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What to play: ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ will keep gamers busy during August

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

It’s the beginning of August and gamers are going to be a lot busier starting this week. That’s because Larian Studios has dropped its highly anticipated role-playing game “Baldur’s Gate 3.” Based on the 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons rule set and sporting gameplay from Larian’s earlier work on the “Divinity: Original Sin” series, this sequel and revamp of the franchise is shaping up to be a potential game of the year contender.With a dozen classes, 46 subclasses and 11 races, players will have a field day creating just the right character to explore the Forgotten Realms. What makes Larian’s games so uniquely suited to D&D is that it takes BioWare’s adapting the rule set to computers and expands it even further into storytelling with player choices and decisions impacted by abilities and skills. The game forces you to role dice to see if an action works out for you.The game is also flexible in the way it offers play...

Antioch woman released from jail in plea deal for killing allegedly abusive boyfriend in Oakland

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

OAKLAND — An Antioch woman who was 18 when she shot and killed her allegedly abusive boyfriend during a heated argument in their car has been sentenced to time in jail she has already served, clearing the way for her release from custody, court records show.Lalique Westbrook, 22, pleaded no contest to assault with a firearm in May and last month was formally sentenced to time in jail she already served, court records show. In exchange for her no contest plea, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office dismissed murder charges against Westbrook, who has been in custody since March 26, 2019, the day she shot and killed Taiwan Lamar Moore, 24, of Oakland.The case drew wildly different theories from prosecutors and the defense, with a the defense arguing that Westbrook lawfully shot her abuser in self-defense, and a deputy district attorney casting doubt on that story’s validity. A judge in Westbrook’s 2021 preliminary hearing said it was possible a jury would...

Death of Cash App founder Bob Lee 'still stings,' ex-wife says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Bob Lee's ex-wife sat in the front row of a San Francisco courtroom and listened to 12 hours of testimony. "It still stings," Krista Lee told KRON4 Tuesday during a brief break from a preliminary hearing. She put on a strong face while police officers testified on the stand about grisly details, including how the Cash App founder was stabbed in the heart, staggered along Main Street bleeding at 2:30 a.m. April 4, and tried in vain to find help.Krista Lee told reporters, "Unfortunately I think he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. We will find out more as (the case) progresses. I certainly hope that someday we all get a motive. Will we ever? I don't know. Does the family deserve that? His children certainly do."Homicide victim Bob LeeBob Lee, 43, was a star in the Bay Area tech industry and the CEO of MobileCoin when his life came to a sudden and tragic end.His accused killer, Nima Momeni, attentively watched surveillance videos played ...

The buzz around Simone Biles’ return is papable. The gymnastics star seems intent on tuning it out

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL (AP) — Ignore the wedding band and it could have been 2019 for Simone Biles. Or 2016. Or 2014.Long before Tokyo. Long before the “twisties.” Long before two years off in which the gymnastics star took a step back, took a long look at the arc of her record-setting career and decided she wasn’t done. Not quite yet.There she was walking onto the floor at NOW Arena on Friday on the eve of the U.S. Classic, her first meet since winning bronze on balance beam at the delayed 2020 Olympics, a medal she called among the sweetest she’s ever earned.There she was laughing with her teammates. There she was running and stretching and flipping — and yes, occasionally twisting — with the casual ease she summoned so regularly when the seven-time Olympic medalist was at her peak.Those heady days may be over. Biles is 26 now and at a different place in her life. She married Green Bay Packers defensive back Jonathan Owens in April. Her Instagram feed is filled with...

College sports realignment, always chaotic, gets another spin as Pac-12 dwindles

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

College sports in the U.S. has seen scores of schools change conference affiliation over the past century, but the pace has quickened over the past three decades. It is no longer a surprise to see storied programs leave their longtime conference home in search of more stability and more revenue in the college athletics arms race. A look at football membership in the Power Five and the Group of Five, largely dating to the launch of the Big 12 in 1996:ACC1996 (9): Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Virginia.2023 (14): Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake ForestBIG TEN1996 (11): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin.2023 (14): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, N...

Top-seeded Pegula beats Svitolina in 3 sets to reach the DC Open quarterfinals

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top-seeded Jessica Pegula reached the DC Open semifinals by coming back to edge Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 across more than two hours on Friday.Pegula saved six break points in the third set — five at 3-2, and the last while serving out the victory in the final game.Svitolina, who returned to the tour in April after having a baby in October, was coming off a semifinal run last month at Wimbledon, where she eliminated No. 1 Iga Swiatek.Pegula is a 29-year-old American who won the hard-court tournament in the nation’s capital in 2019 for one of her two WTA singles titles and claimed the doubles trophy in Washington last year. The six-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist will face No. 4 seed Maria Sakkari or No. 7 seed Madison Keys in the semifinals.Sakkari advanced to the quarterfinals by winning her rain-postponed fourth-round match against 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez 7-5, 6-2 earlier Friday.The other women’s quarterfinals: Coco Gauff vs. Bel...

Big Ten presidents’ council votes to admit Oregon and Washington in August 2024, a crushing blow to Pac-12 Conference

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Big Ten presidents’ council votes to admit Oregon and Washington in August 2024, a crushing blow to Pac-12 Conference.Source

Wolff responds with his clubs for a 61 to lead LIV Golf at Greenbrier

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — Matthew Wolff finally put some attention on his golf game Friday when he got off to a torrid start and then had three late birdies for a 9-under 61, giving him a two-shot lead after the opening round of LIV Golf Greenbrier.David Puig and Harold Varner III each had a 63 on the Old White course, which previously had a nine-year run hosting a PGA Tour event.Wolff was criticized last month by his Smash captain, Brooks Koepka, who accused him in a Sports Illustrated interview of quitting during rounds and not putting in the effort. Koepka referred to Wolff as “talent wasted.” Wolff issued a statement saying he is making progress on his mental health issues and that it was heartbreaking to hear his team captain use the media to say he had given up on Wolff.The former Oklahoma State star had no issues on the golf course. He was 6-under par through his opening seven holes, including an eagle on the par-5 12th. And then Wolff closed with three birdies over...

What does research say about minimum age gun laws?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Studies suggest Colorado's recent minimum age requirement may not have a big impact on homicides. Colorado's new minimum age requirement for handgun purchases will begin on Aug. 7. The new law raises the legal age to purchase a handgun from 18 to 21. Signed by Gov. Jared Polis in April, the law brings Colorado in line with 21 other states. Existing federal law required the same minimum age for handgun purchases, but a federal judge in Virginia ruled the law unconstitutional in May. The Rocky Mountain Gun Owners have challenged the Colorado law. Homeless camp cleared out, but where will they go now? Lawmakers aim to stop gun violence in the 18 to 20-year-old age group with the new law. The hope is fewer 18 to 20-year-olds will commit violent gun crimes if they are barred from legal purchases. Studies from the University of Washington and RAND Corporation, though, say states with minimum age handgun possession laws don't see a significant drop in gun violence amon...

Bodycam video shows police apprehending suspected truck thief who crashed into Miami home

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

Never-before-seen police body camera video shows a new view of a suspected thief who was trapped inside a stolen moving truck that crashed into a home in Miami.The footage captured a chaotic scene in the aftermath of the Feb. 14 crash along the 600 block of Northwest 18th Avenue.“The victims are on the scene, and the offender is still in the truck, and we’re working on getting him out,” a first responder is heard saying in radio transmissions.“What happened?” a witness is heard asking in Spanish.“Only two patients!” a paramedic is heard saying.According to City of Miami Police, the wounded man seen in the video looking disoriented and trapped inside the truck had just stolen it from a business down the street.Seconds later, investigators said, the suspect lost control and plowed into a home with a mother and baby inside. Fortunately, neither were hurt.First responders also kept an eye on the unsafe structure that was the home along Northwest...