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Drew Smith receives praise from Justin Verlander after showcasing elevated fastball

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:00 GMT

Drew Smith knew his high fastball was an effective pitch, but now that Justin Verlander has taken notice of it, it might be better than the reliever initially thought.While throwing in spring training a few months ago, Smith was working on a high fastball. Verlander commented on it, encouraging him to use it more often.“It’s what I’ve been practicing for a couple years now and coming into camp, Verlander actually told me it’s a really good pitch,” Smith said recently. “I knew it was, but he was like, ‘You need to throw it more.’”When a future Hall-of-Fame ace tells you to throw it more, you throw it more.Smith has known this for a long time. The Fort Worth, Texas native has seen the analytics that shows him how much better his fastball plays up in the zone instead of down. He’s seen the swings and misses from hitters in games.But his fastball was harder when it was down in the zone and trying to get up in the zone felt coun...

Needham volleyball team tops Natick for 51st consecutive win

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:00 GMT

NATICK – The historic streak continues for the two-time defending state champs.Behind its normal dose of well-rounded contributions and its seemingly innate focus in every big moment, No. 1 Needham (5-0) withstood a bevy of surges from No. 3 Natick (3-1) to take a 3-0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-21) road win Thursday afternoon in a battle of Bay State Conference powers.Ethan McCarron’s 14 kills flexed the strongest in a charge that saw four others register at least three kills, pairing with Alex Gundaker’s six blocks, Jonathan Ochalla’s 20 digs, and a setting trio’s 30 combined assists to pace the program’s 51st straight victory.After the RedHawks topped fellow title contender No. 2 Newton North on Tuesday, eyes turned to this matchup as an early measuring stick for how one of the state’s bests stacks up to the premier contender from the past two seasons. Natick nearly won the first set and matched blow for blow throughout much of the contest, but Needham passed with flying colors to remain t...

Mikal Bridges accepts challenge as Nets’ No. 1 playoff option: ‘We believe in his talent 100%’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:00 GMT

How is Mikal Bridges going to fare as the No. 1 option against a playoff-level defense?It’s quite simple for a Nets team facing an uphill battle in their upcoming first-round playoff matchup against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers: Bridges has thrived as Brooklyn’s primary scorer, averaging 27 points per game since the Kevin Durant trade.But can he do it in the playoffs as the focal point of an opposing team’s scouting report? Can he do it when the opponent has had a week to prepare?The Nets believe so.“He’s carried on as business as usual for us. My conversation with him is he’s going to get the same shots as we’ve had before,” Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said after Nets practice at the HSS Training Facility on Thursday. “We’re confident he’s going to make those shots. Nothing changes from that aspect. You try to predict who is going to guard him, what he’s good at and how you can combat some of those ...

Swan Boats return to Boston

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:00 GMT

Fire truck stuck in North County sinkhole

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A fire truck got caught in a small sinkhole Thursday in the Escondido area.Around 5:10 p.m., SkyFOX aerial footage over a parking lot at 1001 Country Club Lane captured video of a truck from Escondido Fire Department stuck in about a one-foot deep sinkhole, according to Escondido police.The fire truck was exiting the parking lot when some of the asphalt gave out, authorities said. ALDI to open first El Cajon location When SkyFOX was over the parking lot, first responders were in the process of towing the fire engine out.No other information has been provided at this time.Check back for updates on this developing story.

What's happening with the Balboa Park Botanical Building?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO – For Balboa Park visitors, it’s hard not to notice the construction going on at the Botanical Building.The building, which is one of the most photographed landmarks in San Diego County and is home to thousands of plants, has been stripped down to the bones, leaving just an outline of the garden’s iconic façade.So, visitors might be asking, what’s going on with the Botanical Building?The Botanical Building is currently in the midst of a major $21 million renovation project to revitalize the building and surrounding gardens, spearheaded by the City of San Diego and private partners organized by Forever Balboa Park.The garden, originally built in 1915 for the Panama-California Exposition, had over a century of weathering that caused the structure to severely deteriorate, according to the city – from warped wood and dry rot to structural decay to the steel underneath. How artists transformed the Spanish Village in Balboa Park Issues with the garden’s irrigation, plumbing an...

Point La Jolla could close year-round to keep sea lions, people safe

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- You can find many signs like advising visitors to stay away from sea lions along the concrete wall at Point La Jolla, but Robyn Davidoff, chair of the Sierra Club Seal Society, says many visitors ignore them.“We have taken pictures and videos of people approaching sea lions touching them, throwing rocks at them and it was just pretty horrific," said Davidoff. "Lots of time people put their kids right next to the sea lions to get that selfie and don’t realize that these are 800-pound wild animals.”They're wild animals that sometimes bite to protect their pups. Last year, in an effort to protect people and sea lions, the city introduced a six-month closure at point La Jolla from May 1 through Oct. 31 during sea lion pupping season. Their efforts were successful, so now they want to close point La Jolla year-round.Point La Jolla is the area between La Jolla Cove and Boomer Beach where sea lions go to rest and give birth. Only that area would close to keep visitors and sea ...

More rain has come back to San Diego: A quick look at precipitation totals

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- More rain has once again come to San Diego along with a low pressure system that moved into the area earlier this week, bringing with it colder temperatures and gusty winds.Initial forecasts from the National Weather Service anticipated a deep marine layer bringing a slight chance of rain in extremely light amounts to the county Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. NOAA issues El Niño watch: Here’s where and when we will feel the impact The precipitation is expected to decrease throughout Thursday, according to NWS, but is expected to continue into Friday morning. The gloomy weather with the low pressure system will push east Thursday into Friday morning, bringing back the warm weather into the weekend.While the amount of rain in the last few days has been miniscule compared to the series of storms that pummeled California earlier this year, the precipitation has been a little more of a consistent, widespread drizzle across the county.Here's a breakdown of tota...

Report: Thomas sold real estate to donor, didn’t report deal

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative mega-donor Harlan Crow purchased three properties belonging to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his family, in a transaction worth more than $100,000 that Thomas never reported, according to the non-profit investigative journalism organization ProPublica.The 2014 real estate deal shines a new light on Thomas’s decades old relationship with Crow, a real estate magnate and longtime financier for conservative causes. That relationship and the material benefits received by Thomas have fueled calls for an official ethics investigation.ProPublica previously revealed that Thomas and his wife Ginni were gifted with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of annual vacations and trips by Crow for decades — including international cruises on his mega-yacht, private jet flights and stays at Crow’s invitation-only resort in the Adirondacks. But the 2014 real estate deal is the first public evidence of a direct financial transaction between the ...

Texas county roiled by book ban considered closing libraries

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:00 GMT

Leaders in a rural Texas county held a special meeting Thursday but drew back from the drastic option of shutting their public library system rather than heeding a federal judge’s order to return books to the shelves on themes ranging from teen sexuality and gender to bigotry and race.Following public comments both for and against a possible shutdown, the Llano County Commissioners Court decided to remove consideration of a possible closure from the agenda, assuring its three libraries remain open. “We will try this in the courts, not through social media or through news media,” said Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham, who presides over the commissioners court and is one of the defendants in a lawsuit filed a year ago by library patrons. The struggle in Llano County, home to about 20,000 people in the Texas hill country outside of Austin, reflects an explosion of attempts in recent years to ban books around the U.S. amid escalating cultural wars.The special meeting was called a...