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XFL and USFL announce plans to merge football leagues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:15:47 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- The United States Football League and the XFL both announced their intent to merge today. The spring American football leagues plan to grow together instead of competing against each other. Source: Majority of St. Louis cops in police district call in sick It is not yet clear if any teams will be eliminated from the leagues after the merger. The name of the new league has also not been confirmed. Many details are still developing and will likely not be released for weeks. The leagues released the same statement about the news today:"Today, the United States Football League (“USFL”) and the XFL announced their intention to merge.Subject to customary regulatory approvals and if the transaction is consummated, the new league will establish best-in-class operations based on the most recent seasons of both leagues. This historic combination will anchor professional spring football with substantial capabilities and resources to ensure future growth and continue to enhance...

Illinois player wins $5 million in scratch-off game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:15:47 GMT

SAVOY, Ill. – Someone won $5 million from a scratch-off ticket sold in a town near Champaign, Illinois. The winning ticket was purchased for the Million $$ Match game and was sold at Schnuck’s supermarket in Savoy.To play the game, players need to buy a $30 ticket. The lucky winner walked away with the game's jackpot of $5 million. The chances of winning the jackpot are around one in 1.2 million. Missouri restaurant among TripAdvisor’s 25 best ‘hidden gems’ The grand prize will be paid in installments of $250,000 per year over two decades. The winner can also choose to get a $3 million one-time cash payout.Schnuck’s supermarket is also celebrating its win since they sold the winning ticket. As a result, the store will receive a cash bonus equal to 1% of the prize amount. This bonus translates to $50,000 awarded by the state.

40,000 drivers caught on camera cutting illegally in and out of Colorado highway express lanes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:15:47 GMT

More than 40,000 drivers were caught on camera and received warnings this month for weaving illegally in and out of express lanes along Interstate 25 and C-470.That’s nearly six times the number caught crossing over the double white lines between lanes during a month-long grace period this past summer on the Interstate 70 mountain express lanes, Colorado Department of Transportation officials announced Friday morning. The latest warnings were issued between Sept. 1 and Sept. 20.“We hope this is the highest number of violations we’ll ever see,” CDOT spokesman Tim Hoover said in a news release.An enforcement grace period ends Saturday. Drivers who cross those solid white lines on I-25 north of Denver and along C-470 now will be issued civil penalties. They’ll face fines of $75, which double to $150 if not paid within 20 days. The penalties will begin for violators along C-470 between the intersection with I-25 and Wadsworth Boulevard and along I-25 between the intersection with U.S. 3...

What is the Rockie Way? After three decades of mediocrity, a franchise searches for answers.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:15:47 GMT

On a bright Arizona morning in March 2022, Rockies owner Dick Monfort introduced Kris Bryant, touting him as the team’s next great star and adding a bold prediction.“Just so many things make this feel really, really right,” Monfort said at the team’s Salt River Fields complex. “We’re extremely excited to have Kris with us for the next seven years, and to help us win that elusive World Series that we are all looking for.”Monfort, who steered the negotiations toward a seven-year, $182 million deal with agent Scott Boras, was betting big on the 30-year-old Bryant, the 2016 National League MVP who helped the Chicago Cubs break a 108-year championship drought.THE ROCKIE WAY: Inside Colorado’s three decades of mediocre baseballMoments after Bryant slipped on a Rockies jersey for the first time, he made a bold statement of his own.“I take a lot of pride (in) the fact that I’ve never played on a losing team in the big leagues,” he said, “and I don’t...

Opinion: What Rockies fans have to say about the franchise: “We don’t enjoy our team losing”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:15:47 GMT

The Denver Post asked Rockies fans for their views on the state of the team and attending games at Coors Field. Following is a sample of those opinions:“My family attended the Rockies’ inaugural game and we were there for the ground-breaking of Coors Field. We’ve had season tickets in our family since the inception of the Rockies and I can’t imagine us not having those. My brother and his wife even got married at home plate at Coors Field.“My family and I are deeply connected to the Rockies. We don’t go to Coors Field just because we enjoy a day at the ballpark. We go there to root for our team to win. We don’t enjoy our team losing. We don’t like that our franchise is a joke. We want and deserve a better product!”— Danny Lynch, DenverTHE ROCKIE WAY: Inside Colorado’s three decades of mediocre baseball“I’ve been a diehard Rockies fan since their inception in 1993. Prior to the Nolan Arenado trade, I would attend...

The Rockie Way: Inside Colorado’s three decades of mediocre baseball

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:15:47 GMT

On a postcard-perfect autumn night, the Colorado Rockies made history last Tuesday at Coors Field.This wasn’t the kind of history anyone in purple pinstripes wanted to be a part of, of course, but it remained notable all the same: The Rockies’ 100th loss of the 2023 season, a franchise first handed to them by an old nemesis in the Los Angeles Dodgers.A crowd of 25,133, roughly half Coors Field’s capacity, paid to witness the moment on the back end of a day-night doubleheader.While Rockies manager Bud Black insisted 100 was just another number, no different than 98 or 99, many in a fanbase beaten down by years of mediocre baseball could not ignore its significance.As the Rockies play out the string in the waning days of the worst season in club history, The Denver Post examines the franchise in a series of stories that attempt to define the core principles that led to this moment and currently guide a club that from the outside has often appeared directionless.Just ...

The Colorado Rockies continue to look inward to turn around lagging franchise. Is Bill Schmidt the answer?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:15:47 GMT

When Bill Schmidt was named the fourth general manager in Rockies history, he inherited a to-do list longer than a Coors Field homer on a hot August night.Schmidt was tasked with revamping a dysfunctional front office, replenishing a depleted farm system, upgrading an understaffed analytics department and helping shape a winning culture in the clubhouse.Ever the optimist, Schmidt made an interesting statement at last year’s winter meetings in San Diego.“We’re not where we need to be. But I use the bamboo theory,” Schmidt said. “There’s a lot of stuff growing underneath that people don’t see, and it’s gonna pop here. When it does, we’re going to be good.”THE ROCKIE WAY: Inside Colorado’s three decades of mediocre baseballTen months later, Rockies fans are still waiting on that pop.Colorado just lost 100 games for the first time in franchise history, extending its current playoff drought to five seasons. And with few ML...

State of the Rockies’ farm: Draft-and-build Colorado playing catch-up in pitching, analytics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:15:47 GMT

Before a Double-A game in August, Drew Romo worked in his new mitt in the Hartford dugout, pounding his glove with a quiet confidence, as if waiting on his moment to become the Rockies’ catcher.A few minutes later, outfielder Jordan Beck popped up in the dugout and grabbed some lumber, twisting it in his hands ahead of batting practice, swaying it back and forth, ready to mash something at Coors Field tomorrow.Those two top prospects weren’t worried about what was going on in Denver, where the Rockies were on their way to bottoming out with their first 100-loss season in franchise history. To Romo, Beck and other big names on the Colorado farm, optimism is the tone, and forward is the vision.Can these promising positional prospects, pitching depth be damned, make the Rockies competitive again sometime soon?THE ROCKIE WAY: Inside Colorado’s three decades of mediocre baseball“No question,” Romo said confidently.“My goal coming into pro ball is not to lose...

Many Rockies fans fed up with owner Dick Monfort, but love of Coors Field endures

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:15:47 GMT

Audrey McKenny is a disenchanted Rockies superfan.In the garden outside her home in rural Douglas County, purple-and-white flowers form a “CR” logo in celebration of her favorite baseball team. On summer evenings, she lounges in seats once used inside Coors Field.She was a full-time season-ticket holder beginning with the birth of the team in 1993. Then McKenny, 64, switched to a ticket mini-plan, saying, “I got frustrated with some of the management moves regarding players.”THE ROCKIE WAY: Inside Colorado’s three decades of mediocre baseballOver the last couple of years, she’s switched allegiances, choosing to spend money on the Nuggets, who won their first NBA championship this year, and the Avalanche, who won their third Stanley Cup title in 2022.“I decided right out of the gate not to renew our Rockies’ mini-plan,” she said. “The primary reason? No commitment from the owner to win a championship now or in the near futur...

House fire leads to discovery of illegal marijuana operation in Northridge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:15:47 GMT

Police are investigating a suspected illegal marijuana grow operation discovered as firefighters were battling a house fire in Northridge Thursday morning. Los Angeles Fire Department crews responded to the blaze at the single-story home in the 16900 block of West Tupper Street around 4:30 a.m.Flames were visible when the firefighters arrived, a Fire Department spokesperson said. At one point, the fire extended into the attic, prompting firefighters to conduct an extensive ventilation operation on the roof.Police are investigating a marijuana grow operation discovered as firefighters were battling a house fire in Northridge, Calif. Sept. 28, 2023. (KTLA) Around 30 firefighters extinguished the fire in just over half an hour. No injuries were reported."The contents of the home indicate a marijuana grow operation," a spokesman said.Neighbors told KTLA that it appeared no one was living inside the home. At some point in the past, they told us, the home's water was left on, causing a mi...