DeSantis sets aside $1 million to sue over Florida State's playoff snub

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:09:16 GMT

DeSantis sets aside $1 million to sue over Florida State's playoff snub (The Hill) -- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he plans to set aide $1 million from the state’s annual budget to Florida State University (FSU) for potential ligation over their controversial snub from the College Football Playoff. DeSantis, whose currently running for president, made the announcement during a press conference on his budget proposal for the Fiscal Year 2024-2025. “But what we decided to do, we're setting aside a million dollars for any litigation expenses that may become as a result of this really, really poor decision by the college football playoffs to exclude an undefeated team who won a big Power Five conference championship,” DeSantis said at the press conference. DeSantis, who noted that his kids are big Seminoles fans, said litigation may not change the outcome, but that the state would let “the chips fall where they may on that.” Chiefs fan’s mom defends son after critics call him racist “We had one of our schools, Florida State, go undefeated...

Globally, Mariah Carey is still dominating Christmas

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:09:16 GMT

Globally, Mariah Carey is still dominating Christmas WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) -- Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time ever this week, but, love it or loathe it, Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" was the top track globally, coming in at No. 1 on Billboard's Global Hot 200 chart. Lee's holiday classic came in at No. 4 on the Global Hot 200 chart. Lee was 13 years old when she recorded the song, originally released in 1958. The 78-year-old is now the oldest artist to have a current No. 1 song at the top of the charts.Billboard's Hot 100 is based on data collected on US purchases, streams, and downloads. Globally speaking, however, Mariah still dominates.Carey's hit isn't the only divisive song on the "Global Hot 200." The 80s duo Wham has the No. 2 position with "Last Christmas," a song whose fame or infamy has even spawned a yearly competition called "Whamageddon." Brenda Lee talks about hit holiday single 65 years in the making Only two other Christmas songs...

Rise in anti-Semitic incidents causes concern among Jewish families ahead of Hanukkah

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:09:16 GMT

Rise in anti-Semitic incidents causes concern among Jewish families ahead of Hanukkah CHICAGO — The start of Hanukkah is just days away and this year, for many in the Jewish community, the festival of lights is clouded by fear.  "It’s really just another layer of a lot of concern about showing one’s Jewishness," Addie Goodman said. Goodman, who is the CEO of the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago (JCC), said the conversation families are having about whether to put a menorah in their windows for the holiday is unlike anything she’s witnessed ever before.  Police search for group spotted stealing $5K worth of trading cards from Chesterton game shop "Is this something we should do because we’re proud to be Jewish, and we want to find solidarity and comfort in one another and see the menorahs in the window, or is there fear? And it’s making us uncomfortable, such that we don’t want to show this is a home where Jews live," Goodman said. The reason is the rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States since the war between Israel and Hamas escalated...

Suspect arrested, linked to south Austin homicide and officer shootings

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:09:16 GMT

Suspect arrested, linked to south Austin homicide and officer shootings AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A suspect was arrested Tuesday in connection with a homicide and two separate shootings involving an Austin Independent School District officer and an Austin police officer, multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to KXAN. Shortly before 7:30 p.m., APD said a police officer was shot in southwest Austin. APD is expected to hold a media briefing. Austin ISD officer shot at Northeast ECHS Law enforcement sources tell KXAN the suspect in the southwest Austin shooting is the same person who is accused of killing two people on Shadywood Drive in south Austin and shooting an Austin Independent School District officer at Northeast College High School Tuesday morning.The school district’s police chief said the AISD officer was expected to be released from the hospital after being shot in the leg.Details surrounding the shooting were not immediately available. A KXAN crew on the scene reported a heavy law enforcement presence in the area of Austral Loop in the Circle C c...

Ellis Medicine to open youth intervention crisis center

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:09:16 GMT

Ellis Medicine to open youth intervention crisis center SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A local hospital has received funding to expand mental health treatment services for children and teens. Ellis Medicine was awarded more than $700,000 from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation to establish The Family Room, which will offer crisis intervention to patients between the ages of 10 and 17.It will be located at the State Street Health Center in Schenectady, which houses the hospital's behavioral health programs. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! The hospital already has a similar program for adults. The Living Room was established in 2018. It's connected thousands of people to support and kept 98 percent of its patients out of the emergency room and helped ease the strain on the ER. Both services provide a comfortable environment with furniture, soft lighting and a relaxed atmosphere.If you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call or text 988 to reached the National Suicide and Cris...

Kinderhook remembers Martin Van Buren on 241st birthday

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:09:16 GMT

Kinderhook remembers Martin Van Buren on 241st birthday KINDERHOOK, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Members of the Kinderhook community gathered on Tuesday to celebrate one of their own: former U.S. president Martin Van Buren. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Van Buren was born in Kinderhook in the late 1700s and returned to the town after his term as president. Residents remembered his contributions to the political world and to his native town. The ceremony at this gravesite in Kinderhook fell on what would have been his 241st birthday.

Fatal shootings in East St. Louis may be related, investigators say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:09:16 GMT

Fatal shootings in East St. Louis may be related, investigators say EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – Investigators with the Illinois State Police believe two fatal shootings that took place Tuesday afternoon may be related.According to Trooper Jayme Bufford, an ISP spokesman, the shootings happened just after 2 p.m.Agents with the ISP’s Division of Criminal Investigation were called to the 500 block of South 14th Street to help the East St. Louis Police Department in a shooting investigation. An unidentified woman had been shot multiple times and was declared dead at the scene.A short time later, agents were notified of a male victim with a fatal gunshot wound in the 600 block of S. 15th Street.Anyone with information on the shootings can contact the Illinois State Police—and remain anonymous—through email at [email protected].

Keeler: This one’s for John! Mines QB John Matocha talks NCAA semis, John Elway helicopter tribute: “I’d do it again.”

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:09:16 GMT

Keeler: This one’s for John! Mines QB John Matocha talks NCAA semis, John Elway helicopter tribute: “I’d do it again.” John Matocha puts his surplice on one arm at a time. College football’s all-time touchdown leader is one of the secret MVPs of Sunday morning mass at St. Joseph Catholic Parish in Golden, making sure the slides are running at 7:30 sharp.“How was the game?” they’ll ask him.“Saw the win yesterday, John.”“That was a heck of a flip you took. You OK?”(He is.)“The community is phenomenal,” Mines’ all-everything quarterback said by phone in advance of the top-ranked Orediggers’ Division II football playoff semifinal tussle with Kutztown Saturday at Marv Kay Stadium.“It’s good for me. I enjoy it. It keeps me grounded. I couldn’t be more thankful.”As the reigning Harlon Hill Trophy winner and a grad student in Mines’ computer sciences program, Matocha gets about 14 minutes of sleep during a good week. But he’s committed his Sunday mornings to St. Joseph, win or … umm … win....

Todd Helton, on Hall of Fame’s doorstep, is “putting in my two cents” on Rockies at winter meetings

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:09:16 GMT

Todd Helton, on Hall of Fame’s doorstep, is “putting in my two cents” on Rockies at winter meetings NASHVILLE — Todd Helton was talking Rockies baseball Tuesday afternoon.The club’s iconic first baseman, who’s on track toward election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame when votes are announced Jan. 23, remains passionate about the team he suited up for during his entire 17-year career.Despite the Rockies’ 103-loss season in 2023 — “Really tough,” he said — Helton hopes the young prospects he’s working with will embrace being a part of the Rockies.“Hopefully, they see the pride that I take in being a Colorado Rockie,” Helton said from the club’s suite at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center. “Take pride in the city and the team. Yeah, it’s not a storied tradition, but we’ve had some really good players come through there. I think they should know the history of the team and take pride and be excited to be a Colorado Rockie.”Helton, who lives full-time in his native Knoxville, ...

Human trafficking, child exploitation operation leads to 19 arrests

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:09:16 GMT

Human trafficking, child exploitation operation leads to 19 arrests Undercover agents and detectives posing as minors offering sex for pay on websites frequented by "child predators" arrested more than a dozen suspects during a three-day operation, California law enforcement authorities announced Tuesday. Dubbed "White Elephant," the operation ran from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 and targeted adults seeking to sexually exploit children and victims of sex trafficking in Kings County, according to a news release from California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office. During the human trafficking sting, which included state, federal and local law enforcement agencies, officials said investigators spoke to numerous individuals over the internet and on mobile applications known to foster this kind of illegal activity.Along with the 19 arrests, the Kings County Sheriff's Office said deputies also rescued two females from a human trafficking operation. "In California, we do not tolerate the sexual exploitation and human trafficking of children," said Bonta.The attorney...