Le Journal

Texas Department of Transportation crews will begin pretreating major corridors in the Austin area on Wednesday evening, ahead of possible winter weather this weekend. Driving surfaces are being pretreated with a saltwater solution to help prevent ice The post TxDOT Pretreating Roads Ahead of Potential Winter Weather appeared first on KLBJ-AM - Austin, TX.

L'Oréal launches a $120M program to partner with startups, aiming for 75% sustainable ingredients by 2030. Can innovation meet profitability? The post L’Oréal’s $120M Bet on Startups to Revolutionize Sustainable Beauty first appeared on Appel Aura Ecologie.

Pricing nature like a commodity may seem smart, but it risks environmental destruction and economic instability. Here's why it could backfire. The post Why Pricing Nature Could Backfire: The Economic Risks of Monetizing the Environment first appeared on Appel Aura Ecologie.

Mid-January means the thick of conference play is upon us, so what better time to take an updated look at the conference Player of the Year races in the sport’s 10 best leagues? ACC The Front-Runner: Cameron Boozer, Duke The Contenders: Caleb Wilson, North CarolinaEbuka Okorie, Stanford Boopie Miller, SMU The Skinny: The national Player of the Year front-runner is also very clearly the ACC Player of the Year front-runner. I suppose there’s a world where Boozer’s production slips dramatically (or worse, he gets hurt) and Wilson, Miller or Okorie take their game to a level even higher than it’s already been, but it’s hard to envision that at the moment. Assuming Boozer does bring home the league’s top individual honor, he’ll be the fifth Blue Devil in the last nine years to do so. Atlantic 10 The Front-Runner: Kory Mincy, George Mason The Contenders: Robby Avila, Saint Louis Rafael Castro, George Washington Javon Bennett, Dayton The Skinny: George Washington fans are all-in on Castro’s campaign. While he certainly has more than just a puncher’s chance here, I’ll go with the guy who’s been the best player for one of college basketball’s most pleasantly surprising teams. George Mason was picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic 10 going into the season. Heading into Monday evening’s showdown with GW, the Patriots are 17-1 overall with an unblemished 5-0 mark in league play. Mincy, a transfer from Presbyterian, is the biggest reason why. The remarkably consistent guard is averaging 16.6 ppg and shooting a career-best 42.6 percent from three. American The Front-Runner: Rowan Brumbaugh, Tulane The Contenders: Kanaan Carlyle, Florida Atlantic Tylen Riley, TulsaDevin Vanterpool, Florida Atlantic The Skinny: If you haven’t seen Rowan Brumbaugh hoop yet, you’ve got about two months left to fix that. The 6’4” junior, who played his freshman season at Georgetown, has scored in double figures in all 22 American Conference games he’s played in. He’s currently averaging 18.8 ppg for a Green Wave team that figures to be near the top of the American standings for the duration of the winter. FAU might look like the strongest team in the conference, but Carlyle and Vanterpool — who are both terrific — splitting the vote should bode well for Brumbaugh’s (or someone else’s) chances. Big 12 The Front-Runner: A.J. Dybantsa, BYU The Contenders: J.T. Toppin, Texas TechChristian Anderson, Texas Tech Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State Kingston Flemings, Houston Jaden Bradley, Arizona The Skinny: That’s an outrageous list right there. Every one of those guys (and maybe even a couple others) not only has a chance to bring home this award, but they have a chance to be a First Team All-American when the season wraps up. Big East The Front-Runner: Alex Karaban, UConn The Contenders: Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s Solo Ball, UConnMichael Ajayi, Butler The Skinny: This is still a pretty wide open race in a conference that doesn’t feature a ton of dynamic scorers. The Karaban pick is based largely on my belief that UConn is going to run through league play and demand that someone from their squad brings home this award. If that doesn’t happen then Ejiofor is the safe bet, but Ajayi — an absolute double-double machine — should get at least a little bit of love as well. Big Ten The Front-Runner: Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan The Contenders: Braden Smith, PurdueBennett Stirtz, Iowa Trey Kaufman-Renn, PurdueKeaton Wagler, Illinois The Skinny: Braden Smith was everybody’s preseason National Player of the Year, but he finds himself in a dogfight for the top honor in his own conference. Michigan has been the league’s best team, and Lendeborg has clearly been there best player, so there’s that. There’s also a growing contingent of folks (though still not a majority) arguing that it’s Bennett Stirtz, and not Smith, who is actually the best floor general in the Big Ten. We’ll see how that debate plays out over the weeks ahead. Don’t sleep on Wagler here. In a year where freshmen are…