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Red Sox notebook: Rafaela’s defensive versatility, improved plate discipline signs of progress

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:32 GMT

Since getting called up to the majors on Aug. 28, Ceddanne Rafaela has seen varied, inconsistent playing time. Alex Cora has stressed the importance of pitching matchups and the value of simply being at the big-league level, soaking up the learning experience like a sponge.Thus, it was surprising when the Red Sox manager announced how the organization’s No. 3 prospect would be used for Tuesday’s doubleheader.“Rafaela will play twice,” Cora said.For his first time facing the rival New York Yankees, Rafaela would get a double dose of experience, starting at shortstop in Game 1 of their doubleheader and playing center field in Game 2.“Good instincts, he can move,” Cora said, assessing Rafaela’s ability at shortstop. “Good throwing mechanics, love it. The carry on the ball, he always makes sure his shoulders are square. He’s good… He has a very good feel about what he can do there.”Rafaela is already considered an elite d...

Hillary Clinton steps over the White House threshold in yet another role

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:32 GMT

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — During her husband’s 1992 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton observed that “our lives are a mixture of different roles” and said most people are trying to find the right balance.“For me, that balance is family, work and service,” she said.Clinton juggled those roles — and more — during eight years as first lady in the White House. She returned Tuesday for her first public appearance in the building since the Obama years to indulge her love for the arts.In her White House years, she was a wife, a mother and the nation’s hostess, but also a wronged spouse, the head of a national health care task force and on the cover of Vogue. In later years, she stepped over the White House threshold as a visiting senator and Cabinet member, but never in the long-sought role of Madam President.Early on as first lady, she held a rare news conference where she was grilled about the Clint...

Americans can now get an updated COVID-19 vaccine

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:32 GMT

By MIKE STOBBE and LAURAN NEERGAARD (AP Medical Writers)Most Americans should get an updated COVID-19 vaccine, health officials said Tuesday.Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the new shots for everyone 6 months and older and the agency’s director quickly signed off Tuesday on the panel’s recommendation. That means doses should be available this week, some as early as Wednesday.The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has faded, but there are still hundreds of hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths in the U.S. each week. Hospitalizations have been increasing since late summer, though the latest data indicate infections may be starting to level off, particularly in the South.Still, experts worry that immunity from previous vaccinations and infections is fading in many people, and a new shot would save many lives.According to a survey last month that CDC cited, about 42% said they would definitely or probably get the new vaccine. Yet only abo...

A list of some of those found not criminally responsible by a court

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:32 GMT

VANCOUVER — Blair Donnelly, 64, faces three counts of aggravated assault over allegations he stabbed and injured three people at a Vancouver Chinatown festival on Sunday. Donnelly was free on day release from the forensic psychiatric hospital in Metro Vancouver. He was originally in care after being found not criminally responsible for the 2006 murder of his 16-year-old daughter. Here’s a look at some other cases in which the finding was made or sought.Matthew de Grood: Stabbed five young people to death in a Calgary house party in 2014. A judge found him not criminally responsible for the murders because he was suffering from schizophrenia. Gregory Despres: Fatally stabbed two elderly neighbours in Minto, N.B., in 2005, decapitating one of them. Despres, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had crossed the border despite guards finding him with a small arsenal including a chainsaw, a sword and brass knuckles. He told them he was an assassin on a military mission. Three psychiatrists diagnos...

Video shows white sheriff’s deputy in upstate New York fatally shooting 2 Black teens in fleeing car

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:32 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s attorney general released video Tuesday of a county sheriff’s deputy fatally shooting two Black teenagers in a fleeing car, raising questions about whether the officer needed to use deadly force to avoid being run over.Attorney General Letitia James released the video as part of her office’s investigation into the fatal shooting last Wednesday of Dhal Apet, 17, and Lueth Mo, 15, by an Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputy. Deputy John Rosello was investigating a smoke shop burglary in the Syracuse area that morning and had responded to a call about people seen transferring items between two vehicles.Rosello did not activate his body camera before the confrontation. But video shot by a surveillance camera across the street shows the deputy’s SUV speed into a small parking lot and use its front bumper to pin one of the cars against a row of tall bushes. The deputy gets out of his SUV and stands for just a moment in front of the car in ...

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor rejects GOP’s surprise redistricting plan

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:32 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers shot down as “bogus” a surprise plan Republicans floated Tuesday that would have the Legislature approve new maps drawn by nonpartisan staff, preempting the state Supreme Court from tossing the current GOP-drawn boundaries.The Republican move comes as Wisconsin justices are considering two Democratic-backed lawsuits seeking to toss the current maps, first enacted in 2011, that are among the most gerrymandered in the country and have helped Republicans increase their majority.Republicans have long opposed plans put forward by Democrats to enact a nonpartisan redistricting process. But now, faced with the likelihood that the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court was going to throw out their maps ahead of the 2024 election, Republicans proposed enacting a new system modeled after neighboring Iowa.“If you’re sick of the arguing, if you’re sick of the vitriol, if you want people to work together, this is a better way for us to do...

Filmmakers, celebs ask TIFF to cut ties with sponsor RBC over environmental concerns

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:32 GMT

TORONTO — A group of Canadian filmmakers have joined forces with Hollywood A-listers in asking the Toronto International Film Festival to end sponsorship ties with the Royal Bank of Canada because of the financial institution’s funding of the oil and gas industry.Organizers of the campaign, called RBC Off Screen, say the bank’s track record of investing in fossil fuels runs contrary to the socially progressive values the film festival purports to stand for.Signatories to the group’s open letter to TIFF outlining its concerns include screen stars Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Joaquin Phoenix, alongside filmmakers and producers including Avi Lewis, Elza Kephart and Jose Luis Gutierrez.Kephart and Gutierrez started the campaign, which they say is supported by more than 200 entertainment industry workers. The group’s statement says RBC is one of the largest financiers of oil and gas projects in the world and supports projects that have negatively impacted Indi...

At least 10 Malian soldiers killed in latest attack in hard-hit northern region

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:32 GMT

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — At least 10 government soldiers were killed Tuesday during an attack by armed groups in northern Mali, the nation’s armed forces said, amid ongoing deadly violence in the hard-hit region and as United Nations peacekeepers continue their withdrawal.A coalition of former rebels known as the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development claimed responsibility for the attack in the city of Bourem in Gao region and said they have captured parts of the city. The development signaled a failure of a 2015 agreement which the former rebels signed with Malian authorities to stop their rebellion.Malian security forces repelled “the attack with booby-trapped vehicles by several terrorists aboard several vehicles and motorcycles in the locality of Bourem,” according to a statement issued by Col. Souleymane Dembelé, a spokesman for the Malian Armed Forces. He said 13 soldiers were wounded in the incident while 46 of the attackers were killed.Claiming respons...

Court docs: 911 call from Lyft driver leads to police interrupting man trying to drown 2-year-old son

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:32 GMT

CHICAGO — It was a call to police from a concerned Lyft driver that reportedly played a part in leading officers to interrupting what they suspect was a drowning in progress.Jeremiah Campbell, 29, is charged with attempted murder, child endangerment, and violating an order of protection in connection to a 2021 case.According to court documents filed in Cook County, a Lyft driver called police right after he dropped off a man and child — now identified as Campbell and his son — in the 7700 block of S. South Shore Drive. The driver told authorities he was concerned with what the father was reportedly saying on the ride to the location.A Chicago Police Department arrest report said the driver told police Campbell was talking about conspiracies and drowning his son as a sacrifice to Jehovah.It was around the same time that 911 call was made, that an arrest report shows an anonymous call was made from someone at that same address, who said his two-year-old son drowned in the tub.“It was ...

Libraries in Aurora, Evanston & Addison targeted by bomb threats

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:32 GMT

CHICAGO — Police were called to several libraries in the Chicago area on Tuesday in regard to bomb threats. Police in Aurora continue to investigate the threats but officers in Evanston and Addison say the threats were not substantiated.  Chicago fire truck crashes into home on South Side; 2 displaced Threats in AuroraPolice in Aurora say officers are investigating reports of bomb threats at three Aurora libraries on Tuesday afternoon. Aurora police first notified the public about the threats in a tweet shared around 3 p.m. In a follow-up post, officers asked the public to avoid areas near the 100 block of South River Street, areas near the 500 block of South Eola Road, and areas near the 200 block of South Constitution Drive, while they work to evacuate and shut down roadways. Police have not offered updates regarding how the threats were placed, but say officers are on scene at all three locations.  ‘This is crazy’: Investigation underway after string ...