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Shorter pitch clock among new MLB rule changes approved for 2024

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:59:30 GMT

This past season Major League Baseball saw tremendous improvement in pace of play thanks to the introduction of the pitch clock. Now with a season’s worth of data, the league is set to implement additional tweaks it hopes can speed things up even more.Thursday afternoon MLB announced numerous rule changes had been approved by the league’s joint Competition Committee, the most notable being a shortened pitch clock for when runners are on base. Now, instead of pitchers having 20 seconds to deliver a pitch with men on, pitchers must start their delivery within 18 seconds.In addition, umpires will now restart the pitch clock after a dead ball when the pitcher has the ball and play is ready to resume. Previously the clock didn’t start until the pitcher was back on the mound, but the rule change was made to prevent pitchers from delaying the start by walking around the edge of the mound.Along with the pitch clock tweaks, teams will now have one fewer mound visit starting...

A lone gunman opens fire in a Prague university, killing 14 people and injuring 25

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:59:30 GMT

By KAREL JANICEK (Associated Press)PRAGUE (AP) — A lone gunman opened fire Thursday in a university building in downtown Prague, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 20 in the Czech Republic’s worst mass shooting, police and the city’s rescue service said.The bloodshed took place in the philosophy department building of Charles University, where the shooter was a student, Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said. The gunman also died, authorities said. His name has not been released.Vondrasek said in the evening that 14 people had died and 25 were injured, after earlier reporting that 15 had died and 24 were hurt. He didn’t explain the change. Authorities warned that the death toll could rise. Police gave no details about the victims or a possible motive for the shooting at the building located near the Vltava River in Jan Palach Square. Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said investigators do not suspect a link to any extremist ideology or gro...

Used car dealer sold wheelchair-accessible vans but took his disabled customers for a ride, feds say

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:59:30 GMT

A Philadelphia used car dealer took disabled customers’ money but failed to deliver the wheelchair-accessible vehicles they had paid for, victimizing more than 100 people across the nation, federal prosecutors said Thursday.Edward Scott Rock, 47, defrauded customers of more than $2.5 million between 2019 and this year, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Philadelphia. In one case, he sold the same 2017 Ford wheelchair-accessible van to 13 buyers over the course of nearly a year, collecting $260,000 along the way — and when he finally did deliver the vehicle to one of those buyers, it came without the proper title, prosecutors said in an indictment unsealed Thursday.A message was left at a phone number associated with Rock seeking comment, and an email was sent to an attorney who represented him before his indictment.Some 120 customers in 36 states fell victim to the alleged scam. About two-thirds of Rock’s victims were “persons with a physical or mobility disabili...

Large St. Louis-area urgent care chain to pay $9.1 million settlement over false claims allegations

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:59:30 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — One of the largest urgent care chains in Missouri will pay $9.1 million to settle allegations that the company submitted false claims for medical services, including COVID-19 testing.The U.S. Attorney’s office in St. Louis on Thursday announced the settlement with Total Access Urgent Care, which operates more than two dozen clinics in the St. Louis area.“This settlement will fully repay three federal health care programs for TAUC’s overbilling for COVID tests and office visits,” U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming said in a news release.Federal prosecutors said Total Access Urgent Care submitted false insurance claims for COVID-19 testing between April 2021 and December 2021, using improper billing codes that resulted in the company getting reimbursements at a rate that was too high.From 2017 to 2021, TAUC was accused of falsely claiming that doctors participated in some office visits that were actually overseen by non-physician practitioners. The reimbursem...

‘Dedication to serving Canadians’: PM pays tribute to former MP John Godfrey

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:59:30 GMT

OTTAWA — The late John Godfrey, a former university president, newspaper editor and Liberal MP, made meaningful and lasting contributions to public life, recalled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.“His dedication to serving Canadians will continue to be an inspiration to me and many others,” Trudeau said in a statement Wednesday, following Godfrey’s death.The Toronto-born Godfrey founded the School of Journalism at the University of King’s College in Halifax, was editor of the Financial Post and served as an MP from 1993 to 2008.“The son of a senator, Mr. Godfrey understood the importance of public service and spent much of his life advocating for members of his community and for all Canadians,” Trudeau said in his statement.Godfrey studied at the University of Toronto and later the University of Oxford, where he earned a master’s degree and a doctorate of philosophyBy that time, he was teaching history at Dalhousie University, noted King’s College vi...

Peterborough start-up turning gas-powered classic cars into electric vehicles

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:59:30 GMT

A female-run innovative start-up is working to turn gas-powered cars into electric vehicles out of Peterborough, marrying tradition with sustainability.ARC Motor Company was established by Sloane Paul, the first woman in North America to establish a startup of this kind. She leads the team of engineers that allows classic car enthusiasts to convert their vehicles.The company was the first to complete the electrical conversion of a first-generation 1974 Ford Bronco.“When you electrify a car, you’re not only just making a better driving machine and more enjoyable and reducing the tailpipe emissions, but you’re also reducing the amount of waste that goes into the landfill there scrapyard,” said Paul.Paul said it’s important to her as a woman of colour to provide representation in this industry.“In this industry of classic cars and just auto [in general], I didn’t really see a lot of people like me, and there was also some difficulties that you&...

2nd-degree murder charge laid in stabbing of Mexico man in North York

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:59:30 GMT

A man is facing a second-degree murder charge in the fatal stabbing of a Mexican citizen earlier this month in North York.Toronto police were called to the Bayview Avenue area near Hwy. 401 on Dec. 2 for reports of a stabbing. It’s alleged there was an altercation between two men, and one was stabbed. The suspect fled the area before police arrived but returned to the residence a short time later.A male victim was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. He died on Dec. 11.He was identified as 46-year-old Juan Carlos Gomez Salgado of Mexico. The suspect was identified as 35-year-old Rigoberto Ulin Lopez of Toronto.He was initially charged with assault, aggravated assault, and assault with a weapon, and those charges have been upgraded to assault and second-degree murder.

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza seen as among the most destructive in history, experts say

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:59:30 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, experts say, now sits among the deadliest and most destructive in history.In just over two months, the offensive has wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. It has killed more civilians than the U.S.-led coalition did in its three-year campaign against the Islamic State group.The Israeli military has said little about what kinds of bombs and artillery it is using in Gaza. But from blast fragments found on-site and analyses of strike footage, experts are confident that the vast majority of bombs dropped on the besieged enclave are U.S.-made. They say the weapons include 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) “bunker-busters” that have killed hundreds in densely populated areas.With the Palestinian death toll in Gaza approaching 20,000, the international community is calling for a cease-fire. Israel vows to press ah...

New York City’s teachers union sues Mayor Eric Adams over steep cuts to public schools

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:59:30 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s teachers union is suing to block planned cuts to the city’s public schools, warning that steep budget reductions proposed by Mayor Eric Adams would weaken key education initiatives and violate state law.For months, Adams has argued that slashing city spending – including a $550 million cut in education funding – is necessary to offset the rising costs of New York’s migrant crisis. But in a lawsuit filed in state court on Thursday, the United Federation of Teachers accused the mayor of exaggerating the city’s fiscal woes in order to push through a “blunt austerity measure” that is both illegal and unnecessary.The lawsuit rests on a state law that prevents New York City from reducing school spending unless overall revenues decline. Because the city outperformed revenue expectations this fiscal year, the mid-year education cuts – which will hurt universal prekindergarten and after-school programs, as well as special needs students – are illegal, the suit...

Matthew Boswell’s mandate as competition commissioner renewed for another two years

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:59:30 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal government is reappointing Matthew Boswell as the commissioner of competition for a two-year term.Boswell, who was first appointed as commissioner in 2019, was slated to finish his term at the end of February.A news release published Wednesday says his reappointment comes as the federal government looks to fulfill its promise of a comprehensive modernization of the country’s competition law. The Liberals have made several amendments to the Competition Act over the last couple of years, but the changes still fall short of what the Competition Bureau has recommended to the government.Boswell, who has been at the bureau since 2011, has been a vocal advocate for reforming the law and has called for a “whole-of-government” approach to unlock more competition across the economy.During his tenure, the bureau notably tried to block the Rogers-Shaw merger from going ahead, but lost the case in court.This report by The Canadian Press was first published ...