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MINNEAPOLIS A federal jury ordered Toyota Motor Corp. to pay nearly $11 million to victims of a fatal Minnesota crash on Tuesday after ruling that a design flaw in the 1996 Camry was partially to blame for the 2006 wreck. The jury said the company was 60 percent to blame for the accident, which left three people dead and two seriously injured. But jurors also decided that Koua Fong Lee, who has long insisted he tried to slow his car before it slammed into another vehicle after he exited Interstate 94 in St. Paul, was 40 percent to blame. Lee's attorneys insisted the crash was caused by an acceleration defect in his vehicle, but Toyota argued there was no design defect and that Lee was negligent. "No amount of money will bring my life back, my life is not the same anymore," Lee said outside the courthouse. When asked what he would say to the family of the people killed in the crash, he said: "I want them to know that I tried everything I could to stop my car... I want them to know." After the 2006 wreck, Lee was charged and convicted of vehicular homicide, and sentenced to prison. But he won a new trial after reports surfaced about sudden acceleration in some Toyotas, and questions were raised about the adequacy of his defense. Prosecutors opted against a retrial and he went free after spending 2 ½ years behind bars. Lee and his relatives, along with other people who were injured or lost loved ones in the crash, later sued Toyota in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. Jurors started deliberating the afternoon of Jan. 28, and the verdict was announced late Tuesday afternoon. During the trial, Lee's attorney, Robert Hilliard, told jurors that there was a defect in the car's design. He said the Camry's auto-drive assembly could stick, and when tapped or pushed while stuck, it could stick again at a higher speed. Hilliard also accused Toyota of never conducting reliability tests on nylon resin pulleys that could be damaged under heat and cause the throttle to stick. "This is what makes the car go. This is what turns it into a torpedo, a missile, a deadly weapon," Hilliard said during his closing argument. Toyota said there was no defect in the design of the 1996 Camry, and that Lee was negligent. The company's attorney, David Graves, suggested that Lee was an inexperienced driver and mistook the gas pedal for the brake, and that's why the car accelerated. Toyota also noted that Lee's car was never subject to the recalls of later-model Toyotas. Jurors were asked to decide whether there was a defect in the design of the 1996 Camry that was unreasonably dangerous, and if so, whether that defect caused the plaintiffs' injuries. The crash killed the driver of the other vehicle, Javis Trice-Adams Sr., and his 9-year-old son, Javis Adams Jr. His 6-year-old niece, Devyn Bolton, was paralyzed and died in October 2007. Trice-Adams' daughter, Jassmine Adams, who was 12 at the time, was seriously injured, as was Trice-Adams' father, Quincy Ray Adams. Those two and Devyn Bolton's mother, Bridgette Trice, were the other plaintiffs in the case. Follow Amy Forliti on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amyforliti | 3 | 6,800 | finance |
After suffering a series of seizures, Bobbi Kristina Brown is being treated at a new hospital in Atlanta, according to media reports. The daughter of R&B singer Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston , was moved to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital on Monday after initially being treated at a smaller medical facility closer her home in suburban Roswell, Georgia, CNN reported Tuesday . In a scenario eerily similar to her mother's death, Bobbi Kristina was found submerged, face down in her tub . She was rushed to North Fulton Hospital and placed in a medically induced coma. However, her immediate prognosis was described as bleak. She is in "really bad shape," an individual close to the Houston family told CNN. "Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst," the individual said of loved ones who have gathered at the 21-year-old's bedside -- including her father Bobby Brown and husband Nick Gordon. The source also shared that Bobbi Kristina's eyes had opened and closed Monday, but doctors warned the family against reading too much into the movement. The medical team is reportedly attempting to reduce swelling on her brain, but they won't know the extent of possible damage until she's taken off of prescribed sedatives, the individual said. The Roswell police department, which initially responded to the 911 call from Bobbi Kristina's home, did not immediately return multiple calls made by TheWrap for comment. In a previous statement, officer Lisa Holland said police administered life-saving measures until Brown could be transported to a hospital. "Her husband and a friend located her in a bathtub this morning and she was unresponsive," Holland said on Saturday. "He started CPR and a police officer took over lifesaving measures until an ambulance arrived. She was transported to the hospital. Please keep her and the family in your thoughts and prayers." "Privacy is requested in this matter. Please allow for my family to deal with this matter and give my daughter the love and support she needs at this time," Bobby Brown said in a separate statement . As to speculation about the involvement of drugs or alcohol in the incident," officer Holland said, "So the police took a search warrant on the home. Before the warrant -- initially when the police went into the home -- there [was] nothing there that indicated that anything out of the ordinary happened. There were no drugs out in the open. "We don't leave any stone unturned," Holland added. | 6 | 6,801 | entertainment |
RENTON, Wash. (AP) Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman will wait until after the birth of his son to make a decision on how to move forward with his injured left elbow, according to coach Pete Carroll. On his radio show on the team's flagship station Tuesday morning, Carroll said that he may have been misled on what type of surgery Sherman might need to repair the ligament damage in his elbow suffered in the NFC championship game. Carroll said a day earlier, before the Seahawks left Arizona following their 28-24 loss to New England in the Super Bowl, that Tommy John surgery was likely for the All-Pro cornerback. Sherman was not in the Seahawks locker room as players cleaned out their lockers Tuesday. --- AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL | 1 | 6,802 | sports |
To get the double date look, think about being on the arm of your beau and on your toes all night (with more people involved, there may well be more destinations involved too, whether you head to after-dinner drinks or a late-night party). Keep the ensemble bright, bold, and eye-catching. Think a small bag with a sparkle-dusted striped pattern that's not too bulky, but just the right size to keep your on-the-town essentials safe, a comfortable flat, a relaxed pant, all topped off with a cozy, cool sweater. No matter where you go over the course of the evening, you'll be stylishly prepared even if the four of you, too, end your night out at a diner ordering up scattered-and-smothereds. Preen by Thornton Bregazzi pleat-front cropped wool trousers, $1,048; matchesfashion.com ; Choies wine red high neck stripe cable knitted sweater, $42; choies.com ; Proenza Schouler small courier bag, $2,100; brownsfashion.com ; Dolce & Gabbana embroidered & embellished brocade flats, $1,195; luisaviaroma.com | 4 | 6,803 | lifestyle |
Written by John Gardner In 2006, the Professional Sports Wives Association established Feb. 11 as Pro Sports Wives Day . To mark the occasion, we present the wives and girlfriends of a few athletes from each of the major professional sports. C.J. WILSON Pitcher C.J. Wilson burst onto the scene in 2011, finishing 16-7 with career bests in strikeouts (206), ERA (2.94) and innings pitched (223 1/3) while finishing sixth in the Cy Young Award voting. The campaign earned him a five-year contract ( for how much ?) with the Los Angeles Angels. Wilson made another major upgrade on Dec. 15, 2013, when he married a Brazilian beauty. The 26-year-old had aspirations of being a doctor but chose a modeling career instead. BING: WHO IS HE MARRIED TO ? Evan Longoria Evan Longoria wasted little time making a name for himself in Major League Baseball, winning Rookie of the Year and being elected to the All-Star Game in 2008 ( watch highlights ). "Longo" has become the face of the Tampa Bay Rays franchise, signing a fat, $100 million contract in 2012. That same year, Longoria ( what did he have stolen during a 2011 break-in ?) confirmed that he was dating a Playmate of the Month, and the two now have a daughter and are engaged to be married in 2016. BING: WHO IS THIS BOMBSHELL ? Justin Verlander Justin Verlander has been one of the best major-league pitchers of the past decade, winning American League Rookie of the Year in 2006, topping that with a Cy Young Award ( and this award ) in 2011 and tossing two no-hitters along the way. His girlfriend likely is more famous. The 22-year-old model already has graced the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue twice and is currently featured prominently in a popular video game commercial. BING: WHO IS VERLANDER'S MAIN SQUEEZE ? Hunter Pence At its core, baseball is just a business like any other professional sport. And business has been good for outfielder Hunter Pence. After wallowing through five seasons on the steadily declining Houston Astros, Pence ( what disease does he have ?) has played for nothing but winners. In his lone season with Philadelphia, the Phillies reached the postseason. And since being traded to the San Francisco Giants in mid-summer 2012, Pence has collected two World Series rings. Along the way, Pence has dated bikini model Terrie B, an NFL cheerleader ( who ?) and now is with a 2007 Playboy Playmate. BING: WHO IS PENCE'S LATEST CATCH ? Al Horford Al Horford, a rebounding machine of a power forward, is just the fifth Dominican-born player to play in the NBA ( who was the first ?). During his third season as a professional, Horford was named to the NBA All-Star Team, the first player from the Dominican Republic to do so. He currently is enjoying a $60 million contract, which he signed in 2010. After dating for two years, Horford married the 2003 Miss Universe, who coincidentally was the first Dominican to win that pageant. She also is a descendant of an English king ( which one ?). BING: WHO IS HORFORD'S BEAUTY QUEEN ? Stephen Curry After leading the nation in scoring during his final collegiate season ( for which school ?), guard Stephen Curry ( who is his famous father ?) has enjoyed a seamless transition to the NBA. After narrowly getting beat out for Rookie of the Year in 2010 by Tyreke Evans, Curry has steadily become one of the top scorers in the league. Between the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, Curry married a Canadian actress who studied at the prestigious Arts York (now Arts Unionville) school for performing arts. BING: WHO IS CURRY MARRIED TO ? Tony Parker Tony Parker has been a cornerstone of the San Antonio Spurs since leaving his native France to join the NBA in 2001. The point guard ( watch highlights ) has earned six All-Star Game appearances and won one NBA Finals MVP in helping the Spurs win four titles in a 12-year span. He also was married to a famous actress ( who ?) for three years. In 2011, Parker began dating a French journalist with a master's degree in information and communication. The couple were married in August 2014 in a Texas-style wedding. BING: WHO IS PARKER'S NEW PARTNER ? Landry Fields Landry Fields appeared ready to take the NBA by storm after leading the Pac-10 in scoring and earning first-team all-conference honors during his senior season ( at which school ?). And he did just that, landing on the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2011. But Fields' career has steadily declined because of injuries one even forced him to learn a new shooting form . While his career may not be going as planned, Fields is happily married to a model whose credits include MAXIM, GQ and Sports Illustrated. BING: WHO IS THIS BLOND BEAUTY ? Cristiano Ronaldo When your name is Cristiano Ronaldo, your entire world has a permanent residence under a microscope. He is one of the best soccer players in the world, as evidenced by his two consecutive FIFA Player of the Year Awards ( see highlights ). He has more money than he knows what to do with ( what's his estimated net worth ?). And recently Ronaldo announced to the world that his five-year relationship with a Russian model was over. Yes, he broke up with an internationally famous Sports Illustrated and lingerie model. BING: WHO IS SUDDENLY ON THE MARKET ? Neymar Neymar ( what's his full name ?), captain of the Brazil national soccer team and a member of Spanish professional club FC Barcelona, has begun his ascension to the top of the beautiful game. Three legends of the game Ronaldo (not to be confused with Cristiano Ronaldo), Ronaldhino and Lionel Messi have boldly stated that Neymar "will be the best in the world." So, it's no surprise that Neymar is dating a Brazilian actress who has accumulated more than 5 million "likes" on Facebook. And she isn't even 20 years old yet. BING: WHO IS NEYMAR'S GIRLFRIEND ? Gerard Pique Gerard Pique plays center-back for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team. He and Spain were the envy of the soccer world when they won the 2010 FIFA World Cup and followed it up with this championship . Since 2010, Pique has been in a relationship with the highest-selling Colombian recording artist of all time. Ten years Pique's senior, the pop singer has won four American Music Awards, two Grammy Awards and 10 Latin Grammy Awards. BING: WHO IS PIQUE'S FAMOUS OTHER HALF ? Radamel Falcao Radamel Falcao of Colombia is considered one of the top soccer strikers in the world. In 2011, Falcao lived up to that billing by breaking the record for goals in a European league season with 17 ( who formerly held the record ?). Falcao was transferred to Manchester United in September 2014. A year before, British newspaper The Sun circulated a rumor that Falcao was dating a Colombian lingerie model ( who ?) on the side. Falcao denied the affair and remains married to his Argentinian-singer wife. BING: WHO HAS FALCAO BEEN MARRIED TO SINCE 2007 ? Ryan Miller Ryan Miller is widely considered one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. During his 13-year career, he has beaten every team at least once, is the 30th goaltender in league history to reach 300 career wins and won the Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender in 2010 ( what honor did he receive at the '10 Olympics ?). On Sept. 3, 2011, Miller married an actress with 50 credits to her name, including a prominent role on a popular FX comedy. BING: WHO IS MILLER'S THESPIAN WIFE ? Mike Fisher Mike Fisher is a veteran NHL center who has split his 13-year career between the Ottawa Senators ( what unofficial record did he set with Ottawa ?) and Nashville Predators. In 2012, he won the NHL Foundation Player Award. Fisher is married to an award-winning country music singer whose career was launched after she won Season 4 of "American Idol." She has earned more than $100 million in her recording career. BING: WHO IS FISCHER'S FAMOUS WIFE ? Nathan Horton When hockey winger Nathan Horton signed with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2003, his new coach, Mike Keenan, compared him to this future Hall of Famer . While he hasn't put up the type of numbers that the New York Rangers legend did, Horton has enjoyed a successful career highlighted by hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2011 ( but what injury has threatened to end his career ?). Before the injury bug hit, Horton married a Canadian model who happens to be the great-niece of NHL goaltending great Jacques Plante. BING: WHO IS HORTON'S WIFE ? Wes Welker For a player who wasn't drafted, wide receiver Wes Welker has put together a pretty impressive NFL career. All he's done since being signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2004 is catch nearly 900 passes for close to 10,000 yards and 50 touchdowns for the Chargers, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and Denver Broncos. Welker ( why was he suspended four games in 2014 ?) is married to the 2005 Hooters International Pageant winner. She also was voted the Hooters Best Damn Dream Girl in 2007. BING: WHO IS WELKER'S MODEL WIFE ? Jay Cutler Jay Cutler arguably has the strongest arm ( watch highlights ) of any quarterback in the NFL. But over the course of his nine-year career, the Vanderbilt University alum has been criticized about as often as he's stepped onto the field ( what QB legend said Cutler "not a player" ?). Cutler has only qualified for the postseason once in those nine seasons. Despite all his difficulties, Cutler married an actress who has played herself numerous times on reality television. She also was cut during the 13th season of "Dancing with the Stars." BING: WHO IS CUTLER'S WIFE ? Tom Brady Tom Brady likely cemented his future invitation to the Pro Football Hall of Fame by winning his fourth Super Bowl on Feb. 1, 2015. In doing so, Brady became the third quarterback to win four Super Bowls ( who are the others ?). And to supplement his high quality of life, Brady married perhaps the most well-known model in the world in 2009. With her estimated net worth in the neighborhood of $300 million, she and Brady are among the richest couples in the world. BING: WHO IS BRADY'S BRAZILIAN MODEL WIFE ? Antonio Gates Antonio Gates, one of the most successful tight ends in NFL history, didn't even play college football. After being told that he wouldn't have much of an NBA career ( how tall is he ?), Gates scrapped basketball and arranged a workout in front of NFL scouts. The rest is history, as Gates has become the San Diego Chargers' all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. In 2011, Gates married his longtime girlfriend, a former hip-hop video star-model-actress. She was engaged to another former NFL player ( who ?), and rumor has it she once was an adult movie actress. BING: WHO IS GATES' WIFE ? Adam Scott In 2013, golfer Adam Scott became the first Australian to win the Master's. He nearly won his first major the year before, but bogeyed the final four holes to lose the U.S. Open by one stroke ( to whom ?). Since turning pro in 2000, Scott has won 27 tournaments worldwide, including 11 on the PGA Tour. He dated one of the top tennis players in the world for a couple years, but that ended in 2012. Scott rekindled his relationship with a Swedish architect in 2013, a woman he had met several years before when she was a nanny for Danish golfer Thomas Bjorn. BING: WHO DID SCOTT GET BACK TOGETHER WITH & EVENTUALLY MARRY ? Dustin Johnson Dustin Johnson, consistently one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour, has been on the cusp of his first major victory for the past five years. However, an epic collapse at the 2010 U.S. Open ( what did he shoot in the final round ?) and inattention to detail at the 2010 PGA Championship ( what happened ?) prevented him from breaking through. After fighting personal issues, Johnson has settled down with his fiancée, a model/pop singer/social media vixen who is the daughter of one of the greatest hockey players of all time. BING: WHO IS JOHNSON'S FAMOUS FIANCÉE ? Andy Murray Andy Murray is the most accomplished British tennis player of the modern era. He became the first British singles champion in more than 100 years when he won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, and later that year at the U.S. Open was the first Briton male to win a Grand Slam singles tournament since 1936. In November 2014, Murray ( what horrific event did he survive as a child ?) announced his engagement to a pet portraitist and former pupil of Burgess Hill School. BING: WHO FAMOUSLY UNLEASHED A TIRADE AT RECENT AUSTRALIAN OPEN ? Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal of Spain is among a trio of tennis players Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic being the others have dominated the ATP World Tour over the past decade. Nadal ( watch highlights ) has won 14 Grand Slam tournaments since 2005, including a record nine French Open victories ( which earned him this nickname ). Nadal reportedly has been dating the same woman throughout his stellar career, a Spanish businesswoman who currently is Director for Social Integration of Rafael Nadal Foundation. BING: WHO STOLE RAFA'S HEART BACK IN THEIR SCHOOL DAYS ? Novak Djokovic Serbian Novak Djokovic has a firm grasp on the title of World's Best Men's Tennis Player, sitting atop the rankings since July 2014 and 132 weeks overall. Djokovic's recent Australian Open title was his eighth Grand Slam championship. In 2011, he became the sixth man to win three Grand Slam titles in one calendar year ( who was the only player to win all four in same season twice ?). Djokovic met his wife in high school, and the couple began dating in 2005 and married in July 2014. His new bride is chief executive officer of the Novak Djokovic Foundation . BING: WHO IS DJOKOVIC'S LIFE PARTNER ? | 5 | 6,804 | news |
Updated 7:27 p.m. | House Republican leaders gave their freshmen members a political gift Tuesday: The chance to vote "yes" on a symbolic bill to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. For three new Republican representatives, however, the repeal vote was an opportunity to vote "no." Republicans Bruce Poliquin of Maine, John Katko of New York and Robert Dold of Illinois were the lone three defections in either party on what's being billed as the chamber's 56th vote since 2011 to undo parts of the 2010 health law. The defectors' rationale? They might hate Obamacare, but Republicans still haven't put forward a legislative proposal that would act as a substitute in the event the law ever got repealed. "I am against Obamacare. It is hurting jobs, hurting our families, limiting choices," Poliquin told CQ Roll Call as he left the House floor Wednesday afternoon. "But I need to see a tangible, free-market replacement and this bill does not give us that. I need to see how we're gonna fix this and not just be someone who votes for the 56th time to repeal this. "Show me a fix," Poliquin said, "and you'll have my support." Katko went to Facebook to explain his "no" vote: "I am disappointed that the bill taken up by Congress today did not provide a real solution to the rising costs of healthcare, but I will continue to fight for comprehensive, bipartisan healthcare reform for Central New York in Congress." He added that a campaign promise was to vote against Obamacare repeal votes that did not also include a replacement. Dold issued a statement. "The people of the 10th District sent me to Congress to advance solutions, not sound bites, to the problems we face," said Dold, who was first elected in 2010 before losing in 2012 and recapturing his seat in 2014. He continued, "Casting yet another symbolic vote for full repeal of the law, without any replacement legislation, simply distracts us from the work that must be done to drive costs down, restore access to care and make healthcare work for everyone." While their personal explanations might be compelling, there could also be political reasons behind their votes. All three Republican defectors come from districts that lean Democratic in presidential years. President Barack Obama carried those three districts by an average of 14 points in 2012 meaning all three will be top Democratic targets in November 2016. Democrats are already recruiting challengers to Poliquin and Dold, with Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Josh Schwerin quick on Tuesday to issue a statement slamming their votes as opportunistic. "Congressmen Dold and Poliquin appear to be hoping voters will forget their original pandering on healthcare," said Schwerin. "As we get closer to Election Day, we will see more and more of these chameleon votes but voters won't be fooled and we will be consistently reminding them about where these lawmakers really stand." Indeed, Poliquin filled out a "Campaign for Liberty" questionnaire last year in which he pledged to " support and cast every vote for legislation that will repeal or defund ObamaCare," while Dold, in his first stint in the House, voted multiple times on health law repeal bills and amendments. Poliquin won an open-seat race to replace former Rep. Michael H. Michaud, the longtime Democratic member who ran a failed campaign for governor in the Pine Tree State. Poliquin defeated state Sen. Emily Cain by a 5-point margin, and the DCCC is working to convince Cain on a rematch. Dold represents a suburban Chicago district that voted for Obama by a 16-point margin in 2012. He won a rematch with former Rep. Brad Schneider by a 4-point margin in 2014. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is seeking to recruit Schneider to run again in 2016. Meanwhile, Katko defeated former Rep. Dan Maffei by a stunning 20-point margin in the Syracuse, N.Y.-based 24th District. However, the 24th District voted for Obama by a 16-point margin. Regardless, Poliquin, Katko and Dold could soon have the opportunity to cast a vote for something more tangible. In advance of a Supreme Court ruling in June that Republicans hope could cripple the health law, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., just last week appointed three House GOP committee chairmen Paul D. Ryan of Ways and Means, John Kline of Education and the Workforce and Fred Upton of Energy and Commerce to run a working group to come up with a comprehensive alternative. | 5 | 6,805 | news |
Bobbi Kristina Brown has been moved to a new hospital as she continues to fight for her life. Whitney Houston's daughter was found unresponsive and facedown in a bathtub in her Atlanta-area home on Jan. 31 and sources told CNN that Bobbi Kristina was in "really bad shape" several days later. On Feb. 2, Bobbi was reportedly moved to Emory University Hospital where she remains on a ventilator in the intensive care unit. On Monday, CNN quoted a source claiming that the 21-year-old's eyes opened and closed a few times, but that doctors told family members not to read too much into that movement. Bobbi Kristina also allegedly had several seizures on Feb. 2. The late singer's daughter reportedly remains in a medically-induced coma. CNN's source said everyone is "hoping for the best, preparing for the worst" and "praying for a miracle." Police have ruled the incident a "drowning" and there are conflicting reports that police found drugs during a search of the home. Shortly after the incident, a family spokesman said , "Bobbi Kristina is fighting for her life and is surrounded by immediate family. As her father already stated, we are asking you to honor our request for privacy during this difficult time." | 6 | 6,806 | entertainment |
Play: Snowflakes and Sing-Alongs. Cut out large handmade snowflakes and tape to the floor. Add cutouts of "cracked" ice around the snowflakes. Turn on the movie when Elsa starts to sing and belt out "Let it Go," jumping from snowflake to snowflake on the beat to recreate Elsa's castle floor. Play: Paper Flowers for Olaf. Kids can make a paper flower bouquet for Olaf using colored crafting paper green floral wire. Cut several circles out of the scrapbook paper. Make circles anywhere from 8" to 4". Then, use a pencil to draw a spiral from the outside of the circle, into the middle. Cut the spiral out, then start at the outside and roll up the paper into a tight coil. Continue rolling until you get to the center and you'll start to see something that resembles a flower blossom. Release the coil and use a dab of hot glue in the center to keep the flower in place. Glue the blossom to the flattened end of the floral wire and repeat. Tie all the flowers together with a ribbon. Play: Marshmallow Snowman. Stack marshmallows together and create edible snowmen. Use toothpicks to hold them together. Play: DIY Crystal Curtains. Replicate Elsa's winter wonderland at home by making DIY crystal bead curtains. String crystal beads on long clear beading wire. Long strands can be used to create curtains in doorways, a bed canopy or a light-catching ornament in a window. Play: Freeze Dance! No explanation necessary. Pause: Snow Days Play: Snow Cream. If you have a fresh coating of snow outside, try this fun snow cream recipe to truly embrace the great outdoors. | 4 | 6,807 | lifestyle |
Vending machines selling medical marijuana opened for business in Seattle on Tuesday, in what the company providing them billed as a first-in-the-state innovation that it expects to expand to other cities and states where pot is legal as medicine. The first purchase from a ZaZZZ, as the user-automated machines are called, was for one gram of a strain dubbed Girl Scout Cookies for $15, inside Seattle Caregivers medical marijuana dispensary. "It's a way to take something that has proven itself as a viable business model throughout the last century, and bring it into the 21st century," said Stephen Shearin, president of technology company American Green Inc, which provides the machines. Washington state voters joined Colorado in 2012 in legalizing recreational marijuana, ushering in retail shops carrying a range of pot products for adults. Voters in Alaska and Oregon adopted similar initiatives last year. But in Washington state, a loosely regulated medical marijuana industry runs alongside the recreational pot system. The Seattle vending machine debut comes as lawmakers in Olympia weigh numerous marijuana-related bills, including a wide-ranging proposal to align the medical and recreational industries by phasing out collective gardens and allowing medical dispensaries to transition to recreational-use shops. Shearin said about five ZaZZZ vending machines are currently planned for Seattle and Washington state, with more slated for Colorado, California, Michigan, Rhode Island and Alaska, all among the 23 states where medical marijuana is legal. Marijuana vending machines are also provided by other companies, such as California's Medbox Inc, but regulators in each state did not know how many vending machines were operating. The machines are upgraded versions of the first ZaZZZ machine that opened last April in Colorado's Herbal Elements dispensary, which only carries edibles. The Seattle machine was stocked with cannabis flower, vaporizer pens, hemp-oil energy drinks and other merchandise, Shearin said, adding that machines would carry unique products not available in the dispensaries where they are located. A buyer's medical marijuana license is checked by a dispensary employee before that person can use the machine, which uses an ID-card scanner. At a recreational-use pot shop, such a machine would have to be installed behind the counter and operated by an employee, under Washington state law. "What is the purpose of having a vending machine if it's got to be manned?" said John Davis, who owns dispensaries in Seattle. "Why not just sell them the product?" (Additional reporting by David Ryder in Seattle) | 5 | 6,808 | news |
It's a convenient storyline: The manically competitive Jim Harbaugh, a man who once reportedly picked on a 10-year-old kid to beat friends at laser tag, is tearing through the Big Ten, flipping recruits to Michigan in his first five weeks on the job. The proof would appear to be Bloomfield Hills, Mich., receiver Grant Perry, a Northwestern commitment who tweeted Monday that "careful consideration & prayers" led him to change his mind. Perry committed to Michigan on Tuesday. Coaches cannot comment until national signing day Wednesday, but a source said the NU camp doesn't blame Harbaugh for the flip. Michigan is Perry's dream school, so once it finally offered a scholarship, he was gone. Northwestern reacted by flipping one of its locals, Flynn Nagel. The Lemont receiver backed out of a verbal commitment to Duke to accept an offer to his dream school, where brothers Aaron and Brett also suited up. The point: The Harbaugh Effect will not truly be seen in this year's recruiting class, in the same way that the Championship Effect will not give Ohio State a huge boost (not that the Buckeyes need one) until 2016. "Harbaugh will not be judged on this class," ESPN national recruiting director Tom Luginbill said by telephone. "When he was hired, there was a dead period and there were so many logistical things to get done. What he's trying to do is bring in some components that can be a nice, little foundation. He'll sacrifice talent here and there in favor of toughness and a passion for the game." As of Tuesday evening, Michigan had commitments from only 10 players. Due to that small size a byproduct of the disappointing season that led to Brady Hoke's firing the Wolverines' 247Sports.com composite ranking was 64th in the nation and last in the Big Ten. The class includes pro-style quarterback Zach Gentry, who switched over from Texas, and defensive end Reuben Jones, who first pledged to Nebraska. "Harbaugh is making an impression but started way behind the 8-ball," said Mike Farrell, the national recruiting director for Rivals.com. "He'll (eventually) get kids that fit his system. He butted heads at Stanford on its academic restrictions, which were ridiculous. At Michigan he won't recruit any dummies or bad-character kids, but he's also not looking for a 4.2 GPA or perfect SAT score. He's an alum, so he'll sell the program with all his heart." Likewise, Ohio State's Urban Meyer is an Ohio native. Penn State's James Franklin is from Langhorne, Pa. Coincidence or not, CBS Sports Network analyst Tom Lemming has picked up on a recent trend in his 36th year in the business. He sees a more aggressive attitude from coaches throughout the Big Ten, saying many now contact coaches of high school sophomores to establish an early bond. "Harbaugh is an ADD guy, and with him and Urban and James Franklin, it's nonstop, an SEC mentality not to get beat by anyone else," Lemming said. "I've also noticed (Minnesota's) Jerry Kill, the Iowa and Michigan State coaches on the road more. "(Alabama's) Nick Saban always said: Show me a coach who is a prolific golfer, and I'll show you a bad recruiter. Ask Saban what he's doing tomorrow and he'll say, 'Watching film.' Urban, Franklin and Harbaugh are the same way." Said Luginbill: "The addition of Jim Harbaugh has amped up the (leaguewide) work ethic. The new Wisconsin and Nebraska coaches (Paul Chryst and Mike Riley) also have done a nice job." But they all take a back seat to Ohio State, which expects to sign 25 players in the Big Ten's No. 1 class. And its 2016 class already features the nation's top-rated running back, Kareem Walker of New Jersey. "Ohio State," Farrell said, "will continue to kill it on the recruiting trail." | 1 | 6,809 | sports |
The antidotes to stress are all around you, and they range from pets to pumpkin seeds Two Words: Gyan Mudra This Japanese commuter knows the secret to staying calm in an overcrowded subway car the gyan mudra, a yoga hand gesture that inspires an instant feeling of connection and calm. Simply touch the tip of your thumb to the tip of your index finger, keeping the other three fingers stretched out. Holding this mudra is said to increase concentration, prevent insomnia and help to balance mood disorders. Take a Load Off Simply elevate your feet above your heart. This redirects blood flow, which has a calming effect much like that of inversions in yoga. Except here you don't have to be especially flexible or block out time for a yoga class. Chew on Pumpkin Seeds A hundred grams (less than a cup) of pumpkin seeds contain almost 600 mg of the amino acid tryptophan, which we need for the production ofserotonin and melatonin hormones that are essential to sleep and well-being. Tryptophan is also a treatment for depression, and it comes with a bonus: no nasty side effects. Blow Out a Candle and Make a Wish No need to wait for your birthday. The simple act of releasing a wish with a deep exhale can make you feel lighter and more optimistic. Studies show that people who visualize or mediate on positive outcomes experience more peace in their daily lives. And don't be shocked if that wish comes true: Since the neurons in our brains equate imagery with acton, one thing can lead to another. Wake Up and Smell the Coffee Our sense of smell is 10,000 times more powerful than any other sense in our bodies. Sniffing coffee (or citrus fruit) helps you de-stress by creating balance between your nervous system, brain chemistry and hormones. It also counteracts the noxious odors that bombard us daily. Have a Good Laugh Watch "I Love Lucy," "Monty Python," or an early episode of "Saturday Night Live." Laughing stimulates the Vagus nerve, reducing levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) in the blood and increasing serotonin production in the brain. A good laugh also boosts energy, and a new study shows that it may improve short-term memory as we get older. Have a Good Cry Crying is uniquely human, and like laughter, it stimulate the Vagus nerve and thus reduces stress. So let go! If you feel inhibited, just stream one of these movies: "An Affair to Remember," "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," "Umbrellas of Cherbourg" or "Casablanca" (especially that scene in which nearly everyone at Rick's sings "La Marseillaise"). There will be tears. Eat Honey A 2007 study conducted by medical researchers in New Zealand confirmed the long-held belief that, among its many healing properties, honey reduces anxiety and calms the mind. Try combining this ancient remedy with a nice cup of tea. Crank Up Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" Jimmy Cliff's 1993 cover of this reggae-inspired classic is terrific, but Nash's 1972 recording is the original guaranteed to turns any day bright and sunshiny. If you really want to relax, sing along. Singing loosens tight muscles and opens up the chest. At the end of the song, look all around nothing but blue skies! Write It Out One of the biggest causes of stress is holding on to negative or troubling emotions. The simple act of writing out your worries and frustrations even for just 10 minutes a day can ease your mind and give you a better night's sleep. Hear the Uncaged Bird Sing The poets had this one right: Lose yourself to birdsong, escape the troubles of this earth. Even recorded, this sweet sound calms our central nervous system. British researcher Eleanor Ratcliffe has spent the past three years studying "the restorative effects of natural sounds like birdsong." According to ecologist Peter Brash, "Birdsong gets us closer to nature and links people to places and memories in a way that few other sounds can." Pet Something Furry A growing body of research suggests that the benefits of having a dog or a cat go beyond the obvious fact that pets are adorable. One study compared married couples who owned pets with those who did not. Surprise the couples with pets had lower resting heart rates, increased serotonin production and lower blood pressure. They were also more likely to report a general sense of well-being. Run Cold Water Over Your Wrists Let cooler heads prevail. By dripping cool water on the pressure points on your wrist and splashing it behind your ears, you cool the arteries right under the skin, taking that heat down a notch and calming the whole body. Gaze at Indigo According to the ancient Vedas, blue is the color of wisdom. It's also a calming color. Indigo, the shade of the third-eye chakra (located between the eyebrows), is widely reported to have a soothing effect. Visualizing this color at the third eye point induces an experience of wholeness, peace, tranquility. Step in Mud Walking barefoot in mud is a grounding practice, one that connects you to the earth and puts you in touch with your own body. The result: a deep sense of well-being. Shake a Tail Feather The mere act of moving your tired muscles improves blood flow in the heart, which relieves anxiety and makes you feel free and expansive. Our world is a musical sphere and we were made to dance. So join the party! Go to Yoga Class There are countless studies that have championed yoga as a major stress and anxiety reliever. Yoga helps you access inner strength and also teaches you to breathe through the fears, frustrations, and challenges of everyday life. Laugh With Your Friends Laughter is one of the best things for your health and happiness. Laughter relaxes your whole body, relieves physical tension, and increase the endorphins released by your brain. When you're stressed, one of the best things you can do is grab some friends and just be silly. Eat Chocolate-Covered Strawberries When you're stressed, there's truly nothing better than chocolate. Nutritionists recommend dark chocolate over milk, as dark chocolate helps to reduce stress hormones like cortisol. Also, the vitamin C in the berries can fight body-damaging free radicals. Take a Bath One of the tried and true methods for combatting stress is taking a bath. There's nothing like a good soak to wash away the muck of the day and enhance your mood. It's also recommended to add lavender to your bath, which reduces anxiety and emotional stress (and smells heavenly). | 4 | 6,810 | lifestyle |
Cockroaches may be ugly, they may be among the most loathed creatures on the planet but at least, scientists say, they have personality. Researchers studying the behaviour of the insects have discovered that far from simply being a homogenous mass they have individual character traits. The discovery is unlikely to change perceptions of them from skittering vermin to desirable beasts but it could go some way to explaining their evolutionary success. Scientists observed the character traits as they studied the way the "gregarious insect" seeks shelter when they come out into the open. If they had the same personalities they would all behave exactly the same when in the open but observations have revealed clear differences. Some, those classified as shy, keep hidden as much as possible and seek the safety of shelter while the more adventurous are keen to explore their surroundings. Isaac Planas Sitjà, one of the researchers from the Université libre de Bruxelles which uncovered the personalities, said: "We have categorised the observed personalities. We call them "shy or cautious" and "bold or explorers". "Shy individuals are those that spend more time sheltered and explore less the arena or the surroundings. Instead, bold individuals are those that spend most part of the time exploring the surroundings and spend less time sheltered." In a statement summarising their findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B , the research team said: "From studying the way they find shelter, we show that individuals have consistent behaviour which can differ between individuals in a group - cockroaches have personalities." Different personalities are thought to help the survival of the species because by driving different behaviour it increases the chances of at least some surviving when disaster strikes. The personalities of individuals can also, the team found, affect the behaviour of groups of cockroaches. Cockroaches used in the tests were measured for the speed with which they found shelter and the time they spent exploring and seeking out new supplies of food. In their natural environment the differences in personality could improve the chances of adventurous cockroaches finding extra food but simultaneously increase their chances of being preyed upon. For the experiments researchers attached radio tags to American cockroaches, Periplaneta americana, to monitor their movements. They were kept in darkness during the experiments and were released in batches of 16 in 'arenas' surrounded by electrified wires to prevent escapes. | 5 | 6,811 | news |
The Thunder have five games to go until the All-Star break. They are 24-24 on the season and sit three games behind Phoenix for the eighth and final playoff spot. Here's a look at Oklahoma City's chances in this stretch of games that could go a long way in determining whether the Thunder make the playoffs. Wednesday at New Orleans Chance of winning: 55 percent The Thunder are coming off a feel-good kind of win against Orlando at home on Monday night where Russell Westbrook had a triple-double. The Thunder also got a boost when Memphis beat Phoenix on a last-second shot, allowing the Thunder to pull within three games of the Suns for the eighth playoff spot. It seems like a good spot for OKC, considering the Pelicans are coming off of a big win against Atlanta, snapping the Hawks 19-game winning streak on Monday. If Kevin Durant plays, bump the chance of winning in New Orleans up to 70 percent. Durant has missed three of the past four games with a toe sprain and he didn't practice Tuesday. He's considered doubtful for Wednesday's game. Friday vs. New Orleans Chance of winning: 80 percent The Thunder are 10th in the Western Conference behind the Pelicans and the Suns, so you have to figure OKC will play with extra urgency when facing the Pelicans, especially at home. The Western Conference is so tough, OKC won't want to let another home game get away from them. Sunday vs. Los Angeles Clippers Chance of winning: 65 percent Another marquee team comes in for a nationally televised game. The good news for the Thunder is that the Clippers will be on the back end of a tough road trip having already lost at Brooklyn, played at Cleveland and then at Toronto on Friday night. There's a good possibility of the Clippers being worn down after playing against the Cavs and Raptors and then having to go to Dallas on Monday night. Tough team for sure, but the timing couldn't be much better for the Thunder. If Durant is out for this one, drop the percentage down a notch. Feb. 9 at Denver Chance of winning: 60 percent The Nuggets have lost nine of 10 games and will come home to face the Thunder after a three-game road trip out East. This could be a bad spot for OKC as they will have just played the Clippers and have to catch Denver on a back-to-back. Of course, the Nuggets are the only opponent in the next six that isn't ahead of OKC in the standings, so a look-ahead mentality could very well be the case for the Thunder as they will come back home against Memphis on Wednesday. Feb. 11 vs. Memphis Chance of winning: 70 percent Expect a must-win attitude for the Thunder who have already lost twice to the Grizzlies this season, including once at home. However, it's the last game before the All-Star break, it's at home and the Thunder should be at full strength. Meanwhile, Memphis will be coming off a back-to-back, having played at home against Brooklyn the night before. Oklahoma City will give everything it has to win this game. Expect maximum level of urgency and effort for the Thunder. Follow Andrew Gilman on Twitter: @andrewgilmanOK MORE FROM FOX SPORTS SOUTHWEST: - Highest paid coaches in college football - Ranking NFL quarterback salaries - Oldest player on every NBA team - Famous Dallas Cowboys fans | 1 | 6,812 | sports |
CNN's Susan Candiotti reports on why a juror was removed from the Aaron Hernandez trial. | 5 | 6,813 | news |
Maybe you weren't moved by Birkenstock's big comeback last Spring, maybe you just couldn't get into wearing your sneakers beyond the gym, and maybe you're still looking for an on-trend update to your tired flats - something that, preferably, doesn't come with a heel. We hear you. You're a little more polished, and you want something with a closed toe you can start wearing now and right into Spring. The answer comes in the form of this season's ballerina flats. Not your typical ballet flats, this updated silhouette comes with laces to tie up right around the ankle like those pointe shoes we always wanted back when we took dance, adding subtle oomph to every outfit without any real effort. Trust us when we say, they're about to be the next big thing in Spring shoes, so just consider this your fair warning and get a head start before there's nothing left in stock. Scroll to scope out the trend and shop. Source: Instagram user aquazzuraboutique We fell for them first on the runway. At Michael Kors Spring 2015. And again when Tibi added a pair to its Pre-Fall 2015 lineup. They polish off distressed denim, but they're so much more comfortable than heels. They might just make you want to kick off your sneakers. Especially when they make this kind of statement. Aquazzura Christy Lace-Up Flats Aquazzura Christy Lace-Up Flats ($675) Michael Kors Kallie Runway Lace-Up Flat Michael Kors Kallie Runway Lace-Up Leather Flat ($550) Jeffrey Campbell Shay Lace Up Flat Jeffrey Campbell Shay Lace Up Flat ($130) Madewell Lace-Up Flat Madewell The Nora Lace-Up Flat ($118) Aquazzura Christy Flat Leather Ballerinas Aquazzura Christy Flat Leather Ballerinas ($684) Isabel Marant Snake-Effect Leather Ballet Flats Isabel Marant Leo Snake-Effect Leather Ballet Flats ($650) Dr. Martens Durand Lace Up Flat Dr. Martens Durand Lace Up Flat ($110) Aquazzura Belgravia Suede Lace-Up Flat Aquazzura Belgravia Suede Lace-Up Flat ($695) | 4 | 6,814 | lifestyle |
The Falcons are being investigated for faking crowd noise during home games at the Georgia Dome and Falcons owner Arthur Blank admitted to wrongdoing on behalf of the team. Is this a big deal? | 1 | 6,815 | sports |
MONTREAL (AP) -- The long drought is over for the struggling Sabres. Buffalo scored three times in the first period and Jonas Enroth made 32 saves in a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens that ended a franchise-record, 14-game losing streak Tuesday night. Players raised their arms in triumph as they gathered around Enroth after the team's first victory since a shootout win Dec. 27 against the New York Islanders. It was Buffalo's first victory in regulation in 21 games since beating Calgary 4-3 on Dec. 11. ''I hope it allows us to relax a bit,'' Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges said. ''Just go out and play. Not think about all the bad things that could happen. Just go out there and play the game, have some fun doing it and, hopefully, get some confidence back.'' Former Canadiens captain Brian Gionta, who signed with Buffalo last summer, got the game-winner late in a three-goal first period for the Sabres (15-33-3), who remain last overall in the NHL. Drew Stafford and Matt Moulson also scored. Brandon Prust and David Desharnais had the goals for the Canadiens (32-15-3), who have lost two in a row at home. Montreal had a 34-18 shots advantage. In Buffalo's postgame dressing room, the mood was relief. ''It's been a frustrating couple of weeks, no doubt,'' Gorges said. ''We've had games where we play well in spurts, but then we'd always find a way to beat ourselves. ''We had mental lapses that cost us. And when you get in those situations you become a bit of a fragile team, especially as young as we are. Any time adversity hit during a game we seemed to crumble. So to get this win takes a bit of weight off us.'' The Sabres won three of four meetings and took seven of eight points from Montreal this season. ''For some reason we played well against them this year,'' Gionta said. ''But at this point, it was more about getting the win and getting on the right track. It definitely feels good.'' The Sabres were three losses short of the NHL record for consecutive defeats set by the 1974-75 Washington Capitals and 1992-93 San Jose Sharks. The Canadiens, coming off a 3-2 loss to Arizona, have only six goals in their last four games, two of which were 1-0 wins thanks to shutouts by Carey Price. ''One game, one line is hot and the next game, it's another line, but we'd like to score more goals,'' center Lars Eller said. ''The bottom line is that most of the time, we've found ways to win games even if we haven't been scoring a lot. ''That's a good thing, but when you lose, it stands out more.'' The game was only 5:21 old when Stafford was left alone in front and scored on his second whack at the puck to put Buffalo ahead. It ended Price's shutout streak at 158 minutes, 24 seconds. Prust came out of the penalty box, knocked down Tyler Myers and then finished a 2-on-1 with Desharnais to tie it at 8:15. But Moulson was alone in front to spin and beat Price between the pads at 14:53, and Gionta's pass went in off defenseman Nathan Beaulieu's skate at 19:19. Desharnais was right on the doorstep to bang in Dale Weise's feed 4:20 into the third period. ''We weren't alert on our defensive assignments at the start,'' Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. ''It wasn't a lack of effort, it was a lack of focus.'' The Sabres ended a four-game road trip and start a five-game homestand Thursday against St. Louis. The Canadiens next play at home Saturday against New Jersey. NOTES: Price allowed more than two goals for the first time since Jan. 6. Before that, it was Dec. 6. ... Jacob de la Rose made his NHL debut for Montreal and took a regular shift on the third line. | 1 | 6,816 | sports |
The latest tweet from Hillary Rodham Clinton sounded straightforward enough: "The science is clear: The earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork." But the issue of vaccinations has long been politically and emotionally fraught involving not just public health but also the proper role of government, the prerogatives of parents and medical riddles that have yet to be solved. Probably no one in public life today has felt those crosscurrents more strongly than the presumed front-runner for the 2016 Democratic nomination. On the issue of vaccination over the past two decades, Clinton has repeatedly found herself on the front lines of advocacy and criticism. Other politicians including potential GOP presidential hopefuls Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have been learning those political lessons the hard way in recent days. Both made statements questioning whether childhood vaccinations should be mandatory , bringing a torrent of criticism, including from medical professionals who are alarmed over a recent rise in measles cases. As a new first lady in 1993, Clinton championed what became the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Vaccines for Children program, designed to provide free inoculations against nine diseases to children who otherwise might not get them. It now covers 14 diseases. Clinton's role in that endeavor landed her in the crossfire. Conservatives blamed her when shortfalls of some vaccines developed in subsequent years, arguing that the private market was better at allocating resources. "One of her pet projects is a bust," the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote in a 2003 piece headlined "Hillary's Vaccine Shortage." Meanwhile, Clinton also found herself the target of a burgeoning movement that linked the rising rate of autism to thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative that has since been removed from childhood vaccines. Some advocates of this theory went so far as to dub her "Thimerosal Hillary." For reasons that scientists cannot explain, the incidence of autism is up markedly . Last year, the CDC estimated that 1 in 68 children aged 8 had been identified with the range of conditions known as autism spectrum disorder. That was about 30 percent higher than previous estimates, reported in 2012, of 1 in 88 children. Clinton, as a presidential candidate in 2008, wrote in response to a candidate questionnaire : "I am committed to make investments to find the causes of autism, including possible environmental causes like vaccines. . . . We don't know what, if any, kind of link there is between vaccines and autism but we should find out." Her then-rival, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), also called for more research into whether there was some correlation. And 2008 GOP presidential contender John McCain (R-Ariz.) went so far as to say there was "strong evidence" of a connection between vaccines and autism. But even in 2008, the weight of medical evidence was against such a link and the candidates who indulged such speculation were accused of pandering. In 2010, the argument against vaccination received a devastating blow from the Lancet, a medical journal that 12 years before had published a study alleging that inoculations for measles, mumps and rubella were a cause of autism. The journal retracted the study, saying the supposed research had been falsified. Another iteration of the vaccination issue flared in the 2012 Republican primary campaign, when then-Gov. Rick Perry of Texas found himself under fire for a mandate requiring most girls in his state to get inoculated against the human papillomavirus, a sexual infection that can lead to cervical cancer. Some social conservatives argued that it would encourage girls to have sex. Republican leaders have not welcomed the rekindling of the vaccine debate sparked by Christie's comment Monday that parents should have "some measure of choice" in deciding whether to vaccinate their children. Paul a physician with a libertarian philosophy joined the argument with an unfounded claim that there are "many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines." Paul took to Twitter on Tuesday to defend himself, saying he supports vaccinations and posing for photographs as he received a booster shot . "I did not say vaccines caused disorders, just that they were temporally related I did not allege causation," he wrote in one tweet. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) sought to tamp the furor down by saying Tuesday, "I don't know that we need another law, but I do believe that all children ought to be vaccinated." Meanwhile, several other potential 2016 contenders distanced themselves from Christie and Paul. "Absolutely, all children in America should be vaccinated," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Tuesday. "Unless their immune [system is] suppressed, obviously, for medical exceptions, but I believe that all children, as is the law in most states in this country, before they can even attend school, have to be vaccinated for a certain panel." Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) also released a statement criticizing "fear mongering" and added, "Personally, I would not send my kids to a school that did not require vaccinations." Alice Crites contributed to this report. | 5 | 6,817 | news |
It's easy to measure greatness in victories, trophies and championships. But what about standing up to prejudice and people who think the color of your skin makes you less worthy? What about going about your business in the face of death threats? What about keeping your faith and dignity when you are denied the opportunity to stand on Victory Lane as a winner? Wendell Scott is finally in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. It is a moment everyone should cherish, not just the folks who are smitten by left-hand turns. Much like his career, it was a slow grind and a challenge to get to the grand stage. He fell short of votes for several years, a process I didn't quite understand given the particular dynamics. Scott is NASCAR's Jackie Robinson. He competed in the Jim Crow era, facing all sorts of indignities like getting his tires slashed before a race. NASCAR officials once insisted that Scott and his crew would have to shave their beards in Bristol if they wanted to compete in a race. Richard Petty intervened on Scott's behalf, and the beards stayed. He only won once in 495 starts, a stat that may raise some eyeballs comparing him to Robinson. But Scott won just by showing up. He preserved with honor and grace. And it was never a fair fight on the track. Dale Inman, Petty's long-time crew chief and a NASCAR Hall of Fame member, once told me about a "Wendell box" - throwaway pieces - that Scott and his crew could pick off on any given week. Batteries and used tires, too. "No question the odds against him were stacked," Inman said. "And he probably understood that, but he never complained about his circumstances." To this day, Scott remains the only African-American to win a NASCAR race at its highest level. Given the historic context, it is important to celebrate the moment last weekend when his sons, Wendell Scott Jr. and Frank Scott, stood on stage in Charlotte accepting the honor on their daddy's behalf. Wendell Scott died in 1990, and his wife was unable to attend the ceremonies because of poor health. Wendell Jr. then kissed the Hall of Fame ring. "I kissed the ring for Daddy and Mommy because they couldn't do it themselves," he said "Daddy was a man of great honor," Frank said. "He didn't let his circumstances define who he was." NASCAR finally got it right. Big-time. Scott was joined in the Class of 2015 by other NASCAR greats: Bill Elliott, Fred Lorenzen, Joe Weatherly and Rex White. The guy introducing Scott? Four-time NASCAR Cup champ and sure-fire Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon. "Our next inductee did a lot with a little, on a shoestring budget and with a pit crew that was truly a family affair," Gordon said. "He is a story of perseverance and determination in the face of unimaginable obstacles." Amen. A well-deserved group hug to a gentleman who belongs. Hall of Fame's rough ride Daytona Beach missed out on the opportunity to become home to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, losing a bid to Charlotte in 2006. Maybe that's not such a bad thing. The Hall of Fame - which welcomed a new group of drivers last week, including Bill Elliott - is in financial disarray. The Charlotte Observer reports that the hall's projected revenue is declining significantly, dropping from $1.5 million in 2012 to $110,000 for the fiscal year starting in July. Another disturbing financial footnote: Bank of America and Wells Fargo recently agreed to forgive $17.6 million in interest and principal from a Hall-related loan in exchange for a $5 million payment because that's probably as much money as they could have squeezed out of the Hall. Some companies, including Belk and Sunoco, have let sponsorships expire. And lastly, since opening in May 2010 the Hall has lost approximately $5.3 million over its first four years. "It's done fine," NASCAR Chairman Brian France told MRN recently. "It's come with a very big price tag, and part of digesting that is always a leap here, especially in the early days of operations. But they're doing a great job. ... We're quite pleased with it." Daytona Beach will get a second shot at it when it opens the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, which is relocating from the Detroit area. It is set to debut in Daytona by January 2016, in conjunction with The Daytona Rising transformation project. "Having the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America right here in Daytona will complement Daytona Rising and provide another reason for race fans to visit Daytona International Speedway," Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood said in a statement announcing the move. Charlotte officials probably thought the same thing. But seeing fast cars parked in a building doesn't seem to excite people as much as watching them roar past at nearly 200 mph. Quirky Cuban Felix Sabates is often The Most Interesting Man in the Room when it comes to NASCAR. He is quirky and opinionated, and he adds an unusual cultural twist as a Cuban-born co-owner of a Cup team (Chip Ganassi Racing). He won the room again last week in Charlotte during the annual media tour, an appearance that coincided with Cuban president Raul Castro making ridiculous demands as a precursor to the United States normalizing relations with Cuba. "It's kind of hard to come to the podium after Chip because he said pretty much everything that can be said about the racing operation. So I'm here today to talk about Cuba," Sabates said. JJ misses a turn Jimmie Johnson does more than dabble in running races and competing in triathlons. It's a serious gig for him. His wife has called it his "second job." But he still has a learning curve, evidenced by missing a turn during a recent half-Ironman competition. "To everyone's surprise, I did miss a left-hand turn," Johnson said. | 1 | 6,818 | sports |
LAKE STEVENS, Wash. Police in Lake Stevens, Washington, say they have arrested a man and a woman accused of abandoning their three young children without food in a cold, filthy house. Cmdr. Dennis Taylor said Tuesday that it wasn't known how long the children had been unattended when police removed them Saturday, but the parents had to be tracked down by investigators. The adults, both 33, were booked into jail for investigation of felony criminal mistreatment and abandonment of a dependent person. The children are 7 years old, 3 years old and 11 months old. Taylor says they were found surrounded by animal feces and garbage. The children were taken to a hospital, where the baby was found to have a core temperature of 94 degrees and was treated for hypothermia and dehydration. All are now in the custody of Child Protective Services. The Daily Herald of Everett (http://is.gd/CdBYxb) reports the parents are expected to make a court appearance Wednesday. Lake Stevens is about 30 miles north of Seattle. | 5 | 6,819 | news |
LISDOONVARNA, Ireland After 50-odd years in the business of romance, Willie Daly has a lot of stories to tell. Like the one about the man who fell to his knees in front of a woman, followed her to the altar and only later admitted that he had not meant to propose it had been a long night, and he had tripped. Or the one about a woman whose potential suitors kept hanging up after asking her age, until Mr. Daly advised her to say she was young at heart. After that, the 83-year-old widow enjoyed two months of delightful conversation before dying. "We are all looking for the simple thing of love," Mr. Daly said, as one of his six daughters he also has two sons stoked the peat stove in his kitchen on a raw winter morning recently outside Ennistymon, a village on Ireland's rural west coast. "To be cherished, to feel special." Mr. Daly who thinks he is in his early 70s but does not know precisely because, he says, the priest who kept such records drank a lot has been thinking about love most of his life. A horse farmer by trade, he is one of Ireland's last traditional matchmakers, best known for presiding over the annual matchmaking festival in nearby Lisdoonvarna a weekslong autumnal event famed for its all-day dancing and spontaneous, often late-night, marriage proposals. While the festival is on, Mr. Daly conducts business in a pub. For a small fee (usually $10 to $15), he takes down the details of those seeking partners. He keeps these details in a large, overflowing book held together with tape and a shoestring, inherited from his matchmaker father and possessed, he says, of supernatural romantic powers (if you touch it with one hand, you will fall in love in six months; both hands, you will be married in six months; and if you are already married, you will fall in love all over again). Then, sometimes with no more than a twinkle and a nod, he might introduce two people, buying a woman a drink or nudging a farmer toward the dance floor. "There's a good deal of magic in it," he said. "I'm not a big believer in too many words." The rest of the year, Mr. Daly makes matches by mail and by telephone, though visitors from as far away as New York have turned up on the doorstep of his County Clare farmhouse. "I know a lot of people are going on the Internet now," said Mr. Daly, who has just recently decided to learn how email works. "But it's cold it's a machine." Mr. Daly was privy to his father's negotiations from a young age. Back then, marriage was more of a practical matter. "I remember a big, tall, good-looking fellow, with a big red face, who came to wait for my father in the parlor," Mr. Daly said. "My sister asked him, 'What kind of a girl would you like?' and his mother answered, 'Michael wants a girl who will help with the sheep.' " Bound to the land, bachelor farmers had little free time and were often shy. And because of land inheritance rules, men were often decades older than their brides; love was expected to come later, with children. Still, Mr. Daly said, even these businesslike arrangements had a gaiety he found infectious. By the time he was 12, Mr. Daly had dropped out of school and was working full time on his father's potato farm. At 15, Mr. Daly made his first match. Seeing that a farmhand named John had blushed when he walked past a young woman at Sunday Mass, and that she had blushed, too, he decided to help them meet. "One day I was looking in the local paper, and her father had a fat pig for sale," Mr. Daly said. "I says to John, 'Why don't we pretend we want to buy the pig?' " It worked. After challenging the pig's fatness and receiving a tart reply, the farmhand looked the farmer's daughter in the eye and asked if they might eat it together. Shortly afterward, they married. Despite this early success, Mr. Daly was in his mid-20s before he thought seriously of continuing the matchmaking tradition. He was running the family farm and, following a lifelong passion, had bought his first horses. For fun, he played music and told fortunes at local festivals. He says he suspected that matchmaking was on its way out until a neighbor asked him to find him a wife. He did, and Mr. Daly estimates that he has facilitated around 3,000 marriages since, though there is no official record. In this part of Ireland, though, much remains to be done. "These good, decent men who didn't marry, now they're 60, 70 years old, and there's no one to take over the farm," he said. "When they die, it will be sold, and that's a soft, sweet personality, a way of life, that's gone." A look through Mr. Daly's matchmaking book shows how things have changed. While details now include "personal preferences," like a love of travel, an entry from his father's time reads, simply: "12 cows." Women's desires have shifted the most, he said. "In the past, women needed a roof over their heads, a little house of their own. Now, they want to like the man." Marriage is no longer a primary concern. Mr. Daly, who is himself in the process of divorce, also caters to those just looking to date. "What men need hasn't changed," he said. "Someone to share their life with, someone to share their love with. Not to grow old alone." More recently, an influx of out-of-towners has added new dimensions to his work. While American women and Irish men often click instantly, "like a cow in a cock of hay," other combinations are more challenging, he said. In his experience, Italians simply do not drink enough to count as real romantics. "Proposals are more likely when you've been drinking," he said. Germans, on the other hand, drink plenty but are generally unromantic. Dubliners are picky, and American men sometimes have strange demands. "One fellow wrote and said his future bride had to be 'untouched by scalpel,' " said Mr. Daly, whose daughter had to explain what the man meant. "Around here, cosmetic surgery, it means getting false teeth." Two years ago, the matchmaking festival, which attracted 60,000 people last fall, started a gay, bisexual and transgender weekend. "Everyone should be in love, all their lives," Mr. Daly said. Rory O'Neill, a drag performer and gay rights activist, said he was moved by Mr. Daly's readiness to include gay singles in his old-time matchmaking book. Yet he was confused by the "LOL" written beside names. Finally, Mr. O'Neill asked what it meant. "Lots of land," Mr. Daly answered. | 5 | 6,820 | news |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. Stephen Curry had 23 points and nine assists, and the Golden State Warriors rode a 23-0 spurt in the first half to beat the Sacramento Kings 121-96 on Tuesday night. The Warriors shut down Sacramento for more than seven minutes at the end of the first quarter and start of the second quarter to take an 18-point lead. They went ahead by 20 at the half and 25 in the third quarter before holding off a brief Kings comeback. Andre Iguodala added 17 points, and Marreese Speights finished with 17 points and eight rebounds to help the Warriors sweep the four-game series with Sacramento for the second straight season. DeMarcus Cousins had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Rudy Gay scored 20 for the Kings, who rallied within 11 late in the third quarter before the Warriors regrouped. Sacramento snapped its eight-game losing streak with a win at Indiana on Saturday and had hoped to carry the momentum home. Instead, about the only thing the Kings accomplished was quieting Klay Thompson who had 14 points after he scored an NBA-record 37 points in the third quarter and finished with 52 points in Golden State's last game against Sacramento on Jan. 23. The Warriors had 33 assists and 11 turnovers, while the Kings had 17 assists and 18 turnovers. Golden State outshot Sacramento 50.5 percent to 44.3 percent and outscored Sacramento's bench 61 to 12. It was quite a way for the NBA-leading Warriors (38-8) to begin a stretch of four games in five nights, including three on the road. In all, five of their last six games before the All-Star break are away from home. Golden State fell behind 22-14 with 4:43 remaining in the first quarter before smothering Sacramento (17-30) for a stunningly prolonged stretch. The Warriors held the Kings scoreless for more than seven minutes and without a field goal for more than 8 ½ minutes. Sacramento missed 10 consecutive shots and committed five turnovers until Jason Thompson's short jumper with 9:38 left in the second quarter. The Warriors rolled into the half up 63-42 and kept their pace-and-space attack moving after the break. They stretched their lead to 25 points in the third quarter. Cousins helped Sacramento slice that lead to 11 late in the quarter before the Warriors got hot again. Curry hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarter and the Warriors built back a big lead. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver attended the game. He was in town to tour Sacramento's future downtown arena, which is scheduled to open for the 2016-17 season. TIP-INS Warriors: It was Golden State's NBA-best 19th game with at least 30 assists. ... Backup center Festus Ezeli after sitting out the last 18 games with a sprained left ankle. He had five rebounds and two points in eight minutes. Kings: Sacramento dropped to 6-17 since firing Michael Malone as coach. ... Reserve big man Reggie Evans was inactive. UP NEXT Warriors: Host Dallas on Wednesday. Kings: Host Dallas on Thursday. | 1 | 6,821 | sports |
The referee in the middle of the biggest controversy at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations has been sent home from the tournament and Tunisia has been threatened with a ban unless it apologizes for accusing the Confederation of African Football of bias. The Mauritian official, Seechurn Rajindraparsad, took most of the blame for the violent scenes that marred Equatorial Guinea's 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Tunisia. Seechurn awarded the hosts a dubious penalty in the third minute of stoppage time. Javier Balboa scored, then netted a brilliant second goal from a free kick in extra time. Just before full time both teams players, substitutes and coaches had a confrontation, and at the final whistle the furious Tunisians tried to assault Seechurn, who needed a police escort. Players vandalized their locker room, and the head of the Tunisian federation, Wadie Jary, resigned from the tournament's organizing committee. The Tunisia manager, Georges Leekens, said of the penalty decision, "In 45 years in football I have never seen anything like it." The CAF referees' committee said Seechurn's "poor performance and failure to maintain control" were unacceptable. The disciplinary board suspended him for six months, took him off the list of elite referees and ended his involvement in the tournament. The Tunisians were told to apologize in writing by Friday or risk being thrown out of future CAF competitions. In a letter to CAF written on Monday, the Tunisian federation had accused CAF of bias and a lack of ethics. The Tunisians were fined 44,000 euros for the "insolent, aggressive and unacceptable" behavior of their players, and told to pay for the damage caused in the locker room. Feguifut, the Equatorial Guinea federation, was held responsible for a minor pitch invasion by home fans at the Bata stadium. As a result, the federation was fined €4,358 and told to improve security at future matches. Seechurn had been involved in a similar controversy in 2011, when his handling of a qualifier between Algeria and Morocco infuriated the Moroccans. They complained about the awarding of a penalty to Algeria. A facebook group called "One million Moroccans against Mauritian referee Seechurn Rajindraparsad" was set up after the game. | 1 | 6,822 | sports |
Atlanta - An attorney representing Bobby Brown says the entertainer's daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, isn't and never has been married. Brown's attorney Christopher Brown released a statement Tuesday disputing reports that Bobbi Kristina Brown is married to Nick Gordon. Bobbi Kristina Brown has been hospitalised since Saturday after being found unresponsive in a bathtub at a suburban Atlanta townhome. Gordon and a friend called police. In January 2014, a representative for the family confirmed to The Associated Press that Brown and Gordon had gotten married, but did not release additional details. Bobbi Kristina is the only child of Bobby Brown and the late singer Whitney Houston, who was found unresponsive in a hotel bathtub in 2012. Whitney Houston left her entire estate to her daughter. Brown's family has said she's in a hospital "fighting for her life." | 6 | 6,823 | entertainment |
In another performance filled with more bad than good hockey, the New Jersey Devils edged the Ottawa Senators 2-1 thanks to Mike Cammalleri's goal and Bobby Ryan not scoring at the end. This is a recap of another ugly hockey game. For years of my life, I have read that the New Jersey Devils are boring. That they're bad for the game with their commitment to defensive hockey, the neutral zone trap back when it was a thing everyone ran, and their way of keeping games low and close. This was commonly put out there by boring members of the media and fans of opposing fans frequently reeking of sour grapes. Now, if those same people were to see what the crowd saw at the Rock tonight between the New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators , then they would actually have a point - for both teams. Alas, they are likely distracted by a shiny object or whatever is now the hottest outrage of the day. Seriously, this game featured a grand total of thirty nine shots on net and only 67 shooting attempts. The Senators out-attempted the Devils, but a significant portion of their thirty nine attempts ended up hitting a Devil or missing the net, so they ended up with a mere twenty shots on net. The Devils fell early to missing the target but eventually reverted to not often getting even that as the game progressed. There was stretches of the game where I wondered whether either team wanted this game. It dawned on me: I've seen this array of horrid passing and terrible on-the-puck decisions before. It was last Wednesday against Toronto , which was also a very difficult game to watch that the Devils eventually won. Tonight yielded the same result, though in a different manner. The Devils won in regulation by a score of 2-1. After Curtis Lazar scored a rather odd breakaway goal (more on that later in this recap), it didn't take the final minutes of the game for an equalizer to be scored. Adam Henrique slid a sharp-angled shot past Robin Lehner less than two minutes after Lazar's score to make it 1-1. The Devils got their breakthrough goal about five minutes into the third. Jaromir Jagr protected the puck in the corner while taking Patrick Wiercioch to school (The Jagr Academy?) in the process. Jagr came up the sideboards, found Mike Cammalleri open towards the slot, and Cammalleri ripped one home. The Devils held on, mostly away from the net though the Sens would get some dangerous chances. Bobby Ryan had the whole net to tie up the game with seconds left, actually. In a play indicative of the night in general, Ryan received the puck off his skateblade and by the time he was going to get his blade on the puck, a defender - Adam Larsson - denied him the chance. Cammalleri's goal was a not-so-novel concept on display: get the puck in a good position and shooting it. It's worth noting because this went against most of the Devils' actions tonight. Too many times the Devils had an opportunity to make an offensive play like attempting a shot while open or hitting a teammate with a pass. Those were chances left begging to be taken advantage of, as a result, Ottawa didn't pay too often for their own errors and the Devils couldn't take a game that was for the taking. The Senators can claim the same sort of issue, only more accuracy could have given them more than the twenty shots they put on Cory Schneider . So it can be argued that the Devils weren't as bad at moving the puck up-ice as they were in their last three games. But when situations come up where a shot should be expected and none keep happening, then what progress was truly made? Like last Wednesday's game, the Senators were just as poor in executing their own game plan and never made the adjustments to make things better. They got some opportunities well-denied but they could have had so much more. This continues a theory I've been having about the Devils: if the opponent isn't good and/or isn't effectively moving the puck, then the Devils have a chance. If they are good and/or they are moving the puck crisply and in stride, then the Devils are in deep trouble. Tonight was another example of the former situation, only the Devils didn't take full advantage. When Schneider (or Keith Kinkaid ) isn't so amazing or the team's opponents get better or just play well, then the Devils' performance will yield L's instead of W's. That did not happen tonight. And so the crowd left mostly happy at the result, though I wouldn't begrudge them if they were bored throughout most of the game. The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The NHL.com Devils Time on Ice Log | The Natural Stat Trick Corsi Charts The Opposition Opinion: Over at Silver Seven, nkb has a recap that begins with "It was a game that happened in February." Couldn't agree more with that. The Game Highlights: Yes, there were highlights in this one. Check out this video from NHL.com : Schneider!: Schneider was very good without having to make 40+ saves. I like that. I enjoy Schneider's play. As should all Devils fans. Happy Birthday, Zidlicky: Today was Marek Zidlicky's birthday. And the Rock got to witness some full-on Zidlicky tonight. There was Zidlicky jumping up on offense, taking the puck and proceeding to do nothing all that useful with it when he could have just shot the puck. There was Zidlicky getting beaten at the point that led to a goal against. There was Zidlicky being questionable in his own end of the rink, highlighted by Milan Michalek getting multiple rebound chances late in the game after an Erik Karlsson shot. There was Zidlicky contributing to the scoresheet. He recovered a puck he lost and tossed a short pass to Henrique, who ripped the puck into the net. Had he made a heinous giveaway and taken a stupid minor penalty, then this would have been a peak Zidlicky kind of night for the now-38 year old. Now, I await hearing how other NHL teams who want to improve their defense would want this kind of player. Happy Birthday, Merrill: Today was also Jon Merrill's birthday. He was mostly on the same pairing with Zidlicky while also receiving a significant amount of power play ice time. The less said about the power play for either team, the better. Merrill was a bit more active in his own end of the rink than Zidlicky. He wasn't so heinous that he could be noticed like, say, Mark Fraser . He wasn't losing pucks like Peter Harrold . That said, he didn't make all that much of a mark on the game. While he's a defenseman, the point is to make stops and get the offense going forward. He did the former decently enough, but the latter part left a lot to be desired. Then again, getting the offense going was rather poor across the board from all the skaters. After all, the team took one shot (and hit one post) across three power plays, they put up nineteen all game, and they only attempted twenty eight shots on net. In any case, Merrill looked OK to me and the numbers suggest the same. It probably helped that he didn't get healthy doses of one particular unit like Larsson-Greene did and that he wasn't with Harrold or Fraser. As an aside, co-coaches, please spare me from a Harrold-Fraser pairing again. Thank you. A Short Set of Feelings on the Power Play: Seriously, stop setting plays for Jordin Tootoo in the middle and stop using him on the power play. Also, consider actually making direct passes to each other instead of dumps and sneaky little passes just over the blueline. And stop putting that back one in peril for shorthanded situations, which happened more than once tonight. The first one wasn't so bad, but the possession was horrid on the other two. Let's focus on getting better by putting proper players on each unit, and, no, Tootoo isn't proper. Hadlat: Martin Havlat had himself a rough night in my opinion. He only had the one shot on net, which isn't so bad by itself but he wasn't all that helpful in getting others shots, either. His passing was rather off the mark. Whether it was a pass to an otherwise open Travis Zajac to his skates on a power play or missing Patrik Elias by feet in the dying minutes of the game, where the Devils forced Lehner back into his net and could've had a great scoring opportunity, Havlat just appeared to be out of sync. This included his zone entries, which led to a few offside calls. He also committed one of the more bizarre plays I've seen in some time. In the second period, he skated the puck out his zone, skated along the blueline, and ultimately ran out of space towards the sideboards and lost the puck to a Senator who was now on-side thanks to Havlat. I know Michael Ryder has been scratched the last few games. Maybe #9 should come out for #17. Speaking of Switches: While each scored on their respective lines, I think it's worth considering swapping Adam Henrique with Dainius Zubrus and make the Cammalleri line higher over the Scott Gomez line. The Gomez line didn't do much outside of the goal. Neither did the Cammalleri line. Henrique and Cammalleri, tonight's goal scorers, each only had two and one shots, respectively. The others on that line combined for three shots, one for every non-Gomez linemate. It should've been four but Scott Gomez demonstrated that you can take a puck to the net and manage to not shoot it. In any case, these lines aren't generating many shots, they're not generating many offensive plays, so in spite of the notion of "wins mean don't change anything," I think the co-coaches should try a change with those lines. It's not really working, goals notwithstanding. The Saddest Breakaway Goal: Oh, Curtis Lazar's goal was just sad. The crowd didn't even boo after the goal. They were just saddened by it, partially due in part of the run of play that preceded it by the Devils. I identified the wrong players live, but upon watching the video, I now know what went on. Zidlicky gets beaten at the point by Mike Hoffman , whose pass springs Lazar in the middle of the ice. Cammalleri makes a token swing towards the puck but missed him by a mile. This may have been for communication and, if so, Andy Greene received it way too late for it to matter. Lazar saw the stick swing, powered forward afterwards, and then lost control of the puck while stickhandling it. As he came closer to Schneider, he attempted to backhand the puck back to himself for a forehanded shot. He ended up backhanding it forward. While that was happening, Schneider went in on Lazar tight. So the backhander that Lazar didn't quite pull off went past Schneider and into the net. Just an ugly play all around by New Jersey. It was Lazar's second of the season, so I'm sure he'll remember it more fondly despite not actually putting a direct shot on Schneider on the play. It was sad live and upon replay. I Apologize: I have lamented the fan who yells "SHOOOOOOOT" everytime a Devil has the puck and they are anywhere near the offensive zone. Often, this is yelled when a Devil is in a terrible position to shoot. Like when they're on the sideboards. Or they're not facing the net. Or they do not have the puck. When a shot does come and usually fails (misses, blocks, etc.), I derisively state "Well, you got your shot. Happy now?" Tonight, I am very sorry and I now know what they meant. As time went on, I would've preferred the Devils to just rip it more. No more of this shot-pass from a free shot in the high slot by Steve Bernier. None of this carry-it-in-and-do-anything-but-fire-away stuff we see from Zidlicky. An end to the gain-the-zone-have-a-lane-but-pass-it-to-not-appear-selfish junk. Shoot! Devils, you went three straight games not even putting up twenty shots on net - even when your opponents do and they weren't so great either (Pittsburgh excepted). So SHOOOOOOOT. Please . No, There Is No Playoff Push: If you read the weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot, then you already know this. If not, let's be real. Yes, the Devils are 4-0-1 in their last five games. They are currently twelve points behind the last wild card spot in the East: Boston with 61 points and one fewer game played than the Devils. If the Devils could keep up this pace, then perhaps one is possible. But that would require the Devils to not lose in regulation and for all the other teams around them to be bad too. That's not happening. So just enjoy the wins, even though the performances certainly have not been enjoyable. No, There Is No Winning Out of a Draft Pick: For those of you who think an 18-year old prospect is going to solve a lot of this team's ills, then I implore you to watch these last few games. Even a great young player isn't going to be enough to fix all of this. But more importantly than that, do not fear of the Devils moving out of the bottom ten anytime soon. The Devils have been out-shot regularly this season and significantly as of late. They have repeatedly shown that they struggle to string passes together and make good decisions on the puck in all three zones. When Schneider/Kinkaid stop being excellent, these close wins will turn into close losses. And when the Devils go back to playing teams with a playoff shot or teams who are actually good at puck possession (even for the night), the L column will increase. A lot has to go right for the Devils to end up eleventh from the bottom. So don't fret about the winning. The way they've done it so far isn't sustainable. Lastly: I sat in my usual seat through the second intermission, so I got to see Deb Kaufman-Placey interview Adam Henrique from the MSG+ broadcast. She honestly stated that this was a "big game" and these two teams were playing close to the vest like it was a playoff game. I know she has to spin it to not be depressing about it, especially in front of a player who is still playing in the game. But please don't insult my intelligence. The game was closer to a preseason performance than anything that is seen in the playoffs; and neither team has anything of note to play for given their current position. Again, there's no playoff push nor push to get out from the bottom ten. Your Take: The Devils did win again but in a fashion that doesn't go with winning all that often. Did anyone on either team really impress you tonight? How did you react when Cammalleri scored? How about when Ryan didn't score at the end of the game? Can the Devils' play be fixed in time to avoid a repeat performance against Toronto on Friday? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about tonight's game in the comments. Thanks to everyone who commented in the Gamethread and followed along on Twitter with @InLouWeTrust . Thank you for reading. | 1 | 6,824 | sports |
By Jason Rowan Jayson Werth ran afoul of the boys in blue when he was caught going 105 mph in a 55-mph zone in July. The Washington Nationals outfielder pleaded guilty to a reckless driving charge last week and was ordered to serve five days in jail, which apparently is a common punishment for such a crime. Werth has been granted permission to serve his mini-sentence on the weekends so his time in the hoosegow doesn't interfere with his rehabilitation following shoulder surgery, but that apparently does not mean he didn't mingle with fellow inmates during his first stint in lockup. A post to reddit over the weekend comes from a man who claims to have received an autograph from Werth before his release. "Told Jayson Werth I was at game 4 back in 2012. My last day in the system was neat," the post to reddit reads from the inmate also purportedly doing time at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. The game in question was Game 2 of the 2012 National League Division Series between Werth's Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals. While the Cards went on to win the series three games to two, the Nats did stave off elimination in that game with a 2-1 victory capped by a walkoff home run from Werth in the bottom of the ninth that became the stuff of relative legend . Yahoo! Sports' Big League Stew notes that the signature appears to resemble other Werth autographs on the market, so it is possible that this is really an autograph Werth gave to a fellow inmate while locked up in the pokey. At least we hope it's the real deal, as landing an autograph from a man currently starring in the major leagues is a pretty awesome piece of memorabilia. | 1 | 6,825 | sports |
The Western Conference logjam would have been bad enough if the defending NBA champs had looked like themselves from the start. But no, Gregg Popovich and his San Antonio Spurs just had to start slow, just had to have all those injuries that made them look so mediocre and put them in the back of the unreal playoff race in which the fourth-place Portland Trail Blazers and seventh-place Spurs entered Tuesday separated by only two games. And now, with the Spurs having won 11 of their past 15 games and Popovich declaring that they're only getting started, there's this frightening possibility for the rest of the West: This Tim Duncan-led version of the Spurs that has been dominating for most of 18 seasons now may not be nearing its end after all. Despite the prevailing thought around the league that this season would likely be 38-year-old Duncan's last, Popovich doesn't see it that way because stop us if you've heard this before of how well his beloved big man is playing. The two men won't truly know until they discuss the matter this summer, like they did last offseason, but Popovich isn't planning the retirement party just yet. "No matter how (the season) ends, I think Timmy is going to look at (retirement) again," Popovich told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. "And if you ask me, my guess is that he'll go for another one because he has been so consistent this season. "It's just consistent stuff: another double-double, over and over and over again. Because of that, I think in his mind that if it continues through the rest of the year, I think he'll say, 'I'm going to go another year and see what happens.' Because what he has told me is that the minute he feels like he's a hindrance to his team or he's not on the positive end or helping him, he's going to walk right off the court. It might be during the third quarter of a game. "He's not going to hang on to finish a contract or make the money or have the notoriety that you know he doesn't give a (expletive) about. So the way he's playing now, he's going to look in the mirror and say, 'Hey, I'm doing all right.' " If anything, Popovich said, he could wind up walking away before Duncan. Popovich signed a five-year contract extension last summer, but admitted that the length was a product of owner Peter Holt's desires more than it was his own. "It's a five-year contract, but the chances of staying for five years I don't think are very good," Popovich said. No matter when Popovich walks away, his legacy is secure. Not only has he won five championships during nearly two decades of success while championing a selfless style of basketball that is widely revered, but he also is three victories away from becoming the ninth member of the NBA's 1,000-win club. (He'll have the second-best winning percentage of that group once he's there, bested only by Phil Jackson.) The truth for Duncan and Popovich both, it seems, is that the annual soul-search during the summer will determine their respective basketball fates like it always has. In the here and now, Popovich knows this much: Duncan still playing like Duncan is an absolute game-changer. Despite the debate about whether Duncan deserved to be selected by the coaches as a Western Conference All-Star reserve, it's indisputable that he has had yet another All-Star caliber season. Not only has the 15-time All-Star averaged 14.5 points, but he also has done so with invaluable efficiency (as the fifth-best scorer among players taking fewer than 12 shots a game). Not only is he averaging more rebounds per game (10.0) than he has since the 2009-10 season, but he also has anchored a defense that despite significant injuries to point guard Tony Parker, small forward Kawhi Leonard and others is the fifth-best in the league (99.9 points allowed per 100 possessions). "This year has been a tough one," said Popovich, whose team lost eight of 11 games at one point and was 19-14 entering New Year's Eve. "We had an amazing schedule, a very tough November and December and we were very injured. So it knocked the hell out of us, to where we're now just starting. "I told them the other day, I said, 'We're starting the season. We finished training camp and we're in our seventh or eighth game right now trying to get ready. The season is over half done, and we're just rounding into some kind of shape.' So it's been difficult." Yet here they are, posing a threat yet again at a time when no one in the West would argue if they finally rode off into that San Antonio sunset. "Who knows what's going to happen?" Popovich said. "There's probably six or seven teams (in the West) that could win the championship, because no one's that great. The only one that really looks different is Golden State, and I think Memphis is playing their (butt) off too. Those two teams. But other than that, anybody can get (the championship). As difficult as the circumstances have made this season for us, without (Duncan) we would be 10th or 11th in the West. There's no doubt in my mind. "Manu (Ginobili) is not having a great year. Tony has had a really spotty year he has been injured a lot. Kawhi Leonard has been out most of the time, with his eye in the beginning and then with his hand. He is just basically starting his season. (Reserve point guard) Patty Mills came back in January after the shoulder (injury), and he's not back in it. (Center) Tiago Splitter is not having a great year so far. (Reserve guard Marco) Belinelli has been out, so it leaves one guy: Duncan. He is the guy who has carried us." This season, and perhaps beyond. | 1 | 6,826 | sports |
When my oldest son Alvaro, now 17, was just 6, he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Inattentive Type from a psychiatrist who spent approximately 30 minutes with me, while my son played on the floor of his office. That quick-to-assume diagnosis felt all kinds of wrong, and when the doctor offered to prescribe Ritalin, I stood up, told the doctor "no thank you," took my son, and walked out the door. TakePart recently published an article debating the value of prescription drug-treatment for ADHD over good old-fashioned play time. After reading through the research and body of evidence against the over-diagnosing and heavy-handed prescribing of psychostimulant medications, it felt like validation after years of standing my ground against the pressure to medicate my child. I want to make it clear that I am not against the use of medication, nor do I regularly disregard the advice of my children's doctors I vaccinated my sons according to schedule, and have a ready supply of Nyquil and Ibuprofen in my medicine cabinet. I believe medication can be an incredible tool to manage symptoms and help people function on a day-to-day basis. Parenting a child with ADHD, or any other type of mental-health diagnosis, can be challenging. Especially when you add in the factor that mental health issues are still somewhat taboo in Latin American cultures, and Latino youth are diagnosed with ADHD at about half the rate that white children are diagnosed, according to data from the CDC. I know that there are plenty of well-documented cases of children flourishing on the right dose of medication to combat the hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and inattentiveness so common with those diagnosed with ADHD. I know that our results are also unique to us, and that some children with ADHD absolutely need medication to manage their symptoms. Parenting a child with ADHD, or any other type of mental-health diagnosis, can be challenging. Especially when you add in the factor that mental health issues are still somewhat taboo in Latin American cultures, and Latino youth are diagnosed with ADHD at about half the rate that white children are diagnosed, according to data from the CDC . However, I did not believe that medication was the right choice for my son. Here's why. 1. I trusted my gut. I may have been a young mother at the time, but I knew my son, and knew that someone could not have a genuine understanding of his inner-workings with a half-hour visit that involved no direct communication with him. In many ways, I'm grateful that doctor did such a poor evaluation, because it encouraged me to stand my ground and do more research. As a parent, I've learned we are the best advocate for our children; we spend our days with them, raise them, and understand things about them of which doctors may not be aware. 2. Many drugs are not clinically tested on children , even though they are prescribed to them. This bothered me. My son is not a lab rat, and I didn't feel safe giving him medication that could potentially harm his developing brain because it was clinically tested on only adults. Doctors are quick to point out that ADHD medications have been successfully prescribed since the 1950s , and while I agree they can be effective for some, I also know that there is limited data to the long-term effects of these medications over a patient's lifetime. 3. I had a strong support network. I was lucky to have a friend pursuing a degree in child psychology during the time my son was diagnosed with ADHD. Her insight and medical knowledge led me to further research treatment options and mental health professionals that could offer help for my son without pressuring me to medicate him. My husband, extended family, friends, and even my son's teachers were all supportive of him, his needs, and the journey we were on to get him the very best help possible. Without that support, I don't know that I would have made the same decisions. 4. I wanted to utilize every possible alternative treatment first. My family is incredibly lucky to have health insurance that covers behavioral health treatments, and I know that many do not have this option. We were able to get my son into occupational therapy, which helped him with impulse control, as well as regular sessions with a child psychologist who utilized play therapy to further develop his prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain believed to be undersized in those with ADHD. We also increased my son's physical activity. We limited video games and increased outside playtime. Finally, his school helped by encouraging movement and frequent breaks to keep him engaged and learning. 5. There were results without medication. The proof was that my son improved. Within six months, there was progress with his behavior and attention all achieved through steps we took that didn't involve jumping straight to medication. Over the course of two years, he completely transformed. Gone were the classroom outbursts, inattentiveness and forgetfulness, and in their place was a child who grasped ideas quickly, turned in completed homework and respected his classmates and teachers. I know that our results are unique to us, and that some children with ADHD absolutely need medication to manage their symptoms. Parenting a child with ADHD, or any other type of mental-health diagnosis, can be challenging. I encourage families to examine all of their options and do what they believe is right for the health and wellbeing of their child. | 4 | 6,827 | lifestyle |
St. John's head coach Steve Lavin talks about his battle with cancer and how it changed him on and off the basketball court in this segment from The Seth Davis Show. | 1 | 6,828 | sports |
cellphone = life. | 8 | 6,829 | video |
No one can know the amount of grief that Bobbi Kristina Brown felt after losing her mom Whitney Houston. | 8 | 6,830 | video |
UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- A pair of unlikely contributors helped the Florida Panthers keep their long-shot playoff hopes alive Tuesday night. Goalie Al Montoya made 32 saves in his first start in almost a month and right winger Jimmy Hayes -- two games removed from being a healthy scratch -- scored two goals, including the go-ahead tally early in the third period, as the Panthers beat the New York Islanders, 4-2, at Nassau Coliseum. "If you're going to (have) a chance to get some points, you're going to need all your players," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. The Panthers (22-17-10) salvaged two points on a three-game east coast swing and won for just the third time in their last 10 games (3-6-1) to pull within seven points of the idle Boston Bruins for the final wild card in the Eastern Conference. "We were on a little bit of a drought there," Hayes said. "We needed to come in here and get that big 'W.' Just got to keep rattling off these wins and stay in this playoff picture." The Panthers, who lost to the New Jersey Devils 3-1 on Saturday and gave up three third-period goals in a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers, fell into a hole immediately Tuesday, when Islanders center Anders Lee scored on New York's first shot of the game just 1:44 into the first. Hayes helped wrest momentum back for the Panthers 2:59 later, when he scored his first goal after getting a stick on a shot by center Nick Bjugstad. The Panthers and Islanders swapped goals in the second, when Florida defenseman Erik Gudbranson and Lee scored 2:30 apart. Hayes and Bjugstad teamed up again 2:10 into the third, when Bjugstad's shot glanced off Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak and to Hayes, who poked it into the net. Hayes' fourth career two-goal game -- and his second of the season -- put a satisfying end to a road trip that began with him watching from the press box in New Jersey as a healthy scratch. "You never want to be scratched," Hayes said. "The best way to stay in the lineup is to be successful. Just got to continue to play hard and be successful." Montoya, making his first start since Jan. 9, preserved the one-goal lead with a handful of impressive saves in the third. He stopped right winger Michael Grabner on a breakaway with 12:11 left, turned back a slap shot by left winger Matt Martin with 7:17 to play and stopped center John Tavares at close range during a power play with 1:35 remaining. "I wanted to give the guys a chance," Montoya said. "They come out and score in the first however many minutes, but I felt good. I wasn't going to let that get me down." Center Brandon Pirri iced the game with an empty-net goal with 22.1 seconds left. "It was a team effort tonight and a team win tonight," Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant said. "I thought everybody came to play." Halak had 26 saves for the Islanders (33-16-1), who lost their third straight, tying their longest losing streak of the season. New York has scored just five goals during its current skid, which has reduced the Islanders' Metropolitan Division lead to one point over the idle Pittsburgh Penguins and left them just four points ahead of the eighth-seeded Bruins. "I don't look at the standings or where we are," Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said. "I thought we played a decent game. You've got to find a way to score. Anders Lee was right there for a couple goals, but other guys have got to try to find a way." NOTES: The Panthers were represented by plenty of executives, staffers and players with Islanders connections for Florida's final scheduled game at Nassau Coliseum. Bill Torrey, a special advisor to Panthers general manager Dale Tallon, built the Islanders' Stanley Cup dynasty as New York's original general manager. Asked during the game if it was bittersweet visiting the Coliseum during its final season, Torrey grinned and said "It'll only be bitter if we lose tonight." ... Panthers broadcaster Denis Potvin was a member of all four Cup winners and is one of six Islanders players with his jersey hanging from the rafters at the Coliseum. Gs Al Montoya and Roberto Luongo each played for the Islanders. ... The Panthers finished 19-22-2-1 (wins-losses-ties-overtime losses) at the Coliseum. ... The Islanders scratched D Matt Donovan and D Brian Strait. C Casey Cizikas, who missed practice Monday, was active, which allowed the Islanders to return RW Colin McDonald to Bridgeport of the AHL. McDonald was recalled Monday on an emergency basis. ... ESPNNewYork.com reported Tuesday that Islanders RW Kyle Okposo, who was diagnosed with an upper-body injury during the All-Star Break, has a detached retina. ----------------------------------------------- | 1 | 6,831 | sports |
Three Louisville starters scored in double figures during their visit to Coral Gables, sending Miami to its third-straight loss by a score of 63-55. Terry Rozier had a game-high 22 points while Chris Jones scored 16 points, had 8 rebounds and 6 steals to fill up the box score. | 1 | 6,832 | sports |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Nashville Predators extended a streak to be proud of. The Toronto Maple Leafs want nothing to do with their own run. Mike Fisher had a goal and two assists, and the Predators handed the Maple Leafs a franchise record-tying 10th straight loss, 4-3 Tuesday night. Seth Jones, Shea Weber, and Colin Wilson also scored for Nashville, winners of two straight. The Predators have won a franchise-record nine consecutive home games. ''I think that's something we take pride in,'' Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. ''These are our fans and they are terrific.'' Daniel Winnik, Nazem Kadri, and Mike Santorelli scored for Toronto, which is 0-9-1 over its last 10. Wilson got the go-ahead goal at 11:08 of the third. James Neal's shot from the left side was stopped by Toronto goaltender Jonathan Bernier, but Fisher was in front to pry the rebound loose. Wilson pounced on the loose puck to put it away for his 16th of the season. ''I was just trying to dig at it,'' Fisher said. ''I couldn't really see where exactly it was, just trying to push it loose. Willy was in a great spot.'' Nashville had a late power play, but the Maple Leafs had the two best scoring chances. Winnik hit the post at 16:52 and, just seconds later, Nashville goaltender Carter Hutton was forced to make a diving swipe with his goal stick to swat away another chance off of a Tyler Bozak shot that deflected off of Winnik in front. ''Just a pop out one-timer there,'' Hutton said. ''It's one of those ones it hits his body and you are kind of like, `Oh no.' I was able to just kind of spin and had my eye on it and I was able to catch it with my stick.'' Jones scored the game's first goal at 11:52 of the opening period. With the Maple Leafs on a power play, Jones forced a turnover by Kadri in the neutral zone. Jones collected the puck and went the other way on a breakaway, where he beat Bernier high to the glove side. Weber gave Nashville a 2-0 lead at 15:31 of the first on a power-play goal, a slap shot from the right circle. At last month's All-Star Skills Competition, Weber won the Hardest Shot Competition with a shot that recorded 108.5 MPH. Winnik got the goal-starved Maple Leafs on the scoreboard at 7:49 with a one-timer from the high slot off of a pass from Santorelli, a former Predator. Kadri and Santorelli scored goals 37 apart in the third period to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 lead at 2:56. Bernier left the game with 1:08 remaining in the second after denying Matt Cullen on a partial breakaway, but he cut his leg when making the save. Bernier was replaced by James Reimer, who finished the second and started the third. Bernier returned at 4:16 of the third after taking 12 stitches to his left leg. ''You're dressing here and you go out there and it's 3-2 now,'' Bernier said. ''I don't know if Reimer is playing well, I couldn't see the game, but at the same time I wanted to go out there and do my job and show the guys I care and wanted to go back out there.'' His coach gave him that shot. ''I felt with that type of care and character of him wanting to get back in the game was important and him being one of our leaders I thought it was important to let him back in today's game,'' Toronto interim head coach Peter Horachek said. Tuesday night marked Horachek's return to Nashville. Horachek spent nine seasons as an assistant coach with the Predators. Fisher tied it at 6:55 of the third from in front, taking a nice pass from Wilson, who was on the left wall. NOTES: Tuesday was the first of 10 February home games for Nashville. ... The Predators are 11-5-1 against the Eastern Conference this season. ... Santorelli snapped an 11-game goalless streak. ... Reimer stopped all four shots he faced in 5:24 of action. | 1 | 6,833 | sports |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday night that the league will look at expanding All-Star rosters and the way players are selected. Speaking before the Kings-Warriors game in Sacramento, Silver said the NBA will discuss increasing the number of spots for the All-Star game with the players' union in the future. He said he's mostly pleased with the voting process but could see players getting involved, too. Currently, 12 players are selected for the Eastern and Western Conference teams. Fans vote for the starters and coaches choose the reserves. Silver selects any replacements, as he did last week when he chose Kings center DeMarcus Cousins to take injured Lakers star Kobe Bryant's spot in the West. Silver said it was a difficult decision to select Cousins over Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard. He said he felt for Lillard, and the two exchanged text messages about the decision. "From his standpoint, he did everything that was necessary," Silver said. "So maybe we have to find a way to expand the slots we have for the All-Star team." Silver did not elaborate on the number of players that could be added in the future. Increasing rosters would seem to sit well with players, many of whom receive contract bonuses for making the All-Star team. From the league's standpoint, it could make sure more teams are represented, giving more fans a reason to watch. The concern, of course, would be diluting talent. Silver said the NBA also might talk to the union about changing the voting process -- or at least adding to it. He noted how NFL players are involved in picking Pro Bowl teams as an example of how players could get involved in the process. "But at the end of the day, however you do the selection process, as I go through the list on the East and the West, I think with the exception of Damian Lillard -- and it was a very close call for that slot -- I think the fans together with the coaches do a pretty good job," Silver said. Earlier in the day, the commissioner toured the construction site of Sacramento's future downtown arena. The $477 million building is expected to open for the 2016-17 season. Silver said he's amazed at the progress of the arena and praised Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson for spearheading the effort. He stopped short of promising a future All-Star game to Sacramento, saying the city needs more hotel rooms -- among other things -- to accommodate the event. | 1 | 6,834 | sports |
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- Terry Rozier scored 22 points and No. 9-ranked Louisville overcame second-half shooting woes to beat the slumping Miami Hurricanes 63-55 Tuesday. The Cardinals built an early 13-point lead and shot 68 percent in the first half. They made only 31 percent in the second half, which allowed Miami to cut the margin to three points before Louisville dug in. Montrezl Harrell had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals (19-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who earned their fourth consecutive victory. The Hurricanes (14-8, 4-5) lost their third game in a row and lost for the fifth time at home this season. Louisville's Chris Jones had 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 40 minutes. Harrell played 39 minutes and Rozier 38 for the Cardinals, who got points from only four players. Miami sophomore Davon Reed sank five 3-pointers and tied his career high with 19 points. Tonye Jekiri added 10 points and 10 rebounds, but the Hurricanes shot only 34 percent. Sheldon McClellan and Angel Rodriguez, the Hurricanes' leading scorers this season, both had tough nights. McClellan scored six points and Rodriguez continued a recent shooting slump, going 2 for 9. The attendance-challenged Hurricanes drew a noisy crowd of 6,563, and they were on their feet as the home team made its comeback. The Hurricanes trailed 41-28 with 15:30 left, and Reed sank a trio of 3-pointers as they scored nine consecutive points to climb back into the game. Two free throws by Rodriguez cut Louisville's lead to 53-50 with 2:06 left, but Louisville's Wayne Blackshear drove for a basket, and the Cardinals sank eight of 10 free throws in the final 1:12 to seal the win. Louisville blocked four shots in the first five minutes, which seemed to fluster the Hurricanes as they fell behind 19-6. They cut the margin to six points, but Louisville answered with seven in a row and led 35-26 at halftime. TIP-INS Louisville: Chinanu Onuaku didn't take a shot but had three blocks. Miami: The Hurricanes' bench outscored Louisville's reserves 30-0. UP NEXT Louisville plays at No. 3 Virginia on Saturday. Miami plays host to Clemson on Sunday. | 1 | 6,835 | sports |
CNN's Alina Machado reports on any clues left by Bobbi Kristina's social media history. The daughter of Whitney Houston was found in a bathtub full of water. | 8 | 6,836 | video |
VALHALLA, N.Y. A packed commuter train slammed into a sport utility vehicle on the tracks at a crossing on Tuesday night, killing seven people, injuring several others and sending hundreds of passengers scrambling to get to safety as the front of the train and the SUV burst into flames. The impact was so forceful the electrified third rail came up and pierced the train, authorities said. Among those killed was the SUV's driver, who authorities said had gotten out of her vehicle momentarily after the crossing's safety gates came down around her. She then got back in and was trying to drive forward when she was hit, they said. "You have seven people who started out today to go about their business and aren't going to be making it home tonight," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at the crash site in Valhalla, 20 miles north of New York City. The northbound Metro-North Railroad train left Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan around 5:45 p.m. and struck the Jeep Cherokee about 45 minutes later. Cuomo said six people aboard the train were killed as well, making this crash the railroad's deadliest. It was unclear how fast the train was going, but the maximum would be 60 mph, a railroad official said. The train shoved the SUV about 10 train car lengths. Smoke poured out of the scorched front rail car, its windows blackened. "This is a truly ugly and brutal site," Cuomo said. Witnesses said they saw the flames shooting from where the crash occurred, in a wooded area near a cemetery. Ryan Cottrell, assistant director at a nearby rock climbing gym, said he had been looking out a window because of an earlier, unrelated car accident and saw the train hit the car, pushing it along. "The flames erupted pretty quickly," he said. Passengers described a bump and said they smelled gasoline from the vehicle. Around 650 passengers likely were aboard the train, including Justin Kaback, commuting home to Danbury, Connecticut. "I was trapped. You know there was people in front of me and behind me, and I was trapped in the middle of a car and it was getting very hot," he told ABC News. "All the air was turned off so there was no circulation so it was definitely scary especially when people are walking by on the outside and they said, 'The train's on fire. There's a fire.'" Passenger Stacey Eisner, who was at the rear of the train, told NBC News that she felt the train "jerk" and then a conductor walked through the train explaining what had happened. She said her train car was evacuated about 10 minutes later using ladders to get people out. The other rail passengers were moved to the rear of the train so they could get off. Buses picked them up and took them to other stations. All railroad grade crossings have gate arms that are designed to lift automatically if they strike something like a car on the way down, railroad safety consultant Grady Cothen said. The arms are made of wood and are designed to be easily broken if a car trapped between them moves forward or backward, he said. Officials didn't comment on whether the gates were working properly. The National Transportation Safety Board said a team was being sent to investigate. Metro-North is the nation's second-busiest railroad, after the Long Island Rail Road. It was formed in 1983 and serves about 280,000 riders a day in New York and Connecticut. Service on its Harlem Line was suspended between Pleasantville and North White Plains after the crash. Metro-North has been criticized severely for accidents over the last couple of years. Late last year, the NTSB issued rulings on five accidents that occurred in New York and Connecticut in 2013 and 2014, repeatedly finding fault with the railroad while also noting that conditions have improved. Among the accidents was a Dec. 1, 2013, derailment that killed four people, the railroad's first passenger fatalities, in the Bronx. The NTSB said the engineer had fallen asleep at the controls because he had a severe, undiagnosed case of sleep apnea. Last March, the Federal Railroad Administration issued a stinging report on Metro-North, saying it let safety concerns slip while pushing to keep trains on time. Railroad executives pledged to make safety their top priority. ___ Associated Press writer Jim Fitzgerald contributed to this report. | 5 | 6,837 | news |
A TransAsia Airways (6702.TW) plane with 58 passengers and crew on board careened into a river shortly after taking off from a downtown Taipei airport on Wednesday, killing 23 people and leaving 20 missing, officials said. Fifteen people survived the crash after the plane lurched between buildings, clipped a taxi and an overpass with its port-side wing and crashed upside down in the shallow water. Dramatic pictures taken by a motorist and posted on Twitter showed the plane careening over the motorway soon after the turboprop ATR 72-600 aircraft took off in apparently clear weather on a domestic flight for the island of Kinmen. "I've never seen anything like this," a volunteer rescuer surnamed Chen said of the most recent in a series of disasters to hit Asian carriers in the past 12 months. Television footage showed survivors wearing life jackets wading and swimming clear of wreckage. Others, including a young child, were taken to shore in inflatable boats. Emergency rescue officials crowded around the partially submerged fuselage of flight GE235, lying on its side in the river, trying to help those on board. The plane missed apartment buildings by meters, though it was not clear if that was luck or whether the pilot was aiming for the river. Footage showed a van skidding to a halt on the damaged overpass after barely missing the plane's wing, with small pieces of the aircraft scattered along the road. The chief executive of TransAsia, Peter Chen, bowed deeply at a televised news conference as he apologized to passengers and crew. TransAsia's shares closed down 6.9 percent in heavy trade, its biggest percentage decline since late 2011. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said his government had offered Taiwan any help necessary following the crash. "MAYDAY MAYDAY" The last communication from one of the aircraft's pilots was "Mayday Mayday engine flameout," according to an air traffic control recording on liveatc.net. A flameout occurs when the fuel supply to the engine is interrupted or when there is faulty combustion, resulting in an engine failure. Twin-engined aircraft, however, are usually able to keep flying even when one engine has failed. The plane was powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW127M engines. Pratt & Whitney is part of United Technologies (UTX.N). The head of Taiwan's civil aviation authority, Lin Tyh-ming, said the aircraft last underwent maintenance on Jan. 26. The pilot had 4,916 flying hours under his belt and the co-pilot had 6,922 hours, he said. Taipei's downtown Songshan airport, the smaller of the city's two airports, provides mostly domestic flights but also connections to Japan, China and South Korea. A statement from China's Taiwan Affairs Office said 31 of those on board were tourists from the southeastern city of Xiamen, which lies close to Taiwan's Kinmen island. The crash is the latest in a string of mishaps to hit Asian carriers in the past 12 months. An AirAsia (AIRA.KL) jet bound for Singapore crashed soon after taking off from the Indonesian city of Surabaya on Dec. 28, killing all 162 people on board. The disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines MASM.KL jet last March, and the downing of a sister plane over Ukraine four months later with a combined loss of 537 lives, have dominated a United Nations safety conference this week. TransAsia is Taiwan's third-largest carrier. One of its ATR 72-500 planes crashed while trying to land at Penghu Island last July, killing 48 of the 58 passengers and crew on board. Taiwan has had a poor aviation safety record in recent years, including the disintegration of a China Airlines (2610.TW) 747 on a flight from Taipei to Hong Kong in 2002, killing 225. T he almost brand-new plane involved in Wednesday's mishap was among the first of the ATR 72-600s, the latest variant of the turboprop aircraft, that TransAsia received in 2014 as part of an order of eight aircraft two years earlier. The 72-seat aircraft are mainly used to connect the capital, Taipei, with smaller cities and islands. ATR is a joint venture between Airbus (AIR.PA) and Alenia Aermacchi, a subsidiary of Italy's Finmeccanica (SIFI.MI). France, where the aircraft was designed and built, said it was sending investigators to help with Taiwan's accident probe. (Additional reporting by Siva Govindasamy in SINGAPORE, Ben Blanchard in HONG KONG and Tim Hepher in PARIS; Editing by Paul Tait and Nick Macfie) | 5 | 6,838 | news |
Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday it is adding 1,550 workers at four plants to build the new aluminum body F-150 pickup truck. The company also said that for the first time it is promoting union-represented workers from the lower entry-level wage to the pay veteran plant workers make. Between 300 and 500 workers will have been promoted by the end of the first quarter, Ford said. In 2007, the United Auto Workers union and the three major U.S. automakers including Ford agreed that new hires would be paid at a rate less than veteran UAW workers. This was done to allow the U.S. automakers to be more competitive with foreign automakers with U.S. assembly plants. The union and Ford agreed that 20 percent of its plant workers could be entry-level, also called second-tier, employees, with exemptions for a parts plant and an axle plant near Detroit, and for new work "in-sourced" to Ford because of the lower labor costs. By January, Ford had exceeded the 20-percent level. Of the 1,550 jobs, 900 are allocated for Ford's truck plant in Kansas City and the rest at three stamping, auto parts and axle plants near Detroit. Ford did not say how many of the jobs are being added because of the brisk initial sales of the new F-150, which went on sale several months ago. In January, the new aluminum-bodied F-150 accounted for 18 percent of overall F-150 retail sales. The F-150 is the primary truck in the F-Series pickup trucks that are the top-selling vehicles in North America and are also key profit makers for the company. The new workers will be paid the entry-level, also called second-tier, wage of $15.78 per hour, and under current contract terms, will receive 5 percent wage increases per year until they reach $19.28 per hour. The workers promoted to a higher employment status were hired in 2010 and have been receiving $19.28. They will make $28.50 with their new status. The current contract expires later this year. | 3 | 6,839 | finance |
The Honda Classic, which is Feb. 26-March 1 on the Champion Course at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, announced Tuesday that Phil Mickelson will play in the PGA Tour event for the second consecutive year. Mickelson, 44, who missed the cut last year, said he has been rigorously working out in the gym in an effort to improve his body and his golf game. The five-time major winner had no victories and only one top-10 finish in 2014, a second at the PGA Championship. "I put in four months now of being pretty diligent," Mickelson said in a statement. "I feel better than I have in a long time, and I've been able to practice hard and work on my game. I think long term having a little bit less pressure on my joints is going to be good for somebody who's got arthritis. "I also find that the more I work out, the better I feel and the less symptoms I feel. So I'm excited, and I have been slowly, over the last four or five years, cutting out things in my diet that cause inflammation in my body. I feel better and better, the best I have in a long time." The Honda Classic is the first of the four tournaments that make up the Florida Swing. For many players, it is the first step in their preparation for the Masters. Mickelson will have plenty of competition from 20-somethings at the Honda, including No. 1-ranked Rory McIlroy and defending champion Russell Henley, so he'll need to be in good physical condition. "My swing speed has been coming back," Mickelson said. "I have been able to, late in the round, finish the rounds off with energy and strength and stamina as opposed to getting tired. So it's been a good thing. I'm glad I put in the effort and I'm enjoying it right now. "I think that after '03 I had a similar situation where I had terrible year, came back in '04 determined to play well, and it was the same type of determination I felt in the offseason this year to get back to the level of play that I know I'm capable of. "When I play to the level I'm capable of playing, I'm very confident that will be enough. I had a terrible year last year and I still almost won the PGA. I'm playing a lot better now. I feel like my game is where I want it to be. I just have to now shoot the scores. I just need to be patient during each round and during each week, because I have a feeling that there will be some good things coming." Daily admission tickets, Bear Trap tickets and other hospitality tickets and packages are on sale at thehondaclassic.com or by calling 844-846-6328. [email protected] or Twitter @WatersOutdoors | 1 | 6,840 | sports |
Cortina d'Ampezzo in northern Italy is famous not only for skiing, but also for its bread. "Puccia" is a soft dry rye bread flavored with wild fennel places Fabio Pompanin showed Euromaxx how to cook venison in a puccia bread shell. | 8 | 6,841 | video |
Michael Gbinije hit the game-winning floater with a second left to give Syracuse a 72-70 comeback victory over Virginia Tech on Tuesday night. Three Orange players scored in double figures; Trevor Cooney and Gbinije each had 18 points while Rakeem Christmas scored 15 points. Syracuse improves to 6-3 in the ACC while Virginia Tech falls to 1-8. | 1 | 6,842 | sports |
ProfitableTrading.com Senior Strategist Jared Levy, Financial Women's Association Executive Director Jennifer Openshaw and FBN's Neil Cavuto on the potential impact of the Obama Administration's push to cap retirement nest eggs at $3M and tax every dollar after that. | 3 | 6,843 | finance |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Stephen Curry had 23 points and nine assists, and the Golden State Warriors rode a 23-0 spurt in the first half to beat the Sacramento Kings 121-96 on Tuesday night. BOX SCORE: WARRIORS 121, KINGS 96 The Warriors shut down Sacramento for more than seven minutes at the end of the first quarter and start of the second quarter to take an 18-point lead. They went ahead by 20 at the half and 25 in the third quarter before holding off a brief Kings comeback. Andre Iguodala added 17 points, and Marreese Speights finished with 17 points and eight rebounds to help the Warriors sweep the four-game series with Sacramento for the second straight season. DeMarcus Cousins had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Rudy Gay scored 20 for the Kings, who rallied within 11 late in the third quarter before the Warriors regrouped. Sacramento snapped its eight-game losing streak with a win at Indiana on Saturday and had hoped to carry the momentum home. Instead, about the only thing the Kings accomplished was quieting Klay Thompson - who had 14 points - after he scored an NBA-record 37 points in the third quarter and finished with 52 points in Golden State's last game against Sacramento on Jan. 23. The Warriors had 33 assists and 11 turnovers, while the Kings had 17 assists and 18 turnovers. Golden State outshot Sacramento 50.5 percent to 44.3 percent and outscored Sacramento's bench 61 to 12. It was quite a way for the NBA-leading Warriors (38-8) to begin a stretch of four games in five nights, including three on the road. In all, five of their last six games before the All-Star break are away from home. Golden State fell behind 22-14 with 4:43 remaining in the first quarter before smothering Sacramento (17-30) for a stunningly prolonged stretch. The Warriors held the Kings scoreless for more than seven minutes and without a field goal for more than 8 1/2 minutes. Sacramento missed 10 consecutive shots and committed five turnovers until Jason Thompson's short jumper with 9:38 left in the second quarter. The Warriors rolled into the half up 63-42 and kept their pace-and-space attack moving after the break. They stretched their lead to 25 points in the third quarter. Cousins helped Sacramento slice that lead to 11 late in the quarter before the Warriors got hot again. Curry hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarter and the Warriors built back a big lead. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver attended the game. He was in town to tour Sacramento's future downtown arena, which is scheduled to open for the 2016-17 season. TIP-INS Warriors: It was Golden State's NBA-best 19th game with at least 30 assists. ... Backup center Festus Ezeli after sitting out the last 18 games with a sprained left ankle. He had five rebounds and two points in eight minutes. Kings: Sacramento dropped to 6-17 since firing Michael Malone as coach. ... Reserve big man Reggie Evans was inactive. UP NEXT Warriors: Host Dallas on Wednesday. Kings: Host Dallas on Thursday. | 1 | 6,844 | sports |
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Frank Kaminsky scored 23 points and No. 5 Wisconsin's athletic frontcourt overwhelmed Indiana in a 92-78 win on Tuesday night. Kaminsky was 9 of 12 from the field for the Badgers (20-2, 8-1 Big Ten). Nigel Hayes added 16 points on 5-of-5 shooting. Guard Bronson Koenig provided balance from the outside with 15 points, going 3 of 4 from 3-point range. An eight-point halftime deficit turned into a 30-point deficit with 10 minutes left after Indiana (16-7, 6-4) opened the second half by shooting 2 of 11 from the field. The Hoosiers also played without leading scorer James Blackmon Jr., who had an apparent ankle injury. Nick Zeisloft led Indiana with 17 points. | 1 | 6,845 | sports |
Jimmy Hayes and Anders Lee both scored twice, but Hayes' Panthers were able to come away with the 3-2 win in New York. The Isles have now lost three straight games. | 1 | 6,846 | sports |
Although James Shields has yet to find a team to pitch for in 2015, another starting pitcher has been drawing a notable amount of interest. According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, there are five or six teams seeking Phillies lefty Cole Hamels , however none of the interested teams have put together a package Philadelphia is interested in. Hamels, 31, is coming off of a 9-9 2014 campaign during which he posted a 2.46 ERA and 198 strikeouts in 204.2 innings pitched. He has proven to be durable throughout the course of his career, and his $22.5 million a year salary is comparatively low considering the deal Max Scherzer received from the Nationals . Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has said he expects Hamels to open the season with the team, but the amount of interest in Hamels could lead to Philadelphia dealing him. The Phillies are rebuilding, and Nightengale notes the Red Sox , Padres , Dodgers , Cardinals , and Rangers have all been linked to Hamels at some point this offseason. As of the middle of January, the Padres, Red Sox, Rangers, and Cardinals were among the teams strongly considering trading for Hamels. However, the Rangers may no longer be interested after acquiring Yovani Gallardo . FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal noted last week the Padres could be a possible landing spot for Hamels , although the club has also been linked to James Shields. While both Hamels and Shields are San Diego natives, Rosenthal also suggested the Padres may not have the prospects necessary to acquire Hamels. Boston is still seeking an ace, and would add a front of the rotation arm by acquiring Hamels. However, according to Nightengale, the Phillies asked the Red Sox for top catching prospect Blake Swihart , but Boston does not want to deal the young catcher. Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors notes the Phillies are reportedly requesting two "premium talents" in a deal that involves Hamels. Philadelphia has been open to dealing its veterans this offseason, although the club is expecting more in return as a result of Hamels' contract status and productive history. | 1 | 6,847 | sports |
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- At the end of a draining, eight-game road trip, the Arizona Coyotes couldn't wait to go home. They also made sure they got to enjoy the flight. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Shane Doan scored power-play goals in the second period, and Mike Smith made 30 saves to lead the Coyotes to a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. ''It speaks volumes about our team,'' said Keith Yandle, who had two assists. ''Tonight we were up by two goals and guys were diving, blocking shots, blocking passes. It says a lot about our group.'' Lucas Lessio also had a goal, Tobias Rieder added an empty-netter and Antoine Vermette joined Yandle with two assists as the Coyotes completed a 3-3-2 road trip. ''We just wanted to play a solid game and finish off the road trip right,'' coach Dave Tippett said. ''We came out, got a good start. Everybody was involved. Our kids played well again, Smitty was strong in net for us and the power play got us a couple of big goals. And we ended up with a good road trip.'' The Coyotes, who came in with the NHL's second-leading power play on the road and seventh-best overall, went 2 for 3 with the man advantage. The Blue Jackets tied it at 1 in the opening minute of the second period with a man advantage before the Coyotes took control on special teams. Ekman-Larsson, who led all NHL defensemen with 14 goals coming in, scored his 15th on a wrister from the top of the right circle, with Doan supplying a screen in front of Anton Forsberg, starting his second NHL game in net for the Blue Jackets. Doan then made it 3-1. Arizona got the puck low and got several cracks at it from in close before Doan controlled the puck and whipped a backhander into the net. ''Our power play came through for us,'' Doan said. ''Our young guys also got a nice goal for us to get us going and to give us a lead.'' The Coyotes got on the board first, thanks to some nice play by their fourth line. Lessio dug the puck off the back wall and passed to B.J. Crombeen, with Forsberg blocking his shot from the left wing. The rebound popped free in the crease, and Brendan Shinnimin was initially credited with the goal. But Lessio got a stick on it from behind the cage to push it over the line. James Wisniewski scored for Columbus, which has lost three in a row. Forsberg made 25 saves. ''I don't think anybody here is thinking we're going to quit,'' Wisniewski said of the Blue Jackets, who started the night closer to having the worst record in the NHL than they did to the final playoff spot in the East. ''But we're definitely in a big hole. It's a slippery slope. You don't want to get that losing feeling back in this room.'' Coach Todd Richards was most displeased with a lethargic start against a road-weary team. ''It's disappointing, especially the way we had played the last three games,'' he said. ''I thought we had been playing hard, thought we'd played fast. We came out tonight and they were the faster team, the more disciplined team. We spent the first 10 minutes in our zone.'' NOTES: C Mark Letestu played in his 200th game with the Blue Jackets. ... Lessio has two goals in 11 NHL games since joining the Coyotes on Jan. 8. ... Columbus D Ryan Murray played his first home game since Oct. 31. He had missed 36 games with a knee injury. ... Arizona swept the season series, winning the only other meeting 6-3 on Jan. 3 at home as Martin Hanzal had a goal and three assists. ... Forsberg started to give Curtis McElhinney a break. The Blue Jackets also went with seven defensemen in their lineup. --- Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RustyMillerAP | 1 | 6,848 | sports |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Hollis Thompson scored a career-high 23 points to lead the improving Philadelphia 76ers to a 105-98 victory over the slumping Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. BOX SCORE: 76ERS 105, NUGGETS 98 Michael Carter-Williams had 15 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds and Robert Covington added 17 points for the 76ers, who won their third straight home game for the first time since March 2013. Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points to pace the Nuggets, who dropped their 10th in 11 games. Denver has lost its last three games by an average of 21.7 points. The 76ers were the laughingstock of the league while starting the season with 17 straight losses. But they have begun to click. With a roster of young, unproven players surrounding first-round picks Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel, Philadelphia is displaying a tough, gritty style that may put a dent in the club's plan to gain a top lottery pick in this June's draft. Philadelphia has won three of five, with the two losses in competitive games on the road against Eastern Conference contenders Atlanta and Cleveland. Thompson's perfect first half helped Philadelphia jump to a 61-40 lead at the break, and the 76ers kept pouring it on after intermission. Larry Drew II's 3-pointer with just under 4 minutes remaining in the third quarter gave Philadelphia its biggest lead at 28 points, 79-51. Thompson made his first eight field goals, including all four 3-point attempts, before finally missing a 25-foot attempt with 25 seconds left in the third. Jameer Nelson's trey on the ensuing possession pulled Denver within 85-68 entering the fourth. The Nuggets cut the margin to under 10 points for the first time since 10:18 remained in the second quarter when Gallinari hit a 17-footer with 1:42 left. Lawson's layup with 25.9 seconds remaining made it 101-95, but Covington closed it out with a pair of free throws on Philadelphia's next possession. Carter-Williams started after sitting out the second half of Monday's 97-84 loss at Cleveland. For the 76ers, it's a good thing he played; Philadelphia has lost 20 straight games, including nine this season, when he's been out of the lineup. Philadelphia led by 21 at the break thanks to 19 first-half points from Thompson, who didn't miss a shot. He was 6-for-6 from the field, including 4-for-4 from the arc, while making all three of his free-throw attempts. Thompson's 3-pointer with 1:08 left in the half gave Philadelphia its biggest lead of the half, 61-38. It was the second straight game with a huge first-half deficit for the Nuggets, who trailed by 32 in the first half of Saturday's 104-86 home loss to Charlotte. Denver was blown out 99-69 in its previous game, last Thursday at Memphis. TIP-INS Nuggets: Denver guards Randy Foye (Villanova) and Jameer Nelson (St. Joe's) played at rival Philadelphia schools whose annual game is nicknamed the ''Holy War.'' . C JaVale McGee (flu) didn't play. . Forwards Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur returned to action after sitting out Saturday due to illness. 76ers: Flyers goalie Steve Mason sat courtside and gave several fans a fist bump as he exited to the concourse at the end of the third quarter. . Philadelphia will try for four straight home wins Saturday night against Charlotte. . Carter-Williams and Gallinari had words after Gallinari's hard foul on Jerami Grant with 2:49 left in the fourth quarter. Gallinari was called for a Flagrant 1 foul on the play. UP NEXT Nuggets: At Boston Wednesday night. 76ers: At Boston Friday night. | 1 | 6,849 | sports |
In January, computer scientist Randy Olson published a piece called " The Shrinking Battleground ." In it, Olson argues that the number of presidential swing states has declined in recent decades, that this decline has adverse consequences (fewer states in play leads to lower turnout in those states and presidential candidates only spending time and money on a few swing states), and concludes that the president should be elected by national popular vote rather than by the Electoral College. Olson is not the only one who believes the Electoral College should be abolished a lot of smart people agree with him. Doing so, however, would be exceedingly legally and politically difficult so for the foreseeable future we're stuck with this political relic. But if we take a slightly different perspective on this data, we can assuage some of the national popular vote advocates' worries. Specifically, the presidential battleground may shift, so more states may become swing states in the future. Moreover, the success of state level candidates from the minority party in partisan "strongholds" shows that Republicans in blue states and Democrats in red states do not always end up wasting their votes on pre-decided elections. The Shifting Battleground Olson identified nine "swing states" and 41 partisan "strongholds" using the following map: I have a few minor disagreements with how states are categorized (New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Arizona may have more swing potential than this map communicates, and Indiana and New Mexico probably fit better in the partisan stronghold category), and the measure used (consecutive wins) does not take into account how close those wins are. But the map mostly gets the current situation right. The red and pink states tend to vote for Republicans, the gray states swing and the blue states favor Democrats. But that's just the current situation. These graphs show how the partisan index ( inspired by the Cook PVI ) of the partisan strongholds (colors of points correspond roughly to colors on Olson's map) has evolved since the end of World War II. We calculated the index by subtracting the Republican candidate's share of the two-party national popular vote from the Republican's share of the two-party state level popular vote for each state and election. A positive value indicates that the state voted more heavily for the Republican candidate than the nation as a whole, and a negative value indicates a relative advantage for the Democrat. Zero means that the state's two-party vote was identical to the national two-party vote. This measure controls for wave elections, so it shows a smoother version of how partisan loyalties in these states have changed over time. It's easy to spot the trends in these graphs. The long-standing western Republican strongholds have become steadily more Republican since the end of WWII (the red graph). The more recently Republican South (along with Montana, Arizona and Missouri shown in pink) was Democratic, hovered around the national average but then steadily moved toward Republicans. The Democratic states are a mix some of them have been Democratic for a number of decades and others leaned Republican into the 1990s. But most of them are now much more Democratic than the national average. The obvious takeaway from these graphs is that stronghold states have generally pulled away from the national average and that Olson is right the battleground has shrunk in recent years. But there is another critical detail states can also move into the battleground. For most of the last 50 years (with the exception of 1976 and 1980, when southerner Jimmy Carter was on the ballot), Virginia leaned pretty hard to the right. But in the last few cycles, it has become a swing state. New Hampshire also went from being a Republican stronghold in the 1970s and 1980s to a swing state in the 1990s and 2000s. The state leaned Democratic in the last few presidential elections, but important down-ticket races suggest that the state could be in play in 2016. Republican Kelly Ayotte won the state's 2010 Senate election by 23.5 points and Republican Scott Brown held popular incumbent Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen to a 3.25-point victory in 2014. Since 2010, candidates from both parties have won and lost both of the state's House seats. Minnesota leans further to the left than Virginia or New Hampshire. In 2012, Obama won there by a larger margin (7.69 points) than he did in New Hampshire (5.58 points) or Virginia (3.88 points), so it might be difficult for Republicans to push Minnesota into the battleground in 2016. That being said, the state's partisan index has moved toward the center in recent years showing that states can move toward the battleground as well as away from it. There is reason to believe the map might expand in coming election cycles. Republicans lost the Electoral College by more than 100 votes in 2012 and by almost 200 in 2008. They have not done well against the Obama coalition, so they can be expected to try to expand the map. The Republican nominee may attempt to appeal to Hispanics and thus make more of the Southwest competitive. Alternatively, he or she could try to win more of the Rust Belt and Midwest. Either way, the Republican Party has an electoral incentive to craft its messages and political positions in a way that could pull blue states into the swing state column. Democrats may try to expand the map as well. Without Barack Obama on the ballot, the Democratic nominee theoretically could make a credible attempt to regain rural white voters in the South (both Hillary Clinton and Jim Webb would certainly try) or simply reverse some of the recent movement of whites toward the GOP. It's also possible that by appealing to these groups, Democrats drive other portions of their coalition toward the Republicans. Finally, it's important to note that even if party coalitions do not move in the coming cycles, wave elections can temporarily push partisan strongholds into swing territory. In 1980, Ronald Reagan's (nearly 10 point) popular vote landslide victory over then-President Jimmy Carter pushed many reliably Democratic states including Massachusetts, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Kentucky into single-digit margins. So even if the two parties fail to create more swing states by changing their coalitions, national conditions (e.g., the state of the economy causes a wave election) could create close races in reliably partisan states. In other words, we are in no way stuck with the current number or set of swing states. Down-ticket Races Olson focuses on presidential politics in his analysis. He writes "voting Democratic in Alaska is about as pointless as voting Republican in California, which is why so many voters don't bother showing up to the polls in these staunchly polarized states." He describes how presidential candidates focus their time and money almost exclusively on a few swing states. Olson seems to be right about lower turnout and presidential candidates only focusing on a few states. But his premise that Democrats in Alaska and Republicans in California are wasting their vote only holds if one assumes that presidential elections are the only ones that matter. Alaska Democrats mattered in 2014, however, when Independent Bill Walker (whose running mate, Byron Mallot, is a Democrat) unseated Republican Gov. Sean Parnell. California Republicans mattered when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won re-election in 2006. On the state level, minority party candidates (defined here as candidates from whichever party typically does not win the electoral votes of a given stronghold state) for the governorship win with some frequency. This map uses Olson's stronghold and swing state designations to show where a minority party gubernatorial candidate won anytime from the 2006 election to today. Most states hold gubernatorial elections every four years during the midterms, so (for most states) this map represents three elections 2006, 2010 and 2014. Similarly, Olson puts any state that voted for the same presidential candidate in three (or more) elections in the "stronghold" category. A majority of stronghold states recently elected a governor from the state's minority party. And some of these states do not simply lean or tilt toward a party Massachusetts voted for President Obama by more than 20 points, but Republican Charlie Baker won the governorship in 2014. Similarly, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won Arkansas by more than 20 points, but Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe won re-election by a nearly 2-1 margin in 2010. Minority party Senate candidates also have had some success in Senate elections. In the last three regular Senate elections (2010, 2012 and 2014), minority party Senate candidates won in ten stronghold states New Hampshire, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Montana, North Dakota, Maine, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Most of these states also elected a minority party governor in a recent cycle. It's important to note that these down-ticket races have significant consequences. Both parties have recently felt the importance of Senate election results. Senate Republicans, despite being in the minority for almost all of the Obama administration, were able to derail some of Obama's top legislative priorities by filibustering (or simply threatening to do so). Similarly, when Republicans assumed control over the House in 2011, Senate Democrats made sure that many bills that the House passed never made it to the president's desk. Gubernatorial elections matter too. State governments pass an enormous amount of legislation on nearly every hot-button domestic issue, and those laws often become the blueprint for federal laws. So while minority party votes in stronghold states might be wasted in presidential elections, they often are not in senatorial and gubernatorial contests. These state level successes do not address two of the big problems Olson brought up lower turnout and presidential candidates focusing almost exclusively on swing states but it does show that these minority party voters are not always wasting their vote. | 5 | 6,850 | news |
The Devils took care of business at home against the Senators. Goals from Adam Henrique and Mike Cammalleri led the Devils to a 2-1 win. | 1 | 6,851 | sports |
St. Louis forward Jaden Schwartz scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the Blues over the Lighting 2-1. | 1 | 6,852 | sports |
PITTSBURGH (AP) A former medical researcher was sentenced Wednesday to a mandatory life prison sentence without possibility of parole in the cyanide poisoning death of his neurologist wife. Robert Ferrante, 66, was convicted in November of first-degree murder, when a jury agreed with prosecutors that he laced 41-year-old Dr. Autumn Klein's energy drink with cyanide in April 2013. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, leaving Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning no choice under Pennsylvania law but to impose the life sentence in a subdued 30-minute hearing. The victim's mother, Lois Klein, of Towson, Maryland, had planned to address the court but instead had Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini read a short statement on her behalf. "She was our only child and the light of our lives has now been extinguished," the statement read. Lois Klein and her husband, William, are caring for Ferrante and Autumn Klein's 8-year-old daughter. Ferrante's adult children from his first marriage Kimberly, a physician from San Diego and Michael, a financial planner from Boston have previously expressed interest in caring for the girl and are hoping a family court judge will grant them permission to see their half-sister now that the criminal case is over. Ferrante declined an opportunity to make a statement to the court saying, "I have none, your honor." He had no friends or family members present. Ferrante has steadfastly denied poisoning Klein by putting cyanide he acknowledged ordering for his University of Pittsburgh Medical Center laboratory into a creatine energy drink at their home late one night. She immediately collapsed and died three days later, authorities said. Prosecutors showed the jury text messages in which Ferrante told Klein the drink might help her ovulate and conceive a second child, which witnesses said Klein was obsessed with having. Prosecutors said Ferrante was outwardly supportive of having another child but actually disliked the idea and feared Klein might divorce him. Defense attorney William Difenderfer plans to appeal, saying there was no direct proof that Ferrante gave his wife cyanide and saying medical experts disagreed as to whether she was poisoned or died from a sudden heart dysrhythmia. "This case was basically decided with experts and quite frankly, I thought at the end of the day our experts were more credible," Difenderfer said. Ferrante, a prominent researcher into Lou Gehrig's disease, testified he bought the poison only because he used it to mimic the disease's effects on healthy cells in his lab. He also testified that he didn't greet Klein at the couple's back door and hand her the energy drink the night she fell ill, even though police detectives said Ferrante told them that's what happened when they first interviewed him. Jurors indicated that discrepancy and other evidence prompted them to reject his denials and convict him. Lois Klein also has filed a wrongful death suit against Ferrante. A settlement is being negotiated that would provide a trust fund for the girl, according to the attorneys involved. Another judge had previously frozen Ferrante's assets, except for money he spent on his defense, in order to safeguard money for the girl. The Kleins are in an "unimaginable" situation, said Lois Klein's attorney, John Gismondi. "They're in the position of raising a grandchild they love under very, very difficult circumstances and then at the same time dealing with the loss of their own daughter," Gismondi said. "It's as difficult a circumstance as you can imagine." | 5 | 6,853 | news |
By Dan Lyons Auburn figures to have one of the most eventful National Signing Days in the country Wednesday, and Gus Malzahn's team is getting the fun started early. Four star wide receiver/cornerback Darius Slayton, who committed to Georgia back in December, flipped his commitment to the Tigers on the eve of Signing Day. He posted a note to his Twitter account announcing his decision. Slayton, who is from Norcross, GA, visited Auburn back on Jan. 23. According to 247Sports, Dameyune Craig and Rhett Lashlee are his main recruiters. | 1 | 6,854 | sports |
HARTFORD - In this humdrum world of American Athletic Conference basketball, there are few nights when the anticipation of history not only moves to center stage but moves the audience excited about its arrival. Say what you will about UConn's domination: It's good for the game, it's not. That's for history and those left in its wake to decide. But the Huskies have made history for the past 20 years, lifting their sport into a world of television and newfound celebrity. And on Tuesday, it was time to make a little more. Coach Geno Auriemma, the wise guy from Norristown, Pa., the guy who built a castle in a cow pasture while just about everyone else was mowing the lawn, carved another niche for himself before 8,190 at the XL Center. UConn's 96-36 win against Cincinnati was the 900th of his career. He is the first male coach to win that many in women's basketball, just the sixth all-time. He is the quickest ever (1,034 games) to the milestone. And there is no reason to believe that he is interested in slowing down. "There are six games in March that will mean as much as these 900," Auriemma said. For the record on the night of the record, the Huskies (21-1, 11-0) were led in scoring by Gabby Williams, who picked up her second career double-double with a career-high 18 points (8-for-11), 14 rebounds and four steals. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis added 16 points, shooting 4-for-9 from three. "We all played our role," Saniya Chong said. "It was amazing." Breanna Stewart had 14 points and eight rebounds. Chong scored 11, shooting 3-for-3 from three. And Kia Nurse added 10 points. Those were the six Huskies who reached double-figures at the same time for the first time this season. "I'm just so excited for coach and I am happy I was a part of this," Moriah Jefferson said. And as for the game, UConn trailed 5-0 and then it didn't. Measuring things in Geno Time, the Hall of Fame coach who has won 87 percent of his games and averaged almost 35 wins in the past 10 years, is now 198 wins away from Pat Summitt's 1,098. If health and good fortune are his allies, he should arrive at this planet approximately in time for the 2021 Final Four. "Can you win 30 games a year for 30 years? I don't know," Auriemma said. "You can't say no because it's been done. But I know if I was 30 years old right now, I'd want no part of it. But that's just me. I got in the game at the right time and lived through the best of times. Now we're at a time in college athletics that I'm glad I won't be a part of what's coming next." But he will be for some time yet. If he stays on pace to reach the Summitt, he will be in his 36th season and 67 years old. And at that point, it might be time for his victory cigar. The victory, UConn's 20th straight since the loss at Stanford, was hardly a surprise. The Bearcats have lost 13 straight to the Huskies since they joined the old Big East in 2006. But that didn't stop Cincinnati coach Jamelle Elliott from giving her former coach and boss a huge hug after the game. "No one wants to be the one who plays them when the milestone comes, but this was a special circumstance," Elliott said. "I got the chance to spend time with him, congratulate him." There was more celebration to come. Auriemma was ushered to the corner of the arena where he met up with some of his family to watch a video that the athletic department had produced in advance of the event. And then he was brought back to the floor for an interview with SNY's Kerith Burke that was telecast to the crowd on the scoreboard. "When you get moving along this path, sometimes you get caught up in things so much that you forget how it all started and who was there along the way," Auriemma said. "To me, that was the big thing, having the chance to reflect on it all. ... Having the chance to see how all of this has affected the life of others is the cool thing." After the celebration is over, the Huskies will have three years to wait before he gets to 1,000. But there are only four days until Saturday's game at Memphis. And then on Monday at Gampel Pavilion, No. 1 South Carolina puts its undefeated season on the line. This wasn't much of a game, which has been regrettably redundant this season. There was an early glimmer of hope for Cincinnati. It took a 5-0 lead in the first 1:34, mirroring the advantage that Temple had against the Huskies on Sunday at Philadelphia. If nothing else, it was a vast improvement from the last time these teams played, Jan. 25 in Cincinnati. That's when the Huskies scored the first 22 points in a 63-point win. Perhaps the Bearcats' claws had been sharpened in the past 10 days. It didn't last. "This may have been his 900th win, but he treated it just like any other game," Williams said. "He never lets us glide. We still had goals for the game, and that's what sets him apart." The Huskies took their first 10-point lead (15-5) on a Mosqueda-Lewis three, one of three she made in the first half. That basket ended a 15-0 run. It would get worse soon thereafter. Cincinnati did not score in the final 9:27 of the half, missing its final 18 shots. That encompassed 14:10 without a field goal. And that 22-0 run the Huskies started the last meeting with? They replicated it at the end of the first half to take a 47-15 lead at the half. And the Huskies managed it all despite shooting 18-for-42 from the field. That's because Cincinnati was 5-for-28. Jasmine Whitfield's three-pointer with 19:14 to play finally ended the drought for the Bearcats (6-16, 3-8). She led them with 14 points. | 1 | 6,855 | sports |
Michael Gbinije hit a shot with 0.1 seconds left to lead Syracuse to a come-from-behind win over Virginia Tech. Syracuse was down by 13 points at one point before rallying to win, 72-70. | 1 | 6,856 | sports |
Forward Troy Brouwer scored Washington's first two goals in his 500th career game on Tuesday night. The Capitals coasted by the Kings 4-0. | 1 | 6,857 | sports |
NC State fought back from a huge second half deficit, but fell just short to Wake Forest 88-84. Codi Miller-McIntyre was huge for the Demon Deacons with 23 points and 5 assists. Wake grabs their 3rd ACC win, while the Wolfpack falls to 5-7 in the conference. | 1 | 6,858 | sports |
Bad news if you were hoping to swap Reddit Notes with friends: the internet community just put its don't-call-it-a-currency project on ice. As Reddit's Alexis Ohanian argues , the company doesn't want to dive into cryptocurrency (even when it doesn't have conventional monetary worth) until both the legal and technical aspects are "further along." He wants to make sure that users get the "full value" of their equity, and that's reportedly not possible right now. It's not clear that this is the only motivation, mind you. Notes was started under Reddit's previous CEO, so it may be as much about a change in leadership philosophy as anything else. Whatever the cause, you'll have to make do with handing out Reddit Gold if you want to reward your fellow redditors without relying on third-party services. Alexis Ohanian (Hacker News) , Ryan Charles (Twitter) | 5 | 6,859 | news |
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) Buddy Hield scored 21 points and No. 21 Oklahoma defeated No. 15 West Virginia 71-52 on Tuesday night. Hield, the Big 12's leading scorer, made 8 of 13 shots, including 5 of 7 3-pointers. Jordan Woodard had 12 points and Ryan Spangler and Isaiah Cousins each added 10 for the Sooners (15-7, 6-4 Big 12). Oklahoma shot a season-high 61 percent from the field to win their third straight. Oklahoma committed 22 turnovers in the first meeting, an 86-65 win for the Mountaineers on Jan. 13. This time, the Sooners committed just 13. Juwan Staten had 15 points and nine rebounds and Gary Browne added 12 points for West Virginia (18-4, 6-3), which had won three straight. Devin Williams, the conference's No. 2 rebounder and Big 12 leader in field goal percentage, was ill and did not play. He had 14 points and 11 rebounds in the first meeting. Oklahoma led 14-11 before going on a 13-0 run to break open the game. West Virginia went scoreless for 5:33 during that stretch. The Sooners led 38-24 at halftime after shooting 62 percent. They outscored West Virginia 20-4 in points off turnovers before the break. West Virginia turned the tide early in the second half as its full-court press started to bother the Sooners. The Mountaineers went on an 8-0 run to cut Oklahoma's lead to 43-35. Hield's 3-pointer gave the Sooners a 52-40 edge with just under 10 minutes remaining, and he hit another 3 with just over eight minutes to play that pushed the lead back to 14 points. The Sooners remained in control from there. TIP-INS West Virginia: Elijah Macon made his first career start in Williams' place and scored eight points in 16 minutes. ... West Virginia made just 2 of 13 3-pointers in the first half and 5 of 26 in the game. ... The Mountaineers, who entered the night as the nation's leader in steals per game (12.4) finished with seven. Oklahoma: Spangler was chosen Big 12 Player of the Week for his efforts last week. ... This was Oklahoma's nation-leading 10th game against a Top 25 team this year. ... Oklahoma made just 11 of 22 free throws. UP NEXT West Virginia: Hosts Baylor on Saturday. Oklahoma: At TCU on Saturday. --- Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP . | 1 | 6,860 | sports |
Facebook has been putting in a lot of effort to grow its video service over the past year. That work paid off Sunday as the social network accounted for 25 percent of all Super Bowl ad views, showing that Facebook is beginning to drastically cut into YouTube's lead in the online video market. For last year's Super Bowl ads, Facebook video accounted for less than 1 percent of online views while YouTube dominated with 94 percent. That lead was cut to 74 percent at this year's game as many of the brands uploaded their Super Bowl commercials to both YouTube and Facebook, according to Visible Measures, an advertising company whose True Reach analytics tool measures online viewership. "Facebook is a place where if your friends are discussing something, they're sharing something or commenting on something, a video can dramatically outperform YouTube, and that's never really happened before," said Brian Shin, CEO of Visible Measures. Posting video on Facebook paid off big time for several advertisers, including Budweiser, whose " Lost Dog " commercial was the most viewed ad of Super Bowl XLIX. "Lost Dog" has been viewed online more than 57 million times, according to True Reach, and more than half of those views have come from Facebook (29 million), rather than YouTube (24 million). By posting the ad to both video platforms, Budweiser was able to more than double its campaign's effectiveness, Shin said. Mercedes-Benz, however, was not as wise. Though the German company's " Fable " commercial had the eighth most online views for this year's Super Bowl ads, Mercedes-Benz posted it on YouTube but not Facebook. The car manufacturer may have missed out on millions of views by not posting the ad on the social network, Shin said. "That's an opportunity they missed out on. They did not do anything with Facebook," he said. Super Bowl XLIX showed that brands need to start taking Facebook seriously when it comes to video, Shin said. If marketers focused single-handedly on YouTube, they could miss a significant portion of their potential audience, Shin said. "It's a new day," Shin said. "Our position is that if you're a marketer you really do need to be taking advantage of all these channels and not just focusing on YouTube." | 5 | 6,861 | news |
The Honda CR-V appears to be carrying over its success from 2014, as the Japanese crossover dominated the CUV sales chart in January with 23,211 units sold. The Ford Escape started the New Year in the second position with 20,054 units sold, though the Toyota RAV4 came in right behind it, coming up short only 230 units. Following close behind the RAV4 was the Chevrolet Equinox with 19,555 units, while the Nissan Rogue landed in the fifth spot with 15,649 CUVs accounted for. The Rogue pushed the Jeep Cherokee out of the top five and into the sixth spot with 15,154 units moved off lots. With 11,210 crossovers sold, the Subaru Forester landed in seventh for the month, and was the last vehicle on the list in the five-figure category. Following the Japanese CUV was the GMC Terrain with 8844 units, and rounding out the top 10 was the Jeep Patriot and Subaru XV Crosstrek with 7563 and 6513 units, respectively. Related link: Research the Chevrolet Equinox Those that didn't make the top 10 include the Mazda CX-5, which just missed the 6000-mark for the 11th position. Behind it came the Jeep Compass with 4317 units, though we may not be seeing it for very long since the new Jeep Renegade will soon replace it. The Kia Sportage beat its cousin -- the Hyundai Tucson -- by only 18 units, while the Nissan Juke and Volkswagen Tiguan took up the next two spots with 2001 and 1473 units, respectively. The Mini Countryman and Paceman came in dead last, with combined sales for the two below 1000 units. Source: The Automakers Click the name of the crossover to research the vehicle. Crossover January 2015 January 2014 Year-to-Date Honda CR-V 23,211 18,232 23,211 Ford Escape 20,054 19,459 20,054 Toyota RAV4 19,824 16,880 19,824 Chevrolet Equinox 19,555 14,547 19,555 Nissan Rogue 15,649 13,831 15,649 Jeep Cherokee 15,154 10,505 15,154 Subaru Forester 11,210 10,771 11,210 GMC Terrain 8844 7063 8844 Jeep Patriot 7563 5577 7563 Subaru XV Crosstrek 6513 4801 6531 Mazda CX-5 5949 4998 5949 Jeep Compass 4317 4068 4317 Kia Sportage 3054 2587 3054 Hyundai Tucson 3036 3533 3036 Nissan Juke 2001 3442 2001 Volkswagen Tiguan 1473 1777 1473 Mini Countryman / Paceman 827 1185 827 | 9 | 6,862 | autos |
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) Seth Tuttle had 15 points and eight rebounds and Jeremy Morgan added 12 points as No. 14 Northern Iowa ran away from Indiana State 61-51 on Tuesday night. The Panthers (21-2, 10-1 Missouri Valley) won their 10th in a row and got their first season sweep of the Sycamores in five seasons. Indiana State (11-12, 7-4) was led by Devonte Brown with 14 points, but the Sycamores fell to 0-3 this season against ranked teams. Defensively, Northern Iowa was every bit as good as advertised. Indiana State shot 37.3 percent from the field and finished with a season low for points. And after scoring the final four points of the first half to take 33-22 lead, Northern Iowa never let the Sycamores get within single digits in the second half. The Panthers took control with a 13-3 first-half run then methodically pulled away until the final minutes. Half of the Panthers' wins have come on the road or at neutral sites, and they weren't about to let this one slip away. Instead, they clamped down after Indiana State tied the score at 8. The Sycamores made just one basket over the next 5:58 and when the run ended, they trailed 21-11. The Sycamores did rally late in the half, closing to 28-22 on Brown's driving layup with 2:28 left. But Northern Iowa answered with back-to-back baskets from Marvin Singleton and Jeremy Morgan to close the half, opened the second half on a 12-6 run to make it 45-28 and sealed it at the free throw line TIP-INS Panthers: Northern Iowa may have played its cleanest half of the season Tuesday. The Panthers shot 56 percent from the field, 50 percent on 3-pointers and held Indiana State to 34.6 percent from the field during the first 20 minutes. Oddest of all: Northern Iowa was called for only one foul, with 4.4 seconds left in the half. Sycamores: Coach Greg Lansing has revived Indiana State's program over the past five seasons. But he again came up short in a record-breaking quest. Lansing's four wins over ranked teams are tied for the most by a coach in school history. He's tied with Bill Hodges, who coached the school's most famous basketball alum - Larry Bird. UP NEXT Panthers: host Drake on Saturday. Sycamores: visit Loyola (Ill.) on Saturday. | 1 | 6,863 | sports |
Parents in one Oregon town share with CNN's Gary Tuchman why they choose not to vaccinate their children despite CDC recommendations. | 5 | 6,864 | news |
NEW YORK (AP) -- Avery Bradley scored 26 points, Jared Sullinger added 22 and the Boston Celtics snapped a three-game losing streak with a 108-97 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. BOX SCORE: CELTICS 108, KNICKS 97 Bradley shot 11 for 14 from the field for the Celtics, who rediscovered their offense after a lineup change that put rookie Marcus Smart in the backcourt with Bradley. Smart made consecutive 3-pointers during the Celtics' 14-2 start, and they never trailed. Sullinger finished with nine rebounds and six assists. Boston had been limited to just 86.7 points per game during its skid, including a season-low 75 in an eight-point loss to Miami on Sunday. Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for the Knicks, who had won five of seven during their best stretch of the season. But they had no energy at the start and not enough at the finish. New York did cut it to 86-82 with about 8 minutes left, but Sullinger had two baskets and Jae Crowder - who came out of the starting lineup to make way for Smart - added another to push the lead back into double figures. Bradley and Smart then followed a Knicks basket with consecutive jumpers, putting it away at 96-84 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining. Smart and Crowder each scored 13. The Knicks came in with as many wins in the last seven games as in the entire first half of their schedule, when they were 5-36. They had limited teams to 91.4 points per game during those seven, about 10 per game fewer than the first 41. But they allowed the Celtics to make their first five shots and 54.5 percent for the game. Bradley had eight in the second quarter, including a layup that capped a 12-4 run that extended Boston's lead to 55-39 with 2:27 left in the half. TIP-INS Celtics: Coach Brad Stevens said the lineup change wasn't necessarily a permanent thing and that he would constantly evaluate. ... Tayshaun Prince missed his second straight game with a hip injury. The veteran forward warmed up before the game in hopes of playing before being ruled out. Knicks: With Amare Stoudemire (sprained left ankle) out again, coach Derek Fisher said he hoped the veteran forward could be available this weekend. The Knicks play Friday against Brooklyn and host Golden State on Saturday. .. Clippers guard Jamal Crawford, a former Knick, was at the game. The Clippers remained in New York after losing in Brooklyn on Monday night. UP NEXT Celtics: Host Denver on Wednesday. Knicks: Visit Brooklyn on Friday. | 1 | 6,865 | sports |
Oil prices fell on Wednesday as renewed concerns over global demand and high stock levels halted a rally that pushed up prices by about 19 percent over the past four sessions. The recent rebound was driven by hopes that prices may have hit a bottom after a seven-month rout slashed oil futures by nearly 60 percent and prompted major energy firms to cut spending on new production. But weak data from key consumer China has rekindled demand concerns, dragging on oil prices. "A steady stream of news regarding falling capital expenditure from the industry and a drop in U.S. oil rigs in operation appears to be the spark," ANZ analysts said. "While sentiment appears to have shifted, volatility will remain high." Brent crude was 50 cents lower at $57.41 a barrel by 0336 GMT (10.36 p.m. EST), after gaining almost 6 percent on Tuesday and off a near six-year low of $45.19 reached in mid-January. U.S. crude was down 95 cents at $52.10 a barrel. The contract settled up 7 percent in the previous session, after trading at as high as $54.24 earlier in the day - more than $10 above than a near six-year low of $43.58 reached last week. Estimates by industry group American Petroleum Institute that U.S. crude stockpiles rose more than 6 million barrels last week also helped drive prices lower on Wednesday. [API/S] Oil major BP and top Chinese offshore energy producer CNOOC Ltd said on Tuesday they would deepen capital investment cuts this year to adapt to lower oil prices. The outlook for oil demand has also been muddied by recent data showing China's services sector grew at the slowest pace in six months in January. However, some say lower oil prices will spur economic growth, which will boost demand for commodities including oil. "Low oil prices and cheap money will lead to stronger global economic growth and much stronger oil demand than conventional wisdom would suggest," PIRA Energy said in an email. It forecasts global oil demand to grow by 1.5 million barrels per day in 2015, but warns the current supply surplus will overwhelm demand for the next six months. A U.S. refinery strike at nine plants with about 10 percent of the country's refining capacity was set to go into its fourth day, after Royal Dutch Shell Plc failed to agree with union leaders over a new wage contract for refinery workers. (Editing by Joseph Radford) | 3 | 6,866 | finance |
Scientists say the largest ever rodent probably used its huge front teeth like tusks, defending itself and digging with them instead of just biting food. The bull-sized cousin to the guinea pig died out around two million years ago. Based on a CT scan of its skull and subsequent computer simulations, its bite was as strong as a tiger - but its front teeth were built to withstand forces nearly three times larger. This suggests that its 30cm incisors were much more than eating implements. Researchers from York in the UK and Montevideo in Uruguay published the work in the Journal of Anatomy. Only a single fossilised skull has been found belonging to this 1,000kg South American rodent, known as Josephoartigasia monesi. Unearthed in Uruguay in 2007, the animal lived in the Pliocene period - a warm era when large mammals were relatively abundant, including the first mammoths. It remains the largest rodent ever discovered. To study the mechanics of the skull, the team performed a CT scan of the skull and used it to reconstruct a computer model - including its missing lower jaw, which they copied from a related species. They then tested this model using "finite element analysis", a technique from engineering which calculates stresses and strains in complex objects. The forces predicted during biting were large, and similar to a tiger's jaw. But the rodent's big incisors appear "overengineered" even for that sort of strain - and would probably stand up to much stronger forces. So the researchers believe the front teeth must have been used for tasks that required extra muscles, like the neck, as well as the biting action of the jaw muscles themselves. "We concluded that Josephoartigasia must have used its incisors for activities other than biting, such as digging in the ground for food, or defending itself from predators," said the study's first author Dr Philip Cox, an anatomist at Hull York Medical School and the University of York. "This is very similar to how a modern-day elephant uses its tusks." | 5 | 6,867 | news |
Oil prices have rallied off their post-crisis lows, in a move that may mark the bottom of the rout as producers' cutbacks begin pinching supply, some analysts said. "We've seen the lows for the year," Daniel Morgan, global commodity analyst at UBS (UBS.N-CH) , told CNBC, citing producers' steps to decrease counts and aggressively cut capital spending. "Financially, the oil price just got sold off too aggressively and so was poised for a comeback." He doesn't believe Brent at around $59 a barrel is "appropriate" on a longer-term view, adding it's still an attractive entry point at current levels. U.S. oil (@CL.1) climbed as high as $52.35 a barrel in Asian trade Wednesday after trading as low as $43.58 last week, its lowest since mid-2009, during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Brent for March delivery (@LCO.1) rose as high as $59 a barrel in Asian trade Wednesday before retreating to around $57.61. Last month, Brent had traded as low as $46.40, plumbing levels last seen during the GFC. Prices had fallen as much as 60 percent since June of last year. Rig counts Morgan isn't alone in calling the start of a recovery. "Oil prices will recover this year and average $60 a barrel for Brent," Nomura said in a note Monday, citing comments from oilfield-service company Baker Hughes on North American rig activity. The bank expects the region's rig counts may fall another 30-40 percent this year, with similar capex cuts among customers. Baker Hughes (BHI) reported last week that 90 rigs were deactivated over the previous week, possibly the largest number cut since record-keeping began in 1987. BP (BP.-GB) also said it would cut its capex by 13 percent this year. "Oil production in the shale basins will inevitably decrease as weaker, higher-cost producers shutter their operations," Nomura (8604.T-JP) said, estimating a 15-20 percent drop in U.S. production would eliminate the global oversupply. It also sees upside price risks from disruptions in places such as Russia and Libya. It advises buying select stocks in the sector, such as those exposed to operating expenditure rather than capex, as they could start rallying before oil prices do. Too early to call a bottom? To be sure, some do think the oil price rally has run its course. Oil is just finding its new equilibrium after the market tested how responsive shale producers would be to the sharp decline, Mizuho said in a note Wednesday. "The sharper-than-expected pullback of U.S. rigs mean that the new equilibrium oil price to balance supply cuts with current demand is probably higher than the lows we have seen in January," Mizuho said. That means oil is more likely to stabilize, it said. "A buildup in oil inventories also suggests that near-term demand is too soft for oil prices to stage another rally higher back towards $70 levels," Mizuho (8411.T-JP) said. Last week, U.S. oil inventories rose by 6.1 million barrels to 411.2 million barrels, after rising 12.7 million barrels the previous week, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute. Fast rise? Even UBS' Morgan isn't advising going to town on oil's rally. "We do still have a physical market surplus that's going to be sloshing around in the market for the next 12 months or so," Morgan said. "Oil's not going to go back to $90-$100 in a heartbeat. But in the longer term, I think it will go back to $80 in a two to three year view." Some, however, do expect a quick return to higher oil prices. "Supply will shrink more rapidly than expected and demand will increase faster than expected," Thierry Apoteker, executive chairman at TAC Economics, told CNBC, citing the economic recovery in the U.S. as driving increased demand. He forecasts Brent to rise all the way to $70 a barrel in the first quarter and to reach $90 later in the year. --Matt Clinch contributed to this article By CNBC.Com's Leslie Shaffer; Follow her on Twitter @LeslieShaffer1 | 3 | 6,868 | finance |
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Without goalie Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota's season could have been over by now. Instead, the Wild are climbing back into playoff contention. Dubnyk stopped 24 shots in his third shutout since joining Minnesota in mid-January, leading the Wild to their fourth straight win, 3-0 over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. ''It's hard to climb. There's a lot of good hockey teams,'' Dubnyk said. ''But all we can do is win the games when we get a chance to play and with how well we played tonight, we should keep winning.'' Mikko Koivu, Jason Zucker and Mikael Granlund each scored for the Wild. Since being acquired by Minnesota in a trade with Arizona, Dubnyk is 6-1 with a 1.48 goals against average. He has four shutouts overall this season. Wild coach Mike Yeo reflected on Dubnyk's first game with Minnesota, a 7-0 shutout in Buffalo on Jan. 15, and how it helped his team snap out of a December-January funk. ''We needed that win, we were reeling, let's be honest,'' Yeo said. ''That one win allowed us to just kind of settle into things. There's just a much better focus on our job right now. There's a better trust.'' The Blackhawks, fourth in the Western Conference, spent the previous two days resting in Las Vegas. They were outshot 43-24, have been shut out in their last two and haven't won consecutive games in over a month. ''Tonight we didn't deserve it one bit so we've got no one else to blame but ourselves,'' center Jonathan Toews said. Chicago hasn't scored since Patrick Kane's goal at 13:25 of the third period against Anaheim on Jan. 30, a span of 126 minutes, 35 seconds. Did the Vegas trip contribute to Chicago's sluggish play, especially early in the game? ''That's not the excuse, whether it's incentive, whether it's rest, whether it's the next game,'' coach Joel Quenneville said. ''We've had a couple tough games and this was definitely one of them.'' Coming off three straight road wins on a Western Canadian trip, Koivu flipped in a backhander at 7:45 of the first period to keep the Wild rolling on their return home. Often, teams struggle the first game home after a long trip, but the Wild avoided a letdown. ''When you think about it, it should be better and all that but sometimes you just slip a little bit,'' Koivu said. ''But I thought we came out strong and it was a good game for us all 60 minutes.'' Marco Scandella's cross-ice pass set up Zucker on a breakaway for his 18th goal of the season midway through the first period. After the Wild dominated play throughout the second, they finally netted the third goal on Granlund's one-timer from between the circles at 14:12 that zipped past Corey Crawford. Minnesota tallied 24 shots in the second, a franchise record for shots in a period. It was the third most shots the Blackhawks have ever allowed in a period. Crawford had beat Minnesota twice this season before Tuesday, stopping 78 of 81 shots. But he couldn't withstand the Minnesota onslaught on Tuesday. After winning seven of their first eight at home to start the season, the Wild fell apart in December and January. They had won just four of their previous 15 at the Xcel Energy Center before Tuesday. Minnesota has won four straight in regulation for the first time since late March of 2013, and plays four of its next five at home as it tries to climb back into the playoff picture. ''I know how great of a hockey team this is and eventually they were going to start playing better,'' Dubnyk said. ''I'm happy to have the opportunity to be a part of that turnaround.'' NOTES: Wild LW Matt Cooke missed the game with a lower body injury and could be out for a while, according to Yeo. ... Blackhawks enforcer Daniel Carcillo was eligible to return from a six-game suspension, but did not play. ... Minnesota placed RW Justin Fontaine on injured reserve and recalled C Jordan Schroeder from AHL Iowa. | 1 | 6,869 | sports |
Carrie Underwood is planning to watch the Grammy Awards in her pajamas. The 31-year-old singer, who is set to welcome her first child - believed to be a boy - with husband Mike Fisher in the near future, can't travel to Los Angeles for the ceremony next Sunday, 8 February, because she's in her third trimester, but is looking forward to watching it at home. She said: "I wish I could go to the Grammys, but travel's kind of out for me at this point. It's tempting, but I can't fly that far away this late in my pregnancy. I'll be in my pajamas watching it from the comfort of my couch." The blonde beauty joked she might get dressed up for the occasion anyway. She told E! News: "You know, I should just get all dressed up anyways. I should get my hair and makeup done, and get a dress and watch it from my couch all dressed up like I'm there!" The 'Blown Away' singer is looking forward to seeing what Beyoncé wears to the event. She said: "I can't help but always be envious in the best way of whatever Beyoncé is wearing. What she wears on stage especially. Whatever she's going to have on stage is gonna make all of us feel like we need to go to the gym immediately!" | 6 | 6,870 | entertainment |
Zooey Deschanel is "so excited" to meet her unborn baby. The 'New Girl' star, who recently confirmed she is expecting her first child with fiancé Jacob Pechenik, admits she is overjoyed to be pregnant. The 35-year-old actress said: "I'm really excited. I'm so excited. I'm just so excited to meet my baby! We're very excited." The brunette beauty still has to hide her growing baby bump on the set of the comedy series because her character Jess isn't going to be pregnant. She told E! News: "It's been pretty easy to hide in costumes so far! And we only have about four episodes left in the season, so we're doing pretty well." The actress will have approximately five months off soon as production on the current series will wrap up in early March. Meanwhile, Zooey's co-star Jake Johnson, who plays Nick Miller on the show, thinks she's going to be a great mother. He said: "She and Jacob are so excited and I couldn't be happier for Zooey. She's a good friend and this is an awesome thing in her life. I think she's going to be a great mom." | 6 | 6,871 | entertainment |
(Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., adding jobs before labor contract talks later this year, said it must give raises to as many as 500 U.S. hourly employees because new hiring is pushing the company past its limit on lower-wage workers. The automaker said Wednesday that it's adding 1,550 workers to help build the new aluminum-bodied F-150 pickup in Missouri and Michigan. Ford's current contract with the United Auto Workers lets it pay new hires an "entry-level" wage of $15.78 to $19.28 an hour, compared with the $28.50 veteran workers get. With the latest hires, Ford exceeds its promised limit for entry-level workers of about 28 percent of its U.S. labor force. So the company said it will boost the pay of 300 to 500 of its most senior workers in that category to the veteran rate. Ford's total hourly additions now total more than 15,000 since 2011, exceeding a pledge of 12,000 by 2015. "Thanks to stronger-than-expected customer demand, we're adding 1,550 new workers to support additional F-150 production," Joe Hinrichs, the Dearborn, Michigan-based company's president of the Americas, said in a statement. "We sell every truck we can build, and we plan to build more." Ford said Tuesday that F-Series sales in the U.S. rose 17 percent last month, the pickup's best January since 2004, the vehicle's best year. As Ford converted two plants last year to build the new truck, F-Series sales fell 1.3 percent to 753,851, while it remained the nation's top-selling vehicle for the 33rd straight year. The new version cuts as much as 700 pounds (318 kilograms) to improve fuel economy, mostly by using aluminum instead of steel in its body. Potential Cost An hourly raise of at least $9.22, or 48 percent, for 500 workers would cost Ford about $9.6 million in wages in a year, based on a 40-hour week. Ford may have to extend the increases to more workers if it has to expand hiring to meet demand for the F-150 or other models, said Bill Dirksen, vice president of labor affairs. "The entry-level agreement has been a really important part of making our labor costs more competitive," he said in an interview. "It's what's enabled us to invest in our plants and do all this hiring." Dirksen declined to say how much Ford's labor costs will rise as it moves entry-level workers to the veteran wage. "In total, this action is good for our business," he said. "We're hiring more people to make more trucks because the market likes our truck." Two-Tier System Workers have chafed under the two-tier wage system the UAW first agreed to in 2007 with Ford, General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV unit now known as FCA US. The system has workers in their factories doing the same jobs for vastly different pay rates. The union agreed to forgo the limit on new hires at GM and Chrysler as they emerged from their 2009 bankruptcies. Ford, the second-largest U.S. automaker, behind GM, didn't file Chapter 11 and didn't get that break. The Ford raises are "very exciting news, and these additional jobs will have an impact in communities all across our nation," said UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles, who heads its Ford department. "This also represents a major milestone for employees hired under the entry-level agreement, as many will now begin to convert to 'new traditional' wage status, as negotiated in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement." Wages will be a focus of negotiations later this year when Ford sits down with the union to bargain a new four-year agreement. The current contract expires Sept. 15. Veteran workers haven't gotten an hourly pay increase in more than a decade and entry-level employees are eager to achieve wage parity with their senior colleagues. 'Important Topic' "We all know this will be an important topic for both Ford and the UAW," Dirksen said of two-tier wages. "Our goal is going to be to come out of it with a competitive agreement." In recent contracts, workers have accepted bonuses and one- time payments rather than hourly raises. Ford said last week that its U.S. hourly workers will get 2014 profit-sharing checks that average about $6,900, down from the record $8,800 for 2013. The UAW also is trying to reverse a slide in membership that has seen its rolls decline to 391,415 in 2013 from a peak of 1.5 million in 1979. Ford said last week it employed 90,000 workers in North America at the end of last year, an increase from 84,000 at the end of 2013 and 75,000 at the end of 2011, when it reached the last four-year agreement with the UAW. The latest hires include 900 jobs at its F-150 assembly plant near Kansas City, Missouri. An additional 500 will go into factories in Dearborn, while 150 workers will be added at an axle plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, the company said. Ford said hourly employment at its U.S. manufacturing facilities rose by more than 5,000 jobs last year. Ford last week posted pretax profit of $6.3 billion for 2014, down from $8.6 billion the year before, as the automaker spent heavily to introduce 24 new models, including the new F-150, its most profitable product. In North America, Ford earned $6.9 billion before taxes, a drop from $8.8 billion in 2013. To contact the reporter on this story: Keith Naughton in Detroit at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at [email protected] John Lear, Andrew Pollack | 5 | 6,872 | news |
The Titans are reportedly expected to make Dick LeBeau their new assistant head coach. Do you like the move? #120Talk | 1 | 6,873 | sports |
A Wichita Falls man made news last week when he was arrested while trying to pay his property taxes . Only there's a little bit more to the story than that. The 27-year old Texan, Timothy Andrew Norris, arrived in person at the Wichita County Courthouse to pay his $600 property tax with individual dollar bills only there was a twist. Or, er, a fold. Norris had allegedly folded each bill so tightly that it "required tax office personnel approximately six minutes to unfold each bill." If you're doing the math, that means that it would take 3,600 minutes or 60 hours, longer than a work week to unfold the bills. Tax Assessor Collector Tommy Smyth said that the spectacle brought work in the office to a halt so he asked Norris to leave. Norris refused and was eventually arrested and charged with criminal trespass. As you can imagine, Norris was none too happy about being arrested and attempted to break away from the arresting officer, earning him an additional charge of resisting arrest. Norris might have been agitated because he was cutting it a bit close. According to the "official online window on state government service from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts," most counties and/or municipalities usually mail their tax bills in October. The final deadline for payment is generally February 1, after which a payment is considered delinquent. Norris arrived at the courthouse before the delinquency date on January 28 to pay his taxes which means that he was still on time. Texas makes it clear that cash is an acceptable form of payment for property taxes. At Section 31.06 of the Texas Code: A collector shall accept United States currency or a check or money order in payment of taxes and shall accept payment by credit card or electronic funds transfer. The same is true for the feds. There is no law that says you have to pay your taxes by check, credit card or by using the largest bills possible. By federal law, at Section 31 U.S.C. 5103 , you can pay your taxes in coins and currency: United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. You may not want to try this at home. When you pay your taxes in cash, you'll need proof of payment, which means you need a receipt. If you make it difficult for your payment to be counted, you might not get that receipt. The tax office isn't staying open extra hours to count your money nor do they have an obligation to do so. I'm guessing that you could make the argument that the tax office is required to count your cash every day until they have a total (and therefore a receipt) for you. In the case of Mr. Norris, assuming that they put a staffer on unfolding and counting his cash payment every day, it would take over a week to process, likely making Mr. Norris' tax payment late. Of course, we weren't in the tax assessor's office that day but I'm guessing Norris didn't offer to come back the next day. Again, we don't know what happened exactly. We just know it didn't end well. It's not the first time a taxpayer has attempted to settle up with singles. In 2013, Robert Fernandes, of Forks Township, Pennsylvania, took his wife and children and $7,143.54 in cash to the tax collector and paid in single dollar bills. And, just to make sure that he made his point, he posted the whole thing on YouTube: | 3 | 6,874 | finance |
CNN's Dan Simon explores why some parents are against vaccinating their children. | 5 | 6,875 | news |
LOS ANGELES Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has tested positive for steroid use. Silva, the 39-year-old Brazilian widely considered the greatest mixed martial artist in the young sport's history, tested positive for Drostanolone metabolites and another steroid in an out-of-competition test Jan. 9. Nick Diaz, his opponent at UFC 183 last Saturday, also tested positive for elevated levels of marijuana metabolites in results released Tuesday night by the Nevada Athletic Commission. The UFC said the commission is doing further testing to confirm the results, but the stunning announcement casts a large shadow over Silva's impressive comeback from a badly broken leg last Saturday for a unanimous-decision victory over Diaz. In a brief statement, the UFC said it was "disappointed to learn of these initial results." "Anderson Silva has been an amazing champion and a true ambassador of the sport of mixed martial arts and the UFC, in Brazil as well as around the world," the UFC's statement added. "The UFC has a strict, consistent policy against the use of any illegal and/or performance-enhancing drugs, stimulants or masking agents by its athletes." Silva (34-6) beat Diaz by a wide decision last weekend in Las Vegas, winning every round on two of the three judges' scorecards. The fight was a triumphant return to the cage for Silva, who broke his lower left leg 13 months ago. UFC President Dana White is among those who have proclaimed Silva to be the sport's greatest fighter. He won 10 consecutive title defenses over seven years as the UFC's 185-pound champion, most of them showcasing his incredible athleticism and striking skills, until losing the belt to Chris Weidman in July 2013 and breaking his leg in their rematch. Yahoo Sports first reported Silva's failed test and Diaz's latest failed marijuana test. Silva and Diaz will face a disciplinary hearing before the Nevada commission on Feb. 17, and their licenses to fight likely will be suspended. Silva has never publicly failed a drug test in his MMA career, but could face a nine-month suspension for a first offense. Diaz tested positive for marijuana use twice already in his career, in 2007 and 2012, and could face a lengthy suspension. He returned from a self-imposed 22-month absence to take on Silva for a lucrative payday. In another statement, the UFC said it will "fully respect" the Nevada commission's suspension decision, noting that Diaz has violated the UFC's fighter conduct policy and his promotional agreement. Silva's manager, Ed Soares, didn't immediately return a request for comment. Immediately after his victory last weekend, Silva said he hadn't decided whether to retire from the sport. He planned to consult with his wife and five children before determining his future. | 1 | 6,876 | sports |
The Sabres scored three first period goals on Tuesday to snap a 14-game losing streak and get their first win of 2015 in a 3-2 victory over the Habs. | 1 | 6,877 | sports |
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta answers your questions about childhood vaccinations and allergic reactions to them. | 5 | 6,878 | news |
1986 was the year a legend was born: the BMW M3, one of the best-performing motorsport models ever. It could go anywhere - dirt road or race track. Under the hood was an optimized four-cylinder engine that had already scored successes for the BMW 1800ti in the 1960s. | 9 | 6,879 | autos |
By Steve DelVecchio Detroit Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings does not believe LeBron James can ever be considered the greatest basketball player of all time. One reason for that, according to Jennings, is that LeBron has never stuck it out with one team. Jennings, who openly admits he loves a good debate, discussed LeBron's legacy with an NBA blogger (and other fans) on Twitter Monday night. While Jennings obviously deducts points from LeBron because he has jumped from team to team, he still said he would rank him as one of the greatest ever. When you see Jennings placing Magic and Kobe so high on his list, remember that he is from Los Angeles so those are biased choices. Still, it's hard to disagree with Jennings, at least at the moment. LeBron has won only two championships. He's probably not going to catch guys like Jordan and Magic, so the one thing he can do is work to straighten out this situation and win a ring for Cleveland. Will he be considered the best ever if he does that? Probably not, but he is up there in the debate. And we know that Jennings loves to stir things up on Twitter, too. This time he probably didn't get himself in as much trouble for his opinions as he did the last time . | 1 | 6,880 | sports |
Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu and his successor Sandro Rosell will have to appear in court in Spain over allegations they defrauded taxpayers in the deal to bring Neymar to the Camp Nou. | 8 | 6,881 | video |
TOKYO Toyota Motor Corp., the world's No. 1 automaker, raised its earnings forecast Wednesday after third quarter profit jumped 14 percent, boosted by a weak yen. Toyota reported a better-than-expected 600 billion yen ($5.1 billion) profit for the three months through December. Quarterly sales of 7.17 trillion yen ($61 billion) were up 9 percent year-on-year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast a quarterly profit of 540 billion yen ($4.6 billion). The Japanese automaker, which makes the Camry sedan, Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury model, expects a profit of 2.13 trillion yen ($18 billion) for the fiscal year through March, up nearly 17 percent from the previous year. It had previously projected a 2 trillion yen ($17 billion) profit. Toyota has held the top spot in global vehicle sales for three years straight, selling 10.23 million vehicles last year, beating Volkswagen AG of Germany and U.S. rival General Motors Co. Toyota's bottom line has gotten a lift from the cheap yen, although Managing Officer Taku Sasaki also credited cost cuts. The dollar averaged about 114 yen for the fiscal third quarter, while it cost 100 yen the same period the previous year. It has risen to about 118 yen recently. Toyota said it added 145 billion yen ($1.2 billion) to its quarterly operating profit from the foreign exchange rate, while gaining 80 billion yen ($680 million) from cost cuts/ ___ Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama | 3 | 6,882 | finance |
For recording his 900th career win, we give 120 Seconds of Glory to Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma. | 1 | 6,883 | sports |
VALHALLA, N.Y. The baffling behavior of a woman whose SUV stopped between the crossing gates on a railroad track came under scrutiny Wednesday as investigators sought clues to a fiery commuter train crash that killed six people. National Transportation Safety Board officials were looking at the Metro-North train's black-box-style recorders, seeking to learn its speed, whether brakes were applied and whether it sounded its horn as it approached the suburban New York crossing where it slammed into the SUV, NTSB vice chairman Robert Sumwalt said. "We intend to find out not only what happened, but we want to find out why it happened," he said at the site of Tuesday evening's rush-hour collision in Valhalla, about 20 miles north of New York City. Later Wednesday, Sen. Charles Schumer said early indications are that the train was going 58 mph, or within the 60-to-70-mph speed limit that area. Investigators also planned to look at the track signals' recording devices, interview the train's operators, peer into the wreckage with laser-scanning devices and seek aerial footage, he said. Meanwhile, officials were using dental records to identify the badly burned victims five men on the train and the SUV driver, officials said. Several others remained hospitalized, at least two with critical or serious injuries. It was the deadliest accident in the 22-year history of one of the nation's busiest commuter railroads one that has come under a harsh spotlight over a series of accidents in recent years. "It's really inexplicable, based on the facts we have now," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on WCBS-AM radio. The wreck happened after dark in heavy traffic in an area where the tracks are straight but driving can be tricky. Motorists exiting or entering the adjacent Taconic Parkway have to turn and cross the tracks near a wooded area and a cemetery. The driver had gotten out of her Mercedes SUV momentarily after the crossing's safety gates came down around her and hit her car, according to the driver behind her, Rick Hope. "I said to myself, 'The clock is ticking here, the gate is down, the bells are ringing what are you going to do here?'" he told WNYW-TV. "She looked a little confused, gets back in the car and pulls forward" on the tracks. Traffic was moving slowly at the time, choked with drivers seeking to avoid the Taconic Parkway because of an accident, he noted. "It looks like she stopped where she stopped because she didn't want to go on the tracks," Hope added. "It was dark, so maybe she didn't know she was in front of the gate." Railroad grade crossings typically have gate arms designed to lift automatically if they hit a car or other object on the way down, railroad safety consultant Grady Cothen said. The wooden arms are designed to be easily broken if a car trapped between them moves forward or backward, he said. As of Wednesday morning, transit officials hadn't found any problems with the tracks or signal, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said. It was not the first deadly crash at the site: A Metro-North train hit a truck, killing its driver, at the same Commerce Street crossing in 1984, according to Federal Railroad Administration records. Rep. Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y, said Tuesday's accident underscores the need for positive train control, a technology that uses WiFi and GPS to monitor trains' exact position and automatically applies the brakes to prevent collisions or lessen their severity. While not specifically designed to address grade-crossing accidents, the technology can be expanded for such purposes, he said. Congress passed a 2008 law that requires all railroads to install positive train control by the end of 2015, but it's clear most of them will not meet the deadline. The crash was so powerful that the electrified third rail came up and pierced the train, and the SUV was pushed about 400 feet. Cuomo said the SUV's gas tank apparently exploded, starting a fire that consumed the SUV and the train's first car, which was left blackened and mangled. Elizabeth Bordiga was commuting home from her New York City nursing job when she suddenly felt the train jerk a few times. She and other passengers in the middle part of the train started calmly walking to the back. But then they started smelling gasoline, "and somebody said, "There's a fire," she recalled. But they couldn't open the emergency window or figure out how to escape until a firefighter in the train got a door open, she said. Commuters lifted each other down from the train to the ground about 7 feet below, said Bordiga, who uses a cane. "When I was on the ground, I looked to the right and saw flames. I couldn't believe it," she said. In the first car, a man whose own hands were burned elbowed open the emergency exit latch, allowing some of the train's roughly 700 passengers to escape, passenger Christopher Gross recalled on ABC's "Good Morning America." The train's engineer tried to rescue people until the smoke and flames got so severe that he had to escape, Astorino said. Every day, trains travel across more than 212,000 highway-grade rail crossings in the U.S. There are an average of 230 to 250 deaths a year at such crossings, down over 50 percent from two decades ago, FRA figures show. Risky driver behavior or poor judgment accounts for 94 percent of grade crossing accidents, according to a 2004 government report. Metro-North is the nation's second-busiest commuter railroad, after the Long Island Rail Road, serving about 280,000 riders a day. Late last year, the NTSB issued rulings on five Metro-North accidents in New York and Connecticut in 2013 and 2014, repeatedly finding fault with the railroad. Among the accidents was a 2013 derailment in the Bronx that killed four people, the railroad's first passenger fatalities, The NTSB said the engineer had fallen asleep at the controls because of a severe, undiagnosed case of sleep apnea. ___ Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Ula Ilnytzky and Meghan Barr in New York; Joan Lowy in Washington; and Michael Kunzelman in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report. | 5 | 6,884 | news |
Food prices might be soaring in Russia, as inflation continues to rise but the cost of one Russian staple is coming down: vodka. The Russian government has cut the minimum price of vodka , in an attempt to stop people turning to moonshine or high-proof counterfeit spirits amid rising prices, according to local media reports. The minimum price of half a liter of vodka was cut to 185 roubles ($2.70), a reduction of 16 percent on the previous minimum price of 220 rubles, The Moscow Times reported earlier this week. The minimum retail price for vodka was first set in 2009 as part of a government crackdown on binge drinking. In 2014, the price was raised from 89 rubles ($1.20) to 199 rubles ($2.80), before being hiked to a record high of 220 rubles ($3.16) per half liter, the paper reported. The price cut comes as the economic crisis in Russia starts to take its toll on the civilian population, and rising prices have pushed some to counterfeit versions of the country's traditional drink. Counterfeit alcohol consumption has grown "as much as 65 percent" since the government's minimum-pricing policy was introduced, Vadim Drobiz, head of the Center for Federal and Regional Alcohol Market Studies think tank, told The Moscow Times. Accompanying the rise in moonshine consumption was a fall in official vodka production, which slipped 22 percent in 2014, according to state statistics agency Rosstat. Russia's economy has been hit hard by the severe decline in global oil prices and Western sanctions imposed on the country for its part in the Ukraine conflict. This, in turn, has caused the ruble to weaken dramatically, further pushing up the rate of inflation. In 2014, price growth was estimated at 11.4 percent, according to Rosstat, prompting the Russian central bank to hike interest rates to 17 percent in December in an effort to shore up the currency and push down inflation. Although the central bank cut rates in January, the country's economy ministry warned last month that inflation could peak between 15-17 percent on an annual basis this year. The Moscow Times contributed reporting to this story. - By CNBC's Holly Ellyatt, follow her on Twitter @HollyEllyatt . Follow us on Twitter: @CNBCWorld | 3 | 6,885 | finance |
WASHINGTON Senate Republicans on Wednesday maneuvered to put Democrats on record again as opposing legislation that would fund the Homeland Security Department and overturn President Barack Obama's recent actions on immigration. Obama countered by inviting to the White House a group of young immigrants protected by his policies. The GOP legislation would subject Obama's visitors to eventual deportation. The developments came a day after Senate Democrats united to defeat a procedural vote that would have opened debate on the House-passed Homeland Security measure. The bill would cover the department through Sept. 30, the end of the current budget year, and undo Obama's executive actions that limit deportations for millions of people who are in the United States illegally. Senate Republican leaders had indicated that repeated votes on the measure were likely, an apparent attempt to show hard-liners among the House GOP that their bill cannot pass the Senate. Senate leaders moved to make good on that Wednesday, setting up a likely re-vote in the afternoon, with more expected later in the week. "You'd think a bill like this would pass overwhelmingly," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Wednesday as the maneuvering got underway. Democrats responded that the measure would not, as long as it included the contested language on immigration. They called on McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to strip off the immigration provisions and act on legislation limited to paying for the department at a time of global threats. "What the majority leader should do is to swallow his pride, call Mr. Boehner and say, 'Your idea is not going to fly in the Senate,'" said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. House conservatives sounded like they might to need more convincing. "That was our best offer, and that's what we expect," said Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz. He said that if Congress fails to act before current agency funding expires Feb. 27, "it's obviously not the end of the world" because many department employees would be deemed essential and keep on working even if some functions shut down. Salmon's view was in the minority, however. Most agreed that Congress would find a way to approve the funding, even if it meant passing a short-term extension ahead of the deadline before coming up with a final deal. How and when lawmakers would get there was less clear in a new era of divided government. Republicans are in full control of Congress for the first time in eight years and Obama is ready to issue vetoes. On Tuesday, Senate Democrats united against a procedural vote that would have opened debate on the House-passed bill. Fifty-one Republicans voted to advance the bill, short of the 60 needed, while all 44 Democrats, two independents and two Republicans were opposed. The two GOP opponents were Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada, whose state is home to a large Latino population, and McConnell, whose vote permitted him to call for a revote. House Republicans were casting about for another solution, such as splitting up the funding bill, Salmon said. He said a lawsuit over Obama's immigration actions, as Boehner has said is possible, would not satisfy conservatives. In the Senate, Republicans including moderate Susan Collins of Maine were looking for a way out. Collins said she was working with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and others on alternate legislation to fund the department and roll back the new administration policies limiting deportations, but keeping in place protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. "I think it's a good solution and a way to resolve an impasse that has the potential to cause some real harm," Collins said in an interview. | 5 | 6,886 | news |
This is shaping up to be a tough year for the Internal Revenue Service…and, potentially, for taxpayers. Not only is the agency hobbled by budget cuts, but it faces more demands due to Obamacare and rampant tax-related identity theft. Customer service will be worse than ever. The IRS ideally projects an image of efficiency and fairness. But as a government agency, it also has to inform citizens about its inner workings. Gleaned from its public documents, here are 10 facts the IRS would probably rather the American public did not know: 1. It's unlikely that you'll get audited. The IRS audited fewer than 1 percent of individual returns last year and this number is likely to drop again this year due to budget cuts. The IRS budget approved by Congress this fiscal year is $10.9 billion, down from $12 billion in 2012. The agency has about 17,000 fewer staffers than it did in 2010. Meantime, it has to deal with a surge in tax refund identity theft (see No. 6, below) as well as complex new filing requirements related to Obamacare. Related: 10 Surprising Tax Deductions in 2015 Of course, the odds of getting audited are a lot higher for some taxpayers. If your income is over $1 million, your chances of getting audited jumps to 11 percent. And there are plenty of additional red flags that can trigger an IRS audit. 2. Calling us for help is a crapshoot. If you need to speak to an IRS agent, you may be out of luck. Last year, 35.6 percent of phone calls went unanswered by customer service representatives. But this year the IRS projects only 43 percent of callers will get through to an agent after a wait of 30 minutes. That's an average, notes National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson, in a January report to Congress. That means some days will be "truly abysmal," she says. 3. We can't handle the paperwork, either. In the same report, Olson estimates that 50 percent of letters to the IRS were not handled in a timely fashion. This year it will be worse, with 1.9 million fewer pieces of correspondence than last year dealt with in a timely basis which means within about 45 days. 4. We're worried about Obamacare collection. If you signed up for Obamacare and thought that was complicated, just wait until you file your taxes this year. If you got a subsidy based on your projected income, and you made more than that projection, you may have to pay back part of the subsidy. If you didn't sign up for health care, you may be able to file for an exemption, or you could owe a small penalty. If you're confused, you're not alone. Related: IRS Hires Same Contractor That Bungled Obamacare Rollout 5. Your refund may be delayed this year. Again, blame the budget cuts, says IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. He wrote a memo in January to employees warning them about a hiring freeze and possible two-day furlough later this year. He also mentioned that people who file paper returns could wait a week longer for their refund due to staffing shortages. 6. Scammers are having a field day with us. The IRS paid about $5.2 billion in fraudulent identity theft refunds during the 2013 filing season, the Government Accountability Office estimates. Separately, Americans are being bilked out of millions by con artists calling on the phone pretending to be IRS agents and demanding money. Related: The IRS Tax Scam That Can Rob You Blind 7. We don't collect about 20 percent of taxes owed. According to the IRS' last study of the problem, the annual "tax gap" was $450 billion out of a total $2 trillion collected. The tax gap is money the IRS figures it is owed, but that wasn't paid. Through enforcement it has gotten about $65 billion of that money back. Koskinen estimates the agency won't be able to collect $2 billion in revenue due to reduced enforcement this year. Fact is, the IRS counts on people paying their taxes voluntarily. 8. We may be willing to negotiate what you owe. One upside to all the pressure on IRS employees is that you may find you can negotiate with your examiner if the IRS says you owe more money. Agents are under pressure to complete their examination in a timely manner, which, just like the legal system, can lead to quick settlements. Consider asking for a delay, to pay in installments, or just to get the amount you owe reduced. Acceptable reasons for reductions can include that you don't have the money or that paying it would cause economic hardship. 9. Watch out for automated liens and levies. If you think the IRS is too strapped to catch a mistake, not true. The agency is highly automated and quick to send out letters based on basic math errors that show up in its system. You ignore those letters at your peril. Automated liens and levies may kick in before you've been able to make your case to an agent. With customer service getting worse, this is something tax advocate Olson worries about a lot. 10. You have an advocate. Feel like the IRS is giving you the bum's rush? Try reaching out to the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service for free help. You can call the toll-free number at 1-877-777-4778 or go to www.irs.gov/advocate . Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Obama's New Tax Plan: So Much for Middle Class Economics Taxing the Wealthy Promotes Economic Growth 4 Tax Deductions That Can Save You Big Bucks | 3 | 6,887 | finance |
Hitachi said on Wednesday its net profit surged 37.4 percent to $1.5 billion for the nine months to December, while it upgraded its full-year sales forecast. The vast conglomerate said it had made 174.9 billion yen during the period, up from 127.3 billion yen a year earlier. It pointed to a strong performance in its information technology as well as its elevator and train system divisions. Operating profit rose 9.0 percent to 322.2 billion yen "with all segments recording higher profits than the same period last year, with the exception of the power systems and construction machinery segments", Hitachi said. Sales inched up 0.6 percent to 6.8 trillion yen for the nine months, said the company which sells everything from batteries to nuclear plants. Hitachi revised up its annual forecast, and is now expecting sales of 9.6 trillion yen for the fiscal year to March, up from a previous outlook of 9.5 billion yen. The firm has left its full-year projections on net profit and operating profit unchanged at 250.0 billion yen and 580.0 billion yen respectively. Hitachi shares closed up 0.19 percent at 866.6 yen in Tokyo. Its results were published after markets closed. | 3 | 6,888 | finance |
NASA's scientists have been conjuring up mission concepts to Europa for more than a decade, but now they're absolutely sure that the Clipper concept is the one. So, they're asking $30 million from the government for a year of preliminary studies starting on October 1st, on top of the $100 million the Congress already gave the agency to construct a viable Europa mission last year. "We believe we have now found the one that is just right," JPL senior research scientist Robert Pappalardo told Discovery News , where he also discussed more details about the agency's Goldilocks Europa project. We say "Goldilocks," because Pappalardo describes earlier concepts as too big, too small or too plain expensive. The Clipper mission will be sending a spacecraft to do roughly 45 flybys over Europa's surface within three years, similar to what Cassini did to make a comprehensive map of Saturn's moon Titan. Since there's strong radiation on Europa courtesy of Jupiter's powerful magnetic fields, NASA plans to encase the spacecraft's "brain" with heavy shielding and to send it on a highly elliptical orbit that minimizes its contact with the gas giant's radiation belts. This spacecraft will likely be around the size of a school bus at 18-feet-tall, with two 29 x 4 feet solar panels on each side to harness power from the sun. NASA aims to finish building the Clipper spacecraft in ten years, and if the Space Launch System is also ready by then, then it could carry the orbiter to Jupiter within three years' time. If it uses current rockets, it will take the unmanned vehicle up to eight years just to reach the planet. What exactly will the spacecraft do once it starts orbiting Europa? Well, since its mission is to study the Jovian moon's potential for habitability, it will get close to Europa and collect samples whenever available. For instance, if the moon really does have geysers that shoot out water from beneath its icy shell into space, then the spacecraft will be able to grab airborne particles to analyze. It will also attempt to figure out what the satellite's red veins are made of, and whether they contain anything organic. NASA, by the bye, has been funding various technologies being tested in Antarctica for eventual use on Europa, such as that deep-sea robot that can reach depths of up to 6,500 feet. But Pappalardo didn't mention if the orbiter will carry machines capable of diving into Europa's subsurface oceans, or if those underwater robots are being developed for the second mission to Jupiter's moon. Discovery | 5 | 6,889 | news |
Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's most prestigious centre of learning, has called for the killing and crucifixion of militants from the Islamic State group, expressing outrage over their murder of a Jordanian pilot. In a statement after the burning alive of Maaz al-Kassasbeh, the Cairo-based authority's head, Ahmed al-Tayib expressed his "strong dismay at this cowardly act". Tayib said this "requires the punishment mentioned in the Koran for these corrupt oppressors who fight against God and his prophet: killing, crucifixion or chopping of the limbs." The Islamic State group in a video on Tuesday claimed the gruesome killing of Kassasbeh who was captured in Syria when his plane went down in December. | 5 | 6,890 | news |
Three militaries, using ground troops and warplanes, fought Boko Haram on at least two fronts yesterday with hundreds of the Islamic fighters reported dead as the conflict took on a growing international perspective. Chad's army said its troops were attacked Tuesday in Cameroon by Boko Haram, the Nigerian extremist group that has slaughtered and kidnapped civilians and has had the upper hand against Nigeria's military. The Chadian troops' response underscores other African nation's newfound resoluteness to combat what they perceive as a regional threat. "Our valiant forces responded vigorously, a chase was immediately instituted all the way to their base at Gamboru and Ngala (in Nigeria), where they were completely wiped out," spokesman Col. Azem Bermendoa said on national television Tuesday night. More than 200 extremists and nine Chadian troops were killed, he said. On Wednesday, hundreds of Boko Haram fighters driven out of Gamboru crossed the border and attacked Chadian military posts in Fotokol, in far northern Cameroon, residents and military officers said. Cameroonian troops mobilized to join the Chadians in confronting the invaders, resident journalist Ledoux Blaise Mal Moussa told The Associated Press by telephone. The ongoing battle was confirmed by Cameroonian military officers who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters. Most Fotokol residents had weeks ago fled the town which Boko Haram was using to resupply. Meanwhile, warplanes from Nigeria and jet fighters and helicopter gunships from Chad pursued a bombing campaign that has forced the Islamic fighters from more than a dozen towns in northeast Nigeria where Boko Haram declared an Islamic caliphate in August. This week's military actions mark the biggest offensive against Boko Haram in its more than five-year history and come as Nigerians prepare to vote in presidential elections Feb. 14 that are expected to be very close. African Union officials were meeting Wednesday in Cameroon to finalize a mandate for a 7,500-strong multinational force from Nigeria and its four francophone neighbors to confront the extremists who in recent months have seized more than 130 towns and villages. Those population centers lie in three of Nigeria's northeastern states bordering Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Boko Haram has held many of the towns for as long as six months. The Nigerian jets had started their bombing runs on Monday in Nigeria's Sambisa Forest, where the extremists have camps and first took nearly 300 kidnapped schoolgirls last April, witnesses said. "At night we hear distant sounds of explosions," Bulama Danbayo said by telephone from Madagali town in Adamawa state. "We were all terrified but some of the soldiers stationed here told us not to be worried, that it was soldiers that commenced bombardment of Sambisa Forest." Nigeria's spokesman on the insurgency, Mike Omeri, said in a statement Tuesday that Nigerian forces this week have "liberated from Boko Haram presence" more than a dozen towns. "This is one of many severe blows delivered to the terrorists, with more to come," he told the AP in a statement. Nigerian and Chadian military officials said they have recovered heavy weapons from Boko Haram including three armored cars, a dozen pickup trucks armed with anti-aircraft and submachine guns, and a 105mm recoilless cannon. Boko Haram captured such weapons from the Nigerian military. The presence of foreign troops on Nigerian soil does not compromise the sovereignty of Africa's most populous nation and its biggest oil producer, the Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, said this week. Still, Nigeria has been ambivalent and embarrassed by the need for foreign troops. The commander of one Chadian infantry battalion on the border, Maliki Aboubakarim, told the AP that their job will be more difficult if Nigeria does not give them carte blanche for hot-pursuit raids across the border, implying such permission is being granted piecemeal. | 5 | 6,891 | news |
If I happen to be in a drugstore on Valentine's Day, I see men of all ages standing in line to pay for those heart-shaped boxes of chocolates tucked under their arms, and I say to myself, "You can do better." By waiting until the last minute, they wind up in stores open later than others and buy chocolates that can be waxy, too sweet and filled with artificial flavorings. With a bit of planning, people seeking Valentine's Day candy can present their loved ones with something really delicious. Related: Valentine's Day Recipes and Cocktails That chocolates have taken their place as a Valentine's Day gift of choice is easy to understand. It is a sensuous food that gives instant pleasure, having a flavor and texture people truly love. In the words of cartoonist and humorist Sandra Boynton, "Research tells us that 14 out of any 10 individuals like chocolate." Her book "Chocolate: The Consuming Passion" came out in the 1980s when we believed that chocolate wasn't good for us and would buy carob from health food stores, thinking it a worthy substitute. About this practice Boynton says, "Carob can, when combined with vegetable fat and sugar, be made to approximate the color and consistency of chocolate." She adds, "Of course, the same arguments can as persuasively be made in favor of dirt." Happily, these days we are told that chocolate contains properties that are healthy, and when eaten in moderation can provide nutrients as well as pleasure. For reasons that have never been clear to me, gifts of chocolates have been assigned to what men are supposed to give to women and not the other way around. But I dare say that we all know men who like candy , just as we know women who love beefsteaks and roasts, foods thought to be the prerogative of men. With this in mind, I have suggestions for gender-free Valentine gifts bound to make almost anyone happy. Burdick Most cities and many towns have chocolate shops run by independent chocolate makers who have specialty items that make wonderful gifts and, like other businesses, these shops have online services giving everyone access to these treats. In Boston, where I live, we have Burdick candy shops, and their signature chocolate is in the shape of a little mouse filled with divine ganache . These come in your choice of dark, milk or white chocolate, and packed together in a little wooden box make charming gifts. Jacques Torres While in New York recently, I gazed into the Jacques Torres shop at Grand Central Station and understood why this famous pastry chef and chocolatier has been dubbed "Mr. Chocolate." His window was filled with stunning examples of his art including chocolate boxes filled with beautifully shaped pieces, and a clever and elegant Valentine's gift of a three-piece puzzle that, when put together, forms a heart that says "I love you." Less is more This leads me to an important point I want to make. Fine chocolate makers offer small sizes of gifts that are affordable as well as appropriate. Encased as they are in exquisite packaging, they are a far cry from those cardboard red hearts with tacky gold bows found in drugstores. That they are available in five-pound sizes does not make them better. See's If you prefer a homespun candy, then I would recommend See's Candies , a confection that was started by Charles See in Los Angeles in 1921 and is available in shops throughout the American West. Its logo is a picture of Mary See, the founder's mother, whose sweet-faced, white-haired, bespectacled image is meant to reflect the fresh and wholesome ingredients found in the company's chocolates. This brand happens to be a favorite of mine, and when Warren Buffett bought the company because he liked the product, I said to myself, "If it's good enough for Warren Buffett, it's certainly good enough for me." Like any of the shops mentioned, See's does a flourishing online business that even allows you to select only the pieces you like. This avoids the infamous practice of people squeezing and peering at chocolates found in assortments to examine their fillings, then putting them back in the box when not to their liking. Chocolate to last If a single gift of chocolates seems too minimal, then perhaps signing up with a chocolate-of-the-month club will strike you as a good idea. These deals vary in the quality of the chocolate, the varieties available and the frequency of the deliveries. You can, for instance, sign up with a company such as Godiva or Harry & David that can send out the gifts every three or even four months instead of once a month. There is something really exciting, not to mention romantic, about receiving such a gift throughout the year; in this way, the intent of Valentine's Day to express one's love is stretched out, too. Don't let your sweet tooth cloak your inner wisdom When making this rather pricey overture, however, a word of caution is in order. Make sure that your relationship is on solid ground, for what could be more galling than knowing the person who dumped you is still receiving your generous gifts. Main photo: A Valentine Day's message that needs no explanation. Credit: Barbara Haber | 0 | 6,892 | foodanddrink |
A group of Japanese petrol heads use the power of American muscle cars to cruise around the streets of Tokyo. Shot by New York born Steve Feldman, 44, the footage shows a gang of car fanatics meet up to share their love of Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge. Feldman, a translator and Japanese business consultant, said the previously maligned vehicles are gaining a new found respect in the land of the rising sun.The powerful cars in the video include a Ford Mustang GT 500, with a 'Starsky And Hutch' style stripe, a Dodge Challenger Mopar, painted in a rare furious fuchsia and a red Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible. Videographer / Director: Steve's POV Producer: Nick Johnson Editor: Kyle Waters | 8 | 6,893 | video |
Diddy is wanted by police after a fan alleged he was punched in the face by the star. According to TMZ, Steven Donaldson has claimed the 45-year-old star struck him at a Super Bowl party on Saturday night, 31 January, which the rapper was supposed to host by didn't turn up until 1:15am 1 February, and spent most of his time in the VIP area. In a video obtained by the gossip website, the accuser - who splashed out $100 for the bash - can be heard slamming Diddy and they end up face-to-face before the clip cuts out. Steven claims the star then went on to strike him and he was thrown out by security while Diddy remained at the party. According to law enforcement sources, Steven filed a battery report with police at the scene but the US record producer had left by the time they turned up. Scottsdale Police are now said to be keen to question the 'Shake Ya Tailfeather' hitmaker to get his version of events. The accuser was said to be annoyed at Diddy because he had forked out $100 to see him at the event but he seldom saw him on-stage at the bash. In December 2014, it was reported Diddy punched fellow rapper Drake during a brawl over music rights to a song outside a Miami nightclub. | 6 | 6,894 | entertainment |
Katy Perry had "no life" for six months before the Super Bowl. The 'Dark Horse' singer gave a 12-minute performance during the half-time interval at the NFL game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, 1 February, and though her set was much shorter than her usual shows, it required a lot of preparation. She said: "We love this opportunity, but once you decide you're gonna do the Super Bowl, you're gonna have no f***ing life for six months." The 30-year-old beauty admits she was very nervous about the performance - for which she was joined on stage by both Missy Elliott and Lenny Kravitz - and dreaded reading reactions afterwards. She said: "It is the biggest thing. Anyone that's ever done it has been scared s**tless. You stay off the Internet for the five days afterward." As well as undergoing a lot of rehearsal, the 30-year-old singer found preparing for the performance tough because she couldn't be the "boss" and take full control of everything. Speaking to the new issue of America's ELLE magazine, she said: "In my show, I am boss daddy. I am boss mommy. They call me 'Boss'." Everything goes through my eyes; I call all the shots, 100 percent of it." With the NFL, I have to be accountable to several levels of red tape. There are many committees I have to go through for my costumes, the budgets of my show, every interview -- everything, I have to report to somebody. So I am no longer the boss; I have to relinquish that control." | 6 | 6,895 | entertainment |
After a 20-year ban, Florida may bring back bear hunts to control a growing population of black bears that is increasingly seen as a menace in suburban neighborhoods. Four people have been injured in bear attacks in Florida since 2012, mostly in the central part of the state built on former bear habitat near the Ocala National Forest. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, meeting on Wednesday in Jacksonville, plans to discuss reopening bear hunting season as a way to manage the population, which animal rights advocates oppose as unnecessary and unpopular. Most encounters between people and bears result from homeowners leaving food out in the open, enticing bears to come into their neighborhoods, the state wildlife agency said in a report describing the current situation. "A hunt will not solve the problem. People can solve it," said Laurie Macdonald, director of the Florida chapter of the Defenders of Wildlife. Wildlife officers continue to study recent growth in the Florida black bear population, now being counted for the first time since 2002, when the number stood at about 3,000. Scott Davis, vice president of the Central Florida Dog Hunters and Sportsmans Association, said he believes the problem is exacerbated by too many bears. "They're getting pushed out of their natural area due to their overpopulation," Davis said. "That's what's pushing them to the neighborhoods." Of 41 states where black bears are found, 32 allow them to be hunted, according to the wildlife agency report. Florida black bears are a local subspecies that was nearly killed off before hunting was banned. The Humane Society of the United States on Tuesday released a survey finding that 61 percent of voters oppose a trophy bear hunt season, while just 25 percent are in favor, according to a news release. Eighty-seven percent of respondents agreed that people who live in traditional bear territory have a responsibility to use bear-proof garbage cans. A field test conducted by Florida wildlife officers found human-bear conflicts were reduced by 95 percent when residents used bear-proof cans, according to the agency's report. "Hunters won't be in the neighborhoods. They'll be killing bears deep in the woods that are not a problem," said Kate MacFall, the humane society's Florida director. (Editing by Letitia Stein and Sandra Maler) | 5 | 6,896 | news |
What is Apple Search? That's a question a lot of people will be asking over the coming months, after Cult of Mac spotted a job ad that references the as-yet-unknown service. The job summary calls for a project manager to help create "a search platform supporting hundreds of millions of users" and "play a part in revolutionizing how people use their computers and mobile devices." That could mean any number of things, but let's play a guessing game. Assuming that Apple really is building a search engine, chances are it's not likely to be a direct attack on Google -- no one is going to switch their search engine to applesearch.com, and Apple knows that. Instead, any search effort is far more likely to be baked into Siri, Safari and Spotlight, i.e. places where most won't dig through the options and change their search engine. Why? Let's look at some history. After initially being the best of friends, Apple and Google are in the midst of a not-so-cold war, thanks largely to Mountain View's decision to get involved in the smartphone battle. That's led to Apple reducing its reliance on Google, even doing things that upset its users like removing Google Maps and YouTube as default iOS apps. More subtle changes have come through Siri, which taps services like Bing, Yahoo and Wikipedia for information, rather than Google. These small changes have helped marginalize Google's hold on iOS users, and flipping the switch on Apple Search in Safari would be a continuation of its efforts in this area. A search engine would marginalize Google and Microsoft's hold on iOS users But why build your own engine when alternatives already exist? We've already established that Apple is in a quite a Google-free place right now, but it's not exactly standing on its own two feet. Its reliance on Bing, in particular, may be daunting given Microsoft is a direct competitor in many areas. Apple Search would be a good way of breaking those ties. An Apple search engine, as crazy as it sounds, could have a big impact on Google in the long run. Take a look at Firefox. Mozilla removed Google as the default search provider for its browser just a few months ago, and it's already led to Google's marketshare dropping sharply, according to StatCounter . Even though users have the option to set their default search engine, usage of Google on Firefox fell from 82 percent to 64 percent over the past three months. Applying the same tactic to Safari would seriously affect Google's marketshare. The average Engadget reader might have Chrome installed on their iPhone, but the vast majority of users still use Safari for their iOS browsing. Of course, we need to temper this speculation with the fact that no one knows exactly what Apple Search is. It could just be a refined Spotlight device search, or even an internal tool written up by an over-zealous recruiter (the word "revolutionize" appears in no less than 43 Apple job ads right now). But, with over a billion iOS devices out in the wild, responsible for a lot of searches, a search engine would be an easy way for Apple to pitch a tent in Google's backyard. Apple Jobs (top result) | 3 | 6,897 | finance |
Apple appears to be testing a pool of cars near San Francisco that are equipped with powerful camera rigs. A Claycord blog has published photos of a car that CBS affiliate KPIX 5 has confirmed is leased to Apple. The mysterious cars have been spotted a number of times over the past several months in and around San Francisco. A video, published on YouTube in September, also shows a complex camera rig mounted on the roof of a similar Dodge minivan in New York. Both of the cars near San Francisco and New York appear to be equipped with the same LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) camera system. LIDAR has been used extensively by Google, Nokia, and others to map out imagery for Street View services. The technology is also used in some adaptive cruise control implementations to monitor distances between vehicles and automatically apply the brakes on a car. It's possible that Apple is using LIDAR to create its own Street View rival, or at least testing that scenario. Apple's car also includes the same wheel sensor that Navteq used on its Bing cars previously to create street imagery for Microsoft's mapping service. Could Apple be creating a Google Street View rival? Apple has been gradually improving its mapping service since it controversially dropped Google Maps as the default maps app for iOS more than two years ago. Inaccurate listings, poor 3D imagery, and bad driving directions plagued the service initially, but things have improved. Apple Maps still lacks a rival to Google's Street View, but if Apple is planning its own then it faces a daunting task to match Google's comprehensive coverage. A test in New York and San Francisco isn't enough to map all of the world's streets. Google also uses LIDAR cameras to help power its self-driving cars. Google's system is mounted on top of its fleet of cars and the camera spins constantly to evaluate its surroundings. In the video published on YouTube, you can see a spinning camera system at the rear of the vehicle. While it's possible Apple may be testing its own self-driving car, the company doesn't have a permit to test them yet. As KPIX 5 points out, that doesn't mean Apple couldn't partner with an authorized car company to test them initially. With Apple refusing to comment on the cars, it looks like these curious vehicles will remain a mystery for now. | 5 | 6,898 | news |
No matter how tight our budgets or how stringent we think we are with our spending, it can seem like our money just evaporates. Instead of cutting out whole aspects of your life, it can be a good idea to consider specific things you consistently overspend on and try to cut back or find cheaper alternatives. Check below for some of the most common stuff many of us spend too much money on. 1. Banking This is one is easy to forget about. You choose a bank or credit union and stay put for years, decades or, well, forever. But there may be options out there for you that will charge fewer fees and/or pay more interest. It can be a good idea to do your research to choose the right bank for your current needs that keeps maintenance, ATM, minimum balance and inactivity fees low. It may be time to consider other options or challenge your current financial institution to give you a better deal. 2. Water Buying bottled water might be convenient, but it hurts the environment and your pocket. Even buying just five $1 bottles a week adds up to roughly $300 a year for a beverage you could be getting for (almost) free. It can be a good idea to switch to a filtered water pitcher and reusable bottle. Your wallet and Mother Earth will thank you. 3. Insurance Having insurance policies in place is important, but if you are not careful about picking just the right one for you, your finances can suffer. There is a good chance you may be paying for insurance coverage or warranty protection you don't really need , so it's important to review all of your policies carefully and see what is truly worth the cost. 4. Medication If you are under the weather or suffering from a long-term health condition, you are likely willing to spend almost anything to get better. But, it could be costing you more than you need to spend. If you regularly buy prescription and over-the-counter drugs, it's a good idea to consider forgoing the name brand and finding a cheaper generic option with the same active ingredients and strength. (Of course, always check with your doctor before making a change like this.) 5. Cable A premium cable or satellite package can run hundreds of dollars a month, and even the basic option is often north of $50 a month. If you know the shows you like and can find them using cheaper streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu Plus, you may find yourself with extra cash for something else in your life. 6. Your Debt The lifetime cost of debt is staggering . While you may not be able to avoid debt entirely throughout your life, you can help reduce its impact on your wallet by making sure you maintain good credit scores so you can qualify for the best interest rates when you do have to borrow money. Whether these examples apply or not, it's a good idea to review your personal expenses. Finding the areas where you are habitually spending unnecessarily can make a big difference to your bottom line. This article originally appeared on Credit.com . | 3 | 6,899 | finance |
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