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Chicago Cubs lineup shuffle: Why Ian Happ is hitting leadoff, and center field options

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

Ian Happ is not unfamiliar with hitting in the Chicago Cubs’ leadoff spot.In his seven big-league seasons, Happ has made 81 starts atop the Cubs’ lineup, his third-most common batting order position. He’s batted first in the last two games, his first time in the No. 1 spot since 2021.Manager David Ross likes the consistency in Happ’s at-bats and his ability to work counts. Happ is tied for 11th in the majors averaging 4.19 pitches per plate appearance.It gives the Cubs a different look as the offense tries to get out of its funk.“Right now you’re doing anything you can to help the team win,” Happ said. “Guys that hit leadoff consistently and do it every day, I think it’s one of the most impressive things in the game. You look at what Dexter (Fowler) did for years, like, it’s so impressive to be able to go out there every single day, take five or six at-bats and have a .380 on-base percentage. It’s unbelievable.”...

Band director arrested after refusing to end performance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An Alabama high school band director was shocked with a stun gun and arrested after Birmingham police said he wouldn’t tell his band to stop playing.Local news outlets report that Minor High School’s band director was arrested Thursday night after a football game between Minor and Jackson-Olin High School. He’s charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest.Birmingham Police Officer Truman Fitzgerald, a department spokesperson, said police were trying to clear the stadium at Jackson-Olin after the game and asked both bands to stop playing so people wouldn’t linger.Police say the Jackson-Olin band stopped performing, but that the director disregarded officers and told his students to keep playing.Police officers accompanied by school security guards went to arrest him for disorderly conduct but he got into a scuffle with them, Fitzgerald said. He said the band director refused to place his hands behind his back and shoved a...

LA sheriff’s deputy dies after being shot in his patrol car

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

PALMDALE, Calif. — A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy died after he was shot in his patrol car Saturday evening by an unknown assailant, and an investigation is underway that the sheriff said will press all of the department’s resources into action.Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, died after being taken to a hospital, Sheriff Robert Luna said during a news conference.The preliminary investigation showed Clinkunbroomer was driving while on duty and fired upon around 6 p.m., Luna said.Clinkunbroomer was unconscious in the vehicle when he was found near the intersection of Sierra Highway and Avenue Q in Palmdale by a person Luna identified as a “good Samaritan” who alerted personnel at the Palmdale station of the sheriff’s department.The deputy was taken to Antelope Valley Medical Center in Lancaster, where he was treated for a gunshot wound.“Despite the medical staff’s best efforts to save our deputy’s life, regrettably he s...

Zelenskyy to address UN, meet US senators

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

Top U.S. Senate leaders will host an all-members meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, according to a Senate leadership aide, as House Republicans are preparing to block a Biden administration request for $24 billion in emergency Ukraine war funds.Zelenskyy is expected to meet President Joe Biden at the White House the same day, traveling to Washington after attending the United Nations General Assembly. He’s expected to seek renewed commitments by U.S. leaders to help Ukraine’s fight to regain occupied land from Russia.Zelenskyy will address the UN General Assembly Tuesday and will attend a Security Council meeting Wednesday on Ukraine focusing on the principles of the U.N. Charter, which require every country to respect others’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. The meeting could create the unique spectacle of placing Zelenskyy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the same room.Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader in the Sena...

Devers makes Red Sox history with home run but can’t prevent Blue Jays sweep

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

How many times have the Red Sox lost to themselves more than their actual opponent?Add Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays to a list that feels endless.For the vast majority of this Red Sox season, pitching has been the problem. If only the starters were healthier, more effective at keeping runners off the bases and the ball in the yard, pitching deeper into games. How much better would this team be if their pitchers – who entered Sunday averaging an American League fifth-worst 4.85 runs allowed per game – were better partners to their lineup, whose 4.93 runs scored per game ranked fifth-best in their league?In terms of plating runs, the Red Sox offense ranks just below four postseason teams: the Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays, Houston Astros, and Baltimore Orioles. The Blue Jays entered Sunday’s series finale just below AL-average (4.59) with 4.54 runs per game, and the most runners left on base of any team in their league (1,077).The company Boston’s pitching staff keeps pai...

Pilot walks away from WWI-era plane crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

A pilot walked away after a WWI-era historic plane crash-landed at the American Heritage Museum during an airshow event Sunday morning, Stow officials reported.Just after 11 a.m., the Stow Police and Fire departments received reports of a plane crash near Barton Road and the American Heritage Museum, according to a release.At the scene, first responders found a WWI-era Nieuport 28 at the end of the runway flipped upside down, officials said.The plane only had one occupant, the pilot, who removed himself before the officials arrived and did not report any injuries.The preliminary investigation determined the single engine plane’s front landing gear had failed during the attempted landing, officials reported, causing the plane to flip over on its roof.The American Heritage Museum, located in Hudson near Stow, features a range of military artifacts and demonstrations. The museum was in the midst of the World War I & Aviation weekend, which includes air show events, during the...

California campsite reservation bill heads to governor's desk

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

SAN DIEGO (KSWB) -- A bill that would make it easier for campers to reserve a campsite in California state parks is headed to the governor's desk to be signed into law after it passed through the legislature with unanimous support.AB 618, introduced by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), proposed amendments to state policies regarding campsite reservation that aim to free up more spaces by deterring late cancellations and no-shows with added penalties.The bill also directs the California State Parks department to implement a lottery system for a handful of the most coveted campsites, as well as provide a discount to park visitors under a certain income threshold through the "Golden Bear" pass. VIDEO: Dolphins swim through bioluminescent waters in Orange County "California's public parks and beaches are treasures that should be enjoyed by all Californians and demand for them has increased greatly," Bauer-Kahan said in a statement to FOX5SanDiego.com. "As a camper myself,...

$250K reward offered as detectives search for assailant who shot Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities asked for the public’s help and offered a $250,000 reward as investigators searched Sunday for the assailant who shot and killed a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy as he sat in his patrol car at an intersection. Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, died at a hospital after being found unconscious in the vehicle while on duty around 6 p.m. Saturday in the city of Palmdale, Sheriff Robert Luna said. Luna said he believed the shooting was a “targeted attack.” But the motive, and whether Clinkunbroomer or the department in general was the target, was not yet known.“Without warning, he was murdered while serving our community,” an emotional Luna said at a Sunday news conference during which he urged any potential witnesses to contact detectives. “Please, I beg you. Somebody has information. Make things right.”The department released grainy surveillance video of a dark-colored sedan that pulled alongside the patrol car in the moments before th...

The spotlight is on Ukraine at UN leaders’ gathering, but is there room for other global priorities?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The war in Ukraine and its visiting president take center stage at the United Nations this week, but developing countries will be vying for the spotlight as well as they push for faster action on poverty and inequality at the first full-on meeting of world leaders since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted travel three years ago.The annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly takes place at a polarizing and divisive juncture in history — the most fraught and dangerous since the Cold War, according to many analysts and diplomats.They point to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which upended already difficult relations among major powers as well as the ongoing impact of the pandemic, high food prices, the worsening climate emergency, escalating conflicts, and the world’s failure to tackle poverty, hunger and gender inequality.For developing countries, the top priority is the U.N.’s two-day summit starting Monday aimed at generating action by world leaders ...

Dr. Qureshi from Loyola Medicine answers questions on new COVID vaccine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

Most Americans should get an updated COVID-19 vaccine, health officials said Tuesday.Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the new shots for everyone 6 months and older and the agency's director quickly signed off Tuesday on the panel's recommendation. That means doses should be available this week, some as early as Wednesday.The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has faded, but there are still thousands of hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths in the U.S. each week. Hospitalizations have been increasing since late summer, though the latest data indicate infections may be starting to level off, particularly in the South.Still, experts worry that immunity from previous vaccinations and infections is fading in many people, and a new shot would save many lives.According to a survey last month that CDC cited, about 42% said they would definitely or probably get the new vaccine. Yet only about 20% of adults got an updated booster when it was offered a ...