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Supreme Court to decide if First Amendment stops government officials from blocking social media critics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:49 GMT

(CNN) — The Supreme Court said Monday that it will consider whether the First Amendment protects social media users from being blocked from commenting on the personal pages that government officials use to communicate actions related to their duties.The justices said they were taking up two cases concerning the question: one lawsuit brought against local school district officials in California and another lawsuit against a city manager in Michigan.Appeals courts have set forth different tests for determining whether blocking a social media user from commenting on a government official’s personal social media page amounts to an unconstitutional state action restricting speech in a public forum.The court will be weighing in on the question after previously dismissing as moot a case concerning former President Donald Trump’s move to block Twitter users who were criticizing him and his policies.The case will be heard next term.A circuit split on when a government offic...

Ray Romano underwent heart surgery after major blockage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:49 GMT

(CNN) — Ray Romano regrets not taking his doctor’s advice years ago.The “Everybody Loves Raymond” star said he recently has a heart stent installed after doctors found a 90 percent blockage in a major artery.“I had high cholesterol 20 years ago and my guy always told me, ‘Why don’t we start going on the statin,'” Romano said during a conversation on the “WTF Podcast with Marc Maron.”“And every time I would say let me do it myself,” he recalled. “I would go home and eat a little healthier, get it down a couple ticks. It was 280 and now its 220. He’d go, ‘You gotta get it down even more.'”The 65-year-old actor said he regrets not going on the medication earlier, though he said he’s now pre-diabetic.“I’m on the meds, and it’s got me all down now, so I figured, ‘Oh, now I can enjoy and eat some food.'” Romano said. “My sugar level’s up now....

Richard Lewis ‘finished with standup’ amid Parkinson’s disease

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:49 GMT

(CNN) — For those wondering where he has been for the last few years, Richard Lewis has an answer.The comedian, actor and writer posted a video Sunday on social media to celebrate his completion of filming the 12th season Larry David’s hit series, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which Lewis described as “an amazing season.”Lewis said for more than three years, people have been wondering where he’s been. The actor said it’s been a “rocky” time for him. He’s undergone surgeries for his shoulder, back and hips, and has been dealing with another health challenge.“Two years ago I started walking a little stiffly, I was shuffling my feet and I went to a neurologist and they gave me a brain scan and I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,” Lewis, 75, said in his video. “Luckily, I got it late in life. And they say you progress very slowly, if at all. And I’m on the right meds, so I’m c...

Healey names transportation safety chief

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:49 GMT

A transportation exec with experience at systems around the country was named the new Chief Safety Officer in Massachusetts, a post that will have him overseeing safety and operations for the MBTA, highway, rail and paratransit operations.Governor Maura Healey named Patrick J. Lavin to the post created when she took office earlier this year.Lavin has previously worked as Chief Safety Officer for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and as Senior Director of Operations for system safety at the New York City Transit.“Pat Lavin is a dedicated public transportation expert who shares our administration’s commitment to improving safety and reliability across our transportation system, including the MBTA,” said Healey in a statement accompanying the announcement of Lavin’s appointment.. “We created this position to ensure we had a senior official coordinating efforts across all modes of transportation and driving strategies across the system to improve safety for rider...

Chris Perkins’ final NFL mock draft: Who will Dolphins take at No. 51?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:49 GMT

The South Florida Sun Sentinel’s third and final 2023 NFL mock draft has Dolphins columnist Chris Perkins going until pick No. 51, Miami’s first selection this year. Trades, which are sure to happen, are factored into this mock draft, similar to Dolphins writer David Furones’ mock draft, but unlike Perkins’ initial mock draft. The NFL draft is Thursday-Saturday in Kansas City.1. Carolina Panthers (from Chicago): Bryce Young, QB, AlabamaThis remains a tough choice between Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, but I’ll give the Panthers the guy believed to have the higher football IQ.Top needs: QB, Edge rusher, ILB2. Houston Texans: C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio StateStroud likely remains the No. 2 selection here even though there’s talk that the Texans like Kentucky’s Will Levis.Top needs: QB, Edge, WR3. Tennessee Titans (mock trade with Arizona): Anthony Richardson, QB, FloridaThere’s chatter that veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill is on t...

2 hospitalized after City Heights shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:49 GMT

SAN DIEGO — A shooting early Monday morning in the City Heights neighborhood left two people injured, police said.According to the San Diego Police Department, the shooting happened shortly after 2 a.m. in the area near 4070 42nd Street.Two people, who were only described as males, were shot and taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that were said to be non-life-threatening.The circumstances that led to the shooting are still under investigation by police.No suspect description or additional details on the shooting were immediately available.

Drake adds North American dates in 2023, new shows in Toronto

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:49 GMT

Drake is expanding his 2023 “It’s All a Blur” tour with rapper 21 Savage to include new cities, including stops in Toronto.The Canadian rapper delayed the start of the tour, shelving shows in New Orleans, Nashville, Houston, Dallas, Miami, and Atlanta until late summer.The new cities added include Toronto, Columbus, Memphis, Denver, Austin, Milwaukee, and Charlotte. The two concerts in Toronto at Scotiabank Arena are tentatively scheduled for October 5 and October 7.RELATED: OVO Fest ticket costs frustrate Drake fans as prices reach $900 for lawn seatsThe Toronto pre-sale is slated to begin at 10 a.m. ET on April 27. The general public sale will be held a day later, at 1 p.m. ET on April 28.In March, Drake fans filed a class-action lawsuit against Ticketmaster. He claimed that seat prices for the original run of shows were artificially inflated.The Canadian rapper is coming off two album releases in 2022, including “Honestly, Nevermind” and a collab alb...

U2 creating new experience with Sphere Las Vegas concerts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:49 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — U2 is familiar with rocking out in major sporting arenas and stadiums, but the legendary band will soon hit the stage to create a new immersive concert experience inside a high-tech, globe-shaped venue in Las Vegas.Live Nation and Sphere Entertainment announced Monday the dates for U2’s upcoming “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere” shows starting Sept. 29. The rock band’s special five-night run of shows will be held until Oct. 8 at The Venetian’s Sphere with a state-of-the-art audio and visual system designed for each concertgoer.“This is a venue designed for entertainment, not sports,” said U2 guitarist The Edge in a recent interview. He first learned about the cutting-edge venue after lead singer Bono sent him a link about the concept. He said the screen is 20 times bigger than the one during the band’s Joshua Tree tour in 2019 — the last time U2 performed live in a concert setting. “Sports is a simple formula. You want to see the action,” he continued. “But no o...

4 years later, a disciplinary hearing in fatal NYPD shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:49 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Kawaski Trawick’s interaction with the police lasted less than two minutes. Starting with a door knock, it ended with the 32-year-old Black man shot dead by a white New York Police Department officer in his own apartment, the killing caught on body camera and surveillance video.An internal NYPD investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of the officer or his partner. The district attorney in the Bronx, where the shooting took place in 2019, declined to bring charges.Now, four years after Trawick’s death, a civilian agency tasked with oversight of the NYPD is pursuing a last-ditch attempt to get the department to discipline the officers.An administrative trial starts Monday to determine whether either violated department rules during the encounter.The Civilian Complaint Review Board will argue that Officer Brendan Thompson, who fired both his Taser and his handgun at Trawick, used an improper amount of force, and both he and his partner, Officer Herbert...

Jury selection begins over 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:49 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jury selection began Monday in the federal death penalty trial of a truck driver accused of shooting to death 11 Jewish worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.Robert G. Bowers, who is from the Pittsburgh suburb of Baldwin, faces 63 counts in the Oct. 27, 2018, attack at the Tree of Life synagogue, where members of three Jewish congregations were holding Sabbath activities. The charges include 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religion resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. Bowers, 50, could get the death sentence if convicted. He offered to plead guilty in return for a life sentence, but federal prosecutors turned him down even though Joe Biden pledged while campaigning for president three years ago that, if elected, he would work to end the federal death penalty. Bowers’ lawyers also recently said he has schizophrenia and structural and functional brain impairments.It ...