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Why your favorite urban legend is more than just a story

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:21:45 GMT

“The world is tough and life is tough, and it’s fun to imagine other things.”That’s what a University of Maryland professor said about the importance of imagination.It’s something to remember as you let your imagination run wild this spooky season, while sharing stories around fire pits and campfires or getting into the Halloween spirit with a scary movie marathon.“Imagination is very, very important and these stories feed our imagination and feed our need for imaginative stories,” said Mike Olmert, a professor of literature in the English department.But some stories have a lot more meaning than just a simple jump scare.Around the D.C. area, the Goatman is a popular urban legend to tell. West Virginia has the Mothman. New Jersey has the Jersey Devil running around the swamps. In other places, it might be vampires or werewolves.“The Goat Man theory goes back to the Middle Ages. That story in different versions of different animals, different countries, they all have...

Dejounte Murray ties career high with 41 points, rallies Hawks past Timberwolves 127-113

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:21:45 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Dejounte Murray matched his career high with 41 points and the Atlanta Hawks bounced back from a 19-point halftime deficit to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-113 on Monday night.Murray took command in the third quarter, getting the Hawks back in the game almost single-handedly. He equaled his 41-point effort against Portland on March 3. Trae Young added 24 points for the Hawks, who followed up a 17-point win at Milwaukee the previous night to get back to .500 on the young season.“If we utilize the talent we have on this team,” Murray said, “we can go a long way.”Anthony Edwards, returning to his hometown, led the Timberwolves with 31 points. But he was held to 11 after halftime, with Murray spending a lot of time in his face.At the offensive end, Murray scored 22 points in the third quarter, wiping out Minnesota’s 79-60 lead at the break. He connected on all eight of his field goal attempts, including a pair of 3-pointers, to send the game to the final quarter tie...

Mika Zibanejad scores in overtime as Rangers beat Jets 3-2 for perfect road trip

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:21:45 GMT

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Mika Zibanejad scored 4:34 into overtime, and the New York Rangers beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Monday night for their fifth straight win.Rangers forward Artemi Panarin celebrated his 32nd birthday with a goal and two assists, stretching his season-opening point streak to nine games. Chris Kreider scored his sixth goal for New York, and Igor Shesterkin stopped 27 shots.The Rangers closed out a 5-0 road trip. It was the first time in franchise history that the team had a perfect trip of at least five games.David Gustaffson and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Jets in front of 11,898 fans at Canada Life Centre, the second-highest attendance of the season.Cole Perfetti had two assists and Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves for Winnipeg, which is riding a five-game point streak (3-0-2).The teams were tied 1-1 going into the third period.Panarin scored the game’s first goal when he redirected a pass from former Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba into the net with 1:36 rema...

Rangers slugger Adolis García appears to hurt left side and leaves World Series Game 3

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:21:45 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Texas Rangers slugger Adolis García left Game 3 of the World Series against Arizona in the eighth inning Monday night after appearing to hurt his left side on a swing.The AL Championship Series MVP grabbed his left side while coming out of the batter’s box on his flyout against Luis Frías. When García got to first base, he bent over and put both hands on his knees.Travis Jankowski replaced García in right field in the bottom half, with the Rangers leading the Diamondbacks 3-0.García is hitting a team-high .323 in the postseason with eight homers and a major league-record 22 RBIs, one more than David Freese had for the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals. García is 3 for 10 in the World Series with two RBIs, including an 11th-inning home run off Miguel Castro that gave Texas a 6-5 win in Friday’s opener.He hit .357 with five homers and 15 RBIs in the ALCS against Houston.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlbSource

Eugenio Derbez returns to teaching role in ‘Radical’

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:21:45 GMT

The movies have always loved honoring inspiring teachers and “Radical,” Mexico’s gritty, true take on a remarkable man, ranks among the best.Based on a 2012 Wired magazine article inspired by Sergio Juarez’s barrier-breaking approach teaching a classroom of impoverished 12-year-olds, “Radical” continues the positive work of producer and star Eugenio Derbez following his turn as a music teacher in the Oscar-winning Best Picture “CODA.”The Wired story asked if a young Mexican girl named Paloma in Juarez’s class just might be “The Next Steve Jobs.” She was an undiscovered genius.Years later the Wired writer Joshua Davis approached Derbez’ production company about a film version.“Immediately, I connected! These are the stories I want to tell,” Derbez, 62, said in a Zoom interview.  “I find it so powerful. The fact that this girl and this teacher who was behind her, even though they were in the worst conditions, with no resources at all, with a violent environment around them, they succe...

Kramer: Lewiston shooting highlights need for gun control

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:21:45 GMT

In 1966, Truman Capote wrote “In Cold Blood” about the murder of a family in a small Kansas town. An award-winning film was made  based upon the tragedy.Today, some 57 years later, the murder of a  family in a rural area would barely make the front page. Mass murders such as the recent horrific event  in Lewiston, Maine are now commonplace in schools, recreational facilities and retail establishments.Within the past week, just prior to the Lewiston tragedy,  a judge was gunned down by a father whose custody rights the judge had limited.  The circumstances surrounding these events  and scores of other mass murders illustrate our collective vulnerability due to the  superior status many still insist is provided by the Second Amendment.As these murders continue, time after time the public offers “thoughts and prayers” to families of the victims and mourns the senseless killings of children and adults who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.  In the meantime, a feckless Congress s...

Dear Abby: Family’s black sheep is cut off again

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:21:45 GMT

Dear Abby: I have been having a hard time dealing with my family. We have never been close. My mother played favorites and never showed me any affection. My siblings followed suit, and I always felt like an outsider. My father was wonderful and loved me very much, for which I am forever grateful.Both my parents died last year. I was walking on eggshells the entire time. My brothers and sisters seemed to think that I was now a member of the family. They included me in events and told me they loved me. I was so hopeful.After my mother’s death, I was cut out of the family again. I’m no longer invited to family celebrations or holidays. I am heartbroken and lonely. I have no one left. Family is so important to me. I am embarrassed to admit I am now estranged from everyone. Can you help? — Black Sheep in KentuckyDear Black Sheep: Unfortunately, your experience is not unique. I hear it more and more, in one variation or another. It is now time for you to build a family o...

Matthew Perry’s ‘Friends’ cast mates mourn their friend, say they are ‘all so utterly devastated’

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:21:45 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The stars of “Friends” say they are mourning the “unfathomable” death of Matthew Perry. “We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew,” Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer said in a joint statement to People on Monday. “We were more than just cast mates. We are a family.”From 1994 to 2004, each of the five actors appeared in every episode of all 10 seasons of the NBC sitcom along with Perry, who was found dead at his Los Angeles home on Saturday at age 54. “There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss,” the statement said. “In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”It was the first public statement on Perry’s death from Anis...

New funding to advance airport transit link project approved by SANDAG

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:21:45 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- As work to the new Terminal 1 continues, the long-talked about direct transit connection to the San Diego International Airport is inching closer to becoming a reality.On Friday, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) Board of Directors voted to approve an amendment to its $1.2 billion budget for the 2024 fiscal year to add $643 million in federal, state and local revenue to advance more than 30 projects over the next five years.This includes projects like the proposed airport transit connection discussed by local officials for nearly four decades as a possible solution to longstanding complaints of traffic congestion and an overall lack of public transportation options to the air travel center.“These investments will improve the lives of everyone across our County, by increasing accessibility and enhancing all our region has to offer,” SANDAG and San Diego County Board of Supervisor Chairwoman Nora Vargas said in a release on Friday. “Today’s action is ...

A UN envoy says the Israel-Hamas war is spilling into Syria, which already has growing instability

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:21:45 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Israel-Hamas war is spilling into Syria, fueled by growing instability, violence and a lack of progress toward a political solution to its 12-year conflict, the United Nations special envoy for the country said Monday.Geir Pedersen told the Security Council that, on top of violence from the Syrian conflict, the Syrian people now face “a terrifying prospect of a potential wider escalation” following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the ongoing retaliatory military action.“Spillover into Syria is not just a risk; it has already begun,” the U.N. envoy for Syria said.Pedersen pointed to airstrikes attributed to Israel hitting Syria’s airports in Aleppo and Damascus several times, and retaliation by the United States against what it said were multiple attacks on its forces “by groups that it claims are backed by Iran, including on Syrian territory.”With the region “at its most dangerous and tense,” he said, “fuel is being added to a tinderbox that was a...