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UMass faces a big test at No. 25 Liberty

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:10:20 GMT

Liberty is one of three FBS programs from the Group of Five that has found it way onto the AP Top 25 rankings.Liberty (10-0) is the class of Conference USA and checked in at No. 25 after knocking off Old Dominion 38-10 last Saturday. The other Group of Five members in the Top 25 are No. 17 Tulane (9-1) of the AAC and No. 18 James Madison (10-0) from the Sun Belt Conference.The UMass Minutemen (3-7) captured their second straight win with a victory over Merrimack at home on Nov. 4. The Minutemen are coming of their second bye week of the season and will engage the Liberty Flames on Saturday (1 p.m.) at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Va.Liberty and UMass have played each other over the last five seasons with the Flames going 4-1 in the series. Liberty scored a 42-24 win over UMass last season at McGuirk Stadium.“They are 10-0 so obviously they have gotten off to a good start and just kept going,” said UMass second-year heard coach Don Brown. “We are excited about the challenge that’s ...

Boston girl accused of assaulting 84-year-old man at MBTA station

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:10:20 GMT

A 15-year-old Boston girl is accused of assaulting and injuring an 84-year-old man at the Forest Hills MBTA station, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.The girl was ordered held for 60 days after being charged on Thursday in West Roxbury Juvenile Court. She has been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (shod foot) on a person over 65.The alleged assault happened on Tuesday at about 8:54 p.m., when MBTA police responded to the upper busway at Forest Hills station for a report of a man being assaulted and injured.When police arrived, they found the 84-year-old man on the ground bleeding from his forehead. Three MBTA riders — two doctors and a medical student — were seen helping the victim.The victim, who remained conscious after the assault, was transported to Brigham and Women’s Hospital for evaluation and treatment.Police at the scene learned that the man had been assaulted by a group of juveniles, the DA’s Of...

Two dozen taken to hospitals after commuter train crashes into snow plow in Chicago

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:10:20 GMT

Deanese Williams-Harris, Sarah Freishtat, Rebecca Johnson, Alex Hulvalchick | Chicago TribuneNearly two dozen people were taken to the hospital after a CTA Yellow Line train struck a piece of agency equipment on the tracks Thursday morning near the border of Evanston and Chicago, according to the Chicago Fire Department.Thirty-eight people were seen by paramedics, including seven CTA employees, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. Of those, 23 were taken to the hospital in varying conditions, including four children, he said.Three people were in serious-to-critical condition, but their injuries were not believed to be life threatening, Langford said. One of the injured CTA employees was the operator of the train, who was seriously injured, and two others were on the snow plow, said Eric Dixon, president of the union that represents CTA’s train employees.Around 10:35 a.m., a two-car Yellow Line train that was carrying passengers rounded a curve and hit a snow plow m...

It's the first El Niño winter in 5 years. What will be different?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:10:20 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – El Niño is back with a vengeance. After years of back to back La Niña, this winter will be the first in five years with an El Niño pattern in place.The last time we saw El Niño was in the winter of 2018 to 2019, and even that year's El Niño was substantially weaker than the one we're seeing now. During an El Niño winter, the southern third to half of the United States, including California, tends to see wetter weather. (Exactly where that dividing line falls varies from year to year.)Meanwhile, the Pacific Northwest and parts of the Ohio Valley tend to be dry and warm. Hawaii also often sees below-average rain during an El Niño year. ‘Strong’ El Niño winter coming: Here’s where we could see more snow La Niña is basically the opposite: less rain or snow for the southern half of the country, and colder, wetter conditions in the Pacific Northwest.The influence of El Niño shows up in a new long-range winter forecast released by the Climate Prediction Center on Thursda...

MLB owners approve A’s move from Oakland to Las Vegas, with a new ballpark to open in 2028

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:10:20 GMT

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — One of Rob Manfred's first trips after his election as baseball commissioner nine years ago was to Oakland to consult with Athletics owner John Fisher on attempts to keep the team in the Bay Area.Unable together to make that work, the A's will instead move to Las Vegas and become only the second Major League Baseball team in more than a half-century to shift cities.All 30 MLB team owners gave their approval Thursday to Fisher's relocation plan, which was endorsed by Manfred. "There was an effort over more than a decade to find a stadium solution in Oakland. It was John Fisher’s preference. It was my preference,” Manfred said at a news conference. “This is a terrible day for fans in Oakland. I understand that and that’s why we’ve always had a policy of doing everything humanly possible to avoid a relocation, and truly believe we did that in this case. I think it’s beyond debate that the status quo in Oakland was untenable.”After years of complaints about the O...

Toronto man, 20, charged with possessing child porn

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:10:20 GMT

A 20-year-old man from Toronto has been charged with possessing child pornography.Police arrested the man on Wednesday.He was identified as 20-year-old Malcolm Bryce-Brown of Toronto. He’s facing one count of possessing child pornography. He was expected to appear in court on Thursday.A Toronto police spokesperson said members of the public can report any online exploitation at Canada’s National Tipline for Reporting the Online Sexual Exploitation of Children at cybertip.ca.“The Toronto Police Service recognizes that parents and caregivers are the frontline when it comes to protecting children on the Internet and electronic devices,” they wrote.“We encourage you to remain vigilant in your efforts – the safety tips outlined below are recommended for children of any age.”

Corporate, global leaders peer into a future expected to be reshaped by AI, for better or worse

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:10:20 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Joe Biden and other global leaders have spent the past few days melding minds with Silicon Valley titans in San Francisco, their discussions frequently focusing on artificial intelligence, a technology expected to reshape the world, for better or worse.For all the collective brainpower on hand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, there were no concrete answers to a pivotal question: Will AI turn be the springboard that catapults humanity to new heights, or the dystopian nightmare that culminates in its demise?“The world is at an inflection point — this is not a hyperbole,” Biden said Thursday at a CEO summit held in conjunction with APEC. “The decisions we make today are going to shape the direction of the world for decades to come.”Not surprisingly, most of the technology CEOs who appeared at the summit were generally upbeat about AI’s potential to unleash breakthroughs that will make workers more productive and eventually...

PG&E bills will go up by more than $32 per month next year in part to pay for wildfire protections

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:10:20 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — About 16 million people in California will see their electric and gas bills go up by an average of more than $32 per month over next year in part so that one of the nation’s largest utility companies can bury more of its power line s to reduce the chances of starting wildfires.Pacific Gas & Electric had initially asked state regulators for permission to raise rates by more than $38 per month so it could bury 2,100 miles (3,380 kilometers) of power lines in areas that are at high risk for wildfires. But consumer advocacy groups complained, arguing PG&E could save ratepayers money and still reduce wildfire risk by putting a protective covering over the power lines instead of burying them.Thursday’s decision by the California Public Utilities Commission sought to find a middle ground. Commissioners decided to let PG&E bury 1,230 miles (1,979 kilometers) of power lines, which would be $1.7 billion cheaper than PG&E’s proposal.T...

Ex-girlfriend drops lawsuits against Tiger Woods, says she never claimed sexual harassment

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:10:20 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods ‘ ex-girlfriend has dropped her lawsuits against the golf superstar and the trust that owns his Florida mansion, saying she never accused him of sexual harassment even though her attorney has made that claim. The attorney for Erica Herman filed a one-paragraph notice in state court last week saying she was voluntarily dismissing her $30 million lawsuit against the trust “with prejudice,” meaning the claim cannot be reasserted later. She had claimed that Woods promised she could live at the 30,000-square-foot (2,800-square meter) beachfront mansion until 2026 but kicked her out unexpectedly last year. “In dismissing this action, Erica Herman states that she was never a victim of sexual harassment or sexual abuse at the hands of Tiger Woods or any of his agents and it is her position that she has never asserted such a claim,” wrote attorney Benjamin Hodas, who claimed on multiple occasions that Woods had sexually harassed his client...

Shohei Ohtani, baseball’s 2-way star, becomes first 2-time unanimous MVP

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:10:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani, who has captivated baseball with his unprecedented combination of high-level hitting and premium pitching, became the first two-time unanimous Most Valuable Player when he won the American League honor on Thursday.Ohtani, a free agent after finishing his contract with the Los Angeles Angels, received all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He was a unanimous MVP in 2021 and finished second to the Yankees’ Aaron Judge in voting last year.This was just the 20th unanimous MVP vote since the award was established in 1931.Corey Seager was second with 24 second–place votes and 264 points, and Texas teammate Marcus Semien was third with five second-place votes and 216 points. Balloting took place before the postseason, when the Rangers won their first World Series title.Ohtani led the AL with 44 homers and hit .304 with 96 RBIs, eight triples and 20 stolen bases in a season at the plate th...