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New Woody Harrelson movie ‘Champions’ features Best Buddies actors

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:22:02 GMT

More than 30 years after “White Men Can’t Jump,” Woody Harrelson is back in another basketball comedyThe new movie “Champions,” Harrelson is courting disaster after he’s ejected from the NBA coaching game.And things just get worse from there until he gets a shot at reedeming himself.Director Bobby Farrelly recruited basketball players from the Special Olympics and other groups like Best Buddies.Bobby Farrelly: “I just tried to get them really to play a version of themselves, and they know how to play themselves. So that, that was the main thing.”Best Buddies founder Anthony Shriver loved the idea of using folks with special needs.Anthony Shriver: “I’m glad to have them on the big screen and showcase all their ability … it’s great for best buddies. It’s great for special need athletes. It’s great for people with special needs. To celebrate them.”Woody’s happy with the way the movie turned out to...

Several killed in Hamburg shooting at Jehovah’s Witness hall

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:22:02 GMT

Multiple people were killed and others seriously injured in a shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness hall Thursday night in Hamburg, according to police.Police said they received reports of the shooting at about 9 p.m. local time in the northern harbor city, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz previously served as mayor and his predecessor Angela Merkel was born. Local media reported that either six or seven people were killed during an event for Jehovah’s Witnesses. A shot was fired after officers arrived on the scene and a fatally injured person was found on an upper floor of the building who may have been the shooter, though this is still not certain, according to reports.Police said on Twitter that the motivation for the attack is still under investigation and urged people not to spread rumors online. Authorities initially sent a warning advising locals to avoid the area and remain indoors temporarily.Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher called the news “shocking.”“My deepest sympathies are...

Chicago Cubs top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong’s defense continues to impress: ‘He’s going to be one of the top-10 center fielders to ever play’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:22:02 GMT

Pete Crow-Armstrong already has produced numerous highlight-reel worthy catches as he heads into his second full season of professional baseball.So when asked to rate his most recent diving grab in the seventh inning of Tuesday’s Cactus League win against the Texas Rangers — smoothly navigating the impending wall as he leaped while crossing over onto the warning-track dirt — Crow-Armstrong remarked, “Oh, that’s up there.” The play kept the game tied, preventing the runner on second base from scoring.In breaking down his catch, Crow-Armstrong noted how the baseball came off the bat of right-handed hitter Ezequiel Duran, making it easier for him to judge the play because of the expected trajectory and descent of the ball. If it had been hit to the right-center field gap by a lefty, that play’s difficulty would have been amplified with the way the ball would have landed.“So I wouldn’t say that was the hardest catch I’ve ever m...

Former Boston bouncer talks about tackling man accused of attacking flight attendant: ‘Dude, I’m telling you right now’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:22:02 GMT

An ex-bouncer at a Faneuil Hall bar was the first person to grab the man accused of attacking a flight attendant on a plane heading to Boston, throwing the suspect down to the ground and helping restrain him from hurting anyone else on the chaotic United flight.“I just have a hard time allowing someone to assault a flight attendant,” Jeff Neil told the Herald on Thursday, recalling how it all went down on Sunday’s flight from Los Angeles to Boston Logan International Airport.The 52-year-old Exeter, N.H., resident was heading home with his wife Libby after they had watched their son Adam play lacrosse for Clemson’s club team out on the West Coast over the weekend. Their daughter Raye also plays lacrosse for UConn.On Sunday, the New Hampshire couple boarded the 6-hour flight home, with no idea all hell was going to break loose about 45 minutes before the plane was set to land.The Neils were sitting in row 21, seats D and E (aisle and middle), while Leominster m...

Wendell Carter aims to return to Magic for next game vs. Heat

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:22:02 GMT

Starting big man Wendell Carter Jr. sat for the third consecutive game in the Orlando Magic’s home matchup against the Utah Jazz, but he’s hoping to play in the next game.Carter told the Orlando Sentinel ahead of Thursday’s game that he’s planning to return to the lineup Saturday vs. the Miami Heat at Amway Center, the last of the four-game homestand.He missed Sunday’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers and Tuesday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks because of hip pain.Carter told the Sentinel he started feeling the pain in his hip and groin areas after the team returned to Central Florida from last week’s three-game road trip.He was seen going through on-court exercises after Thursday morning’s shootaround.Carter told the Sentinel he’s feeling good before saying his goal is to return Saturday, which ultimately depends on his evaluation after treatment.“He’s doing everything they’re asking him to do to get him back r...

DPU hits MBTA with six safety violations after Red Line probe

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:22:02 GMT

The MBTA was hit with six violations from its state safety oversight authority, after inspectors observed multiple trains “overshooting” station platforms, defective third rail insulators and a worker who wasn’t wearing a required hard hat.The Department of Public Utilities sent six letters to the MBTA on Tuesday, ordering it to develop corrective action plans for violations flagged during a March 6 inspection of the southbound Red Line track between Ashmont and Savin Hill.“We’re working with the DPU and have identified a series of immediate actions that, once corrected, will make the system safer and more reliable,” MBTA Chief Safety Officer Ron Ester said at a Thursday safety subcommittee meeting.According to letters shared with the Herald, multiple trains were observed overshooting a station platform between March 3 and 5, a worker wasn’t wearing a hard hat as required by personal protective equipment policies, and inspectors identified defective Red Line track conditions.In addi...

Red Sox Notebook: Boston wins first Rivalry (spring training) game of 2023

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:22:02 GMT

The Red Sox and Yankees met Thursday for the first time this year, but between the fact that spring training games don’t count, and the absence of many big-leaguers due to the World Baseball Classic, the game at Steinbrenner Field was devoid of Rivalry heat. Boston (9-0) won 11-7.Even the fact that Thursday was 2003-tormenter-turned-manager Aaron Boone’s 50th birthday did little to stoke the flames.This October will mark 20 years since that infamous ALCS, and the Red Sox are one year away from celebrating the 20-year anniversary of their own ALCS stunner. Aside from a few moments here and there, what was once a roiling boil has reduced to a low simmer.Maybe it’s time to accept that the Rivalry will never again be what it was.Regular-season RivalryThe Red Sox and Yankees don’t face off in the regular season until June 9 in the Bronx.In order to create a schedule in which each team plays at least one series against each of the other 29 clubs, divisional play is...

With transition to new stadium authority chair, Orioles’ future in Baltimore takes center stage for Gov. Wes Moore

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:22:02 GMT

When Gov. Wes Moore took his first out-of-town trip on behalf of the state, he wasn’t wooing a Fortune 500 company to move to Maryland or plumping up his resume with an overseas trade trip — the kind of trips typical for an ambitious state executive.Instead, he was talking baseball.Moore’s tour Thursday of the Atlanta Braves stadium complex signaled a priority of his seven-week-old administration: furthering its partnership with the Orioles during a critical period as the state seeks a new lease that would commit the team to Baltimore for many years.And his partner on the trip, new Maryland Stadium Authority chair Craig Thompson, highlighted one of the key transitions in Moore’s takeover of state government after eight years under former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. The stadium authority manages the state-owned Orioles and Ravens stadiums downtown. Thompson (who had been Moore’s campaign chairman) replaced Thomas Kelso (a former Hogan chairman) in the u...

Spring forward into daylight saving time this Sunday

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:22:02 GMT

Get ready to spring forward on March 12, at least one more time.Most of the U.S. will move the clocks forward by one hour on Sunday at 2 a.m. for daylight saving time, which will end on Nov. 5 of this year.The question is: Will this be the final time most Americans feel aggrieved over losing an hour of sleep?Daylight saving time is the result of a federal law applying to most of the United States; Hawaii, most of Arizona and U.S. territories in the Pacific and Caribbean do not follow daylight saving time. In March 2022, the Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, removing the need to change clocks twice per year. The bill stalled in the House of Representatives but remains alive.With permanent daylight saving time, there is more sun in the evening hours. The trade-off is less daylight in the mornings, especially in the winter months.I wish the daylight saving time was permanent, I hate when it gets dark super early&mdas...

Multiple dead in Jehovah’s Witness hall shooting in Germany

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:22:02 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Shots were fired inside a building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in the northern German city of Hamburg on Thursday evening, and several people were killed or wounded, police said.The shooting took place in the Gross Borstel district, a few kilometers (miles) north of the downtown area of Germany’s second-biggest city.“We only know that several people died here; several people are wounded, they were taken to hospitals,” police spokesman Holger Vehren said.He said he had no information on the severity of the injuries suffered by the wounded.Police did not confirm German media reports, which named no sources, of six or seven dead.The scene of the shooting was the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Kingdom Hall, a modern and boxy three-story building next door to an auto repair shop.Vehren said police were alerted to the shooting about 9:15 p.m. and were on the scene quickly.He said that after officers arrived and found people with apparent gunshot wounds on the g...