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Beards, backpacks and replacing Bruce Brown: How Nuggets’ Christian Braun heightened his confidence after rookie year, became “best player in our gym most days this summer”

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:51:47 GMT

SAN DIEGO — If the prevailing theme of Christian Braun’s offseason was trying to do more, he came up short in one category.Sporting a mild stubble Monday morning inside Ball Arena, Braun proclaimed that he sprouted a beard during his time off and wanted to rock it at media day. Three days later, discouraged by negative reviews, he reflected on the journey.“I was back home, and the full beard grew on my face. I didn’t really expect it,” Braun told The Denver Post. “Some people like it. Some people hate it. Most people hate it. … The players aren’t fans of it. Some tell me to cut that (bleep) off.”Braun was incredulous at the obvious follow-up question: So it was actually a full beard at first, earlier this summer?“Why do you say ‘at first?'” the 22-year-old guard retorted. “It’s not a full beard now?”The beard schtick, and Braun’s general use of humor recently when asked about his summer, has been his...

For Buium brothers and DU hockey, this season is all about becoming college hockey’s undisputed juggernaut

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:51:47 GMT

After last season’s promising 30-win campaign ended with a disappointing loss in the first round of the national tournament, DU is determined to get back to the mountaintop and stake its claim as college hockey’s undisputed juggernaut.But for the Pioneers to break a tie with Michigan for all-time NCAA Division I championships by claiming their 10th this season, they’ll need the Buium brothers to play a pivotal role.Shai Buium, a junior, is a linchpin on the back end for the Pioneers, while his younger brother, fellow defender and freshman Zeev Buium, is expected to make an impact in his draft-eligible season. Shai helped propel DU to the NCAA title two years ago, and Zeev is a notable rising talent who at 17 is the second-youngest college player in the country.“Shai’s primed and ready to go to take a huge step for us,” DU captain McKade Webster said. “He’s going to be one of our best defensemen, a huge penalty-kill guy. He’s obvi...

Why Dak Prescott and the Cowboys need this win more than the 49ers

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:51:47 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Dak Prescott has never needed a win more than he does Sunday night against the 49ers.The Dallas Cowboys quarterback has lost to the 49ers in the playoffs each of the last two seasons with bizarre finishes, running out the clock on a scramble to the 49ers’ 24-yard line two seasons ago and with a center snap by Ezekiel Elliott and an 8-yard pass to KeVonate Turpin to the 16.Beyond the unhappy endings, Prescott hasn’t played well, throwing three interceptions in the two games. The 49ers won 23-17 at AT&T Stadium in a wild-card game with Jimmy Garoppolo playing with a bad thumb and shoulder, and 19-12 last season behind rookie Brock Purdy in the divisional round.Having not made it past the divisional round since their last Super Bowl victory following the 1995 season, the Cowboys put their faith in Prescott on a four-year contract worth a maximum of $160 million before the 2021 season to get them to where owner Jerry Jones believes they belong.And whe...

Salem police investigating case of possible attempted child abduction

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:51:47 GMT

Police in Salem, Mass., are asking for the public’s help in identifying a vehicle that may have been part of an attempted child abduction, according to authorities.The Salem Police Department said the incident happened on Friday afternoon around 2:45 p.m., when a group of children were approaching the corner of Carrollton Street and Belleview Avenue.The children had been walking from Witchcraft Heights Elementary School when a vehicle, believed to be a blue Honda Pilot, pulled up to the intersection.According to authorities, the windows of the vehicle then rolled down and a male driver stated “Get in the car because your mom said so.”Police said all three children walked away without interacting with the driver, who then left the area after taking a left onto Belleview.The youths later told police a female passenger was also inside the vehicle, and that both individuals were to of Asian descent.As their investigation continues, Salem PD shared a surveillance ima...

No serious injuries after fiery crash closes Hwy. 410 early Sunday morning

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:51:47 GMT

No serious injuries have been reported following three separate accidents on Highway 410 on Sunday morning. Traffic cameras showed the northbound lanes blocked at Courtneypark Drive after a single vehicle crash involving a Rolls Royce which burst into flames upon impact. Significant crash on HWY 410 in Mississauga affecting both directions.NB 410 collectors are blocked at Courtneypark.SB 410 at Courtneypark – the HOV and left lane are blocked. pic.twitter.com/7R3XDb6uYe— CityNews Toronto Traffic & Weather (@citynews680) October 8, 2023That incident is believed to be responsible for a separate two vehicle crash that occurred in the southbound HOV lanes of the highway. Two car crash in southbound HOV lanes of Highway 410 on Sunday, Oct. 8. MTOPeel paramedics say two people from two separate vehicles were transported in stable condition to a local hospital.

UK Supreme Court weighs if it’s lawful for Britain to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:51:47 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The British government’s contentious policy to stem the flow of migrants faces one of its toughest challenges this week as the U.K. Supreme Court weighs whether it’s lawful to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda. The Conservative government is challenging a Court of Appeal ruling in June that said the policy intended to deter immigrants from risking their lives crossing the English Channel in small boats is unlawful because the East African country is not a safe place to send them.Three days of arguments are scheduled to begin Monday with the government arguing its policy is safe and lawyers for migrants from Vietnam, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Sudan contending it’s unlawful and inhumane. The hearing comes as much of Europe and the U.S. struggle with how best to cope with migrants seeking refuge from war, violence, oppression and a warming planet that has brought devastating drought and floods. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to “stop the boats” as a top priority...

‘Without water, there is no life’: Drought in Brazil’s Amazon is sharpening fears for the future

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:51:47 GMT

MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — Communities dependent on the Amazon rainforest’s waterways are stranded without supply of fuel, food or filtered water. Dozens of river dolphins perished and washed up on shore. And thousands of lifeless fish float on the water’s surface.These are just the first grim visions of extreme drought sweeping across Brazil’s Amazon. The historically low water levels have affected hundreds of thousands of people and wildlife and, with experts predicting the drought could last until early 2024, the problems stand to intensify.Raimundo Silva do Carmo, 67, makes his living as a fisherman, but these days has been struggling to simply find water. Like most rural residents in Brazil’s Amazon, do Carmo typically retrieves water untreated from the biome’s abundant waterways. On Thursday morning, he was making his fourth trip of the day to fill a plastic bucket from a well dug into the cracked bed of Lake Puraquequara, just east of Amazonas state’s...

Clergy burnout is a growing concern in polarized churches. A summit offers coping strategies

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:51:47 GMT

STILLWATER, Minn. (AP) — Every morning, the Rev. Karna Moskalik goes through a “grounding” routine that involves prayer, Bible reading, positive affirmations, and meditations about the best outcomes for the day’s tasks, as well as lighting a perfumed candle and walking through each space of her Lutheran church.“I always feel like work never ends, but at the same time I beefed up grounding because without it, I feel absolutely ineffective,” said Moskalik, who grew up a pastor’s daughter and has led the 700-member Our Savior’s congregation for four years in this small riverside town.That level of faith-based self-care is just what many clergy should practice to avoid the burnout and deteriorating mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression that experts say are affecting religious leaders at a worrisome pace.“Mental health needs are just overwhelming faith communities,” said Jamie Aten, a professor at Wheaton College and the co-founder of Spiritual First Aid. He is helping organ...

Some GOP candidates propose acts of war against Mexico to stop fentanyl. Experts say that won’t work

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:51:47 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Ron DeSantis wants suspected drug smugglers at the U.S.-Mexico border to be shot dead. Nikki Haley promises to send American special forces into Mexico. Vivek Ramaswamy has accused Mexico’s leader of treating drug cartels as his “sugar daddy” and says that if he is elected president, “there will be a new daddy in town.”Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for the 2024 nomination and long the person who has shaped his party’s rhetoric on the border, has often blamed Mexico for problems in the United States and promises new uses of military force and covert action if he returns to the White House.Many of the GOP presidential candidates say they would carry out potential acts of war against Mexico in response to the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. More than 75,000 people in the U.S. died last year from overdoses of synthetic opioids, an annual figure more than 20 times higher than a decade ago.The candidates’ antagonism toward Me...

From Coke floats to Cronuts, going viral can have a lasting effect on a small business

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:51:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The Lexington Candy Shop in New York City has served burgers, fries and shakes to hungry patrons for decades. Last remodeled in 1948, the diner is the definition of old-fashioned.But that hasn’t stopped it from getting a wave of new fans.In August 2022, this old school business met the new world when Nicolas Heller, a TikToker and Instagrammer with 1.2 million followers known as New York Nico, popped in for a traditional Coke float – Coke syrup, soda water and ice cream. Naturally, he took a video. It went viral, garnering 4.8 million likes.“The next day (after the video was posted), the lines started forming at 8 in the morning,” John Philis, the diner’s third-generation co-owner, recalls with amazement. “And it was like, huh!”When a smaller restaurant unexpectedly goes viral on TikTok or other social media, the sudden demand can be overwhelming. Owners have to adapt on the fly, revamping operations to quickly serve a crush of people. But savvy business owners...