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Worcester North boys earn historic championship

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:11 GMT

LOWELL — The city of Worcester has its state championship.Tahlan Pettway scored 22 points while Worcester North held off a strong second half effort from Needham as the Polar Bears captured the Div. 1 state championship with a 73-64 win over the Rockets in front of over 5,000 fans on Sunday night at the Tsongas Center.Worcester North is the first public school from Worcester to win a Div. 1 state championship.“This is legendary,” said Worcester North coach Al Pettway. “Worcester being the second biggest city in New England, when I figured out no one had one a state title from here I could not believe it. Everyone rallied behind us. Everyone in the community. It was just awesome to see.”For Al’s nephew Tahlan the celebration following the final buzzer provided an emotional moment. Tahlan transferred into North from Burncoat prior to the school year.“I’ve been playing with these guys for a long time so to see them happy makes me even happier,&...

Blarney bluster: Bostonians rage on through a chilly St. Patty’s parade

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:11 GMT

The wind and cold couldn’t keep waves of folks decked in Boston and Irish pride from pouring out into the streets of Southie for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade.“Can’t say no to a green drink,” Southie resident Brad Keeley chanted emphatically as a round of bagpipes blasted by. “Would never say no to a green drink.”Boston’s parade, which is part of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations that date back to 1737 in the city, started the typical 3.5 mile loop through South Boston at 1 p.m., looping from around the Broadway T stop to the Andrew T stop.As early as noon, thousands of people started to line the route, clutching green boots of beer, rocking shamrock headbands and attempting jigs in the street.The crowd represented everyone from long time Southie residents stepping out their front doors to travelers in from all over just to participate in the famed tradition.“A really good atmosphere,” said Steph Riley, a Scottish ...

Yankees Notebook: Orioles get to Gerrit Cole in penultimate spring start

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:11 GMT

TAMPA — The Orioles roughed up Gerrit Cole before he could exit his second-to-last start of the spring, tagging the Yankees righty for four earned runs in his fifth and final frame in Sunday’s game, a 5-3 win for Baltimore at George M. Steinbrenner Field.That inning included a hit by pitch, a walk, a three-run homer from Orioles catcher Anthony Bemboom, and an RBI double from outfielder Kyle Stowers. All in all, Cole threw 29 pitches and ended the day with a 3.94 ERA for the spring.“That was the worst inning of the spring, so it’s not a great taste in my mouth,” Cole said afterward, though he took a few positives out of the performance. Namely, he made it through five and experienced a stressful inning while up against the pitch clock. “There’s gonna be a time when I’m gonna throw 30 or somewhat pitches in an inning on the clock, so it was good to get through that,” Cole continued.Cole also allowed six hits and eight hard hit bal...

Mets outfielder DJ Stewart hits for cycle in 8-7 loss against Cardinals

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:11 GMT

He didn’t get a win but he’ll still remember the game.Outfielder DJ Stewart went 4-for-4 with four RBI, hitting for the cycle in Sunday’s 8-7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Clover Field.Stewart told SNY that bench coach Eric Chavez planned to pull him out the game after hitting a double in his third at-bat. The outfielder convinced Chavez to stay in the game, giving him the chance to hit a 351-foot home run to right field to complete the cycle.It was the first cycle in a spring training game since 2020.“It’s unbelievable,” Stewart told SNY. “It’s my first one ever.”Stewart joined the Mets for spring training as a non-roster invitee. The Baltimore Orioles selected Stewart in the first round of the MLB Draft back in 2015. He has major league experience but only played in three games with the Orioles last season. The 29-year-old slashed .256/.390/.488 with the Norfolk Tides, the Orioles Triple-A affiliate, in 2022.GAME NOTESLeft...

North Korea: Latest missile simulated nuclear counterattack

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:11 GMT

North Korea on Monday described its latest ballistic missile launch as a simulated nuclear attack on South Korea as leader Kim Jong Un called for his nuclear forces to sharpen their war readiness in the face of his rival’s expanding military exercises with the United States.The report by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency came after the South Korean and Japanese militaries on Sunday detected North Korea firing a short-range ballistic missile into waters off its eastern coast. The launch came less than an hour before the United States flew long-range B-1B bombers for joint training with South Korean warplanes as part of the allies’ biggest combined training in years, which the North has condemned as a rehearsal for a potential invasion.KCNA said the missile, which flew about 800 kilometers (500 miles), was tipped with a mock nuclear warhead and that the test reaffirmed the reliability of the weapon’s nuclear explosion control devices and warhead detonators. It said...

Looking to avoid the Kennedy Expressway construction? Here's what you should know.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:11 GMT

CHICAGO — A major years-long construction project on the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago is expected to cause extensive delays.Starting on Monday night, the Illinois Department of Transportation will close the two left-hand inbound lanes of the Kennedy Expressway from the Edens Expressway to Ohio Street. FULL DETAILS: Kennedy Expressway construction project to last 3 years, cost $150M and begins in March It will take about a week for the full configuration to get into place.The express lanes will stay open to inbound traffic until this year’s repairs are done.If you're looking to avoid some frustration and getting stuck in the delays, there are some things you can do to try to avoid the delays. Kennedy Expressway construction project to begin Monday The Illinois Department of Transportation said drivers should consider traveling at off-peak times and avoid rush hour.IDOT also said motorists should consider taking public transportation.Some options include the Metra Union Pacific N...

'It felt very surreal': Florida surfer 'having nightmares' after shark attack

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:11 GMT

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (WFLA) – A Florida surfer is on the road to recovery after he was attacked by a shark in Fort Pierce last week. Matt Picarelli, 36, told WPTV that he was surfing at Pepper Park Beach on the state's east coast when he suddenly felt a shark bite down. Massive great white shark pings off coast of Florida As he recalled the frightening moment, Picarelli said the attack happened so quickly that it didn't even feel real. He explained how the shark was next to him before it "took a chomp out of [his] foot" and quickly left. "Everything happening so quickly, it didn't feel real at all. It felt very surreal," Picarelli told WPTV. Strangers helped Picarelli out of the water and a friend rushed him to an area hospital as he was "bleeding everywhere."He needed 50 stitches and suffered a broken tendon and chipped bone. Since the attack, Picarelli said that he keeps replaying the bite in his head. "Every night, I've been having nightmares about it," Picarelli told the outlet....

Longhorns, Cardinals expect physical game in NCAA women's 2nd round

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:11 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — When Louisville and Texas meet Monday in the second round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament, the game the teams played against each other in November on foreign soil doesn't mean a thing.Yes, the Cardinals beat the Longhorns 71-63 in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in Paradise Island, Bamahams on Nov. 20, but both teams are miles removed from that game. Also, Texas has its playmaker and facilitator back in sophomore point guard Rori Harmon. Texas Longhorns hammer East Carolina Pirates 79-40 in 1st round of NCAA women’s tourney Texas clobbered its first-round opponent Saturday, dishing out a 79-40 beatdown of 13th-seeded East Carolina. Louisville, the region's No. 5 seed, got all it could handle from 12th-seeded Drake in an 83-81 nailbiter. However, the Longhorns aren't letting the respective margins of victory dictate how they'll approach Monday's game, set for 6 p.m. at Moody Center."We have to be really ready for a great ball club, Longhorns head coach V...

Ex-felons in Minnesota say right to vote is ‘life-changing’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:11 GMT

Dondi McIntosh will cast his first ballot in a national election next year when he is 51 years old.Some rights, like voting, aren’t appreciated until a person gets older. For McIntosh, of Rochester, the appreciation is heightened because the franchise had until recently been denied to him.That changed earlier this month when Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill that restored the voting rights of formerly incarcerated felons who are still on probation.McIntosh calls it “life-changing.”Dondi McIntosh is pictured Thursday, March 9, 2023. (Matthew Stolle / Post Bulletin)To people who regard voting as a God-given right, that may sound like a bit of hyperbole. But from McIntosh’s point of view, being restored to the franchise has been transformative.Ever since being released from prison after serving 15 years on a drug-related felony, McIntosh has worked to claw back those things that not only allow a person to function in society but give a sense of identity and self-worth: a birth certificate, a...

Anthony Edwards may return to Timberwolves sooner than expected. But they need to win games without him

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:11 GMT

Minnesota continues to receive good news on the Anthony Edwards’ injury front. Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said Saturday the ankle sprain was not as bad as the team initially feared.On Sunday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Edwards was out of his walking boot and moving around more as swelling subsided. Minnesota listed Edwards as questionable to play in New York on Monday against the Knicks.The 21-year-old guard seems unlikely to actually suit up at the Garden, but his progress is encouraging for the Timberwolves. His return, whenever it happens, will be welcomed for a team in apparent freefall. The Wolves have lost five of their last six games in a descent down the Western Conference play-in picture.Minnesota entered Monday seeded ninth in the ever-changing West.If Edwards misses Monday, and even Wednesday’s home contest against disorganized Atlanta, that can’t automatically equal a pair of Timberwolves’ losses.“We got to keep our hea...