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Acuña and Albies hit consecutive HRs in Braves’ 7-0 win over Marlins

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:25:28 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuña and Ozzie Albies homered as part of a six-run first inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 7-0 on Saturday as major league batting leader Luis Arraez saw his average dip to .388.Charlie Morton (8-6) struck out five in 5 2/3 innings and scattered four hits and one walk in winning his third consecutive start.Kirby Yates, Nick Anderson, Ben Heller, and Joe Jiménez completed the shutout for the Braves out of the bullpen.Matt Olson went 2 for 4 with a run scored, and Austin Riley was 2 for 4 with two runs scored for the Braves, who have outscored the Marlins 23-4 in the first two games of the series.The Braves have won 23 of their last 27 games and lead the second-place Marlins by eight games in the NL East.Marlins rookie Eury Pérez (5-4), who entered the game with an MLB-best 21-inning scoreless streak and a 1.34 ERA, lasted just a third of an inning, giving up six runs and seven hits. He threw 35 pitches.Arraez went 1 for 4. He is 3 for 16 over...

Harvard students protest Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:25:28 GMT

Harvard University students gathered on campus Saturday to protest the Supreme Court’s ruling that race should not be considered during college admissions.The court took up affirmative action in response to challenges at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. Lower courts upheld admission systems at both schools, rejecting claims that the schools discriminated against white and Asian American applicants. But at Supreme Court arguments in late October, all six conservative justices expressed doubts about the practice, which had been upheld under Supreme Court decisions reaching back to 1978, and as recently as 2016.The rally in favor of affirmative action drew dozens of people to Harvard, many of whom brought signs with slogans in support of considering a candidate’s race in admissions. In a statement, the university said, “Harvard must always be a place of opportunity, a place whose doors remain open to those to whome they had long been closed....

Frustrated Orioles fans on shifting streaming models: MASN, Apple, Peacock, where’s the game?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:25:28 GMT

Steve Weiner’s Orioles-watching routine was as predictable as the seventh-inning stretch. Or so he thought.In this most promising of seasons, the Pikesville retiree takes comfort in the summerlong habit of settling in to watch games on a known network with broadcasters as familiar as old friends. But this season, with a half-dozen Orioles games having shifted from the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network to streaming networks — and the traditional cable TV sports model in transition — Weiner and many other fans feel like the diamond is shifting under their feet.On a typical evening, Weiner will sit with his wife on their reclining love seat, turn on MASN and watch the games on their flat-screen TV. Except that on a recent Friday, Weiner learned the Orioles-Kansas City Royals contest was available only on the Apple TV+ streaming channel, while MASN showed kickboxing and other “fight sports.”In a fighting mood himself, Weiner, 71, dashed off a complaint to the Ori...

True team effort propels Red Sox to gutsy Canada Day comeback win over Blue Jays

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:25:28 GMT

After a frustrating June in which bad weather and befuddling baseball were the only constants, the Red Sox were ready to turn the calendar page.But on the first of July, their inconsistencies made for a long and arduous road to a tight 7-6 victory.Nothing has come easy for Boston’s baseball club lately, and that was the case in Toronto on Saturday. The sixth meeting between the division rivals overflowed with tense and worrisome moments, including Kutter Crawford getting hit by a comebacker, Masataka Yoshida taking a 102 mph pitch to his right leg by the knee, and the entire bullpen portion of the day, right down to the last out.How did the Red Sox get the job done and improve to 6-0 against the Blue Jays on Canada Day?Teamwork.As obstacles and challenges arose throughout three-plus hours of play, the Red Sox stepped up for one another. In doing so, they came away with one of the gutsiest, grittiest, most entertaining wins of the year.“The offense had my back,” Cra...

UN chief says Haiti urgently needs international security force and humanitarian aid

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:25:28 GMT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres visited Haiti on Saturday and again called on foreign governments with strong security forces to help the struggling country fight a surge in gang violence.The appeal was made after Guterres met with Prime Minister Ariel Henry, civil society leaders, U.N. staff and the heads of various political parties during his one-day trip.“Now is not the time to forget Haiti or weaken our solidarity with its people,” he said.Guterres met with reporters at Haiti’s international airport in Port-au-Prince, who pressed him on whether an international security force would be deployed as requested by the prime minister last October.Guterres said he spoke about the issue with Henry, as well as the need to hold credible elections.“I am not here to tell Haitians what to do. I am here to listen to them and to encourage them to build consensus as broadly as possible to move the transition process forward,” he said.Henry, who has been run...

NASCAR Cup Series drivers praise setting for 1st street race in downtown Chicago

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:25:28 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Before NASCAR raced in the Los Angeles Coliseum in 2022, Kevin Harvick thought it was going to be a disaster. It didn’t take very long for the event to win him over.Heading into the Cup Series’ first street race, Harvick is keeping an open mind.“Going through all these new types of events kind of changes your mindset to how you approach it,” he said, “because you see the enthusiasm, right, like you can feel it, you can see it.”After months of hype and curiosity, the NASCAR Cup Series hits the streets of downtown Chicago on Sunday at the end of a big weekend for the sport that includes concerts and other entertainment.The 12-turn, 2.2-mile course includes seven 90-degree turns. There are lots of ways to get into trouble, including manhole covers, and transitions from concrete to asphalt and back. Getting in and out of pit road in front of Buckingham Fountain could become an issue, and restarts also could be an adventure.“It’s obviously narrow in secti...

NASCAR postpones Saturday's Chicago Street Race due to inclement weather

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:25:28 GMT

CHICAGO — NASCAR has announced that Saturday's Xfinity Series’ Loop 121 street race has been postponed due to weather and lightning in the downtown Chicago area.The race will now resume at 10 a.m., with gates opening to the general public at 9 a.m.While NASCAR officials had hoped to complete the event on Saturday, asking spectators to take shelter and any necessary precautions while inclement weather passed, the decision was made just after 6:30 p.m. to suspend the Loop 121 street race until Sunday. What happens if bad weather hits the NASCAR Chicago Street Races? Severe weather was a cause of concern as Chicago was set to hold the inaugural Chicago Street Race weekend. WGN meteorologist Mike Janssen said there was a 50% chance of storms for Saturday when the Xfinity Race was scheduled to start at 4 p.m.While some NASCAR races have continued in the rain, lightning in the area proved too great a hurdle for drivers.If this computer forecast model is close to accurate, racing tomor...

Texas couple sues over historical balcony tied to KKK

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:25:28 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — A couple in central Texas is suing the city of San Marcos over a century-old metal balcony on their home. On the balcony is the initial of a previous homeowner who had historical ties to the Ku Klux Klan. The letter "Z" is at the center of the lawsuit. Kristy Money and her husband Rolf Straubhaar are taking on the City of San Marcos and its Director of Planning and Development Services. These are the ‘least hot’ cities in Texas "It doesn't represent our family's values," Money said. History of the "Z"The metal decor sits on top of a balcony on their home in the Burleson Historic District. According to the lawsuit, previous homeowner Frank Zimmerman installed it. Money said it wasn't until she did more research into Frank Zimmerman that she found out about his ties with the KKK. (Photo: KXAN) Money said it wasn't until she did more research into Frank Zimmerman that she found out about his ties with the KKK. (Photo: KXAN) Money said she and her husband d...

Anti-Trump video shared by DeSantis campaign is 'homophobic,' says conservative LGBT group

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:25:28 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A prominent group that represents LGBT conservatives says a video shared by Ron DeSantis ′ presidential campaign that slams rival Donald Trump for his past support of gay and transgender people “ventured into homophobic territory.”The “DeSantis War Room” Twitter account shared the video on Friday — the last day of June's LGBTQ+ Pride Month — that features footage of Trump at the Republican National Convention in 2016 saying he would “do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens." Trump had been pledging protection from terrorist attacks weeks after the shootings at the Pulse Nightclub, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at that time.The video also highlights "LGBTQ for Trump" T-shirts sold by the former president's campaign and his past comments saying he would be comfortable with Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic decathlete who came out as a transgender woman in 201...

State of Texas: Families, inmates raise concerns about dangerous heat for Texas prisoners

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:25:28 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — A 35-year-old inmate died of cardiac arrest on the morning of June 23 while mowing a field at the Goree Unit in Huntsville, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed Tuesday.TDCJ identified the deceased inmate as Tommy McCullough from McKinney, Texas. McCullough's family is seeking more information as they raise concerns over the conditions during the summer heat."We received a call yesterday afternoon that he passed away due to a heat stroke because he was made to stay out mowing even with heat advisory and very minimal water," McCullough's sisters said. "If you have a loved one in the Texas prison system, please check on them."In Texas' state jails, the inmates are sentenced to just two years or less. But every summer, former inmate Maggie Luna remembers, the women inside worried their short sentences may take their life."All of these women that were suffering with me had not a lot of time, and they feared that they were getting death sentences," she sa...