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“A big brother to me”: David Ortiz dedicates annual charity event to Tim Wakefield

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:28 GMT

David Ortiz’s 15th annual Celebrity Golf Classic is always a Red Sox family affair.The three-day social and golf outing happening this weekend on Marco Island, FL, is always attended by some combination of Ortiz’s former teammates. Johnny Damon, Clay Buccholz, Brock Holt, and John Lackey are expected to be among countless famous faces this year. Manny famously swung and missed at the event in 2014. Pedro Martinez has attended numerous times.Sadly, the former teammate who always showed up for Ortiz’s event will be noticeably absent.It’s been two months since Tim Wakefield passed away suddenly on October 1, the final day of the Red Sox season. His teammates, colleagues, fans, and loved ones were stunned. His battle with cancer had only been made public days prior, against his wishes.“That was very devastating to me. Having someone like my man passing away, there’s no way to describe it,” Ortiz told the Herald on Friday. “He was like a big brother to me, you know? He was a ...

Some of what was true, and not, from debate between Govs. Newsom and DeSantis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:28 GMT

By Gillian Brassil and Ari Plachta, McClatchy Washington BureauGovs. Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis expended much energy accusing one another of lying at their debate Thursday night.“A blizzard of lies,” said DeSantis, the Florida Republican and 2024 presidential candidate.“I can’t wait to get all the PolitiFacts tonight,” said California Democrat Newsom, referring to the popular fact-checking nonprofit.Well, we have a few of them.The 90-minute exchange, moderated by Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, covered topics ranging from the economy to abortion to homelessness to the Israel-Hamas War.Many claims were made. Here are ratings for some of them.Quotes have been lightly edited to make up for the governors interrupting each other.U-Hauls and migrationClaim: California at one point ran out of U-Hauls due to residents fleeing the state.“They actually at one point ran out of U-Hauls in the state of California because so many people were leaving,” said DeSantisRating: TrueExplanation: U...

Curt Onalfo committed to finding the Revolution’s next head coach

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:28 GMT

FOXBORO — The New England Revolution’s newly-minted full-time sporting director spent his second day on the job fielding questions on the club’s prospects for the 2024 season.The Revolution are in the market for a new head coach to take over a team with substantial upside that immensely underachieved in the last tumultuous months of the 2023 season.Curt Onalfo must make the signature transaction of his tenure in the next few weeks and have a new coach in place with a track record that will command the attention and respect of the players.Onalfo knows what he wants in a head coach, but finding the right guy is a difficult process and he can’t afford to make a mistake. Onalfo spelled it out during his introductory press briefing on Friday morning at Gillette Stadium.“We need to hire a coach and the timetable to hire a coach, the search started yesterday,” said Onalfo. “We want to make sure we have a coach in place prior to the start of preseason and January is the timeline to have a n...

Flu is on the rise while RSV infections may be peaking, US health officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:28 GMT

By MIKE STOBBE (AP Medical Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Flu is picking up steam while RSV lung infections that can hit kids and older people hard may be peaking, U.S. health officials said Friday.COVID-19, though, continues to cause the most hospitalizations and deaths among respiratory illnesses — about 15,000 hospitalizations and about 1,000 deaths every week, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The agency is also looking into reports of pneumonia outbreaks in children in two states, but Cohen said “there is no evidence” that they are due to anything unusual.As for the flu season, seven states were reporting high levels of flu-like illnesses in early November. In a new CDC report on Friday, the agency said the tally was up to 11 states — mostly in the South and Southwest.In the last month, RSV infections rose sharply in some parts of the country, nearly filling hospital emergency departments in Georgia, Texas and som...

Bruins notebook: Matt Poitras hoping to relish homecoming in Toronto

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:28 GMT

Not only is Matt Poitras precocious as a hockey player, he has displayed an even-keeled maturity for a 19-year-old kid.But it might be hard for the Bruins rookie not to be wowed by the moment on Saturday night when he goes back to his native Toronto area to play the Maple Leafs in his first foray as a player to Scotiabank Arena.Poitras’ smile was pretty wide when talking about his homecoming at Warrior Ice Arena before heading out for the flight.“It’s pretty surreal just to think last year during Christmas break, me and my Dad went to watch a game there and now I’m going to be playing there. It’s pretty crazy,” said Poitras on Friday.“It’s going to be pretty cool to take it all in in warmup. But when the puck drops, I’ll just dial it in and play it like any other game.”As confident as the young centerman is that he won’t be unnerved by the moment, coach Jim Montgomery is as well. Poitras is coming off one of his better games this year. He ca...

Beacon Hill procedural war over controversial budget bill stretching into Saturday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:28 GMT

A procedural war over a budget bill that includes critical funding for union contracts and the state’s ability to respond to an influx of migrants was set to stretch into Saturday after Massachusetts Republicans kept up their blockade of the proposal during Friday sessions.Democratic leadership in the House and Senate released a compromise version of the nearly $3.1 billion supplemental budget Thursday that included $250 million for Massachusetts’ struggling shelter system and nearly $400 million for 95 union contracts.But Republicans, who had voiced concerns with the shelter aid for weeks, blocked the advancing agreement two days in a row after attempting to move consideration of the bill from an informal session — where any one lawmaker can object to a proposal — to a formal session, where legislators can debate and take recorded votes.After a private meeting Friday afternoon with other House Republicans, House Minority Leader Brad Jones said his caucus would continue ...

Boston Police union, city reach tentative 5-year contract deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:28 GMT

The city has reached a deal with the largest union representing officers of the Boston Police Department, the Herald has learned.The city and the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association have reached a 5-year tentative contract deal that is pending ratification by the union members.“We are glad to have reached a tentative agreement at the negotiating table for a five-year collective bargaining contract between the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association and the City of Boston,” Mayor Michelle Wu and BPPA President Larry Calderone said in a joint statement shared with the Herald.“This tentative agreement reflects our shared focus on ensuring safety across every neighborhood and through community policing and providing necessary resources for the health and well-being of officers and their families. We are especially grateful to all the Boston Police officers who serve our city day and night with professionalism and dedication,” the statement continued.T...

Top songs in San Diego: Spotify Wrapped

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:28 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- If you don't use Spotify, you've probably felt a little left out this week as users have been sharing their top listening moments of 2023.Released yearly every December since 2016, a campaign spearheaded by the platform -- called Spotify Wrapped -- allows users to view a compilation of data about their music activity over the past year.Social media has been buzzing with Spotify Wrapped recaps, which include details like what songs were most played and how many minutes of music were listened to in total for the year. Spotify Wrapped, Apple Replay now available: How to see your top songs, artists FOX 5 reached out to the digital music service for San Diego's 2023 Spotify Wrapped. For those who are curious, a recap of the top songs, artists and genres for listeners in America's Finest City can be found below. San Diego’s Top Artists of 2023 on Spotify:Taylor SwiftDrakePeso PlumaBad BunnyThe WeekndSan Diego’s Top Songs of 2023 on Spotify:“Ella Baila Sola” by Eslabon ...

Lawyer in Ali murder trial says 13-year-old B.C. victim was not an ‘innocent’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:28 GMT

VANCOUVER — Ibrahim Ali’s lawyer says the 13-year-old girl he’s accused of murdering in a British Columbia park wasn’t the “innocent” depicted in a “rose-coloured” portrayal by the Crown at trial. Kevin McCullough told the B.C. Supreme Court jury in his closing arguments that the version of the girl’s lifestyle presented by the Crown is “at best, a partial picture” or “at worst, a lie.”He says the Crown’s case rests on the belief it would have been out of character for the teen to have sex with Ali.The body of the girl, who can’t be named because of a publication ban, was found in a Burnaby, B.C., park in July 2017, just hours after her mother reported her missing. McCullough says the only evidence they have against Ali is his semen, found inside the girl’s body, and the Crown has come up with a “crazy theory” where no one saw or heard anything connecting Ali to the murder. Crown at...

UFO Museum in Roswell, New Mexico, reaches 5 million visitors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:28 GMT

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — The International UFO Museum & Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico, is celebrating an out-of-this-world milestone: 5 million visitors. A father and daughter from Roswell became the lucky visitors when they entered the museum earlier Nov. 21, the Roswell Daily Record reported. Chris and Hannah McDonald received balloons, memorabilia and a lifetime family museum membership.Museum Executive Director Karen Jaramillo said it was a surprise that Roswell residents brought them to 5 million because so many guests are from out of state. The UFO Museum, which opened in 1992, draws over 220,000 visitors each year, Jaramillo said. Roswell has been a hub for people fascinated by space and extraterrestrial phenomenon since the 1947 so-called Roswell Incident.Something crashed at what was then the J.B. Foster ranch, with the U.S. Army announcing it had recovered a “flying disc” but later saying the debris was merely the remnants of a high-altitude weather balloon.Specul...