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Rapper E-40 says ejection from NBA playoff game was due to ‘racial bias’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:25:48 GMT

Hip-hop star E-40 attributed his ejection from the arena where Saturday’s NBA playoff game between the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors was played to “racial bias.”The rapper, who is from the San Francisco Bay Area, says he addressed a heckler in “an assertive but polite manner” toward the end of Game 1 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.“Kings security approached me, assumed I instigated the encounter and proceeded to kick me out of the arena,” E-40 said in a statement Sunday, according to ESPN.“Unfortunately, it was yet another reminder that — despite my success and accolades as a musician and entrepreneur — racial bias remains prevalent. Security saw a disagreement between a Black man and a white woman and immediately assumed that I was at fault.”E-40, whose real name is Earl Stevens, is known for hit songs such as “Tell Me When to Go” and “U And Dat.” The 55-year-old rapper, who...

Nets Notebook: Nets want stricter officiating on Joel Embiid — but likely won’t get it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:25:48 GMT

PHILADELPHIA –  Superstars get the benefit of the whistle – and sometimes, that means no whistle at all.Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn made sure to point out that Sixers superstar center Joel Embiid got away not only with traveling violations but also three seconds in the paint violations he felt went uncalled in Brooklyn’s 121-101 Game 1 loss to the Sixers on Saturday.“Hopefully they’ll be calling travel and three seconds on the big fella next game,” Vaughn said after the loss. “So I’ll be looking forward to that.”The Nets’ coach doubled-down ahead of practice on Sunday when asked about his comments about Embiid traveling in Game 1.“He only got one pivot foot,” Vaughn said at Temple University’s Pearson & McGonigle Hall. “I’ll just say that.”Starting center Nic Claxton, however, said the Nets can’t expect officials to make those calls on Embiid.“They’re not gonn...

Promising senior, 3 others slain in Alabama party shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:25:48 GMT

By JEFF AMY and KIM CHANDLER (Associated Press)DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A high school senior who planned to play college football was celebrating at his sister’s 16th birthday party Saturday night in Alabama when gunfire killed him and three other people and wounded several others.Police were gathering evidence Sunday at a dance studio where the party was held in downtown Dadeville. They did not immediately say if a suspect was in custody, or if they knew more about any motivation.Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, a Dadeville High School senior who had committed to Jacksonville State University, was celebrating at his sister Alexis’ party before he was shot to death, his grandmother Annette Allen told The Montgomery Advertiser. “He was a very, very humble child. Never messed with anybody. Always had a smile on his face,” Allen told the newspaper, calling it “a million-dollar smile.”Dowdell’s mother was among those hurt in the shoo...

New push on for US-run free tax file system

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:25:48 GMT

WASHINGTON — It’s that time of year when throngs of taxpayers are buckling down to file their income tax returns before Tuesday’s filing deadlineAlmost one-quarter of Americans wait until the last minute to file their taxes, many paying to use software from private companies such as Intuit and H&R Block.There could be a new, free option in future years. The IRS has been tasked with looking into how to create a government-operated electronic free-file tax return system for all.The idea has been batted around and hotly debated for a long time. Congress now has directed the IRS to report in on how such a system might work.The order came as part of the $80 billion infusion of money for the tax agency over the next 10 years under the Democrats’ flagship climate and health care measure, known as the Inflation Reduction Act. It gave the IRS nine months and $15 million to report in on how it might implement such a program and how much it would cost.Next month, the IRS ...

Kenyan runners poised to make history in 127th Boston Maraton

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:25:48 GMT

The elite performers from Team Kenya will be looking to execute an historic three-sweep in Monday’s 127th running of the BAA Boston Marathon.The Boston Marathon was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed with a first-time autumn race on Oct. 11, 2021.Kenyan Benson Kipruto (2:09:51) took the men’s a race while compatriot Edna Kiplagat (2:25:09) broke the tape in the women’s race. Her winning time set a new master’s record on the course.The Boston Marathon returned to its Patriot’s Day format last April 18, with a predicable result for the Kenyans. Evans Chebet won his first Boston Marathon with a time of 2:06:51, the eighth fastest clocking in BAA history. He was followed across the line by countrymen Lawrence Cherono (2:07:21) and Kipruto (2:07:27).Peres Jepchirchir took the women’s race in 2:21:01 in her BAA debut, becoming the first athlete to win the Boston, New York City and Olympic marathon titles.Separating a Kenyan from the winner’s podium in the men...

Red Sox notebook: A special year, a special bond – 2013 Red Sox reunite 10 years after title

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:25:48 GMT

Jonny Gomes already knew how hard winning a World Series would be. He’d lost with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008 and wasn’t sure he’d ever get another chance.Then, when he was with the Oakland Athletics in 2012, he realized what winning one would actually mean.“It was their 40-year anniversary of ’72 and they just wheeled these dudes out,” Gomes said. “It sunk in that winning a title is forever.”Now, Gomes and his 2013 Red Sox teammates are living out “forever” themselves.On Sunday the 2013 club reunited at Fenway Park to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their World Series championship season. Before the game players and their families were invited to throw batting practice on the field to their kids, play catch in the outfield and tour the inside of the Green Monster. The team was also honored during a pregame ceremony, during which a 2013 World Series championship banner was unfurled across the entire left field wall.The ...

Gerrrit Cole delivers complete game shutout as Yankees stuff Twins 2-0

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:25:48 GMT

The Yankees were able to split the series in a finale that was expected to be a pitching duel between Gerrit Cole and Pablo Lopez.But Cole (4-0) threw a complete game and outshined his counterpart, allowing just two hits, a walk and no runs in the Yankees’ 2-0 victory against the Twins. He didn’t allow a hit through 4.1 innings and struck out 10 batters, his 23rd double digit strikeout game as a Yankee, tying him with Ron Guidry for the franchise record.It was the second-straight game the Twins’ bats were mostly neutralized to end the first season series between the two teams, a stark difference compared to the 20 combined hits in the first two games. The Twins had five hits Saturday and were held to just two on Sunday.The Yankees got traffic in the third inning after a one-out walk to Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo reached after Lopez hit the first baseman in the foot.The HBP is Rizzo’s 204th of his career, tying him with ex-Phillies infielder Chase Utley for...

Son of Iran’s last shah set to make first visit to Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:25:48 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran’s exiled crown prince is scheduled to come to Israel this week on a visit that reflects the warm ties his father once had with Israel and the current state of hostility between Israel and the Islamic Republic.Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah to rule Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, said Sunday that he will be delivering “a message of friendship from the Iranian people.” He is set to participate in Israel’s annual Holocaust memorial ceremony on Monday night, said Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, who will host him. He is also set to visit a desalination plant, see the Western Wall and meet representatives of the local Bahai community and Israeli Jews of Iranian descent, she said.Gamliel praised the “brave decision” by Pahlavi to make what she said would be his first visit to Israel. “The crown prince symbolizes a leadership different from that of the ayatollah regime, and leads values of peace and tolerance, in contrast to the...

CP Rail launches major clean-up effort after derailment in Maine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:25:48 GMT

MONTREAL — Canadian Pacific Kansas City railway crews face a hefty cleanup effort after a freight train derailed in rural Maine yesterday, setting several cars ablaze.CPKC says the train hit a washout on the track in a wooded area near Moosehead Lake, some 220 kilometres southeast of Quebec City.The railroad operator says three crew members were taken to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries Saturday and released the same day.CPKC spokeswoman C. Doniele Carlson says locomotives and four derailed lumber cars went up in flames, with crews now containing spilled diesel fuel.She says cars carrying drums of ethanol and another hazardous material also went off the rails but did not catch fire, with state officials adding there is no threat to public safety.The rail line is the same one where the fatal Lac-Mégantic disaster unfolded about 90 kilometres further west as the crow flies in 2013.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2023.Companies in this ...

Promising senior, 4 others slain in Alabama party shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:25:48 GMT

DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A high school senior who planned to play college football was celebrating at his sister’s 16th birthday party Saturday night in Alabama when gunfire killed him and three other people and wounded several others.Police were gathering evidence Sunday at a dance studio where the party was held in downtown Dadeville. They did not immediately say if a suspect was in custody, or if they knew more about any motivation.Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, a Dadeville High School senior who had committed to Jacksonville State University, was celebrating at his sister Alexis’ party before he was shot to death, his grandmother Annette Allen told The Montgomery Advertiser. “He was a very, very humble child. Never messed with anybody. Always had a smile on his face,” Allen told the newspaper, calling it “a million-dollar smile.”Dowdell’s mother was among those hurt in the shooting.“Everybody’s grieving,” Allen said.Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agen...