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Kurtenbach: Inside the Brock Purdy-Brandon Aiyuk relationship that has taken the 49ers offense to a new level

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:52:00 GMT

SEATTLE — Being an NFL starting quarterback comes with far more responsibilities than just throwing the football.The starting quarterback is the offensive coordinator on the field, responsible for clear communication of responsibilities and charged with “canning” the play if the defense’s look isn’t right.The starting quarterback is also the face of the franchise in press conferences — their time at the dais is as important as the head coach’s.And, trickiest of all, the starting quarterback is also responsible for the team’s overall temperament. Not only does his attitude and personality set a tone for the offense, but there’s also a lot of psychoanalysis that needs to happen on a week-by-week or sometimes play-by-play basis.Related ArticlesSan Francisco 49ers | Brock Purdy checks off another box and 49ers take control of NFC West San Francisco 49ers | Kurtenbach: The 49ers’ defense is back from the depths an...

Berkeley: Pair get wildly different sentences in human trafficking case

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:52:00 GMT

OAKLAND — A Berkeley man and woman have negotiated their human trafficking case with wildly different results that saw one defendant go to state prison and another take a two-year probation term, court records show.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Peninsula man convicted on felony sex trafficking, pimping charges Crime and Public Safety | College coach built ‘sex dungeon’ in his East Bay home, coerced woman to become a ‘girlfriend for hire,’ police say Crime and Public Safety | 3 people arrested in alleged trafficking of girls at California massage parlor Crime and Public Safety | California man, 2 others charged with running sex ring that catered to elected officials, other wealthy clients Crime and Public Safety | Nine arrested in sprawling Santa Clara County sex-trafficking ring Chemon Parks, 24, pleaded no contest to pimping, human trafficking, and sexual batter...

Ireland’s PM slams anti-immigrant violence in Dublin

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:52:00 GMT

By Danica Kirka | Associated PressLONDON — Ireland’s prime minister on Friday condemned anti-immigrant protesters who rampaged through central Dublin after three young children were stabbed, saying the rioters simply wanted to cause chaos, not protect the country’s way of life.Police arrested 34 people overnight after up to 500 people looted shops, set fire to vehicles and threw rocks at crowd control officers equipped with helmets and shields. The violence began after rumors circulated that a foreign national was responsible for the attack outside a Dublin school on Thursday afternoon.Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Ireland’s capital had endured two attacks, one on innocent children and the other on “our society and the rule of law.”“These criminals did not do what they did because they love Ireland, they did not do what they did because they wanted to protect Irish people, they did not do it out of any sense of patriotism, however warped,”...

Mother of San Jose toddler who died of fentanyl toxicity charged  

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:52:00 GMT

(KRON) – Kelly Richardson, the mother of the 18-month-old girl who died due to fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity, was arrested with murder on Nov. 22, the San Jose Police Department announced Friday.  The toddler has been referred to as "Baby W."According to the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office recorded a fentanyl blood concentration of 74 nanograms per milliliter in Baby W's autopsy, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.  According to court documents, Richardson and her child’s father, Derek Vaughn Rayo, had fentanyl and opioids in their system at the time of their daughter’s death on Aug. 12. The parents also waited over 12 hours before contacting police, where San Jose officers responded to the 1500 block of Huddersfield Court for a report of an infant female who was not conscious and not breathing. The toddler was pronounced dead at the scene.  Parents of San Jose toddler who died of fentanyl toxicity charged with murder Derek ...

Australia beats Finland 2-0 to reach 2nd straight Davis Cup final

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:52:00 GMT

MALAGA, Spain (AP) — Alex de Miñaur and Alexei Popyrin put Australia back into the Davis Cup final for a second straight year after winning their singles matches in a 2-0 victory over Finland on Friday.Popyrin gave Australia a 1-0 lead in the semifinal match after beating Otto Virtanen 7-6 (5), 6-2. De Miñaur then finished off Finland by beating Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 6-3.Novak Djokovic’s Serbia will face Jannik Sinner’s Italy on Saturday in the other semifinal match on the indoor hard court at Martin Carpena arena in Malaga, Spain. Popyrin edged Virtanen in the first set, saving a set point when trailing 6-5 and forcing a tiebreaker that he clinched when his opponent slapped a forehand long.Virtanen was Finland’s hero in its upset of defending champion Canada on Tuesday, winning both his singles and doubles matches. But his serve let him down against Popyrin in the second set when his fifth double-fault cost him a break.De Miñaur converted five of 18 break chances against Ruusuvuori....

Dolphins rookie RB De’Von Achane and Jets veteran WR Allen Lazard inactive for Black Friday game

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:52:00 GMT

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Miami Dolphins rookie running back De’Von Achane was inactive for the game Friday against the New York Jets, who were sitting veteran wide receiver Allen Lazard.Achane was questionable for the NFL’s first game played on Black Friday after he aggravated the same knee injury last Sunday that caused him to miss the previous four games. Achane was limited at practice all week and Miami elevated running back Darrynton Evans to the active roster from the practice squad in case Achane couldn’t play.Lazard has struggled with drops the past few games and was a healthy scratch Friday. It has been a disappointing first season in New York for the 27-year-old Lazard, who signed a four-year, $44 million contract with the Jets in March after playing the last five years in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers. He has just 20 catches for 290 yards and two touchdowns this season.Wide receiver Randall Cobb, also a longtime teammate of Rodgers in Green Bay, was ac...

Person of interest detained after Thanksgiving Day house fire displaces 12 people in Montgomery Co.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:52:00 GMT

A fire that broke out in a home in Montgomery County, Maryland, Thursday night displaced 17 people — including five children — and a “person of interest” has been questioned by police, authorities said.Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer said that the fire broke out around 10 p.m. in the single-family located in the 2800 block Kingswell Drive off Judson Road in the Wheaton area. The fire was contained to the first floor and a sunroom.The home’s occupants were already outside the house by the time fire crews arrived. All told, 12 adults, five children and two cats were displaced by the blaze, Piringer said.Photos from the scene showed a brick rambler-style house covered in sootNo one was injured and the people who lived in the home were being tended to by the Red Cross.The cause of the fire is still under investigation. A person described as a “person of interest” in the fire was detained by police, then taken to the hospital and qu...

Corey Perry sits again as Blackhawks remain quiet about forward’s status

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:52:00 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Corey Perry is a healthy scratch for Chicago’s game against Toronto on Friday, and Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson is declining to provide any update on the forward’s status with the team.The 38-year-old Perry has four goals and five assists in 16 games in his first season with the team. He skated for almost 15 minutes during a 3-2 loss to Buffalo on Sunday, and then was a healthy scratch for Wednesday night’s 7-3 loss at Columbus.“He won’t be in the lineup today,” Richardson said before the matchup with the Maple Leafs, “and I’m unable to give any more information at this time.”Asked if Perry’s absence was his decision or coming from above him, Richardson responded: “That’s just going to be kept internal for now in the organization. Hopefully we’ll be able to give updates soon, but we can’t give a timeline on that.”Perry was acquired in a June trade with Tampa Bay. He then agreed to a $4 million, one-year contrac...

Returning Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri takes some of the credit for last season’s Serie A title

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:52:00 GMT

NAPLES, Italy (AP) — Walter Mazzarri believes he contributed to Napoli’s runaway title run last season because of the progress he made coaching the southern club a decade ago.Napoli’s Italian Cup triumph in 2012 under Mazzarri was its first trophy since the days when Diego Maradona played for the club. He also coached the team to a runner-up finish in Serie A a season later.Now Mazzarri is back in charge, having replaced the fired Rudi Garcia, and will make his debut at Atalanta on Saturday with Napoli in fourth place, 10 points behind leader Inter Milan.“We did a lot. All the progress that the club has made started with me,” Mazzarri said Friday in his first news conference since the coaching change was made at the start of the international break. “Then the club did a good job of always improving every year.”So much so that Mazzarri — who has also managed Sampdoria, Inter Milan, Watford, Torino and Cagliari — already maintains that this is the best team he’s ever coached.So can he...

Davis has 26 points, Martin adds 25, No. 19 Florida Atlantic beats No. 12 Texas A&M 96-89

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:52:00 GMT

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Johnell Davis scored 26 points, Alijah Martin added 25 and No. 19 Florida Atlantic beat No. 12 Texas A&M 96-89 in a semifinal at the ESPN Events Invitational on Friday.Davis and Martin combined for 11 3-pointers as FAU (4-1) went 16 of 30 (53.3%) from behind the arc.Wade Taylor IV had 35 points for Texas A&M (5-1).Texas A&M played the second half without Henry Coleman III, who was hurt with three minutes left in the opening half and limped off the court. The forward led the Aggies with 24 points in a 89-77 win over Butler on Thursday.After trailing by 18 points, the Aggies got within 89-84 on Taylor’s 3-point play with 1:36 to go, but Texas A&M could get no closer.Jalen Gaffney hit a pair of long-range shots to key FAU’s 16-3 run to start the second half and take a 62-47 lead.Coleman had a pair of layups to spur a first half-ending 16-6 run that got Texas A&M within 46-44.Vladislav Goldin, a 7-foot-1 center who scored 19 points in Thu...