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CHRIS Brown has a lifelong love, a passion, an obsession he just can't let go - basketball. Six months ago the former professional basketball player focused all of that energy into a new business at Broadmeadow called Hoop Dreams. Login or signup to continue reading "I always wanted to start something focusing on individual coaching," he said. "When I came here to play it was a rugby league town. The last couple of years basketball has just taken off." Brown was an international import back in 2003 to the former local team - the Hunter Pirates. He had been playing in Japan, but the guard took the opportunity to play in the NBL and this move would end up anchoring him to the city. Brown fell in love and the couple went on to have three children who "fortunately also fell into basketball". His eldest child Diyah, 13, plays for the Newcastle Falcons and has made country NSW selection, with hopes of pursuing the game further. Basketball is booming in the Hunter, with plans for a new $82-million Newcastle basketball stadium under way. But the project has garnered hundreds of objections from the community due to the location on Wallarah and Blackley ovals. "We need the courts, we need the space," he said. "With the NBA popularity growing here and on social media the sport is considered cool, kids love the culture of it. Everyone is watching Steph Curry shoot threes, they love it." With a $30,000 fitout complete with a custom-designed court, gym, meeting space and even a mural, it is easy to see why this dedicated basketball training space has quickly grown in popularity for young players. According to Brown there are 75 aspiring and academy athletes on the books, ranging from under 12s right through to age 18. The roster of coaches, which includes program appearances from NBL 1 Falcons players Myles Cherry and Ryan Beisty, focus on individual skills and going back to basics. "Within a week we were at capacity," he said of launching the business. "The kids love basketball, but there is so much more to sports than just the game. We have a nutritionist, strength and conditioning training, a psychologist. The goal is skill development for kids of all ages, but we also just want to help create good kids." Brown has big plans for the business which is currently running as a not-for-profit. He wants to create outreach programs in NSW, to get the teenagers out into low socio-economic communities to do their own coaching. "It is important for those high performance kids to give back, to have that experience," he said. The third part of the puzzle is travel, taking his own Hoop Dreams teams to play in other competitions both nationally and abroad. On the first weekend of November, Hoop Dreams saw its first touring team compete in the Annual Seaside Classic Tournament in Port Macquarie. The under 17s girls team took home the win. "The hardest transition is figuring out what do you do when you stop playing professional sport," he said. "I hope we can build this as place for connection, a community for these kids." Jessica began her journalism career in 2009 as a cadet at The Port Stephens Examiner before moving to London for a two-year stint working in magazines and digital publishing. The Lake Macquarie local returned to Australia where she took up a reporting role at The Maitland Mercury. She worked across several rounds including local council, police and property before moving into digital journalism and joining the team at The Newcastle Herald in 2017. Jessica began her journalism career in 2009 as a cadet at The Port Stephens Examiner before moving to London for a two-year stint working in magazines and digital publishing. The Lake Macquarie local returned to Australia where she took up a reporting role at The Maitland Mercury. 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Times News Network Ludhiana: The two-day Chrysanthemum show started at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) on Tuesday. Dedicated to the celebrated Punjabi poet, Bhai Vir Singh , who was a great admirer of flowers, the show was jointly organised by the department of floriculture and landscaping (DF&L) and estate organization of PAU. PAU vice-chancellor Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, who was the chief guest, said, “With its demand gaining momentum and no replacement to its natural beauty, chrysanthemums remain highly sought after flowers to enrich surroundings.” With chrysanthemum placed at the second spot in the international flower market, the University has been bestowed with the honour of being one of the top centres of ICAR for floriculture research and production, the VC said. Dr A P S Gill, former professor of floriculture, PAU, and ex-national consultant of floriculture, agricultural and processed food products export development authority (APEDA); Dr J S Arora and Dr Ramesh Kumar, former head, DF&L, PAU, were special guests on the occasion. The dignitaries hailed DF&L for keeping the tradition of holding Chrysanthemum Show alive. Dr Parminder Singh, head of the department of floriculture and landscaping, said that the department had a collection of more than 250 varieties of chrysanthemum and had developed 17 varieties, including seven hybrids till date. We also published the following articles recently Flying squad teams of agriculture department check godowns and dealers in Ludhiana Following directives from Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann, the agriculture department's flying squads inspected various godowns to prevent illegal hoarding and black marketing of fertilizers. Led by Joint Director Gurjit Singh Brar, they collected samples of fertilizers and pesticides. Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian emphasized strict monitoring and high-quality product availability for farmers, with action against violators. NBRI eases rules for taking part in annual flower show Lucknow's CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute has revamped its chrysanthemum and coleus show to be more inclusive for both professionals and hobbyists. The event on December 14-15 will allow homemakers and gardeners to participate, with simplified rules and two main categories: individual and institute. Awards include King, Queen, and Prince of the Show, promoting broader participation. Neeri director Atul Vaidya named LITU vice-chancellor Atul Narayan Vaidya, director of CSIR-Neeri, is appointed as vice-chancellor of Laxminarayan Innovation Technological University (LITU) by Governor CP Radhakrishnan for a term of five years. Vaidya, with a PhD from Nagpur University and extensive experience in research and teaching, will assume the role after his tenure at Neeri ends in December. Congratulatory messages followed his appointment.

An online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump’s political coalitionOn the campaign trail, Vice President Kamala Harris spent a lot of time explaining away her former support of a green policy agenda. She explained that, contrary to the position she took while running for the Democratic nomination five years ago, she no longer favored a ban on fracking, the innovative oil and gas drilling method that helped restore U.S. energy independence and created thousands of good-paying jobs. She explained, in response to a Trump campaign claim that she would “end all gas-powered cars,” that “I will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive.” This was technically true — but a switch in emphasis from her previous candidacy, when she backed proposals that would have given vehicle manufacturers until 2035 or 2040 to “sell only zero-emission vehicles.”