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MLB has its most productive class of rookie hitters ever. Managers and players believe they know why

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:11:31 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce Lewis has played in 70 games for the Minnesota Twins. He has five grand slams.The AL Central champion Twins haven’t had a rookie so ready for major league stardom since Joe Mauer nearly two decades ago. Despite a decided lack of live games over the last three seasons due to injuries and the pandemic, Lewis entered the lineup after finishing his ACL rehab and immediately hit like he’d been there for years.“An impact on our team that we can’t really measure, except to say we’re a significantly better team when he’s out there,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.Lewis is just one of dozens of first-year position players crushing it at the plate for contending teams, many of them with a postseason place clinched. By at least one key measure, this is the best class of rookie hitters the major leagues have ever seen.Call this the year of the instant hit.According to FanGraphs data, the advanced metric Wins Above Replacement total for all rookie hitters in 202...

Man who faked Native American heritage to sell his art in Seattle sentenced to probation

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:11:31 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — A Washington state man who falsely claimed Native American heritage to sell his artwork at downtown Seattle galleries was sentenced Wednesday to federal probation and community service. The U.S. attorney’s office said Lewis Rath, of Maple Falls, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to two years probation and 200 hours of community service. He was charged in 2021 with multiple crimes including violating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, which prohibits misrepresentation in marketing American Indian or Alaska Native arts and crafts.An investigation started in 2018, when the Indian Arts and Crafts Board received a complaint about Rath, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.Rath falsely claimed to be a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona and sold carved wooden totem poles, transformation masks and pendants to Seattle retail stores, the attorney’s office said.Agents searching Rath’s residence also recovered feathers from birds protected u...

Colorado officer killed while conducting welfare check, serving warrant

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:11:31 GMT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KDVR) -- Investigators in Colorado Springs say parole officer Christine Guerin Sandoval was killed Thursday while serving a warrant and conducting a welfare check.During a news conference Friday afternoon, leaders of the Colorado Springs Police Department, 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office and Department of Corrections spoke about what happened and the steps moving forward. What is a Blue Alert and how often is it used? According to investigators, Guerin Sandoval was one of three officers at the scene around 3:45 p.m. They approached a vehicle with the suspect in it and when this happened he drove off, hitting Guerin Sandoval and a second female officer.Both officers were taken to the hospital where Guerin Sandoval died. "Christine took an oath to protect the citizens of Colorado and she lost her life doing just that," Director of the Department of Corrections Andre Stancil said.The second officer, who is not being identified for privacy reasons, has...

How successful are Blue Alerts in Colorado?

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:11:31 GMT

LAKEWOOD, Colo (KDVR) -- A suspect is in custody after reportedly hitting and killing a Colorado parole officer on Thursday.The incident launched a Blue Alert manhunt that ended with the suspect’s arrest hours later. Justin Andrew Kula, 41, was taken into custody in the crash, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department.That alert was sent out by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which Investigative Analyst Audrey Simkins says made the decision after establishing the incident met the criteria for a Blue Alert.“We know it needs to happen immediately," says Simkins. "So we drop everything and work to get that alert ready to push out.” No more warnings: Drive over the line, pay the fine But unlike Amber Alerts, Simkins says Blue Alerts are sent out quite infrequently. Since the Colorado state legislature passed the Blue Alert law back in 2011, only four alerts have been sent out, including Thursday's. Other alerts were sent out in 2014, 2015, and 2019, when...

Afternoon storms cause flooding in parts of Fort Lauderdale; flood advisory issued for Broward

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:11:31 GMT

Afternoon storms have led to extensive flooding in some pockets of Fort Lauderdale and triggered a flood advisory in Broward County.7News cameras captured a roadway resembling a river along the 2100 block of Southwest 10th Court, between Davie and Broward boulevards, in an industrial neighborhood just west of Interstate 95, at around 4:10 p.m., Friday.Floodwaters were also seen on Friday in the Edgewood neighborhood, just north of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. This is the same neighborhood that saw some of the most extreme precipitation in the historic flood that affected the region back in April.Authorities advise drivers to turn around if possible when coming across standing water.The flood advisory remains in effect in Broward County until 4:45 p.m.Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

Caught on camera: Thieves steal air conditioning unit from Miami church serving low-income community

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:11:31 GMT

NARANJA, Fla. (WSVN) – The Archdiocese of Miami is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying two individuals who stole an air conditioning unit from Saint Ann Mission in Naranja. The theft, captured on surveillance video, occurred at 4 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 4.Saint Ann Mission, located at 13875 S.W. 264th Street in Naranja, is currently undergoing renovations, including the construction of a new church, to serve the predominantly low-income community of farm and nursery workers in the area, situated approximately five miles northwest of Homestead Air Reserve Base.David Prada, the archdiocesan director of Building and Property, noted the irony of “thieves stealing from the poor church that serves the local migrant community.” The stolen air conditioning unit was crucial for the mission’s food and clothes bank, which assists those in need.If you have any information on this crime, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can alwa...

Tour bus crashes into scaffolding in downtown Boston 

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:11:31 GMT

A tour bus crashed into scaffolding outside building in downtown Boston Friday.The bus hit the building at Spring Lane and Washington Street near Downtown Crossing. The impact shattered a window.Video shows the bus stuck on the side of the road, scrapping the scaffolding on the outside of the building. Crews were working to dislodge the bus, and all roads have been reopened.

Woburn police escort some children home after parents say fill-in bus driver was late to drop off spots, yelled at students

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:11:31 GMT

Some Woburn elementary school students experienced a scary ride home on Thursday. Parent said the usual school bus driver wasn’t at the wheel, and the person who was didn’t know where he was going.Jen McDonough’s daughter was on the school bus, which left Hurld Wyman Elementary School. Parents said they started to worry when it didn’t get to the drop-off spots on time.“She came running off the bus hysterically crying and explaining the whole thing, saying the bus driver was mean and yelling at them and swearing and basically the kids were saying ‘that’s my stop! that’s my stop!’ and he wouldn’t let them off,” McDonough said.Families said they couldn’t track the school bus’s location.“I did notice it was a new bus driver yesterday on the way home, and they hadn’t logged onto the bus app,” said another mom Sarah Flaherty.Cleudy Vielot said his wife was concerned when her daughter didn’t arrive home.“Yeah, yeah she was nervous. She was at work. She was nervous,” Vielot said.One p...

Claudine Gay inaugurated as Harvard’s first Black president

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:11:31 GMT

Harvard University held an inauguration ceremony to honor their new president Claudine Gay on Friday. Gay will be the first ever Black president and the second woman to hold the position at the Ivy League school.Hundreds of people stood in the rain at Harvard Yard to support her appointment as 30th president of Harvard.“I stand here today, humbled by the prospect of leading Harvard, emboldened by the trust you have placed in me, and energized to your own commitment to this singular institution and to the common cause of higher education,” Gay said at the inauguration. “I am grateful beyond measure to the governing boards for placing their confidence in me.” Gay began her new position as president in July.https://twitter.com/Harvard/status/1707832231215947942?s=20

Lucas: Biden blind to border crisis

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:11:31 GMT

Joe Biden should do as Giorgia Meloni does.And that is to go to the border.Meloni is the prime minister of Italy who last week went to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, the Eagle Pass of the Mediterranean, where desperate migrants from Africa have overrun the island.Joe Biden has not only avoided visiting the Mexican border to witness firsthand the illegal immigrant invasion that is taking place but refuses to even talk about it.Biden did make a controlled, three-hour stopover in El Paso in January en route to Mexico City, but it was so programmed that he did not see any of the immigrants, let alone those sleeping in the streets. He was kept away from reporters, and he did not take any questions, of course. He never does.Within three days prior to Meloni’s visit to Lampedusa, some 8,500 migrants from Tunisia, seeking to get to mainland Europe, landed on the shores of the once quaint island of 6,000 inhabitants.The new invasion came just as Merloni, in her speech to the United Na...