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Lance Blanks, ex-NBA player and executive, dead at 56

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:53 GMT

Former professional basketball player and executive Lance Blanks has died, the NBA said Thursday.Blanks died in Dallas on May 3, the league said in a news release. He was 56 years old.Blanks played college basketball at Virginia and Texas before he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 1990. He competed in the NBA for three seasons for the Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves before playing overseas for another seven years.He returned to the States and had a number of front-office jobs, including as a scout for the San Antonio Spurs, assistant general manager for the Cleveland Cavaliers, general manager for the Phoenix Suns — a job he kept for five seasons — and, most recently, as a scout for the Los Angeles Clippers. He also worked as an analyst for ESPN and a commentator for the Longhorn Network.He was on a scouting trip when he died, according to the Austin American-Statesman.“It’s been a privilege to have called him one of my closest friends,” former ...

Mexico, Cameroon match to be played at Snapdragon Stadium

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:53 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Soccer fans have the opportunity to watch Mexico vs. Cameroon this year at Snapdragon Stadium.The match, which is part of the 20th annual MexTour, is set for Saturday, June 10, stadium officials said in a press release Thursday.A total of two games have been played between Mexico and Cameroon in their history, with El Tri leading the series 2-0. 3 artists added to San Diego County Fair Concert Series lineup Mexico last played in San Diego at the now-demolished Qualcomm Stadium on March 22, 2019. El Tri defeated Chile 3-1 in front of nearly 50,000 fans.Tickets for the Mexico vs. Cameroon matchup become available to the general public starting Monday, May 8, at 10 a.m. PT. Snapdragon Stadium is no stranger to soccer matches as it is home to the professional women's team San Diego Wave FC and will also be hosting a 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal match in July.Fans should get ready for an action-packed summer of soccer in San Diego.

Panthers take 2-0 series lead as Maple Leafs lose Knies to injury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:53 GMT

The Florida Panthers scored three unanswered goals, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Thursday night to take a commanding 2-0 series lead as round two now shifts to the sunshine state.Toronto scored twice in the first period in what was a dominating start on home ice courtesy of Alex Kerfoot and a powerplay tally for Ryan O’Reilly. The Panthers and Anton Lundell would answer to make it 2-1 before the end of the period.After that, it was all Florida, whose skaters took control of the game, peppering Ilya Samsonov with shots and scoring two quick goals to erase the deficit and take all life out of Scotiabank Arena.It was Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling’s second goals of the playoffs.Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was again outstanding for Florida, stopping 34 of 36 shots on the night. The 34-year-old was particularly good in the third period, turning aside several Grade A chances from Maple Leafs skaters.Samsonov stopped 26 of 29 shots for Toronto.The Leafs ha...

Altar to devil, death found in Mexico fuel thieves’ tunnel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:53 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hundreds of police and government agents raided an underground fuel theft terminal in a tunnel in central Mexico on Thursday where thieves had erected an altar to the devil and another to La Santa Muerte, a skeletal folk saint. Prosecutors in the state of Hidalgo said a hidden entrance led them to a 25-yard (meter) long tunnel that reached 12 feet (4 meters) beneath the surface. Inside, they found fuel cisterns and illegal taps drilled into government pipelines. There were approximately 10,000 gallons (38,000 liters) of stolen fuel inside the poorly ventilated space, and hoses to move the fuel. Ten suspects were arrested at the site, and 12 vehicles and drugs were seized.Photos of the tunnel showed that offerings of food and candles had been left recently to the Devil and “Santa Muerte,” a female skeletal figure worshipped by petty criminals, drug traffickers and the poor. Some believe that making offerings to Santa Muerte will protect them. President Andrés Manue...

Fatimah Ashgar wins $150,000 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A debut novel by the poet and screenwriter Fatimah Ashgar has won the inaugural Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, a $150,000 honor named for the late Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and given for outstanding work by a woman or non-binary person in the U.S. or Canada.Ashgar’s “When We Were Sisters,” the story of three Muslim-American siblings, was praised Thursday by judges for weaving “narrative threads as exacting and spare as luminous poems, their fragility a mere guise for their complete, unflinching indestructibility.”Ashgar is known for the poetry collection “If They Come for Us” and as the co-creator of the Emmy-nominated web series “Brown Girls.” Shields, who died in 2003 at age 68, was an American-born author who spent much of her life in Canada. She won the Pulitzer in 1994 for her novel “The Stone Diaries.” The Shields prize is overseen by the Carol Shields Prize Foundation, which provides grants and other forms of assistance to women and non-binary writ...

Ken Lum wins $50,000 Scotiabank Photography Award

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:53 GMT

TORONTO — Vancouver artist Ken Lum has won the Scotiabank Photography Award.In addition to $50,000, the honour nets the photographer a solo exhibition at the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival in 2024 and a published book of his work, to be distributed worldwide.Prize organizers say Lum uses his art to express his dissatisfaction with the world.Laura Curtis, Scotiabank’s chief marketing officer, says Lum’s works have “inspired a global audience,” including through permanent public art installations.Runners-up Sandra Brewster and Chris Currieri, who are both from Toronto, will each receive $10,000.The annual Scotiabank Photography Award recognizes mid-to-late career artists and was co-founded by Scotiabank and Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky in 2010.Lum is also the founding editor of the Yishu Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, and an officer of the Order of Canada.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2023.The Canadian Press

Chicago police: 3 shot near home in Fuller Park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:53 GMT

CHICAGO — Two women and a man were shot near a home Thursday evening in Fuller Park, according to Chicago police.Two people got out of a car and started shooting at three people near the front of a home around 6 p.m. in the 300 block of West Root Street. Friday classes canceled after fire at Glenbrook South High School According to information from the Chicago Police Department, all three were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in unknown conditions.A woman 19, was shot multiple times, a woman, 37, was shot in the hand and a man, 44, was shot in the leg, according to police.No one has been arrested yet and the incident is still under investigation.

Community voices opinions about Chicago PD Superintendent search

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:53 GMT

CHICAGO -- As the City of Chicago continues to search for the new CPD Superintendent, since David Brown stepped down in March, community members have voiced what they want for the next top cop.Community forums have been going on a weekly basis for a month now. Chicago hires consulting firm to help with search for next top cop Each meeting has taken place on different sides of the city to make sure the decision is reflective of all community members and their desires for the department's leadership.An intimate crowd filled the auditorium of Roosevelt High School in Albany Park for a fourth town hall meeting. Who Might be Chicago’s ‘next’ Top Cop? For the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, having an emphasis on community input is key in their search to nominate three candidates for Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson to choose from. The entire process must be complete by July 14.Community members expressed accountability for police misconduct must be a priority for...

Amazon settles case after driver totaled woman's car in her driveway

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:53 GMT

LAND O' LAKES, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida woman received a settlement check after contacting WFLA in Tampa's Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken with her story: her car was hit by an Amazon delivery driver and declared totaled.Sara Dooley's troubles started in February when the Amazon driver hit the gas to leave her Land O'Lakes driveway, was going the wrong way and slammed into her car. Even though the damage on her 2018 RAV-4 didn't appear that bad, the insurance company for Amazon deemed it totaled. RECALL: Advil sold at Family Dollar may have been improperly stored "When we got the final estimate for the damages it was about $15,000 worth of damages, so it was over that threshold," she said. "And that's where they declared it a total loss."What's worse — Dooley says she had just finished paying off the vehicle.Dooley signed over rights to the car, but says she received no check and then the runaround. That changed after WFLA reached out to Amazon to find out what the hold up wa...

Lockport man arrested after robbing 7-Eleven at knifepoint

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:53 GMT

JOLIET, Ill. -- A 28-year-old has been taken into custody after robbing a 7-Eleven in Joliet early Thursday morning.According to the Joliet Police Department, officers responded to the 7-Eleven on the 1600 block of East Cass Street after 4 p.m. Thursday on reports of an armed robbery. Police: Dating app meet-ups go wrong in Lawndale armed robberies Upon arrival, a man in a facemask and armed with a knife entered the store and demanded money while threatening the clerk. The man then fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash.Joliet police officers later overserved a passenger in a vehicle that matched the description of the suspect near McDonough Street and South Chicago Street. Officer performed a traffic stop on the 300 block of South Ottawa Street and spoke with the suspect.Joseph Weber, 28, of Lockport, was later identified as the individual who robbed the 7-Eleven in Joliet. A knife, facemask, and cash were in Weber's possession at the time of the arrest.When officers a...