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Passover, also known as Pesach, is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the exodus of the Israeli slaves from Egypt. This year, it begins at sundown on Friday, April 15, and ends the evening of Saturday, April 23. It's traditional to have a seder, or ceremonial dinner, the first two nights of the holiday with family and friends, and many people also eat matzoh during the week instead of leavened bread, along with other special dishes. Whether you're hosting a seder and stocking up, attending one and need a dish to bring, or just want to share in eating the classic holiday foods, we've got you covered. Check out our list of participating Valley eateries and stores below. Chag sameach! AJ's Fine Foods
Multiple Locations
Multiple Locations
Stop in to Chompie's on April 15 for Passover dinner. It's $29.99 per adult and $14.95 per child (10 and under) and includes a starter, soup, entree, potato, vegetable, and dessert, with dine-in and curbside pick-up available. If you're looking to make dinner at home, stock up on à la carte items like matzoh ball soup and gefilte fish, or order a full traditional meal at $279 or the basic meal at $235. Each package serves eight people.
Goldman's Deli
6929 North Hayden Road, Scottsdale
480-367-9477
Goldman's Deli is the place to find everything you need for Passover. Choose a main entree of beef brisket or half a roast chicken; sides are egg salad, potato kugel, stewed vegetables and fruit, and more. Matzoh ball soup is on the menu, too, of course. Call 480-367-9477 to place your order a minimum of three days before the holiday.
Imperial Market & Deli
737 East Glendale Avenue
602-285-6999
Imperial Market & Deli is known to have the largest Passover selection in the state, and we can definitely see why. Dinner items such as short ribs, salmon, and roasted chicken are available for pre-order, along with a variety of sides and even a full Passover seder plate. Get your orders in by April 12. In the market section of the store, you can purchase all the kosher-for-Passover products you need.
Multiple Locations
The bistro at AJ's Fine Foods is offering Passover dinners for purchase from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on April 15. Selections include roasted pistachio-crusted chicken breast with a rustic apple compote ($16.99 per person), tender braised beef brisket with natural root vegetables au jus ($18.99 per person), and grilled salmon served with an herb carrot orange zest ($22.99 per person). Orders of six or more need to be reserved by April 12. Meanwhile, center-cut beef brisket can be purchased at the butcher's corner, while you can add charoset (a fruit and nut mixture), kugel (a type of casserole), matzoh ball soup, and potato pancakes to your cart (check with your local AJ's for availability of each item).
Chompie'sMultiple Locations
Stop in to Chompie's on April 15 for Passover dinner. It's $29.99 per adult and $14.95 per child (10 and under) and includes a starter, soup, entree, potato, vegetable, and dessert, with dine-in and curbside pick-up available. If you're looking to make dinner at home, stock up on à la carte items like matzoh ball soup and gefilte fish, or order a full traditional meal at $279 or the basic meal at $235. Each package serves eight people.
Goldman's Deli
6929 North Hayden Road, Scottsdale
480-367-9477
Goldman's Deli is the place to find everything you need for Passover. Choose a main entree of beef brisket or half a roast chicken; sides are egg salad, potato kugel, stewed vegetables and fruit, and more. Matzoh ball soup is on the menu, too, of course. Call 480-367-9477 to place your order a minimum of three days before the holiday.
Imperial Market & Deli
737 East Glendale Avenue
602-285-6999
Imperial Market & Deli is known to have the largest Passover selection in the state, and we can definitely see why. Dinner items such as short ribs, salmon, and roasted chicken are available for pre-order, along with a variety of sides and even a full Passover seder plate. Get your orders in by April 12. In the market section of the store, you can purchase all the kosher-for-Passover products you need.
4433 North 16th Street
602-776-0992
Celebrating Passover but don't want to cook? Head to Miracle Mile Deli for all your holiday needs, from a family feast for four at $95, brisket of beef by the pound, matzoh ball soup, and more. Call 602-776-0992 to order for pickup or catering.
New York Bagels ’N Bialys
Multiple Locations480-991-3034
Place your orders now for a full Passover feast at New York Bagels ’N Bialys. It's $28.99 per person for charoset, chopped liver, matzoh ball soup, and a choice of roasted chicken or brisket of beef with sides and veggies. Orders must be placed 72 hours in advance and picked up by 1 p.m.
Veneto Trattoria
6137 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
480-948-9928
Veneto Trattoria is known for celebrating Passover with a special dinner, and it's happening this year on April 15 and 16. Reservations are recommended for the $55 per person meal that includes matzoh with honey nut marmalade; matzoh ball soup in a homemade Venetian-style chicken broth; a choice of brisket, Petrale sole, or chicken breast for an entree; and almond cake with chocolate sauce for dessert. Reserve your spot by calling 480-948-9928. | https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/restaurants/how-greater-phoenix-restaurants-and-grocery-stores-are-celebrating-passover-13285484 | 2022-04-11T18:40:26 | 1 | https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/restaurants/how-greater-phoenix-restaurants-and-grocery-stores-are-celebrating-passover-13285484 |
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Florida legislature is one step closer to calling a special session aimed at addressing the state’s homeowners insurance crisis.
State Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, confirmed Monday he officially obtained the signatures needed from fellow lawmakers to advance a legislative maneuver that would force a special session.
“As of 1 p.m., within one business day of the sending out our letter, we have received more than enough responses from legislators calling for a special session on property insurance,” the senator said in a tweet.
Brandes first told 8 On Your Side last week about the maneuver he would be attempting to get a special session without Gov. Ron DeSantis or other legislative leaders. State statute allows lawmakers to force a special session if 20% of legislators file with the Department of State explaining conditions that warrant it. If 20% file, the remaining legislators will be polled. A special session can be called if three-fifths of the legislature agree to sign on.
The signatures Brandes obtained on Monday is just the first step – the 20% of the legislature needed to trigger a polling of every lawmaker in the Florida House and Senate. According to Brandes, the Secretary of State has to poll lawmakers within a week.
“And the great thing about it is, it’s public document,” Brandes said last week. “Floridians will be able to see which House members and senators are standing with them and which ones are standing against them.”
During a stop in Tampa on Monday, Gov. DeSantis told 8 On Your Side’s Mahsa Saeidi he supports Sen. Brandes’ move to force a special session.
“I think it’s just a matter of – as you remember, it kind of fell apart at the end of the session,” DeSantis said. “So we just want to make sure we have a product that will pass and that we can get through.”
Four property insurance bills were introduced during the regular legislative session to address the insurance crisis, but each one failed. Hundreds of homeowners have reached out to 8 On Your Side in recent weeks, panicking after getting their annual property insurance rates. Some homeowners say they’re seeing rates double in a single year.
“We gotta be honest with people, we’re in a big period of inflation, so all this stuff is gonna go up,” DeSantis said. “But on the property insurance in particular, clearly we have dysfunctions in that market that could be fixed.”
Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, was also at the governor’s news conference Monday morning and agreed the insurance crisis is “out of control.”
“We need to have a program that all of us can agree on that, most importantly, saves Floridians money,” Sen. Boyd said. “It’s out of control, we’ve got to get our arms around it and we have to solve it for our constituents.”
This is a developing story, please check back for updates. | https://www.wfla.com/8-on-your-side/push-for-property-insurance-crisis-special-session-advances-in-florida-legislature/ | 2022-04-11T18:44:37 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/8-on-your-side/push-for-property-insurance-crisis-special-session-advances-in-florida-legislature/ |
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The average U.S. price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline dropped 10 cents per gallon in the last week here in the Sunshine State.
According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Florida was priced at $3.50 per gallon while the most expensive was $5.49 per gallon, a difference of $1.99.
The Tampa area has dropped over 11 cents down to an average of $4.03 in Tampa, according to GasBuddy.
“Gas prices have continued to move in the right direction – down- saving Americans approximately $100 million every day compared to when prices peaked about a month ago,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
Meanwhile, the national average price of gasoline has fallen 7.5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.10 per gallon today. The national average is down 23.3 cents per gallon from a month ago. | https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/florida-gas-prices-drop-10-cents-in-one-week-gasbuddy/ | 2022-04-11T18:44:43 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/florida-gas-prices-drop-10-cents-in-one-week-gasbuddy/ |
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI/WFLA) — A former Hillsborough County assistant principal was found guilty Friday of giving a teenage boy a foot rub against his will.
Olayinka Alege, 41, was convicted of simple assault, a misdemeanor, for the incident that took place at a Warwick gym nearly a year ago.
Police said the alleged incident was caught on video, but Alege has vigorously denied those claims, arguing the footage doesn’t show what police say it does.
That video wasn’t made public until it was shown in the courtroom Friday as the teenager who made the accusation took the stand to testify.
The video shows the boy stretching when a man he identified as Alege approached him and started asking about his sneakers. It was then, according to the boy, that Alege took off his sneaker and sock without asking permission and began forcibly massaging his bare foot.
The teen told the court he felt violated and offended by Alege’s actions. He also claimed Alege winked at him after the unwanted foot rub.
The defense questioned the witness, asking him to clarify some of his statements.
Alege denied taking the boy’s shoe off without his permission in an interview at the Warwick Police Department following the incident. During the interview, which was shown in court, Alege also denied having a foot fetish.
The trial was delayed several times due to the pandemic and Alege challenging the arrest. However, Alege did not take the stand in his own defense during the trial.
His attorney filed a motion in October requesting a hearing to determine whether his client was arrested based on false information, which was granted.
The motion states, using a pseudonym for the victim, “At no point [in the video] can the viewer observe Mr. Alege pick up Brian’s foot; take off Brian’s shoe; grab Brian’s heel; pull off Brian’s sock; massage Brian’s foot; or the struggle Brian described.”
Later that week, lawyers for the city of Warwick responded with a motion saying police had sufficient probable cause to arrest Alege.
At the time of his arrest in May, Alege was working as a network superintendent for Providence Public Schools. Days later, he resigned from the post and pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Harrison Peters, the former Providence superintendent who hired Alege, was terminated later that month after it was discovered he knew of similar allegations against Alege from a school district in Florida but failed to inform his superiors or the hiring committee. Alege was never charged in those cases.
The state-run district went without a permanent superintendent until earlier this week.
Both Alege and Peters once worked in the Hillsborough County Public School system. Alege was an assistant principal at King High School in Tampa for 15 years while Peters worked as the chief of schools for the district before taking the Providence job in 2020.
Alege was also accused of touching students’ feet while working at King High School. According to a 2009 report by the Sun Sentinel, five boys came forward and said the former assistant principal popped their toes after calling them to his office for their lagging grades.
At the time, the former principal said it was all in good fun, and a district spokesman said the assistant principal’s actions were not considered corporal punishment.
The spokesman also said Alege did not hurt or threaten the kids, although the children told deputies they did not like their feet being touched.
Fast-forward to 2022, Alege is being convicted for doing the same thing.
The conviction results in a one-year court filing, which means that if Alege doesn’t commit any crimes within that timeframe, the charge will be expunged from his record. The judge also ordered Alege to have no contact with the victim nor his family.
While Alege respects the court’s decision, he still doesn’t agree with it, according to his attorney.
“The court’s decision is what it is,” Attorney J. Dixon-Acosta said. “Mr. Alege has the right to appeal. He will consider all of his options.” | https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/former-tampa-assistant-principal-convicted-in-r-i-after-forcibly-giving-student-a-foot-rub/ | 2022-04-11T18:44:49 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/former-tampa-assistant-principal-convicted-in-r-i-after-forcibly-giving-student-a-foot-rub/ |
RIVERVIEW, Fla. (WFLA) – Preschoolers in the Tampa Bay area are raising money to grant wishes, all while learning about Make-A-Wish and giving back to others.
The Learning Experience education centers are holding their “Let’s Grant Wishes” fundraiser in April. Children as young as 3 years old are learning about Make-A-Wish and the differences they can make in the world when they work together. The fundraiser is part of the centers’ curriculum about philanthropy.
Teachers are using Learning Experience’s characters “Charity Chihuahua” and “Grace the Greyhound” to help kids learn about helping others.
Kids are creating arts and crafts while learning about Make-A-Wish and helping to raise donations through online fundraising pages.
“It inspires these kids at an early age to give, to know how to be kind, to know how to be a good friend. It also instills a community sense in them, they know that working together is how we get to accomplish these wishes,” said Jackie Talleyrand, business manager and one of the owners of The Learning Center at Rivercrest.
The Learning Experience Rivercrest has raised $2,059 of their $6,600 goal.
“So we’re almost there. We’re about halfway to granting a wish here, and it’s all because of their help and their parents and their families as well,” Talleyrand said.
The various centers throughout the Tampa Bay area have websites where parents, family, friends and even strangers looking to do good can donate.
Talleyrand said they are having friendly competitions between classrooms, and those who donate $250 or more even have a chance at winning a Land Rover.
“We try to display how far each classroom has gotten. So definitely when the parents walk in, they’re like, ‘uh oh, this classroom is beating my child’s classroom, so let me go make my donation!’ So it’s been great,” she said.
While the preschoolers are having fun crafting things like making wands decorated with gems and using Play-Doh to cut out stars representing wishes, they’re learning about philanthropy.
That’s something Talleyrand said can be done at home, as well.
“Giving is something that is very important. So even if it’s not at school, if parents want to help and instill that skill in their children at an early age, it goes a long way,” she said. “They way this world is right now, we need more kind folks, so we’re hoping that through this campaign of granting wishes and teaching the children about philanthropy and what it means to give, to donate that we can change the world.” | https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/tampa-preschoolers-raise-money-for-make-a-wish-while-learning-to-give-back/ | 2022-04-11T18:44:55 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/tampa-preschoolers-raise-money-for-make-a-wish-while-learning-to-give-back/ |
DENVER (KDVR) — A surgery using magnets helped doctors in Colorado save the life of a very premature baby.
Gabriella and Harper were born at 23 weeks in February of 2021 in Alliance, Nebraska. The twins needed the help of specialized doctors to survive, so they were transferred to the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver, 250 miles away.
“Twenty-three weeks is really the extreme limits of possible viability,” said Dr. Steven Rothenberg, chief of pediatric surgery at the hospital.
Parents Kayla Hatch and Victor Jacobo credit the medical workers for saving Harper, who was born with an incomplete esophagus.
Rocky Mountain Hospital believes the procedure marks the first successful Esophageal Atresia surgery on a baby weighing less than a pound.
“The gap was so great, it was hard to get the two ends together,” Rothenberg said. “I believe Harper is the smallest baby ever to be born, with this pure Esophageal Atresia, to survive.”
Doctors waited until Harper was full-term before performing a minimally-invasive surgery, followed by another surgery. Eventually, magnets were used in January 2022, about a month before the twins’ first birthday. The magnets, which were eventually removed, brought the incomplete esophagus together.
“It worked,” Rothenberg said. “It worked extremely well.”
Hatch and Jacobo couldn’t be happier.
“To see them breathing, kicking … it’s just truly awesome,” Jacobo said. “We just can’t thank everyone enough for being there and helping us through these trying times.”
“For the rest of my life, I’m going to be thanking them,” Hatch said. | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/smallest-baby-ever-born-with-incomplete-esophagus-survives/ | 2022-04-11T18:45:01 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/smallest-baby-ever-born-with-incomplete-esophagus-survives/ |
VENICE, Fla. (WFLA) — A sizable three-legged alligator caused some traffic trouble in Venice after it decided it just had to cross a busy street Thursday.
Video taken by Daniel Kaufman showed the gator shuffling toward his box truck, blocking traffic as it moved.
“Look at this beast!” Kaufman said. “It’s like a 10-footer.”
The gator, which was missing its front right foot, eventually sped up and went under Kaufman’s truck.
“Holy cow. He’s going under my truck, it’s official,” Kaufman said as the gator shook the vehicle.
The gator then emerged from under the truck as it continued its journey. | https://www.wfla.com/news/sarasota-county/huge-3-legged-gator-crosses-venice-street-gets-under-truck/ | 2022-04-11T18:45:08 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/sarasota-county/huge-3-legged-gator-crosses-venice-street-gets-under-truck/ |
We ask our kids to translate all those words and expressions they use so we can understand “teen-speak”. Plus, we share how we motivate our children and admit our less-than-perfect parenting realities with #noshame.
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You have been added to Breaking News Newsletter | https://www.wfla.com/daytime/sus-cap-stan-maggie-and-the-moms-translate-teen-speak/ | 2022-04-11T18:53:19 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/daytime/sus-cap-stan-maggie-and-the-moms-translate-teen-speak/ |
Ventriloquist and America’s Got Talent winner Terry Fator joins us in the Daytime studio ahead of his upcoming Florida shows. We learn about his journey, which began at the age of 10, and the uncommon talent that even allows him to sing beautifully… with his mouth closed. Watch and see for yourself!
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You have been added to Breaking News Newsletter | https://www.wfla.com/daytime/ventriloquist-terry-fator-brings-his-talent-to-daytime/ | 2022-04-11T18:53:28 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/daytime/ventriloquist-terry-fator-brings-his-talent-to-daytime/ |
BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A motorcyclist was killed Friday in eastern Pennsylvania after police said a goose hit them in the head, causing a head-on crash with an SUV.
The crash happened April 8 at State Road and River Road in Croydon, Pennsylvania. The driver was on a Harley Davidson just before 9 a.m. when a goose reportedly came flying out of the woods, hitting the motorcyclist in the head.
Bristol Borough Police said the goose caused the motorcyclist to side-swipe a car before running head-on into a Toyota Highlander SUV. The motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet at the time, according to the report.
The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene. | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/1-dead-after-goose-causes-motorcycle-crash-in-pa/ | 2022-04-11T18:53:36 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/1-dead-after-goose-causes-motorcycle-crash-in-pa/ |
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Starting April 1, the Federal Housing Finance Agency increased the upfront fees for loans to buy second homes. The increased fees were announced in January. Real estate company Redfin said the higher fees discouraged purchases, which may help cool off the market amid an ongoing housing shortage.
The FHFA announced in January that the fees were specifically designed to “minimize market and pipeline disruption.”
“These targeted pricing changes will allow the Enterprises to better achieve their mission of facilitating equitable and sustainable access to homeownership, while improving their regulatory capital position over time,” Acting Director Sandra L. Thompson said on Jan. 5. “Today’s action represents another step FHFA is taking to strengthen the Enterprises’ safety and soundness and to ensure access to credit for first-time home buyers and low- and moderate-income borrowers.”
Now, Redfin reports demand for second homes and vacation homes are falling, which they call an early sign of the market calming down. The real estate company said the increased mortgage rates, which are now approaching 5% for 30-year-fixed-rate mortgages, and the increased fees for second home loans, are adding to the slowdown for buyers.
“The pandemic-driven surge in sales of vacation homes is coming to an end as mortgage rates rise at their fastest pace in history, causing some second-home buyers to back off,” Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr said. “When rates and prices shoot up so much that a vacation home starts to look more like a burden than a good investment and a fun place to bring your family on the weekends, a lot of prospective buyers have second thoughts.”
While the demand for secondary homes decreased, Redfin said “demand for primary residences outpaced that of second homes for the second month in a row.” However, they say it’s partly due to the decrease in those buying second homes, since “demand for primary residences” has been about the same since June 2020.
Recent increases in the interest rates set by the Federal Reserve have caused mortgage rates to rise. Redfin says its causing demand to decline “sharply” as workers return to the office instead of working remotely. The new fees this month for second home loans also added “about $13,500 to the cost of purchasing a $400,000 home,” making vacation-home buyers wait before pulling the trigger.
The housing market is a key concern for the Federal Reserve as they strategize how to fight off inflation’s impacts on the U.S. economy and average households. In March, Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher J. Waller addressed the Alrov Institute and the Rutgers Center for Real estate, with real estate a main focus of discussion, following the first of now seven total rate increases planned for 2022.
“Real estate makes a sizable contribution to gross domestic product, from both housing investment and consumption spending on housing services, which is what renters and homeowners pay for the shelter and amenities provided by housing,” Waller said. “Real estate also matters for inflation. Housing services represent about 15 percent of the Personal Consumption Expenditure price index, and it represents an even larger share of another well-known inflation yardstick, the Consumer Price Index.”
During his speech at Alrov, Waller noted that rent is a “significant share of monthly expenses for many households,” but particularly lower-income, who spend a larger portion of their monthly budgets on housing. He said rising rental rates are hitting these low-income households harder across the U.S., as inflation pushes prices on everything upward.
Additionally, the higher mortgage rates are making monthly costs for homebuyers go up sometimes as high as an extra $500 per month, according to Redfin. They say the increasing rates are “driving a sense of urgency to buy before” they go up again, causing potential buyers to back off as their budgets are “exceeded.”
As the housing market remains strained, Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s Chief Economist, says it may not be all bad.
“Homebuyers may not feel like the market has gotten any easier. That’s because they’re often competing against investors, all-cash buyers and migrants from expensive cities who aren’t as sensitive to mortgage rates,” Fairweather said. “But there are early indicators that the market is turning, and we expect the softening to become more apparent in the coming weeks, eventually causing home-price growth to slow.”
In the meantime, the current federal mortgage rate reported by Freddie Mac, a government-backed mortgage institution, was 4.72%.
The rates on their site are updated every Thursday. On April 12, the latest Consumer Price Index, tracking inflation across the U.S., will come out, giving an indication on exactly how much prices have increased over the past month for consumer goods and expenses. | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/vacation-home-boom-comes-to-end-amid-rising-mortgage-rates-loan-fees/ | 2022-04-11T18:53:42 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/vacation-home-boom-comes-to-end-amid-rising-mortgage-rates-loan-fees/ |
(NEXSTAR) – The very first Taco Bell location was no bigger than a two-car garage. It didn’t have indoor seating, it didn’t have a drive-thru, and it certainly didn’t have Doritos Locos Tacos, supreme or otherwise.
It did, however, have several menu items that are nowhere to be found among Taco Bell’s current offerings, including a “chili burger.”
Glen Bell, the chain’s founder, opened his first Taco Bell in Downey, California, in 1962. Bell had previously operated a number of fast-food restaurants throughout the ‘50s — including Bell’s Drive-In and Taco Tia — but he was envisioning something altogether different for Taco Bell. Specifically, he had an idea for a small walk-up taco stand surrounded by “shops, live music and fire pits,” according to Taco Bell.
The resulting restaurant, with its fire pits and a live-performance area in the back, bore little resemblance to the Taco Bells of today. There was also a walk-up window — and only a walk-up window — where customers could order whatever their hearts desired, so long as they desired one of five menu items.
The earliest official Taco Bell menu offered frijoles, tostados, chili burgers, burritos (red or green) and tacos, all for 19 cents apiece. Each of these items stuck around well into the ‘70s, while Bell and his franchisees went about expanding the chain throughout California and beyond.
Of course, there were a few changes along the way. In a photo of the restaurant’s overhead menu circa the early ‘70s, prices had jumped to a whopping 25 cents. “Tostados” also became “tostadas,” and “chili burgers” gave way to “Bellburgers,” which were described as having ground beef, lettuce, tomato and a “famous” Taco Bell sauce.
Many of these items persisted for decades in one form or another, but today only tacos and burritos remain from the first Taco Bell menu, and even those have evolved from their original incarnations.
But not everything has changed. The original Taco Bell restaurant, which closed in 1986, is still intact after being saved from demolition and moved to the Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine, California. (Good luck ordering a chili burger, though.) | https://www.wfla.com/reviews/br/kitchen-br/food-br/taco-bells-first-restaurants-only-offered-5-items-and-most-are-no-longer-on-the-menu/ | 2022-04-11T18:53:48 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/reviews/br/kitchen-br/food-br/taco-bells-first-restaurants-only-offered-5-items-and-most-are-no-longer-on-the-menu/ |
Mariupol's mayor says more than 10,000 civilians have died in the Russian siege of the city
The mayor of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol said Monday that more than 10,000 civilians have died in the Russian siege of his city, and that the death toll could surpass 20,000, with corpses that were “carpeted through the streets.”
Speaking by phone Monday to The Associated Press, Mayor Vadym Boychenko also said Russian forces brought mobile cremation equipment to the city to dispose of the bodies, and he accused Russian forces of refusing to allow humanitarian convoys into the city in an attempt to conceal the carnage.
Russian forces have taken many bodies to a huge shopping center where there are storage facilities and refrigerators, Boychenko said.
“Mobile crematoriums have arrived in the form of trucks: You open it, and there is a pipe inside and these bodies are burned,” he said.
The mayor's comments emerged as Russia claimed that it destroyed several Ukrainian air-defense systems in what appeared to be a renewed push to gain air superiority and take out weapons Kyiv has described as crucial ahead of an expected broad new offensive in the east.
In one strike, Moscow said it hit four S-300 launchers near the central city of Dnipro that had been provided by a European country it did not name. Slovakia gave Ukraine just such a system last week but denied it had been destroyed. Russia previously reported two strikes on similar systems in other places.
The failure to win full control of Ukraine’s skies has hampered Moscow’s ability to provide air cover for troops on the ground, limiting their advances and likely exposing them to greater losses.
With their offensive in many parts of the country thwarted, Russian forces have relied increasingly on bombarding cities — a strategy that has left many urban areas flattened and killed thousands of people.
Ukrainian authorities accuse Russian forces of committing atrocities, including a massacre in the town of Bucha, outside Kyiv, airstrikes on hospitals and a missile attack that killed at least 57 people last week at a train station.
In Bucha on Monday, the work of exhuming bodies from a mass grave in a churchyard resumed.
Galyna Feoktistova waited for hours in the cold and rain in hopes of identifying her 50-year-old son, who was shot and killed more than a month ago, but eventually she went home for some warmth. “He's still there,” her surviving son, Andriy, said.
In Mariupol, about 120,000 civilians are in dire need of food, water, warmth and communications, the mayor said.
Only those residents who have passed the Russian “filtration camps” are released from the city, Boychenko said. He said improvised prisons were organized for those who did not pass the “filtering,” while at least 33,000 were taken to Russia or to separatist territory in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the U.N. children’s agency said that nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes in the six weeks since Russia’s invasion began, and the United Nations has verified that 142 children have been killed and 229 injured, though the actual numbers are likely much higher.
Elsewhere, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he met Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks that were “very direct, open and tough.”
In a statement released by his office, Nehammer said his primary message to Putin was “that this war needs to end, because in war both sides can only lose.” Nehammer said he also raised the issue of war crimes committed by the Russian military and said those responsible “will be held to account.”
Austria is a member of the European Union and has backed the 27-nation bloc’s sanctions against Russia, though it so far has opposed cutting off deliveries of Russian gas. The country is militarily neutral and is not a member of NATO.
In other developments, the head of the separatist rebel government in Donetsk said Ukrainian forces have lost control of the port area of Mariupol.
“Regarding the port of Mariupol, it is now under our control,” Denis Pushilin, president of the Donetsk People’s Republic, told Russian state television, according to Russian news agencies. The claim could not immediately be confirmed.
The mayor said fighting continues.
"It is difficult, but our heroic military holds on,” Boychenko said. “There are fights in the port. Yesterday, our heroic warriors knocked out several positions of equipment and, accordingly, rebuffed the infantry.
Russia has appointed a seasoned general to lead its renewed push in the eastern Donbas region, where Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014 and have declared independent states. Both sides are digging in for what could be a devastating war of attrition.
Russian forces will likely try to encircle the Donbas region from the north and the south as well as the east, said retired British Gen. Richard Barrons, co-chair of the U.K.-based strategic consulting firm Universal Defence & Security Solutions.
The ground in that part of Ukraine is flatter, more open and less wooded — so the Ukrainian ambush tactics used around Kiev may be less successful, Barrons said.
“As to the outcome, it’s finely balanced right now,” Barrons said. If the Russians learned from their previous failures, concentrated more force, connected their air force to ground forces better and improved their logistics, "then they might start to overwhelm the Ukrainian positions eventually, although I still think it would be a battle of enormous attrition.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded for more Western aid, saying his forces need heavier firepower. In a video address to South Korean lawmakers on Monday, Zelenskyy specifically requested equipment that can shoot down Russian missiles.
But those armaments could increasingly come under attack as Russia looks to shift the balance in the 6-week-old war.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the military used cruise missiles to destroy the four launchers Sunday on the southern outskirts of Dnipro. He said the military also hit such systems in the Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions.
The Russian claims could not be independently verified.
The Pentagon said it had seen no evidence to support Russia’s claims. A senior U.S. defense official said Russia did conduct an airstrike Sunday on the airport in Dnipro, destroying some equipment, but the official said the U.S. has seen no indication that an air-defense system was knocked out.
Lubica Janikova, spokeswoman for Slovakia's prime minister, denied Monday that the S-300 system it sent Ukraine had been destroyed. She said any other claim is not true.
Questions remain about the ability of depleted and demoralized Russian forces to conquer much ground after their advance on Kyiv was repelled by determined Ukrainian defenders.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said Monday that Ukraine has already beaten back several assaults by Russian forces in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions — which make up the Donbas — resulting in the destruction of Russian tanks, vehicles and artillery.
Western military analysts say Russia's assault increasingly is focusing on an arc of territory stretching from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in the north, to Kherson in the south.
A residential area in Kharkiv was struck by incoming fire on Monday afternoon. Associated Press journalists saw firefighters putting out the fire and checking for victims following the attack, and saw that at least five people were killed, including a child.
Oleh Synyehubov, the regional governor of Kharkiv, said earlier Monday that Russian shelling had killed 11 people over the last 24 hours. | https://www.koat.com/article/mariupol-ukraine-mayor-more-than-10000-civilians-dead/39692247 | 2022-04-11T18:54:51 | 0 | https://www.koat.com/article/mariupol-ukraine-mayor-more-than-10000-civilians-dead/39692247 |
Reward for information about petroglyph vandalism
The leadership of the Federal Bureau of Investigations in New Mexico wants to know who spray-painted graffiti over sacred petroglyphs in Santa Fe. They are known as the La Cineguilla Petroglyphs.
According to an FBI news release, the graffiti was discovered on Jan. 19, 2022, on property managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
"Visitors from around the world come to New Mexico to admire wonderful Native American cultural resources like the La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs," said Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda of the Albuquerque FBI Division.
Most of the petroglyphs date between the 13th and 17th centuries. Petroglyphs are rock carvings created by the ancestors of today's Pueblo people.
"It's hard to believe someone would try to ruin these priceless works of art and show such disrespect for this area’s unique heritage. The FBI is asking anyone with information about this vandalism to come forward so we can ensure this crime doesn't go unpunished," added Bujanda.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case.
If you have information about the vandalism, you're asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-225-5324 or tips.fbi.gov. | https://www.koat.com/article/reward-for-information-about-petroglyph-vandalism/39692549 | 2022-04-11T18:55:01 | 0 | https://www.koat.com/article/reward-for-information-about-petroglyph-vandalism/39692549 |
PHARR, Texas (Border Report) — The Pharr International Bridge leading to Reynosa, Mexico, has been closed after truckers in Mexico blocked access to the bridge on Monday, officials told Border Report.
Pharr police officers blocked access to the southbound lanes, which were also closed.
The bridge normally opens at 6 a.m. but did not open at all Monday. It is the No. 1 bridge for imports of produce in the nation.
Video from Mexico shows a blockade being carried by truckers there. They are protesting Gov. Gregg Abbott’s announcement Thursday last that all commercial traffic entering Texas from Mexico will be subject to inspection by state officials after undergoing a federal inspection at the port of entry.
This has caused wait times of 10 to 20 hours at the Pharr International Bridge.
Trucker David Martinez told Border Report he was able to come across 1 p.m. on Sunday with a load of broccoli and waited all night and morning for Texas Department of Public Safety officials to inspect his truck.
His truck was being inspected at noon Monday. | https://www.wane.com/border-report-tour/mexican-truckers-block-access-to-pharr-port-of-entry-in-protest-of-texas-truck-inspections/ | 2022-04-11T19:00:49 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/border-report-tour/mexican-truckers-block-access-to-pharr-port-of-entry-in-protest-of-texas-truck-inspections/ |
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – A 16-year-old Las Vegas student accused of sexually assaulting, punching, and strangling a teacher until she lost consciousness has been identified as Jonathan Eluterio Martinez Garcia.
According to police, the Eldorado High School teacher was in her classroom Thursday when Garcia entered to talk about his grades and eventually became violent.
Police said that Garcia attacked the teacher, caused her to lose consciousness, and later fled the classroom.
Sources told Nexstar’s KLAS that a janitor found the teacher in her classroom later in the afternoon. Officers arrived to the school at around 3:30 p.m. Thursday once the incident was reported.
Garcia was taken into custody and booked into the Clark County Detention Center for attempted murder, sexual assault, battery with intent to commit sexual assault, first-degree kidnapping and robbery.
Garcia’s bail was set at $500,000. If he posts bail, he is to be placed on electronic monitoring and will be ordered to have no contact with the victim.
Garcia is scheduled to appear in court April 12 at 8 a.m.
Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara sent this statement to CCSD staff on Friday:
Dear CCSD Staff,
The safety of every Clark County School District (CCSD) student and employee is our top priority.
I am devastated, and the CCSD family hurts for the teacher assaulted at Eldorado High School. Our hearts are heavy because of the violence committed against her, and we pray for her full recovery.
As I have said previously, “Violent acts, assaults, and bullying will not be tolerated in the Clark County School District, and those who choose to engage in these activities will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
SUPERINTENDENT JESUS JARA | https://www.wane.com/news/16-year-old-student-accused-of-battering-sexually-assaulting-teacher-identified/ | 2022-04-11T19:00:55 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/16-year-old-student-accused-of-battering-sexually-assaulting-teacher-identified/ |
INDIANAPOLIS — A former state senator from Greenwood could serve up to 10 years in prison after admitting in court to campaign finance violations and lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation two years after the federal agents raided his condominium.
On Monday, Brent Waltz, 48, pleaded guilty in federal court to two felony charges: making and receiving conduit contributions and making false statements to the FBI. He faces up to five years in prison for each of the charges.
The charges stem from Waltz’s 2016 U.S. congressional campaign when the former state senator ran in the 2016 Republican primary for the U.S. House of Representatives Ninth District. Waltz, along with a 71-year-old gaming executive John S. Keeler, were accused and charged in 2020 of being part of a “straw donors” plot that violated federal campaign finance law.
Previously, authorities said Keeler, vice president of New Centaur LLC, arranged to transfer thousands of dollars to Kelley Rogers, a political consultant for Waltz, who then contributed money to Waltz’s campaign.
Federal prosecutors said Keeler and Rogers concealed the contributions by creating phony invoices and agreements that appeared to be for services performed for New Centaur. Rogers recruited several “straw donors,” who contributed $2,700 to the campaign—the maximum individual contribution permitted under federal law at the time.
Waltz was one of the straw donors, according to court documents. Others were friends and associates of Rogers.
Rogers then used the money Keeler and New Centaur provided to reimburse the donors. A large portion of the money also went to Waltz, federal prosecutors said, who recruited more “straw donors” and used the money to reimburse them or pay them in advance.
Waltz’s straw donors included relatives and business associates.
Waltz and Keeler concealed the contributions from campaign officials, federal prosecutors said, causing them to unwittingly file materially false reports with the Federal Election Commission.
The FBI raided Waltz Greenwood condo in late September of 2020. His charges, along with Keelers, were announced soon after.
After pleading guilty on Monday, Waltz is scheduled to be sentenced by the U.S. District Court at a later date.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Keeper’s trial in connection to this case is scheduled to begin on April 18. | https://www.wane.com/news/former-indiana-state-senator-could-serve-10-years-behind-bars-after-guilty-plea/ | 2022-04-11T19:01:01 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/former-indiana-state-senator-could-serve-10-years-behind-bars-after-guilty-plea/ |
INDIANAPOLIS – Days away from the one-year anniversary of the deadly mass shooting at an Indianapolis FedEx facility, attorneys for five of the victims announced a lawsuit.
The shooting happened on the night of April 15, 2021, at the FedEx Ground facility on Mirabel Road. A former employee opened fire, killing eight people before turning the gun on himself. Five other people were injured.
The lawsuit names FedEx Corporation; FedEx Ground Package System, Inc.; Federal Express Corporation; FedEx Corporate Services, Inc.; and Securitas Security Services, USA.
It’s being filed on behalf of the families of Amerjeet Johal, Amarjit Sekhon, Jasvinder Kaur, John Weisert and Karli Smith.
The lawsuit alleges inadequate security and negligence in keeping employees at the facility safe, both before and during the shooting.
Attorney Mel Hewitt, an Atlanta-based lawyer representing the families, called the shooting preventable. The lawsuit was filed Monday morning.
Dan Chamberlain, an Indianapolis-based attorney, is also representing the victims.
“These types of situations cannot continue in the United States, let alone in the state of Indiana,” Chamberlain said of the shooting.
The attorneys said the Indianapolis shooting was not the first at a FedEx Ground facility. Hewitt and Chamberlain pointed to a 2014 shooting at a FedEx facility in Kennesaw, Georgia, from 2014. Six people were shot in that case, none fatally, when a former employee opened fire.
Hewitt prosecuted the claims in that case, representing several of the people who were shot. The attorneys argued that the company should have taken more precautions after the 2014 incident.
“So FedEx has been put on notice that frankly this is something that is preventable,” Chamberlain said. “Had they followed their own policies and procedures, this would never have occurred.”
The victims weren’t on duty at the time of the shooting, the attorneys said. They’d either punched out and were done for the day or had just arrived to clock in for their shift. They’re calling for reasonable measures to protect workers.
The shooter, for example, entered the facility through an unrestricted, ungated parking area adjacent to the facility. He then exited his vehicle and made his way to the entrance, where he was confronted by security.
He demanded to see a manager, made a commotion, and then went back to his car. After sitting in the vehicle for a few minutes, he emerged with a gun, shot at employees in the parking area and then entered the facility, shooting several more people.
Family members of the victims said they’ve never recovered from the tragedy and believe more could’ve been done to protect their loved ones.
Gary Johal, the youngest son of Amerjeet Johal, said his mother was “the world” to her family.
“She was one of the strongest pillars of the family that brought the whole family together,” Johal said of his mother. “The most selfless person you could ever meet. I guess if you wanted me to compare her to someone, she was the most selfless person you could ever meet that can be compared to God. If you know what God is like, then you know what my mother is like.”
Johal said he’s still processing her loss, calling it “one of the biggest devastations” for the family. He believes multiple parties need to be held accountable for her death.
Matthew D. Alexander, the father of Karli Smith, called the loss of his daughter “extremely traumatic” for the entire family.
“It’s an ongoing process for me to try to comprehend because no one should have to bury their child,” Alexander said.
He hoped the tragedy would prompt even slight changes to protect workers and prevent a future shooting at FedEx or any other business.
Hewitt and Chamberlain maintain FedEx didn’t have enough security measures in place. Former and past employees had expressed concerns about their safety before the shooting.
One interesting component of the lawsuit is the lack of records, the attorney alleged, from law enforcement agencies. They claimed their open records requests were effectively ignored. They believe filing a lawsuit will compel a federal judge to grant them access to things like crime scene photos, witness interviews and surveillance video.
“That’s part of the complaint,” Hewitt said of the lawsuit. “We would’ve liked to have explained more but we can’t because we have not been given access to everything that law enforcement has.”
The attorneys said they had no plans to involve the city of Indianapolis, Marion County or the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office in their lawsuit. The prosecutor’s office, in particular, has faced tough questions about the state’s red flag law and why the FedEx shooter was able to purchase and possess firearms despite warnings about his instability and mental health.
While representatives of five of the eight victims are currently part of the lawsuit, the remaining victims’ family could still join the suit, the attorneys said. Other defendants could also be added to the lawsuit.
“If people want to join the lawsuit, they’re invited to join with us and work together. It just makes sense,” Chamberlain said.
For the victims’ families, the hurt will never go away—and the sense that it could have been prevented will gnaw at them forever.
“My mother was everything to me,” Johal said. “I can’t see myself moving forward at this moment, at least not without the justice we deserve.”
Since the shooter killed himself, there is no criminal case to provide closure. For Alexander, justice will be the prevention of a similar shooting happening in the future.
“There are at least eight different lights that have gone out in this world needlessly. And that could have been prevented, so we want to make sure that doesn’t happen to anybody else,” Alexander said.
Both Johal and Alexander described their loss as a “never-ending” struggle.
Asked about the possibility of the shooting as a hate crime, Johal said he didn’t believe the Sikh community was targeted. Still, he believes the shooting was motivated by hate.
“There was some kind of hate in his heart that made him go out and commit this,” Johal said of the shooter. “It shouldn’t have happened.”
Johal said some of the FedEx workers in the Sikh community never returned to work after the shooting because they feared for their safety.
“Being a large corporation, you should have all your security measures covered, all your security angles covered, especially someone who’s coming in and causing a havoc.” | https://www.wane.com/news/lawsuit-announced-in-deadly-2021-indianapolis-fedex-shooting/ | 2022-04-11T19:01:07 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/lawsuit-announced-in-deadly-2021-indianapolis-fedex-shooting/ |
(The Hill) – The country’s average gasoline price has dropped about eight cents over the past week, and about 13 cents in the last two weeks, according to figures from the American Automobile Association (AAA).
AAA listed the country’s average price at $4.11 per gallon on Monday, down from $4.19 a week ago and $4.24 two weeks ago.
The recent drop comes after countries including the U.S. announced recently that they would release additional oil from their reserves.
After the U.S. announced late last month that it would add one million barrels per day to the market over six months — the largest-ever release from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve — analysts told The Hill that the move could result in modest price drops.
Prices for crude oil, from which gasoline is made, have also dropped in recent days. U.S. crude stood at around $95 per barrel on Monday morning, down from as high as $103 per barrel a week ago and even higher in late March.
Gasoline and oil prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as many buyers rejected Russian barrels, cutting the supply of oil on the market. Prior to that, prices had already been relatively high since production has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
Although the move was largely caused by external factors, Republicans have sought to use gasoline prices to criticize Democrats and the Biden administration. Democrats, meanwhile, have criticized both Russia and oil companies. | https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/gasoline-prices-drop-eight-cents-in-one-week-aaa-says/ | 2022-04-11T19:01:13 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/gasoline-prices-drop-eight-cents-in-one-week-aaa-says/ |
DENVER (KDVR) — A surgery using magnets helped doctors in Colorado save the life of a very premature baby.
Gabriella and Harper were born at 23 weeks in February of 2021 in Alliance, Nebraska. The twins needed the help of specialized doctors to survive, so they were transferred to the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver, 250 miles away.
“Twenty-three weeks is really the extreme limits of possible viability,” said Dr. Steven Rothenberg, chief of pediatric surgery at the hospital.
Parents Kayla Hatch and Victor Jacobo credit the medical workers for saving Harper, who was born with an incomplete esophagus.
Rocky Mountain Hospital believes the procedure marks the first successful Esophageal Atresia surgery on a baby weighing less than a pound.
“The gap was so great, it was hard to get the two ends together,” Rothenberg said. “I believe Harper is the smallest baby ever to be born, with this pure Esophageal Atresia, to survive.”
Doctors waited until Harper was full-term before performing a minimally-invasive surgery, followed by another surgery. Eventually, magnets were used in January 2022, about a month before the twins’ first birthday. The magnets, which were eventually removed, brought the incomplete esophagus together.
“It worked,” Rothenberg said. “It worked extremely well.”
Hatch and Jacobo couldn’t be happier.
“To see them breathing, kicking … it’s just truly awesome,” Jacobo said. “We just can’t thank everyone enough for being there and helping us through these trying times.”
“For the rest of my life, I’m going to be thanking them,” Hatch said. | https://www.wane.com/news/smallest-baby-ever-born-with-incomplete-esophagus-survives/ | 2022-04-11T19:01:19 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/smallest-baby-ever-born-with-incomplete-esophagus-survives/ |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Monday was the first day of the SAVE program for the Fort Wayne Police Department. SAVE stands for Stop Arm Violation Enforcement.
Thanks to a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which was administered by the Highway Traffic Safety Administration, FWPD is able to pay overtime to officers for a handful of weeks to keep them on the streets during peak pickup and drop-off hours for schools.
“This helps tremendously. It’s not something that we would be able to do on a regular basis if it weren’t for that,” Fort Wayne Police Lieutenant Tony Maze said.
Lt. Maze has organized for officers, who would normally be off-duty, to work various shifts either in the mornings or afternoons. Their sole focus is to keep a watchful eye on school bus stop arm violators, drivers who disregard cross walks near schools, and speeders in school zones.
WANE 15’s Rex Smith joined Lt. Maze on Monday morning and followed several of the routes. Lt. Maze said that for years bus drivers would report drivers who would ignore a stop arm or speed up to try and beat it.
“A stop arm is no different than a stop light and you have to honor it,” Lt. Maze said. “There’s kids that are going to get hurt if you don’t. It kind of amazes me that this is one of those things that we have to enforce, especially when there’s kids involved.”
“You know they’re going to be out there. You know they’re going to be making frequent stops. If it means you’ve got to leave home a little bit early to account for that, or leave home a little early so you’re not caught behind the school bus, then that’s what you need to do.”
The SAVE program will allow for the extra enforcement through May 13. | https://www.wane.com/top-stories/fwpd-begins-crackdown-on-bus-stops-school-zones/ | 2022-04-11T19:01:25 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/top-stories/fwpd-begins-crackdown-on-bus-stops-school-zones/ |
The airlines with the most delays
(Stacker) - When you’ve already waited in line to check your luggage, waited to get through TSA screening, and then waited some more for overpriced coffee or bottled water, the last thing you want to do is wait even more for your plane to board and take off. The sad truth, however, is that air travel is a waiting game, especially if you fly with airlines or out of airports where delays are as commonplace as cramped onboard legroom and crying babies.
Stacker went through data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to determine the percentage of delayed flights among all airlines. We looked at the most recent data available—reported by the airlines to the BTS from December 2020 to December 2021—and defined “delayed” as a flight that arrived at its destination at least 15 minutes after its scheduled arrival time. We also identified the most troublesome airport—the one with at least 100 flights during the reporting period and the highest percentage of delayed flights—for each airline.
Both mainline carriers and branded codeshare partners (airlines that only staff, maintain, and operate planes) were considered. You might wonder why Orlando and Aguadilla (Puerto Rico) are the only airports with the worst record for delays for two airlines each on our list.
#17. Endeavor Air Inc.
- On-time flights: 91%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Orlando, FL: Orlando International
Delta-owned Endeavor Air, which operates Delta Connection planes, may be under the radar; but it boasts the distinction of having fewer delayed flights than any U.S. carrier on our list.
Its excellent on-time status is probably due to the fact that it operates mainly from regional airports, which are subject to fewer delays due to lighter air traffic. But it also operates out of major airports, including hubs in New York City, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Detroit, and Cincinnati—and super-busy Orlando. Its 192 regional jets service 140 destinations in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean with 900 daily flights.
#16. Hawaiian Airlines Inc.
- On-time flights: 91%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Orlando, FL: Orlando International
Because so many Hawaiian Airlines flights go to the 50th state, where weather delays are relatively rare, its on-time record is exemplary. Hawaiian, in fact, routinely tops on-time performance lists and receives the fewest complaints about cancellations, overbooking, and baggage-handling problems.
With the continual expansion of its routes since its launch in 1941, it now flies throughout the Pacific and the continental U.S.-—even to Orlando, where Hawaiian Airlines passengers endure the most delays. Orlando has the second-worst on-time percentage (24%) of all major U.S. airports because it’s America’s leading family travel destination (i.e. home to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort).
#15. Delta Air Lines Inc.
- On-time flights: 88%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Kahului, HI: Kahului Airport
Delta is the only airline in the top eight on our list that ranks among the five largest U.S. airlines: second in passengers carried and miles flown, third in fleet size, and fifth in the number of routes and destinations. Infrequent delays represent one reason why Fodor’s ranks it as the #1 U.S. airline. Its flights to Kahului (Maui), where airport expansion has been debated for decades, are delayed most often.
#14. Horizon Air
- On-time flights: 87%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Dallas, TX: Dallas Love Field
Horizon, Alaska Airlines’ regional carrier, serves dozens of destinations in the Western U.S., Canada, and Mexico, with Milwaukee the only destination east of the Mississippi. The light air traffic in Western outposts such as Wichita, Kansas; Walla Walla, Washington; and Dillingham, Alaska keep it on time almost all the time; only two of the 10 U.S. airports with the worst on-time stats are in the West. Horizon also flies to a handful of major Western cities, which does drag those stats down. Its hubs are Seattle, where it started out as a small regional carrier, and Portland, Oregon, while Dallas is the city where you’re most likely to be delayed on a Horizon flight.
#13. Republic Airways
- On-time flights: 87%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Lansing, MI: Capital Region International
You know how some wineries produce wines from grapes purchased from growers in the next county—but the growers don’t get any credit when awards are handed out? You haven’t heard of Republic Airways.
The airline operates regional flights on behalf of United Express, American Eagle, and Delta Connection. Republic gets credit for its solid on-time percentage, even though the airline benefit from flying in and out of quiet airports like Bangor, Maine, and Lansing, Michigan—where snow and ice on the runways contribute to the frequency of delays.
#12. PSA Airlines Inc.
- On-time flights: 86%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Traverse City, MI: Cherry Capital
PSA operated for a few years in the 1990s as an independent airline but now operates planes exclusively on American Eagle regional routes. Almost all of its nearly 100 destinations are small cities in the eastern half of the U.S. This focus on small cities like Traverse City, Michigan—where winter weather delays make it the airline’s most problematic airport—generally keep delays to a minimum.
#11. Envoy Air
- On-time flights: 85%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Burlington, VT: Burlington International
Envoy, like PSA, is an airline you’ve never heard of because they “only” staff, maintain, and operate American Eagle planes, while American Airlines handles the sales, marketing, and scheduling of flights.
Also like PSA, Envoy flies primarily to smaller cities—more than 150 destinations throughout North and South America, making it American Airlines’ busiest regional partner. The snows of Burlington, Vermont, can be blamed for Envoy’s mediocre on-time percentage there.
#10. SkyWest Airlines Inc.
- On-time flights: 85%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Panama City, FL: Northwest Florida Beaches International
Because it serves so many masters—operating flights for American, Alaska, United, and Delta—SkyWest is the busiest regional airline in the U.S. The airline delayed more than 1,300 flights in October 2021 due to a server outage.
#9. Alaska Airlines Inc.
- On-time flights: 84%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Adak Island, AK: Adak
Alaska is nearly triple the size of Texas, leading many Alaskans to treat flying like most of us treat driving—although blizzards and icy runways can make flying there a challenge.
It’s safe to say that if an airline can make it in Alaska, it can make it anywhere; and Alaska Airlines has indeed “made it” as a major carrier throughout Canada, Mexico, and most of the other 49 states. Among major airlines, only Delta has a lower percentage of delayed flights. True to its roots, Alaska still flies to tiny Adak Island (pop. 326), where frequent delays can be attributed to the Aleutian island’s fierce winds and 173 annual days of fog.
#8. American Airlines Inc.
- On-time flights: 83%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Lubbock, TX: Lubbock Preston Smith International
No U.S. airline transports more passengers than American. Its on-time performance is not bad, though rivals Delta and Alaska do better. Besides 230 U.S. destinations, the behemoth flies to 121 foreign destinations in 62 countries on every continent except Africa. A recent $42 million renovation of Lubbock Airport may help end its status as the worst destination in the U.S. for delays.
#7. United Airlines Inc.
- On-time flights: 83%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Aguadilla, PR: Rafael Hernandez
United paid a record $1.9 million fine last year for subjecting the passengers of 25 flights between 2015 and 2021 to lengthy tarmac delays. And it hasn’t exactly improved over the years, slipping from an 85% on-time record (third-best among major U.S. airlines) in 2010 to 83.75% (only seventh-best) in 2020. Delays in the not-so-friendly United skies are most common in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, because it’s a popular beach getaway city with only one departure gate and a 1930s runway due to be replaced.
#6. Mesa Airlines Inc.
- On-time flights: 81%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Montgomery, AL: Montgomery Regional
Mesa is a midsized airline that operates jets for American Eagle and United Express. It became America’s first regional airline to exclusively fly large jets in 2010, with most flights transporting passengers from small airports to six U.S. hub cities (Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Washington D.C.). If you’re itching to leave Alabama, though, you might need to cool your heels for a while as flight delays leaving Birmingham are common.
#5. Spirit Airlines
- On-time flights: 80%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Aguadilla, PR: Rafael Hernandez
If Spirit played on a Little League team, it would be awarded the “most improved” trophy. In 2017, it was dead last (68%) among major U.S. airlines for on-time arrivals. Moving up to fifth-worst ain’t bad, though it’s still in the bottom half on our list. It’s America’s largest ultra-low-cost airline and is expected to merge this year with Frontier in a $6.6 billion deal.
#4. Southwest Airlines Co.
- On-time flights: 79%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Chicago, IL: Chicago O’Hare International
Southwest endeared itself to many loyal passengers with its flexible ticketing policy and free checked bags, but its propensity for delays nearly eclipses those benefits. And it does no worse anywhere in the world than at famously frustrating Chicago O’Hare, where delays are something of a regular occurrence due to snow, severe rain, staffing shortages, and simply too many flights on any given day.
#3. Frontier Airlines Inc.
- On-time flights: 79%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Newark, NJ: Newark Liberty International
There’s one list that Frontier tops by a wide margin, but you won’t see it in any of the airline’s ads. It was #1 by far in the number of complaints per passenger between July 2020 and September 2021. Those complaints weren’t only about delays, but its on-time record is far from stellar, as you can see by its position in this ranking. Worst-case scenario: Your flight is delayed for hours while you’re stuck in Newark—the U.S. airport with the worst record for delays.
#2. JetBlue Airways
- On-time flights: 75%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Ontario, CA: Ontario International
Maybe there’s a reason for the name. Too many JetBlue passengers sing the “Jet Blues” while waiting, sometimes for hours, at their boarding gates. The budget airline flies to more than 100 destinations throughout the Americas (as well as London). Its on-time record is hurt by flying mostly to major cities with high air-traffic volume, but so do most of the major airlines that have better on-time stats, which led the Wall Street Journal to declare JetBlue the worst airline in the U.S.
#1. Allegiant Air
- On-time flights: 73%
- Airport with the most delayed flights: Myrtle Beach, SC: Myrtle Beach International
If a baseball team wins 73% of its games, it’s World Series-worthy. But if an airline is only on time 73% of the time, it’s … well, it’s Allegiant, which has a well-deserved reputation for delays and other problems (including an abysmal safety record revealed in a “60 Minutes” segment). In its defense, it’s an ultra-low-cost airline, so you’re essentially paying for the strong possibility that your flight won’t leave on time. On the bright side, if you’re in Myrtle Beach, where delays are most common, you might have time to hit the sand for some extra tanning.
Copyright 2022 Stacker via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/airlines-with-most-delays/ | 2022-04-11T19:08:40 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/airlines-with-most-delays/ |
Deadly shooting investigated in Belle Glade
Published: Apr. 11, 2022 at 1:46 PM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
One person is dead after a shooting Sunday night in Belle Glade, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
The shooting occurred just after 11 p.m. in the 800 block of Southwest Ave. C Place.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Teri Barbera said when deputies arrived at the scene they found a man dead from an apparent gunshot wound.
Detectives are investigating the death as a homicide.
The victim's name has not been released.
Anyone with information about this fatal shooting is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.
Scripps Only Content 2022 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/deadly-shooting-investigated-belle-glade/ | 2022-04-11T19:08:46 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/deadly-shooting-investigated-belle-glade/ |
Discovery of radioactive liquid pauses work at US nuke dump
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An area at the U.S. government’s nuclear waste repository in southeastern New Mexico was evacuated over the weekend after workers handling a shipping container discovered a small amount of radioactive liquid inside it.
There was no indication of airborne contamination and testing of workers’ hands and feet turned up no contamination after the discovery was made late Saturday in a bay where containers are processed before being taken underground for disposal, officials said in a statement.
“The event at the site has been secured. There is no risk of radiological release and there is no risk to the public or the environment,” plant officials said their most recent statement, issued late Saturday.
It wasn’t immediately clear where the liquid came from and which government facility had packed and shipped the waste. Bobby St. John, a spokesman for the contractor that manages the facility for the federal government, said Monday that more information would be provided later.
The repository is the backbone of a multibillion-dollar cleanup program that involves tons of Cold War-era waste from federal labs and defense-related sites around the country.
The waste — remnants of decades of nuclear research and bomb making — typically consists of lab coats, gloves, tools and debris contaminated with plutonium and other radioactive elements.
Independent federal investigators last month raised concerns about whether cost overruns and missed construction deadlines will continue at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
A multimillion-dollar project is underway at the underground facility to install a new ventilation system so that full operations can resume, following a radiation leak in 2014 that forced the repository’s closure for nearly three years and led to major policy overhauls.
The container that caused that release had been inappropriately packed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico.
Operations had to be reduced after the waste plant reopened in 2017 because areas of the facility were contaminated and airflow needed for mining and disposal operations was limited.
It was unclear Monday whether operations had resumed in the area where shipments are processed or what plans were in place to ensure worker safety.
The repository was carved out of an ancient salt formation about a half-mile (0.8 kilometer) below the ground because officials say that the shifting salt will eventually entomb the radioactive waste.
Its current footprint includes eight sections, which the U.S. Energy Department estimates will be filled in 2025.
State regulators are weighing a permit change that some critics have said could lead to expanded repository operations. A decision is expected later this year.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/discovery-radioactive-liquid-pauses-work-us-nuke-dump/ | 2022-04-11T19:08:52 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/discovery-radioactive-liquid-pauses-work-us-nuke-dump/ |
Fla. Legislature gives up, asks DeSantis for congressional map
The Florida Legislature's leaders have sent a memorandum to lawmakers Monday ahead of a special session next week saying legislative staff will not draw new congressional maps.
Instead, House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Senate President Wilton Simpson are asking Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to give them one.
In an unprecedented move, DeSantis interjected himself into the once-a-decade process of drawing new political lines after the federal census by submitting his own congressional map.
When the Legislature didn't approve it, he vetoed the maps lawmakers sent him.
By saying it will wait for the governor, the Legislature is basically conceding the process to him.
"We are awaiting a communication from the governor's office with a map that he will support," the Republican leaders said in a joint memo. "Our intention is to provide the governor's office opportunities to present that information before House and Senate redistricting committees."
DeSantis previously submitted a map that would dismantle the districts of two Black U.S. House members — Reps. Al Lawson and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. DeSantis' proposal also would likely give Republicans more Florida seats than the maps approved by the House and Senate. That would benefit DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, if he were to be elected to the White House.
Scripps Only Content 2022 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/fla-legislature-gives-up-asks-desantis-congressional-map/ | 2022-04-11T19:08:59 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/fla-legislature-gives-up-asks-desantis-congressional-map/ |
California utility to pay $55 million for massive wildfires
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric has agreed to pay more than $55 million to avoid criminal prosecution for two major wildfires started by aging Northern California power lines belonging to the nation’s largest utility, prosecutors announced Monday.
PG&E does not admit wrongdoing in the two settlements reached with prosecutors for last year’s Dixie Fire — one of the biggest wildfires in California’s history — and the 2019 Kincade Fire in Sonoma County. The deals expedite damage payments to the hundreds of people whose homes were destroyed.
PG&E also will submit to five years of oversight by an independent monitor similar to the supervision it faced during five years of criminal probation after it was convicted for misconduct that contributed to its natural gas explosion that killed eight people in 2010.
Pacific Gas & Electric has been blamed for more than 30 wildfires since 2017 that wiped out more than 23,000 homes and businesses and killed more than 100 people. It previously reached settlements with wildfire victims of more than $25.5 billion.
The Dixie Fire burned nearly 1 million acres in Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta, and Tehama counties and destroyed more than 1,300 homes and other buildings. The blaze was caused by a tree hitting electrical distribution lines west of a dam in the Sierra Nevada, where the fire began on July 13, 2021, according to investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The settlement for the Dixie Fire was made by district attorneys in Plumas, Lassen, Tehama, Shasta and Butte counties, who had not yet filed charges.
Sonoma County prosecutors filed 33 criminal charges last year accusing PG&E of inadvertently injuring six firefighters and endangering public health with smoke and ash from the 2019 Kincade Fire.
Fire officials said a PG&E transmission line sparked the fire, which destroyed 374 buildings in wine country and caused nearly 100,000 people to flee as it burned through 120 square miles. It was the largest evacuation in the county’s history, prosecutors said, including the entire towns of Healdsburg, Windsor and Geyserville.
The utility’s federal probation ended in late January, raising worries from the judge who had been using his powers to oversee the utility to try to force management to reduce the fire risks posed by its crumbling power lines. At the time PG&E emerged from the probation, U.S. District Judge William Alsup warned PG&E remained a “continuing menace to California” and urged state prosecutors to try to rein in the company.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/pacific-gas-electric-pay-more-than-55-million-avoid-prosecution-california-wildfires/ | 2022-04-11T19:09:05 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/pacific-gas-electric-pay-more-than-55-million-avoid-prosecution-california-wildfires/ |
In this Golf Central Podcast presented by Callaway Golf, senior writers Ryan Lavner and Rex Hoggard detail an emotional Masters Tournament, on Sunday night in Augusta, Georgia.
They highlight what it was like to be on the grounds at Augusta National, go inside Scottie Scheffler's win – and discuss his future – and reveal what it was like following Tiger Woods for four (or seven) days.
Will Tiger play the PGA Championship? Has Rory McIlroy finally unlocked ANGC? And can Lavner match Rory's Sunday 64?
Yes, Lavner won the media lottery and gets another shot at Augusta National on Monday. They set the over/under for his round (it's not 64). Listen below: | https://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-podcast-after-augusta-where-scottie-tiger-and-rory-go-here | 2022-04-11T19:09:10 | 0 | https://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-podcast-after-augusta-where-scottie-tiger-and-rory-go-here |
Palm Beach County high school students can file your taxes
We’re just one week away from the deadline to file your taxes, and if you’re still looking for someone to help get your taxes done, a group of Palm Beach County high school students are ready to step in.
Santaluces Community High School, west of Lantana, and Lake Worth Community High School are part of a pilot program with the IRS to train students to become volunteer tax preparers.
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Education
A group of Santaluces Community High School students aren't just studying for class, they're learning to file taxes by the book.
"Once you start studying and learning about the process, it gets easier," said student Woodgina Filsaima.
Students like Filsaima are part of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, or VITA.
With funding from the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County, a handful of students and their teacher studied for and passed certification exams to perform free tax preparation services for low to moderate income community members.
"It is so needed," said teacher Veronica Kivela.
It's a lesson not only for the students, but for Kivela too.
"The tax law, it seems so tedious and complicated. And I learned that, actually, it does make sense and it's eye opening," Kivela said.
Santaluces Community High School has completed almost a dozen returns, with Filsaima doing three herself.
"We have had zero rejections at our site," Kivela said.
The students get community service while learning a skill that will carry them through life.
"I also feel proud because after you complete the taxes, they will say, thank you. And that means a lot to us and they will say how much they appreciate us," Filsaima said.
"This is basic skills, this is life lessons," Kivela said. "It's incredible to think they will be able to take this on in the future."
And knowing taxes are one of those certainties in life, Filsaima is glad to be one step ahead.
"I really appreciate being a part of this program. It's really rewarding," Filsaima said.
The deadline to file your taxes is Monday, April 18. With that date quickly approaching, there's only one day left — this Wednesday, April 13 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. — to come out to Santaluces Community High School and get your taxes done.
You must have an appointment in advance. To make an appointment, email veronica.kivela@palmbeachschools.org.
The tax preparation program is one example of strengthening financial literacy education in schools.
Gov. Ron DeSantis just signed off on a new law that requires high school students to take a financial literacy course in order to graduate.
The School District of Palm Beach County's financial literacy coordinator said the district already offers that course as an elective in high school, and he looks forward to all students having that exposure.
"This is one of the few courses that we can say, with confidence, that every single student who walks out of this course is going to use this material in their lives," said Aaron Standish.
The new financial literacy course requirement will go into effect for the 2023/24 school year.
Scripps Only Content 2022 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/palm-beach-county-high-school-students-can-file-your-taxes-2/ | 2022-04-11T19:09:11 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/palm-beach-county-high-school-students-can-file-your-taxes-2/ |
Video shows man toss Molotov cocktails at Fort Pierce home
Police are looking for a man who threw two Molotov cocktails at a Fort Pierce home on Sunday morning, causing a fire and explosion.
Video of the brazen attack was posted on the department's Facebook page.
Police said officers responded to the home, located at 1200 block of Avenue L, at 11:40 a.m.
Investigations said after the attacker tossed the homemade bomb at the front of a window, he ran to the side of the house and threw another bottle over the roof.
WATCH: Man throws Molotov cocktails at home
Video shows large flames coming from the window of the home after the attack.
Shortly afterward, the man fled from the scene, heading eastbound on Avenue L.
Police did not say if anyone was hurt in the attack.
Contact Detective Kevin Mohamed at (772)467-6905 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-8477 if you can help in the case.
Scripps Only Content 2022 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/video-shows-man-toss-molotov-cocktails-fort-pierce-home/ | 2022-04-11T19:09:18 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/video-shows-man-toss-molotov-cocktails-fort-pierce-home/ |
Woman assaults Sonic carhop because her order took too long, police say
TULSA, Okla. (Gray News) – Police in Oklahoma arrested a woman who they said assaulted a Sonic employee and another customer because her food order took too long.
Tulsa police said Stacy Minihan was arrested for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and for trafficking meth.
According to police, officers were called to a Sonic on Saturday night for reports of an assault with a weapon. Investigators found that when the carhop delivered Minihan’s food, she became very upset because the order took too long.
When the employee tried to explain that the restaurant was short-staffed, Minihan got out of her car, slapped the food out of the carhop’s hands and punched the carhop in the chest, witnesses told police.
Police said that when another witness followed Minihan to get her license plate number, Minihan pulled over, got out of her car and shot the witness in the face with a pepper ball gun. The victim was also hit several times and was bleeding from their head.
Officers said Minihan then drove to a nearby gas station where she was stopped by police and arrested. Police seized the pepper ball gun, nearly 30 grams of meth and other drug paraphernalia.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/woman-assaults-sonic-carhop-because-her-order-took-too-long-police-say/ | 2022-04-11T19:09:24 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/11/woman-assaults-sonic-carhop-because-her-order-took-too-long-police-say/ |
Gov. Kay Ivey continues to rely on catchphrases instead of real debate in her race for re-election.
The Republican’s latest? “No step too high for a high-stepper!”
At face value, no one knows what it means.
Even the two clueless guys, standing on the shooting range with Ivey in her recent TV commercial, can’t figure out what she’s talking about.
“What does that mean, anyway?” one asks.
“I don’t know, but I like it,” responds the other.
That’s just the way the governor’s high-priced ad consultants want viewers to respond to her Southern twang. Keep the campaign light with funny situations, not heavy with real issues.
And guess what? Alabama voters like the ambiguity, too. She seems to be surging toward re-election without tackling any serious issues and likely will avoid a runoff.
To use a golf analogy, Ivey is keeping her drives straight down the fairway, playing it safe. She’s using her trusty 5-wood off the tee, which she can control, with no need to use the inconsistent driver in her race against top rivals Tim James and Lindy Blanchard.
It must be frustrating for James and Blanchard to watch the 77-year-old Ivey outplay them ahead of the May 24 Republican primary. If they do not change the trajectory of the campaign, Ivey will win easily, and they’ll be licking their wounds.
Blanchard should be kicking herself for leaving the U.S. Senate race. She bailed out, thinking it would be easier to beat Ivey than U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Behind the scenes, Trump encouraged her to run for governor.
But Trump rescinded his endorsement. If Blanchard had stayed in the race, she would have been more competitive against Katie Britt and Mike Durant than Ivey.
Ivey is popular across Alabama, partly because she looks like everyone’s favorite grandmother.
On the gun range, she wants to come across as tough and decisive, in support of the Second Amendment. But she muddies the water with “No step too high for a high-stepper.”
Maybe it’s a ploy to distract voters from her record. Maybe, just maybe, it’s because she’s wrong on the issues and has accomplished little as governor.
Of course, she is wrong on many things, but she has a record that conservatives like. So no need for smoke and mirrors.
Ivey is flat-out wrong on the issue of voter security. The 2020 presidential election was not stolen by Trump. Every audit and court has confirmed that. There’s no possibility of stealing elections in Alabama, so there’s no need to tighten absentee and curbside voting.
A crackdown on voting rights undermines democracy and moves Alabama and this country toward an autocratic style of government. Blacks and other minorities should not be disenfranchised.
But as governor, Ivey celebrated her milestones by high-stepping. Her decisions to sign controversial bills have delighted conservatives, who have run amok in the state with a super majority in the legislature.
Just this week, the legislature sent Ivey horrible bills that would make it miserable for gay, lesbian and transgender families in Alabama. If it’s the GOP’s goal to run them out of Alabama, the legislation will do just that over time by copying Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Ivey led Alabama through the COVID-19 crisis and came out the other side with a good economy. It allowed the Legislature to make financial inroads for improvement and investment in education.
Though she has nothing good to say about President Joe Biden, his administration bailed Ivey and Alabama out on prison reform. She will get credit for fixing the crisis.
On the campaign trail, she will get credit for eliminating Alabama’s requirement for a concealed weapons permit. She also will be praised for banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory and signing a law to limit abortion. We’re not happy about any of those decisions.
At first, “No step too high for a high-stepper” seemed like an effort to obscure Ivey’s record in office — that she had nothing else to brag about. In reality, it’s more like former NFL star Deion Sanders high-stepping into the end zone after an interception of kickoff return.
Ivey probably will be celebrating on election night. She can high-step — not waltz or two-step — all the way to the general election. | https://www.annistonstar.com/editorial-no-step-too-high-for-a-high-stepper-but-what-does-it-mean/article_3a55ecde-b9a2-11ec-9729-b7d41675b0b8.html | 2022-04-11T19:13:28 | 1 | https://www.annistonstar.com/editorial-no-step-too-high-for-a-high-stepper-but-what-does-it-mean/article_3a55ecde-b9a2-11ec-9729-b7d41675b0b8.html |
Elon Musk, who spent the weekend tweeting about how Twitter is dead, has decided not to take his seat on the social media site’s board of directors.
The Tesla CEO was named to the board last week after snapping up $3 billion worth of stock, making him the company’s largest stakeholder.
But, according to Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, the appointment was “contingent on a background check and formal acceptance.” On Saturday, the day his term was supposed to start, Musk backed out.
“We were excited to collaborate and clear about the risks,” Agrawal said in a statement just before midnight Sunday. “We also believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders was the best path forward.”
Musk’s decision, Agrawal said, is “for the best.”
“We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not,” he said Sunday. “Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.”
Musk’s board seat would have banned him from buying more than 14.9 percent of Twitter’s common stock for the duration of his tenure, plus 90 days after, according to an SEC filing Tuesday. It’s unclear if any such agreement now stands.
A spokesperson for Twitter declined to comment when reached by the Daily News Monday.
The 50-year-old entrepreneur has not publicly commented on his decision, but did spend Saturday online offering up suggestions, many of which he has since deleted, including dropping the “w” from “Twitter” and turning its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter “since no one shows up anyway.”
“Most of these ‘top’ accounts tweet rarely and post very little content. Is Twitter dying?” he wrote with a list of most-followed accounts that included former president Barack Obama, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Rihanna and Taylor Swift. | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/elon-musk-isn-t-joining-twitter-s-board-after-all/article_0a7c1e14-b9b3-11ec-825c-3b7b8f59f162.html | 2022-04-11T19:13:34 | 0 | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/elon-musk-isn-t-joining-twitter-s-board-after-all/article_0a7c1e14-b9b3-11ec-825c-3b7b8f59f162.html |
A flurry of state laws and bills would allow employees of small businesses to set up Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) through state-sponsored programs, making it possible for workers to save with automatic payroll deductions even when their companies don’t offer that option.
Just this year, 17 states are considering bills that would provide access to IRAs to workers whose employers don’t offer such plans. Ten states recently implemented plans or are in the process of setting them up. The state plans don’t require employers to match contributions.
The AARP’s Public Policy Institute says employees are 15 times more likely to build retirement savings if they have automatic payroll deductions at work. But such plans don’t exist for about 55 million American workers, mostly in small or medium-sized businesses, AARP’s research found, and that’s where the states can have an impact.
“For employers who don’t offer their own plans, these help address a lot of things that are barriers,” said Angela Antonelli, executive director of the Center for Retirement Initiatives at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. “This takes all of the responsibility off the employer and connects employees to a vehicle to save for retirement.
“Post-COVID, with such a tight workforce and competition for workers, it’s becoming even more important,” she added. “It helps level the playing field in a very tight job market and allows them to compete for workers.”
In 2019, California implemented one of the first state-sponsored IRA plans and the number of participants has grown steadily. In December 2021, it recorded a record high with nearly 220,000 workers with accounts.
Ten states have automatic contribution plans, according to the Center for Retirement Initiatives, including California, Illinois and Oregon. Connecticut launched its program April 1.
Colorado’s pilot program is set to launch in October and will be fully implemented in 2023. Maryland’s pilot program is anticipated to start in June, with the program projected to be fully up and running next year, Antonelli wrote in an email.
Last year, Maine, New York and Virginia also launched programs.
In Pennsylvania, the state would provide regulatory oversight and contract with a private financial firm to manage participants’ investments. State Rep. Michael Driscoll, a Democrat who is cosponsoring the bill, said he first introduced it six years ago, when about two million Pennsylvanians didn’t have access to retirement plans.
The Pennsylvania plan would apply to any business with five or more employees. Many larger businesses do have automatic contribution plans and some even match their workers’ payroll deductions, Driscoll said, but the state-run program would at least “provide for some that don’t have what the big guys have.”
The primary sponsor of the bill is state Rep. Tracy Pennycuick, a Republican. The programs are for workers who “fall through the cracks,” said Pennycuick in a phone interview.
Although there are a lot of IRA products on the market now, she said, it takes time for employers to sign up and run the programs. A state plan that takes over administrative responsibilities, she said, could make the difference for small businesses in deciding whether to offer the programs.
But a report last month from the Congressional Research Service noted that some fear the state plans could replace existing employer-sponsored plans and the benefits that go with them.
Opposition has come from the insurance industry which, Driscoll said, is worried about losing potential clients. Insurance companies are among the entities, along with financial institutions, that contract with businesses to provide IRA plans for employees.
Bianca Alonso Weiss, state government relations manager for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, which has opposed the state-run programs, said in an email that the trade group “appreciates that states are looking for solutions to encourage more retirement savings.” But Weiss noted that at least one research paper from the University of Pennsylvania, focused on Oregon, showed that by April 2020, over 50 percent of state-run accounts were inactive or had a savings rate of 0 percent.
Furthermore, she said, low wages and high turnover among small companies’ workers limit what such programs can achieve.
But the same paper found that while contributions dwindled in Oregon’s IRA plan in April 2020, it was likely due to job losses in the pandemic, not a failure of the program.
“Opt-out rates rise with the local unemployment rate and the volatility of industry income, and employees in industries with lower earnings are more likely to cite that they cannot afford to save when opting out,” the authors wrote. “And, during April 2020, we observe a large drop in contributions that we attribute to COVID-19 related job losses and economic uncertainty.”
A study by The Pew Charitable Trusts found that 80 percent of employers who participated in the program in Oregon did not report any extra costs. Pew, which funds Stateline, has supported state IRA programs in multiple states.
In addition, further research by Pew going back to 2016 found that lower-paid and minority workers were least likely to have an automatic retirement savings plan at work.
The federal government also has taken note of the lagging retirement savings rate in the nation. This month, the U.S. House approved a bill designed to expand IRA coverage and change some of the rules governing the programs to benefit savers.
The Secure Act includes an automatic enrollment provision like the ones in state plans. It also would increase the mandatory age at which retirees must begin to withdraw their savings to 75 and provide a way for older retirees with few dollars saved to make bigger “catch up” contributions to their IRAs.
In Hawaii, representatives of the insurance industry, including the American Council of Life Insurers and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, testified against a similar bill during state Senate hearings in February.
The Hawaii Senate approved the bill, but a House panel modified the bill to make it entirely voluntary for workers, leading to uncertainty about the bill’s future.
The insurance industry seems “to have the ear of a number of influential legislators in the House,” Craig Kugisaki, an attorney for the state’s Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts, wrote in an email.
Driscoll, the Pennsylvania legislator, said failing to pass an IRA bill for lower-earning workers is shortsighted, because without retirement savings, older folks will have to rely on government-funded programs to live.
“If we don’t have a program like this now, government is going to be paying the bill 30 years from now,” he said. “If we do nothing, a whole segment of the Pennsylvania population that’s going to be on government programs. We want people to retire with dignity—this can help.” | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/more-states-help-workers-save-for-retirement/article_923d2f06-b9c1-11ec-b842-87be857a383b.html | 2022-04-11T19:13:41 | 0 | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/more-states-help-workers-save-for-retirement/article_923d2f06-b9c1-11ec-b842-87be857a383b.html |
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling compatriots to brace for a fateful week, Western military officials warned Monday that Russian forces will likely resort to even more brutal tactics against civilians in a looming offensive in the country’s south and east.
Nearly seven weeks into the war, Russian forces, whose campaign has been marked by strategic stumbles, appeared poised to achieve a major objective: capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol. A Ukrainian marine brigade that described itself as among the last holdouts posted on Facebook that the unit had suffered a “mountain of wounded” and was running out of ammunition.
“For some, death, and for some, captivity,” said the post, which criticized Ukrainian military higher-ups for not providing more weaponry and resources for the fight.
After six weeks of a war that sanctions have done little to ease — and no sign that negotiations with Russia will produce any result — some of the bloc’s least likely warriors are calling for more weapons.
Hours earlier, Zelenskyy said the city, the scene of one of the war’s most sustained and savage Russian offensives, had been “destroyed” and that tens of thousands of its residents were dead.
Amid the carnage and rising atrocities in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin held his first face-to-face talks since the Feb. 24 invasion with a European leader, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. Nehammer was criticized in some quarters for handing the Kremlin a potential propaganda opportunity, but said afterward he had delivered a “tough” message to Putin that the war must end.
Austria is a member of the European Union, which has imposed stringent sanctions against Russia, but is militarily neutral and not a member of NATO — a status that in the past has allowed it to maintain closer links with Moscow. Nehammer, who met over the weekend with Zelenskyy, has demanded a war-crimes investigation against Russia, which denies its troops have committed atrocities against civilians.
European leaders, meanwhile, signaled that more sanctions against Moscow may be in the works. But the bloc is running out of ways to try to force Putin to break off the biggest ground war in Europe in decades, which has triggered the continent’s largest refugee crisis since World War II. More than 4.5 million Ukrainians have fled the country, according to the latest U.N. figures, and around another 7 million are internally displaced.
Sanctions “are always on the table,” the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, told reporters as he headed into a meeting on Monday with the bloc’s foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
The U.S., for its part, was stepping up diplomatic efforts to bring more countries into the anti-Russia coalition. President Joe Biden was to hold a virtual meeting Monday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India is a U.S. ally, but has not imposed any sanctions against Russia. Among a four-nation group of allies known colloquially as the Quad — the U.S., Japan, Australia and India — Biden has previously described India as the only “somewhat shaky” country regarding Ukraine.
With a ferocious new phase of the war considered all but certain, Ukrainian civilians continued to try to escape from what is expected to become the next main battleground, the country’s eastern industrial heartland and its southern seacoasts.
Even with nearly another 3,000 people fleeing those areas on Sunday, according to Ukrainian officials, the pace of the exodus has been slowed by fear of more attacks like the one on a railway station last week in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, which killed at least 57.
Zelenskyy’s account of death and destruction in Mariupol came in a video-link speech to South Korea’s parliament — the latest in a series of virtual addresses to lawmakers around the world to drum up support and plead for more weaponry for his beleaguered country.
Since the start of the war, Moscow’s forces have sought to capture Mariupol in order to establish a land corridor between Russian-controlled areas of the east and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia seized eight years ago.
A British military intelligence assessment on Monday warned that Russia might resort to the use of phosphorus weapons in its bid to finally secure control of the city, and said civilians in many areas were imperiled by the invaders’ use of indiscriminate firepower.
“Russia’s continued reliance on unguided bombs decreases their ability to discriminate when targeting and conducting strikes, while greatly increasing the risk of further civilian casualties,” the assessment said.
Artillery strikes rocked several eastern cities early Monday. Air-raid sirens also wailed in the southern city of Mykolaiv, near the Black Sea, where a massive blast reverberated late Sunday. The regional governor, Vitaliy Kim, said in a video posted Monday that it was a missile strike that caused no deaths.
In his overnight video address, Zelenskyy said Russia was trying to evade responsibility for war crimes such as the reign of terror visited on areas outside Kyiv during a monthlong occupation before abandoning the bid to swiftly seize the capital city and topple the Ukrainian government.
Investigators and Ukrainian forces have been on the ground daily in satellite towns outside Kyiv, recovering bodies of civilians, many killed execution-style and thrown into mass graves. Forensic specialists from France arrived Monday to help with the preservation of evidence. Ukrainian officials say the count of fatalities in those outlying areas has surpassed 1,200.
“We are doing everything we can to bring to justice every bastard who came to our land under the Russian flag and killed our people, who tortured our people, destroyed our cities, looted and tormented,” Zelenskyy said.
He added that the coming week will be as “tense” as any in the course of the war, as Russian forces prepare to stage “even larger operations in the east of our state.”
In laying groundwork for that offensive, Russian missiles strikes destroyed the central city of Dnipro’s airport in a missile strike on Sunday, Ukrainian officials acknowledged. But Ukrainian forces have also repulsed several assaults in eastern regions, “resulting in the destruction of Russian tanks, vehicles and artillery equipment,” the British military assessment said.
Russian forces also kept up unrelenting strikes on the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest. The regional governor, Oleh Sinegubov, wrote on the messaging app Telegram that 11 people, including a child, died in bombardment on Sunday, with Russia “again attacking peaceful civilians.”
Fears over the fate of Ukrainian civilians were heightened with word over the weekend that Russia has appointed a military chief known for atrocities in Syria to oversee the Kremlin’s war effort. The appointment of Gen. Aleksandr Dvornikov, Western officials say, suggests that the deliberate targeting of civilians, a hallmark of Russia’s war strategy, is likely to continue.
Adding to the sense of menace, the notorious Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who has been leading fighters in Ukraine from his Russian republic, declared Monday that he was a loyal “foot soldier” to Putin and suggested that Ukrainian cities faced devastation if resistance to the Russian assault continues.
“Don’t let Kyiv be destroyed, Kharkiv and other cities,” Kadyrov, who has been sanctioned for human rights abuses, wrote in a Telegram post that also mentioned Mariupol and the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Russia’s military setbacks since the start of the invasion have been plainly visible, but more detail is emerging about the nature of its losses. The British Broadcasting Corp. reported more than 20 percent of the military personnel confirmed dead and identified by name were officers, including specialists like fighter pilots and veteran commanders.
Bulos reported from Mykolaiv and King from Warsaw. | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/peril-to-civilians-seen-as-russia-readies-eastern-ukraine-onslaught-mariupol-teeters/article_9ab00e2e-b9ad-11ec-8220-135d51383814.html | 2022-04-11T19:13:47 | 0 | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/peril-to-civilians-seen-as-russia-readies-eastern-ukraine-onslaught-mariupol-teeters/article_9ab00e2e-b9ad-11ec-8220-135d51383814.html |
WASHINGTON — A 57-second video posted by the Russian government last month caught the attention of scientists and diplomats, but not in a way that inspired optimism about the future of global cooperation in outer space.
In it, Russian cosmonauts floated about the International Space Station, hugging and waving goodbye to an American astronaut. Then they entered their portion of the complex and sealed airlock doors behind them. With the video blasting a Russian song, “Farewell,” CGI took over and depicted the cosmonaut’s segment detaching from the station and drifting away (to the applause of Russian ground controllers).
The dark yet jaunty satirical video, depicting what would be the certain demise of the station, presaged more serious threats to an endeavor that has come to symbolize post-Cold War cooperation in space.
Nearly seven weeks into the war, Russian forces, whose campaign has been marked by strategic stumbles, appeared poised to achieve a major objective: capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol.
It is also a further sign that friction with the Kremlin, most recently aggravated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has seeped into space, exacerbating tensions over the rules of behavior there and halting negotiations over space weapons at a time when the battlegrounds of war are moving to the edges of Earth’s atmosphere.
“The whole world is sort of readjusting to this whole notion of not just competition, but possible and even unintentional confrontation with other big powers” over how they use space, said Jessica West, a senior researcher with Project Ploughshares, a peace research group based in Canada.
Space has long been a barometer of the U.S.-Russia relationship. Cold War competition pushed Moscow and Washington toward new human feats in the 1960s, including the U.S. moon landing in 1969. Anxiety over President Reagan’s “Star Wars” defensive weapons program drove arms negotiations in the 1980s that presaged the end of the Soviet Union.
The 1998 space station agreement — which also includes the European Union, Japan and Canada — signaled a new era of shared advancement in the post-Cold War period. For more than two decades, the jointly operated station has been spinning around Earth.
That space détente was waning long before Russia invaded Ukraine in February, and the U.S. and its allies targeted Moscow’s space industry in a raft of economic sanctions. For two decades, Russian President Vladimir Putin has pushed for an aggressive expansion of his country’s space weapons program.
American officials have alleged, starting in 2009, that the Kremlin was developing anti-satellite missiles and more recently an anti-satellite mobile laser.
Russia launched what it described as an inspector satellite in 2017, prompting deep skepticism from American officials over what they labeled the craft’s “abnormal behavior,” suggesting it may also have a military use. Two years later, Russia placed a satellite within close range of a U.S. spy satellite, prompting concerns of an unintentional confrontation between the two military powers.
In November, Russia tested a missile that struck a satellite and blasted it into more than 1,500 large pieces of debris, any chunk of which could doom manned and unmanned commercial and military spacecraft, including the crew of the space station, which was forced to take shelter.
The U.S. and its allies sharply criticized Russia over the test, with Vice President Kamala Harris calling it an “irresponsible act [that] endangered the satellites of other nations as well as the astronauts on the International Space Station.”
Meanwhile, the Trump and Biden administrations have ratcheted up efforts to counter competition from Russia and China in space. This was underscored by Trump’s decision to start a new branch of the military, the Space Force.
The new military branch is one of his few legacies that Biden has embraced, with the White House submitting a recent budget request of $24.5 billion for the Space Force, a bump of about 40 percent over the prior year. That’s almost as much as the $26 billion Biden requested for NASA, which predates Space Force by more than 60 years.
Those lingering tensions have complicated attempts to rewrite international rules on space debris, and the invasion of Ukraine has led U.S. officials to put on ice any direct talks between Washington and Moscow over space-related issues.
“We see no need for those discussions while they are in conflict with the Ukrainians,” Eric Desautels, acting deputy assistant secretary of State for emerging security challenges and defense policy, said in a recent interview hosted by the National Security Space Association, a nonprofit that encourages cooperation between government and industry.
Desautels said that Russia and China would like a future treaty that constrains the U.S. from placing space-based missile defenses in orbit. One of the biggest stumbling blocks is defining defensive weapons versus those with offensive capabilities. The U.S. argues that commercial actors could be caught up in more restrictive rules, even if their work lacks a military intent.
Complicating potential negotiations are a raft of economic sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine war. The U.S. has taken intentional aim at the Russian space industry, with Biden vowing on the day of the invasion that U.S. sanctions were designed, in part, at degrading “their aerospace industry, including their space program.”
The economic crackdown against Russia has prompted a series of threats from its space officials. The head of Russia’s space program, Dmitry Rogozin, tweeted on April 2 in Russian that “the restoration of normal relations between partners in the International Space Station and other joint projects is possible only with the complete and unconditional lifting of illegal sanctions.”
Even before the Ukraine invasion, Moscow had indicated that it may leave the partnership in the next few years — citing safety concerns with aging metal — as it signs new agreements with China on space exploration and lunar research. The station, which has also become a rental hub for billionaire space tourists, is set to retire by 2030.
Zhanna Malekos Smith, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Russia has created “strategic fog” with its mixed signals over the space station pact. But she pointed to signs of hope, including the March 30 return from the station of American astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who traveled back to Kazakhstan with two cosmonauts — Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov — in a Russian capsule.
When Shkaplerov handed control of the station to astronaut Thomas Marshburn a day earlier, he said that whatever problems existed on Earth — “in orbit, we are like one crew.”
West, the researcher with Project Ploughshares, said the invasion of Ukraine has accelerated and reframed many of the conversations around the militarization of space, including the interplay between civilian and government interests. Satellites, in particular, connect so much of the modern world while helping militaries coordinate troop movements and pinpoint missile strikes.
It’s a dramatic change in mindset compared with a ground war, where “you’re either in a war zone or you’re not,” she said.
She pointed out that other countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, France, India, China, Russia and Japan, have moved toward creating more formalized space commands, like Space Force, a recognition that the battlefield has shifted.
They are all coming to the conclusion that space is not just for exploration. It’s also a new front line. | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/russia-s-ukraine-invasion-has-escalated-a-brewing-battle-over-space/article_263eddde-b9af-11ec-bb05-1f9bf530ebec.html | 2022-04-11T19:13:53 | 0 | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/russia-s-ukraine-invasion-has-escalated-a-brewing-battle-over-space/article_263eddde-b9af-11ec-bb05-1f9bf530ebec.html |
Germany’s Welt media outlet has hired Marina Ovsyannikova, the journalist who interrupted Russia’s most-watched television news show with an anti-war protest last month in a rare public criticism of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ovsyannikova, 43, will serve as a freelance correspondent for the Welt newspaper and its television channel reporting from Russia and Ukraine, according to a statement Monday from parent company Axel Springer SE.
Ovsyannikova was a producer at Russia’s state-run Channel One when she interrupted its flagship news program Vremya with a poster demanding an end to the war. She was detained for 14 hours and fined 30,000 rubles ($370).
Nearly seven weeks into the war, Russian forces, whose campaign has been marked by strategic stumbles, appeared poised to achieve a major objective: capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol.
Putin ally Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, said Monday it would “right” to revoke the citizenship of people considered “traitors,” specifically mentioning Ovsyannikova and her new job in a post on his Telegram channel. Current law doesn’t allow revoking citizenship and banning entry, he said.
Ovsyannikova, who speaks Russian and English but not German, according to Axel Springer, published an article on the Welt website Monday in which she said that she made her protest because “moral principles were more important than wellbeing, peace of mind, and orderly living.”
“The war in Ukraine was the point of no return and silence was no longer an option,” she wrote, adding that she has faced “incredible harassment” on social media, including allegations that she works for the Russian or British intelligence services.
“Everyone is looking for a hidden meaning and coming up with the most unbelievable conspiracy theories,” she said. “Nobody wants to believe that it was a citizen’s emotional protest.” | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/russian-journalist-who-protested-war-on-live-tv-hired-by-german-media-group-welt/article_6ad4d6e2-b9c3-11ec-a91f-0f50fa6da5b6.html | 2022-04-11T19:13:59 | 0 | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/russian-journalist-who-protested-war-on-live-tv-hired-by-german-media-group-welt/article_6ad4d6e2-b9c3-11ec-a91f-0f50fa6da5b6.html |
President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a candid discussion Monday about how to counter the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a senior Biden administration official said.
Despite rising tensions between the two countries, the official characterized the meeting as warm and productive and said the U.S. stands ready to help India diversify its energy imports, which would make it less reliant on Russia. The leaders also discussed India’s role in helping to bolster global food supply, the official said.
Nearly seven weeks into the war, Russian forces, whose campaign has been marked by strategic stumbles, appeared poised to achieve a major objective: capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol.
Modi’s reluctance to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine has complicated a budding security partnership between the democracies in countering China’s influence.
Modi, via translator, said he had been appealing for peace and called the killings in the Ukrainian city of Bucha “very worrying.”
“I am confident that our friendship with America will be an integral part of India’s development journey over the next 25 years,” Modi told Biden.
Biden struck an upbeat tone at the start of Monday’s virtual meeting, his first bilateral session with Modi since the invasion.
“The United States and India are going to continue our close consultation on how to manage the destabilizing effects of this Russian war,” Biden told Modi in their video conference, the opening portion of which was aired live. He said “consultation and dialog are key to ensuring the U.S.-India relationship continues to grow deeper and stronger, delivering our people and our global good that we all are seeking.”
Biden lauded India’s efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine without mentioning the U.S. pressure for India to take a harder public line against Russia more than a month after the invasion.
“The root of our partnership is a deep connection between our people, ties of family and friendship” and a shared value system, Biden said.
While the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan have piled economic sanctions on Russia, India has declined and instead has continued imports of Russian oil.
India also is the world’s largest buyer of Russian weapons, and Modi has resisted entreaties from the U.S. and Australia to scale back the relationship, insisting that India needs Russian weapons to counter both Pakistan and China and that alternatives are too expensive, according to people familiar with the matter.
India has historically attempted a neutral stance on tensions between major powers, even as it has joined groups such as the Quad security alliance with Australia, Japan and the U.S.
The White House last month dispatched Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh to New Dehli to convey the repercussions of violating sanctions and to make clear that the U.S. doesn’t think India should increase its imports of Russian energy and other commodities, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said last week. Psaki noted that the U.S. would support India in any efforts to diversify its imports.
Top Biden administration officials have publicly expressed alarm and disappointment with India’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its purchases of weapons and discounted oil from Moscow. However, people familiar with the matter have told Bloomberg News that the public position is contrary to private discussions between the two sides.
The virtual meeting between Biden and Modi will be followed by face-to-face meetings Monday in Washington of both countries’ top foreign and defense officials. | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/u-s-and-india-to-keep-close-consultation-on-ukraine-biden-says/article_04d7d928-b9c5-11ec-903b-8b4e89746edd.html | 2022-04-11T19:14:05 | 0 | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/u-s-and-india-to-keep-close-consultation-on-ukraine-biden-says/article_04d7d928-b9c5-11ec-903b-8b4e89746edd.html |
Jeff Stith is ready to sell his house in Helena.
He and his wife Kristie have lived at a home on Secretariat Drive for the last 14 years as their six children grew to adulthood. Now, the couple are looking to sell their 3,200-square-foot home and downsize.
To a camper.
“We’ll probably live in it for a year until the price of materials comes down so we can afford to rebuild,” he said.
The house went on the market late last month, and has already had two open houses. At the same time, two homes in his neighborhood have already sold.
“It’s crazy,” he said.
Home sales in Alabama are white hot, and have been for more than a year, as the lingering economic effects of the pandemic have mixed with an already tight market to produce the current climate.
According to the Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE) at the University of Alabama, the statewide median sales price in February for residential housing was $225,568, an increase of 18.3 percent over a year earlier.
In February, demand was up 3 percent year-over-year, while supply fell by 26 percent. Monthly listings were down 25.6 percent from the previous year.
That means that at the current sales pace, all the active inventory on the market statewide would sell in 1.4 months. Analysts feel buyers and sellers have roughly equal bargaining power with six months of supply.
Homes sold in February averaged 48 days on the market, which is 19 days faster than one year ago.
“It’s a very difficult market for buyers,” Stuart Norton, an analyst and associate director with ACRE said.
“And I don’t see that changing drastically over the short-term going forward. But we are probably going to see some price moderation.”
Those conditions are reflected somewhat in the Stith home, which appraised for $216,00 a few years ago. Now, it’s valued at almost $400,000.
The story is similar for David Crauswell, who lives in a rural home near Jasper but is looking to move closer to town for convenience and for better Internet access.
The last time he thought about selling was in 2013, he said. His home stayed on the market for two years and had one viewing. This time, it took four months. In this market, that seemed like an eternity.
“I found a few places I wanted, but they got taken up,” he said. “Stuff just disappears quickly. I had a contract on another house about two months ago, and someone came in on top of me and offered more. It’s almost like musical chairs. It’s not an issue of seeing things I want. It’s just getting to it.”
The market could change just as quickly in the next few months. Mortgage rates have been slowly rising since the beginning of 2022. While still relatively low, that could change. The current fixed 30-year mortgage rate is just slightly above 5 percent, a 52-week high.
Norton said rising rates should cool off the market, though that may not show up until the mid-to-late summer as consumers rush to lock in rates. And as robust as sales were last year, they would have to cool down.
Take Huntsville, for example, which saw a record year of sales in 2021. Norton said sales were up 5.3 percent last year, while price increased more than 16 percent. In Baldwin County, sales soared 21.3 percent, while price was up 16.2 percent.
“Inventory is tight in Baldwin County, but not to the extent it is in Huntsville,” he said. There are an average of about 600 listings a month in Huntsville. Two years ago, that number was 925 a month, Norton said.
The current real estate market is a creation of several factors. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic began, markets nationwide were coping with a shrinking amount of available housing. Then in 2020, interest rates were slashed as an economic measure, prompting lending activity. People spending time at home had idle hours to look at real estate websites and virtual home tours, so the logic goes.
Since then, those same low rates have kept the market humming, aided by the migration of tech workers from high cost-of-living states to regions in the South. Alabama is seeing this, to some degree.
“You’re seeing it in the places like Huntsville, Birmingham, and Baldwin County,” Norton said. “People moving in from out-of-state for employment reasons, where their housing dollars go a bit further. That was happening before the pandemic, but the pandemic accelerated this.”
So with insatiable demand and shrinking supply, the rising prices follow. Rising interest rates should make it more difficult to purchase, cooling off the market, which would bring down prices and presumably, buy some time to build up the inventory of available homes.
And Alabama is not unlike markets nationwide. Lawrence Yun, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors, called it a “double whammy” for buyers - rising mortgage rates and sustained price hikes.
“Some who had previously qualified at a 3v percent mortgage rate are no longer able to buy at the 4 percent rate,” he said.
In the meantime, the sellers — and buyers — wait.
“I’m happy to have gotten to this point,” Crauswell said. “I didn’t land in the ideal spot, but it’s close enough.” | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/state/real-estate-market-still-very-difficult-for-alabama-homebuyers/article_8e227798-b9b5-11ec-9feb-0bb410eee28c.html | 2022-04-11T19:14:11 | 0 | https://www.annistonstar.com/news/state/real-estate-market-still-very-difficult-for-alabama-homebuyers/article_8e227798-b9b5-11ec-9feb-0bb410eee28c.html |
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- You may notice a slight difference when you head to the pumps this week. Gas prices for the Triangle area are going down; the question is for how long.
All across the Triangle on Monday, ABC11 crews saw gas prices as low as $3.64 per gallon, which is nearly 60 cents lower than a month ago when gas price averaged around $4.21 per gallon.
Patrick De Haan with Gas Buddy said the decline is in part because of COVID-19 surging in other countries.
"We've continued to see a surge in COVID cases in China, which is one of the world's largest oil consumers. And when we see COVID cases, surge generally means lock downs and restrictions on motorists, and reduces oil consumption. And so oil prices this morning dipped all the way down to as low as $94 a barrel," said De Haan.
De Haan said the conflict in Ukraine could also affect the prices again, if the situation escalates.
AAA reports new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), that shows total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 2 million bbl last week. Gasoline demand increased slightly to 8.56 million b/d. The fluctuating oil price continues to be the main factor influencing pump prices. Pump prices will likely face downward pressure if oil prices remain below $100 per barrel. Overall crude prices declined last week following EIA's weekly report, which showed U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 2.4 million bbl. AAA also noted in their report, crude prices could decline further if the EIA's next report shows another increase in total domestic supply.
"There's a potential that we've already seen the highest price that we'll see for this year. And that could have happened here in the last month as prices surged. So low prices may stick around," said De Haan.
If that is the case, De Haan offered some advice to help you at the pump.
"The longer you can push your fill up later this week, the more prices will be a little bit lower. So don't be in a rush to fill up because now the trend is for falling prices. And when you do need to fill up shop around because even in Raleigh today, some of the lowest prices are in the $3.40s,"he said.
De Haan said some economist are anticipating a recession to come within the year which would again change gas prices and emphasized this is a situation they are keeping a close eye on as the world continues to change
Gas prices down across Triangle, but for how long?
By Tamara Scott | https://abc11.com/gas-prices-declining-triangle-pump-relief/11737637/ | 2022-04-11T19:20:56 | 0 | https://abc11.com/gas-prices-declining-triangle-pump-relief/11737637/ |
When the coronavirus pandemic first hit the U.S., sales of window coverings at Halcyon Shades quickly went dark. So the suburban St. Louis business did what hundreds of other small manufacturers did: It pivoted to make protective supplies, with help from an $870,000 government grant.
But things haven't worked out as planned. The company quit making face shields because it wasn't profitable. It still hasn't sold a single N95 mask because of struggles to get equipment, materials and regulatory approval.
“So far, it has been a net drain of funds and resources and energy," Halcyon Shades owner Jim Schmersahl said.
Many companies that began producing personal protective equipment with patriotic optimism have scaled back, shut down or given up, according to an Associated Press analysis based on numerous interviews with manufacturers. Some already have sold equipment they bought with state government grants.
As COVID-19 was stressing hospitals and shuttering businesses in 2020, elected officials touted the need to boost U.S. production of protective gear: “All this stuff should be made in the United States and not in China,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in remarks echoed by others.
Yet many manufacturers who answered the call have faced logistical hurdles, regulatory rejections, slumping demand and fierce competition from foreign suppliers. On April 1, Florida-based American Surgical Mask Co. became one of the latest to close.
“I’m just done with the fight,” CEO Matt Brandman told the AP.
U.S. & World
After the initial scramble for PPE subsided, many industry newcomers faced difficulty selling products. Government agencies sometimes wanted huge quantities at tough-to-meet deadlines. Hospital systems tended to contract with established suppliers. Retail sales waned after every virus surge.
“At the end of the day, when everybody said they wanted American-made, nobody’s buying, not even the state,” said Tony Blogumas, vice president of Green Resources Consulting, a rural Missouri firm that received an $800,000 state grant but has sold only a few thousand masks. “We’re kind of upset about the whole situation.”
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson also is disappointed. His administration divided $20 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds among 48 businesses for the production of masks, gowns, sanitizer and other supplies. Parson hoped to seed a permanent field of manufacturers.
“I’m still a firm believer in that — that we need to be making PPE here in this state,” Parson said. “Unfortunately, a lot of entities went right back to where they were getting it before.”
The onset of the pandemic revealed that the U.S. was highly dependent on foreign countries for protective gear. When China limited exports because of its own battle against COVID-19, U.S. stockpiles plummeted. Prices skyrocketed as federal officials, governors and health care systems competed for supplies.
Though federal stockpiles have been replenished, shriveling domestic production has raised concerns that state governments, medical facilities and others could again get stuck scrambling for gear during a future pandemic.
The AP identified more than $125 million in grants to spur production of pandemic supplies made to over 300 business in 10 states — Alabama, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York and Ohio. It’s possible that grants were awarded in additional states, but there is no central clearinghouse to track them.
In November 2020, Alabama awarded one of the single largest grants — nearly $10.6 million from federal pandemic relief funds — to HomTex Inc. The company was to equip a new Selma facility to make 250 million surgical masks and 45 million N95 masks annually. The plant returned $1.8 million of the state grant and has yet to make anything due to a lack of customers.
“I can’t produce product that I can’t sell,” HomTex President Jeremy Wootten said.
Other companies also had trouble living up to political hype.
In October 2020, New York announced eight grants that then-Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, now the governor, said were "a model for how we build back better for the post-pandemic future.” Those included $800,000 for newly formed Altor Safety and $1 million for startup firm NYPPE.
But NYPPE's equipment wasn't ready until February 2021, by which time the market had changed, President Connor Knapp said.
So Knapp tapped the brakes on his plans. NYPPE still hasn't sold any N95 masks because it lacks regulatory approval. It just recently scaled up production of surgical masks, after obtaining a U.S. Food and Drug Administration certification that came with its purchase of Altor Safety.
Some PPE manufacturers point to federal regulations as part of the reason for their struggles. Three-ply masks need FDA approval to be marketed for medical use — an important designation for building a long-term customer base.
That process can be time-consuming. Facing delays, Angstrom Manufacturing in Missouri ended up buying another business that already had FDA approval, President Chris Carron said. By then, it was fall 2021 — a year after it received a state grant.
Companies need approval from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to market products as N95 respirators, which filter at least 95% of airborne particles.
During the first two years of the pandemic, NIOSH approved 30 new manufacturers — more than seven times the typical number during a similar pre-pandemic period, according to agency data. Some applications remain pending, while numerous others were denied.
Halcyon Shades' N95 certification was rejected in October because its samples didn't have head straps attached. While the company works on another application, its equipment sits idle inside the clear plastic-sheet walls of a “clean room” specially built to shield materials from airborne contaminants. Partially finished masks remain paused on a conveyor belt, waiting to be deposited into a cardboard box.
Without federal approval, "we’re just dead in the water,” said Schmersahl, the company owner.
Progress reports filed with the Missouri Department of Economic Development show that nearly all its PPE grant recipients faced challenges by July 2021, especially with sales.
Patriot Medical Devices, which received $750,000 from Missouri, hired nearly 100 people as it cranked out millions of masks during a COVID-19 surge in late 2020 and early 2021, CEO Rick Needham said. Fewer than 10 employees remain.
“We felt it was our patriotic duty to do something to help solve the problem,” Needham said. But, he added, “It’s frankly a little bit of a dysfunctional business model at this point.”
Ohio awarded $20.8 million to 73 businesses to manufacture pandemic-related supplies, according to state data. Of 60 businesses that complied with a recent reporting deadline, more than one-third no longer produced PPE by the end of 2021.
Cleveland Veteran Business Solutions, which received a $500,000 grant to get into the PPE business, made about 5 million surgical masks beginning in August 2020. It ultimately halted production in the face of cheaper imports and sold its machines this year, co-founder Taner Eren said.
“It was surprising and disappointing strategically that there wasn’t support for a local PPE manufacturing industry," Eren said.
The business was among several dozen that banded together to form the American Mask Manufacturer's Association with the goal of sustaining the industry. The group's membership has dwindled as more and more go out of business.
Association organizers say the industry has reached a critical point. They want the federal government to treat PPE manufacturers like the nation's defense industry — entering into long-term contracts to perpetually replenish a stockpile for future pandemics or emergencies.
“If the federal government doesn’t come in and help support the U.S. manufacturing base, it’s almost certainly going to go back to China, and we’ll be just as vulnerable as we were in early 2020 and 2019,” said Brent Dillie, the association chairman and co-founder of Premium-PPE, a Virginia manufacturer started during the pandemic that has shed about two-thirds of its roughly 300 employees.
Infrastructure legislation signed by President Joe Biden took a step toward bolstering domestic suppliers. Effective in February, it required new contracts for PPE purchased by the departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs to run for at least two years and be awarded to U.S. producers — unless there’s not sufficient quantity and quality at market prices.
The health and veterans departments said they haven’t bought anything yet. Homeland Security hasn’t answered the AP’s questions. Documents show the government solicited bids due Dec. 6 for up to 381 million U.S.-made surgical masks over three years for its stockpile. No deal has been announced.
Other documents show the government is looking to contract with three major suppliers — 3M, Moldex, and Owens & Minor — for a total of $115 million in U.S-made N95 masksover three years. A justification document says noncompetitive contracts are necessary to preserve capacity for future coronavirus surges or emergencies.
The Biden administration also formed a task force of experts from federal agencies, health care providers, PPE manufacturers and distributors to develop a national strategy for ensuring a “resilient public health supply chain.” Its work is expected to extend for years.
Some manufacturers said they can't wait long for a federal life preserver.
Dentec Safety Specialists is wrapping up a contract to supply 125,000 rubber reusable respirators and 500,000 filtration cartridges from its Kansas facility for the national stockpile, said President Claudio Dente. It needs more orders soon to prevent layoffs, he said.
“I thought that COVID would really change the mindset of the people, the governments and manufacturing," Dente said. But he added: “The general marketplace is reverting back to their old ways -- meaning looking to buy product from China." | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/efforts-to-manufacture-ppe-in-the-us-falling-flat-nobodys-buying-not-even-the-state/3640583/ | 2022-04-11T19:20:56 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/efforts-to-manufacture-ppe-in-the-us-falling-flat-nobodys-buying-not-even-the-state/3640583/ |
A 3-year-old girl died after falling down a waterfall Sunday evening in North Carolina, according to authorities.
The toddler, identified as Nevaeh Jade Newswanger, of Denver, Pennsylvania, was visiting Whitewater Falls with her family when she was swept away in the water at the top of the falls and the current pushed her over the falls, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The Jackson County Emergency Management 911 Center received a call about the child at 5:50 p.m. Sunday and emergency responders from multiple counties responded to the scene and attempted to locate the child.
For more on this story, go to NBC News. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/pennsylvania-girl-3-dies-after-current-carries-her-over-nc-waterfall-officials/3640679/ | 2022-04-11T19:21:03 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/pennsylvania-girl-3-dies-after-current-carries-her-over-nc-waterfall-officials/3640679/ |
Former Dallas Cowboys executive Gil Brandt issued an apology for comments he made following the tragic death of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins.
The 90-year-old wrote in a tweet: “(Saturday) while learning of Dwayne Haskins’ passing, I reacted carelessly and insensitively on a radio interview.
"I want to apologize to Mr. Haskins’ family and anyone who heard my poor choice of words. I truly apologize. My heart goes out to his family at this difficult time," he added
Haskins died Saturday morning after being hit by a dump truck while crossing a Florida interstate. He was 24 years old. Following the news, Brandt took his hot take to SiriusXM, which left the NFL world raging.
“I hate any time anybody is killed or anybody dies. But he was a guy that was living to be dead, so to speak,” Brandt said nationally.
Brandt, also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor, went on to question why Haskins left school early. The quarterback attended Ohio State University from 2016-18 and went on to get drafted by Washington in 2019.
Sports
"They told him don’t under any circumstances leave school early. You just don’t have the work habits, you don’t have this, you don’t have that. What did he do? Left school early ... Any time anybody dies, it’s tragic, especially when you’re 24 years old and you’ve got your whole life ahead of you. Maybe if he stayed in school a year he wouldn’t do silly things," Brandt continued.
Haskins was in the Boca Raton area training with other teammates at the time of his death. It remains unclear as to how or why he was walking across the highway, but the Florida Highway Patrol said a traffic homicide investigation is ongoing.
The former Ohio State standout started in 13 games for Washington across two seasons before being released in December 2020. Haskins signed with the Steelers a month later. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/ex-cowboys-exec-gil-brandt-apologizes-for-comments-on-dwayne-haskins-death/3640617/ | 2022-04-11T19:21:23 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/ex-cowboys-exec-gil-brandt-apologizes-for-comments-on-dwayne-haskins-death/3640617/ |
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Full coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak and how it impacts you | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/know-that-its-real-nyc-long-covid-patients-share-message-of-unity/3638067/ | 2022-04-11T19:21:35 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/know-that-its-real-nyc-long-covid-patients-share-message-of-unity/3638067/ |
No one likes pulling out their documents and crunching the numbers each tax season, but it might be a good chance to take a look at your overall financial situation. Finley Alexander Wealth Management suggests reviewing at least three points:
- Retirement Savings - How much are you contributing, and is it going to the right accounts? What is your overall goal for saving for retirement?
- Estate Planning - Estate planning is not just for wealthy celebrities. It's a major part of life that will give you and your loved ones peace of mind. Make sure your advanced healthcare directive, last will land testament, and power of attorney are up to date.
- Beneficiaries - A lot can happen in a year. If you've gotten divorced or married, added a new child, experienced a death, or any other life changing event, you should make sure your beneficiary information is up to date.
Finley Alexander Wealth Management has the tools and resources you need to get started in their resource library. Learn more here. | https://www.wmar2news.com/middaymaryland/finley-alexander-wealth-management-tax-season-checkup | 2022-04-11T19:27:40 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/middaymaryland/finley-alexander-wealth-management-tax-season-checkup |
When it comes to Italian food, the ultimate experts are Italian Grandmas also called "Nonnas." Subway is so confident in the ingredients in the new Italian sandwiches, they put them to "The Nonna Test" together with BuzzFeed.
We held our own Midday Maryland taste test, and we agree with Nonna! The new Mozza Meat and Supreme Meat Italian sandwiches are available now. Choose your favorite bread and toppings and make it your own!
Visit your local Subway or download the Subway app to order the new Italian sandwiches, made with new Capicola and BelGioioso Mozzarella.
Learn more here. | https://www.wmar2news.com/middaymaryland/subway-new-italian-sandwiches | 2022-04-11T19:27:46 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/middaymaryland/subway-new-italian-sandwiches |
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — For a parent whose child suffers from epilepsy, sending them off to school in Maryland each day comes with added stress.
That’s because very few teachers and administrators and even nurses are trained to deal with seizures, but that will all be changing.
Brynleigh's Act is a bill created by Lauren Shillinger, who is the mother of an eight-year-old named Brynleigh who suffers from a rare seizure disorder.
Lauren spent years advocating for change by encouraging school seizure safety, but now four years later, the bill is approved and Maryland schools will be required to have trained seizure experts on site.
"Seizures are so common, and we need to make sure that everyone is equipped to handle those emergencies. Knowing children can go to school and be safe is really comforting and reassuring," Lauren Shillinger said.
Brynleigh's Act will require all schools to be seizure safe by Fall 2023. It will require schools to provide seizure training to all staff members, so that they know how to recognize and respond to a seizure. This is especially important for younger kids, as seizures account for the top three reasons calls are made to 911 from elementary schools.
"One in 26 people will be diagnosed with epilepsy and one in ten will have a seizure in their lifetime, so this will not only help students and staff that already have known epilepsy or known seizures from other medical conditions, but anytime a person has a first seizure at school. This will allow for everyone to be trained," Shillinger said.
Diana Briemann, who suffers from epilepsy herself, has been an elementary school teacher for 17 years. Briemann says she and her colleagues have never been offered epilepsy training by schools, but with this new change she's excited to offer more comfort to families.
"I'm so thrilled that we're able to just do the best job in the correct way to help them. So, hopefully this is just something that helps teachers be more confident and comfortable. Ease teacher anxiety, children and family anxiety and really just keep our kids safe," Brieman said.
Local organizations that helped make this possible are:
- The ARC MD
- TSC Alliance
- The Epilepsy Foundation
The 2022 Walk to End Epilepsy is set to take place April 30, 2022, at Quiet Waters Park.
You can register here! | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/maryland-schools-will-be-required-to-offer-seizure-training-thanks-to-a-local-mother | 2022-04-11T19:27:53 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/maryland-schools-will-be-required-to-offer-seizure-training-thanks-to-a-local-mother |
A 3-year-old girl died after being swept away and carried over a waterfall in North Carolina, authorities said.
The girl was reportedly visiting Whitewater Falls with her family Sunday when she was swept away.
The girl's body was recovered early Monday morning. Authorities said it was "entrapped" in an area of the waterfall.
At 411 feet, Whitewater Falls is the highest waterfall east of the Rockies, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
According to the Citizen Times, at least 15 people have died at the waterfall since 1995. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/3-year-old-dies-after-being-swept-over-waterfall | 2022-04-11T19:27:59 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/3-year-old-dies-after-being-swept-over-waterfall |
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While it’s safe to say we’re all thankful winter is over and spring is now here, this time of year means one thing: rain. And lots of it.
Along with a trusty umbrella, you’ll want to make sure you’ve purchased a quality women’s raincoat this season. While some women’s raincoats are quite sturdy and keep you dry, others are more fashionable than functional. One exception, however, is this Bloggerlove Women’s Raincoat on Amazon that is not only lightweight and comfortable, it’s also waterproof and stylish with a blue and white striped lining.
Available in six different colors and in sizes small to XXL, it is priced between $29.99 and $45.99 depending on size and color. You’ll find it in green, black, light blue, dark blue, red and the traditional raincoat color of yellow. The coat has a zipper and buttons for a double-protection closure. Made of a polyester spandex fabric, it keeps away rain and even light snow, making it a great option for hiking, camping, climbing and traveling. Because it is lightweight, it’s also easy to pack into a small pouch for carrying in a backpack.
The coat is wrinkle-resistant and includes a hidden adjustable drawstring waist, detachable hood and two front flap pockets with buttons, so whatever you put in your pockets will also stay dry. The coat is longer than most other women’s raincoats and will cover your hips.
If the coat gets dirty, you can hand-wash it in a cool temperature or dry clean it, but it is not machine washable.
With more than 2,000 reviews, the raincoat has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, with 71% of customers giving it a full 5-star rating. Reviewers say it is lightweight, water-resistant, true to size, well-made and “super cute.” Multiple reviews also mention that it “fits perfectly,” which is important for a women’s raincoat that needs to keep you dry.
One reviewer who gave it 5 stars said they wore it on a trip to Jerusalem and it helped them stay dry — even when walking for miles every day in the rain.
“Our group walked miles every day in and out of chapels and cathedrals, up and down stone staircases and through architectural digs. The constant was the rain, but I stayed dry,” they wrote. “I wore the tour group’s ball cap under the hood and even my face stayed dry. I loved that when we got back on the bus, I could shake off the drops of water, roll up the coat, and slip it into my tote bag. Wrinkles would fall right out when I put it back on. This raincoat was put to an extreme test and passed with flying colors. Love the yellow! Sunshine in a coat!”
There are a handful of negative reviews that say this women’s raincoat did not keep the customers as dry as they expected, with the majority of negative reviews giving it a low rating because it was damaged in the washing machine. The product information states that the coat is not machine washable and therefore should not have been put in the washing machine.
Amazon has a handful of other fashionable raincoats as well, like this Zcfire Women’s Raincoat for $38.99 that is similar to the Bloggerlove coat and comes in six colors.
Another option is this lightweight hooded jacket, which is waterproof and packable for day trips or hiking adventures. Starting at $27.99, it comes in 17 colors.
You may also want to pair the coat was some fashionable rain boots like these tall waterproof boots that come in 27 colors and styles, and an umbrella — for those days when the rain is really coming down — like this compact one in a variety of lovely designs for just $12.49.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories. | https://www.wmar2news.com/womens-raincoat-stylish-functional | 2022-04-11T19:28:05 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/womens-raincoat-stylish-functional |
POTTSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Genetic material will be needed to positively identify the six people killed during an 80-vehicle pileup on a Pennsylvania interstate during a snow squall last month, authorities said.
Dr. David Moylan III, the Schuylkill County coroner, told The (Pottsville) Republican-Herald on Friday that “we need to get some DNA samples” from relatives of the four men and two women killed in the March 28 crash on I-81.
Officials said earlier that the victims of the March 28 crash near the Minersville exit of I-81 were all between 40 to 70 years old and all burned beyond recognition. “All of the decedents were found in the group of vehicles that were on fire,” Deputy Coroner Albert Barnes said.
Two were found in a box truck that was one of the first vehicles involved in the crash. They are believed to be from Montgomery County in Pennsylvania. Also killed was a man in a tractor-trailer, a man and woman in a car and another man in a car, all believed to have been from out of state.
RELATED: Stretch of I-81 in Pennsylvania reopens after deadly pileup
Moylan said the coroner’s office is working with out-of-state law enforcement to get DNA samples to be sent to a national lab for testing against material recovered from crash victims. He said it will take “at least a week and maybe another week to get the results.”
Moylan said earlier that officials were “99.8 percent sure” about the identity of the victims “but we want to be 100 percent sure.”
State police in Frackville said the crash occurred during “an active snow squall” and involved 39 commercial vehicles and 41 passenger vehicles. Two dozen people injured were taken to four hospitals.
The crash was captured in videos posted on social media that showed drivers and passengers lining the snowy road and jumping out of the way as the cascade of crashes unfolded. Some vehicles were mostly burned and others melted onto the highway, hampering efforts to clear the scene. | https://www.wmar2news.com/homepage-showcase/dna-samples-being-sought-to-id-the-6-victims-of-i-81-crash | 2022-04-11T19:28:11 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/homepage-showcase/dna-samples-being-sought-to-id-the-6-victims-of-i-81-crash |
Cambridge Pavers offers a variety of products designed to make your outdoor space beautiful. From simple paving stones to kitchen kits, bars, and fire pits, Cambridge Pavers can give you the outdoor entertaining area of your dreams.
Design the space of your dreams and you can even add to it as budget allows!
Cambridge Pavers with ArmorTec will keep your investment looking gorgeous for the life of the product. The color and quality will never fade due to age or extreme weather.
Learn more here. | https://www.wmar2news.com/middaymaryland/cambridge-pavers-spring-2022 | 2022-04-11T19:28:17 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/middaymaryland/cambridge-pavers-spring-2022 |
How important is a bright, white smile? It turns out, it’s pretty important, and Love your Teeth is the product that can be a game changer.
Love your Teeth is the newest way to whiten your smile 7 shades in 7 days without the need for strips or gels that you must leave in your mouth for 30 minutes or longer.
So now it’s easy to get that beautiful, life-changing, white smile.
To learn more about the 50% off Midday Maryland special, click here. | https://www.wmar2news.com/middaymaryland/love-your-teeth-april-11-2022 | 2022-04-11T19:28:23 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/middaymaryland/love-your-teeth-april-11-2022 |
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — A 67-year-old Owings Mills man who stopped to fuel up at Royal Farms is now a millionaire.
The winner, who is going by the nickname "Guyanese Gambler," decided to buy a $20 "Money Explosion" instant ticket at Royal Farms on Red Run Boulevard, said the Maryland Lottery in a press release.
His scratch-off ticket made him an instant millionaire - but he said he will keep his job as a bartender in a local hotel.
"Guyanese Gambler," who has 9 kids, does plan to spend the money to buy a new home and help out his 19 grandchildren.
“I also plan on taking a trip back to my home country of Guyana to visit my family and take a vacation," he told the Lottery.
The "Guyanese Gambler" has actually won thousands of dollars before. He won $50,000 in 2005 playing a "Red Cherries" scratch-off, $18,000 in Atlantic City, and gotten other prizes ranging from $10,000 to $20,000.
This time, he decided to take a chance at the Red Run Royal Farms.
“At first, I thought I should get a couple of $5 scratch-offs to play later, but then, I said to myself, ‘Go big,'" he told the Lottery.
Meanwhile, there are still four unclaimed $1 million top prizes in the Maryland Lottery's "Money Explosion" game. The game went on sale in July 2021 and has 32 chances to win.
A woman also won $2 million from a "Gold Rush" ticket that was sold at 7-Eleven on Main Street in Bel Air last week. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/guyanese-gambler-wins-1-million-from-scratch-off-ticket-at-owings-mills-royal-farms | 2022-04-11T19:28:29 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/guyanese-gambler-wins-1-million-from-scratch-off-ticket-at-owings-mills-royal-farms |
Travel as we knew it in 2019 still hasn't returned.
As many of us start to book summer vacations, a survey from NerdWallet found 32% of people are only booking trips if the destination has a low risk for COVID-19.
28% said they will only travel domestically to avoid getting stuck in an international quarantine situation.
That means if you live in a popular tourist area, you could see traffic get even worse than during a normal season.
“You are going to encounter much of the stressful things that travelers encounter, namely long lines and heavy traffic. So do yourself a favor -- give yourself extra time to get to your destination,” said Sara Rathner at NerdWallet.
Another change you may notice is hotels offering more packages and deals as they try to make a comeback.
NerdWallet says if you’re taking a vacation where you won’t be in your room much, this may not be worth it.
But it could be worth it if you’re vacationing to relax, as long as it fits your budget.
“If it is beyond what you feel comfortable spending and you're going to go into debt to go on vacation, any relaxation you attain while you're away from home is going to disappear immediately,” said Rathner.
77% of Americans say they have been stockpiling points and miles as a way to help budget.
NerdWallet says in that case, make sure you’re building flexibility into your vacation and buy the extra protection for your trip.
Once those points are spent, you usually can’t get them back.
“You might also consider which credit card you use to book travel in the first place, because some travel rewards credit cards offer travel insurance that can get you some of your money back if your trip is canceled or interrupted because of a covered reason that might be enough coverage for your trip. And it costs nothing additional beyond the annual fee for the credit card,” said Rathner. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/2022-summer-travel-trends-what-to-know-even-if-youre-not-traveling | 2022-04-11T19:28:35 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/2022-summer-travel-trends-what-to-know-even-if-youre-not-traveling |
A new type of blood test that checks for signs of cancer in healthy people has hit the market.
But it's still unclear whether these screening tests will make any difference in cancer death rates.
Such blood tests, called liquid biopsies, are already used in patients with cancer to tailor their treatment and check to see if tumors come back.
Now, one company is promoting its $949 blood test to people with no signs of cancer.
According to the Associated Press, the cost isn't covered by most insurance plans and the tests haven't been endorsed by medical groups or recommended by U.S. health authorities.
U.S. government researchers are planning a large experiment to see if the blood tests actually catch cancers earlier and save lives.
The AP reported that the experiment could last seven years and have 200,000 participants.
But there have been cancer tests in the past after studies found they didn't save lives.
A study in Japan on cancer screening for infants in 2004 and a 16-year ovarian cancer screening study of 200,000 women in the U.K. were both halted after studies found they didn't save lives, the AP reported. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/can-cancer-blood-tests-live-up-to-promise-of-saving-lives | 2022-04-11T19:28:41 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/can-cancer-blood-tests-live-up-to-promise-of-saving-lives |
NAPLES, Fla. — Police arrested a man in Florida after they found a baby alligator, weapons and drugs during a traffic stop.
31-year-old Michael Marolla was in the front passenger seat when a pickup truck was pulled over after midnight last Friday in Naples.
The driver was stopped because they were driving with a suspended license.
During the stop, a live baby alligator was found in an open, plastic tub in the bed of the truck.
Officers said they also found two firearms and loaded syringes with methamphetamine in Marolla’s jacket.
Marolla now faces a series of charges, including drug possession and carrying a firearm.
It does not appear he faces any charges for having a baby alligator.
It is illegal to own an alligator in the state of Florida, unless it is authorized by the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Wildlife officers are now investigating the incident. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/man-arrested-after-baby-alligators-drugs-were-found-during-traffic-stop | 2022-04-11T19:28:47 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/man-arrested-after-baby-alligators-drugs-were-found-during-traffic-stop |
DALLAS — Buried deep in a complex web of equations are the answers Dr. Michael Kilgard is looking for, as a researcher at UT Dallas his life’s research has been dedicated to helping Americans who have suffered from a stroke.
"It's very unlikely we’ll be able to develop a new cure for treatment, so what else can we do?" he said in a recent interview.
But Dr. Kilgard and his team have developed a revolutionary new device that could change everything for stroke victims.
For years, doctors have relied on a fairly large stimulator device implanted near the neck of a stroke victim to stimulate the vagus nerve during physical therapy. The nerve tells the brain how to do everything from gripping a fork, to walking. Now though, this team at UT Dallas has received approval to move forward with clinical trials for a much smaller device that's about the size of a penny.
"Our goal is to understand the brain to reprogram circuits so things that are happening that shouldn’t be happening, stop," Dr. Kilgard said.
During physical therapy sessions, patients wear a small necklace. It communicates to what's called the RESTORE device in their neck and then tells the brain to move beyond what stroke victims may be limited to.
"Most people can’t feel it. This is happening subconsciously to them," he added.
Rob Rennaker is also on the research team here. He is a former Marine who sees the potential of the device expanding beyond treatment for stroke victims. It's also been used to help veterans suffering from PTSD.
"Our device makes it so much simpler, you put it in, forget about it and it’s done," Rennaker.
For now, this team will continue with their clinical trials. Hoping that in the very near future this tiny device can make a big difference for stroke victims. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/this-tiny-chip-could-revolutionize-treatment-for-stroke-survivors | 2022-04-11T19:28:53 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/this-tiny-chip-could-revolutionize-treatment-for-stroke-survivors |
The secretary who typed up the list of Jews German businessman Oskar Schindler saved during World War II has died.
Mimi Reinhard died Friday in Israel at 107, the Associated Press reported.
Born in Austria in 1915, she later moved to Poland before the war began. But when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, she was sent to the Krakow ghetto and then moved to the Plaszow concentration camp in 1942.
While there, she worked in the administrative office. Then in 1944, she was made responsible for typing the names of those sent to work at Schindler's ammunition factory.
Schindler saved the lives of 1,200 Jews, including Reinhard's, by bribing Nazi authorities to let them work in his factories, according to the AP.
In an interview in 2008, Reinhard didn't know then how important that list would become.
The story was turned into the 1993 movie by director Steven Spielberg “Schindler’s List.” | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/woman-who-typed-up-schindlers-list-mimi-reinhard-dies-at-107 | 2022-04-11T19:28:59 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/woman-who-typed-up-schindlers-list-mimi-reinhard-dies-at-107 |
Man sentenced in shooting of 2 CMU students
UNION TWP., Mich. (WNEM) - A man who pleaded guilty in the shooting two students near Central Michigan University has been sentenced.
Kenneth Thomas Jr. was arrested for a shooting that happened on April 24, 2021 during a gathering at an apartment complex at 3400 E. Deerfield Road in Union Township.
Tyler Bunting was taken to a hospital and was listed in stable condition while John Keller was taken to a hospital by ambulance. Keller was later transferred to Hurley Medical Center in Flint and was in critical condition.
At the time, Thomas was charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder, five counts of felony firearms, two counts of discharging a firearm in or at a building causing impairment, and one count of discharging a firearm at a building.
During a hearing on Feb. 28, Thomas pleaded guilty to weapons discharge in or at a building causing serious impairment and felony firearm. His remaining charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
Thomas Jr. was sentenced to a minimum of 96 months and a maximum of 20 years for discharging a firearm into a building causing serious impairment as well as two years for his felony firearm charge with credit 349 days he already served in jail.
The charges will be consecutive, meaning he will need to serve two years for his felony firearm charge, then the sentencing for his other charge.
Thomas been ordered to pay $7,526.78 in total restitution, $130 for a crime victim rights fee, and $136 in state costs.
Copyright 2022 WNEM. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/11/man-sentenced-shooting-2-cmu-students/ | 2022-04-11T19:32:02 | 1 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/11/man-sentenced-shooting-2-cmu-students/ |
Northwood University esports team wins North American championship
MIDLAND, Mich. (WNEM) - Northwood University’s esports team is going for a global title.
Northwood entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed and the team finished in the top spot nationwide after winning the Collegiate Rocket League North American Championship.
“Winning the North American Championship means Northwood is the first university to qualify for the inaugural Collegiate Rocket League World Championship, which will be held in June of 2022,” said Coach Cody Elsen. “Northwood will face the best colleges across Europe and Asia.”
The team finished its regular season with a 13-2 record. During the playoffs, Northwood defeated Valleyfield College, St. Clair College and Stockton University. After winning the Eastern Conference, Northwood then defeated the University of Texas -Arlington and Stockton University in the North American Championship, in addition to Columbia College 4-3 in the grand finals.
“We won in an overtime thriller with LionBlaze (Hunter Woitas) scoring the winning goal,” Elsen noted.
On April 4, Northwood won the Collegiate Valorant National Championship.
“Northwood went 4-0 in group stages defeating Boise State University, Windsor University, University of Washington and Florida International University,” Elsen said. “In the playoffs (for this championship), Northwood defeated University of Ottawa, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Seneca College and James Madison University, in addition to a 2-0 win against Kennesaw State University in the grand finals after a quadruple overtime win in game 2.”
The Northwood Esports Team is made up of 84 students. Elsen said hours of work goes into winning these championship titles. Most players put in a minimum of 25 hours per week on the game.
“The future of the program looks bright and will continue to thrive on a national stage,” Elsen added.
Copyright 2022 WNEM. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/11/northwood-university-esports-team-wins-north-american-championship/ | 2022-04-11T19:32:08 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/11/northwood-university-esports-team-wins-north-american-championship/ |
State individual income tax deadline in one week
LANSING, Mich. (WNEM) - The Michigan Department of Treasury is reminding taxpayers that state individual income tax returns are due in a week.
State individual income tax returns must be submitted online or by mail before midnight on Monday, April 18. The state’s individual income tax deadline is the same date set by the Internal Revenue Service.
“There is still time to file a return or make a payment,” said State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks. “Taxpayers who owe taxes should make their payments on time to avoid penalties and interest. I encourage those taxpayers who may be owed a refund to not wait to file their returns.”
Those who file online typically receive their refunds about two weeks after receiving confirmation that the tax return was accepted by the state, the Michigan Department of Treasury said.
Last year, more than 4.8 million Michigan taxpayers filed online, which is 88 percent of state income tax filers, according to the state treasury department. For more information about e-filing, click here.
Taxpayers can pay their outstanding tax balance by check, money order, eCheck, debit or credit card.
Michiganders who need additional time to file a return beyond the deadline can request an extension to Oct. 18. Those requesting a deadline extension should estimate their tax liability and pay any taxes owed by April 18 to avoid additional interest and penalties, the Michigan Department of Treasury stated.
Copyright 2022 WNEM. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/11/state-individual-income-tax-deadline-one-week/ | 2022-04-11T19:32:14 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/11/state-individual-income-tax-deadline-one-week/ |
Woman assaults Sonic carhop because her order took too long, police say
TULSA, Okla. (Gray News) – Police in Oklahoma arrested a woman who they said assaulted a Sonic employee and another customer because her food order took too long.
Tulsa police said Stacy Minihan was arrested for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and for trafficking meth.
According to police, officers were called to a Sonic on Saturday night for reports of an assault with a weapon. Investigators found that when the carhop delivered Minihan’s food, she became very upset because the order took too long.
When the employee tried to explain that the restaurant was short-staffed, Minihan got out of her car, slapped the food out of the carhop’s hands and punched the carhop in the chest, witnesses told police.
Police said that when another witness followed Minihan to get her license plate number, Minihan pulled over, got out of her car and shot the witness in the face with a pepper ball gun. The victim was also hit several times and was bleeding from their head.
Officers said Minihan then drove to a nearby gas station where she was stopped by police and arrested. Police seized the pepper ball gun, nearly 30 grams of meth and other drug paraphernalia.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/11/woman-assaults-sonic-carhop-because-her-order-took-too-long-police-say/ | 2022-04-11T19:32:20 | 1 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/11/woman-assaults-sonic-carhop-because-her-order-took-too-long-police-say/ |
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower Monday after the Federal Reserve indicated it might raise interest rates more aggressively to cool U.S. inflation.
Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and South Korea all declined. Oil fell more than $2 per barrel amid concerns global economic growth might weaken.
Investors are uneasy about possible downward pressure on economic activity from higher interest rates, Russia’s war on Ukraine and China’s efforts to contain coronavirus outbreaks.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 lost 0.3% on Friday after Fed officials indicated in notes from their last meeting they were considering raising its benchmark rate by double the normal amount at upcoming meetings. They also indicated they are likely to shrink the Fed’s bond holdings, which also might push up commercial borrowing rates.
Investors see “increasing evidence the Federal Reserve will take a more committed approach” to fighting inflation, said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management in a report.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.2% to 3,179.32 after inflation accelerated to 1.5% over a year ago in March from the previous month’s 0.9% amid upward pressure on global prices due to uncertainty about Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost shed 0.7% to 26,793.46 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 2.5% to 21,324.05.
The S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney advanced less than 0.1% to 7,482.80. New Zealand and Singapore declined while Indonesia advanced.
On Friday, the S&P 500 declined to 4,488.28 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 34,721.12. Tech stock weakness dragged the Nasdaq composite down 1.3% to 13,711.00.
Investors have been uneasy since Fed officials started saying they would try to cool inflation that is at a four-decade high by rolling back record-low interest rates and other stimulus that is boosting stock prices.
Higher interest rates usually depress economic activity and make safer assets such as bonds more attractive while making stocks look riskier and more expensive.
Some are afraid the Fed, after being accused of reacting too late to rising inflation, might push the brakes too hard and tip the world’s biggest economy into recession. Economists at Deutsche Bank last week forecast a U.S. recession by late next year.
Oil prices have fallen back on expectations of weaker demand after peaking above $130 per barrel last month due to anxiety about disruption of supplies from Russia, the world’s No. 2 exporter.
Meanwhile, in China, automakers and other companies are reducing production due to supply disruptions after authorities imposed stringent anti-disease controls to stop coronavirus outbreaks in Shanghai and other cities.
ACM Research, a supplier of equipment for the semiconductor industry that has operations in Shanghai, fell 6.1% after saying the restrictions will cause a significant hit to its revenue.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude fell $2.16 to $96.10 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.23 to $98.26 on Friday. Brent crude, used as the price basis for international oils, retreated $2.18 to $100.60 per barrel in London. It rose $2.20 the previous session to $102.78 a barrel.
The dollar rose to 124.86 yen from Friday’s 124.37 yen. The euro edged up to $1.0087 from $1.0885. | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/asian-stocks-follow-wall-st-down-amid-us-interest-rate-fears/ | 2022-04-11T19:36:22 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/asian-stocks-follow-wall-st-down-amid-us-interest-rate-fears/ |
LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II, after her own recent bout with COVID-19, empathized with patients, doctors and nurses at a London hospital last week as she listened to their stories about life on the front lines of the pandemic.
The monarch spoke to patients and staff at the Royal London Hospital during a virtual visit that marked the official dedication of the Queen Elizabeth Unit, a 155-bed critical care facility built in just five weeks at the height of the pandemic. Elizabeth tested positive for COVID-19 in February and suffered what Buckingham Palace described as “mild cold-like symptoms.’’
“It does leave one very tired and exhausted, doesn’t it?’’ she told recovering COVID-19 patient Asef Hussain and his wife, Shamina. “This horrible pandemic.”
The unit has treated about 800 coronavirus patients from across northeast London, with staff recruited from throughout the region, including retired doctors and nurses and even soldiers drafted in to help.
With friends and family members barred from the hospital by strict virus-control measures, nurses did their best to comfort seriously ill patients, senior nurse Mireia López Rey Ferrer told Elizabeth.
“As nurses, we made sure that they were not alone,’’ López Rey said. “We held their hands, we wiped their tears and we provided comfort. It felt at times that we were running a marathon with no finish line.”
Hussain was the third member of his family hospitalized with COVID-19 at the end of December 2020. His brother died first, then his father passed away while Hussain was on a ventilator.
“I remember waking up one morning and just finding it really, really difficult to breathe,’’ he said. “I remember waking my wife saying that I feel like there’s no oxygen in the room. I remember me sticking my head out the window, just trying to breathe, trying to get that extra oxygen.”
He was on a ventilator for seven weeks and only recently was able to stop using a wheelchair.
Nurses helped lift Hussain’s spirits by arranging video calls on a tablet computer. Shamina Hussain told the queen that 500 friends and family around the world dialed in to one conference call to pray for her husband.
“So you have a large family, or a large influence on people,” the queen quipped.
The couple smiled.
___
Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at h ttps://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic. | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/queen-chats-with-covid-19-patients-nurses-at-uk-hospital/ | 2022-04-11T19:36:30 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/queen-chats-with-covid-19-patients-nurses-at-uk-hospital/ |
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — U.S. service members who are HIV-positive cannot be discharged or barred from becoming an officer solely because they’re infected with the virus, a federal judge in Virginia ruled. Advocates say it’s one of the strongest rulings in years for people living with HIV.
The cases involved two service members that the Air Force attempted to discharge, as well as Sgt. Nick Harrison of the D.C. Army National Guard, who was denied a position in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said in a written order dated April 6 that her ruling bars the military from taking those actions against the plaintiffs and any other asymptomatic HIV-positive service member with an undetectable viral load ”because they are classified as ineligible for worldwide deployment … due to their HIV-positive status.”
Peter Perkowski, an attorney for the plaintiffs, called it “a landmark victory — probably the biggest ruling in favor of people living with HIV in the last 20 years.”
“The military was the last employer in the country that had a policy against people living with HIV. Every other employer — including first responders — is subject to rules that prohibit discrimination based on HIV status,” he said.
The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to an emailed request seeking comment on the ruling or whether it intends to appeal.
The airmen, identified by pseudonyms in the 2018 lawsuit, argued that major advancements in treatment mean they can easily be given appropriate medical care and present no real risk of transmission to others.
In 2020, the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction barring the discharge of the airmen. In its ruling, the three-judge panel said the military’s rationale for prohibiting deployment of HIV-positive service members was “outmoded and at odds with current science.” The appeals court ruling left the injunction in place while their lawsuit was being heard.
The Department of Justice argued before the 4th Circuit that the Air Force determined the two airmen could no longer perform their duties because their career fields required them to deploy frequently and because their condition prevented them from deploying to the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility, where most airmen are expected to go. Central Command, which governs military operations in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, prohibits personnel with HIV from deploying without a waiver.
The DOJ acknowledged that treatment lowers the risk of transmitting HIV, but said the risk is amplified on the battlefield where soldiers can often come into contact with blood.
An attorney for the airmen argued during a 2019 hearing that the odds of transmitting HIV in combat are infinitesimal and should not limit their deployment or lead to their discharge.
In its written ruling, the 4th Circuit panel said a ban on deployment may have been justified at a time when HIV treatment was less effective at managing the virus and reducing the risk of transmission.
“But any understanding of HIV that could justify this ban is outmoded and at odds with current science. Such obsolete understandings cannot justify a ban, even under a deferential standard of review and even according appropriate deference to the military’s professional judgments,” Judge James Wynn Jr. wrote in the unanimous 2020 ruling.
Brinkema said in this month’s written order that she had temporarily sealed her ruling in the case to give both sides a chance to seek redactions within 14 days. The judge ordered the secretary of the Air Force to rescind the decision to discharge the two airmen and ordered the Army to rescind its decision denying Harrison’s application to commission into JAG, and to reevaluate those decisions in light of her ruling.
Kara Ingelhart, senior attorney at Lambda Legal, one of the groups that brought the lawsuits, said in a news release that the ruling knocks down a barrier to preventing people living with AIDS from becoming officers, and “brings an end to the military’s ongoing discrimination against the approximately 2,000 service members currently serving while living with HIV.” | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/judge-rules-us-military-cant-discharge-hiv-positive-troops/ | 2022-04-11T19:36:36 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/judge-rules-us-military-cant-discharge-hiv-positive-troops/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — A COVID-19 patient was in respiratory distress. The Army nurse knew she had to act quickly.
It was the peak of this year’s omicron surge and an Army medical team was helping in a Michigan hospital. Regular patient beds were full. So was the intensive care. But the nurse heard of an open spot in an overflow treatment area, so she and another team member raced the gurney across the hospital to claim the space first, denting a wall in their rush.
When she saw the dent, Lt. Col. Suzanne Cobleigh, the leader of the Army team, knew the nurse had done her job. “She’s going to damage the wall on the way there because he’s going to get that bed,” Cobleigh said. “He’s going to get the treatment he needs. That was the mission.”
That nurse’s mission was to get urgent care for her patient. Now, the U.S. military mission is to use the experiences of Cobleigh’s team and other units pressed into service against the coronavirus pandemic to prepare for the next crisis threatening a large population, whatever its nature.
Their experiences, said Gen. Glen VanHerck, will help shape the size and staffing of the military’s medical response so the Pentagon can provide the right types and numbers of forces needed for another pandemic, global crisis or conflict.
One of the key lessons learned was the value of small military teams over mass movements of personnel and facilities in a crisis like the one wrought by COVID-19.
In the early days of the pandemic, the Pentagon steamed hospital ships to New York City and Los Angeles, and set up massive hospital facilities in convention centers and parking lots, in response to pleas from state government leaders. The idea was to use them to treat non-COVID-19 patients, allowing hospitals to focus on the more acute pandemic cases. But while images of the military ships were powerful, too often many beds went unused. Fewer patients needed non-coronavirus care than expected, and hospitals were still overwhelmed by the pandemic.
A more agile approach emerged: having military medical personnel step in for exhausted hospital staff members or work alongside them or in additional treatment areas in unused spaces.
“It morphed over time,” VanHerck, who heads U.S. Northern Command and is responsible for homeland defense, said of the response.
Overall, about 24,000 U.S. troops were deployed for the pandemic, including nearly 6,000 medical personnel to hospitals and 5,000 to help administer vaccines. Many did multiple tours. That mission is over, at least for now.
Cobleigh and her team members were deployed to two hospitals in Grand Rapids from December to February, as part of the U.S. military’s effort to relieve civilian medical workers. And just last week the last military medical team that had been deployed for the pandemic finished its stint at the University of Utah Hospital and headed home.
VanHerck told The Associated Press his command is rewriting pandemic and infectious disease plans, and planning wargames and other exercises to determine if the U.S. has the right balance of military medical staff in the active duty and reserves.
During the pandemic, he said, the teams’ make-up and equipment needs evolved. Now, he’s put about 10 teams of physicians, nurses and other staff — or about 200 troops — on prepare-to-deploy orders through the end of May in case infections shoot up again. The size of the teams ranges from small to medium.
Dr. Kencee Graves, inpatient chief medical officer at the University of Utah Hospital, said the facility finally decided to seek help this year because it was postponing surgeries to care for all the COVID-19 patients and closing off beds because of staff shortages.
Some patients had surgery postponed more than once, Graves said, because of critically ill patients or critical needs by others. “So before the military came, we were looking at a surgical backlog of hundreds of cases and we were low on staff. We had fatigued staff.”
Her mantra became, “All I can do is show up and hope it’s helpful.” She added, “And I just did that day after day after day for two years.”
Then in came a 25-member Navy medical team.
“A number of staff were overwhelmed,” said Cdr. Arriel Atienza, chief medical officer for the Navy team. “They were burnt out. They couldn’t call in sick. We’re able to fill some gaps and needed shifts that would otherwise have remained unmanned, and the patient load would have been very demanding for the existing staff to match.”
Atienza, a family physician who’s been in the military for 21 years, spent the Christmas holiday deployed to a hospital in New Mexico, then went to Salt Lake City in March. Over time, he said, the military “has evolved from things like pop-up hospitals” and now knows how to integrate seamlessly into local health facilities in just a couple days.
That integration helped the hospital staff recover and catch up.
“We have gotten through about a quarter of our surgical backlog,” Graves said. ”We did not call a backup physician this month for the hospital team … that’s the first time that’s happened in several months. And then we haven’t called a patient and asked them to reschedule their surgery for the majority of the last few weeks.”
VanHerck said the pandemic also underscored the need to review the nation’s supply chain to ensure that the right equipment and medications were being stockpiled, or to see if they were coming from foreign distributors.
“If we’re relying on getting those from a foreign manufacturer and supplier, then that may be something that is a national security vulnerability that we have to address,” he said.
VanHerck said the U.S. is also working to better analyze trends in order to predict the needs for personnel, equipment and protective gear. Military and other government experts watched the progress of COVID-19 infections moving across the country and used that data to predict where the next outbreak might be so that staff could be prepared to go there.
The need for mental health care for the military personnel also became apparent. Team members coming off difficult shifts often needed someone to talk to.
Cobleigh said military medical personnel were not accustomed to caring for so many people with multiple health problems, as are more apt to be found in a civilian population than in military ranks. “The level of sickness and death in the civilian sector was scores more than what anyone had experienced back in the Army,” said Cobleigh, who is stationed now at Fort Riley, Kansas, but will soon move to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.
She said she found that her staff needed her and wanted to “talk through their stresses and strains before they’d go back on shift.”
For the civilian hospitals, the lesson was knowing when to call for help.
“It was the bridge to help us get out of omicron and in a position where we can take good care of our patients,” Graves said. “I am not sure how we would have done that without them.” | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/with-covid-mission-over-pentagon-plans-for-next-pandemic/ | 2022-04-11T19:36:43 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/with-covid-mission-over-pentagon-plans-for-next-pandemic/ |
As Twitter’s newest board member and largest shareholder, Elon Musk is already floating suggestions for changes he’d like to see on the social media platform.
In a series of tweets late Saturday, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said that the company should include an “authentication checkmark” as a feature of its Twitter Blue premium subscription service, which costs $2.99 a month.
Twitter adds a checkmark logo next to a user name when the account has been verified “authentic, notable and active.”
Musk also suggested Twitter make the authentication checkmarks of premium subscriber accounts different than those granted to official accounts belonging to public figures, for example.
Such a move, Musk said, would “massively expand” the pool of verified user accounts and discourage the proliferation of spam “bot” accounts, making them too expensive to maintain.
Musk also shared ideas for how Twitter should charge for its subscription membership, saying the fee “should be proportionate to affordability and in local currency,” and adding: “Maybe even an option to pay in Doge?” referring to the Dogecoin cryptocurrency.
“And no ads,” Musk tweeted. “The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive.”
Nearly 90% of Twitter’s revenue in 2021 came from advertising.
Musk’s latest tweets about Twitter, including posting polls asking his 81 million followers whether Twitter is “dying” and whether the company’s San Francisco headquarters should be converted into a homeless shelter “since no one shows up anyway,” followed a tweet earlier in the week asking if he should add an edit button on the platform.
Last week, Twitter disclosed in a regulatory filing that it entered into an agreement with Musk giving the billionaire a seat on the company’s board, with the term expiring at its 2024 annual shareholders meeting. The move came a day after it was disclosed that Musk took a 9% stake in the company.
Twitter declined to comment Sunday.
___
This story has been corrected to show a Twitter Blue subscription is $2.99 a month, not $3 a month. | https://www.wric.com/business/us-world-business/musk-suggests-twitter-changes-including-accepting-dogecoin/ | 2022-04-11T19:36:46 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/business/us-world-business/musk-suggests-twitter-changes-including-accepting-dogecoin/ |
PARIS (AP) — Beer flowed at incumbent Emmanuel Macron’s celebration of his first-round victory in the French presidential election, while Champagne corks popped across town to mark far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s second-place showing.
It was a night of effervescence for both contenders and their supporters ahead of a showdown in two weeks to see who will become France’s chief of state for the next five years. The two will be revisiting their 2017 match when centrist Macron, then an upstart never before elected to office, won by a landslide.
Flags, the national anthem and cheers — fueled with drinks as different as the programs of the two contenders — marked the end of a campaign that left 10 other candidates on the sidelines.
Macron was expected to capture a healthy first-round lead of around 28% support, ahead of Le Pen’s 23%-24%, according to projections. Final official results were not yet available.
“One, two, five more years,” Marcon’s supporters cried out. “Marine president” and “We will win,” the hundreds of guests at Le Pen’s electoral party chanted.
“Now, everything is possible,” said Aurélien Lopez Liguori, a municipal councilor for Le Pen’s National Rally party, in the southern town of Sete. Macron “will finally answer to the French people” for his “bad record.”
He credited Le Pen’s mostly quiet, close-to-the-people campaign, far from TV cameras, for her showing. “The French thanked us tonight.”
It was anything but quiet at Le Pen’s electoral venue in a park in eastern Paris. Cheers drowned out parts of her speech when poll projections were announced.
Le Pen, 53, a solid nationalist, has revamped her program and her style, campaigning on buying power and going decidedly people-friendly, to further distance herself from the far-right image that has haunted her anti-immigration party, work she began when she took over a decade ago. She has campaigned since September, longer than any other candidate, and as the campaign wound down took off in opinion polls.
In contrast, Macron, 44, came late to the campaign trail, occupied with affairs of state, including his active role in trying to stop the war in Ukraine. He has dominated polls from the start, but some in his entourage worried aloud about Le Pen’s steady advance.
Supporter Julien Bon said he was joyful with Sunday night’s results.
“It’s better than what we had expected,” he said, referring to recent opinion polls. “We are well on track. Now we must fight.”
Le Pen’s supporters at her electoral party came from around France and beyond.
“I couldn’t support Marine Le Pen with my vote, but I would if I were French,” said Hungarian guest Agnes Zsofia Magyar, who met Le Pen during the French politician’s visit to Budapest to support leader Victor Orban and his nationalist Fidesz party. She works in Brussels with the party-linked Foundation for a Civil Hungary.
“I am sure that the French have decided to change systems,” Magyar said, anticipating a Le Pen victory in the April 24 runoff and alluding to the drastic differences that populist Le Pen and pro-European Union Macron represent.
Macron asked his supporters to applaud all 10 candidates eliminated from Sunday’s race, naming each, including far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came in third.
Melenchon gave his own orders at his electoral gathering: “We must not give a single vote to Le Pen.”
“I think Marine Le Pen has a big chance of winning,” said Gilles Lebreton, a European Parliament lawmaker for the far-right party. Her party counts on winning over supporters of Eric Zemmour, a far-right pundit whose decision to enter the race divided Le Pen’s support base.
For Le Pen’s National Rally, the second round begins Monday when Lebreton said party officials would meet to plan strategy for the second round.
___
Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report. | https://www.cenlanow.com/international/ap-international/beer-flows-champagne-bubbles-as-macron-le-pen-reach-final/ | 2022-04-11T19:36:51 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/international/ap-international/beer-flows-champagne-bubbles-as-macron-le-pen-reach-final/ |
LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II, after her own recent bout with COVID-19, empathized with patients, doctors and nurses at a London hospital last week as she listened to their stories about life on the front lines of the pandemic.
The monarch spoke to patients and staff at the Royal London Hospital during a virtual visit that marked the official dedication of the Queen Elizabeth Unit, a 155-bed critical care facility built in just five weeks at the height of the pandemic. Elizabeth tested positive for COVID-19 in February and suffered what Buckingham Palace described as “mild cold-like symptoms.’’
“It does leave one very tired and exhausted, doesn’t it?’’ she told recovering COVID-19 patient Asef Hussain and his wife, Shamina. “This horrible pandemic.”
The unit has treated about 800 coronavirus patients from across northeast London, with staff recruited from throughout the region, including retired doctors and nurses and even soldiers drafted in to help.
With friends and family members barred from the hospital by strict virus-control measures, nurses did their best to comfort seriously ill patients, senior nurse Mireia López Rey Ferrer told Elizabeth.
“As nurses, we made sure that they were not alone,’’ López Rey said. “We held their hands, we wiped their tears and we provided comfort. It felt at times that we were running a marathon with no finish line.”
Hussain was the third member of his family hospitalized with COVID-19 at the end of December 2020. His brother died first, then his father passed away while Hussain was on a ventilator.
“I remember waking up one morning and just finding it really, really difficult to breathe,’’ he said. “I remember waking my wife saying that I feel like there’s no oxygen in the room. I remember me sticking my head out the window, just trying to breathe, trying to get that extra oxygen.”
He was on a ventilator for seven weeks and only recently was able to stop using a wheelchair.
Nurses helped lift Hussain’s spirits by arranging video calls on a tablet computer. Shamina Hussain told the queen that 500 friends and family around the world dialed in to one conference call to pray for her husband.
“So you have a large family, or a large influence on people,” the queen quipped.
The couple smiled.
___
Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at h ttps://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic. | https://www.wric.com/entertainment-news/queen-chats-with-covid-19-patients-nurses-at-uk-hospital/ | 2022-04-11T19:36:53 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/entertainment-news/queen-chats-with-covid-19-patients-nurses-at-uk-hospital/ |
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has reached an agreement with the Missouri Office of Disciplinary Counsel in which she acknowledges mistakes in her handling of the prosecution of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens but won’t face severe penalties for those mistakes.
The “joint stipulation” agreement was announced Monday at the outset of a disciplinary hearing before a three-person panel. In the agreement, Gardner concedes that she failed to produce documents and mistakenly maintained that all documents had been provided to Greitens’ lawyers in the 2018 criminal case.
The agreement states that Gardner’s conduct “was negligent or perhaps reckless, but not intentional.”
It calls for a written reprimand. A more severe punishment — suspension or disbarment — would likely cost Gardner her job because state law requires elected prosecutors to hold active law licenses.
The panel would still need to sign off on the agreement and make a recommendation within 30 days to the Missouri Supreme Court, which ultimately decides punishment. It’s unclear when the court might make a final decision.
Gardner, a 46-year-old Democrat, is St. Louis’ first Black female circuit attorney and is one of several progressive prosecutors elected in recent years with a focus on creating more fairness in the criminal justice system. She told the panel Monday that the mistakes were due to the fast-moving nature of the Greitens case.
“Yes, we had a process. But unfortunately, that process came up short,” she said, adding that her office has taken the case as a “lesson” moving forward.
The 2018 prosecution of Greitens played a pivotal role in his eventual resignation. Greitens is now attempting a political comeback and is a leading contender for the Republican nomination for a Senate seat, despite recent allegations of abuse by his ex-wife.
“Gardner represents the worst of establishment and dishonest officials who use their unfettered power to target innocent and law-abiding individuals, from the governor of Missouri to police officers to everyday citizens,” Greitens said in a statement. “The people of Missouri deserve better.”
The brash former Navy SEAL officer with presidential aspirations was a year into his first term when news broke in January 2018 of an affair three years earlier with his St. Louis hairdresser. The woman alleged that Greitens took a compromising photo and threatened to use it as blackmail if she spoke of their relationship.
“There was a victim, someone saying they had been attacked,” Gardner’s lawyer, Michael Downey, said in an interview.
But neither the FBI nor St. Louis police seemed inclined to investigate, Downey said. Gardner’s in-house investigator was away on military duty.
So Gardner hired private investigator William Tisaby, a former FBI agent. The investigation led to Greitens’ indictmenton one felony count of invasion of privacy. Greitens claimed he had been the victim of a political witch hunt.
Jury selection had just begun when Gardner dropped the charge after a judge ruled she would have to answer questions under oath from Greitens’ attorneys over her handling of the case. She said that it put her in an “impossible” position of being a witness in a case she was prosecuting.
Meanwhile, Gardner filed a second charge accusing Greitens oftampering with computer data for allegedly disclosing to his political fundraiser a list of top donors to a veterans charity he founded, without the charity’s permission.
Under investigation by lawmakers as well, Greitens resigned in June 2018, and Gardner agreed to drop the criminal charges.
Attention then turned to how Gardner and Tisaby handled the investigation. In 2019, Tisaby was indicted on six counts of perjury and one count of evidence tampering. He pleaded guilty last month to misdemeanor evidence tampering and received a suspended sentence of one year of probation.
The case stemmed from Tisaby’s statement that he had not taken notes during an interview with the woman when a video later showed that he had, and his statement that he hadn’t received notes from the prosecutor’s office before he interviewed the woman when a document later showed that he had.
Greitens’ attorneys raised concerns about Gardner’s failure to correct the record on Tisaby’s statements, and whether she concealed evidence.
Downey said any mistakes were unintentional, the result of Gardner’s heavy workload during the Greitens investigation.
Gardner has had plenty of clashes during her leadership of the circuit attorney’s office.
Last summer, charges were dropped in three murder cases in one week because prosecutors failed to show up in court or weren’t prepared after months of delay, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The newspaper also cited Circuit Court data showing that about one-third of felony cases were dismissed — triple the percentage of her predecessor.
Gardner contends that her reforms have made the city safer and the criminal justice system more equitable. She has expanded a diversion program and stopped prosecuting low-level marijuana possession, helping to significantly reduce jail overcrowding.
Gardner has often been at odds with police, especially in 2019, when she placed dozens of officers on an“exclusion list,” prohibiting them from bringing cases. The list was developed after a national group accused the officers of posting racist and anti-Muslim comments on social media.
In 2020, Gardner filed a lawsuit accusing the city, a police union and others of a coordinated and racist conspiracy aimed at forcing her out of office. The lawsuit alleged violations of the Ku Klux Klan Actof 1871, which was adopted to thwart efforts to deny the civil rights of racial minorities.
Downey, in a court filing, said the ethical complaints involve “another attempt by Ms. Gardner’s political enemies – largely from outside St. Louis – to remove Ms. Gardner and thwart the systemic reforms she champions.”
Greitens had remained largely out of sight until Sen. Roy Blunt’s announcement in March 2021 that he would not seek a third term. Republican leaders worry that Greitens could win the primary but lose to a Democrat in the general election, forfeiting what should have been a surefire GOP seat.
In a court filing last month in a child custody case, Sheena Greitens accused her ex-husband of being physically abusive to her and their children. Eric Greitens called the allegations “completely fabricated” and “baseless.” | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/greitens-case-at-center-of-scrutiny-for-st-louis-prosecutor/ | 2022-04-11T19:36:58 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/greitens-case-at-center-of-scrutiny-for-st-louis-prosecutor/ |
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — U.S. service members who are HIV-positive cannot be discharged or barred from becoming an officer solely because they’re infected with the virus, a federal judge in Virginia ruled. Advocates say it’s one of the strongest rulings in years for people living with HIV.
The cases involved two service members that the Air Force attempted to discharge, as well as Sgt. Nick Harrison of the D.C. Army National Guard, who was denied a position in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said in a written order dated April 6 that her ruling bars the military from taking those actions against the plaintiffs and any other asymptomatic HIV-positive service member with an undetectable viral load ”because they are classified as ineligible for worldwide deployment … due to their HIV-positive status.”
Peter Perkowski, an attorney for the plaintiffs, called it “a landmark victory — probably the biggest ruling in favor of people living with HIV in the last 20 years.”
“The military was the last employer in the country that had a policy against people living with HIV. Every other employer — including first responders — is subject to rules that prohibit discrimination based on HIV status,” he said.
The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to an emailed request seeking comment on the ruling or whether it intends to appeal.
The airmen, identified by pseudonyms in the 2018 lawsuit, argued that major advancements in treatment mean they can easily be given appropriate medical care and present no real risk of transmission to others.
In 2020, the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction barring the discharge of the airmen. In its ruling, the three-judge panel said the military’s rationale for prohibiting deployment of HIV-positive service members was “outmoded and at odds with current science.” The appeals court ruling left the injunction in place while their lawsuit was being heard.
The Department of Justice argued before the 4th Circuit that the Air Force determined the two airmen could no longer perform their duties because their career fields required them to deploy frequently and because their condition prevented them from deploying to the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility, where most airmen are expected to go. Central Command, which governs military operations in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, prohibits personnel with HIV from deploying without a waiver.
The DOJ acknowledged that treatment lowers the risk of transmitting HIV, but said the risk is amplified on the battlefield where soldiers can often come into contact with blood.
An attorney for the airmen argued during a 2019 hearing that the odds of transmitting HIV in combat are infinitesimal and should not limit their deployment or lead to their discharge.
In its written ruling, the 4th Circuit panel said a ban on deployment may have been justified at a time when HIV treatment was less effective at managing the virus and reducing the risk of transmission.
“But any understanding of HIV that could justify this ban is outmoded and at odds with current science. Such obsolete understandings cannot justify a ban, even under a deferential standard of review and even according appropriate deference to the military’s professional judgments,” Judge James Wynn Jr. wrote in the unanimous 2020 ruling.
Brinkema said in this month’s written order that she had temporarily sealed her ruling in the case to give both sides a chance to seek redactions within 14 days. The judge ordered the secretary of the Air Force to rescind the decision to discharge the two airmen and ordered the Army to rescind its decision denying Harrison’s application to commission into JAG, and to reevaluate those decisions in light of her ruling.
Kara Ingelhart, senior attorney at Lambda Legal, one of the groups that brought the lawsuits, said in a news release that the ruling knocks down a barrier to preventing people living with AIDS from becoming officers, and “brings an end to the military’s ongoing discrimination against the approximately 2,000 service members currently serving while living with HIV.” | https://www.wric.com/health/judge-rules-us-military-cant-discharge-hiv-positive-troops/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:01 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/health/judge-rules-us-military-cant-discharge-hiv-positive-troops/ |
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The mayor of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol said Monday that more than 10,000 civilians have died in the Russian siege of his city, and that the death toll could surpass 20,000, with corpses that were “carpeted through the streets.”
Speaking by phone Monday to The Associated Press, Mayor Vadym Boychenko also said Russian forces brought mobile cremation equipment to Mariupol to dispose of the bodies, and he accused Russian forces of refusing to allow humanitarian convoys into the city in an attempt to conceal the carnage.
Russian forces have taken many bodies to a huge shopping center where there are storage facilities and refrigerators, Boychenko said.
“Mobile crematoriums have arrived in the form of trucks: You open it, and there is a pipe inside and these bodies are burned,” he said.
The mayor’s comments emerged as Russia claimed that it destroyed several Ukrainian air-defense systems in what appeared to be a renewed push to gain air superiority and take out weapons Kyiv has described as crucial ahead of an expected broad new offensivein the east.
In one strike, Moscow said it hit four S-300 launchers near the central city of Dnipro that had been provided by a European country it did not name. Slovakia gave Ukraine just such a system last week but denied it had been destroyed. Russia previously reported two strikes on similar systems in other places.
The failure to win full control of Ukraine’s skieshas hampered Moscow’s ability to provide air cover for troops on the ground, limiting their advances and likely exposing them to greater losses.
With their offensive in many parts of the country thwarted, Russian forces have relied increasingly on bombarding cities — a strategy that has left many urban areas flattened and killed thousands of people.
Ukrainian authorities accuse Russian forces of committing atrocities, including a massacre in the town of Bucha, outside Kyiv, airstrikes on hospitalsand a missile attack that killed at least 57 people last week at a train station.
In Bucha on Monday, the work of exhuming bodies from a mass grave in a churchyard resumed.
Galyna Feoktistova waited for hours in the cold and rain in hopes of identifying her 50-year-old son, who was shot and killed more than a month ago, but eventually she went home for some warmth. “He’s still there,” her surviving son, Andriy, said.
In Mariupol, about 120,000 civilians are in dire need of food, water, warmth and communications, the mayor said.
Only those residents who have passed the Russian “filtration camps” are released from the city, Boychenko said. He said improvised prisons were organized for those who did not pass the “filtering,” while at least 33,000 were taken to Russia or to separatist territory in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the U.N. children’s agency said that nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes in the six weeks since Russia’s invasion began. The United Nations has verified that 142 children have been killed and 229 injured, though the actual numbers are likely much higher.
Elsewhere, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he met Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks that were “very direct, open and tough.”
In a statement released by his office, Nehammer said his primary message to Putin was “that this war needs to end, because in war both sides can only lose.” Nehammer said he also raised the issue of war crimes committed by the Russian military and said those responsible “will be held to account.”
Austria is a member of the European Union and has backed the 27-nation bloc’s sanctions against Russia, though it so far has opposed cutting off deliveries of Russian gas. The country is militarily neutral and is not a member of NATO.
In other developments, the head of the separatist rebel government in Donetsk said Ukrainian forces have lost control of the port area of Mariupol.
“Regarding the port of Mariupol, it is now under our control,” Denis Pushilin, president of the Donetsk People’s Republic, told Russian state television, according to Russian news agencies. The claim could not immediately be confirmed.
The mayor said fighting continues.
“It is difficult, but our heroic military holds on,” Boychenko said. “There are fights in the port. Yesterday, our heroic warriors knocked out several positions of equipment and, accordingly, rebuffed the infantry.
Russia hasappointed a seasoned general to lead its renewed push in the eastern Donbas region, where Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014 and have declared independent states.
The Pentagon’s latest assessment is that Russia is gearing up for an intensified offensive there as more troops and materiel move toward the area.
A senior U.S. defense official said a lengthy convoy is headed toward the eastern city of Izyum with artillery, aviation and infantry support.
More artillery is being deployed near the city of Donetsk, while ground combat units that withdrew from around the Kyiv and Chernihiv areas appear destined for refitting and resupplying before they position in Donbas, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal U.S. military assessments.
Both sides are digging in for what could be a devastating war of attrition.
Russian forces will likely try to encircle the Donbas region from the north and the south as well as the east, said retired British Gen. Richard Barrons, co-chair of the U.K.-based strategic consulting firm Universal Defence & Security Solutions.
The ground in that part of Ukraine is flatter, more open and less wooded — so the Ukrainian ambush tactics used around Kiev may be less successful, Barrons said.
“As to the outcome, it’s finely balanced right now,” Barrons said. If the Russians learned from their previous failures, concentrated more force, connected their air force to ground forces better and improved their logistics, “then they might start to overwhelm the Ukrainian positions eventually, although I still think it would be a battle of enormous attrition.”
In a video address to South Korean lawmakers on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy specifically requested equipment that can shoot down Russian missiles.
But those armaments could increasingly come under attack as Russia looks to shift the balance in the 6-week-old war.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the military used cruise missiles to destroy the four launchers Sunday on the southern outskirts of Dnipro. He said the military also hit such systems in the Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions.
The Russian claims could not be independently verified.
The Pentagon said it had seen no evidence to support Russia’s claims. And Lubica Janikova, spokeswoman for Slovakia’s prime minister, denied Monday that the S-300 system it sent Ukraine had been destroyed. She said any other claim is not true.
Questions remain about the ability of depleted and demoralized Russian forces to conquer much ground after their advance on Kyiv was repelled by determined Ukrainian defenders.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said Monday that Ukraine has already beaten back several assaults by Russian forces in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions — which make up the Donbas — resulting in the destruction of Russian tanks, vehicles and artillery.
Western military analysts say Russia’s assault increasingly is focusing on an arc of territory stretching from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in the north, to Kherson in the south.
A residential area in Kharkiv was struck by incoming fire on Monday afternoon. Associated Press journalists saw firefighters putting out the fire and checking for victims following the attack, and saw that at least five people were killed, including a child.
Oleh Synyehubov, the regional governor of Kharkiv, said earlier Monday that Russian shelling had killed 11 people over the last 24 hours.
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Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Anna reported from Bucha, Ukraine. Associated Press Writer Robert Burns in Washington, and AP journalists around the world contributed to this report.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.cenlanow.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ukrainian-defenders-dig-in-as-russia-boosts-firepower/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:04 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ukrainian-defenders-dig-in-as-russia-boosts-firepower/ |
PARIS (AP) — Beer flowed at incumbent Emmanuel Macron’s celebration of his first-round victory in the French presidential election, while Champagne corks popped across town to mark far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s second-place showing.
It was a night of effervescence for both contenders and their supporters ahead of a showdown in two weeks to see who will become France’s chief of state for the next five years. The two will be revisiting their 2017 match when centrist Macron, then an upstart never before elected to office, won by a landslide.
Flags, the national anthem and cheers — fueled with drinks as different as the programs of the two contenders — marked the end of a campaign that left 10 other candidates on the sidelines.
Macron was expected to capture a healthy first-round lead of around 28% support, ahead of Le Pen’s 23%-24%, according to projections. Final official results were not yet available.
“One, two, five more years,” Marcon’s supporters cried out. “Marine president” and “We will win,” the hundreds of guests at Le Pen’s electoral party chanted.
“Now, everything is possible,” said Aurélien Lopez Liguori, a municipal councilor for Le Pen’s National Rally party, in the southern town of Sete. Macron “will finally answer to the French people” for his “bad record.”
He credited Le Pen’s mostly quiet, close-to-the-people campaign, far from TV cameras, for her showing. “The French thanked us tonight.”
It was anything but quiet at Le Pen’s electoral venue in a park in eastern Paris. Cheers drowned out parts of her speech when poll projections were announced.
Le Pen, 53, a solid nationalist, has revamped her program and her style, campaigning on buying power and going decidedly people-friendly, to further distance herself from the far-right image that has haunted her anti-immigration party, work she began when she took over a decade ago. She has campaigned since September, longer than any other candidate, and as the campaign wound down took off in opinion polls.
In contrast, Macron, 44, came late to the campaign trail, occupied with affairs of state, including his active role in trying to stop the war in Ukraine. He has dominated polls from the start, but some in his entourage worried aloud about Le Pen’s steady advance.
Supporter Julien Bon said he was joyful with Sunday night’s results.
“It’s better than what we had expected,” he said, referring to recent opinion polls. “We are well on track. Now we must fight.”
Le Pen’s supporters at her electoral party came from around France and beyond.
“I couldn’t support Marine Le Pen with my vote, but I would if I were French,” said Hungarian guest Agnes Zsofia Magyar, who met Le Pen during the French politician’s visit to Budapest to support leader Victor Orban and his nationalist Fidesz party. She works in Brussels with the party-linked Foundation for a Civil Hungary.
“I am sure that the French have decided to change systems,” Magyar said, anticipating a Le Pen victory in the April 24 runoff and alluding to the drastic differences that populist Le Pen and pro-European Union Macron represent.
Macron asked his supporters to applaud all 10 candidates eliminated from Sunday’s race, naming each, including far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came in third.
Melenchon gave his own orders at his electoral gathering: “We must not give a single vote to Le Pen.”
“I think Marine Le Pen has a big chance of winning,” said Gilles Lebreton, a European Parliament lawmaker for the far-right party. Her party counts on winning over supporters of Eric Zemmour, a far-right pundit whose decision to enter the race divided Le Pen’s support base.
For Le Pen’s National Rally, the second round begins Monday when Lebreton said party officials would meet to plan strategy for the second round.
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Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report. | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/beer-flows-champagne-bubbles-as-macron-le-pen-reach-final/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:08 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/beer-flows-champagne-bubbles-as-macron-le-pen-reach-final/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden asked India’s Narendra Modi on Monday not to accelerate the buying of Russian oil as the U.S. and other nations try to cut off Moscow’s energy income following the invasion of Ukraine. The Indian prime minister made no public commitment to refrain from Russian oil, a source of tension with the U.S.
Meeting by video call, Biden told Modi that the U.S. could help India diversify its sources of energy, according to press secretary Jen Psaki. Even though India receives little of its oil from Russia, it stepped up recently with a major purchase as other democracies are trying to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The president also made clear that he doesn’t believe it’s in India’s interest to accelerate or increase imports of Russian energy or other commodities,” Psaki said.
While the two nations ended the meeting with Biden saying they committed to strengthening their relationship, White House officials could not say if India stood with them in fully condemning Putin, saying the choice ultimately rested with Modi’s government. The two leaders will meet in person May 24 in Tokyo for a summit of the Quad, a coalition that also includes Australia and Japan.
India’s neutral stance in the war has raised concerns in Washington and earned praise from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who lauded India this month for judging “the situation in its entirety, not just in a one-sided way.”
Biden opened the video conversation by emphasizing the defense partnership between the two countries and by saying the U.S. and India are going to “continue our close consultation on how to manage the destabilizing effects of this Russian war” on food and other commodities.
“The root of our partnership is a deep connection between our people, ties of family, of friendship and of shared values,” the U.S. president said.
Modi on Monday called the situation in Ukraine “very worrying,” and he noted that an Indian student lost his life during the war. He said he has spoken with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, appealing to both of them for peace. India has condemned the killings uncovered in the city of Bucha and has called for an independent investigation.
A senior U.S. official described the Biden-Modi exchange as warm and productive, though the official stressed that India would make its own decisions on how to respond to Putin. The official insisted on anonymity to discuss the meeting.
Biden and Modi discussed how to manage the risks of global instability regarding food, humanitarian relief and climate change, and Modi candidly shared his views about some of the tight links between Russia and China that raise concerns, the official said.
Also Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met in person with Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Austin appealed to India to act together with fellow democracies, a form of government based on the popular consent of the people that stands in contrast to autocracies such as China and Russia.
“Now more than ever, democracies must stand together to defend the values that we all share,” Austin said.
India has refrained from some efforts to hold Russia accountable for its invasion. India abstained when the U.N. General Assembly voted Thursday to suspend Russia from its seat on the 47-member Human Rights Council over allegations that Russian soldiers in Ukraine engaged in rights violations that the U.S. and Ukraine have called war crimes.
The vote was 93-24 with 58 abstentions.
India continues to purchase Russian energy supplies, despite pressure from Western countries to avoid buying Russian oil and gas. The U.S. has also considered sanctions on India for its recent purchase of advanced Russian air defense systems.
Last month, the state-run Indian Oil Corp. bought 3 million barrels of crude from Russia to secure its needs, resisting entreaties from the West to avoid such purchases. India isn’t alone in buying Russian energy, however. Several European allies such as Germany have continued to do so, despite public pressure to end these contracts.
Indian media reports said Russia was offering a discount on oil purchases of 20% below global benchmark prices.
Iraq is India’s top supplier, with a 27% share. Saudi Arabia is second at around 17%, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 13% and the U.S. at 9%, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
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Sharma reported from New Delhi. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. | https://www.cenlanow.com/politics/ap-politics/biden-modi-to-speak-as-us-presses-for-hard-line-on-russia-2/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:11 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/politics/ap-politics/biden-modi-to-speak-as-us-presses-for-hard-line-on-russia-2/ |
DETROIT (AP) — Tim Anderson swung right back into action after serving a suspension stemming from an incident last season, hitting two doubles and a single as the Chicago White Sox routed the Detroit Tigers 10-1 on Sunday.
Anderson sat out the first two games as a penalty for making contact with an umpire on Sept. 27.
The All-Star shortstop and 2019 AL batting champion made an immediate impact, hitting a double on the first pitch of the game. He wound up scoring twice for the AL Central champions.
“I spent two days in the hotel watching us play on television, which is pretty boring,” he said. “I was ready to go as soon as I got something I could hit.”
Anderson is hitting .346 with 26 doubles and 79 runs in 90 career games against the Tigers.
“We won yesterday, but it was obvious how much we missed Tim,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “I don’t think there’s a better shortstop in the game. There are some guys at his level, but no one who is above him.”
Andrew Vaughn homered and drove in four runs for the White Sox, who won twice in the season-opening three-game series.
“We got our hearts broken in the ninth inning on opening day, but we came right back and won the next two games,” La Russa said. “There’s never a question about this team’s desire to win.”
White Sox starter Michael Kopech allowed one run on two hits and two walks in four innings, striking out three.
“It felt good to get out there and get through four innings,” said Kopech, who was on a 70-pitch limit. “There were some things that went wrong, but I was able to fix them pretty quickly.”
Tariq Skubal (0-1) gave up five runs on seven hits in four innings.
“I never found a good rhythm today,” he said. “I wasn’t putting the fastball where I wanted it, and my changeup command wasn’t good, either.”
The White Sox took a 2-0 lead in the first off Skubal (0-1). After Anderson doubled, Luis Robert singled and stole second. Jose Abreu had an RBI groundout and Eloy Jiménez followed with a sacrifice fly.
“They put together some long innings, and a lot of that was Tim Anderson doing what he does,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Every time the lineup rolled back over to him, we were in trouble.”
The Tigers got a run back in the second on Victor Reyes’ triple. Abreu doubled home Robert to make it 3-1 in the third and Josh Harrison added an RBI single later in the inning.
Shortstop Javier Báez’s throwing error set up Danny Mendick’s RBI double in the Chicago fourth.
The White Sox added four runs off rookie Elvin Rodriguez in the seventh. Jimenez hit an RBI single and Vaughn followed with a three-run homer.
Vaughn singled home another run in the ninth.
“I’ll be honest — I wasn’t comfortable when it was 9-1 in the seventh,” La Russa said. “It is too easy these days to give up a crooked number and be in trouble all over again. I didn’t really enjoy it until the last three outs.”
The Tigers had no hits and two walks in the final seven innings.
“We were behind early, and I think our at-bats quite honestly got a little rushed as the game went along,” Hinch said. “They pitched with more aggressiveness than we were ready for.”
WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUES
Rodriguez made his major league debut, replacing Skubal for the fifth inning. Chicago reliever Tanner Banks made his debut with two scoreless innings, striking out four and surviving a game-ending flyball to the wall in left by Miguel Cabrera.
“I saw Miggy in the hallway just now and I said this was a good day for the win to be blowing in,” Banks said. “He smiled back at me.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: INF A.J. Pollock sat out after leaving Saturday with a hamstring strain. Pollock, who doesn’t believe the injury is serious, was due to leave soon on paternity leave anyway.
Tigers: RHP Kyle Funkhouser (shoulder) isn’t expected back before May.
UP NEXT
White Sox: Chicago is off Monday before hosting the Seattle Mariners in Tuesday’s home opener. RHP Vince Velasquez is scheduled to start for the White Sox against Seattle’s Matt Brash.
Tigers: Detroit hosts Boston on Monday, with Matt Manning scheduled to make his season debut against Boston’s Michael Wacha.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/back-from-suspension-anderson-helps-white-sox-rout-tigers/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:15 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/back-from-suspension-anderson-helps-white-sox-rout-tigers/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday took fresh aim at ghost guns, the privately made firearms without serial numbers that are increasingly cropping up in violent crimes, as he struggles to break through gridlock in Washington to address gun deaths and mass shootings.
Speaking at the White House, Biden highlighted the Justice Department’s work to finalize new regulations to crack down on ghost guns, and announced the nomination of Steve Dettlebach, who served as a U.S. attorney in Ohio from 2009 to 2016, to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“Law enforcement is sounding the alarm,” Biden said of ghost guns, briefly holding one up for cameras to see in the Rose Garden. “Our communities are paying the price.”
He promised the new regulations would save lives.
Still, the announcement on guns highlights the limits of Biden’s influence to push a sweeping congressional overhaul of the nation’s firearm laws in response to both a recent surge in violent crime and continued mass shootings. Congress has deadlocked on legislative proposals to reform gun laws for a decade, and executive actions have faced stiff headwinds in federal courts — even as the Democratic base has grown more vocal in calling on Biden to take more consequential action.
Dettlebach’s confirmation, too, is likely to be an uphill battle. Biden had to withdraw the nomination of his first ATF nominee, gun-control advocate David Chipman, after it stalled for months because of opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in the Senate.
Both Republican and Democratic administrations have failed to get nominees for the ATF position through the politically fraught process since the director’s position was made confirmable in 2006. Since then, only one nominee, former U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones, has been confirmed. Jones made it through the Senate in 2013 but only after a six-month struggle. Jones was acting director when President Barack Obama nominated him in January 2013.
The Biden administration’s plan on guns was first reported by Politico.
For nearly a year, the ghost gun rule has been making its way through the federal regulation process. Gun safety groups and Democrats in Congress have been pushing for the Justice Department to finish the rule for months. It will probably be met with heavy resistance from gun groups and draw litigation in the coming weeks.
Gun Owners of America vowed that it would immediately fight the rule.
“Just as we opposed the Trump Administration’s arbitrary ban on bump stocks, GOA will also sue Biden’s ATF to halt the implementation of this rule,” Aidan Johnston, the group’s director of federal affairs said in a statement. The group believes the rule violates the U.S. Constitution and several federal laws.
But gun safety advocacy groups, like Everytown for Gun Safety, which pushed the federal government for years to take action on ghost guns, applauded Biden’s moves and insisted that both Dettlebach’s appointment and the finalized rule will help combat gun violence.
“Ghost guns look like a gun, they shoot like a gun, and they kill like a gun, but up until now they haven’t been regulated like a gun,” said John Feinblatt, Everytown’s president.
Christian Heyne, the vice president of policy at Brady, another gun control group, said Dettlebach was “an unimpeachable public servant who has spent a career using the levers of government to hold negligent or nefarious actors accountable.”
Justice Department statistics show that nearly 24,000 ghost guns were recovered by law enforcement at crime scenes and reported to the government from 2016 to 2020. It is hard to say how many are circulating on the streets, in part because in many cases police departments don’t contact the government about the guns because they can’t be traced.
The new rule changes the current definition of a firearm under federal law to include unfinished parts, like the frame of a handgun or the receiver of a long gun. It says those parts must be licensed and include serial numbers. Manufacturers must also run background checks before a sale — as they do with other commercially made firearms. The requirement applies regardless of how the firearm was made, meaning it includes ghost guns made from individual parts, kits, or by 3D-printers.
Federally licensed firearms dealers must retain key records until they shut down their business or licensed activity and then transfer the records to ATF as they are currently required to do at the end of licensed activity. Previously, these dealers were permitted to destroy most records after 20 years, making it harder for law enforcement to trace firearms found at crime scenes.
“A year ago this week standing here with many of you, I instructed the attorney general to write a regulation that would rein in the proliferation of ghost guns because I was having trouble getting anything passed in the Congress,” Biden said.
The rule goes into effect 120 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register
For years, federal officials have been sounding the alarm about an increasing black market for homemade, military-style semi-automatic rifles and handguns. As well as turning up more frequently at crime scenes, ghost guns have been increasingly encountered when federal agents buy guns in undercover operations from gang members and other criminals.
Some states, like California, have enacted laws in recent years to require serial numbers to be stamped on ghost guns.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who was attending Monday’s event at the White House, applauded the move and pointed to a serious uptick in ghost guns being found by police. Police in Philadelphia have seen nearly a 500% increase in the number of ghost guns recovered in the past two years, Shapiro said. And just last week, a police officer there was shot by a ghost gun-wielding 18-year-old, who police said had also shot three others.
“This loophole has caused our nation countless lives,” Shapiro said in an interview. “Today is a critically important step to close that loophole.”
He said the move is likely to help drive down violence and aid both police and prosecutors in bringing their cases. The rule is also likely to help bring down the number of people who shouldn’t be purchasing firearms before a gun lands in their hand, he said.
“There are two challenges: One, criminals can easily buy them without going through a background check. And two, they are unserialized and untraceable.”
The critical component in building an untraceable gun is what is known as the lower receiver, a part typically made of metal or polymer. An unfinished receiver — sometimes referred to as an “80-percent receiver” — can be legally bought online with no serial numbers or other markings on it, no license required.
Police across the country have been reporting spikes in ghost guns being recovered by officers. The New York Police Department, for example, said officers found 131 firearms without serial numbers since January.
A gunman who killed his wife and four others in Northern California in 2017 had been prohibited from owning firearms, but he built his own to skirt the court order before his rampage. And in 2019, a teenager used a homemade handgun to fatally shoot two classmates and wound three others at a school in suburban Los Angeles. | https://www.cenlanow.com/politics/ap-politics/biden-to-nominate-new-atf-director-release-ghost-gun-rule/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:18 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/politics/ap-politics/biden-to-nominate-new-atf-director-release-ghost-gun-rule/ |
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Ted Scott was retiring last fall. He was done with golf, ready to do something else, probably teach the game. And when Scottie Scheffler called to ask the veteran caddie to work for him, an answer didn’t come easily.
Scott was truly torn. He told his family to pray on it for a week. They did, and they told him to take Scheffler’s offer. That still wasn’t convincing enough; Scott told the family to pray for another week. Nobody’s mind was changed.
Finally, he let Scheffler know the decision had been made.
“I didn’t choose it,” Scott said Sunday evening, sunlight falling over Augusta National, a couple of tears running down his face.
This job, this golfer, this moment, this Masters victory — in Scott’s eyes, it was all chosen for him. Scheffler is the No. 1 player in the world, the newly minted Masters champion, clearly the one ahead of everyone else in the game right now, and all that has come together for him since Scott — for whatever reason — decided that retirement could wait.
“He just knows this golf course so well,” Scheffler said. “I trust him so much on this golf course.”
Scott now has been part of three Masters wins as a caddie. He was on Bubba Watson’s bag for titles in 2012 and 2014. When he and Watson parted amicably last fall, Scott never expected that he would be back at Augusta National.
He wound up as the last caddie to leave the course, the champion’s bag slung over one shoulder, the flagstick from the 18th green still in his other hand. Caddies often take the flag with them; Scott took the whole pin and had no intention of giving it back.
“I’m humbled to be a part of the team, honestly,” Scott said. “I mean, I’ve never hit a shot. Watching these guys this close is the coolest thing. To be able to walk up 18 and six-putt or however many putts we had and still hold this thing is pretty amazing. I feel super fortunate to be a part of it. And I couldn’t be more grateful about it.”
Most caddies defer credit in the same way that Scott does. It’s not about them, they say. He’s not the first and won’t be the last to point out that the player hits the shots, and that the caddie is just along for the walk. All true.
But Scott also knows plenty about being the best in a competitive world. He’s a former foosball world champion — yes, foosball, the tabletop soccer game. He decided one day that he wanted to learn an instrument and taught himself how to play the piano. He is somewhere around a 5 handicap. The book on Scott is this: When he commits to something, it’s a full commitment.
And that’s why he might have been leery at first to work with Scheffler. But what really sold him on Scheffler was that golf wasn’t the absolute biggest thing in the 25-year-old’s life. Scheffler talks openly about his love for family. He speaks about faith, something that Scott holds dear as well. Scheffler might actually get more fired up about board-game competitions with friends than he does with anything that happens on the golf course.
The two just clicked. Scheffler now has four career wins, all in the last two months, all with Scott working with him.
“Ted has just done an unbelievable job,” said Scott Scheffler, the Masters champion’s father.
Scott wasn’t the first caddie to carry a bag for multiple Masters winners. Willie “Pappy” Stokes was with four of them — Henry Picard, Claude Harmon, Ben Hogan and Jack Burke Jr., though all that came in the era when caddies were provided by Augusta National. Players couldn’t bring their own until 1983.
It’s happened in modern times as well. Steve Williams was on the bag for three of Tiger Woods’ Masters wins, then was with Adam Scott for his victory at Augusta National in 2013. Joe LaCava caddied for Fred Couples in 1992, then was with Woods for his fifth Masters triumph, in 2019.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Ted as a person and as a caddie,” Scheffler said. “I respect him so much just as a person. He’s such a fun guy to be around. He’s a man of faith and I love him. I can’t say enough about him. You know, the qualities you look for in a person, Ted embodies pretty much all of them. He’s humble. He’s hard-working. He’s honest. He’s a good time to be around.”
Scott becomes the fifth caddie to be part of at least three Masters wins. Stokes won five, including two with Hogan. Willie Peterson had the bag for the first five of Jack Nicklaus’ six Masters wins. Nathaniel Avery — they called him “Iron Man” — won four times with Arnold Palmer. And Williams has four wins, three with Woods and then the other with Scott.
Scheffler is returning to the Masters next year as the defending champion. Scott expects to be right there alongside him again.
“I guess I’m going to have to keep working,” Scott said.
Right around that moment, an Augusta National member approached Scott and let him know that Scheffler was about to have the green jacket slipped over his shoulders for the first time.
“Want to go see them put a green jacket on him?” Scott was asked.
“Absolutely,” he said.
With that, the pin from 18 still in his hand, Scott took off running back toward the course. Retirement was in the other direction.
___
More AP Masters coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/the-masters | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/caddie-champ-ted-scott-gets-to-be-part-of-a-3rd-masters-win/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:22 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/caddie-champ-ted-scott-gets-to-be-part-of-a-3rd-masters-win/ |
NEVADA, Iowa (AP) — In 2008, this overwhelmingly white state was Barack Obama’s unlikely launching pad to become the nation’s first Black president. Fourteen years later, Iowans aren’t showing a similar embrace for the woman running to become its first Black governor.
Democrat Deidre DeJear is finding Iowa a much changed place, trending staunchly conservative, endorsing many aspects of Trumpism, with an electorate that is so far displaying little interest in her history-making candidacy.
Educated younger adults who were once reliable Democratic voters have fled rural Iowa seeking opportunities elsewhere. The strength of organized labor has eroded. Obama’s general election victories in 2008 and 2012 seem like distant memories.
The changes are part of a broader transformation that has spread through the Northern Plains over the past two decades, making it increasingly difficult for Democrats to compete in the region even as they make inroads in other places like the Deep South and Sun Belt.
“Times are so different from Obama’s 2008 campaign,” said Dave Leshtz, a veteran Democratic organizer from Iowa City, after a DeJear event in the liberal enclave. “It’s an entirely different state.”
DeJear, a 36-year-old Des Moines businesswoman, cemented her status as a rising political star in 2018 when she became the first Black candidate to win a statewide primary in Iowa. She lost the general election for secretary of state, but she won national attention and invitations from Democratic presidential hopefuls to serve as a state adviser.
She is struggling to translate that lower-wattage fame into support from voters. Only 31% of likely Iowa voters said they know enough about DeJear — running unopposed in the June 7 primary — to form an opinion, according to The Des Moines Register’s Iowa Poll, conducted in late February and early March.
Meanwhile, she posted an anemic $8,500 fundraising balance in January, raising less than $300,000 since announcing her candidacy in August. It paled next to Republican incumbent Gov. Kim Reynolds’ $4.8 million balance and $3.8 million in contributions.
Story County Democrat Barb Wheelock attributed part of DeJear’s struggle to racism, both inside the party and among the state’s voters.
“I think it’s part that she’s Black and people don’t think she’ll do very well — the people in our state party, the people with the money,” Wheelock, a 70-year-old retired physical therapist, said while attending a DeJear stop in Story County last month.
DeJear told The Associated Press that she suspected her race may be on some minds as she seeks supporters.
“Of course no one has said that to me outright,” DeJear said. “But there is a question of whether or not a Black woman could win. That is definitely a question.”
DeJear tried to put any such doubts aside as she bounded onto the stage at an event in Nevada, a small farm town in central Iowa. With an upbeat style and a trace of her native Mississippi accent, DeJear reminded the audience that Iowans boasted a groundbreaking legacy, including an Iowa Supreme Court decision that made Iowa the first state to desegregate public schools after the Civil War.
“I believe in what’s possible,” she said. “We made a conscientious decision that no matter what your skin color was, no matter what your race was, each and every one of our students should have access to a quality public education.”
It was a nod to an Iowa progressive streak that carried well into the 21st century.
In 2009, the Iowa high court ruled gay marriage legal, making the state the third to allow it, after similar rulings in Massachusetts and Connecticut but five years before the U.S. Supreme Court. A year before, Iowa voters had not only backed Obama by a healthy margin in the general election, they overwhelmingly sent liberal Democrat Tom Harkin to the U.S. Senate for a fifth term.
Iowans ushered in the new millennium with Tom Vilsack, a Democrat and former mayor from rural southeast Iowa, as governor. And during the 1988 Democratic presidential caucuses, the Rev. Jesse Jackson finished a notable fourth, relying on support from rural Iowa.
But a sharp decline of union jobs and an exodus of young, college-educated adults, have altered Iowa’s once dynamic political map.
In a striking illustration, Obama carried the state in November 2008 by winning 52 of its 99 counties. Joe Biden, who on Tuesday will make his first trip to Iowa as president, lost the state in 2020, winning only six counties.
After decades of divided state government, Republicans have controlled the Legislature and the governorship for six consecutive years, cutting taxes and reining in voting and abortion rights. Today, five of Iowa’s six members of Congress are Republicans.
State Rep. Ras Smith had hoped to interrupt the trend as a candidate for governor in this year’s race. The 34-year-old Smith, who was voted the Iowa Democratic Party’s “Rising Star” award recipient in 2019 and is Black, found it difficult to persuade some of the party’s major donors in the state, who are white, to give him a look.
Despite Smith’s promising profile and DeJear’s 2018 breakthrough, some wealthy Iowa Democrats sought out others to run, including state Rep. Todd Pritchard, who is from rural northern Iowa and white.
Smith said some influential donors declined his invitation to meet to discuss his campaign. Among them, he said, was Fred Hubbell, the 2018 Democratic nominee for governor. A wealthy Des Moines-area businessman, Hubbell spent $7 million of his own money in narrowly losing to Reynolds.
“It wasn’t about the dollars,” said Smith, who ended his campaign in January, leaving DeJear unopposed in the primary. “He didn’t come to an event and was turned off. We didn’t have coffee and I said something that pissed him off. That’s the part that felt disrespectful. It was disrespectful.”
Smith said he and Hubbell spoke by phone but never met despite several invitations. Hubbell did not respond to requests for comment.
“My party doesn’t think it’s nearly as racist,” said Tom Courtney, a former state senator and longtime union activist from the once-booming manufacturing corridor along the Mississippi River, who is white. “But some of that is going on.”
The sentiment stings for Iowa Democrats, as national party leaders, frustrated by the state’s lack of diversity, are taking steps to shift the early presidential nominating contest away from the traditionally first-in-the-nation caucus state.
Hubbell endorsed DeJear in a written statement last month, two months after Smith’s withdrawal made her the Democrats’ only candidate. Hubbell has since contributed to DeJear’s campaign, though her campaign declined to say how much. Smith has also endorsed DeJear, one of several Black Democratic women running for statewide office around the country this year.
Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams is again seeking the governorship. Former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley is running for U.S. Senate as a Democrat. And Florida Rep. Val Demings is the leading Democrat to face Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
But DeJear is the only Black woman campaigning in such a predominantly white state. In 2020, 90.4% of Iowans were white, according to census data. Roughly 62% of the nation’s population was white, and more than 13% Black.
Still, DeJear, who campaigned for Obama as a college student at Drake University in Des Moines in 2008, is optimistic she can relight the flame.
“We also look to Obama and what he was able to accomplish,” she said in the interview. “I believe that Iowans have this innate ability to see the humanity that exists in other folks. And that’s what drives us.”
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This story has been corrected to show the candidate’s first name is Diedre, not Dierdre. | https://www.cenlanow.com/politics/ap-politics/iowas-political-swing-makes-obamas-wins-harder-to-repeat/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:25 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/politics/ap-politics/iowas-political-swing-makes-obamas-wins-harder-to-repeat/ |
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Milwaukee Bucks used the final game of the regular season to rest up before defending their NBA crown.
The Cavaliers didn’t have any such luxury.
Kevin Love made eight 3-pointers and scored 32 points as Cleveland took the No. 8 play-in spot — and a matchup against Brooklyn — with a 133-115 victory Sunday over the Bucks, who sat superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and their other regulars.
The Cavs were in jeopardy of falling all the way to the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference with a loss.
However, they ended any suspense immediately, scoring the first 14 points and dominating a team of backups to the Bucks’ backups. The Cavs made 10 3-pointers while building a 28-point lead in the first quarter and Cleveland led by 33 at half.
“They just played the game with purpose,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Times this year we’ve been in circumstances where we didn’t play the game with 48 minutes of purpose. Tonight, I thought they did a great job of coming out and setting the tone and playing the game the way we needed to play it.”
Love did all his damage in 15 minutes, matching his career high for 3s and adding 10 rebounds.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Love is the first player since 1954 (in the shot clock era) to record at least and 10 rebounds in 15 minutes or less.
Rookie Evan Mobley added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavs, who won just 22 games a year ago and weren’t expected to be anywhere near the playoffs. But here they are and will now face the Nets in Brooklyn on Tuesday night with the winner advancing to the first round.
Cleveland went 1-3 against Brooklyn this season, but the Cavs led the Nets in the fourth quarter on Friday night before collapsing in crunch time.
“I like our chances when it comes down to a dog fight,” Love said. “That’s what it’s going to be come Tuesday night.”
The Bucks whittled a 40-point deficit to 12 in the fourth against Cleveland’s reserves before Bickerstaff re-inserted Mobley, Darius Garland and Lauri Markkanen and the Cavs regained control.
Milwaukee rookie Sandro Mamukelashvili had a season-high 28 points and added 13 rebounds.
With a top-three seed already secured, the Bucks rested Antetokounmpo along with starters Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis — a reward for the defending champs having another solid year.
Jrue Holiday started for the Bucks but played just seven seconds. He would earn a bonus by playing, so Holiday took the floor for the jump ball, immediately committed a foul and checked out.
Assuming they get the No. 3 seed (No. 2 Boston plays at Memphis on Sunday night), the Bucks will play No. 6 Chicago in the first round and avoid an early matchup against Brooklyn, which took Milwaukee to seven games in the conference semifinals last season.
“It’s great to have 82 games in the bank, and we have pretty good health,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “The guys know we have a special group and we have a special opportunity.”
The Cavaliers, who have maneuvered around injuries all season, are still without All-Star center Jarrett Allen. He hasn’t played since breaking a finger on March 5, but might be ready for the postseason.
While the Cavs have loftier goals, Bickerstaff wanted his players to appreciate making the play-tournament.
“These opportunities, and this is what I want our guys to understand, they’re not promised, they’re not guaranteed,” he said. “We have guys on this team that it took them six or seven years to get to the playoffs. Me, personally, it was my ninth season before I had an opportunity to compete in a playoff, so this is noting that just because you are around the league, it’s guaranteed.”
TIP-INS
Bucks: Despite finishing the season averaging 29.9 points, 11.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists, Antetokounmpo appears to be an outsider in a tight MVP race. … G George Hill (neck soreness) was held out, but Budenholzer said he’s “pretty optimistic” about the veteran playing in the postseason. Hill missed 17 games with the injury from Jan. 30 to March 12. … G Grayson Allen (left hip soreness) was unavailable for the third straight game.
Cavaliers: C Moses Brown had his two-way contract converted to a standard NBA pact. He’s now eligible for the play-in tournament and playoffs. … Rajon Rondo had a season-high 13 assists. … Cleveland finished 44-38, doubling its win total from 2021.
ALLEN UPDATE
Allen got in an intense workout on the floor before the game, going through a variety of drills and shooting with his injured left hand.
He’s no longer wearing a protective splint and his fingers are merely taped, another strong sign he’s close to being ready.
The Cavaliers have missed him at both ends of the court.
“He’s making steps,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s just one of those things, the day will come and he’ll be ready to go.”
UP NEXT
Bucks: The Bucks went 4-0 against the Bulls this season.
Cavaliers: Will make their first play-in appearance Tuesday.
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More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/cavs-blast-bucks-backups-133-115-to-earn-no-8-play-in-seed/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:29 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/cavs-blast-bucks-backups-133-115-to-earn-no-8-play-in-seed/ |
DETROIT (AP) — Tim Anderson swung right back into action after serving a suspension stemming from an incident last season, hitting two doubles and a single as the Chicago White Sox routed the Detroit Tigers 10-1 on Sunday.
Anderson sat out the first two games as a penalty for making contact with an umpire on Sept. 27.
The All-Star shortstop and 2019 AL batting champion made an immediate impact, hitting a double on the first pitch of the game. He wound up scoring twice for the AL Central champions.
“I spent two days in the hotel watching us play on television, which is pretty boring,” he said. “I was ready to go as soon as I got something I could hit.”
Anderson is hitting .346 with 26 doubles and 79 runs in 90 career games against the Tigers.
“We won yesterday, but it was obvious how much we missed Tim,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “I don’t think there’s a better shortstop in the game. There are some guys at his level, but no one who is above him.”
Andrew Vaughn homered and drove in four runs for the White Sox, who won twice in the season-opening three-game series.
“We got our hearts broken in the ninth inning on opening day, but we came right back and won the next two games,” La Russa said. “There’s never a question about this team’s desire to win.”
White Sox starter Michael Kopech allowed one run on two hits and two walks in four innings, striking out three.
“It felt good to get out there and get through four innings,” said Kopech, who was on a 70-pitch limit. “There were some things that went wrong, but I was able to fix them pretty quickly.”
Tariq Skubal (0-1) gave up five runs on seven hits in four innings.
“I never found a good rhythm today,” he said. “I wasn’t putting the fastball where I wanted it, and my changeup command wasn’t good, either.”
The White Sox took a 2-0 lead in the first off Skubal (0-1). After Anderson doubled, Luis Robert singled and stole second. Jose Abreu had an RBI groundout and Eloy Jiménez followed with a sacrifice fly.
“They put together some long innings, and a lot of that was Tim Anderson doing what he does,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Every time the lineup rolled back over to him, we were in trouble.”
The Tigers got a run back in the second on Victor Reyes’ triple. Abreu doubled home Robert to make it 3-1 in the third and Josh Harrison added an RBI single later in the inning.
Shortstop Javier Báez’s throwing error set up Danny Mendick’s RBI double in the Chicago fourth.
The White Sox added four runs off rookie Elvin Rodriguez in the seventh. Jimenez hit an RBI single and Vaughn followed with a three-run homer.
Vaughn singled home another run in the ninth.
“I’ll be honest — I wasn’t comfortable when it was 9-1 in the seventh,” La Russa said. “It is too easy these days to give up a crooked number and be in trouble all over again. I didn’t really enjoy it until the last three outs.”
The Tigers had no hits and two walks in the final seven innings.
“We were behind early, and I think our at-bats quite honestly got a little rushed as the game went along,” Hinch said. “They pitched with more aggressiveness than we were ready for.”
WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUES
Rodriguez made his major league debut, replacing Skubal for the fifth inning. Chicago reliever Tanner Banks made his debut with two scoreless innings, striking out four and surviving a game-ending flyball to the wall in left by Miguel Cabrera.
“I saw Miggy in the hallway just now and I said this was a good day for the win to be blowing in,” Banks said. “He smiled back at me.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: INF A.J. Pollock sat out after leaving Saturday with a hamstring strain. Pollock, who doesn’t believe the injury is serious, was due to leave soon on paternity leave anyway.
Tigers: RHP Kyle Funkhouser (shoulder) isn’t expected back before May.
UP NEXT
White Sox: Chicago is off Monday before hosting the Seattle Mariners in Tuesday’s home opener. RHP Vince Velasquez is scheduled to start for the White Sox against Seattle’s Matt Brash.
Tigers: Detroit hosts Boston on Monday, with Matt Manning scheduled to make his season debut against Boston’s Michael Wacha.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/back-from-suspension-anderson-helps-white-sox-rout-tigers/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:32 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/back-from-suspension-anderson-helps-white-sox-rout-tigers/ |
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby decided enough was enough.
The Penguins were mired in a lengthy, late-season losing streak and Crosby sat on the precipice of another NHL milestone. Pittsburgh’s captain took care of both with a flick of the wrist in overtime.
Crosby scored the second of his two goals at 2:21 of overtime for his 1,400th career point, helping the Penguins end a four-game skid with a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Sunday.
“When Sid elevates his game, like he did tonight, it gives our whole bench a boost,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He leads by example, just how he plays the game and I thought he was a consistent threat all night.”
Crosby added an assist in his 1,100th game, becoming the seventh-fastest — and third active — player in NHL history to reach the 1,400-point milestone. It was his 158th career three-point game, tying Guy Lafleur and Joe Sakic for 11th in league history.
It was also Crosby’s 77th game-winning goal, one behind Evgeni Malkin and Jaromir Jagr for the most in team history. Crosby took sole possession of first on the NHL’s all-time overtime points list and scored his 19th career overtime goal, tying Jagr for second most.
On his latest winner, Crosby got a pass from Rikard Rakell and tipped it behind David Rittich near the post.
“Sid was on the back door, so I tried to get it to him,” Rakell said.
Jason Zucker also scored in regulation and Rakell assisted on all three goals for the Penguins, who have only three wins in their last 10 games. Casey DeSmith stopped 33 shots for Pittsburgh, which regained a four-point advantage over Washington for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
“It’s fun being in an emotional game like that,” Crosby said. “Down the stretch, the points are so important, especially now when we’re fighting for position.”
Matt Duchene and Nick Cousins had goals for Nashville, which lost its second straight. The Predators have dropped three of their last five after recently winning 11 of 17 overall. Rittich made 27 saves.
“I think there’s a lot to like about our game,” Predators coach John Hynes said. “For lots of stretches, we were able to dictate the terms of the game. I thought it was a good, collective effort and I felt like we deserved better.”
Cousins gave Nashville a 2-1 lead at 4:31 of the third period when he sent a failed Pittsburgh clearing attempt over DeSmith’s shoulder from the slot.
Zucker tied it for Pittsburgh at 8:53 of the third when he took a pass from Crosby and sent a backhander behind Rittich from the slot. It was his first goal since Jan. 17, as he recently returned after missing 40 of the last 42 games because of an injury.
Crosby opened the scoring at 4:58. Rakell created a turnover in the corner and fed Crosby, who ripped a one-timer behind Rittich from the left faceoff dot.
Duchene tied it with 11 seconds left in the first on a partial breakaway. The Penguins’ Marcus Pettersson fell on the play, creating the breakaway, as Duchene beat DeSmith with a forehand deke.
DeSmith kept the game tied at 1 through two periods as the Predators held an 18-4 shots advantage through 28 minutes. He made a desperation left pad save on Tanner Jeannot and a point-blank stop on Duchene during a Predators power-play.
CROSBY CLIMBS THE RANKS
Crosby passed Jari Kurri for 22nd place on the NHL’s career points list with his assist on Zucker’s goal.
At 1,400 points, Crosby is two behind Alex Ovechkin for 21st in league history. Only Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman reached 1,400 points with one franchise.
Crosby became the first player in franchise history to appear in 1,100 games with Pittsburgh and the fifth member of his draft class to hit the mark. Crosby has the seventh-most points through 1,100 games in NHL history — and sixth-most not including Lemieux, who did not play 1,100 career games.
HEATED EXCHANGE
The Predators opened the third period on the power play. Malkin was assessed a four-minute double minor after he cross-checked Mark Borowiecki in the face, drawing blood. Borowiecki, who wasn’t on the bench to start the third period, was given a slashing minor.
Pittsburgh’s Brian Boyle took a slashing minor during the penalty kill, giving Nashville a five-on-three for 35 seconds, but the Penguins killed off the early penalties.
“It’s an emotional game out there,” Sullivan said. “It’s physical and sometimes that stuff happens. Obviously, we don’t want our best players in the penalty box, but those are competitive guys.”
NOTES: Duchene is tied with teammate Filip Forsberg for the single-season franchise record with both having a career-best 38 goals. … Mikael Granlund assisted on Duchene’s first-period goal and is one away from 300 in his career. … G Juuse Saros did not dress for the Predators because of a non-COVID-related illness. Connor Ingram was recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) and backed up Rittich.
UP NEXT
Predators: Open a five-game homestand Tuesday against San Jose.
Penguins: Travel to the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
—
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/crosby-gives-pens-ot-win-over-preds-reaches-1400-points/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:36 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/crosby-gives-pens-ot-win-over-preds-reaches-1400-points/ |
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Ted Scott was retiring last fall. He was done with golf, ready to do something else, probably teach the game. And when Scottie Scheffler called to ask the veteran caddie to work for him, an answer didn’t come easily.
Scott was truly torn. He told his family to pray on it for a week. They did, and they told him to take Scheffler’s offer. That still wasn’t convincing enough; Scott told the family to pray for another week. Nobody’s mind was changed.
Finally, he let Scheffler know the decision had been made.
“I didn’t choose it,” Scott said Sunday evening, sunlight falling over Augusta National, a couple of tears running down his face.
This job, this golfer, this moment, this Masters victory — in Scott’s eyes, it was all chosen for him. Scheffler is the No. 1 player in the world, the newly minted Masters champion, clearly the one ahead of everyone else in the game right now, and all that has come together for him since Scott — for whatever reason — decided that retirement could wait.
“He just knows this golf course so well,” Scheffler said. “I trust him so much on this golf course.”
Scott now has been part of three Masters wins as a caddie. He was on Bubba Watson’s bag for titles in 2012 and 2014. When he and Watson parted amicably last fall, Scott never expected that he would be back at Augusta National.
He wound up as the last caddie to leave the course, the champion’s bag slung over one shoulder, the flagstick from the 18th green still in his other hand. Caddies often take the flag with them; Scott took the whole pin and had no intention of giving it back.
“I’m humbled to be a part of the team, honestly,” Scott said. “I mean, I’ve never hit a shot. Watching these guys this close is the coolest thing. To be able to walk up 18 and six-putt or however many putts we had and still hold this thing is pretty amazing. I feel super fortunate to be a part of it. And I couldn’t be more grateful about it.”
Most caddies defer credit in the same way that Scott does. It’s not about them, they say. He’s not the first and won’t be the last to point out that the player hits the shots, and that the caddie is just along for the walk. All true.
But Scott also knows plenty about being the best in a competitive world. He’s a former foosball world champion — yes, foosball, the tabletop soccer game. He decided one day that he wanted to learn an instrument and taught himself how to play the piano. He is somewhere around a 5 handicap. The book on Scott is this: When he commits to something, it’s a full commitment.
And that’s why he might have been leery at first to work with Scheffler. But what really sold him on Scheffler was that golf wasn’t the absolute biggest thing in the 25-year-old’s life. Scheffler talks openly about his love for family. He speaks about faith, something that Scott holds dear as well. Scheffler might actually get more fired up about board-game competitions with friends than he does with anything that happens on the golf course.
The two just clicked. Scheffler now has four career wins, all in the last two months, all with Scott working with him.
“Ted has just done an unbelievable job,” said Scott Scheffler, the Masters champion’s father.
Scott wasn’t the first caddie to carry a bag for multiple Masters winners. Willie “Pappy” Stokes was with four of them — Henry Picard, Claude Harmon, Ben Hogan and Jack Burke Jr., though all that came in the era when caddies were provided by Augusta National. Players couldn’t bring their own until 1983.
It’s happened in modern times as well. Steve Williams was on the bag for three of Tiger Woods’ Masters wins, then was with Adam Scott for his victory at Augusta National in 2013. Joe LaCava caddied for Fred Couples in 1992, then was with Woods for his fifth Masters triumph, in 2019.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Ted as a person and as a caddie,” Scheffler said. “I respect him so much just as a person. He’s such a fun guy to be around. He’s a man of faith and I love him. I can’t say enough about him. You know, the qualities you look for in a person, Ted embodies pretty much all of them. He’s humble. He’s hard-working. He’s honest. He’s a good time to be around.”
Scott becomes the fifth caddie to be part of at least three Masters wins. Stokes won five, including two with Hogan. Willie Peterson had the bag for the first five of Jack Nicklaus’ six Masters wins. Nathaniel Avery — they called him “Iron Man” — won four times with Arnold Palmer. And Williams has four wins, three with Woods and then the other with Scott.
Scheffler is returning to the Masters next year as the defending champion. Scott expects to be right there alongside him again.
“I guess I’m going to have to keep working,” Scott said.
Right around that moment, an Augusta National member approached Scott and let him know that Scheffler was about to have the green jacket slipped over his shoulders for the first time.
“Want to go see them put a green jacket on him?” Scott was asked.
“Absolutely,” he said.
With that, the pin from 18 still in his hand, Scott took off running back toward the course. Retirement was in the other direction.
___
More AP Masters coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/the-masters | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/caddie-champ-ted-scott-gets-to-be-part-of-a-3rd-masters-win/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:39 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/caddie-champ-ted-scott-gets-to-be-part-of-a-3rd-masters-win/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nelson Cruz hit his 450th home run and added a tiebreaking two-run single in a three-run eighth inning that lifted the Washington Nationals over the Mets 4-2 on Sunday and prevented New York from an opening four-game sweep.
Washington trailed 2-1 in the eighth when Yadiel Hernández singled leading off against Chasen Shreve, and Maikel Franco singled pinch-runner Dee Strange-Gordon to third against Trevor Williams (0-1).
Lucius Fox, who started in his major league debut, dragged a safety squeeze sacrifice bunt, and Strange-Gordon slid home headfirst ahead of first baseman Pete Alonso’s underhand toss.
Victor Robles sacrificed and Cesar Hernandez grounded to Alonso, whose throw to second for a force was wide to the right field side for an error. Juan Soto grounded to Alonso, who threw home for a forceout.
Cruz, who put the Nationals ahead in the first inning with his first home run for Washington. grounded a fastball up the middle and just past shortstop Francisco Lindor for a 4-2 lead.
Kyle Finnegan (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth, and Tanner Rainey worked around Mark Canha’s leadoff single in the ninth for his first save.
New York had been trying for its fifth 4-0 starts, its first since 2012. The Mets have not swept the Nationals in Washington since 2018.
Erick Fedde became Washington’s first starter to pitch five innings, allowing two runs and five hits. Francisco Lindor’s first homer tied the game in a 34-pitch fifth, when Canha hit a go-ahead single.
Mets starter Carlos Carrasco retired 15 consecutive batters after allowing a first-inning single to Josh Bell. Carrasco allowed two hits, struck out five and walked none in 5 2/3 innings.
BEREAVEMENT
Mets closer Edwin Díaz remains away from the team after the death of his grandfather. He is expected to rejoin the team Monday in Philadelphia and is eligible to be activated Tuesday.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: OF Starling Marte was not in Sunday’s starting lineup. Marte had oblique soreness at the start of spring training. Showalter said Marte “feels great” but the manager wants to be cautious.
Nationals: RHP Aníbal Sánchez is “doubtful” for Monday’s expected start in Atlanta because of a stiff neck. The Nationals also placed RHP Mason Thompson (right biceps strain) on the 10-day injured list. RHP Hunter Harvey was recalled from Triple-A Rochester.
UP NEXT
Mets: RHP Taijuan Walker will make his season debut Monday in Philadelphia.
Nationals: Were unsure who will start Monday in Atlanta.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/cruz-homers-keys-nats-over-mets-4-2-with-8th-inning-hit/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:43 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/cruz-homers-keys-nats-over-mets-4-2-with-8th-inning-hit/ |
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Milwaukee Bucks used the final game of the regular season to rest up before defending their NBA crown.
The Cavaliers didn’t have any such luxury.
Kevin Love made eight 3-pointers and scored 32 points as Cleveland took the No. 8 play-in spot — and a matchup against Brooklyn — with a 133-115 victory Sunday over the Bucks, who sat superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and their other regulars.
The Cavs were in jeopardy of falling all the way to the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference with a loss.
However, they ended any suspense immediately, scoring the first 14 points and dominating a team of backups to the Bucks’ backups. The Cavs made 10 3-pointers while building a 28-point lead in the first quarter and Cleveland led by 33 at half.
“They just played the game with purpose,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Times this year we’ve been in circumstances where we didn’t play the game with 48 minutes of purpose. Tonight, I thought they did a great job of coming out and setting the tone and playing the game the way we needed to play it.”
Love did all his damage in 15 minutes, matching his career high for 3s and adding 10 rebounds.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Love is the first player since 1954 (in the shot clock era) to record at least and 10 rebounds in 15 minutes or less.
Rookie Evan Mobley added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavs, who won just 22 games a year ago and weren’t expected to be anywhere near the playoffs. But here they are and will now face the Nets in Brooklyn on Tuesday night with the winner advancing to the first round.
Cleveland went 1-3 against Brooklyn this season, but the Cavs led the Nets in the fourth quarter on Friday night before collapsing in crunch time.
“I like our chances when it comes down to a dog fight,” Love said. “That’s what it’s going to be come Tuesday night.”
The Bucks whittled a 40-point deficit to 12 in the fourth against Cleveland’s reserves before Bickerstaff re-inserted Mobley, Darius Garland and Lauri Markkanen and the Cavs regained control.
Milwaukee rookie Sandro Mamukelashvili had a season-high 28 points and added 13 rebounds.
With a top-three seed already secured, the Bucks rested Antetokounmpo along with starters Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis — a reward for the defending champs having another solid year.
Jrue Holiday started for the Bucks but played just seven seconds. He would earn a bonus by playing, so Holiday took the floor for the jump ball, immediately committed a foul and checked out.
Assuming they get the No. 3 seed (No. 2 Boston plays at Memphis on Sunday night), the Bucks will play No. 6 Chicago in the first round and avoid an early matchup against Brooklyn, which took Milwaukee to seven games in the conference semifinals last season.
“It’s great to have 82 games in the bank, and we have pretty good health,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “The guys know we have a special group and we have a special opportunity.”
The Cavaliers, who have maneuvered around injuries all season, are still without All-Star center Jarrett Allen. He hasn’t played since breaking a finger on March 5, but might be ready for the postseason.
While the Cavs have loftier goals, Bickerstaff wanted his players to appreciate making the play-tournament.
“These opportunities, and this is what I want our guys to understand, they’re not promised, they’re not guaranteed,” he said. “We have guys on this team that it took them six or seven years to get to the playoffs. Me, personally, it was my ninth season before I had an opportunity to compete in a playoff, so this is noting that just because you are around the league, it’s guaranteed.”
TIP-INS
Bucks: Despite finishing the season averaging 29.9 points, 11.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists, Antetokounmpo appears to be an outsider in a tight MVP race. … G George Hill (neck soreness) was held out, but Budenholzer said he’s “pretty optimistic” about the veteran playing in the postseason. Hill missed 17 games with the injury from Jan. 30 to March 12. … G Grayson Allen (left hip soreness) was unavailable for the third straight game.
Cavaliers: C Moses Brown had his two-way contract converted to a standard NBA pact. He’s now eligible for the play-in tournament and playoffs. … Rajon Rondo had a season-high 13 assists. … Cleveland finished 44-38, doubling its win total from 2021.
ALLEN UPDATE
Allen got in an intense workout on the floor before the game, going through a variety of drills and shooting with his injured left hand.
He’s no longer wearing a protective splint and his fingers are merely taped, another strong sign he’s close to being ready.
The Cavaliers have missed him at both ends of the court.
“He’s making steps,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s just one of those things, the day will come and he’ll be ready to go.”
UP NEXT
Bucks: The Bucks went 4-0 against the Bulls this season.
Cavaliers: Will make their first play-in appearance Tuesday.
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More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/cavs-blast-bucks-backups-133-115-to-earn-no-8-play-in-seed/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:46 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/cavs-blast-bucks-backups-133-115-to-earn-no-8-play-in-seed/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Red Sox slugger Bobby Dalbec didn’t homer until the 19th game of his rookie season last year, a slump that nearly took him into May.
“Oh, I remember,” he quipped.
He’ll remember this one more fondly.
Dalbec hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the sixth inning and Boston avoided a season-opening sweep against its longtime rival with a 4-3 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday night.
Boston blew multi-run leads in the first two games of the series and did so again Sunday. This time, the Red Sox rallied back, with Dalbec connecting off reliever Clarke Schmidt (0-1) for his first of the season.
The Red Sox ended an eight-game regular-season skid against New York — a stretch that doesn’t include their victory in last year’s AL wild-card game. The rivals don’t play again until July 7.
Rookie right-hander Kutter Crawford (1-1) threw two of Boston’s 5 2/3 scoreless relief innings for his first big league win, and Jake Diekman pitched the ninth for his first save. J.D. Martinez had an RBI double, one of the team’s five hits.
New York’s Anthony Rizzo made it 3-all with a two-run single in the fourth, scoring Yankees newcomers Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jose Trevino after they opened the inning with their first hits in pinstripes.
Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton continued torrid starts to the season. Rizzo had a hit and walked twice, and Stanton had three hits. Both homered in each of New York’s first two games. Stanton had gone deep in six straight games against the Red Sox, including the postseason.
Boston is going closer-by-committee to start the year, and Diekman surely earned himself another ninth-inning look. The sidearm-slinging lefty struck out Aaron Judge on 11 pitches to open the ninth, then got Stanton and Joey Gallo swinging, too.
“He’s absolutely nasty,” Red Sox starter Tanner Houck said.
Dalbec hit 25 homers as a rookie last season but batted .240 with 156 strikeouts in 133 games. He improved dramatically in the second half, posting a .955 OPS and driving in 42 runs over 61 games. The 26-year-old said he learned late last year how to make quick fixes when his swing got out of whack, something that helped him bounce back this weekend after striking out four times in Boston’s first two games.
“In August and September, whenever he got a pitch that he can handle, he put a pretty good swing on it,” manager Alex Cora said. “And that was a really good one.”
Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery took Xander Bogaerts’ 103 mph grounder off his left knee in the first inning and fell to the ground screaming. He remained in the game but gave up Martinez’s RBI double the next at-bat and trailed 2-0 after the top of the first.
Montgomery completed 3 1/3 innings of three-run ball. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said X-rays on Montgomery’s knee were negative, but the left-hander was stiffening up after the game. He will be re-evaluated Monday.
“Obviously to see him rolling around like that in pain was certainly concerning,” Boone said. “Pretty gutsy effort to kind of walk it off.”
New York forced Houck to throw 31 pitches in the bottom of the inning but left the bases loaded. The first inning took 37 minutes, part of yet another sluggish Sox-Yanks game that lasted 3:40.
Yankees leadoff man Josh Donaldson struck out looking three times for the first time in his career. All three came against Houck.
New York stranded 11 runners Sunday and 25 over the three-game series.
Boston’s Christian Arroyo made his first big league start in right field and slid to take away a hit from Gleyber Torres in the seventh.
The Red Sox used six pitchers and New York needed five. The teams combined for 31 pitching changes in the three-game set.
“It didn’t look pretty, right?” Cora said.
TALL COMPANY
The Saint Peter’s men’s basketball team was honored prior to the game for its unexpected run to the Elite Eight. Senior forward KC Ndefo delivered a strike for the ceremonial first pitch.
STAY AROUND
The Red Sox signed right-handed reliever Garrett Whitlock to an $18.75 million, four-year deal Sunday covering 2023-26 that includes two club options and escalators that could increase the total to $44.5 million over six seasons.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: New 2B Trevor Story was out of the lineup and away from the team with flu-like symptoms. A COVID-19 test came back negative. … RHP Matt Barnes remained out with a tight back, but Boston thought he might be ready to pitch Monday.
Yankees: C Ben Rortvedt is expected to ramp up activity Monday as he works back from a strained right oblique muscle. There’s still no estimate on when he’ll return to game action.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: Begin a three-game set in Detroit on Monday. RHP Michael Wacha (3-5, 5.05 ERA in 2021) will face RHP Matt Manning (4-7, 5.80). Former Red Sox LHP Eduardo Rodríguez pitches for the Tigers on Wednesday.
Yankees: Open a four-game series at home against the hot-hitting Blue Jays on Monday night. RHP Jameson Taillon (8-6, 4.30) faces Toronto RHP Alek Manoah (9-2, 3.22).
___
Follow Jake Seiner: https://twitter.com/Jake_Seiner
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/dalbecs-hr-helps-red-sox-avoid-sweep-beat-yankees-4-3/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:51 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/dalbecs-hr-helps-red-sox-avoid-sweep-beat-yankees-4-3/ |
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby decided enough was enough.
The Penguins were mired in a lengthy, late-season losing streak and Crosby sat on the precipice of another NHL milestone. Pittsburgh’s captain took care of both with a flick of the wrist in overtime.
Crosby scored the second of his two goals at 2:21 of overtime for his 1,400th career point, helping the Penguins end a four-game skid with a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Sunday.
“When Sid elevates his game, like he did tonight, it gives our whole bench a boost,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He leads by example, just how he plays the game and I thought he was a consistent threat all night.”
Crosby added an assist in his 1,100th game, becoming the seventh-fastest — and third active — player in NHL history to reach the 1,400-point milestone. It was his 158th career three-point game, tying Guy Lafleur and Joe Sakic for 11th in league history.
It was also Crosby’s 77th game-winning goal, one behind Evgeni Malkin and Jaromir Jagr for the most in team history. Crosby took sole possession of first on the NHL’s all-time overtime points list and scored his 19th career overtime goal, tying Jagr for second most.
On his latest winner, Crosby got a pass from Rikard Rakell and tipped it behind David Rittich near the post.
“Sid was on the back door, so I tried to get it to him,” Rakell said.
Jason Zucker also scored in regulation and Rakell assisted on all three goals for the Penguins, who have only three wins in their last 10 games. Casey DeSmith stopped 33 shots for Pittsburgh, which regained a four-point advantage over Washington for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
“It’s fun being in an emotional game like that,” Crosby said. “Down the stretch, the points are so important, especially now when we’re fighting for position.”
Matt Duchene and Nick Cousins had goals for Nashville, which lost its second straight. The Predators have dropped three of their last five after recently winning 11 of 17 overall. Rittich made 27 saves.
“I think there’s a lot to like about our game,” Predators coach John Hynes said. “For lots of stretches, we were able to dictate the terms of the game. I thought it was a good, collective effort and I felt like we deserved better.”
Cousins gave Nashville a 2-1 lead at 4:31 of the third period when he sent a failed Pittsburgh clearing attempt over DeSmith’s shoulder from the slot.
Zucker tied it for Pittsburgh at 8:53 of the third when he took a pass from Crosby and sent a backhander behind Rittich from the slot. It was his first goal since Jan. 17, as he recently returned after missing 40 of the last 42 games because of an injury.
Crosby opened the scoring at 4:58. Rakell created a turnover in the corner and fed Crosby, who ripped a one-timer behind Rittich from the left faceoff dot.
Duchene tied it with 11 seconds left in the first on a partial breakaway. The Penguins’ Marcus Pettersson fell on the play, creating the breakaway, as Duchene beat DeSmith with a forehand deke.
DeSmith kept the game tied at 1 through two periods as the Predators held an 18-4 shots advantage through 28 minutes. He made a desperation left pad save on Tanner Jeannot and a point-blank stop on Duchene during a Predators power-play.
CROSBY CLIMBS THE RANKS
Crosby passed Jari Kurri for 22nd place on the NHL’s career points list with his assist on Zucker’s goal.
At 1,400 points, Crosby is two behind Alex Ovechkin for 21st in league history. Only Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman reached 1,400 points with one franchise.
Crosby became the first player in franchise history to appear in 1,100 games with Pittsburgh and the fifth member of his draft class to hit the mark. Crosby has the seventh-most points through 1,100 games in NHL history — and sixth-most not including Lemieux, who did not play 1,100 career games.
HEATED EXCHANGE
The Predators opened the third period on the power play. Malkin was assessed a four-minute double minor after he cross-checked Mark Borowiecki in the face, drawing blood. Borowiecki, who wasn’t on the bench to start the third period, was given a slashing minor.
Pittsburgh’s Brian Boyle took a slashing minor during the penalty kill, giving Nashville a five-on-three for 35 seconds, but the Penguins killed off the early penalties.
“It’s an emotional game out there,” Sullivan said. “It’s physical and sometimes that stuff happens. Obviously, we don’t want our best players in the penalty box, but those are competitive guys.”
NOTES: Duchene is tied with teammate Filip Forsberg for the single-season franchise record with both having a career-best 38 goals. … Mikael Granlund assisted on Duchene’s first-period goal and is one away from 300 in his career. … G Juuse Saros did not dress for the Predators because of a non-COVID-related illness. Connor Ingram was recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) and backed up Rittich.
UP NEXT
Predators: Open a five-game homestand Tuesday against San Jose.
Penguins: Travel to the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
—
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/crosby-gives-pens-ot-win-over-preds-reaches-1400-points/ | 2022-04-11T19:37:53 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/crosby-gives-pens-ot-win-over-preds-reaches-1400-points/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lars Eller got comfortable back at center, and the Washington Capitals seem to have found a groove after a bump in the road.
Returning to his natural position after two games on the wing, Eller scored the go-ahead goal and assisted on another Sunday to help the Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 4-2 and extend their winning streak to three.
Eller was only back at center because Nicklas Backstrom was scratched for what the team called “body maintenance,” and he made the most of it by putting Washington ahead with 12:42 left and setting up Tom Wilson’s 23rd goal of the season.
“It felt very satisfying, of course, netting a couple of big goals with Tom and (linemate Anthony Mantha),” Eller said. “We had a good game going, feeling good on the puck and really happy with how we played.”
With Eller as an important part of the rotation, Washington’s penalty kill was a perfect 4 of 4 against Boston’s power play.
“The guys were buzzing,” said goaltender Vitek Vanecek, who had to make only three of his 30 saves short-handed. “They were blocking shots. Boston tried some passes, and we broke them up, so that was huge. That’s what we need at this time.”
The Capitals are also getting more than what they need from Wilson, who has four goals in six games and reached 50 points in a season for the first time in his career. John Carlson also scored his third goal in as many games and Alex Ovechkin sealed it with an empty-netter.
Ovechkin’s goal was his 45th of the season and 775th of his NHL career. His ninth empty-net goal tied Pavel Bure’s single-season record.
After beating the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, the Capitals are inching closer to their biggest rivals and could soon pass them for third in the Metropolitan Division — which would mean avoiding the Eastern Conference-leading Florida Panthers in the first round. Washington’s three-game streak followed back-to-back deflating losses at home.
“We don’t have any room to lay off the gas,” Carlson said. “We’re in a tight race. We know that if we played like we were (playing) down the stretch here, our season’s going to be really short.”
Boston, which is also jockeying for playoff positioning in the East, lost defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to an upper-body injury in the first period. He attempted to hit Washington’s Garnet Hathaway about eight minutes into the game and appeared to injure his left arm or shoulder.
Coach Bruce Cassidy called Grzelcyk’s departure “a big, big, big factor in the game, in our inability to transition very well.”
The banged-up Bruins were already playing without top right winger David Pastrnak and trade deadline acquisition Hampus Lindholm because of injuries. They got goals from Curtis Lazar and Erik Haula and a handful of highlight-reel saves from Linus Ullmark among his 27, but the continuation of power-play woes meant the end of their two-game winning streak.
Boston finished its four-game road trip 0 of 16 on the power play.
“We’ve had some issues where there’s stuff we’ll continue to try to coach into our group,” Cassidy said. “But at some point, the execution will turn because they’re good players and they have produced on the power play.”
NOTES: Conor Sheary returned to Washington’s lineup after a one-game absence because of illness. … Josh Brown replaced Connor Clifton on defense for Boston. … The Capitals held a moment of silence for former Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who was killed Saturday in an auto accident.
UP NEXT
Bruins: Open a three-game homestand Tuesday night against the St. Louis Blues in a rematch of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.
Capitals: Host the rival Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
___
Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno
___
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Nelson Cruz hit his 450th home run and added a tiebreaking two-run single in a three-run eighth inning that lifted the Washington Nationals over the Mets 4-2 on Sunday and prevented New York from an opening four-game sweep.
Washington trailed 2-1 in the eighth when Yadiel Hernández singled leading off against Chasen Shreve, and Maikel Franco singled pinch-runner Dee Strange-Gordon to third against Trevor Williams (0-1).
Lucius Fox, who started in his major league debut, dragged a safety squeeze sacrifice bunt, and Strange-Gordon slid home headfirst ahead of first baseman Pete Alonso’s underhand toss.
Victor Robles sacrificed and Cesar Hernandez grounded to Alonso, whose throw to second for a force was wide to the right field side for an error. Juan Soto grounded to Alonso, who threw home for a forceout.
Cruz, who put the Nationals ahead in the first inning with his first home run for Washington. grounded a fastball up the middle and just past shortstop Francisco Lindor for a 4-2 lead.
Kyle Finnegan (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth, and Tanner Rainey worked around Mark Canha’s leadoff single in the ninth for his first save.
New York had been trying for its fifth 4-0 starts, its first since 2012. The Mets have not swept the Nationals in Washington since 2018.
Erick Fedde became Washington’s first starter to pitch five innings, allowing two runs and five hits. Francisco Lindor’s first homer tied the game in a 34-pitch fifth, when Canha hit a go-ahead single.
Mets starter Carlos Carrasco retired 15 consecutive batters after allowing a first-inning single to Josh Bell. Carrasco allowed two hits, struck out five and walked none in 5 2/3 innings.
BEREAVEMENT
Mets closer Edwin Díaz remains away from the team after the death of his grandfather. He is expected to rejoin the team Monday in Philadelphia and is eligible to be activated Tuesday.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: OF Starling Marte was not in Sunday’s starting lineup. Marte had oblique soreness at the start of spring training. Showalter said Marte “feels great” but the manager wants to be cautious.
Nationals: RHP Aníbal Sánchez is “doubtful” for Monday’s expected start in Atlanta because of a stiff neck. The Nationals also placed RHP Mason Thompson (right biceps strain) on the 10-day injured list. RHP Hunter Harvey was recalled from Triple-A Rochester.
UP NEXT
Mets: RHP Taijuan Walker will make his season debut Monday in Philadelphia.
Nationals: Were unsure who will start Monday in Atlanta.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/cruz-homers-keys-nats-over-mets-4-2-with-8th-inning-hit/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:00 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/cruz-homers-keys-nats-over-mets-4-2-with-8th-inning-hit/ |
ATLANTA (AP) — Hunter Greene felt a bit anxious before making his first career start. Even so, the hard-throwing phenom had no trouble settling down early.
“Honestly, it felt like just another game,” he said. “It’s great to have that. Obviously you have butterflies, and I think that’s important. It means you care. It means you want to do well.”
Greene won his major league debut, Kyle Farmer hit a two-run single in a five-run third inning and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves 6-3 on Sunday.
Greene (1-0) lived up to his billing as a top prospect with overpowering velocity. He regularly touched 100 mph on the radar gun, topped out at 102 in the fourth and was still hitting triple digits in his final inning. The right-hander allowed three runs, four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in five innings.
“I felt great out there,” Greene said. “I felt like I was at home. A lot of people don’t look up, but I looked up as soon as I got out there. I wanted to take it all in and enjoy it, but I felt really comfortable out there. Really happy with today. The team did a great job behind me getting the lead early. Put me in a really good position to win and succeed today.”
The Reds took a 5-0 lead in the third. Jonathan India walked and scored from first when Tyler Naquin doubled to the right-field corner. Braves starter Ian Anderson (0-1) loaded the bases on a pair of walks, giving up two more runs on a forceout and Colin Moran’s single. Sean Newcomb then gave up a two-run single to Farmer.
Tyler Stephenson made it 6-1 in the fifth with a homer to left off Newcomb.
Greene, at 22 years, 247 days, became the youngest starting pitcher to make his debut for Cincinnati since Mike Leake received no decision on April 11, 2010, against the Chicago Cubs.
Greene mixed in his changeup and slider to keep the Braves guessing.
“I was really happy (with the slider) today,” he said. “That was kind of a battle in spring training. It’s nice to find that, especially in the first game. I was like, I don’t have a choice. I need to find it. It was there. That was a nice feeling knowing that was in my back pocket. Just keeping those guys off balance, you know? Being able to slow the game down and just read swings helped a lot today.”
Greene, the second overall draft pick in 2017, is the Reds’ top prospect according to MLB Pipeline and No. 2 according to Baseball America. He missed the 2019 season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
“We pushed him a little bit in the fifth to get him through that fifth inning, but he was still throwing the ball well and I think he put forth effort, but not max effort, so he didn’t have to work too hard,” Reds manager David Bell said. “It was great for our bullpen. It set us up for the rest of the game.”
Matt Olson whiffed on a 100 mph fastball in the first for Greene’s first career strikeout, but Olson singled on a 102 mph fastball to begin the fourth for Atlanta’s first hit. After Austin Riley doubled, Olson scored on Marcell Ozuna’s sacrifice fly to make it 5-1.
Travis d’Arnaud and Olson homered in the fifth off Greene to trim the lead to 6-3. It marked Olson’s first homer since he replaced Freddie Freeman as the Braves’ everyday first baseman after getting traded from Oakland and signing a $168 million, eight-year contract.
Olson connected on a 101 mph pitch, the second-fastest any Braves player has homered off in the pitch-tracking era since 2008. Eddie Rosario homered off a 101.2 mph heater from Brusdar Graterol last Sept. 1.
Anderson, making his first start since pitching five hitless innings to win Game 3 of the World Series, allowed a career-high five runs, five walks and three hits in 2 2/3 innings.
“That’s where I feel like I am at, trying to get back to feeling comfortable in a big league game again,” Anderson said. “As the season goes on, I’ll be fine and settle in, but for now I’m trying to get my feet back under me.”
Luis Cessa pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief, Tony Santillan got four outs and Art Warren worked the ninth for Cincinnati. Bell brought in Santillan, who earned his first career save Thursday, in the seventh to face Rosario with a runner on first and the Reds sitting on a three-run lead with Olson, who went 3 for 4, on deck.
Rosario popped up to end the threat. Warren earned his first career save by facing the minimum.
Each team won twice in the four-game series to open the season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds LHP Mike Minor (left shoulder) will make a rehab start Wednesday at Double-A Chattanooga. … Cincinnati RHP Luis Castillo (right shoulder) will play catch on the off day Monday and is scheduled for another bullpen session Tuesday. … Reds 2B Donovan Solano (left hamstring) ran Saturday and took grounders on Sunday.
NICE WORK
Farmer, the Cincinnati shortstop, retired the final two batters of the sixth with over-the-shoulder catches in shallow left and center.
HEAT CHECK
Greene reached 100 mph with 20 pitches, tied for eighth-most among starting pitchers in any game since pitch tracking started in 2008. He trailed only Jacob deGrom (33 and 28), Nathan Eovaldi (28), Yordano Ventura (26), Noah Syndergaard (24 and 21) and James Paxton (24), and tied Sandy Alcántara.
UP NEXT
Reds RHP Tyler Mahle (1-0) will make his second start Tuesday in Cincinnati’s home opener opposite Cleveland RHP Shane Bieber (0-0).
Braves RHP Huascar Ynoa (0-0) will make his season debut Monday at home against a yet-to-be announced starter for Washington. Aníbal Sánchez was scheduled to go for the Nationals but is dealing with neck stiffness.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/greene-wins-major-league-debut-reds-beat-braves-6-3/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:05 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/greene-wins-major-league-debut-reds-beat-braves-6-3/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Red Sox slugger Bobby Dalbec didn’t homer until the 19th game of his rookie season last year, a slump that nearly took him into May.
“Oh, I remember,” he quipped.
He’ll remember this one more fondly.
Dalbec hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the sixth inning and Boston avoided a season-opening sweep against its longtime rival with a 4-3 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday night.
Boston blew multi-run leads in the first two games of the series and did so again Sunday. This time, the Red Sox rallied back, with Dalbec connecting off reliever Clarke Schmidt (0-1) for his first of the season.
The Red Sox ended an eight-game regular-season skid against New York — a stretch that doesn’t include their victory in last year’s AL wild-card game. The rivals don’t play again until July 7.
Rookie right-hander Kutter Crawford (1-1) threw two of Boston’s 5 2/3 scoreless relief innings for his first big league win, and Jake Diekman pitched the ninth for his first save. J.D. Martinez had an RBI double, one of the team’s five hits.
New York’s Anthony Rizzo made it 3-all with a two-run single in the fourth, scoring Yankees newcomers Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jose Trevino after they opened the inning with their first hits in pinstripes.
Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton continued torrid starts to the season. Rizzo had a hit and walked twice, and Stanton had three hits. Both homered in each of New York’s first two games. Stanton had gone deep in six straight games against the Red Sox, including the postseason.
Boston is going closer-by-committee to start the year, and Diekman surely earned himself another ninth-inning look. The sidearm-slinging lefty struck out Aaron Judge on 11 pitches to open the ninth, then got Stanton and Joey Gallo swinging, too.
“He’s absolutely nasty,” Red Sox starter Tanner Houck said.
Dalbec hit 25 homers as a rookie last season but batted .240 with 156 strikeouts in 133 games. He improved dramatically in the second half, posting a .955 OPS and driving in 42 runs over 61 games. The 26-year-old said he learned late last year how to make quick fixes when his swing got out of whack, something that helped him bounce back this weekend after striking out four times in Boston’s first two games.
“In August and September, whenever he got a pitch that he can handle, he put a pretty good swing on it,” manager Alex Cora said. “And that was a really good one.”
Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery took Xander Bogaerts’ 103 mph grounder off his left knee in the first inning and fell to the ground screaming. He remained in the game but gave up Martinez’s RBI double the next at-bat and trailed 2-0 after the top of the first.
Montgomery completed 3 1/3 innings of three-run ball. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said X-rays on Montgomery’s knee were negative, but the left-hander was stiffening up after the game. He will be re-evaluated Monday.
“Obviously to see him rolling around like that in pain was certainly concerning,” Boone said. “Pretty gutsy effort to kind of walk it off.”
New York forced Houck to throw 31 pitches in the bottom of the inning but left the bases loaded. The first inning took 37 minutes, part of yet another sluggish Sox-Yanks game that lasted 3:40.
Yankees leadoff man Josh Donaldson struck out looking three times for the first time in his career. All three came against Houck.
New York stranded 11 runners Sunday and 25 over the three-game series.
Boston’s Christian Arroyo made his first big league start in right field and slid to take away a hit from Gleyber Torres in the seventh.
The Red Sox used six pitchers and New York needed five. The teams combined for 31 pitching changes in the three-game set.
“It didn’t look pretty, right?” Cora said.
TALL COMPANY
The Saint Peter’s men’s basketball team was honored prior to the game for its unexpected run to the Elite Eight. Senior forward KC Ndefo delivered a strike for the ceremonial first pitch.
STAY AROUND
The Red Sox signed right-handed reliever Garrett Whitlock to an $18.75 million, four-year deal Sunday covering 2023-26 that includes two club options and escalators that could increase the total to $44.5 million over six seasons.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: New 2B Trevor Story was out of the lineup and away from the team with flu-like symptoms. A COVID-19 test came back negative. … RHP Matt Barnes remained out with a tight back, but Boston thought he might be ready to pitch Monday.
Yankees: C Ben Rortvedt is expected to ramp up activity Monday as he works back from a strained right oblique muscle. There’s still no estimate on when he’ll return to game action.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: Begin a three-game set in Detroit on Monday. RHP Michael Wacha (3-5, 5.05 ERA in 2021) will face RHP Matt Manning (4-7, 5.80). Former Red Sox LHP Eduardo Rodríguez pitches for the Tigers on Wednesday.
Yankees: Open a four-game series at home against the hot-hitting Blue Jays on Monday night. RHP Jameson Taillon (8-6, 4.30) faces Toronto RHP Alek Manoah (9-2, 3.22).
___
Follow Jake Seiner: https://twitter.com/Jake_Seiner
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/dalbecs-hr-helps-red-sox-avoid-sweep-beat-yankees-4-3/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:07 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/dalbecs-hr-helps-red-sox-avoid-sweep-beat-yankees-4-3/ |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Cleveland Guardians won for the first time with their new name as hot-starting rookie Steven Kwan went 5 for 5 on Sunday in a 17-3 romp over the Kansas City Royals.
Oscar Mercado hit a grand slam during a five-RBI performance and Owen Miller drove in a career-high four runs. Cleveland had lost its first two games since changing this season to the Guardians from the Indians, its name since 1915.
Kwan had four singles and a double, was hit by a pitch and scored four runs. The 24-year-old outfielder made his major league debut on opening day and is 8 for 10 in three games so far, reaching base in 12 of 14 plate appearances.
“I know it’s three games in, but nobody wants to not get excited,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “When our young guys want to do things like that, it is exciting.”
Kwan hit .469 in spring training after batting a combined .301 in three minor league seasons.
“I’m not surprised about what (Kwan) is doing,” Mercado said. “He is such a good player, knows himself and knows what he can do. He is such a sparkplug and it is going to be awesome to watch him play this year.”
Held to a total of one run while dropping the first two games of the series, Cleveland broke loose with 22 hits. José Ramírez, who homered and three hits, and Amed Rosario, who had four hits, each drove in three runs.
“It was good for everybody to let our offense loosen up a little bit,” Francona said.
Mercado connected for his first career grand slam off Taylor Clarke in the first inning, capping a six-run burst. The Guardians made it 10-0 in the second and Mercado added an RBI triple in the fourth.
Ramírez and Miller each contributed three hits.
Pitching with a huge cushion, Cal Quantrill (1-0) tossed five innings and allowed two runs and four hits.
Kris Bubic (0-1) got just two outs and was tagged for five runs on three hits with two walks.
Royals rookie Bobby Witt Jr. hit a two-run double.
“It’s hard for a club to fight back when they’re putting up big numbers in the first and the second,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “We had an opportunity to keep it close, and we didn’t, and it just got out of hand. Those are the kind you learn from and move on from.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: RHP Tyler Zuber (Right shoulder impingement syndrome) is the lone KC player on the injured list. He was put on the 60-day IL on March 16.
UP NEXT
The series will conclude with a Monday matinee. Aaron Civale will pitch for Cleveland against Carlos Hernandez.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/guardians-post-1st-win-rookie-kwan-5-hits-romp-over-royals/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:12 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/guardians-post-1st-win-rookie-kwan-5-hits-romp-over-royals/ |
DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic strained his left calf in Dallas’ 130-120 win over San Antonio in what turned out to be a meaningless regular-season finale on Sunday night, putting the superstar’s status in question for the playoff-bound Mavericks.
Doncic wouldn’t have even been eligible for the game had the NBA not rescinded his 16th technical foul of the season two nights earlier against Portland. Without the NBA’s decision, Doncic would have served a one-game suspension.
The two-time All-Star had turned to run to the defensive end late in the third quarter when he pulled up after the first step and stopped.
Doncic, who led Dallas with 26 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, called for the medical staff while reaching for his calf after play was stopped and almost immediately went to the locker room.
Coach Jason Kidd said after the game he didn’t have any update on the injury, but Doncic’s status could be in doubt with fourth-seeded Dallas set to open the playoffs next weekend against Utah.
The Mavericks had a chance to move up the third seed, but needed New Orleans to beat Golden State when the Pelicans were resting several regulars. The Warriors won 128-107.
The Spurs were already locked into the final spot in the play-in tournament as the 10th seed in the Western Conference. Keldon Johnson scored 24 points for San Antonio, which will play ninth-seeded New Orleans on Wednesday. The winner plays the loser between No 7 seed Minnesota and the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 8 seed.
Kidd said before the game the club wanted to treat it as a dress rehearsal for the playoffs even if it didn’t mean moving up from the fourth seed.
Doncic had played his normal rotation, going the entire first quarter and part of the second. He was on the verge of playing all of the third quarter when he pulled up with the injury. He left with 2:24 remaining in the quarter.
Dorian Finney-Smith scored all of his 16 points in the third quarter, when Dallas broke a 59-59 halftime tie by outscoring San Antonio 38-23. The Mavericks held on in the fourth quarter with a lineup filled by players not in the rotation.
The Mavericks won all four games against San Antonio, sweeping the season series from their Texas rivals for the first time.
TIP-INS
Spurs: G Lonnie Walker IV sat with lower back tightness a night after leading the Spurs with 24 points in a loss to Golden State. … Dejounte Murray scored 17 points after missing the past five games with a non-COVID-19 illness. … Josh Richardson scored 18 points against his former team. … Jakob Poeltl had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Mavericks: C Dwight Powell set a club record with 18 consecutive shots made over four games. Coming into the season, Powell shared the previous record of 14 with DeAndre Jordan and Erick Dampier. He broke the record with his first bucket before the run ended on his fifth attempt when he couldn’t convert an alley-oop pass from Jalen Brunson. He finished 5 of 6 and scored 12 points. … F Maxi Kleber missed his fourth consecutive game with right ankle soreness, but Kidd said he would be ready for the playoffs.
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — As much as the Tampa Bay Rays wanted Corey Kluber to have a shot at getting the victory in the pitcher’s debut with his new team, keeping the two-time Cy Young Award winner fresh and healthy is a bigger priority.
The 36-year-old right-hander looked good in his first game since joining the defending AL East champions, pitching 4 2/3 scoreless innings in an 8-0 victory that completed an opening sweep of the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
“I didn’t really control counts the way I’d like to eventually,” Kluber said. “But at the end of the day, I made good pitches when I needed to to keep them off the scoreboard.”
Brandon Lowe hit a two-run homer off Tyler Wells (0-1), while Wander Franco had his second three-hit game in three days and drove in a pair of runs as the Rays beat the Orioles for the 15th straight time and matched the fastest start to a season in club history.
Tampa Bay, which is 21-1 against the Orioles since the beginning of last year, also started 3-0 in 2002 and 2012.
Coming off a 110-loss season, Baltimore is 0-3 for the first time since 2007. The Orioles never led in the series, struck out 37 times — most through three games of a season in franchise history — and went 2-for-24 with runners in scoring position.
“They have really good pitching, but we didn’t do a very good job swinging the bats. We didn’t make them work much,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “We can improve our two-strike hitting, put more pressure on their defense. We have some guys scuffling early. I’d like to see them break out. We’re putting too much pressure on ourselves.”
Kluber, pitching on his birthday for the first time in his career, allowed three hits, walked four and struck out five in an 87-pitch outing. Sailing along with a 4-0 lead, he retired the first two batters in the fifth inning before walking Cedric Mullins and giving up a single to Ryan Mountcastle.
Manager Kevin Cash, who said before the game that one of his priorities this season will be managing Kluber’s workload and keeping the oldest player on his roster healthy, didn’t hesitate to turn to the bullpen.
Kluber went 5-3 with a 3.83 ERA in 16 starts with the New York Yankees last season, when he also spent three months on the injured list with a right shoulder strain. The Rays signed him to an $8 million, one-year deal during the offseason.
“We’d like all of our guys to get out there and pencil in 30 starts. But saying that, you have to manage the workload,” Cash said.
“I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but the days of throwing 220 innings are probably not there any more,” the manager added. “He understands that.”
Kluber, who won Cy Young Awards with Cleveland in 2014 and 2017, wasn’t upset with the manager’s decision.
“I don’t really concern myself with the workload or pitch count. I view it as I’m going to keep going out there until he takes the ball from me,” Kluber said. “I try to take it hitter by hitter and not try to look at the big picture like that.”
Lefty Jeffrey Springs (1-0) came on to get the only batter he faced to end the fifth. Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks and Matt Wisler held the Orioles scoreless the rest of the way, finishing a combined six-hitter.
Wells made his first major league start for the Orioles and didn’t get through the second inning. The Rays loaded the bases with two walks and an infield single, then chased the 27-year-old right-hander with Mike Zunino’s sacrifice fly, Manuel Margot’s RBI grounder and Lowe’s 437-foot homer to right-center.
Franco’s two-run single highlighted a four-run seventh against relievers Bryan Baker and Paul Fry. Franco joined Quinton McCracken in 1998 and Steve Cox in 2001 as the only Rays with muiltiple three-hit games during the first three games of a season,
Wells, 2-3 with a 4.11 ERA in 44 relief appearances as a rookie last season, threw 54 pitches and allowed four runs and three hits. He walked two and struck out two.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: Hyde said right-handed reliever Dean Kremer strained his left oblique muscle warming up in the bullpen during the game.
Rays: CF Kevin Kiermaier was not in the lineup, however Cash said it was a day of rest and not related to injury. The team is beginning the season with a stretch of 13 games in 13 days.
UP NEXT
Orioles: Return to Baltimore for home opener vs. Milwaukee. LHP Bruce Zimmermann (4-5, 5.04 ERA in 2021) gets the start, with the Brewers countering with RHP Adrian Houser (10-6, 3.22).
Rays: A seven-game homestand continues with RHP Luis Patiño (5-3, 4.31 in 2021) starting the first of four games vs. Oakland. RHP Paul Blackburn (1-4, 5.87) takes the ball first for the Athletics.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/kluber-looks-good-rays-beat-orioles-8-0-to-complete-sweep/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:19 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/kluber-looks-good-rays-beat-orioles-8-0-to-complete-sweep/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lars Eller got comfortable back at center, and the Washington Capitals seem to have found a groove after a bump in the road.
Returning to his natural position after two games on the wing, Eller scored the go-ahead goal and assisted on another Sunday to help the Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 4-2 and extend their winning streak to three.
Eller was only back at center because Nicklas Backstrom was scratched for what the team called “body maintenance,” and he made the most of it by putting Washington ahead with 12:42 left and setting up Tom Wilson’s 23rd goal of the season.
“It felt very satisfying, of course, netting a couple of big goals with Tom and (linemate Anthony Mantha),” Eller said. “We had a good game going, feeling good on the puck and really happy with how we played.”
With Eller as an important part of the rotation, Washington’s penalty kill was a perfect 4 of 4 against Boston’s power play.
“The guys were buzzing,” said goaltender Vitek Vanecek, who had to make only three of his 30 saves short-handed. “They were blocking shots. Boston tried some passes, and we broke them up, so that was huge. That’s what we need at this time.”
The Capitals are also getting more than what they need from Wilson, who has four goals in six games and reached 50 points in a season for the first time in his career. John Carlson also scored his third goal in as many games and Alex Ovechkin sealed it with an empty-netter.
Ovechkin’s goal was his 45th of the season and 775th of his NHL career. His ninth empty-net goal tied Pavel Bure’s single-season record.
After beating the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, the Capitals are inching closer to their biggest rivals and could soon pass them for third in the Metropolitan Division — which would mean avoiding the Eastern Conference-leading Florida Panthers in the first round. Washington’s three-game streak followed back-to-back deflating losses at home.
“We don’t have any room to lay off the gas,” Carlson said. “We’re in a tight race. We know that if we played like we were (playing) down the stretch here, our season’s going to be really short.”
Boston, which is also jockeying for playoff positioning in the East, lost defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to an upper-body injury in the first period. He attempted to hit Washington’s Garnet Hathaway about eight minutes into the game and appeared to injure his left arm or shoulder.
Coach Bruce Cassidy called Grzelcyk’s departure “a big, big, big factor in the game, in our inability to transition very well.”
The banged-up Bruins were already playing without top right winger David Pastrnak and trade deadline acquisition Hampus Lindholm because of injuries. They got goals from Curtis Lazar and Erik Haula and a handful of highlight-reel saves from Linus Ullmark among his 27, but the continuation of power-play woes meant the end of their two-game winning streak.
Boston finished its four-game road trip 0 of 16 on the power play.
“We’ve had some issues where there’s stuff we’ll continue to try to coach into our group,” Cassidy said. “But at some point, the execution will turn because they’re good players and they have produced on the power play.”
NOTES: Conor Sheary returned to Washington’s lineup after a one-game absence because of illness. … Josh Brown replaced Connor Clifton on defense for Boston. … The Capitals held a moment of silence for former Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who was killed Saturday in an auto accident.
UP NEXT
Bruins: Open a three-game homestand Tuesday night against the St. Louis Blues in a rematch of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.
Capitals: Host the rival Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
___
Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/eller-scores-capitals-beat-bruins-for-3rd-consecutive-win/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:21 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/eller-scores-capitals-beat-bruins-for-3rd-consecutive-win/ |
Camden’s Waterfront Pavilion (formerly the BB&T Pavilion) will host some of the biggest acts in music this concert season, with music to satisfy just about anyone’s taste. Performers like Brad Paisley, the Chicks, and Pearl Jam will all grace the stage this summer in Camden.
May
5/20: Tim McGraw: McGraw Tour 2022 with Russell Dickerson
5/21: MMRBQ with Disturbed, The Pretty Reckless, Royal Blood and Living Colour
June
6/3: Brad Paisley
6/3: The Lumineers & Caamp
6/11: Miranda Lambert & Little Big Town
6/14: Train, Jewel & Blues Traveler
6/23: The Doobie Brothers & Michael McDonald
6/25: Jack Johnson
6/26: Machine Gun Kelly
July
7/8: The Chicks & Patty Griffin
7/13: Chicago - The Band, Brian Wilson, Al Jardine & Blondie Chaplin
7/14: Backstreet Boys
7/15 & 7/16: Dave Matthews Band: 2022 Summer Tour
7/24: OneRepublic & Needtobreathe
7/29: Rob Zombie & Mudvayne: Freaks On Parade Tour with Static-X & Powerman5000
7/30: The Black Keys, Band of Horses & Ceramic Animal
7/31: Keith Urban
August
8/5: Incubus & Sublime With Rome
8/11: Alice in Chains & Breaking Benjamin: American Tour 2022 with Bush
8/13: REO Speedwagon and Styx: Live and Unzoomed 2022 Tour
8/16: Imagine Dragons
8/18: Santana & Earth, Wind and Fire
8/26: Zac Brown Band
8/27: Korn & Evanescence
September
9/11: Shinedown
9/14: Pearl Jam
9/23: Outlaw Music Festival: Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton & Zach Bryan
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.
You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now:
NJ county fairs make a comeback: Check out the schedule for 2022
UPDATED 4/10: A current list of county fairs happening across the Garden State for 2022. From rides, food, animals, and hot air balloons, each county fair has something unique to offer.
(Fairs are listed in geographical order from South NJ to North NJ)
These are the best hiking spots in New Jersey
A trip to New Jersey doesn't have to be all about the beach. Our state has some incredible trails, waterfalls, and lakes to enjoy.
From the Pine Barrens to the Appalachian Trail to the hidden gems of New Jersey, you have plenty of options for a great hike. Hiking is such a great way to spend time outdoors and enjoy nature, plus it's a great workout.
Before you go out on the trails and explore some of our listeners' suggestions, I have some tips on hiking etiquette from the American Hiking Society.
If you are going downhill and run into an uphill hiker, step to the side and give the uphill hiker space. A hiker going uphill has the right of way unless they stop to catch their breath.
Always stay on the trail, you may see side paths, unless they are marked as an official trail, steer clear of them. By going off-trail you may cause damage to the ecosystems around the trail, the plants, and wildlife that live there.
You also do not want to disturb the wildlife you encounter, just keep your distance from the wildlife and continue hiking.
Bicyclists should yield to hikers and horses. Hikers should also yield to horses, but I’m not sure how many horses you will encounter on the trails in New Jersey.
If you are thinking of bringing your dog on your hike, they should be leashed, and make sure to clean up all pet waste.
Lastly, be mindful of the weather, if the trail is too muddy, it's probably best to save your hike for another day.
I asked our listeners for their suggestions of the best hiking spots in New Jersey, check out their suggestions:
Every NJ city and town's municipal tax bill, ranked
A little less than 30 cents of every $1 in property taxes charged in New Jersey support municipal services provided by cities, towns, townships, boroughs and villages. Statewide, the average municipal-only tax bill in 2021 was $2,725, but that varied widely from more than $13,000 in Tavistock to nothing in three townships. In addition to $9.22 billion in municipal purpose taxes, special taxing districts that in some places provide municipal services such as fire protection, garbage collection or economic development levied $323.8 million in 2021. | https://nj1015.com/all-the-concerts-coming-to-camden-nj-waterfront-pavilion-this-summer/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:25 | 1 | https://nj1015.com/all-the-concerts-coming-to-camden-nj-waterfront-pavilion-this-summer/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred gifted major league players Bose headphones on opening day as a peace offering after a bitter 99-day lockout that delayed the start of the season.
Major League Baseball confirmed that headphones and a letter signed by Manfred were left at the locker of each player when teams began their seasons Thursday and Friday. The present was first reported by The Athletic.
“Please accept this gift as a small gesture of my appreciation for the hard work that comes with being a Major Leaguer and your respect for our incredible fans,” Manfred wrote. “Thank you for everything you do in a game that has such a rich history and deep meaning to our fans in the U.S. and around the world. Wishing you the best of luck for a successful season.”
Manfred’s relationship with players has grown increasingly icy since he succeeded Bud Selig as commissioner in 2014.
At the news conference announcing an agreement with the union to end this winter’s lockout, Manfred admitted that he’s failed in his role as a diplomat to players and pledged to improve the relationship.
Asked what Manfred could do to mend things this spring, players told The Associated Pressthe commissioner could do more to present himself as a steward of the game. At least one player, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, said he thought the damage was irreparable.
“To just put it bluntly, he doesn’t do anything for us,” Wainwright said. “I know how that’s going to read, so Commissioner Manfred, don’t take it personal. That’s just how it looks from a players’ standpoint.”
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/manfred-gifts-players-headphones-as-lockout-peace-offering/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:27 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/manfred-gifts-players-headphones-as-lockout-peace-offering/ |
ATLANTA (AP) — Hunter Greene felt a bit anxious before making his first career start. Even so, the hard-throwing phenom had no trouble settling down early.
“Honestly, it felt like just another game,” he said. “It’s great to have that. Obviously you have butterflies, and I think that’s important. It means you care. It means you want to do well.”
Greene won his major league debut, Kyle Farmer hit a two-run single in a five-run third inning and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves 6-3 on Sunday.
Greene (1-0) lived up to his billing as a top prospect with overpowering velocity. He regularly touched 100 mph on the radar gun, topped out at 102 in the fourth and was still hitting triple digits in his final inning. The right-hander allowed three runs, four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in five innings.
“I felt great out there,” Greene said. “I felt like I was at home. A lot of people don’t look up, but I looked up as soon as I got out there. I wanted to take it all in and enjoy it, but I felt really comfortable out there. Really happy with today. The team did a great job behind me getting the lead early. Put me in a really good position to win and succeed today.”
The Reds took a 5-0 lead in the third. Jonathan India walked and scored from first when Tyler Naquin doubled to the right-field corner. Braves starter Ian Anderson (0-1) loaded the bases on a pair of walks, giving up two more runs on a forceout and Colin Moran’s single. Sean Newcomb then gave up a two-run single to Farmer.
Tyler Stephenson made it 6-1 in the fifth with a homer to left off Newcomb.
Greene, at 22 years, 247 days, became the youngest starting pitcher to make his debut for Cincinnati since Mike Leake received no decision on April 11, 2010, against the Chicago Cubs.
Greene mixed in his changeup and slider to keep the Braves guessing.
“I was really happy (with the slider) today,” he said. “That was kind of a battle in spring training. It’s nice to find that, especially in the first game. I was like, I don’t have a choice. I need to find it. It was there. That was a nice feeling knowing that was in my back pocket. Just keeping those guys off balance, you know? Being able to slow the game down and just read swings helped a lot today.”
Greene, the second overall draft pick in 2017, is the Reds’ top prospect according to MLB Pipeline and No. 2 according to Baseball America. He missed the 2019 season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
“We pushed him a little bit in the fifth to get him through that fifth inning, but he was still throwing the ball well and I think he put forth effort, but not max effort, so he didn’t have to work too hard,” Reds manager David Bell said. “It was great for our bullpen. It set us up for the rest of the game.”
Matt Olson whiffed on a 100 mph fastball in the first for Greene’s first career strikeout, but Olson singled on a 102 mph fastball to begin the fourth for Atlanta’s first hit. After Austin Riley doubled, Olson scored on Marcell Ozuna’s sacrifice fly to make it 5-1.
Travis d’Arnaud and Olson homered in the fifth off Greene to trim the lead to 6-3. It marked Olson’s first homer since he replaced Freddie Freeman as the Braves’ everyday first baseman after getting traded from Oakland and signing a $168 million, eight-year contract.
Olson connected on a 101 mph pitch, the second-fastest any Braves player has homered off in the pitch-tracking era since 2008. Eddie Rosario homered off a 101.2 mph heater from Brusdar Graterol last Sept. 1.
Anderson, making his first start since pitching five hitless innings to win Game 3 of the World Series, allowed a career-high five runs, five walks and three hits in 2 2/3 innings.
“That’s where I feel like I am at, trying to get back to feeling comfortable in a big league game again,” Anderson said. “As the season goes on, I’ll be fine and settle in, but for now I’m trying to get my feet back under me.”
Luis Cessa pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief, Tony Santillan got four outs and Art Warren worked the ninth for Cincinnati. Bell brought in Santillan, who earned his first career save Thursday, in the seventh to face Rosario with a runner on first and the Reds sitting on a three-run lead with Olson, who went 3 for 4, on deck.
Rosario popped up to end the threat. Warren earned his first career save by facing the minimum.
Each team won twice in the four-game series to open the season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds LHP Mike Minor (left shoulder) will make a rehab start Wednesday at Double-A Chattanooga. … Cincinnati RHP Luis Castillo (right shoulder) will play catch on the off day Monday and is scheduled for another bullpen session Tuesday. … Reds 2B Donovan Solano (left hamstring) ran Saturday and took grounders on Sunday.
NICE WORK
Farmer, the Cincinnati shortstop, retired the final two batters of the sixth with over-the-shoulder catches in shallow left and center.
HEAT CHECK
Greene reached 100 mph with 20 pitches, tied for eighth-most among starting pitchers in any game since pitch tracking started in 2008. He trailed only Jacob deGrom (33 and 28), Nathan Eovaldi (28), Yordano Ventura (26), Noah Syndergaard (24 and 21) and James Paxton (24), and tied Sandy Alcántara.
UP NEXT
Reds RHP Tyler Mahle (1-0) will make his second start Tuesday in Cincinnati’s home opener opposite Cleveland RHP Shane Bieber (0-0).
Braves RHP Huascar Ynoa (0-0) will make his season debut Monday at home against a yet-to-be announced starter for Washington. Aníbal Sánchez was scheduled to go for the Nationals but is dealing with neck stiffness.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/greene-wins-major-league-debut-reds-beat-braves-6-3/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:28 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/greene-wins-major-league-debut-reds-beat-braves-6-3/ |
All the new iPhone emojis for 2022
Every day, an estimated 1 billion people prove that a picture is worth a thousand words in their daily text correspondence, and year after year, iPhone users await Apple's latest emoji rollout. Now, the wait is over!
As part of the Apple iOS 15.4 update, 38 new emojis are now available at your fingertips.
From the K-pop finger heart to a shiny disco ball and hamsa, these new icons will undoubtedly enhance your conversations, making them more interesting and creative.
Check Out the New 2022 iPhone Emojis:
Here are all the new iPhone emojis currently available for 2022:
1. Melting face
2. Face with open eyes and hand over mouth
3. Face with eyes peeking from behind hands
4. Saluting half face
5. Dotted line face
6. Face with diagonal mouth
7. Face holding back tears
8. Rightward hand
9. Leftward hand
10. Palm down hand
11. Palm up hand
12. Finger heart
13. Index finger pointing at the viewer
14. Heart hands
15. Biting lip
16. Person with crown
17. Pregnant man
18. Pregnant person
19. Troll
20. Coral
21. Lotus
22. Empty nest
23. Nest with eggs
24. Beans
25. Liquid pouring out of a glass
26. Mason jar
27. Playground slide
28. Wheel
29. Ring buoy
30. Hamsa
31. Disco mirror ball
32. Low battery
33. Single crutch
34. X-ray
35. Bubbles
36. Identification card
37. Thick equal sign
38. Multiracial handshakes
Need help getting the new Apple iOS 15.4 update? Here's an easy step-by-step guide.
How to Get the Apple iOS 15.4 Update on Your iPhone:
STEP 1: Open your iPhone and click on the "Settings" tab to locate "General."
STEP 2: On the "General" page, select "Software Update."
STEP 3: On the "Software Update" page, click "Automatic Updates" and then select "Download and Install."
Pro Tip: To never miss another emoji rollout, you can allow your iPhone to automatically update by selecting both "Download iOS Updates" and "Install iOS Updates." They will appear green when activated. | https://nj1015.com/all-the-new-iphone-emojis-for-2022/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:31 | 0 | https://nj1015.com/all-the-new-iphone-emojis-for-2022/ |
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler can play in the Masters forever now. That’s a perk that comes with winning at Augusta National.
Cameron Champ knows he can play at Augusta National in 2023. For him, that was a win as well.
Champ finished tied for 10th at the Masters, and that means he’ll be invited back next season. Augusta National has plenty of ways for players to qualify — wins, world ranking, performance in other majors — plus rewards those who do especially well at the Masters. Anyone in the top 12 one year can come back the following year, so Champ knows that invitation will be in the mail as next spring looms.
“It’s huge,” said Champ, whose Masters invite this year came by winning the 3M Open last July. “This year has been just a whirlwind really for me, with my injury to trying to play through the first four, five events to now feeling pretty decent the last few months. My game is going in the right direction.”
Champ shut down his season last fall while dealing with a left wrist injury. He came into this week ranked No. 133 in the world. He hadn’t had so much as a top-40 finish in 2022. A Masters return, barring a victory somewhere in the next 12 months, wasn’t exactly a certainty.
“Everything I’m dealing with off the course is finally going right, so first and foremost, that’s the most important,” Champ said. “It’s just life, man. I’m learning as I go. Right now, I’m just in a great spot.”
MONEY MATTERS
Rory McIlroy earned $1.62 million for finishing second, and that pushed his Masters career earnings to just about $4.2 million.
He is the seventh player in Masters history to eclipse the $4 million mark, joining Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson.
THIRD TRY
Scottie Scheffler won his first Masters in his third attempt. Only eight players did it in the first or second try, most recently Danny Willett in 2016.
The context only adds to Scheffler’s accomplishment.
Tiger Woods’ first Masters win came on his third visit to Augusta National. Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Seve Ballesteros needed four tries. Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player needed five.
TIGER WATCH
Tiger Woods said Sunday that he will go to St. Andrews in mid-July and play the British Open.
It’s unclear if he’ll play anything before then — including the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May and the U.S. Open at Brookline in June.
“I am looking forward to St. Andrews,” Woods said in his post-Masters interview with Sky Sports. “That is something that is near and dear to my heart. I’ve won two Opens there. It’s the home of golf. It’s my favorite golf course in the world. So, I will be there for that one. But anything in between that, I don’t know. I will try. There’s no doubt.”
Woods won British Opens at St. Andrews in 2000 and 2005. He played when the Open was last there in 2015 but missed the cut by eight strokes.
VARNER’S DAY
Harold Varner III saved his best for last in his first Masters: a 3-under round of 69 on Sunday. He finished 3 over for the week.
He was within six shots of the lead after 36 holes, then shot an 80 on Saturday. But he bounced back on Sunday, chalking it all up as part of his Masters education.
“I wouldn’t say a springboard. I just think it’s a part of the process,” Varner said. “It’s a part of having a chance to win. Yesterday was tough, obviously, what I shot, but just how can I grow from that and learn from that? The cool part about today is I think the pins will be in similar spots next year when I’m here, and I’ll know kind of what to do, get a good feel for what I need to do to score.”
BUSY WEEKEND
It might be an ideal weekend for sports fans: see a Premier League soccer match one day, attend the Masters the next.
Harry Kane did it one better.
Kane played in Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday — and he was at the Masters as a patron on Sunday.
It was hardly the only golf-soccer crossover moment at Augusta National on Sunday. Seamus Power revealed that he was asking for scores — during his round. Given that nobody has phones on the course, scores weren’t exactly easy to come by.
DIVOTS
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler picked up $2.7 million for the victory, pushing his career total at Augusta National to just over $3 million in three appearances. That’s good for 13th in Masters history. … Rory McIlroy’s 64 on Sunday matched the best final round in Masters history, done on seven previous occasions. The others were Maurice Bembridge (1974), Hale Irwin (1975), Gary Player (1978), Greg Norman (1988), David Toms (1998), Bo Van Pelt (2012) and Jordan Spieth (2018). … The next Masters takes place April 6-9, 2023. … There was no silver cup presented to the low amateur this year, because none of the six who were in the field to start the week made the cut.
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More AP Masters coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/the-masters | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/masters-notebook-for-champ-10th-place-means-a-2023-invite/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:34 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/sports/sports-headlines/masters-notebook-for-champ-10th-place-means-a-2023-invite/ |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Cleveland Guardians won for the first time with their new name as hot-starting rookie Steven Kwan went 5 for 5 on Sunday in a 17-3 romp over the Kansas City Royals.
Oscar Mercado hit a grand slam during a five-RBI performance and Owen Miller drove in a career-high four runs. Cleveland had lost its first two games since changing this season to the Guardians from the Indians, its name since 1915.
Kwan had four singles and a double, was hit by a pitch and scored four runs. The 24-year-old outfielder made his major league debut on opening day and is 8 for 10 in three games so far, reaching base in 12 of 14 plate appearances.
“I know it’s three games in, but nobody wants to not get excited,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “When our young guys want to do things like that, it is exciting.”
Kwan hit .469 in spring training after batting a combined .301 in three minor league seasons.
“I’m not surprised about what (Kwan) is doing,” Mercado said. “He is such a good player, knows himself and knows what he can do. He is such a sparkplug and it is going to be awesome to watch him play this year.”
Held to a total of one run while dropping the first two games of the series, Cleveland broke loose with 22 hits. José Ramírez, who homered and three hits, and Amed Rosario, who had four hits, each drove in three runs.
“It was good for everybody to let our offense loosen up a little bit,” Francona said.
Mercado connected for his first career grand slam off Taylor Clarke in the first inning, capping a six-run burst. The Guardians made it 10-0 in the second and Mercado added an RBI triple in the fourth.
Ramírez and Miller each contributed three hits.
Pitching with a huge cushion, Cal Quantrill (1-0) tossed five innings and allowed two runs and four hits.
Kris Bubic (0-1) got just two outs and was tagged for five runs on three hits with two walks.
Royals rookie Bobby Witt Jr. hit a two-run double.
“It’s hard for a club to fight back when they’re putting up big numbers in the first and the second,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “We had an opportunity to keep it close, and we didn’t, and it just got out of hand. Those are the kind you learn from and move on from.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: RHP Tyler Zuber (Right shoulder impingement syndrome) is the lone KC player on the injured list. He was put on the 60-day IL on March 16.
UP NEXT
The series will conclude with a Monday matinee. Aaron Civale will pitch for Cleveland against Carlos Hernandez.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/guardians-post-1st-win-rookie-kwan-5-hits-romp-over-royals/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:35 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/sports/guardians-post-1st-win-rookie-kwan-5-hits-romp-over-royals/ |
Alleged robber shot dead in Berkeley, NJ — partner and target charged
BERKELEY — The shooting death of South Toms River resident Jimmy Mosley, who was allegedly in the process of committing a robbery, has resulted in charges on multiple offenses for both the man with whom he was committing the alleged crime and the man whose home he had intended to rob.
Neither of the men are charged with Mosley's death.
According to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office and Berkeley Township Police, Mosley, 36, and Freehold Borough Resident George Burke, 40, went to the Berkeley residence of Craig Dillard, 56, to commit a robbery on March 9. Burke and Mosley were armed, police say.
Mosley and Dillard became engaged in a physical altercation, police say. During the fight, Dillard, who also had a firearm, fired three rounds at Mosley.
Mosley and Burke fled the scene, according to police. Mosley was dropped off at Community Medical Center where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries. According to a post-mortem examination, Mosley had been shot in the back, hand and knee.
A search of Dillard's residence resulted in the recovery of approximately of approximately a half-pound of marijuana for distribution purposes, according to the prosecutor's office. Additionally, an investigation revealed that Burke and Dillard had both destroyed evidence that would have linked them to the March 9 incident.
Burke was taken into custody without incident at his home on April 6. Dillard was taken into custody in Burlington County on April 11. Both men were transported to Ocean County Jail.
Dillard is charged with possession of a firearm while engaged in drug activity; possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; marijuana possession; receiving stolen property; and tampering with physical evidence.
Burke is charged with robbery; conspiracy to commit robbery; possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose; unlawful possession of a firearm; burglary; and tampering with physical evidence. Burke also faces a charge of "certain person not to possess a firearm," meaning he has been convicted of a certain crime and/or is suffering from a mental disorder that would render him unfit to possess a deadly weapon.
Dino Flammia is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com
Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story. | https://nj1015.com/alleged-robber-shot-dead-in-berkeley-nj-partner-and-target-charged/ | 2022-04-11T19:38:37 | 1 | https://nj1015.com/alleged-robber-shot-dead-in-berkeley-nj-partner-and-target-charged/ |