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Chicago Bears are running out of bounce-back opportunities. Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on the Week 15 meltdown.

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:16:50 GMT

FINISH. Matt Eberflus has repeated the word so many times this year that his assistants have picked up on it, as have the players. When the 2023 season concludes — and three games are remaining for the Chicago Bears — it’s going to be the inability to finish that perhaps defines it.As we dive into the latest meltdown, a 20-17 loss Sunday to the Cleveland Browns, it’s important to use some perspective when framing the season. 10 thoughts on Sunday and beyond.1. Coming off 3-14 a year ago and in the early stages of rebuilding — or whatever you want to call it — expectations were for improved play this season.In many ways, the Bears have made measurable steps forward, inching closer to what will be a pivotal offseason as they hold the first-round pick belonging to the Carolina Panthers, which projects to be No. 1 overall even after the Panthers’ win over the Atlanta Falcons and will be armed with plenty of cap space.DJ Moore has brought a big-p...

Suspects sought in Oakville robbery arrested after fleeing officers, crashing vehicle into cruisers: police

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:16:50 GMT

Five people are under arrest after a vehicle crashed into police cruisers while fleeing officers following a robbery in Oakville, police say.According to Halton Regional Police, officers tried to stop a vehicle at the QEW off-ramp at Brant Street around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday.Police say the five suspects in the vehicle were being sought in a robbery that occurred at a Shoppers Drug Mart.The driver in the vehicle did not stop and allegedly rammed into two police cruisers.The suspects tried to flee on foot but were chased by officers and arrested shortly thereafter.Police say an officer used a Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW) on one of the suspects during the arrest.No injuries were reported.Police say three of the accused are “young persons” but didn’t provide their ages.

How to manage holiday spending when you’re dealing with student loan debt

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:16:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — For Nicole Plauche and her family, Christmas is the time of the year where they can use their preferred love language: gift giving. This year, however, Plauche is worried about how much she can afford to spend on gifts. Her main struggle? Student loan payments. “It just doesn’t leave much room for anything outside of just basic necessities,” said Plauche, a 23-year old tech sales manager from Dallas, Texas. Marisa Johnson, 26, has approximately $145,000 in student loan debt from both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Since the COVID-era payment pause ended in October, she’s been paying back $300 a month while she waits to see if she’ll be enrolled in a new income-driven repayment plan.Because all of her money is going to necessities and paying back her student loans, Johnson hasn’t been able to spend as much on gifts as in previous years.“I’ve mostly been trying to think of affordable gifts or combining gifts with my older siste...

Book Review: The Velvet Underground’s story and afterlife told in the oral history ‘Loaded’

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:16:50 GMT

Before they became synonymous with downtown cool, the Velvet Underground played a multi-band bill at a suburban New Jersey high school in 1965. Parents and kids in the crowd were repelled by the “screeching urge of sound” from Lou Reed and his bandmates, a local reviewer wrote, and retreated in horror after their second song, “Heroin.” The Velvet Underground soon found a more appreciative audience when artist Andy Warhol spotted them and set them up at the Factory, his Manhattan studio-and-happening space. But wide success and fame eluded the Velvet Underground during their fractious run. They became lionized as edgy musical groundbreakers later on — reversing the stereotypical rock band success story by breaking up and then conquering the world.Veteran journalist and author Dylan Jones tells that unusual story in “Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of The Velvet Underground.” Or more precisely, Jones weaves together an oral history that relies on the voices of friends, Warhol “supers...

Canopy Growth sells This Works skin care brand to U.K. investment firm

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:16:50 GMT

SMITHS FALLS, Ont. — Canopy Growth Corp. says it has sold its This Works skin care and wellness brand to a U.K. investment firm.The Smiths Falls, Ont.-based cannabis company says the deal with Inspirit Capital is valued at up to $15.9 million.Under the deal, Canopy will receive an upfront payment of $4.6 million in cash and in other consideration, a loan note issued by Inspirit Capital and payments for reaching unspecified milestones.Canopy says the deal has already closed and This Works’ leadership team, staff, and intellectual property will transfer to Inspirit Capital.The pot firm purchased This Works for $73.8 million in 2019, saying the London-based company founded in 2004 would be integral to Canopy’s entry into the natural wellness industry.This Works sells everything from moisturizers and cleansers to fragrances, sleep sprays and body oils.“We are resolutely focused on achieving North American cannabis market leadership, and this completed sale represents a...

Larry Kramer, the CEO of the mega climate funder, the Hewlett Foundation, looks back

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:16:50 GMT

Larry Kramer, longtime president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, doesn’t think it’s healthy for an executive to lead the same organization for more than 15 years. The problem, he says, is that it takes 10 years for a leader to get anything done.Nevertheless, Kramer, known for his early support of the fight against climate change, will make his own deadline. At the end of 2023, he will step down from his role from the organization he has led since 2012. In an interview with The Associated Press, Kramer talks about how Hewlett became the largest climate funder in the world from 2007 to 2018, as well as started funding around cybersecurity, political polarization in the context of democracy and reimagining capitalism.“We’re really broadly across the field,” Kramer says about Hewlett’s climate funding. “When we spot problems, we’ll start (working on) them and people will often follow. And that’s been true of a number of things in recent years, whether it’s...

AP Sports Story of the Year: Realignment, stunning demise of Pac-12 usher in super conference era

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:16:50 GMT

The commissioners from three of the remaining power conferences in college sports appeared together in a crowded convention center ballroom and were asked to ponder what was wrought by three tumultuous years of realignment that culminated in the destruction of a 108-year-old institution.“Obviously, not happy about the ultimate outcome to the Pac-12, but I’m in this position to give us the best options and future possible and we took advantage of the moment.” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark explained during the session in Las Vegas.That moment came over a span of six weeks this past summer. The Pac-12 was ripped apart and redistributed by its competitors, regardless of geography. The stunning demolition, set in motion a year earlier, was accelerated when the Pac-12 couldn’t secure a media rights deal to match its competitors.The redrawing of the college sports map and demise of the Pac-12, a conference that claims the most NCAA championships and a legacy that includes the likes of ...

Vladimir Putin has officially registered as a candidate for the Russian presidential election

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:16:50 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday presented documents to Russia’s Central Election Commission to register as a candidate in the 2024 presidential election. “He submitted them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media.Supporters of Putin on Saturday formally nominated him to run in the 2024 presidential election as an independent candidate.The nomination by a group of at least 500 supporters, under Russian election law, is mandatory for those running not on a party ticket. Independent candidates also need to gather at least 300,000 signatures of support from 40 regions or more.The group that nominated Putin included top officials from the ruling United Russia party, prominent Russian actors and singers, athletes and other public figures. Putin has used different tactics over the years. He ran as an independent in 2018 and his campaign gathered signatures. In 2012, he ran as a nominee of the Kremlin’s United Russia party, so there was no need fo...

Locked out of local government: Residents decry increased secrecy among towns, counties, schools

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:16:50 GMT

Cheryl Geidner figured council members in Volant, a tiny borough north of Pittsburgh, would adopt a preliminary year-end budget despite no discussions at public meetings on the proposed financials.She never figured they’d raise property taxes by 57%.“There had never been a mention of that,” said Geidner, a property owner who helps oversee a business with her husband, John, in the town of 126 residents. “You didn’t see the budget. You didn’t see the ordinance. I think everybody was somewhat taken aback.”The plan, given final approval last week, will steeply increase tax bills: A property assessed at $100,000, for example, would have been billed $700 in 2023. In 2024, that bill will rise to $1,100. The council’s silence leading up to the decision highlights what some observers say is a striking trend toward secrecy among local governments across the U.S. From school districts to townships and county boards, public access to records and meetings in many states is worsening over time, o...

Pope approves blessings for same-sex couples if the rituals don’t resemble marriage

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:16:50 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, with a new document explaining a radical change in Vatican policy by insisting that people seeking God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis” to receive it.The document from the Vatican’s doctrine office, released Monday, elaborates on a letter Francis sent to two conservative cardinals that was published in October. In that preliminary response, Francis suggested such blessings could be offered under some circumstances if they didn’t confuse the ritual with the sacrament of marriage.The new document repeats that rationale and elaborates on it, reaffirming that marriage is a lifelong sacrament between a man and a woman. And it stresses that blessings should not be conferred at the same time as a civil union, using set rituals or even with the clothing and gestures that belong in a wedding.But it says requests for such blessings should not be denied full stop. I...