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Southern California hires Washington’s Jennifer Cohen as athletic director

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jennifer Cohen has been hired as Southern California’s athletic director after seven years in the same post at the University of Washington.“There was one clear candidate who stood out,” USC President Carol Folt said of Cohen during a news conference Monday. “She’s passionate, accomplished and equally regarded as a fierce competitor.”Cohen is the first female athletic director in USC’s storied history. She replaces Mike Bohn, who resigned in May after 3 1/2 years, citing “ongoing health challenges.”There also was an athletic department review and complaints about Bohn’s management style and behavior.“This is extra special and meaningful for me to come back to my original roots and lead a storied athletic program,” said Cohen, who grew up in nearby Arcadia. “It’s a special place and time. There is so much momentum to build on. We have to put our foot on the gas and continue so we can elevate.”Folt said her goal was to have an athletic ...

Black delivery driver loses FedEx job, more than a year after he said white men attacked him

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Black FedEx delivery driver who says two white men shot at and chased him in Mississippi in 2022 has now been fired from his job, he and his attorney said Monday.“I honestly feel disrespected,” the former driver, D’Monterrio Gibson, told The Associated Press shortly after he received an email from FedEx about his termination.Meredith Miller, manager of global network communications for FedEx, confirmed Monday that “Mr. Gibson is no longer employed at FedEx,” but did not respond to other questions from AP.Last Thursday, a Mississippi judge cited police errors in declaring a mistrial for the father and son charged in the attack. A detective testified about failing to give prosecutors and defense attorneys a copy of a videotaped police interview with Gibson.Carlos Moore, an attorney who has represented Gibson in a civil lawsuit, provided AP with a copy of an email Gibson received from FedEx on Monday. It said Gibson’s employment was terminated July 26, and the c...

More than 15,000 migrants helped by Denver since December

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — More than 15,000 migrants have received help from the city of Denver since an influx began at the end of 2022.The milestone happened in mid-August as Denver approached 750 migrants sheltered on any given day. The increase in migrant arrivals first occurred in December of 2022, with hundreds of people needing assistance arriving in the city each day. Check out this new 2-story sculpture in Aurora Highlands At that time, there were nearly 2,000 people being sheltered in the city. The number of migrants declined through mid-January before a slow lift carried into late March, followed by a noticeable drop in April.That changed again, though, with a spike in early May after a federal COVID-era rule limiting asylum seekers, called Title 42, ended.By mid-June, the number of people being sheltered in the city had dropped below 500 people, but it has been steadily increasing since, with 744 people being sheltered as of Monday. Pilot accused of destroying parking barrier...

Feel the speed as sports biopic ‘Gran Turismo’ races into theaters

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

Words of wisdom can come from all kinds of places, like Rihanna’s hit 2007 song “Shut up and Drive.”Words to live by.Speaking of driving, there’s a new movie speeding into theaters this week and Deco’s going for a ride with the cast of “Gran Turismo.”Take the nearest exit, Fast and the Furious because David Harbour and Archie Madekwe have a need for speed in the biographical sports drama, “Gran Turismo.”The film shares a name with the classic video game but actually is based on the real story of Jann Mardenborough, who went on to become a professional race car driver.Sounds like the kind of movie where you need to know what you’re doing right?Archie Madekwe: “I got my license a week before I arrived on set, and then it was kind of head-first, full immersion, cars 24/7.”A week?That might explain why the cars had a bone to pick with Archie.Archie Madekwe: “I’m a shell of a human. I need to lie down for...

Owner speaks out after car slams into restaurant in Plantation injuring 20

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

Newly released video showed a new angle of a vehicle crashing into a South Florida restaurant. Several customers inside were left injured, and now, the restaurant’s owner is trying his best to move forward. “We get a call, frantic, by one of our employees that a car had come through the window, through the front of our storefront and injured a bunch a people, and it made it all the way to the back of our restaurant, almost hitting the counter,” said Pete Montanez, owner of the damaged restaurant. Montanez and his wife own Thai Meal, located at 8257 W. Sunrise Blvd. The two weren’t at the restaurant Friday when the crash happened because of a family emergency. Some of their family members were at the restaurant when the car came flying through.“There was only one empty table in the whole restaurant and it was packed at 6:30 on a Friday night, and my brother in-law was here, my sister, regular customers that we know and love,” Montanez said. From th...

Brick of cocaine found at Crandon Park near Key Biscayne

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

A suspicious package found at a South Florida beach prompted a quick response by police.Miami-Dade Police arrived at the scene at Crandon Park near Key Biscayne, Monday afternoon. 7Skyforce hovered over the scene as officers assessed the situation. According to police, they received a call about a brick of cocaine that washed up on the shore. Officers are in the process of interviewing a kite-surfer who found the suspicious package.

Biden says federal government will help Maui ‘for as long as it takes’ to recover from wildfire

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii, (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday told survivors of Hawaii’s wildfires that the nation “grieves with you” and promised that the federal government will help Maui “for as long as it takes” to recover after touring damage caused by the deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than a century.Biden arrived in Maui 13 days after the wildfires that have taken at least 114 lives ravaged the western part of the island. Standing near a burned, but still standing, 150-year-old Banyon tree, the president acknowledged the “overwhelming” devastation but said that Maui would persevere through the tragedy.“Today it’s burned but it’s still standing,” Biden said of the tree. “The tree survived for a reason. I believe it’s a very powerful symbol of what we can and will do to get through this crisis.”Biden and first lady Jill Biden got a close look at the devastation wrought by the flames that ripped through the western part of the Hawaiian island, seeing for themselves the ...

2 men jump overboard when yacht goes up in flames off Maine coast

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Maine (AP) — Two boaters jumped overboard to save themselves after a fire engulfed a 48-foot yacht off the Maine coast, the Coast Guard said. Several lobster boats came to the rescue, and one plucked the men out of the water.The two unharmed men watched along with the lobstermen as the vessel burned and sank in 200 feet of water on Saturday off the coast of Seguin Island, near Georgetown.“It was a very heartbreaking scene. It was really scary,” said Deb Kremer, who witnessed the fire and took photos from her boat.The Coast Guard emphasized the importance of fellow boaters who came to the rescue, averting tragedy.“The moral of the story: Without the good Samaritans responding to calls and helping the Coast Guard, some lives could’ve been lost on this incident. We credit the good Samaritans,” said Lt. j.g. David Letarte in South Portland.The Coast Guard did not identify the two men aboard the yacht, the Titan. It was unclear where the yacht was based.The Coast Guard estima...

Chicago White Sox are considering a move from Guaranteed Rate Field, a report says — and possibly out of town

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

What’s the future for the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field?According to a Crain’s Chicago Business report, the Sox are considering a move from the place they’ve called home since 1991 when the team’s lease expires six seasons from now.No decision is imminent, according to the report, which lists a new stadium in the city or suburbs and relocating to Nashville, Tenn., among the possibilities.The article also details that Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf might look to sell the Sox.“We have not had any conversations about our lease situation, but with six years remaining, it is naturally nearing a time where discussions should begin to take place,” the Sox said in a statement Monday. “The conversations would be with the city, ISFA (Illinois Sports Facilities Authority) and the state and most likely would be about vision, opportunities and the future.”The Sox moved into Guaranteed Rate Field, then named new Comiskey Park, after calling C...

Another 100 migrant families could be housed in Woburn soon, mayor says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:24 GMT

The mayor says the city of Woburn can expect about 100 migrant families to join the dozens already there as the state struggles to find shelter for tens of thousands of newly arriving people.According to Mayor Scott Galvin, the city of 41,000 has already seen 59 migrant families placed in area hotels under the state’s Right to Shelter law, but the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities has informed them that an additional 100 families could arrive very soon.“The State has also indicated its intention to establish an emergency family shelter in Woburnfor as many as 100 families beginning as early as next week,” the Mayor’s office said in a Monday release.According to the Mayor, the nation’s immigration policies, when coupled with the state’s requirement that families with children and expecting mothers be provided with a place to live, have created a perfect storm that is battering already hard pressed municipalities.“Federal inaction on immigration reform has created an...