South Florida Local News

By Jennifer Peltz and Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is moving toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The Justice Department proposal would recognize the medical uses of cannabis, but wouldn’t legalize it for recreational use.

The proposal would move marijuana from the “Schedule I” group to the less tightly regulated “Schedule III.”

So what does that mean, and what are the implications?

WHAT HAS ACTUALLY CHANGED? WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Technically, nothing yet. The proposal must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, and then undergo a public-comment period and review from an administrative judge, a potentially lengthy process.

Still, the switch is considered “paradigm-shifting, and it’s very exciting,” Vince Sliwoski, a Portland, Oregon-based cannabis and psychedelics attorney who runs well-known legal blogs on those topics, told The Associated Press when the federal Health and Human Services Department recommended the change.

“I can’t emphasize enough how big of news it is,” he said.

Budtender Rey Cruz weighs cannabis for a customer at the Marijuana Paradise on Friday, April 19, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

It came after President Joe Biden asked both HHS and the attorney general, who oversees the DEA, last year to review how marijuana was classified. Schedule I put it on par, legally, with heroin, LSD, quaaludes and ecstasy, among others.

Biden, a Democrat, supports legalizing medical marijuana for use “where appropriate, consistent with medical and scientific evidence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday. “That is why it is important for this independent review to go through.”

IF MARIJUANA GETS RECLASSIFIED, WOULD IT LEGALIZE RECREATIONAL CANNABIS NATIONWIDE?

No. Schedule III drugs — which include ketamine, anabolic steroids and some acetaminophen-codeine combinations — are still controlled substances.

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They’re subject to various rules that allow for some medical uses, and for federal criminal prosecution of anyone who traffics in the drugs without permission.

No changes are expected to the medical marijuana programs now licensed in 38 states or the legal recreational cannabis markets in 23 states, but it’s unlikely they would meet the federal production, record-keeping, prescribing and other requirements for Schedule III drugs.

There haven’t been many federal prosecutions for simply possessing marijuana in recent years, even under marijuana’s current Schedule I status, but the reclassification wouldn’t have an immediate impact on people already in the criminal justice system.

“Put simple, this move from Schedule I to Schedule III is not getting people out of jail,” said David Culver, senior vice president of public affairs at the U.S. Cannabis Council.

But rescheduling in itself would have some impact, particularly on research and marijuana business taxes.

WHAT WOULD THIS MEAN FOR RESEARCH?

Because marijuana is on Schedule I, it’s been very difficult to conduct authorized clinical studies that involve administering the drug. That has created something of a Catch-22: calls for more research, but barriers to doing it. (Scientists sometimes rely instead on people’s own reports of their marijuana use.)

Schedule III drugs are easier to study, though the reclassification wouldn’t immediately reverse all barriers to study, Culver said.

WHAT ABOUT TAXES (AND BANKING)?

Under the federal tax code, businesses involved in “trafficking” in marijuana or any other Schedule I or II drug can’t deduct rent, payroll or various other expenses that other businesses can write off. (Yes, at least some cannabis businesses, particularly state-licensed ones, do pay taxes to the federal government, despite its prohibition on marijuana.) Industry groups say the tax rate often ends up at 70% or more.

The deduction rule doesn’t apply to Schedule III drugs, so the proposed change would cut cannabis companies’ taxes substantially.

They say it would treat them like other industries and help them compete against illegal competitors that are frustrating licensees and officials in places such as New York.

Cloud 9 Cannabis employee Beau McQueen, right, helps a customer, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Arlington, Wash. The shop is one of the first dispensaries to open under the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board’s social equity program, established in efforts to remedy some of the disproportionate effects marijuana prohibition had on communities of color. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

“You’re going to make these state-legal programs stronger,” says Adam Goers, an executive at medical and recreational cannabis giant Columbia Care. He co-chairs a coalition of corporate and other players that’s pushing for rescheduling.

It could also mean more cannabis promotion and advertising if those costs could be deducted, according to Beau Kilmer, co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Center.

Rescheduling wouldn’t directly affect another marijuana business problem: difficulty accessing banks, particularly for loans, because the federally regulated institutions are wary of the drug’s legal status. The industry has been looking instead to a measure called the SAFE Banking Act. It has repeatedly passed the House but stalled in the Senate.

ARE THERE CRITICS? WHAT DO THEY SAY?

Indeed, there are, including the national anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana. President Kevin Sabet, a former Obama administration drug policy official, said the HHS recommendation “flies in the face of science, reeks of politics” and gives a regrettable nod to an industry “desperately looking for legitimacy.”

Some legalization advocates say rescheduling weed is too incremental. They want to keep the focus on removing it completely from the controlled substances list, which doesn’t include such items as alcohol or tobacco (they’re regulated, but that’s not the same).

Paul Armentano, the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that simply reclassifying marijuana would be “perpetuating the existing divide between state and federal marijuana policies.” Minority Cannabis Business Association President Kaliko Castille said rescheduling just “re-brands prohibition,” rather than giving an all-clear to state licensees and putting a definitive close to decades of arrests that disproportionately pulled in people of color.

“Schedule III is going to leave it in this kind of amorphous, mucky middle where people are not going to understand the danger of it still being federally illegal,” he said.

Peltz reported from New York. Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK, JAKE OFFENHARTZ, COLLEEN LONG and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER (Associated Press)

NEW YORK (AP) — The first week of testimony in Donald Trump’s hush money trial was the scene-setter for jurors. This week, prosecutors are working on filling in the details of how they say he pulled off a scheme to bury damaging stories to protect his 2016 presidential campaign.

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Prosecutors are setting the stage for crucial testimony from Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen, who arranged hush money payments on Trump’s behalf before going to prison for campaign finance violations and other crimes.

Trump denies any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty.

Here’s a look at how things are shaping up so far this week at the historic trial:

JAIL THREAT

Six months before the 2024 presidential election, the presumptive Republican nominee is being threatened with possible jail time — even before jurors decide whether he is guilty in the hush money case.

Judge Juan Merchan raised the specter of time behind bars if Trump continues to violate a gag order barring him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and others connected with the case.

In a ruling Tuesday fining Trump $9,000 for repeated violations of the gag order, Merchan wrote that as a judge he was “keenly aware of, and protective of” Trump’s First Amendment rights, “particularly given his candidacy for the office of President of the United States.”

Former President Donald Trump and his attorney Todd Blanche return to the courtroom after a break for his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)

But Merchan said that the court would not tolerate “willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment.”

Trump was ordered to pay the fine by the close of business Friday. Ahead of a separate Tuesday deadline set by the judge, Trump deleted his posts that the judge ruled violated the order. The judge will hear arguments on Thursday on other alleged gag order violations by Trump.

NUTS & BOLTS

Prosecutors are using detailed testimony on email exchanges, business transactions and bank accounts to form the foundation of their argument that Trump is guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with the hush money payments.

Jurors heard from Gary Farro, a banker who helped Cohen open the account Cohen used to buy the silence of porn actor Stormy Daniels in the weeks before the 2016 election. Daniels was threatening to go public with claims of a sexual encounter with Trump.

Farro also testified about helping Cohen create another account, which Cohen planned to use to buy the rights of former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story about an alleged affair with Trump. Trump denies both Daniels’ and McDougal’s claims.

Attorney Todd Blanche walks outside the courtroom during the trial of his client, Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump, at Manhattan criminal court Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (Eduardo Munoz/Pool Photo via AP)

Cross-examining Farro, Blanche, the defense lawyer, underscored that Cohen made no mention that the accounts he opened in October 2016 had anything to do with deals involving then-candidate Trump or his company.

If Cohen had done so, “I would have asked questions,” Farro said.

Cohen told Farro the accounts were related to real estate. Farro testified that he might not have opened an account if he had known their intended purpose.

TRUMP VIDEOS

During the trial, Trump is being increasingly confronted with images and testimony on the very stories he tried to bury.

The judge has ruled that jurors won’t get to see the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump was caught on a hot mic describing grabbing women sexually without their permission. The tape from 2005 didn’t become public until Oct. 7, 2016, just weeks before election day.

That video is important because prosecutors are trying to make the case that Trump paid hush money to Daniels because he feared her claims about a sex encounter could further hurt him with female voters after the video leaked.

Prosecutors worked around that limitation on Tuesday by showing jurors C-SPAN clips of Trump on the campaign trail in 2016 forcefully denying allegations made by several women after the video became public. The prosecutors also asked witnesses to generally describe the “Access Hollywood” video.

“The stories are total fiction. They’re 100% made up, they never happened, they never would happen,” Trump said at a Oct. 14, 2016, rally in North Carolina.

THE DEAL MAKER

Keith Davidson, a lawyer who represented McDougal and Daniels in their negotiations with Cohen and the National Enquirer, took the witness stand Tuesday. The tabloid bought McDougal’s story to prevent her from going public with the claims about Trump.

Davidson’s testimony provided jurors with an inside look at the negotiations behind the two deals to keep the women quiet.

Davidson testified that the National Enquirer initially wasn’t keen on the idea of buying McDougal’s story because she “lacked documentary evidence of the interaction.”

But the talks between the tabloid and McDougal’s camp restarted weeks later. Eventually Davidson said they agreed that McDougal would receive $150,000 payment as well as the promise of magazine covers and regular columns for publications owned by the National Enquirer’s parent company American Media Inc.

Former President Donald Trump leaves the courtroom following the day’s proceedings in his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)

Soon after the “Access Hollywood” tape leaked, Daniels’ agent reached out to the National Enquirer about buying the rights to Daniels’ story for $120,000. The tabloid, however, didn’t want to go through with the deal and told Daniels’ agent to call Cohen to deal with him directly, Davidson said.

Davidson said he stepped in to negotiate the deal, and raised the price to $130,000 to build in a fee for his work.

“In essence, Michael Cohen stepped into AMI’s shoes,” Davidson said, referring to the name of the Enquirer’s parent company at the time.

THE COURT CALENDAR

The trial is expected to last another month or more, with jurors hearing testimony four days a week. Trump — who has cast the prosecution as an effort to hurt his 2024 campaign — is required to be there, much to his stated dismay.

“They don’t want me on the campaign trail,” he said Tuesday.

The judge said Tuesday that there will be no court on May 17 so Trump can attend his son Barron’s high school graduation.

Court also won’t be in session on Friday, May 24 to accommodate a juror who has a flight that morning, the judge said. That means the trial will be off for four straight days for the Memorial Day weekend, resuming on Tuesday, May 28.

Long and Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Jennifer Peltz and Ruth Brown contributed from New York.

MIAMI — Dane Myers hit a game-winning single in the 10th inning as the Miami Marlins overcame a five-run deficit and beat Colorado 7-6 on Tuesday night, making the Rockies the first team since 1900 to trail in each of its first 29 games.

Miami (7-24) bounced back from a 5-0 first-inning deficit by scoring five times in the ninth, then rallied from down 6-5 in the 10th and ended a seven-game losing streak.

“For anybody that says that they don’t care, they don’t fight, they don’t work, that kind of proves everyone wrong,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “The results are the results. I get it. But it’s not for a lack of want or a lack of caring. Those guys really care. They want to win and they’re prepared to win every day.”

The Rockies (7-22) had lost Sunday and joined the 1910 St. Louis Browns as the only teams to trail in each of their first 28 games.

Colorado never was behind until after the final pitch.

Backed by a 5-0 first-inning lead, Ryan Feltner entered the ninth trying for his first professional complete game but allowed Vidal Bruján’s leadoff single, hit Christian Bethancourt with a pitch, then gave up Luis Arraez’s RBI double.

Justin Lawrence relieved and walked Bryan De La Cruz, gave up Myers’ two-run single, forced in a run when he hit Jesús Sánchez with a pitch with the bases loaded and allowed Emmanuel Rivera’s sacrifice fly.

“It’ll take me a while to think about my performance,” Feltner said. “Right now, I just feel like I let the team down. I got to finish that ninth inning out. Never been in a position like that before, and I’m hungry to get back there to the ninth and finish out next time.”

Ryan McMahon’s RBI double against Tanner Scott (1-4) put the Rockies ahead 6-5 in the 10th, but De La Cruz had a run-scoring double off Jalen Beeks (2-2) in the bottom half and scored when Myers’ grounded an opposite-field single to right. Hunter Goodman made a one-hop throw to the plate but the ball bounced out of Elias Díaz’s mitt as De La Cruz slid into the catcher.

“I was just looking for something over the plate,” Myers said.

Myers got his his first big league walk-off hit. He entered in the eighth after Jazz Chisholm Jr. was ejected by plate umpire Jansen Visconti for arguing a called third strike.

“He was the first one to thank me,” Myers said of Chisholm. “He’s a good clubhouse guy and teammate. It feels good to pick up a guy like Jazz and I’m glad I was able to do that.”

Jordan Beck, a 23-year-old Rockies outfield prospect, went 2 for 4 in his major league debut. He singled in his first big league at-bat.

Miami won a series opener for the first time this season.

Elehuris Montero hit a three-run homer in the first against Sixto Sánchez after McMahon and Charlie Blackmon had RBI singles.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rockies: OF Nolan Jones (low back strain) was placed on the 10-day IL. … LHP Lucas Gilbreath (left shoulder soreness) was transferred to the 60-day IL.

Marlins: INF Jake Burger (left intercostal muscle strain) and LHP Braxton Garrett (left shoulder impingement) will play with Triple-A Jacksonville on rehab assignments Wednesday.

UP NEXT

RHP Dakota Hudson (0-4, 6.57) will start the second game of the series for the Rockies on Wednesday. RHP Roddery Muñoz (0-0, 3.60) is scheduled to start for the Marlins.

TALLAHASSEE — Florida, perhaps the most vulnerable state to sea-level rise and extreme weather, is on the verge of repealing what’s left of a 16-year-old law that lists climate change as a priority when making energy policy decisions. Instead, the state would make energy affordability and availability its main focus.

A bill waiting to be signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis would strip the term “climate change” from much of state law and reverse a policy then-Gov. Charlie Crist championed as he built a reputation for being a rare Republican fighting to promote green energy over fossil fuels.

While Florida is distinct for having an enormous coastline and being flat — Miami’s average elevation is roughly 6 to 7 feet above sea level — the chairman of House Infrastructure Strategies Committee said it also has unique challenges and the climate change language in law makes meeting them more difficult.

“We’re protecting consumers, we’re protecting consumer pricing, we’re protecting them with great reliability and we’re protecting to make sure we don’t have a lack of energy security in our state. That’s where we’re moving as far as our policies,” said Republican Rep. Bobby Payne.

But critics say now is not the time to go backward when it comes to climate change policy, including Crist, who is now a Democrat who last served in the U.S. House.

“It’s disappointing to see a continuing lurch in the wrong direction, particularly when Florida, with our coastline, is probably the most vulnerable to rising sea levels, I mean if we don’t address it, who’s going to?” Crist said. “It breaks my heart.”

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In 2008, the bill to address climate change and promote renewable energy passed unanimously in both legislative chambers. Crist signed the bill with fanfare at an international climate change conference he hosted with guests such as then-California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But Payne said the Crist-era law makes it more difficult for the state to be more flexible in meeting its energy needs.

“When he invited Arnold Schwarzenegger to Miami for the environmental summit, that was a good indication that his ideologies collide with the public’s from the perspective of reliability and cost,” Payne said.

After Crist left office in 2011, Gov. Rick Scott, now a U.S. senator, gutted much of what Crist enacted. This year’s bill repeals what’s left of it. The bill passed the Legislature with Republican support and Democratic opposition. It was sent to DeSantis on Friday and he has until May 15 to take action. His office didn’t respond to multiple emails asking his position on it.

Payne, who spent nearly four decades in the power industry before retiring, said he isn’t convinced that humanity’s energy consumption is destroying the planet. He also notes three-quarters of the state’s energy is provided by natural gas, leaving it vulnerable to market fluctuations.

The enormous energy legislation he shepherded through the Legislature prevents local governments from enacting some energy policy restrictions and de-emphasizes clean energy by banning wind energy turbines or facilities off or within a mile (less than 2 kilometers) of the coast.

It eliminates requirements that government agencies hold conferences and meetings in hotels certified by the state’s environmental agency as “green lodging” and that government agencies make fuel efficiency the top priority in buying new vehicles.

Brooke Alexander-Gross of Sierra Club’s Florida chapter said that stripping climate change from state law won’t make the problem go away, but she isn’t optimistic that DeSantis will veto the bill.

“Having that language there really encourages a lot of people to take a look at what climate change actually is and it’s disappointing to see a governor in a state like ours strip that language, which is really just a way for him and his administration to ignore everything that’s going on,” she said.

On Tuesday, the reality of Florida’s new six-week abortion ban hit the radar of pregnant women seeking care.

At a Planned Parenthood clinic in West Palm Beach, doctors scrambled to provide abortions for anyone pregnant beyond six weeks. Women crowded into a waiting room, returning for a pill or surgical procedure. The men who brought them paced the parking lot or sat in cars watching for the women to emerge.

Yet, even with the scramble, the clinic turned some women away, a glimpse into the future of reproductive care in Florida.

A recent Florida Supreme Court ruling paved the way for the Sunshine State to enforce a six-week ban on abortions beginning May 1. However, Florida law requires two doctor visits, at least 24 hours apart, to get a medication or surgical abortion. So anyone six weeks pregnant or more arriving Tuesday at a clinic learned they must travel outside the state for abortion care. Rather than an abortion, they received a flyer with resources.

“I am going to get in today,” said Cathy, pacing the sidewalk outside a Palm Beach County clinic in her gray sweatshirt and green paisley pajama bottoms.  Waiting for her procedure later in the afternoon, the 20-something said she had not known about the six-week ban. “I couldn’t have traveled.”

Dr. Cherise Felix, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Florida Mango Health Center, a Planned Parenthood clinic in West Palm Beach, inside the recovery room on Tuesday. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Dr. Cherise Felix, an ob-gyn with Planned Parenthood in West Palm Beach, said she had no idea how late she would be working on Tuesday, but recognized Wednesday would signal a new routine.

“We’re prepared to go as late as we have to today,” Felix said. “Tomorrow I won’t be able to offer my patients what I offered them yesterday.”

For the last two years, abortion has been legal in Florida through 15 weeks. Florida lawmakers put that restriction into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, which had protected the right to have an abortion. Before that court decision, abortions were legal in Florida through 24 weeks.

The state has about 50 clinics that provide abortions, and in 2023 they provided some 84,000 procedures —  about 51,000 of them after six weeks of gestation.

Starting May 1, when a women arrives pregnant at a clinic, she will receive a sonogram to measure the gestational age of the fetus.

Dr. Cherise Felix, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Florida Mango Health Center, a Planned Parenthood clinic in West Palm Beach, walks into the patients’ waiting room on Tuesday. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

“That will be a lot more emotional for our sonographers who will have to convey that gestational age to the patient,” Felix said. “If it’s more than six weeks, that’s when the realization sets in that this is going to be more of a challenge.”

Patient navigators for abortion clinics and abortion funds already are receiving calls and referrals from clinics, and setting up appointments in other states with less restrictive laws.

“Women are scared and angry that they have to travel out of state,” said Lana’e Hernandez, a patient navigator with Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. “They tell us, ‘I appreciate your support but I am upset and angry about having to do this is the first place.'”

Navigators at Florida’s Planned Parenthood and independent clinics already have been rerouting women who would have traveled to Florida for an abortion. On Tuesday, they began rerouting Florida women, too.

Some women have never been to an airport, never downloaded a plane ticket and never used Uber.

“They need one-on-one assistance,” Hernandez said. “There is a lot to help them figure out.”

From hospitals to doctors’ offices, the frantic questions women are asking about the new abortion law

Hernandez said the nearest clinic that will provide abortion care after six weeks is more than 700 miles away, making travel by car more challenging. The states bordering Florida have restrictive laws, too. Georgia has a six-week ban, and in Alabama abortion is illegal.

Elizabeth Londono, a patient navigator with  Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida said the organization has expanded its team and added multilingual speakers to prepare for the increase in women who will need to travel for care. States with less restrictive bans than Florida have various rules, so the right choice might depend on a women’s specific situation. For example, North Carolina allows abortion up to 12 weeks and has a 72-hour waiting period between visits. Virginia, though a bit further, allows abortion thorugh 26 weeks, six days of pregnancy and does not have a waiting period.

“Our staff explains everything to them, and then it’s their preference we try to acommodate,” Londono said.

Jessica Hatem’s organization,  Emergency Medical Assistance Abortion Fund,  serves Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast and works with independent clinics to help them finance travel for patients.

“There’s a certain mount of savviness it takes to reach out to someone for help,” she said. “They are trusting someone to make arrangements for them to leave the state. When they first get to us they are angry. We offer them a sense of hope.”

Hatem’s  is one of five funds in the state that help patients at indepedent abortion clinics with travel costs. She said the new law puts pressure on the network of100 funding groups like hers trying to provide financial aid and resources to women seeking abortions. Funds are used to cover the costs of flights, hotels, transportation and meals. Her group has helped women travel to North Carolina, Illinois, the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area and Virginia.

While Planned Parenthood provides other health services, independent clinics traditionally have focused solely on abortion care. Presidential Women’s Center in West Palm Beach had a full waiting room on Tuesday and women waiting in cars in the parking lot for their turn. On Wednesday, the crowds will thin.

“The plans are to stay open and provide reproductive health care as best they can within the law,” said Louis Silver, attorney for the center. “The hope is that the ban will be overturned in November. We hope this is a short-term problem that voters will take care of.”

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In November, Florida voters will decide on Amendment 4, which will guarantee access to abortion through viability (about 24 weeks). Right-to-life organizations and reproductive rights advocates are working to get voters to the polls. The amendment would need the approval of 60% of voters to pass.

On Wednesday, Felix, who has been providing abortion care for 17 years, says her work will shift. She will provide more prenatal care, infertility care, well-woman checks and other health services.

“Abortion is a part of reproductive health care, and it’s an essential part of reproductive healthcare, but it’s not the only thing that Planned Parenthood offers,” she said.

Felix worries about women who will engage in self-managed abortions and take pills to end pregnancy without a doctor’s supervision.

Evidence shows that abortion pills are safe and effective, and that many patients who take them go through the process without much difficulty. However, in states with restrictive laws, some women — further along in pregnancy — are turning to unregulated online and grass-roots abortion pill distributors.

“If something goes wrong, we can stabilize the patient first if they need stabilization,” she said. “But if they have a continuing pregnancy and they don’t meet state criteria, there’s nothing we can do for the pregnancy.”

In Broward County, Tewannah Aman with Broward Right to Life, said she had been pressured into an abortion four decades ago at age 18 and regretted it afterward. Now she advocates against abortion and wants women to know their choices after May 1.

“We have been working with churches and organizations,” Aman said. “If a woman is out there and doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, we’re able to tell her if she needs housing, financial suipport or whatver her situation is, we can help her.”

Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.

Hot on the heels of the controversial 2024 erotic thriller “Miller’s Girl” landing on Netflix — causing lead Martin Freeman to offer a fresh defense of the movie and the age gap between him and his 31-years-younger co-star, Jenna Ortega — comes another movie built upon a May-December romance.

However, we expect no such fervor over the relatively tame “The Idea of You,” an Amazon MGM Studios release debuting this week on Prime Video.

For starters, the age gap is roughly half of that of the “Miller’s Girl”: Anne Hathaway’s Solène is freshly 40, while Nicholas Galitzine’s Hayes is 24.

And this is no erotic thriller, but instead a romance, albeit one with a couple of admirable moments of striking but authentic-feeling intimacy.

However, despite an excellent performance by Hathaway as the Los Angeles art gallery director and divorced mom, the adaptation of Robinne Lee’s novel falls a little flat.

It is the rare miss — and, to be fair, at most a minor miss — from director and co-writer Michael Showalter, whose impressive list of films includes “The Big Sick,” “The Lovebirds” and “Spoiler Alert.”

The setup is hokey but cute, Solène meeting Hayes at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival when she mistakes his trailer for a VIP restroom.

You see, she’s there because her cocky-but-flaky ex-husband, Daniel (Reid Scott of “Veep”), bowed out at the last minute, choosing business over taking their teen daughter, Izzy (Ella Rubin), and her friends to the fest. The big draw — more for Izzy’s friends than her, as she’s now into female singer-songwriters with something to say — is the boy band August Moon, of which Hayes is a member.

Hayes, a boy band singer and celebrity portrayed by Nicholas Galitzine, meets Anne Hathaway’s gallery owner Solène in a scene from “The Idea of You.” (Courtesy of Amazon Content Services)

Once Hayes clues Solène into who he is and finds out why she’s there, he attempts to confirm Izzy is a fan.

“She was,” Solène says.

“Ouch,” he says, listening further as she quotes her daughter saying the band is “so seventh-grade.”

Soon, there’s a VIP meet-and-greet, with the pair getting a few more chances to exchange glances as Izzy and pals snag autographs and pics with the band, followed by a performance during which Hayes makes an apparent change to the setlist so he can sing a song for someone he met on this day.

The fictional boy band August Moon performs in a scene from “The Idea of You.” (Courtesy of Amazon Content Services)

Solène seems to enjoy this little injection of some excitement into her life but figures that is that — until Hayes shows up in her gallery in Silver Lake under the auspices of needing to furnish a London apartment. (How much does he want to impress her? He buys EVERYTHING.)

Next thing you know, they’re fleeing to her house to escape overly enthusiastic fans who’ve tracked him to the gallery. At her piano, we get a taste of that aforementioned intimacy, but Solène eventually slams on the breaks.

Hayes, however, has a few moves up his sleeves in the days ahead, and, before she knows it, Solène is being whisked around another continent with Hayes, the other band members and their (much younger) female acquaintances.

Can they avoid unwanted media attention? Can the world just let these two be happy together? (Um, no and no.)

The screenplay, by Showalter and “Kissing Jessica Stein” writer, director and star Jennifer Westfeldt, is of the herky-jerky variety, with Solene jumping all in and pulling back out a bit too often for the movie to find a real groove. Moments of real happiness (Wang Chung hotel room karaoke!) quickly give way to intense heartache (the mean Internet). And back and forth we go!

Again, though, Hatheway (“Les Misérables,” “Interstellar”) is in ultra-fine form, oozing with all the emotions Solène experiences, Galitzine (“Mary & George,” “Red, White & Royal Blue”) isn’t in the same class. He can sing and play guitar and piano, so he checks the role’s boy band-related boxes, but he struggles to make us feel Hayes’ intense need for Solène. Sure, these are two attractive people, so it’s not as if they’re not at all believable together, but the chemistry isn’t where it needs to be.

Nevertheless, you cannot simply dismiss the movie as another ho-hum romance as, like some of the musical artists Izzy now appreciates, it has something to offer from a feminist perspective — commentary about how the happiness of a woman tends to be prioritized by others less than what is expected of her.

Still, the idea of “The Idea of You” is better than the film itself.

‘The Idea of You’

Where: Prime Video.

When: May 2.

Rated: R for some language and sexual content.

Runtime: 1 hour, 57 minutes.

Stars (of four): 2.

BRISTOL — In a quiet preserve along the eastern bank of the Apalachicola River, 41 eastern indigo snakes were released Tuesday into gopher tortoise burrows.

The release, a longtime goal of federal and state officials, is part of an effort to restore some balance to Florida’s ecosystem lost in the 1980s as development limited eastern indigo snakes’ range and people hunted for other prey, primarily rattlesnakes but also gopher tortoises. Eastern indigo snakes are a federally designated threatened species.

“We’re just providing assurance that the population will continue to grow,” said Brad O’Hanlon, coordinator of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s reptile and amphibian conservation efforts.

“And hopefully, we’ll be at a point where we don’t have to do this anymore,” O’Hanlon continued before the release at The Nature Conservancy’s Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve. The preserve is the only place in Florida where eastern indigo snakes are being reintroduced.

Non-venomous, the bluish-black snakes can reach lengths of 8 feet. Those released Tuesday were mostly about 3 feet long and 2 years old, after being raised at the Central Florida Zoo’s Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation.

“They’ll hopefully thrive out here and get to be closer to that full size,” Catherine Ricketts, manager of The Nature Conservancy’s preserve, said.

The snakes are considered indiscriminate eaters, with an ability to overpower other snakes.

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“Their favorite flavor of snake is venomous snakes,” James Bogan, director of the Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation, said. “That’s their jam. They just want to eat venomous snakes.”

Along with efforts at the Northwest Florida preserve, restoration under the guidance of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is also ongoing in Alabama’s Conecuh National Forest, just north of the Florida state line.

The Nature Conservancy, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Central Florida Zoo and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been coordinating releases at the Florida preserve for eight years.

Tuesday’s was the largest and helped exceed the halfway mark of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s goal of 300 snakes being released in the region.

O’Hanlon said a positive sign that the snakes are taking hold is that two hatchling indigo snakes were found at the preserve last fall.
“Having them on the landscape just shows that you have a complete ecosystem. … All the functional parts are there,” O’Hanlon said.

“And that’s the landscape that we want in North Florida. That’s our historic landscape. And that’s what we’re trying to maintain.”

Gretchen McKay | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)

When it comes to Chinese comfort food, nothing beats a really good bowl of hand-pulled noodles or a steaming, silky bowl of mapo tofu. Yet our love affair with Chinese food often centers around dumplings.

Whether they’re boiled, steamed or pan-fried, it’s just so easy to eat five, six or even a dozen of the plump and juicy dough bundles stuffed with ground meat and/or vegetables. And you don’t even need to head to your favorite Chinese restaurant or order takeout to enjoy them.

With a bit of practice, most home cooks will find jiaozi fairly easy (and fun!) to make, especially if you get an assembly line going and opt for pre-made wrappers.

Because they’re shaped like ancient Chinese ingots, dumplings are often a celebratory food in China, enjoyed during holidays such as the Lunar New Year, when they symbolize wealth and prosperity for the upcoming year. But that’s not always the case. Former Pittsburgher Hannah Che, who wrote the James Beard Award-winning “The Vegan Chinese Kitchen” in 2022, grew up eating them any time the family got together.

Dumplings take quite a few forms in China, depending on the province and region, says Che. Since both parents are from northern China, her family mostly ate boiled dumplings. Dumpling-making was also very much a joint effort, with her father rolling the homemade dough wrappers, most everyone else filling and pleating them and her mom handling the cooking.

It would have been quicker and easier to use the inexpensive frozen wrappers you can find in any Asian market, and she’s quick to point out there’s no shame in going the convenience route. In fact, this is how many Chinese home cooks make dumplings.

“It’s just we always made the dough from scratch,” Che says on an early morning phone call from Dali in China’s southwestern Yunnan province, where she is working on a second cookbook that will focus on tofu.

Gretchen McKay’s homemade dumplings sit across from fresh dipping sauce in her kitchen on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Avon. (Benjamin B. Braun/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS) Dumpling do’s and don’ts

Dumplings from scratch are better for one simple reason: texture.

“Homemade dumplings just always have a more satisfying mouth feel,” Che says.

Also, scratch wrappers only require mixing all-purpose flour and water, then letting the dough rest for a little bit to become smooth and silky before kneading and rolling it out. “You don’t need any leavening.”

That said, she still has some tips to make rolling, stuffing and pinching homemade dumplings a little easier for beginners.

For starters, if you’re going to boil the dumplings, it’s important to use cold water when mixing the dough because it will give you a thicker skin. Otherwise, they will fall apart in boiling water. (If you’re going to pan-fry the dumplings, however, use hot water for a more delicate wrapper.)

You need to get the proportion of water to flour just right; if it’s too soft, it will fall apart under the weight of the filling. This is the one time you might consider using a scale to weigh both water and flour.

“It should be really elastic, but still stiff,” Che says.

Gretchen McKay pinches one of her homemade dumplings to keep the filling in before she broils it in her kitchen on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Avon. (Benjamin B. Braun/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS) Take a rest

It’s also essential to allow the dough to rest on the counter (to relax it and make it easier to roll), and aim for consistently sized portions when you pinch or cut the dough after rolling or spinning it into ropes.

Rolling the dough between two pieces of parchment paper eases the process. You also might consider using a tortilla press if you’ve got one handy — especially if you’re intimidated by the thought of all that rolling.

“It’s a definite time saver!” she says.

The wrappers don’t have to be a perfect circle, just roundish.

When it comes to preparing a meat filling, combinations are endless, but Che says it’s important to add in some chives, green onions or chopped cabbage “so there is something juicy (but not watery) in there besides the meat.”

If you’d rather go vegetarian, you need similar aromatics along with “something meaty” like tofu or tofu skin to give the dumpling some heft.

“You can also include vermicelli or glass noodles because you can chop it up really nice, and it adds this richness and texture to the filling that is really satisfying,” she says.

Just be sure to squeeze a vegetarian filling to remove any excess water. And you’ll also want to go heavier on the salt than you would ordinarily on both varieties because the dough wrapper will subdue the seasonings.

Gretchen McKay places filling in her homemade dumplings before she broils them in her kitchen on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Avon. (Benjamin B. Braun/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS) Mixing and stuffing

Another time-saver: Use a food processor instead of mixing all the ingredients by hand.

“It really saves a lot of time, and you want something pasty,” says Che.

Now you’re ready to stuff and pleat the bundles.

Since the primary goal is to keep the filling inside, and elaborate pinches take a lot of practice, settle for a basic half-moon shape unless you really want to make it look pretty. This is especially true if you’re simply going to boil them, says Che. Fancy edges are more for steamed dumplings served for dim sum, where the presentation is more refined.

Make sure the finished dumplings are flat on the bottom. It makes them easier to pick up with a pair of chopsticks.

Che’s final words of advice: Find a partner or, even better, several.

“Dumpling making is definitely more enjoyable when it’s a communal activity,” she says.

All those bodies working in unison, in fact, is what makes dumplings a celebration food in Chinese culture.

“It takes so long, you might as well have lots of hands,” she says, laughing.

Gretchen McKay mixes homemade dumpling filling in her kitchen on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Avon. (Benjamin B. Braun/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS) Homemade jiaozi (dumplings)

PG tested

This dough comes together, rolls out easily and can be used regardless of filling or the cooking method. Since I was making them by myself, I halved the recipe for a smaller batch of about 50 dumplings stuffed with a classic cabbage-and-pork filling.

If you’re going to freeze the dumplings, place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze until hard before storing in a plastic bag.

For an easy dipping sauce, stir together 2 tablespoons of black vinegar, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, a pinch of sugar and a heaping teaspoon (or more) of chili crisp, chili oil or sriracha.

For dough

• 4 cups (560 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons (280 grams) cold water

For filling

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 cup finely chopped Chinese cabbage

Prepare dough. Put flour in a large bowl and add all the water. Mix together with a pair of chopsticks until all the flakes come together in a shaggy ball. Start kneading dough with your hands and incorporate any remaining flour. Let rest 5 minutes, then knead again until it is taut, smooth and firm, about 7 minutes.

Cover with a tea towel and allow dough to rest for 15 minutes. Dough should feel slightly tacky, but not damp.

While dough is resting, prepare filling. In a large bowl, combine pork, ginger, garlic, green onion, soy sauce, sesame oil and cabbage. Stir until well mixed.

Once rested, divide dough in half. Form one portion into a ball, poke a hole in the center and shape like a doughnut. Lift dough so gravity causes the bottom to stretch and gently shape with your hands as it grows skinnier, forming an O-shaped rope.

When the rope is 3/4 inch in diameter, break doughnut into a long rope and tear off 3/4 -inch pieces with a sharp, quick snap of your wrist. (They should weigh about 10 grams.) You can also use a knife or pastry scraper. Dust pieces with flour and repeat with remaining dough.

Roll each piece into a small ball, then flatten it between palms to create a disc resembling a wafer cookie. Press thumb into dough to create a “belly” in the center.

Roll dough ball into a circle about 3 inches in diameter. (The edges should be thinner than the center.) Don’t worry if it’s not perfect; it only needs to be roundish. The key is to keep size consistent so dumplings cook consistently.

Place 2 teaspoons of filling onto each dumpling round. If you don’t want to pleat the dumplings, the easiest way to seal them is to fold the wrapper over the filling into a half-moon shape. Match the edges together and press as if you were sealing an envelope. There is no need to seal homemade wrappers with water. (There is enough moisture in the dough to seal.)

Hold sealed edge of dumpling between fingers, press bottom belly of the dumpling into a board so it stands up. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and repeat with remaining dumplings.

To boil: Bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Add 10-12 dumplings and gently stir. When water returns to a boil, add 1 cup of cold water and bring water back to a boil. Dumplings are done when they are puffed up and floating on the surface, about 5 minutes. Remove from pot to plate with a large slotted spoon or strainer.

To steam: Line steamer basket with steamer paper and place prepared dumplings in a single layer in the basket, with 1 inch between each. Place basket on top of pot and steam, covered, for 8-10 minutes, or until wrappers puff up. (Meat fillings will take longer.)

To pan-fry: Preheat a 9-inch skillet over medium heat for 1 minute. Add enough vegetable oil to coat bottom surface, then carefully arrange dumplings in a single layer, flat side down. Add 1/2 cup water to skillet and cover immediately. Cook for 7-9 minutes, until water has evaporated and bottoms of dumplings are golden brown.

Makes about 48 dumplings.

— adapted from “The Vegan Chinese Kitchen” by Hannah Che (Clarkson Potter, $35)

©2024 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

LeBron James has the highest per-game scoring average in NBA history in elimination post-regular-season games (minimum of 13 such games played) with 33.5 points a game in 28 outings (937 points), leading Michael Jordan (31.3 points per game, 407 in 13 games). James’ teams are 15-13 in those games (Jordan’s teams were 6-7 in such games). Next up by points per game are Wilt Chamberlain (31.1, 715, 23, 12-11), Kevin Durant (29.9, 479, 16, 6-10) and Steph Curry (28.9, 433, 15, 9-6). The Mavericks’ Luka Doncic has averaged 35.0 points per game in elimination games, but has played in only six of them, with the Mavericks going 3-3.

May 21, 2006: PISTONS 79, Cavaliers 61 (Game 7, Eastern Conference semifinals)
27 points (11 for 24 field goal attempts), 8 rebounds, 2 assists

June 14, 2007: Spurs 83, CAVALIERS 82 (Game 4, NBA Finals)
0 wins, 2 losses; 24 points (10 for 30), 6 rebounds, 10 assists (Per-game: 25.5 points per game (51 total points), 38.9 field goal percentage (21-54), 7 rebounds per game (14 total rebounds), 6 assists per game (12 total assists))

May 16, 2008: CAVALIERS 74, Celtics 69 (Game 6, Eastern Conference semifinals)
1-2; 32 points (9 for 23), 12 rebounds, 6 assists (Per-game: 27.7 ppg (83), 39.0 FG% (30-77), 8.7 rpg (26), 6.0 apg (18))

May 18, 2008: CELTICS 97, Cavaliers 92 (Game 7, Eastern Conference semifinals)
1-3; 45 points (14-29), 5 rebounds, 6 assists (Per-game: 32.0 ppg (128), 41.5 FG% (44-106), 7.8 rpg (31), 6.0 apg (24))

May 28, 2009: CAVALIERS 112, Magic 102 (Game 5, Eastern Conference finals)
2-3; 37 points (11-24), 14 rebounds, 12 assists (Per-game: 33.0 ppg (165), 42.3 FG% (55-130), 9.0 rpg (45), 7.2 apg (36))

May 30, 2009: MAGIC 103, Cavaliers 90 (Game 6, Eastern Conference finals)
2-4; 25 points (8-20), 7 rebounds, 7 assists (Per-game: 31.7 ppg (190), 42.0 FG% (63-150), 8.7 rpg (52), 7.2 (43))

May 13, 2010: CELTICS 94, Cavaliers 85 (Game 6, Eastern Conference semifinals)
2-5; 27 points (8-21), 19 rebounds, 10 assists (Per-game: 31.0 ppg (217), 41.5 FG% (71-171), 10.1 rpg (71), 7.6 apg (53))

June 12, 2011: Mavericks 105, HEAT 95 (Game 6, NBA Finals)
2-6; 21 points (9-15), 4 rebounds, 6 assists (Per-game: 29.8 ppg (238), 43.0 FG% (80-186), 9.4 rpg (75), 7.4 apg (59))

June 7, 2012: Heat 98, CELTICS 79 (Game 6, Eastern Conference finals)
3-6; 45 points (19-26), 15 rebounds, 5 assists (Per-game: 31.4 ppg (283), 46.7 FG% (99-212), 10.0 rpg (90), 7.1 apg (64))

June 9, 2012: HEAT 101, Celtics 88 (Game 7, Eastern Conference finals)
4-6; 31 points (9-21), 12 rebounds, 2 assists (Per-game: 31.4 ppg (314), 46.4 FG% (108-233), 10.2 rpg (102), 6.6 apg (66))

June 3, 2013: HEAT 99, Pacers 76 (Game 7, Eastern Conference finals)
5-6; 32 points (8-17), 8 rebounds, 4 assists (Per-game: 31.4 ppg (346), 46.4 FG% (116-250), 10.0 rpg (110), 6.4 apg (70))

June 18, 2013: HEAT 103, Spurs 100 (Game 6, NBA Finals)
6-6; 32 points (11-26), 10 rebounds, 11 assists (Per-game: 31.4 ppg (378), 46.0 FG% (127-276), 10.0 rpg (120), 6.8 apg (81))

June 20, 2013: HEAT 95, Spurs 88 (Game 7, NBA Finals)
7-6; 37 points (12-23), 12 rebounds, 4 assists (Per-game: 31.9 ppg (415), 46.5 FG% (139-299), 10.2 rpg (132), 6.5 apg (85))

June 15, 2014: SPURS 104, Heat 87 (Game 5, NBA Finals)
7-7; 31 points (10-21), 10 rebounds, 5 assists (Per-game: 31.9 ppg (446), 46.6 FG% (149-320), 10.1 rpg (142), 6.4 apg (90))

June 16, 2015: Warriors 105, CAVALIERS 97 (Game 6, NBA Finals)
7-8; 32 points (13-33), 18 rebounds, 9 assists (Per-game: 31.9 ppg (478), 45.9 FG% (162-353), 10.7 rpg (160), 6.6 apg (99))

June 13, 2016: Cavaliers 112, WARRIORS 97 (Game 5, NBA Finals)
8-8; 41 points (16-30), 16 rebounds, 7 assists (Per-game: 32.4 ppg (519), 46.5 FG% (178-383), 11.0 rpg (176), 6.6 apg (106))

June 16, 2016: CAVALIERS 115, Warriors 101 (Game 6, NBA Finals)
9-8; 41 points (16-27), 8 rebounds, 11 assists (Per-game: 32.9 ppg (560), 47.3 FG% (194-410), 10.8 rpg (184), 6.9 apg (117))

June 19, 2016: Cavaliers 93, WARRIORS 89 (Game 7, NBA Finals)
10-8; 27 points (9-24), 11 rebounds, 11 assists (Per-game: 32.6 ppg (587), 46.8 FG% (203-434), 10.8 rpg (195), 7.1 apg (128))

June 9, 2017: CAVALIERS 137, Warriors 116 (Game 4, NBA Finals)
11-8; 31 points (11-22), 10 rebounds, 11 assists (Per-game: 32.5 ppg (618), 46.9 FG% (214-456), 10.8 rpg (205), 7.3 apg (139))

June 12, 2017: WARRIORS 129, Cavaliers 120 (Game 5, NBA Finals)
11-9; 41 points (19-30), 13 rebounds, 8 assists (Per-game: 33.0 ppg (659), 47.9 FG% (233-486), 10.9 rpg (218), 7.4 apg (147))

April 29, 2018: CAVALIERS 105, Pacers 101 (Game 7, Eastern Conference first round)
12-9: 45 points (16-25), 8 rebounds, 7 assists (Per-game: 33.5 ppg (704), 48.7 FG% (249-511), 10.8 rpg (226), 7.3 apg (154))

May 25, 2018: CAVALIERS 109, Celtics 99 (Game 6, Eastern Conference finals)
13-9; 46 points (17-33), 11 rebounds, 9 assists (Per-game: 34.1 ppg (750), 48.9 FG% (266-544), 10.8 rpg (237), 7.4 apg (163))

May 27, 2018: Cavaliers 87, CELTICS 79 (Game 7, Eastern Conference finals)
14-9; 35 points (12-24), 15 rebounds, 9 assists (Per-game: 34.1 ppg (785), 49.0 FG% (290-592), 11.0 rpg (252), 7.5 apg (172))

June 8, 2018: Warriors 108, CAVALIERS 85 (Game 4, NBA Finals)
14-10; 23 points (7-13), 7 rebounds, 8 assists (Per-game: 33.7 ppg (808), 49.1 FG% (297-605), 10.8 rpg (259), 7.5 apg (180))

June 3, 2021: Suns 113, LAKERS 100 (Game 6, Western Conference first round)
14-11: 29 points (11-26), 9 rebounds, 7 assists (Per-game: 33.5 ppg (837), 48.8 FG% (308-631), 10.7 rpg (268), 7.5 apg (187))

May 22, 2023: Nuggets 113, LAKERS 111 (Game 4, Western Conference finals)
14-12: 40 points (15-25), 10 rebounds, 9 assists (Per-game: 33.7 ppg (877), 49.2 FG% (323-656), 10.7 rpg (278), 7.5 apg (196))

April 27, 2024: LAKERS 119, Nuggets 108 (Game 4, Western Conference first round)
15-12: 30 points (14-23), 5 rebounds, 4 assists (Per-game: 33.6 ppg (907), 49.5 FG% (336-679), 10.5 rpg (283), 7.4 apg (200)

April 29, 2024: NUGGETS 108, Lakers 106 (Game 5, Western Conference first round)
15-13: 30 points (11-21), 9 rebounds, 11 assists (Per-game: 33.5 ppg (937), 49.6% (347-700), 10.4 rpg (292), 7.5 apg (211)

General Daily Insight for April 30, 2024

The sensitive Moon supports ambitious Mars, providing a boost of energy for those of us who are feeling a little sluggish and need a pick-me-up. Mars then enters its home sign of independent Aries at 11:33 am EDT, revitalizing us to shake off the cobwebs and leap into action. We’ll have the courage it takes to bound over that next hurdle in life. Finally, the Moon conjoins shocking Pluto, bringing unpredictability and power to our emotions. Break through those roadblocks, but don’t spin out!

Aries

March 21 – April 19

Let the real you shine through! You’re showing your true colors, and everyone might be paying attention. Whether you’re on a platform in front of an audience of strangers or you’re being given the spotlight by people you already know, it’s time to take the stage and show everyone what you’ve got. Your passion is at an all-time high, so make sure that you’re channeling it into positive places. Put your best foot forward — the rest is up to fate!

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

The depths of a journey might not be visible until you get started. Whether this means that you’re continuing a literal trip with a more go-with-the-flow attitude, or you’re delving deeper into the specifics of an area of study, you’re meant to take the focus off of yourself a bit along the way. Don’t try to be controlling right now. Instead, absorb what’s going on around you and whatever you’re being taught. Be a sponge — you can worry about organizing it all later!

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

People that you can trust are updating elements of your life. You may have struggled to meet people who understood you on a deep level, or you might have not had time to spend with the people who have the deepest connections with you, but reuniting is a real possibility. They could bring the same inspiration and passion to your life that they used to, or that you’ve been seeking in a friend, and this should boost you to approach your life with renewed vigor.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Your responsibilities may connect you with fascinating people. You might have been merely showing up to do the work that you needed to do, either at a workplace or for a personal responsibility, but someone has likely been paying attention or is about to notice you. They can provide you with an opportunity to flourish more than you have been or awaken a passion within you that’s been dormant. Be open to exciting changes, even if they come from mundane places!

Leo

July 23 – August 22

You’re putting care and attention into getting yourself together. As you lay out a to-do list for the day, you have the potential to look at your methods with refreshed eyes. Ways that you’ve been wasting time or money could become more apparent to you now, or someone may even be teaching you a better way to work through any inner blocks when it comes to getting your life in order. Little by little, you’re learning a system that works for you!

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

There’s a leap of faith in front of you, Virgo. This is likely coming from a deep gut instinct — you may not have logic behind you, but your intuition is saying yes. It’s okay to feel a little hesitant, because it can be challenging to go this way. You might want to give up in the early stages, but once you get through the first few steps, the hard part should be behind you. Push through the discomfort to get the rewards!

Libra

September 23 – October 22

People from different areas of your life may begin coming together to assist you. You might be in need of some assistance in organizing a gathering for your friends and family. People who are only connected by knowing you could meet up for the sake of supporting or celebrating you. You’re meant to allow these people to intermingle and get to know one another, and in this way, get to know you better. Don’t be shy — let your friends and family be friends!

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

What needs to be said, Scorpio? You may have been sitting on certain pieces of information until now, not sure if you wanted to share them, but something is telling you that what you have to say is important and should be given time and consideration. It’s all about emotional catharsis for you at this moment, so whether you’re writing down your thoughts in a journal or telling a professional, prioritize getting things off of your chest. You’re allowed to let go of them.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Newfound security can encourage you to take a risk. You may have felt like there was too much at stake to express yourself before. Now, though, a stable foundation has put you in a safer place to take a risk, knowing that you can pick yourself back up if everything doesn’t quite go to plan. Life is also about how you pivot when you’re knocked down, and the destination you’re pivoting toward could be better than where you’d initially been aiming for.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Your emotions are a part of who you are. You may have discounted your emotions in the past as weakness or as a hindrance, but you’re learning that living in tune with your emotions instead of shoving them down builds more strength than it does weakness. The more that you’re able to tune into how you’re feeling in each moment, the better positioned you’ll be to find success and empathy with others. Your genuine feelings are trying to tell you something, not hold you back.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

Someone you haven’t spoken to recently could be at the forefront of your mind. It may have been an issue between you two that caused you to drift apart, or your communication gap might have been caused by others pulling you in different directions. Regardless of the specifics, you can reconnect. Even if you wouldn’t usually reach out first, it’s okay to be vulnerable — the planets are encouraging you to extend your hand. Simply asking them how they’re doing lately could be a great start.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

You may be letting others pick you up when you’re not sure where to go. Even if you got off to a good start, once you reach a certain place, you’ll potentially hit a plateau. The people around you could have a clearer view of the situation than you do, or they may have been where you are in the past. Either way, at least consider their advice. You don’t need to do things their way exactly, just gain some perspective to avoid getting stuck.

MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Monday night’s 102-88 NBA playoff loss to the Boston Celtics:

– Yes, this is about the Celtics.

– Whose depth of talent is such that even Derrick White can be a leading man.

– Whose depth of talent is such that they can survive a calf injury to Kristaps Porzingis.

– And, yes, this also is about the Heat’s shorthanded roster, as Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier continue to look on from the bench in street clothes.

– But it also is about the Heat reducing their odds because of their approach to the regular season.

– With one more win, the opening-round opponent could have been the Cleveland Cavaliers.

– With two more regular-season wins, there could have been homecourt advantage in the opening round.

– Instead there is this desperation.

– With Wednesday in Boston looming as their expiration date for 2023-24.

– It didn’t have to be this way.

– No, not this series.

– Against the Celtics it always was going to end this way.

– But there could have been another path.

– A path created by not minimizing the first 82.

– The Heat again opened with Bam Adebayo, Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Caleb Martin and Tyler Herro.

– That was with Butler, Rozier and Josh Richardson again out.

– Of having to endure in the ongoing absences of Butler (knee) and Rozier (back), Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “I think we’re probably better suited for that than most. We’ve played enough games with some facsimile of this kind of lineup, maybe not with both Terry and Jimmy out. But we played the majority of the season without Terry.”

– The Heat opened with their zone defense.

– While also opening with a considerable volley of 3-point shots.

– Didn’t matter.

– Didn’t help.

– Kevin Love and Haywood Highsmith entered together first off the Heat bench.

– Delon Wright then followed.

– Wright was back after missing Saturday night’s Game 3 for the birth of his daughter.

– “It’s great to have him back,” Spoelstra said. “It’s also a beautiful weekend for Delon, and it’s an amazing blessing. And we need all hands on deck right now.”

– Spoelstra said Wright’s return returned a needed skillset.

– “The disruptiveness, the intangibles that he brings definitely fit,” Spoelstra said.

– From there, it was Patty Mills who followed.

– And not Duncan Robinson.

– Who continues to deal with a back ailment.

– The only available Heat players not to see action in the opening period were Duncan Robinson, Orlando Robinson and Thomas Bryant.

– Duncan Robinson then checked in for the first time with 6:49 to play in the second period.

– Seemingly significantly limited in his minutes.

– Robinson entered with 143 playoff 3-pointers, the only undrafted players with more were former Knicks guard John Starks (176) and former Heat forward Bruce Bowen (168).

– Spoelstra was asked pregame about the need for a fast start.

– “It would be ideal,” he said. “Setting the tone for the game already helps. It just gets the tenor in the right direction for everybody, the feel, all of that.”

– But he added, “Whatever happens, we have to handle it and put ourselves in a better position to win.”

– The Heat then fell behind by 15 in the opening period.

– Spoelstra said pregame what it couldn’t be about was only about the start.

– “This is competition. It’s the playoffs,” he said. “It’s not always going to go how you want it to go, but you still can find a way to win.”

– Spoelstra said the challenge of the top-seeded Celtics has been as expected.

– “And this is what we all want,” he said. “We want to be tested, we want to be challenged and the idea of a playoff series is they can bring a high level out of our entire group, the competitive nature and the high quality of competition.”

– Herro extended his streak of games with at least one 3-pointer to 38, dating to the regular season. Herro’s longest such streak is 53 combined regular-season and playoff games, a run that ended March 2, 2021.

– Among those courtside pregame were Goran Dragic and Cody Martin, twin brother of Heat forward Caleb Martin.

– As well as Messi, Suárez, Alba and Busquets.

– And Chris Tucker.

MIAMI — The next time the Miami Heat play at Kaseya Center things could look a lot different — and for more than the plans for a new scoreboard.

Down 3-1 to the Boston Celtics in this best-of-seven opening-round Eastern Conference playoff series after Monday night’s 102-88 home drubbing, the Heat only will play at home again this season with a Wednesday night Game 5 victory at TD Garden.

Based on the lopsided scores of the Heat’s losses the past two games — with the deficit on Monday night cresting at 28 — the expiration clock on their season is ticking.

Loudly.

“Our guys really want to get this thing back to Miami and have just a great game in front of our fans,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Our team really wants to play well in front of our fans, so that’s the motivation, to get back here.”

After a pair of 20-point losses in the series, including one in Saturday night’s Game 3, the Heat this time could not take advantage even with the Celtics losing center Kristaps Porzingis for the night in the second period with calf tightness.

No matter, not only a night when guard Derrick White went off for 22 first-half points for the Celtics on the way to a career-high 38, supported by 20 from Jayson Tatum and 17 from Jaylen Brown.

Again playing in the injury absences of Jimmy Butler (knee) and Terry Rozier (neck), the Heat lacked enough offense to compete, with Bam Adebayo closing with 25 points and 17 rebounds, Tyler Herro with 19 points and Caleb Martin with 18.

“We’re going in the lion’s den,” Adebayo said. “Everyone knows what’s at stake.”

Compounding matters was Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. being unable to play in the fourth quarter.

“It was just my hip,” Jaquez said after being limited to 22:10. “In the beginning of the third quarter I felt something give in my hip.”

After making it to the Eastern Conference finals two years ago and NBA Finals last season, this continues to have the look of a major step backward, which could have Heat president Pat Riley soon enough considering anything and everything, including what might come next for Butler, Herro and even impending free agents such as Martin and Haywood Highsmith.

For now the focus will be on forcing a Friday Game 6 back at Kaseya Center — against what would appear to be the longest of odds Wednesday night against the top-seeded Celtics.

“We’ll just wrap our minds around getting one game in Boston,” Herro said, “and figuring it out from there.”

Five Degrees of Heat from Monday night’s playoff game:

1. Closing time: The Celtics went up 15 early and led 34-24 at the end of the opening period and then pushed to a 53-36 halftime lead.

The Celtics then pushed their lead to 26 in the third quarter, before Boston went into the fourth up 81-59 — the Heat with only 35 points in the middle two quarters.

The Heat then staged a rally within 91-78 with 5:21 to play.

But with 5:04 to play, Adebayo was called for a flagrant foul for a dead-ball push on Tatum. Boston from there pushed their lead back to 19.

“I don’t even know,” Adebayo said when asked about being assessed the flagrant. “We’re gonna move on from that.”

It added up to the Heat’s sixth consecutive home playoff loss, with the Heat leading for only 16 total seconds in their two home games in this series.

“Offensively we struggled again,” Spoelstra said. “We do need to put some points on the board.”

2. Lonely feeling: While Herro scored nine points in his first 6:47, at that stage he stood 4 of 5 from the field, with the rest of his teammates 2 of 10.

Support never arrived beyond the contribution of Adebayo.

That left the Heat unable to compete with White, who had 16 points in the first quarter on 6-of-8 shooting that included 4 of 5 on 3-pointers.

Herro and White then converged on an odd second-period sequence, when Herro committed a turnover by throwing the ball off White’s head, and White then converted his sixth 3-pointer on the other end.

White closed 15 of 26 from the field and 8 of 15 on 3-pointers.

Herro finished 8 of 17 from the field.

“Every game I kinda had the same mindset of just trying to be aggressive and reading what the game is telling you — not forcing anything and just doing what I need to do,” White said. “I thought I got a couple of good looks early and the team did a good job of finding me and empowering me to stay aggressive.”

3. Not functional: For the Heat, the personnel shortage transcended Butler and Rozier.

Kevin Love lasted only 1:44 in his initial stint, the Celtics’ depth of scoring and athleticism rendering Love’s defensive presence moot. Love later returned once Porzingis was lost for the night. Love was limited to 6:25 of action.

Then, with 2:20 to play in the opening period, the Heat subbed in Patty Mills insead of Duncan Robinson, yet another sign that Robinson’s back has him far less than functional, having gone without a shot in Game 4.

Robinson did not enter until the middle of the second, his back limiting him to a single stint. He played 2:52, missing his lone shot, a 3-point attempt.

In essence, that left the Heat without four prime rotation elements who helped push them to their 46-36 regular-season record.

4. Porzingis out: Porzingis was lost for the night late in the second quarter, when he limped to the locker room with what the Celtics listed as tightness in his right calf. He left the arena in a walking boot.

Porzingis earlier appeared to take a misstep on Herro’s heel, his night limited to 13 minutes, seven points on 1-of-5 shooting and three rebounds.

He was replaced in the Celtics’ lineup at the start of the second half by Al Horford.

“Anytime that any of your guys go back, especially him, the way he was walking, definitely concerning for me,” Horford said.

5. Adebayo’s effort: With his fourth point, Adebayo moved past Chris Bosh (1,163) for fourth place on the Heat all-time playoff scoring list.

In addition, the double-double was the 31st in Adebayo’s playoff career, tying LeBron James’ Heat franchise career record.

Adebayo closed 11 of 22 from the field, including a 3-pointer, also with five assists.

SUNRISE — The Tampa Bay Lightning have been the Florida Panthers‘ big brother since the teams’ founding. The Lightning are a year older, and like most big brothers, they have hit some milestones first.

The Panthers got to the Stanley Cup Final before the Lightning ever sniffed it, but not long after, Tampa Bay pulled ahead and won not one, not two, but three Stanley Cups. In 2021, the two teams met in the playoffs for the first time. The Lightning won four games to two en route to a title. The next year, Tampa Bay swept them out of the postseason.

But now the Panthers finally have bragging rights over big brother, eliminating the Lightning from the playoffs with a 6-1 win at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, closing out a 4-1 series victory.

“You’ve have to slay the dragons,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “You’ve got to do the things that you haven’t been able to do to show forward … and progress. There was more pressure on our team.”

The Lightning, coming off a 6-3 win in Tampa on Saturday, appeared to strike first as Anthony Cirelli scored off a rebound. But Maurice challenged the goal for goaltender interference and won, resetting the score back to 0-0.

The two teams ended the first period scoreless, but Carter Verhaeghe ended that quickly. The winger took a shot, snagged his own rebound and sent a wrist shot past Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy 45 seconds into the second period. It was his fourth goal of the series.

Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov added to the lead with a short-handed goal with 7:22 left in the second period, but the Lightning got a power-play goal about a minute later. Defenseman Victor Hedman fired a shot past Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to cut the Lightning’s deficit back to one.

The Lightning thought they tied the game up late in the second period, but a Tampa goal was immediately waved off for interference. The Lightning tried to match the Panthers and challenge the call, but the call was confirmed. Florida kept its lead through the end of the second period.

Barkov added his second goal of the night with 8:54 left in the game, knocking a puck to the back of the net directly in front of Vasilevskiy. Monday’s performance was Barkov’s first career multi-goal game in the postseason.

“Barky’s our leader,” Verhaeghe said. “He leads the way out there, and we all follow him. He’s been unbelievable all year.”

Evan Rodrigues sealed the win with a dagger of a wrist shot following a pinpoint pass from Kevin Stenlund, giving the Panthers a 4-1 lead with 5:44 left in the game. Verhaeghe scored his second of the game on an empty-netter with 3:57 remaining, and Niko Mikkola added an empty-net goal with 1:10 remaining for good measure.

The Panthers will face the winner of the Boston Bruins-Toronto Maple Leafs series. The Bruins lead that series three games to one and will try to advance in Game 5 on Tuesday.

“When you win a rivalry series, it’s a big momentum booster,” Rodrigues said. “Well look to build off this. We’ll learn from everything we did this series and just bring it again next series, whoever we play.”

Game 5: Tampa Bay Lightning at Florida Panthers | PHOTOS

MIAMI — CJ Abrams hit a two-run homer and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 7-2 on Monday night, completing a four-game sweep of the NL’s worst club in front of a season-low 6,376 fans at loanDepot Park.

The Marlins (6-24), who made the playoffs last season, have lost seven straight, their worst skid since opening the season 0-9.

Jake Irvin (2-2) allowed two runs on four hits in six innings, bouncing back from allowing 12 hits and six runs to the Los Angeles Dodgers in his previous start.

“I’m just trying to make those guys earn it, throw strikes and get ahead,” Irvin said. “It makes my job easier when I do.”

Ildemaro Vargas had two hits and an RBI for the Nationals, who swept Miami over four games for the first time since Sept. 18-21, 2014.

Washington has won four straight for the second time since the start of 2022 and improved to 14-14, its first .500 mark since it was 1-1 on March 30. The Nationals have not been over .500 since July 1, 2021.

“The boys played well as a team, which I love,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “I keep saying this but they keep feeding off one another. If one guy doesn’t do it, the next guy is gonna go up there and do everything he can to get it done. It was like that this whole weekend.”

Abrams put the Nationals ahead 2-0 in the third. Alex Call hit a one-out double before Abrams connected off Trevor Rogers (0-4) for his seventh homer. The shortstop hit 18 homers last year in his first full season.

“I was just looking for my pitch,” Abrams said. “I got a little antsy first pitch of the game — swung at that one. Next AB, I got a pitch to hit and put a good swing on it.”

Marlins shortstop Tim Anderson exited after the third inning because of a mild left thumb sprain. Anderson and Call collided at second base when Call slid into the bag for his double.

Anderson was not the only Marlins starter who left early. Miami manager Skip Schumaker removed right fielder Jesús Sánchez in the fourth for what he said was “lack of effort” while fielding Call’s double.

“I have literally no rules except for giving me everything you have,” Schumaker said. “He lost the ball in the lights. I’ve lost the ball in the lights many times. After that, I felt like the effort wasn’t there. Sánchez plays hard. He’s a good kid. There’s teaching moments and he hurt himself and he hurt the team by me having to remove him from the game.”

The Nationals made it 3-0 when Rogers walked Jesse Winker with the bases loaded in the fifth.

Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s two-run homer in the sixth got the Marlins within 3-2 before the Washington broke it open with a four-run seventh against relievers Calvin Faucher and Andrew Nardi. Joey Meneses had an RBI double and Vargas a run-scoring single.

Rogers gave up three runs and four hits over five innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: RHP Cade Cavalli (right elbow surgery) threw live batting practice Monday and Martinez said he reached 95 mph. … OF Victor Robles (left hamstring strain) will begin rehab games with Triple-A Rochester on Tuesday.

Marlins: LHP Jesús Luzardo (mild left flexor muscle strain) felt no discomfort after a throwing session Monday. Luzardo was placed on the injured list Friday after experiencing tightness in his left elbow. … RHP JT Chargois (neck spasms) has been shut down and will undergo additional tests after a rehab outing with Triple-A Jacksonville Friday.

UP NEXT

Marlins: RHP Sixto Sánchez (0-1, 7.20) will start the opener of a three-game home series against Colorado on Tuesday. The Rockies will go with RHP Ryan Feltner (1-2, 5.68).

GAINESVILLE  — Police supported by state troopers arrested nine pro-Palestinian protesters late Monday who had occupied a plaza on the University of Florida for days. They were among the first college arrests in Florida.

Campus police Sgt. Courtney Marie Burgoyne said officers arrested nine protesters, who were led away in handcuffs. It followed the arrest of three other protesters at the University of South Florida in Tampa hours earlier.

The administration at Florida’s flagship public university said in a statement the protesters had violated new rules announced last week that included “no disruptions” and a ban on camping, sleeping, bullhorns and tents – but it didn’t immediately say exactly what the protesters were accused of doing wrong. A spokesman, Steve Orlando, declined Monday night to answer questions about the arrests.

“I do not have to tell you anything,” an unidentified campus police officer told a protester at the scene. About 30 protesters remained after the arrests. Some shouted “shame” and “who do you protect?” at officers and troopers.

Unidentified troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol arrest one of nine pro-Palestinian protesters on the campus of the University of Florida late Monday, April 29, 2024. (Vivienne Serret/Fresh Take Florida)It wasn’t immediately clear whether anyone who was arrested was a student or otherwise affiliated with the university.

Under the university’s new rules, students who violate them will be suspended, and employees or professors would be fired.

UF threatens student protesters with suspension, banishment from campus for 3 years

In a statement emailed to reporters 16 minutes after the arrests, Orlando said police gave the protesters “multiple warnings and multiple opportunities to comply” before they were arrested.

“This is not complicated: The University of Florida is not a daycare, and we do not treat protesters like children – they knew the rules, they broke the rules, and they’ll face the consequences,” Orlando said in the statement. “For many days, we have patiently told protesters – many of whom are outside agitators – that they were able to exercise their right to free speech and free assembly.”

The arrests occurred about 7:40 p.m. Monday on the school’s Plaza of the Americas, the centrally located square in the heart of campus. Law enforcement officers – including about 15 campus and municipal police officers and about six Florida Highway Patrol troopers – marched toward the plaza and protesters with batons in hand.

Israel-Hamas war protesters and police clash on Texas campus, Columbia University begins suspensions

Police appeared to shut off power in the area during the arrests then restored it immediately afterward.

Last week was the last day of regularly scheduled classes for the semester. Some students were finishing final exams this week.

Sunday night, as police explained the university’s new rules to protesters, some of them criticized officers and compared them to members of the white supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Israeli Defense Force: “IDF, KKK, UFPD, you’re all the same,” protesters chanted as someone beat on a drum.

This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at vivienneserret@ufl.edu. You can donate to support our students here.

Three Broward schools would close and a number of others in the southern half of the county would face major changes, under a proposal Superintendent Howard Hepburn is recommending to deal with declining enrollment.

Broward Estates Elementary in Lauderhill, Olsen Middle in Dania Beach and Oakridge Elementary in Hollywood would close under the proposed plan presented Monday night at a town hall at Hollywood Hills High.

While Broward Estates and Olsen are both identified as severely underenrolled, Oakridge is 76% full and hadn’t made a district list of schools with an enrollment concern. However, it’s D-rated and has dated facilities, Alan Strauss, a district administrator, told those attending Monday night’s town hall.

Broward Estates could become an early learning center, Olsen may be converted into district administrative space, while Oakridge could be sold and possibly used for workforce housing, Strauss said.

Three schools are being considered for changes to their grade configurations, according to a PowerPoint presentation shared Monday night. Pines Middle in Pembroke Pines would become a 6-12 “college academy” similar to Millennium 6-12 in Tamarac, which was recently ranked as the district’s top performing high school by U.S. News & World Reports.

Hollywood Central Elementary would become a K-8. Sunland Academy in Fort Lauderdale would switch from a K-3 to a traditional K-5 school.

The School Board is expected to vote on any final recommendations June 18. The proposed changes would take effect during the 2025-26 school year.

Another proposal would convert the underenrolled Bennett Elementary in Fort Lauderdale from a boundary school to a full-choice Montessori school, while removing the Montessori program at nearby Virginia Shuman Young Elementary. Instead of being an all-choice school, Virginia Shuman Young would become a neighborhood school with boundaries.

Bennett is next door to Sunrise Middle, which also has a Montessori program.

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“Virginia Shuman Young sits in a neighborhood where there are images of real estate agents that bring clients by to show them this lovely school though,” Strauss said. “However when they purchase a home a block or two away, it’s a full-choice school. They cannot gain entrance into that school. So instead they wind up going to private school.”

The low-enrolled North Fork Elementary in Fort Lauderdale and Silver Shores Elementary in Miramar could become full-choice schools rather than ones with neighborhood boundaries, under the proposal.

Panther Run Elementary in Pembroke Pines would get a new pre-K special needs program, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary in Fort Lauderdale, now a Montessori school, would get a new program and a boundary change.

Thirteen other schools would get boundary changes.

They are: Thurgood Marshall Elementary, Westwood Heights Elementary, North Side Elementary, Walker Elementary and Harbordale Elementary, all in Fort Lauderdale; Stirling Elementary, Attucks Middle, McNicol Middle, Colbert Elementary and Hollywood Hills Elementary, all in Hollywood; Plantation Elementary; Silver Lakes Elementary in Miramar; and Silver Palms Elementary in Pembroke Pines.

The proposal also names three schools in the north part of the county that could be involved in “public-private partnerships.” These Deerfield Beach schools would stay open, but part of their facilities could be sold, leased or shared with another agency, officials said. These schools are: Quiet Waters Elementary, Deerfield Beach Elementary and Tedder Elementary.

To come up with the proposed plan, the district compiled data on every schools’ enrollment, academic performance age of facilities, historical significance and available capacity at an adjacent school.

What data is @Browardschools using to decide which schools to close or repurpose? They compiled a spreadsheet of all schools based on enrollment, adjacent capacity, school grade, facility age & historical importance. Here are all schools rated: https://t.co/JMOY3AkBoH
1 of 4

— Scott Travis (@smtravis) April 28, 2024

The district appeared to place the greatest weight on available capacity at nearby schools.

Only 10 schools were listed as being in areas where all students could attend another nearby school. All 10 of those schools are affected by this plan, with proposals ranging from having their boundaries changed to being closed.

The district has 54,100 empty seats due to families opting for charter, private and home school options. Enrollment is projected to decline by another 4,300 students this fall.

The district also floated a more dramatic proposal Monday night called “Total District Realignment,” designed to match the number of seats with the number of students. That proposal would close 42 schools, including two high schools. No specific school names were listed.

Hepburn is not recommending this plan, which he said will require the district to redraw all school boundaries and eliminate most magnet programs and reassignments and could result in a greater loss of student enrollment.

The district is asking the public through surveys whether they’d prefer Hepburn’s plans or total realignment.

Reaction was mixed during Monday’s town hall, with some attendees praising the recommendation of converting Hollywood Central into a K-8 school and others criticizing the proposal to close Olsen and Oakridge.

Dania Beach Vice Mayor Lori Lewellen said her city is getting 10,000 new housing units, so she questioned why Olsen would close.

“You don’t know how many children are going to be coming into the city, not to mention the development going on in Hollywood,” she said.

She noted that Dania Beach students already have to leave the city to attend high school, and they’d have to leave for middle school as well under the proposal, which would send them to one of three Hollywood middle schools. She suggested converting Olsen into a 6-12 school.

Six more town halls are scheduled over the next two weeks. They are:

— 8 p.m. April 30, J.P. Taravella High School, 10600 Riverside Drive, Coral Springs
— 6 p.m. May 1, Dillard High 6-12, 2501 N.W. 11th St., Fort Lauderdale
— 6 p.m. May 6, Fort Lauderdale High School, 1600 N.E. Fourth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
— 6 p.m. May 7, Charles W. Flanagan High, 12800 Taft St., Pembroke Pines
— 6 p.m. May 8, Western High, 1200 S.W. 136th Ave., Davie
— 6 p.m. May 9, Deerfield Beach High School, 910 Buck Pride Way, Deerfield Beach

For more information go to browardschools.com/redefining.

MIAMI — Marlins left-hander Jesús Luzardo said Monday he looks forward to rejoining the club soon after tests revealed a mild flexor muscle strain in his throwing elbow.

The 26-year-old Luzardo, Miami’s opening day starter, was placed on the injured list Friday. He first experienced discomfort a day earlier.

Luzardo, who is 0-2 with a 6.58 ERA in five starts, resumed throwing Monday and is optimistic he dodged a serious injury.

“Today was extremely positive. Took three days off from throwing, came out today and felt like nothing ever happened,” Luzardo said. “Hopefully, I can just build up quickly and get back to the team as soon as possible.”

The Marlins’ starting rotation has been hit hard by injuries, and Miami entered Monday with an NL-worst 6-23 record a year after reaching the playoffs. Former NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez will both miss the season after having elbow surgery, while Braxton Garrett has not pitched in the majors this year because of a left shoulder impingement.

Manager Skip Schumaker said if Luzardo continues to show no discomfort while throwing, he will proceed to bullpen sessions and minor league rehab outings.

“It’s a progression,” Schumaker said. “Of course you love to see him playing catch after a big scare a couple of days ago. So that’s a good sign. Let’s what happens (Tuesday) with the recovery.

Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis met on Sunday to discuss the possibility of tapping DeSantis’ donor network, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Miami meeting is a sign of rapprochement between the former president and his one-time opponent after a period of rocky relations, heightened by Trump’s attacks on DeSantis during the Republican primaries. DeSantis, once considered a potent candidate, dropped out in January.

Reaching into DeSantis’ donor pipeline could shore up funds for the presumptive Republican nominee as Trump faces a cash drain from the legal costs of his array of court cases. At the same time, President Joe Biden’s campaign widened its fundraising lead over Trump in March, raising more than $90 million.

As of April 21, Trump had just $6.8 million in the accounts he’s been using to fund his lawyers. That could drive him to tap funds from other sources to cover upcoming bills and bankroll his campaign.

Trump and his campaign are expected to hold a retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, this week with about 400 donors and several vice presidential hopefuls.

Trump’s campaign and DeSantis’ office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday.

DeSantis has proven fundraising power with a network that includes hedge fund billionaires Ken Griffin and Paul Tudor Jones. In 2022, he raised more than $217 million for his gubernatorial reelection, a record, according to OpenSecrets. Aerospace and real estate entrepreneur Robert Bigelow was the biggest donor to both DeSantis’ gubernatorial and presidential campaigns. He gave $5 million to Trump’s allied super-PAC in March.

DeSantis’ fundraising connections also include members of a national finance board he announced in late 2023 such as Roy Bailey, CEO of Bailey Deason Capital Interests LLC and a former national co-chair of Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign.

The Trump-DeSantis meeting was first reported by the Washington Post.

The Florida governor and Trump were allies before their competing presidential bids. After DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race, he endorsed Trump and described him as the preferable candidate. Trump then said he would retire the nickname “DeSanctimonious,” one of the go-to insults he used during the campaign.

____

(With assistance from Bill Allison.)

©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

General Daily Insight for April 29, 2024

We may experience a spiritual growth spurt at any moment. Passionate Mars conjoins dreamy Neptune, invigorating our inner drive while simultaneously inciting frustration and mistimed confrontations. We can breathe a sigh of relief once balanced Venus dances into its home sign of practical Taurus at 7:31 am EDT, reminding us of our supportive loved ones and offering peace. Finally, the sensitive Moon trines innovative Uranus, encouraging curiosity and spiritual healing. We just have to try to be better than we were yesterday!

Aries

March 21 – April 19

Sometimes, it’s better to let go than to hold on too tight. It can be tough to release certain things that you’ve been holding onto for a long time, whether you’re clutching a relationship, a friendship, a job, or even material items. While you may feel nervous letting go of something that’s been like a security blanket for you, you should have support from those who are meant to stay in your life for now. Look inside your heart to recognize what deserves freedom.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

You’re letting others take the lead. It might be time for you to repay a favor by giving back to those who have helped you in the past, potentially requiring you to let go of the reins. When they provide you with a project to work on or a way you could make their life a little easier, you may jump to pitch in. Even so, your emotions could be more sensitive today as well, so be aware of how you’re channeling your feelings.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Confident energy is all around to support the sharing of whatever you’ve been working on. You might have been quietly working on a project, but it’s now ready to be debuted onstage — or you may have another announcement up your sleeve that you’re ready to surprise everyone with. You’re likely to find support at this time, but what’s most important is how you feel about your news. The universe is highlighting your personal satisfaction, not what everyone else might think.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

You’re taking a leap of faith. Whether you’re literally traveling somewhere that you may not have been to before or you’re challenging yourself in a way that you never have in the past, you can leave your comfort zone. No matter how intimidating this feels, keep moving forward! Once you overcome any mental block, you’ll probably realize that others want to support your adventure. Instead of letting old fears stifle new growth, allow this exciting opportunity to nourish your mind and soul.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

You might be keeping your ambitions to yourself. While you may want to share what you’re thinking with others, it’s likely best to keep it under your hat and tell them only the most minor details. You don’t want to prematurely shape their expectations before you’re even sure what you’re manifesting with those strong ambitions, but you know that you’re going somewhere that should allow you to be more yourself. Embrace your unique Lion energy for the best chance at success!

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

Inner peace and positivity might be showering upon you through other people. Someone could be about to bring you good news, and their presence in your life has the potential to take some of the worry off of your mind. You’re more likely to get some positive encouragement from those around you, especially those who are more open-minded and geared toward emotional exploration and self-actualization. When you surround yourself with optimistic and creative people, it’s hard for you to go wrong!

Libra

September 23 – October 22

You can commit to organizing your life. Things may have gotten into disarray as of late, but you’re finding a way to sort through the chaos. Whether these are chores in your home that you need to catch up on, professional work that’s been needing a more concise schedule, or an inner emotional matter that’s been playing on your mind, do your best to set aside time to sort through the clutter and bring order back to your life. Don’t let the chaos take over!

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

You’re likely being encouraged to express yourself more. It might be that others need more from you to grasp your preferences, or that you should be clearer regarding what you’re wanting from another person. Communication can flow more easily, at least, so you could have an easier time finding the words that you want to say. It’s easier to take risks currently too, but make sure that your risks are more calculated than random. Do your research, then say what you mean.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Your heart can light the way forward. It may have been difficult to follow your soul in the past, especially when you were feeling unsupported, but those who might have been naysayers in the past could have transformed into cheerleaders. You may have proven to them that you shouldn’t be counted out, or maybe your family appreciates your differences more honestly — regardless of the specifics, look for more positive support in your present companions. It’s never the end unless you give up!

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

You might be wearing your heart on your sleeve. That’s not a bad thing, but it will be hard to conceal emotions that you may have wanted to keep a secret. Now isn’t a good time to rely on your poker face. Instead, make a point of being honest with the people around you about how you’re feeling. Try to have fun without worrying about what others are thinking. It’s time to dance like nobody’s watching — and if they are, keep dancing anyway!

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

You deserve to feel safe. While it isn’t always easy to assert your boundaries, or even know where your boundaries lie, it is possible. Right now, in particular, it should be easier to figure out where to draw that line. You have a clearer understanding of what is and what isn’t acceptable for you in your life, and when you’re in this state of mind, you’re then better able to communicate these boundaries to others. Don’t stand for what makes you uncomfortable — speak up.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

Ambition is calling! In your life, you might have been hesitant to let yourself be supported or to delegate certain tasks to willing supporters, but it’s okay to lean on others when you need to. This is a good time to ask others what they would do in your situation or seek out professional help if you feel stuck on a project or even stalled in your journey to self-discovery. It’s not a weakness to ask for help — it’s actually a strength.