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Chris Perkins: Top 20 players available for the Dolphins in the NFL draft

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:01:18 GMT

The Dolphins will make their first picks of the draft – selection No. 51 in the second round, and selection No. 84 in the third round – Friday night. Numerous quality players are available at a number of positions. Here are the top 20 players, some in the second round, some in the third round, the Dolphins could choose among based on talent, projected availability, and need.Steve Avila, G-C, TCUAvila (6-3, 332), who would be a second-round pick, could challenge Liam Eichenberg, Robert Jones and perhaps Dan Feeney to start at left guard. Avila is skilled, physical and feisty.Dawand Jones, OT, Ohio StateJones, a right tackle who’d be a second-round pick, would challenge starting right tackle Austin Jackson. Jones (6-8, 374) is fairly athletic but it’s not known if he’s versatile enough to serve as a backup to left tackle Terron Armstead.Sam LaPorta, TE, IowaLaPorta (6-3, 245), who figures to go in the second round, offers receiving and in-line blocking, a...

Why Patriots believed they could trade back and still draft Christian Gonzalez

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:01:18 GMT

The Patriots could have had the steal of the draft with their original pick Thursday night.Instead, they gambled.The Pats traded back three spots from 14th overall, waited and then selected Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez, a projected top-10 pick by most esteemed draft analysts.Speaking with reporters after the first round, Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh explained the trade by saying the team sensed Gonzalez would still be available even after moving back.The Patriots couldn’t guarantee it, but knew the Steelers were moving up for an offensive tackle at No. 14, and had “a “good feeling” Washington, at No. 16, wanted Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes. All that left was to learn was whom the Jets — or a mystery team trading up — would take at 15th overall. But with New York unlikely to draft a corner, the Pats took the risk and added a fourth-round pick in their trade with Pittsburgh.Groh said the Patriots expected t...

A NJ pastor-politician is gunned down, and a community reels

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:01:18 GMT

SAYREVILLE, N.J. (AP) — Nicole Teliano used to play games on her phone in the mayor’s office while her mother worked down the hall several evenings a month, tending to the tedious, often acrimonious task of serving in local government. The 11-year-old girl didn’t mind sharing her mother, Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour, with the nearly 50,000 residents of the central New Jersey town, the young people she nurtured as a pastor of a prosperity gospel church in Newark or the Nigerian church colleague she married in a festive ceremony in Abuja in November. “Well, my mom was a little bit of extra, so I could share a little bit. There was enough to go around,” Nicole said in a family interview with The Associated Press this month.Now, friends and loved ones are asking for help figuring out who gunned down the charismatic 30-year-old Dwumfour outside her Sayreville home on Feb. 1. The case is reverberating from New Jersey to West Africa, with touchpoints including politics, religion...

5 killed in Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:01:18 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine early Friday, killing at least five people and striking a residential building in central Ukraine, officials said.Air raid sirens sounded around the capital in the first attack against the city in nearly two months and Ukraine’s air force intercepted 11 cruise missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles over Kyiv, according to the Kyiv City Administration. There were no immediate reports of any missiles hitting targets in Kyiv but fragments from intercepted missiles or drones damaged power lines and a road in one neighborhood. No casualties were reported.But a 31-year-old woman and her 2-year-old daughter were killed in the eastern city of Dnipro in another attack, regional Governor Serhii Lysak said. Four people were also wounded, and a private home and business were damaged. Two cruise missiles also hit a residential building and storage facilities in Uman, around 2...

Rising GOP star embroiled in tough Kentucky primary fight

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:01:18 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Flagged as a rising Republican star who worked for Mitch McConnell and pitched Donald Trump’s campaign to Black voters, Daniel Cameron could have taken a cautious approach and run for reelection as attorney general.Instead, he took a career-defining risk by plunging into Kentucky’s competitive race for governor against a popular Democratic incumbent and a crowded field of GOP primary opponents. If he wins, the state’s first Black attorney general would become its first Black governor.But Cameron’s pursuit of Kentucky’s top political office has turned bumpy. Instead of breezing to his party’s nomination, he’s embroiled in a tough primary fight, especially with former United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft, who has attacked Cameron in an ad blitz backed by her family’s fortune.The two are among a dozen candidates — including two other statewide officeholders, Ryan Quarles and Mike Harmon — competing for the GOP nomination in th...

Largest powwow draws Indigenous dancers to New Mexico

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:01:18 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Tens of thousands of people are gathering in New Mexico for what organizers bill as the largest powwow in North America. The annual Gathering of Nations kicks off Friday with a colorful procession of Native American and Indigenous dancers from around the world moving to the beat of traditional drums as they fill an arena at the New Mexico state fairgrounds.The dancers slowly spiral their way, one by one, toward the center of the venue, making for a spectacular display.This marks the 40th year for the gathering, which has grown from humble beginnings in 1983 into a massive celebration with Indigenous people showcasing their cultures through dancing and singing competitions.Spectators get a chance to see the competitors’ feathered bustles, buckskin dresses, fancy shawls, and beaded head and hair pieces. Many of the dancers’ elaborate outfits are detailed with hand-stitched designs.Most dancers at the Gathering of Nations compete for prize money.More than...

Tokyo plan likened to putting ‘skyscrapers’ in Central Park

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:01:18 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The Jingu Gaien area in central Tokyo is a cultural and historic treasure, a mostly green space set aside almost 100 years ago with private donations to honor Japan’s famous Meiji Emperor. With the tacit support of Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, a real estate company is planning to redevelop the green enclave with a pair of highrise towers — about 190 meters (620 feet) each — and a smaller 80-meter (260-foot) companion.Plans also call for razing a famous baseball stadium where Babe Ruth played — and demolishing an adjoining rugby venue — and rebuilding them on a reconfigured tract that provides more commercial space.“This is like building skyscrapers in the middle of Central Park in New York,” Professor Mikiko Ishikawa told the Associated Press. Ishikawa is an emeritus professor at the University of Tokyo who did her doctorate at Harvard University, where she studied landscape architecture and Central Park’s history. She said Central Park was an inspirat...

Vermont forms reconciliation panel after eugenics apology

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:01:18 GMT

SHELBURNE, Vt. (AP) — Two years ago, the Vermont Legislature apologized to all Vermonters and their families who were harmed by state-sanctioned eugenics policies that started in the early 1900s and led to institutionalizations and sterilizations, targeting Native Americans, French Canadians and disabled and poor people. Legislators also vowed to do more. Now the state has formed a truth and reconciliation commission with the task of creating a public record of discrimination against certain marginalized populations caused by state laws and policies, as well as making recommendations for repairing the damage and preventing it from happening again.“An apology’s only words,” said state Rep. Tom Stevens, a Democrat. “You have to really follow it up with actions, and we said in the apology that we would.” The three commissioners were appointed last month to three-year terms, with annual salaries of $80,000 each. Last year’s act to create the commission allocated $748,000 in state funds ...

Music takes over New Orleans as Jazz Fest 2023 kicks off

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:01:18 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — This year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival begins its two-weekend run on Friday, filling the air with the sounds of R&B, rock ‘n roll, Zydeco, pop, blues, country, rap, gospel — and of course jazz.Music fans will converge on the Fair Grounds Race Course when gates open at 11 a.m. and dash to find a spot in front of one of the 14 stages or tents featuring some of the best musicians in the world. Friday’s lineup includes performances by Lizzo; Robert Plant & Alison Krauss; Big Freedia; Tank and The Bangas; Wu-Tang Clan + The Soul Rebels; Nicholas Payton; Mavis Staples; Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers; Charlie Musselwhite; and Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience. “I’m super excited for the elevation this year,” said Freedia, whose bounce/rap show is scheduled for the festival’s main stage before Lizzo and Tank and The Bangas. “I love that I get the opportunity to showcase my artistry before a bigger audie...

Democrats introduce bill to make child care affordable and accessible while raising wages for providers

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:01:18 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - Democrats say childcare costs are burdening families across the country and the U.S. needs to do something to make it more accessible and affordable."The cost of childcare has many families like mine living one or two paychecks from financial disaster," said Tiffany Nelms, a mother of 3.Parents like Nelms say they are plagued by the burden of finding affordable child care."We couldn't find high-quality care in our community, so I drive an hour roundtrip twice a day," Nelms said.That's why Senate and House Democrats say it's time to tackle the childcare crisis."This is a crisis for parents, for families, and providers across the country," said Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.)."This is a full-blown economic crisis in every state in every zip code," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.).The Child Care for Working Families Act would expand the supply of childcare facilities, increase childcare provider wages, and lower childcare costs for parents."Bottom line, working fa...