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Celtics’ Oshae Brissett reflects on departure from Pacers: ‘It was time for a change’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 14:04:35 GMT

After spending three formative seasons with the Pacers, Oshae Brissett was ready for his next chapter when he entered the summer as a free agent.The Pacers knew it was time, too.Before he signed with the Celtics on a two-year deal early in free agency, Brissett had a conversation with Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan about the future. They both agreed that Indiana was not the right place for the 25-year-old forward.“It was more of like a mutual respect, talking to Chad,” Brissett said Wednesday before facing his former team for the first time. “He understood where I’m at right now in my career and what I need to kind of move forward. We talked on the phone a couple times and he felt like, and myself felt like it was time for a change and I felt like I needed to be here with a team that’s really going in that championship direction. Not to say they aren’t, obviously they’re looking for that, but right now they’re building up and they drafted a couple young guys, so that’s what th...

Boston City Council pushing for parking meter benefit districts to boost transportation projects

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 14:04:35 GMT

The Boston City Council is pushing for the creation of parking benefit districts, a concept that reinvests metered parking fees back into a neighborhood for a wide range of transportation-related improvements.Related ArticlesPolitics | Mass and Cass tents come down in Boston [+gallery] Politics | Boston Police to begin enforcing Mass and Cass tent ban on Wednesday Politics | ‘Slap in the face:’ Boston veterans still fuming at City Council over budget cut Politics | No new tents, Wu says ahead of Mass and Cass enforcement push Politics | Boston City Council president expects pushback to Mass and Cass crackdown Councilor Ricardo Arroyo put forward a hearing request at the body’s Wednesday meeting, where he discussed the potential for a pilot district in Roslindale Village, a shopping and dining area where parking meters will soon be added by the city.“If we are going to create meters, which I t...

Zach LaVine is unbothered by Philadelphia 76ers rumors: ‘Trades are just part of the business,’ the Chicago Bulls guard says

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 14:04:35 GMT

Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine landed back in the NBA trade rumor mill after the Philadelphia 76ers’ blockbuster trade of James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers.Within hours of the Harden deal being reported late Monday, LaVine’s name popped up in “early chatter” as a trade target for the 76ers, according to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix.LaVine would give the 76ers a scoring and playmaking threat to help replace Harden in the backcourt. And the 76ers have stocked up on future draft picks that could make for a tempting offer if the Bulls front office decides to rebuild.But after a shootaround in Dallas ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Mavericks, LaVine said he has received no communication from the Bulls front office about a potential trade and feels confident in his role in Chicago.“I’ve been traded before,” LaVine told the Tribune. “Trades are just part of the business and guys get shuffled around every year. I...

Bob Knight, Indiana’s combustible coaching giant, dies at age 83

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 14:04:35 GMT

By MICHAEL MAROT (AP Sports Writer)BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Bob Knight, the brilliant and combustible coach who won three NCAA titles at Indiana and for years was the scowling face of college basketball, has died. He was 83.Knight’s family made the announcement on social media on Wednesday night.“It is with heavy hearts that we share that Coach Bob Knight passed away at his home in Bloomington surrounded by his family,” the statement said. “We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers, and appreciate the continued respect for our privacy as Coach requested a private family gathering, which is being honored. We will continue to celebrate his life and remember him, today and forever as a beloved Husband, Father, Coach, and Friend.”Knight was among the winningest coaches in the sport, finishing his career with 902 victories in 42 seasons at Army, Indiana and Texas Tech. He also coached the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in 1984.The Hall of Fam...

Ravens’ Marcus Williams returns to practice; Ronnie Stanley, Gus Edwards, Odell Beckham Jr. among 5 starters absent

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 14:04:35 GMT

Ravens safety Marcus Williams returned to practice Wednesday after missing the past two games with a hamstring injury.Meanwhile, five starters — left tackle Ronnie Stanley, right tackle Morgan Moses, running back Gus Edwards, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and outside linebacker Odafe Oweh — did not participate in the portion of practice open to reporters. Reserve cornerback Rock Ya-Sin was also absent.Coach John Harbaugh said his team came out of its win over the Arizona Cardinals without any major injuries. Beckham suffered a chest contusion but returned to finish the game. Oweh, who has been dealing with an ankle injury most of the season, also went to the blue medical tent to be treated but returned to action. Moses ceded some snaps to Patrick Mekari, but Harbaugh said that was more about managing his workload.In addition to Williams, defensive back Daryl Worley (shoulder) returned to practice, starting his 21-day window to return from injured reserve.This story wil...

House rejects effort to expel Rep. George Santos of New York

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 14:04:35 GMT

By KEVIN FREKING and STEPHEN GROVES (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. George Santos easily survived a vote Wednesday to expel him from the House as most Republicans opted to withhold punishment as both his criminal trial and a House Ethics Committee investigation proceed.The effort to kick Santos out of the House was led by his fellow New York Republicans, who are anxious to distance themselves from a colleague infamous for fabricating his life story and accused of stealing from donors, lying to Congress and receiving unemployment benefits he did not deserve.But the resolution failed to gain the required two-thirds vote. Supporters could not even gain a simple majority, with the vast majority of Republicans and more than 30 Democrats voting against expelling Santos. The final vote was 179 for expulsion and 213 against.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. George Santos faces a vote Wednesday evening to expel ...

Some Republicans still press for changes to further protect Georgia voting system amid criticism

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 14:04:35 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Some Republican lawmakers continued to press Wednesday for changes to protect Georgia’s voting system from security weaknesses, but a deputy to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger accused them of acting in bad faith and promoting lies that Georgia’s 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.The dispute with some Republicans in the state Senate stems from vulnerabilities in Dominion Voting Systems equipment identified by J. Alex Halderman, an expert witness in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Georgia’s election system. Halderman has said he’s seen no evidence the vulnerabilities were exploited to change the outcome of past elections.The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency last year published an advisory based on those findings that urges election officials to take steps to mitigate the risks “as soon as possible.”Officials in Raffensperger’s office, including Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling, argued Wed...

Railroad automatic braking system needs improvement to prevent more derailments, safety board says

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 14:04:35 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The automatic braking system railroads were required to install several years ago needs improvement to better prevent collisions, federal safety investigators said in a report Wednesday.The National Transportation Safety Board’s report urged the Federal Railroad Administration and the industry to keep developing new technology that can be used to improve Positive Train Control systems. Their recommendations included at least one practical idea that railroads could likely implement relatively quickly.Railroads spent 12 years and roughly $15 billion to develop and install the automatic braking system after Congress required it in 2008 in the wake of a collision between a commuter and freight train in California that killed 25 and injured more than 100. The system, in place on about 58,000 miles (93,000 kilometers) of track nationwide since 2020, is designed to reduce human error by automatically stopping trains in certain situations, such as when they’re in da...

Extremists kill 37 villagers in latest attack in Nigeria’s hard-hit northeast

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 14:04:35 GMT

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Extremists in northeastern Nigeria killed at least 37 villagers in two different attacks, residents said Wednesday, highlighting once again how deadly islamic extremist rebels have remained in their 14-year insurgency in the hard-hit region.The extremists targeted villagers in Yobe state’s Geidam district on Monday and Tuesday in the first attack in the state in more than a year, shooting dead 17 people at first while using a land mine to kill 20 others who had gone to attend their burial, witnesses said.The Boko Haram Islamic extremist group launched an insurgency in northeastern Nigeria in 2009 in an effort to establish their radical interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in the region. At least 35,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced due to the extremist violence concentrated in Borno state, which neighbors Yobe.Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who took office in May, has not succeeded in ending the nation’s securi...

Ornithological society to rename dozens of birds – and stop naming them after people

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 14:04:35 GMT

Birds in North America will no longer be named after people, the American Ornithological Society announced Wednesday. Next year, the organization will begin to rename around 80 species found in the U.S. and Canada. “There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today,” the organization’s president, Colleen Handel, said in a statement. “Everyone who loves and cares about birds should be able to enjoy and study them freely.”Rather than review each bird named after a person individually, all such birds will be renamed, the organization announced. Birds that will be renamed include those currently called Wilson’s warbler and Wilson’s snipe, both named after the 19th century naturalist Alexander Wilson. Audubon’s shearwater, a seabird named for John James Audubon, also will get a new name.In 2020, the organization renamed a bird once referring to a Confederate Army general, John P. McCown, as the t...