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Celtics can’t overcome Joel Embiid’s epic 52-point performance, fall to 76ers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:00 GMT

If the Celtics and 76ers ultimately meet in the second round of the playoffs, the C’s will have the edge. But Joel Embiid, as he showed again Tuesday, poses a major challenge that would make that a competitive and entertaining series.Down two regulars – missing Jaylen Brown and Robert Williams – the Celtics nearly stole one in Philadelphia. Despite a frustrating offensive performance, the Celtics almost overcame Embiid’s epic performance, and somehow, nearly erased a seven-point deficit with less than 10 seconds remaining. But the MVP frontrunner’s 52 points and 13 rebounds were too much in a 103-101 loss.The Celtics, after taking the first three games against the Sixers this season, fell three games back of the first-place Bucks with three games to go, almost ensuring that they’ll be the No. 2 seed in the East. That would likely mean a second-round series against the No. 3 seed 76ers, one that the Celtics should continue to feel good about after Philadelphia needed a memorable Embi...

Mets shut out for second straight game in 9-0 loss to Brewers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:00 GMT

MILWAUKEE — The smoke hung so thick on the field that it was tough to make out the numbers on the jerseys. The Milwaukee Brewers set off fireworks after each home run at American Family Field and there were five of them hit against the Mets on Tuesday night.With the roof closed on a chilly, rainy night the smoke had nowhere to go.Max Scherzer (1-1) gave up three straight bombs to Rowdy Tellez, Brian Anderson and Garrett Mitchell in the sixth after being tagged for two runs in the first inning. Brooks Raley gave up back-to-back homers to Anderson and Mitchell in the seventh, and for the second time in as many days, the Mets were shut out, losing 9-0 on Tuesday night.It was another dismal showing for the Mets (3-3). The Brewers (4-1) have scored 19 unanswered runs over the first two games of the series. The Mets couldn’t figure out left-hander Wade Miley (1-0), who allowed five hits, struck out three and hit one over six innings.Brandon Nimmo went 3-for-4 and Jeff McNeil w...

Bats fall silent, Sox lose to Pittsburgh 4-1

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:00 GMT

When the bats get going, the pitching isn’t there.When the pitching comes through, the bats fall silent.It often felt like that was the case during 2022’s last-place campaign, and so far the worrying trend seems to be carrying over to the new year.Tuesday night it was the offense’s turn to fall flat, as the Red Sox fell to the Pirates 4-1 in a punchless affair at Fenway Park. The offense only managed four hits the whole night and rarely posed a serious threat.The result? A series loss to a Pirates club that lost 100 games a year ago.In one respect Tuesday night was a step forward, because Nick Pivetta pitched well enough for the Red Sox to win. Following a string of ugly outings by the club’s starting pitchers to open the season, Pivetta allowed just three runs over five innings, only one of which was earned. He gave up three hits and three walks and struck out six in arguably the best outing by a Sox starter so far this year.The damage came off a pair of home runs. One was courtesy...

Pedestrian hit by transport truck in Toronto lane on Burlington Skyway

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:00 GMT

One man is in the hospital with serious injuries after he was hit by a transport truck in a Toronto-bound lane on the Burlington Skyway.CityNews 680 traffic reported a full closure of the Toronto-bound QEW over the skyway due to a police investigation.The Toronto-bound QEW is fully closed over the Burlington Skyway due to a police investigation #TBQEW #TrafficAlert. pic.twitter.com/OzUAgRxETt— CityNews Toronto Traffic & Weather (@citynews680) April 5, 2023It was later revealed by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) that a 28-year-old male pedestrian in distress was hit by a truck. The highway safety division said he was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries.OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt says the QEW Toronto-bound lanes will be closed until 1 a.m. on Wednesday.“The transport truck [driver] involved did stop and is speaking to investigators,” Schmidt said.The Ministry of Transportation received word of a closure on the Burlington Skyway at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Johnson elected Chicago mayor in victory for progressives

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Brandon Johnson, a union organizer and former teacher, was elected Chicago mayor on Tuesday, a major victory for the party’s progressive wing as the nation’s third-largest city grapples with high crime and financial challenges.Johnson, a Cook County commissioner endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, won a close race over former Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas, who was backed by the police union. Johnson, 47, will succeed Lori Lightfoot, the first Black woman and first openly gay person to be the city’s mayor.Lightfoot became the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose her reelection bid when she finished third in a crowded February contest. The top two vote-getters, Vallas and Johnson, advanced to Tuesday’s runoff after no candidate was able to secure over 50% to win outright.Johnson’s victory topped a remarkable trajectory for a candidate who was little known when he entered the race. He climbed to the top of the field with organizing and financial help from the po...

Liberal wins Wisconsin court seat ahead of abortion ruling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:00 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Democratic-backed Milwaukee judge won the high stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race Tuesday, ensuring liberals will take over majority control of the court for the first time in 15 years with the fate of the state’s abortion ban pending.Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz, 60, defeated former Justice Dan Kelly, who previously worked for Republicans and had support from the state’s leading anti-abortion groups. It’s his second loss in a race for Supreme Court in three years.“I feel great. I could not feel better,” Protasiewicz told The Associated Press after her win. “I am surprised of the results and the magnitude of the victory here. We are absolutely delighted and thrilled.”The new court controlled 4-3 by liberals is expected to decide a pending lawsuit challenging the state’s 1849 law banning abortion. Protasiewicz made the issue a focus of her campaign and won the support of Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups.The c...

Victim of alleged terrorist knife attack on Surrey, B.C., bus is out of hospital

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:00 GMT

SURREY, B.C. — The victim of what RCMP allege was terrorism on a Surrey, B.C., bus on Saturday has returned home from hospital after his throat was slashed in an attack a family member says could have easily killed him.Chris Jensen says his partner’s brother suffered a knife wound stretching from the back of his neck to near his throat, just below the left side of his jaw.He says the victim, who he calls his brother-in-law, returned from hospital Tuesday to the home in Surrey, where he lives with Jensen and his partner.Jensen says his brother-in-law described getting onto the bus and then turning to help a man he thought was falling before he saw the knife.He struggled with the armed man and eventually succeeded in pushing the attacker off the bus after being wounded.Abdul Aziz Kawam, who is due to reappear in Surrey provincial court on Wednesday, is charged with attempted murder, assault causing bodily harm, aggravated assault, and assault with a weapon, all in association wi...

Kikuchi’s performance gets Blue Jays back on track versus Royals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:00 GMT

Yusei Kikuchi fired five solid innings as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-1 on Tuesday, stabilizing a starting rotation that had stumbled out of the gate to open the season.Kikuchi gave up one earned run, a solo shot to Franmil Reyes, which was his only blemish on the night. He scattered three hits, walked one and struck out two batters. The southpaw threw 47 of his 69 pitches for strikes with plenty of velocity on his fastball, which averaged 97.8 mph, coupled with a dangerous slider that generated six whiffs.“Really quality strikes and generated weak contact, minus the homer. That was the key, and that’s what we have been saying the last couple of days with our starters. Not just throwing strikes, but quality strikes,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.Many anticipated Kikuchi’s first start of the season after he dominated throughout the spring when he looked like a different pitcher, striking out 31 batters across 20 2/3 innings in ...

Stormy Daniels must pay $122,000 in Trump legal bills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stormy Daniels must pay nearly $122,000 of Donald Trump’s legal fees that were racked up in connection with the porn actor’s failed defamation lawsuit, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.The decision in California came at about the same time that that Trump became the only ex-president to be charged with a crime. Trump pleaded not guilty in a New York City courtroom to a 34-count felony indictment accusing him falsifying business records in a scheme to hush up allegations of extramarital affairs with Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal that broke during his first White House run.Daniels, whose real name is Stephane Clifford, alleges she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement days before the 2016 presidential election. She sued him for defamation after he dismissed her claims of being threatened to keep quiet about the tryst as a “total con job.” A judge threw out the case in 2018.On Tuesday, a commi...

Analysis: Trump hush-money case raises thorny legal issues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The coverup is worse than the crime, the expression goes. And in the hush money case against former President Donald Trump, prosecutors say the coverup made the crime worse.In an indictment unsealed Tuesday, prosecutors say the 45th president falsified records about three hush-money payments in order to keep potentially damaging stories from coming to light as he campaigned for the presidency. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said it was his effort to cover up crimes related to the 2016 election that allowed prosecutors to elevate the charges to felonies. The indictment, however, raises many thorny issues about state and federal law that could provide openings for the defense to attack the charges to try to get them tossed before the case even gets to trial. “The bottom line is that it’s murky,” said Richard Hasen, an expert in election law and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles law school. “And the district attorney did not offer a d...