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With prime-time matchup vs. Buffalo looming, Broncos paint Bills’ logo on practice field, play MNF theme song

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:03 GMT

Head coach Sean Payton is willing to do whatever it takes to get the Broncos in the right mindset ahead of their Monday Night Football matchup against the Buffalo Bills.It started when he had the field crew paint the Bills’ logo at the 50-yard line of both practice fields. On Saturday afternoon, the Monday Night Football theme blasted through the speakers while players were stretching.“If I could put us 50 feet below sea level, I’ll do it,” Payton said. “Every detail matters.”Payton’s methods might seem different, but this is how he gets in the zone. He said he did it all the time in New Orleans, but this was the first time the opponents’ logo was on Denver’s practice field. Payton admitted that it had slipped his mind in previous weeks.From burning candles while watching film in his office to wanting to know how high the sun sits in the sky on game day, Payton has a litany of unique coaching tactics.He expects to play the Sunday Night Football theme song at practice next week...

Local teacher seeking answers after son’s abrupt disappearance 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:03 GMT

A local teacher is fearing for her son’s safety and pleading for answers after he disappeared without a trace nearly three weeks ago. Evan Ochoa, 23, who suffers from severe schizophrenia, was last seen on Oct. 22 at his home in Oxnard.  According to family members, he left abruptly and without any access to money, taking only a skateboard and a backpack with him. After experiencing periods of homelessness and checking into a drug rehabilitation facility, Evan began to develop “peculiar tendencies,” which included repeating bizarre phrases, talking to himself, and explaining “outlandish” ideas he had, according to his mother, Valarie Ulrich. Evan eventually landed in jail in 2020 for threatening a former friend’s father, Ulrich told KTLA. “He spent the next year in jail as the courts tried to get him sane enough to stand trial,” she said. “COVID issues didn’t help. The court was trying to send him to a state hospital for help with his obvious mental health issue,...

Kern Valley State Prison inmate death being investigated as homicide: CDCR

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:03 GMT

Officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation are investigating the death of an inmate at Kern Valley State Prison as a homicide, the department announced Saturday.According to a CDCR release, two prisoners allegedly attacked another prisoner, identified as 41-year-old Isaac Duran, with an inmate-manufactured weapon at 2:55 p.m. on Oct. 14. Duran sustained multiple stab wounds and was transported to an outside medical center for a higher level of care. He eventually succumbed to his wounds on Nov. 9 while under the care of staff at Kern Medical Center, CDCR said.Duran, who was received from Tulare County on April 17, 2003, had been serving life with the possibility of parole for two counts of first degree attempted murder with enhancement of intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and street gang activity.Isaac Duran as seen in a booking photo. (CDCR)While incarcerated, Duran was sentenced in ...

Chuck E. Cheese is getting rid of its animatronic band, except here

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:03 GMT

Chuck E. Cheese has announced that it will be removing its iconic animatronic bands from all locations, except for one in Los Angeles.That one restaurant -- located in Northridge -- is where Munch's Make Believe Band will be taking up a "permanent residency," according to an official Chuck E. Cheese release.  Classes on celebrities like Taylor Swift and Rick Ross are engaging a new generation of law students A re-opening party was held at the Northridge Chuck E. Cheese on Friday evening, where participants were able to win exclusive prizes and enjoy a special appearance by Atari, Inc. and Chuck E. Cheese founder Nolan Bushnell. While they charmed and entertained kids for decades, the animatronics have apparently run their course as the “Pizza Time Theatre” will give way to new, high-tech features at restaurants across the nation.“New enhancements include a new state-of-the-art dance floor, a giant video wall and screens, the most popular kid-focused arcade games and new ...

McKenzie’s 3rd TD run lifts Rhode Island past North Carolina A&T, 31-24

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:03 GMT

KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) — Ja’Den McKenzie rushed for 233 yards and powered in from 4 yards out for his third touchdown with just under three minutes left to give Rhode Island a 31-24 win over North Carolina A&T on Saturday.Rhode Island held a 24-10 lead through three quarters, but the Aggies rallied with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to tie the game with 6:15 left. The Rams grabbed the early lead when Kasim Hill connected with Kahtero Summers for a 34-yard touchdown to open the game. NC A&T answered with Eli Brickhandler’s 7-yard TD pass to Amonte Jones and an Owen Daffer 28-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead with 14:16 left in the first half. McKenzie scored his first touchdown on a 39-yard run to put the Rams back in front and they held a 17-10 lead at intermission. McKenzie broke free from 30-yards out with 38 seconds left in the third quarter to put Rhode Island up 24-10, but the Aggies answered with a 1-yard TD run by Kenji Christian and a 14-yard scoring dash by B...

Joey Aguilar passes for 3 TDs in Appalachian State’s 42-14 victory over Georgia State

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:03 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Joey Aguilar passed for 255 yards and three touchdowns, Makai Jackson and Dalton Stroman each had 90-plus yards receiving with a touchdown, and Appalachian State beat Georgia State 42-14 on Saturday.Appalachian State (6-4, 4-2 Sun Belt) has won three straight games to become bowl eligible. App State led 21-0 at halftime, sealed by Trenton Alan Yowe’s interception in the end zone with 1:17 left. The Mountaineers scored on the first play of the second half when Aguilar connected with Dalton Stroman from 77-yards out for the team’s longest pass play of the season.Nate Noel and Kanye Roberts each rushed for 75-plus yards and a touchdown for Appalachian State. Noel opened the scoring with a 61-yard touchdown. Roberts followed a 26-yard gain with a 20-yard score to extend the lead to 42-7. Anderson Castle, after missing the first eight games recovering from injury, powered into the end zone for a 9-yard score to make it 35-0. Marcus Carroll rushed for 113 yards ...

Peevy scores 3 times, Mercer holds off Samford 28-21

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:03 GMT

MACON, Ga. (AP) — Carter Peevy rushed for three touchdowns and Mercer held off Samford 28-21 on Saturday.Peevy, who threw for 137 yards and rushed for 45, scored after long drives on runs 5, 6 and 1 yards, the final score coming with 8:11 remaining for a 28-14 lead. Devron Harper had the other Mercer (8-3, 6-2 Southern) touchdown on a 23-yard run. The four scoring drives ranged from 75 to 90 yards.Cody Jantzen threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Rias with 4:35 remaining to get the Bulldogs (5-5, 4-4) within seven and the Bears went three-and-out. But Lance Wise intercepted Jantzen two plays later.Samford got one last chance with 33 seconds left but ran out of time with Jantzen sacked on the final play at the Bulldogs 31.Samford led 7-6 at halftime with Mercer taking a 21-14 lead after three quarters.Jantzen threw for 210 yards and two scores along with the interception.Mercer had five sacks, two from Solomon Zubairu.___ Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the seaso...

Jordan Pachot throws 4 TD passes to lead Missouri State to 35-16 win over Northern Iowa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:03 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Jordan Pachot threw four touchdown passes and Missouri State beat Northern Iowa 35-16 on Saturday. Pachot was 27-of-35 passing for 326 yards. He threw for three scores in the first half to give Missouri State (4-6, 3-4 Missouri Valley Football Conference) a 21-3 lead at the break. His fourth TD pass, and second to Raylen Sharpe, stretched the Bears’ lead to 28-9 with 12:56 remaining. Sharpe finished with 11 catches for 160 yards. Northern Iowa (6-4, 5-2), ranked 20th in the FCS coaches poll, drops to third in the conference and out of the title race with league-leader South Dakota State (10-0, 7-0) and South Dakota (8-2, 6-1) each winning on Saturday. The Panthers conclude their regular season at home against North Dakota State next Saturday. Theo Day completed 14 of 35 passes for 182 yards and with a touchdown and two interceptions for Northern Iowa. ___Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here___AP college football: h...

Baron Browning’s return has jolted the Denver Broncos defense heading into season’s second half

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:03 GMT

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Justin Simmons noted how strange it will be to root against Von Miller for the first time when the Denver Broncos face their former captain Monday night in Buffalo.“He’s a 1-of-1, generational type player,” Simmons said of the Super Bowl 50 MVP, who won another ring with the Rams after a midseason trade three years ago before Miller signed with the Bills in 2022. Simmons, though, saved some of his profusive praise for one of Denver’s current pass rushers, Baron Browning, a third-year pro from Ohio State who has transitioned from inside to outside linebacker. Browning missed the first two months of the season while recovering from knee surgery and a wrist injury. He returned against Green Bay on Oct. 22, but he was on a snap count before defensive coordinator Vance Joseph unleashed him on the Kansas City Chiefs a week later.Browning harassed Patrick Mahomes for a pair of sacks, including a strip sack that extinguished a promising drive and three qu...

Pope Francis removes a leading US conservative critic as bishop of Tyler, Texas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:03 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Saturday ordered the removal of the bishop of Tyler, Texas, a conservative prelate active on social media who has been a fierce critic of the pontiff and has come to symbolize the polarization within the U.S. Catholic hierarchy.A one-line statement from the Vatican said Francis had “relieved” Bishop Joseph Strickland of the pastoral governance of Tyler and appointed the bishop of Austin as the temporary administrator. Strickland, 65, has emerged as a leading critic of Francis, accusing him in a tweet earlier this year of “undermining the deposit of faith.” He has been particularly critical of Francis’ recent meeting on the future of the Catholic Church during which hot-button issues were discussed, including ways to better welcome LGBTQ+ Catholics.Earlier this year, the Vatican sent in investigators to look into his governance of the diocese, amid reports that priests and laypeople in Tyler had complained and that he was making unorthodox claims. The Vati...