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The Yankees hope chance meeting, scouting helps land Japanese pitcher Yamamoto

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:57 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has met Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto.Once, very briefly.The Yankees hope to find out soon if Boone’s chance meeting with the 25-year-old right-hander pays off for the team.“I’ve met him once before in the past actually, and I do plan on meeting him again, yes,” Boone said Tuesday at Major League Baseball’ s annual winter meetings.When pressed for more details, Boone made it sound very much by chance.“Just in kind of passing at some point in the winter. He was in a place that I was, and I got introduced to him, so that was it,” Boone said.Yamamoto is the prized international free agent of this offseason after going 68-29 with a 1.84 ERA and 0.94 WHIP over his seven seasons in Japan. The Yankees had scouts evaluating Yamamoto this year with the Orix Buffaloes.New York general manager Brian Cashman said the team had a representative at every one of Yamamoto’s games, and he was on hand himself when Yama...

Atmospheric river soaks Pacific Northwest with record-breaking rain and unusually warm temperatures

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:57 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An atmospheric river has brought heavy rain, flooding and unseasonably warm temperatures to the Pacific Northwest, closing rail links, schools and roads as it shattered daily rainfall and temperature records in Washington state.Amtrak said Tuesday that no passenger trains will be running between Seattle and Portland, Oregon, until Thursday because of a landslide. The National Weather Service issued flood warnings in parts of western Washington, including in areas north and east of Seattle and across a large swath of the Olympic Peninsula.The wet conditions also brought warm temperatures to the region. At 64 Fahrenheit (17.8 Celsius) in Walla Walla in southwestern Washington, it was as warm as parts of Florida and Mexico, according to the NWS. Seattle reported 59 degrees F (15 C) at 1 a.m. Tuesday morning, breaking its previous daily record high, the weather service said.Atmospheric rivers, sometimes known as a “Pineapple Express” because the long and narrow ban...

Rays sign RHP Chris Devenski to 1-year deal with 2025 club option

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:57 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays signed reliever Chris Devenski to a $1.1 million, one-year contract on Tuesday with a club option for 2025.The 33-year-old right-hander spilt the 2023 season between the Los Angeles Angels and the Rays, going 6-4 with a 4.46 ERA over 38 games. He was released by the Angels on Aug. 29 and signed the same day with Tampa Bay.The deal will pay Devenski $1 million in 2024 and includes a $2 million team option with a $100,000 buyout for 2025. Devenski went 3-2 with a 2.08 ERA over 8 2/3 innings in nine outings for the Rays during the final month of the regular season.He threw two scoreless innings in the Rays’ 4-0 loss to the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers in Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series. Tampa Bay was swept in the two-game set at home.Tampa Bay is his fifth team in eight big league seasons.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLBSource

Relatives watch as the Colorado funeral owners accused of mishandling 190 remains appear in court

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:57 GMT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Relatives who knew or feared their loved ones were among the 190 abandoned bodies found decomposing in a Colorado funeral home watched in person for the first time Tuesday as the owners of the business appeared before a judge.Jon and Carie Hallford, owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home, are accused of abusing corpses, stealing, laundering money and forging documents. Standing in handcuffs and orange jail clothes, they didn’t speak or enter pleas during a brief hearing.The Colorado Springs-based funeral home’s facility in Penrose, a Rocky Mountain town of about 4,000 people, is where investigators in early October discovered dozens of stacked bodies. Some had death dates as far back as 2019, according to a federal affidavit.Family members were falsely told their loved ones were cremated, receiving substitute materials that were not their ashes, court records allege.In court for a scheduling hearing Tuesday, Heather DeWolf held up a photo of her...

Una a una, las canciones de 2023: “On My Mama”, “Flowers”, “Monaco” y más

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:57 GMT

A punto de concluir el 2023, la periodista musical de The Associated Press María Sherman hizo una selección de diez de las mejores canciones del año. Los temas están enumerados sin ningún orden en particular. Saca tus audífonos.“ON MY MAMA”, VICTORIA MONÉT¡Abróchate el cinturón para recibir afirmaciones positivas! Victoria Monét, quien ha sido nominada al Grammy en diez ocasiones y alguna vez fue conocida como creadora de éxitos de Ariana Grande, Fifth Harmony y Chloe x Halle, recibe ahora reconocimiento como solista y lo comparte con las madres que la escuchan. Su exitoso sencillo “On My Mama” es un homenaje cariñoso a su madre y a su hija, con la dulce voz de Monét y una brillante producción de metales. Podría ser el mejor tema de R&B del año, con un gran “sampleo” del éxito de 2009 de Chalie Boy, “I Look Good”. Se necesita un verdadero talento para tomar prestado un sonido tan reconocible y Monét no sólo logra hacerlo, sino que lo convirtió en propio.“MONACO...

Cleveland wins MLB draft lottery, will have top pick for 1st time

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:57 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Cleveland will have the No. 1 pick in next year’s amateur baseball draft for the first time, winning a lottery on the second try Tuesday after Washington came out with the top spot initially but was ineligible.Major League Baseball and the players’ association agreed to the lottery in their March 2022 labor contract, an innovation to discourage struggling teams from deliberately trying for a top draft pick by getting rid of veterans.The 18 teams that failed to make the playoffs entered the weighted lottery, and the first drawing of four ping-pong balls at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center came up with 3-9-11-13 — a winning combination for the Nationals among 1,001 combinations.Washington was ineligible to pick in the top six because the collective bargaining agreement states a team that pays in the revenue-sharing plan cannot have a lottery pick in back-to-back years, and the Nationals chose outfielder Dylan Crews with the No. 2 selectio...

Ontario Catholic teachers file for conciliation

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:57 GMT

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) has filed for conciliation as negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement have stretched nearly 18 months.OECTA President René Jansen in de Wal says Catholic teachers in Ontario hope that a conciliator can speed up a process they have grown frustrated with, especially as other teachers’ unions in Ontario settle with the provincial government.“While the process continues to move forward – with a clear improvement in tone at the table since our overwhelming 97 per cent strike vote – realizing actual progress remains extremely slow,” Jansen in de Wal said in a statement.“Catholic teachers have been beyond patient, especially as other education affiliates reach tentative agreements. Given these agreements, we are hopeful that, with the support and expertise of an appointed conciliator, we can make more significant progress, quicker.”The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federat...

Homeless encampment thrived in Fort Collins drainage tunnel

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:57 GMT

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (KDVR) — FOX31 crews got an up-close look at an encampment that filled a large drainage tunnel underneath a roadway in Fort Collins.Fort Collins police say it was the largest of its kind that they have seen so far in the city. The encampment is located off to the side of another road and cannot be seen by most people passing by on the street. Polis to Biden: Reschedule marijuana before 2024 When FOX31 visited the site Tuesday, there was debris inside the concrete structure. The news crew could see what looked like tarps had been set up to separate spaces.The concrete waterway was filled with what police say were safety hazards. They included syringes, burn pits, propane tanks and gas heaters.Downtown Fort Collins is about a mile and a half from the encampment.Fort Collins HOPE team focuses on homelessnessThe Fort Collins Police Department has established the Homeless Outreach and Proactive Engagement Team — HOPE Team for short — specifically to deal with the un...

Peyton Manning named Mizel Institute 2024 Community Enrichment award recipient

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:57 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Peyton Manning, renowned former Broncos quarterback and current pop-culture business maven, has been named the 2024 recipient of the Mizel Institute Community Enrichment Award.Gov. Jared Polis was the recipient for 2023.Manning will be recognized for his "outstanding contributions and commitment to the community, both on and off the field."The award is slated to be given during the Mizel Institute Annual Event, self-described as one of the largest community fundraisers in Colorado, with guests who are community leaders in government, business, education and philanthropy. The event is scheduled for May 22, 2024. CU to celebrate Deion Sanders in free public event The funds raised from the Mizel Institute Annual Event support its two centers, the Mizel Museum and the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab."Peyton Manning's impact on our community extends far beyond his incredible football career. His commitment to improving the lives of others has left a lasting imp...

Denver's 16th Street Mall is getting greener

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:57 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The 16th Street Mall revitalization project has celebrated another milestone with the arrival of new oak trees slated to be planted between Market and Larimer Streets.These oak trees will reportedly grow the tree canopy of the 16th Street Mall by a third and are part of an initiative to replace, diversify and expand the urban tree canopy on the street, according to the city.In the future, the iconic corridor will include a diverse range of tree species, including elm, oak, honey locust and maple. Farm animals killed in Brighton barn fire These trees have been acclimating to the Colorado climate at local nurseries in Lafayette and Boulder since 2020. The city said the project team will continue to plant trees between Market and Larimer Streets as temperatures allow and will start planting on subsequent blocks next year.By next spring, the first two blocks from Market to Lawrence Streets will have fences down, and the city anticipates that by the end of 2024, more t...