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How a late-night text brought Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to the end of 2-plus years of tense negotiations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:42 GMT

The back-and-forth wore on both parties.Five proposals into his quest to sign star quarterback Lamar Jackson to the largest contract in Baltimore sports history, Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta tried to maintain optimism but wondered if a resolution would ever come. He asked himself, could he have done something different to accelerate the process or make it happier for everyone?On the other side, Jackson, an ebullient presence over his first three seasons in Baltimore, seemed to fall out of love with the franchise he had promised to lead to a Super Bowl. He snapped at a Twitter critic after a loss in November and felt the need to go outside team channels to explain the severity of his season-ending knee injury. In late March, he told his 1.1 million Twitter followers that he had asked the Ravens to trade him because they had “not been interested in meeting my value.”DeCosta was watching his beloved Boston Celtics squander a lead to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night...

Five things we learned from the Ravens’ 2023 draft

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:42 GMT

Before the Ravens ever made a pick, they executed a move that would eclipse their draft, signing quarterback Lamar Jackson to a five-year extension that will keep him at the center of everything the franchise does. The Ravens also drafted six players, led by another target for their franchise quarterback, shifty wide receiver Zay Flowers from Boston College. Their 2023 team is taking shape.Here are five things we learned from the draft.The Ravens made good on their promise to ‘attack’ their wide receiver shortage, but there’s risk in using another first-round pick on the position.General manager Eric DeCosta and coach John Harbaugh were not kidding when they said wide receivers would be their No. 1 project of the offseason, aside from extending Jackson. They began with a modest free-agent addition, Nelson Agholor, turned up the heat by signing injury-prone superstar Odell Beckham Jr. and garnished their meal with Flowers, a 5-foot-9, 182-pound bundle of gliding spe...

11 dead, 4 hospitalized in gas leak in northern India

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:42 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Eleven people died and four more were hospitalized after a gas leak Sunday in northern India’s Punjab state, local media reported. The incident occurred at an industrial area in Ludhiana city, but the source of the gas leak is still unclear, police told the Press Trust of India news agency. India’s National Disaster Response Force sealed off the densely populated area and evacuated residents.Authorities were trying to ascertain the type of gas in the leak, PTI quoted disaster response officials as saying. The state’s chief minister, Bhagwant Mann, said the leak came from a factory but didn’t provide more details in a tweet. “All possible help is being provided,” he wrote. The Associated Press

Shooting kills 2 men, injures 3rd victim in Seattle park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:42 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Two men were killed and a third person was wounded during a shooting in a Seattle park Saturday night, police said.Police responded to a report of a shooting at Cal Anderson Park around 10:30 p.m., the Seattle Police Department said in a statement.Officers found three men with gunshot wounds and provided first aid until Seattle Fire Department personnel arrived. One man succumbed to his injuries at the scene, police said.Two other victims were transported from the park in the Capitol Hill neighborhood to Harborview Medical Center, where the second man died, police said. The third shooting victim was listed in critical condition, police said.Investigators were searching for a man who reportedly left the scene before officers arrived, police said.The Associated Press

Pope in final Mass in Budapest urges Hungary to open doors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:42 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Pope Francis urged Hungarians to open their doors to others on Sunday, as he wrapped up a weekend visit with a plea for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine and for Europe to welcome migrants and the poor.Francis issued the appeal from the banks of the Danube as he celebrated Mass on Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos Square, with the Hungarian Parliament and Budapest’s famed Chain Bridge as a backdrop. The celebration provided the visual highlight of Francis’ three-day visit that has been dominated by the Vatican’s concern for the plight of neighboring Ukraine.Citing local organizers, the Vatican said some 50,000 people participated in the Mass, more than 30,000 of them in the square on a brilliantly sunny spring morning. Among them were President Katalin Novak and Hungary’s right-wing populist prime minister, Viktor Orban, whose lukewarm support for Ukraine has rankled fellow European Union members.Francis has expressed appreciation for Hungary’s recent welcome o...

Retiring Stillwater Area High School teacher, falcon expert Andy Weaver ‘brought science to life’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:42 GMT

Andy Weaver, a biology teacher at Stillwater Area High School, holds Nato, a one-year-old male Finnish Goshawk, at the school in Oak Park Heights on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)Biology Teacher Andy Weaver talks about his deer trap at Stillwater Area High School on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. His classes use the deer trap to trap and collar does in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)Biology Teacher Andy Weaver goes into the Stillwater Area High School Raptor Propagation Lab at the school in Oak Park Heights on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, to check on a peregrine falcons he’s hoping will mate. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)Students of Stillwater Area High School science teacher Andy Weaver got to dissect a bear in 2011. Weaver shot the bear at the Kiwanis Scout Camp in northern Washington County. (Courtesy of Andy Weaver)Biology Teacher Andy Weaver talks about the deer they collar and track near Stillwater ...

Ask Amy: My fiancee’s family says I’m not invited, and she’s going without me

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:42 GMT

Dear Amy: My fiancée and I have been together for over five years.When her family had get-togethers, I noticed that they would say mean things to my fiancée, and she wouldn’t defend herself. In response to this, I would lightly defend her, by making jokes or whatever.The last couple of years when they’ve invited anyone to family events, they have specifically said that I’m not invited.My fiancée just says, “OK, no problem,” and she goes by herself.Am I wrong in wanting her to stand up for me – or should I just leave it be? StumblingDear Stumbling: Of course you want your fiancée to stand up for you! And not only is she not defending you, but now she is allowing her family members to bully her and you – by excluding you.When couples come together and decide to form a family, the idea is that they should walk through life hand-in-hand – as a team. They put their relationship at the center of their lives, with their families orbiting around them.Your fiancée is obviously do...

8-year-old girl struck, killed in Woodbridge crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:42 GMT

An 8-year-old girl from Woodbridge, Virginia, has died after being struck by a car earlier this month, Prince William County police say.Due to the victim’s age, her name will not be released to the public, according to a news release from police Saturday.Police said the girl’s death resulted from injuries sustained during a crash on April 10 at around 6 p.m. in the 12200 block of Nutmeg Court in Woodbridge.A 69-year-old woman was driving at a slow speed when police said she hit the girl, who was sitting in the roadway.Officers said the child became stuck under the car before first responders arrived. She was removed from under the vehicle before being taken to the hospital.Investigators said the child later died due to her injuries.Speed, alcohol and drugs were not considered factors in the crash. The 69-year-old woman will not be criminally charged in this crash, police said.Source

Tornado Watch issued for South Florida, Severe Storms Possible this Sunday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:42 GMT

A front is marching across the Gulf of Mexico and will cross through south and central Florida this Sunday, sparking up a broken line of strong to severe thunderstorms.The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of the area under a level 2 of 5, slight risk for severe storms today, meaning isolated tornadoes, strong winds and hail will all be possible with the thunderstorms that move through.As a result and given the favorable ingredients in place, a Tornado Watch is in effect for Miami-Dade, Broward and the Florida Keys through 2 pm. This means a tornado is possible.It will also be a windy day today, so a Wind Advisory is also in effect through 8 pm with wind gusts up to 40 mph expected, which can take down tree limbs.As far as the timing of these storms is concerned, they will likely reach the lower Keys around 10 am, then the rest of the area around the 11 am/12 pm time frame. Most locations can expect gusty thunderstorms with this line that will be moving from the west-northwest...

Western governments evacuate more citizens from Sudan as situation deteriorates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:49:42 GMT

The U.K conducted its last evacuation flight from Sudan on Saturday, as the U.S. and France also brought groups of foreign nationals out of the conflict-torn African country. The moves come amid a deteriorating security situation in Sudan, as fighting continues between the Sudanese Armed Forces and its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The British government decided to end evacuation flights “because of a decline in demand by British nationals, and because the situation on ground continues to remain volatile,” the U.K. Foreign Office said in a statement. “Focus will now turn to providing consular support to British nationals in Port Sudan and in neighboring countries in the region,” it said, noting that more than 1,888 people were evacuated on 21 flights during the operation. A French plane arrived in Chad on Friday carrying staff from the United Nations and international humanitarian non-profit organizations. France has evacuated over a thousand people fr...