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What led to MLB’s decision to play Tuesday’s Cubs-Phillies game at Wrigley Field in ‘very unhealthy’ air quality conditions?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:21 GMT

Baseball fans have been inundated by new stats over the years, from WAR to wRC+ and exit velocity to barrels.Welcome to the club, AQI.Air Quality Index, the latest addition to the baseball glossary, has been picking up speed since early June, when the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals had games postponed due to poor air quality from the wildfires in Canada.The Chicago Cubs were the latest team to deal with air quality issues Tuesday when the AQI in Chicago reached a level deemed “very unhealthy.” MLB had several discussions with the Players Association before gametime, but ultimately opted not to postpone it, which resulted in Philadelphia’s 5-1 win in a smoky haze.Ian Happ, the Cubs player representative, said afterward the union was consulted on the decision, adding “the league felt the levels were playable” and “there wasn’t going to be any harm” if they played.“You smell it, you taste it, but yo...

Chicago Cubs lose 5-1 to Philadelphia Phillies after MLB opts to play despite ‘very unhealthy’ air alert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:21 GMT

The Chicago Cubs have played in worse-looking conditions at Wrigley Field than Tuesday night’s 5-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.Few can forget the Cubs game against the Atlanta Braves in April 2018 when the wild chill was 25 degrees and players were drenched from the howling rain and a hawk wind in their face the entire afternoon. The Braves blew an eight-run, eighth-inning lead, and cried about the conditions afterward. “If we all don’t come out of here with pneumonia I think we’ll be alright,” Braves reliever Luke Jackson said.But sometimes looks are deceiving. The air quality in Chicago on Tuesday was at a level deemed “very unhealthy” by the Illinois EPA due to smoke from the wildfires in Canada. Commissioner Rob Manfred’s office and the MLB Players Association convened during the day to determine whether to postpone the game, but the league opted to play on.The collective bargaining agreement dictated the decision on such a c...

Chicago White Sox get full Shohei Ohtani experience as Los Angeles Angels two-way star homers twice and strikes out 10

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:21 GMT

The Chicago White Sox didn’t have much success slowing down Shohei Ohtani at the plate.And they didn’t take full advantage of the few opportunities they had to capitalize while hitting against him either.The Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar homered twice and struck out 10 Sox batters in 6 1/3 innings. The Sox got the complete Ohtani experience in a 4-2 loss to the Angels in front of 33,637 on Tuesday at Angel Stadium.“He’s extremely talented,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “He’s probably the best player in the game, so he was tough to hit and he’s tough to pitch to.”Ohtani homered to right in the first against Michael Kopech. The Sox starter struggled with his command, walking seven in four-plus innings. But Kopech got out of a couple of jams, particularly in the second when two Angels were thrown out attempting to steal second.“Can’t give away that many free bases,” Kopech said. “Whether the misses a...

Debris from implosion of Titanic-bound submersible is returned to land

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:21 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Debris from the lost submersible Titan has been returned to land after a fatal implosion during its voyage to the wreck of the Titanic captured the world's attention last week.The return of the debris to port in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, is a key piece of the investigation into why the submersible imploded, killing all five people on board. Twisted chunks of the 22-foot submersible came ashore at a Canadian Coast Guard pier on Wednesday.Horizon Arctic, a Canadian ship, carried a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, to search the ocean floor near the Titanic wreck for pieces of the submersible. Pelagic Research Services, a company with offices in Massachusetts and New York that owns the ROV, said in a statement on Wednesday that it has completed offshore operations.Pelagic Research Services said its team is “still on mission” and cannot comment on the ongoing Titan investigation, which involves several government agencies in the U.S. and Canada.“They...

Photos: Construction worker trapped in trench at site in La Jolla Shores

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:21 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A construction worker became stuck in trench from the waist down at the site of a single family home in La Jolla Shores on Wednesday.The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department confirmed around 8:55 a.m. that crews are working to rescue the trapped individual in the 8000 block of El Paseo Grande.Fire officials say the construction worker is conscious and alert. 13 live parrots seized at US-Mexico border A construction worker became stuck in trench from the waist down at the site of a single family home in La Jolla Shores. (KSWB)A construction worker became stuck in trench from the waist down at the site of a single family home in La Jolla Shores. (KSWB)There is no word yet on how long it may take to extricate the person from the trench.At this time, no traffic disruptions have been reported in the area.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Adrian becomes hurricane off Mexico’s Pacific coast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:21 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Adrian became the first hurricane of the eastern Pacific hurricane season Wednesday off Mexico’s western Pacific coast.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Adrian had sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph). The storm was expected to reach hurricane strength later Wednesday, but keep heading out to sea.On Tuesday afternoon, the storm’s center was located about 360 miles (575 kilometers) southwest of the Pacific coast seaport of Manzanillo, Mexico.The center said Adrian was moving west at about 8 mph (13 kph), and that general motion was expected to continue. Adrian was expected to build to hurricane strength by Wednesday, but would likely weaken again to a tropical storm by the weekend.The Associated Press

1,145 people remain evacuated as crews dig containment line around Arizona brush fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:21 GMT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Crews have successfully dug a containment line around a brush fire in northern Scottsdale that has burned 3.9 square miles (10 square kilometers) and threatened about 100 homes, authorities said Wednesday.Fire officials said 1,145 people will remain evacuated from their homes until it’s determined that the containment line will hold up in expected windy conditions.Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management spokesperson Tiffany Davila said the cause of the fire is under investigation.The blaze, called the Diamond Fire, broke out around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday and quickly grew — fueled by grass and brush.“We had very successful overnight. We have a line around the entire fire and people are starting to do mop-up,” Davila said at a news conference. “But we may still see flare-ups.”Davila said the fire is considered “zero percent contained” until the containment line holds “and will in the wind.” “People might not see smoke right now, but that doesn’t me...

Man convicted of driving into fundraiser crowd, then killing mother gets 2 life terms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:21 GMT

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A man convicted of driving into a fundraiser crowd in Pennsylvania last summer, killing one and injuring 19 others, then going home and bludgeoning his mother to death has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.President Judge Gary Norton told Adrian Oswaldo Sura Reyes, 25, in Columbia County Court on Tuesday that his crimes “were the result of pure evil” as he sentenced him to two life terms in the two deaths. He also imposed an additional 123 to 380 years on 19 counts of attempted homicide.Authorities said Sura Reyes told investigators that he was driving in Berwick after arguing with his mother Aug. 13 and was “tired of fighting with his mother, including about money, and wanted to be done with it.” At the same time, about 75 people had gathered in a blocked-off parking lot outside the Intoxicology Department bar for a fundraiser to benefit victims of a blaze in Nescopeck more than a week earlier that had killed seven adults and thre...

Trudeau announces child-care infrastructure funding to build more spaces

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:21 GMT

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced $625 million of funding to help provinces and territories build child-care infrastructure. Trudeau says the money will be rolled out over four years and will help providers renovate, retrofit and build new not-for-profit and public child-care facilities. The announcement follows through on the child-care infrastructure fund promised by the Liberal government in the 2022 budget.It’s meant to complement the national child-care program, which aims to deliver child care for $10 a day, on average, by 2026. Parents have already seen fees reduced by an average of at least 50 per cent across the country. Advocates and experts have raised concerns about a lack of spaces to accommodate the growing demand for subsidized child care. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2023. The Canadian Press

A jury found Trump responsible for sexual abuse. Now he’s suing his accuser for saying she was raped

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is trying to turn the tables on the advice columnist who won a $5 million jury award against him in a sexual abuse lawsuit, saying in a countersuit that she owes him money and a retraction for continuing to insist she was raped even after a jury declined to agree.Lawyers for the Republican presidential candidate filed papers late Tuesday saying E. Jean Carroll should pay Trump unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and retract her damaging statements.The countersuit comes a month after Carroll’s lawyers filed a rewritten defamation lawsuit seeking at least $10 million more from Trump over comments he made after the jury verdict in May.The jury concluded after a two-week trial that Trump sexually abused Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in spring 1996. It also found that he defamed her in comments he made denying the attack last October.But the jury rejected Carroll’s claim, first made in a 2019 memoir,...