Latest news with #Youngblood
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Don 'Dog Patch Legend' Youngblood passes away at 86
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — He was a local legend known for his generosity, holiday traditions, and decades of service along Jacksboro highway. This evening, Wichita Falls is mourning the loss of Don Youngblood. Whether you know him from his giveaways or just stopped by for gas and a conversation, Don Youngblood left a mark on just about everyone he met. He passed away Sunday at the age of 86, but his legacy lives on through the kindness he shared throughout the community. For more than six decades, Youngblood's service station on Jacksboro highway was more than a pit stop, it was a community staple, and Don Youngblood was at the heart. Known to some as 'The Dog Patch Legend', Youngblood was a familiar face to generations of customers, meeting everyone with a smile, jokes or a story, but it was every Halloween when don's generosity truly took center stage. 'He wanted Christmas to be equal for kids, but since he couldn't do that, he made it happen for Halloween. So, everybody, parents and children each got a can coke and a snickers bar and then in the parking lot of Youngbloods, he would raffle off 10 brand new girl bicycles and 10 brand new boy bicycles,' Don's longtime friend, Diane said. For Don, it wasn't about the recognition, it was about giving people a reason to smile, something Don did until the very end. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Yahoo
American-Statesman takes top Texas honors for feature writing, sports photography
The Austin American-Statesman won first place in feature reporting and sports photography in the Texas Managing Editors annual Excellence in Journalism competition. Investigative reporter Tony Plohetski took the top honor in feature writing for his story on an Austin man who FBI agents accused of conning people out of millions. Photojournalist Aaron E. Martinez won first place in sports photography for a photo of a University of Texas softball player celebrating after scoring a key run. Statesman journalists were also recognized for general column writing, editorial writing, video, comment and criticism, sports feature writing, news photography and photojournalism. Sports reporter David Eckert won second place in the Star Sports Reporter of the Year category, and photojournalist Jay Janner won third place for Star Photojournalist of the Year. Plohetski's reporting walked readers through a chilling plan in which Saint Jovite Youngblood, a 51-year-old husband and father living in a 4,000-square-foot home in Manor, just east of Austin, scammed at least 20 people in Austin and across the nation out of millions of dollars, with some victims believing their safety depended on high-dollar payoffs. Austin real estate developer Eric Perardi in June 2022 received an urgent call from Youngblood, whom he had known for five years. Youngblood requested an in-person meeting to go over some troubling news: Los Zetas, a Mexican drug cartel, had put out a hit on Perardi and his children — they could be kidnapped and killed as soon as that summer day. "They believe I had all this money from projects I've done," Perardi recalled telling Youngblood. He also said the cartel knew that Perardi had a multimillion-dollar life insurance policy. Federal documents, however, laid out the case as an epic fraud. A magistrate judge called the crimes "the most massive pattern of intimidation of threats and violence and death I have ever seen." The victims were old and young, wealthy and middle-class: a manager and bartender at a golf course; a seatmate on a Vegas-bound flight; a fellow estate sale customer; and a man who sold exotic fish for Youngblood's aquarium. The Texas Managing Editor's contest judges said Plohetski's story was an "excellent telling of a great cautionary tale, written with empathy but also a swift-moving sense of narrative." Plohetski's feature writing award was in the circulation category for Texas' largest newspapers. For Martinez's celebratory photo, the judges said they "loved the emotions from the player after scoring a key run, very nice clean simple frame." Column writing: Bridget Grumet earned second place. Editorial writing: American-Statesman editorial board earned second place. Video: Mikala Compton earned second place. Comment and criticism: Deborah Sengupta-Stith earned third place. Sports feature: Statesman earned an honorable mention. News photography: Statesman earned an honorable mention. Photojournalism: Statesman earned an honorable mention. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: American-Statesman takes top Texas honor for feature writing
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NWA business owners plead guilty to $6.1 million pandemic fraud scheme
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A Florida couple formerly of Northwest Arkansas pleaded guilty April 28 to defrauding Pandemic Relief Loan Programs. According to a press release, Fawaad Welch, 41, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and Julia Youngblood, 41, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony related to the scheme. According to court documents and statements made in court, between May 2020 through October 2021, Welch and Youngblood applied for Pandemic Relief Loan Programs through their Arkansas business, Slipstream Creative, LLC, a former Fayetteville advertising and marketing company. The release says throughout the applications, Welch provided the lenders with false statements regarding their assets and liabilities and the intended use of funds received through the United States Small Business Administration's 7(a) loans, Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Main Street Loan Programs. Youngblood signed the application on behalf of the business. The release says that after receiving the loan funds, Welch diverted large parts of the loan proceeds for the personal benefit of the couple. In the applications, the couple did not disclose material information such as tax liabilities and the fact that they were receiving loans from other loan programs. Fayetteville doctor set to become US Navy lieutenant commander According to the release, within months of receiving $1.5 million in 'working capital' Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds in October 2021, Welch transferred $1.3 million of that loan to the couple's personal bank account. The couple then bought a home in Florida using $445,000 of the funds. Generations Bank asked if Welch and Youngblood take salaries and told them that 'the Fed restricts changes to your salaries with the [Main Street Loan Program] and doesn't allow distributions.' Welch replied, 'Yes, sir, we do at 10k a month, so all is good there. 5k a piece.' After receiving the $3 million in program funds, within a month, Welch had transferred $950,000 in Main Street Loan Program funds out of the business and to himself. The release says that as part of the plea agreement, the couple will be held accountable for more than $3.5 million but less than $9 million in intended loss. Welch and Younblood will be sentenced at a later date. Welch faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, and Younblood faces a maximum of 3 years in prison. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
29-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
SEC sends four to men's Elite Eight, third league ever with half of regional final field
The Southeastern Conference's memorable March continued into the second weekend of the men's NCAA Tournament as it became the third conference to place a record four teams in the Elite Eight and kept alive the possibility of an all-SEC Final Four. Auburn, the tournament's top overall seed, became the fourth SEC team to advance to the regional finals with a 78-65 victory against Michigan on Friday night. The Tigers will face second-seeded Michigan State on Sunday in the South Regional final. The Spartans downed Ole Miss from the SEC in the first regional semifinal in Atlanta. Advertisement The 16-school SEC placed a record 14 teams in the field of 68 and was assured of at least three Elite Eight teams coming into Friday night's slate. Alabama and Florida advanced Thursday with victories in the regional semifinals, and Tennessee and Kentucky played in an all-SEC Midwest Regional semifinal in Indianapolis Friday night. The second-seeded Volunteers cruised 78-65 past the Wildcats and will face either Houston or Purdue on Sunday for a trip to the Final Four. One conference has never had all four national semifinalists in the NCAA Tournament. The SEC could have anywhere from four to none in San Antonio next week. On Saturday, No. 2 seed Alabama plays No. 1 Duke in the East Regional final in Newark, N.J., and top-seeded Florida faces No. 3 Texas Tech in the West Regional final in San Francisco. 'We've played in a lot of meaningful games against a lot of good teams,' Alabama guard Chris Youngblood said Saturday. Alabama's last nine games before the NCAA Tournament were against SEC teams ranked in the AP Top 25 at the time of the game, including Auburn, Florida and Kentucky twice each. 'We understand what it takes to win it. We've lost some close games, too, so we understand the value of each possession in high-level games like this. So we'll be ready,' Youngblood said. The ACC was the last conference to send four teams to the Elite Eight in 2016, when North Carolina, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Virginia made the regional finals. The Big East was the first to do it in 2009 with Louisville, Pittsburgh, UConn and Villanova. The SEC has twice placed three teams in the round of eight of the men's NCAA Tournament: 2017 (Florida, South Carolina and Kentucky) and 1986 (Kentucky, LSU and Auburn). Since the first round, when six of the 14 SEC teams were eliminated, the conference is 11-4.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Youngblood scores 27 and No. 6 Alabama rains 3s for 111-73 win over No. 24 Mississippi State
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Chris Youngblood scored a season-best 27 points and No. 6 Alabama made nearly half of its 45 attempts from 3-point range in a 111-73 win over No. 24 Mississippi State on Tuesday night. Mark Sears had 21 points and 10 assists for the Crimson Tide (23-5, 12-3 Southeastern Conference), who set a season high for 3s by going 22 of 45 from long range (49%). Youngblood was 7 for 11 beyond the arc, and Sears finished 5 for 12. Jarin Stevenson went 3 for 3 off the bench. Reserve guard Aden Holloway also drained a trio of 3s and provided 13 points and five assists. Mouhamed Dioubate contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds. Labaron Philon had 10 points and five assists. Mississippi State (19-9, 7-8) was led by Josh Hubbard, who had 21 points on 8-of-22 shooting. KeShawn Murphy added 18 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. Takeaways Mississippi State: The Bulldogs ended February with two atypically poor attempts at defending the 3-point line, allowing Oklahoma to make 11 of 26 before Alabama unloaded on Tuesday. Before the past two games, Mississippi State had not permitted an opponent to shoot better than 40% from 3-point range since Feb. 1. Alabama: Played much better defense than in consecutive losses this month to No. 1 Auburn and then-No. 15 Missouri, which shot a combined 53% from the field. Key moment Mississippi State coach Chris Jans called a timeout with just more than seven minutes remaining in the first half to stop a 10-4 Alabama run punctuated by Grant Nelson's dunk. In the minute following that timeout, Youngblood hit two 3-pointers, extending Alabama's lead to 20. The Crimson Tide led by 26 at halftime. Key stat Alabama shot far better from 3-point range than Mississippi State did from the field (28 for 73, 38%). Up next Alabama visits No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday, while Mississippi State returns home to face LSU. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: and
