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Ron and Casey DeSantis greet over 270 Floridians who landed in Tampa after boarding chartered flight from Israel

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:56:31 GMT

Hundreds of evacuees from Florida were flown from Israel to Tampa in one of several flights ordered by Gov. Ron DeSantis.The governor and first lady Casey DeSantis greeted more than 270 Floridians arriving from the Middle East at Tampa International Airport, Sunday night.The governor said seven other people arrived in Orlando in the afternoon.DeSantis teamed up with Project Dynamo to fly them home from the war zone and has enlisted the Florida Division of Emergency Management to lead efforts for additional flights to safely bring Floridians home.For more information on these chartered flights, click here.

Torch Relay for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals draws over 100 participants to Coconut Grove

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:56:31 GMT

Runners laced up their sneakers and headed to Coconut Grove to help some special children in the community.The Torch Relay 2023 for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals took place at Regatta Park in Coconut Grove on Sunday to support the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Foundation.More than 100 participants took park in the benefit, now in its 15th year.7Sports’ Mike DiPasquale was the master of ceremonies for the sixth year.The Miracle Child this year is Bradley, who is undergoing treatment.The annual event aims to help families who need lifesaving treatments for their children.“The fundraising goes back to the Children’s Miracle Network to support our families, and it provides them an opportunity to get care for those children that are very sick and terminally ill and allows them to take care of their kids without having to worry about the funds,” Natalie Wise, hotel manager of The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove.If you would like to help with the founda...

Struggling offense, costly mistakes continue to haunt Patriots in 21-17 loss to Raiders

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:56:31 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The New England Patriots finally found some offense.Unfortunately for them, they also ran into the same self-inflicted mistakes that have haunted them most of the season during Sunday’s 21-17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.The Patriots are 1-5 for the first time with Bill Belichick as coach. It’s been an inept offense that has driven into the red zone just twice in its past 33 possessions. The loss came against a Raiders defense that came into the game allowing opposing offenses to score on 41.2% of their drives — 11th highest in the league.“We had our chances today,” New England coach Bill Belichick said. “We got to play better and coach better.”The offense gained just 259 yards and generated only 4.6 yards per play.Quarterback Mac Jones was 24 of 33 for 200 yards but also threw a costly interception in the second quarter with the Patriots driving. Rolling to his right, Jones misfired while targeting a wide-open Hunter Henry.Instead, he overshot Henry and Raiders sa...

Church travel group from Salem back in US after evacuation from pilgrimage trip to Israel

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:56:31 GMT

A church travel group from Salem with dozens of members is back home after being evacuated early from a pilgrimage trip to Israel due to the nation’s ongoing conflict with Hamas.At least 30 Americans are confirmed dead and more than 15 are still unaccounted for Sunday night as federal officials say getting American hostages back safely following Hamas’ surprise attack is a top priority.More than 30 members of Mary Queen of the Apostles Parish in Salem returned home on Sunday.The church’s pastor, the Rev. Robert Murray, said “We ran into an extraordinary amount of violence in a dangerous situation, so of course we had to change our plans.” He added, “We feel very fortunate, and very blessed that we came home, but we know that we left behind a lot of people who are suffering. A lot of people who are in the mist of the violence.”

Patriots took odd approach to pregame warmups with backup QB

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:56:31 GMT

LAS VEGAS — Undrafted rookie Malik Cunningham was the Patriots’ backup quarterback in Sunday’s loss to the Raiders, but it certainly didn’t look that way before the game.Cunningham first spent pregame warmups with kick returners catching kicks. Then he worked with wide receivers running routes. Then he caught warmup tosses from quarterback Mac Jones before handing the football back to emergency quarterback Bailey Zappe to throw back across the field. And then when the full team convened, Jones was the only quarterback to work under center while Cunningham repped at wide receiver. Cunningham did play catch with teammates earlier in warmups.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | How Patriots’ Mac Jones, DeVante Parker reacted to momentous late-game drop New England Patriots | Callahan: It’s time for the Patriots to start selling New England Patriots | Patriots can’t complete comeback, fall to Raiders ...

X-rays on Justin Fields’ hand were negative, but the Chicago Bears wait to see if he or Tyson Bagent will start next

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:56:31 GMT

Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields wanted to return to Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, coach Matt Eberflus said.But Fields couldn’t grip the football because of the right hand injury he suffered during a third-quarter sack and was sidelined for the rest of the 19-13 Bears loss.Whether Fields will miss more time is now the major question. The X-rays on Fields’ hand were negative for any fracture, but the Bears are awaiting the results of an MRI. Fox Sports and NFL Network reported Fields dislocated his thumb.“We’ll know more information tomorrow,” Eberflus said.In a 1-5 season that has become so much about determining whether Fields is the Bears’ quarterback of the future, those test results are perhaps more crucial than the final result on the field Sunday. Eberflus said Fields’ demeanor after the game was “great.”“He goes, ‘Coach, we’ll see where it is tomorrow,’ Eber...

Mac Jones, offense cost Patriots again with late-game failures at Las Vegas

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:56:31 GMT

Before they could take their first offensive snap Sunday, the Patriots went backwards with a false start.The next time they lined up, they were lucky to stay put after a Trent Brown penalty the Raiders declined.At the end of the loss, the Pats again went backwards, this time for good.Las Vegas drove a stake into the heart of the Patriots’ season by dropping Mac Jones for a safety at the end of a 21-17 home win. The safety served as the final stroke of a masterpiece of offensive failure, another game doomed by Jones and Co..Moments earlier, Jones was flagged for a delay of game penalty. The play prior, DeVante Parker dropped a 40-yard bomb that would have put the Patriots on the doorstep of field goal range in a 2-point game. Before that, rookie left guard Atonio Mafi was whistled for holding, which negated two small gains that started the drive.That stretch captured a broken unit undone again by late-game sacks and penalties; the same story that unfolded in Weeks 1 and 2 versu...

How Patriots’ Mac Jones, DeVante Parker reacted to momentous late-game drop

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:56:31 GMT

LAS VEGAS — The Patriots could have had a different result Sunday against the Raiders if only wide receiver DeVante Parker could have caught a deep pass from quarterback Mac Jones down the left sideline on second-and-11 with 1:59 left in the game.Parker got behind the Raiders coverage and got his hands on Jones’ pass but couldn’t haul it in late in the 21-17 loss.Absolutely perfect pass from Mac Jones.Drop from DeVante Parker.#Patriots pic.twitter.com/MMUDNGu8V4— Henry McKenna (@henrycmckenna) October 15, 2023“Probably hit my fingertips, I think,” Parker said. “But I didn’t get a full grasp of it.”Parker was asked if he believed he could have caught Jones’ pass.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Callahan: It’s time for the Patriots to start selling New England Patriots | Patriots can’t complete comeback, fall to Raiders 21-17 after last-minute safety New England Patriots | Patriots promising rookie Keion White ru...

Salem church group recounts harrowing exit from Israel as war broke out

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:56:31 GMT

More than 30 travelers from the Mary Queen of the Apostles Parish in Salem have returned home safely after a trip to Holy Land left them uncertainly close to the outbreak of violence last week.“We feel very blessed that we that we were able to get out and get out,” said Fr. Robert Murray, the church pastor who led the group. “We’re very mindful the fact that we left behind people who are in the middle of a war or destruction and death suffering.”On Oct. 7 — the day Hamas terrorists launched attacks on hundreds of Israeli civilians — 32 members of the church began a “spiritual pilgrimage” in Jerusalem.That day, parishioners said, they heard bombs and sirens but were told not to worry, “‘This is what goes on.'”“But we could hear and see it right away,” said Murray. “And so the next day was Sunday, and that’s when it really became quite evident that it wasn’t stopping. And then it was ...

Biden considering trip to Israel, source

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:56:31 GMT

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days but no travel has been finalized, a senior administration official said Sunday.Biden has staunchly proclaimed his support for Israel, and a trip there would be the firmest signal yet but would come amid heightening fears that a looming Israeli move into Gaza could spark a wider war with devastating humanitarian consequences.The official could not publicly discuss internal deliberations about the potential presidential travel and spoke on condition of anonymity. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has already been traveling around the Mideast this past week trying to prevent the war with Hamas from igniting a broader regional conflict.But Biden also made his strongest public effort yet to restrain Israel after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,300 people including at least 30 U.S. citizens, warning in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes that aired Sunday that Israel should not reocc...