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Tonga’s Vaea Fifita to miss last two Rugby World Cup pool games in red card ban

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:31 GMT

NICE, France (AP) — Tonga No. 8 Vaea Fifita was suspended for their last two Rugby World Cup pool games against South Africa and Romania on Tuesday for his red card.Fifita shoulder-charged the head of Scotland’s Finn Russell in a ruck near the end of a pool match that Scotland won 45-17 on Sunday in Nice.Fifita was yellow-carded at the time and it was upgraded to red after the match by a bunker review. At his judicial hearing on Tuesday, the former All Black admitted to foul play but challenged the red card.The panel said it was always illegal and there was no mitigation. The charge was reckless with a high degree of danger, the panel added.It started the sanction at six matches and removed two for Fifita’s remorse and disciplinary record.His four-game ban included the Pool B games against South Africa on Sunday and Romania on Oct. 8, and two club games for Scarlets.___AP Rugby World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/rugbySource

LSU’s Kim Mulkey is publicizing a health scare to promote cardiovascular screening

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:31 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Kim Mulkey, the coach of defending national champion LSU, is publicizing that she had two stents put in a major artery this summer as she tries to promote screening for life-threatening arterial blockages.Mulkey, 61, was not having obvious symptoms of a blockage when she asked for imaging to check on a half-decade-old disc procedure in her neck, she said in recent media interviews.That’s when a radiologist noticed what looked like arterial plaque buildup and told her to see a cardiologist, who determined there was a blockage of 95% to 99%.Mulkey had stents put in by catheter in late June and has fully resumed coaching activities, overseeing the first practice for the 2023-24 season, which was open to fans. “It’s not going to slow me down,” Mulkey told The Advocate of Baton Rouge. “I can’t do at 61 what I did at 23, but I’m good.”This summer, the Hall of Fame coach agreed to a 10-year contract worth about $32 million that would have her calling out...

Elk causes car to crash, another to roll over on I-25

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:31 GMT

WELD COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — A driver struck an elk on Interstate 25 just north of Highway 66 early Saturday morning. Rick Tillery with Mountain View Fire Rescue said the crash happened around 3:43 a.m. in the southbound lanes of I-25.  Deadly weekend for pedestrians as Colorado fatalities reach all-time high “This is the first time that I’ve heard of a 7 by 7 elk being hit on Interstate 25 down here outside of the foothills,” Tillery said.He said a second car swerved to avoid the elk and flipped. No one was seriously injured.A driver struck an elk on I-25 just north of Highway 66 early Saturday morning. (Courtesy: Mountain View Fire Rescue)A driver struck an elk on I-25 just north of Highway 66 early Saturday morning. (Courtesy: Mountain View Fire Rescue)A driver struck an elk on I-25 just north of Highway 66 early Saturday morning. (Courtesy: Mountain View Fire Rescue)"It really is incredible when you’re looking at these photos to know that no one came aw...

What to know about Elijah McClain's death and the criminal trial of 2 officers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:31 GMT

DENVER (AP) — The trial of two Aurora police officers charged in Elijah McClain’s death resumed Tuesday as prosecutors press their case that excessive force transformed the late-night stop of the Black man in the summer of 2019 into a fatal encounter.Criminal charges were brought in 2021 after a national racial reckoning over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police galvanized criticism over law enforcement abuses against Black people and revived interest in McClain's case. Aurora police warn of card-tapping scam The officers put McClain in a neck hold during the stop, and McClain can be heard on body camera footage saying he's having trouble breathing. Defense attorneys argue the officers were correctly performing their duties before paramedics gave McClain an overdose of a powerful sedative that led to complications causing his death.A defense attorney suggested Tuesday that McClain’s attempts to resist the officers also could have contributed to his death by making it h...

Florida man attacked by rabid otter on road to recovery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:31 GMT

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLA. (WSVN) – A Florida man is on the road to recovery after a terrifying encounter with a rabid otter left him with multiple bite wounds. Joseph Scaglione, an avid bird feeder, was going about his usual routine last Wednesday morning, feeding the birds that congregated outside his backyard gate.“I normally go out and feed ducks in the back… Ducks, geese, Ibis,” Scaglione said.However, on that day, everything took a sudden turn. The birds he was feeding abruptly scattered, leaving him puzzled. Scaglione recounted the shocking moment when he noticed a “brown head sticking up over the bank of the pond,” initially unaware it was an otter.Scaglione started slowly backing towards his gate, but as he reached to close it, the otter launched a sudden attack, causing him to trip and fall. The otter bit him 41 times on his legs, hands and arms.“My pinky is the worst… I have two puncture wounds. I’m not sure if it goes r...

3-year-old released from hospital after accidentally shooting hand with gun left unattended at home in SW Miami-Dade

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:31 GMT

A 3-year-old girl on Tuesday was released from the hospital after she accidentally shot herself in the hand with a gun that was left unattended at a home.According to Serenity’s grandmother, the child was released from Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and returned home where she is now resting after receiving surgery on her hand. Surveillance video on Sunday showed the moment Serenity ran to a couch and grabbed the gun. A woman seen sitting on the couch is disabled and unable to move.As she began playing with the gun, she accidentally fired the gun and shot her hand. One family member was arrested in connection to the unattended gun at the home. Orlando Young, 23, is now facing charges of child neglect resulting in great bodily harm.

State lawmakers introduce tax relief plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:31 GMT

Top state lawmakers on Tuesday revealed a long-awaited plan to provide tax relief to families across Massachusetts, detailing a number of changes aimed at making life in Massachusetts more affordable. The plan would provide roughly $561 million in relief in the current fiscal year, with more than $1 billion in relief expected by the 2027 fiscal year, as reported by the State House New Service. Relief measures in the plan include an envisioned increase to the state’s child and dependent tax credit from $180 to $310 for this year. The credit would increase again in 2024, making Massachusetts’s child and dependent credit the most generous in the country. Relief measures would also increase Massachusetts’ earned income tax credit from 30% to 40% of the federal credit. Among other measures is a plan to cap the rental deduction from $3,000 to $4,000 in a move that is expected to impact 800,000 renters. “This tax relief bill will help alleviate many, many financial...

Mass. lawmakers, advocates discuss proposed ‘Harmony Commission’ named in memory of Harmony Montgomery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:31 GMT

State leaders and advocates met on Beacon Hill Tuesday to discuss efforts to protect children in a hearing in honor of Harmony Montgomery — a young girl last seen in 2019 but not reported missing until 2021. Montgomery was originally in Massachusetts state custody before she was handed over to her father in New Hampshire. Authorities have since said Harmony’s father, Adam, allegedly killed his daughter. Now hoping to form the “Harmony Commission” state leaders are hoping to make sure what happened to Harmony does not happen to other children. “Right now, a priority is looking at the reunification of the child with its family,” said State Sen. Michael Moore. “Reunification doesn’t always necessarily mean the best safety and welfare of the child.” The Harmony Commission would work to balance the rights of parents with the needs of children. Speaking to the Committee on Children and Families on Tuesday, Blair Miller said such balance did not happen in Harmony’s cas...

Fishing crew responds to distress call, rescues man who fell off oil tanker near Boston coast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:31 GMT

A fishing vessel returning to port due to rough conditions was able to turn around and pull a man from the water after he fell from an oil tanker near the Boston coast, authorities said.The United States Coast Guard said a mayday call from the MTM Dublin was issued around 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday after someone went overboard.At the same time, a fishing vessel named “America” was on its way back to port due to inclement weather, according to its captain. But when the call made its way to the ship, he said the America turned back to do what it could.“[Our’s] was the closest boat, so we tried our best to do our best,” Bryant Moulton told 7NEWS.He said his crew worked in pitch black conditions using flashlights before, by chance, they located the man in the water“I saw that they had thrown a couple life rings with buoys on them, with lights on them, so I proceeded to those and there was no body, so we looked around the area and kept looking and finally, w...

Orioles closer Félix Bautista throws live bullpen for 1st time since injuring elbow, but timeline still unknown

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:31 GMT

Félix Bautista took another step Tuesday toward returning from his elbow injury, but Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said the closer’s timeline is still murky.Bautista threw a live bullpen — pitching on the mound at Camden Yards and facing a hitter — for the first time since he partially tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow one month ago Tuesday. The right-hander had thrown bullpen sessions in recent weeks as he attempts to ramp up for a postseason return, but Hyde said after Bautista’s live session that he still has “no idea” when or if the All-Star closer can return this season.“We’re running out of time a little bit and he’s going to need to get on the mound more often,” Hyde said. “He’s thrown a couple of bullpens; this was his first time experimenting against a hitter on the mound. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow and just make decisions on a daily basis.”Bautista threw 25 pitc...