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Expected front office additions excite Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:22 GMT

Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol lauded Josh Barfield’s presence, Brian Bannister’s creativity and Gene Watson’s wealth of knowledge.Grifol was asked about the three expected additions to the White Sox front office staff after Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park.“I think (general manager) Chris (Getz) has assembled a really good team around him,” Grifol said.MLB.com was the first to report on Tuesday night that Barfield would be joining the Sox as an assistant general manager. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale was the first to report Bannister’s role in pitching development and Watson in “player personnel.”Barfield, 40, has most recently been the director of player development with the Arizona Diamondbacks.“I met Josh not too long ago, he was extremely impressive,” Grifol said. “Great presence. Just a really good demeanor. A smart guy.“He’s been doing player develop...

London’s historic blue plaques seek more diversity as 1,000th marker is unveiled

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:22 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A resounding thump breaks the silence as Julia Land drops a lump of grey-brown clay onto the slab roller before Ned Heywood cranks it through the machine once, twice, three times, creating a rectangle about an inch thick.Laying a pattern on top of the slab, Heywood slices through the clay to create a disc the size of an extra-large pizza that will become one of the blue plaques that dot the walls of buildings throughout London, marking the places where scientists, artists, politicians and activists have made history.As English Heritage unveiled its 1,000th blue plaque on Tuesday, the charity was working to broaden the program to include more women, people from minority ethnic backgrounds and community groups so that it better reflects the diversity of the capital. The latest installation marks the offices where the Women’s Freedom League “campaigned for women’s equality” in the early 20th century, satisfying at least two of those goals.“The names are no longer ju...

Chelsea Clinton hopes new donations and ideas can help women and girls face increasing challenges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:22 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The Clinton Global Initiative added gender equity as a pillar of the nonprofit’s work to sound the alarm about the increasing challenges women and girls currently face, Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday.The conference addressed numerous pressing global issues before wrapping up Tuesday evening – from food insecurity, which World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain called “desperation,” to climate change – with 160 new monetary commitments announced that could total billions of dollars in new funding.“Whatever the issue — it’s connected to women and it falls more heavily on women,” Chelsea Clinton said. “It also requires us to center women in how we think about what our collective response should be.”She echoed the famous line, “Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights,” from then First Lady Hillary Clinton’s speech to the United Nations Conference on Women in Bei...

CPD launches search for missing 15-year-old girl on Northwest Side

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:22 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago Police Department is seeking the public's help as they search for a 15-year-old girl who went missing from the Dunning neighborhood Monday night.Missing 15-year-old Casandra Noble (Courtesy: Chicago Police Department)According to CPD, Casandra Noble was last seen around 10 p.m. in the 3600 block of North Paris Avenue leaving her residence on a pink Mongoose bicycle, while wearing a blue zipped hoodie jacket, green pants and black boots.Casandra is around 5-foot-1-inches tall, weighs about 110 pounds, and has blue eyes with blonde hair and a scar on her right cheek. She also wears glasses.Police said Casandra is known to frequent the woods around Irving Park and Cumberland, as well as the Harlem and Irving Shopping Mall. She has also spent time near the Schiller and Forest Glen woods.Those who have information that could help CPD find Casandra are encouraged to reach out to Area Five SVU at 312-746-6554.

What's preventing Latino businesses from growing?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:22 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago’s small businesses have always been a big part of thriving neighborhoods. In the Little Village community, you can find a string of them generating millions of dollars each year.Now a group of investors is working to make sure many Latino-owned businesses have the ability to keep growing. Right now, Latinos own five million businesses across the country, but few are able to scale their companies and start-ups into multi-million dollar ventures.Angeles Investors was created to give many Hispanic start-ups the ability to acquire capital and grow their business.  David Olivencia is the CEO of Angeles Investors."If you look at our community -hard working, innovative, energetic," he said. "The grit that we put into the businesses, there’s an opportunity to make a definite return on investment.” Hispanic Heritage Month: Husband & wife bring taste of Bolivia to Aurora A recent Stanford University study found that “Latino owned businesses have lower approva...

Bensenville residents, village officials discuss planned development

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:22 GMT

BENSENVILLE, Ill. — At Tuesday night's Bensenville committee of the whole meeting, residents showed up to express their opposition of a new development.The new development is planned at County Line Road and Grand Avenue. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines Chris McCullough said village leadership has referred to the proposed development as a gas station, but he said the village definition in the ordinance is a truck stop."The original proposal included a weight scale, diesel pumps, gas pumps, convenience store," McCullough said. The village president, Frank DeSimone, said a QuikTrip gas station, not a truck stop, will be going in. He had the real estate developer make those confirmations at the meeting. "There's no overnight parking, no showers, no liquor, no gaming," Andrew Smith, a real estate developer, said. He said they've been sympathetic to residents' concerns and have worked with the developers to guarantee that. "While the concessions are very good, it doesn't take a...

US-Iran prisoner swap unlikely to lower tensions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:22 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) -- Five Americans landed safely in the United States early Tuesday, part of a prisoner swap with Iran that also unfroze nearly $6 billion in Iranian assets."I have no higher priority, the president has no higher priority than making sure that Americans who are unjustly detained anywhere can come home," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.But while the Biden Administration celebrated, Republicans like Sen. Mitch McConnell slammed the deal."Unfortunately, the deal that secured their released may very well be the latest example of president Biden rewarding and incentivizing Tehran's bad behavior," McConnell said.In fact, McConnell was critical of the administration's overall Iran strategy, which he said "emboldened the massive state sponsor of terror and would be nuclear arms aggressor."Blinken, though, said the administration is committed to getting Iran to return to the nuclear agreement -- which former President Trump ended."We continue to be determined to...

19-year-old man in critical condition after shooting in Wicker Park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:22 GMT

CHICAGO — A 19-year-old man is in the hospital after he was shot while riding a scooter in Wicker Park, according to Chicago police. Officers say the shooting happened around 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening in the 1500 block of North Artesian Avenue.  Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines The man told police that he was in the area when he heard shots and felt pain. Officers say the man was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.Currently it is unclear what led to the shooting. Anyone with information on the shooting can leave a tip for police at CPDtip.com. Tips can be left anonymously.

Orioles win 4th straight, blast Astros, 9-5, behind homers from Austin Hays, Ryan O’Hearn and Heston Kjerstad

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:22 GMT

No player in the major leagues is more familiar with Camden Yards’ unnatural left field wall than Austin Hays.Playing in front of a different — but also strange — one Tuesday in Houston, Hays took advantage of Minute Maid Park’s shorter left field, blasting two home runs and leading the Orioles to a 9-5 victory.Baltimore’s bats combined for 10 hits and four homers for the club’s fourth straight win — a streak that has followed its four-game skid last week — to drop the Orioles’ magic number to win the American League East to eight.Hays’ first homer — a three-run shot in the third to give Baltimore a lead it wouldn’t relinquish — easily made it out to the short porch in left field. It wouldn’t have been a long ball at 14 MLB stadiums, including Camden Yards, which altered its dimensions last season by moving the left field wall back almost 30 feet and increasing its height by 5 feet.His second, though...

Kenta Maeda open to whatever postseason role Twins give him

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:22 GMT

CINCINNATI — Kenta Maeda said he didn’t feel perfect on Tuesday — his four-seam fastball, in particular, didn’t have the life he had wanted it to have. But the results were nearly perfect nonetheless.Maeda threw five innings on Tuesday, striking out eight batters and allowing just one hit — a double in the fourth inning — and a walk while picking up the win in the Twins’ 7-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.That came after an outing in Chicago in which Maeda gave up two runs across seven innings. The veteran starter has now won three straight games and has certainly been making a case to start a playoff game.The Twins, who are likely to clinch the American League Central DIvision title later this week, are expected to play in a best-of-three Wild Card Series in which Pablo López and Sonny Gray, in some order, would likely start the first two games.If the Twins opt to line up Joe Ryan for a potential Game 3, Maeda has plenty of experience coming out of t...