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Dave Hyde: Heat, Panthers still have the chance to be the teams they think they are

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:28:28 GMT

We start the postseason for the Miami Heat with a play-in game Tuesday, stare at the playoff situation for the Florida Panthers, and there’s one thing both teams share beyond unimpressive regular seasons that offered little hope all winter:They write their story from here.They don’t have to be two teams that leave the stage pretending they are better than they actually are. They still have a chance to be those teams over the next week or two.Anyone who thinks they don’t have it in them doesn’t remember the ride the Heat took to within one shot of the NBA Finals last year or hasn’t watched the manner the Panthers have clawed back into contention over the past few weeks.So, just who are these Heat and Panthers?There’s another question before answering that for the Heat: Who are half the teams in the NBA playoffs? The regular season used to show us. But the regular season is broken, with players skipping games and too many teams not caring, right to ...

Jackie Robinson was a game-changer on and off the field: ‘His activism is probably something that is underappreciated’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:28:28 GMT

“A Life Is Not Important Except In The Impact It Has On Other Lives.” — Jackie Roosevelt Robinson’s HeadstoneMy grandmother took me to Mets games during the summer of 1964 when I was 10 years old.Walking down the stairs from the elevated No. 7 train, I noticed a tall Black man with white hair signing autographs.My grandmother smiled and I asked who was that man?“That’s Mr. Jackie Robinson,” said the long-time Brooklyn Dodgers fan sporting one of her brightest smiles.I was puzzled and asked, “Who’s Mr. Jackie Robinson?”She told me he was the first “colored man” (her words) to play pro baseball.I thought Nana was losing it. Baseball has been around forever. Was Mr. Jackie Robinson 200 years old?No, she said, colored men weren’t allowed to play baseball until 1947.“Why not?” I queried, really confused.“Because he was colored,” she said.“But that doesn’t make any sense,” said the naïve little boy.“Exactly,” she replied.As we walked away from Mr. Jackie Robinson, he was still...

Grand jury charges mother of Virginia 6-year-old who shot teacher; prosecutors look to further investigate security issues

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:28:28 GMT

Peter Dujardin | Daily PressNEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A Newport News grand jury on Monday indicted the mother of the 6-year-old boy who shot his first grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School three months ago.Deja Nicole Taylor, 25, of Newport News — whose son shot 25-year-old teacher Abby Zwerner during class on Jan. 6 — was charged with felony child neglect and a misdemeanor count of recklessly leaving a firearm so as to endanger a child.Newport News prosecutors have also asked a Circuit Court judge to impanel a “special grand jury” to “continue the investigation into any security issues that may have contributed to this shooting.” This could include looking at Richneck administrators, the school system and anyone else.Such a probe could take months — and could lead to more indictments.“Their investigation will continue as long as necessary to determine whether others are criminally responsible for the shooting of January 6,” the Newport News commonwealth’s attorney’s office wrote in...

Stocks end mixed on Wall Street amid rate hike expectations

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:28:28 GMT

By STAN CHOE (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks were mixed Monday in their first trading after a report heightened speculation the Federal Reserve may tap the brakes a little harder on financial markets and the economy. The S&P 500 rose 4.09 points, or 0.1%, to 4,109.11. It did not trade on Friday, when data showing a resilient U.S. jobs market heightened expectations the Fed would hike interest rates again at its next meeting. Big Tech stocks fell more than the rest of the market, which helped drag the Nasdaq composite down 3.60, or less than 0.1%, to 12,084.36. It was down as much as 1.4% earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was steadier, and it rose 101.23, or 0.3%, to 33,586.52. Higher rates tend to hit tech and other high-growth stocks the hardest, and Apple and Microsoft were the two heaviest drags on the S&P 500. Apple fell 1.6%, and Microsoft slipped 0.8.%. Tesla also dipped 0.3% after paring a sharper, early loss. The company cut pric...

‘The Little Mermaid’ live-action remake to feature modified lyrics ‘because people have gotten very sensitive’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:28:28 GMT

Karu F. Daniels | (TNS) New York Daily NewsDisney’s anticipated live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” will not only have a more diverse cast, the soundtrack will have updated lyrics.According to composer Alan Menken, who created the music for the original 1989 movie, the new film will feature lyrics to include consent.The beloved songs “Kiss the Girl” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls” will be edited to reflect the cultural shift of modern times.“There are some lyric changes in ‘Kiss the Girl’ because people have gotten very sensitive about the idea that [Prince Eric] would, in any way, force himself on [Ariel],” the Oscar winner said in a recent Vanity Fair interview.During the original “Kiss the Girl” scene, Prince Eric is encouraged to kiss Ariel, who has no voice at the time.Meanwhile, “Poor Unfortunate Souls” has a line in which Ursula says: “The men up there don’t like a lot of blabber, they think a girl who gossips is a bore, yet on land, it’s much preferred for ladies not to ...

Sox place Duvall on IL with fractured wrist, Dalbec recalled

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:28:28 GMT

The Red Sox could be without their hottest hitter for a while.Outfielder Adam Duvall is headed for the injured list with a fractured left wrist, the Red Sox said Monday afternoon, and infielder Bobby Dalbec is being recalled to fill his spot on the active roster.Alex Cora told reporters in St. Petersburg that Duvall suffered a distal radius fracture and his timetable is unknown, though typically most fractures require at least four to six weeks of recovery time. Duvall was back in Boston undergoing testing Monday and the club is still trying to determine if he’ll require surgery.Duvall suffered the injury in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 4-1 win over Detroit, landing awkwardly on his left wrist while trying to make a diving catch. Duvall previously underwent season-ending surgery on the same wrist last season to repair a torn tendon sheath, which cost him the last two months of the year.With Duvall sidelined the Red Sox will likely rely more heavily on reserve outfielders...

From buried grottos to mysterious orbs, could this Northern California property become a Catholic shrine?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:28:28 GMT

Brut Farris moved into a cottage among the towering redwoods overlooking the Boulder Creek deep in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Northern California about 15 years ago because it was scenic — not sacred.It didn’t hurt that there was plenty of space for him and his friends to shoot their bows and park their Harleys.So when he stumbled upon a toppled-over statue of the Virgin Mary in a stone enclosure while helping extend the driveway to the edge of a hillside, he didn’t think much  about chucking it into a sinkhole with other debris.Cora Evans, who died 56 years ago, has been declared a “Servant of God” by The Catholic Church, the first step on the path to sainthood. (Courtesy of family)He had no idea back then that the property’s previous owner, the late Cora Evans who died here in 1957, was a candidate for sainthood in the Catholic Church. He hadn’t heard the stories that she was considered a mystic and fell into deep trances and wrote thousands of pages about walks with God. He didn...

Magic relocating G League affiliate from Lakeland to Kissimmee

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:28:28 GMT

The Orlando Magic on Monday called for a press conference Tuesday afternoon, when they’re expected to relocate their NBA G League affiliate from Lakeland to Kissimmee, league sources told the Orlando Sentinel.The Magic’s G League team will be rebranded as the Osceola Magic and will start playing at Silver Spurs Arena in November.This story will be updated.This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Khobi Price at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @khobi_price. ()

Love of soup leads woman to help millions through charity

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:28:28 GMT

Sharon Hapton has been making soup her whole life but, in 2009, she decided to turn this love for making soup into a charity.“I was celebrating a milestone birthday and I invited 30 girlfriends to a soup making birthday party and at night delivered the first batch of fresh soup ever to an emergency women shelter,” said Hapton.Soup Sisters was born on that day. It’s a not-for-profit that started in Calgary and now serves agencies nationwide.They operate in 27 cities in Canada and the United States and run by volunteers in each city with a purpose to provide soup for women and children escaping domestic violence and youth in crisis.“It always amazes me when we’re walking round our beautiful, lovely country how many people are suffering and with things like a pandemic and their recuperation of such things it just impacts even more,” said Kristyn Drever, the director of operations with Soup Sisters. “And it doesn’t even have to be much but...

Maine city reopens arena to hundreds of asylum seekers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:28:28 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Hundreds of asylum seekers filed into a basketball arena in Portland on Monday as Maine’s largest city deals with a months-long surge in immigration that has taxed its already limited housing market.It’s the second time in recent years that Portland has repurposed the Portland Exposition Building — a century-old red-brick gym that houses a minor league basketball team and has hosted everyone from President John F. Kennedy to the Beach Boys — to serve migrants. The floor of the arena was lined with cots as families carried in bags of clothes, food and personal possessions.Communities around the country have been dealing with growing numbers of asylum seekers, and pending rule changes could mean more are coming. A COVID-19 pandemic rule that has suspended rights to seek asylum for many is slated to end in May.It was a massive undertaking to make Portland’s temporary shelter ready for asylum seekers, but it was not as frantic as in 2...