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Linebacker Blake Martinez puts Pokemon trading card business on hold, returns to NFL with Panthers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:42 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Blake Martinez has put his embattled Pokemon trading card business on hold and is returning to the NFL.The 29-year-old linebacker has joined the Carolina Panthers practice squad and the team is hoping he can help offer some stability to a position that has been ravaged by injuries. The Panthers (1-7) play the Chicago Bears on Thursday night, although coach Frank Reich said he’s unsure if that will be enough time for Martinez to get up to speed given that he’s only participated in one practice.Martinez has been out of football since last November when he abruptly announced his retirement from the Las Vegas Raiders to focus on “family and future passions.”One of those passions included Pokemon cards.In 2022 he started “Blake’s Breaks,” a company which buys and sells Pokemon cards and reportedly did $8.3 million in revenue in just nine months, according to a CNBC report. One of his rare Pokemon cards was sold for $672,000.But his company’s reputation ...

Indigo reports lower sales, net loss in second quarter as customers cut back

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:42 GMT

TORONTO — Indigo Books & Music Inc. reported a net loss of $22.4 million in its second quarter, down from a net loss of $15.9 million a year earlier. Revenues for the Toronto-based retailer were $206,885, down from $236,247 a year earlier.The company says it lost 80 cents per diluted share, down from a loss of 57 cents during the same quarter last year. Indigo says sales in person and online were negatively impacted by the challenging macro-economic environment, with reduced demand and heightened price sensitivity among shoppers. The company says these challenges were compounded by temporary disruptions from the launch of its new website. CEO Heather Reisman, who recently returned to the helm of the company, says her team is committed to returning Indigo to profit and growth. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:IDG)The Canadian Press

A North Carolina sheriff says 2 of his deputies and a suspect were serious wounded by gunfire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:42 GMT

MAXTON, N.C. (AP) — Two sheriff’s deputies from a southeastern North Carolina county and a man who was the subject of a warrant were seriously wounded Tuesday during exchanges of gunfire, the local sheriff said. Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said at a news conference the three men were shot around 9:30 a.m. in a community outside of Maxton, which is about 120 miles (190 kilometers) southeast of Raleigh, close to the South Carolina border.The suspect and one of the deputies were in critical condition at hospitals, while the other deputy was in serious condition, the sheriff said. The suspect fled the area by getting into one of the wounded deputies’ cruisers and backing up, running over one of the deputies and breaking his leg. The suspect was ultimately captured by other deputies, according to the sheriff. At a news conference, Wilkins identified the shooting suspect as Shawn Tobin Locklear Jr., who at age 19 last December was accused of murder. The sheriff said ...

Highlights of Donald Trump’s hours on the witness stand at his New York civil fraud trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:42 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump went off. Again and again. Making the witness stand at his New York civil trial his podium, the former president laid into the judge who’ll decide the case and the state attorney general who sued him.During 3 1/2 hours of testimony on Monday, the Republican denied Attorney General Letitia James’ allegations that he duped banks by exaggerating his wealth on financial statements used to make deals and secure loans.“There was no victim. There was no anything,” he said.He bragged about his riches, saying he has “a lot of cash” and described one of the grown sons he put in charge of his company as a “hard working boy.” He said of his priorities while president: “My threshold was China, Russia and keeping our country safe.”Trump’s often verbose responses — replete with anecdotes about development projects, the intricacies of property valuations and complaints that he was a victim of a “political witch hunt” — led a frustrate...

Skilling: Rainy Wednesday ahead with possible thunderstorms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:42 GMT

Temps cooled over yesterday's balmy 69 at O'Hare and 71 at Midway—which had been early October level temps.By comparison, highs Tuesday only made it to 54 at O'Hare and 56 at Midway readings some 15-deg cooler than on Monday.  And as northeast winds locked in Tuesday afternoon, temps had fallen back to the  mid to upper 40s up and down the western Lake Michigan shoreline. Late afternoon readings had pulled back to 46 at Waukegan, 47 at Wilmette, 48 Michigan City, Indiana and 49 at Calumet Harbor and at Burns Harbor in Indiana. The northeast winds are the result of a circulation developing beneath the southern flank of a Canadian high pressure ridging southward into the Midwest and the far eastern side of a developing low pressure in eastern Colorado and western Kansas.It's the Colorado/Kansas system which is eastbound and likely to bring Chicago occasional rain beginning late tonight in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday morning---though some precursor sprinkles may arrive earlier.The ...

ISP: Driver dead after being hit by driver in stolen car running from Porter County deputies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:42 GMT

PORTER, Ind. — A person is dead after they were hit by someone in a stolen car running from Porter County Sheriff's deputies Tuesday, according to Indiana State Police.The deputies were chasing the driver in a stolen car on U.S. 12 when the driver crossed the road and hit another car head-on in the other lane, ISP Sgt. Glen Fifield said in a press release. ‘Get the **** away from me’: Man accused of groping woman shopping in Northwest Indiana Walmart The driver of the car in the other lane died, Fifield said. Their identity hasn't been released yet.The driver of the stolen car was taken into custody. Their identity also hasn't been released. Indiana State Police is investigating and the Porter County Sheriff's Office is handling the criminal investigation.

Pro-Palestine protesters block road near Rep. Schakowsky's Evanston home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:42 GMT

EVANSTON, Ill. — A group of pro-Palestine demonstrators is blocking the street outside Rep. Jan Schakowsky's home on Tuesday in Evanston.They are angry over Schakowsky's pro-Israel stance. For more coverage of the Israel and Hamas Conflict, click here It was organized by the U.S. Palestinian Community Network and attended by the Chicago Against Racist and Political Repression, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Rayo Counseling and Community Co-op and other organizations. They are demanding Schakowsky calls to end all U.S. aid to Israel and drop the charges against seven protesters who shut down her office recently.WGN-TV has reached to Schakowsky for a response and is awaiting a reply.

Milwaukee grapples with the reality of Craig Counsell managing the Cubs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:42 GMT

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The first sign of discontent regarding Craig Counsell’s decision to leave the Milwaukee Brewers to manage the Chicago Cubs appeared in his hometown at the Little League field that bears his name.The word “ass” was spray-painted across Counsell’s name on the sign outside the ballpark at Whitefish Bay, the Milwaukee suburb where Counsell grew up and still lives. The sign was covered up Tuesday morning, one day after the Cubs landed Counsell with a five-year deal worth over $40 million.The Brewers now must try to keep winning in Major League Baseball’s smallest market without the manager who led them to their greatest run of sustained success.SEE ALSO: Cubs hiring Craig Counsell to replace David Ross as manager“We have a really good thing,” Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said Monday. “I give Craig credit for helping to build that and for adding all these coaches, all of whom have stayed. So we’re going to look for a manager who can continue having a terrific cl...

The impact of weight on the brain — and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:42 GMT

For Tuesday, Nov. 7, WGN’s Dina Bair has new medical information, including: More Coverage: WGN's Medical Watch Researchers find new link between obesity and Alzheimer's diseaseObesity has long been linked to brain disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Now scientists have figured out why excess weight may lead to neurodegenerative diseases.    Scientists from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center found a high-sugar diet, which is common in obesity, causes insulin resistance in the brain. That prevents the body's ability to clear neuronal debris ultimately raising the risk for degeneration in the brain. Doctors say the knowledge gives them a target to prevent and treat brain disorders and another reason to encourage patients to adopt a healthy diet.   Processed foods damage teen liversDitching processed foods may help protect the liver. The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases reports on a study of teenagers. Among their findings, those who eat ultra-processed foo...

Senator proposes plan that lifts nuclear moratorium and requires new oversight rules in Illinois

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:42 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A Republican Illinois senator proposed fresh legislation Tuesday lifting a moratorium on new nuclear reactors and calls for new rules governing them, one of the concerns raised in a gubernatorial veto of a previous version of the legislation.Sen. Sue Rezin, of Morris, won overwhelming legislative support last spring to end the 1987 prohibition on new nuclear operations in favor of small modular reactors. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker sided with environmentalists and, citing concerns about outdated regulations and the long-running problem of waste disposal, vetoed it.Instead of seeking a vote to override the veto during this week's final three days of legislative session for the year, Rezin floated the new plan which would reduce the allowable size of small modular reactors and produce modernized rules to handle them.The reactors are designed not to produce electricity to be widespread across the power grid, but to provide electricity to a...