JOSH GREEN

“This is an escape, where we can just let loose and be ourselves like we were when we were boys.”

Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points and the Utah Jazz beat the COVID-19-depleted Dallas Mavericks 120-116.

The mayor of Honolulu says the city will soon require patrons of restaurants, bars, museums, theaters and other establishments to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test for COVID-19.

___LYNCHBURG, Va. —- Liberty University announced a temporary campus-wide quarantine Thursday amid a spike in COVID-19 cases. ___WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s health minister says that starting Wednesday people with deficient immunity will be able to receive an additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. One looked at COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County. ___WASHINGTON —- Biden administration officials say that half of U.S. adolescents ages 12 to 17 have gotten at least their first COVID-19 vaccine. State health officials on Friday reported 3,707 additional COVID-19 cases, putting the state beyond the grim milestone.

A parent in Northern California barged into his daughter's elementary school and punched a teacher in the face over mask rules. At a school in Texas, a parent ripped a mask off a teacher's face during a “Meet the Teacher” event. A father became irate when he saw his daughter come out of school wearing a mask but teachers in a lounge were unmasked. Vaccinated staff are allowed to take off their masks if students aren't present, said Amador County Unified School District Superintendent Torie Gibson. And that motivated her to keep testifying at public meetings to provide a voice of science and reason amid all the outrage from mask and vaccine opponents.

Across the country, more anti-vaccine and anti-mask demonstrations are taking scary and violent turns.

Fauci says indications are that the COVID-19 vaccines remain effective against the variant. ___MOSCOW – The mayor of Moscow announced new coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday, saying that “the situation with the coronavirus remains very difficult” in the Russian capital. The COVID-19 pandemic took an enormous toll on these businesses, many of which are small and family owned,” Collins said. ___AMSTERDAM — The European Union’s medicines regulator has approved two new manufacturing sites for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer. ___WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A coronavirus outbreak in Fiji is rapidly growing, with 180 new cases reported on Tuesday.

DALLAS – Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a season-high 36 points, Trey Burke did the same with 29 and Luka Doncic had another triple-double as the short-handed Dallas Mavericks beat the Orlando Magic 112-98 on Saturday night. There were some times that it was just chaotic.”TIP-INSMagic: F Evan Fournier missed his fifth straight game with back spasms. ROLLER-COASTER QUARTERDoncic capped a roller-coaster third quarter by beating the buzzer with a long 3-pointer for an 85-75 lead. Mavericks: Dallas finishes a two-game homestand against New Orleans on Monday. The Mavericks swept the four-game season series in 2019-20, the first time they've done that in six years.

Arizona coach Sean Miller reacts to a play during the second half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against Colorado, Monday, Dec. 28, 2020, in Tucson, Ariz. Arizona won 88-74. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona men's basketball program has self-imposed a one-year postseason ban related to its long-running NCAA rules infractions case. The postseason ban includes the Pac-12 tournament. “I understand and fully support the university’s decision to self-impose a one-year postseason ban on our men’s basketball program,” Miller said in a statement. Auburn also self-imposed a postseason ban in November.

Josh Richardson added 21 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 18 points for the Mavs, who kept up their dominance in the second half, too. Paul George led the Kawhi Leonard-less Clippers with 15 points before sitting out the second half. Serge Ibaka added 13 points and nine rebounds over three quarters of the team's first loss. He scored as many points (13) as the Clippers in the first quarter. They swept the Mavs last season, winning all three meetings as the visiting team, including a first-round playoff victory.

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) drives on Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020, in Phoenix. At least for the first game, the Suns' revamped backcourt performed almost exactly as hoped. Booker scored 22 points, Mikal Bridges added 18 and Phoenix edged the Dallas Mavericks 106-102 on Wednesday in the season opener for both teams. “I like guys who are willing to take the shots,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. Luka Doncic cut the Suns' lead to three with a dunk but after a Booker miss, Bridges grabbed the offensive rebound and Phoenix closed out the victory.

After a summer marked by a surge of coronavirus cases in Hawaii, officials plan to reboot the tourism based economy later this month despite concerns about the state's pre-travel testing program. But others view the pre-travel testing plan as the best way to add a layer of protection while kickstarting the economy. As part of the plan, Hawaii is partnering with several U.S. mainland pharmacies and airlines for testing. He has also proposed implementing a voluntary surveillance testing program that would screen a percentage of arriving passengers who are in high-risk groups. “In a perfect world, we wouldn’t reopen until we had a vaccine," said John DeFries, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

David Ige said Wednesday that starting Oct. 15, travelers arriving from out of state may bypass a 14-day quarantine requirement if they test negative for COVID-19. Travelers will have to take the test within 72 hours before their flight arrives in the islands. Earlier this year Ige planned to start a pre-travel testing program on Aug. 1 only to have to postpone it as COVID-19 cases spiked on the U.S. mainland and in Hawaii. Hawaii leaders are hopeful that pre-travel testing will encourage people to return to a Hawaii in a way that keeps residents safe. “I want to emphasize that this pre-travel testing will allow us to add a greater element of safety for travel into our state,” Ige said at a news conference.

Baylor guard Davion Mitchell (45) tries to get past Arizona guard Dylan Smith (3) and Arizona center Christian Koloko (35) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Waco, Texas, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)