The Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School rowing club found a rose attached to the locked gate at a nearby lake, with the most heartbreaking note accompanying it.
“Please can someone throw this in the lake for me?” the note says. “My late husband’s ashes are in the lake and I can’t get to the lakeside in my wheelchair anymore + gates are locked — have to drive back up north tonight. Thank you.”
This note was left on the gate at the water this afternoon. No name or number left but whoever you are, rest assured your rose is in place in the middle of the lake. pic.twitter.com/GAQcbQRSZJ
I hope that this woman knows that her message went viral, and is being appreciated in the United States. Love, condolences, and many thanks to the people who shared this bit of humanity. We are better people for sharing this.
Some, though, wished that the widow didn’t have to leave the note at all.
There are ways to make places in nature accessible to us too without having a negative effect on the local environment before I get people misunderstanding my point.
This person should have been able to leave the rose for their husband themselves. Not hope a stranger would take pity on them and do an act of memorial and grief they were trying to do for them.
The ONLY QB in SEC history to rush for 3,000+ yards: @HailStateFB’s Nick Fitzgerald. https://t.co/4UTYJ76ygX
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James Moran @SmartestMoran
Well, what an answer from State. Two big runs and the Bulldogs are inside the #LSU 20
Nick Fitzgerald just made like five guys miss on a long QB draw
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via Bleacher Report
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MSU Football @HailStateFB
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LSU Football @LSUfootball
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Cody Worsham @CodyWorsham
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Scott Rabalais @RabalaisAdv
Nick Fitzgerald hits Michael Divinity amidships. He returns the INT to the State 3.
#LSU Plus-10 on turnovers this season.
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Brody Miller @BrodyAMiller
Michael Divinity intercepts Nick Fitzgerald and takes it to the 3. #LSU
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Jeff Duncan @JeffDuncan_
Scouts from 7 NFL teams at tonight’s Mississippi State-#LSU game at Tiger Stadium. https://t.co/yy4RGw34DA
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Tyler Horka @tbhorka
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James Moran @SmartestMoran
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Cody Worsham @CodyWorsham
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ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfo
Ahead of today’s game against No. 22 Mississippi State, LSU has won 21 straight home games in the month of October, a streak that dates back nine years.
The Tigers haven’t lost a home game in October since 2009, a 13-3 setback to Tim Tebow and Florida. https://t.co/reaNiZyTnw
The ONLY QB in SEC history to rush for 3,000+ yards: @HailStateFB’s Nick Fitzgerald. https://t.co/4UTYJ76ygX
Clock Icon13 minutes ago
James Moran @SmartestMoran
Well, what an answer from State. Two big runs and the Bulldogs are inside the #LSU 20
Nick Fitzgerald just made like five guys miss on a long QB draw
Clock Icon9 minutes ago
via Bleacher Report
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MSU Football @HailStateFB
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LSU Football @LSUfootball
Clock Icon7 minutes ago
Cody Worsham @CodyWorsham
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Scott Rabalais @RabalaisAdv
Nick Fitzgerald hits Michael Divinity amidships. He returns the INT to the State 3.
#LSU Plus-10 on turnovers this season.
Clock Icon21 minutes ago
Brody Miller @BrodyAMiller
Michael Divinity intercepts Nick Fitzgerald and takes it to the 3. #LSU
Clock Icon25 minutes ago
Jeff Duncan @JeffDuncan_
Scouts from 7 NFL teams at tonight’s Mississippi State-#LSU game at Tiger Stadium. https://t.co/yy4RGw34DA
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Tyler Horka @tbhorka
Clock Icon9 minutes ago
James Moran @SmartestMoran
Clock Icon9 minutes ago
Cody Worsham @CodyWorsham
Clock Icon28 minutes ago
ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfo
Ahead of today’s game against No. 22 Mississippi State, LSU has won 21 straight home games in the month of October, a streak that dates back nine years.
The Tigers haven’t lost a home game in October since 2009, a 13-3 setback to Tim Tebow and Florida. https://t.co/reaNiZyTnw
Voters got a preview of a potential 2020 general election matchup.
LAS VEGAS — President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden squared off at dueling rallies in Nevada Saturday, a preview of what could potentially become a nasty 2020 match-up in a critical swing state.
Trump, rallying the GOP base in the northern city of Elko, labeled the Democrat “Sleepy Joe Biden” and “One Percent Joe,” mocking both the size of the crowd at Biden’s event and the former vice president’s past failed presidential campaigns. Biden responded in kind, telling the crowd of several hundred outside the local Culinary Union here that Trump was “shredding” basic decency and making a deliberate effort to divide the country.
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He told the crowd he decided to speak out against Trump after his response to white supremacists marching in Virginia last year. At the rally, Biden criticized the president’s rhetoric on minorities, his embrace of Vladimir Putin, and the separation of families at the Mexican border.
“It’s a conscious effort to divide the country,” Biden said. “It’s deliberate. And it worked in part. We can’t let it work again.”
A few minutes later, Trump punched back.
“I think he ran three times, and he never had more than 1 percent, so we call him, ‘One-Percent Joe,” Trump said.
“And then remember what happened?” he continued. “Obama came along and took him off the trash heap and made him vice president. But he never had more than 1 percent.”
The dueling rallies were intended to gin up each party’s base ahead of hotly-contested Senate and gubernatorial races here. Biden implored voters to send first-term Rep. Jacky Rosen to the Senate to help flip the majority; GOP Sen. Dean Heller has led narrowly in several recent public polls.
Trump, meanwhile, rallied the GOP faithful behind the freshman senator, who praised him effusively despite their previously contentious relationship.
Biden’s visit was just the latest in a steady stream Democrats eyeing 2020 making stops in Nevada, which is both a critical swing state in the general election and the “first in the West” caucus, which could help propel the winner out of a likely crowded field of contenders.
Nevada served as a significant proving ground for Hillary Clinton with non-white voters in 2016, giving her momentum heading into South Carolina and the Southern primaries that followed. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said at the Nevada Democratic Party’s state convention in June that the state marked a rare “bright spot” for Democrats two years ago. Clinton carried the state while Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto won a race to become the first Latina senator. Democrats also flipped the state legislature.
But Trump only lost the state by 2.4 percentage points, and Republicans expect to compete here in 2020.
“It’s not enough to just show who they are,” Biden said of Trump and Republicans. “We’ve got to tell them who we are. What do we stand for. What does the Democratic Party stand for today?”
Biden also touted his close relationship with former President Barack Obama, who won Nevada twice and will headline a rally for Senate hopeful Jacky Rosen here on Monday.
“He’s a good friend, man,” Biden said. “I want to make it clear: all those memes, they’re basically true. He made the first friendship bracelet, not me.”
This year, in addition to raising money for Rosen and making visits to the state’s powerful Culinary Union, Democratic contenders have been requesting audiences with former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who remains a powerful force in Democratic politics in Nevada and is expected to become involved in the 2020 presidential primary here.
“I’m Joe Biden and I work for Harry Reid,” the former vice president said to kick off his rally.
Rosen has benefited from the big-name guests. Sen. Jeff Merkley joined her for a small event Saturday, and will campaign with her in Reno Sunday. Sen. Bernie Sanders will rally for her Thursday, and she’s had fundraising help from Sens. Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley. Warren headlined a state party event over the summer and got her own split-screen with Trump, who was rallying in Las Vegas that day.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, talked gun control with Democratic candidates during a swing through Las Vegas in April. Merkley held an event with Rosen on energy and environmental issues in the spring. Booker campaigned with candidates here in August, and in a social media video for Rosen said, “This state is in my blood.”
Perhaps no Democrat has campaigned as aggressively in Nevada as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. At a United Brotherhood of Carpenters International training center in Las Vegas last month, Garcetti noted that he was making his fifth trip already this year.
Relative newcomers to early primary politics, Nevada Democrats have relished their position on the primary calendar since the state became an early caucus state in 2008. Heightened attention on the contest here is viewed by Democrats as significant to increasing Democratic voter registration in a competitive state.
Bob Fulkerson, state director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada Action Fund, a progressive group that runs registration and turnout operations in the state, said that as Democratic presidential contenders campaign for Nevada Democrats this year, “The oblique message is, ‘Vote for me in the primary, too,’ although they’re classy enough not to say that.”
He said, “I think it’s good. I think it really shows voters, particularly low-propensity voters, want to be talked to directly … To have candidates come here and actually tell them that they matter is really important.”
William McCurdy, the state Democratic Party chairman, said the state represents an important stop for any Democrat with ambitions to challenge Trump. He specifically touted Biden, Warren and Harris for having strong relationships with the party here.
“Some of these folks want to run for president in 2020, why not come interact with one of the most exciting bases in the country?” McCurdy said.
He added that he was pleased with how many potential 2020 contenders had made trips to Nevada so far, but he’s not satisfied yet.
“We’re looking for a few more, we want a few more,” McCurdy said.
Republicans view Nevada as a state Trump could potentially compete in two years from now. Trump has formed a close bond with Heller, who has won four statewide races here and has embraced the president as he’s run for reelection.
“This is Trump country now. He will win this state,” said Michael McDonald, the Nevada GOP chairman. “If you look at the success he’s had over 18 months, and I say that with all due respect to the former vice president, there’s no one on that side of the aisle that can compete with President Trump.”
Democrats, obviously, disagree, and look at Nevada as central to their path to defeating Trump in two years. In this midterm year, Democrats are investing significantly in Latino turnout in Nevada in an effort not only to oust Heller, but to capitalize on the state’s changing demographics to close off any opening Trump might have.
“I think Nevadans here are going to pick anybody over Trump,” said Megan Jones, a Democratic strategist in Nevada. “And I think that in ’20 they will be loaded up for bear no matter who the nominee is.”
With such a large potential slate of candidates, no favorites have emerged yet. Margy Feldman, a retired woman from Henderson, Nevada who has been volunteering for Rosen, said before the rally began that she loves Biden, but is worried about his age. She said she was hoping for someone “younger, that has super high energy” and someone who isn’t a “household name.”
But immediately after Biden spoke, Feldman returned to amend her view: “I’m going to go vote for Joe Biden,” she said. “I’m so excited.”
The massive 15-foot alligator first made a name for himself when he casually strolled through Buffalo Creek Golf Course in Palmetto, Florida in 2016. In a viral video, Chubbs ambles through the green fields, unbothered by the audibly freaked out course patrons.
He was spotted roaming the green again this year. In a video posted to Facebook on Saturday, Chubbs appears to be just as unbothered as the last time he was spotted. Somehow looking even chubbier, the absolute unit of a beast trudged through the field until he found a comfortable patch of grass for a midday sploot.
Hey, Chubbs just needed a nap. We’ve all been there.
Ken Powell, the course’s general manager, says Chubbs is “not a nuisance.”
“He doesn’t hurt anybody,” Powell told Fox 13 in 2016 after Chubbs was originally seen surveying his kingdom. “He’s got a giant reservoir to go to.”
The gargantuan reptile likes to quietly take walks in the sun. According to the Bradenton Herald, Chubbs is “arguably a local celebrity.”
That doesn’t mean he’s friendly, though — Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recommends against feeding him.
The Super Bowl is the biggest night of the year for two things: Pro football and very expensive commercials. Amy Schumer has decided to use one to influence the other.
Her concern stems from ongoing protest actions in which certain players kneel, raises fists, or stand together united during pre-game National Anthem performances. They’re doing it to take a stand against police brutality and racial inequality in America — sticking to the message of exiled NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Schumer isn’t involved in football, but she does acknowledge that there’s one place she can push back: Super Bowl ads. She’s not doing them this year. She also urges Maroon 5 — the next Super Bowl’s halftime band — to drop out.
It should be noted here that Schumer’s post is in many way a response to a report that Rihanna had been offered the headlining halftime show gig, but she said no because she supports Kaepernick.
Schumer acknowledges that her own act of protest isn’t exactly going to turn things around on its own. After noting that she’s already told her team to turn down any Super Bowl commercial offers, she accepts that her words “must sound like a privilege ass sacrifice.” Then she adds, “but it’s all I got.”
Pricey Super Bowl advertisements — they cost multiple millions for just 30 seconds of airtime — have long been positioned as another valid reason to watch pro football’s post-season championship game. Brands pull out all the stops for these ads, which are often the subject of round-ups and critiques the next day.
Some of Schumer’s critics have pointed out that, as far as anyone knows, she wasn’t booked for any Super Bowl ads. So, they contend, this whole thing is just a play for attention. It doesn’t change anything.
Those people are missing the point. Schumer seems to be hoping that, by following Rihanna’s (reported) lead, she’ll encourage others to make a similar decision of saying no up front, before an offer surfaces. She openly exhorts Maroon 5 to bow out of the halftime show, and there’s a strong suggestion that other concerned celebrity-types might want to follow Schumer’s lead.
She’s not wrong about the advertising. Ad dollars mean a lot to any pro sports league, and the Super Bowl — historically ground zero for preposterously pricey commercials — is the NFL’s biggest night. Celebrity involvement often plays a big role in that regard, so convincing other big names to steer clear is its own form of protest.
The NFL continues to engage with the player protest side of the issue by not engaging at all. There was a brief period before the current season started when the league weighed a ban on all public forms of protest in connection to weekly games. That wasn’t received so well, and the league ultimately stepped back from its decision.
Still, some interests inside the league have imposed anti-protest rules at the club level. The most public of those is Jerry Jones, the deeply conservative Dallas Cowboys owner. He’s made it clear to the team — by his own admission — that players who ignore the team’s rule requiring everyone to be present and stand for the National Anthem are at risk of being cut.
Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict has been fined $112,000 for unnecessary roughness on multiple plays during a clash against the Pittsburgh Steelers inWeek 6, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The plays in question involved hits on receiver Antonio Brown and running back James Conner.
Burfict, of course, has along track recordof questionable actions on the football field. He has been fined and suspended on multiple occasions throughout his seven-year career, as NFL Network’s MarcSesslerpointed out earlier this year:
Marc Sessler @MarcSesslerNFL
Along with multiple suspensions, Burfict has been forced to pay thousands out of pocket for a flurry of hits on defenseless players, flipping the middle finger to fans, ankle twisting, spearing & striking a player in groin. A real gem! https://t.co/xmdH4rOFgm
Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams noted the troubled linebacker has lost more than $4 million in his career as a result.
Last week’s game against Pittsburgh was justBurfict’s second appearance of the season. He wassuspendedfor the first four games of the regular season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have been involved in a physical rivalry through the years, withBurficttypically right in the middle of things. Week 6 marked the first time the two teams met on the field since Steelers receiverJuJuSmith-Schuster concussedBurfictwith acrackbackblock last year. Smith-Schuster received a one-game suspension.
It was a fairly tame game, by their standards at least. However,Burfictonce again found himself at the center of controversy following some questionable hits.
Smith-Schuster told reporters after the Steelers’ 28-21 victory that the Bengals defense made “major threats” in his direction, perDKPittsburghSports.com’s DejanKovacevic:
Dejan Kovacevic @Dejan_Kovacevic
Priceless JuJu on how the Bengals treated him on the field: #DKPS #Steelers https://t.co/T02zxQc9XP
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger also accused Burfict of threatening Smith-Schuster.
“He hits AB, then, literally, as I am under center for the next play, he points atJuJuand says, ‘You’re next,’” Roethlisberger said, according to thePittsburgh Post-Gazette‘sRon Cook. “How do you allow that stuff?”
NFL Network’sMikeGarafoloposted video footage of the alleged incident, but it’s unclear what the Bengals linebacker was saying, as there is no audio.
Despite a number of plays being subject to review by the NFL,Burfictmanaged to escape a suspension but will see his bank account take a hit. He will be available to play in Sunday night’s showdown against the 5-1 Kansas City Chiefs.
The Bengals and Steelers don’t meet again until the regular-season finale on Dec. 30 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. If the game holds playoff implications, the league will likely once again be on high alert.
Trump made the announcement following a campaign stop in Elko, Nevada [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]
The United States is going to unilaterally withdraw from a decades-old treaty with Russia that bans a wide array of nuclear weapons, US President Donald Trump has said.
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed in 1987 by then-US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General-Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in Washington.
It banned nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges of 500 to 1,000km, as well as their launchers.
The two countries have long accused one another of violating the terms of the landmark treaty.
“Russia has not adhered to the agreement,” Trump told reporters in Elko, Nevada, without giving any further details.
“We’re going to terminate the treaty and we’re going to pull out,” he added.
When asked what that meant practically, he said” “We’ll have to develop those weapons.”
Trump made the comments as his National Security Adviser John Bolton was in Moscow to meet with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, ahead of what is expected to be a second summit between Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, later this year.