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Column: Shohei Ohtani’s unique deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers turns baseball on its head

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:41 GMT

Along with being the greatest baseball player of all time, we can now attach the label “smartest of all time” to Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.According to reports, agent Nez Balelo said it was Ohtani himself who came up with the idea of annually deferring $68 million per year of his 10-year, $700 million deal and paying out the bulk of the money between 2034-43 to ensure the Dodgers had enough money left to spend on other free agents who can help them win championships.What a swell guy.Ohtani hasn’t spoken to the media, so for now we can only speculate on how he became so fluent in contract construction, and why he’s so willing to put his team ahead of his own financial interests.Everyone was aghast when the news leaked about the deferrals. Many on social media thought it was unfair to the other billionaires who can’t keep up with the Dodgers’ owners. But as it turned out, any player can defer as much money as he wants, and any team can ...

Driver going 192 km/h told OPP their passenger had a stomach ache

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:41 GMT

A speeding driver allegedly told an officer when they were pulled over in Hamilton that the reason they were going so fast was to get their passenger home because they had a stomach ache.Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) shared the update on Tuesday night.A spokesperson said a driver was caught going 192 km/h and was stopped on the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) near Fifty Road in Hamilton. When a Burlington OPP officer approached the driver’s vehicle, they told them the high speed was because their passenger had a stomach ache and they needed to get home. Related: ‘Late for the party’: Teen driver clocked going 199 km/h on QEW Driver caught going nearly 100 km/h over limit in Brampton said ‘he needed to use bathroom’ “Maybe the speed was aggravating the nausea?” OPP Highway Safety Division wrote on X. A 42-year-old driver was charged with stunt driving. Their licence has been suspended for 30 days, and their vehicle...

Football player Matt Araiza dropped from woman’s rape lawsuit and won’t sue for defamation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:41 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza is being dropped from a lawsuit filed by a woman who alleged she was raped by San Diego State University football players in 2021, it was announced Tuesday.The woman agreed to dismiss Araiza from the lawsuit she filed last year while Araiza agreed to dismiss his defamation countersuit against her, and no money will be exchanged, attorneys for both sides told various media outlets.“Thankfully, there was extensive evidence that was key to securing Matt’s voluntary dismissal from this lawsuit,” said a statement from Araiza’s attorneys cited by ESPN. “Matt was and has always been innocent. The case is over, and Matt has prevailed.” Araiza intends to return to the NFL, his lawyers said.The defamation lawsuit against the woman, described in court documents only as Jane Doe, was “legally baseless,” but her first legal bill topped $20,000 and she “simply cannot afford to defend herself,” her attorney, Dan Gilleon, said in a stat...

New, stronger climate proposal released at COP28, but doesn’t quite call for fossil fuel phase-out

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:41 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A new compromise floated early Wednesday at United Nations COP28 climate talks called for the world to eventually wean itself off planet-warming fossil fuels in a global rallying cry stronger than proposed days earlier.The new proposal doesn’t specifically use the language of calling for a “phase-out” of fossil fuels, which more than 100 nations had pleaded for. Instead, it calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade.” The transition would be in a way that gets the world to net zero greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 and follows the dictates of climate science. It projects a world peaking its ever-growing carbon pollution by the year 2025 to reach its agreed upon threshold, but gives wiggle room to individual nations like China to peak later.Intensive sessions with all sorts of delegates went well into the small hours of Wednesday m...

North Korean and Russian officials discuss economic ties as Seoul raises labor export concerns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:41 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Senior North Korean economic officials met with the governor of a Russian region along the Pacific coast for discussions on boosting economic cooperation between the countries, North Korean state media said Wednesday.The meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, came as concerns have grown in South Korea that the North may be attempting to expand its labor exports to Russia in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions to generate revenue for its struggling economy and help fund leader Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons program.The official Korean Central News Agency said North Korean officials led by the country’s external economic relations minister, Yun Jong Ho, met with the delegation led by Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Primorye region in the Russian Far East, and discussed elevating economic cooperation between the countries to “higher levels.” The report did not specify the types of cooperation that were discussed.Kozhemyako told Russian m...

Cyclone Jasper is expected to intensify before becoming the first of the season to hit Australia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:41 GMT

BRISBANE, Austrtalia (AP) — Powerful winds began uprooting trees on the northeast Australian coast on Wednesday as Tropical Cyclone Jasper gathered strength while approaching the area.Jasper is forecast to intensify from a category 1 to category 2 storm on a 5-tier scale before it becomes the first cyclone of the current season to cross the Australian coast late Wednesday, Queensland state Deputy Premier Steven Miles said.The cyclone is expected to cross the Queensland coast somewhere along a sparsely populated 200-kilometer (124-mile) stretch from the city of Cairns north to Hope Vale, an Aboriginal community of 1,000. Jasper is expected to lash the coast with winds of up to 140 kph (87 mph) as it crosses from the Coral Sea.“This is a serious event and it has been some time since this part of the coast has seen a cyclone of this intensity,” Miles told reporters in the state capital Brisbane.More than 90 people had left their homes for evacuation centers by Wednesday, Police Deputy ...

Norfolk, Virginia, approves military-themed brewery despite some community pushback

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:41 GMT

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A military-themed brewery will open in Virginia despite some community opposition over alleged racist and homophobic remarks of a former U.S. Navy SEAL who has a small ownership stake in the business. Norfolk’s City Council voted 6-1 Tuesday to approve permits for Armed Forces Brewing Company’s taproom and distribution facility, which will be just a few miles (kilometers) from the nation’s largest Navy base. The City Council bucked recommendations by the city’s planning commission and a local neighborhood association to deny the permits, while many residents said the brewery would be a terrible fit. They argued its ownership doesn’t reflect the diversity of the U.S. military, veterans or this liberal-leaning city on the Chesapeake Bay.The brewery markets itself with politically conservative ads. Its leadership said the resistance was purely over its owners’ political views or cherry picked social media posts made by minority shareholders. ...

At least 45 people injured in nighttime Russian missile attack on Ukrainian capital

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:41 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s capital came under another missile attack early Wednesday, resulting in at least 45 injuries and several damaged buildings, the city’s mayor said.A series of loud explosions could be heard in Kyiv at 3 a.m. as the city’s air defenses were activated for the second time this week.Kyiv Mayor Vitali Kitschko said on Telegram that debris from intercepted missiles fell in the eastern Dniprovskyi district, injuring at least 45 people. Eighteen people including two children were hospitalized while 27 people received medical treatment on the spot. An apartment building, a private house and several cars caught fire, while the windows of a children’s hospital were shattered, Klitschko said. Falling rocket debris also damaged the water supply system in the district.On Monday, a Russian missile attack destroyed several homes on the outskirts of Kyiv and left more than 100 households temporarily without electricity.Wednesday’s attack came as ...

'Its not just a letter for us': Buildings in Ukrainian Village vandalized with symbol often seen on Russian military vehicles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:41 GMT

CHICAGO — The Ukrainian community in Chicago is speaking out on Tuesday after what they are calling several hate crimes.Seven locations in Ukrainian Village were tagged on Monday afternoon with the letter "Z," which has been used as a symbol for support of Russia's attack on Ukraine, often seen on Russian military vehicles. 15-year-old boy charged after allegedly bringing gun to school in Oswego Residents in the area say seeing it pop up in their neighborhood sends a very specific message.Danylo Butenko runs a veterinary practice in Ukrainian Village and found his business tagged with the letter "Z," which is more than just a letter to some."It's a symbol of rape, murder, children being kidnapped," Butenko said. "Its not just a letter for us, it's a lot more."Butenko's business was one of seven locations in the surrounding area that was vandalized. Police identify 2 killed in Chicago Lawn shooting Among the businesses vandalized was the Ukrainian National Museum. Their cameras c...

Search underway for missing teen girl last seen in Bridgeport

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:41 GMT

CHICAGO — A search is underway on Tuesday for a missing teen girl last seen on the city's South Side.According to Chicago police, 15-year-old Sherlyn Luvianos has been missing since Monday. Officers say the teen girl was last seen near South Lituanica Avenue and West 32nd Street in Bridgeport. Man fatally struck by semi while allegedly fleeing from police on West Side Police say the teen girl was last seen wearing a pink jacket, black hoodie, black joggers, and white and black gym shoes. Luvianos, who stands 5-foot-5 and weighs around 140 pounds, has brown eyes and black hair. Police say Luvianos is known to frequent the areas of 37th Street and Marshfield Avenue as well as Cermak Road and Ashland Avenue.Police notified the public about the teen’s disappearance in a news release sent out on Tuesday afternoon.  2 hospitalized after crash involving school bus in Glenview Authorities ask anyone with information on the whereabouts of 15-year-old Sherlyn Luvianos to contact the ...