Comment on Santa connects with children this Christmas season – via Zoom

SANTA CLARA – A 5-foot-5 Argentinian No. 10 with a penchant for shredding opponents in the attacking third made his first appearance in the South Bay.  Now Hernán López, the great-nephew of the late  soccer legend Diego Maradona who was famous for such plays, hopes to recreate some of that same magic for the last-place San Jose Earthquakes. During his introductory news conference, López, the 23-year-old midfielder blessed with the legend’s genes and at least a bit of the late Argentinian’s footballing talent, didn’t hesitate to talk about Maradona, who died of a heart attack in 2020 at the age of 60. “I’m very excited to be here in San Jose, and I wish to represent my uncle well,” said López, who was signed from Argentina’s famed club River Plate in April.

Give dunce caps to the Florida Legislature for flunking one of life’s most obvious lessons. It’s this: Experience really is the best teacher. That goes double for teachers themselves. There’s no college prep or other shortcut to knowing what works best with each student and with a classroom as a whole. Teachers learn that only from their students.

Embattled South Florida-based Spirit Airlines saw its stock drop about 10% on Monday after it posted a first quarter net loss of $142.6 million, and blamed the declines on external factors such as “adverse weather and air traffic control related delays,” tough competition from other airlines, and continued civil disorder in Haiti. The company, which posted a first quarter net loss of $103.9 million in 2023, also said the forthcoming second quarter will look worse than last year. On Wall Street, investors responded by driving down the price of airline’s common shares to a 52-week low of $3.35 in midday trading. But top executives declared they’re confident they can execute a financial recovery plan they started after the collapse of JetBlue Airways’ bid to take over Spirit for $3.8 billion. “While we reported a loss in the first quarter 2024, we are making progress towards our financial goals,” said Ted Christie, Spirit’s President and Chief Executive Officer in a statement. “The competitive environment remains challenging due to elevated capacity in many of the markets we serve,” he added.

Nathan L. Gonzales | CQ-Roll Call (TNS) WASHINGTON — It’s going to be difficult for Democrats to maintain control of the Senate, but they have a window of opportunity because of Republicans’ reliance on wealthy outsiders now facing the intense scrutiny of competitive U. S. Senate races. After a couple disappointing cycles, Republicans are determined to capitalize on yet another opportunity to win the majority by recruiting wealthy challengers who can compete with Democrats’ prolific fundraising.

MIAMI — Speaking for the first time in three years in the wake of a first-round exit by his team, Miami Heat president Pat Riley addressed where his franchise stands during a Monday media session at Kaseya Center. Included in Riley’s comments: – Opening with a discussion on change. – “We have to change some things,” he said.

By DOUG FEINBERG (AP Basketball Writer) NEW YORK — Miami Hurricanes men’s basketball coach Jim Larrañaga is one of four recipients of this year’s Joe Lapchick Character Award. Larrañaga has spent the last 53 years coaching in college since he got his start as an assistant at Davidson College in 1971. Larrañaga had stops at American International and Bowling Green before coming to George Mason in 1997.