Latest news with #Griggs
Belfast Telegraph
6 days ago
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Nick Griggs breaks four-minute mile at Mary Peters Track
The Tyrone man recorded an impressive 3.55.87 at the British Milers Meeting, which was just outside his own Irish U23 record. The Irish age group champion had a tortuous six months period when a serious leg injury sidelined him following his silver medal in December's U22 European Cross Country. Despite the heavy rain, Griggs assiduously followed the pacemaker to pass the halfway mark on course to a fine time. The 20 year-old's finishing time was over four seconds faster than his four minute objective and nearly five seconds ahead of second placed Andrew McGill of Cambuslang ( 4.00.43 ) followed by Dublin's Philip Marron (4.00.44). This is an impressive start to Griggs comeback campaign where a possible Irish selection for the Tokyo World Championships in September cannot be ruled out . There were a host of personal best times with a small team of Australian athletes leading the throng. This included Victoria's Hamish Donohue who had the fastest 800 metres time of the day with a 1.48.58 followed by teammate Max Shervington (1.49.00). Not to be outdone another Aussie Zoe Toland was close to her PB to take the 3,000 metres in 9.17.84. Runner up was Belgrave's Grace Richardson in just under nine minutes and 19 seconds. Ireland got the better of Australia in the 800 metres when Alex Neill of Providence College was a clear winner in a PB of 2. 02.50 ahead of teammate Emma Moore (2.03.54) and Australian Rebekah Newton (2.04.43) . Sale's Thomas Moran took eight seconds off his 3,000 metres best time to win in 8.02.35 just ahead of Gifford's Oliver MacDonald (8.03.90). Dundrum's Eimear Maher took the 1,500 metres in 4.13.33 . Fastest 400 metres athletes were David Ryan (47.50 secs) and Joe Doddy (47.84 secs).
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Inside the ‘Witchy Circle' of the ‘John Proctor Is the Villain' Cast
It comes as no surprise that the women of 'John Proctor Is the Villain' have an especially epic group text. The Broadway hit, which heads into this weekend's Tony Awards with seven nominations including Best Play, is set in a rural Southern high school classroom and follows a set of mostly young female students who have been classmates their whole lives, so bonding off set was crucial when it came to selling the story. More from WWD Sarah Hyland Doubles Down on Tonal Dressing in Patrizia Pepe Set With Chocolate Brown Pumps at 2025 Drama Desk Awards Amal Clooney Recycles Archival Gold Barely-there Gianvito Rossi Plexi Pumps for Broadway Date Night with George Clooney How Actress Samantha Williams Harnesses the Headstrong Heroine In Tony-nominated 'Pirates! The Penzance Musical' 'Danya [Taymor, the show's director] was so good about that because I think especially for these students in a small town, you're in the same class with the same people your entire life, and that chemistry is really important,' says star Sadie Sink, over Zoom from her dressing room. 'And that was never lost on Danya at all. So she would really incorporate a lot of team-building exercises into rehearsal that would maybe seem silly at first, but over time just really added up and became super meaningful and important into establishing that kind of connection.' The real bonding — which is evident from chatting with Sink and costars Molly Griggs and Fina Strazza, each from their respective dressing rooms — has come since the show officially opened, be it from picnics in the park between shows or the 'witchy circle' of 'giggling and being dumb' they form before each show. 'After you're out of rehearsals and previews and you get out of your own actor brain where you're thinking you're doing everything wrong, then you get closer with your cast and there's room to breathe,' Sink says. 'We have a lot of weird downtime together and that's when the friendships really get deep,' Griggs adds. 'And we have a group chat that is powerful.' 'John Proctor Is the Villain' is one of this season's biggest hits, with Tony nominations for best play, best actor for Sink, best featured actress for Strazza and best direction, among others. The production, written by Kimberly Belflower, is set in a high school in small town Georgia amid a class reading 'The Crucible.' 'The show is such a special story about young women taking up space,' Strazza says of what drew her in. 'Being a young woman myself, I loved how much Kimberly captured the accuracy of being a teenage girl and what it really feels like to be misunderstood by your community and wanting to make real change when you're often looked down upon and silenced.' Griggs meanwhile immediately related to the authenticity of the Southerness in the characters, being from the South herself. 'They really do sound and feel like Southern people and the rhythm of their speech, and in the sense of humor too, that just feels so cozy to me,' Griggs says. 'I know that feels like a surface thing, but it's actually really deep for me. It is about home and it's about a place and it's about sensibility.' Sink grew up in Texas, and recalls trying to shake her Southern accent when she first moved to New York City. 'So I was really charmed by how this play depicted not only teenage girls, but teenage girls from the South too, and how it really just embraced that culture and the parts that felt resonant to me, but also in the flaws as well. It was just this perfect cocktail of a love letter to girlhood and also the South, which I was really drawn to.' The show is drawing a wide audience, but in particular many teenage girls, who often come to the stage door to meet the cast at the end of the night. 'We've had a lot of young people in the stage door line say that this is their first Broadway show,' Griggs says. 'And that is so cool to me that not only did they have a really wonderful experience with our play in particular, but it may open the door for them to be theater people and to be people who want to come and see plays every season.' They're also meeting high schoolers who have been in productions of the show themselves: the rights to the play were released to students before it arrived on Broadway. 'I love when people at the stage door have already done the play themselves in their communities, and so they already have this really deep connection with it, and they're so excited to see it done on stage,' Strazza says. The show references the Lorde song 'Green Light' several times throughout, and while the pop star has yet to make it to a show, the cast knows that she's well aware of her song's role in the show. 'We know she wants to come, but it's busy being Lorde,' Sink says. 'But we're dying to get her here.' 'We do the show for her every night,' Strazza adds. 'It'll happen whenever it happens,' Sink says. 'We'll have to summon her in our circle one day.' Best of WWD Maria Grazia Chiuri's Dior Through the Years: Runway, Celebrities and More [PHOTOS] Brigitte Macron's Style Through the Years [PHOTOS] A Look Back at Venice Film Festival Best Dressed Red Carpet Stars: Amal Clooney, Dakota Johnson and More [PHOTOS]
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Killer who hid pregnant wife's body under patio for 23 years asked son to dig up her remains
A 'callous' father who murdered his wife and hid her body under a patio for 23 years asked their son to dig her up and send a hair to police in an audacious plot to clear his own name. Andrew Griggs, who is already serving a life sentence with a minimum of 20 years for killing devoted mother-of-three Debbie Griggs, has been jailed for three more years after he tried to manipulate one of their sons into exhuming her body from prison. The former fisherman, 62, was convicted of Ms Griggs' murder in 2019 following a cold case investigation into her disappearance in 1999, after she vanished while she was three months pregnant with their fourth child. Her body had never been found. Despite maintaining his innocence, he later revealed to his son in a prison visit that her remains were sealed in a water butt buried under the concrete base of a shed at his home in Dorset. He instructed him to dig it up, remove a strand of her hair, take it abroad and post it back to the UK with a letter pretending to be from Ms Griggs to prove she was still alive. Specialist officers and staff excavated the back garden of his home in St Leonards, Dorset, in October 2022. Her body was found in a barrel-shaped container wrapped in blue tarpaulin under the base of what had previously been a lean-to shed. Also inside were clothes along with a pillowcase, duvet and a boot liner matching one missing from the mother's Peugeot 306. It is believed Griggs wrapped the clothing he was wearing when he killed the former nurse in the boot liner before placing them on top of her inside the container. When Griggs was interviewed about the discovery, he declined to answer any questions but delivered a pre-prepared statement in which he still maintained he was not responsible for Ms Grigg's death. He claimed he found a body inside a container in someone else's garden around two years after he had reported her missing. He said he panicked and encased the container in fibreglass before someone else buried it, and although he suspected it was beneath his garden shed he did not know for sure. Griggs was charged with perverting the course of justice, which he later admitted, and obstructing a coroner in the execution of their duty. In a hearing at Canterbury Crown Court on Monday he was ordered to serve an additional three years in prison. Detective Chief Inspector Neil Kimber said Griggs' lies and attempt to recruit a family member to clear his own name are an 'insult' to the mother's memory. 'Debbie Griggs was a devoted mother whose love for her three children was never in doubt, and it is inconceivable that she would have ever walked out on them,' he said. 'Her husband Andrew has known this ever since he first reported her missing, by which point he had already brutally murdered Debbie and hidden her body. He then continued to lie and manipulate others even after her remains were eventually discovered, making up further ridiculous stories that are an insult to Debbie's memory and to everyone who continues to mourn her loss. 'The fact he asked a family member to dig up her remains shows what a callous and selfish person he is, sparing little to no thought as to the deeply devastating effect such an act would likely have on that person. 'Andrew Griggs is already serving a life sentence for Debbie's murder but our investigation into these further offences was about more than achieving another positive court outcome. 'It was about securing justice for Debbie and her family and friends, and ensuring the general public know exactly the lengths Griggs was willing to go to in order to escape the consequences of his disgusting actions.' Katie Samways from the Crown Prosecution Service said the case was 'one of the worst examples imaginable' of perverting the course of justice. 'Andrew Griggs spent decades lying to everyone around him, claiming that Debbie's disappearance was nothing to do with him,' she added. 'Once convicted of her murder, in a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, he tried to manipulate his son into helping him in the most appalling way possible. 'Griggs deliberately failed to reveal the location of Debbie's body, adding immeasurably to the distress of her family and friends.' She added: 'None of us can imagine the impact that Griggs' actions have had on everyone around him. 'Now, more than 25 years after Debbie first disappeared, we hope that her family and friends can now finally put this chapter of their lives behind them, knowing Andrew Griggs has been fully held to account not just for Debbie's murder, but also for the lies he continually told in the intervening period.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NHL's Lightning Bolt to Scripps Sports, ViewLift for Local Games
The Tampa Bay Lightning is the latest sports team to offer games to fans through free over-the-air television. The three-time Stanley Cup champions have signed a multiyear local broadcast agreement with Scripps Sports. Except for nationally televised games, all regular season games and the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be shown on WXPX-TV (Channel 66), Scripps' Ion Television affiliate station. Advertisement More from On July 1, WXPX will be rebranded as 'The Spot – Tampa 66,' and it will continue to broadcast news and entertainment programs alongside Lightning telecasts. Steve Griggs, the team's CEO and vice chairman, said the challenges faced by RSNs had little to do with their decision. Instead, he said, Tampa Bay wants to prioritize local reach. 'We continue to do our research on our fans about what's important to them,' Griggs said in a phone interview. 'Access was the key to watching our games, and we wanted to create something that had no barriers, that is free and easy for all of our fans to watch across Tampa Bay.' Advertisement Griggs also connected with his two of his counterparts—Florida Panthers CEO Matt Caldwell and Las Vegas Golden Knights CEO Kerry Bubolz—to learn how those teams made the switch to Scripps Sports and local streaming TV. 'We've had conversations over the last year about their ability to expand their audience and what they did with their DTC platform,' he said. 'If you're looking at those three teams, you're talking about the teams that have won the Stanley Cup in the most recent years. We're always trying to do bigger and better things and being able to lean on those two guys was part of our process.' Scripps and the Lightning will also work with ViewLift to launch a direct-to-consumer streaming service that will make Tampa Bay the first NHL franchise to integrate live game streaming into its existing team app. Other teams have created separate platforms for live streaming. With 2.14 million TV households, the Tampa/St. Petersburg media market is the 12th-largest in the U.S., as counted by Nielsen (via Sports Media Watch). The Lightning's footprint extends beyond its immediate metro area across Central and North Florida, with their games also shown in the Orlando (1.84 million TV households) and Jacksonville (799,000 TV households) markets. Advertisement The new local rights deal brings an end to the Lightning's 35-year relationship with FanDuel Sports Network Sun and its various incarnations. Lightning games had been broadcasted on the network since the franchise debuted in 1992, and it remained with FanDuel throughout the bankruptcy saga of Diamond Sports Group, now Main Street Sports Group. Tampa Bay joins the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers, Golden Knights and Utah Mammoth as NHL teams carried by Scripps' local affiliate stations. The Lightning will also pad ViewLift's roster, which recently added New England Sports Network (NESN). Shifting their broadcasts to Scripps and ViewLift is the latest move as it relates to the business of the Bolts. In October, Jeff Vinik sold the majority share of the franchise to a group of investors led by Blue Owl Capital founders Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz at a valuation of $1.8 billion, which ranks 11th in Sportico's NHL franchise valuations. Ostrover and Lipschultz were set to pay for the 54% stake within a year of the October announcement. Additionally, the Lightning signed a multiyear agreement with stadium management firm Oak View Group last month to take on food and hospitality at Amalie Arena, the team's longtime home. Amalie becomes the first arena primarily for an NHL team to be managed by OVG's hospitality division. Advertisement Best of Sign up for Sportico's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This Massachusetts farmer won an 8-year battle to not pay $300K in back taxes — it turns out he was owed $31K
In 2022, Bill Griggs — the owner of Griggs Farm in Billerica, MA — was told that his farm owed the town $300,000 in back taxes. At the time, the farm had been in business for roughly 80 years. But Griggs fought back, demanding a breakdown of the specific taxes that the town was charging on his farmland. Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) "What they want is just unsustainable," Griggs told WBZ-TV at the time. "I do not have a breakdown. I just have a grand total. I'd like to see the breakdown of what they are actually charging on the business land." Now, CBS News Boston reports that Griggs has won his fight — and not only does he not have to pay $300,000 in back taxes, he actually gets to walk away with a $31,000 check. In 2017, Griggs stopped paying taxes on his land, claiming that the town of Billerica had been taxing his land improperly since 1997. Griggs' farm was assessed at a value of $1.2 million, which he claimed was way too high. Part of Griggs' argument was that his farm is covered under Massachusetts' Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program. Under this program, which is voluntary, owners of farmland are paid the difference between their land's fair market value and agricultural value. In exchange, farm owners must agree to a permanent deed restriction that preserves the land for farming only. The purpose of the program is to prevent farmland from being developed, thereby making the state's agricultural industry more sustainable. It's that very program, Griggs said, that made his farm eligible for a lower tax rate. "It is preserved open land," Griggs told CBS News Boston. "It became just unsustainable when you tax so heavy. You run out of money." Part of the confusion stemmed from the fact that Billerica thought Griggs' farm was running more like a retail space. The town claimed that Griggs was selling flowers and imported vegetables to supplement his income and compensate for crops lost during summertime droughts. But Griggs insisted he was doing no such thing. Dina Favreau, a member of Billerica's Select Board, started looking into Griggs' situation prior to joining. And as she explained to CBS News Boston, parts of Griggs' land were being taxed erroneously, leading to a higher bill. "This part of the land and the parking lot was actually being taxed at commercial rates, which was completely incorrect," she said. The town voted to approve a reassessed value on Griggs' farm, and based on that new assessment, it turned out that Griggs was not only current on his tax obligations, but he was actually owed almost $31,000. Griggs told CBS Boston he plans to use that refund to improve and keep up with operations on his farm. "We will probably purchase some supplies and pay some bills," he said. "Hopefully we will be able to run some of the fields a little better now." Read more: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has an important message for the next wave of American retirees — here's how he says you can best weather the US retirement crisis The fact that he was owed $31,000 as a refund for overpaid taxes may have come as a happy surprise for Griggs, and reinvesting that money in his farm makes sense for him. But it's important to know how to manage a surprise windfall if something similar were to happen to you. One of the first things to do is assess your emergency fund, and if you don't have one, creating one with the windfall you received is a great idea. It's important to have enough money in savings to cover at least three months of essential bills in case of an emergency, which could include losing your job. A January 2025 survey by U.S. News & World Report found that 42% of Americans do not have an emergency fund. If your emergency cash savings need a boost, or you're starting off with none, that should take priority. Next, assess your debt. You don't necessarily have to use a windfall to pay down part of a mortgage — since that's a loan you'll probably carry for a long time — and despite recently elevated rates, the interest rate on your mortgage may still be reasonable. But if you're carrying expensive credit card debt, or a personal loan with a high interest rate, those are debts that you should aim to pay off sooner than later. As of the third quarter of 2024, the average consumer credit card balance reached $6,730, according to Experian. The average personal loan balance, meanwhile, was $19,014. Eliminating or whittling down a similar balance could not only save you money on interest, but it'll also likely relieve some of your financial stress. In addition to covering some of his operating costs and buying supplies, these are things Griggs might consider using his tax refund on. Chances are he spent money on legal fees in the course of fighting his property tax assessment, so he may have debt to pay off and/or savings to replenish. Griggs may also want to start thinking about retirement — not necessarily stopping work now, but rather, saving for a time in the future when he no longer feels up to the task of managing his farm. To that end, he might be able to sell his land and use the proceeds to fund his retirement, but it also wouldn't be a bad idea to use some of his $31,000 refund to start or boost his nest egg. That's something you may want to do with a windfall once you've secured your emergency fund and have tackled high-interest debt. The more time you give a retirement nest egg to grow, the more savings you're likely to have once the time comes to call it a career. It's also a good idea to consult a financial advisor any time you come into a windfall, and that's something Griggs may want to consider as well. Unlike salaried employees who can look forward to the same paycheck every month, business owners can see their income vary. And in an industry like farming — where weather and other factors outside of one's control have the potential to impact production and income — it's important to plan for dry spells. With this in mind, it would be wise of Griggs to consult a financial professional to see how one might suggest using his $31,000 windfall. Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan 'works every single time' to kill debt, get rich in America — and that 'anyone' can do it Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. Sign in to access your portfolio
