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Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka are playing for the US Open women’s title

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:51:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka have begun the match that will determine the U.S. Open women’s singles champion.Gauff enters Saturday’s championship match at Arthur Ashe Stadium seeking her first Grand Slam title. Sabalenka is trying to win her second major trophy of the year.They are playing with the roof closed because of lightning in the area.Gauff is a 19-year-old from Florida who is seeded No. 6 at Flushing Meadows. She has won 11 matches in a row and 17 of the past 18.Her semifinal victory on Thursday night was interrupted for 50 minutes early in the second set by four climate protesters, one of whom glued his bare feet to the concrete floor in the stands. The disruption to the match prompted the U.S. Tennis Association to increase security.Sabalenka is a 25-year-old from Belarus who is seeded No. 2 in the last major tournament of the season. She will rise to No. 1 in the WTA rankings for the first time on Monday no matter what happens against Gauff....

William Byron aims to advance in NASCAR playoffs, give Hendrick his 300th Cup Series win

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:51:20 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Every driver in the Hendrick Motorsports stable pulled into Kansas Speedway for this week’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race knowing they could be the one to give team the boss his 300th series win.If Rick Hendrick had his druthers, he might well put William Byron at the top of the list.Kyle Larson advanced to the next round of the playoffs with last week’s win at Darlington, taking all the pressure off the No. 5 team while giving the 74-year-old owner his 299th win. Now, the pressure is on Byron to join him with a victory of his own, even if the No. 24 car is leading the playoff points race and i in strong position to advance to the next round.It won’t be easy. Byron will start from the back Sunday after breaking a suspension piece in practice Saturday.“I feel like we’ve been struggling to put Saturdays together just in terms of results, but we’ve had speed,” Byron said. “Luckily our Sundays have been really good, so we’ll ...

No. 12 Utah, still without Cam Rising, scores two TDs in final 2 minutes to win 20-13 at Baylor

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:51:20 GMT

WACO, Texas (AP) — Jaylon Glover scored on an 11-yard run with 17 seconds left for Utah’s second touchdown in the final two minutes, and the 12th-ranked Utes escaped Baylor with a 20-13 win Saturday in a matchup of future Big 12 foes both missing their starting quarterbacks. Utah’s winning drive was set up at the Baylor 29 after Cole Bishop’s interception on a pass Sawyer Robertson threw under pressure. The Utes (2-0) had tied the game at 13 with 1:59 left when redshirt freshman quarterback Nate Johnson scored on a 7-yard draw. That capped an 88-yard drive on which he had 20 yards rushing and completed 4 of 5 passes for 57 yards.The game was scheduled eight years ago, and the first meeting of the teams wound up being a Big 12 preview. Utah, which has won the last two Pac-12 championship games and is hoping for even more in coach Kyle Whittingham’s 19th season, is one of four teams from the picked-apart Pac-12 going to the Big 12 next year. Baylor (0-2) had one more...

Montgomery Co. principal misconduct investigation raises ‘significant concerns’ over personnel vetting, promotion

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:51:20 GMT

A report from the first phase of an investigation into the promotion of a Montgomery County, Maryland, high school principal amid sexual harassment allegations has been given to the county’s board of education.The Montgomery County Board of Education said they’re reviewing the findings of the report from Baltimore-based law firm Jackson Lewis, hired in August to look into numerous complaints about Joel Beidleman, who was promoted to run Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville in June.“The report raises significant concerns about the vetting and promotion of personnel within MCPS, and the Board is committed to addressing those concerns,” the board of education said in a statement on Friday.Beidleman was placed on administrative leave after bullying and sexual harassment complaints were made against him from staff, including teachers.Officials said, after receiving the first phase of the investigation, they will deliberate with the Montgomery County Inspection...

Broward Attractions and Museums Month offers ‘BAMM-tastic’ deals on 21 attractions and museums

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:51:20 GMT

Everybody wants some bang for their buck. What if we told you it’s BAMM and not bang that you’re looking for? Broward County’s the place to be this month for BAMM-tastic deals on great experiences.Mingling with the residents of the great outdoors. Taking in the sights on a legendary sailing ship. You can do it all — and more — in September, without putting a dent in your wallet, thanks to Broward Attractions and Museums Month, aka BAMM.Melissa Ault: “We have 21 attractions and museums. Thirteen of those attractions and museums are buy one get one free admission, and eight of the museums themselves are actually free.”At Flamingo Gardens in Davie, it’s BOGO for a terrific time in the middle of all of nature’s wonders.Melissa Ault: “We are a wildlife sanctuary and a botanical gardens sanctuary.”There’s lots of everything at Flamingo Gardens. You won’t run out of things to do here.Melissa Ault: “We have ...

Woman hospitalized after being struck by lightning at Savin Hill Beach

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:51:20 GMT

State police were called to Savin Hill Beach in Boston on Saturday after a woman was struck by lightning, officials said.Troopers from the State Police-South Boston Barracks responded to the beach at 3:35 p.m.She was taken to Boston Medical Center.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Powerful earthquake in Morocco kills more than 2,000 people

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:51:20 GMT

MARRAKECH, Morocco — A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco, sending people racing from their beds into the streets and toppling buildings in mountainous villages and ancient cities not built to withstand such force. More than 2,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled Saturday to reach hard-hit remote areas.The magnitude-6.8 quake, the biggest to hit the North African country in 120 years, sent people fleeing their homes in terror and disbelief late Friday. One man said dishes and wall hangings began raining down, and people were knocked off their feet. The quake brought down walls made from stone and masonry, covering whole communities with rubble.The devastation gripped each town along the High Atlas’ steep and winding switchbacks in similar ways: homes folding in on themselves and mothers and fathers crying as boys and helmet-clad police carried the dead through the streets.Remote villages like those in the drought-stricken Ouargane Val...

Red Sox notebook: Cora explains top prospects’ sporadic playing time

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:51:20 GMT

When the Red Sox called up Triston Casas on September 4, 2022, they were 66-68, with 28 games left to play. In his first month as a Major Leaguer, the rookie first baseman played in 27 of them, including 21 complete games.This summer, the Red Sox were 66-60 and 69-63 when they called up Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela, respectively. Entering Saturday, Abreu has 11 big league games under his belt including four complete, Rafaela has nine, only two of which were complete.The obvious difference is that Abreu and Rafaela got the call because Jarren Duran’s season is over. In Casas’ case, the Red Sox demoted fellow first baseman Bobby Dalbec to give Casas a shot.On Saturday, Alex Cora offered an additional reason for the rookies’ limited playing time.“All depends where we’re at, who we’re facing,” the Red Sox manager said.“Last year, we were OUT out,” Cora explained. “This year, we’re still kind of like, in the hunt, you know? It doesn’t look great, but we’ve still got games. We’ve sti...

Powerful quake in Morocco kills more than 2,000 people and damages historic buildings in Marrakech

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:51:20 GMT

By SAM METZ and MOSA’AB ELSHAMY (Associated Press)MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco, sending people racing from their beds into the streets and toppling buildings in mountainous villages and ancient cities not built to withstand such force. More than 2,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled Saturday to reach hard-hit remote areas.The magnitude-6.8 quake, the biggest to hit the North African country in 120 years, sent people fleeing their homes in terror and disbelief late Friday. One man said dishes and wall hangings began raining down, and people were knocked off their feet. The quake brought down walls made from stone and masonry, covering whole communities with rubble. The devastation gripped each town along the High Atlas’ steep and winding switchbacks in similar ways: homes folding in on themselves and mothers and fathers crying as boys and helmet-clad police carried the dead through t...

ChatGPT’s AI technology was built in Iowa, with tons of water

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:51:20 GMT

The cost of building an artificial intelligence product like ChatGPT can be hard to measure.But one thing Microsoft-backed OpenAI needed for its technology was plenty of water, pulled from the watershed of the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers in central Iowa to cool a powerful supercomputer as it helped teach its AI systems how to mimic human writing.As they race to capitalize on a craze for generative AI, leading tech developers including Microsoft, OpenAI and Google have acknowledged that growing demand for their AI tools carries hefty costs, from expensive semiconductors to an increase in water consumption.But they’re often secretive about the specifics. Few people in Iowa knew about its status as a birthplace of OpenAI’s most advanced large language model, GPT-4, before a top Microsoft executive said in a speech it “was literally made next to cornfields west of Des Moines.”Building a large language model requires analyzing patterns across a huge trove of human-written text. A...