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Column: Chicago Bears’ aggressive start to free agency has one common thread — young players entering their prime years

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:31 GMT

Ryan Poles wanted to pay Roquan Smith last summer — he just didn’t want to get to the $20 million annual salary the linebacker desired. So the Chicago Bears opened 2023 free agency by dropping even more money in the position.The Bears agreed to terms with three players Monday after the two-day negotiating window opened leading into the official start of free agency at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The headliner is Tremaine Edmunds, whom the Buffalo Bills drafted with the 16th pick in 2018 — eight slots after the Bears picked Smith.Edmunds figures to be the weak-side linebacker alongside new middle linebacker T.J. Edwards, who also agreed to terms. That makes Jack Sanborn a likely candidate to play on the strong side. The Bears also agreed to terms with guard Nate Davis, the first piece in a makeover of the offensive line.Poles has talked about being calculated in free agency, and the first three additions have at least one significant trait in common: All appear to be entering...

Boston cops involved in anti-vaccine-mandates push say they’ve been fired

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:31 GMT

Shana Cottone and Joe Abasciano, two Boston cops involved with the anti-vaccine-mandate push over the past year and a half, say they’ve been fired.Cottone, who had been a police sergeant, led the Boston First Responders Union, a group that started to push back on the employee  COVID-19 vaccine mandates that Mayor Michelle Wu put into place in December 2021.Those mandates ultimately never were enforced, but Cottone was placed on leave last January. After that, she and a small group of assorted protesters continued to dog Wu around the city, bullhorn-amplified chants of “shame on Wu” showing up at assorted public events that ranged from criticism of North End dining fees to press conferences of Mass and Cass.The mayor last year introduced legislation ultimately passed by the council that limits targeted demonstrations at people’s homes to daytime hours.Abasciano, a patrol officer, has been out on medical leave, but at one point was the subject of an investigati...

Malden Catholic returns to the Div. 2 state boys basketball final

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:31 GMT

WOBURN — Making consecutive trips to a title game isn’t easy.Yet Malden Catholic is back where they were 12 months ago.Nicholas Martinez and Matthew Gaffney registered 18 points apiece Monday, as the top-seeded Lancers overcame a 15-point deficit en route to punching a ticket to the Div. 2 boys basketball finals for a second straight season with a 66-54 victory over No. 5 Charlestown at Woburn Memorial High School.These two programs had previously met twice this season, with Malden Catholic (22-2) taking both contests (a 66-64 win on Dec. 13, followed by a 76-66 victory Feb. 14). However, for most of the first half Monday, Charlestown controlled the pace of play.After the Lancers opened the game by seizing a 7-2 lead, the Townies answered with a 13-0 scoring run of their own to jump ahead, 15-7.Then with 5:31 to play in the first half, sophomore Jaylin Crawford-Williams drilled a three-pointer to provide Charlestown its largest advantage of the night at 24-9.“They were ready to play...

Boston Police say white supremacists ‘on our radar’ if they show up at St. Patrick’s Day parade again

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:31 GMT

In the first of what officials claimed will be periodic public availabilities by police brass aimed at greater transparency, Boston’s top cop touted the city’s crime stats and warned both public drinkers and white supremacists who might be thinking of coming to this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox and Mayor Michelle Wu spoke to the press for about half an hour on Monday in police headquarters, taking multiple questions that focused on the upcoming Paddy’s Day parade, which is back to the full-length version that hasn’t been done since before the pandemic.“We’re very grateful to the Boston Police for taking on the additional staffing and resources and intense planning that’s required to return to a longer traditional route that does go by many more of these historical sites,” Wu said.Last year, the parade was notable for some unwelcome guests: a small group of white supremacists who sho...

Barney Frank bristles at FDIC, blames ‘crypto’ for bank takeover

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:31 GMT

Former fiery Bay State Congressman Barney Frank — the co-author of the Dodd-Frank landmark banking bill — reportedly tried to take some teeth out of the law.As a board member of Signature Bank, Frank sought to soften Dodd-Frank regs that former President Donald Trump actually accomplished in 2018 — a move Frank denied.Signature Bank has been taken over by the FDIC, the federal agency that insures bank deposits until the bank can be sold. The bank was closed just a day after the government did the same for Silicon Valley Bank.Frank — who has earned more than $2.4 million in compensation from Signature Bank since 2015, according to the Wall Street Journal — said Signature Bank will sell.“I believe they’re going to get a very good price,” Frank told the Associated Press, “proof that it was not a bank problem.”Frank, a Democrat who served in Congress from 1981 until 2013, co-authored the Dodd-Frank act that boosted government oversight of banks following th...

19-year old Red Sox prospect full of potential

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:31 GMT

He’s been called the right-handed version of Rafael Devers, and aspires to be like Ronald Acuña Jr.His name is Miguel Bleis, and he’s one of the most promising talents in the Red Sox organization.Signed out of the Dominican Republic in January 2021, Bleis was one of the top players available in that international signing class. A hard-hitting outfielder with a strong arm and serious speed, he’s already earning a rare baseball label:Five-tool player.“You don’t talk about five-tool players too often, but he is one of them,” Red Sox farm director Brian Abraham told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe last fall.Acuña is a role model for that reason, Bleis told Speier through Red Sox translator Carlos Villoria-Benitez.Bleis is the No. 4 prospect in the Red Sox organization and No. 93 in MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects. He’s in the top 100 at Baseball Prospectus (67) and Baseball America (88), Keith Law ranked him No. 72, and Kiley McDaniel put him at No. 95. Fa...

Giants add Colts LB Bobby Okereke, Bucs DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches on defense

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:31 GMT

The Giants’ first outside free agent signings of 2023 addressed their lack of speed and run-stopping on defense.They agreed with Indianapolis Colts inside linebacker Bobby Okereke on a reported four-year, $40 million contract with $22 million guaranteed. And they secured Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches on a reported three-year, $12 million deal with $7.5 million guaranteed.Okereke now tops Wink Martindale’s inside linebacker depth chart that includes veteran Jarrad Davis, who is back on a one-year deal, and second-year pro Darrian Beavers, who is coming back from a torn left ACL.The former Colts third-round pick out of Stanford made 132 tackles in 2021 and 151 tackles in 2022. The terms of his contract were first reported by NFL Network.The Giants gave Okereke a lot of money at a devalued position. On a day when the inside linebacker market exploded, he received the second-biggest contract of all ILBs behind only the Buffalo Bills’ Tremain...

7 of 8 dead after suspected smuggling boats overturn presumed Mexican

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:31 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Seven of eight people who died after two suspected smuggling boats overturned near Black's Beach late Saturday were presumed to be Mexican citizens, consulate officials confirmed.The nationality of the seven victims were based on the "identifications that some of them carried," the Consul General of Mexico in San Diego stated in a news release Monday. They are also working with authorities to identify the victims and assist their families."As soon as there is confirmation from the coroner's office in this regard, it will be informed to their relatives," the foreign consulate said.Authorities on Sunday said a Spanish-speaking caller reported two vessels, one carrying eight people and another carrying approximately 15 had overturned. San Diego father killed in avalanche Lifeguards and Customs and Border Protection officers found a total of eight bodies and two capsized boats when they arrived on scene, according to fire officials. "People planning to cross the border in...

In-N-Out 'cookout truck' to serve mini versions of classics

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:31 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- In-N-Out enthusiasts can now bring the fast-food restaurant to them with their very own "cookout truck."Lynsi Snyder, the granddaughter of late In-N-Out Burger co-founder Esther Snyder, made the announcement on Instagram to honor her grandmother's "giving legacy.""The best part about this truck is that, in honor of my Grandma and her love for helping children, it supports the In-N-Out Burger Foundation’s efforts in assisting children who have been victims of child abuse. So, let's get that truck on the road and help give children an abuse free childhood and a future," Lynsi Snyder said.The special truck equipped with a staff will be reserved for children and youth events, offering mini versions of In-N-Out's classic hamburger, cheeseburger, Double-Double, fries as well as fountain drinks, according to the Esther Snyder Cookout Truck's website. For the love of lumpia: This famous Filipino food truck has evolved into a San Diego restaurant How to make it happenCustomers...

Retrial ordered for 87-year-old ex-boxer on Japan death row

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:31 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo’s high court on Monday ordered a retrial for an 87-year-old former boxer who has been on death row for more than five decades after his murder conviction that his lawyers said was based on forced confession and fabricated evidence.The Tokyo High Court said Iwao Hakamada deserves a retrial because of a possibility that a key evidence that led to his conviction could have been fabricated by investigators, according to a statement from the Japan Bar Association.Amnesty International says Hakamada is the world’s longest-serving death row prisoner. He has been temporarily released since 2014, but still not cleared of charges, when the Shizuoka District Court in central Japan suspended his execution and ordered a retrial. That ruling was overturned by the Tokyo High Court until the Supreme Court in 2020 ordered the lower court to reconsider. His defense lawyers rushed out of the courtroom and flashed banners saying “Retrial.” “We won his retrial. I’m so glad, and that’s...