Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered diplomatic correspondences to cease the use of Calibri font and revert to Times New Roman, attributing the previous change by the Biden Administration to misguided diversity initiatives. What do you think?The people of Calibria wont be happy with this.Rosemary Stern, Truffle GarnisherAnd after all that time I spent learning how to read in Calibri.Danny Bodjanac, Timpani TunerWhile were at it, I dont like Garamond. Its condescending.Alberto Esposito, Essay ReviewerThe post State Department Reinstates Times New Roman Font Over DEI Concerns appeared first on The Onion.

TORONTOAccusing the HBO drama of egregiously misrepresenting their experiences off the ice, the National Hockey League Players Association blasted Heated Rivalry Friday for what it described as incredibly unrealistic depictions of anal sex between players. The shows portrayals of hockey players having sex with each other are wildly misinformed, and we are disappointed by the producers utter failure to accurately represent what we do to each other behind locker room doors on a daily basis, read a statement cosigned by each of the NHLPAs more than 750 active players, adding that the series glitzy, overwrought lovemaking scenes miss the mark on even the most basic details regarding the day-in, day-out sexual encounters that define their lives between games. Yes, its true that we as professional hockey players spend the majority of our free time cramming our cocks into each others hot, hungry assholesthe show gets that right. But beyond that, every instance of anal sex you see on screen is pure fiction. Its clear they didnt bother consulting any actual hockey players, as the butt-fucking on the show could not be further from what really occurs. The statement went on to say that while the shows anal sex scenes are ludicrous, its depictions of oral sex between hockey players are pretty much spot-on.The post Hockey Players Blast Heated Rivalry For Unrealistic Depiction Of Anal Sex appeared first on The Onion.

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Attendees stand during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)2025-12-19T05:44:43Z PHOENIX (AP) Camdyn Glover used to be a quiet conservative. She worried what her teachers would think or if she would lose friends over her convictions. But she said something changed when Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September, and she started crying in her classroom at Indiana University while other students cheered and clapped.We cant be silenced, Glover decided.Now shes visiting Phoenix with her parents and brothers for this years Turning Point USA conference, the first to take place since Kirks death. Although the organization became a political phenomenon with its masculine appeals to college men, its also been expanding outreach to young women like Glover. The shift is poised to accelerate now that Turning Point is led by Erika Kirk, Charlies widow, who has embraced her new role at the helm of a conservative juggernaut with chapters across the country. If successful, the organization that helped return President Donald Trump to the White House could narrow a gender divide that has been a persistent challenge for Republicans. Turning Point offers a blend of traditional values, such as encouraging women to prioritize marriage over careers, and health trends pushed by online influencers. Glover, 18, said discovering Turning Point in high school gave her an appreciation for dialogue when she felt like an outcast for her beliefs, such as being anti-abortion. At her first conference, she feels like shes found a political and cultural home for herself. They want to promote a strong independent woman who does hold these values and can go stand up for herself, she said. But its also OK to do it in heels, put some makeup on, wear a dress. If Erika can do it, I can do itOne of Glovers classmates, Stella Ross, said she stumbled upon Charlie Kirk on TikTok in the months before the last presidential election.She already felt like her perspectives were being treated differently on campus and thought she was receiving unfairly low grades in her political science classes. A devout Catholic, Ross said she was inspired by how Charlie Kirk wasnt afraid to weave his evangelical faith into his political arguments. She also noticed how many women posted comments of appreciation on Erika Kirks videos, and she joined Indiana Universitys Turning Point chapter in the same month that Trump won his comeback campaign.I was like, wow, if Erika can do it, I can do it, Ross said. Ross has career aspirations of her own she interns with Indianas Republican Party and aspires to be a press secretary for a governor or president. But she hopes to have flexibility in her job to be fully present with her children and believes that a traditional nuclear structure man, woman and their children is Gods plan.When she thinks of Erika Kirk, its really cool to see that she can live out that balance and it makes me feel like that could be a more realistic future for me because Im seeing it firsthand. A new messenger Erika Kirk often appeared alongside with her husband at Turning Point events. A former beauty pageant winner who has worked as a model, actress and casting director, she also founded a Christian clothing line and a ministry that teaches about the Bible.In a recent interview with The New York Times, she said she had fully bought into boss babe culture before Charlie showed her a healthier perspective on life. Now she leads the multimillion-dollar organization, which she said at a memorial for her husband would be made 10 times greater through the power of his memory.The political gap between young men and women has been growing for years, according to a recent Gallup analysis. Not only have women under 30 become more likely to identify as ideologically liberal, theyve also embraced liberal views on issues such as abortion, the environment and gun laws.The schism was clearly apparent in the last presidential election, where 57% of male voters under 30 supported Trump, compared to only 41% of women under 30, according to AP VoteCast. Turning Point has been working to change that, hosting events like the Young Womens Leadership Summit and urging attendees to embrace traditional family values and gender roles. Charlie Kirk said earlier this year that if a young womans priority is to find a husband, she should go to college for a MRS degree. Matthew Boedy, a professor of rhetoric at University of North Georgia, said Erika Kirk could be a more effective messenger because she was focused on her career before meeting her husband.I do think her story resonates more because she tried it out and can tell them it is not for them, he said.Some conservative women are turned off by this approach. Raquel Debono, an influencer who lives in New York City, described the event as a Stepford wives conference, featuring women in pink floral dresses.She said Turning Points emphasis on being traditional wives leaves out a lot of women who work, she said, and I think theyre going to lose all those voters, honestly, in the next election cycle if they keep it up.Debono founded her own organization, Make America Hot Again, where she throws parties intended to make voters feel welcomed into the conservative movement and allow them to get to know people who share their politics. Big time growth for some chapters Aubree Hudson had been president of Turning Points chapter at Brigham Young University for only two weeks when she visited nearby Utah Valley University for an event with Charlie Kirk.She said she was standing only about six feet away when he was fatally shot. She ran to find her husband, who was at the back of the crowd, and they fled to her car. Hudson, 22, is from a rural farm town in southwestern Colorado. Her conservative convictions are rooted in her familys faith and patriotism. A copy of the U.S. Constitution hangs in her parents home, and her father taught her to value God, family and country, in that order. Her mother stayed at home, telling her children that you guys are my career.Since Kirks assassination, Hudson said the number of people particularly women getting involved with the organization jumped big time. Emma Paskett, 18, is one of them. She was planning to attend the Utah Valley University event after one of her classes, but Kirk was shot before she made it there.Although she wasnt very familiar with Turning Point before that point, Paskett said she started watching videos of Kirk later that night.Paskett considers Erika Kirk to be a one in a million role model, and her role as a leader was a driving factor in signing up. Thats exactly what I want to be like, she said._____ Associated Press writer Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux contributed to this report from Washington. SEJAL GOVINDARAO Govindarao covers Arizona government and politics for The Associated Press, with a focus on women in state government. She is based in Phoenix. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

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A man holds his immigration paperwork while handcuffed after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outside an immigration courtroom, June 17, 2025, at the Jacob K. Javits federal building in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova, File)2025-12-19T17:16:57Z MIAMI (AP) A U.S. Army Reserve lawyer detailed as a federal immigration judge has been fired barely a month into the job after granting asylum at a high rate out of step with the Trump administrations mass deportation goals, The Associated Press has learned.Christopher Day began hearing cases in late October as a temporary judge at the immigration court in Annandale, Virginia. He was fired around Dec. 2, the National Association of Immigration Judges confirmed.Its unclear why Day was fired. Day did not comment when contacted by the AP, and a Justice Department spokeswoman declined to discuss personnel matters. But federal data from November shows he ruled on asylum cases in ways at odds with the Trump administrations stated goals.Of the 11 cases he concluded in November, he granted asylum or some other type of relief allowing the migrant to remain in the United States a total of six times, according to federal data analyzed by Mobile Pathways, a San Francisco-based non profit. Such favorable outcomes for migrants have become increasingly rare as the Trump administration seeks to slash a massive backlog of 3.8 million asylum cases by radically overhauling the nations 75 immigration courts. As part of that drive, the Trump administration has fired almost 100 judges viewed as too liberal and over the summer eased rules allowing any attorney, regardless of their legal background, to apply to become what recent recruitment ads refer to as a Deportation Judge. In response, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in September approved sending up to 600 military lawyers to hear asylum cases. The goal, migrant advocacy groups say, is to redefine a judges traditional duties as a fair, independent arbiter of asylum claims into something akin to a rubber stamp in a robe for the White Houses mass deportation goals.The American Immigration Lawyers Association has decried the influx of military officers lacking expertise in immigration law, likening them to cardiologists attempting to do a hip replacement. But Pentagon and White House officials have defended the move, saying that a campaign to rule on pending asylum claims was something that all federal workers as well as migrants sometimes in limbo for years should rally behind. So far, only 30 members of the military have been detailed to the immigration courts and for the most part appear to have lived up to the administrations expectations. Nine out of every 10 migrants whose asylum cases were heard by such judges in November were either ordered removed or requested to self-deport, according to federal data. Overall, the military judges ordered removal 78% of the time compared to 63% for all other judges.But those like Day, whose rulings countered that trend, are especially vulnerable if it is determined they violated their military duties, said Dana Leigh Marks, a retired immigration judge.It is hard to imagine someone being fired so quickly, after five weeks on the bench, unless it was for ideological reasons, said Marks, the former head of the National Association of Immigration Judges. Its especially unfair to military judges because they dont have the same civil service protections and could face severe consequences for failing in their assignment. The Uniform Command of Military Justice, which governs service members, forbids senior military leaders from interfering or retaliating against military attorneys for their actions in a military tribunal. Army regulations also require JAG attorneys to proceed with candor and honesty much like all licensed lawyers are expected to do in civil courts.But whether those standards apply to military lawyers working outside of the normal confines of a military tribunal is untested.Brenner Fissell, a Villanova University law professor, said that there are a number of personnel actions that can be taken letters of counseling or reprimand that, even if found to be baseless later, would affect ones potential for promotion and impact their discharge. Appealing such decisions, he said, is a byzantine process that can take years and require hiring a costly lawyer. The process can be the punishment, said Fissell, who helps run the Orders Project, which helps provide counsel to military personnel who believe they are being asked to carry out illegal orders.A graduate of American University law school, Day has held multiple jobs in the federal government over the past two decades while simultaneously serving as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves Judge Advocate Generals Corps. His last job was as an attorney for the Federal Communications Commission during the Biden administration.Unlike federal judges, who have lifetime tenure, immigration judges are employees of the Justice Department, which runs immigration courts, and can be fired by the attorney general with fewer restraints. That message was driven home during a two-week training course in October held for new judges, including those assigned by the Pentagon, according to someone who attended the training on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private sessions.The Pentagon has offered extra incentives to military officers signing up for temporary detail on immigration courts. Those volunteering were promised their choice of assignments, according to an email sent by the JAG Corps leadership in the fall, a copy of which was shared with the AP. But if enough officers didnt come forward, officers might be required to relocate up to six months away from home to fulfill the mandate, according to the email.Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed to this report. JOSHUA GOODMAN Goodman is a Miami-based investigative reporter who writes about the intersection of crime, corruption, drug trafficking and politics in Latin America. He previously spent two decades reporting from South America. twitter mailto

Nature, Published online: 19 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04108-yThe US administration is banking on public-private partnerships and an expanded workforce to deliver progress, but critics say that this strategy could be offset by other US policies.

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This image provided by Providence Police Dept. shows surveillance images of Claudio Neves Valente, a suspect in the mass shooting at Brown University. (Providence Police Dept. via AP)2025-12-19T18:26:20Z PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) The man suspected in a mass shooting at Brown University and the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor was in the same academic program as the professor in Portugal before attending Brown on a student visa.Claudio Neves Valente was once a promising high school physics student but was let go from Portugals premier engineering school, Instituto Superior Tcnico, in 2000 and withdrew from a Brown University graduate program three years later without a degree.On Thursday, Neves Valente, who immigrated to the U.S. from Portugal, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a New Hampshire storage facility, said Col. Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief.Investigators believe the 48-year-old is responsible for fatally shooting two students and wounding nine other people in a Brown lecture hall on Dec. 13, wearing the kinds of pants and shoes that one witness said are typical of restaurant workers. Investigators believe that two days later, he killed former classmate Nuno F.G. Loureiro at his home in the Boston suburbs, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Providence. Authorities have offered no motive, but what is clear is that life hadnt gone the way that Neves Valente envisioned. Neves Valente was born in Torres Novas, Portugal, about 75 miles (121 kilometers) north of Lisbon. As a high school student, he competed in a national physics competition in 1994, coming in third place, according to a Portuguese physics magazine. Five of the top finishers got to compete in an international competition the following year in Australia. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on From 1995 to 2000, he was in the same physics program in Lisbon with Loureiro, federal prosecutor Leah B. Foley said. Loureiro graduated from Instituto Superior Tcnico in 2000, according to his MIT faculty page. A termination notice from the Lisbon universitys then president, shows that Neves Valente was let go from a position at Instituto Superior Tcnico that same year. Neves Valente came to Brown that fall as a graduate student on a student visa. Brown University President Christina Paxson said he took a leave in 2001 and formally withdrew effective July 31, 2003. During his time at Brown, he enrolled only in physics classes. Paxson said it is likely that he would have taken courses and spent time at the building where this months shooting took place because thats where the vast majority of physics courses take place. However, detailed records indicating where classes were held dont extend back to 2001.Paxson said Brown found no indication of any public safety interactions or other concerns while Neves Valente was a student. As of yet, we have not identified any employee who recalls Neves Valente nor is there any Brown record of recent contact between this individual and Brown, Paxson said.After leaving Brown, he eventually obtained legal permanent residence status in September 2017, Foley said. It was not immediately clear where he was between taking a leave of absence from the school in 2001 and getting the visa in 2017. His last known address was about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Miami. The yellow house with a red roof is in a working-class neighborhood that features large houses, mostly with fenced backyards and basements. Some neighbors who talked with The Associated Press on Friday said they had never seen Neves Valente. No police were in sight.Edward Pol, a race car mechanic who lives across the street from the home, said the owner rents some rooms to people. He said he never talked to Neves Valente but had seen him several times, most recently two or three months ago. He said the Portuguese man was always busy, standing outside and on phone calls. He realized the man was the suspect when he saw his pictures on the news Friday morning.A man who answered the door through an intercom at the home said he was the homeowner but declined to identify himself or make any comment.While Neves Valentes life remained a mystery, Loureiro, the slain MIT physicist and fusion scientist, was excelling. Loureiro joined MIT in 2016 and was named last year to lead the schools Plasma Science and Fusion Center, one of its largest laboratories. The 47-year-old scientist from Viseu, Portugal, had been working to explain the physics behind astronomical phenomena such as solar flares. Portugals top diplomat said Friday that the government was taken aback by revelations that a Portuguese man is the main suspect. Police in Portugal said they were contacted by U.S. authorities Thursday.There are still a lot of unknowns in regard to motive, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said. We dont know why now, why Brown, why these students and why this classroom, he said.___Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas. Associated Press journalists Barry Hatton and Helena Alves in Portugal, Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu, Hallie Golden in Seattle and Matt OBrien in Providence contributed. HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Hollingsworth has worked for The AP for 25 years, covering stories of interest in the Midwest and beyond. She is based in Kansas City, Missouri. twitter mailto

This undated redacted photo released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, shows Jeffrey Epstein. (House Oversight Committee via AP)2025-12-19T05:21:26Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Justice Department faces a Friday deadline to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender and wealthy financier known for his connections to some of the worlds most influential people, including Donald Trump, who as president had tried to keep the files sealed.The Justice Department hasnt said when during the day it intends to make the records public. The total volume is also unclear, though Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a Fox News Channel interview that he expected the department to release several hundred thousand records Friday and then several hundred thousand more in the coming weeks. The records could contain the most detailed look yet at nearly two decades worth of government investigations into Epsteins sexual abuse of young women and underage girls.Their release has long been demanded by a public hungry to learn whether any of Epsteins rich and powerful associates knew about or participated in the abuse. Epsteins accusers have also long sought answers about why federal authorities shut down their initial investigation into the allegations in 2008. Bowing to political pressure from fellow Republicans, Trump on Nov. 19 signed a bill giving the Justice Department 30 days to release most of its files and communications related to Epstein, including information about the investigation into Epsteins death in a federal jail.The laws passage was a remarkable display of bipartisanship that overcame months of opposition from Trump and Republican leadership. What the law allowsThat law allows for redactions about the victims or ongoing investigations but makes clear no records shall be withheld or redacted due to embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Nov. 14 that she had ordered a top federal prosecutor to investigate Epsteins ties to Trumps political foes, including former President Bill Clinton. Bondi acted after Trump pressed for such an inquiry, though he did not explain what supposed crimes he wanted the Justice Department to investigate. None of the men Trump mentioned in a social media post demanding the investigation has been accused of sexual misconduct by any of Epsteins victims. In July, Trump dismissed some of his own supporters as weaklings for falling for the Jeffrey Epstein hoax. But both Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., failed to prevent the legislation from coming to a vote.Trump did a U-turn on the files once it became clear that congressional action was inevitable. He insisted that the Epstein matter had become a distraction to the Republican agenda and that releasing the records was the best way to move on. The Epstein investigationsPolice in Palm Beach, Florida, began investigating Epstein in 2005 after the family of a 14-year-old girl reported she had been molested at his mansion. The FBI joined the investigation, and authorities gathered testimony from multiple underage girls who said they had been hired to give Epstein sexual massages.Ultimately, though, prosecutors gave Epstein a deal that allowed him to avoid federal prosecution. He pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges involving someone under age 18 and was sentenced to 18 months in jail.Epsteins accusers then spent years in civil litigation trying to get that plea deal set aside. One of those women, Virginia Giuffre, accused Epstein of arranging for her to have sexual encounters, starting at age 17, with numerous other men, including billionaires, famous academics, U.S. politicians and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, then known as Britains Prince Andrew.All of those men denied the allegations. Prosecutors never brought charges in connection with Giuffres claims, but her account fueled conspiracy theories about supposed government plots to protect the powerful. Giuffre died by suicide at her farm in Western Australia in April at age 41.Federal prosecutors in New York brought new sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail a month after his arrest. Prosecutors then charged Epsteins longtime confidant, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, with recruiting underage girls for Epstein to abuse. Maxwell was convicted in late 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence, though she was moved from a low-security federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas after she was interviewed over the summer by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Her lawyers argued that she never should have been tried or convicted.The Justice Department in July said it had not found any information that could support prosecuting anyone else. Lots of Epstein records were already publicAfter nearly two decades of court action and prying by reporters, a voluminous number of records related to Epstein is already public, including flight logs, address books, email correspondence, police reports, grand jury records, courtroom testimony and transcripts of depositions of his accusers, his staffers and others.Yet the publics appetite for more records has been insatiable, particularly for anything related to Epsteins associations with famous people including Trump, Mountbatten-Windsor and Clinton.Trump was friends with Epstein for years before the two had a falling-out. Neither he nor Clinton has ever been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and the mere inclusion of someones name in files from the investigation does not imply otherwise.Mountbatten-Windsor denied ever having sex with Giuffre, but King Charles III stripped him of his royal titles this year after Giuffres memoir was published after she died.___Sisak reported from New York.___Follow the APs coverage of Jeffrey Epstein at https://apnews.com/hub/jeffrey-epstein. MICHAEL R. SISAK Sisak is an Associated Press reporter covering law enforcement, courts and prisons. He is based in New York. twitter mailto ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department. twitter mailto ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Richer covers the Justice Department and federal courts. She joined The AP in 2013 and is based in Washington. twitter

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The Supreme Court Building is seen in Washington on March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)2025-12-19T19:07:58Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court sided with immigration judges on Friday, rebuffing the Trump administration for now in a case with possible implications for federal workers as the justices weigh expanding presidential firing power. The decision is a technical step in a long-running case, but it touches on the effects of a series of high-profile firings under President Donald Trump. The justices let stand a ruling that raised questions about the Trump administrations handling of the federal workforce, though they also signaled that lower courts should move cautiously.Immigration judges are federal employees, and the question at the center of the case is about whether they can sue to challenge a policy restricting their public speeches or if they are required to use a separate complaint system for the federal workforce. Trumps Republican administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene after an appeals court found that Trumps firings of top complaint system officials had raised questions about whether its still working as intended. The Justice Department said the firings are within the presidents power and the lower court had no grounds to raise questions. The solicitor general asked the Supreme Court to quickly freeze the ruling as he pushes to have the immigration judges case removed from federal court. The justices declined, though they also said the Trump administration could return if the lower courts moved too fast. The justices have allowed most of Trumps firings for now and are weighing whether to formally expand his legal power to fire independent agency officials by overturning job protections enshrined in a 90-year-old decision. A union formerly representing immigration judges, who work for the Justice Department, first sued in 2020 to challenge a policy restricting what the judges can speak about in public. They say the case is a free-speech issue that belongs in federal court. In recent months, Trumps administration has fired dozens of immigration judges seen by his allies as too lenient. While the order is not a final decision, the case could eventually have implications for other federal workers who want to challenge firings in court rather than the employee complaint system now largely overseen by Trump appointees. The decision comes after a series of wins for the Justice Department on the high courts emergency docket. The court has sided with the Trump administration about two dozen times on issues ranging from immigration to federal funding.___Follow the APs coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court. LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court and legal affairs for The Associated Press. Shes won multiple journalism awards in a career thats spanned two decades. twitter mailto

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In this June 29, 2019, file photo, Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs throws to an Oakland Athletics batter during a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)2025-12-19T19:19:52Z SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) The Los Angeles Angels on Friday settled a lawsuit over the drug overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs.The decision to settle was reached after a two-month civil trial in Southern California over whether the Angels should be held responsible for Skaggs 2019 death after he snorted a fentanyl-laced pill provided by the teams communications director, Eric Kay.Skaggs widow, Carli, and his parents filed a lawsuit alleging the MLB team knew or should have known Kay was a drug addict and dealing painkillers to players. The team contended officials didnt know Skaggs was taking drugs and would have sought him help if they did.Jurors began deliberating earlier this week. Orange County Superior Court Judge H. Shaina Colover thanked jurors for their diligence. That is why this matter was able to be resolved today, she said, before releasing them. Six years ago, the 27-year-old left-handed pitcher was found dead in the suburban Dallas hotel room where he was staying as the Angels were supposed to open a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. A coroners report said the player choked to death on his vomit, and a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found in his system. Kay, a longtime Angels employee, was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl and sentenced to 22 years in prison. His criminal trial in Texas included testimony from five MLB players who said they received oxycodone from Kay at various times from 2017 to 2019. In California, MLB players including outfielder Mike Trout, Angels president John Carpino, and Skaggs and Kays relatives testified during the trial in a Santa Ana courtroom. Witnesses for the plaintiffs described how Kay was acting erratic at the stadium and found with multiple plastic bags filled with pills at his home and later hospitalized for a drug overdose. They also recounted how Kay got players massage appointments, tee times and even prescription medication, and was paid by players for stunts like taking a fastball to the leg. Angels attorneys pointed out that Skaggs was hooked on painkillers before he signed with the Angels in 2013. They said Skaggs got his teammates into taking pills and got Kay to provide them, but kept it secret out of concern it could jeopardize their MLB careers. Had team officials known Kay was dealing drugs, or Skaggs was taking them, they would have done something, the lawyers said.Witnesses also sparred during the case over how much money Skaggs would have made as a pitcher had he lived. Experts for the plaintiffs said he could have reeled in between $91 million and $101 million, while the Angels put the figure at no more than $32 million.Skaggs had been a regular in the Angels starting rotation since late 2016 and struggled with injuries repeatedly during that time. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.After Skaggs death, the MLB reached a deal with the players association to start testing for opioids and to refer those who test positive to the treatment board. Before the judge announced the settlement Friday, jurors had remained behind closed doors after lawyers for both sides had gone to speak with Colover.Late Wednesday, jurors had sent out a note asking whether they get to decide the punitive damage amount, saying there is no field for it on the verdict form. The judge said she would send a note replying that if they decide there should be punitive damages, they would decide how much at a later time.The jury did not work on Thursday and resumed deliberations Friday morning. AMY TAXIN Taxin writes about food, farming and water in California for The Associated Press. She covers coastal issues and general news from Californias Orange County. twitter mailto

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Monica-Grace Mukendis career demonstrates the lasting impact of OneGoal, a nonprofit that helps low-income students attend college.

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In Germany, where this renter lives, its common for rental units to not come with a kitchen the renter must build their own!READ MORE...