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Volleyball notebook: Lexington’s scary potential

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:32 GMT

Alongside All-Scholastic outside hitter Matteo Luciani, Lexington middle Justin Cheng has the build, athleticism and talent to be the one of the best players on the court.But with a 2-1 match lead against Div. 1 power St. John’s Prep on Tuesday, the senior captain was struggling in the fourth set. Mightily.Cheng missed several blocks in a row. His hits didn’t consistently make it over the net. His serve didn’t make it over the net. The opposing Eagles were winning the frame to threaten a fifth set, so Lexington head coach Jane Bergin took him out for a quick conversation.“I said ‘Look it, you’ve got to get it together. You can be the best player out there but you’re beating yourself up right now, and this is not helping. You’ve got to calm down,’” Bergin recalled. “I subbed him right back in, and honest to God, he gets these two giant blocks in a row. Then he blasts this ball on a quick middle, the ball hits the one-spot and then flies up onto the wall. It was monster. Really, it wa...

Connecticut bear helps itself to 60 cupcakes from bakery, scares employees

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:32 GMT

AVON, Conn. (AP) — A hungry black bear barged into the garage of a Connecticut bakery, scared several employees and helped itself to 60 cupcakes before ambling away.Workers at Taste by Spellbound in the town of Avon were loading cakes into a van for delivery on Wednesday when the bear showed up. There are between 1,000 and 1,200 black bears living in Connecticut, the state environmental agency says, with sightings last year in 158 of the state’s 169 towns and cities.Bakery owner Miriam Stephens wrote in an Instagram post that she heard employee Maureen Williams “screaming bloody murder” and yelling that there was a bear in the garage.Williams told TV station WTNH that she shouted to scare the bear off but it retreated and came back three times.Williams said the bear charged at her so she backed out of the garage and ran.Surveillance video obtained by WTNH shows bakery workers walking around the side of the business to try to scare the bear, but then running away after it scares them...

Looking Glass: What hurts the most is that you don’t trust me, sweetheart

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:32 GMT

A suspicious woman in Brisbane, Australia, did not believe her husband when he told her that he was going to pick up their children at daycare, so she tracked him with the Find My Phone app she had installed on his phone. When she spotted him and his mistress “kissing and cuddling” on a sidewalk in the suburb of Wavell Heights, she plowed into them with her car, sending them both flying. They both survived.WHAT CHIRPING? I DON’T HEAR ANY CHIRPING, OFFICER: A man, who was trying to smuggle 29 parrot eggs from Nicaragua into the United States, was caught at Miami International Airport when the eggs started hatching in his carry-on bag. A Customs officer became suspicious when heard a chirping sound coming from the smuggler’s luggage.I’M JUST HERE TO HELP: A man, who claims to be a time traveler, told police that he threw a brick through a window and broke into a home in Ocala, Fla., because he wanted to save a baby sleeping in the room from some future event. He also admitted to swimm...

Howard Johnson, one of the most underrated players in team history, a worthy Mets Hall of Famer

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:32 GMT

Sure, all the home runs and stolen bases come up in conversations about Howard Johnson. But so do hotfoots, huge plastic glasses full of iced tea and an endearing, happy-go-lucky personality.Former Mets delight in talking about Johnson, whether it’s Bobby Ojeda noting that when he thinks of HoJo’s playing days, “I think of a dirty uniform” or Ron Darling recalling Johnson’s prodigious strength: “Pound for pound, the strongest player I ever played with.”David Wright was never Johnson’s teammate, but their relationship is a lasting link spanning Met generations — as a coach, Johnson had an outsized impact on one of the best Mets ever. And he and Wright became lifelong friends.“Without his mentorship, I would never have realized the potential I didn’t even know I had,” Wright says. “Even when I doubted my own abilities, he was the first one to pump me up.“He had an incredible playing career and then for...

MIAA Boys Tennis tournament pairings

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:32 GMT

BOYS TENNIS TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS DIVISION 1SEEDS: 1. Brookline (19-0); 2. St. John’s Prep (17-1); 3. Lexington (20-0); 4. Wellesley (16-4); 5. Acton-Boxborough (8-2); 6. Winchester (14-2); 7. Boston College High (11-3); 8. Needham (11-5); 9. Westford Academy (8-6); 10. Newton North (7-7); 11. Saint John’s (12-6); 12. Arlington (13-6); 13. Lincoln-Sudbury (6-7); 14. Framingham (7-7); 15. Xaverian Brothers (11-7); 16. Bishop Feehan (11-3); 17. Shrewsbury (11-7); 18. Attleboro (12-4); 19. Andover (13-3); 20. Cambridge Rindge & Latin (8-8); 21. Algonquin (12-6); 22. Barnstable (14-4); 23. Boston Latin (6-9); 24. Newton South (2-12); 25. Braintree (5-11); 26. Chelmsford (10-2); 27. Franklin (10-9); 28. Malden (13-3); 29. Marlboro (11-7); 30. Natick (1-17); 31. Weymouth (1-15); 32. Central Catholic (9-6); 33. Bridgewater-Raynham (8-6); 34. Durfee (9-9); 35. South High Community (11-5); 36. Haverhill (9-5); 37. Billerica Memorial (8-6); 38. Methuen (7-7)PRELIMINARY ROUN...

5 things to know about Memorial Day including its controversies

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:32 GMT

By BEN FINLEY (Associated Press)NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Memorial Day is supposed to be about mourning the nation’s fallen service members, but it’s come to anchor the unofficial start of summer and a long weekend of discounts on anything from mattresses to lawn mowers.Auto club AAA said in a travel forecast that this holiday weekend could be “one for the record books, especially at airports,” with more than 42 million Americans projected to travel 50 miles (80 kilometers) or more. Federal officials said Friday that the number of air travelers had already hit a pandemic-era high.But for Manuel Castañeda Jr., 58, the day will be a quiet one in Durand, Illinois, outside Rockford. He lost his father, a U.S. Marine who served in Vietnam, in an accident in California while training other Marines in 1966.“Memorial Day is very personal,” said Castañeda, who also served in the Marines and Army National Guard, from which he knew men who died in ...

Aztecs eyeing Women's College World Series after beating Utah 4-3

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:32 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- The San Diego State University softball team has their eyes on the prize after beating out No. 15 overall seed Utah in game one of the NCAA Super Regionals in Salt Lake City Friday.The Aztecs secured a 4-3 victory after outhitting their opponent, despite Utah being the fourth-best hitting team in the country, according to NCAA stats. Matt Araiza joins NY Jets for a workout: ESPN This marks the first NCAA tournament road game win in SDSU's program history. Plus, this season's Aztecs is now the first team to win its debut NCAA Super Regional game since James Madison in 2016.Game highlightsSDSU's Elianna Reyes took position on first base after her teammate, Cali Decker, was walked by a Utah pitcher after three innings. With the score board showing 3-2 Aztecs down, Makena Brocki knocked a single to right-center field as Reyes sprinted to secure a stance at third base. SDSU sophomore AJ Murphy's bat connected with the softball in the top of the fourth inning fo...

McCarthy says negotiators are ‘closer to an agreement’ on debt crisis, but no deal yet

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Saturday that Republican negotiators were “closer to an agreement” that would resolve the looming debt crisis, but had not reached a deal with President Joe Biden.He said there was no firm timeline for a final compromise that would raise the nation’s borrowing limit and avoid a catastrophic default while also making spending cuts that House Republicans are demanding. House negotiators left the Capitol after 2 a.m. and returned hours later.“We’ll get it when it gets right,” McCarthy, R-Calif., said as he arrived on Capitol Hill.McCarthy’s comments echoed the latest assessment from Biden, who said Friday evening that bargainers were “very close.”Their optimism came as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress that the United States could default on its debt obligations by June 5 — four days later than previously estimated — if lawmakers do not act in time to raise the federal debt ceiling. The extended “X-date” gives the tw...

Man who opened emergency door on South Korea flight told police he felt suffocated

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:32 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A passenger who opened an emergency exit door during a flight in South Korea told police that he felt suffocated and tried to get off the plane quickly as it approached landing, reports said Saturday.Twelve people were slightly injured when the man opened the door of the Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 on Friday, causing air to blast inside the cabin. The plane, which was flying to the city of Daegu from the southern island of Jeju, landed safely.The man was detained by police in Daegu for allegedly violating the aviation security law. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.The 33-year-old told police that he had wanted to get out of the plane because he was feeling suffocated, Yonhap news agency reported, citing police.Yonhap said the man told police he had suffered stress after losing his job recently.Other South Korean media carried similar stories on the man’s motive. The reports said Daegu police requested a warrant to formally arrest him.Cal...

Man charged with killing Indianapolis police officer seeking insanity defense

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:32 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A man charged with fatally shooting an Indianapolis police officer when she responded to a domestic violence call in 2020 is seeking an insanity defense as he seeks to avoid the death penalty.Attorneys for Elliahs Dorsey filed a motion with the court Wednesday saying a report prepared by a doctor states he was suffering from a mental illness when he fatally wounded Officer Breann Leath of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.Leath and three other officers were responding to a domestic violence call involving Dorsey when she was shot to death through the door of an Indianapolis apartment, police have said. She died of two gunshots to the head.Dorsey faces one count each of murder and criminal confinement, and four counts of attempted murder, one of which stems from his alleged shooting of a woman he had confined inside the apartment. His attorneys acknowledged they filed their motion for an insanity defense later than normal but blamed the delay in part...