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White hot bash: despite Game 5 loss, excited Heat fans cheer on team at Shuckers watch party

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:12 GMT

It was a fun night out for Miami Heat fans in North Bay Village, until it wasn’t.The watch party hosted by the Heat at Shuckers, Wednesday night, was a road rally with a little bit of deflation at the end, when the hometown team lost to the New York Knicks 112-103 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.But before the last buzzer, revelers were clearly excited to be at the waterfront restaurant.“It’s amazing. I’m so glad I came,” said a woman.The players may have squared off against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, but the Heat bash brought the closest thing to experiencing the team live to vivid life.The Heat’s PA announcer was at the party. So were the Heat Dancers, and even a white hot Burnie got in on the fun.“Oh, my goodness. This is exciting. It’s just dynamic, and we’re having an awesome time,” said a woman rocking a black Heat T-shirt.Florida Panthers fans also got a chance to catch up with their favorite...

Dans les coulisses de l’IPS, l’indicateur qui secoue la mixité à l’école

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:12 GMT

Le monde de l’éducation est familier des classements en tout genre, pourtant rarement un indicateur aura autant fait parler de lui : l’indice de position sociale (IPS), qui mesure le niveau social des élèves et établissements français, est au centre d’intenses débats depuis sa publication contrainte et forcée par le gouvernement.Pap Ndiaye, ministre de l’Education nationale, qui a convoqué jeudi 11 mai les recteurs et directeurs académiques pour leur fixer des objectifs en matière de mixité sociale, a lui-même utilisé l’indicateur ces derniers mois.Ce n’était pourtant pas gagné d’avance : j’ai obtenu la publication de l’IPS en octobre 2022 après trois ans de procédure, grâce à une décision du tribunal administratif.“Vous avez mis un sacré bazar mais c’est bien”, me remercie Emmanuel Constant, vice-président socialiste du conseil départemental de Seine-Saint-Denis. “C’est une publication précieuse”, se félicite Grégoir...

Editorial: Elizabeth Warren, Maura Healey hitting the road for Biden

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:12 GMT

Politicians are fond of saying that they were elected to do the “peoples’ business.”The question is, just what people are we talking about?Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Maura Healey are ostensibly in office working for Bay Staters. But the Democratic lawmakers just got a side hustle: making the campaign rounds for Pres. Joe Biden as he seeks re-election.This goes well beyond endorsements. As The Hill reported, the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign on Wednesday announced its national advisory board, which will be chaired by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and include, among others, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).Also in the mix of 50 Democrats, Gov. Healey.The Supersized Squad is expected to act as surrogates for the campaign, fundraise and traverse the country to boost President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.The board will “participate in regular media interviews, assist with fundraising efforts and events, leverage their ne...

Porter: In the war on drugs, fentanyl will win

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:12 GMT

So let’s say the United States labels Mexican drug cartels terrorist organizations, like so many Republicans are demanding. Let’s say it deploys “cyberwarfare” and missile strikes against its kingpins, declares war against the cartels and sends troops across the border, whether the Mexican government agrees or not.Then what?Here’s what: Fentanyl keeps killing Americans; in 2023 more than in 2022; in 2024 more than in 2023. You can follow the trend.The war on drugs has always been, at best, a pointless approach to the nation’s epidemic of substance abuse. More likely, it has exacerbated the crisis, pushing traffickers into more powerful, and lucrative, narcotics with which to lure vulnerable Americans into addiction.The arrival on scene of fentanyl, easily cooked in a makeshift kitchen, so compact that a couple of pickup loads can serve the entire U.S. market, has blown up the farce. The GOP’s bloodlust does not change the reality that fentanyl, in the words of John Walsh of the Wash...

‘Book Club: The Next Chapter’ should be shelved

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:12 GMT

BOOK REVIEW“Book Club: The Next Chapter”Rated PG-13. At the AMC Boston Common, AMC South Bay and suburban theaters.Grade: DFilms as bad as “Book Club: The Next Chapter” are a rare breed these days. Badly written, badly acted, a sequel to a bad movie (“Book Club,” 2018), how did “The Next Chapter” get made? One can only blame it on the ego and apparent clout of the film’s producer-director-co-writer Bill Holderman (“Book Club”) and its storied and notably aged cast.This includes Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, Candice Bergen and several other actors not as much in demand as they were in their 1970s and 1980s heydays. Notably worse than “80 for Brady,” “Book Club: The Next Chapter” uses as its kickstart a ”White Lotus”-like, long-deferred trip to Italy by West Coast book club members Vivian “Viv” (Fonda), a supposedly ageless beauty on the verge of getting married to the Dorian Gray-like Arthur (Don Johnson).Viv and her fellow members and best friends Carol (St...

Indulge mom with these great Mother’s Day gifts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:12 GMT

Mother’s Day – the one day of the year when we moms know that we’re going to feel as much love and appreciation as possible. And we’ll embrace all of that adoration, even if it means pretending to absolutely love getting a crayoned portrait of the family dog that resembles a half-eaten corn in the cob.If you’ve left your crayoned artwork in the past, you’re in luck. Here are some winning gift choices, all pretty much guaranteed to make mom smile.Bring on the bon bonsDoes chocolate really ever miss the mark with Mom? Doubtful. Especially when it’s a selection like the Spring Botanical Bon Bons ($75 on flamingoestate.com), a limited-edition chocolate box made for Flamingo Estate by Twenty Four Blackbirds in Santa Barbara using certified organic cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic. Expect flavors like honey ganache, rosemary caramel, and lavender blossom. It’s all artfully created in small batches and entirely by hand, with just the kind of love and care Mom gave ...

Dear Abby: Three’s a crowd for man and his parents

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:12 GMT

Dear Abby: I am a 30-something single gay man. My parents are older and have a strained marriage. They no longer have a relationship but stay together. I live with them because of money issues, and they sometimes need assistance. I do not have the ability to bring friends or dates over, and I feel as if my mental health is being affected because of this, among other things.I own the house we live in, but because my folks are helping me, I feel I can’t tell them to leave. They irritate me to no end, and I feel awful about that. What can I do to encourage them to leave me alone? — Frustrated in PennsylvaniaDear Frustrated: You and your parents are all adults. In a sense, your relationship with them now is its own “marriage of convenience.” You are overdue for a frank conversation with your parents about boundaries and privacy. You should be able to entertain friends, and your folks should give you the space to do it. You should also care less what they think ab...

San Diego County addresses looming impacts as end of Title 42 nears

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:12 GMT

SAN DIEGO - The San Diego County Board of Supervisors addresses the end of Title 42 and the looming local impacts as thousands of migrants eagerly await to land in U.S. soil. San Diego County bracing for what's to come with the impending end of the COVID-era policy initiated by the Trump Administration during the dawn of the pandemic. “We don’t know where we are with the numbers that we’ll have, I think there’s a lot of misinformation about what can and cannot happen," Chairwoman Nora Vargas said. Part of the meeting Wednesday included the county's outreach to handle the surging influx calling for long-term solutions in a letter to the Biden Administration. "What I’m trying to share with you is that as a County we’re going to do what we can to coordinate and work with the federal government, so they understand the impact it’s having on all of us," Vargas said. “We need to be able to increase the migrant shelter capacity, that’s our message to the federal government.” Man who caugh...

Academy of Country Music Awards ready to party with Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks as hosts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:12 GMT

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — It’ll be a new experience for Garth Brooks when he steps onto the stage Thursday at the Academy of Country Music Awards — it’s his first time hosting an awards show.Co-host Dolly Parton will be there to help him out if he needs it — not that either showed any worry in a recent interview. “We’ve got a script that will go by just for guidance and time for the show, but I doubt very seriously that we’ll stick to it too close,” Parton said.“It’s fun for me as a fan because I’ve always loved this woman from distance, but we’ve never got to work like this before. So trust me, … whether the show goes on the air or not, I’m having the best time on the planet,” Brooks said.Singer-songwriter HARDY enters Thursday’s show as the leading nominee, up for seven trophies including two in the song of the year category. One of the songs he’s up for is “Wait in the Truck,” his duet with Lainey Wilson, who is second leading nominee. He’s also a n...

Figuring out Texas: From guns to immigration, here’s how one state’s challenges echo the country’s

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:12 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Thirteen people dead in two mass shootings. Eight immigrants killed when an SUV slams into a crowded bus stop. The likely approval of legislation that would let the Republican governor overturn elections in the most populous county, a Democratic stronghold. All in the past two weeks.These issues and the forces behind them — anger and guns, immigration turmoil, deep political divisions about what democracy means — are playing out across American life in various ways. But in Texas, with its immense size and a population that grows by more than 1,000 people a day, the stage is far bigger — and often louder.It’s enough to make even the proudest Texan wrestle with how he sees the state. “This is out of control right now,” said Jay Leeson, an illustrator and cartoonist who lives in Lubbock, a city in the Texas High Plains. He describes himself as a “conservative West Texan” whose kids “know how to handle guns, know how to ride horses, know how to do all the Texas thin...