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‘I felt like we left wins on the table’: Why Jed Hoyer seized the opportunity to hire Craig Counsell to manage the Chicago Cubs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:26 GMT

Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer had said all the right things for months in support of David Ross.Even when scrutiny on Ross’ performance became heightened in June when the Cubs slipped 10 games below .500, Hoyer continued to believe in him. At the end of the season, after a three-week September collapse dropped them out of playoff position, he backed his hand-picked manager. Hoyer, though, has shown a willingness to make tough decisions when he believes it benefits the organization.A covert recruitment of managerial free agent Craig Counsell was the latest shrewd maneuver by Hoyer that landed the Cubs one of the best in the game for a record contract at the expense of parting ways with Ross. But that was a price Hoyer was willing to pay. The Cubs want to harness the way Counsell and the Brewers consistently outperformed expectations during his nine seasons at the helm.Counsell always seemed to get the best out of his roster.“My job is to figure o...

Battenfeld: Michelle Wu wins clean liberal sweep in low turnout Boston election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:26 GMT

It wasn’t a referendum on Mayor Michelle Wu but Boston’s City Council election showed how tough it will be to knock off Wu in a low turnout race dominated by activists and liberals.All four of Wu’s endorsed candidates – Benjamin Weber, Enrique Pepen, Sharon Durkan and Henry Santana – cruised to victory on Tuesday night and it wasn’t even that close, according to unofficial returns.That means that four of the 13 councilors – nearly 25% – will be in debt to Wu and under her control.Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune – generally a Wu supporter – was battling with Erin Murphy to top the ticket in the at-large race, according to late returns.Louijeune will be the favorite to be elected the next council president, who is in line to be acting mayor should Wu take another job.If Louijeune wants the job as president, Wu could pressure her endorsed council members to back her, nearly ensuring she’ll get it. That way, Wu can control the council’s agenda and tamp down any dissent.Tuesday’s elect...

Pepen, Weber, Santana, Durkan declare victory for Boston City Council in progressive sweep for Mayor Wu

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:26 GMT

Three progressive Wu-backed candidates in the closely-watched at-large, District 5 and 6 races were elected Tuesday night, with Henry Santana, Enrique Pepén and Benjamin Weber declaring victory in their respective races by 10:30 p.m.A fourth candidate endorsed by the mayor, Sharon Durkan, was able to solidify her July special election win and more permanently claim her District 8 seat by defeating Montez Haywood, a longtime prosecutor with the Suffolk DA’s office.Santana, Wu’s former director of civic organizing for the city, defeated the self-described “right-of-center” Bridget Nee-Walsh, a union ironworker who pitched herself as a blue-collar candidate.Both were seen as the top contenders for the fourth open seat currently held by longtime Councilor Michael Flaherty, who opted not to run for re-election, a prediction that ultimately came to pass.“Boston tonight has made a decision tonight and we have moved forward in electing a progressive leader who is going to be a hard fi...

Results: Nov. 7 Special Election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:26 GMT

Montgomery Steppe takes early lead in District 4 Supervisor race

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:26 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Monica Montgomery Steppe was leading over Amy Reichert in early results in the special election for the District 4 seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.Tuesday's election between San Diego City Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe and founder of “Reopen San Diego” Amy Reichert was held to fill the spot that was vacated by former Supervisor Nathan Fletcher after he was accused of sexual misconduct in his role as chairman of the MTS board in a lawsuit.In August, District 4 voters took to the ballot box to select between four candidates in a primary election. However, none received more than the 50% majority that was needed to win outright, prompting the special election to move to a runoff between the top two vote-getters.Montgomery Steppe, a Democrat, earned 41.70% of the vote in the Aug. 17 primary. Meanwhile, Reichert, a Republican, garnered 28.84% of the vote.Whoever wins in the Nov. 7 runoff will serve out the remainder of Fletcher’s ter...

Miesfeld, Verdugo take early lead in Chula Vista City Attorney race

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:26 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- Bart Miesfeld and Marco Verdugo were leading in early results in the special election for Chula Vista city attorney.Tuesday's election between Dan Smith Diaz, Bart Miesfeld and Marco Verdugo was held after the unexpected death of the previous candidate elected left the position vacant.A candidate will need to receive more than 50% of the vote to win outright. If none of the candidates meet the threshold, the top two vote-getters will move to a runoff election on Mar. 5 next year. Whoever is elected will serve out the remainder of the term, which runs through December 2026. Meet the candidates in the Chula Vista City Attorney special election The late Simon Silva passed from cancer during the November 2022 race after his name could not be removed from the ballots. He beat his opponent by 756 votes.After Silva won, Chula Vista officials started planning for a special election, as the city charter requires. However, the move drew some controversy, given en...

Voters head out to polls for local special elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:26 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Lidiya Harvey brought her young daughter to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters to cast her ballot in person Tuesday along with hundreds of thousands of San Diegans participating in a handful of special elections throughout the county.“I think local elections are the most important elections because it starts here and it affects our everyday lives,” Harvey said.In District Four, voters will choose between Supervisor Candidates Monica Montgomery Steppe, a Democrat, and current San Diego City Councilmember and Republican Amy Reichert to fill the seat left vacant by Nathan Fletcher. Whoever wins will tip the balance of power – now evenly split. Karyn O’Rear lives in District Four in La Mesa. “I think that it's important to go vote for the people and go for the people who represent your ideas and your values,” O'Rear said. San Diego’s guide to the Nov. 7 special elections Beyond the supervisors’ race, the city of Chula Vista will elect a city atto...

‘Extraterrestrials’ return to Mexico’s congress as journalist presses case for ‘non-human beings’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:26 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The lower chamber of Mexico’s congress once again turned to spectacle Tuesday, devoting hours of its time to a controversial character who pressed the case for “non-human beings” he said were found in Peru.Less than three weeks after Category 5 Hurricane Otis devastated Acapulco, a port of nearly 1 million people, the Chamber of Deputies spent more than three hours listening to journalist José Jaime Maussan and his group of Peruvian doctors.Maussan and some Mexican lawmakers became the subject of international ridicule in September when he presented two boxes with supposed mummies found in Peru. He along with others claimed they were “non-human beings that are not part of our terrestrial evolution.”In 2017, Maussan made similar claims in Peru, and a report by that country’s prosecutor’s office found the bodies were actually “recently manufactured dolls, which have been covered with a mixture of paper and synthetic glue to simulate the presence of skin.”The report ...

As price of olive oil soars, chainsaw-wielding thieves target Mediterranean’s century-old trees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:26 GMT

SPATA, Greece (AP) — In an olive grove on the outskirts of Athens, grower Konstantinos Markou pushes aside the shoots of new growth to reveal the stump of a tree — a roughly 150-year-old specimen, he said, that was among 15 cut down on his neighbor’s land by thieves eager to turn it into money.Surging olive oil prices, driven in part by two years of drought in Spain, has meant opportunity for criminals across the Mediterranean. Warehouse break-ins, dilution of premium oil with inferior product, and falsification of shipping data are on the rise in olive-growing heartlands of Greece, Spain and Italy. And perhaps worst of all: Gangs using chainsaws to steal heavily laden branches and even entire trees from unguarded groves.“The olive robbers can sometimes produce more oil than the owners themselves – seriously,” Markou said, before heading off to patrol his own grove at nightfall. The crimes mean fewer olives for growers already contending with high production costs and climate ...

40 Filipinos flee war-ravaged Gaza Strip through Rafah crossing and arrive in Egypt

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:26 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Dozens of Filipinos fled from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip into Egypt through the Rafah crossing after Filipino diplomats negotiated for their safe passage and Qatar mediated for the border to be opened, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Wednesday.The 40 Filipinos were traveling to the Egyptian capital of Cairo, where they planned to take flights back to the Philippines, Marcos said in a video message in Manila. Two Filipino doctors managed to leave the Gaza Strip into Egypt last week.“I hope the rest of our countrymen who also wanted to return home can also exit properly with their spouses and loved ones,” Marcos said.Most of at least 134 Filipinos in Gaza, many of whom are married to Palestinians, have sought help to leave the besieged territory and are waiting for an opportunity to leave, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said.Hamas militants rampaged in southern Israel on Oct. 7, which sparked a war between Israel and Hamas.Before ...