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Wendell Carter returns as Magic look to turn defense around

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:36:28 GMT

The Orlando Magic are hoping the return of their starting big man will lead to better defensive performances.Wendell Carter Jr. was back in the lineup Saturday vs. the Miami Heat after missing the previous three games — losses to the Portland Trail Blazers, Milwaukee Bucks and Utah Jazz — because of hip pain.“He does so many little things,” coach Jamahl Mosley said pregame. “Like his ability to when to roll and where to roll in pick and rolls. It’s why he and Franz [Wagner] have such a great connection in the pick and roll.“Defensively, that early talk, that early help with the guards. Helping them navigate through screens and being in the right position if something breaks down. Those are the things that you don’t really pick up on because he’s covering it so fast.”The Magic’s defensive efficiency tanked without Carter in the previous three games.They recorded a combined defensive rating (points allowed per 100 posse...

UF’s Anthony Richardson proves NFL Scouting Combine is convention of fools | Commentary

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:36:28 GMT

There are some critics who want to do away with the NFL Scouting Combine because they believe it demeans players and turns them into human cattle.This may be true, but I believe the NFL Scouting Combine should be banned for another reason:Because it deteriorates the brain of NFL general managers and turns them into human idiots.In proving my theory, I would like to present Exhibit A:Anthony Richardson of the Florida Gators — an amazing athlete and a fine young man.Just not a very good college quarterback.But being a below-average college passer doesn’t matter because Richardson showed up at the made-for-TV Combine a few days ago and measured 6-foot-4, 244 pounds and then ran a blazing 4.43 40-yard dash (fifth-fastest among quarterbacks in Combine history) while setting the Combine QB records for the vertical jump (40 feet, 5 inches) and the standing broad jump (10 feet, 9 inches.).Suddenly, Richardson began skyrocketing up draft boards before multiple NFL analysts and pu...

Boston musicians feeling at home at new rehearsal studios created after closure of Allston’s Sound Museum

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:36:28 GMT

Inside a spacious second-floor room in the former Beasley Media Group building in Dorchester, Boston-based musician Jeison Peguero has spent the past few days acclimating to his new rehearsal studio.The room is decorated with flags from Peguero’s native Dominican Republic, pictures of his music idols, a couch, rug, keyboard and more items — evidence the 26-year-old Boston resident is amped up for life after Allston’s Sound Museum rehearsal studios closed in late January.Peguero and hundreds of musicians have spent the past week moving into an interim music rehearsal site featuring 88 studios at 55 Morrissey Blvd., a space that looks to fill the void left by the Sound Museum closure which displaced at least 800 musicians.“I feel like I have a lot of support from the city,” Peguero told the Herald on Saturday. “I really put time into teaching and showing that music is this thing that could save people and help them find themselves and triumph in life. This studio shows the...

Mets scratch righty starter Kodai Senga from Saturday’s start with right finger ‘discomfort’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:36:28 GMT

The Mets’ uneventful spring training finally hit a few road bumps this week.The latest concerning development had Buck Showalter’s club scratching Kodai Senga from his scheduled start against the Washington Nationals on Saturday night due to discomfort at the base of his right index finger, the team announced.The Japanese right-hander, who signed a five-year, $75 million contract to make the jump to the Major Leagues this winter, will undergo imaging on the finger.Righty John Curtiss got the start in Senga’s place.One of the major adjustments Senga and Japanese pitchers have to make when coming to Major League Baseball is the slightly larger and less sticky baseballs. There is no indication as of yet that this contributed to Senga’s discomfort.Senga, 30, made his Grapefruit League debut last Sunday against the Cardinals and allowed one earned run on one hit, one strikeout and two walks.“Nothing, in particular, was that great,” Senga said after tha...

Flair Airlines says four of its aircraft seized in a ‘commercial dispute’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:36:28 GMT

Flair Airlines says passengers were “impacted” after four of its leased aircraft were seized in Toronto, Edmonton and Kitchener, Ont. in what the company is calling a “commercial dispute.”Flair issued a statement on Saturday calling the move by “a New York-based hedge fund” to  take the aircraft “extreme and unusual.”It says Flair will use “additional fleet capacity” to lessen the affects on passengers and it does not foresee any major disruptions to its route map.Company spokesman Mike Arnot says a number of Flair flights were cancelled Saturday morning, but the company has three spare aircraft to backfill those flights.Arnot says passengers travelling in the next 72 hours will either be accommodated on Flair flights or another airline at Flair’s expense if a Flair flight isn’t available.A person familiar with the matter but who was not authorized to speak publicly about it said the payments for the affected pl...

Remembering Summer, Emery, Autumn and Ezra

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:36:28 GMT

CHICAGO — Two more children who were critically injured in a house fire at a firefighter's home in Montclare earlier this week died Friday evening, further echoing the pain and grief being felt throughout the Northwest Chicago neighborhood."It’s very sad," said Perla Martinez, a Montclare resident. "We’ve never had something like this happen before and it just caught us off guard ... It’s really sad."A family member told WGN the two children who died Friday evening were 2-year-old Emery Stewart and 9-year-old Autumn Stewart. Emery and Autumn's mother, Summer Day-Stewart, died from her injuries earlier in the day, while 7-year-old Ezra Stewart died in the fire Tuesday. Family tells WGN that Summer's memory will live on through organ donation, while the Chicago firefighter community comes together to help pay for the family's funerals. Memorial services begin Wednesday for fallen Chicago officer "I hope they are okay in this time of their loss," Martinez said. "And we're always here...

Group commits four armed robberies in Rivers Casino, Park Ridge Mariano's parking lots

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:36:28 GMT

A group of offenders committed four armed robberies Friday evening, three in the parking lot of Rivers Casino and a fourth in the parking lot of a Park Ridge Mariano's, according to Des Plaines and Park Ridge's police departments.Des Plaines PD said they were called to the 3000 block of South River Road to respond to a report of three armed robberies around 7:57 p.m. Friday. A preliminary investigation showed that three Black men exited a Red Nissan Rogue with a Florida license plate carrying handguns before proceeding to rob four victims in three separate incidents.According to police, two male victims were "pistol-whipped" in the head during the incidents before the offenders made off with personal property from the victims. CPD officer injured in incident over gun in Lincoln Park After fleeing from the casino parking lot, the offenders — in the same vehicle — committed another armed robbery in the parking lot of a Mariano's in the 1900 block of South Cumberland Avenue around 8:...

Police: Woman in the hospital after Joliet bar shooting

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:36:28 GMT

JOLIET, Ill. — A woman is in the hospital after a shooting at a Joliet bar early Saturday morning, according to the Joliet Police Department.Police said officers responded to Eden's Bar and Grill in the 900 block of Gardner Street at around 2:40 a.m. after multiple rounds of gunfire were heard in the area.When police arrived, officers found a 36-year-old woman who had been shot in the leg. The woman was taken to Ascension St. Joseph Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.According to police, they believe the shots were fired from outside of the bar and hit the victim, who was inside the bar at the time of the shooting. Group commits four armed robberies in Rivers Casino, Park Ridge Mariano’s parking lots Police have no one in custody at this time.If you or someone you know has information that can help police make a breakthrough in this investigation, Joliet PD encourages you to reach out to their investigation unit at 815-724-3020, or Will County Crime Stoppers at 800-...

Dateline correspondents talk to KXAN on first SXSW panel, Austin murders, new podcast

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:36:28 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Keith Morrison and Josh Mankiewicz of Dateline – which has covered several notorious Austin murders, including Moriah Wilson and Heidi Broussard – will appear at SXSW for their first panel discussion Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. CT at the Austin Convention Center. The two sat down with KXAN’s Sam Stark ahead of their session to talk Dateline, their voyage into podcasting and reporting on Texas crimes. Can you talk about the explosion of the true crime genre in recent years?“I give credit to our boss, frankly, who persuaded us. He saw the zeitgeist and saw what was coming – he recognized that [true crime] were the sorts of stories that most attracted people's attention. Whenever we did a true crime story, back in the 90s, the numbers show a pretty clear indicator that it was what people wanted to watch,” Morrison said. “Most people in their lives will never be the victim of violent crime. But everybody has been in a relationship that did not work out how ...

TikTok touts more action addressing national security concerns than competitors 

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:36:28 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – At a South by Southwest panel Saturday morning, TikTok officials talked about their efforts to address U.S. national security concerns and build trust with key government stakeholders.“We spent the last two years and $1.5 billion designing and then building a comprehensive framework to isolate U.S. user data and address the US national security concerns," said Jeff Louisma, head of cyber and data defense U.S. Data Security for TikTok. "We've always understood these concerns and wanted to address them head-on for a constructive dialogue with the committee for foreign investments in the US recipients."“These measures are beyond anything any of our competitors have undertaken,” Louisma continued. Already around the country, government leaders have begun implementing bans on the popular application. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott issued a ban on the use of TikTok on any government-issued devices in early January. A couple of weeks later, UT-Austin announced that Tik...