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Chicago Bears free-agent tracker: Fullback Khari Blasingame is returning on a 2-year extension

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:50 GMT

In his second offseason with the Chicago Bears, general manager Ryan Poles has plenty of salary-cap space to rework a roster that finished 3-14 in 2022.As the NFL’s new league year approaches, allowing free agents to begin signing with new teams, the Tribune will track all of the Bears’ arrivals and departures and provide insight into what they mean.The free-agency negotiation window will open across the league at 11 a.m. Monday. Unrestricted free agents can finalize deals when the new league year begins at 3 p.m. Wednesday.Here’s the latest.TuesdayThe Bears are bringing back veteran fullback Khari Blasingame on a two-year extension, according to his agency.What it means: Blasingame joined the Bears on a one-year deal last season. And while he didn’t receive an offensive touch, he remains well-regarded inside Halas Hall for his intelligence, work ethic and toughness.As a blocker, Blasingame contributed to a Bears offense that averaged a league-best 177.3 rush...

Chicago Bulls must find their clutch gene to make the postseason: ‘We can’t think about how it’s been. You just fight.’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:50 GMT

Last season, the Chicago Bulls were at their best with a thin margin and a waning clock.The Bulls had the fourth-best record in clutch games, going 25-16 while shooting 48.4% in such situations. DeMar DeRozan became indomitable down the stretch, knocking down game-winning shots with an air of inevitability.But this season, the result of a close game feels like a foregone conclusion. The Bulls entered their game against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night with the second-worst record (11-22) in clutch games — ones with a margin of five or fewer points in the final five minutes.It’s enough to give a team whiplash. But DeRozan feels the cause is still a confusion — even with less than five weeks left in the season.“The tide just isn’t turning for us when we’re in those positions,” DeRozan told the Tribune. “Last year, we had everything going our way.”At least on paper, the Bulls don’t look like that bad of a clutch team. The...

La Jolla-based crypto company to liquidate bank

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Silvergate Capital Corporation, a La Jolla-based financial establishment that focuses on cryptocurrency, will be winding down operations and voluntarily liquidating its bank, the company announced Wednesday."In light of recent industry and regulatory developments, Silvergate believes that an orderly wind down of Bank operations and a voluntary liquidation of the Bank is the best path forward. The Bank’s wind down and liquidation plan includes full repayment of all deposits," Silvergate stated on its website. California woman misses $2.04B Powerball jackpot by one number, still lands $1.15M prize The company said its decision was made in response to "recent industry and regulatory developments," adding that it is "considering how best to resolve claims and preserve the residual value of its assets, including its proprietary technology and tax assets."Last Friday, Silvergate Bank decided to discontinue the Silvergate Exchange Network.All other deposit-related servi...

Hollywood's Backlot: Movies that you might not have known filmed in San Diego

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO – San Diego has a long history of television and movies that have set their stories in “America’s Finest City” – from blockbusters like Top Gun to shows like The Fosters. But San Diego has a number of other movie and TV credits that might surprise some locals.From recent hits like Avatar: The Way of Water and Pirates of the Caribbean to classics including Citizen Kane, San Diego has been used as a backlot for Hollywood films that take place outside of the region for over a century, hosting hundreds of movie and TV productions at locations across the area.“Los Angeles is famous for filming, because – year round weather, beaches, mountains, desert – you can get anything within about 45 minutes,” Guy Langman, filming program manager with the City of San Diego’s Special Events and Filming Department, said to FOX5SanDiego.com. “San Diego offers the exact same thing.” ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ filming spots in San Diego As early as 1898, San Diego was one of the premiere locations a...

Cuba tobacco farmers recuperate after ruinous Hurricane Ian

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:50 GMT

SAN LUIS, Cuba (AP) — A neighbor lent him a house to dry leaves, and he had a little fertilizer saved, so he plucked up the courage to plant. Now, Hirochi Robaina can hardly believe the resulting miracle.Robaina, one of the most recognized tobacco producers in Cuba, marvels as he walks through the intense green of plants that have grown more than a meter (three feet) high in the Pinar del Rio region.Six months after Hurricane Ian devastated 80% of the region’s tobacco infrastructure, farmers are trying to recuperate from the disaster. And though they’ll produce less than in past seasons, they say they’ll still be able to harvest the leaves for premium hand-rolled cigars, one of the Caribbean nation’s key exports.“Not a single tobacco house was left standing. There were no warehouses, there was no tree left,” Robaino told The Associated Press, remembering how the storm left the region at the end of September. “Everything broke and at that moment I did not believe it was possibl...

Michigan House approves repeal of state’s right-to-work law

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:50 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s Democratic-led House approved legislation Wednesday that would repeal the state’s “right-to-work” law that was passed more than a decade ago when Republicans controlled the Statehouse.Repealing the law, which prohibits public and private unions from requiring that nonunion employees pay union dues even if the union bargains on their behalf, has been a top priority for Democrats since they took full control of the state government this year. “This bill is not about making history. It is about restoring the rights of workers from whose work we’ve all benefited,” Rep. Jim Haadsma, a Battle Creek Democrat, said on the House floor prior to the vote.Supporters of the repeal, who poured into the gallery above the House chambers, cheered loudly as the legislation passed along party lines late Wednesday. Legislation restoring the state’s prevailing wage law, which requires contractors hired for state projects to pay union-level wages, was also app...

Volunteers in mountain towns dig out snow-stuck Californians

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:50 GMT

LAKE ARROWHEAD, Calif. (AP) — After a blizzard swept through Southern California mountains, 79-year-old Alan Zagorsky found himself shut inside his home with snow blocking the door and stairways leading out.He and his wife had enough food to get through the 10 days until volunteers finally arrived Wednesday to help clear roughly 10 feet (3 meters) of snow piled up outside their house in Lake Arrowhead. They had been running low on blood pressure medication, but teams had come a day earlier to resupply them in the upscale mountain community where Zagorsky has lived for more than two decades.“We’ve been through many a snowstorm but nothing of this amount, that’s for sure,” he said, while a crew shoveled his driveway in the mountains east of Los Angeles. “Right now, they’re trying to find a place they can put this stuff.”In a once-a-generation weather event, staggering amounts of snow fell in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountain ranges in late February, where thousan...

With stained pants, Kenyan senator fights menstruation taboo

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:50 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The sight of a red bloodstain on Kenyan Senator Gloria Orwoba’s white pantsuit was so startling that a female security guard rushed over to hide it.It was an accident, Orwoba said. Just before walking into parliament, she looked down to discover that she had been caught unprepared by her monthly period.For a moment, she considered retreat. But then she thought about how the stigma around menstruation affects Kenyan women and girls and strode into the building. To those who noticed the stain, she explained she was making a statement.It didn’t last long. Within minutes, colleagues in the senate became so uncomfortable that another female lawmaker petitioned the speaker to ask Orwoba to leave and change her clothes. Male colleagues agreed, calling the issue “taboo and private,” and Orwoba walked out.Women make up less than a third of Kenya’s senators: 21 of 67.A male colleague accused her of faking her accident in parliament, to which she replied in a local ...

Why are migrants in small boats a heated issue in the UK?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:50 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The message to asylum-seekers from British Home Secretary Suella Braverman was stark: “If you enter Britain illegally, you will be detained and swiftly removed.”The government hopes that decisive — and divisive — measure will stop tens of thousands of migrants reaching Britain in boats across the English Channel.Behind the tough talk, however, lie a host of legal, practical and ethical questions. Condemned by rights groups and queried by legal experts, the Illegal Migration Bill is the latest in a long line of British government efforts to control unauthorized migration.IS THIS A NEW PROBLEM?The issue is neither new nor unique to the U.K. War, famine, poverty and political repression have put millions on the move around the globe. Britain receives fewer asylum-seekers than European nations including Italy, Germany and France.But for decades, thousands of migrants have traveled to northern France each year in hopes of reaching the U.K. Many are drawn by family ties, the...

AP News in Brief at 9:04 p.m. EST

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:50 GMT

Lawsuit against Fox shows the news behind the Trump newsNEW YORK (AP) — Fresh revelations flowing from a major defamation lawsuit are shedding light on what was happening inside Fox News following the 2020 presidential election. Here are some things to know about the case.THE CASEDominion Voting Systems is suing Fox for $1.6 billion, claiming the news outlet repeatedly aired allegations that the company engaged in fraud that doomed President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign while knowing they were untrue. Fox contends that it was reporting newsworthy charges made by supporters of the president and is supported legally by libel standards. The case is scheduled for trial next month.ELECTION DISCONNECTDominion has produced evidence that prominent people at Fox knew the fraud allegations were untrue, even as they and the president’s allies were given airtime to repeat them. Fox’s Sean Hannity said in a deposition that he did not believe the fraud claims “for one sec...