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Koons Automotive, DC’s largest dealership, being acquired by Fortune 500 company

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:14:31 GMT

Koons dealership in Tysons, Virginia. (Courtesy Google Street View)Jim Koons Automotive will be acquired by Ashbury Automotive Group for an undisclosed sum, though the deal is one of the most sizeable combinations in auto retail history, according to the companies.Jim Koons Automotive is the largest auto dealership in the Baltimore and D.C. region, with 20 dealerships, 29 franchises, six collision centers and 2,500 employees. Koons had $3 billion in revenue last year.Duluth, Georgia-based Ashbury Automotive, a Fortune 500 company, operates 138 dealerships and 32 collision centers. It had $15.4 billion in 2022 revenue.Koons Ford was founded in Falls Church, Virginia, in 1964 by John Koons. Son Jim Koons took over the company in 1973.Koons is among top dealerships in the nation for volume sales of Toyota, Lexus, Mercedes, Ford, Kia, Hyundai, Volvo, Stellantis and General Motors. In 2022, its dealerships sold 61,000 new and used vehicles.Source

Japan does homework to predict what’s coming from Rugby World Cup debutant Chile

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:14:31 GMT

Chile makes its Rugby World Cup debut on Sunday and Japan believes it knows what’s coming in Toulouse.“A very gritty side,” Japan defense coach John Mitchell said. “They have showed determination to get entry into the World Cup, and in all their warmup games they have demonstrated real cohesiveness and ability to fight for each other.”Back-rower Jack Cornelsen said, “A big, physical side, good with the ball in hand. Once they get momentum, they’re a tough team to stop.”Captain Kazuki Himeno warned, “They will be strong mentally. The collisions are tough, it is their strength.”Head coach Jamie Joseph added, “They’re motivated to have a very good performance and put us under pressure. Rightfully so, they should have confidence and they will look to put the pressure on in the first 20 minutes. So we’ll be focusing on ensuring that doesn’t happen.”Thanks to the internet, it’s easier than, say, 20 years ago to do homework on an opponent that’s ne...

Pelosi says she’ll run for reelection in 2024 as Democrats try to win back House majority

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:14:31 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she will run for reelection to another term in Congress as Democrats work to win back the majority in 2024. Pelosi, 83, made the announcement before labor allies in the San Francisco area district she has represented for more than 35 years.“Now more than ever our City needs us to advance San Francisco values and further our recovery,” Pelosi said in a tweet. “Our country needs America to show the world that our flag is still there, with liberty and justice for ALL. That is why I am running for reelection — and respectfully ask for your vote.”First elected to Congress in 1987, the Democratic leader made history becoming the first female speaker in 2007, and in 2019 she regained the speaker’s gavel. Pelosi led the party through substantial legislative achievements, including passage of the Affordable Care Act, as well as turbulent times with two impeachments of former President Donald Trump. The announcement quells ...

Damar Hamlin is ready to complete his comeback as he prepares for Bills opener on Monday night

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:14:31 GMT

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Where Damar Hamlin once wondered if life would ever be the same again during his quest to resume his football career following a near-death experience, the Buffalo Bills safety caught a glimpse of what his new normal might be this week.On Labor Day, Hamlin visited a riverside park in Buffalo to hold a camp for children, where he joined them in playing football, bought them lunch and haircuts, handed out backpacks and promoted CPR training.And coming up on Monday night, he’ll be at a much larger venue in the Meadowlands, where Hamlin will have the opportunity to make his comeback complete when the Bills open their season facing the New York Jets.“Yes sir. This is the entirety of it. This is a big, big, big big piece of the new normal,” Hamlin said Monday in his first public appearance since making the Bills’ 53-player roster.“You can never take it for granted because, you know, the NFL, they say it stands for Not For Long,” he added. “So to be ab...

Channel Tunnel terminal shut for hours as UK bomb squad checks vehicle before deeming it no threat

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:14:31 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A main route between England and France was shut for several hours Friday while British Army bomb-disposal experts examined a vehicle that was stopped by police near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel before deciding it posed no safety risk. The Kent Police force said one man was arrested and later released pending further inquiries. It said the incident was not linked to the hunt for Daniel Abed Khalife, who escaped from a London prison on Wednesday while awaiting trial on terrorism charges.Police initially said a cordon was put in place “for the safety of the public,” but in an update said the vehicle that was stopped was “deemed to not pose a risk to public safety.”Long lines of cars had built up on the approach to the terminal near Folkestone in southeast England.Le Shuttle, which operates trains that carry vehicles through the tunnel between England and France, said access to its terminal was suspended and that services were likely to be severely disrupted. ...

Remains identified of Michigan airman who died in crash following WWII bombing raid on Japan

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:14:31 GMT

MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) — Military scientists have identified the remains of a U.S. Army airman from Michigan who died along with 10 other crew members when a bomber crashed in India following a World War II bombing raid on Japan.The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Friday that the remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Flight Officer Chester L. Rinke of Marquette, Michigan, were identified in May. Scientists used anthropological analysis, material evidence and mitochondrial DNA to identify his remains.Rinke was 33 and serving as the flight officer on a B-29 Superfortress when it crashed into a rice paddy in the village of Sapekhati, India, on June 26, 1944, after a bombing raid on Imperial Iron and Steel Works on Japan’s Kyushu Island. All 11 crew members died instantly, the DPAA said in a news release.Rinke will be buried at Seville, Ohio, on a date yet to be determined.The federal agency said the remains of seven of the 11 crew members were recovered within days of the crash a...

Ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will run for reelection in 2024 as Democrats try to win back the majority

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:14:31 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will run for reelection in 2024 as Democrats try to win back the majority.Source

Smartsheet, Smith & Wesson rise; RH, Zumiez fall, Friday, 9/8/2023

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:14:31 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that are trading heavily or have substantial price changes on Friday:RH (RH), down $50.63 to $317.92.The furniture and housewares company gave investors a disappointing revenue forecast for its current quarter.Guidewire Software Inc. (GWRE), up $10.67 to $95.51.The provider of software to the insurance industry beat analysts’ fiscal fourth-quarter profit forecasts.Smartsheet Inc. (SMAR), up $3.98 to $44.35.The cloud-based work-management platform raised its profit forecast for the year.Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. (HPP), down 31 cents to $7.10.The real estate investment trust suspended its dividend.Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. (SWBI), up $1.01 to $11.52.The firearm maker beat Wall Street’s fiscal first-quarter financial forecasts.Braze Inc. (BRZE), up 79 cents to $48.43.The cloud-based software company raised its earnings and sales forecasts.National Beverage Corp. (FIZZ), down 73 cents to $47.27.The soft drink and seltzer maker’s second-...

Russia summons Armenian ambassador over Ukraine aid pledge

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:14:31 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia — Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has hauled in Armenia’s ambassador for a dressing down over what it says amount to a string of hostile steps that have seen the country, formally an ally of Moscow, distance itself from the Kremlin in recent days.In a statement on Friday evening, officials said Vagharshak Harutyunyan had been called in for “difficult” talks after Armenia signed off on the “transfer of humanitarian aid to Kyiv’s Nazi regime.” Yerevan announced earlier this week it would provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine as Russia steps up its strikes against infrastructure and civilian targets, while Anna Hakobyan, the wife of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, made an official visit to the country in a rare show of support.At the same time, Armenia — which is a member of the Moscow-led CSTO defense pact — recalled its envoy to the military bloc on Tuesday. In another decision condemned by Moscow’s s...

Horizon Brexit row fixed? Now let’s sort electric vehicles, Rishi Sunak tells EU

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:14:31 GMT

The U.K. rejoining the EU’s flagship Horizon science funding program could pave the way for an agreement to delay damaging post-Brexit tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs), Rishi Sunak suggested.The U.K. prime minister, speaking to reporters traveling with him to India for the G20 summit, said this week’s deal to rejoin Horizon after years of being frozen out post-Brexit showed that relations with the EU were now “positive” and “constructive.”The British government announced on Thursday that it was rejoining the Horizon and Copernicus programmes, giving British researchers access to grants from the €96 billion schemes.Next on the list of post-Brexit headaches are looming new European tariffs on EV trade, due January 1 next year, which will slap a 10 percent tax on U.K.-EU trade in electric vehicles if a majority of key parts, such as batteries, aren’t made in either Britain or the EU.The U.K. is pushing for an extension of the deadline to give carmakers the chance to meet ...