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SpaceX takes second shot at launching biggest rocket

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:13:04 GMT

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (AP) — SpaceX prepared to launch the biggest and most powerful rocket Thursday, working nonstop after the first shot at a test flight fizzled earlier in the week. The nearly 400-foot (120-meter) Starship was poised to blast off from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. SpaceX’s Elon Musk gave 50-50 odds of the spacecraft reaching orbit on its debut. None of the rocket will be recovered. Instead, if all goes well, the first-stage booster, dubbed Super Heavy, would drop into the Gulf of Mexico. The spacecraft on top would continue eastward, passing over the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans before ditching near Hawaii. The whole flight, if successful, would last just 1 1/2 hours. The company plans to use Starship to send people and cargo to the moon and, eventually, Mars. NASA has reserved a Starship for its next moonwalking team, and rich tourists are already booking lunar flybys.A stuck booster valve scrapped Monday’s try. Hundreds of space...

‘Really fortunate’ Crookston lawmaker continues recovery from March stroke

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:13:04 GMT

CROOKSTON, Minn. — A month after she had a minor stroke in St. Paul, state Rep. Deb Kiel says she is recovering well.Last Friday, the Republican lawmaker from Crookston was on her way back from attending a Sand Hill Watershed District meeting in Winger, her first legislative activity since her stroke.“It was very important for me to rest, so the challenge of shutting off the legislative work that I was doing was difficult, but I’m doing well,” Kiel said.On March 17, the 65-year-old Kiel had a minor stroke and was hospitalized overnight in St. Paul. She then returned home to Crookston, where she has been recovering. Initially, she hoped to return to the Capitol the week after she announced she had had a stroke, but following doctors’ orders, Kiel has pushed back returning to the stress-filled job as the legislative session nears the end.State Rep. Debra Kiel, R-Crookston, is pictured at work during the 2023 session of the state Legislature in St. Paul. Kiel has been recovery fr...

Timberwolves deliver big rally, still fall down 2-0 to Denver

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:13:04 GMT

The Timberwolves dug themselves a 2-0 hole with their 122-113 Game 2 defeat Wednesday in Denver, but it’s hard to bury them after their second-half effort suggested a pulse is indeed present.But in the bigger picture that is the NBA playoffs, close only counts for so much. Because in the end, Minnesota was out-executed in the closing minutes by a team that was accustomed to doing that to opponents all season.Jamal Murray was a flamethrower in the final frame, hitting one shot after another to spoil an equally heroic effort from Anthony Edwards.The guards went back and forth for 12 minutes of scintillating basketball, with Murray scoring 10 in the final frame versus Edwards’ 14.For the game, Murray tallied 40 points, while Edwards had 41. In the end, Murray simply had more help. Nikola Jokic finished with 27 points, nine assists and nine rebounds, while Michael Porter Jr. scored 13 points of his own in the fourth for Denver.Edwards’ partner in crime, Karl-Anthony To...

Winder gets one step closer to the big leagues in Saints’ rain-soaked loss to RailRiders

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:13:04 GMT

It was a miserable night for baseball, but one that moved Josh Winder one step closer to returning to the Twins.Making his first appearance with the Saints on Wednesday in a rain-shortened 3-1 loss to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at CHS Field, the 26-year-old right-hander, on rehab assignment as he comes back from a shoulder strain, got his work in without any signs of physical problems.Winder entered the game in the top of the sixth with the Saints trailing 1-0. He surrendered a home run to the first batter he faced before walking two batters and allowing a runner to score from third on a wild pitch.Winder retired the leadoff hitter in the seventh on a groundout before being replaced by Jordan Balazovic. He threw 36 pitches; 18 for strikes.“He’s got some stuff to work on,” Saints manager Toby Gardenhire said of Winder, who was not available for comment after the game. “But he was pitching, and that’s the most important part. We’ve got to get him on the mound first and...

Nuggets 3-pointers: Denver shuts down Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns in Game 2

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:13:04 GMT

Initial thoughts from the Nuggets’ 122-113 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series:1. Jamal Murray stays hot: After a strong performance in Game 1, Murray continued to show he isn’t fazed by his 900-plus days hiatus from postseason basketball. In the first quarter on Wednesday, Murray looked more like the player we saw in the Bubble. He was pulling up from the 3-point line while aggressively attacking the basket, scoring 14 or his 40 points in the first. When the Timberwolves made a comeback, Murray’s shot-making kept the Nuggets afloat. Trailing by three points, he buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game at 85. Seconds later, Murray’s turnaround jumper evened the score once again. In the fourth, the Nuggets turned to Murray to secure the victory — and just like his days in Orlando, he delivered with five straight points to give Denver 10-point cushion with 3:14 to go.2. The Nuggets have given KAT ...

2 people shot in Sun Valley; police investigating

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:13:04 GMT

Two people were taken to the hospital Wednesday night after a shooting in Sun Valley, authorities said.  Officers with the Los Angeles Police department responded to calls of an assault with a deadly weapon and shots fired in the 7300 block of Vineland Avenue at around 8:45 p.m. It’s unclear what led up to the shooting, but crews with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the scene and transported the victims to the hospital in unknown condition.  Personnel with L.A. police on the scene of a shooting in Sun Valley April 19, 2023. (KTLA)Police did not provide any information on a shooting suspect or suspects, nor did they say if any arrests have been made in connection with the incident.  

12-year-old girl who disappeared in Ventura found safe

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:13:04 GMT

Police confirmed a young girl who disappeared in Ventura on Wednesday morning has been found safe.The child, 12-year-old Canela Hernandez, was last seen being dropped off at Anacapa Middle School around 8 a.m. before she went missing, according to the Ventura Police Department."Canela has been safely located and reunited with her family," said police on Wednesday night. "Thank you, Ventura."At the time, the child had not been heard from since being dropped off at school in the morning, authorities said.The circumstances surrounding her disappearence were not announced.

Renfield‘s Dracula Makeover is a Bloody Mess

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:13:04 GMT

Renfield is half alive, which for a movie about the undead is sort of a compliment. Directed by Chris McKay from the story of Dracula, the film has a few things going for it– it’s got the great Nicolas Cage in the part of Drac, a script from Robert Kirkman (Walking Dead) and enough blood to fill a swimming pool. So why does this satire turn out to be such a nasty mess?The film stems from Universal’s attempt to bring back its classic monsters, and it starts out promising enough. Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) gives us a recap on the origin of Dracula through the lens of Tod Browning’s original film. Cage and Hoult are digitally inserted into the classic black and white footage, replacing Bella Lugosi and Dwight Fyre as the two protagonists, and it’s a total blast.When we catch up with Drac’s henchman, he’s in a support group for couples, only to find that his problems with Nosferatu aren’t exactly on the same level as everyone else’s. Someone’s husband ...

Civil rights attorney plans federal lawsuit against Antioch cops named in racist text scandal

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:13:04 GMT

ANTIOCH – Bay Area civil rights attorney John Burris, who filed the class-action lawsuit that led to federal oversight of the Oakland Police Department, is planning to file a similar suit against the Antioch Police Department, this news organization learned Wednesday evening.Burris and his law firm are expected to name as defendants Antioch police officers who sent racist, homophobic and sexist messages in text groups that included nearly half of the police force.Those texts, revealed last week, included sergeants, gang unit members and K9 officers using racist language to describe Black residents, some of whom they also had planned to target with violence or already had.About 20 years ago, Burris along with civil rights attorney Jim Chanin, filed an action against the city of Oakland on behalf of 119 plaintiffs – mostly Black West Oakland residents – who were brutalized and framed by Oakland officers known as the Riders. That civil suit led to a settlement agreement resulting in fe...

Magnitude 3.6 quake rattles East Bay

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:13:04 GMT

ANTIOCH — An earthquake registering 3.6 magnitude shook underneath multiple East Bay towns but did not cause any injuries or visible damage, the U.S. Geological Survey said Wednesday.The quake struck at 8:35 p.m. at a depth of just over 10 miles, and was centered in a remote southwest corner of the city west of Empire Mine Road. After an initial listing of 3.8 magnitude, the quake was downgraded within an hour to 3.6.According to a USGS “did you feel it?” community intensity map, citizens reported feeling the quake across multiple parts of the East Bay.There were no reports of injuries, damage or other disruptions in either quake. Bay Area Rapid Transit trains did not issue any public alerts about service delays as part of its regular quake-based precautions.USGS scientists have predicted a 63 percent chance of a magnitude 6.7 or larger quake striking the Bay Area in the next 30 years.Recent earthquakes in the East Bay and around the state have focused renewed atte...