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Severe thunderstorms and high winds in the Great Plains region on Saturday night injured residents, damaged homes and left more than 50,000 electricity customers in Oklahoma and Texas without power, the local authorities said, as more than two dozen tornadoes were reported overnight. More than 13 million people from Texas to Illinois were under tornado watches as of 2 a.m. local time, meaning that tornadoes could occur over the next few hours. The severe weather followed a day in which tornadoes tore through parts of Nebraska and Iowa and leveled dozens of homes on Friday. Thunderstorms were expected to move east into the Mississippi Valley on Sunday, and heavy rains were forecast in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, the National Weather Service said.

Organizations: National Weather Service Locations: Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, Mississippi, Texas , Arkansas, Louisiana

Multiple people were reported injured on Friday after a person driving a semitrailer truck crashed into a Department of Public Safety office in Brenham, Texas, in what officials said may have been an intentional act. It was unclear exactly how many people were injured, and details about the injuries were unknown. The Texas Department of Public Safety said on social media that there were “reports of multiple serious injuries.”A suspect was taken into custody, according to the Department of Public Safety, and Texas Rangers were investigating the crash. Judge Mark Keough of Montgomery County said in a social media post that the driver had been denied a commercial driver’s license on Thursday. Dade Phelan, the Texas House speaker, also said in a post on social media that the driver “intentionally caused injury to innocent Texans.” Mr. Phelan also said the truck was stolen.

Persons: ”, Mark Keough, “, ” Judge Keough, KHOU, Otto Hanak, Dade Phelan, ” Mr, Phelan Organizations: of Public Safety, The Texas Department of Public Safety, Department of Public Safety, Texas Rangers, CBS, Texas House, Texans Locations: Brenham , Texas, Montgomery County, Washington County, Texas

☆ How to Claim Your Part of a $45 Million Walmart Settlement
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Emmett Lindner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Some Walmart customers may be entitled to claim up to $500 as part of a $45 million settlement that the retail giant is paying to resolve a class-action lawsuit, according to a settlement administrator’s website. The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 19, 2022, claimed that Walmart overcharged shoppers for in-store purchases of certain weighted grocery items, including poultry and pork, and for bagged citrus. The lawsuit alleges that Walmart falsely inflated product weight, mislabeled products and overcharged for clearance products sold by weight. The retail giant has denied the allegations, but it agreed to the settlement. “We believe a settlement is in the best interest of both parties,” a Walmart spokeswoman said in a statement.

Organizations: Walmart

☆ ‘I Quit,’ Says Lizzo, Citing Online Criticism and Ridicule
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Emmett Lindner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Lizzo, the Grammy Award-winning singer and fashion entrepreneur, on Friday declared “I QUIT” on Instagram after citing online criticism she’s faced. “I’m getting tired of putting up with being dragged by everyone in my life and on the internet,” she wrote. But I’m starting to feel like the world doesn’t want me in it.”The post went on to say how she has faced ridicule, and ended with her declaration about quitting. “I’m constantly up against lies being told about me for clout & views,” she added. Messages of support flooded the comments section of her Instagram post, including from the hip-hop pioneer Queen Latifah, the comic Eric André and the fashion illustrator and designer Hayden Williams.

Persons: “, she’s, “ I’m, ”, Lizzo, Queen Latifah, Eric André, Hayden Williams

☆ Peter G. Angelos, Owner of the Baltimore Orioles, Dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Emmett Lindner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Peter G. Angelos, the longtime owner of the Baltimore Orioles who built a fortune as a class-action lawyer, died on Saturday. His death was confirmed in a statement from his family that was posted on the team’s social media account, which said that Mr. Angelos had “passed away quietly.” No cause was given, though the statement acknowledged that he had been ill for several years. Mr. Angelos’s death came as his family awaited approval by Major League Baseball owners to sell the team — valued, along with its assets, at $1.725 billion, according to The Baltimore Sun — to David Rubenstein, the president of Inner Harbor Sports. The sale was approved on March 20 by the Maryland Stadium Authority board, which was required under the terms of the team’s lease for ownership to be transferred.

Persons: Peter G, Angelos, Mr, “, Angelos’s, Baltimore Sun —, David Rubenstein Organizations: Baltimore Orioles, Major League Baseball, Baltimore Sun, Inner Harbor Sports, Maryland Stadium Authority

☆ Jasmin Paris Becomes First Woman to Complete Extreme Barkley Race
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Emmett Lindner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The runner Jasmin Paris became on Friday the first woman to complete the Barkley Marathons, an extreme footrace that requires participants in rural Tennessee to navigate 100 miles of rugged terrain in no more than 60 hours. Paris, 40, of Midlothian, Scotland, finished the race with one minute and 39 seconds to spare, making her one of only 20 people to complete the Barkley since it was extended to 100 miles in 1989. She was one of five to finish this year, out of 40 entrants. At the end of the run, Paris sank to the ground in front of a yellow gate that marks the start and finish of the event, which consists of five roughly 20-mile laps. “The final minutes were so intense, after all that effort it came down to a sprint uphill, with every fiber of my body screaming at me to stop,” Paris said in an email.

Persons: Jasmin Paris, Barkley, “, ” Paris Locations: Tennessee, Paris, Midlothian, Scotland

☆ Larry H. Parker, an Injury Lawyer Who Promised to ‘Fight for You,’ Dies at 75
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Emmett Lindner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Larry H. Parker, an accident and personal injury lawyer whose television commercials promised he’d “fight for you” and became staples in living rooms across Los Angeles, died on March 6 in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. His death was confirmed by his son, Justin Parker, who did not cite the cause. Over the years, Angelenos became familiar with Mr. Parker’s personal brand of braggadocio and promise, as his face could be seen on billboards across the city and on television ads. “People sometimes ask me why I seem so angry in my television commercials,” Mr. Parker said in another ad. I’m angry when big insurance companies take advantage of little people.”

Persons: Larry H, Parker, he’d “, Justin Parker, Angelenos, Mr, I’m, ” Locations: Los Angeles, San Juan Capistrano, Calif

☆ 35 Hours for a 10-Second Clip: The Art of the TikTok Trick Shot
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Emmett Lindner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There are nights when Michael Shields lies awake next to his wife and thinks about Ping-Pong balls. He muses on their arcs and speeds, the ways they bounce off a wooden plank or roll down a Hot Wheels track. In the mornings he often turns his visions into reality, and millions tune in to watch. If, as in Mr. Shields’s case, the trick shots garner enough views on social media, talent agents begin to call, and money and corporate partnerships help to keep new content coming. His brother-in-law, Trent Golz, tosses an orange Ping-Pong ball and Mr. Shields releases the hanger, which slides toward the ground while the ball ricochets among five meticulously placed tiles.

Persons: Michael Shields, Shields, Trent Golz

☆ Tracy Bennett Brings Whimsy to Wordle
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-31 | by ( Emmett Lindner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. When Tracy Bennett sits down to play Wordle, she does so with a word of six — not five — letters in mind: Whimsy. “I got one green letter and four gray letters,” she adds, referring to the game’s color-coded squares that signify which guessed letters are correct. Some may find the exercise meritless — Ms. Bennett does, after all, already know the answer. As Wordle’s first and only editor, she knows every answer to every Wordle puzzle about six weeks in advance.

Persons: Tracy Bennett, —, “ I’m, “, Ms, Bennett, Wordle’s Organizations: New York Times Games

☆ Atlanta’s Dining Scene Feels ‘the Keith Lee Effect’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Emmett Lindner | More About Emmett Lindner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When a food critic comes to a city that is proud of its dining scene, restaurants and their devotees take notice. But rarely does a traditional reviewer cause as much excitement as Atlanta has seen with the recent visit of Keith Lee, a food obsessive with a vast army of 14 million followers on TikTok. At a breakfast place?” he asked in a video on his first day in Atlanta, eating takeout in his car. Mr. Lee, who is based in Las Vegas, mostly reviews independent, mom-and-pop restaurants, many of them Black-owned. Mr. Lee has made videos from Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles, but the response in Atlanta has been notable.

Persons: Keith Lee, Lee, ”, takeout Locations: Atlanta, Las Vegas, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles

☆ Phil Mickelson Says Gambling Addiction ‘Isn’t Any Fun at All’
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Emmett Lindner | More About Emmett Lindner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Phil Mickelson, the golf great whose issues with gambling have made headlines throughout the years, took to social media on Monday to share details about his addiction, and to offer a warning to potential bettors ahead of this year’s N.F.L. As the 2023-24 football season kicked off in earnest, Mickelson posted on X to say that he would not be gambling on any games. “I crossed the line of moderation and into addiction which isn’t any fun at all,” said Mickelson, who has won six major golf tournaments. The post went on to offer advice to anyone who might be struggling with similar issues: “If you ever cross the line of moderation and enter into addiction, hopefully you won’t confuse your enablers as friends like I did.”The post came on the heels of the autobiography “Gambler: Secrets From a Life at Risk,” published in August by Billy Walters, a well-known sports bettor who claimed to know about Mickelson’s gambling habits and asserted that the professional golfer’s sports bets totaled more than $1 billion in a span of about 30 years.

Persons: Phil Mickelson, Mickelson, ”, Billy Walters

☆ Dublin Marathon Medals Commemorate Yeats, and Misquote Him
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Emmett Lindner | More About Emmett Lindner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Though the quote is widely attributed to Yeats online, there is no record of him having ever written or said the line, said Susan O’Keeffe, the director of the Yeats Society Sligo in Sligo, Ireland. “The thing about Yeats that’s worth bearing in mind is that an awful lot of his letters and his articles and his essays were kept,” Ms. O’Keeffe said. The organizers “set out to do a good thing, and they have done a good thing,” she said. The organizers of the Dublin Marathon, which was established in 1980 and is sold out this year with 22,500 runners, have over the years used the medal design as a way to commemorate prominent figures who have contributed to Irish society. Some of the commentary this year has centered on “the view that this quote has never definitively been proven to be Yeats,” said Sinéad Galvin, a spokeswoman for the marathon.

Persons: Yeats, Susan O’Keeffe, Ms, O’Keeffe, “, ”, Sinéad Galvin Organizations: Yeats Society Sligo, Dublin Marathon Locations: Sligo, Ireland

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