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Damian Lillard has message for alma mater, Oakland High, before state championship game

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Portland Trail Blazers superstar and Oakland High alum Damian Lillard sent the basketball team a video message on Twitter a few hours before Oakland’s Division III state championship game against Buena-Ventura in Sacramento. “My young fellas, first of all, I wanted to take a moment to congratulate you guys on making the state championship,” Lillard said. “That’s something myself and my teammates and my classmates were never able to do, but it was a dream of ours.”Lillard, whose number “0”  stands for an “O” in honor of his hometown, attended Oakland for his junior and senior years before starring collegiately at Weber State and professionally with the Trailblazers. “Us being from Oakland, and being from the type of environment we come from, representing what we represent, being able to go and play in a state championship, going down to Sacramento is an honor,” Lillard said. Oakland High’s senior Damian Lillard (white head band, far left) grabs the rebound after attempting to s...

NCAA Men’s Basketball Top 25 Daily Fared

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:00 GMT

FridayNo. 1 Houston (29-2) vs. East Carolina. Next: TBA.No. 2 UCLA (28-4) vs. Oregon. Next: TBA.No. 3 Kansas (26-6) vs. Iowa St. Next: TBA.No. 4 Alabama (27-5) beat Mississippi St. 72-49. Next: vs. TBA, Saturday.No. 5 Purdue (27-5) beat Rutgers 70-65. Next: vs. TBA, Saturday.No. 6 Marquette (26-6) vs. No. 11 UConn. Next: TBA.No. 7 Texas (24-8) vs. No. 22 TCU. Next: TBA.No. 8 Arizona (26-6) vs. Arizona St. Next: TBA.No. 9 Gonzaga (28-5) did not play. Next: TBA.No. 10 Baylor (22-10) did not play. Next: TBA.No. 11 UConn (25-7) at No. 6 Marquette. Next: TBA.No. 12 Kansas St. (23-9) did not play. Next: TBA.No. 13 Virginia (24-6) vs. Clemson. Next: TBA.No. 14 Miami (25-6) vs. No. 21 Duke. Next: TBA.No. 15 Xavier (24-8) vs. No. 24 Creighton. Next: TBA.No. 16 Saint Mary’s (Cal.) (26-7) did not play. Next: TBA.No. 17 Tennessee (23-9) at No. 25 Missouri. Next: TBA.No. 18 Texas A&M (23-8) vs. Arkansas. Next: TBA.No. 19 Indiana (21-10) vs. Maryland. Next: TBA.No. 20 San Diego St. (25-...

Correction: WBC-Cuba story

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:00 GMT

HAVANA (AP) — In a story published Dec. 26, 2022, about the United States allowing Major League Baseball players from Cuba to represent their home country in the World Baseball Classic in 2023, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Cuban athletes don’t get a payment in the island. High-performing Cuban athletes do get a salary to fully dedicate to their training.Source

Boeheim bids Syracuse farewell at Autry’s introduction

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:00 GMT

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Syracuse formally introduced new men’s basketball coach Adrian Autry on Friday, but it turned into more of a celebration of Jim Boeheim, the Hall of Fame coach Autry is succeeding.The practice facility was packed with Syracuse officials and coaches, current and former players, and Otto the Orange, the mascot. All of them were there to watch the passing of the torch from the 78-year-old Boeheim, who led the program for 47 years and turned it into a national brand, to Autry, who played for Boeheim from 1990-94, became an assistant coach prior to the 2011-12 season and promoted to associate head coach in March 2017. Autry told the crowd he was committed to the “Orange standard” Boeheim had built, “the history of winning, the history of playing hard and competing for championships.” He added that decisions were yet to be made on his coaching staff, but noted that his teams would be “versatile” on defense as opposed to sticking 100% with Boeheim’s legendary 2-...

Protected: How a private investment firm CEO and lawyer team up to help small businesses thrive

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:00 GMT

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:Password: Source

Ahmaud Arbery’s killers deny racist motives in appeals

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:00 GMT

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Three white men serving prison sentences in the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery are asking an appeals court to throw out their federal hate crime convictions, with two of them arguing their histories of making racist comments don’t prove they targeted Arbery because he was Black.“Every crime committed against an African American by a man who has used racist language in the past is not a hate crime,” defense attorney Pete Theodocion said in an appellate brief written on behalf of defendant William “Roddie” Bryan.Arbery, 25, was chased by pickup trucks and fatally shot in the streets of a Georgia subdivision outside the port city of Brunswick on Feb. 23, 2020. His killing sparked a national outcry when cellphone video Bryan recorded of the shooting leaked online more than two months later.Greg McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, armed themselves with guns and pursued Arbery after he was spotted running past their home. Bryan joined the chase in his own tr...

Initial public offerings scheduled to debut next week

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The following is a list of initial public offerings planned for the coming week. Sources include IPO ETF manager Renaissance Capital, and SEC filings.Week of Mar. 13Elephant Oil – Houston, Texas, 1.4 millions shares, priced $4-$5, managed by Spartan Capital Securities. Proposed Nasdaq symbol ELEP. Business: Early-stage oil and gas E&P focused on under-explored regions in Africa.Source

NCAA Women’s Div. II Basketball Tournament Glance

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Times EST (through March 12)Times EDT (March 13)First RoundFriday, March 10Atlantic RegionAt Glenville, W.Va.Glenville St. (29-2) vs. Elizabeth City St. (20-10), 5 p.m.Shippensburg (24-6) vs. West Virginia St. (22-6), 7:30 p.m.Gannon (29-4) vs. Charleston (W.Va.) (23-8), 2:30 p.m.West Chester 80, California (Pa.) 67Central RegionAt Duluth, Minn.Minn. Duluth (27-3) vs. Southern Nazarene (27-4), 6 p.m.Central Mo. (25-4) vs. Minnesota St. (25-4), 8:30 p.m.Neb.-Kearney (28-4) vs. Pittsburg St. (22-7), 3:30 p.m.Mo. Southern St. 75, Augustana (S.D.) 74East RegionAt Worcester, Mass.Assumption (24-5) vs. Dominican (N.Y.) (21-10), 5 p.m.Le Moyne (21-6) vs. Bentley (21-9), 7:30 p.m.Southern N.H. (21-7) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (21-8), 2:30 p.m.Jefferson 74, Daemen 47Midwest RegionAt Ashland, OhioAshland (31-0) vs. Malone (21-9), 5 p.m.Michigan Tech (25-6) vs. Trevecca Nazarene (21-9), 7:30 p.m.Drury (30-1) vs. Lewis (21-10), 2:30 p.m.Grand Valley St. 81, Ky. Wesleyan 77, OTSouth RegionAt Tampa,...

Biden, EU leader hold talks on proposal on electric vehicles

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met Friday to try to complete a plan that the White House hopes will turn the page on a spat between the U.S. and European Union over electric vehicle tax credits. Biden and von der Leyen were expected to agree to open negotiations between the U.S. and the EU on a deal that could boost the use of European minerals critical in the production of electric vehicle batteries that are eligible for U.S. tax credits through Biden’s roughly $375 billion clean energy law that passed last year, according to White House officials.Biden at the start of the meeting said he and von der Leyen would discuss “driving new investments to create clean energy industries and jobs and make sure we have supply chains available” for both continents.Biden and von der Leyen are also expected to use their Oval Office meeting to discuss Western coordination to support Ukraine in the war against Russia, joint effort...

Tip led to remote shack where abducted Americans were held

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:00 GMT

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) — The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men, people wearing blindfolds and plenty of activity around a ranch.Authorities headed for the rural area east of Matamoros on Tuesday morning, leaving the highway and driving remote dirt roads looking for the described location, according to Mexican investigative documents viewed Friday by The Associated Press.Finally, they saw the wooden shack far from any homes or businesses, surrounded by brush, and a white pickup parked outside that matched the one the Americans had been loaded into last Friday. Then they began to hear someone shouting, “Help!”Inside the shack, the documents said, Latavia “Tay” McGee and Eric Williams were blindfolded. Beside them were the bodies of Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, wrapped in blankets and plastic bags. When authorities arrived, McGee and Williams shouted desperately to them in English.A guard ...