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Five-star defensive end Oluwole Betiku officially decommited from the Bruins Friday, opening up his recruitment to other schools, most notably Notre Dame. MORE: Recruiting flash: Ohio State gets big back | UCLA’s Ishmael Adams charged with battery The Gardena, Calif., native and No. 11 overall prospect in the nation is the latest high-profile loss for the Bruins. Chris Clark, the top-rated tight end in the class of 2015, announced his decision to transfer from UCLA to Syracuse midway through October....

Terry Beckner Jr., a 5-star defensive tackle from East St. Louis, Ill., chose Missouri over Ohio State and Auburn. It was an emotional decision for Beckner, who had tears in his eyes as he announced he was staying close to home. MORE: SN’s live National Signing Day updates | Beckner Jr.’s scouting report Beckner is the No. 13 player and the No. 2 defensive tackle in the country, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings....

Ivey easily is the Gators’ biggest recruiting victory. While Florida was licking its wounds after finding out it had missed out on Byron Cowart earlier Wednesday, the staff finally could celebrate a recruiting victory with Ivey, a much needed stud offensive lineman. This huge 5-star tackle has room to get even better in college, and he already plays in a classy Florida powerhouse at Apopka. Ivey is a strong run blocker and comes from a high school program that has produced several college-bound offensive linemen in recent years....

Bush -Determined to keep politicizing 9/11 and national security. But fewer are buying it this time around. Blair -Drained of popularity through alliance with Bush, says he’ll step down within a year. A bloody shame. Couric = Endlessly awaited debut pulls up ratings (for now), but newscast bloated with gimmicks. Give her time. Steve +Crikey! Irwin CW will miss the Croc Hunter from Down Under. Next: Most dangerous creatures in heaven....

FKF is set to change its constitution in the forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) set for November 18 in Mombasa. But despite increased public outcry from stakeholders, FKF boss, Nick Mwendwa has vowed to go ahead and change the laws, even offering to stand in the witness box should any Kenyan challenge the decision in the courts. “I do not expect a situation where it will be contested and if it does, we are ready to defend ourselves in the court,” Mwendwa was quoted by the People Daily....

The return is the fruit of 12 years of painstaking efforts to eradicate rats and other invasive species from the Pacific archipelago. Experts have now recorded two nests of flamingos on the shore of a saltwater lagoon on Rabida Island. Several specimens of the distinctive bright pink bird can be seen relaxing in and around the lagoon in this remarkable footage. In a statement obtained Wednesday by Zenger News, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition of Ecuador said: “Galapagos nature guides have reported that a family of flamingos, an endemic subspecies of the archipelago, have nested again in the lagoon of Rabida Island, an event that had not been recorded for more than 20 years....

The scheme capitalized on the worst aspects of Cuban life. In a regime so repressive, ordinary citizens have learned how to act like secret agents-a skill on which the success of the exodus depended. Cancio settled on flight engineers Rolando Herrera and Jaime Estevez, believing they’d be discreet coconspirators. (The same instincts warned him not to trust copilot Rolando Vila.) With Cuba’s transportation system near collapse, Cancio had a pretext for the great escape....

Flint’s water crisis is national news and has prompted Michigan State coach Tom Izzo to plead for help along with generous donations from rock stars, actors, athletes and nearby locals. MORE: What seed is your hoops team this week? The Detroit News published an account of what winter sports athletes much endure at Flint area high schools and the findings are disturbing. “I feel like we’re working hard at practice and I can’t even go to the fountain to get some water....

Saunders, the team’s president of basketball operations, had also served as head coach of the T-wolves, Pistons and Wizards during his career. He left the team in early September after suffering a setback while battling cancer. Saunders, who is also a minority owner of the Timberwolves, was diagnosed in June. MORE: Remember those the sports world lost in 2015 | Players pay respects to the late Flip Saunders The team anticipated that Saunders would be away from basketball for months once he started experiencing complications from chemotherapy....

Pictures and videos posted on social media showed a bright white light soaring into the twilight sky around 6.30 p.m. from north of Miami to West Palm Beach. One sighting was reported as far away as the Bahamas, according to WPTV’s chief meteorologist Steve Weagle who shared a clip filmed in Hobe Sound, Florida. Another video, by Craig Levins, captured the object from a few miles down the coast in Lake Worth....

Miami-Dade police were alerted of the threat made on Wednesday, and arrested the child Thursday at Leewood K-8 Center, according to the Miami Herald. The student was charged with a felony charge of writing a threat to kill. The story begins last week on a group chat in which the eighth grader said minorities complained too often, and that he had enough “military training” to kill them, according to the report....

The two men from Palm Beach County in Florida were convicted on December 6 of stealing fishing gear in federal waters. The captain and mate, 56-year-old John R. Moore Jr., and 29-year-old Tanner J. Mansell, each face up to five years in prison, as well as fines of up to $250,000, a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Moore and Mansell run a business taking tourists to swim and dive with sharks in the waters off Jupiter, Florida....

Seminole County Sheriff’s Office charged Steven R. Brandenberger, 38, with eavesdropping illegal interception of oral communication and sex offense video voyeurism of a victim over 19 years of age, according to Click Orlando. “This suspect used his considerable technical expertise to break the law again and again by violating this victim’s privacy,” Bob Kealing, a public information officer with Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, told Newsweek. “We’re also concerned she may not be the only one victimized....

According to the Tampa Bay Times, 17-year-old Jordon Litowchak, a senior linebacker on the University High School football team in Palm Harbor, was riding in the backseat of his mother’s car Sunday when he saw Daniel Vinovich’s car hit the water. “I was like ‘Mom, you need to stop the car,’” he told the Times on Monday. “She was still driving but I had to get out, I had to get there....

On Monday, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, ruled that the federal mask mandate on airplanes, trains and buses, “exceeded” the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) authority. The ruling comes just a few days after the CDC announced that it was extending its mask mandate on planes and other mass transportation methods due to the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant....

According to the Sun Sentinel, Crespo and Galva began arguing inside the apartment after returning from a night out with one of Galva’s friends just after midnight. During the argument, Crespo is alleged to have grabbed Galva by the ankles and start pulling her off the bed. Galva is then said to have grabbed hold of the spear, causing the suspect to turn away and continue to pull her....

Joshua Schlotmann, 28, was detained on Sunday afternoon by deputies from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office after footage surfaced showing him pinning the animal to the ground in his neighbor’s front yard and hitting it at least three times with “closed-fisted blows.” The incident occurred in Lehigh Acres at approximately 11:40 a.m., according to timestamps on video footage first obtained and published by media outlet WBBH. The video was captured by a Ring camera and came to the attention of law enforcement after being uploaded to the Neighbors app, which provides users with real-time crime and safety alerts uploaded by residents of local communities and regional police departments....

The suspect, who has not been named, was “immediately captured by deputies” after stealing the slow-moving cart from golfers who were playing at Hammock Creek Golf Course in Palm City, the sheriff’s office said in a press release that was also posted to social media. The person was one of three or four individuals who fled on foot after allegedly bailing from a car which had been stolen from a Palm City gas station....