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Rockies spring training report: Concern over Daniel Bard, excitement about Ezequiel Tovar and Elehuris Montero as team breaks camp

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:32 GMT

The Rockies wrapped up spring training Tuesday with an 8-1 loss to the Brewers at Salt River Fields, leaving the Rockies with a 13-19 Cactus League record.The record is inconsequential but trends, flashes of talent and signs of trouble can often carry into the regular season.When Colorado opens the regular season against the Padres on Thursday in San Diego, here are some themes worth paying attention to:• Daniel Bard’s spring funk. It’s not just that the Rockies’ closer battled wildness during the World Baseball Classic, conjuring up memories of the yips that nearly ended his career. What’s also concerning is that his fastball velocity is down to 93-96 mph when last year he regularly hit 98-99 mph. Bard posted a 5.40 ERA in five Cactus League games.• The left side of the infield features rookies Ezequiel Tovar at shortstop and Elehuris Montero at third base. There are bound to be growing pains in the field, especially for Montero, but the Rockies feel good ab...

Los Angeles "mansion tax" has sellers throwing in free sports cars to entice buyers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:32 GMT

Sellers of luxury homes in Los Angeles scrambling to offload their properties before a new “mansion tax” takes effect on April 1.Agents are trying their best to entice buyers with free perks before the ULA tax takes effect. The measure will impose a 4% transfer tax on property sales over $5 million and a 5.5% tax on properties over $10 million.The tax must be paid by the seller which means those with properties on the market are doing everything they can to incentivize quick closes, including throwing in a free McLaren or a Bentley along with a purchase.Some sellers are dropping prices dramatically while others are finding clever ways to entice buyers to snatch up these pricey estates.“We were trying to think outside of the box and we offered a $1 million bonus to any agent who brought the buyer to one of our listings if we closed before April 1,” said Josh Altman, CEO of Altman Brothers Real Estate and star of “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.”Altman explains the extravagant inc...

Burglars target antique, collectibles business in Riverside

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:32 GMT

An antique and collectibles business in Riverside is pleading for help, hoping someone can identify burglars that have broken into the store twice over the last month.  Surveillance footage shows thieves smash through glass doors in February and then, again, last Friday. They stole high-end valuables and some rare movie props that were on display inside the shop. “Glass everywhere. My building was ransacked, everything I worked hard to put in here was just thrown everywhere,” said Sharonne Leibscher, owner of Annie Rooster’s Sally Anne’s Antiques, Collectibles & More. The business owner said she still gets emotional about the burglaries and estimates that she’s out more than $40,000 because of stolen merchandise and costly repairs to her store.  “The first one happened February 22. I received a phone call from property management stating that my building had been broken into,” Leibscher said.  She arrived that day to find shattered glass and items, like ...

Heritage star Amanda Muse shines among nation’s best at McDonald’s All-American Game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:32 GMT

Heritage star and UCLA commit Amanda Muse shined among some of the nation’s elite high school basketball players during the McDonald’s All-American girls basketball game on Tuesday night at the Toyota Center in Houston.Muse scored 18 points for the West team on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. The West triumphed 110-102 in a fast-paced game.The post player came off the bench but was arguably the best player on the court in the first half. Muse scored 12 points, two off a nifty step-through layup that left her defender flat-footed, and grabbed four rebounds in that time. The West led 52-46 at halftime.Amanda Muse has 12 points and 4reb at halftime. She has been arguably the best player in the #McDonaldsAllAmerican game so far. @HeritagePats @coachnatesmith @DarrenSabedra @GReeves23 @leftwich @thepress_sports #Bruins #ucla @Jesus_Cano88 pic.twitter.com/zE0ggnYjZz— Joseph Dycus (@joseph_dycus) March 28, 2023Muse closed out the game for the winning team, and had a hand in the...

Contra Costa DA charges suspect in fatal Hercules chase, collision that killed a mother and her 6-year-old son

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:32 GMT

MARTINEZ — A 20-year-old Vallejo man was charged Tuesday with two counts of murder and other crimes in connection with a police pursuit in West County that ended in a car crash that killed a mother and her 6-year-old son, authorities said.The two counts of murder filed against Ralph White III come with enhancements for “committing the offenses while on bail,” the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office said on Tuesday, without elaborating.Hercules police said an officer attempted to pull White over, but he drove off and led police on a chase before crashing into a Nissan driven by 31-year-old Ryniqueka Dowell. She died as a result of the crash and her twin 6-year-old sons, Jamani and Jamari Humble, who were in the Nissan, were taken to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, where Jamari was pronounced dead Monday. Jamani suffered a broken leg and other injuries, authorities said.The crash happened after Hercules police responded to a Contra...

Timeline: Violence in San Francisco Bay Area schools

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:32 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- School safety and violence is thrown back into a roiling national debate this week after three children and three adults were shot to death at a Christian school in Nashville. The suspect, Audrey Hale, was a former student of The Covenant School."School violence" is a broad term, according to the National Association of School Psychologists. "Sadly, it includes rare, tragic, devastating school shootings. In addition, school violence includes more covert behaviors that increase fear and diminish school safety, such as threats of injury at school, weapons possession, and harassment," NASP wrote. Teachers said school violence has more than doubled nationwide since the pandemic began, according to a new survey conducted by EAB researchers. Nearly 85 percent of teachers said students' ability to self-regulate, socialize, and build relationships with peers plummeted compared to pre-pandemic. Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9, was one of six victims fatally shot at school in Nash...

Sexual assault lawsuits filed against Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:32 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- Two lawsuits were filed against Bellarmine College Prep in connection with the school's role in enabling alleged sexual abuse in the 1960s and 70s, court documents show. The person who filed the lawsuit was a 15-year-old student at the San Jose prep school, located at 960 W Hedding St, in the 1969-70 school year, per the lawsuit. He claims he was abused by Brother William “Bill” Farrington, and the abuse was enabled by the school. According to attorney Mary Bajo, Farrington performed a "hernia check" on the victim every time he visited the infirmary, even if he was in for knee or hand injuries. Woman accused of deadly San Jose hit-and-run identified “Farrington wasn’t authorized to perform hernia checks,” Bajo said. “To our knowledge, he had no medical training. He certainly was not a licensed doctor or certified nurse. This was a huge red flag that Bellarmine should have seen and put a stop to Farrington’s behavior.”The lawsuit said the incidents bega...

Luke Voit guaranteed $2M in 1-year deal with Brewers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:32 GMT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — First baseman Luke Voit has a $2 million major league salary in his one-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, and the former big league home run champion can earn an additional $3 million in performance bonuses.Voit’s contract, announced Monday, includes a $12 million team option for 2024 with no buyout.He can earn $500,000 each for 250, 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 plate appearances in 2023.If assigned to the minor leagues, his 2023 salary would be $200,000.Voit attended spring training on a minor league contract and opted out last week, then agreed to the major league deal. He hit a two-run homer off Colorado’s Ryan Feltner in an 8-1 spring training win Tuesday, leaving Voit with a .310 batting average, three homers and six RBIs in Cactus League games.The 32-year-old hit .226 with 22 homers, 69 RBIs and a .308 on-base percentage in 135 games with the San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals last season, when he had a $5.45 million salary.Voi...

Five planets visible in Colorado Tuesday evening

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:32 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A rare space event is happening on Tuesday night and it will be visible in Colorado. Five planets will be lining up in the night sky and will be visible all at once. The five planets will be Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Mars. To see this event, you will want to look towards the west just after sunset. The sunset will be at 7:20 p.m. in Denver on Tuesday. The event will only last for about 30 minutes after sunset before Jupiter and Mercury dip below the horizon. Most of Colorado will see mostly clear or partly cloudy skies Tuesday evening.

Surreal 360: A Salvador Dali experience combines art and technology

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:32 GMT

Miami is filled with art, from graffiti in Wynwood, to the pop art of Romero Britto. Now art lovers can enjoy the surrealist works of Salvador Dali when they go to the Ice Palace. The place is bringing Dali’s work to life with augmented reality and immersive experiences, so guests can feel like they’re part of the artwork.There’s only one way to experience Salvador Dali’s artwork, and that’s at the surreal 360: A Salvador Dali experience at the Ice Palace West.Sotsantyago Bermudez: “Surreal 360 is a brand new experience where we are trying to put art and technology altogether. You’re going to be able to see lithographs, sculptures, and everything is going to be with augmented reality.”The artist’s funky and surrealistic style was a perfect fit to bring to Miami.Sotsantyago Bermudez: “We chose to showcase Dali’s artwork because we thought Miami wasn’t surreal enough, so we chose to put a little more surrealism in...