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US Women's National Team to play Colombia at Snapdragon Stadium

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:57 GMT

SAN DIEGO — The United States Women's National Team is coming to San Diego as they prepare for the 2024 Olympics.The USWNT will take on Colombia in a friendly soccer match on Oct. 29 at Snapdragon Stadium in Mission Valley.Snapdragon Stadium is also the home pitch for the San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League. Two Wave players, Naomi Girma and Alex Morgan, represented the U.S. during the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.Tickets for the friendly match will be available to the public starting on Sep. 12, with presale tickets available for U.S. Soccer Insiders and Visa cardholders. The U.S. was eliminated from the 2023 World Cup after losing to Sweden on penalty kicks in the round of 16, the earliest exit for the USWNT in tournament history. San Diego Loyal soccer club to disband after 2023 season On the other side of the field, Colombia is coming off their best World Cup finish ever. Colombia beat Germany to win Group H, then beat Jamaica in the knockout rounds to reach...

Mark Meadows takes the stand at hearing over request to move Georgia election case to federal court

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:57 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Mark Meadows took the witness stand Monday at a hearing in Atlanta over whether the Trump White House chief of staff should be allowed to fight the Georgia indictment accusing him of participating in an illegal scheme to overturn the 2020 election in federal court rather than in a state court.Meadows, who was charged earlier this month along with former President Donald Trump and 17 other people, was questioned by both his lawyers and prosecutors, with cross-examination set to continue after a lunch break.For an hour and 20 minutes Monday, Meadows’ attorney George J. Terwilliger III asked him about his duties as Trump’s chief of staff and then walked Meadows through the specific acts accused in the indictment to ask if he had done those as part of his job. For most of the acts listed, Meadows said he had performed them as part of his official duty. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who used Georgia’s racketeering law to bring the case, alleges that Tr...

Joe the Plumber, who questioned Obama’s tax policies during the 2008 campaign, has died at 49

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:57 GMT

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher, who was thrust into the political spotlight as “Joe the Plumber” after questioning Barack Obama about his economic policies during the 2008 presidential campaign, and who later forayed into politics himself, has died, his son said Monday. He was 49.His oldest son, Joey Wurzelbacher, said his father died Sunday in Wisconsin after a long illness. His family announced this year on an online fundraising site that he had pancreatic cancer.“The only thing I have to say is that he was a true patriot,” Joey Wurzelbacher — whose father had the middle name Joseph and went by Joe — said in a telephone interview. “His big thing is that everyone come to God. That’s what he taught me, and that’s a message I hope is heard by a lot of people.”He went from toiling as a plumber in suburban Toledo, Ohio, to life as a media sensation when he asked Obama about his tax plan during a campaign stop. Their exchange and Obama’s response that he wanted to “spread...

California sues district that requires parents be notified if their kids change pronouns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:57 GMT

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — California’s attorney general sued a Southern California school district Monday over its recently adopted policy that requires schools to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns.Attorney General Rob Bonta said he filed a lawsuit against the Chino Valley Unified School District over the policy that mandated this notification, calling it a “forced outing” of transgender students that violates their civil rights.“It tramples on students’ rights,” Bonta told reporters. He said he is seeking a court order to immediately halt the policy from taking effect.The move comes after Chino Valley Unified, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, adopted the policy following a shift in leadership on the school board. Other Southern California districts have adopted similar policies and Bonta said he believes they will also be affected by this litigation, though they are not named in the suit.The suit argues the...

New tool will allow college athletes to report gambling suspicions to a sports wagering monitor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:57 GMT

A digital platform where college athletes can alert their administrations anonymously to improper or illegal conduct by coaches, teammates or others is expanding to allow them to report suspected gambling activity.RealResponse’s partnership with U.S. Integrity, which monitors sports wagering trends in real time to detect irregularities, will come at no additional cost to some 150 athletic departments that are clients.The service builds on a tip hotline U.S. Integrity and RealResponse unveiled in May and will give college athletic administrators a direct line to investigators.A state investigation into illegal sports wagering at Iowa and Iowa State has led to criminal charges being filed against about a dozen athletes. The Alabama baseball coach, Brian Bohannon, was fired in May after being linked to suspicious gambling activity on a Crimson Tide game.Iowa State is a RealResponse client, spokesman Nick Joos said. Iowa is not a client but has a relationship with U.S. Integrity t...

N.W.T. to discuss delaying October election over wildfire safety concerns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:57 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — The Northwest Territories legislature is to meet later today to discuss delaying a territorial election set for October because of wildfires.The territory is scheduled to go to the polls on Oct. 3.But because of massive evacuations in several communities and general safety concerns, the N.W.T.’s chief electoral officer has suggested that be pushed until November. Some members of the territory’s legislature say there’s clear support for delay.The territory operates by a consensus system without political parties, in which elected members choose the premier from among themselves. Over the weekend, fire officials said cooler nights, high humidity and favourable winds have helped quiet the fire burning near Yellowknife.But rising temperatures today were expected to increase fire behaviour both in the territorial capital and the community of Hay River, where flames were only a few kilometres from town. This report by The Canadian Press was first published ...

Convicted ex-Ohio House speaker moved to Oklahoma prison to begin his 20-year sentence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:57 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Convicted former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has been transferred to Oklahoma to begin his time in federal prison.The 64-year-old Republican had been held in the Butler County Jail in southwestern Ohio since he was sentenced June 29 to 20 years for his role in the largest corruption scheme in Ohio history. He was recently moved to the federal transfer center in Oklahoma City, according to Bureau of Prisons records. His attorney, Steven Bradley, said Householder was not granted a request to be released during his appeal. Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges, a former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, were convicted in March of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering.A jury found Householder masterminded and Borges participated in a $60 million bribery scheme that was secretly funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. to secure Householder’s power, elect his allies — and then to pass and defend ...

Biden and the first lady drop by a DC middle school math class and lunch to welcome back students

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden shook hands with middle schoolers heading to lunch and dropped by an eighth grade math class Monday to welcome students back for the new school year. The Bidens went to Eliot-Hine Middle School, located east of the U.S. Capitol, to mark the District of Columbia’s first day of school for the 2023-24 year. Seventh graders coming down the stairs for their lunch into the cafeteria were giggling as the president and first lady greeted them. Inside Heather Thomas’ eighth grade class, the students were bouncing out of their seats and yelling with glee as the two walked to the front of the room. “I’m shaking hands with the president!” one student exclaimed. Biden said he remembered how it felt to come back to school after a summer away.“You all look so excited to be in math class,” he said to the students. “What’s your hardest subject, by the way?”The students all yelled: “Math!”The Bidens we...

Mother of beleaguered Spanish soccer federation chief starts hunger strike in church to defend him

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:57 GMT

MADRID (AP) — The mother of Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales started a hunger strike Monday in a church in southern Spain in defense of her son, who is under fire for kissing a player during the Women’s World Cup awards ceremony.Ángeles Béjar told the state news agency EFE she would remain on hunger strike “night and day” until a solution is found to the “inhumane hounding” of her son.Speaking outside the church in the southern town of Motril, Rubiales’ cousin, Vanessa Ruiz, joined his mother in calling on the player, Jenni Hermoso, to “tell the truth.” Hermoso has denied Rubiales’ claim that she consented to what he called the “mutual” kiss during the Aug. 20 medal ceremony after the Spanish women’s team won the final in Sydney, Australia. In a statement Saturday Hermoso said she considered herself the victim of abuse of power and accused the Spanish soccer federation of trying to pressure her into supporting Rubiales. The federation hit back by saying ...

Biden to observe 9/11 anniversary in Alaska, missing NYC, Virginia and Pennsylvania observances

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will observe next month’s 22nd anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil at an Alaska military base with service members and their families, the White House announced. It will be the first time that a president has not attended any of the observances that have been held annually in New York City, Pennsylvania and Virginia, just outside Washington, according to an Associated Press review of media coverage of these events. Biden will stop in Alaska for the 9/11 observance at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage on his way back to Washington after he attends a summit in New Delhi with other world leaders and visits Vietnam on Sept. 10. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, will participate in the annual commemoration at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in lower Manhattan.First lady Jill Biden will lay a wreath at the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon. Terrorists hijacked commercial airplanes ...