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Celtics suffer epic fourth-quarter meltdown, fall to Hawks in Game 5

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 19:29:59 GMT

The Celtics claimed they had learned their lesson.In their run to the NBA Finals last season, they relaxed, according to Jayson Tatum, in series against the Bucks and Heat. They eventually got through to the championship round, but made it harder on themselves in the process.After they took a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Hawks, Tatum wanted the Celtics to act with the urgency and awareness they lacked in those moments last spring.They didn’t. And, unfathomably, this series is heading back to Atlanta for Game 6 on Thursday.The Celtics were in control, well on their way to closing out the inferior Hawks. But then they blew it in disastrous fashion. They coughed it all away, blowing a 12-point lead as Trae Young and the Hawks stole the night. The Celtics lost, 119-117, after an epic meltdown, their worst loss of the season.Jaylen Brown scored 35 points in a dominant performance, but it was no match for Young, who scored 38 points and hit three 3-pointers down the stretch – inclu...

Baseball’s new electronic strike zone debuts in Worcester

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 19:29:59 GMT

WORCESTER — With two outs, the count 2-2 and a man on third, James Paxton dotted a 95.7 mph heater right on the lower inside corner. Home plate umpire Dane Ponscak wasted no time, immediately ringing up Andres Chaparro for a called strike three to end the first inning.It looked like any strikeout you’ve ever seen at the ballpark, only this time the call wasn’t actually made by the home plate umpire at all, but by a machine.Tuesday marked the debut of baseball’s Automated Ball/Strike System in Triple-A, the latest step for baseball’s electronic strike zone system after four years of testing at the lower levels of the minors.Two versions of the system will be used. On Tuesday through Thursday games will be played with all pitches called using ABS, and Friday through Sunday a Challenge system will be used.If this season’s trial run goes well, it’s possible we could see some version of the electronic strike zone adopted in Major League Baseball as soo...

Mother, young daughter identified as pair killed in I-15 crash

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 19:29:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- California Highway Patrol is investigating a three-vehicle crash that killed two people Sunday on Interstate 15.The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office has identified one of the victims as 29-year-old Courteney Taylor of San Marcos. A GoFundMe set up by the victim's sister also identified the second victim as Courtney's daughter, Amaya Taylor. The family member said on the fundraising website that the mother and daughter were driving back from Temecula after spending their Sunday in the sunshine.Authorities say 23-year-old Erick Arambula was driving a black Toyota Tacoma on the northbound lanes of Old Highway 395 when he veered onto the right shoulder, slammed into a chainlink fence and went down an embankment that ended in a head-on collision with a black Kia Forte and white Tesla 3 in the southbound lanes. DUI suspected in I-15 crash that killed 2, including 4-year-old CHP said Arambula suffered major injuries and the Tesla driver and two passengers were take...

Man climbs KTLA radio tower holding 'Free Billie Eilish' sign

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 19:29:59 GMT

Authorities are working to remove a man who has climbed atop the KTLA radio tower in Hollywood on Tuesday.Crews from the Los Angeles Fire Department received reports of the incident around 6:32 p.m. on 5800 West Sunset Boulevard.The man is sitting about 30 feet up the tower on the KTLA marquee while he holding a sign that reads, "Free Billie Eilish."At one point, he was seen playing an electric guitar. Officials are calling the man a “protestor” but it’s unclear what exactly he is protesting. The handwritten sign has another message written on the back, but its contents are also unclear.A large inflatable airbag is positioned below the tower as crews work to remove the mansafely. At this time, he appears to be refusing to cooperate or come down.Los Angeles police are in communication with the climber at this time. Crowds of bystanders gathered across the street to watch the standoff unfold.Both east and westbound lanes of Sunset Boulevard are shut down, creating major traffic jams f...

Singapore executes man for abetting trafficking of cannabis

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 19:29:59 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Singapore on Wednesday executed a man for abetting the trafficking of cannabis, despite pleas for clemency from his family and protests from activists that he was convicted on weak evidence.Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was sentenced to death in 2018 for abetting the trafficking of 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis. Under Singapore laws, trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis may result in the death penalty.Activist Kirsten Han of the Transformative Justice Collective, which advocates for the abolition of the death penalty in Singapore, said in a tweet that Tangaraju was hanged Wednesday morning and that his family had been given the death certificate.Although Tangaraju was not caught with the cannabis, prosecutors said phone numbers traced him as the person responsible for coordinating the delivery of the drugs. Tangaraju had maintained that he was not the one communicating with the others connected to the case.Relatives and activists had sent letters to Singapore’...

$1.6B trial starts against utility over fatal 2020 wildfires

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 19:29:59 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A trial connected to a $1.6 billion class action lawsuit against utility PacifiCorp over the catastrophic Labor Day 2020 wildfires in Oregon started Tuesday in Portland.The fires in 2020 killed nine people, burned more than 1,875 square miles (4,856 square kilometers) in Oregon and destroyed upward of 5,000 homes and structures. PacifiCorp is the primary defendant in litigation stemming from the fires, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.The Portland-based utility, Oregon’s second largest, didn’t shut off power to its 600,000 customers during the windstorm. Its lines have been implicated in multiple blazes, one of which started in its California service territory and burned into Oregon.Jurors in the Multnomah County trial will determine PacifiCorp’s responsibility, if any, in four of those blazes: the Santiam Canyon fires east of Salem; the Echo Mountain Complex near Lincoln City; the South Obenchain fire near Eagle Point; and the Two Four Two fire near the south...

Trouble looms for Indian grain that combats climate change

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 19:29:59 GMT

KOCHI, India (AP) — On a tiny sliver land in southern India, the future of an ancient grain that helps combat climate change is in doubt.An ongoing tussle in Chellanam village, a suburb of the bustling city of Kochi, which has the Arabian Sea on one side and estuaries on the other, could decide the fate of the cultivation of pokkali rice.In many wetlands in the area, farmers have traditionally dedicated half the year to pokkali rice and the other six months to prawns. In 2022, the Fisheries Department of Kerala issued an order that farmers no longer needed to dedicate part of the year to pokkali, exacerbating a trend away from pokkali already under way. While prawns fetch more money than pokkali, a focus on them is upending a delicate ecosystem, making it difficult for farmers who want to continue with pokkali, environmental experts say. M.M. Chandu, a 78-year-old farmer with about 0.8 hectares (a little over 2 acres), said that increasing salinity in the land from year-round prawn ...

Venezuela’s Juan Guaidó not seeking political asylum in US

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 19:29:59 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó on Tuesday said he is not seeking political asylum in the United States and has not ruled out the possibility of running in a presidential primary in his homeland planned for October.Guaidó spoke to The Associated Press by phone from Miami, where he arrived on a commercial flight that departed Colombia’s capital Monday night, hours after he crossed the border between that country and Venezuela with the intent of meeting with diplomats and other participants of an international conference focused on Venezuela’s political crisis.“I will have work meetings and obviously also time to assess the security situation among other things,” he said. “I am not requesting political asylum at this time.”His remarks came after Colombian authorities said he was subject to an administrative process for having crossed the border without getting his passport stamped upon entry. Colombian President Gustavo Petro insisted Guaidó was not deporte...

Highland Park parents demand tougher school safety measures

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 19:29:59 GMT

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. -- A gun was brought to Highland Park High School twice in less than two weeks and now, parents want answers.Parents in Highland Park are demanding that District 113, which represents Highland Park and Deerfield High Schools, install metal detectors in those schools.This comes after a student brought a gun to Highland Park High School earlier this month and sent the school into lockdown. Frightening fellow classmates who were locked in their classrooms and their families. Rosati’s Pizza franchisees to pay $250K in back wages, damages to employees The district has armed school resource officers by adding six this school year.Also new this year is a system that requires students to scan in every day and that system would flag a student who's not supposed to be there. But some parents say that's not enough of a deterrent to prevent a tragedy.The school said comparable districts like Glenbrook, Evanston, New Trier, among others, don't have metal detectors. Some mem...

Mexican authorities find 8 bodies in Cancun

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 19:29:59 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in Cancun, Mexico said Tuesday they are trying to identify eight bodies found dumped in the popular tourist region.Speaking to families of missing people, Oscar Montes de Oca, the head prosecutor of the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo pledged to carry out more searches and identifications.The bodies were found in searches over the weekend in which police looked in wooded lots and even sinkhole ponds known as cenotes. ‘Disruptive’ passenger forces Israel-bound United flight back to Newark after 3 hours More than 112,000 people are listed as missing in Mexico, and searches for clandestine grave sites have become common throughout the country. What is unusual is that they are now being carried out in Cancun, the crown jewel of Mexico’s tourism industry.The clandestine body dumping grounds are often used by drug cartels to dispose of bodies of their victims. Several cartels are fighting for control of the Caribbean coast and its lucrative retail dr...