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Lot of ‘good’ in Montgomery County’s $6.8 billion budget plan, but council leader has questions

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:57 GMT

Montgomery County, Maryland, council members began going over a $6.8 billion budget plan submitted by County Executive Marc Elrich.In a briefing with reporters Monday, Council President Evan Glass said, “There’s a lot in this budget. There’s a lot of good,” but there are also a lot of questions.More Montgomery County NewsMore Maryland NewsMore Local NewsAmong those questions, Glass said, is whether the county can use one-time revenues to pay for recurring expenses.According to a memo from legislative staff sent to the council, the fiscal year 2024 budget presents “significant growth” after two years, and it could result in a $145 million structural deficit in fiscal year 2025.When Elrich laid out his operating budget in March, he said that calling for an increase of 10 cents on the county’s property tax rate was not a decision he came to lightly, but the county is “at an inflection point” and that an increase in the school’...

Heaney has AL record-tying 9 straight Ks, Rangers top Royals

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:57 GMT

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Andrew Heaney tied an AL record by striking out nine consecutive batters, Adolis Garcia’s sixth-inning grand slam was one of three Texas home runs and the Rangers routed the Kansas City Royals 11-2 on Monday night.Heaney (1-1) began the streak by fanning Matt Duffy and Nicky Lopez to end the first inning, then struck out the side in the second and third innings. After Salvador Perez went down swinging leading off the fourth inning, Matt Duffy ended the streak with a flyout to right field.Heaney threw 93 pitches and left after five innings, allowing two runs – one earned – on two hits. That after he allowed seven runs and recorded only eight outs last Tuesday in his Texas debut.“I felt like I owed it to the guys, owed it to the fans, to myself to be better than what I was,” said Heaney, who signed as a free agent in December. After three of the first four batters reached and resulted in an unearned run, he said, “It all just kind of like started just going. It...

Giroux leads Senators over Hurricanes, reaches 1,000 points

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:57 GMT

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Ottawa Senators forward Claude Giroux joined an illustrious group Monday night with a pair of goals and an assist in a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes to reach 1,000 career NHL points.Giroux became the 96th player to achieve the milestone.“Yeah, I mean, I have a lot of family here right now,” said Giroux. “So, it’s special and my wife and my two boys are here and my parents and it was really cool.”The 35-year-old entered the game needing two points to hit the momentous marker and took less than one period to make it happen.Giroux picked up point 999 with his 33rd goal of the season just after the five-minute mark and number 1,000 came on an assist when he set up Tim Stutzle with under three minutes remaining in the period.Captain Brady Tkachuk had a secondary assist on the play and motioned to his teammates to join him on the ice to celebrate the moment.“Yeah, just trying to keep my emotions intact and you know, I knew it was going to happen that they wer...

Morrissey helps Jets beat Sharks 6-2 to close in on playoffs

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:57 GMT

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Josh Morrissey had a goal and two assists as the Winnipeg Jets beat the San Jose Sharks 6-2 Monday night to move closer toward securing a playoff berth.Adam Lowry, Mason Appleton, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and assist, and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored for the Jets. Nino Niederreiter and Dylan DeMelo each had two assists. Connor Hellebuyck made 19 saves in his 12th consecutive start as Winnipeg finished a five-game homestand 4-1-0.“I think we’re playing with a freedom since we got back off the road,” Morrissey said. “For this entire homestand, we got some nice rest, which was awesome after a tough stretch of road hockey.”The Jets, who received a standing ovation from 13,428 fans shouting “Go Jets Go” at Canada Life Centre, play their final two regular season games on the road against Minnesota and Colorado. Winnipeg now has 93 points and can clinch the Western Conference’s final wild card berth by gaining at least a point in their final ...

Márquez exits after 5 with arm ailment, Rox beat Cards 7-4

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:57 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Germán Márquez pitched five strong innings before leaving with tightness in his right forearm, Alan Trejo tied a career-high with three hits and the Colorado Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 on Monday night.Márquez (2-1) was warming up for the sixth inning when he began rubbing his forearm as manager Bud Black and the trainers gathered around him. He exited to a cheer from the crowd after an outing in which he allowed two runs and struck out four. The hard-throwing righty now has 979 career strikeouts, which is six away from tying Jorge De La Rosa’s mark for most K’s in Rockies history.The Rockies’ young shortstop Ezequiel Tovar had a pair of doubles, while Trejo added three singles and two RBIs. It was another quick one with the game lasting 2 hours, 14 minutes. Colorado has yet to have a game go longer than three hours. Steven Matz (0-2) struggled for a second straight start, allowing six runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings. He surrendered four runs o...

Strome helps Capitals deal hit to Islanders’ playoff hopes

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ilya Sorokin allowed three goals on the first nine shots he faced behind a sloppy defense, and the New York Islanders’ playoff hopes took a significant hit with a 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday night.The Islanders needed only to win out against opponents out of contention to return to then postseason after a one-year absence. After an uninspired effort that lacked the intensity and urgency the situation warranted, they’ll need help to secure one of the two wild cards in the Eastern Conference with just one game left to play.New York trails Florida by one point in the standings after the Panthers lost in overtime to Toronto. Pittsburgh is one point back but has two games left against the two worst teams in the NHL, Tuesday against Chicago and Thursday at Columbus, while the Panthers have one remaining.Dylan Strome, Rasmus Sandin and Craig Smith scored in the first 13-plus minutes of the game, but Sorokin settled in to make 20 saves. Strome and Tom Wil...

Scherzer rebounds, Mets blank Padres 5-0 in playoff rematch

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Max Scherzer’s first matchup with the San Diego Padres this season sure went a lot better than his last one.The three-time Cy Young Award winner shut down San Diego for five innings, rebounding from his 2022 postseason flop, and the New York Mets won 5-0 Monday night in a playoff rematch between National League heavyweights.“I’m not broken,” Scherzer said, chuckling. “I know what I’m capable of when I pitch and locate.”Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor each laced a two-run double as the Mets finally beat Yu Darvish for the first time. Eduardo Escobar added a sacrifice fly, and four relievers finished a two-hitter in the opener of a three-game series pitting two of baseball’s three biggest spenders against each other.A clean single by Ha-Seong Kim off Scherzer (2-1) with one out in the fifth was San Diego’s only hit until the ninth. The 38-year-old right-hander struck out six and walked three in a 97-pitch outing that followed a shaky defeat in Milwau...

Brewery to fulfill merch orders made after Club Q mass shooting

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:57 GMT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KDVR) — The owners of a Colorado Springs brewery say they are fulfilling orders made in the wake of the Club Q mass shooting.Richard Fierro, who owns Atrevida Beer Company with his wife, helped stopped the Club Q shooter in November. After the account of Fierro's involvement went public, people flooded the brewery's website to buy merchandise.The couple said they have struggled to fill those orders because they just did not have the capacity. "As a company, this has been the most overwhelming and intimidating situation we have found ourselves in, while being in the midst of chaos. The biggest factor here is that we are also human where real human emotions take precedence at times," reads a statement from Atrevida Beer Company. Former principal, secretary accused of embezzling $100,000 from high school They say they have not received any of the sales funds, as they were held because of the significant influx in purchases.Now, they want customers to know th...

Div. 3-5 softball preview: Many teams leaning on new talent

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:57 GMT

The Div. 3 state champion Greater New Bedford girls head into 2023 needing to close the gaps left by graduates Madison Medeiros, Lena Tsonis and Kylee Caetano.Pitcher/first baseman Hayleigh Silva, second baseman Hailey Soares and outfielder/catcher Savanah Dubois take charge of a Bears squad made up mostly of back-ups and role players from a year ago.Middleboro, Greater New Bedford’s opponent in last year’s state final, graduated only one senior. All-Scholastic and South Shore League All-Star Cassidy Machado struck out 173 batters in 120 innings, while hitting .367 also. Melody Rees and Alexandra Welch will be dangerous at the plate as well for the Sachems.St. Mary’s has nine players returning. Anna Fringuelli (outfielder, pitcher), Riley Zukas (outfielder) and Angie Catino (first baseman) are the senior leaders for the Spartans, who reached the state semifinals last season.Cape Ann League All-Stars Kyla Story, Haleigh Harris and Skylar Colburn are back to boost the Triton offense. ...

Crisp: We could go to Mars – but why should we?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:57 GMT

Last week NASA announced the names of the four astronauts who will crew Artemis II, a 10-day mission planned for November 2024. The expedition will boost humans out of an Earth-bound orbit for the first time since 1972 and put them into orbit around the moon, in preparation for subsequent missions that will include lunar landings.Experienced astronaut Christina Koch, who will be the first woman to reach the moon, is thinking beyond the lunar surface. During her 328-day stay at the International Space Station, she read aloud from a children’s book titled “Hey-Ho, to Mars We Will Go.”Visionary Elon Musk isn’t bothering with the moon. He has announced his goal to colonize Mars by establishing a city of 1 million people on the Red Planet by 2050.In some respects, travel to the moon and other planets seems logical and thoroughly consistent with our history. Civilization has often been driven by the inherent human instinct to explore, discover and colonize, then to exploit, exhaust and mo...