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Ravens select Clemson LB Trenton Simpson with 86th overall pick in third round of NFL draft: ‘Well worth the wait’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:48 GMT

Trenton Simpson grew up idolizing former Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith. Now he’s looking forward to working alongside the All-Pro in Baltimore.The Ravens used the No. 86 overall pick in the NFL draft on the former Clemson standout Friday night, using their second selection on a position most did not project as an area of need. Whatever Simpson was lacking in the eyes of the other 31 teams that caused him to fall to the middle of the third round, he certainly makes up for in confidence.“I can fit in any scheme,” Simpson said. “I’m the most versatile linebacker in this draft. Y’all are not going to regret this pick. I’m going to go down as one of the greats for the Baltimore Ravens.”That’s a bold statement considering the team’s history at the position — Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, 2011 Defensive Player of the Year and two-time All-Pro Terrell Suggs and 1997 Defensive Rookie of the Year and four-time Pro Bowl selection P...

Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles addresses his defense on Day 2 of the NFL draft, adding a pair of DTs and CB Tyrique Stevenson

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:48 GMT

An exhausted Ryan Poles planned to go home from Halas Hall on Friday night and put his phone on “do not disturb” so he could get some rest before a busy Day 3 of the NFL draft.But the Chicago Bears general manager imagines it might be hard to relax after he helped his defense take a step forward with three additions from the second and third rounds.“I’ll go sit down at home and be wired,” Poles said. “And I’ll have to watch TV and eventually fall asleep.”One night after addressing the offense by taking Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright, Poles focused on filling key holes on the defense, selecting Florida defensive tackle Gervon Dexter at No. 53, Miami cornerback Tyrique Stevenson at No. 56 and South Carolina defensive tackle Zacch Pickens at No. 64.Poles traded up with the Jacksonville Jaguars to get Stevenson, giving them the No. 136 pick to move up five spots.On Thursday night, Poles left open the possibility that he would tr...

Padres, Giants to play two-game series in Mexico City

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:48 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Padres are set to take on the San Francisco Giants in Mexico City at Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium this weekend.The two games will be the first time the Friars play in Mexico since 2019, when they faced off against the Diablos Rojos del México in an exhibition game at the Mexico City stadium.In 2020, the first Major League Baseball regular season game was supposed to happen in Mexico City between the Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, but it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. 10 of the best rooftop bars in San Diego Built in March 2019, the $150 million AHH Stadium can fit 20,000 people, featuring six outdoor terraces and food courts alongside a trident spear-shaped roof made of steel.Baseball has recently gained popularity in Mexico after the national team's deep run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, making it to the semifinals before losing to Japan.Saturday's game is set for 3:05 p.m. while first pitch for Sunday's game is at 1:05 p.m. Both gam...

Stroll through ArtWalk in Little Italy for visual experience

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:48 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Little Italy is already a wonderful area to wander through, but adding beautiful pieces of art makes the neighborhood that much more appealing.This weekend, the 39th annual Mission Fed ArtWalk is set to take place next to the Piazza della Famiglia in Little Italy for attendees to view and purchase artwork, enjoy live music performances and participate in interactive art experiences."We believe art has the power to connect communities, cultivate new artistic talent and create a better quality of life for all through cultural enrichment," the organization said on its website. This popular spring German festival is within driving distance of San Diego More than 250 fine artists will showcase their work during the two-day festival, which opens from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.All ArtWalk San Diego events benefit the organization's arts education nonprofit partner ArtReach, which provides art lessons into schools that have no other resourc...

NYC transit agency pulls the brake on Twitter service alerts

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Shortly after midnight Thursday, several New York City subway trains slowed to a crawl as emergency crews tended to a person discovered on the tracks in lower Manhattan.The delays were flagged for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s rail control center, where a customer service agent typed up a straightforward warning for early-morning riders to consider alternate routes.But while the message was quickly posted to the MTA’s website and app, the alert never made it to the subway system’s Twitter account, with its 1 million followers. The agency’s access to the platform’s back-end, officials soon learned, had been suspended by Twitter without warning.It was the second such breakdown in two weeks and the reaction inside the MTA was swift. By Thursday afternoon, senior executives agreed to cease publishing service alerts to the platform altogether.The decision put the country’s largest transportation network among a growing number of accounts, from National...

Marijuana job lands Oregon Secretary of State in trouble

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:48 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan is in hot water, with Republican lawmakers calling for her resignation and the Democratic governor seeking investigations because Fagan took a consulting job with a marijuana firm.The matter came to a head Friday after Fagan’s office released an audit of the state’s marijuana regulators, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. The audit called for the OLCC to “reform” some rules for marijuana businesses, saying they are “burdens” when combined with federal restrictions on interstate commerce, banking and taxation.Fagan, a Democrat, recused herself from the audit because she is a paid consultant of an affiliate of marijuana retail chain La Mota, Fagan’s spokesman Ben Morris said at a virtual news conference about the audit’s release.La Mota’s co-owner has hosted fundraisers for top Democratic Oregon politicians, including Fagan, while the co-owner, her partner and their business allegedly owe $1.7 million in unpaid bi...

No winning ticket sold for Friday’s $13 million Lotto Max jackpot

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:48 GMT

There was no winning ticket sold in Friday’s Lotto Max $13 million draw.The jackpot for the next draw on May 2 will be an estimated $18 million.The Canadian Press

Oklahoma’s top education official embraces culture wars

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:48 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — When Oklahoma’s newly elected Republican head of public schools campaigned for the job last fall, he ran on a platform of fighting “woke ideology” in public schools, banning certain books from school libraries, empowering parents with school choice and getting rid of “radical leftists” he claims were indoctrinating children in classrooms across the state.While the political strategy was successful and Ryan Walters won the race for superintendent of public instruction by nearly 15 percentage points, many expected him to pivot toward more substantive education policy: working with lawmakers to improve education outcomes and overseeing the state’s largest — and most-funded — agency.Instead, Walters, a former public school teacher from McAlester, has doubled down on his political rhetoric, focusing his energy on culture-war issues like targeting transgender athletes in schools, banning books and fighting what he calls “Joe Biden’s radical agenda.” In doing so,...

Best available Day 3 draft prospects for Broncos: Not many double ovens left, but “probably a couple dishwashers out there” for Denver to find

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:48 GMT

Before the draft started, Sean Payton outlined one of the basic tenets of picking players by using a kitchen appliance metaphor: Don’t take toaster ovens when there are double ovens available.After trading up twice on Day 2 and heading into Day 3 with only a pair of sixth-round picks — Nos. 183 and 195, to be precise — left in the quiver, what’s a realistic expectation?“I think there’s probably a couple of dishwashers out there,” Payton said.Yeah, it won’t exactly be a thrill-a-minute Saturday on tap for the Broncos. When Payton turned to George Paton and asked what exactly they had left, the general manager said with a hint of disappointment, “a pair of sixths.”And yet, good players remain. Payton outlined the ideal: “If you can address a need and you can draft a higher-quality player, then that’s the utopia you live in. …“Two sixes, though, and look, we just finished looking at the running backs. … Procuring more players and looking at each one through the lens of, ‘Ho...

Avs stave off elimination with Game 6 win at Seattle Kraken, setting up Game 7 on Sunday

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:48 GMT

SEATTLE — Unfriendly greetings thundered in the Avalanche’s ears and an unsightly ending threatened their minds. But vanquishing a champion — no matter how depleted — is not that simple.Before hopping on a charter plane to Seattle, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar reflected that he couldn’t recall a season in his playing or coaching career with obstacles as constant as this. “The adversity for this team has been relentless this year,” he said.The Avalanche staved off their adversity and their elimination for at least one more game Saturday with a 4-1 win at Climate Pledge Arena here Friday night. The Avs and Kraken play a deciding Game 7 Sunday (7:30 p.m. MT) at Ball Arena in this first-round playoff series.“It’s going to be a great atmosphere,” said Artturi Lehkonen, who scored twice in Game 6 to add to his repertoire of clutch goals.Elimination games might feel unfamiliar to the defending champs, but a Game 6 on the road afte...