calico cobby crushed

calico cobby crushed NEW YORK (AP) — Right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga is guaranteed $5 million in his one-year contract from the New York Yankees as he returns from Tommy John surgery and could earn up to $10.5 million over two seasons. Loáisiga gets a $500,000 signing bonus and a $4.5 million salary next season as part of the agreement announced Saturday. New York has a $5 million team option for 2026 with no buyout. Loáisiga could earn $500,000 in performance bonuses in 2026: $100,000 apiece for 50 innings and each additional five through 70. Pitching coach Matt Blake said last week the 30-year-old right-hander could return in late April or May from Tommy John surgery last May 1. “I imagine him being one of the high-leverage guys,” Blake said. “Obviously, we got to take some time to get him right, make sure we don’t rush him into competition.” Loáisiga had a $2.5 million salary this year in his final season of arbitration eligibility and became a free agent. He made three relief appearances during the first seven days of the season, then went on the injured list because of a strained right flexor muscle, then had Tommy John surgery with team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad. Loáisiga was limited to 17 games in 2023 by right elbow inflammation that sidelined him from the Yankees between April 5 and Aug. 8. He is 19-11 with a 3.44 ERA in 11 starts and 152 relief appearances over seven seasons, striking out 207 and walking 72 in 219 2/3 innings. Loáisiga averaged 97.8 mph with his sinker in 2023. AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he will nominate former White House aide Brooke Rollins to be his agriculture secretary, the last of his picks to lead executive agencies and another choice from within his established circle of advisers and allies. The nomination must be confirmed by the Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans when Trump takes office Jan. 20. Rollins would succeed Tom Vilsack , President Joe Biden’s agriculture secretary who oversees the sprawling agency that controls policies, regulations and aid programs related to farming, forestry, ranching, food quality and nutrition. Then-President Donald Trump looks to Brooke Rollins, president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, as she speaks during a Jan. 11, 2018, prison reform roundtable in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. Rollins previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The pick completes Trump’s selection of the heads of executive branch departments, just two and a half weeks after the former president won the White House once again. Several other picks that are traditionally Cabinet-level remain, including U.S. Trade Representative and head of the small business administration. Brooke Rollins, assistant to the president and director of the Domestic Policy Council at the time, speaks during a May 18, 2020, meeting with restaurant industry executives about the coronavirus response in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. Rollins, speaking on the Christian talk show “Family Talk" earlier this year, said Trump was an “amazing boss” and confessed that she thought in 2015, during his first presidential campaign, that he would not last as a candidate in a crowded Republican primary field. “I was the person that said, ‘Oh, Donald Trump is not going to go more than two or three weeks in the Republican primary. This is to up his TV show ratings. And then we’ll get back to normal,’” she said. “Fast forward a couple of years, and I am running his domestic policy agenda.” Trump didn’t offer many specifics about his agriculture policies during the campaign, but farmers could be affected if he carries out his pledge to impose widespread tariffs. During the first Trump administration, countries like China responded to Trump’s tariffs by imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports like the corn and soybeans routinely sold overseas. Trump countered by offering massive multibillion-dollar aid to farmers to help them weather the trade war. Brooke Rollins speaks at an Oct. 27 campaign rally for then-Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York. President Abraham Lincoln founded the USDA in 1862, when about half of all Americans lived on farms. The USDA oversees multiple support programs for farmers; animal and plant health; and the safety of meat, poultry and eggs that anchor the nation’s food supply. Its federal nutrition programs provide food to low-income people, pregnant women and young children. And the agency sets standards for school meals. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has vowed to strip ultraprocessed foods from school lunches and to stop allowing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beneficiaries from using food stamps to buy soda, candy or other so-called junk foods. But it would be the USDA, not HHS, that would be responsible for enacting those changes. In addition, HHS and USDA will work together to finalize the 2025-2030 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. They are due late next year, with guidance for healthy diets and standards for federal nutrition programs. Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writers Josh Funk and JoNel Aleccia contributed to this report. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump's first administration, and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee's election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign. In a statement, Trump called McGinley “a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda, while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement.” Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.I knew my daughter could hear: not just because she loved music, but because she had perfect rhythm. She punched her fists in the air like a human metronome, and brought a doughy heel to the ground precisely on each downbeat. I had thrown off the yoke of milestone-tracking months earlier, having become fixated on her inability to roll during the precise developmental week for rolling. So when she didn’t form consonants at the prescribed time, I made a deliberate choice to ignore it. It didn’t occur to me that deafness might not be a binary, and that certain vibrations and pitches – the downbeat of a song by toddler-music group the Wiggles, say – could be apprehended, while other subtle speech sounds might be snatched out of a sentence. So it was a couple of months after her first birthday when we discovered that our Botticellian baby had mild hearing loss, and two years after that when she lost almost all of her remaining hearing entirely. Like most hearing parents of deaf children, my first close relationship with a deaf person was with my child. Despite a relatively broad cultural education, I knew next to nothing about hearing loss or deaf culture. What little I had absorbed was an incomplete and almost entirely inaccurate patchwork of pop culture snippets – the mother’s horror when her baby doesn’t react to the fire engine’s siren in the film Mr Holland’s Opus (1995); Beethoven’s struggle to hear the first performance of his Ninth Symphony; the lift scene in Jerry Maguire (1996) where the loving boyfriend signs “you complete me” to his partner; Quasimodo’s apparent industrial deafness from the bells of Notre-Dame; and, worst of all, the appalling memory of my university housemate imitating a deaf accent for laughs. This bleak landscape of ignorance and misinformation is often the lookout from which parents begin making decisions, as deaf critics have rightly pointed out. But although I began educating myself belatedly, it didn’t take long for the calcified layers of assumptions and approximations to disintegrate. Chief among them was the unquestioned belief that hearing loss, for an early deafened person, is even a loss at all. In a recent interview with the news site Truthout , the deaf philosopher Teresa Blankmeyer Burke argues that the language of tragic loss seems particularly ill-fitting for a deaf child: “Some of us do not share this experience [of loss] at all, but only know what it is to be in our bodies as they have always existed.” News headlines about childhood deafness and hearing technology often slip into the “from deaf tragedy to hearing miracle” narrative, missing this crucial point about self-concept entirely. For many parents, this has intuitive clarity too. Absolutely smitten with my baby’s many tiny perfections, I had a stubborn sense that her deafness was not a pit she had fallen into, but just one of many extraordinary discoveries about her that I was making every day. It was a comforting certainty to cling to in the wee hours, when I was beset by a looping reel of terrors about the shadowy obstacles she would undeservedly face, and that I would be impotent to protect her from. Even accepting the reality of life’s vicissitudes, most of us hope for a relatively smooth course for our children. Unfettered sensorial access to the world being at the bottom of a hierarchy of wishes, and fundamental to the rest. The idea that so much was arbitrarily denied a baby so new to the world was, at times, almost impossible to withstand. F rom the moment of discovery of their child’s hearing loss, a parent finds themselves not only unmoored by circumstance, but adrift in a tempestuous cultural debate. While not exactly a global topic of dinner-table conversation, the battle for the identities and futures of deaf children is fiercely fought. Arguments drift down from academic journals to social media, where many new parents are washed ashore in the absence of a definitive source of information about their child’s future. Trying to reconcile the contradictory advice given by a new cast of characters – GPs, paediatricians, ear, nose and throat specialists, audiologists, speech therapists, disability insurance advisers, interested observers – I looked at Instagram to find some clarity in authentic, lived experience. Starting with a few anodyne hashtags, I initially found a bunch of mothers (differing in every respect, but always, always mothers) sharing inspiring stories about the lives of their deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Unlike the normative “blend-in-or-else” diktats of my 1980s childhood, this new world was a sea of diversity – confident smiles, “ Deaf Gain ” wallpapers, kids signing in slang, and proudly visible, brightly coloured hearing technology. I was buoyed up by this extraordinary community, and lifted yet again when my daughter’s metallic pink hearing aids arrived. She no longer had to jam her Wiggles keyboard to her ear to hear the music, and all of my hesitations and ambivalences were converted into happy certainties. But the tone of my feed shifted quite quickly. Gone were the mothers meticulously crafting Spider-Man hearing aid covers and Peppa Pig cochlear implant cases, and in their place were reels and posts that had a more political flavour. We had begun working with a speech-therapist using the LSL (listening and spoken language) or AVT (auditory-verbal therapy) approach, which aims to ensure children don’t miss the verbal data bombardment they need in early childhood to develop spoken language. This is essentially about optimising hearing technology – hearing aids or cochlear implants (CI) – so that a deaf or hard-of-hearing child can access the full range of speech sounds, and then using play-based games and activities that focus on listening and speaking (very similarly to traditional speech therapy for hearing children with speech delay). Historically, some exponents of this approach discouraged the use of sign, but not these days and certainly not in my experience. However, they do prioritise spoken language in the early years, recognising that sign languages can be tricky for hearing adults to attain with the necessary proficiency and syntactic complexity in the time a child needs them to. But what I had experienced as a genuinely caring, evidence-based and pragmatic attempt to empower deaf children and give them the widest set of options had been singled out as an example of “ audism ” by influential deaf and deaf-adjacent critics – a sinister assimilationist model with paternalistic colonial overtones and a complicated history. Critics argued that Alexander Graham Bell – the founding father of what is still one of the major LSL programmes in the US – was not so much a benevolent supporter of deaf children, but a eugenicist and “oralist” with grotesque views about deafness on a self-appointed mission to eradicate sign languages. There were traumatised adults distancing themselves from their parents entirely for forcing them, despite great difficulty, to listen, speak and lip-read. The teary-eyed social media phenomenon of babies with hearing aids and CIs being filmed hearing sound for the first time was disparagingly called “ inspiration porn ” or “switch-on porn” – the vulgar showboating of an arrogant hearing class determined to convert their perfectly deaf children into imperfectly hearing ones. Not only was it inaccurate (no hearing technology makes hearing easy or natural for deaf people), but it spoke of, at best, a normative desire to correct or fix something that was not in their view broken – only different. There were videos about so-called “ language deprivation ” – when a child is in effect linguistically starved because parents and providers incorrectly assume their aids or implants give them sufficient access to the subtle speech sounds around them. Through this lens, the speech therapy games we parents were playing weren’t cute or supportive – they were the pastel-coloured attempts of a hegemonic hearing overclass to turn their happy deaf children into unhappy hearing ones. On one level, I was very moved by these arguments, and it seemed fair to lend more weight to the opinions of those with lived experience of deafness than to those without. I began to wonder if I was compelling my non-consenting deaf daughter to “pass” imperfectly and at great personal cost in a hearing world, rather than empowering her to flourish easily by her own lights in the deaf one. While my husband was able to contextualise the deaf culture proponents as a small but noisy minority, I became ever more anxious and fixated on their arguments. And when my daughter progressively lost what remained of her hearing and cochlear implants were proposed, my wheels began to spin in the ethical mud. C ontrary to what many imagine, cochlear implants are not just fancy hearing aids. A hearing aid amplifies sound using the existing mechanisms and pathways of the ear, but the clarity of speech can tail off once hearing loss is in the severe to profound ranges, with things sounding a lot louder, but not necessarily clearer. A cochlear implant, by contrast, is an electronic device that creates the sensation of sound by bypassing the inner ear entirely and stimulating the auditory nerve with a set of electrodes. There is an internal component, with a magnet, a receiver and an electrode array that spirals around the cochlear (a biomimetic design inspired by a strand of grass curling around a shell’s spiral), and an external component with a microphone to pick up sound, with a processor to encode it. While hearing aids are relatively uncontroversial, the internal portion of a cochlear implant requires surgery, which entails risk. There is a significant period of rehabilitation as the brain learns to make sense of a totally new type of electronic input, and the external processor itself is slightly larger and more visible on the head. Deaf adults can of course make this decision for themselves, but increasingly the recommendations are for parents to implant their children in infancy as this generally produces the best outcomes. Even in the past few years, the age of recommended implantation for severely to profoundly deaf babies has dropped to nine months. Their astonishing success rate in aiding the understanding of speech has meant a new generation of deaf adults are emerging who do not use sign language in the way they would have done only a few decades earlier. While for some this is one of the great advances of modern medicine, for others it is a deeply worrying evolution. The new technological possibilities and their swift adoption have understandably caused widespread consternation in deaf communities globally. The future of their complex and rich visual languages is endangered by the developments, as well as the communities and ways of life that stem from them. These are genuine and valid concerns, and ones that are rarely addressed in moderate, bipartisan terms. There are also broader ethical concerns raised by surgical intervention of this kind on children whose lives are not threatened, and who are not in a position to request or consent. Why is the case of cochlear implantation so different from other parallel medical situations that a parent has to navigate? Why is it controversial in the way that an artificial limb or cornea transplant is not? Unlike the parent of a child with vision loss who pursues laser surgery in an uncomplicated way, the parent of a deaf child is implicated in a much larger politico-cultural struggle. To my outsider’s eyes, a lot of this was not the tangled snarl of identity politics, but seemed largely to stem from a fundamental disagreement over the metaphysics of deafness. Whereas the hearing world, hand in hand with the medical one, has conceptualised deafness as a sensory deficit that can be “restored” – albeit partially, temporarily and imperfectly – parts of the deaf world argue that this approach demonstrates an outdated pathologisation of difference. Happily, we live in an era where neuro- and other divergences are no longer seen as aberrations, but rather as part of a welcome heterogeneity of biology and perspective. Deaf critics and disability theorists thus pose the question: why does society want to frame deafness as a medical abnormality rather than a sensory difference? In their view, the medical model is the outward face of a punishing normative tyranny. Any deviations from the standard hearing model are ushered – either gently and kindly or violently and oppressively – back to the midline. Like the twisted “benevolent” logic of gay conversion therapies, even the so-called good intentions of parents and bystanders (as anti-racist campaigners have long argued) could perpetuate discrimination just as easily as the malign ones. The psychologist Harlan Lane went even further, arguing that deafness is actually more akin to an ethnicity than to a disability. If the same rights and protections apply here as to other cultural, religious and racial minorities, then the entire therapeutic landscape looks incredibly sinister. At its mildest, the mainstream model of improving a deaf child’s hearing becomes the enforced alteration of a member of a cultural and linguistic minority. And at worst, as with the cochlear implant, it is not only an invasive surgery that endangers and irrevocably changes a child, but also threatens the extinction of an imperilled language and the erasure of a cultural group. Lane likens the hearing parents of a deaf child to parents who adopt a child from a different racial background, arguing they have a similar responsibility to uphold the cultural mores and traditions of their child’s ethnic group. Tom Humphries, the deaf culturalist who coined the term “audism”, has a deeply cynical view of hearing parents, positioning them simply as legal “owners” of their deaf children, many of whom eventually “migrate” back to what he strongly implies is their true cultural home. He explicitly likens this pattern of ownership and return to that of African American enslaved people or Latin American populations under colonial rule. As a parent, this line of argumentation is jarring, to say the least. While it lies at the extreme end of the debate, many deaf critics have joined Humphries in arguing vociferously that hearing parents cannot be trusted to give informed consent on behalf of their child – surgical or otherwise. W ith these sorts of arguments informing a good deal of the public discourse around deafness, what is the hearing parent of a deaf child to think? And more importantly, how are they to act? The underlying assumption of CI critics seems to be that the neutral stance is to do nothing, and that any intervention at all requires moral licence. But doing nothing isn’t always neutral – most obviously in medical scenarios – and can be a malign act of withholding. There is a genuine moral dilemma here, because a parent must give informed consent one way or the other. Not acting while the child is young is potentially equally culpable. If the anti-CI arguments are not convincing, then it’s possible that their proponents have indirectly harmed the potential development of some children and their ability to flourish in the widest set of circumstances. Alongside the passionate critiques of Lane, Humphries and others, there is also considerable weight lent to the academics arguing quite the opposite – that denying a deaf child a cochlear implant is neglect. In the western world, where early paediatric implantation in severely to profoundly deaf children is considered to be the “ standard of care ”, making the choice not to implant could be seen as a radical decision to withhold a mainstream technology that most of a deaf child’s peers will be using. And what are the ethics of withholding when that technology has safety implications, and could enable the deaf child-then-adult to apprehend dangers to themselves or others? Footsteps in the dark, a window breaking, a car approaching on a quiet street, a fire alarm, a scream in the shopping centre, a baby crying in the next room – none would be audible to my daughter without an implant. And from a feminist perspective, she may need, as women always have done, a loud voice to shout, or to argue with her healthcare providers, or to advocate for herself in an emergency. The implant would provide her with a clearer pathway to power and impact in the world, and to positions of influence where she would be underrepresented both as a woman and as a deaf person. To refuse her a CI based on the arguments of Lane et al would be to use the future of an individual as a blunt weapon to achieve benefit for the broader deaf community. Now, this could open me up to the charge that it would be individualistic and anti-solidaristic to prioritise my daughter’s personal future at any expense. But there’s also a persuasive argument that what benefits the deaf individual is, when multiplied, what raises the collective. It strikes me that the more deaf people can participate actively in positions of power and influence, the better the outcome for deaf people en masse – and, as much as we may wish it wouldn’t, this entails having considerable proficiency in the primary mode of communication. In strictly utilitarian terms, a successful implant hugely expands the number of people a deaf person can communicate with – amplifying their perspective and connecting them in the hearing world, while not precluding their ability to communicate solely using the richness of sign language/s in the deaf one. For me, it is a version of the dilemma that plagues any other movement for systemic social justice. In my experience, this debate often arises in discussions among women too – there is a tension between our responsibility to unpick larger hegemonies and create opportunities for change, and our attempts to personally flourish within the world as it is now, however flawed. But there is a way to have a measure of both. I’ve begun to think of this as a sort of dialectical pragmatism – a way of holding two seemingly contradictory things in mind and moving forward in a way that works. Ultimately, I think it’s possible to want to create the conditions for the best life possible for our daughter, while simultaneously remaining conscious that she is having to bend painfully to fit a system that doesn’t speak for her the way it should. With so many strident either/ors bouncing back and forth, thinking more dialectically can bring clarity in other aspects of the debate too. We can then hold both that her deafness is perfect and does not need to be “fixed”, and that she may benefit from a helpful intervention just as I have from things such as glasses, medications or surgeries – all of which do not ultimately alter my dignity or identity. We can say both that there is justifiable concern from deaf adults who wish to safeguard their communities and languages from the evolution of hearing technology, and that there is a new generation of deaf voices with cochlear implants who haven’t entered the debate and will have their own perspectives. We can maintain a dislike for the tech-utopian view of CIs as a miraculous cure for a tragic affliction, and accept that they have proven to be an extraordinary, life-changing daily support to more than 1 million people worldwide. It’s OK to acknowledge that the hearing perspective is a muddy lens through which we view the world (and which leads us to valorise auditory pleasures in a way deaf people don’t), and also admit that it is fine to want to give your child the qualia of soaring strings and voices in the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth. But the fork in the road in front of us was not only binary, but time-critical. Forced into a nauseating either/or decision that would torment even the most level-headed parent, my husband and I eventually arrived at a bald piece of logic that wouldn’t burn away with challenge: the idea that there was only one option that contained a kernel of both options within it. Only one that really left her with any kind of agency. If she wishes to, in adulthood our daughter can have her cochlear implant removed and fully immerse herself in what is so clearly the rich, joyous, fulfilling deaf world. We plan to learn Australian Sign Language (Auslan) as a family, so that she will have an easy fluency and cultural connection with a community that will, I’m sure, become hugely important to her. But without full access to spoken English in the critical development window of her early years, she will probably never regain the nuances of spoken communication later on; something that is only a problem in that it will close doors that she may later wish were open, and chiefly – it wouldn’t be her choice to do so. She would be constrained by the boundaries of what she may later choose – and what in any other era or in parts of the world would certainly be her future – but to actively place the constraint on her now feels premature. She is three and three-quarters, and fluently reading early chapter books for pleasure. She knows more about the solar system and the workings of the digestive tract than I do, and her future seems as unbounded as her mind. So we made an excruciating decision that, to us, leaves the fewest limits to the scope of her life as possible, and places the decisions back in her hands, where they should be. Our neighbourhood pear tree is just beginning to rouse itself after winter, and my little girl has been emerging too – into a world of new sounds that were beyond the reach of her hearing aids. Yesterday she heard the tiniest, most pitiful bird chirp, and told me so excitedly, with a strong, clear voice. On a windy day she stopped, wide-eyed and said: “I hear the leaves rustling with my coch-le-ah!” with all the triumph she saves for brandishing treasures found on walks. We hold a both/and view here, too, and also celebrate the magic of her “quiet ears” and the unique perspective they afford her. When she removes her processor before sleep, it’s clear she is relieved to submerge into calm again. But she holds the dialectical promise of silence and sound at once – this time literally, insisting on gripping her processor tightly in her palm while she falls asleep. In this way she stands pragmatically astride both worlds. In silence, but with a hearing key right at hand; ready to unlock the blooming, buzzing cacophony of the world whenever she chooses. This essay first appeared under the title The Cochlear Question on Aeon.co Listen to our podcasts here and sign up to the long read weekly email here .ATLANTA (AP) — Even the woeful NFC South, where no team has a winning record, can't hide the Atlanta Falcons' offensive shortcomings. Three straight setbacks, including an ugly 17-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, has left the Falcons 6-6 and feeling the pressure. Only a tiebreaker advantage over Tampa Bay has kept the Falcons atop the division. Now the Falcons must prepare to visit streaking Minnesota, which has won five straight . Veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett knows the Falcons must solve the flaws which have been exposed in the losing streak. “It’s now or never,” Jarrett said. “You have to flip the mindset fast.” Kirk Cousins threw four interceptions in the loss, matching his career high. Coach Raheem Morris said he didn't consider playing rookie Michael Penix Jr. against the Chargers and won't think about benching Cousins this week. Morris acknowledged the Falcons can't expect to win when turning the ball over four times. It was the latest example of Atlanta's offensive decline. In the three-game losing streak, Cousins has thrown six interceptions with no touchdowns. The Falcons were held under 20 points in each loss. If not for the rash of interceptions which has contributed to the scoring problems, more attention would be devoted to the surge of big plays on defense. The defense forced two fumbles and set a season high with five sacks, including two by Arnold Ebiketie. The Falcons ranked last in the league with only 10 sacks before finding success with their pass rush against Justin Herbert. Herbert was forced to hold the ball while looking for an open receiver, so some credit for the pass-rush success belongs to Atlanta's secondary. The Falcons gave up only two first downs in the second half and 187 yards for the game. Cousins, 36, was expected to be the reliable leader on offense after he signed a four-year, $180 million contract. The four interceptions were his most since 2014 with Washington. Cousins now will be in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons as he returns to Minnesota, his NFL home from 2018-23. Cousins has thrown 13 interceptions, one shy of his career high set in 2022. His passer rating of 90.8 is his lowest since his 86.4 mark as a part-time starter in 2014 with Washington. “Certainly when you haven’t played at the standard you want to a few weeks in a row, you know, you do want to change that, turn it around,” Cousins said. Running back Bijan Robinson had his busiest day of the season, perhaps in an attempt to take heat off Cousins. Robinson's 26 carries set a career high. He ran for 102 yards with a touchdown, his third 100-yard game of the season. He also was heavily involved as a receiver with six catches for 33 yards. With 135 yards from scrimmage, Robinson has eight games this season with more than 100 yards combined as a rusher and receiver, the second-most in the league. Tight end Kyle Pitts had no catches on only two targets. He has only six catches in the last four games after appearing to establish momentum for a big season with two seven-catch games in a span of three weeks in October. Morris noted the Falcons have “so many people that we've got to get the ball to” but noted he'd like to see Pitts more involved. Younghoe Koo's hip issues were such a concern that kicker Riley Patterson was signed to the practice squad on Friday and added to the active roster Saturday. Patterson was on the inactive list as Koo was good on two of three field goals, missing from 35 yards. Koo has made 21 of 29 attempts this season. He did not have more than five misses in any of his first five seasons with Atlanta. 70 — WR Drake London had nine receptions for 86 yards, giving him 70 catches for the season. London, a 2022 first-round draft pick, is the first player in team history with at least 65 receptions in each of his first three seasons. While Ray-Ray McCloud III led the team with a career-best 95 yards on four catches against the Chargers and Darnell Mooney has had some big games, London has been the most consistent receiver. The Falcons face a difficult test Sunday in their visit to Minnesota (10-2), which has five straight wins and is 5-1 at home. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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Loáisiga guaranteed $5 million in 1-year deal with Yankees as he returns from Tommy John surgery

Dublin midfielder Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne has sounded a note of caution around the sweeping rule changes to Gaelic football. All seven of the Football Review Committee’s ‘rule enhancements’ sailed through Special Congress at Croke Park this morning , meaning that the Leinster club final that Ó Cofaigh Byrne played in for Cuala against St Mary’s Ardee was one of the last games of its kind before the changes are ushered in next year. Speaking after his side scored a nervy one-point win to secure their first provincial football title, Ó Cofaigh Byrne said: “I don’t know, it’s a dramatic change, obviously, and whether or not it’s been properly tested and seen if they’re going to work or not, I don’t know, we’ll have to see. That’s just the nature of it. READ MORE: Jim Gavin hails 'Great opportunity for football' and says, 'Negativity surprises me' READ MORE: Eamonn Fitzmaurice says 'the joy of playing football' will return after new rules passed at GAA Special Congress “To have that many changes all at once, I’d be, I don’t know, a bit cautious of. A massive change like that, there’s probably things that haven’t been thought of, of what managers are going to get around some way. “Look, it’ll be great to actually get out and try and do it and see if it works and if it makes the game better, brilliant, but there are some points that will be definitely more difficult. I know at some of our clubs games, it’s just one ref there, how they’re going to manage some of them rules, I’m not sure, especially in club. Inter-county, it’s great, it’ll make the game quicker but it’ll be interesting to see how it actually pans out.” One rule in particular that should play to Ó Cofaigh Byrne’s strengths given his size is the fact that the kickout has to travel beyond a new 40-metre arc, which should create more contests for possession in midfield. “As a midfielder, I’m tall enough so anything that’s going out can’t be enough but, again, I don’t know if we’re just putting the game back 20 years where it’s just lumped out long and it’s just a massive battle. That might be great but it might not be. It’s kind of hard to tell yet. “There’s a lot of teams that go long a lot and they get a lot of joy, which is great. Galway are very good at it but it’ll be interesting to see. It’s kind of hard to tell at this stage.” His manager, Austin O’Malley, said the Allianz League will provide the “acid test” for the new rules. He said: “Obviously what we got in the sandbox games, they are sandbox games, they’re not the cut and thrust of being that competitive in terms of whether your life is depending on whether you get to a national final or you’re relegated or so on so I think that will give the Football Review Committee a lot more food for thought. “In general I think we’re blessed to have the calibre of men in the Football Review Committee to keep counsel over that and make those decisions. I think they’re pretty well stocked and I would fully endorse and back wherever they come with.” To keep up to date with all the latest GAA news, sign-up to our GAA newsletter here.Luigi Mangione could be facing an uphill legal battle as a suspect in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson due to the mounting evidence against him, according to a Baltimore attorney with ties to the family. A retrieved firearm and alleged manifesto contribute to what criminal defense attorney Tomas J. Maronick describes as “very strong” evidence against Mangione. Maronick, who runs the Baltimore firm Maronick Law LLC, hosted the "Tom Moore Show," a weekend politics, legal issues and entertainment program, for the Mangione family-owned WCBM-AM radio station for 20 years from 2003 until 2023. During that time, Maronick knew several members of the family, including patriarch Nick Mangione Sr., and Maryland delegate Nino Mangione, who was the web content director at the time. While Maronick does not recall if he met Luigi Mangione, he said he was shocked when he heard the news about the shooting. “When I saw the name, and they said ‘Mangione,’ I said, ‘This can’t be,’” Maronick said. “’This can’t be the same family I worked with for 20 years.’ It turns out it was. I was shocked like anyone else. It’s the last family name you would suspect being associated with something like this.” New York prosecutors have charged Mangione with one count of murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He was denied bail during a court appearance Tuesday in Pennsylvania. Mangione is also fighting extradition and will remain at Huntingdon State Correctional Institution until prosecutors obtain a governor’s warrant to take him back to New York to face charges. Maronick acknowledged that Mangione faces a tough legal battle to be cleared of the charges. In addition, multiple reports surfaced Wednesday stating that Mangione’s fingerprints were found at the scene of the shooting. “The evidence in this case looks very strong,” Maronick said. “You have a firearm that matches the kind that appears to have been used in the commission of the crime in his possession. You have a manifesto that appears to provide a motive for this. Then, you have a detachment from the family.” Maronick expects that Mangione’s defense attorney might request a competency evaluation, which is mental health assessment to determine whether a criminal defendant is able to understand and participate in the legal process, after Mangione had an outburst while being led by police for an extradition hearing in Pennsylvania, yelling to reporters: “This is completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience.” Bradley S. Shepherd, a defense attorney with Posner & Cord LLC in Maryland, said this case has already been sensationalized in the media with a public investigation. The outburst only added to the controversy. “The most basic piece of advice that any criminal defense attorney can give to a client or a prospective client is don’t say anything to the police or press or anyone,” Shepherd said. University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law professor Doug Colbert does not think a competency hearing will be needed due to Mangione’s educational background and academic prowess. Colbert said Mangione likely understands the gravity of the case against him. Another challenge facing both defense attorneys and prosecutors is finding an unbiased jury pool. The current state of the health care industry with increased prices and denied care has polarized society, underscored by the support of Mangione on social media. “The jury pool is going to be one where you really ask questions about health care,” Maronick said. “You want to ask what people’s views are and if they have ever been denied a claim. What is their experience with health care companies? Do they have a favorable impression? Have they had bad experiences? Have they had claims denied? Both sides are going to want to have those questions asked.” Shepherd is confident the system will find an effective jury. He noted that while the criminal trial of President-elect Donald Trump earlier this year was difficult to find able jurors and the selection lasted a week, the court was able to effectively complete the process. “To my knowledge, in the history of United States jurisprudence, we have never failed to find 12 jurors who are fit for the job,” Shepherd said. “I’d be interested to read a book where that was not the case.” The Mangione case has reached far beyond Maryland and is now an international story. Maronick has done interviews about the case with the BBC, which broadcasts across Europe. As a result, he said he doesn’t see any reason a judge would move the case from New York . “I don’t think a motion to change venues is going to do much when it does get to New York because this is a national, and I would even say an international, case,” Maronick said. “It’s gotten so much publicity. I don’t think you would have a better or worse jury somewhere else. It’s been reported everywhere.” However, according to Maronick, the crimes does not tarnish the reputation of the Mangione family. “It’s such an esteemed, classy family,” Maronick said. “They are people who were not only incredibly supportive of my career at WCBM, but everyone else, with charity and how they donated money and have their name on the aquatic center at Loyola University Maryland.” ©2024 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Sofi technologies EVP Kelli Keough sells shares worth $139,593Alex Jones keeps Infowars for now after judge rejects The Onion's winning auction bidTony Finau withdrew Wednesday from the Grant Thornton Invitational, where he was scheduled to compete with Nelly Korda. Korda will now play alongside Daniel Berger in the mixed-gender event, which begins Friday. Finau also withdrew from last week’s Hero World Challenge, prompting rumors that he might be headed to LIV Golf. Finau told Golfweek that his absence from the Bahamas was because of offseason knee surgery. He said on social media Wednesday that his knee still wasn’t ready for tournament play. I am disappointed to have to withdraw from the @gtinvitational as I continue to recover from my knee injury. Playing with @NellyKorda in 2023 was one of the highlights of my year. I look forward to cheering her on this week, and am thankful for her support and understanding as I... pic.twitter.com/KJiCCPuArF The Grant Thornton Invitational features 16 two-person teams comprised of PGA Tour and LPGA players. The 54-hole event gets underway Friday at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.

RICHMOND — Two years ago, Gov. Glenn Youngkin proposed sweeping investments to overhaul the state’s behavioral health system. The initiative, called Right Help, Right Now, promised funding for crisis response solutions like mobile crisis teams and a new crisis hotline. On Wednesday, Youngkin said the commonwealth had made good on that promise. “We are finding a way to get people the help they need when they need it, and that does not mean tomorrow or next month,” he said during a news conference at the Patrick Henry Building. “It means today.” At the outset, the program’s goals included boosting the number of mobile crisis response units from 36 to 70. Today, there are 102 active teams operating 24/7 year round. Those teams average a 50-minute response time across the state. Likewise, Youngkin said that between crisis receiving centers, stabilization units and therapeutic homes, there are now 663 available crisis units, up from 213. Other highlights included the 988 hotline , which acts as an alternative to 911 for mental health crises. In September, the hotline received more than 14,000 calls. Youngkin said the wider availability of dedicated mental health supports also reduced the amount of time police officers spent monitoring people in crisis at hospitals. To continue the progress, Youngkin pledged an additional $70 million to further the efforts of Right Help, Right Now in a budget proposal he will present next week. Still, there’s work to be done. The bulk of last year’s funding went to developmental disability waivers , distributed quarterly over two years and designed to help children and adults with disabilities receive support at home. Historically, the waitlist to receive these waivers has been thousands of people long. The mental health investment has funded 3,440 slots for top applicants — effectively enough to clear the backlog of people who urgently need support services. But that doesn’t mean there’s enough support to get people help right away. There is a rollout process, and advocates have warned there remains a shortage of service providers who act as an alternative to group homes. “We hear from people when they get (the waiver), and they call excited,” said Tonya Milling, executive director of the Arc of Virginia, an organization that advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. “And then it’s, ‘Oh my God, what do I do?” To that end, the Arc is lobbying for resources to help waiver recipients navigate the process. Milling said there’s also a difference in how crisis intervention systems work for people with developmental disabilities compared to people accessing the mental health system without one, at least right now. “It’s taken longer to get crisis receiving centers trained, ready and prepared so that they know how to support someone with (intellectual and developmental disabilities) when they come in,” she said. “We have a lot of people with significant support needs that have autism that can manifest as a behavioral health crisis. Calling the cops is still pretty scary, so there needs to be so much more education on 988 and for people to know to call that.” Of the $70 million in spending included in Youngkin’s budget amendments, $35 million would go toward Special Conservators of the Peace, badged officers in hospitals and emergency departments that would take custody of people experiencing a behavioral health crisis. Youngkin said the goal is to reduce the time police officers spend in hospitals. The governor will present his amended budget proposal to state lawmakers next Wednesday. The General Assembly convenes Jan. 8 and will adjourn Feb. 22. During the session, lawmakers will consider this and other amendments Youngkin proposes for the state’s two-year budget plan. Kate Seltzer, katherine.seltzer@virginiamedia.comHudson Meek, the 16-year-old actor who appeared in “Baby Driver,” died last week after falling from a moving vehicle in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, according to CNN affiliate WVTM. The teen sustained blunt force trauma in the fall on Dec. 19 and was admitted to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, where he died from his injuries on Dec. 21, the Jefferson County Coroner’s office told CNN affiliate WVTM . “His 16 years on this earth were far too short, but he accomplished so much and significantly impacted everyone he met,” reads a post on his Instagram account . Hudson Meek attends the "A Different Man" premiere during the Deauville American Film Festival in Deauville, France, on September 9. The teen actor had various acting and voice over credits, most notably playing a younger version of Ansel Elgort’s character Baby in 2017 movie “Baby Driver.” People are also reading... Meek also voiced the lead in “Badanamu Stories” — a children’s show that examines themes relevant to preschoolers, according to IMDb . He also appeared in shows including NBC’s “Found” and The CW’s “Legacies,” as well as the recently released thriller “The School Duel.” Meek’s obituary described the teenager as a “reflective and thoughtful” avid traveler and fan of the outdoors. “He loved snow-skiing and could easily navigate the hardest trails that no one else in the family would dare attempt,” the obituary read. “One of his favorite places to be was at the lake, tubing and wakeboarding.” The Vestavia Hills Police Department is still investigating the circumstances surrounding Meek’s death, WTVM reported. CNN has reached out to Vestavia Hills police for more information on the incident. Photos: Notable deaths in 2024 Glynis Johns Glynis Johns, a Tony Award-winning stage and screen star who played the mother opposite Julie Andrews in the classic movie “Mary Poppins” and introduced the world to the bittersweet standard-to-be “Send in the Clowns” by Stephen Sondheim, died, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2023. She was 100. Adan Canto Adan Canto, the Mexican singer and actor best known for his roles in “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and “Agent Game” as well as the TV series “The Cleaning Lady,” “Narcos,” and “Designated Survivor,” died Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, after a private battle with appendiceal cancer. He was 42. Bud Harrelson Bud Harrelson, the scrappy and sure-handed shortstop who fought Pete Rose on the field during a playoff game and helped the New York Mets win an astonishing championship, died Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. He was 79. The Mets said that Harrelson died at a hospice house in East Northport, New York after a long battle with Alzheimer's. Dejan Milojevic Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević, a mentor to two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and a former star player in his native Serbia, died Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, after suffering a heart attack, the team announced. He was 46. Jack Burke Jack Burke Jr., the oldest living Masters champion who staged the greatest comeback ever at Augusta National for one of his two majors, died Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, in Houston. He was 100. Mary Weiss Mary Weiss, the lead singer of the 1960s pop group the Shangri-Las, whose hits included “The Leader of the Pack,” died Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, in Palm Springs, Calif. She was 75. Norman Jewison Norman Jewison, a three-time Oscar nominee who in 1999 received an Academy Award for lifetime achievement, died “peacefully” Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024, according to publicist Jeff Sanderson. He was 97. Charles Osgood Charles Osgood, who anchored “CBS Sunday Morning” for more than two decades, hosted the long-running radio program “The Osgood File” and was referred to as CBS News’ poet-in-residence, died Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. He was 91. Melanie Safka Melanie, a singer-songwriter behind 1970s hits including “Brand New Key,” died Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. She was 76. Born Melanie Safka, the singer rose through the New York folk scene and was one of only three solo women to perform at Woodstock. Her hits included “Lay Down” and “Look What They've Done to My Song Ma.” Chita Rivera Chita Rivera, the dynamic dancer, singer and actress who garnered 10 Tony nominations, winning twice, in a long Broadway career that forged a path for Latina artists, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 91. Carl Weathers Carl Weathers, a former NFL linebacker who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star, playing nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the “Rocky” movies, facing-off against Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Predator” and teaching golf in “Happy Gilmore,” died Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. He was 76. Wayne Kramer Wayne Kramer, the co-founder of the protopunk Detroit band the MC5 that thrashed out such hardcore anthems as “Kick Out the Jams” and influenced everyone from the Clash to Rage Against the Machine, died Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, according to Jason Heath, a close friend and executive director of Kramer's charity, Jail Guitar Doors. Heath said the cause of death was pancreatic cancer. He was 75. Ian Lavender Actor Ian Lavender, who played a hapless Home Guard soldier in the classic British sitcom “Dad’s Army,” died Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. He was 77. Toby Keith Country music singer-songwriter Toby Keith, whose pro-American anthems were both beloved and criticized, died Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. He was 62. Henry Fambrough Henry Fambrough, the last surviving original member of the iconic R&B group The Spinners, whose hits included “It’s a Shame,” “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love,” and “The Rubberband Man,” died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, of natural causes, according to a statement from his spokeswoman. He was 85. Bob Edwards Bob Edwards, right, the news anchor many Americans woke up to as founding host of National Public Radio's “Morning Edition” for nearly a quarter-century, died Saturday, Feb. 10, 20243. He was 76. He's shown here with sports announcer Red Barber. Don Gullett Don Gullett, a former major league pitcher and coach who played for four consecutive World Series champions in the 1970s, died Feb. 14. He was 73. He finished his playing career with a 109-50 record playing for the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees. Lefty Driesell Lefty Driesell, the coach whose folksy drawl belied a fiery on-court demeanor that put Maryland on the college basketball map and enabled him to rebuild several struggling programs, died Feb. 17, 2024, at age 92. Andreas Brehme Germany players celebrate after Andreas Brehme, left on ground, scores the winning goal in the World Cup soccer final match against Argentina, in the Olympic Stadium, in Rome, July 8, 1990. Andreas Brehme, who scored the only goal as West Germany beat Argentina to win the 1990 World Cup final, died Feb. 20, 2024. He was 63. Golden Richards Despite the effort of Denver Broncos defensive back Steve Foley (43), Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Golden Richards hauls in a touchdown pass during NFL football's Super Bowl 12 in New Orleans on Jan 15, 1978. Richards died Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, of congestive heart failure at his home in Murray, Utah. He was 73. Richards' nephew Lance Richards confirmed his death in a post on his Facebook page. Richard Lewis Comedian Richard Lewis attends an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles on Dec. 25, 2012. Lewis, an acclaimed comedian known for exploring his neuroses in frantic, stream-of-consciousness diatribes while dressed in all-black, leading to his nickname “The Prince of Pain,” died Feb. 27, 2024. He was 76. He died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack, according to his publicist Jeff Abraham. Nikolai Ryzhkov Former Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov attends a session of the Federation Council, Russian parliament's upper house, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 25, 2014. Ryzhkov, former Soviet prime minister who presided over failed efforts to shore up the crumbling economy in the final years before the collapse of the USSR, died Feb. 28, 2024, at age 94. Brian Mulroney Brian Mulroney, the former prime minister of Canada, listens during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the Canada-U.S.-Mexico relationship, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Mulroney died at the age of 84 on Feb. 29, 2024. Akira Toriyama Akira Toriyama is pictured in 1982. Toriyama, the creator of one of Japan's best-selling “Dragon Ball” and other popular anime who influenced Japanese comics, died March 1, 2024. He was 68. Iris Apfel Iris Apfel, a textile expert, interior designer and fashion celebrity known for her eccentric style, died March 1, 2024, at 102. Andy Russell Andy Russell, the standout linebacker who was an integral part of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ evolution from perennial losers to champions, died Feb. 29, 2024. He was 82. Russell won two Super Bowls during a 12-year NFL career between 1963-76 that was briefly interrupted by a stint in the military. Russell played in 168 consecutive games and spent 10 years as a team captain. He was named to the Pro Bowl seven times. Russell remained active in the Pittsburgh community after retiring, writing several books and launching the Andy Russell Charitable Foundation. Ed Ott Pittsburgh Pirates' Ed Ott slides across home late out of reach of Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey to score the winning run in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the World Series at Baltimore, Oct. 11, 1979. Ott, a former major league catcher and coach who helped the Pittsburgh Pirates win the 1979 World Series, died March 3, 2024. He was 72. He batted .259 with 33 homers and 195 RBIs in 567 major league games. Ott and Steve Nicosia were the main catchers when the Pirates won it all in 1979. Chris Mortensen In a photo supplied by ESPN, Chris Mortensen appears on the set of Sunday NFL Countdown at ESPN's studios in Bristol, Conn., on Sept. 22, 2019. Mortensen, the award-winning journalist who covered the NFL for close to four decades, including 32 as a senior analyst at ESPN, died March 3, 2024. He was 72. Mortensen announced in 2016 that he he had been diagnosed with throat cancer. Even while undergoing treatment, he was the first to confirm the retirement of Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. Mortensen announced his retirement after the NFL draft last year so that he could “focus on my health, family and faith.” Steve Lawrence Singer Steve Lawrence, left, and his wife Eydie Gorme arrive at a black-tie gala called honoring Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas on May 30, 1998. Lawrence, a singer and top stage act who as a solo performer and in tandem with his wife Gorme kept Tin Pan Alley alive during the rock era, died Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at age 88. Gorme died on Aug. 10, 2013. Naomi Barber King Martin Luther King III, right, the son of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., walks with his daughter Yolanda, and Naomi Barber King, left, the wife of Rev. King's brother, A.D., through an exhibition devoted to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to King at the Martin Luther King Jr. Historical Site, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014, in Atlanta. Civil rights activist Naomi Barber King died Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Atlanta, according to family members. She was 92. Paul Alexander A Texas man who spent decades using an iron lung after contracting polio as a child died March 11, 2024, at the age of 78. Paul Alexander's longtime friend Daniel Spinks says Alexander died Monday at a Dallas hospital. Spinks called his friend one of the "bright stars of the world.” Friends of Alexander, who graduated from law school and had a career as an attorney, say he was a man who had a great joy for life. Alexander was a child when he began using an iron lung, a cylinder that encased his body as the air pressure in the chamber forced air in and out of his lungs. Thomas P. Stafford Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford stands near the NASA Motor Vessel Retriever during training Aug. 23, 1965, in the Gulf of Mexico. Stafford, who commanded a dress rehearsal flight for the 1969 moon landing and the first U.S.-Soviet space linkup, died March 18, 2024, at 93. Chris Simon New York Rangers' Chris Simon celebrates his second-period goal against the New York Islanders, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004, at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y. Former NHL enforcer Chris Simon has died. He was 52. Simon died March 18, 2024, according to a spokesperson for the NHL Players' Association. M. Emmet Walsh M. Emmet Walsh arrives at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards, March 1, 2014, in Santa Monica, Calif. Walsh, the character actor who brought his unmistakable face and unsettling presence to films including “Blood Simple” and “Blade Runner,” died March 19, 2024, at age 88, his manager said Wednesday. Laurent de Brunhoff "Babar" author Laurent de Brunhoff, who revived his father's popular picture book series about an elephant-king, has died at 98 after being in hospice care for two weeks. De Brunhoff was a Paris native who moved to the U.S. in the 1980s. He died March 22, 2024, at his home in Key West, Florida. Just 12 years old when his father, Jean de Brunhoff, died of tuberculosis, Laurent drew upon his own gifts as a painter and storyteller and as an adult released dozens of books about the elephant who reigns over Celesteville, among them "Babar at the Circus" and "Babar's Yoga for Elephants." Peter Angelos Longtime Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos has died at the age of 94. His family announced in a statement that Angelos, who had been ill for several years, died March 23, 2024. Angelos was owner of an Orioles team that endured long losing stretches and shrewd proprietor of a law firm that won high-profile cases against industry titans such as tobacco giant Philip Morris. Angelos’ death came as his son, John, was in the process of selling the Orioles to a group headed by Carlyle Group Inc. co-founder David Rubenstein. Peter Angelos purchased the team for $173 million in 1993, at the time the highest for a sports franchise. His public role diminished significantly in his final years. Joe Lieberman Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, left, and his running mate, vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, wave to supporters Oct. 25, 2000, at a campaign rally in Jackson, Tenn. Lieberman died March 27, 2024. He was 82 and died Wednesday of complications from a fall. Lieberman nearly won the vice presidency on Democrat Al Gore's ticket in the disputed 2000 White House race. Eight years later, he came close to joining the GOP ticket as John McCain’s running mate. The Democrat-turned-independent stepped down from the Senate in January 2013 after 24 years. His independent streak often irked Senate Democrats he aligned with. Yet his support for gay rights, civil rights, abortion rights and environmental causes at times won him the praise of many liberals over the years. Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries “Roots,” died March 28, 2024. He was 87. Gossett always thought of his early career as a reverse Cinderella story, with success finding him from an early age and propelling him forward, toward his Academy Award for “An Officer and a Gentleman.” He also was a star on Broadway, replacing Billy Daniels in “Golden Boy” with Sammy Davis Jr. in 1964 and recently played an obstinate patriarch in the 2023 remake of “The Color Purple.” Joe Flaherty Former cast members of SCTV, from left, Dave Thomas, Joe Flaherty, Catherine O'Hara, Andrea Martin, foreground, Harold Ramis, Eugene Levy and Martin Short, pose at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival on March 6, 1999, in Aspen, Colo. Flaherty, a founding member of the Canadian sketch series “SCTV,” died Monday, April 1, 2024 at age 82. John Sinclair John Sinclair talks at the John Sinclair Foundation Café and Coffeeshop, Dec. 26, 2018, in Detroit. Sinclair, a poet, music producer and counterculture figure whose lengthy prison sentence after a series of small-time pot busts inspired a John Lennon song and a star-studded 1971 concert to free him, has died at age 82. Sinclair died Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at Detroit Receiving Hospital of congestive heart failure following an illness, his publicist Matt Lee said. Larry Lucchino Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino, right, tips his cap to fans as majority owner John Henry holds the 2013 World Series championship trophy during a parade in celebration of the baseball team's win, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013, in Boston. Larry Lucchino, the force behind baseball’s retro ballpark revolution and the transformation of the Boston Red Sox from cursed losers to World Series champions, has died. He was 78. Lucchino had suffered from cancer. The Triple-A Worcester Red Sox, his last project in a career that also included three major league baseball franchises and one in the NFL, confirmed his death on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Christopher Durang Playwright Christopher Durang appears on stage with producers to accept the award for best play for "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" at the 67th Annual Tony Awards, on June 9, 2013 in New York. Also on stage are actors, background from left, Shalita Grant, Kristine Nielsen and Billy Magnussen. Durang died Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at his home in Pipersville, Pennsylvania, of complications from logopenic primary progressive aphasia. He was 75. Jerry Grote In this Oct. 16, 1969 file photo, New York Mets catcher Jerry Grote, right, embraces pitcher Jerry Koosman as Ed Charles, left, joins the celebration after the Mets defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the Game 5 to win the baseball World Series at New York's Shea Stadium. Grote, the catcher who helped transform the New York Mets from a perennial loser into the 1969 World Series champion, died Sunday, April 7, 2024. He was 81. Schappell Twins In this July 8, 2003 photo, Lori, left, and George Schappell, conjoined twins, are photographed in their Reading, Pa., apartment. Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died April 7, 2024, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. They were 62. Peter Higgs The University of Edinburgh says Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of a sub-atomic particle that came to be known as the Higgs boson, died April 8, 2024, at 94. Higgs predicted the existence of the particle in 1964. But it would be almost 50 years before the its existence could be confirmed at a particle collider in Switzerland called the Large Hadron Collider. Higgs’ work helps scientists understand of the most fundamental riddles of the universe: how the Big Bang created something out of nothing 13.7 billion years ago. Higgs won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work, alongside Francois Englert of Belgium. Ralph Puckett Jr. A retired U.S. Army colonel who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Korean War died April 8, 2024, at age 97. A funeral home says that Ralph Puckett Jr. died Monday at his home in Columbus, Georgia. President Joe Biden presented Puckett with the Medal of Honor in 2021, more than seven decades after Puckett was seriously wounded leading an outnumbered company of Army Rangers in battle. Puckett refused a medical discharge and served as an Army officer for another 20 years before retiring in 1971. Puckett received the U.S. military's highest honor from President Joe Biden on May 21, 2021, following a policy change that lifted a requirement for medals to be given within five years of a valorous act. O.J. Simpson O.J. Simpson, left, grimaces June 15, 1995, in a Los Angeles courtroom as he famously tries on one of the leather gloves prosecutors say he wore the night his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were murdered. Simpson, t he decorated football star who was acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend but wound up in prison years later in an unrelated case, died April 10, 2024. He was 76. His family made an announcement Thursday in a statement on Simpson's X account. Simpson said last year that he was battling prostate cancer. Simpson’s gridiron legacy was forever overshadowed by the 1994 knife slayings of Brown Simpson and Goldman. A criminal court jury found him not guilty of murder, but a separate civil trial jury found him liable. Simpson's nine-year prison stint in Nevada was for the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers. Eleanor Coppola Francis Coppola and wife, Eleanor, pose July 16, 1991, in Los Angeles. Eleanor Coppola, who documented the making of some of her husband Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic films, including the infamously tortured production of “Apocalypse Now,” and who raised a family of filmmakers, has died. She was 87. Coppola died April 12, 2024, at home in Rutherford, California, her family announced in a statement. Eleanor, who grew in Orange County, California, met Francis while working as an assistant art director on his directorial debut, the Roger Corman-produced 1963 horror film “Dementia 13.” Their first-born, Gian-Carlo, quickly became a regular presence in his father’s films, as did their subsequent children, Roman, and Sofia. After acting in their father’s films and growing up on sets, all would go into the movies. Robert MacNeil Robert MacNeil, seen in February 1978, who created the even-handed, no-frills PBS newscast “The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour” in the 1970s and co-anchored the show for with his late partner, Jim Lehrer, for two decades, died April 12, 2024, at age 93. Faith Ringgold Artist Faith Ringgold poses for a portrait in front of a painted self-portrait during a press preview of her exhibition, "American People, Black Light: Faith Ringgold's Paintings of the 1960s" at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, June 19, 2013. Ringgold, an award-winning author and artist who broke down barriers for Black female artists and became famous for her richly colored and detailed quilts combining painting, textiles and storytelling, died Friday, April 12, 2024, at her home in Englewood, N.J. She was 93. Steve Sloan Alabama coach Bear Bryant, left, talks with his former star quarterback Steve Sloan, right, after practice in Miami for the Orange Bowl game New Years' night against Nebraska, Dec. 29, 1968. Former college coach and administrator Sloan, who played quarterback and served as athletic director at Alabama. has passed away. He was 79. Sloan died Sunday, April 14, 2024, after three months of memory care at Orlando Health Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, according to an obituary from former Alabama sports information director Wayne Atcheson. Ken Holtzman Oakland A's pitcher Ken Holtzman poses for a photo in March 1975. Holtzman, who pitched two no-hitters for the Chicago Cubs and helped the Oakland Athletics win three straight World Series championships in the 1970s, died April 14, 2024. He finished with a career record of 174-150 over 15 season with four teams and was the winningest Jewish pitcher in baseball history. Carl Erskine Carl Erskine, center, pictured with teammate Duke Snider, left, and manager Charley Dressen in 1952, after beating the Yankees 6-5 in Game 5 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium in New York, Oct. 5, 1952. Erskine, who pitched two no-hitters for the Brooklyn Dodgers and was a 20-game winner in 1953 when he struck out a then-record 14 in the World Series, has died. Among the last survivors from the celebrated Brooklyn teams of the 1950s, Erskine spent his entire major league career with the Dodgers. He helped them win five National League pennants from 1948-59. Erskine won Game 3 of the 1953 World Series, beating the Yankees 3-2. He appeared in five World Series, with the Dodgers beating the Yankees in 1955 for their only championship in Brooklyn. Erksine died April 16 in his hometown of Anderson, Indiana, according to a hospital official. He was 97. Whitey Herzog St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog lets umpire John Shulock, right, know how he feels about Shulock's call on the tag attempt on Kansas City Royals Jim Sundberg by Cardinals catcher Tom Nieto, second from left, in the second inning of Game 5 of the 1985 World Series in St. Louis. Herzog, the gruff and ingenious Hall of Fame manager who guided the St. Louis Cardinals to three pennants and a World Series title and perfected an intricate, nail-biting strategy known as “Whiteyball,” has died. Herzog, affectionately nicknamed “The White Rat,” was a manager for 18 seasons, compiling an overall record of 1,281 wins and 1,125 losses. He was named Manager of the Year in 1985. Under Herzog, the Cardinals won pennants in 1982, 1985 and 1987 and won the World Series in 1982, when they edged the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games. He died April 15, 2024, and was 92. Bob Graham Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., gestures as he answers questions regarding the ongoing security hearing on Capitol Hill, June 18, 2002, in Washington. Graham, who chaired the Intelligence Committee following the 2001 terrorist attacks and opposed the Iraq invasion, died April 16, 2024. He was 87. His family announced the death Tuesday in a statement posted on X by his daughter Gwen Graham. Graham served three terms in the Senate and two terms as Florida's governor. He made an unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, emphasizing his opposition to the Iraq invasion. But that bid was delayed by heart surgery in January 2003, and he was never able to gain enough traction with voters to catch up. He didn’t seek re-election in 2004 and was replaced by Republican Mel Martinez. Dickey Betts Guitar legend and Allman Brothers Band co-founder Dickey Betts died April 18, 2024, at age 80. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer wrote the band's biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man.” Manager David Spero told The Associated Press that Betts died early Thursday at his home in Osprey, Florida. He says Betts had been battling cancer for more than a year and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Betts shared lead guitar duties with Duane Allman in the original Allman Brothers Band to help give the group its distinctive sound and create a new genre: Southern rock. Acts ranging from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Kid Rock were influenced by the Allmans’ music, which combined blues, country, R&B and jazz with ’60s rock. Mandisa Contemporary Christian singer Mandisa, who appeared on “American Idol” and won a Grammy for her 2013 album “Overcomer,” died April 18, 2024. She was 47. Mandisa gained stardom after finishing ninth on “American Idol” in 2006. In 2014, she won a Grammy for best contemporary Christian music album for “Overcomer,” her fifth album. She spoke openly about her struggles with depression, releasing a memoir that detailed her experiences with severe depression, weight-related challenges, the coronavirus pandemic and her faith. David Pryor David Pryor, a former Arkansas governor and U.S. senator who was one of the state’s most beloved and active political figures, died April 20, 2024, at the age of 89. His son, former two-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, says the Democrat died Saturday of natural causes in Little Rock surrounded by family. David Pryor was considered one of the Democratic party’s giants in Arkansas and remained active in public life after he left office, including serving on the University of Arkansas’s Board of Trustees. Roman Gabriel Roman Gabriel was known for his big size and big arm. He was the first Filipino-American quarterback in the NFL. And he still holds the Los Angeles Rams record for touchdown passes. Gabriel died April 20, 2024, at age 83. His son posted the news on social media. He says Gabriel died at home of natural causes. Gabriel starred at North Carolina State and was the No. 2 pick by the Rams in the 1962 draft. The Oakland Raider of the rival AFL made him the No. 1 pick. Gabriel signed with the Rams and later played with the Philadelphia Eagles. Andrew Davis Andrew Davis, an acclaimed British conductor who was music director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and orchestras on three continents, died April 20, 2024. He was 80. Davis died Saturday at Rusk Institute in Chicago from leukemia. That is according to his manager, Jonathan Brill of Opus 3 Artists. Davis had been managing the disease for 1 1/2 to 2 years but it became acute shortly after his 80th birthday on Feb. 2. Davis was music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1975-88, Britain’s Glyndebourne Festival from 1988-2000, chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1989-2000, then was music director of the Lyric Opera from 2000-21. Terry Anderson Former hostage Terry Anderson waves to the crowd as he rides in a parade in Lorain, Ohio, June 22, 1992. Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages, died April 21, 2024. Anderson was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years. Anderson, who was tortured and chained to a wall, wrote about his experiences in the best-selling memoir, “Den of Lions.” After returning to the United States in 1991, Anderson gave public speeches, taught journalism and, at various times, operated a blues bar, Cajun restaurant, horse ranch and gourmet restaurant. He also struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder. Bill Gladden British army veteran Bill Gladden, who survived a glider landing on D-Day and a bullet that tore through his ankle a few days later, wanted to return to France for the 80th anniversary of the invasion so he could honor the men who didn’t come home. It was not to be. Gladden, one of the dwindling number of veterans who took part in the landings that kicked off the campaign to liberate Western Europe from the Nazis during World War II, died April 24, his family said. He was 100. With fewer and fewer veterans taking part each year, the ceremony may be one of the last big events marking the assault that began on June 6, 1944. Duane Eddy Duane Eddy, a pioneering guitar hero whose reverberating electric sound on instrumentals such as “Rebel Rouser,” “Forty Miles of Bad Road" and “Cannonball” helped put the twang in early rock ‘n’ roll and influenced George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen and countless other musicians, died April 30 at age 86. With his raucous rhythms, and backing hollers and hand claps, Eddy sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and mastered a distinctive sound based on the premise that a guitar’s bass strings sounded better on tape than the high ones. Paul Auster Author Paul Auster has died at age 77. Auster was a prolific, prize-winning man of letters and filmmaker known for such inventive narratives and meta-narratives as “The New York Trilogy” and “4 3 2 1." Auster’s death on April 30 was confirmed by his literary representatives. Auster completed more than 30 books, translated into dozens of languages. He never achieved major commercial success in the U.S., but he was widely admired overseas for his cosmopolitan worldview and erudite and introspective style. Auster’s novels were a mix of history, politics, genre experiments, existential quests and self-conscious references to writers and writing. Dick Rutan Co-pilots Dick Rutan, right, and Jeana Yeager, no relationship to test pilot Chuck Yeager, pose for a photo after a test flight over the Mojave Desert, Dec. 19, 1985. Rutan, a decorated Vietnam War pilot, who along with copilot Yeager completed one of the greatest milestones in aviation history: the first round-the-world flight with no stops or refueling, died late Friday, May 3, 2024. He was 85. Steve Albini Music producer Steve Albini, seen in his Chicago studio in 2014, produced albums by Nirvana, the Pixies and PJ Harvey. Albini died at 61. Brian Fox, an engineer at Albini’s studio, Electrical Audio, says Albini died after a heart attack May 7. In addition to his work on canonized rock albums such as Nirvana‘s “In Utero,” the Pixies’ breakthrough “Surfer Rosa,” and PJ Harvey’s “Rid of Me,” Albini was the frontman of the underground bands Big Black and Shellac. He dismissed the term “producer” and requested he be credited with “Recorded by Steve Albini." Jimmy Johnson San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame football player Jimmy Johnson, left, is honored by owner Jed York before a 2011 game between against the St. Louis Rams in San Francisco. Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Jimmy Johnson, a three-time All-Pro and member of the All-Decade Team of the 1970s, has died. He was 86. Johnson's family told the Pro Football Hall of Fame that he died May 8. Johnson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994. He played his entire 16-year pro career with San Francisco. He played in 213 games, more than any other 49ers player at the time of his retirement. Sean Burroughs San Diego Padres third baseman Sean Burroughs fires a throw to first from his knees but is unable to get Los Angeles Dodgers' D. J. Houlton at first during the third inning of a baseball game June 22, 2005, in San Diego. Burroughs, a two-time Little League World Series champion who won an Olympic gold medal and went on to a major league career that was interrupted by substance abuse, has died. He was 43. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s online records said Burroughs died Thursday, May 9, 2024, with the cause of death deferred. Roger Corman Producer Roger Corman poses in his Los Angeles office, May 8, 2013. Corman, the Oscar-winning “King of the Bs” who helped turn out such low-budget classics as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and gave many of Hollywood's most famous actors and directors an early break, died Thursday, May 9, 2024. He was 98. A.J. Smith A.J. Smith, a longtime NFL executive who was the winningest general manager in Chargers history, has died. He was 75. His son, Atlanta assistant general manager Kyle Smith, announced in a statement released by the Falcons that his father died May 12. Kyle Smith said his father had been battling prostate cancer for seven years. The Chargers won five division titles during Smith’s 10 seasons as GM. The franchise’s 98 wins, including the playoffs, were the sixth most in the league from 2003-12. David Sanborn Saxophone player David Sanborn performs during his concert at the Stravinski hall at the "Colours of Music night" during the 34th Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland on July 10, 2000. Sanborn, the Grammy-winning saxophonist who played lively solos on such hits as David Bowie's “Young Americans” and James Taylor's “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” and enjoyed his own highly successful recording career as a leading performer of contemporary jazz, died Sunday, May 12, 2024, at age 78. Alice Munro Nobel laureate Alice Munro has died. The Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers was 92. Munro achieved stature rare for an art form traditionally placed beneath the novel. She was the first lifelong Canadian to win the Nobel and the first recipient cited exclusively for short fiction. Munro was little known beyond Canada until her late 30s but became one of the few short story writers to enjoy ongoing commercial success. A spokesperson for publisher Penguin Random House Canada said Munro died May 13 at home in Port Hope, Ontario. Dabney Coleman Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in “9 to 5” and the nasty TV director in “Tootsie,” died May 16. He was 92. For two decades Coleman labored in movies and TV shows as a talented but largely unnoticed performer. That changed abruptly in 1976 when he was cast as the incorrigibly corrupt mayor of the hamlet of Fernwood in “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” a satirical soap opera. He won a Golden Globe for “The Slap Maxwell Story” and an Emmy Award for best supporting actor in Peter Levin’s 1987 small screen legal drama “Sworn to Silence.” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi listens to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, not in photo, during a joint news conference following their meeting at the Presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Jan. 24, 2024. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others were found dead at the site of a helicopter crash site, state media reported Monday, May 20, 2024. Jim Otto Jim Otto, the Hall of Fame center known as Mr. Raider for his durability through a litany of injuries, died May 19. He was 86. The cause of death was not immediately known. Otto joined the Raiders for their inaugural season in the American Football League in 1960 and was a fixture on the team for the next 15 years. He never missed a game because of injuries and competed in 210 consecutive regular-season games and 308 straight total contests despite undergoing nine operations on his knees during his playing career. His right leg was amputated in 2007. Ivan Boesky Ivan F. Boesky, the flamboyant stock trader whose cooperation with the government cracked open one of the largest insider trading scandals on Wall Street, has died at the age of 87. A representative at the Marianne Boesky Gallery, owned by his daughter, confirmed his death. The son of a Detroit delicatessen owner, Boesky was once considered one of the richest and most influential risk-takers on Wall Street. He had parlayed $700,000 from his late mother-in-law’s estate into a fortune estimated at more than $200 million. Once implicated in insider trading, Boesky cooperated with a brash young U.S. attorney named Rudolph Giuliani, uncovering a scandal that blemished some of the most respected U.S. investment brokerages. Boesky died May 20. Jan. A.P. Kaczmarek Jan. A.P. Kaczmarek poses with the Oscar for best original score for his work on "Finding Neverland" during the 77th Academy Awards, Feb. 27, 2005, in Los Angeles. Polish composer Kaczmarek, who won a 2005 Oscar for the movie “Finding Neverland,” has died on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at age 71. Kaczmarek’s death was announced by Poland’s Music Foundation. Carlie Colin Train bassist and founding member Charlie Colin has died at 58. Colin’s sister confirmed the musician's death Wednesday to The Associated Press. Variety reported Colin slipped and fell in the shower while house-sitting for a friend in Brussels. Train formed in San Francisco in the early ’90s. Colin played on Train's first three records, 1998’s self-titled album, 2001’s “Drops of Jupiter” and 2003’s “My Private Nation.” The track “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)” hit No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also earned two Grammys. Colin left the band in 2003. He also worked with the Newport Beach Film Festival. Colin died May 22. Morgan Spurlock Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar nominee whose most famous works skewered America’s food industry and who notably ate only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died of cancer. He was 53. Spurlock made a splash in 2004 with his groundbreaking film “Super Size Me,” and returned in 2019 with “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” — a sober look at an industry that processes 9 billion animals a year in America. Spurlock was a gonzo-like filmmaker who leaned into the bizarre and ridiculous. His stylistic touches included zippy graphics and amusing music. Spurlock died May 23. Richard M. Sherman Richard M. Sherman, one half of the prolific, award-winning pair of brothers who helped form millions of childhoods by penning classic Disney tunes, has died. He was 95. Sherman, along with his late brother Robert, wrote hundreds of songs together, including songs for “Mary Poppins,” “The Jungle Book” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” — as well as the most-played tune on Earth, “It’s a Small World (After All).” The Walt Disney Co. announced that Sherman died Saturday due to age-related illness. The brothers won two Academy Awards for Walt Disney’s 1964 smash “Mary Poppins.” Robert Sherman died May 25 in London in 2012. Bill Walton Basketball Hall of Fame legend Bill Walton laughs during a practice session for the NBA All-Star basketball game in Cleveland, Feb. 19, 2022. Walton, who starred for John Wooden's UCLA Bruins before becoming a Basketball Hall of Famer and one of the biggest stars of basketball broadcasting, died Monday, May 27, 2024, the league announced on behalf of his family. He was 71. Albert Ruddy “The Godfather” producer Albert S. Ruddy died May 25 at 94. The Canadian-born producer and writer won Oscars for “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby,” developed the raucous prison-sports comedy “The Longest Yard” and helped create the hit sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes." A spokesperson says Ruddy died Saturday at the UCLA Medical Center. Ruddy produced more than 30 movies and was on hand for the very top and the very bottom. “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby” were box office hits and winners of best picture Oscars. But Ruddy also helped give us “Cannonball Run II” and “Megaforce,” nominees for Golden Raspberry awards for worst movie of the year. Larry Allen Larry Allen, one of the most dominant offensive linemen in the NFL during a 12-year career spent mostly with the Dallas Cowboys, died June 2. He was 52. The Cowboys say Allen died suddenly on Sunday while on vacation with his family in Mexico. Allen was named an All-Pro six consecutive years from 1996-2001 and was inducted into the Pro Football of Hall of Fame in 2013. He said few words but let his blocking do the talking. Allen once bench-pressed 700 pounds and had the speed to chase down opposing running backs. Janis Paige Bob Hope and Janis Paige hug during the annual Christmas show in Saigon, Vietnam, Dec. 25, 1964. Paige, a popular actor in Hollywood and in Broadway musicals and comedies who danced with Fred Astaire, toured with Bob Hope and continued to perform into her 80s, died Sunday, June 2, 2024, of natural causes at her Los Angeles home, longtime friend Stuart Lampert said Monday, June 3. Parnelli Jones Parnelli Jones, the 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner, died June 4 at Torrance Memorial Medical Center after a battle with Parkinson’s disease, his son said. Jones was 90. At the time of his death, Jones was the oldest living winner of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Rufus Parnell Jones was born in Texarkana, Arkansas, in 1933 but moved to Torrance as a young child and never left. It was there that he became “Parnelli” because his given name of Rufus was too well known for him to compete without locals knowing that he wasn’t old enough to race. Chet Walker Boston Celtics' John Havlicek (17) is defended by Philadelphia 76ers' Chet Walker (25) during the first half of an NBA basketball playoff game April 14, 1968, in Boston. Walker, a seven-time All-Star forward who helped Wilt Chamberlain and the 76ers win the 1967 NBA title, died June 8. He was 84. The National Basketball Players Association confirmed Walker's death, according to NBA.com . The 76ers, Chicago Bulls and National Basketball Retired Players Association also extended their condolences on social media on Saturday, June 8, 2024. The Rev. James Lawson Jr. The Rev. James Lawson Jr. speaks Sept. 17, 2015, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Lawson Jr., an apostle of nonviolent protest who schooled activists to withstand brutal reactions from white authorities as the Civil Rights Movement gained traction, has died, his family said Monday. He was 95. His family said Lawson died on Sunday after a short illness in Los Angeles, where he spent decades working as a pastor, labor movement organizer and university professor. Lawson was a close adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who called him “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.” Lawson met King in 1957, after spending three years in India soaking up knowledge about Mohandas K. Gandhi’s independence movement. King would travel to India himself two years later, but at the time, he had only read about Gandhi in books. Jerry West Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Jerry West, representing the 1960 USA Olympic Team, is seen Aug. 13, 2010, during the enshrinement news conference at the Hall of Fame Museum in Springfield, Mass. Jerry West, who was selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame three times in a storied career as a player and executive, and whose silhouette is considered to be the basis of the NBA logo, died June 12, the Los Angeles Clippers announced. He was 86. West, nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his late-game exploits as a player, was an NBA champion who went into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1980 and again as a member of the gold medal-winning 1960 U.S. Olympic Team in 2010. He will be enshrined for a third time later this year as a contributor, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called West “one of the greatest executives in sports history.” Ron Simons Actor and director Ron Simons, seen Jan. 23, 2011, during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, died June 12. Simons turned into a formidable screen and stage producer, winning four Tony Awards and having several films selected at the Sundance Film Festival. He won Tonys for producing “Porgy and Bess,” “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” and “Jitney.” He also co-produced “Hughie,” with Forest Whitaker, “The Gin Game,” starring Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations,” an all-Black production of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” the revival of "for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf" and the original work “Thoughts of a Colored Man.” He was in the films “27 Dresses” and “Mystery Team,” as well as on the small screen in “The Resident,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Law & Order: SVU.” Bob Schul Bob Schul of West Milton, Ohio, hits the tape Oct. 18, 1964, to win the 5,000 meter run at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Schul, the only American distance runner to win the 5,000 meters at the Olympics, died June 16. He was 86. His death was announced by Miami University in Ohio , where Schul shined on the track and was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 1973. Schul predicted gold leading into the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and followed through with his promise. On a rainy day in Japan, he finished the final lap in a blistering 54.8 seconds to sprint to the win. His white shorts were covered in mud at the finish. He was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1991. He also helped write a book called “In the Long Run.” Willie Mays San Francisco Giants superstar Willie Mays poses for a photo during baseball spring training in 1972. Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, died June 18. He was 93. The center fielder, who began his professional career in the Negro Leagues in 1948, had been baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer. He was voted into the Hall in 1979, his first year of eligibility, and in 1999 followed only Babe Ruth on The Sporting News’ list of the game’s top stars. The Giants retired his uniform number, 24, and set their AT&T Park in San Francisco on Willie Mays Plaza. Mays died two days before a game between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals to honor the Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field in Birmingham , Alabama. Over 23 major league seasons, virtually all with the New York/San Francisco Giants but also including one in the Negro Leagues, Mays batted .301, hit 660 home runs, totaled 3,293 hits, scored more than 2,000 runs and won 12 Gold Gloves. He was Rookie of the Year in 1951, twice was named the Most Valuable Player and finished in the top 10 for the MVP 10 other times. His lightning sprint and over-the-shoulder grab of an apparent extra base hit in the 1954 World Series remains the most celebrated defensive play in baseball history. For millions in the 1950s and ’60s and after, the smiling ballplayer with the friendly, high-pitched voice was a signature athlete and showman during an era when baseball was still the signature pastime. Awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2015, Mays left his fans with countless memories. But a single feat served to capture his magic — one so untoppable it was simply called “The Catch.” Donald Sutherland Actor Donald Sutherland appears Oct. 13, 2017, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif. Sutherland, the Canadian actor whose wry, arrestingly off-kilter screen presence spanned more than half a century of films from “M.A.S.H.” to “The Hunger Games,” died June 20. He was 88. Kiefer Sutherland said on X he believed his father was one of the most important actors in the history of film: “Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that.” The tall and gaunt Sutherland, who flashed a grin that could be sweet or diabolical, was known for offbeat characters like Hawkeye Pierce in Robert Altman's "M.A.S.H.," the hippie tank commander in "Kelly's Heroes" and the stoned professor in "Animal House." Before transitioning into a long career as a respected character actor, Sutherland epitomized the unpredictable, antiestablishment cinema of the 1970s. He never stopped working, appearing in nearly 200 films and series. Over the decades, Sutherland showed his range in more buttoned-down — but still eccentric — roles in Robert Redford's "Ordinary People" and Oliver Stone's "JFK." More, recently, he starred in the “Hunger Games” films. A memoir, “Made Up, But Still True,” is due out in November. Bill Cobbs Actor Bill Cobbs, a cast member in "Get Low," arrives July 27, 2010, at the premiere of the film in Beverly Hills, Calif. Cobbs, the veteran character actor who became a ubiquitous and sage screen presence as an older man, died June 25. He was 90. A Cleveland native, Cobbs acted in such films as “The Hudsucker Proxy,” “The Bodyguard” and “Night at the Museum.” He made his first big-screen appearance in a fleeting role in 1974's “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three." He became a lifelong actor with some 200 film and TV credits. The lion share of those came in his 50s, 60s, and 70s, as filmmakers and TV producers turned to him again and again to imbue small but pivotal parts with a wizened and worn soulfulness. Cobbs appeared on television shows including “The Sopranos," “The West Wing,” “Sesame Street” and “Good Times.” He was Whitney Houston's manager in “The Bodyguard” (1992), the mystical clock man of the Coen brothers' “The Hudsucker Proxy” (1994) and the doctor of John Sayles' “Sunshine State” (2002). He played the coach in “Air Bud” (1997), the security guard in “Night at the Museum” (2006) and the father on “The Gregory Hines Show." Cobbs rarely got the kinds of major parts that stand out and win awards. Instead, Cobbs was a familiar and memorable everyman who left an impression on audiences, regardless of screen time. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding limited performance in a daytime program for the series “Dino Dana” in 2020. Kinky Friedman Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman speaks with the media Nov. 7, 2009, at his campaign headquarters in Austin, Texas. The singer, songwriter, satirist and novelist, who led the alt-country band Texas Jewboys, toured with Bob Dylan, sang with Willie Nelson, and dabbled in politics with campaigns for Texas governor and other statewide offices, died June 27. He was 79 and had suffered from Parkinson's disease. Often called “The Kinkster" and sporting sideburns, a thick mustache and cowboy hat, Friedman earned a cult following and reputation as a provocateur throughout his career across musical and literary genres. In the 1970s, his satirical country band Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys wrote songs with titles such as “They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in Bed.” Friedman joined part of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1976. By the 1980s, Friedman was writing crime novels that often included a version of himself, and he wrote a column for Texas Monthly magazine in the 2000s. Friedman's run at politics brought his brand of irreverence to the serious world of public policy. In 2006, Friedman ran for governor as an independent in a five-way race that included incumbent Republican Rick Perry. Friedman launched his campaign against the backdrop of the Alamo. Martin Mull Martin Mull participates in "The Cool Kids" panel during the Fox Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour on Aug. 2, 2018, at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Mull, whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms including “Roseanne” and “Arrested Development,” died June 28. He was 80. Mull, who was also a guitarist and painter, came to national fame with a recurring role on the Norman Lear-created satirical soap opera “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” and the starring role in its spinoff, “Fernwood Tonight." His first foray into show business was as a songwriter, penning the 1970 semi-hit “A Girl Named Johnny Cash” for singer Jane Morgan. He would combine music and comedy in an act that he brought to hip Hollywood clubs in the 1970s. Mull often played slightly sleazy, somewhat slimy and often smarmy characters as he did as Teri Garr's boss and Michael Keaton's foe in 1983's “Mr. Mom.” He played Colonel Mustard in the 1985 movie adaptation of the board game “Clue,” which, like many things Mull appeared in, has become a cult classic. The 1980s also brought what many thought was his best work, “A History of White People in America,” a mockumentary that first aired on Cinemax. Mull co-created the show and starred as a “60 Minutes” style investigative reporter investigating all things milquetoast and mundane. Willard was again a co-star. In the 1990s he was best known for his recurring role on several seasons on “Roseanne,” in which he played a warmer, less sleazy boss to the title character, an openly gay man whose partner was played by Willard, who died in 2020 . Mull would later play private eye Gene Parmesan on “Arrested Development,” a cult-classic character on a cult-classic show, and would be nominated for an Emmy, his first, in 2016 for a guest run on “Veep.” Robert Towne Screenwriter Robert Towne poses at The Regency Hotel, March 7, 2006, in New York. Towne, the Oscar-winning screenplay writer of "Shampoo," "The Last Detail" and other acclaimed films whose work on "Chinatown" became a model of the art form and helped define the jaded allure of his native Los Angeles, died Monday, July 1, 2024, surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles, said publicist Carri McClure. She declined to comment on any cause of death. Vic Seixas Vic Seixas of the United States backhands a volley from Denmark's Jurgen Ulrich in the first round of men's singles match at Wimbledon, England, June 27, 1967. Vic Seixas, a Wimbledon winner and tennis Hall of Famer who was the oldest living Grand Slam champion, has died July 5 at the age of 100. The International Tennis Hall of Fame announced Seixas’ death on Saturday July 6, 2024, based on confirmation from his daughter Tori. James Inhofe In this June 30, 2020, file photo, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., speaks to reporters following a GOP policy meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. Former Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma died July 9. He was 89. The family says in a statement that the Republican had a stroke during the July Fourth holiday and died Tuesday morning. Inhofe was a powerful fixture in state politics for decades. He doubted that climate change was caused by human activity, calling the theory “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” As Oklahoma’s senior U.S. senator, he was a staunch supporter of the state’s military installations. He was elected to a fifth Senate term in 2020 and stepped down in early 2023. Joe Bonsall The Oak Ridge Boys, from left, Joe Bonsall, Richard Sterban, Duane Allen and William Lee Golden hold their awards for Top Vocal Group and Best Album of the Year for "Ya'll Come Back Saloon", during the 14th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Los Angeles, Calif., May 3, 1979. Bonsall died on July 9, 2024, from complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Hendersonville, Tenn. He was 76. A Philadelphia native and resident of Hendersonville, Tennessee, Bonsall joined the Oak Ridge Boys in 1973, which originally formed in the 1940s. He saw the band through its golden period in the '80s and beyond, which included their signature 1981 song “Elvira.” The hit marked a massive crossover moment for the group, reaching No. 1 on the country chart and No. 5 on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100. The group is also known for such hits as 1982’s “Bobbie Sue." Shelley Duvall Shelley Duvall poses for photographers at the 30th Cannes Film Festival in France, May 27, 1977. Duvall, whose wide-eyed, winsome presence was a mainstay in the films of Robert Altman and who co-starred in Stanley Kubrick's “The Shining,” died July 11. She was 75. Dr. Ruth Westheimer Dr. Ruth Westheimer holds a copy of her book "Sex for Dummies" at the International Frankfurt Book Fair 'Frankfurter Buchmesse' in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007. Westheimer, the sex therapist who became a pop icon, media star and best-selling author through her frank talk about once-taboo bedroom topics, died on July 12, 2024. She was 96. Richard Simmons Richard Simmons sits for a portrait in Los Angeles, June 23, 1982. Simmons, a fitness guru who urged the overweight to exercise and eat better, died July 13 at the age of 76. Simmons was a court jester of physical fitness who built a mini-empire in his trademark tank tops and short shorts by urging the overweight to exercise and eat better. Simmons was a former 268-pound teen who shared his hard-won weight loss tips as the host of the Emmy-winning daytime “Richard Simmons Show" and the “Sweatin' to the Oldies” line of exercise videos, which became a cultural phenomenon. Jacoby Jones Former NFL receiver Jacoby Jones died July 14 at age 40. Jones' 108-yard kickoff return in 2013 remains the longest touchdown in Super Bowl history. The Houston Texans were Jones’ team for the first five seasons of his career. They announced his death on Sunday. In a statement released by the NFL Players Association, his family said he died at his home in New Orleans. A cause of death was not given. Jones played from 2007-15 for the Texans, Baltimore Ravens, San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers. He made several huge plays for the Ravens during their most recent Super Bowl title season, including that kick return. Shannen Doherty The "Beverly Hills, 90210" star whose life and career were roiled by tabloid stories, Shannen Doherty died July 13 at 53. Doherty's publicist said the actor died Saturday following years with breast cancer. Catapulted to fame as Brenda in “Beverly Hills, 90210,” she worked in big-screen films including "Mallrats" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and in TV movies including "A Burning Passion: The Margaret Mitchell Story," in which she played the "Gone with the Wind" author. Doherty co-starred with Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano in the series “Charmed” from 1998-2001; appeared in the “90210” sequel series seven years later and competed on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2010. James Sikking Actor James Sikking poses for a photograph at the Los Angeles gala celebrating the 20th anniversary of the National Organization for Women, Dec. 1, 1986. Sikking, who starred as a hardened police lieutenant on “Hill Street Blues” and as the titular character's kindhearted dad on “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” died July 13 of complications from dementia, his publicist Cynthia Snyder said in a statement. He was 90. Pat Williams Pat Williams chats with media before the 2004 NBA draft in Orlando, Fla. Williams, a co-founder of the Orlando Magic and someone who spent more than a half-century working within the NBA, died July 17 from complications related to viral pneumonia. The team announced the death Wednesday. Williams was 84. He started his NBA career as business manager of the Philadelphia 76ers in 1968, then had stints as general manager of the Chicago Bulls, the Atlanta Hawks and the 76ers — helping that franchise win a title in 1983. Williams was later involved in starting the process of bringing an NBA team to Orlando. The league’s board of governors granted an expansion franchise in 1987, and the team began play in 1989. Lou Dobbs Lou Dobbs speaks Feb. 24, 2017, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Md. Dobbs, the conservative political pundit and veteran cable TV host who was a founding anchor for CNN and later was a nightly presence on Fox Business Network for more than a decade, died July 18. He was 78. His death was announced in a post on his official X account, which called him a “fighter till the very end – fighting for what mattered to him the most, God, his family and the country.” He hosted “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on Fox from 2011 to 2021, following two separate stints at CNN. No cause of death was given. Bob Newhart Bob Newhart, center, poses with members of the cast and crew of the "Bob Newhart Show," from top left, Marcia Wallace, Bill Daily, Jack Riley, and, Suzanne Pleshette, foreground left, and Dick Martin at TV Land's 35th anniversary tribute to "The Bob Newhart Show" on Sept. 5, 2007, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Newhart has died at age 94. Jerry Digney, Newhart’s publicist, says the actor died July 18 in Los Angeles after a series of short illnesses. The accountant-turned-comedian gained fame with a smash album and became one of the most popular TV stars of his time. Newhart was a Chicago psychologist in “The Bob Newhart Show” in the 1970s and a Vermont innkeeper on “Newhart” in the 1980s. Both shows featured a low-key Newhart surrounded by eccentric characters. The second had a twist ending in its final show — the whole series was revealed to have been a dream by the psychologist he played in the other show. Cheng Pei-Pei Cheng Pei-pei, a Chinese-born martial arts film actor who starred in Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” died July 17 at age 78. Her family says Cheng, who had been diagnosed with a rare illness with symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease, passed away Wednesday at home surrounded by her loved ones. The Shanghai-born film star became a household name in Hong Kong, once dubbed the Hollywood of the Far East, for her performances in martial arts movies in the 1960s. She played Jade Fox, who uses poisoned needles, in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” which was released in 2000, grossed $128 million in North America and won four Oscars. Abdul 'Duke' Fakir Abdul “Duke” Fakir holds his life time achievement award backstage at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 8, 2009, in Los Angeles. The last surviving original member of the Four Tops died July 22. Abdul “Duke” Fakir was 88. He was a charter member of the Motown group along with lead singer Levi Stubbs, Renaldo “Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton. Between 1964 and 1967, the Tops had 11 top 20 hits and two No. 1′s: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” and the operatic classic “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” Other songs, often stories of romantic pain and longing, included “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” “Bernadette” and “Just Ask the Lonely.” Bernice Johnson Reagon Sculptress Elizabeth Catlett, left, then-Washington D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon, center, and then-curator, division of community life, Smithsonian institution Bernice Johnson Reagon chat during the reception at the Candace awards on June 25, 1991 in New York. Reagon, a musician and scholar who used her rich, powerful contralto voice in the service of the American Civil Rights Movement and human rights struggles around the world, died on July 16, 2024, according to her daughter's social media post. She was 81. John Mayall John Mayall, the British blues musician whose influential band the Bluesbreakers was a training ground for Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood and many other superstars, died July 22. He was 90. He is credited with helping develop the English take on urban, Chicago-style rhythm and blues that played an important role in the blues revival of the late 1960s. A statement on Mayall's official Instagram page says he died Monday at his home in California. Though Mayall never approached the fame of some of his illustrious alumni, he was still performing in his late 80s, pounding out his version of Chicago blues. Erica Ash Erica Ash, an actor and comedian skilled in sketch comedy who starred in the parody series “Mad TV” and “Real Husbands of Hollywood,” has died. She was 46. Her publicist and a statement by her mother, Diann, says Ash died July 28 in Los Angeles of cancer. Ash impersonated Michelle Obama and Condoleeza Rice on “Mad TV,” a Fox sketch series, and was a key performer on the Rosie O’Donnell-created series “The Big Gay Sketch Show.” Her other credits included “Scary Movie V,” “Uncle Drew” and the LeBron James-produced basketball dramedy “Survivor’s Remorse.” On the BET series “Real Husbands of Hollywood,” Ash played the ex-wife of Kevin Hart’s character. Jack Russell Jack Russell, the lead singer of the bluesy '80s metal band Great White whose hits included “Once Bitten Twice Shy” and “Rock Me” and was fronting his band the night 100 people died in a 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island, died Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. He was 63. Chi Chi Rodriguez Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez, a Hall of Fame golfer whose antics on the greens and inspiring life story made him among the sport’s most popular players during a long professional career, died Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. Susan Wojcicki Susan Wojcicki, the former YouTube chief executive officer and longtime Google executive, died Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, after suffering with non small cell lung cancer for the past two years. She was 56. Frank Selvy Frank Selvy, an All-America guard at Furman who scored an NCAA Division I-record 100 points in a game and later played nine NBA seasons, died Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. He was 91. Wally Amos Wallace “Wally” Amos, the creator of the cookie empire that took his name and made it famous and who went on to become a children’s literacy advocate, died Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, from complications with dementia. He was 88. Gena Rowlands Gena Rowlands, hailed as one of the greatest actors to ever practice the craft and a guiding light in independent cinema as a star in groundbreaking movies by her director husband, John Cassavetes, and who later charmed audiences in her son's tear-jerker “The Notebook,” died Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. She was 94. Peter Marshall Peter Marshall, the actor and singer turned game show host who played straight man to the stars for 16 years on “The Hollywood Squares,” died. Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024 He was 98. Alain Delon Alain Delon, the internationally acclaimed French actor who embodied both the bad guy and the policeman and made hearts throb around the world, died Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024. He was 88. Phil Donahue Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre that brought success to Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, Ellen DeGeneres and many others, died Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024, after a long illness. He was 88. Al Attles Al Attles, a Hall of Famer who coached the 1975 NBA champion Warriors and spent more than six decades with the organization as a player, general manager and most recently team ambassador, died Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. He was 87. John Amos John Amos, who starred as the family patriarch on the hit 1970s sitcom “Good Times” and earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the seminal 1977 miniseries “Roots,” died Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. He was 84. James Darren James Darren, a teen idol who helped ignite the 1960s surfing craze as a charismatic beach boy paired off with Sandra Dee in the hit film “Gidget,” died Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. He was 88. James Earl Jones James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen has died. He was 93. His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Sept. 9 at home. Jones was a pioneering actor who eventually lent his deep, commanding voice to CNN, “The Lion King” and Darth Vader. Working deep into his 80s, he won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor. Frankie Beverly Frankie Beverly, who with his band Maze inspired generations of fans with his smooth, soulful voice and lasting anthems including “Before I Let Go,” has died. He was 77. His family said in a post on the band’s website and social media accounts that Beverly died Sept. 10. In the post, which asked for privacy, the family said “he lived his life with a pure soul, as one would say, and for us, no one did it better.” The post did not say his cause of death or where he died. Beverly, whose songs include “Joy and Pain,” “Love is the Key,” and “Southern Girl,” finished his farewell “I Wanna Thank You Tour” in his hometown of Philadelphia in July. Joe Schmidt Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92. The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Sept. 11. A cause of death was not provided. One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000. Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt. Chad McQueen Chad McQueen, an actor known for his performances in the “Karate Kid” movies and the son of the late actor and racer Steve McQueen, died Sep. 11. His lawyer confirmed his death at age 63. McQueen's family shared a statement on social media saying he lived a life “filled with love and dedication.” McQueen was a professional race car driver, like his father, and competed in the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona races. He is survived by his wife Jeanie and three children, Chase, Madison and Steven, who is an actor best known for “The Vampire Diaries.” Tito Jackson Tito Jackson, one of the brothers who made up the beloved pop group the Jackson 5, died at age 70 on Sept. 15. Jackson was the third of nine children, including global superstars Michael and Janet. The Jackson 5 included brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. They signed with Berry Gordy’s Motown empire in the 1960s. The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and produced several No. 1 hits in the 1970s, including “ABC,” “I Want You Back” and “I’ll Be There.” JD Souther John David “JD” Souther has died. He was a prolific songwriter and musician whose collaborations with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt helped shape the country-rock sound that took root in Southern California in the 1970s. Souther joined in on some of the Eagles’ biggest hits, such as “Best of My Love,” “New Kid in Town,” and “Heartache Tonight." The Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee also collaborated with James Taylor, Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt and many more. His biggest hit as a solo artist was “You’re Only Lonely.” He was about to tour with Karla Bonoff. Souther died Sept. 17 at his home in New Mexico, at 78. In this photo, JD Souther and Alison Krauss attend the Songwriters Hall of Fame 44th annual induction and awards gala on Thursday, June 13, 2013 in New York. Dan Evans Sen. Dan Evans stands with his three sons, from left, Mark, Bruce and Dan Jr., after he won the election for Washington's senate seat in Seattle, Nov. 8, 1983. Evans, a former Washington state governor and a U.S. Senator, died Sept. 20. The popular Republican was 98. He served as governor from 1965 to 1977, and he was the keynote speaker at the 1968 National Republican Convention. In 1983, Evans was appointed to served out the term of Democratic Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson after he died in office. Evans opted not to stand for election in 1988, citing the “tediousness" of the Senate. He later served as a regent at the University of Washington, where the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance bears his name. Mercury Morris Eugene “Mercury” Morris, who starred for the unbeaten 1972 Miami Dolphins as part of a star-studded backfield and helped the team win two Super Bowl titles, died Sept. 21. He was 77. The team on Sunday confirmed the death of Morris, a three-time Pro Bowl selection. In a statement, his family said his “talent and passion left an indelible mark on the sport.” Morris was the starting halfback and one of three go-to runners that Dolphins coach Don Shula utilized in Miami’s back-to-back title seasons of 1972 and 1973, alongside Pro Football Hall of Famer Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick. Morris led the Dolphins in rushing touchdowns in both of those seasons. John Ashton John Ashton, the veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films, died Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. He was 76. Maggie Smith Maggie Smith, who won an Oscar for 1969 film “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and won new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in “Downton Abbey” and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, died Sept. 27 at 89. Smith's publicist announced the news Friday. She was frequently rated the preeminent British female performer of a generation that included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench. “Jean Brodie” brought her the Academy Award for best actress in 1969. Smith added a supporting actress Oscar for “California Suite” in 1978. Kris Kristofferson Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and an A-list Hollywood actor, died Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. He was 88. Drake Hogestyn Drake Hogestyn, the “Days of Our Lives” star who appeared on the show for 38 years, died Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. He was 70. Ron Ely Ron Ely, the tall, musclebound actor who played the title character in the 1960s NBC series “Tarzan,” died Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, at age 86. Dikembe Mutombo Dikembe Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game, died Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, from brain cancer, the league announced. He was 58. Frank Fritz Frank Fritz, left, part of a two-man team who drove around the U.S. looking for antiques and collectibles to buy and resell on the reality show “American Pickers,” died Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. He was 60. He's shown here with co-host Mike Wolfe at the A+E Networks 2015 Upfront in New York on April 30, 2015. Pete Rose Pete Rose, baseball’s career hits leader and fallen idol who undermined his historic achievements and Hall of Fame dreams by gambling on the game he loved and once embodied, died Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. He was 83. Cissy Houston Cissy Houston, the mother of Whitney Houston and a two-time Grammy winner who performed alongside superstar musicians like Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin, died Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in her New Jersey home. She was 91. Ethel Kennedy Ethel Kennedy, the wife of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, who raised their 11 children after he was assassinated and remained dedicated to social causes and the family’s legacy for decades thereafter, died on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, her family said. She was 96. Liam Payne Former One Direction singer Liam Payne, 31, whose chart-topping British boy band generated a global following of swooning fans, was found dead Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, local officials said. He was 31. Mitzi Gaynor Mitzi Gaynor, among the last survivors of the so-called golden age of the Hollywood musical, died of natural causes in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. She was 93. Fernando Valenzuela Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. He was 63. Jack Jones Jack Jones, a Grammy-winning crooner known for “The Love Boat” television show theme song, died, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. He was 86. Phil Lesh Phil Lesh, a founding member of the Grateful Dead, died Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, at age 84. Teri Garr Teri Garr, the quirky comedy actor who rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star of such favorites as "Young Frankenstein" and "Tootsie," died Tuesday, Oct 29, 2024. She was 79. Quincy Jones Quincy Jones, the multitalented music titan whose vast legacy ranged from producing Michael Jackson’s historic “Thriller” album to writing prize-winning film and television scores and collaborating with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other recording artists, died Sunday, Nov 3, 2024. He was 91 Bobby Allison Bobby Allison, founder of racing’s “Alabama Gang” and a NASCAR Hall of Famer, died Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. He was 86. Song Jae-lim Song Jae-lim, a South Korean actor known for his roles in K-dramas “Moon Embracing the Sun” and “Queen Woo,” was found dead at his home in capital Seoul, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. He was 39. Timothy West British actor Timothy West, who played the classic Shakespeare roles of King Lear and Macbeth and who in recent years along with his wife, Prunella Scales, enchanted millions of people with their boating exploits on Britain's waterways, died Tuesday, Nov 12, 2024. He was 90. Bela Karolyi Bela Karolyi, the charismatic if polarizing gymnastics coach who turned young women into champions and the United States into an international power in the sport, died Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. He was 82. Arthur Frommer Arthur Frommer, whose "Europe on 5 Dollars a Day" guidebooks revolutionized leisure travel by convincing average Americans to take budget vacations abroad, died Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. He was 95. Bob Love Former Chicago Bulls forward Bob Love, a three-time All-Star who spent 11 years in the NBA, died Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. He was 81. Chuck Woolery Chuck Woolery, the affable, smooth-talking game show host of “Wheel of Fortune,” “Love Connection” and “Scrabble” who later became a right-wing podcaster, skewering liberals and accusing the government of lying about COVID-19, died Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. He was 83. Barbara Taylor Bradford Barbara Taylor Bradford, a British journalist who became a publishing sensation in her 40s with the saga "A Woman of Substance" and wrote more than a dozen other novels that sold tens of millions of copies, died Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. She was 91. Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!Port: Committee that backed Measure 4 has some solid ideas for future of property tax reform

Loáisiga guaranteed $5 million in 1-year deal with Yankees as he returns from Tommy John surgery