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I am an expert on polls. Here’s why they can’t tell you if Biden beats Trump again — or vice versa

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:39:56 GMT

By David Lauter, Los Angeles TimesWASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has had a tough couple of weeks in polls, deepening the anxiety among his fellow Democrats about his age, political liabilities and the prospect that he could lose a rematch with former President Donald Trump.Biden’s allies pooh-pooh the grim talk. Presidents Clinton and Obama both had miserable polls in the fall of their third years and bounced back to win reelection, they note. Polls a year out from an election have little if any ability to predict the outcome, they add.On both counts, they’re right — up to a point.Related ArticlesPolitics | Ballot questions covering MCAS to psychedelic drugs clear first signature threshold Politics | Trump tops Biden in new national poll Politics | Ohio voted on abortion. Next year, 11 more states might, too Politics | Powerful pro-Israel political group targets the liberal ‘Squad’ and Ayanna Pressley Poli...

NFL power rankings, Week 12: For Ravens, top seed in AFC is there for the taking

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:39:56 GMT

Each week of the NFL season, The Baltimore Sun will rank all 32 NFL teams. The rankings will take into account not just weekly performance, injuries and roster depth, but how well each team measures up as Super Bowl contenders.Here are the rankings heading into Week 12:1. Philadelphia Eagles (9-1, No. 1 last week)Last week: Win vs. Chiefs, 21-17Up next: vs. BillsThe Eagles avenged their Super Bowl loss by storming back from a 17-7 halftime deficit to stun the Chiefs, cementing their status as the best team in football. While Jalen Hurts and the passing game struggled in rainy conditions, a big game from running back D’Andre Swift, two rushing touchdowns from Hurts and a clutch 41-yard pass to DeVonta Smith to the Chiefs’ 1-yard line midway through the fourth quarter was enough to fuel the comeback. Two dropped passes on Kansas City’s final drive saved the Philadelphia defense from embarrassment, which is something to watch as the team enters a brutal four-game stre...

Boston woman accused of punching and kicking a dog near Boston Common

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:39:56 GMT

A 26-year-old woman is accused of beating up a dog near Boston Common Tuesday night, according to police who arrested her on animal cruelty and assault charges.Boston woman Jasmine Velasquez has been charged with animal cruelty and assault and battery on a police officer following the reported incident along Tremont Street.After police officers in the area had heard a crying dog, a witness told them that a woman was beating a dog next to 131 Tremont St.Related ArticlesCrime & Public Safety | Man charged with animal cruelty after dog found dead in his Chelsea apartment Then as the police officers got near the suspect, they saw her kick the dog.“Officers were able to quickly separate the suspect from the dog, and moved the dog to a safe location as there was broken glass and unknown liquid on the ground,” Boston Police said in a statement.Other witnesses told police that the suspect had struck the dog multiple times. She had allegedly punched, kicked, a...

Ballot questions covering MCAS to psychedelic drugs clear first signature threshold

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:39:56 GMT

Ballot questions covering issues from legislative audits to classifying rideshare drivers as independent contractors cleared a major hurdle Wednesday when organizing groups said they had enough signatures to advance toward potential placement on the 2024 ballot.Attorney General Andrea Campbell certified 34 ballot questions and proposed constitutional amendments in September, kicking off a roughly three-month race to collect more than 75,000 signatures to hand into local election officials.An industry-backed group looking to classify rideshare drivers working for companies like Uber and Lyft as independent contractors eligible for some benefits collected enough signatures, a spokesperson said.“We will have more to say after Thanksgiving but we have plenty of signatures,” a spokesperson for the ballot question campaign told the Herald. “Well over the threshold.”Another question that would grant drivers for Uber and Lyft the right to unionize also cleared the signature hurdle, accordin...

Never mind: OpenAI brings back ousted CEO

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:39:56 GMT

The ousted leader of ChatGPT maker OpenAI is returning to the company that fired him just days ago, culminating a short but chaotic power struggle that shocked the tech industry and underscored the conflicts around how to safely build artificial intelligence.And OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman will answer to a different board of directors than the one that fired him Friday. The San Francisco-based company said late Tuesday night that it “reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board.”It will be led by former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, who chaired Twitter’s board before Elon Musk took over the platform last year. The other members will be former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo.OpenAI’s previous board, which included D’Angelo, had refused to give specific reasons for why it fired Altman, leading to a weekend of internal conflict at the company and growing outsi...

Israel-Hamas deal hinged on proof-of-life evidence, Qatar sheikh

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:39:56 GMT

By Jordan Fabian, Fiona MacDonald and Jennifer Jacobs, Bloomberg NewsThe breakthrough between Israel and Hamas that will see dozens of hostages and prisoners released from both sides — and more aid flow into Gaza — almost never happened.Talks over an agreement to free some of the captives held in Gaza began soon after Hamas’s forces stormed into Israel last month and took an estimated 240 hostages back with them, according to U.S. and Qatari officials who briefed reporters as the latest deal was announced.But it wasn’t clear the negotiations in Doha would succeed.Related ArticlesWorld | Israel and Hamas agree on a truce to free hostages in swap, raising hopes of halting war in Gaza World | 3 arrested in New Hampshire for allegedly trespassing at Israel-based defense contractor World | Israeli Cabinet approves truce for hostages deal with Hamas; Palestinian prisoners also to be freed World | Robbins: Israel’s only optio...

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson got hurt around this time the past two years. His plan this season? ‘Don’t get hit.’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:39:56 GMT

Lamar Jackson has a simple philosophy when it comes to avoiding injury.“Just don’t get hit,” he said Tuesday. “That’s all I know.”Easier said than done. Each of the past two years, the Ravens quarterback has suffered season-ending leg injuries. The first occurred on Dec. 12, 2021, in Week 13 against the Cleveland Browns when linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah brought Jackson down by his ankles as he scrambled away from pressure. The next happened on Dec. 12 last year — in Week 12 against the Denver Broncos — after outside linebacker Jonathan Cooper sacked Jackson from behind, resulting in a knee injury.Thursday night, the Ravens and their $260 million star got another scare.Late in the first quarter of Baltimore’s eventual 34-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, Jackson scrambled toward the sideline on a third-and-4 from the Ravens’ 37-yard line and threw an underhanded pass that fell incomplete as he was brought to the grou...

Cocoanut Grove Memorial set to break ground in Boston, decades in the making

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:39:56 GMT

Roslindale native Charles Capone stopped by the Cocoanut Grove the night of Nov. 28, 1942, to wish a farewell to some of his buddies who were going off to fight in World War II.“A pleasant evening ended in tragedy,” says his niece and goddaughter Phyllis Cavan, of Medfield.Capone and 489 others lost their lives in the deadliest nightclub fire in history, while 166 people were sent to city hospitals with injuries, an event that many refer to as Boston’s “worst catastrophe.”Decades in the making, a memorial honoring those who died and the major advancements in burn treatment, trauma response and fire codes that came out of the blaze is set to break ground at Statler Park on Sunday.Cavan said she will be attending the grand occasion, carrying a picture of her uncle, who was 26 years old at the time of the fire, which robbed him from the chance to “live, marry and have children.”Around the time of the anniversary, while growing up, Cavan and her father would attend mass at Holy Name Chu...

Pope meets relatives of Israeli hostages and Palestinians in Gaza and sets off firestorm over words

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:39:56 GMT

VATICAN CITY (By NICOLE WINFIELD)Associated Press (AP) — Pope Francis met separately Wednesday with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living through the war and set off a firestorm by using words that Vatican diplomats usually avoid: “terrorism” and, according to the Palestinians, “genocide.”Francis spoke about the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians after his meetings, which were arranged before the Israeli-Hamas hostage deal and a temporary halt in fighting was announced. Francis didn’t refer to the deal, which marked the biggest diplomatic breakthrough since the war erupted following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.Francis met at the Vatican with 12 relatives of some of the 240 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for about 20 minutes. Separately, he met for about the same amount of time with 10 Palestinians whose relatives have been killed or otherwise affected by the war in Gaza, along with priests who min...

Substitute teacher suspected of lewd acts with 13-year-old girl

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:39:56 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- A 27-year-old Vista Unified School District substitute teacher suspected of lewd acts with a 13-year-old girl was arrested over the weekend, authorities said.Conner Chanove, who is also a coach for the all-girls Seaside Water Polo Club in Carlsbad, was arrested Monday after the teen's mother allegedly found him with her daughter in a vehicle at Guajome Lake Park in Oceanside, Sgt. Josh Morris with the Oceanside Police Department said in a news release Tuesday."The mother noticed inappropriate activity was taking place and removed her daughter from the vehicle and confronted the suspect," Morris said. Encinitas removes benches at Swami’s beach, frustrating locals Authorities were unable to find the suspect when they received the report Saturday, but two days later found and arrested him. Police also conducted a search of Chanove's home in Carlsbad.Chanove was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 1...