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The Loop NFL Picks: Week 18

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:37:09 GMT

Vikings at Lions (-3½)Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell picked Nick Mullens to start the season finale and try to save the Vikings’ long-shot bid to earn a wild card berth. That’s very disappointing to most Vikings fans who would have preferred that they try starting the NFL’s first edible quarterback.Pick: Lions by 14(Screen grab from ESPN)Bears at Packers (-3½)Aaron Jones absorbed a punch to the noggin while trying to calm tensions after last Sunday night’s rout of the Vikings in Minneapolis. Detailed analysis of the video proves it was the only shot landed on the Packers all evening.Pick: Bears by 3(Screen grab from NBC)Jets at Patriots (-2½)Jets QB Aaron Rodgers suggested this week, without a scintilla of evidence, that comedian Jimmy Kimmel would be included on the client list for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This confirms The Loop’s analysis that Rodgers might be even more slimy than Jeffrey Epstein.Pick: Patriots by 11(Screen grab from ESPN)Falcons at Saints (-3½)ESPN ...

Noah Feldman: Israel court ruling won’t end Netanyahu’s ambition

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:37:09 GMT

In a rare bit of good news from Israel, the country’s High Court of Justice has issued a landmark judgment reinforcing the separation of powers in the face of right-wing efforts to undermine constitutional democracy. The decision vindicates the million-plus protesters who took to the streets over the last year to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to strip the court of its powers of judicial review. More important, it champions the ideal of the rule of law at a moment when Israel is at war and the country’s conduct has been subject to withering international criticism.The 8-7 decision, issued on New Year’s Day, is the most significant in Israel’s history. It follows a year of intense controversy that threatened to tear the country in two. If it were not for the Gaza war, the court’s announcement of its judgment, stretching to 783 pages in Hebrew, would have brought huge crowds to the streets in jubilation, and very possibly also in ...

Eagan man sentenced on gun charge after St. Paul shooting during drug deal

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:37:09 GMT

A four-time convicted felon was sentenced to five years in prison for illegally possessing a gun when he was arrested for allegedly trying to murder a man in St. Paul in 2022.Damion Lashawn Willis, 35, of Eagan, was charged by warrant with second-degree attempted murder in connection with shooting the 52-year-old man at least a half-dozen times outside an apartment building in the Dayton’s Bluff area on March 15, 2022.Damion Lashawn Willis (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)Two days later, while at the hospital, the man told an investigator that he had been shot by his “weed dealer,” who was later identified as Willis, the criminal complaint said.Prosecutors amended the charges this past August, adding one count of first-degree assault and two counts of possession of a firearm after conviction of a crime of violence. Willis reached a plea deal with the prosecution the same day, admitting to one gun possession charge relating to when he was arrested April 6, 2022, ...

Opponents of University of St. Thomas sports arena at Cretin and Grand file legal appeal

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:37:09 GMT

Attorneys for a coalition of residents opposed to a planned basketball and hockey arena on the University of St. Thomas south campus have submitted a 44-page legal brief outlining their objections to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.Fairmount Avenue resident Don Waage and other members of “Advocates for Responsible Development” maintain that the 5,500-seat multipurpose arena near the intersection of Cretin and Grand avenues in St. Paul should trigger a more elaborate environmental review by the city than the Environmental Assessment Worksheet published last June.Among concerns raised in their Jan. 2 legal brief, they allege that the city failed to consider the cumulative impacts of improvements to the adjoining Schoenecker Center, which is being converted into an academic hub for the university’s STEAM (science-engineering-technology-arts-and-math) programs.“The proposed arena, in addition to the other South Campus construction already underway, would lead to s...

Feds: Fentanyl trafficking ring sent the drug from Arizona to Minnesota in stuffed animals

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:37:09 GMT

Federal prosecutors say six people have been arrested and charged in connection with a fentanyl trafficking ring that sent pills from Arizona to the Twin Cities metro area by hiding them in stuffed animals.According to court documents, Cornell Montez Chandler Jr., 24, Robiel Lee Williams, 23, Quijuan Hosea Bankhead, 30, Stardasha Christina Davenport-Mounger, 24, Fo’Tre Devine White, 26, and Shardai Rayshell Allen, 24, conspired to distribute fentanyl in Minnesota between August and December 2022.Several defendants traveled to Phoenix to obtain fentanyl pills from suppliers, hid the pills inside stuffed animals and mailed them to addresses in and around the Twin Cities, prosecutors say.Law enforcement in Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties became aware of the trafficking and initiated a joint investigation, which resulted in the seizure of six packages containing over 30,000 grams of fentanyl pills.All defendants made their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Doc...

Loons make another coaching change; Cameron Knowles into interim role

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:37:09 GMT

Minnesota United has made a coaching change, but it’s not a permanent hire.The Loons said Friday interim head coach Sean McAuley is leaving the club to “pursue other opportunities” and Cameron Knowles will now serve in that interim role.This alteration comes with Loons players set to report to preseason camp next weekend.An this development comes a month to the day after MNUFC said McAuley, who inherited the interim tag at the end of last season, would continue in that role going into the upcoming MLS season.“MNUFC wishes Sean all the best in the future, and would like to thank him for his contributions to the club on the pitch and in the community over the past five years,” the club said in a statement.In October, CEO Shari Ballard fired manager Adrian Heath and technical director Mark Watson. At that time, she appointed McAuley to coach the final two games of the 2023 season, where the Loons went 1-1-0 and missed the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time sinc...

Town of East Greenbush declares Snow Emergency

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:37:09 GMT

EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Town of East Greenbush has declared a Snow Emergency effective 2 p.m. on Saturday. The Snow Emergency will be lifted at 6 a.m. on Monday, January 8. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Parking will not be allowed on public roads in the Town of East Greenbush. Vehicles parked within four feet of public roads are subject to be ticketed and towed. All trash cans and refuse containers must be at least four feet in from the edge of the pavement.

How much snow will St. Louis get on Friday or next week?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:37:09 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- The first of two weekend weather systems will bring a light mix of rain and snow to the area this evening into early tonight. The light mix of rain and wet snow is forecast to begin in our southwest counties between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and reach the St. Louis area shortly thereafter. It should kick over to mainly snow by 9 p.m. with light snow expected over the metro and points east and south through about 2 a.m.–3 a.m. St. Louis radar: See a map of current weather here I continue to think a stripe of light dusting, maybe up to a half inch, will be possible on grassy surfaces in the affected regions. But with temperatures just above freezing and the intensity remaining light, roads will remain wet. This has a similar look and outcome to the events we had last week.Next weekA potent winter storm remains on track to impact the area from Monday night through late Tuesday night. Potent does not necessarily equal widespread heavy snow, although I still cannot rule that out....

St. Louis teen finds sister adopted in Canada through DNA test

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:37:09 GMT

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis teenager took a 23&Me test years ago when she was in elementary school and later discovered her biological sister living in Canada with their adopted parents.Lia Emry, a St. Louis teen adopted at birth, took a 23&Me test in elementary school to uncover her roots and heritage.“I've always shied away from my Asian heritage. My mom is white, and [we live] in a predominantly white area,” Lia said. She also noted that most of her school peers were white, making her feel like the odd one out. St. Louis Health Dept. recommends masks as flu, COVID, and RSV cases surge “I was adopted at nine months old, abandoned at birth, with no recollection of my family or any previous health information,” Lia said. “My mom was very open about my adoption; it wasn't a secret. It was obvious. We don't look alike at all. She's white, and I'm not.”“I saw a documentary, The Dying Rooms, and was just drawn to those babies,” said Dee Dee Emry, Lia’s mother. The Dying Rooms is a...

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn says he won’t seek reelection, giving all three of Colorado’s GOP-held seats open races

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:37:09 GMT

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, a nine-term congressman representing the Colorado Springs area, will not run for reelection in November — an announcement that means all three Republican-held seats in Colorado’s congressional delegation will be open this year.Lamborn discussed his plans Friday morning on Richard Randall’s radio show on southern Colorado’s KVOR-AM.“I’m not getting any younger,” the 69-year-old said. “I want to spend time with my children, grandchildren, with my wife. I want to look for opportunities to do good.”An attorney, Lamborn previously served in the Colorado House and Senate before first winning election to Congress in 2006. He represents the state’s 5th Congressional District in and around Colorado Springs, one of the Front Range’s few remaining conservative bastions.Lamborn’s announcement comes amid broader turnover in Colorado’s Republican congressional delegation.Related ArticlesPolitics ...