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Chicago Bears defensive lineman Justin Jones rips Green Bay Packers fans: ‘Half of them don’t even know football’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:27 GMT

Chicago Bears defensive lineman Justin Jones clearly has embraced the trash talk that comes with the Green Bay Packers rivalry after just one year wearing orange and blue.It might be only June and the Bears-Packers season opener Sept. 10 at Soldier Field might be nearly three months away, but Jones still fanned the rivalry’s flames Tuesday during mandatory minicamp at Halas Hall by calling Packers fans “s—–” and adding that “half of them don’t even know football.”Jones’ barbs came in response to a question about the seemingly wide-open NFC North picture this year after the Packers traded quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets.The sixth-year veteran said he wished Rodgers had played another season in Green Bay. (It probably should be noted that Jones played in just two of Rodgers’ 25 career victories against the Bears after the defensive lineman joined the Bears on a two-year contract in 2022.)“We went up there...

‘Trees are a huge part of life’: Chicago White Sox starter Lucas Giolito aids the environment 1 pitch at a time

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:27 GMT

The Chicago White Sox saw environmental concerns firsthand last week in New York.The city was under a haze because of smoke carried down from wildfires burning in Canada.“Insane, it was like orange outside,” starter Lucas Giolito told the Tribune on Friday.The team’s scheduled game on Wednesday against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium was postponed because of what Major League Baseball called “clearly hazardous air quality.”“It’s that warning, that reminder that ‘Hey, don’t take this for granted,’” Giolito said. “‘We keep going the way we’re going, we continue to piss Earth off, we’re going to feel the consequences.’ We felt those in New York. I pitched the first night (Tuesday). We could all tell it was tough and the next day we couldn’t even get a game in.“Earth’s trying to remind us, ‘Hey, why don’t we take care a little bit better.’”Giolito is do...

Ravens RB J.K. Dobbins absent from first minicamp practice because of minor injury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:27 GMT

Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins was absent from the team’s first practice of mandatory minicamp Tuesday because of a minor soft-tissue injury, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said.Ravens coach John Harbaugh said the entire roster reported for minicamp, and the team posted images of Dobbins in uniform on its website Monday. The fourth-year running has expressed doubts about his long-term future with the Ravens, saying in a series of tweets that he’d like to stay in Baltimore for the rest of his career but “Idk tho sadly.”When Harbaugh was asked about Dobbins before practice, he didn’t indicate anything was amiss. He talked about Dobbins’ potential in new offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s attack: “It’s going to be interesting how he fits in, because J.K. has a lot of dynamic ability — backfield, motion, wide plays, inside plays, as a receiver out of the backfield I think he’s got a lot of potential. I...

Live updates | White House not commenting on Trump case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:27 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Follow along for live updates on former President Donald Trump, who made his first court appearance Tuesday after being indicted on 37 charges related to the mishandling classified documents. The indictment marks the first time in U.S. history that a former president faces criminal charges by the federal government he once oversaw. ___WHITE HOUSE TRYING ITS BEST TO STAY MUM ON CASE AGAINST TRUMPWhite House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is refusing to give straight answers to questions about the federal case against Trump.Jean-Pierre was asked Tuesday if President Joe Biden agrees with his wife, first lady Jill Biden, who has already said that it was a “little shocking” that Trump maintained large support from the Republican Party.“I’m just not going to comment on anything that’s related to the indictment,” Jean-Pierre responded.The president’s chief spokesman also dodged a question about whether Biden would ever consi...

Bidens to host Jennifer Hudson, Method Man, Ledisi and HBCU marching bands for Juneteenth concert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:27 GMT

Karu F. Daniels | New York Daily NewsPresident Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are kicking off the Juneteenth holiday early by celebrating Black Excellence at The White House on Tuesday night.A concert scheduled to stream live on YouTube at 7 p.m. ET will feature performances and appearances by EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson, six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, hip-hop superstar Method Man, Grammy winner Ledisi and gospel group Maverick City Music.LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 05: Method Man performs onstage during the 65th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 13: Ledisi performs during the STARZ new series premiere "Run The World" VIP screening and reception at NeueHouse in Los Angeles on May 13, 2021 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 04: Jennifer Hudson perform...

Grammy Awards announce 3 new categories, including Best African Music Performance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:27 GMT

Peter Sblendorio | New York Daily News (TNS)The Grammy Awards announced another tune-up Tuesday, adding three new categories ahead of next year’s show.The 2024 ceremony is set to introduce Best African Music Performance, Best Pop Dance Recording and Best Alternative Jazz Album, organizers said.The Best African Music Performance category will recognize “recordings that utilize unique local expressions from across the African continent,” the announcement reads. Best Pop Dance Recording will honor “tracks and singles that feature up-tempo, danceable music that follows a pop arrangement,” while Best Alternative Jazz Album will celebrate “artistic excellence in Alternative Jazz albums by individuals, duos and groups/ensembles, with or without vocals.”The new additions follow a 2023 ceremony in which the Grammys added five categories, including Songwriter of the Year.“These changes reflect our commitment to actively listen and respond to the feedback from our music community, accurately r...

Cormac McCarthy, lauded author of ‘The Road’ and ‘No Country for Old Men,’ dies at 89

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:27 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Cormac McCarthy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who in prose both dense and brittle took readers from the southern Appalachians to the desert Southwest in such novels as “The Road,” “Blood Meridian” and “All the Pretty Horses,” died Tuesday. He was 89.McCarthy died of natural causes in Santa Fe, New Mexico, publisher Alfred A. Knopf said. McCarthy, raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, was compared to William Faulkner for his Old Testament style and rural settings. McCarthy’s themes, like Faulkner’s, often were bleak and violent and dramatized how the past overwhelmed the present. Across stark and forbidding landscapes and rundown border communities, he placed drifters, thieves, prostitutes and old, broken men, all unable to escape fates determined for them well before they were born. As the doomed John Grady Cole of McCarthy’s celebrated “Border” trilogy would learn, dreams of a better life were only dreams, and falling in love an act of folly.McCarthy’s ...

Starbucks denies claims that it’s banning Pride displays but union organizers are skeptical

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:27 GMT

Starbucks is denying union organizers’ claims that it is banning Pride displays in its U.S. stores in the wake of Target and other brands experiencing a backlash.But Starbucks Workers United, the union organizing U.S. Starbucks stores, says store managers around the country have been curtailing or removing displays during a monthlong celebration of LGBTQ+ people. In some cases, the union said, managers told workers that Pride displays were a safety concern, citing recent incidents at Target where some angry customers tipped over merchandise and confronted workers.“There has been no change to any policy on this matter and we continue to encourage our store leaders to celebrate with their communities, including for U.S. Pride month in June,” the Seattle coffee giant said Tuesday in a statement.Starbucks has been outspoken in its support for LGBTQ+ employees for decades and said Tuesday that support is “unwavering.” It extended full health benefits to same-sex partners in 1...

North Carolina Republicans send green investment ban to governor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:27 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A ban on green investing has cleared North Carolina’s GOP-controlled legislature as part of a broader Republican crusade against big businesses that champion sustainability and workplace diversity.The measure, which won final legislative approval Tuesday, bans state agencies from using “environmental, social and governance” standards to screen potential investments, award contracts or hire and fire employees. It also says the state cannot weigh how a company promotes sustainability, engages with its community or structures its leadership to support those goals. At least two other states — North Dakota and Idaho — have already enacted laws banning such criteria. And elected officials in several other red states have derided them as “woke” or proposed similar policies to stop investors who contract with states from adopting them.The Senate voted 29-18 along party lines on Tuesday after the House passed the bill with veto-proof margins in May. It now heads to the d...

Los Angeles city councilman charged with embezzlement and perjury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:27 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors charged a Los Angeles city councilman with embezzlement and perjury Tuesday in the latest criminal case to upend the scandal-plagued governing board of the nation’s second-largest city.Curren Price, Jr. faces five counts of grand theft by embezzlement, three counts of perjury and two counts of conflict of interest, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The office did not release the criminal complaint or any details about what the charges stem from.The council has been rocked by a series of scandals. In March, a longtime councilman was convicted on federal corruption charges. Last year, a racism scandal that shook public trust in Los Angeles government triggered the resignation in October of then-City Council President Nury Martinez and a powerful labor leader, Ron Herrera.Price was first elected to the council in 2013 and currently serves as its president pro tempore. His district includes South Los Angeles and parts of...