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The Ontario SPCA York Region Animal Centre is close to reaching its adoption goal this holiday season.
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The centre’s iAdopt for the Holidays campaign, in full swing until Dec. 24, has so far seen 35 animals adopted this month just five short of its goal of finding loving homes for 40 animals over the holidays.

“We’re so close to reaching our adoption goal, and we need your help to make it happen,” says Katrin Schoenmair, manager of Ontario SPCA York Region Animal Centre, in a statement.

“If you’ve been thinking about adopting, now is the time to make the season extra special for an animal in need. Let’s make their holiday dreams come true.”

So far the centre has adopted out 660 animals this year.

Animals adopted from the Ontario SPCA are spayed or neutered, microchipped, vaccinated, and go home with food from Royal Canin to ensure a smooth transition.

Visit ontariospca.ca/adopt to view the many deserving animals who have so much love to give and even if you can’t adopt right now, you can donate to support their care.

Visit ontariospca.ca/donate to donate.

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Review finds suboptimal reporting of trials on nonpharmacological therapies in Chinese medicine  Medical Xpress
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Gov. Greg Abbott is set to announce a new border security strategy today that he said will “deter migrants from making the dangerous journey to illegally cross the border into Texas.”
The announcement on Thursday at 1pm CT/12pm MT will be made from a privately owned ranch in Eagle Pass, Texas, just miles from the Rio Grande.
Abbott’s new effort comes as he seeks nearly $3 billion more in Texas’ next legislative session for border security for his Operation Lone Star. The border security project, which militarized the southern border and spread razor wire across the state, has cost taxpayers $11 billion since its launch in March 2021.
The governor will be joined by Texas Department of Public Safety Director Freeman Martin, Adjutant General of Texas Major General Thomas Suelzer, Texas Border Czar Mike Banks, Association Against Sexual Assault CEO Rose Luna, and ranchers Kimberly and Martin Wall. 
The video will appear below once it begins.
The event will also livestream on Abbott’s facebook page.
Jeff Abbott covers the border for The El Paso Times and can be reached at: jdabbott@gannett.com; @palabrasdeabajo on twitter or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky

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NEWS ALERT: Federal authorities file murder, stalking and weapons charges against suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing.
The Associated Press
December 19, 2024, 12:55 PM
Congress has until midnight Friday to come up with a way to fund the government or federal agencies will shut down, meaning hundreds of thousands of federal employees could be sent home — or stay on the job without pay — just ahead of the holidays.
Republicans abandoned a bipartisan plan Wednesday to prevent a shutdown after President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk came out against it. Trump told House Speaker Mike Johnson to essentially renegotiate the deal days before a deadline when federal funding runs out.
Here’s what to know about a possible government shutdown, what agencies would be affected and how long it could last:
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A government shutdown happens when Congress doesn’t pass legislation either temporarily or more permanently funding the government, and such a measure isn’t signed by the president.
If Congress doesn’t approve a continuing resolution or more permanent spending measure by Friday, the federal government will shut down.
When the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, Congress passed a temporary funding bill to keep the government in operation.
That measure expires on Friday.
Each federal agency determines its own plan for how to handle a shutdown, but basically any government operations deemed non-essential stop happening, and hundreds of thousands of federal employees see their work disrupted.
Sometimes workers are furloughed, meaning that they keep their jobs but temporarily don’t work until the government reopens. Other federal workers may stay on the job but without pay, with the expectation that they would be paid back in full once the government reopens.
The basic rules for who works and who doesn’t date back to the early 1980s and haven’t been significantly modified since. Under a precedent-setting memorandum penned by then-President Ronald Reagan budget chief David Stockman, federal workers are exempted from furloughs if their jobs are national security-related or if they perform essential activities that “protect life and property.”
Essential government agencies like the FBI, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard remain open. Transportation Security Administration officers would continue to staff airport checkpoints. The U.S. Postal Service also won’t be affected because it’s an independent agency.
But national parks and monuments would close, and while troops would stay at their posts, many civilian employees in agencies like the Department of Defense would be sent home. Court systems would be affected, too, with civil proceedings paused, while criminal prosecutions continue.
Automated tax collection would stay on track, but the Internal Revenue Service would stop auditing tax returns.
No. Recipients of both Social Security and Medicare would continue to receive their benefits, which are part of mandatory spending that’s not subject to annual appropriations measures. Doctors and hospitals would also continue to get their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.
But it’s possible that new applications wouldn’t be processed. During a government shutdown in 1996, thousands of Medicare applicants were turned away daily.
When Congress is down to the wire on passing measures to fund the federal government, the term “CR” often comes up. What does it mean?
“CR” stands for “continuing resolution,” and it’s a temporary spending bill that lets the federal government stay open and operating before Congress and the president have approved a more permanent appropriation.
A “clean CR” is essentially a bill that extends existing appropriations, at the same levels as the prior fiscal year.
It’s a massive, all-encompassing measure that lawmakers generally had little time to digest — or understand — before voting on it.
There are a lot of spending measures all rolled into one, and sometimes that’s what happens if the dozen separate funding measures haven’t worked their way through the congressional spending process in time to be passed in order to fund the federal government.
But Republicans opted against an omnibus this time, hoping instead to renegotiate all federal spending next year when Trump is in the White House and they will control both chambers of Congress.
Maybe — and maybe not.
There is often a scramble on Capitol Hill to put together a last-minute funding package to keep the government open just before a deadline, at least temporarily. But shutdowns have happened, most recently six years ago, when Trump demanded funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. That shutdown was the longest in U.S. history.
Jimmy Carter saw a shutdown every year during his term as president. And there were six shutdowns during Reagan’s time in the White House.
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Kinnard reported from Charleston, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
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RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – A bicyclist has suffered life-threatening injuries after getting hit by a car Thursday morning.
The crash happened at around 8:30 a.m. on the Southbound 580 on-ramp at Mill Street.
Nevada State Police says the driver remained on scene and is cooperating with police.
They also say it is too early to determine who was at fault and whether impairment played a role in the crash.
The on-ramp is set to be closed for several more hours for the investigation.
Copyright 2024 KOLO. All rights reserved.

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‘Laid’ Cast and Character Guide: Who’s Who in the Peacock Comedy?  imdb
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A Minnesota man will serve time in prison for his role in an international drug trafficking ring that prosecutors say led to the 2022 death of a University of Alabama professor. 
U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler of Tuscaloosa on Dec. 18 sentenced 46-year-old Christopher Louis Bass of St. Francis, Minnesota, to a 20-year prison term, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. 
Prosecutors say Bass pleaded guilty to mailing fentanyl pills that killed 68-year-old Louis Burgio, a highly honored psychology professor at UA, on Aug. 20, 2022. 
“The overdose death in this case is a stark reminder of the dangers of fentanyl and why the Postal Inspection Service remains committed to eradicating these illicit substances from the U.S. Mail and consequently safeguarding our community,” said Mona Hernandez, acting inspector-in-charge of the Houston Division of the Postal Inspection Service.  
Burgio in 2004 was honored by the UA board of trustees as a distinguished research professor, the highest honor bestowed upon a faculty member at the UA. The board recognized Burgio’s work in the applied gerontology program. 
At the time, UA said Burgio was “considered a research pioneer in the care of Alzheimer’s patients, their families and professional caregivers, having developed effective protocols for the treatment of caregiver stress and the improvement of nursing home resident quality of life, tangibly bettering the lives of countless individuals in Alabama and throughout the nation.”  
Burgio earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, and received his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Notre Dame in the areas of developmental psychology and applied behavior analysis. 
The case was investigated by the Tuscaloosa Police Department, the Tuscaloosa County Violent Crimes Unit, the United States Postal Inspection Service–Birmingham, United States Postal Inspection Service–Twin Cities, the East Central Drug Task Force and the Anoka-Hennepin Narcotics and Violent Crimes Task Force. 
Assistant United States Attorney Alan S. Kirk served as prosecutor. 
“This case reminds us all too clearly that drug distribution is not a victimless crime,” said U.S. Attorney Prim F.  Escalona. “My office will continue to prosecute those who place these poisons into families and communities throughout north Alabama.” 
Reach Ken Roberts atken.roberts@tuscaloosanews.com.   

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Tennessee education department unveils 2023-24 state report card  WTVC
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