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Senate snubs online lottery push in proposed fiscal 2024 state budget

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

Senate leaders threw cold water on a push to legalize online lottery sales as part of the state’s fiscal 2024 budget, saying the House and Gov. Maura Healey-backed provision “needs more time to be vetted.”The Senate unveiled a $55.8 billion budget proposal Tuesday morning, a week after the state reported a massive drop in tax revenues for the month of April that has since pushed parallel debates on tax reform to the forefront of the Beacon Hill agenda.Senate Ways and Means Chair Rep. Michael Rodrigues said the state lottery consistently sets revenue records, a point he used to squash concerns the gambling service would fall victim to the rise of digital sports betting.“We’ve also heard very clearly from our current lottery agents, all of the convenience stores that are currently servicing that, that they have issues with online lottery,” Rodrigues told reporters. “We don’t think it will generate the type of revenue that they’re proposing to generate.”House leaders included online lo...

Denny Crum, who coached Louisville to 2 NCAA titles, dies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Denny Crum, who won two NCAA men’s basketball championships and built Louisville into one of the 1980s’ dominant programs during a Hall of Fame coaching career, died Tuesday. He was 86.The school announced Crum’s death in a release after being informed by his wife, Susan. No cause was given, but Crum had battled an extended illness. He had a mild stroke in August 2017 while fishing in Alaska and another two years two ago.Nicknamed “Cool Hand Luke” because of his cool, unflinching sideline demeanor — legend has it he never uttered a curse word — Crum retired in March 2001 after 30 seasons at Louisville with 675 victories, which ranked 15th all-time then, and championships in 1980 and ’86. The disciple of legendary UCLA coach John Wooden often wore a red sport coat and waved a rolled-up stat sheet like a bandleader’s baton as he directed Louisville to 23 NCAA tournaments and six Final Fours.The second half of his tenure was not nearly as successful as the ...

Russia’s wildfire death toll rises to 21 in Ural Mountains

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — The death toll from wildfires in Russia’s Ural Mountains rose to 21 Tuesday, Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing local emergency service agencies. Wildfires have raged in the Kurgan region of the Urals and in Siberia all week. A resident of western Siberia’s Tyumen province died while attempting to extinguish a fire. According to local authorities, most of the deaths occurred Sunday in the Kurgan province village of Yuldus, which is located on the border between the Ural Mountains and Siberia. “The death toll may increase,” regional emergency service officials said.A state of emergency was introduced in the province, where more than 5,000 buildings have burned down. Fires also have engulfed thousands of hectares (acres) in Sverdlovsk province, and in Siberia’s Omsk and Tyumen provinces. During a Monday visit to Kurgan province, Russia’s emergency situations minister of Emergency Situations said settlements were no longer at risk from...

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 3 senior militants, 12 others

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel carried out a series of targeted airstrikes in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing three senior commanders of the Islamic Jihad militant group in their homes and at least 10 civilians, Palestinian health officials said. Two of the commanders’ wives, several of their children and other bystanders were among the dead.The attacks set the stage for what is likely to be a new round of heavy fighting. The airstrikes blew out the top floor of an apartment building, a house in Gaza City and a third house in the southern town of Rafah. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 20 people were wounded, and that some were in serious or critical condition. Israel said it also targeted several militant training sites before the airstrikes halted at daybreak. After an hourslong lull, the Israeli military said it struck militants driving anti-tank guided missiles to a launch site in the enclave’s southern city of Khan Younis. T...

She wrote book on husband’s death; police say she killed him

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — After her husband died last year, she wrote a children’s book on grief. Now she’s charged with murder in his death.Kouri Richins, 33, was arrested Monday and is accused in charging documents of poisoning her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl at their home in Kamas, a small mountain town near Park City.The murder charges come months after Richins self-published “Are you with me?” — an illustrated storybook about a young boy wondering about his father’s presence in his life after the father dies.Prosecutors allege Richins called authorities in the middle of the night in March 2022 to report that her husband, Eric Richins, was “cold to the touch.” She told officers she had made her husband a mixed drink to celebrate him selling a home. She then went to soothe one of their children to sleep in the next bedroom. She later returned and, upon finding her husband unresponsive, called 911.A medical examiner later found five times the lethal dosage of fentanyl...

Smoke from Alberta wildfires spreading through Canada and parts of the United States

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

Smoke from dozens of active wildfires in central Alberta is spreading across the country and in some parts of the United States.A map created by AirNow that tracks wildfires and air quality in North America shows the smoke from Alberta reaching the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario and New England.AirNow’s partners include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Park Service, as well as several local agencies. More than 29,000 people in Alberta have been ordered to leave their homes in recent days.There are 89 active wildfires burning as of this morning, with 26 listed as out of control.A coronation celebration originally planned for Saturday at the University of Alberta Botanic Garden has been cancelled due to the fires. Premier Danielle Smith has said military personnel are to be deployed to prevent looting and maintain order in evacuated communities. The provincial government has announced one-time payment...

Review: In ‘Still,’ Michael J. Fox moving tells his story

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

I’ve always liked Michael J. Fox and always will. I suspect most people feel the same way. That’s surely partly because, as Marty McFly in “Back to the Future” and Alex P. Keaton in “Family Ties,” Fox was a fixture of so many childhoods. But there’s also a way that Fox remains forever boyish — a charming pipsqueak, a plucky kid with a touch less confidence than he lets on. His sheer geniality and universal appeal has remained indomitable, even in the face of a degenerative brain disorder. “I’m a cockroach,” Fox says in Davis Guggenheim’s glossy, entertaining and often affecting documentary, “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie.” In Guggenheim’s film, Fox recounts his life, career and arduous battle with Parkinson’s disease, with which he was diagnosed at age 29. The documentary, debuting Friday on Apple TV+, does this through candid on-camera interviews with Fox along with narration read by the actor. And while there’s footage of here ...

Missing Blue Jays 50/50 winner comes forward to claim $2.8 million jackpot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

It took a little over a week, but the winner of the Blue Jays’ 50/50 draw at their game on April 11 has come forward to claim her $2.8 million prize.The Jays Care Foundation says Deb from the Hamilton region was the lucky winner after purchasing 250 tickets, worth $100, during the game versus the Detroit Tigers.The winner was announced on May 1, but no one came forward originally and everyone at the game was asked to check their ticket. It took a week but Deb has finally collected her prize.According to the foundation, Deb refers to herself as “the Blue Jays’ number one fan” and has been a Jays Care supporter for many years.“This draw is not only life-changing for her but also for the thousands of kids in Jays Care programs who will benefit from the $2.89 million that will be invested in programs across the province for youth who are traditionally left on the sidelines,” said Jays Care executive director Robert Witchel in a statement.The entire pr...

Pakistan’s ex-PM Imran Khan arrested, sparking violence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested and dragged from court Tuesday as he appeared to face charges in multiple graft cases, a dramatic escalation of political tensions that sparked violent demonstrations by his angry supporters across the country.The arrest of Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 but remains the leading opposition figure, represented the latest confrontation to roil Pakistan, which has seen former prime ministers arrested over the years and interventions by its powerful military.At least one person was reported killed in clashes between protesters and the military in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, with another five people wounded there, while about 15 injuries were reported amid similar violence in Karachi, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore. Police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrations.Amid the violence, officials at Pakistan’s telecommunication authority said regulators blocked social media,...

DA tweaks Jonathan Majors’ charge, lawyer says he’s innocent

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Actor Jonathan Majors was confronted Tuesday with a revised domestic violence charge stemming from a woman’s allegations that the Marvel star twisted her arm, struck her head and shoved her into a vehicle in New York City in March.Majors, appearing by video, did not enter a plea to the misdemeanor assault charge and said little else at the arraignment, which lasted all of three minutes. Prosecutors say the charge was rewritten to reflect the perspective of Majors’ 30-year-old accuser, rather than the police officer whose account was used in the original version — an indication she is cooperating with authorities.Majors, 33, still faces other misdemeanor charges in connection with his March 25 arrest in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, some of which are punishable by up to a year in jail.His lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, says Majors is innocent. She blasted prosecutors after Tuesday’s hearing for pursuing what she called a “witch hunt” against the actor.Chaudhry said...