South Florida Local News

With the recent Academy Awards, there has been lot of attention about one film in particular — “Barbie,” one of the most popular movies of 2023.

“Barbie,” which lost for Best Picture to “Oppenheimer,” gets a close look for its focus on the empowerment of women. Barbie dolls have been astronauts, doctors and presidents of the United States.

But the theme also points to the success of real-life women. Florida has its share of female trailblazers who deserve their own movies.

Mary McLeod Bethune and Marjory Stoneman Douglas lead the list.

Bethune worked to ensure education, voting and civil rights for Blacks in Florida and the United States and for underprivileged people worldwide. From creating the Daytona Beach school that’s now Bethune-Cookman University to helping to form the United Nations, Bethune’s life should be seen on film.

The Internet Movie Database, the primary online resource for movie information, lists a planned short film about Bethune. With the title “Reflections: The Life & Times of Mary McLeod Bethune,” the movie would star Karen Y. McLean.

There have been other portrayals of Bethune. In Florida, her life has been dramatized in live presentations by author and historian Ersula Knox Odom.

During the 1990s, actress Joan Turner had a similar portrayal of Marjory Stoneman Douglas in a one-woman show. While Douglas has been shown in a number of documentaries, there has been no major dramatic film about her life as yet. Besides being the prime conservationist of the Everglades, Douglas was also a journalist and advocate for women’s and civil rights.

Any film faces the obstacle of the current condition of Florida’s film industry. In recent years, state government has ended incentives for filming in local communities. There are ongoing projects — recently, Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem have been filming a movie with a Formula 1 racing theme in Daytona Beach. But various films with Florida themes have headed to Georgia, Louisiana and other states with tax incentives.

It’s worth remembering that a long list of Academy Award winners has been filmed in Florida. That includes the 1948 movie “The Yearling,” based on the book by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and 1984’s “Cross Creek,” which starred Mary Steenburgen as Rawlings. Both were filmed in the Ocala National Forest area where Rawlings lived.

Other stories of Florida’s iconic women are waiting to be filmed here. Such movies would be productive for the state for many reasons.

Sylvia Gurinsky is a tour guide and writer who lives in Davie.

When the John Kander-Fred Ebb musical “Cabaret” opened on Broadway in 1966, it was a game changer in its staging, tone and story.

Certainly, other musicals had tackled politics in specific eras, such as “Sound of Music” (1959) and “Fiddler on the Roof” (1964). But none targeted the rise of Nazism in Berlin during 1929 and 1930 using a low-rent nightclub as a metaphor for apathy.

Director Sam Mendes’ 1993 London revival of “Cabaret” further upped the ante, zeroing in on the seediness of the Kit Kat Klub, Nazism seeping through Germany and a blatantly sexualized The Emcee, dressed in fishnet stockings and torn mesh top, not the tuxedo that Joel Grey wore in the original.

Zoetic Stage’s production of “Cabaret” is another game changer, with its innovative direction and staging by Stuart Meltzer, a superb cast and inventive set. It runs through Sunday, April 7, in the Carnival Studio Theater at Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

Zoetic cofounder Meltzer has taken this now-popular musical, listed in the top 10 most-produced titles in American theater, to make it totally his own production. He reconceives aspects introduced in the Mendes version to make Zoetic’s “Cabaret” seem like a fresh, new musical.

The director’s attention to details makes many scenes powerful and unpredictable. The first time we hear the Nazi refrain “Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” expertly sung by Nate Promkul, is a chilling surprise. Meltzer’s unique spin on the last scene becomes one of those heart-in-the-throat moments in which the audience’s gasp is universal.

Instead of the traditional proscenium stage, Zoetic’s is a variation of theater-in-the-round, cleverly designed by another cofounder, Michael McKeever. At one end is the dancers’ cluttered dressing room. This leads to a runway of sorts that leads to a circle stage, followed by another runway leading to a rectangular stage with the words Kit Kat Klub in bold gold letters, behind which is the band.

Some audience members sit at either long tables up against the staging or in individual tables, or in regular theater seats behind the tables. As a result, the audience feels as if they are smack in the middle of the action.

As audience members enter, a dancer already is slumped over a dressing table — perhaps exhausted, or drunk, or perhaps it’s Elsie, who will be mentioned later in the song “Cabaret.” We won’t spoil the surprise.

Zoetic Stage’s production of “Cabaret,” at Miami’s Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, has innovative direction and staging by Stuart Meltzer, a superb cast and inventive set. (Justin Namon/Courtesy)

“Cabaret” opens just before the new year of 1930 in Berlin. The Jazz Age is winding down while the Nazi Party is gaining strength. The seedy Kit Kat Klub isn’t the place to be, but it offers a refuge for those living on the fringe, basking in its decadence. Its patrons and dancers refuse to acknowledge the violence, antisemitism and hatred growing outside its walls.

“Here, everything is beautiful” is the common refrain. Only it isn’t.

American Clifford Bradshaw arrives in Berlin to work on a novel, teaching English on the side for an income. On the train, he meets German Ernst Ludwig, who agrees to become his first pupil, recommends a boarding house and offers him an occasional job taking items back and forth to France for “a good political cause.”

Ernst also introduces Cliff to the Kit Kat Klub, where he meets the English chanteuse, Sally Bowles. Cliff also is recognized by one of the male dancers, with whom he’d had a liaison in another country. A few days later, Sally shows up at the boardinghouse insisting to move in with Cliff after she is fired.

At the boardinghouse, proprietress Fräulein Schneider and her Jewish tenant, Herr Schultz, who owns a fruit store, begin a serious romance with plans to marry. Their courtship is lovely and heartbreaking.

“Cabaret” has essentially four stories: that of Cliff and Sally and their growing relationship, that of the nightclub, the goings on at the boardinghouse, and the rapid influence of the Nazis.

Meltzer’s skill at casting superior actors and pushing them to even higher performances excels in “Cabaret.”

Lindsey Corey, one of South Florida’s top singer-actors, digs even deeper than usual as Sally Bowles. While her character is, essentially, a third-rate entertainer, there is no denying that Corey gives a first-rate performance. Her “Don’t Tell Mama,” “Mein Herr” and “Maybe This Time” are show-stoppers, but her savvy interpretation of the song “Cabaret” is excellent. Too many singers approach this song as a happy party tune, but it is not, and Corey understands this. She finds the pathos, the sadness, the idea that Berlin is changing for the worse and she can no longer ignore politics. Corey’s rendition is one of the best we’ve ever heard.

Teddy Warren’s Cliff arrives in Berlin thinking he is worldly-wise but soon learns how little he knows. Suffering from writer’s block, he is seduced by the decadence of Berlin and by Sally.

Cliff, at first, is in awe of Berlin — “It’s tawdry and terrible. And I love it,” he says. His realization that his errands for Ernst are for the Nazis forces him to reevaluate his life. Warren, recently seen in GableStage’s “Old Wicked Songs,” effectively shows his character’s growth.

The Emcee is this musical’s showiest role, and the excellent Elijah Word makes every song, every movement, even a piercing glance count in this sexually charged character who moves along the story of the club and performs with the dancers. Word’s role in Slow Burn Theatre Co.’s “Kinky Boots” established him as a powerful entertainer, but his Emcee shows his talent at another level.

Avi Hoffman and Laura Turnbull as Herr Schultz and Fräulein Schneider in “Cabaret,” playing in Miami through April 7. (Justin Namon/Courtesy)

Word is mesmerizing when on stage, from “Willkommen” to “Two Ladies” to “Money.” The Emcee is dressed, not just in the torn mesh top and corset established in Mendes’ production, but mostly in rather sophisticated but oh-so-sexy costumes winningly designed by Dawn Shamburger.

The Emcee arrives as if in a fashion show wearing fishnet stockings, a garter belt and a corset, of course, but also an open-front skirt with pannier, a vest, jacket and top hat. Each subsequent outfit further establishes his character.

As Fräulein Schneider and Herr Schultz, longtime married actors Laura Turnbull and Avi Hoffman bring an undeniable chemistry to their heartfelt performances, especially in the duets “Married” and “It Couldn’t Please Me More.” Turnbull’s “What Would You Do?” is a forceful look at the cost of surviving.

Sara Grant is a revelation in her dual roles as the dancer Frenchie and Fräulein Kost, a prostitute who lives at the boardinghouse. Kost often is a minor character, meant to cause friction with Fräulein Schneider. But Grant makes Kost three-dimensional, especially as she gradually reveals her Nazi sympathies and virulent antisemitism. Grant has proved herself in a variety of roles in South Florida, but “Cabaret” shows her talents at a new high.

As the character of Ernst Ludwig, Robert Koutras starts out as an affable stranger, easy to start a friendship with. Koutras makes Ernst still seem like a nice guy even when his conman tendencies are revealed. But his black heart becomes clear when he first wears a swastika and his version of “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” that closes the first act is biting descent into hatred.

Kudos also are deserving for Ben Sandomir as various characters, as well as for Casey Sacco, Conor Walton, Lauren Danielle Horgan and Nate Promkul, who invest individuality into their roles as Kit Kat Klub dancers. The band, led by Eric Alsford, is a highlight.

Quiana Major’s sound design and Becky Montero’s lighting design enhance the production.

At its essence, “Cabaret” is a musical about denial. Sally Bowles and the Kit Kat Klub’s dancers refuse to believe that politics will affect their lives. Cliff acknowledges the influence of Nazism but declines to act until it’s almost too late. Fräulein Schneider forgoes happiness and love for safety. And, saddest of all, Herr Schultz refuses to believe that his supposed friends and neighbors would turn against him because he’s Jewish.

Zoetic Stage’s “Cabaret” is not to be missed.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Zoetic Stage presents “Cabaret”

WHEN: Wednesday-Sunday, through April 7

WHERE: Carnival Studio Theater at Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

COST: $65-$85

INFORMATION: 305-949-6722; arshtcenter.org

A version of this review ran in floridatheateronstage.com.

By ERIC TUCKER (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Donald Trump urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to dismiss an indictment charging the former president with conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election, renewing their arguments that he is immune from prosecution for official acts taken in the White House.

Lower courts have already twice rejected the immunity claims, but Trump’s lawyers will get a fresh chance to press their case before the Supreme Court when the justices hear arguments on April 25. The high court’s decision to consider the matter has left the criminal case on hold pending the outcome of the appeal, making it unclear whether special counsel Jack Smith will be able to put the ex-president on trial before November’s election.

In a brief filed Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers repeated many of the same arguments that judges have already turned aside, asserting that a president “cannot function, and the Presidency itself cannot retain its vital independence, if the President faces criminal prosecution for official acts once he leaves office.”

“A denial of criminal immunity would incapacitate every future President with de facto blackmail and extortion while in office, and condemn him to years of post-office trauma at the hands of political opponents,” the lawyers wrote. “The threat of future prosecution and imprisonment would become a political cudgel to influence the most sensitive and controversial Presidential decisions, taking away the strength, authority, and decisiveness of the Presidency.”

Smith’s team has said ex-presidents do not enjoy absolute immunity and that, in any event, the steps Trump is accused of taking in his failed but frantic effort to remain in power after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden would not count as official presidential acts.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the case, and a three-judge federal appeals panel in Washington have both agreed with Smith, but the case — once scheduled for trial on March 4 — has been effectively frozen for months as the appeal continues to wind through the courts.

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Trump’s lawyers also told the justices that in the event they don’t accept the immunity arguments, they should send the case back to Chutkan for additional “fact-finding.” Such a move would result in even lengthier delays before a trial could be scheduled.

Trump’s position was supported in separate briefs filed Tuesday with the Supreme Court, including one from 18 Republican-led states.

The case is one of four state and federal criminal prosecutions that Trump is facing as he seeks to reclaim the White House. He and his lawyers have sought to delay the cases from proceeding to trial, a strategy that to date has yielded some success for the ex-president.

Of those four, only one — a case in New York charging Trump in connection with hush money payments meant to suppress claims of an extramarital sexual encounter — is on track to start in the next several months. The judge in that case delayed the trial last week until at least mid-April as he seeks answers about a last-minute evidence dump that the former president’s lawyers said has hampered their ability to prepare their defense.

The Cooper City High School student who crashed with a Tesla while driving his scooter to school Monday morning has died from his injuries, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said.

Anthony Malec, a 16-year-old in 11th grade, was pronounced dead at a hospital Tuesday morning, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Malec was riding a stand-up electric scooter outside of the designated crosswalk in the 9800 block of Stirling Road, near the high school, shortly after 8 a.m. when he rode into the path of a woman driving a 2022 Tesla Model X. The driver was Fritznie Jarbeth, 40, of Coral Springs, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Jarbeth stayed at the scene. The Sheriff’s Office said speeding and impairment are not considered factors in the crash.

16-year-old student on scooter seriously injured when struck by car near Cooper City High

The accident was within the designated school zone, but the Sheriff’s Office could not say Monday whether the zone was in effect. Classes at the high school begin at 7:40 a.m., and other traffic restrictions in the zone also end at 7:40.

The teen was taken to the hospital in “extremely critical condition,” Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Michael Kane told the South Florida Sun Sentinel  on Monday.

Cooper City High School Principal Vera Perkovic said in a message to families announcing the student’s death that all after-school activities were canceled on Tuesday and that grief counselors will be available during the week.

“I want to offer my deepest condolences to the student’s family and loved ones, classmates, teachers and staff, and our entire community as we mourn this great loss,” Perkovic said. “I ask our school community to rally around the family in prayer and support during this time of deep sorrow.”

UCF thought it had put its time in the American Athletic Conference in the rearview mirror when it joined the Big 12 last July.

However, as fictitious mobster Michael Corleone found out in “The Godfather Part III,” just because you think you’re out doesn’t mean they won’t try to pull you back in.

UCF (17-15) faces a familiar opponent — one from their past — when former AAC member and in-state rival USF (24-7) travels to Orlando to face the Knights in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) Tuesday night at Addition Financial Arena (9 p.m., ESPN+).

“It’s great to play USF,” said UCF coach Johnny Dawkins. “They probably feel the same way. Unfortunately, we’re not in the same league anymore, but that was always a great rivalry.

Slow start sends UCF to 2nd-round loss to BYU in Big 12 tourney

“The War on I-4 took on a special meaning for all of us as competitors, so we have to get our guys up to speed on exactly what it means.”

Guard Darius Johnson, forward C.J. Walker and forward Thierno Sylla are the only Knights to have participated in the rivalry series, which ended with a pair of losses to the Bulls last season.

“I remember asking Coach if we were still going to have the game against USF,” Johnson recalled. “Fortunately, it worked out, so we can play them.

“We have a lot of new guys on the team, and some of them don’t realize how big the rivalry is, so I tried to relate to them any rivalries they may have had in high school or at the AAU level.”

UCF wrapped up its first season in the Big 12 with seven conference wins, including a program-first three wins over ranked opponents: No. 3 Kansas, No. 23 Oklahoma and No. 23 Texas Tech.

The Knights also secured their first win in the conference tournament, blowing out Oklahoma State 77-62 in the first round before losing to BYU 87-73 in the second.

Big 12 men’s and women’s tournaments to remain in Kansas City through 2031

USF went on an incredible run in its first season under coach Amir Abdul-Rahim, winning 22 of its final 24 games to capture the AAC regular-season title. But the Bulls fell short in the conference tournament, losing to eventual tourney champ UAB in the semifinals.

UCF and South Florida personnel said they believed they did enough to earn a spot in the 68-team NCAA tournament field, but both were shut out and found themselves in the 32-team NIT field instead.

“We’re happy to be still playing, first and foremost,”  Dawkins said. “Going to a postseason tournament, especially if you couldn’t make the NCAA, but to go to the NIT is a really good first step for the group.”

Junior guard Jaylin Sellers added, “I know it wasn’t what we expected us to do, but I’m cool with it, and I want to run it.”

This is the 49th meeting in the series, with USF holding a 27-21 advantage. The Bulls have won five of the last eight games, including twice in the 2022-23 season. Those losses still hang over Johnson, who scored 2 points in UCF’s 82-75 home loss.

“Last year was disappointing,” said Johnson, who is second on the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game. “To get them back is something I’m looking forward to.”

UCF knows it faces a challenge because USF is one of the better teams in the AAC in 3-point shooting, connecting on 36% of its long-range shots. The Bulls are reminiscent of another team the Knights recently faced.

“They’re very similar to BYU. They have a lot of guys who want to shoot the ball and they have a lot of guard play,” Johnson said. “We have to be talking on defense and making sure we limit [their] threes and stop them in transition.”

The victor will face this weekend the winner of top-seeded Villanova vs. VCU.

Matt Murschel can be reached at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com

By MICHAEL R. SISAK (Associated Press)

NEW YORK (AP) — The infamous “Access Hollywood” video in which Donald Trump bragged about grabbing women sexually without asking permission will not be shown to jurors at the former president’s hush-money criminal trial, a New York judge ruled Monday.

Judge Juan M. Merchan said prosecutors can still question witnesses about the tape, which was made public in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 White House campaign. But “it is not necessary that the tape itself be introduced into evidence or that it be played for the jury,” the judge said.

Merchan issued rulings on the “Access Hollywood” tape and other issues even after deciding last Friday to postpone the trial until at least mid-April to deal with a last-minute evidence dump that Trump’s lawyers said has hampered their ability to prepare their defense.

Merchan scheduled a hearing for March 25, the trial’s original start date, to address that issue.

Trump’s lawyers complained that they only recently started receiving more than 100,000 pages of documents from a previous federal investigation into the matter. They’ve asked for a three-month delay and for the case to be thrown out.

The hush money case centers on allegations that Trump falsified his company’s records to hide the true nature of payments to his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who paid porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 during the 2016 presidential campaign to suppress her claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.

Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels. His lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses and were not part of any cover-up.

In other rulings Monday, Merchan denied a defense bid to bar Cohen, Daniels and other key prosecution witnesses from testifying.

He also again rejected the defense’s request that prosecutors be barred from arguing that Trump was seeking to improperly influence the 2016 election with the alleged hush-money scheme or that the National Enquirer supermarket tabloid aided in suppressing negative stories about him in a practice known as “catch and kill.”

Prosecutors contend the release of the 2005 “Access Hollywood” footage, followed by a flurry of women coming forward to accuse Trump of sexual assault, hastened his efforts to keep negative stories out of the press, leading to the hush-money arrangement with Daniels.

Trump’s lawyers argued that the “Access Hollywood” video “contains inflammatory and unduly prejudicial evidence that has no place at this trial about documents and accounting practices.”

Merchan said he would reconsider allowing prosecutors to show the tape if Trump’s lawyers were to “open the door” during the trial.

The judge said he would rule later, after further study, on the prosecution’s request to present evidence about the sexual assault allegations that surfaced after the tape was made public.

Before he rules, Merchan said prosecutors will be required to make additional arguments about the evidence’s admissibility so he can better analyze it pursuant to rules governing testimony about so-called “prior bad acts.”

UCF landed another possible piece to its 2025 recruiting class with the verbal commitment of Cedartown (Ga.) defensive back Demarcus Gardner.

Gardner becomes the sixth player to commit to the Knights after announcing his decision on social media on Monday.

The 6-foot, 170-pound cornerback played two seasons of varsity football at Cedartown High School, registering 53 tackles, 8 interceptions, and 12 passes defended in 25 games. He also played receiver for the Bulldogs, totaling 942 yards with 13 touchdowns, according to MaxPreps.

Gods Plan

PHILADELPHIA — Amid hope of return, Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler instead was ruled out of Monday night’s nationally televised game against the Philadelphia 76ers with the bruised right foot 90 minutes before tipoff.

“He went through everything, all the treatment, protocols, and he just wasn’t ready today,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But we’ll continue to treat him. He’ll be day to day.”

It is the same injury that  kept Butler out of Sunday’s victory over the Detroit Pistons.

Monday marked the 21st game missed this season by Butler, and comes with the Heat also without Nikola Jovic, Tyler Herro, Kevin Love and Josh Richardson.

Previously, Butler missed the third game of the season for rest, another game early in the season for personal reasons, two in November for an ankle sprain, four in December for calf strain, seven in January with a toe sprain, three in February for personal reasons, one in late February for a league suspension, and now the foot issue.

Since joining the Heat in the 2019 offseason, Butler, 34, has yet to play more than 64 regular-season games, his total last season.

For their part, the 76ers on Monday were without Joel Embiid (knee) and Tobias Harris (ankle), among others.

The Heat next play Wednesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the conclusion of this four-game trip.

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POMPANO BEACH — Within all likelihood, no one may ever know why a man kept walking up a raised drawbridge in Pompano Beach over the weekend, despite desperate pleas to stop from a horrified bridge tender, motorists and other bystanders.

The mid-Saturday afternoon walk — on a St. Patrick’s Day weekend — ended with him sliding down the raised east side span of the draw, disappearing beneath the roadway and landing on a concrete counterweight below, said Sandra King, spokeswoman for  Pompano Beach Fire Rescue.

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“The bridge was open and on its way down when this gentleman was walking east to west on the north side of the bridge,” she told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Monday. “He was walking up the bridge when it was still open and bystanders were yelling at him to stop, as was the bridge tender who was also urging him to stop. He ignored their pleas and just kept walking.”

Homicide detectives from the Broward Sheriff’s Office continued to investigate Monday why the man, whose identity has yet to be released, took that fatal walk at the bridge that crosses over the Intracoastal Waterway at Northeast 14th Street.

By mid-Monday afternoon, the Sheriff’s Office confirmed the victim is an adult male and has been identified. But spokesman Carey Codd said the agency is not releasing further information until his next of kin are located and notified.

“At this time, there is no foul play suspected pending an autopsy by the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office,” Codd said in an email.

The bridge, owned by the Florida Department of Transportation and maintained by a private company, was observed  operating normally Monday as motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians including beachgoers passed over it. The span opened for boats that needed clearance without incident.

Saturday night traffic tie-up

King said the city’s fire rescue department received an initial call at 3:22 p.m. Saturday about the man on the bridge.

Witnesses included “a motorcyclist who apparently was the first one at the front of the line waiting for the bridge to close,” King said. “But nobody knew where (the man) went.”

Rescuers located him but it was difficult to extract his body because of where he had landed, she said. Pompano Beach and Broward County Technical Rescue teams “used a combination of ropes, webbing, a backboard and ladders” to move the body from the counterweight to a mechanical room and to the shore via ladder.  He was then lifted to the roadway.

During the recovery, the bridge was closed to traffic for several hours until 8:43 p.m., King said. Officers shut down the causeway to all traffic between State Road A1A on the east and slightly to the west of the bridge on 14th Street.

The closure generated traffic backups on both sides of the waterway as St. Patrick’s Day weekend revelers headed for local restaurants and bars. .

Local residents took to social media to describe how rescuers maneuvered their way amid the labyrinth of obstacles to retrieve the body with ropes and other equipment.

A spokesman for the DOT’s District 4 region said he had no information of any “prior incident history at this bridge.”

But other similar instances exist of people who died in falls at South Florida drawbridges:

• At the Royal Park Bridge in West Palm Beach, Carol Wright, 79, died in 2022 when the bridge opened beneath her as she was crossing with her bike.
• At a bridge over the Miami River linking downtown Miami and the city’s Brickell district, bicyclist Fred Medina, 58, plunged to his death in 2021 after trying to beat the bridge as its warning arms lowered and a whistle blew, according to police.
• At the Sunrise Boulevard bridge in Fort Lauderdale, Lawrence Hirschfield, 75, died in 1988 when he held on to a metal railing as the bridge was being raised. He fell 50 feet to his death after standing on the bridge under the gatehouse and could not be seen by the bridge tender, officials said.

Sun Sentinel archives were used to supplement this report.

FORT LAUDERDALE — Some talents aren’t taught. Some are just appreciated. Sam Reinhart is on the doorstep to a neon number for the Florida Panthers: 50 goals. Maybe the best way to understand what’s at work is through a family story from a youth hockey camp his dad, Paul, worked.

Paul Reinhart was an All-Star defenseman in the 1980s, a Team Canada mainstay, the kind of defensive quarterback NHL teams covet. Years after retiring, he was helping at a former teammate’s camp in Whistler, British Columbia, when his youngest son stepped in for a faceoff drill.

“As soon as the puck dropped, he didn’t not only do the right thing with his stick but was exceptional with his body position,’’ Paul Reinhart said. “I watched that and said, ‘Sam, there’s not much I’m going to be able to teach you about hockey that you don’t already know.’ ”

Sam was 10 then and maybe dreamed of this season he’s having at 28. His team is a Stanley Cup contender and his two goals in a rare Panthers’ loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday gave him 48 on the season.

Only Pavel Bure has hit that number with the Panthers. Only Toronto’s Auston Matthews has more in the league this year. Reinhart scored 33 and 31 goals, both career highs, his previous two Panthers seasons. So, even for a goal scorer, as he’s always been, this is a rare season.

Reinhart offers the idea he might be “quicker” on the ice this year as a reason for his scoring. Panthers coach Paul Maurice adds that after two mystifying seasons in which Reinhart and center Aleksander Barkov didn’t produce, and were split up, their high-end talents clicked this year.

“The best work he’s done in his career that I’ve seen has been with an elite center, where he’s made the center better by going exactly to where he wants him,’’ said Kyle Okposo, a Panthers newcomer who not only played for five years with Reinhart in Buffalo but was in his wedding. “He’s just always in the right spot. He was for Jack Eichel (in Buffalo). His chemistry with (Barkov) has been phenomenal all year.

“He’s such a smart player, obviously, as you see on power plays where he plays the middle that a lot of guys don’t like. But you can get a lot of goals there if you’re smart, and he’ll just meander there for 45 seconds looking for the right spot.”

Throw into the mix he doesn’t need to play with the puck and you’re getting closer to the ingredients of his season’s success.

“He will carry the puck if it’s the appropriate play, but he doesn’t need to,’’ Okposo said. “Some guys have to carry it, but he can one-touch it for an entire game and finish with a goal and two assists.”

Reinhart is a top example — a top-line player having a career season — of why the Panthers might have no better chance at winning it all than this year. He’s also in the last year of his contract, as is defenseman Brandon Montour, showing the Panthers have some looming decisions in a salary-capped sport.

Reinhart has, in some form, been playing on a top line since birth. He came home from the hospital, and the family joke is he was set in a playroom where his older brothers, Max and Griffin, shot tennis balls at him in a car seat.

The Reinhart brothers grew up in Vancouver playing a blend of sports: tennis, golf, soccer, lacrosse and, of course, hockey. All three were drafted in the NHL, even if that wasn’t the big-picture plan of parents Paul and Theresa.

“We brought them up to be well-rounded and athletic,’’ dad said. “They were best friends, played constantly all those sports together, and 99 percent of the success goes to them for the work they put in.”

Even now, as if to show his overall sports education, Sam remains a soccer fan. It started with Barcelona and Lionel Messi. Now he’s attended some Inter Miami games to see Messi.

“Big fan,’’ he said.

Paul Reinhart, watching from afar, enjoys watching his son land in a winning place. The Panthers have traits that remind him of the dynastic New York Islanders in the 1980s in that, “they’re physical, hard to play against, with great depth on the third and fourth lines and also great talent,’’ Paul Reinhart said.

His son is part of that top talent as the production shows.

“I think they have several guys who are all at the stage of their career where they’d be more than happy to give back some of their individual success to collect the team prize,’’ Paul Reinhart said. “That’s how they’re playing, how it looks like they come to the rink every day.”

Sam, asked what scoring 50 goals would mean, says: “It’s a cool number, but I don’t think ahead about it. I’m more of a day-to-day guy.”

Today, in other words, isn’t being on the brink of 50 goals. Maybe no day is spent thinking that. But today’s about the last breath of down time before Thursday’s game against Nashville starts a scheduling rush to the playoffs..

 

Patrick Clarke | (TNS) TravelPulse

This is shaping up to be another monumental year for travel, and already some significant trends are emerging.

American Express Travel recently released its 2024 Global Travel Trends Report, revealing that 84% of respondents are planning to spend more or the same amount of money on travel in 2024 compared to last year.

What’s more, 77% care more about having the right travel experience than about the cost of the trip.

As far as what’s driving the continued surge in travel demand, American Express Travel identified four notable trends.

Traveling for sporting events

Travelers are excited to see their favorite sports in person this year. According to American Express Travel, 67% of millennial and Gen-Z respondents are interested in traveling for sporting events in 2024, compared to 58% of all respondents.

Three-quarters of respondents who plan to travel to a sporting event in 2024 will spend at least three hours getting there and most (58%) will be traveling for soccer, basketball or Formula 1 racing.

The top cities for sports travel this summer are New York (30%), Miami (27%), London (26%), Las Vegas (25%) and Paris (25%).

Making travel a priority

More than seven out of 10 respondents (72%) said they would rather save money for a major trip than spend it on going out with friends, and 65% are more interested in taking a major trip in 2024 compared to previous years.

Perhaps surprisingly, younger travelers are more interested in working with a travel adviser to plan and book their trip, with 58% of millennial and Gen-Z respondents seeking a trusted travel professional compared to 52% of all respondents.

Traveling solo

More than two-thirds of travelers (69%) are planning on taking a solo trip in 2024, including 76% of millennials and Gen-Zers.

American Express Travel also found that 66% of respondents planning on traveling solo are planning a trip centered around self-love and treating themselves and 60% of respondents planning on traveling solo this year intend to take two or more solo trips.

Traveling on a whim

Nearly eight out of 10 travelers (78%) indicated that spontaneous trips appeal to them and a sizable 68% of respondents agree that they like to leave unplanned time in their trip to experience local culture and activities.

The study found that millennials and Gen-Z travelers are more likely to book a last-minute trip, with 77% having done so before compared to 65% of Gen-X and 52% of baby boomers.

“People are traveling to make memories in 2024. While everyone’s motivation for booking a trip is unique —whether it’s taking a solo getaway to recharge or embarking on an expedition cruise or safari — the trips that are trending are sure to be transformative, and our American Express Travel Consultants are here to build dream itineraries and help every step of the way,” said American Express Travel President Audrey Hendley.

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©2024 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. Visit at travelpulse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

TALLAHASSEE — An appeals court Tuesday will take up a high-profile case about the state’s attempt to prosecute a convicted felon who was among 20 people accused of voter fraud in 2022 by Gov. Ron DeSantis and other top Florida officials.

Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office went to the 4th District Court of Appeal after Broward County Circuit Judge George Odom in December 2022 dismissed charges against Terry Hubbard, who registered and voted in 2020. Hubbard had received a voter identification card but was alleged to be ineligible to vote because of convictions for sex crimes.

DeSantis and the controversial Florida Office of Elections Crimes and Security drew widespread attention when authorities announced the prosecutions of Hubbard and the 19 other people in August 2022. DeSantis’ office issued a news release with a headline saying he was announcing the arrests of “20 Elections Criminals.”

Judge dismisses another case against South Florida man accused of illegally voting

But the Hubbard case and others were handled by the statewide prosecutor, rather than local state attorneys. That led Odom to dismiss the Hubbard case because he said the statewide prosecutor only has jurisdiction to prosecute crimes that occur in more than one judicial circuit.

In the appeal, Moody’s office contends that Hubbard’s alleged crime involved more than one circuit because he registered in Broward County and information was forwarded to the secretary of state’s office in Leon County. Broward County is in the 17th Judicial Circuit, while Leon County is in the 2nd Judicial Circuit.

Also, Moody’s office has cited a law approved in 2023 by the Legislature and DeSantis to try to make clear that the statewide prosecutor has jurisdiction in such cases.

“At a minimum, the illegal registration and voting here affected the Second and Seventeenth Circuits because they triggered events that occurred in both circuits,” lawyers in Moody’s office wrote in a brief last year. “Because Hubbard’s voting offenses affected multiple judicial circuits, the statewide prosecutor has the power to pursue these charges under (the 2023 law).”

But Hubbard’s attorneys wrote in a December brief that Hubbard’s alleged criminal conduct happened only in Broward County and that the statewide prosecutor “usurped the Broward County state attorney’s authority to prosecute alleged voting-related offenses.”

Appellate courts to decide if statewide office has power to prosecute voter fraud cases

“Florida law explicitly limits OSP (the Office of Statewide Prosecution) jurisdiction to large-scale, complex, and organized criminal conspiracies that extend beyond a single judicial circuit,” the brief said. “The rationale behind the OSP’s creation was to hand such complex cases to statewide prosecutors when they could not be effectively or efficiently prosecuted by a single-circuit state attorneys’ office.”

Hubbard’s attorneys also disputed that the 2023 law could be used as a basis to overturn Odom’s ruling, saying it wasn’t in effect in 2022.

Similar disputes have played out in the state’s attempts to prosecute other people who were charged as part of the 2022 announcement. A footnote in the brief filed in December by Hubbard’s attorneys said the legal question was pending in five other appeals-court cases in various parts of the state.

DeSantis and other Republican leaders in recent years have made a major issue of trying to stamp out what they say is voter fraud. Those efforts included creating the Office of Elections Crimes and Security, which critics have derided as the “election police.”

Numerous groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and the Brennan Center for Justice, have signed on to friend-of-the-court briefs supporting Hubbard in the appellate fight.

Florida voters in 2018 approved a constitutional amendment aimed at restoring the rights of convicted felons who have completed terms of their sentences. The amendment did not apply to people with convictions for murder or sex offenses.

A man charged with voter fraud in Florida blames rivalry between Trump and DeSantis supporters

Carrying out the amendment, however, created widespread confusion.

Odom’s ruling said Hubbard initially completed a voter-registration application in July 2019 in Broward County. The county supervisor of elections submitted the application to the secretary of state’s office, and Hubbard was issued a voter-identification card in August 2019.

Hubbard submitted a second application to Broward County in February 2020, and he voted by mail in the November 2020 election, according to Odom’s ruling.

Katie Walsh | Tribune News Service

Move over Messi — there’s a new canine thespian in town. Ukai, the Australian shepherd/border collie/bouvier mix who stars opposite Mark Wahlberg in the new film “Arthur the King,” undertakes a performance that is more physically rigorous, if not dramatically suspenseful, than the one delivered by the French border collie who appeared in the Oscar-winning film “Anatomy of a Fall.”

But dog movies, and dogs in movies, aren’t just having a moment, they’ve been an important part of cinema since the silent era — and an easy hack to access audience’s heartstrings.

Not that Arthur’s tale needed much hacking to start with. This inspirational film is based on a true story, originally a quirky human interest sports news item about an Ecuadorian stray dog who bonded with a team of Swedish adventure racers in the middle of a grueling six-day trek, following them to the finish line, and eventually back to Sweden with racer Mikael Lindnord. The story became a media sensation, spawning a memoir and several other books by Lindnord, and a short ESPN documentary, as well as a dog rescue foundation.

Lindnord’s memoir “Arthur: The Dog who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home” serves as the basis for “Arthur the King,” adapted by screenwriter Michael Brandt and directed by Simon Cellan Jones, who also directed star Mark Wahlberg in “The Family Plan.”

This story of perseverance, suffering and salvation though physical challenges is right in Wahlberg’s current wheelhouse. The star is a deeply devout Catholic, devoted to a prayer and exercise routine that regularly starts around 3 a.m. His 2022 film “Father Stu,” in which he plays a Catholic priest who survives a motorcycle accident and is left disabled by a degenerative muscle disease, features a story of spiritual salvation through physical suffering that’s a darker side of the themes in “Arthur the King.” Nevertheless, the amount of time his character, Michael Light, extols the virtues of pain and suffering while racing in the film is a clue that this is the kind of material that Wahlberg thrills to.

Transposing the setting from Sweden to Colorado, and the race from Ecuador to the Dominican Republic (where the film was shot on location), Wahlberg stars as a washed-up adventure racer who has struggled in the past with being a team player. With one last chance to prove himself, he puts together a team for the adventure racing world championships, including an old rival, Chik (Ali Suliman), a new superstar, Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), and an estranged teammate turned influencer, Leo (Simu Liu). Together they’ll have to run, hike, bike, climb and kayak their way over hundreds of miles of rough terrain over the course of several days to the finish line.

Intercut with the race prep is the plight of a Santo Domingo stray pup who is starved and wounded living on the streets. When Michael tosses him a meatball during a rest at a race transition, the dog starts following the team through jungle downpours, river crossings and ocean paddles, serving as both motivator and mascot. He even has his own “Lassie” moments, communicating danger to the team along the way. They dub him Arthur for his stoic, regal demeanor.

It’s fairly standard, and often treacly heartwarming dog fare, calling to mind other adventurous pups in TV and film, like the aforementioned Lassie, Benji and Rin Tin Tin, but edged up with an adventure sports milieu and vibrant, handheld cinematography by Jacques Jouffret that gives the film a more adult, action-oriented look and feel (there is one CGI shot of Arthur that should have been reconsidered given the film’s grittier aesthetic).

Suffering may be Wahlberg’s raison d’etre, but this is a lighter and more uplifting mode for the actor, who clearly enjoys the extreme physicality of the performance, even if the emotional tenor is well within his established star persona. And if you’re a dog person, it will be impossible to resist the tale of Arthur and his knights of extreme sports.

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‘ARTHUR THE KING’

2.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for some strong language)

Running time: 1:47

How to watch: in theaters Friday

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©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday refused to halt a prison sentence for former Trump White House official Peter Navarro as he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction.

Navarro is due to report Tuesday to a federal prison for a four-month sentence, after being found guilty of misdemeanor charges for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He had asked to stay free while he appealed his conviction.

Navarro has maintained that he couldn’t cooperate with the committee because former President Donald Trump had invoked executive privilege. Lower courts have rejected that argument, finding he couldn’t prove Trump had actually invoked it.

The Monday order signed by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency applications from Washington, D.C., said he has “no basis to disagree” with the appeals court ruling, though he said the finding doesn’t affect the eventual outcome of Navarro’s appeal.

His attorney Stanley Woodward declined to comment.

Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser, was the second Trump aide convicted of misdemeanor contempt of Congress charges. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon previously received a four-month sentence but was allowed to stay free pending appeal by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was appointed by Trump.

Navarro was found guilty of defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Jan. 6 committee. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, refused his push to stave off his prison sentence and the federal appeals court in Washington agreed.

The Supreme Court is also separately preparing to hear arguments on whether Trump himself has presidential immunity from charges alleging he interfered in the 2020 election.

The Owls are going dancing again.

A year after making the program’s second-ever NCAA Tournament and making a Cinderella Final Four run, Dusty May and Florida Atlantic earned a spot in March Madness for the second year in a row.

The Owls earned the No. 8 seed in the East Region. They will face Northwestern in Brooklyn, New York on Friday.

FAU is 25-8 this season, but the Owls were shocked by 16-20 Temple in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament on Friday.

The three surviving 2023 Final Four teams (with Miami having not made the tournament), FAU, San Diego State and defending champion UConn, are all in the East Region. If both FAU and UConn win their first-round games, they would face off in a Round-of-32 matchup.

The Owls did not have the same success as they did in the 2022-23 season, which they finished 35-4.

FAU, however, had a tougher schedule this season, beating tough out-of-conference teams like Arizona, Butler, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech. However, the Owls also lost to Illinois and Bryant outside the AAC and dropped conference games to Charlotte, UAB and a surging USF, among others.

The Owls returned much of the same core from last year’s Final Four team, with guards Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin and forward Vladislav Goldin leading the way in scoring.

Two other Florida teams will join FAU in the NCAA Tournament. Florida returned to March Madness after a two-season absence, and Stetson punched its ticket to the first NCAA Tournament in school history.

DETROIT — Observations and other notes of interest from Sunday’s 104-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons:

– This was not one the Heat could afford to toss aside.

– Because at this stage in the play-in/playoff race, there are no throwaway games for Erik Spoelstra’s team.

– So the preference would have been to at least have Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jovic.

– Instead, they were out, as Tyler Herro and Kevin Love continued to be.

– And yet Coach We Have Enough found a way with what remained.

– As Erik Spoelstra often does.

– Calling upon Delon Wright for minutes.

– And Thomas Bryant for meaningful minutes.

– Because as much as Monday night in Philadelphia means for tiebreakers, this would have been a backbreaker.

– Particularly after having lost a week ago to Washington.

– And, so, the Hornets, Blazers and Nets remain the only teams to lose to both Detroit and Washington this season.

– Largely because of Duncan Robinson.

– Doing it again in Michigan.

– And mostly because of Bam Adebayo at the buzzer.

– And now it gets real.

– Five in a row against teams with winning records.

– With Butler needed back Monday against his former team in Philadelphia.

– Amid ongoing uncertainty with Jovic and his hamstring strain.

– With Butler, Herro, Jovic and Love out, the Heat opened with a lineup of Robinson, Bam Adebayo, Terry Rozier, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Haywood Highsmith.

– That gave the Heat their 32nd starting lineup of the season, a franchise record.

–  Caleb Martin played as the Heat’s first reserve.

– Bryant followed.

– And then Wright got his first action in eight games, entering alongside Patty Mills.

– That left Jamal Cain and Orlando Robinson available but out of the mix.

– Highsmith’s first shot was the 500th of his career.

– The game concluded the fifth of the six times the Heat face the same opponent in consecutive games this season, having won Friday at Little Caesars.

– The Heat in such sets previously swept Charlotte, split a pair against the Pacers and twice split against the Bulls. The Heat conclude their regular season with a home-and-home such pair against the Raptors.

– It also opened the 11th of the Heat’s 13 back-to-back sets this season, to conclude Monday in Philadelphia. The Heat went into Sunday 6-4 on the front end of such sets, 5-5 on the back end.

– Pistons coach Monty Williams spoke pregame about how he is pushing his young, lottery-bound roster.

– “I learned a tough principle a while ago about, ‘Everything you want is on the other side of hard,’ ” he said. “Sometimes you avoid hard, or we want to get rescued from it. Most of the time, that’s where the good stuff is if you can just stay with it and get on the other side.”

– The Pistons honored their 2004 NBA championship team at halftime.

– With Lakers coach Darvin Ham flying cross-country between West Coast games to make it.

– “We loved playing for you guys every single night. What we did on the floor embodied what you did every single night. We love you all and thank you for your support,” Blazers coach and former Pistons guard Chauncey Blllups told the crowd.

DETROIT — This time, with meaning.

This time, when least expected.

Bam Adebayo’s newfound 3-point threat?

Never more meaningful.

Never more dramatic.

Draining a 3-pointer as the clock expired, Adebayo salvaged the day for the Miami Heat on Sunday at Little Caesars Arena, in a dramatic 104-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons that provided a needed boost to the Heat’s playoff chances.

“It was,” Adebayo said, “one of those moments.”

That it was, the 31-foot shot the longest conversion of Adebayo’s seven-year career.

“Sometimes,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, “there’s a karma to it and the ball just happens to find the guy who’s doing the most.”

Which Adebayo arguably did, closing with 20 points and 17 rebounds.

So instead of blowing a 17-point second-half lead, the Heat made it consecutive victories after a four-game losing streak.

It was an afternoon when it appeared teammate Duncan Robinson would be the Heat’s shooting star.

Converting five 3-pointers in his 21-point first half, Robinson helped set the stage for the Heat to compensate for the injury absences of Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Nikola Jovic and Kevin Love.

Robinson closed with 30 points, shooting 7 of 12 on 3-pointers. Terry Rozier added 17 points for the Heat.

Next up is a Monday night showdown for playoff seeding against the Philadelphia 76ers, the third game on this four-game trip that concludes Wednesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The expectation is that Butler returns against the 76ers from the bruised right foot that kept him out Sunday, with Jovic less likely to be back from his hamstring strain.

Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday’s game:

1. Winning moment: The Pistons were in position in a 101-101 tie to run the clock out, after gaining possession on an Evan Fournier steal with 23.7 seconds to play.

Instead, with the shot clock off, Pistons guard Cade Cunningham opted for a stepback 3-pointer with nine seconds to play, an errant attempt rebounded by Rozier.

That’s when the Heat elected to play in transition, with a timeout available.

“That final stop, it’s that age old-question: ‘You take a timeout or not?'” Spoelstra said. “I don’t think it would have been as open as this one.

“Was I anticipating it would be a Bam trail three? No.”

Adebayo, who now has made a 3-pointer in three consecutive games for the first time in his career, did not know what to expect, as he trailed in transition.

“Clock winding down, Terry threw me the ball, spot I’ve been making lately,” he said of the moments before his splashdown.

And then pandemonium,

2. Closing time: The Pistons led 23-21 after the first quarter, with the Heat then taking a 60-50 lead into halftime, courtesy of a 39-point second period.

The Heat then went up 17 in the third period, only to see Detroit close the quarter on a 16-2 run to move within 79-76 entering the fourth.

The Heat then went up nine early in the fourth, only to see long-time nemesis Fournier help draw Detroit into a 90-90 tie.

An Adebayo dunk and a Robinson 3-pointer then pushed the Heat to a five-point lead.

From there, a stepback 3-pointer by Cunningham got the Pistons within 97-96 at the start of a wild sequence that saw Robinson convert a 3-pointer on the other end, draw a foul and complete the four-point play for a 101-96 Heat lead with 2 minutes to play.

From there, an Isaiah Steward 3-pointer drew the Pistons within 101-99.

Adebayo then appeared to counter with a layup, but the basket was nullified upon review by a shot-clock violation, leaving the Heat up two with 51.1 seconds to play.

A Cunningham layup then tied it with 42 seconds to play.

Then the turnover that led to Cunningham’s rushed shot.

And then Adebayo’s winner.

“We’re just glad to get this W,” Spoelstra said.

3. No. 1,000, and more: Robinson’s first 3-pointer, 1:25 into the game, put him at 1,000 for his career and made him the fastest to that milestone, doing it in his 343rd game. Fastest to 1,000 had been Buddy Hield at 350 games. Next fastest to 1,000 were Luka Doncic (351), Donovan Mitchell (355) and Stephen Curry (369).

“Got it in a win, which was awesome,” Robinson said. “Shout out to Bam for that.”

Robinson also had been the NBA’s fastest player to 900, 800, 700, 600, 500, 400, 300 and 200 career 3-pointers.

“We can put it to an end now,” Robinson said with a smile. “I don’t need to hear about 1,100.”

4. And another one: Make it a franchise-record 32 starting lineups, with the Heat this time opening with Robinson, Adebayo, Rozier, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Haywood Highsmith.

The franchise record of 31 lineups was set in the 2014-15 season, when the Heat were adjusting from the offseason loss of LeBron James and the blood clots that sidelined Chris Bosh at midseason.

It was the 25th start for Highsmith and the 18th start for Jaquez.

The Heat had 11 available players, with Josh Richardson out for the season following shoulder surgery and with Cole Swider and Alondes Williams on G League assignment.

5. Anything goes: The Heat’s rotation got so convoluted that at one point in the second quarter they fielded a backcourt of Patty Mills and Delon Wright, which just over a week ago wasn’t even a thing, with both added off the buyout market.

It was the first playing time since Feb. 29 for Wright, who had lost his minutes to Mills.

Wright was solid in his minutes, active defensively in the Heat’s zone, but struggled to finish at the rim.

Spoelstra praised Wright, Highsmith and Thomas Bryant for their support.

“Those guys were so important,” he said. “If they didn’t have the contributions they had, we’re not winning this game on the road.”

On the same day a judge dismissed a divorce petition filed by Tyreek Hill, Davie police came to the home of the Miami Dolphins wide receiver over a domestic dispute call involving his wife Keeta Vaccaro, according to the Miami Herald.

Vaccaro told police that Hill, 30, “smashed” an unlit cigar in her face, per a Jan. 30 Davie police incident report cited in the story.

That report, obtained by the Herald, stands among a string of incidents that have defined a difficult 2024 thus far for Hill. Within the past three months, the star player allegedly broke an influencer-model’s leg, had a fire engulf a portion of his Southwest Ranches home and filed a divorce petition against Vaccaro. Then, one week after the latter incident in January, police arrived at Hill’s home, and now fresh details about this domestic dispute call have emerged.

Vaccaro had been on the phone with her cousin, who dialed 911 after hearing Hill screaming at his wife, per the Herald report. When officers arrived they defused the argument, which stemmed from their post-nuptial agreement and Hill’s divorce filing earlier that month, which had been dismissed that day.

Vaccaro told police she refused to sign the post-nuptial agreement and Hill “smashed” the cigar in her face, adding that she felt “bullied, threatened and verbally abused.”

Hill told police he merely “flicked” the cigar, denying that it actually struck her, according to the Herald.

Officers saw no signs of any struggle in the home, nor any noticeable marks on Vaccaro’s face and body. “Due to conflicting stories and no evidence that a crime had occurred, no arrest was made,” the police report says.

During a March 6 appearance on The Pivot Podcast, Hill vowed to “clean up” his life following incidents that have dogged his offseason.

“I lost my true self from what my grandparents raised me to be when I entered the league,” Hill told podcasters. “I completely forgot my relationship with God. And it really showed.”

Hill married Vaccaro on Nov. 8 in Texas during the Dolphins’ bye week. After the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported their divorce filing in late January, Hill denied it on X, writing, “boy no the heck we didn’t so don’t put that in the air !!! We are happily married and gone stay that way.”

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

By TERESA M. WALKER

Associated Press

NASHVILLE — Johni Broome scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as No. 12 Auburn won the Tigers’ third SEC tournament championship by beating Florida 86-67 on Sunday in a game marred by a gruesome injury to Gators center Micah Handlogten.

The Tigers (27-7) avoided the upset bug that took out the SEC’s top three seeds in Friday’s quarterfinals, leaving them as the highest seed still standing. They never trailed in the final, adding titles to those won in 1985 and 2019 and earning a second under coach Bruce Pearl.

“All of the Auburn family got in their cars,” Pearl said. “They drove up north from north Alabama, central Alabama, south Alabama.”

“It just makes it more special,” said Broome, who was named the tournament MVP. “I wanted it for myself, but I wanted to see the smiles on my teammates’ faces and my coaches’ faces because we worked so hard to be here.”

Denver Jones scored 11 points for Auburn. Chad Baker-Mazara added 10 before going to the bench along with Broome and getting a standing ovation with two minutes left.

The sixth-seeded Gators (24-11) were playing their fourth game in as many days and trying to win the program’s fifth SEC tourney title and first since 2014. But they lost Handlogten, who was taken off the court on a stretcher, to a broken lower left leg within the first three minutes.

“That’s a super fluky injury, you know, that you don’t see very often in this game,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.

The arena briefly went silent, with players from both teams returning to their benches to pray.

“That hurts their depth even more,” Pearl said of Florida losing Handlogten.

Zyon Pullin led the Gators with 15 points. Walter Clayton Jr. added 13, Tyrese Samuel had 12 and Thomas Haugh 11.

“Obviously a disappointing outcome for us today,” Golden said. “First and foremost, I’m incredibly proud of my team. I feel like they’ve done a great job just fighting and staying the course. We didn’t play our best today, but our effort was there, our intent was there, ourheart was in the right place, head in the right place. Just ran into a team that was playing really, really well. They just beat us today.”

The Gators tried to post another rally to earn the title and the automatic NCAA tournament berth. They trailed by as many as 12 points before pulling to within 38-30 at halftime.

Florida got to within 45-44 with 17 minutes left on a Clayton 3-pointer.

But Auburn answered each spurt in a game where Pearl went up against his former assistant in Florida coach Todd Golden. Pearl notched his 200th career win at Auburn.

The Tigers’ offensive firepower showed when they scored seven straight points within 55 seconds, capped by a high-flying dunk from Jones with 14:08 to go.

Auburn increased its lead to as many as 21 points in the final minutes with Tigers fans standing ready to celebrate.

BIG PICTURE

Florida: Freshman Alex Condon replaced Handlogten after his injury. He scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Auburn: The Tigers got revenge for their biggest loss this season. They fell to the Gators 81-65 in Gainesville on Feb. 10 and were coming off their only win by single digits, a 73-66 semifinal victory over Mississippi State. … They shot 64.3% (18 of 28) in the second half.

GRUESOME INJURY

Bridgestone Arena fell silent as Handlogten was being treated with 17:39 left in the first half. Handlogten had two rebounds in two minutes and was trying to come down with a third when he landed awkwardly on his left foot. He immediately went down in pain and rolled onto his side, putting his hands to his face.

The sound of bone apparently breaking could be heard on TV, and blood immediately was visible on the back of his calf.

Play had continued as Aden Holloway took a pass and finished a layup on the other end for Auburn. Play then stopped as trainers rushed out to tend to Handlogten, with his parents coming down from their seats to be by his side on the court.

UP NEXT FOR GATORS

Florida received a 7th seed in the NCAA tournament and will play Friday in Indianapolis against the winner of Wednesday’s Boise State-Colorado play-in game.

UP NEXT FOR STETSON

The Hatters, who a week ago defeated Austin Peay 94-91 to win the Atlantic Sun tournament and earn their first NCAA tourney berth, received a No. 16 seed and will face defending national champion and No. 1 overall seed Connecticut in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Friday.

 

Three adults are hospitalized with “serious injuries” after an SUV slammed into a concrete utility pole Sunday morning in Hallandale Beach, police confirmed.

Around 7:20 a.m., Hallandale Beach police and Broward Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue responded to the crash at the intersection of South 26th Avenue and Pembroke Road, according to Hallandale Beach Police Capt. Megan Jones.

A Cadillac Escalade struck the utility pole head-on after rolling over a grass median, causing its airbags to deploy, photos taken at the scene show. A second vehicle, a sedan further east on Pembroke Road, also appeared to be involved in the accident, photos show.

Capt. Jones said the department is withholding the names of the injured, and that the cause of the crash hasn’t been determined.

Sun Sentinel staff photographer Joe Cavaretta contributed to this report.