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Review: ‘Mafia Mamma’ is bloody, tired and cliché-laden

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:32 GMT

By Jocelyn Noveck | Associated PressAt first, when suburban mom Kristin gets the mysterious call to head to Italy to settle the affairs of a dead relative, she protests she’s too busy. Then she realizes there’s not much keeping her: Her son is off to college, her job is dead-end, and her husband? He’s cheating with the school guidance counselor.So why not treat herself to a me-focused trip, a la Julia Roberts? Maybe an “Eat, Pray, Love” trip, muses Kristin (Toni Collette), to which her friend (Sophie Nomvete) replies that what she really needs, bluntly, is to “Eat, Pray, $%&$.”Soon that’s the slogan for her trip. It also would a great alternative title for “Mafia Mamma,” if they could get away with it. And really, they try to get away with most everything else.That includes some cringe-worthy slapstick, some Tarantino-level violence, and also every Italian stereotype you can imagine (Grape-stomping? Check. Gelato, gnocc...

‘The Great Mud Out’: Monterey County navigating through Pajaro cleanup

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:32 GMT

PAJARO — Following the April 3 approval of a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Monterey County, many services have been in place to assist with the Pajaro flood relief efforts. These were highlighted in a virtual news briefing hosted by the county Wednesday.One item unlocked by the declaration was funding by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Tiana Suber, FEMA media relations specialist, said nearly 300 people have visited the disaster recovery centers in Watsonville and Felton since they opened.“Most are coming to see what they are eligible for, and most are renters as well,” she said. “We offer rental assistance, but we offer temporary housing if they need some place to stay, if they’ve been displaced from their house.”Suber said displaced residents staying in hotels can be eligible for reimbursements for their stays.So far, Suber said FEMA has received 2,500 registrations related to the disaster. The agency has also deployed Disaster Survivor Assistance teams.“The...

Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office IDs victim in 24-year-old cold case

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:32 GMT

BOULDER CREEK — Known merely as “John Doe” and “Huck” for the past 24 years, a man found dead in the Santa Cruz Mountains more than 24 years ago has been identified.Eric Cupo. (Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office — Contributed) The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office’s forensics services team, utilizing forensic genetic genealogy techniques, paired with the California Department of Justice Jan Bashinski DNA Lab, Othram Inc., the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Latent Print Unit to reveal the man’s identity as Eric P. Cupo, authorities announced in a social media post this week.Cupo was just 22 years old when his body was dumped down a steep Bear Creek Road embankment about 8 miles north of downtown Boulder Creek. His body, wrapped in a tarp, was discovered by sightseers parked at a summit turnout at least a month later, on Dec. 27, 1998. In addition to issues with decomposition, Cupo’s skull had been shattered into dozens o...

Hundreds Turn Out to Denounce Texas Republicans’ “Vigilante Death Squads Policy”

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:32 GMT

Hundreds of Texans converged on the capital this week to oppose a new state-led security force that would enlist civilians to track and capture undocumented people.In a hearing that stretched into the wee hours of the morning Wednesday, the Texas House of Representatives heard testimony from first-generation college students, undocumented activists, parents, and children about the inherent dangers of House Bill 20. The author of the controversial proposal, Republican Rep. Matt Schaefer, meanwhile, was grilled by his Democratic counterparts over his bill’s logical and constitutional implications.In his most extensive public defense of his bill to date, Schaefer, the founder and chair of the arch-conservative Texas Freedom Caucus, collapsed the issues of fentanyl overdoses and migration, ignoring facts and evidence to argue that migrants are responsible for a wave of death and suffering that exceeds the worst episodes of national trauma in modern American history. Pointing to national...

Michigan State wraps up drills, hoping to spring forward

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:32 GMT

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State coach Mel Tucker hopes he doesn’t have this long of an offseason ever again.The Spartans fell short of being eligible for a bowl last year — a season after winning 11 games — in a fall marred by a melee in Michigan Stadium’s tunnel and being humbled. “Sometimes you have to get beat up and get your face kicked in before you can really lay the true foundation — and that’s happened,” Tucker said. “I know our guys are going to compete and fight. We have a chip on our shoulder and we know the areas we need to improve.“We addressed a lot in recruiting. We have a lot to prove. Going through a season like that can build character.”Tucker will wrap up spring practice Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium, where fans will watch a 15-period practice that will include first-string offensive players scrimmaging against the team’s top defense.Entering his fourth year of leading the program, the 2021 Big Ten Coach of the Year ...

Pasajeros rebeldes: FAA envía 250 casos al FBI para un posible juicio

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:32 GMT

Funcionarios federales dijeron el jueves que han remitido a más de 250 pasajeros rebeldes en aerolíneas al FBI para un posible enjuiciamiento penal desde fines de 2021, incluido uno el mes pasado, cuando un hombre intentó apuñalar a una azafata con una cuchara rota. Sin embargo, el ritmo de las referencias criminales se está desacelerando. La Administración Federal de Aviación identificó 17 casos que envió al FBI en los primeros tres meses de este año, principalmente por incidentes que ocurrieron el año pasado pero que tomaron tiempo para investigar.Las aerolíneas han informado menos casos de pasajeros indisciplinados desde abril pasado, cuando un juez federal anuló el requisito de que las personas usaran mascarillas en los aviones y el transporte público. Antes de ese fallo, alrededor de dos tercios de todos los incidentes en aviones involucraron disputas sobre las mascarillas. CNBC: FAA lanza nuevo plan para evitar retrasos en los aeropuertos de Nueva York y Washing...

Wells Fargo tops Wall Street 1Q targets, earning $5 billion

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:32 GMT

Wells Fargo beat sales and profit targets in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, boosted by higher interest rates. The quarter saw the collapse of two banks that rattled the financial sector and the broader stock market. Wells Fargo participated with other banks in pumping $30 billion in deposits into First Republic Bank in a so far successful effort to prevent a third failure. Wells earned $5 billion, or $1.23 per share, in the three months ended March 31, beating analyst projections by 10 cents a share. Revenue of $20.7 billion topped Wall Street’s target of $20.1 billion. Revenue and profit also came in well ahead of last year’s first quarter, when the San Francisco-based bank posted net earnings of $3.8 billion, or 91 cents per share, on revenue of $17.7 billion.Wells, which until recently was the U.S.’s biggest mortgage lender, set aside $643 million for potential loan losses, specifically commercial real estate loans, credit cards and auto loans.W...

Klopp cites budget constraints amid Bellingham questions

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:32 GMT

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — If Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham is on the move this summer, it’s becoming clear that Liverpool won’t be the destination.Jurgen Klopp said Friday regarding expensive transfers that sometimes a team must “step aside and do different stuff.”The Liverpool manager was responding to questions about reports the Premier League club has dropped its pursuit of the 19-year-old Bellingham, who could bring a record transfer fee for Dortmund. Manchester City and Real Madrid are among the clubs interested.Klopp said his answer was “not about Jude Bellingham” specifically but that sometimes the price tag is too high.“I never understood why we constantly talk about things we theoretically cannot have,” he said at a news conference ahead of Liverpool’s game at Leeds on Monday.“We cannot have six players in a summer (and) everybody’s 100 million for example,” he said. “You have to realize what you can do and then you have to work with that. How much mone...

Lo que sabemos de Jack Teixeira, el presunto filtrador de documentos clasificados del Pentágono

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:32 GMT

(CNN Español) — Un nuevo escándalo sobre filtración de documentos sacudió a la comunidad de inteligencia en los últimos días por cuenta de la actividad ilícita de un joven de 21 años que trabajaba en una base militar en Massachusetts. El sospechoso fue identificado como Jack Texeira, quien fue arrestado este jueves por las fuerzas de seguridad.Texeira, quien inicialmente fue descrito por The New York Times como un aficionado a los videojuegos que tenía un grupo privado en la plataforma Discord, es sospechoso de filtrar documentos clasificados que pusieron a temblar a la comunidad de inteligencia, tensaron relaciones de Estados Unidos con gobiernos extranjeros y pusieron en peligro la información valiosa sobre la guerra de Rusia en Ucrania.Las publicaciones que se filtraron en redes sociales eran fotos de documentos arrugados colocados encima de revistas y rodeados de otros objetos aleatorios, como bolsas con cierre y pegamento Gorilla. Es como si los hubieran doblado apresurad...

MLS suspende al jugador de los Red Bulls de Nueva York por 6 juegos por usar un insulto racial durante un partido

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:32 GMT

(CNN) — El delantero de los Red Bulls de Nueva York, Dante Vanzeir, fue suspendido por seis partidos de la temporada regular luego de usar un insulto racial durante el partido del sábado en la Major League Soccer (MLS) contra los San Jose Earthquakes, anunció la liga.Vanzeir también será multado por un monto no revelado y deberá participar en “sesiones de capacitación y educación ordenadas por la liga, así como en un programa de prácticas restaurativas”, dijo la MLS en un comunicado este jueves.La liga inició una investigación después de que el alero de los Earthquakes, Jeremy Ebobisse, dijera en una entrevista posterior al partido el sábado que escuchó a un jugador de los Red Bulls hacer un comentario racista durante el partido. Ebobisse no identificó al jugador.Este lunes, Vanzeir se disculpó en un comunicado y dijo: “Acepto toda la responsabilidad por mis acciones”.Vinícius Jr. es víctima de abusos racistas durante los partidos de La Liga en España. ¿Por qué no castigan a n...