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Synthetic surfaces gaining traction at major horse racing tracks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:52:56 GMT

Dirt flying as horses race around the track. Fans cheering as their favorite thunders down the stretch, hooves pounding toward the finish line.That sight and sound has disappeared from some North American racetracks that have replaced traditional dirt with a synthetic surface made of wax-coated sand, fibers and recycled rubber.It mutes hoofbeats and limits whatever kickback might fly in the faces of trailing horses.From owners to trainers to jockeys to bettors, the debate is vigorous on whether synthetic surfaces are a potential answer to creating safer training and racing conditions.The deaths of 12 horses at Churchill Downs, including two on Kentucky Derby day, in the last month have reignited public outcry about what horse racing is doing to prevent catastrophic injuries.Investigations of the Churchill deaths are underway, including necropsies on the horses and probes of the track’s dirt surface.Synthetic surfaces, known by such trademarked names as Tapeta and Polytrack, ar...

GEM volunteers prepare family necessity kits as hurricane season begins

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:52:56 GMT

A local organisation is getting ready to respond should the need arise during hurricane season. Volunteers are hard at work to prepare for any emergency. Thursday marked the beginning of hurricane season as the Global Empowerment Mission held an event at 1850 NW 84th Ave.Volunteers sorted and packed family necessity kits for the season, which were also an essential part during Hurricane Ian back in 2022.The packages contained non-perishable food items, water and emergency kits. In case of an emergency or when the power gets cut and people don’t have the access to food and water, volunteers at GEM will pack these kits all year round. The organisation asked for two things; donations and volunteers.“The reason we need the aid and dollar donations now, is so that we have the aid and the goods in stocks before the next storm,” said Patrick Lynch, Chief Development Officer for GEM. “If we have the aid and stock before the next storm, we can respond that much more q...

3 people are missing days after apartments collapsed. Now officials have changed demolition plans for the dangerous, ‘shifting’ building

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:52:56 GMT

Davenport, Iowa (CNN) — Two people who were previously unaccounted for after the partial collapse of an Iowa apartment building Sunday have been found safe, Davenport police said Thursday. But three others who lived in the crash zone remain missing.Rescuers have been trying to find Branden Colvin Sr., Ryan Hitchcock and Daniel Prien, whose apartments were in the massive section of the building that disintegrated, police said.Now, city officials and the families of the missing men are grappling with what should happen next.If rescuers try to re-enter, the rest of the building could topple and crush them.“It’s dangerous, and it’s shifting,” Mayor Mike Matson said Thursday.But plans to demolish the Davenport building – originally scheduled for Tuesday morning – are now on hold.“We’re not anywhere near doing that right now,” the mayor said. “We are working on a timeline. We are reaching out to experts that have particular expertise in taking it down (in) a dignified and r...

Boston police looking to locate 13 year old last seen on Saturday, 5/27

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:52:56 GMT

Boston police are asking for the public’s help in finding a 13-year-old girl from Dorchester who has not been seen in over five days.The Boston Police Department said Aylah Guzman-Lucien was last seen on Saturday, May 27, in the area of 103 Clapp Street in Milton around 4 p.m.According to police, the teen was going to Randolph to see friends.Describing her as having a height of 5’2″ and wavy, dark brown hair in a ponytail, the department said the 13 year old is known to frequent the area of Blue Hill Avenue and Morton Street, in addition to the Young Achiever’s School on Outlook Road.Anyone with information on Guzman-Lucien’s location is asked to contact either 911 or Boston PD’s C-11 Detectives at 617-343-4335.Those who wish to reach out anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

How red light can affect your sleep

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:52:56 GMT

(CNN) — Red light therapy has been found to be helpful for skin health, wound healing, hair growth among people with alopecia and pain management. Some have claimed it’s also useful for sleep, but research and experts tell a different story.Circadian rhythms — the body’s internal clock controlling our sleep and wake cycles — respond “to light as a signal to be awake, and to dark as a signal to fall asleep,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.“The most important thing that influences and trains our circadian rhythms to 24 hours a day is light. And light has many, many different wavelengths,” said Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. “That’s why when we talk about blue light or red light, we’re not talking about a red-colored light bulb. It’s the wavelength of light.”We’re most sensitive to blue-wavelength light — the kind emitted from phone, TV and laptop...

Trump and DeSantis jab at each other on campaign trail in 1st dueling appearances as 2024 candidates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:52:56 GMT

By MICHELLE L. PRICE, STEVE PEOPLES and THOMAS BEAUMONT (Associated Press)LACONIA, N.H. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump kept up a steady drumbeat of criticism of his chief rival Ron DeSantis on Thursday, jumping immediately on remarks by the Florida governor on the campaign trail to try to highlight his own strength as the leading GOP presidential candidate.Trump, appearing in Iowa as DeSantis campaigned in New Hampshire, made a point of telling about 200 members of a conservative club gathered at a Des Moines-area restaurant that they could ask him questions — an offer that came not long after DeSantis snapped at an Associated Press reporter who asked him why he didn’t take questions from voters at his events.“A lot of politicians don’t take questions. They give a speech,” Trump said to the audience, many of whom wore red Make America Great Again hats espousing his political movement. Trump also sought to capitalize off a remark by DeSantis ...

Joe Mazzulla will return as Celtics’ head coach after imperfect first season: ‘He’ll only get better’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:52:56 GMT

Joe Mazzulla went through growing pains, expectedly, as a first-year head coach with the Celtics this season. He certainly made mistakes in the playoffs. But given the challenging circumstances of his promotion, suddenly thrown into the job days before training camp after the suspension of Ime Udoka, the Celtics were happy with the job he did.Though the Celtics failed in their goal of winning a championship, they view Mazzulla as the man for the job going forward. Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, not surprisingly, confirmed Thursday that Mazzulla will remain the head coach.“I think when you consider the position he was thrust into and the overall accomplishments of the group, I thought he did a really good job,’ Stevens said. “When you look at it in the big picture and having a team that was second in offense, second in defense, won 57 games and (had) a chance to go to the NBA Finals on your home court, there’s a lot of direction and organization that goes in...

Ed Augustus sworn-in as housing secretary at State House ceremony

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:52:56 GMT

It’s Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus now.Gov. Maura Healey swore-in Augustus Thursday morning as the brand new secretariat charged with overseeing housing in Massachusetts, lowering associated costs, and dealing with the many different stakeholders in the industry.Augustus most recently worked as the city manager for Worcester and at one point during his career, made his way to Boston to serve as a state senator. But in his new role, Augustus said he wants to move quickly to inventory surplus state land that can be used for housing production.“There’s a lot of state land that isn’t necessarily being used right now. And that land belongs to the people of the commonwealth and that land should be put to use for the needs of the people of the commonwealth,” he told reporters at the State House. “And there can’t be a more severe and significant and pressing need than creating housing.”The new cabinet-level position completes the split of the original Exe...

Can the Celtics make history after forcing a do-or-die Game 7 against the Heat?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:52:56 GMT

History has already been made. The Boston Celtics just have to make it one more time.A week ago, the Miami Heat were destined for a trip to the NBA Finals. They were alleged world-beaters who hadn’t only dismissed Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks in five first-round games, but were on pace to do the same to the Celtics by taking a commanding 3-0 Eastern Conference Finals series lead.Now, in the blink of an eye, the series is even. There will be a Game 7 — in Boston of all places — and now it’s the Celtics who once again look like Goliaths compared to a Heat team devoid of the confidence it once exuded.Only four teams in NBA history have ever come back from down 0-3 to force a Game 7: The Rochester Royals did it to the Knicks back in 1951; the Denver Nuggets came back to force Game 7 against the Utah Jazz in 1994; the Portland Trail Blazers stunned Dirk Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks to force Game 7 after trailing 0-3 in the first round in 2003...

Harford County basketball coaches weigh in on Nuggets-Heat NBA Finals match-up

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:52:56 GMT

Harford County high school basketball coaches seem to share common ground dissecting this year’s NBA Finals, pitting the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat.To get to this point, top-seeded Denver knifed through western conference foes Minnesota, Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers. None of which, required more than six games to advance. The Heat, however, needed every last second of a play-in game against Chicago to make the playoffs as an eight seed. Miami deftly handled Milwaukee in five games but needed six and a hair-pulling seven to pass New York and Boston.Game 1 tips off 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Here’s how a few Harford County coaches are seeing the matchup.Brian Hulka, Fallston boysHulka just wrapped up his eighth season leading the Cougars and he’s confident the Heat can put up a fight. Hulka is taking Denver to close out the series in six games.“Bam Adebayo will frustrate [two-time Most Valuable Player Nikola] Jokic,” Hulka said. “But the Nuggets a...