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The Detroit Red Wings on Thursday fired head coach Derek Lalonde following a 13-17-4 start to the season, including a stretch of nine losses in their past 12 games. Lalonde, hired to take over following the long and difficult tenure of Jeff Blashill, finished with a record of 89-86-23 in two-plus seasons. The Red Wings rank 28th in the NHL by points percentage coming out of the holiday break and are seventh in the Atlantic Division, so the move isn't surprising. Former Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan is replacing Lalonde. pic.twitter.com/qyzqDI30Ki McLellan, who rose up the coaching ranks as an assistant in Detroit in the 2000s, is known for the defensive acumen. In 16 seasons as a coach, he has three 50-win finishes, five 100-point seasons and nine trips to the playoffs. But McLellan has not won a playoff series as a head coach since 2016-17 with Edmonton. He also drew some criticism for player development issues in Los Angeles, though he did effectively shepherd the Kings out of a rebuild and back into the playoffs for two consecutive seasons. Detroit, one of the NHL's Original Six teams, has not made the playoffs since 2015-16 and is potentially staring down a ninth consecutive season without making the postseason. That would be the longest playoff drought for an Original Six team in league history. Lalonde's tenure included a near miss last season. Detroit, mathematically alive for a playoff spot on the final day of the season, ultimately missed the playoffs in a tiebreaker with the Washington Capitals. Results were often mixed during Lalonde's tenure. Former No. 4 overall pick Lucas Raymond made big strides as a top-six winger in Detroit. The team was also getting big minutes and offensive upside from 21-year-old rookie defenseman Simon Edvinsson before he suffered an injury earlier in December. However, there has been a drop-off among veteran players such as winger Patrick Kane. The future Hall of Famer has struggled (14 points in 29 games) and graded out poorly by Natural Stat Trick's expected goals model at 40.15%. The Red Wings struggled in numerous areas this season, particularly scoring at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill. They are 31st in the NHL in goals for per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (1.94), last in shots for per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (23.55) and last in Natural Stat Trick's expected goals for per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (2.07). Meanwhile, on the penalty kill they are 31st in efficiency (68.8) and 31st in goals against per 60 minutes (11.85). Only the New York Islanders penalty kill has been worse in those metrics. Detroit will resume play following the holiday break Friday at home against Toronto.
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Security cameras captured video of a University of Mississippi student leaving his campus apartment twice on the morning he was last seen alive, University Police Department Capt. Jane Mahan testified Wednesday in the trial of the man accused of killing the student. Jimmy “Jay” Lee, 20, was a gay man well known in the LGBTQ+ community at Ole Miss and in Oxford, where the university is located. He was last seen on July 8, 2022. Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr., 24, of Grenada, Mississippi, is charged with capital murder in Lee's death, and his trial began Tuesday in Oxford. Herrington has maintained his innocence. Police said cellphone history showed conversations between Herrington and Lee on the morning Lee disappeared. Jurors on Wednesday were shown video clips of Lee leaving his own apartment shortly after 4 a.m., wearing a robe and slippers. The clips showed him returning about 40 minutes later and leaving again just before 6 a.m. When he left the last time, he was looking at his cellphone. A friend of Lee, Khalid Fears, testified Tuesday that he had a video chat with Lee while Lee left the apartment around 6 a.m. that day. Lee said he was going back to see a man he had seen hours earlier, Fears testified. Mahan testified Wednesday about the timeline of the video clips showing Lee at the campus apartment. She said campus police started searching for Lee after his mother, Stephanie Lee, called later that day to request a welfare check on her son after he didn't respond to multiple messages. Jay Lee's apartment had an electronic key card, and Mahan testified that police contacted the campus housing department to put an alert on his card, which would automatically send police an email if the card were used. An assistant district attorney, Gwen Agho, asked Mahan if Lee ever returned to his apartment after he was recorded leaving that morning. “Not that I've ever been notified of, no,” Mahan said. Lee and Herrington saw each other twice during the hours before Lee disappeared, Agho said during opening arguments Tuesday. She said the men had sexual contact during their first meeting, and Lee was upset when he left Herrington’s apartment. Herrington invited Lee back — and before Lee arrived, Herrington searched online for how long it takes to strangle someone, Agho said. Herrington “was not openly in the LGBTQ community,” she said. A witness, Kizziah Carter, testified Wednesday that he was driving home from work at about 7:30 that morning and saw Herrington jogging along a road in Oxford. Carter said he knew Herrington and honked to greet him, and Carter flagged him down to ask for a ride. The road was near an apartment complex where Lee's car was found later in the day. Carter said he drove Herrington to Herrington's apartment in another complex. Surveillance video also recorded Herrington running from where Lee’s car was found, and he was later seen picking up a shovel and wheelbarrow at his parents’ house, authorities said. Lee’s body has not been found. In October, a judge declared him dead at the request of Lee’s parents. Lee’s active presence on social media fell silent after July 8, 2022, and no transactions have appeared on his credit card since then, prosecutors said. Herrington was arrested two weeks after Lee vanished, then released five months later on a $250,000 bond. A grand jury indicted him in March 2023. Herrington’s attorney, Kevin Horan, told jurors Tuesday that prosecutors have “zero” proof that Lee was killed or that any crime happened. Both Herrington and Lee had graduated from the University of Mississippi. Lee was pursuing a master’s degree. He was known for his creative expression through fashion and makeup and often performed in drag shows in Oxford, according to a support group called Justice for Jay Lee. Prosecutors have announced they do not intend to pursue the death penalty, meaning Herrington could get a life sentence if convicted. Mississippi law defines capital murder as a killing committed along with another felony — in this case, kidnapping.
An internet relic’s red-hot IPO Reddit is a weird one — at once an ancient relic and a cultural hotbed. Founded in 2005 by a pair of UVA grads, the platform hosts message boards dedicated to every possible topic, from dating (r/dating) to conversations with famous, powerful people (r/IAMA). If you’re looking for honest takes, you’ll find them here. These “subreddits” make for some of the internet’s most interesting, active, and frank communities, not least because Reddit’s old-school anonymity allows for unfiltered honesty. No wonder almost 100 million people visit the site every day. Reddit even manages to move the market, as the infamous GameStop short squeeze demonstrated back in 2021. But the real action arguably got going this past March, when Reddit finally went public and ordinary investors got their first shot at owning shares, which debuted at around $47 each. Since then, the stock has soared about 180%, vastly outperforming the S&P 500. For more on the once and future message-board system — and why it refuses to fade into the background — see below. By the digits 9: Reddit’s position on the top-10 list of the internet’s most-visited sites, as of September 2024. 717,000: Members of the Nope subreddit, which is “dedicated to things that make you say nope” and will give you a good sense of the eclectic nature of many Reddit communities. 97.2 million: Daily active uniques (as in unique visitors), an almost 50% increase over this time last year Over 16 billion: Total number of posts and comments on Reddit right now. $1.4 trillion: The number of ad dollars Reddit’s top brass claims to see in its future, per the company’s IPO filings. How Reddit shapes the internet as we know it If you’re not a regular Reddit reader, you may not realize how much it’s shaped both the internet and broader pop culture. The platform introduced many acronyms and terms now in common use online and in in-person conversation, such as “TLDR” (too long, didn’t read), “TIL” (today I learned), and “redpilled” — plus many more words and phrases too off-color to be included here. Its r/IAmA forum has hosted Q&As with figures as varied as Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Keanu Reeves, and NASA’s Curiosity Rover team. These AMAs provide a rare, direct line of questioning between the public and notable personalities, often producing newsworthy revelations and viral moments. Politically, Reddit communities like r/politics and r/news have shaped discussions on major issues and elections, influencing public opinion through both grassroots activism and organized information-sharing. The platform has occasionally hosted harmful content, too, such as r/The_Donald, which was banned in 2020 after violating policies on hate speech. The community was linked to planning aspects of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Despite newer platforms, Reddit remains a vastly influential yet old-school hub. Its affinity- and fandom-driven subreddits offer a modern antidote to “Bowling Alone”-type arguments, turning virtual spaces into engaged tribes — for better and for worse. Just remember you read it here, not on Reddit. Quotable “Facebook makes me hate the people I know, and Reddit makes me love the people I don’t.” — Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder Pop quiz Which Reddit community is dedicated to sharing intimate confessions, sometimes with shocking honesty? A. r/trueconfessions B. r/relationships C. r/heart2heart D: r/personaladvice Check out the answer at the bottom of this email. Brief history 2005: UVA grads Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian found Reddit, offering a simple, user-driven platform that would become a pioneer in social news aggregation. 2006: Condé Nast acquires Reddit for a reported $10-$20 million, giving it stability and resources that helped it grow from a niche community into a mainstream internet staple. 2008: Reddit launches subreddits, allowing users to create and join topic-specific communities, transforming Reddit into a vast network of niche interest groups. 2012: Reddit helps spearhead internet-wide protests against the SOPA and PIPA internet bills, marking its emergence as a platform for digital activism. 2019: Reddit hits 400 million monthly active users, solidifying its status as one of the largest and most influential platforms globally. 2024: Reddit IPOs, making its own Wall Street bet. Fun fact! Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian is married to tennis champion Serena Williams, and their attendance at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Markle in 2017 was, naturally, posted to Reddit . Watch this The Reddit cofounders describe starting the site in this YouTube video . Take me down this 🐰 hole! If you’ve got 15 minutes to waste, r/mildlyinteresting offers “mildly interesting stuff. Stuff that interests you. Mildly.” Poll What is the most popular AMA of all time on Reddit? 💬 Let’s talk 🐤 X this! 🤔 What did you think of today’s email? 💡 What should we obsess over next? Today’s email was put together by Catherine Baab-Muguira, whose 2021 AMA drew one million people — so she knows the power of Reddit firsthand. The correct answer to the pop quiz is B. r/relationships is a subreddit where users openly share their personal relationship struggles, from awkward dating dilemmas to complex family issues. Known for its blunt, often brutally honest advice, it’s a space where Reddit users don’t shy away from the difficult and sometimes uncomfortable aspects of relationships, offering support or tough love in equal measure. 📬 Sign up for Quartz Weekly Obsession Want to escape the news cycle? Try our Weekly Obsession.
Raiders and Saints meet with prominent players nearing statistical milestonesSmokers have been urged to kick the habit in the new year after new analysis shows how much of their lives are lost by each cigarette smoked. Men lose 17 minutes of life with every cigarette they smoke while a woman’s life is cut short by 22 minutes with each cigarette, experts have estimated. This is more than previous estimates, which suggest that each cigarette shortens a smoker’s life by 11 minutes. The new estimates, which suggest that each cigarette leads to 20 minutes loss of live on average across both genders, are based on more up-to-date figures from long-term studies tracking the health of the population. The new analysis, commissioned by the Department for Health and Social Care, suggests that if a 10-cigarettes-a-day smoker quits on January 1, then by January 8 they could “prevent loss of a full day of life”. By February 20, their lives could be extended by a whole week. And if their quitting is successful until August 5, they will likely live for a whole month longer than if they had continued to smoke. The authors added: “Studies suggest that smokers typically lose about the same number of healthy years as they do total years of life. Make 2025 the year you quit smoking for good. There’s lots of free support available to help you. Find out more ? https://t.co/J0ehnoRM1D pic.twitter.com/LQpUp6HJBm — WHH ? (@WHHNHS) December 27, 2024 “Thus smoking primarily eats into the relatively healthy middle years rather than shortening the period at the end of life, which is often marked by chronic illness or disability. “So a 60-year-old smoker will typically have the health profile of a 70-year-old non-smoker.” The analysis, to be published in the Journal of Addiction, concludes: “We estimate that on average, smokers in Britain who do not quit lose approximately 20 minutes of life expectancy for each cigarette they smoke. “This is time that would likely be spent in relatively good health. “Stopping smoking at every age is beneficial but the sooner smokers get off this escalator of death the longer and healthier they can expect their lives to be.” “The evidence suggests people lose, on average, around 20 minutes of life for each cigarette they smoke. “The sooner a person stops smoking, the longer they live. “Quitting at any age substantially improves health and the benefits start almost immediately. “It’s never too late to make a positive change for your health and there are a range of effective products and treatments that can help smokers quit for good.” There are so many reasons to quit smoking this New Year – for your health, for more money, and for your family. Make a fresh quit for 2025 – find tips and support at https://t.co/GyLk65o8kS or https://t.co/iW6WLxTL00 pic.twitter.com/KxPZ5N378y — North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust (@NTeesHpoolNHSFT) December 27, 2024 Health officials have said that smokers can find advice, support and resources with the NHS Quit Smoking app, as well as the online Personal Quit Plan. Public health minister Andrew Gwynne said: “Smoking is an expensive and deadly habit and these findings reveal the shocking reality of this addiction, highlighting how important it is to quit. “The new year offers a perfect chance for smokers to make a new resolution and take that step.” Commenting on the paper, Professor Sanjay Agrawal, special adviser on tobacco at the Royal College of Physicians, said: “Every cigarette smoked costs precious minutes of life, and the cumulative impact is devastating, not only for individuals but also for our healthcare system and economy. “This research is a powerful reminder of the urgent need to address cigarette smoking as the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the UK.”
Sullinger shot 9 of 20 from the field, including 4 for 10 from 3-point range, and went 3 for 4 from the line for the Golden Flashes (9-3). VonCameron Davis scored 21 points while shooting 8 for 13 (1 for 3 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line and added five rebounds and five assists. Mike Bekelja had 14 points and shot 4 for 5 from beyond the arc and 2 of 4 from the free-throw line. Eric Panning finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and two steals for the Student Princes. Manny Hill added 15 points and seven rebounds for Heidelberg. Elijah Harden had 15 points. Sullinger scored 11 points in the first half and Kent State went into halftime trailing 42-36. Davis scored 15 points in the second half. Kent State outscored Heidelberg by 10 points over the final half. Kent State hosts Ball State in its next matchup on Saturday. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Ian Jackson scored a season-high 26 points, RJ Davis added 23 points, including five 3-pointers, and North Carolina beat Campbell 97-81 Sunday night in the Tar Heels' final nonconference game of the season. Elliot Cadeau added 12 points and a career-high 12 assists, Drake Powell also scored 12 points and Jalen Washington added 10 for North Carolina (8-5). Cadeau made a jumper to spark a 15-3 run, Davis followed with a 3-pointer that gave UNC the lead for good with 16:09 left in the first half and Cadeau capped the spurt with a layup that made it 22-12 with 12:41 to go until halftime. Colby Duggan responded with back-to-back 3-pointers for the Fighting Camels to make it 22-18 less than a minute later and Nolan Dorsey's tip-in again trimmed the deficit to four points with 7:51 left in the first half. North Carolina scored 12 of the final 17 points to take a 40-29 lead into the intermission and Campbell got no closer than nine from there. Duggan hit a jumper to open the scoring in the second half, but Washington threw down a dunk with 18:53 to play and the Tar Heels led by double figures the rest of the way. Duggan led Campbell (5-8) with a career-high 32 points on 11-of-18 shooting, 5 of 9 from 3-point range. The rest of the Camels combined to make 17 of 45 from the field (37.8%). Jasin Sinani scored 15 and Cam Gregory 14 for Campbell. Seth Trimble (upper-body injury), who is averaging 14.8 points per game this season, did not play for North Carolina. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski alert and conscious after being taken off on a stretcher SOUTHAMPTON, England (AP) — West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski is “alert” and conscious after being taken off the field on a stretcher during the team's 1-0 win at Southampton in the Premier League on Thursday, manager Julen Lopetegui said. Canadian Press Dec 26, 2024 1:40 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message West Ham United goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski hits his head as he clears the ball during the Premier League match at St Mary's Stadium, in Southampton, England, Thursday Dec. 26, 2024. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP) SOUTHAMPTON, England (AP) — West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski is “alert” and conscious after being taken off the field on a stretcher during the team's 1-0 win at Southampton in the Premier League on Thursday, manager Julen Lopetegui said. The game was delayed for around eight minutes as Fabianski received treatment on the field at St Mary's Stadium. The 39-year-old Polish goalkeeper was hurt in a collision from a corner and was replaced by Alphonse Areola in the 36th minute. Southampton 'keeper Aaron Ramsdale had run the length of the field to check on Fabianski amid worrying scenes. Fabianski was then greeted by applause as he was taken off with an oxygen mask on, but did not need to go to the hospital. “He had one big knock around the head, around the neck and he was not very sure about his actions. Fortunately the news is he is talking, he is alert, he is conscious,” Lopetegui said. “I talk with him. The doctors say that he feels better and well. I am positive with him. He showed he more or less recovered his sense. I am not afraid. We feared but now he is better and it is a positive feeling because we were very worried.” West Ham, which also saw defender Max Kilman go off in the first half, scored through Jarrod Bowen in the 59th. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer The Associated Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Get your daily Victoria news briefing Email Sign Up More Soccer Haaland penalty failure and Fernandes red card pile on woes for City and United in Premier League Dec 26, 2024 2:04 PM Bruno Fernandes sent off again for Man United in 2-0 loss at Wolves Dec 26, 2024 11:41 AM Soccer fan in Scotland ejected from stadium and arrested for allegedly racially abusing player Dec 26, 2024 10:44 AM