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Column: Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields feels like he’s ‘just playing ball’ after career-best starts, but growth is key

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:48:35 GMT

A long weekend coming off the most complete performance in Justin Fields’ three seasons gave the Chicago Bears quarterback an opportunity to reflect.The passing game in the last two games has looked, well, like a full-fledged attack and that’s not something we’ve seen with any regularity in these parts. Whether Fields reflected or not, he didn’t have anything revelatory to share about what those at Halas Hall have to hope is a breakthrough.“I think I’m just focused on continuing to get better each and every day,” Fields said. “The offense, as a whole, we’ve gotten better each and every week. Our main goal is to just do that.”It’s surely for the best Fields’ full attention is focused on the Minnesota Vikings now that he’s six days removed from completing 15 of 29 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns in a 40-20 blowout of the Washington Commanders at FedEx Field. He gained another 57 yards r...

Fervent MIT pro-Israel community calls for support

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:48:35 GMT

MIT’s Jewish and Israeli communities shouted their devastation and anger in a rally Wednesday, calling for compassion and support as tensions over the Israel-Hamas war explodes across college campuses in the area.Cambridge, MA - October 11: A woman touches photos of kidnapped, missing or killed Israelis during a rally in support of Israel at MIT. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Cambridge, MA - October 11: People react during a rally in support of Israel at MIT. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Cambridge, MA - October 11: Liyam Chitayat, who was serving as an Israeli soldier two months ago, is wrapped in an Israeli flag after giving an emotional speech during a rally in support of Israel at MIT. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Cambridge, MA - October 11: People react during emotional speeches at a rally in support of Israel at MIT. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Cambridge, MA - October 11: Two Jewish men embrace during a rally in support of Israel at MIT. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Cambridge, MA -...

Boston Police investigate ‘Nazis’ spray paint at the Palestinian Cultural Center for Peace following the Hamas attacks in Israel

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:48:35 GMT

Boston Police have opened a hate crime investigation after someone spray painted the word “Nazis” on a sign for the Palestinian Cultural Center for Peace in Brighton following the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.Police officers responding to the Islamic Seminary of Boston and the Palestinian Cultural Center for Peace on Wednesday also saw that “Nazi Scum” had been spray painted on a stairway — and another stairway had the phrase “Nazi Scum Get Out.”Boston-area groups and politicians are condemning the “Nazi” vandalism, calling it “unacceptable” and “reprehensible.”“The vile defacement of the Palestinian Cultural Center for Peace and Boston Islamic Seminary in an apparent #hatecrime yesterday is an affront to all who work towards peace and understanding,” the Anti-Defamation League New England chapter posted.“Just like antisemitic speech and actions are unacceptable, hate crimes against ...

Harvard’s campus full of Israeli ‘KIDNAPPED’ posters after Hamas attacks; student groups retract signatures from anti-Israel statement

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:48:35 GMT

Students walking across Harvard University’s campus on Wednesday saw the faces of Israeli hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas following the terrorist group’s attack over the weekend.The “KIDNAPPED” posters were plastered across the Cambridge campus after dozens of Harvard student groups wrote a statement that blamed Israel for the Hamas attacks.“If you are walking today through the hallways and peaceful paths of @Harvard, look for the faces of babies, elderly Holocaust survivors, teenagers, and men and women who were brutally taken hostage by the inhumane Hamas terrorists,” Israel in Boston, the Consulate General of Israel to New England, posted on Wednesday.“Remember their names and speak up for them! #StandWithIsrael,” Israel in Boston added.Pro-Israel students at Harvard put up the posters in the wake of the anti-Israel statement, which sent shockwaves through the campus and around the region.Ambassador Meron Reuben, the Consulate ...

Chicago Cubs coaches Chris Young and Craig Driver won’t return to manager David Ross’ staff in 2024

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:48:35 GMT

The Chicago Cubs are making changes to their coaching staff.While manager David Ross received support from Chairman Tom Ricketts and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer to return in 2024, the Cubs have parted with bullpen coach Chris Young and game strategy/catching coach Craig Driver.Both joined the organization as part of Ross’ original staff for the 2020 season after two years with the Philadelphia Phillies.Driver spent his first two seasons with the Cubs as the first base/catching coach. He took over game strategy duties following Mike Borzello’s departure after the 2021 season. Rookie catcher Miguel Amaya credited Driver this season for helping improve his defense and pitch calling.The Cubs bullpen was a strength for a key stretch of the season once Julian Merryweather, Mark Leiter Jr. and Adbert Alzolay emerged as go-to high-leverage options. Each had been unproven in those roles, and all three finished with career highs in games. Merryweather and Leiter t...

Maple Leafs unveil new goal song at home opener

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:48:35 GMT

TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs have finally outgrown their blue-eyed-soul era.Believe your ears: After five full seasons of blasting Hall & Oates’ happy-go-lucky ’80s pop jam “You Make My Dreams (Come True),” the Leafs unveiled a brand-new goal song during Wednesday’s home opener at Scotiabank Arena.Noah Gregor triggered the needle drop on Steve Aoki’s dance remix of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness,” filling the barn with a fresh new celebration anthem.The team will mix in various genres for its goal song throughout the 2023-24 season, digging in crates to freshen up celebrations against Original Six visitors, throwing it back with some old-school selections for Throwback Thursday home dates and picking more contemporary tunes for its Next Generation games.Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment conducted internal research, canvassed outside opinion from fans, and listened through hundreds of songs before...

Gaza is tiny and watched closely by Israel. But rescuing hostages there would be a daunting task

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:48:35 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Hamas-run Gaza Strip is a tiny enclave, measuring 25 miles long and no more than 7 miles wide, surveilled continually by Israel, surrounded by its guns. But rescuing — or even locating — more than 150 hostages hustled there by Palestinian militants who overran Israel’s southern border on Saturday will be a daunting task.Gaza’s densely populated terrain, its network of underground tunnels and the sheer numbers of men, women and children taken captive present Israel with the most complex hostage crisis that the country has ever faced.Mounting rescue operations in the midst of the massive Israeli bombardment of Gaza that followed the deadly Hamas rampage in southern Israel would only make an already difficult mission even more formidable.“The situation is unprecedented,” said Gershon Baskin, who helped to negotiate the 2011 release of Staff Sergeant Gilad Schalit after more than five years of Hamas captivity. “I think Hamas was surprised at the ease it was able to ...

Federal judge won’t block suspension of right to carry guns in some New Mexico parks, playgrounds

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:48:35 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A federal judge cleared the way Wednesday for enforcement of a public health order that suspends the right to carry guns at public parks and playgrounds in New Mexico’s largest metro area.The order from U.S. District Judge David Urias rejects a request from gun rights advocates to block temporary firearms restrictions as legal challenges move forward.It marks a victory for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and her advocacy for temporary gun restrictions in response to recent shootings around the state that left children dead.The standoff is one of many in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year expanding gun rights, as leaders in politically liberal-leaning states explore new avenues for restrictions.In New Mexico, the attempted restrictions have ignited a furor of public protests, prompted Republican calls for the governor’s impeachment and exposed divisions among top Democratic officials.Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, continued to argue this week that...

James McBride wins $50,000 Kirkus Prize for fiction for “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store”

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:48:35 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Three books that explore and celebrate the diversity of American culture were awarded Kirkus Prizes on Wednesday night, with each winner receiving $50,000. James McBride’s “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store,” a novel set in an eclectic Pennsylvania town in the 1930s, won in the fiction category. Héctor Tobar’s “Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of ‘Latino’” received the nonfiction award, and Ariel Aberg-Riger’s ”America Redux: Visual Stories From Our Dynamic History” won for young reader’s literature.The awards were presented by the trade publication Kirkus Reviews. “History and community emerged as central themes in the most outstanding works of literature published this year. We see these ideas come to life in wildly different ways in all three of this year’s winners, each one compelling from beginning to end, begging to be celebrated, discussed, and shared,” Meg Kuehn, publisher of Kirkus Reviews, s...

Auto workers escalate strike as 8,700 workers walk out at Ford Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:48:35 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union significantly escalated its strikes against Detroit’s Three automakers Wednesday when 8,700 workers walked off their jobs at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant.The surprise move about 6:30 p.m. took down the largest and most profitable Ford plant in the world. The sprawling factory makes pricey heavy-duty F-Series pickup trucks and large Ford and Lincoln SUVs.UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement that the union has waited long enough “but Ford hasn’t gotten the message” to bargain for a fair contract.“If they can’t understand that after four weeks, the 8,700 workers shutting down this extremely profitable plant will help them understand it,” Fain said.The strike came nearly four weeks after the union began its walkouts against General Motors, Ford and Jeep maker Stellantis on Sept. 15, with one assembly plant from each company. In a statement, Ford called the strike expansion “grossly irresponsible” but said it wasn’t surprisi...