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Pickorama: Predicting this year’s champions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:42 GMT

It seems like just yesterday that we were sifting through the top games of the opening weekend of the high school football season.Twelve weeks have come and gone, leading into championship week. Eight state titles as well as a pair of vocational championships are on the line and we’d like nothing better than to end it on a perfect slate.We will start with the Division 8 state championship and pick them in chronological order.DIV. 8 CHAMPIONSHIP: West Boylston over CarverCarver’s lethal passing attack has put up some eye-popping numbers over the course of the regular season. But they will be facing an imposing West Boylston team who knows what it takes to win at Gillette, having captured the Div. 7 title last year.LARGE SCHOOL VOCATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: Blackstone Valley over Bay PathThis should be one of the better vocational championship games in recent memory. Just going on a hunch that this might very well be the year of Blackstone Valley.SMALL SCHOOL VOCATIONAL CHAMPIO...

North County coach, school counselor pleads not guilty to sex act charges with minor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:42 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A North County school counselor and water polo coach was arraigned on four charges Monday, related to sex acts with a minor.According to information discussed in court, 27-year-old Conner Chanove was a counselor at a school in the Vista Unified School District. Information from authorities have described his employment as a substitute teacher."He's charged with two counts of committing a lewd act on a minor under the age of 14, he's also charged with initiating a meeting with a minor and also the fourth charge is actually going to that meeting to meet with a minor in order to commit a sexual act," Deputy District Attorney Jessica Stehr said.Chanove entered a not guilty plea and denied all allegations. He faces up to 12 years in state prison if convicted on all four charges.Stehr said the victim is a 13-year-old eighth grade student at the school Chanove was a counselor at, and the two had talked on Snapchat and agreed to meet at an Oceanside Park, where the victim's mot...

Tuberculosis warning: County of San Diego reports exposure at Golden Hall shelter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:42 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Residents, employees, contractors and volunteers at the Golden Hall shelter in downtown San Diego have been notified about a tuberculosis exposure, county officials said Monday.The potential exposure dates were between Sept. 5 to Sept. 28 at 1101 First Ave., the County of San Diego said on its website. Tuberculosis is bacteria that spreads through coughing, speaking, singing or breathing, according to the county. Those experiencing homeless are more vulnerable to the airborne disease. Naked guy spotted on iconic Disneyland Ride “Symptoms of active TB include persistent cough, fever, night sweats, and unexplained weight loss,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., County public health officer. “Most people who become infected after exposure to tuberculosis do not get sick right away. This is called latent TB infection. Some who become infected with tuberculosis will become ill in the future, sometimes even years later, if their latent TB infection is not treated. For people who thi...

High stakes and glitz mark the vote in Paris for the 2030 World Expo host

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:42 GMT

PARIS (AP) — In a high-profile showdown, Rome, Busan, and Riyadh are the top contenders as the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) prepares to vote on Tuesday in Paris for the host city of the 2030 World Expo. With the stakes high, each city has escalated its campaign efforts, showcasing unique visions and ambitious promises to secure the rights to this globally prestigious event.Rome has enlisted actor Russell Crowe, who appeared in a promotional video echoing his “Gladiator” persona, to underscore the city’s readiness for the Expo. The Rome campaign also hosted BIE delegates at Paris’ luxurious Plaza Athénée hotel, complete with a Michelin-starred meal and gifts of extra virgin olive oil. Rome’s bid also includes plans for the world’s largest urban solar park and a green corridor connecting the Expo site to historic landmarks like the Appia Antica (Appian Way), one of the oldest and most important roads of the Roman Empire. South Korea’s Busan has brought in cultural heavyw...

Freed Israeli hostage describes deteriorating conditions while being held by Hamas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:42 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An Israeli hostage freed by Hamas said in an interview that she was initially fed well in captivity until conditions worsened and people became hungry. She was kept in a “suffocating” room and slept on plastic chairs with a sheet for nearly 50 days.In one of the first interviews with a freed hostage, 78-year-old Ruti Munder told Israel’s Channel 13 television that she spent the entirety of her time with her daughter, Keren, and grandson, Ohad Munder-Zichri, who celebrated his ninth birthday in captivity. Her account, broadcast Monday, adds to the trickle of information about the experience of captives held in Gaza.Munder was snatched Oct. 7 from her home in Nir Oz, a kibbutz in southern Israel. Her husband, Avraham, also 78, was taken hostage too and remains in Gaza. Her son was killed in the attack.Initially, they ate “chicken with rice, all sorts of canned food and cheese,” Munder told Channel 13. “We were OK.”They were given tea in the morning and ev...

Reggie Jackson, DeAndre Jordan lead Nuggets past Clippers without Nikola Jokic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:42 GMT

LOS ANGELES — On a night when Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray sat, the Denver Nuggets scored their most impressive win of the season to date.Reggie Jackson scored 35 points, DeAndre Jordan had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and the Nuggets rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 113-104 on Monday night.Former Clippers Jackson and Jordan combined for 20 points in the fourth, when the Nuggets trailed by 11 to start.Jackson began and ended a 22-6 spurt with 3-pointers that put the Nuggets ahead 99-94. In between, he fed Jordan for two vicious dunks. It got so desperate for the Clippers late in the frame that they resorted to intentionally fouling Jordan, a notoriously poor free-throw shooter, to get defensive stops.It was the Nuggets’ eighth straight win over the Clippers. That they did it with starters Jokic, Murray and Gordon sitting made it all the more sweet.Jokic sat out the second game of a back-to-back because of low back pain. Murray h...

Swedish company develops new fibres and processes for a more circular society

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:42 GMT

Swedish company TreeToTextile has developed wood-based cellulose fibres with all the benefits of existing fibres but at a fraction of the climate impact – a breakthrough that is set to dramatically reduce the global fashion and home textile industry’s environmental footprint and serve as key step towards a more circular society for all.“Reducing climate impact is our main driver – we use fewer chemicals, less water, less energy, and nor do we chemically derivatise our fibres. We use water-based solvents and recover the chemicals we do use as much as possible,” says Dr Roxana Barbieru, CEO TreeToTextile. The company uses unique chemical processes that use renewable forest raw materials to regenerate cellulose feedstocks into a textile fibre by spinning dissolving pulp. The new fibres are highly versatile, combining the most attractive qualities of cotton and viscose with a quality cotton hand-feel, which customers – and therefore retailers – love, and the draping characteri...

Tragic Thanksgiving Day crash kills young mother and daughter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:42 GMT

A family still reeling from a crash involving a suspected drunk driver on Thanksgiving Day that claimed the life of a young mother are now devastated by the recent death of her 8-year-old daughter, who was also gravely injured in the tragic accident.  The deadly crash happened around 1:30 p.m. on the 1700 block of W. 83rd Street in Manchester Square, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. While he was at work, David Aragon received the earth-shattering call that no parent ever wants to endure, that his daughter Alma Aragon and granddaughter Alexa Antonio Aragon had been in a serious crash and were rushed to Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Torrance.  “I came here and I asked the doctor, ‘My daughter, she’s okay?’” the grieving father told KTLA’s Omar Lewis. “They said, ‘No, she passed away.’” Alma, 26, and her daughter had been waiting at a bus stop that afternoon after picking up a gift from a relative. That’s when police say a speeding driver traveling sout...

Water main break leads to mudslide in Hacienda Heights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:42 GMT

Editor's note: This article was updated to reflect that the water main caused a mudslide and not what officials originally referred to as a sinkhole.Crews with the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to a Hacienda Heights neighborhood after reports of a water main break that caused a serious mudslide. Calls about the water main break and mudslide, located in the area of East Edgeridge and East Tamarix drives, came into the fire department at around 6:25 p.m.  L.A. County first responders on the scene of a water main burst in Hacienda Heights on Nov. 27, 2023. (KTLA)L.A. County first responders on the scene of a water main burst in Hacienda Heights on Nov. 27, 2023. (KTLA)L.A. County first responders on the scene of a water main burst in Hacienda Heights on Nov. 27, 2023. (KTLA)L.A. County first responders on the scene of a water main burst in Hacienda Heights on Nov. 27, 2023. (KTLA)L.A. County first responders on the scene of a water main burst in Hacienda Heights on Nov. ...

Forward who just signed a contract with the Sharks assists on game-winning goal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:42 GMT

SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl was injured and unavailable for Monday’s game with the Washington Capitals. That thrust Luke Kunin, usually used as winger, into a top-six centerman’s role.Kunin made the most of the opportunity, scoring a go-ahead power-play goal with 7:12 left in the third period to help lift the Sharks to a 2-1 over the Capitals at SAP Center.Kunin, stationed near the slot, one-timed a pass from Justin Bailey past Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper for his fifth goal of the season as the Sharks completed their three-game homestand with a 2-0-1 record.Bailey’s assist gave him his first NHL point since March 21, 2019. Earlier Monday, Bailey was signed by the Sharks to a one-year, two-way contract after he began the year with the Barracuda of the AHL.Fabian Zetterlund scored at even strength in the first period to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead and Mackenzie Blackwood had 33 saves in the win.The only blemish for Blackwood, if it could even be called that, was a s...