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Bridge: Jan. 3, 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:20 GMT

“Most of your columns deal with play techniques,” a reader writes. “What about things like focus, table presence and partnership empathy?”Point taken. Here’s a piece of non-technical advice: Never give up on a deal.At four hearts, South won the first diamond with the king and led a trump. West won and led another diamond, and South took the ace and tried a spade to his queen. West won and cashed a diamond, and East got his ace of trumps. Down one.South must win the first diamond in dummy and finesse in spades; he may get a fast discard for his diamond loser. He wins West’s diamond return and leads the A-J of spades.FIFTH SPADEWest ruffs low, but South can’t give up. He overruffs in dummy, comes to the ace of clubs and ruffs a spade. He ruffs a club and leads his good fifth spade.West can’t gain by ruffing with his king. If he discards, dummy unloads the losing diamond. East ruffs low, but when South gets back in, he leads a trump and t...

Ask Amy: My boyfriend says it’s over because of the surprise visitor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:20 GMT

Dear Amy: I’ve been with my boyfriend for five years. He has been totally estranged from his mother the whole time I’ve known him, and I’d never met her.Related ArticlesAdvice | Ask Amy: This is when I realized I had waited too long to leave my girlfriend Advice | Ask Amy: I worry about affording vacations if I move out of my parents’ house Advice | Ask Amy: My in-laws stopped speaking to me, and I don’t know what to do Advice | Ask Amy: I think I might have to cancel my birthday party because of our neighbors Advice | Ask Amy: She insulted my kids, and our relationship exploded Well, his mother started messaging with me on Facebook, and she really wants to get back into his life. She wants to apologize for the mistakes she has made.I invited her over to our house without telling my boyfriend. He blew up when he saw her and now says that he wants to break up with me.I was just trying to...

How Lucas Giolito could be just what the Red Sox starting rotation needs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:20 GMT

If the Red Sox had one fatal flaw last year, it was their starting rotation’s inability to pitch deep into games. Those short outings didn’t just put the club in a hole any given day, they also put a strain on the bullpen that eventually proved too much to bear.Getting more length from their starters was a top priority for the Red Sox, and by signing Lucas Giolito they’ve taken a big step forward.Giolito, who has reportedly signed a two-year, $38.5 million deal with an opt-out after the first year, is the first significant outside addition to the Red Sox rotation. With the club’s subsequent trade of oft-injured Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves, the Red Sox have effectively swapped out their least durable pitcher for one of baseball’s most.Since his first full season in the big leagues in 2018, Giolito has consistently ranked among MLB’s most prolific starters, ranking sixth in games started (167) and seventh in innings pitched (947) over that stre...

Nearly half of Ontario hospital workers ‘dread going into work’: poll

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:20 GMT

Nearly half of hospital workers in Ontario say they worry about going to work — with a similar number weighing whether to leave their jobs altogether.The numbers come from a new Nanos survey which suggests 41 per cent of the province’s hospital staff say they “dread going into work.”CUPE, the union representing some healthcare workers in Ontario, say the data points to a hospital staffing crisis that could only get worse if the Ford government doesn’t step in.“(The poll) supplements recent research by CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE) warning of an acute staffing crisis in the hospital sector, which is contributing to unprecedented ER closures, delayed treatments, and poorer quality of patient care,” reads a release from the union.The recent survey polled more than 750 hospital workers from across the province.CUPE leaders are set to discuss the results of the survey and offer recommendations to the government in a ...

Butt-slapping accusation leads to 20 months of limbo for teen in slow-moving SafeSport Center case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:20 GMT

DENVER (AP) — The email, addressed to the 13-year-old swimmer from the U.S. Center for SafeSport, came out of the blue. “Between approximately 2019 and 2022, you allegedly engaged in a pattern of behavior which constitutes Sexual Misconduct,” it read, with both final words capitalized.That was in April 2022. It took three months for the 8th grader to learn what the accusations were: A claim he had slapped another teammate on the butt in a locker room 10 months earlier, in June 2021.More than 20 months later, the case remains open, even after local police in the town 40 miles north of Denver investigated and dismissed it within weeks. Now 16 and a high school sophomore, the teen’s promising swimming career has been plunged into uncertainty by the temporary sanctions imposed by SafeSport — and the hard-to-escape taint of presumed guilt as the case drags on. “Their allegations are entirely untrue,” said the teen, who The Associated Press is not identifying because he is a minor. ...

Investigators focus on air traffic communication after a fatal Tokyo runway crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:20 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Investigators were focusing on communication between air traffic control and two aircraft at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Wednesday, a day after a large passenger plane and a Japanese coast guard aircraft collided on the runway and burst into flames, killing five people. The accident occurred Tuesday evening when the Japan Airlines flight 516 plane landed on one of Haneda’s four runways after the coast guard aircraft — a Bombardier Dash-8 — had also entered, preparing to take off. An orange fireball erupted from both aircraft as the JAL plane continued down the runway covered in flames while spewing gray smoke. Within 20 minutes, all 379 passengers and crew members slid down emergency chutes and survived. The pilot of the coast guard plane, which exploded, evacuated with injuries but five crew members were killed.The Transport Ministry released a transcript of air traffic control communication of about 4 minutes and 27 seconds just before the crash. It showed no clea...

Illinois never trails, rolls to Big Ten win over Northwestern; No. 1 Purdue up next

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:20 GMT

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Marcus Domask scored 32 points and had a team-high six assists to lead No. 9 Illinois to a 96-66 Big Ten win Tuesday night over Northwestern in the Illini’s second game without suspended star and Chicago native Terrence Shannon Jr.Justin Harmon had 20 points, Quincy Guerrier scored 14 and Coleman Hawkins had 13 for the Illini (11-2 overall, 2-0 Big Ten), who never trailed, led by as many as 33 points and shot 63% from the field. Guerrier also had 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.Domask was 11-of-15 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.“We're getting good ball movement and guys are making shots,” Domask said about the nearly 200 points the Illini have scored in the two wins in Shannon's absence.Harmon topped his season-high of 18 points, which he scored Friday against non-conference opponent Fairleigh Dickinson.“Justin played 29 minutes off the bench tonight. He's being rewarded for his hard work,” Illinois coach Brad Underw...

Hannity announces move to Florida from New York: 'I am done'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:20 GMT

(The Hill) - Fox News host Sean Hannity announced Tuesday he moved from New York to Florida, a state he says has elected officials who “share his values.”“I've been threatening now to do this for quite a while, but we are now beginning our first broadcast from my new home and that is in the free state of Florida,” he said on his iHeartRadio show on Tuesday. “I am out. I am done. I'm finished.”US conservative talk show host Sean Hannity arrives in the Spin Room following the first Republican Presidential primary debate at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23, 2023. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)Hannity said his move to the Sunshine State was motivated by the conservative policies and elected officials in the state, pointing to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) as examples. He said he already “feels a lot better” about his decision to relocate to Florida full-time.“And finally for the first time th...

Women stock up on abortion pills, especially when there is news about restrictions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:20 GMT

Thousands of women stocked up on abortion pills just in case they needed them, new research shows, with demand peaking in the past couple years at times when it looked like the medications might become harder to get.Medication abortion accounts for more than half of all abortions in the U.S., and typically involves two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. A research letter published Tuesday in JAMA Internal Medicine looked at requests for these pills from people who weren’t pregnant and sought them through Aid Access, a European online telemedicine service that prescribes them for future and immediate use.Aid Access received about 48,400 requests from across the U.S. for so-called “advance provision” from September 2021 through April 2023. Requests were highest right after news leaked in May 2022 that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade — but before the formal announcement that June, researchers found.Nationally, the average number of daily requests shot up n...

Central Texas welcomes first babies of 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:20 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Two Central Texas area hospitals welcomed the new year with new lives Monday morning. St. David's Health Care said the first baby delivered in its hospital system arrived at 12:10 a.m. According to St. David's, Aralyn (Ari) was born at St. David's Women's Center of Texas and weighed 7 pounds and 15 ounces. Aralyn(Courtesy: St. David’s Women’s Center of Texas)The Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Cavazos said its first baby of 2024 was Chance. Chance Lee Davis arrived at 12:30 a.m. Monday and weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and was 19 inches.  Chance Lee Davis (Courtesy: Rodney Jackson, CRDAMC Public Affairs)The hospital said Chance is the son of veterans. Alexa is a culinary specialist from West Palm Beach, Florida and Douglas is an infantryman from Gainesville, Virginia. Alexa and Douglas Davis hold their baby Chance (Courtesy: Rodney Jackson, CRDAMC Public Affairs)Chance has a big sister Emery, 20 months, and the hospital said the parents look forward to...