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Brockton to name former Patriot Jermaine Wiggins as new head football coach

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:16 GMT

If Brockton was looking to make a splash with its football hire, they certainly succeeded in doing so.The school announced it will hire former New England Patriot tight end Jermaine Wiggins as the school’s new football coach. Wiggins will be introduced by Brockton Mayor Robert F. Sullivan and Brockton Public Schools Superintendent Michael P. Thomas at a press conference Friday afternoon (12:30) at Marciano Stadium.While preferring to wait until the press conference to deliver his statements, Wiggins did speak about the legacy of the Brockton football program and the impact it had on him as a youngster starring at East Boston High School.“I am happy to have the opportunity to follow an unbelievable legacy that the Colombos have created at BHS,” Wiggins said in a text message. “As a kid growing up in Eastie and playing football Brockton was the gold standard. And now to have the chance to coach kids that are growing up in a neighborhood just like Eastie who have goals and dreams...

BC wide receiver Ryan O’Keefe burning it up in spring ball

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:16 GMT

Boston College wide receiver Ryan O’Keefe came of age in a football culture.O’Keefe is a graduate transfer from Central Florida who torched the turf during the Eagles’ 14 spring practice sessions while learning a new system. The 5-10, 170-pound pass catcher from Austin, Texas will put his stretch-the-field speed on display in Saturday’s (11 a.m.) Jay McGillis Memorial Spring Football Game at Alumni Stadium.“I am looking forward to the spring game and just seeing what the offense has gotten so far,” said O’Keefe, following the final spring practice on a warm and sunny Thursday morning at Alumni Stadium.“I want to be a force in our plans and just to be able to learn a new system and watch the team operating as a group together. This will be the first time we will be going full speed together so it should be exciting.”O’Keefe began his rise at Round Rock High School in Round Rock, Texas Round Rock is a nationally recognized scholastic program in a part of Texas where football is a reli...

Drake Bell determined to be 'safe' after police issued alert for former Nickelodeon star

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:16 GMT

(WFLA) — Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell, known for his role on the network's hit show "Drake & Josh," was said to be "safe" and in contact with Florida officials after he was reported missing on Thursday by the Daytona Beach Police Department."At this time we can confirm law enforcement officials are in contact and Mr. Bell is safe," a public information officer for the Daytona Beach PD told Nexstar.The department had first issued an alert for Bell, whose legal name is Jared Drake Bell, on Thursday morning. In a Facebook post, police said Bell was last seen on Wednesday just before 9 p.m., in the area of Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida."He is considered missing and endangered," the department wrote on Facebook. The police later clarified that that their post was "legitimate," presumably in response to commenters questioning the accuracy of the alert.Police did not share any additional details concerning Bell's whereabouts, nor the circumstances surrounding the...

Romance novel model gets prison for Jan. 6 attack on police

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:16 GMT

A Michigan pipelayer who modeled for covers of romance novels was sentenced on Thursday to three years in prison for assaulting police at the U.S. Capitol during a mob’s attack.Logan Barnhart joined one of the most brutal clashes between rioters and police on Jan. 6, 2021. He grabbed an officer by his neck and torso and dragged him into the crowd of rioters on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace. Minutes later, he returned to a police line and swung a flagpole at officers.Barnhart, 42, of Holt, Michigan, said he didn’t recognize himself on a video, shown in court, that captured him assaulting the officer.“The way I was acting seems so foreign to me,” he told U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras.Contreras also sentenced Barnhart to three years of supervised release after his prison term and ordered him to pay a $3,688 fine and $2,000 in restitution. Contreras said anybody who “directly and brazenly” attacks police is inherently dangerous to the public.“He ran to the fight,” the j...

Trudeau Foundation donor leads group under Chinese Communist Party ‘total leadership’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:16 GMT

A businessman whose reported donations to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation led to the resignation of its CEO is the president of a Chinese cultural organization that says it operates under the authority of the communist government.The website of the China Cultural Industry Association says it adheres to the “total leadership” of the Chinese Communist Party and was formed with the approval of China’s State Council, which is synonymous with the central government.The association says on its Chinese-language site that its president is Zhang Bin, a Chinese billionaire that the Globe and Mail reported had donated $200,000 to the foundation in 2016, along with another Chinese businessman.But the Globe reported that a receipt named a company called Millennium Golden Eagle International (Canada) as the donor.The China Cultural Industry Association says Millennium Golden Eagle International is one of its executive board members and was created with the approval of Chin...

S&P/TSX composite index gains more than 100 points, U.S. markets climb

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:16 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index rose more than 100 points Thursday while U.S. stock markets climbed steadily throughout the day to post gains of more than one per cent. The S&P/TSX composite index was up 110.17 points at 20,564.49.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 383.19 points at 34,029.69. The S&P 500 index was up 54.27 points at 4,146.22,while the Nasdaq composite was up 236.93 points at 12,166.27.The Canadian dollar traded for 74.86 cents US compared with 74.37 cents US on Wednesday.The May crude oil contract was down US$1.10 at US$82.16 per barreland the May natural gas contract was down nine cents at US$2.01 per mmBTU.The June gold contract was up US$30.40 at US$2,055.30 an ounceand the May copper contract was up four cents at US$4.12 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)The Canadian Press

Florida GOP passes 6-week abortion ban, DeSantis supports

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:16 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Republican-dominated Florida Legislature on Thursday approved a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a proposal supported by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis as he prepares for an expected presidential run. DeSantis is expected to sign the bill into law. Florida currently prohibits abortions after 15 weeks.A six-week ban would give DeSantis a key political victory among Republican primary voters as he prepares to launch a presidential candidacy built on his national brand as a conservative standard bearer. The policy would also have wider implications for abortion access throughout the South in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade and leaving decisions about abortion access to states. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, while Georgia forbids the procedure after cardiac activity can be detected, which is around six weeks. Democrats and abortion-rights groups sa...

Mother of young boy who shot teacher arrested in Virginia

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:16 GMT

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot and wounded his teacher in Virginia has been formally arrested on charges of child neglect and failing to secure her handgun, police announced Thursday. The Newport News Police Department released a booking photo of the woman, 25, and a brief statement that said she turned herself in at the local jail. Police did not release any information regarding bail or whether she was incarcerated. The Associated Press isn’t naming the mother to shield the identity of her son.Authorities had announced Monday that she was being charged with felony child neglect and a misdemeanor charge of endangering a child by reckless storage of a firearm. Her attorney had said that she planned to turn herself in later this week. He did not return a phone call and email requesting comment on Thursday. The woman’s arrest comes more than three months after police say her son shot and wounded first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner as she sat at a r...

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant files countersuit against teen

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:16 GMT

Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant has filed a countersuit against the Memphis teenager suing the two-time All-Star, accusing the teen of slander, battery and assault over a pickup basketball game at Morant’s home last July.The lawsuit filed Wednesday night in Shelby County Circuit Court accuses Joshua Holloway, whose lawsuit was amended March 28 after he turned 18, of damaging Morant’s reputation and putting him at risk of losing millions of dollars both in his contract and in potential endorsement deals.Morant declined to comment Thursday when asked about his countersuit after practice. The Grizzlies are the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference preparing to host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers starting Sunday.The guard signed a five-year, $193 million contract last July that includes a $38 million bonus for making the All-NBA team this season. The NBA suspended Morant eight games in March for “conduct detrimental to the league” for displaying a firearm at a suburb...

25 Europe-bound migrants dead in boat sinking off Tunisia

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:16 GMT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — At least 25 African migrants died and 15 are missing after a boat carrying them toward Europe sank in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Tunisia this week, Tunisian authorities said.The Tunisian coast guard on Thursday recovered the bodies of 15 people trapped under the boat near the coast of Sfax, a port in east-central Tunisia, Sfax Prosecutor Faouzi Masmoudi told the Associated Press.On Wednesday, the coast guard recovered 10 other bodies and rescued 72 migrants from the sunken vessel he said. The prosecutor estimated that 15 to 20 others who had been on the boat are still missing, based on survivors’ accounts.Nearly all those who died or were rescued were from sub-Saharan Africa, Masmoudi said.Attempts at illegal migration have increased in recent weeks from the Tunisian coast towards the nearby Italian coast, leaving dozens dead and many missing. The central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migration route in the world, according to the Intern...