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Maryland lawmakers pass gun bills, cannabis, by session end

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:39 GMT

HANNAPES, France — Maryland lawmakers adjourned late Monday from their annual legislative session after approving measures for gun control, abortion rights, a licensing framework to open a recreational marijuana market and a push to expand offshore wind development.The Maryland General Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, passed a bill that would prevent someone from carrying a concealed handgun in certain areas. The measure would prohibit people with permits to carry concealed handguns in sensitive areas like school playgrounds, hospitals or polling locations. “The goal that we have in passing this bill is not to chip away at Second Amendment rights, as hard as it may be for some minority party members to believe. It’s to reduce gun violence of all kinds: gang violence, mass shootings, self-inflicted gunshots,” said Del. Marc Korman, a Montgomery County Democrat who is the House majority leader. But opponents expressed doubts the measure would stand up to inevitable le...

DeSantis flexes executive powers while eyeing White House

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:39 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Suspending an elected Democratic prosecutor. Forbidding gender-affirming treatments for minors. Expanding the “Don’t Say Gay” law to high schools.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has exercised his executive powers to advance elements of his aggressive conservative agenda, drawing on appointees, boards and the state Constitution in a deliberate manner as he builds toward an expected presidential candidacy. The approach displays the Republican’s willingness to leverage his office to notch political wins and punish political enemies, even as the GOP-dominated Legislature has sped his proposals through the statehouse. It also signals the meticulous style that underpins his brash public persona and offers hints about how he could govern if elected president. For DeSantis, the unilateral moves are part of his broad mandate as the elected chief executive of Florida. He is coming off a dominant reelection victory last fall where he campaigned on a host of conservativ...

Marcus Foligno and Marcus Johansson spark Wild to comeback win

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:39 GMT

CHICAGO — The lineup resembled that of an exhibition game, and so, too, did the effort from the Wild for prolonged stretches.After leaving Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello, Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin at home to avoid potential injury, the Wild lacked urgency against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night at the United Center.In the end, though, the Wild did just enough to earn a 4-2 win over the Blackhawks. That keeps their slim hopes of winning the Central Division alive at least for a few more days.“We have a good enough team to still go out and play better than we did tonight even though we’re missing some guys,” said Marcus Johansson, who put the team on his back with a pair of goals. “We still have something to play for.”On a night that former Gophers captain Brock Faber made his NHL debut, and top prospect Marco Rossi made his highly anticipated NHL return, the Wild at times looked like they had very little interest playing in an NHL game.Ult...

Crash involving overturned big rig kills 1, injures 5 in Los Angeles County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:39 GMT

One person was killed and another five were injured after a crash Monday involving a vehicle and a big rig in Antelope Acres, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County.  Crews with the Los Angeles County Fire Department were dispatched to Highway 138, near 110th Street, at around 5:44 p.m., officials told KTLA.  At the scene, paramedics found one person dead, four people with critical injuries and another person with minor injuries. Authorities did not identify any of the victims, nor did they say if the person who died was in the vehicle or in the big rig. While it’s unclear what led up to the accident, aerial footage from Sky5 showed a dark colored vehicle that was badly damaged and an overturned big rig with debris spilling out of the top of one of the trailers it had been pulling.  A crash involving a vehicle and a big left one person dead and 5 others injured on Highway 138 in Antelope Acres April 9, 2023. (KTLA)A crash involving a vehicle and a big left one p...

Trailer drops for Disney's 'Peter Pan & Wendy'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:39 GMT

Scene from the trailer of Peter Pan & Wendy. (DIsney)Disney’s first trailer for the upcoming Peter Pan live-action reboot, Peter Pan & Wendy, dropped on Monday, transporting fans back to Neverland once again.The film, which is based on both the J.M. Barrie novel and the 1953 Disney animated classic, “introduces Wendy Darling, a young girl looking to avoid boarding school who meets Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up.“Alongside her brothers and a tiny fairy, Tinker Bell, she travels with Peter to the magical world of Neverland. There, she encounters an evil pirate captain, Captain Hook, and embarks on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that will change her life forever,” Disney says in the film’s synopsis.Peter Pan & Wendy stars Jude Law as Captain Hook, along with Alexander Molony, Ever Anderson, Yara Shahidi, Alyssa Wapanatâhk, Joshua Pickering, Jacobi Jupe, Molly Parker, Alan Tudyk and Jim Gaffigan.This will be the ninth official Peter Pan film in the Disney fran...

SF Giants done in by home runs, old foes to start Dodgers rivalry on sour note

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:39 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants lost more games to the Dodgers in 2022 than any season since the teams moved west. They were outscored 99-51. If they hoped to fare better in 2023, that quest started Monday night, with Logan Webb on the mound.But this season’s first installment of the Giants-Dodgers rivalry only brought more of the same.Julio Urías mystified on the mound and Max Muncy mashed at the plate, as Giants were done in by their oldest nemeses in a 9-1 loss to the Dodgers.Outdueling Webb for six innings, the Giants’ only damage off Urías came on a towering Wilmer Flores solo shot to left field. With one run on four hits over six innings, Urías actually increased his ERA against the Giants dating back to the start of last season to 1.00 over six starts.With a three-run shot off Webb and a seventh-inning grand slam that sealed the loss, Muncy was responsible for seven of the Dodgers’ nine runs, managing to find a new career-high to set against a Giants team that he...

Bicyclist hit and killed near Filoli in San Mateo County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:39 GMT

WOODSIDE – A driver hit and killed a bicyclist Monday in San Mateo County, according to the California Highway Patrol.The crash was reported just after 5 p.m. on Cañada Road near Filoli, said CHP Officer Art Montiel.The bicyclist, identified only as a 37-year-old South San Francisco man, was pronounced dead at the scene, Montiel said. The San Mateo County Coroner’s Office will release the man’s identity once it is confirmed and his next of kin is notified.Montiel said the bicyclist was riding northbound on Cañada Road when he was hit by the driver of an Acura traveling in the same direction.The driver, identified only as a 22-year-old Redwood City man, and his 21-year-old passenger were taken to an area hospital as a precaution following the crash, Montiel said.The collision is under investigation, and it wasn’t immediately known if alcohol or drugs played a role.Cañada Road was temporarily closed in both directions at Edgewood Road for the investigation.Anyone with information rela...

Novak lifts Predators past Flames 3-2 in shootout

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:39 GMT

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Tommy Novak scored the deciding goal in the shootout and the Nashville Predators beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Monday night to preserve their playoff hopes.Zach Sanford and Egor Afanasyev also scored for the Predators, who have two home games remaining in the regular season — on Thursday against Minnesota and Friday against Colorado. Juuse Saros stopped 42 shots through overtime and three of four in the shootout.Troy Stecher and Mikael Backlund scored for the Flames, and Jacob Markstrom finished with 27 saves.Jonathan Huberdeaul scored on the first attempt of the shootout for the Flames. Cody Glass tied it in the third round for the Predators, and Novak won it in the fourth round.Calgary’s 17 overtime and shootout losses is the most in the NHL.Nashville led 1-0 after the opening period. Afanasyev scored the first NHL goal of his career at 5:49. Predators forward Mark Jankowski chased the puck behind Calgary’s net. The former Flames player fed the 22-year-old...

Australia suspends WTO case against China on barley tariffs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:39 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia suspended a complaint to the World Trade Organization in a bid to reopen the Chinese market to Australian barley for the first time in three years in the new government’s latest step toward repairing relations with Beijing.China effectively closed it doors to Australian barley in May 2020 by imposing an 80% tariff after the previous Australian government angered Beijing by calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous conservative government responded by challenging the tariff in the Geneva-based trade body.On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her center-left Labor Party government, which was elected in May, had reached an agreement with China that “creates a pathway for the resolution of the dispute over Australian barley.”China had agreed to review its duties on the grain over three or four months, she said, and Australia will temporarily suspend the WTO dispute during that r...

Kraken win 5th straight, reach 100 points, top Coyotes 4-1

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:39 GMT

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Jared McCann scored his 40th goal of the season and the Seattle Kraken reached the 100-point mark in their second NHL season, beating the Arizona Coyotes 4-1 on Monday night.Oliver Bjorkstrand, Justin Schultz and Matty Beniers also scored for the Kraken, who won their fifth game in a row and are 26-10-4 on the road. They beat the Coyotes for the third time in eight days after winning twice at home last week.Philipp Grubauer stopped 22 shots for the Kraken. Joey Daccord, who played for Arizona State, finished the final 1:16 in goal for Seattle.Jack McBain scored for the Coyotes, who have one win in their last 11 games. Ivan Prosvetov had 33 saves for Arizona.Seattle is assured of at least the top wild card in the Western Conference. The Kraken clinched a playoff spot in Thursday’s win over Arizona but need some help to stay above Los Angeles for third place.The Coyotes scored first when McBain deflected Liam O’Brien’s shot from the blue line past Grubauer 9:22 int...