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BERKELEY — Berkeley and BART officials agreed to exchange the city’s air rights of one property for a piece of land owned by the transportation agency , moving forward plans to develop transit-oriented housing near the Ashby BART station . Berkeley officially relinquished rights over a 4.4-acre BART-owned parcel bounded by Adeline Street, Ashby Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in exchange for ownership of another 1.9-acre parcel bounded by Woolsey, Tremont, Adeline and Essex streets. The agreement, approved by the Berkeley City Council on Dec. 3, will enable the development of hundreds of housing units near the Ashby BART station. Half of the first 602 homes built on the parcel, known as the West Lot, will be listed at affordable prices and at least 35% of homes built on the city’s eastern lot will be affordably priced, according to the agreement. Berkeley is investing $26.5 million from its affordable housing fund into the projects with $18.5 million going to the West Lot development and $8 million to the East Lot. “In close partnership with the City of Berkeley, BART is laying the ground for an inclusive and vibrant [transit-oriented development],” the transit agency’s project website states. Advancing equity, particularly for Berkeley’s Black community after it was disproportionately harmed due to displacement during the construction of the Ashby BART Station in the 1960s and 1970s, is a key priority of the project. Additional community benefits promised under the agreement include providing the Berkeley Flea Market a permanent home and renting out 5,000 square feet of ground floor space at 50% market rate prices or below to nonprofits, community-based organizations, or minority-owned businesses, including Berkeley Flea Market administrators. Now that a binding agreement has been approved, the city and BART will begin seeking out developers for both properties. Development is expected to begin by 2026.A 70-year-old lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has died in a drowning accident while visiting the Indian Ocean island nation of the Maldives. According to multiple sources, Toshiyuki Adachi died on Friday after a boating accident, TV Asahi reported on Sunday. Adachi was from Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, and joined the former Ministry of Construction in 1979. After serving as technical director at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, he was first elected in the proportional representation section of the 2016 House of Councillors election. He was re-elected in 2022 and was currently serving his second term as a director of the House of Councillors Budget Committee.casino game gcash 。

NoneWith the girls basketball season set to start next week, here is a look at the state’s divisional alignments in each of the 15 conferences for the 2024-25 season. Burlington County Scholastic League Freedom Division Bordentown Burlington City Burlington Township Maple Shade Moorestown Friends Palmyra Pennsauken Tech Independence Division Doane Academy Florence KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy Riverside STEMCivics Willingboro Liberty Division Cinnaminson Holy Cross Prep Thrive Charter Westampton Tech Patriot Division Delran Medford Tech Northern Burlington Pemberton Pennsauken Big North Conference American Division Cliffside Park Dumont Dwight-Morrow Fort Lee Ridgefield Park Freedom Division Hackensack Northern Highlands Paramus Ramapo Ridgewood Independence Division Fair Lawn Lakeland Passaic Valley Wayne Hills Wayne Valley West Milford Liberty Division Bergen Tech Clifton Passaic Passaic Tech Paterson Eastside Paterson Kennedy National Division Bergenfield Demarest Old Tappan Pascack Valley Teaneck Tenafly Patriot Division Indian Hills Mahwah Pascack Hills Ramsey River Dell Westwood United Division DePaul Holy Angels Immaculate Heart Paramus Catholic Cape-Atlantic League American Division Absegami Atlantic City Holy Spirit Mainland Middle Township Our Lady of Mercy Wildwood Catholic National Division Cedar Creek Egg Harbor Hammonton Lower Cape May Millville Ocean City Vineland United Division Atlantic Tech Bridgeton Buena Cape May Tech Oakcrest Pleasantville St. Joseph (Hamm.) Colonial Conference Liberty Division Haddon Heights Haddon Township Haddonfield Sterling West Deptford Woodbury Patriot Division Audubon Collingswood Gateway Gloucester Lindenwold Paulsboro Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division Ewing Hightstown Hopewell Valley Notre Dame Nottingham Princeton Robbinsville Trenton Valley Division Allentown Hamilton West Lawrence Princeton Day Steinert West Windsor-Plainsboro North West Windsor-Plainsboro South Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division Carteret Dunellen Highland Park Iselin Kennedy Metuchen Sayreville South River Timothy Christian Gold Division Calvary Christian (Old Bridge) East Brunswick Magnet Mother Seton New Brunswick Perth Amboy Magnet Piscataway Magnet Somerset Tech South Amboy Wardlaw-Hartridge Woodbridge Magnet Red Division Colonia East Brunswick Monroe North Plainfield Old Bridge Piscataway South Brunswick St. Thomas Aquinas White Division Edison J.P. Stevens Middlesex North Brunswick Perth Amboy South Plainfield Spotswood Woodbridge Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League American Division Bayonne Hudson Catholic Kearny St. Dominic Union City National Divison Hoboken Lincoln Memorial North Bergen Snyder Patriot Division BelovED Charter Dickinson Ferris McNair University Charter Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference American Division Chatham Mendham Montville Morristown Pope John Randolph Colonial Division Dover Hopatcong Kittatinny Newton Sussex Tech Wallkill Valley Freedom Division Hackettstown High Point Jefferson Lenape Valley North Warren Vernon Independence Division Boonton Kinnelon Parsippany St. Elizabeth Villa Walsh Whippany Park Liberty Division Hanover Park Madison Morris Catholic Morris Tech Morristown-Beard Mountain Lakes Pequannock National Division Morris Hills Morris Knolls Mount Olive Parsippany Hills Roxbury Sparta West Morris North Jersey Interscholastic Conference Independent Saddle River Day American Division Elmwood Park Garfield Lodi Manchester Regional Paterson Charter Saddle Brook Colonial Division Butler Eastern Christian Glen Rock Hawthorne Hawthorne Christian Pompton Lakes Liberty Division Bogota Dwight-Englewood Leonia New Milford Palisades Park Ridgefield Meadowlands Division Becton Hasbrouck Heights St. Mary (Ruth.) Wallington Wood-Ridge National Division Harrison Lyndhurst North Arlington Rutherford Secaucus Weehawken Patriot Division Cresskill Emerson Boro Midland Park Park Ridge Waldwick Olympic Conference American Division Cherokee Cherry Hill East Eastern Lenape Rancocas Valley National Division Bishop Eustace Camden Camden Catholic Camden Eastside Paul VI Patriot Division Cherry Hill West Moorestown Seneca Shawnee Winslow Super Essex Conference American Division Glen Ridge Montclair Immaculate Mount St. Dominic Newark Academy University West Orange Colonial Division Bloomfield Cedar Grove East Orange Montclair North Star Academy Verona Freedom Division Arts Barringer Belleville Irvington Newark Collegiate Science Park St. Benedict’s Weequahic Independence Division Livingston Millburn Montclair Kimberley Newark East Side Newark Lab Newark Tech Liberty Division Caldwell Columbia Newark Central Nutley Payne Tech West Essex National Division Bard Golda Och Orange Shabazz St. Vincent Technology West Caldwell Tech West Side Shore Conference A Central Division Howell Jackson Memorial Manasquan Neptune St. Rose Wall A Coastal Division Holmdel Middletown North Red Bank Catholic Red Bank Regional Rumson-Fair Haven St. John Vianney A North Division Colts Neck Marlboro Ocean Township Ranney Shore Trinity Hall A South Division Central Regional Donovan Catholic Manchester Township Southern Toms River East Toms River North B Central Division Brick Memorial Jackson Liberty Lakewood New Egypt Point Pleasant Beach Point Pleasant Boro B Coastal Division Henry Hudson Keansburg Keyport Matawan Middletown North Raritan B North Division Asbury Park Freehold Borough Freehold Township Long Branch Manalapan Monmouth B South Division Barnegat Brick Township Lacey Pinelands Toms River South Skyland Conference Delaware Division Franklin Gill St. Bernard’s Hillsborough Hunterdon Central Phillipsburg Rutgers Prep Mountain Division Belvidere Bernards Bound Brook Manville South Hunterdon Raritan Division Mount St. Mary Pingry Ridge Voorhees Warren Hills Watchung Hills Valley Division Bridgewater-Raritan Delaware Valley Immaculata Montgomery North Hunterdon Somerville Tri-County Conference Classic Division Clayton Gloucester Catholic Pitman Salem Salem Tech Wildwood Diamond Division Glassboro Overbrook Penns Grove Schalick Woodstown Liberty Division Cumberland Delsea Deptford Highland Timber Creek Triton Royal Division Clearview Gloucester Tech Kingsway Washington Township Williamstown Union County Conference Mountain Division Dayton Gov. Livingston Johnson Oak Knoll Roselle Summit Union Catholic Valley Division Brearley Hillside Kent Place Linden Rahway Roselle Park Union Watchung Division Cranford Elizabeth New Providence Plainfield Roselle Catholic Scotch Plains-Fanwood Westfield RECOMMENDED • nj .com Final Group 2 boys soccer season stat leaders for 2024 Dec. 3, 2024, 1:19 p.m. Final Group 3 boys soccer season stat leaders for 2024 Dec. 3, 2024, 1:20 p.m. Lauren Knego may be reached at lknego@njadvancemedia.com . Follow her at @laurenknego The N.J. High School Sports newsletter now appears in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now! Follow us on social: Facebook | Instagram | X (formerly Twitter )

NYT ‘Connections’ Hints And Answers For Tuesday, December 3Steep price hikes could be on the way if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to impose sweeping new tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China. Trump threatened to implement the tariffs on the country’s top three trading partners on his first day back in office, including a 10 percent tariff on products coming from China. In a pair of posts on Truth Social on Monday, he explained the decision as a way to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States,” he said. “It is time for them to pay a very big price!” But it’s ultimately consumers who could end up absorbing the brunt of those costs. When tariffs are levied against foreign imports, American companies have to pay taxes to the U.S. government on their purchases from other countries; the companies often pass on those extra costs to their customers. California’s economy could be especially hard hit because of its heavy reliance on trade with China and Mexico. “This is a bully effort to put everybody on notice,” said economist Chris Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics in Los Angeles. “One of the reasons he uses tariffs is because it’s one of the few places that he actually has some leverage.” Although Thornberg noted that it’s still a “giant remains-to-be seen” whether and how Trump’s proposed tariffs are implemented, consumer goods across the board could be dramatically affected by the changes. Here are a few top categories: Cars and car parts Mexico was the United States’ top goods trading partner last year, surpassing China. The country is a major manufacturer of passenger vehicles, light vehicles, trucks, auto parts, supplies and electric-vehicle technologies. Eighty-eight percent of vehicles produced in Mexico are exported, with 76 percent headed for the U.S., according to the International Trade Administration. Automakers with manufacturing operations in Mexico include General Motors, Ford, Tesla, Audi, BMW, Honda, Kia, Mercedes Benz, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen. GM shares fell 9 percent and shares of Ford declined 2.6 percent on Tuesday. Even before Trump’s latest round of tariff threats, auto-related companies shared how they planned to respond if new duties were levied. “If we get tariffs, we will pass those tariff costs back to the consumer,” Phil Daniele, chief executive of AutoZone, said in the company’s most recent earnings call. “We’ll generally raise prices ahead of ... what the tariffs will be.” Toys Last year, China accounted for 77 percent of toy imports, about 25 times greater than the total value of toy imports from Mexico, the next largest foreign source of supply, according to the National Retail Federation. U.S. producers, meanwhile, account for less than 1 percent of the toy market. Earlier this month, the federation released a study that looked at how the tariffs that Trump proposed during his campaign for a second term could play out for consumers. It found that the proposed tariffs — a universal 10 percent to 20 percent tariff on imports from all foreign countries and an additional 60 percent to 100 percent tariff on imports specifically from China — would apply to a wide range of toys imported into the U.S., including dolls, games and tricycles. “Our analysis found that toy prices would face one of the highest increases,” the study concluded. “Prices of toys would increase by 36% to 56%.” Apparel The National Retail Federation study also analyzed more than 500 items of clothing including tops, bottoms, underwear, swimwear and socks, and found that prices “would rise significantly” — as much as 20.6 percent. That would force consumers to pare spending on apparel. The higher prices and loss of spending power would hit low-income families especially hard, the group said, because low-income households spend three times as much of their after-tax income on apparel compared with high-income households. “U.S. apparel manufacturers would benefit from the tariffs, but at a high cost to families,” the study said. “Even after accounting for domestic manufacturing gains and new tariff revenue, the result is a net $16 billion to $18 billion loss for the U.S. economy, with the burden carried by U.S. consumers.” Produce With Americans already wary of high grocery prices, Trump’s proposed tariffs would increase the costs of several imported fruits and vegetables, said Jerry Nickelsburg, faculty director of UCLA Anderson Forecast, an economic forecasting organization. The vast majority of U.S. produce imports come from Mexico and Canada, including avocados, cucumbers, potatoes and mushrooms. The U.S. spent $88 billion on agricultural imports from the two countries in fiscal year 2024, which ended Sept. 30. “Grocery prices will go up because at least some of that tariff will be passed on to consumers,” Nickelsburg said. “If there are no good substitutes, then producers are going to try and pass the whole thing on.” Household appliances and other electronics Big-ticket electronic products such as televisions, laptops, smartphones, dishwashers and washing machines — many of which are manufactured in Mexico and China, or made with parts imported from those countries — would probably become more expensive. The U.S. imported $76 billion worth of computers and other electronics from Mexico in 2023, and more than a quarter of U.S. imports from China consist of electronic equipment. Shoes Imported footwear products already face high U.S. duties, particularly those made in China. On Tuesday, the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America expressed concern at the threat of new tariffs, saying such policies would make it more difficult for consumers to afford shoes and other everyday essentials. “We hope President-elect Trump rethinks these tariffs as they relate to footwear, as such measures would place an unnecessary burden on American families when budgets are already stretched thin,” Matt Priest, the president of the trade association, said in a statement. “We urge the President to consider the profound impact these tariffs will have on working families and the broader economy.”

WASHINGTON — Jimmy Carter, the earnest Georgia peanut farmer who as U.S. president struggled with a bad economy and the Iran hostage crisis but brokered peace between Israel and Egypt and later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work, has died, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Sunday. He was 100. A Democrat, he served as president from January 1977 to January 1981 after defeating incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in the 1976 U.S. election. Carter was swept from office four years later in an electoral landslide as voters embraced Republican challenger Ronald Reagan, the former actor and California governor. ADVERTISEMENT Carter lived longer after his term in office than any other U.S. president. Along the way, he earned a reputation as a better former president than he was a president -- a status he readily acknowledged. His one-term presidency was marked by the highs of the 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, bringing some stability to the Middle East. But it was dogged by an economy in recession, persistent unpopularity and the embarrassment of the Iran hostage crisis that consumed his final 444 days in office. In recent years, Carter had experienced several health issues including melanoma that spread to his liver and brain. Carter decided to receive hospice care in February 2023 instead of undergoing additional medical intervention. His wife, Rosalynn Carter, died on Nov. 19, 2023, at age 96. He looked frail when he attended her memorial service and funeral in a wheelchair. Carter left office profoundly unpopular but worked energetically for decades on humanitarian causes. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 in recognition of his "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." Carter had been a centrist as governor of Georgia with populist tendencies when he moved into the White House as the 39th U.S. president. He was a Washington outsider at a time when America was still reeling from the Watergate scandal that led Republican Richard Nixon to resign as president in 1974 and elevated Ford from vice president. "I'm Jimmy Carter and I'm running for president. I will never lie to you," Carter promised with an ear-to-ear smile. Asked to assess his presidency, Carter said in a 1991 documentary: "The biggest failure we had was a political failure. I never was able to convince the American people that I was a forceful and strong leader." ADVERTISEMENT Despite his difficulties in office, Carter had few rivals for accomplishments as a former president. He gained global acclaim as a tireless human rights advocate, a voice for the disenfranchised and a leader in the fight against hunger and poverty, winning the respect that eluded him in the White House. Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to promote human rights and resolve conflicts around the world, from Ethiopia and Eritrea to Bosnia and Haiti. His Carter Center in Atlanta sent international election-monitoring delegations to polls around the world. A Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher since his teens, Carter brought a strong sense of morality to the presidency, speaking openly about his religious faith. He also sought to take some pomp out of an increasingly imperial presidency - walking, rather than riding in a limousine, in his 1977 inauguration parade. The Middle East was the focus of Carter's foreign policy. The 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, based on the 1978 Camp David Accords, ended a state of war between the two neighbors. Carter brought Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland for talks. Later, as the accords seemed to be unraveling, Carter saved the day by flying to Cairo and Jerusalem for personal shuttle diplomacy. The treaty provided for Israeli withdrawal from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the establishment of diplomatic relations. Begin and Sadat each won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. By the 1980 election, the overriding issues were double-digit inflation, interest rates that exceeded 20% and soaring gas prices, as well as the Iran hostage crisis that brought humiliation to America. These issues marred Carter's presidency and undermined his chances of winning a second term. ADVERTISEMENT HOSTAGE CRISIS On Nov. 4, 1979, revolutionaries devoted to Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seized the Americans present and demanded the return of the ousted shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was backed by the United States and was being treated in a U.S. hospital. The American public initially rallied behind Carter. But his support faded in April 1980 when a commando raid failed to rescue the hostages, with eight U.S. soldiers killed in an aircraft accident in the Iranian desert. Carter's final ignominy was that Iran held the 52 hostages until minutes after Reagan took his oath of office on Jan. 20, 1981, to replace Carter, then released the planes carrying them to freedom. In another crisis, Carter protested the former Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by boycotting the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. He also asked the U.S. Senate to defer consideration of a major nuclear arms accord with Moscow. Unswayed, the Soviets remained in Afghanistan for a decade. Carter won narrow Senate approval in 1978 of a treaty to transfer the Panama Canal to the control of Panama despite critics who argued the waterway was vital to American security. He also completed negotiations on full U.S. ties with China. Carter created two new U.S. Cabinet departments -- education and energy. Amid high gas prices, he said America's "energy crisis" was "the moral equivalent of war" and urged the country to embrace conservation. "Ours is the most wasteful nation on earth," he told Americans in 1977. ADVERTISEMENT In 1979, Carter delivered what became known as his "malaise" speech to the nation, although he never used that word. "After listening to the American people I have been reminded again that all the legislation in the world can't fix what's wrong with America," he said in his televised address. "The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America." As president, the strait-laced Carter was embarrassed by the behavior of his hard-drinking younger brother, Billy Carter, who had boasted: "I got a red neck, white socks, and Blue Ribbon beer." 'THERE YOU GO AGAIN' Jimmy Carter withstood a challenge from Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination but was politically diminished heading into his general election battle against a vigorous Republican adversary. Reagan, the conservative who projected an image of strength, kept Carter off balance during their debates before the November 1980 election. Reagan dismissively told Carter, "There you go again," when the Republican challenger felt the president had misrepresented Reagan's views during one debate. ADVERTISEMENT Carter lost the 1980 election to Reagan, who won 44 of the 50 states and amassed an Electoral College landslide. James Earl Carter Jr. was born on Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, one of four children of a farmer and shopkeeper. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946, served in the nuclear submarine program and left to manage the family peanut farming business. He married his wife, Rosalynn, in 1946, a union he called "the most important thing in my life." They had three sons and a daughter. Carter became a millionaire, a Georgia state legislator and Georgia's governor from 1971 to 1975. He mounted an underdog bid for the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination, and out-hustled his rivals for the right to face Ford in the general election. With Walter Mondale as his vice presidential running mate, Carter was given a boost by a major Ford gaffe during one of their debates. Ford said that "there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration," despite decades of just such domination. Carter edged Ford in the election, even though Ford actually won more states -- 27 to Carter's 23. Not all of Carter's post-presidential work was appreciated. Former President George W. Bush and his father, former President George H.W. Bush, both Republicans, were said to have been displeased by Carter's freelance diplomacy in Iraq and elsewhere. ADVERTISEMENT In 2004, Carter called the Iraq war launched in 2003 by the younger Bush one of the most "gross and damaging mistakes our nation ever made." He called George W. Bush's administration "the worst in history" and said Vice President Dick Cheney was "a disaster for our country." In 2019, Carter questioned Republican Donald Trump's legitimacy as president, saying "he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf." Trump responded by calling Carter "a terrible president." Carter also made trips to communist North Korea. A 1994 visit defused a nuclear crisis, as President Kim Il Sung agreed to freeze his nuclear program in exchange for resumed dialog with the United States. That led to a deal in which North Korea, in return for aid, promised not to restart its nuclear reactor or reprocess the plant's spent fuel. But Carter irked Democratic President Bill Clinton's administration by announcing the deal with North Korea's leader without first checking with Washington. In 2010, Carter won the release of an American sentenced to eight years hard labor for illegally entering North Korea. Carter wrote more than two dozen books, ranging from a presidential memoir to a children's book and poetry, as well as works about religious faith and diplomacy. His book "Faith: A Journey for All," was published in 2018. ______________________________________________________ This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers. Learn more about the news services FCC uses here .

The momentum from the ceasefire in Lebanon appeared to end on Wednesday, and the benchmark of the Greek stock market succumbed to its first losses after five consecutive days of growth during which it had grown by over 3%. Banks were at the center of the profit-taking process. The rest of the week is certain to see significantly reduced action, due to Thursday’s holiday in the US followed by a half-day on Friday, also affecting European bourse trading volume. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,403.63 points, shedding 0.31% from Tuesday’s 1,408.05 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.47%, ending at 3,393.41 points. The banks index declined 1.98%, as Piraeus slumped 2.75%, National dropped 2.63%, Alpha parted with 1.65% and Eurobank conceded 1.07%. Cenergy Holdings advanced 1.90%, Coca-Cola HBC earned 1.84% and Ellaktor grabbed 1.73%. In total 37 stocks boasted gains, 53 posted losses and 24 remained unchanged. Turnover amounted to 86.8 million euros, up from Tuesday’s €63.8 million. In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange decreased 0.16% to close at 210.15 points.

In the current session, the stock is trading at $18.24, after a 0.55% spike. Over the past month, Huntington Bancshares Inc. HBAN stock increased by 14.71% , and in the past year, by 60.35% . With performance like this, long-term shareholders are optimistic but others are more likely to look into the price-to-earnings ratio to see if the stock might be overvalued. A Look at Huntington Bancshares P/E Relative to Its Competitors The P/E ratio measures the current share price to the company's EPS. It is used by long-term investors to analyze the company's current performance against it's past earnings, historical data and aggregate market data for the industry or the indices, such as S&P 500. A higher P/E indicates that investors expect the company to perform better in the future, and the stock is probably overvalued, but not necessarily. It also could indicate that investors are willing to pay a higher share price currently, because they expect the company to perform better in the upcoming quarters. This leads investors to also remain optimistic about rising dividends in the future. Compared to the aggregate P/E ratio of the 19.3 in the Banks industry, Huntington Bancshares Inc. has a lower P/E ratio of 17.61 . Shareholders might be inclined to think that the stock might perform worse than it's industry peers. It's also possible that the stock is undervalued. In summary, while the price-to-earnings ratio is a valuable tool for investors to evaluate a company's market performance, it should be used with caution. A low P/E ratio can be an indication of undervaluation, but it can also suggest weak growth prospects or financial instability. Moreover, the P/E ratio is just one of many metrics that investors should consider when making investment decisions, and it should be evaluated alongside other financial ratios, industry trends, and qualitative factors. By taking a comprehensive approach to analyzing a company's financial health, investors can make well-informed decisions that are more likely to lead to successful outcomes. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Every so often, small business owners south of Sydney begin their day cleaning up human faeces. or signup to continue reading It's an odorous reminder of Port Kembla's dire need for a main street public toilet. "It's a fairly regular basis," local chamber of commerce president Greg Rodgers tells AAP. "When businesses are asking me how things are progressing with getting a toilet, they say they're having ongoing issues, sometimes multiple times a week - people urinating, defecating in the public areas." Those desperate for relief can ask the pub or restaurants - or walk two kilometres to the beach if it's both daylight and surf lifesaving season. But it's hardly an option for all abilities or all hours, hampering dozens of new businesses and families helping revive the industrial town. "Are people going to say 'we'll check out this new area - shame, I have to pee in the park'?" Mr Rodgers wonders. The six-year battle for a public loo in Port Kembla illustrates Australia's inconsistent lavatory landscape, with accessibility, safety and availability varying widely. Standards do not address existing social norms - such as parenting and gender - nor are they able to reflect the gamut of human experience, or even respond to the variety of wheelchair users, . Standards also do not apply to existing buildings, leaving people resorting to dank decades-old facilities or holding on in hope of something better down the road. "With very few exceptions, they're not very well designed," design expert Christian Tietz tells AAP. "The general look and feel is really one of bare necessity and extremely function focused. "It's really sort of addressing the lowest common denominator." But it shouldn't be so, the senior lecturer in UNSW's Faculty of the Built Environment says. Toilets set the tone for public behaviour, expectations and conduct, he says. Facilities that show respect and offer an opportunity to refresh and revive will result in people carrying that through their other interactions with a town. "But if I go in somewhere and it's got blue lighting, it doesn't work, and I feel like I'm being treated like a criminal ... then that sets the tone for that locality and I come out feeling accordingly," Dr Tietz says "The toilet is a place where you can make an impression - it's also place where we are more or less equal, right?" He rejects counter arguments based on cost and vandalism, saying loos could be durable, highly frequented and visually appealing. Australia's could be even more, with power points to charge phones, benches to rest and external wash basins for non-toileting matters such as rinsing fruit. Increasing interaction with the facilities would also promote personal safety, he said. Dr Tietz's recognition that loos can be more than just places for ones and twos is well supported. Visionary architects in one Tokyo district recently led the , resulting in rooms shaped like a spacecraft and another like a squid in a wider octopus park. Sydney's Inner City Legal Centre in October called on NSW to recognise public toilets as an essential private space that allows for changing clothes after exercise or spilling food, cleaning children and nappies or as 'wind-down' spaces. The Australian College of Road Safety improvements to highway rest area public toilets could enhance initiatives to ensure motorists take regular rest breaks. It notes some rest areas lack public toilets and those that do have them may discourage use due to a lack of flushing toilets or potable water. Women truck drivers also face difficulty accessing equitable facilities, as do the 5.5 million Australians with a disability. Sanitary bins are not compulsory in men's toilets, the Country Women's Association points out, compromising the dignity and ability of older men to manage their health needs while using public spaces. And any women attending a large event knows queuing for bathrooms is an experience far more infrequent for men. One answer meets many of those concerns however - universal design principles in bathrooms. They're designed for everyone, with single cubicles with a basin, a full-height door that opens out onto public space as well as change facilities. Medical doctor Amanda Cohn led the charge to revamp her regional city's restrooms to factor in universal design principles and is investigating the potential for wider rollout. The Albury-based MP is chairing a NSW inquiry into public toilets encompassing topics of design, minimum standards and international best practice. "(With universal design) you're designing out the old-fashioned narrow, winding corridor where there's a hidden, shared space - that's really where a lot of the inaccessibility and the danger of public toilets comes from," she tells AAP. "For a surprising number of people, the provision of public toilets actually impacts their decisions about whether or not to visit a town or go to an event. "It actually impacts people's participation in community life. "And for people whose lives are impacted by this every day, this inquiry is a really incredible opportunity for their voices to be heard." Those include the voices of people with disabilities or chronic medical conditions, people who are trans or gender diverse and parents with young children. One member of the public has also demanded an end to the 'prison look' in some older facilities. "Those cold metal seats make taking a potty-trained child to the park horrible," one submission says. The inquiry, , will also examine maintenance. That touches a concern some people have raised to previous inquiries about using non-gender-segregated bathrooms. Albury City Council noted its 10-year public toilet strategy and redevelopment drive had increased maintenance costs by up to $100,000 per year. But shouldering those costs had been prioritised, the council said. It's an argument Greg Rodgers hopes the local government for Port Kembla can also get behind as he underlines the benefit a best-practice toilet would deliver community and business. "Costs shouldn't be an issue - we shouldn't have to expect the pub to be the only available option," he says. "There are so many things that branch from having a good access to a toilet." Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. We care about the protection of your data. Read our . Advertisement

Left-Wing Journalists Celebrate Murder of Health Insurance CEO Brian ThompsonFormer US President Jimmy Carter dies at 100, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports