Courts across the country are less likely to dismiss pet-related lawsuits, and state legislatures have been reforming animal-protection laws. In 2000 Tennessee became the first to pass a civil statute giving a pet owner the right to suffering and punitive damages. A version of the Tennessee law passed in Illinois last year, and West Virginia has removed damage caps. Other statutes are pending in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York....
Petty, answering questions Sunday at the Canadian Motorsports Expo, was asked if Patrick would ever win in the Sprint Cup Series. His answer, according to the Wheels Automotive Network’s website, was fairly blunt. “If everybody else stayed home,” Petty said. A seven-time Cup champion and inaugural NASCAR Hall of Famer, Petty knows something about winning, considering he won a record 200 times at the Cup level. A co-owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, Petty is glad that Patrick is competing in NASCAR....
There’s good a chance Peyton Manning has his mind made up: He will retire on top as the Broncos’ Super Bowl-winning quarterback sometime before he turns 40 in late March. But anybody who thought Manning, after Denver routed Carolina, would reach the podium and declare “This one’s for me!” never had a chance of being right. PHOTOS: Best of Super Bowl 50 | Manning celebrates with adorable family Manning should be first to acknowledge that he had little to do with Sunday’s result....
The planned power shutdown, which began on Wednesday afternoon and saw an estimated 179,000 people have their power cut for 48 hours, is to reduce the risk of wildfires as strong offshore winds develop across northern California. In Central and Southern California, hundreds of thousands of customers could be affected, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. More than 308,000 Southern California Edison customers could be affected across seven counties, which are Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, Kern, and Santa Barbara....
A move from August to May means better spacing for the PGA Tour schedule, which can maximize its storylines and intrigue with a major each month from April until July. In fact, they’re already reaping the rewards after Tiger Woods’ stirring Masters victory last month. He took three weeks off to bask in the glory of a 15th major championship and will be well rested to contend for a 16th at Bethpage Black, chipping away at Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record....
So did Jimmy Walker. Johnson made six birdies on a warm, sunny day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead when the opening round was suspended by darkness. Walker birdied his last three holes and was in the large group at 67 that included Francesco Molinari of Italy and Torrey Pines winner Scott Stallings. LEADERBOARD: Track Round 2 via Golf.com | Golf’s women in SI swimsuit issue...
Kuchar shot six birdies and two bogeys on his way to a four-under 68 at the Golf Club of Houston in Texas. MORE: Leaderboard via Golf.com "It's a nice position to have played well last week, to have been in the last group with a chance to win and again to come back this week, completely different course, and have another shot to win," Kuchar said. Garcia began his day with a bogey on his way to a one-over 73....
Only 30 golfers have a chance at winning the FedEx Cup championship with a victory at the Tour Championship this weekend. What began as a 125-man field was cut down to 70 after The Northern Trust and then trimmed again to 30 following the BMW Championship. The leader of those elite 30 coming in was Dustin Johnson. The No. 1 golfer atop the FedEx Cup standings earned his position with a win at The Northern Trust and a second-place finish at the BMW Championship in a thrilling playoff....
Garrigus, 41, was suspended in March after a drug test showed elevated levels of THC, the principal psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. He said he was using prescribed marijuana at the time to treat knee and back pain and had monitored his TCH levels throughout the fall and winter. Now he’s back on Tour — and, he says, no longer using medical marijuana. But he has approached PGA Tour officials with the hopes of getting marijuana removed from the list of banned substances given that it has been legalized in multiple states in recent years....
There are currently hundreds of power outages across Oregon, some caused by downed power lines and others by planned public safety power shutoffs. Portland General Electric (PGE) is experiencing outages in Clackamas, Columbia, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Wasco, Washington and Yamhill counties, affecting more than 88,000 customers. Late on Monday night, PGE said that around 100,000 customers were hit by 560 downed power lines. Some outages in the Portland area were caused by a public safety power shutoff to reduce the risk of fires, due to the wildfire danger along the Highway 26 corridor near Mt Hood....
Hull’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Boxing Day left them bottom of the Premier League table, four points from safety, and Phelan has made it clear he will look to strengthen the squad when the transfer window opens in January. Last season’s regular right-back Moses Odubajo has suffered two serious knee injuries, which are likely to rule him out of the entire season, with Ahmed Elmohamady filling in thus far....
OFFICIAL: Chelsea confirm Oscar sale Hull are on a run of one victory in their last 15 top-flight matches following their disappointing 1-0 defeat at West Ham last week. Phelan saw plenty of cause for optimism in that performance but is reluctant to set in stone the number of points Hull will require to avoid relegation. “The only negative of last week was the result. The performance was terrific, but you don’t always get what you deserve,” he said....
Ivey is now one of only four poker players to have won at least 10 bracelets at the WSOP. He joins poker legends Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan at 10. All three still need to add four bracelets to surpass Phil Hellmuth, who owns a a record 13 bracelets. MORE: Selbst Begins Seconds Week at #1 | 888poker Terminates Association with Luis Suarez | Volpe Defeats Negreanu for bracelet...
“He’s a great-looking kid,” Jackson said, via Cleveland.com. “Great prospect.” MORE: Michele Roberts’ master plan | LeBron plays at MVP level | Classic Jordan photos Seems innocent, right? Wrong. Since Russell has not officially declared for the NBA Draft, he is considered draft ineligible and Jackson cannot comment on him. Therefore, he will likely be disciplined by the NBA for his remarks, according to Yahoo Sports. Russell, considered one of the top prospects in this year’s draft class, can leave Ohio State after this season as a one-and-done player, but until he announces his intentions, NBA folks have to remain tight-lipped....
The Spanish La Liga giants are set to lock horns against the new Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions at the FNB Stadium. Although the clash will commemorate former South Africa state president Nelson Mandela’s 100th year birthday, the man known as ‘Chippa’ believes that both sides will be cautious in their approach. Moreover, the former Jomo Cosmos striker said La Roja legend Andres Iniesta will relive his memories of the 2010 Fifa World Cup....
The PGA Tour star on Wednesday spoke publicly for the first time since the May 19 announcement that the investigation had concluded, voicing his regret and saying he’s glad it’s in the past. MORE: Tour winners of 2015-16 season | Trump-owned Doral losing Tour stop “I’d like to say that I’m disappointed to have been a part of that whole thing, but after a thorough investigation, I’m pleased that it’s behind me, that it’s over,’’ Mickelson told reporters at The Memorial....
“Honestly, I thought, in the 12 minutes I was going to play, I thought I was going to score like 40 points, but it didn’t work,” Embiid said. MORE: 11 players ready to take over the NBA this season Indeed, Embiid was jittery in the early going, starting 0-for-3 from the field on three mid-range jumpers, finishing with six points (slightly below his personal target), four rebounds and three turnovers in 12:57 of playing time....
That said, Rivers might not be stopping at nine kids. It’s a frequent topic of conversation whenever Rivers takes the field. He married his high-school sweetheart and they’ve got enough kids to field a baseball club, already. The first-year quarterback with the Colts, who spent the first 16 seasons of his NFL career with the Chargers, has flown just under the radar of the NFL’s elites for most of his career....
It feels like just yesterday that the Philadelphia Phillies were world champions. Facts, however, are more important than feelings, and the fact is that 2008 was not yesterday. It was six years ago, and the time since then is forever growing longer. The Phillies are in trouble because in order to be successful, they need the stars of 2008 to perform like it’s 2008 — well, it’s 2014. Ryan Howard is a 240-pound 34-year-old who has played in only 151 games over the past two years because his body has been failing him....
Luke Huntley, who runs a snake-catching business in the Noosa coastal area of Queensland, encountered the colorful reptile on Tuesday. A family called Huntley to their home in the small beach town of Peregian after they found the blue phase common tree snake on their veranda, and asked him to remove it. Also known as dendrelaphis punctulata, common tree snakes can grow up to 6.5 ft long. They are most often yellow-ish green, brownish-green or black....
