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Boston College athletics committed to community engagement

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:28 GMT

Growing up on Northampton Street in the South End, Kenny Francis says he doesn’t remember seeing student-athletes from Boston College in his community.“That has to change,” said Francis, now BC’s assistant athletics director for student athlete formation and success. “BC is the only Power 5 institution in New England. There is no reason why we shouldn’t have more of a presence in Boston.”The school is committed to changing that narrative, Francis told the Herald on Saturday, as a group of six Eagles football players interacted with the Boston Bengals Pop Warner program at Clifford Playground in Roxbury.With the Eagles’ season set to kick off next Saturday against Northern Illinois at Alumni Stadium, Francis said it’s important for his college’s student-athletes to connect with the Boston community.Giving back to the community continuously, Pat Garwo said, is a goal for the running back because it helps him remember the background he came from.This summer, Garwo, entering his redshir...

Mass and Cass spillover displaces local football program from Roxbury’s Clifford Playground

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:28 GMT

For the second time in three years, the spillover from Mass and Cass has displaced a local Pop Warner football program from practicing at the nearby Clifford Playground.The Boston Bengals held its last practice at the dilapidated park in Roxbury on Saturday for at least this season, with coordinator Domingos DaRosa linking his remaining players up with the Brookline Jamaica Plain Patriots.This comes after the two programs merged in 2021, before the Bengals returned to Clifford last year. Much remains the same. Parents have pulled their children from participating after seeing the park’s disorderly setting festered with needles, human feces and other trash littering the 8-acre recreational space.“It’s just a disappointment to the neighborhood that the city has allowed Mass and Cass to grow, meanwhile it’s killing the community that surrounds the human crisis,” DaRosa told the Herald. “We are creating unseen victims; these kids are unseen.”Initially, DaRosa said he felt confident that...

National Mall hosts thousands for 60th anniversary of MLK’s March on Washington

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:28 GMT

WASHINGTON — Thousands converged Saturday on the National Mall for the 60th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, saying a country that remains riven by racial inequality has yet to fulfill his dream.“We have made progress, over the last 60 years, since Dr. King led the March on Washington,” said Alphonso David, president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum. “Have we reached the mountaintop? Not by a long shot.”The event was convened by the Kings’ Drum Major Institute and the Rev. Al Sharpton ‘s National Action Network. A host of Black civil rights leaders and a multiracial, interfaith coalition of allies rallied attendees on the same spot where as many as 250,000 gathered in 1963 for what is still considered one of the greatest and most consequential racial justice and equality demonstrations in U.S. history.Inevitably, Saturday’s event was shot through with contrasts to the initial, historic demonstration. Speakers a...

A shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, that left 3 dead was racially motivated, sheriff says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:28 GMT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville, Florida, sheriff says that a racially motivated shooter fatally shot three people inside a Dollar General Store on Saturday before killing himself. “Plainly put, this shooting was racially motivated and he hated Black people,” Sheriff T.K. Waters said at a news conference, THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Multiple people were fatally shot Saturday inside a Jacksonville, Florida, Dollar General store, the city’s mayor has told a television station. A city council member says the shooter is dead. Mayor Donna Deegan told WJXT “there are a number of fatalities” inside the store but didn’t give a precise number. Numerous police officers were in the area near Edward Waters University, a small historically Black university. “This is unacceptable,” Deegan told the station. “One shooting is too much but these mass shootings are really hard to take.”Jacksonville City Council...

Riders in various states of undress cruise Philadelphia streets in 14th naked bike ride

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:28 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Hundreds of people in various states of dress — or undress – set out Saturday for a ride through some of Philadelphia’s main streets and sights for the 14th Philly Naked Bike Ride.The annual ride, which started in 2009, is billed as promoting cycling as a key form of transportation and fuel-conscious consumption. It is also meant to encourage body positivity. Organizers stress, however, that participants aren’t required to ride completely in the buff, telling them to get “as bare as you dare.”The course, roughly 13 miles (21 kilometers) this year, changes annually but generally passes city landmarks. This year, bikers went by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, site of the steps featured in the “Rocky” movies, the historic City Hall, tony Rittenhouse Square and the South Street entertainment area. The ride was to end at Independence Hall.Garry J. Gadikian, from Atlantic City, New Jersey, speaking in Fairmount Park at a pre-race get-together, said th...

Chicago Triathlon weekend kicks off at Foster Beach

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:28 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago Triathlon kicks off along the lakefront Sunday, but Saturday, two smaller versions set the stage, raising money and spirits, featuring an organization dedicated to eradicating pediatric blood cancers.Kids Tri Chicago and the Chicago Triathlon SuperSprint took center stage Saturday morning at Foster Beach as some of the world's youngest triathletes tested their metal, while the adults got and abbreviated taste test of what is to come Sunday.Brothers Colin and John Hole — ages almost seven and eight — were participating in their first ever triathlon Saturday morning."You can say I’m seven because I’m going to be seven in September," Colin said.When asked what preparation was like for the kids' triathlon, John put it bluntly."Practically nothing," John said. "Except a small mock tri at my house."The two young brothers both completed the race, and said the length of time it took to complete was a bit surprising."Me and John crossed the finish line at the same time ...

Hartman throws 4 TD passes as No. 13 Notre Dame opens with a 42-3 win over Navy in Ireland

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:28 GMT

DUBLIN (AP) — Sam Hartman threw for four touchdowns in his Notre Dame debut and the No. 13 Fighting Irish routed Navy 42-3 on Saturday in a season-opening victory in Ireland's capital.Notre Dame (1-0) scored at will by air and on the ground against the Midshipmen (0-1), improving to 3-0 all-time against Navy in Dublin games. Hartman completed 19 of 23 passes for 266 yards.Hartman connected with Jaden Greathouse on two scoring strikes, the second a 20-yard reception that made the score 35-0 early in the third quarter and kept the Irish offense perfect at that point — scoring touchdowns in their first five possessions. Chicago Bears Fantasy Outlook: Who to draft and who to avoid The Irish quickly eased fears about another possible slow start after going 0-2 to open last season.After touchdowns runs by Audric Estimé and Jadarian Price, Hartman’s first TD pass went to Greathouse, who caught a deep ball at the 5 and took it in for a 35-yard scoring play and a 21-0 lead. That drive was ...

South and West sides come together for inaugural One City Basketball Championship

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:28 GMT

High above Fulton Market, two teams competed in the inaugural One City Basketball Championship on Saturday.The championship, which was started by former Bulls’ forward and NBA Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah, features young men ages 16 to 25 from the South and West sides of Chicago. Community pushes for peace after 2 teens killed on South Side The goal of One City, however, is much bigger than just the trophy the winners take home."This has to do with a lot more than just talent, you know. This is about uniting the city," Joakim Noah said.Joakim's foundation, Noah's Arc, helped create the One City league with the help of nearly 30 community-based anti-violence organizations. "Basketball and sports is a unifier, all around the world," Noah said. CTA sees decrease in crime 1 year after unveiling plan to transform agency While the play is highly competitive, the event also brings teens and young adults, from the West and South sides together. "That’s why it’s called '...

Injured Twins reliever Brock Stewart hopes for return around Sept. 10

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:28 GMT

When Brock Stewart initially landed on the injured list on June 27 with soreness in his right forearm, the Twins reliever thought he just needed a little bit of time to let the area calm down.He never expected that two months later he’d still be on the injured list, working his way back from the injury.“I thought I was going to be back way sooner, so it’s been killing me, as you guys can imagine,” Stewart said. “Not my arm — it’s been killing me that I can’t help out the team more than I have.”Perhaps next month, he will have that chance once again.Stewart, who threw a 15-pitch bullpen on Friday, said he is targeting Sept. 10 or around then as a potential return. He’s scheduled to throw another bullpen early next week.Before his injury, he had established himself as an important piece of the team’s bullpen, giving up just two earned runs in 25 2/3 innings (0.70 earned-run average) while striking out 35, and getting a healthy, productive Stewart back could have immense benefits for t...

Dark & Stormy’s ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ breathes new life into a neglected play

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:28 GMT

Jean Brodie is an unconventional educator. She exhorts the Scottish schoolgirls under her tutelage to turn away from safety and stability and run passionately into the arms of goodness, truth and beauty.She has much in common with Robin Williams’ life-affirming literature teacher in the film “Dead Poets Society.” But Jean Brodie is unapologetically open about playing favorites. She also often sets the curriculum aside entirely to regale with tales of past romances and her recent vacations. And, for one who claims devotion to her charges, she can seem more than a little self-absorbed.She stands at the center of “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” which began life as a 1961 Muriel Spark novel before Jay Presson Allen adapted it for the stage, then the screen, Maggie Smith taking home the Best Actress Oscar in 1970 for her portrayal of the title character. But Dark & Stormy Productions makes a convincing argument that the too-long-neglected play definitely deserves to be experienced.P...