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Trump asks US Supreme Court to pause law threatening TikTok banBoopie Miller's 24 points spark SMU to a 98-82 win over Longwood in nonconference finale

Buried among Florida’s manicured golf courses and sprawling suburbs are the artifacts of its slave-holding past: the long-lost cemeteries of enslaved people, the statutes of Confederate soldiers that still stand watch over town squares, the old plantations turned into modern subdivisions that bear the same name. But many students aren’t learning that kind of Black history in Florida classrooms. In an old wooden bungalow in Delray Beach, Charlene Farrington and her staff gather groups of teenagers on Saturday mornings to teach them lessons she worries that public schools won’t provide. They talk about South Florida’s Caribbean roots, the state’s dark history of lynchings , how segregation still shapes the landscape and how grassroots activists mobilized the Civil Rights Movement to upend generations of oppression. “You need to know how it happened before so you can decide how you want it to happen again,” she told her students as they sat as their desks, the morning light illuminating historic photographs on the walls. >> AROUND THE COUNTRY: National coverage from WVTM 13 Florida students are giving up their Saturday mornings to learn about African American history at the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum in Delray Beach and in similar programs at community centers across the state. Many are supported by Black churches, which for generations have helped forge the cultural and political identity of their parishioners. Since Faith in Florida developed its own Black history toolkit last year, more than 400 congregations have pledged to teach the lessons, the advocacy group says. Florida has required public schools to teach African American history for the past 30 years, but many families no longer trust the state’s education system to adequately address the subject. By the state’s own metrics, just a dozen Florida school districts have demonstrated excellence at teaching Black history, by providing evidence that they are incorporating the content into lessons throughout the school year and getting buy-in from the school board and community partners. >> WVTM 13 ON-THE-GO: Download our app for free School district officials across Florida told The Associated Press that they are still following the state mandate to teach about the experience of enslavement, abolition and the “vital contributions of African Americans to build and strengthen American society.” But a common complaint from students and parents is that the instruction seems limited to heroic figures like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks and rarely extends beyond each February’s Black History Month . When Sulaya Williams’ eldest child started school, she couldn’t find the comprehensive instruction she wanted for him in their area. So in 2016, she launched her own organization to teach Black history in community settings. “We wanted to make sure that our children knew our stories, to be able to pass down to their children,” Williams said. Williams now has a contract to teach Saturday school at a public library in Fort Lauderdale, and her 12-year-old daughter Addah Gordon invites her classmates to join her. “It feels like I’m really learning my culture. Like I’m learning what my ancestors did,” Addah said. “And most people don’t know what they did.” State lawmakers unanimously approved the African American history requirement in 1994 at a time of atonement over Florida’s history. Historians commissioned by the state had just published an official report on the deadly attack on the town of Rosewood in 1923, when a white mob razed the majority-Black community and drove out its residents. When the Florida Legislature approved financial compensation for Rosewood’s survivors and descendants in 1994, it was seen as a national model for reparations . >> FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube “There was a moment of enlightenment in Florida, those decades ago. There really was,” said Marvin Dunn, who has authored multiple books on Black Floridians. “But that was short-lived.” Three decades later, the teaching of African American history remains inconsistent across Florida classrooms, inadequate in the eyes of some advocates, and is under fire by the administration of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has championed efforts to restrict how race , history and discrimination can be talked about in the state’s public schools . DeSantis has led attacks on “wokeness” in education that rallied conservatives nationwide, including President-elect Donald Trump . In 2022, the governor signed a law restricting certain race-based conversations in schools and businesses and prohibits teaching that members of one ethnic group should feel guilt or bear responsibility for actions taken by previous generations. Last year, DeSantis’ administration blocked a new Advanced Placement course on African American Studies from being taught in Florida, saying it violates state law and is historically inaccurate. A spokesperson for the College Board, which oversees Advanced Placement courses, told the AP they are not aware of any public schools in Florida currently offering the African American Studies class. It’s also not listed in the state’s current course directory. Representatives for the Florida Department of Education and the state’s African American History Task Force did not respond to requests for comment from the AP. “People who are interested in advancing African diaspora history can’t rely on schools to do that,” said Tameka Bradley Hobbs, manager of Broward County’s African-American Research Library and Cultural Center. “I think it’s even more clear now that there needs to be a level of self-reliance and self-determination when it comes to passing on the history and heritage of our ancestors.” Last year, only 30 of Florida’s 67 traditional school districts offered at least one standalone course on African American history or humanities, according to state data. While not required by state law, having a dedicated Black history class is a measure of how districts are following the state mandate. Florida’s large urban districts are far more likely to offer the classes, compared to small rural districts, some of which have fewer than 2,000 students. Even in districts that have staff dedicated to teaching Black history, some teachers are afraid of violating state law, according to Brian Knowles, who oversees African American, Holocaust and Latino studies for the Palm Beach County school district. “There’s so many other districts and so many kids that we’re missing because we’re tiptoeing around what is essentially American history,” Knowles said. Frustration over the restrictions that teachers face pushed Renee O’Connor to take a sabbatical last year from her job teaching Black history at Miami Norland Senior High School in the majority-Black city of Miami Gardens. Now, she is back in the classroom, but she also has been helping community groups develop their own Black history programs outside of the public school system. “I wish, obviously, all kids were able to take an African American history class,” O’Connor said, “but you have to pivot if it’s not happening in schools.”Packers clinch playoff berth with 1st shutout in NFL this season, 34-0 over Saints

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Trump says he can't guarantee tariffs won't raise US prices and promises swift immigration actionLiverpool boss Arne Slot hailed “special” Mohamed Salah after seeing him fire the Premier League leaders to the brink of victory at Newcastle. The Reds ultimately left St James’ Park with only a point after Fabian Schar snatched a 3-3 draw at the end of a pulsating encounter, but Salah’s double – his 14th and 15th goals of the season – transformed a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead before the Switzerland defender’s late intervention. The 32-year-old Egypt international’s future at Anfield remains a topic of debate with his current contract running down. Asked about Salah’s future, Slot said: “It’s difficult for me to predict the long-term future, but the only thing I can expect or predict is that he is in a very good place at the moment. “He plays in a very good team that provides him with good opportunities and then he is able to do special things. “And what makes him for me even more special is that in the first hour or before we scored to make it 1-1, you thought, ‘He’s not playing his best game today’, and to then come up with a half-hour or 45 minutes – I don’t know how long it was – afterwards with an assist, two goals, having a shot on the bar, being a constant threat, that is something not many players can do if they’ve played the first hour like he did. “That is also what makes him special. If you just look at the goals, his finish is so clinical. He’s a special player, but that’s what we all know.” Salah did indeed endure a quiet opening 45 minutes by his standards and it was the Magpies who went in at the break a goal to the good after Alexander Isak’s stunning 35th-minute finish. Slot said: “The shot from Isak, I don’t even know if Caoimh (keeper Caoimhin Kelleher) saw that ball, as hard as it was.” Salah set up Curtis Jones to level five minutes into the second half and after Anthony Gordon has restored the hosts’ lead, levelled himself from substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 68th-minute cross. He looked to have won it with a fine turn and finish – his ninth goal in seven league games – seven minutes from time, only for Schar to pounce from a tight angle in the 90th minute. Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe was delighted with the way his team took the game to the Reds four days after their disappointing 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace. Howe, who admitted his surprise that VAR official Stuart Attwell had not taken a dimmer view of a Virgil van Dijk shoulder barge on Gordon, said: “It’s mixed emotions. “Part of me feels we should have won it – a big part of me – but part of me is pleased we didn’t lose either because it was such a late goal for us. “Generally, I’m just pleased with the performance. There was much more attacking output, a much better feel about the team. “There was much better energy, and it was a really good performance against, for me, the best team we’ve played so far this season in the Premier League, so it was a big jump forward for us.”EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — If the Giants' franchise-record 10th straight loss proved anything, it's that New York could use a young franchise quarterback. Rookie Michael Penix Jr. showed what a young QB can do on Sunday against the Giants, who need to learn from it. The No. 8 overall pick in the draft, Penix played a nearly flawless game in his first career start to help the Falcons thrash the woeful Giants 34-7 in their best performance in weeks. The Giants gambled in 2019 that Daniel Jones would be their franchise QB and it really never panned out. The one exception was the 2022 season, when the No. 6 overall pick had a career year and led New York to a 9-7-1 record and a playoff berth in the first season after Joe Schoen was hired as general manager and Brian Daboll was named coach. The Giants even won a playoff game. With the release of Jones last month, the Giants (2-13) are now a team without a quarterback who can perform at the level required of an NFL starter. Tommy DeVito and Drew Lock have split the last four starts but neither has provided much of a spark for the league's worst offense. Lock handed the Falcons the game with two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. To turn things around next season, the Giants must find a quarterback. “I’d say it’s very important,” Daboll said Monday. New York is going to have a high pick in the draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in late April. It could even be the No. 1 overall selection. Choosing the right quarterback is going to be hard. There isn't a can't-miss choice in 2025 draft and forcing one early would be a mistake. Unless the Giants are convinced that Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, Jalen Milroe or someone else is the next franchise player, they have have so many needs that it would be better to wheel and deal and fill as many holes as possible. Even if the Giants take a quarterback in the second round, there's bound to be someone available who has a chance to be better than what they have now. The calendar. The season ends in less than two weeks. The franchise is in disarray, and a shakeup appears likely. Daboll's future as the coach is not bright, considering the current skid and two straight losing seasons. Schoen has to share the blame and so do co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, who hired the GM and coach. LB Darius Muasau. The sixth-round draft pick out of UCLA has started the last three games since Bobby Okereke (back) was hurt and eventually put on injured reserve last week. Muasau had 11 tackles Sunday along with a quarterback hit and a tackle for a loss. He made the defensive calls after LB Micah McFadden left with a neck injury. Lock. In his starts, Lock has had three interceptions returned for touchdowns. He also lost a fumble on a strip-sack at Atlanta. Lock sustained a shoulder injury during the game and had an MRI on Monday. Besides Lock and McFadden, S Jason Pinnock (eye) also left the game. C John Michael Schmitz and RB Tyrone Tracy were evaluated for ankle injuries on Monday. 1 — Thanks to the Raiders' victory over the Jaguars, the Giants will have the No. 1 overall pick in the draft with two more losses. For the ninth and final time, the Giants will try to find a way to win at MetLife Stadium. New York is 0-8 heading into Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts. Its only other winless season at home was in 1974 when New York played at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, while Giants Stadium was being built. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Three years ago, Vancouver’s John Phillip Fraser was struggling to rebuild his life after falling on hard times. After securing an entry-level job at a local construction company, he faced a hurdle: the only boots he could afford were worn hand-me-downs. “There were holes in the soles,” said the 39-year-old, who immigrated to Canada from Venezuela as a child and settled in the Downtown Eastside. “My feet were always soaked and smelled like mould.” Fraser pressed on, despite his work boots being a constant reminder of his struggle. Then he heard about Working Gear, a charity dedicated to providing clothing and equipment for those who need proper workwear. Fraser visited the non-profit’s pantry, where he was welcomed by executive director Sarah Beley and outfitted with new steel-toed boots and gear donated by workwear companies such as Red Wing, Keen and Fiber. “Having clean boots and proper PPE (personal protective equipment) improved my performance, and soon after I was hired by an excavation company offering higher pay,” he said. Since then, Fraser has secured permanent housing and explored other career opportunities. “Because of this experience, I know that I will never again be that close to poverty.” Fraser’s story is one of many in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where low-income individuals and newcomers can face barriers to employment. Beley said that due to growing demand, Working Gear, which began in 2007 as a small, volunteer-driven initiative to help residents of the DTES, has evolved to support low-income workers, immigrants and refugees throughout Metro Vancouver. Of the approximately 1,700 people served this year, Beley said 40 per cent reside outside Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. She added that over the last two years, Working Gear has seen a significant shift in its client base: newcomers now account for 66 per cent of clients, compared to 14 per cent previously. Clients used to require referrals from social service agencies, but many of them now walk into the shop after hearing about the organization from friends. “The one thing in common with all of our clients is they don’t have family or a community around,” Beley said. “Whether a youth who has aged out of foster care, a person who just got out of prison, or a newcomer from Ukraine or Africa, they just don’t have that support.” This was the case for Stephen Sijenyi, who immigrated to Vancouver and sought help from Working Gear in 2018. “I went from Kenya, where I was celebrated by a large group of family and friends, to feeling like I wasn’t trusted by others in Canada — whether because of my clothes or my immigrant status,” the 42-year-old said. “I didn’t have friends, I didn’t have anyone who I could turn to and ask for help.” Sijenyi needed work and safety gear, including steel-toe boots and waterproof pants for his first job as a labourer at a coffee recycling plant. “When I walked in, I went from facing adversity to being welcomed with open arms — it felt like family,” said Sijenyi, who made some of his first Vancouver friends at the organization. Five years later, Sijenyi owns his own business, has two children, and a large network of friends he considers family. He regularly returns to the organization as one of 60 volunteers who are mostly former clients. “I couldn’t be living the life I am today without them.” sgrochowski@postmedia.com • For 106 years, The Province’s Empty Stocking Fund has been dedicated to making the holidays brighter for B.C. residents who are less fortunate. With the generosity of our readers and supporters, the fund gives money to 25 B.C. community organizations that provide food hampers and gifts to children, needy families and single people. Donations can be made by: Scan the QR code here. Online at: https://theprovince.com/esf By mail to: The Province Empty Stocking Fund 968 East Cordova St., Vancouver, B.C., V6A 1M6 By calling: 604-253-6911

Giants’ 10th straight loss showed once again that they need a young QBIs he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys

, The 2024 election cycle has ended, but national politics have no real ending, and the next national campaign cycle is about to begin. Of particular interest going forward is the 2026 midterm elections when the current narrow Republican majorities in the U.S. House and Senate will be challenged by the Democrats, who will be especially eager to take back control of at least one house of Congress so that they can block the ongoing Trump administration's agenda. Looking at the 2026 Senate races at this very early stage, only a general assessment of seats that might be vulnerable and those likely to be safe is possible. Many incumbent senators are over 70 years old, some even in their 80s, so a number of retirements are probable — perhaps even more so in the current bitter political environment. Additional retirement incentives occur when majority party incumbents suddenly go into the minority and lose their committee chairmanships and other perks, as just happened. The four incumbents who are more than 80 years old, and one who is 77, represent likely safe seats in 2026. Five incumbents who will be between 70 and 75 years old also hold likely safe seats. One Democrat (John Hickenlooper of Colorado) and one Republican (Susan Collins of Maine) in that age group are potentially vulnerable. Of course, voluntary... Barry CasselmanPeaches spread across North America through Indigenous networks November 22, 2024 Penn State Spanish explorers may have brought the first peach pits to North America, but Indigenous communities helped the ubiquitous summer fruit really take root, according to a new study. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email Spanish explorers may have brought the first peach pits to North America, but Indigenous communities helped the ubiquitous summer fruit really take root, according to a study led by a researcher at Penn State. The study, published in Nature Communications , shows that Indigenous political and social networks and land use practices played key roles in the peach's adoption and dispersal across the continent, according to the researchers. "Peaches need a lot of care by people to be productive. They need to be planted in appropriate places with a lot of sunlight and the right soil drainage, and they need to be pruned," said Jacob Holland-Lulewicz, first author and assistant professor of anthropology at Penn State. "For a long time, the narrative was that the Spanish introduced peaches and then peaches spread very quickly. The reality is way more complicated. How quickly peaches spread is very much a product of Indigenous networks and land management." The researchers analyzed historical documents that mentioned peaches, such as the travel writings of French missionary explorer Jacques Marquette and English merchant Jonathan Dickinson. They also employed radiocarbon dating -- a method that measures the decay of radioactive carbon-14 atoms in organic material -- to determine the approximate ages of peach pits and other organic samples, like carbonized tree wood, from 28 archaeological sites and two regional locales where archaeologists previously recovered preserved peach pits. The sites were located in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas. The team found that peaches were likely widespread across Indigenous settlements in the interior southeast as early as the year 1620, roughly 100 years after the earliest Spanish expeditions in Florida and in Georgia's Oconee Valley. The timing suggests that early Spanish settlements becoming important trade nodes within existing Indigenous networks created the necessary conditions for the spread of peaches, according to Holland-Lulewicz. "Many narratives talk about the Spanish, or Europeans generally, arriving and then you see instantaneous changes to Indigenous histories and the spread of materials, but those initial interactions didn't cause major changes," he said. "It's not until Spanish networks and Indigenous networks become entangled 100 years later that we have the necessary conditions for the spread of peaches." The team also identified what are possibly the earliest peaches in North America at a Muskogean farmstead in the Oconee Valley. In the 1990s, the late Penn State archaeologist James Hatch recovered peach pits from the bottom of post holes that once housed support structures for the farmstead's house. The researchers radiocarbon dated charcoal, nuts and corn kernels from these post holes and found that occupation at the site began between 1520 and 1550 and ended between 1530 and 1570. This timing suggests that peaches had spread to the interior southeast possibly decades before the founding of St. Augustine in 1565, according to the researchers. "Understanding the path that the introduction of species, such as peach trees, took through colonization and the role that Indigenous people and their long-term relationship with the environment played in shaping these histories demonstrates the importance of these events, people and processes to what becomes a broader American history," said co-author Victor Thompson, Distinguished Research Professor of archaeology at the University of Georgia (UGA) and executive director of the Georgia Museum of Natural History. "Further, the fact that all of this work took place on museum specimens underscores the importance of maintaining these collections for future study." Indigenous peoples not only adopted the peach but selectively bred new varieties outnumbering the varieties found in Europe even at this early time, Holland-Lulewicz said. "When Europeans started to move through and into the interior of the continent in the mid- to late 1600s, they noted that there were way more varieties of peaches being grown by Indigenous peoples than there were in Europe," he said, explaining that the fruit had become an important aspect of Indigenous culture. "At this time, Europeans are noting really dense peach orchards around Indigenous towns, but some of these towns and people had never previously interacted with or even heard of Europeans. In fact, there are records of Indigenous peoples describing peaches as an Indigenous fruit." The fruit had become so integral to Indigenous history and culture that when the ancestors of the modern-day Muscogee (Creek) Nation were forcibly removed from Georgia and Alabama during the 1800s, they took peaches with them. "There are Muscogee (Creek) peoples today who grow peaches as heritage crops," Holland-Lulewicz said. "The act of growing and caring for those peaches is an important cultural practice. These were the first peaches introduced in the 1500s and 1600s that were then carried halfway across the continent and continue to be grown today." In addition to Holland-Lulewicz and Thompson, other collaborators include Amanda Roberts Thompson and Mark Williams at the UGA Laboratory of Archaeology, and Dario J. Chavez, University of Georgia; RaeLynn Butler, the Secretary of Culture and Humanities for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and Turner Hunt, Muscogee (Creek) Nation citizen; Jay Franklin, Logan Simpson Design; and John Worth, University of West Florida. The UGA Laboratory of Archaeology and the Institute of Energy and the Environment at Penn State supported this work. Story Source: Materials provided by Penn State . Original written by Francisco Tutella. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. Journal Reference : Cite This Page :

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — First it was Canada , then the Panama Canal . Now, Donald Trump again wants Greenland . The president-elect is renewing unsuccessful calls he made during his first term for the U.S. to buy Greenland from Denmark, adding to the list of allied countries with which he's picking fights even before taking office on Jan. 20. In a Sunday announcement naming his ambassador to Denmark, Trump wrote that, “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity." Trump again having designs on Greenland comes after the president-elect suggested over the weekend that the U.S. could retake control of the Panama Canal if something isn't done to ease rising shipping costs required for using the waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He's also been suggesting that Canada become the 51st U.S. state and referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor” of the “Great State of Canada.” Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, said Trump tweaking friendly countries harkens back to an aggressive style he used during his days in business. “You ask something unreasonable and it’s more likely you can get something less unreasonable,” said Farnsworth, who is also author of the book “Presidential Communication and Character.” Greenland, the world’s largest island, sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. It is 80% covered by an ice sheet and is home to a large U.S. military base. It gained home rule from Denmark in 1979 and its head of government, Múte Bourup Egede, suggested that Trump’s latest calls for U.S. control would be as meaningless as those made in his first term. “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale,” he said in a statement. “We must not lose our years-long fight for freedom.” The Danish Prime Minister’s Office said in its own statement that the government is “looking forward to welcoming the new American ambassador. And the Government is looking forward to working with the new administration.” “In a complex security political situation as the one we currently experience, transatlantic cooperation is crucial,” the statement said. It noted that it had no comment on Greenland except for it “not being for sale, but open for cooperation.” Trump canceled a 2019 visit to Denmark after his offer to buy Greenland was rejected by Copenhagen, and ultimately came to nothing . He also suggested Sunday that the U.S. is getting “ripped off” at the Panama Canal. “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America, in full, quickly and without question,” he said. Panama President José Raúl Mulino responded in a video that “every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to,” but Trump fired back on his social media site, “We’ll see about that!” The president-elect also posted a picture of a U.S. flag planted in the canal zone under the phrase, “Welcome to the United States Canal!” The United States built the canal in the early 1900s but relinquished control to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter . The canal depends on reservoirs that were hit by 2023 droughts that forced it to substantially reduce the number of daily slots for crossing ships. With fewer ships, administrators also increased the fees that shippers are charged to reserve slots to use the canal. The Greenland and Panama flareups followed Trump recently posting that “Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State" and offering an image of himself superimposed on a mountaintop surveying surrounding territory next to a Canadian flag. Trudeau suggested that Trump was joking about annexing his country, but the pair met recently at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to discuss Trump's threats to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods. “Canada is not going to become part of the United States, but Trump’s comments are more about leveraging what he says to get concessions from Canada by putting Canada off balance, particularly given the precarious current political environment in Canada,” Farnsworth said. “Maybe claim a win on trade concessions, a tighter border or other things.” He said the situation is similar with Greenland. “What Trump wants is a win," Farnsworth said. "And even if the American flag doesn’t raise over Greenland, Europeans may be more willing to say yes to something else because of the pressure.” Associated Press writers Gary Fields in Washington and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

REFORM, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge ruled that the family of former NFL player Glenn Foster Jr., who died in law enforcement custody in Alabama, can pursue a lawsuit alleging his death was the result of excessive force. Foster, a former New Orleans Saints defensive end, died on Dec. 6, 2021, three days after being arrested and taken to jail in rural Pickens County for alleged speeding and attempting to elude police. A judge ordered Foster taken to a medical facility in Tuscaloosa for a mental evaluation. Foster was found unresponsive in the back of a law enforcement vehicle when he arrived at the facility. He was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later. His widow, Pamela Foster, filed a lawsuit against officers at the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office and jail saying Foster had been beaten, shocked with a Taser and strangled while at the jail. The defendants then asked a federal judge to dismiss the case. U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon ruled Thursday refused to dismiss allegations of excessive force and failure to intervene. Axon dismissed other portions of the lawsuit. The ruling came a day before the third anniversary of Foster’s death. Foster appeared in 17 games for the Saints in 2013 and 2014.