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NHL teams balance progress, draft lottery as Bedard in play

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:39 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen knows if the season ended today, his team would have the best odds to land who many consider the next generational talent in the NHL.He is also keenly aware that the odds remain higher not to win the NHL’s draft lottery — and the chance to select Connor Bedard on May 8.“Look, there’s a 25.5% chance for the team to finish last, but it’s still a 74.5% chance that you don’t get it. That’s much greater than 25.5,” Kekalainen said recently. “But we’ll see where it takes us. Wherever we end up in the standings, we get the odds the league gave, and then we hope for the best of luck.”While the race for the league’s top record was done by midseason thanks to the Boston Bruins’ potential record-setting run, the chase for the worst mark remains up for grabs in the final three weeks.Columbus is in “first” at 51 points, followed by San Jose (53), Chicago (54) and Anaheim (56).Even though half of the league’s 32 teams...

Cardinals sign pitcher Miles Mikolas to 3-year deal

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:39 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Miles Mikolas is sticking with the St. Louis Cardinals.The veteran right-hander signed a three-year, $55.75 million contract with the Cardinals on Friday that will carry through the 2025 season.The new deal replaces his current contract, a four-year deal signed in February 2019 that covered the 2020-23 seasons and was set to expire this fall.Mikolas will receive a $5 million signing bonus payable July 1 and will make $18.75 million in 2023 and $16 million in each of the following two seasons. There are several award bonuses available to Mikolas, including $250,000 for winning a Cy Young.Mikolas is scheduled to make the second opening-day start of his career next Thursday when the Cardinals host Toronto. Mikolas went 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA last season while helping St. Louis to the NL Central title.“Miles stands among the top pitchers in the game today, and has continued to provide a steady presence for us both in the rotation and inside the clubhouse,” St. Louis gene...

Miami women hold on, beat Villanova for 1st trip to Elite 8

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:39 GMT

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Jasmyne Roberts scored a career-high 26 points — including a stickback for the go-ahead, three-point play with 38.8 seconds left — to help Miami overcome blowing a 21-point lead and beat Villanova 70-65 on Friday for its first trip to the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament.The ninth-seeded Hurricanes (22-12) hung on down the stretch after Villanova made its push back behind the latest big-scoring effort from All-American Maddy Siegrist.When it was over, longtime coach Katie Meier turned and started jumping to hug her staff, while players and cheerleaders sprinted to midcourt to celebrate. Meier soon made her way to the sideline near a vocal set of Hurricanes fans and gave two thumbs-up amid the cheering, while Roberts stayed locked in a firm and emotional embrace with teammate Ja’Leah Williams.Miami had reached the Sweet 16 only once before, in 1992. Now the Hurricanes will play Sunday for the Greenville Region 2 title against the LSU-Utah...

Denver police chief says more needs to be done for school safety

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:39 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Denver Public Schools board will allow officers to return to schools, a move backed by Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas. But he also said more needs to be done to keep kids safe at schools.Host Matt Mauro spoke exclusively with Thomas this week on "Colorado Point of View."Thomas and DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero announced that two armed officers will be inside Denver East High School after a student shot two administrators this week. The DPS board then voted on Thursday to allow the superintendent to provide at many as two officers on school campuses.“We're hoping they engage positively with students,” Thomas said. “Certainly, we believe their presence will calm the concerns of students and parents and certainly school staff.” Officer who responded to East High School shooting will become its next SRO Thomas said he has always been an advocate for police officers in schools, not just for safety purposes. He said he wants officers to build positive relationship...

Police searching for subject who fired shots at Steve’s Pizza in North Miami

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:39 GMT

Someone fired several shots at a pizza restaurant in Miami, and now officials are asking for the public’s help in locating that shooter. According to North Miami Police, the shooting occurred at Steve’s Pizza at 12101 Biscayne Blvd. on Wednesday, March 15, just before 12:30 a.m., and the man caught on camera firing the gun was allegedly aiming for a rival.Police said the subject, wearing a hood and mask, entered the restaurant and appeared to look for someone. In the surveillance video sent to 7News, the subject could be seen inside the restaurant pulling out a firearm from his waistband. The subject then walked back to an outdoor area of the restaurant and fired several rounds outside. Customers scramble away, one pushing a seat into the path of the potential shooter.Others bolt out, with one man still holding his order, before the one everyone’s afraid of also exits and fires off at least a couple shots.Nobody was hit or hurt … or identified or caught.Anyone who can pr...

Crews busy at Boston City Hall as filming continues for movie starring Matt Damon, Casey Affleck

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:39 GMT

Crews were busy getting Boston City Hall ready for its closeup Friday as film activity continued in connection with a movie starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. Film crews were seen outside around city hall Friday afternoon decorating the grounds with fake snow a day after crews were seen putting up banners and other materials in the area on Thursday. The movie “The Instigators” has brought local stars Damon and Affleck back to Boston this week, drawing crowds on multiple occasions. The pair were spotted on Cambridge Street on Wednesday filming one scene. They were in Back Bay on Thursday before crews moved to Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood Thursday night to film an action scene. A 7NEWS camera was in Fort Point, capturing video of an armored vehicle barreling through a gate in the area around Binford Street before filming wrapped up for the day around 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Elsewhere, in the North End, Bova’s Bakery has been temporarily closed this week to make...

Yankees Notebook: Anthony Volpe Builds Case With Home Run-Producing Adjustment

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:39 GMT

TAMPA – Pablo Lopez got Anthony Volpe swinging with his sweeper in the first inning Friday. In the third, it was the prospect who made the Twins’ Opening Day starter pay.Volpe, just 21 and vying to be the Yankees’ starting shortstop, drove a nearly identical pitch to center field on the first offering of his second at-bat in the Yankees’ 6-4 spring training loss to the Twins. The two-run shot, Volpe’s third of the spring, caught the eye of his manager as the Yankees weigh some big decisions with camp nearing its end.“He went to school on it and made whatever small adjustment he needed to and really, really leaned on it,” Aaron Boone said after the game at George M. Steinbrenner Field.“He’s a heady, smart player, but he’s a good player. So it’s like he’s got the equipment to go do things, but he processes things really well. He learns. He adjusts really well.”Volpe, meanwhile, praised Lopez’s sweeper ...

Celtics’ Robert Williams talks recent hamstring injury, potential bench role as playoffs near

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:39 GMT

This has not been the season Robert Williams envisioned.The Celtics center’s sudden knee surgery on the eve of training camp cost him the first 29 games of the season. A recent hamstring injury forced him out for eight. Williams has shown flashes of his irreplaceable ability, but hasn’t gained a consistent rhythm. But asked Friday how he’s viewed his season to date, he wasn’t quite in the mood for reflection yet.“Ask me at the end of the summer and I can answer that a little bit better,” Williams said with a smile.Williams certainly isn’t done with the story of his season yet. He’s back healthy, and though he’s missed 44 games, knows the most important games are ahead. His return in Tuesday’s win at Sacramento was a reminder of how dominant the Celtics can be when they’re whole, and why they’re such a championship threat. With Williams in and out of the lineup all year – as well as others – it’s been hard for the C’s to find that form consistently.Now is the time for the Celti...

Beethoven’s hair: How a museum docent turned genetic researcher debunked a famous relic

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:39 GMT

SAN JOSE — Tristan Begg was an anthropology student at UC Santa Cruz and a Beethoven fanatic when he volunteered as a docent at San Jose State University’s Beethoven center in the summer of 2009.He would pull out the drawer holding a lock of hair and tell visitors, “This is real” and that it once was on the head of the greatest composer who ever lived, the one whose music changed Begg’s life when he heard the first notes of Moonlight Sonata on Christmas morning at age 17.“It was instantaneous. I was astounded. I’ve never heard anything like it,” he said. “It was an instant sort of obsession.”Now, 14 years later, Begg, a Ph.D student at the University of Cambridge, is the lead author on a genome research study that debunked the story he once told. The hair is a fake.The findings, published this week in the journal Current Biology, revealed new insights about the life and death of Ludwig van Beethoven. Five other locks of hair were authenticated, including another one recently acquire...

Graze Craze: Charcuterie board utopia opens first San Diego location

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:39 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Listen up meat, cheese, fruit and vegetable lovers: charcuterie board connoisseurs are now hand-crafting creations at a first-of-its kind location in San Diego County. A catering business, known as Graze Craze, is bringing its "innovative graze-style food concept" to Chula Vista. A storefront officially opened this month at 931 Otay Lakes Rd. in the Southwest College Shopping Center. It’s ‘ridiculicious’: Popular ‘best-burger’ joint opens first San Diego location From picnic boxes, to grab and go options and entire grazing tables, Graze Craze said it specializes in artfully designed charcuterie boards with the highest-quality ingredients.The charcuterie board business offers a variety of grazing options that can be made to order for groups of any size. For those looking to snack solo or with a partner, small board and box options are also available. The South Bay location will be the first Graze Craze to open in California.So, what's all the craze about? Each charcute...