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Abreu homers again to power Astros past Twins 3-2 and into 7th straight ALCS

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:19 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — José Abreu homered for the third time in two games, a two-run rocket in the fourth inning that launched the Houston Astros to their seventh straight AL Championship Series appearance with a 3-2 win that eliminated the Minnesota Twins in Game 4 of their AL Division Series on Wednesday night.José Urquidy gave the playoff-tested Astros another solid postseason start, withstanding home runs by Royce Lewis in the first and Edouard Julien in the sixth to hand the ball to the bullpen.Hector Neris and Bryan Abreu combined for five strikeouts over 2 1/3 hitless innings. Ryan Pressly, who pitched five-plus years for the Twins before being traded to Houston in 2018, struck out the side in the ninth.Pressly froze Max Kepler with a full-count fastball to end it, leaving former Astros star Carlos Correa on deck. “Oh yeah, we knew. And I was trying not to have nightmares, because I remember when Carlos was with us he hit that ball up in the right-center field seats up there,” Ho...

7th person charged after Korean woman found dead in trunk, with 1 suspect saying he was a victim too

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:19 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — A seventh person has been arrested on murder charges in the death of a South Korean woman whose body was found decaying in a car trunk in suburban Atlanta.Police arrested Mihee Lee, 54, on Wednesday. She’s the mother of three others already accused of murder in the death 33-year-old Sehee Cho, Gwinnett County police said.Investigators believe Cho traveled to the United States from South Korea in July to join a religious organization, known as Soldiers of Christ. The suspects referred to themselves as members of the group, investigators said.Cho’s body was found Sept. 12, wrapped in a blanket in a car parked in Duluth.A lawyer for another suspect, Eric Hyun, said he was actually a victim of the same kind of torture that Cho was subjected to. A judge released Hyun on $100,000 bail Wednesday.Investigators said they believe Cho was held against her will for weeks in the basement of the Lee family’s Lawrenceville home, where Cho was beaten and denied food until...

Nets coach Vaughn says team from Israel wants to play exhibition game Thursday despite war at home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:19 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said their opponent from Israel still wants to play an exhibition game Thursday night in Brooklyn, days after the country was attacked by Hamas militants.Maccabi Ra’anana will be opening a three-game tour against NBA teams. Nets center Nic Claxton questioned Wednesday whether the game should be played because of the ongoing war that has already claimed more than 2,300 lives.“We feel for the players that we’re playing against,” the center said. “I don’t know if we should be playing the game personally. I don’t think we should be playing the game.”Asked why he felt that way, Claxton responded: “Because there’s bigger things in the world going on than basketball.”But Vaughn said canceling the game would be against the wishes of the team from the Israeli National League.“Just organizationally, we have been in contact with Maccabi and Maccabi has reiterated to us that they do want to play the game,” Vaughn said. Maccabi Ra’...

US aircraft carrier arrives in South Korea as North’s leader Kim exchanges messages with Putin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:19 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea on Thursday in a demonstration of strength against North Korea, as the North’s leader reaffirmed his push to bolster ties with Russia.The USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group came to the southeastern South Korean port of Busan after participating in a trilateral South Korean-U.S.-Japanese maritime exercise earlier this week, the South Korean Defense Ministry said.The aircraft carrier is to stay in Busan until next Monday as part of a bilateral agreement to enhance “regular visibility” of U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear program, according to an earlier Defense Ministry statement.It’s the first arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier in South Korea in six months since the USS Nimitz docked at Busan in late March, the statement said.The arrival of the USS Ronald Reagan is expected to enrage North Korea, which views the deployment of such a p...

Mexico celebrates an ex-military official once arrested on drug smuggling charges in the US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:19 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A former Mexican defense secretary whose arrest in the United States in 2020 on drug charges strained relations between the two countries was celebrated Wednesday with an honorary military decoration. In October 2020, Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos was arrested in Los Angeles and accused of ties to an international drug trafficking ring, but charges were dropped a month later under intense pressure from Mexico.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador presented Cienfuegos, who was head of Mexico’s army from 2012 to 2018, the award at a ceremony celebrating the bicentennial anniversary of the Heroic Military Academy, which he used to direct.Almost three years ago to the day, Cienfuegos was arrested at a Los Angeles airport, accused of participating in an international drug trafficking and money laundering network. The U.S. later dropped their charges against him, ostensibly as a diplomatic concession, and he was returned to Mexico for further investigation.Mexico’s Att...

CPD: Des Plaines man charged after shooting at police in Englewood

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:19 GMT

CHICAGO — A man from the Northwest Suburbs was charged Wednesday after he was arrested for allegedly shooting at Chicago police officers in the Englewood neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.26-year-old Jose Rico (Courtesy: Chicago Police Department)According to the Chicago Police Department, 26-year-old Des Plaines resident Jose Rico was charged with one felony count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon with no valid FOID card, and one misdemeanor count of being in possession of a firearm with no valid FOID card Wednesday.Rico was arrested Tuesday around 2:30 p.m. after police said he was identified as the man who pointed a gun and opened fire in the direction of Chicago police officers in the 1700 block of West 61st Street. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man arrested after shooting at Chicago police officers in Englewood According to CPD, no officers were injured during the incident, and police did not return fire.Minutes later, officers were able to find Rico in the 6100 block of South Honore ...

NASA shows off samples from near-Earth asteroid delivered by spacecraft — and there's more to come

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:19 GMT

HOUSTON (KTVX) — If you can get a scientist to say "wow," then you're in pretty impressive territory. According to NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid researchers, they've been saying "wow" quite a bit since their asteroid sample landed on Earth.This is only the beginning. They haven't even opened the canister with the actual asteroid sample yet, said Sample Analyst Dr. Daniel Glavin.“We picked the right asteroid, and we brought back the right samples," Glavin said. "This stuff is an astrobiologist dream.”NASA held a press conference on Oct. 11 from the Johnson Space Center, in Houston to show samples from the OSIRIS-REx Mission. OSIRIS-REx continues to surprise scientists with sample collection On Sept. 24, OSIRIS-REx ended its nearly 4 billion-mile journey, exploring the solar system and gathering samples from near-Earth asteroid Bennu by releasing its sample capsule. The capsule made its way to the Utah desert floor. The sample canister was then removed and whisked from Dugway Proving G...

Walmart will be closed on Thanksgiving Day for 4th consecutive year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:19 GMT

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Walmart will be closed on Thanksgiving Day for the fourth year in a row, the company's U.S. president and CEO John Furner announced in a LinkedIn post on Monday. "Thanksgiving is a special day, and we want our store associates to have the chance to spend it with their families and loved ones," Furner said. "We have so much to be thankful for, and I'm especially grateful for our associates." Sam’s Club cuts membership to $15 before the holidays For decades, Walmart stores had typically remained open on Thanksgiving Day to kick off the holiday shopping season. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic happened.The retail giant parted with tradition in 2020 and made the decision to close its stores on Thanksgiving to express gratitude to its staff and give workers a break. USA TODAY reported that 2020 was the first year Walmart closed its stores for this particular holiday since the late 1980s. This year, Walmart will be open regular hours the day before and after T...

Vista Ridge High School teacher charged with indecency with a child

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:19 GMT

CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) – Cedar Park Police have charged a math teacher at Vista Ridge High School with indecency with a child, a second degree felony, for having inappropriate interactions with her 15-year-old student, according to police documents.The Leander Independent School District placed 33-year-old Kristie Russell on administrative leave last month after learning about a potential inappropriate relationship, the school's principal said in a letter to parents Tuesday. According to Russell's arrest warrant affidavit, a student overheard a group of peers discussing an incident between Russell and the 15-year-old student and notified the police.An investigator with the Department of Family and Protective Services interviewed the adolescent involved and he told them he and had a sexual interaction in Russell's car after school one day. Russell told police that the victim was in her car one afternoon and that she was driving him home from the high school. She eventually admitted...

Dane Mizutani: This time feels different for the Twins. The future is bright in Minnesota.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:49:19 GMT

If the Twins proved anything this season, it’s that the future is bright in Minnesota.This isn’t the same collection of players that made a habit of bowing to the New York Yankees whenever the lights got bright. This is the group that finally snapped the historic 18-game playoff losing streak with a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Wild Card Series, then gave the almighty Houston Astros everything they could handle in the American League Division Series.As thrilling as the past week has been, the Twins ended their season with a 3-2 loss to the Astros on Wednesday night at Target Field. The cliche is that teams need to take their lumps in the playoffs to learn what it takes to climb the mountaintop. This could be that for this team.No doubt the Twins have room to improve. The team that struck out more than any other team in the regular season struck out 73 more times in the playoffs. Truthfully, the Twins might be a player away from being a team that ...