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Zach LaVine has found his rhythm for the Chicago Bulls — but is it enough to secure a spot in the postseason?

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:50:28 GMT

Sometime in the last two months, something clicked for Zach LaVine. The change has been hard to miss — and it’s exactly what the Chicago Bulls need as they chase one of the last spots in the postseason.In the last 10 games, LaVine’s usage rate has spiked to 30% as he has averaged 30.4 points on 54.1% shooting, including 45.6% behind the 3-point arc. But the more important change is less tangible — the buoyancy that comes with a complete return to confidence.“I’m just being aggressive,” LaVine said. “The first half, I felt like we just needed that. It kind of got me tired, but that’s why we have DeMar and Vooch and Pat and Coby and all these guys.”LaVine and coach Billy Donovan saw this increase coming from the start of the season. For months, they repeated the same reminders: LaVine couldn’t play basketball at all last summer because of knee surgery, showed visible fatigue in the early weeks of the season and wouldn&#...

Yankees star Joe Pepitone dies at 82

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:50:28 GMT

Former Yankee and three-time All-Star Joe Pepitone has died at the age of 82, the team announced Monday. A cause of death was not disclosed.“The Yankees are deeply saddened by the passing of former Yankee Joe Pepitone, whose playful and charismatic personality and on-field contributions made him a favorite of generations of Yankees fans even beyond his years with the team in the 1960s,” the Yankees said in a statement.“As a native New Yorker, he embraced everything about being a Yankee during both his playing career — which included three All-Star appearances and three Gold Gloves — and in the decades thereafter. You always knew when Joe walked into a room — his immense pride in being a Yankee was always on display. He will be missed by our entire organization, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, friends and all who knew him.”Pepitone was born in Brooklyn and was signed to the Yankees in 1958 as an amateur. He played with the...

New Hampshire bound, Florida Gov. DeSantis schedules pre-presidential pitstop

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:50:28 GMT

Ron DeSantis’ unannounced bid for the presidency is sure starting to look like a real campaign.The Florida governor is heading to New Hampshire for a traditional pre-presidential event in Manchester.“We are excited to announce that our 2023 Amos Tuck Dinner keynote speaker is special guest Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis,” the New Hampshire Republican Party said in a fundraising email Monday. “This will be our biggest and most exciting Amos Tuck Dinner to date.”The Sunshine State’s re-elected leader will be in the Queen City on April 14 for the dinner — an annual state party fundraiser dedicated to the Granite State politician cited as partly responsible for founding the modern Republican party.DeSantis is not running for president as of right now — officially he’s making the rounds to promote his new book, “The Courage to Be Free” — though he is often cited as the next leading candidate behind former President Donald Trump.His visit to New Hampshire, which will host the...

Dolphins reach deal with backup QB, local product Mike White and LB David Long to start free agency

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:50:28 GMT

On the first day of free agency, the Miami Dolphins found their backup quarterback.The Dolphins and former New York Jets quarterback Mike White have agreed to terms, according to a league source. The deal is reportedly for two years and worth up to $16 million, according to ESPN.It’s a homecoming for White, the Pembroke Pines product and former Broward County high school football standout at University School, which stands on the same Nova Southeastern University campus as the Dolphins’ old practice facility in Davie.The move kicked off the two-day negotiating period of free agency for the Dolphins on Monday after the team pulled off the immense trade for All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey on Sunday. Free agents can officially sign with a new team beginning 4 p.m. Wednesday.Over the past two seasons with the Jets, White, who turns 28 on March 25, has played in eight games with seven starts. He was 2-5 in those starts, completed 62.2 percent of passes for 2,145 yards, eight ...

After overcrowding situations, cats finding new homes through the Animal Rescue League of Boston

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:50:28 GMT

Kitty love is abounding so far this year at the Animal Rescue League of Boston.Just a handful of cats taken in last week from an overcrowding situation in Bristol County remain up for adoption. The 19 others from the bunch of two dozen have already found new homes, ARL media relations officer Mike DeFina told the Herald on Friday.“These cats for the most part are social, they are friendly,” DeFina said. “They may need a little bit more time to settle into their new homes, but really it’s only a matter of having patience and letting them settle in on their own. They will be great pets.”DeFina declined to comment where specifically the cats came from in Bristol County, but their caretaker had been working with the ARL over the past several years to ensure the cats were in good care, he said.The ARL has taken in three other large influxes of cats that had been involved in separate overcrowding situations, and less than a dozen remain available.Altogether, the organization has rescued m...

Robbins: Jan. 6 becomes Rashomon for Republican Party

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:50:28 GMT

Former Vice President Mike Pence made news last Saturday by saying something that shouldn’t have been news at all. Twenty-six months after an insurrectionist mob stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, beating the daylights out of police and seeking to overthrow an election so that Donald Trump could remain in power, Pence was ready to make a momentous announcement. “Make no mistake about it,” he told attendees at the Gridiron Club’s no-cameras-allowed dinner, “what happened that day was a disgrace, and it mocks decency to portray it any other way.”To Pence’s credit, confirming what everyone playing with a full deck could see with their own eyes is political suicide for anyone harboring a modicum of hope of winning the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, and somehow or other Pence harbors half a modicum. His speech was a direct challenge to Fox’s Tucker Carlson, who has amped up his Off-The-Deep-End Tour by stitching together snippets of Jan. 6 footage to make it look like noth...

Massachusetts, here comes a nasty nor’easter: Up to 22 inches of snow in spots, ‘blizzard-like conditions at times’

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:50:28 GMT

After a pretty quiet December, January and February, of course now comes a wicked powerful nor’easter in mid-March.The strongest snowstorm of the year will likely be a real feast-or-famine situation across the Bay State, with close to 2 feet of heavy snow getting dumped on some spots while others might not even record an inch.But wherever you live in Massachusetts, this whopper of a storm is going to bring potentially damaging wind gusts that could spark power outages.Heavy wet snow weighing down on trees and power lines could also lead to power outages — with the highest risk for snow load issues in central Massachusetts and the Berkshires.“The biggest snow totals will be in the higher elevations of northern Worcester County and in the slopes of the Berkshires, where they could see 18 inches,” said Alan Dunham, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston office. “Locally, some spots could see up to 22 inches.”Boston could record ...

BPS expands early college and career pathway programs

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:50:28 GMT

BPS is taking a step forward in their commitment to expand assistance to students on the path to college and careers, the district announced Monday, with the launch of the pilot “Year 13” and STEM technical programs in the 2023-24 school year.“These partnerships are a shining example of what can be achieved when post-secondary, business and philanthropic institutions come together as a village to support BPS and our students,” said Superintendent Mary Skipper in a BPS release. “Expanding early college and career pathways across BPS is a key part of our strategy.”The Year 13 program will be implemented at Fenway High School through a partnership with UMass Boston, allowing seniors to remain in high school for an extra year to take college coursework at UMass Boston. Under the program, seniors may ultimately complete their first two years of college for free while in high school.The STEM Tech Career Academy will likewise be implemented at Dearborn S...

MassGOP advised to drop suit against party treasurer begun under ousted chair

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:50:28 GMT

The outside legal counsel hired by the MassGOP to help them sort through some ongoing inter-party drama is advising them to drop a lawsuit started by the ousted former chairman against his own treasurer.“It is my strong recommendation that the Committee agree to voluntarily dismiss this lawsuit in an exchange for an agreement by Mr. Crowley to drop his counterclaims,” Brian Kelly, a former federal prosecutor, wrote to the party committee. “There is no valid economic or legal reason for the Committee to continue to pursue this litigation.”Kelly, perhaps best known as the prosecutor who put infamous Winter Hill Gang boss James “Whitey” Bulger away for life, was brought on by the state Republican party in February after it was revealed that the MassGOP, under former Chairman Jim Lyons, had accumulated upwards of $600,000 in outstanding bills which were coming due in the midst of ongoing legal action started by Lyons.The former chairman, who lost his job in January to Chairw...

Ravens free agency tracker 2023: Tight end Josh Oliver to Vikings, guard Ben Powers to Broncos

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:50:28 GMT

Welcome to the Ravens’ free-agency tracker, which will be updated throughout the offseason.With the NFL’s new league year beginning Wednesday at 4 p.m., teams can officially announce signings and trades. Here’s a rundown of who the Ravens have agreed to sign, who they’ve lost and who’s still on the open market:Free agent lossesTight end Josh Oliver: The 25-year-old who spent the last two seasons in Baltimore and was one of team’s most improved players last season agreed to a three-year, $21 million deal with the Vikings on Monday, a source confirmed to The Baltimore Sun.A third-round pick by the Jaguars in 2019 who was traded to the Ravens in March 2021, Oliver played in all 17 games last season, starting nine of them. In addition to being one of the league’s better blockers, he also caught 14 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns.In return, the Ravens are in line to get a compensatory sixth-round draft pick in 2024, per a formula that tak...