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Chicago Bears are favorites in 6 games and a short underdog in another 6: ‘They’re going to have a better season than last year’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:28 GMT

Hopes for the Chicago Bears are up at Halas Hall, and those positive vibes are reflected in the wagering community as well.DraftKings set odds for all 272 NFL regular-season games after the schedule was revealed Thursday night. The Bears are favorites in six games and short underdog (between +1 and +2) in another six games.That is a sign of belief in the offseason moves and potential improvement by quarterback Justin Fields for a team that finished 3-14 in 2022 and closed the season with a 10-game losing streak — the longest in franchise history.“When you look at the schedule itself, it’s not that strong,” said Johnny Avello, the director of race and sports operations for DraftKings. “ They play the AFC West and there are a couple of teams there that are strong. They play the Packers (twice) and they’re losing Aaron Rodgers, but they weren’t that good with Rodgers last year. They have to be better than the Packers you would assume.“The...

Daniel Penny freed on $100,000 bond in chokehold death of Jordan Neely aboard Manhattan subway train

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:28 GMT

Janon Fisher, Thomas Tracy, Molly Crane-Newman, Rebecca White, Larry McShane | New York Daily NewsNEW YORK — Daniel Penny, the ex-Marine caught on video placing Jordan Neely in a deadly chokehold aboard a Manhattan subway train, was released on $100,000 bond Friday after surrendering to police.The 24-year-old defendant arrived in handcuffs for his first court appearance around 12:05 p.m., led into the courtroom from a holding pen. He was ordered to surrender his passport and cannot leave New York without permission.Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said prosecutors reviewed video footage and interviewed several eyewitnesses, including responding officers, before a charge of second-degree manslaughter was brought.“The defendant approached Mr. Neely from behind and placed him in a chokehold, taking him down to the ground,” the prosecutor said. “… At some point, Mr. Neely stopped moving. The defendant continued the chokehold for several minutes.”He added the white def...

Honduran teen dies in US immigration custody, weeks after crossing southern border

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A 17-year-old boy from Honduras died this week in U.S. immigration custody, American and Honduran officials said Friday, underscoring concerns about a strained immigration system as the Biden administration manages the end of asylum restrictions known as Title 42. The teenager was identified as Ángel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, according to a tweet from Honduran foreign relations minister Enrique Reina. Maradiaga was detained at a facility in Safety Harbor, Florida, Reina said.He entered the U.S. several weeks ago and died Wednesday, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.No cause of death was immediately available nor were circumstances of any illness or medical treatment. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for the facility where Maradiaga was held, said in a statement that a review of health care records was underway as was an investigat...

Tens of thousands march against Serbia’s populist leadership following mass shootings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:28 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Tens of thousands of people marched through the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and blocked a key bridge Friday in the second large protest since two mass shootings that rattled the Balkan country and left 17 people dead, including many children.Protesters gathered in front of the Parliament building before filing by the government’s headquarters and onto a highway bridge spanning the Sava River, where evening commuters had to turn their vehicles around to avoid getting stuck. At the head of the column was a black banner reading “Serbia Against Violence.”As the demonstrators passed the government buildings, many chanted slogans decrying Serbia’s populist president, Aleksandar Vucic, whom they blame for creating an atmosphere of hopelessness and division in the country that they say indirectly led to the mass shootings.Pro-government media criticized the bridge blockade, with the Novosti daily newspaper reporting that “harassment has begun, hooligans ha...

Associated Press photographer Elise Amendola, who documented decades of sports and news, dies at 70

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:28 GMT

Renowned Associated Press photojournalist Elise Amendola — a determined, joyous and patient journalist who masterfully photographed pivotal global news and sporting events spanning decades — has died. She was 70.Amendola, who recently retired from the AP, died Thursday at her home in North Andover, Massachusetts, after a 13-year battle with ovarian cancer, her wife and fellow photographer Mary Schwalm said Friday. Amendola documented many important moments in history, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Boston Marathon bombing, the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, U.S. presidential campaigns, and many Super Bowls, Olympics, World Series and other major sporting events. “I owe the AP for our beautiful life,” Schwalm told the AP Friday. “I first met Elise when I was a photo runner at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. By Athens in 2004, I was a staff photo editor on the sports desk and we’d become friends. I had the pleasure to edit her photos … ...

Black College World Series hopes to spur MLB careers for HBCU players

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:28 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The spectators were mostly Black kids, ranging from elementary school to high school. The teams — all from historically Black colleges and universities — had names that won’t resonate with the average baseball fan.Wiley College. Bluefield State. Rust College.The Black College World Series, held this week in Montgomery, is giving dozens of HBCU players from NAIA and Division II schools a chance to compete for a title beyond their own leagues and perhaps attract attention from Major League Baseball teams.Not a single one of their HBCU predecessors was on an MLB opening day roster this year, despite a rich history of big league alums that includes Hall of Famers Lou Brock (Southern University), Andre Dawson (Florida A&M) and Larry Doby (Virginia Union)“We all have concerns about the fact that we don’t have as many African-American players playing today,” Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith said. “But it’s all about what do you do about it? I think it’s ...

Kentucky is latest battleground for secretaries of state facing election falsehoods during primaries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:28 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s secretary of state has won bipartisan praise during his first term in office for expanding voter access during the COVID-19 pandemic and overseeing elections that have been free of widespread problems.That record still hasn’t paved a clear path to reelection for Republican Michael Adams. He now must persuade primary voters who have been bombarded for years with false claims about rigged elections.He faces one challenger in Tuesday’s GOP primary who has promoted debunked election claims and another who favors pulling Kentucky out of a multistate effort designed to detect voter fraud, an effort being pushed by conspiracy theorists in conservative states.The battle for Kentucky’s top elections post follows similar campaigns during last year’s midterm elections, when candidates who denied the results of the 2020 election won GOP primaries in numerous states. A handful of them went on to win the office in deeply Republican states, but each of...

Police identify woman shot and killed at south Etobicoke condo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:28 GMT

Toronto police have identified the 23-year-old woman shot and killed at a condo in south Etobicoke earlier this week.Police were called to the area of Manitoba Street and Legion Road around 4:30 a.m. on May 10 for reports of “unknown trouble.”Investigators say security at a condo building in the area received calls from residents who reported hearing a violent interaction and the sound of a loud bang. Security located a woman with gunshot wounds.The woman, who has been identified as Viyaleta Lukoshka, was pronounced dead at the scene.Kadeem Robinson, of Toronto, was arrested later that day charged with second-degree murder.

GOP lawmaker: Former Trump prosecutor declines to provide details on hush-money investigation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — An ex-prosecutor who once oversaw Manhattan’s yearslong investigation of former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined to substantively answer questions at a closed-door deposition Friday of the House Judiciary Committee, according to a Republican lawmaker in the meeting.Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, exited the meeting after roughly one hour and said Pomerantz, the former prosecutor, repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment that protects people from providing self-incriminating testimony.Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a scheme to bury allegations of extramarital affairs that arose during his 2016 White House campaign. GOP lawmakers have decried the investigation as a “political persecution” and launched an oversight probe.Pomerantz in a written opening statement called the committee’s inquiry itself “an act of political theater.” He also explained he was invoking the Fifth Amendment because the...

Oregon GOP walkout threatens abortion, trans bills – and senators’ own careers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:28 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A boycott by Republican state senators in Oregon threatens to derail hundreds of bills, including on gun control and abortion rights, as a deadline looms that could also upend the protesters’ political futures. Democrats control the Statehouse in Oregon. But the GOP is leveraging rules that require two-thirds of lawmakers be present to pass legislation, which means Democrats need a certain number of Republicans to be there too.Republican and Democratic leaders in the Oregon Legislature met behind closed doors for a second day Thursday to try to bridge the divide as the boycott entered its ninth straight day, with partisan bills on abortion, gender-affirming care and gun control on the line. Lawmakers with 10 unexcused absences are barred from reelection under a constitutional amendment passed overwhelmingly last November by voters weary of repeated walkouts. Several statehouses around the nation, including in Montana and Tennessee, have been ideological batt...