GEAR MAG

GEAR MAG

ShowBiz & Sports

Hot

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong rips Dodgers fans: 'Nasty stuff goes on'

February 26, 2026
Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong rips Dodgers fans: 'Nasty stuff goes on'

Perhaps he's simply trying to further ingratiate himself toChicago Cubsfans, or draw the attention of boo birds when he heads back home.

USA TODAY Sports

ButPete Crow-Armstrong– an L.A. dude to his core, the son of actors and the product of one of SoCal's preeminent baseball factories – went well out of his way to bashLos Angeles Dodgersfans this week.

Crow-Armstrong, an All-Star center fielder at 23 last season, initially defiled fans of the two-time defending World Series champions in the proverbial "wide-ranginginterview" with Chicago magazine, saying that Cubs fans "give a (expletive). They aren't just baseball fans who go to the game like Dodgers fans to take pictures and whatever. They're paying attention. They care."

Feb. 13: New York Yankees Feb. 13: Los Angeles Dodgers Feb. 13: Detroit Tigers Feb. 13: Milwaukee Brewers Feb. 10: Atlanta Braves Feb. 10: San Francisco Giants Feb. 10: Chicago White Sox Feb. 10: Arizona Diamondbacks Feb. 11: Toronto Blue Jays Feb. 11: Philadelphia Phillies Feb. 11: Los Angeles Angels Feb. 11: Athletics Feb. 11: New York Mets Feb. 11: Chicago CUbs Feb. 12: Chicago CUbs Feb. 12: New York Yankees Feb 12, 2026; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets infielder Bo Bichette (19) warms-up during spring training. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images Feb. 12: Seattle Mariners Feb. 12: Pittsburgh Pirates

MLB spring training 2026: Sunshine, good vibes in Arizona and Florida

Given a window to blunt the edges of those remarks Wednesday, Feb. 25, Crow-Armstrong instead doubled down in an appearance on Foul Territory, apparently referencing the tragic beating ofSan Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stowand mildly castigating the vibes of a place that drew an MLB-high 4 million fans last season, though perhaps too many that aren't PCA's type.

"I grew up going to Dodgers games when they weren't always good," he told the popular vodcast. "When they had Mannywood pop up. But it's like they go in phases. I remember … putting the Giants fan in the coma. That stuck with me as a kid. Just little things. Sitting in the stands, just nasty stuff goes on. I didn't always experience that at other ballparks."

Advertisement

The Mannywood-Stow era of 2008-2010 would certainly dovetail with Crow-Armstrong's boyish fandom era - he was roughly 6 to 9 years old then. Though perhaps the "go in phases" bit was lost on him – the Dodgers franchise was shortly thereafter plundered byformer owner Frank McCourt, who was forced to sell the team by Major League Baseball amid a messy divorce.

Yeah, the fansdidn't like that. And perhaps the finer points of sports business were lost on a young PCA, as the Dodgers returned to the limelight only after a sale to Guggenheim investments; the team essentially hasn't missed the playoffs since while re-setting the game's upper salary structure.

A structure Crow-Armstrong will eventually benefit from once he, too, is a free agent. So perhaps the bad memories of traffic jams on the way from Harvard-Westlake School – where tuition now retails for $55,000 – to Chavez Ravine stuck with him. (Was it the 134, the 101 or Sunset that was the culprit?) Maybe the music's too loud.

Or perhaps he wants to generate a faux rivalry between the Cubs and Dodgers. Either way, the Dodger lifestyle PCA seems to deride might look a little better come 2030 – when he's eligible for free agency.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong rips Los Angeles Dodgers fans

Read More

Reports: Texans part ways with QBs coach Jerrod Johnson

February 26, 2026
Reports: Texans part ways with QBs coach Jerrod Johnson

The Houston Texans and quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson have parted ways, multiple media outlets reported on Thursday.

Field Level Media

A reason for the move was not publicly disclosed. The change occurred two days after Texans general manager Nick Caserio said that he hasn't lost confidence in quarterback CJ Stroud.

"He's our quarterback. He isn't going anywhere. We have a lot of confidence, a lot of belief," Caserio said at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday in Indianapolis. "I'm glad he's our quarterback."

Advertisement

Johnson, 37, has been quarterbacks coach in Houston for the last three seasons after spending the 2022 campaign as the Minnesota Vikings' assistant quarterbacks coach.

The Houston Chronicle reported that senior offensive assistant/pass game coordinator Jerry Schuplinski will be "leaned on" to coach Stroud.

--Field Level Media

Read More

ByHeart infant botulism outbreak ends with 48 babies sickened

February 26, 2026
ByHeart infant botulism outbreak ends with 48 babies sickened

ATLANTA (AP) — A rare outbreak ofinfant botulismthat sickened dozens of babies who drank recalled ByHeart formula is over, with no new cases reported since mid-December, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Associated Press FILE - A container of ByHeart baby formula, in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Cheyanne Mumphrey, File) FILE - This photo provided by Amy Mazziotti shows Hank Mazziotti, 8 months, being treated for infant botulism in March 2025 in Los Angeles. (Amy Mazziotti via AP, File)

Infant Botulism Formula Recall

In all, 48 babies were sickened since 2023. That's actually down from the previous case count, because three infants were ultimately diagnosed with other illnesses not tied to botulism, health officials said.

All of the children who got sick were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

It's still unclear exactly how, when or where the organic, whole-milk powdered baby formula became contaminated with the type of bacteria that can cause serious illness, paralysis and death in children younger than 1, health officials added.

Most of the cases had occurred since August, when officials at California's Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention program detected an alarming rise in reports of the illness in babies who consumed ByHeart formula.

ByHeart, based in New York, initially recalled two lots of formula in early November, but the company expanded the recall to all products days later. Federal health officials later said they could not rule out contamination of products made since the company first launched in March 2022. Stores nationwidepulled the product, which was advertised as having "next-to-breast milk benefits."

Investigators with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have yet to identify the root cause.

Advertisement

In a statement, the agency said it had identified 17 different strains of the illness-causing bacteria in samples from patients, finished cans of formula and ingredients. The samples "add to the available evidence needed to investigate the root cause of this outbreak," but aren't definitive, the agency said.

Previously, FDA officials indicated that powdered whole milk used to makeByHeart infant formulacould be a source of contamination.

Illnesses caused by botulism bacteria in infant formula are rare, and the size and scope of the ByHeart outbreak is unprecedented, food safety experts said.

The disease occurs when babies ingest botulism spores that germinate in the intestine and produce a dangerous toxin that attacks the nervous system. Death rates were once as high as 90%, but now are less than 1% with treatment.

The only treatment for the disease is an IV medication,known as BabyBIG,made from the pooled blood plasma of adults who have been immunized against botulism. California's program is the sole source worldwide.

ByHeart, which accounted for about 1% of the U.S. infant formula market, previously sold about 200,000 cans of the product per month. Parents of babies sickened in the outbreak said they chose the formula, which cost about $42 per can, because of its touted health benefits.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Read More

Epstein hid computers in storage units in Palm Beach County and beyond

February 26, 2026
Epstein hid computers in storage units in Palm Beach County and beyond

By the time Palm Beach, Florida, police raidedJeffrey Epstein'smansion, the evidence they sought was gone. Three computers were missing from the home, leaving only loose wires and keyboards behind.

USA TODAY

Newly surfaced documents indicate that Epstein had private investigators remove the computers and lock them in storage units across Palm Beach County and beyond. Epstein continued making monthly payments to one such Royal Palm Beach storage facility until 2019, the year he died by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

More:Epstein pulled strings, paid tuition across world for kids of powerful

When asked on Feb. 24 whether it had searched any of Epstein's storage units or recovered the computers hidden in 2005, the FBI referred all inquiries to the Department of Justice, which did not respond to a request for comment. Stephen Kiraly, the private investigator whose Pinellas County firm handled the computers, declined to comment.

A painting of former U.S. President Bill Clinton wearing a dress is displayed inside the Manhattan home of Jeffrey Epstein in this image from the estate of late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, released by the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., U.S., on December 19, 2025. What appears to be a stuffed tiger is shown in Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan home in this image released by the Department of Justice in Washington, DC on Dec. 19, 2025 as part of a new trove of documents from its investigations into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. <p style=What appears to be outdoor furniture is seen in a photo released by US Department of Justice from one of Jeffrey Epstein's properties.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Photograph featuring a dental chair in a room with wooden floors and walls, adorned with carved faces, a window, and woven baskets nearby. The image shows a wooden nightstand in a bedroom with an open lower cabinet door. Inside the open cabinet, several items, including watches, are visible. On top of the table sits a lamp with a square, world-map-patterned shade and a blue water bottle. A room with fire fighter gear is seen on Epstein's private island. A statue of a female wearing a white dress and veil, hanging onto a rope in a stairwell in the interior of the home of Jeffrey Epstein is shown. What appears to be a stuffed dog in seen in Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan home. What appears to be a figurine is seen in a photo released by US Department of Justice from one of Jeffrey Epstein's properties. A view of a bathroom is seen in a photo released by US Department of Justice from one of Jeffrey Epstein's properties. A view of a statue draped in a wedding gown is seen in a photo released by US Department of Justice from one of Jeffrey Epstein's properties. A statue is seen on a mantle in a photo released by US Department of Justice from one of Jeffrey Epstein's properties. A view of a bathroom is seen in a photo released by US Department of Justice from one of Jeffrey Epstein's properties. A view of what appears to be speakers and a device below a sink is seen in a photo released by US Department of Justice from one of Jeffrey Epstein's properties. What appears to be medical equiptment is seen in a photo released by US Department of Justice from one of Jeffrey Epstein's properties. Clothing is seen in a photo released by US Department of Justice from one of Jeffrey Epstein's properties. Masks hang on the wall in a photo released by US Department of Justice from one of Jeffrey Epstein's properties.

See photos of Bill Clinton from the Epstein files

"I apologize, but under state law I can't divulge any information without written consent from the client or his estate," Kiraly said.

Epstein's team fought to keep computers from FBI

The FBI believed a private investigator near Miami named Paul Lavery took the three computers and gave them to Bill Riley, a private investigator with the firm Riley Kiraly. An email from Riley to Epstein confirmed it.

"Over the weekend I learned that plaintiff's counsel are looking to get from me the computers and paperwork I took from Jeff's house prior to the Search Warrant," Rileywrote, the emailamong the thousands recently produced by the DOJ. "I have them locked in storage and would like to know what to do with them."

More:Larry Summers, Bill Gates: Fallout from Epstein files is widening

Lavery, when asked what he removed from the home, said he "took the items that were given to me," according tohandwritten notes from a 2007 interview. He said he delivered the computers to Riley's office and had "never seen the equipment again."

Prosecutors suspected the computers contained evidence relevant to Epstein's sex-trafficking operation, including emails arranging encounters with underage girls, digital records documenting payments and surveillance camera footage generated inside Epstein's mansion.

By 2007, a federal grand jury had issued subpoenas ordering the private investigators to appear before the grand jury and produce all computer equipment removed from Epstein's Palm Beach residence, any computers ever owned by Epstein and records documenting the relationship between Epstein and the investigators.

Advertisement

Although the subpoenas were directed at the private investigators, Epstein's attorneys – who, on paper, hired the investigators – moved quickly to intervene. They asked a federal judge to quash the subpoenas, arguing that forcing investigators to turn over the computers would violate Epstein's constitutional rights and pierce the confidentiality of his legal defense.

Epstein said the computers, if they existed, were part of his defense preparation and could contain attorney‑client communications or attorney work product. Turning them over would effectively force him to incriminate himself and let prosecutors rummage through private materials unrelated to any crime.

Go deeper:Prince Andrew arrested on misconduct charges, Giuffre's family reacts

While federal prosecutors fought to recover the computers, Epstein's legal team was moving to copy them.

According toan unsealed court record, a computer forensics expert named David Kleiman contacted a deputy he knew at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in July 2007 and asked whether he could use the agency's hard drive duplication device. Kleiman said he had been hired by Epstein's attorney, Roy Black, to make three copies of each of the three computers.

Kleiman said the job needed to be done as soon as possible, with someone standing by while the process was completed. The deputy declined to provide the equipment as the "machine he wanted to use was not reliable," but he relayed the conversation to the FBI.

Epstein paid for storage units for more than a decade

Billing records show Epstein paid a storage company known as Uncle Bob's more than $370 per month from at least 2003 until 2015, with a final payment in 2016. A separate unit in the Royal Palm Beach area cost him about $140 monthly and appears to have been active until just before his death.

The FBI has not confirmed whether any of the storage units were ever searched. Following raids on Epstein's properties in 2019, the bureau said it seized dozens of electronic devices but found no evidence that Epstein had either maintained blackmail material or recorded the abuse of victims.

The records don't indicate whether the materials inside those lockers were ever destroyed, moved, or retained by Epstein's estate following his death.

Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her athphillips@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post:Epstein hid computers in storage units in Palm Beach County and beyond

Read More

Hunter College places professor on leave after 'abhorrent' remarks about Black students

February 26, 2026
Hunter College places professor on leave after 'abhorrent' remarks about Black students

Hunter College said Wednesday that it placed a professor on leave days after they made remarks about Black students at a local public school meeting.

NBC Universal A building at Hunter College of The City University of New York. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images file)

Nancy Cantor, the president of the New York City public university, said in a statement that a professor was placed on leave pending the university's investigation into "abhorrent remarks" made earlier this month during a virtual meeting of the New York City School District 3 Community Education Council.

Cantor did not name the professor in the news release, and Hunter College did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment.

The announcement, however, came after the university has faced mounting pressure to take action against Allyson Friedman, a tenured associate professor in the department of biological sciences, over her comments during the meeting.

The meeting took place on Feb. 10 and was dedicated to discussing proposals by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration to close or move several schools on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

While a Black student spoke against the proposals, Friedman, whose children go to school in the district, could be heard speaking.

"They're too dumb to know they're in a bad school," she said, according to a recording of the meeting. "Apparently, Martin Luther King said it. If you train a Black person well enough, they'll know to use the back. You don't have to tell them anymore."

Other attendees at the meeting, which was made public, were visibly shocked by the comments before another attendee interjected.

"What you're saying is absolutely hearable here. You've got to stop," an attendee is heard saying.

Friedman appeared to be referencing comments made at the top of the meeting by the district's superintendent, Reginald Higgins.

Higgins, who referred NBC News to the city's education department for comment, quoted Carter G. Woodson, a scholar of Black history.

Advertisement

"If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door," Higgins said, quoting Woodson. "He will go without being told."

Friedman has not responded to requests for comment on her remarks or the college's decision to place her on leave.

In a statement toThe New York Times, Friedmansaid that she was "trying to explain the concept of systemic racism" to her child by referencing an example of an obviously racist trope, and did not know her mic was on.

"My complete comments make clear these abhorrent views are not my own, nor were they directed at any student or group," Friedman told the outlet. "I fully support these courageous students in their efforts to stop school closures."

"However, I recognize these comments caused harm and pain, while that was not my intent, I do truly apologize," she added.

Hunter College said in a statement earlier this week that one of its employees made "abhorrent remarks" during the meeting and that it was investigating the matter. The university did not name Friedman.

Outrage ensued nonetheless. District parents held a press conference on Tuesday to condemn the remarks. An emergency CEC meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening to discuss the comments.

In a statement, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stressed that "the racist outburst at the recent CEC 3 meeting completely disregarded basic decency and caused deep harm in the school community."

"This is unacceptable," he added. "My administration has reached out to CUNY to discuss this, and we are working alongside the district to provide support and ensure accountability."

Hunter College's Black Student Union also issued a joint statement with four other student groups decrying the remarks and rejecting her apology.

"Regardless of whether it was said under the assumption of being muted, the sentiment itself is rooted in violent and painful history of racial segregation and dehumanization," the group said in a statement. "This rhetoric is incompatible with the responsibilities of an educator entrusted with molding young minds."

Read More