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More hospitals are requiring masks as flu and COVID-19 cases surge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:47:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — More U.S. hospitals are requiring masks and limiting visitors as health officials face an expected but still nasty post-holiday spike in flu, COVID-19 and other illnesses.While many experts say this season likely won’t prove to be as deadly as some other recent winters, it still could mean hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and many thousands of deaths across the country.New York City last week instituted a mask mandate for the city’s 11 public hospitals. Similar measures were ordered last week at some hospitals in Los Angeles and Massachusetts. Some hospitals reinstated masking rules for employees months ago, in anticipation of a seasonal rush of sick people.Flu and COVID-19 infections have been increasing for weeks, with high levels of flu-like illness reported in 31 states just before Christmas. Updated national numbers are to be released Friday, but health officials predict infections will grow in many states well into January.“What we’re seeing righ...

Madrid edges Mallorca 1-0 and Girona beats Atletico 4-3 to stay at the top at halfway point in Spain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:47:53 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid and Girona extended their impressive runs to reach the halfway point of the Spanish league season at the top of the standings.Both teams won on Wednesday to reach 48 points after 19 games, with third-place Atletico Madrid 10 points back. Real Madrid was ahead of Girona on a tiebreaker. Barcelona can move within seven points of the leaders if it wins at Las Palmas on Thursday.Madrid edged Mallorca 1-0 at home with a late goal by Antonio Rüdiger in a match that marked the return of Vinícius Júnior from injury.Girona, the surprise team in Spanish soccer this season, defeated Atletico 4-3 with a winner by Iván Martín in stoppage time.Álvaro Morata scored a hat trick for Atletico, while Antoine Griezmann was held scoreless to remain tied with Luis Aragonés as the club’s all-time top scorer with 173 goals.THRILLER IN GIRONAFaced with another difficult challenge, Girona rose to the occasion yet again, overcoming Diego Simeone’s Atletico to show it can be con...

Some court records related to Jeffrey Epstein released: reports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:47:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Previously sealed court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein are now being released. The documents are being unsealed on a rolling basis, with two being held back until at least Jan 22.The records may include the names of those who worked for Epstein or only had weak ties to the financier, as well as potential victims and witnesses, Nexstar's NewsNation reports. Appearing on the list does not mean someone is connected to any wrongdoing.It's not immediately clear who is named in the first set of documents released, but social media has been rife in recent weeks with posts speculating that it will include a list of clients or co-conspirators of Epstein, the jet-setting financier who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.There is no such list and the truth is less scandalous.Previously sealed court documents related to Epstein will be released starting Wednesday, but the great majority of those whose names appear in the documents aren't ...

Mike Felger and Jim Murray discuss who will fill Hardy’s spot on 98.5’s ‘Zolak and Bertrand’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:47:53 GMT

It’s the question that 98.5 listeners have been asking for weeks: Who’s going to be the full-time third chair on “Zolak and Bertrand” now that Hardy has moved to the mornings?On the eve of the debut of “Toucher and Hardy” on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Mike Felger and Jim Murray addressed who will fill that opening on the midday show.The “Felger and Mazz” hosts during the Facebook Live “Off-Air Show” on Wednesday were asked about who will fill the Hardy role on Zolak and Bertrand. Rich “Hardy” Poole was recently named the co-host of the morning show with Fred Toucher.Hardy was the obvious pick for the morning show after Rich Shertenlieb left, Murray said. But filling the midday slot is not so clear-cut, “Big Jim” added.“I was just talking to (Matt) McCarthy about it because McCarthy wants it, as does everyone else you’ve heard in some type of part-time role here,” Murray said.“Of cou...

New Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito says he was sold on Boston from the start

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:47:53 GMT

Lucas Giolito was in bad need of a reset. He’d endured a turbulent finish to 2023, changing teams twice in a span of two months, and coming off a couple down years he wasn’t sure what to expect as he hit free agency for the first time.But once the Red Sox came calling, he knew he’d found his new home.Giolito was introduced as the newest member of the Red Sox on Wednesday, with the club officially announcing his one-year deal with a player option for 2025. Speaking to reporters, Giolito said the Red Sox were among the first teams he heard from and that right from the start he was sold on coming to Boston.“The Red Sox were honestly one of the first teams to reach out to me and my representation,” Giolito said. “So that obviously meant a lot to me.”Giolito said he had an “amazing” Zoom call with the Red Sox and liked everything he heard from the team’s leadership. He said chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told him they expe...

Trump asks US Supreme Court to overturn Colorado ruling barring him from ballot over Jan. 6 attack

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:47:53 GMT

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI (Associated Press)DENVER (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling barring him from the Colorado ballot, setting up a high-stakes showdown over whether a constitutional provision prohibiting those who “engaged in insurrection” will end his political career.Trump appealed a 4-3 ruling in December by the Colorado Supreme Court that marked the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was used to bar a presidential contender from the ballot. The court found that Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol disqualified him under the clause.The provision has been used so sparingly in American history that the U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on it.Wednesday’s development came a day after Trump’s legal team filed an appeal against a ruling by Maine’s Democratic Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, that Trump was ineligible to appear on...

Charges laid after woman struck and killed by garbage truck in St. Clair Village

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:47:53 GMT

A 40-year-old man is facing charges after the garbage truck he was driving struck and killed a woman in St. Clair Village on December 7, 2023.Police say the driver, who wasn’t named, was charged on Wednesday with careless driving causing bodily harm or death, fail to yield to pedestrian and turning in an unsafe manner.The victim, in her 50s, was walking westbound and crossing Winona Drive at St. Clair Avenue West when she was struck by the garbage truck that was making a right-hand turn onto Winona.She was pronounced dead at the scene.A community advocate told CityNews at the time that the death was preventable.“I am absolutely heartbroken for this woman. She was probably going shopping at No Frills and she was let down today by the City of Toronto,” said Julian Back, who runs a community safety Facebook group.He says the intersection has been problematic for some time – something he has asked the City to address on multiple occasions.“I urged [the city] to close off the condo...

Movie Review: Anthony Hopkins shines in ‘Freud’s Last Session’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:47:53 GMT

“Freud’s Last Session,” starring Anthony Hopkins as Sigmund Freud, adds to a string of sterling late-chapter performances by the 86-year-old actor. He was the soul of “Armageddon Time,” the reason to see “The Father” and the papal foil to Jonathan Pryce’s Pope Francis in “The Two Popes.” With the exception of James Gray’s more cinematically composed “Armageddon Time,” the movies have offered simple, stagy showcases for Hopkins, a lion in winter.“Freud’s Last Session,” which expands in theaters this weekend, also comes from the stage and, like “The Two Popes,” centers on the tete-a-tete of intellectual opposites. Mark St. Germain’s 2009 two-character play brought together Freud and C.S. Lewis (played by Matthew Goode in the film) for a speculative meeting between the two in 1939 London.An aged Freud, suffering from oral cancer, prepares to receive the Oxford academic at his London home while war with Germany is growing inevitable. The factual jumping off...

Police probing separate shootings in Mississauga, Toronto

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:47:53 GMT

Police in Toronto and Peel are investigating two separate shootings on Wednesday night.Officers first responded to shots fired in the Battleford Road and Glen Erin Drive area of Mississauga at around 5:00 p.m.A victim was found on scene and was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.Police are advising the public to avoid the area.There’s no word on suspects.At around 6:30 p.m. Toronto police responsed to a report of shots fired in the Islington Avenue and Bergamot Road area.A man was located nearby with a gunshot wound. He was taken to hospital with serious, but non life-threatening injuries.Police say a suspect fled in a dark coloured SUV. No further details were immediately available.

Chicago firefighter appears in court Wednesday for alleged NYE road rage shooting incident

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:47:53 GMT

CHICAGO — A Chicago firefighter was released to electronic monitoring on Wednesday after appearing in court in connection to a road rage shooting on New Year's Eve.According to police, 34-year-old Omotayo Kassim is facing several felony charges, including aggravated battery by discharge of a firearm, attempted first-degree murder, and aggravated discharge of a firearm from an occupied vehicle.Police said the charges stem from a shooting that unfolded just before 8 p.m. Sunday in the 1600 block of West Foster Ave., in Andersonville. Judge pushes Madigan corruption trial to October The brother and father of the victim spoke to reports as they left the courthouse."He’s supposed to be trained to protect people, not kill people," the victim's brother is heard telling reporters."This guy attempted murder and he walked. He did. He shot my son in the side in the jaw. He chased my son for over six minutes," the victim's father added.According to court records, both the 35-year-old victim a...