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Orlando area high school football coach changes include father-son, youth movement

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:50 GMT

Garrett Kruczek had only one name in mind when considering an offensive coordinator to join him at The Master’s Academy in Oviedo, where he was named head football coach in late March.Kruczek, 27, leads the Eagles into the start of spring practices Monday alongside former NFL quarterback and long-time coach Mike Kruczek.“It’s always been a dream of mine to coach with my dad,” Garrett said by phone Thursday afternoon. “When the opportunity arose for this job, there was no question who I wanted to run the offense.”Mike Kruczek, 70, spent the past 10 seasons as head coach at Trinity Prep. His pro and college coaching career dates to the early 1980s and includes 19 years in all at UCF after playing five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins.Trinity Prep was expected to interview candidates for its opening this week.“He’s a great mentor and senior advisor. We speak the same language when it comes to the offense,”...

Photos: About 110 people displaced by 4-alarm fire in Winthrop

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:50 GMT

Residents of an apartment building in Winthrop survived a fire that struck four alarms, sending mutual aid from surrounding communities to battle the blaze.Winthrop Police and Fire received the first reports of fire at the apartment building at 91 Veterans Road at 12:18 p.m. Friday. At the scene, the building was surrounded with heavy smoke and flames were visible.“Crews worked aggressively to extinguish the fire and struck a fourth alarm calling additional mutual aid to the scene. Multiple residents were entrapped and have since been safely rescued from the building,” the agencies wrote in a joint statement later that day.Some residents were transported to local hospitals, though authorities none were thought to suffer life-threatening injuries.In all, about 110 people were displaced and were receiving assistance from the Red Cross.Other survivors include at least one dog seen at the scene named Petey.Emergency crews shut down Shirley Street, which runs parallel to Veterans Road, a...

I-95 bridge blaze: ‘Oh my goodness’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:50 GMT

A crash involving a fuel truck and a car sparked a fire on a major Connecticut highway bridge Friday, with flames spreading to land on one side and officials closing Interstate 95 in both directions during the blaze. Officials said the truck driver died and other people were injured.The wreck happened shortly after 11 a.m. on the southbound side of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge carrying the highway over the Thames River between New London and Groton. The Gold Star actually comprises two bridges, one for southbound traffic and the other for northbound. The northbound side has since reopened.Videos from the scene showed flames burning and smoke rising from a lengthy section of the bridge and spreading to land on the Groton side. Groton Mayor Keith Hedrick said flaming debris fell from the bridge and caused brush fires below, but no one on the ground was injured. He also said no buildings caught on fire, conflicting with early reports by state police.New London’s mayor and fire chief t...

Boston climate justice advocates express mixed feelings on deflating car tires to get their message out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:50 GMT

Deflated tires one day, protest in the streets the next.Climate justice advocates hit the city again with Extinction Rebellion Boston members saying they have mixed feelings about an international eco-warrior group claiming it deflated the tires of 43 SUVs on Beacon Hill.Just under 48 hours after the group, the Tyre Extinguishers, ventured into the wealthy city neighborhood, Extinction Rebellion held its own rally Friday afternoon, calling on Gov. Maura Healey to suspend fossil fuel infrastructure projects across the state.The group marched from City Hall to the State House, calling for help from city and state officials to put residents ahead of profit from large corporations that encourage the use of fossil fuels.Extinction Rebellion Boston, in the past, has blocked city roads, trespassed into the lobby of Healey’s office at the State House and forced the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to close for a day. During some events, group members have been arrested.But deflating car tire...

Montana House speaker silences trans lawmaker for 2nd day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:50 GMT

By AMY BETH HANSON (Associated Press)HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A transgender Montana lawmaker was silenced for a second day Friday as her Republican colleagues refused to let her speak on the chamber’s floor until she apologizes for saying lawmakers would have “blood on their hands” if they passed a law to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth.The standoff is expected to continue next week, with neither side ready to back down. The bill at the heart of the issue is in the hands of Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, who has indicated he will sign it.Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr sought to speak on a bill Friday that would prevent minors from seeing pornography online, but the chair blocked the request and House Speaker Matt Regier asked lawmakers to uphold the decision he made a day earlier not to recognize her requests to speak.“I’m still going to expect the same standard for all representatives in this House. I’m still going to sta...

Area near Mall of America shut due to possibly armed suspect

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:50 GMT

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — An area near the Mall of America was closed Friday evening as authorities were negotiating with a person was was believed to have a gun. Crisis negotiators were communicating with the suspect, who “has what is believed to be a firearm” and they were trying to negotiate his surrender, the Bloomington Police Department said on Twitter.The age of the suspect was not immediately known.Roads near the mall were closed shortly before 5 p.m. Friday and officials asked the public to avoid the area.Mall of America spokesperson Laura Utecht said one mall entrance near the site of the disturbance was closed but the mall remained open.The Associated Press

U.S. Marine gets 12 years for cross-border drug smuggling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A former Marine who for years helped smuggle drugs from Mexico into the United States and even tried to get a song written to glorify his exploits was sentenced Friday to 12 years in federal prison.Roberto Salazar II, 26, of San Diego was sentenced for importing fentanyl and for conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.Salazar, who pleaded guilty last October, could have faced up to life in prison.He was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego. Prosecutors said that before joining the corps and while on active duty, he and couriers he recruited made dozens of smuggling trips across the border.Salazar would obtain cars that were driven to Mexico, where drugs were loaded into the engine compartments. Couriers would then drive them back across the border into the U.S., prosecutors said.The scheme began around 2015, authorities said.By the time of his arrest ...

Haaland defends Willow, says US won’t end oil drilling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:50 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Interior Secretary Deb Haaland defended her department’s approval of the contentious Willow oil project on Friday, saying that despite President Joe Biden’s campaign promise to end new drilling on federal lands, “We’re not going to turn the faucet off and say we’re not drilling anymore.”Speaking to the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists, Haaland said the Biden administration is “following the science and the law when it comes to everything we do, and that includes gas and oil” leases considered by her agency, which oversees U.S. public lands and waters. Despite Biden’s pledge, “We’re not going to say we’re not going to use gas and oil. That’s not reality,” Haaland said. “So we are doing the best we absolutely can.”Haaland’s comments came after the administration faced sharp criticism from some of its strongest supporters — especially young climate ...

Texas man indicted for alleged threat to kill US Rep. Waters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:50 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal grand jury indicted a Houston man Friday for allegedly calling the office of California Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters several times last year and leaving threatening voice mails, including saying he intended to “cut your throat.”Brian Michael Gaherty, 60, was charged in the indictment with four counts of making threats in interstate communications and four counts of threatening a U.S. official, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said in a statement.Gaherty was arrested April 13 after prosecutors filed a criminal complaint alleging that he had threatened Waters, other elected officials and a news reporter in Houston.The indictment says Gaherty called the congresswoman’s office four times — twice in August and twice in November — and each time left a threatening message. Prosecutors said that in one, he told the congresswoman he intended to “cut your throat.”The indictment alleged Gaherty “knowingly threatened to assault and kill” Waters ...

Tennessee Legislature wraps up; gun reform reconvene likely

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:50 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s Republican-led Legislature finished its annual session on Friday without taking action on a gun-control plan offered by the GOP governor in the wake of a deadly school shooting.House Speaker Cameron Sexton said he expects the governor will reconvene lawmakers for a gun policy-related special session. It’s unclear when or what kind of changes would be considered.“I think we owe it to Tennesseans to actually have conversations with all sides of the public conversation before we ever get to proposed legislation,” Sexton said at a committee meeting Friday.Republican lawmakers instead squared their focus on putting final touches on bills that range from restrictions on Nashville’s local powers, to an expansion of school vouchers, to more laws targeting the transgender community. They did not bring up a vote on Gov. Bill Lee’s “temporary mental health order of protection” proposal, which aims to keep guns away from people who could harm themselves...