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Mike Lupica: It’s time for the Yankees to play the young kids and become fun again

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:30 GMT

The Yankees will be good again this season. Why? Because they’re always good, even if it’s been a long time — 2009? 1909? — since they were good enough.They will hit a lot of home runs because they always hit a lot of home runs, and that doesn’t just mean Aaron Judge. Sometimes they even lead the league in home runs.And they’ll have pitchers hurt because they always have pitchers hurt, another area where they always seem to lead the league. Maybe they’ll even have a big closer again in Clay Holmes, unless he is another Yankee pitcher who gets hurt. Seriously: Are you surprised that Carlos Rodon has already felt something in his pitching elbow? I’m not.But you know what we really want from the 2023 Yankees? We want them to be fun again.We want them to be a show. We want them to be something more than Judge because, let’s face it, other than Judge, who were you really buying a ticket to watch play last season?The Yankees were fun w...

Breaking down Heat seeding scenarios: Postseason math getting tricky

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:30 GMT

There was a point when the Miami Heat controlled their destiny when it came to a direct ticket to the best-of-seven opening round of the NBA playoffs.Then came Saturday night’s troubling 129-100 home loss to the Brooklyn Nets.Then came Tuesday night’s 106-92 loss in Toronto and Wednesday night’s 101-92 loss in New York.Now the Heat control only a single element of their destiny: With their next win or the Washington Wizards’ next loss, the Heat will be guaranteed of no worse than a berth in the play-in tournament that will decide the final two playoff seeds in the Eastern Conference.In the play-in, the No. 7 seed hosts the No. 8 seed in a single game, with the winner securing the No. 7 playoff seed, playing the conference’s No. 2 seed in the first round. The loser of that Nos. 7-8 game hosts the winner of the game between the Nos. 9-10 seeds, playing for the No. 8 seed and a first-round series against No. 1 in the East.The Heat stand No. 7 in the East, ...

House to take up tax relief, free college, Speaker tells Greater Boston Chamber

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:30 GMT

The House will take up some version of the governor’s tax cuts and carry through with her plan to give Massachusetts adults free community college, House Speaker Ron Mariano told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.“I have been clear; if revenue predictions indicate that there is an opportunity to responsibly provide tax relief, the House will do so,” he said Thursday morning, according to prepared remarks provided by his staff.“After countless informative conversations with colleagues, months of internal research, and consensus revenue and tax relief hearings, I’m proud to announce today that the House will soon release a comprehensive tax reform package aimed at providing responsible, permanent financial relief to all residents of the Commonwealth, regardless of income status,” he said.Mariano also addressed the Chamber during one of their regular Government Affairs Forums in May of last year, when the state was considering a different tax cut proposal, that time put forw...

Covering over well at Indian temple collapses, killing 8

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:30 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — A structure built over an old temple well in India collapsed Thursday as a large crowd of devotees prayed at a festival for Rama, one of the most widely worshipped Hindu deities, killing at least eight people, police said.Up to 35 people fell into the well in the temple complex in Indore in central Madhya Pradesh state when the structure collapsed and were covered by falling debris, police Commissioner Makrand Deoskar said. At least eight were killed.The structure apparently caved in because it could not handle the weight of the large crowd. The state’s top elected official, Shivraj Chauhan, ordered an investigation.Local news reports said temple authorities had stopped using the well years ago and covered it with the structure.Witnesses said a large crowd of devotees had thronged the temple to perform a fire ritual and celebrate the Hindu festival.Building collapses are common in India because of poor construction and a failure to observe regulations.In Octob...

Vatican rejects Doctrine of Discovery, a move Indigenous people have long urged

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:30 GMT

The Vatican has rejected the Doctrine of Discovery a year after Pope Francis met with Indigenous groups from Canada and delivered his first apology for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools.  A statement from the Vatican says the papal bulls, or decrees, “did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples.”The 15th-century doctrine was connected to the idea that lands being colonized were empty, when in fact Indigenous people had long called them home. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops says in a statement it is grateful for the move Indigenous organizations had been urging.A year ago First Nations, Métis and Inuit groups went to Rome to meet with Pope Francis and many told him the doctrine must be rejected.  The pontiff travelled to Canada in July for a six-day tour, during which he apologized repeatedly but was criticized for not addressing the papal bulls.  This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, ...

Suspect arrested in unprovoked assault on 15-year-old at Bathurst station

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:30 GMT

A man is under arrest after a 15-year-old boy was assaulted at Bathurst Station last week.Officers were called to the TTC station around 9:15 a.m. on March 23 for reports of an assault.It’s alleged a boy was on an escalator heading up to a street-level exit when a man, who was walking in front, turned around and punched the boy in the face. Police alleged the attack was unprovoked.Police arrested 33-year-old Justin Corbett, of Toronto, and charged him with assault.The accused is scheduled to appear in a Toronto courtroom on Thursday morning.There’ has been renewed calls for improved safety measures on the TTC this week after another wave of violence. Most recently, 16-year-old Gabriel Magalhaes was fatally stabbed in an unprovoked attack at Keele Subway Station over the weekend.

Germany criticizes Russian role in French nuclear fuel plant

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:30 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German officials have criticized plans by French firm Framatome to produce nuclear fuel in a joint venture with Russia’s Rosatom at a facility in western Germany, and said Thursday that they will consider whether an application to do so can be rejected.Officials in the state of Lower Saxony have received a request for the Framatome-owned ANF facility in Lingen, near the German-Dutch border, to be allowed to produce hexagonal fuel rod arrangements used in Soviet-designed water-water energetic reactors. Such reactors, known by the Russian acronym VVER, are common in Eastern Europe and the fuel production would take place under license from state-owned Rosatom.“Doing business with (Russian President) Putin must stop, and that also and especially applies to the nuclear sector,” Lower Saxony’s Energy Minister Christian Meyer said.He added that it would be wrong to cement the nuclear industry’s dependence on Russia through a direct or indirect involvement o...

Professors end strike at Quebec’s Université Laval, approve conciliator deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:30 GMT

QUEBEC — Professors at Université Laval in Quebec City have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a deal brokered by a conciliator, putting an end to their indefinite general strike.About 93 per cent of the 800 teachers who voted Wednesday accepted the deal, which was also approved by the university.Professors were back at work today after about 1,300 walked off the job March 13.The union did not release details of the deal but said it included wage gains.The university said Wednesday night that classes would resume according to the usual schedule on Friday or by Monday at the latest.Université Laval said it would hold a news conference later today. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2023.The Canadian Press

WATCH LIVE | Aldermen to vote for more independence from Mayor's office Thursday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:30 GMT

CHICAGO —The group of aldermen are pushing for more independence from the mayor's office happening just a week before a new mayor is elected to run the city.The aldermen are looking to increase the number of committees and subcommittees from19 to 28 which would include adding a youth services subgroup and another focused on entertainment and conventions. The group also wants council members to pick their own committee chairs instead of thew power belonging to the mayor.City Council has allowed mayors to hand-pick committee chairs for the past few decades, helping ensure the mayor could push through their legislation more quickly.Another change is stopping ordinances from being introduced last minute without making information available to the public. A rare Michael Jordan card is up for auction Even though the vote is taking place Thursday, any rules approved later would still have to be re-approved by the newly elected City Council once the new ter...

DeSantis' new board says Disney stripped its power: 'Never seen anything like this'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:30 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The new board controlling the special district that oversees Walt Disney World was stripped of nearly all its powers through an agreement made before the state took control of the district from Disney, lawyers for the new board said Wednesday. In February, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law stripping the entertainment giant of its control over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special tax district and governance jurisdiction which had been controlled by Disney since 1968. The new law changed the district's name to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and gave the governor power to appoint a new Board of Supervisors. The state's takeover also came months after the governor clashed with Disney executives over the company's opposition to Florida's Parental Rights In Education legislation, or the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill that later became law.DeSantis picked five allies, including a donor, an evangelical minister and Bridget Ziegler, a...