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Baseball/softball notebook: Burlington girls up to 4th in Power Rankings

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

Behind Boston Herald all-scholastic pitcher Cece Imbimbo, Burlington finds itself in contention for a Div. 2 state title as the Red Devils enter the final quarter of the season with a 13-2 record and the No. 4 seed in the latest MIAA Power Rankings.“Our goal is to win games in the state tournament, but we’re still figuring things out,” Burlington coach Kristin Farrell said. “When our pitching is playing at a high level we have to come through and be better offensively.”When Imbimbo is on the mound the Red Devils defense has been mostly able to breath easy. The senior is averaging double-digit strikeouts, has thrown consecutive no-hitters, and fanned 20 on Tuesday in a win over Watertown. Third baseman Cassidy Soohoo, second baseman Madison King, and center fielder Morgan Ryan are at the center of the Red Devils lineup while Shea McDonald has turned into the leadoff hitter after not starting a season ago.Freshman Izzy Ortiz has provided heroics including...

Pat Leonard: Amazon’s New York preference helped land Jets in Black Friday slot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

The Jets landed on the NFL’s first-ever Black Friday game on Prime Video in part because Amazon wanted a New York football team playing on the biggest shopping day of the year.“Amazon did reach out to us and suggested ‘maybe, as we’re the retail leader in this space and New York is the biggest market and the No. 1 retail market, maybe a game in New York might be a fun way to introduce this concept,’” NFL VP of broadcast planning Mike North said in a conference call on Friday. “We did look at Eagles-Giants. We looked at a Jets home game. But we looked at other games, as well.”North said some people in the league liked the idea of a Chiefs-Raiders game in that spot.“Black Friday in the Black Hole,” he said.The Cincinnati Bengals also volunteered to host the game and make it an annual tradition, which is something North said the NFL will “explore.”Unquestionably, acquiring Aaron Rodgers landed the Jets their five p...

North Carolina governor vetoes abortion limits, launches override showdown

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — In front of an exuberant crowd, North Carolina’s Democratic governor vetoed legislation Saturday that would have banned nearly all abortions in his state after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Hundreds of abortion-rights activists and voters watched on a plaza in the capital of Raleigh as Gov. Roy Cooper affixed his veto stamp to the bill. The veto launches a major test for leaders of the GOP-controlled General Assembly to attempt to override Cooper’s veto after they recently gained veto-proof majorities in both chambers. The bill was the Republican response to last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.“We’re going to have to kick it into an even higher gear when that veto stamp comes down,” Cooper told the crowd. “If just one Republican in either the House or the Senate keeps a campaign promise to protect women’s reproductive health, we can stop this ban.”Andrea Long, a 42-year-old mother of three from Cary, said she was honored be part of an ...

Campaigning in Turkey’s pivotal elections ends, voting nears

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish politicians held their final rallies on the last hours of campaigning before Saturday, the eve of pivotal presidential and parliamentary elections that could significantly shape the NATO member’s future, before a so-called propaganda ban went into effect. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is facing the toughest challenge ever in his two decades of power, spoke at three neighborhood rallies in Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city.His main challenger is Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the pro-secular, center-left CHP (the Republican People’s Party), who is the joint candidate of six opposition parties. He held his final rally in the capital, Ankara, on Friday in the pouring rain. On Saturday, he and some of his supporters visited the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey and of the CHP. On Friday, Erdogan dismissed speculation that he wouldn’t cede power if he lost, calling the question “very ridiculous.” In an interview with more than...

Woman charged in 1 of 4 Nebraska killings pleads not guilty

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

HARTINGTON, Neb. (AP) — A woman has pleaded not guilty in the death of one of four people who were killed in a small northeast Nebraska town last year.Carrie Jones, 44, of Laurel entered written not guilty pleas this week to first-degree murder, being an accessory to a felony and tampering with evidence, according to court records. Jones’ husband, 43-year-old Jason Jones, has pleaded not guilty to four counts each of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony, plus two counts of first-degree arson.Carrie Jones is charged in the death of Gene Twiford, 86, in Laurel, on Aug. 4, 2022. Her husband is charged with killing Twiford, his wife and his daughter and another Laurel woman and setting fire to the victims’ homes.Prosecutors allege Carrie Jones encouraged her husband to confront Twiford, who she said had been making sexually charged comments to her for years, and then helped him hide when he was being sought by police. Testimony at an earlier hearing revealed that ...

Nova Scotia artist believes wire sculptures were stolen from her property for copper

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

LITTLE HARBOUR, N.S. — A Nova Scotia artist believes five life-sized sculptures stolen from her property were taken by copper thieves.Dawn MacNutt says she discovered Thursday that the works which had been on display outside her studio and home in rural Little Harbour, N.S., were gone.MacNutt says four of the woven copper wire figures had been on the deck of the studio, while the fifth had been displayed in a nearby tree.She says the works, which have been on display outside for 16 years, are worth thousands of dollars with one valued at around $4,000.MacNutt says she has filed a report with police and even paid a visit to the local recycling depot to ask them to be on the lookout for the art pieces.The artist says she had hoped to display at least one of the pieces during a retrospective show of her work planned for the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery in Halifax in June 2024.  This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2023.The Canadian Press

Man arrested after assault with python snake in Toronto

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

Toronto police have arrested and charged a man following an alleged assault with a python snake.Police responded to a call for a man threatening people with a python snake in the Trinity-Bellwoods neighbourhood of Dundas Street West and Manning Avenue just before midnight on Wednesday.Investigators said a man was walking down the street holding a real python when he allegedly approached the victim with the snake.Officers said there was a physical altercation, and the man used the python to attack the victim. Police arrived on the scene and arrested one person.It’s unclear if the victim was seriously hurt in the assault.The accused was identified as 45-year-old Laurenio Avila of Toronto. He’s been charged with assault with a weapon and unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal.He appeared in court on Thursday.

Windsor mayor calls out Ottawa after Stellantis accuses feds of failing on plant deal

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

The mayor of a southwestern Ontario city says he expects the federal government to live up to a deal that would se one of the world’s biggest automakers build an electric vehicle battery plant in the area.Stellantis says the federal government has not delivered on an agreement with the automaker and South Korean battery-maker LG Energy Solution to build a battery plant in Windsor, Ont.The two companies say they will immediately begin implementing contingency plans, but did not say what those were.Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says the completion of the electric vehicle battery plant is now in question and is calling on Ottawa to fulfill its commitments to make sure the deal goes ahead.Stellantis and LG committed $5-billion last year to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor with financial support from all levels of government.A spokeswoman for federal Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says negotiations with Stellantis are ongoing.The amount the various lev...

Pope Francis meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

ROME (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, telling the pontiff it was a “great honor.” The meeting on Saturday comes during the Ukrainian’s visit to Rome, where he also met with Italian officials. The pontiff has previously offered his efforts to try to end the war that Russia began with its invasion of Ukraine a year ago. Neither side immediately gave details of the talks.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.ROME (AP) — Ahead of Zelenskyy’s arrival in late afternoon, police moved tourists to one side of St. Peter’s Square so the Ukrainian president’s motorcade could speed across the vast cobblestone space. Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy met with Italian officials after his morning flight to Rome, and received both pledges of open-ended continued military and financial support as well as bolstered backing for Ukraine’s cherished aim to join the European Union.“The message is clear a...

In debt ceiling standoff, COVID era of big spending gives way to new focus on deficit

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — One outcome is clear as Washington reaches for a budget deal in the debt ceiling standoff: The ambitious COVID-19 era of government spending to cope with the pandemic and rebuild is giving way to a new focus on tailored investments and stemming deficits.President Joe Biden has said recouping unspent coronavirus money is “on the table” in budget talks with Congress. While the White House has threatened to veto Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling bill with its “devastating cuts” to federal programs, the administration has signaled a willingness to consider other budget caps.The end result is a turnaround from just a few years ago, when Congress passed and then-president Donald Trump signed the historic $2.2 trillion CARES Act at the start of the public health crisis in 2020. It’s a dramatic realignment even as Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act are now investing billions of dollars into paving streets, shoring up the ...