MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JUNE 24: Artturi Lehkonen #62 of the Montreal Canadiens is congratulated by Phillip Danault #24 after scoring the game-winning goal during the first overtime period against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Semifinals of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre on June 24, 2021 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
The Chicago Blackhawks are, as you know, watching the playoffs from home. They have a bad roster that has some elite talent at the top. Guys like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Alex DeBrincat, and Dominik Kubalik are awesome but they have absolutely no help. Stan Bowman has made a plethora of mistakes. The problem with all of his mistakes is they keep finding ways to show themselves. One is now looming large when you watch the current Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The ChicagoBlackhawks have made a lot of bad moves lately and they show.
The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL’s Semi-Final to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. They are going to play against the winner of the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning’s game seven. It was a very fun game to watch as it ended in overtime. The final play was the cherry on top of a big mistake made by Stan Bowman.
Phillip Danault made the game-winning play to step up Artturi Lehkonen for the game-winning goal in overtime. It was the final play of the game to cap off what has been a very good run of play for Danault. The Hawks traded him to the Montreal Canadiens, along with a second-round pick, in exchange for Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weiss. If that jumps out as terrible trade for the Hawks, that is because it is.
Danault is not an offensive stud but he is one of the best two-way forwards in the National Hockey League. He came in sixth place for the NHL’s Selke Trophy in 2020-21 but he should have finished even higher. His points probably keep him a little bit down but they shouldn’t. He had five goals and 19 assists for 24 points in 53 games played anyway so it isn’t like he’s a bum in the attacking zone either.
He had a CorsiFor of 57.0 which is absolutely magnificent. Anything over 50, for those who don’t know, means that your team is better at controlling the puck when you are on the ice than when you are not. This man was a whole seven percent over 50 so you know the Habs had the puck a lot when Danault was on the ice. He is as good of a defensive forward as there is in the entire league.
If the Hawks never traded Danault, their forward group would look so much different. If you put some offensive players that are also sound defensively on his wing, he could make some sweet plays too as you saw in overtime on Thursday night. This was a huge mistake in a long line of them for Bowman. To be honest, it is good to see it on display in the big moments because it may eventually lead to change.
Scottie Pippen’s latest call out prior to his book coming out revolves around calling the decision to draw the final play for Toni Kukoc against the Knicks in 1994 a “racial move.”
“The situation is changing from time to time so that is why we need to remain flexible and prompt in responding to any change,” Tokyo Olympic organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said. “A no-spectator games is one of our options.” | Issei Kato/Pool Photo via AP
Despite earlier this week saying up to 10,000 spectators would be allowed at venues, the president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said a “no-spectator games” remains an option.
TOKYO — A “no-spectator games” remains an option for the Tokyo Olympics, which open officially in just four weeks, the president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said Friday.
Organizers put off the decision on local fans for several months, and fans from abroad were banned months ago. The move to allow fans went against many medical experts who have said the safest Olympics would be with no fans due to coronavirus.
“What I feel is that no spectating should remain an option for us as we look into things,” Hashimoto said at a news conference. “The situation is changing from time to time so that is why we need to remain flexible and prompt in responding to any change. A no-spectator games is one of our options.”
Organizers seemed to back down slightly on fans after a COVID-19 panel for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported on Thursday that “there’s a sign of resurgence” of infections in Tokyo.
The panel said infections grew by 11% in the last week — based on the seven-day average — with more of the contagious Delta variant cases being detected. Organizers say they will take another look at fans after the current “quasi-state of emergency” ends on July 11.
Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa delivered another wake-up call on Friday when she confirmed that a member of the Ugandan team who tested positive for the coronavirus upon entry to Japan last week was infected with the Delta variant.
Later in the day a second Ugandan also tested positive for the Delta variant, Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said.
Despite extensive testing before and upon entry, cases like these seem certain to happen with 11,000 Olympic athletes and 4,400 Paralympic athletes entering Tokyo, along with tens of thousands of added staff, coaches, judges, and IOC and sports federations officials.
The first Ugandan member, reportedly a coach, was detected positive last Saturday at the Narita airport near Tokyo and quarantined. But the Japanese authorities allowed the remainder of the nine-person team to travel more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) on a chartered bus to their pre-game camp in Izumisano, in the western prefecture of Osaka.
“They all carried certificates showing their negative test results,” Izumisano Mayor Hiroyasu Chiyomatsu said. “We never imagined they could be infected.”
The team members were quarantining at a hotel there.
“The Olympic organizing committee is very much interested in finding out more from this (Uganda) example,” Hashimoto said. “We will pay detailed attention to get information as much as possible from this experience,” with operations refined accordingly.
She added: “We cannot say everything is 100%. We will make a bubble as close to 100% as possible.”
The head of Imperial Household Agency on Thursday said Emperor Naruhito is “extremely worried” about the health risks presented by the Olympics. It was a rare move for the ceremonial figure who stays away from politics.
He was under no obligation to speak up about the Olympics, and the fact he did is more significant than what he said.
Hashimoto was asked at least three times about the Emperor’s comments, but did not mention his name and gave vague replies.
“We need to remove anxiety and concerns from all the Japanese people,” she said. “We need to really ensure a safe and secure operation of the games. So we will need to put in more effort in doing that.”
The IOC is pushing ahead with the Olympics, partly because it derives almost 75% of its income from selling broadcast rights. Estimates suggest $3 billion to $4 billion in broadcast money is on the line in Tokyo.
The official cost of the Olympics is $15.4 billion, though several government audits say it’s much larger. All but $6.7 billion is public money. The IOC contributes about $1.5 billion.
Japan has reported about 780,000 coronavirus cases and has attributed about 14,500 deaths to COVID-19. About 9% of Japanese have been fully vaccinated as the government steps up its inoculation drive.
A view of the newly restored lower level of the Colosseum is shown on Friday. After 2-and-1/2 years of work to shore up the Colosseum’s underground passages, tourists will be able to go down and wander through part of what had been the ancient Roman arena’s “backstage.” | AP
During the centuries when spectators filled the Colosseum to watch spectacles replete with gladiators and wild animals, the public was forbidden from venturing below stage level.
ROME — After 2 1/2 years of work to shore up the Colosseum’s underground passages, tourists will be able to go down and wander through part of what what had been the ancient arena’s “backstage.”
Italy’s culture minister on Friday formally announced the completion of work to shore-up and restore the underground section in the presence of the founder of Tod’s, the shoe and luxury goods maker, who has footed the bill.
During the centuries when spectators filled the Colosseum to watch spectacles replete with gladiators and wild animals, the public was forbidden from venturing below stage level. The ban lasted from 80 A.D. when the amphitheater was inaugurated, until the last show in 523.
Dozens of mobile platforms and wooden elevators were employed in ancient times to haul up to stage level vivid scenery as well performers and animals for dramatic entrances.
APThe newly restored lower level of the Colosseum is now open to tourists after 2 1/2 years of work to shore up the previously off-limits area of the ancient Roman arena.
Colosseum director Alfonsina Russo said tourists will be able to stroll down a walkway 160 meters (530 feet) long to view some of what were originally 15 corridors that circled the underground levels.
Restoration work by teams of engineers, surveyors, construction workers, architects ad archaeologists was interrupted during part of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tod’s founder Diego Della Valle responded several years ago to an Italian government call for private sector funding for restoration projects in light of the country’s inability to come up with the cash to care for its immense art and archaeological treasures.
Della Valle also paid for a multi-million-euro (dollar) cleaning of the Colosseum, a monumental project which removed decades of soot and grime which made the arena look dull and dreary.
Last month, Culture Minister Dario Franceschini detailed a project to build a lightweight stage inside the area so visitors can admire the ancient monument from a central viewpoint. The stage will be retractable.
The original arena had a stage, but it was removed in the 1800s for archaeological exploration of the underground level. The new stage will also allow for holding cultural events that the minister said would be respectful of the Colosseum as a symbol of Italy.
Search and rescue personnel work in the rubble of the 12-story condo tower that crumbled to the ground after a partial collapse of the building on June 24, 2021 in Surfside, Florida. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Search crews worked overnight to sift through the wreckage looking for potential survivors after the 12-story Champlain Towers South collapsed near Miami.
SURFSIDE, Fla. — About 160 people were still unaccounted for Friday after an oceanside condominium building collapsed into a pile of rubble, and searchers combing through a twisted, shifting heap of concrete and metal feared the death toll of at least four could go much higher.
With scores of firefighters working overnight to reach any possible survivors both from under and atop the remains of the building, hopes rested on how quickly crews using dogs and microphones to sift through the wreckage could complete their grim, yet delicate task.
“Every time we hear a sound, we concentrate on those areas,” said Assistant Miami-Dade Fire Chief Raide Jadallah.
Two heavy cranes began removing debris from the pile using large claws Friday morning, creating a din of crashing glass and metal as they picked up material and dumped it to the side.
Three more bodies were removed overnight, and Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez said authorities were working with the medical examiner’s office to identify the victims. Eleven injuries were reported, with four people treated at hospitals.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said rescuers were at “extreme risk” going through the rubble.
“Debris is falling on them as they do their work. We have structural engineers on site to ensure that they will not be injured, but they are proceeding because they are so motivated and they are taking extraordinary risk on the site every day,” she said.
With searchers using saws and jackhammers to look for pockets large enough to hold a person, Levine Cava said there was still hope of finding people alive.
The missing at what was left of the 12-story Champlain Towers South included people from around the world: A beloved retired Miami-area teacher and his wife. Orthodox Jews from Russia. Israelis. The sister of Paraguay’s first lady. Others from South America.
State Sen. Jason Pizzo of Miami Beach told the Miami Herald he watched as tactical teams of six worked early Friday to sift through the debris. He said he saw one body taken in a yellow body bag and another that was marked. They were taken to a homicide unit tent that was set up along the beach.
Many people remained at the reunification center set up near the collapse site early Friday morning, awaiting results of DNA swabs that could help identify victims.
Officials said no cause for the collapse has been determined.
Video of the collapse showed the center of the building appearing to tumble down first and a section nearest to the ocean teetering and coming down seconds later, as a huge dust cloud swallowed the neighborhood.
About half the building’s roughly 130 units were affected, and rescuers pulled at least 35 people from the wreckage in the first hours after the collapse. But with 159 still unaccounted for, work could go on for days.
Television video early Friday showed crews still fighting flareups of fires on the rubble piles. Intermittent rain over South Florida is also hampering the search.
Jadallah said that while listening devices placed on and in the wreckage had picked up no voices, they had detected possible banging noises, giving rescuers hope some are alive. Rescuers were tunneling into the wreckage from below, going through the building’s underground parking garage.
Personal belongings were evidence of shattered lives amid the wreckage of the Champlain, which was built in 1981 in Surfside, a small suburb north of Miami Beach. A children’s bunk bed perched precariously on a top floor, bent but intact and apparently inches from falling into the rubble. A comforter lay on the edge of a lower floor. Televisions. Computers. Chairs.
Argentines Dr. Andres Galfrascoli, his husband, Fabian Nuñez, and their 6-year-old daughter, Sofia, had spent Wednesday night there at an apartment belonging to a friend, Nicolas Fernandez.
Galfrascoli, a Buenos Aires plastic surgeon, and Nuñez, a theater producer and accountant, had come to Florida to get away from a COVID-19 resurgence in Argentina and its strict lockdowns. They had worked hard to adopt Sofia, Fernandez said.
“Of all days, they chose the worst to stay there,” Fernandez said. “I hope it’s not the case, but if they die like this, that would be so unfair.”
They weren’t the only South Americans missing. Foreign ministries and consulates of four countries said 22 nationals were missing in the collapse: nine from Argentina, six from Paraguay, four from Venezuela and three from Uruguay.
The Paraguayans included Sophia López Moreira — the sister of first lady Silvana Abdo and sister-in-law of President Mario Abdo Benítez — and her family.
Israeli media said the country’s consul general in Miami, Maor Elbaz, believes that 20 citizens of that country are missing.
Also missing was Arnie Notkin, a retired Miami-area elementary school physical education teacher, and his wife, Myriam. They lived on the third floor.
“Everyone’s been posting, ‘Oh my God, he was my coach,’” said Fortuna Smukler, a friend who turned to Facebook in hopes of finding someone who would report them safe.
“They were also such happy, joyful people. He always had a story to tell, and she always spoke so kindly of my mother,” Smukler said. “Originally there were rumors that he had been found, but it was a case of mistaken identity. It would be a miracle if they’re found alive.”
Associated Press writers Tim Reynolds and Ian Mader in Miami; Freida Frisaro and Kelli Kennedy in Fort Lauderdale; Bobby Caina Calvan in Tallahassee; Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama; and R.J. Rico in Atlanta contributed to this report.
Shemuel Sanders suffered a tragic loss and channeled his life-changing experience into an opportunity to help others.
Shemuel Sanders suffered a tragic loss last June when his daughter, Shemilah, became the victim of a fatal shooting in their hometown of Decatur, Illinois.
Sanders, who often served as an informal mentor to youth in the Decatur middle school where he works, felt compelled, now more than ever, to do more.
“I never want another parent to have to feel what I’m feeling,” says Sanders, who does landscaping work during the summers, “so I started small — pulling a few young men into my landscaping work and paying them for their time.”
Once the community heard about what Sanders was doing, his phone wouldn’t stop ringing with calls from parents and young men who wanted to be involved.
In just a few weeks, his landscaping program, which started with 10 young men, quickly grew to 70 — the maximum number of participants that donations to the program could support.
When they returned to school in the fall, Sanders refocused his outreach on helping the men navigate e-learning, recruiting a team of retired teachers who volunteered their time to help students who were struggling outside of a traditional school setting.
Provided photo.
This year, the program has grown to include 200 young men and women and many more offerings for the youth, who can now learn forensic science taught by the local police department, take music or dance classes, and of course, continue to participate in the popular landscaping program.
The only limitation to the growth of the program is funding, and Sanders continues to fundraise to be able to support more participants.
“I’ve had to turn youth away, and that kills me,” says Sanders. “I believe I could easily reach 1000 youth with the community’s support – there is that much need for this work.”
Murder charges have been filed against a second man in connection with a shooting last year on the Wabash Avenue bridge downtown.
Police say Deandre Lewis, 23, participated in the July 19 murder of 35-year-old Gregory Crawford, Chicago police said.
Another murder charge had been filed in January against Charles James, one of the shooters who killed Crawford and wounded a woman, police said.
The victims had been driving across the bridge early that morning when men on a sidewalk opened fire while arguing with another man on the street, police said.
Crawford was shot in his neck and died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, authorities have said. The woman, 25, was hospitalized in serious condition with gunshot wounds to her arms.
Lewis was arrested Thursday in Rockford and was expected to appear in Cook County court Friday, police said.
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