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Despite all the mortgage drama from Federal Reserve policy to debates over what inflation benchmark is best, home loan pricing was actually fairly normal in 2024.To successfully see what’s next for mortgages, please try to ignore the often breathless coverage of the weekly reports – and, more recently, daily updates – tracking the ups and downs of loan pricing.This information overload may be good for folks who sell the analysis, but trying to stay current on mortgages twists can be bad for the psyche. It’s much like eyeballing Wall Street’s daily stock grind, which does no good for your stock…

ONTARIO — With a rematch against Archbishop Mitty looming Saturday in Concord as part of the SI20 Showcase, one could’ve easily forgiven the Ontario Christian girls basketball team for looking ahead.The Knight were locked in, however, and used two big runs to defeat Claremont 77-29, earning a fourth straight championship at its Knight Time Classic and by the largest margin of those four title games.“We know now what the standard is, and every day we need to make gains towards reaching that level but these girls have done such a good job of buying into me and what I’m bringing…

With another quality win in their back pockets, the Ducks turned their attention to the division-leading New Jersey Devils, who will close out 2024 with a visit to Honda Center on New Year’s Eve.Although the Ducks were still staring up at six of their seven competitors in the Pacific while the Devils sat atop the Metropolitan – the Ducks also have a minus-21 goal differential to contrast the Devils’ plus-32 mark – the Ducks have hardly recoiled from intense competition of late.They’ve cobbled together their second seven-game stretch with a winning record this season, including victories over competitive clubs like…

By BRETT MARTEL AP Sports WriterNEW ORLEANS — Norman Powell scored 35 points, James Harden hit go-ahead free throws with 17.9 seconds left and the Clippers held on to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans, 116-113, on Monday night.With the Pelicans – losers of 10 straight and 19 of 20 – trying to tie the score, Harden adroitly fouled rookie center Yves Missi, whose 12-point, nine-rebound, five-blocked shot performance was tarnished by his missed free throw that could have tied it at 114 with 4.3 seconds left.Officials prematurely blew the whistle because they thought Missi’s foul shot missed the rim. They…

Last February, explaining why he thought President Joe Biden could not be successfully prosecuted for mishandling classified documents, Special Counsel Robert Hur suggested that jurors would be apt to view the president as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” and “diminished faculties.” That amply supported characterization outraged Democrats, who portrayed it as a politically motivated attempt to undermine Biden’s reelection. Five months later, additional evidence of Biden’s “diminished faculties” forced his withdrawal from the presidential race, showing it was Democrats’ refusal to admit the obvious, not Hur’s willingness to note it, that kneecapped their attempt to retain…

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football WriterSANTA CLARA — Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes and the Detroit Lions tuned up for their Week 18 division showdown against Minnesota by beating the San Francisco 49ers, 40-34, on Monday night.Goff threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown in the final minute of the third quarter following the first of Kerby Joseph’s two second-half interceptions against Brock Purdy in a rematch of last season’s NFC title game won by San Francisco.That proved to be enough for the Lions (14-2) to extend their franchise record for wins in a season as…

LOS ANGELES — Another round of gusty Santa Ana winds will lift the fire danger starting Tuesday in Southland mountain areas.National Weather Service forecasters said winds could begin ramping up as early as Monday night, with “weak to moderate” Santa Ana winds anticipated for Tuesday through Thursday. But after initially warning of more widespread fire conditions, forecasters later scaled back their predictions, saying the winds will be “much more localized” that previously thought.According to the NWS, peak gusts of 30 to 45 mph are anticipated “over just the favored mountains and hills,” combined with humidity levels of less than 10%…

By JOHN MARSHALL AP Sports WriterGLENDALE, Ariz. — Boise State has taken that long-awaited next step, earning a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time, 17 years after a program-shifting win.Awaiting the third-seeded Broncos in the desert is another team that made a breakthrough.Sixth-seeded Penn State also is in its first CFP playoff, shaking its can’t-win-the-big-game reputation with a victory over SMU while climbing from the shadows of a scandal that rocked one of college football’s bluebloods.The prize awaiting both program’s Tuesday night: a trip to the CFP semifinals with a win in the Fiesta Bowl.“Boise State…

If Roki Sasaki had waited two more years to leave Japan, the star right-hander could have created the kind of bidding war that led to his countryman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, signing the largest contract ever given to a pitcher last winter – a massive 12-year, $325 million deal with the Dodgers.At age 23, though, Sasaki’s move to MLB falls into the same category as an international amateur, limiting teams to signing him to a minor-league contract for international bonus pool money (between $5 million and $7 million).Joel Wolfe was the agent who represented Yamamoto last year and is now walking Sasaki…

EL SEGUNDO — If the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night in the regular-season finale for both teams, then the Chargers would be locked into the sixth-seeded spot in the AFC playoffs, setting up a wild-card matchup with the third-seeded Baltimore Ravens (presuming the Ravens beat the Cleveland Browns earlier Saturday).If the Bengals defeat the Steelers, then the Chargers could jump to the fifth-seeded spot if they beat the Las Vegas Raiders in their regular-season finale on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, setting up a more favorable wild-card matchup with the fourth-seeded Houston Texans.Coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday…