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Police block access to Pleasant Hill neighborhood

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:43:30 GMT

PLEASANT HILL — Police on Thursday night blocked vehicles from entering or leaving Pleasant Hill’s Sherman Acres neighborhood.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Two arrested in connection with downtown Walnut Creek robbery, pistol-whipping Crime and Public Safety | Oakland: Man charged with killing ex-girlfriend’s brother after allegedly showing up armed with knife, pipe Crime and Public Safety | Man charged in deadly East Bay house party shooting Crime and Public Safety | East Bay pastor charged with 16 counts in four-victim child molestation case Crime and Public Safety | East Bay family party leads to attempted murder charges for one attendee In addition, the eastbound and westbound directions of Monument Boulevard were closed to traffic, the Pleasant Hill Police Department said in an alert just after 8 p.m. Thursday.The closure followed an earlier alert advising residents in the neighbor...

Nemec scores 1st goal of career and Schmid makes 37 saves as Devils top Kraken 2-1

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:43:30 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Simon Nemec scored his first career goal midway through the second period, Akira Schmid made 16 of his 37 saves in the third and the New Jersey Devils beat the skidding Seattle Kraken 2-1 on Thursday night for their fifth victory in six games.Nemec, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft, made his debut last week at home against San Jose and had two assists in his first game. His first goal was largely due to the play made by Jesper Bratt carrying the puck after Seattle was unable to clear its defensive zone. Bratt circled behind the net and allowed Nemec to slide unmarked into the slot, where he beat Philipp Grubauer into an open side.It was Bratt’s 19th assist of the season.Ondrej Palat scored his fourth goal late in the first period to give New Jersey the early lead. Schmid rebounded nicely after giving up five goals on 17 shots in his previous game against San Jose.Schmid was peppered for a big chunk of the third and came up with several big stops. He robbed Jared McCan...

Blake Coleman scores short-handed goal in 3rd, Flames rally to beat Hurricanes 3-2

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:43:30 GMT

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Blake Coleman had a short-handed goal and an assist and the Calgary Flames rallied to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Thursday night.Coleman scored the go-ahead goal at 11:44 of the third period. Ramus Andersson and Connor Zary also scored in the third for Calgary, which faced a two-goal deficit after one period.“Guys stuck with it and fought back,” Coleman said. “We’re doing everything we can to start better. Guys are searching for ways to do it, but it’s a results business. It’s a win in the column for us, so it’s important.”Calgary’s Dustin Wolf made 30 saves in his second career NHL start. Wolf, the American Hockey League’s most valuable player and top goalie last season, was called up Tuesday. He played almost two periods in relief of Dan Vladar on Tuesday night in a 5-2 loss to Minnesota.“It’s pretty special right?” Wolf said. “Any time you get a call to come play with Calgary, it’s a blessing. Try to take every moment and make the most of it and tr...

Casey DeSmith makes 26 saves for his 1st shutout of the season, Canucks beat Wild 2-0

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:43:30 GMT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Casey DeSmith made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season and 10th in the NHL and the Vancouver Canucks beat Minnesota 2-0 on Thursday night to end the Wild’s winning streak at four.Nils Hoglander and Teddy Blueger scored to help Vancouver improve to 17-9-1.Filip Gustavsson made 15 saves for Minnesota. The Wild dropped to 9-11-4. They had won their last eight meetings with Vancouver.Hoglander opened the scoring with 1:55 left in the first period with his ninth goal of the season. The winger brought the puck up ice from his own zone, cut into the slot from just above the right faceoff circle and beat Gustavsson with a wrist shot.Blueger scored 2:05 into the third period, his second hoal of the season. After Conor Garland’s pass split the defense, Blueger deked Gustavsson from in close, going backhand then forehand to beat the sprawling goalie.UP NEXTWild: At Edmonton on Friday night.Canucks: Host Carolina on Saturday night.___AP NHL: htt...

LeBron James scores 30 points, Lakers rout Pelicans 133-89 to reach tournament final

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:43:30 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — LeBron James scored 30 points in less than three quarters and the Los Angeles Lakers steamrolled the New Orleans Pelicans 133-89 on Thursday night to reach the championship game in the NBA In-Season Tournament.The Lakers will play the surprising Indiana Pacers on Saturday night for the inaugural NBA Cup. Indiana advanced with a 128-119 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in the other semifinal. Unlike the other tournament games, the championship game will not count in the regular-season standings.Los Angeles’ run to the title game, James said, is indicative of the team’s potential. He was particularly pleased with the defense, which held New Orleans to 35.8% shooting, and the Lakers also had a 59-42 rebounding advantage.“I think we are starting to get a feel for what we need to become a team for us to win basketball games, to be consistent,” James said. “Defensively, we’re really, really starting to tap into that like, OK, we’ve got to defend ev...

Científicos revelan nuevos conocimientos sobre las misteriosas momias de babuinos del antiguo Egipto

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:43:30 GMT

(CNN) — Hasta la fecha se han desenterrado en Egipto decenas de millones de momias de animales. Pero si bien hay millones de gatos, perros, ibis y aves rapaces momificados, las momias de primates son raras y poco comprendidas.Ahora, un nuevo análisis de babuinos momificados está arrojando luz sobre el lugar que ocupaban los animales en el antiguo Egipto, revelando que, si bien eran apreciados como animales sagrados, sus condiciones de vida no eran ideales.Los investigadores analizaron huesos de babuinos momificados, que fueron descubiertos a principios del siglo XX en la necrópolis Gabbanat el-Qurud, en el llamado Valle de los Monos, al suroeste del Valle de los Reyes de Egipto. Los huesos pertenecían a docenas de babuinos individuales, desde bebés hasta adultos, de dos especies: el babuino hamadryas (Papio hamadryas) y el babuino oliva (Papio anubis).Estas especies no eran nativas de Egipto, sino que fueron importadas de dos regiones: “el babuino olivo del sur (actual Sudán) ...

Sloppy Steelers’ playoff hopes take another hit with loss to Patriots

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:43:30 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers had an opportunity to create some separation in the race for an AFC wild-card spot.Instead, they came crashing back to the pack and saw their playoff hopes take a serious hit with consecutive home losses to two-win teams in five days. The latest, a 21-18 setback against New England on Thursday night in which the Steelers fell into a second-quarter 18-point hole and couldn’t recover.“Obviously, this stings, but we’ll be back,” coach Mike Tomlin said.Pittsburgh (7-6) is the first team above .500 in NFL history to lose consecutive games to teams both at least eight games below .500. Pittsburgh began December atop the race for the top wild-card spot in the AFC.The Steelers were sloppy Sunday ing an uninspiring 14-point loss against rebuilding Arizona. On Thursday, Bailey Zappe threw three first-half touchdown passes and New England (3-10) snapped a five-game losing streak.“I have to play better,” Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky said. “I feel...

Rice just 3 steals shy of quadruple-double as No. 2 UCLA women rout Cal State Northridge

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:43:30 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Londynn Jones scored 19 points and No. 2 UCLA thoroughly dominated Cal State Northridge in a 111-48 victory Thursday night.The Bruins (7-0) had six players in double figures. Gabriela Jaquez had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Lauren Betts added 18 points. Kiki Rice had her first career triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, coming up just three steals short of a quadruple-double.Only one of UCLA’s 10 players failed to score as the Bruins topped 100 points for the second time this season. UCLA forced 24 turnovers that led to 44 points and outscored Northridge 64-2 in the paint.The Matadors (2-5) were led by freshman Amiyah Ferguson with 21 points, including six 3-pointers. They dropped their fifth in a row. NO. 11 UTAH 74, SAINT JOSEPH’S 48PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alissa Pili scored a season-high 31 points to reach 20-plus for the fifth straight game, and Utah used a big fourth quarter to beat Saint Joseph’s.Pili took over in the first five mi...

Palestinians crowd into ever-shrinking areas in Gaza as Israel’s war against Hamas enters 3rd month

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:43:30 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Desperate Palestinians fleeing Israel’s expanding ground offensive crowded into an ever-shrinking area of the Gaza Strip as the Israel-Hamas war entered its third month Friday. The United Nations warned that its aid operation is “in tatters” because no place in the besieged enclave is safe.Israel’s ferocious military assault on Gaza, a tiny, densely populated territory, has led to widespread civilian casualties and mass displacements, triggering international alarm. The Israeli army said Friday that over the past day the military had struck about 450 targets in the Gaza Strip by air, sea and ground, signaling the continued intensity of Israel’s campaign.Earlier this week, U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used a rarely exercised power to warn the Security Council of an impending “humanitarian catastrophe,” and Arab and Islamic nations have called for a vote Friday on a draft Council resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.The Uni...

A rocket attack targets the US embassy in Baghdad, causing minor damage but no casualties

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:43:30 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — A rocket attack at the sprawling U.S. Embassy in Baghdad Friday morning caused minor material damage but no casualties, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.The attack is the first to be confirmed since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on the U.S. Embassy, in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses Iraqi government buildings and embassies, on the west bank of the Tigris River.Iran-backed militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks that targeted bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria since the Israel-Hamas war began two months ago. The U.S. military says a total of 78 attacks have been carried out against U.S. facilities over the past weeks of which 37 were in Iraq and 41 in Syria.An Iraqi security official said 14 Katyusha rockets were fired on Friday, of which some struck near the one of the embassy’s gates while others fell in the river. The official said the rocket attack caused material damage but no casualties.A U.S. militar...