Home

Voters set the stage for November as Virginia’s tightly-contested primaries close

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:47:27 GMT

Pivotal races are being called in Virginia’s fiercely contested party primaries, as voters determine who advances to a potentially game-changing election this fall.Counting is underway to name the winners in Virginia’s Democratic and Republican primaries for top prosecutor, state legislature, county board and more. Tuesday sets the stage for a November election that could re-define the balance of power in the Old Dominion, and the results are sure to be closely scrutinized for hints about which direction a bitterly divided General Assembly could swing.WTOP’s reporters will keep an eye on the numbers throughout the evening. Stay with WTOP.com and listen online for updates and analysis as the votes are counted. Click here for live election results.Live Virginia primary election resultsMore Local Politics and Elections NewsMore Virginia NewsCommonwealth’s AttorneyWhile much attention will be focused on the races for state legislature, the Commonwealth’s At...

Australia wins Ashes classic as Cummins finishes off 2-wicket win over England in 1st test

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:47:27 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Pat Cummins threw off his helmet, tossed away his bat and wheeled away in celebration after playing a captain’s innings to help Australia win an Ashes classic on Tuesday.England’s “Bazball” cricket revolution got a lesson from Down Under in a series-opening test that went down to the wire on the fifth and final day.Chasing 281 at a raucous Edgbaston, the Australians reached the target inside the final hour for a two-wicket victory after opener Usman Khawaja hit a patient 65 and Cummins finished the job with an unbeaten 44 containing two sixes and four fours.“Both teams spoke a lot about playing your own style,” Cummins said about triumphing over England’s high-stakes attacking approach under Ben Stokes. “And that’s the beauty of this series. Two contrasting styles, playing to our strengths and that made for great entertainment.”Cummins shared a match-winning ninth-wicket partnership of 55 with tailender Nathan Lyon (16 not out), hitting t...

Yankees say Aaron Judge appears to respond to second toe injection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:47:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge appears to be responding to a second platelet-rich plasma injection to his right big toe yet has not resumed baseball activities.Judge was hurt June 3 when he ran into a wall while making a catch at Dodger Stadium. The Yankees announced the first injection on June 6 and said Judge had another last Thursday.“I’m encouraged by what I’m seeing,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before Tuesday’s series opener against Seattle. “He’s been slowly doing better and able to do more things, but do feel like hopefully that was the start of him really starting to make some real progress.”Boone said the swelling subsided and Judge is able to do more activity on the toe while keeping balanced.Judge is the reigning AL MVP after setting an AL record with 62 home runs last year. He is hitting .291 with 19 homers and 40 RBIs, and the Yankees are 8-14 with Judge on the injured list and 31-19 when he has been available. They have lost eight of 12 since the latest injury.“Been...

Challenger Aird defeats incumbent Virginia Sen. Joe Morrissey in closely watched race

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:47:27 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Former state legislator Lashrecse Aird defeated incumbent Sen. Joe Morrissey, a self-described “pro-life” Democrat, Tuesday in one of Virginia’s most closely watched nomination contests of the primary election.Aird, a former member of the state House of Delegates, ran a campaign heavily focused on Morrissey’s position on abortion. A veteran lawmaker and one of the most controversial figures in Virginia politics, Morrissey has expressed a willingness to vote with Republicans to enact stricter limits on abortion in Virginia sought by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.Morrissey was just one of many incumbents facing spirited challenges Tuesday in an election season that’s been upended by newly drawn political maps legislative candidates are running in for the first time this year. Many other key races had not yet been called.Aird won the race with the help of an unusual number of legislators and members of the state’s congressional delegation who endorsed her. She als...

Kansas man charged with making online threats against Nashville Pride festival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:47:27 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Kansas man is facing federal charges of making threats on social media to build bombs and carry out a mass shooting at a Nashville Pride festival.According to U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis’ office, the indictment unsealed Tuesday against a 25-year-old from Hoisington, Kansas charges him with two counts of transmitting an interstate threat about the Nashville Pride Festival and Parade. The event is scheduled for June 24 to 25.An indictment says the man on April 26 commented on a sponsored Nashville Pride post on Facebook, threatening to “make shrapnel pressure cooker bombs for this event.” On the same day, he posted another comment in which he threatened to commit a mass shooting and used a homophobic slur, the indictment said.FBI agents arrested the man Thursday at his home in Kansas and he appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge. A detention hearing is scheduled for Friday in Kansas. “We will not tolerate hate-based, threats of violence designed to...

Boy accused of murder in girl's shooting death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:47:27 GMT

GREELEY, Colo. (KDVR) — Police say a girl was shot and killed in Greeley, and a boy is accused of murder in her death.Few details were released in the case. But along with a count of murder, the boy is accused of first-degree burglary and aggravated robbery, according to the Greeley Police Department. Armed man shot, killed by police during domestic disturbance call It happened in the 400 block of 35th Avenue. Police responded to a shooting there around 3:44 p.m. Friday and found the girl had been wounded, according to a release from the department.Medics responded, but the girl died on the scene, police said."A short time later officers identified, located, and arrested a juvenile male suspect without incident," according to police.The boy also faces additional charges that police did not immediately disclose. Neither the suspect's nor the victim's name has been released.Police ask anyone with information about the case to contact Detective Finch at 970-350-9682.

‘That’s crazy’: 32-year-old woman fraudulently enrolled at multiple Boston high schools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:47:27 GMT

A 32-year-old former social worker has been ordered to stay away from Boston Public Schools property after officials say she used forged documents to fraudulently enroll in three different Boston high schools.In a letter to families, Boston Public Schools officials say the woman attended Brighton, English, and Jeremiah Burke high schools under different names throughout the 2022-2023 school year. The Department of Children and Families has confirmed the woman periodically worked for them as a social worker between 2016 and this year but is not longer employed by the agency.Eugene Vanburea, a student at Brighton High School, said, “That’s kind of crazy I don’t know , that’s crazy, I don’t know why they want to act like they’re a student in their 30s.”A police report shows officers became concerned about the possibility of human trafficking but Boston Mayor Wu said there has been no evidence of that. “I’m very thankful at this moment, there ha...

Off-duty firefighter rescues woman from burning vehicle in Londonderry, NH

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:47:27 GMT

An off-duty Manchester firefighter is being credited with rescuing a woman from a burning vehicle on the side of I-93 in Londonderry, New Hampshire on Tuesday.Cellphone video shows a group of people assisting the driver from the vehicle, which went off the road, down into an embankment, and then up in flames.The off-duty firefighter rushed to the smoking vehicle around 620 p.m., broke the window, and pulled the woman out.Manchester Fire Chief John Starr said the firefighter was simply doing what he was trained to do.“Our firefighter’s training kicked in and he did his job and he did it well, we’re trained to handle different situations,” he said.

Column: Chicago Cubs ace Marcus Stroman could be in line to start in the All-Star Game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:47:27 GMT

All-Star voting tabulations released Tuesday provided a clue to the Chicago Cubs’ chances of sending a position player to the Midsummer Classic in Seattle.No one was higher than fifth at their position, so barring a late surge of votes the next two days, none of your favorite Cubs will be in the starting lineup.Dansby Swanson, who led all shortstops in WAR on Tuesday, could be selected as a reserve, and manager David Ross also mentioned Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki as possibilities, while lobbying for Christopher Morel to get an invite to the Home Run Derby.But the Cubs’ only sure bet for Seattle appears to be pitcher Marcus Stroman, who threw seven shutout innings Tuesday in a 4-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.Stroman, who improved to 9-4 with his seventh straight win, leads the National League with a 2.28 ERA, while his 14 quality starts leads the majors. Home runs by Tucker Barnhart and Mike Tauchman helped the Cubs to their ninth win in 11 games and their fourth s...

Gerrit Cole sinks Mariners as Billy McKinney continues to make most of opportunity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:47:27 GMT

With the Yankees looking to end a four-game losing streak on Tuesday, Gerrit Cole effectively played the part of stopper against the Mariners.With the ace leaning heavily on his fastball and slider, Cole held Seattle to just a run in a 3-1 Yankees win. The right-hander totaled four hits, one walk, eight strikeouts and 105 pitches.A fired-up Cole also added a finger wave and shoulder shrug after the Mariners appeared to take issue with him staring in the direction of second baseman Jose Caballero and their dugout at the end of the seventh inning. Cole had appeared annoyed with Caballero during their inning-ending at-bat.The Yankees offense, meanwhile, somewhat shrugged off their recent woes and scored three runs against New York native George Kirby, who blanked the Bombers for eight innings in Seattle on May 31.Kirby wasn’t awful on Tuesday, as he went seven innings while allowing eight hits, zero walks and four strikeouts over 95 pitches. But his defense didn’t help him ...