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Kyle Hightower

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Boston @AP Sports Writer | Husband | Dad | Non-fungible | khightower@ap.org | www.apnews.com | Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
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Turning 40: Brady showing few signs of decline at milestone

Turning 40: Brady showing few signs of decline at milestone

ap.org — FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - Professional athletes measure achievement in championships, with a constant eye slanted toward Father Time. Next up for Tom Brady is challenging the conventional wisdom of how long a quarterback can play at a high level in the NFL.
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Man journeys from living under a bridge to Boston Marathon

Man journeys from living under a bridge to Boston Marathon

Associated Press — BOSTON (AP) — Whether solo, jogging in a crowd, or lost in the sensation of music thumping through his headphones, Danny Dwyer sees his thorny past, thankful present and unwritten future blend to form the perfect sanctuary. This is how he trains for this year's Boston Marathon. Each step is one away from battles with drug addiction that began when he was 8 years old. It's a struggle that's swallowed up a coveted job with the Boston Police Department and an engagement. For four years, he lived under a bridge. Now, he's rededicated his life to helping others who struggle with substance abuse. "I can give you many low points. That's the thing about addiction," Dwyer says. "If you don't do something about it, the low point you've reached — it'll go lower."
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A boycott's birth: How the Missouri race protests began

A boycott's birth: How the Missouri race protests began

Associated Press — COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - On the day he met with black players for the University of Missouri's football team, graduate student Jonathan Butler hadn't eaten for six days. The players wanted to know why. Butler told them: The school's president, Tim Wolfe, had repeatedly ignored concerns of black students. He'd rather starve than live with an alma mater that condoned racism. Usually a world away from the center of campus at the athletic complex, the players were surprised and angry. They decided to launch a protest of their own: They wouldn't practice or play until Wolfe resigned or was removed.
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Serial numbers, game photos may help verify Brady jerseys

Serial numbers, game photos may help verify Brady jerseys

Associated Press — BOSTON (AP) - Now that authorities believe they have recovered the jersey stolen from Tom Brady's locker following the Patriots' Super Bowl win last month, the next step will be determining whether it is in fact the MVP quarterback's missing grass-stained garment. So how exactly does that happen? Old-fashioned detective work.
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Mistakes can't keep Patriots from 5th Super Bowl title

Mistakes can't keep Patriots from 5th Super Bowl title

Associated Press — HOUSTON (AP) - The New England Patriots developed a reputation for playing nearly mistake-free football in winning four Super Bowl rings during the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era. That brand took a beating against the Atlanta Falcons, as the Patriots fell behind 28-3. But even that could not deny them a fifth Super Bowl title.
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Bennett defines his own 'Patriot Way' en route to Super Bowl

Bennett defines his own 'Patriot Way' en route to Super Bowl

Yahoo — FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- If Martellus Bennett had his way, people would live in his world. He describes it as a fun place, where imaginations can run wild and people can feel unrestrained. And in a way, Bennett has managed to do just that in his first season with the New England Patriots.
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Pats enter playoffs with unprecedented passing efficiency

Pats enter playoffs with unprecedented passing efficiency

Associated Press — FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - With Tom Brady under center, the Patriots have always had one of the NFL's best passing games. But New England is starting its playoff run with unprecedented efficiency.
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Brissett would make Pats history as first black QB to start

Brissett would make Pats history as first black QB to start

Associated Press — BOSTON (AP) - From his den in Huntsville, Alabama, Onree Jackson will quietly root to see Jacoby Brissett under center when he watches New England host Houston on Thursday night. Almost 50 years have passed, but Jackson still remembers his excitement when he was drafted out of Alabama A&M in 1969 by the Boston Patriots - the franchise's first black quarterback.
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Patriots' Bennett remaining himself during playoff run

Patriots' Bennett remaining himself during playoff run

Associated Press — FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - To step into Martellus Bennett's world is to be in a place that is both spontaneous and full of introspection. In his first season in New England, the Patriots tight end has brought a mellow vibe and unique personality to an organization that usually shies away from individuality.
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Steelers hoping pressure blueprint can slow down Brady

Steelers hoping pressure blueprint can slow down Brady

Associated Press — FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - Take it from Wade Phillips, slowing down Tom Brady is a goal often sought, but seldom achieved. "Good luck," the new defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams said this week when asked about the difficulty of taking the Patriots quarterback out of his comfort zone.
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Student fees subsidize athletics at Florida universities to tune of nearly $100 million

Student fees subsidize athletics at Florida universities to tune of nearly $100 million

Florida Times-Union — ORLANDO | Cindy Flores doesn't go to many football or basketball games at the University of Central Florida, but she and her 60,000 or so classmates each fork over hundreds of dollars while working on their degrees to help fund the teams. The 21-year-old also doesn't know much about where that $171 a semester goes - a response not uncommon among students. In all, those student fees add up to more than $10 million a semester at the nation's second-largest university. "I would want to know what they do with that money," Flores said of the fees, which can be used with wide latitude for things including equipment, travel and facility maintenance. A records analysis by The Associated Press shows UCF and seven other public universities in Florida with NCAA-sanctioned teams get between 36 percent and 75 percent of their athletic funding from student athletic fees, which are among the highest in the nation. Furthermore, those fees have grown 31 percent over the past five years.
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After acquittal, George Zimmerman can't avoid the spotlight

After acquittal, George Zimmerman can't avoid the spotlight

Washington Post — LAKE MARY, Fla. — Whether they think that he got away with murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin or that he was a brave neighborhood watch volunteer “standing his ground,” many Americans can’t seem to get enough of George Zimmerman. And he can’t seem to stop giving it to them. So it’s hardly surprising that everything Zimmerman does produces a Twitterverse explosion and spins out into heavy news coverage. Comedian Deon Cole nailed it during an appearance on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” a couple of days after the July 13 verdict. Merely being found not guilty, he said of Zimmerman, “doesn’t mean that you’re a free man.”
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Ex-band member guilty in drum major's hazing death

Ex-band member guilty in drum major's hazing death

Associated Press — ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A former Florida A&M band member accused of being the ringleader of a brutal hazing ritual known as "Crossing Bus C" that killed a drum major was convicted Friday of manslaughter and felony hazing. Dante Martin, 27, was the first to stand trial in the November 2011 death of 26-year-old Robert Champion aboard a band bus parked outside a football game where the well-regarded Marching 100 band had performed. The case brought into focus the culture of hazing in the band, which was suspended for more than a year while officials tried to clean up the program.
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Congressman's annulment hearing on bigamy claim is continued

Congressman's annulment hearing on bigamy claim is continued

Yahoo — ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Florida Rep. Alan Grayson will have to wait to find out whether he gets an annulment based on his bigamy claim against his wife. After hearing from one witness Monday, Circuit Judge Bob LeBlanc continued the proceedings between Grayson and his wife, citing a need for more time for attorneys to present evidence. Monday's hearing lasted three hours. LeBlanc expects completion of testimony to take one day. He didn't schedule a date. Monday's testimony was winding, and at times contentious between attorneys who sparred over the circumstances of the first marriage Grayson's wife.
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Crist stumps with first lady _ and his trusted fan

Crist stumps with first lady _ and his trusted fan

Associated Press — ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - In one of his first public appearances since his trusty fan took center stage during a debate, Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist made hay of the dust-up during a rally with Michelle Obama on Friday. Crist drew big laughs from an estimated crowd of 700 supporters in Orlando when he pointed to the fan and said, "It's right here." "It's all good. You're my fan," the former governor said as the fan — hidden by drapes and a fern on the podium — blew beneath him. Crist has been taking a portable fan to campaign events for years, and it even has its own Twitter account.
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Fla. town somberly absorbs Zimmerman verdict

Fla. town somberly absorbs Zimmerman verdict

Yahoo! News — SANFORD, Fla. (AP) - Nearly 70 years after Jackie Robinson was run out of town, Sanford is absorbing what some see as another blow to race relations: the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin. Some black residents of this community of almost 50,000 people where the shooting took place say that while relations between black and white have improved over the years, progress has been slow and the Martin case demonstrated that problems persist. James Tillman, who is black, said Saturday's verdict just adds to his mistrust of local authorities, who have been criticized over the years for their handling of other crimes against blacks.
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FAMU marching band returns to football field after hazing death suspension

FAMU marching band returns to football field after hazing death suspension

thegrio.com — ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Nearly two years after a drum major's hazing death silenced the music at Florida A&M football games, the famed Marching 100 band returned to the field Sunday with its familiar booms, drum rattles and other tones for the school's season-opener. It was the band's first game appearance since a season-long suspension. The scrutiny following Robert Champion's 2011 death thrust the school into the national spotlight and led to more than a dozen arrests and the resignation of top officials. As the band marched into the Florida Citrus Bowl, fans stood and cheered, and some had tears in their eyes.
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In Fla., home signs warn of presence of predators

In Fla., home signs warn of presence of predators

Yahoo! News — STARKE, Fla. (AP) - Brian Speer thought he had completed all of his obligations when he registered in Bradford County as a convicted sex predator after serving an eight-year prison sentence for child molestation. But now, in addition to submitting to a public registry for sex offenders, he has a permanent reminder of his crime posted right in his front yard: a bright red sign reading, "Brian Speer is a convicted Sexual Predator and lives at this location." The sign is one of 18 the Bradford County Sheriff's Office erected in mid-April outside the homes of convicted sex predators.
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Forecast bright for SunRail opening

Forecast bright for SunRail opening

Palm Beach Post — ORLANDO, Fla. — Central Florida will embark this spring on one of its largest mass transportation experiments when service begins on the first 32-mile phase of the $1.2 billion SunRail commuter train, an effort to ease nightmarish traffic and protect the region's long-term economic health. Currently, tens of thousands of commuters and tourists cram a few main highways and roads in the popular, fast-growing area. The first phase — 12 stations from Debary in Volusia County through downtown Orlando to Sand Lake Road in Orange County — will be the ultimate viability test case for an area that has never had this kind of transportation alternative before. And with promised federal money for the second phase suspended in Washington budget limbo, the success or failure of SunRail's initial stage will garner an even brighter spotlight.
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Improvements, Lawsuits Mark Anniversary of Fatal I-75 Crashes

Improvements, Lawsuits Mark Anniversary of Fatal I-75 Crashes

www.theledger.com — On both sides of the highway, some cars and trucks stopped as the returning fog and smoke quickly swallowed the night. Those behind them didn't. There were collisions. There were explosions. Eleven people died and two dozen were hurt in six crashes involving 24 vehicles a year ago Tuesday in one of worst highway tragedies in Florida history. In the months since, several survivors have filed notice they plan to file negligence lawsuits against the state and blame has been assigned and deflected. The state has taken some safety measures and others are planned.
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Anthony trial: lack of evidence or good defense?

Anthony trial: lack of evidence or good defense?

www.nbcnews.com — ORLANDO, Fla. _ Prosecutors proved Casey Anthony was a liar, but convinced the jury of little else. The government failed to establish how 2-year-old Caylee Anthony died and they couldn't find her mother's DNA on the duct tape they said was used to suffocate her. There was conflicting testimony on whether the putrid smell inside the family's car was a decomposing body or simply trash, and it was never quite clear why chloroform was so important. The lack of evidence and the doubt raised by the defense - that Caylee accidentally drowned in the family's pool - was enough to win an acquittal.
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Casey Anthony cleared of murdering young daughter

Casey Anthony cleared of murdering young daughter

Yahoo! News — ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Casey Anthony's eyes welled with tears and her lips trembled as the verdict was read once, twice and then a third time: "Not guilty" of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Outside the courthouse, many in the crowd of 500 reacted with anger, chanting, "Justice for Caylee!" One man yelled, "Baby killer!" In one of the most divisive verdicts since O.J. Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of murdering his ex-wife, Anthony was cleared Tuesday of murder, manslaughter and child-abuse charges after weeks of wall-to-wall TV coverage and armchair-lawyer punditry that one of her attorneys denounced as "media assassination."
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UCF enters offseason with new national respect

UCF enters offseason with new national respect

Associated Press — ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — UCF began the 2013 football season as an afterthought. The afterthought is now the new flavor of the month. With its 52-42 upset of sixth-ranked Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl, the No. 15 Knights posted their first 12-season in school history to cap a season that has turned into UCF's national coming out party. What's more, UCF may have finally poked a hole in in-state paradigm perennially dominated by Florida State, Florida and Miami.
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Jilted Magic fans ready for Howard's homecoming

Jilted Magic fans ready for Howard's homecoming

Associated Press — ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The number 12 is no longer sacred in Orlando. The man who used to wear it, Los Angeles Lakers' center Dwight Howard, also once shouldered the Magic's hopes of attaining an elusive first NBA championship. But after eight years of chasing it, and taking Orlando through one of the most turbulent seasons in its history last year, the man who called himself Superman is now the city's biggest villain. He returns for the first time Tuesday since his offseason trade to the Lakers to face the jilted fans, front office members and handful of teammates that he left behind.
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