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Stephen Rubin, publisher of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and other blockbusters, dies at 81

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Rubin, a longtime publishing executive with an eye for bestsellers and a passion for music and public life who helped launched the career of John Grisham, among others, and released such blockbusters as “The Da Vinci Code” and “Fire and Fury,” has died. He was 81.Rubin died Friday at a hospital in Manhattan after “a brief and sudden illness,” according to his nephew, David Rotter.Book publishing is hard to imagine without the raspy-voiced Rubin, a powerful and colorful presence for decades with his tortoiseshell glasses, stylish suits and wide range of friends and colleagues, from Jacqueline Kennedy to Beverly Sills. He hosted memorable parties at his spacious West Side apartment and was a prime source of gossip and alternately profane and loving assessments of friends, colleagues and the greater world.“He would enter a room and immediately fill it,” close friend Jane Friedman, the former CEO of HarperCollins Publishers, told The Associated Press via email. “...

'A humanitarian disaster:' Chicagoans voice concerns for loved ones trapped in Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

CHICAGO — Israel gave civilians in Gaza a 24-hour warning to evacuate Friday before an expected large-scale invasion in the midst of launching deadly airstrikes across the region in the past week. Feelings of distress escalate for Palestinians in Chicago as they worry for loved ones scrambling to seek safety.Israeli air raids have reduced buildings to rubble, killed dozens of civilians in the past day and minimized access to safekeeping. The U.N. has warned that evacuating more than half of the population would be calamitous and has urged Israel to reconsider action.More than 2,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 8,000 wounded in Gaza. Associated Press reported that the morgue at Gaza's biggest hospital has overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim. Hospitals in the northern part of the strip have also been ordered to evacuate. "Evacuation is impossible for most people, there is nowhere to evacuate and no way to get there. This is asking to...

15-year-old girl missing from home on Northwest Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

CHICAGO — Police are searching for a teen girl missing from her home on the city's Northwest Side.According to the Chicago Police Department (CPD), a search is underway for 15-year-old Solange Meneses who has been missing since Saturday, Oct. 7.Officers say the teen girl was last seen at her home in the 4300 block of West Parker Avenue in the Hermosa neighborhood on the Northwest Side.Police say Meneses, who has red and auburn hair and brown eyes, stands 5-foot-1 and weighs around 115 pounds. Police did not provide a description of what the teen was wearing at the time of her disappearance.Officers notified the public about Meneses' disappearance in a news release sent out on Friday afternoon.Anyone with information on the whereabouts of 15-year-old Solange Meneses is asked to contact CPD Area Five SVU detectives at 312-746-6554 or dial 911.Tips for police can also be filed at CPDtip.com. Tips can be left anonymously.

George Floyd mourned by sister on would-be 50th birthday: ‘I thought he would be alive to see it’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

George Floyd’s sister is mourning him on what would have been his 50th birthday.The Minneapolis man, who would have celebrated the milestone on Saturday, was instead killed in May 2020 at the hands of a group of white cops.LaTonya Floyd, 55, remembers her little brother as “just a soul full of joy.”“He should’ve been here,” she told People. “I thought he would be alive to see it I thought he’d live to be 100.”Floyd was just 46 when he was murdered at the hands of Derek Chauvin, who in 2021 was convicted of second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The horror of his death, which many saw play out in widely broadcast video, reignited the Black Lives Matter movement.“I’m missing him,” Floyd’s sister told the outlet. “I love him. I just can’t help it, I’m going to cry all day.”Also in 2021, Floyd’s family was awarded $27 million in a settlement with both the ...

Area college football: Drake pummels Tommies 52-21

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

The Drake University football team gave St. Thomas a glimpse of the other side on Saturday, throttling the Tommies 52-21 in a Pioneer Football League game in Des Moines, Iowa.The rout was the Bulldogs’ first victory over the Tommies in three meetings over the past three seasons. It ended St. Thomas’ 13-game win streak in the PFL and could cost the Tommies a shot at another conference championship.Drake improved to 3-3 overall, 3-0 in the PFL. St. Thomas fell to 4-3 and 3-1.The Bulldogs started strong on Saturday, with their very first offensive possession ending in a touchdown. And they finished even stronger, outscoring the Tommies 28-0 in the second half and 21-0 in the third quarter, erasing a 21-14 deficit late in the second quarter to lead 24-21 at the half.Drake dominated, rolling up 556 yards of total offense and 31 first downs to St. Thomas’ 183 total yards and 12 first downs.Bulldogs quarterback Luke Bailey passed for 449 yards and six touchdowns in the ro...

San Jose Sharks forced to look in mirror after recent injuries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks will be without Mikael Granlund for at least the rest of their challenging homestand and possibly longer, leaving the team without two of their top three centermen for an undetermined amount of time.The Sharks — already without Logan Couture, who is considered week-to-week — placed Granlund on injured reserve Friday, one day after he re-aggravated a lower-body ailment in San Jose’s season-opening game against the Vegas Golden Knights.Granlund, who dealt with the injury during training camp, will miss Saturday’s game with the Colorado Avalanche and remain inactive for upcoming games against the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins, and perhaps beyond.Most NHL teams, if not all, would be severely affected if they were to miss two top-nine centermen. But that’s especially true for the Sharks, who are still building up their depth at the position from top to bottom.“I think anytime you lose two players in one position, you kind of get a ...

Strong, Lester help Southern Illinois run away from Murray State for a 27-6 win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

MURRAY, Ken. (AP) — Justin Strong broke loose on an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, Shaun Lester added a scoring run late and Southern Illinois beat Murray State 27-6 on Saturday. Strong carried 14 times for 128 yards. Lester’s 2-yard touchdown plunge ended a 10-play, 74-yard drive that capped the scoring with 4:25 remaining. Lester finished with 85 yards rushing on 14 carries. Vinson Davis III had a 9-yard TD run for Southern Illinois (5-1, 2-1 Missouri Valley Football Conference). Nic Baker added 137 yards on 14-of-23 passing. DJ Williams was 11-of-28 passing for 152 yards and threw two interceptions for Murray State (2-4, 1-2), which finished with just 185 yards of offense. Matt Maldonado made field goals from 44 and 29 yards. After Strong’s scoring run, Williams led the Racers on a 12-play, 67-yard drive to the Salkukis 8 but then threw an interception in the end zone. __AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://...

Tkachuk and Chychrun each score twice to lift Senators to 5-2 win over Flyers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Brady Tkachuk and Jakob Chychrun each scored twice to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.Anton Forsberg made 19 saves and Jake Sanderson also scored for Ottawa, who picked up their first win after dropping the season opener in Carolina 5-3.“It’s huge,” Tkachuk said of getting the first win. “Something to build on and we’re right back at it tomorrow, so you can’t really focus on (Saturday) much longer because we’ve got a wagon coming in tomorrow so you’ve got to be ready for that and that task. We just have to keep building on it.”Travis Konecny and Cam York scored and Carter Hart stopped 26 shots for the Flyers.Philadelphia opened the season with a 4-2 win over Columbus on Thursday night, but struggled to generate much against Ottawa.“We’re not going to panic, but our penalty kill, our power play, our offense, our defense, we were outplayed in all categories (Saturday),” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “We’ll look...

Gronowski throws for 3 TDs South Dakota State wins 20th straight, 41-6 over Northern Iowa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) — Mark Gronowski threw for three touchdowns and ran for another and South Dakota State rolled to its 20th-straight victory on Saturday, 41-9 over Northern Iowa.On the Jackrabbits’ 109th homecoming day, which the school dubs Hobo Day Game, the top-ranked FCS team quickly took care of business with Gronowski and Isaiah Davis scoring on short touchdown runs for a 14-0 lead after one quarter.South Dakota State (6-0, 3-0 Missouri Valley Football Conference) lost fumbles on consecutive possessions before scoring on five straight drives for a 41-3 lead.Three of the scores were Gronowski passes — the first a 16-yarder to Jadon Janke for a 24-0 lead — before the Panthers kicked a field goal on the final play of the half.In the third quarter, Zach Heins hauled in TD passes covering 6 and 23 yards.Gronowski was 21-of-36 passing for 291 yards and Davis carried 17 times for 103 yards.The game was far different than last year’s matchup when the Jackrabbits won 31-...

Penn powers through the rain to win its first Ivy game of the year against Columbia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Graham Gotlieb kicked a 23-yard field goal with 3:04 remaining and Pennsylvania beat Columbia 20-17 on a rainy Saturday for its first road victory in Wien Stadium since Oct. 17, 2015.Penn (4-1, 1-1 Ivy League) avoided overtime for the first time in three games. The Quakers were coming off consecutive overtime games for the first time since 2006. Aidan Sayin was 27 of 39 for 271 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception for Penn.Sayin found Bisi Owens in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown to tie it at 17 early in the fourth quarter. Owens also had caches of 12, 7 and 26 yards during the drive.Caden Bell completed 11 of 29 passes for 91 yards with an interception for Columbia (2-3, 0-2).Penn defensive back Shiloh Means made his third interception of the season on Columbia’s first possession of the second half.___AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-pollSource