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NFL player Lonnie Johnson inspires kids at camp in hometown of Gary: ‘It’s important for Lonnie that he gives back’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

New Orleans Saints cornerback Lonnie Johnson Jr. has reminders tattooed on his body that signify the violence and despair he escaped in Gary.He’s not quitting on his home town, though.On Saturday, Johnson returned to a freshly renovated stadium at the West Side Leadership Academy to host his third “Protect the Youth” football camp, sponsored by his foundation.About 350 kids, ages 8 to 18, raced around tires and tossed perfect spirals under a sunny blue sky on West Side’s new bright green artificial turf football field.Johnson and 2014 Merrillville graduate Ryan Neal, who plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and 2014 Thea Bowman Academy graduate Antonio Pipkin, a free agent quarterback in the Canadian Football League, led the drills with West Side coach Alger Boswell.“It looks a lot different,” Johnson said gazing at the football field that received a $936,000 upgrade last year. “I just want to give back to the community.”As Johnson spok...

Ukraine claims recapture of another village in early stages of counteroffensive

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

By JAMEY KEATEN (Associated Press)KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian troops have retaken a fourth village from Russian forces in the country’s southeast, military officials said Monday as the early stages of the nation’s counteroffensive notched another small success.Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on the Telegram app that the Ukrainian flag was again flying over the village of Storozhov, in the eastern Donetsk region. A day earlier, Ukrainian officials said their troops took three other small villages nearby — Blahodatne, Makarivka and Neskuchne — south of the town of Velyka Novosilka.The reported gains, which were impossible to verify and could be reversed in the to-and-fro of war, amounted to only small bits of territory. They also underscored the difficulty of the battle ahead for Ukrainian forces, who will have to fight meter by meter to regain the roughly one-fifth of their country now under Russian occupation.Recent fighting on the western edge of the 1,000-kilometer (...

Billionaire Stan Kroenke joins sports arena development group as majority investor

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

SAN DIEGO — A plan to redevelop the sports arena site in San Diego's Midway District has received a major boost.Stan Kroenke, the billionaire owner of the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Rams, Arsenal W.F.C and several other professional teams, has joined the Midway Rising group as the majority investor.A press conference to announce the news was held Monday morning with Mayor Todd Gloria, Councilmember Jen Campbell, Zephyr CEO Brad Termini, Legends Project Director Shelby Jordan II and Jason Gannon with the Kroenke Group.The real estate mogul will pay for the majority of the project and have a direct say into decisions regarding the project moving forward.According to Gloria, the move to bring Kroenke in was approved Friday after several months of vetting. New MLS team coming to San Diego needs your help The Midway Rising plan was selected by the San Diego City Council in 2022 as the development plan for the Midway District and sports arena.The 48.5-acre redevelopment project aims to...

Tour boat carrying 36 people capsizes in cave in Lockport, New York

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

LOCKPORT, N.Y. (AP) — A boat carrying 36 people capsized Monday during a tour of an underground cavern system built to carry water from the Erie Canal beneath the western New York city of Lockport, police said.Police and fire crews were called to the Lockport Cave Tours, about 20 miles northeast of Niagara Falls, at about 11:30 a.m. The tours take visitors on an underground boat ride illuminated only by small lights.“Crews are working to assist all parties safely out of the area,” police said in a press release. Additional information was not immediately available.The half-mile long tunnel was blasted out in the 19th century to transport extra water from the Erie Canal to power nearby businesses.The Associated Press

Apollo Theater CEO Jonelle Procope to leave the historic landmark on safe financial ground

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Jonelle Procope’s 20-year tenure as president and CEO of The Apollo Theater evolved into an era of prosperity and expansion, markedly different from the tumultuous, cash-strapped decades that preceded it.Sure, the early years were a struggle, as the New York City landmark, where music legends from Billie Holiday and Stevie Wonder to D’Angelo and countless rappers graced the stage, dealt with financial difficulties and a shifting business model. And she had to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic when the hub of its Harlem neighborhood was closed for two years.However, when Procope steps down at the end of June, she will leave her successor Michelle Ebanks – the Essence Communications executive who was named her replacement last week – with the proceeds of a nearly $80 million campaign raised to complete a renovation and expansion of the historic theater by 2025. Though the bulk of that money came from donations, it also includes $15.7 million in support from the city of Ne...

Richer countries like Canada must deliver proactive aid: head of UN rural food agency

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

OTTAWA — The head of a UN agency working to shore up rural food systems says richer countries need to focus on delivering proactive aid to developing countries instead of shifting to humanitarian work after crises have happened.Alvaro Lario leads the International Fund of Agricultural Development and says supply-chain woes and climate change mean the world needs to focus on helping rural farmers feed their countries instead.He noted that countries facing food-security issues tend to import food, so the rising cost of commodities and instability in supply chains has put people at risk.Lario said during a recent visit to Ottawa from Rome that too many countries respond to instability through aid that amounts to “maintenance of the situation, rather than really tackling the underlying causes.”His comments come as Canada and other western countries cut back their aid for the developing world and divert funding away from African countries to help Europe cope with Russia’...

Wisconsin’s top elections official for 2024 uncertain as incumbent’s term nears end

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Who will oversee the 2024 presidential election in the critical battleground state of Wisconsin remains clouded with uncertainty just weeks before the state’s nonpartisan top elections official reaches the end of her term.Republicans who control the state Legislature could finally have a chance to oust the elections head they’ve sparred with over conspiracy theories and install their own appointee. But a recent state Supreme Court ruling appears to offer her an avenue to get around Republicans and stay in office.And that’s if Meagan Wolfe, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission and one of the most respected election leaders in the nation, even wants to keep the job when her term ends on July 1. All across the country, election officials have left the profession after an unrelenting 2020 election cycle that brought unprecedented challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic but also an onslaught of harassment and death threats triggered by fal...

NCAA champion athletes go to White House, where Vice President Kamala Harris celebrates them

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris saluted more than a thousand U.S. college athletes from championship teams who gathered Monday at the White House South Lawn, saying that sports have a “very special way of bringing people together.” President Joe Biden had been scheduled to greet the athletes, but he had a root canal and was unable to attend the outdoor event on an overcast morning. The first of its kind assembly comes as collegiate sports have increasingly spilled into the political arena.There was the recent drama over the champion women’s basketball team from Louisiana State University going to the White House after first lady, Jill Biden, suggested that the runners-up from the University of Iowa should also come. The LSU team ultimately went to the White House despite initial resistance from star Angel Reese who said the team should visit former president Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, instead. Collegiate sports have also faced questions abo...

More work to be done on Indigenous representation in corporate world: panel

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

TORONTO — A panel of Indigenous women in the business world say much more work needs to be done to improve Indigenous representation on corporate boards and in business. Tabatha Bull, president and CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, says boards should expand their criteria when seeking new members.Bull says Indigenous people are often excluded because they lack things like top management experience.She says that by sticking to these kinds of criteria, boards may be missing out on a whole group of people.Bull spoke at a virtual panel hosted by the Empire Club of Canada, alongside Jenn Harper, the founder and CEO of Cheekbone Beauty Cosmetics Inc., and Tammy Brown, national industry leader for industrial markets at KPMG in Canada.Bull says while change is needed to improve Indigenous representation on boards, the boards also need access to education on equity and Indigenous issues.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2023.The Canadian Press

Three teens charged in armed robbery investigation in Vaughan

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

Three teens have been charged and police are seeking the victims in connection with an armed robbery investigation in Vaughan.On June 10, York police’s Community Oriented Response unit was in the Jane Street and Rutherford Road area at approximately 9:20 p.m. when they were approached by three teens who reported being robbed by another group, with one suspect armed with a knife.Police located and arrested the suspects in the area, recovering the knife as well as items robbed from the victims. However, the victims left the area before officers concluded the investigation and police are looking to speak with them.Investigators with York’s Criminal Investigations Bureau have charged a 16-year-old male from Markham with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a weapon, and charged two 17-year-old males from Toronto with failure to comply with undertaking.