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Governor Ron DeSantis cuts funding for 4 schools citing Chinese Communist Party ties

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:50 GMT

Governor Ron DeSantis has taken a firm stance against any connections between educational institutions and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).According to a news release issued on Friday by the governor’s staff, the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) has suspended the availability of school choice scholarships for four schools believed to have direct ties to the CCP.The FDOE has identified the Lower and Upper Sagemont Preparatory Schools in Weston, Parke House Academy in Winter Park, and Park Maitland School in Winter Park as having direct links to the CCP. The FDOE asserted that these connections pose an imminent threat to the health, safety, and welfare of both the affected schools’ students and the public. As a response to this, the Department is collaborating with non-profit scholarship funding organizations to aid impacted students in finding and enrolling in nearby eligible schools.

*NSYNC members get nostalgic about their peak boy band days on ‘Hot Ones’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:50 GMT

(CNN) — When 90s boy band *NSYNC were at the height of their fame, their tour bus was followed by a “stampede” of fans on one specific occasion, Justin Timberlake recalled while appearing on Thursday’s episode of “Hot Ones” with the group.He described how he and his bandmates – Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez and Joey Fatone – watched this group of fans follow their bus through a giant field that had a hole in the middle of it – into which they all fell.“I felt terrible,” Timberlake said, adding that on a separate occasion, the *NSYNC fandom was so wild that they returned to their hotel suite to find a fan had somehow snuck in.The anecdotes were just a few that the recently-reunited boy band reminisced about while appearing on Season 22 of the famed hot wing interview show – including Timberlake mentioning how he did in fact get a “note” from a producer to pronounce “me” like “may” in their 2000 hit song “It’s Gonna Be Me.”The pronunciation of the word spawned a viral meme ...

Cockeysville resident has had bird’s-eye view of Orioles in action since 1996 | COLUMN

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:50 GMT

For the past 27 years, Pete Holden has enjoyed a bird’s-eye view of the Baltimore Orioles in action, thanks to his summer gig in the Communications Control Room at Orioles Park at Camden Yards.The communications hub is where all of the statistics, videos, sound, and everything that you see and hear at the ballpark, originates. As a part of the communications team that produces and creates the show each game, Holden’s job changes daily. On any given day he could be choosing the music as the ballpark DJ, or running videos like The Crab Shuffle and The Hot Dog Race. Other days, he’s typing in graphic information or tallying the balls and strikes on the scoreboard.It’s a job that Holden loves. He was recently honored, along with 15 other Orioles employees, for 25-plus years of service with a dinner and a special 25-year anniversary ring ceremony at the ballpark.In 1996, Holden was in the Chicago area working in radio and planning his return to the East Coast R...

Chicago baseball report: Final regular-season week brings Cubs down to the wire, while White Sox try to avoid 100 losses

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:50 GMT

A sweep of the Colorado Rockies sends the Chicago Cubs into the final week of the regular season in playoff position with six games to go.The Chicago White Sox need to win three of their final six games to avoid 100 losses. They finish the season at home with three against the Arizona Diamondbacks and three against the San Diego Padres. A schedule change means the Diamondbacks series will begin Tuesday and conclude Thursday, with Monday an off day.Every Monday throughout the regular season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead for the Cubs and Sox.Cubs infielder Miles Mastrobuoni making the most of his playing timeThe life of a bench player tends to bring limited playing time and sometimes being the odd man out when a roster spot is needed.Miles Mastrobuoni knew he wouldn’t be getting many at-bats after the Cubs recalled him Aug. 19. He went a month before starting a game and in that span recorded four plate appearance...

Orioles reset: 3 playoff roster questions entering regular season’s final week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:50 GMT

With the American League East still unsecured, the Orioles can’t quite turn their attention to the playoffs just yet. But with one week left in the regular season, decisions loom for Baltimore.Regardless of whether the Orioles win the division for the first time since 2014 or collapse to disappointingly settle for a wild-card spot, their roster will reduce from 28 players back to 26 come the postseason, though they can make changes between each round. Those two reductions could come in any number of ways, with Baltimore’s final six games and the momentum various players take into the playoffs likely to factor into those choices.As the final week of the regular season begins, here are three questions the Orioles face when it comes to their initial playoff roster.1. Who makes the playoff rotation?The outcome here somewhat depends on whether the Orioles hold off the Tampa Bay Rays to win the AL East and bypass the wild-card round, given they would need three starters maximu...

Taylor Swift turns out to see Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs play

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:50 GMT

Travis Kelce put the ball in Taylor Swift’s court, and she wound up bringing it to Arrowhead Stadium after all.The 12-time Grammy Award winner took advantage of an invitation from the All-Pro tight end to see the Kansas City Chiefs play the Chicago Bears at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. Swift was decked out in red and white while watching alongside Kelce’s mother, Donna, from one of the glass-enclosed suites on a sun-splashed afternoon in Kansas City.She got quite a show, too. Kelce grabbed a 3-yard TD pass in the third quarter, and the reigning Super Bowl champions went on to a 41-10 win.Kelce did not speak to reporters afterward, but he was spotted leaving Arrowhead with Swift by his side.Talk about being at the right place at the right time! Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce leaving Arrowhead together after the game. #Bears #ChiefsKingdom #NFL pic.twitter.com/wrMoDszOme— Jarrett Payton (@paytonsun) September 25, 2023“He told me at the last minute” that Swift was coming to the ga...

Film legend Sophia Loren has successful surgery after fracturing a leg in a fall at home, agent says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:50 GMT

ROME (AP) — Film legend Sophia Loren is recovering from successful surgery for a leg fracture after she fell in her Switzerland home, an agent for the 89-year-old Italian actor said Monday.Agent Andrea Giusti said in an email that Loren fell in a bathroom on Sunday and the surgery was performed later that day. The operation “went very well,” Giusti said. The agent didn’t immediately say which bone was broken. Italian state TV network Rai said she fractured a thigh bone. Loren has lived in a Swiss villa near Lake Geneva for decades. Earlier this month, she appeared, looking radiant, with Italian designer Giorgio Armani in Venice at a fashion show held on the sidelines of the city’s annual film festival. She celebrated her 89th birthday last week. She was scheduled to appear at a restaurant that bears her name in Bari, a city in southern Italy, this but her fall forced a cancellation of the event. According to her agent, Loren gave the restaurant the right to use her name and image.Th...

Latest talks between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt over mega dam on the Nile end without breakthrough

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:50 GMT

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The latest talks over the mega dam that Ethiopia is building on the Nile River’s main tributary have broken up without an agreement.The two-day talks between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam ended on Sunday night in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. Ethiopia’s chief negotiator, Seleshi Bekele, said the countries had “exchanged constructive ideas on various outstanding issues” and added that his country remains committed to continuing the negotiations.Egypt’s water ministry blamed Ethiopia for the failure to make a breakthrough, alleging that Addis Ababa was “opposed to any compromise.” It expressed concern and said an agreement was needed to protect Egypt’s water security and national interests.Talks have rumbled on for years over the controversial $4.6 billion project, whose construction started in 2011. It is expected to produce over 6,000 megawatts of electricity — double Ethiopia’s current output and enough ...

Federal Environment Minister suspending urban park study after Ford’s Greenbelt reversal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:50 GMT

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is expected today to stop a study of the Rouge National Urban Park that was launched after Ontario Premier Doug Ford opened nearby protected lands to development.Guilbeault says in a statement obtained by The Canadian Press that he is indefinitely suspending the study in response to Ford announcing last week that he is cancelling plans to develop parcels of the Greenbelt.Part of the Greenbelt in question is adjacent to the park in eastern Toronto and Guilbeault says the study was to assess the environmental effects of development next to sensitive lands after Indigenous people and the general public expressed concerns.Guilbeault said when he first announced the study that Rouge National Urban Park is home to 42 species at risk, including the bank swallow, the red-headed woodpecker and the monarch butterfly.Ford announced Thursday that it was a “mistake” to remove 15 parcels of land from the Greenbelt, and he pledged to retur...

Thousands of Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh as the Turkish president visits Azerbaijan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:50 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Thousands of Armenians streamed out of Nagorno-Karabakh after the Azerbaijani military reclaimed full control of the breakaway region while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Azerbaijan Monday in a show of support to its ally. The Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz last week, forcing the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and start talks on Nagorno-Karabakh’s “reintegration” into Azerbaijan after three decades of separatist rule. A second round of talks between Azerbaijani officials and separatist representatives began in Khojaly Tuesday following the opening meeting last week. While Azerbaijan pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies after a 10-month blockade, many local residents feared reprisals and said they were planning to leave for Armenia.The Armenian government said that 4,850 Nagorno-Karabakh residents had fled to Armenia as of midday Monday.“I...