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How Darnell Wright — not Jalen Carter — became the headliner of the Chicago Bears’ 2023 draft class

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:39 GMT

The most intense final exam of Darnell Wright’s life came on a Saturday morning earlier this month.April 8, 11 a.m., the Anderson Training Center in Knoxville, Tenn.Wright’s pre-draft journey to the NFL was almost complete. But now the Chicago Bears, who had hosted Wright at Halas Hall a few days earlier, were on campus at the University of Tennessee, intent on confirming their beliefs.General manager Ryan Poles — with offensive line coach Chris Morgan in tow — had designs on obtaining peace of mind for the NFL draft, even if it came, temporarily, at Wright’s expense.Poles wanted to feel certain the player he was leaning toward selecting with a top-10 pick had his preferred strands of football DNA. If the Bears were going to invest in an offensive tackle to support the growth of third-year quarterback Justin Fields, Poles wanted to identify a big, athletic standout who was fueled by a nasty competitive spirit.The 6-foot-5, 333-pound Wright made 42 start...

GOP election officials walking fine line on fraud, integrity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:39 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Republican secretaries of state in Ohio, West Virginia and Missouri have promoted their states’ elections as fair and secure. Yet each also is navigating a fine line on how to address election fraud conspiracies as they gear up campaigns for U.S. Senate or governor in 2024. The split-screen messaging of Ohio’s Frank LaRose, West Virginia’s Mac Warner and Missouri’s Jay Ashcroft shows just how deeply election lies have burrowed into the Republican Party, where more than half of voters believe Democrat Joe Biden was not legitimately elected president. Even election officials who tout running clean elections at home are routinely pushing for more voting restrictions and additional scrutiny on the process as they prepare to face GOP primary voters next year.All three withdrew their states last month from the Electronic Registration Information Center, a bipartisan, multistate effort to ensure accurate voter lists. LaRose did so less than a month after calling t...

Deadly heat waves threaten older people as summer nears

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:39 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Paramedics summoned to an Arizona retirement community last summer found an 80-year-old woman slumped inside her mobile home, enveloped in the suffocating 99-degree (37 C) heat she suffered for days after her air conditioner broke down. Efforts to revive her failed, and her death was ruled environmental heat exposure aggravated by heart disease and diabetes. In America’s hottest big metro, older people like the Sun Lakes mobile home resident accounted for most of the 77 people who died last summer in broiling heat inside their homes, almost all without air conditioning. Now, the heat dangers long known in greater Phoenix are becoming familiar nationwide as global warming creates new challenges to protect the aged. From the Pacific Northwest to Chicago to North Carolina, health clinics, utilities and local governments are being tested to keep older people safe when temperatures soar. They’re adopting rules for disconnecting electricity, mandating when to switch on comm...

Texas mass shooting suspect could be anywhere, sheriff says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:39 GMT

CLEVELAND, Texas (AP) — The search for a Texas man who allegedly shot his neighbors after they asked him to stop firing off rounds in his yard stretched into a second day Sunday, with authorities saying the man could be anywhere by now. Francisco Oropeza, 38, remained at large more than 18 hours after the shooting that left five people dead, including an 8-year-old boy. San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said Saturday evening that authorities had widened the search to as far as 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the scene of the shooting. Investigators found clothes and a phone while combing a rural area that includes dense layers of forest, but tracking dogs lost the scent, Capers said. Oropeza likely is still carrying the AR-15 he allegedly used in the shootings, the sheriff said. “He could be anywhere now,” Capers said. The attack happened near the town of Cleveland, north of Houston, on a street where some residents say neighbors often unwind by firing off guns.Capers said the vi...

Takeaways about heat deaths and vulnerable older people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:39 GMT

SUN LAKES, Arizona (AP) — Heat waves fueled by climate change are arriving earlier, growing more intense and lasting longer, creating higher risks of illness and death for older people who are especially vulnerable to hot weather. In America’s hottest big metro, older people accounted for most of the people who died last summer in broiling heat inside their homes, almost all without air conditioning. The heat dangers well known in greater Phoenix are becoming known familiar nationwide. Some takeaways: WHY ARE OLDER PEOPLE MORE LIKELY TO DIE FROM THE HEAT?People ages 60 and over tend to have more chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease and kidney problems than younger people. Those conditions can be made worse by high temperatures because as the heat index rises, it becomes harder to cool off the body. Medicines that many older people use to treat chronic ailments, such as diuretics for high blood pressure, can also make them more vulnerable to the heat. Older people can hav...

Willie Nelson inhales the love at 90th birthday concert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:39 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Are there any more real cowboys?” Neil Young sang Saturday night at the Hollywood Bowl on a rare evening when he was neither the headliner nor, at age 77, even close to the oldest artist on the bill. Providing an instant answer, Willie Nelson, wearing a cowboy hat and red-white-and-blue guitar strap, slowly strolled on to the stage on his 90th birthday, bringing the crowd of more than 17,000 to its feet. Nelson sat in a chair — one of the few onstage concessions he’s made to age — and joined Young for the rest of their 1985 duet, “Are There Any More Real Cowboys?” “I want to thank all the artists who came out tonight to help celebrate whatever it is we’re celebrating,” said Nelson, feigning senility and getting a laugh. The moment came three hours into the first of a two-night celebration of the country legend at the open-air Los Angeles amphitheater, where generations of stars sang his songs in tribute. “As a kid growing up in Texas, it seemed like t...

Residents of Quebec town still struggle with aftermath of 2019 dike break, flooding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:39 GMT

SAINTE-MARTHE-SUR-LE-LAC, Que. — Sylvie Béchard had only owned her little brick house for six months when her neighbour came banging on her door on the night of April 27, 2019. The dike holding back the Lake of Two Mountains had been breached, and floodwaters were rushing toward her home.“She said ‘Sylvie, we have to evacuate, the dike has given out. We’re being flooded,'” Béchard recalled recently.Four years after flooding forced the evacuation of more than 6,000 residents of Ste-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Que., and damaged hundreds of homes, there is plenty of anger from residents who say they’re still suffering from the financial and emotional consequences. Earlier this month, a class-action lawsuit against the municipality and the province on behalf of flooding victims was authorized to move forward.Béchard remembers the days that followed the breach, when Armed Forces or police would take her by boat down the flooded streets of the town northwest of Montre...

Mélanie Joly in Kenya to help inform Canada’s response to the crisis in Sudan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:39 GMT

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is in Kenya for the next few days to help inform Canada’s response to the crisis in Sudan.She is set to meet with people evacuated from the East African country, including diplomatic staff who worked there until a shocking outbreak of violence earlier this month.Joly will also meet with humanitarian groups to get a sense of the needs of people in Sudan, as well as those who have fled to neighbouring countries.She also plans to meet with former Sudanese prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, the country’s only civilian leader in recent decades, who was deposed in a 2021 coup.Kenya has been a leading voice in trying to find a mediated solution to the conflict, and it hosts the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a group focused on peace and prosperity in East African countries.Joly’s office says she also hopes to learn more from Kenya as a major player on the continent.“Kenya has played a key leadership role throug...

Boy, 16, shot in hand on South Side

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:39 GMT

CHICAGO — A 16-year-old boy was shot in a drive-by shooting in the city's Roseland neighborhood late Saturday night. According to police, the boy was found injured in the 110 block of West 92nd Street with a gunshot wound to the arm.He was transported to Little Company of Mary and is listed in good condition. Dismembered human remains found in Kankakee County; 1 charged with murder Police said the boy relayed that he was shot by an unidentified individual travelling in a black sedan. There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating the incident.

National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day: Where you can adopt in Austin, Central Texas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:39 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Sunday is National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day. To celebrate, animal nonprofit Austin Pets Alive! is waiving adoption fees starting at noon at its Town Lake location. From noon to 6 p.m., adoption fees will be waived for all dogs and cats at the Town Lake location on Cesar Chavez. Dogs available for adoption include five pups named after Willie Nelson's music to celebrate the singer's 90th birthday. Midnight Rider (Courtesy Austin Pets Alive!)Highway Man (Courtesy Austin Pets Alive!)Stardust (Courtesy Austin Pets Alive!)Rainbow Connection (Courtesy Austin Pets Alive!)Lukenbach (Courtesy Austin Pets Alive!)Here are a few other Central Texas animal shelters where you can find a furry friend to adopt:Austin Animal CenterPflugerville Animal Welfare ServicesTexas Humane HeroesCentral Texas SPCAWilliamson County Regional Animal ShelterSan Marcos Regional Animal ShelterPAWS Shelter of Central TexasLockhart Animal ShelterBastrop Animal Shelter