Month: March 2022

By JAY COHEN, AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — The more Chicago Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz examined the possibilities for the team's opening at general manager, the more he felt he had what he needed in his own organization — even with the club's recent struggles. The Blackhawks hired Kyle Davidson on Tuesday, dropping his interim tag instead of going outside the floundering franchise for new leadership. “I think if you know Kyle ... you'll realize that he's his own person,” Wirtz said. “He has his own philosophies. ... (It) is quite an advantage, to be both a fresh thinker and a open-minded thinker, but also understand our starting point very expertly. So you kind of get the best of both worlds in that sense.” The GM job is another step in a rapid rise f...

By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Tennis Writer Novak Djokovic and coach Marian Vajda are no longer working together, splitting up after 15 years and 20 Grand Slam titles. A statement that went up on Djokovic’s website on Tuesday said that the two men “agreed to end their partnership” after last year’s season-ending ATP Finals. “Marian has been by my side during the most important and memorable moments in my career,” Djokovic said in the posting. “Together we have achieved some incredible things and I am very grateful for his friendship and dedication over the last 15 years. Skechers Shoes Outlets While he might be leaving the professional team he will always be family and I can’t thank him enough for all he has done.” During Vajda’s tenure, Djokovic also has picke...

By MARK KENNEDY, AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — While many people spent Valentine's Day with the traditional flowers and chocolates, Brittney Johnson was making theater history. The young Broadway veteran was gently lowered onto the Gershwin Theatre stage to become the first Black actor to assume the role of Glinda full-time in “Wicked,” shattering a racial barrier on the day of love. “One of the most rewarding parts of this is that it’s not just for me. I think it’s the least amount about me,” she says. “It’s about what it means for other people, for people that are going to see me do it or for people that just know that I’m here.” Johnson is part of a sisterhood of women who have recently broken boundaries on American stages, including Emilie ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It was a quilling experience for all. Percy, a porcupine puppet of prodigious proportions, emerged from her giant stump home for an audience of schoolchildren and media members at a Los Angeles park on Tuesday. The adorable beast inspired oohs and awwws as she blinked her droopy eyes and opened her mouth to show her buck teeth. She stood nearly two stories tall with a nose the size of a Volkswagen. A joint project of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Boston Red Sox Jerseys  and Jim Henson's Creature Shop, Percy was let out to celebrate next week's opening of the zoo's new Wildlife Explorers Basecamp. Six months in the planning, the puppet is modeled on the prehensile-tailed porcupine, native to South America. It has a circumference o...

By THOMAS ADAMSON, AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — Dior’s affirmed feminist designer Maria Grazia Chiuri used the male gaze, as reflected in female oil portraits across the centuries, to make a fashion statement on female empowerment and subjugation. But Tuesday’s feisty ready-to-wear display in Paris, set in the splendid Tuileries Gardens, was also just a beautifully conceived collection — one of the Italian designer’s finest — which served to start Paris Fashion Week on strong creative footing. As editors busily filed past myriad masterpieces, some expressed San Francisco 49ers Jersey   relief that the French government ruled the face mask to no longer be obligatory at shows. Yet despite the glamor and optimistic moments, the conflict in Ukraine was not...