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$35 political contribution to Democrats raises fresh scrutiny of Judge Merchan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:48 GMT

(CNN) — Judge Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal case in New York, donated $35 in political contributions to Democrats in 2020, including a $15 contribution to the campaign of Trump’s opponent, President Joe Biden.The political donations are undoubtedly small, but they nevertheless raise questions about Merchan’s impartiality as he has come under attack by the former president as a “Trump-hating judge.”“While the amounts here are minimal, it’s surprising that a sitting judge would make political donations of any size to a partisan candidate or cause,” said Elie Honig, a senior CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor.According to federal election records, Merchan made the three donations in July 2020 through ActBlue, an online fundraising platform for Democratic candidates and causes.Merchan contributed $15 earmarked for the Biden campaign, and made two $10 contributions, one earmarked to the P...

Justice Clarence Thomas accepted several luxury trips paid for by GOP megadonor, ProPublica report finds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:48 GMT

(CNN) — Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas, have gone on several luxury trips involving travel subsidized by and stays at properties owned by a GOP megadonor, according to a new bombshell ProPublica report published Thursday.The hospitality was not disclosed on Thomas’ public financial filings with the Supreme Court, ProPublica said.The report of the connection between Thomas and conservative businessman Harlan Crow is already adding to calls that Congress investigate potential ethical lapses. Key Senate Democrats were previously mulling using this year’s funding legislation for the Supreme Court to pressure the justices to adopt some sort of ethics code.Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said in a statement the ProPublica report was “a call to action” and that “the Senate Judiciary Committee will act.”The new ProPublica report describes Thomas...

BC Eagles gearing up toward spring football game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:48 GMT

Boston College has made the hard pivot in spring football from fundamentals and positional coaching towards scrimmages and situational game prep.The Eagles have two sessions remaining to fine-tune the particulars in preparation for the annual Jay McGillis Memorial Spring Football game at 11 a.m. on April 15 at Alumni Stadium.“All third down is in and we have started two minute and now we are just kind getting everybody on the field playing football,” said BC head coach Jeff Hafley.“Every day now is more of a scrimmage than with coaches on the field telling guys where to line up and having a script. It is trying to make the coaches think down and distance so they have to call it and not plan it and it’s the same with the players.“They are learning to play the game now. We will have two practices with a more scrimmage-like mentality and more physical before we taper off for the spring game a little bit.”Hafley made a significant makeover of his coaching staff after the Eagles’ d...

Eloy Jiménez feels ‘pretty normal’ as the Chicago White Sox OF/DH recovers from low-grade hamstring strain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:48 GMT

Eloy Jiménez’s workout before Thursday’s game at Guaranteed Rate Field included some running, and the Chicago White Sox outfielder/designated hitter said he feels “pretty normal” as he recovers from a low-grade left hamstring strain.Jiménez suffered the injury while running from first to third in the seventh inning Monday and was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Tuesday.“I felt something and I tried to finish the game, but it was hurting a little bit,” Jiménez said. “But in the next two days, I’ve been feeling way better.”The Sox said Wednesday that Jiménez will miss an estimated two to three weeks.“I feel good,” Jiménez said. “I don’t want anything like this to happen, but this is baseball and it is what it is.”Sox manager Pedro Grifol is taking the glass-half-full view of the situation.“I look at it, the work that he put in in the offseason put him in ...

Whitney Houston’s posthumous gospel collection debuts at No. 2 on Billboard chart

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:48 GMT

Karu F. Daniels | New York Daily NewsWhitney Houston’s musical legacy continues to reach the upper echelons of the Billboard charts.Her recently released gospel compilation, “I Go to the Rock: The Gospel Music of Whitney Houston,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart. It marks only her second-ever entry on the chart. Her first, the soundtrack to the film “The Preacher’s Wife,” debuted at No. 1 in 1996.“I Go to the Rock’’ features 14 tracks — six previously unreleased live and studio faith-based tracks, alongside popular songs recorded for soundtracks to the movies “The Bodyguard,” “The Preachers Wife” and “Sparkle.” Three of the songs were recorded when Houston was just 17 years old.“You heard the innocence of her voice,” the late singer’s sister-in-law and estate manager Pat Houston told the Associated Press. “You could see where she started and how she ended up with all her hits throughout her career. Any song is a great song of Whitney Houston’s. You heard he...

R&B superstar Bruno Mars to headline Preakness Live in Baltimore

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:48 GMT

Michelle Deal-Zimmerman | Baltimore Sun Baltimore is bringing that uptown funk to Pimlico for this year’s Preakness 148 celebration.Superstar R&B performer and Grammy-winning artist Bruno Mars will headline Preakness Live on May 20 in a concert set to take place immediately following the day’s races.It will be a return appearance for Mars, who first headlined Preakness in 2011.The inaugural Preakness Live event in 2022 took place on the Friday prior to the signature horse race. However, this year the entertainment, arts and culture festival will take over the Infield Fest on the same day as the Preakness Stakes, according to a news release from Baltimore 1/ST and The Stronach Group on Wednesday.The stage for the performance is also being relocated from the center of the infield to “provide an unparalleled view of one of the most exciting moments in horse racing — the view of the final stretch,” according to the news release.The “re-imagined” infield layout will also include a sp...

Bruins notebook: B’s still have something to play for down the stretch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:48 GMT

The Bruins have essentially won all they can win in the regular season. They captured the Presidents’ Trophy, thus giving them home ice advantage for the duration of the playoffs.But with five games remaining, starting with Thursday’s contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the B’s still have to compete physically and prepare mentally for the oncoming playoffs. And they have reasons to show up for these final games.First, there is the regular season wins record of 62 held by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning, which the club is now embracing as a means to motivate themselves. The B’s need to win three of their final five games to surpass that mark.And even more immediately, they were facing the Leafs on Thursday and the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, two teams that they could conceivably see in the second and/or third rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs.“There’s a lot of value,” said coach Jim Montgomery of the game...

Boston Pride’s Kali Flanagan named PHF’s Defender of the Year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:48 GMT

Burlington native Kali Flanagan of the Boston Pride has been selected the Premier Hockey Federation’s Defender of the Year for the 2022-23 regular season.Flanagan finished tied for third in regular season scoring among defenders with 16 points on three goals and 13 assists in 21 games, producing a points per game average of 0.762 that led her position.Flanagan recorded a plus-minus rating of plus-20 that led all blueliners, while her average time on ice of 24:52 ranked inside the top five.The 27-year-old has now played two PHF seasons. She helped the Pride capture a second straight Isobel Cup last March. She’s recorded 20 points in 35 career regular season games and five points in five playoff appearances. Flanagan is a two-time gold medalist with victories at the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship and the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.She played at Boston College prior to turning pro.BARRY SCANLON 

Yankees hit the road for first time with rising Orioles squad next on the schedule

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:48 GMT

Punching bags no more.The Yankees roll into Camden Yards to take on the Baltimore Orioles for the first time this season in a three-game set on Friday after Thursday’s game was postponed due to the threat of bad weather. However, these are not the O’s of the past where anything less than a sweep was a borderline disappointment.Coming off of an 83-win season, Brandon Hyde’s squad figures to be in the thick of the wild card race with a foundation of young talent surrounded by some strong veterans. The O’s stunned the baseball world coming off of three-straight 100-plus loss seasons (tossing out the pandemic-shortened ‘20 campaign) only to find themselves in the hunt for the postseason until the final month of the season.Catcher Adley Rutschman leads the charge for the Birds. The 25-year-old finished second in last season’s Rookie of the Year voting and got out of the gates to a scorching start. The backstop went 5-for-5 on Opening Day against the Re...

Mets to place Omar Narvaez on IL with calf strain, expected to call up Francisco Alvarez

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:48 GMT

Mets catcher Omar Narvaez will be sidelined for two months or more with a left calf strain.Narvaez underwent imaging Thursday morning after injuring his calf Wednesday in Milwaukee, which showed a medium to high-grade strain. The typical timeline for a return from a calf strain is 8-9 weeks, but calf strains can often take longer to return from. The Mets will place Narvaez on the injured list and are expected to call up top prospect Francisco Alvarez to take his place on the roster.The first week of the 2023 season hasn’t gone according to plan for the Mets. Ace Justin Verlander is on the injured list with a low-grade teres major (shoulder) strain, right-handed reliever Tommy Hunter went to the IL on Tuesday with back spasms and the team was swept in Milwaukee in the second series of the season.Narvaez left Wednesday’s game after feeling a twinge in his calf during an at-bat in the ninth inning. He realized something was wrong with the calf when he was running to first b...