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IndyCar to run $1 million all-star race at The Thermal Club in 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) — IndyCar will hold an all-star race next year at the Thermal Club in Southern California, with $1 million guaranteed to the winner of the made-for-TV exhibition.The $1 Million Challenge will be held on March 24 and air on NBC, with practice and qualifying the previous two days.IndyCar at the start of this year tested at The Thermal Club outside Palm Springs to gauge interest from membership in eventually hosting a race. Most of the competitors were pleased with the facility, a 490-acre development that includes four asphalt racetracks located behind an 18-foot sound wall in an unincorporated town in the Coachella Valley.John Rogers, owner of The Thermal Club, said the February test paved the way for the $1 Million Challenge.“The teams, drivers and the entire paddock are true professionals, and we look forward to developing our relationship with them in the future,” Rogers said. “This marquee racing challenge in March promises to be special for ever...

Boulder was buzzing following Buffs big win against rival Nebraska

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR) -- Boulder was the center of the universe for fans of the University of Colorado Buffaloes football on Saturday.The Buffs secured another win and left the abundance of Nebraska Cornhuskers fans in Boulder unhappy with a loss to their longtime rivals. Burglar accused of University Hill break-ins during Buffs game The resounding 36-14 win for Colorado reinforces their position as a top-25 football program two games into a season rife with hope.CU is ranked at No. 22 in the AP poll.On the streets of Boulder, fans of both Colorado and Nebraska enjoyed the warm, sunny day while Buffs fans relished in their victory, which already set their record better than it was last season (1-11). Back to football: CU Buffaloes games, watch parties The Buffs upset TCU winning the first away game, and the team has yet to lose.CU Boulder recently announced its move to the Big 12 conference, but that won’t be in effect until next year, making this football season its l...

Habitat for Humanity building new neighborhood with affordable housing for 20 families

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

Twenty families are one step closer to calling a new home their own as construction is set to begin at BBI village, a new habitat Broward Community in Fort Lauderdale. “Within this space, we’re not just building homes, we’re building futures,” said Robert Taylor of Burdette Beckmann, Inc. “We can provide working families with a path toward lasting financial stability through homeownership.”By next year, an empty lot will be transformed into a 20-townhome neighborhood, almost 100 people will call BBI Village their home. “It’s a journey as most of you know that includes a lot of work on the homeowners’ part, comprehensive education and ensuring that their families have the tools and the knowledge needed for a brighter future,” continued Taylor. South Florida is going through an affordability crisis, which is why the Taylor Family along with BBI have built over two-dozen homes with Habitat for Humanity over the years. TheyR...

Vienna seeks to calm Selmayr ‘blood money’ furor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg signaled his government was de-escalating a row with the EU’s senior representative in the country, Martin Selmayr, who last week accused Vienna of paying “blood money” to Moscow by continuing to purchase large quantities of Russian gas.“Everything has already been said about this,” Schallenberg said over the weekend in a written response to questions from POLITICO on the affair. “We are working hard to drastically reduce our energy dependency on Russia and we will continue to do so.”Austrian officials insist that the country’s continued reliance on Russian gas is only temporary and that it will wean itself off by 2027 (over the past 18 months, the share of Russian gas in Austria has dropped from 80 percent to an average of 56 percent). Some experts question the viability of that plan, considering that OMV, the country’s dominant oil and gas company, signed a long-term supply deal with Gazprom under former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz th...

The Vatican beatifies a Polish family of 9 killed by the Nazis for sheltering Jews

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — In an unprecedented move, the Vatican on Sunday beatified a Polish family of nine — a married couple and their small children — who were executed by the Nazis during World War II for sheltering Jews. During a ceremonious Mass in the village of Markowa, in southeastern Poland, papal envoy Cardinal Marcello Semeraro read out the Latin formula of the beatification of the Ulma family signed last month by Pope Francis. In his homily Semeraro noted that for their “gesture of hospitality and care, of mercy” the Ulmas “paid the highest price of martyrdom.” A contemporary painting representing Jozef and a pregnant Wiktoria Ulma with their children was revealed near the altar. A procession brought relics taken from their grave to the altar. It was the first time that an entire family has been beatified. At the Vatican, speaking to the public from a window in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said the Ulmas “represented a ray of light in the darkness” of the war and should...

Biden says US outreach to Vietnam is about providing global stability, not containing China

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

HANOI (AP) — President Joe Biden said Sunday his visit to Vietnam to showcase stronger ties with Hanoi was not about trying to start a “cold war” with China, but rather was part of a broader effort to provide global stability by building U.S. relationships throughout Asia at a time of tensions with Beijing.“It’s not about containing China,” Biden said at a news conference in Vietnam’s capital after attending the Group of 20 summit in India. “It’s about having a stable base.”The American president came to Hanoi as Vietnam was elevating the United States to its highest diplomatic status, comprehensive strategic partner. That is evidence of how far the relationship has evolved from what Biden referred to as the “bitter past” of the Vietnam War.The expanded partnership reflects a broader effort across Asia to counter China’s influence. Biden has said Vietnam wants to flex a degree of independence, and U.S. companies are seeking an alternative to imports from Chin...

Mr. Dressup doc a ‘nostalgia trip’ for generations who loved the children’s performer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

TORONTO — A record signed by beloved children’s performer Ernie Coombs, more affectionately known to generations of Canadians as Mr. Dressup, hangs in Mark Bishop’s office. The Toronto-based producer doesn’t call himself a superfan, but a lifelong love of the man who encouraged children to be themselves and provided a portal for their imaginations with a toy chest called the “tickle trunk,” suggests otherwise. Bishop met Coombs twice before the performer’s death in 2001 — once as a child and then years later in university. About three years ago, Bishop came across various social media posts about the performer as part of a Facebook fan page. He decided to reach out to the man who posted the videos, Canadian documentarian Robert McCallum, to pitch a project that would explore not only the popularity of Mr. Dressup but also who Coombs was off camera. Bishop tapped McCallum to direct the full-length documentary “Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-B...

End may be in sight for Phoenix’s historic heat wave of 110-degree plus weather

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — A historic heat wave continues to stifle Phoenix — but the end may finally be in sight for residents of Arizona’s largest city.The high temperature in Phoenix on Sunday was expected to hit 111 degrees Fahrenheit (43.8 degrees Celsius), tying the record for that date set in 1990. It also would be the 55th day this year that the official reading at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport reached at least 110 F (43.3 C).However, an excessive heat warning was expected to expire at 8 p.m. Sunday, and meteorologists were forecasting a high of 106 F (41.1 C) on Monday and 102 F (38.8 C) on Tuesday.“I hate to say, ‘Yes, this will be the last,’ but it’s more than likely that will be the case — this will be our last stretch of 110s this summer,” said Chris Kuhlman of the National Weather Service in Phoenix.The city eclipsed the previous record of 53 days — set in 2020 — when it hit 113 F (45 C) Saturday.Phoenix experienced the hottest three months since record-keeping began in 1895, includi...

Cord Jefferson’s insightful satire of race and media, ‘American Fiction,’ lights up TIFF

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — Fifty pages into Percival Everett’s “Erasure” Cord Jefferson knew he wanted to adapt it into a movie script. Halfway through, he began to see Jeffrey Wright playing the book’s academic protagonist, Thelonious “Monk” Ellison. By the time he was finished, he knew he wanted to direct it, too.As quick as that, Cord Jefferson — the 41-year-old TV writer of “Succession,” “Master of None” and “Watchmen” — began working toward his directing debut, “American Fiction.” And just as speedily, following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, “American Fiction” became a breakout hit of the festival, launching Jefferson as a major new voice in movies.In the film, Monk (Wright), is a frustrated author who’s agent (John Ortiz) tells him his books — the latest of which is a reworking of Aeschylus’ “The Persians” — aren’t “Black enough.” “I’m Black,” he responds, “and this is my book.”Monk, played with acerbic perfection and de...

Virginia governor pardons man whose arrest at a school board meeting galvanized conservatives

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

The father of a Virginia student sexually assaulted in her high school bathroom has been pardoned after his arrest two years ago protesting a school board meeting became a flashpoint in the conservative push to increase parental involvement in public education.Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced on Fox News Sunday that he had pardoned Scott Smith of his disorderly conduct conviction stemming from the June 2021 incident. The episode featured prominently throughout the gubernatorial campaign that year for Youngkin, who has made support for the so-called “parents’ rights” movement a cornerstone of his political brand.“Scott Smith is a dedicated parent who’s faced unwarranted charges in his pursuit to protect his daughter,” Youngkin said Sunday in a press release. “Scott’s commitment to his child despite the immense obstacles is emblematic of the parental empowerment movement that started in Virginia.”According to Loudoun Now, Smith threatened to kick out the t...