Helen H. Moore's Blog, page 773
May 20, 2016
Struggling ace Harvey to make next scheduled start for Mets
NEW YORK (AP) — Matt Harvey wants to keep plugging away at his problems on the mound. Whether that ends up helping or hurting the New York Mets early this season remains to be seen.
The struggling Harvey will make his next scheduled start for the Mets next week at Washington, manager Terry Collins said. Following the shortest outing of his career Thursday night in a 9-1 loss to the Nationals, the Mets left open the possibility of skipping Harvey’s upcoming turn in the rotation.
But in a meeting with staff members Friday, Collins said, Harvey insisted he’d prefer to fight through his troubles.
“I was really glad to hear what he had to say,” Collins said. “This game is about confidence, and when it starts to waver and you start to doubt yourself, you’re going to have a tough time. And so last night, when I went in to talk to him after he came out of the game, I was really concerned about what he was going to say today. And he walked in like he normally does, unhappy the way he’s pitching, but said, ‘I want to pitch.’ And I was glad to hear that.”
After some discussion, the team agreed keeping Harvey on turn was the best course of action — though Collins acknowledged it was not a unanimous decision. Others in the room thought Harvey should be skipped, the manager said.
“We got as in-depth as you possibly can get. We dissected every angle there was,” Collins explained. “And in the end, knowing this guy like we do, he wants to pitch. He wants to fight through it. He isn’t going to run and hide. He wants to get out there. So we’re going to do that.”
Harvey is slated to start Tuesday night, but Collins said that could change. The right-hander might be pushed back a day or even moved up to pitch on three days’ rest Monday because he threw only 61 pitches Thursday.
Either way, Collins said, Harvey will definitely get the ball at some point during the three-game series in Washington.
“In this particular case, we really think he’s got to get back on the horse as fast as he possibly can,” Collins said. “We’ve got to get him back out there. While he’s angry about some things, get him back out there.”
In the meantime, Harvey will throw on the side this weekend and work with pitching coach Dan Warthen in search of an answer to his puzzling difficulties. Harvey’s velocity is down, his pitches lack a sharp finish to them, and he’s said he hasn’t felt comfortable on the mound and has no idea what’s wrong.
“He wants to battle through,” Collins said. “He’s going to do what he has to do to get better.”
Harvey, an All-Star in 2013 and the NL comeback player of the year last season, is 3-6 with a 5.77 ERA in nine starts. He has given up 65 hits and walked 14 with 43 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings.
He was hammered for eight hits and a career-worst nine runs, six earned, in 2 2/3 innings and loudly booed by Mets fans Thursday night.
The 27-year-old Harvey threw a career-high 216 innings last year, including the postseason, as the Mets won the NL pennant. He was 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA in his first regular season after missing 2014 following Tommy John surgery.
Collins said Harvey’s recent bullpen sessions have been “outstanding.”
“We know he’s healthy. We’ve just got to get through this confidence issue to trust his stuff,” Collins said.
The manager recalled last season, when he said Harvey took some “abuse” after initially saying he was unsure whether he would push past 180 innings following elbow surgery and pitch in the postseason. But by the World Series, fans at Citi Field were giving Harvey standing ovations and chanting his name.
“It’ll happen again. This summer, it will happen again. I told him that today,” Collins said. “He will hear that again this summer. But you’ve got to be able to build on what you’re doing right now to get better to hear it, and I think he can handle it.”
Blimp makes emergency landing at construction site, deflates
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A blimp has made an emergency landing and deflated at a construction site next to a Philadelphia highway.
No injuries have been reported on the two-passenger blimp or on the ground where it landed, near the SugarHouse Casino.
The blimp floated over the Delaware River on Friday night before going down in the Fishtown neighborhood.
It’s unclear what caused the blimp to go down. Police say the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified.
The blimp displayed advertising for adhesives company Bostik Inc., based in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. The company’s nighttime phone number has rung unanswered.
Civil rights activist, Carter administration official dies
Patricia M. Derian, who actively supported Mississippi public school desegregation and served as assistant secretary of state for human rights during the Carter administration, has died.
Derian’s son, Michael Derian, confirmed his mother died early Friday. She was 86.
Derian, former President Jimmy Carter’s assistant secretary of state for human rights, made the Argentine Dirty War one of her top causes. Though the Argentine military denounced Derian’s interference, the lives of some high-profile captives were spared as a result.
In a statement Friday, Carter expressed sadness on hearing of Derian’s death. He described her as a “champion of oppressed people around the world” who helped him exert pressure on dictatorships from Argentina to South Korea.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
North Korean diplomat who negotiated ’94 deal with US dies
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s state media says a top diplomat who negotiated a short-lived 1994 deal with the United States to freeze its nuclear programs in exchange for international aid has died.
The North’s Korean Central News Agency said Saturday that Kang Sok Ju died of esophageal cancer on Friday at the age of 76.
Kang was a longtime foreign policy specialist for the North who negotiated the deal with the U.S. to freeze and eventually dismantle the North’s nuclear facilities in exchange for international aid to build two electricity-producing nuclear reactors.
The deal fell apart in 2002 after revelations that the North had operated a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of the agreement.
Sugar shortage leads Coca-Cola to halt Venezuela production
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Coca-Cola is halting production in Venezuela of its namesake beverage due to a sugar shortage brought on by the country’s grinding economic crisis.
The Atlanta-based company said in an emailed statement Friday said that its production of sugar-sweetened beverages will be suspended in the coming days after local suppliers reported they had run out of the raw material. Sugar-free beverages are not affected and the company said its offices and distribution centers remain open in Venezuela.
The move comes as Venezuela’s economy is teetering on the edge of collapse with widespread food shortages and inflation forecast to surpass 700 percent. Last month, Empresas Polar, Venezuela’s largest food and beverage company, stopped production of beer because of a lack of imported barley.
AP NewsAlert
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says diplomat who negotiated short-lived 1994 deal freezing nuke programs has died.
Sharks ride top line to 2-1 series lead against Blues
San Jose Sharks' Tomas Hertl (48) celebrates his goal with teammates Joe Thornton (19) and Joe Pavelski (8) during the third period in Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Western Conference finals against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, May 19, 2016, in San Jose, Calif. San Jose won 3-0. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) (Credit: AP)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Joe Thornton and his linemates have managed to do what Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Jamie Benn couldn’t in the first two rounds of the NHL playoffs: control the play against the St. Louis Blues.
San Jose’s top line of Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl have dominated the play over the first three games of the Western Conference final and are a major reason why the Sharks lead the Blues 2-1 to put them as close as they have ever been to reaching the Stanley Cup final.
Hertl scored two goals in San Jose’s 3-0 victory in Game 3 on Thursday night off passes from each of his linemates and the trio spent much of the night in St. Louis’ zone creating chances and momentum.
“These guys in my mind are maybe the most dangerous and best line in hockey,” teammate Tommy Wingels said. “You see the way they play against world-class defensemen and some of the best players in the world. They’re able to hold onto pucks and make it a clinic out there the way they pass it around and cycle the puck. It’s contagious.”
After getting the best of Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty in round one, Nashville’s stellar defensive pair of Shea Weber and Roman Josi in the second round, the Thornton line is doing it against Alex Pietrangelo and St. Louis in the conference final.
The Blues are searching for answers.
Coach Ken Hitchcock announced that he will make a change in goal for Game 4 on Saturday with Jake Allen replacing Brian Elliott. Allen, who started all six games last postseason for the Blues, entered in the third period on Thursday after Elliott allowed his third goal on 14 shots.
Now he will get a chance to try to slow down San Jose’s top line that is clicking on all cylinders this postseason. Thornton and Pavelski have played together for much of the last four seasons with various third linemates. Hertl moved into that spot in early January and that helped the entire team take off.
“I think just playing a long time with somebody, we just know each other’s tendencies in our sleep,” Thornton said of his chemistry with Pavelski. “For me, I like to pass. He likes to shoot. Then you throw this big fella (Hertl) in there, it’s a pretty good line. But, yeah, all three of us, we read so well off each other. We just got to keep continuing that.”
The Blues made it this far in part because of their ability to shut down the opponent’s top players, including the league’s top two scorers in the regular season. Kane, who led the league in scoring, had just one goal and two even-strength assists in Chicago’s seven-game loss in the first round. Toews wasn’t any better with no goals and three even-strength assists.
St. Louis kept it up in round two against Dallas’s Benn, the league’s No. 2 scorer. Benn had one goal and two even-strength assists in seven games, meaning those three stars combined for two goals and seven assists at even strength in 14 games.
In this round, Thornton’s line has spent the bulk of its time in St. Louis’ end, creating chances, drawing penalties and getting three even-strength goals from Hertl.
“We put our top-scoring players out there in this series so far and we’ve not been able to maintain pressure in the offensive zone,” Hitchcock said. “We’ve ended up in our zone quickly sometimes. That’s something that no one’s done against us. We’ve been able to take top players and hem them in, frustrate them. For whatever reason, we cannot control the play, even though we start 200 feet from our net. So that’s on me. I’m going to have to change tactics, do something completely different than we’ve done in the first two series because within 10 seconds in most occasions, they’re in our zone.”
Slowing down Thornton’s line could help St. Louis create more chances at the other end.
The Blues have been shut out by Martin Jones the past two games and haven’t gotten a single point all series from 40-goal scorer Vladimir Tarasenko or rookie Robby Fabbri, who had 13 points the first two rounds.
“We just haven’t created enough quality chances to really test him and make him make save after save, what we can do when we’re really on our game,” captain David Backes said. “The result has been a couple scoreless games for us. It’s not the way we’re going to win games. We need to get back onto our method and our ways. When we do that, we’re going to have success.”
Missouri plans to seek death penalty for Mexican national
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri prosecutors on Friday filed their formal plan to pursue the death penalty against a Mexican national in the shooting death of a man a day after he allegedly killed four people in Kansas.
Prosecutors in Montgomery County submitted court papers saying they will seek capital punishment for Pablo Serrano-Vitorino if he’s convicted of first-degree murder in the March 8 death of Randy Nordman at that man’s home in New Florence, about 70 miles west of St. Louis. Serrano-Vitorino also is charged with armed criminal action and burglary.
A judge last week ordered Serrano-Vitorino, 40, to stand trial on the Missouri charges and scheduled a June 1 arraignment. A message left Friday with Serrano-Vitorino’s attorney seeking comment on the case was not immediately returned.
Serrano-Vitorino, who federal immigration officials have said is in the U.S. illegally, is accused in Kansas of killing a Kansas City, Kansas, neighbor and three other men at the neighbor’s home the night before Nordman was slain nearly 200 miles away. Serrano-Vitorino was captured after a manhunt and is jailed in Missouri without bond.Authorities have not discussed a motive for any of the killings.
In his court filing Friday, Montgomery County Prosecutor Nathan Carroz cited “aggravated circumstances” related to Nordman’s slaying that make the case eligible for the death penalty. Among them: The Missouri killing was a continuation of the Kansas shooting rampage, Nordman’s killing involved burglary and robbery, and that slaying was “outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman” in its randomness and its “callous disregard for the sanctity of human life.”
Carroz also cited Serrano-Vitorino’s previous legal issues that have included California charges involving spousal battery and threats with the intent to terrorize, as well as Kansas charges since 2012 involving domestic battery and two cases of driving under the influence.
Secret Service shoots man with gun outside White House
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Secret Service officer shot a man with a gun who approached a checkpoint outside the White House on Friday afternoon and refused to drop his weapon, the Secret Service said.
The White House was briefly placed on a security alert after the shooting, which happened within view of sightseers as sidewalks were crowded with families, school groups and government workers.
The armed man approached the checkpoint on E Street shortly after 3 p.m., and ignored repeated orders from the officer to drop his gun, according to a statement from David Iacovetti, a Secret Service deputy assistant director.
The officer fired one shot at the man and the gun was recovered at the scene, Iacovetti said. The man was transported in critical condition to a nearby hospital, an emergency medical services spokesman said.
President Barack Obama was away playing golf, but Vice President Joe Biden was in the White House complex and was secured during the lockdown, his office said. The security alert was lifted about an hour later.
The gunman never made it inside the White House complex, and no one else was injured, the Secret Service said.
A U.S. law enforcement official said Friday evening that authorities had identified the gunman as Jesse Oliveri of Ashland, Pennsylvania. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to release the information.
Federal agents found ammunition inside a Toyota sedan, parked nearby on Constitution Avenue, that the gunman was believed to have driven, the official said.
Sightseer Jenna Noelle of Austin, Texas, said she had just taken a photo of the White House when she noticed a man harassing an agent.
Then, “as we were walking away we heard a shot fired, then some people started running away and agents had guns and were evacuating people.”
“I had a panic attack,” she added. “I’m doing OK now, but it was pretty freaky to be right there a second before it happened. Not really the experience we wanted,” she added.
Community activist Akil Patterson said he heard a single gunshot while waiting in a security line. Within seconds, a security guard shouted to drop to the ground, and then he was evacuated to the street.
Patterson said he was at the White House to get a presidential award for his work with Baltimore teens.
He says his community work aims to “get rid of the notion that gun violence is the answer.”
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Associated Press writer Kathleen Hennessey in Washington contributed to this report.
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Follow Ben Nuckols on Twitter at https://twitter.com/APBenNuckols . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/ben-nu....
Indigenous reality remains grim as UN forum ends
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Indigenous leaders have painted a grim picture of the reality their peoples face around the globe as a major United Nations forum draws to a close.
Organizers of the 15th session of the United Nation’s Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues said their languages are rapidly disappearing, human rights continue to be trampled, leaders are being assassinated and suicides rates are on the rise, especially among the young.
Forum Chairman Alvaro Pop in his closing remarks called for greater dialogue between national governments, indigenous people and the U.N. so that their vision of life and the relationship with Mother Earth can be understood and shared.
The two-week long forum which ended Friday united over a 1,000 delegates from all over the world.
