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Denny Hamlin courts controversy, counts victories at Pocono after milestone 50th win in Cup

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:11 GMT

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Denny Hamlin’s friends greeted him at the airport with a sparkling wine shower the instant he walked down the steps of his plane — and hours after he drove into victory lane at Pocono Raceway — in celebration of his 50th career NASCAR Cup win.Let’s put that milestone in perspective.Yes, with three Daytona 500 victories, crown jewel Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500 wins and expansion into team ownership, Hamlin already was headed to the Hall of Fame.But 50 wins in Cup stamps rockets him into rarified air. It’s the NASCAR equivalent of 3,000 hits and 500 home runs in baseball that puts Hamlin on the short list of the true elite.Consider, only 14 other drivers over NASCAR’s 75 years have hit that mark and all but three is in the Hall of Fame. Of those three on the outside, Jimmie Johnson is on the ballot this year, and Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick are sure to get there.The one caveat: Hamlin and Junior Johnson are the only ones in the 50 Cup Club without a champions...

IRS is ending unannounced visits to taxpayers to protect worker safety and combat scammers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service said Monday it is ending its decades-old policy of making unannounced home and business visits, in an effort to help keep its workers safe and to combat scammers who pose as IRS agents. Effective immediately, revenue agents will no longer make unplanned visits to taxpayers’ homes and businesses “except in a few unique circumstances,” the Treasury Department said in a statement. The agency will instead mail letters to people to schedule meetings.“Today’s announcement is the right thing to do, at the right time,” new IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel told reporters on a call Monday.The change ends “an era at the IRS,” he said, reversing a practice by revenue officers whose duties include visiting homes and firms to resolve taxpayers’ liabilities by collecting unpaid taxes and unfiled tax returns.The agency in recent years has experienced more threats, in part tied to conspiracy theories that agents were going to targe...

Films starring Jamie Foxx, Jodie Comer to premiere in Toronto, but strike would impact premieres

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:11 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled a starry lineup to its 48th edition on Monday, even if remains unclear if stars will be there to walk red carpets due to the ongoing actors and writers strikes.Among the films making their world premieres at TIFF this year are Craig Gillespie’s GameStop drama “Dumb Money,” with Paul Dano and Pete Davidson; Ellen Kuras’ “Lee,” starring Kate Winslet at war photographer Lee Miller and Tony Goldwyn’s Ezra,” with Robert De Niro and Rose Byrne. Also headed to Toronto are Michael Keaton’s “Knox Goes Away,” starring Al Pacino and James Marsden; Kristen Scott Thomas’ “North Star,” featuring Scarlett Johansson and Sienna Miller; David Yates’ Netflix drama “Pain Hustler,” starring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans; and Maggie Betts’ “The Burial,” with Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones.Those films, and many more including directorial debuts by Anna Kendrick (“Woman of the Hour”) a...

Dr. Fauci, Liz Cheney, Bill Nye among Colorado Speaker Series guests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:11 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A new event called the Colorado Speaker Series is coming to Denver this year and will feature seven unique events at the Bellco Theatre.While many of the speakers are household names, like Bill Nye and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the series also brings people who may not be as familiar such as Stacey Abrams, a former state representative in Georgia, and Robert Ballard, the man who led the team that discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985.The series will run from Nov. 14 through April 20, 2024, and include seven speakers:Dr. Anthony Fauci - Tuesday, Nov. 14Bill Nye - Wednesday, Dec. 6Liz Cheney - Friday, Jan. 26Captain Scott Kelly - Thursday, Feb. 15Dr. Robert Ballard - Thursday, March 7Stacey Abrams - Wednesday, April 3Ambassador "Sully" Sullenberger - Saturday, April 20Tickets as a subscription for the whole series are already available on presale. There are currently two pricing tiers available:Premium A VIP for $599 which includes a reception meet and greet with one o...

MDPD director shot himself while with wife, he survived

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:11 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP/WSVN) — The director of the Miami-Dade Police Department was in stable condition after surgery in a Tampa area hospital, the Miami-Dade mayor said Monday, amid reports from local media that he had shot himself.Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez, 52, was in Tampa for a law enforcement conference, officials said.“Following a critical injury in Tampa yesterday, Chief Ramirez is hospitalized and in critical but stable condition,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, adding that “that “All that matters right now is Chief Ramirez’s wellbeing.”Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister told Tampa TV station WFLA that Ramirez shot himself Sunday night during a domestic dispute after stopping his car along Interstate 75 south of Tampa, where the sheriff’s conference was underway.The Miami Herald reported that Ramirez’s wife was traveling with him at the time.According to Tampa Police, officers responded to reports of a man, just after 6:30 p.m., who...

Police arrest phone thief at Rolling Loud Miami

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:11 GMT

An off-duty officer’s keen eye led to the arrest of a phone thief who was found with a stash of stolen iPhones from the Rolling Loud music festival at Hard Rock Stadium.Authorities said the incident occurred Sunday evening. According to police, the off-duty officer noticed a Hispanic male walking through the event wristband and carrying an opaque book bag, a violation of the event’s rules.Concerned about the individual’s suspicious behavior, two officers approached the man identified as Kevin Andres Vargas Chistancho. The officers advised Chistancho that his bag violated the event rules and proceeded to remove it from his possession. Upon inspecting the bag, officers found a smaller black bag inside, which, when opened, revealed a metallic inner lining consistent with a Faraday bag – a device commonly used to block phone signals.To their surprise, the Faraday bag contained a total of 12 stolen iPhones of various models. One of the victims of the thefts was ab...

Top sports court sides with FIFA over new rules for agents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:11 GMT

Leading football agents lost a crucial legal dispute over FIFA’s incoming rules that would impose a cap on their service fees.The Court of Arbitration for Sport — the world’s top sports court — ruled in FIFA’s favor Monday, dismissing the Swiss Professional Football Agents Association’s (PROFAA) claims that the regulations violate competition and European Union laws in their “entirety.”FIFA introduced new regulations for agents earlier this year — due to take effect in October — that include limiting agents’ earnings on players’ salaries and transfers. The rules also prevent agents from representing both buying and selling clubs during a transfer. The Swiss agents’ group requested that the new rules get a legal check last October, asking the court to decide whether FIFA can regulate agents’ activities because they are “peripheral” to the actual sport.But judges said FIFA “has both technical and democratic ...

Trader Joe’s recalls two types of cookies because they may contain rocks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:11 GMT

CNN) — Trader Joe’s announced a recall of two types of cookies, stating that they may contain a foreign material, rocks, in a statement on Friday.According to the statement, Almond Windmill Cookies with sell by dates of 10/19/23 through 10/21/23 or Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies with sell by dates of 10/17/23 through 10/21/23 may have been affected.Remaining cookies have been removed from sale or destroyed, the statement said, but any shoppers who purchased these products should dispose of them.The statement urged customers not to consume any of the potentially affected cookies and said the products can be returned to any Trader Joe’s for a full refund.

‘Conversation has commenced’ with North Korea over US solider, United Nations Command says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:11 GMT

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — A “conversation has commenced” with North Korea over US Army Pvt. Travis King, who crossed the border between North and South Korea last week in the demilitarized zone separating the two nations, the deputy commander of the United Nations Command (UNC) said Monday.King, believed to be the first US soldier to cross into North Korea since 1982, had a history of assault, was facing disciplinary action over his conduct and was meant to go back to the US the day before the incident.Gen. Andrew Harrison said the case of King is still under investigation and he could not provide further detail on the private, who the US military said “willfully and without authorization” crossed into North Korea while taking a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area, a small collection of ​buildings inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that has separated North and South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953.“There is a mechanism that exists under the armistice agreem...

Vermont farmers urged to document crop losses from flooding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:11 GMT

ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. (AP) — Vermont state and federal officials on Monday urged farmers to document and report damage from the catastrophic flooding that hit the state two weeks ago and inundated crops in the rural mountainous state known for its scenic farmland.They toured Paul Mazza’s Fruit and Vegetable farm, where fields were under 20 feet (6 meters) of water during the flooding, including row after row of blueberry bushes laden with berries and corn. The crops are now contaminated and unsellable. Mazza, who has seven farms in different locations, estimates he has about 25% of his produce left. Fields are covered with sediment and piles of sand from the river.“It’s a killer. My head just spins,” Mazza said. “I lost my shirt,” he added.A 2021 state government report on Vermont agriculture credited maple producers, apple orchards, farms, cheese, and ice cream for having “long defined the Vermont experience” and said agriculture is a key engine of the...