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Steelers trade up, draft Georgia tackle Broderick Jones

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 17:56:48 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — When Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin took a group of Georgia draft prospects out to dinner a year ago, he asked them who he needed to keep an eye on down the road.The answer he received was unanimous: massive offensive tackle Broderick Jones.Tomlin hadn’t heard of the 6-foot-5, 310-pound until that point. The seed, however, was planted. Over the course of the last 12 months, it grew alongside what the Steelers saw as Jones’ significant potential while he helped the Bulldogs win a second straight national title.Given an opportunity to grab an offensive lineman capable of protecting second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett’s blind side for the next half-decade at least, Tomlin and the Steelers didn’t hesitate. Pittsburgh moved up three spots in the first round of Thursday’s NFL draft to select Jones with the 14th overall pick, deciding a player who won’t turn 22 until May was worth the modest investment. The Steelers sent the 17...

Vikings take USC WR Jordan Addison at No. 23 in NFL draft

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 17:56:48 GMT

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings picked USC wide receiver Jordan Addison with the 23rd overall selection of the NFL draft on Thursday night, giving star Justin Jefferson a viable sidekick after the jettisoning of veteran Adam Thielen.Addison was the fourth consecutive wide receiver taken after none went in the first 19 slots, following Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Ngjiba (Seahawks), TCU’s Quentin Johnston (Chargers) and Boston College’s Zay Flowers (Ravens).The 2021 Biletnikoff Award winner for the nation’s top wide receiver at Pittsburgh, the speedy and polished Addison transferred to USC for his final college season. With uncertainty beyond this year at quarterback with Kirk Cousins on an expiring contract, the Vikings passed on a chance to take Kentucky’s Will Levis, who was widely expected to be gone by the time No. 23 came up. Three of the first four picks — Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson — were quarterbacks.The Vikings drafte...

Chargers draft TCU wide receiver Quentin Johnston at No. 21

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 17:56:48 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Chargers provided quarterback Justin Herbert with another weapon, selecting TCU wide receiver Quentin Johnston with the 21st pick in the NFL draft Thursday night.Johnston led the Horned Frogs in receiving the last three years. He had 60 receptions for 1,069 yards and eight touchdowns last season as TCU went from unranked at the beginning of the season to the College Football Playoff title game, which it lost to Georgia.Johnston joins a talented Chargers receiving room that already has Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Joshua Palmer. General manager Tom Telesco and coach Brandon Staley were looking for someone who can stretch the field or generate mismatches for explosive pass plays.Los Angeles also needs to build depth at the position since Allen is going into his 11th season and missed seven of the first nine games last season with a hamstring injury. Williams was sidelined for five games.The Chargers selected Johnston over Zay Flowers (Boston Colle...

Buxton, Correa go long in Twins’ rout of Royals; Greinke 0-4

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 17:56:48 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa homered back-to-back for the Minnesota Twins, who routed the Kansas City Royals 7-1 on Thursday.Buxton and Correa teed off on Royals veteran right-hander Zack Greinke in the fourth inning. Buxton’s opposite-field shot was a three-run blast over the high wall in right-center field to make it 6-1. Correa followed that up with a line-drive homer into the bullpens in left-center.Twins starter Tyler Mahle allowed one run — a solo homer by Vinnie Pasquantino in the top of the fourth — but exited after four innings and 66 pitches with right posterior elbow soreness. Mahle didn’t sound too worried after the game, calling it “just inflammation,” but said he didn’t know yet whether he’d make his next start.“No one’s really concerned about it,” he said. “So just sit back for a few days and let it calm down and it should be fine.”Reliever Brock Stewart (1-0), who was recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Tuesday...

Megabus expands bus service in Kingston during summer months

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 17:56:48 GMT

Megabus has announced that starting May 3rd, the company will be increasing the frequency of its bus service through several key cities, including in Kingston during the summer months. According to an email to customers, Coach Canada’s Montreal and Kingston service will increase to daytime hourly trips offering 16 daily departures to/from Toronto Thursdays through Mondays.The expansion of trips means that Megabus will offer rides from Kingston to Toronto starting at 3:00 am, with its last trip departing at 9:30pm daily. It will also offer trips from Toronto to Kingston starting at 7:30am with its final trip at 11:30pm.In addition to an expansion of service to and from Kingston, the number of departures from Toronto to Niagara Falls will be tripled during tourist season, with most trips serving the Table Rock Transit Station at Niagara Falls.“With summertime and warmer weather upon us, we’re expecting heavy volumes of travelers in Canada,” said Colin Emberson, VP Commercial for Megab...

Denver weather: Slick morning commute possible from rain, snow

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 17:56:48 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Another round of rain and snow showers will move into Denver's weather forecast Thursday night into early Friday. This will lead to a slick commute Friday morning in some areas ahead of a nice weekend. Because of this, a Pinpoint Weather Alert Day has been issued for Friday, with a focus on the early morning.Weather tonight: Rain and snow showers, breezyWinter weather advisories are in effect from Thursday evening until Friday morning, mostly for elevations above 6,500 feet. Because of accumulating snowfall and strong wind gusts, travel could be very difficult at times. As a cold front moves through the area we will see increasing clouds and wind gusts reaching over 30 mph in the Denver metro. Clouds will be followed by rain showers this evening that will transition to snowfall overnight. Weather tomorrow: Clearing in the morning for DenverThere will be a few morning showers and a couple of inches of snowfall, mostly for elevations above 6,500 feet. The chanc...

How investigators used cell phone towers to track the rock-throwing suspects

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 17:56:48 GMT

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) -- FOX31 learned new details about what led to the arrest of three high school seniors suspected of a rock-throwing crime spree that killed a 20-year-old woman.Arrest documents released Thursday show investigators used cell phone towers to track down the suspects and match their location to where the crimes occurred.  Rock-throwing suspect said they were ‘blood brothers’ after spree, documents show According to the affidavit, detectives requested a "tower dump," which shows all the data recorded by a single cell phone tower during a specific time frame.Eleven phone numbers bounced off the four cell phone towers in question, according to the affidavit. "One in particular showed a path that travelled the same time frames of the incidences reported using the four towers, and that phone passed the area of the death of the victim at the same time that the victim, Alexa, stopped talking," the document reads. That phone reportedly belonged to one of the sus...

Marchand: Postal ‘reform’ fails taxpayers, consumers

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 17:56:48 GMT

Last year, President Biden signed the Postal Service Reform Act (PSRA) into law and heralded a new era of fiscal accountability for America’s mail carrier. Clearly, the law has failed to get the U.S. Postal Service back on firmer footing.Despite forgiving nearly $60 billion in postal debt, the agency continues to spend more than it takes in. According to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the service will lose an additional $60 billion to $70 billion by 2030. Taxpayers are paying the price through historic and above-inflation increases in stamp prices. Policymakers must halt the sorry slide in postal finances. PSRA-style bailouts will only result in higher costs and declining service standards for taxpayers and consumers.Abysmal postal finances are nothing new. In the 15 years before PSRA, the service lost $100 billion despite taxpayer subsidies and preferential treatment from the Treasury. Before “postal reform,” pundits and lawmakers claimed that the service was losing money due to a...

Girls track All-Scholastics and league All-Stars

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 17:56:48 GMT

GIRLS TRACK ALL-SCHOLASTICSObi Akubude (Concord-Carlisle) 55 hurdles/300Kylee Bernard (Cambridge) 600Sarah Claflin (Pembroke) 55Ava Criniti (Lexington) 2-mileSarah Dumas (Franklin) pentathlonAmelia Everett (Newton South) 1000Brianna Ewansiha (Peabody) high jumpGrace Hanafin (Burlington) long jumpRonnie Jones (Lowell) shot putCamille Jordan (Brookline) mileNyrah Joseph (Billerica) pentathlonBrooke Serak (Bishop Feehan) shot put4×200 (Lowell): Ronnie Jones, Quinn Petzold, Bridget Geary, Britney Ogiegor4×400 (Woburn): Nicole Gangi, Sydney Metivier, Leah Finn, Riley Power, Kayla Buback4×800 (Brookline): Audrey Seeger, Camille Jordan, Dasha LeFaivre, Zara Chaudry, Jordan Liss-RiordanOBI AKUBUDECONCORD-CARLISLEAkubude chalked up victories in the 55 hurdles and 300 at All-States. The team MVP holds school records in both events and defended her Dual County League title in both. The varsity swimmer is an honor roll student and earned the Oberlin Book Award. She will study phy...

McGhee: Tobacco ban hurts law enforcement, tax collection

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 17:56:48 GMT

In June 2020, Massachusetts became the first state to implement a ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco products.  Although supporters of this proposal believed that the ban would curb usage of these products, that’s not what has happened.  Massachusetts has not realized any public health benefits as sales simply dispersed across borders, leaving the state with less revenue and a significant growing illicit market.As a former Massachusetts State Trooper who served 24 years protecting citizens in the Commonwealth, I can tell you that prohibition doesn’t work.  The Massachusetts flavor ban on tobacco products is yet another illustration that policies aimed at banning products do more harm than good. The 2020 flavor ban only increased illicit markets and related criminal activities and now the state’s cigarette smuggling rate ranks in the top 10.Instead of relying on punitive measures that target consumers and underserved communities, the state should focus on harm reduction p...