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Feeling healthy again, Marcus Smart puts defensive stamp on Celtics’ Game 1 win

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:18 GMT

It certainly has not been the smoothest season for Marcus Smart. The Celtics guard, by his own admission, has not played up to his standard on defense. He’s been hampered by injuries, which included an 11-game absence earlier this year due to a right ankle injury.But as the playoffs begin, Smart may be returning to form at the perfect time.Smart declared earlier this week that he’s feeling close to 100 percent physically, which is something he hasn’t been able to say in years. In Saturday’s Game 1 victory over the Hawks, that meant the Celtics got their reigning Defensive Player of the Year’s best in one of their strongest defensive performances of the season.“It allows me to be able to box out the bigs,” Smart said of being close to full health. “To be able to go get rebounds. To be able to help Al (Horford) and Rob (Williams). To be able to help D-White, Jaylen (Brown) and Jayson (Tatum) on that end. To be able to run the show defensively and get the guys where they’re suppo...

Heat’s Max Strus asking for a friend at NBA (and maybe should consider smaller shoes)

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:18 GMT

Max Strus took the direct flight with the Miami Heat to Milwaukee for Sunday’s playoff opener against the Bucks at Fiserv Forum.But you hardly could blame the fourth-year wing if he had planned a stop in Secaucus, NJ., home of the NBA’s Replay Center.Or at least stopped at a shoe store to perhaps look at a small sneaker size.For the second time in as many postseasons, Strus in Friday night’s play-in victory over the Chicago Bulls saw a successful 3-pointer retroactively rescinded by the NBA Replay Center for apparently having part of his foot on the sideline.Last season, the stakes were considerably higher when a Strus 3-pointer was rescinded well after the fact for the same reason during the Heat’s Game 7 loss in the Eastern Conference finals to the Boston Celtics.Unlike the 2022 playoffs, when there was a considerable lag before the ruling on Strus’ 3-pointer was recalculated on the scoreboard, Friday’s action was relatively swift, because of wh...

One woman in life-threatening condition after hit-and-run in Bloor and Aberfoyle area

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:18 GMT

One woman is in life-threatening condition after being struck by a vehicle in the Bloor Street West and Aberfoyle Crescent area on Sunday morning.COLLISION:Bloor St W & Aberfoyle Cres8:24am– pedestrian struck by vehicle– driver fled the scene– victim is unconscious & breathing– police, fire and medics o/s– e/b Bloor closed at Aberfoyle Cres– use alternate routes– anyone with info, call 416-808-2222#GO839391^se— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) April 16, 2023Police responded to a call of a pedestrian struck by vehicle at approximately 8:24 a.m. where the driver fled the scene.The female victim was found unconscious but breathing and was sent to a trauma centre in life-threatening condition.Police, fire and medics remain on scene and eastbound Bloor is closed at Aberfoyle Crescent.

Authorities: 4 killed, multiple injuries in Alabama shooting

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:18 GMT

Four people have been killed and multiple people injured during a shooting Saturday night in Dadeville, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said.WRBL-TV reported the shooting occurred at a dance studio during a possible birthday party. The state Law Enforcement Agency released little information about the shooting. The station showed images of crime scene tape around a brick building.There was no initial confirmation about what led to the shooting, It was not immediately known if a suspect was in custody.“This morning, I grieve with the people of Dadeville and my fellow Alabamians. Violent crime has NO place in our state, and we are staying closely updated by law enforcement as details emerge,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement posted on social media.Dadeville is about 57 miles (92 kilometers) northeast of Montgomery, Alabama.The Associated Press

Reports: Militants kill 26 people in Syrian countryside

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:18 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic State militants have killed 26 people who were foraging for wild truffles in Syria’s Hama region, opposition and state media reported Sunday.Amid the economic devastation of Syria’s yearslong war, foraging for truffles can help people earn money, as the seasonal delicacy fetches a high price.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition media group based in Britain, said civilians and military personnel were among the victims of the armed attack in the eastern outskirts of the city of Hama, 115 miles (186 kilometers) north of the capital Damascus.State news agency SANA said that the attack was carried out by members of the Islamic State group.Despite their defeat in Syria in March 2019, the militant group’s sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks both in Syria and Iraq where they once held territories and declared a “caliphate.” Since the truffle hunters work in large groups in remote areas, IS militants have repeatedly preyed on them, emerg...

Europe’s most powerful nuclear reactor kicks off in Finland

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:18 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s much-delayed and costly new nuclear reactor, Europe’s most powerful by production capacity, has completed a test phase lasting over a year and started regular output, boosting the Nordic country’s electricity self-sufficiency significantly. The Olkiluoto 3 reactor, which has 1,600-megawatt capacity, was connected into the Finnish national power grid in March 2022 and kicked off regular production on Sunday. Operator Teollisuuden Voima, or TVO, tweeted that “Olkiluoto 3 is now ready” after a delay of 14 years from the original plan.It will help Finland to achieve its carbon neutrality targets and increase energy security at a time when European countries have cut oil, gas and other power supplies from Russia, Finland’s neighbor. “The production of Olkiluoto 3 stabilizes the price of electricity and plays an important role in the Finnish green transition,” said TVO President and CEO Jarmo Tanhua in a statement. The company added that “the electricity pr...

New push on US-run free electronic tax-filing system for all

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:18 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s that time of year when throngs of taxpayers are buckling down to file their income tax returns before Tuesday’s filing deadline. Many often pay to use software from private companies such as Intuit and H&R Block.Almost one-quarter of Americans wait until the last minute to file their taxes. There could be a new, free option in future years. The IRS has been tasked with looking into how to create a government-operated electronic free-file tax return system for all. But that doesn’t sit well with the big tax-prep companies.The idea has been batted around and hotly debated for a long time. Congress now has directed the IRS to report in on how such a system might work.The order came as part of the $80 billion infusion of money for the tax agency over the next 10 years under the Democrats’ flagship climate and health care measure, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, that President Joe Biden signed last summer. It gave the IRS nine months and $15 million...

More than 20 shot, 4 killed at Alabama birthday party

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:18 GMT

DADEVILLE, Ala. (WRBL) - At least four people were killed Saturday night in a shooting at a celebration in Alabama, according to law enforcement.Witnesses said the gathering where the shooting occurred was a 16th birthday party at Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio in downtown Dadeville. Investigators told Nexstar's WRBL a suspected altercation led to a shooting around 10:30 p.m. Witnesses reported hearing multiple gunshots and people running and screaming from the building.The total number of people shot was initially reported as more than 20. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s (ALEA) State Bureau of Investigations, which confirmed the deaths Sunday morning, did not give an updated number of people injured. The injured were transported to local hospitals for medical attention Saturday night. Details about the suspect(s) or motives have not yet been released by authorities. Ten hours after the shooting, crime scene tape still surrounded the dance studio. A tarp hung over the glass ...

Texas School for the Deaf announces new superintendent

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:18 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Texas School for the Deaf will have new leadership, following the announcement of its next superintendent.Peter L. Bailey was selected to serve as the 28th superintendent of TSD, according to a Friday news release. Bailey's upcoming tenure comes in the wake of Superintendent Claire Bugen's retirement following 25 years leading TSD and 48 years teaching at the school.Bailey has "served in a number of leadership positions in the field of Deaf Education" for more than 30 years, per the release. Some of his prior experience includes leading as a school administrator at The Learning Center for the Deaf in Massachusetts, the Maryland School for the Deaf, the Delaware School for the Deaf, the Texas School for the Deaf and the American School for the Deaf in Connecticut. TEXAS EDUCATION NEWS: Education Savings Accounts draw support, concern at the Capitol Currently, he works as superintendent at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Philadelphia.Bailey's education i...

Faye Flam: Don’t blame medical misinformation for shrinking life spans

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:18 GMT

FDA commissioner Robert Califf said in an interview that aired this week that misinformation is killing Americans — contributing to the fact that our life expectancy is three to five years worse than that of people in comparably wealthy countries. He called for better regulation to crack down on misinformation. But would such rules help?I studied medical misinformation as part of a journalism fellowship, and as I’ve written in previous columns, there is a real danger when misinformed people skip lifesaving vaccines or buy into risky, untested treatments. Yet policing misinformation is tricky.The fact-checking industry may even make the problem worse by confusing value judgments with facts, and by portraying science as a set of immutable facts, rather than a system of inquiry that constructs provisional theories based on imperfect data.The advent of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT will only magnify the confusion — the latest version, with GPT-4, is slick,...