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Private bill signings likely show DeSantis’ media strategy

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:25:25 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a restrictive abortion bill at an evangelical church before enthusiastic supporters in one of Florida’s largest media markets.But that was last year, when DeSantis banned abortions after 15 weeks.This year DeSantis signed an even more restrictive bill, banning abortion after six weeks, in the privacy of his office on Thursday just before midnight. There was no throng of supporters to celebrate, no packs of reporters throwing out scores of questions and documenting the moment and no television cameras — and Tallahassee is one of the state’s smallest media markets.It’s at least the third major piece of conservative legislation the prospective presidential candidate has signed in private this year with no advance media notice, following bills to allow legal gun owners to carry concealed weapons without a permit and to expand Florida’s school voucher program.Doing so might reflect more his attitude towa...

Crews battle multiple brush fires around Massachusetts

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:25:25 GMT

NORTHBOROUGH, MASS. (WHDH) – Multiple brush fires sent smoke and flames into the sky and drew emergency responses in communities including Northborough, Hopkinton and Clinton on Friday. Crews were in Northborough as of around 2:30 p.m. in the Mount Pisgah area, according to police, who asked community members to avoid the area in a message on Twitter. https://twitter.com/NorthboroughPD/status/1646943516327550976Overhead, SKY7-HD captured video of flames as fire crews could be seen nearby. Elsewhere, Massachusetts State Police said its personnel were on scene at a brush fire affecting traffic on the Mass. Pike in Hopkinton as of around 4 p.m. Police asked motorists to avoid the area, warning of “significant delays.”Crews could be seen pouring water off the Pike onto smoke and flames in Hopkinton shortly before 4 p.m. Though some traffic was getting by, heavy backups could be seen in the area.Another fire was burning as of around 4 p.m. near the Clinton/Ster...

Nets Notebook: No awkward feeling with Seth Curry and Doc Rivers after 76ers-Nets trade

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:25:25 GMT

Nets reserve guard Seth Curry says there’s no awkward feeling between him and Doc Rivers, even though Rivers is his father-in-law, head-coaching a Sixers team that traded Curry to Brooklyn in the deal that sent James Harden to Philadelphia.“Nothing awkward at all. Part of the business,” Curry said after Nets practice at the HSS Training Facility on Friday. “I understand the decision and everything that went into it. Nothing out of the ordinary.”Curry said he hasn’t spoken to Rivers since the two teams last played in the April 9 regular-season finale at Barclays Center. He said he’s not interested in sticking it to Rivers with a good playoff game specifically — but that he is interested in playing well against his former team and the Sixers fans he once played for.“It’s nothing about him personally. I just enjoy going back there,” Curry said. “It’s a hostile environment playing against my former team. I thi...

Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge the favorite in his Boston Marathon debut

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:25:25 GMT

Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya has been the world’s best marathon runner for nearly a decade but there is a glaring omission in his resplendent resume.Kipchoge will look to secure his 13th Abbott World Marathon Majors victory when he makes his BAA debut in the 127th running of Boston Marathon on Monday morning.“I am aiming for a win but with this course it is possible to come in all over here,” said Kipchoge during a gathering of the elite men’s and women’s professional athletes on Friday morning at the Fairmont Copley.“Boston is the oldest marathon around. Boston is the test in the sport of running and that is why I am here.”Kipchoge has competed in four straight Summer Olympic Games and he became the third marathoner to capture back-to-back gold medals with wins at Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.Kipchoge captured gold at the Tokyo Olympics with a winning time of 2:08:38 on Aug., 8, 2021. He returned to Japan and set the course record, winning in 2:02:40 at the Tokyo Marathon on March 6, 2022.K...

‘Barry’ review: The jig is up for Bill Hader’s hitman in the final season — or is it?

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:25:25 GMT

Nina Metz | Chicago TribuneThe fourth and final season of HBO’s “Barry” returns with its title character, the ex-Marine turned hitman (turned actor, turned abusive boyfriend), behind bars and about to go down for at least one of his crimes. Everything’s come to a head. Or has it?The show’s co-creators Alec Berg and Bill Hader (Hader also stars) keep us guessing while exploring a larger, tantalizing theme: Can you ever really start over — whether that means mending a toxic relationship, or going legit, or simply running away from your past? Maybe it’s an impossibility in the end. We are who we are. You can never right these kinds of wrongs.Barry has always been an elusive character, both self-hating and entitled, and one of the show’s strengths is how well it captures that inner chaos and shame. He’s incapable of real honesty, even with the man in the mirror, which has led to all kinds of erratic behavior. He thought acting might give him something — truth, relief, a sense of self — ...

How a high school choir got to sing with Foreigner

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:25:25 GMT

The band Foreigner is foreign to most teens.When the Murrieta Valley High School choir in Southern California was invited to sing with the band that had lots of hits in the 1970s and 1980s — way before these students were born — the typical reaction was, “Huh?”Not anymore. Not after appearing with the band to help sing one of its most famous songs, “I Want to Know What Love Is,” before a packed crowd of 1,200 at the Pechanga Theater near Temecula.Credit quick-thinking Choir Director Brad Allen for making it happen.Members of Murrieta Valley High School’s choir perform “I Want to Know What Love Is,” with the rock band Foreigner at the Pechanga Theater near Temecula on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Courtesy of Pechanga Resort Casino)Members of Murrieta Valley High School’s choir perform “I Want to Know What Love Is,” with the rock band Foreigner at the Pechanga Theater near Temecula on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Courtesy of Pechanga Resort Casino)Show Caption of ExpandHe’d just started eatin...

Leak suspect appears in court as US spells out its case

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:25:25 GMT

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, ERIC TUCKER and NOMAAN MERCHANT (Associated Press)BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused in the leak of highly classified military documents appeared in court Friday as prosecutors unsealed charges and revealed how billing records and interviews with social media comrades helped pinpoint the suspect.Among the revelations: That the platform Discord provided information that helped lead the FBI to guardsman Jack Teixeira, and that Teixeira used his government computer to search for the word “leak” on the day last week when news media reports revealed that classified documents had been improperly disclosed.President Joe Biden said the government was working to determine “the validity” of the leaked documents. In the meantime, he said in a White House statement, “I have directed our military and intelligence community to take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information, and our...

High court temporarily blocks restrictions on abortion pill

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:25:25 GMT

By MARK SHERMAN and JESSICA GRESKO (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Friday it was temporarily keeping in place federal rules for use of an abortion drug, while it takes time to more fully consider the issues raised in a court challenge.In an order signed by Justice Samuel Alito, the court asked both sides to weigh in by Tuesday over whether lower court rulings restricting the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug, mifepristone, should be allowed to take effect while the case works its way through federal courts.The order expires late Wednesday, suggesting the court will decide that issue by then.The justices are being asked at this point only to determine what parts of an April 7 ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas, as modified by an appellate ruling Wednesday, can be in force while the case continues.The court finds itself immersed in a new fight involving abortion less than a year after conservative justices ...

Senior Bowl, Shrine Bowl officials reveal best draft fits for Dolphins

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:25:25 GMT

Every year dozens of college prospects play in the East-West Shrine Bowl and the Senior Bowl, the college football all-star games that provide two of the biggest pre-draft opportunities for NFL personnel to scout and interview players.And every year the officials who run those bowl games get up-close, personal looks at the prospects.So, it makes sense to ask them – Jim Nagy, executive director of the Senior Bowl, and Eric Galko, director of football operations and player personnel for the Shrine Bowl – who, among the participants in their respective games, makes sense for the Dolphins in this year’s NFL Draft (April 27-29).The Dolphins have four picks – one in the second round, one in the third round, one in the sixth round and one in the seventh round.For these purposes, Galko and Nagy were asked which players that participated in their games are good fits for the Dolphins in the second and third rounds at three positions – tight end, right tackle, and...

Nets plan to wear MVP frontrunner Joel Embiid down: ‘We’ll take advantage of the things we do well’

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:25:25 GMT

Here’s how David wants to beat Goliath: by wearing him down and keeping him guessing.It’s the challenge ahead for an undersized Nets team tasked with stopping the 7-foot, 280-pound Joel Embiid in Brooklyn’s first-round playoff matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers.The Nets don’t have a player of Embiid’s size or strength on their roster. Instead, they will lean on the strengths that helped them solidify the Eastern Conference’s No. 6 seed, even after a blockbuster midseason trade sent the Nets plummeting down the standings.“I think we’ll take advantage of the things we do well. We’ve always said we’re gonna play with pace and we’re gonna get the ball up the floor,” head coach Jacque Vaughn said after Friday’s practice at the HSS Training Facility, less than 24 hours ahead of Saturday’s matinee tipoff for Game 1 in Philadelphia. “That’s an advantage for us. And then the different looks th...