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Vocabulary portion makes National Spelling Bee harder than ever

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

OXON HILL, Md. — Navneeth Murali would strongly prefer for the Scripps National Spelling Bee to get rid of the onstage, multiple-choice vocabulary questions that were introduced to the competition two years ago.“It’s sort of hit or miss, the onstage vocab format, and it’s sort of brutal in my opinion,” the 17-year-old former speller said.The vocabulary questions are part of a series of changes to the post-pandemic bee, which is leaner and, in some ways, meaner. Accomplished spellers can be bounced from the bee without ever misspelling a word. And because there is no alternative path to the bee as there was in the late 2010s, the regional bees spellers must win to qualify can be incredibly tense, and sometimes shocking. Last year’s national runner-up, Vikram Raju, didn’t make it back in his final year of eligibility.The tweaks help ensure the bee, which began Tuesday with the preliminary rounds and concludes Thursday, finishes on schedule with a sole champion....

Child shot, critically hurt in north St. Louis County

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - A child was shot Saturday afternoon in north St. Louis County and is currently hospitalized with critical injuries. The shooting happened just before 3 p.m. Saturday in the 1300 block of Aspen Woods Drive. Police responded to a Shot Spotter alert in the area. St. Louis sheriff offers crime solution. Who’s listening? When officers arrived, they found a child outside and suffering from a gunshot wound. The child was quickly rushed to a hospital for treatment. No one else was hurt in the shooting. A nearby home also suffered some property damage from the gunfire. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News SIGN UP NOW Police have not yet disclosed the gender, age or identity of the child shot. No suspect information is available at this t...

Kirkwood police searching for missing teenager

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

KIRKWOOD, Mo. - The Kirkwood Police Department is asking for the public's help with finding a missing teenager. Police have issued an endangered person advisory for Lawrence Mintzlaff, who goes by the name LJ. He was recently reported missing from his home on Craig Forest Lane. Kirkwood police say he is considered a runaway and has some cognitive disabilities. St. Louis sheriff offers crime solution. Who’s listening? Mintzlaff was last seen wearing a white shirt and black shorts and was believed to be riding a red Jeep BMX bicycle. A family member reached out to FOX 2 and said they have not heard from him since Friday afternoon. Family says he is around 5 feet, 6 inches tall and 125 pounds. If you have any information on his whereabouts, contact the Kirkwood Police Department at 314-822-5858 or the nearest law enforcement agency.

Analysis: Do Nuggets have habits to improve vs. Miami Heat’s zone defense in NBA Finals Game 2?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

If there’s a path to the championship for Miami after Denver’s convincing Game 1 win in the NBA Finals, it will involve smacking the immaculately synchronized Nuggets out of their rhythm.Zone defense briefly did the trick in the series-opener.The underdogs from South Beach narrowed a 24-point deficit to nine late in the fourth quarter Thursday night. That comeback amounted to nothing, but it did offer a glimpse of the version of the Heat that hasn’t folded during this playoff gauntlet.The Nuggets missed 10 of their first 13 shots in the fourth quarter as Miami went back to a zone defense, which Eric Spoelstra had also deployed earlier in the game. The acclaimed coach relishes the opportunity to mix up defensive looks.What happened during that drought, and how does it pertain to Game 2 on Sunday (6 p.m. MT)? After watching film, Michael Malone and players generally felt content with their shot selection.“We got the looks we needed,” Jamal Murray said. &#...

Kickin’ It with Kiz: Only cure for Nuggets Nation’s inferiority complex? A championship.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

Uncle Kiz, you are familiar with the idea of Nugglyfe, no? With the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder we have in Nuggets Nation, while you guarantee a championship after Game 1 of the NBA Finals, we desperately don’t want to jinx things or count our chickens before they hatch. Because, you know, a sandbag from the ceiling might fall on center Nikola Jokic.Rob, Nuggets for lifeKiz: Could I be wrong about the Nuggets winning the Finals? Yes, I suppose, if an asteroid hits the earth before Denver registers four victories against Miami. But then we’d have a bigger problems than basketball, eh? I’ve got no problem with fans bashing me for declaring this series against the Heat over after a single game. But hand-wringing about me jinxing the Nuggets, while understandable, is also emblematic of a fan base with an inferiority complex. After decades of playoff frustration, Nuggets Nation has almost as much trouble believing our local NBA team is legitimately great as national ...

Speeding motorcyclist in Aurora crash dies days later at hospital

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

A 21-year-old Aurora man died Saturday from injuries suffered when the motorcycle he was riding crashed with a van.The incident happened about 10 a.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Chambers Road and East Moncrieff Place, according to an Aurora Police Department news release.The driver of a Toyota van was turning north onto Chambers Road from Moncrieff when the van was struck by a Kawasaki motorcycle that was south on Chambers, police said.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Driver dies after truck drives off roadway and onto Middle Fork of South Platte River in Park County Crime and Public Safety | Driver struck and killed child in “terrible, terrible accident” in Commerce City parking lot, police say Crime and Public Safety | Two dead, another injured in Sunday night crash on Interstate 25 Crime and Public Safety | 22-year-old man dies in Aurora rollover crash Sunday night, police say Crime and Pub...

India train crash kills over 280, injures 900 in one of nation's worst rail disasters

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

Rescuers found no more survivors in the overturned and mangled wreckage of two passenger trains that derailed in eastern India, killing more than 280 people and injuring hundreds in one of the country's deadliest rail crashes in decades, officials said Saturday.Chaotic scenes erupted on Friday night as rescuers climbed atop the wrecked trains to break open doors and windows using cutting torches. The death toll rose steadily throughout the night. Scores of bodies, covered by white sheets, lay on the ground near the tracks while locals and rescuers raced to free the hundreds of people trapped in the rail cars under the twisted metal and broken glass. Army soldiers and air force helicopters joined the effort in Odisha state. An Associated Press photographer saw bodies still entangled in a badly mangled coach, as rescuers struggled to retrieve them working under the oppressive heat with temperatures reaching up to 35 degree Celsius (96 degrees Fahrenheit). “By 10 p.m. (on Friday) we we...

New details, arrest information released in knife altercation on San Mateo High School campus

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

(KRON) -- Police are releasing new details in the knife altercation at San Mateo High School on Friday. As officers responded to the knife incident, an attack nearby led them on a chase through San Mateo. Fight ends in shooting in front of SoMa nightclub, police say The San Mateo Police Department responded to a report of a fight that involved a knife at the SMHS campus on Delaware Street. Officers secured the scene before medics arrived to treat a boy who suffered a concussion and a "knife wound," police said. Police and school officials worked together to initiate the "secure campus" protocol at the school. This is an action response that requires all students and staff to head inside, lock the doors and stay put until given an all clear, SMPD said. As officers investigated what happened, they learned that two students in the summer school program at SMHS had a verbal argument on campus, which then turned physical. The students exchanged blows, and one began to experience blurr...

BART sees 'major delays' systemwide due to power outage

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

(KRON) -- A power outage slowed service on some parts of the Bay Area Rapid Transportation Saturday afternoon, BART announced. Details released in knife altercation at San Mateo High School In a 2 p.m. update, BART said that a power outage on the San Francisco line impacted routes. However, normal service has now been restored to the Orange, Yellow, Blue and Green lines. There was no service on the Red Line Millbrae and Richmond due to the outage as of 1:30 p.m.

Blanchard, Pracht drive in 10 runs, George Mason tops Northeastern 11-3 at Winston-Salem Regional

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

WINSTON-SALEM, N. C. (AP) — Chad Gartland went the distance and Evan Blanchard and Carson Pracht each drove in five runs to carry George Mason past Northeastern 11-3 in an elimination game at the Winston-Salem Regional on Saturday. The Patriots (35-26) advance to face the loser of Saturday’s late game between top-seeded Wake Forest and second-seeded Maryland on Sunday. Gartland (7-2) scattered seven hits over nine innings and all three Northeastern runs came on solo home runs by Spenser Smith, Harrison Feinberg and Alex Lane.Blanchard hit a pair of two-run singles and added a fifth RBI on a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning. Pracht doubled to drive in two runs in the sixth, hit an RBI single in the eighth and singled home two more in the ninth.George Mason amassed a dozen hits and drew six walks off five Huskies pitchers.Aivan Cabral (9-4)started for Northeastern (44-16) and allowed four runs on four hits and a pair of walks over four innings to take the loss. ___AP colleg...