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DeSantis seeks to fundraise off Orlando Magic donation controversy and criticism from NBA players’ union

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:33 GMT

(CNN) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign is seeking to raise money off criticism by the NBA players’ union of an Orlando Magic donation to a super PAC that supports his presidential bid.In a text message Friday, the Republican’s presidential campaign said it appeared that the NBA had taken a “break from protesting our anthem and bending the knee to Communist China to chirp about Gov. DeSantis.”“Under his presidency, America will NEVER bend the knee to China,” it added. The fundraising text included the National Basketball Players’ Association statement Thursday that slammed the team’s financial support for the pro-DeSantis super PAC.The association called the $50,000 donation from the team to the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down “alarming given recent comments and policies of its beneficiary.”“NBA governors, players and personnel have the right to express their personal political views, including through donations and statements,” the players’ association said in&n...

Storms to Sun

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:33 GMT

This evening we’re tracking scattered showers and storms rolling through New England. The key word here is scattered, not every town will see a storm, however any storm that does develop has the potential to be strong or severe — especially north and west of Boston. It doesn’t mean every storm will but we’ll have to watch the radar this evening. We have a severe thunderstorm watch in effect until 8pm but that may need to be extended if the storms keep the strong to severe potential. We’ll have storms past 8pm, the question is if they are likely to reach severe limits or not.In general, the storms will weaken as they move south and east. The risk of strong or severe storm is more likely in the yellow shaded area (level 2 of 5 on the severe weather scale). Then down to a 1 of 5 for those inside of 495, with no severe storms expected in southeastern Massachusetts or the Cape.Any storm that does become severe will be for either gusty wind or large hail. In ...

Lawmakers secure funding to restore, weatherize Old South Meeting House

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:33 GMT

Sen. Ed Markey celebrated the federal funding secured to repair and weatherize the Old South Meeting House in an event on Friday. The $480,000 will help with the preservation and conservation of the building as the meeting house battles corrosion from flood and water damage. The weatherization is imperative as the climate crisis worsens corrosion to the building’s frame and foundation.“I went to work with Sen. Warren and Congresswoman Pressly to make sure we would insert the funding so that the restoration, the repairs and ultimately the resiliency that is going to be needed for the 21st Century is built into this building,” Markey said at the event.The Old South Meeting House, where the Boston Tea Party was organized, is one of the city’s most treasured historical landmarks.

NH man accused of causing son’s death faces murder charge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:33 GMT

A New Hampshire man accused of burning his son and causing his death has been indicted on a murder charge. 25-year-old Murtadah Mohammad is facing a second-degree murder charge returned by the Hillsborough County Grand Jury for allegedly assaulting his 7-year-old son and burning him with hot liquid and a hot pan. Mohammad had previously been charged with assault and is being held without bail. The first and second degree assault charges also allege he whipped his son with a cord. Mohammad is also changed with falsifying physical evidence for allegedly deleting data from his cellphone and staging a false scene.His son Jaevion Riley was left in a coma after being found with injuries including burns in January. He died a week later.

Christian Gonzalez learning from ‘heavyweight’ matchup in Patriots training camp

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:33 GMT

While some Patriots coaches were hesitant to shower too much praise on the team’s 2023 rookie class, co-wide receivers coach Ross Douglas didn’t hold back when it came to first-round pick Christian Gonzalez’s daily practice matchups with wide receiver DeVante Parker.Parker, who’s 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, has gotten the better of Gonzalez on contested catches this summer in training camp. Gonzalez, who’s 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, has held his own and made things competitive, however.“When you watch Gonzo go up against DP, it’s like two heavyweight fighters,” Douglas told reporters Friday during a video conference call. “DP’s made a living so far in his career making those type of contested catches.”Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots coaches respond to Jack Jones leaving Thursday practice New England Patriots | Patriots’ Mac Jones, Bill O’Brien enjoying strong QB-coach relati...

Trump pleads not guilty to second round of charges in classified documents case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:33 GMT

Former President Donald Trump removed the need to fly to Florida next week when he pleaded not guilty Friday in a paper filing to three new charges brought against him in a superseding indictment related to his handling of classified documents after he left office.In doing so, he waived a court appearance in Fort Pierce that was scheduled for Aug. 10 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Shaniek Mills Maynard.Trump, 77, personally appeared in a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to plead not guilty to a third federal indictment brought against him by prosecutors. The long-awaited indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, whose office also brought the documents case, alleges the former president orchestrated an illegal attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to President Joe Biden.Following that plea, Trump boarded his private jetliner and flew back to New Jersey, where he is spending the summer.The not-guilty plea entered in the South Flori...

Colorado fugitive who was captured in Florida was leading a posh lifestyle and flaunting his wealth

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:33 GMT

A career fraudster who escaped from a federal prison in Colorado nearly five years ago was captured this week while moving into a $1.5 million house near the ocean on Florida’s Gold Coast, federal officials said Friday.Federal marshals arrested Alan Todd May, 58, at the house in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday while movers unloaded a U-Haul truck. He was wearing a Rolex watch at the time of the arrest, and drove a high-end Mercedes, according to investigators who had been surveilling him. It was an anonymous tipster who led authorities to May — who was living under the name “Jacob Turner” — after spotting a published photo of him at a posh fundraiser. The photo, which showed him wearing a pink shirt, pink blazer and pink-tinted glasses, was published on the website of the Palm Beach Daily News.This fugitive wasn’t exactly keeping a low profile.May “was living a lavish lifestyle where he was flaunting his wealth in high society down in south Florida,” Katrina Crouse, chief deputy U.S. mar...

Wisconsin judge orders the release of records sought from fake Trump elector

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:33 GMT

A Wisconsin judge on Friday ordered the state elections commission to release all records it has related to one of its Republican members and his role as one of 10 people who posed as fake electors in 2020 for former President Donald Trump.The lawsuit, filed by a union leader represented by the liberal firm Law Forward, sought commission records related to Robert Spindell and comments he made about his role as a fake elector. Spindell is one of three Republican state elections commission members.Fake electors met in Wisconsin and six other battleground states where Trump was defeated in 2020, attempting to cast ballots for the former president even though he lost. Republicans who participated in Wisconsin said they were trying to preserve Trump’s legal standing in case courts overturned his defeat.The role of those fake electors, particularly in Wisconsin, was central to the federal indictment against Trump released this week. Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to trying to overturn ...

Armed man who tried to enter a Jewish school in Tennessee fired at a contractor, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:33 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man who tried to enter a Jewish school with a gun fired shots at a contractor there and later pointed his weapon at police before an officer wounded him on a residential street, authorities said.Joel Bowman, 33, went to Margolin Hebrew Academy-Feinstone Yeshiva of the South school in Memphis on Monday and tried to get inside, but he was denied entry, police said on the day of the shooting. Class was not in session, but there were limited staff and construction workers there at the time.In an affidavit, police said Bowman — who had attended the school — walked around its exterior and fired two shots at the contractor, who was not hit. Bowman then fired two more shots outside the school before driving away in a pickup truck, police said. Officers tracked down Bowman a short drive from the school. He exited his truck with a gun in his right hand and pointed the weapon at an officer, who shot him, police said. Bowman was hospitalized in critical conditi...

Extreme weather risk changing Canada’s insurance industry, raising costs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:33 GMT

OTTAWA — Climate change is driving up insurance rates and raising questions about whether private coverage will even be available for some Canadians in the future.The problem could mean the National Flood Insurance Program that Canada is developing to ensure access to affordable overland flood coverage might have to be expanded to wildfires, wind storms and hurricanes in short order.Statistics Canada’s latest inflation report showed home insurance costs were up 8.2 per cent nationally in June, compared with one year earlier. Increases were about 10 per cent in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, and nearly 12 per cent in Nova Scotia.Some of the increase to premiums was due to inflation, but Craig Stewart, vice-president of climate and federal affairs for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said a big chunk of it was because global reinsurance companies re-evaluated Canada’s risk profile and jacked up their prices.Most companies that sell property insurance in Canada ...