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Phillies ace should serve as blueprint for Red Sox starting rotation remodel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:27 GMT

It’s been a long time since the Red Sox went into an offseason without ‘Give starting rotation an extreme makeover’ at the top of their to-do list.Corey Kluber and James Paxton are about to become free agents, and even though that still leaves Chris Sale, Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, and Garrett Whitlock among the internal rotation candidates, it’s clear that the Red Sox still need at least one starter.If they need a blueprint for their latest pitching search, Zack Wheeler is the model pitcher.He isn’t on the market, unfortunately. The Red Sox should’ve followed through on that at the July 2019 trade deadline, when they reportedly spoke to the New York Mets about acquiring him, or gone after him when he became a free agent that fall.Yet if the Red Sox were to zero in on someone like Wheeler – someone itching to prove they’re more than what people see – they might strike gold.Since signing his five-year, $118 million contract with...

Wednesday’s high school roundup/scores: Nantucket volleyball team nets win over Falmouth

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:27 GMT

In the Cape and Islands League, Chloe Marrero notched 23 kills and Alice O’Bannion added 10 blocks as Nantucket defeated Falmouth 3-1 in volleyball action.Sadie Wellbeloved supplied 40 assists, mainly finding Molly Gleason (12 kills) and Charlotte Sullivan (11 kills) for Barnstable (9-2) in a 3-0 win over Dennis-Yarmouth.Ellie Shelton had 10 kills and an ace, while Haley Carter recorded 30 assists and three aces as Attleboro beat Sharon 3-0 in Hockomock League action.Ella Quinn finished with 10 kills, while Meghan Downs added 23 assists and 11 digs to propel Billerica (8-4) during a 3-0 sweep of Methuen in the Merrimack Valley Conference. … Isabel Sierpina tallied seven kills and 15 service points as Central Catholic (4-7) topped Lowell, 3-0.Caroline Gray floored 10 kills and seven aces, and Brianna Eddy and Brooke Steele had five kills each as Whitman-Hanson (8-3) bested Quincy 3-0 in the Patriot League.Maddie Cole and Lila Moniz grounded eight kills apiece as Marblehead (6-4) beat...

Stock market today: Asian shares rise, buoyed by Wall Street rally from bonds and oil prices

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:27 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares advanced Thursday after a plunge in oil prices aided a recovery on Wall Street. Benchmarks rose in Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul and Hong Kong. Chinese markets were closed for a holiday. Market sentiment was helped by a $5 decline in oil prices on Wednesday. Lower energy costs would relieve inflationary pressures that have led central banks to keep interest rates high. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1.5% to 30,969.71. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 6,925.50, while South Korea’s Kospi added 0.8% to 2,424.90. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained 0.7% to 17,321.16. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 53 cents to $84.75 a barrel. It fell $5.01 to settle at $84.22 per barrel Wednesday in its biggest drop in just over a year. It was hovering near $70 a barrel and has been been pulling back since topping $93 last week.Brent crude, the international standard, gained 61 cents to $86.42. Oil prices fell after the Energy Information...

Highlights from AP-NORC poll about the religiously unaffiliated in the US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:27 GMT

Thirty percent of Americans don’t identify with a religious group — but not all of them are atheists or agnostics.In fact, 43% of the group known as the “nones” say they believe in God, even if they largely dislike organized religion.Those are among the findings of a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.The poll of 1,680 adults was conducted May 11-15 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.RELIGIOUS OR NOTThirty percent of adults identified with no religion. That group, commonly called nones, includes those identifying as atheist (7%), agnostic (7%) and nothing in particular (16%).Sixty-four percent in the poll identified with a Christian tradition, including Protestant (25%), Catholic (19%), “just Christian” (18%) ,Mormon (1%) and Orthodox (less than 1%). Other g...

Q&A: Jose Mujica on Uruguay’s secular history, religion, atheism and the global rise of the ‘nones’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:27 GMT

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — In Uruguay, a nation of some 3.3 million people, more than half identify as “nones” — atheist, agnostic or other religiously unaffiliated — the highest portion in Latin America.Uruguay has a long history of secularization. In the early 20th century, new laws banned any mention of God in oaths of office, and removed symbols, including crucifixes, from public hospitals. Holidays were secularized: Holy Week is known as Tourism Week. Christmas is Family Day.Uruguay’s best-known “none” is former President Jose Mujica. Now 88, Mujica gained respect globally for his simple ways. He donated most of his salary to charity and declined to live in the presidential mansion. His social agenda included laws approving same-sex marriage and creating the world’s first national marketplace for legal marijuana.In an interview with The Associated Press at his flower farm near Montevideo, Mujica reflected on his beliefs, Uruguay’s secularism and the global rise of the religious...

The collapse of a building in Havana has left 3 people dead and at least 2 others injured

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:27 GMT

HAVANA (AP) — A building in the historic center of Havana that housed 13 families partially collapsed, leaving three people dead and at least two injured, Cuban authorities said Wednesday.Authorities in Havana said that among the three fatalities were one resident and two firefighters who got trapped in the building when they were helping evacuate people.A part of the three-story building collapsed Tuesday’s night, and other sections crumbled early Wednesday. While the reason for the collapse was not immediately known, the area has several aging buildings that lack maintenance and deteriorate in tropical rains, like those currently hitting the island.Alexis Acosta Silva, mayor of Old Havana, told local media there were 54 people in the building at the time of the collapse. Families were evacuated to a nearby school, and no damage was reported to surrounding buildings.Poor maintenance of existing residential buildings and the slow rate of building new ones have been top complai...

Toronto Islands has a cormorant problem. What’s being done to address it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:27 GMT

It’s become an increasingly common sight along the Toronto Islands: green trees and, suddenly, a patch of what looks like silver to the untrained eye.But it’s not silver at all; it’s bird poop and a lot of it courtesy of double-crested cormorants, a species of bird that the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) said is native to the islands and was even close to extinction at one point.“With cormorants, they have specific feces, and so all of their excrements, as it accumulates in their nesting areas, it ultimately starts killing the trees,” said Andrea Chreston of the TRCA.“While the feces don’t directly harm people, they have a pretty pungent odour. Cormorants also have a primarily fish-based diet and often regurgitate their food within the nesting colonies.”Chreston said it becomes increasingly problematic when the feces and regurgitated fish are blended into the humid conditions of Toronto’s hot and humid weather.&...

Numbers drawn for $1.2 billion Powerball jackpot that keeps growing after 11 weeks without a winner

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:27 GMT

PINEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — The numbers were drawn Wednesday night for an estimated $1.2 billion Powerball jackpot.The winning numbers announced were: 9, 35, 54, 63, 64 and the Powerball 1.The game is in the midst of an 11-week stretch without a big winner, but no matter how large the prize grows the odds stay the same — and they’re terrible.It’s those odds of 1 in 292.2 million that make the jackpot so hard to win and that result in such giant prizes for the lucky player or players who manage to pick the game’s six winning numbers. The latest Powerball jackpot is the world’s seventh-largest lottery prize. The last time someone won the top prize was July 19.GAME DETAILSIn most states, Powerball tickets cost $2 and buyers can chose their own numbers and single Powerball or leave that task to a computer. Powerball drawings are held three times a week at 10:59 p.m. EDT on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturday, with the numbers selected at the Florida Lottery in Tallahassee. Once the numbers are ...

Powerball numbers drawn for $1.2B jackpot: Did you win?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:27 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — Grab your tickets: the winning numbers for the estimated $1.2 billion Powerball jackpot have been drawn. The winning numbers drawn on Wednesday, Oct. 4, were: 63, 9, 35, 64, 54 and red Powerball is 1. The Power Play is 2X.The jackpot propelled to an estimated $1.2 billion, with a cash value of $551.7 million, after no ticket matched all winning numbers drawn Monday, though several players took home second-tier prizes. Win the Powerball jackpot? Think twice before taking the cash At that size, it stands as the third-largest jackpot in Powerball history, coming in behind a $2.04 billion jackpot hit last November in California and a $1.586 billion jackpot split by three tickets (California, Florida, and Tennessee) in 2016.If the jackpot is won in this drawing, it would be the seventh-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, edging out a $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot won by a ticket sold in California in July — which has yet to be claimed. The largest lottery ...

Two firefighters suffer minor injuries in Parkcrest Drive fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:27 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- On Wednesday, two firefighters suffered minor injuries extinguishing a structure fire in west Austin, the Austin Fire Department said on social media.Officials responded to a structure fire on Parkcrest Drive near MoPac Expressway Wednesday | Andy way/KXAN NewsOfficials responded to a structure fire on Parkcrest Drive near MoPac Expressway Wednesday | Courtesy Austin Fire DepartmentOfficials responded to a structure fire on Parkcrest Drive near MoPac Expressway Wednesday | Courtesy Austin Fire DepartmentOfficials responded to a structure fire on Parkcrest Drive near MoPac Expressway Wednesday | Courtesy Austin Fire DepartmentOfficials responded to a structure fire on Parkcrest Drive near MoPac Expressway Wednesday | Andy way/KXAN NewsOfficials responded to a structure fire on Parkcrest Drive near MoPac Expressway Wednesday | Andy way/KXAN NewsOfficials responded to a structure fire on Parkcrest Drive near MoPac Expressway Wednesday | Courtesy Austin Fire DepartmentS...