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Minnesota Orchestra, partners offer a searing remembrance of George Floyd

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:00 GMT

At Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, composer Carlos Simon and librettist Marc Bamuthi Joseph have brought a historic new work full of pungency, titled “brea(d)th.” Commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra following the murder of George Floyd, the piece airs the rot growing from within American society, even as it looks toward the horizon with hope and a call to action.The premiere is presented alongside two other works by Black composers: “Petite Suite de Concert,” Opus 77, by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and “Concerto for Tubist and Orchestra,” by Wynton Marsalis.The concert opens with the blissful melodies in four movements composed by Coleridge-Taylor. Conductor Jonathan Taylor Rush, the associate conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, was all smiles Thursday morning as he led the orchestra through the endearing, lighthearted piece.Composer Carlos Simon during rehearsals with the Minnesota Orchestra for “brea(d)th,” which premieres at Orchestra Hall in Mi...

Efforts to legalize MN sports betting on the ropes at Legislature

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:00 GMT

Efforts to legalize sports betting appear to have folded at the Minnesota Legislature for lack of time.House Speaker Melissa Hortman said passage of legislation legalizing sports gambling was unlikely to make it to the floor for a vote this session.“I think we are probably out of time,” Hortman said during a Thursday afternoon news conference. “In the House it has two or three more committees. We are not going to be able to take people away from the floor to have that move through the committees that it would need to.”Getting a legal sports betting bill through both chambers would almost certainly take bipartisan support, at least in the Senate, and Republicans and Democrats don’t appear to have a finalized agreement.The Minnesota Legislature must adjourn by midnight May 22 and lawmakers have several massive bills they need to approve before then to finalize a nearly $72 billion two-tear budget.Supporters of legalized sports betting have pushed for it u...

Democrats, advocates demand action on gun control

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NEXSTAR) — Following another round of deadly mass shootings, Democrats and advocates are demanding that Congress move forward with gun control legislation. But if they want to pass anything soon, they'll have to find a way to get Republicans on board too. On Thursday, lawmakers and advocates rallied to talk about next steps.  Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! College student Jakoby Mitchell, a gun violence survivor, was among those who spoke at the event. "This has to stop. We have to take action," Mitchell said. Congresswoman Lucy McBath says it's crucial for lawmakers to keep pushing for reform. For her, the cause is personal because she lost her son in a shooting. "It's common sense solutions that save lives," McBath said. "It's background checks. It's red flag laws. It's banning assault weapons."Senator Raphael Warnock says he's frustrated lawmakers haven't done more.  Yellen: ...

Smoke from wildfires make for intense sunrises and sunsets in St. Louis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Our skies have been hazy the last few days, a result of wildfire smoke from dozens of fires burning in western Canada.The British Columbia Wildfire Service said they have 300 firefighters and over 130 structural protection firefighters employed to tackle the blaze, and the next 48 hours are critical.The jetstream is responsible for carrying the smoke from those wildfires to the Midwest, leading to a hazy sky despite low cloud cover. FOX 2’s Bommarito Automotive Group SkyFOX caught the smoke’s effect in the sunrise this morning in St. Louis, making our sunrises and sunsets more vibrant due to the way the smoke scatters the sun’s rays.John Nahon, manager of Energy Stage and Earth Sciences at the Saint Louis Science Center, said that it all has to do with light being different colors because of its different wavelengths. Trending -- Three Missouri cities make ‘Best Places to Live’ list “Here on the right, we’re getting a little bit more of the blue color. That’s a really ...

Heavy rainfall flooded storage units in south St. Louis County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo - Last weekend's downpour flooded many homes, roads, and businesses in south St. Louis County. Now some tenants at a self-storage facility are learning their units flooded and that clean-up is underway.The site in question is the Public Storage service facility on Reavis Barracks Road in Mehlville. Some of those items were saturated with rain. Now tenants are trying to go through the units to see what is salvageable.Anthony Mulls said he spent the day sorting through his prized possessions and provided photos of his family's belongings that were in several feet of mud and water in the storage unit.“I opened it up, and all the beds, doll's houses, everything what we got in there was gone," he said. "Turns out that everything that we have moved from our last house, everything in there has been flooded." In-N-Out Burger poised for major expansion, including in Missouri Over the weekend, the water came from a nearby creek. The River Des Peres also flooded the Ceda...

Takeaways from Jeffco K-8 and middle school enrollment and choice numbers, ahead of school closures

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:00 GMT

Jeffco school leaders have said identifying middle schools to close will be more complicated than it was with elementary schools.Related ArticlesEducation | A divided Denver school board votes to increase Superintendent Alex Marrero’s pay to $305,000 a year Education | Denver Public Schools has lacked a safety chief for 6 months amid rising gun violence Education | Denver school board to vote on new contract for Superintendent Alex Marrero Education | CA bill 252: The latest economic threat to Pac-12, college sports Education | CU Boulder ranked top university in the state, according to CWUR global rankings That’s a daunting challenge for a district that voted to close 16 elementary schools last fall.Leaders plan to recommend to the school board in August which schools to close, and to redraw some attendance boundaries and redesignate feeder schools in summer 2024.A look at enrollment, school spend...

DU women’s lacrosse rallies to upset No. 4 North Carolina, advance to NCAA Tournament semifinals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:00 GMT

The DU women’s lacrosse team is now just two wins from perfection.The undefeated Pioneers rode their trademark defense, and clutch fourth-period goals from Julia Gilbert and Kayla DeRose, to a stunning come-from-behind 5-4 victory over fourth-seeded North Carolina on its own turf Thursday afternoon at Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill, N.C.Head coach Liza Kelly’s fifth-seeded Pios rallied from a 4-1 second-period deficit, holding the high-powered Tar Heels attack scoreless over the final 35 minutes, 22 seconds, of play to advance to the NCAA Tournament semifinals.DU, now 22-0 on the season, will face the winner of Thursday night’s game between No. 1 Northwestern and No. 8 Loyola Maryland on Friday, May 26, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.The Tar Heels (16-5) came into Thursday’s Elite Eight matchup averaging 14.6 goals per game. But against a DU defense that’s the stingiest in the nation, they struggled to maintain possession or score on DU goaltender E...

Grand Junction’s Miller Jones overcomes anxiety, wins Class 4A long jump title at Jeffco Stadium

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:00 GMT

LAKEWOOD  – After conquering his anxiety and unlocking his potential, Grand Junction senior Miller Jones leapt his way to the Class 4A long jump title Thursday at Jeffco Stadium.Jones lived up to his top-ranked status entering the CHSAA state meet, posting a mark of 23 feet, 4 inches. The championship jump bested runner-up Jayden Nohr of Roosevelt by 3.5 inches and marked a total turnaround from Jones’ performance in the event last year, when he finished 13th.“I’ve been present mentally to be able to put up these jumps,” Jones said. “I had some bad mental stuff last year, with really bad anxiety that affected (my performance). This year, it’s been a lot better. I’ve been able to overcome it and learned how to be patient in everything with my approach, on the runway, all of it.“I had no patience last year, but I’m getting there now. This year, I’ve dialed it in.”Jones is headed to Colorado Mesa to run track and k...

Rockies shake off awful April to win 11 of last 16 games

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:00 GMT

In case you missed it while you’ve been following the Nuggets’ quest for their first NBA title, the Rockies have been playing solid baseball.They have moved past the season’s quarter pole and take a 19-25 record into Texas for a three-game series with the Rangers beginning Friday night at Globe Life Field.After an ugly April in which they looked to be on a fast track toward the first 100-loss season in franchise history, the Rockies have won 11 of their last 16. True, their 19-25 record is the second-worst in the National League (only the 18-26 Cardinals are worse), and they are on pace to finish the season 70-92, so there is no party planned on Blake Street. But things are trending up.Following is a look through the first quarter of the season:Starting rotation: Injuries have decimated this group which is why Karl Kauffmann will make his big-league debut Friday night, despite posting a 7.78 ERA in eight starts at Triple-A Albuquerque.With right-hander German Marqu...

New health issue emerges for California Sen. Dianne Feinstein

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:00 GMT

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office said Thursday that she is suffering from Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a complication from the shingles virus that can paralyze part of the face, and that she contracted encephalitis while recovering from the virus earlier this year.Feinstein, 89, had not previously disclosed those medical details, though she said in a statement last week that she had suffered complications from the virus. The longtime California senator returned from a more than two-month absence on May 10 after weeks of questions about her declining health and whether she would be back in the Senate at all.Adam Russell, a spokesman for Feinstein, said that the encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, “resolved itself shortly after she was released from the hospital in March.” Feinstein continues to have complications from the Ramsay Hunt syndrome, Russell said. Feinstein returning to Senate after facing resignation calls Russell confirmed the two complications after...