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Frankie Montas says he wasn’t ‘fully 100%’ when traded to the Yankees, vows to return this season

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:45 GMT

The Yankees bought damaged goods with a no-return policy.Frankie Montas came over to the Bronx in a trade with the Oakland A’s in July of last season. However, the 29-year-old was not at full strength as he was nursing a shoulder injury.“I wasn’t fully 100 percent,” Montas told reporters Wednesday morning at the Yankees spring complex in Tampa. “I was trying to pitch through it. Of course, I got traded to a new team, I wanted to show what I can do.“Things didn’t go the way I was expecting. But I’m here to try to help this team and go out there and show what I can really do when I’m healthy.”It was clear Montas wasn’t the same pitcher after he donned the pinstripes as he struggled to a 6.35 ERA in eight starts with the Yankees.The shoulder discomfort continued throughout the offseason and ultimately led to his Feb. 21 surgery.If all goes well, Montas could return at some point during the second half of 2023. The righty...

GATORS PODCAST: AR takes off at NFL Combine and Riley Kugel’s rise (Ep. 156)

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:45 GMT

Former Florida QB Anthony Richardson was expected to steal the show at the NFL Scouting Combine, but might have even surpassed expectations. Will Richardon’s record-setting performance seduce an NFL team into the ultimate risk-reward move? Almost as predictable is Alabama coach Nick Saban complaining about something. This time it’s the Crimson Tide’s potential three permanent opponents if the pending 16-team SEC expands the schedule to nine games. Edgar takes a trip down memory lane with the legendary coach who is suffering a bit of amnesia. Meanwhile, don’t forget basketball season, even if it’s over for the Gators, barring an SEC Tournament miracle. Despite a disappointing Year 1, Todd Golden did find a future star in Riley Kugel. Will it be at Florida? Mark and Edgar break it all down during the latest Swamp Things.NFL Scouting Combine: Anthony Richardson (2:00)AR in the Top 5 (8:30)Problematic interview comments (14:30)The question is accuracy (18:0...

NASA officially targets November 2024 for Artemis II launch to send humans to orbit the moon

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:45 GMT

Richard Tribou | (TNS) Orlando SentinelORLANDO, Fla. — NASA mission managers said Artemis II is targeting November 2024 as it goes through issues found from the Artemis I mission including an unexpected heat shield performance during the 5,000-degree reentry.The uncrewed Artemis I flight saw the successful launch of the Space Launch System rocket on Nov. 16 becoming the most powerful rocket to ever bring a payload to space. It sent the Orion capsule on a 25 1/2-day mission to orbit the moon traveling 1.4 million miles before its return to Earth on Dec. 11 coming in faster than any previous human-rated spacecraft at 24,500 mph.Artemis II, though, looks to put humans on board the Orion capsule, and just how well the spacecraft can keep its passengers safe is at the top of NASA’s concerns.“This is a time for our vigilance to continue,” said NASA’s Jim Free, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, during a Tuesday status update. “We have hear...

Arrest warrant out for man connected to Elnaz Hajtamiri kidnapping in Wasaga Beach

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:45 GMT

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has issued an arrest warrant for a man believed to be involved in the kidnapping of Elnaz Hajtamiri, who was forcibly taken from a home in Wasaga Beach over a year ago.On Monday, police in York Region charged a fifth person connected to a separate frying-pan attack on Hajtamiri that occurred at an underground garage in Richmond Hill in December 2021.On Jan. 12, 2022, at around 8:30 p.m., less than a month after the frying-pan attack, police say Hajtamiri was abducted from a residence in Wasaga Beach by three suspects dressed in police costumes.In an update from provincial police, investigators say they have identified one of those suspects as 35-year-old Deshawn Davis of Toronto, who remains wanted.An arrest warrant has been issued for Deshawn Davis, 35, of Toronto. Photo: OPP.The two other persons of interest have not yet been identified, and police have released their photos with the hopes of gathering information. OPP believes the man and woman are...

Aid group shutters hospital in Haiti amid spike in violence

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:45 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Doctors Without Borders announced Wednesday that it was forced to temporarily close its hospital in Cite Soleil given a sharp rise in gang violence that has left dozens dead in recent weeks.The slum — one of the largest in the capital of Port-au-Prince — has been the site of repeated clashes between gangs.“We are looking at a war scene just meters from our hospital,” said Vincent Harris, the aid group’s adviser.Officials noted that large numbers of stray bullets have hit the hospital compound, and that it’s nearly impossible for the sick and injured to reach the institution for care.The organization added that in recent days, staff members at another nearby hospital have admitted up to 10 times the usual number of people with gunshot wounds.Human rights activists have said that from Feb. 24 to March 4, more than 60 people have been killed in one area of the capital alone, with dozens of others kidnapped.Gangs continue to fight over more territory and are...

‘Master thief’ convicted of Giants ring theft back in prison

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:45 GMT

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — The self-described “master thief” and New England Patriots fan convicted of stealing New York Giants Super Bowl rings in 2008 is back behind bars after a judge determined he had violated the terms of his probation, prosecutors said.Sean Murphy, 58, was sentenced last Thursday in Fall River Superior Court to 18 months in state prison for, among other things, allegedly posing as a homeless veteran and soliciting donations outside a supermarket for a fake veterans’ charity, according to a statement Wednesday from the office of Bristol District Attorney Thomas Quinn III.The judge also determined he had lied to his probation officer on multiple occasions about his whereabouts and place of residence, the DA’s office said.According to media reports, Murphy was charged in Essex County with violating the state’s stolen valor law by dressing in camouflage shorts and Marine Corps T-shirt and collecting donations outside a Whole Foods in Swampscott in ...

3D-printed rocket’s debut launch aborted at last minute

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:45 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A rocket made almost entirely of 3D-printed parts remained on the pad Wednesday after its debut launch attempt was aborted at the last minute.California-based Relativity Space was attempting to launch the rocket to orbit from a former missile site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. There was no immediate word on when the company might try again.On-board flight computers halted the countdown with just over a minute remaining because of a temperature issue with the rocket’s upper stage. Mission Control decided to fix the problem and try again before the launch window closed, but in the end called it quits for the day.It’s a relatively small rocket, just 110 feet (33 meters), and won’t be carrying anything for this test flight except for a memento: the first metal 3D print from the company’s printers.About 85% of the rocket, named Terran, is made of 3D parts printed at the company’s factory in Long Beach, California, including its engines. Re...

Chile: Attempted $32 million airport heist leaves two dead

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:45 GMT

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — An airport shootout in Chile’s capital killed a security officer and an alleged robber Wednesday in what authorities said was an attempted heist of more than $32 million in cash aboard a plane from Miami.Around 10 heavily armed robbers were able to skirt security measures to reach the runway at the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, where a Latam airlines aircraft had $32.5 million in cash that was being transferred to an armored truck, Interior Subsecretary Manuel Monsalve said.There was a shootout between the would-be robbers and security officials that killed an employee of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGAC, as well as an alleged assailant. The other robbers fled. Two burned vehicles were later found nearby.“The brave action by the DGAC officials frustrated the robbery,” Monsalve said, noting that the would-be robbers were “highly organized” and “very armed.”Video posted on social media appeared to show bullet holes in a Del...

Barenboim cancels piano concert in Monaco, citing health

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:45 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Prominent pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim has canceled a piano recital at the Opera de Monte-Carlo due to the effects of a serious neurological condition, the opera house announced on Wednesday.Barenboim expressed his regret in a message to the audience, saying that “despite my best efforts, I have not yet built up the muscular strength to perform piano recital programs.”Barenboim was diagnosed last year with the condition, which forced him step down in January as music director at the Berlin State Opera after three decades.The 80-year-old musician has returned to conducting, appearing in Milan, Berlin and Vienna since mid-February, and he noted that his health “has improved greatly over the past weeks.” During the Berlin concerts, he accompanied soprano Cecilia Bartoli on the piano, and in Vienna performed a piano duet with Martha Argerich, whom he has known since childhood.He said he was saddened to cancel the upcoming recital, but added that with his “health i...

Women in Turkey brave ban on Istanbul march, get tear-gassed

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:45 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — Women in Turkey braved an official ban on an International Women’s Day march in Istanbul, demonstrating for about two hours before police used tear gas to disperse remaining protestors and detained several people.Thousands converged on a central neighborhood Wednesday for a protest that combined women’s rights with the staggering toll of the deadly quake that hit Turkey and Syria a month ago.Organizers had been forbidden — for the second straight year — from marching down the popular Istiklal pedestrian avenue in Turkey’s biggest city where Women’s Day marches were held since 2003. Police blocked demonstrators’ access to the avenue. An Associated Press journalist saw officers detain at least 30 people and use tear gas after the group ended their demonstration at 2100 local time (1800 GMT).Local authorities banned the march, saying the area was not an authorized demonstration site. They also claimed the march could “provoke” segments of Turkish...