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‘He’s got some fire in him’: Pedro Grifol focused on the here and now as he begins 1st season as Chicago White Sox manager

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:08:51 GMT

Pedro Grifol sets expectations roughly seven to 10 days at a time.“I don’t talk about anything past (that),” the Chicago White Sox manager said recently. “I think it keeps you in the moment. It keeps you right where you’re thinking about, ‘OK, where am I right now? Where do I need to be in the next five days seven days?’“When you get caught up too far ahead, you don’t worry about what’s going on right now. You lose sight of what you need to accomplish in this particular moment.”This seven-day period will include a first — Grifol’s debut as a major-league manager in a regular-season game with the Sox.That comes Thursday night against the defending champion Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. But even Tuesday morning, Grifol’s mind wasn’t on the trip, rather the final game of the spring against the Cubs.“Maybe (Wednesday) you can ask that questions and I’ll say, ‘Yeah, I’m...

Chris Sununu is facing pressure to cancel NRA forum appearance after Nashville school shooting

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:08:51 GMT

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is facing pressure to not show up to an upcoming NRA forum in the wake of Monday’s school shooting in Nashville.Sununu, a Republican governor who has been exploring a run for president, has been scheduled to speak at the National Rifle Association’s annual leadership forum next month.Other politicians who are set to speak at the Indiana Convention Center for the NRA forum include former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Congressman Jim Jordan and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.Following Monday’s school shooting at the private Christian school in Tennessee, Granite State Democrats are calling on Sununu to nix his appearance at the NRA forum.“Chris Sununu has shown time and time again that he values his NRA rating more than the safety of Granite Staters,” New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley said in a statement. “In light of yet another devastating and preventable tragedy where innoc...

Photos: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum springtime tradition

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:08:51 GMT

Volunteers Robin Ray and Patricia Fleck prepare 20-foot-long vines of nasturtiums during the annual springtime tradition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on Tuesday, in Boston, MA. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald) March 28, 2023Erika Rumbley, director of horticulture, and Jenny Pore, horticulturist, hang 20-foot-long vines of nasturtiums during the annual springtime tradition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on Tuesday, in Boston, MA. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald) March 28, 2023Erika Rumbley, director of horticulture, hangs 20-foot-long vines of nasturtiums during the annual springtime tradition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on Tuesday, in Boston, MA. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald) March 28, 2023Volunteers Patricia Fleck and Robin Ray help carry 20-foot-long vines of nasturtiums during the annual springtime tradition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on Tuesday, in Boston, MA. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald) March 28, 2023Volunteer Patricia Fleck helps carry 20-foot-long vin...

Jeremy Piven starring in film about former Knick Nat ‘Sweetwater’ Clifton, wants team to honor first African-American to sign NBA contract

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:08:51 GMT

Jeremy Piven says he’s bringing a pitch to James Dolan at the Knicks game on Wednesday, with the goal of seeing a trailblazer honored in the Garden rafters.“It would be nice to retire Sweetwater’s jersey, No. 8, up in the stands,” Piven, the Emmy-winning actor of ‘Entourage’ fame, told the Daily News. “It would be pretty cool.”“I don’t know if (Dolan) will listen to me, either. But I’d love to have my day in court with him. That would be amazing.”Piven’s interest in Nat ‘Sweetwater’ Clifton derives from his new film, ‘Sweetwater,’ which details the true and inspirational path of the first African-American to sign an NBA contract.Piven plays former Knicks coach Joe Lapchick, who pushed for Clifton’s signing in 1950 while working against the surrounding forces of racism. It’s a personality Piven said he understood and admired after growing up in the Chicago area.“I g...

Seth Moulton lays out transportation vision, but says MBTA is too much of a ‘mess’ to implement it

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:08:51 GMT

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton laid out a transportation vision for the state, something he said has been lacking for the past decade, but noted that since the MBTA is such an “epic mess,” it’s in no position today to take on his rail transformation initiatives.Moulton said that while incoming MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng can’t turn around the struggling agency on his own, he is responsible for rebuilding its current team, which includes making key hires, firing underperforming employees, and transforming its culture to make it a place where people want to work.“The first thing he needs to do is make a very clear and public change to the organizational culture, because the fundamental reason they have such serious staffing problems is because, understandably, people don’t want to work at the T,” Moulton told the Herald on Tuesday.“I mean the organization is a mess and he needs to signal to everybody who’s considering applying for one of these jobs, that this is not the T that you’ve bee...

What is the forecast for Padres Opening Day?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:08:51 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Our weather team may sound like a broken record, but here we go again with more rain headed for San Diego.Another storm system on the horizon will bring widespread light rain, strong winds and mountain snow Wednesday and Thursday.Satellite imagery showed a strong low-pressure system off the coast of Oregon and Northern California Tuesday morning. It's expected to take a dive southward and closer to Central California by late Wednesday, but will lose intensity as it moves closer to San Diego County. What to know about Padres Opening Day In Southern California, onshore flow has started to increase. Winds will be consistent over the course of Wednesday with strongest gusts in mountain communities. Rain will move in by late morning Wednesday with widespread showers expected in the afternoon. That is the first round of precipitation with this system. The second round will happen Wednesday night into Thursday and feature showery conditions with chances of thunderstorms...

Seattle, feds seek to end most oversight of city’s police

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:08:51 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department and Seattle officials asked a judge Tuesday to end most federal oversight of the city’s police department, saying its sustained, decade-long reform efforts are a model for other cities whose law enforcement agencies face federal civil rights investigations.Seattle has overhauled virtually all aspects of its police department since DOJ investigators in 2011 found officers were too quick to use force and too often escalated encounters to the point where force was necessary.Since then, officials say, the use of serious force is down 60% and the department has new systems for dealing with people in crisis, responding to complaints of biased policing, supervising officers and identifying any who get physical too often.Both sides asked U.S. District Judge James Robart to terminate their 2012 settlement agreement, known as a consent decree, which gave the court oversight of reform efforts.However they agree that more work remains to be done in two...

Probe of chocolate factory blast focuses on gas pipeline

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:08:51 GMT

Federal safety officials are investigating the role of a natural gas pipeline in a fatal blast at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory, the National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday.Friday’s powerful explosion at R.M. Palmer Co. killed seven people, sent 10 to the hospital and damaged several other buildings in West Reading, a small town 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia, where the 75-year-old, family-owned company has long had a factory.The National Transportation Safety Board announced the probe late Tuesday afternoon, calling the incident a “natural gas” explosion and fire. The agency has preliminary information from local authorities and a natural gas utility that a gas pipeline was involved, an agency spokesperson, Keith Holloway, told The Associated Press.NTSB is investigating “what caused, how and why the explosion occurred,” according to Holloway.Other local, state and federal investigations are ongoing.Pennsylvania State Police have said “eve...

Puerto Rico governor unveils solar energy plans in address

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:08:51 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Gov. Pedro Pierluisi announced new solar energy initiatives on Tuesday during his annual state of the territory address, a speech viewed by many as critical as he fights plummeting ratings amid growing discontent over costly electric bills, government corruption and slow-moving hurricane reconstruction.The more than hourlong speech and ceremony at the U.S. territory’s seaside Capitol was powered entirely by generators to avoid any potential interruptions given the ongoing instability of the island’s crumbling power grid.The frail grid has been a priority for Pierluisi’s administration, which oversaw the privatization of the operation of the island’s generation, transmission and distribution of power in widely criticized moves given persistent outages.On Tuesday evening, Pierluisi announced that the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency approved microgrid projects to supply 100% of power to the neighboring islands of Vieques and Culebra, which are popu...

Arkansas bathroom bill condemned as too extreme is revamped

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:08:51 GMT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas bathroom bill that went further than a 2016 North Carolina law that was repealed after widespread boycotts was revamped Tuesday following complaints from members of the transgender community and their families that it would criminalize trans people simply for using public restrooms.The House Judiciary Committee endorsed the proposal to allow someone to be charged with misdemeanor sexual indecency with a child if they use a public restroom or changing room of the opposite sex when a minor is present. The majority-GOP panel advanced the measure after it was amended to make it a crime only if the person enters the restroom “for the purpose of arousing or gratifying a sexual desire.” The proposal now heads to the full House for a vote as early as Wednesday.The Republican lawmaker behind the bill said he was OK with the latest version, saying his intent wasn’t to target transgender people with the bathroom restriction.“I think this new language ...