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Florida lawmakers OK budget, end session quietly and go home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:57 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — After 60 tumultuous days fighting about abortion, immigration, LGBTQ+ issues, guns and teaching sexuality in schools, the Florida Legislature ended its annual session by unanimously passing a $117 billion state budget Friday.The ending was a stark contrast to the the two months leading up to it, with cheers instead of jeers and unity instead of divisiveness.“I’ve been getting texts all day from people who’ve been in the process for years. One said in 50 years, he has never seen such a seamless session,” Republican President Kathleen Passidomo said while standing with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican House Speaker Paul Renner.Most years, the last day of session drags on well past sunset as the final trading on important legislation goes back and forth. This year, DeSantis told lawmakers not to save the biggest items for the last week.Other than the budget, which was passed before noon Friday, that was largely accomplished. Seamless, of course, is i...

Suspect arrested after eight killed in Serbia’s second mass shooting in two days

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:57 GMT

(CNN) — A man suspected of killing at least eight people in Serbia has been arrested following a massive manhunt, leaving the country reeling from its second mass shooting in just two days.The latest shooting happened late on Thursday night when an attacker opened fire in the village of Dubona, about 60 kilometers (about 37 miles) southeast of the Serbian capital Belgrade, Serbian media reported.He then fled the scene, before later opening fire in two other villages, Mali Orasje and Sepsin.More than 600 members of Serbian Special Forces were deployed to search for the suspect, according to the public broadcaster RTS, with authorities deploying helicopters and thermal imaging cameras. All special police units were engaged, including an anti-terrorism unit, helicopter unit, and police forces from the cities of Belgrade and Smederevo.The suspect — identified by authorities as a 21-year-old male named Uros B — was arrested on Friday morning. Serbian police co...

The way the US government tracks Covid-19 is about to change

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:57 GMT

(CNN) — When the US public health emergency ends May 11, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will have to change some of the ways it tracks Covid-19 in the United States, but the agency says it won’t lose its sightlines on the infection as it continues to be part of American life.On Thursday, for the first time in three years, the CDC will stop posting a national count of Covid-19 cases. The agency’s color-coded maps of county-level transmission and disease burden will be retired, the CDC will no longer track variants down to the state level, and it will update its genomic surveillance estimates every two weeks instead of weekly.“Though our data going forward will be different, they will continue to provide timely insights for CDC, for local health officials, as well as for the public to understand Covid-19 dynamics,” CDC Principal Deputy Director Dr. Nirav Shah said.“In short, we will still be able to tell that it’s ...

Dennis Barnes, a 16-year-old senior, picks Cornell University after getting over 185 college acceptances

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:57 GMT

(CNN) — Dennis “Maliq” Barnes, the New Orleans high school senior who was accepted at over 185 colleges and received more than $10 million in scholarship offers, announced Friday that he will attend Cornell University in the fall.Barnes made the announcement from his school, International High School of New Orleans.“I have committed to attend Cornell University and intend to pursue computer science and to later move on to practice software development,” said Barnes, who put on a Cornell University sweatshirt during the announcement. “Today is an exciting day for me and my family and I look forward to working with Cornell’s college of engineering over the course of my undergraduate education.”Barnes, who has a 4.98 GPA and is graduating two years early, told CNN last month he wanted to pursue computer science and then go to law school. He started applying to schools in August 2022 and said that he didn’t initially intend...

Ravens 2023 undrafted free agent tracker: Maryland WR Dontay Demus Jr. among 18 additions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:57 GMT

With the NFL draft over, the Ravens have turned their attention to the undrafted market.Baltimore entered the draft with 63 players and made six picks, leaving space to add a big class. Here’s a look at the 18 announced additions:Maryland wide receiver Dontay Demus Jr.: The 6-foot-3, 213-pound Demus, a Washington native, ranks fifth in career receiving touchdowns (14), seventh in career receiving yards (2,008) and ninth in career receptions (125) in Maryland history after five seasons with the Terps. A three-time All-Big Ten honorable mention, Demus suffered a season-ending knee injury during the fifth game of the 2021 season but returned to start 12 games a senior, catching 22 passes for 233 yards and one touchdown.East Carolina running back Keaton Mitchell: The 5-8, 179-pound Mitchell is the son of Anthony Mitchell, who earned a roster spot with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2000 and was a reserve during the team’s run to the Super Bowl title. The younger Mi...

Giants’ Dexter Lawrence on new contract: ‘I wanted to be respected for my production and leadership’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:57 GMT

Dexter Lawrence crashed Friday’s first rookie minicamp practice with a new contract under his belt and a huge smile on his face.“I wanted to be respected for my production and leadership around here,” he said of his absence from the early offseason program during the negotiations. “I wasn’t out to set any records.”Lawrence landed a life-changing, four-year, $90 million contract with $60 million guaranteed but said he won’t let his new wealth define him.“Money is just what I have now,” he said. “It’s not who I am as a person.”He said “my ultimate goal is to be legendary, to be a Hall of Famer,” and getting paid isn’t a regular topic among his closest teammates and friends.“People I’m around just talk about being great,” he said.He also said he believes Saquon Barkley’s contract standoff will eventually be resolved, too.“I think Saquon is going to get what he deserve...

Column: Does the ‘Bridgerton’ prequel ‘Queen Charlotte’ whitewash British racism?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:57 GMT

Nina Metz | Chicago TribuneFew TV producers draw mass audiences as reliably as Shonda Rhimes, who correctly predicted Julia Quinn’s Regency-era “Bridgerton” romance novels would appeal to millions. Building off that success, Rhimes’ latest effort for Netflix is a prequel series that takes place several decades prior to the events of the books. This time, though, the central character isn’t fictional but very much part of the historical record.“Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” looks at the queen’s “rise to prominence and power,” with her 1761 marriage as a teenager to King George. As with the first two seasons of “Bridgerton,” it features a likable ensemble cast that generates smoldering earnestness with a soupcon of camp. There’s real chemistry between the central pair. The settings are opulent and vivid. I suspect anyone who has enjoyed “Bridgerton” so far will find many of the same pleasures herein.But both series sidestep a glaring reality: The significant links to slavery am...

Craft loans her Kentucky GOP campaign an additional $2M

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:57 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Republican Kelly Craft pumped another $2.25 million into her campaign for Kentucky governor, as her family’s wealth fuels an advertising blitz in the final run against rival Daniel Cameron for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in November.With the latest installments, Craft has loaned her campaign more than $9 million, her campaign finance report showed this week. The former United Nations ambassador is married to coal magnate Joe Craft.Her access to vast funds to bankroll her campaign gives Craft a crucial advantage as the 12-candidate GOP gubernatorial contest reaches the final stretch before the May 16 primary.Cameron, the state’s attorney general, had more than $340,000 of campaign cash on hand for the final push, though he’s also backed by a well-financed outside group that has run ads attacking Craft.Another GOP gubernatorial candidate, state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, had more than $450,000 in cam...

Review: Lovano’s trio is post-free jazz in a chamber setting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:57 GMT

“Our Daily Bread,” Joe Lovano’s Trio Tapestry (ECM)The latest album from saxophonist Joe Lovano’s Trio Tapestry has almost no pulse but plenty of heart and soul.“Our Daily Bread,” released Friday, is post-free jazz in a chamber setting, and absorbing despite the lack of a bass or beat. Lovano’s eight original compositions leave plenty of space for individual explorations by the sax man, drummer Carmen Castaldi and pianist Marilyn Crispell, even when they’re all playing at the same time.Look elsewhere for swing, torrents of notes or chord changes. There is momentum to the music, however, as the trio pushes jazz forward, using silence as an instrument to build space between the players and what they play. The result is a set of tunes that float, undulating and unhurried, creating a mood of reflection but also liberation.Lovano’s minimalist meditations include the flowing and lyrical title cut, which almost finds a steady rhythm, and the chromatic “All Twelve,” framed by an angular, ed...

Chile to choose constitutional council, but apathy reigns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:57 GMT

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile will vote Sunday to choose 50 delegates to a council that will draw up a new Constitution, after voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed charter last year that was widely described as one of the world’s most progressive. It’s the latest step in a process to replace the country’s dictatorship-era charter that began with massive protests in 2019. For the most part, though, Chileans appear to be greeting this latest phase with a collective shrug.“I’m only going to vote because I don’t want to pay the fine,” said Patricia Borzone, a 45-year-old architect.Borzone is hardly alone as surveys have shown there’s a general apathy in this South American country regarding the vote while many seem to know little about who is on the ballot. Polls conducted by Criteria and Cadem in late March and April, respectively, indicated that nearly 70% of those surveyed said they had little or no interest in Sunday’s vote.The election Sunday will be a key step in the eff...