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ASK IRA: Are the Heat failing Jimmy Butler?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:01 GMT

Q: Good for Jimmy Butler. Walk out just like the entire Heat organization has walked out on your window. – Kitara.A: I’m not sure Jimmy Butler’s premature departure from the court in overtime in Saturday night’s loss in Orlando was a statement about something larger. But how does a player score 38 points in regulation, including a miraculous game-tying 3-pointer at the fourth-quarter buzzer, and not get a single shot in overtime? Yes, because of turnovers, the Heat got off only four shots in overtime. Still, you get the ball to Butler. As far as the greater notion of the Heat not doing enough to surround Jimmy with the required talent, remember that his influence was among the reasons the Heat signed Kyle Lowry, essentially leaving them capped out and on the luxury-tax threshold. Next will be the question of trying to find something else to sate Jimmy, or moving forward and building around Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.Q: One nice part of the loss to Orlando wa...

For Orioles’ Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson, latest MLB extensions probably don’t mean much | ANALYSIS

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:01 GMT

Last week, a catcher viewed as a fixture of a rebuild and one of baseball’s top prospects both received long-term deals. Neither were Orioles.Washington Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz and Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll agreed to eight-year contracts, but it seems unlikely either establishes a point of comparison for hypothetical agreements between the Orioles and their young star duo of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson.Coming off his first full season in the majors, Ruiz, 24, signed an eight-year, $50 million contract with Washington, establishing him as a player the Nationals will hold onto as they endure their rebuild. The Orioles believe they are on the other side of theirs, with Rutschman’s selection atop the 2019 draft making him the face of the project and his May 2021 arrival marking the organization’s turn toward competitiveness.The centerpiece of the trade package Washington received from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Max Scherzer and Tre...

After Massachusetts man allegedly attacked flight attendant, ex-FAA special agent pushes for secondary cockpit barrier

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:01 GMT

A Bay State man accused of attacking a flight attendant while on a plane to Boston last week, the latest in a long list of unruly passenger incidents, shows the continued need for a secondary cockpit barrier on all commercial aircrafts.The chaotic incident on the United flight from Los Angeles to Boston Logan International Airport also sent terrorists a clear message that “Americans are not going to lie down and take it,” said retired FAA special agent Brian Sullivan.The 77-year-old Massachusetts man spoke to the Herald in the wake of last Sunday’s shocking incident. Leominster man Francisco Torres, 33, was arrested after allegedly trying to open an emergency exit door and then trying to stab a flight attendant in the neck. Passengers, including a former Boston bouncer, ended up tackling Torres and restraining him.During the incident, Torres in a video was seen moving toward the cockpit as he allegedly attacked the flight attendant.“It emphasizes the need to ...

4 things to know about Patriots free agency

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:01 GMT

Two months ago, Patriots owner Robert Kraft issued a letter to season ticket holders inspiring hope.He promised no one in the organization was satisfied with an 8-9 finish. He said all elements of the football operation would be evaluated. And when fans returned for the 2023 season, Kraft anticipated an improved product on the field.The time has come for Kraft and the Patriots to put their money where their team is.The Pats have ranked among the lowest-spending teams in the NFL during free agency over the past three seasons. Mac Jones continues to play out his cost-controlled rookie contract. Already, the Dolphins have begun loading up by trading for All-Pro corner Jalen Ramsey, and the Jets could be on the verge of adding a future Hall of Fame quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.Meanwhile, the Patriots are entering free agency with clear roster holes in the short and long-term. They will not address all of them in the coming week, when the NFL’s “legal tampering” period wi...

Nintendo, Square Enix to return for PAX East

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:01 GMT

This year’s PAX East will feature the return of a some of the big name game developers absent since COVID-19 upended the long running gaming convention which annually draws tens of thousands to the city.“Nintendo’s presence at the show will be dedicated to competitive play activities. More details will be revealed at a later date,” a spokesperson for the Japan based game developer told the Herald.First started in Washington state in 2004 by the authors of the popular web comic of the same name, the Penny Arcade Expo was built as a convention focused entirely on the gaming industry for gamers. The event has grown to include a series of satellite conventions as far away as Melbourne, Australia, features live play, cash prize tournaments, and visits by industry insiders.Boston’s first convention, in 2010, brought over 50,000 attendees. According to event producer ReedPop, PAXEast has grown to be a four day event that hosts over 750 gaming companies — many of them local — and draws an a...

Lucas: DiZoglio shaking up Beacon Hill; it’s about time!

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:01 GMT

No one in memory has shaken up the State House—and its leaders– the way Diana DiZoglio, the fiery new state auditor has done in just one week.The public loves it and DiZoglio knows it.From Gov. Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Campbell down to House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka, DiZoglio has openly declared that there is a new sheriff on Beacon Hill and that she means business.And while some may think that the newly elected DiZoglio, once a member of the House and the Senate herself, is exceeding her authority, that has not hampered DiZoglio from acting aggressively in the name of woke watchwords including “transparency, accountability and equity.”The state auditor is charged with auditing all state departments and agencies. DiZoglio has either given the sleepy office new life, or is creating a Frankenstein monster.DiZoglio was elected auditor in 2022 along  with fellow women candidates Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Attorney General Andrea Cam...

Cohen to testify before grand jury in Trump hush money probe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:01 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is poised to testify Monday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments he arranged and made on the former president’s behalf.Cohen’s impending grand jury appearance was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly about grand jury proceedings and did so on condition of anonymity.Cohen’s closed-door testimony is coming at a critical time as the Manhattan district attorney’s office closes in on a decision on whether to seek charges against Trump.A Trump loyalist turned adversary, Cohen is likely to provide critical details about whatever involvement the Republican presidential candidate may have had in the payments, made in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign, to two women who alleged affairs with him.Cohen has given prosecutors evidence, including voice recordings of conversations he had with a lawyer for one of the women, as well ...

Iran says 22,000 arrested in protests pardoned by top leader

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:01 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran announced Monday that the country’s supreme leader has pardoned 22,000 people arrested in the recent anti-government protests that swept the Islamic Republic. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the mass release. The statement by Iran’s judiciary head Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi offered for the first time a glimpse of the full scope of the government’s crackdown that followed the demonstrations over the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by the country’s morality police. It also suggests that Iran’s theocracy now feels secure enough to admit the scale of the unrest, which represented one of the most-serious challenges to the establishment since the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Tens of thousands also were detained in the purges that followed the revolution. However, anger still remains in the country as it struggles through the collapse of the nation’s curr...

Bank stocks drop in Europe over jitters on US bank failure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:01 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Bank stocks sagged in Europe and U.S. stock futures fell Monday ahead of the market’s open in New York, shaken by a Wall Street tumble that set off worries the biggest U.S. bank failure in nearly 15 years might have ripple effects around the world. Broader markets, however, were mixed.The STOXX Banks index of 21 major European lenders was off 4.4%, with some members seeing intraday drops in double digits. Germany’s Commzerbank was down 10.5%, and Spain’s Banco de Sabadell down 10.1%.Dow futures were off 1.1% in premarket trading, and the S&P 500 was 1.4% lower.France’s CAC 40 lost 2.6% to 7,030.32. Germany’s DAX dropped 2.7% to 15,012.94. Britain’s FTSE 100 dove 2.3% to 7,570.18. In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 1.1% to finish at 27,832.96. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5% to 7,108.80. South Korea’s Kospi recouped earlier losses to gain 0.7% to 2,410.60. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2% to ...

Nepal’s newly elected president takes oath of office

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:01 GMT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s newly elected president — the third since the Himalayan nation abolished its centuries-old monarchy in 2008 and became a republic — took the oath of office Monday in Kathmandu. Ram Chandra Poudel was elected Thursday by members of the Federal Parliament and provincial assemblies. Top officials, diplomats and Parliament members lined up to congratulate the new president at the ceremony where the military band played national songs and gave him a salute. Outgoing President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, having completed the maximum completed two terms in office, passed the position on immediately after the swearing-in ceremony.The president is largely a figurehead with little political power. But the election triggered a feud among partners in the governing alliance headed by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who took office in December after a hung parliament left a fragile coalition government.Dahal backed Poudel, who is also now the supreme commander of the ...