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Miami Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla, attorney bond out after arrest on money laundering and bribery charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

City of Miami Commissioner Alejandro “Alex” Diaz de la Portilla and attorney William W. Riley Jr. have bonded out of jail hours after they were arrested on a range of charges, including money laundering, bribery, unlawful compensation and criminal conspiracy.Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials on Thursday said that Diaz de la Portilla, 58, is also facing four counts of official misconduct, one count of exceeding legal campaign contribution limits, and two counts of failing to report a gift. Riley, 48, has additionally been charged with failing to disclose lobbyist expenses.The commissioner attended Thursday’s meeting at Miami City Hall with some lighthearted talk about lunch.“We still have lunch in my office if you want to come. They’re burgers,” he told commissioners.Little did he know his afternoon would take a sharp turn with an arrest.The FDLE investigation revealed that Diaz de la Portilla and Riley had accepted more than $15,000 ...

Third Republican debate will be in Miami, CNN sources say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

(CNN) — The third Republican presidential primary debate will be held in Miami in early November, sources familiar with the event tell CNN.NBC News and Salem Media are in talks to host the Miami debate, according to two people familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for NBC News declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Salem Media.The third debate will follow the first 2024 GOP gathering in Milwaukee last month and the second debate scheduled to take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on September 27.The debates could play an increasingly crucial role as Republican candidates vie to be seen by primary voters as the party’s top alternative to former President Donald Trump.Trump, who has maintained a large lead in national and early-state primary polls, skipped the first debate and told former Fox News host Megyn Kelly that while he would participate in potential general election debates with President Joe Biden, he is unlikely to deba...

Analysis: Chaim Bloom took every risk in Red Sox tenure with no reward

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

On a subdued Sunday evening at Fenway Park in September 2019, the Red Sox fired Dave Dombrowski.Almost exactly four years later, they did the same to his replacement.While hosting the same team, at that.Before their doubleheader with the Yankees on Thursday afternoon, the Red Sox announced they’d fired Chaim Bloom.Boston Red Sox’s Chaim Bloom chats on the field prior to a May 7, 2022 game against the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park in Boston. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)Within the hour, Sam Kennedy entered the interview room to field questions, and while discussing the disappointing ongoing season, said, “We own this.”But while there’s certainly more organizational change ahead, Bloom is yet another one of their sacrificial lambs. Despite each leading the Red Sox to at least one deep postseason run, neither Bloom, nor Dombrowski, nor Ben Cherington lasted more than four seasons in the driver’s seat. A pattern has emerged, a common denominator, their erstwhile ...

Orioles hire Kerry Watson as public affairs VP; he’s first African American in club’s senior leadership team

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

As the Orioles continue lease negotiations with the state to remain at Oriole Park at Camden Yards beyond this year, they have hired Kerry Watson as vice president of public affairs. Watson, who worked 20 years as a Prince George’s County police officer and, recently, as an MGM Resorts executive, is the first African American on the Orioles’ senior leadership team.In his role, Watson will oversee “Government Affairs, Communications, Community Development and Creative Content,” according to a news release from the Orioles.The club also promoted Lisa Tolson, who has worked for the Orioles for 38 years, to chief people officer and longtime club executive Greg Bader to chief operating officer.In a news release, Orioles Chairman and CEO John Angelos lauded the Orioles’ “incredible team.”“The entire Orioles organization welcomes Greg, Kerry, and Lisa to their new executive positions as the Orioles continue our commitment to building a divers...

Orioles’ Heston Kjerstad ‘stoked, excited, relieved’ to be called up; Ryan Mountcastle ‘feels a lot better,’ won’t go on IL

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

It took Heston Kjerstad exactly two years to make his professional debut after the Orioles drafted him in 2020. He needed less than that to climb all the way up.The Orioles called up Kjerstad, ranked by Baseball America as the organization’s fifth-best prospect, to the major leagues Thursday, the team announced. He made his way to Baltimore when first baseman Ryan Mountcastle exited with left shoulder discomfort he suffered on a swing in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals.Kjerstad was pulled in the fifth inning of Triple-A Norfolk’s game Wednesday evening and was told after by Tides manager Buck Britton of his promotion.“This is something I’ve worked for my whole life,” Kjerstad said. “To finally be here and be in the moment, it’s been awesome so far.”Kjerstad’s promotion came amid a flurry of other roster moves Thursday, one of which wasn’t placing Mountcastle on the injured list. Manager Brandon Hyde said be...

NASA in new report says UFO sightings nothing much, but promises to treat the phenomena with scientific rigor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

UFO or UAP, to NASA it’s worth studying.The space agency has concluded that reports from of the objects formerly known as UFOs are likely nothing, but that it is taking the phenomena seriously.It’s dong so to not only lend its reputation and resources to the study of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) but appointed a director to head the agency’s work in the field.“At present, the detection of UAP is often serendipitous, captured by sensors that were not designed or calibrated for this purpose, and which lack comprehensive metadata. Coupled with incomplete data archiving and curation, this means that the origin of numerous UAP remain uncertain,” the federal space agency wrote in a 33-page report concluding its year-long investigation into the strange flying objects.“The importance of detecting UAP with multiple, well-calibrated sensors is thus paramount,” the report stated, adding elsewhere that “NASA, by lending its name to UAP studies, is already helping to reduce ...

Former SDSU employee tests positive for tuberculosis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A former employee at the San Diego State University Aztec Shops tested positive for tuberculosis, the university confirmed on Thursday.According to the university, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency notified the school of the case, prompting them to notify individuals who might have been exposed to the employee from Feb. 22 to June 22 of this year."As people who become ill with TB may be sick for months before they are diagnosed, potential exposure windows can be long, and are shared out of an abundance of caution," SDSU said in an email Thursday to the campus community.No-cost testing has been organized for employees at the Aztec Shops who have been identified as close contacts. At this time, there have been no additional cases reported.Possible exposure occurred primarily at the Charles B. Bell Jr. Pavilion, according to HHSA. No classroom spaces were impacted with the exposure, according to the university. American Red Cross calls on San Dieg...

Former North Carolina Sen. Lauch Faircloth dies at 95

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Lauch Faircloth of North Carolina, a onetime conservative Democrat who switched late in his career to the Republicans and then got elected to Congress, died Thursday. He was 95. Faircloth, who served one Senate term before losing to then-unknown Democrat John Edwards in 1998, died at his home in Clinton, said Brad Crone, a former campaign aide and close friend. Years after an unsuccessful Democratic bid for governor in 1984, Faircloth switched to the GOP and ran in 1992 against U.S. Sen. Terry Sanford, a longtime friend and former political ally. Faircloth pulled off the upset, attacking Sanford as a big-spending liberal and benefiting politically from Sanford’s health problems in the campaign’s final weeks.While in the Senate, the millionaire businessman and Sampson County farmer was known as one of the most partisan senators, blasting Bill and Hillary Clinton and calling for the dismantling of Cabinet departments and other federal agencies. He...

Striking Hollywood writers, studios to resume negotiations next week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Contract talks that could end Hollywood’s writers strike are set to resume next week, studios said Thursday.The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the industry’s studios, streaming services and production companies in union negotiations, said in a statement that they had reached out to the Writers Guild of America on Wednesday and the two sides agreed to resume negotiations next week.Leaders are still working out the details, the statement said, and no further specifics were provided.“Every member company of the AMPTP is committed and eager to reach a fair deal, and to working together with the WGA to end the strike,” the statement said.There are no talks yet planned to settle the actors strike.Writers have been on strike for 4 1/2 months over issues including pay, job security and regulating the use of artificial intelligence. A previous attempt to restart talks fell flat. The two sides had a handful of meetings in m...

California lawmakers sign off on ballot measure to reform mental health care system

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are casting the final votes on hundreds of bills Thursday before the legislative session ends at midnight.Approved bills will go to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will have until Oct. 14 to decide whether to sign them into law, veto them or let them become law without his signature.The state Legislature almost never overrides a veto from the governor, no matter what political party is in charge. Here’s a look at what lawmakers have voted on:MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEMSenators on Thursday signed off on putting two proposals before voters next March that would help transform the state’s mental health system and address the state’s worsening homelessness crisis. A measure by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin would allow the state to borrow $6.38 billion to build new treatment beds and housing. A proposal by Sen. Susan Eggman would overhaul how counties pay for mental and behavioral health programs. Irwin’s proposal still needs a fi...