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Mike Babcock resigns as Blue Jackets head coach following photo controversy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:39 GMT

Mike Babcock resigned as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, days after Spittin’ Chiclets podcaster Paul Bissonnette accused him of improperly viewing players’ smartphones.Initially, the team, the NHL and the NHLPA were satisfied when captain Boone Jenner and 682-game NHL veteran Johnny Gaudreau indicated there was nothing nefarious with what Babcock did. However, the organizations reversed course when some of Blue Jackets’ younger players said they weren’t comfortable with what had occurred.Columbus officially names Pascal Vincent head coach https://t.co/93pCCWR3VM— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 17, 2023“Upon reflection, it has become clear that continuing as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets was going to be too much of a distraction,” Babcock said in a statement released by the team. “While I’m disappointed to not have had the opportunity to continue the work we’ve begun, I know it’s in the best interest of the organization for me to s...

Private Louisiana zoo claims federal seizure of ailing giraffe wasn’t justified

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:39 GMT

ETHEL, La. (AP) — A private Louisiana zoo says that federal regulators overreached last week when they took away an ailing giraffe.Local news outlets report that Barn Hill Preserve, which markets close-up encounters with exotic animals, is challenging the decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to seize a giraffe named Brazos on Tuesday.Leaders of the zoo, which also operates a location in Frankford, Delaware, told local news outlets that the department had “no warrant, no ruling, no judgment, and no oversight” when inspectors took the giraffe. Barn Hill’s Louisiana location is in Ethel, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Baton Rouge. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says inspectors documented “continued failure” to provide adequate veterinary care, “resulting in a state of unrelieved suffering for the identified animal.”Barn Hill said it’s being unfairly retaliated against for notifying the USDA that the giraffe was in poor health. The c...

Métro Média to declare bankruptcy as local journalism takes another hit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:39 GMT

MONTREAL — The head of Métro Média says the Quebec newspaper publisher will declare bankruptcy this week, permanently ending its coverage of local government in parts of the province’s two largest cities.CEO Andrew Mulé said in a Sunday post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the decision was made after the company abruptly suspended operations at its more than 30 hyperlocal publications, including the Journal Métro and 16 print weeklies.In a statement sent to employees on Aug. 11, Mulé said he’d been informed the company no longer had the liquidity to continue despite what he described as a healthy balance sheet.On Sunday, Mulé said the impending bankruptcy marks a sad epilogue to his 28 months at the helm, and admitted he felt bitterness and a sense of unfinished business as local news struggles for survival across the country.The company now has roughly 70 employees, including some 30 journalists whose temporary layoffs will become permanent, on top of earlier roun...

A Mississippi jury rules officers justified in fatal 2017 shooting after police went to wrong house

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:39 GMT

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi jury has rejected a civil lawsuit seeking money damages from two police officers who fatally shot a man while serving a warrant at the wrong house.A federal court jury in Oxford on Thursday ruled that Southaven officers Zachary Durden and Samuel Maze had not violated the civil rights of Ismael Lopez when Durden shot him to death in 2017. The verdict came after a four-day trial in a lawsuit by Claudia Linares, the widow of Lopez, who sought $20 million in compensation.“The verdict was that the jurors did not believe that the use of force used by Officers Durden and Maze was excessive in light of all the facts that they considered,” attorney Murray Wells told WREG-TV.The case was notable in part because the city of Southaven had previously argued that Lopez had no civil rights to violate because the Mexican man was living in the United States illegally and faced deportation orders and criminal charges for illegally possessing guns.A judge rejected th...

Buccaneers stay unbeaten with 27-17 victory over Bears

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:39 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Baker Mayfield passed for 317 yards and a touchdown Sunday, adding to his strong debut with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a 27-17 victory over the struggling Chicago Bears.With Mayfield playing turnover-free ball for the second straight week and Mike Evans catching six balls for 171 yards and a TD, the Bucs improved to 2-0 while handing the Bears a franchise-record 12th consecutive loss.Mayfield completed 26 of 34 passes, looking quite comfortable in another new home. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft is playing with his fourth team in just over two years.He set up Rachaad White's 1-yard TD run with a 70-yard completion to Evans in the first quarter. He also finished an 89-yard drive with a 32-yard scoring pass to Tampa Bay's all-time leading receiver early in the second half.Tampa Bay's defense did its job, too, after yielding a 75-yard TD drive on Chicago's first possession of the game. The Buccaneers sacked Justin Fields six times and picked him off ...

Nearly $30M in federal dollars funding Austin traffic safety upgrades

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:39 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin City Council voted Thursday to allocate a $22.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to support its Safe Streets and Roads for All program, per a city news release.City officials said the money will be used by the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department to "begin developing and implementing grant-funded traffic safety projects across the city," per the release. City council approved the funding's use at more than 60 locations citywide, with specific project sites poised to be chosen "after further analysis is completed."Austin's funding allocation will cover:Major safety projects at 5-7 intersection locationsInstalling up to 10 pedestrian hybrid beaconsSupporting high-visibility crosswalk markings, street lighting, traffic signal improvements at dozens of city locationsFunding a safety education campaign mainly focused on roundaboutsThe federal funding extends from Congress' $5 billion available for Safe Streets and Roads for All ...

Serendipity appears set to bring Taylor Heise, Minnesota’s PWHL team together

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:39 GMT

Minnesota’s PWHL team got its first lucky bounce on Sept. 1 when it won a lottery for the first overall pick in Monday’s inaugural draft. It might have been a win for the nascent professional women’s hockey league, as well.That’s because the most exciting, skilled player available when the draft begins at noon CDT also happens to be a Minnesotan, 2022 Patty Kazmaier Award winner Taylor Heise, who led the NCAA scoring in each of her last two seasons with the Gophers.That’s good news for a start-up league hoping to pump immediate local interest into the product, and Minnesota general manager Natalie Darwitz, who wants to separate her team from a small, talented league with aggressive, creative play.All six of the league’s teams are “going to have skill,” Darwitz said. “We’re all going to be really good. I think that’s going to be the X factor. If we can allow our players to play free, to play authentic, I think it’s going to be the difference.”Certainly, Heise fits that bill.A smart, ...

19-year-old man going more than 100 mph on freeway later crashes, injures 2

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:39 GMT

A 19-year-old male motorist sped past a Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy at more than 100 miles per hour Saturday night before crashing into another vehicle and injuring two, authorities said.The deputy gave chase on Interstate 35W in Roseville at about 10:45 p.m. but lost sight of the vehicle when it exited at County Road D, according to Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Steve Linders.Soon afterward, a police officer spotted the vehicle speeding southward on Highway 88 with its lights off.Officers subsequently found the vehicle at Highway 88 and 29th Avenue NE in St. Anthony. It had crashed into another vehicle.Two people in that vehicle were hurt and taken to Hennepin County Medical Center.The 19-year-old was arrested on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation, and was believed to be driving under the influence.He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash.Related ArticlesCrime & Public Safety | Ed...

Twins pitcher Sonny Gray dominates White Sox in series-finale victory

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:39 GMT

CHICAGO — Sonny Gray was unhappy with his performance the last time out. He didn’t throw enough strikes, he said, he was constantly behind in the count and it all led to an earlier than usual exit for him.But there was little to find flaw with on Sunday when Gray responded with seven shutout innings to lead the Twins to a 4-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox in the series finale at Guaranteed Rate Field.Gray allowed five hits in his start, including a pair of leadoff doubles. He stranded both of those runners on third base. The Twins’ starting pitcher did not allow a walk in his seven innings of work, and was highly efficient, needing just 81 pitches.With the scoreless outing, Gray lowered his earned-run average to 2.84 on the season, a number that is second in the American League behind just Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.Gray received all the run support he needed from one swing of Edouard Julien’s bat. The rookie blasted his 14th home run of the season and third in his past six ...

Low Mississippi limits barges just as farmers want to move their crops downriver

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:39 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa — A long stretch of hot, dry weather has left the Mississippi River so low that barge companies are reducing their loads just as Midwest farmers are preparing to harvest crops and send tons of corn and soybeans downriver to the Gulf of Mexico.The transport restrictions are a headache for barge companies, but even more worrisome for thousands of farmers who have watched drought scorch their fields for much of the summer. Now they will face higher prices to transport what remains of their crops.Farmer Bruce Peterson, who grows corn and soybeans in southeastern Minnesota, chuckled wryly that the dry weather had withered his family’s crop so extensively they won’t need to worry so much about the high cost of transporting the goods downriver.“We haven’t had rain here for several weeks so our crop size is shrinking,” Peterson said. “Unfortunately, that has taken care of part of the issue.”About 60% of U.S. grain exports are taken by barge down the Mississippi to New Orlea...