Benjamin Hall, Author at Cactus three

Michigan stymies Michael Penix Jr., Washington to claim first national championship since 1997 season

10

Jan

New miscellaneous

Michigan stymies Michael Penix Jr., Washington to claim first national championship since 1997 season

By Lauren Merola, Max Olson, Austin Meek, Jim Trotter and Nicole AuerbachIt’s been 26 years, but finally, no one has it better than Michigan.The Wolverines rushed for 303 yards and held flame-throwing Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in check to emerge as the College Football Playoff national champion with a 34-13 defeat of the Huskies on Monday night at NRG Stadium in Houston. The win marked Michigan’s first national title since 1997 and the completion of a long-anticipated return to the top of college football under head coach Jim Harbaugh.The Wolverines, who entered the night ranked second in the FBS…

Editor of The Los Angeles Times Steps Down

10

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Science and Technology

Editor of The Los Angeles Times Steps Down

When he joined The Los Angeles Times as its top editor nearly three years ago, Kevin Merida was hailed as a leader who would restore calm to a newsroom that had been buffeted by cost-cutting and corporate ownership battles.Now, he’s exiting with little warning, an abrupt departure that leaves the largest news organization in the West in a state of flux.Mr. Merida told staff members on Tuesday that he was stepping down “after considerable soul-searching about my career.”He did not specify exactly why he was leaving, but he did say that his last day would be on Friday.Patrick Soon-Shiong, the…

SEC’s X Account Hacked, Causing Frenzy Over Bitcoin ETF

09

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Investments and Business

SEC’s X Account Hacked, Causing Frenzy Over Bitcoin ETF

For 15 minutes, the cryptocurrency industry was euphoric.At 4:11 p.m. on Tuesday, the official X account of the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that regulators had approved a new investment product tracking the price of Bitcoin, an apparent victory for the embattled crypto industry. Coinbase, a giant crypto exchange, posted a celebratory banner. Crypto fans hailed it as a historic day for the industry. Bitcoin’s price spiked.Then at 4:26 p.m., Gary Gensler, the chair of the S.E.C., posted that the agency’s account had been compromised, resulting in an “unauthorized tweet.” An S.E.C. spokeswoman confirmed the hack in an emailed statement.The…

Israel Says It Has Begun to Scale Back War: Live Updates

08

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

New miscellaneous

Israel Says It Has Begun to Scale Back War: Live Updates

Israel, which said over the weekend that it had successfully dismantled Hamas’s military structure in the north of the Gaza Strip, said it was taking a different tactical approach in the south, where a population that sought safety there fears how the war will play out over the coming months.Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Saturday that the military was working differently in central and southern Gaza, where most of the enclave’s population of about 2.2 million people is crowded, including about a million evacuees from the north, than it was in the north. But he did not elaborate on…

F.D.A. to Issue First Approval for Mass Drug Imports to States from Canada

08

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Health

F.D.A. to Issue First Approval for Mass Drug Imports to States from Canada

The Food and Drug Administration has allowed Florida to import millions of dollars worth of medications from Canada at far lower prices than in the United States, overriding fierce decades-long objections from the pharmaceutical industry.The approval, issued in a letter to Florida Friday, is a major policy shift for the United States, and supporters hope it will be a significant step forward in the long and largely unsuccessful effort to rein in drug prices. Individuals in the United States are allowed to buy directly from Canadian pharmacies, but states have long wanted to be able to purchase medicines in bulk…

Bird, ‘The Wire,’ a life sentence paroled and a Colts game 40 years in the making

08

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

New miscellaneous

Bird, ‘The Wire,’ a life sentence paroled and a Colts game 40 years in the making

Bleary-eyed from 16 hours on a Greyhound bus, he strolled into the stadium running on fumes. He’d barely slept in two days. The ride he was supposed to hitch from Charlotte to Indianapolis canceled at the last minute, and for a few nervy hours, Antonio Barnes started to have his doubts. The trip he’d waited 40 years for looked like it wasn’t going to happen.But as he moved through the concourse at Lucas Oil Stadium an hour before the Colts faced the Raiders, it started to sink in. His pace quickened. His eyes widened. His voice picked up.“I got chills…