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A bigger March Madness? Many obstacles stand in the way

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:12 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The number was supposed to be 96.The last time the NCAA seriously considered expanding the men’s Division I basketball tournament a plan emerged to add 16 more games and 32 more participants to grow that symmetrically satisfying 64-team bracket.The backlash that followed from college sports administrators back in 2010 was strong enough to scrap the idea. A modest expansion to 68 teams was approved in 2011.“At the end of the day, membership sentiment was that they were not unified in wanting to expand the tournament beyond 68,” recalled Greg Shaheen, the former NCAA vice president for championships.For the first time in more than a decade, NCAA and college sports leaders are committed to a serious examination of increasing the number of teams allowed to compete in an event that has become one of the crown jewels of American sports.The mere suggestion of messing with March Madness, which generates hundreds of millions in revenue annually for the NCAA and its 1,10...

2 injured, 7 displaced after DC apartment fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:12 GMT

Two people are hurt and seven are displaced Tuesday morning after a fire broke out at a two-story apartment building in Northwest D.C.Firefighters got the call about a fire at the apartment building in the 3800 block of 3rd Street NW just after midnight, a spokesperson for D.C. Fire and EMS told WTOP.More DC NewsMore Local NewsWhen crews arrived, flames were widespread on the back of the building. There was a “large volume,” of fire on both the first and second floors, a tweet from the department said.The two people who were taken to the hospital are expected to survive.A fire at apartments in the 3800 block of 3rd Street NW on March 14, 2023.In addition to the seven displaced people, a dog was also displaced. A cat died and another hasn’t been found.Update Working Fire 3800 3rd St NW. Continue to extinguish pockets of fire. Rotating firefighters who were engaged in original firefight out of the building for relief. Currently 7 displaced residents & 1 dog. 1 de...

Long-serving Cambodian leader Hun Sen hints at retirement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:12 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen hinted strongly Tuesday that he intends to step down as the country’s long-serving leader when a new government is installed after July’s general election.The 70-year-old Hun Sen has led Cambodia with an iron fist for 38 years, and during the last election in 2018 had vowed to stay in office for two more terms, until 2028. Since then, however, he has spoken often of having his eldest son, Hun Manet, succeed him and appointed him to several high profile and important positions.He explicitly declared his support in December 2021 to have Hun Manet, Cambodia’s West Point-trained army commander, take over his job but only through elections. Hun Manet, 45, holds several other key security posts, and in 2018 already had been elevated from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s 865-member Central Committee to its 37-member Standing Committee, the country’s key decision-making body, making him a de facto member of his father’s poli...

Dutch court convicts man of removing condom without consent

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:12 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch man was convicted Tuesday of removing his condom during sex without his partner’s consent, in the first trial in the Netherlands for so-called “stealthing.”However Dordrecht District Court acquitted the man of a rape charge because it ruled that the sex was consensual.“By his actions, the suspect forced the victim to tolerate having unprotected sex with him. In doing so, he restricted her personal freedom and abused the trust she had placed in him,” the court said.Other courts also have also tackled the phenomenon in recent years. In a case in Germany, a Berlin court in 2018 convicted a police officer of sexual assault and gave him an eight-month suspended sentence for secretly removing his condom during intercourse, and ordered him to pay damages of nearly 3,100 euros to the victim. The suspended sentence was reduced to six months on an initial appeal.In 2021, California lawmakers made the state the first in the U.S. to outlaw “stealthing...

Alcohol dropped from Truth and Reconciliation centred culinary event after community concerns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:12 GMT

The Isabel Bader Centre will play host to a first of its kind event in Kingston that aims to be a celebration and sharing of Indigenous culinary arts. Tourism Kingston says the event focuses on Call to Action #83 from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action, which calls for prioritizing strategies for Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists to undertake collaborative projects – in this case within the culinary arts. The city tapped into Ontario’s Reconnect Festival and Event grant which will match funds up to $250,000 for the event, and paired up Indigenous chefs from all around Ontario with local chefs to curate a number of different dishes meant to explore Indigenous foodways. Terri-Lynn Brennan, from Inclusive Voices and one of two Indigenous consultants along with Natalie Goldenberg-Fife, said Kingston/Katarokwi is home to so many different Indigenous identities and the selection of chefs tried to keep that in mind.“We’re very cog...

Retired teacher and daughter lose almost $200,000 in wire fraud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:12 GMT

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) -- A mom and her daughter in Lakewood are sharing their story to help warn others after they were scammed out of almost $200,000 while trying to buy a townhome. “At some point the chain of email got hacked. I started getting fraud emails and I didn’t realize they were fraud emails," Vicki Ragle, the victim of the scam said. Ragle and her daughter, Sarah, went through the whole purchasing process together and both said the fraud emails posing as the lender, realtor and title company were nearly identical. “All I could think is now I'm homeless and broke. I'm 69-years-old and now I'm broke and homeless," Ragle said. Denver housing costs 37% more than the national average On Wednesday, two days before they were supposed to close, Ragle said the people who she believed at the time were the title company, requested the $196,662.81 due to close. The email also included they required the funds to be remitted 48 hours before closing. “We were supposed to close on a...

Women in politics remember Pat Schroeder

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:12 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Lawmakers in Colorado and beyond are commemorating the life of Pat Schroeder.Schroeder was the first woman to represent Colorado in Congress back in the '70s. Schroeder's congressional successor and others who were inspired by her service remembered the woman hailed as a trailblazer. Biden announces executive order to increase background checks Fran Coleman was a state representative in Colorado from 1998 until 2006. She said Colorado's first congresswoman was someone worthy of admiration."When I was first running for office way after she left office, I was asked who my role models were when the Denver Post interviewed me, and I gave them three: my mom, Mother Teresa and Pat Schroeder," Coleman said.Reps. Peter Rodino, D-N.J. and Pat Schroeder, D-Colo., face reporters on Capitol Hill after they announced that they and other House cosponsors will reintroduce the Equal Rights Amendment, "to begin anew the battle to guarantee the basic Constitutional rights of women i...

Watch: Video shows pharmacy robbery near Denver

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:12 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A 22-year-old who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a series of armed pharmacy robberies in Denver and Aurora has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison.The robberies, which took place between Jan. 11, 2021, and Feb. 11, 2021, were described by the U.S. Attorney's Office as "takeover style" and involved multiple people going into the pharmacy, pointing guns at employees and stealing medications. LOCAL NEWS 133-year-old statue stolen from Georgetown museum, information wanted In the plea agreement, Dionte Jelks admitted to jumping on counters and pointing a gun at employees. In some situations, he forced the employees to lie on the ground and in others he followed them around the pharmacy while demanding specific pharmaceuticals.Dionte Jelks pleaded guilty to armed robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence (Credit: Denver Police Department)“The defendant’s aggressive and violent actions will forever impact the victims of these robberi...

Denver weather: Near 70 Wednesday then a chance for snow

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:12 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Denver's weather will go from near 70 degrees on Wednesday to 30-degree temperatures and snow by Thursday as Colorado's next storm system moves through. Weather tonight: Mountain snowSnow showers will start in Colorado's western mountains overnight, with increasing clouds across the state. From 60s to snow in Denver? Here’s what we know Temperatures will fall into the low 30s on the Front Range with mostly cloudy skies. Weather tomorrow: Warm tempsTemperatures will hit the upper 60s on Wednesday in Denver, with some spots on the Front Range reaching the low 70s for the first time this year. There will be increasing clouds throughout the day with isolated rain showers late Wednesday evening. The mountains will see snow showers become more widespread throughout Wednesday. Looking ahead: Rain to snowBy Thursday morning, temperatures will turn cold enough for rain showers to change over to snow. Snow showers will continue through Thursday morning and will come to an e...

Senators decry Russia's 'dangerous,' 'reckless' downing of US drone

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:01:12 GMT

Senators on Tuesday called Russia’s downing of a U.S. drone “dangerous” and “reckless,” slamming Russian President Vladimir Putin but stopping short of calling for any specific actions. A Russian fighter jet intercepted the drone over the Black Sea.“This intercept was so dangerous and so brazen that the U.S. Air Force was forced to crash their drone into international waters. It is another reckless act by President Putin and his military, and I want to tell Mr. Putin, stop this behavior before you are the cause of an unintended escalation,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said from the chamber floor. He added, “The U.S. has routinely flown over the Black Sea since before Putin’s illegal and reckless invasion of Ukraine, and I’m confident our military will continue to do so.”Officials warned the situation could lead to an unintended escalation in the region amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. But White House natio...