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Today is Thursday, May 1, the 121st day of 2025. There are 244 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 1, 2011, President Barack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden during a U.S. commando operation, which took place in Abbottabad, Pakistan in the early morning hours of May 2 local time.

Also on this date:

In 1866, three days of race-related rioting erupted in Memphis, Tennessee, as white mobs targeted Black people, 46 of whom were killed, along with two whites.

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In 1931, the Empire State Building was dedicated in New York City; it would be the world’s tallest building for four decades.

In 1960, the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 reconnaissance plane over Sverdlovsk and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

In 1963, Jim Whittaker, joined by Sherpa mountaineer Nawang Gombu, became the first American to summit Mount Everest.

In 1964, the computer programming language BASIC (Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) was first run by its inventors, Dartmouth College professors John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz.

In 1971, the national passenger rail service Amtrak went into operation.

In 2003, President George W. Bush, in a speech delivered from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln which bore a banner reading “Mission Accomplished,” stated, “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended.” (The last U.S. combat troops would not withdraw from Iraq until December 2011.)

In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II, moving his predecessor a step closer to sainthood in a Vatican Mass attended by some 1.5 million pilgrims.

In 2015, six Baltimore police officers were charged with felonies ranging from assault to murder in connection with the death of Freddie Gray, a Black man who’d suffered a spinal injury while riding in a police van. (None of the officers would ultimately be convicted.)

In 2020, U.S. regulators allowed emergency use of remdesivir, the first drug that appeared to help some COVID-19 patients recover faster.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Singer Judy Collins is 86.
• Singer Rita Coolidge is 80.
• Filmmaker John Woo is 79.
• Actor Dann Florek is 75.
• Musician Ray Parker Jr. is 71.
• Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen is 65.
• Singer-actor Tim McGraw is 58.
• Filmmaker Wes Anderson is 56.
• Football Hall of Famer Curtis Martin is 52.
• Actor Jamie Dornan is 43.
• Singer Victoria Monét is 36.
• Social media personality Charli D’Amelio is 21.

The Florida Panthers made it all look inevitable and unpreventable by the end Wednesday, the way the best teams do, as if by the end there was nothing Tampa Bay could do to shake its fate.

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Would Tampa Bay win a game at home if they played the full series there? Could Nikita Kucherov, the league’s top point scorer, unshackle himself of this Panthers defense for a goal, just one, if it was a best-of-nine series?

It seemed like an inescapable conclusion as Wednesday wore on, this Panthers 6-3 win in Game 5 to take their best-of-seven series, 4-1.

But it wasn’t inevitable. None of it. Not when five games ago Matthew Tkachuk wasn’t certain to play, no one knew how Sam Bennett’s rest or Aaron Ekblad’s absence would matter. It wasn’t inevitable when Tampa Bay was four minutes from tying the series in Game 4.

So, just like that, it felt like after a long regular season the curtain really went up on the defending champs in a way. Here’s who we are, they were saying this series. This is how we’ll play again from here to the end.

“We’ve got more to show,’’ Bennett said. “We got a taste of how deep our team is. There is even another level that we have.”

The Panthers won any way the night asked this series. They won two games being an offense scoring six goals, and they won a game with goalie Sergei Bobrovsky pitching a shutout. They won taking 16 shots. They won holding the fifth-ranked power play this year to two goals in the series, including an 0-for-14 stretch.

The Panthers won taking cheap hits and delivering hits just as cheap.  Their high-end talent can go in the gutter with anyone, as everyone knows. That’s part of their charm.

“Two teams right in their prime,’’ Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of this series. “Very competitive. It got nasty this year because of the playoffs last year. We’re also in the same place with our teams – legitimate teams.”

The Panthers idea to repeat this season started in repetitive style. It opened with the same five-game series win against Tampa Bay that it did on last year’s run to the Stanley Cup.

So, they’ve won eight of the past 10 playoff games against their big rival, meaning there are bigger rivals ahead for the Panthers. Deeper teams, too.

You saw the Panthers depth in the margins with the presence of veteran center Nico Sturm, acquired at the trade deadline, meaning Aleksander Barkov can spend less time killing penalties.

You saw that depth on the scoring sheet Wednesday, too. Brad Marchand made two nifty moves and cross-ices passes for goals to Anton Lundell and Eeto Luostarinen. That’s the third Panthers line. It had four goals in the series’ final two games.

“They can go with their depth where lots of teams can’t,’’ Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

The next stop is the winner of the Toronto-Ottawa series. Toronto leads 3-2. The Panthers will be happy to wait. And rest. And look back at their rival saying good-bye to a season.

It’s always better to have a rival you respect amid the hate, and that’s the case with at two-time champion Tampa Bay team. Cooper knows greatness. He saw it on the other side this series.

“They have an exceptional team,’’ Cooper said of the Panthers. “Not just an average team. An exceptional team.”

Cooper sat in the first moments of his offseason tracing the Panthers run to that comeback from down 3-1 in Boston two springs ago. He talk how they “sniffed” the championship that year before taking it last year.

“Now they know how to do it,’’ he said. “There’s only a few teams in the last little while that have really known how to do it. We were one of them. Now they are one of them. It is unfortunate we had to run into them.”

It all felt inevitable by the end of this series in a manner it didn’t before Game 1. The Panthers unveiled the next-level Panthers against Tampa Bay. No doubt they’ll need the more levels Bennett sees in this team coming up.

TAMPA — The road to the Stanley Cup this decade has not gone through New York or Pennsylvania or Ontario. It has gone through Florida.

 

The Lightning won a pair of Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021 and reached the last round again in 2022. The Panthers reached the Final in 2023 and won it last year. In four of those five years, one of the Florida teams has beaten the other in the playoffs on the way to the Final, and the Panthers are trying to repeat after eliminating the Lightning on Wednesday. 

As the teams have faced each other more often and the stakes have gotten higher, the postseason matchups between Tampa Bay and Florida have gotten more heated — and the fans are getting more energized.

“I would buy season tickets for the four games that will get played next year on that alone,” Maurice said.

The intensity is felt by more than just fans who want state-wide bragging rights. Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said each time they play Tampa Bay, the series gets tougher.

“Every year just keeps getting harder and harder,” Barkov said. “They’ve won Cups, and they’ve been in the Finals. They know what it takes, and now we’ve done the same thing. So we also know. So it’s a really hard, series. Last year, I remember (was hard). This year (was) even harder. So just happy that we won it this year.”

On the Lightning’s side, coach Jon Cooper was complimentary of the in-state rivals. He said the Panthers learned how to win over the last few years. Now they are on equal footing with Tampa Bay, which won three Stanley Cups before Florida won one, and beat the Panthers in the playoffs in 2021 and 2022.

“They’ve been an exceptional team,” Cooper said. “Not just an average team. They’re an exceptional team. And I think two years ago, they were playing Boston. They were down like 3-1 to the Presidents’ (Trophy) champs and they come back and win that series. They don’t win that series, who knows what happens to that team? They come back, they win, they get a good vibe about how to win because it is something that’s learned and it’s an art. And fortunately for us, (we have) had that for like 10 to 12 years. And you’re not going to win every single playoff series, but they built a team.

“They got a sniff of it. They went to the Final, didn’t win, came back, went to the Final and won. And who knows what they’re gonna do this year? But they’re primarily the same team, but now they know how to do it. And there’s only a few teams in the last little while that really know how to do it. We were one of them, and now they’re one of them. And it’s unfortunate we’ve had to run into them.”

For much of Cooper’s tenure as the Lightning’s coach, the Panthers scuffled to find success and build up their fanbase. That is not the case anymore, as the Lightning dealt with a packed Amerant Bank Arena and split the two games in Sunrise.

“Hockey here is alive and well, and winning helps,” Cooper said. “I think it helped when we were winning, and it’s clearly helped South Florida with them winning. And in the end, people like to attach themselves to winners and they built a great fan base down there. I remember going and playing games there where we had more fans in the building than they did, and they’ve done a fabulous job of building a brand and building a team, and they’re getting rewarded for it.”

The first-round series between Florida and Tampa Bay featured hard hits that led to one player on each team — Brandon Hagel for the Lightning and Aaron Ekblad for the Panthers — getting tagged with suspensions from the NHL. There were other hits, like Matthew Tkachuk’s open-ice hit on Jake Guentzel, that drew ire from fans and coaches.

Maurice compared the matchups with Tampa Bay the last two years to the Panthers’ intense playoff meetings with the Bruins in 2023 and 2024.

“The first Boston series was very heavy. The next Boston series was mean. It was nasty,” Maurice said. “And that’s kind of what happened here. Two teams right in their prime, very competitive men. Tampa’s had success. So it got nasty this year because of the playoffs last year and the fact that we’re rivals, but we’re also (in) the same place with our teams, legitimate teams.

“It’s good to be the ticket sales guy in both cities.”

TAMPA — Sam Bennett had hurt the Panthers, going to the penalty box for slashing with about 11 minutes left in the second period. The Lightning scored the game-tying goal on the ensuing power play, knotting the game at three.

 

Bennett went back to the penalty box for slashing with 6:53 left in the period. When he came out, he hit the ice running, received a pass from Anton Lundell and fired a wrist shot past Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to put the Panthers ahead 4-3 in Game 5. It was all Florida needed to beat Tampa Bay, as the Panthers went on to win 6-3 at Amalie Arena and punch their tickets to the second round of the playoffs.

“It’s not a good feeling being in the box twice there, especially after they scored one,” Bennett said. “So, a little anxious in the box there, but (I) was able to come out, and Lundy made a great play to find me, and I was able to put it in. So definitely a little weight off my shoulders.”

The Panthers will play the winner of the Ottawa-Toronto series, which is going to Game 6 on Thursday with the Maple Leafs up 3-2.

The Lightning, with their backs against the wall, opened the game with a lot of energy. Conor Geekie landed a big hit on Dmitry Kulikov early in the first period. Minutes later, Gage Goncalves put Tampa Bay on the board first with a short-range shot past Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida struck back quickly, though. The Panthers went on the power play, and Carter Verhaeghe evened the game when he fired a rebounded Matthew Tkachuk shot past Vasilevskiy. It was the first power-play goal for either team since Game 1.

Lundell put the Panthers ahead halfway through the first period. A pass from Brad Marchand bounced off Lundell’s skate directly in front of Vasilevskiy, giving Florida its first lead of the night. It was short-lived, as Tampa Bay center Nick Paul beat Bobrovsky to tie the game again.

Aleksander Barkov scored his first goal of the postseason 52 seconds into the second period, putting the Panthers ahead by tipping in a shot from the point by Gustav Forsling.

The Panthers’ penalty-kill unit had been dominating the Lightning since Game 1, fending off 15 straight Tampa Bay power plays in the series — until the second period on Wednesday. With Bennett in the penalty box for slashing, Lightning forward Jake Guentzel scored to tie the game at three midway through the period.

But Bennett made up for that power-play goal allowed, giving Florida the lead late in the second period. Eetu Luostarinen, who had four points on Wednesday, scored an insurance goal with 6:58 left in the third period to help secure the series win for the Panthers. Sam Reinhart added a late empty-net goal to put Florida ahead by three goals.

“A little insurance there,” Luostarinen said. “For sure, it felt good to get on the board and I think (when) we got to six minutes left, we knew we’d have to play like we did and just seal the deal.”

Florida’s defense locked down Tampa Bay through the third period even though the Lightning were frequently in the Panthers’ zone.

“I think we kept our composure, kept calm and trusted each other and let (Bobrovsky) see the puck,” Forsling said.

Now the Panthers wait to see whether they will play the Senators or the Maple Leafs next.

“Regroup, recover,” Forsling said, “on to the next one.”

 

By ALANIS THAMES

FORT LAUDERDALE — Brian White and Pedro Vite scored two minutes apart and the Vancouver Whitecaps stunned Inter Miami 3-1 in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal on Wednesday night, spoiling Lionel Messi’s squad’s hopes of making the tournament’s final.

Sebastian Berhalter also scored for Vancouver, which advanced with a 5-1 aggregate to face either Cruz Azul or Tigres UNAL in the Champions Cup final on June 1.

Miami entered Wednesday’s match trailing 0-2 in aggregate after being shut out in the first leg last Thursday. That meant they needed to win by at least three goals in regulation on Wednesday to advance.

Messi helped set up Jordi Alba’s goal nine minutes into the game, but the reigning MLS MVP was held without a goal for the fourth straight match.

“They have a great team,” Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen said of Inter Miami, “and it’s not always easy for them because they have these players who come in with all the pressure on them.”

In the tournament’s history, four MLS clubs, including Inter Miami last week, have lost the first leg of a semifinal by a 2-0 on the road. No team has come back to advance to the final.

Miami’s hopes were dashed quickly in the second half Wednesday, when Vancouver — which leads MLS with 23 points — erased a one-goal deficit minutes into the frame.

Berhalter found White for the equalizer in the 51st minute and Vite sent a deflection past Oscar Ustari in the 53rd. Berhalter, who had an assist on the first two goals, put the game away with a shot from the center of the box into the bottom left corner in the 71st.

“We did ourselves a very good favor last week,” Sorensen said, “because we didn’t need to rush things (tonight), and we didn’t need to go panicking because we were up 2-0 (in aggregate).”

Berhalter has accounted for all five of the Whitecaps’ goals in the semis after scoring one in the opener, but he will miss the championship because of yellow card accumulation. He was shown one in the first half after a foul on Miami’s Tadeo Allende.

Alba got Miami on the board with his first goal of the season on a feed from Luis Suarez, who received a pass from Messi. Suarez had a number of chances, but misfired on them all. The 38-year-old hasn’t scored in his last 10 matches.

Miami also dropped its third straight match, its longest losing streak since Messi joined the club in July 2023.

“We need to improve,” Miami coach Javier Mascherano said. “Going forward, we need to learn from the last week because obviously the feeling is really, really bad. They were much better than us. If we want to compete, we need to improve and we need to learn from this situation. … I think this team can do much better.”

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

In a first-floor conference room of the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership, members of the UCF men’s and women’s tennis teams gathered for a celebration on Monday.

Black and gold balloons accented several tables as family and friends of the Knights tennis programs came together to find out where the two teams would wind up spending their postseason.

The NCAA tournament selection show played on a large screen as players, coaches and participants mingled, waiting to hear the news. They didn’t have to wait long.

UCF men’s tennis will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament for the second time in program history. South Florida, Florida, Miami and the Knights will take to the courts at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona this weekend.

UCF, which earned the No. 15 overall seed, will face Miami on Friday.

UCF women's tennis team reacts to earning a spot in the 2025 NCAA Tennis Tournament. The Knights will travel to Raleigh, N.C., to face Furman in the N.C. State regional on Friday. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

“To be able to host, first of all, is amazing, being it’s only the second time we’ve done it,” said coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess. “I’m really happy to have secured that.”

The last time UCF hosted an NCAA regional was in 2021 when the team advanced to the second round but lost to Mississippi State, 4-2.

“It’s an interesting region, one that’s going to be tough,”  Bruce-Burgess said. “All three teams are teams we have beaten and lost to in the last two years, so it’s going to make some interesting matches.”

Bruce-Burgess helped guide the Knights to a 21-8 overall record this season, finishing as runner-ups to Arizona in the Big 12 tournament.

This will be the second time UCF has faced Miami (13-10) this season, with the Knights dropping a 4-2 decision in Coral Gables on Feb. 7.

“They’re tough at 1, 2 and 3; that’s where they beat us this year. And they got us at 5 as well to clinch it. They’ve been good there all year, so we expect to be tough up there,”  Bruce-Burgess said.

Make no mistake: Bruce-Burgess and the Knights are looking for revenge this weekend.

“Last year we played Florida and they beat us in the regular season, and then we beat them 4-3 [in the postseason]. Miami beat us in the regular season, and now we’re facing them again in the first round,” he said. “That fuel is there. We were disappointed about the loss. I know the guys want to get revenge, and obviously the opportunity to make the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history is at stake.”

UCF women’s team will head to North Carolina to participate in the NC State Regional against Furman on Friday.

UCF RB RJ Harvey selected in 2nd round of NFL Draft by Denver

“We’re super excited to be part of it,” UCF women’s tennis coach Bryan Koniecko said.  “We’ve had a fantastic season, and we’re looking forward to ending it the right way. Furman is going to be a tough one.”

The women’s tennis team achieved a remarkable milestone that set it apart from any other program in school history when the Knights captured a share of the Big 12 title this season with a 12-1 mark. The 22-3 overall record is the best since 2019 and helped the team secure its fourth consecutive appearance and 10th overall.

“We’re such a young team. We had four freshmen and a sophomore in our lineup,” said Koniecko. “We haven’t had the chance to sit down and have dinner and talk about it yet. There’s a lot still to play for this season, so we’ve been trying to stay focused.”

Despite his team’s stellar performance, Koniecko wasn’t sure where his team would wind up playing.

“This was an interesting year because we usually have a good idea of where we’re going to go, but with no schools in Florida, we could have been sent anywhere. We could have even been sent to the West Coast,” Koniecko said.

UCF and Furman (21-3) have met seven times previously, with the most recent meeting taking place in 2021.

“Furman is a great team. You can see from their record that they haven’t lost much at all this year. So it’s going to be a war in the first round,” Koniecko said.

The first and second rounds of the tournament begin on Friday, with the Super Regional scheduled for May 9-11 and the championship for May 15-18.

Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.

TALLAHASSEE — In 1990, Florida lawmakers included an exception in the state’s medical-malpractice laws that prevented a narrow group of people from pursuing key damages in lawsuits over the deaths of family members.

And after years of debate, the Florida Senate appeared on the verge Wednesday of passing a bill to repeal the exception.

But Senate sponsor Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville, tabled the bill, leaving unclear whether lawmakers will address the issue in the remaining days of the legislative session.

Yarborough’s move came after the House voted 104-6 last month to pass the bill (HB 6017) — and after the Senate, following a fierce debate Wednesday, voted 19-18 to defeat a proposal that would have made a major change to the bill.

People who allege their family members were killed by medical malpractice have lobbied heavily for the bill during this year’s legislative session. Health-care and business groups have lobbied against it.

Under the 1990 law, people who are 25 years old or older cannot seek what are known as “non-economic” damages in medical-malpractice cases involving deaths of their parents. Also, parents cannot seek such damages in malpractice cases involving the deaths of their children who are 25 or older.

Sen. Darryl Rouson, a St. Petersburg Democrat and attorney who supports the repeal bill, said families “have come to Tallahassee for the last 35 years seeking justice, seeking fairness.”

But Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, argued the bill would lead to higher medical-malpractice insurance premiums, exacerbating problems of shortages of physicians in areas such as obstetrics and gynecology.

“This is going to create a major problem for the state of Florida,” said Harrell, whose late husband was a physician.

Yarborough, who has supported repealing the law, did not give an explanation when he tabled the bill. He later said he wanted to “continue to work on details related to the bill.”

But the move came after the Senate voted 19-18 to reject a proposed addition to the bill that would have placed a $1 million cap on non-economic — often known as “pain and suffering” — damages in all medical malpractice lawsuits involving patient deaths.

Damage caps have been a lightning-rod issue for decades, with health-care groups backing such limits and plaintiffs’ attorneys fighting them. Yarborough said the proposed addition would bring “balance” to the bill.

But Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, described the cap proposal as lawmakers giving the “biggest gift of the year” to medical-malpractice insurers and said juries should determine losses in such cases.

“Caps, to me, are the antithesis of accountability,” Grall, an attorney, said.

General Daily Insight for May 01, 2025

Following our hearts might be a complicated prospect at the moment. The sensitive Moon passes into emotional Cancer at 3:23 am EDT, giving us an opportunity to connect with our feelings. Of course, that vulnerability isn’t guaranteed to be comfortable. As the Moon goes on to jab idealistic Venus and dreamy Neptune, both in action-oriented Aries, we may become more interested in pursuing quick fixes to our problems. It’s good to try new things, but we should keep our expectations realistic.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

Controlling the image you present to the world could now seem impossible. As the primal Moon in your private 4th house pokes prima donna Venus in your sign, it might become increasingly obvious that your public face doesn’t match the way you live your life when you think no one’s looking. You aren’t obligated to answer questions that you haven’t been asked outright, but avoid putting anyone in a position where they’ll get curious. Be aware that you’re walking on thin ice.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Asking for what you want could be a frustrating experience at this time. However, this may not be entirely the fault of whoever you’re talking to. While the impressionable Moon in your conversation sector tangles with deceptive Neptune in your 12th House of Secrets, putting all the facts on the table might feel too scary for you. If dropping hints seems safer, remember that doing so increases the risk of misunderstanding. Receiving an honest rejection can at least leave less lingering awkwardness than the alternative.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Planning a fun time with friends could get contentious at any moment. As the security-seeking Moon moves into your 2nd House of Resources, you might be seen as a wet blanket for pointing out how much the possibilities under consideration cost. Your observations probably aren’t wrong, but you’d benefit from being open to compromise. If you admit you’re willing to stretch a bit beyond your preferred budget, perhaps your pals will think a little harder about what truly warrants such indulgence.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Standing up to a popular and well-liked person may be necessary at present. As the messy Moon in your sign challenges polished Venus in your authority sector, you might not look great while you’re making your case. If the truth is ultimately on your side, no amount of public relations prowess from the opposition can conceal it forever! Unfortunately, you could have to wait some time before the world catches up to you. Make sure that the fight is genuinely worth starting.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

Deciding how to indulge yourself could be atypically difficult. As the nourishing Moon in your 12th House of Contemplation conflicts with pleasure planet Venus in your adventure sector, you might really like the idea of traveling somewhere you haven’t been before. If getting cozy in familiar surroundings actually feels better, though, then there’s no shame in admitting that! You don’t have to do everything on your wish list today. Focus on what’s genuinely within reach, and leave the rest for later.

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

Growing closer with a friend could require careful thought at this time. It’s fine to admit that you want your relationship to be deeper than it currently is. That being said, while the spontaneous Moon in your social 11th house provokes self-deluding Neptune in your intimacy sector, you’ll potentially scare your pal away if you unilaterally start acting as though they’ve already agreed to make this shift. Make an effort to give them a fair chance to get on board on their own terms.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Making progress toward your goals is presently possible. However, as the perceptive Moon in your ambitious 10th house runs into resistance from appeasing Venus in your relationship zone, you might have trouble accurately seeing the role of a potential collaborator. Perhaps you believe this person is more interested in supporting you than they actually are. You can let your admiration for them inspire you, but try to stay focused on what you’re able to accomplish with your own effort for the time being.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

Figuring out where your responsibilities begin and end might be very necessary. Once the passionate Moon shifts into your 9th House of Adventure, you’ll potentially be hit with a sudden longing to get away from it all. That’s probably just the provocation you need to look at how you’ve been spending your time lately, even if following your routines genuinely gives you pleasure. Still, being fully aware of any costs and benefits can help you make informed decisions when you’re tempted to bend the rules!

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Joking around has the potential to go further than you intend today. While the delicate Moon in your 8th House of Intimacy clashes with ungrounded Neptune in your playful 5th house, you might not be fully aware of the signals you’re putting out. A sentiment that you think is well hidden probably isn’t, so don’t expect to be able to hide behind plausible deniability if anyone confronts you. When in doubt, err on the side of keeping a potentially upsetting viewpoint to yourself.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Your idealistic vision of your home life could currently be threatened by contact with, well, the actual people in it. As the raw Moon in your relationship sector confronts prissy Venus in your domestic zone, you might resent anyone who tells you things you don’t want to hear regarding your personal territory. Hearing them out can prevent tension from escalating further — maybe they even have a point! Try to remember that it probably took courage for them to air their grievances to you.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

Making a promise you can’t keep is a current risk. While the grounded Moon in your 6th House of Responsibilities conflicts with unrealistic Neptune in your communication zone, you may agree to some commitment in order to get out of an uncomfortable conversation. You have finite time and energy as a human, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of! This might bother you more than it bothers anyone else, so be honest about where any pushback is ultimately coming from.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

Pleasure could seem worth any price at the moment. As the hungry Moon in your 5th House of Fun conspires with impractical Neptune in your finance zone, you might convince yourself you truly need some item or experience that has caught your fancy. The idea of being stuck to a budget probably isn’t appealing under the circumstances! Don’t look at this through the lens of unending deprivation — weigh any prize presently on offer against other potential rewards on your horizon.

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris plans to use a high-profile speech Wednesday to sharply criticize President Donald Trump amid speculation about whether she will mount another presidential campaign or opt to run for California governor.

Harris will address the 20th anniversary gala for Emerge America, an organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office that grew in part from Harris’ run for San Francisco district attorney in the early 2000s.

Her speech comes the day after Trump reached 100 days in office. It is expected to be her most extensive public remarks since leaving office in January following her defeat to Trump, with planned critiques of the Republican president’s handling of the economy, U.S. institutions and foreign policy.

Harris is ramping up her public presence as Democrats nationally search for a path forward after November’s election, in which Republicans also won control of Congress. While a slate of high-profile Democrats — from governors to businessmen — seek leadership roles within the party, the former vice president retains unique influence and would reshape any future race she chooses to enter.

Harris, a former state attorney general and U.S. senator from California, has not discouraged speculation that she might enter the race to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom, himself a potential contender for president. And she has not ruled out another run for the White House.

She continues to fundraise, using a joint committee that includes Harris for President, the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic parties. The committee, the Harris Victory Fund, reported having about $4.5 million on hand at the end of March, according to federal records.

In recent fundraising emails, Harris has been blunt about the need for Democrats to unify ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Democrats need to “organize and stop Trump’s agenda while electing Democrats everywhere,” she wrote in recent emails. “There has never been a more important time for a strong Democratic Party — one that is willing to stand up to Donald Trump, Elon Musk and what they are doing to this country.”

The event will mark a homecoming of sorts. Harris, who lives in Los Angeles, is from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Emerge America’s gala begins at 7 p.m. PDT. Harris’ speech will be livestreamed on the AP’s YouTube channel.

By ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has reassigned several agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

The reasons for the moves were not immediately clear, though they come as the FBI under Director Kash Patel has been undertaking broad personnel changes and Deputy Director Dan Bongino has repeatedly sought to reassure supporters of President Donald Trump who are critical of the bureau.

“The Director and I are working on a number of significant initiatives to ensure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated, and that many of your open questions are answered,” Bongino wrote in one recent post on X, without elaborating.

The reassignments, first reported by CNN, were confirmed to The Associated Press by two people familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss non-public personnel moves. An FBI spokesman declined to comment.

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The photographs at issue showed a group of agents taking a knee during a demonstration following the May 2020 killing of Floyd, which sparked widespread anger after millions of people saw video of his arrest. It led to a national reckoning over policing and racial injustice.

The kneeling angered some in the FBI but was also understood as a possible de-escalation tactic during a time of widespread protests, and the agents were not punished at the time.

Patel pledged at his January confirmation hearing that he would not “go backwards” in seeking retribution on perceived adversaries. But even before he was sworn in, there was concern that the Justice Department was poised to do exactly that, including by demanding a list of the thousands of agents who worked on investigations into the Jan. 6,2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, a request seen by some as a possible precursor to a purge at the bureau.

Since Donald Trump is notorious for not fully reading documents, he may not have known all of the specifics of Project 2025, but he lied when he denied knowing that its core objective was to dismantle the U.S. government.

Drafters and proponents of Project 2025 are now Trump’s vice president, Cabinet members and close advisors. That’s no coincidence.

They are violating laws and the Constitution to accomplish their objectives. They appeal to basic instincts: fear, greed, selfishness, bigotry and lawlessness.

They do not have a sense of decency or fair play. They advocate holding back funds approved by Congress, establishing tariffs without good reason, deporting people without trials, firing government employees without adequate investigation, blackmailing law firms, disobeying court orders and withholding funds from educational institutions that do not agree with their agenda.

This is the very definition of tyranny. It is grounds for impeachment, but Republican politicians are too afraid of losing their jobs to vote for it — or even mention it.

Carl Schneider, Delray Beach

They made a big mistake

Before the 2024 presidential election, my letter to the editor was published on the dangers of a Trump presidency.

One of the first signs was his refusal to accept a valid election in 2020. There were so many more signs demonstrating he wasn’t fit to serve, and most important was the danger to a reasonably healthy economy.

Look at the results so far. Inflation and the costs of goods are higher. The average person has lost thousands of dollars in stock market and retirement plans. His revolutionary tariffs will raise costs of materials, hurting the real estate market.

Was it my prescience through years of course work in decision-making, critical thinking and meditation that gave me the edge to see the dangers posed by a Trump presidency?

I believe that the 50% of voters who opted for him based their decision on pure emotion, not facts. The Bible, in Proverbs 4:7, says: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom.”

Hopefully, those who voted for Trump will realize they made a mistake that is not to be repeated.

Steven Weil, Ph.D., Boynton Beach

Third time’s not the charm

TV commentator Bill Maher and some ordinary citizens believe an antidote to a constitutionally barred third term for President Trump is for Democrats to run Barack Obama again. I’m pretty sure dual illegal actions don’t make it right.

Obama’s civilian market value must be in the hundreds of million dollars for books, speeches and corporate board seats. Why would he subject himself to four more years of battling a dysfunctional Congress?

Keep in mind, Obama’s two terms were marked by the constant effort to replace Obamacare with what turned out to be nothing. He also would have to rebuild a federal government demolished by Trump. Why would he want that?

Sheldon I. Saitlin, Boca Raton

‘Fins need a fresh start

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross should fire the most incompetent general manager in the NFL, Chris Grier. They have great facilities and play in perfect weather, but the G.M. has done so much wrong.

He drafts the wrong players, with Cam Smith, Channing Tindall and Hunter Long the latest misses. Picking Alabama receiver Jaylen Waddle was another blunder.

Coach Mike McDaniel is on the hot seat. He has to take what’s given to him and make it work.

We already have a liability at QB: Tua Tagovailoa is fragile. He’s not mobile, lacks a strong arm and has not shown a capability to play in extreme weather.

Tyreek Hill is a P.R. problem. Jalen Ramsey wants out. This team needs a new GM and preferably a new coach with a new vision.

Mark Walker, Boca Raton

Please submit a letter to the editor by email to letterstotheeditor@sunsentinel.com or fill out the online form below. Letters may be up to 200 words and must be signed with your email address, city of residence and daytime phone number for verification. Letters will be edited for clarity and length. 

 

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Today is Wednesday, April 30, the 120th day of 2025. There are 245 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On April 30, 1993, top-ranked women’s tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed in the back during a match in Hamburg, Germany, by a man who described himself as a fan of second-ranked German player Steffi Graf. (The man was convicted of causing grievous bodily injury, but was given only a two-year suspended sentence.)

Also on this date:

In 1789, George Washington took the oath of office at Federal Hall in New York as the first president of the United States.

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In 1803, the United States completed its purchase of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Territory from France for 60 million francs, the equivalent of about $15 million; the acquisition roughly doubled the size of the United States.

In 1900, engineer John Luther “Casey” Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad died in a train wreck near Vaughan, Mississippi, staying at the controls to slow his passenger train before it struck a stalled train near an approaching station; Jones was the only fatality of the accident.

In 1945, as Soviet troops approached his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler took his own life, as did Eva Braun, whom Hitler married the previous day.

In 1973, as the Watergate scandal deepened, President Richard Nixon announced the resignations of top aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst and White House counsel John Dean (though Dean was actually fired by Nixon).

In 1975, the Vietnam War ended as the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces.

In 1993, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced that the World Wide Web, which was invented at CERN four years earlier by Tim Berners-Lee, was free for anyone to use, and released its source code to the public domain.

Today’s Birthdays:

• UN Secretary-General António Guterres is 76.
• Filmmaker Jane Campion is 71.
• Filmmaker Lars von Trier is 69.
• Basketball Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas is 64.
• Actor Johnny Galecki is 50.
• Actor Sam Heughan is 45.
• Actor Kunal Nayyar is 44.
• Rapper Lloyd Banks is 43.
• Actor Kirsten Dunst is 43.
• Basketball Hall of Famer Seimone Augustus is 41.
• Actor Gal Gadot is 40.
• Actor Dianna Agron is 39.
• Actor Ana de Armas is 37.
• Rapper-producer Travis Scott is 34.

Home Repairs You Should Fix, Ignore or Negotiate With a Seller On  MSN

By MORIAH BALINGIT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government has begun shedding new light on a crackdown on international students, spelling out how it targeted thousands of people and laying out the grounds for terminating their legal status.

The new details emerged in lawsuits filed by some of the students who suddenly had their status canceled in recent weeks with little explanation.

In the past month, foreign students around the U.S. have been rattled to learn their records had been removed from a student database maintained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some went into hiding for fear of being picked up by immigration authorities or abandoned their studies to return home.

On Friday, after mounting court challenges, federal officials said the government was restoring international students’ legal status while it developed a framework to guide future terminations. In a court filing Monday, it shared the new policy: a document issued over the weekend with guidance on a range of reasons students’ status can be canceled, including the revocation of the visas they used to enter the U.S.

Brad Banias, an immigration attorney representing a student whose status was terminated, said the new guidelines vastly expand ICE’s authority beyond previous policy, which did not count visa revocation as grounds for losing legal status.

“This just gave them carte blanche to have the State Department revoke a visa and then deport those students even if they’ve done nothing wrong,” Banias said.

Many of the students who had visas revoked or lost their legal status said they had only minor infractions on their record, including driving infractions. Some did not know why they were targeted at all.

Lawyers for the government provided some explanation at a hearing Tuesday in the case of Banias’ client Akshar Patel, an international student studying information systems in Texas. Patel’s status was terminated — and then reinstated — this month, and he is seeking a preliminary court ruling to keep him from being deported.

In court filings and in the hearing, Department of Homeland Security officials said they ran the names of student visa holders through the National Crime Information Center, an FBI-run database that contains reams of information related to crimes. It includes the names of suspects, missing persons and people who have been arrested, even if they have never been charged with a crime or had charges dropped.

In total, about 6,400 students were identified in the database search, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said in the hearing Tuesday. One of the students was Patel, who had been pulled over and charged with reckless driving in 2018. The charge was ultimately dropped — information that is also in NCIC.

Patel appears in a spreadsheet with 734 students whose names had come up in NCIC. That spreadsheet was forwarded to a Homeland Security official, who, within 24 hours of receiving it, replied: “Please terminate all in SEVIS.” That’s a different database listing foreigners who have legal status as students in the U.S.

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Reyes said the short time frame suggested that no one had reviewed the records individually to find out why the students’ names came up in NCIC.

“All of this could have been avoided if someone had taken a beat,” said Reyes, who was appointed by President Joe Biden. She said the government had demonstrated “an utter lack of concern for individuals who have come into this country.”

When colleges discovered the students no longer had legal status, it prompted chaos and confusion. In the past, college officials say, legal statuses typically were updated after colleges told the government the students were no longer studying at the school. In some cases, colleges told students to stop working or taking classes and warned them they could be deported.

Still, government attorneys said the change in the database did not mean the students actually lost legal status, even though some of the students were labeled “failure to maintain status.” Instead, lawyers said, it was intended to be an “investigative red flag.”

“Mr. Patel is lawfully present in the U.S.,” Andre Watson of the Department of Homeland Security said. “He is not subject to immediate detention or removal.”

Reyes declined to issue a preliminary injunction and urged lawyers from both sides to come to a settlement to ensure Patel could stay in the U.S.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

BY MELISSA GOLDIN, Associated Press

In a visit Tuesday to Warren, Michigan, President Donald Trump celebrated his first 100 days back in office by touting his accomplishments, while embellishing some and misrepresenting others.

The speech of about 90 minutes was reminiscent of a campaign rally and covered much of the same ground as he lobbed insults at the previous administration and detractors.

In highlighting his accomplishments, he made a number of false and misleading statements on topics such as the state of the economy and the price of eggs.

Here’s a look at the facts.

Trump exaggerates drop in gas prices

TRUMP: “Gasoline was almost $4 not so long ago. And now, Mike, we just hit $1.98 in a lot of states. Think of it.”

THE FACTS: As of Tuesday, no state had an average gas price of $1.98. Mississippi had the lowest price, at $2.67 per gallon of regular gas. Trump previously made this claim about the level of gas prices on April 16, but they had not fallen as low as $1.98 that day either — or any day in the last two weeks. Mississippi and Tennessee were tied for the lowest average price on April 16, at $2.707 per gallon of regular gas.

National average prices rose under former President Joe Biden to a high of $5.01 in June 2022 before falling to $3.09 in December of that year. Prices rose again to a high of $3.88 in September 2023, but were down to $3.139 in December 2024. They were at $3.13 nationally as of Tuesday. The last time prices surpassed $4 was in August 2022.

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Cost of eggs not as low as Trump says

TRUMP: “Since I took office, the cost of eggs is down 87% now.”

THE FACTS: The retail price of a dozen large eggs decreased in price to $2.07 in September 2023, but has been on the rise since October 2024. As of March, they were up to $6.23.

Wholesale egg prices, on the other hand, fell significantly in March, but not by 87%. They were at a high of $8.17 for a dozen large eggs on March 3 and had dropped to $2.92 by March 26 — a decrease of approximately 64%.

University of Arkansas agricultural economist Jada Thompson told the AP earlier this month that because the wholesale prices did not start dropping until mid-March, there may not have been enough time for the average price for the month to decline. And grocery stores may not have immediately passed on the lower prices.

Inflation was already falling under Biden

TRUMP: “We’re ending the inflation nightmare. The worst that we’ve had, probably in the history of our country.”

THE FACTS: Inflation started falling long before Trump started his second term. Inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022 after rising steadily in the first 17 months of Biden’s presidency from a low of 0.1% in May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of December, it had fallen to 2.9%. The most recent data shows that, as of March, it had fallen to 2.4%. Other historical periods have seen higher inflation, such as a more than 14% rate in 1980, according to the Federal Reserve.

Coal production is cleaner, but it still creates emissions

TRUMP: “We stopped their crusade on coal. Did you see what I did the other day? Clean, beautiful coal.”

THE FACTS: The production of coal is cleaner now than it has been historically, but that doesn’t mean it’s clean.

Planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from the coal industry have decreased over the past 30 years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Energy lobbyist Scott Segal told the AP earlier this month that “the relative statement that coal-fired electricity is cleaner than ever before is true, particularly when emissions are measured per unit of electricity produced.”

And yet, coal production worldwide still needs to be reduced sharply to address climate change, according to United Nations-backed research.

Along with carbon dioxide, burning coal emits sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that contribute to acid rain, smog and respiratory illnesses, according to the EIA.

Trump misleads on Biden-era ‘electric vehicle mandate’

TRUMP: “I terminated Joe Biden’s insane electric vehicle mandate where you were mandated to buy an electric vehicle. You were mandated within just a few years to buy an electric vehicle.”

THE FACTS: It’s misleading to claim that the Biden administration implemented such a mandate. In April 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency announced strict limits on greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles. The agency said these limits could be met if 67% of new-vehicle sales are electric by 2032.

And yet, the new rule did not include a requirement for automakers to boost electric vehicle sales directly. It set emissions limits and allowed automakers to choose how to meet them.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced on March 12 that the agency would reconsider the rule, but it has not yet been terminated.

In 2019, Kamala Harris co-sponsored a bill as a U.S. senator called the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act that would have required 100% of new passenger vehicles sold to be zero-emission by 2040. The bill, which stalled in committee, did not ban ownership of vehicles that produce emissions.

An active tuberculosis case has been reported in a student at Dillard High School, the Florida Department of Health confirmed to Broward County Public School officials on Tuesday.

The person was “recently on campus,” and health department officials in Broward County began notifying students who could have potentially been exposed, John Sullivan, a spokesperson for Broward County Public Schools, said in a statement Tuesday evening. Students and staff who were impacted were directly contacted.

On Wednesday, the health department will offer testing at the Fort Lauderdale school for impacted students with parental consent, Sullivan said.

A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health did not immediately respond to an email seeking information after business hours Tuesday and could not be reached by phone.

No other information about the student was released.

Tuberculosis, TB, is caused by the germ Mycobacterium tuberculosis and primarily affects the lungs, according to the state health department, but can also affect the brain, kidneys or spine. It is spread when someone with active TB talks, coughs or sings.

Not everyone infected will become sick, leading to two conditions: inactive or latent TB and active TB disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Active TB can almost always be cured with medicine.

Symptoms of TB in the lungs or respiratory tract include a cough lasting at least three weeks, chest pain and coughing up blood or phlegm. Other general symptoms include weakness or fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, chills, fever and night sweats.

Cases of TB had consistently been on the decline in the U.S. for nearly three decades but began to rise in 2021, according to the CDC’s latest data shared in 2024. In 2024, more than 10,300 TB cases were reported, an 8% increase from the year before.

A total of 681 cases were reported in Florida last year, a 9% increase from the previous year, according to the CDC’s data.

The latest data available from the Florida Department of Health, from 2023, shows the number of cases reported that year was the highest reported since 2016. Broward County reported 70 cases that year.

Though anyone can contract TB, the disease disproportionately affects non-U.S.-born people, according to the CDC. And while there is a vaccine for the disease, it is not generally used in the U.S. Many people born outside of the country have received the vaccine.

“Recovery from pandemic-related health care disruptions, increases in post-pandemic travel and migration, and outbreaks in several states have likely contributed to recent TB trends,” the CDC said in its 2024 report.

The Associated Press reported earlier this year that a yearlong TB outbreak in Kansas City, Kansas, killed two people.

Florida Department of Health officials advise people to contact the local department about eligibility requirements for TB testing. “Most” health departments in Florida do not offer TB testing to low-risk individuals; testing is offered to people who meet certain requirements.

Primary care doctors, walk-in clinics and community health centers offer testing and treatment for those with latent TB infections, according to FDOH.

This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox. 

General Daily Insight for April 30, 2025

Abundance springs forth from joy. The nurturing Moon supports thought-provoking Mercury, combing through our inner chaos so we can find our true feelings. Though Luna’s enablement of optimistic Jupiter risks exaggerating our emotions, it also heightens our ability to find situations. As charming Venus moves into independent Aries at 1:16 pm EDT, we’ll be prepared to tap into our personal charm and fly solo or be bold and live our truth, without fear of what others might think. Follow what feels joyful.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

People ought to start hearing what you’re saying. In the past, you may have struggled to express yourself, or maybe you felt as though your words were going unheard or misunderstood. This time around, however, you’re more likely to see many people who empathize with your struggles, align with your morals, and support your independence while remaining open to collaborating with you. It’s a great time to meet or reconnect with like-minded individuals — that way, you can all share your emotions and ideas.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

You’re becoming more secure with wearing your heart on your sleeve. You could find yourself in situations where you’re feeling deep, overwhelming feelings today, and they might bring you to tears — or move you to burst into uproarious laughter. The more that you allow yourself to express your inner feelings, the more light you may feel by the end of the day. Just make sure that you aren’t allowing your feelings to impose your will on others! Let them express themselves as well.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Understanding each other is the first step to progress. You and another person (or a group of people) may be struggling to get on the same page. Perhaps you remember an event differently from one another, or maybe a disagreement with an unclear cause is wreaking havoc. Your current strength is in advocating for healing and harmony. Even if you have to agree to disagree, it’s important to find a compromise that works for everyone. You can uncover the calm in this storm.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Intuition can benefit you in unpredictable ways. Opportunities to advance in your career, market yourself, or show off your leadership skills may arise, requiring you to make split-second decisions and advocate for yourself while demonstrating your abilities. Don’t let imposter syndrome get in your way as you make waves around you, shaking up what others thought they had a logical handle on. Your innovative and instinctual abilities can take you further than you ever expected! You just have to tap into them.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

Fresh dreams are in sight! Someone might have recently told you about an experience that they had while studying, traveling, or working. You likely felt a rush of adrenaline while hearing about it. This is a sign that this type of pursuit deserves your attention. Once you begin researching it, you may unlock a hidden talent — or, at minimum, a pastime you genuinely enjoy. Don’t let your past experiences limit you. After all, you don’t have to be good at something to have fun!

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

You might be undergoing a transformation, both inside and out. You may not have consciously changed anything about your appearance, but people could be commenting on how you seem different or asking you if you’ve done something different with your hair. This is an inner glow-up that you can’t hide — and that’s a good thing! You deserve this sense of inner security, personal confidence, or whatever it may be. Keep letting that positivity flow through you, and watch any haters fade away.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Other people may be encouraging you to step up. You could be given an opportunity to show off your talents, wares, or skills, all because someone believes in the person that you are. They might not have even seen you in your element! Maybe they simply made a positive judgment of who you were when they encountered you, so remember to be kind to everyone you meet. You never know who you might be talking to, or where the conversation might lead in the future.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

You’re thinking long-term. This is the time to think about investments, personal health, and other life choices that will set you on a good path for the future. Slow and steady is definitely the best way to win this race, and it starts today. Making big decisions right now is possible, but there’s no need to rush anything. Take a deep breath and organize any upcoming important choices into a list according to their urgency. You’re setting yourself up for success!

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Indulging yourself can be immensely inspiring, particularly if you have felt stuck in a rut as of late. No matter where you’ve been going in circles, having a day where you allow yourself to do whatever you want can strengthen you to break out of this negative cycle. This will be especially relevant if your days have been ruled by someone else for a while, such as an authority figure or another very present person in your life. Make a decision for yourself today!

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

To understand yourself better, return to your roots. You could be able to trace certain habits that you find yourself repeating back to your childhood or those who raised you, as you realize in retrospect what a powerful effect they had. Once you find the root of these patterns, you’ll be better equipped to set them free and forgive yourself for any time that you may have wasted in self-sabotage or frustration. Today, you deserve to move forward with newfound freedom.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

You’re spreading joy! You may not always see the silver lining on the clouds, but today, you may actually be that silver lining for those around you. Things like a willingness to show up for people when others aren’t doing the same or offering a listening ear when no one else will spare the time can validate and uplift those in need. The little things matter, even if you don’t always see how they affect the people that you do them for.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

The security that you create for yourself can also uplift others. You may have been working on your personal confidence and self-esteem. It could even be a personal mission to learn that it doesn’t matter how other people see you, as long as you’re not hurting yourself or anyone else. When others see you living your truth in this way, they might want to follow in your footsteps and live their truth as well. By being yourself, you can actively share joy.

By Emily Wunderlich, Tampa Bay Times

TAMPA — Attorneys for the driver of the boat that hit a Clearwater Ferry say he did not commit a hit-and-run and that the ferry was not adequately lit at the time of the crash.

In a letter to investigators late Tuesday, Kevin Hayslett, who is representing local businessman Jeff Knight, laid out the most detailed account yet of Knight’s version of events after the collision that killed one person and injured about 10 others Sunday night. Among the letter’s assertions:

— Knight had someone on board call 911 after the crash and stayed on scene and offered help until first responders arrived.

— Knight left the scene because his boat was taking on water and he feared it might sink.

— The ferry was not properly lit and that the crew and passengers were distracted by dolphins just before the crash.

The ferry had been carrying 45 people, including two crew members, from Clearwater Beach when the collision was first reported at 8:43 p.m. Time-stamped video recorded by a city web camera at Coachman Park shows the boat crashing into the back of the ferry at 8:40 p.m. It then pulled away from the ferry and remained in the area as the ferry appeared to drift.

About 10 minutes later, it began to slowly motor away from the scene.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is investigating the collision, said Knight was cooperative and voluntarily took a Breathalyzer test Sunday night, which registered no alcohol in his system. He is not charged with a crime.

Hayslett’s letter states that immediately after the crash, Knight directed a passenger on his boat to call 911, and that passenger remained on the line with a call taker for nearly 12 minutes.

“During this time, the caller relayed updates and emergency directions, such as telling Mr. Knight to instruct all the ferry passengers to immediately put on a life jacket,” the letter states. “Mr. Knight tied his vessel to the ferry in order to stabilize it and render aid. He used his boat to maneuver the ferry closer to shore so that first responders would have easier access to the passengers.”

While Knight was still on the scene, he noticed that his boat had taken on “a large amount of water and all of his bilge pumps were activated,” the letter states. Additionally, the mother of an 8-week-old child on board “pleaded for immediate transport following the crash” because she was concerned the infant may have been injured.

“However, given the circumstances, including vessel draft, water depth, and the compromised condition of Mr. Knight’s boat, he prudently determined that returning to dock as quickly as possible was the best course of action,” the letter states. “Again, it is important to note that he waited until emergency personnel arrived on scene before he departed.”

As Knight was trying to navigate to shore, the letter states, he was stopped by law enforcement, who conducted a visual inspection of his boat and determined he was able to continue to the Belleair boat ramp. Knight was “towed to the boat ramp on their insistence where fire rescue met the infant to do a medical assessment.”

The letter also says there is “credible concern” that the ferry was not displaying the required navigational lights at the time of the crash.

“Multiple witnesses have reported that the ferry appeared inadequately illuminated, and that in the moments before the collision, the captain and many passengers were distracted by dolphins in the area, diminishing navigational awareness,” the letter states. “It appears that just prior to the accident, someone on the ferry was shining a spotlight in the channel, which would confirm reports that they were looking at dolphins.”

_____

©2025 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A Boynton Beach woman and her daughter, both originally from Ukraine, are facing federal charges after they allegedly voted in the 2024 presidential election while they were not U.S. citizens.

A criminal complaint was filed in federal court Monday against Svitlana Demydenko, 53, and her daughter, Yelyzaveta Demydenko, 22, who are both facing one count of unlawful voting by an alien in a presidential election. They made their first appearance in federal court in West Palm Beach on Tuesday, federal prosecutors said in a news release.

The mother and daughter entered the U.S. on nonimmigrant visas in April 2021, with Svitlana Demydenko entering on a K1 visa, which allows a foreign citizen to travel to the U.S. to marry their sponsor. They became lawful permanent residents in July 2023, according to the complaint.

Svitlana Demydenko and her daughter both registered to vote in August and voted in October in the presidential election, the complaint said.

In an interview with law enforcement at their home last Friday, Yelyzaveta Demydenko said she registered to vote online and went with her mother and her stepfather to a library in Boynton Beach to vote because “she wanted to make a difference,” according to the complaint.

Svitlana Demydenko told authorities she had also registered online and said she wasn’t aware that she was not allowed to vote, the complaint said.

The women were released from custody Tuesday after posting bail on $25,000 bonds, federal court records show. Their arraignment is scheduled for May 20.

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers will be without one of their top defensemen for Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.

Aaron Ekblad was suspended for two games for his hit on Lightning forward Brandon Hagel in the Panthers’ Game 4 win, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Tuesday evening. Ekblad will miss Game 5 and either Game 6 against the Lightning (if Tampa Bay wins Wednesday) or the first game of the second round (if Florida wins the next game).

The Department of Player Safety said its reasoning was that Ekblad hit Hagel in the head and it caused an injury, but Ekblad has no history of fines or suspensions for player safety.

In a video breakdown of the incident, the Department of Player Safety said Ekblad said he did not intend to hit Hagel in the head.

Additionally, Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola was fined $5,000 for his boarding penalty on Zemgus Girgensons in Game 4. Mikkola received a game misconduct for the penalty and was ejected from the game.

Hagel missed Game 3 of the series for a suspension stemming from his Game 2 hit on Florida captain Aleksander Barkov. This series has had its share of big hits; Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk had a hit on Jake Guentzel in Game 3 that led to a five-minute major penalty but no suspension.

Hagel did not return to the game after the Ekblad hit, and Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Hagel will miss Game 5.

Cooper was clearly frustrated with the hit and the lack of a called penalty on the ice, sparring with a reporter in his postgame press conference.

“It’s getting tiresome answering questions about a hit every single game,” Cooper said. “So I’ll ask you, you asked me the question. Why are you asking me the question? Do you have anything to say about it?”

Panthers coach Paul Maurice did not say much on Ekblad’s hit after the game Monday.

“I want to be consistent with what I’ve said on the Hagel (hit),” Maurice said after the game. “I saw it. I’ve seen it before. Saw it last year. I’ll coach, the players will play, the refs will make the calls, and the league will do what they will. … I don’t want to use this platform to start making my case on this. Everybody’s got a job to do.”

Ekblad was a key player in Florida’s win in Game 4, scoring the game-tying goal late in the third period. But the Panthers have had plenty of experience playing without the veteran defender lately. Ekblad was suspended from March through Game 2 of this series for violating the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.

When Ekblad was out, the Panthers teamed Seth Jones — who scored the game-winning goal on Monday — with Gustav Forsling as the top defensive pairing.

“You’ve all watched it happen here over the last three years: We will have really important players out for big blocks of time,” Maurice said Tuesday. “If it’s the first time that happens, there’s even questions from the coaching staff about what’s the right adjustment to make in your lineup, and how will that play out? So there’s a lot of unknown.

“Because we’ve been through it so much when Aaron’s out, we know what the (defensive) pairs are, the minutes if he — let’s assume — if he’s out of the lineup. And if he’s not, then we’ll go with what we’ve got.”

Aaron Ekblad will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety for this hit on Brandon Hagel, according to @FriedgeHNIC pic.twitter.com/Y1wYRBEfnw

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 29, 2025