look back on a busy weekend of international football and motor racing.
160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MOREGame Center: Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, 10 a.m.Bloom, who starred in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, was driving a black 2003 Toyota Matrix registered to Dariusz Wolski, director of photography of the films, according to TMZ.com. Officers at the scene of the accident said neither speed, nor drugs or alcohol were factors, according to TMZ. HOLLYWOOD – Actor Orlando Bloom was involved in a car accident today in Hollywood, police said. The accident occurred about 2:15 a.m. near Fountain Avenue and Vista Street, said Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Roger Mora. Authorities did not immediately have details on any injuries. The celebrity news Web site TMZ.com reported that one of two women in the back seat of the vehicle Bloom was driving was injured when it slammed into a parked Porsche Cayenne. Based on a preliminary investigation, police believe Bloom “might have been cut off,” Mora said. 
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri admits the Foxes are on the brink of history and urged his players to pen a Hollywood ending.Ranieri’s side will win the Premier League with victory at Manchester United on Sunday – live on talkSPORT.Leicester are seven points clear of second-placed Tottenham and need three points from their final three games to clinch a first top-flight crown.The Foxes could lose at Old Trafford and still be crowned champions before next weekend’s home game with Everton should Spurs lose at Chelsea on Monday night.And Ranieri, who has never won a top-flight title in his 30-year managerial career, knows they are close to a fairytale finish.“It’s unbelievable, it’s history and we know this,” he said.“It is important to finish the story like an American movie. Always in the final it is okay, a happy ending.“It’s a good opportunity but for this reason we have to be focused. Let me be calm, wait, we have time.“I told them, ‘everything is in our hands and we must continue’. If your strength was to concentrate and be solid we have to continue that.“I don’t want to say anything more than my philosophy, I want to be focused on the next match. Other people can enjoy it but I am very concentrated.“If we are doing so well so far why do I have to change?” 1 Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes could win the title on Sunday – live on talkSPORT 