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Top seeds hold form heading to Charleston semifinals

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:31:52 GMT

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — No. 1 seed Jessica Pegula led the top four seeds into the semifinals at the Charleston Open on Friday. Pegula beat 12th-seeded Paula Bedosa 6-3, 7-6 (6) to complete the final four in the season’s first clay-court event. Also advancing were second-seeded Ons Jabeur, No. 3 seed Daria Kasatkina and No. 4 seed Belinda Bencic, the defending champion. It’s the first time the top four seeds made it to the semifinals here since 2000 when Mary Pierce, Conchita Martinez, Monica Seles, and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario completed the feat. Pegula will face Bencic with Jabeur taking on Kasatkina on Saturday. Pegula continued her strong play this season with her fourth semifinal in six tournaments. She leads the WTA with 22 match victories. “The depth in women’s tennis is incredible. You can’t take any match lightly,” Pegula said. “A lot of people might say someone’s not as consistent, but it’s really just because of the depth.” Jabeur, who fell to Bencic in th...

Rockets beat Hornets 112-109 for 2nd straight victory

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:31:52 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green each had 26 points and the Houston Rockets beat the Charlotte Hornets 112-109 on Friday night.Kenyon Martin Jr. added 14 points, Alperen Sengun had 14 points and 21 rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 13 points. The Rockets won consecutive games for the fifth time this season, improving to 21-50. The Hornets (26-55) played its home finale without injured starters LaMelo Ball (right ankle surgery), Gordon Hayward (left thumb sprain), Terry Rozier (right foot injury), P.J. Washington (right foot sprain) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (left shoulder sprain) and top reserve Dennis Smith (right toe sprain).Svi Mykhailiuk led Charlotte with 25 points, Theo Maledon had 22 and Bryce McGowens 16.Houston trailed 26-25 after the first quarter but took the lead for good in the middle of the second quarter and led 55-49 at the break, 85-73 after three quarter and by 14 points early in the fourth quarter before Charlotte pulled within three.The Rocket...

DC Mayor Bowser announces hiring bonus increase for police recruits

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:31:52 GMT

As D.C. struggles to recruit new police officers to meet its quota, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on Friday an increase in the hiring bonus for new police recruits.The new signing bonus for recruits will start Monday, April 24, and will be paid in two installments — $15,000 for the initial signing bonus and $10,000 upon completion of the police training academy.“The increase will make the department more competitive and support the goal of getting (the Metropolitan Police Department) back on the path to 4,000 sworn officers,” she wrote in a statement. More Local NewsMore DC NewsThe city has been struggling to fill gaps in the department, especially as more emergency calls are being made and crime has remained stagnant.As of February, the department is currently down 600 officers and its initial signing bonus of $20,000 only incentivized 97 recruits at the time. Additionally, the Office of Unified Communications, the agency that handles the city’s 911 and nonemergen...

Paredes hits grand slam, Rays beat A’s for 7th straight win

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:31:52 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Isaac Paredes hit a grand slam during Tampa Bay’s six-run second inning, and Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 9-5 on Friday night to extend their season-opening win streak to seven games.The Rays are the first major league team to win each of their first seven games by four or more runs since the 1884 St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association, according to STATS LLC. The Maroons’ season-opening stretch went 13 games. No other big league team has had a run of more than four.Harold Ramírez, Manuel Margot, Christian Bethancourt and Wander Franco also homered for Tampa Bay. The Rays’ 18 homers are the most through seven games in team history.Tampa Bay’s Zach Eflin (2-0), who signed a $40 million, three-year contract in the offseason, gave up three runs over six innings. The deal was largest free-agent agreement in franchise history. Eflin stayed in the game after Ramon Laureano’s infield single in the sixth went off his foot. The...

Pistons beat Pacers 122-115 to snap another 11-game skid

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:31:52 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jaden Ivey had 29 points and nine assists, Killian Hayes scored a career-high 28 points and the Detroit Pistons beat the Indiana Pacers 122-115 on Friday night.Detroit won for the second time since the All-Star Break — beating the Pacers both times to end 11-game losing streaks.Buddy Hield made five 3-pointers and finished with 22 points to lead six Indiana players in double figures. But it wasn’t enough to avoid a third straight loss, this time in the home finale.Instead, the Pacers blew an early 11-point lead when the Pistons went on an 18-0 run over the final three minutes of the first quarter and the first two of the second to take a 42-27 lead.The Pistons made it 70-50 late in the first half and fended off every second-half challenge Indiana posed.When Indiana cut the deficit to eight in the third quarter, Detroit went on a 9-4 run. When the Pacers closed to 99-95 early in the fourth, the Pistons answered with an 11-4 spurt. And when the Pacers got ton...

Opinion: The Canadian government should make the grocery rebate permanent to combat the affordability crisis

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:31:52 GMT

By: Wayne Simpson, University of ManitobaOne of the most anticipated measures of the 2023 Canadian federal budget is the grocery rebate. The rebate is designed to provide relief to millions of Canadians who are struggling with rising grocery prices and food insecurity.It is a temporary cash transfer of up to $467 for eligible couples with two children, $234 for single Canadians without children and $225 for seniors.The rebate will cover 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and families who currently receive the quarterly Goods and Services/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) Credit, which is based on recipients’ net income from their previous tax filing.As I argued in an earlier The Conversation Canada article, the GST/HST credit is the only program that provides targeted assistance to Canada’s low-income population. It provides a maximum annual benefit of $306 per adult and eligible dependant, plus $161 per child under 19 or for single individuals, and is paid quarterly.Deputy Pr...

Best time to play Tim Hortons’ Roll up to Win? The middle of the night dramatically increases your odds

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:31:52 GMT

By: Michael Wallace, University of Waterloo Listen Tim Hortons’ iconic Roll up the Rim contest began in 1985 and went largely unaltered for 25 years. The format was simple: buy a coffee, roll up the rim of the paper cup and see if you’ve won a prize. But this all changed in 2020.Amid the emergence of a global pandemic, the game went digital. Buying Tim Hortons products still earned you entries to the contest, but these were now stored on the company’s loyalty app. It was then up to you when to play these so-called “digital rolls.” Because players no longer roll up an actual coffee cup rim, the contest is now called Roll up to Win.Last week I made national news as “the stats prof who cracked Roll up to Win”. I boosted my odds in Tim Hortons’ annual coffee contest to 80 per cent and then shared my strategy with the nation.My approach sounds simple — play when other people aren’t — but it took data, determination and drinking a lot of coffee to find the optimal approach.Here’s the stor...

Easter weather extremes in Denver

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:31:52 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Spring in Colorado can bring just about any type of weather. This has been on full display on Easter Sundays for the last few years. Normally this time of year in Denver, low temperatures start around freezing, then climb to a high in the lower 60s. Within the last five years in Denver, Easter Sunday has ranged from 80 degrees and sunny in 2021 to 34 degrees with light snow showers in 2020. And these are far from the most extreme conditions that have been recorded on Easter Sunday. Official record-keeping for Easter in Denver dates back to 1872, with more accurate snowfall data starting in 1921. Denver weather: Highs hit 80 degrees next week Denver's warmest Easter on record was April 14, 1963. The high temperature that day climbed to 83 degrees, which is still the daily record for April 14. The coldest Easter temperature recorded in Denver was on April 4, 1920. The early morning low fell to only 6 degrees, which is still the daily record. High temperatures th...

Boulder's emergency dispatchers will be able to see what caller is seeing

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:31:52 GMT

BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR) -- The voice on the other side of the line in an emergency now has a face if you happen to be calling 911 in Boulder."We'll be able to livestream with callers, so we can actually see what you're seeing," Sara Humble said.Humble, an emergency operator in Boulder, said a new livestream service is being provided by police and fire."If you're having a medical emergency," Humble said, "I can see what's going on and we can give you better instructions on how to give emergency care until the responders get there or get yourself to a safe place." 911 callers can now stream video to Boulder dispatchers Here's how it works: You call 911, and an operator can offer to text you a link. Upon clicking the link, a 911 dispatcher has access to the cameras on your phone, both front and back.You have control of your phone, but an operator may take screenshots from your camera."So we can send those photos out to people who are out there looking a dangerous person or looking for ...

2 teenage twin brothers drown in Northwest Miami-Dade lake

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:31:52 GMT

Two teenage brothers have died after rescue divers pulled them from a lake in Northwest Miami-Dade, police said. Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue units responded to the scene of the drowning at Arthur Woodard Park, located along the 1100 block of Northwest 99th Street, Friday afternoon. 7Skyforce hovered over the scene where rescue crews surrounded the area to rescue the juveniles. According to MDFR, three divers were in the water searching for the children. “According to investigators, a group of children were playing near the embankment of the lake of this park behind me, when a teenage child fell in the water,” MDPD detective Luis Sierra said.Investigators said the victim’s twin brother jumped into the water in an attempt to rescue him.“Another child that was with the group called 911, had the foresight to call 911 for help, where police and fire rescue responded and were giving the two children CPR when they took him out of the lake,” said Sierra....