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When UFC President Dana White brought his mixed martial arts behemoth to Florida last May for a closed-door event, he promised a return trip once the state fully reopened. He makes good on that promise Saturday night. White will put on UFC 261 in front of a sellout crowd in Jacksonville that won’t be socially distant and probably mostly unmasked. The fight is being touted as the first full-capacity sporting event held indoors in more than a year. The card features three title fights, including a rematch between reigning welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and fan favorite Jorge Masvidal.

VMI's football team has faced plenty of obstacles this season. There was the COVID-19 outbreak that sidelined at least 30 players during preseason training camp in January. Then the injury to quarterback Reece Udinski that ended his season early and left a redshirt freshman in charge of the Air Raid offense. And a nearly four-decade history of not having so much as one winning season. The Keydets overcame it all. They went 6-1 to claim their first Southern Conference championship since 1977, their first national ranking and first postseason berth. They now face James Madison in Harrisonburg on Saturday. The Dukes are ranked No. 1 in the STATS Perform FCS Top 25 and are one of the most dominant programs in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Leaders of a North Carolina city where a Black man was shot and killed by deputies serving search and drug-related warrants are planning to urge a court to release body camera video of the shooting. The calls for transparency come amid growing concern that Andrew Brown Jr. was killed as he was trying to drive away. A notice posted by the City Council in Elizabeth City said it intended on Friday to have the city attorney petition a local court to make the video public. In North Carolina, a judge must generally sign off on release of body camera footage.

It’s always mesmerizing to watch greatness in real time. A young Mike Tyson. An old Tom Brady. The Boston Celtics of the 1960s. The New York Yankees of, well, several different eras. Which brings us to the 2021 Los Angeles Dodgers. This very well could be the most exceptional team in baseball history. The defining answer is still six months way, of course. You can’t claim the ultimate title without a championship attached to your resume. But, with the baseball season less than a month old, all signs point to the Dodgers claiming a spot in a very elite club. 

The Calgary Flames have had one player test positive for COVID-19 and called off their morning skate due to the test. The club says in a statement the player is in isolation and other players and staff members have tested negative for the coronavirus. Montreal was prepared to play at Calgary on Friday night despite the positive test. The Canadiens had four games in March rescheduled because one team member tested positive for a variant and another player was a close contact. COVID-19 has forced the rescheduling of 52 NHL games so far this season.

President Joe Biden has nominated Tracy Stone-Manning of Missoula, Montana, to direct the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management. She will oversee roughly a quarter-billion acres of federally owned land in Western states. It’s the latest in a string of political appointments raising concerns among Republicans as Biden moves to curtail energy production from public reserves. The bureau has jurisdiction over vast reserves of oil, gas and coal and is set to play a key role in Biden’s commitment announced Thursday to cut climate warming emissions from fossil fuels by at least half by 2030.

Jacksonville’s draft prospects helped lure Urban Meyer out of coaching retirement. The Jaguars have five of the first 65 picks. It's a chance to land several young starters to build the team around. They have the No. 1 choice. It's an opportunity to grab Clemson star Trevor Lawrence and secure a franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future. It was too good for Meyer to pass up. Now, he hopes to not mess it up. The first pick will be easy. Meyer has been locked on Lawrence for months. He’s widely considered the best quarterback prospect to come out of college since Andrew Luck in 2012.

Police responding to a person gripped by a mental health or drug crisis can lead to tragic results. Now a government health program will help communities set up an alternative: mobile teams of behavioral health practitioners and paramedics trained in de-escalating such potentially volatile situations. The effort to reinvent policing after the death of George Floyd in police custody is getting an assist from Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for low-income people. President Joe Biden’s recent coronavirus relief bill calls for an estimated $1 billion over 10 years in federal payments to states that set up mobile crisis teams, now locally operated in only a handful of places, including Oregon.

TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday Canada has reached an agreement with Pfizer for 35 million booster shots next year and 30 million in 2023 in case the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines fades with time and need…

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will embark on his first overseas trip in office in June, the White House announced Friday, with the aim of demonstrating his administration's commitment to the transatlantic alliance and reengagement with key allies. Biden…

Jason Licht is enjoying the perks that come with being the general manager of a reigning Super Bowl champion. That includes the challenge of getting a late start on preparing for the NFL draft and not having a selection until the tail end of the first round. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to get acclimated to what life’s like with Tom Brady. With all 22 starters from the Super Bowl returning, the Bucs find themselves in unfamiliar territory for a club that missed the playoffs 12 consecutive seasons before Brady’s arrival set a new course in March 2020. 

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin says the Spanish and Italian clubs still clinging to the Super League must disavow the breakaway project or face being banned from the Champions League. Although the Super League rapidly imploded this week after being abandoned by most clubs, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan have not left the project. Ceferin tells The Associated Press “if they say we are a Super League, then they don’t play Champions League, of course."

Zdeno Chara is set to become the 13th player in NHL history to skate in 1,600 regular-season games. Chara should reach the milestone Saturday when he and the Washington Capitals visit the New York Islanders. Chara began his NHL career with the Islanders. The Slovak defenseman is now 44 with his name on the Stanley Cup from Boston's championship in 2011. Chara is still playing a regular role in his mid-40s because of his legendary workout habits. He has also adjusted over time.

Casey Thompson's Alamo Bowl performance made him look like an easy pick to be starting quarterback at Texas in 2021. A coaching change and the talent of backup Hudson Card have turned the position into a battle ahead of next season. Thompson once considered leaving Texas after his freshman season. He's now glad he stuck it out in Austin for his chance to lead the Longhorns.

NEW YORK (AP) — NBC News' Kristen Welker, shortly before she expects the birth of a daughter through a surrogate, is revealing the struggles with infertility that she and her husband, John Hughes, have gone through. Welker, NBC's chief White…

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office won’t reveal what it told the U.S. Justice Department about COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes. Federal investigators asked the state last year to turn over basic statistics related to deaths and infections inside nursing homes. Cuomo’s office said it began sending records to federal authorities in the fall. But in response to an open records request from The Associated Press, the governor’s office said it would not share those same documents with the public now. It said doing so would be “an invasion of personal privacy." It also said disclosing the records would “interfere with law enforcement investigations."