Where To Throw Away Your Old Christmas Tree

MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins have won three of their past four games, but it doesn’t seem that way after last week’s crushing 30-17 Thanksgiving loss at Green Bay. The Dolphins (5-7), who need to win at least four of their final five games to earn a wild-card playoff berth, must get things right against the New York Jets (3-9) on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium. After this game, the Dolphins visit the Houston Texans in what figures to be one of the toughest games of the season. But let’s stay focused on this week. The Dolphins need to hush some of the noise surrounding the team (such as they can’t win in December, and they’re soft). A strong performance against the Jets would help. Here are some things to look for in Sunday’s game:  Run game must improve The Dolphins have rushed for 253 yards in the past four games, an average of 63.3 yards per game.

By ADRIAN SAINZ and JONATHAN MATTISE MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis Police Department uses excessive force and discriminates against Black people, according to the findings of a U. S. Department of Justice investigation launched after the beating death of Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop in 2023. A report released Wednesday marked the conclusion of the investigation that began six months after Nichols was kicked, punched and hit with a police baton as five officers tried to arrest him after he fled a traffic stop. The report says that “Memphis police officers regularly violate the rights of the people they are sworn to serve.” “The people of Memphis deserve a police department and city that protects their civil and constitutional rights, garners trust and keeps them safe,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in an emailed statement. The city said in a letter released earlier Wednesday that it would not agree to negotiate federal oversight of its police department until it could review and challenge results of the investigation. In the letter to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Memphis City Attorney Tannera George Gibson said the city has received a request from the DOJ to enter into an agreement that would require it to “negotiate a consent decree aimed at institutional police and emergency services.” The Justice Department announced an investigation into the Memphis Police Department in July 2023, looking at the department’s “pattern or practice” of how it uses force and conducts stops, searches and arrests, and whether it engages in discriminatory policing.

By JOSHUA GOODMAN MIAMI (AP) — One of Colombia’s legendary drug lords and a key operator of the Medellin cocaine cartel has been released from a federal prison in the U. S. and is expected to be deported back home. Records from the U. S. Bureau of Prisons show that Fabio Ochoa-Vasquez was released Tuesday after completing 25 years of a 30-year prison sentence. Ochoa, 67, and his older brothers amassed a fortune when cocaine started flooding the U.

By SAMY MAGDY CAIRO (AP) — Amnesty International accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip during its war with Hamas, saying it has sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by mounting deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure and preventing the delivery of food, medicine and other aid. The human rights group released a report Thursday in the Middle East that said such actions could not be justified by Hamas’ Oct.

By Bob Ferrante Orlando Sentinel Correspondent Coming off a 2-10 season and the dismissal of three assistants, Florida State’s signing class thinned out with six decommitments over the fall. While the 2025 class is smaller in size, coach Mike Norvell and the staff landed some critical pieces for the future. FSU picked up four flips on early signing day as Cocoa wide receiver Jayvan Boggs (UCF), running back Ousmane Kromah (Georgia), cornerback Shamar Arnoux (Auburn) and tight end Tae’Shaun Gelsey (Florida) signed with the school after making prior commitments elsewhere. The first signee was Sanford Seminole linebacker Ethan Pritchard, a four-star prospect who committed to FSU on Oct.

Months after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration introduced controversial plans to bring golf courses, resort-style lodges and pickleball courts to state parks, a Stuart lawmaker filed a measure to make such proposed changes off-limits. State Sen. Gayle Harrell on Wednesday filed a bill (SB 80) that would strike golf courses, tennis courts, pickleball courts and ball fields from recreational uses at state parks. The Stuart Republican’s proposal, dubbed the “State Park Preservation Act,” also would limit camping cabins to a maximum of six occupants. Harrell filed the bill for consideration during the 2025 legislative session that begins March 4. Harrell was among lawmakers and residents who erupted after the state Department of Environmental Protection in August released plans for what was called the “Great Outdoors Initiative.” The plan targeting nine parks included three proposed golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County, which is located in Harrell’s Senate district. DeSantis paused the plan amid bipartisan uproar, calling the initiative “half-baked.” He also maintained that the proposed golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson were being “misrepresented” because they would have been placed in an area within the 11,500-acre park that was once a military base. Harrell’s proposal would require state parks to be “managed in a manner that will provide the greatest combination of benefits to the public and to the land’s natural resources.” The bill would allow parks to offer, among other things, fishing, camping, bicycling, hiking, swimming, boating, canoeing, horseback riding, jogging, sailing, diving “and similar conservation based public recreational uses.” The proposal would prohibit “sports that require sporting facilities, such as golf courses, tennis courts, pickleball fields, and other similar facilities.” The Department of Environmental Protection’s scrapped plan also would have allowed lodges with up to 350 rooms at Anastasia State Park in St.