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Mailbag: Arizona’s financial crisis, impact of the House case, ‘Pac-2’ legal affairs, UW’s perfect run, Taylor’s good work and more

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:57 GMT

The Hotline mailbag publishes each Friday. Send questions to [email protected] and include ‘mailbag’ in the subject line. Or hit me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline.Please note: Some questions have been edited for clarity and brevity.On the House vs. NCAA case: While I have little doubt the richest schools can afford to pay $46 million, what about smaller Power Five programs like Wake Forest or Washington State? Could this cause them to shut down sports, even football, and have athletic departments go bankrupt? — @DavidJBrown19Great question, because there’s so much ground to cover with this topic.Let’s start our response in Tucson, where Arizona president Robert Robbins recently told the faculty that ‘draconian’ budget cuts were coming because of financial challenges rooted in a $240 million accounting mistake.The school has 97 days of cash on hand, instead of 156. (It’s the kind of whopper you’d expect from the Pac-12.)Arizona...

Secretary of State Blinken: ‘Far too many’ Palestinians have died

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:57 GMT

By Matthew Lee | Associated PressNEW DELHI — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that “far too many” Palestinians have died and suffered as Israel wages a relentless war against the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip. He urged Israel to minimize harm to civilians and maximize humanitarian assistance that reaches them.Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Blinken said recent Israeli moves to improve dire conditions in Gaza as its military pushes deeper into the strip — including pauses in military operations to allow Palestinians to move from northern to southern Gaza and the creation of a second safe corridor — are positive but they are not nearly enough.“Much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that humanitarian assistance reaches them,” he said. “Far too many Palestinians have been killed, far too many have suffered these past weeks, and we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximize ...

Fire at Mountain View apartment complex causes $25K in damages

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:57 GMT

(KRON) -- A fire at a 24-unit apartment complex in Mountain View Friday morning caused $25,000 in damages, according to the City of Mountain View. A 9-1-1 call came in at 1:54 a.m. reporting a fire in the hallway of the multi-family complex, located on the 500 block of West Middlefield Road.Mountain View Fire Department units were dispatched and arrived on the scene at 1:54 a.m. to find smoke and flames coming from the wall between a hallway and one of the apartment units. Occupants of the complex self-evacuated before firefighters arrived. $350K of stolen goods recovered in Oakland, Sacramento County fencing operation Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the flames before the fire could spread into other units, the city said. Firefighters performed "an extensive overhaul" of the affected unit and hallway, by cutting open the walls to ensure the flames were completely out.The fire was put out with no injuries, the city said. Building management temporarily located the occu...

New nuclear stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, takes first test flight in California

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The B-21 Raider took its first test flight on Friday, moving the futuristic warplane closer to becoming the nation's next nuclear weapons stealth bomber.The Raider flew in Palmdale, California, where it has been under testing and development by Northrop Grumman.The Air Force is planning to build 100 of the warplanes, which have a flying wing shape much like their predecessor the B-2 Spirit but will incorporate advanced materials, propulsion and stealth technology to make them more survivable in a future conflict. The plane is planned to be produced in variants with and without pilots.“The B-21 Raider is in flight testing,” Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said.Such testing is a critical step in the campaign to provide "survivable, long-range, penetrating strike capabilities to deter aggression and strategic attacks against the United States, allies, and partners,” Stefanek said. Let it pour: First wet season event to bring moderate to heavy rain next week The B...

Stock market today: Wall Street gains ground to close what’s been a mostly quiet week

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is gaining ground Friday to close what’s been a mostly listless week following its fireworks since the summer.The S&P 500 was up 1.3% in afternoon trading and on track to end the week with a solid gain. That would follow its best week of the year, which itself came after months of sharp losses.The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 327 points, or 1%, as of 2:28 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.9% higher.More companies reported better profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected, but the focus is swinging toward what companies will do later this year and beyond amid high interest rates and expectations for a slowdown in economic growth.Illumina tumbled 9.5% even though the maker of DNA-sequencing and other technology products reported better results for the third quarter than expected. It cut its financial forecasts for the full year and said “the environment remains challenging.”Wynn Resorts also topped analysts’ expec...

Live updates | Thousands of Palestinians flee Gaza’s north as fighting nears hospitals

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:57 GMT

Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing northern Gaza as Israel’s military pushed deeper into dense urban neighborhoods in its battle with Hamas militants. Officials in the besieged enclave said the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 11,000 people.The search for safety in Gaza is growing more desperate as combat intensifies. Residents who escaped to the south and Palestinian health officials reported strikes in and around Gaza City’s main hospital overnight. Israel said at least one was the result of a misfired Palestinian rocket. The World Health Organization said Friday that 20 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are no longer functioning, including a pediatric hospital that has stopped operations after a reported Israeli strike in the area. “If there is a hell on earth today, its name is northern Gaza,” the U.N. humanitarian agency spokesperson, Jens Laerke, told reporters in Geneva. More than two-thirds of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes since the war began. Gaza...

Maly matches career-high with 30 points and No. 22 Creighton women beat South Dakota in home opener

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:57 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Morgan Maly matched a career-high with 30 points, Emma Ronsiek added 16 points and No. 22 Creighton beat South Dakota 81-55 on Friday.Creighton (2-0) won its second straight game in the series with South Dakota after losing six in a row. Creighton scored 29 points in the first quarter, with five 3-pointers, to build a 15-point lead. The Bluejays led by as many as 20 points in the second quarter before South Dakota scored the opening five points of the second half to get within 45-35.Creighton answered with a 19-2 run for a 64-37 lead. Maly started the run with seven straight Creighton points, and she also had two 3-pointers.Maly, who also scored 30 points against Providence in January, was subbed out with 3:06 remaining in the fourth. Maly was 10 of 19 from the field and she also grabbed 10 rebounds. Lauren Jensen had 11 points and a team-high six assists for Creighton. Molly Mogensen and Mallory Brake each scored 10 points. Mogensen also had nine rebounds.Tori De...

Jueza rechaza aplazar juicio contra Trump por documentos en Mar-a-Lago

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:57 GMT

WASHINGTON — Una jueza federal en Florida rechazó el viernes el pedido de la defensa del expresidente Donald Trump de aplazar su juicio sobre la tenencia de documentos secretos.Pero postergó otros plazos de la causa e indicó que retomará el tema de la fecha del juicio más adelante.La decisión de la jueza Aileen Cannon es una victoria modesta para el equipo del fiscal especial Jack Smith, que había rechazado enérgicamente los esfuerzos por aplazar el juicio, previsto para comenzar el 20 de mayo de 2024.Los abogados de Trump habían argumentado que necesitaban más tiempo para revisar la enorme cantidad de pruebas documentales y que las fechas se podrían empalmar con las de otras tres causas penales que aguardan juicio. Corte Suprema de Minnesota frena esfuerzos que impedían que Trump estuviera en las boletas Ivanka Trump testifica en juicio civil sobre presunto fraude de la empresa familiar Cannon indicó durante una audiencia días at...

Vondrousova pulls Czechs level 1-1 with United States at Billie Jean King Cup Finals

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:57 GMT

SEVILLE, Spain (AP) — Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova pulled the Czech Republic level at 1-1 with the United States to send their Billie Jean King Cup Finals group-stage meeting to a decisive doubles match on Friday.The seventh-ranked Vondrousova brushed aside Sofia Kenin 6-1, 6-1 in the second singles match after Danielle Collins gave the U.S. the lead by beating Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-2.The winner will advance as the top team in Group A and play Canada in the semifinals on Saturday. Italy will face Slovenia in the other semifinal on the indoor hard court in Seville.Vondrousova hit five aces and broke Kenin’s serve six times in the lopsided match.Collins broke Siniakova three times, with her opponent double-faulting five times.These are the the two most successful teams in the competition’s history — the U.S. has the most titles with 18 and the Czechs the second most with 11.The Czechs have won their last two meetings with the Americans.The U.S. beat defending...

Undefeated No. 21 James Madison puts focus on football instead of bowl eligibility vs UConn

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:57 GMT

Undefeated James Madison had a lot of swirling issues this week while it prepared to host one-win Connecticut, but coach Curt Cignetti wants a singular focus.The No. 21 Dukes (9-0) petitioned the NCAA for a waiver to be included in bowl eligibility, something NCAA rules deny them as a program transitioning to the highest level of college football. They are also denied a chance to play for the Sun Belt Conference championship, a rule the NCAA put in place to ensure programs making the step up are prepared for better competition.“We would be in those rankings probably somewhere around where we’re ranked,” Cignetti said this week. “But you know, it’s not where you are today, it’s where you finish, and I steadfastly believe we should be a part of those rankings. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be a part of those rankings. … We’ve had the 24-hour rule to kind of think about those kind of things. And now the total focus is on Connecticut.”Huskies coach Jim Mora likes the Dukes’ model...