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2 dead in Missouri flash flood; tornado threat in the South

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:25 GMT

DECATUR, Texas (AP) — Two people died early Friday in Missouri when a car was swept away during torrential rains that were part of a severe weather system roaring across parts of the Midwest and South.The accident happened just after midnight in a sparsely populated area of southwestern Missouri. Authorities said six young adults were in the vehicle that was swept away as the car tried to cross a bridge over a flooded creek in the town of Grovespring.Four of the six made it out of the water. But the body of Devon Holt, 20, of Grovespring, was found at 3:30 a.m., and the body of Alexander Roman-Ranelli, 19, of Springfield, was recovered about six hours later, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Thomas Young said.The driver told authorities that torrential rains made it difficult to see that water from a creek had covered the bridge, Young said.Meanwhile, the search continued in another southwestern Missouri county for a woman who was missing after flash flooding from a small river was...

March Madness: Low-cut sneakers gain traction on court

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:25 GMT

DENVER (AP) — The squeaks from the sneakers on the court sound the same. But these are far from your classic Chuck Taylors or vintage Air Jordans. Or any version of high tops at all.The iconic shoe designed to extend slightly over the ankle has pretty much fallen out of favor in the lanes across basketball.Glance down at the footwear the players are lacing up for March Madness and many are wearing a version of a low-top sneaker (with the occasional mid-cut throw in). It’s a way to put their fastest, most comfortable, foot forward, especially since studies are inconclusive on whether high tops actually do what they were intended to do — prevent sprained ankles. As Colorado guard Kindyll Wetta points out, “we get our ankles taped anyway, so I don’t feel like I need the extra high-top support.”There’s also fashion to consider and “low tops,” TCU guard Damion Baugh said, “just look better.” High tops had been a familiar sight since the dawn of Converse’s Chuck Taylors ...

Review: Lana Del Rey’s ‘Ocean Blvd’ is an intimate epic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:25 GMT

“Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” by Lana Del Rey (Interscope Records)Lana Del Rey is a complicated, enigmatic pop star — since the height of her breakout album, “Born to Die,” the singer has been labeled one of the best songwriters of her generation. Her songs tell stories of dark, wistful American glamour, yearning for a dangerous time in our history with glimmers of red-hot, toxic infidelity-riddled romances and an audaciously psychedelic allure.“Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” is the next mega storytelling adventure for the singer-songwriter — she cuts deep into her fears, future and family instead of longing for things that aren’t hers to dream about. This time, she’s enduring the human experience in the real world — not a pretend one.The lengthy, 16-song album explores themes of spirituality with religious undertones featuring gospel singers in “The Grants” and an interlude with Pastor Judah Smith, the leader of...

Grains, Livestock higher

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:25 GMT

Wheat for May advanced 26.50 cents at $6.8850 a bushel; May corn gained 11.25 cents at $6.43 a bushel, May oats was up 7 cents at $3.6850 a bushel; while May soybeans rose 8.75 cents at $14.2825 a bushel.Beef and pork were higher on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Apr. live cattle rose .85 cent at $1.63 a pound; Mar. cattle was up .63 cent at $1.8965 a pound; while Apr. lean hogs gained 1.42 cents at $.7717 a pound.Source

Ford’s Tenn. plant could make 500K electric pickups a year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:25 GMT

STANTON, Tenn. (AP) — Ford said Friday that its assembly plant under construction in western Tennessee will be able to build up to 500,000 electric pickup trucks a year at full output, part of the automaker’s drive to produce 2 million electric vehicles worldwide annually by late 2026.The company made the announcement as it provided updates on the so-called BlueOval City project at an event attended by Ford executives, project leaders, politicians and residents who live near the sprawling Tennessee site.The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker announced the project in September of 2021 that would build the truck plant and a battery factory on 3,600 acres (1,460-hectares) in rural Stanton, located in Haywood County northeast of Memphis. Known as the Memphis Regional Megasite, the land designated by the state for industrial development sat unused for years before Ford moved in. Ford’s assembly plant, and the battery plant run by South Korean battery maker SK On, will employ about 6,000...

New this week: ‘Rye Lane,’ ‘Tetris,’ ‘Riverdale’ and Chlöe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:25 GMT

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music and video game platforms this week.MOVIES— Romantic comedy fans would do well to make an evening around “Rye Lane,” a Sundance Film Festival breakout that arrives on Hulu on Friday, March 31. The 80-minute charmer follows 20-somethings Dom (“Industry’s” David Jonsson), sensitive and a little uptight, and Yas (Vivian Oparah), a lively free spirit, on one eventful day in South London. When they meet, they are strangers who are reeling from bad breakups and appear to be polar opposites. The feature debut of director Raine Allen-Miller and writers Tom Melia and Nathan Byron, “Rye Lane” has garnered comparisons to Richard Curtis in his heyday and had critics singing about Jonsson and Oparah’s terrific chemistry its freshness.— “Tetris,” a new film coming to Apple TV+ on Friday, March 31, explores the wild origin story of how one of the most popular video g...

Hundreds of students, teachers gather outside state Capitol

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:25 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A crowd of people - many of them students and teachers - gathered outside the state Capitol on Friday to rally against gun violence.Footage from SkyFOX showed hundreds of people outside of the Capitol. The rally came two days after a shooting at East High School injured two faculty members. The 17-year-old suspect in that shooting was found dead near a car he had driven to Bailey. East High shooting suspect killed himself with ghost gun, failed prior diversion program Denver Public Schools were closed Friday for what the Board of Education said would be a "mental health day" after the shooting at East High.This was the second day in a row that protests were carried out at the Capitol. Students from East High filled the halls Thursday to call for policy changes.There are three gun bills that have been proposed in the legislature this session. One bill that would raise the minimum age to buy a gun to 21 made its way one step closer to becoming law Monday, passing a ...

Students at Denver Academy of Torah learn life-saving skills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:25 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- While safety is at the top of everyone's mind, one school is equipping students with life-saving skills.On Friday, students at the Denver Academy of Torah learned CPR and the Heimlich maneuver. The training came from certified EMTs with the Jewish organization NCSY. There's also a summer program called NCSY Rescue where students can get real-life experience on an ambulance. Learning CPR could help save a life, survivor says "I think it's really incredible to have the opportunity to be taught these things, so that when we are in situations like we can stand up take a deep breath and go out and help," Hunter Frank, a student at the school, said.The event was organized by Rabbi Yonatan Nuszen with Denver NCSY. He said it's important for students to get the skills early on."There's a lot of unfortunate circumstances where people are showing hatred in many different ways, and to be able to educate the kids as to what to do in god forbid such a terrible situation is a v...

Colorado business leaders still expect a recession amid low confidence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:25 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Things are still looking gloomy, according to the quarterly survey of state business leaders conducted by the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder. Leaders still expect a recession and have bad feelings in particular about the national economy.This kind of negative sentiment has been the norm since the COVID pandemic. The Leeds Business Confidence Index has been negative in five of the last six quarters, though this quarter's index is less negative than the first quarter of the year. Leaders have negative confidence in the national and state economies, industry profits and hiring, and capital expenditures. Respondents only expressed positive feelings about industry sales. In the 20 years the school has performed the survey, confidence has never been negative for this long except for the Great Recession. Throughout most of its history, business leaders express some degree of optimism. Inflation and high-interest rates are what's souring thei...

Gwyneth Paltrow insists Utah ski collision wasn’t her fault

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:25 GMT

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Gwyneth Paltrow took the stand on Friday to testify in a trial over a 2016 ski crash at a Utah ski resort, where a man claims that the movie star’s recklessness on the slope caused broken ribs, brain damage and lasting physical injuries.Paltrow testified that the crash shocked her — and she thought at first that she was being violated. “Two skis came between my skis, forcing my legs apart. And there was a body pressing against me and a very strange grunting noise. My brain was trying to make sense of what was happening,” she said of the collision.“I felt a body pressed against my back,” Paltrow said. She later clarified on the stand that the collision was not a sexual violation.Paltrow and Terry Sanderson, the retired optometrist suing her, are both expected to answer questions about the crash while their attorneys jostle to convince the 8-member jury which skier was positioned downhill and had the right of way. The actor-turned-lifestyle influencer has previo...