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What to stream: A spring bounty of new movies, shows

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:05:50 GMT

Katie Walsh | Tribune News ServiceThere’s a wealth of new movies and series hitting streaming services this week, from acclaimed indie films to reboots of classics to intriguing crime stories ready to binge. Here’s a rundown of what’s new to rent, buy, and stream on digital platforms this week.First up: timed to release with the first big screen adaptation of her most beloved book, “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret,” the warm and lovely documentary “Judy Blume Forever” premiered last week on Prime Video. Directed by Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok, the film tells the life story of beloved author Judy Blume, and underlines the radical and influential nature of her writing about the intimate inner lives of girls and women, and how she continues to touch readers with her work.On Tuesday, two recent indie films became available to rent or buy on digital platforms. Andie MacDowell stars in “My Happy Ending,” about an American movie star contending with a grim cancer diagnosis and findin...

Jalen Brunson not giving hints on meaning behind new celebration: ‘I apologize to Lisa Salters’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:05:50 GMT

Knicks star Jalen Brunson isn’t giving any hints on the meaning behind his new three-point celebration.Brunson hit a three over Cavs All-Star Darius Garland with just about seven minutes left in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ Game 4 win. He then sniffed the web of his hand — or the crevice in between his thumb and index finger — on his way back up the court. When asked about the celebration by ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters, Brunson said plainly: “Don’t worry about it.”He walked that statement back some after Tuesday’s practice in Tarrytown.“I actually want to go back to that,” Brunson said. “The way I responded to Lisa came off a little arrogant on my part. So I apologize publicly to Lisa for that.“But it’s between me and my teammates, that’s it.”Asked for a hint, Brunson said: “Absolutely not.”GAME 5Sixty-three percent of the teams that take a 3-1 series lead in the playof...

As pandemic emergencies end, people battling long COVID feel ‘swept under the rug’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:05:50 GMT

Jackie Fortiér | (TNS) KPCC/LAistLost careers. Broken marriages. Dismissed and disbelieved by family and friends.These are some of the emotional and financial struggles long COVID patients face years after their infection. Physically, they are debilitated and in pain: unable to walk up the stairs, focus on a project or hold down a job. Facing the end of the federal public health emergency in May, many people experiencing lingering effects of the virus say they feel angry and abandoned by policymakers eager to move on.“Patients are losing hope,” said Shelby Hedgecock, a self-described long COVID survivor from Knoxville, Tennessee, who now advocates for patients like herself. “We feel swept under the rug.”The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in March that 6% of U.S. adults, or about 16 million, were experiencing long COVID, or ongoing health problems that continue or emerge after a bout of COVID-19. Researchers estimate that 1.6% of U.S. adults, or about 4 million,...

Watch: Rare white killer whale calf spotted off Southern California coast

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:05:50 GMT

NEWPORT, Calif. — Video captured Monday showed a pod of orcas swimming off the Southern California coast, including a rare glimpse at a white killer whale calf.The footage of the orca pod was captured by Newport Coastal Adventure, who was tipped off to the pod's location around 10:30 a.m. by a Long Beach whale watching company.The orcas were initially spotted over 45 miles from the Newport Harbor, but crews with Newport Coastal Adventure decided to take all available boats out on a last-minute trip for a chance to see the killer whales, according to Captain Delaney Trowbridge.The 20 passengers went to the last known location of the orcas and were ultimately able to spot them. The group witnessed a pod of seven orcas in the waters, including a three-year-old calf named Frosty due to its white appearance, Trowbridge said. VIDEO: Rare sighting of whale without tail breaching off Southern California coast According to Newport Coastal Adventure, Frosty has a unique genetic condition th...

Former San Diego commander nominated to be Naval Academy superintendent

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:05:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Rear Adm. Yvette Davids, former commander of a San Diego-based warship, has been nominated to be the next superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael M. Gilday also nominated Davids to become a vice admiral, USNA stated Friday in a news release.If the U.S. Senate confirms Davids' nomination, she would be the first woman to become superintendent of the Annapolis, Maryland service academy and the 64th person to assume the role since it was founded in 1845. Sheriff’s department looking to build transparency about military equipment Davids earned a Bachelor of Science in Oceanography from USNA before going on to graduate from the Naval War College with a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies in 2002. She then earned a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 2012.Davids, who is from San Antonio, Texas, was the first H...

Mississippi jail escapee a suspect in killing, carjacking

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:05:50 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A man who escaped from a Mississippi jail over the weekend is suspected of killing a man and stealing his pickup truck in Jackson, authorities said Tuesday. Anthony Watts, 61, was shot and killed Monday night around 7 p.m. on Interstate 55 after he pulled over to help a man who had wrecked a motorcycle. Police say that man shot Watts several times and then stole his Red Dodge Ram. Watts died at the scene. “Based on information gathered from investigators, the suspect … fit the description of 22-year-old Dylan Arrington,” Jackson Police Chief James E. Davis said. Arrington is one of four prisoners — along with Casey Grayson, Corey Harrison and Jerry Raynes — who escaped Saturday night from the Raymond Detention Center, a facility near Jackson, through breaches in a cell and the roof. Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said the men might have camped out on the roof before fleeing the facility and going their separate ways. The four were in custody for various...

Tobacco company settles with US over business in North Korea

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:05:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A British tobacco company has agreed to pay more than $629 million to settle allegations that it did illegal business with North Korea in violation of U.S. sanctions, the Justice Department said Tuesday.British American Tobacco, one of the largest tobacco companies in the world, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department, while the company’s Singapore subsidiary pleaded guilty to bank fraud and sanctions charges. BAT said in its own statement that the settlement concerns sales from 2007 through 2017 and that the company has since taken steps to improve its business practices.North Korea faces stringent U.S. and international sanctions going back nearly two decades for its nuclear weapons program and development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Pyongyang has continued to research and test more nuclear weapons. It has also worked to evade sanctions with the cooperation of allies like China and illicit trade with barred countries ...

More sanctions for deadly fentanyl if bill becomes law

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:05:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the past year, the U.S. Treasury Department has used its sanctions powers to impose wide-ranging financial penalties on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine — turning Russia into the most sanctioned country in the world. Now, the federal agency is facing increasing pressure, including from legislation introduced Tuesday in the Senate, to use those tools with similar vigor against the people, financial institutions and companies that have participated in the explosion of fentanyl use and distribution in the U.S.“As a matter of policy we are dealing with drug cartels who have tremendous economic gain to be made,” said Paul DelPonte, executive director of the nonprofit National Crime Prevention Council, which is pushing for tougher action against those behind the scourge of drug overdose and death. “There are a lot of hands involved in this crime.”Fentanyl is the deadliest drug in the U.S. today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estim...

Montana House cancels after rally for transgender lawmaker

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:05:50 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s House speaker canceled a Tuesday floor session a day after seven protestors were arrested for disrupting proceedings with demands that Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a transgender Democrat silenced by lawmakers for comments against bans on gender-affirming care, be allowed to speak.The cancellation is the latest development in a standoff over whether Montana Republicans will let the lawmaker from Missoula speak unless she apologizes for her remarks last week on a gender-affirming care ban proposal.Speaker Matt Regier did not take questions on Tuesday or explain why lawmakers were not returning to the floor, but in a brief statement called the disruptions a “dark day for Montana.”“Currently, all representatives are free to participate in House debates while following the House rules,” Regier told reporters. “The choice to not follow the House rules is one that Rep. Zephyr has made. The only person silencing Rep. Zephyr is Rep. Zephyr. The Montana House will n...

Entertainment, civil rights notables honor Harry Belafonte

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:05:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Reaction poured in Tuesday from civil rights leaders and the entertainment world following the death of Harry Belafonte at age 96. As a prominent activist, charismatic singer, Hollywood leading man, Broadway star and trailblazing Black entertainer, Belafonte’s loss was felt across a wide swath of American life. ___“May God Have My Dear Friend Harry Belafonte At A Peaceful Rest. We Are Losing Our Giants Left And Right. We Have To Celebrate Our Elders While They Are With Us.” — Spike Lee, who directed Belafonte’s final film, 2018’s BlacKkKlansman.” ___“Another ‘GREAT TREE’ has fallen: Harry Belafonte, a Trailblazer and Hero to us all. Thank you for your music, your artistry, your activism, your fight for civil rights and justice — especially risking your life back in the day to get money to the movement. Your being here on Earth has Blessed us all.” — Oprah Winfrey. ___“Harry Belafonte was a true mentor and friend. I am heartbroken to hear of hi...