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House passes trans athlete ban for girls and women’s teams

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

By KEVIN FREKING (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House passed a bill Thursday that would bar federally supported schools and colleges from allowing transgender athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth was male to compete on girls or women’s sports teams.The legislation approved by a 219-203 vote is unlikely to advance further because the Democratic-led Senate will not support it and the White House said President Joe Biden would veto it. Supporters said the legislation, which would put violators at risk of losing taxpayer dollars, is necessary to ensure competitive fairness. They framed the vote as supporting female athletes disadvantaged by having to compete against those whose gender identify does not match their sex assigned at birth. Opponents criticized the bill as ostracizing an already vulnerable group for political gain. The House action comes as at least 20 other states have imposed similar limits on trans athletes at the K-12 or co...

Jalin Hyatt could be among the receivers the Jets could target in the NFL Draft

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

A week before the 2023 NFL Draft, which will begin on April 27, wide receiver isn’t a significant need for the Jets.However, that did not stop the Jets from pursuing Odell Beckham Jr. in free agency.Following weeks of speculation, Beckham signed a one-year contract with the Ravens, which can reach up to $18 million, including up to $3 million in incentives. Before Beckham joined the Ravens, the Jets signed Allen Lazard and Mecole Hardman.But could Gang Green target a wide receiver at some point in the draft?It might not be in the first round, but there are a few receivers the Jets could have on their draft board. Among them could be Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt.After two pedestrian years with the Volunteers, Hyatt had a breakthrough 2022 season. In 12 games, Hyatt registered 67 catches for 1,267 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was named the Fred Biletnikoff Award winner for the nation’s best receiver, as Hyatt was also named a unanimous All-American.“The vertica...

It could be another next man up for Heat after Duncan Robinson uneven in place of Tyler Herro

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

The differences in depth could not have been more stark.With Giannis Antetokounmpo out for the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, coach Mike Budenholzer turned to his bench and inserted Bobby Portis into his starting lineup in what turned into a 138-122 blowout victory. Such was the luxury of having available the final Eastern Conference Player of the Week for 2022-23.With Tyler Herro out for the Miami Heat with the fractured right hand sustained in his team’s series-opening Sunday victory, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra went with a player who started just one game in 2022-23. No, it did not go well with Duncan Robinson in the loss that evened the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at 1-1 going into Saturday night’s Game 3 at Kaseya Center.Portis closed with 13 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in 27:57. Robinson finished with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists in 25:36, not scoring until both teams had emptied their benches in the fourth q...

US traffic deaths drop slightly in 2022 but still a ‘crisis’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — The number of people killed on U.S. roadways decreased slightly last year, but government officials said the 42,795 people who died is still a national crisis.Estimates by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that the number of fatalities dropped 0.3% from the 42,939 killed in 2021. Traffic deaths declined slightly in the fourth quarter, the third straight quarterly drop.But they’re still close to 2021 numbers, which were the highest in 16 years.“We continue to face a national crisis of traffic deaths on our roadways, and everyone has a role to play in reversing the rise that we experienced in recent years,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose department includes NHTSA, said in a statement Thursday.The department has adopted a national safe systems strategy in an effort to reduce the deaths, including more than $800 million in grants to help communities with projects in high-crash areas, NHTSA said in a statement.Estimates from the agen...

SpaceX giant rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

By MARCIA DUNN (AP Aerospace Writer)SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (AP) — SpaceX’s giant new rocket exploded minutes after blasting off Thursday on it first test flight and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the nearly 400-foot (120-meter) Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. It carried no people or satellites.Images showed multiple engines weren’t working on the 33-engine rocket as it climbed from the launch pad, reaching as high as 24 miles (39 kilometers.)The flight plan had called for the booster to peel away from the spacecraft minutes after liftoff, but that didn’t happen. The rocket began to tumble and then exploded four minutes into the flight, plummeting into the gulf.After separating, the spacecraft was supposed to continue east and attempt to circle the world, before crashing into the Pacific near Hawaii.Throngs of spectators watched from South Padre Island, several miles away fro...

Mobile business in Chula Vista stolen, robbed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- A South Bay woman is sharing her story after someone stole her mobile business. She says someone destroyed her financially and hopes her story can raise awareness for others."I know it’s all material, but this is my business and it’s my heart and soul," said business over Cindy Macaranas. SDSU building reopens after Legionella pneumonia investigation She has run her island fashion business out of her truck since 2008. It all came to a sudden stop when Macaranas recently got a call from her son that the vehicle parked on Brandywine Road and Olympic Parkway in Chula Vista was gone. "He didn’t find it. He said mom the truck is gone. I was really worried, then thought maybe someone towed it, but I thought not on a Sunday," added Macaranas.The single mother of three told FOX 5 she filed a police report but before officers started their investigation, her truck was located by a friend the following day in National City.Thousands of dollars of merchandise she ...

Todd Haimes, who led a theater company to Broadway, dies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Todd Haimes, who led the Roundabout Theatre Company from an off-off-Broadway company teetering on the edge of bankruptcy into a major theatrical force with works on five stages — including three Broadway theaters — and dozens of Tony Awards, has died. He was 66.Haimes, the artistic director and CEO of the nonprofit Roundabout, died in New York City on Wednesday due to complications from cancer, according to Matt Polk, his longtime friend and spokesperson.“Rest in peace, Mr. Haimes,” actor Mark Ruffalo, who starred in a Roundabout revival of “The Price” on Broadway in 2017, wrote on Twitter. “You were a wonderful and kind soul. Thank you for the chance to work at the Roundabout with you. You will be missed on Broadway, the theater world, and the world at large.” Broadway shows under Haimes’ 39-year tenure include “The Real Thing” with Ewan McGregor, “A Soldier’s Play” with David Alan Grier and “On the Twentieth Century” with Kristin Chenoweth. Other ...

Biden touts US efforts as oil overshadows climate summit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden touted “unprecedented” climate efforts by his administration on Thursday in an annual White House summit that was overshadowed by Russia’s war in Ukraine and other immediate threats to the world’s short-term oil and gas supply.Biden used the Major Economies Forum, convened virtually, to announce that the U.S. hoped to give $500 million to Brazil over the next five years to help slow the destruction of the Amazon, one of the world’s vital natural reserves soaking up the climate-damaging fumes from oil, natural gas, coal and methane. The funding would require congressional approval. Climate leaders and scientists have sharply criticized the U.S. and many other nations, though, for responding to oil and gas shortages and greater supply concerns by ramping up oil and gas production and expansion plans, saying it is impossible to keep global warming to hoped-for limits while increasing drilling.Biden, a Democrat, pointed to climate ...

Dutch business envoy to Ukraine quits over book comments

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A veteran diplomat who was appointed less than three weeks ago to promote Dutch involvement in the reconstruction of Ukraine has quit over remarks he made — reportedly about Russia — in a new book, the government announced Thursday.The Dutch foreign ministry said that Ron van Dartel would step down with immediate effect. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Liesje Schreinemacher “respects the decision and has accepted his resignation,” the ministry said in a statement.Van Dartel, a former Dutch ambassador to Serbia, Poland and Russia, quit over comments he made to the author of a new book. Dutch broadcaster RTL reported that they include him saying “Ukrainians are also Russians. We must not forget that. That is the reality.”The ministry said Van Dartel’s comments were made before his appointment earlier this month, but only published after he took up his new role.Van Dartel “has realized that he can no longer function credibly with the...

North Dakota governor signs law limiting trans health care

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:25 GMT

North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed a bill into law that restricts transgender health care in the state, immediately making it a crime to give gender-affirming care to people younger than 18.Gender-affirming care for minors has been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations, but it has increasingly come under attack in many conservative legislatures, including North Dakota’s, where lawmakers have passed at least three anti-trans bills this year. The measure that Burgum signed Wednesday received veto-proof support from GOP lawmakers — though some Republicans did vote against it, alongside all Democrats.The new law takes immediate effect and allows prosecutors to charge a health care provider with a felony — up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines — for performing sex reassignment surgery on a minor.It also enables prosecutors to charge a provider with a misdemeanor — up to 360 days in prison and $3,000 in fine...