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Final Four: FAU, San Diego St ready for mid-major semifinal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:00 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — March Madness is at its best when the underdogs stir things up.Loyola Chicago and Sister Jean. Butler’s consecutive title-game runs with a near-miss against Duke. Saint Peter’s ride a year ago.Cinderellas are alluring, even if they shred brackets.A massive March upheaval this season has created a rare sight: two mid-majors playing for a spot in the national championship.When Florida Atlantic faces San Diego State in the first of two national semifinal games Saturday night, it marks just the second time two mid-majors will meet in the Final Four since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.“I love to see it just because it’s an opportunity for those outside of the national spotlight to be on the big stage and show what they can do,” FAU coach Dusty May said.The second Final Four game Saturday night pits two familiar names. UConn is vying for its fifth national championship and Miami, though in its first Final Four, plays in the basketball-ri...

Verizon wins FAA technology deal worth up to $2.4 billion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded Verizon Communications a contract potentially worth $2.4 billion to upgrade the agency’s technology systems.The FAA said Verizon will build a network that includes secure communications and administrative services. If the FAA exercises all options in the deal, the contract would run for 15 years and reach the full potential value, according to an agency spokeswoman.Verizon said it will build a network “to support all of the agency’s mission-critical applications” including air traffic management for more than 45,000 flights per day.The contract, disclosed Thursday, comes nearly three months after a critical alert system failed, temporarily halting departing flights across the country. The FAA blamed the outage on contractors who accidentally deleted files from a database and its backup.FAA officials have said they need to modernize the alert system and many other programs. Airline officials have supported the agency, ...

Factory explosion survivor, on fire, fell into chocolate vat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:00 GMT

A woman pulled alive from the rubble of a Pennsylvania chocolate factory after an explosion that killed seven co-workers says her arm caught fire as flames engulfed the building — and then she fell through the floor into a vat of liquid chocolate.The dark liquid extinguished her blazing arm, but Patricia Borges wound up breaking her collarbone and both of her heels. She would spend the next nine hours screaming for help and waiting for rescue as firefighters battled the inferno and choppers thumped overhead at the R.M. Palmer Co. factory.“When I began to burn, I thought it was the end for me,” Borges, 50, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview from her hospital bed in West Reading, Pennsylvania, just minutes from the chocolate factory where she worked as a machine operator. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board planned to interview Borges on Friday.The March 24 blast at R.M. Palmer killed seven of Borges’s co-workers and injured 10. Federal, state ...

High winds causing dangerous road conditions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:00 GMT

GOLDEN, Colo. (KDVR) -- High winds have caused semitrucks to topple over on Interstate 25 and other highways along the Front Range Friday afternoon, according to Colorado State Patrol. The CSP Golden station tweeted that they've received reports of semis "blown over on Colo 93 between Golden and Boulder. Northbound blocked north of junction of Colo 72."CSP Larimer tweeted that there are "2 semi crashes that we’re blown over due to high winds on north I-25 approx 6-12 miles south of the WY state line.  This area is restricted for lightweight high profile vehicles. Denver weather: Fire danger, high winds FOX31's Courtney Fromm was in Brighton where she took video of high winds and dusty conditions.A FOX31 viewer sent a video of wind blowing water out of Stanley Lake. Mountain View Fire Rescue posted a video on Twitter with audio so you can hear how heavy the winds are blowing and see the conditions they are creating. Thi...

Report: Colorado has the 2nd best economy in country

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — A new analysis from U.S. News and World Report said Colorado has the second-best economy in the country and is the 16th-best state overall.For the economy, the report looked at employment, the business environment and growth. How much will a Colorado Rockies game cost a family of 4? U.S. News and World Report said Colorado's employment situation is the best in the country, while the other two factors rank fourth and fifth in the country respectively."While its geographic diversity and natural resources have been an economic boon as well as a draw for tourism, the state's government has made efforts to diversify the economy over the past decades," the analysis said.The only state with a better economy, according to the analysis, is Utah. Idaho, Washington and Massachusetts round out the top five.For the overall score, Colorado had several other categories where it finished strong including fifth in education and 10th in health care. Cold case: Who murdered this wo...

Rapper NF brings tour to Ball Arena

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Michigan-based rapper and singer NF announced his latest world tour, and he is making a stop at the Mile High City.Nathan Feuerstein, who goes by his initials NF, will embark on a 47-show tour across the U.S., Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom following his newest album titled "HOPE.""The HOPE Tour" will hit the stage at Ball Arena on Saturday, Aug. 12, and will feature special guest Cordae. Full list of concerts at Ball Arena for 2023 With his massive hits like "Let You Down" and "The Search," the rapper has over 17 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 30 billion streams worldwide.Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster's fan-verified registration. Registration is open through Sunday at 11:59 p.m.General ticket sales begin on April 7 at 10 a.m. on NF's website. NF released his latest single "HOPE" last month and described it as finding himself at his "most raw and unfiltered as he assesses his musical journey thus far and looks to the future."

Vatican: Pope OK to leave hospital, has pizza, baptizes baby

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:00 GMT

By FRANCES D’EMILIO (Associated Press)ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has been cleared by doctors for discharge on Saturday from the Rome hospital where he was treated for bronchitis, the Vatican said, adding that the pontiff had pizza one evening with medical staff and baptized a baby in the pediatrics ward.Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, in one of several updates on Friday, also said that Francis will be in St. Peter’s Square for Palm Sunday Mass at the start of Holy Week, although he didn’t say if the pontiff would deliver the homily during the particularly lengthy service.“The medical team that is following His Holiness Pope Francis, after evaluating the outcome of tests carried out today and the favorable clinical recovery, has confirmed discharge” on Saturday, Bruni said in a written statement Friday night.Francis, 86, was hospitalized on Wednesday at Gemelli Polyclinic, where doctors said the pontiff was receiving antibiotics intravenously to trea...

Impact of new MLB rules immediately apparent

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:00 GMT

Thursday’s season opener was about as long a nine-inning baseball game as you could realistically imagine.The Red Sox and Orioles combined for 19 runs, 26 hits and 12 walks, using 12 pitchers who collectively threw 344 pitches. Runs were scored by one or both sides in every inning but the second and third, and towards the end Boston mounted a late rally to nearly erase a six-run deficit entering the bottom of the eighth.All of that added up to a time of game of exactly… 3:10. One minute quicker than the average Red Sox game last season.How wild is that?Last year a game like Thursday’s would have easily taken over four hours to play. With all the walks and pitching changes the game would have dragged on forever, and everyone who’d bothered sticking around would have been frozen to their seats by the end.The same story played out across MLB on Opening Day, with the 15 games taking an average of 2:45 to complete. That’s 26 minutes faster than the average game time last Opening Day, and...

Travel rewards programs shouldn’t be so annoying to use

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:00 GMT

Even after the “revenge travel” craze of 2022, Americans are still eager to get out there. According to an email survey of its members from Going, a travel deals service, 68% of the 3,274 respondents say they plan to spend more on international travel in 2023 than they did in 2022.Yet there’s just one problem: Travelers are also going broke. The No. 1 barrier to travel this year, according to the same survey, was a lack of money. So while inflation zaps budgets and consumers keep racking up credit card debt at a dizzying pace, those dream vacations might fizzle out.Is it time to tap into those credit card points, airline miles and hotel rewards? It might be, but actually figuring out how to use those dang points poses its own problems. Earning travel rewards through credit card offers and travel spending is one thing; successfully redeeming them is quite another.Consumers are confusedA stunning 84% of travelers cited user experience issues as their biggest frustration when using tra...

Fact check: Trump’s criticism of hush money case Judge Juan Merchan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:00 GMT

By The New York Daily NewsThe now-indicted former President Donald Trump Friday attacked as “VICIOUS” the Manhattan judge who will be presiding over his trial in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.Misspelling the name of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, Trump trashed the respected judge for his conduct of the trial that resulted in the conviction of the Trump Organization on tax fraud charges.“The Judge “assigned” to my Witch Hunt Case …. HATES ME,” Trump said on his social media site.Trump falsely claimed that Merchan bullied CFO Allen Weisselberg to plead guilty in exchange for testimony in the Trump Organization case.“[Merchan] is the same person who ‘railroaded’ my 75 year old former CFO, Allen Weisselberg, to take a ‘plea’ deal,” Trump said. “He strong armed Allen, which a judge is not allowed to do, & treated my companies … VICIOUSLY.”Two Trump Org entities were convicted in December of all charges and ordered to pay $1.6 million in fines. After pl...