James and his closest friends idolized Michael Jordan while they grew up together on Akron’s competitive playgrounds and tough streets.,As James grew into a tantalizing basketball prospect capable of jumping from high school to the NBA as the No. 1 draft pick, he studied, imitated and drew profound inspiration from Jordan’s tongue-wagging dunks, that fadeaway jumper, his competitive fire — even the little details of the way Jordan wore his sneakers and shorts.,Jordan has also admired James’ game for years.,When James surpassed Jordan’s career points total Wednesday night, he did it in a pair of Nikes with “Thank You M.J.” written neatly on the side.,James moved past Jordan into fourth place on the NBA’s career scoring list with a driving three-point play in the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 115-99 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

YOUNGSTOWN — Senior guard Melinda Trimmer scored in double figures for a seventh straight game in leading Youngstown State past Milwaukee, 64-58, in a Horizon League quarterfinal Wednesday night in front of 1,382 fans at the Beeghly Center.,LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James moved past Michael Jordan into fourth place on the NBA’s career scoring list Wednesday night.,James, who entered the NBA at 18 years old compared to 21 for Jordan, began the night averaging 27.1 points per game in 1,189 games over 16 seasons with Cleveland, Miami and the Lakers.,Just eight days ago, James moved into 10th place on the assists list, becoming the first player in league history to make the top 10 in points and assists.,James began the night averaging 27.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.0 assists while hitting 51 percent of his shots and playing 35.7 minutes per game for the Lakers.

Cody Bellinger, who became a local celebrity at 13 when he led Chandler National in the Little League World Series, was among four former high school athletes inducted into the Chandler Sports Hall of Fame during a ceremony Saturday at Hamilton.,Cody Bellinger poses with long-time Hamilton athletic trainer Lance Michael at the Chandler Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday.,(Photo: Courtesy of Hamilton Athletic Director Brett Palmer)

Bellinger, an outfielder and first baseman, who starred on Hamilton's baseball team in 2013, was named the National League Rookie of the Year with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017 when he hit a National League rookie record 39 home runs.,"He is a great ambassador for Arizona baseball, as well as Hamilton baseball," said Hamilton coach Mike Woods, who coached Bellinger in high school.,Others inducted Saturday into the Chandler Sports Hall of Fame were former Chandler High football and track and field standout Dion Jordan, former Chandler Basha baseball player Jamie Westbrook, former Chandler Valley Christian girls basketball coach Scott Timmer and former Valley Christian athlete Ashton Wolf. read more

On January 12, investigators say the body of 65-year-old Michael Redlick was discovered inside the Winter Park home that he shared with his wife, 45-year-old Danielle Justin Redlick.,On the same day that the investigation into Michael Redlick's death had begun, police learned that Danielle Redlick violated a probation rquirement that she abstain from alcohol.,According to a police report, Danielle Redlick first told authorities that her husband may have had a fatal heart attack, but she later told them he had stabbed himself.,Police say she also admitted that she and her husband were the only two people at their home at the reported time of her husband's death.,Court records show that Danielle Redlick filed for divorce from her husband last March, but she later withdrew and they never got divorced.

They are homespun, casually candid, sitting-around-the-living-room shots, most of them snapped during the visits that Jackson paid to the modest boyhood homes of the two men the movie is about: Wade Robson and James Safechuck, both in their late 30s, each of whom describes, with disarming eloquence and self-possession, how Jackson befriended them when they were children and then, for years (starting when they were 7 and 11 years old, respectively), sexually abused them.,Meanwhile, James Safechuck, then 10 years old, starred in one of Jackson’s Pepsi commercials — he was the kid who pokes around Michael’s dressing room, then flashes a bedazzling smile when the star walks in on him.,At the center of the movie, though, is a fact that will remain (for some) controversial: that both Robson and Safechuck testified, during Jackson’s first criminal trial for child sexual abuse, that he was innocent — that he’d never done a thing to them that was inappropriate.,Jackson, during the years of abuse (for Robson, it was from the ages of 7 to 14), would tell the two boys, repeatedly, that they couldn’t reveal any of what went on; if they did, Michael said, both he and the boys would go to jail for life.,The second half of “Leaving Neverland” is mostly devoted to how Robson and Safechuck got in touch with their trauma and began to recover from it, something that only happened after Jackson’s death.

Hinckley-Big Rock, Indian Creek, Newark, Somonauk at Little Ten Tournament at Somonauk, 5 p.m.

North Central's distance medley relay team of Michael Anderson, Peyton Piron, Brendon Sebastian and Gabe Pommier were chosen men's indoor track athletes of the week by the CCIW.,... North Central (6-4) moved up to No. 7 in the AVCA Top 15 Poll for men's volleyball.,The Cardinals' men's indoor track team remained No. 1 in NCAA Division III by the USTFCCCA. read more

While Michel still has elements of his game that require development — he caught just seven passes this season — I’d imagine most Patriots fans are comfortable in saying that he’ll have a better career than Maroney, who played just 49 regular season games over five seasons in the NFL.,It seems largely forgotten, probably because we think of the 2007 Patriots as the most prolific passing offense we’ll ever witness, but Maroney was perhaps the star of the teams’ last playoff meeting, in that season’s AFC Championship game.,He set career highs for rushing attempts (94) and receptions (87), which may be one reason why the Patriots seemed to de-emphasize him over the final month of the season; he didn’t have more than 10 touches in any of the last four games.,They ranked eighth in the league this season at 117.1 yards per game.,But McDaniels deserves genuine praise for much that he has done — the approach to the 10-point fourth-quarter comeback in the Super Bowl win over the Seahawks, the patience and poise in pulling off the 25-point comeback against the Falcons, the creativity in the rally from two touchdowns down against the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game in the 2014 season, and much smaller well-designed victories along the way as well.

Elizabeth Comte Reisman, a former award-winning journalist and the owner of Creative Music Center in Monroe, died Wednesday at the age of 55.,Elizabeth Comte Reisman, a former award-winning journalist and the owner of Creative Music Center in Monroe, died Wednesday at the age of 55.,Photo: Contributed Photo

Elizabeth Comte Reisman, a former award-winning journalist and the owner of Creative Music Center in Monroe, died Wednesday at the age of 55.,Elizabeth Comte Reisman, a former award-winning journalist and the owner of Creative Music Center in Monroe, died Wednesday at the age of 55.,Photo: Contributed Photo read more

Instead of demanding that gay bakers make hateful cakes (which he never sees the rhetorical problem with), he says that it would be rhetorically more productive to ask them to cater conferences for the anti-same-sex marriage position.,This was the law broken in the 2012 Masterpiece Cakeshop case in which a Christian baker refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.,On the other hand, a baker breaks no law when refusing to cater a National Organization of Marriage conference against same-sex marriage or a Westboro (“God Hates Fags”) Baptist Church picnic.,Thirty years from now, the predominant Christian message on this subject will celebrate Christian leaders who took the tough stand to embrace homosexuals and accept same-sex marriage.,The point here seems to be that Christians can’t forget the biblical reasons to reject same-sex marriage.

On June 13, an emergency text alert advising Wyoming Valley residents to “take shelter now” was sent to area cell phones at 9:55 p.m.

Barely five minutes later, 130 mph winds tore a path of destruction across the Arena Hub Plaza and surrounding commercial areas in Wilkes-Barre Township.,It was like raining in the building,” said Joe Stager, manager at at Barnes & Noble in the Arena Hub Plaza who was closing up for the night with employees Mary Zoltewicz, Patrick Abdalla, Rachel Trojan and Tara Steffon as the storm plowed into the store.,Embattled Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Marcella Lendacky retired in June following the March release of a report by the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association that depicted a department in turmoil, with morale at a low point.,More than 10,000 turned out for the Trump rally, which dwarfed a last-minute Nov. 4 “Pennsylvania Votes Blue” Democratic rally that drew Casey, former Vice-president Joe Biden and other candidates to a cramped corridor at Pittston Area High School on a Sunday night.,On the other hand, Reading-based Boscov’s whose Wilkes-Barre store remains a fixture on the downtown business scene, had a very good year. read more