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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Faizan Zaki wins Scripps National Spelling Bee a year after coming in 2nd
"Éclaircissement" was the winning word, but for Faizan Zaki it spelled success. The seventh grader from Dallas won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, after last year having come in second place on the big stage. Faizan, 13, showed little hesitation as he spelled "éclaircissement," which means the clearing up of something obscure, in the final word to win the title of national spelling champ. He fell to the stage in joy as confetti rained down. 'I don't know what to say. I'm just really happy,' he said. The culmination of the national championship came with a shock. In what could have been the last round, when there were three left, Sarvadnya Kadam and Sarv Dharavane got their words wrong. It seemed to be Faizan's big chance. But he rushed to spell his word before a proper explanation and got the first letter wrong — a blunder on "commelina," a genus of plant that sent all three back for an additional round. Faizan joked about the pressure when he later faced what would be the winning word and after the spelling bee's official pronouncer, Jacques Bailly, suggested everyone take a deep breath. "That did not help at all," Faizan said, eliciting laughter from the crowd. Nine spellers made it to Thursday's final round, from Arizona, California, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas. This year is the 100th anniversary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. In the first contest, there were just nine participants. How times have changed. This year, 243 young people competed in the Spelling Bee, which kicked off Tuesday in National Harbor, Maryland. Those 243 young spellers made their way to the national competition after having qualified in regional contests in March. Almost all of the kids who made it to the nationals were there for the first time, organizers said. Fifty-three were in the 2024 national contest, while 178 were national first-timers. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Savannah Chrisley shares her first moments with her dad after his release from prison
Savannah Chrisley shared early moments with her disgraced reality TV star father, Todd Chrisley, on Wednesday after he received a presidential pardon and was released from federal prison. The 27-year-old, clad in a pink Make America Great Again hat, took to Instagram to connect with her nearly 3 million followers during what appeared to be the ride home from prison with her dad, who has been incarcerated for about three years. "We're getting home, as I puke the whole way," she said through laughs, holding a plastic bag. "I've got Todd over here being dramatic." From behind the camera, Todd Chrisley replies: "I didn't have to deal with this in prison." In a second video posted to her Instagram story, Todd Chrisley, 56, encourages his daughter to feel his arm muscles. With the camera pointed away from her father's face and toward his lower body and open snacks in the car, Savannah grabs her father's arm and says, "Y'all, I'm not going to lie — it's hard." President Donald Trump issued pardons for Todd and Julie Chrisley, 52, Savannah Chrisley's mother, on Wednesday. The pair, known for their roles on the TV show "Chrisley Knows Best," were convicted in 2022 of defrauding banks of over $30 million to maintain their extravagant lifestyle. Todd Chrisley was sentenced to 12 years in prison that year after an Atlanta jury found him guilty of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Julie Chrisley was sentenced to seven years for similar crimes. Savannah Chrisley — who spoke at the Republican National Convention in July — was pivotal in petitioning for her parents' release, a process she started before Trump's second inauguration. The Chrisleys formally requested a pardon in February. An attorney for the Chrisleys, Alex Little, said on Wednesday that the pair was "prosecuted because they were celebrities." In a separate Instagram post on Wednesday, Savannah Chrisley thanked the Trump administration for accomplishing the "impossible." "This fight was never just about us. It's about every family torn apart by injustice," she wrote. "Every parent, every child, every person who's been silenced or shattered by a system that too often forgets the humanity behind the headlines." The Chrisleys' former accountant, Peter Tarantino, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday that he also plans to petition Trump for a presidential pardon. Tarantino was found guilty alongside the Chrisleys in 2022 and sentenced to three years in prison. An attorney for Tarantino did not return a request for comment. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Delta flight erupts into chaos as pigeons fly around main cabin
A Delta flight erupted into chaos on Saturday when two pigeons were discovered in the plane's main cabin, video of the pandemonium shows. According to an Instagram post from another passenger, Tom Caw was the passenger who spotted the first pigeon before the plane departed from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Caw said the pilot announced the pigeon sighting and returned the plane to the gate to have the bird removed. As the flight taxied out to take off again, a second pigeon emerged and flew down the main aisle of the cabin, video Caw posted on Instagram and NBC News obtained shows. The bird prompted several passengers to scream. "Pilot said when he radioed the control tower about us coming back due to a pigeon, the guy said that was a first for him," Caw wrote. "Pilot told him it was the second time for him—the first being half an hour earlier." Delta issued a statement apologizing for the disruption to the flight, which was headed for Madison, Wisconsin. "Delta appreciates the careful actions of our people and our customers to safely remove two birds from the aircraft prior to departure, and we apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel," the company said in a statement. Caw said a baggage handler removed the second bird. "My guess is the pigeons were tired of flying and wanted snacks," he wrote on Instagram. "They didn't know this flight to MSN is too short for Delta to offer beverage/snack service." This article was originally published on
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Yahoo
New York sewage-boat explosion victim identified as veteran city engineer
A longtime New York City Department of Environmental Protection employee has been identified as the victim of the sewage-boat explosion Saturday morning on the Hudson River in New York City. Chief Marine Diesel Engineer Raymond Feige, 59, died in the explosion at the North River Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility in West Harlem, the DEP said in a statement Monday. The incident occurred at around 10:30 a.m. Saturday on a boat carrying raw sewage that was docked. "Ray was a respected engineer and a steady, beloved colleague who will be deeply missed," DEP Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala said. "For more than three decades, he worked at DEP in a job that is largely unseen by most New Yorkers but is critical to keeping the City running, and we are grateful for his service." The DEP said Feige started at the agency in 1991 in the marine section, where he remained for the rest of his decadeslong career with a love for working on the water and bonding with shipmates. He "brought deep technical expertise and unwavering dedication" to the city's wastewater operations, the agency said. The diesel engineer was pronounced dead at the scene after being found unconscious in the river. Another DEP employee was taken to the hospital, and a third at the scene refused medical treatment. The DEP said the explosion was caused by an accident on the boat, which is still under investigation. The agency said there appears to have been no impact on plant operations or the environment. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democratic challenger defeats Pittsburgh mayor in a primary, after a clash over the party's future
Allegheny County Controller Corey O'Connor defeated Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey in the city's hotly contested Democratic mayoral primary, The Associated Press projected Tuesday, after a race which garnered national attention as a notable proxy fight between progressives and center-left Democrats. With more than 85% of the vote in, O'Connor led Gainey 54%-46% in the nominating contest. Tuesday's election was one of the first major Democratic primaries since the 2024 election in which the party's progressive and center-left wings faced off. And the mayoral race followed an election cycle where Democratic governance of cities took center-stage in Republican campaign messaging. Gainey and his allies painted O'Connor, the county controller and the son of a former mayor, as beholden to President Donald Trump and monied real estate interests, pointing to campaign donations from Trump backers and developers. The mayor, who was first elected in 2021, also pointed to drops in violent crime, local job growth and the city's improved credit ratings to counter O'Connor, who portrayed Gainey as an unproductive mayor who's failed at managing city finances, its police department, and on general quality-of-life fronts O'Connor launched his campaign late last year, emerging as a favorite early on and raising more money than Gainey, though polling showed the race tightening as Election Day neared. Last month, both campaigns touted internal polling showing them with an advantage in the tough-to-model local race: Gainey's campaign survey showed him up 7 points, while O'Connor's showed him up by 4, though that was considerably closer than other polls his campaign touted earlier in the cycle that showed the challenger up double-digits. Gainey, the city's first Black mayor, won a contested primary in 2021, knocking off incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto in a three-way primary with a plurality of the vote. His win was part of a county-wide progressive advance, preceding wins by Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, among other candidates on the left who have won major offices in the area in recent years. The Pittsburgh mayoral race elevated housing policy to the forefront of the local discussion. Gainey has sought to enact inclusionary zoning policies throughout Pittsburgh that require new developments to set aside at least 10% of units for affordable housing. Those policies currently apply to only a few neighborhoods, and O'Connor came out against making inclusionary zoning citywide policy. Meanwhile, a key point of contention in the race focused on just how many affordable units have been or are being built in the city since the start of Gainey's term as mayor. This article was originally published on
