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Record revenue and attendance has business booming again for the American Hockey League

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:19 GMT

More than 10,000 fans filled the Hershey Bears’ home arena on Tuesday night to watch the oldest American Hockey League franchise take on the newest, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, in the Calder Cup Finals.It was the third consecutive game in the AHL championship series to be sold out and pushed total playoff attendance for the NHL’s top developmental league above half a million fans. That’s a record for the nearly 90-year-old league that also set a new high water mark for revenue, which president and CEO Scott Howson estimates is 15% to 20% above pre-pandemic levels.Three years after canceling the playoffs and two years after gutting through a shortened season with almost no fans in arenas and a few teams opting out of playing entirely, business is finally booming again for the AHL.“We’ve just recovered so quickly,” Howson told The Associated Press this week. “It’s a testament to our product. It’s a testament to our markets. It’s a testament to what our teams are ...

Man indicted in chokehold death of New York subway rider Jordan Neely, prosecutor confirms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:19 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A grand jury has indicted a man who put an agitated New York City subway rider in a fatal chokehold, prosecutors confirmed Thursday.Daniel Penny was initially charged with manslaughter last month in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who struggled in recent years with homelessness and mental illness.A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed the grand jury voted to indict, a day after the news was widely reported. The specific charges will be unveiled during Penny’s arraignment on June 28th. He had initially been charged with manslaughter in the second degree, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, but a grand jury’s approval of charges was needed for the case to continue.Neely was shouting at passengers and begging for money when Penny, a former U.S. Marine, pinned him to the floor of the moving subway car with the help of two other riders. Penny then held Neely in a chokehold...

US Open a source of uncertainty on and off the course

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:19 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Uncertainty off the course. Uncertainty on it. The U.S. Open was set to tee off into uncharted territory Thursday, with the golf world perplexed by the recent shakeup-makeup between Saudi golf interests and the PGA Tour and 156 of the sport’s best players taking on a course hardly anyone has seen. Pretty much every question heading into the 123rd playing of America’s national championship dealt with one or the other of those issues. Los Angeles Country Club is a beautiful mystery, the first course in LA to host the Open in 75 years. It’s known for its runway-wide fairways — they average 43 yards across — but many of those expanses are heavily canted, built to reject tee shots into the healthy, spongy Bermuda rough or into the native, scrub-dotted and unpredictable sandscapes called barrancas that wind through this urban oasis.There is a reachable par 4 — the sixth hole — that will, at times, play shorter than the downhill par-3 seventh. ThereR...

Ontario driver had 5 times legal limit of alcohol following crash: OPP

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:19 GMT

Provincial police in Southern Ontario have charged a driver following a crash and subsequent blood test that revealed a remarkable level of impairment.The driver in question was involved in a collision on April 21 in the Municipality of Huron East. Police say a pickup truck crashed into a hydro pole in a rural area about 40 kilometres southeast of Goderich.Both the truck and pole sustained significant damage and the driver was taken to hospital with serious injuries. No one else was injured in the crash.Police say further investigation revealed the driver had consumed alcohol sometime before the collision. Investigators obtained a warrant for his blood sample and a test was taken at the hospital.The driver’s blood alcohol content came back as 0.409 — or five times the legal limit of 0.08. According to the Cleveland Clinic, anything blood/alcohol level over 0.4 is considered potentially fatal.Over 5 times the legal limit?!?! #HuronOPP has charged a 43-yr-old @HuronEast re...

UN chief says fossil fuels ‘incompatible with human survival,’ calls for credible exit strategy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:19 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the United Nations launched an angry tirade against fossil fuel companies Thursday, accusing them of betraying future generations and undermining efforts to phase out a product he called “incompatible with human survival.”Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also dismissed suggestions by some oil executives — including the man tapped to chair this year’s international climate talks in Dubai — that fossil fuel firms can keep up production if they find a way to capture planet-warming carbon emissions. He warned that this would just make them “more efficient planet-wreckers.”It’s not the first time the U.N. chief has called out Big Oil over its role in causing global warming, but the blunt attack reflects growing frustration at the industry’s recent profit bonanza despite warnings from scientists that burning fossil fuels will push the world far beyond any safe climate threshold.“Last year, the oil and gas industry reaped a record $4 trillion windfall in net inc...

Man fatally shoots ex-wife, then himself in Geneva: police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:19 GMT

GENEVA, Ill. — Police are investigating after a 49-year-old man fatally shot his ex-wife, then himself, in Geneva early Wednesday evening.Police responded around 5:20 p.m. to a home in the 100 block of Pebble Beach Court following a 911 call.According to police, Chad Dockery, of Hinsdale, called 911 to report he murdered his ex-wife, Amanda Dockery, 48, a resident of the home officers responded to. He also told dispatchers he was armed with a pistol. Upon arrival, an officer saw Chad inside a vehicle at the end of the home's driveway and as the officer approached, a gun was fired.Police said Chad was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the vehicle and a 9mm pistol was recovered from the scene.Amanda was found inside the home with two apparent gunshot wounds, according to police. Both Amanda and Chad were transported to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva, where they were both pronounced dead.  Man, woman dead after being found shot at Geneva home No other...

Skilling: It's official, Chicago area in a 'severe drought'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:19 GMT

It's Thursday which means the new "drought monitor" is in, offering our country's official assessment of drought conditions. It places much of the Chicago metro area in a state of "severe drought." That's a upgrade from the "moderate drought" assessed in last week's report.The upgrade in drought severity is little wonder. Even with the wonderful rain that fell over portions of our area Tuesday (which, by the way, isn't taken into account by the latest drought monitor analysis which looks at the precip situation going into this past Monday. It's worth noting the Tuesday rains for all intents and purposes bypassed many sections of the area)--Chicago's O'Hare's precip deficit illustrates the continuing moisture deficit. The precip shortfall since mid-April is running at more than 6" since April 1.Even with Tuesday's 0.54" at O'Hare--the site's total rainfall since April 1 amounts to only 4.20"---not even close to the 10.22" which is considered normal from April 1 through today (June 15...

Richard Allen's potentially 'incriminating' statements become focus of hearing in Delphi murder case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:19 GMT

DELPHI, Ind. – Defense attorneys and prosecutors made arguments in court Thursday about statements previously made by Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen.Allen faces two counts of murder in the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German.Allen, looking gaunt, appeared in court Thursday in a yellow jumpsuit. During the hearing, defense attorneys indicated that Allen had made self-incriminating statements linking him to the girls' deaths. Prosecutor Nick McLeland agreed Allen had “made admissions.” Attorneys challenge method linking Richard Allen to unspent round at crime scene However, Allen's attorneys argued the statements couldn’t be trusted because of their client’s mental state. They want him moved out of Westville Correctional Facility to a county jail for his mental health and wellbeing.His defense team suggested Allen has made "inconsistent" statements since his arrest and attributed them to the stress of his captivity and his increasing difficulty in communicati...

Floor from Michael Jordan's 1998 NBA Final up for auction

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:19 GMT

CHICAGO -- From timeless sneakers to iconic jerseys, the Michael Jordan memorabilia remains as some of Chicago's most cherished collections -- with a new addition, a piece of the court he played his final game on. Michael's Jordan's 1998 NBA Final championship ranks as the most watched finals series in history and you too, can own apart of it. The end of ‘The Last Dance’: Remembering the 25th Anniversary of the Bulls’ most recent championship Piece of court floor of Michael Jordan's 1998 NBA Final championshipThe chunk of wood is stripped from the court floor of the Delta Center in Salt Lake City and is autographed by the Six-time NBA Champion. The piece has been authenticated by an Upper Deck Authenticated representative producing only 223 of the framed pieces. The 8x10 piece of the court from is up for auction by PWCC and showcases a tri-color section of the championship game floor along with a photo of Jordan taking 'The Last Shot.'The signed piece of wood is running at a bid ...

FDA advisers consider changing COVID vaccine to target latest omicron strain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:19 GMT

The COVID-19 vaccines are on track for a big recipe change this fall.Today’s vaccines still contain the original coronavirus strain, the one that started the pandemic — even though that was long ago supplanted by mutated versions as the virus rapidly evolves.Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration's scientific advisers reviewed whether the next round of shots in the U.S. should only include protection against the newest variants that are now dominant worldwide — a branch of the omicron family tree named XBB.While infections have declined, the virus could be a real concern next winter, FDA's vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks said as the daylong meeting began.“We’re concerned that we may have another wave of COVID-19 during a time when the virus has further evolved, immunity of the population has waned further, and we move indoors for wintertime,” he said.Here are some things to know:WHY ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOTS?The FDA told Americans to expect an updated fall vaccine against COVID-19, j...