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NFL notes: Why the Patriots let reliable receiver Jakobi Meyers walk and what went wrong

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:25 GMT

Days before free agency opened last March, Jakobi Meyers found himself stuck in the NFL’s version of the friend zone.Front-office evaluators viewed the ex-Patriot as good, not great. Solid, but unspectacular. A receiver with a great personality who fulfilled his basic duties akin to making nice and picking up the tab.But Meyers did little outside of that to excite them; like gaining yards after the catch, breaking tackles and drawing defensive attention. Thus, no team wanted to marry itself to the 26-year-old financially, and instead extended timid offers within a once booming wide receiver market.Only one team, however, seemed intent on a breakup: the Patriots.Days before signing with Las Vegas, a shocked Meyers told inquiring teammates and staffers: “They don’t want me.”One league source indicated the Pats weren’t even the runner-up for Meyers, despite entering free agency with the sixth-most cap space in the NFL. This week, Bill Belichick claimed Mey...

Hunter Biden investigations lead to ethical concerns about President Biden, an AP-NORC poll shows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ethical concerns are casting a shadow over President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection amid ongoing investigations into his son Hunter and an impeachment inquiry, with a poll showing that 35% of U.S. adults believe the president himself has done something illegal.An additional 33% say they think the Democratic president behaved unethically, but not illegally. And 30% say Joe Biden did nothing wrong, according to the poll. The results of the survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reflect both a vast political divide and skepticism about the morality of government leaders. House Republicans have launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden, seeking to tie the president to the foreign business dealings of his 53-year-old son. Hunter Biden is facing a separate criminal indictment by a special counsel after a plea deal in a tax and gun case fell apart. Republicans have been investigating Hunter Biden for years, since his father was vice pres...

Police in Warsaw seal off a large square after a man climbs a monument and reportedly makes threats

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:25 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Large numbers of police and special counterterrorism officers sealed off a large square in the Polish capital on Saturday after a man climbed the top of a monument and threatened to blow himself up, the Polish news agency PAP reported.The incident took place at Pilsudski Square, the site of a memorial to late President Lech Kaczynski and the dozens of other victims of a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia.The man’s intentions and whether he had an explosive device were not immediately known. Police said the officers were still on site and did not give any further details.The incident came on the eve of a critical national election. The country’s de facto leader is Lech Kaczynski’s surviving twin, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, while his ruling Law and Justice party is fighting for an unprecedented third straight term.The Associated Press

Blinken calls for protection of civilians as Israel prepares for expected assault on Gaza

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:25 GMT

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Saturday for protection for civilians in both the Gaza Strip and Israel as the Israeli military ordered half of the Palestinian territory’s population to evacuate in advance of an expected ground assault. Blinken met his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, in Riyadh as he began a third day of intense Middle East diplomacy aimed at preventing the Israel-Hamas war from expanding into a regional conflict and fueling a humanitarian crisis.Both stressed the importance of minimizing the harm to civilians as Israel prepared for an anticipated incursion against Hamas a week after the militant group’s unprecedented attack in Israel. “As Israel pursues its legitimate right, to defending its people and to trying to ensure that this never happens again, it is vitally important that all of us look out for civilians, and we’re working together to do exactly that,” Blinken said before heading to ...

Pinkett Smith discusses Oscar slap in new interview

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:25 GMT

(WCMH) — Another exclusive preview from Hoda Kotb’s in-depth interview with Jada Pinkett Smith aired on NBC’s “Today” show Friday morning.In the new clip, which is part of an hour-long special scheduled to air October 13 at 8 p.m. on NBC4, Pinkett Smith discussed the 2022 Academy Awards, when Will Smith slapped Oscar host Chris Rock on stage.During the 2022 ceremony, Rock made a joke about Pinkett Smith, who has been dealing with hair loss due to alopecia and had a shaved head. In response to the jab, Smith approached the stage, slapped Rock, and then turned and sat back down in his seat.In the segment, Kotb observed that Pinkett Smith seemed visibly perturbed when Rock initially made a comment about her hair.Pinkett Smith then explained why she reacted with an eye roll at the time.In an NBC News Special, Jada tells TODAY's Hoda Kotb her side of the story about the infamous episode at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony when her husband, Will Smith, struck comedian Chris Rock after a j...

Gunfire from hunting can hurt hearing forever

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:25 GMT

HERBSTER, Wis. — The first thing you notice about Mike Amman’s new grouse hunting gun is that it doesn’t look anything like a grouse hunting gun.Far from a fancy Italian double-barrel with fine wood and an ornately carved receiver (he has something like that), his new pump gun is black and plastic and made in the U.S. And it has this thing on the end of the barrel that looks very strange.Mike Amman, of Ashland, Wis., has developed serious hearing loss and profound ringing in his left ear after years of shooting shotguns. He recently purchased a custom-made noise suppressor for his shotgun that dampens the noise of the blast. He also wears an electronic hearing protection ear bud that amplifies ambient sounds but cuts off shotgun blasts. (John Myers / Forum News Service)That thing is a suppressor, a device that quiets the blast noise, just part of the concerted effort Amman is making after suffering hearing loss due to shotgun blasts while hunting.Amman, 45, of Ashland, a county fore...

Metro Transit hosts hiring event in East St. Louis for mechanics and operators

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:25 GMT

ST. LOUIS – Metro Transit is hosting a hiring event at the Illinois Metro bus facility in East St. Louis. Metro is actively seeking mechanics, bus operators, and Metro Call-A-Ride operators to join their team on-site. Interviews will be conducted from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today. These positions are all eligible for Metro Transit's $5,000 signing bonus, which was temporarily implemented this past summer and has now been extended through the end of the year. Qualified applicants may receive instant job offers on the spot. Metro Transit has extended more than 240 same-day job offers during hiring events over the last four months. 

Grading The Week: Broncos coach Sean Payton is as paranoid as a fox squirrel, and twice as secretive. So Thursday Night Football revealing his play-call sheet was comedy gold

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:25 GMT

No wonder Russell Wilson looks confused sometimes.Eagle-eyed viewers of Thursday Night Football — and/or “X,” the platform formerly known as Twitter — got a good look at one side of Broncos coach Sean Payton’s play sheet during a 19-8 loss to the Chiefs.And cripes, is it a mess.The kids on the Grading The Week staff took a screen cap, naturally. The two-minute plays were the easiest for the layman to understand, as they appear to be one- or two-word codes. “CONVERSE” = quarterback sneak. “CLOCK IT” = a spike (duh). “SPECIAL” = a halfback option. “FLUTIE” = presumably involves going long and hoping for the best.We’re also assuming the numbers before most of the plays shown are code for personnel groups — “11” personnel, for example, means a formation with one running back and one tight end, “12” is one running back and two tights, etc.But that’s not the funny part. Oh, no...

As Palestinians flee, Bay Area residents with relatives in Gaza wake up to texts of death and loss

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:25 GMT

All week, Wael Buhaissy has been up late at his home in San Ramon. He can’t take his eyes off his phone, waiting for messages from his extended family 7,000 miles away.This is what life has become for thousands of Palestinian Americans in the Bay Area whose loved ones and friends are under siege in Gaza.Buhaissy, 55, can barely speak of the devastation described in the messages he’s received so far as Israeli bombs rain down in retaliation for the deadly terror attacks last week by Hamas that killed hundreds inside Israel. Buhaissy learned that one of his cousins, Mohamad, was killed along with Mohamad’s son, Hamdan, and 2-year-old granddaughter, Nour.Another cousin sent a message on Facebook that Buhaissy, a 35-year Bay Area resident, read aloud: “I am speechless at what’s happening,” his cousin, Mazoza, wrote. “Every little while, there is a nearby massacre.”A week after Hamas launched the deadliest attack on Israel in its 75-year history and Israeli forces slammed bac...

Menlo’s quarterback duo shines as Knights stay perfect: “They can each bring something different”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:25 GMT

ATHERTON — Neither of these teams were expected to do much this season. Menlo School, which perennially has a small number of players on its roster (28 this year), lost 16 seniors off last year’s team. Hillsdale, the third-place team in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Ocean Division a year ago, still made the move up to the PAL De Anza Division, rather than the first- or second-place Ocean teamsMenlo was picked fourth and Hillsdale sixth in the six-team De Anza Division prior to the season by, ahem, yours truly, for the Bay Area News Group.But like the saying goes, that’s why they play the games.Hillsdale and Menlo were both 6-0 and tied for first place when they met Friday afternoon at Menlo. Coming off a shutout win over Palo Alto, Menlo had a 19-0 lead at halftime. But the Fighting Knights of Hillsdale made a game out of it in the second half before falling short as Menlo ended up celebrating a 19-13 victory.“I think it really speaks to the amount of...