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NFL notes: How many Patriots are guaranteed to return in 2024? Well, not many

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

Like most bad teams, the Patriots’ future is cloudy.Head coach? On the hot seat.Quarterback? Fans are calling for his replacement.But what about their core?It seems few players, including rookies Christian Gonzalez and Demario Douglas, can be counted as foundational pieces of the Patriots’ future. Building out, it’s hard to know what other bricks could be laid upon that foundation.Basically, who among the Patriots is guaranteed to return in 2024?The questions start immediately at quarterback.Mac Jones is no lock to start next year. Jones may one day prove to be a starting-caliber quarterback, maybe even an above average one. But it’s unlikely he’ll do so in New England.The Patriots’ infrastructure has failed him the last two seasons, when Jones’ physical shortcomings have been compounded by mental mistakes and little help. The Pats must decide by May whether to pick up the fifth-year option on Jones’ rookie deal that would keep him und...

Patriots-Colts preview: How Mac Jones and Bill Belichick can win in Germany

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

Willkommen!The Patriots will kick off their first international game in six years Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany. At 2-7, the Pats are officially fighting for pride against an upstart Indianapolis team (4-5) that has eyes on a surprise Wild Card berth. The Patriots have historically owned the Colts, who are slated as 1.5-point favorites despite playing behind backup quarterback Gardner Minshew.Last year, the Pats bludgeoned Indy 26-3, when the Colts fielded another backup quarterback, Sam Ehlinger. What will it take to replicate that result overseas?Here’s what to watch for Sunday:When the Patriots runRhamondre Stevenson is finally finding his old form, breaking seven tackles over the last two weeks and rushing for a 64-yard touchdown against the Commanders. Stevenson found a massive hole behind emerging rookie right guard Sidy Sow and tackle Mike Onwenu on his touchdown. Bill Belichick said this week the Pats are comfortable with Onwenu remaining at right tackle, where he’...

Somber bugles and bells mark Armistice Day around the globe as wars drown out peace messages

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

YPRES, Belgium (AP) — With somber bugles and bells from Australia to western Europe’s battlefields of World War I, people around the globe on Saturday remembered the slaughter and losses just over a century ago that was supposed to be “the war to end all wars.” Yet the rumble of tanks and the screeching of incoming fire from Ukraine to Gaza pierced the solemnity of the occasion and the notion that humankind could somehow circumvent violence to settle its worst differences. “This time last year, our thoughts were focused on Ukraine. Today, our minds are full with the terrible images emerging from Israel and Gaza. These are just two of the more than 100 armed conflicts in the world today,” said Benoit Mottrie, the head of the Last Post Association in western Belgium’s Ypres, where some of the fiercest and deadliest World War I battles were fought.During a ceremony with Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and dozens of dignitaries, Mottrie expressed the sense of powerlessness ...

4 injured, 1 arrested following collision on Gardiner Expressway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

Four people were injured and one person was arrested in a single-vehicle collision on the Gardiner Expressway on Saturday morning.Police were called to the scene at approximately 3:03 a.m. on the westbound Gardiner Expressway at Jameson Avenue.One person was taken to a trauma centre with life-threatening injuries while the other three were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. One person was arrested on scene.The Gardiner Expressway westbound is closed while police investigate.

How researchers, farmers and brewers want to safeguard beer against climate change

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

MOUNT ANGEL, Ore. (AP) — On a bright day this fall, tractors crisscrossed Gayle Goschie’s farm about an hour outside Portland, Oregon. Goschie is in the beer business — a fourth-generation hops farmer. Fall is the off-season, when the trellises are bare, but recently, her farming team has been adding winter barley, a relatively newer crop in the world of beer, to their rotation, preparing barley seeds by the bucketful.In the face of human-caused climate change impacting water access and weather patterns in the Willamette Valley — a region known for hops growing — Goschie will need all the new strategies the farm can get to sustain what they produce and provide to local and larger breweries alike.All of a sudden, climate change “was not coming any longer,” Goschie said, “it was here.”Climate change is anticipated to only further the challenges producers are already seeing in two key beer crops, hops and barley. Some hops and barley growers in the U.S. say they’ve al...

SWAT response in south Austin, APD confirms shooting involved officers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Police Department is responding to a SWAT situation in south Austin Saturday morning in south Austin.APD confirmed there was an officer-involved shooting in the 9300 block of Bernoulli Drive.It is unconfirmed if there have been any injuries connected to the incident.Austin Police said a public information officer was responding, and KXAN has sent a photojournalist to the scene.Officers have closed West Gate Boulevard between Davis Lane and Slaughter Lane. This is a developing story. Check back with KXAN for updates.

Sturgeon stocking in Red Lake River marks new phase in recovery efforts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

Ongoing efforts to re-establish lake sturgeon populations in the Red River Basin have entered a new phase, with the recent stocking of lake sturgeon fingerlings into two key rivers within the basin.According to Nick Kludt, Red River fisheries specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in Detroit Lakes, stocking efforts from 2002 up until 2022 largely focused on lakes within the basin. That included Otter Tail Lake, Detroit Lake, Round Lake and Red and White Earth lakes, Kludt said, the latter two in cooperation with the Red Lake and White Earth nations.Nick Kludt, Red River fisheries specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, stocks fingerling lake sturgeon into the Red Lake River in Crookston on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. Staff from the DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stocked the fingerlings at the Central Park public access in Crookston. (Deborah Rose / Minnesota DNR)On Sept. 12, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department stocked 1,000...

Foggy start to the weekend, soon clear skies and seasonal temps

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- We could see a little fog develop over the next couple of hours. Sunny to partly cloudy skies with highs in the upper 50s Clouds increase this afternoon and evening and then decrease overnight. Lows around 40. Sunday will be a very typical November day. Sunshine and highs in the low 60s Next week looks dry, with temperatures in the mid-60s.

Duck, duck, no: Commerce City voters draw line on backyard animals at chickens and bees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

Bees buzzed through at the ballot box. Chickens got the check-off.But ducks got dumped.By fewer than 100 votes out of more than 10,000 cast, voters in Commerce City decided ducks shouldn’t be part of the city’s backyard animal mix. Each animal got its own question on the ballot for Tuesday’s election.The unofficial results, as of Friday, show many voters made discerning choices. Don Johnson was among those who singled out ducks for denial.“Ducks are not like chickens,” said Johnson, a resident of Buffalo Run, as he walked into the Bison Ridge Recreation Center with his wife. “When they go to the bathroom, they leave large piles.”In Commerce City’s results, bees did the best with a 64% approval rate. Chickens got through with 58% support. The ducks’ result: 49.6% yes, 50.4% no.The bees’ and chickens’ bases of support are well established.“Bees have become a hot topic, as their importance to the ecosystem is bette...

Vermont utility plans to end outages by giving customers batteries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

Many electric utilities are putting up lots of new power lines as they rely more on renewable energy and try to make grids more resilient in bad weather. But a Vermont utility is proposing a different approach: It wants to install batteries at most homes to make sure its customers never go without electricity.The company, Green Mountain Power, proposed buying batteries, burying power lines and strengthening overhead cables in a filing with state regulators on Monday. It said its plan would be cheaper than building a lot of new lines and power plants.The plan is a big departure from how U.S. utilities normally do business. Most of them make money by building and operating power lines that deliver electricity from natural gas power plants or wind and solar farms to homes and businesses. Green Mountain — a relatively small utility serving 270,000 homes and businesses — would still use that infrastructure but build less of it by investing in television-size batteries that homeowne...