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There’s no Breathalyzer for pot. Police in Maryland struggle with determining impairment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:31 GMT

Changes to Maryland’s marijuana laws continue to raise questions — and challenges — for police trying to enforce laws against driving under the influence.During a meeting with members of the Montgomery County Council’s Public Safety Committee, Montgomery County police officer Jayme Derbyshire told council members, “as far as admissibility goes, really, what we have are validated tests for alcohol impairment, and that’s essentially” it.Derbyshire was asked about what kind of tests for impairment would stand up in court.There’s no single test for impairment from cannabis use like the Breathalyzer, which is used to determine alcohol intoxication in Maryland.Some states, such as Alabama, allow results from “oral fluid” drug tests, which use saliva samples, to be used to show impairment from cannabis. While the Montgomery County Police Department has bought some of those test kits, Derbyshire told the panel proving impairment “would s...

Vasilevskiy, Kucherov help Lightning end 4-game skid in 4-0 win over Stars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:31 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots for his first shutout of the season, NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Dallas Stars 4-0 Monday night to snap a four-game skid.Anthony Cirelli had two goals and Luke Glendening also scored for the Lightning, who were coming off an 8-1 loss at Dallas on Saturday in which Vasilevskiy allowed six goals on 25 shots before being pulled after two periods.“I thought tonight the whole team played great,” Vasilevskiy said. “Great result because of that.”Jake Oettinger stopped 19 shots as the Stars dropped to 8-2-2 on the road.“You beat a team 8-1, especially a championship team, you know they’re going to respond,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “Their best players to a man were on a diffefent level tonight.”Vasilevskiy made a terrific post-to-post save on Tyler Seguin’s left circle shot with 11.8 seconds left in the second en route to his 33rd career shutout, inclu...

Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts wins Bronko Nagurski award as nation’s top defensive player

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:31 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts won the Bronko Nagurski Award given to the nation’s top defensive player on Monday night.The award was presented at the annual ceremony put on by the Charlotte Touchdown Club.“It means a lot, especially with the journey I have been through,” Watts said. “I have played offense, I’ve played defense and I’ve kind of bounced around and tried to find a spot to fit on the field my whole career. So this is a tribute to all of the hard work I did and everything coming together.”Other finalists for the award were Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean, Illinois defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton, Georgia safety Malaki Starks and North Carolina State linebacker Payton Wilson.Watts said his biggest improvement this season was making more game-changing plays.He has an FBS-leading seven interceptions for the Fighting Irish, along with 47 tackles. He had two picks against both Southern California and Pittsburgh, becoming the first Irish playe...

Caught on camera: Commerce City dog stolen in broad daylight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:31 GMT

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (KDVR) — The Coronado family in Commerce City is turning to the public for help after cameras captured the moment a person stole their 5-month-old pit bull from their driveway.“She is a lovely dog," said Berenice Coronado, the dog's owner. "We got her really small. We used to feed her with the bottle." Denver father and children battle bed bugs at shelter hotel room Coronado said over the weekend, she left her home for an hour, and her dogs got out of the fence. Within the hour, she said a camera captured a person who pulled up, tried to get two of the three family dogs to jump into the car and, finally, put Shelby the puppy in the car and left."Pit bulls can be expensive, and he saw it as an opportunity to get her," Coronado said.Shelby, a 5-month-old pit bull, was stolen from a Commerce City family's driveway (Berenice Coronado)'We just want her back'The convenience store across the street shared the video with the family. The person who took Shelby appeare...

Column: Despite so many questions about the future, Chicago White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf only talks about the past

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:31 GMT

Chicago White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf was discussing Jim Leyland’s National Baseball Hall of Fame selection at the MLB winter meetings Monday when he was asked about his pursuit of Leyland to replace Terry Bevington as manager after the 1996 season.“It was after 2003,” Reinsdorf replied. “In 1996 or ’97 didn’t I try to bring (Tony) LaRussa back?”Bruce Levine and I confirmed it was Leyland in ’96.“No after Bevington that was LaRussa, when we tried to bring him back,” Reinsdorf said.“And I don’t want to get into that, but we did try to bring Jim back (in ’03).”Never get in the way of a good story is my motto.The Sox wound up hiring Ozzie Guillen in ’03, the only club manager to win a World Series in the last 106 years. Leyland finished his career in Detroit and wound up in Cooperstown where he belongs.After Reinsdorf finished talking up his old friend he asked: “Is that it?”I tol...

‘Real Women Have Curves’ musical attuned with possibilities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:31 GMT

Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer’s last acting gig was as glamorous as they come — she toured the country starring as glittering cabaret queen Satine in “Moulin Rouge! The Musical.” Next up, something a bit more intimate and introspective, a role in the American Repertory Theater’s “Real Women Have Curves: The Musical.”Gonzalez-Nacer can find overlaps between the two works — “They are shows that center around the underdog and an often overlooked group of people and they are both filled with amazing songs,” she told the Herald. But she also sees something unique in “Real Women Have Curves,” Dec. 6 to Jan. 21 at the ART.The new musical has its bones in Josefina López’s 1990 play and the 2002 feature film of the same name (the film that started America Ferrera on her journey from unknown to icon). It’s the story of an 18-year-old Latina in Los Angeles in 1987 who is struggling to keep her dreams of college and a new life in New York from being crushed under the weight of familial and cultural exp...

Kerrigan: How PBMs are hurting local pharmacies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:31 GMT

Local pharmacies are boarding up nationwide. Nearly 2,200 American pharmacies shut their doors between 2017 and 2020, leaving 20,000 in business nationwide — about half the number in 1980.These closures are bad for local communities and patients’ health. When small, independent shops close, patients lose access to the pharmacist who personally knows local residents. They have personal knowledge of their health conditions, prescribed medications, and the potential interactions those medicines might have with new ones. Local communities may also lose a convenient place to get a flu shot, other immunizations or blood-pressure screening.Small pharmacies employ more than 300,000 people.Fortunately, lawmakers across both parties are aware of the plight of local pharmacies and the consequences of their diminishing numbers. That is why bipartisanship has rallied behind three dozen bills during this session of Congress. These bills aim to curb the power of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) — ...

Dear Abby: Should abuser’s widow tell family the truth?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:31 GMT

Dear Abby: Four years ago, I lost my husband of 20 years. After it happened, I told his younger brother, whom he was closest to, that I was going to write about him. However, some things have stopped me. I lost our dog six months ago and watched her follow a similar path as my late husband, which hurt me deeply. The other reason is, I believe his family may not want to know the truth.His brother thinks my husband was a great man. He did have good qualities, but he wasn’t the saint his brother thinks he was. He was emotionally abusive and he raped me numerous times. He often yelled at our dog for simple things, and he wasn’t faithful, either. So — should I write the story they don’t want to hear? — Pen in Hand in TexasDear Pen: They say the pen is mightier than the sword. But if you want to continue to interact with these former in-laws, refrain from the temptation to use it to cut their brother down to size.Dear Abby: A woman where I work refuses to ack...

‘We are officially hostages.’ How the Israeli kibbutz of Nir Oz embodied Hamas hostage strategy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:31 GMT

NIR OZ, Israel (AP) — The Hamas attack on the kibbutz of Nir Oz started a little after 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 7 and lasted long into the afternoon, with dozens of fighters rampaging unopposed through the community with an apparent mission: To capture as many civilians as possible.By the time the last fighter left, one in five residents of Nir Oz was a hostage. The remaining residents emerged from their safe rooms and gathered together in a shelter, spending the long night tallying the missing. Eight weeks into the Israel-Gaza war, the recent release of dozens of Israeli hostages – with as many still in captivity – is bringing new focus on what Hamas did on Oct. 7, the day its fighters rounded them up from communities across southern Israel. In the kibbutz of Nir Oz, where militants rampaged unopposed, is perhaps the best place to understand Hamas’ hostage strateg y, an operation that was unprecedented both in its scope and execution.More than 100 Palestinian militants stormed Nir Oz on O...

Activists at COP28 summit ramp up pressure on cutting fossil fuels as talks turn to clean energy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:31 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Activists had a series of events and actions lined up Tuesday at the United Nations climate summit seeking to amp up pressure on conference participants to agree to phase out coal, oil and gas, responsible for most of the world’s emissions, and move to clean energy in a fair way. The question of how to handle fossil fuels is central to the talks, which come after a year of record heat and devastating weather extremes around the world. And even as the use of clean energy is growing, most energy companies have plans to continue aggressive pursuit of fossil fuel production well into the future.A team of scientists reported Tuesday that the world pumped 1.1% more heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the air than last year, largely due to increased pollution from China and India.Protests — which are limited to “action zones” around the U.N. site — centered on phasing out fossil fuels and calling for finance to ramp up the move to clean energy.Meanwhi...