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Anheuser-Busch is writing checks to distributors as Bud Light sales sink

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:14 GMT

New York (CNN) — Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch has laid out a plan to appease beer distributors affected by two months of plunging sales sparked by an ongoing customer boycott.The company plans to provide financial assistance to its wholesalers, reimburse fuel for distributors’ trucks and launch a new ad campaign for Bud Light next week, A-B CEO Brendan Whitworth wrote in a letter Thursday.“We recognize that over the last two months, the discussion surrounding our company and Bud Light has moved away from beer, and this has impacted our consumers, our business partners, and our employees,” Whitworth said. “As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best — brewing great beer and earning our place in moments that matter to you.”Bud Light sales have been roughly 25% lower year-over-year in every single week since it partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for an Instagram post in early April, setting off a firestorm of negative coverage...

Hard to believe John Mara will let this get to a holdout for Giants star Saquon Barkley

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:14 GMT

Saquon Barkley would be risking a lot if he held out this season. The Giants also would be risking a lot if they dared him to.There are internal and external expectations for the Giants to build on last season’s playoff berth and Wild Card round victory. They paid Daniel Jones, traded for Darren Waller and spent plenty of capital on defense, and there is optimism in East Rutherford.Those good feelings could quickly and easily evaporate, however, if Barkley and the Giants don’t reach a deal by the July 17 deadline and the team’s top offensive player doesn’t show up for the start of training camp.Barkley’s absence would become a daily distraction. It would put pressure on head coach Brian Daboll to keep his locker room focused. And more concretely, it would threaten the Giants’ ability to put their best possible team on the field this fall.For all of those reasons, it’s difficult to believe that Giants co-owner John Mara would allow this stand...

A wish come true: 6-year-old slings first pitch at San Diego Padres game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:14 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- – The San Diego Padres and Make-A-Wish San Diego teamed up, once again, to help grant the organization’s 5,000th wish at Petco Park Thursday.It was a dream come true for 6-year-old Eric Campos, who's been diagnosed with a brain tumor. The young boy has been hard at work during his physical therapy treatments to prepare for the honor of slinging the first pitch ahead of a game at Petco Park. Petco Park among top 10 most Instagrammed MLB ballparks: study Eric took a break from his hard fought battle to enjoy some Padres pride Thursday, officially opening the competition with the Cleveland Guardians at 5:40 p.m.The mighty baseball fan was all smiles and focus on for his shining moment in the San Diego spotlight. He was joined by his father Rudy, mom Jacquelyn and brother Vincent.Ahead of the first pitch, the whole family was greeted with open arms at the player parking lot where they were met by the Pad Squad and escorted to the Padres clubhouse. From there, a moment of ...

Loved ones call attention to University Heights intersection after fatal hit-and-run

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:14 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Friends came together to celebrate the life of Josh Gilliland Thursday, near the very crosswalk where he was hit last Saturday evening in University Heights.Dozens of loved ones consoled each other and came together to call attention to what they called the dangerous intersection at El Cajon Boulevard and Park Boulevard, which ultimately claimed the life of their friend. Bartender fighting for life after hit-and-run while walking to work “It’s a nightmare. It’s scary to drive in the intersection, much less to cross,” said Lisa Kogan.Police say Gilliland was crossing North on Park Boulevard when he was hit by a driver turning right on El Cajon Boulevard. The intersection is often criticized for being confusing and unsafe.“He was a very cautious pedestrian and he actually spoke about this a lot in his personal life, so to have him go this way it’s just pretty unbelievable. But what can come out of this is awareness,” said Scott Moore.“He just left his house going to wor...

Bell seeks regulator intervention amid spat with Rogers over access to TTC network

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:14 GMT

BCE Inc. is seeking multiple orders from the federal telecommunications regulator amid its dispute with Rogers Communications Inc. over wireless access on Toronto’s subway network.The parent company of Bell Canada wants the CRTC to prohibit Rogers from onboarding its own customers to the network until the company ensures it is technically feasible to provide access to all carriers.It says Rogers has “delayed on every front” and refused to issue a commercial proposal to its competitors since purchasing in April the Canadian operations of BAI Communications, which owns the TTC’s wireless network.Bell’s CRTC application calls on Rogers to immediately provide all available engineering assessment information to any carrier seeking access to the network.It is requesting Rogers provide a response to the application by June 23 and that the CRTC rule on it by July 14.Rogers’ proposed framework, sent to federal Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne ...

After expulsion and reinstatement, Tennessee Reps. Pearson, Jones advance past Democratic primaries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:14 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones have advanced past an election hurdle after the two young Black lawmakers were expelled earlier this year for their gun control protest on the House floor, then reinstated by local officials days afterward.Pearson appeared to handily defeat Democratic opponent David Page on Thursday in his Memphis district and advance to face independent candidate Jeff Johnston in the Aug. 3 general election, according to to unofficial results from the Shelby County Election Commission with all precincts reporting. He has no Republican opponent for the seat, which favors Democrats.Jones was unopposed in Thursday’s primary election for his Nashville seat, which also is heavily Democratic. He faces Republican Laura Nelson in the Aug. 3 general election.The Associated Press did not tabulate the results for the races.The pair’s protest took place on March 30, three days after a shooting at The Covenant School, a Christia...

Exhibition by Chinese dissident artist opens in Warsaw despite pressure from China

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:14 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — An exhibition by a provocative Chinese artist that criticizes the country’s human rights record is opening at a Polish state-run museum on Friday despite pressure from the Chinese embassy to cancel it. The director of the Center for Contemporary Art in the capital, Warsaw, said the No. 2 diplomat at the Chinese embassy in Warsaw visited his museum demanding the cancellation of the exhibition by the artist, who goes by the name Badiucao. “It wasn’t a request but a firm demand,” said museum director Piotr Bernatowicz, describing the Chinese government’s behavior as unacceptable. He said the Chinese official warned that having the exhibition could harm Polish-Chinese ties. A Chinese representative also sent a letter of protest to Poland’s Culture Ministry, he said.Badiucao, who has lived in exile in Australia for many years, said the Chinese government accused him of hurting the feelings of Chinese patriots. He insisted his works are in no way against the Ch...

In rare 3-3 decision, Iowa Supreme Court declines to reinstate law largely banning abortion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:14 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Abortion will remain legal in Iowa after the state’s high court declined Friday to reinstate a law that would have largely banned the procedure, rebuffing Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and, for now, keeping the conservative state from joining others with strict abortion limits.In a rare 3-3 split decision, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a 2019 district court ruling that blocked the law. The latest ruling comes roughly a year after the same body — and the U.S. Supreme Court — determined that women do not have a fundamental constitutional right to abortion.The blocked law bans abortions once cardiac activity can be detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant.Writing for the three justices who denied the state’s request to reinstate the law, Justice Thomas Waterman said granting that request would mean bypassing the legislature, changing the standard for how the court reviews laws and then dissolving an ...

Heather Mack, convicted in Bali of killing mom and stuffing body in suitcase, pleads guilty in US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:14 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The American woman accused of helping to kill her mother and stuffing her body in a suitcase during a luxury vacation to Bali nine years ago changed her plea to guilty in Chicago federal court on Friday.Heather Mack, 27, was convicted in Indonesia in 2015 of being an accessory to Sheila von Wiese-Mack’s murder with her then-boyfriend in a bid to gain access to a $1.5 million trust fund. Mack, then 18 and pregnant, covered her mother’s mouth in a hotel room while Tommy Schaefer bludgeoned Wiese-Mack with a fruit bowl, prosecutors say.Mack stood before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly in orange jail garb and orange slippers as he asked her questions before she was set to enter a plea. She spoke confidently and calmly as the judge asks her that she was giving up her rights to remain silent at the motion hearing. “Yes, your honor,” she responded from a podium.After the judge explained the charge against her, Mack pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to kill a U.S...

Greek coast guard defends actions as up to 500 migrants feared dead in shipwreck

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:14 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s coast guard defended its actions in responding to a ship carrying hundreds of migrants that ended up sinking off the country’s south coast, as criticism mounted Friday over the European Union’s years-long failure to hammer out a comprehensive migration and asylum policy.Patrol boats and a helicopter spent a third day scouring the area of the Mediterranean Sea where the packed fishing vessel capsized and sank early Wednesday. The International Organization for Migration said as many as 500 passengers may have gone down with the trawler, which was traveling from Libya to Italy.“This could be the second deadliest shipwreck we have ever recorded after the tragic shipwreck of April, 2015 on route to Italy,” the U.N. migration agency’s Missing Migrants Project tweeted, referring to a vessel that capsized off the coast of Libya, claiming the lives of an estimated 800 migrants.The Greek coast guard said the search and rescue operation w...