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Brittney Griner surprised herself with making the WNBA All-Star Game

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:38 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Brittney Griner didn’t know what to expect when the WNBA season began, how she would respond after the trauma she experienced of being incarcerated in Russia that also forced her off the court for many months.Griner surprised herself, playing well enough to become a starter in Saturday’s All-Star Game.“I just wanted to get out there and try my best not to get hurt, give it the best I’ve got,” Griner said. “I was a little shocked, actually, how it was once I got on the court, so I’m happy with it.“It was definitely a tough road. A lot of long, hard hours in the gym and in the weight room to get back into it.”Griner spent nearly 300 days in Russian custody after being arrested Feb. 17, 2022, on drug charges at an airport near Moscow. She was released Dec. 8 after the U.S. government agreed to a prisoner swap.The WNBA kept Griner top of mind while she was being held in Russia, putting her initials and jersey No. 42 on each court. She also ...

2 suspects in the fatal shooting of rapper Young Dolph in Memphis to stand trial in March

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:38 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A judge on Friday set a trial date for two men charged in the killing of rapper Young Dolph in a daytime ambush at a bakery in Memphis, Tennessee.Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith are scheduled to stand trial March 11 in the fatal shooting of the Memphis-born rapper, Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee said during a hearing.Johnson and Smith have pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder in the November 2021 shooting of Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr. A motive for the killing has not been disclosed. The 36-year-old rapper, label owner and producer was buying cookies near his boyhood home in Memphis when he was gunned down by two men who drove up to the bakery in a stolen Mercedes Benz, authorities said. The slaying rattled Memphis and shook the entertainment world. Two other men have been charged in the killing. Jermarcus Johnson, the half brother of Justin Johnson, pleaded guilty June 9 to three counts of acces...

Las Vegas police officer found guilty in string of brazen casino heists could get life sentence

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:38 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A federal jury convicted a Las Vegas police officer Friday on all counts of stealing nearly $165,000 during a trio of casino heists, including one where he was armed with a department-issued weapon that was loaded.Caleb Rogers, 35, faces life in prison upon sentencing because he brandished a revolver during the third casino heist he carried out in February 2022.The jury reached a verdict after just over three hours of deliberation.The case went to the jury shortly after Rogers’ younger brother testified against him for more than three hours, painting a clear picture for the jury of how the two successfully pulled off the first heist in the series. Josiah Rogers said he participated only in that robbery. Caleb Rogers carried out the other two heists alone, prosecutors said.While waiting for the jury to enter the courtroom ahead of the verdict, Rogers stood next to his lawyers with his hands in his pockets, shifting his weight from one foot to another.Throughout the w...

Man found dead in Toronto in 2019 identified through ‘genetic genealogy’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:38 GMT

Toronto police have positively identified a man found deceased in a stairwell almost four years ago through genetic genealogy — the same methodology used to ID a four-year-old girl found dead in a Rosedale dumpster in 2022.Authorities said the victim was found dead in a Toronto stairwell on July 18, 2019, in the King Street West area.In September 2020, investigators provided a description of the man with hopes it would lead to his identification.The man was not carrying identification at the time of his death, police noted, adding that the investigation of his fingerprint impressions and missing persons reports did not lead to his identity. An artist’s rendering of the deceased was released to the public to identify him without success.Police then turned to genetic genealogy for assistance.In the fall of 2022, the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service provided a biological sample to Othram Inc. in the U.S., where a DNA profile was developed. Othram technology enables the Na...

5 leaving cemetery funeral near nation’s capital wounded by gunfire from another car, police say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:38 GMT

BLADENSBURG, Md. (AP) — Five people returning from a funeral at a cemetery were shot and wounded by someone firing into their car from a second vehicle in a Maryland suburb of the nation’s capital, police said.No arrests have been made, and the five victims were all taken to area hospitals as authorities pleaded for the help of passing motorists in identifying suspects from the brazen daylight attack in busy traffic.Bladensburg Police Chief Tyrone Collington Sr. said at a news conference later Friday afternoon that he did not know the conditions of the wounded. He said none of those in the targeted car had fired any shots after leaving the Fort Lincoln Cemetery.“It is important for us to note these individuals were leaving a funeral at the Fort Lincoln Cemetery when they were accosted by another vehicle,” Collington said. Detectives haven’t determined a motive, and Collington said police where checking for surveillance video and other evidence while searching for anyone involv...

Stock market today: Wall Street’s raucous week winds down with a mixed performance

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:38 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Another winning week for Wall Street is drifting toward a quiet close on Friday following profit reports from several big U.S. companies that topped expectations.The S&P 500 was 0.2% lower in late trading, coming off its highest close since April 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 105 points, or 0.3%, at 34,500 with less than an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower.Insurance giant UnitedHealth Group rallied 7.6% after it said profit growth during the spring was better than feared. It also raised the bottom end of its forecast for earnings for the full year.JPMorgan Chase rose 0.4% after it said its profit during the spring grew by more than expected thanks in part to its acquisition of the troubled First Republic Bank. Like its rival and the broader market, Wells Fargo began the morning with a gain before drifting lower later in the day. It fell 0.3% despite reporting stronger profit for the second quarter than expected. H...

A man died after a St. Louis police officer shocked him with a Taser

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:38 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man who was shocked at least twice with a Taser by a St. Louis police officer died within hours, police said Friday.The man died after police were called Thursday night to a report that he was was being violent toward emergency medical workers. Police said arriving officers found the man naked and disoriented behind a home.When officers ordered the man to come toward them, he tripped and fell into a fence, police said. Two of the five officers who were there picked him up and tried to handcuff him, but he slipped away and fell again, according to police.Police said an officer then used a Taser to subdue the man. Other officers tried to handcuff him, but he continued to struggle, police said.The same officer then applied what’s known as a “drive stun,” which involves placing the Taser directly on the skin, police said.The man became unresponsive. He died early Friday at a hospital. His name has not been released.The department’s Force Investigation Unit...

If you can’t afford your favorite Sriracha brand, try this

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:38 GMT

Bottles of a leading brand of Sriracha hot sauce are suddenly hard to find, driving up prices for them as high as $150 — but there are alternatives to opening your wallet that wide.It’s the second time in two years that Huy Fong Foods — the best-known producer of Sriracha in the U.S. — has had low inventory of their tangy sauce with the green cap and rooster label, a problem they attribute to insufficient chile pepper supplies. That and a bit of pandemic hoarding combined to send prices soaring, with some third-party sellers cashing in.Rather than fall for the hype, remember there’s a world of hot sauce alternatives.Though the brand has near iconic status, Huy Fong’s is not the only Sriracha on the market, nor is it even made in the Thai town that gave it its name.The bright-red sauce was created by Thanom Chakkapak, a home cook in Thailand who mixed a combination of fresh chiles, vinegar, garlic, salt and sugar for her own use. Around the 1930s, she began marketing the sauce as Sri...

Appeals court pauses order limiting Biden administration contact with social media companies

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:38 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court Friday temporarily paused a lower court’s order limiting executive branch officials’ communications with social media companies about controversial online posts.Biden administration lawyers had asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to stay the preliminary injunction issued on July 4 by U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty. Doughty himself had rejected a request to put his order on hold pending appeal. Friday’s brief 5th Circuit order put Doughty’s order on hold “until further orders of the court.” It called for arguments in the case to be scheduled on an expedited basis. Filed last year, the lawsuit claimed the administration, in effect, censored free speech by discussing possible regulatory action the government could take while pressuring companies to remove what it deemed misinformation. COVID-19 vaccines, legal issues involving President Joe Biden’s son Hunter and election fraud allegations were among the t...

WATCH LIVE | Chicago area at risk for severe weather Friday

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:38 GMT

CHICAGO WEATHER LIVE - Have a comment or question for the interactive livestream? Send it in using this form:Submit a form. The Chicago area is at a 2 on the scale of 1-5 for the risk of severe weather Friday. Showers will move out for awhile Friday and midday sun and humidity will arrive.The sun will help fuel an environment of instability this afternoon with storms set to return around 4 p.m. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here The first round of potentially severe weather will last from 4 p.m. to around 9 p.m.A second round of storms is expected to move into the area around 11 p.m.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog Non-severe weather and showers will linger into the morning Saturday with another round of storms likely Saturday afternoon.