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Editorial: A tough and good decision by Florida to rein in the spread of exotic snakes and lizards
For Florida's government, the danger posed by exotic reptiles has been harder to spot than a Burmese python hiding in the brush. But at last, wildlife commission has opened its eyes and decided to crack down on nonnative snakes and lizards whose presence in Florida ranges from destructive to deadly. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted last week to restrict owning or breeding pythons, anacondas, iguanas, tegus and Nile monitors — none of which have any legitimate place in Florida except in zoos and research facilities. As delighted as we are — the Sentinel’s Editorial Bo...
Orlando Sentinel
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Editorial: We’re so close to beating COVID-19. Why would Texas Gov. Abbott end mask rule and make it worse?
Before issuing his order to end mask mandates, Gov. Greg Abbott must not have looked at the recent numbers of coronavirus deaths in Texas. Or worse, he did and decided that the 59 deaths reported Monday is good enough. Either way, the governor’s order Tuesday to end the statewide mask mandate and business capacity restrictions is a mistake. Even with recent improvement in COVID-19 case totals, hospitalizations and deaths, the pandemic is not over. Another spike is possible before enough people are vaccinated to finally squelch the disease’s spread, and Abbott’s order makes it more likely we’ll...
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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Odubel Herrera said his girlfriend forgave him; now he hopes the Phillies and fans do the same
Odubel Herrera stood Tuesday afternoon in a small clubhouse in Dunedin, Fla., shortly before playing his first game with the Phillies in nearly two years. He was arrested in May of 2019 on domestic violence charges, suspended for the rest of the season, dumped from the 40-man roster, exiled last spring to minor league spring training, and left at home last summer. But Tuesday — wearing his old No. 37 — Herrera was back in a Phillies uniform. Herrera said he spent the last 22 months regaining the trust of his girlfriend, who declined to press charges against him after an Atlantic City police re...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Paul Sullivan: ‘Games’ or ‘scrimmages’? Spring training or spring break? Whatever you call it, some of MLB’s spring rule changes have purists shaking their heads.
No one is too worried about spring training rule changes forced upon baseball by COVID-19 protocols. Even traditionalists understand the need to audible during a pandemic, and we already went through the drill in 2020, so seven-inning games aren’t a shock to the system. There aren’t as many players in camp, which means fewer pitchers are available to get teams through the day. And because the outcomes of the games are meaningless, it doesn’t really matter how many innings are played or whether an inning ends early because a pitcher reached his pitch limit. “It just keeps everybody healthy, and...
Chicago Tribune
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News briefs
San Francisco resumes indoor dining as coronavirus cases fallSAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco will resume indoor dining on Wednesday as the city moves out of the most restrictive coronavirus tier for reopening. "We are in an amazing place," said a jubilant Mayor London Breed at an outdoor news conference on Tuesday. "We are not completely where we want to be, but better than we have been since October of last year." A sharp decline in coronavirus cases is moving San Francisco from the most restrictive purple tier for widespread prevalence of the virus into the next level, red, for substantial spr...
Tribune News Service
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Jay Ambrose: The good and the ugly of Trump
He walked out on the stage and the crowd was cheering, the music was blasting “I’m proud to be an American,” and former President Donald Trump did look proud, very proud. This was despite a lost election he says he won, a Capitol riot he says he did not start and a furious but failed impeachment attempt to keep him from ever seeking the presidency again. The song ended with the words, “I love this land, God bless the USA,” and 74-year-old Trump, looking as energetic as ever, later made clear he loved his country now disdained by so many rewriting its noble history and not caring about the flag...
Tribune News Service
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‘Coming 2 America’ star Wesley Snipes ‘giddy’ to be part of ‘Coming to America’ franchise
“Coming 2 America” was a long time coming for Wesley Snipes. The actor, who stars as the eccentric and autocratic ruler of Nextdoria in the long-awaited sequel, is thrilled to now be part of the “Coming to America” franchise after initially auditioning to play Darryl Jenks in the 1988 original. “I’m giddy as a pig at Fatburger,” Snipes told the Daily News. “I’m telling you, I’m happy. I wanted to be a part of that so bad, and James Earl Jones was in the original. For us theater thespians, he was an icon. “The idea of being close to him, just enough to breathe, to listen, to have him breathe on...
New York Daily News
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Commentary: Abolishing the Peace Corps would be a mistake
“Why should you, a white woman, go work in Africa?” The question was from an African American newsroom colleague, and it knocked me back. It was the late 1990s, and I had just announced that I was joining the Peace Corps, assigned to a remote public health post in Zambia, in southern Africa. I’d applied to the Peace Corps primarily to set aside my journalist’s notebook and experience life beyond my own bubble, to better understand the world by immersing myself in hands-on work. I liked the Peace Corps’ grassroots approach to development work — that we would be working as partners with local co...
Chicago Tribune
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Editorial: No, Josh Hawley: We don’t hate America if we want to learn from history’s mistakes
It’s not true, as Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley suggested in his fiery, “America First” Friday speech at the far-right Conservative Political Action Conference, that those who don’t agree with him don’t think we should have national borders. Or that we never stop proclaiming “how terrible our country is … founded in lies and evil.” It is true, however, that it’s not a particular point of pride for us that America freed the slaves. Eventually. And that, apparently, is a dividing line for our Trump-First Republican junior senator, who hopes to run for president himself in 2024. Part of pushing back ...
The Kansas City Star
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John M. Crisp: Could a blue norther help turn Texas blue?
We Texans may have a little schadenfreude coming after our homegrown power grid was overwhelmed by a polar blast. Who could resist taking pleasure in the cold comeuppance of a group of people who are always bragging about their self-reliance? Novelist Stephen King couldn’t. In the wake of our precarious misery, he tweeted: “Hey, Texas! Keep voting for officials who don’t believe in climate change and supported privatization of the power grid! Maybe in 4 years you can vote for Trump again. He believes in the latter but not the former. Perfect.” Thanks, Stephen. And I’ve read a couple of your no...
Tribune News Service
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