James Dolan’s sketch of the Sphere becomes reality as the venue opens with a U2 show in Las Vegas

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:23:26 GMT

James Dolan’s sketch of the Sphere becomes reality as the venue opens with a U2 show in Las Vegas LAS VEGAS (AP) — It started as a crude sketch — a circle with a stick person inside. Seven years later, that drawing has been made real: A $2.3 billion massive spherical venue standing 366 feet high and lighting up the Las Vegas skyline.The drawing was initially made by James Dolan, the executive chairman of Madison Square Garden and owner of the New York Knicks and Rangers. He and MSG Ventures CEO David Dibble were trying to create a plan to give the entertainment venue industry a facelift in Las Vegas.Both experimented with different shapes for the structure — such as a muffin, a box and even a pyramid – until Dolan drew a circle with a stick person inside on a notebook. At that moment, the Sphere was born. Now, Dolan’s vision will come into fruition when U2’s “UV Achtung Baby” residency kicks off the opening of his high-tech, globe-shaped venue in Las Vegas on Friday night.“It really is a new medium,” said Dolan, speaking to the media during a walkthrough Thursday. “W...

Missouri high school teacher is put on leave after school officials discover her page on porn site

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:23:26 GMT

Missouri high school teacher is put on leave after school officials discover her page on porn site ST. CLAIR, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri high school teacher says she has been placed on leave after officials discovered that she was performing on a pornography website to supplement her salary. Brianna Coppage, 28, who taught English at St. Clair High School, says her teaching days are probably over, but she acknowledged she knew the risks. Coppage told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that she was put on leave on Wednesday after being interviewed by two administrators. Her access to school email and other software was suspended while the district investigates, she said.“It was kind of always like this cloud hanging over my head, like I never knew when I would be discovered,” Coppage said in an interview. “Then, about two weeks ago, my husband and I were told that people were finding out about it. So I knew this day was coming.”Superintendent Kyle Kruse said in a statement that the district was “recently notified that an employee may have posted inappropriate media on one or more internet sit...

One of the last living witnesses to the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas is indicted on murder charge

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:23:26 GMT

One of the last living witnesses to the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas is indicted on murder charge LAS VEGAS (AP) — One of the last living witnesses to the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas is indicted on murder charge.Source

Gen. Milley delivers defense of democracy, swipes at Trump in farewell address

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:23:26 GMT

Gen. Milley delivers defense of democracy, swipes at Trump in farewell address JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. (AP) — Army Gen. Mark Milley delivered a full-throated defense of democracy and not-so-subtle swipes at former President Donald Trump during a packed ceremony on Friday as he closed out his four, often tumultuous years as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Under cloudy skies at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Milley never mentioned the former president by name. But he practically shouted on two different occasions that the U.S. military swears to protect the Constitution “against ALL enemies, foreign AND domestic.”“We don’t take an oath to a king or a queen or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator,” he said. “We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we’re willing to die to protect it.”Milley is retiring after more than four decades of military service, including multiple combat deployments and two often...

Defensive tackles Aaron Donald and DeForest Buckner ready to square off again in Rams-Colts matchup

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:23:26 GMT

Defensive tackles Aaron Donald and DeForest Buckner ready to square off again in Rams-Colts matchup INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Aaron Donald’s impeccable resume would make any defensive player envious.He owns a Super Bowl ring, three NFL Defensive Player of the Year titles, won the 2014 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award and the 2018 Deacon Jones Award as the league’s sacks leader. He has made seven All-Pro teams and nine Pro Bowls and the unanimous All-American also collected the Lombardi Award, Outland Trophy and Chuck Bednarik Award among other honors in college.Even at age 32, with nothing left to prove, the league’s best defensive tackle shows no signs of slowing down. And this week, like most, blocking Donald will be the focal point for his next foe.“We’ve got to have a plan for him, know where he’s at at all times and not let him wreck the game,” said Indianapolis Colts coach Shane Steichen, calling Donald one of the best interior lineman in NFL history. “They line him up all over the place. Like I said, we’ve got to have a great, great plan for him.”Ind...

Las Vegas Police provide details on Tupac Shakur murder charge, suspect

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:23:26 GMT

Las Vegas Police provide details on Tupac Shakur murder charge, suspect LAS VEGAS (NEXSTAR) — Twenty-seven years after the death of rapper Tupac Shakur, a Las Vegas-area grand jury has indicted a man with the icon’s murder, Nexstar's KLAS confirmed Friday.The arrest and indictment are a long-awaited break in the 1996 drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas strip that killed the rap legend, a case that has frustrated investigators and fascinated the public for nearly three decades.A Clark County grand jury voted to indict Duane “Keffe D” Davis on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement, according to Nexstar's KLAS. Las Vegas Metro police arrested Davis early Friday, prosecutors said.Davis, who is not believed to have fired the fatal shots, still faces a murder charge as he is accused of aiding and abetting in Shakur's killing.During the grand jury return hearing on Friday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo said Davis’ public statements implicated him, adding Davis allegedly ordered Shakur’s death. ...

Driver wanted for hitting parked car at Boulder trailhead

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:23:26 GMT

Driver wanted for hitting parked car at Boulder trailhead DENVER (KDVR) — Police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who damaged a brand-new car while it was parked at a Boulder trailhead. "Imagine buying a brand new car, parking it at a beautiful Boulder trailhead while you go for a hike and returning to find out some jerk struck it and left the scene," that is what the Boulder Police Department wrote on their X account Friday morning. According to police, the hit-and-run happened on Sept. 27 at 10 p.m. at the Four Mile Creek Trailhead located at 420 Lee Hill. Parole officer killed, another hurt in hit-and-run crash Witnesses told police that the driver of a silver Toyota Tacoma was responsible for the crash, but the driver fled the scene after hitting the victim's car, which was also a Toyota Tacoma.Police are looking for the driver that hit this black Toyota Tacoma that was parked at a Boulder trailhead. (Boulder Police Department)Police are looking for the driver that hit this black Toyota Tacoma that was parked at a Boulder trailhe...

17-year-old girl, woman arrested, charged in brutal Lincoln Road beating; 3 other juveniles in custody

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:23:26 GMT

17-year-old girl, woman arrested, charged in brutal Lincoln Road beating; 3 other juveniles in custody A 17-year-old girl and a woman were arrested and charged after, police said, they beat up two store employees following a brazen theft at a popular Lincoln Road store, a brutal takedown that was caught on camera.A cellphone camera rolled a group of teenage girls and others repeatedly punched a man, and one of the suspects grabbed a woman by the hair in the area of Lincoln Road and Washington Avenue, Sept. 19.The footage showed the perpetrators as they slammed the woman’s head against a garbage can and then threw her to the ground. The older suspect is seen kicking the victim at least once.Miami Beach Police said the suspects, a Miami Beach Senior High student and a 26-year-old woman, were taken into custody arrested and charged with battery.Speaking through a translator on Thursday, the female employee who was attacked opened up about the incident.“We shouldn’t feel scared in our workplace,” she said.This employee showed 7News bruises on her neck from the bea...

Florida teen killed by lightning strike while hunting with her father

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:23:26 GMT

Florida teen killed by lightning strike while hunting with her father (CNN) — A Florida teenager is dead after lightning struck her and her father while they were hunting, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook update Thursday.Baylee Holbrook, 16, and her father, Matthew Holbrook, had been hunting late Tuesday afternoon in a wooded area just north of Palatka, 45 miles outside of Gainesville, when a tree they were sitting by was struck by lightning. That lightning strike rendered both Holbrook and her father unconscious, according to an incident report.Holbrook’s father awoke to find his daughter wasn’t breathing. He put her in his pickup truck and drove to a main road before attempting CPR until emergency services arrived, the report said.The teenager was taken to HCA Florida Putnam Hospital until she was “stabilized enough” to be transported to the pediatric trauma center at UF Health Shands Hospital, where she died Thursday morning surrounded by her family, the sheriff’s office said.An average of 28 people die in the US from lightning...

Republican funding effort to avoid a government shutdown fails in the House

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:23:26 GMT

Republican funding effort to avoid a government shutdown fails in the House WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s last-ditch plan to keep the federal government temporarily open collapsed in dramatic fashion Friday as a robust faction of hard-right holdouts rejected the package, making a shutdown almost certain.McCarthy’s right-flank Republicans refused to support the bill despite its steep spending cuts of nearly 30% to many agencies and severe border security provisions, calling it insufficient.The White House and Democrats rejected the Republican approach as too extreme. The vote was 198-232, with 21 hard-right Republicans voting to sink the package. The Democrats voted against it.The bill’s complete failure a day before Saturday’s deadline to fund the government leaves few options to prevent a shutdown that will furlough federal workers, keep the military working without pay and disrupt programs and services for millions of Americans.A clearly agitated McCarthy left the House chamber. “It’s not the end yet;...