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Patriots OC Bill O’Brien believes Mac Jones’ struggles are ‘fixable’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:02 GMT

The Patriots coaching staff returned to work Sunday determined to fix what’s been ailing their 2-8 team.Chief among their list of problems is poor quarterback play. Starter Mac Jones was benched for a third time this season in the Pats’ latest loss, a 10-6 defeat to the Colts in Germany.Jones ranks in the bottom 10 by virtually every metric among starting quarterbacks and is tracking for career worsts across most statistical categories. He’s completed 65.4% of his passes for 2,031 yards, 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Asked about Jones’ play in Germany, where he threw a crippling red-zone interception in the fourth quarter, offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien said all of his struggles are “fixable.”“I think at times Mac’s played really well. I think that’s what we have to remember: at times this year, Mac has played really well,” O’Brien said. And I also think that it’s really important to point out th...

All 7 CT Boston Market locations served eviction notices as company’s ‘death spiral’ closes Newington, Bristol stores

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:02 GMT

With almost all of its Connecticut restaurants abruptly closing in recent months, the Boston Market’s once-powerful operation in the state appears to be falling victim to the same financial troubles dogging the chain nationally.Boston Market has been evicted from its West Hartford, Danbury, Stratford, Meriden, Wilton and East Haven locations this year, and a Superior Court judge last week ordered it out of its Old Greenwich storefront.The company was hit last week with an eviction notice for its Meriden restaurant, where an employee said Wednesday that it probably wouldn’t be open beyond Friday. In Bloomfield, the chain was evicted a year ago and the building owner is courting a bank that would remodel the space.The recently closed Bristol location has a “space available” sign on its window, and the Newington location is shut down: A state tax department notice on the door advises that its sales and use tax permit was suspended Nov. 9.The chain’s collap...

Canadian airlines rank last for on-time arrivals in North America

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:02 GMT

A new report says the country’s two biggest airlines ranked last for on-time performance among large North American carriers last month.Aviation data company Cirium says nearly 28 per cent of Air Canada flights, or more than 8,700, landed late in October, placing the company ninth out of 10 airlines on the continent.The report found WestJet came last with nearly 29 per cent of arrivals touching down late — defined as more than 15 minutes after scheduled arrival.The two airlines’ on-time percentage of just over 70 per cent falls far short of the North American average of 80 per cent — itself the lowest of any region globally — while Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines and American Airlines all notched north of 85 per cent.Nonetheless, Air Canada’s outcome marks an improvement from its tally of 68 per cent the previous month.In the past, Air Canada has pointed to a shortage of air traffic controllers, bad weather and a network running at full tilt amid h...

A Canadian mining company at the center of Panama protests says it may have to suspend operations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:02 GMT

PANAMA CITY (AP) — The Canadian mining company whose contract with Panama’s government has triggered weeks of protests said Monday that it has reduced operations and soon may have to suspend them due to a blockade of its mine’s power plant.Minera Panama, the local subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals, said in a statement that small boats had blocked its port in Colon province, preventing supplies from reaching the copper mine.“If the illegal actions continue impeding the necessary supplies to operate the power plant, the company will reduce the remaining processing train this week and will temporarily suspend production,” the statement said.Panama has been roiled by weeks of massive street protests and highway blockades as citizens worried about the impact on the environment pressure the government to revoke the contract. The protesters, a broad coalition of Panamanians, fear the mine’s impact on nature and especially on the water supply.The mine employs thousands and accounts...

Hannah Waddingham takes viewers ‘Home for Christmas’ with holiday special featuring ‘Ted Lasso’ pals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:02 GMT

Hannah Waddingham’s friends weren’t exactly ready to celebrate Christmas when they received an invitation to attend a live taping of her holiday special last May at the London Coliseum.It “was uncommonly sweaty in London,” recalled Waddingham, “and there was us putting out an invitation saying, ‘Please wear your Christmas finery.’ So many of my friends rang me, were like, ‘Dude, really?’ I was like, ‘Yes, get your Christmas sweater out. If I’m going to be sweating, so can you.’”“ Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas,” debuting Wednesday (along with an accompanying soundtrack), is a dream come true for the performer, an Emmy Award-winner and three-time Olivier Award nominee. Her mother, Melodie Kelly, was an opera singer and Waddingham says she essentially spent her childhood at the Coliseum. “I’ve run around those corridors since I was 8 years old. The reason why I am who I am as a performer is from sitting in that theater watching the great opera sing...

What’s open and closed on Thanksgiving this year?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:02 GMT

The holiday season is here, which means spending time with family on Thanksgiving and also, for millions of people, hunting for the best deals on Black Friday.Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November each year, which takes place this week. A lot of national retailers are keeping the doors closed on Thursday to give employees time with families and to recharge for the holidays ahead. That includes some of the biggest chains like Walmart and Target, which plan to re-open stores on Friday. Here’s a brief rundown of store hours on Thanksgiving:Is Walmart open on Thanksgiving? Walmart will be closed on Thanksgiving. Is Target open on Thanksgiving?Target will be closed on Thanksgiving.Is Costco open on Thanksgiving? Costco will be closed on Thanksgiving.Is CVS open on Thanksgiving?CVS Pharmacy will be closing all non-24 hour locations early on Thanksgiving. You can call your local store or check store and pharmacy hours on the CVS Pharmacy website.Is Walgreens open on...

Base metal stocks help lead broad-based rally as S&P/TSX composite moves higher

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:02 GMT

TORONTO — Strength in the base metal stocks helped lead a broad-based rally as Canada’s main stock index moved higher in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets also rose.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 58.08 points at 20,233.85.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 80.56 points at 35,027.84. The S&P 500 index was up 19.07 points at 4,533.09, while the Nasdaq composite was up 107.08 points at 14,232.56.The Canadian dollar traded for 72.84 cents US compared with 72.88 cents US on Friday.The January crude contract was up US$2.02 at US$78.06 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was down four cents at US$2.92 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was down US$9.50 at US$1,975.20 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$3.80 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) The Canadian Press

Experts say a wall that collapsed and killed 9 in the Dominican Republic capital was poorly built

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:02 GMT

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A concrete wall along an avenue in the Dominican Republic’s capital that collapsed over the weekend and killed nine people during heavy rains was poorly designed, experts said Monday.The government of the Caribbean country has come under scrutiny, with experts saying they had warned more than 20 years ago about the wall’s failures and lack of effort to fix them.“It has weaknesses in the design,” civil engineer Cristian Rojas told The Associated Press. “No anchors were placed, and that is why the wall collapsed.”Rojas, former president of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors, said the force of the water in a flooded adjacent avenue, combined with the type of wall that was built, led to the collapse.Dominican geologist Osiris de Léon recalled that the first warnings about the wall were made more than two decades ago. He posted a story from December 1999 on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which El Siglo newspaper q...

Germany pledges to invest 4 billion euros in green energy projects in Africa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:02 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The German government pledged Monday to invest 4 billion euros ($4.37 billion) in African green energy projects until 2030, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying that countries in Africa should benefit more from their wealth of raw materials. Scholz discussed the pledge at a news conference on the G20 Compact with Africa summit taking place in Berlin. He did not mention any specific projects but said the materials used in green energy should be processed in the African nations they come from. “This creates jobs and prosperity in these countries,” Scholz said. “And the German industry gets reliable suppliers.”Compact with Africa is based on an initiative launched by Germany during its chairmanship of the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations. It aims to improve the economic conditions in the participating countries in order to make them more attractive for foreign private investment.Scholz said Germany should become a long-term and reliable partner to countries i...

Marlo Thomas celebrates Thanks and Giving’s 20th year and $1 billion raised for St. Jude hospital

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:02 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — When families thank Marlo Thomas for the medical treatment they received at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, she kindly corrects them.“I say, ‘Well, you know, I’m not a scientist, I’m a wheelbarrow,’” the actress, producer and activist says with a smile that has been famous since her days starring in “That Girl.” “I take the wheelbarrow, put the money in it and bring it to the scientists.”And Thomas, who serves as St. Jude’s National Outreach Director, is a really good wheelbarrow.This year, St. Jude’s Thanks and Giving campaign celebrates its 20th anniversary and passing the fundraising milestone of $1 billion to support the hospital’s efforts to provide free medical care to children with cancer. The drive, which kicked off earlier this month and runs through the holiday season, also raises awareness for the work of the Memphis-based hospital, which was founded by her father, the late “Make Room for Daddy” star Danny Thomas, who pledged that families would nev...