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Special Olympics Northern California Summer Games kick off Friday

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

(BCN) -- An estimated 865 athletes and volunteer coaches will come together in Santa Clara County this weekend for the Special Olympics Northern California 2023 Summer Games. The Special Olympics were founded in 1968 to advocate for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Special Olympics Northern California has served more than 25,000 athletes in its mission of fostering inclusive communities through sports. Ron DeSantis visits SF, slams city in campaign ad Participating athletes from across Northern California have been training and competing in regional competitions. The games commence Friday with the opening ceremonies at 7 p.m. in Stevens Stadium on the Santa Clara University campus. San Francisco 49ers great and pro football Hall of Famer Bryant Young will give a keynote address. The ceremonies will also include the parade of athletes and the culmination of the torch run. The Law Enforcement Torch Run involves law enforcement agencies acros...

Donna Vekic upsets Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina at the Berlin Open

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina’s preparations for the grass-court Grand Slam hit a snag Wednesday when she lost to Donna Vekic 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the Berlin Open.Vekic faced only two break points and saved them both. It was Rybakina’s second match, after beating qualifier Polina Kudermetova on Tuesday, since withdrawing ahead of her third-round match at the French Open when a virus left her with breathing difficulties.“I stayed in the moment. I was just trying to play the next point, the next game,” Vekic said. “I was like ‘Just stay with her. The chances will come.’”Vekic’s next opponent will be Elina Avanesyan, who lost in qualifying but then got a main-draw spot as a lucky after another player withdrew.Caroline Garcia beat qualifier Jaimee Fourlis 6-3, 6-2 and will next play former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.“The best practice is to play matches so obviously I feel more confident in my movement,” the third-seeded Garc...

Vinyl LP turns 75: Revolutionized how music was recorded, packaged, listened to

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

An old style turntable, close-up of a needle.(Getty Images/EnolaBrain) An old style turntable, close-up of a needle.(Getty Images/EnolaBrain) For many, a 12-inch platter of vinyl, spinning 33 1/3 revolutions per minutem, exemplifies how they first listened to music.But long before rock and roll, soul, and other popular music styles were recorded on “albums,” the first vinyl LP — short for long-playing — record was released, 75 years ago Wednesday.On June 21, 1948, Columbia Records released the first long-playing microgroove record, capable of holding 23 minutes of music per side. Columbia’s president Edward Wallerstein announced the new technology at a news conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel...

Bruce Brown opts out of his contract with the NBA-champion Nuggets, AP source says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Bruce Brown is set to become a free agent after declining his $6.8 million player option with the NBA-champion Denver Nuggets, a person with knowledge of the decision said Wednesday.The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the move hasn’t been announced. The NBA free agency period opens next week.Brown signed with Denver last summer and became an integral piece off the bench for the Nuggets. He can play either guard position or small forward and averaged 12 points and four rebounds in a postseason that culminated with Denver knocking off Miami in five games during the Finals to win its first NBA title.Nuggets coach Michael Malone said at the Nuggets’ championship parade last week the team wants to keep Brown in their bid to defend their title. But the Nuggets cannot offer him more than $7.8 million for next season; if he stays, Brown would be eligible for a four-year deal in Denver starting in 2024-25, with an initial salary of abo...

Children’s National receives $96M brain cancer research gift

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

D.C.-based Children’s National Hospital has received a $96 million donation from an anonymous donor family. The hospital will use it to advance brain tumor research in children.It is one of the largest donations in the hospital’s history.Children’s National will use the gift to recruit more top talent and advance what it says are the most promising research for safer and more effective treatments for children with rare brain tumors.Children’s National said the donation fundamentally changes the treatment and long-term outcomes for children with brain cancer.“This incredible partnership will lift up one of the nation’s top pediatric brain tumor programs into the stratosphere,” said Kurt Newman, M.D., president and CEO of Children’s National. “It will immediately propel our best-in-class research and care, allowing us to bring new therapies to children with brain tumors.Brain tumors are the most common solid tumor cancer affecting children.Children’...

Explosion in Paris building leaves 16 injured, police chief says – fire contained but not extinguished

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Explosion in Paris building leaves 16 injured, police chief says – fire contained but not extinguished.Source

NCAA panel imposes a 3-game suspension for Memphis’ Penny Hardaway for recruiting violations

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

An NCAA infractions panel has imposed a three-game suspension on Memphis coach Penny Hardaway for recruiting violations tied to two in-home visits with a prospect two years ago.The panel issued its ruling Wednesday, which follows a negotiated resolution in December that allowed the school to resolve the case and begin probation while one individual challenged the allegations.That turned out to be Hardaway, who was charged under the rules governing head-coach responsibility for conduct within their programs.An assistant coach first visited the prospect in September 2021 at his home, followed by Hardaway roughly two weeks later. But NCAA rules prohibited in-home visits for juniors until April of that year, with those visits supposed to instead take place at the prospect’s current school.Hardaway, a former Memphis and NBA star, had told the NCAA he was unaware of the rule.“Ignorance of the rules is not an excuse,” the panel said. “The head coach’s inattentiveness to compliance — ...

Leading Hong Kong pollster plans to limit surveys on sensitive topics, including Tiananmen crackdown

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — One of Hong Kong’s most reputable sources of public opinion data is limiting the scope of its surveys, including on sensitive topics such as Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. The change, following a contact from a government agency, is likely to restrict the availability of information about the opinions of Hong Kong residents.The Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute announced Tuesday it has tentatively decided to cancel about one-fourth of its regular survey questions and limit about one-third of the remaining ones to internal use, academic research and commissioned services, instead of releasing those results to the public. The announcement came two weeks after it canceled its planned release of a survey conducted on the anniversary of the crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy protests at the advice of the government agency. The institute’s CEO, Robert Chung, said in an email Tuesday night that the govern...

Fuerte explosión en edificio de París provoca incendio, deja 4 heridos

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

PARÍS — Una fuerte explosión en un edificio de París dejó cuatro personas heridas este miércoles y provocó un incendio que lanzó espesas columnas de humo sobre el famoso Panteón y llevó a la evacuación de edificios cercanos, informó la policía.De momento, se desconoce la causa del estallido.La fachada del edificio en el Quinto Arrondissement (distrito) colapsó y los cuerpos de emergencia tratan de averiguar si hay alguien adentro, informó un funcionario policial parisino. Atacante suicida detona sus explosivos y mata a 13 en un funeral en Afganistán Aviones de combate causan boom sónico por el DMV tras despegar para vigilar a un piloto incapacitado Florence Berthout, alcaldesa del distrito, indicó que cuatro personas están en condición de “emergencia total”.“La explosión fue sumamente violenta”, dijo Berthout al describir cómo trozos de vidrio salieron por los aires.Las autoridades acordonaron el vecindario y gran cantidad de per...

Denver ranked one of worst-run cities in the country

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:26 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Denver spends more city money than it's worth, according to a new report.Financial adviser site WalletHub analyzed 149 of the largest cities in the U.S. to see which are the best run. The study asks the question of return on investment - how well do city services operate compared to how much the city spends? The study drew from a wealth of public data on each city's financial stability, education, health, safety, economy, infrastructure and pollution. There were 36 relevant metrics overall, each of which was graded from one to 100. Each was given a weight and the final results ranked from one to 149. Denver ranks in top 10 places people looking to leave The results said Denver is one of the worst-run cities in the country, ranking 135 out of 149 cities, sandwiched between Philadelphia and Memphis. San Francisco is dead last, while Nampa, Idaho is first. It isn't the quality of Denver's city services that causes it to rank so low - they rank 63 - but rather the amo...