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Column: Finding mecca, a journey into Chicago’s basketball culture

Published Wed, 26 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

In order to find mecca, one must take a journey.For four Wednesdays this summer, fans in the flyest pairs of sneakers and trendiest fashions lined up at a high rise in the city’s West Loop neighborhood. Some show up an hour or more before the start time of the Jumpman Summer Series to ensure they can get into one of the most exclusive basketball events.Basketball, local basketball, is a dominant color in the fabric of Chicago’s sports culture. It has birthed high school legends whose names still carry weight in local gyms and NBA stars whose impact on the game will be remembered for years to come.Over the past two weeks, I’ve attended both the Summer Series and Wilson basketball’s Chi-League held at Whitney Young High School. Current NBA players such as Dalen Terry (Chicago Bulls), Wendell Carter Jr. (Orlando Magic), Kendrick Nunn (Washington Wizards) and Talen Horton-Tucker (Utah Jazz) can be seen playing alongside NBA G-League, WNBA and college players incl...

Maui surveys the burned wreckage caused by the deadliest US wildfire in years

Published Wed, 26 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

By AUDREY MCAVOY, JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER and NICK PERRY (Associated Press)WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — The search of the wildfire wreckage on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze that has already claimed 36 lives, making it the deadliest in the U.S. in recent years.Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the fire started Tuesday and took the island by surprise, racing through parched growth and neighborhoods in the historic town of Lahaina, a tourist destination that dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island’s west side.Maui County said late Wednesday that at least 36 people had died, making it the deadliest U.S. blaze since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and laid waste to the town of Paradise. The Hawaii toll could rise, though, as rescuers reach parts of the island that had been unreacha...

How San Diegans can help those affected by Maui wildfires

Published Wed, 26 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- As wildfires ravage Maui, thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes with little to no belongings. With the confirmed death toll surpassing 35 people Thursday, many here at home in San Diego County are asking how they can help. Locally-based MMA fighter Ilima-Lei Macfarlane -- a Hawaii native -- is raising funds and accepting donations through her non-profit known as the Nā Wahine Toa Foundation. ‘It felt like we were in hell’: Men jump in ocean to escape Maui fire "Maui will need help in the rebuilding and resettlement phase...San Diego, let’s activate and stockpile what we can until it’s time to send the kākoʻo," Macfarlane wrote on Instagram.The Hawaiian fighter announced four drop-off locations throughout the county where donations can be made over the next few weeks. Here's a list of those spots with hours of operation:-- 10th Planet San Diego: Located at 6008 Mission Gorge Rd. in San Diego, donations will be accepted Monday-Friday from 6 a.m. to n...

Italy probes a migrant boat disaster that left 41 feared dead. Four survivors tell a harrowing tale

Published Wed, 26 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

ROME (AP) — An Italian prosecutor investigating last week’s capsizing that left 41 migrants feared dead in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday denounced Tunisia-based smugglers who launch boats so badly built that they quickly take on water, overturn or break apart. The capsizing earlier this week was the latest in a string of similar recent tragedies that have killed dozens of people who entrusted themselves to smugglers based on Tunisia’s shores to reach Italy in hopes of finding a better life.Four young migrants who were rescued by a passing merchant ship following the Aug. 4 capsizing told doctors and police on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa where they were brought on Wednesday that they survived by clinging to air tubes for hours. They and a few other survivors spotted an empty boat and struggled to reach it. But only the four of them made it to the boat and climbed aboard — only to find the iron-hulled, open-topped vessel had no engine. State TV reported that t...

Streamer Kai Cenat says he is ‘beyond disappointed’ in mayhem at NYC event

Published Wed, 26 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The 21-year-old social media influencer who was charged with inciting a riot after a crowd of thousands of his followers erupted in chaos in New York City last week says he is “beyond disappointed” in the bad behavior.“Beyond disappointed in anybody who became disruptive that day, bro,” streamer Kai Cenat said on Twitch on Wednesday. Speaking publicly for the first time since some of his followers jumped on cars and hurled bottles during the Aug. 4 mayhem in Manhattan’s Union Square, Cenat added, “None of that is cool, bro, you feel what I’m saying?”Thousands of fans of Cenat, who has millions of followers on Twitch, YouTube and other platforms, showed up in Union Square after Cenat announced that he would be there giving away video game consoles and other electronic devices.A crowd of mostly young people packed into Union Square Park, with some running running through nearby streets, swinging objects at car windows and climbing on top of buses.Police sai...

First Nations argue against nuclear waste site near Ottawa River at safety hearing

Published Wed, 26 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s nuclear regulator heard final arguments from Indigenous communities on Thursday regarding a proposed nuclear waste facility near the Ottawa River.The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission paused its decision to move ahead with a nuclear waste facility located in Chalk River, Ont., about 180 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, last year.The site also sits within a kilometre of the Ottawa River, or the Kichi Sibi as it is known in the Algonquin language.Kebaowek First Nation and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg’s traditional territories surround the river, in both Ontario and Quebec, and they have staunchly opposed the site’s development.Reneé Pelletier, a lawyer who made submissions on behalf of both First Nations, said they were not adequately consulted on the proposed site, and that consultation was done too late in the process.“CNSC staff were very clear they were not interested in revisiting aspects of the (environmental) assessment that had already tak...

NOAA doubles the chances for a nasty Atlantic hurricane season due to hot ocean, tardy El Nino

Published Wed, 26 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Record hot ocean temperatures and a tardy El Nino are doubling the chances of a nasty Atlantic hurricane season this summer and fall, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.With the Atlantic hurricane season already well above normal so far, NOAA increased how many storms to expect and how busy the season can get. The agency says there’s a 60% chance for an above normal hurricane season, twice the agency’s May forecast which said it was 30%. The earlier forecast leaned more toward a near normal season with a 40%, but the chance for normal has now shrunk to 25%.Although the NOAA outlook doesn’t forecast storm tracks or what places will get hit, a busy season like the one forecast means “there is a doubling of the chance of a hurricane making landfall on the East Coast of the U.S.,” said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane season forecaster with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.NOAA is now forecasting between 14 to 21 named storms, which is an inc...

Algonquin Power to hire new CEO, sell green energy group after US$253M loss

Published Wed, 26 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

OAKVILLE, Ont. — Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp. says it has hired an interim CEO as it looks to sell its renewable energy division after losses topped US$250 million last quarter.Board chairman Kenneth Moore says that following a strategic review, the company now plans to sell the green energy group and shift to a pure-play utility company.The board named one of its directors, Chris Huskilson, as interim CEO after chief executive Arun Banskota stepped down today, three years after he took the top spot.The move follows an earnings loss attributable to shareholders of US$253.2 million in the quarter ended June 30 compared to a US$33.4-million loss in the same period a year earlier.Algonquin attributed the outcome, which marked a loss greater than in all of last year — US$212 million — largely to unfavourable weather that reduced customer demand and resulted in less energy production at its wind facilities.The Oakville, Ont.-based company, which reports in U.S. dollars, says secon...

A lengthy stretch comes to an end for the Cubs

Published Wed, 26 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK — The most important statistic for the Cubs on Thursday is zero - the number of innings they'll be on the field. It's one that's a relief for the club as they continue to chase a National League playoff berth over the next month and a half. Thursday is the Cubs' first day off since July 24 as they played 16-straight games without a break, with the last being a 4-3 loss to the Mets at Citi Field on Wednesday. It sent them to a series loss in New York, but all in all, the busy stretch worked out well for the Cubs. David Ross' team went 11-5 in their last 16 games, which started before the Major League Baseball trade deadline. It convinced management to decide to add to the current club instead of trading for the future, the first time the team has done so since 2019. During the stretch, the Cubs were able to pick up four full games in the NL Central division race, going from 6 1/2 games back of first to 2 1/2 back as of Thursday afternoon. In the Wild Card race, the Cubs are ...

After a rain delay, Elmhurst Youth Baseball looks to clinch Little League World Series spot Thursday

Published Wed, 26 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

WHITESTOWN, Ind. — The dreams of some young athletes from the west suburbs had to wait an extra day thanks to mother nature. But on Thursday, Elmhurst Youth Baseball's 12U team will get its chance to punch their ticket to South Williamsport in Indiana. After their Great Lakes Regional Championship was rained out on Wednesday afternoon, the team will make up that contest the next day in Whitestown, Indiana. Elmhurst takes the field against Ohio at 4 p.m. central time with a victory sending them to the Little League World Series. Elmhurst Youth Baseball supporters gather to watch team try for Little League World Series That will be played in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania starting on August 16. Because of the delay, there will be a three-day gap between the last game Elmhurst played in the Great Lakes region tournament. That was Monday in which they beat Ohio 8-4, and now will face them again after they beat Kentucky in an elimination game on Tuesday. All of this has been part of...