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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: From Legacy to LegendThe cause of an explosion at an east Edmonton polymer plant that rattled homes and sent plumes of black smoke into the sky Friday is under investigation. Officials with the Celanese Corporation said the blast occurred around 10 a.m. at its plastic fabrication facility at 4405 101st Ave. in the Eastgate Business Park area of Edmonton. An investigation into the incident at the Celanese Edmonton site is underway, company officials told CBC News Friday. Videos of the incident posted to social media show black smoke billowing from the plant followed by an orange glow that briefly filled the sky. People living nearby reported a loud boom rattled their homes. Brian Bianco, a spokesperson for the company, described the blast as a "release" from the plant's reactor. He said a "manufacturing upset" resulted in the opening of a relief device on the plant's reactor. Despite the noise and smoke, he said there was no need for emergency services to respond to the scene. No injuries have been reported, he said. "It wasn't an explosion," Bianco said. "It's a safety device that basically releases pressure." He said there was some debris thrown onto the property but "nothing beyond the fence line." He said there is no risk to the community. The incident has been reported to appropriate regulatory authorities, including Alberta Environment, Bianco said. In a statement to CBC News around 12 p.m., Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said it was aware of a potential explosion on the east side of Edmonton and that crews were in the area but had not yet identified the source.
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White House says at least 8 US telecom firms, dozens of nations impacted by China hacking campaignSEOUL, South Korea: South Korea's president said he's "truly sorry" for causing public anxiety with his declaration of martial law earlier this week, and promised not to make another attempt to impose it. President Yoon Suk Yeol made a public apology in a brief televised address Saturday morning, hours ahead of a parliamentary vote on a motion to impeach him. Yoon said he won't shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration, adding that he will leave it to his conservative party to map out measures to stabilize politics, "including matters related to my term in office." THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korean lawmakers are set to vote later Saturday on impeaching President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived attempt to impose martial law, as protests grew nationwide calling for his removal. Finance Financial Literacy for Non-Finance Executives By - CA Raja, Chartered Accountant | Financial Management Educator | Former AVP - Credit, SBI View Program Entrepreneurship Building Your Winning Startup Team: Key Strategies for Success By - Dr. Anu Khanchandani, Startup Coach with more than 25 years of experience View Program Web Development Intermediate C++ Skills: Master Pointers, Structures and File Stream By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Digital Marketing Masterclass by Pam Moore By - Pam Moore, Digital Transformation and Social Media Expert View Program Office Productivity Zero to Hero in Microsoft Excel: Complete Excel guide 2024 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Advanced C++ Mastery: OOPs and Template Techniques By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) ChatGPT Mastery from Zero to Hero: The Complete AI Course By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Data Science SQL for Data Science along with Data Analytics and Data Visualization By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Generative AI for Dynamic Java Web Applications with ChatGPT By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Finance Crypto & NFT Mastery: From Basics to Advanced By - CA Raj K Agrawal, Chartered Accountant View Program Web Development Master RESTful APIs with Python and Django REST Framework: Web API Development By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Finance AI and Generative AI for Finance By - Hariom Tatsat, Vice President- Quantitative Analytics at Barclays View Program Web Development Mastering Full Stack Development: From Frontend to Backend Excellence By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Entrepreneurship Boosting Startup Revenue with 6 AI-Powered Sales Automation Techniques By - Dr. Anu Khanchandani, Startup Coach with more than 25 years of experience View Program Web Development Advanced Java Mastery: Object-Oriented Programming Techniques By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Astrology Vastu Shastra Course By - Sachenkumar Rai, Vastu Shashtri View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Learn InVideo AI: Create Videos from Text Easily By - Prince Patni, Software Developer (BI, Data Science) View Program Marketing Modern Marketing Masterclass by Seth Godin By - Seth Godin, Former dot com Business Executive and Best Selling Author View Program Finance Financial Literacy i.e Lets Crack the Billionaire Code By - CA Rahul Gupta, CA with 10+ years of experience and Accounting Educator View Program Entrepreneurship Marketing & Sales Strategies for Startups: From Concept to Conversion By - Dr. Anu Khanchandani, Startup Coach with more than 25 years of experience View Program Data Analysis Learn Power BI with Microsoft Fabric: Complete Course By - Prince Patni, Software Developer (BI, Data Science) View Program Web Development C++ Fundamentals for Absolute Beginners By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Intermediate Java Mastery: Method, Collections, and Beyond By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Office Productivity Mastering Google Sheets: Unleash the Power of Excel and Advance Analysis By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) AI-Powered Python Mastery with Tabnine: Boost Your Coding Skills By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Digital Marketing Masterclass by Neil Patel By - Neil Patel, Co-Founder and Author at Neil Patel Digital Digital Marketing Guru View Program Legal Complete Guide to AI Governance and Compliance By - Prince Patni, Software Developer (BI, Data Science) View Program Entrepreneurship Crafting a Powerful Startup Value Proposition By - Dr. Anu Khanchandani, Startup Coach with more than 25 years of experience View Program It wasn't immediately clear whether the motion submitted by opposition lawmakers would get the two-thirds majority required for Yoon to be impeached. But it appeared more likely after the leader of Yoon's own party on Friday called for suspending his constitutional powers, describing him as unfit to hold the office and capable of taking more extreme action, including renewed attempts to impose martial law. Impeaching Yoon would require support from 200 of the National Assembly's 300 members. The opposition parties that jointly brought the impeachment motion have 192 seats combined. That means they would need at least eight votes from Yoon's People Power Party. On Wednesday, 18 members of the PPP joined a vote that unanimously canceled martial law 190-0 less than three hours after Yoon declared the measure on television, calling the opposition-controlled parliament a "den of criminals" bogging down state affairs. The vote took place as hundreds of heavily-armed troops encircled the National Assembly in an attempt to disrupt the vote and possibly to detain key politicians. Parliament said Saturday that it would meet at 5 p.m. It will first vote on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate influence peddling allegations surrounding Yoon's wife, and then on impeaching Yoon. The turmoil resulting from Yoon's bizarre and poorly-thought-out stunt has paralyzed South Korean politics and sparked alarm among key diplomatic partners, including neighboring Japan and Seoul's top ally the United States, as one of the strongest democracies in Asia faces a political crisis that could unseat its leader. Opposition lawmakers claim that Yoon's martial law declaration amounted to a self-coup and drafted the impeachment motion around rebellion charges. The PPP decided to oppose impeachment at a lawmakers' meeting, despite pleas by its leader Han Dong-hun, who isn't a lawmaker and has no vote. Following a party meeting on Friday, Han stressed the need to suspend Yoon's presidential duties and power swiftly, saying he "could potentially put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger." Han said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law Yoon ordered the country's defense counterintelligence commander to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians based on accusations of "anti-state activities." Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, later told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that Yoon called after imposing martial law and ordered him to help the defense counterintelligence unit to detain key politicians. The targeted politicians included Han, opposition leader Lee Jae-myung and National Assembly speaker Woo Won Shik, according to Kim Byung-kee, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting. The Defense Ministry said it had suspended the defense counterintelligence commander, Yeo In-hyung, who Han alleged had received orders from Yoon to detain the politicians. The ministry also suspended Lee Jin-woo, commander of the capital defense command, and Kwak Jong-geun, commander of the special warfare command, over their involvement in enforcing martial law. Former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who has been accused of recommending Yoon to enforce martial law, has been placed under a travel ban and faces an investigation by prosecutors over rebellion charges. Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho, who became acting defense minister after Yoon accepted Kim Yong Hyun's resignation on Thursday, has testified to parliament that it was Kim Yong Hyun who ordered troops to be deployed to the National Assembly after Yoon imposed martial law. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )Chewy ( CHWY -0.45% ) Q3 2024 Earnings Call Dec 04, 2024 , 8:00 a.m. ET Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks: Operator Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Chewy third quarter 2024 earnings call. My name is Emily, and I'll be coordinating your call today. [Operator instructions] I will now hand the call over to our host, Chewy CFO, David Reeder, to begin. David, please go ahead. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Thank you for joining us on the call today to discuss our third quarter results for fiscal year 2024. Joining me today is Chewy CEO, Sumit Singh. Our earnings release, which was filed with the SEC earlier today, has been posted to the investor relations section of our website. In addition to the earnings release, a presentation summarizing our results is also available on our website at investor.chewy.com. On our call today, we will be making forward-looking statements, including statements concerning Chewy's financial results and performance, industry trends, strategic initiatives, share repurchase program, and the environment in which we operate. Such statements are considered forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and other factors described in the section titled Risk Factors in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 and in our other filings with the SEC, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by our forward-looking statements. Reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance. Also, note that the forward-looking statements on this call are based on information available to us as of today's date. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by law. Also, during this call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliation of these non-GAAP items to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are provided on our investor relations website and in our earnings release. These non-GAAP measures are not intended as a substitute for GAAP results. Additionally, unless otherwise stated, all comparisons discussed on today's call will be against the comparable period of fiscal year 2023. Finally, this call in its entirety is being webcast on our investor relations website. A replay of the audio webcast will also be available on our investor relations website shortly. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Sumit. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Thank you, Dave, and thank you all for joining us on today's call. Our third quarter results continued to build on the positive momentum we observed in Q2. We delivered top-line growth exceeding the high end of our net sales guidance range, a sequential increase in active customers, continued adjusted EBITDA margin expansion, and robust free cash flow generation. These results underscore the durability of our business model and our team's relentless focus on high-quality execution and operational discipline. With that, let's dive into the details. Q3 net sales increased by approximately 5% to $2.88 billion. Both the strength of our flagship Autoship program and our customers' loyalty in nondiscretionary categories, particularly within consumables and health, anchored our Q3 net sales performance. Our Autoship program enables high visibility and predictability in our business and drives customer stickiness for Chewy. Autoship customer sales reached $2.3 billion in the quarter, representing 80% of Q3 net sales and a year-over-year increase of approximately 9%. Nondiscretionary categories, including consumables and healthcare products and services, accounted for 85% of Q3 net sales. Customers appreciate our comprehensive product catalog and our ongoing efforts to refresh assortment across food, treats, and hard goods. Over the last few quarters, we have increased our assortment across popular categories such as pet tech, vet food, and supplements, to name a few, adding several new premium brands, most of which launched exclusively on chewy.com. Additionally, we are continuously rolling out enhancements to our on-site and in-app experiences to ensure we are providing an even more enjoyable and convenient shopping journey for pet parents. Last quarter, I spoke about our efforts to redesign our mobile app and make the overall app experience more convenient for customers. In Q3, both unique customers who placed at least one order on the app and average app monthly active users or app MAU increased in the mid-teens range compared to Q3 of last year. I am excited by the strong engagement we continue to observe through our mobile app and the experience it brings to our customers. Continuing on the topic of customers, I am pleased to share that Q3 marked another quarter of sequential active customer growth, building on the momentum we established coming out of our second quarter. Our efforts to enhance shopping experiences, expand assortment, and various ongoing innovations, combined with our powerful marketing and CRM strategy, continue to drive outperformance, while macro normalization steadily continues in the background. We ended the third quarter with approximately 20.2 million active customers, up 160,000 sequentially. We now expect to end fiscal 2024 with active customers up modestly over last year, a trend which we expect to continue to strengthen in 2025. Turning to profitability. We generated $138 million of adjusted EBITDA in the quarter, representing a 4.8% margin and approximately 180 basis points of margin expansion year over year. Our Q3 adjusted EBITDA results reflect a continuation of our strong gross margin performance, our disciplined approach to cost management, and the ongoing benefits of fixed cost leverage as we scale. Our increasing profitability has enabled us to continue to return meaningful capital to shareholders, as reflected by the incremental $342 million we deployed to shareholders in the third quarter. Now, let me provide an update on some of Chewy's strategic initiatives and innovations. The Sponsored Ads business continues to perform well. And as expected, we remain on track to reach the low end of our previously stated long-term target range of 1% to 3% of net sales in fiscal 2024. We remain on track with our 1P technology migration and look forward to starting the new fiscal year fully converted to our 1P software platform. Moving to Chewy's healthcare offerings. I am proud of the progress our team has made this year across healthcare products and services, especially Chewy Vet Care or CVC. With the launch of Chewy Vet Care Clinics earlier this year, we not only unlocked the $25 billion vet services TAM opportunity, but we are also observing compelling complementarities across the entire Chewy ecosystem. We have six clinics opened today and expect to reach the high end of our previously stated target range of four to eight clinic openings in 2024 later this fiscal year. Performance across our clinic footprint is promising, and I'm happy to share that the early signs of success we spoke about last quarter have continued through Q3. The proportion of new-to-Chewy customers acquired through Chewy Vet Care continues to outperform relative to expectations. Additionally, broader ecosystem benefits, including cross-category shopping and post-clinic visit purchases on chewy.com, have strengthened since last quarter, indicating that our ability to seamlessly connect care with commerce is resonating with pet parents. I would also like to take a moment to talk about Chewy+, our paid membership program. Recall that we launched Chewy+ in summer 2024 to a representative sample of customers. Since launching the program, we have been carefully studying the shopping behavior of Chewy+ members and are tracking several key indicators of success, including the program's potential to accelerate wallet share consolidation and drive stronger cross-category engagement. Based on the data we have analyzed over the last several months, we are seeing that Chewy+ members consistently place more orders, have higher cross-category penetration and greater mobile app engagement relative to non-Chewy+ customers. Furthermore, we are seeing higher Autoship adoption rates from this early cohort of customers, signaling a potentially compelling flywheel effect off the Chewy+ program. While contribution to the overall enterprise remains immaterial, we are encouraged by these early results and look forward to introducing the program to our broader base of customers. Touching on Canada, where we completed a full year of operations in Q3. The Canadian business, while still relatively small and immaterial to the overall scale of Chewy, continues to improve across key metrics, including Autoship penetration, net sales growth, and profitability. Additionally, we remain focused on strengthening brand awareness in Canada and are excited by the brand partnership we recently signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team. We believe Chewy's passion for pets perfectly aligned with Torontonians' passion for the Maple Leafs, and we are bringing this to life with dynamic advertising and interactive fan moments during games at Scotiabank Arena. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge a notable milestone for Chewy with our recent inclusion in the S&P 400 index as of November 6th. We view our inclusion in this index as an endorsement of our performance, our enduring business, and our compelling growth opportunities ahead. In closing, I would like to thank all of our dedicated Chewy team members for their hard work and strong execution in the third quarter. We are now focused on executing through our final quarter of 2024 and are excited about the customer engagement we have seen thus far through this holiday season and look forward to ending fiscal year 2024 on a high note. With that, I will turn the call over to Dave. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Thank you, Sumit. Third quarter net sales grew 4.8% year over year to 2.88 billion, exceeding the high end of the guidance range we provided last quarter. The pricing, promotion, and discount environment remained stable throughout the quarter. As such, year-over-year revenue growth was primarily driven by active customer growth and cross-category product penetration, resulting in continued customer wallet share gain. We ended the quarter with 20.2 million active customers, reflecting a sequential net increase of approximately 160,000 customers. Gross additions exceeded pre-COVID levels, and gross churn improved year over year. Within gross engross additions, both new customers and reactivations grew year over year in the quarter. We are encouraged by the positive momentum in active customers and expect these trends to continue through the balance of the year. Against the backdrop of a modestly improving pet industry and strong Chewy-specific execution, we now expect to end fiscal year 2024 with modest year-over-year active customer growth. Third quarter Autoship customer sales increased by 8.7% to 2.3 billion, outpacing total net sales growth in the quarter by approximately 390 basis points. Autoship customer sales as a percentage of total net sales increased by 290 basis points to 80%, a new company record. Additionally, we continued to grow share of wallet with Q3 net sales per active customer, or NSPAC, reaching $567. Moving to profitability. We reported third quarter gross margin of 29.3%, representing 80 basis points of margin expansion year over year. Our growing Sponsored Ads business was the largest driver of gross margin improvement in the quarter, followed by product mix shift into premium categories, including consumables and pharmacy. Additionally, promotional activity in the third quarter was in line with our expectations, and the promotional environment to date in the fourth quarter remains rational. Shifting to operating expenses. Please note that my discussion of SG&A exclude share-based compensation expense and related taxes. Third quarter SG&A totaled 546 million, or 19% of net sales, representing 90 basis points of improvement on a year-over-year basis. SG&A leverage was primarily driven by continued discipline and efficiency with respect to corporate payroll, fulfillment, and other at scale efficiency benefits. Third quarter advertising and marketing expense was 191.8 million or 6.7% of net sales. I would note that we expect advertising and marketing expenses to come in at the high end of our previously stated range of 6% to 7% of net sales for the full year. This is primarily due to the timing of certain marketing campaigns in Q4. Third quarter adjusted net income was 84.9 million, representing a 34% increase year over year. Net income for the quarter was 3.9 million, which translated into $0.01 earnings per share on both a basic and diluted basis. Finally, we reported adjusted EBITDA of 138.2 million, representing a 4.8% adjusted EBITDA margin and 180 basis points of year-over-year margin expansion, driven by the improvements in gross margin and SG&A described earlier. We reported free cash flow of 151.8 million in the third quarter, reflecting 183.5 million of net cash provided by operating activities and 31.7 million of capital expenditures. Our third quarter trailing 12-month free cash flow was over 360 million and demonstrates our ability to generate increasing levels of free cash flow while continuing to invest in our growth initiatives and returning significant capital to shareholders. I'd now like to provide an update on our share repurchase activity completed in the quarter. In September, concurrently with a 500 million underwritten secondary offering of Class A common stock by BC Partners, we repurchased approximately 10.2 million shares of Class A common stock directly from BC Partners for an aggregate repurchase price of 300 million. This repurchase transaction allowed us to continue to reduce the ownership position of our largest shareholder and was executed separately from our existing $500 million share repurchase program. Additionally, during the quarter, we repurchased approximately 1.6 million shares of Class A common stock, spending approximately 42.4 million under our 500 million share repurchase program. At the end of the quarter, we had approximately 424.8 million of remaining capacity under the program for future repurchases. Collectively, the company has repurchased and retired a total of 30.7 million shares year to date. Our ability to generate increasing levels of profitability and free cash flow will continue to enable us to invest in our business and return meaningful capital to shareholders. We ended the quarter with approximately 508 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, and we remain debt-free, with an overall liquidity position of approximately 1.3 billion. With that, I'd like to turn to our fourth quarter and updated full year 2024 guidance. We anticipate fourth quarter net sales of between 3.18 billion and 3.20 billion, or approximately 13% year-over-year growth, which reflects the full impact of the 53rd week, and we are narrowing and raising our full year 2024 net sales outlook to be between 11.79 billion and 11.81 billion or approximately 6% year-over-year growth. This range includes the impact of a 53-week 2024 fiscal year. And as previously noted, the 53rd week will be fully reflected in the fourth quarter of 2024. We are raising our full year 2024 adjusted EBITDA margin guidance to a range of 4.6% to 4.8%. The midpoint of our full year adjusted EBITDA margin guidance range indicates approximately 140 basis points of year-over-year margin expansion and implies approximately 3.4% adjusted EBITDA margin for the fourth quarter. Consistent with our comments last quarter pertaining to the quarterly progression of 2024 adjusted EBITDA margin, we expect Q4 adjusted EBITDA margin to decline sequentially due to typical seasonality and the timing of certain investments, primarily pertaining to marketing campaigns. Given the results of our previous three quarters, we anticipate 2024 capital expenditures to come in at the low end of our previously stated range of 1.5% to 2% of net sales, and we expect free cash flow conversion to remain above 80% for the full year. Finally, we expect basic shares outstanding at fiscal 2024 year-end to be approximately 415 million. This incorporates the nearly 31 million shares that we have repurchased and retired year to date and does not incorporate any potential future share repurchases. In closing, our third quarter results reflect another quarter of strong execution. I want to thank our incredible Chewy team members for their collective efforts as we continue to execute against our strategic priorities to deliver long-term profitable growth. With that, I will turn the call over to the operator for questions. Questions & Answers: Operator Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator instructions] Our first question today comes from the line of Nathan Feather with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Nathan Feather -- Analyst Thanks for the question and congrats on the strong results. Really encouraging to see the continued momentum. Active customer growth continues to accelerate. Can you double-click on what you're seeing in overall pet ownership trends and how we should think about the relative contribution to customer growth as compared to some of the idiosyncratic initiatives you've been working on? And then given the expectation for customer growth to improve further in '25, how should we think about the key puts and takes you're considering for growth in the year? Thank you. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Hey, Nathan. This is Sumit. I'll start and Dave will jump in wherever he sees appropriate. So, in terms of household formation trends, I think you started with that, we continue to see signs of industry normalization. Pricing remains stable. Inflation continues to move toward a more normalized level. In fact, we saw no benefit of pricing, as we mentioned on the earnings call, as we move through Q3. Regarding pet household formation, of course, there's no single truth -- source of truth for this data. Our triangulation, you know, continues to tell us that latest adoption and relinquishment trends are both trending in a better direction. We believe year-over-year adoption growth was in the high single-digit to low double-digit ranges, and relinquishment were down low single digits. So, overall, we observed a return to positive net adoptions in cycle of Q3 from an external point of view. In terms of -- let me see, you had another question here. Double-click and do about expectation for active customer growth in '25 and puts and takes. So, I mean, there's a lot going on. Ultimately, we believe -- you know, as I mentioned last quarter, the active customer growth that we are driving now -- you know, two times now as a trend -- is largely due to our own efforts, and the industry continues to normalize in the background, which is, of course, a stabilizing factor that is very good to see. On our side, you know, enhancing on-site and mobile experiences, expanding assortment, performance on the CRM strategy, and all of that is sort of what's working in conjunction. As we move into '25, what has really started to work for us is our focus on connecting the marketing funnel to expanded audiences, and driving that funnel exposure is enabling our teams to find both the right level of efficiency, as well as the flexibility to move spend up and down the funnel to capture both share of voice and demand. And when we bring them to the site, we are able to convert them effectively with the previous efforts that I've talked about around improvement of site experience, customer choices, assortment, other innovations, etc. So, our '25 strategy is very much in line with, you know, operating the playbook that we've uncovered and strengthened for ourselves in '24. Another data point that I just want to draw your attention to, more of a recall from last quarter, is we said, you know, we have an improved ability to identify and segment customers and target them, you know, to drive improved second purchase rates, Autoship signups, mobile app engagement, etc., etc. And so, on the background, you know, we've now sort of played this playbook for at least two quarters. We're going to rinse and repeat in Q4 and 2025, strengthening our channel and share performance in the market. Nathan Feather -- Analyst Great. Thank you. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Thank you, Nate. Operator The next question comes from Curtis Nagle with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Curtis, please go ahead. Curtis Nagle -- Analyst Awesome. Thanks very much for taking the question. So, I want to focus a bit on the 4Q guidance and maybe specifically on the comments in terms of the advertising and marketing spend. Just in terms of context, you know, at the high end of the range, you know, around 7% for the year, it implies like a really big dollar increase, right, certainly relative to the other quarters. Like, no relative leverage from the extra week. So, you know, I guess, just kind of digging into that, you know, what does this spend pertain to? Looks to me like implied like $40 million to $50 million year over year. Is that correct? And, you know, are there specific products or customers you're targeting? Is it one-time? Just, you know, kind of dig into that and kind of how we should specifically, you know, think about that increase and whether you're just applying some conservatism or not. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Good morning and thanks for the question. I'll take this one, and then, Sumit, if you want to build upon any of it, you know, let me know. And I'll build upon Sumit's comments about active customers. So, in the third quarter, when you think about the elements that go into gross additions, you've got new customers added, you've got reactivations, and then, of course, you have churn. And we actually saw improvement across all three of those metrics in the third quarter on a year-over-year basis. And so, we're entering the fourth quarter with some momentum on the activities that we're driving across those three elements I mentioned. We're entering the fourth quarter with the continuation of what we believe is a normalizing industry, as we previously referenced with moderating inflation, as well as the shelter data that we've mentioned previously as well, which has continued in the third quarter. So, with that momentum going into the fourth quarter, there's a couple of elements to consider. Number one, you typically have a little bit higher elevated advertising and marketing in the fourth quarter given the holiday season, as well as the timing of certain campaigns. And then building on that, we see an opportunity in the industry in the fourth quarter where we believe that we want to invest and lean in to the fourth quarter such that we can continue to build on what we believe are some improvement in the industry and then continue that, of course, into 2025. So, you know, net-net, you take a step back, you think about what we've told you for the year in terms of our guidance, active customer growth, flat to down in the first half, flat to up in the second half, ending flat. We've moved up that guidance. We've pulled in that guidance. And we see an opportunity to invest in the fourth quarter in advertising and marketing, and we're doing that. For the full year, we'll be at the high end of the 6% to 7% range. And as you mentioned, to get to the high end of that 6% to 7% range for the year, that would imply being above 7% specifically for the fourth quarter. Sumit. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Yeah. Curtis, I would just like to add more of a reminder on the conversations that we've had on this call in the past, which is, you know, we spend based on the ROI and the LTV potential that we're seeing in the current cohort of customers that we pick up from market and the existing customer base that we're developing share of wallet on. So, in the past, as you know, we've swung the marketing spend all the way to the left, you know, down 70 basis points, 80 basis points from our average. And now, we're picking that back up. Why didn't we spend in the past and why are we spending now? Well, because we didn't see the ROI in the past and we are now. The cohorts that were acquiring, the efficiencies that we're gaining based on the full funnel audience expansions that I talked about are really compelling and behooves us to be able to invest to continue this trend, as well as solidify growth for year 2025 and beyond. If you kind of see something -- let me share some of the data points that we're seeing. You know, the -- you know, our orientation is three-fourths of the customers that we're picking up had at least one SKU from a repeatable category. And that's an encouraging trend because it promotes Autoship growth and builds the layer cake that then sort of compels and, you know, spins the flywheel in a more efficient manner. We're seeing, you know, these new customers' reorder rates and settlement rates improving, you know, as our engagements with these consumable-type categories. You know, when you look at year-to-date '24 new customer cohorts, in terms of year-over-year reorder rates, in the first few periods of post-acquisition, you know, we're running roughly 300 basis points to 500 basis points higher than the three months averages. So, these are just some data points on the background that allows us to sort of study and, you know, increase or decrease the values of propensity you know, modeling and, therefore, go out and invest if we see the returns. That's what we're doing right now. Curtis Nagle -- Analyst OK. And then just -- that makes total sense. Just a quick follow-up. The points you made in answering Nathan's question on the adoptions were really interesting. I think you said, you know, up on a gross add basis high singles to low double, relinquishment was down low singles. So, you know, net, a pretty good number. What -- how did that compare to 2Q? Just trying to, you know, sort of size it in terms of relative improvement. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director It's positive by -- I think the margins extended by low to mid-single-digit ranges relative to Q2. Curtis Nagle -- Analyst OK. Awesome. Appreciate it. Thank you. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Sure. Operator The next question comes from Doug Anmuth with J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead. Doug Anmuth -- Analyst Great. Thanks for taking the questions. Two, if I could. First, just on vet clinics, looks like you're on track to the eight locations by year-end. Can you talk more about what you've learned this year and how that informs your '25 expansion plans and the investments that may be required then? And then, Sumit, if you could also perhaps give us an update on automation, just kind of how you're tracking relative to the 70% to 80% kind of long-term percentage of volume that you've talked about over time? Thanks. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Yeah. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director You take the first. I'll take -- David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Yeah. So, with respect to the vet clinics, you know, as we talked about, we were planning to roll out four to eight vet clinics this year. We're going to be at the high end of that range. The positive trends that we've seen on vet clinics have continued. Some of those positive metrics has been, you know, the operational utilization of those clinics, it's been high. The customer engagement from those clinics and the corresponding customer service levels have been high. The net promoter kind of score around those clinics and the service level, high. The new customer cross-category penetration, new customers to Chewy that come in through vet clinics and then their propensity to go to chewy.com and then shop online at chewy.com, also high. In fact, more than half of those new customers, consistent with last quarter -- actually an improvement from last quarter, are leaving the vet clinic, new customer to Chewy, and then going online and also shopping at chewy.com. So, all the metrics across the vet clinics are trending positive. I'll leave the 2025 guidance for 2025. But I would just tell you that we've been very encouraged by our engagement with customers. We're encouraged by the size of the TAM, roughly 25 billion, that we've opened up through these vet clinics, and we're excited about continuing to grow our presence in this space. Sumit, anything that you would build on there? Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director On the automation, no, that's perfect. Thank you. On the automation side, Doug, we continue to trend upwards. A little less than half of our volume is now shipping through our 2G fulfillment centers and, you know, touching some sort of automation in the network. And that, combined with the improved, you know, supply chain tooling that we have, you know, is allowing us to execute through a really strong peak. And we continue to gain those efficiencies and flow through the bottom line, as you can see in the opex scaling that Dave talked about in the -- on the script. Happy to dive deeper in any area, if you like. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer And just to build on that comment and using some data points from the third quarter, given the efficiencies that you've mentioned, we had an improvement on the variable fulfillment side, we had improvement on the fixed fulfillment side. In other words, we got more fixed cost absorption through those fulfillment centers. And orders every quarter this year, year over year, so Q1, Q2, Q3, on a year-over-year basis, orders are up across all those quarters and in total year to date. In fact, we had our highest order period during this most recent peak -- holiday peak cycle over the last week or so. And so, the team is executing very well, and the automation that's been referenced here is a big contributor to that, both in terms of output, as well as efficiency and productivity. Did you have a follow-up, Doug? Doug Anmuth -- Analyst That's great. Thank you, both. Appreciate it. No. All good. Thank you. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Thanks. Operator The next question comes from David Bellinger with Mizuho. David, please go ahead. David Bellinger -- Analyst Hey. Good morning. Thanks for the questions. First one, I wanted to revisit the app, which I think you mentioned last quarter was around 20% of revenues. Is there any update on how quickly that percentage could ramp up? How fast can we get to 30% or 40%? And then secondly, how should we think about the P&L impact of that? Can you simply bypass marketing spend and sort of get more leverage on the ad expense line by getting more volumes through your app? Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Hi, David. So, we're -- this is a priority for us, and we are essentially ramping up our efforts very quickly to be able to push this volume. I would, you know, consider this not a few quarters of effort, but perhaps a couple of years of efforts to get to sort of market standard rates of, you know, above 40%, 45% of our -- so doubling kind of the volume that is moving through the app. But the progress that we are making on a quarter-over-quarter basis is something that we like. And of course, yes, we like it for the fact that it's a closed-loop ecosystem. It allows us to collect 1P data, market on a 1P basis, you know, take advantage of the direct traffic, stay in touch with customers, you know, who are really more engaged, and capitalize on the trends that we see in the app, which are highly encouraging from an overall conversion of revenue into profitability point of view. For example, you know, Autoship engagement rates are higher in the app. AOVs are higher in the app. Retention rates in apps are several hundred basis points higher than customers who engage with us over the web or desktop. You know, the cross-category attachment that we see go through the app is higher. So, all in all, it's just not only a more productive experience, it's also a more enjoyable and personalized experience that allows us to build a quality of relationship that we believe will be even stronger, alongside the P&L benefits that come with it. We'll size the benefits side, I think, in 2025, so I'm taking that question to note and we'll come back in 2025 and size it up. David Bellinger -- Analyst All right. Perfect. We'll come back on that one. And then just a follow-up, in your 10-Q filing, it looked like there was some new language around a project on the finance IT side. Not meaningful from a capital investment perspective. But can you elaborate on the SG&A portion, how much will that detract in 2025 and are there any deficiencies within the system that this is correcting? David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer No, there are no deficiencies in the system that this is correcting. This is a new capability for us. So, I think it's -- you should think about this as, you know, the migration of some of our planning engines to a more comprehensive online suite. And by being able to do that, which at no material impact really to the P&L, by being able to do that, we're able to, you know, get more granularity with respect to all of our operations. And we're also going to be able to apply some AI to those same operations to get some automated intelligence and reporting out of the system in a more comprehensive way. David Bellinger -- Analyst Perfect. Thank you, both. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Thanks, David. Operator The next question comes from Steven Zaccone with Citigroup. Steven, please go ahead. Steve Zaccone -- Analyst Hi. Good morning. Thanks very much for taking my question. First question I had was just on pricing. Sumit, you said there was no benefit from pricing in the third quarter. How do you see that playing out in 4Q, and then any preliminary views on 2025? It seems like the industry overall has been flattish for some time. So, your thoughts on maybe what it looks like next year will be helpful. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Yeah. So, hi, Steve. This is David. I'll take this one, and then, Sumit, if you want to build on it, chime in. With respect to pricing in third quarter, really no material benefit nor detriment in the third quarter with respect to pricing. We had goodness on the gross margin line, largely driven by Sponsored Ads and product mix. And then, of course, that flowed all the way through the P&L, ultimately, to give us a pretty sizable EBITDA beat for the quarter on a year-over-year basis, roughly half driven by gross margin and half driven by leverage through the remainder of the P&L. But really, no impact either way from pricing. With respect to fourth quarter, you know, you typically do have some pricing and discounting in the fourth quarter related to the holiday season. We fully baked that into our guidance for the fourth quarter. But again, no material kind of impact from inflation nor deflation, which the inflation piece is obviously we had seen in prior years and in prior periods, but really no meaningful impact really throughout 2024. We had a little bit in the first quarter. Second quarter, it moderated significantly. Third quarter, relatively nonexistent. Fourth quarter, expecting the same other than the traditional seasonality. And that's how we're kind of expecting rolling into 2025. We're expecting those trends to largely continue. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Yeah. The overall environment, Steven, the market remains very rational with, of course, some seasonal spikes that you would expect as we played through the Cyber Week last week, which was a very good week for us. You know, if you remember our comments from the beginning of this year, the composition of revenue has shifted from, you know, part pricing, part unit growth or structural growth coming into Q1 of this year to -- much more weighted toward structural growth as we exit this year. You know, we are not seeing deflation happen in the category. The category that, of course, is more elastic right now as we move to Q4, particularly Cyber, is more on the hard goods and discretionary side, but you would expect that, you know, as the industry normalizes and we push volumes through this seasonal holiday peak season. But outside of that, you should expect '25 -- you know, if you recall our long-term growth algorithm, the revenue is a function of active customer growth in the low to mid-single-digit and NSPAC growth in the mid to high single digit, and there's a benefit of roughly 2% to 2.5% of pricing built in when the industry normalizes. And that long-term growth algorithm, we expect, will come true as the industry continues to normalize and we move out of '24 into '25 and '26. Steve Zaccone -- Analyst OK. That's very helpful. The follow-up I had is just in the context of raising the customer count outlook and then the commentary about that strengthening in 2025, how much of that is driven by the industry data points getting a little bit better, like you mentioned, pet adoptions, versus your own idiosyncratic efforts, you know, talking about marketing and stuff of that nature? Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Yeah, it's hard to put a ratio on it, but we believe a majority of this change that we have seen is driven by internal efforts. And so, we are bullish, you know, that we should get an incremental tailwind, you know, when the industry fully normalizes. Currently, we are not taking that into account because we'd like to be -- we'd like that to sit on top. And so, present our -- presently, our comments around, you know, us growing active customer is on the back of efforts that we are internally driving and seeing success with. Steve Zaccone -- Analyst Very helpful. Thanks for the questions. Operator The next question comes from Rupesh Parikh with Oppenheimer. Please go ahead. Rupesh Parikh -- Analyst Good morning and thanks for taking my question. Also, congrats on this quarter. So, just going back to the hard goods category, we'd love to get more color in terms of what you saw during the quarter, expectations going forward. And then from a tariff perspective, does any exposure on the tariff front? Thank you. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director So, I'll take the first part. Dave will chime in on the second one. So, we're -- as you can see -- I mean, you know, hard goods continues to improve, and it did in Q3 as well. And so, on the backdrop, it's really good to kind of recognize the industry normalizing. You know, we are viewing the steady improvement in hard goods performance as a result of both our efforts that I've talked about and indicative of that industry stabilization. Specific to our efforts, it includes expanding assortment across several merch classes. We've been very focused on bringing in, you know, high value-added assortment onto the platform. And our suppliers and vendors are very excited to partner with us there. We're focused on upgrading site experience to improve padding, discovery, and conversion, and we are marrying that up with thoughtful campaign execution. And so, these efforts -- you know, the -- so we believe the work done by our teams is paying off. And I also want to note that we will only fully benefit, you know, from this when we start to see a more fulsome recovery in discretionary purchasing. But we're happy with the results so far. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer And building on that, like, we're excited about our goods growing two quarters in a row now on a year-over-year basis. So, both second quarter this year and third quarter of this year have now grown on a year-over-year basis. We're pretty excited about that growth. And we're also excited about the early trends that we've seen here in fourth quarter. So, don't want to, you know, guide by a product category, but certainly we feel good about hard goods, where we stand today in the fourth quarter. With respect to the tariff question that you mentioned, you know, we have a very small reliance and presence on China specifically. We do source some hard goods from China, primarily related to some of our hard goods. But the vast, vast majority of our net sales at Chewy are, you know, pretty much domestic -- domestically sourced. So, our reliance on the region in our -- the impact of any potential tariff is relatively low on Chewy. Rupesh Parikh -- Analyst Great. Thank you. I'll pass it along. Operator The next question comes from Mark Mahaney with Evercore ISI. Please go ahead, Mark. Mark Mahaney -- Analyst Thanks. Two questions, please. This active customer growth, can you tell how much of that is from reactivated customers, customers you've had in the past who churned off for whatever reasons and have come back? And if so, any color on what those reasons are? And then secondly, it sounds like competitive intensity is relatively moderate given your comments on pricing. But other than pricing, is there anything else you're seeing notable in the competitive landscape? Thank you. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Hi, Mark. A greater number of customers were from net new customers that we acquired relative to the reactivated customers that we count toward gross adds. The other encouraging factor that we saw this time was, you know, the cohort stabilization that we've been talking about. So, churn stabilized, as we would expect, which was Dave's earlier comment on all three indicators were positive: net new, reactivated, as well as lower churn. But between the gross add, the portion of net new customers on an absolute basis absolutely exceeded reactivations. So, we were happy to see that, of course, and we would want that. And then if you combine that with some of the results that I shared around how these cohorts are engaging in terms of second purchase rates, etc., that is encouraging to see. On the retention side, you know, we're tracking settled orders, which is a metric that we, you know, developed as we came out of the COVID time frame so to be really able to see third order settlement rates so that we're not calling early success or early, you know, wins on these customer cohorts. And we're seeing third order customer settlement rates also improve from cohorts that we've acquired from P5 of this year and before that. So, all encouraging signs. Competitive intensity, you're right. It seems relatively moderate. Pricing environment is rational. And overall, you know, we're playing a pretty strong playbook, continuing to differentiate ourselves, both in terms of the basics of, you know, the category around price and convenience and assortment, but also in bringing new innovations to life. Super excited about Chewy+, super excited about the app initiative. Canada is ramping well. Sponsored Ads are ramping well, too. Nothing else to report. Mark Mahaney -- Analyst OK. Thank you, Sumit. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Sure. Operator The next question comes from Shweta Khajuria with Wolfe Research. Please go ahead. Shweta Khajuria -- Analyst Thank you so much for taking my questions. Let me try two, please. One is could you please talk to some of the marketing channels that are working really well for you, were a positive surprise or have been a positive surprise for you over the past couple of quarters as you lean into different channels and seeing better returns? That's one. And then second is could you please talk about trends you saw quarter to date, so through October, November, December, and how the trend did versus your internal expectations? Thanks a lot. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Sure. So, I won't fully satisfy your curiosity on specific marketing channels working for us. I would reorient us back to the comment I made at the start of the call, which, if you were trying to draw, hey, what's different, I would focus on, you know, the comment around really connecting the marketing funnel to expanded audiences and driving that full funnel exposure. That has been the most significant change that we've made over the last few quarters. Combine that with our ability to target those customers when they arrive on our platforms and drive to better conversion I believe is a powerful recipe, which we are continuing to perfect. So, more room to go there. But we're excited about what we are seeing so far. So, I would likely just stick with that. Any color on quarter-to-date trends? We're happy with quarter-to-date performance. Our -- we just wrapped up our Cyber Week. And by all measure of the word, I would classify peak holiday event performance to be successful. We had a thoughtful and curated plan, comprised of great assortment, offers, experience, and marketing strategy. And customers, in return, engaged robustly with the visits and spending exceeding our expectations, driving some of the biggest net sales day in Chewy history. So, we're -- and as you heard from Dave in the prepared remarks, we're increasing our net sales guidance range for the year. And while we did not specifically call out the last few weeks that we've played through, this increase is a result of the strength that we are currently seeing in the engine. Anything to add? David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Yeah. If I could build on that with a few softer points here that don't necessarily show up in the P&L but they certainly give us a good brand umbrella, number one, Chewy Claus. I'll call that out, especially this time of year. And it's a program where pets submit their Santa wish list. And it's gotten quite a bit of traction in prior years. It's gotten even more traction this year. It's not part of a, you know, paid marketing program, but it is a program that's organic and it's trending. And it's a program that when people associate pets, pet parents, the humanization of pets in an emotive category like this, it is an organic trend that gets a lot of play this time of year, and it's a program that we love to run. And then finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't just point out the wow experience that our customer service provides every day and the brand uplift and emotive attachment to Chewy that that type of program does. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Shweta, if the CFO is talking about it, the Chewy Claus program must really be working there. Shweta Khajuria -- Analyst Thank you, Sumit. Thanks, Dave. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Thanks. Operator We have time for one more question. And so, our final question today comes from Anna Andreeva with Piper Sandler. Anna, please go ahead. Anna Andreeva -- Analyst Great. Thanks so much. Happy to have made it. And congrats. Nice results. Two questions from us. I wanted to follow up on hard goods. Sumit, just remind us what's the size of your own brands business within that. Are you starting to see growth there, and should that continue into next year? And is own brands still a higher-margin category for Chewy? And secondly, I guess, to date, FC automation has been a pretty big story here, and you quantified that benefit in the 10-Q, to opex. Can you remind us how many FCs are automated now? What's the benefit and opex savings you see per FC? And how many do you still left to automate ahead into '25 or beyond? Thank you so much. David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Sure. Let me start perhaps with hard goods. And again, if you go into the 10-Q, you'll see that we report on hard goods, as I mentioned earlier, after several kind of quarters where we had experienced decline in the past. We have had two consecutive quarters now with growth in hard goods year over year. So, the second quarter, we grew year over year. The third quarter, we've grown year over year again. And in fact, we've grown faster than we did in the second quarter. And while we don't guide by, you know, some -- a product line or category, we did -- we have experienced some good trends in hard goods here in the fourth quarter. So, we're quite pleased from that perspective. With regards to our own private brands, either within hard goods or other categories, you know, we don't comment extensively on that. I would say, in general, private brands for us has been stable. We have several initiatives that -- where we are expanding assortment across both consumables, as well as hard goods. Most of those initiatives are future benefits and not really reflected in the P&L that we've produced for third quarter or that were guiding for fourth quarter. So, those benefits are yet to come. But hard goods, in general, up two consecutive quarters, trending well for fourth quarter; and then private brands within hard goods, continuing to improve assortment and selection. Sumit. Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director And I would just say that even though, you know, the relative stability is absolutely right, you know, if you recall, this is an area of opportunity that we recognized as a strategic pillar. We want to get net sales penetration up to mid-teens level. And at that scale, we expect private brands to contribute, you know, up to 500 basis points of higher gross margin to the core business. For hard goods, you know, we've mentioned in the past that penetration for our private brands is in the mid-teens to high-teens level. It fluctuates, you know, in that range across the year, and we are relatively stable in that penetration. In terms of automation, six fulfillment centers are currently automated. What I would recall -- what I would draw your attention to is, you know, at Capital Markets Day, we said we can, you know, continue to automate across our network and reach or touch over 70% of volume in one way, shape, or form to push through these improved processes. And if you look at just the FC itself, you know, we have said it drives improvement to the tune of up to 50% in productivity, 30% in volume per square foot, and up to 60% improvements in ergonomics and safety. And those results are pretty true even now. Operator Those are all the questions we have time for today. [Operator instructions] Duration: 0 minutes Call participants: David Reeder -- Chief Financial Officer Sumit Singh -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Nathan Feather -- Analyst Curtis Nagle -- Analyst Doug Anmuth -- Analyst David Bellinger -- Analyst Steve Zaccone -- Analyst Rupesh Parikh -- Analyst Mark Mahaney -- Analyst Shweta Khajuria -- Analyst Anna Andreeva -- Analyst More CHWY analysis All earnings call transcripts
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After months of speculation and guessing, we now know the official Team Canada roster for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. The tournament, which will take place in February, is the first best-on-best international tournament featuring NHL players since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and will feature teams from the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden. It is a nice preview for the NHL's return to the 2026 Winter Olympics. The Canadian roster (shown above) has a lot of the expected names, but also a few surprises. Now that we know the roster, who is on and who is off, it is time to talk about some of the winners and losers. This seems like a big deal. Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid were the two most hyped players to enter the NHL in decades, and both have not only matched the expectations, they have exceeded them. Crosby's career is one of the best in NHL history as he continues to climb the all-time scoring leaderboards and has three Stanley Cups, Olympic Gold and multiple individual awards on his resume. McDavid has not quite had the team success, but he has been the most dominant offensive player in the NHL since entering the league and (as of Wednesday) has 140 more points than any other player in the league since his debut in the 2015-16 season. They have been two of the most dominant players of this era and are both on their way to becoming all-time greats. Now they get to play on the same team, and perhaps even on the same power-play unit. It will be a sight to see. Objectively speaking, Bedard probably did not deserve a spot on this team. At least not yet. He is still only 19 years old and his season so far has not been dominant with five goals and 19 total points in 25 games. From a big-picture standpoint, that is fine. We sometimes set expectations that are too high for players like him when they enter the NHL and forget that development and progression are not the same for everybody. It took Nathan MacKinnon a few years before he became a megastar. Not everyone steps right in like Crosby or McDavid and instantly starts scoring 100 points. Still, Bedard is an immense talent and figures to be a staple on Canadian rosters well into the future. This might have been a good time to get him some top-level international experience in a tournament that is not quite as high stakes as, say, the Olympics. It would have also been exciting to see Crosby, McDavid and Bedard on the same team and represent three different age levels of NHL stars. If Bedard develops as everybody expects and hopes over the next year and a half, he should be an Olympic participant. If he is not, that would be a problem—either for his development or Hockey Canada's decision-making. When piecing together what are basically All-Star teams there can sometimes be concerns with how players will actually play alongside each other. In Canada's case, it was actually able to piece together several sets of teammates, including two potential defensive pairings. Cale Makar and Devon Toews have been one of the league's best defense pairings the past few years in Colorado, and they figure to be locks to play together in this tournament. At least they should be. They also have the potential to keep Vegas teammates Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore together (though they have not played as much together as teammates). At forward, they also have three Tampa Bay Lightning players, including the potential for a great depth line with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel. Keeping teammates together should not be the top priority when putting together a roster like this, but when the opportunity presents itself it can be an enormous advantage. The forward and defense groups for Canada are as good and deep as any other groups in this tournament. They could probably piece together two teams that could compete for a championship at those positions. The Achilles heel of this team is clearly in net with the trio of Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill and Sam Montembault. It is just...not impressive. It is also worth wondering if they are even taking the best goalies when somebody like Logan Thompson was also sitting out there as a possibility. Goaltending is the one position that can make or break a team, and of the four teams in this tournament, Canada might be in the fourth spot when it comes to the position. It is a concern. It could be a problem. We already talked about the potential benefit of having teammates together, and the Tampa Bay Lightning have quite a few connections here. They have head coach Jon Cooper behind the bench, and he has three of his players—Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli—on his roster. Point was one of the six players chosen for the roster ahead of time, so we knew he was going to be on the team, while Hagel and Cirelli have the potential to form an outstanding depth line. Sometimes international teams can overthink the roster-building process when it comes to these tournaments. You do not need a checking line. It is okay to just load up on stars when you do not have salary-cap constraints to worry about. Maybe keeping Hagel and Cirelli together is an example of overthinking it. On the other hand, they are really good and productive individually, and really good together as a group. Over the past three seasons, Hagel and Cirelli have spent 1,114 minutes together during 5-on-5 play and outscored teams by a 65-52 margin with a 55.8 percent expected goals share. That is a great duo. It should work against any competition. Nashville's Steven Stamkos and Washington's Tom Wilson seem like two of the more notable omissions from the roster. In both cases it is completely understandable, but also a little surprising. In regards to Stamkos, no, he is not the player he used to be at his peak. But he is still Steven Stamkos and can still stand in the face-off circle and unload one-timers at the net on the power play. He also would have added to the Tampa Bay connection (even though he does not actually play for Tampa Bay at this point). Given his track record, success and star power, he seemed to be a good bet to be on the roster even if his play has declined. Wilson might not be your prototypical international tournament player, but he was talked about a lot as a potential player on this roster in the lead-up to the roster selection and is having a strong year offensively with 19 points in his first 25 games (as of Tuesday). If we are being objective, Canada probably did not make a glaring mistake leaving either player off the roster. It just seemed like both might have had an opportunity to make it and may have expected it.By MICHELLE L. PRICE and ROB GILLIES NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s recent dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his visit to Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral were not just exercises in policy and diplomacy. They were also prime trolling opportunities for Trump. Related Articles National Politics | Biden issues veto threat on bill expanding federal judiciary as partisan split emerges National Politics | Trump lawyers and aide hit with 10 additional felony charges in Wisconsin over 2020 fake electors National Politics | After withdrawing as attorney general nominee, Matt Gaetz lands a talk show on OANN television National Politics | What will happen to Social Security under Trump’s tax plan? National Politics | Republican-led states are rolling out plans that could aid Trump’s mass deportation effort Throughout his first term in the White House and during his campaign to return, Trump has spun out countless provocative, antagonizing and mocking statements. There were his belittling nicknames for political opponents, his impressions of other political figures and the plentiful memes he shared on social media. Now that’s he’s preparing to return to the Oval Office, Trump is back at it, and his trolling is attracting more attention — and eyerolls. On Sunday, Trump turned a photo of himself seated near a smiling first lady Jill Biden at the Notre Dame ceremony into a social media promo for his new perfume and cologne line, with the tag line, “A fragrance your enemies can’t resist!” The first lady’s office declined to comment. When Trudeau hastily flew to Florida to meet with Trump last month over the president-elect’s threat to impose a 25% tax on all Canadian products entering the U.S., the Republican tossed out the idea that Canada become the 51st U.S. state. The Canadians passed off the comment as a joke, but Trump has continued to play up the dig, including in a post Tuesday morning on his social media network referring to the prime minister as “Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada.” After decades as an entertainer and tabloid fixture, Trump has a flair for the provocative that is aimed at attracting attention and, in his most recent incarnation as a politician, mobilizing fans. He has long relished poking at his opponents, both to demean and minimize them and to delight supporters who share his irreverent comments and posts widely online and cheer for them in person. Trump, to the joy of his fans, first publicly needled Canada on his social media network a week ago when he posted an AI-generated image that showed him standing on a mountain with a Canadian flag next to him and the caption “Oh Canada!” After his latest post, Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Tuesday: “It sounds like we’re living in a episode of South Park.” Trudeau said earlier this week that when it comes to Trump, “his approach will often be to challenge people, to destabilize a negotiating partner, to offer uncertainty and even sometimes a bit of chaos into the well established hallways of democracies and institutions and one of the most important things for us to do is not to freak out, not to panic.” Even Thanksgiving dinner isn’t a trolling-free zone for Trump’s adversaries. On Thanksgiving Day, Trump posted a movie clip from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” with President Joe Biden and other Democrats’ faces superimposed on the characters in a spoof of the turkey-carving scene. The video shows Trump appearing to explode out of the turkey in a swirl of purple sparks, with the former president stiffly dancing to one of his favorite songs, Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” In his most recent presidential campaign, Trump mocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, refusing to call his GOP primary opponent by his real name and instead dubbing him “Ron DeSanctimonious.” He added, for good measure, in a post on his Truth Social network: “I will never call Ron DeSanctimonious ‘Meatball’ Ron, as the Fake News is insisting I will.” As he campaigned against Biden, Trump taunted him in online posts and with comments and impressions at his rallies, deriding the president over his intellect, his walk, his golf game and even his beach body. After Vice President Kamala Harris took over Biden’s spot as the Democratic nominee, Trump repeatedly suggested she never worked at McDonalds while in college. Trump, true to form, turned his mocking into a spectacle by appearing at a Pennsylvania McDonalds in October, when he manned the fries station and held an impromptu news conference from the restaurant drive-thru. Trump’s team thinks people should get a sense of humor. “President Trump is a master at messaging and he’s always relatable to the average person, whereas many media members take themselves too seriously and have no concept of anything else other than suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome,” said Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director. “President Trump will Make America Great Again and we are getting back to a sense of optimism after a tumultuous four years.” Though both the Biden and Harris campaigns created and shared memes and launched other stunts to respond to Trump’s taunts, so far America’s neighbors to the north are not taking the bait. “I don’t think we should necessarily look on Truth Social for public policy,” Miller said. Gerald Butts, a former top adviser to Trudeau and a close friend, said Trump brought up the 51st state line to Trudeau repeatedly during Trump’s first term in office. “Oh God,” Butts said Tuesday, “At least a half dozen times.” “This is who he is and what he does. He’s trying to destabilize everybody and make people anxious,” Butts said. “He’s trying to get people on the defensive and anxious and therefore willing to do things they wouldn’t otherwise entertain if they had their wits about them. I don’t know why anybody is surprised by it.” Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
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HEIMIR HALLGRÍMSSON has said Ireland deserve every criticism that comes their way after their Wembley wobble. But he is optimistic about his side’s future chances after the Nations League draw and learning of likely opponents in the World Cup qualifiers . The Ireland boss has been licking his wounds since Ireland lost 5-0 to England , with all goals coming after Liam Scales was sent off early in the second half . Yesterday, he learned Ireland will face Bulgaria in the relegation-promotion play-off with their opponents immediately confirming that the first leg on Thursday March 20 would take place in Plovdiv. The return match will be in the Aviva Stadium 72 hours later. In next month’s World Cup draw, they will definitely be in a four-team group and can face any of the top and fourth seeds but only Ukraine , Turkey , Hungary , Serbia , Greece and Slovakia from the second seeds. They are welcome distractions but it is going to take him some time to get over his side’s capitulation in London . Hallgrímsson said: “It’s tough. All coaches would say the same, losing with this number has been tough. “And criticism, you cannot answer that in any way. You need to take it in. “Because when you lose five- zero you’ve definitely done something wrong. “We’re not hiding. The goals we conceded were very soft and strange but I think again it was down to the mentality and psychology , we lost our heads. “We lost a player, and we conceded a goal, a kind of mental breakdown, moments of madness, conceded three goals in six minutes and it’s game over. “It’s tough to come from back that. It happened very quickly.” The Icelander had previously spoken about bringing in a sports psychologist to address what he felt was a lack of confidence among the players after some tough years. And he confirmed that would be on the agenda for 2025. He said: “We had a good talk prior to the England camp, just who has access to things like these, in this area. “I myself have used help in this area and it’s really just one piece of the puzzle, that you can add to what we are doing, a professional in this area, not even a professional, just someone you can share things and stuff with. “Psychology is just a bigger and bigger part of elite sports. In elite sport, it’s a bigger and bigger part of coaching.” There was one bright spark for him as he repeated his praise for Andy Moran for his performance off the bench. He is hoping others can come to the fore between now and March. He said: “It was positive the introduction of Andy Moran. He showed leadership skills, he was not afraid to take the ball in probably the worst moment for a sub, to come in in a game you know is kind of lost. “But he showed good characteristics once he came in so that’s a good thing. “We have names in our head that we are monitoring. We didn’t want to touch much of the under-21s because they were so close to qualifying so there might be younger guys. “It’s a long time, you can have a guy shining in the next two or three month. We will be looking at the options we have, not only these play-off games but for the future as well.” He will also hope to have fewer players ruled out than the 10 missing for this month’s window although Chiedozie Ogbene will definitely be out after Achilles surgery . He said: “I think it is something everyone is experiencing at this stage, there are a lot of drop outs, a lot of injuries and serious injuries. "Looking back, we did not have many injuries with Iceland . They always showed up for the national team. Even if they were injured, they showed up." He also anticipates a more settled side, having given 23 different players starts with a total of 31 featuring across just six Nations League games. He said: “I've said it again and again, we need to have connections to know the player next to you will cover, because he has the same thoughts as you do. We need to establish that for sure." And he will start off more sure-footed than he did in September when he seemed ill-prepared for someone whom the FAI claimed had been identified as their first choice as manager back in March. Hallgrímsson – appointed in July, 10 days after stepping down as Jamaica boss following their elimination from the Copa America – said: “Of course I have learned more about my players. “The transition from CONCACAF and then CONMEBOL, coming from the finals, jumping straight into this and being confronted with 40 or 50 journalists that was kind of the most challenging aspect of the job. “I thought it was a good decision to have John O’Shea fronting the team, because you need to answer questions and probably I didn’t have the answers. “When there would be a question about a player and I didn’t know, it would look silly not to be able to answer. “All of a sudden you are representing a country, you are kind of a spokesman for a country, and you like to do that while you need to be careful what you say and what you do. I have been guided well. “I have given praise to the set-up and the people working at the Federation. I am really happy and hopefully we can work on that and build something good and great together.” They will go on a site visit to Bulgaria next week and, despite the extra travel involved, he is happy for the game not to be in the capital, where Ireland’s five previous games in the country were staged. He said: “We just met them after the draw and it's confirmed that it's Plovdiv, they were re-laying the grass, that's why they played the last game in Sofia. “It's a better stadium, a newer stadium so they want to play there.” Bulgaria were beaten 5-0 in Belfast but were runners-up to Northern Ireland – whom they beat at home - and conceded just one goal in their five other matches. He said: “I think Bulgaria is an OK draw. It's not my favourite, it's not the worst. “Slovakia was the highest FIFA-ranked team and everyone would like to avoid them. You would expect a low-scoring game when you look at the goals and statistics. “To break them down is going to be tricky.” And their qualifying group may not be as daunting as first feared with the draw taking place on December 13. He said: "The teams that we can face especially from Pot Two are not teams that are much better than us, even though they are higher ranked. It gives me hope than we can do things. No matter who we face we will be ready when it comes to the World Cup, “The good thing is that we are in a four-team group. We can use June for final preparation.”The BC SPCA says it recently rescued 59 suffering dogs and puppies as well as 14 birds from an irresponsible breeder in Quesnel. The seized dogs include 12 chihuahuas, four French bulldogs and 43 cane corsos, many of which are puppies born within the last month, according to the charity. “When officers arrived at the home, they were hit with an overwhelming ammonia odor which burned their noses. The ground was littered with garbage, urine and old feces was stuck to the floor, dogs had access to injurious objects as well as medications,” said Eileen Drever, senior officer of protection and stakeholder relations with the BC SPCA, in a media release issued Friday. A rescued dog and her puppies are seen in this image handed out by the BC SPCA. “The dogs are extremely fearful and under socialized. Some of the puppies were observed shivering in the yard and hiding behind a ripped-up couch amongst pieces of foam from other furniture, feces, urine and dirty straw. One of the dogs would only approach our officer for food and then would run away cowering in fear.” She said many of the dogs were extremely thin with their bones clearly visible, and an under-one-week-old litter of puppies had bands on their tails used for docking, a procedure that has been banned in B.C. since 2016. A vet confirmed the puppies are in severe pain and have nerve exposure and infections, so their tails will have to be removed, according to the organization. In addition, animal protection officers seized various parrots and lovebirds from a dirty aviary room filled with feces, the BC SPCA said. A Macaw and African Grey were missing several feathers, indicating illness or emotional distress. A rescued parrot is seen in this image handed out by the BC SPCA. “It’s just horrible to think about how long these animals have suffered, without love and proper care. They were all used and abused all to make money,” said Drever, in the release. The BC SPCA said it will be recommending charges against the breeder. Meanwhile, the animals will be taken to shelters across the province, but the organization says they are not yet up for adoption.Rescuers reassess safety in search for woman they think fell into a Pennsylvania sinkholePrince Harry gives heartbreaking speech at key event with Bill Clinton and Jeff Bezos
UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The team looking for a missing Pennsylvania woman believed to have fallen into a sinkhole has determined that an abandoned coal mine is too unstable for people to safely search underground, authorities said Wednesday while still expressing hope Elizabeth Pollard will be found alive. Rescue workers continue to search for Elizabeth Pollard, who is believed to have disappeared in a sinkhole while looking for her cat, Wednesday in Marguerite, Pa. Emergency crews and others have been trying to find Pollard, 64, for two days. Her relatives reported her missing early Tuesday and her vehicle with her unharmed 5-year-old granddaughter inside was found about two hours later, near what is thought to be a freshly opened sinkhole above the long closed, crumbling mine. Authorities said in a noon update that the roof of the mine collapsed in several places and is not stable. The sinkhole is in the village of Marguerite, about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. “We did get, you know, where we wanted, where we thought that she was at. We’ve been to that spot," said Pleasant Unity Fire Chief John Bacha, the incident's operations officer. “What happened at that point, I don’t know, maybe the slurry of mud pushed her one direction. There were several different seams of that mine, shafts that all came together where this happened at.” Trooper Cliff Greenfield said crews were still actively searching for Pollard. “We are hopeful that she’s found alive,” Greenfield said. Searchers were using electronic devices and cameras as surface digging continued with the use of heavy equipment, Bacha said. Search dogs may also be used. Rescue workers search through the night in a sinkhole for Elizabeth Pollard, who disappeared while looking for her cat, Tuesday in Marguerite, Pa. On Wednesday afternoon, machinery was removing material from the area around the hole while police and other government vehicles blocked a clear view of the scene. Sinkholes occur in the area because of subsidence from coal mining activity. Rescuers had been using water to break down and remove clay and dirt from the mine, which has been closed since the 1950s, but that increased the risk “for potential other mine subsidence to take place," Pennsylvania State Police spokesperson Trooper Steve Limani said. Crews lowered a pole camera with a sensitive listening device into the hole, but it detected nothing. Another camera lowered into the hole showed what could be a shoe about 30 feet below the surface, Limani said. Searchers have also deployed drones and thermal imaging equipment, to no avail. Marguerite Fire Chief Scot Graham, the incident commander, said access to the immediate area surrounding the hole was being tightly controlled and monitored, with rescuers attached by harness. The top of a sinkhole is seen Tuesday in the village of Marguerite, Pa., where rescuers searched for a woman who disappeared. “We cannot judge as to what’s going on underneath us. Again, you had a small hole on top but as soon as you stuck a camera down through to look, you had this big void,” Graham said. “And it was all different depths. The process is long, is tedious. We have to make sure that we are keeping safety in the forefront as well as the rescue effort.” Bacha said they were “hoping that there’s a void that she could still be in.” Pollard's family called police at about 1 a.m. Tuesday to say she had not been seen since going out at about 5 p.m. Monday to search for Pepper, her cat. The temperature dropped well below freezing that night. Her son, Axel Hayes, said Pollard is a happy woman who likes going out to have fun. She and her husband adopted Hayes and his twin brother when they were infants. Hayes called Pollard “a great person overall, a great mother” who “never really did anybody wrong.” He said at one point Pollard had about 10 cats. “Every cat that she’s ever come in contact with, she has a close bond with them,” Hayes said. His mother worked for many years at Walmart but recently was not employed, he said. “I’m just hoping right now that she’s still with us and she’s able to come back to us,” he said. Police said they found Pollard's car parked behind Monday's Union Restaurant in Marguerite, about 20 feet from the sinkhole. Hunters and restaurant workers in the area said they had not noticed the manhole-size opening in the hours before Pollard disappeared, leading rescuers to speculate that the sinkhole was new. “It almost feels like it opened up with her standing on top of it,” Limani said. Searchers accessed the mine late Tuesday afternoon and dug a separate entrance out of concern that the ground around the sinkhole opening was not stable. “Let’s be honest, we need to get a little bit lucky, right?” Limani said Wednesday. “We need a little bit of luck on our side. We need a little bit of God’s good blessing on our side.” Pollard lives in a small neighborhood across the street from where her car and granddaughter were located, Limani said. The young girl “nodded off in the car and woke up. Grandma never came back," Limani said. The child stayed in the car until two troopers rescued her. It's not clear what happened to Pepper. In an era of rapid technological advancement and environmental change, American agriculture is undergoing a revolution that reaches far beyond the farm gate. From the food on consumer plates to the economic health of rural communities, the transformation of U.S. farming practices is reshaping the nation's landscape in ways both visible and hidden. LandTrust explores how these changes impact everyone, whether they live in the heartland or the heart of the city. The image of the small family farm, while still a reality for many, is increasingly giving way to larger, more technologically advanced operations. According to the USDA, the number of farms in the U.S. has fallen from 6.8 million in 1935 to about 2 million today, with the average farm size growing from 155 acres to 444 acres. This shift has profound implications for rural communities and the food system as a whole. Despite these changes, diversity in farming practices is on the rise. A landmark study published in Science , involving data from over 2,000 farms across 11 countries, found that diversifying farmland simultaneously delivers environmental and social benefits. This challenges the longstanding idea that practices boosting biodiversity must come at a cost to yields and food security. The adoption of precision agriculture technologies is transforming how farmers manage their land and resources. GPS-guided tractors, drone surveillance, and AI-powered crop management systems are becoming commonplace on many farms. These technologies allow farmers to apply water, fertilizers, and pesticides with pinpoint accuracy, reducing waste and environmental impact while improving yields. However, the digital divide remains a challenge. More than 22% of rural communities lack reliable broadband internet access, hindering the widespread implementation of AI and other advanced technologies in agriculture. While technology offers new opportunities, farmers are also facing significant economic challenges. The USDA's 2024 farm income forecast projects a 4.4% decline in net farm income from 2023, following a sharp 19.5% drop from 2022 to 2023. This financial pressure is compounded by rising production costs and market volatility. Climate variability adds another layer of complexity. Extreme weather events, changing precipitation patterns, and shifting growing seasons are forcing farmers to adapt quickly. These factors could reduce agricultural productivity by up to 25% over the coming decades without significant adaptation measures. But adapting requires additional financial resources, further straining farm profitability. In the face of these challenges, many farmers are turning to diversification as a strategy for resilience and profitability. The Science study mentioned earlier found that farms integrating several diversification methods supported more biodiversity while seeing simultaneous increases in human well-being and food security. Agritourism is one popular diversification strategy. In 2022, 28,600 U.S. farms reported agritourism income, averaging gross revenue of $44,000 from these activities. Activities like farm tours, pick-your-own operations, and seasonal festivals not only provide additional income but also foster a deeper connection between consumers and agriculture. The changing face of agriculture is directly impacting consumers. The rise of farm-to-table and local food movements reflects a growing interest in where our food comes from and how it's produced. If every U.S. household spent just $10 per week on locally grown food, it would generate billions of dollars for local economies. However, the larger challenges in agriculture can also lead to price fluctuations at the grocery store. The USDA's Economic Research Service projects that food-at-home prices will increase between 1.2% and 2.2% in 2024. Looking ahead, several innovations are poised to reshape agriculture: The transformation of American agriculture affects everyone, from the food we eat to the health of our environment and rural communities. Consumers have the power to support sustainable and diverse farming practices through our purchasing decisions. As citizens, they can advocate for policies that support farmers in adopting innovative and sustainable practices. The challenges facing agriculture are complex, but they also present opportunities for innovation and positive change. By understanding and engaging with these issues, everyone can play a part in shaping a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable food system for the future. This story was produced by LandTrust and reviewed and distributed by Stacker. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!Amid renewed interest in the killing of JonBenet Ramsey triggered in part by a new Netflix documentary, police in Boulder, Colorado, refuted assertions this week that there is viable evidence and leads about the 1996 killing of the 6-year-old girl that they are not pursuing. JonBenet Ramsey, who competed in beauty pageants, was found dead in the basement of her family’s home in the college town of Boulder the day after Christmas in 1996. Her body was found several hours after her mother called 911 to say her daughter was missing and a ransom note had been left behind. The details of the crime and video footage of JonBenet competing in pageants propelled the case into one of the highest-profile mysteries in the United States. The police comments came as part of their annual update on the investigation, a month before the 28th anniversary of JonBenet’s killing. Police said they released it a little earlier due to the increased attention on the case, apparently referring to the three-part Netflix series “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey.” In a video statement, Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn said the department welcomes news coverage and documentaries about the killing of JonBenet, who would have been 34 this year, as a way to generate possible new leads. He said the department is committed to solving the case but needs to be careful about what it shares about the investigation to protect a possible future prosecution. “What I can tell you though, is we have thoroughly investigated multiple people as suspects throughout the years and we continue to be open-minded about what occurred as we investigate the tips that come into detectives," he said. The Netflix documentary focuses on the mistakes made by police and the “media circus” surrounding the case. JonBenet was bludgeoned and strangled. Her death was ruled a homicide, but nobody was ever prosecuted. Police were widely criticized for mishandling the early investigation into her death amid speculation that her family was responsible. However, a prosecutor cleared her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, and brother Burke in 2008 based on new DNA evidence from JonBenet's clothing that pointed to the involvement of an “unexplained third party” in her slaying. The announcement by former district attorney Mary Lacy came two years after Patsy Ramsey died of cancer. Lacy called the Ramseys “victims of this crime.” John Ramsey has continued to speak out for the case to be solved. In 2022, he supported an online petition asking Colorado’s governor to intervene in the investigation by putting an outside agency in charge of DNA testing in the case. In the Netflix documentary, he said he has been advocating for several items that have not been prepared for DNA testing to be tested and for other items to be retested. He said the results should be put through a genealogy database. In recent years, investigators have identified suspects in unsolved cases by comparing DNA profiles from crime scenes and to DNA testing results shared online by people researching their family trees. In 2021, police said in their annual update that DNA hadn’t been ruled out to help solve the case, and in 2022 noted that some evidence could be “consumed” if DNA testing is done on it. Last year, police said they convened a panel of outside experts to review the investigation to give recommendations and determine if updated technologies or forensic testing might produce new leads. In the latest update, Redfearn said that review had ended but that police continue to work through and evaluate a “lengthy list of recommendations” from the panel.Race-Obsessed Rep. Jasmine Crockett Is Furious Texas Elected White Congressmen Using 'Black and Brown and Asian Bodies'
Trump Loves Tariffs But Canada Can Strike Back on Oil, Ex-Trade Chief Says
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