Stories Related to Need To Know For Thursday, Feb. 16

After months of publicly campaigning for the position, Rex Ryan finally got his coaching interview on Tuesday. Ryan, 62, officially interviewed with the Jets on Tuesday. He was the team’s head coach from 2009-14 — the last coach to guide the Jets to the postseason — and compiled a 46-50 regular-season record over six seasons. Ryan also coached two seasons with the Bills (2015-16) before being let go in Buffalo. During his first two seasons with the Jets, Ryan led the team to back-to-back AFC championship game appearances.

By ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department said Wednesday that it will release special counsel Jack Smith’s findings on Donald Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election but will keep under wraps for now the rest of the report focused on the president-elect’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The revelation was made in a filing to a federal appeals court that was considering a defense request to block the release of the two-volume report while charges remain pending against two Trump co-defendants in the Florida case accusing the Republican former president and current president-elect of illegally holding classified documents.

By FATIMA HUSSEIN, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS boosted taxpayer services through Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act but still faces processing claims from a coronavirus pandemic-era tax credit program and is slow to resolve certain identity theft cases, according to an independent watchdog report released Wednesday. “For the first time since I became the National Taxpayer Advocate in 2020, I can begin this report with good news: The taxpayer experience has noticeably improved,” Erin M.

Publix shoppers in northwest Broward County are in for a new supermarket experience, with second-floor outdoor seating, an elevator to get them there, and a central deli area where Pub subs and other ready-to-eat foods can be ordered. Shaping up for a possible spring opening, the new Publix under construction on Atlantic Boulevard at Rock Island Road in Margate sports a design resembling several new large-concept Publix stores that have been opening around Florida. Some of these stores are loaded with new features. Related Articles Business | This new Publix has Florida boaters abuzz: It has a dock for their grocery-store pit stops Business | This new Publix has a bar for burritos, pasta bowls and freshly baked pizzas.

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson often says he sees himself as the quarterback and President-elect Donald Trump as the coach calling plays on their legislative priorities as Republicans take power in Washington. But with Trump set to meet with GOP senators Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Republicans are quickly finding themselves in a dilemma: What happens when the coach changes his mind? Trump has given mixed signals, flip-flopping over what is the best strategy for moving ahead with the party’s legislative agenda.

SALT LAKE CITY — At their best, the Miami Heat move in lockstep. From the moment Pat Riley arrived in 1995, the approach has been that of a singular voice, that even if multiple voices are doing the messaging, the message is clear, cogent, collective. And then along came Jimmy Butler, circa 2024-25. And now it has gotten awkward. Take, for example, the interview session after last Thursday’s home blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers. As coach Erik Spoelstra took his seat at the podium, the initial questions were almost singularly focused on how Butler — to put it mildly — had meandered through the evening. “That had nothing to do with anything,” Spoelstra said of Butler’s walkabout. He then termed Butler’s performance “aberrational.” Pressed again on the seeming indifference of his star forward, Spoelstra doubled down with, “I think that’s an easy storyline.” Nothing to see here. Move on. Except 21 hours later, the Heat issued a statement that said Butler would be suspended without pay for seven games, a suspension that is ongoing as the Heat’s six-game western swing moves on from Tuesday night’s 114-98 victory over the Golden State Warriors to Thursday night’s game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center. The day after the Heat announced the suspension, Spoelstra opened his Saturday pregame media session by issuing a brief statement and then asked to move on. “Want to quiet all the distractions,” he said.