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Red Sox star David Ortiz says he’s being extorted

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:45 GMT

Red Sox star David Ortiz took to social media Wednesday to say he is being extorted. Ortiz discussed the situation in a video, saying hackers somehow got ahold of an old phone of his. Now, Ortiz said, the hackers are threatening to sell his personal information. In the now viral message, Ortiz said the phone is a more than 15-year-old device that he has not been using.Speaking with 7NEWS Wednesday, former FBI Special Agent in Charge of Criminal and Cyber Investigations Tim Gallagher shared his reaction to the situation. “Getting out in front of the information when someone is trying to damage your reputation is a solid strategy,” Gallagher said. “He’s taking the shame out of it by saying ‘Hey, this can happen to you. It happened to me,’ and, at the same time, letting people know that there may be information coming out which may be damaging to his reputation,” Gallagher continued. Gallagher, now the managing director of digital investigations at Nardello and...

Solve It 7: Mortgage Money

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:45 GMT

A local mom learned she had money coming her way. But says when she didn’t receive it, she needed Solve It 7’s help to cash in. Brandon Gunnoe has the story.Lindsay got a letter in the mail with good news:  she was owed more than $560. “We were excited,” Lindsay said. And the timing was perfect:  “We had just had our second kid,” Lindsay said.  “We could use the money.”The letter was from the mortgage company that financed her condo.“When the mortgage company was bought out by a new company, we had money that was still left in the escrow account and that they had a check that was owed to us, and all I had to do was sign the form and send it back,” Lindsay said. Lindsay followed the directions, and the busy mom waited for the check.“It wasn’t like it was 20 bucks. It was a decent amount of money,” Lindsay said.&nb...

Chicago Cubs win a big series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Next up: a key stretch against opponents in NL wild-card race.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:45 GMT

The Chicago Cubs’ path to the postseason is not division-champion-or-bust.But they kept a National League Central title in their sights by securing a series win with a 3-2 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday at Wrigley Field, putting them three games back of the division leaders. The rivals meet one more time in Milwaukee in the final series of the season.“It just solidifies the confidence,” said Kyle Hendricks after allowing two runs (one earned) in six innings. “We’ve been playing with that anyway, but we knew coming in it was going to be a big series, a little more energy, a little more tension from the outside, but we’re able to stay locked in and keep it pitch to pitch.“We know going forward every game is going to be huge.”The Cubs’ next 11 games and 14 of their next 17 are against the three teams behind them in the NL wild-card race in which they hold the second spot, starting with a four-game series against ...

Gerrit Cole’s strong start against Tigers leads Yankees to first series win since July

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:45 GMT

For the first time in over a month, the Yankees won a series.Gerrit Cole continued his Cy Young Award-caliber campaign in Wednesday night’s 6-2 road win against the Detroit Tigers, during which a balanced offensive outburst from the Yankees lineup gave the right-hander more than enough run support.Cole struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs on four hits to a Detroit offense that ranks second-to-last among MLB teams in scoring.The 32-year-old Cole improved to 12-4 with a 2.95 ERA and 188 strikeouts in 174 innings this season. He’s never won a Cy Young Award but finished within the top five of the voting five times.The Yankees received at least one RBI from four different players, including DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton, who each hit solo home runs. Torres, who has homered three days in a row in Detroit, and Stanton went back-to-back in the fourth inning.The 425-foot blast was Stanton’s 398th career home run and his 20th of the seaso...

Woman killed in I-15 wrong-way crash identified

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:45 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A woman killed in a wrong-way crash Sunday on Interstate 15 near the Serra Mesa neighborhood has been identified, local medical officials said.Yannira Rodriguez, 32, was announced as the deceased, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said on its website.The collision occurred around 1:30 a.m. on southbound Interstate 15, south of Aero Drive according to California Highway Patrol.Authorities say the 32-year-old woman was traveling southbound on I-15 in a Honda Fit when a 25-year-old man driving an Infiniti QX 30 northbound in the southbound lanes hit Rodriguez's vehicle. Man killed in stabbing near McDonald’s Rodriguez was pronounced dead at the scene while another woman inside the Honda was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.The Infiniti driver, however, continued to drive after hitting Rodriguez's vehicle, then crashing into a Nissan Altima driven by a 58-year-old woman, per CHP. The 25-year-old man was taken to a hospital as well.CHP did not immedi...

Government incentives and cost-conscious customers lead to electric vehicle boom in India

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:45 GMT

BENGALURU, India (AP) — Groceries stashed in the back of an electric delivery scooter are an increasingly familiar sight in the Indian city of Bengaluru. In crowded markets, electric rickshaws drop off and pick up passengers. And the number of tech startups focused on electric transport has shot up as the city — and country — embrace electric vehicles.India is one of the fastest-growing electric vehicle markets in the world and now has millions of EV owners. More than 90% of its 2.3 million electric vehicles are the cheaper and more popular two- or three-wheelers — that’s motorbikes, scooters and rickshaws — and over half of India’s three-wheeler registrations in 2022 were electric, according to an IEA report released in April. A $1.3 billion federal plan to encourage EV manufacturing and provide discounts for customers, along with the past decade’s rising fuel costs and consumer awareness of the long-term cost benefits are combining to drive up sales, analysts say. Electric v...

This trans woman was begging on India’s streets. A donated electric rickshaw changed her life

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:45 GMT

BENGALURU, India (AP) — When Preethi moved to Bengaluru in southern India 10 years ago after being kicked out of her family home for being transgender, she hoped for a better future.But 38-year-old Preethi, who only uses her first name, couldn’t get consistent work. For most of the decade, her main way of making money was begging on the city’s streets, making her susceptible to abuse and violent crime. “I just didn’t want that kind of life anymore,” she recalls.Then in March last year, she got a chance to turn things around. She got the keys to her very own electric rickshaw, using it to make a living by transporting passengers around Bengaluru’s clogged roads. She’s now one of millions of electric vehicle owners in India, but one of very few to have received an EV through a charitable donation. Preethi can be seen as a success story as India attempts to slash planet-warming emissions in a way that benefits people across economic backgrounds, known as a “just...

Artscape’s receivership news sparks concern from artists about their future

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:45 GMT

After more than three decades of operation, Artscape has announced it’s going into receivership, sparking concern from artists who live and work in its 14 properties.The non-profit provides residences and creative spaces for artists, along with event venues such as the old streetcar facility at Wychwood Barns. In a statement posted to its website, Artscape says it was forced to take on debt over the years in order to expand its offerings to support the creative and the artist community. With event spaces shut down due to the pandemic, its finances were stretched even further. Artscape says it commenced a financial restructuring plan this year to try and reduce debt, including the sale of the Artscape Daniels Launchpad property on Queens Quay. Additional lending to maintain operations was also sought, including the city committing $1.1 million, but it says the primary lender took steps that led to Artscape being placed into receivership. “While Artscape had begun to see s...

Nebraska volleyball stadium event draws 92,003 to set women’s world attendance record

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:45 GMT

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska laid claim to the world record for largest attendance at a women’s sporting event with 92,003 filling Memorial Stadium on Wednesday night for the Cornhuskers’ volleyball match against Omaha.The university took aim at the record last spring when it announced it would hold a daylong celebration of a sport that enjoys immense popularity in this state of fewer than 2 million.The event began with an exhibition between in-state Division II powers Nebraska-Kearney and Wayne State and was followed by the Huskers’ regular-season match. Country artist Scotty McCreery was to perform afterward.The previous attendance record was 91,648, set during a Champions League soccer match when Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 5-2 at the Camp Nou Stadium in 2022.Memorial Stadium’s official capacity is just over 85,000 for football, but that number was higher for this event because there were seats and standing room on the field. The cour...

Senators hail Health Dept. recommendation to ease restrictions on marijuana

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has delivered a recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration on marijuana policy, and Senate leaders hailed it Wednesday as a first step toward easing federal restrictions on the drug.HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said Wednesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the agency has responded to President Joe Biden’s request “to provide a scheduling recommendation for marijuana to the DEA.”“We’ve worked to ensure that a scientific evaluation be completed and shared expeditiously,” he added.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that HHS had recommended that marijuana be moved from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance.“HHS has done the right thing,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “DEA should now follow through on this important step to greatly reduce the harm caused by draconian marijuana laws.”Rescheduling the drug would reduce or potentially eliminate criminal penalt...