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Santos returns to court for first time since entering plea

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

By Mark Morales | CNNEmbattled Rep. George Santos appeared in federal court on Friday, where prosecutors unveiled they had delivered the defense roughly 80,000 pages of documents earlier this week.Santos – back in court for the first time since pleading not guilty to a 13-count indictment alleging fraud related to Covid-19 unemployment benefits, misusing campaign funds and lying about his personal finances – showed no emotion throughout the hearing in Long Island, sitting with his hands folded in front of him.Santos’ attorney, Joseph Murray, noted that Congress’ August recess would be a good time to review the cache of documents.The next hearing will take place on September 7, one week before Congress is back in session. Murray argued he wanted his client to be able to return to session.Murray told the judge that the defense and prosecutors had a “good working relationship,” when discussing when to set a next court date.As he left the table, Santos wished prosecutors a “happy fourth...

Pac-12 survival: Our forecasts for media rights revenue, network partners and expansion as the saga continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

It has been 360 days since the Pac-12 presidents authorized commissioner George Kliavkoff to “immediately” begin negotiating a media rights deal and 137 since they expressed hope for a resolution “in the very near future.”Evidently, the presidents think in geologic time, where the “very near future” means sometime this century.There is still no media deal, no decision on expansion and no hard evidence suggesting the endgame is nigh.Instead, there are only crumbs, clues and hints that the Pac-12’s existential crisis soon could be coming to a close.Today, on the anniversary of USC and UCLA announcing their intentions to enter the Big Ten on Aug. 2, 2024, the Hotline presents a summary of the situation and predictions for the outcome.The survival oddsOur current forecast views Pac-12 survival as a 4-point favorite over Pac-12 extinction, suggesting a 60 percent probability (approximately) that Kliavkoff will negotiate a media contract that keep...

Rock Hudson annoyed James Dean by ‘hitting’ on him, documentary reveals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

The characters that Rock Hudson and James Dean play in the acclaimed 1956 film, “Giant,” don’t like each other very much.It turns out that it wouldn’t have been hard for either star to convey that antipathy onscreen, as the new documentary, “Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed,” reveals. Hudson admitted in a 1983 interview that he didn’t “particularly like” Dean, while Dean didn’t appreciate Hudson “hitting” on him when he thought that Hudson had gone to great lengths to keep his sexual orientation hidden from the American public.“Dean considered it hypocritical that Rock was maintaining this hetero facade in public while privately hitting on Dean,” Hudson’s biographer Mark Griffin recalled in the Max documentary.The documentary charts Hudson’s journey, as he arrived in Hollywood in the late 1940s, quickly rose to stardom in the early 1950s and became one of the film word’s biggest stars...

More blue states declare themselves sanctuaries for transgender health care

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

Amanda Hernández | Stateline.org (TNS)Democratic governors and state lawmakers across the country are mobilizing against a surge of Republican restrictions on transgender health care by establishing their states as sanctuaries for gender-affirming care.Earlier this month, Democratic Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order making Maryland the 11th state, plus the District of Columbia, to declare itself a sanctuary. A bill in New York has cleared the legislature and is awaiting the signature of Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.Last year, California became the first state to declare itself a sanctuary. It has since been joined by Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington. A growing number of cities, including New York City; Kansas City, Missouri; and West Hollywood, California, also have become sanctuaries.These states and cities are emerging as havens with legal protections to shield health care providers, transgen...

UC Berkeley grad student found dead in Mexico

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

(AP) — For four years, Gabriel Trujillo trekked the breadth of the United States and south into Mexico in search of a flowering shrub called the common buttonbush.The plant is native to the varied climates of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Trujillo, a 31-year-old Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley, wanted to know why it thrived in such a range of places. Trujillo was on track to complete his Ph.D. at Berkeley in 2025.His research was tragically cut short last week in Mexico, where he was shot seven times, Trujillo’s father said. Authorities discovered his body on June 22 in the state of Sonora, in northwest Mexico, days after his fiancée reported him missing."Gabe was a passionate ecologist, field biologist, and advocate for diverse voices in science," the university’s Department of Integrative Biology wrote to its campus community. "We all face a world that is less bright for this loss."The killing has left the family reeling and searching for answers in a case t...

Australia extends lead over England to 221 runs before rain ends Day 3 at Lord’s

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Australia dug out a hefty lead of 221 runs against England before drizzle prematurely ended day three of the second Ashes test at Lord’s on Friday.Usman Khawaja fronted Australia’s dogged fight in bowler-friendly conditions with an unbeaten 58 from 123 balls.His 60-odd partnerships with fellow opener David Warner then Marnus Labuschagne kept Australia on top. Khawaja had Steve Smith beside him on 6 when stumps was called at 130-2 in their second innings, and 25 overs left unused in the day.The Australians, already 1-0 up in the series, would be aiming for a lead of around 450 and a chance to bowl at England before tea on Saturday.They’re mindful, though, of trying to win without Nathan Lyon, their frontline spinner who was out injured after hurting his right calf running to the ball after tea on Thursday. He came to Lord’s on crutches and had a “significant” strain, Cricket Australia said.England squandered the gains it made on Thursday. The bat...

The sun may be out, but guns are not. A lawsuit challenges a new gun ban on Hawaii beaches

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Sun’s out, guns out? Not on Hawaii’s world-famous beaches.Beginning Saturday, a new law prohibits carrying a firearm on the sand — and in other places, including banks, bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.Three Maui residents are suing to block the measure, arguing that Hawaii — which has long had some of the strictest gun laws in the nation and some of the lowest rates of gun violence — is going too far with its wide-ranging ban.Residents carrying guns in public is new to Hawaii. Before a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year expanded gun rights nationwide, Hawaii’s county police chiefs made it virtually impossible to carry a gun by rarely issuing permits to do so — either for open carry or concealed carry. Gun owners were only allowed to keep firearms in their homes or to transport them — unloaded and locked up — to shooting ranges, hunting areas and places such as repair shops. The high court’s ruling found that people in the U.S. have a right ...

A bobcat attacks a camper sleeping in a hammock at a Connecticut state park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A bobcat attacked a camper sleeping in a hammock at a Connecticut state park Friday, state environmental officials said. The man was among several adults leading a group of youth campers on an outing to Selden Neck State Park, an island in the Connecticut river in Lyme, according to a release from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.The man was sleeping early Friday morning when the bobcat attacked him, the DEEP said. He and two other adult leaders were able to subdue the animal and kill it, officials said. The department did not say how that was accomplished.None of the children on the trip came into contact with the animal, the agency said.“Due to their courageous and outstanding efforts, the safety of the youth was maintained, and they were not harmed,” Deputy Commissioner Michael Williams said in a statement.All three men were taken to a local hospital for treatment of various injuries inflicted by the cat during the encounter, offi...

Seeking to curb racial bias in medicine, Doris Duke Fund awards $10 million to health groups

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is awarding more than $10 million to five health organizations to reconsider the use of race in medical algorithms, which research shows can lead to potentially dangerous results for patients of color.Physicians have used medical assessment tools and algorithms since the 1970s to help make decisions about patient care. These tools look at multiple factors including, unbeknownst to most patients, race. Recent studies have found that some algorithms that consider race lead to biased assessments and the denial of treatment options.For example, one study found that a kidney-function calculator adjusted measurements for Black patients in a way that made them more likely to be ineligible to get on a kidney transplant list. Another calculator used to determine whether it was healthy for pregnant women to deliver vaginally if they had ever had a C-section underestimated the odds for Black and Hispanic women.The Doris Duke Foundation’s grants come amid a ...

Catcher interference on the rise as big league backstops squeeze in for pitch framing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Trying to make the most of his powerful swing, White Sox slugger Luis Robert Jr. lets the ball run deep into the strike zone sometimes.That’s when it happens.“When I do that, the catchers, they might think that I am not swinging (for) the ball and they try to reach the ball while I am swinging,” Robert said through a translator. “I think that’s the reason why in my case.”The end result is often interference, putting Robert on first base and handing an error to the catcher. It has happened to Robert five times already this season, and he is far from alone.Through Thursday’s big league games, there have been 57 catcher interference calls, up from 38 at the same point last year. The number was 35 through June 29 in 2021 and 30 in 2019, according to Sportradar. The 2020 season started on July 23 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.Since 1974, the highest single-season total for catcher interference calls is 74 last year, followed by 62 in 2021.The increase ...