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As Ian Happ enters opening day without a contract extension, the Chicago Cubs outfielder focuses on the present

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

Ian Happ has witnessed how this situation has played out with his former Chicago Cubs teammates.Hours before the Cubs officially announced Nico Hoerner’s three-year contract extension — covering the second baseman’s final two years of arbitration and one year of free agency — Happ reflected on the annual uniqueness of opening day on the eve of the season opener against the Milwaukee Brewers.Happ, 28, enters his final season before free agency without a contract extension, a topic he downplayed before the Cubs’ workout Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field.“It’s not something I really want to get into,” said Happ, the ninth pick in the 2015 draft who is entering his seventh major-league season with the Cubs. “I mean, I went through the process and that’s about it. There’s nothing really to report and no real comment on it.“I’m excited to play baseball with this group of guys.”Team President Jed Hoyer pr...

Rejection of Black educator angers some Mississippi senators

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s Republican-led Senate voted Wednesday against confirming veteran educator Robert P. Taylor as state superintendent of education, angering some Black Democrats who said the rejection was at least partly because Taylor is Black and wrote years ago about the state’s racist history.The state Board of Education — which has members chosen by the Republican governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker — conducted a nationwide search for a superintendent last year. Board members announced in November that their unanimous choice was Taylor, who had worked the past 30 years in North Carolina.“This whole confirmation was a political process, and I knew that coming in,” Taylor told The Associated Press on Wednesday evening after the Senate vote. He said senators in the past have confirmed all previous nominees for state superintendent, and he is disappointed this group of senators did not confirm him.“The fact that they didn’t, that is wh...

Biden won’t veto Republican-led bill ending COVID emergency

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden won’t veto a Republican-led measure to end the national COVID emergency, despite having expressed strong objections against it earlier this year, ensuring the bill is on an easy path to becoming law.It marks the second time in the new Congress that the Biden administration has signaled opposition to a Republican measure, rallying most Democrats in Congress to vote against it, only to soften its stance and let the legislation eventually become law.Just weeks ago, Biden stunned many fellow Democrats when he declined to veto a Republican-led bill to upend a new criminal code for the District of Columbia he and others in the president’s party opposed, allowing the GOP’s tough-on-crime push into the local government to become law. Republicans celebrated the turn of events Wednesday as a sign of their newfound influence in divided Washington, while Democrats quietly complained that the Biden administration had shifted its views.But the Whi...

RCMP arrest five people near natural gas pipeline construction site in northern B.C.

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

The RCMP say five people have been arrested at two camps in the area where a disputed natural gas pipeline is under construction in northwestern British Columbia.Police say Mounties responded to a complaint Sunday night from Coastal GasLink security, who reported that a worker had been “swarmed” by a group of people wearing masks.Police say the group allegedly fired flares and gained access to one of the pipeline company’s vehicles when the worker left the area because of the intimidation. TC Energy, the owner of the project, says in a statement that its workers deserve a safe environment without fear of dangerous acts.A statement from the Gidimt’en Checkpoint, whose members oppose the pipeline’s construction through Wet’suwet’en territory, saysthe people arrested Wednesday were mostly Indigenous women, including the daughter of a hereditary chief.Checkpoint spokesperson Sleydo’ says “this harassment and intimidation is exactly t...

California reparations amount, if any, left to politicians

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The leader of California’s first-in-the-nation reparations task force on Wednesday said it won’t take a stance on how much the state should compensate Black residents whom economists estimate may be owed more than $800 billion for decades of over-policing, disproportionate incarceration and housing discrimination. The $800 billion is more than 2.5 times California’s $300 billion annual budget and does not include a recommended $1 million per older Black resident for health disparities that have shortened their average life span. Nor does the figure count compensating people for property unjustly taken by the government or devaluing Black businesses, two other harms the task force says the state perpetuated. “All forms of discrimination should be considered in reparations,” Thomas Craemer, a public policy professor at the University of Connecticut, told the panel Wednesday. “The task force should feel free to go beyond our loss estim...

Plane crashes in Lincoln

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

LINCOLN, Ill. (WMBD)-- A plane crashed in Lincoln Wednesday night, according to the Lincoln Fire Department. The Lincoln Daily News reports a small plane crashed near Open Arms Christian Fellowship Church in Lincoln.The locally-owned newspaper also reports that a meeting was inside the church, and the plane hit a block structure and came to halt.The paper also indicates injuries are reported inside the aircraft. This is a developing story that will be updated once more details become available.

Gwyneth Paltrow's ski collision trial spawns memes, intrigue

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — When two skiers collided on a beginner run at an upscale Utah ski resort in 2016, no one could foresee that seven years later, the crash would become the subject of a closely watched celebrity trial.But Gwyneth Paltrow’s live-streamed trial over her collision with Terry Sanderson, a 76-year-old retired optometrist, in Park City has emerged as the biggest celebrity court case since actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard faced off last year — spawning memes, sparking debate about the burden of fame, and making ski etiquette rules of who was uphill and who had the right of way relevant beyond those who can afford resort chairlift tickets.As attorneys finished questioning witnesses Wednesday and prepared for closing arguments Thursday, here is a look back at highlights from the two-week trial:LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND THE FAMOUSFor seven days, attorneys have highlighted — and downplayed — Paltrow and Sanderson’s extravagant lifestyles.Sa...

WATCH: Lawmakers get into heated argument over gun control outside House floor

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

(The Hill) - Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) got into a heated shouting match about gun control as lawmakers left House votes on Wednesday evening.The exchange came in the wake of a shooter killing three nine-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn. on Monday. Bowman, a former middle school principal, left votes telling reporters with a booming voice to press Republican lawmakers about their unwillingness to pass firearm restrictions. Video: Man stops traffic as students flee Nashville shooting “They’re cowards! They’re all cowards! They won’t do anything to save the lives of our children at all. Cowards!” Bowman said. “Question them. Force them to respond to the question, ‘Why the hell don’t you do anything to save America’s children?’ And let them explain that all the way up until 2024.”Massie, a co-chair of the Second Amendment Caucus, walked out of the House chamber and asked what Bowman was talking about.“You know...

How 38-year-old Kei Kamara continues to make MLS history with Chicago Fire

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

CHICAGO — The biggest goal so far for the club in 2023 came from a player who is still quite new to the franchise. But he's certainly no rookie when it comes to Major League Soccer. Yet 38-year-old Kei Kamara looked quite young when he made his run toward the goal in stoppage time on Saturday night against Inter Miami CF on the road. With one shot, he made a little more history in America's top soccer league. The forward notched the game-winner in a 3-2 triumph for the Fire that gave them their first victory of the still very young 2023 season. In the process, Kamara added to his lengthy resumer in MLS along with the Fire's own record book.In his 16th MLS season, he became the first in league history to score a goal with ten different clubs since making his debut with the Columbus Crew in 2006. It was his 140th tally of his career, which is third all-time in league history and just five behind Landon Donovan for second. Kamara became the oldest player in Fire history to score a goal...

'You don't want to fall for this': BBB warns of smart TV scam

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — If you have a smart TV, listen up.The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning of a scam involving popular streaming devices, such as Roku and Amazon Fire TV sticks, and services like Netflix and YouTube TV.The BBB said it has received an influx of reports regarding scammers targeting victims through pop-ups on their smart TVs. Yes, the IRS wants you to report stolen items – unless you return them "Scammers can actually target victims through their devices via the internet," BBB's Paula Fleming explained. "Obviously, smart TVs are no exception."Here's how the scam works:The scammer typically prevents the user from logging into their streaming service through a pop-up, which states there is a problem with either the streaming device or subscription.In order to rectify the supposed issue, the pop-up provides the user with a phone number to call or a website to visit.Users who call the number are quickly connected with a scammer posing as a customer serv...