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Packers’ surge raises hopes they could work their way into playoff contention

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:01 GMT

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur took issue this week when he was asked whether he’s reminding players about the possibility of making a late-season playoff run.LaFleur said he didn’t “want to go Jim Mora on you,” a reference to the sarcastic response by the former Indianapolis Colts coach to a playoff question during a disappointing 2001 season. LaFleur then added “I think we’re a long way from even thinking about that.”The postseason certainly seemed like a distant possibility after a four-game skid dropped the Packers to 2-5. The Packers seemed to concede as much when they sent veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas to the Buffalo Bills at the trade deadline.Green Bay (5-6) has won three of four since that slide, and the idea that the Packers could play meaningful games around Christmas suddenly doesn’t seem so far-fetched anymore. A surging offense, a resourceful defense and a favorable late-season schedule have created cause for optimism.“We’re trying to leave our mark on t...

Stock market today: Wall Street ends mixed in half-day session, marks fourth straight winning week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:01 GMT

Stocks drifted to a mixed finish after a half-day trading session capped a holiday shortened week that left the major indexes with their fourth straight winning week. The S&P 500 inched up 0.1% Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 117 points, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%. Gains in health care, financial, energy and other sectors helped temper losses in technology and communication services stocks. Bond yields rose. Trading was muted as markets reopened following the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Share mostly rose in Europe, while Asian markets ended mixed.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Stocks on Wall Street are mixed in light midday trading Friday after U.S. markets reopened following the Thanksgiving holiday. The S&P 500 was up less than 0.1% as of 12:20 p.m. Eastern, after drifting between small gains and losses all morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 87 points and the Nasdaq composite dipped 0.2%. Markets...

Villa has 15 points to lead balanced No. 23 Washington State women past UMass 90-48 in Cancun

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:01 GMT

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — Eleonora Villa led a balanced attack with 15 points and No. 23 Washington State rolled to a 90-48 win over Massachusetts on Friday in the Cancun Challenge.The Cougars (7-0) shot 54% (35 of 65), outrebounded UMass, which shot 33%, 42-28 and had 27 assists on 35 baskets.Bella Murekatete scored 13 points for WSU. Alex Covill added 12 points and Charlisse Leger-Walker and Beyonce Bea both had 11. Another Cougar had nine points and two had eight. Astera Tuhina, who did not score, had a career-high 10 assists and Leger-Walker, who had her first triple-double in a win over Maryland a day earlier, had nine rebounds.The 10 WSU players played between 16 and 24 minutes.Stefanie Kulesza had 20 points and 11 rebounds for UMass (1-6).Murekatete had seven points as Washington State reeled off 18 straight points in the first quarter, hitting 7 of 8 shots while UMass missed six shots and had three turnovers. It was 24-11 after one quarter and 48-24 at the half.The Cougars coole...

Salmonella case count doubles, causes expanded fruit recall

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:01 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A Salmonella outbreak that has been linked to cantaloupes has spread to 17 new states and caused 99 illnesses and two deaths.So far, only two people have reported a Salmonella-related illness in Colorado, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, some states, like Minnesota, have reported as many as 13 cases. Since the CDC last provided an update on the bacteria spread on Nov. 17, an additional 56 people have reported infections in 17 states. Canada is also investigating the outbreak and has linked illness in Canada with the same Salmonella strain to cantaloupes. View the latest Weather Alerts in Denver and across Colorado on FOX31 In total, 45 people have been hospitalized across 32 states. The matter is actively under investigation.To combat the spread, the CDC has issued a recall for certain brands of cantaloupes and pre-cut fruit that included cantaloupe chunks.A full list of recalled products can be found at fda.gov, but the genera...

Chicago family of five rescued from Greenhorn mountains

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:01 GMT

PUEBLO, Colo. (KXRM) — The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office said the incredible teamwork and tenacity of its units, Rye Fire and Flight for Life led to the successful rescue of a Chicago family of five on Wednesday.According to PCSO, on the morning of Nov. 22, a family of three adults and two children had gone for a hike on the Greenhorn Trailhead. Colorado snow totals so far on Black Friday The family was nearing the summit when they became hampered by the effects of the altitude, unexpected snow and their experience level.PCSO said as it was nearing dusk, the family realized they had a ways to go with no food and inadequate clothing for the dropping temperatures. They called 911 for help.PCSO's volunteer Search and Rescue team, along with the Sheriff's Office Fire Team and Deputies, and Rye Fire and Flight for Life worked together to find the family. The SAR team was airlifted by Flight for Life to the top of North Peak, where they found the family with the help of GPS, giving th...

Suspect arrested in Worcester massage business death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:01 GMT

On Friday Worcester Police announced that 31-year-old Marcel Santos-Padgett, of Leicester, had been placed under arrest in Haverhill in connection with a suspicious death at a Pleasant Street massage business.The Worcester Police Department had issued an arrest warrant for Santos-Padgett for Armed Assault to Murder and worked in conjunction with the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Squad and the Haverhill Police Department to apprehend the individual. Officers could be seen blocking the entrance to Angie’s Bodywork Spa at 383 Pleasant Street early Thursday afternoon. https://twitter.com/WorcesterPD/status/1728130301954781256Worcester Police Department said officers first responded to the scene around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday after receiving a report of a female “experiencing a possible medical issue.”Police said a male individual soon flagged down arriving officers and brought them to an unconscious female.&#...

Saugus Police investigating violent altercation at Kowloon Wednesday night

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:01 GMT

Authorities responded to a fight involving multiple parties at the Kowloon Restaurant on Route 1 in Saugus Wednesday night at around 10:30 p.m.Six officers already on the scene working as part of a detail were quickly alerted and worked to deescalate the situation.Several individuals involved in the dispute were detained for questioning and to receive necessary medical treatment. Videos of the fight posted to social media show a chaotic scene and at least one individual with a bloody face.No arrests were made, but Saugus Police said the investigation is ongoing and that charges may be forthcoming, particularly for one individual who was seen using a glass bottle in the fight, a felony offense.“The Kowloon is a family friendly restaurant, unfortunately a few unruly patrons ruined a nice evening for many others,” Saugus Police Chief Michael Ricciardelli said in a statement. “A disturbance such as this on Thanksgiving Eve is unacceptable and disgusting.”The restaurant and b...

Biden administration’s limit on drug industry middlemen backfires, pharmacists say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:01 GMT

Arthur Allen | (TNS) KFF Health NewsThe Biden administration’s first major step toward imposing limits on the pharmacy benefit managers who act as the drug industry’s price negotiators is backfiring, pharmacists say. Instead, it’s adding to the woes of the independent drugstores it was partly designed to help.The so-called PBMs have long clawed back a fee from pharmacies weeks or months after they dispense a drug. A new rule, which governs Medicare’s drug program, is set to take effect Jan. 1 and requires PBMs to take most of their “performance fees” at the time prescriptions are filled.The clawbacks have ballooned from about $9 million in 2010 to $12.6 billion in 2021, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, an agency created to advise Congress on the program for people who are 65 and older or have disabilities.Performance fees have also boosted Medicare patients’ prescription costs at the pharmacy counter by hundreds of millions of dollars, although insurers assert ...

The unusual way a Catholic health system is wielding an abortion protest law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:01 GMT

Judy Lin | KFF Health News (TNS)A Catholic hospital system is suing several California patients and their advocates because the patients allegedly refused to be discharged. The suits invoke a novel legal approach: accusing them of trespassing under a California law intended to stop anti-abortion protesters from blocking access to health facilities.Dignity Health has filed three lawsuits in Sacramento County accusing patients of “commercial blockade” for refusing to vacate hospital beds even though the health care provider had deemed them medically and legally eligible to either go home or go to another facility. Dignity alleges the patients “unreasonably and unlawfully” refused discharge, disrupting its ability to serve others at a time when health facilities were overwhelmed by COVID-19.Relatives and advocates say the patients were exercising their right to be discharged to a facility that offered appropriate care and that they could afford, not simply sent home without the ability...

How to give wisely and not get suckered this holiday season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:01 GMT

Giving Tuesday is nearly upon us! Plaintive pitches and open palms abound. Do good! Spread cheer! But please, proceed with caution.This is make-or-break season for charities. Nonprofits in America get the majority of their donations between October and December. Giving Tuesday — the one right after Thanksgiving, when heart and brain are still soft from all that turkey and pie — began more than a decade ago, in response to the (grotesque) consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. A Chicago theater company urged shoppers to consider donating instead of/in addition to buying stuff. “Giving Tuesday” was coined by the 92nd Street Y in partnership with the United Nations Foundation in 2012. And, well, here we are.They’ll hit you up by phone, by mail, by email, and in the flesh, at malls and outside grocery stores. Greet each entreaty with “How much of my donation goes to programs?” and you’re well on your way to making sure your dollars go where you intend them to go. Here’s how not t...