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UMass excited to battle Miami (Ohio) in home opener

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:08 GMT

The UMass Minutemen got road tough in a hurry.UMass opened the 2023 season on Aug. 26 with an inspiring 41-30 win at New Mexico State. Last Saturday the Minutemen tried to take a big bite out of the SEC apple but got more than they could chew. After a slow start, the Auburn Tigers dispatched UMass 59-14 before a capacity crowd at historic Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala.“We were playing a very good opponent, an SEC caliber opponent and we need to play better for things to happen,” said UMass second-year coach Don Brown.“But what we really needed to happen was to take care of the ball and that’s a complementary thing that didn’t happen in any phase.”After securing a road split, the Minutemen return to McGuirk Stadium on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) to engage Miami (Ohio) in the most anticipated home opener in years. UMass had gone 1-11 the last two seasons under Walt Bell and Brown. But the win over the Aggies in Las Cruces, N.M., was an early indicator that the Minutemen are no longer in...

Only media report spurred Yukon to tell parents of sexual abuse in a school: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:08 GMT

WHITEHORSE — Yukon’s ombudsman says the territory’s government had a policy and legal duty to notify parents at a school where a child was sexually assaulted, instead it delayed revealing the information for 19 months. Ombudsman Jason Pedlar and investigator Rick Smith concluded in a report issued Thursday that the delay to tell parents at Hidden Valley Elementary School was unwarranted and unfairly denied them an opportunity to take steps to help their children. The investigation found the Yukon government “did an about-face” and shared information with parents on the case in August 2021 only after CBC published a report weeks earlier about a civil lawsuit alleging an education assistant had sexually assaulted a student. The education assistant pleaded guilty to sexual interference in late 2020 and was sentenced in January 2021, months before parents learned of the criminal charge. In a written response, Yukon Education Minister Jeanie McLean says the result...

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem expected to endorse Trump

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:08 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is expected to endorse Donald Trump’s presidential campaign when he travels to her state for a Republican fundraiser on Friday.Trump will appear in Rapid City for an event hosted by the state’s GOP, and Noem is expected to introduce and endorse Trump, according to a senior Republican who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans.Noem’s spokesman Ian Fury said only that the event should be watched for such a development.The Republican governor has been coy about her endorsement plans, telling Fox News only that “you’ll hear something from me, too.”CNN first reported news of the endorsement.When Trump was asked Thursday whether Noem will endorse him, he said, “I don’t know exactly.” “But I am going,” he said. “I like her a lot. I think she’s great. Kristi’s done a great job.” He praised her for taking a hands-off approach to pandemic restrictions and at times encouraging people to resume mass gatherings...

Robbery suspect who eluded capture in a vehicle, on a bike and a sailboat arrested, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:08 GMT

GEORGIA, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont armed robbery suspect who police say eluded capture in the past week in a vehicle, on a stolen bike, on foot and in a stolen sailboat was arrested Thursday after he was spotted in a kayak on a river, authorities said. Eric Edson, 52, was wanted for the robbery of a store in Burlington on Aug. 24, impeding and assaulting two police officers, and the theft of a sailboat and vehicles, police said. “Because of the unusualness of Mr. Edson’s various modes of flight, from cars to bikes to paddle boards to sailboats to tractors, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Mr. Edson is a dangerous person,” Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said Wednesday. On Aug. 30, Burlington police responded to a man passed out in a running vehicle that matched the description of one used in a robbery a week before, they said. When officers roused him, he fled at a high rate of speed, assaulting both officers with the vehicle, police said. That evening, he fled police on foot a...

Chicago to move migrants from police stations to tent camps before winter under mayor’s plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:08 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Nearly 1,600 migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. will be relocated from Chicago police stations to winterized camps with massive tents under a plan by Mayor Brandon Johnson, according to a report released Thursday.The relocations will occur “before the weather begins to shift and change,” Johnson said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.The tents could hold up to 1,000 migrants, he said, and the camps would provide meals and recreational and educational programming.Sixteen city shelters now house 13,500 migrants, with more arriving every day, at a cost to the city of about $30 million per month the newspaper reported.Johnson’s administration is working with the state and Cook County to create more shelters to relieve some of the pressure on Chicago, he said.“These families are coming to the city of Chicago. . . . If we do not create an infrastructure where we’re able to support and, quite frankly, contain these individuals who have experienced a great dea...

Teens killed in car by deputy in upstate New York were 15 and 17, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:08 GMT

DEWITT, N.Y. (AP) — Two Black teenagers fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy in upstate New York as he tried to stop a stolen vehicle were 15 and 17 years old, authorities said Thursday.The deputy was in danger of being run over when he fired three shots into the vehicle near Syracuse on Wednesday morning, the Onondaga County sheriff said. Two of three people in the car were killed.The sheriff’s office identified the slain teens as Dhal Pothwi Apet, 17, and Lueth Mo, 15, of Syracuse.Pothwei Bangoshoth posted on Facebook that Apet was his son.“The traditional killing of the young people of colour is not something new in the US. RIP,” Bangoshoth posted. Noting that the deputy’s body camera was off when the shooting happened, he wrote, “Justice needs to be served accordingly.”The deputy was investigating a burglary at a nearby smoke shop in DeWitt, a suburb of Syracuse, when he responded to a 911 call about a group of people who had been seen transferring items between ...

Australian police are alleging a man killed a work colleague before fatally shooting himself

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:08 GMT

PERTH, Australia (AP) — A man who allegedly killed a colleague at an Australian grain silo Thursday died after turning the gun on himself, police said.The 25-year-old shot a man in his 40s at the silo in the town of Kellerberrin at about 8.40 a.m. and then fled the area, the Western Australia Police Force said.The police force issued an active shooter alert to warn members of the public to remain indoors as a search for the suspect got under way.The gunman was believed to be armed, dressed in camouflage clothing and on the move north of the town, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of Perth, the Western Australia state capital, police said. A suspect was eventually located in a farm paddock about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Kellerberrin, Western Australian Police Regional Commander Rod Wilde said. Police on Thursday night said the 25-year-old had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.“Police were negotiating,” the commander told reporters, saying they had been talking to the ma...

California lawmakers vote to fast-track low-income housing on churches’ lands

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:08 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are considering nearly 1,000 bills during the hectic final two weeks of the Legislative session. Here’s action taken by the California Legislature Thursday:AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON CHURCHES’ LANDSReligious institutions and nonprofit colleges in California could soon turn their parking lots and other properties into low-income housing to help combat the ongoing homeless crisis, lawmakers voted on Thursday.The legislation would rezone land owned by nonprofit colleges and religious institutions, such as churches, mosques, and synagogues, to allow for affordable housing. They would be able to bypass most local permitting and environmental review rules that can be costly and lengthy. California is home to 171,000 homeless people — about 30% of all homeless people in the U.S. The crisis has sparked a movement among religious institutions, dubbed “yes in God’s backyard,” or “YIGBY,” in cities across the state, with a number of projects alre...

Joliet church owes SEC $300K, asking community for donations to help pay off debt

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:08 GMT

JOLIET, Ill. -- Leaders of Messiah Lutheran Church in Joliet are praying for a miracle to keep the doors open after learning they owe the federal government hundreds of thousands of dollars by November.Messiah Lutheran Church has been around for more than 120 years and now are looking for help from the community to help raise $300,000 by Nov. 15. If they don't the church will be forced to close its doors.In 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against a local business claiming the business defrauded numerous investors.As part of that litigation, a receiver for the SEC was appointed to recoup money the business paid others, which included more than $780,000 in donations to Messiah Lutheran Church over ten years.Messiah Lutheran Church’s senior pastor Kurt Hoover says the money was spent on salaries, ministry, and daily operations."As a church you don’t have much of a reserve fund," Pastor Hoover said. "You’re really spending as much as you can every year on y...

Skilling: Cloudy, cooler temps continue into the weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:08 GMT

THE COOLING TREND CONTINUES—and temps have moved into a BELOW NORMAL phase which is to hold each of the coming 9 days.  A TASTE OF AUTUMN IS ON ITS WAYIn fact, the season's first LAKE EFFECT RAIN SHOWERS are possible overnight into Friday morning as "NNE" winds runs southward the length of Lake Michigan give them plenty of time to entrain lake moisture.Lake effect precip occurs when you have the full fetch winds I just mentioned---but ALSO when cool air sweeps over COMPARATIVELY WARM lake waters---precisely the set up taking shape tonight.  Water temps average out to 73-deg while temps later tonight will have dropped to 46 degrees just a mile above. That steep vertical drop in temps—what meteorologists refer to as a "steep adiabatic lapse rate"---encourages lake warmed air to become buoyant and to rise, cooling as it does. This sets the stage for cloud—and ultimately scattered shower development.  Later in the season, when temps grow cold, this is the type of meteorologica...