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Roller coaster at Carowinds in North Carolina closes after discovery of crack in support pillar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:44 GMT

(CNN) — Carowinds amusement park in North Carolina closed a roller coaster Friday after discovering a crack in a support pillar, park officials said.The park says the Fury 325 is one of the tallest and longest rides in the massive park that straddles the North and South Carolina state lines.“The tallest, fastest, longest giga coaster in North America” will remain closed until inspections and repairs take place, the park said. The crack is at the top of a steel support pillar.A “giga” roller coaster has a drop between 300 and 399 feet, according to Kings Island in Ohio.Carowinds says the Fury 325 takes riders to a peak height of 325 feet and reaches 95 mph.The rest of the amusement and water park remained open Saturday, according to Carowinds’ website.“Safety is our top priority and we appreciate the patience and understanding of our valued guests during this process. As part of our comprehensive safety protocols, all rides, including Fury 325, undergo daily ...

Anti-Trump video shared by DeSantis campaign is ‘homophobic,’ says conservative LGBT group

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:44 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A prominent group that represents LGBT conservatives says a video shared by Ron DeSantis′ presidential campaign that slams rival Donald Trump for his past support of gay and transgender people “ventured into homophobic territory.”The “DeSantis War Room” Twitter account shared the video on Friday — the last day of June’s LGBTQ+ Pride Month — that features footage of Trump at the Republican National Convention in 2016 saying he would “do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens.” Trump had been pledging protection from terrorist attacks weeks after the shootings at the Pulse Nightclub, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at that time.The video also highlights “LGBTQ for Trump” T-shirts sold by the former president’s campaign and his past comments saying he would be comfortable with Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic decathlete who came out as a transgender woman in 2015, usi...

A balk, an infield hit and an error doom the Chicago White Sox in another brutal loss in Oakland, 7-6 in 10 innings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:44 GMT

The Chicago White Sox had a two-run lead with two outs in the eighth inning against the team with the worst record in baseball.They left the eighth tied after the Oakland Athletics scored twice in unconventional fashion.One run came in when Joe Kelly was called for a balk. The other crossed home on an infield hit by Tony Kemp to tie the score.That set up the most brutal loss of the season for the Sox.Tyler Wade scored from second on a fielding error by second baseman Elvis Andrus to give the A’s a 7-6 victory in 10 innings in front of 9,235 on Saturday at Oakland Coliseum.“That was a tough one today, a real tough one,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “We use our whole roster, basically, and ended up on the losing end.“These games when you use every pitcher and everybody on the roster, you want to win them. But it didn’t go our way.”Wade was on second with two outs in the 10th. JJ Bleday hit a grounder to Andrus, who didn’t field it clea...

Knicks, Donte DiVincenzo agree to four-year, $50 million deal, reunite him with Villanova teammates: source

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:44 GMT

The Knicks hit their redheaded target.Donte DiVincenzo, the 26-year-old scrappy guard out of Villanova, agreed Saturday to a four-year, $50 million contract to join the Knicks, a source confirmed to The Daily News.The move, which can’t become official until the free agency moratorium ends next week, solidifies New York’s guard rotation and will use up all of its mid-level exception. Barring a blockbuster trade — which is always possible given the Knicks’ glut of future draft picks — Leon Rose’s summer was again quiet.DiVincenzo, nicknamed ‘The Big Ragu’ because he’s Italian with red hair, is a decent 3-point shooter (40% last season with the Warriors) and a strong defender. His greatest attribute is probably winning.The Delaware native captured two high school State championships, two NCAA titles with Villanova — both alongside Jalen Brunson — and an NBA championship in 2021 with the Bucks (although he was injured for...

David Cone Q&A: Former pitcher discusses his experience playing for Buck Showalter, Mets’ pitching problems

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:44 GMT

If the Mets didn’t have the attention of baseball before this week, they sure do now.It’s been an eventful week in Queens with Steve Cohen publicly backing his manager, Buck Showalter, and general manager, Billy Eppler. But all is still not well in Flushing.Ugly losses still have people questioning whether Showalter and Eppler will make it through the season. The Mets blew their 13th lead in a month Friday night against the San Francisco Giants. They had better luck once the calendar flipped to July with a win over the Giants on Saturday, but it’s going to take a lot more than one win to stop the free-fall. It’s been two weeks since the Mets even won back-to-back games.This weekend, the entire country will get a glimpse of the most baffling team in baseball when the Mets face the Giants on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. With former Mets and Yankees right-hander David Cone in the booth, along with Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez and Buster Olney, the Daily News talked...

Luis Severino shelled by Cardinals as Yankees drop first game of doubleheader

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:44 GMT

The Yankees Jekyll and Hyde of a season continued in the first game of a doubleheader against the Cardinals on Saturday.The Bombers’ ugly and sloppy 11-4 loss featured poor performance on the field and an even worse one on the mound. After appearing to turn a corner with his strong outing against the Rangers on June 24 — six shutout innings — Luis Severino was destroyed at Bush Stadium as the last-place Cardinals.The right-hander lasted just four innings allowing seven earned runs on nine hits and three walks registering just two strikeouts. Paul Goldschmidt’s three-run homer in the bottom of the third got the party started for the Red Birds as Severino seemed to be unable to find his groove after surrendering the long ball. Nolan Gorman also blasted a 415-foot two-run homer in the fourth.The 29-year-old’s ERA ballooned to 6.30 during the final season on his contract as he’s set to hit free agency this winter.The Bombers’ registered two erro...

Crime Briefs: East Boston man who dealt cocaine with mother gets 10 years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:44 GMT

Carlos Acosta Estrella, 33, was sentenced to a decade in prison for selling two kilos of cocaine with his mother and having nearly a kilo of heroin in his possession — assets he sought to protect with a high-powered tactical shotgun with a laser sight.Estrella pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, as well as the same charge for heroin, and a charge of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense. He was indicted on the charge with his mother Ana Guadalupe Acosta Grajeda in October 2019. The mother pleaded guilty in September 2021.According to the complaint, the pair sold the cocaine to a “confidential witness” on Sept. 11, 2019 in an Eastie restaurant.The DEA provided the fake buyer with $118,000 in “sham DEA currency wrapped in green cellophane,” of which he handed over $60,000 for the two kilos, records state.Last North-of-Boston gang member in large investigation found guiltyA fede...

Red Sox get gutsy Canada Day comeback over Blue Jays

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:44 GMT

After a frustrating June in which bad weather and befuddling baseball were the only constants, the Red Sox were ready to turn the calendar page.But on the first of July, their inconsistencies made for a long and arduous road to a tight 7-6 victory.Nothing has come easy for Boston’s baseball club lately, and that was the case in Toronto on Saturday. The sixth meeting between the division rivals overflowed with tense and worrisome moments, including Kutter Crawford getting hit by a comebacker, Masataka Yoshida taking a 102 mph pitch to his right leg by the knee, and the entire bullpen portion of the day, right down to the last out.How did the Red Sox get the job done and improve to 6-0 against the Blue Jays on Canada Day?Teamwork.As obstacles and challenges arose throughout three-plus hours of play, the Red Sox stepped up for one another. In doing so, they came away with one of the gutsiest, grittiest, most entertaining wins of the year.“The offense had my back,” Cra...

Mourners bury slain teen in France as 45,000 police are deployed to quell 5th night of riots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:44 GMT

NANTERRE, France (AP) — Hushed and visibly anguished, hundreds of mourners from France’s Islamic community formed a solemn procession from a mosque to a hillside cemetery on Saturday to bury a 17-year-old whose killing by police has triggered days of rioting and looting across the nation.Underscoring the gravity of the crisis, President Emmanuel Macron scrapped an official trip to Germany after nights of unrest across France. Officials said they were again deploying 45,000 police to the streets nationwide in an effort to head off a fifth night of violence. Some 2,400 people have been arrested overall since the teen’s death on Tuesday. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted late Saturday that 200 riot police would be mobilized in the port city of Marseille, where TV showed footage of tear gas and officers in the streets as night fell. Police said 29 people were arrested there, and at least 37 were arrested in Paris near the Champs-Elysées, where police vans were seen parked ...

Four shot, three in critical condition after shooting in Mississauga

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:44 GMT

Four victims were taken to hospitals, including three in critical condition, after a shooting in Mississauga on Saturday evening.Peel police responded to a call in The Queensway East and Stanfield Road after four people were shot.The victims taken to various hospitals including three males in life-threatening condition and the suspect(s) fled in a white Ram pick-up truck.There is a heavy police presence and people are asked to avoid the area.