Los Angeles Clippers Nix Chris Paul In Middle Of Night During Road Trip
'Just Found Out I’m Being Sent Home'
Earlier this year, NBA point guard Chris Paul stated that this would be his last season in the league, before making a triumphant return to the team he led for six years, the Los Angeles Clippers. However, the Clippers gave him an early exit from the franchise after cutting him during the team’s recent road trip.
At 3 a.m. on Dec. 3, the veteran alerted the world that he was being “sent home” by the Clippers while the team was in Atlanta, ending his storied Clippers career in a way that no one could have predicted. In a now-deleted social media post, the world found out that Paul had played his last game for the franchise.
“Just Found Out I’m Being Sent Home”
Can confirm as Chris Paul says on his IG that he has been told he is being sent home from Atlanta where the Clippers play on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/EITdJ9hzLt
The team’s top executive, Lawrence Frank, President of Basketball Operations, released a statement confirming the release.
“We are parting ways with Chris, and he will no longer be a part of the team,” Lawrence said in a written statement. “We will work with him on the next step of his career. Chris is a legendary Clipper who has had a historic career. I want to make one thing very clear. No one is blaming Chris for our underperformance. I accept responsibility for the record we have right now. There are a lot of reasons why we’ve struggled. We’re grateful for the impact Chris has made on the franchise.”
The Clippers are having an awful season, with a losing record of 5-16. Although the team is doing poorly, it can’t be blamed on Paul, as he is not a starter and was averaging a career-low 2.9 points and 3.3 assists while playing only 14 minutes a game off the bench.
NBA reporter Chris Haynes did state that the player was being labeled a “negative presence” on the team and wanted to meet with the team’s coach, Tyronn Lue, but was denied that opportunity before Frank met with the point guard.
Sources: Weeks ago Chris Paul requested to have a meeting with Tyronn Lue to discuss allegations of being a negative presence on team. Lue refused to meet with him. Lawrence Frank traveled to Atlanta to deliver news of parting ways. Paul desired final season to be with Clippers.
This figure serves as the baseline for financial security and reflects the rising costs of housing, transportation, and other necessities across the country, according to GoBankRates.
This rising income baseline reveals that for many households, the cost of comfort has escalated dramatically in recent years. Financial comfort, according to SmartAsset, is the ability to follow the 50/30/20 budget rule. This budgeting method dictates a clear allocation of net income to maintain stability:
50%: Dedicated to needs (rent/mortgage, groceries, utilities, and transportation).
30%: Allocated to wants (discretionary spending, entertainment, and non-essential purchases).
20%: Committed to savings and debt repayment (retirement accounts, emergency funds, and credit card debt).
The $80,000 to $90,000 baseline represents the minimum income level at which the average household can reliably adhere to this model. The model allows people to save for the future while meeting all immediate obligations and needs.
While the $80,000 to $90,000 figure serves as a national average, the necessary salary for comfort varies based on location and family size. Living in high-cost metro cities would significantly increase the required income amount.
In many major U.S. cities, a single adult navigating the expensive rental market and high transportation costs may need an income of at least $85,000 annually to be secure. Consequently, a family of four in these same high-cost cities could face a minimum salary requirement approaching $200,000 to maintain a comfortable standard of living while also effectively funding a retirement account.
Analysts projected the 2026 figure while accounting for an estimated inflation rate of around 3% to 4%, which continues to erode purchasing power. This persistent inflation, coupled with sustained higher interest rates, forces households to earn more money simply to maintain their current economic standing, raising the financial bar for millions of Americans.
Ex-Jail Officer Arrested For Allegedly Stealing Co-worker’s Paycheck
The ex-officer faces seven charges.
Shalanda Williams, a former officer at DeKalb (GA) County Jail, has been arrested for allegedly redirecting a co-worker’s direct-deposit payroll to her personal bank account, WSB-TV reports.
The 47-year-old was taken into custody on Nov. 20 and was fired that day.
An investigation into the missing paycheck began Oct. 2, when a staff member failed to receive their expected payment.
Investigators say the victim’s employer account at the DeKalb County Sheriff’s office was accessed without authorization, and the routing information was manually changed and diverted into an account controlled by Williams.
Prosecutors say she used her access as a detention officer to exploit the county’s payroll system.
The ex-officer faces seven charges related to the crime, according to a court filing:
Theft by Taking-Felony
Computer theft
Identity fraud using the identifying information of another
Computer invasion of privacy
Computer forgery
Computer trespass
Violation of oath by public officer
Williams was released on bond shortly after her arrest.
When reached for comment by WSB-TV, Williams denied involvement in what led to the missing funds. “No, I didn’t, but I need to talk to my lawyer,” she said.
The sheriff’s office has not yet issued an official public statement on the case. According to WSB-TV, deputies are conducting a review of internal payroll-access procedures and have placed controls intended to prevent similar fraud from happening in the future.
Williams is scheduled to appear in DeKalb County Superior Court later this month, where bail conditions and a preliminary hearing date will be reviewed.
Budget Crisis: University of Colorado Athletic Department Faces $27M Hole After Sanders-Fueled Enrollment Surge
Part of the expenses come from the $20.5 million earmarked for the players and $10 million for head coach Deion Sanders' annual salary.
The athletic department at the University of Colorado has projected a more than $25 million hit for the current fiscal year, ending June 2026, in part due to football head coach Deion Sanders’ salary and athletes’ (name, image, and likeness) NIL payouts.
According to USA Today Sports, the projected revenue is $136.7 million, yet the expenses come in at $163.7 million. The highest cost is from the football team, which has $20.5 million earmarked for the players and $10 million for Sanders’ annual salary.
Not very good news, considering that the team, minus former stars Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders, had a dismal 3-9 record (1-8 in conference play) in 2025 following a nine-win 2024 season that featured Hunter receiving the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s best college football player. Shedeur Sanders was one of the best quarterbacks in the NCAA.
The university rewarded the senior Sanders, who had major success at Jackson State, with a new five-year contract in March, nearly doubling his take-home pay from the past two seasons.
The provided revenue numbers are not final, and the school said it hopes the final number will be slightly lower by the end of June, including revenue from donations, sponsorships, and concerts at Folsom Field. The school expects a “balanced” budget of $141 million in revenues and expenses for the year. That number includes $24 million in institutional support revenue from the Boulder campus and the university’s president’s office.
There are questions as to how those expenses will be paid, but Colorado spokesman Steve Hurlbert said the school will “not cut sports nor cut any resources for student-athletes.” In addition, tuition money and state funds will not be used to address the deficit.
Odell Beckham Jr. Laments Lack Of Financial Literacy After Making Millions In NFL
'We weren’t taught about no financial literacy…We weren’t taught this skill.'
NFL player Odell Beckham Jr. discussed the lack of financial literacy among young athletes on a recent episode of The Pivot.
Beckham, who won a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021, has made hundreds of millions but said he lacked the right tools to be financially solvent.
“I’ve always explained this to people, bro, you give somebody a 5-year, $100 million contract–what is it really? It’s five years for 60 (million),” he said on the podcast. “You’re getting taxed. Do the math, that’s 12 a year that you have to spend, use, save, invest, flaunt, whatever. I’ma buy a car, I’ma give my momma a house. Everything costs money. So, if you’re spending $4 million a year, that’s really $40 million over five years, eight a year.”
But, Beckham said, after taxes, buying property, investments, and regular expenses, the money isn’t as much as it appears.
“Now, you start breaking down the numbers, and it’s like that’s a five-year span of where you’re getting $8 million,” he explained. “Can you make that last forever? And you always hear the people who ain’t us and ain’t be in the position, like, ‘Oh, that would last a lifetime.’ Yeah, this job I sacrificed my whole life for, they are giving me that. I didn’t ask for the certain dollar amount or whatever. But we weren’t taught about no financial literacy…We weren’t taught this skill.”
Beckham is a free agent and isn’t currently on a roster. However, according to The Root, he accepted a six-game suspension after he tested positive for having unusual testosterone levels. If and when he signs with an NFL team, he will have to serve the punishment before he can play in a game.
Elevate Your Excellence: From Comedy Stage To Global Empire, Byron Allen Is Taking Over The Media Space
Comedian-turned-mogul Byron Allen is the Founder/CEO of Entertainment Studios, owning The Weather Channel and championing Black media ownership.
Byron Allen Folks, widely known as Byron Allen, is an American comedian, producer, and entrepreneur who built a sprawling, multibillion-dollar media empire from a foundation in syndicated television.
As the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Allen Media Group, formerly Entertainment Studios, Allen oversees a global media company with assets in film, television production, broadcasting, and digital media, including the acquisition of The Weather Channel and the news platform TheGrio.
Born in Detroit in 1961, Allen moved to Los Angeles as a child after his parents divorced. His early exposure to the industry came via his mother, Carolyn, a publicist for NBC Studios, which allowed young Byron to mingle with stars like Redd Foxx and Freddie Prinze. Allen began performing stand-up comedy at age 14.
He was quickly discovered by Jimmie Walker, who invited him to join a writing team that included future late-night stars Jay Leno and David Letterman. This trajectory culminated in Allen’s historic appearance at age 18 on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, making him the youngest comedian to ever perform on the program.
After hosting NBC’s reality program Real People and touring as a stand-up opening act for musicians like Dolly Parton and Lionel Richie, Allen pivoted from “show business” to “business show,” establishing his production company, CF Entertainment, in 1993. His initial syndicated talk show, Entertainers with Byron Allen, employed a pioneering revenue-sharing model in which he distributed the program to stations at no cost, generating revenue through advertising sales.
Despite early struggles, including home foreclosures and the loss of phone service, Allen persevered, and his show remains in syndication.
Renamed Entertainment Studios in 2003, the company is now valued at over $4.5 billion. Allen has built one of the industry’s largest cable network portfolios, featuring 10 24-hour HD networks, including THE WEATHER CHANNEL, COMEDY.TV, CARS.TV, and LOCAL NOW. The company also continues to produce and distribute Emmy Award-winning and nominated shows while selling advertising for 43 broadcast and cable television programs.
Allen has aggressively pursued business acquisitions, including the film distributor Freestyle Releasing (now Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures), which released the 2017 hit shark thriller 47 Meters Down. Other film successes include the Western Hostiles and the mystery-thriller Chappaquiddick.
In the digital space, Allen acquired TheGrio in 2016, transforming it into a video-centric news platform that delivers compelling content to African Americans and attracts over 20 million annual visitors. The company’s 2018 acquisition of The Weather Channel, the No. 1 weather news television network, further diversified its portfolio. The Weather Channel has since deployed cutting-edge Immersive Mixed Reality (IMR) technology to enhance climate and weather reporting.
Allen has consistently championed economic inclusion and Black ownership of media companies, asserting, “Blacks need to both be on the camera and own the camera.”
In October, Allen was featured in Variety and shared his latest projects from his film studio with the publication.
This vision led to the formation of ALLEN MEDIA BROADCASTING in 2019, which began building a broadcast station group through a series of acquisitions, including 11 stations from USA Television. He also personally partnered with Sinclair Broadcast Group to acquire 21 Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) from Walt Disney/FOX Corporation for $10.6 billion.
Allen is married to TV producer Jennifer Lucas, and the couple has three children. He was inducted into Broadcasting and Cable’s Broadcast Hall of Fame in 2019.
Serena Williams Quickly Shuts Down Rumors Of A Comeback
'Omg yall I’m NOT coming back.'
After reports started coming out that retired tennis legend Serena Williams had re-entered the drug testing pool, there was speculation that she would be making a comeback. Still, once she caught wind of the same rumors, she quickly shut it down on social media.
According to The Athletic, the Compton-raised Williams reportedly contacted the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) to request reentry into the International Registered Testing Pool. After contacting the organization’s spokesperson, speculation was leaning toward Williams gearing up for a comeback to the sport she has dominated for years.
In a text message to the media outlet, Adrian Bassett, a spokesperson for the ITIA, stated, “She has notified us that she wants to be reinstated into the testing pool.”
Williams’ name appears on the updated list of players dated Oct. 6, but Bassett did not know if that meant she was doing that to get back on the tennis court.
“I do not know if this means she is coming back, or just giving herself the option. All I can say is she’s back in the pool and therefore subject to whereabouts.”
Almost as soon as the news started to float around the media, Williams took to social media to dispel any rumors of her coming back.
Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy-
Now that she has put that rumor to rest, the organization requires its players to provide details of their whereabouts at a given time every day of the year. Anyone who has recently reentered the list must be in the pool for six months before being eligible to play in a tournament.
So, if she were to come out of retirement, she would not be able to play until April 2026, but since she has already stated that she is “NOT coming back,” it does not matter at this point. Yet folks are wondering why she is back in the pool; only she knows.
Google Update Allows All Employee Messages, Including Deleted Ones, To Be Archived
The change allows employers to bypass previously selected message settings.
Google rolled out a new feature that allows employers to archive text messages sent on company-provided Android devices.
Under the update, employers using device-management tools such as Google’s Enterprise platform log every message regardless of status in the default Google Messages app, according to Google Blog.
“Our new solution allows third-party archival apps to integrate directly with Google Messages on a work device. When configured by your IT organization on a fully managed device, the archival application is notified upon the receipt of each RCS message, not only when a message is sent or received, but also if a message is edited or deleted too.”
According to Google, this is meant to help businesses meet compliance and record-keeping requirements. Messages remain end-to-end encrypted, but archiving occurs on the device itself before encryption is applied. Subsequently, a copy of the conversation is recorded in the employer’s logs.
The change effectively turns workplace text chats into searchable, archived communications, much like company email logs.
Under Google’s guidance, when the archival feature is activated, employees are supposed to see a clear notification on their device. However, many workers may ignore or overlook such alerts. Since most employer devices require updates to access work email, apps, or calendars, the alert is inconsequential.
Work-provided device policies have long allowed employers to monitor email, calls, and app usage. However, the expansion into real-time message archiving adds a new dimension. For some industries, such as finance, healthcare, or legal services, compliance rules already require full communication logs. For others, the change blurs the line between professional and personal communication more than ever. Employees will have to think twice before communicating workplace grievances via employer-owned devices.
Employees who use a company device are now advised to treat all text messages as potentially subject to monitoring. Those concerned with privacy should reserve personal conversations for personal devices. Meanwhile, companies adopting the feature are reviewing their acceptable-use policies to reflect the new reality of workplace communications.
On Dec. 1, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that the new fee will take effect Feb. 1, 2026, The Travel reports. Critics say the increase will disproportionately impact families, especially those who travel infrequently.
The TSA’s Confirm.ID option only covers a 10-day travel window, meaning families may need to pay $45 per adult more than once on longer trips—while frequent flyers are more likely to get their money’s worth within that period.
For instance, a family of four without REAL IDs or passports taking a two-week U.S. vacation would pay $45 per adult to clear security—$180 each way. Because their return falls outside the 10-day window, the total jumps to $360, and even more for larger families.
Families with younger children may feel less of the strain, since travelers under 18 don’t need to present ID for domestic flights when accompanied by an adult with valid identification. However, international trips still require passports for minors, and households with multiple adults over 18 will face the steepest added costs.
“I think the fines are too high, and rules around the fines are too strict,” a former TSA agent said.
However, the ex-employee said similar fees were proposed several times in the past, but this is the first time the agency is actually imposing penalties for non-compliance, a step many travelers never expected TSA to fully enforce.
“Passengers don’t listen; a lot of them think the TSA is a joke. The fines are a way to enforce the rules for the REAL ID,” the former TSA officer said.
On Dec. 1, university leaders informed staff at the women’s magazine Alice and Nineteen Fifty-Six, which focuses on Black culture and student life, that shifting federal rules on D.E.I. mean the school can no longer support the publications, the New York Times reports.
Officials cited a July memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi outlining how federally-funded institutions should steer clear of what the Trump administration considers unlawful DEI practices.
At a meeting to announce the suspensions, Steven Hood, the university’s vice president of student life, told students that their magazines had violated anti-DEI standards. Hood specifically referenced sections of Bondi’s memo cautioning against “unlawful proxies,” defined as “ostensibly neutral criteria that function as substitutes for explicit consideration of race, sex, or other protected characteristics.”
“You can understand why, under federal guidance, as a public institution, we might not be able to support magazines that are based on demographics like these two,” Hood said. (A recording of the meeting was shared with the New York Times.)
One magazine team member pointed out that their publications welcomed students of all backgrounds, not just their target audiences. Hood, however, said that wasn’t enough to satisfy federal guidelines.
Alex House, a university spokeswoman, said on Tuesday, Dec. 2, that the suspensions were carried out in compliance with the law.
“This requires us to ensure all members of our community feel welcome to participate in programs that receive university funding from the Office of Student Media,” House said, adding that the university “will never restrict our students’ freedom of expression.”
After the suspensions, Kendal Wright, editor-in-chief of Nineteen Fifty-Six, said she was “devastated but, regrettably, not surprised” by the university’s decision, citing “the current climate of our country.”
Gabrielle Gunter, editor-in-chief of Alice, criticized the move. “I was under the impression that we were protected from being affected by any anti-DEI legislation and rulings because of our First Amendment right to freedom of the press, but it appears I was wrong,” Gunter said in a statement, according to Insight on Academia.
Hood said the university plans to launch a new campus lifestyle magazine aimed at all students and invited the editors of the suspended publications to help create it.
