South Florida Local News

Slavin’s third-period shot into crowded goal lifts Hurricanes over Panthers

Thu, 01/02/2025 - 19:59

SUNRISE — Jaccob Slavin scored the go-ahead goal to lift the Carolina Hurricanes over the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Thursday night.

Florida’s Anton Lundell tied it at the beginning of the second before Slavin got one past Sergei Bobrovsky with about seven minutes left in the third.

Pyotr Kochetkov made 26 saves, and Slavin also had an assist. Martin Necas added an empty-netter.

Brent Burns gave Carolina a 1-0 lead 35 seconds into the game with a shot that bounced off Florida’s Aleksander Barkov and into the net. Bobrovsky stopped 37 shots.

It was the last matchup of the regular season between the two teams. Florida swept a home-and-home set earlier this season, beating the Hurricanes 6-3 on Nov. 29 and 6-0 on Nov. 30.

Takeaways

Hurricanes: Weren’t able to cash in on their many chances in the first period to build on their early lead. They had 16 shots on goal compared to Florida’s six in the opening frame. Kochetkov made some big-time saves to keep his team in it.

Panthers: Bobrovsky was nearly perfect after Burns’ early shot got past him, but the Panthers missed on too many opportunities down the stretch to capitalize on his stellar performance.

Key moment

Bobrovsky pleaded with the official that the play should have been blown dead on Slavin’s go-ahead goal because the goalie was pinned in the crease. It was upheld after the referee said Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk wouldn’t let Jesperi Kotkaniemi up out of the crease after he collided with Bobrovsky.

Key stat

Bobrovsky played in his 269th career game for Florida, which is the second-most all time for a Panthers goaltender.

Up next

The Hurricanes host Minnesota on Saturday, while the Panthers remain home against Pittsburgh on Friday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Winderman’s view: Without a fully engaged Jimmy Butler an outlook as bleak as loss to Pacers

Thu, 01/02/2025 - 19:56

Observations and other notes of interest from Thursday night’s 128-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers:

– No, we’re not going to go through the Heat mantra that last season was painted on the court during City Edition nights.

– You know, the one about, “Hardest working . . . ”

– But do consider each one of those touchstones and then consider Jimmy Butler’s performances the past two nights.

– Yes, illness can sap.

– And 13 days off requires a degree of build-up.

– But after missing 10 of the season’s first 30 games, something more could, would and should be expected.

– This, of course, comes after Tuesday’s comments about trade speculation.

– With no clear statement of commitment at that stage.

– Which certainly is within his rights.

– And then these two games following.

– With lots and lots and lots of standing in the corners.

– In other words, hard not to read between any lines.

– Yes, a career resume superior to Bam Adebayo at this point.

– And to Tyler Herro.

– But also the team’s highest-paid player.

– So therefore expectations.

– Significant expectations.

– Pat Riley addressed the trade rumors.

– Is it time to address this, as well?

– Because a trade simply cannot be off the table.

– At least while this is being served up.

– The Heat need Jimmy Butler to be present.

– And engaged.

– Not 48 hours of this.

– This isn’t about whether Butler wins with a potential trade.

– This is about the rest of the roster.

– And the rest of the season.

– And the future.

– The Heat stayed with their preferred starting lineup of Butler, Herro, Adebayo, Duncan Robinson and Haywood Highsmith.

– Entering with a 9-4 record with that group, including Wednesday night’s victory over the visiting Pelicans.

– The Pacers opened with a lineup of Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner.

– Kel’el Ware and Terry Rozier were the first two off the Heat bench, entering together.

– Those two entered when former Heat center Thomas Bryant entered for the Pacers.

– With Bryant then promptly draining a 3-pointer.

– Nikola Jovic and Jaime Jaquez Jr. then entered together, third and fourth off the Heat bench.

– With Alec Burks making it 10 deep.

– Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was effusive in his praise of Herro during his pregame media session.

– Asked how to stop Herro, Carlisle said, “Hope he misses.”

– Carlisle added, “There’s a lot of talk for him for All-Star, and it’s all deserved. The things that he’s pulled off at the ends of games, consistently over the first two and a half months of the season, have been pretty breathtaking.”

– Carlisle continued, “He’s special. There’s something else. He just has a different look in his eye. He’s a big problem.”

– Thursday was the 25th anniversary of the first Heat game at what then was AmericanAirlines Arena and now is Kaseya Center.

– “I do remember walking over here from the Miami Arena when they were breaking ground,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They had us walk over there and look at the sites and everything. I couldn’t even picture like how it was going to look, sitting on the bay and all of that.”

– The game closed the Heat’s seventh of the Heat’s 15 back-to-back sets this season, after defeating the Pelicans on Wednesday night,

– The Heat oddly entered 2-5 on the first nights of such sets and 3-3 on the second nights, including Sunday’s loss in Houston.

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– Spoelstra downplayed the back-to-back concerns.

– “These guys are rested, they feel fine,” he said.

– The game also was the close of the second of four instances this season with home games on consecutive days, having won against the Suns and Cavaliers at Kaseya Center on Dec. 7-8.

– The Heat have played home games on consecutive days 39 previous times in the franchise’s 37 seasons, winning both games 13 times, splitting the pair 17 times and dropping both on nine occasions.

– Herro extended his career-best streak of games scoring in double figures to 62. His previous high was 38 in a row.

– Herro extended his career best streak of games with at least one 3-pointer to 66, three games off Robinson’s franchise record.

– Herro also has now converted a 3-pointer in the season’s first 32 games, having previously broken the longest such Heat 3-pointer streak to open a season, of 28 set in 1998-99 by Tim Hardaway.

Heat fall flat in defenseless 128-115 loss to Pacers, with Butler again passive

Thu, 01/02/2025 - 19:54

MIAMI – For a second consecutive night, the edge from Jimmy Butler was missing. For the first time in a while, the defense also was missing.

For the Miami Heat, that proved too much to overcome in a 128-115 loss Thursday night to the Indiana Pacers at Kaseya Center.

In falling for only the second time in their last nine home games, the Heat proved unable to contain the Pacers’ pace and ball movement as well as an inability to contain Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton.

Indiana closed at .531 from the field and 17 of 40 on 3-pointers, with Hailiburton finishing with 33 points and a season-high 15 assists.

A night after leading wire-to-wire in a home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, the Heat very much had the look of a team playing on the second night of a back-to-back set.

“We just weren’t mentally prepared for the pace,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And it’s not just the fullcourt pace, it’s the halfcourt pace.

“We were never really able to get control.”

For the second consecutive night, Butler was held out of the fourth quarter, closing with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting.

Otherwise, the Heat got 20 points and eight rebounds from center Bam Adebayo and 17 points from guard Tyler Herro, which proved not nearly enough to keep Spoelstra’s team afloat.

Later, with the Heat playing from well behind, rookie center Kel’el Ware closed out a 25-point performance, albeit one that came without a single rebound by the 7-footer.

Five Degrees of Heat from Thursday night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Pacers led 38-25 at the end of the first period, 66-50 at halftime and 107-83 going into the fourth quarter.

While Spoelstra did not exactly pull the plug at that stage, he did insert undrafted rookie forward Keshad Johnson to start the fourth quarter, as Butler and Adebayo sat.

It was just Johnson’s third appearance of the season, first since being shifted from his two-way contract to a standard deal.

With Johnson and Ware on the court, the Heat closed within 12 on a Ware 3-pointer with 5:33 to play. But that is where the rally stalled.

2. Where’s Jimmy?: For the second night in a row, Butler was less than engaged amid the swirl of trade desires.

This time he scored on the Heat’s first possession by attacking the rim, without another basket until converting a 3-point with 6:07 left in the third period, and the Heat down 24.

It was the second consecutive night of a largely passive approach by Butler, often simply spotted up in a corner.

This performance followed up Wednesday night’s nine-point outing against the Pelicans, when he closed 3 of 5 from the field.

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3. Where’s Ware?: By contrast, Ware maximized his minutes, albeit with the game largely out of reach during the majority of those minutes.

While the rebounding wasn’t there, closing with just, the 3-point stroke was a factor, finishing 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.

On the defensive end, Ware also has three blocked shots and one steal.

4. Battle for backcourt: With the release from the first round of fan balloting for the All-Star Game, Herro not only found himself ninth in the early voting, but Haliburton was not even in the Top 10 among East guards.

Haliburton then came out and hit his first three shots, all 3-pointers, on the way to a 16-point first period.

For Herro, it was a rare uneven night, closing 6 of 12, the Pacers limiting his attempts.

Haliburton closed 13 of 21 from the field, including 6 of 13 on 3-pointers.

5. Rozier back: Guard Terry Rozier was back for the Heat after serving a one-game NBA suspension for his role in Sunday night’s melee in the road victory over the Houston Rockets.

Rozier entered in the Heat’s first substitution and provided a second-unit spark along with Ware.

Rozier closed with 16 points, seven assists and three rebounds, closing 6 of 12 from the field.

2 dead and 18 injured in small plane crash in Southern California

Thu, 01/02/2025 - 18:06

By JAIMIE DING and EUGENE GARCIA

FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) — Two people were killed and 18 injured when a small plane crashed through the rooftop of a commercial building in Southern California on Thursday, police said.

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Police got a report at 2:09 p.m. about the crash in the Orange County city of Fullerton, said Kristy Wells, a Fullerton police spokesperson.

Firefighters and police arrived on scene and battled a blaze that broke out, and evacuated surrounding businesses, Wells said.

The fire damaged the warehouse, which appeared to contain sewing machines and textile stock. The building was occupied by Michael Nicholas Designs, a furniture upholstery manufacturer, according to a sign on a door.

Ten people were taken to the hospital, while eight were treated and released at the scene, police said. There were two confirmed deaths, according to Wells.

It was not immediately known what type of plane it was or whether those injured were in the aircraft or on the ground, Wells said.

The flight-tracking website FlightAware shows a four-seat, single-engine aircraft crashed about a minute after takeoff.

Security camera footage from Rucci Forge, a wheel manufacturer across the street, shows a fiery explosion and a large plume of black smoke as the plane appeared to dive into the building tilted on its side.

The plane crashed near the Fullerton Municipal Airport, a general aviation airport in Orange County that is about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from Disneyland. It has one runway and one heliport. Metrolink, a regional train line, is nearby, and flanks a residential neighborhood and commercial warehouse buildings.

Another four-seat plane crashed into a tree a half-mile from the airport last November while making an emergency landing right after it had taken off, the Orange County Register reported. Both people on board suffered moderate injuries.

Fullerton is a city of about 140,000 people some 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.

Associated Press writer Amy Taxin contributed from Orange County.

Ethics report details allegations of campaign violations by Cherfilus-McCormick

Thu, 01/02/2025 - 17:14

A report containing findings by the Office of Congressional Ethics, released Thursday, provides details of multiple campaign transactions and official government office activities by U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick that investigators said may have violated House rules and federal law.

The Broward-Palm Beach county Democrat, first elected in a January 2022 special election, has been under investigation for almost her entire time in Congress. An investigative subcommittee of the House Ethics Committee has been working on the case for more than a year, but has not taken any public action.

The document released on Thursday is the Office of Congressional Ethics “findings of fact and citations to law” about its investigation that prompted the Ethics Committee to begin its own inquiry and set up the investigative subcommittee.

The 576 pages of materials — including the findings of fact and copies of campaign finance reports, interview transcripts, bank statements and text message exchanges — were released because of a deadline in U.S. House rules.

Cherfilus-McCormick said through a spokesperson that the newly released document does not mean she has done anything wrong.

The findings, released along with supporting documents, said Cherfilus-McCormick did not cooperate with the Office of Congressional Ethics investigation. Neither did her campaign organization, her relatives, or Mark Goodrich, a political consultant described in the report as her de facto campaign manager in 2021 and 2022 and someone who did work for her congressional office after she was elected.

The Office of Congressional Ethics said it relied on information from interviews with and documents provided by others, along with text messages and emails to and from the congresswoman. Some of those interviewed were named; another eight were identified with labels such as “Staffer 1” and “Witness 2.”

In a statement, Cherfilus-McCormick said: “As stated in the Committee’s public statement, the investigative subcommittee has not concluded its review of the allegations, and the release of OCE’s Findings is simply a result of the House investigative process. The fact that the allegations were referred for further review does not indicate any violation has occurred. I plan on continuing to collaborate with the Committee and its Investigative Subcommittee.”

Goodrich didn’t immediately respond Thursday to an email sent to an address he used in 2022.

Findings

In its findings, the Office of Congressional Ethics indicated “there is substantial reason to believe” four allegations involving Cherfilus-McCormick, her campaign or her congressional office.

State PAC Payments. The office said there was substantial reason to believe she “made payments to a state political action committee in connection with her campaign and failed to report these payments as contributions to her campaign.”

It said SCM Consulting Group, owned by Cherfilus-McCormick, made 30 payments totaling $269,424 during the 2021-2022 special election campaign to Leadership in Action PAC. The report described Goodrich as Leadership in Action’s “executive director” and also said he “appears to have been functionally responsible for the PAC.”

During that time Leadership in Action made $116,794 in payments to Goodrich, the report said, and SCM Consulting accounted for the “vast majority” of Leadership in Action’s contributions.

The report said Goodrich “effectively served” as her campaign manager and Leadership in Action “also made payments to vendors” on behalf of her campaign.

The office said the payments to the PAC may have violated federal reporting requirements and, if the money was not from her “personal funds,” could have violated limits on the size of campaign contributions.

In 2021 and 2022, the Federal Election Commission website shows that individual contributions were limited to $2,900 for each primary or election.

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Services received. The office said there was substantial reason to believe her congressional office “received services related to franked communications and other official work from an individual who was not compensated with official funds.”

Franked communications are the official, government-paid mass communication from a member of the House to constituents, often in the form of newsletters.

The findings said Goodrich was extensively involved in the preparation and placement of the franked communications, including multiple mailers and television and radio spots, which were considered official business, even though he wasn’t on the government payroll.

Excessive contributions. The report said there was substantial reason to believe her campaign committee “accepted and failed to report contributions exceeding contribution limits.” The report said it couldn’t determine the source of some political spending, whether it came from her personal funds or a business.

If they weren’t personal funds, the report said the contributions would have been subject to federal campaign contribution limits.

It said the timing, scale and sources of money “warrant further review.” The report, citing financial disclosures, said Cherfilus-McCormick reported her income increasing by more than $6 million between 2020 and 2021.

Unreported transactions. The report said there was substantial reason to believe her campaign committee “failed to report transactions between the campaign committee’s bank account and Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick’s business’ bank accounts.” In a separate section, the report said the office “found evidence of transactions between Rep Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign committee and her businesses that were not reported” on federal campaign finance filings.

The office said it identified “three instances in which apparent transfers” between Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign bank account and her business’ accounts were not reported on federal campaign finance reports, including a $25,294 payment from the campaign to “EC Firm,” a Florida limited liability company half owned by Cherfilus-McCormick with her brother as the registered agent and manager.

Edwin Cherfilus told the office that the money was withdrawn from her corporate equity account but that she opted to return the funds back to her equity account. The report said the campaign reported making a payment to the EC Firm — but didn’t report receiving the money in the first place.

The office said it “obtained” documents showing $88,828 was transferred from the campaign committee to SCM Consulting, the limited liability company wholly owned by the future congresswoman, in June 2021. But it said the campaign didn’t report an expenditure on that date to Cherfilus-McCormick or her firm.

It also cited one of the loans Cherfilus-McCormick reported making to her campaign, $10,000 on Aug. 17, 2021. On the same date, it said documents show a $10,000 transfer from the campaign to SCM Consulting but that the transfer wasn’t reported.

(Article continues after this document.)

Campaign manager

The office said that “much” of its review concerned “conduct involving” Goodrich. It described him as her campaign manager in 2021 and 2022.

“Although an individual named Willis P. Howard officially held the title of campaign manager with respect to Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaigns, Mark Goodrich appears to have actually managed the campaigns … Multiple witnesses understood Mark Goodrich — not Willis P. Howard — to be the campaign manager.”

The activities the report cited included the payments from the limited liability company to the state PAC and services he provided to her official office after Cherfilus-McCormick was sworn in as a member of Congress.

The report said after she was elected, Goodrich performed work for Cherfilus-McCormick’s official office, including on the franked communications to constituents even though she did not report compensating him with official funds. “At the same time Mark Goodrich was providing these services to Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick’s congressional office, he was also overseeing her campaign for re-election.”

During her 2022 reelection campaign, the report said a Florida corporation paid more than $150,000 for campaign mailers on behalf of the campaign “apparently at Mark Goodrich’s direction” but her campaign did not report the payments as contributions, and the payments exceeded federal limits on campaign contributions.

The report said a Florida company, Truth & Justice Inc., made three wire transfers totaling over $150,000 to a graphics and printing vendor for mailers ordered by Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2022 reelection campaign. It said Goodrich was executive director of Truth & Justice Inc. It said the payments to the vendor “apparently directed by Mark Goodrich, came at a time when the campaign’s cash on hand was highly variable.”

That may mean, the report said, that the campaign accepted and failed to report contributions from Truth & Justice that exceeded federal campaign limits.

The $150,288 in payments from Truth & Justice to the vendor, Image Plus Graphics, were made during a few weeks in July and August 2022. The report said documents filed with the Federal Election Commission ‘reflect that the campaign’s coffers were largely depleted by the beginning of July 2022” with cash on hand of $837 “despite the numerous loans that Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick made to her campaign during this time.”

Cherfilus-McCormick

Cherfilus-McCormick, 45, is the only Haitian American member of Congress, and has been outspoken about trying to find solutions to turmoil in the Caribbean nation.

She was first elected in a January 2022 special election to fill the vacancy created the year before by the death of the late U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings.

That victory came after she narrowly won a hotly contested Democratic primary in November 2022 by just five votes. She had never been elected before, but had previously run in primaries when Hastings was still in office.

The congresswoman was elected to a full term in November 2022. No Democratic primary challenger or Republican general election challenger came forward to run against Cherfilus-McCormick in 2024, making her the only one of Florida’s 28 members of Congress returned to office without facing a primary or general election.

The congresswoman represents the 20th Congressional District, which takes in most of the African American and Caribbean American communities in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Before her election, she was CEO of Trinity Health Care Services, a home health-care agency owned by her family.

Ethics process

The unresolved ethics referral was released Thursday under House rules, which provide for a complicated process to deal with ethical questions about members.

The Office of Congressional Ethics refers complaints about representatives to the House Ethics Committee.

In this case, the Ethics Committee established an investigative subcommittee to look into the matter. Under the rules, if no action has taken place, a summary of the referral is publicly released if there’s no resolution one year after the referral. The summary was released on Sept. 25, 2024.

If there is no action at the end of a congressional session, the entire set of findings is released.

A session lasts for two years. Under the Constitution the last full day of the 118th Congress was Thursday; the 119th Congress begins its two-year term at noon on Friday.

A second Office of Congressional Ethics referral about Cherfilus-McCormick was sent to the Ethics Committee on May 29, 2024. The Ethics Committee assigned the matter to the already established investigative subcommittee.

Under the rules — unless they’re changed by the newly sworn-in House — if there is no action one year after that referral, a summary would be released on May 29, 2025. If there’s still no action, the entire referral would be released at the end of the 119th Congress, which concludes on Jan. 3, 2027.

The Ethics Committee, which includes Democratic and Republican members, conducts its business behind closed doors. Its public statements are typically brief. Thursday’s statement accompanying the document release was four paragraphs and said that “No other public comment will be made on this matter except in accordance with Committee rules.”

The Office of Congressional Ethics has its own staff and is governed by an six-member board, plus two alternates, of private citizens who aren’t members of Congress and don’t work for the federal government. Half the board is appointed by the House speaker and half by the minority party leader.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.

An Army veteran’s path to radicalization followed divorces, struggling businesses in Texas

Thu, 01/02/2025 - 16:33

By KRISTIE RIEKEN

BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — Shamsud-Din Jabbar grew up in Texas, joined the U.S. Army and eventually settled in Houston, where he spun up a real estate business and made $120,000 a year for one of the world’s largest consulting firms.

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But the 42-year-old U.S. citizen, who authorities say plowed a rented truck through New Year’s revelers in New Orleans before being shot and killed by police, also faced pressures. He finalized a third divorce in 2022, saying in filings he couldn’t pay his mortgage and his business was losing money.

On Thursday, authorities and relatives were still piecing together why Jabbar barreled through a crowd in a Ford F-150 on Bourbon Street, killing 14 revelers and injuring at least 30 others. Officials said the attack was inspired by the Islamic State group, making it one of the deadliest IS-inspired assaults on U.S. soil in years.

FBI officials said Jabbar posted five videos to his Facebook account in the hours before the attack in which he aligned himself with IS. Authorities also found an Islamic State flag on the truck used in the attack early Wednesday.

“It’s completely contradictory to who he was and how his family and his friends know him,” Abdur-Rahim Jabbar, one of his brothers, told The Associated Press on Thursday at his home in Beaumont, about 90 miles outside Houston.

The 24-year-old said his older brother had increasingly isolated himself from family and friends in the last few years but he hadn’t seen any signs of radicalization when they talked. He said it had been a few months since he had seen his brother in-person and a few weeks since they talked on the phone.

“Nothing about his demeanor seemed to be off. He didn’t seem to be angry or anything like that. He was just his calm, well-mannered, well-tempered self,” the younger brother said.

Law enforcement officials said after driving into the Bourbon Street crowd and crashing the truck, Jabbar exited the car wearing a ballistic vest and helmet and fired at police, injuring at least two before he was shot and killed by officers returning fire.

Army, court and other public records piece together a picture of a man who had been stationed or lived in multiple states including North Carolina, Texas, Georgia and Alaska, had been married multiple times and seemed to be experiencing financial difficulties as he tried to adjust to civilian life.

Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.

A spokesperson for Georgia State University confirmed Jabbar attended the school from 2015-2017 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems in 2017.

He had been married at least three times over the last two decades and had at least three children who were mentioned in divorce and custody agreements. His two most recent marriages, in Georgia and Texas, each lasted about three years, according to court documents.

Dwayne Marsh, who is married to one of Jabbar’s ex-wives, told The New York Times that Jabbar had been acting erratically in recent months. Marsh said he and his wife had stopped allowing the two daughters she shared with Jabbar to spend time with him.

The AP left a message at a number listed for Marsh Thursday. Messages were also left for Jabbar’s two other ex-wives at their numbers or with their attorneys.

The AP also left messages for Jabbar’s mother that were not returned as of Thursday afternoon. Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said their father had declined to speak with reporters.

Divorce records also show Jabbar faced a deteriorating financial situation in January 2022. Jabbar said he was $27,000 behind on house payments and wanted to quickly finalize the divorce.

“I have exhausted all means of bringing the loan current other than a loan modification, leaving us no alternative but to sell the house or allow it to go into foreclosure,” he wrote in a January 2022 email to his now-ex-wife’s attorney.

His businesses were struggling, too. One business, Blue Meadow Properties LLC, lost about $28,000 in 2021. Two other businesses he started, Jabbar Real Estate Holdings LLC and BDQ L3C, weren’t worth anything. He had also accumulated $16,000 in credit card debt because of expenses like attorneys fees, according to the email.

Court documents show he was making about $10,000 a month doing business development and other work for the consulting firm Deloitte in 2022.

On Wednesday, police blocked access to a Houston neighborhood where Jabbar’s last address was listed, a small white mobile home in a gated community where ducks and goats were roaming in the grass. On Thursday, the FBI said it had finished a search of the area but did not release more details.

Despite the tumult indicated by court documents, Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said his brother hadn’t shown any outward signs of distress or anger about his relationships.

“I think he blamed himself more than anything for his divorces. … And he never was bitter towards his ex-wives,” the younger Jabbar said.

Childhood friend and fellow veteran Chris Pousson reconnected with Jabbar on Facebook around 2009, before the two lost touch again around 2019. From his home in Beaumont, he said his biggest takeaway from periodic check-ins with Jabbar were positive messages and praise for his faith, but nothing that raised any flags.

“I never saw this coming. And in the military, actually, I did anti-terrorism in the military. And if any red flags would have popped off, I would have caught them and I would have contacted the proper authorities,” he said.

“But he didn’t give anything to me that would have suggested that he is capable of doing what happened.”

Associated Press reporters Jamie Stengle in Dallas, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia, Tara Copp in Washington, Kate Brumback in Atlanta, Michael Phillis in St. Louis, and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.

FBI releases new video of a suspect planting a pipe bomb near DNC offices on eve of the Capitol riot

Thu, 01/02/2025 - 16:33

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — A harrowing chapter in American history remains shrouded in mystery: Who planted pipe bombs outside offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees in Washington on the eve of the attack on the Capitol?

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Hoping to generate new tips from the public, the FBI is releasing more information about its pipe bomb investigation, including an estimate that the unidentified suspect is about 5 feet 7 inches tall. The bureau also is posting previously unreleased video of the suspect placing one of the bombs.

A host of basic questions remains unanswered four years later. For starters, investigators haven’t determined if the suspect is a man or a woman. Nor have they established a clear link between the pipe bombs and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters.

The FBI “can’t work on assumptions,” said David Sundberg, assistant director in charge of the bureau’s Washington field office.

“Without being able to confirm the suspect’s identity, it is very hard to definitively establish motive,” Sundberg told The Associated Press. “Therefore, it would be difficult for us to state that there is a link, although we can’t state there is not one.”

In the absence of harder evidence, Republican lawmakers and right-wing media outlets have promoted conspiracy theories about the pipe bombs. House Republicans also have criticized security lapses, questioning how law enforcement failed to detect the bombs for 17 hours.

“We remain focused on conducting an investigation using all of the tools we have at our disposal,” Sundberg said. “But it is incumbent upon us to follow facts and evidence.”

The FBI has assessed over 600 tips, reviewed about 39,000 video files and conducted more than 1,000 interviews over the past four years. Images show the suspect was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a face mask, black gloves and a black and grey pair of Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes with a yellow logo. The person also wore or carried a backpack containing the bombs.

Surveillance video captured the suspect placing the pipe bombs near the committees’ offices between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2021. Nobody was hurt before the bombs were rendered safe, but the FBI says both devices could have been lethal.

Kamala Harris, then the Vice President-elect, was inside the DNC offices when the pipe bomb was found outside the building about 1:05 p.m. on Jan. 6. Before the bomb was deactivated, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s motorcade passed by the DNC building as she was evacuated from the Capitol, according to House Republicans.

This week, the FBI is releasing a minute-long video that shows the suspect sitting on a park bench outside the DNC before placing the first bomb there at about 7:54 p.m. The suspect placed the second bomb about 8:16 p.m., in an alley behind the RNC, the FBI says.

The FBI also is releasing closeup images of the type of Nike sneakers worn by the suspect. Fewer than 25,000 pairs of the same shoe were sold between August 2018 and January 2021, according to the FBI.

“Based on attire, those are probably the most remarkable or distinctive feature when it comes to clothing the suspect wore,” Sundberg said. “We’re hoping that somebody might recognize that.”

The FBI used surveillance footage to track the suspect’s movements through Capitol Hill on the night of Jan. 5. The suspect initially is captured on video at about 7:34 p.m. at the intersection of First Street and North Carolina Avenue. The suspect is last seen on camera around 8:18 p.m. heading east on Rumsey Court.

“The suspect in this case did a very good job covering themselves up at a time that this would not be abnormal, so it didn’t raise any attention,” Sundberg said, referring to face masking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Video of the suspect was sporadically available and often of poor quality, according to Sundberg. The 17-hour gap between the planting and discovery of the pipe bombs made it more difficult to identify potential witnesses, he said.

Authorities previously offered a reward of up to $500,000 for information leading to the suspect’s arrest and conviction.

President-elect Trump, who returns to the White House on Jan. 20, repeatedly has vowed to pardon some or many of the rioters who stormed the Capitol. More than 1,500 people have been charged with Jan. 6-related crimes. About 1,100 have been convicted and sentenced. Over 700 defendants got terms of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.

Sundberg said he doesn’t expect the change in administration to alter the course of the FBI’s pipe bomb investigation.

“We don’t know who the suspect is,” he added. “And I expect that we will continue to work this case until its logical conclusion and we identify a suspect.”

Wayne Osmond, singer and guitarist for The Osmonds, is dead at 73

Thu, 01/02/2025 - 16:01

NEW YORK (AP) — Wayne Osmond, a singer, guitarist and founding member of the million-selling family act The Osmonds, who were known for such 1970s teen hits as “One Bad Apple,” “Yo-Yo” and “Down By the Lazy River,” has died. He was 73.

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Sibling Merrill Osmond posted on his Facebook page that Wayne died this week at a Salt Lake City hospital after suffering a “massive stroke.”

“I’ve never known a man that had more humility. A man with absolutely no guile,” Merrill wrote. “An individual that was quick to forgive and had the ability to show unconditional love to everyone he ever met.”

Wayne Osmond was the fourth oldest of nine children raised in a Mormon household in Ogden, Utah, and the second oldest among the musical performers. The siblings’ career began in the 1950s when Wayne, Alan, Merrill and Jay sang as a barbershop quartet.

FILE – The Osmonds from left, Jay, Jimmy, Merrill, Marie, Donny, Wayne, and Alan perform during a taping of their 50th anniversary show at the Orlean’s casino in Las Vegas, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken, File)

Their popularity grew in the 1960s after being supported by singer Andy Williams, and they peaked as a quintet in the early 1970s, with younger brother Donny Osmond the breakout star. “One Bad Apple” and other songs were often compared to the music of The Osmonds’ contemporaries, the Jackson 5, and Donny was positioned as the white counterpart to the Jacksons’ lead singer, Michael Jackson.

The Osmonds’ popularity faded by the mid-1970s, although Donny and Marie Osmond both enjoyed successful careers as solo performers and as a brother-sister duo.

In the 1980s, Wayne Osmond regrouped with Alan, Merrill and Jay as a country act and had a handful of hits, including “I Think About Your Lovin.’”

But in the mid-1990s he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and lost much of his hearing from the surgery and treatment. A stroke in 2012 left him unable to play guitar.

“I’ve had a wonderful life. And you know, being able to hear is not all that it’s cracked up to be, it really isn’t,” he told the Deseret News in 2018. “My favorite thing now is to take care of my yard. I turn my hearing aids off, deaf as a doorknob, tune everything out, it’s really joyful.”

Wayne Osmond married Kathlyn White in 1974. They had five children.

This story has been updated to correct that Wayne Osmond was the fourth oldest sibling, not the second oldest

Today in History: January 2, Armed militia occupies Malheur refuge in Oregon

Thu, 01/02/2025 - 02:00

Today is Thursday, Jan. 2, the second day of 2025. There are 363 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 2, 2016, a heavily armed group led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, beginning a 41-day standoff to protest the imprisonment of two ranchers convicted of setting fires on public land and to demand the federal government turn over public lands to local control.

Also on this date:

In 1942, the Philippine capital of Manila was captured by Japanese forces during World War II.

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In 1959, the Soviet spacecraft Luna 1 launched, becoming the first spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity.

In 1971, 66 people were killed in a pileup of spectators leaving a soccer match at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed legislation requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 miles an hour as a way of conserving gasoline in the face of an OPEC oil embargo. (The 55 mph limit was effectively phased out in 1987; federal speed limits were abolished in 1995.)

In 2023, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest after making a tackle during the first quarter of an NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals, requiring life-saving treatment on the field. The game was cancelled; Hamlin would recover fully and return to play the following season.

Today’s Birthdays:

Filmmaker Todd Haynes is 64.
Baseball Hall of Famer Edgar Martínez is 62.
Actor-singer Tia Carrere is 58.
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is 57.
Model Christy Turlington is 56.
Actor Taye Diggs is 54.
Actor Renée Elise Goldsberry is 54.
Actor-comedian Dax Shepard is 50.
Singer-rapper Bryson Tiller is 32.

Daily Horoscope for January 02, 2025

Wed, 01/01/2025 - 22:00

General Daily Insight for January 02, 2025

It’s time to loosen up. The sensitive Moon harmonizes with joyful Jupiter, encouraging us to create, socialize, and enjoy a little extra luck. When balanced Venus moves into creative Pisces at 10:24 pm EST, we may notice ourselves becoming more open and free in our connections with others — plus, more compassion and creativity can shine through overall. That said, Luna does square unpredictable Uranus, which might cause unforeseen issues to hamper our optimistic spirits. Go with the flow, don’t fight the current!

Aries

March 21 – April 19

You may be more extroverted today. Conversations can flow like water, since the people that you meet are likely to engage you intellectually and emotionally. While you are gifted with extra luck and inspiration, there could be issues with insecurity, stability, or finances that block you from fully realizing your vision. Don’t get discouraged by any obstacles appearing out of the blue — just continue to do what you do best. After all, you can’t put that luck to use by giving up.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Needing support to move up is not a bad thing. There are those who are more likely to back you at present, even if they were hesitant about you in the past. It could be that you’ve gained more experience, or you may have won them over with recent actions. That said, having outside support won’t necessarily block nagging internal doubts or self-critique from inhibiting your progress. Make an effort to build soul-deep security by giving yourself the grace that you deserve.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

You’re reaching within to learn more about yourself. You may have been playing small recently, but today is your chance to push back against the urge to blend into the background. You’re taking charge of conversations, you’re directing attention to worthy causes and interesting topics, and you’re noticing your ability to reach people who align with your interests as you’re increasingly vocal about them. Open up about what you’re really thinking and see who responds. When you tap into your spirit, you can’t lose.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Sometimes inspiration comes from within your mind and soul. You may have been struggling with a decision, and everyone seems to have an opinion on what you should do. While it’s understandable that you could feel pressured by the people around you to make a certain choice, you might feel called in your heart to go in the opposite direction. Don’t block your blessings by listening to everyone around you! Remember, you’re the one that has to live with the decision.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

The people that you have around you may be building your recent and upcoming luck. There could be a group that you feel more yourself with. If you discover an opportunity to work with them on a creative project or simply spend time together brainstorming in an inspiring space, take it! While there is the potential for ego clashes or fights for leadership in the group, try to be someone who creates harmony. Surround yourself with the people who make you feel like you.

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

Don’t be afraid of taking the lead, especially if you see an opening for you to take charge of a leadership role. Of course, even when you have all the qualifications, you could still feel hesitant to put yourself in the running. While everyone gets nervous — imposter syndrome is hard to fight off sometimes — don’t let something good slip away because you didn’t even put your name in the running! If you’ve done the work, you can take the reins.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Life is not as heavy as it might have felt before. Your current path is becoming more easy-going and guided by positivity — it may feel like the clouds are parting just for you. You’re better able to get organized and work with others, and you might find that you’re being asked to help others with tasks that actually sound fun to you. The only setback could be worry or doubt creeping in and causing you to devalue your contributions. Believe in your worth!

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

Don’t feel as though you have to do everything alone. In the past, you may have had to stand on your own and fight your battles with no one supporting you, but if times have changed for the better, accept that shift. You’re potentially seeing stronger connections blooming for you, especially when it comes to partners in joint businesses and older family members. If you’re willing to invest in the people around you right now, they are likely to invest back into you.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

What sort of people are meant for you, Sagittarius? The more that you express yourself, the more that you can grasp who understands your energy. Those who do ought to be cherished and held close, while those who don’t might need to be given less of your time. It’s easy to surround yourself with people who want things from you, but it’s more difficult to discern who is really rooting for you from who is merely around in the moment. See through to their hearts.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

The more that your life is together, the more you may be reaping rewards. Putting in the hard work to keep an organized or healthy lifestyle should start paying off at any moment — if it hasn’t already! Stay alert for opportunities to spread your wings and do more. This personal win may come with the temptation to let things go and take a break for a while, but it’s wisest to keep on keeping on with what you’ve been doing. Don’t stop now!

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

You’re someone who can make their own luck, but only if you believe in what you’re doing. If you’re in a job or a living situation where you feel stagnant, this is your sign to make a change. You deserve better than something that drains your energy without allowing your efforts to blossom into something more. Don’t let naysayers stand in your way! If you need to, don’t hesitate to start an honest discussion about your future — anything to break free from the funk.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

Sharing feelings can be the healing you need, particularly if there’s something that you’ve been keeping inside for a long time. While it may feel scary to share it with someone else, it’s likely a concern that you need to get off of your chest. Even writing it down in a journal or in a letter that you don’t send could be a good way to let this inner wound heal. Instead of carrying it around with you forever, set it free.

Who has the edge? Dolphins at Jets, in regular-season finale

Wed, 01/01/2025 - 20:22

Here’s a look at how the Miami Dolphins (8-8) and New York Jets (4-12) match up in six key areas ahead of Sunday’s Week 18 game at MetLife Stadium (4:25 p.m., Fox):

When the Dolphins run: Miami’s fun rushing performance against the San Francisco 49ers is proving to be a one-off situation in the second half of this season. Last Sunday, in the 20-3 win over the Cleveland Browns, the Dolphins averaged just 2.7 yards per carry, and that was with quarterback Tyler “Snoop” Huntley’s 52 yards on the ground.

De’Von Achane had 25 yards on 10 carries in Cleveland, and neither Jeff Wilson Jr. nor Raheem Mostert were any better with the rushing attempts they got. The Jets are a middle-of-the-pack run defense, at No. 15 in the NFL, but behind defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and linebackers Jamien Sherwood and Quincy Williams, they shut down the Miami ground game in the first meeting of the season in early December.

The Dolphins’ blocking up front has incorporated a rotation at right guard with Isaiah Wynn starting and Liam Eichenberg coming in for every two other series. There are questions at tackle for the Dolphins, though, with Kendall Lamm placed on IR Wednesday and Terron Armstead’s status up in the air as he has been hampered by that right knee throughout the second half of the season and had to ask out of the first Jets game. Edge: Jets

When the Jets run: The Dolphins avoided Jets running back Breece Hall in the first matchup between these division rivals, but he’s primed to play this time around. That said, the Jets’ running game is rather pedestrian even when he is available, ranking 31st in the NFL. Hall averages 4.2 yards per attempt, though.

Miami owns the league’s No. 9 rush defense, with linebacker Jordyn Brooks a tackling machine behind team MVP Zach Sieler, Calais Campbell, Da’Shawn Hand and Benito Jones in a rotating defensive line. If Anthony Walker Jr. again can’t play due to his knee injury, Tyrel Dodson can expand on his 15-tackle game with an interception, which earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Edge: Dolphins

When the Dolphins pass: It appears it’s Huntley starting again for Tua Tagovailoa as the latter continues to nurse his ailing hip. Huntley showed against the Browns he is now far ahead of where he was in coach Mike McDaniel’s offense when he first substituted at the position in late September and into October. Against the Browns, he was 22 of 26 for 225 yards, a touchdown through the air and another on the ground as he ran for 52 yards.

His mobility and ability to extend plays brings a different dynamic to the Miami offense, and since he might see different coverages than Tagovailoa because defenses have to account for his feet, that opens up much of the middle of the field to throw to Tyreek Hill. That was seen in Cleveland last Sunday, and Jaylen Waddle could maybe come back from his knee injury. The Jets pass defense, though, is fifth in the NFL, and it could have All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner back after he missed the previous meeting.

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It could be problematic for the Dolphins offensive line if it has inexperienced tackles Patrick Paul and Jackson Carman start at left and right tackle with Armstead in question and Lamm now on IR. Edge rusher Will McDonald has 10 sacks this season, and Quinnen Williams is always strong on the interior pass rush. Edge: Jets

When the Jets pass: Future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers might just be checked out at this late stage of the season with the Jets long since eliminated. While he was in against the Bills last week, he went 12 of 18 for 118 yards, two interceptions and four sacks as New York trailed, at one point, 40-0. Backup Tyrod Taylor threw a couple of touchdowns later in relief, but the outcome had long since been secured. Rodgers was excellent a month ago against the Dolphins, however, going 27 of 39 for 339 yards and a touchdown before losing in overtime.

The Dolphins secondary has payback to get after both Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams in the Jets receiving corps had 100-yard games at Hard Rock Stadium in December. Miami would now be without Kendall Fuller, but Jalen Ramsey would lead that cornerback group with Kader Kohou and Storm Duck behind him. This time, the Dolphins and the ninth-ranked passing defense, which is No. 3 overall, will also have to be mindful of Hall out of the backfield.

Last time against the Jets, Sieler had two sacks and Brooks had another on a linebacker blitz. Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver may also mix in Ramsey on the blitz if Wilson has his number again like the first matchup. Chop Robinson has been winning many of his pass-rush reps on the edge, and now fellow Penn State rookie Olu Fashanu, at left tackle for the Jets, is injured, replaced by Max Mitchell. Edge: Dolphins

Special teams: One of the key swing plays that went Miami’s way allowing for overtime the first time these teams met came on special teams, when Malik Washington gave the Dolphins excellent field position with his kick return. That kicker has since been released, and now the Jets will have FAU alum Greg Joseph handling place-kicking duties.

On the other side, Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders has had a superb run of field goal-making. Punter Jake Bailey had some punts not go well in Cleveland, but then he had another downed at the 2-yard line. And if Hill is also getting sent out there for punt returns again, watch out. Edge: Dolphins

Intangibles: The Jets did take the Dolphins to overtime in the game in Miami Gardens a few weeks ago, but New York may just be checked out by now and just trying to get to the offseason. Team executives would probably prefer a loss for draft position, although that can’t really be asked of players and coaches. Miami is fighting for its playoff life and hoping it gets the Broncos loss it needs at the same time to get into the playoffs. Look for the Dolphins to do their part. Edge: Dolphins

PREDICTION: Dolphins 23, Jets 13

Dolphins Deep Dive: Prediction time — will Miami win at Jets, and make playoffs? | VIDEO

Winderman’s view: Heat’s Kel’el Ware offers statement in win against rookie rival

Wed, 01/01/2025 - 20:00

Observations and other notes of interest from Wednesday night’s 119-108 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans:

– When it came to rookie big men Wednesday night at Kaseya Center, the hype clearly was with Pelicans center Yves Missi, the No. 21 pick out of Baylor.

– Entering the night, Missi stood first among rookies in double-doubles and rebounds per game, third in blocks per game.

– Such are the benefits of playing time.

– Albeit while losing.

– By contrast, Heat first-round pick Kel’el Ware, the No. 15 pick out of Indiana, has largely had to bide his time.

– But Wednesday, as the Heat regained control in the third quarter, Ware showed the value of his size and length.

– The alley-oop threat is real.

– With an early 3-pointer showing that threat, as well.

– Yes, still some rookie mistakes, and not exactly expert at protecting the paint.

– But there is something there.

– And it figures to stay there ahead of Kevin Love in the rotation.

– Making buying time easier in the minutes Bam Adebayo dares to sit.

– The better of the two between Missi and Ware? Closer than the numbers show.

– With Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson back, the Heat went back to their starting lineup of Butler, Robinson, Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Haywood Highsmith.

– Butler had missed the previous five games due to illness, Robinson the previous game due to strained right foot.

– Terry Rozier was an active scratch due to his suspension.

– With Rozier being suspended and Herro being fined for Sunday’s melee in Houston, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was asked pregame for his thoughts on the sanctions.

– “It doesn’t really matter. At this point, what does it matter?” Spoelstra said. “I’m going to say something, the league’s going to change? We’re past that now. We’ll deal with it.”

– Spoelstra said Butler entered ready for his moment.

– “It was good that he was able to get a couple of workouts while we were gone and then practice yesterday,” Spoelstra said. “And then we’ll just read it in real time and see how he manages everything.”

– Going in, Spoelstra said it remained about developing consistency for his team.

– “We’re just trying to build a consistency,” Spoelstra said, “build on some kind of momentum, see if we can sustain. Guys take everything to heart, that’s what I really commend and like about this group. They work at it. And some of these really tough experiences I think benefit you, as long as you’re approaching it the right way.”

– The shorthanded Pelicans opened with a lineup of Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy and Missi.

– Alec Burks and Nikola Jovic entered together as the Heat’s first two substitutes.

– With Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr. following together.

– Herro extended his career-best streak of games scoring in double figures to 61. His previous high was 38 in a row.

– Herro has now converted a 3-pointer in the season’s first 31 games, having previously broken the longest such Heat 3-pointer streak to open a season, of 28 set in 1998-99 by Tim Hardaway.

– Adebayo’s third point was the 8,000th of his career.

– Jovic’s first 3-pointer was the 100th of his career.

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– The game opened the Heat’s seventh of the Heat’s back-to-back sets this season, hosting the Pacers on Thursday night.

– The Heat oddly entered 1-5 on the first nights of such sets and 3-3 on the second nights, including Sunday’s loss in Houston.

– The game also was the start of the second four instances this season with home games on consecutive days, having won against the Suns and Cavaliers at Kaseya Center on Dec. 7-8.

– The Heat have played home games on consecutive days 39 previous times in the franchise’s 37 seasons, winning both games 13 times, splitting the pair 17 times and dropping both on nine occasions.

– With former Gators standout Corey Brewer now a Pelicans assistant, it meant a reunion with Butler and Highsmith, with the three teammates with the 76ers in 2018-19.

– Additionally, Brewer and Love were teammates on two separate occasions at Minnesota.

– Among those on the Pelicans roster is former Heat two-way player Jamal Cain, who now is on a New Orleans two-way deal.

– Cain spoke with several former Heat teammates at midcourt during pregame warmups.

Jimmy Butler returns as Tyler Herro’s 32 lift Heat over Pelicans 119-108

Wed, 01/01/2025 - 19:59

MIAMI – There was no middle ground for the Miami Heat in this one: either make it four victories in their last five games, or become the rarest of victims in the NBA – a loser to the New Orleans Pelicans.

As a matter of perspective, the Pelicans entered on a 10-game losing streak, with losses in 19 of their previous 20 and without a road victory since their road opener on Oct. 25.

Against that backdrop, the Heat went up 17 early, saw all but one point of that lead melt away before emerging with a 119-108 victory Wednesday night at Kaseya Center, never trailing.

“You can’t play with fire,” said Heat center Bam Adebayo, who closed one rebound shy of a triple-double. “For us, it’s understanding you don’t play the record.”

With Jimmy Butler back in the mix for the first time in 13 days, the Heat moved to 17-14 against an opponent that dropped to 5-29.

It largely was a formulaic victory for the Heat, with Tyler Herro pacing the offense with 32 points, Adebayo filling the box score with 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and enough of 3-point shooting to keep things afloat, with Duncan Robinson closing with 17 points, including 3 of 7 on 3-pointers.

“Just trying to be better every game,” Herro said. “We’re stacking good nights.”

Butler closed with nine points, four rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes.

Among those out of action for the Pelicans were Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Jose Alvarado. Left to do the heavy lifting was forward Trey Murphy III, who closed with 34 points.

The Heat are back at it Thursday on their home court, against the Indiana Pacers.

“We just tried to come in and play to our identity,” Herro said.

Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Heat led 36-24 at the end of the opening period and 56-51 at halftime.

The Heat pushed their lead back to double digits at the start of the second half, leading to a Pelicans timeout 57 seconds into the third period.

From there, the Heat moved to a 90-76 entering the fourth quarter, sparked by the entrance of first-round pick Kel’el Ware, the 7-footer out of Indiana, late in the third.

The Pelicans closed within seven midway through the fourth and then again late, before Herro and Adebayo reestablished order for the Heat.

The Heat closed with 38 assists, their second highest total of the season.

“You certainly want to build some kind of offensive continuity where everybody feels like they’re involved,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.

2. Butler’s return: Butler was back after missing the previous five games due to a stomach illness and reconditioning.

His first shift largely was muted, closing his opening nine-minute stint with two points on a pair of free throws, missing his only attempt from the field, a 3-pointer.

His first basket and only one of the first half came on a 3-point attempt with 50.8 seconds left in the second period.

Spoelstra said before the game he would measure Butler’s minutes based on how Butler looked.

There also was the factor of Butler’s return coming on the first night of a back-to-back set, with Butler held out of Wednesday night’s fourth quarter.

“Thirteen days is a long time away,” Spoelstra said of Butler’s measured minutes

Butler closed 3 of 5 from the field.

“It was good just to see him back out there,” Herro said.

3. Still going: It took an accidental 3-pointer to get Herro going, with an errant alley-oop pass attempt dropping in late in the second period.

“It was a bad pass.” Herro admitted.

From there, Herro got back on track from distance, again providing the needed spark to the Heat offense.

With that errant alley-oop attempt, Herro extended his career best streak of games with at least one 3-pointer to 65, four games off Duncan Robinson’s franchise record.

Herro closed 11 of 22 from the field, including 5 of 12 on 3-pointers, also with four assists.

“He’s continuing to gain confidence offensively and with his responsibility to make plays for us,” Spoelstra said. “One way or another we want him to put his imprint on the game,”

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4. Running it back: With Butler back, and with Robinson returning from Sunday’s absence in Houston due to a foot sprain, the Heat got back to their preferred starting lineup of Butler, Robinson, Herro, Adebayo and Haywood Highsmith.

That quintet improved to 9-4, moving to a 20-5 lead at Wednesday night’s outset.

With Terry Rozier serving his one-game NBA suspension for Sunday’s altercation in Houston, Alec Burks played as the Heat’s first reserve, serving as a de facto backup point guard.

5. Emotional day: It was a particularly emotional day for the Pelicans, in the wake of the deadly vehicle attack on Bourbon Street earlier in the day.

Pelicans coach Willie Green emotionally offered his thoughts before the game.

“I got a text from my dad this morning and he was wishing me a happy new year, but saying he was praying for all the people in New Orleans. I didn’t know what he was talking about at the time,” Green said. “And then I read the news and saw what was going on.

“First and foremost, we acknowledge that this is an incredibly challenging time for everyone involved, especially since this tragedy is so close to home for us. Sometimes, it’s a struggle to focus on executing a basketball game plan when such larger issues are at play.”

There was a pregame moment of silence at Kaseya Center.

Then at the start of the Pelicans television broadcast, former NBA player Antonio Daniels picked up on that heartache.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Daniels said. “It really is heartbreaking to think of those families, this morning, that are dealing with that tragedy. If you think about what Bourbon Street represents, it’s a place of joy. It’s a place of laughter. It’s a place of marriages, of bachelorette parties, bachelor parties, a place where people come together.

“And like Coach Green said, a senseless act of violence comes to try and tear this city apart? My heart hurts. My heart hurts for this city.”

What is the Islamic State, and what attacks has it inspired by offshoots and lone wolves?

Wed, 01/01/2025 - 18:06

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Police say they recovered the stark black banner of the Islamic State extremist group from the truck that an American man from Texas smashed into New Year’s partygoers in New Orleans’ French Quarter Wednesday, killing 15 people.

The investigation is expected to look in part at any support or inspiration that driver Shamsud-Din Jabbar may have drawn from that violent Middle East-based group, or from any of at least 19 affiliated groups around the world.

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President Joe Biden said Wednesday evening that the FBI had told him that “mere hours before the attack, (Jabbar) posted videos on social media indicating that he was inspired” by the Islamic State.

Routed from its self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq by a U.S. military-led coalition more than five years ago, the Islamic State has focused on seizing territory in the Middle East more than on staging massive al-Qaida-style attacks on the West.

But in its home territory the Islamic State has welcomed any chance to behead Americans and other foreigners who come within its reach. And it has had success, although abated in recent years, in inspiring people around the world who are drawn to its ideology to carry out ghastly attacks on innocent civilians.

Here’s a look at the Islamic State, its current status, and some of the offshoot armed groups and lone wolves that have killed under the Islamic State flag.

What is the Islamic State?

The Islamic State also is known as both IS and ISIS, or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

It began as a breakaway group from al-Qaida.

Under leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, IS had seized stunning amounts of territory in Iraq and Syria by 2014. Within territory under its control, it killed and otherwise abused members of other faiths and targeted fellow Sunni Muslims who strayed from its harsh interpretation of Islam.

By 2019, a U.S.-led military intervention had driven Islamic State from the last inch of its territory. Al-Baghdadi killed himself, and two children near him, that same year, detonating an explosive vest as U.S. forces closed in on him.

Currently, the central Islamic State group is a scattered and much weakened organization working to regain fighting strength and territory in Syria and Iraq. Experts warn that the group is reconstituting itself there.

And that ISIS flag? Typically, it’s a stark black banner with white Arabic letters expressing a central creed of the Islamic faith. Countless Muslims around the world see the coercive violence of the group as a perversion of their religion.

What’s the influence of the Islamic State today?

Some experts argue the Islamic State is powerful today partly as a brand, inspiring both militant groups and individuals in attacks that the group itself may have no real role in.

The Islamic State’s ruthless credo and military successes have helped spur affiliated groups in Africa, Asia and Europe. It’s a greatly decentralized alliance.

Many offshoots have carried out lethal attacks, such as a March 2024 attack blamed on an Afghanistan-based affiliate of the Islamic State that killed some 130 people at a Moscow theater.

What’s the group’s track record for inspiring attacks in the United States?

If confirmed as inspired by the Islamic State, the New Orleans attack would be the largest such attack on U.S. soil in years.

The threat from radicalized followers of the group in the U.S. had appeared to wane following a surge in violent plots around a decade ago.

Those attacks included a 2014 attack by a husband-and-wife team who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, and a 2016 massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, by a gunman who killed 59 people, pledged his allegiance on a 911 call to the-then leader of IS and raged against the “filthy ways of the West.”

Those attacks coincided with an influx of thousands of Westerners — some of them Americans — who traveled to Syria in hopes of joining the so-called caliphate. In addition to al-Baghdadi, Defense Department strikes have taken out other officials and the FBI has had significant success in disrupting plots before they come to fruition.

But over the last year, FBI officials have warned about a significantly elevated threat of international terrorism following Hamas’ rampage in Israel in October 2023 and the resulting Israeli strikes in Gaza.

The SITE intelligence group reported IS supporters celebrating in online chat groups Wednesday.

“If it’s a brother, he’s a legend. Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great,” it quoted one as saying.

An aspiring nurse, football star, single mother and father of 2 killed in New Orleans attack

Wed, 01/01/2025 - 17:54

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An 18-year-old girl dreaming of becoming a nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton football star suffered fatal injuries when the driver of a white pickup truck sped down Bourbon Street, packed with holiday revelers early Wednesday morning.

Trevant Hayes, 20, sits in the French Quarter after the death of his friend, Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, after a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians on Bourbon Street followed by a shooting in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

Officials have not yet released the names of the 15 people killed in the New Orleans New Year’s Day truck attack, but their families and friends have started sharing their stories. New Orleans Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna said in a statement late Wednesday that they will release the names of the dead once autopsies are complete and they’ve talked with the next of kin. About 30 people were injured.

Nikyra Dedeaux

Zion Parsons of Gulfport, Mississippi, had been celebrating New Year’s Eve at his first night on Bourbon Street when a vehicle appeared and plowed into his friend, 18-year-old Nikyra Dedeaux, who he said had dreamed of becoming a nurse.

“A truck hit the corner and comes barreling through throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air,” Parsons, 18, told The Associated Press. “It hit her and flung her like at least 30 feet and I was just lucky to be alive.”

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As the crowd scattered in the chaos he ran through a gruesome aftermath of bleeding and maimed victims, hearing gunshots and explosive sounds.

“Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering” Parsons said. “People crying on the floor, like brain matter all over the ground. It was just insane, like the closest thing to a war zone that I’ve ever seen.”

Dedeaux was a responsible daughter — shorter than all her siblings but the one who helped take care of everyone, Parsons said. Dedeaux had a job at a hospital and was set to start college and begin working towards her goal of becoming a registered nurse.

“She had her mindset — she didn’t have everything figured out but she had the plan laid down,” Parsons said.

Reggie Hunter

A 37-year-old father of two from Baton Rouge was among the 10 people killed early Wednesday when a pickup truck careened down Bourbon Street in what officials called an act of terror.

Reggie Hunter had just left work and headed to celebrate New Year’s with a cousin when the attack happened, his first cousin Shirell Jackson told Nola.com.

Hunter was killed and his cousin was injured, Jackson said.

Tiger Bech

A former high school and college football player from Louisiana was among those who died after a driver rammed a pickup truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ French Quarter, according to an education official.

Tiger Bech, 28, died late Wednesday morning at a New Orleans hospital, according to local media outlets citing Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette. Bech attended the high school, where he played wide receiver, quarterback, punt returner and defensive back, NOLA.com reported.

Bech’s LinkedIn profile said he played football at Princeton University before graduating in 2021. Most recently he was working as an investment trader at a New York brokerage firm.

Princeton football coach Bob Surace said Wednesday that he had been texting with Bech’s father, sharing memories of the player, who was a school kick returner and receiver from 2017 to 2019.

“He might be the first Tiger to ever play for us, and that nickname kind of described him as a competitor,” Surace told ESPN. The school’s nickname is the Tigers. “He was somebody that somehow, like in the key moments, just excelled and was full of energy, full of life.”

Bech has been working at Seaport Global, where company spokesperson Lisa Lieberman could not confirm his death. But she told The Associated Press that “he was extremely well regarded by everybody who knew him.”

Bech’s younger brother, Jack, is a top wide receiver at Texas Christian University.

In a response to a KLFY-TV report posted on X about Tiger Bech’s death, a post from an account for a Jack Bech on the social media site said: “Love you always brother ! You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us.”

Nicole Perez

Nicole Perez was a single mother to a 4-year-old son working hard to make life better for her family when she was killed in the New Orleans truck attack, according to her employer.

Perez, who was in her late 20s, was recently promoted to manager at Kimmy’s Deli in Metarie, Louisiana and “was really excited about it,” deli owner Kimberly Usher said in a phone interview with AP. Usher confirmed Perez’s death through her sister, who also works for her.

Usher said Perez would walk in the morning to the deli, which opened at breakfast time, and would ask lots of questions about the business side of the operations. She also was permitted to bring her son, Melo, to work, where during breaks she taught him basic learning skills.

“She was a really good mom,” said Usher, who started a GoFundMe account to cover Perez’s burial costs and to help with expenses for her son that “he will need to transition into a new living situation,” the donation request says.

Jack Brook in New Orleans, Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed to this report.

Things to watch for: Miami Dolphins at New York Jets on Sunday

Wed, 01/01/2025 - 16:06

MIAMI GARDENS — For the second time in three years it appears the Miami Dolphins will enter a must-win regular-season finale with their backup quarterback.

All signs point to Tyler “Snoop” Huntley starting in place of Tua Tagovailoa (hip) for the Dolphins (8-8) on Sunday at the New York Jets (4-12).

In the 2022 season finale, Dolphins backup quarterback Skylar Thompson started in place of Tagovailoa, who was sidelined with a concussion.

Here are five things to watch in Sunday’s game:

Dolphins’ QB play

Most likely Huntley will start. He played well in last Sunday’s 20-3 win at Cleveland. His agility was a big part of his success as he rushed for 52 yards on seven carries, including a 13-yard touchdown run. Interestingly, Huntley was injured against Indianapolis while running outside the pocket. But coach Mike McDaniel said he likes Huntley utilizing his skills as long as he does it wisely.

Dolphins are 4-4 in big games this season

This is the biggest game of the season for the Dolphins as well as a must-win game. How have the Dolphins fared in big games this season? The Dolphins are 1-4 against playoff teams (defeating the Los Angeles Rams and losing to Buffalo twice, Green Bay and Houston). But the Rams game, a 23-15 win, was a big game, and almost must-win, considering the Dolphins were on a three-game losing streak. Of course, both Buffalo games were big games and so were Green Bay and Houston.

You could argue the season opener against Jacksonville (a 20-17 Miami win) and both San Francisco (29-17 win) and Cleveland (20-3) were big games considering the Dolphins’ thin playoff hopes.

Dolphins’ big-name players coming through

Wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, running back De’Von Achane, tight end Jonnu Smith, defensive linemen Zach Sieler and Calais Campbell and cornerback Jalen Ramsey must come through as the leaders of the team playing in the biggest game of the season. Normally, the Dolphins’ offensive players leave a lot to be desired in big games. This time it must be different.

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Jets as tough opponent

The Dolphins needed overtime to record a 32-26 victory over the Jets last month at Hard Rock Stadium. Jets wide receivers Garrett Wilson (seven receptions, 114 yards) and Davante Adams (nine receptions, 109 yards) were good. So was quarterback Aaron Rodgers (339 yards, one touchdown). Of course, we don’t know about Rodgers’ mentality right now amid New York’s disappointing season and the fact that this might be his last game. If defensive ends Will McDonald IV and Hasson Reddick aren’t contained, this could be a rough day for the Dolphins.

Dolphins’ offensive tackles

Right tackle Kendall Lamm was put on injured reserve Wednesday, meaning he’ll miss the game and the playoffs (if the Dolphins advance). Left tackle Terron Armstead (knee) seems doubtful to play. That means the Dolphins could start their second-team left tackle (rookie Patrick Paul) and their third-team right tackle (Jackson Carman?) for the second time this season. That scenario didn’t work well earlier this season against Houston as the Texans feasted for three sacks.

Dolphins Deep Dive: Prediction time — will Miami win at Jets, and make playoffs? | VIDEO

What we know about the driver in the deadly New Orleans attack

Wed, 01/01/2025 - 15:43

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Authorities say the driver of a pickup truck sped through a crowd of pedestrians gathered in New Orleans’ bustling French Quarter district early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 30 other revelers. The suspect was killed in a shootout with police.

The FBI is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism and said it does not believe the driver acted alone.

Wednesday’s attack unfolded on Bourbon Street, known worldwide as one of the largest destinations for New Year’s Eve parties. Large crowds also gathered in the city ahead of the Sugar Bowl college football playoff game that had been scheduled for later Wednesday at the nearby Superdome. The game was postponed until Thursday night following the attack.

Security personnel investigate the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans’ Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Emergency services attend the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans’ Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Investigators work the scene after a person drove a vehicle into a crowd earlier on Canal and Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A member of the emergency services walks past a police barricade after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans’ Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

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Security personnel investigate the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans’ Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Expand Who is the driver and what was his motive?

The FBI said the driver was 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, a U.S. citizen and Army veteran from Texas.

A flag representing the Islamic State group was found on the vehicle’s trailer hitch, the FBI said. The bureau is trying to determine if Jabbar was associated with any terrorist organizations.

This undated passport photo provided by the FBI on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, shows Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar. (FBI via AP)

Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said during a news conference that the agency does not believe Jabbar acted alone.

Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said the driver was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did” and he tried “to run over as many people as he could.”

A U.S. official said Jabbar served as an information technology specialist in the U.S. Army. He got out of the Army in 2015, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that had not yet been made public.

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What have authorities found in their investigation?

Police said the driver steered around a police blockade and raced through a crowd along Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday as revelers gathered to celebrate the New Year. At least 15 people were killed and 33 were injured and taken to five local hospitals. Two police officers wounded in the shootout with the suspect were in stable condition.

Authorities also found potential explosive devices in the French Quarter, the FBI said. Surveillance footage showed three men and a woman placing one of multiple improvised explosive devices, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.

Guns and pipe bombs were found in the suspect’s vehicle, according to the State Police bulletin. The devices were concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation with a remote control that also was found in the vehicle, the bulletin said.

Dolphins’ Kendall Lamm done for season; Jevon Holland says he’d like to be back in Miami

Wed, 01/01/2025 - 15:21

MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins veteran offensive tackle Kendall Lamm may have played his last snap with the team.

Lamm, the Dolphins’ starting right tackle down the stretch this season, was placed on injured reserve Wednesday, ending his season ahead of Sunday’s regular-season finale against the New York Jets (4-12).

The Dolphins (8-8) can still qualify for the postseason if they win Sunday and have the Denver Broncos lose to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Lamm has previously been dealing with a back injury, but he played through the ailment last Sunday in Cleveland, a 20-3 win over the Browns. It’s unknown if Lamm aggravated the back injury or suffered something completely different.

Lamm, 32, started his 10th season saying he was playing his final one. But midseason, he went back on saying that definitively. While saying he could consider playing another campaign, he added he would like to play for the Carolina Panthers, in a return to his hometown of Charlotte.

The Dolphins will now be without Lamm at right tackle while left tackle Terron Armstead has his status in question after exiting the game in Cleveland with an aggravation to his knee injury.

Rookie Patrick Paul has played at left tackle when Armstead has been out. Lamm was already replacing Austin Jackson at right tackle after Jackson landed on IR for a knee ailment in early November. Last time Lamm was out while Armstead was also unavailable, Dec. 15 in Houston, Jackson Carman started on the right side of the line.

Lamm joined the Dolphins late in the 2022 season and stamped his role as a strong backup swing tackle. In two-plus seasons with the team, he has played 33 games, with 16 starts.

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The Dolphins, on Wednesday, signed tackle Braeden Daniels off the Cowboys’ practice squad.

Armstead was one of four Dolphins on Wednesday to miss practice.

“If he’s not on the field in the game, it’s because he can’t,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “So we’ll give him the rest, and he’s really focused on the team and doing everything he can.”

The others were linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. (knee), safety Jordan Poyer (knee/finger) and defensive tackle Calais Campbell (rest).

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was among Dolphins limited Wednesday with his ailing hip. Others were: safety Jevon Holland (wrist), wide receivers Tyreek Hill (wrist/rest) and Jaylen Waddle (knee) and punter Jake Bailey (back).

Holland’s free agency

Soon to complete his fourth season with the Dolphins, Holland is bound for free agency this offseason.

Holland, on Wednesday, voiced a desire to return to the Dolphins in 2025.

“I would love to be here,” Holland said. “It’s a good organization, and we got a great group of guys in the locker room. That would be dope.

“But it’s (foot)ball, man. Things happen. Whatever it may be, I’m just happy that I was here.”

Holland is represented by agent David Mulugheta, who also represents cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Mulugheta had former Miami defensive tackle Christian Wilkins and got him a big contract with the Las Vegas Raiders last year. He also represents many of the highest-paid safeties in the NFL.

“They went to talk to him, he talked to them, they discussed whatever they discussed,” Holland said, “and I’m just going to keep it at that.”

This week, Holland returns to the site of last year’s Hail Mary pick-six against the Jets, MetLife Stadium.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” Holland said. “Just happened to be that guy there to make that play. It was fun.”

Holland turned into a punt returner immediately upon catching the ball.

“That’s where my mind went,” he said. “As soon as I catch a pick, try to get it to the crib.”

That was also a game in which Holland hurt both his knees. Holland says, since then, his knees “absolutely” did get better but has had hand, ankle and wrist ailments this year.

Sieler team MVP

Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler was named the team’s Dan Marino Most Valuable Player on Wednesday, as voted by local media.

“It means a lot. That’s real exciting,” Sieler said. “Coming from where I came from, it’s a blessing. It’s really God’s gift to me to have such an incredible career down here.”

Sieler was once a waiver claim by the Dolphins from the Baltimore Ravens after he was cut in 2019. He was not highly recruited out of high school and played college football at Ferris State.

“He’s a captain in more ways than one,” McDaniel said Wednesday. “He’s a captain in how you conduct yourself. You want an example of how to flourish in the National Football League, how to go about the daily process, how to invest in your own game, he is a prime example.”

This season, Sieler has 49 tackles, 8 1/2 sacks, an interception, forced fumble and fumble recovery for Miami’s third-ranked defense.

In addition to Sieler as MVP, Campbell earned the Don Shula Leadership Award, outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips was named the team’s Ed Block Courage Award winner and Armstead was honored with the Nat Moore Community Service Award.

Campbell was also named the team’s Good Guy Award winner by local media. …

— As expected, the Chiefs, with the AFC’s top seed locked up, will rest quarterback Patrick Mahomes for their regular-season finale against the Broncos. As Miami needs a Denver loss, Kansas City will be starting Carson Wentz.

What’s coming for 2025? 10 of South Florida’s most anticipated restaurant openings

Wed, 01/01/2025 - 01:05

It’s the start of a new year and the Christmas tree branches are crispier than chicharrones, which means it’s the perfect time to speculate – and salivate — about all the new South Florida restaurants we’re looking forward to in 2025.

And by “South Florida,” we mean Broward and Palm Beach counties — not Miami-Dade. New York pizzeria icons are migrating up here. So are James Beard Award-nominated talent. Even the former executive chef of Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach wants in on us. Given our mighty culinary bounty up north, why bother venturing farther south?

Here are 10 eateries scheduled to open over the coming year, some as soon as January.

Jeremy Bearman / CourtesyAn artist rendering of the new dining room at Oceano Kitchen in Lake Worth Beach, which will reopen in January. (Jeremy Bearman / Courtesy) Oceano Kitchen (reopens Jan. 17)

512 Lucerne Ave., Lake Worth Beach; 561-400-7418, OceanoLWB.com

From his old Oceano perch in Lantana, chef Jeremy Bearman drew inspiration from whatever was regional, seasonal and could be flawlessly wood-fired. He did so with a roulette wheel of a menu that changed daily — smoked duck leg salad one day, housemade pasta alla Amatraciana with guanciale the next — and a cozy, 50-seat space that didn’t take reservations or credit cards. But if his old kitchen was a crucible for cramped-quarters innovation, Bearman’s new 140-seater on Lucerne Avenue is far more orderly for his global-plates ambitions. For the first time Oceano, set to open Jan. 17, will take credit cards and reservations, says Bearman, who with his pastry chef-wife Cindy won a James Beard nod for “Best Chef – South” in 2023. “It gives us way more freedom,” Bearman tells the Sun Sentinel. “Our menu isn’t going to be changing as much as it did in the old place. It used to be eight items changing every day, now it’s 17-18 items, and what I’ll do is change a few dishes every week.” Bearman (ex-One Door East in Fort Lauderdale) first opened his Lake Worth Beach location in November 2023 but shut it last June for seven months of renovations. Now he has a 7-foot Texas-style offset smoker and a wood-fired oven, which will turn out Spanish mussels escabeche, Nikkei-style ceviche with leche de tigre kefir lime oil and duck with autumn squash risotto and pickled squash, among new dishes.

Ruben Pictures for Catch & Cut / CourtesyPemaquid black mussels from the new Catch & Cut, a surf-and-turf restaurant opening in January on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. (Ruben Pictures for Catch & Cut / Courtesy) Catch & Cut (late January)

1309 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; CatchandCut.com

Stone crabs claw to the top of the menu at Catch & Cut, chef André Bienvenu’s new surf-and-turf hub opening on Las Olas Boulevard in late January. And Bienvenu knows a few things about Florida’s quintessential sweet crustacean treat, having spent 26 years at the helm of Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach. His two-story, 9,618-square-foot eatery — replacing the old Bo’s Pub — boasts an open kitchen to turn out prime steaks, plus raw and sushi bars where chef Inyoman Atmaja will make hand rolls from scratch. Its second floor will offer a central cocktail lounge and wines from veteran sommelier Stephan Cole of Valentino Cucina Italiana fame, and an al fresco patio overlooking Las Olas.

Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun SentinelFrom left, co-owners Luis Mata and Gabriel Llaurado and their business partner, Manuel Guevara, pose at the bar of their new high-end steakhouse The Wagyu House in Hallandale Beach, which will debut in January 2025. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel) The Wagyu House (end of January)

601 N. Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach; TheWagyu.House

After opening a flurry of butcher-shop boutiques across Florida in 2024, two lifelong friends raise the steaks again with this sit-down, now opening in late January. Luis Mata and Gabriel Llaurado’s 2,800-square-foot steakhouse at Atlantic Village will carry high-end cuts ranging from $32 (for Kansas strip) to $600 (!) for Japanese A5 Miyazaki prime rib. The meats come from the duo’s online butcher shop, Meat N’ Bone, which sources 400 kinds of steaks, poultry and seafood from purveyors and ranches in Colorado, Iowa and Nebraska – and even Japan. Their Wagyu House’s 120-seat dining room nearly opened in December until a major pre-Christmas fire at the Wagyu Bar, their Coral Gables restaurant and main shipping hub, forced Mata and Llaurado to delay. Most inventory miraculously survived the fire, Llaurado tells the Sun Sentinel. “It’s been crazy,” he said. “The warehouse part of the store is OK and we kept most of the inventory. We had to set up shipping operations at a new location in less than 24 hours. But we’re still well on track to open [Wagyu House].”

Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina / CourtesyA dry-aged, 34-ounce prime tomahawk steak at Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina, which is expected to open this December inside the Seagate Resort & Spa in Delray Beach. (Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina/Courtesy) Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina (February)

1000 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach; 561-665-4800; MichaelMina.net

When it debuts this February, the Delray Beach cut of Michael Mina’s steakhouse brand will mark the chef-restaurateur’s first foray into Palm Beach County. Its new 6,000-square-foot, 310-seat restaurant within the just-overhauled Seagate Hotel & Spa is resplendent in gold and hunter-green accents, and will be operated by executive chef Pablo Valencia (The Dalmar Fort Lauderdale, MAASS). The menu traffics in high-end excess: slow-poached Japanese A5 Wagyu, dry-aged or wood-fired steaks, Maine lobster pot pies and pastrami-spiced short rib — paired with rich dipping sauces. Black truffle mac and cheese and duck-fat french fries are also among the highlights.

Pier Top at Pier Sixty-Six (February)

2301 SE 17th St., Fort Lauderdale; 954-525-6666, PierSixtySix.com

It took years of overhauls but Fort Lauderdale’s luxe, historic Pier Sixty-Six resort will finally reopen in January — but diners must wait until February to enter this spinning carousel of a lounge crowning the 17th floor. The lavish circular space does spin round and round (albeit slowly), giving panoramic views of the tranquil Atlantic, the 17th Street Causeway, airport flights departing and ritzy mega yachts arriving. Pier Top is one of nine food-and-drink venues coming to the resort, with many opening in January, although this touristy destination around since 1965 probably commands the most hype. It will sling craft cocktails, champagne, wine, live music and a retooled menu of caviar, oysters, light bites and — we hope soon — Sunday brunch.

Rahein Jones/ CourtesyChef Rahein Jones poses outside his new downtown Delray Beach location of True Vegan, his new vegan comfort-food restaurant opening later this spring. (Rahein Jones/ Courtesy) True Vegan By Chef Rahein (spring)

123 Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach; Instagram page

Chef Rahein Jones, the vegan soul-food maestro behind the New Vegan, is back in Delray three years after shutting his acclaimed kitchen with his enduringly humble mission: to make vegan comfort food taste better than regular comfort food. Picture plant-based ingredients that turn tender barbecue, gooey burgers and overflowing cheesesteaks into delicious gold. His storefront offers 58 seats and a menu of vegan pizza and ice cream and beer and wine, alongside falafel pasta salads, a walnut brownie delight and a mushroom burger that won the Boca Burger Battle — twice.

Good Night John Boy / CourtesyThe 1970s-themed disco dance club Good Night John Boy will boogie onto Delray Beach’s Atlantic Avenue in spring 2025. (Good Night John Boy / Courtesy) Good Night John Boy (spring)

33 SE Third Ave., Delray Beach; GoodnightJB.com

A 1970s throwback dive bar in downtown Delray Beach? Dig this, disco queens: Good Night John Boy will boogie into the Delray Beach Market, beside Bounce Sporting Club, sometime in spring 2025. It’s named, of course, after the famous sign-off on the classic 1970s drama “The Waltons,” but this dance club is a straight-up pastiche of disco culture: wood-paneled walls as decor, trucker hats as merch, mirror balls and bell-bottoms everywhere. Of course, there are groovy cocktails, with names including Mood Ring, Chevy to the Levee and Dirty Ashtray, and so-called Dad beers (Miller High Life). This is the bar’s sixth boogie wonderland and its second in Florida, after one opened in St. Petersburg in 2023.

New York pizzerias (early 2025)

Patsy’s Pizzeria, 114 Plaza Real S., Boca Raton; PatsysPizzeria.us
Juliana’s Pizza, 905 N. Railroad Ave., West Palm Beach; JulianasPizza.com

We get it: South Florida is oversaturated in New York pies. Coal-fired thin crust, evenly browned undercarriage that folds with a satisfying crunch, red sauce peeking from the cornicione? That’s everywhere in the sixth borough. Still, it’s hard not to salivate when Big Apple dynasties Juliana’s Pizza and Patsy’s Pizzeria, both alike in dignity and history, decide to open for the first time outside of New York. Juliana’s will come to West Palm Beach’s new NORA District (North of Railroad Avenue) in early 2025 after a long and winding pizza rivalry with Patsy’s that stretches back decades. In a nutshell: Juliana’s opened in Brooklyn in 2012 by longtime pizzamaker Patsy Grimaldi (ex-Lombardi’s), who had previously run Grimaldi’s Pizzeria since 1990. He’s the nephew of Patsy Lancieri, who founded East Harlem’s Patsy’s Pizzeria back in 1933. Matthew Grogan, an ex-Wall Street executive and current Palm Beacher, is behind Juliana’s South Florida expansion, which will offer coal-fired pies, egg creams, meatballs and seltzer. Meanwhile, Patsy’s – yes, the very same 91-year-old pizzeria — will open its first out-of-state shop in Boca Raton in early 2025 from owners Matthew and Tonin Raja, and serve its own coal-fired pies. Will they taste identical, or will they spark a fresh rivalry in the Sunshine State? No matter the answer, South Florida reaps the benefits.

Architectural Alliance / CourtesyAn artist rendering of the new Hula Kai, a two-story tiki restaurant and cocktail bar, which is expected to debut by the end of 2025 on Fort Lauderdale’s 17th Street. Hula Kai will have a ground-floor and rooftop bar and serve pan-Asian cuisine, including crispy duck and crab rangoon. (Architectural Alliance / Courtesy) Hula Kai (December)

1075 SE 17th St., Fort Lauderdale; OldSchoolHospitality.com

This towering ode to Polynesian tiki culture will open sometime in late 2025 and — OK, we’ll pause here to address the elephant in the room: No, it has nothing to do with the Mai-Kai. This is Hula Kai, a two-story port-of-call for rummy tropical cocktails and modern pan-Asian cuisine that will open in December 2025, developer James Flanigan tells the Sun Sentinel. This sprawling 5,000-square-foot lounge with 24-foot-high ceilings will serve crispy duck, spring rolls, crab rangoon, bang bang shrimp and spare ribs on its ground floor and second-floor mezzanine. Meanwhile, its third-level rooftop Ohana Lounge will sling modern and classic tiki cocktails (think Jet Pilots, Rum Runners, Mai Tais). Flanigan, whose Old School Hospitality runs five Quarterdeck restaurants, happens to be Broward restaurant royalty: His uncle Jimmy owns the famous Flanigan’s pub chain. Hula Kai began construction Dec. 19 after two years of delays, and when it opens, it will occupy a strip mall beside a Quarterdeck and Whiskey Neat, his classy brown-liquor lounge.

Weekend things to do: Stone crabs, Bobby Weir, GrandBrew beer festival, Renée Fleming and Nollaig na mBan!

Wed, 01/01/2025 - 01:00

The new year is finally here, and it would be easy to fall in with the mopes and misanthropes. “I have measured out my life with unused gym memberships,” my drinking buddy Al Prufrock said at the Shuck N Dive the other day. He says the same thing every year.

This one, 2025, seems particularly ripe with, let’s call it potential. As The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, a fiercely optimistic cultural renegade, once sang: “Once in a while, you get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if you look at it right.”

THURSDAY

Bring out your Deadheads: Continuing a remarkable stretch of calendar-flipping performances in Fort Lauderdale, Grateful Dead co-founder Bobby Weir and the Wolf Bros Trio (bassist Don Was and drummer Jay Lane) set up at downtown concert hall The Parker for shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Some tickets are available, starting at $149.50+. Visit ParkerPlayhouse.com.

Disco inferno: The free every-Thursday Clematis by Night concert series in downtown West Palm Beach will host one of South Florida’s most popular tribute acts, the Original Studio 54 Band, who will deliver all the earworm-y boogie-oogie-oogie hits of the disco era from 6 to 9 p.m. The family-friendly concert will take place on the stage on the Great Lawn (100 N. Clematis St.), and visitors are encouraged to bring blankets, chairs and coolers (but no outside alcohol permitted). Visit WPB.org/events.

Farewell, ‘Anastasia’: This is closing weekend for the Slow Burn Theatre Co. production of Broadway’s modern-day fairytale “Anastasia: The Musical” (book by Terrence McNally, music and lyrics by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens) at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 1 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $72.50+ at BrowardCenter.org.

FRIDAY

Weekend laughs: Ubiquitous pitchman, comedian, Emmy-winning actor and best-selling author Jim Gaffigan performs at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $55+ at MyHRL.com. … Chicago-raised comedian and actor Godfrey takes over the Dania Improv in Dania Beach at 7:30 and 10 p.m Friday, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $28+ at DaniaImprov.com.

Funk and ramen: Cultural block party Old Town Untapped returns to Bailey Contemporary Arts in Pompano Beach on Friday from 6 to 10 p.m., featuring gallery tours, the funky grooves of Mama Fuma and the soulful noodling of food truck Kaminari Ramen. Admission is free. Visit PompanoBeachArts.org.

SATURDAY

Claws are comin’ to town: The 15th annual Riverwalk Stone Crab & Seafood Festival returns to Esplanade Park on the New River in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Along with the headliner, the festival will feature a variety of seafood dishes, vendors and family-friendly entertainment, including the crowd-favorite hermit crab races. Admission is free, with each vendor featuring at least one item for $5. A VIP Tasting Experience will showcase local craft beers and spirits, with advance tickets going for $25 through noon Friday at GoRiverwalk.com/seafood.

Walk this way: If you need to walk off some of that ocean bounty, take an attractive stroll east along the New River to find the Las Olas Art Fair, which will stretch more than five blocks down the city’s tourist thoroughfare from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Art, people-watching, coffee, cocktails — need anything else? Admission is free. Visit ArtFestival.com.

Beer country: The third annual GrandBrew beer festival will take place at City Food Hall at Grandview Public Market in West Palm Beach on Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m. The event will include pours from more than 10 area breweries, food (for purchase) and the amiable surf-country sounds of locals Brett Staska and The Souvenirs. Tickets for unlimited beer tastings cost $35 in advance, increasing to $45 on the day of the event. Visit Facebook.com/grandviewpublic.

Brett Staska and The Souvenirs will be the headliners at GrandBrew beer festival in West Palm Beach. (South Florida Sun Sentinel file)

Saturday tributes: Popular local Billy Joel tribute band Turnstiles performs at Stage 954 at The Casino @ Dania Beach on Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $25+. Visit CasinoDaniaBeach.com/entertainment. … Midnight Joker, a tribute to the Steve Miller Band, plays the Boca Black Box Center for the Arts in Boca Raton at 7 p.m. Saturday. Tickets start at $48+ at BocaBlackBox.com.

White night: West Palm Beach art enclave The Peach on Saturday will host the Art Walk White Party, inviting guests to wear white attire, which Peach creatives will transform into art. A donation is required ($10-$50 suggested), with half the proceeds going to aZul Fashion Art & Design, a West Palm Beach nonprofit that offers alternative art-focused programs for adults with disabilities and their caregivers. Art Walk White Party will take place from 5 to 10 p.m. and include live music, food and drink from Mexican restaurant El Segundo, open studios and signature cocktails to try in each studio. Visit Instagram.com/thepeachwpb.

Cosplay ball: At downtown Fort Lauderdale music hub Revolution Live on Saturday, Animate! Rave! is an anime-themed cosplay dance hosted by GalaxyCon, a local pop-culture fan festival organizer. You’ll find drag and burlesque performances, kawaii shopping finds and relentless beats. Tickets for the 18-and-older party cost $20 in advance, $30 at the door. Visit GalaxyConSoFlo.com.

SUNDAY

Force of nature: Superstar soprano Renée Fleming performs at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach on Sunday at 2 p.m. in a concert inspired by her 2023 Grammy-winning album, “Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene.” Fleming describes the compilation (music by Fauré, Liszt and Grieg, plus new commissions from composers from Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw and Kevin Puts) as an exploration of “nature as both inspiration and casualty of humanity.” The live recital will be accompanied by an original film by the National Geographic Society. Tickets are available, starting at $35+. Visit Kravis.org.

Opera star Renée Fleming will perform at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach on Sunday. (Andrew Eccles, Decca/Courtesy)

Ladies’ day: Tim Finnegans Irish Pub in Delray Beach will observe the Epiphany on Sunday with Nollaig na mBan, or Women’s Little Christmas. According to Irish tradition, this was the day when women who had toiled for weeks on holiday preparations were given a break to relax and socialize. Beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday, Tim Finnegans will offer a Nollaig na mBan-themed brunch with unlimited bubbles or house wines, hors d’oeuvres and sweets. Cost: $35 per person. Visit Facebook.com/TimFinnegansDelray.

Local listening: Local-music podcast 561 Music will host the free, all-ages Punk Rock Brunch at Atlantic Avenue Yacht Club in Delray Beach on Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m., offering a stage for young bands Reverse Oreo, Worn Out Trend, Maximum Friction and Scream Queens. The crew will then take the party north to The Brewhouse Gallery in Lake Park from 6 to 10 p.m., when 561 Music’s monthly Songwriter Circle will include Billy Doom (Billy Doom Is Dead), Andii Styron, Junebug and Mark Dubin. Visit Facebook.com/561musicpodcast. 561 Music is hosted by Ben Childs and Hector Diaz of Killbillies, with new episodes posted Fridays at 561Music.com.

Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and X @BenCrandell.

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Weekend things to do: Stone crabs, Bobby Weir, GrandBrew beer festival, Renée Fleming and Nollaig na mBan!