Latest news with #KerryWood
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Met Police seizes more than £250k in courier fraud crackdown
The Met Police said it had seized more than £250,000 in cash and hundreds of bank cards and phones in recent weeks as part of a crackdown on courier arrested 18 people believed to be behind sophisticated fraud scams, with the oldest victim affected aged fraud is where fraudsters contact victims by telephone impersonating trusted authorities such as the police or bank officials. They will deceive them into withdrawing cash or handing over bank cards - or trick them into buying and handing over expensive Supt Kerry Wood said it was a "devastating crime which can deprive vulnerable people of their livelihoods, pensions and hard-earned savings". According to the Met, 80% of victims are over the age of victim, Andrew Quicke, said he got a call from someone posing as a police officer, saying that they were tracing bank fraud and printing fake money."I was asked to go and get £5,600 in cash and they would check the numbers."And if I doubted their veracity, they gave me a 999 number to call, which I think actually was just calling them. So I assumed they were police," he said."I got the money from my bank and they said somebody would come and collect it in due course. Somebody arrived and they did collect it at night and it was hard to see them. "So then the following day and they asked me to get some more money tomorrow, £9,000."So I said yes, I'll go down to the bank. But the second day I did mention this to my son, who said I'd be conned, that this was a scam."Mr Quicke kept the scam going with the police's involvement, managing to bring the criminals to justice, the Met said. 'We will investigate' The operation also uncovered a suspected multi-million-pound organised crime network, alleged to have tricked victims into sending their bank cards to various addresses across London. Four men have since been charged with fraud and another three people have been charged for concealing stolen Supt Wood said: "We've arrested a number of individuals as part of our targeted operation, but the work doesn't stop here and our officers will continue to pursue those who ruthlessly target our communities via sophisticated scams."Our message to criminals should be clear - we will investigate, arrest and put you before the courts."The Met Police has been working alongside the City of London Police plus banks, businesses and community groups as part of the operation.
Associated Press
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
This Date in Baseball - Willie Mays goes hitless in his MLB debut
May 25 1906 — Jesse Tannehill's 3-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox snapped a 20-game losing streak — 19 at home — for the Boston Red Sox. 1935 — Babe Ruth, winding up his career with the Boston Braves, hit three homers and a single at Pittsburgh, but the Pirates won 11-7. Ruth connected once off Red Lucas and twice off Guy Bush. 1941 — Boston's Ted Williams raised his batting average over .400 for the first time during the season. Williams finished the season batting. 406. 1951 — Willie Mays, a highly touted rookie for the Giants, went 0-for-5 in his debut against the Philadelphia Phillies. 1982 — Ferguson Jenkins became the seventh pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in the Chicago Cubs' 2-1 loss at San Diego. Jenkins reached the milestone by striking out Garry Templeton in the third inning. 2001 — Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs allowed one hit and struck out 14 in a 1-0 win over the Brewers. Wood took a no-hit bid into the seventh before giving up a leadoff single to Mark Loretta. 2001 — Hideo Nomo of the Boston Red Sox tossed a one-hitter and struck out 14 in a 4-0 win over Toronto. Nomo faced one batter over the minimum of 27, giving up a leadoff double in the fourth to Shannon Stewart. 2002 — Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers homered twice in a 10-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, setting a major league record with seven homers in his last three games. 2005 — The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1, in 12 innings, as manager Tony La Russa wins his 823rd game with the Cardinals, passing Whitey Herzog for second place on the franchise list. La Russa is 218 victories behind Cardinals leader Red Schoendienst. 2009 — Jim Thome passes Mike Schmidt for 13th on the all-time home run list, as the White Sox thump the Angels, 17-3. 2009 — Cleveland rallied from a 10-0 deficit in the fourth as Victor Martinez's two-out, two-run single in the ninth capped a seven-run inning and lifted the Indians to an 11-10 victory over Tampa Bay. The Indians became the first team in the majors to win after trailing by 10 runs since the Texas Rangers rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 16-15 on May 8, 2004. 2011 — Andruw Jones hit a pair of two-run homers, Mark Teixeira also hit a two-run shot and Mariano Rivera made a milestone appearance in New York's 7-3 victory over Toronto. Rivera pitched the ninth inning in a non-save situation, the 1,000th game he's played for the Yankees. The 11-time All-Star closer became the first player in major league history to reach the plateau for one team and the 15th to make it overall. Jones homered in the second inning and Teixeira in the third off Jo-Jo Reyes, who matched a major league record by making his 28th consecutive start without a win. 2011 — Infielder Wilson Valdez wound up as the winning pitcher when the Philadelphia Phillies needed 19 innings to outlast the Cincinnati Reds 5-4. Valdez threw a hitless 19th inning in his first professional pitching appearance. He became the first position player to become a winning pitcher since Colorado catcher Brent Mayne on Aug. 22, 2000. 2012 — Nelson Cruz hit a grand slam and tied his career high with eight RBIs, Josh Hamilton hit his 19th home run of the season and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 14-3. Cruz's grand slam came in the seventh inning and gave Texas a 14-1 lead. He also had a three-run double in the first and an RBI single in the sixth. 2013 — Angel Pagan became the first San Francisco player to end a game with an inside-the-park homer, connecting with a runner aboard in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Giants a 6-5 victory over Colorado. The last major leaguer to hit an inside-the-park home run that ended a game was Rey Sanchez for Tampa Bay on June 11, 2004 — also in a 10-inning victory over Colorado. 2014 — Josh Beckett of the Dodgers records the first no-hitter of the year by blanking the Phillies, 6-0. It is the first no-hitter by a Dodgers pitcher since Hideo Nomo pitched one in 1996, and the first nine-inning no-hitter by an opposing pitcher in Philadelphia since Bill Stoneman of the Montreal Expos back in 1969. 2019 — The Padres set a franchise record with 7 homers in a 19-4 win over the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. Wil Myers and Hunter Renfroe hit two each while Austin Hedges blasts a grand slam off Edwin Jackson. Cal Quantrill is the beneficiary of this power display as he records his first career victory a short distance from his hometown of Port Hope, ON, while another local boy, Josh Naylor from Mississauga, ON, collects his first three big league hits for the Padres in the game. 2021 — By working home plate in a game between the Cardinals and White Sox, Joe West sets a new career record with 5,376 games as an umpire, passing Bill Klem, whose last game was in 1941. 2022 — Anaheim City Council votes unanimously to cancel the sale of Angel Stadium and surrounding land to Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno, following the resignation of Mayor Bill Sidhu on corruption charges a few days earlier. The $350 million sale had been agreed in December 2019 but not yet finalized, and was at the center of an FBI investigation that led to accusations that Sidhu had provided insider information to the team and in return demanded kickbacks in the form of campaign contributions. The city councillors are now no longer convinced that the proposed deal reflects the city's best interests, and are willing to risk a breach of contract lawsuit from Moreno in order to examine a potential deal again, starting from scratch. _____
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
CT House approves grants to Planned Parenthood and other groups; takes step toward paying UConn athletes
State legislators voted Monday night for supplemental grants to Planned Parenthood and a variety of non-profit organizations that prompted opposition by Republicans in the middle of the fiscal year. By a vote of 94-49 on mostly party lines, the state House of Representatives approved a multi-faceted bill that included various unrelated items, including paving the way for the University of Connecticut to pay their student athletes in the future. The two leaders of the House Democratic moderate caucus – Rep. Kerry Wood of Rocky Hill and Rep. Patrick Boyd of Pomfret – voted with the Republicans against the measure. The overall funding package of $2.8 million, Democrats said, was necessary due to cuts at the federal level from President Donald J. Trump's administration and a lack of funding for immigrants and refugees, along with lesbian and gay organizations. State Rep. Tammy Nuccio of Tolland, the ranking House Republican on the budget committee, asked why the money was being allocated in the middle of the fiscal year that ends on June 30. Traditionally, budgets are set in advance for the entire fiscal year, and the totals traditionally do not change while the year is underway. 'We had a hearing where we just appropriated an additional $500,000 to Planned Parenthood,' Nuccio said on the House floor in Hartford. 'I was assured that the half-a-million would cover that. … We're giving them $800,000 again. Why are we giving Planned Parenthood $800,000 now … that they're going to need to spend in the next three months?' State Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, a West Hartford Democrat, responded that Planned Parenthood of Southern New England is currently running a deficit. 'This $800,000 will go toward their overall operating' expenses, Gilchrest said. Earlier Monday, a representative of the Roman Catholic Church called upon legislators to reject the funding. 'Giving more taxpayer money, even one cent, let alone $800,000, to those in the abortion business is truly tragic,' said Chris Healy, executive director of Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference. 'We can only pray for those in power to reject this horrible idea.' Planned Parenthood, Healy said, had also received an additional $3 million at the end of the 2024 legislative session. He said the organization is the largest abortion provider in the state, adding that more than half of the abortions 'are fully funded by state taxpayers under the Medicaid program' for low-income women. The bill is scheduled to be debated Tuesday by the state Senate. Additional grants Besides Planned Parenthood, more than 20 organizations received money in supplemental grants because they either serve immigrants and refugees or provide services for the LGBTQ community. Three of the largest grants will be $387,500 for the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective, Inc. and $225,000 each for the New Haven Gay and Lesbian Community Center and Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, Inc. Overall, 20 organizations received the exact same amount at $62,500 as the money was divided evenly. The groups helping immigrants include the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants; Jewish Family Services of Greenwich; Connecticut Immigrant and Refugee Coalition; and Center for Children's Advocacy. Others receiving $62,500 are Anchor Health Initiative Corp.; Middlesex Hospital for a gender clinic; Triangle Community Center; Queer Youth Program of Connecticut; Kids in Crisis; OutCT, Inc.; Bridgeport Pride Center; PFLAG Enfield, Inc.; PEERPRIDE; The World Health Clinicians, Inc.; Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs; Upper Albany Neighborhood Collaborative; City Seed, Inc.; Building One Community Corp.; Havenly, Inc.; and Junta For Progressive Action, Inc. State Rep. Toni Walker, a New Haven Democrat who serves as the longtime co-chairwoman of the budget-writing committee, said the money was being allocated for groups that need the funding. 'We are all here under one roof, and we should all be treated in one way,' Walker said. 'This is a small, incremental help while we try to work out these issues with Washington.' She added, 'Many of those federal dollars are getting interrupted.' Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco, a conservative Republican from Wolcott, questioned how the groups were chosen to receive money. Mastrofrancesco questioned why there was no budget committee vote, which is not necessary under the categorization of an 'emergency certified bill' that is approved by the top two Democratic leaders of the legislature. She also questioned why money was going to immigrant organizations when others need money, too. 'We have American citizens who can't even afford their electric bill,' Mastrofrancesco said. 'Yet, we are putting funding into a population … LBBTQ that is less than one percent.' 'We were trying to spread it out to as many organizations as possible,' Walker said. 'There were several locations that had lost funding. … They needed some support.' Rep. Jay Case, a Winsted Republican, said there are numerous non-profits around the state that need additional money, including homeless shelters, that were not included in the bill. 'Today, we're coming in to do just certain things,' Case said. UConn sports payments In an unrelated matter in the same bill, lawmakers moved toward paving the way for athletes to be paid in the future at the University of Connecticut. 'The bill removes a prohibition on student athletes receiving NIL compensation as an inducement to attend, enroll in, or continue attending a specific higher education institution or intercollegiate athletic program,' according to a nonpartisan bill summary. 'Instead, it allows a student athlete, including one who has agreed to attend an institution, to earn compensation through an endorsement contract or revenue sharing agreement directly with an institution or an entity acting on its behalf if the institution has a policy allowing it and the student follows the policy.' The NCAA, which oversees college athletics, is expected to permit college athletes to essentially be paid, possibly starting in April. In a fast-changing landscape, UConn asked the legislature to prepare the way for the federal changes, legislators said. Rep. Timothy Ackert, a Coventry Republican, lamented the changes in college sports. 'It has really blown up,' Ackert said on the House floor. 'Now, it's just like pro sports. … It's not a Connecticut issue. It's a federal issue that we are paying college students. What have we done to college sports? We're allowing the college to do this. It's sad that this is where it's gone to.' Courant staff writer Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@
